"Jack?"
Jack groggily cracked his eyes open, briefly panicking since he couldn't see until he remembered where he was.
He was trapped in a stupid dusty basement with Mark.
"Jack?" Mark repeated more urgently.
"Yeah?" Jack mumbled wearily, blinking to snap him back to reality.
Mark was silent for a moment as if considering his reply.
"What?" Jack frowned in confusion.
"I-never mind, it's not important." Mark assured Jack hastily.
"You're important, so anything you think has to be important too. Tell me." Jack countered.
"So...if I think about dicks, that's an important thought?" Mark asked jokingly.
Jack could easily imagine the goofy grin lighting up his face.
"Definitely." Jack laughed for the first time in what felt like years, a genuine grin tugging the corner of his lips up.
They both fell deathly silent as footsteps thudded overhead, causing more dust to fall onto Jack and make him cough, his lungs as he tried to muffle the sound.
Mark and Jack jumped in surprise as the door abruptly swung open, causing Mark to inhale sharply as Jack held his breath, hoping with all his might that the person would leave them alone, or even better, let them go back to their homes.
"Hey guys."
Jack felt his blood run cold when he heard a familiar voice from in front of Mark as he tried to twist his head to see the person.
"So..." The person trailed off as they lowered their black hood and deactivated the mic looking device that was disguising their voice.
"I've got a lot to talk about." Malcolm admitted as he ran a hand through his hair.
"What do you mean he's in trouble?!" Signe demanded Felix over the phone.
"I mean, like I heard this really creepy conversation and someone say 'No one that you need to worry about' and 'have a nice day Felix before the call ended.
"It's gotta be PJ pulling a prank." Signe decided firmly.
"I dunno, they sounded genuinely terrified and they're both bad liars-"
"I don't care! They can't be kidnapped!" Signe snapped forcefully with a tone of finality as she waited silently for him to protest.
Instead, Felix let out a long slow sigh.
She couldn't tell if it was because he was growing impatient with her or because he's trying to calm himself down.
"Okay, I'll call PJ, then I'm calling the police." Felix stated before putting Signe on hold.
A few moments later, Felix put her back on with a growl of irritation mixed with worry and concern.
"PJ hasn't seen him either, so I went ahead and called the police. They said that they'd start investigating tomorrow." Felix explained.
"Why can't they start looking sooner?!" Signe snapped in fury.
"I know, but they have to wait twenty four hours before a missing person investigation can start." Felix informed her.
They both fell silent as they each started thinking about Jack, wondering what could've happened.
"I guess I'll talk to you later then." Felix finally spoke up after a couple minutes, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
"Okay, I'll let you know if the police says anything." Signe promised Felix before he ended the call.
"So now it's just a waiting game." Signe mustered to herself, remembering the dolls.
She hoped that they hadn't returned from Ireland somehow.
Sorry for the short, and way overdue, chapter. School and work's been keeping me super busy, but I promise I'm trying. Let me know what you think will happen next in the comments!
