||||||||

Ella jumped when her phone started ringing.

“Hey Ella, Jiro’s giving me a ride back to my place so don’t wait for me,” it was Hebe.

“What? A ride back?” Ella repeated. “Wait, where are you?”

“We just got on the road right now,” Hebe answered.

Ella glanced at Calvin who was frowning his brows at her and shaking his head.

Ella bit her lip, “Call me when you get home.”

After she hung up Calvin asked, “What did she say?”

“Jiro’s giving her a ride home,” Ella replied.

“Then what’s with that look?” Calvin questioned. “You’re overly worried about your friend. Don’t worry, you can trust Jiro 100%.”

“I didn’t say I don’t trust him.”

“That look of yours doesn’t tell me that. Look, don’t worry about it. Hebe is still in a lost state and Jiro is still in the middle of solving this case.” Calvin assured. “Hebe won’t get hurt.”

Ella knew she was absurdly worried over Hebe’s well being but she just felt so anxious it was hard to calm herself down. She hated repeating it to herself every time that Hebe would be alright.

||||||||

Aaron sighed glancing out of the large window in the living room. The worries of his children at the back of his mind, Hebe, and Selina. The long wait for his children he had to bear with and the pressure Hebe placed upon him, and now the resentment Selina was holding against him. The argument from earlier resided in his mind and was beginning to weigh down on him…because he cared about it.

-Flashback-

“I was just wondering if we could be friends,” Aaron told.

“Of course not,” Selina answered. “After reflecting I already knew I made the wrong decision by coming back.”

“It doesn’t mean right now’s the same as it was then,” Aaron tried.

“What do you mean it doesn’t? It’s exactly the same!” Selina suddenly felt her voice become louder in anger.

Finally catching herself she turned away from him.

“Just leave me alone,” Selina told and walked away.

-End of flashback-

Did she believe that because he’d been married and she thought that he didn’t care? If he had the chance he’d tell her everything…all over again.

||||||||

“No Ella. Seriously I just want to treat him like a friend. Maybe you don’t understand but it’s nice to have someone to talk to other than you.” Hebe told.

“Oh…thanks for making me feel great,” Ella commented.

“But he asked me to go somewhere this weekend,” Hebe said, “it doesn’t mean anything, right?”

“You decide that,” Ella said. “Where are you going?”

“A wedding.”

“Wedding?! Why in the world a wedding?! You don’t even know those people.”

“He said he needed help so I just agreed.” Hebe shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Not that big of a deal?” Ella repeated. “You’re not agreeing on a contract to be his fake girlfriend are you?”

“Where do you come up with such things?” Hebe asked. “I think I should be alright.”

They were silent.

“Hebe.” Ella said.

Hebe waited for Ella to go on.

“You’re not going to silently put your hopes up for something you’re keeping to yourself, right?” Ella questioned.

“What would I keep to myself?” Hebe questioned her.

“Don’t forget to talk to me,” Ella just said without being specific.

“I know Ella,” Hebe replied. “Bye bye.”

After they hung up Hebe looked around the empty room. The life in the house had slowly withered away when the twins had been taken. Her life had become completely empty and dull just like how the tiffany chandelier downstairs had lost its beauty. What hope was Ella talking about? What would Hebe want to place her hopes on? Hebe felt confused and tried to dig up the answer by digging into her questions, but no answer came out of it. She only found a blank wall within herself and something glittered beyond it.  

||||||||
 
Aaron could feel their eyes land upon him as they walked into the room and to their desks.

“They really don’t talk.”

“Why would they argue?”

“Ah Ken it looks like you’re going to forfeit this time.”

Aaron cleared his throat and looked around the room in which everyone had suddenly gone quiet. Aaron let his eyes land on Selina and looked away a second later. He hated this feeling that was growing inside of him. This sense of helplessness that was beginning to follow him everywhere.

||||||||

Jiro had finally finished reading over Keven Tian’s profile and found something about it that nagged at him. Whether it was his personality or something familiar that rang a bell in his head, but Jiro couldn’t figure it out. He tried to dig further into his memory but it was all too complicated for him to remember. Finally getting out of his seat Jiro headed toward the back and started searching through some vanilla folders.

When he had come across a folder near the bottom he finally remembered his night shift some days ago. There had been an assault report about 2 men and a woman. It came clearer into his head now after he found some papers pinned together. And surely Keven Tian had a report filled out by Jiro. Jiro recalled his mean attitude as if he had done nothing wrong at all. Taking out the papers from the vanilla folder he returned to his desk. The first person to go on his list of investigations, Keven Tian.

It wasn’t that difficult to search through the data filed computer anymore compared to the first time he’d began using it for investigations. Specific information was needed in order to search for a person or even a family unit. After typing down some things he’d written down on paper Keven Tian’s profile records popped up. His birth date, birthplace, family, and job records. Jiro made to sure to observe everything carefully as he continued to scroll down, finally coming to a stop when his eyes landed upon something he’d never expected.

In the small dim room that he was in Jiro had to squint his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. He found it a disappointment that they were not allowed to print anything off the computer because of the privacy of others and in case someone would use the information to harm someone else.

2001 January 29 - Smoking on school grounds

2005 August 3 - ual offense, but let off

2006 December 6 - Caught with drug smugglers

2006 February 1 - Bailed out by mother

2006 September 19 - Fined $25 for disturbing public

2007 January 1 - Speeding Ticket, received warning

2007 January 5 - Fined $15 for parking on wrong side of road, bailed out Lu Wei Lian   

2007 February 16 - Attempted burglary at pharmacy, released because of misunderstanding

2007 June 15 - Warned for suspicious behavior at graveyard

2007 July 27 - Fight at pub, released because of witness

2008 December 14 - Speeding Ticket

There had been plenty more, but Jiro had decided to keep the job easy for himself since he’d already read so much and stopped there. The guy had switched jobs as much as Jiro had switched schools. Keven definitely had some problems, but Jiro would need to find out more.

After digging in his pocket Jiro found his cell phone and called Reeve.

||||||||

It was cloudy. Everything around her was hard to make out. It was those kind of dreams where you couldn’t see your surroundings well enough to make out where you actually were. Once she had taken a step forward she could feel her heart pounding behind her ribs so intensely it felt as if her heart was a prisoner trying to squeeze its way out behind bars. She had been walking slowly at first, but now she was running…toward…a house. A run down house that reminded her of those old houses in murder movies, always in the middle of nowhere.

The curtain behind the window had been there so long that even moths had made continuous holes in them. There was a hole in the window but had been blocked from  inside with a piece of cardboard. The house looked dirty as if it was eating itself. Roof tiles were on the edge close to falling and bird poop occupied every empty space on those tiles. Even the outer layer of the house was peeling off the walls…the house looked gloomy.

She ran up the old wooden stairs creaking with each and every step she took. The white paint on the run down door was peeling off slowly, the very sight of it made Hebe feel sick. She opened the door and entered the kitchen. The tiles on the floor were old and peeling off the ground, yellow unknown stuff occupying the corners. The pale white counter was made out of dishes from weeks ago that no one had bothered to wash. A refrigerator that she slowly walked passed was dead. She entered a room next and looked at the deer antlers hanging on the wall…it looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t quite make out where it had come from. An oval table sat in the middle of the room with a long, thick pink tablecloth that reached the floor. Only two chairs surrounded the table.

She finally heard footsteps behind her…hurried footsteps. But it did not scare her for some reason. Hebe quickly crawled underneath the table and slowed her breathing so that the follower wouldn’t know she was there.

“Hebe! Hebe! Where are you! Hebe!” the voice shouted.

It was a girl that had followed her. Hebe remained underneath the table and could make out her footsteps up the stairs. Just when Hebe had decided to crawl out she stopped when another pair of footsteps entered through the door. They were talking and asking questions…two of them. Hebe’s heart silenced and seemed to stop beating. She felt suffocated and couldn’t breathe…it was a feeling of danger that only her conscience knew. They laughed and the other one headed up the stairs after the girl while the other one remained downstairs with Hebe. Hebe found herself clutching her arms around her knees that she’d suddenly pulled against her chest. Even if she had slowed down her breathing to hide herself from the girl, she felt that her breath was becoming heavier and louder now. Would he see her? The tablecloth had looked thick enough to hide her shadow, Hebe recalled. Suddenly he began taunting her by hitting the tablecloth from the outside. She jumped every time he slapped the tablecloth in the playful manner that seemed fun only to him. The words blurred through her ears, but she felt as if she understood because her heart beat wilder.

And the last question appeared in her mind, “Am I going to die?”

Hebe awoke in a frantic state with sweat forming on her forehead. It had felt so real Hebe could hear her heart in her ears. She looked around the dark room and got off the bed to turn on the lights. Of course she was alone…who else would be there with her?

||||||||

Selina hurried down the stairs to throw her garbage into the garbage dump at the back of the apartment building. After throwing in her garbage Selina noticed a piece of newspaper that had been flying around on the floor. It had caught her eye and out of every other thing that was out there only the newspaper seemed appealing. Selina picked it up and looked at the front side. It was all about sports. Turning the paper over Selina skimmed through each small article and her eyes landed on the article in the middle of the page. It was about an investigator who had decided to keep the case “Missing Twins” that the police still had no leads about. Selina crumbled the piece of paper up and tossed it into the garbage dump.

||||||||

Maybe because her dream was still so clear to her that whatever footsteps came pounding down the aisle Hebe felt herself shake or jump from any loud noises. She had never noticed how loud the wheels on the carts were before whenever they were pushed pass her. It was strange how fragile her ears had become after that dream. It was as if she was already on the lookout for whoever those two men were. And that girl that had followed her….Hebe was sure she was Ella and decided once her shift ended she wanted to talk to Ella.

||||||||

Reeve had promised to check out the dates for Jiro. Since the twins had gone missing in 2007 Jiro wanted to start off with Keven’s 2007 records. Jiro wanted to know the officers that had written him up and wanted specifics on his records. And now all Jiro had to do was wait. He’d been in the computer room almost all night and now that the sun was out Jiro wanted to go home and watch some TV before he’d come back to work.

||||||||

Ella was on her way out to meet Calvin when she received the phone call from Hebe. She had sounded extremely calm, but was quick with her words.

“What is it Hebe?” Ella had asked.

“Do you have time tonight?” Hebe questioned.

“I’m going out to meet Calvin right now. Do you want to tag along?” Ella suggested.

“No.”

“Is something the matter?”

Hebe paused for a long time before replying, “I wanted to tell you something if we met up alone.”

“Do you want me to come over right now? I can if you need me to.” offered Ella.

“I can talk to you tomorrow,” Hebe said calmly then paused before going on, “can you give me Calvin’s number?”

When Ella had gotten to the pizza parlor Calvin was waiting for her as always. Ella walked over with a troubled expression.

“Did Hebe call you?” Ella asked.

“Sure did.”

“What did she want from you?”

“Jiro’s number.”

||||||||

Jiro had just pulled his t-shirt on when his phone began ringing. He was surprised to hear her voice when he had picked up.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Hebe went on, “but can we meet if you’re not busy?”

Jiro thought for a moment.

“It’s ok if you’re busy. I know you have a lot to do.” Hebe said.

“No problem I just hopped out of the shower,” Jiro replied then wondered if that was a strange thing to say to a woman he’d just recently got to know.

After pulling a sweatshirt on Jiro headed out. He had become accustomed to heading out often because it was something his job required and had forgotten to complain about it. He finally realized how surprised he felt that he had even recognized her voice. Maybe it wasn’t weird because he did have a good memory after all.

Jiro found himself walking toward the house observing it more carefully. He found himself first astounded by the fact that Hebe was living in the 2 story house all by herself and wondered if she’d ever felt frightened. The house was painted with the color mahogany, a rare color on houses. The roof made a triangle overhead and a window sat in the middle of that triangle. White frames were painted neatly around each window with care. Immediately Jiro could imagine a happy family living in the house.

He walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell which Hebe answered a moment later.

“Thank you for coming,” Hebe thanked. “Come in.”

Jiro stepped in and the first thing he noticed was the dusty tiffany chandelier hanging from the dining room ceiling. He looked from the dining room to the living room and the kitchen which he could barely make out from where he was standing. However nice the outside looked was very different from the feeling that the inside of the house brought. It was a sort of dark gloom that enveloped itself. Despite how her parents home felt Hebe’s was worse.

“It doesn’t feel very welcoming does it?” Hebe asked noticing Jiro’s eyes observing her house. “Even Ella doesn’t come here a lot.”

“That chandelier is pretty dusty,” Jiro said keeping his eyes on it.

Hebe followed his gaze, “I’ve stopped looking after it when the twins went missing. I just couldn’t find the motivation to keep it looking nice.”

“I’ll clean it for you sometime,” Jiro offered.

Hebe turned to look at him as if shocked by his offer, but she felt extremely thankful. No one besides her had taken such notice of it before.

“I mean didn’t you say before that we’re friends?” Jiro asked.

“Oh…thanks. Do you want anything to drink?”

“Some water would be fine, thanks.”

Hebe walked away while Jiro sat down on the couch by the recliner. He looked from the television to the table next to the recliner where a picture of the twins sat. They were still young judging from the photo itself. Jiro glanced around the house once more, there was not a sign of Aaron at all. Had Hebe removed all signs of him after the divorce? Had her anger, as Ella had said, the thing that turned into the pressure Aaron felt helpless against?

Hebe walked back into the room and sat the cup of water in front of Jiro on the table. She finally seemed to notice him in his casual wear.

“Did you just get off work?” asked Hebe.

“About an hour ago,” Jiro replied.

“You must be tired, I’m sorry.” Hebe apologized.

“I’m used to it. I believe there must be a good reason for you to suddenly call me up. Do you want to talk about something?”

Hebe paused recalling everything from the frightening dream she had had last night. She didn’t know why she had wanted to call him…his name had just suddenly popped up into her mind and she knew, then, that she wanted to tell him her dream.

“I don’t even know if this is worth you coming out, I’m still sorry about bothering you.”

Jiro waited for her to go on feeling a bit sorry for her and watched as she unclasped and clasped her hands.  

“It was a dream I had just last night. I was running toward this run down house, it was totally falling apart. One of the windows was broken and the curtain was old, even the house smelled. There was someone following me…a girl, but she didn’t seem harmful…maybe a friend. I hid under the table in a room so she wouldn’t find me and she didn’t know I was there and headed up the staircase. It happened when I was about to get out that two men walked in talking to each other. I could hear every word they said, but as their voices left my ears the words did too. One of them went upstairs after the other girl and the other one remained downstairs with me. He began taunting me…he was saying something about the twins and when I thought I was going to die I woke up.”