Grace's POV

I wasn't ready to go to a party full of teenagers who'd probably be drunk out of their minds. I wasn't ready at all. But I had to talk to Penny Wilson. Maybe she knew something about her sister's death. Maybe she knew who her sister went out with the day she'd disappeared.

Maybe this was the only way for me to find out about that murderer. Because that person was connected to my parent's death and maybe even Jack--and I needed to know.

That was the exact reason why I forced myself to get changed into decent attire. Other than the baggy sweatshirts crowding my closet, all I could find was a green silk top with sea-green gems studded over its hem.

I remembered it. The top, I mean. I'd practically begged Mum to buy me that once I'd spotted it in the mall. Wearing it right now almost seemed wrong. But I had nothing else to choose from. So I shrugged it on with some jeans and a jacket.

"You do know Kelly's house address, don't you?" Alice asked me once I was seated inside her car, which, as I registered almost instantly, smelled like someone had drenched the leather seats with a hell lot of rose perfume. I tried not to scrunch my nose.

"No, I don't," I replied. I pushed back a strand of my hair from in front of my eyes and looked out of her window. The sky was already dark by now.

"Wait, really?" She asked, placing her hands on the steering wheel and not starting the car.

Blowing out a frustrated sigh, I looked at her. "Why would I know where her house is? Didn't she tell you where it is before inviting you to the party?"

Alice furrowed her brows as if thinking. She looked just as pretty as she usually did, all flawless makeup and her hair let down in soft dark waves. She could quite easily beat Natalie in the school's popularity chain if she ever wanted. But knowing Alice (even though I haven't known her for much) she'd never do that. Alice, I think, was as nice as a person could get.

"Natalie said you'd know the address." She said.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. My thoughts were clouding with the strong rose fumes. I was going to die, I realised. It nearly made me want to laugh.

"Call her," I spoke up. "Because I really don't know the address."

Somehow, we managed to reach the house. Alice didn't give up even when I told her to do just that. She'd called Laura, another friend of Natalie's, and was successful in getting the address.

And I was more than just relieved to step out of her car, which was still filled with those poisonous fumes that would've killed me within the next few seconds.

"Woah. Are they drunk already?" Alice asked me once we entered the huge house. Natalie and her friends had always been famous for throwing such huge parties.

Some things never change.

"I think so," I replied, looking around. So many familiar faces. It felt surreal to be around them, especially after I'd spent two whole years being around people who I didn't even know.

"Most of them are underage." She pointed out. I just shrugged in response.

"Hey!" I looked up to see Natalie in a red-fitted dress that barely reached past her thighs. "You guys took your time." And beside her was Kelly, smiling at us.

"Ah, we did." Alice smiled back. "Got lost a bit."

"Hey, Grace. How're you doing?" It was Kelly, looking at me with a smile that seemed much more genuine than Natalie's.

I smiled back, though I felt it waver a bit. My palms were sweating. God, I hated this. "Great," I replied. "I'm great."

I could hear the loud music and the cheers of the people all around me. Maybe this was why I never liked such parties.

"Go help yourselves with the drinks." She announced with a clap of her hands before stepping back. "And oh, do try the orange punch. It's amazing!"

I was kind of grateful when she tugged Natalie along and left. Alice looked around, seeming happy enough, before looking back at me. I saw the way her gaze softened. "Hey, just so you know, parties aren't really my thing either."

I crossed my arms because I had a feeling my hands were trembling. And I didn't, I didn't want Alice to think something was wrong with me.

"It's fine." I cleared my throat, looking away.

Alice nudged me. "I like your top. It's a beautiful green."

A random girl throwing compliments at random strangers.

"Thanks, Alice." I looked around once again. "I need to talk to Penny."

Realisation flitted over her features and she nodded almost instantly. Talking to Penny was the only reason I came here, not for any reunions or compliments.

"Right. I think I saw her there." She spoke up, gesturing for me to come along. "Come on."

The next few minutes went by as we searched around for Penny Wilson. It was quite hard since the whole house was packed up with people, especially the inside. And the flashing lights weren't helping either.

"There she is!" Alice stopped in front of the backyard doors. I looked over at the girl sitting on one of the silver stools, all by herself. Her charcoal black hair pooled around her waist, quite resembling the dead girl I'd seen just days ago.

"I should go talk to her alone." Thankfully, Alice got the clue since she nodded and stepped aside. I took that as my cue and went ahead, taking in an encouraging breath.

At first, I thought she was talking to someone. But then I realized that she was just humming along to the song being played in the house.

"Penny?" I spoke up.

Her head shot up almost immediately as she looked at me in surprise. Then she blinked and the surprise went away. "Uh, yeah?"

I cautiously sat down on the stool beside hers. I hadn't ever seen her before. Maybe she didn't know who I was either.

"You're Grace, right?" She asked, crushing my hopeful thoughts.

I looked away from her and nodded. "Yeah. I...If you don't mind, I needed to ask you something important. I can leave if you don't want some...company, though."

Her black eyes widened a little. "No, no, it's all right. You can stay here."

I would've smiled, but her eyes looked sad. So dark and so incredibly sad that it almost reminded me of my own--the mere reason why I hated looking at myself in the mirror these days.

"Can I ask you something about your sister?" I didn't want to directly bombard her with questions. That wouldn't be fair.

Penny stiffened at that as if she wanted to leave right this second. I couldn't blame her. And if she left, I decided, I wouldn't stop her.

"Sure." She looked away, back towards the glass doors.

I pressed my lips together, thinking of a way to not make it sound so harsh. "When your sister disappeared a week ago, did she go out with someone? Someone you think who could've...wanted to kill her?"

I could see a small frown forming on her forehead when she looked back at me this time. "She wasn't killed. She died of a heart attack."

I was left startled. Heart attack. Was she serious?

"Why are you even asking me about my sister?" She asked, and it wasn't rude. She just sounded confused. "You weren't one of her friends, were you?"

I just shook my head. I wish I could've explained this to her a bit more so she could tell me. Tell me something.

"I don't understand it then. I didn't know who you were when I joined this high school. People talked about you like you were dead." I almost winced at that. "And now you come back and are asking me about my dead sister?"

I still remained silent.

"Can you please leave me alone?" She asked, looking a little flustered now. "You were right. I don't...I really don't want any company right now."

I opened my mouth but closed it shut the very next instant. A slow, hollow emptiness crept over my heart, telling me that I had failed. I couldn't even manage to get a few answers from this girl--this girl who looked so sad.

What would I do now?

"Okay," I whispered before standing up. Glancing at her one last time, I walked away.

Since what I came here for proved fruitless anyway, I was planning to leave the party without Alice, especially since I didn't want to ruin her fun too, but she somehow caught up with me first. "Hey, how did the talk go? I almost lost sight of you."

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Nothing much."

She didn't seem to notice the way I said that. Instead, she glanced around before looking at me. "I didn't know he was coming here too."

"Who?" I asked, taking out my phone. I wanted to get out of this place.

"The boy who lives right next to you." She said, eyeing me. "Lucius. We could've just asked him the address if we'd known."

I looked up at her, the phone in my hand long forgotten. Luca was here?

"What?" She asked me when a beat of silence passed by, with me just staring at her.

"N-Nothing." I looked away from her, my heart beating a bit faster than before. Luca was here. I could finally talk to him. I hadn't had a single chance to talk to him or even see him properly. Maybe I could talk to him and explain. He would listen, wouldn't he?

"Where...where did you see him?" I asked her almost immediately.

She looked at me, a little confused, before directing her gaze towards the room which seemed like the kitchen to me. "In there, I guess. Why? Do you need to talk to him too?"

I exhaled a small shudder. I needed to talk to him. I needed to see him. I could tell him why. I could apologise. I will, I will, I will.

"Yeah. I'll be...I'll be..." I trailed off, swallowing when I wasn't sure what else to say. Alice looked at me and gave me a smile.

"Go ahead." She shrugged.

"I'll be back soon. I'm sorry." I told her and left, walking towards the direction she'd pointed off to.

The kitchen was crowded, even more so than the backyard or the lounge. It was packed with people. I barely managed to squeeze past a handful of people, my eyes desperately searching for Luca.

When I couldn't for the first few minutes, I thought I wouldn't find him at all. Or maybe he'd left already. Maybe Alice had been mistaken.

But then I did see him. And I froze.

Even if there were so many people around me, all I could see was him and the girl he was kissing.

His back was against one wall, his arm lightly wrapped around the girl's waist. A brunette. I didn't think I knew her. And they were kissing, and I remembered, I don't know why I remembered the way his fingers would feel in my hair, so soft and gentle, the same way he was touching her.

I got this sudden strange feeling that I might throw up.

But I couldn't move. It was as if that sight rooted me to my spot. People moved past me, laughing and cheering, and I saw him leaning further to deepen the kiss. Luca was kissing her with a desperation that made me feel sick. I didn't know why. I didn't.

A tiny, almost inaudible sound of distress left me. And then he looked at me. Luca looked at me. Even if there were many people around us, I knew he was looking at me. But he didn't break away from the kiss. He just pulled the girl closer.

As if I wasn't there.

I wasn't, I thought. Maybe I'd never be.

Staggering back a little, I turned around abruptly and swallowed. I didn't understand. I didn't understand why there was this heavy, painful lump in my throat. I didn't understand why seeing Luca kiss some other girl hurt so fucking badly, right where my heart was, right where he was. It shouldn't matter, should it? We'd never...he'd never...we were friends before I'd left two years ago. Surely, it shouldn't matter so much. I'd seen him kiss so many girls before and it had never hurt like it hurt right now.

"Doesn't matter," I whispered and I forced my legs to love, my face heating up in utter embarrassment.

I tried searching for Alice, but my stomach was twisting in quite painful knots. And yeah, I didn't think I felt so good at that moment.

Luca saw right through me. I wasn't there. He didn't see me. Why didn't he see me?

I left from the backyard doors out under the open night sky. The fresh air was sudden and I nearly slumped against the nearest wall as I breathed.

I blinked, feeling the corners of my eyes welling up.

Oh, Luca. Why did I never tell him how much he really meant to me?

My phone buzzed. Inhaling deeply, I took it out of my pocket with shaky fingers, sniffling and clearing my throat.

An unknown text, I realised as I looked. It had a picture attached to it. I frowned and pressed on it.

And for a whole, wide second, everything stopped again.

I looked down at the screen, at the little blond boy. It was a picture of Jack. Jack, who was in a dark room with just a small white glow illuminating his face. And I could see the ropes tied around him.

Jack.

"Oh no." That, I think, was my own voice. I frantically scrolled down. But that was it. No message. Nothing. Just a picture of Jack. My baby brother who I hadn't seen even once since the day he'd disappeared.

I blinked, looking around the almost empty backyard.

My phone slipped out of my grasp and fell on the grass. Hastily, I dropped down on my knees and picked it up, scrambling for the text but finding it gone. Erased. I pressed on the sent attachment but it wouldn't open. As if stuck. As if deleted.

"F-Fuck. Fuck." My voice broke, eyes wide in panic. "No, no, no."

I wanted to scream. I wanted so badly to scream. Because that stupid picture was gone and I had no idea where Jack was. I missed him. God, I missed him.

I could hear the voices of the people inside the house. But at the same time, I couldn't. It was just me and my racing heart. Scared, I was petrified.

"Jack." I sniffled, closing my eyes and raking my hands through my hair. I was shaking. Still shaking. Trembling. My phone fell out of my grasp again. I didn't bother picking it up this time.

He wasn't here. Jack wasn't here.

I took a small step back and I felt nauseous and tired. Like my body was hell-bent on making me believe that I could escape. Leave. Leave this all and be at peace. But then I could see flashes of Jack tied somewhere in a dark room. I could see blood around my parents and on my hands, under my fingernails and on my clothes. I could see those black petals. I could see everything ruining itself.

Jack hated being alone in the dark.

"Jack." This time, my voice sounded so far away, so extremely lost.

How would I find him? How would I ever find my little brother?

Somebody had sent me a message. That person knew where Jack was. And I couldn't even...I couldn't even send this to the police. Not when the picture wasn't even there in my phone now. Not when I had nothing.

I knew clearly well that I was panicking, and looking for something when you're panicking was the worst decision you could ever make. But that's what you do when you're panicking; you lose your shit.

"Grace?"

From somewhere far behind me, I heard a hesitant voice. But it was too far. And it wasn't Jack.

I didn't think I was breathing properly. And all there was flashing before my eyes was the picture I'd just seen on my phone. And Jack. Jack all alone in that dark room. Jack being alone for two whole years. I could see the black edging into my vision, slow and comforting, pulling me in. But I still took a small step forward and only ended up stumbling. I felt a bit tired, and a little more exhausted.

"Grace." It was even fainter than before. Not just the voice, but the noises from inside the house felt so far away too.

And I felt sick.

"Grace." There were firm hands on my arms. But at the same time, there were flashes of death. "Are you all right?"

"Jack...he's--" I heard my voice. It sounded so lost and so sad."I need Jack."

But then I was falling and falling into the dark, and my legs gave up on me. So did my consciousness.

I blacked out.