Chapter Forty-Seven

"Good luck. And please don't kill any council members." I said, kissing Reece for the last time that morning. He snickered.
"But that's half the fun!"
"Reece! That's not funny!" I swiped his arm gently. He kissed me on the cheek, resting both hands on my shoulders. His gold eyes seemed to gaze past mine.
"I'll be back by dinner, you'll be okay with just the kiddos?" Reece asked.
"Of course." I nodded. The Council had called Reece out to the middle of no where between Moonlight Falls and the next town over. Something to do with troublesome vampires.

"Call me if you need anything." Reece said, his lips brushing past my cheek once more before he trotted down the front steps. I watched him slip into the car, and pause a moment before twisting the keys into place. He glanced back and waved as he pulled out of the driveway. I blew him a kiss as the black car disappeared down the road. I probably stood staring after him for almost ten minutes, until a voice jarred me out of my fog.

"Vinnie!"

The source of the call was Alexa, who had been in the neighborhood with Tony on their way to their own Council business. I hadn't seen them, or really anyone, since Reece and I first moved in. A joy filled my heart and I hurried down the stairs up to the couple.

"Alexa! Oh it's so good to see you!" I cried, embracing the older girl. "You too Tony."

"Long time no see." He grinned, flashing his fangs. Tony stood at a safe distance from me, I supposed that he was still nervous about being near someone close to the Hawkwood family. Or I guess I was part of it now, my children bore the last name.

"God just look at you," Alexa gushed, pulling out the hug. "Such a skinny little thing, I would've never guessed that you had twins six months ago!"

"Oh please." I laughed.

"Look at me; I'm almost certain it's quads, do you see how big I am?!" She moaned. I could see Tony rolling his eyes from where he side.

"We've been over this, wolf. You look fine!" He said.

"Sometime I wish I had your prince charming of a vampire, not this loser over here." She jerked a thumb in her boyfriends direction.

"You love me and you know it." Tony huffed.

"Speaking of babies, where are yours?!" Alexa squealed girlishly.

"Come around back, we can sit and talk too." I waved for the pair to follow me into the house.

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"So you're in town to meet with the Council, right?" I asked. The two had been introduced to the twins and after much cuddling and baby-talking, we headed out into the backyard to talk. I held Percy in my lap while Quinn sat in the grass with Tony.

"Yeah, ever since the...er...incident with Tony's mom all those years ago, he has to report back his family's activity to one of the Council members once a year." Alexa sighed.

"Which one?"

"One of the Artis brothers, I think the older one." Tony piped up. "The ginger."

"You're so lucky, I have to deal with the red head. Cedrick." I grumbled.

"What?! He's crazy! And a creep." Alexa gasped. "What the hell do you have to do with him?!"

"Well..." I hesitated, I wasn't sure if anyone was allowed to know about our situation. But I trusted Alexa and Tony, so it couldn't really hurt to tell them. "To put it simply, Quinn's been betrothed to his oldest son as a form of blackmail for Reece."

"Oh my God. That's horrible, I'm so sorry." 

"Anyway, let's please change the subject." I sighed.

"You two been thinking about names? Or do you even know the gender yet?" I asked, redirecting our conversation back to them.

"Much to her dislike, we've agreed to keeping it a surprise." Tony said. Quinn giggled as he bounced her hands up and down. Watching them I could hardly believe that I would have to watch this same tiny girl marry someone she didn't even know.

"But we have been discussing names, regardless of the gender." Alexa shrugged, pulling me back to the present. "We're also thinking of going on vacation back to our home town before this one is born."

"Where are you two from?"

"Hidden Springs, it about two hours from Los Aniegos." Tony answered.

"Hm, I don't think I've ever been."

"You're from Bridgeport right?" He asked. I nodded. "Have you and Reece been back since you first left?"

"No, we weren't really planning on it either." I shook my head. It had been a little over a year since I ran from Bridgeport, and once my feet hit the road I never looked back. Not even until now.

"Oh! Tony, look at the time! We gotta go, Vinnie." Alexa jumped up, as fast as she could in her top-heavy state.

I scooped Quinn into my arms and followed them out to the front of the house. For the second time that day, I watched someone get into their car, wave, and take off down the street. My mind was stuck on what Tony had said to me, about Bridgeport. I'd left so many doors wide open back in Bridgeport, and maybe it was time to go back and shut them. Kaya was the biggest; my best friend in the whole world, probably thought I dead. I wondered if graduation had gone well, if she was still with Axel, if she had gone off to college. 

My heart sunk when I remembered what else I had left behind. Lauri. I just left her body there, did Blu do something for her? Did she get a burial. Or was she somehow still here? I saw what I could've sworn was her, back when I was living in Pounawea. I hadn't visited my parents graves in years, or ever. After the police declared them dead I never bother to visit the empty holes that sat in the cemetery.

"You look a little blue." A familiar voice said. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up.

"Hey little sister." Blu grinned.

Chapter Forty-Six

Before I start the chapter can I just say thanks? WITW has already hit 8000 views!!

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"Hey there beautiful." Cedrick grinned. The same black eyes and red hair greeted me, a sight I had hoped to not see for a long long while.

"My, you get prettier every time we meet." Cedrick said, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. Chills went down my spine, he reminded me of someone but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I..." I felt like I had left my words back with the kids.

"Sorry. I tend to not use a filter. Go on sit, I won't bite." He said, gesturing to the chair across from him. Refusing to meet his dark eyes I sat down stiffly in the chair. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. I didn't trust him or like him.

"So why don't you like me Vivienne?" He asked, leaning forwards in his seat.

"It's just Vinnie." I replied shortly.

"Fine then, same question Vinnie. Are you afraid of me?" Cedrick asked again, his haunting eyes were locked onto my face. I folded my hands into my lap.

"No. I'm not afraid of you." I lied, finding my voice. "I don't like you because you blackmailed Reece into the council through my daughter."

"May I remind you that it was Rohan that set that up? Like I wanted to sell my son off to Hawkwood. Speaking of which, where are the little rugrats, I'd love to meet them." Cedrick said, glancing around me.

"They're with Reece. Meeting their great-grandfather." I tucked a lock of white hair behind my ear, his eyes followed.

"Some other time then." He said. Cedrick was a mystery, I couldn't read him at all. I didn't know whether to think he was some scumbag vampire who wanted nothing more than to sleep with me or someone who actually gave a damn about anything that was going on in the council. 

But something definitely struck me as off about him. If he felt the same for his son as I felt for Quinn, why not speak up and object to the engagement? Was he also afraid of the upper council members?

"Look Vinnie, I'm gonna cut straight to the point here." Cedrick said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up at him.

"Y-Yes?" I stuttered.

"I'm trying to be on your side here. We're going to be family soon, and I have no intention of letting any of my children get killed because of your mates idiocy. Got it?" He said calmly. 

"I...what?" I narrowed my eyes. "Eighteen years is not soon. And like I'm letting my daughter anywhere near you before then."
"You treat me like the enemy, I'm trying not to be."
"Don't be my enemy, but don't try to be my friend either. Just stay away from my family until we're forced to marry off our children." I snapped, standing up from the chair.

I turned away from him, ready to leave the room. But my feet just wouldn't move.
"Vinnie." He said. "This is not the way to go about this...this situation. Maybe if we introduce your daughter to my son, then they can grow up as friends. Maybe even develop into a relationship on their own."
"No. Not yet at least. I just want them to grow up normally." I pleaded, turning back to face him. My previous fear of him had dissolved.
"You seem to forget that they is no possible way for that to happen. Both of them are half vampire and half whatever the hell you are. Not to mention they're your children. Supernaturals of all kinds have been after the Hawkwoods, and plenty of Pro-Pure vamps won't be happy with you being the mate of who's basically the prince." Cedrick's black eyes bored into mine, he was right. "If anything your daughter would be much safer if she stayed with me. Hawkwood girls are things few and far between. Besides, how could a teenager like you really protect her?"
I felt my anger spike. What he was saying was right, but like hell I'd give one of my children up to the likes of him. She belonged with me and Reece and she'd stay there until she was grown up.
"My age has nothing to do with my ability to protect my children. Now kindly piss off until I actually have reason to see you again." I hissed.

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"You could show even a minimal amount of respect for me boy." Daminier hissed.
"Hello to you too Grandfather." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Look, I did what you asked. I brought the twins, what more do you want?"
"That girl, she isn't a vampire."
"How observant."
"That is not what I mean Reece!" His temper was rising, as was mine.
"Then what do you mean?"
"Why is she alive?! Why are you with her?"
"I'm with her because I love her. And I'd like to go back to your first question. Why did you try to kill her all those years ago? And why did you have her kidnapped when we were first dating?" I demanded. Now I was glad that Vinnie was out of the room, I knew she wouldn't want to talk about this with him. Or me maybe. She didn't like confrontation, especially with vampires.

"Kidnapped? I did no such thing. Years ago when you had just left the manor, I did send your father and uncle after her to prevent the prophecy. It was necessary for the Hawkwood line to continue, you know that! You are his only son. And even though he's tainted by that girl's human blood, Percy will be heir after you." Daminier explained angrily.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, heirship is passed down through firstborn. And I have no intention of forcing either of them into this family but it would be Quinn, she's the eldest." I held up my hands to stop him.
"First born sons." He narrowed his eyes.
"Oh and now your sexist too? Fantastic." I rolled my eyes.
"Reece!" He scolded.
"Look, I get that this family has been stuck in the purity bullshit for a long long time, but that doesn't explain the prophecy you keep mentioning. Where the hell did it come from, and why do you care so much that you'd be driven to murder her?" I asked, cutting him off from saying anything else.
"You have to understand boy, I was simply looking out for this family. And I know what hers has done in the past and I didn't want that mixing with us. Too late for that however." Daminier said icily, casting a glance at the twins.

"Her family?" I scoffed. "She doesn't even know them, she was adopted by some humans when she was a baby." I remembered the day Vinnie had found out the truth. Kaya had found her crying among all her parents old things and called me over immediately. That felt like such a long time ago.

"I'm talking about both parents you imbecile. The birth ones are dead, from a long line of dangerous criminals-" He started.

"Did you kill her parents? Or did Koran?" I demanded.

"Her parents? They were already dead by the time I first heard of the prophecy."

"No. The humans who raised her. They went missing the night you sent my dad and Koran to kill Vinnie. Did he kill them?" I asked. Long before the twins were born and before Vinnie and I had fully started dating, I remembered them attacking her. It was the first dream we'd shared.

"I don't know what your uncle did, he's an idiot."

"As for you," Daminier pointed an accusing finger at me. "Stop sticking for nose in my past business and keep it in your own families. Raise your little halflings, marry that damn girl for all I care. But let me tell you: if you slip up or if she does, don't think they'll be spared because they share my blood."
"Well let me tell you." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't trust you or anyone on the council. So don't think I'll come to any of your sides."
"Reece-"
"I've done what you asked of me Grandfather. You met my children," I sighed. I heard a door outside shut. "So I'm going to collect them and my girlfriend, and be on my merry way. Have a nice day."

7000 View Special Part Two!

 

The two teams instantly made a break for the living room, meeting back up with one less person for each team. Tony set candles around the room and used matches to light them.

"Are you guys okay, I heard a scream." Reece asked.

"It was me." Vinnie said. The remaining four sat down on the couches, huddling close.

"I take it Alexa disappeared? Axel did too." Kaya said shakily. Vinnie and Tony nodded.

"When I was grabbing the candles something, no someone, touched my shoulder. There is definitely someone else in here doing all of this." Vinnie said.

"Reece, what happened with the back-up generator?" Tony asked.

"It's dead." Reece sighed.

"What do we do now?" Kaya asked quietly.

"We can look for them." Reece suggested.

"If we split up again it'll just happen again." Vinnie protested.

"Then we don't split up."

    "But we didn't have to split up for this to happen. It went the same way right? Everything goes dark and then someone disappears." Kaya said.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Just wait for the sun to come up to look for them?" Vinnie sighed.

"They could be hurt. We don't know who's in here." Reece added.

"We should have never come here." Vinnie whimpered.

"We don't have time for 'should have's and 'if's. We need to do something we can't just sit here doing nothing." Tony spoke up for the first time.

"If they are in the house, I think I might now where they are." Reece said. He glanced down at his phone, checking the time. 11:30, half an hour left of Mischief Night.

"Grab a flashlight and follow me." Reece said, flicking on a flashlight and leading the pack down the hall into an office.

    Vinnie sneezed and Tony coughed, the room was caked in dust. Reece walked up to a bookshelf.

"The same trick is what gets into my dad's office at home." He reached out to a shelf and pulled on an old leather volume titled '------'. Same exact book from Rasco's office in Bridgeport. A hidden door screeched open, showing a secret staircase.

"Could this get any creepier?" Tony hissed.

"Probably." Kaya said, following Reece and Vinnie into the stairwell. Tony pulled the door shut behind them.

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    "Is this the attic or something?" Vinnie asked, as the reached the top of the stairs, an old wooden door stood before them.

"Yeah. Used to be a meeting room for the council." Reece said, fiddling with the door.

"Is it locked?" Kaya asked, leaning around Tony to see. Reece slammed his side into the door and it popped open.

    A single bulb hung from the ceiling, unlit. The four flashed their lights around the room and stopped on two bodies on the ground.

"Axel!" Kaya and Reece cried.

"Alexa!" Tony and Vinnie yelped. They all raced to their side. The old door slammed shut and they jumped.

"Are you guys okay?!" Reece asked. Tony held Alexa in his lap and Kaya was prodding at her boyfriend.

"For now." Axel groaned, sitting up.

"I'm sorry but is no one taking notice of the door shutting?!" Alexa squealed.The group of six huddled together. Something very close thumped beside the door.

In a sudden the single bulb turned on, illuminating a tall masked figure. Everyone screamed and the figure started laughing.

"We're going to die!" Vinnie cried, hiding behind Reece. Who sighed in annoyance.

"I know that laugh." He mumbled. As the group cowered in fear, the man pulled off his mask. A tall pale man, with red hair and black eyes stood before them.

    "Cedrick what the fuck!" Reece yelled. Everyone else paused in confusion. Cedrick doubled over laughing.

"That was amazing. You guys should have seen your faces!" He laughed. Reece let go of Vinnie’s hand and stalked up to the man, throwing a punch at his face. He ducked easily but Reece pinned him to the wall.

    “What the hell is going on?!” Kaya cried.

"This asshole is from the council." Reece snarled. "Now tell me, what are you doing here?"

"Well I heard you talking to your daddy about your little trip and well, it is Halloween. Thought I'd have some fun and scare you little punks. Hey Vinnie." Cedrick said, winking at the white-haired girl. Reece's grip on his collar tightened.

"So...there's no crazy killer?" Alexa asked. Tony sighed in relief.

"Nope. Just lil' ol' me."

"So in the hallway?" Alexa said.

"Me."

"All the banging and thumping noises?" Tony asked.

"Moi."

"In the store room. Something touched my shoulder." Vinnie said.

"Oh yeah, that was me too."

"You fuc-" Reece started.

"What about the power?" Axel asked, cutting off Reece.

"That was just perfect coincidence." Cedrick shrugged.

    "That was fun. Let's do this next year." Cedrick grinned. "By the way Vinnie, you oughta wake up, something you aren't gonna like is happening right now."

"Wake up? What are you-" She was cut off by a loud chime. The clock had struck midnight. Mischief Night was over and Halloween was here.

    Out of a nightmare and back into real life. Or the real nightmare? Happy Halloween.

7000 View Special Part One!

Can I first just say thank you??? Like, 7k views is so amazing and it's already climbing rapidly. Thanks everybody for reading and commenting and just stickin' with me. It's been rad and I hope it keeps on goin!

 ~Em

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"I feel like this might be the shittiest idea we've ever had." Vinnie said nervously. The six teenagers faced the looming mansion with bags at their feet. It was a holiday weekend so they decided to spend it at the empty house of Reece's family's. It looked old and dark.

"It's just a house. Besides, it's only one night." Alexa shrugged.

"Why'd we bring those two along again?" Axel whispered to Reece.

"They're new in town, and Alexa's close with Vinnie." Reece responded.

"C'mon, let's go in. The sun's starting to set." Kaya said. With a murmur of agreement everyone picked up their bags and headed inside.

"Don't be so nervous Vin," Reece said, giving his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.

"Okay. It's just kinda creepy in here you know?" She said. He nodded. The interior was dark and musty. You could tell no one had stayed in the house for very long periods of time.

"Here, let's go drop bags in rooms. Axel and Kaya grab a room, Alexa and Tony, and Vinnie and I." Each couple nodded and headed up the stairs.

"Whoa, is this your old room?" Vinnie gasped, opening the door. Reece chuckled, shutting it behind them and tossing his bag onto the floor.

"Yeah, I lived here with Daminier till I was like 10 and then my dad was relocated to Bridgeport and I went with him." Reece said.

"It's cute."

"You know what's cuter?" Reece raised his eyebrows flirtatiously.

"Hm...whatever could it be?" Vinnie said jokingly.

"You!" Reece whispered, pulling her close into a kiss. They stood still, foreheads touching for a moment. The house felt ten times less scary when she had Reece. Perks of a vampire boyfriend. Reece took her hand and pulled her over to the bed.

"Reece-"

"What? They're probably all doing the same, who cares."

"Oh alright." Vinnie rolled her eyes and sat down. Reece settled down beside her, pulling her close. The two resumed kissing. Something somewhere in the house thumped. Vinnie paused, Reece continued to kiss her.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She shrugged it off, pressing her lips back to his. Suddenly a scream came from downstairs and they jumped apart. Reece threw open the door.

"What the hell was that?!" Vinnie cried and they raced out of the room and down to the living room. The other four sat on the couches and Tony had his arm around Alexa. She shook slightly and her bright eyes were wide with fear. Kaya was on her other side and Axel stood off to the side.

"We heard someone scream, what happened?" Reece demanded.

"It was me." Alexa said weakly.

"What happened?" Vinnie asked, moving to stand in front of her friend.

"I was coming out of the bathroom and this..this man was just standing at the end of the hallway. He had a mask on so I couldn't see his face. Then he started coming at me so I screamed and started running and then I bumped into Tony and when I turned around he was gone!" Alexa explained.

"There's someone else in the house?!"

"No, no one else has a key to this house but me." Reece said.

"Burglars exist Reece! Especially killer ones!" Axel exclaimed.

"There's not a killer! Even if it's burglar I'm sure we could deal with it. In this room alone they're two vampire, a shapeshifter, a warlock, and a ti-"

"And two humans!" Vinnie squeaked. "Look I know I'm a time-jumper but I'm not Blu. I don't know how any of that stuff works."

"Guys..." Alexa said warily. "Please tell me you all just heard that noise."

"What noise?" Tony asked, and the room fell silent. Fear buzzed through the room as the teenagers strained their ears for the noise that Alexa had heard. Vinnie held tightly to Reece's hand and they all huddled closer together.

"See it was-" Before Reece could speak the lights blacked out.

Everyone screamed and something bumped upstairs.

"What the hell is going on!" Kaya cried.

"The power's out. It's probably just the weather, it's supposed to storm tonight." Reece said, his voice shaking.

"Of course it's going to storm!" Alexa grumbled. "This couldn't be more of a horror movie."

"There's a back-up generator in the basement, and there's tons of flashlights and candles upstairs." Reece explained.

"We are not splitting up." Vinnie said immediately.

"It makes no sense going to one place all together." Someone, Axel probably, argued.

"Have you people never seen a horror movie?" Alexa cried. "When people split up, they get killed off!"

"Alexa, we split up back in the caves and we were totally fine." Tony said calmly.

"Totally fine?! I broke my leg and your mom nearly killed you!" Alexa snapped.

"Your mom tried to kill you?!" Axel exclaimed.

"Long story, but yes." Tony sighed. "Anyway..."

"Let's do it like this; Reece, Kaya, and I will go fix up the generator. Tony, Alexa, and Vinnie can go find flashlights." Axel suggested. "Two supernaturals per group."

"Good idea." Kaya said. Murmurs of agreement went up through the room. Thunder rumbled overhead and rain began to fall against the windows. The six made no effort to move to their missions. Vinnie held on to Reece's jacket sleeve and they all sat in silence, nothing but the rain and thunder could be heard.

"Okay." Kaya said at last. "Let's please just get this over with."

"Until you guys get flashlights, use the screens of your phones." Reece said. And with that the groups split off. One headed down the hall, the other up the stairs.

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"I can't believe this is happening." Axel sighed. Reece groped the wall, trying to find the door to the basement. His hand passed over cold metal and he pushed, the door swinging open. A cold draft blew up from the stairs.

"Ax, Reece, why aren't we talking about the obvious issue here?" Kaya whispered.

"And that is?"

"There's someone else in the house!" She hissed.

"We don't know for sure." Reece said. With that he started down the stairs slowly, the other two falling close behind.

"This isn't really the basement I was expecting." Kaya said when they reached the bottom. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and all the room was filled with was boxes.

"What were you expecting?" Reece asked, weaving his way around the boxes.

"Some sort of medieval torture dungeon." She shrugged.

"I don't blame you, his grandad is creepy as fuck." Axel said, skirting around a box. Reece shined his weak phone light onto a machine in the corner.

"That it?" Axel asked.

"Looks really old." Kaya mused. Reece gripped his phone in his mouth for light.

"It is. Everything in this house is old." He said around the phone.

"Doesn't make it any less creepy." Axel mumbled.

"Wonder how the other team is doing." Kaya said. "If they're not lost that is."

"They'll be fine." Reece said. Something on the upper floors bumped around. Reece tried to reach his mind toward Vinnie's, but something seemed to be blocking their usual connection. That made him worry even more. As Reece struggled with the generator something hot and sharp snapped against his leg.

"Shit!" He cursed, dropping his phone. He startled both Axel and Kaya and they dropped their phones as well. A scream from upstairs pierced the silence.

"Vinnie!" Reece cried, grabbing his phone. The light phone on Kaya.

"Reece, oh my god." She whispered.

"What?" He said, keeping the light steady on her.

"W-Where is Axel?" She stuttered. Reece swung around, shining the light all over.

"Oh God." Reece gasped. Axel was gone. But who did the scream come from?

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"I was right. This whole thing was a terrible idea." Vinnie grumbled as they reached the top of the stairs. Their phones barely illuminated the path in front of them.

"And on top of all this creepiness, it's Halloween tomorrow. So you know what that makes tonight right?" Alexa said, sticking close to her boyfriend's side.

"Mischief night." Tony nodded.

"So you think this is all a prank?" Vinnie said, feeling along the wall.

"Maybe-"

"Sh! Did you hear that?" Tony whispered frantically. The trio froze and ducked behind a corner, pressing themselves up against the wall.

"I don't want to die tonight. I haven't even been to prom yet!" Vinnie breathed.

"Oh my god, he's up here." Alexa hissed. Tony poked both of them.

"Look, there's the room where all the candles and flashlights are." Tony said. Vinnie moved close to the door.

"Wait here, I'll grab them." She said. In the dark Alexa and Tony shared a look but agreed anyway. Vinnie twisted the handle slowly, pulling it open and slipping inside.

"Bingo!" She whispered, spotting the crate of emergency supplies. The door creaked shut behind her. Must've been Tony. Vinnie dragged the crate up to the door, shining her phone on the handle. A low battery image popped up on the screen, and her phone promptly died.

"Shit." Vinnie hissed. She turned the handle. Nothing happened.

"Tony? Alexa?" She whispered. The door wouldn't open.

Something thumped in the room and her heart raced. Who or what was in the house was in there with her. There was no need to be quiet now.

"Tony! Alexa! Open the door, this isn't funny!" She cried, banging on the door. On the other side she heard something drop to the floor. Sounded like a phone. A hand-like object brushed across her shoulder and she screamed.

The door burst open and Tony was there. Vinnie stumbled backwards, landing hard on the floor. His phone light was on, but there was no one beside him.

"What happened?! Are you okay?" He asked. Vinnie grabbed the crate of flashlights and dragged it out.

"S-Something in there touched me!" She whispered. Vinnie shut the door behind her.

"Where is Alexa?!" She cried, noticing the absence of her friend.

"I don't know. I dropped my phone and everything went dark, and then you screamed and when I turned around she was just gone!" Tony cried.

TO BE CONTINUED