Kat Chat: I pity society! Not really, just you guys. Mostly because I said I would update and failed to ever do so. I'm a little scared I won't get ANY reviews because of the giant time lapse but please prove me wrong and keep me going! So, due to a lack of ANY creativity in me, I stol—borrowed Sara Sidle from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for this chapter, in honor of the "Save Sidle" campaign. To CSI fans: kudos!

Oh, and the sequel is a done deal! I have the storyline and everything. I hope I get to it sometime. Anyway, I'll try to make this chapter as eventful as possible. Enjoy!

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Even with a full moon crowning the tiara of stars lighting up the night sky, Gabriella still felt unsafe. With pure glass French doors, a room with a door that has to lock, and the killer knowing her relative location, she felt like something was bound to happen soon. In a sense, she wanted to flee town and never come back, but she couldn't do that. She had put her friends and family through too much already, and she couldn't leave them now. They needed her as much as she needed them.

So, with a heavy heart and raven-esque eyes downcast to her lap, she stared at her open hands. They quivered, threatening to shut, but never did. It felt like her breath was caught in her throat, just anticipating the man with the unforgiving eyes to barge through her doors and kill her on the spot for even daring to fight back. This thought compelled her to reach over and grab her cell phone from the nightstand, hitting speed dial 2 as fast as possible.

"Gabriella? Are you okay?" Troy's groggy voice stirred from the other end of the line. Gabriella knew she must've woken the poor boy up, but he was her only source of comfort for now. So he would just have to deal with it.

"I, uh, not really." She replied with a shaky voice. Immediately, she could sense Troy sitting up straight in his bed, running a hand through his hair while his bright blue eyes flickered to life. "I'm just really scared. I can't fall asleep." She confessed in a whisper. Troy's spine relaxed and he fell back into his mattress, blinking away his sleepiness.

"Do you want me to come over?" he yawned, unintentionally.

The girl shook her head, temporarily forgetting that he couldn't see her. "No, that's okay," she muttered emotionlessly after a wavering moment of thought. "I don't want you getting in trouble on my behalf. I just needed to hear your voice; I'm a lot calmer now." Lies. "Thanks for picking up."

Troy smiled, laying his head back down onto the plush pillow. "Well, okay, if you're sure. I'm always here if you need to talk to me. Goodnight."

"Night." She replied with a forlorn half-sigh, a phrase caught in her throat. Troy probably sensed it too because he didn't hang up yet, as if he were waiting for her to say it. But it never came, and reluctantly, Gabriella pressed the illuminated 'end' button on her phone. She laid back down into bed, pulling the comforters as high as they would go around her neck, and shut her eyes.

Behind her eyelids, all she could see was black. Once in awhile, a swirling wisp of white would flash across the shady canvas, and then thin and disappear. The ringing in her ears sounded like her screaming, like she was a third person bystander watching miserably as her own death unfolded. Her own clammy palms clenched the bed sheets as if they were her captor's hands around her throat, and she was trying to claw them off. The tingling on her thighs was him prying them open roughly and advancing towards her.

The blackness behind her eyes was death calling her name.

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"Good morning, Gabriella. How are you?"

"Tired," she replied curtly, although she hadn't meant for it to be that way. Gabriella rubbed an eye and yawned, before focusing her attention back on the woman in front of her again. She didn't seem much offended as she took her seat across from Gabriella. Between the two was a metal table with two metal chairs, both occupied. In the corner of the room was a police officer and behind the woman was a large mirror, which Gabriella knew was really a one-way window. "I didn't get much sleep last night." She further explained.

The woman, who Gabriella inferred to be around 35 years old, nodded her head. She was thin with sallow skin, dark brown hair that was flipped and fell to about 4 inches past her shoulder, and brown eyes that seemed like they were hiding something. Immediately, Gabriella became a little more intrigued and sat up straighter. "I understand, after what you've been through," her voice was soft and quiet, "I'm Sara Sidle, LVPD."

"What are you doing in New Mexico?" Gabriella asked hastily as a follow up question, her voice also dropping to a very delicate tone.

Sara paused for a moment before answering. "You …well, your case, is interesting."

"Yours too," Gabriella tilted her head and blinked her dark chocolate eyes, "I researched you on the internet last night." There was a silence as the two stared long and hard at each other. "I read for fun. I knew you would be my …interviewer, and I like to know about that sort of stuff." Another awkward pause took place before Gabriella broke the silence again. "I'm sorry."

"This is about you, not me," Sara spoke calmly, although Gabriella could sense the spark in her eyes. The tension in the room rose, and Gabriella crossed one leg over the other. "What time did the initial kidnapping take place?" she continued in a professional manner, keeping a still face as she looked from her clip board to the teenager in front of her. Gabriella pursed her lips momentarily and looked down at the table while her thoughts processed.

"Approximately 6 months ago. Give or take." She came to her conclusion and looked up at Sara. "When was yours?"

"Please, can I just do my job?" the criminalist snapped. Gabriella could tell she was sorry for her tone, because she slouched in her chair and kept a steady gaze on the clipboard. "How did he take you, if you do so remember? And where?"

"Streetside, in a car, specifically a 1993 Honda Accord, grey in color." Gabriella answered without missing a breath. She could play forensics too. "We drove for about four hours or so, but I was tied in the trunk, and I couldn't see anything passing by. I speculate he took me to Arizona somewhere, it was particularly arid where we were, but that doesn't help much in that state, does it?" she smiled smugly. Sara looked up, confused.

"You don't seem very shaken for a girl who's recently been kidnapped and escaped an attempt." Sara thought out loud, "Are you sure you were really 'kidnapped'?"

"If you're trying to accuse me of staging the entire thing, it's been indicted and proven false. I'm telling the truth as much as you're lying to yourself, and to me." Gabriella leaned forward on the table, soft curls falling over her shoulders and dark eyes flickering with warmth and wit. Sara couldn't help but notice that she was an undeniably attractive girl. "You're supposed to be helping me. Why are you so cold, Sara? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She replied through gritted teeth. "Gabriella, this is about you."

Gabriella leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "I don't care if I'm dead or alive anymore," she hummed. "He's going to find me. He's going to kill me. There's nothing that we can do, so why bother?" she opened her eyes, and immediately, the genuine Montez concern flooded them. "You need to explain to me what went down with you. I'm intrigued. I want to know."

Everyone was silent in the room. Sara turned and dismissed the officer, and leaned down to turn off the microphone under the table. Taking a deep breath, she progressed. Gabriella listened to every single detail that the woman poured out to her, shaking her head when her voice quivered and blinking when the conclusion inevitably followed. Finally, Sara turned the microphone back on, and the people on the outside were met with sheer silence. "That's a sad story." Gabriella said after awhile. The CSI nodded her head.

"I hope you're okay, Gabriella. The police are here to help you. Please let them."

Gabriella shook her head. "I have to leave now. I won't tell anyone anything you told me. It's none of their business. But for right now, I have to be with someone important. Can you say the same?" And with that, the confused teen stood up and made her way out of the police building, a firm hand clutched around the familiar plastic in her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and pressed down the speed dial.

"Hey Troy, it's Gabriella. I'm outside of the police station off of Cherry Street. If you can, meet me at the school in our spot. We have a lot to talk about, a lot to discuss, and a lot to plan out before I go again. Thanks."

Beep.

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Lastly: Sorry it wasn't as eventful as you were hoping. Sara Sidle is property of CBS, but not anymore since she quit! By the way, her tragedy: when Sara was little, her father beat her and her mother. It drove her mother insane and compelled her mother to stab her father. Sara's mom went to prison and she was placed in foster care for a lot of her childhood. She had never been completely stable.

Coming up: Gabriella talks with Troy and it gets a little heated! So review, please?