Tru pulled up in front of a rundown brick apartment building. The numbers on the building read 98 Jacob St. because the 1 in 198 and the s in Jacobs had fallen off. This area of town was not exactly the safest so Tru locked her car and headed cautiously for the stairs to the building's main entrance. Her index finger was hovering near the doorbell. She always had a certain hesitation when she was about to get herself involved in somebody's life in the way that she did.

"Looking for me?" said a voice from behind her.

Tru turned around, startled. There was the girl. Natalie, recalled Tru, that was her name. She recognized the girl's long black locks. Now they were brushed back to reveal a sad, pale face with too much eyeliner. Tru dared to meet Natalie's midnight blue eyes.

"Natalie, right?" said Tru, feeling uneasy for some reason.

"Most people call me Nat. But you're not really here for me right now. You're here about Alex."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, because, yesterday she died, or today I guess you could say."

Tru put her hand to her head. What was going on? Who was this girl?

"And how do you know that?" Tru wasn't exactly sure of what else to ask.

"I'd rather say, not right now. I'll tell you after we save Alex, ok? But we can't waste time now."

"We?" Tru couldn't help but ask. She didn't mean to sound unkind, but how was she supposed to save someone with a kid following her around? Not to mention the fact that she didn't always save the victims. How could she explain that to someone who looked so determined and certain that they would save her friend or whoever Alex was to her.

"Yes, we. You need me to give you the information so you can help my sister."

"So Alex is your older sister?"

"Yep, by two years," Nat replied, "Come on," she added with urgency, "We don't have all day. Come on in and we'll talk in the apartment. It's not safe to stand around out here anyway."

They walked through a dank, musty hall and up a stairwell that had the stench of urine and cigarette smoke. At the second floor they entered another hall and stopped at Apartment 5. Upon entering, Tru realized she was in an entirely different world than the rest of the building. The apartment was small, but home-like. There were potted flowers resting on the windowsill. Light lit the room's lime green walls. The apartment wasn't falling apart like the rest of the building.

Nat gestured towards a round table surrounded by three chairs. There they sat somewhat awkwardly for a moment. Looking around, Tru noticed a picture of Alex and she remembered very suddenly why she was here.

"Does Alex have any enemies?" she questioned, breaking the heavy silence with the sound of her voice.

"No, not that I can think of. If I were to guess her cause of death I would say it was because she took her own life."

"Why would she do a thing like that?"

"Because she was unhappy with her life. No, wait, that's an understatement. She hated her life. Neither of us have ever been happy here, but she was miserable. It wasn't always like this, you know. At one time we lived in a nice house in the suburbs. Then mom died and that's when..." Nat paused. "When my dad's company went out of business. The only other job he was able to get involved a ton of traveling, and still doesn't pay that well. I haven't seen him in a month. Alex and I try to take care of ourselves, and this place. We did ok. Both of us did well in school. We want to get out of here some day. Then came Jeremy, he's a college guy. Alex fell head over heels for him. It was digusting. She started ditching school to be with him. Her grades dropped. No one was here to tell her what to do or set her in order. It's not like she'd listen to me. Anyway the reason I suspect suicide is that "yesterday" morning and this morning I found this in the garbage."

Natalie held up a pregnancy test. Tru looked at it carefully and realized it was positive. Oh my god, she thought. She had been silent, letting Nat talk, but now she spoke.

"I'm sorry about your mother. I know how you feel."

"No you don't. That's what everyone says, but they have no clue what it's like."

"Actually, I do. I lost my mother when I was twelve."

"Oh"

"Listen," said Tru, glancing at her watch. 12:00! "Can you tell me where Alex is now?"

"Probably school, or Jeremy's."

"School! Oh my gosh, you should be there too!" realized Tru aloud.

"I figured this was more important. Not to mention, it's not like I really missed it since I went yesterday, right?"

Tru decided to let it slide. Her head was spinning from everything she had learned. She knew she had to save Alex, but at the same time she was curious about Natalie. Was she for real? How did she know everything? How could she relive days? But there was no time for that now, she had to face the more immediate problem at hand.

"Come on, Nat."

"Where are we going."

"To find Alex."