"What the hell?" Quince yelled, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. I squinted and saw her figure, noting she had stood up to her feet. "Faye?"

"Yeah?" I asked, not getting up from my seat.

"You're still there right? Sitting down, I mean?" she asked in a hushed voice, which was closer to me now. I felt her hand on my shoulder, confirming her thoughts before I could respond. "Okay, good."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly as dry as sandpaper. Oh how I wished I had a glass of water right now, but more than anything I wished we had some damn light.

I rubbed my arms, which were covered in uneasy goosebumps. "Should we try looking for someone?" I breathed.

"Faye. Check Jordan's machines.." Quince breathed, making me snap my head up. "Let's wait a couple minutes .. I'll search for some flashlights."

I stood up hesitantly and put my hands on the bed Jordan was unconcious in, letting it guide me to her machines. It was still working and her vitals looked .. normal, I suppose. "They're still working," I whispered, biting my lip. "Which means.."

"Which means," she took over grimly from somewhere in the room, "that someone shut off the lights on purpose, but not the machines." There was a long, pregnant pause. "Do you have your phone?"

"Yes, why?" I patted my back pocket, where the object was resting at. I curled my fingers around it. "If you want me to call someone, I've got no service up here. At all."

"Me neither," she replied with a heavy sigh. "But I can't find flashlights. Use the one on your phone."

I nodded and pulled my phone out of my pocket, clicking the flashlight icon on the pull up menu and slowing guiding it around the room. Another light was added and I turned to Quince, who had a slightly sweaty forehead. Her eyes were glancing around us. "We need to find someone-"

"Hello?" We both whipped around and pointed our lights towards the new voice. Two nurses and a man who was Jordan's doctor were in the doorway, their hands covering their faces. "Whoa there!"

"Sorry," I said as Quince and I lowered our lights so they were leaving a dimmer light to where we could still see. "Is everything alright? Jordan's machines still seem to be working fine.."

"Yes, we're seeing that is not a problem," Doctor Renolds said, frowning as he and the nurses went over to Jordan. "We have police down in the power room seeing who messed with this. The whole hospital's lights went out, but the electricity remained normal for the patients machines. It's weird."

"Wait. So if we turn off the whole electricity, the machines would go off as well?" I said slowly, curling my hand around Jordan's with a stab of worry.

"Usually," he told me, checking my sister's pulse and doing the usual check up. "But the system seemed to have been hacked, or wires cut to make it so it was just the lights."

"Why would someone do that?" Quince wondered out loud, frowning through the dim lighting. "It doesn't make any sense."

"No," I agreed in a murmur, "it doesn't."

I sat down and ran my hands through my hair, considering the reasons why someone would do this. It must have been to scare people, to make them fear for their loved one's lives. But that would be a cruel joke, if it's even a joke. No, this couldn't be a joke.

I thought harder and rested my head in my hands, breathing in and out. "Faye?" Quince rubbed my back gently. "Are you okay? You're not going to be sick, are you?"

"No.." I squeezed my eyes shut and then something feeling like dread washed over me as I lifted my head and stared blankly ahead of me. "I know what this is."

The doctor and Quince looked at me confused, Quince saying hesitantly, "What?" she asked softly.

"This wasn't some sort of joke, or an accident, or the system gone haywire," I told them shakily, my hands feeling cold and my throat drier than ever before. "This was a warning."

"A warning?" Quince repeated, sharing a shocked look with the doctor. "What do you mean, Faye?"

"From.." I trailed off, not wanting to say his name. I feared saying his name would only bring him here, only bring more danger and destruction. He somehow knew I was here, Livius did. And he had decided that, because I was in such a fragile state, he would send me a warning through the public eye.

Quince bent down and took my arms in her hands gently, her eyes meeting mine. "A warning from who?" she asked quietly, her face calm and collected but a storm raged in her eyes.

My lips parted and I mouthed the word through a shaky breath, "Livius."

I flinched at hearing the name from my own mouth and shut my eyes tightly, breathing in and out again to calm myself. I don't know why saying his name made me feel terrified, it's never made me react like this before. His warning, it truly did work. It made fear pierce through my heart like a blade, and I wanted nothing more than to leave this hospital. But I wouldn't allow myself to do that, not until I was sure my sister would be okay.

Quince's face darkened and she removed her hands from my arms, running them down her face. She was silent for a while, and the only sounds were the shuffling in the hallways and the doctors and nurses footsteps disappearing from the room after they made sure Jordan's state hadn't changed.

"We need to contact your parents as soon as possible," she finally said, her voice calm. How could she be so .. Unnerved? How was she not freaking out? I was barely holding myself together!

"We have no service. I don't think the phones the hospital have are working either," I whispered, clutching my head and trying to calm down. Baby. Think of the baby. Stress and fear isn't good for me, think happy thoughts. Block this situation out. Breath.

My heart pounded against my chest. My throat was closing in on itself from the lack of water.

Breath.

--

Hey guys! Long time no talk, yeah? I know this is a short update, but I felt like you guys have been so sweet and patient that I would give you one. I'll try to update this more. Thanks for reading!

Do you think Livius has finally gotten to Faye? Has he broken her courage?

Until next time!

-Grace xx