- Wednesday, November 22nd -

It's freezing cold and I have no idea how long I've been in this damn thing. All I know is that the Jacuzzi has been turned off and I haven't heard a thing after I got trapped inside here. I keep having trouble to stay awake, and it's not helping me that I'm now starting to freeze; mostly my feet and hands hurting like hell.

How much time has passed? What did he do to Finnley?

The panic buttons were right beside the Jacuzzi; Finnley didn't take one inside with him and I couldn't reach for them.

I hug myself, rubbing my arms in hopes of warming myself up a bit, with no result at all, whatsoever.

I guess the thing isn't air sealed, so I won't die from suffocation.

I'll die by freezing.

Don't know which one is worse.

But if you ask me, I'd rather black out and slowly suffocate, than freeze to dead because the tips of my toes and fingers burn in pain.

I've been trying to keep my feet out of the water, by laying down. But it doesn't help shit, because I'm not in a comfortable position at all and my neck and back start to hurt from holding my head above the water.

Neither is there enough room to stretch fully without having to struggle to keep my head up. I wish at least the temperature of the water would still be hot.

I don't think it would've been possible to freeze in water that's a constant 40 degrees.

I start to move around again, trying to generate as much heat as possible in this cramped space.

That's when I think I can hear a voice, very faintly in the distance. I stop moving, whishing the water would stop splashing so that I can focus on the sound. Is somebody there?

It takes agonizingly long for the water to silence, but eventually it does.

At first, there's just silence and I nearly lose focus because of the damn headache. But then I hear it again; someone is calling out for Finnley.

I even hold in my breath for short amounts of time, trying to figure out the right time to start making noise; hoping for the person to come and save me from this hell. How did such a great night end up in such a nightmare?

Out of the blue, the voice is much clearer and by now I can tell it's Charlie's voice, calling for Finnley with panic in his voice.

"Charlie!" I shout as loud as I possibly can, banging the top of the Jacuzzi to attract his attention. "Get me out of here! Charlie!"

I keep banging, until the top is being lifted, a pale-faced Charlie appearing in view, along with lights that are way too bright for my lickings.

"Push the panic button." I murmur, sinking down after I got dizzy from standing up too quickly, pointing towards the panic buttons that are still right beside the baby phone.

Charlie's eyes are wide, and he doesn't listen to me. He climbs in the Jacuzzi to prevent me from going under again; I'm too tired to stay up myself. I must look purple by now due to the cold. "Call the cops..." I whisper, too tired to talk out louder.

"What happened?" Charlie's voice is full of fear, but he manages to get me out of the Jacuzzi anyway. He lifts me up, bridal style, because my legs instantly give in as soon as I try to stand on them.

At least he grabbed one of the buttons in the meantime, pushing the button while he takes me inside.

Charlie puts me down on a chair in the kitchen, putting the towel Finnley left for me in the kitchen around my shoulders.

"I'm going to get stuff to keep you warm, don't move." He warns me with a finger point firmly in my direction.

Like I'm able to move.

I watch him run out of the kitchen and seconds later I hear his footsteps on the stairs, causing either Lara or Liv to scream loudly, before she starts crying.

I cringe at the thought of them upstairs, wondering what happened after Jeff trapped me in the Jacuzzi. Where did Finnley go?

What happened to Liv and Lara?

Did Jeff hurt any of them?

Whichever of the two was crying, it stops soon after it started.

I hear some footsteps on the upper floor and sirens in the distance, nearing the house, before rushing footsteps come down the stairs again.

Charlie comes back into the kitchen with a couple of blankets, throwing them around me, helping me to put thick socks on my feet. He gets rid of his sweater before he pulls me in a hug, pulling the blankets around himself too.

"How long do they take to get here?" He asks, still holding me close to him, I think because he wants to heat up my freezing cold body.

"At max five minutes, why?"

"You need medical attention."

"They'll fix that if needed." My voice sounds weird and my breathing is a bit superficial. But at least I'm still alive and conscious.

We fall back into silence when Lara walks into the kitchen with Liv on her hand, the latter still sobbing softly.

"What are you doing?" Lara cocks her head to the side. "Where's Finny?"

"Cris is very cold, he needs help to become warm again." Charlie turned his head to look at her.

"Can I help?" She still watches me curiously. "Won't Finn mind you hug his boyfriend?"

"Believe me, he won't mind." Charlie swallows, staring at me shortly, before he continues to try and keep me warm in silence.

It warms my heart as soon as Liv climbs on top of my lap and hugs my stomach; still sobbing. Lara stands on my other sider, smiling carefully before she hugs me too. It's good to know they like me enough to help me, although they have no idea what is going on right now.

"I'm gonna let the police in." Charlie coughs awkwardly, before he gets up, leaving me behind with two hugging kids by my side and tears in my eyes. Because I think both Charlie and I already realize Finnley is in deep trouble and every second we don't do anything, is another second he's getting further away from us.

- Friday, November 24th -

I was taken to hospital since I suffered from hypothermia and I was againhit against the head. Jeff didn't hit me hard enough to cause a new concussion, much to my luck. But he did cause a major headache and since I was still recovering from my last encounter with Jeff, they thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep me in hospital for that too; even after my temperature was somewhat back to normal.

But I really could care less about my head, or my temperature and all I wanted was to get out of there. I wanted to go out and start searching for Finnley.

The police already started a major search for him as soon as I told them what happened. They also instantly alerted police forces all over the country, sending them a description of both Jeff and Finnley.

I can't help but blame myself a little for all of this, since I wasn't able to fight off Jeff. Or the fact I let my guard down once, not having the panic button within reach, which is now punished in the worst possible way.

Besides, if Charlie wouldn't have come home when he did, who knows what would've happened to me? Who knows how long it would have taken for the police to be informed and start searching.

By now, I understand that aunt Cady tried to call Finnley on his cell phone, not succeeding, since he was either in the Jacuzzi, or upstairs with Liv. Whatever the reason may be that he didn't answer, she got worried, called Charlie and made him go check on Finnley, just to be sure.

But like I said; not what's important to me right now. I told the police whatever I know, like the fact it had been Jeff who attacked me. I have no idea if Emma had been involved, but they did ask me about her.

They also went to check on her whereabouts, not succeeding in finding her, which leads me to believe she is indeed involved.

And all I can do, is wait for news about Finnley since I'm supposed to keep it down because of my head.

I – in full irritation – turn around on the couch, staring at Nathan, who fell asleep on the other couch while he insisted on watching me.

They all came as soon as they got the news. My parents, Nathan, Stan, Liam, Jason. Even Alex showed up. All for the same reason; they want to know as much as possible, as soon as possible.

Nathan, along with my parents, took me home after I spend a night in hospital and now they're watching me in turns, trying to prevent me from going out on my own.

They only do that because the police still believe any of us could be in danger. That Jeff didn't specifically target Finnley alone.

But if Jeff is out to get back at all of us, then why did he try to drown me, trapping me in the Jacuzzi, while he took Finnley with him?

If you ask me, Emma is part of all of this and Finnley was indeed the main target, since she wants to be with him. She's a crazy psycho stalker and I wish I knew more about what happened between them.

I push myself upwards – a little too quick – falling back down with a groan.

"What?" Nathan shoots up at the sounds of me groaning, staring at me confused.

"Can you please, please, pretty please, take me to Finn's and Jason's apartment?" I murmur, pushing myself back up a little slower this time. "I just thought of something."

"What is it you thought of?"

"Emma wrote him letters while she was in jail," I explain, putting on my shoes because whether or not he agrees, he is going to take me to their apartment. I need to read those letters to find out what else she wrote to him. Maybe there's something in those letters that tells me where they could've taken him.

"So?" Nathan frowns, but even though I expected him to protest, he already puts on his own shoes too.

"He kept them. I've read one. She's a complete psycho, you know." I let him help me up from the couch, putting on another sweater. I keep wearing two, because I keep feeling cold ever since I got out of hospital. My temperature has long been brought back to what's normal and healthy, but I'm still cold.

"Why is this important? It's late already and Jason isn't there. How are we going to get in?"

"I have a key. Off course I have a key. My boyfriend lives in there," I deadpan, swinging around the key, checking if the panic button is still securely around my neck, before I follow Nathan outside and to his car.

We both have a habit now to check our surroundings while hurrying from A to B, whatever A and B are.

When I was allowed to go home from hospital, we couldn't park the car in front of the apartment, so Nathan double-parked, took me inside, asked Stan to join him while he went to look for a real parking space.

"But why is it important? Do you expect her to have written what she was planning to do?"

"No, but maybe there's something in those letters that tells us how she thinks, where they might have taken him. What it is they want from him." I nervously bite my lip, rubbing my hands together in order to get them warm again, covering them up with the sleeves of both the sweaters I wear.

Nathan turns up the heater with a small smile. "Okay, we'll go and get the letters. But only because I want him home as soon as possible and I'm willing to do anything."

"At least this time everybody knows who took him..." I sigh deeply. "Last time it was a mystery to figure out who to trust and who not to trust."

"You blamed me for a long time."

"I didn't like the fact Finn kept you a secret from me. And I didn't like the idea you never tried to get to know me as his best friend. Felt like you wanted to steal him away from me."

"Oh, how in love you were without realizing it." Nathan chuckles. "Your jealousy was already causing you to do stupid things."

"Yeah, well..." I chuckle a bit. "That's the effect Finn has on me. I want him and I want him to be mine alone."

"He is yours." Nathan takes in a deep breath. "And we'll kill Jeff if we get the chance."

"I can't believe I didn't just kill him Wednesday night. Or sooner. How did he even manage to stay under the radar for so long, while he was always near one of us. I mean, it isn't the first time he showed up. It's just for the first time things ended bad..."

We sit in silence for the rest of the ride, both not knowing what to talk about. Both probably worrying about Finnley's whereabouts and his wellbeing.

At least now he knows how much he means to me. If the hope of me falling for him was enough to keep him going last time, I guess the knowledge of me loving him will help him to survive this time.

But I don't know if I'd be able to survive without him for long. I think I'd go crazy if it takes another four months, or longer, for him to be found.

And I doubt Jeff will be stupid enough to let him out of his sight. I doubt Finnley will be able to contact any of us this time.

Once Nathan parked the car, we hurry inside, where I walk to Finnley's bedroom straight away. His homework is still spread on his bed and his laptop is still opened next to it. I can't help but smile at the thought of Finnley studying in here in peace.

I sigh deeply, before I walk over to the place Finnley took the letters from when he let me read one, finding them in a shoebox. The letters are all numbered with Finnley's handwriting, carefully kept in their envelopes.

"Those are the letters?"

"Uhu, there's more than I thought." I watch to the amount, that seems to be a bigger amount then I saw when Finnley showed them myself.

Nathan takes them from my hold, putting them back in the shoebox, taking the whole box with him. "Let's take them home and read them in peace."