The Bait

Kate slightly sitting upright with the aid of her friends.

"I'm fine." she grimaced, looking over to the streets.

Riley stared down keenly at Kate with concern as they helped her up.

"Who were they?" queried Loretta but Riley instantly cut in, holding Kate's right hand "You're bleeding." she muttered, alarmed.

Kate swiftly glanced down at her hand and shrugged, "It's nothing serious. It was due to the fall."

"I think we need to take you to the infirmary to prevent any infections."

"Don't worry Riley, I'm perfectly okay. It's just a fall."

Riley hastily cutting in, her eyes filled with concern. "I don't think so Kate, I still insist we head to the infirmary."

Kate swiftly glanced at her wound and back to Riley for a while. Seeing the look on her face, she gave in. "Okay, okay, let's get going before class starts."

"Yes, let's go." added Riley, leading the way with Kate, followed by Loretta and Nancy.

"I think we need to speed up our investigations and plans. Nichole is drastically closing in on us." uttered Loretta as they rounded the corridor to the infirmary.

After few minutes, Kate had her wounds treated and they all sauntered back into their classroom.

Not long has they gotten into their seats when Mr. Dan, their Literature teacher walked in.

"Let's begin with our thesis." he muttered, walking up to the board.

All the class attention were drawn him, everybody listening attentively and Riley was no exception. She was deeply into the ongoing lesson when she felt her phone vibrating her in her bag. She slowly pulled her bag close to prevent the lecturer from noticing her and reached out for the phone. She slightly lowered her head, taking a quick peck on the screen of the phone and noticed a text from an unknown number.

"Who might it be?" she muttered, with Loretta slightly turning to glance at her as she clicked on the message icon. She opened the message and her eyes flew wide open, stunned with what she saw. A message with a picture attached to it.

Message:

Come and meet me if you want to see your mother and boyfriend alive.

Location: Natton street 124.

She read the message, trembling as she scrolled down to the picture.

"Oh my God." she mumbled, raising from her seat instantaneously as she thumped her hand on her desk. Loretta swiftly gazed at her startled, with the whole class attention drawn to her.

Kate and Nancy glanced at each other quizzically then back to Riley.

"What is it Riley?" queried Loretta.

She gazed at Loretta but her attention was immediately drawn to the board by their teacher's voice.

"What's going on Miss Riley?" questioned Mr. Dan, starring keenly at her.

She stared blankly at him then back to Loretta.

"This can't just be happening." she muttered, picking up her bag. "I need to go" she added with a cracked voice and dashed off.

"Riley...!" shouted Loretta.

"Hey, Riley!" shouted Kate, raising up from her seat."What can't just be happening?" she muttered, rushing after Riley, followed by Nancy and Loretta. The whole class looked on, confused.

Kate, Loretta and Nancy caught up with Riley half way through the corridor. Nancy held her hand, pulling her to a stop.

"Where are you going Riley? What's happening?."

Riley hived a depressed sigh, holding up the phone to her friends. Loretta hastily took it on noticing the picture. Kate and Nancy also drew closer to have a look. They stared at each other on reading the message and glanced back at Riley, handing the phone back to her, awed.

"I need to go girls." she uttered, turning to leave but Kate pulled her back again.

"How true is this? Have you called Lionel or your mother? What if it's one of her tricks?"

"I don't think so Kate...Look at the picture, does it look fake?"

"No Riley but I still think you should call them before leaving so to be sure."

Riley gazed at Kate thoughtfully for a while, turning her stare to Nancy and Loretta too. They both nodded in support to Kate's request.

"Okay, Okay..." she muttered in surrender, scanning through her phone for her mother's number. She finally got hold of it, dialling. She waited impatiently as it connects for a while.

"Hello." she hastily muttered at the sound of a tone but realized that it was from the network servers. She called again but there was no answer. She tried Lionel's number and it was the same situation.

"I'm not getting anywhere with this." she muttered worriedly. "I need to run now, time is not on our side. See you girls later."

"Wai....t" mumbled Loretta but she had already left.

"We need to do something about this Kate. I sense something is not right over her." uttered Loretta, concerned.

"I know right." she muttered, pausing thoughtfully for a while."How about we head to her house to check or better still, call Uncle Lian."

"I think we should go and check for ourselves. We can still call Uncle Lian on our way. He would know what to do if it happens to be a trap." replied Nancy.

"Okay, Okay, let's go." uttered Kate, taking the lead, followed by Loretta and Nancy.

*************

Nichole was in the living room when she saw Dickson glided downstairs to the kitchen. Just then, she heard her phone ring. she hastily answered without checking the caller.

"Hello." came Zed's voice through the phone.

She jolted up alarmed on noticing his voice.

"Give me a second." she muttered as she took a quick glance at the entrance of the kitchen.

Nichole secretly glided out of the house to the terrace, spying to be sure that she hasn't been noticed by Dickson. When she was sure that she was far from being heard, she drew the phone back to her ears.

"How is it going Zed?" she questioned.

"In some few minutes time, you will receive good news."

"That's great Zed, just keep me posted." she uttered with a smirk.

"Sure." he muttered, hanging up.

Nichole smiled satisfactorily, playfully hitting the phone in her palm.

"You can't outsmart me Riley. I'm the queen of this game." she muttered smugly. "I always gets what I want you brat." (smirking).