Hey, sorry this chapter is shorter than my other ones. The thing is, I was trying to write this chapter but it began to get really long, like 20 plus pages, and it began to take too much time to write. So I split the chapter in half and made two chapters. So the next chapter is gonna be what was supposed to be in this chapter. So here's this chapter, LOL! xD Ok, enjoy! ;D

Eli's POV

I raced over to the book store before school to see if they had out the new issue of Gothic Tales, and more importantly if they had picked my story. I looked into the window and saw the magazines all stacked up on the shelf in the front.

"There it is!"

I ran inside and grabbed one of the issues. Sure enough, after flipping through the pages, I came across it:

Stalker Angel, By Clare Edwards and Eli Goldsworthy

I added Clare's name as well, since she did such a good job editing my story. Delighted, I grabbed as many copies as I could. "I'll take all of them!" I told the salesman, slapping 40 bucks in his hand. He smiled at me as I raced back out of the store and down the street. I approached my school and saw Clare walking towards the building. I caught up with her just in time, "Feast your eyes on this!" I grabbed her, practically shoving the magazine in her face.

Clare smiled, "They picked your story!"

"Look closer!" I pointed to her name above mine, "Our first published collaboration!"

Her eyebrow0s furrowed in confusion, "B-But it's your story. You wrote it."

"With your help, editor extraordinaire!" I placed my hands on her shoulders, "We are a team."

Clare looked surprised, "You really didn't have to do that."

"No!" I corrected her, "I wanted to! It's the beginning of our dreams coming true."

She sorta half-smiled, "Well, thanks, I guess."

"My dark instincts combined with your flare for romance, we are unstoppable." I smiled as an awesome idea came into my head. I threw my arm around Clare and held her close to me as we walked, "I say…..we lock ourselves in a room for a few months to work on our first novel together. Just you and me."

Clare averted her gaze from me and didn't say anything. Just then, Alli Bhandari ran past us, "Hey."

Clare stopped her, "Alli!" She turned around and Clare broke herself from my grip, leaving my arm suspended in mid-air, "Hey, we have an appointment to discuss dress options for the spring fling."

I raised an eyebrow to her, "You've just been published. Don't you think that a high school dance is a little trivial?"

"Not really…..dances are fun."

Fun. Please. I began laughing, "Balloons and banal top 40?" I mocked the idea.

Clare looked a bit insulted, "Well, if you're not interested, then don't come." With that, she left with Alli, leaving me alone in the parking lot.

What was that? Why did Clare seem so cold towards me? What did I do? Was it something I said? I began to panic. I didn't mean to upset her. I just didn't think that school dances were that much fun. The only reason I ever went to them was because my friends were there, but I truly just thought they were kinda stupid. But never mind that, I had to figure out what I did wrong so I can make it up. I then began to feel sad, because I knew that Jillian would know what to do in a situation like this. She may not be that smart, but she would always manage to tell me something reassuring.

Oh, Clare's just being a retard! She loves you and you know it.

Her voice played in my head so clearly, it was almost as if she was here. But to my dismay, I was still standing alone in the empty parking lot. And then I remembered that everybody was heading to class right around now. I had to get going before I missed History. After getting to class just in the nick of time, I sat down for 55 minutes and tried to pay attention as Mr. Perino rambled on. But it was hard, because I couldn't concentrate at all. I couldn't stop thinking about Clare. Eternity passed before the bell rang. Now I had a free period, which was just what I needed. I went through the hallways searching for Adam. I spotted him going into Media Immersions class and caught him just in time. As he was entering the classroom, I grabbed his arm and literally dragged him back out into the hallway.

"I'm driving myself insane!"

Adam gave me an odd look, "Uh, ok."

"This morning Clare and I were joking around, like always." I told him, "But she was acting all prickly."

"Eli-"

"Every time Clare and I disagree on something, I-I panic!" I thought, "I need a plan to make everything ok. Just…..do something that's just for me and Clare!"

Adam placed his hands over mine, "Ok…..calm down. Now look, I'm sure everything's ok. Just…."

"Adam Torres!" Ms. Oh came up behind him, "No socializing during class time, unless you want a detention."

"Yes, Ms. Oh." Adam turned back to me before going inside the classroom, "Look, just promise me you'll relax, ok? I know things have been rough with Jillian gone missing and your, well, other problems. Just promise me you'll take it easy." I nodded and he went into the classroom with Ms. Oh.

Ok, I told myself, Ok….I'm not going to panic. Everything is ok. I knew exactly what was wrong. Clare and I just needed to spend some time together. A lot of time together. We needed time alone, away from everybody else, just the two of us. I needed to find something, somewhere, that the two of us could do where we could be together without being bothered by anybody else.

The day went on and I still had heard nothing from Clare. I was getting more and more worried about her being mad at me. Since I didn't have English period today, my only class with Clare, I never even got a chance to talk to her. I started to panic again, because it felt like the more time we spent away from each other, the worse things got. As the bell for lunch period rang, I spotted Adam loading some books into his locker. I went up to him, "Yo, Adam!" He turned around. "Do you know where Clare is?"

"Uh, haven't seen her." he responded

"I need to talk to her!" I panted, "It's been practically all day!"

"Whoah, just chill, alright? I can't believe you're still worked up over this."

"I'm just scared that I made her mad." I explained, "That's all. I just need to talk to her, work things out."

"Then why don't you just text her if you're that worried about it?" Adam suggested.

I looked at my phone, "I did! Five times! No response! Zippo!"

Adam put his hands up, "Ok, man, just chill. She probably hasn't had a chance yet. Give her time. I'm sure everything's ok."

I sighed, looking back at my phone, "You're probably right. I'm just being paranoid." I told him that, despite the fact that I still suspected Clare being unhappy with me.

Adam smiled, "See? There's nothing to worry about. Oh, and by the way, Mrs. Dawes wanted to see you."

"For what?"

"I don't know." Adam shrugged, "She just said for you to come to her classroom during lunch period."

As Adam walked off to lunch, I walked down the hall to Mrs. Dawes room. I stepped inside the doorway and knocked on the door. Mrs. Dawes looked up. "You, uh, you wanted to see me, Mrs. Dawes?"

"Yeah, come on in." Mrs. Dawes waved me in. She smiled and picked up a copy of Gothic Tales off her desk. "This is really something, Eli. Your writing is beautiful." I beamed, pleased at my English teacher's approval. "It's…macabre." I chuckled. Mrs. Dawes' tone turned serious, "But…..I wonder if there's anything you wanna talk about."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "W-What do you mean?"

"Well," She looked back down at the magazine, "your protagonist murders his fiancée, your theme is spending eternity with the one you love…..it could be read as a cry for help."

"It's fiction." I reminded her.

"I know." Mrs. Dawes nodded, "But as writers we tend to pull from our own life experiences for inspiration."

I chuckled at the ridiculousness of what Mrs. Dawes was trying to tell me, "Miss….I'm not gonna kill Clare and drink her blood. I'm good."

"Ok. It's my job to check." Mrs. Dawes smiled, "Congratulations, Eli! I'm real proud of you. Hey, you know, the gothic lit convention is in Bloomington over spring break. With Stalker Angel under your belt, might be worth checking out."

And then, out of nowhere, I heard….her again

You should go and take Clare with you!

It was Jillian's voice, as clear as a bell. I whipped my head around to look behind me, and then to the side.

Mrs. Dawes cleared her throat, "Uh, Eli are you ok?"

I turned back to face her. "W-What? Oh yeah, I just thought I heard….never mind." And then I thought about what I had "heard". "You know Mrs. Dawes…..maybe it would be…" I smirked, "Thanks." As I walked back out into the hallway, I began to think about what had just happened. Why was I hearing Jillian's voice in my head all the time now? That hadn't happened to me since Julia died. Sometimes it still happens with Julia, just not as often as before. After she died, I would hear her voice in my head talking to me. So now it's Jillian's voice. So did this mean Jillian was…..dead? I shuttered at that one recurring thought that I tried so desperately to banish from my mind. But could anybody blame me for feeling this way? Jillian had been missing now for nearly two weeks now. If only I could see her, and know where she was and what she was up to…

No.

I had to just get my mind off of Jillian, and I also had to get my mind off of Julia. Tomorrow was going to be the anniversary of her death. As stressful as it was, I couldn't let it get in the way of anything, especially not me and Clare. And Clare knew that I still thought about Julia. The minute I distance myself even a little from her, she's gonna think I'm not over her and not want to be with me. I needed to make Clare know how much I loved her, so that's why this trip was perfect. Clare and I would be getting just what we needed: alone time, away from everyone, just the two of us. While we were going to be away together, nothing besides Clare was going to cross my mind, and nothing besides me would cross hers.

I sat down against the lockers, as I fought my curiosity of what Jillian was doing right now…..

Jillian's POV

I was standing in the middle of the woods and had absolutely no idea where I was. I began to wander through the strange place, until I heard something.

"Jillian!" I recognized that voice. I knew I've heard it before. And then I heard giggling and the voice spoke again, "Jillian!" This time, the voice was followed by a shutter sound. I looked around and began to realize that I was not in a strange place. I was at the old abandoned church, the one where Eli and I hung out as kids with…..that voice.

"Jillian! Over here!" I heard the giggling again followed by another shutter sound. I turned around, only to see my late best friend standing there with her camera and smiling at me. She looked flawless, just as she had before the accident. She was just as alive as she had ever been.

"J-Julia." I said in almost a whisper.

Julia snapped another picture of me before walking over to me. She smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I shuttered at the simple fact that I actually felt her. I mean, she was…dead. And yet, here she was standing next to me with her hand on my shoulder. "Jillian….." She began, "Where are you?"

I was a bit confused by her question. I looked around and then back at her, "Uh…..I'm right here." I double checked, "At least I think I am?"

Julia chuckled, "I mean…..where are you?"

Ok. Now this was getting freaking weird. "Um, I'm RIGHT HERE. Are we having some sort of miscommunication here?" I waved my hands in front of her face, "Can you see me? Hello? Helloooooo!"

Julia only chuckled more, "Jillian, I can see you just fine. I'm talking about you running away." She then repeated the question for a third time, "Where are you?"

I finally understood, and I nodded. "Not home."

"Bingo." Julia smiled, "You never ran away from your problems before. I remember, the way you stood up to Mike, to fighting anorexia, you never took any crap from anyone. You never let anything get in your way. So…..why now?"

I sighed, "I felt like it was the right thing to do this time. Eli hates me. Even when I do go home, he's never gonna talk to me again. There's no way he's gonna forgive me."

"Oh Jill," Julia placed her hands on my shoulders, "I know that Eli will forgive you. Trust me."

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"Because Eli loves you," She explained, "And now that I'm not around anymore, your all he has."

"He still has Clare, and Adam." I pointed out.

"True, but you're his sister. You've know him his whole life. And believe me, there are some things that he won't even be able to go to his girlfriend or best friend with. You're always gonna be the closest thing to him and the only reason he'll ever act the way he does is because he wants to protect you. And right now, he needs you."

I was silent for a few moments, trying to take in everything that my friend had just told me. I then began to feel sad, for I realized how crushed Eli must be feeling right around now. In one or two days, it was going to be the exact day that Julia died last year. I sighed and looked up at Julia, "I really miss you. I wish you were still here. You would know exactly what to do."

Julia smiled and we hugged each other. The series of events was enough to bring tears into my eyes. "I know you and Eli miss me. I'm sorry I can't be here." She pulled away and looked at me, "But I'm never too far away. I'll always be with you."

I smiled at her, "You were like a sister to me. You know that?"

"You'll always have this place to remember me by."

"Well, there was one other thing…." I frowned and placed my hand on my neck, "I think I lost it though."

"Oh don't worry about that." Julia smirked, "I'm pretty sure that necklace will turn up. I'm glad you kept it all this time." I smiled at her.

Suddenly, I heard a rumbling sound in the distance. It began to get closer. Julia and I looked at each other in confusion. Then I heard a train whistle. The rumbling got louder and closer. I saw headlights coming towards us. It was a…train? The train was just inches away from me….

I jolted up. I looked around and saw that I was in a little room. I could still hear the sounds from the train. In the corner was a single window. I saw a train outside passing by and then taking off into the distance. I looked down at the floral patterned comforter that I was under.

Fitz walked into the room, "Yeah, that train wakes me up all the time too." He chuckled, "That's why I usually spend my nights away from home at that internet café down the street."

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, "Uh….what time is it?"

"12:21." He told me, "You slept all morning."

I let out a groggy moan, "Fantastic."

"It's fine. You needed it." He told me, "You were so out of it yesterday."

I sat up in bed, "Well, this sure beats sleeping in my car out on the streets, and having to shower every day in that pond."

"I know how that feels, trust me." Fitz commented, reaching into a big brown paper bag that he brought with him, "I got some coffee."

I stood up out of bed, noticing that I was still in my clothes from yesterday, and took one of the coffees that Fitz handed me, "Thanks."

"So," He asked, taking a sip of his coffee, "Do you normally talk in your sleep?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, I don't think so. Except my parents told me while I had my eating disorder, they could hear me talking in my sleep and having nightmares. Why? Was I doing that now?"

"You were saying 'Julia'." Fitz explained.

I slowly began to think back to my dream, where Julia came and talked to me. I explained to Fitz, "Tomorrow, it's gonna be the exact day last year that Julia died. It's been a whole year without my best friend."

"Julia is with God now. She's safe." Fitz placed his hand on my shoulder, "I mean, I know you don't believe in God, but she's in a good place now. And I'm sure that the dream you had was her way of letting you know that she wants the same thing for you."

I nodded. Just then, a tall man in a black robe stepped into the little bedroom. "Oh Mark, you're here early. Good."

"I was here all night, Father Gregory." Fitz looked at me, "This is Jillian. She needed somewhere to stay for the night."

The man studied me for a good 10 seconds, and his eyebrows knit together, "Is this….that girl? That girl who went missing more than a week ago? The Goldsworthy girl?"

I gulped hard, "Uh…..well…yes. But don't call the police or anything. I promise you that I'm going home."

Father Gregory nodded, "Well, in that case, I wouldn't call the authorities on you. If you make a promise to fix your problems on your own, it's the Lord's intentions that I allow you to make things right all on your own."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"When do you intend to head home?" Greg asked me, "I mean, you are welcome to stay here as long as you would like. If anywhere besides home, you're always safe in the place of God."

Fitz looked at me, "Well, today is pretty heavy traffic. And by the time it calms down, it'll be dark."

I began to think. Was I actually gonna do this? Was I even ready to go home? What will Bullfrog and Cece think? Would they be happy to see me, or would I be coming home just so they can lecture me and then send me off to another boarding school? What about Eli? If anything, he was really the only reason I wanted to go home. He was the one I hurt the worst. If he would want me home, that's all that mattered. "I'll leave tomorrow morning." I decided, "It'll give me the rest of today to think things over." I looked at Father Greg, "Um, if that's ok with you?"

Greg smiled, "Of course. You're making a good decision, Jillian."

"I sure hope so." I told him, "Because there's somebody back home. Somebody who needs me."

Father Greg smiled at me again, and then turned to Fitz, "Mark, I have to conduct a service today at 3:00. You don't have to be here for that. But you must be back here by 8:00."

"Curfew. Got it." Fitz replied. Father Gregory left the room. Fitz turned to me, "So Jill, you never told me what happened with your whole bulimia thing."

"Oh right…..that." I became uneasy.

"Listen, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to…."

"No," I told him, "No, I-I want to….I really want to."

He looked outside and then back at me, "Tell you what. Put on your little hoodie disguise. How about you and I go drive around a bit and you can tell me then."

"Ok." It sounded refreshing. I was glad that I finally had a real place to stay, but even this church was a little stuffy.

Fitz and I got into his car and he started down the road. He was right about the traffic. Eventually though, he made it onto a quiet road, perfect for just driving around and talking. I decided to break the ice, "So…..it started in 8th grade. I began to not be able to fit kid sizes anymore, and I thought it was because I was getting fat." Fitz nodded. "That September, I ran for school president. My competition was this girl Amanda…."

I told Fitz everything. I told him everything from the picture on twitter and what Amanda said about me…..all the way to the one night where it all fell apart…..

Next chapter: you hear about the night it all fell apart! :D "All Falls Apart" is next!