NOTICE:

As you may have noticed, you'll see that my username and avatar have changed. So, don't be concerned when BTolson23 comes a calling. This is mostly because I'm getting more serious in my writing and feel like an author, and I don't want to be writing under a pseudonym. Still call me Oggy, if you so want to. Or Ben, or anything that not's completely insulting XD. Read on!

Chapter 43

Two Weeks' Change

The trip inside the van was mercifully short, since it was a hot day and the upholstery was burning. Sweating slightly from the forehead, Lisa all but tumbled out when the doors were opened.

Riley smirked in amusement. "Don't like small places?"

"Nope, never did. Nor do I much like the smell of hot cars." Lisa wiped her forehead and looked around in surprise. The van looked completely out of the place in the high-end street. Immaculately clean roads, white-washed walls, polished glass. They had stopped outside a tall white hotel with a gold-plated plaque saying: Marvin Hotel.

"Marvin? That's your last name, isn't it?" Richard's eyebrows creased towards Chloe.

"Uh-huh. This is daddy's hotel." Chloe smiled for a moment. "I still have to pay for rooms, but I have no shortage for money. Especially since I'm not spending it on…" Chloe spared a quick, apologetic glance to Jeremy. "Useless stuff."

"I still say you can spend it however you want…" Jeremy frowned, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No." Chloe said firmly. "I've already told you; ever since I almost died I appreciate just how much you mean to me. I'm not going to betray your trust or honesty again." Chloe glanced to her watch. "Anyway, let's go."

Leaving the van outside, Chloe led the other four into a red-carpeted lobby. It was mostly empty, over than a beaming receptionist who sat behind a mahogany desk area.

"Miss. Marvin, how can I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"I've already told you to call me Chloe, Mary." Chloe sighed. The receptionist, Mary, faltered as if she wasn't used to the treatment before regaining her smile.

"Of course, Miss… Chloe."

"Can you send these four up to the room, please." Chloe asked with a slight nod of her head. She turned to the three. "I need to talk to daddy, so make yourself at home in the room. You'll find the others there as well."

Chloe left for one of the golden-door elevators, allowing Mary to stand up and motion to another elevator. "Your room is the last door on the left, 23rd floor."

"Thanks." Nick was the only person to use his voice to thank the receptionist, but the others all nodded their thanks. Leading the party, Jeremy was first into the spacious elevator. When everybody had entered he pressed the 23rd button and leaned back.

"Fancy place." Nick commented, glancing around the elevator. "Must be pretty expensive."

"I guess." Jeremy looked distant as he stared into his reflection.

"Something on your mind?" Nick asked.

"I guess." Jeremy seemed to be fighting with himself whether to talk or not. Eventually he made up his mind. "It's just that… I'm not used to… this… even after two weeks. Chloe was always… I guess 'distant' would work. Now I can see she's trying her best to please me, much more than I'm used to. I know she feels guilty and it's just… weird, I guess. It's like getting to know a completely new person." As the doors flashed open, Jeremy stepped back and shrugged. "Not that it's bad, though. She's still Chloe, no matter the personality."

Jeremy walked all the way to the allotted door and opened it wide. He motioned for Lisa to step through first, which she complied.

Almost immediately she froze, completely surprised at what she saw. Almost everybody she had seen on the bus were chatting together, drinking alcohol from a mini-bar, broad smiles on their faces. She was expecting some kind of grim atmosphere, but instead it was almost welcoming… friendly.

Lisa's eyes tracked everybody and could only wonder at how much two weeks could change people. She'd seen glances when saving them in the shadows, but hadn't seen them head on in the two weeks.

Jay was wide-eyed and talking earnestly to Alex about his dreams of meeting important people. Alex listened, eyes focused on Jay's face. In such a short time the usually stoic Jay had made a great friend.

Josie was smiling as always, talking about something or other to Becca.

And had Becca changed.

Her usually curly blonde hair had been uncurled, allowing it to tumble down her shoulders. Her green eyes were now bright and no sign of the sadness that once preoccupied them were seen. The baggy clothing was gone and was wearing a black vest and jeans. Her arms were crossed as if still slightly uncomfortable with revealing her skin. No longer was she the skinny, under-fed homeless girl. Now she looked beautiful and proper. Although she still had the hospital bracelet around her wrist, but it joined other wristlets.

Becca was the first to look up as the group entered and almost immediately flung herself at Riley. Laughing, Riley swung her around and planted a kiss straight on the lips.

"Missed you." Becca murmured.

"I haven't been gone for long." Riley replied, walking over to where Becca was sitting. Becca now sat on his lap, arms latched around his neck.

"You're a couple?" Lisa was surprised.

"Of sorts…" Riley was blushing.

"Yes." Becca was firm in her reply. "Because he saved me."

"'Saved' is a strong word." Riley sighed.

"But it's true." Becca smiled.

"How's Joshua?" Josie called out to Lisa. Nick had already sat down in one of the spare seats, while Richard hung back on the wall, taking in everything with analytical eyes.

"He's gone to find…" She was about to say Dorothy's killer but that probably wasn't a good idea now. It seemed everyone wanted to help because Dorothy was on the list. If they knew she was killed by something other than Death, they'd be no certainty they'd want to help. "He's gone to find out the solution of that first vision, which we know was fake. He's taken David with him."

"Is Lukas still being stubborn?" Josie continued, cocking her head to the left.

Lisa nodded.

"That's too bad." Josie sighed. Taking a sip from a glass she sighed happily.

"By the way, did Chloe arrange everything?" Richard suddenly asked. "The room, this group, everything?"

"I guess. She phoned us all." Riley answered the question.

"So she's like the leader?" Nick wondered.

"In a way, I suppose." Riley answered again.

Nick chuckled, turning to Lisa. "Watch out, otherwise you'll lose your place as leader."

Before Lisa could answer, the door opened and Chloe came in. She was now holding a black backpack, the kind of one you would see teenagers wear to high school. Chloe closed the door behind her and sat down in one of the spare seats. For a moment, it looked as if she were thinking deeply, before she blinked it away and unzipped the bag. "Ever since the bus accident, I've been thinking about how we can help." She started, glancing to Lisa. "I obviously fell away from the group like most of you because of Joshua's hospitalization. But I couldn't help but wonder how we could help. I mean, as a group, what could we do?" Chloe paused and the silent room realized she expected an answer.

"Protect each other." Nick finally put in.

Chloe nodded. "As much as I hated it, that was the only answer. We couldn't do anything big, not like Joshua or," Chloe motioned to Lisa. "You could do. I mean, we're only human. So my thoughts turned to what we could do to help." Chloe looked to Jeremy, who caught the signal.

"S-So me and Chloe got the idea to investigate. Y'know, get a better feel for what happened. We were given information by Joshua, of course, but it's hard to take in just words and pictures in one sitting. We spent a long time looking over the a-accidents, and then we realized a connection."

"They didn't really have a way to contact each other." Chloe continued. "I mean, most of the deaths happened simply because they couldn't get there in time. So, we figured it would be best to gather some equipment. We were planning on gathering and persuading you all anyway, even before Dorothy… died…" Chloe sighed for a moment before reaching into the bag and pulling out a small walkie-talkie. They weren't the typical ones you brought on the street. They were small, the size of mobile phones. Expensive, almost certainly. "The main reason I wanted to gather you all was to give you these. Daddy got them for me. They got long range, so as long as we stay in New York we'll be able to contact each other. Even if you guys didn't want to… commit to helping, we could stay in contact if we were ever in need of help."

"That's… surprisingly sensible." Lisa leaned forward and took one of the walkie-talkies. "I'm actually surprised nobody else thought of this before." Lisa stroked her chin. "It would definitely come in use if somebody is trapped."

"Exactly." Chloe nodded. "But that's not all." Chloe reached into the backpack again and drew out a small wallet. Inside were a number of quarter sized memory chips.

"What are those?" Alex leaned forward, interested.

"Trackers." Chloe said, almost proudly. "Just place this on your person, and we'll be able to track you wherever you are." Chloe paused, scratching her cheek. "I have set up an investigation room in this hotel, actually. I need to hire somebody to overlook the trackers."

"Investigation room?" Richard cut in. "What sort of things are in there?"

Chloe looked surprised. "Typical stuff, I guess. There's a map of New York and some of the surrounding area, a couple of desks with computers. A whiteboard, printer… general office things. As I said, the monitors to track each chip."

"No need to hire someone then." Richard gruffly announced. "I'll stay in there. I'm not too much of an 'on-foot' investigator, despite recent events."

"Oh? Really?" Chloe looked delighted.

"Sure." Richard shrugged. "I want to find out more about this thing, anyway. I wasn't there when Joshua talked about everything. Maybe I'll find some connection, some kind of pattern to help you all.

"You don't have to do that." Lisa interrupted. "Aren't you an active investigator? I'm actually surprised you've helped me and Nick so far."

Richard managed a rare smile. "I generally worked in Willingboro, and my office is not existent at this point. I may as well help here while I sort out getting something in New York. Besides, I was assigned to by your partner," Richard nodded to Nick. "To investigate the bridge, and I can still do that. Consider this a side-mission, so to speak."

"But what do we do?" Nick asked, trying to steer conversation away from his partner. He still had pangs of grief about it. "I mean, do we just be ourselves?"

"Exactly." Lisa nodded, answering before Chloe could. "There is no need to hide away or lock yourselves in some godforsaken room. Besides, only the person next on the list needs to be worried," Lisa glanced to Jeremy. "No offence." Lisa turned back to the group at large. "Just go around your daily business. Although it's best that someone is always with the person next on the list. With these radios and trackers, we'll have no problem."

"Well, Jeremy won't be out of sight." Chloe allowed herself a grin before clapping her hands together. "So… that's generally why I called you guys out here. If you grab a walkie-talkie and a tracker, you can be on your way."

Everyone mumbled thanks and some even had regret that they were leaving the expensive drinks. Eventually, Lisa, Nick, Jeremy and Chloe were the only ones left in the room.

"Actually, can I talk to you for a moment, Chloe?" Lisa called out, drawing Chloe's attention. "Alone." She looked pointedly at Nick and Jeremy.

"Sure." Chloe said, slightly confused. Kissing Jeremy's cheek, who looked reluctant to leave, Chloe told him to wait outside. Together, Nick and Jeremy left the two females alone.

Lisa motioned for Chloe to sit down, before sitting down directly opposite. Lisa's eyebrows were knitted in concern.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked, the feeling of concern catching on.

"In that meeting, I've been sensing something."

"Something?" Chloe concern turned to into a confused expression.

"Yes. To be more exact, I was sensing life. As it is, it was only possibly to be coming from you, Becca or Josie. I finally pinpointed it on you."

"I'm sorry… what? Life? I don't…"

"This is going to complicate matters…" Lisa leaned forward and surprised Chloe by placing a slim hand on Chloe's stomach. "You do realize you're pregnant, Chloe?"

A/N: Where would I be without my cliffhangers, eh? 'Twill all pan out in the end, don't you worry about that.

Thanks to Bookreader2010 and Gabe's-Girl-Forever for your reviews! Since I've got so many chapters done, I'll be releasing daily until I catch up with myself.

'Till tomorrow!