The snow had, after all, turned out to be gentler than Tahlia had anticipated.

She hadn't crashed and blown up the car in the middle of a crystalline road like she'd feared she could. She had made it to Montclair in under the 150 minute mark, and for that she had Dean's car and it's top-notch snow tires to thank for.

Tahlia sat parked in the motel lot, a few feet away from what appeared to be the dingy entrance to Silver Door, gazing at the ramshackle building quietly.

It was a three story structure with flights of stairs that connected the lobby of the second and third floors externally.

With walls painted a tacky yellow color and faded red doors on each floor that looked like they'd fall off the hinges, the scruffy motel couldn't be more unpalatable.

Would Jordy meet another accomplice here?

Heaving a deep exhale out of her chest, watching it fog up the space, Tahlia stepped out of the car.

The whistling icy wind hit her, making her wrap her arms around her chest and pulling in her jacket tighter to materialize some warmth.

It had stopped snowing, but the cold remained unabating.

Trudging through the slushy but glittering white ground, Tahlia finally made it to the door.

She pulled it open, entering a space just as shabby as the exterior of the building.

She could see a little desk with stationery and ledgers, figuring it was the reception, but it was empty.

The entire room was soulless for that matter, as she looked around wondering if the motel had closed down or something.

And then she heard it.

The loud, incessant sound of a man's breathless voice. At first, Tahlia was alarmed, her heart startled, but as she slowly started inching towards the direction of the source of the sound, it became more distinct and clear.

A man grunting; in ecstasy, the noise coming from one of the rooms at the end.

And then, simultaneously, a similar set of sounds started coming from above the thin ceiling, only this time it was a woman.

Oh.

It's a shady motel, of course what else would you expect?

"$35 A night."

Tahlia turned around, to be met by the sight of an unkempt middle aged man standing behind her, his arm flexed behind, scratching his back as he walked towards the desk.

"What?" She blurted, startled.

He looked at her with a stultified expression on his face, "For the room. $35."

"Oh, I'm- I'm actually not here for a room."

"Let me guess." He rolled his beady green eyes, "You found the motel receipt in your boyfriend's pockets and now you wanna know if he's cheating on you?"

"Something like that.." She reached into her little crossbody bag, pulling out her phone. She hastily scrolled through her pictures, until she found the one of Jordy.

"This is him, I think he stays in room 306, might have checked under the name A.G. Pym."

As she finished speaking, her eyes landed on the window right behind him, specifically the police car that had stopped in front of the motel. An officer got down from the car, checking on one of the tires.

"Yeah, I don't care sweetheart. I have work to do." He said condescendingly, reaching for one of the ledgers kept on the table.

Tahlia frowned, pouting her lips.

"Come on, just tell me yes or no."

He ignored her, continuing to keep writing something on the paper.

She breathed through her lips, her jaw clenching.

That's it.

"You see that outside? That's a police car." She voiced, finally getting the attention of the man as he turned to peek behind him.

As he looked back at her, she crossed her arms in a challenging stance,

"You know, I could just go outside and tell them about all this illegal activity happening inside this premise,"

She paused, pointing a finger towards the ceiling, from where the obnoxious moaning noise was still seeping through.

Now, Tahlia couldn't be sure about the fact that all the people in the rooms were soliciting sex from prostitutes. They could have just been nice couples caught in a snowy day.

However, judging by the blanching of the man's face right in front of her, she'd say her guess was about right.

He gnashed his teeth in frustration, narrowing his eyes at her, "What do you want?"

"Just look through your register and tell me if you've had an A.G. Pym in room 306 before."

He sighed, half-rolling his eyes again, "Look, I'll save us both some time. Yeah, that guy," He pointed to her phone, "..Has been here a couple times, okay. But not in a while."

"Was he here with someone?" Tahlia's voice came in a whisper.

"Isn't that why you're here?" He replied dryly.

"I mean, what did the person look like?"

He sat down on the chair behind the desk, swerving around dramatically.

"Probably in her 40s, Dark hair, her eyes were like a grayish blue —"

"Wait, her?" Tahlia blinked.

And then her eyes went wide.

Dark hair. In her 40s. Light blue eyes.

Michelle.

No.

She darted her head around the corners of the room slowly.

"Looking for cameras? If you didn't notice this isn't the Hilton sweetheart."

He jibed sardonically.

Tahlia still couldn't wrap her head around the idea of Michelle having to do anything with any of this mess.

She'd always been a ray of sunshine, the only person who could come close to understanding her situation.

But had she been pulling Tahlia's strings all this while?

"Thank you," She mumbled quickly, turning to leave, still daunted by her revelation.

"Wait." The man called out from behind her, making her swivel back around.

"Goddamn it." He swore under his breath and then looked up at her.

"The woman, she'd come here before the guy. So she signed the register. I can give you a name."

Tahlia nodded slowly, the guy then turning to look through one register, flipping the pages until he found what he was looking for, handing her the book.

Written in neat, cursive handwriting;

Lauren Evans.

✴✴✴

The drive back to the campus was a tumultuous one to say the least.

The sun had dipped down the horizon, leaving the sky with a midnight hue, glimmering stars and all, at 7 in the evening. Tahlia had tried her level best to not let the pit in her stomach affect her focus, driving with not a single thought in her mind. But if only trying meant succeeding.

As she parked Dean's car back into it's spot, it hit her. She was supposed to meet him at that bar in 15 minutes.

But given the day she'd had, Tahlia felt way too drained for that now.

As she exited the car, she grabbed her phone to call Dean, as she walk towards the Girls Dormitory. When he didn't pick up after a few rings, she sighed and put the phone away, figuring the music must be too loud.

With the only sound all around her coming from her boots slushing against the snow, Tahlia realized just how empty the campus was, it being the holidays.

In a matter of a few days, she'd enter a new year of her life. But how does one become a new person with old burdens weighing down their shoulders?

As she stalked down the way, she wondered if she should call Lauren Evans, confront her about it.

She still couldn't believe it was Michelle, Logan's other accomplice.

But then, very few things even surprised Tahlia anymore; the last 4 months proving to be the biggest reality check she had ever gotten.

As she remained deep in thought, debating on whether or not to call Michelle, she almost missed the sound of another pair of shoes from far behind her.

She stilled.

Whipping behind in an instant, her gaze sprung all around the place, her breath hitched.

As she found no one, she released the foggy exhale she'd been holding in, resuming to walk.

This time, she attempted to make quicker steps through the snowy cover, her brain still hyper alert.

The sound of her phone ringing almost gave her a heart attack.

Quickly reading the name on the caller ID, she brought it up to her ears,

"T, where are you?"

"Dean, listen to me.." She spoke wheezily, still looking behind her shoulder occasionally.

"What- I can't hear you, are you on your way?.." His voice was drowning in the melange of guitar riffs and drums in the background, but Tahlia was growing paranoid by the second.

"Dean stay with me on the phone!" She almost screamed into the little device in her hand.

"What? Speak up, I can't-" The rest of his sentence wasn't even perceptible over the loud music.

She looked around maddeningly, hoping to catch a glimpse of a campus security personnel, or another student, at least.

"T, I'll call you back in a sec." His voice came through the speaker feebly again.

"No, no, NO, WAIT DON'T HANG UP!" She wailed, her voice growing desperate, fear engulfing her mind as she heard an agonizing beep.

The distinct sound of raptorial movement came from behind her form yet again, a shudder running down her back.

Should I call 911?

The idea sounded fitting, but what would she tell them? 'I hear someone walking?'

Then, all of sudden she remembered—

The police car.

It always sat parked right near the garden, the centre of the campus, not too far from where she was now.

With hope and relief both reinstated in her body, she picked up her pace, trudging her way swiftly and not looking back.

As the sight of the familiar white car with blue accents came into her view, Tahlia thanked the heavens, releasing a foggy breath of relief.

The car was almost blanketed in snowflakes, it's windows all frosted up.

Therefore, Tahlia was thankful she was wearing thick gloves when she banged her palms at the driver's window like a mad woman.

As no one answered her relentless knocks, a shaky breath left her mouth.

Had the officer taken a break? But she couldn't just wait out in open.

With quivering hands, Tahlia reached for the door handle, hoping the car hadn't been locked.

As the door scuffed open, Tahlia almost didn't have the time to perceive the loud thud with which a dark form slumped out of the seat, falling onto the snow covered ground.

An ear splitting scream left her mouth as she saw the body of the cop, lying limp face down on the snow, as thick liquid seeped out from underneath him and stained the white snow with the darkest, most unholiest shade of crimson.

Her hand went to cover her mouth in shock, as her body involuntarily stepped backwards, her mind simply not functioning, not telling her what to do next.

The ice in the air had nothing to do with the fact that her brain was frozen;

It was pure, unadulterated fear. Spine-chilling, blood-curdling fear.

As she continued to take brisk, large steps behind her, out of the blue, she felt one of her feet step on something clearly lifted up from the ground, something like the form of another shoe.

She twisted around at the speed of light, her heart that had been beating thrice as fast all this time, suddenly ceasing all motion, stopping immediately.

Seconds flicker by, as Tahlia continued to peer into the oh-so familiar set of eyes, the same ones that haunted her dreams.

The night sky casted a shadow on his face, making his features appear more darker, more diabolical than she remembered.

His eyes appeared to be completely black, but the glimmer from the stars above shone upon the cerulean in them, making them shift from pitch black to azure, like liquid Alexandrite.

As her mind regained a bit of basic comprehension, she realized she was shivering, violently.

"This is..this isn't real." She whispered, closing her eyes, realizing it was just another one of her hallucinations.

As she opened her eyes, the scene remained unmoving, for he was still there.

She was paralyzed with fear, as she watched him extend a hand out towards her face, a callous thumb dragging down her cheek gently, as he gazed back at her intently. The distinct scent of the summer's night breeze hit her nostrils.

And then her gaze flickered downwards, his blood covered jacket coming into her vision, then the bloody knife that was clutched in his other hand.

It was precisely at that moment that Tahlia snapped back into reality.

Logan Hunt was standing right in front of her.

He had killed a police officer.

He was there for her.

With the sound of blood pumping in her ears furiously, she ran.

Her feet carried her through the snow like never before. In her mind, she was akin to a little antelope, trying to flee a voracious lion who was hell-bent on preying on her.

But then, as far as predators go, run does give chase, doesn't it?

Thus, she had only gotten so far before a menacing pair of hands engulfed her little form completely.

She felt her back being pushed into his chest, his hands going to her neck from behind her.

As she opened her mouth to scream, she felt the weight of both his arms on her neck, crushing the right spots just enough to not kill her, but make her cruelly gasp for air.

Her own hands fought to get his off of her, scratching and pushing, but to no effect. Soon enough, everything around her started to morph into the very shade of his eyes. The snow, her feet, his arms, all of it was turning black.

Her legs couldn't stand straight anymore and she felt her body slug on the ground, his hands unmoving from the chokehold.

And then, she started losing her last bit of consciousness, her hands ceasing their fight and falling limp by her side.

Ten seconds is all it takes for a human to fall unconscious when choked;

But to Tahlia, the agonizing moments felt like a fever dream that had been going on for years.

And in those dreams, only three colors prevailed,

Black, white and blue.

✴✴✴