Framed

Sixteen, Part One.

"So Lucy knew that Alicia was transferring here and didn't tell you?" Ally asked once she had escorted Lauren's ex out of her house.

"Look at the message she sent. It's pretty obvious she knew." Lauren deadpanned, showing Ally her phone, the screen still on the messages Lucy had sent. "She mentioned trying to convince her not to do it, but it didn't work."

Frankly, Lauren was trying to contain the ripple of frustration that was threatening to overcome her. Lucy had been lucky that she had decided to stay behind while Alicia came to see Lauren, because if Lauren had seen Lucy in this exact time, she would have let her emotions get the better of her. The fact that Lauren was pissed was a vague understatement; she felt like she was underwater, water pressure being replaced by a flurry of anger, sadness, confusion, pushing her down further and further until she couldn't breathe. The stress was piling up, one after another, until she was out of air.

Stress made her chest morph into a whirlpool of breathlessness, seeking air that it couldn't get no matter how much it vacuumed things into itself.

"Could it be possible that Alicia had something to do with this..?" Mani questioned from the kitchen as she opened the fridge. "She's got a link to Taylor. And clearly Taylor has no good will towards you."

"I don't think that's Taylor's style," Camila replied from the couch, where she had still been sitting down.

"It isn't. But a style is never something that really lasts for long. It always changes." Mani said, taking a sip of apple juice.

Camila shrugged. "I doubt it's her, honestly. If she wanted Lauren dead so badly, then Lauren would be dead and gone by now, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. But ruling out Alicia by extension - no. That's just idiotic of us."

"Not to mention how shitty the timing of it is." Lauren added in, scrolling through her phone as she leaned on the wall next to Ally's front door.

Another knock, and Lauren groaned. "If it's her again, I swear I'll kick her out myself -"

"Lauren." Ellie said from the other side of the door. Lauren's ever color-shifting green eyes took in her appearance. Her eyes were bloodshot, due to lack of sleep. Her hair, previously pristine, was tangled and unkept. She was wearing the same shirt she had worn two days ago.

Maybe Lauren wasn't the only one who was slowly deteriorating, piece by piece. And slowly but surely, Lauren was realizing how much this case, this situation, was exhausting each one of them.

"I checked my mailbox today." Ellie puffed as she tried to catch her breath. "We need to go to the countryside, now."

"Why?"

"Because Dinah made contact with us via letter." Ellie held up the letter, with no return address, only a pseudonym written on the return envelope, and correctly addressed to Ellie's house. "She's given us a place to meet up with her. And if she's right? We may have found our biggest lead to the killer so far."

-

"We only have room for seven." Ellie said to the rest of the group once she told her story. Immediately, a volley of hands were raised. "And two of those seats are being taken by Lauren and me."

"Camz, Z, down to go with us?"

"Anything to help out, Laur." Zayn gave a thumbs up, then went to the pantry to pack up some snacks for the trip.

"The drive is literally two hours each way, and it's only one thirty." Ellie rolled her eyes a bit. "There's no need for snacks."

"There's a need for them when I'm in the car," Camila interrupted, striding up to Lauren and holding her hand, squeezing softly to elicit a grin out of the taller girl.

"Four seats down, three more to go." Ellie says. "Any other takers?"

From their seats at the dining table, Normani, Liam, and Harry raise their hands.

Ellie shrugs, not protesting at Mani's decision to go. "Well, if anyone has a right to go with us, it's Normani. As for Li and Harry...we're gonna need a seat if we want to bring Dinah back, one of you is staying."

"I'll stay." Harry said, shifting his weight in his seat, trying to get comfortable on the cushionless cedar chair. "When you're all gone, at least I'll get the sofa."

"Only in your dreams, Styles." Ally says, making her way to the sofa. Lauren thanks whatever divine guidance she had that she hadn't made out with Camila on Ally's precious sofa.

"You go, Harry." Liam said, voice a bit more subdued than usual. The muscular boy, who could often handle almost anything with a smile on his face, looked absolutely burnt out. "Dinah knows you better than she does me. She'll be happy to see you."

"Okay. I'll tell her you said hi, Li." Harry grinned as he got up from his chair and walked towards where the other five were gathered, giving his boyfriend a hug and kiss on the way.

"Ready to go?" Ellie rubbed her sleepy eyes and turned to Mani and Lauren, directing the question to both of them. It was an urgent matter to deal with, especially since it could be that necessary step to put a stop to the whole of this situation.

Mani nodded, eyes lacking the spark that used to be in them in what seemed to be so long ago.

Lauren gulped, as if she was trying to swallow her apprehensions down her throat. "Ready as I'll ever be."

And with that, they went to Ellie's van, a 2006 Honda Odyssey that had somehow survived the passing of time. They would have taken Lauren's Sentra, but the van had more passenger room, and seemed to be the more discreet of the two. Despite the van being the larger of the two in size, it was painted a color that was something like a dull gold, mixed with beige to make it even more bland. Add in the dents, and it seemed like a ride that would more likely belong to a soccer mom compared to a high school cheerleader.

"Pedal to the metal, baby." Ellie said as she reversed out of Ally's driveway. "Let's hope that this gets us out of skipping the drawing board stage entirely."

-

A/N: one of three parts