Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...The ticking of the clock with the choir of cricket chirps outside was all that could be heard that quiet night as Alex just layed in bed by himself. Unable to sleep at all with thoughts of his parents and having a near death experience just hours before weighed his mind down. Eventually he turned and looked at the clock and noticed it was still around 4am.

"ugh...I can't sleep…" Alex sighed. He decided to get up and grab a glass of water. As he was walking he heard a click coming from the living room. He paused and quickly tiptoed to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He could hear the front door opening and footsteps coming closer and closer. He then grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed the police, but for some reason they didn't pick up the phone. Soon clashes and loud banging originated from beyond the door. It's official; someone has broken in and was probably wanting money. Alex then texted the one person he knew/hoped was awake at this ungodly hour.

"Hey, So uh. There are like robbers at my house right now and The cops aren't picking up. Could you like, uh; please come over here asap and help me? Thanks."

Send to

Serena

Sent!

Chapter 9

The Downfall

Waiting for a response while the commotion was going on inside the house was making Alex so nervous until finally a vibration hit his phone, it was a response from Serena. Alex clicked on the message and facepalmed himself upon reading it.

"EYO ALEX MAH BOI, WHAT UP HOMIE. R U CEREAL ABOUT DEM ROBBERS? I HAVE A NET IF THAT WOULD HELP LOL. MUCH LOVE, PEACE. SERENA~"

He quickly replied with lightning speed.

"Serena this isn't a joke please send help."

And Serena sent back a "very educated" response.

"WAIT WUT OMG U SERIOUS MMKAY I ON MY WAY OMG HANG ON BRO."

Alex sighed as he just now witnessed the full extent of Serena's texting vocabulary, A vocabulary that should never be underestimated. "Ugh, I can't wait for her to get here. I've got to at least see what this robber is trying to take…" Alex thought to himself. He looked around the small bathroom and grabbed the shower curtain rod. He took a deep breath and slowly unlocked the door. When he stepped into the hall and crept near the living room, he saw a person digging through the bookshelves that rested along the back wall of the room. Alex raised the rod in the air and swung downwards as hard as he could. The figure below however caught the rod and kicked Alex square in the stomach, sending him back a few feet.

"Who the hell are you and why are you here?!" Alex yelled. "Let's just say that I'm one your friend's colleagues, sent to find something important for her." The thief replied as it went back to scrounging the place. "Ok first off: No. Second off: Just which friend do you speak of and finally: GET OUT." Alex demanded. The thief just giggled before he hit him one last time on the head, causing him to black out.

When he regained consciousness he found himself sitting in the living room armchair while policemen searched around the place. Eventually one of the policemen walked to him and gave him a blanket.

"T-Thanks.." Alex said.

"You're welcome son, how are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess, My head hurts from the robbery but other than that I'm still here."

"That's good to hear, Son my name is Officer Walkins and I'm the head investigator on this robbery. Your friend Serena called us after she saw the door open and seeing the place as it is." The officer replied.

"I'm grateful for that, is she still here?"

"She certainly is, You'll be able to talk to her once I ask you a few questions. Do you think you'll be able to do that?"

"Y-Yeah..I Guess so…" Alex replied with a deep sigh.

After the two finished playing ask and reply, Alex walked outside the front door. The street was illuminated by the flashing lights of two police cars outside. Some of the neighbors were outside wondering just what was going on as he walked out, Alex saw Serena dosing off by his front gate.

"Hey Serena, How are you?" Alex asked.

"Yaaaaaaaawwwwnnnnn.. I'm alright, The officers just asked me a few questions about when I got here. I'm really hungry though, You know you called me when I was halfway through my midnight snack." Serena pouted.

"Oh..I'm sorry..? Um, I have some poptarts in my pantry if you'd like them.."

"...what kind."

"S-Strawberry Sprinkle I believe…"

"Yes please!" Serena yelled as she ran inside.

Alex fixed up a couple poptarts in the toaster for the two of them as Serena looked around his house.

"Wow...Whoever was in here did a real number in here.." She observed.

"Yeah..I really don't know what that guy wanted, I haven't really had a chance to look around myself either.." Alex said.

"Perhaps you should take a look aroun-"

"PING!"

"HOLD UP." Serena interrupted herself to somehow miraculously run from the living room to the kitchen, and catch the poptart mid-flight.

"H...H...How did you.."

"I'm a fan of poptarts. What can I say?"

"...I'm going to look around the living room...Enjoy your tarts.." Alex walked away as Serena feasted on her aerodynamic tarts.

He searched the bookshelves where he saw the thief in. A lot of the books were knocked off in the disarray and even some of the pictures were knocked off as well. He sighed as he picked up a frame with him and his parents. Amongst the damage he didn't really notice anything too noticeable missing until he saw a certain frame.

"What the… this picture of Mom and Aunt Jessie.. Why is it out of the frame?"

He picked up the photo and noticed a part of it was folded back. He folded the section back into place and saw an older looking man with shoulder length white hair and what appeared to be an expensive looking black suit. He appeared to have a smirk on his face.

"...And just who is this guy? This picture was taken a few months before I was born I believe, Yet I don't ever remember meeting him...This is getting weirder and weirder." He said to himself.

The police had eventually wrapped up their investigation and Officer Walkins was ready to leave.

"Alrighty Kid, We've finished looking around here. Unfortunately we haven't found much to go off of, but we'll call you if we need anything alright?"

"Yes sir, Thanks again for coming out here. I appreciate your help."

"Of course, It's all part of the job! We can also take your friend home on the way back to the station, She looks ready to go home." He noticed as Serena had apparently fallen asleep on the dining room table with half a poptart in her mouth.

"Haha...Yeah that would probably be best. Oh by the way Officer, I actually tried calling you guys whilst the thief was in here but it never went through. Are you guys having problems with your phones at the station?" Alex inquired.

"Absolutely not! Our phones were just checked yesterday as luck would have it, and they were in tip top shape!" Walkins boasted.

"Alright.. Just wondering. Have a good night Officer, Thanks again."

"No problem Kid, Stay safe and call us if you need anything."

"Absolutely. Good night."

"Good night."

And with that; Walkins picked up Serena and put her in the back seat and drove away. Alex felt very tired, being that it was almost 6 am. Luckily it was a Saturday so there was no school and he could go back to sleep. He tidied up around the house before resorting to the beautiful temple that was his bed and eventually, falling asleep.

Vanessa was sitting right by the throne that belonged to her leader simply known as "Master". She awaited for her servant that she sent to raid the house that belonged to the body which hosted her spirit, To which the servant finally came back.

"Well? Find what I needed?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes Ma'am! It was simple to find once I knocked that kid out!" The monster said as it gave a black velvet box to Vanessa.

She opened the box and was pleased with it's contents.

"You've done well my dear child, I'll be sure to use you for future missions." Vanessa praised.

The monster bowed and disappeared within the darkness. Vanessa pulled out a Gold necklace with a dark amethyst gem on it.

"Is that what I think it is?" The man to her left asked.

"Yes Master, This is the necklace I hid while I was there. I hid it there in case I needed some extra strength. And now that I have this, It'll be easy to get that pure heart crystal the boy holds." Vanessa plotted.

"Since you've decided to resort to this option, know this is the last time I am putting my trust in you."

"W-Wait what?!"

"You've failed all of those attacks in the past, and time and time again my trust in you has diminished. You appeared to have known how disappointed I was each time you've done this, So I am sure you'll understand when I tell you this is your last chance to get me a pure heart crystal. Otherwise I'll have to find someone else." He said sternly.

"B...But…Sigh..Alright, I understand Master. This time, There will be no mistakes." Vanessa versed.

"I will start planning for this last attack, And this time… There will be no mistakes."

TO BE CONTINUED...