Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the Holly Black books. Pretty much, none of the characters are mine…

A/N: I am so sorry. I don't know if that means anything, since I'm always sorry for something, but still. I don't think words can explain how sorry I am. That being said, I probably won't change my ways anytime soon, because I've been trying to for about 3 or 4 years now.

I have exciting news though… I have, as of May 16th, officially met Holly Black not once, but TWICE. I now have all 3 books signed. And Holly is my best friend now. XD I had coffee (well, she had coffee. I had hot chocolate) with her in Amherst (where she lives), with my friend. And then I saw her when she was here in WI on the 16th of May, with Cassandra Clare (and I got City of Bones signed, too! Lovin' it!). It was so cool, and to anyone who was there, we're all REALLY sorry about hogging Holly and Cassie once we got to the front. And I'm meeting her again this summer. XD Check my profile for a link to Holly's LJ for some awesome pics from the signing!

So yeah. That's my exciting news. It's also what inspired me to write this. It's really really short, only 4 pages, but I wanted to get it out because it's been so incredibly long. Again, I'm really sorry. Busy. School, you know. But it's summer really soon, so I should be able to update more!

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It had been a week since the bus accident, a week since she last saw Lolli, and a week since she last saw Ravus. Yes, it had been a hard week, what with missing Ravus and wondering if there was any news about Lolli. At least Ruth was back home. Back and whining, as she was doing now.

"Val," Ruth wheedled. "Val, amuse me."

"Amuse yourself," Val answered. "I'm busy."

She was indeed busy, and you could tell by the books, notebooks, and folders scattered around her in her room as she sat on the floor. After being gone for a month, Val was still making up work, even a month after she had gotten back. She had four tests the next day, and winter exams were coming up. She needed all the studying she could get.

"I don't want to amuse myself!" Ruth replied, closing Val's Psychology book and taking it away. "Ha. Now you can't study!"

Val rolled her eyes and pulled her Principles of American Democracy book over to lie in front of her. "Suit yourself, Ruth. You can't take all my books."

Ruth's eyes glittered. "Is that a challenge?"

"No," Val answered, putting her hand over the book as if to protect it from unfriendly influences, namely Ruth. Ruth pouted.

"You're no fun, Valerie Russell," she announced. Val shrugged, seemingly entranced by the fundamentals of the American governmental system. She jumped about a mile high when the phone rang.

"Valerie, will you get that?" Mrs. Russell yelled up the stairs. Val looked at Ruth.

"Answer it?" she half-asked, half-commanded. "And if it's for me, tell them that I'm busy."

Ruth picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said into it. "Val? She's busy." She listened for a second, and then asked, "Who is this?" At the answer, her eyes got big and she soundlessly handed the phone to Val, who shot her an annoyed look. Ruth shrugged.

"'Llo?" Val asked into the telephone, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she made a note in her notebook.

"Val? It's Luis," a familiar voice on the other side of the line said. Val was so surprised that she dropped her pencil.

"Luis?" Val echoed disbelievingly. "How'd you get my number? How are things? Why are you calling?" As Val rattled off question after question, Louis sighed.

"Val? I've got bad news." That got Val's attention.

"What is it?"

Luis sighed again. "Lolli and Dave have gone missing. And I've been seeing them everywhere. This isn't good, Val."

"No kidding," Val breathed. "Where could they have gone?"

"Honestly, are you dumb? I'd be willing to bet all I have that they took Dave. Goodness knows what happened to Lolli, but she's probably with Dave."

"Why weren't you taken?" Val asked. "I mean, you're as much a part of everything as they were. In fact, Lolli barely did anything."

"Don't think that that thought hasn't already crossed my mind too," Luis said wearily. "I really don't know."

"Great," Val sighed, wising she had a phone cord to weave through her fingers. She settled for her pencil instead, twirling it through her fingers at top speed. It was a bit of a nervous habit. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know," Luis said frustratedly. "Maybe you should talk to Ravus. Maybe he has some ideas."

"I don't know how to contact him," Val admitted. "I haven't seen him since the bus accident. That was a week ago."

She could hear Luis groan. "Val, why don't you know how to contact him? You do love him, right?"

"Of course I do!" the short-haired girl exclaimed indignantly. "I love Ravus. How could you possibly think-"

"Whoa, Val," Luis said over her. "Calm down. I wasn't implying anything."

Val could see Ruth gesturing to her to tell the details. She shook her head. Ruth could wait until she got off the phone. Ruth pouted and Val rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so I'll keep my eyes open," Val said into the phone. "I have to go. School, you know."

"One thing I don't miss," Luis muttered. "I'll call you if anything comes up."

"'Kay," Val said. Then, as something struck her, she said, "And where are you calling from? Where do I call you if I find something out?"

She could just feel Luis's smirk. "That's not for you to know. Don't bother calling me, I'll call you soon." And a click! came from the other end of the phone as he hung up. Val slowly put down the phone onto the floor.

"Well?" Ruth asked expectantly. "What did he want?"

Val shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts. "He… Lolli's gone, Ruth. So is Dave." She heaved a sigh. Ruth's mouth formed a perfect 'o'.

"Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Maybe," Val said darkly. "And we're not telling."

"Vaaaaaaaaal," Ruth whined. "Tell me!"

Val frowned at her friend, twirling the pencil even faster through her fingers the way the debate kids at school did. She had picked up a few nervous habits from them, such as the whole twirling pencils thing, along with talking too fast when she was nervous. "Ruth, this isn't funny."

"I know," Ruth said seriously. "So what are we going to do?"

"Study," Val said simply. "I'm going to study. There's nothing much that I can do."

"Righto."

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"Val!"

A girl with faded blue hair called. Val turned around, but couldn't see anybody. "Where are you?"

"I'm over here…" There was a sound of coughing.

Val turned towards the sound, but still couldn't see anyone in the dark. She stumbled in that direction through the shadows until she tripped over something.

It was a girl with faded blue hair, her face beautiful though her body was battered. Val gasped.

"What- what happened?" Val whispered, horrified.

But there was no answer from the girl. A sound from her left caused her to jump a mile high and whip around. It was a man; only, he wasn't quite a man. He was very tall and Val thought he looked familiar… but she couldn't think. She couldn't even breathe.

"What's happening?" she gasped out with a great effort.

The man only watched her passively as she struggled to find breath.

She dropped down to her knees, sure that she was going to die…

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Uh, yeah. Sorry again about it taking so long for such a short chapter. Not sure how much I like this chapter… but it's necessary to set up the plot, y'know? It is over 1,000 words, though… which is tiny, yes, but it's longer than what I had before.

Review.

Kinz