"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

___________________________________________

"We did everything we could." Those words echoed inside my head as my feet stayed planted in one spot. It seemed like time itself stopped and everything else around me didn't exist.

I stood there, silently hoping that this was all just a sick joke and that I was just another victim of some sort of prank show.

I whipped my head around, looking for any signs of a camera crew.

Nothing.

I guess it's real. This is my new reality. My life was manageable with her, now I don't know what I am going to do. I don't know if my brain has gone out of whack now or if anything is real because, to my left, I heard a voice faintly, calling out to me.

"...are you okay?" The voice faded as well as the person's face it belonged to as I searched the room for the voice, everything looked strange and fuzzy.

The walls were suddenly caving in on me, shutting off all of my air supply and I felt choked and became desperate for air. My feet were heavy and it was really difficult to move, I took an unsteady step back, which caused me to fall to the ground, hitting my head hard against the cold hospital tiles. My whole body felt limp and lifeless.

Then almost too suddenly, everything faded into black...

****** F҈ L҈ A҈ S҈ H҈ B҈ A҈ C҈ K҈

"Hello!" The pretty blue-eyed girl from the playground waved at me animatedly, flashing a toothy smile, though I realized that her two front teeth were missing.

"Hi!" I giggled, pointing to her mouth.

"Hey! That's not nice!" She slapped my hand away. I drew my hands to my sides immediately, feeling a bit humiliated.

"Sorry," I mumbled, staring at the floor.

"It's okay, they just fell out yesterday, the tooth fairy came and got 'em." She jumped up excitedly, her shiny, long brown curls bounced along with her.

"Really?"

"Yes! I got 5 bucks off the sucker!" She whispered in my ear. I felt a bit confused because I never knew you could get money for losing your teeth, for all I know money is not that much where I come from.

"What's your name? Wanna be besties?" She said as she took my hands and jumped up and down excitedly.

"My name is Orianna Hall, yes we can be besties!" I said silently, jumping along with her, I felt guilty shortly afterward as I just remembered that mom said not to talk to strangers.

But this time was different.

"Yay!" She clapped excitedly in response, then she ran towards the slide, pulling me along with her.

We played for the entire evening until it was almost dark.

We said our goodbyes, after which, a tall guy in a black suit came and took her hand afterward, I could barely see his face, but she waved goodbye and I did the same.

I felt lonely as I watched her walk away with that guy. I didn't want her to go away. She seemed so far away, so much that when I called for her, she couldn't hear me.

Tears slid down my face as I kicked the stones on the ground.

I already miss her.

****[̲̅E] [̲̅N] [̲̅D]

My eyes shot open and I was immediately met with a blindingly white, bright light.

I squinted my eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. I looked around to find that I was in a hospital room and I saw Jerald and Sean sitting in the corner, they seemed to be fast asleep.

I looked to my right to see Jacob sitting upright in a chair beside me. He looked exhausted but awake.

"Hey, what happened?" I said, pulling myself into an upright position.

"You blacked out from a minor panic attack." He sighed, covering his face with his hands.

"But it's good that you are okay." He said, his eyes quickly scanning my body.

"I guess..." my hand went to the back of my head.

He shot up instantly from the chair as if covering up what he had just done. He then disappeared from the room shortly afterward.

"Dude, my head hurts like hell--" Sean groggily mumbled as his eyes darted to me. Jerald sat upright, letting out a long sigh in response as he ran his hands through his jet-black hair, looking up at me with tired eyes.

"You're awake." They plainly said in unison.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, a dull and empty feeling suddenly washing over me.

Maybe I'm just tired.

We all exited the hospital after I was discharged since my medical report had shown no signs of abnormalities or unusual activity.

The evening was quite peaceful and refreshingly cool, which contradicts the rampaging emotions I'm feeling inside, all at once.

I want to hurt someone real bad right now.

I want to cry.

I want to yell and scream at everyone for just being alive.

I took a deep breath as I climbed in the back of the Wrangler that was parked outside of the parking lot. It cut out of the parking lot easily, powering through dozens of miles per second.

The street lights were bright for the most part, illuminating the dark streets, we zoomed past cars without too many traffic lights. Until we neared the once desolate and strange street, which I have now come to see as familiar and necessary for security.

I'm sure the guys are discussing matters relating to Darcy's death-which I can't believe even is a real thought, but I don't plan on listening to the details of it because if I do I might want to do something I'll later on regret.

It's best I just observe what's happening outside the vehicle for now. And It sure would be quite calming to cuddle with my puppy now, who I'm sure is wondering where I am.

I am so not prepared to go home, but my mother didn't have any interest in my puppy back when I first got him and I'm sure as heck she won't even go near him, just as much for feeding him.

So I'll head out first thing in the morning, only for patch.

Without even realizing it, the Jeep has already parked inside the lot of the glass Malibu mansion, which everyone quickly gets out and goes inside, caught up in discussion. I walk slowly behind them lost in thought.

I would've expected the guy in the jeep to leave as soon as we came out, but instead, he got out as well. It's not long before he catches up with me and now I think I have to initiate a conversation or it'll just be too awkward.

Oh, man. He's looking right at me.

"H-Hi." I stuttered awkwardly waving at him and I mentally face palmed myself. We both got inside by now.

Why did I wave?!

He eyed me for a bit before nodding and walking ahead of me.

Well, that's the last time I'm ever doing that again.

I was snapped back to reality when I heard bickering coming from the kitchen, I really should mind my own business but--

"Damn it with you! All of you!" Jacob screamed, baring teeth. His face beat red and he balled his fingers into a fist, hitting the counter unexpectedly, causing me to jump.

He pushed past me aggressively, which caused me to be tossed right into a wall.

Ouch.

He cursed under his breath before he slammed the door behind him.

I blinked twice because this is the very first time I saw him so angry.

"What just happened?" I questioned, looking at all three guys slowly.

"Well, the hospital just called..." Sean trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

"And?" I pressed on.

"Th-He-Darcy's body is missing." Jerald stuttered, continuing for Sean, who looked at lost for words.

What?!

"We suspect that it was one of Markov's men who did it, to prove a point." The guy from earlier explained.

"So? Why don't we do something about it?"

He scoffed. "You say that like you can even throw a punch to save your life." He started. "And even if, we don't know if immediate action is the right thing to do...we think it's best to give it some time, so we can strategize a foolproof plan." He exchanged looks with the other guys, in which they nodded in agreement.

But I guess Jacob didn't agree.

"That sounds good, but I guess Jacob isn't exactly on board...let me see if I can call him and change his mind." I pulled my phone out and began punching in Jacob's phone number.

"Um, you might want him to cool off first," Sean said lowly, giving me a discouraging stare.

Probably a good idea.

I nodded, putting my phone in my back pocket.

Well, at least I don't have to deal with the annoying snoring tonight.

With that, I jogged upstairs and took a quick shower, and then threw on one of the biggest t-shirts I could find in Jacob's drawer. I closed the door, switched off the lamps, and lay down on the bed.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep, after a few minutes I found myself, drifting off into a deep sleep.

***

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~killerbeanqxeen