Twenty-five

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Chapter 28

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“have fun at the shops or whatever” I scoffed but kissed her goodbye as she walked out the door.

“y’know what Thomas, I WILL” she stuck her tongue out and mocked as she walked down the driveway, I whispered in a voice that even I could barely hear it,

“I love you”

I didn’t exactly trust her to go out by herself, but you could tell she really wanted it. I didn’t know why she wasn’t freaking out right now, she didn’t know anything about her parents, where they could be or who did it.

I walked back inside and noticed everybody sitting on the couch, wilbur was still knocked out on the floor, not have awoken from anything.

“I can believe you guys actually got high last night; you should’ve invited me!” Schlatt exclaimed.

“sorry Schlatt wilbur was very excited to get a bunch of 16-year old’s zooted, so we were kinda caught in the moment” dream explained, him and tubbo were equally tired, and the after effects of the drugs were making them groggy.

“how is she?” Ranboo nodded towards Molly, who was getting in her uber.

“unusually calm”

“denial” Quackity said blankly.

“ok Mr. Lawyer man” Iris said in the same tone.

“you’re the one studying to be a therapist” he bickered.

“that’s true—wait how did you—”

“anyways, have we heard anything else from the police?” Alex quickly cut her off.

“they called earlier this morning to say that they’re processing fingerprints”

“ok, um—should we wake him?” Sapnap asked pointing to a curled up wilbur, his hand was clutching the fluffy rug like it was life or death.

“nah, he had a rough night” I said, sitting next to tubbo.

“what are we supposed to do? Like just wait for days on end?”

“we’ll probably wait and stay here until we have some sort of closure, and maybe go to our next place, but we’ll have to ask wilbur what he thinks”

“did someone say my name” Wilbur’s head shot up; his fluffy hair shot up in different places.

“yeah, you can go back to sleep now” I waved my hand towards the floor.

“I’m not gonna be able to go back to sleep, why am I on the floor?” he looked down upon himself.

“you were crying, from happiness” I mentioned vaguely.

“oh—OHHHHHH” Wilbur wiggled his eyebrows in realization, everybody except the people present last night looked rather confused.

“he was very happy for some unspecified reason, and cried, and then fell asleep” Alex said to save trouble. I was honestly surprised he didn’t spill the gossip to everybody when he had the chance.

“yeah—exactly” clay was equally surprised.

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“when did Ollie say she was gonna come back?” Tubbo asked, she’s been gone an hour and some of us were getting hungry.

“I don’t know, I’ll text her” I picked up my phone.

Thomas 🔪

Yo

What time do you think you’ll be back?

Sappitus is getting hangry :(

I checked every couple minutes or so, but in reality, it was every couple seconds. My anxiety was growing, but I pushed it down with affirmations.

Thomas 🔪

You there?

Home slice?

My g?

Huffletwink or whatever

I think that’s it

Ayo

Sorry im spamming.

But I’ll do it anyway 😋

Can I send you those pasta things?

The ones with the emojis

Why do people call it pasta?

Pasta is noodles

Like food

Hey 🙏 molly 🌈 hows ✨the🤗shops🙈isnt🅾it✅fun🚞

Those are fun to make

Ok I get it if you’re talking it up with the grocer bc you don’t have friends

But you don’t have to ignore me 😑

Damn

I see how it is

I put my phone down satisfied with my texts and noticed that George had put on one of the Harry Potter movies.

“why is it every time we wanna watch a movie it ends up being the ‘arry pottah ones” I mocked.

“because they are a national treasure chommy” George mocked back.

“oh my god” Nick said gasping.

“what?” we all collectively said.

“so you know Draco Malfoy?” Sapnap continued, “and y’know about drarry of course?

“yeah” we all grinned

“Well, George is Harry, Clay is Draco, boom” Sapnap laughed at the end of the sentence, and we all joined him. Everyone was wheezing except clay and George, who didn’t want to admit how funny it was, so just stifled laughter.

Thomas 🔪

You good?

You must be really stocking up

Can you get some whipped cream please 🥺?

Molly

I’m starting to worry

BLINK TWICE IF YOU NEED HELP

WAIT

but seriously

You need to answer

“can someone else try texting molly? She’s ignoring me” I asked.

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Chapter 29

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“yeah, I’ll text her” I was still on the unusually comfortable floor.

“thanks” Tommy nodded.

Indie Singer 🐳

Stop ignoring your boyfriend

He x-tra clingy 💪🏼

ollliieeeeee

Ollie?

I’m serious

Please respond

“did she text back” tommy notices my worried expression.

“I’m gonna try to call her” I leave the room, getting anxious.

“pick up pick up pick up please pickup” I whisper repeatedly, I start biting my nails.

“dammit pickup ollie I need you to pick up” I pace around the empty room, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

“pickup pickup—” my rambles were cut off by tommy running into the room and closing the door behind him.

“is she picking up?” tommy said with uncertainty.

After a long pause, I shook my head.

“I’m going to call” tommy picked up his phone,

“ok” I took a deep breathe.

“dammit” tommy tried over and over just like I did.

“its not gonna make a difference” I said biting my nails.

“well im gonna try—”

“tommy, she would’ve picked up by now”

“maybe she’s just busy—we don’t know” tommy continued rambling.

“TOMMY” I took his shoulders.

“she’s not going to pick up” I said sternly before running to the living room,

“someone call the police” I ran in front of the TV

“Will what are you—” Niki started,

“someone call the police” I cut everyone off and ran back to tommy in the room, who was still standing there shocked.

“tommy, where’s her location” I asked.

“i-I’m gonna look” tommy stumbled.

“ok you do that, DID SOMEONE CALL THE DAMN POLICE I SWEAR TO GOD”

“I’ll call!” Niki finally spoke up, everyone else was sitting shocked.

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Chapter 31

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“I’ll call!” I said, everyone else was too shocked to do anything.

“um—what’s Canada’s 999?” I looked around panicked.

“911, like America” Clay stuttered.

“ok, um ok, I’ll be right back” I speed-walked into the room Wilbur and Tommy were just in.

“I’m calling right now” I whispered as Wilbur walked out. Tommy was sitting on the floor against the wall, his legs were curled up to his chest,

I was about to comfort him when the line picked up,

“911, what’s your emergency?” I heard the operator and forgot what I was doing, so I stayed silent for a second.

“hello?” I heard the operator again.

“Yes, wait hello—um my friend we think she was—my friends missing”

“so would you like to file a missing person report?”

“um—yes but can you look for her or something, um we aren’t from here—and she’s a minor, her parents went missing last night um you may know—”  I glanced at Tommy, sitting in the same position.

“wait, is this the daughter of the couple that went missing last night in America?”

“I believe so yes”

“I’m gonna transfer you to the lead officer working on this case ok?”

“y-yes ok thank you”

I heard a small ringtone and waited a minute,

“Hello this is Officer Banks, I’m the lead on your friends parents case, can I ask who you may be?”

“I’m—I’m Niki”

“Yes, your other friend mentioned you last night, Listen Niki I need you to tell me—” I had been cut off by a low beep. Now an unfamiliar man’s voice rang through the phone,

“listen here, I have Ollie and if you tell any of your friends, or the police, I will get you too, you got that?” I felt my face go pale, and tommy perked his head towards me.

“what?” Tommy instantly stood up in worry.

“i—” I sped out of the room and stood in front of the confused group; a lone tear ran down my cheek amidst the panic. Tommy hot on my tail.

“you got that?” the voice repeated. Before I could think about the complications, I put the phone on speaker and held a single finger to mouth as more tears left my eyes.

“c-can you s-say that again” I said, my voice breaking as I couldn’t control my on-coming panic attack.

“I said I have Ollie, and if you tell your friends or the police, I’ll take you too, I know you’re vulnerable Niki, don’t try anything, we’re always watching, always listening” the Man warned. Everyone’s eyes widened as they heard the statement.

“y-yes” was all I said before the call hung ended. I instantly collapsed to the ground, holding a hand to my mouth as I started silently sobbing.

“Niki—” Wilbur instantly came to comfort me, encasing me in his arms.

“w-wilbur I d-don’t know what t-to do” I started to hyperventilate in between every word.

“Niki—Niki I need you to breathe, ok—Niki please I’m asking you to breathe”

“o-ok” I stopped for a minute to take a breather.

“good—again” Wilbur said sternly. And I took multiple deep breathes.

“Niki?” Wilbur held on to my shoulders firmly and stared into my red eyes, I only gulped down more tears and nodded.

“It’s going to be ok; we are going to work this out.” He assured me. He looked around the room to see everyone except Tommy.

“where’s Tommy?” he still was kneeling with me but craned his neck around worryingly.

“I saw him head outside, but he’s just standing there” Alex nodded towards the door, if you looked through the window next to the door, you saw Tommy pacing the driveway.

“I’ll talk to him” Tubbo stood up.

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“I’ll talk to him” I stood up. I put some shoes on and grabbed a jacket for the both of us as I made my way out.

“tubbo” Wilbur said over Niki’s shoulder.

I turned around as I had my hand on the doorknob,

“yeah”

“text me every minute, every step you take I want it to be recorded” he said. I gave him a small nod and closed the door behind me.

“hey” I walked over to where Tommy was standing, at the end of the driveway.

“um—sorry—this is where I last saw her” Tommy tapped his foot on the pavement.

“put this on” I handed him his jacket, and he shrugged it on.

“let’s walk” I pulled on his arm, and he tentatively let me lead him.

“where do you think we’re going—”

“trust me” I continued to walk down a trail I had ventured out on the day we had come to the cabin.

At the end of the trail, a nice wooden bench sat.

“sit” I said, and he followed silently.

“well this looks oddly familiar” he said scoffing. We gazed upon swaths of redwood trees. There were great hills to our south. Everything was dusted with snow.

“yeah, if only we had a jukebox and mellohi” I shook my head.

“yeah—if only” tommy looked down and shifted his feet. We sat in a comfortable silence until tommy spoke up,

“I love her”

I looked up towards him, and noticed he was crying, he quickly wiped the few tears away.

He looked up, setting his head against the top of the bench “I knew I loved her the second I even liked her” he sighed.

“I didn’t even get to tell her—”

“don’t act like that” I cut him off.

“don’t act like what?” he snapped.

“like she’s dead”

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Chapter 32

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trigger warning ⚠

“your—” I stuttered in my words.

“yes, I’m the one who’s been stalking you, surprise” he said blankly, like this was a hobby.

“how—” I tried to form a sentence, but he cut me off.

“listen here Ollie, your gonna give me your phone, and listen to everything I say, or else you and your parents are dead” Jeremy said sternly.

“what if I run?” I started fiddling with my fingers.

“same consequences, we know everything, we see everything”

“we?”

“My team has been working on this for months, hacking into your discord calls, finding your location, making sure the Airbnb you rented from us was the one we put mics and cameras in, y’know, the smart stuff.” Jeremy smirked at me as if he were bragging.

“how many people—” my voice cracked as tears pricked my eyes.

“5, we have let’s see” he started counting people’s names off.

“Me, Gene, Sam, Sarah, and Parker, well parker was held against his will, but eventually gave in. And that’s why we want you.” He turned to me.

“what do you mean?” I said shakily.

“well, we want you on our team, we want to be an internet mafia of sorts y’know?”

“no, I really don’t know” I said blankly, holding back tears.

“well, like it or not, you’re joining us, but don’t worry sweetheart, you’ll like it eventually”

After another 10 minutes of silence, I was picking at my nails again, making them bleed and drip onto my hands.

Jeremy pulled into a rather nice-looking house, just a normal suburban living family home.

“come on, time to meet them” he ushered me out like I was his friend. As we walked up the short driveway, I noticed his phone on my hand, it was buzzing like crazy, I saw a flash of Wilbur’s contact on the screen before he hid it inside his pocket. I stayed silent as I walked into the house, it looked completely normal, just looked like a bunch of college students living in a medium sized house.

First, I saw a black-haired man sitting in a chair, he smiled when he saw me trail behind Jeffrey.

“you must be Ollie” says the guy. I only nod slowly.

“I’m Gene” he stands up and holds out his hand. I shake it nervously,

“don’t worry, we’ll make sure you feel just like home here” he pats my shoulder and I flinch. Next a girl comes walking in, she has long deep red hair, and is

“I heard the door open—” she stops in her tracks and looks me up and down.

“I’ve seen you on camera, but it’s nice to finally meet you” she nods and keeps on walking past me.

“that’s Sarah” Jeffrey points as she walks back into the room she was in.

“let’s go meet Parker, Sam might not me back from the store yet” Jeffrey led me to a larger room, and once he opens the door, I’m amazed, there’s multiple computer setups and monitors, a huge map of the entire world. I notice big red dots in multiple places.

“are those—” I point to the map.

“all your friends current residence, yes” I skinny boy in round rimmed glasses turns around in his chair.

“how?” I ask wincing.

“easy, just bug your phones through your social media” he shrugged and turned back to feverishly typing on a computer. I stand their shell shocked.

“is Sam still at the store?”  Jeffrey asks Parker.

“yeah, judging from his location change he should be back in 30” Parker skims over a tab open on his computer.

“k lets show you to your room” Jeffrey leaves the room, and we travel up the stairs, I’m surprised how well these people are treating me.

“here it is” Jeffrey finds a key in his pocket and unlocks a door near the end of the hallway. Inside is a normal size room, with normal furniture, a normal bed and nightstand, a normal window is placed above the bed, this place is too normal, Jeffrey led me to a bathroom connected to the room, with a complete shower.

“pretty nice huh?” Jeffrey sounds accomplished.

“mhm”

“Sam should’ve gotten you clothes at the store” I’ll tell you when he’s home and you can meet him, make yourself at home” Jeffrey leaves the room, and I’m left with myself.

I slowly make myself to the bed and sit at the end of it. I had no idea what was happening. Why did these people kidnap me? Why were they being nice? Where are my parents? I have to be out of here soon, Wilbur already knows since he was calling me.

My head feels as though its about to explode, and I’m getting hotter and my skin is tingling. I walk over to the bathroom, and sit down on the tile, I’m getting warmer, so I take my sweatshirt off and throw it across the bathroom, that’s when I realize its Tommy’s, I scramble to pick it up. Once I have it in my clutches, I just stroke patterns across the colorful words. I notice I’m crying when I see darker splotches make its way to the fabric.

Suddenly, I feel queasy. My head is spinning, and the patterns on the cold floors of the bathroom are not helping. I quickly scramble to the toilet just as I throw up into the bowl. I notice I hadn’t eaten anything today, or really last night. I probably hadn’t had a crumb in 24 hours, which was when I found out my parents were missing. I was lucky I didn’t throw up the rest of my organs. Sitting on the floor, a mess, blood-stained fingernails, I clutch the hoodie as if it was life or death.