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Fishbowl
Chapter 2.10

Chapter 2.10

WELCOME 2 the ~*fishbowl*~!! :DDDD

welcome 2 the uno-FISH-al goldfish technique message board the one and only forum all about the greastest band on earth….THE GOLDFISH TECHNIQUE!!! ^_____^

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Sei stato registrato come xXangelina_luvs_tgt_4evaXx (amministratore) | Argomenti Attivi

Indice ■ random stuffs!! >> has anyone talked 2 lachlan naomi or chelsea?______________________________________________________________________________

2 luglio 2009 02:11

xXangelina_luvs_tgt_4evaXx (amministratore)

hi every1! so i’m posting bc im rly confused about what’s happening right now and im kinda worried. i havent heard from lachlan/guitargod, naomi/SuperGirl, or chelsea/c/rocknrollsweetheart in over a day. they haven’t come online and their not answering their messages so i’m starting to get a little worried. something weird happened a few days ago, and i want to make sure they r safe.

SweetDan i know u go to university with naomi have u seen her?

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░ t ░ h ░ e ░ g ░ o ░ l ░ d ░ f ░ i ░ s ░ h ░ t ░ e ░ c ░ h ░ n ░ i ░ q ░ u ░ e ░

~~baby i’ve loved u since we were FRIES~

~ur the only FISH 4 me xP~

♡ { TGT #1 FAN } ♡

:p i love jessica thompson :p

^^ TGT FoReVeR ^^

“if i did have an evil twin she wouldnt like pancakes thats for sure!”~chelsea xD

☆ angelina ☆

last.fm | myspace

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2 luglio 2009 02:50

SweetDan (barracuda)

Hi, Angelina! Unfortunately, I haven’t heard from Lachlan, Naomi, or Chelsea in the past few days. I do go to the same university as Naomi, but I’m afraid I don’t typically see her on campus, and I’ve not seen her at all since school let out.

Hope everything’s alright! :)

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If anyone needs me, I’ll be playing guitar for my cats!

Sweet Dan and the Leaf Man band profile — Give us a listen :)

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2 luglio 2009 03:12

JessicaThompson (BAND MEMBERZ)

hi, angelina. please delete this topic and refrain from making anymore public posts about this. thanks.

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><>

Angelina

Angelina felt her face grow hot as she read Jessica’s message. She considered her English to be pretty good, but the message not being in her native language made it hard to figure out Jessica’s tone. What made it worse was there was no way to ask whether Jessica was angry, not when she had explicitly told her not to make any more public posts about the subject.

She could message Jessica on MySpace–she’d done it before asking for drumming tips–but the last thing she wanted was to come off as weird or needy to the person she looked up to more than anything.

I didn’t even mention Falcon! she thought. I was subtle! I just want to know if my friends are okay!

She had a feeling Naomi, Lachlan, and Chelsea were meeting up in group chat rooms, messaging with Jessica, Melanie, and Dominic and getting to the bottom of the mystery without her.

She was used to being out of the loop. She loved The Goldfish Technique more than anything on earth, but Lachlan never sent her the videos he took when the band played new songs live, and he and Naomi sometimes even lied to her, telling her that the band wasn’t recording a new album when they were or that a rare demo track didn’t exist when it did.

Once, after she’d begged him and spammed his instant messages for hours, Lachlan had sent her a horrible quality snippet of an unreleased song, claiming it was the only version that existed. Days later, she’d mentioned it to Chelsea, who sent over the full high-quality version right away–the version Lachlan had sent Chelsea and Naomi.

‘Fuck. I should’ve known she’d send it to you,’ was all he’d said when she’d asked him about it.

It figured they’d leave her out of this too.

She glanced at the time on her laptop. Almost 3:30 in the morning. That explained why she was so tired. She’d gotten used to staying up late, waiting for Chelsea to get home from work so they could video chat, but she usually started having trouble keeping her eyes open around two or so. They’d gotten into a routine; she’d call Chelsea around midnight, and they’d talk until she got so tired Chelsea started insisting she get some sleep and apologizing for keeping her up, even though she’d be happy to talk all night if she could.

Now, Chelsea had missed two nights in a row. Unlike Lachlan and Naomi, Chelsea had never left her out before. At least not until now.

Her computer dinged, and her heart leaped when she saw the box pop up indicating one of her contacts had signed into instant messenger.

Falcon. He’d added her to his contacts after he’d talked to her on Naomi’s account.

She liked him; he hadn’t seemed annoyed with her, and he’d been nice to her without humoring her or being condescending.

Maybe he would tell her what was going on.

Messaggeria Istantanea

03:29 2 luglio 2009

Il mio stato:

Angelina (Online)

Nessun nuovo messaggio di posta elettronica

Falcon <59falcon> — Conversazione

Angelina: hiiiiiiii!

Falcon: Hi.

Angelina: what’s uppp

Falcon: Not much. I’m laying low in Chelsea’s flat. How are you?

Angelina: ur in chelsea flat??? lucky i bet she has the coolest house

Angelina: shes awesome ^__^

Angelina: i’m fine i guess

Angelina: can i ask u somethings?

Falcon: Of course.

Angelina: one do u know if jessica is angry at me

Falcon: Why would she be?

Angelina: i kinda made a post on the fishbowl forum asking about naomi and chelsea and lachlan and if anyone had talked to them

Angelina: do NOT worry bc i did not mention u or anything at all but she was like no angelina delete that

Falcon: I can’t imagine Jess would be angry about that. She was just being cautious.

Angelina: ok can u ask her tho????

Falcon: I’ll ask, but I’m sure she’s not.

Angelina: also that brings me to the second thing i wanted to ask u

Falcon: What is it?

Angelina: do YOU know where are naomi lachlan and c??

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Falcon: Chelsea didn’t come home from work. Naomi went to go look for her about an hour ago. I haven’t seen them since.

Angelina: oh

Angelina: so they might not be ok

Angelina: falconnnnn????

Angelina: r u there????????

Angelina: hellooooo?

Falcon: Sorry. Melanie’s messaging me.

Angelina: omg what did she say??

Falcon: This is bad.

Angelina: what is bad???

Angelina: falcon what is it???????

Falcon: Melanie thinks the woman who took Chelsea is with Naomi now.

Angelina: took chelsea?????

Angelina: took chelsea to where

Angelina: falcon what do you mean took chelsea

Angelina: and shes now with naomi?????

Angelina: falcon pls answer me whats going on??????

><>

Naomi

Naomi struggled and thrashed, but the pressure on her chest only grew with every desperate kick. She tried to gasp in a breath, but only a tiny trickle of air found its way into her lungs. She squeaked as she exhaled, a sound like the last bit of air escaping a balloon.

There was movement somewhere in her field of vision, followed by a crash, and the weight lifted from her body. For a moment, she thought she’d somehow broken herself free from Sarah’s power.

Then, she saw Sarah slumped in the corner of the elevator and Jen standing over her, looking wide-eyed and startled.

“What happened?” said Naomi.

“I…” said Jen. “I think I kicked her.”

“You think?”

“I… I don’t know. I don’t even know what’s going on.” Jen began speaking so quickly Naomi almost couldn’t understand her. “She was doing something to you, and it didn’t make sense and, I don’t know, I’ve been taking taekwando since I was six and I guess it finally paid off because I–Sorry. Sorry. I’m rambling. Not the time, Jen. Not the time.”

“It’s… it’s okay.”

Naomi looked down at Sarah. She wasn’t moving, but she didn’t look as though she’d been kicked in the head. There was no blood, no nascent bruises. No outward signs of injury whatsoever.

What has she said? That she was a ‘piece of biotechnology’? Maybe she didn’t get bruises, or even have blood.

Jen took a deep breath and spoke again, sounding as though speaking at a normal speed took Herculean effort. “She’ll… she’ll probably wake up soon. We need to leave.”

Naomi stared down at Sarah’s prone body. Her first instinct was to slam her fist on the ‘door open’ button, run out of the elevator, and never set foot in a Clyde Packaging Solutions building again.

She remained where she was.

“We should, um,” said Jen. “We should probably go.”

“No,” said Naomi.

Jen turned her startled expression in Naomi’s direction.

“No?”

“No. No, you’re welcome to leave,” said Naomi. “I would if I were in your position. But this woman did something to my best friend. If Chelsea’s still…”

Naomi trailed off. She didn’t want to say ‘alive’, because that would mean considering the alternative.

“Still… okay?”

Naomi nodded. ‘Okay’ worked.

“Still okay. If she’s still okay, this woman might be the only person who knows where she is.”

Jen stared at Naomi for a second, then spoke.

“There’s a storage closet by the copier and I think it has duct tape and stuff. We can use it to tape up her hands so she can’t use her… I don’t know what to call it. Powers? I don’t want to call it ‘powers’. That sounds like we’re in a video game or–.”

“We?” interrupted Naomi.

“Yeah.” Jen reached over and pressed the ‘door open’ button. “I don’t know if this lady’s got anything to do with what happened to Sam, but if she does, that can’t be good. Besides, there’s safety in numbers. I’ll stay with you in case I need to kick her again!”

Naomi had been assuming Jen’s boyfriend’s disappearance had been mundane and unrelated, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Jen had said her boyfriend knew Chelsea, and Sarah had said she’d ‘disposed of’ two people.

Disposed of.

Thinking of the words left a cold, sick feeling in the pit of Naomi’s stomach. She didn’t want to dwell too much on what Sarah had meant.

Jen lifted under Sarah’s arms, dragging her out of the elevator and toward a large set of doors in the frosted glass. Naomi picked up her phone and followed. The battery had been knocked from the phone when Sarah had dropped it, so Naomi snapped it back into place.

Poor Melanie, thought Naomi. She probably assumed the worst when the phone cut out.

Jen let go of Sarah with one arm to swipe her key card. The card reader beeped and lit up with a green light. Naomi held the door open as Jen hauled Sarah through. Fluorescent lights buzzed automatically to life as the door opened.

Naomi could see the copier and supply closet ahead of them as they rounded the corner, past rows of long gray tables with a pair of computer monitors and a swivel desk chair placed every couple feet.

The back of the closet was lined with metal shelves of office supplies, leaving just enough space for the three of them. Jen gave Sarah a final shove into the closet and Naomi shut and locked the door.

Jen rifled through a plastic box for a moment before producing a roll of duct tape. She handed it to Naomi, and Naomi began taping Sarah’s hands together. She used the rest of the roll, coating all of Sarah’s hands and wrapping the tape around her arms up to her elbows.

“Is that good?” said Jen. “Or do you need more tape?”

“I’d like to tape her legs too,” said Naomi. “Just to be safe.”

“Good thinking.” Jen tossed her a roll of yellow vinyl tape. “I don’t see any more duct tape, but I did find this.”

Naomi set to work winding the tape around Sarah’s legs. She didn’t use as much as she had of the duct tape–just enough to make sure Sarah wouldn’t try to go anywhere.

Sarah’s eyes opened just as Naomi tore the last of the tape from the roll. Her confused expression hardened into anger as she realized she couldn’t move her hands. Even with Sarah’s arms and legs immobilized, Naomi felt a jolt of anxiety as the other woman looked up at her.

“What the hell?” said Sarah.

Naomi tried to swallow her nerves.

“What the hell?” Naomi repeated. “You attacked us. You attacked my best friend and… and took her away somewhere. You were probably planning on killing us just a second ago.”

“Damn it. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You could have told me where he is. He’s not even a goddamn person. I mean, neither am I.” Sarah’s voice broke a little. “Damn it! This is so stupid!”

Sarah seemed more unhinged now than she had in the elevator. Not that she’d seemed particularly stable then, but she had been confident, in control. Now there was a desperation behind her anger, a flicker of something lost and frightened in her eyes that would have made Naomi feel sympathetic toward her in virtually any other situation.

In this situation, however, she didn’t feel a shred of pity.

“Where is she?” Naomi glared down at Sarah, trying to keep her voice firm and even. “Where is Chelsea?”

Sarah made a sound that was either a laugh or a sob.

“It doesn’t even matter! Damn it, it doesn’t matter! She’s gone and she’s not coming back! Who cares? I failed!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t give a shit about whatever personal crisis you’re apparently having. Where the fuck is my best friend?”

“And my boyfriend!” said Jen.

“Your boyfriend,” said Sarah. “I’m guessing this was a long distance relationship?”

“No?” said Jen.

“No?” Sarah tilted her head. “Your boyfriend’s not a smug-looking Australian guy? Alternative-looking type? Black fingernails and stupid tight pants?”

“No. He’s a… smug-looking American guy? Definitely no nail polish or tight pants, but that’s a hot mental image–Sorry. Be quiet, Jen.”

Naomi’s nausea grew larger as she processed what Sarah had said. Smug-looking Australian guy with black nail polish and tight pants.

“Lachlan,” Naomi said. “You have Lachlan too.”

“Lachlan, that was him. Yeah. Although I wouldn’t say I have him. It’s more like I got him, you know? Well, I got him got. I got someone else to get him.”

“I’m confused,” said Jen.

“What are you talking about?” said Naomi. “What does that mean?”

“It means he’s no one’s problem anymore. Neither is your little friend Chelsea. We put them somewhere, and they’re not coming back.” Sarah let out another laugh-sob. “Doesn’t matter. Hell, I’ll probably be joining them soon. Can’t even do my damn job right.”

“Where did you put them?”

Sarah giggled, a humorless laugh that made Naomi’s skin crawl.

“In a pit.”

“What does that mean?” Naomi felt herself losing her composure and realized she was shouting. “What the fuck are you talking about? Where are they?”

Sarah stared up at her, silent.

“Answer me! Fucking make sense!”

“Okay.” Sarah’s voice was suddenly calm again.

“Okay? Just like that?” said Jen.

“Just like that,” said Sarah. “I don’t know where your boyfriend is. But I’ll tell poor Naomi here how to find her friends.”

Naomi looked down at Sarah, who smiled back up at her. Her was expression now pleasant and benign, which made her seem even creepier after her breakdown just a moment ago.

Obviously, it would be stupid to trust her. But what else was there to go on?

Besides, she was completely restrained. Letting her talk couldn’t possibly hurt.

“Go ahead,” said Naomi. “I’m listening.”