𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐬

xxᴠɪɪ || ᴇɴᴅʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴘʜᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ɢʜᴏꜱᴛ

Astrid was woken by the sun the following morning. She rolled over lazily in a mess of white sheets and a fluffy, soft doona. She spotted one of her many pillows laying abandoned on the floor by her head, and wondered sleepily about how it got there.

She had met Madison outside Hillerska at eight pm the night before, and the two had taken a pit stop to Gerry's mechanic shop first, so that Madison could see Erik's crashed car. After that, Astrid got booked in and settled in her hotel room, where she was going to spend the next couple days, until Madison could get the plane.

Astrid had deliberately switched her phone off completely, because she knew that once Wilhelm realised she was gone, he would ring her phone until it died. However, when she turned her phone back on after she had awoken, the first notification on her lock screen wasn't from Wilhelm, or Felice, or Jasmine.

It was from Madison.

I don't trust you on this.

Astrid's heart sank, but she tried to keep a level head. She pulled down the notification because she could see there were more messages from Madison.

But I'm going to help you. Plane should be ours in a few days. Will keep you updated.

There was one more message after that.

Be safe.

A small smile formed on Astrid's lips upon seeing the last message. But, the smile didn't last long. Wilhelm's contact blinked on her screen, and Astrid promptly shut off her phone again.

"She isn't picking up!" Wilhelm exclaimed, tapping furiously on his phone as Simon's phone continued to ring aloud. That call also went to voicemail. Felice was on her phone as well, sitting hunched over on her bed as she searched through both her phone and her laptop for any signs of Astrid online. She, too, was coming up empty handed.

Madison was also in the room, pretending like she was in on the virtual search party. In actuality, she was texting Jasmine, who had touched down in America early this morning and now back within the familiar walls of Pine Hill. "Maybe her phone is off," She suggested, hoping that nobody could hear that she was so blatantly lying. It appeared that nobody did.

"She always has her phone on," Wilhelm said, "Always".

"I'm sure she's fine, Wille," Felice tried, but Wilhelm wasn't hearing it. He hit the call button on Astrid's contact once more, brought the phone to his ear and listened to the sound of ringing.

A response never came.

Simon tried to console Wilhelm the best he could, but Wilhelm was determined to find his friend. Felice, Madison, and Sara came and went from the dorm room throughout the day; Simon stayed by Wilhelm's side for the entirety of the day.

No answer ever came. 

*          *         *

(475 words)