Nico ran down the stair with haste, the blush still across her face growing with each step she took. Once Nico was down the steps, she took a deep breath looking back up the stairs to see if Zane was coming, but nobody was there. Nico felt a pang of disappointment and walked towards Zane's living room, where Emily and Nate were sitting on the couch talking about the lights Zane had on. Nico stepped in the doorway, and the two stopped talking and stared at Nico.
"It is about time you came down. What were you and Zane doing up there for so long?" Nate asked with a smirk across his face. Nico rolled her eyes at Nate's nosy behavior. She ignored him and sat on the couch that was across from Emily. Nico looked over at Emily, watching her stare at her lap, playing with her thumbs. Emily looked up, catching Nico's eye, and opened her mouth to say something but shut it close, fidgeting in her seat. Nico sighed and held her hand out, giving her a smile trying to call a truce.
"I'm sorry, are we good?" Nico said. Emily looked at her hand and reached her hand out, but instead of shaking it, she slapped her hand away, crossing her arms looking away from Nico.
"You don't have to apologize for something I have already forgotten," Emily said, and Nico retracted her hand, looking back at Nate. Nate shrugged his shoulder before looking back at the stairs when he heard someone coming down. Nico looked at who entered the living room and notice that it was Evan. Evan gave her a strange look before looking back at Nate and Emily.
"Zane said that he would be down in a minute. He just has to take care of something first," Evan said, glancing back over at Nico. Nico felt the heat rush to her face again and sank into the sofa, peering up at Evan. Evan gave her a slight nod before walking around the couch, sitting on the armrest next to Nate.
"So, where is my stuff I asked you to bring?" Nico asked, looking over at Emily.
Emily sat there staring at Nico with a blank look on her face before turning to the side of the couch and pulling Nico's beat-up dark blue bag up before tossing it over to her. Nico grabbed the bag with ease, placing it onto her lap, scowling at Emily, who was now looking away with a smirk on her face. Nico rolled her eyes and opened her bag, sorting through the various pieces of paper cramped inside before reaching deeper inside, feeling the book's cover against her fingers tips. She grabbed hold of the book pulling it out and began flipping through the pages, finally stopping on one of the maps reading it before flipping to the next page. Nico smoothed the pages in the book down before placing the opened book on the coffee table. She reached back into her bag, pulling out papers that were cramped inside, and started to look through the pile until she pulled out a sheet of paper with a bunch of numbers and a bunch of names of the places in town written on it. Nico placed it on the table before discarded the rest back in her bag. Nico leaned over and started reading through the book's page before shifting her attention to the paper. As Nico was scanning the page, Nate leaned over and glanced at the book before looking back at Nico.
"Uh, Nic, care to tell us what you are doing?" Nate asked. Nico looked up at Nate and slid the book toward him, showing him what she was reading. Nate looked down at the book and arched an eyebrow in confusion before looking back at Nico, shrugging his shoulders leaning back on the couch. Nico sighed, pulled the book back, and started to read through it again.
"I was working on this part in the book earlier before the power went out," Nico said, flipping a page.
"What a bunch of lines on a page? "Nate said.
"It is not just a bunch of lines on a page. I have a theory that is a map," Nico replied.
"A map of what the town?" Emily asked.
"Yes, but I also think there is more to this map," Nico stated.
"Okay," Emily and Nate said.
"I was thinking that there are also tunnels that run under the town," Nico said.
"Why do you think that?" Evan asked.
"Well, this journal had two owners. Each piece of the map had two different color lines. Nico shows the three one of the map pointing at the different color lines. "So the original author wrote everything in black ink while the other person wrote everything in red. If you look at the line, some of them match, but if you follow the red lines, some lines sort of drift from the original roads. Also, each red line has something in common," Nico said.
"And that is?" Emily asked.
"Well, all the line converse to one place, and that is here," Nico said, pointing to a rough sketch of the clearing in the woods.
"What is so important about that clearing?" Nate asked, tilting his head confused.
"I don't know yet, but I Do know one thing," Nico said.
"What is that?" Emily asked.
"Well, I think Emma found these tunnels, and she found something that got her killed," Nico said.
"Why'd you think Emma had something to do with these so-called tunnels," Emily said.
"Well, I found it weird that on the night Emma disappeared, Nate said she was heading back to the woods, and if I remember correctly, Nate said that she lived near the school. But in the surveillance picture, captured Emma on Main Street by the dinner when that is nowhere near the school or woods," Nico said.
"Wait, how the hell did you get access to the surveillance camera?" Emily asked, surprised.
"Towns showed me," Nico replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Towns as in the police captain Towns?" Nico no her head, and Emily ran a hand down her face. "Why would Towns show you evidence from an active crime scene?" Emily asked.
"Because he thinks that I am a suspect," Nico said, shrugging her shoulders, and Emily looked stunned.
"He thinks you are a suspect!" Emily shouted.
"Yes, but that is not important. What is important is that how is it that only one camera caught Emma, but the other cameras, especially when the woods are on the other side of the town she would have been caught by multiple cameras," Nico said.
"Maybe she took the back roads," Nate said, and Nico shook her head.
"There is no way that she wouldn't be caught by just taking the back roads," Nico said.
"Do you think she stumbled toward these tunnels?" Nate asked, picking up a piece of paper reading it.
"Yes, but I just need to find out where the entrance is. I was working on that before the power went out," Nico said.
"Maybe the entrance is where Joe's is?" Nate said.
"Maybe," Nico said, scratching her head.
"No, something doesn't add up," Evan said chimed in, rubbing his chin.
"What doesn't?" Nico questioned, crossing his arms.
"The tunnel being at Joe's," Evan said, and Nico held her hand up.
"Well, how can we find out?" Emily asked.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" Everyone heard another voice call out. The four looked to where the voice was coming from to see Zane leaning against the door frame.
"What is?" Emily asked coldly.
"You have to put the pieces together," Zane said. The rest of the group stared at him, not saying anything, and Zane sighed and pushed himself off the door frame walking over to the couch sitting close to Nico to where their thighs were touching.
"The pieces?" Emily said, crossing her arms.
"The map. You put the pieces of the map together," Zane said.
"Oh, that's right," Evan said, clapping his hands.
"Nice work Peters," Nico said, nudging him.
"Well, we are a team, Waters," Zane said, nudging her back. Emily looked at the two and felt her anger rise, and she went to open her mouth to say something but was cut off by Nate jumping in his seat.
"So let's rip these pages out and put them together," Nate said, reaching for the book, but Nico pulled the book closer towards her.
"No, we are not ripping pages out, you psycho," Nico said.
"So, how are we going to find the entrance?" Nate said, pouting. The group fell silent, and suddenly Evan jumped up, his eyes lit up with a plan formed in his head.
"I have an idea. May I see the book?" Evan said to Nico, and she passed the book to Evan. Evan took the journal reading through it, and his eyebrows were pulled into a line as he stared at the page.
"So, what is this idea?" Nico asked. Nico watched Evan sort through the papers on the table, grabbing a blank page before looking at Nico.
"We are going to draw the map. Do you have a pencil or pen," Evan said, and Nico reached into her bag, grabbing a pencil handing it to Evan. Evan smoothes the page down, flipping to the first piece of the map.
"Do you want me to draw it?" Nico said. Evan went to open his mouth but was interrupted but Nate and Emily protesting.
"Um, why don't you let Emily draw it, Nic. I think Evan wants a clearly drawn-out map," Nate said, and Nico rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Emily, can you do it?" Nico asked.
"Yeah, let me see it," Emily said, holding her hand out. Evan handed Emily the book, and Emily examined it before reaching for a piece of paper and a pen, and Nico slid it across from the table. Emily flattened the page out and started to scribble away, turning to the book a few times. Evan turned to Zane, who was staring at Nico.
"Hey Zane, do you still have that tablet I got you for your birthday?" Evan asked, briefly looking up at Zane, and he nodded his head. "I need it," Evan requested.
"Okay," Zane got up from the couch and turned to Nico. "Wanna help?" Zane asked. Nico looked At Emily, who was drawing, and Nate and Evan looking at the sheets of paper. Nico looked back at Zane and nodded her head, and she got up, following Zane upstairs.
Nico walked into Zane's room, walking over to his bed, sitting on top of it, playing with the dog tags that hung around her neck. Zane walked into his room, closing the door behind him, not taking his eyes off Nico. Zane leaned into his door, crossing his arm.
"Hey, are you alright?" Zane asked. Nico looked up at Zane and nodded her head. Zane arched his eyebrow and pushed himself off the door, walking over to Nico, stopping in front of her, kneeling down, reaching eye level with her. Nico looked at Zane and huffed, looking down on her lap for a moment before looking back at Zane's concerned face.
"Can I ask you something?" Nico asked quietly.
"Sure," Zane said.
"If you were Towns, would you believe that I did something to Emma?" Nico asked.
"Well, if I am honest, the odds are against you," Zane said.
"Great, so another person that is against me," Nico said, looking back at her lap. Zane sighed moved to the bed sitting next to Nico.
"Well, not everyone. You gain someone on your side," Zane said.
"Like who?" Nico said, looking up to Zane.
"My dad believes you are innocent," Zane said, and Nico scoffed.
"Heh, well, that is something," Nico said, looking down at her lap again.
"What is really going on?" Zane asked.
"It is just something that doesn't add up," Nico said, laying on Zane's bed.
"What doesn't?" Zane asked, laying back on his bed.
"I feel like Towns knows something bigger than he is letting on," Nico said.
"I agree," Zane said, and Nico turned to her side, looking at Zane.
"What do you mean?" Nico asked, and Zane turned to Nico.
"Well, my dad was acting really weird for the past couple of days. I asked him what was going and he shut down and said that it was just stress from work," Zane said.
"Well, that's odd," Zane nodded and sat up, wringing his hands together.
"Hey, what is wrong?" Nico asked, sitting up looking at Zane.
"I did something bad," Zane said.
"What did you do?" Nico asked.
"I was worried about my dad, so I went to go visit him at work, and when he left the room, I started snooping through his stuff," Zane said.
"You did! Oh my gosh! What did you find?" Nico asked, leaning closer to Zane.
"I didn't find a thing, and that is what is odd. I would find at least find something but nothing it was like anything relation Emma's death," Zane said.
"That is odd," Nico said.
"Yea, but there is one thing that I did find actually," Zane said.
"What?" Nico said, shifting closer to Zane.
"A note that said all the testimony that my dad did should all go to Towns," Zane said.
"I knew that Towns is hiding something. We need to find out what it is," Nico said.
"And how are we going to find that out?" Zane asked.
"I don't know, but we should find that tablet before they think that we are doing something," Nico said, getting up from the bed. Zane got up and walked up from behind Nico, resting his hand in Nico's hip leaning down to her ear.
"Are you sure you don't wanna stay longer?" Zane asked seductively. Nico turned around, looked into Zane's eyes, and smiled at him, reaching Zane's ear.
"You wouldn't be able to handle it," Nico said, pushing Zane away. Zane smirked and took a step back, holding his hands up. Zane walked over to his desk, pulling out a drawer reaching inside, and pulling out a tablet. Zane closed the drawer and looked at Nico, who was standing at the door looking at him. Zane walked up to Nico, his smirk growing wider.
"I just want to let you know is that I can handle it, can you?" Zane said, opening his bedroom door walking out, leaving a shocked Nico. Nico felt the heat rush to her tan skin and shook her head, walking out of the room.
Zane and Nico came down the stairs, and Nico walked to the empty sofa sitting down looking at Nate, who was smirking. Zane passed the tablet to Evan before returning to his original seat next to Nico.
"Okay, now that you have the tablet, what are you going to do with it?" Zane said, and Evan turned it on, looking at it before turning it, Zane showing him the keypad. Zane reached over and took the tablet from him and punched in the passcode before handing it back to Evan, who took it and began typing away, not uttering a single word. The group sat in silence while Emily and Evan worked on their individual projects. After a couple of minutes, Evan looked up at everyone with a big grin plastered on his face before looking at Emily.
"Hey, is that drawing done?" Evan asked, and Emily sat up, looking at the paper one last time before looking up at Evan.
"Yeah, is this big enough?" Emily asked, passing the sheet of paper to Evan. Evan took the page and looked at it before shifting his gaze to the tablet in his other hand.
"This is perfect," Evan said. He placed the tablet down onto the table, brightening the screen before placing the paper on top of the tablet lining it up making sure the drawing fits. As he was staring at the tablet, everyone moved next to him, looking down as well.
"So, what are we looking at?" Nate said, looking down at the map. Evan sat there in silence before his eyes lit up and pointed at a spot on the page.
"There," Evan said, and the crew looked down at the spot he was pointing at.
"The library?" Emily said, tilting her head a bit.
"Yes! I thought it was odd that Nico said that these tunnels were built a year after the town was founded, so I thought that it can't be the diner because the diner was actually built around 1986, and the library was built in 1848, two years after the town founded in 1846," Evan stated.
"Okay, so built the building over the entrance," Zane said.
"Yes, I matched the drawing of the tunnels with how the town looked like when it was first founded, and it begins in the library," Evan said.
"That makes sense. In the surveillance picture, Emma was by the diner, so I just thought that the tunnel was near there, but the library is just around the corner, so maybe she went into the library and went through the entrance," Nico said.
"Yeah, but earlier in your room, didn't you say that the time stamp was around midnight, so everything would be close by that time. So how would Emma stumble into the library if the library was close?" Zane said, shifting closer to Nico.
"Maybe she broke in?" Nico stated.
"You know, after hearing that, that incident makes a lot more sense," Emily said.
"What incident?" Nico said to Emily.
"Well, a week ago, I was heading into work, and I passed by the library, and there were a bunch of cop cars surrounding it," Emily said.
"Oh yeah, I remember my dad was called in for that, and he told me that the door was busted open when the librarian came in that morning," Zane said.
"Did they take anything?" Nico asked.
"No, but that was the odd part. Nothing was taken, but the alarm was broken, which is why the cops were never brought in," Zane said.
"Did your dad say anything else about it?" Nico asked.
"No, he said they probably got spooked and broke the alarm in a panic and ran," Zane said.
"So maybe Emma got away and broke into the library to get to the woods," Emily said.
"Or was caught and was dragged into there," Nico thought as she shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Zane looked down at Nico and gave her a slight nudge locking eyes with her giving her a worrying look, and Nico gave him a pat on his shoulder, giving him a meek smile.
"Okay, so that we know where the entrance it the only thing we had to think about is how to find it in the library," Nate stated.
"Actually, there is one thing that we have to figure out," Nico said.
"What is it?" Nate asked.
"I think that Towns is hiding something bigger than Emma's death," Nico said.
"Like what?" Emily said.
"Like Towns is keeping evidence of what killed Emma," Nico said.
"Nic, a police captain, can keep information from you," Nate said.
"Yeah, but don't you find it odd that he asked Zane's dad to take every evidence about Emma's death to give it to him," Nico said.
"Wait a second. My uncle told me he didn't take this case," Evan said.
"Well, he did because he took it from my dad," Zane said.
"Something is wrong," Evan said.
"I thought so too," Nico said.
"So, what do we do?" Nate asked.
"We need to find out what he is hiding," Nico said.
"And how do we do that? Break into Towns office and find the information getting out without being caught," Emily said, crossing her arms.
"Even if we manage to get into his office, there is no way we won't be caught if we manage to get into my uncle's computer," Evan said.
"Well, we don't need to get on the computer. Towns have files in his filing cabinet," Nico said, and Evan shook his head.
"Yea, but if you want information that is not known to everyone, then you have to go into the computer," Evan said.
"So we just have to get into the computer," Nico said.
"Actually, you can't because all computers have passwords that are changed every week, and you have to answer a series of questions that only that officer knows," Zane said.
"So, how do we get the information?" Nate said.
"No clue unless you know a hacker that can get through the system without being caught," Evan said. Everyone fell silent until Emily sat up looking at the group playing with her thumbs.
"What if I told you I knew someone who can do it?" Emily said.
"Really," Nico said, leaning towards Emily, and she nodded her head.
"Yeah, I can text him to do it if that is what you want," Emily said.
"Yes, please," Nico said, and Emily nodded her head, pulling her phone out, and started texting the guy. After a while, Emily looked back at the group with a smile on her face.
"Well, he is in. He just wants to know what the plan is," Emily said.
"Great now, we think of a plan," Nico said, and Zane looked up at him. Everyone gathers closer to Nico, listening to a plan she thought of. As Nico explained her idea, she glanced over at Zane and watched the smile grow on his face. Nico return the smile, and Zane felt his chest tighten as he looked at Nico and how happy she looked, and he wanted to do everything he can to keep that smile on her face.
Nico sat at her desk, twirling her pencil between her fingers, leaning her chin against her hand, staring out the window, waiting for class to be over. Nico was very thrilled that the whole day went by like a breeze, and she was ready to rush out the door and go find the entrance to that tunnel. Nico contemplated cutting school and discovering the tunnel herself, but everyone would be mad at her if Nico went ahead without discussing it with anyone. As the bell rang, Nico shot up from her seat, grabbed her things, and rushed out the door, pushing some people out the way, muttering an apology as she rushed past them. Nico ran to her locker and put the combination in, throwing it open, grabbing the remaining books in her locker, shoving them in her bag, and slamming it close. Nico threw her bag over her shoulder, spun on her heels, and ran towards the boy's locker room. Nico ran down the hall, turning the corner, suddenly colliding with something hard, falling to the ground hard enough that her bag flung open, spilling the contents out and scattering them all over the hallway. Nico sat up, locking eyes with a pair of amber eyes, looking back at her holding his hand towards her. She groaned at Zane and grabbed his hand, letting him pull her up to her feet. Once upon her feet and Nico looked up at Zane, looking into his eyes and soften her gaze, and the images of last night suddenly flashed in her mind, and she felt her legs went a little weak. Nico looked away from Zane and cleared her throat, taking a step back, feeling a slight tug on her hand. Nico looked down, staring at Zane's hand that was still wrapped around her's. Nico tugged her hand again, but instead of loosening his grip, his grip only got a little tighter. Nico looked up into Zane's face and the smirk that was placed on his face.
"So I don't get a thank you," Zane said. From that line alone, Nico rolled her eyes and made the smirk on Zane's face grow pulling her closer.
"Thanks," Nico muttered, finally removing her hand from Zane's grasp taking a step away from Zane. Zane's smirk grew into a lopsided smile, and he backed away from Nico, turning away from her. Zane walked to the other side of the hallway, bending over, collecting the papers scattered around the hallway. Once he collected all the papers, Zane turned to Nico handing them back to her. Nico picked up her bag, taking the sheets of papers from Zane, shoving them back into her bag. Zane placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her off to the side, and cleared his throat, removing his hand.
"So, are you ready to go?" Nico said, and she nodded her head, and Zane walked past her towards the exit.
Nico turned to Zane and sprinted toward him, matching his pace, walking alongside him toward the exit. As the pair entered the lobby, Zane heard his name being called. Nico and Zane turned to who was calling him, and Zane groaned internally as she watched Megan run-up to Zane, shooting Nico a slight glare before turning to Zane, giving him a winning smile. To Nico, that smile can bring any boy in this school to their knees, and Nico didn't stand a chance.
"Hey Megan, what's going on?" Zane asked flatly.
"Well, I was wondering if you had any plans tonight cause a bunch of us is getting together, and I wanted to see if you wanted to tag along," Megan responded, twirling a piece of her blonde hair.
"Oh um," Zane began but was interrupted by Nico laying a hand on his shoulder, and Zane turned to her arching his eyebrow.
"I'll just wait for you at your car," Nico stated.
"Alright, I won't be long," Zane said, and Nico nodded and walked out of the building. Zane watched her leave before turning back to Megan, who was staring at him with a troubling look.
"So you and Nico, when did that happen?" Megan asked, and Zane arched an eyebrow giving her a confused look.
"What are you talking about?" Zane asked, not understanding Megan's question.
"Well, last time we talked, you said didn't like her because you thought she was a stalker, but I guess that was a lie because you and Nico were leaving together. So what changed between you guys that you have the stalker waiting by your car and going home together?" Megan asked, making Zane look at her like she was crazy.
"Well, first of all, didn't I tell you not to call her a stalker anymore? Also, I was in the wrong because I actually had a conversation, and she is a cool person," Zane stated.
"A cool person? So now what! you guys best friends now, and what, you guys are going to fucking share milkshakes at joe's and spend more time on her and her loser friends than your actual friends?" Megan questioned, growing more upset with Zane.
"What, no, we just have a lot in common, and I'm sorry that I don't want to hang out and talk about anything but the next party we are going to throw. Sorry, I just want a change of pace once in a while," Zane said, causing Megan to scoff at him.
"Well, I am so happy you guys became so close and that we are too boring for you," Megan said, crossing her arms turning away from Zane.
"What, no, that is not true," Zane said.
"Whatever, Zane," Megan said, waving Zane off.
"Really, Megan? Are you seriously mad at me now?" Zane said, and Megan shook her head and turned back to Zane, placing her hands on his chest leaning closer to him.
"I just miss you, and I feel like you are spending more of your time with Nico than everyone else, mostly me," Megan said. Zane sighed and removed Megan's hands from his chest, and held them in his hand.
"Megan, stop," Zane said.
"Stop what?" Megan said, giving Zane a clueless look.
"Acting jealous when I hang out with anyone who isn't you. You broke up with me remember?" Zane said, letting go of Megan's hands.
"But what if I said that I regretted ever breaking up with you?" Megan said softly, placing and hand on Zane's cheek. Zane sighed and removed her hand once more, and took a step away from her.
"I gotta go, Megan. I just can't talk about this right now," Zane said before turning away from her and walked out of the building. Megan watched Zane walk away, clenching her fist to where her knuckles turned white and gritted her teeth, her eyes darken, thinking about how he is running off to the girl Megan hates.
"This is all Nico's fault. Just you wait, Nico. I'm going to teach you what happens when you try to take Zane from me," Megan thought before turning on heels and walked down the hall to meet the rest of her friends.