"Alexa and Zoë. Leo, Danny and Sam. We need to get the remaining survivors together and talk to them about this."
"Agreed," said Casper.
Drew waited for the computer to finish. "There," she said.
All the photos had been printed out. Casper took his, folded it up, and slipped it into his pocket. Drew took hers from the pile, too. Then she leafed through them to find Alexa's.
They examined it. It depicted Alexa preening herself in front of a mirror. That was all.
"She's going to kill herself," Casper said flatly. "What else could it be?"
"She doesn't have much time left," said Drew. "Okay, here's the plan. I'll go and find Alexa, and try and convince her to come back with me. Meanwhile, you organise everyone else. Start with Zoë, as she's after Alexa. You have your mobile with you?"
Casper nodded.
"Good. If anything has happened to Alexa, I'll call you. That way, you can try and protect Zoë."
"We should look a Zoë's picture, then," said Casper.
Drew pulled it from the pile. It showed her sitting at the table in the fast food restaurant. There were no clues in this one.
"What do you call the club she performs at these days?" asked Casper.
"El Borracho, why?"
"Look." Casper tapped the photo. Drew looked where his finger was.
There was a sign behind Zoë, advertising the El Borracho club.
"Oh no," she said.
"Alexa Cole?" said the deep, baritone voice.
Alexa smiled. "Hello," she said.
"You sent for a male escort," said the man – a young, Hispanic, hunky sort of guy. "My name is Raoul."
Alexa nodded.
She had booked into the most expensive room in the most expensive hotel in the whole country. She had also decided to sleep with every single guy she met. It was her way of getting over the fact that her boyfriend had been cremated while he was still alive.
She was already lying in the huge bed, the silk covers tracing her well-shaped figure. She patted the bed, indicating that Raoul should sit. He did.
"So what exactly do you want?" he asked her.
Alexa smiled, and gestured to the ceiling. Raoul looked up. There was a large mirror there.
"I've been dying to try it out," said Alexa in a husky voice.
"I'd be happy to oblige," replied Raoul, starting to undo his belt.
Casper waited while Drew was on the phone. She took a long time. Eventually, she came back, and said, "Alexa seems to have been moving around all over the place. She must have been pretty upset over Seb."
"So where is she now?"
"You know that big hotel up on the hill?"
"Yeah?" said Casper, and then frowned. "She's in there?"
"Yes. Apparently, she booked into the bridal suite."
Casper looked confused. "But she's not married!"
"Well, she did have a male escort sent to her room."
Casper seemed lost in thought for a moment, and Drew hit him. "Stop picturing Alexa and some young stud having it off, please."
"No!" Casper protested. "I wasn't thinking about that! Listen, isn't it traditional to have mirrors above the beds in those sorts of rooms? You know, so the bride can watch the groom's-"
"You're right!" exclaimed Drew, cutting him off. "I have to get to her as fast as possible! You go and find Zoë, okay?"
"Was that good for you, Alexa?" asked Raoul.
"That was the best I've ever had, Raoul," lied Alexa. She said that to every guy. She watched Raoul getting dressed again. She had a good view, lying down in the bed.
She didn't hear the mirror above her creak ominously.
"Hi, I'm here to see Alexa Cole?" Drew said breathlessly. "I was wondering what room she was in?"
She had guessed that the bridal suite would be near the top, but had no idea, now that she was up here, where it was.
The maid regarded her critically. "She's busy at the moment."
"That doesn't matter!" screamed Drew. "You must realise that Alexa is about to-"
There was a loud CRASH. It was followed by a yell.
One of the doors burst open. A young Hispanic guy rushed out, wearing nothing more than a shirt and boxers. He ran frantically over to Drew and the maid.
"She's dead!" he yelled. "The mirror just fell on top of her! It crushed her!"
Drew felt numb. In a daze, she went over to the door, and looked in.
The bed had transformed. It was no longer white. It was now bright red instead. Shards of the mirror lay scattered around the place.
It was horrible. If Alexa hadn't been crushed under the weight of the mirror immediately, the fragments of broken glass had cut into every exposed area of skin. Since Alexa had been naked, that was an awful lot of young adult girl.
And she was undeniably dead.
"Hi, everyone. Okay, tonight, I'm going to start with a song by Nine Inch Nails. It's called Into the Void." Zoë cleared her throat.
Casper took a seat. He might as well enjoy himself. After all, Drew hadn't called, so Alexa must still be alright.
Zoë began singing, in her deep, soulful voice that Casper always likened to someone who had the cold.
"Tried to save myself, but myself keeps slipping away…"
Casper's phone made him jump. Uh-oh.
Zoë didn't notice the noise, and kept singing.
"Talking to myself all the way to the station… pictures in my head of the final destination…"
That was all Casper heard before Drew screamed at him from the other end of the phone.
Drew's feet pounded along the street. Round a corner. And another. She had to get to the nightclub before something terrible happened to Zoë.
"…tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away…" sang Zoë, ending the song. There was a sudden deafening din of applause.
Casper tried to make his way to Zoë, but people kept getting in the way.
Drew reached the door to the nightclub. "Hold on there, little lady. Let's see some identification," said the bouncer, smiling.
Drew kicked him in the groin.
Casper reached the stage just as Drew burst in. They both ran onto the stage at the same time.
"Drew? Casper?" said Zoë, looking at them. "What are you guys doing here?"
That was when a halogen light that had been hanging from the ceiling on two wires snapped. One of the wires did, at least. The light swung straight at Zoë's face.