A/N: For the first time in, well, a long time, I'm not really sure what to say to you. Sorry would be one of these things. Because I truly am sorry for ditching all of you readers for *gulp* practically a whole year. I could tell you that this year has been a rather hectic one, having being one of the most important years of high school (my second), and that I've had quite a lot of exams during the last months...but I'm afraid that it wouldn't have been enough or justified. At some point I'd thought I'd put this story up for adoption, since I haven't had time to continue it, but I wouldn't have appreciated it myself. So here we are now, a year from the last time I updated *nervous laugh*. I will try to keep on writing, but I can't make promises. If you feel like doing a collab or are interested, please keep on reviewing.
No replying to reviews today, guys. Today, I plan on writing this chapter 'til I end up satisfied with what I see. Stay tuned for more!
Previously on Secrets Can Kill:
Dear Alice,
You don't know me, yet I know you. I'm the one who's been watching you from the shadows, the one who always stood behind you to witness all of the things you did in your whole life. I'm the one who watched you both at your best and your worst, I'm the one who watched and judged all of your actions. You don't know me, and I shall introduce myself to you. To many, I'm known under various names, some gross and others flattering, yet all of them depict my real self as it is. I don't know or care of what you think of me, but you shall know me as The Secret Keeper; and from now on, you will know me as Your Secret Keeper. Not only yours, but also your friends'. I shall keep all of your secrets the way they are - secrets - , and all I require from you to do so isa token of your soul, a bit of your personal acts which might be rewarded in a close future, I hope.
Accept to do all I want you to do, and I shall never reveal what's hidden in the darkest and deepest corners of your soul.
Do as I say and I shall never reveal the tortuous affair between Mira and her English teacher.
Do as I say and I shall never show the world how deep Julie's obsession with stealing runs in her veins.
Do as I say and I shall never tell how easily Runo gets her way with endless cheating.
Do as I say and I shall never let the world see how horrible you look during an epileptic seizure.
Do as I say and I shall never lead the truth about Jacob Hobbes ' disappearance to the police.
Do as I say and you shall never die.
You will find my instructions soon enough in one of your letter boxes, girls. You all have one week to solve my problem. Exceed this time, and you shall never see the light of day again.
Yours truly,
Your Secret Keeper.
Interlude - All Hell Breaks Loose
In all her life, Alice had only had one heart attack.
The first - and only time so far - had been in Russia, the night of a winter storm to be forever engraved in her memory. She had been young back then, younger than 10 years old. It had been cold in her grandfather's house, but she hadn't minded so much, in her child mind. Those were the happy times. Before the car accident. Before moving to Japan. Before the sickness. Before all hell broke loose.
No one ever spoke about it. After all, what good would it have done? It is never a good thing to talk to anyone about that one time you almost perished on your bed, choking on a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
By the time her condition had stabilized, Grandpa Michael had already called her parents, gone out for some event she couldn't clearly remember back then. A few hours later, the phone had rung in the silent house, buried under the snow and storm. The Gehabich were gone.
And now, Alice was close enough to having another seizure.
Thankfully, her friends knew about the accident. They knew about the sickness, and they were prepared to assist her at any time. All signs were there: Alice started to sob, soon threatening to choke on her own tears, her body shaking and her hands livid, palms pressed against her face. Her skin had lost its earlier glow, its color having turned as white as a sheet. The only color was the flow of blood coursing through her veins, tainted an electric blue against her knuckles.
Without any single thought, Mira rushed to get everything off the table. The red-head hastily threw plastic cups, plates and cutlery on a platter, ran and almost tripped on her own boots on the way to the bin. Runo grabbed the letters and threw them inside her bag. Julie grabbed one of the remaining paper bags and, running what she wanted to be a soothing hand over her friend's back, brought it to Alice's mouth.
The ginger grabbed it with trembling fingers, gradually brought it to her mouth. The two remaining girls, Runo and Mira, half rushed to her side and half ran towards the exit doors. Gladly, there wasn't anyone in the cafeteria at the moment, so it was easy to run out without being seen. The occasional managers shot them looks as they passed by, but they didn't give it any second thought once they saw how pale Alice looked. Some tried to rush to offer their assistance, but by the time they could assimilate what was happening, the girls were already gone. Within less than two minutes, the group was standing next to Runo's black Impala, gently pushing Alice in the backseat of the car. None of them lost time getting inside in their turn, Runo finding her way behind the wheel. She knew where she had to go, but in the moment it truly took her friends' assistance to remind her of the way to go to.
"Hurry, Runo!" Julie yelled in her ear.
"I'm trying!" she yelled back, but for once it wasn't as aggressive as the crude replies she prepared for the silver-haired girl whenever she screamed. Julie was panicking, and so was she.
"The hospital, Runo! Quick, we have to go to the hospital", Mira's voice entered her sphere.
She didn't ask for more. Her keys out, turned into the ignition, Runo backed up the car and drove out of the mall's parking a little too fast for any passer-by's liking. She could have killed someone in her haste, she understood that. Yet from now on, all that mattered was Alice.
The red-headed friend wasn't slowly breathing, trying as hard as she could to calm down. Her sobs had died out, but tears still ran down her cheeks. She couldn't see her eyes, but she could imagine them in her mind as clear as day. Red, swollen chestnut irises; like the last time they had talked of her condition. Like the last time she'd cried because of Hobbes.
As she had to keep her eyes front on the road, Julie and Mira took turns examining their friend. So far, Alice seems okay enough. She kept the paper bag against her mouth, in an iron grip that turned her knuckles white, though it seemed like she was breathing normally. Which didn't mean she would skip the hospital part.
Eventually, all four girls calmed down. It didn't keep Runo from turning from time to time, casting a worried glance in her best friend's direction. Their ride was fast, and Runo somehow feared that they'd end up arrested by a policeman on the way to the hospital. But it was the least of her worries right now.
She decided to go a bit smoothly when Alice started to speak. Her voice rang out as a foreign noise in the deadly silent car. It was a little rough, little she'd had a cough or hadn't spoken in decades. "Stop the car, Runo."
It was enough to stun everyone. Runo slowly got over the shock, but kept her eyes on the road and her hands on the wheels. Watching as the blue-haired teen refused to meet their gaze or to comply, Julie and Mira turned to her. "Runo?" Their own voices came out wrong, she thought. It should be cheerful, not mournful.
Eternity stretched before she managed to utter a few words. "G-Gimme a moment. I-I need some time."
Alice nodded, strands of hair falling over her tired eyes. The inside of the car fell back into silence, Mira and Julie watching intently as Alice leant back against her seat, smoothing down the hem of her clothes.
A few minutes later, Runo parked in the empty parking lot of the local community park. She slowly unstuck her fingers from the wheel and unfastened the seat belt, and the others did likewise.
Moments passed for what seemed like eternity, until Alice was the one to break the silence again.
"Girls? We need to talk."
A/N: Well, that was something *heavy sigh*. Sorry guys, this one is fairly short and lacking in both quality and length, more of an interlude to what will happen next. But it's, in a way, abit of an exercise for me, as I've forgotten bits and pieces of the plot and dialogues. I hope to get your opinion on it, and of course to write more next time.