A Trip to Paris

By Julci Areza, Chloe Birney, Grace Chen, Lilian Ha, and Irika Sinha

Chapter 1

Rebecca had barely slept through the night. Tossing and turning, she could only think of what was to come the next day. She'd never felt so much anxiety in her life. Did I pack everything? Does my luggage fit the requirements? Do I have my passport? Is everything up-to-date?

She sighed. France. That was the thing on her mind. Paris, to be exact. She had waited all summer long for this trip, spending every spare moment on planning. Together, with her eleven best friends, they would take a trip to the City of Love for a full month. She smiled at the thought of it. There would be no parents, no rules, and no guidelines. They could do whatever they wanted, from sleeping in until 12, to partying 'til one.

It felt like she had barely closed her eyes when her alarm went off. Shoveling down her breakfast, she put on her nicest "airplane outfit": a plain, oversized sweater and some comfy leggings. She pulled out her two large suitcases onto the driveway of her giant home. Her parents looked on lovingly, wiping at their eyes.

Becca rolled her eyes and smiled. Sometimes her parents could get worked up over nothing. "Mom, Dad, please don't worry. I'll only be in France for a month! And besides, I'm sixteen. I can take care of myself."

"Be careful, honey! And remember, we paid all that money for your plane ticket!" Yeah right, like that was a big deal. Her parents had more money than they could ever count. Heck, all of the kids at Faywater had parents with cash overload.

Becca had grown up here, and Faywater would always be in her heart. These kids knew how to party all night, yet still pull off good grades. But that was mostly because they had Demi to give all the answers to them.

"Well, here are Rose's parents to take me to the airport!" said Becca. "Love you guys! I promise I'll write once a week!" She gave her parents a big hug before jumping in the sleek BMW.

"So, Rose," Becca whispered as they got in the back seat, "how is it with you and Ryan?"

"Shh, Mom doesn't know!" Rose giggled. "But it's going great. I think this trip will make it even better, if that's possible. Anyways, have you heard from Demi? Everyone else is already at the airport, but she's disappeared somewhere—again!"

That's Demi for you. Always off in that little world of hers. Besides that, she was a great friend. It was really strange though, how none of the others had ever met Demi's parents. . . .

After about an hour of fighting traffic, Rose's mom pulled into a spot at the airport parking garage. Turns out, Demi had been there for the past three hours. But didn't she just call me from her house before I left home? Becca thought to herself. Never mind . . . it must've been someone else.

Rose's mom followed them to security, where she was forced to stop.

"Oh, no! Mom, please don't cry! It's not like anything bad is going to happen. We promise to stay together. There's nothing to worry about, okay?" Tessa snorted in the background, and Rose threw her an irritated look. After Rose's mom left, they passed through security, boarded the plane, and got situated in their seats. For the rest of the flight, everyone was off doing their own little thing.

Zach was daydreaming of course—Fasten your seatbelts . . . no smoking . . . Becca . . . bathrooms in the back . . . food comes later . . . Becca's so pretty. . . . Rose and Ryan were in the back, laughing their heads off at some inside jokes. Mady, Tuesday, and Alyssa were sniffling quietly while watching "The Last Song" on the little TV screens. Cameron and Tristan were competing at Doodle Jump on their iPhones. Tessa and Becca were delving into their collection of magazines, while Ryan and Marc were munching on pack after pack of airplane pretzels. Demi was doing who-knows-what.

Yup, that's how the group rolls.

Chapter 2

"Woohoo! Party time!" Alyssa giggled as she skipped down the airport corridor. Their flight had finally landed, and thank God it did. Rose was close to throwing up.

"Shush, it's 3 am in the morning here," Demi threw her an annoyed look. Dragging her heavy luggage through the security gate, she stepped out of the sliding doors. Closing her eyes, Demi took in a breath of the dark but warm and breezy night. The faint smell of croissants, chocolate, and coffee found its way to her, a painful reminder she had eaten nothing but pretzels and raisins on the flight. First times in Paris were always memorable. Looking around for a speedy way of transportation, she spotted a black tour bus rounding the corner. Demi glanced back at her friends, who were lagging slowly behind. "Guys! Hurry up, there goes our ride!"

With the appearance like that of some zombie penguins, the group ran towards the bus, occasionally tripping over their own rolling baggage. By the time the bus finally skidded to a halt, they were nearly in tears from exhaustion. What a great way to start the trip.

The driver grinned at them, probably trying hard not to snicker. He was a comical looking boy, not much older than themselves. With his straw hat and tropical button-up shirt, he looked more like he belonged in the Bahamas instead of France.

"Ze name's Antoine. Go ahead and take a seat in ze back, and you can leave your stuff in ze front." His voice was deep and husky, his words slurring together. Reluctantly, the friends jumped inside the dark and musky bus. Inside, it smelled like an old bookstore, one that hadn't been dusted in years. The seats were rather old, and were made of black, fake leather. A few of the chairs had holes. Rose immediately began to wish that she was back on the plane.

"To the Les Degres de Notre-Dame, please!" Alyssa requested.

Antoine chuckled loudly. "Ze little place on ze corner of Rue Grands Degrés? Hehe, good luck with zat one!"

Rose shuddered as a faint feeling of nausea washed over her. She wasn't used to transferring from one claustrophobic place to another, especially this late at night. I was expecting a five-star luxury hotel! I'm going to kill Zach. . . . Her thoughts wandered as she took a seat next to Ryan. Resting her head on his shoulder, she yawned and slowly let herself fall into a deep sleep.

This clearly wasn't the case for Mady. She was altogether too busy admiring the beauty of this new place. The tall, sparkling buildings towered over the petite cafes. Ancient museums, cracked and plastered with graffiti, were filled with countless paintings and sculptures for all to see. Late at night, there were still some bikers roaming the streets and loving couples sharing ice cream. She sighed; there needed to be some more romance in her life. Watching Zach and Tessa make out countless times was becoming boring . . . and awkward.

After nearly an hour, the bus screeched as Antoine slammed on the brakes.

"Come on man, do you do have to do that every time?" complained Ryan.

"Heheh, no, it's just this place is so hard to spot!"

"Um, what place?" questioned Becca. Everyone was peering out of the bus now, trying to find the hotel.

"Americans," he muttered under his breath. "Zat place! Right zere!"

"Oh, my gosh, that tiny thing? I thought it was a café!" Becca gasped in horror. Everyone was glaring at Zach now.

"Well, sorry! It was cheap. And it's ranked #356 out of #400 and something on the Trip Advisor list!" Groaning, the group shuffled out of the bus.

Chapter 3

They walked into the lobby with grim looks on their faces.

"Are you kidding me?" Mady cried in outrage. "This is our 'shelter' for the next few weeks? Zach, I am so going to kill you for this."

"What? It's not that bad, is it?" he replied.

"NOT THAT BAD? This, this teensy lobby can't even hold the twelve of us!" It was true. With everyone inside with their luggage, you couldn't even see your own feet.

"Excusez-moi? Eh . . . miss? I do speak some English," The doorman interrupted.

"Oh, yes, um . . . sorry." Mady said, embarrassed.

Tuesday shoved herself to the front. Alyssa accidently tripped and stumbled into Cameron. They blushed awkwardly, and avoided eye contact with each other.

"Hey, doorman... guy. Yeah, we made some reservations here, so could we like get our keys or something?"

"My name eez Christophe. And what key are talking about? We don't use keys."

"What's that, Chris?" Tuesday asked. "Then how do we keep people from breaking in?"

He handed her a hairpin. "Use this. Put it in, wiggle it around, and click! You can open zee door. Like, eh, magic!"

After checking in, they went upstairs to find the rooms even worse. That is, if you can call them rooms. Zach had reserved the smallest ones to "save money for any emergencies." And, he only reserved two! All seven girls had to cram into a ten-by-ten foot room. No one knew where to put their stuff. It was like a slave ship. There was the same issue with the boys.

"Man, next time, I'M picking the hotel," Ryan complained.

"Hey, you'll be thanking me once you realize how much money we saved." Zach said. Everyone had been giving him crap about the stupid hotel. It didn't matter to him anyway. He just wanted a chance to talk to Rebecca. Too bad Tessa had to keep "accidently bumping into him." Zach sighed. Life was confusing. At least he had Becca to look forward to every day. He loved her soft hair, the way she laughed, her perfect smile. . . .

"Hey! Zach, dude! You just totally missed out on our rants!" Marc yelled.

"What? Oh, sorry, bro. Spaced out there for a moment."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," said Marc. "You had that dreamy girly look on your face. Don't tell me you were thinking about Rebecca again."

"What do you mean?" Zach asked nervously.

"We know you like her, man. It's so obvious." Cameron laughed.

"Um, how would you know?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe it was how nervous you get whenever she talks to you!" said Cameron. "Or, just maybe it's the constant stares you gave her on the plane."

Zach was so embarrassed. He looked away from them. There was an awkward silence for about five minutes. They could hear people laughing in the other room.

Finally, Zach stood up. "C'mon everyone. Let's go meet the girls." He walked out of the room without looking back.

They walked into the lobby to find the girls giggling in a circle. They were whispering secrets to each other, the boys guessed. They hadn't even acknowledged them until Alyssa looked up and laughed. More whispers. This time, they got some strange looks as well. Ten minutes later, they had finished up and the guys had almost fallen asleep.

Tuesday rolled her eyes while the other girls snickered. "Wake up, boys!" she said. "We've got some shopping to do!"

Chapter 4

Reluctantly, the guys agreed to go shopping. They spilt up into groups and decided to meet back around 6 pm.

Rose and Ryan were enjoying their time together. They had gotten to walk in the parks, eat at a small cafe, and check out the Eiffel Tower. Everything was perfect.

"Wow, Paris is so beautiful!" Rose exclaimed. She spun, and accidently knocked over a lady with a small purse dog.

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" She apologized. The lady yelled something at her in French. It probably meant something along the lines of "F*cking children!" Rose laughed.

"Smooth," Ryan said, grinning.

"Hey, at least I can spin better than you," said Rose, smiling as well.

"Oh, yeah? Is that a challenge?"

"Sure, why not?"

Ryan tried to spin, but ended up tripping over his own feet. He began to fall, but Rose caught him.

"It must be some kind of weird talent girls have," he joked.

"Nah, I'm just cool like that," said Rose.

"Really? I know I can beat you at something else," Ryan teased. "Race you to that pink store up there!" He began to run.

"Hey, no fair!" Rose said. "Slow down!" She took off, running as fast as she could. "Ryan, wait for me!" she called, laughing. He was a few yards ahead of her, but it wasn't surprising—he was a great runner.

Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth and dragged her backwards. She struggled, but it was no use. She tried to scream, but the strength was too much for her, and she couldn't let out a sound. The glove was musty, and tasted old and dirty. There was no use it trying to escape. The person in the black cloak looked like the kind of stereotypical bad-guy you would see in horror movies, but there was no time for Rose to think of that now. She was in danger.

"So, what have you got here? A boyfriend?" the cloaked figure said. The voice was one of a girl, with a deeper than average voice, scoffing at her.

"Let me out of here!" She screamed back, "Bring me back to my friends!"

"Why would I let such a prized possession like you out of my grasp, Rose?"

"How . . . how do you know my name?" she said, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Oh, I have been watching you for quite some time now. . . ."

The gloved hand flew up with a Taser. Rose felt a shock, and all went black.

Meanwhile, Ryan was running as fast as he could to the store without looking back. Of course, he was already much faster than Rose, and he knew it. He finally reached the overly decorated cafe, giving himself a second to catch his breath. He stood up, expecting to see Rose right in front of him. The only problem was, she wasn't.

Chapter 5

"Rose?" Ryan shouted frantically. "Rose?" He turned back to retrace his steps—the pink shop in front of him looked far too girly and welcoming for anyone who valued their sanity anyways. Rose was nowhere to be seen.

Wait . . . was that Rose's red scarf she was wearing this morning lying on the ground? The dirt and pebbles that were tangled beneath the thread ruined its floral pattern stitched in pink. Why would she have thrown her scarf away like this?

But more importantly, where was she?

"Hey! Over here!" said a voice only too familiar. She jumped on his back, laughed, and kissed his cheek. "Miss me?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Rose," Ryan replied. "You had me scared there."

"Don't be such a baby. I'm here now!" She squealed.

"Yes, you are." He grinned. As relieved as he was, he knew that there was something wrong about this. It wasn't right. Rose wasn't acting like herself.

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" Rose asked.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me. C'mon, I'll buy you something inside."

They went inside the pink café and took their orders. Ryan got a pumpkin latte, while Rose took an unusual amount of time deciding.

"Have you found out what you want yet, Rose?" Ryan asked. She didn't answer. "Hello? Rose? Do you know what you want?"

She looked confused for a while but then began to light up. "Oh… no, not yet. I'm almost done. Ry-Ry, should I get a peppermint mocha or a regular decaf?"

"Um…I don't really care, it's your choice." He knew something was up with Rose. She never ordered anything besides a vanilla latte. It was a regular routine. And did she just call him Ry-Ry? That wasn't normal either. The only other person who ever called him Ry-ry was…

"Hey, Rose, do you know where Demi went?" Ryan asked her, already knowing that she did.

"Uh, no. Why?" she replied unconfidently. "Do you want to talk to her?" She could feel his eyes staring at her. This was a glare of anger, not one of love.

"You sure?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yup. Why wouldn't I be?" She had a doubt in her voice that convinced Ryan of her lie. "Ryan, can I speak to you outside?"

"Yeah, sure." He gritted his teeth. They both had a lot to say to each other. He got up and followed her out the door.

"What's up, Demi?" Ryan asked. Her jaw dropped. "Spill it."

"How . . . how did you know it was me? Can't you see me? I'm all bright and disgusting."

"Demi, we used to go out. I actually paid attention to you last year. I remember what you like. All those things you dragged me into doing—I hated it. Do you think I wanted to go into Victoria's Secret with you? No."

Demi was on the verge of tears. "No, don't say that. We loved each other." She kissed him, but he didn't kiss her back. He shoved her and began to walk away. "RYAN. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME. COME BACK!"

He turned around and felt a pang of pity. Clouds began to gather, and it started to rain. Demi's disguise seemed to melt right off of her. At her feet was a pool of pink from her clothes. The liquid seemed thick and gooey as it trickled down into the gutter.

"Don't you remember why we broke up?" Ryan said, with a mix of hate and sympathy in his eyes. "You were too controlling. I couldn't go out with the guys because you were afraid I would cheat on you. Why couldn't you trust me? Remember that night you snuck into my house and tied me to my bed while I was sleeping? I was stuck in bed for two days until my mom finally found me. You got sent to Juvie for a month. Doesn't that tell you anything?" He sighed, it was no use—Demi would never change. He turned around and stormed off. I can't believe she would go this far, pretending to be my girlfriend. She's so sick and twisted. He was caught up in his own thoughts before he realized that she was following him.

"What do you want, Demi?" He was sick and tired of this, this stalker. That's what she was. Demi was a crazy, obsessive stalker.

"I want us to be together again," she said quietly. Ryan was stunned. After all he had said, why couldn't she understand that he wanted her to go away?

"Demi, listen to me. You're insane. Get some help."

"Hey guys, what's up? Ryan, you ok? Where's Rose?" Becca had just walked up with Mady. It looked like they'd done a lot of shopping. Both hands were full of bags, just like in the movies.

"Rebecca. Mady. Help me. Keep that,"—he pointed to Demi— "the hell away from me." Demi started to go after him, but Mady said it might be a good idea if everyone stayed away from him for a while. He obviously needed some time to chill.

Chapter 6

Ryan ran past groups of curious people. To them, he was a strange Asian kid holding a red scarf while looking for a rose. After a while, he began to realize that running around town wasn't helping. He had no idea where she could've gone. Dammit! He thought. Why couldn't I have asked Demi when I was with her? Now I'm lost, and I have no idea where to go.

He was about to turn around and go back and find Demi, when he saw two familiar figures in the distance. He ran towards the couple on the bench. They were underneath a tree, making out.

Ryan walked up to them casually. "Hey, Tessa! Zach! Have you guys seen Rose around here?"

They looked up awkwardly at him. "Uh, no . . . we're kind of busy here," said Tessa.

"I can see that." Ryan said, annoyed. "It's just that she went missing. I've looked all over town and I can't find her."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "It's not really our problem."

"It kind of is, Tess." Zach knew Tessa could be a bitch to other people, but she was always sweet to him. He felt special when he was around her.

He turned to Ryan. "When did you last see her?"

"It's kind of a long story. . . ." Ryan explained the ordeal.

They blinked.

"Okay, so did you manage to see her again afterwards?" asked Zach.

"No." Ryan sighed. He was really worried. Ryan walked over to the grass and fell back, almost crushing a squirrel. It seemed girly, but he liked to watch the sky. The way it would constantly change was fascinating.

"So, anyway, after that amazing story, I think Zach and I have some things to do." Tessa said, like Rose's disappearance was no big deal.

Ryan looked up at her, shocked. "Tessa, you want to know what I think of you? I think you're a—"

"OKAY. Guys, that's enough. Ryan, calm down. I'm sure you'll find her. Tessa, is it too much to ask if you could care about something other than us once in a while?" Both of them glared at him, hating the fact that he was right.

"Fine. Whatever." Ryan said. Tessa nodded in agreement.

Before Ryan left, he pulled Zach aside. Tessa understood they needed some guy talk, so she walked around the park.

"Hey, man, what's up with you and Tessa anyway? I thought you liked Becca," Ryan said, concerned.

Zach was embarrassed. "Oh, well . . . Tessa and I had been going out for a while already. It'd be too mean to dump her because of another girl. She's not that bad you know, if you push aside the attitude."

Ryan looked at him, frowning. He didn't approve of him being with someone he didn't love. It must be torture. Ryan was glad he was with Rose. At least they loved each other for who they were.

"Ok, but be careful. The last thing you want is for Tessa to find out about Rebecca."

"Hah," Zach laughed with confidence, "It's not like that's ever going to happen.

They turned around to see Tessa, tears streaming down her face.

Chapter 7

As Zach tried to go chase after Tessa, Ryan resumed his searching for Rose. By now, the sun had gone down, and it was five o'clock. He decided he would have to use his last resort.

Zach ran across town, desperate to find Demi. He checked around the pink café, only to find it empty of any people. Finally, after another hour of searching, he went back to the hotel, discouraged and depressed.

He lay back on one of the couches in the lobby. Everyone was chatting among themselves. Alyssa and Tuesday were laughing at something on Tristan's phone. Tessa and Zach were arguing about the day's happenings. Marc and Cameron were chatting quietly. Both noticed Ryan walking in, looking close to tears.

"What's up, Ryan?" Marc asked. "Did Rose finally dump you?"

"You wish," Ryan said. "She went missing. I can't find her anywhere."

"Wow, it's worse than I thought," Cameron joked. "She actually ran away? What'd you do this time?"

"I'm being serious, man." Ryan said. "I've been looking for her for the whole day. She's gone."

By now, some others were looking their way.

"What'd you say Ryan?" Alyssa said, concerned. "Rose is gone?"

"Yeah, and I think it was my fault." Ryan looked down, avoiding the bewildered gazes of the others.

No one was talking anymore. They were trying to comprehend what Ryan had said.

"That's peculiar," Tuesday said, watching her words. She was known to be too outspoken sometimes. "Mady, Rebecca, and Demi haven't come back yet either."

"Last time I saw them, they were near that girly cafe down by the Eiffel Tower," explained Ryan. "I haven't seen them since. Weren't we all supposed to meet back here around six?"

Everyone looked at each other, worried about what might have happened.

"Mady, Rebecca and Demi can all take pretty good care of themselves, so I'm sure nothing happened. They wouldn't let anyone hurt Rose!" Tuesday said, attempting to reassure Ryan.

"Well, you see, Rose had never caught up with them. She disappeared quite some time before."

"Maybe they saw her leave, and were looking for her. Have you tried texting them?" Tessa suggested.

"They won't pick up their phones."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but the worst thing we could do is sit around here and wait for something to happen. Let's go get some food! I'm starving." Marc was always hungry. Everyone frowned at him like he had said something completely bizarre. Embarrassed, Marc immediately regretted speaking.

Suddenly a knock came at the door. Everyone jumped at the sound. No one was sure whether they should answer. Cameron walked up to the door, hands shaking. He waited a few moments before reaching for the doorknob. The hotel was already locked up for the day, and Christophe had mentioned a spare key lying around one of the plants. Cameron reached into the leaves to search for it.

A scream came from outside. It was harsh and shrill, probably coming from Rebecca. He fumbled for the key clumsily, and tore a few roots from their ground. Christophe wasn't going to be happy when the saw the mess.

Cameron finally managed to grip the key and insert it into the knob. However, when he tried to turn it, the door refused to unlock.

"NO! You stupid door! OPEN!" He heard a click and realized he made a big mistake. He took the key out easily. There was one problem though—half of the key had gotten stuck inside the knob.

"Shit!" He yelled. How was he supposed to help the girls now?

Zach had had enough of Cameron's failing attempts. He grabbed a chair and threw it, hard, against the window. He cleared the sharp glass along the bottom of the sill. The girls stared at him as he jumped out the window courageously. Finally, there was a hero in this group to solve their endless problems.

Of course, they shouldn't have expected so much, for they frowned when he tumbled back in with a scared expression on his face.

Ryan had enough of this bull crap. They had wasted a full five minutes on trying to get out of their hotel. The screams had even stopped. For all they knew, the girls could've been gone by now. Nevertheless, he wouldn't give up. He needed to see his girlfriend right now. He needed to feel her in his arms, safe where she belonged.

Rolling his eyes at Cameron and Zach, he leapt out the window, unprepared for what he would see next.

Three girls were lying on the floor, covered in blood. Not one of them was Rose.

Chapter 8

All the girls were scared. All the guys were scared too. The difference is, only one group had decided to show it.

The girls were scared out of their minds. Tuesday and Alyssa were in tears constantly. Whenever it seemed like they were going to stop, they began to cry again. Tessa was the only sensible girl there, and although she was scared, she tried not to show it. Being the CSI girl she was she took an interest in the assault.

The three unconscious girls, Mady, Rebecca, and Demi, were each laid on separate couches. She noticed that their attack seemed very common. Luckily, there were only minor cuts and bruises. There was something very strange about the girls that she couldn't lay a finger on. She lifted Rebecca's arm and accidently set it back down so it smeared some blood on her new blouse. Blood. There was an awful amount of blood for the small cuts on their arms. Wait, what if the blood wasn't theirs? Thought Tessa. What if it was Rose's blood? Oh, my gosh, what happened to Rose anyway? She looked back at Ryan, who seemed devastated by everything that had happened today. He seemed to notice her staring, so he looked back with his worried, sad eyes. Tessa pretended that she was looking around, but it was no use. It was obvious that she was looking at him. She couldn't help feeling sorry for him, though. He'd been through too much for one day. Tristan had told her about Demi being all stalkerish.

She sighed, slightly regretting coming on the trip. It was day one, and someone was already missing. At least the boys were having fun.

While the girls were being depressing, the guys decided to handle the sadness by simply forgetting about it. They made jokes and played football in the lobby, while getting dirty looks from the girls. Other than calling the police, they didn't really do anything. Ryan was an exception. After the police arrived, they left the hotel. No one asked where he was going—they all understood how he felt. If they bothered to ask, he wouldn't have told them anyway. It's not like his friends would accept that he was walking alone through a foreign city, searching for his lost girlfriend.

He followed a small trail of blood probably caused by Rebecca, Mady, and Demi. It was fairly long, but after a while, it started to get too hard to follow. Ryan looked around, realizing he was in the bad part of town. There was graffiti on the walls and a foul odor creeping around. He attempted to find his way back, but it was soon too dark for him to see anything. Suddenly, he heard a muffled scream from the distance. Maybe it was Rose! He thought, hopefully. He ran towards the screaming, into an alley between a run-down bakery, and an old, empty store.

The screaming was from a girl tied to some rungs on a wall. There was a figure grabbing her by the collar of her blouse, but it was too dark to make out their faces.

As Ryan ran faster and faster towards the figures shrouded in the darkness of the alley, he began to see the outlines of their faces from the dim streetlamps along both sides of the road.

It was Rose. Ryan shouted. The cloaked figure turned right and began to run. Rose was limp as her body was tied against the wall. Ryan drew out his pocket knife and began cutting away the ropes that held her to the wall.

She collapsed into Ryan's arms. He held her, "Everything's going to be okay, Rose, just hang in there," he whispered to Rose's unconscious, cold body. He sobbed next to her, and began carrying her back to the hotel. Ryan could still hear the faint beat of her heart, giving him hope. He ran. After today, anything was possible. The next time, it could be worse than this. For the next hour, he strolled around Paris with her weak body clutched close to him. He came back to the hotel, to see his group of friends terrified and worried sick. No one said a word. This moment was one they would never forget.

They cleaned up the four girls in silence. As Rose started to awaken, she was breathing hard and coughing. Nonetheless, Ryan was grateful she was okay, and they embraced.

"Oh, Rose, I'm so happy you're alive." Tears of happiness ran down their faces. "Wha-what happened to you? Where did you go?"

"I-I don't remember…" Rose said, her voice cracking. She knew perfectly well what had happened, but she just chose not to tell him. He was scared enough. Her story was for another day, and another time.

Ryan still looked concerned.

"Ryan," Rose said, weakly.

"Yes, Rose?" he replied, trying to sound reassuring.

"Can you promise me something?"

"Of course. I'll do anything for you." Everyone was watching them, while smiling and clutching their boyfriend/girlfriend's hand. They were meant to be.

"Forget any of this ever happened." said Rose. Everyone looked at her, shocked. Ryan was especially surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and closed it again. "Please, for me?" she asked. Rose knew they couldn't turn down a sweet girl who had just been through a traumatic experience.
"Fine, for you." Ryan said reluctantly. He knew could never completely forget about the catastrophe, it was too severe.

Everyone started to gather and talk with Rose, relieved that she was ok. She didn't exactly like the attention, but she appreciated that they cared about her. Smiling, she said her thank you's and prepared to go to bed. It was a long day. She was ready to take a warm bath and get away from all the commotion.

Right before Rose was going to walk up, Tuesday had an amazing idea.

"Oh. My. Gosh. We should so have a party! Tomorrow night! C'mon everyone it'll be sooo much fun!" Everyone exchanged disapproving looks. "Ugh, you guys…" Tuesday whined. "Don't be such party poopers. We could all celebrate how Rose, Mady, Rebecca, and Dementia are safe!"

"Ok, I'm in." Alyssa said, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a smile.

"If Alyssa's going, I'll come." Tristan said, placing his arm around Alyssa. She smiled awkwardly at him, and looked around the room, unintentionally searching for Cameron. Cameron had a silent chuckle, and winked at Alyssa. She felt comforted, but in a guilty way.

One by one, everyone stared to join them, and Tuesday began to hand out jobs for the food, drinks, decorations, etc. They stayed up until one in the morning, telling jokes and attempting to plan.

That night, everyone went to bed feeling excited and encouraged for tomorrow. It was too bad; this was one of the best nights they would ever get.

Chapter 9

Rose was really kind to her. That's what scared Demi the most. She was going out with her ex, but she didn't brag about that, or anything. There was also something wrong with Rose now. Before dating Ryan, she was loud, annoying, and gave Demi headaches when she would start talking about the dozens of hearts she had broken. Now she was actually pretty decent. It must be Ryan's influence. Ryan. Demi loved Ryan so much, it hurts.

"Yo Demi!" shouted Tessa. She was napping on the couch, as far away from Zach as she could get. It was infuriating to Demi how Tessa addressed her as a servant.

"Tessa. Shut up until you can be polite." This was Becca, who Demi would swear was the prettiest girl on the planet. Becca rose from the ground and came and sat next to Demi.

"Demi. I know you don't really like to forge papers, but I was hoping you could buy us some wine, or beer, or something. Ryan's getting food, but it'd be really awesome if we could drink something good with it, and-"

Demi grinned and held up me hand to stop the flow of words. She actually loved forging papers. It made her feel important.

"You know that I'll do that for you guys anyway, so there's no need to be nervous, Becca. Anyway, I already have a couple forged licenses and papers in my bag, so all I need to do is to put on make. You get to help me put on makeup, because your makeup skills are amazing."

A relieved smile spread over Becca's face as she turned away to get her makeup bag. Demi got the papers from her suitcase and put them in her purse, as she got ready to give herself a makeover. At the end of it, she was surprised how much older she looked. Becca had even found some really sophisticated clothing in Alyssa's bag for Demi. She put in her contacts last and then smiled as she looked in the mirror. The transformation was complete.

Demi remembered passing a winery that looked like it was pretty good when they went shopping. She decided to go there and see if any of the wines seemed like the rest would like it.

At the winery, the lady behind the counter was literally falling over her feet as she tried to help Demi. She had a feeling that if the lady did not make enough money today, then she would have to go to a stranger's bed to get enough money to pay for food. Eventually Demi chose a wine that tasted really good, and had the potential to make people drunk fast. Everyone was going to have fun tonight, crappy hotel or not.

Not long after, Rose smiled when she saw the door opening. Demi was back, and hopefully, she was had some wine with her. Rose got up from Ryan's lap to greet her. Ryan had brought pasta from somewhere, and it tasted pretty good, so Rose offered some to Demi. Demi smiled and took the food. Rose noticed that while she had taken the food, she had not let go of the wine bag yet.

When Demi finally finished eating, she took the bottles of wine out from her bag and started pouring wine for everyone. Soon, everyone had a glass.

The wine tasted delicious. Rose didn't know how many times she had asked Demi to refill her glass. Her sense of responsibility was soon gone, and her head woozy. There was nothing but the need to have fun, and the need for wine left.

Rose grinned at Demi as she filled the glass once again. She looked around the room and it seemed that everyone but Demi was having fun. Tuesday was making out with Cameron, and everyone else was pretty much flirting with each other.

"You know what, Demi?" Rose said. "We should play a game." Her words came out a bit slurred. Demi smiled.

"Why not?"

She gathered us in a group. We all decided she should hypnotize Mady, because Mady was always the one who was most reserved. At first they just had Mady do random things like acting like a duck, but soon Alyssa had the best idea EVER.

"Demi!" she shouted excitedly. "Do you think you can make Mady fall in love with herself?"

"Of course I can Alyssa, but do you really want me to?" Of course, by now the rest of us all wanted her to, and seeing as Alyssa was Mady's best friend, why not?

But before that, Demi took another sip of wine; and another following that. She then slumped into unconsciousness, her delicate body collapsing. Soon after, everyone else fell to the floor.

"What's… happening?" Rose whispered, fighting to keep awake. Her body ached, and her vision blurred, before she too fell asleep.

When Mady woke up, she had a horrible headache, and the rest of her friends were sleeping around her in some sort of circle. In her memory, the previous night was a blur of color, and the only thing she remembered was a little flash of gold passing in front of her face. As she stretched, the glint of a mirror caught her eyes. For some reason, she really wanted to see her own reflection. She stood up and walked to the glass.

She gasped as she looked at it. Was that beautiful girl in the mirror really me? She was so perfect! Before now, Mady had no clue just how much she loved herself. That's why I had never had any serious crushes. Too bad this glass is only so small… I need to see more of myself.

Mady soon remembered that from the roof you could see into a really reflective window across the street. As quietly as she could, as not to wake her friends, she raced to the roof top.

Up on the roof, she smiled. The window was directly level with her, and it would be perfect as a mirror. She ran towards it, forgetting she was on the roof. As her foot hit air instead of wood, she realized her mistake. It was too late to step back.

Screaming, she plummeted.

Chapter 10

As the initial beauty of dawn began to fade, the rest of the people in the hotel began to awaken. It was an amazing Friday morning, the sun went through the cracked up and dirty windows of the Hotel Les Degres. Everyone was still recovering from their night of partying.

It was when everyone settled down for breakfast a half hour later when they realized Mady was missing.

"Guys…where's Mady?" Alyssa said, noticing that she wasn't at the table. The fact that yet another person was missing shocked everyone.

"Uhm… let's not include this stuff in our letters back to our parents, 'Kay? Heheh…" Zach said nervously, trying to break the silence. Everyone turned to face him, shocked expressions on their faces.

"Dude, seriously! We need to find her before even more people get hurt! You saw what happened on Wednesday!" Ryan said, holding Rose close, protectively. The group began searching around their hotel room.

Nothing. The hotel's lobby had no trace of Mady either, and Alyssa was getting more and more worried. Why hadn't she noticed Mady was missing earlier? She was her best friend… It was then when the sound of police sirens reached their ears.

The rushed out of the hotel to see police cars and a bright red ambulance surrounding a little section of the side walk, just around the shadow of the roof above them—the roof that was right above their hotel room.

It was then when Alyssa saw Mady's body being carried on a stretcher into the ambulance.

"No! Wait!" Alyssa screamed, running towards the ambulance, ignoring the police cars parked in an attempt to block intruders like her. Two police men ran up and caught her on either side, holding her back by her shoulders. "Let me go! That's my friend!" She yelled, struggling against their iron grips.

"I'm sorry but…she's dead."

The words hit Alyssa like stones. She simply crumpled to the ground…at first with no emotion on her face. Then angrily she asked, "How? How did she die? What did you do to her?" Alyssa was dizzy with grief and anger.

"There was nothing we could do. We received a call and by the time we arrived, she was already dead. We will be studying her for signs of how she died."

Alyssa turned and ran back to the group. "S-She's dead." She said, choking on her words. The group felt the weight of the news just as Alyssa did. Shocked. Some stood there, mortified but unmoving, while others sobbed. Alyssa looked down—she didn't know what to do or say. There were so many feelings jumbled inside of her. She was angry for not spending enough time with Mady; sad for her sudden loss; grief-stricken for the fact that Mady would never be there for her anymore; mad because she couldn't do anything about her death; embarrassed that she had nothing to say; frustrated because she couldn't have prevented whatever the cause of death was; and shocked, for everything happening so suddenly.

"I'm so sorry…" Tristan said, hugging Alyssa in an awkward attempt to comfort her. She was too devastated to feel much, and didn't bother to hug back or resist.

Ryan and Rose were holding hands, Rose shaking uncontrollably.

"It's okay Rose, you're with me, safe." Ryan soothed. He embraced her, kissing the top of her forehead. She hugged him, loving the fact that he was always there for her. Tears of grief and appreciation fell from her eyes. Rose couldn't tell if this was a time to smile.

Everyone else stood awkwardly watching. Zach and Tessa were on either sides of the group.

Meanwhile, a detective stood in the midst of the commotion. His name: Antoine.

Author's Note: Okay, this story was made by my friends and I a few months ago. It's rather…bad, but, it sort of makes an interesting story? Meh. No matter, we've discontinued it! :D Yay… We realized how weird it was, and we just…quit. So, yeah. Sorry guys! Be sure to check out my fanfiction(dot)net profile! I have two ACTIVE stories. Hehe.

Bye!