Hmm I wonder what it means when the name of the chapter is the same name as the book?

***

I cringed at the sound of the lock breaking, and was genuinely seconds away from passing out. Everything we have done has led to this, and I prayed that I didn't screw it up.

I assured myself I wouldnt screw this up.

As my eyes tried to take in as much as possible in the looming darkness, I saw that it was everything I expected for an abandoned video store.

Empty DVD cases were covering the ground, and some of the shelves has toppled over. The musty smell that hung in the air was suffocating me, and I felt it clinging to my clothes and burrowing itself into my hair.

We all walked in further, and the crunch of glass under our feet made us even more cautious as we took more steps in. Then, someone quietly closed the door, and we were submerged in darkness.

No one moved.

We simply listened.

The silence spoke a thousand words, and was louder that a stadium filled with sirens. What made it worse was that in the midst of it all, my confused and broken family was the needle in the hay stack.

After an excruciating stretch of silence I felt Jacen turn to where the boys were. "Split up, you guys know that plan," he whispered. I looked at them all, willing myself not to

I saw what I thought was a nod, and then Finn, Luke, and Spencer took off in another direction, tumbling around a corner and out of sight.

"Let's move, we're wasting time,"Axle grumbled as he started walking in the opposite direction of the other guys.

We walked in between the rows of shelves but there was nothing that could help us. I didn't even know what we were really looking for to help us.

A noise came from the far left and we all paused. No one dared to breathe.

Not until Jacen pulled me to him, and planted a big kiss right in front of Axle.

"Jacen-" I started to whisper, baffled that he would choose a moment like this to kiss me.

Not that I didn't enjoy it but...

"You stay with Axle okay? If anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong, you call me," he told me gripping my face.

"What?" My heart thundered at the thought of him leaving. I knew he was strong enough to fend for himself, he had for all of these years, but it didn't stop me from worrying. "Where are you going?"

He gave me one more quick peck. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Take care of yourself okay? Don't do anything stupid," he told me, a warning coating his voice. "Please take care of yourself Zaph," he pleaded after a moment.

I gave him a soft smile. "I will, but I wish you wouldn't leave."

He gave me one last kiss on response and disappeared around the corner of the isle. I have a sigh and prayed that he would be alright.

Axle gently nudged my back. "Ready?"

I looked up at him with a bitter smile. "As ready as I'll ever be." He nodded in understanding, and guided me forward and around the corner.

We kept walking, and I kept listening. What for, I didn't exactly know, but I was alert, and ready for anything.

At least I thought I was.

Familiar hands grabbed me and slammed me into an empty shelf, knocking me to the ground. Dazed and confused, I looked up and saw Axle standing over me, his fists clenched by his side.

What the he'll was going on?!

"Axle what-" he grabbed me touched by my arm and yanked me up.

"I have waited too long for this." A flash of... Guilt coated his features before it quickly disappeared.

And suddenly, everything that I didn't want to click, clicked. Why X was able to know exactly where I was everyday. It was never Jacen.

 It was Axle. 

My breath was forced out of my lungs at the aching truth, and I couldn't seem to get in enough air. He did this to me. The sting of betrayal burst inside my chest, and the slimy feeling travelled to the ends of my body.

How could he do this? I had trusted him. Jacen had trusted him.

I shook my head at the same time that I felt a presence behind me. I turned and with almost blurry eyes, my heart sunk at the sight of the new twin transfers from school. "Hey sweetheart. Hope you liked my gift to you, even though it ended up being a little," the twin paused for a moment in fake confusion. "Bloody."

I involuntarily grasped my arm, a dull ache coming from it once my mind honed it on it once again. I glared him down in the dim light.

The second the first one took a step into the isle we were currently in and I chose that moment I move. In a flash, I grabbed Axle's shoulders, and brought my knee up, slamming into his groin. It pained me to have to do that to him, but he'd betrayed me.

He was trying to kill me. 

His defenses were down the moment he toppled to the ground, holding himself in pain. Luckily for me, it was probably the last thing he expected to happen to himself, and it was the perfect opportunity to try and get away.

Glancing up at the advancing guys in front of me, I took off, running for my life down the other isles. I heard the footsteps, not behind me, but parallel to me on both sides, and I knew that even if I outran one, I couldn't outrun both.

So I used my size as an advantage. I quickly switched directions, going in the opposite of the one before I squeezed a small space on an empty shelf, pushing myself back until my back was against the cool metal. 

I was praying that because of the dim lighting in combination with my dark clothing and small body, the twins and Axle wouldn't see me. I held my breath and gripped my phone, fearing that the owners of the incoming footsteps would hear my thumping heart.

The footsteps paused on my isle, and I didn't dare move. The legs and shoes came to stand directly in front of me, and all was deadly quiet.

"Little mouse, you can't hide forever," A chilling voice taunted, and my heart jumped in my throat.

I sure as hell can try bitch.

Then, after what seemed like a century multiplied by twenty million, the slow and leisurely footsteps faded, and I felt as if I could breath again. I took several gulps of the stale air, making sure to remain as quiet as possible. 

It was then that my phone vibrated in my palm, and if I hadn't already been sitting, I would've collapsed in that moment.

Jacen's name on my screen gave me the relief I needed and the ability to think with a clear head.

I answered and immediately started to explain everything in a frantic whisper. "Jacen it was Axle, he knew everything. He knew-"

"Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock." The sinking feeling in my stomach filled my with an uncontainable amount of fear and dread. A chilling voice rang through the phone instead of the steely but calming voice of my boyfriend.

Where was Jacen? 

Just then slow dragging footsteps started down my isle. The squeak of new shoes rebounded of the tile floor in long intervals, and I silently prayed that he wouldn't find me. But I knew that he only came back over here for one reason, and that there was no point in me hiding anymore. 

I was already dead. 

There's nothing scarier than waiting for the exact moment to get caught, and knowing that the person directly in front of you wants to get rid of you. It makes you feel vulnerable and helpless, so frightened you can taste the fear on your tastebuds. 

"The clock struck one," the footsteps crept closer and closer, "the mouse went down," and he paused right in front of me.

"Hickory," the chilling voice took one step closer.

"Dickory," another mocking step.

"Dock." And the phone line went dead in my hands.

The amount of fear I felt at that moment was unlike anything I had experienced before, as all I could do when the person squatted to be eye level with me, was watch in petrified helplessness.

"I found you little mouse."

***
I'm sorry I left you with such a short chapter cliffhanger... It kinda like the rule of thumb to do neither, but oh well!

At least not you understand why this story is called The Call, 'cuz that was it!

Please don't hate me too much! I love you all <33

Xoxo,
Jean Margaret