I only got nine reviews but you know that can't stop me from writing! Nyehehehe

Alright, here's next chapter. Warning, F-Bomb dropped twice by Mick if you're sensitive about that

~0o0o0o0~

The first thing that crossed his mind when he saw Rufus' number pop up on the screen was what this could be about. It had only been a few days from their past ordeal. Surely he didn't want the pieces right now? Hell, with the last few days, Jerome hadn't even done anything to recover the pieces. That was Jerome for you, King Procrastination. The vibrating phone now in his hand jarred him out of his small daze. Pulling himself together, he brought it up to his ear and pressed the green button.

"Rufus," he stated, acknowledging his presence on the other line. Jerome walked faster now, not doubting for a second that Rufus could pop out of a bush and stab him. Coming from the boy that was contemplating his own death, it was a stretch, but Jerome figured that if he were to die, why not be poetic with the whole ordeal. His more morbid ideas had been scrapped. After all, he and Mara weren't the best of friends. Killing himself in her closet wouldn't have been exactly the best idea.

"Where. Are. The. Pieces?" He spat. He ran into the school and felt a sense of security flood him. Here, he could say whatever he wanted… to an extent.

"But you said I had ten days!" Jerome exclaimed, not believing a single word he was saying.

"Change of plans, I need them by today." Rufus said quickly, not even caring that Jerome stood still on the other line, shocked to the point of being still.

"I haven't even gotten close to them yet. How the hell am I supposed to just take them? I can't exactly stuff them down my pants!"

"Figure something out, or else."

"Or else what?" He asked timidly, afraid of what was coming next.

"Or else she dies." The line went dead, and the tone that followed sounded reminiscent of the machine at the hospital. Someone would die if he didn't get those pieces. She would die.

Who was she? It couldn't be Nina. She was special. Amber? He would have a double win there. He could ransom her off for both money and immortality. Patricia? He knew all about her, and taking her once more would prove easy. He mulled over this as he dragged himself to his locker to grab his books for English class. At some point, Alfie ran up to him and started chattering on about something, to which he listened half-heartedly.

But soon, he was off again with Sibuna, discussing something about another clue. How exciting. Jerome sat at his usual desk in the back and watched as the other students filed in, looking equally bored. The one thing he couldn't get out of his mind was what Rufus had said. Where are the pieces? It was like a chant in his mind, like a viral pop song that had been repeated so many times.

He hardly paid attention in English. Any information that he seemed to grasp onto transferred into his words. How to phrase it differently: The pieces, where are they? Soon, they were going into math. Today, they were learning binary, and how it translated into different numbers and letters.

01010111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101001 01100101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00111111, or where are the pieces?

Why he was obsessing over the phrase, he did not know, but Rufus had a way of manipulating with his mind, poisoning it. No one could see this though, and so he labored on in the day. When he finally got to French, he was afraid he would snap. "Today we'll be reviewing how to ask a question seeing as most of you still don't get it. Now, I want you all to write down one question and switch." Jerome started writing the first thing he thought of, regardless if it were a good idea or not.

Où sont les morceaux? Seeing as he had no desk partner, he merely read the writing over. Was this Rufus' intention? To slow, but thoroughly, drive him to the point of deliria? For a few seconds, he could feel a pair of eyes staring at him. He assumed it were some person looking at the bruise on his face, but was surprised when he saw Mara, shooting glances back at him, looking worried.

He wanted to glare at her, or at least sneer, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He tore his eyes away from her and stared at his work. It didn't occur to him that the ell had rung until after Mrs. Andrew's had cleared her throat, signaling to him that he should leave.

Slightly embarrassed and confused, he started walking back to the house. What he really needed to do was to get the pieces, give them to Rufus and be done with everything. Sibuna. He hated the group sometimes. Why couldn't they be dumb enough to leave everything lying around? The whole walk back to the house was devoted to his brainstorming, thinking of where they would put their most personal affects.

"Jerome?" Mara stood in front of him, clearly going the other way, cheeks red from running. He groaned. Loudly.

"Yes Mara?" He asked, slightly sneering. He didn't care if he crushed her.

"Oh, erm, well, you sort of looked… I don't know… worried today. Are you alright?" Damn it, he thought, damn you Mara. Was it the eyes that always gave him away? Because no one else had seen it. Or was it just her?

"I can assure you Mara that I am fine." He smirked, staring down at the girl who was fiddling with the strap on her bag.

"Are you sure?" Jerome looked at her dubiously, hoping that he could trick into believing that yes, he was alright. She had already seen through him previously, so Jerome was nearly pleading with any entity in the sky for her to be neglegant, this once.

"Mara, I think I know myself better than you do." He tried to hide the annoyance in his voice. This didn't really work as he came off as cold and distant.

"O-okay, um, bye?" She stated awkwardly, turning slowly towards the school.

Not bothering to say goodbye, he walked, well, stormed off, now desperate to get to the house, and away from her. He realized at some point that he was being an inexplicable dickhead, but for once, he seemed to have a reason to be so.

He quickly reached the house, starting in his room, looking through Alfie's stuff. For now, it was a welcome distraction from her warm brown eyes, hiding the perceptiveness that she liked to keep hidden. The more he looked, the more he forgot, which was, for once, something he wanted.

~0o0o0o0~

"Have any of you guys seen Mara?" Mick asked, his mouth full of spaghetti, to the rest of the house who were slightly disgusted by the sight. Jerome had actually wondered this too, but had refrained himself from voice this.

"Last time I saw her, she was going to school," Jerome blurted, not fully conscious of what he was saying. Why did he have to snap now? When he focused his attention on the other housemates, he noticed them quieting, as if setting the scene for another arguement.

"And how would you know?" Mick started, anger emerging in his voice. He was stabbing his spaghetti violently now.

"Oh, I know a lot about your girlfriend Campbell, don't think that you're the only one that ever-" He was cut off by Mick who was starting to get ticked off.

"Shut up!" Mick exclaimed, dropping his fork. Obviously Mick meant for this to be intimidating, but the spaghetti stopped it from making any noise, and at best, made a small squishing noise that Jerome found funny.

"Jealous are we?" Jerome quizzed, flashing Mick a smirk.

Patricia interjected before things could get any worse," You two stop it or I'll throw you both under a bus and watch. Clarke, so Mara was going to school last time you saw her? Maybe she is doing something for school rep, relax you two. If she doesn't come back in an hour, then we can worry. We all know how… dedicated Mara can be." Patricia's explanation posed no flaw, but still, Jerome couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that seemed to accompany her disappearance.

Soon, all of them were back eating, stuffing themselves with garlic bread, spaghetti, downing that all with juice. After dinner though, there was still no sign of Mara, and everyone started to feel a little bit more panicked. Trudy had managed to call up the teachers at school, but none of them were with Mara.

Jerome remembered what Rufus had said, and immediately started to feel himself grow sweaty. What if Rufus had meant Mara? Poor, sweet, Mara? It wasn't fair! Mara had nothing to do with the mystery, why get her involved now? He inwardly debated whether he should tell Sibuna or not. But then again, what could they do? Logically, he had to tell the police. But they probably wouldn't even believe him. Everything seemed hopeless at this point.

He had wandered off up into the girl's hall, knowing that the artifacts would probably be in there. He started with Patricia's room seeing as Nina's room might have been too predictable, so he thought. Walking in, he was struck with a sense of guilt. Just being in the prescence of Mara's room made him feel as if she was watching over him, judging him. Of course, this was silly, and he started rummaging.

"The hell are you doing here?" Mick asked, storming into the room. "Being a fucking perv, is it?" Jerome cringed at his bad use of grammar but tried not to make this obvious.

"Mick I-"

"Save it! You're the reason she left, aren't you?"

"Am not!"

"Then why - magically - after talking to you, does she disappear?"

"Mick: you're acting just like Patricia when Nina arrived."

"Maybe I am, but I know that you," Mick pushed Jerome back," had something to do with this. You have no idea how you break people. I don't even get why she bothers talking to you. You've got no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves."

"Mick! I'm trying to help. You're making this a bloody big deal."

"Well maybe because it is! I'm her boyfriend! You can fuck off for all I care, just leave."

Jerome walked out quickly, wanting to avoid a physical confrontation. Now along with Rufus' words, he could hear Mick: You've no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves! As much as Jerome wanted to deny all the allegations pressed against him by the meathead, he knew there was a ring of truth to them. First - blackmailing Alfie, now letting Mara be kidnapped.

Mara was lying when she said he wasn't rotten. It was plain and simple that he was. And now, Mara might be killed because of him. His phone in his pocket buzzed signalling a new message. Somehow, he already knew what it would be about.

From: Rufus

I warned you

Attached was a picture. Jerome dreaded opening it, for he knew what he would see. His curiosity took the best of him and he clicked on it. In the picture was a girl who looked tiny, child-like almost, bound and gagged with strips of cloth, on the floor. Her face was streaked with tears that were pooling on the ground, inter-mingling with the dirt ridden floor.

But it was her eyes that killed him. They were crushing, full of pain and sadness. But they were also convicting. Yes, he had to tell the others. Knowing Rufus, keeping her alive had become a game, a mad, twisted game that was vaguely interesting in his mind's view.

His lazy steps now turned into a full-fledged run as he ran down the stairs. Dangerous. It echoed in his mind hauntingly. Yet with every step closer to their supposed 'study meeting', he couldn't escape it.

"Jerome!" Amber shrieked as he stormed in. He wasn't in the mood for any of their idiotic excuses that they were trying to string together. On an other normal day, their lack of organization would be comical.

"Rufus has Mara." And then there was silence, for everyone knew that this was bad.

~0o0o0o0~

Yay for another chapter! I particularly like the ending on this one but not the beginning, but oh well, I'm still pleased with it.

Review! (Ten reviews, but try for fifteen!)

Love,

~kels

(Also, submit OCs for my other story. I need two more boys and two more girls, thanks if you do)