A Starry Eyed Mystery

Chapter 9

Instantly, Aidan pulled me against him as we slowly started to move away from where we were, but honestly, it seemed to be that we were in danger no matter where we were. We might as well just wear bright colours with an even brighter sign that says "WE ARE DANGER MAGNETS :)" in big letters. Did you catch the sarcasm?

Despite the heavy silence at the moment, my eyes were sharp. Clearly someone connected to the case was in the very same area we are in and threatened us in said area, twice now. Twice! Let's not go for the third time, because is it really the charm? Yeah, probably not. However, we were startled by a loud roar of an engine. I turned my head and saw a blur of a black SUV speeding away. Well at least the culprit (who is obviously fluent in threat, might I add) is gone. I glanced at Aidan to see him looking down at me worriedly. "Are you okay?" His eyes were full of concern and I was literally the only thing he was focused on. "Yeah, of course. I mean I've handled double threat days many times." I said, rolling my eyes. "But are you? You can't always be worrying about me. This is your car we're talking about. You're a part of this too, Aidan." He just stood staring at me for a minute. A flicker of emotions crossed his face: confusion, shock, anger, appreciation, and...desire? No, there's no way. I don't even know what's going on between us at this point. Before it was burning hatred, but now? All I know is that no matter how much I want to hate him, I can't. It's basically impossible and my heart doesn't know how to act around him now. I guess we've become good friends now; I just hope we don't end off on bad terms again. "Yeah, I'm good. But it is my job to worry about you; I don't want anything to happen to you. I can't let anything happen to you or else I can't forgive myself for that." I was startled by his voice interrupting my thoughts. "Hey, I'm alright and so are you. That's all that matters. But now, we need to figure out who's behind all of this. This has intensified like crazy in a matter of days; clearly this person is out to do something. It's obviously a warning, but it doesn't make any sense. I'm not making this case sound unimportant, but Olivia's case isn't as major as other things I've seen. Which brings me to say that there is something more serious and sinister hidden. Why else would a person go through all this effort to follow us here, when we were just going out to have fun? And why the double warning? No, we're clearly missing something." I stopped talking, realizing I might've said too much in one speech. Aidan was looking at me, half intrigued and half amused? He broke into a small laugh before turning serious. "Maybe tone down the speeches a bit, don't you think, Ash? But jokes aside, you're definitely right. We need to figure out the missing piece to the puzzle because it doesn't look like this person is going to quit. Not trying to jinx things or anything but I bet that there's bound to be a new victim soon, possibly even one of us from the looks of things." I nodded, shuddering to think of either of us being the next intended target. "Maybe we should take watch since we're going to be here for the rest of the night. We should each take a couple of shifts since it's already almost 2." He nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll take the first shift until 4:30 to 5:00 and I'll wake you up then for the 5-8 shift." I agreed and we started making our way back to Aidan's car. After attending to the washroom business of course; that was the sole reason why we even left the car. We got into the car and rearranged everything. The seats were down, giving us a bed-like surface which we covered with the blankets; some scrunched up to resemble pillows. I crawled onto my "bed" and lay, while Aidan sat up, his eyes alert. "Goodnight," he said. I said it back and closed my eyes.

But sleep wouldn't come. I was tossing and turning, changing my position and silently groaning. I finally snuck a peak at my phone and saw that it had barely been half an hour since I tried to sleep. Ugh. I sat up, my silent groans becoming audible ones. I looked over at Aidan and saw him looking back at me. "Can't sleep?" I shook my head. "Not at all, it's like I'm not even tired." He laughed and then patted the seat beside him. "Then come sit with me." I scooted over, our legs touching when I settled down beside him. I looked up through the sunroof at the stars. Sometimes I wish I could escape my life and be up there. Sometimes though. I was barely aware of Aidan's presence beside me and was suddenly startled when I felt him put his arm around me, pulling me into him. But I didn't pull away. It felt nice being in his arms. I leaned my head on his shoulders and suddenly asked him, "Hey, so how exactly was your time in New York? You seemed a bit vague and touchy about the subject when we first talked. Maybe because we weren't friends and didn't click at first?" "Oh, so we've become friends now? So that's what you are." He teased, but then added seriously, "I wasn't feeling the city, you know. I felt that something was missing and that I needed to come back. I missed the familiarity of living in a smaller town, and I missed you. I guess I'm not a city boy." He let out a small chuckle. He said he missed me, he actually said it. I gave him a small smile and reached out to intertwine our fingers. What got into me at that moment is what I don't know or understand at all. "I'm sorry things weren't all that great for you in New York. If it helps, I missed you too." He looked at me seriously and then smiled softly. "I guess it all happened for a reason. I think I'm glad to be back home. Fate really has a way of doing things." I smiled back, suddenly feeling a bit tired. We lapsed into a peaceful silence, the only sound being our breathing. I liked this feeling, it was so new but familiar at the same time. With my head on his shoulder and his head on mine, my eyes started feeling heavy. Maybe it was a minute later, maybe an hour. But I felt my eyes closing soon enough...

Chapter 9 is complete!!

I'm sorry that this chapter isn't too great; I've been having severe writer's block lately.

But what did you guys think of the second threat they received?

What about their stronger connection?

Stay tuned for the next chapter!!

Keep dreaming, dreamers!

-Ennie