Blubleblah. ^o^

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 13: Phone Calls

Unknown Person's P.O.V

I quickly hid behind a tree, feeling pissed at myself. How could've I missed the scent, or even the previous sounds? Shame coloured my feelings and my head bowed as I glared at the floor. I was not good enough to be a werewolf – I couldn't even feel the signs of pursuit. I growled under my breath and watched silently for my follower to pass by. But the person didn't appear. The longer I waited, the longer I felt impatience bubble up inside me. He was getting away. I calmed myself down for a few more moments, waiting for this thing to emerge from the shadows.

Finally, I snapped and flew out from my hiding spot. Screw the follower. I'll just have to deal with it when it catches up to me. Sniffing the air, I followed his scent deeper into the woods. Suddenly, I felt cool air rush beside me. Snapping my head that way, I bared my teeth at whatever was there. A warning growl slipped from between my teeth as my emerald eyes scanned the space in front of me for anyone, or anything. But of course, there was nothing.

Snarling in disgust, I sniffed the air for the new intruder. Hmmm… it smelled familiar. But before I could turn around or kick, a cold blade was stuck at my throat. I immediately growled and griped the hand that held the blade. It instantly pressed deeper to my neck and I felt a familiar yet unfamiliar chill that spread from the skin that was touched by the blade.

The knife was silver – fatal to a werewolf – fatal to me.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…

I stilled instantly, but felt a growl rumble inside me nevertheless. I was held at a disadvantage – in the weaker position. I could only wait until I had a chance to attack or get away. But it didn't mean that I couldn't talk.

"Who are you? What do you want? What the fucking hell are you?" I growled in one breath.

"You're in no position to be asking me this question," my attacker said, his voice smooth with amusement.

I stiffened in shock. I knew that voice… and no wonder the scent was familiar.

"Alex?" My attack instincts turned off immediately. I felt at ease, knowing that it was someone I knew. Well… at least he was human.

He must've felt it as well, so he removed the knife from my neck and let me turn to face him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Wassuppp Tommy Boyyyyy~~~!" He smiled so that he looked younger, greeting me as if he didn't just hold a knife at my neck.

I gave him a weird look, still slightly suspicious. "You know about…?"

He nodded, his smile fading just so it played around his lips. "Hey, can we talk somewhere else?" He glanced around. "I'm not a werewolf so I'd prefer a McDonald's than the woods."

I smirked, my suspicions dropped. It was definitely Alex.

"Let's go."

When we had a plate of fries in the middle and two drinks, we got straight down to business.

I cracked my neck and grabbed a fry. "How do you know? Why do you know? When did you know?"

Alex looked at me, mouth open and a fry ready to enter his mouth. "Why me first? Why can't I ask you why you were following Will?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not the most important thing right now. The most important thing is why a human knows about us."

Alex took a sip from his drink. "Alright. So." He looked at me seriously and pushed away the fries, hands folded on the table, body leaning forward. "Do you know about the fight between the NCD and the rest of the Night World?"

I raised an eyebrow. "The NCD?"

"The New Circle Daybreak." He sighed. "So you don't know?"

I shook my head slightly.

"Okay." He took a long sip from his drink before starting. "So here's what's happening – the NCD wants to reveal themselves to the humans. They want to forgive and forget about the Burning Times."

I leaned forward, interested.

"But a lot of the Night World – mostly witches and vampires – really hate humans, and they're not ready to forget, maybe never. So they're striking against us, in many ways." He ran his hand through his hair. "Like Darrion's case – we're suspecting that they're trying to terrorize the humans as well as give us a warning that they're not okay with this. So normally, the vampires would erase the family members' memory, or even kill them off. But now, more and more cases are starting to appear when the bodies are carelessly disposed of and the relatives' memories are remaining. There are more and more bodies like that, and the humans are starting to panic."

I gulped some more of my drink, nodding to myself. This was important news; I needed to listen to it carefully before I told my family.

"And most of the witches who joined their side are dark ones. Midnight witches. So they use their craft to manipulate everything – even the elements… like the earthquake at Haiti. That was them. Our agents confirmed it last week."

I looked up at him. "They have enough power? They shouldn't be that strong."

Alex nodded. "It's because it's dark magic. We don't know much about it, so we're not sure of the extent of its power."

I leaned back. "And you relate to this, how?"

Alex shushed me. "I'm getting to that part. So you see: they'd do anything to keep the Night World a secret – they're ruthless. They'd even destroy us. So they keep hunting for powerful creatures to be on their side."

"Dragons?" I murmured. I've heard of those creatures. They were the ultimate destroyers.

"No, no… those guys are long gone." He glanced around. "So here's the thing – you know Aradia? The Crone?"

I waved a fry at him to keep him continuing.

"So before her visions were gone, she had one where she witnessed something that's never happened before… almost as big as the Apocalypse."

"And?"

"Have you heard of Morgan Le Fay?" Alex's voice started to get lower and lower.

"Uh… yeah. The evil bitch from the Arthurian legends." I shrugged. "So?"

"Apparently Aradia witnessed her rebirth. Her reincarnation into this life," Alex whispered spookily, dipping a fry into ketchup.

I sucked in a breath. "Fuck. But witches don't reincarnate!"

Alex nodded, his eyes wide. "I know. But luckily Old Souls don't remember their past lives until their memories are triggered, so she's not evil or anything right now. But still. This is the first time a witch has reincarnated… and the first time Morgan Le Fey reincarnated! You know how powerful she is right?"

I felt myself tense. I've read about some of those legends. She was non-stop evil; selfish… she wanted everything in the world. And she was part-faerie… which made her even morepowerful than the common witch. Along with that, Morgan Le Fey was dark… she spun dark magic, and from what I've heard, dark magic requires you to pay a price – most likely your soul and blood – but it'll let you have anything you want once you've paid enough.

"So a few months ago, a day after we found out about the vision, we found a spy in our team from the other side. Apparently the spy told their leader what happened, and they want her on their side so they can win easily." Alex shuddered. "It would be really, really bad if she's on their side with the awakened memories. The evil … the power … We're basically dead from then. She'll manage to spin dark spells so that the whole world is under her control. No one can stand up to her. And her old memories would only guide her so she won't repeat her mistakes."

I cocked my head at him. "You still haven't gotten to the point. Where are you in this?"

Alex allowed a small smile to play on his face. "Where am I? Well. I'm a specialized NDC agent whose sole job is to protect Morgan Le Fey's reincarnate from herself and from us."

I snorted. "You?" I ran my eyes over his profile and started laughing. "But you're just a human."

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"You're weak," I said bluntly, carelessly shoving 5 fries in my mouth at the same time.

Suddenly, I felt a cold wind past my cheek. Before I knew it, the silver dagger he'd used on me was vibrating next to my ear. I growled at him; a low rumble; and pulled it out, recklessly throwing at his face. He quickly dodged it, allowing the knife to wedge itself into the wooden seat and grinned.

"Not bad." He pulled it out quickly before stowing it back into his bag, so when a guy came to check on the noise, we just looked more or less innocent.

"You're not bad either." I smirked. "But don't fucking pull that stunt on me again."

He grinned. "Deal."

"So who's the Morgan Le Fey reincarnate?" I asked.

Alex suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell…"

I looked away, thinking. "What if I say that I'm on NCD's side, and I'm willing to do whatever fucking thing to protect this person?"

He smiled. "That would be great! I've never gotten a partner before… but I'll have to ask first. Then we'll let you know." Then his expression changed. "So after you know about me… how about you?"

"Hmm?" I paused in mid-slurp.

Alex leaned forward curiously. "Why were you following Will?"

I jerked back and looked away. "I was following him to protect us."

"Protect? Us?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shouldn't you know from your 'training' of how to distinguish a human from a vampire from a witch from a shapeshifter from a werewolf?"

Alex nodded slowly yet confusedly. "Yeah… but what do you mean?"

"Will's a vampire," I stated with hatred. "And you know about vampires." I narrowed my eyes. "They're nasty creatures. Unreliable, thirsty, bloodsucking leeches."

"Hey!" Alex looked mildly offended. "Not all of them."

I widened my eyes. "Are you fucking serious? They're bastards. They think they're all so fucking smart and so fucking genius that they don't fucking care–"

"Okay!" Alex rolled his eyes. "So who exactly were you protecting?"

"The usual… Eliza, Vivienne… our people."

Alex's head snapped up to look at me, eyes flashing. "Why? Did he harm her in any way?"
I cocked my head at him. "Who?"

"Did he harm her in any way?"

"Who?"

"Did he harm her in any way?"

"Who the fuck is 'her'?"

Alex's inner fire faded. "Oh… sorry. I meant 'them'."

"Ah." I glanced at him but let it pass. "Well… Eliza's my soulmate, so I have to protect her –"

"What?"

I gave him a weird look. "Eliza is my soulmate."

"Does she know?" Alex grinned.

"No."

He looked at me, mildly confused. "Why?"

"I don't want her to know yet. Moving on …" I rested my elbows on the table. "Eliza is my soulmate so I have to protect her, Vivienne – well I see her as a little sister, so she's like family, and Rachelle's really nice, Penelope's really funny, Naomi's probably the most mature one but still fun, and Kristina's a pain, but she's a friend. So they're all my friends, so I find it my responsibility to protect them."

Alex nodded. He looked slightly tense again. "So did Will harm them any of them, or suggest harming them in any way?" He asked casually.

I leaned forward. "Yeah…" I took a sip of my drink. "I don't know if it's just me, but I sometimes see Will looking and Vivienne weirdly. Like he watches her like…" I waved my hand around unconsciously. "Like… I don't know. Just this really intense look," I summed up brokenly.

Alex looked away. His whole body seemed ridged. "Well that sucks."

I looked at him, confused. "What sucks?"

Alex's whole body seemed to sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Nothing sucks," he finally said brightly, turning towards me. "Nothing sucks," he repeated.

I watched him, playing with the straw of my drink.

Okay then.

Vivienne's P.O.V

Vivienne hurriedly unlocked the door and kicked off her wet flips flops once inside. She just got back from a swim practice, and her feet were still wet – something she immensely disliked.

"I'm home," she sang as she swung her bag over her shoulder, preparing the excruciating journey up the flight of 5 stairs.

Unusually, her mom didn't yell back for her to wash her suit, or even help set the table. She couldn't hear her any noise in the kitchen, nor her father's footsteps walking up and down the stairs. But she heard sounds from the TV. Curious, she dropped her bag onto the wooden floor and padded to the kitchen.

"Mom?" She called, hoping her mother was making coffee quietly or something. No one was there. Vivienne then looked for her in the storage room, where she might be looking for ingredients. No one was there either.

"Mom?" She called again, hoping her mom was just deaf. The strange atmosphere made her feel uneasy. Maybe they went out, she thought doubtfully.

"Mom? Father?" She called as she walked to the living room – the source of the TV sounds. They usually waited for her there after dinner was prepared.

"Father?" She asked hesitantly as she rounded the corner. With relief, she could hear murmurs that weren't part of the news program.

"Mom! Father!"

Then she saw her parents sitting opposite to each other – her mom on her usual loveseat sleeper and her dad on his usual single seater sofa. The TV was on, but they weren't watching, just talking quietly. When Vivienne entered, her mom gave her dad a glance, and he stopped talking, turning around.

"Uhh… what are you doing?" She asked uncertainly.

Her dad turned around to look at her mom and they exchanged a look. Vivienne went closer, careful of the odd atmosphere.

"How was swimming?" Her mom asked.

Well that was weird. Vivienne gave her a questioning look. Her mom typically didn't ask about her practices; she mostly didn't ask about her at all.

"Fine… why?" She looked at both of them, still wary.

Her mom glared at her dad before shooting a glance Vivienne's way. Her dad shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and jerked his chin at her mom.

"You guys are really…" Vivienne shivered and left her sentence unfinished. She turned around and took a step to go upstairs.

"Umm." Her mom's voice called her back.

Vivienne looked at her. "What's going on?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Her mom gave a last glance at her dad and she stood up. "I think you should see this." She bent down and picked up a pale envelope. When Vivienne held her hand out for it, her mom hesitated before placing it so that there was no skin-to-skin contact.

Vivienne felt her insides clench. "Okay," she muttered before grabbing it. Then she turned around and went upstairs without looking at it.

Once she was settled and such, Vivienne idly took the envelope and sat down on her bed. Sure, she was interested about the big deal with the envelope and stuff, but really, she was more pissed about how distant her parents have been becoming. After the coughing episode, they hardly talked and laughed with her; instead, they've been getting more and more demanding about her choices and mistakes and getting upset about how "useless" she's becoming.

Really, she hasn't found anything wrong with herself, or anything that's suggesting "failure". She's just been finding these weird nudges to do something… not exactly right. Like manipulating people until they all hate someone specifically, and talking back to everyone. But she's trying to ignore those nudges… sometimes.

Anyways. She sighed and turned back to the envelope. It was really pretty – the words were written in a flowing green script, and the envelope was beige-coloured. She brushed a finger over it lightly and felt the rough, expensive material. Wondering what all this was about, she turned it over and saw the flap of the envelope. In the same print, she read a return address to Mrs. Akio Ammon and Mr. Otis Ammon.

Instantly anxious for the news, she tried to calm down the fluttering inside her stomach and carefully pulled out a single card. It was made of the same beige, expensive paper as the envelope. She quickly read over what the card said, and read it again. The beautiful green script masked the grief it contained…

Announcing the fact that Darrion Ammon is dead.

Vivienne dropped the card and slowly crawled to the deepest corner of her bed. Sitting up with her knees tucked in, she pulled the thick covers over herself and looked out the window miserably. The sky was slowly turned dark, mixing the colours there, just like her emotions. Darrion was proven to be dead. She summoned up a dull chuckle inside herself. She guessed right… he was dead. Her brain and heart felt hollow… like all of its contents were emptied, leaving behind a fragile shell. She tried to find tears that she wanted to fall, but her eyes were dry. Vivienne chuckled lifelessly again. She felt so hollow… but why did she feel the pain of her friend's death inside her, all the same?

Why did she have to feel the pain…?

Beep.

Vivienne looked up from her book to the computer screen. A MSN box was flashing for her attention. It was an invitation to join Penelope and Kristina's conversation. She clicked OK and sat back dully.

You got the invitation, right? Kristina asked.

Vivienne leaned forward slowly and typed back.

Ya. The card she'd received a week ago was also the invitation card.

It's Saturday morning. Penelope said. You going early?

I don't even know if I can go, Vivienne wrote unhappily. That was true – her mom had an appointment and her dad was at work already.

Shit! Seriously? Kristina said.

You HAVE to go. Penelope added.

Can any of you take me? Vivienne asked, hopeful.

They didn't respond for a while. Penelope was the first to answer.

I don't think I can take you, she said. My aunt is taking me.

Then Kristina answered.

I'm going with Rachelle like carpool. But there's not enough space.

Vivienne sighed. Kk thanks.

Sorry.

It's okay.

After a silence, Kristina wrote something.

So what are you guys wearing there?

Vivienne could imagine herself and Penelope giving each other a look.

Black. Penelope answered.

Ya. Vivienne typed.

You guys are so boring… Kristina typed. Anyways! I think I'm going to wear the new black dress I got. Were you guys there when I got it?

Yes. They were there when she got it.

But then I don't want the adults to think I'm slutty… So should I wear the black pencil skirt with a black shirt?

Vivienne went back to her reading and left Penelope to answer. Suddenly, about a million beeps came from the computer, forcing Vivienne to go back to the conversation. Penelope had written a simple "whatever you want". She found herself smiling sadly. They were being their usual selves, which made her smile, but it was about Darrion's funeral…

Vivienne! What about you? Kristina had typed. You know what? I think I'll trust you more than Penelope.

Why? T_T Penelope protested.

Cause she's closer to my style than you are. Even though she's not my style. Actually, I should've gone to Naomi… but she's not answering her phone. The thing is in a day! Kristina said.

No. Vivienne typed quickly. She did not want Kristina to be droning on and on about her outfits. She'd rather do anything else.

Whyyyy? Please! Kristina begged.

:D Penelope wrote.

Damn you PenTAlope. Vivienne said. And no cause I don't want to.

Damn you BeBeon. =) Penelope wrote back.

Whyyy? Kristina whined again.

Slightly annoyed by Kristina's messages, Vivienne typed in her escape route.

G2G eat dinner. Bye.

Bye BeBeon.

Nooooo! Wait! I'll call you!

Vivienne closed off the chatbox with a snort. Just cause Kristina called, it didn't mean she had to answer. She had caller ID. And then she went back to reading.

It was right before her real dinner when Vivienne received Kristina's call.

"Hey girl," Kristina cooed.

"What?"

"Okay, I need you to help me choose an outfit," Kristina said, getting down to business.

Vivienne sighed. Dinner will just have to wait.

"Okay, so I've got the black dress I just bought at Forever 21… Omgshh it was so cheap cause it was on sale. Fifteen bucks. And then there's the pencil skirt – you've probably seen me wear it before."

"Mmhmm." Vivienne was hardly listening – she was mostly writing on the computer.

"And then I have black dress pants also with the same black shirt. So should I wear the dress, the pencil skirt, or the dress pants?"

"Umm… the pants…" Vivienne said vaguely. She hardly heard anything.

"Really? But the pants are so… gross. It makes my thighs look fat."

"Then the… the… the dress."

"But doesn't it make me look like a slut? I mean I don't know…" Kristina trailed off.

"Then why are you asking me?" Vivienne snapped, momentarily distracted from her chapter. "You already know what you're wearing!"

Kristina giggled. "Sorry. So what's up?"

"I need to go practice piano," Vivienne said abruptly.

"Aww really?"

"Yeah."

"Later girl," Kristina cooed again. "Oh, I might call you again."

"Mmm," Vivienne muttered before hanging up. And then she went to go eat dinner.

The phone rang a second time when she was just settling down to write more, comfortably curled up in between her covers.

"Phone!" Her mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Who is it?" She yelled back.

"It says Keung B.P!"

Kristina. "Let it ring!" Vivienne yelled, and got down to writing the special scene she'd saved up.

But before long, the phone rang a third time. She didn't even get far – just up to the second paragraph. The ringtone blasted right next to her and she felt irritable and unhappy. It destroyed the mood that existed inside her head, completely.

"It's Keung B.P. again!" Her mom yelled.

"Let it ring!" Vivienne bellowed, pissed at the whole world. Now how was she supposed to write this scene? She threw down the notebook and pen and jammed her head underneath a pillow.

Slowly, the fire inside her dimmed and she got tired and fell asleep like that. The whole world turned pretty, with fluffy white clouds, a clear, soft blue sky that doesn't hurt your eyes, and it was so comfortable, because it was just at the right temperature – the normal, warm kind –

And then the fricken phone rang for the fourth time.

Vivienne resisted the urge to throw the phone across the phone and pressed the mute button. The room fell silent. She sighed and curled into a ball, not bothering to change out of her dirty clothes. And then she fell asleep.

It was the sound of a phone ringing that woke up Vivienne.

With the annoying memories of the phone calls in her mind, she sat up blearily. The aggravating tune seemed to ring on forever. Almost roaring with frustration, she pressed talk.

"What?"

"Vivienne?" It was Penelope. "Have you heard from Kristina since she talked to us on MSN yesterday?"

"Yesterday…?" Vivienne looked reached out to the thick drapes covering her windows. When she pulled a corner out, a bright flash of light attacked her eyes.

"Ow. Yeah… she called me last night like five thousand times… why?" Vivienne asked, still groggy and blind in one eye.

"Rachelle said she wanted to call her to confirm the time and stuff and she said that Kristina didn't answer. She called four times – yesterday twice and this morning twice. And Kristina never not answers her phone, even if she's going pee or something," Penelope added.

Vivienne let out a sleepy chuckle. "I know… but after the first call, I… didn't… answer… the rest of them…" She trailed off, half embarrassed.

"You're so mean!"

"Well don't tell me you don't either!"

"So?"

"So maybe I should check my cell phone," Vivienne said, changing topics. "Maybe she left a text or something there."

"Okay. Call me if you find anything. And text me if you don't."

"Mean," Vivienne slowly snapped, still half asleep.

"Bye, you foo."

"Bye."

Vivienne hung up and collapsed on the bed. She was so tired… Suddenly, she sat up, wide awake. What time was it? She quickly glanced at the clock – 1:10 pm. She has school today! Why didn't her mom wake her up? She went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up before padding downstairs to take a look.

"Mom?" She called.

When she went to the kitchen, she found nothing there, except for a note on the table. Vivienne picked it up and read:

V,

I'm out shopping. The school called today and you guys

get a day of rest before the funeral.

Call me if you need anything.

If you're hungry, you know where to find the food.

Mom.

Oh. Okay then. Vivienne shrugged and went to the living room to get her Blackberry from the charger. Bringing it upstairs with her, she settled underneath the covers again and checked for anything from Kristina. Actually, she didn't really find anything wrong with Kristina missing the calls. Sure, she always answered, but a few slipups didn't count right?

She scrolled to her messages first to look for any from Kristina. Finding nothing new, she went to her missed calls and stared down at it in surprise. There were thirteen in total… and seven of those were from Kristina. Looking for the details, she found that they were based on almost three minute intervals… except for the first two. Wow… was there something really that important? Vivienne rolled her eyes. It was just an outfit for a funeral.

Darrion's funeral…

Oh crap. She didn't have a ride to his fricken funeral.

Last night, she'd thought that she could ask around at school for a ride, but… well… that plan was destroyed. Vivienne's eyes turned back to her phone. Hey, maybe she can text them instead. Maybe they'll answer. She sent out a SOS text to people who are suitable to ask favours from and dropped the phone next to her. Sighing at her sucky planning and the sucky day tomorrow, she collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes.

Her mom shook her awake, holding out the phone. Vivienne drowsily put the phone to her ear and closed her eyes.

"Hmmmmm?"

"Hey Vivienne. It's Alex." His smooth, warm voice filled her ears.

Vivienne's eyes popped open. She propped herself up to a half sitting, half lying down position. "Hi. Uh… what's up?"

"I got your text about the ride thing."

Oh, right! Vivienne quickly fished out her cell from the covers with one hand and checked her inbox. Scrolling down, she saw that many of them said that she should've asked beforehand, that they were carpooling with someone else. "Yeah… what about it?"

"We've got a seat open if you want," Alex said.

Vivienne hesitated. "Who's 'we'?"

Alex laughed. "It's just me and my brother. You don't have to worry."

Vivienne cocked her head. At least Keith and Mike and them weren't there. "Yeah… It would be really great if you – woah!" She looked down at her phone's screen.

"What's up?" Alex asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing…" She continued to stare at the new text box that just popped up. With a confused voice, she continued. "Will just asked me if I wanted him to give me a ride."

She reread it again. Sure enough, it was Will's number, and it asked her what she read before. But they were enemies! Why is he being so nice? Wait, why is he even texting her? After all, they weren't really close.

"Really?"

Vivienne looked at the phone. Alex sounded… weird. It wasn't the usual warm tone he used with her.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked tentatively.

She heard Alex sigh. "I know this is going to sound weird," he continued in that odd voice. "But I think Will is… a bad kind of person. Not the type we should um… communicate with, you know?"

Vivienne had nothing to say. "Well… uhh… okay…?"

"I mean, just don't be too… close… with him," Alex said hesitantly.

Vivienne felt a little amused with this new side of him. She laughed. "Okay Alex. I won't be too close with him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we'll pick you up half an hour before the time it says on the card," Alex said, sounding mildly relieved.

"Okay. And thank you Alex," Vivienne said, comforted by his support.

"No prob. See you tomorrow."

"Bye!"

"Bye."

Vivienne hung up, feeling grateful. Then she spotted Will's text message again, and she picked up the phone. Why was he being so nice? She thought again. Mixed up emotions stirred inside her, so many that she couldn't differentiate them. Finally, she looked at the screen and sighed, before replying a very firm "no thank you".

Her phone then started to vibrate in her hand, telling her that Penelope was calling. Vivienne pressed talk and put the phone to her ear.

"What's up?"

"Did you find anything about Kristina?" Penelope asked. Her voice was rather nervous.

"Yeah… she called my phone like seven times. No texts, though. Why the hurry?"

"Me and Rachelle tried calling her a lot since this morning," Penelope answered. "But she never answered. So far, it's been over 12 hours when she's been missing her calls." Penelope paused. "Do you think anything happened to her?"

"No," Vivienne snapped. "Have you called her home phone? Her cell might be charging or something."

"Yeah. We tried. It didn't work."

Vivienne closed her eyes. "I'll try calling, too. And I'll check my phone again."

"Kay. Call me or Rachelle if you find anything."

"Wait," Vivienne said quickly. "Do her parents know?"

"They're at Shanghai, remember?"

Vivienne grinned. "Oh right."

"Call me if you find anything," Penelope repeated.

"Kay. Bye."

"Bye."

As she said before, she checked all her texts and missed calls and recorded the times down, sending them to Penelope's phone. She sounded actually really worried, and it wasn't like her. Is Kristina really… missing? Her chest tightened. Her disappearance really sounded familiar… like Darrion's. Would Kristina have the same fate as…Darrion? Vivienne sighed. His funeral wasn't even over, and a second case appeared.

Suddenly, she sat up straight, looking at her cell. She forgot to check her voicemail to see if Kristina had left anything there. She called the number and punched in the password quickly, hoping to get this over fast. She should've called Kristina before, too, like Penelope and Rachelle. Whatever.

You have two new messages, the woman's voice said. First message.

There were sounds of kept in sobs. "Vivienne?" It was Kristina's voice. She sounded like she was about to cry. "I… I found out about something. I remembered what happened! And if he knows that I know, he's going to kill me! I'm scared, Vivienne. I don't know what's going to happen to me! Vivienne… pick up the phone!" She was almost genuinely crying. "Where are you? Oh my god he's going to kill me. I don't want to die! I. Don't. Want. To. Die! Vivienne! Can you come over when you hear this? I don't want to be alone. I'm scared he's going to come and get me. Please come. Please, Vivienne! He's going to find out about what I know and he's going to come! Please!" The voicemail then ended with her choking sobs.

To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine, the computerized voice said.

Vivienne was too shaken and scared to press anything. She was frozen, staring at nothing in horror. Kristina sounded so scared… she was even crying. Kristina never cried. And she was talking about him killing her? Suddenly, ice froze her heart and she felt chills up her spine. The last time she'd seen Darrion, he'd been saying the same thing – that he'd found out about something and he was going to die. It sounded like this was more like his case than anything. Finally, after the woman repeated her directions, Vivienne managed to press 9 to save.

Next message.

It was Kristina again. "Vivienne." She was gasping as if she were running and her voice still sounded like she was crying. "He found out already. And now he's going to come and get me. I'm taking money and some stuff and running away." A sob caught in her throat. "I'm going to go on a bus and stop somewhere. I'll try to stop at your house. If I don't, I'll go to some shop and hide out there. You have to wait for me." She started sobbing uncontrollably. "He's going to get me… he's going to fucking get me… Vivienne! Why aren't you picking up?" There were sounds like running footsteps. "Vivienne! He's close… I can feel it. Oh my god. I really don't want to fucking die! I'm too young to die… Please. Pick up the phone!" Her cries got louder. "Why did I have to remember? I don't want to… I shouldn't have remembered!" She suddenly gasped, and Vivienne's heart stopped. But she continued to talk after. "Vivienne, I need to tell you… if I don't live… I have to warn you. Listen to me. He's going to come after you after he kills me. You have to be careful. Shit, I can't even say his name out loud." She started hyperventilating. "I'm so sorry. But I'm scared that once I say his name, he'll appear right in front of me. I'm so sorry I can't tell you who…" Kristina's sobs made Vivienne cringe. They were so full of fear. "Oh my god… I can feel it. He's really close now. But I'm ready to go out… Fuck… You know what? I'm not even going to –" The sentence got cut off with a high-pitched scream that was filled with nothing but terror. It was the type of scream that someone lets out when they are faced with unimaginable horror, and they could do nothing but face it.

The scream went on for forever and ever until the message ended, with a sound of the phone dropping to the floor.

To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine, the computerized voice said again, sounding strangely delighted.

Alright, just so this is clear, Unknown Person is now revealed by dear Alex that it is Tom. And also, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. o_o Woot. Reviews? ^^