After my conversation with Pogo, I made my way to the kitchen, where some of the others were. Five was rummaging around, looking for something, while Klaus sat with an electric guitar at the end of the table.

I leaned against the same cabinet as before, watching Five continue his search.

"Where's Vanya?" Allison asked as she entered the room, putting her coat down on the side.

"Oh, she's gone," Klaus responded, still leaning back in his seat. I wasn't too surprised to hear that Vanya had left early. It made sense that no one was on friendly terms with her, and after reading my own chapter, I didn't really want to converse with her anyway.

"That's unfortunate," Five responded, but it was unclear if he was talking about Vanya or something else. Klaus and I glanced at each other.

"An entire square block. 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, but no, not a single drop of coffee." He looked up at Allison, who seemed unimpressed with his statement.

"Dad hated caffeine," she corrected him.

"Well, he hated children too, and he had plenty of us," I said. I watched as Klaus let out a little laugh at my comment. The room fell silent after my comment until footsteps echoed through the room.

"All right, I guess I'll see you guys in, what, 10 years? When Pogo dies?" Diego entered the room with 2 black bags. All of our eyes turned to look at Diego. He wasn't wrong; that'll probably be the next time we see one another.

"Not if you die first," Allison retorted, which made Diego smirk a little.

"Yeah, love you too, sis. Good luck on your next film, hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?" Diego turned to face me, "and you, don't go dying on us a second time yet."

Allison gave Diego a death glare before turning to leave. I must admit, that was a little harsh of Diego. A sigh from Five tore me away from my thoughts.

"I'm taking the car." Five said before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked, leaning forward and putting the electric guitar down. Five furrowed his eyebrows and gave Klaus an annoyed look as if his answer was obvious.

"To get a decent cup of coffee."

I shuffled a little bit, crossing my arms. It annoyed me slightly that I was also craving a coffee right about now.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Diego asked whilst he made sure he had everything. Five narrowed his eyes at him.

"I know how to do everything." He spat back before blinking away.

"I feel like we should try and stop him," Klaus started to walk around and then paused, "but then again, I also just kinda want to see what happens." I rolled my eyes at this.

"You heard him before. He's 32. I'm sure he'll be fine," I said while staring at the floor. A few seconds later, the sound of a car engine from outside going past alerted us that Five had indeed left. I stood up and looked towards Klaus and Diego.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving too. It was great seeing you all again." I could see the sadness in Klaus' eyes as he started to do a puppy dog face.

"Aw no, but you just got here!" Klaus looked genuinely upset at my statement about leaving. Before I could answer, Diego butted in.

"Just let her go, man. None of us are staying anyway," he picked up his bag and placed it on his shoulder, still facing away from me. "Anyway, I think she needs to get her life sorted after her nap."

I sighed, secretly happy my leaving wasn't such a shock factor.

"Nicely put Diego, until next time," I said as I left the room. For a second, I was unsure of what my next moves should be. I didn't think I would get this far, but here I am. The only other place I wanted to see before leaving was Griddy's, and that's when I got the idea to head there and get one last drink.

☂️☂️☂️☂️

Just like the Academy, Griddy's hadn't changed at all. Well, other than looking a little run-down, it added character. It looked deserted, which was just my luck. I was exhausted from having to put on an act in front of my family. The little they knew, the better.

As I approached the front door, a large man wearing a hat was leaving. He pulled the door open for me, to which I smiled softly.

"Thank you," I said quietly, looking around at one of my old comfort places. The place really hadn't changed; it had the same colour palette, but it seemed duller and less full of life than before. As I took another step, I saw the back of a familiar boy whom I definitely did not want to see or talk to.

"Shit," I said under my breath before turning sharply on my heels, trying to make my escape before he noticed me.

"No, get back here." His back was still facing me, but his voice was demanding, not like the way he talked to the others before. I sighed before taking an orange cushioned seat next to him at the bar.

There were many reasons as to why I didn't want to speak to him. Firstly, he was an arsehole, he was cocky and just unbarebale to be around.

His coffee looked untouched, so I decided to get my own drink, too. I reached to press the bell in front of him, but like lightning, he grabbed my wrist. I looked over at him, my eyebrows furrowed. His green eyes burned into mine, and I could tell he was examining me. My reflexes wanted to kick in, but I had to keep up my act for as long as possible.

"No, you are not getting anything. Until we finish talking." Five spoke harshly as he roughly let go of my wrist.

"Is this your idea of a conversation? Yikes..." I spat back, running my hands over my wrist. He did a little tut before looking down into his coffee mug.

"I know you're lying," he started, still looking into his mug. At first, I was a little confused about what he meant by this. I tilted my head slightly before answering.

"Lying? About what?" My answer, or should I say lack of, annoyed him. I could see him clench his jaw before talking again.

"Don't play dumb with me, Charlotte. I know you weren't in a coma." He turned to face me, narrowing his eyes at me slightly, hoping that this tactic would work on me. But all I did was smirk back.

"That's funny because you weren't there when I told the others about my whereabouts, and you've never been the type to ask someone else." By the look on his face, I knew that I had caught him out. Five rolled his eyes and looked back at his coffee mug.

"It's none of your business on how I gathered your story" he said through gritted teeth. "Why were you there?"

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but there was no way I would ever tell him the truth.

"Five, why are you speaking so cryptically?" I asked, trying to see how far I could push him. With a sigh, he placed his 2 fingers on the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"Why are you being so difficult." He said.

I was starting to get bored of the conversation, so, I thought of an escape route. Maybe if I headed to the bathroom, I could sneak out through the back window?

Pleased with my plan, I stood up from my seat, which quickly caught Five's attention. He sat back up properly and once again furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked in a demanding tone. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get out of this conversation. Five had questions, and I had the answers, but unfortunately for him, I wasn't in the mood.

"I'm going to the toilet if that's such an issue? Don't worry, I'll be back to continue our riveting conversation." I said as I started to walk away with a smirk on my face. I could tell he wanted to stop me, but it looked like he didn't have the energy.

Upon entering the bathroom, I knew I only had about 5 minutes before Five would get suspicious and probably come in here to check on me. Searching the room, I saw a window above one of the stalls. As I prepared myself, that's when I heard gunshots go off.

Shit. No... they can't have found us already?

Knowing the Commisson, they would be very keen to get back their best assassin.

Okay, Charlotte think. What do we need to do? How did they find me?

That's when it hit me. I never took out my tracker.

You are such a dumbass sometimes!

Feeling around in my jean pockets, I found my pocket knife, knowing that this would be the only time I would have to take out the tracker. Still hearing the commotion outside, I knew I had a few minutes left before either Five was dead or Five would have killed the team sent to retrieve us.

Swiftly, I removed my leather jacket and rolled up my long-sleeved top to reveal my left arm, which was about to get a new scar. I took an estimated guess as to where the tracker would be in my forearm. Blood spilt into the bathroom sink, and the pain made my eyes sting a little.

I rummaged around in my arm carefully and located the tracker. I pulled it out carefully and placed it in the back pocket of my jeans. My arm was still stinging, but I knew I would have to sort that out later.

To my surprise, the fight was still going on outside, meaning they must have sent quite a few soldiers. Using this time to my advantage, I looked around to see if there was any bleach to clean the sink. The police would be here any minute, and the last thing I need is for them to get any of my DNA. Luckily for me, there was some in the cabinet under the sink. Like a pro, I cleaned up any of my DNA or any that would link me to the crime taking place outside.

Just when I was finished, I heard the fighting stop and the sound of police sirens. I knew that I needed to leave right now. With catlike movement, I put on my jacket and escaped through the window.

As I walked down a back alley, making my escape, I took the tracker out of my back pocket and threw it into a storm drain.

Try find me now.

☂️☂️☂️☂️

Five Fact: Five had stayed behind to listen to Charlotte's story of what happened to her. He knew something didn't add up and was determined to get her to tell the truth.

A/N: As promised, here is another chapter! I feel like the action is picking up slightly, so I hope you are all enjoying it! I'm not going to lie. At first, I struggled to fit in Number 8 during scenes that happen in the show because I didn't want to change it too much, but I feel like I'm slowly getting better at it!

I have good news! I'm starting to feel slightly better now, so fingers crossed, I'll be my usual self very soon! Also, just a small update: My schedule has all of a sudden gotten very busy, but I'm hoping to stick with uploading new chapters every Sunday. I will let you know if that changes! So, I am sorry if my response to comments and messages is less frequent—I'll work on that, haha!

A bit of a side question: I want to promote this book a bit more, but I feel like I'm repeating myself, so if you have any ideas or have liked anything I've done and think I should continue with that style, I would really appreciate your feedback! I've loved writing and editing and have found it to be really relaxing (at times when things go smoothly 😂).

Once again, thank you everyone for your support both with this book and my edits! I appreciate every one of you! 🖤

QOTD: How long do you think it'll be till Charlotte gives Five and answers his questions? 👀

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