flawless. five hargreeves

35

SIXTEEN MISSED CALLS
I'M SORRY, I WAS BUSY, BUT I MISSED YOU

Lost Souls - Baby Keem, Brent Faiyaz

As I opened my phone to call Amy, my heart skipped a beat when I noticed the 24 missed calls—all from her. "Crap..." I muttered, quickly dialing her number. It rang and rang, but she didn't pick up. Panic started to bubble up inside me, and I hit redial, but still no answer.

My mind raced with a thousand possibilities, each one more worrisome than the last. Five must have noticed my growing anxiety because he laid a hand on my shoulder, his touch grounding me for a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice soft but laced with concern.

I jumped slightly, snapping out of my thoughts. "What?" I blinked up at him, only to see his brow furrowed in concern. "I said, are you okay?" he repeated, more firmly this time.

I frowned, glancing down at my phone in frustration. "I don't know... Amy won't pick up." I bit my lip, the worry gnawing at me. Just as the silence between us grew tense, a loud crash echoed from outside.

We both darted toward the door, my body protesting every step with sharp aches and pains. As we burst outside, I froze in shock. A car had smashed into the side of the wall, smoke curling up from the hood. My heart lurched as I saw a woman crawling out of the wreckage, coughing violently.

"Y/N!?" she shouted, her voice hoarse but unmistakable.

My jaw dropped. "Amy!? Did you just crash into the wall!?"

She hurried toward me, her expression a mix of relief and frustration. "You weren't picking up your phone!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. I yelped in pain, and she quickly released me, stepping back with a confused look.

"Long story," I said, wincing as I gestured toward the house. "Get inside."

Amy glanced back at her car, then at the damaged wall, before nodding and following us into the house.

"How did you find me?" I asked, genuinely curious, as we made our way to a quieter corner of the room.

"I had a feeling," she admitted, shrugging. "Besides, I saw your brother on TV, so I knew you had to be close by. Then I just connected the dots, and now, here I am!" She gave me a small, proud smile, and despite everything, I couldn't help but laugh.

Lila and Diego were in the middle of hugging their kids, the tension in the room easing slightly with the presence of their family. It was a brief moment of normalcy amidst the chaos, and I held onto it as we continued our conversation.

Once we reached the corner, I asked, "Have you followed any of the news?"

Amy furrowed her brows, shaking her head. "Not really. I only knew your brother was being held hostage, but..."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Did you seriously not see that monster on your way here?" I exclaimed.

She blinked in confusion. "What fucking monster?" she shot back, just as bewildered.

I let out a scoff, trying to piece everything together in a way that made sense. "Okay, let me explain. My brother Ben and a girl named Jennifer—yeah, the ones who were inside that building—were somehow connected. We tried to stop Ben from fully merging with her, but we were too late. Jennifer punched me in the stomach, like, really fucking hard, and I blacked out. I honestly thought I died, but I saw a vision, and now... now we're going to fight that thing, get to a new timeline and live happily ever after!"

Amy stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief as she processed everything I'd just said. "Wait, so you're telling me there's a monster, some kind of weird connection between Ben and this Jennifer chick, and you had a vision about... what, a happily ever after in a new timeline?"