Alice pulled on a black hoodie over her leggings and crept over to her door as she turned all her lights out... licking her lips carefully as she listened, she opened the door to her bedroom and glanced out, seeing the house dark apart from the moonlight leaking in through the sky lights over the hallway between her and Charlotte's upstairs room.

Alice walked as carefully as she could, worried that even her breathing would make too much noise as she grabbed the banisters and crept down the spiral stairs that would take her onto the hallway next to her parents room... Her lips were parted as she breathed deeply and slowly, seeing the thin line of orange light from her parents room, showing they were still awake. "shit," she muttered, wondering if her parents would some how know she was about to sneak out even if she made no noise. She'd have to make sure she was back before six thirty in the morning so that they wouldn't know she wasn't there the whole night.

Alice's phone began to vibrate in her hand as she tip toed past her parents bedroom door, making sure she stepped over all the floorboards she knew creaked. She glanced down at her phone screen, seeing that Magnus was calling her already, meaning that he was probably outside waiting.

Alice grabbed the spare key from the bowl in the kitchen and pulled open the front door as carefully as she could, only opening it enough to slip out through the crack and closed it gently. The night was so quiet that Alice could hear the rumbling of Magnus's car engine from where she was stood...It was eerily silent with barely any wind rustling through the trees as Alice walked quickly down her drive, seeing Magnus's range rover parked by the side walk with the headlights off.

Within moments she'd opened the passenger door and climbed in. It had barely closed as Magnus pulled away from the side walk and cruised quickly down the road, making it to the end before he turned the headlights on. Alice felt the tension in the air, and kept her mouth shut as she glanced down at her phone, seeing a message from Candice pop up on her lock screen...

Magnus said nothing, and appreciated that Alice had kept quiet as he drove them through the roads lining the edge of the town and back towards the vineyards where they had been earlier that previous day... He saw the light from her phone, seeing it lighting up every other moment because someone was obviously messaging her, but before he could comment she tucked her phone away into a pocket on her hoodie.

Suspense was hanging heavily in the air as Magnus turned off the headlights again, and turned onto the dirt track along the edge of the vineyard that looked so intensely eerie in the dark. Alice's could see lights up ahead, and felt the nerves begin to pool in her stomach as she shifted in her seat whilst the car crept along the dirt road silently. She wanted to ask Magnus who they were meeting but she knew her questions would only annoy him, and she couldn't help but feel that she was partly responsible for this situation. "Get out," Magnus said bluntly and quietly as he opened the driver's side door and got out...

Alice exhaled heavily, feeling her instincts telling her to stay in the car but she followed anyway, sliding out of the car slowly as she tugged her phone from her pocket and quickly sent her location to Candice with a short message for her to come ASAP. She didn't know why she did it, but she began to tremble with adrenaline and anxiety as she walked around the car and let her gaze fall upon a collection of around ten other people, excluding her and Magnus, dressed all in black. The sight made her skin turn cold and she felt goosebumps spread all the way up her neck.

Instinctively Alice glanced at Magnus who seemed to stood out in the group as the obvious leader, he barely moved, barely said a thing apart from leaning on the hood of his car and folding his arms. "You guys know why I called you out here?" he asked, his voice a low rumble. There was a round of murmuring agreements that flowed through the group, and Alice clasped her hands to together in front of her to stop her from fiddling with her fingers so obviously. She felt out of her depth suddenly, and recoiled into herself as she felt eyes on her.

"What's she doing here?" A voice asked, and Alice recognised it to be the voice of Charlie's, yet she didn't see where it had come from.

"Alice is as much a part of this as we are," Magnus replied,

"She is the reason we're here," Another voice said, a female one that Alice recognised to be red headed cheerleader Juniper Welsh, "Stupid bitch couldn't keep her nose out of it." she spat as Alice looked round the group nervously, trying to see which one of them was talking but the moonlight was hiding their faces, she couldn't see any features because of the shadow.

"Why are we helping her, anyway?" Charlie's voice said again, "If she hadn't of moved the body, we wouldn't be in this fucking mess." he snapped, causing Alice to turn red with shame as Magnus turned to look at her for a moment. She felt like she was on trial as she stood there, about a metre away from Magnus who was standing opposite the half moon shape group of people... She wasn't sure if she should explain herself... but even if she wanted to, not only did she not have a reason for her actions, she also couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Bitching doesn't change anything," Magnus said calmly as he turned his head to look back at the group, "I can remember numerous times where I've had to clean up your messes Charlie, I wouldn't act so confident if I was you." he added as he folded his arms, staring directly at a hooded figure who Alice assumed to be Charlie. How could he even tell? they all looked the same to her. "What do we know so far?" Magnus asked, his voice still low as he folded his arms. He seemed to calm, whereas compared to Alice she couldn't stop her raging anxiety even if she wanted to.

"My dad said the body arrived at the hospital about an hour ago," Trey's voice said from the group. Alice noticed how they once hadn't used Veronica's name, and wondered if this was some kind of dehumanising technique they used usually. "The police don't have the resources yet to examine it or something, so they're waiting until the morning for a forensic team from another province to arrive. I heard him when he was talking about it to my mom, they didn't know I was listening." he added, evidently unaware that Candice had also been listening. Alice remembered that Candice had been sneaky by nature, maybe it was her thirst for finding out peoples secrets, or her drive to be the one that knows things before anyone else, but she'd noticed that no one would know Candice was listening until she told them, and evidently Trey had no idea at all.

"If her body is locked up in the hospital, there is no way we're going to be able to get at it," Charlie said, "They use key cards to get through every door, there are security cameras everywhere... we'd be caught within minutes. And does anyone even know their way around the hospital? We have no time to study it,"

Suddenly Alice could hear the gentle crackling of what sounded like tires moving carefully over dry dirt. Her heart jumped violently as Magnus shushed everyone and looked behind him as the beam from headlights began to appear. "Go." he muttered, not having to tell anyone twice as the group seemed to fade away into the darkness of the vineyard. "Did you tell anyone we'd be here?" Magnus snapped, turning to Alice with an angry stare as she stared into the bright headlights of a vehicle, unable to see who it was.

"Uh..." She breathed, her eyes wide as she hoped to God that Candice hadn't called the police.

"Alice?" The voice of Candice echoed from the car. Alice's heart seemed to flop in her chest with relief as she turned and walked towards the car, seeing as she got closer, the familiarity of the baby blue mini cooper. "What the hell is going on?" Candice asked in a hurried, hushed whisper as Alice got closer, seeing her standing behind the open door of her care, dressed in similar clothing to Alice.

"I can't tell you yet," Alice replied quietly, knowing Magnus was burning holes in the back of her head with a stare.

"Are you in trouble? Do I need to call the police? I have the button activated on my phone," Candice whispered quickly, holding up her phone as if to show Alice she was ready.

"I need your help with something," Alice said, knowing she was about to ask a lot of her friend but... she needed the help. "And i need you not to ask questions, I need you to just go with it, okay?"

"Um... Okay," Candice said, looking unsure. "...Should I be scared? Because i'm a little scared." she then asked, glancing at Magnus who had moved closer to Alice without either of them realising, she had barely seen him move, but suddenly he was right behind them.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking at Alice first then Candice slowly. She noticed his hand appear on Alice's bicep and squeeze it, but Alice barely flinched as she looked at Candice intently.

"Hey listen," She snapped, reaching forward to push Magnus's hand off Alice, "I don't know who you think you are but you don't touch my girl like that," she said sharply, her voice a little louder as she pulled Alice towards her protectively. Magnus's eyes narrowed a little, and he was about to respond but Trey emerged from the vines beside them,

"Candice?!" he said loudly, causing her to jump violently and gasp. "What the fuck are you doing here? What the fuck is she doing here?!" he snapped, glaring from Candice to Alice, "You involved my little sister!?" he said, his voice verging on a shout as he stepped towards Alice aggressively but Candice stood in the way and Magnus pulled Trey back by his shoulder.

"What the fuck is going on?" Candice asked, her heart racing as she continued to stand protectively in front of Alice, whose heart was also racing because of the confrontation. Magnus didn't answer her as he stared at Alice over her shoulder, his unfaltering gaze felt like it was pushing tension against her skin. Trey stared too, but his chest was rising and falling heavily.

"You shouldn't be here Candice," Trey warned, "Go home," he snapped,

"No," Candice shot back, "Alice said she needed me, so i'm staying." she said sternly, folding her arms. "And don't even think you can force me, Trey." she added, lifting her finger to point at him as some of the other members of the group emerged to watch.

"I have an idea," Alice said suddenly, grasping Candice's hand and distracting everyone from the sudden commotion. "I need you to meet me us at the hospital," she said directly to Magnus and moved away and around the car to get into the passenger side. Candice seemed shocked and a little stunned at the aura that was radiating from Magnus and Trey but hurriedly got into the drivers seat and slammed the door shut with it automatically locking. It was only then that she saw the other faces emerging from the darkness behind Magnus, all of them expressionless like they were ghosts of the students Candice recognised.

"Oh my god," Candice whimpered, putting her car into gear and reversing quickly with her headlights blaring ahead still. Alice stared out the windscreen, watching as Magnus stepped into the centre of the road and continued to stare eerily after her. She could see the anger in his eyes, even from the immense distance they were gaining at the speed Candice was driving. "What the fuck is going on, Alice?" Candice said loudly, her voice shrill as she swung the car around and put it into drive and sped down the wide open road that would lead them to the centre of town. "What the hell were you doing at a deserted vineyard in the middle of the night?! Oh my god, my hands are trembling,"

"It's a long story," Alice breathed, running her hand through her hair and rolling her neck. The night was no where being close to being over, and Alice could feel the tension pushing against her spine and chest. "You're speeding, Candice,"

"Yeah, I'm fucking speeding," Candice snapped back as she slowed down to stop at a red light abruptly, "Why do I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a whole bunch of shit," she then sighed as she stared at the open road.

"I'll tell you everything," Alice said, looking over at her best friend and seeing her looking like she was preparing for the tsunami of information that was about to hit her. "But I need you to help me first," she added carefully, causing Candice to look over at her. They looked at each other for a long moment, even when the light turned green they still sat there, staring.

"Okay," Candice agreed with a sigh, understanding that Alice needed her help. "I'm your ride or die, bitch," she smirked and looked back at the road as she put both hands on the wheel and pressed her foot on the accelerator.

"You have no idea." Alice murmured, looking behind them as she saw the distant headlights of a large range rover following...

... The baby blue mini cooper pulled up in an empty parking lot in the road across from the hospital where some of the streetlights didn't work, which meant they were safely shielded by the darkness still. From where they were sat, Alice and Candice could see that the hospital's parking lot surprisingly empty in comparison to what it was usually like. "Does anyone know that Veronica's body is being kept here?" Alice asked and Candice looked over at her,

"Is this what this is to do with?" She asked with faint shock, which only earned her a certain look from Alice. "Right, you'll tell me later..." she mumbled and glanced back towards the hospital. "The only people that officially know, from what I heard, are the doctors involved and the police. and my mom and brother, but that's unofficially."

"Okay," Alice breathed as a plan unfolded in her head. Magnus's range rover pulled up beside Candice's car slowly, its headlights already off. It seemed to blend in with the dark background, so much so that Alice barely noticed it until Magnus got out and knocked on the window. "Jesus," she she hissed and pressed the button to lower the glass.

"Turn your headlights off," Magnus reminded in a low, calm voice. Candice immediately turned the lights off and sat back in her seat, glancing over at Magnus as he looked back at Alice. "Do you know what you're doing?" he asked and Alice hummed.

"I have an idea," Alice said quietly and glanced back at Candice. "Do you still know the codes to some of the doors from when you had your work experience?"

"Yeah," Candice replied, pushing her curly hair out of her face, "They're meant to change them every month but I remember dad saying once that they can't be bothered to actually do it,"

"Is there anyway you could get an interns key card?" Alice asked and Candice raised her eyebrows,

"Sure," Candice nodded, "Easily." she agreed, feeling the excitement beginning to set in as Alice sighed heavily and nodded. "Do you want me to do it now? Sneaking in is easier than it looks."

"Wait- um," Alice hesitated as Magnus watched her carefully, seeing the plan unfolding in her eyes as she ran through different scenarios and ways they could possibly get caught. Her heart was thudding heavily, but she'd always enjoyed problem solving, it was like a maze that she ran through in her mind a few times faster than the average person. "Is Noah here?" Alice asked, causing Magnus's eyes to narrow before he stood up and looked over his shoulder, seeing Noah's land rover pulling up with Charlie in the passenger seat.

"Yeah, he's here," Magnus replied and stood away from the door as Alice motioned that she wanted to get out of the car. She stood up and breathed in deeply as she thought about her plan more, by this point it was just coming up to almost two in the morning, and all of them knew they didn't have long to get the plan going. "Noah," Magnus then said loudly, causing him to walk over immediately with interested eyes.

"Noah, is there anyway you'd be able to hack into the hospitals system and disable the cameras?" Alice asked, looking at him directly with an intensity in his eyes that surprised him.

"Uh- Sure," he said, "I have my laptop with me, I'd just need to hack into their wifi first," he explained, flexing his hands as Alice nodded and turned away from him and looked around at the group that was now surrounding her. Candice could get them through the doors with an interns key card, Noah could disable the cameras so they wouldn't be seen...

"Okay," Alice said suddenly, "Candice can get us into the morgue with an interns key card, Noah can turn off the cameras so that we won't be seen. Candice knows the hospital layout from her own work experience so I won't have to hesitate," Alice said in one go, "Just Veronica-"

"There's a service exit for body collection at the back of the hospital." Trey said, stepping forward. "I can wait there with the car,"

"Now we just need a distraction," Alice said, looking towards Magnus who was stood there with his arms folded. He raised his right eyebrow a little and tilted his head, as if to tell her to continue. "Fire?"

"I can do that." He agreed in a low voice, subtly impressed at Alice's quick thinking. "Does everyone have an alibi?" he then asked the group.

"I snuck out," Candice said, "My mom will vouch for me, she doesn't think I do anything but watch Netflix all night. I even left my TV on,"

"Same," Trey agreed, angrily side glancing Candice.

"My parents think i'm asleep," Alice said, "But they've been watching me a lot recently,"

"Then I should get you home soon," Magnus replied as he looked at her, causing everyone else to subtly raise their eyebrows even though no one commented on it. Noah glared at Magnus, but because he had hung back from the group, the shadow across his face meant it was hidden from view. "Noah." Magnus said suddenly, causing him to suddenly drop his scowl. "Alibi?"

"My dad is too busy with this case to know where I am." he replied, "But he'll assume i'm at home." he added as Alice shifted awkwardly at his tone of voice.

"Charlie?"

"I snuck out too," he said, "I do it all the time, they all think i'm just watching porn in my room or something since the door is always shut."

"Wow," Trey laughed first after there was a brief silence. The other joined too, excluding Magnus, but he usually didn't laugh at anything unless he was angry...

"We don't have much time," Magnus said, running his hand through his hair to push it back and out of his face as he turned to his car and opened up the back door, pulling a balaclava from the pocket at the back of the seat in front and pulling it on. He had more than enough for everyone, and Alice could feel her heart beginning to race with adrenaline and excitement as she pulled on her own and turned to Candice along with skin tight gloves so that they wouldn't have to worry about prints.

"I can barely recognise you," Candice said, reaching forwards to fix Alice's so that it was straight.

"Good," Alice breathed, checking the time on her phone and then humming.