Countless Days (Sequel To MA)

Chapter 7

Phil was quite upset for the rest of the day as we tried to find Dan and Ash. We had nothing to work from. No further texts or tweets. We found both Dan and Ash's phones in a puddle. We looked everywhere for them. We even stayed in a hotel room over night in the area so we could continue looking for them. While we were settling in and setting up all the computer equipment, there was a loud slam in the room next to us. I walked out to see what happened and Phil followed me. Down the hall, heading towards the elevator, was the girl we had seen before. The one running with Dan and Ash. I gasped and Phil seemed to notice who she was. We ran after her. "Miss!" I called out. "Wait!"

"I'm not in the mood for conversation." She hissed without even turning to face us. "No please, it's important."

She pressed the ground button and looked at us. She raise her eyebrows, crossed her arms, and waited for us to speak.

"Do you know Dan Howell?"

"Of course I do. He's a YouTuber in this area."

"No, that's not what I meant. Do you know him personally?"

She looked at me for a few seconds before shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry."

My shoulders dropped but I could see Phil tense up in the corner of my eye. "Don't lie." He mumbled. The girl and I looked at him with shock. A kid ran out of the room across the hall from ours and started screaming. It was a small child and that didn't make the situation any better.

The elevator door opened and the girl went to go inside but Phil stopped her by grabbing her shirt. The girl reacted quickly and pushed him off of her. Phil stared at her with hate in his eyes. This wasn't like him. Losing Dan could really change him. And that's terrifying.

He turned away as soon as the doors shut and started marching angrily towards the room. I raced after him, making sure he didn't break anything on the way there. He didn't seem like the person to break things but I could never be too sure.

As soon as we reached the room, he continued walking into the room next door. He raised his fist to knock and I felt my heart race when I realized what he was going to do. But he stopped and just stood there with his hand raised. I watched as he rested his head on the door and his hand fell to his side. I felt bad for him, but I wasn't sure how to make him feel better.

I walked into the room and left the door open behind me.

~

Dan fell asleep and I wiggled carefully out of his reach. He shifted once I was at the door and I paused, making sure he didn't get up.

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding and walked out the room.

He looked peaceful, but I really didn't want to wake him up.

I walked into the kitchen and made myself a bowl of cereal. As I opened the door, I noticed we were out of milk.

"Are you kidding me?" I mumbled and looked over at my bowl. I sighed. All it needed was some milk.

So I was going to get some damn milk.

I grabbed some of my money and put it in the back pocket of my skinny jeans. I was all ready to go get the milk when I heard the door move. I quickly bounded over to it and opened it. There was a man standing just outside with a red circle on his forehead. He had black hair and blue eyes.

But the thing that was odd was the circle on his head.. Was he leaning on our door? And for how long? Did he hear what had happened?

"Um.. Hello..?" I said. His cheeks starting tinting red as his face heated up.

"Hi. I'm sorry." He apologized awkwardly. "I was just looking for someone and had a little episode... Outside your door.."

"It's alright." I smiled. "Who were you looking for?"

He stared at me for a moment. "His name is Dan -" he said quickly and my stomach dropped. He continued talking. "- and sorry but I couldn't help but notice you have a slight American accent. Are you new here?"

I shook my head. "I've been here a short while. And uh.. why are you looking for Dan?"

Then I recognized him. This was Phil. Dan's best friend. Dan's flat mate. Everyone that personally knew Dan -- even his subscribers -- thought he was dead. Why would he be looking for Dan if he was dead?

Unless someone told him.

But who inside the company (the people that knew he was alive) would tell Phil that Dan was alive?

My face went pale. Phil noticed and he rubbed his forehead. "Well, he just hasn't texted or called back in a while so I thought I'd try and find him. And make sure he's okay."

Something -- I think it was guilt and surprise -- washed over me as I replied. "Oh Phil," I breathed out. He looked at me in surprise. "He's not okay."

-

SHORT CHAPTER. I KNOW. PLEASE DONT KILL ME. I'll make up for it in the future, though, I promise.