"Good thing I thought to pack our winter coats," Alyssa said when we stepped off the train at Zurich. In the horizon was a clear view of the slopes that we had been planning on visiting.

"Good thing they're our nice winter coats," Chase replied sarcastically.

"What?!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"We can't do anything in these! We need casual coats that we can hang out in!" Chase said.

"Alyssa, have you ever seen anyone ski in a petticoat?" Derek asked, giving her a look. She pouted.

"You don't have to be mean about it," she huffed. We rolled our eyes at her.

"First thing's first: going shopping for ski gear," Eli said.

"We just need jackets. We don't need to buy too much else. I'm sure we can rent the other stuff," I said, thinking of our rapidly disappearing bank account.

So the first thing we did was go to a ski store. We bought puffy coats and snow boots. We decided we would rent snow skis and ski pants when we decided on which ski resort we would go to.

Besides the Swiss alps, summer in Zurich was pretty nice. It was mild and sunny and extremely beautiful. It was obvious to see why people said that Switzerland was such a peaceful country. The people there were extremely kind and friendly. Although we were obviously tourists, the people of Zurich didn't treat us like we were. They were nice and welcoming and willing to help us when we asked, instead of grumpily pointing us in the right (or wrong) direction.

The majority of the time in Zurich, we hung out at markets shopping around or going to the beach and just relaxing. On the weekend before we left for Germany, we decided to go and stay in one of the ski resorts in the alps. We spent the days skiing and at night, we sat around by the fire and just chatted with each other.

"Remember when we all took that free self-defense class at the mall that one day?" Derek asked.

I snorted.

"And Brooke flipped Chase over," I said.

"Ok, I let her do that," Chase defended, frowning.

"Right. She totally floored you," Eli said.

"She caught me off guard," Chase grumbled.

"Sure," Alyssa said, giggling.

"Why'd you bring that up?" I asked Derek. He shrugged.

"I'm just thinking about all of the things we've done in the past four years. If you think about it, we've done a lot of the things people put on their bucket lists," Derek replied.

"Karate classes, bungee jumping, cliff diving," Eli listed.

"Flying an airplane, riding in a helicopter, meeting a famous soccer star," Chase continued.

"Learning to surf, learning to dance," Alyssa said.

"And now this," I said. "Back-packing across Europe with your best friends."

We all beamed at each other, the soft flames from the fireplace flickering and creating shadows that danced around our faces, illuminating our eyes brightly.

"It just sucks because Brooke isn't here," Alyssa sighed.

"I wonder how different it would have been if she was," I said, leaning against Eli. He gently brushed my arms with his hands, comforting me in the slightest way.

"We always end up talking about her," Chase said, his expression dark.

"It's the elephant in the room. We're all afraid of what's going to happen," Derek replied, hugging a pillow to his chest.

"I think that's why it's so important for us to have as much fun as we can. Life's so unexpected. Anything can happen. We need to make the most of what we've got. For Brooke's sake," Alyssa said.

We all fell into silence, staring into the flames, lost in our own thoughts. But one thing flitted in and out of all of our minds.

What was going to happen to Brooke?

                                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~

"I've seen about ten pubs so far," Chase said. "And we've only walked a few blocks," he added.

"Ah, the Germans," Alyssa commented.

We had gotten off the train from Zurich to Berlin a few hours ago. We weren't quite up to doing anything just yet, so we decided on getting something to eat first. There was a wide array of restaurants and pubs to choose from and we couldn't seem to make up our minds.

 We passed a group of men that were chatting in gruff voices.

"Is it just me, or does German sound like a very harsh language?" Derek asked.

"It's not just you," I said.

"It's not one of the romance languages, is it?" Alyssa asked.

"I don't think so," Eli replied.

"What are the romance languages?" Chase asked.

"Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian," I listed.

"Those are just the more well-known ones," Derek said.

"Hmm..." Chase said. "Well, speaking of romance, I still can't get over the fact that you two are dating," Chase said, pointing to Eli and me.

After our first kiss under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Eli and I had continued to make out. Eventually, Derek and Chase saw and they wouldn't let it down. It had only been a day, but the others were finding it a little difficult to adjust to seeing us hold hands.

"I mean, it was obvious they were going to get together eventually," Derek said.

"That still doesn't make it any less awkward seeing them together," Chase said.

"Oh, hush. I think they're cute," Alyssa said, pinching my cheek. I laughed and swatted her hand away. Then I looked up at Eli, who smiled down at me and kissed my nose. Chase made a gagging noise.

"Disgusting!" he exclaimed.

"Grow up," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"You know what? I'm sick of walking," Derek said abruptly. Without another word, he turned and walked into the nearest bar. We all looked after him.

"Well, that's one way to make a decision," Alyssa muttered.

"Sponteneity, one of life's finest qualities," Chase said as we trooped into the bar behind Derek. It was dark inside and the air was full of smoke.

"Well, this was a great choice," I said, coughing immediately. I felt my eyes sting from the stench of the thick smoke.

"Oh my God, I'm going to get lung cancer because of second-hand smoking," Alyssa coughed next to me.

"Derek! What the hell, man? Out of all the places?" Chase said, covering his nose with his arm.

"How the hell was I supposed to know it would be like this?!" he exclaimed, pulling the neck of his shirt over his nose.

"Let's just get the hell out of here," Eli suggested, dragging me out of the place. We took big gasping breaths of fresh air once we stepped outside.

"Next time, let us make the decision," I said, glaring at Derek and feeling extremely light-headed. He rolled his eyes and we stopped to ask a pedestrian where a good place to eat was. He pointed us in the direction of a nearby cafe and we thanked him, walking down the street.

"Now this place is nice," I said, leaning back in my chair when we got to the cafe.

"The only thing wrong with that other place was the smoke," Derek defended.

"And the creepy guys oggling us," Alyssa added. I nodded in agreement.

"Lots of Germans have blonde hair and blue eyes," Chase noted, looking around the busy cafe.

"You have blonde hair and blue eyes," Eli said.

"Well, I think my dad was from Germany. Or his parents or something. I think I'm part German," Chase replied.

"What's the other half? Douche bag?" Derek asked. Chase punched him in the arm and Derek snickered.

"That would be insulting Chase's mother," I said. Chase punched him again.

"What the hell?!" Derek exclaimed.

"Now who's the douche bag?" Chase hissed. Derek rolled his eyes at him and then scooted his chair further away so that he was out of Chase's reach.

Berlin, as we found out, was a very historical city. We visited tons of museums and landmarks, the most prominent being the Berlin Wall. We even crossed over into Russia for a few hours one day, although we had planned on visiting Moscow later on in the summer.

We went to the city of Munich for a day. There, we visited the BMW Welt, a place where we learned about the company and saw many of the manufacturer's cars. The boys enjoyed this place incredibly, walking by each car and saying that they wanted to buy each one. We were lucky because the owner allowed us to test drive one of the cars. We visited the Schloss Nymphenburg, a historical palace that was open to the public and went to see the Bavaria Statue.

On another day, we took a trip to Hamburg, where we mostly visited historical landmarks and went sight-seeing.

Back in Berlin, we tested the German autobahn by renting a few cars. The boys each rented separate cars and Alyssa and I shared one. We all decided to race each other one day, since there was no speed limit. It was probably in the top ten most fun things we had done so far on the entire trip.

"Oh man! I so OWNED you all," Chase exclaimed after we dropped the cars back off and headed back to our hotel.

"That was so thrilling!" I cried, feeling exhilerated.

"I still feel like I'm going to vomit," Alyssa said, looking pale. She had had her hands over her face the entire time, screaming at me to slow down. The boys and I went upwards of 100 miles per hour, weaving in between cars. We ignored the curses we received and the honks that came our way; we were having way too much fun.

"I really think they should institute the autobahn in America," Eli said, draping his arm over my shoulder.

"There are so many deaths on the autobahn every year, though. It's super dangerous," I said.

"Guys, I really need to lay down," Alyssa said.

"Here, get on my back," Derek said, hoisting her up onto his back piggy-back style. He carried Alyssa up to our room and then deposited her onto the bed.

"I'll get her an aspirin," I said, pulling out the medicine bag we had packed in case of emergencies.

"Brooke would have had so much fun racing," Chase said as we settled down around the room. Alyssa popped the aspirin in her mouth and downed a glass of water, leaning back against the headboard looking pale and sickly.

"Let's call her. We haven't talked to her since Paris," Derek suggested, pulling out Eli's laptop.

"Damn, she's not online," Eli said, logging into Skype.

"Maybe she's asleep?" I suggested.

"No way. It's the afternoon over there," Derek said.

"Maybe she's out or something," Chase said.

"I'll call her on my phone," I said, pulling it out. I pressed the number one on speed dial and put the phone on speaker as it rang.

"Hey, this is Brooke. I'm obviously too busy to take your call, so leave a message or something," her voicemail said.

"Try again," Alyssa said.

So I did. Five more times and each time, she didn't answer.

"Why isn't she picking up?" Eli asked.

"She always picks up," I said.

"Even when she's in the bathroom," Chase added. We all grimaced and nodded in agreement. Brooke really didn't have any boundaries.

"Maybe she's sleeping?" Alyssa suggested.

"She still would have answered," I said. "You don't think she went to the hospital, do you?" I asked.

"It's possible," Eli said.

"What if they found a donor?!" Alyssa exclaimed.

"I think she would have called us if that were the case," Derek said.  Her face fell.

"That's true," she said, frowning.

I pressed Brooke's number again and we waited while it rang. After the fourth bell, someone picked up.

"Stop calling," we heard a man's voice say.

"M-Mr. Kirks?" I stammered, my eyes widening in alarm. It was Brooke's father.

"Why do you have Brooke's phone?" Eli asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Stop calling her. She can't take any phone calls," Mr. Kirks said in his gruff, business-like voice.

We heard shouting and beeping in the background.

"She's unstable! Please get him out of here!" we heard the sound of a woman say.

"What was that?!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto Eli's arm.

"What's happening?!" Chase demanded.

"Just stop calling, dammit!" Mr. Kirks shouted before hanging up. The line went dead.

We all looked at each other, fear evident in our eyes. What was happening to Brooke?

________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this. I really wanted to finish The Trinity of Magic. And then I started The Trinity War. And then I got distracted. But this book is almost done, anyway.

Do you think Brooke's going to die?

Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!

Next chapter is Italy.

Oh, and, VOTE!

Song in the side: Like We Did (Windows Down) by The Maine. One of my all-time favorite songs.

XOXO