Hilde sunk low in her chair. It has been two years since she has been here. Things have changed, a lot. More homes and stores have popped up. This is a good thing because there are more people. New people. People who don't know her.
Still she can't help but feel trapped.
Hilde has no idea how Quatre convinced her to come. But somehow he did and now she is here sitting in a café surrounded by people. Hilde looks down at her clothes. God that was an odd phone call.
("Hey mom." It has been two years and three weeks since she spoke to any of her family. Hilde cringes when she hears nothing. 'Maybe they forgot about me?')
("Hello Hilde." Came her mother's sweet voice. Hilde placed a hand over her mouth to stop her gasp and tears. It was so good to hear her mother's voice. Shaking it off she talks.)
("Uh…I'm going to use a free day and will need some clothes." There is a long pause. "Can you bring something over?")
("I'll come over later today to drop something off.")
("Thanks…Mom.")
("Sure." Another long pause comes over them. "I guess you should go?")
("Yeah. I guess. Um, bye?")
("Good bye Hilde.")
A deep sigh escapes from Hilde as she sinks more into her seat. She looks up to Quatre who was enjoying a milkshake (Newberry gave them ten dollars each.). Beside him is the copy of the 'Murder Mystery'. After a few sips of his milkshake he would flip through the pages and then look around the room.
"Do you know what he looks like?"
"Um? Uh, no. I don't. But he wrote about the café here. I thought maybe he would be on a laptop." He looks around the room. "Or something." Hilde looks at the people and sees no one on a laptop.
"Maybe they are at the park?" She says.
"Why?"
"Well." She sits up to lean closer to him. "They did leave off with the letter to Baby to instruct him to go to the park. Maybe they are there writing about what they are seeing?" His eyes light up and nods in agreement. So the two head off to Black Hills.
Black Hills is almost in the center of town. It's a large grassy park with rolling hills (great for skating), benches, trees and a manmade pound. Today the park is crowed with people. Yesterdays rain stopped them from enjoying the park so today they are making up for it.
"Let's see. There is the café." Quatre stands with his back to the parks entrance. He looks over the story to find the place where Killer was supposed to have left Test's necklace, a gold chain with a gold reef of roses shaped as a heart. "So the trashcan must be behind us." They both turn and there it is, the trashcan Baby is supposed to go to. They walk over to it and Hilde looks around to see if anyone could be this 'Author'. All she sees is mothers with their children, people walking their dogs, joggers but nothing else that got her. "Ok. Baby is supposed to walk seven steps toward the playground." He turns to face the play ground to the left of him and walks. Hilde rolls her eyes. Looking at her watch she see they have five minutes to meet Ed, the guy who drove them.
"Quatre. I don't want to be a pain but lets go. We have five minutes to meet Ed! Come on!" Quatre turns around quickly to say something but he trips on his one feet and falls face down on the ground. "QUATRE?!" Hilde rushes to his side. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah. I just tripped on something."
"Yeah your own feet!" Hilde laughs.
"No Hilde." He says in a scared voice. " I tripped on this." Hilde looks at his shoes and sees a gold chair wrapped around it. Hilde reaches over and picks it up. She holds it up so both can look at it. It is a gold chain with a gold reef of roses shaped as a heart dangling on it. "Oh boy."
"Oh God Hilde! It's . . . it's . . ."
"Oh no, oh no Quatre. I know what you are thinking. It's not…it can't be."
"Hey?" Both look up to see a woman with black thick curly hair that runs untamed down to her midsection. She smiles at them and offers to help. "You ok? You had a nasty fall!"
"Oh thank you." Says Quatre. Hilde smiles a thank you. She puts the necklace in her pocket.
"No problem young man." The woman turns around and returns to the bench she was sitting at. Hilde grabs Quatre's arm once the woman left.
"Come on. We need to go!" Hilde walks away but Quatre stays.
"Hilde!" He pleas. "It IS her necklace!" Hilde comes to a stop as Quatre walks to her. "We have to go to the police!" Hilde balls her fists up. How? How can they when they live at Newberry? They would laugh at them and they would both be sent back to the 'Resort'. No one will believe them. She doesn't even believe it herself so how can she convince the police that some psycho is posting their killings on the web? Hilde turns around to tell Quatre that it is all crazy and not real when she sees something. Someone.
"Quatre…L-look behind you." Quatre sees the fear in her eyes and does as she says. Slowly he turns and he too becomes scared.
"Baby." He whispers. A man around his 20's stands next to the trashcan. He is just like Author said he would be, tall, handsome, brown hair that covers over half of his face and green eyes. He turns around to look at the café, unaware that he is being watched. He looks to the playground and then takes seven steps. Hilde grabs the necklace in her pocket and Quatre holds his breath. There in front of him is a person he knows without even meeting. He knows this man's pain. He read everything this man has gone through. Suddenly Quatre feels sick.
Hilde licks her lips as she tries to think of what to do. But suddenly a hand grabs her shoulder and jerks her around. She lets out a scream, drawing the attention of Baby.
He is kneeling on the ground looking for the necklace when Hilde's scream pulls him away. He watches as a large man turns her around. He has cold blue eyes and looks mad as hell. But that doesn't matter to him. What does is what came out of Hilde's pocket.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Says the man.
"Ed!" Hilde squeaks. "Uh, we where uh…"
"Leaving?" Hilde hangs her head.
"But Ed!" Says Quatre. Hilde glares at him, telling him to be quiet. And for some reason he knows it's for the best.
"Move it you two. I swear. You act like you're five!" As the three leave Baby comes up to where Hilde stands. He watches them enter a car before looking down. Baby's eyes widen as he picks up the necklace.
"Catherine." He whispers.
"OhmyGod, OhmyGod! Oh my God! Hilde! It's all real!" Hilde sets on the edge of her tub. The bathroom is the only room where they can have the door closed. She rests her head in her hands. Quatre walks back and forth in front of her. "What we read is real!"
"I know." She whimpers. "It's all messed up! I mean, things like this shouldn't happen!"
"What are we going to do? We have to do something!"
"We can't tell the police but we can't just do nothing!"
"I'll leave a review on their story…"
"No Quatre. They might take it down. This story my be the only thing we have to stop them."
"We?" Quatre sees a new light. Yes! They should do it! If he can help Baby then maybe he can finally have his closer. "Yes! But how? We're stuck in here?"
"On our other free day …"
"Hilde. That's a month away!"
"Yeah. We need to tell someone out there so they can go to the police!"
"Who?" Hilde thinks this over. Suddenly a flash of a charming smile, braid, cane and purple eyes comes to her.
"Duo."
"Ok. But how can we get to him?"
"We can ask for another free day if we have been really good."
"Really?" Quatre says as he opens the door. Hilde nods but stays where she is. They can ask but she hasn't been very good.
Quatre runs to go find a nurse. Upon finding one he puts on his charm.
"Hey! Thanks for letting us go today. I had lots of fun. Almost forgot what the real world is like!"
"Why thank you Quatre. I'm glad you had fun."
"CanIhaveanotherfreeday?"
"W-what?"
"Can I have another free day? And Hilde too?" The nurse crosses her arms.
"Well, you have been good. But I don't know?"
"Please! I'll clean the whole hall!"
"Oh fine. How about next week?"
"We need it tomorrow!" Says Hilde as she walks to them.
"Hilde. You haven't been very good. I don't think you can go. Quatre yes. You? No."
"I'll take kitchen duty for a week!" The hall falls silent as Hilde; the I-will-never-get-off-my-ass-and clean Hilde says she will take kitchen duty for a week! The nurse's mouth hangs open from shock. Quatre smiles at his friend.
"Fine. If you take kitchen duty for the week you can go."
"Tomorrow?" They both say.
"Tomorrow."
"Thanks!" They run off together to Hilde's room.
"Wow, she really said ok." Hilde says with a smile. Quatre couldn't help himself and hugs her. Hilde stiffens, not knowing what to do.
"Thank you Hilde." He whispers.
"What? For taking kitchen duty for a week so we can stop some killer?" She hugs him back. "Anytime Quatre. Anytime."
Hilde lies in her bed. They had tried to get online but the Internet was down again. Deciding it was a lost cause they called it a night. Yet Hilde can't sleep. She keeps thinking about AP, Baby and their sisters. How could a human do something so cruel? Hilde also thinks about Duo but her thoughts are cut off by a scream. She sits up.
"Quatre?" Hilde runs out of her room, like the other patients. She sees nurses and doctors running into Quatre's room. "Quatre!" Hilde yells as she pushes people to the side to make her way. A nurse grabs her to prevent her from helping Quatre. Doctors pull him out and take him away. He fights with all his might, screaming and yelling.
"HE'S KILLING HER! HE'S GOING TO! HAVE TO STOP HIM!" Quatre locks eyes with Hilde. "HILDE!! HE'S KILLING HER!" He yells are the elevator's door closes. The nurse lets go and tells everyone to leave. Hilde just stands there, Quatre's words sinking in. She turns and runs back to her room and closes her door. She rushes to her computer and turns it on.
"Come on! Come on!" Once the computer is on she types in the address and the 'Murder Mystery' opens up. Hilde moves to the new chapter and starts to read. "He was there!" Author talks about Quatre and herself. "I'm not short!" She reads on but stops when it gets to Baby. The words where as if someone were describing their lover. They spoke fondly of him, about how he smelled good and everything. It was sick knowing that the killer was in their park fantasying about this poor guy. The same guy whose sister they have.
Hilde reads on. She reads how the killer follows Baby until he enters his Motel and then they go drop a note to AP and laugh about him. Then the killer goes 'home'. They don't say what it is or where, just that it has white tiles. And they had said earlier that they love to see blood spilled on white tile.
"Oh God." Tears fill her eyes as she reads the last part.
(Killer watches her struggle. She still fights, even with a broken body. What a will. It will bring great pleasure to kill her. To watch her blood flow, free from their bondages of flesh. Killer smiles as they think of the white tile covered with her blood. But she isn't broken in mind, only in body. She truly is a 'test'.
Killer kneels down.
Her death will make Killer even more powerful than Smiles did. But first she must be broken before the tiles can taste her blood. Killer will have to wait.
They raise the knife.
Maybe the tiles can have a little taste.)
tbc…