Note: This chapter is set just after Wild Card is killed by Chaos Agent, as seen in the diary entry in the last chapter. Enjoy :)

Hush knew that Martin had done it, but she was too scared to confront anyone about it for fear of Martin killing her too.

Wild Card's death had come as a surprise to them all, and it hurt Hush thinking about it. Hush and Wild Card liked each other, too, so it was hard knowing the only person she'd ever really loved was dead.

But, the thing that hurt the most was that Martin had done it for her.

Just like Wild Card had loved her, Martin loved her too, and he knew that she would pick Wild Card over him (a correct assumption). And thus, according to him, he had to die.

Hush knew that her other friend, Lone Shadow, knew about the murder too. He had specifically told her that he thought this, as Martin felt no sympathy at all towards the death. They could tell it was faked, from the way he was open about his "woes" and that his grief didn't linger.

Another thing Hush had noticed, from being in the room next to Martin, was that he talked to himself. Yes, he had full conversations with himself. Wasn't that a sign of psychopathy or something?

So, long story short, Martin was classed as a crazy maniac in Hush and Lone Shadow's minds. They had even become referring to him with the codename "Chaos Agent" since he was so secretive and... chaotic. He could even have been classified as a terrorist; he sure instilled terror in Hush and Lone Shadow.

The next morning, Martin came into the dining room in his favourite suit, a purple one, for breakfast. The purples were so vibrant that they made Hush feel sick looking at them.

"Act normal," Lone Shadow hissed to Hush before he sat down.

"Morning, Martin. You look like you've rested well," Hush said in reply to Lone Shadow.

What she had said didn't sound like something she would have said, but it was the sort of thing that Martin would have said, so she hoped he wouldn't notice. Lucky for her, he didn't.

"Yes, I did. I had a dream about bees. Do you two like bees?" Martin asked.

Hush hated bees. She would always end up getting stung. And wasps, too. They were even worse.

"I like bees. Especially the yellow and black fuzzy kind," Lone Shadow answered.

But aren't all bees-?

"Oh, yes! They're my favourite too!"

Hush nodded her head with a smile that looked just a little bit fake. Meanwhile, Martin buttered his toast.

"Do you two think I should have jam or not?" Martin asked them.

"Yes," Hush replied.

"No," Lone Shadow replied simultaneously.

They looked at each other with a look of irritation. So much for acting normal.

"You're right. Perhaps jam isn't the best idea."

Martin put the open tub of jam onto the middle of the table along with the butter knife he was holding ready.

"Best hope no bees come!" he laughed. Hush and Lone Shadow laughed too even though the joke wasn't remotely funny.

Even though they were joking and laughing around, the atmosphere was still incredibly tense. One wrong word and the only thing left for them was death. Hush had no idea how long this would go in for, and how long it would take for someone to slip up.

But neither of them did. They both knew it was inevitable, but neither of them wanted to take it for the team.

Truly, Martin wrote in his diary one morning, it is a person's instincts that tells them to stay alive. Most people would say that they want to live forever, but whether they actually do is another question.

But, as for Lone Shadow and Hush, they have sense. They want to live, but only once. But whether they can live is questionable.

They both seem to have traced Wild Card's death back to me, which is not part of the plan. Hush must live, though, for plan to go through. And I fear Lone Shadow must too. If I were to kill him, Hush's suspicions will be confirmed, and then there'll be no way she'll want to be with me. For all I know, she may already be incompatible.

That would be a shame, because then the plan will have failed, and I'll have to think of a new way to contact The Thing In The Woods. Perhaps there is no way of doing that, either. Maybe it is some alliance with Hush, and if she dies, it'll know it was me. And then, I will die.

But I can't allow that. So, I am trying to find a scientific way to make myself immortal, involving the Chaos Serum that I have developed. I'm doing it by reversing the serum's properties, like an antidote made from poisons. If the Chaos Serum causes instant death, then surely instant life awaits those who take the new serum, right?

I suppose only time will tell. See you soon.

Martin shut his diary and ran his finger along the label. He thought about changing the label, since having his name on a book with murder plans in it was certainly a liability. If someone found the book, it would be game over. Not just for him, but for his whole operation.

He was just hiding the diary under his mattress, when there was a knock on the door.

Hush listened to the clock on the wall of her room ticking away the seconds of her life. She realised that she was waiting as another tick resounded from the clock. But waiting for what, though?

Hush was in the room above Martin, so she may have been waiting for him to do something interesting. And perhaps something illegal.

She pressed her ear onto the blue and red-carpeted floor and listened out for anything. The rooms were poorly soundproofed, so she could hear it when someone knocked on his door. There were several thuds following this as Martin made his way to the door to greet whoever was outside. May God help whoever it was.

What Hush heard next made her heart stop.

"Oh, Lone Shadow! You're out late," Martin said.

Lone Shadow, you bloody idiot!

Martin inspected Lone Shadow as he pushed past him into his room.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Martin asked Lone Shadow.

"I was going to ask you the same question. You're still fully dressed," he replied.

"I was just about to get ready for bed before you showed up."

Lone Shadow didn't reply again. He was looking though Martin's drawers and cupboards, and Martin had a feeling that he knew what he was looking for.

"What are you looking for?" Martin asked him anyway.

"Evidence."

"Evidence... for what?"

Lone Shadow turned around and pinned Martin to the nearest wall.

"What in the world are you doing?!" Martin whimpered.

"Don't act like you're so innocent! I know you killed Wild Card! And Hush knows too!" Lone Shadow shouted.

Hush facepalmed herself with pure embarrassment. If Lone Shadow somehow survived this encounter, she would kill him.

Martin paused. Well, if he wanted evidence, then he would give him some.

"Very well, then. It appears you know, so there's no point in hiding anything. If you would let me go, then I'll show you everything," Martin told Lone Shadow.

Lone Shadow nodded his head, and let Martin go past him. He went over to one particular cupboard and opened it up.

It was full of all of his favourite things. Knives and corrosive chemicals; pistols and baseball bats. But, in the centre of the lot, was a needle full of the Chaos Serum.

Or, as Lone Shadow called it, evidence.

"So, you say you want evidence?" Martin giggled.

"Yes, you idiotic madman."

Lone Shadow looked proud of his roast, but really it was just silly.

"Well, I have your proof right... here!"

And on the "here", he stabbed the needle with the Chaos Serum into Lone Shadow's shoulder. It injected itself in, and Lone Shadow glared at Martin.

"What have you done to me?" he said after a moment, "WHAT HAVE YOU D-"

But he was cut off by the waterfall of Chaos Serum suddenly falling out of his mouth.

Lone Shadow lunged at Martin, who quickly dodged and caused Lone Shadow to collapse to the ground. He did not get up after that, he just shouted and shouted over and over.

Any ordinary person would have said that he was screaming for "HELP!", but Martin knew better, and so did Hush, who was hearing everything from upstairs. Lone Shadow was screaming for "HUSH!"

And, when neither Hush or help came, Lone Shadow let out one last scream of pain - a horrible blood-curdling one, the worst one Martin or Hush had ever heard - then dissolved into a puddle of the Chaos Serum.

There we go.

After collecting a vial of the stuff and storing it, as well as cleaning up the rest of it, Martin opened up his diary once again and scribbled down a single sentence:

Lone Shadow is dead.

That summed things up pretty well. It didn't take long for Martin to go to sleep after he got ready for bed and hid the diary under his mattress again.

But, as for Hush, she lay on her bedroom floor and cried all night.

"See? All that's left now is someone calling an emergency meeting and calling Chaos Agent the susposter or whatever," Jules whispered to Midas through her phone.

She had broken into Chaos Agent's office and was feeding the book's content to Midas on call.

"I see," Midas nodded himself. Not that it mattered, because Jules couldn't see him anyway.

Then, Jules heard footsteps outside the room.

"Right, I have to go. Someone's coming. See you later!" she said, and then she was gone.

Midas clicked his phone off and put it on the table. Jules was becoming more like Skye by the second.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1698 Words