Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Sorry for the late update! I've been so inspired to write other stories and this one, too, but whenever I open the document it never starts writing again. : And also, I've been quite busy. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine! And this chapter is dedicated to kamarooka (birthday gift part 2!). I hope the mystery I've put in is good?

SiSi4: Yay! I'm glad I'm heading in the right direction. Oh yes, they will be very soon. Did it? :( Aww. Well, I'm going to write some more of them soon, I also enjoy writing them. I'm excited to write about it. I did? :O I achieved something scary! Haha! I'm so sorry for the late update but I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Carameltootsieroll: Yay! I'm glad you do! I love it, too, haha! I guess I just combined stuff that I love? Hehehe. And maybe them in veils won't be looking for me anymore, haha! Oh, thank goodness. I changed them. YES. I will tell you. YES. I'm glad that you love this fic, and I'm so glad that you're excited! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Kamarooka: Not much inappropriateness here but I still hope you enjoy it! Cassandra and Cordelia might confuse things more but that's what I hope to achieve? Arthur and Eames, oh my, they make my heart flutter, too! Ooh, please share with me some of your guesses! I'd love to know! Thank you so so much! I hope you enjoy this super late part 2 gift!
JuseaPeterson: I love it, too! I didn't put any in this chapter, sadly. It's so Arthur, haha. If he had it his way he wouldn't even have a Facebook! Dom and Mal are such sweet parents, I think that if Mal hadn't died, they'd probably be the best parents. Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I hope you enjoy this chapter, too!

Hunting Season Has Begun

"They know where you are." The note says. And it's the only thing Cassandra needs to grab all that she can in a bag, get her daughter and rush out the door. "They know where we are," she whispers to Cordelia, "we're going to a place where we'll be safe."

The news about The Heartless Killings can be heard everywhere. The radio stations, headlines on papers, whispers in the hallways both by students and professors. Everyone can tell that this is probably the most gruesome murder this town has ever heard of—and it's not even from Stone Rose.

"I can't believe some people are so cruel," Valeria tells me.

I frown. "I know. If looking at the pictures of people we don't even know already triggers us…" I trail off and then shake my head. "I'm a little skeptic about the whole animal thing. I think those are just local urban legends."

My blonde friend shrugs and tosses her hair back. "I dunno. I think it kinda makes sense. What kind of person would do that to another living human being?"

I sigh. "You'll be surprised."

We both shudder and then continue walking around the campus to find a good spot for us to read. We've both got free period and like best friends stuck by the hip we choose to spend it together. While she's a fashion major and I'm an architecture major some people think that our schedules would be all mixed up. But it's hard to change friendship that started in diapers.

There's a bench under a tree and we walk a little faster to get there. When we're settled, she gives me a smirk. I raise an eyebrow at her. "What?" I ask.

"Those two new men neighbors."

"What about them?"

She grins. "I saw you added a new friend on Facebook named Adam Eames and some pictures from your birthday dinner. And I'm going to go straight to the point. You've got two hot neighbors living right beside you and you're not doing anything about it."

I shake my head. "What would I do about it?"

"Have them wrapped around your little finger!" she exclaims. "Have them do your bidding!"

"Have them become my slaves, you mean?" I laugh. "No thanks. I'd rather not scare new neighbors. Besides, they're great. Eames is really funny and Arthur...is...interesting, I suppose. They're really complete opposites of each other, personality wise, I mean."

"How about physical wise?"

"You're impossible," I tell her, but another laugh erupts from my throat. "I'd...go with Eames, honestly. He has that whole gruff look working for him."

"But you have a crush on Arthur."

I frown. "I don't."

"Oh yes, you do. Don't hide it from me."

"I'm not hiding anything from you."

"So you're hiding it from yourself?"

"I'm not," I state. "He's cute, yes, but I don't have a crush on him."

She rolls her eyes. "If you say so." Shrugging, she turns a page of her books and asks, "So aside from my awesome gift," she had given me her own designed and made from scratch Red Riding Hood dress, "what else did you receive?"

I haven't told her what I got that day. It didn't slip my mind while we were chatting on Skype but I just didn't want to talk about it yet. "Uncle Dom and Aunt Mal gave me the belongings that were with me when I was left by their doorstep."

Her face softens. "Anything personal?"

I shake my head. "Just what I was wrapped in, and the backpack that contained a red cloak."

"Red cloak?"

"Mm," I nod, "come over to my house and I'll show it you. I think we can have a costume party later."

She laughs. "Will it look good with my design?"

I pat the bag that she had brought this morning for me. "I'm sure it will."

She smiles. "Great. That way, I can formally meet your new neighbors."

Rolling my eyes, I say, "Oh, God, no, Val. I am not going over to their house to introduce you."

"Am I not special enough?" She pouts.

"You know what I mean," I say.

She laughs. "I do. But you don't have to purposely introduce me to them, right? We can always just bump into them by accident, right?"

"What have you got up your sleeve?" I groan.

"We wait until one or both come out of their house and we rush outside and walk by their yard. You wave to him or them and then boom, you introduce us to each other."

"I think that's the only reason you want to come to my house today," I laugh.

"Not true! I want to see if the dress fits and if I have to alter anything." She sticks out her tongue. "I'm not user friendly, Cobb."

"How can I be sure, Normandeau?" I joke.

"This is so beautiful," I say, as I twirl around. Valeria's dresses never ceases to amaze me. The short, puffy sleeved, white, off the shoulder blouse is under a black corset with a bodice that is tightly wrapped around my torso and shows off my chest (or whatever I have there) and an above-the-knee, red, ruffle skirt over a petticoat. It matches my red coat that I received. "Thank you, Val."

She grins and shrugs. "It's no problem. You know I've been working on it for a while. All we need are shoes."

"Great, we can go shopping. I'll wear it this Halloween, or whenever I can." I continue turning around, checking every angle that I could. I look at her and notice that her grin has turned into a sly one. "What?"

"I have something else."

"You really didn't have to," I say, shaking my head.

"I've been working on this longer."

"Oh. What is it?"

"Promise me you'll find time to where it one day."

"Oh God, what is this?"

She laughs and digs from her bag. "It's a masterpiece. It's my first time making it. And if I'm going to be in the fashion industry then I have to try and be more open-minded, right?"

"Val, what is it?"

She shows me a tiny dress. Tiny as in, revealing and very short dress. Can it even be considered a dress? The colors are exactly the same as the first dress except this time, it's all stuck together. The white only covers my chest with a red bow in the middle, the black corset is red at the tips to create a sort of bow when I tie behind my neck, in the middle is a crisscross pattern with three big, red crosses, and the red skirt has black ruffles along its edges.

"What is that?"

"It's a dress," she tries to convince me. "It' sexy and I think you need it."

"I am not going to wear a sexy Red Riding Hood costume," I tell her. "She's too much of a hero for me to do that."

"Sweetheart, Red Riding Hood is not a hero. Besides, you're not going to live a life without wearing something sexy for Halloween, right?"

"I plan to."

She rolls her "I made it for you, you keep it and I'm sure you'll find the right time to wear it. Just pray that neither Phillipa nor James see it." Her devil smile returns. "Plus, I know exactly who you can use it on."

I frown. "Who?"

"That neighbor of yours." She turns around and looks out the window. "That room. Who owns it? Eames or Arthur?"

Looking away and remembering when he was looking out and probably watching my interaction with Uncle Dom and who knows what else, I reply, "Arthur."

"So is that why the blinds were closed when we came in? Don't want him to see you when you wake up in the morning?"

"It's not that…" I mutter, "he was watching me once. I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't do it again."

She turns back at me with a shocked expression. "He was watching you? What were you doing?"

"Nothing," I say. "Maybe it was actually just a coincidence." Ideas come to your mind when you're trying to explain something. Maybe it really was just a coincidence.

"Do you want him to watch you again?"

"No!" Yes.

She rolls her eyes. "Ari, Ari, Ari. You and I both know you do."

I feel my face begin to flush. "Val!"

"Why don't you try walking around in this," she holds up the skimpy outfit, "and see what will happen. Maybe it's better to do it when you family isn't home. You think? Or if you can't wait, maybe he'll invite you over. I'm sure his housemate wouldn't mind."

"Valeria!"

Valeria tumbles on her best friend's bed and collides with some blueprints. "I should have gotten you some folders instead."

"I'm suppose to show those to Arthur."

"Oh are you?" Valeria teases.

"I need his opinions on some of them. I think he can help me get into Ecole, he and Eames have references, or so they say."

"And what gives them the right to say so?"

"They work for Avalanche Corp., and Arthur Brandon is the heir."

"Yummy."

"In other news, the Heartless Killings is being headed by FBI Special Agent Robert Fischer. For now, Agent Fischer refuses to talk to the media. Agent Browning, FBI's liaison, says that it is far too early to tell what kind of case they are handling."

"Him again?"

"Of course. He wouldn't allow anyone else."

"I don't want to deal with him again."

Arthur smirks. "We both know you love running into him."

Eames gives him the finger. "Darling, if I didn't love you I would've beaten the hell out of you by now. That's a private matter in my life."

"Privacy isn't in your vocabulary."

"Apparently, it's not in yours either. I know that you were spying on Miss Cobb a few days ago." Eames smirks. "And I know it won't be the last."

"I was just looking to see what kind of view I had," he replies.

"And you liked it too much."

"Shut up. We need to figure out how we can re-convince Fischer that we have nothing to do with this."

"Again."

"He's not going to let us off easy this time."

"Do you think he knows about Ariadne?"

"He'll put the pieces together. We can't let him have her." Arthur signs and rubs his temples. "If our hunch is correct and he's working for them...let's just hope that he doesn't get here fast enough. We need Ariadne's trust before he can get to her."

"I've got the perfect way to stall Fischer."

"Does this involve your body?"

Eames grits his teeth. "Give me some credit, Arthur."

"I can never when it comes to you and Fischer."

"There is a veil, Arthur. Besides, I have my eyes on someone else now. And no, it isn't Miss Cobb. I'm quite sure she fancies you anyway." Shrugging, he changes the subject. "Do you think they've given her the cloak?"

"There are some times I can't sense her, so probably, yes."

"And the rest?"

"I'm not sure." Arthur gets up and walks away. "I'll tell you if I have something."

"Planning on stalking, I mean...ahem, researching on her again?" Eames snickers. "Or are you just too excited to start working with her."

"Good night, Mr. Eames."

"I'm driving tomorrow."

It's eleven in the evening. Line one of Agent Fischer's telephone starts to ring and he picks it up three seconds later. "Fischer," he greets, his pen stuck to his ear and notes scribbled on a piece of paper.

"Well?"

"It's too early, I don't have anything yet."

"I see."

"I'll get her, don't worry."

"Is there anything in the way?"

"Probably just Eames and Arthur."

"I see. They're not trustworthy."

"Neither are we."

The other person on the line laughs. "This is why I trust you'd get her, Robert."

"And I will get her, I promise."

Someone drops a file on his desk. Browning tells him that there's been another murder. "You want the case, you're going to have to work."

Fischer flips through the folder. "I have to go. I'll talk to you as soon as I get anything. But I highly doubt you won't call again tomorrow."

Cozy Pebble is one of the safest places in Stone Rose City and he can't be any happier to leave her in the care of the lovely couple. He sniffs the air and rushes to the nearby oak tree to watch her getting ready for bed. "I'll keep you safe."

He knows he can't be here. Him being here could put her in danger. In the other house he sees Eames and Arthur. He doesn't like them. He doesn't trust them. But for now, he'll have to live with them until they actually try something.

How they, or anyone else for that matter, found out about her he still hasn't figured out.

"The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood [...]." -Little Red Riding Hood (Brother's Grimm, 1697)

So the whole in denial thing is based on personal experience, haha. And yes, there are now three different groups, actually, four but that's up to you to figure out for now, that have Ariadne as their priority and I will give you all the freedom to tell me who you think is there for Ari or not.

Please tell me what you think of it and if I should do anything to improve. :]