A/N: New chappie time! And this time, I have legitimate excuses for not posting.

A) On Saturday, I was basically a construction worker all day long.

B) On Sunday, I was out of town, so I didn't have access to my laptop. :(

Replies are at the end of the chapter :)

Me: Hamiltooooon!

Hamilton: I already did it!

Me: Did you? Oh, well. Do it again.

Hamilton: No.

Me: *crosses arms* Excuse me?

Hamilton: MrsJoshHutcherson112 doesn't own The 39 Clues.

Chapter 9: Disappearance

"AMY! WAKE UP NOW!"

I sat up in the bed, let my eyes adjust to the brightness of the morning sun shining through the window. I guess I did get some sleep after all.

Dan's voice had sounded so frantic, I ran out the room as fast as I could. "What?" I asked.

"Nellie's gone!" he exclaimed.

"Crap…" I groaned. "Are you sure?"

"I knocked on the door, like, fifteen times. I'm pretty sure," he responded.

"What's going on out here?" came Ian's voice from behind me.

"Apparently, Nellie's not in her room. Dan's freaking out," I told him.

"Of course I'm freaking out! Why aren't you?" He pointed a finger at me.

"Because she's probably just getting breakfast downstairs or something. She's not one to wait on us to get up. I'm sure we'll run into her," I said. Dan didn't hesitate to run to the elevator and press the button. He didn't even hold the doors open! What's gotten into him?

"What's his problem?" Eliza must have heard all the yelling.

"I have no idea," I said. "I guess we have to take the stairs, then."

"Go ahead. I have to take care of something," Eliza said. With that, she disappeared back in her room.

As Ian and I started down the stairs, that's when I really noticed him. His hair was stuck at odd angles, and he had bags under his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled slightly. Then I looked at my own attire. I hadn't had time to change and was still in my pajama pants and T-shirt.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I asked.

He shook his head, but didn't say anything.

We walked down another flight of steps, then I said –

"Was Natalie kidnapped, too?"

Again, Ian shook his head. "Isabel seemed to ignore her completely. If I didn't know any better, she looked slightly offended as I was dragged out the door."

I giggled at the mental image, then had another thought. "How exactly did she capture you? You were apparently conscious."

"I suppose you had the luxury of being knocked out. She injected me with a substance that temporarily paralyzes you, but you can still feel, see, hear, and smell everything. I felt the sharp gravel scrape my back when she took me out to the awaiting SUV. Then I was thrown into the – " he shuddered, " – cargo hold of the plane for the nine hour flight to Logan airport. Then of course, the collar…" I could make out a faint line on his neck where the electric loop had been.

I was about to say something else, but at that moment we reached the lobby, where Dan was marching toward us.

"Still no Nellie," he reported. Then he looked at us weirdly. "Why are you guys holding hands?"

"What the – " I said, then looked down. Somehow, my hand had slipped into Ian's. I yanked it away quickly, then speed-walked to the breakfast area. Dan was right. Nellie wasn't there.

I turned around. "You didn't see her walk past you or anything? Maybe she took a different elevator back up."

"I sent Eliza a text. She checked, too. Nellie isn't anywhere in the hotel," Dan said.

Still determined not to look at Ian, I made a leader-like decision. "Okay, with or without her, we still have to figure out what Isabel is up to. So if she's not back here by sundown, we have to leave. She can take care of herself. We still need to concentrate on what we're doing."

"But we can't just – " Dan started.

"Dan. We have to," I said.

He crossed his arms, but said nothing.

When the sun went down, we had been sitting in the hallway waiting for Nellie to get back for hours. Eliza had left around noon, saying she needed to meet with somebody a few blocks away. This girl was making a lot of alarms in my head go off, but Ian hadn't said anything about it, so I didn't dwell on it too much.

My watch beeped, announcing it was 9:00. The sun had finally set, and there was still no sign of Nellie.

Bad Amy! You have a boyfriend! (Soon to be ex, might I add ;)

Replies:

TheUltimateArtist: I. Freaking. Love. Him. He's the hottest guy on planet Earth.

bassethound1021: Yeah, but sadly, she's an important part of the story. And I needed a good excuse for her to be a main character. You'll see :)

shiningwaves: Lol XD I just love love. I can't explain it any simpler than that.

Michelle01142000: Okay, I'mma go chapter by chapter, here.
Pro.- Interesting theory, but no :) It'll make sense soon enough.
Ch2- Trust me, I hate him too. And I reaaaally hope he's the Vesper Mole.
Ch3- Yeah, but she has a boyfriend :/ I couldn't make that happen without it...you know...
Ch8- Ikr! She still has a boyfriend though. And since Ian knows that, he probably wouldn't do it anyway for fear of getting slapped :3
Thanks for reviewing every single one of my chapters! :D

I'll try to post again sooner this time. But it's kinda hard, considering my busy life. Plus, school starts Thursday :/ It'll be even harder then. Oh! I'm also going to start a 39 Clues/Percy Jackson crossover, if you'd be interested in that. Bye!

~Callie~