MAL smirked as she heard his voice coming through the other end of the speaker.

"Hey, Mal... I missed you a lot," he spoke with a grin.

"I missed you too, babe! How are you doing?" Mal asked in a soft tone, turning to look around her to see if someone was listening. There was no one there.

"I'm doing great..."

"And the others?"

"They went grocery shopping, so it's just me here."

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her.

"What are you doing right now?" he asked her.

"I was just having dinner with my siblings, and we were talking, you know? How about you?"

"I just came out of the shower. I thought I heard something in the basement again, but it's probably nothing. So don't worry about me."

Mal frowned a little.

He was fully awake, as he had just taken a shower, so he couldn't have made it up this time. So what could be causing that noise?

"What does the noise sound like, Teo?" she finally asked. Knowing that he told her before, she wanted to hear it from him to try to understand what was going on. She seemed as if she was trying to piece everything together. But here came another problem.

She didn't know what exactly needed to be pieced together.

She didn't know what was there to understand.

And soon enough, she was getting more baffled each second. She wanted so bad to be there with her boyfriend to listen to the damn noise and try to understand something.

"It sounds like... Something hard being hit against something metal. I can practically hear the metal, but... I don't know, Mal. It's probably just a wild raccoon or something."

Mal nodded, still not letting the idea completely leave her head.

"Anyways, when can I see you again?" he asked after a second of silence.

"I don't know, maybe tomorrow? Or the day after."

Once again, she could hear the disappointment in his voice. "Yeah... Okay."

"I can't wait to see you," she muttered sweetly in an attempt to hear his cheerful voice again. She could, however, hear the smile in his tone as soon as he heard her sentence.

"Me too, Mal. I love you so much,"

"I love you so much, babe. I'll see you soon, okay?"

He nodded and muttered a sweet reply, then hang up not too far after. Mal stayed until she heard the familiar crack sound, declaring that he officially set the speaker down.

Just before she was about to set the speaker down herself, she heard another sound that sent chills down her spine. Her face went pale almost immediately, making her turn around and take paranoid glances around her.

"T-Teo?"

As soon as it hit her, she realized that her boyfriend and her friends were in danger if she didn't react quickly.

She ran through the hall, still panicking as she grabbed her phone from a nearby counter, and stood by the doorframe of the kitchen. She gave her siblings a horrified look of worry, making them stand up slowly to her.

"Tell our mums I have to go! Don't wait for me, okay?"

She said as she ran out of the house, her phone still attached in her hand, heading towards the garage as fast as she could to take her car.

"He was right."

That was all she could say as she turned on the engine.

Teo was right.

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