Brendan's mom never woke him, she always left without a word, knowing he'd go to school if he was well enough. He didn't. He stayed at home, reading until he heard the shrill ring of his phone around 2. "Brendan, Kara says if you want to see her, she'll be in her dressing room at 4. She doesn't want to meet with you in the open. You gunna go?"

"Yeah, I'll go I guess. It could be a bad idea, but I'll go."

"Ok, I gotta go, but I'll talk to later."

"Wait, one more thing, did you see Amala today?"

"Yeah, I kept an eye out, she's ok, I think, for now at least."

"Alright, want to walk her home, or wherever she's staying for me? I just want to make sure she gets there ok."

"And loose the ace tail?"

"I have a feeling that if you're with Amala, he'll be near by, just make sure she gets in alright, once she's in she should be safe enough."

"Alright, I'll take care of it. Have fun meeting with Kara."

"Fun, Kara, right. I'll see what I can do." Brendan was monotone, he didn't feel in the mood to make a joke.

"Ok, I really have to go now, the bells ringing." Brendan could hear the faint ring in the background, and he allowed Brain to hang up. At 3 he pulled his jacket on over his plain grey shirt, and headed slowly towards school, still not in perfect condition. He headed towards the drama department, and walked unseen into Kara's dressing room.

"Hello Brendan," she drawled as he entered. "To what do I owe this pleasure? Are you finally looking to get back in with me?"

"No Kara, I'm not. I came to ask you about your involvement with Brad Bramish, and Amala Bates." Brendan sat down without being invited, and Kara looked disgusted with him.

"What do you want to know?"

"What is up with you and Brad, and why you are using Amala."

"So the little bitch spilled all?" Kara seemed annoyed as she looked down at her perfectly manicured nails.

"No, most of I figured out, with some help from a friend, she only spilled when I threatened her. I just want to know why you were bothering yourself with her."

"She's new, vulnerable, adorable, and has similar mannerisms to Em, I figured if anyone could pull you down off of your high horse it was her. What does it matter to you anyway?"

"Let's see, why could it possibly matter? Well, possibly because it entirely concerns me! You took the first vulnerable kid that you could mold, and you used her to get to me, then you had some yeg beat me up, telling her to keep me there." Brendan's tone was icy cold, and he knew it.

"Well, looks like she fucked up didn't she. She didn't keep you there, you got away." Kara was rather nonchalant about the whole thing.

"Hey Kara, do you have any jake on you?" Brendan suddenly had an idea.

"Oh Brendan, I always do," Kara replied in a sugary tone. "Why? Would you like some finally?"

"Yes, I think so." Brendan knew that Kara could probably see right through him, but he hoped that she would at least hand over the junk.

"What are you playing at? It's definitely something, you don't want to smoke." Kara pulled a little bag from her drawer.

"It doesn't matter, just let me see the junk for a minute." Brendan just needed a look, needed a brand name.

"Why?"

"Just wondering what you switched to after you got Dode killed."

"I switched to the Pins brand."

"The Pin's dead Kara, where are you getting your junk?" Brendan was being coy with her, hoping to confuse her enough to get something out of her.

"How little you know. You can't kill the Pin, just one of them, someone always takes over." She gave a devilish laugh.

"Oh, so Brad's the new Pin is he?" asked Brendan,

"Dear god no!" Kara threw back her head and laughed.

"Then why are you wasting your time with him?"

"Who says I am?"

"You are Kara, people have been seeing you sneaking around with him, so spill, what's the deal there? Is he in with the Pin?"

"What makes you think I would tell you?"

"I didn't think you would. See you."

"Hopefully not anytime soon." Brendan stood and left, not even looking back. She has given him everything he needed, whether she knew it or not. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small packet of white powder. Looking carefully at the label, he decided the only way to figure out who's it was would be to compare it to other people's junk. He pocketed it, deciding that wasn't the most important thing. Brendan decided that calling Brain and seeing what was up with Amala was the right thing to do. Walking up to a pay phone and sticking his money, Brendan waited for Brain to pick up.

"Hey, has Amala gotten to the hotel alright?" asked Brendan.

"Brendan…I'm really sorry, I um lost her around 3:30." Brain sounded as though he though Brendan was going to hurt him.

"YOU WHAT!" asked Brendan loudly.

"I lost her, I have no idea how! She went in to the girl's bathroom, and I waited outside for about a half an hour and she never came out. I'm sorry." This news was upsetting to Brendan. Maybe she saw Brain and thought Kara or someone was having her watched. Brendan tried to reason with himself through his uncertainty.

"Well, we're just going to have to deal with this aren't we?" Brendan spoke through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I can try to watch for her tomorrow, and you should probably come to school and talk to her as well." Brendan agreed with what Brain was saying.

"Yeah, I think I will. I'm actually going to try to locate her now, so I'll talk to you later." Brendan hung up with out waiting for a response. "SHIT!" he said out loud to no one in particular, but several people looked at him. He turned away, not caring. It only took him about five minutes to get home, he was a fast runner. He went up to his room, and was about to reach for his phone when something caught his eye, a piece of paper on his bed that he was sure hadn't been there when he left for his meeting with Kara. He reached for it, and opened the fold slowly, and nervously.

Dear Brendan,

You really have gotten yourself back into the swing of things haven't you? Causing trouble with my friends again, you think you would have learned the first time, when Em died. Well, you will this time. I need you to come to the place where you found Em's body at midnight tonight, and you will come.

Love, L.D.

P.S. Amala misses you very much.