Will Toby get the message? Hang on to your hats. Things are only going to get crazier.


Chapter 13: Frozen in Time

Aria returned to Caleb's apartment with a grocery bag. She lied before that she left to get food, so coming back empty handed would have raised suspicion.

"What took you so long?" He asked.

"Lines at the store," she said. She set the bag on the table. "Anything from Toby yet?"

"Nothing." Caleb was pacing the floor. "I'm not even close to getting through their network."

"Toby won't be happy about that."

"I don't know what to do!" Caleb sank his face into the palms of his hands.

Caleb's laptop pinged with a notification. He looked up with bloodshot eyes.

"Toby is requesting to fast time me." Caleb began panicking. "I can't do it. I'm not ready."

"You have to answer," Aria said. "Ignoring him will only put Hanna in more danger."

Caleb took a breath before accepting the call. In seconds, Toby's stone-cold expression appeared on the screen. Caleb was startled. This was the first time they'd seen each other since the day Toby punched him. Toby looked pale, mean, and thin, but he was still strongly built. His once young bright soulful eyes were sunk in, dark, and hazy.

"I don't think I have to remind you of what I want," Toby stated. His voice was stale. "Have you done your job?"

Caleb shook his head, "I can't do it. Their system is well protected."

Toby scoffed, "don't give me that crap. You used to hack their system to change grades for people. You once hacked their system to get a lead on a witch you had to track down. You just don't want to do it because somewhere deep inside your stupid brain you still side with the academy."

"That isn't it. The top-secret files are a lot harder to get to from my computer."

Toby paused for a moment. "Then maybe it's time to break in from the inside."

Aria stood over Caleb's shoulder trying to watch what's going on. She tried to think of a way to get Emily's message to Toby without tipping Caleb off.

"What does that mean?" Caleb asked. "You want me to sneak into the academy and dig through their computers?"

"Shouldn't be too difficult for you," said Toby. "We both know you still have access to the building."

"Look, if you know the experiments proved Tanner's theory about witches was false, why don't you just spread the word yourself," Caleb pressed.

"The public won't believe it without solid proof. With Tanner still around, she'll do whatever it takes to push her agenda."

"You can't trust her!" Aria blurted out.

Toby's eyes flew to Aria from the screen. Aria stood behind Caleb trying her best to give him the message with her eyes. Caleb turned his head to look up at her. He was confused. To make matters worse, Toby looked completely puzzled. Toby's eyes showed impatience. Toby looked back to Caleb and spoke.

"You have until midnight to get in there and get the job done." Toby reached to end the video chat.

"Wait!" Caleb shouted. Toby paused. "Let me talk to Hanna. I want to make sure she's still alive."

Toby looked smug as he said, "I bet it's killing you not having her by your side."

"Toby, don't," Caleb warned. "I don't care what you make me do, but I will kill you if you hurt her."

Toby rolled his eyes as he stood up. He carried his phone around to a dark room where Hanna was being kept. Toby turned the camera around to show her. Caleb's heart sank to his bottom. Hanna was chained to a bed in the room with no windows. Only one light on. She was crying and her dress was all torn up. Toby spun the camera back around to show his smirking face.

"As you can see, she's still breathing." Toby's tone shifted and his voice rose as he said, "That fact won't be true for long if you don't do what I order you to do!"

A static sound followed by a black screen appeared on Caleb's computer. Caleb's fingers worked fiercely over the keyboard as he tried to pinpoint where that video feed was streaming from. Toby was clever and used a hot spot where tons of signals bounced off. There was no way he could pinpoint where Toby was when that video was recorded. By the time Caleb would even be able to find where the video was shot, Toby would be smart enough to move Hanna to a different location. Caleb sat gripping his fingernails into his hair fuming.

"Caleb, what are we going to do?" Aria's voice trembled as she spoke. "Caleb! What are you going to do?"

"I don't know!" He shouted. Caleb buried his head. He rubbed his temples. He sucked in a deep breath then said, "I'm going in."

Aria's eyes went wide, "what? Do you have any idea how guarded that place is?"

"Of course, I know." Caleb stood up and started collecting some stuff to put in his bookbag. "I used to train there remember."

"What is your plan?"

"I'm going to have to sneak into their lab. That's where they'd keep all access to paper and digital files."

"Then what? You'll leak what you find?" Aria asked, hopeful.

"No." Caleb stuffed a gun into his bookbag then zipped it up. "I'm going to tell Toby if he doesn't give Hanna back, I'll burn it."


Once the call ended, Toby turned off the phone and ripped out the battery. He then went back to Hanna's room to remove the chain off her leg. She whispered a thank you when Toby handed her a towel to clean herself with.

"You definitely struck a nerve with Caleb," Hanna said. "You think he'll do what you ask?"

"I don't know," Toby said. "I know he'll go nuts trying to get you back. I'm just not sure how he will go about it."

"I'm hungry," Hanna complained. "If I'm going to be stuck here, I should get more than cold soup and crackers."

"My dad never did keep much in his cabin," Toby said. "He actually did use this cabin for hunting and camping. Not hunting people. Actual hunting."

"All hunting seems bad to me," said Hanna.

"I'll go out and get some supplies. Anything in particular?"

Hanna thought for a moment. "Pizza. Maybe some chocolate chip cookies. Cake! I never did get to enjoy my wedding cake. You dick."

Toby rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. I'll be back."

Toby reached forward to lock Hanna back up to the chain. She put her hand out.

"Hey! I thought we agreed I didn't need to be locked up. Don't put that back on me."

Toby set the chain on the floor then stood up. "I won't lock you in the chain. But I'm keeping this door locked."


Emily and Alison made it back to Emily's car. Emily checked her surroundings to make sure no one spotted them on their walk. The day gave way to night which meant a rise of hunters. This part of the forest was well hidden, but hunters do have a habit of stacking out the outer parts of the forest. Emily started her car up when Alison heard something shuffling in the back seat. Alison reached out to grab Emily's arm.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Shush," Alison pressed a finger to her lips. She whispered, "do you hear that?"

Emily's eyes darted around as she listened to the silence. Nothing. No sounds. No movements. Alison released her grip on Emily's arm and sighed.

"False alarm," said Alison. "I guess I'm a little bit jumpy. I didn't expect to be so anxious being out for the first time in almost a year."

"Let's just get back to the cabin."

Alison nodded. Emily switched the gear shift and pressed on the gas. They road in silence. The ride back to the cabin took twenty minutes. No one stopped them along the way to check their car, but each of them took extra care to make sure they weren't being followed. Emily even took a couple detours to be extra safe before taking the back road to their home. They pulled up in the familiar driveway and stopped. Emily shut the car off and there were no sounds other than the crickets chirping all around. They unbuckled their seatbelts ready to exit the vehicle when…

A hooded figure popped up out of the back seat.

"AH!" They screamed and flared their arms attempting to open their doors to run.

"Wait!" The voice under the hood spoke.

Emily and Alison froze. They gripped each other's arms protectively as a new kind of fear took over. They know that voice. That familiar sounding voice. They've both shared conversations with that voice. They've both cried over missing the person with that voice. Now, they're petrified because the voice of the person who spoke was supposed to be dead.


Toby pushes Caleb over the edge, but Caleb has his own plans. Did Toby get Aria's message? Who scared Emily and Alison in the end? Things are about to get intense!