[ 7 ] 2014 

-

"I hope you're ready to celebrate you and your brother's birthday tomorrow!"

-

Andrea squinted her green eyes in the dimness of the old warehouse. She and Niall had been more cautious about entering the building, out of fear that there could be more guards inside. But Harley was more distracted by what she saw to even care about being cautious. "Is that...Calum's car?" Andrea asked, voicing what Harley and Niall already knew. It was vast in the warehouse, with a lot of space, and in one corner of the whole space available were Calum's possessions. Most were covered with blue tarps, but the car was seemingly too big to cover up with anything. 

Harley nodded her head and took a step closer to the car, her hand grazing the cool black metal of the door, as though to make sure it were real. Her hand gripped the door handle and she pulled on it. To her surprise, the car was unlocked and when she climbed into the front seat, there was the familiar scent she remembered when she rode in the car with him. It was from a car freshener in the shape of a pine tree that dangled off the turn signal lever. It nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Both Niall and Andrea waited outside the car, each of them walking around the surrounding area stacked with boxes. There was also his house's furniture everywhere and Niall sat on one of the couches for a moment while they waited for Harley.

Sitting on the front passenger seat, Harley pulled down the vanity mirrors down, first the driver side one and then the passenger side one. As she pulled them down, mirror lights illuminated the dim space. When she found nothing, no new note for them, she checked the glove compartment next. 

She didn't find a note, but what she did find was equally as good in their search.

Harley let out a gasp and reached for two objects among a few tools, and food receipts. She held them in her hands and observed them as though they were foreign objects. A black iPhone and a black leather wallet with a chain attached to it. Harley clicked on the center button for his phone and it was completely dead. She didn't know how long it had been there, but she figured it had been the same amount of time that Calum had been gone. 

She set the cellphone down on the passenger seat and opened his wallet next. There were about a hundred dollars in twenties, tens, and fives. She also found his school ID which had been taken on the first week of school, a driver's liscence, and some credit cards. 

Seeing his cellphone, as well as his car and wallet abandoned that way made her worry for Calum even more. It was definitely strange for him to leave something so important like his cellphone and all his money behind. Harley could not wrap the thought around her head that he could possibly believe he could survive with no money and no communication with the people he cared about.

If she had to point fingers at people, she also found it highly likely that his uncle had everything to do with it. She remembered once, when Calum's parents were killed, that she heard his uncle complain that all the money, and the properties should have been his. 

He resented Calum, and probably the rest of his family because they had inherited everything.

Harley didn't doubt that Calum's disappearance could benefit him.

She climbed out of the car, with the cellphone and wallet in hand, and shut the car door that made an echo in the mostly empty space of the warehouse. 

"What have you got there?" Niall wondered. He was sat on the couch eating a chocolate bar while Andrea snooped in some of the boxes nearby. 

"Its Calum's phone, and his wallet." She responded, adding, "All his money is in here."

Andrea shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he took some of his credit cards and left the rest in his wallet."

Harley raised an eyebrow at her. "I find that hard to believe, Andrea. Why would he leave his car, his cellphone, and his wallet when he plans never to return to Sydney?"

"Okay, you're right." Andrea said. "But we still don't know where he is, and we don't know how to find him."

"I think his uncle knows." Niall spoke up.

"I agree." Harley nodded her head.

"How can we get him to talk?"

-

The three teenagers left the warehouse after they were finished with their search, and Harley asked everyone to meet up at Paúl and Dempsey's house. It was one of the few places where they could all meet in private. That night, they were all gathered in the living room, even Ashton who was willing to help find Calum as well. The rest of them weren't as willing. Calum wasn't the nicest person towards them. They were doing it more for Harley than for him.

"We went to one of the warehouses downtown," Harley began to explain to them. Bringing out the cellphone and wallet out of her pocket, she continued, "I found this inside his car. I think that's proof enough that he didn't willingly leave. We have to help him."

"You know what would be a good idea?" Michael offered from his spot on one of the couches as he leaned back, bringing his hands to rest on the back of his head in a very nonchalant way. He seemed like he didn't want to be bothered with looking for someone he didn't like.

Harley looked at him, blue eyes expectant. 

Gesturing at Niall, he said, "Isn't he one of those filthy tracker dogs? Give him the wallet and have him lead us to your friend. But I swear If he's vacationing in the Carribean or something I'm going to shoot him for making you worry like that." Everyone was looking at Niall now. They had forgotten, and some of them didn't even know that he had the gift of being able to track people down.

"Niall!" Harley gasped, tossing the wallet at him. It had just occurred to her that finding Calum was easier than they all thought. 

The Irish grabbed the leather wallet in his hands and observed it for a moment before he brought it to his nose, taking a whiff of it. The way he did it almost definitely resembled when a police dog sniffed something they wanted to track. Everyone in the room watched as he got up from his seat on the couch next to Andrea and slowly made his way over to Harley, focused and concentrated on the scent he had gotten from the wallet. He stopped by her side and sniffed the wallet once more. Looking at her, he concluded, "Its difficult to follow this scent since you already touched it. Now it leads me right to you."

"Try harder." Harley pleaded.

Niall brought the wallet to his nose once again. He took a whiff, then another, while he looked deep in concentration. It was almost a full minute before he said, "Okay, I have something."

"Wait." Andrea stood up. She hurried to Niall and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Last time we helped her find someone we almost died." She had been talking about the time when they all helped Harley find her biological father, Arthur.

"This isn't about me, Andrea." Harley pointed out. "This is about Calum. He's your friend too."

Niall opened up the wallet and got his St. Genevieve's school ID out. "Maybe if I sniff something you didn't touch." He brought the card to his nose and inhaled. "Okay, I have it, but we have to leave right now before I lose the scent." The boy with blonde hair grabbed Andrea's hand and began walking towards the front door. She hadn't even agreed that she would help yet, but Niall was determined to find his friend.

Michael said in amusement, "What a freak show. I think I'll stay here in Sydney."

But it was the sound of Paúl's voice that really stopped them from getting up and leaving. As the oldest of them, Paúl was the voice of reason. "I think that if we're all going on some rescue mission, we should return by Sunday afternoon." He suggested. "I don't know about you, but I have a job at St. Genevieve's I can't lose. And your school would probably find it suspicious that all of their newest students decided to be absent on the same day."

Harley nodded in agreement. "If we leave right now then maybe we can come back by Sunday night."

It was then agreed that they would all go pack their bags and return to Paúl and Dempsey's house in an hour. Harley would have to ask her parents for permission to spend the weekend with her friends, as a cover up for what they were really going to do.

She barged past the front door and saw her parents in the living room. Her father was on his laptop, sending business emails while Harleen was looking at baby magazines. She was already starting to look into baby names and was ready to decorate the baby's bedroom. Both looked up from what they were doing, but Harleen set her magazine down on the couch and stopped her daughter with an expression full of excitement.

"I hope you're ready to celebrate you and your brother's birthday tomorrow!" She grinned with excitement. In the Quinn family's home, they always celebrated Billy and Harley's birthdays together. Harley was born on Christmas day, her brother was born on January twenty-fifth. While she was congratulated for her birthday on Christmas, her parents celebrated it along with Billy's birthday every year. At first, Harley loved it because when she was a child she would get presents on both days. Now she preferred one celebration only, especially now that she wanted to go find Calum.

Harley felt her stomach drop at her mother's words. It was going to be her brother's birthday, and her parents were expecting her to be there to celebrate.

-

more suspense. harley has to stay and celebrate her own birthday as well as billy's instead of being able to go find calum. dammit billy, why did you HAVE to be born on the same day, eighteen years before, harley decided to go on a rescue mission? always ruining your sister's life. the drama, the suspense, the tension. what will happen next? no one knows. only me. 

so guys, i know there has been a delay with shipping out the books for the winners of the contest. im not lagging. but let me tell you what happened. my phone bill was due on wednesday. and i got paid on friday. so naturally i had no money until friday. i went on my account on friday to pay my bill and i found myself with the fucking surprise that tmobile said i owed them 120$. wtf. my bill is normally 55$. i called and asked wtf and they said bc my bill was overdue. bitch please, by two days. i explained that i had no money until friday. i mean wtf did they want me to pay them in? dreams? pixie dust? thus i have no cash bc i get paid 190$ every 2 weeks and 120$ went to tmobile 20$ for gas, and the other 30$ needs to last me two weeks for school lunch (im-fucking-possible).

i promise when my next check comes in i'll send them. thank you for understanding.

no question of the day bc i ranted on here. but just tell me what your favorite word is. mine is 'chicharito'. it means little pea, and it is the nickname of my fave soccer (football to the rest of the world) player. he is the bae and he slays all the haters with his skills and good looks.

have a blessed day.

-clary xx