Chapter 4

"Romano?" Malta stared at the Italian man, confused.

Romano sighed, "Geez, lady. Did you not know it was me before?"

"No," Malta admitted, "I'm still kind of tired and I couldn't tell who was talking to me."

"Stupid," Romano muttered.

"I'm back, Malta! Hey, Romano. I see you got your unawesomeness out of bed," Prussia snickered as he reentered the bathroom.

Malta waved, "Hi."

"Bastardo, I wasn't just getting out of bed, I had to use the restroom. Also I saw that Spain is missing!" Romano shouted.

"Shut up," Malta hissed, "we can't wake the others. The three of us will go look for him and come right back. The rest will know in the morning."

"Retardo," Romano mumbled but otherwise didn't make any other noise. Prussia sat back down next to Malta and began to dry off her feet. He picked up a wrap of gauze and began to wind it around each foot after applying some rubbing alcohol. Once he was finished, Prussia let the water in the bathtub drain. He never noticed the small blood stain left in the bottom.

"Okay, so should we go outside and look now?" Malta asked.

Prussia shook his head, "No. You need to get dressed."

"But my room-"

"Romano will lend you some of his clothes. You two are about the same size," Prussia replied.

Romano stiffened, "I'm not that small!"

"Kind of, yeah," Prussia grinned.

"Fine, come on," Romano hesitantly led Malta back to his room. He handed her some clothes and let her change in the closet.

"There are some boots in there you can wear," Romano offered as he shut the door behind her. Malta began to pull the new clothes on after disposing of her pajamas. When she finished, she searched for the boots, finding them behind a box. She wondered what was inside, but decided not to look. It was probably personal.

"Hey, Romano, what's in the box back there? The black one," Malta queried as she stepped back out into the bedroom. Romano had put some outdoors clothes on too, and was sitting on his bed tying some sneakers.

Romano looked up, "Nothing."

"Okay," Malta let it go; she didn't want to pressure Romano, "should we go now?"

"Yes, Prussia is waiting in the hall," Romano stood and opened the door. Malta followed him out, and they met Prussia who was leaning against the wall a few meters away.

"Awesome, you are fast. Lets go," Prussia began prancing toward the stair case.

The three of them quickly reached the front door, all dressed and ready.

"Remember," Malta whispered, "if you see a 2p! don't be afraid to kill it. And don't let one kill you, even if it means running away while screaming and waving a white flag. Just don't get killed."

"Okay," Romano nodded.

Prussia gave her a thumbs up, "Gotcha."

They travelled through the dark parking lot until they reached the forest. Prussia and Romano instantly began tromping into the woods, but Malta hesitated momentarily. She couldn't forget the dream.

"It's okay, Malta. That won't happen. Only some of us are here," she comforted herself before drawing in a shaky breath and jogging after the two guys.

"You okay?" Romano asked when he saw Malta's slight trembles.

Malta nodded, "I'm okay, I'm okay."

"Do you want a to go back?" Romano pressed.

"I'm fine!" Malta shouted.

Prussia looked back, "What unawesomeness is happening back there?"

"Nothing, Prussia," Malta responded. She quickened her pace to get nearer to him. After that, they returned to silence.

Malta watched all the trees while clinging to Prussia. At every noise she jumped, and whenever Romano muttered something to himself, she glanced back to see if he was okay.

Then, after a few minutes more had passed, a tingling sensation began to crawl up Malta's spine as if she were being stared at. Romano had already caught up to her and Prussia and was looking ahead; Prussia's eyes were set in the same direction as Romano's. Every once in a while a bush would rustle or a twig would snap, and Malta's muscles would grow more taut each passing second.

"Stay close," Prussia hissed and gripped her hand. Malta figured he had noticed it too.

"Okay," she obeyed and kept her hand in his. Malta reached out to Romano with her other hand and grabbed his, but he tried to get away. She glared at him, and he stopped struggling. The silence continued.

"Malta..." A demonic voiced moaned.

Malta whimpered and clung to Prussia, "Did you hear that?"

"It's okay, Malta," Prussia kissed her forehead and kept walking.

"Malta!" The voice spoke again, this time loud and sharp.

Malta whirled around, "what do you want?"

"Ohonhonhon, just the reaction I wanted," France put his hands up.

"France, you unawesome perv! That scared us all!" Prussia guffawed.

France smirked, "It's my job. Now why are you outside in the middle of the night?"

"Spain is missing and we saw someone being dragged outside after my window was broken, probably by a 2p!" Malta explained.

"Oui, I see. Zhen I will join you," France decided.

"Crapola no," Romano snapped.

Malta smiled, "okay France. Just no more jokes like that. It's not funny."

"Oui, got it," France began to follow the three other nations as they started on their way again.

Malta still felt an uneasiness cling to her. We're they still being watched? Was it a 2p! this time? Thoughts raced through her mind as she remained by Prussia's side.

"Prussia?" Malta squeaked.

Prussia looked at her, "What is it? You're so jumpy."

"Do you think," Malta gulped, "that someone is still following us?"

"If so, my awesomeness will take care of it," Prussia glanced back.

"Okay," Malta smiled. She watched France and Romano for a moment. Both were silent.

Suddenly, Prussia began to pick up his pace. Malta stumbled after him without a single objection; though, she did wonder why.

"What's happening?" Malta choked.

Prussia didn't reply, but instead broke into a run.

"You can't get away," an icey voice hissed.

Malta froze, "2p!... Malta."

"Malta, run!" Prussia shoved Malta forward. She tripped and fell, but picked herself up and began to dart away, not watching where she went.
Prussia dashed off in a completely different direction. Romano rushed after Malta, quickly passing her; France ran straight in the direction they had been traveling.

Malta stumbled to a stop about ten minutes later. 2p!Malta was no where near her anymore, but now she was alone. Alone. Alone. Her ears pounded with fear and fading adrenalin, and tears cascaded down Malta's face.

She couldn't get the images of her 2p! out if her head. The longer, darker hair and the frilly pink shirt that hid an empty heart had been burned in her memory. The flared and ripped jeans always ruffled in the wind.

Malta choked down a sob. Her 2p! was on the loose, she was alone, and she didn't know if the others were okay.

"Prussia? Romano? France? Spain?" Malta called hopelessly. To no surprise, there was no response. The only noise was the rattling of branches in the warm May wind. She leaned against a tree and stared up at the stars, praying everything would end well.