Hi guys! So unfortunately, there are only a few chapters of HH left. I'm gonna try to make them really interesting and I hope you like them but I feel like I'm dragging on a story that doesn't have much of a storyline anymore anyway, so there will only be about 2-3 more chapters. Enjoy!

HH Chapter 17:

Ezra awoke at 4am to the sound of footsteps coming from downstairs. He knew Aria was still in bed because her hand was on his chest, right where his heart was beating. Gently removing her hand, he slowly got up, careful not to disturb her in her slumber and headed downstairs to investigate.

As he tiptoed down the steps, he saw that the lights were all off, except for a faint glow coming from the kitchen. He quietly went inside just as the door closed and bumped into a small figure, causing a scream to erupt from her lungs.

"Daisy?!"

"Daddy?!"

Ezra breathed in relief as he picked his daughter up and went to turn on the lights. As his heartbeat started to return to normal, he heard footsteps from upstairs and a moment later, Aria was rushing down.

"What happened?!" she asked, panicked.

Ezra shrugged. "I don't know, I heard footsteps and this little lady was down here. Baby, why are you downstairs?" he asked Daisy.

"Milk for Fia." Daisy replied, pointing to the fridge.

Ezra and Aria exchanged a glance before they burst out laughing. Aria picked Daisy up from Ezra's lap and held her up so they were face to face. "Baby, how are you able to make us laugh after waking us up at 4am?"

Daisy stared at her mother before she smiled too.

"Sweetie, Fia doesn't need milk right now." Ezra explained. "When she does, she'll tell us in her baby language, okay?"

"But she cwies. I don't like wen Fia cwies, she loud," Daisy replied.

"I know Fia's loud but she's a baby, that's what baby's do. You did that when you were a baby too." Aria said.

"I cry too?" Daisy said, eyes wide.

Aria nodded. "You did."

"Come on sweetie, why don't you come sleep with mommy and daddy?" Ezra said, holding his arms out. Aria handed Daisy to him and he carried her up the stairs into their room. Placing her gently on the bed, he and Aria climbed in and Daisy curled up between them.

"Goodnight." Ezra said, closing his eyes.

"Night." Aria replied. Daisy had already fallen asleep.

Ezra's sleep was interrupted for the second time that night at 6am. This time it was the vibration of his phone on the night stand that tore him away from his peaceful slumber.

"Hello?" he said, groggily.

"Ezra? Ezra, it's me."

"Mom? Wha-"

"Ezra, I need your help. It's Todd, he's coming after me. He hasn't changed at all, he's trying to hurt me." Dianne whimpered, breathing hard and Ezra thought he could here her running.

"Mom, where are you?" he said, getting up quickly and grabbing his keys. As he did, he heard Aria groan and she opened her eyes, looking at him tiredly. He held up a finger to ask her not to speak.

"I'm not sure, he asked me to meet him at some ratty motel called The Lost Woods Resort? He said he wanted to talk to me over breakfast and that it was important so I came and he started driving but then he started acting strange and h-he tried to hurt me. We drove for about 20 minutes before I jumped out of the car and I've been running ever since."

"Oh God. Umm, look around, what do you see?" Ezra asked, desperately trying to figure out where she could be. He hurried down the stairs to his car and could hear Aria coming up behind him but he didn't stop.

"Trees, lots of trees. And there's a dirt road that we were driving on, I'm just not sure where. I think we were going north of the motel." Dianne said uncertainly.

"Okay, I'm coming." Ezra said.

"Please hurry." Dianne replied.

Ezra stopped and turned to Aria, who almost bumped into him as she had been following right behind.

"Mom's in trouble, I have to go find her."

"Let me go with you." Aria said. "I can help."

"No, you stay with the girls, I don't want you to get hurt."

"She said the Lost Woods Resort, right?" Aria asked, ignoring him. "I know where that is."

"Where is it? Mom said she's north of there."

"It's out of town, I can't remember the street name but I remember how to get there." Aria said, pulling out her phone. "Come on, hurry, the girls can stay with mom."

She quickly called Ella, who lived on the next street and they dropped off Sophia and Daisy a minutes later. From there, Aria drove to the Lost Woods Resort, not caring that she was well over the speed limit, and managed to get them there in record time.

"Where do we go from here?" she asked, slowing down.

"North." Ezra replied. He dialed his mother's number and it went straight to voicemail. He cursed, realizing he should have stayed on the line with her when she first called. That would have been the smart thing to do, but it had all happened so fast, he hadn't even had time to think about it.

"Don't worry, we'll find her, okay?" Aria said, squeezing Ezra's hand reassuringly.

Ezra didn't respond, only continued looking out the window, watching for any sign of his mother, while simultaneously trying to call her. Every time he heard the voicemail, he grew more frustrated.

"How long has it been since she called?" Aria asked.

"An hour and a half," Ezra replied, looking at his phone. "She couldn't have gone very much farther than this."

"Why don't we get out of the car and start looking for her? It might be easier to find her that way. I'll call the girls, they can help us find her." Aria said, scrolling through her contacts before typing out a quick message.

Ezra called Wes and explained some of what had happened while looking for his mother.

"Wes is on his way." he said, a few minutes later.

"So are the girls." Aria replied. She grabbed Ezra's hand and they started through the woods. "Maybe we should split up?"

Ezra shook his head. "No, I would feel a lot better knowing that you're safe and not by yourself in the woods."

"I'll be fine. Plus, we'll find Dianne faster this way." Aria pointed out.

Ezra hesitated. "Okay, but check in with me every twenty minutes, and call me if you need me, okay?"

"I promise." Aria said, giving him a quick kiss. "Ezra, don't worry, we'll find her."

"I hope you're right." Ezra said before heading off into the trees.

Okay so there's that. I tried to add some fluff in there at the beginning but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And I'm sorry that I've barely been updating lately, but you guys are honestly so supportive. It's amazing! Thank you all so much for being patient with me. Also, if you didn't read the AN at the top, this story is ending soon. There will only be a few more chapters after this one so I hope you guys enjoy them.

Also, on a happier note, I received some amazing news that I wanted to share with you guys. I submitted a short story for a contest last November and it turns out, my short story is getting published in an actual book! It's not going to be published until June but I'm really excited for that and I just wanted to thank you all again for all the love and support because this website is where I really discovered my love for writing and I couldn't have gotten this far without all of you. I'm sorry I'm totally rambling and pretty soon my AN is going to be longer than the actual chapter so I'll stop here, but thank you all again.

-xox Sobia :)