There were a bunch of little things in there – valuable things. I saw his gold wedding ring, a few watches, some dead flowers, a lot of little notes written by people, and one of Mom's pearl necklaces. But what really caught my eye was a letter.

A small, white, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary envelope.

Except for what was written on it.

Or, rather, drawn on it.

It was the Order's symbol.

Chloe's POV

I let out a shriek and threw the envelope away from me as if it were on fire.

"Chloe? What is it?" Alek called down to me, worry lacing through his words.

"There – the envelope! That...it had the Order's symbol on it!" I stumbled through my words, falling to my knees and groping around for the envelope again.

I felt its cool, smooth surface and snagged it, and then raised my arms.

"Help me up, please," I said to Alek, on the verge of a panic attack. If I stayed in that little dirt hole for another minute, I would probably lose it.

He grabbed my arms and hoisted me up, and immediately encased me in a hug. The letter was still clutched in-between my white, shaking fingers, which had gotten snagged in-between our chests.

"You're trembling," he whispered, rubbing my back. He made soothing noises and rocked me back and forth.

I swallowed thickly and pulled away, kissing his cheek.

I wordlessly handed him the envelope, and he pried it from my fingers.

"Let's open it at home," he decided, sticking it into his back pocket.

I nodded and we joined hands, and with one last look back at my dad's grave, walked quickly away from the crime scene.

For all the commotion that was going on at the cemetery, it was hauntingly empty.

Even for a cemetery.

I shivered, and Alek pulled me closer to his side. We were practically running out of the place. The clouds had moved and covered the sun, and we could see our breaths in the air.

"Why did it get so cold?" I muttered.

We burst into the apartment and immediately dived for the couch. I started laughing as Alek rolled over the couch cushions repetitively, snuggling his body in and wriggling like a dog so he would be warm again.

He threw his head back and laughed and grabbed me, and rolled on top of me.

"See? Lots warmer," he smirked.

I pushed him off playfully, and he landed next to me on the couch. We were both laying on our sides – or else he would've slipped off of the narrow cushions.

"Lots less air that way, too," I stuck my tongue out.

We sat up, and Alek grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around us. I pulled my legs up and laid my head on his shoulder, and he reached back and took the letter out.

He handed it to me.

I took it with trembling fingers and took a deep breath.

I made no move to open it. I felt Alek shift uncomfortably beside me.

"Chlo...you know you don't have to open it if you don't want to. Nobody's making you," Alek said softly. But I shook my head violently, making my curls bounce everywhere.

"No. I need to. Even if I don't want to – I need to do this. I owe him that much," I said sternly, mostly to myself.

Alek let out a disbelieving laugh. "You don't owe him anything, love. He left you and your mum for no reason at all, and now he's just troubling your lives even more by committing suicide. And he might have been a part of the organization that is planning to take all of your lives!"

My heart sank at his words, and I bit my lip and stared down at the bright white envelope. "There might have been a good reason for all of this," I whispered.

Alek didn't say anything, but I heard him sigh.

I looked at him.

He smiled drily. "Well, what are you waiting for? An eclipse? Open it."

I stuck my finger in a small gap that hadn't been glued down properly, and yanked up. The envelope tore in the wrong place, but I didn't care.

The envelope was slightly heavy, so I suspected there be at least two pieces of paper in there.

I slid my hand inside, expecting to pull out folded up paper, but there was only a small slip – about the size of a fortune cookie slip.

And on it read: We found you.

Alek and I stared at it, our expressions bewildered.

A long, forceful shudder made its way down my back, and Alek unconsciously pulled me closer.

"What does it mean 'we found you'...?" he murmured, running a hand through his hair.

"Maybe..." I licked my lips. "Maybe they're saying that they found his body? Or something?"

He shook his head. "No, that doesn't sound right. Because...why would they be looking for him if he already worked for them? It just doesn't make sense..."

I opened the and tipped it upside down, shaking. Nothing else came out.

"I think that we're just freaking ourselves out," I said, my voice shaking and high-pitched. "This could be nothing. Just another empty threat from the Order. It wouldn't be the first one they've made."

Alek just shrugged. "I don't know. Something about this one feels...real. More dangerous."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, you would think a slab of cheese on the sidewalk in my line of direction is dangerous."

Alek smirked. "My protector instincts. And you did slip on that one..."

"Shut up."

Alek laughed and patted my back. "It's okay. I'll always be there to catch you when you fall."

"Not the time for corniness!" I giggled. I placed the envelope on the floor and we laid down on the couch, the heavy blanket still wrapped around us, side-by-side.

He smiled at me and brushed a curl out of my face.

"You okay?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Yea. Why wouldn't I be?"

Alek cocked his head a bit. "I dunno. Maybe because you just rifled through your father's grave and found a threatening letter in his coffin?"

"No need to be sarcastic," I huffed. "...Well, I guess I'm a bit shaken up. I think I'm still trying to...process it."

I saw Alek's gaze flicker down to my wrists.

I nervously pulled the sleeves of my cardigan down, covering my wrists even more. Alek grabbed my hands and rolled them up.

"Don't. Scars or no scars, you're still Chloe. The Chloe that I love. You don't have to hide them from me. The scars are a part of you now, so I love them, too," Alek smiled and kissed them gently.

The little risen bumps of skin on my pale wrists looked scary even to me, but Alek was putting little baby kisses all over them.

I smiled softly and placed my palm on his cheek, swiping at his bangs with my thumb.

"Thank you."

He shrugged – well, as best he could while he was lying down.

"For what?"

"For loving me."

Alek chuckled. "It isn't a very hard task, I assure you. But say, protecting you from random cheese slices..."

I whacked him on the chest. "You are never going to let that go, are you? It was one time. One time! It blended in with the sidewalk!"

Alek kissed me. "It's okay. I love your clumsiness. But when you go into a fight, you're as graceful as a...well, cat."

I rolled my eyes.

And then a few things all happened at once.

The door of the apartment burst open, banging against the wall behind it.

Alek and I jumped up, and he pushed me behind his back.

And I looked at the envelope.

I picked it up.

And inside it?

Was a tiny little black tracker that we didn't see.

So I hope you guys liked this! [:

Thank you all so much for your sweet reviews, I loved them. ^_^

I'll update soon!

Bye~