You were awake all night, staring straight at the ceiling, instead of getting a decent night's sleep. Every night, you would usually either perform illusions or watch sitcoms, but tonight was different. There was nothing you could do.

The previous day's events had been overwhelming. You'd just started a new school and were thrown into the middle of trying to keep a secret about you and your new friends witnessing your parents doing nefarious things in the Wilders' basement. Oh, and you're getting queasy just thinking about Alex Wilder, but in a good way.

As you began to think intensely, you pushed your bottom lip out. Too many thoughts were racing through your mind; it was exhausting and untidy. You shifted your weight to your side and hugged a cushion, your scars visible around your arm. You tucked them under your cover and looked blankly at the wall, still unable to get a good night's sleep.

Your eyes went blue out of nowhere, and you unintentionally cast an illusion of Alex. You squeaked in surprise and quickly started shaking your head, closing your eyes to dispel the deception. When you cautiously opened your eyes, you noticed that your illusion had not faded and that the illusion version of Alex smiled warmly at you.

Boy, his smile brings butterflies to your stomach.

When your chest hurt, you grabbed to your pillow as tightly as you could. You remembered how he gazed at another girl that you are all too familiar with. His eyes were lovingly fixed on her, his smile grew larger every time she acknowledged him, and he was determined to make her happy once more.

Alex's in love with Nico.

You sighed heavily and immediately altered the illusion to something else. 'Might as well continue projecting illusions if I can't sleep.' You watched your illusions recreating The Dick Van Dyke Show episode you just watched back at the Wilder Mansion.

"You like sitcoms?"

You frowned when you remembered Alex's words. You don't want to hear his voice.

"So, may I know your name, Sitcom Girl?"

"Oh, shut up!" You hissed as you covered your ears with your other pillow, turning your illusions off. You can't possibly have a crush on a guy who you barely even know and has other feelings for your adoptive sister...

...right?

You didn't seem to be bothered by a lack of sleep. In fact, you were accustomed to it. It's most likely the reason you've been getting headaches and feeling weak every day. You attempted to disguise your tired look with makeup, but people could see right through it sometimes.

When morning finally came, you stepped out of your room, completely dressed and ready to go to school, until you noticed Nico leaving the house. 'She's early.'

You wore your headset and glanced at Robert and Tina, who were eating breakfast. "(Y/n)!" Robert greeted with a warm smile. "Come join us!"

You shook your head. "No, thanks. I'll just grab something on my way out."

Your little white lie persuaded the two grownups to let you go outside. You returned your gaze to the house before moving your look to the direction in which your sister had gone. You decided to follow her.

After minutes of following her unsuspected, you noticed she was joining Alex and their other friends at the beach. You frowned as you clutched the strap of your backpack. "Oh..." You whispered.

As you watched Alex and his gang discuss stuff that you couldn't hear since you were too far away, you clutched your fists. "I was there too..." You mumbled. "I was there when I saw their parents sacrifice an innocent girl. Why didn't they tell me they're gonna have a meeting about it?"

Of course, you had no idea what the meeting was about, but given how serious they are and how secretive they are, the only plausible explanation is that they're talking about what happened the night before. You nervously chuckled as you shook your head. "Why would I care?" You asked yourself. "And besides, they won't be able to contact me. They don't have my number."

You stared at Molly, who was also included at the secret meeting, and your heart slowly cracked. 'But they could've asked my number from Molly...' You shook your head once again, your heart sinking. "Stop it. They're not even friends with you!"

'Oh, yeah. They're not friends with you.'

"Why would anyone care?"

'You just happened to be in the same place as them.'

"Uh-huh!" You nodded vigorously, thanking that your hiding spot wasn't full of people to think you're going crazy from talking to yourself. "Just because I got to spend a few hours with them doesn't mean we're friends."

'You're alone. Just like before.'

You froze for a moment as the word 'alone' echoed in your mind. "I mean..." You softly gulped. "I don't mind being alone." You stood up from your hiding spot and wore your hood on. "I'm used to it anyway."

"Look, guys, there's an easier way to get to the bottom of this," Alex told his friends when they started overlapping sentences. "We do some P.I. work and let cooler heads prevail. Hopefully, in a couple of hours, we know that our parents are just weird, and not killers."

"You had me at P.I.," Gert replied.

"I could check in with the youth group at my church and make sure Destiny's on this trip," Karolina suggested.

"Boom." Alex nodded.

"Not that I think we need to."

"Cool," Chase replied. "I'll go with her."

Alex stopped Chase, who stood up. "I'm all for the buddy system, but I think we need to prioritize."

"Aw, bummer!" Gert sarcastically remarked, who glanced at Chase and Karolina.

"I mean, you said it yourself..." Alex told Chase. "Your dad's new Leapfrog has a mega-sized trunk. I'm thinking he put that glowing box in the back and took it home with him." He explained. "I mean, Destiny could still be in there."

"Oh, yeah, and he'll be psyched when he catches me digging through his shit." Chase rolled his eyes.

"Then he better not catches you," Gert advised. "If you had an awesome sleuth like me as your lookout, you'd be safe."

"Good call, Gert," Alex replied. "See? Pairing up here actually makes sense."

Chase furrowed his eyebrows in objection. "Hold on. I haven't agreed to anything yet."

"It'll take five minutes," Gert reassured. "And then afterward, we can prepare for your Spanish quiz on Monday. I have flashcards." She smiled.

Chase stared at her as he smiled back. "I guess that's not a terrible idea."

Alex nodded along. "Okay, I'll try and check out that secret ceremony room." He told his friends. "Might be some clues down there, seeing as it's a secret ceremonial room."

Alex turned to Nico and smiled slightly. "I could, uh, use a lookout, too." He offered, earning a look from Nico. Nico shook her head. "Think I'd better check out my Mom's staff, see what the thing really does."

Nico stared at Alex. "Prioritizing, right?"

Alex nodded, feeling a bit disappointed. "Prioritizing." He looked away to look at his other friends, missing the look that Nico was giving him. "Okay, how about we use that text chain? Keep in touch, important business only."

"There's something else we could look into," Molly spoke up. "A monster in our basement."

"These last 24 hours haven't been crazy enough," Nico commented.

"No, seriously." Molly pressed the topic further. "Dale and Stacy could've engineered some kind of creature."

"Anxiety's often linked to paranoia," Gert explained.

"I'm not paranoid!" Molly exclaimed, getting tired of her opinions or statements being ignored. She stood up as she faced Gert. "And it could all be related."

When no one spoke to her, disbelieving her, Molly scoffed. "Fine. Go ahead. Don't believe me. Maybe (Y/n) could." She raised her hands up, giving up. "Let's just let Destiny get eaten alive." Molly marched out of the group, getting out of the beach.