Thank you to my wonderful reviewers! You all make writing this story all the more worthwhile. Alright, now I don't want to give away much in my stories, because then that leaves nothing to be desired. But, to be forewarned (don't say I didn't warn you), this is the worst of all of the cliffhangers. It is probably the worst one (in sense of 'Give me another chapter…now!') that I have ever written. But review, because then I can update with the next chapter. My muse is getting a kick out of this. Haha.

Chapter Eighteen: Lost in the Darkness

"I'd like to say that your mother and father met under ordinary circumstances, but that just wasn't the case…"

"Well, then, what happened?" Eva asked, already interrupting Elsie's story.

Elsie laughed on the other end of the line. "Patience is a virtue, my dear. I should probably explain everything that happened up until their meeting."

"Go ahead," Baron said with growing anticipation. "I'll duct tape her mouth shut if I have to."

Eva glared at him, but Elsie laughed. "You've got enough of your mother in you," she replied, probably smiling broadly.

"Come on, Aunt Elsie, stop stalling and tell the story already!" Leala pleaded.

"Alright, gee, teach your kids some patience Anna, will ya?" Elsie complained dramatically from the other line. I laughed.

"Okay, kids, here is what happened first of all…"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I was sitting on my couch in the living room of my apartment, waiting to hear the familiar click of Anna's key in her lock to her apartment. When I heard it, at nearly midnight, I pulled on my bathrobe, gathered some freshly baked cookies, and walked over to greet her.

She was grinning from ear to ear when I walked in, and I knew that her date had been wonderful.

"So, what did you do?" I asked, settling myself down on her couch as if it were my own. She sat down opposite of me and began to divulge the details.

"Well, first he took me to Central Park and had this cute little picnic planned out for us, but all of the sudden, it started to pour. And he tried to save all of the food and stuff. I felt so terrible, and I knew he felt awful that our date was ruined. But then I started laughing and laughing. He kind of looked over at me and was upset so he snapped: 'What?' and I just kept laughing and replied: 'You know, you look really adorable right now.' He looked at me, back to the picnic basket, and we both, right there in Central Park, just started laughing so hard. I didn't care that I was soaked, and he didn't either. And then we decided to just start dancing…"

"With no music?" I asked with a grin. Anna smiled.

"Yeah, and it was amazing, just swaying to some inaudible music there with him. I have never in my entire life, felt so happy…"

"And please tell me that there was at least one kiss in the rain. That's way too cliché to pass up," I replied with a smirk. Anna pursed her lips together and turned a nice shade of pink.

"Well?" I pressed.

Anna exhaled and looked at me, suddenly serious. "You know that they tell you, when you fall in love, there are fireworks, and stars in your eyes…that kinda thing?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, I really think I am head-over-heels for this guy, and it scares me," she admitted, fidgeting with her bracelet.

I coaxed her into saying more. "Why? Why are you afraid?"

She sighed again. "Because it's just too good to be true, too good to last, you know what I mean? I feel like if I blink, he'll be gone and I'll be waking up to find out that it was only a dream."

I took hold of Anna's hand. "Hey, look at me." Anna lifted her eyes up to meet mine. "No matter what happens with Flack, you will always have me here, remember?"

Anna laughed. "Of course I remember. You're the best friend a person could ask for," she replied solemnly. "It's just, you know, I really want this thing to work out."

"Hey," I started, "no one wants to see it work out more than I do. After all, I am the reason that you two are together in the first place!"

Anna threw a pillow at my face. "And you have a bigger ego than Danny."

I feigned hurt and placed a hand over my heart. "Ouch, Anna, way to cut a girl down."

She smiled and squeezed my hand. "Thank you for always being here."

I smiled back. "No problem hun. None at all." I smirked and added: "But you did get a kiss, right?"

Anna grinned. "Oh yeah. I sure did."

A few more weeks went by, and one night Anna came into my apartment, tears welling up in her eyes. "We had a fight, a stupid fight," she choked. I embraced her and invited her in for some tea.

In the end, Anna agreed that she would talk to Flack in the morning, after she stopped by a bookstore down on Broadway. I hugged and consoled her as much as I knew how, and promised her that everything would be alright in the morning.

"If you need me, stop by the little dive across the street from your bookstore tomorrow. I'm meeting Kristina there for breakfast to prep her for her interview."

Anna raised her eyebrows and frowned in concentration. "Kristina? You mean the woman who was at my birthday party?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she wanted to know if there were any availabilities in my office, and I told her that I would get her an interview. So, we're meeting tomorrow so she can go over some questions and stuff. But feel free to stop by before you go and see Flack," I offered. Anna nodded sadly. "Hey," I said as Anna exited my apartment. She turned around. "I love you. Get some sleep."

Anna smiled tiredly and replied: "I love you," before she shut my door.

Kristina and I sat, the next morning, reviewing interview questions over omelets and pancakes at a little diner.

"Okay, so, don't be intimidated by Hagerty, he's really a softie at heart. Now, if you should happen to interview with Macintyre, just be sure that you make yourself sound appealing, and use good vocabulary; he likes that. Is there anything else you can think of that you want to know?" I asked Kristina. She paused and thought for a moment, staring out the window.

Suddenly, her hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh God. Elsie, come on, we need to get over there now!" she practically screamed, motioning across the street to an alleyway that was blocked from my view by traffic.

I frowned. "What's wrong? Kristina, wait!" I yelled after her as she flung the door open to the diner. I threw money down on the table, hopeful that it would cover the two meals, and ran after the red-headed woman. Kristina was arching her neck to see into the alleyway and darted in between cars to reach it.

"Kristina! Wait up! What the heck are you doing?" I yelled, trying to maneuver my way in between the crowded streets of Broadway. Kristina was staring at the end of the alley, hand over her mouth. "Come on," she hissed, jerking my arm and pulling me with her as we ran. Where were we running to? Kristina explained in between straggled breaths what she had seen, and if it wasn't for her dragging me along, I might have passed out.

We reached the building and flung open the doors, daring towards the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator at the moment. "Hey! Watch it! Elsie, what's going on?" he asked, running back up the stairs to catch up with us. Kristina was still pulling me, guiding the way. We made it to the office, completely out of breath, fresh tears streaming down both of our faces.

"What is it?" Mac asked, bordering anger.

Lindsay, Hawkes, Stella, and Danny—whom we nearly knocked over—came into the office and watched our horrified faces as we tried to get out into words what had happened. Flack came into the office with two glasses of water and gave them to both of us. I shook my head, struggling to breathe.

"We…we…saw…something…" I began, panting. Kristina nodded mutely. Mac glanced at his team, who was just as confused as he was.

"What did you see?" he asked calmly. Kristina swallowed hard.

"It…it…took…took…" she began, gasping for breath in between bursts of tears. I choked and finished. "…her."

Flack calmly responded. "What happened?"

"They…they…took her."

"Who took her?" Stella continued, placing a steadying arm on my shoulder.

"A man…a dark car…"

"Who did they take?" Danny asked, looking to me for an answer.

I shook with sobs. "They…they….they took Anna."

The cliffhanger to top them all. MWHAHAHAHA.