17th July 2007
Arlington University

"Did anyone find out about Kylie's whereabouts ?" George asks, leaning on the torn apart, plastic wrapped seat of his bike.

We're gathered at the parking spot of the University, some pondering over Kylie's sudden absence and some putting a show as best as one can after a hearty meal of grilled cheese and opiates. Now I had no specific plans of looking in the eyes of my perpetrators after what happened at Daniel's bistro on thirteenth. Yes, I love Archie. Is that what you want to hear?

But I also can't afford to stay out of these conversations out of pride, or it'd hurt me in another place bruises become evident.

"Well, we have tried our luck at almost every place she could possibly be found. Her cellphone is still switched off, her dorm friends haven't seen her since then, and even the cigarette shop owner down the street hasn't made a sale with her in the longest time. I don't know about you guys, but I am having a really weird feeling about all this." Archie chips in.

Meanwhile Emma stands there perched over one of Archie's shoulders, gobbling on her finger nails, a describable poor attempt to keep the truth from spilling out of her parched lips. She looks as though she will puke everything out with just one slight poke and I'm not paying for the  awakening of the weakling in her. Eventually, I am compelled to cover up her queasiness. "I don't know, Kylie is pretty spontaneous. Maybe she went on a road trip or something." I do know Kylie's notorious for creating ripples and turning a ghost while she entertains the waves, but who was the last fish in that sea, I had no idea.

"We can't affirm that, Mia. I think it's time that we call her parents." George looks between us, awaiting a response stuck in our throats like a fur ball. At what point in our muddled history did George and Kylie get close, I didn't have the slightest clue and the missing record didn't seem to go all that well by me. Archie nods in agreement, "we should do it soon."

It's happening. Too soon, in fact, and before I can change their plans, Emma sprints out of the parking lot— the dried autumn leaves swaying along the trail of her hurried footsteps. I've never understood this girl, what she thinks, what she does, but I have learnt to not make the mistake of underestimating her tactful mind, the clown's card waiting to trump you behind the innocent smile.

The situation takes an awkward turn, but Emma's only partly responsible for the damage. When the princess flees, both the saviours decide to run to her rescue, giving rise to an unsaid tussle between the two. I have to pull George aside before anyone gets seriously hurt.

Letting a few minutes pass, I follow the mind map I made, of Archie's overtly evident urgency. I pass by a series of empty classrooms and the drab scrawled over the bolted doors, before I come to an abrupt halt and hear muffled sobs making their way out the confines of the band practice room. I stand aligned to the creak flashing light, trying to make sense of their hushed voices.

"Archie, I need to tell you something. Before I do, please promise me that you won't react without hearing my side. This was an accident, and I didn't have any intentions to hurt her, I would never do something like it." It all sounds rich coming from her. What, he kissed you and you thought Emma's old news? Don't hesitate. After all I set this up to pull the truth out of you and make it abundantly clear what's mine. And what's off limits.

"I know..." Emma struggles, and I stand curious as to if she'll tell the tale. Black and white, as the bloody night happened. "I know what happened to Kylie." The storm comes gushing past without any warning.

I risk pushing the door by the blackened tip of my Nike Air Force Ones to get a better view of the soapy drama I have to associate myself with. A queer silence follows Emma's chilly confession, her squirming audible through the squeak of her leather jacket. Archie still doesn't question anything.

"Kylie and I were together at the forest near our university. It was after we left that party where you and I nearly bit our heads off. We were walking down the slope when..."

"What?" Archie crouches in front of her. The tension in his knees is visible beyond the pads he still has strapped on, post the extra practice. I could have taken the easier path here, let their lives shatter within a night's time, but that wouldn't have felt nearly as good as this does. So good.

"I got my foot tangled in a vine and took support of her shoulder to try and keep my balance, but... the force of the sudden push made her shoes slip on the damp turf, and she— I mean, her body went plummeting down the slope before I could help her. By the time I reached to the bottom of the cliff, she had passed out. Her shoes had veered off to a place I couldn't get to, but fortunately, she didn't. I told her before hand that the grass is wet this time of the year, that she should be more careful. You know her, though. Kylie just never listens."

Archie gulps in shock, but nods anyway, urging her to continue. I wonder how he would take the climax of this well conceited lie. "What happened after that?"

"I can't reveal." She sweeps away all of my built up excitement.

"You cannot reveal?" Archie scoffs. "What did you do to her, Emma?" His voice cracks more than once in a week's span, and it appears like he was the on verge of experiencing a full blown panic attack.

"What does that mean? I didn't do anything to her." Her nostrils flare up, eyes sharp–the same disheveling looks she donned a few nights ago. "I warned her to be careful, but she wouldn't listen to me."

"If you are claiming it was just an accident, then why can't you tell me?" He yells, she flinches back to the mic stand placed amongst the music equipment, and the drama begins. A screechy noise from the mic doesn't help the tension brewing between the controversial favourites of Arlington.

"All I can tell you is that... that Kylie is alive and perfectly fine. Please trust me, Archie," she begs of him to give in to her deception.

"Can I really trust you, though?" Archie questions, for what feels like the first time since they got together and now had finally split up. This miracle occurred on the night of thirteenth as well, a cursed day for most of us and beyond what folk tales entail it to be.

She raises her head to meet his sharp gaze. A viciousness blankets over the usual innocence of her eyes. "If you don't want to get into any trouble, you will."

Archie's mouth gapes open at the apparent demonic soul of his ex lover. "Is that a threat?"

"Someone who can get physical with another girl for the sake of a bet, is also capable of many other things." She thoroughly enjoys the prude reaction of her disguised slave.

"I don't believe you." He's just as shocked as I am. But she's not entirely wrong, and so isn't the undeniable fact that Archie inflicted those threats upon himself.

If he hadn't agreed to the bet, if I wouldn't have been humiliated in front of a bunch of strangers like that, none of this wouldn't be happening. Mia, I'm sorry, it was stupid, and it was very long ago. Trust me, I wanted to call it off.

Kylie Meyers wouldn't have gone missing.

***

15th February, 2015
Present

I don't realise I have taken the cold metal of the lip ring between my teeth until Emma nudges at the hem of my jean shorts with the pistol she has been holding, her scathed fingers placed intact on the trigger since I began narrating.

I have to admit I didn't play out our meeting the way it has been coming along; not with all the newspaper cuttings resting in my drawer, from each time Emma's been honoured on the front page of the NY times. Although, I conveniently forgot about the one article that I have been safely carrying around since our days in Arlington. The one that put us back in the situation we thought we had managed to avoid eight years back.

"So, what you are saying is that Kylie was the one who tied me up? She set you up to be in the basement at the same time, only so you would get out of Archie's life for good?"

"That's the only explanation I have." I keep the jingle of my anklet from giving out what should've followed after— more so because I cannot afford to have another puking incident on this rental couch.

"And that's the reason why you killed her?" She bitterly chuckles.

"I did not kill her. I have no idea how the basement caught fire, or how she ended up in a closet in there, but I–I am to blame, whether I accept it or not."

Emma shakes her head, mumbling something to herself. "You know that wasn't her body, you just can't face the truth," she states, avoiding my gaze at the same time. "She is alive, Mia."

"What are you saying?"

"I didn't tell you guys this, but..." she is interrupted by the shrieks of Rihanna playing out on my phone. I pick it up without checking the caller ID, but the heavy panting at the end of the line gives me a few hints about who this could be.

"Mia, please help me. I don't want to die, someone's onto me and they know everything." A panicky voice shouts over the phone, barely giving me a chance to comprehend the string of words. "Fucking shit!"

"Bailey?" I utter right out of the pit of my stomach, my familiarity with his cursing habits ringing a bell. "What happened?"

"I'm caught..." the haze of his voice comes to a beeping end as the line cuts off to an untimely demise.

"Who was that?" Emma almost jumps out of her seat, but doesn't defy the dark circles under her sleep deprived eyes.

"Playboy seems to be in trouble."

PLEASE READ: Daniel's is simply the name of a cafeteria, just in case I thought it created confusion and the possibility of yet another character. Well, that's not happening until later, so watch out