Of course, I didn't want to give Reyna the cold shoulder, but she should've been at Della's house. If it were my mom, I would've wanted my best friends to be there with me. But Reyna not being there did affect me on a personal level. It means that she was somewhere else that night without my notice. I'm not her dad; I don't require an hour-by-hour update, but I'm staying at her house to help her. Don't I at least deserve to know where she's sneaking out to in the middle of the night? I've told her everything.

Well, besides the text messages. Whoever is doing this is constantly bugging me. From phone calls telling me not to talk to Reyna, to texts letting me know that they see my every move. Right now, they're harassing me – letting me know that they can do whatever they want, so when the time comes, they'll be able to control me. But why me? What's the benefit?

Currently, I'm in Hanzo's car, on my way to 4512 with Maren, Al, Del, and Hanzo(obviously). I immediately called shotgun to get away from Allister. I really don't have an interest in her – not like this, at least. She's scared and nervous and doesn't really know what she wants. She hasn't been thinking straight. 

"What do you think we'll find?" I ask Hanzo while the girls talk about something else in the back.

 "Hopefully, Makai," he responds. Hanzo's jaw tightens and he frowns.

"You don't think he'll be there," I conclude. Guiltily, Hanzo looks at me before returning his attention to the road. "It's alright," I tell him. "I don't think so, either."

 We've been driving for around two hours and we finally pull to a stop at an old gate in some backroads that lead to the woods. There are tire tracks in the dirt and footsteps on the path past the gate. Someone's here. 

"Time to find out," Hanzo tells me before sliding out of his car and getting a giant wrench from his trunk. Everyone else files out and takes on Hanzo's enormous tools. I take the crowbar. Slowly, we venture to the locked gate. "Eyes sharp," Hanzo tells us."Watch your step and don't be afraid to break some bones." 

Brusquely, Hanzo nods at me and I take that as my cue to break the lock. With a swift and powerful stroke, the chain gives way and I push the gate open. "Alright, guys," I whisper. "Phones off – no lights and no sounds."

They do as told and it's Della who takes the lead. "Let's go get Makai."

 We follow her lead, walking in a line. The pesky bugs would've bothered me on any other day, but today is the day we might encounter the killer, and if we do, I'm ready to kill

"Watch your step," Hanzo instructs, noticing the broken board before Della does.

 One by one, we ascend, everyone waiting on the porch until the last person, me, goes up. I stop short at the broken board. "Aero, come on," Allister hurriedly whispers.

 "Hold on..." I bend down and examine the board. Fresh blood paints the sharp edges of the boards. That means someone came here who didn't know about the faulty stair.

Does that mean they forgot in a fit of rage? Or does it mean they don't usually come here?

"Someone came here forgetting about the rotted board. Don't know if it means anything." 

"We've got a bigger problem," Hanzo says, nodding at the door handle. Once upon a time, it was locked. Now, the chain pools at the bottom of the door and the lock is MIA. Someone was here, but now they aren't. If anything important was here, or anyone for this matter, wouldn't they keep this on 24/7 lockdown?

"Not a good sign," I whisper to him and only him because he's the only one who can handle such a truth.

"What does it mean?" Maren asks us, gripping a hammer.

Hanzo and I exchange a glance. "What we don't have another lock to break," I say. It's really not a lie, but it's not the total truth, either.

 Della opens the door and I can't get over the darkness in here. I also can't get over that there's a door wide open that leads to a basement. What if it's a trap? What if we all go in and get locked up?

"Hanzo and Della, come with me downstairs. Allister and Maren, watch for anything. If you even have the slightest hint that someone is coming; grab us," I instruct.

 Hanzo smiles at me. "You're good at this."

Gratifyingly, I look up at him. "Thanks." To everyone, I say, "Let's go." 

I skip past the rotting baby cribs and TV stand and descend the staircase, which creaks with every slight shift of weight. There's a fallen chair, frayed cloth, and a dead body. Flower my crowbar. "We're too late." Frederick Bronski, football legend and athletic department saviour, lies face-up with his brown eyes open wide. Oddly, he's dressed in an enormous black hooded cloak. I examine his body for any hint of how he died. There are three bloody gashes surrounded by bruising on his body. His head split open on the top –the critical hit that took his life. 

Something about the hits looks acquainted. Following my instinct, I take my own crowbar and hold it against the wounds. Hanzo watches me as Della kneels by the bonds that probably held Makai. "What's it mean?" Hanz asks, squatting next to me.

"I think Reyna beat us here," I tell him. "These hits came from a crowbar. She could've mistaken Fred as the killer in his cloak..."

"Why was he even down here, and wearing this for that matter?" Hanzo questions, toying with a piece of the cloak. 

"He was probably put up to it," I explain. "But where's Makai?" 

 "No idea...I think Reyna got to him, but what would've stopped her?" 

 "Not Freddie..." 

I flash Hanzo a dark look. Now isn't the time for cruel jokes. Hanzo looks away and does a double-take to his left. I look over and see what he sees – a sticky note.

Don't think that you can outsmart me that well, Reyna.

"This probably got to her," I tell Hanzo. "She read it, realized she fell into the killer's play, and by the time she got out of here, Makai was gone."

 I can see Hanzo mentally running through the possibilities, working out the kinks and"what ifs." Nodding, he says, "Sounds logical. Sounds like our Reyna." 

 I scoff. 

 "What?" Hanzo inquires, standing up and brushing dust off his hands. 

"She's not really our Reyna, after today..." I flash a look at the dead body. "And she won't be after this." 

 "It's not our fault that she killed someone," Hanzo gently tells me.

 "No, I know," I admit, agreeing with him. "But she must've felt pressured to prove herself still worthy. If we had been nice, this wouldn't have happened."

 Hanzo takes a deep breath. "The problem with being the safe keeper is that I have to see the truth. See things for how it is. Sadly, I know that you're right." 

 "Anything besides the dead guy?" Della asks, wiping away recent tears. Whatever edgeDella once tried to present has now been decimated. She no longer puts up her façadeanymore. 

 "No," I quickly say. "We might as well go home."

 "He was here..." Adelina tells me, biting her lip and putting the chair up to sit in. "He was right here." She closes her jade eyes. "I feel it."

 Hanzo grabs her by the arm. "Come on, Del. We'll find him."

 "What if we find him at the bottom of the lake?" she questions, quivering. 

 "We wake up," I supply. "Because it would be a dream. We're finding him. Alive."

 We all exit the abandoned house of 4512, and for the first time, I question its importance. Why bring someone here? What's the story behind this place? 

 Directly after turning my phone on, a phone call comes in.

PHONE CALL FROM: UNKNOWN CALLER 

I growl with agitation and sadness that we were so close to Makai but not close enough.

 Agitation and sadness that Reyna had to kill an innocent man, and knowing she Wouldnt have if even one of us had been kind to her. "What do you want?

 An automated voice speaks up. "I want you to listen up. How bad do you want to find Makai?"

 "Depends why you ask..." I quietly respond, going through the gate and being the first to Hanzo's silver car. 

 "You can get him on Saturday at the Spring Carnival." 

 "What's the catch?" I question. "You don't just give people up." 

 "Correct. You play my games; you get the boy. Alive." 

 The killer or one of his accomplices hangs up and Enzo texts me suspiciously right after.

Enzo: Heard about Destiny. Swimming her to the middle of the lake was a nice refresher.

 You: Go away, Enzo.

 Enzo: I'm staying down with Mom and Dad this week. Isn't that great, little brother?

 You: Why? 

Enzo King being in my hair while all of this is going on is enough. But him being in my home is far too much. I've taken it upon myself to move out of Reyna's on short notice, being that my single night staying there proved the opposite of helpful. So now I'm stuck under the same roof as the guy. 

Enzo: I got a date to the carnival...gotta stick around for a while. 

You: Who would go on a date with YOU?

 Enzo: Why don't you get one and we can double-date? 

You: Take someone I like around you? That's asking to be embarrassed. 

Enzo: That door opens both ways...maybe you're just jealous because you don't have one yet. 

I don't have one yet, but I'm not jealous about it. I feel bad for whatever poor soul got sucked up in Enzo's sociopath bullshit. 

You: Fine. I'll get a date and we'll go. 

Enzo: I'd ask you to hook up with Della's foxy mom, Victoria, but you know...she's dead. 

I leave his message open, not bothering to respond to his crap. I'm so sick of Enzo. But if I go on this stupid date with him, maybe I can show him that being an asshole all the time doesn't give him friends. Not to mention, the caller told me to be at the carnival for Makai. 

"You alright?" Hanzo asks. 

 "Yeah," I say, sounding as tired as I feel. 

Dubiously, Hanzo looks at me. He would've asked for the truth, but I've saved him from lying to his best friends on multiple occasions today, so he lets it slide. We all gather in the car feeling defeated. But not as defeated as Reyna could be. Maybe if I invited her to the Spring Carnival, she's feeling a little better. Maybe she'd feel like she had a friend. 

But knowing Reyna...knowing her type, she's already shut me out. It would take a miracle to get through to her, and as evident by today, there aren't any miracles in the town of Solaris. And I doubt she's focused on a stupid carnival at a time like this.

 I turn and look everyone over while Hanzo drives. I could bring Allister. I'm sure she'd agree to go. I don't really want to, but if I back out now, Enzo wouldn't let it go until he died. I sigh to myself and decide to ask her to go tomorrow.