“Surprised?” Karen --Michelle-- asked. Kate just stared at her with silent eyes.

“You see, dear Katie, Michelle here was a fairly vital part of our little scheme. Well, schemes,” Alan said, smiling. Kate watched as Michelle leaned over and picked Alan’s cigarette pack up from the table, open it, retrieve one, and light it.

‘Disgusting,’ Kate thought to herself.

“Anyhow, Kate, in your case. We’ll just stick to you. There’s no need to get into any other ‘instances.’ In your case,” Alan reiterated, “Michelle works at the police station nearby as a volunteer phone assistant. Just a fancy name for someone to answer all of the calls that come in. Anyway, not to get too far off topic, Michelle here was instructed to keep an ear out for a phone call to come in such as yours. Of course she knew all the ins and outs of what was going on, so she already knew what you were going to say before you ever even got the idea to call. Thank goodness that she’s the one that answered when you did decide to call, because this one--”

“Let’s not get into that, Uncle Al,” Michelle interrupted.

“Oh. Right. Well, so, basically, Michelle here intervenes your call. I’m sure if you had talked to a real VPA, they would’ve at least sent someone over to check things out. That’s happ--”

“UNCLE AL!” Michelle hollered, interrupting him again. Anger settled throughout her features. Kate looked quickly back and forth between the two.

“Right, sorry, Shelly,” Alan genuinely did look sorry, as Michelle finished her cigarette and crushed it out on the floor with her foot. Kate guessed that there was a different time, with a different girl, where things didn’t go very ‘smoothly’ or ‘as planned.’

Interrupting her thoughts, Alan continued, “So, now that’s out of the way, how about another introduction? You know, really get the ball rolling here.” Just then the bathroom door opened again and Steve, the maintenance guy walked in. Kate’s eyes widened with horror.

“Stephen, well, Steve for short, as you already know, is my brother. Step-brother, but my brother nonetheless. Our friend Michelle here, is Steve’s daughter. Is any of this becoming any clearer for you yet, dear Kate?” Alan asked, rising from the desk chair. Kate’s answer was a cold stare.

“You know, Kate, my dad here plays a very important part in all of this,” Michelle said, glowing with pride at her father. Thank God there was duct tape over her mouth, because Kate felt like she could get sick any second from all of this insanity.

“Correct,” Alan continued for her. “If it wasn’t for ol’ Steve here landing the cushy head maintenance job for the dorms, our tasks wouldn’t be nearly as easy or,” Alan let out a small laugh, “as well-maintained. He has keys to all of the dorm rooms, so he can come and go in and out of whichever ones that he pleases. This is so great for us, honestly. It’s a lot easier to maintain upkeep on the cameras, you know, replace them when needed, that sort of thing,” Alan was practically giddy.

“Not to mention replacing the carpet and hiding cigarette burn holes. I mean, do you guys really have to ash on the floor? C’mon! That’s just extra work for me!” Steve complained, pointing at the two discarded cigarettes on the floor beneath them.

“Damn, Steve. Grow up. Really,” Alan replied, “You’ve always been the complainer out of us,” he added.

“Well, it’s just frustrating, sometimes,” Steve mumbled.

For a nanosecond, Kate felt a tinge of pity for Steve. He was younger than Alan, and seemed to be picked on and fussed at a lot. Maybe he didn’t have a choice in the matter of all of this. ‘Then why doesn’t he go to the cops himself?’ Kate questioned herself inside her mind. On the outside, her face remained calm and expressionless, her features completely still.

“Anyhow,” Alan continued, turning his attention back to Kate, “Steve really is vital. I mean, besides the camera and carpet up-keep, he also keeps a closer eye on our ‘friends’ than we can from afar. He’s here daily, watching you come and go. He learns your basic schedule pretty quickly for us, that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, as Alan is the computer, techy-guy, I’m the hands-on guy. He does all the ‘brainwork,’ I do all the ‘footwork,’ I guess you could say,” Steve informed her. Kate just stared at him, unblinking.

“Yeah, well, we can see that you’re thoroughly impressed, Kate,” Michelle snickered hatefully. “Uncle Al?” she asked, turning her head in Alan’s direction, a look of question now displayed on her face.

Sighing, and returning the look, Alan shrugged, and then looked at Steve.

Shrugging, Steve said, “Well, might as well, you know. ‘No time like the present,’ as they say. Whoever ‘they’ are.” Kate’s eyes were darting back and forth between the three of them. She didn’t let her mind guess at what was ‘next on the agenda.’

“Oh, Katie! You look terribly worried!” Michelle laughed.

“Well, don’t be worried. It’s nothing too major, really. Not yet, anyhow. Just another friendly introduction is all,” Alan smiled. “I guess we shall,” he added, looking at the others, and then his eyes went back to Kate.

“Let me introduce you to my pride and joy, my daughter, Erin.”

Hearing the bathroom door open once again, Kate craned her neck to try and get a better look at who was walking over the threshold. Kate’s eyes widened in horror and her mind screamed in disbelief as recognition of who the fourth person was engulfed her.

It was Amanda.