"P-Penelope has gone missing"
As those words came out of Violet's mouth, she began to sob.   She tightened her grip on her skirt, causing her knuckles to turn white.

My brother and I sat either side of Violet.

"T-they think she's d-dead". Violet's words came out as a stutter, her crying making it difficult for her to speak.

"But how do they know?  You were only talking to her not that long ago?"

Violet just shuck her head.
"It's what they found that's making them presume"

I didn't want to ask; I knew that Violet wasn't in a good state of mind right now to give a detailed explanation of her friend's disappearance. Before I could say anything, she continued.

"T-they found a letter"
"They didn't say what was in it; it's still being investigated"

Violet began to sniffle, using a tissue to dap her eyes once more.  I looked over at Alex and he was staring at Violet.  With a sorrowful look, she began to silently cry into the palm of her hands. 

Alex slowly wrapped an arm around Violet, rubbing her back in slow, circular motions attempting to comfort her.

"Would you like to come in and get something to drink?" I asked, wanting to help in any way I could.  Witnessing such an outgoing girl breakdown and cry in front of me made me want to hug her as tight as I could and never let her go.

She slowly lifted her head from her hands and looked up at the house.

"Is Molly in there?"
Her question caught me off guard.

"Yes, I think so"

"I'm not sure, Brooklyn, but that woman scares me", she said, lowering her voice, making it only audible for my brother and I to hear.

Before I could answer, Violet's phone ran.
"Sorry, Brooklyn, its my Mom"

After a couple of seconds, Violet's face dropped even more, as her eyes scanned over the text.

"What's wrong?"

"My Mom won't be home tonight; it looks like work is holding her back"

"Is there anyone at home?"

"No... just me and my mother, my father works overseas", she murmured as she sighed.

"Well... I know you said you don't like Molly, but I'm sure Brook will be fine with you staying the night", Alex said, avoiding Violet's appreciative stare.

"Only if it's no bother on you and your parents... and I suppose Molly"

"No, its fine"

"Well, I'll go and get my stuff for the night", Violet stated as she stood up, patting her clothes, getting rid of small creases, formed by sitting.

"I'll come; Alex, do you want to get the makeshift bed ready?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow at his blushing form.

"S-sure, I'll go and do that"

My brother stood up, giving us one of his signature toothy grins before turning on his heel and walking into the house, humming one of Taylor Swift's songs.

"Jeez, I'll never understand his taste, even if we're twins",  the sound of Violet giggling made me smile.

"Well, every one's different"
"Agreed!"
~~~

As we walked to Violet's house, she suddenly stopped, causing me to bump into her"

"Sorry, but I just remembered something rather important, and I thought you would like to know"

"What happened?"

"Before...you know what happened, Penelope and I managed to get a hold of Elise's
brother.   Originally he refused, but after I mentioned you, and he suddenly agreed"

"Really!"
"Yep!"

"You know, you never cease to amaze me, Violet Vanderbell!" I exclaimed, placing both of my hands on my hip to emphasise my point.

"Aww, thanks"

Before we could talk any more, we arrived at her front door.  Slowly Violet took the key out of her pocket and slid it into the lock and turned the key clockwise.  After hearing a click, Violet opened the door, switched on the light to her left, which illuminated the hall.  We walked up to her room.  As she opened the door, I noticed that she had a name plaque which was similar to Penelope's; the one I'd dreamt about.  Violet saw me staring. 

"A couple of years ago, Penelope and I had wanted to get a friendship bracelet, but we couldn't decide, so we made name plaques for each-other".  Violet's face dropped at the mention of her friend's name.

"That's so sweet" 

"I had a friend named Logan back in New York.  On the day I found out that I was moving, I rang him.  That was the last I ever heard of him.  He stopped texting and calling me"

"Jeez, talk about commitment!"
Violet's response made me laugh, earning me a soft smile from Violet.

"Speaking of which, he was acting quite strange when I called him".  I closed my eyes, trying to remember our last conversation.

"She won't be happy, this has to work, it has to..."  I mumbled, trying to recall his exact words.

"Hmm, I wonder why he said that?"

By now, Violet was opening her dresser, and was retrieving a pair of grey pyjamas which had white floral patterns down the sleeve and trousers.

"I think I have everything"

"Well, if not, you can borrow something of mine"

"Thanks!"
~~~
As we got back, Father stared at me like I was some kind of stranger, while Mom was making Violet feel welcome.

"We'll be going upstairs now", I shouted out to no-one in particular.

"OK, sweet dreams, don't let the bed bugs bite!" my father said, grinning ear to ear.

"O-okay"

As we made our way upstairs, Alexander was already sitting in my room crossed legged, on his phone.

"We're here!"

"Oh, welcome back, you two took your sweet time, see that" Alex replied, pointing to his brown hair.

"I see nothing" Violet and I said together, squinting to see if there actually was something there.

"Its grey hair silly!" Alex burst out laughing, slipping off the bed and falling onto the floor"

"Karma" was my only reply as I sat down, while Violet was trying to hold a laugh back, failing miserably.

"Oh, yes, Alex, tomorrow we're going to meet Elise's brother", I said rather motivated, ready to finally get some answers after the excruciatingly long two weeks since moving.

Alex sat up and turned to me, tilting his head.  Does that mean that we will finally get some answers?"

"I hope so!"

After a couple of hours of talking, Alex dragged himself to bed, looking like an exhausted old man.

"Hey...Brook?"

"Hmm"

"When are you starting school?"

My smile turned into a frown at a mention of the word 'school'
"Monday..."

"Hopefully we'll have class together"

"I sure hope so"

As I yawned, Violet turned round in her bed, her back now towards me.

"Good night, Brooklyn, I'm really grateful"

"No problem!"

Soon after, I heard a light snore and I knew she was asleep.  Looking up at the ceiling, I began to think that maybe we'll learn something useful tomorrow.  Maybe we'll learn about Aidan, or even Elise"

As these thoughts ran through my head, my eyelids began to droop.  Soon, I was falling asleep.

The sound of morning birds woke me up from my surprisingly good sleep.

"Ahh, good, you're awake"

I turned my head and noticed that Alex and Violet were standing in my door frame.  Violet was smiling and Alex's cheeks were tinted with a light shade of pink.  Violet looked at him.

"Why did you wake me up?"

"Well, I had trouble sleeping and Alex did too, so we decided to get ready.  Alex told me that you where having trouble sleeping because of everything that's happened, so we decided to let you have a sleep in"

I glared at my brother.  He looked at me and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.  I took in a deep breath and sighed, "Well, I'll get ready"

I got up and walked over to my dresser, and searched for something to wear.  I ended up selecting a red and black chequered roll sleeved shirt, accompanied by a pair of dark grey leggings and a pair of black slip on runners.

As I opened my door, I saw Violet and Alex waiting for me.
"Ready?"
"Yep!"
As we walked out of the house, I began to feel my heartbeat faster every step that I took.  

Eventually we arrived at Ma'am Anya's cafe shop.  As I looked through the window, I saw a tall slender man with messed-up brown hair, who was starring at me.  He had a stoic expression as he frowned when we entered.

"That's him"

The man pointed to three chairs in front of him.

"The name's Thompson", he eventually said, reaching over the table to shake.

"Now, tell me why I should tell you anything.  I don't even trust you"

"Well, that was blunt!"  I thought to myself, as I took a sip of Chamomile tea.

"Look, if you are not going to answer, I'm leaving"

"Please listen!" I looked him in the eye.

"Look, strange things have been happening.  Right now, I think you're the only person that can give us answers"

"Why should I give you answers?"

I took a deep breath and looked at Violet and Alex.  They both nodded.
"W-well, this is kinda awkward and I don't know if you will believe m-"

I was cut off mid-sentence; "no, I don't care, just explain"

"W-well, I originally lived in New York, but my father got a job here and my mother thought we could use this as an opportunity to start over"

"What do you mean by start over?"

I felt the lump in my throat rise.

"Well, I witnessed the death of a man named Cordell"

Thompson slammed his hands down on the table, causing the cutlery to move from their original position, earning few irate stares.

"What was his second name?" Thompson asked demandingly.

"I'm not sure"

"Was he a doctor?"

"Y-yes"

Silently, Thompson slowly sat back down and slouched in his chair.

"Cordell... his full name is Aiden Dean Cordell and he was my sister Elsie's fiancé."

I looked at my brother in utter shock, the colour draining from our faces.

"The night before she disappeared, my sister found a book belonging to Aiden, but it was an occult book.  They had a fight.  Elise rang me and asked to talk in person, so we met up and she informed me that she would be coming to visit me and our family after what she had found.  She also told me that she was planning to leave him before he got even worse, hitting, slapping, punching her, if something ever broke or was out of place"

"My dream, that's why Cordell was there"

"That was the last I ever heard of her" Thompson's face of sorrow and pity turned into a face of anguish and hatred "HE LEFT, YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID 'I WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE WITH A LOW LIFE".  By now, Thompson was standing, gaining the attention of a waitress who had her red hair neatly tied into two French plats.

"Sir, if you don't calm down, we will have to ask you to leave".  Thompson just nodded and sat back down on the cushioned chair.

"We informed the police, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove him guilty, so he got away"

"Aiden Dean Cordell is the man that I will hate until the day I find my sister"

End of chapter 17