Hello! Thank you for waiting! Here's Ch. 4.

Please enjoy and thank you to all who have read and reviewed so far~

At one corner of Amelia's room, there was a little spider tucked in. It was waiting for prey, perhaps, or hiding from the cold (though the weather would beg to differ), or just sleeping. Amelia identified with the spider in a strange way. It was silent, as was she, and it was most likely waiting for something to come its way so it could gobble it up with hungry fangs. Amelia was hungry for something –anything – on the whereabouts of Arthur. She hungered for him.

With clenched fists, she lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling as she waited. She had told Ivan everything he needed to know, and it astounded her how efficient he was at listening and acknowledging in spite of the fact he probably didn't care in the slightest. All her pocket money – the money she had accumulated over the years – was going towards him. She had offered him part payment upfront. He refused it, and this puzzled Amelia. To her, he seemed like the sort of person who would demand partial payment upfront, especially from a young girl who could still be pulling an elaborate and time-consuming prank. So much puzzled her, and while she hated keeping everything from her parents, there was a part of her relieved that they weren't involved. She smiled to herself as she thought of her mother's reaction.

Her phone buzzed with the notification of a text.

She rolled over to her stomach and picked it up. It was from 'Amanda'. This was one of her friend's names, but on the phone, there was a subtle full stop after this Amanda's name, indicating only to Amelia that this was indeed Ivan. It was something she had come up with herself (a swell of pride accompanied it) to avoid accidental detection by her parents. Ivan only made a grunting sound and agreed with her idea. Emotions were not his forte, she had gathered.

'Wanna meet in the Aurora Café today at 1ish? :)'

Amelia snorted. The smiley was a nice touch. He knew how to act thorough texts, anyway. Amelia text a confirmation and looked to the clock. It was Twelve. Ivan wasn't beyond giving her little notice. Then again, he got information as he got it, so he could hardly plan too far ahead. Amelia breathed in and out, a nervous tremor rising in her stomach. She so desperately wanted information on Arthur it made her sick to think she may actually get some.

The café was quiet, just like the day Ivan and Amelia met for the first time. He sat there, drinking some hot beverage and looking at some papers he held in his glove covered hand. Amelia swallowed her heart, hoping beyond hope that the paper had something gem-like about its contents. She sat down opposite him and stared until he looked up.

In his thick Russian accent, he asked, 'No personal, secretive greeting for me?'

Amelia scowled. 'Like what?'

Ivan did not answer, instead smiling somewhat devilishly. Amelia discretely shuddered. The Russian looked through his papers, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not grab any words. Ivan looked up and smirked.

'Children. So impatient. The papers contain information on your little friends Colin and Arthur.' Ivan put them down in front of them. He kept them away from Amelia.

She resisted another scowl and asked what she deemed appropriate. 'W-what did you find?'

'Oh, the usual crap. Schooling, work, some family details… These people are rich… No wonder you want to save this boyfriend so badly.'

That hurt Amelia in a very deep way. This Ivan saw her as a money-grabbing child. Her rage was released in a single a quiet word. 'Asshole.'

'Hm?'

'Don't try and insult me…!' A lot of energy was used to keep her shouts buried. 'You are a private detective, are you not? Nothing else. It is not your job to judge. Besides, your judgements are wrong…!' Her shoulders trembled. The two were not a pair to get along, it seemed.

Ivan chuckled. 'I was making banter… Lightening the atmosphere if you will. This anger you feel just proves to me how much of a child you are.'

Amelia felt both foolish and angry now. She looked away, face flushed.

'Anyway, you'd be surprised about us judging,' Ivan continued. 'We are human, after all.'

'What's significant about those papers, dude? Come on. I don't have all day.' Amelia could hardly look at his gloved hands let alone his face. She was no longer angry with him, merely ashamed to be seen as someone so naïve in his eyes. She looked to the table, wondering why on earth it would matter what she was to him.

'I just wanted background information,' he said. 'But here…'

He flicked to one particular page and separated it from the pile. Amelia saw from the other side what looked to be a circle made in a black marker pen.

'The piece of paper you gave me with the numbers and letters. They appear to be an address in short.'

Amelia turned her neck to look at it. He showed it to her. Indeed, Ivan had circled an address that matched the first letters on the piece of paper. Circled was the address:

51 Clover Gardens

Linenfield

Amelia's eyes widened and she smiled enthusiastically. She had strength to look at Ivan. 'You think that's where he is?'

Ivan placed a finger over his lips. Amelia flushed again as she noticed a couple of people nearby had turned round to look at the noisy girl. A girl a few tables down had looked over and was giggling gleefully. She had brunette hair tied back in a red bow. Her amber eyes shone with the same glee. The blonde man she was with did not look round, instead sipping his drink with a serious note.

She mouthed apologies to the people and sat down, wishing the seat would swallow her up.

'Noisy American,' Ivan muttered. 'But I am not sure. I cannot judge, after all.'

Amelia only sighed.

'What I will do, however, is check this place out. I did a little bit of research on the area and I found that it has a lot of d… de… uh… houses not lived in.'

Amelia looked to him and ended up laughing to herself. 'Derelict houses?'

'Yes, that's the word.' Ivan was the one to look down in embarrassment. He cleared his throat and examined the papers in front of him. His purple eyes were tense. 'Anyway, I will go and check the place out. Naturally I will report back to you and –'

'No.' Amelia leaned over slightly to assert her point. 'I want to go with you.'

Ivan only stared at her for a few seconds. He blinked once. 'What?'

'You heard me.'

'No. No way, kid. I'm not having you with me. You'll get in my way.'

'How? If anything, it'll save you time. Dude, you won't have to report back to me!' Amelia smiled and tilted her head, happy with her logic.

Ivan leaned over as well. His deep eyes dug into her. 'No.'

Amelia felt a temper rise. She breathed in, hoping she wouldn't regret what she was about to say. 'Ivan… Dude… If you don't take me with you, I'll begin to cry and tell everyone some bad stories.'

Ivan's face twisted slightly as he leaned back. 'I'm not taking you with me.'

Amelia swallowed her fear and began to cry. It was so convincing that even she believed she did this sort of thing all the time. Amelia sobbed, 'But wh-hy? Why not? Don't be mean!'

She could feel the eyes on her back, and she could see Ivan's eyes striking her down silently. He gritted his teeth and leaned over. 'Alright fine…! Quiet now!'

Amelia stopped as soon as she had begun. She got a tissue from her sleeve and wiped the artificial tears from her eyes.

Ivan's face was thunderous. It was the most emotion Amelia had seen him produce. The eyes on her back slowly began to disappear to their own goings on.

In a less-than-amused voice, Ivan said quietly. 'You Americans are all the same. Blackmail and immaturity.'

'Aren't your parents expecting you back?' Ivan asked.

They were sitting in his car as he drove to the street. Amelia looked out of the window and examined each street they passed. There were sides to the city she had never considered before.

'Nope. Not for a few hours. Amanda and I always go out for whole days.' Amelia looked to Ivan and smiled her devilish smile, reminding him of the consequences possible.

'I see. Well, I'll leave you off at the bus stop as soon as I can,' Ivan assured her. His voice still possessed a frosty tone. He did not like being out-manoeuvred by a young girl.

'No rush.' Amelia muttered back.

'Here we are,' Ivan said. He brought the car to a stop. He nodded to the house that was supposedly 51.

Amelia scrambled to the windscreen as close as she dared. 'Is he there? Can you see him?'

'Calm down,' Ivan said harshly. He tugged the hood of her jacket in a sharp motion to get her to sit down.

She did, but began to tug at her sleeves. She bit her bottom lip, feeling her heartbeat in her throat. 'What now?'

'Now we wait and see, child,' Ivan explained. He sat back and got out a newspaper.

'What? But –'

'It is how this sort of thing works.' He flicked through the paper and read. 'I doubt you have it, but you need patience.'

Amelia groaned and sat back. Arthur could have been mere feet from her and she was just sitting in the car, doing nothing. The house did not look derelict like most of the others in the street. While it was not the best kept of houses, there was certainly the air of inhabitants around it. She brought her knees to her chin and began to hum.

Ivan put the paper on the dashboard. 'Are you getting bored? I suppose it has been half an hour.'

Amelia made a small noise and buried her head in her knees. 'I'm just… I just want to get Arthur back.'

There was a pause. Amelia then heard a pocket door opening and looked to see Ivan retrieving something. He bought out a tissue. 'Here. You've already used the tissue up your sleeve.'

It was only then that Amelia realised some tears had formed in the corners of her eyes. 'Oh.'

'You may be an annoyance, child, but I see bravery in you,' Ivan said as Amelia wiped her eyes.

'Huh?'

'Well, for starters, you got into a car with someone you didn't know. I always thought that was taboo.'

Amelia laughed weakly. 'I'll take that as a compliment… Thanks, dude.'

'Stupid Americans…' he muttered.

Then something happened outside. Ivan shot his head to the house like a rabbit to the sign of a predator. The house door was opening and a man walked out, then a second. They locked the door behind them and walked in the opposite direction of the car.

'Oh, God,' Amelia muttered. She gripped the tissue in her hand.

Ivan began to write in a little notebook.

He's… He's in there all alone…

Amelia leapt out of the car, only managing to catch the beginning of Ivan's call. She dashed across the street and looked through the window. Not much could be seen. A couple of chairs and something else. No sign of life. She trembled as she dashed to the side of the house. No gate, just a small gap between this and the neighbour.

Her heart hammered through her entire body, going at a pace dangerously rapid. She looked through a window at the back. This was the kitchen. She could see nothing, but then a door started to open. Her eyes widened, and –

She was knocked to the ground and there was a weight on top of her. She couldn't even struggle or scream. But her head turned enough to allow her the faint relief of Ivan being the one weighing her down. Her vision began to falter, as though she was going to lose consciousness.

'You… stupid… American…!' Ivan scolded through gritted teeth. 'Stay quiet…!'

'There's s-someone…'

'I know.'

Amelia kept quiet, feeling terrified and foolish. Ivan shuffled, allowing her more room. His arms were at either side of her, trapping her. He was not confident enough to give her complete freedom of her movements. He looked down to her with deep eyes for a split second before turning his attention to the house. There was no noise indicating movement within. Ivan moved back and scooped Amelia up. He did not hold her, rather supported her as she found her own feet.

'Shut up and follow me.' Ivan said.

They remained low as they turned the corner Amelia had approached. She was shaking behind Ivan, and without much thought, she griped the back of his coat. He did not look round.

They were back in the car. And there was a long silence.

'You… You are the stupidest girl I have ever met.' The Russian's voice told Amelia that he was suppressing a lot of rage. She could almost see the heavy aura around him. 'I allow you to observe with me and this is what you…'

Amelia squeaked and looked to her knees. '… I'm sorry.'

'Damn right you're…!' He took a breath. 'Yes, well… We were not spotted from what I could tell.'

The young girl looked to Ivan. She had thrown a stone to the surface of the water, and inevitably ripples appeared. She looked to his face, his eyes. They were filled with not just rage, but a certain dread.

'I'm sorry.' She repeated. Terror was filling her as fluently as liquid.

'…'

'I'm… I'm sorry…'

Amelia began to cry.

Ok! Thank you for reading! I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.

R and R!

Cheers! ^_^