5 iv

After a week...

" Long time no see, dude! " Kristen greeted Erika the second she went inside the unit. She immediately slouches on a marle grey Mayson three-seater sofa "It's like what? A week? Are you like trying to die so soon? Tif, told me you were a complete monster the whole week, your therapist almost quit the job! " she added sarcastically.

" You missed me that much? " Erika smirked. She leaned on the wall and crossed her arms, revealing her perfectly toned biceps.

Dakota went inside a minute later.

" Yo, " Erika and her both hailed in unison " You look good, " Dakota said after.

" I'll take that as a compliment, " Erika responded with a smile on her face.

" Finally! " Kristen told Dakota sarcastically. Grabbing her attention.

" What?" replied the latter.

" I've been texting you for an hour! Where have you been?"

Dakota glanced at Erika.

" At Lea's, " she replied.

An awkward silence covered the whole scene until Cara showed up.

" Yo, " she hailed.

They all glanced at her.

" What happened? Did someone die? " she asked with a deep British accent.

" I was at Lea's, " admitted Dakota.

" You are? " Cara exclaimed and glanced at Erika.

" No big deal, " said Erika and partly shrugged her shoulders.

Kristen chuckled.

But she halted as soon as Dakota sent dagger looks at her.

" I went here in peace. You all," Cara said and approached the wine cellar.

" In fact, she's coming over, " Dakota spilled the beans.

Cara choked.

" You told her to come here without telling us? " Kristen complained " You know how bad timing is that?" she muttered to Dakota while making faces of the opposition.

One knock on the door left them all for a heart-stopping moment...

" Yo, " hailed a drank Hayley left everyone at ease. They all hailed back. It's like a squad thing.

" Rough night?" Cara asked with a smirk on her face. She soon drunk on her wine glass " You should've--knuckles buckles !" the English model blurted upon seeing someone behind Hayley.

It was Lea.

" You're here! " Dakota welcomed Lea and approached her.

" Yo, " Kristen hailed her awkwardly while looking at Erika.

Cara looked at Kristen and drank her full glass straight up. She then approached Lea. They did the squad official fist bump.

" You all, I'll just go upstairs and nappy naps, " Hailey said and walked the stairs like a drunken zombie.

" I think I'm swimmin', " Cara said like she's got the best idea of walking out that scene. She left with a wine glass a minute later.

" I hope she doesn't drown. She's drunk already, " Kristen said sarcastically " Dakota and I should look after her, " she added and pulled Dakota out of there. The latter is expressing opposition.

Lea closed the front door. She's composing the right words to say.

" How's she? " Erika asked while staring at her wine glass.

Lea was astounded to hear something from Erika.

" She's...she's good. She's doing fine, "

she answered back.

There was a long silence after that.

Erika nodded.

Lea ran her fingers through her hair.

" She still has no clue, does she?" Erika asked.

" I'm proposing an engagement, " Lea said bravely.

Erika chuckled in misfit and cursed hard " And you leave her and die!?" she shouted.

She approached Lea and punched her right in the face.

Hayley, on the other hand, being asleep was awakened by feeling nausea. She felt her stomach growling and without further ado, she throws up to an uncertain elevated area. She felt like she is on an iconic Titanic bow scene but 'Rose'less and barfing.

Dakota, Kristen, and Cara saw how drastic the scene was, they could almost throw up, unduly.

This was in fact the whole scene all about...

Hayley was on the top, apparently on the succeeding floor, barfing her guts out. Everything she throws up falls onto Erika standing below her, particularly, on the ground floor.

" Hayley! What the fuck! " Kristen shouted. Hayley is nowhere near valid.

" She looks high, " Cara muttered.

Dakota was attending Lea. She was sitting on the ground, seemed discarded.

Kristen phoned someone. In just a few minutes, some housekeepers went inside and fixed everything respectively.

" What the hell happened? " Cara asked. She is still in awe.

Dakota and Kristen looked at her.

They're seated at a Baughman curved sofa at a different executive suite. They evacuated right after the commotion at hand.

" It's been a year. We've been too busy, " Kristen said " All I remember is that every single time they crossed paths, progress seems to be so damn far away. I can't help but speculate that this is way more, " she added referring to Erika and Lea.

" What is worst than fightin' over a girl?" Cara asked.

" What do you mean? " Dakota asked Kristen in a low voice.

" I don't know. I don't have a clue, " Kristen replied and ran her fingers through her hair.

" Yeah. I thought she moved on from Megan. She and Samantha even got engaged! " Cara exclaimed.

Lea walked right in front of them. She came out of the door on the left.

" What the hell dude! " Kristen exclaimed. She didn't see Lea coming out that door.

" She's here. Have you forgotten?" Cara whispered to Kristen.

" I need to go. Megan is waiting outside, " Lea said.

" She is? " Cara exclaimed " You should invite her here, " she added.

" That is not necessary, " Kristen responded.

Cara glanced at Kristen. The latter is on her iconic bitch-resting face.

" I hate your bitch-resting face. Don't give me that, " Cara said.

" Whatever beast brows, " Kristen said.

" Vampire princess, "

" Fake Russian, "

" Dia--"

" What the hell is wrong with you two! " Dakota exclaimed.

" I should go, " Lea said suppressing her smile.

" I'm coming with you, " Dakota said. Everyone looked at her " I mean Elle texted. I should go, too, " she added.

" Sure, " Kristen said.

Megan, on the other hand, was walking down an alley. It is eight o'clock in the evening.

She's few blocks near Louisiana building when she felt a tight grip on her left arm and something sharp in her neck.

" Hi there, missy, " said a deep British accent. It is of a man. He pulled her near a remote area.

" What do you want?" Megan asked trying to shove off the fear building up her system.

" You, " the man whispered in her ears and caressed her arms and shoulders. She felt disgusted and tried resistance in his hold. She halted when she felt a sting of pain. The bastard is slowly thrusting the knife on her neck, caused in bleeding.

Megan cursed in pain.

" You shouldn't do that while I'm on watch, " said a deep voice in an imperceptible pace.

The man's hold on Megan loosened, she grabs that chance to kick him down 'there'. The knife fell off his hands while he shrieked in pain.

Megan pulled herself away from the man while trying to put pressure on her bleeding throat.

She cursed hard as soon as she saw blood in her hands.

" Megan, " said the deep voice, it looks like she's taming her.

" Griffin, " she said in a hoarse voice. She can see Griffin standing near her.

" Yes, it's Griffin. And please stop talking or it'll cause more bleeding, "

" You did this?" she said in a low enraging yet terrifying voice. She's shaking uncontrollably.

She glanced at another man looking up at Griffin, the man is lying down the cold alley. She's too terrified to make sense of everything.

Griffin, on the other hand, was taken aback. She felt a million spears strike through her chest upon hearing her say those words.

" Y-you did this!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. The bleeding on her throat shrieked, she lost consciousness, forthwith.

SNRISE MEDICAL CENTER

Cara ran her fingers through her hair.

" This is too much to happen in a day, " She said.

She was indeed talking to Hayley. The latter is still in shock, in fact, her eyes are glued on the white wall in front of 'em.

" C'mon Hayley frickin' Kiyoko, " Cara exclaimed. Grabbing her attention.

" Did I really did it?" Hayley asked in a hoarse voice.

" What?"

" The barfing,"

" You prick! Is that what you've been thinking all this time?"

" This is all so messed up. The squad is a grenade inside a fog waiting to blast! I can't put up with all of it at once! " Hayley suddenly exclaimed.

Cara blinked twice. She didn't see that coming " That's deep you got there, " she said and nodded.

" I'm serious, " Hayley muttered and looked into Cara's eyes.

Cara furrowed her iconic brows " Is there anything more serious than this?"

Hayley's stared at her, creeping her out.

" Stop that. What is wrong with you?"

Hayley glanced at the other side and sighed in defeat.

" I need to tell you something, "

" You need to tell me-- "

" Lea's dying, "

" What?"

" She's literally dying. She has metastatic, " Hayley said and scrolled her phone for evidence, records, and doctor's prescriptions and showed them to Cara.

There was a long silence after that.

" What's that?" said Dakota. She's referring to the phone.

Terrified is etched on their faces as they glanced at her.

Hayley was shaking as she hid the phone.

" What's that? " Dakota repeated in suspicion.

" Nothing, " Cara said nonchalantly.

Hayley stood up. It carved further suspicion to Dakota.

"Give it to me, " the latter commanded.

Kristen was walking down the corridors when she saw Dakota standing in front of Hayley. She felt something off thereafter but approached them nonetheless.

She was a few steps away when she felt something crumpled upon the floor. It was a phone. She picked it up and accidentally saw Lea's inscription in it.

To fulfill her curiosity, she read the whole content.