The Story of Udonia

Chapter Twenty Two: The Call

August 17th.
It was a random Monday. Ashton and I were planning Lacey's birthday party for the weekend. She was turning 24 on Sunday.
I sat up in bed. "What do you think about getting balloons? Lacey loves balloons." I asked.
Ashton looked up from his laptop with an eyebrow raised. He was sitting on my desk chair, but he had pulled it closer to the bed.
"She's also turning 24 not 8." He joked.
"But she likes balloons. They make her feel innocent and young." I argued in a playful tone.
"If you want to get balloons, then get balloons." He smiled. "I've got the perfect lunch menu." He got up and brought his laptop closer to show me.
I observed the Microsoft Excel document on the screen. "Ash, this is a party not a business meeting."
He scowled. "I went to college for three years studying business. I'm going. To put those skills to use, even if it's just for a birthday party." He shrugged. "Now look here." He pointed to the screen. "Lunch will be a sandwich bar. A range of meat, toppings, and condiments. There will be potato chips, rippled ones, and lemonade."
"Very Lacey." I nodded.
"I'm inviting everyone. Have you told Ashley about Monica yet?" He asked.
I winced. "No..."
"Claire!" I felt the judgment in his tone. "Why not?" He asked.
"I don't know. Bianca was Ashley's best friend. It's not an easy thing to just blurt out." I frowned. "I'm nervous for her reaction."
"Why? She'll be happy." He argued.
"Will she?!"
He put his laptop down on the chair and sat down next me.
"Don't you think it's possible that she will snap? That this will be too much for her happy, bubbly self. She has stayed the same Ashley through it all. I just remind that her best friend still wig alive, having to kill my brother, who Ashley had a crush on, to do so, her living in a new body with a new life, and being a lesbian would be too much for Ashley."
He took a deep breath. "Well you jus have to rip the band aid off, you know. So what if she changes? I'm actually a little concerned that she hasn't yet..."
"Well, she's not completely the same. She's sluttier." I said.
"Okay." He put his hands in surrender. "Yeah, she told me that she and Stephen did it in her office." I giggled.
Ashton covered his ears. "I didn't just hear that!" He laid back on the bed.
I continued to laugh and then heard my phone ring. I flopped back and turned so I could grab it off my nightstand. I read the screen and stopped laughing. Ashton reacted to my silence. He turned over to me with his eyebrows lowered. I showed him the screen so he could read the name. His eyes widened.
I quickly answered the call. "Hello?" I spoke nervously.
"Claire, hey." The voice on the other end belonged to Hannah Hoss.
"Hi, Hannah."
Her voice seemed somber. "I just wanted to call and check in on how things are with you. Since the attack at your castle and then in New York, I've just been nervous for you."
"Oh, thanks Hannah. No, I'm fine. We're all good. How are you?" I asked.
Ashton got up and went back to his laptop.
"I'm good. My mom..." I suddenly could barely hear her. "...hopefully he will be alright."
"Hannah, I'm sorry, I missed some of that. We must have a bad connection." I explained.
"Oh, sorry, I was actually just saying that my mother and I are in the car. We are just coming out of some mountains."
"Okay."
"We are going to Brona. My dad is having surgery." She said.
"What for?" I asked.
"It's a triple bypass." She replied.
"I didn't know he had heart problems. I hope he recovers well." I looked at Ashton's curious face.
"Yeah, me too." Hannah took a deep breath.
Suddenly, I heard screeching of tires and bumping. This was followed me by woman's screaming.
I furrowed my brow. "Hannah?!" I shouted.
I looked at Ashton's confused and concerned face.
"What?" He asked with panic.
"Something's wrong." I said, then turned my mouth back to my phone. "Hannah? Hannah?! What happened?! Are you okay? Hannah?!" There was no reply.
I couldn't hear anything. I hung up the phone.
"What happened?" Ashton asked.
"I wish I knew." I responded. "I heard tire screeching and banging sounds. Crashes and things. And screams." I started to breath heavily. "We need to find out what happened."
"I'll make some calls." Ashton got up, grabbed his phone, and left the room.
He was probably off to find Lacey for her help. I turned on the news and pulled up Google on my phone. I needed to see anything about Greg Hoss's surgery and figure out if anything had come up with Hannah and Judy Hoss.
After an hour of trying to gather information, I finally got some news.
Ashton rushed into our room with distress on his face. "They were in a car accident. It looks like someone intentionally hit them. Judy Hoss was killed on scene and Hannah was taken to Brona hospital where her father is in surgery right now." He explained.
"How bad is she?"
He quickly replied. "She is going to be fine. Just banged up. The car his on the side her mother was sitting on."
I stood up. "What should we do?" I asked.
"What can we do?" He walked closer to me.
I was distraught by this. "I don't know! We have to do something. Hannah Judy lost her mother and is in the hospital. I feel bad! This is awful. Who is doing this?! Why are they doing this?! First my family, then your mom, now Hannah's..."
Ashton embraced me. He could probably feel how fast my heart was beating. "Shh..." He stroked his hand done my hair. "Calm down. All we can do is wait until Hannah is better and then we can talk to the police in Haruhi. Have them compare notes with your castle guard and the Hikaru police."
My guards and police were looking in on the helicopter attack. Their only trail ran cold very fast. They gave up. However, the Hikaru police were still looking for answers on Mrs. Covington's accident, which they beloved was too suspicious to be
an accident. Mr. Covington felt the same and has kept them searching.
And so we waited. Lacey called the hospital and dropped my name to try to get some answers. The hospital wouldn't reveal anything.
"I could always hack into the hospitals system." Our body guard James suggested.
I smiled. "No thanks, James. I think we can probably get some more information tomorrow."
"I'll keep calling and checking the news." Lacey said as she headed for the door.
"Don't stay up too late." I said.
"Night." James bowed his head as he left our room.
Ashton and I had a bit of a restless sleep. As much as we were concerned for Hannah...we were also concerned for ourselves. Whoever or whatever was trying to kill us all was getting more dangerous. Who could be next?
__________________________

In the morning Ashton and I turned on the news on the TV in our room. There wasn't anymore information. They were only saying things we already knew.
We went into the kitchen for a quick breakfast.
James entered the room. "Excuse miss, Lacey wants to speak with you both in the living room. She has news on the Hosses." He explained and then left the kitchen.
Ashton finished off the last of his toast and put his plate and glass in the sink. I finished my orange juice and put my plate and glass in the sink. We walked to the living room. Lacey was pacing around with the TV paused.
When she saw us enter she looked at the TV. "Watch this." She pointed the remote as pressed play.
The reporter spoke in a serious yet depressing tone. "I must sadly report that after the car accident last night that resulted with our beloved queen being murdered and our princess, Hannah, being hospitalized, our King, Gregory Hoss, leader of the kingdom and C.E.O. of Haruhi Inc. has died in his triple bypass heart surgery. It is a rare surgery that results in death, but the surgeon sadly lost King Hoss on the table last night at 12:06 a.m. Our prayers go to our princess and soon to be queen Hannah. We hope she recovers well and we send our condolences. We will be right back after this com...." Lacey shut off the TV and looked at me.
I frowned and cuddled closer to Ashton on the couch. "Wow...Hannah lost both of her parents. She's alone now. And she has to rule Haruhi..."
"Yeah...that sucks." Ashton exhaled. "We really to catch whoever is doing this."
"How? Ash, we don't have any leads!"
Frustration was starting to fill my blood stream. And fear. Fear that I would be next. If I went on that yacht with my family, then the entire Udonian line would be gone. If Ashley was with her mother in that car. If that attacker in New York would have succeeded in killing us both. If Hannah had died too. It would be an end to life on this island as we know it. The monarchies would be dead.
We needed to get to the bottom of this. We just needed a lead.