Beca was now back into her house. It was a bit foreign to her now but she really missed this place. At least, for now, she felt a bit more comfortable and that she could move on her own without thinking about bothering anyone. She was able to observe that Luke had never come back ever since she left. His car never drove by again and she would pass by her house occasionally just to check on it. Her visits confirmed that it was safe enough to go back. She only stayed over at Jesse's for a certain amount of time because of security purposes and because the stepbrothers insisted that she did. Right now, she was in the safety of the comfort of her own new home. And she now had time to think of her own.

Jesse's confession was still on her mind. It was just sudden and she was still questioning her own feelings. She didn't want to turn him down at all, she had no intention to. She just needed a bit more time and was beyond glad with Jesse's response to her decision. It was unexpected really, but this was Jesse, and he is probably one of the most considerate people in the world. How can he even like someone like Beca Mitchell? That was a question for herself.

Beca just came home after a trip to the grocery store to grab a few stuff and to get herself some dinner from a local diner as well. She was too exhausted to cook, and she was getting tired of the choices of food that is limited to her knowledge in cooking. Damn, she really needs to get more lessons in the kitchen. Maybe Jesse could help her whip up some new food.

As if on cue to her arrival at home and placing all of the merchandise she just picked up in their proper places of the cupboards and fridge, the doorbell rings and Beca opens up to a delivery. Surprised, Beca signs the papers as the deliveryman hands the box over to her and leaves. The box was white a little big, the typical huge present size given during birthday parties. It wasn't wrapped up but it was taped on top.

Beca went to the living room to place the box on the coffee table. She searched around for a cutter to slice open the sealed package. Based on its weight, the content wasn't heavy and it was contained because Beca didn't hear any heavy shaking from inside. When she got it open, a box filled with stuffing and an envelope on top was what welcomed her.

Curiously, Beca took the envelope and opened it up. There was no address stated on the envelope, just her name. When she took out the folded paper inside, Beca read it in her mind.

I thought I'd welcome you to this humble town, particularly down this lane.

Do you like games, dear? Because we are about to begin one that will surely keep you going. Would you like to know the rules?

They're simple, actually. I just send you a gift and you figure out what it means for the rest. Oh, and keep these to yourself, a certain special someone might be under our microscope if anyone else knows, so be cautious darling.

This is going to be fun. I'll be watching how you play. ;)

What the hell was that all about? There was no signature in the note, only clean handwriting that looked like it came straight out of a printer. Beca stuffed the paper back into the envelope and wondered what was underneath all that stuffing. What did this person mean by a present? When Beca dug throughout that stuffing, she jumped back and screamed at what she saw. Maybe this delivery was a mistake, maybe it wasn't really for her. Maybe this package was meant to be shipped to someone who liked playing with such things. Maybe this was meant for someone involved in the dark arts. It was just ridiculous just by even thinking about it but no, Beca read it clearly on the papers that it was indeed stated in her address and in her name. What the hell was going on?

Following her silence-shattering shriek, she had another visitor because there was a sound of knocking coming from her front door. Beca immediately placed all the stuffing back into the box and the envelope on top of the rest before she shut the lid of the box and rushed it up to her bedroom. Beca quickly placed the box in her closet before slamming the doors closed and she rushed back down to welcome in her guest.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?" Beca asked as the ginger made her way inside once the front door was made open, not even waiting for another second for Beca to speak. The ginger had a brown paper bag in her hands filled with whatever goods she might have brought with her. It seems like she came from the grocers as well.

"I know we're bound to be best friends. I know that's actually Jesse's role and you probably have a best friend somewhere else around the country, but I will get attached to you so better start now," Chloe rambled as she kept walking towards the kitchen with Beca following her.

"What's with all the goods, red?" Beca askd, crossing her arms as she looks at Chloe take out all her merchandise from the bag.

"I'm cooking dinner. I know you're not the best cook in the world and I so happened to have good culinary skills," Chloe said without looking back at Beca and just continued with preparing.

"How-" Beca was about to ask how Chloe knew that she somehow sucked at cooking but decided to go against it.

"I told you we're going to be the best of friends, even sisters," that was the only instance Chloe lifted up her head to glance at Beca. It was only for a split second but it was something.

"Anyway, what are you planning in making? What can I do?" Beca asked the busy redhead.

"I'm making Bacon and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. I know you love bacon, cheese, and potatoes, so I thought about mixing it all together in one meal. It's a mystery how small you are considering all the calories in these. You can handle whatever drinks you want to match with this," Chloe continued with preparing her ingredients.

Beca was a bit flustered at Chloe since she awfully knew a lot about her. She didn't even have trouble looking around to know where all the equipment and utensils she needed were placed. Okay, this was weird. But Beca guessed the ginger was just being as she is. She would brush it off but it was still weird. Beca then just followed Chloe and left the ginger to do her handiwork in the kitchen. She somehow did a double take when she realized Chloe mentioned her small built. She had a weird and rapid metabolism, okay? And she wasn't too gifted with genes of a tall person.

After almost less than an hour, their food was all ready and placed on the dining table. It seemed all fancy and properly placed because even the plates and utensils on the table were set in order like those in a grand dinner inside the royal palace. A big plate of Chloe's masterpiece was placed in the middle along with some cold juice that Beca prepared. She made sure it tasted good and she was proud of that. They both took their seats and continued with conversations over food.

"So, how was it?" Chloe asked after shoving a forkful of mashed potatoes in her mouth.

"How was what?" Beca replied with another question as she took a serving of food and put it on her plate.

"You know, Jesse. Did he tell you forwardly? What did you say? Have you decided?" Chloe rambled on with more and more questions even though there was still a good amount of food in her mouth. Beca feared that some may come spilling out if Chloe wouldn't chew already.

"We talked about it and he admitted his feelings for me," Beca said and shrugged.

"And?" Chloe asked, having this effect of a cliffhanger.

"And what?" Beca raised her eyebrow in question.

"What did you say? What did you tell him?" Chloe blurted out. Beca was glad that her mouth was empty already.

"Well, I didn't tell him directly but I told him to just give me some time to think and understand before I really give him the answer," Beca replied while playing with her fork, not looking at Chloe.

"What was his reaction?" Chloe asked.

"He understood and said that he would give me all the time I need. He told me that he's not rushing or forcing me into anything and that nothing would change between us. He said that he's always going to be there for me whenever I need him and even on ordinary days," Beca told. She smiled in her head at Jesse being such a considerate person. He really was the sweetest and she somehow feels like she doesn't deserve him at all.

"Oh, Jesse, always the one to give way and understand," Chloe sighed.

"Hey, Chloe," Beca looked up put down her fork.

"What?" The ginger asked.

"I don't think I deserve someone like Jesse," Beca almost whispered.

"Beca, I don't know your story. I don't know Jesse's full story either, just partially. But I can't deny what the two of you have. Whenever I'm around, I can see how he looks at you. It's sincere and real, I'm pretty sure you already know that. But I can also see how you look at him, there's something in your eyes and I can see how they shine. Whether you admit it already or not, I know you like him. It's not that I'm throwing it out there ahead of you; you might have your own reason to be thinking about it. I'm just telling you what I'm seeing as someone who cares for the both of you. Besides, unless you're a cold-hearted bitch that's all fake and is a spur of Satan from hell like Alice -that girl helped bring victories to the Bellas but none of those would compare to what she did to him- you deserve someone like Jesse, and he deserves you too," Chloe explained.

Yet again, Chloe's giving Beca things that she expected to hear. She doesn't really know if it's what she wants to hear or if it was what she had to hear. What she knows is that Jesse is one special dude, a very special one in her life. In the matter of time that she was around here, he was there all throughout. He managed to worm his way into her life and she couldn't be more thankful for it. She just still doesn't know how to label her feelings for him. Maybe she did like him, but something was holding her back. She doesn't exactly know yet what it is. Maybe it's her past experience with horrible relationships? Maybe it's the worry about Jesse's past experience as well? Or maybe it was something else? There's nothing specific yet to comprehend but she has this feeling in her gut that's keeping her from admitting it.


When Chloe left, it was already around 8 in the evening. Aside from another lovelife interrogation from Chloe, the other only thing that was in Beca's mind was the weird package she got from earlier. Beca didn't know what to do, whether this would be a serious thing or not. To fix her judgment, she took out the box from her closet and opened it up again. It was a shocking sight and it made her uncomfortable, but Beca's curiosity and hunch would still prevail.

When she took out the envelope and placed it beside her, Beca emptied out the box from all the stuffing that served as protection for the main product inside. What was inside were two dolls, its clothes painted in red and charred into blackness, its doll heads were replaced with skulls. The plastic form was a bit melted and it reeked from the smell of the burned chemical. On the top of the skull, etched was a drawing of a black flame.

Who the hell would be playing this kind of game? What kind of psychopath would replace cute little doll heads with hollow skulls, covering the bodies with red paint and partially burning them? If this was really a game then it would be a sick one. Despite that, Beca was curious on why she was given this. It was scaring the hell out of her. She dares to find out.

Beca's hand sort of took control of itself as it carefully grasped one of the two dolls. The paint was dry and made the material of the clothes rougher than they should be. Despite the dry coloring, it left evidence on her hands. Beca flipped the doll around to see something written on its back in metallic colored ink.

If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned…

The phrase trails off with multiple periods and makes Beca think if there was more to this message. As she puts back the doll in her hands, she takes the other one and flips it over just like what she did to the other one.

A bigger fire than you would think...

What do these words even suppose to portray? Two dolls with skulls for heads and have black flames etched on top, burned to blackness and have clothes painted in crimson red, two phrases written on the back of each doll. This is just sick. Whoever is making this joke is insane. Pranksters are just going over the limit with jokes. This wasn't funny at all. Beca, out of frustration, throws the doll back in the box and puts back all of the stuffing inside to cover it up. No one would want to see something like this when they opened the box. Beca took the box and ran down the stairs to place it beside the rest of the trash to be disposed.

After making sure that it was out of the way, Beca didn't hesitate to run to the nearest sink to wash her hands and rid of the red stain brought by the dried paint. She scrubbed her palms and fingers very well until there was no more sign of leftover stain. Gladly it wasn't too much or her hands would have been aching more to remove it all. Walking over to the kitchen counter, she let out a heavy sigh after drying her hands on one of the towels hanging beside it.

Beca's phone started to ring and took her phone out of her pocket to see a familiar name of a certain nerd appearing on her caller ID. Clicking on the green phone button to answer the call, she placed the device against her ear.

"Hey nerd, what's up?" Beca greeted and leaned on the counter.

"How's the first day of being back home again?" Jesse replies with another question.

Beca's thoughts go back to the mysterious package delivered to her earlier. She remembers the messed up dolls, the phrases, and the beginning note placed inside the envelope. She remembers the message and its threat. Not that she plans to believe it, but she doesn't mention it to Jesse.

"I'm doped. Chloe came barging over and made dinner for the both of us," Beca said instead. It was true. She was tired and she had a visitor, she just left out that certain detail about the package and whatever she and Chloe talked about.

"Becs, I know I said that I would give you time but it would crush me to know that you would turn me down for another woman. To add to it, she's married!" Jesse says on the phone.

"Shut up, Swanson," a grin appears on her face.

"Really, Becs. I'm devastated," Jesse says, pretending to be hurt. Beca could imagine him putting a hand on his chest where his heart is supposed to be. She laughed at the image.

"All my digs are on the male species, you don't have to worry about that," Beca says and chuckles.

"I am sincerely crossing my fingers with all the hope in the world that you are pertaining to only one of all kinds," he was probably really crossing his fingers right now.

"I haven't gotten my pick yet, so who knows," Beca shrugged.

"If you ever have a hard time choosing, just do remember that this certain specie has all the goods you could love to have," Beca could almost hear him wiggling his eyebrows along with that comment.

"Stop grossing me out, you're gonna lose your chance," Beca says mockingly.

"Whoops. Can't let that happen. I am still bound to sweep you off your feet, though," Jesse says in a serious tone but Beca knows there is still humor in his words.

"I like my feet firm on the ground, thank you,"

"I told you we're gonna be best friends and/or lovers. Since we already accomplished the first part, it's time for phase two,"

"Good luck with that," she chuckles.

"You know persistence is my middle name,"

"No, your middle name is Gabriel," she deadpans.

"Technically, yes. But you get the picture," he replied, having no good comebacks for her answer.

Beca just laughed at his lack of comebacks.

"Anyway, I'm gonna be passing by over your house tomorrow to get your door fixed if it's alright," Jesse says, switching topics.

"Oh my god, finally! It's been really creepy sleeping in my room with the door left open even just a bit. I feel like someone's watching me every night," she shivered at the idea of it.

"You actually look beautiful when you sleep," he almost whispered.

"That doesn't make it any less creepy," Beca replied. Heck, seriously, having someone watching you sleep isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Although, she must admit, Beca did blush at Jesse's comment. Not that he needs to know.

"Anyway, Kolio called me earlier and said that he had to leave town for a day to take care of something personal so he needs someone to stay with Lily. I would volunteer but I remembered that time you got Lily to tame down so I thought maybe you could come over and stay with her. Besides, it gives me a reason to feel a bit more relaxed knowing you're not going to be alone in your house. So, is it okay for you to, somehow, babysit?" Jesse explained and asked.

"I would love to. I actually miss Lily. This would be a great time to catch up with her," Beca replied.

"Don't worry, I'll be coming over there to help," Jesse added.

"You fine with that?" Beca asked, just in case, she didn't want to bother Jesse.

"Totally, I miss playing with that girl too. I was her playmate before you came,"

"Too bad I got your spot. Okay," was all Beca said.

"Okay. So, be there after lunch the day after tomorrow," Jesse reminded.

"I'll remember that," Beca nodded.

"Great, I'll - Benji! You haven't done that since college. How the hell did you get stuck in the box again?! - I'm sorry, Benji's back to his old tricks again, I gotta go help him. So, I'll call you later?" Jesse shouted over the phone before lowering his voice down again to talk to Beca.

"Go get your stepbrother out of trouble and for whatever reason he's in a box," Beca furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Why would even Benji be inside a box?

"I'll explain later," Jesse chuckled and ended the call. Beca could hear him running before the line went dead. She laughed at the ridiculousness of the step-brothers, somehow wishing she could have the same bond with a sibling. Which reminds her, she could pay a visit to her dad and visit her little half-sister, she missed that little chump.


Beca was now back at the front door of a familiar looking house she and Jesse once broke into after hearing a loud shriek coming from inside it one night. She had a bag on her shoulder that contained clothes good enough for one night. She knocked on the door and was opened by someone almost as tall as her.

"Hey, Kolio. I hope Jesse informed you that I would come," Beca said as she flipped her hair over her shoulders.

"Oh, yeah. Come on in, he gave me a heads up but also said that he would be coming over later on to give you a hand. I hope I'm really not in any kind of disturbance, I really just have to take care of something important and I can't take Lily with me," Kolio explained as he ran into another room.

"No, it's alright. Besides, I missed your sister," Beca assured.

"Thanks, I'll be going now. If there's anything you need or anything else you want to know that could help, Jesse knows everything. He treats Lily as his own little sister so he knows a lot as well," Kolio rambled.

"Got it, take care Kolio," Beca said as she nodded at Kolio when he passed her, his bag hanging on his shoulder and making his way to a car in the driveway before continuing to drive off.

Beca closed the door behind her and walked into the house to check on Lily, wherever she may be. As she called out around the house, there was no answer, so she walked around from each room to check. When she got into the kitchen, she saw through the window that Lily was outside in the backyard, playing on a swing set that must have been set up out there especially for her. She looked so much like a happy girl, Beca smiled at that. When she stepped out of that backdoor, she looked around to a nice grassland with trees around, a bench in the corner, a shed that was a little bigger than the usual ones, a little sandbox, and a swing set.

Beca came out to go over to where Lily was. When she was a little over the backdoor, Lily saw her and beamed at her presence. The girl waved happily and called Beca over to join her on the swings. Beca followed so. Lily requested that Beca push her so she can go a bit higher and she enjoyed every minute of it. Lily giggled and seems like it wore off on her too.

When Lily thought she was done with the slides, she pulled Beca off to the grass where some toys were laid out. There was a fluffy stuffed bear and some dolls. When Lily sat down, Beca just stared at the dolls because they awfully looked familiar. The figure of the dolls, the built, the dresses, they all seemed familiar, like Beca had already seen them before.

She brushed it off and continued to follow Lily which pulled her down along to play with the dolls. Beca hasn't really played with toys for a while. Aside from the fact that she is already a grown woman, she wasn't the child who was lucky enough to have all the toys they wanted. Instead, she was stuck in the middle of chaos and was shielding herself from whatever was going on around her. Living in a messy family, she never got the joyous experience a child should've had.

"I never saw you as the doll type," a voice came from behind her.

Snapping out of playtime for a moment, Beca turned her head to see a nerd approaching where she sat with Lily.

"I'm not, never was," she replied as Jesse crouched down beside Lily.

"Hey Lily, how are you doing?" He asked Lily and just nodded her head without looking up, keeping her focus on the doll in her hands.

Jesse chuckled at Lily sort of ignoring him.

"She likes me more," Beca joked.

"It seems like you've caught her attention ever since that night. I was always her favorite," he replied.

They both laughed and kept playing with Lily. Aside from the dolls, which Jesse was actually so much into and it made Beca crack up because he looked like he had more experience with playing with them than she ever did, they played tag and even hide-and-seek. They had the best of time that they even forgot about how much the hours already went by.

"I want ice cream," Lily suddenly said.

"Do you have ice cream in the fridge?" Beca asked Lily and just shook her head meaning no.

"Is she allowed to have ice cream?" Beca asked, looking over at Jesse.

"She is, as long as she eats a proper meal first," Jesse answered and Beca nodded.

"I want ice cream," Lily said again, this time pouting a little bit.

"Okay, I'll go ahead and make a trip down to the grocers to grab some ice cream, what flavor do you like, Lily?" Jesse asked the girl and Lily beamed with excitement.

"Chocolate and Strawberry!" Lily clapped her hands excitingly.

"Okay, I'll grab a bucket for each," he said to Lily. "Do you want me to get dinner too?" He pointed to Beca this time.

"No, it's okay. I'll make dinner for us," Beca assured.

"Oh god, please don't set the house on fire," Jesse joked and earned him a light punch on the shoulder from Beca.

"Shut up, nerd. Nothing's going up in flames," she told.

Jesse just laughed and stood up before saying a temporary goodbye to both girls to make his trip for ice cream. When he left, Beca stayed with Lily in the backyard.

"Hey Lily, I'm gonna go on inside first to make some juice for you to drink, okay? Stay here," she told Lily and the girl nodded, back to being busy with her dolls.

Beca went inside to look around in the kitchen, checking in the cupboards and the fridge for juice and anything to use that is possible to make dinner with. She had asked a little about culinary from Chloe so she had added information about how to make food. She checked around as well for the kitchenware she might need, she also told herself to familiarize around the house so if she would be back to babysit Lily again, she would know her way around.

Time passed and Beca has prepared what she already needs for dinner. Grabbing the pitcher of juice and placing it on a tray along with two glasses. Beca placed it on the counter for a while to look out the window to see if Lily was still there. Surprisingly, she wasn't. Beca was a bit panicked before picking the tray up again to head on out back. When she barged out of that door, a shocking sight was what welcomed her.

She heard screaming and loud coughing. She hears things breaking like glass and metal tossed around as the shed in the backyard was up in flames.


A/N: And the further thrill starts now! New update! I really love the comments you guys give. It keeps me hyped up on this. I am almost speechless by all your support. I am also hoping that I won't disappoint you further on. Continue to let me feel your presence. Please do not hesitate at all to express what's on your mind about this fic. So don't forget to send me a review! I love you guys!