Chapter 20

"What do you think they'll do next?" Joe asked his brother as they made their way to the van. Callie and Vanessa were with them. Callie will be riding with the Hardys on the way home.

"I don't know but I've decided on one thing. Let's put our school works aside for this day and solve this case. Let's take a look at all the notes we've gotten and figure out what it means. We can't risk to have another attack!" Frank responded with a bothered look. He was distressed, since their house, his brother, he himself, his girlfriend and a schoolmate was now attacked and they still have no idea who is behind everything.

They reached their van and beside it was Vanessa's red sedan. "Make sure you have your brakes okay, Van," Joe said. "We're not taking any chances now."

"I know," was all his girlfriend replied as she opened the door of the driver's side and went inside. She turned on the ignition and tried the brakes. "It's okay, Joe."

"Sure?" came the apprehended reply of Joe Hardy.

Vanessa tried it again and gave a thumbs-up. She leaned over her open window while Joe went down to kiss her. "BE careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful," Vanessa gave him a wink but then added seriously, "I'll be fine, Joe. Don't worry. I'll call you right away when I get home."

"Okay. Bye," Joe said quietly. Callie and Frank both threw their "See ya tomorrow" and "Be careful" to Vanessa then she drove off.

Frank started the car while Callie climbed to the passenger's seat which left Joe to occupy the back seat. They drove in silence, each on their own thoughts, marveling how they could find the aggressor and the incentive covering him or her.

* * *

Vanessa drove with an average speed, Joe and Frank's precaution ringing in her mind. I hope this attacks will stop now without anybody else getting hurt. Gwyneth was one of her good friends in school aside from being her laboratory partner. What's her connection to the attacks? Is this a school prank? Or just another revenge to the Hardys? The latter thought brought a chill down her spine. I don't want to have my Joe hurt. He had too much, and so did Frank. Oh God, help us, especially them, in finishing this case. She sighed, I hope Gwyneth's fine. Then a thought struck her. Why don't I visit Gwyneth in the hospital?

She pulled over and reached over to open her hazard lights. She reached for her cellphone and dialed Joe's number. In case their not home yet, she decided. "Honey, hi," she said when Joe answered the call.

"Van, got any problems? Where are you?" came Joe's hurried questions.

"No, no." Vanessa couldn't help but smile, touched once again over her boyfriend's concern. "Actually, I'm halfway from the house and I just thought, I'll visit Gwyneth today. Before I go home," she added. "Is it okay for you? I'll just be quick. I'll just see how she is, if she's awake then I'll ask her if she noticed anything important and the like."

"I don't know Van… What if someone's following you?"

"I've been watching my rearview mirror and so far, no one's following me. Please Joe, I just want to see Gwyneth…"

There was silence before Joe responded again. "Want me to come with you?"

"No need, baby. I believe you're at home now?" Vanessa guessed.

"Almost but I wouldn't mind-"

"You guys just look over those notes now like you agreed on a while ago. I'll be fine," Vanessa said softly.

"Okay, okay. I guess it's okay… But Van, please, please, be careful baby," Joe pleaded.

"Of course I will be, Joe. Don't worry. I'll call you when I reach the hospital, before leaving the hospital and when I get home okay?" Vanessa assured.

"Okay then. I love you," Joe said and from how Joe said it, Vanessa could feel Joe's worry.

"I love you too. I'll be careful," she replied back with the same soft then ended the call.

Vanessa checked her rearview mirror and saw no car behind her so she maneuvered the car and drove toward the hospital where Josh mentioned Gwyneth was confined.

She reached the hospital but groaned when she saw that there were quite a lot of cars parked near the entrance where she was hoping to pull her car over. She had no choice but to park a few meters away from the entrance. She turned off the ignition, reached for her purse and cellphone, opened the car and stepped out. She had locked the door of her car when she felt an arm go over her head and close over her mouth. Oh no! crossed her mind when she sniffed the sickeningly sweet smell of chloroform before darkness closed over her.

* * *

"Let's go over the clues now, Joe," Frank said as soon as they finished their snack. "Joe?"

Joe turned his head to Frank. "Huh?"

"I said, let's see the notes now, shall we?" Frank repeated, looking closely at his brother's face. "You okay? Is it Vanessa?"

"Yeah. Ever since she said that she'll go over to the hospital, I'm so worried," Joe admitted, then leaned on the kitchen chair. "How come she's not yet calling?"

"She probably forgot?" Frank tried.

Joe looked wearily at his brother, "Frank, we both know that Van's not that careless."

"I know," Frank admitted, then exhaled heavily. "Why don't I call her cellphone for you?"

"Nah. I'll do it." Joe got up and lifted their phone's receiver then dialed Vanessa's cell number, which he knew by heart. There was a ring and another ring and another…

"Frank, she's not answering it!" Joe said, frustrated. He put the receiver down and went to his brother. "What do you think?" he asked.

Frank thought for a while. "Hmm… Why don't you call Andrea?"

Joe complied then came back with a look. Frank needed no explanation since the look on Joe's face was enough. Suddenly, the phone rang and Joe went to answer it immediately.

"Van?" he said right away.

"No Joe, it's Andrea. Listen, I forgot to tell you but I asked Vanessa to buy me a new flashlight on her way home. I told her that before she left for school this morning. Maybe that's what's taking her long," Mrs. Bender said.

"Oh… okay. Um, Andrea, if Vanessa calls there or anything, call back here, please?" Joe asked, his mind filled with nothing but worry.

"Of course, honey," Andrea replied, knowing how Joe was feeling at that moment. She, herself, knew of the attacks after Vanessa told her about them and she's worried about her daughter herself.

"Thanks." Joe ended the conversation. "I'm giving Van fifteen minutes. If she hasn't called by then, we'll go to the hospital, okay?" he asked his brother.

"Of course. Now, let's get going," Frank took the first note out of his bag. He was happy with himself that he decided to keep the first note found in Joe's locker. "Now it says, Born, Torn, Sorrow, Bare."

There was silence for a while then…

"Wait a minute Frank… why don't we consider the victims first? Me, our house, you, Callie and Gwyneth. Everything's connected, aside from Gwyneth. Actually, she's the reason why we dropped the revenge thing, right?"

"Right," the elder Hardy agreed.

"So… what could be her connection?!" Joe asked, resting his head on his hands. "What could be… what could be it…?" And why is Vanessa not calling yet?! Surely, she's reached the hospital now…And what about Gwyneth? What's her connection? Wait a minute, Josh said something…something about the van! That's it! Gwyneth's van is… he looked up and his sapphire eyes locked with his brother's dark ones.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Joe asked slowly.

Frank didn't remove his eyes from Joe's. "I think so… that is if you're thinking about…"

"The coincidence of Gwyneth's van looking similar with ours?" the younger Hardy continued. There was silence then…

"Frank! What if, what if the attacker had mistaken Gwyneth's van as ours? Then that means he's after us! Oh no! Oh no!" Joe suddenly paled in thought, remembering Vanessa.

Then they both froze when another realization took over them.

"So that would mean that this is no school prank! It's not what it is! Oh, Joe. I think we're right now. There's the connection! This is all about revenge! Revenge to us, to Callie, to our family and who knows who else, close to us, is in danger?!" The second those words were out of Frank's mouth, there was a tense silence. Then, Joe stood up suddenly and dashed towards the door.

"That means Vanessa is in danger!"