Location: Jelen Household
Interacting with: Each Other

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Nina had been silent since her brother had started to direct her home after they had seen Rachel tied up to the statue like that. Flashes of what had happened to Jan streamed through her mind like a train wreck; awful but couldn’t look away from it. She barely noticed that Everett had tugged her away from her brother and had her get in the car.

It was only once they reached the house that Nina realized that she and her brother were not alone anymore, and no where near the school. She turned to look at Petyr and Everett, looking a little confused, but still had a sort of dead eyed air about her. ”Huh? Oh… uh… thanks for the ride Everett… um… sorry did you say something else?” She looked at her brother and frowned. Something was bothering him, and she could tell. Besides it starting to feel like a freezer next to him, his brows were furrowed. ”Bratr, co se děje (what’s up)?”

”It’s… it’s nothing. Just a passing concern, that’s all.” he responded, although the temperature told her otherwise. Nevertheless, his hand found its way to hers and grabbed onto it with a reassuring firmness. ”We’ll get through this sestra. I promise.”

By then they were rounding the corner near their house. As they pulled up, Everett suggested they come stay with him for a while. Petyr turned to her, as if deferring the question to her, but his face suggested he had reservations about the idea.

Nina turned to look at Everett. ”One moment, I think my brother and I need to talk for a moment before accepting that offer.” She slid out of the car and pulled her pack around and started digging around for her keys, silently cursing. After a few moments she found her keys and shoved them in the door and turned the lock and went to open the door, her hands shaking a bit.

“Fair enough, you two go on and I'll take Dags for a walk.” Everett said, hopping out of the truck. He made note to take the handgun with him, shoving it in the back of his waistband.

Everett was smart enough two things, that every cop in town was gonna be at the murder scene and that it wasn't technically illegal for him to have it with him. The latter was at best questionable.

Everett slapped the tail gate and called for his beloved companion. He was gonna wait to make sure they got into the hose before walking anywhere. Although he did get a giggle when Dags started howling. Knowing that there was siren going off somewhere.

Not long after, Petyr was closing the door behind them. As soon as it was closed and locked, he turned and pulled his sister into a hug. Only when her shaking had stopped for a moment did her let her go and start to talk. ”So, what do you think? I’m not sure it’s the best idea, for a few reasons, but if you want to go stay with him I’ll go with it.”

”Otec is out of town, and while I know you’d protect me, I think it would be better if we went to the lodge. Our house isn’t what I would call the safest of places… but talk to me. I can tell you're hiding something, you lied to me in the car.” Nina only stepped back a bit and looked up at her brother.

”Well…” Petyr looked like he was struggling to find words. ”I’m not sure I trust Everett. Not that I think he’s hiding something, or that he’s a bad guy, or anything like that. But, I mean…” he stopped for a moment and tried to pick out his thoughts again. ”Between the beer from yesterday, the cutting class, and now after watching him almost rip you away from me and into his truck with a gun in his hand and that look he had about him… He’s a loose cannon, Nina. And I’m not entirely sure it’s the best idea to hang around him. If he went off like that after someone he didn’t even know got killed, who knows what he might do if something tries to hit closer to home? Not to mention you said he saw the damn eclipse…”

Nina bit her lip and started tugging at her piercings, looking more at the floor now. ”He’s just… I’m sure it’s just because he doesn’t wanna lose anyone else. I mean, you saw it too… she was strung up just like Janice. I’m sure if got the chance to know him... “ She looked up at Petyr and realized her words were not making anything better. She tugged more at her ear and sighed. ”You do what you want… I’m going to pack.”

Petyr sighed shortly after. ”Oh come on now, that’s hardly fair!” he said half-jokingly. ”I’m not about to let you out of my sight here. I’ll get the travel bags out of the garage, just let me leave a note for dad first. God knows he’ll rush home as soon as they get wind of this at the camp.” He went to the kitchen to grab paper and a pen.

”I’ll be upstairs figuring out what to pack… not that it's hard given what we have.” Nina sighed and headed to her room. She started pulling the essentials out of her dresser and set them in a pile on her bed. She opened the closet and the new dress caught her eye. She sighed and put it on the bed as well. More of a just in case senario. She doubted the party was still happening, not that she minded that much.

She then darted out of her room and into her father’s room. Usually she and Petyr stayed out of it while he was away, but Nina wanted one thing from it. She pulled open a drawer and fished out a zippo lighter from it. She knew her father had quit smoking years ago, but still had a pack and lighter stashed away for cravings. Or a reminder. She wasn’t sure, but for the moment that wasn’t her intent. She flipped the lighter over in her hand, and then shoved it into one of her jacket pockets and zipped it closed.

She then went back to her room and pulled out a few other things and added it to the pile of clothing she had going on her bed, and sighed.

As soon as the door shut and Dags began howling. It was like a magic cue for the old man next door to come running out. Everett nudged Dags to stop howling but he didn't. Truth be told Everett didn't really care.

As the old man stepped off his porch, Everett's temper wanted to runaway. Maybe it was the day, or the events, or where he was that kept him from losing it on the old. “Old man, you tend your biscuits. Today is a very bad day to fuck with me.” His tone may have been a kitten harsher than intended, but it was nothing compared to the demonic sounds that was coming from Dags.

The old man stopped in his tracks, a two hundred pound wolf dog with his teeth showing will do that. “Dags, stop.” Everett said as he leaned against the truck. As Dags stopped the old man went inside.

Not long after, Nina and Petyr both stepped out the door with bags in hand. Petyr turned and locked the door behind them, and then joined Nina and Everett by the truck. ”Alright, shall we get going then?”

Nina sighed and hefted her bag into the back of the truck and then climbed into the cab. ”Looks like we’ll spend the night with you while dad’s out of town. Just don’t be surprised if he shows up at the lodge tomorrow. We left him a note.” She turned to look at Everett as she spoke.

“Fair enough. Dags jump.” Everett said slapping the side of the truck. As everyone got in the cab of the truck, Everett stated the truck. When everyone was inside Everett pulled off to the lodge. The ride was quiet if not filled with tension.

When they arrived Everett was the first to speak. “Welcome to the Lodge ladies and gentlemen. The party will start in a few hours, please take this time to relax and unwind.” Everett was the first one out of the truck, grabbing the bags after opening Nina’s door.

”So, question. Where are Petyr and I going to be staying? I can’t believe I didn’t ask that earlier.” Nina got out of the car and paused, waiting for her twin.

“We got a few guests bedrooms. Not all our clients want to be out in the bush for a week at a time. You two can sleep there. Dags likes you so he won't be too far away. Anybody gets close to the house, you'll know quickly.” Everett walked through the front door and up the stairs, dropping his guests bags off in front of the door.

Petyr looked at Nina, took a deep breath and then gestured toward the Wilcox residence. ”May as well make ourselves at home. After you, sestra.”

”Thank you bratr… and thank you Everett. We really do appreciate this.” Nina headed into the lodge and let out a sigh. She knew that the rest of the day was going to be awkward, but she was going to try to make the most of it. Or so she hoped.

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Tessa’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, she was confused for a moment because it was a text from Nina, shouldn’t school be in session? Or at least close to it. That memorial should be over soon, maybe she was just checking on her. Man did she have a lot to tell her now.

Grant is not involved. Stay away from the school. Trigger warning.

That could mean only one thing. Tessa shivered and felt like she was going to vomit. “I need to go home.” She was shaking. “There’s been a- a- murder.” Austin had to know what that meant even if he hadn’t been here when it all happened, he knew, because no one in the town would let anyone forget.

”Jesus christ…” The British teen whispered in shock.

Tessa sent off a quick message to Grant.

Stay safe. I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can.

“Austin, will you walk me home?” If she was honest with herself she didn’t even want to be there, but that wasn’t a new feeling. Her phone buzzed again.

Please tell me you’re at home still.

I am.

Tess, don’t worry, I’m all right. I’ll see you when I can
—Grant

”Definitely. If that serial killer is back, it’s not safe for either of us to be on our own.” Austin picked up his phone (which he’d previously been tapping away on) and found a pocket to slot it in. He held his hand out to Tess, as a notion to hold it to stay safer.

Tess took his hand, she found it's warmth reassuring. Then led the way out of the cafe to her house. She was glad she didn't live that far from the cafe, but all she could think about was her sister's last message and how five minutes had been enough for her life to be snatched away.

At her house she led Austin in and locked the door. Years ago the lock wouldn't have ever been engaged, just like the alarm system wouldn't have even been there, but now both were and the knowledge that the alarm hadn't been tripped since she had left was calming.

“I'm setting the alarm to go off if a door or window is opened. So warn me if you decide to step out.” Tessa said as she typed in her code. She looked at the tv curious at what was happening but too scared to turn on the local news. “They said they had him...” Tessa said staring at the tv. “They said it was over and now we just had to lick our wounds.” She was shaking again. “They were wrong.”

”But what if it’s not the same one? Just an ambitious, sick bastard who was…” He shuddered, as if he wanted to swallow the words down and not utter a single letter more, ”...inspired by the killings.”

He embraced Tessa in the hopes to stop her shaking, sitting them both down on the couch. ”It’s gonna be okay. I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Thank you, but that's not what I am afraid of.” She was happily accepting the hug. “I am afraid of someone else I'm close to be taken from me again. I have been pushing people away for ages and finally I think it'll be okay to be friends with people again and not an hour later this happens.” Tessa rested her head on Austin’s shoulder. “I don't want those I care for to be ripped from me again. But I can't keep pushing people away.”

”And you shouldn’t have to push people away.” He sighed. ”Sometimes, you have to take chances. You have to be brave enough to take that extra step further. What I’m saying is, all we can do in life is make the most of what we’ve got. To not hate, or hold grudges, but when it does happen, to always be forgiving. Make memories and have fun, and don’t be afraid of the day when people leave this Earth. Because every night, somewhere up in that sky, they’re always looking at you, and they’re so proud. All the stars in the sky are people who we’ve lost, and the reason they’re shining so brightly is because of how happy they were to have you in their lives, however long or short they might’ve been.

“All we can do in life is love those around us, and express yourself. Shine that personality so bright, that it blinds all the buggers who doubted you.” He chuckled silently, before lifting Tessa’s head up so their eyes met. ”Tess, we’ve rarely spent time together, and just from that coffee at Simone’s, I know exactly how good a person you are. You’re the best person I know, and I would never forgive myself if I let you hide your amazing personality, and warm smile, in the darkness your entire life. People need to see that light, Tess. And I know from experience - cheering other people up is the best way to cheer up yourself.” He smiled, a sudden radiance in his eyes that he thought he’d lost forever. Then he unexpectedly pulled Tess tight to his chest, securing his arms around her as though he never wanted to let go.

Tessa wrapped her arms around him. ”Thank you.” She kissed him gently. ”Today would have been hell without you.” She glanced at the tv. The news could stuff it. ”Splatoon?”

A grin swept across his face. ”Hell yeah.” He laughed, getting comfy on the couch. ”Word of warning - prepare to get beaten!”

”That's what I was going to say.” Tess grinned brightly at him as she set the game up, which didn't take long since she hadn't completely put away everything from the earlier games with Grant.

They were almost done with the third match when Tess heard a robotic voice announce ‘the front door is open’. Then the distinct sound of someone punching numbers into the pad.

”Oh god it's my grandma.” She looked at Austin in horror. This was always a possibility, but this wasn't going to be easy to explain. At least they were just playing video games.

“Tessa! Your mom called and told me to check on you. Where are you?” There was no way out of it. If she pretended to not be there her mom would freak. She mouthed sorry to Austin.

”I'm in the living room.” Tessa shouted back. In response was the sound of shuffling and a cane thumping against the ground.

Austin simply held the controller, looking a mixture of confused and terrified. He looked around for a hiding spot, but unfortunately fate was not friends with him today. He simply sat there and tried to look semi-casual.

“Playing video games again. Did you ditch school just to play? And who is that?”

”I didn't ditch. I threw up.” Technically a lie, but one Tess was not afraid to tell. ”Also this is my friend Austin.” Tessa's face turned crimson.

“You mean boyfriend. Well at least it isn't that atrocious boy with pink hair.” Tessa wished she could turn invisible, well turn invisible when people were looking because right now felt like the ideal time.

”Yes I mean boyfriend.” She snapped. ”And don't be rude.” Her grandmother harrumphed.

“Turn that thing off and put on the news.”

”You can't be serious.” A glance from her grandmother told Tessa she was in fact serious. ”Fine then we're going into the shop. I'm not watching the news.”

“Not with a boy you're not. Unless you want your mother to hear about this.” Tessa's jaw dropped but she pulled it up almost as quick. Her grandmother was seriously blackmailing her.

”Fine we'll be in the kitchen.” Tessa stood up, looked apologetic to Austin and helped him to stand. She led the way into the kitchen and laid her head down on the marble counter island. ”Oh my god. I am so sorry.” She took a deep breath.
“Though that's the nicest she's been a year.”

”Don’t worry. Hey, if you want, I can help you escape. Just whisk you away,” He picked her up, carrying her in his arms with a laugh, ”And speed out.”

”If only it were that simple.” Tessa said a huge smile on her face, arms wrapped around Austin’s neck.
”But unfortunately she'll call in about five minutes and ask for something, like a drink, and if I don't respond she'll call mom.”

He smiled, looking into her eyes. ”I can explain that I’ll keep you safe on the way to the shop. Maybe you just need to talk to her. After all, I can just pick you up and speed off. Though we might have to leave that part out if we do talk to her.” He chuckled, setting her back on her feet with a kiss.

”It's not far to the shop.” She pointed out the kitchen window to the back yard where a metal building sat on a slab of thick poured concrete.
”Grandma is keeping an eye on me because of what happened and mostly because my mom is probably doing a high strung version of ‘what's next’.”

”Well, we’ll see if we can talk to her anyway, yeah?” He nodded towards the living room. ”She can’t be any worse than my dad when it’s ‘party season’. Ugh, he always keeps a strict curfew, and when I don’t come back on time, guess what he does. Checks me for drugs.” He sighed dramatically.

”In this town?” Tess put on her best sarcastic voice.
”No one does drugs here.” Dropping the voice she added,
”Not that I think you do them, but I can see why he worries. I mean honestly my mom's convinced Jay is going to get me hooked on snorting weed.” Tessa rolled her eyes. ”But okay I'll talk to her.” She gave small shrug and stepped out into the living room again. The tv was up too loud for anyone that didn't need hearing aids (and probably some who did). ”Grandma I'm going into the shop if you need me.” She said it just loud enough that her grandmother couldn't claim she hadn't tried, especially since she turned and looked at her.

“Not with a strange boy.”

”He's not a strange boy. Okay he's as little strange, but he's not as stranger.”

”Hey! I can hear you!” Tessa grinned.

”It's a compliment!” She shouted back. Her grandmother did not seem amused.

“I don't care. You're not going out there. There's a madman on the loose again.”

”Austin is perfectly capable of protecting me.”

”Yep,” He walked into the living room. ”I swear on my life I won’t let that madman kill her. He’ll have to go through me first. Which, won’t happen anyway.”

“Young man it isn't just the notion of a killer on our streets that is preventing me from allowing my only grandchild to go out into the shop with a stranger, it is the fact that you are teens and need a chaperone. So if you don't mind I'm watching the news. Tessa dear bring me a drink of water please.” The old woman turned back to the tv which was recounting all the details about the murder again. Tessa saw Rachel Lewis’ last year yearbook picture displayed.

Austin walked back into the kitchen, and when he was sure Tessa’s nan couldn’t see him, he flopped onto the ground, dramatically dragging himself across the floor. ”Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.” He muttered. Tessa restrained a laugh.

”I warned you.” She pulled a glass down and then looked down at Austin. “Want a glass of water too?” She was already pulling two more glasses out of the cupboard.

”Have you got incredibly strong alcohol that will make me forget the frustration of trying to persuade your grandmother to let us out? He groaned, sitting up and leaning against the wall. ”I’m practically in prison!”

”Unfortunately my mom is a teetotaler. You do know you can leave.” Tessa said as she filled the glasses with water.

”But it’d be without you.” He announced sadly. ”I’m not ready to become lonely again.” The teen chuckled, standing up and walking over. He turned her to face him, kissing her. Tessa kissed back, savoring the moment.

“My water?” Her grandmother's voice cut through the kiss like a knife.

”You have got to be kidding me.” Tessa sighed. ”I'll be right back.” She took one of the glasses and went out into the living room, and was back as quickly as she could be. Austin smiled at her.

”Don’t think I’ll let your grandma ruin our thing.” He embraced her, continuing their kiss.

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It hadn’t been longer than ten minutes, maybe a maximum of fifteen, since Jade departed from the sight of Rachel Lewis’ body. Grant hadn’t moved from his spot, his gaze hadn’t moved from her lifeless body. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Any right-minded person, regardless of gender or their relation to the victim, would at least move away, but Grant didn’t. In his mind, he couldn’t. He was mentally frozen on the thought of that poor girl. He saw her hanging and all he could think was poor girl. So young and so full of life, but now, she became as dead as the leaves in wintertime. Her body lifeless like a puppet and her face as horror-filled as Tess was three years ago. Grant had motive to step away and focus on happier things, but he couldn’t.

“Why can’t I move?” Grant asked himself that question several times for the last seven minutes. Even after he had responded to the text that Tess sent him, making sure he wasn’t injured or worse, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Rachel Lewis.

His eyes penetrated Rachel’s soulless own. He was trying to find the answers in her eyes. He even began to step closer, but only by half a foot. At least, that was where it started. He found himself getting a half of a foot closer every ten seconds. By the time two minutes had passed, he had moved four yards. He was closer to Rachel, yes, but not to the answers he sought after. No reason was made clear to him as to why Grant Jackson Wells stayed in the crime scene area. There was nothing that suddenly dawned on him. There simply was this unknown need to keep his glance on Rachel.

And then something happened.

Grant’s head turned, hearing(or so he thought) a familiar voice. He rushed over to a blonde near him. She was turned away, but Grant forced her to turn him with a tug of her shoulder. He looked at her. It wasn’t who he thought he was. “Oh, my mistake. I thought you might have been someone else.” Grant apologized to the blonde. Then, a gasp of sorts escaped. He knew why he was staring at Rachel for so long. It suddenly dawned on him as if he was struck in the fact by a ton of bricks.

“Olivia..” He breathily uttered out. His eyes were widened with astonishment as he suddenly realized what he needed to do.

Taking out his phone, Grant swiped over to Olivia’s name. He started to type:

Hey, I don’t know how much you have heard about what’s happening, but can you meet me at Simonè’s? I really need to talk to you. — Grant

As Grant hit send, his legs started to move on their own. He ran full force to Simonè’s Coffee.

Alicia felt Scout's hand gently resting on top of hers staring into Scout's eyes for a moment and forced a smile of her own, she was trembling and sweating herself the first murder in three years and she felt scared. Alicia looked over to see Kat coming in along with her parents, she shyly nodded it wasn't the right time to tell them now that they were dating and would tell both of her own parents later. "Yeah i'll make sure Kat doesn't leave this room Mrs. Hargraves." Alicia said as she leaned herself up against Kat's shoulder, she felt slightly safer now being in her girlfriend's arms. Alicia leaned up to gently kiss Kat on the cheek meeting Katalina's eyes and gently held her girlfriend's hand letting out a slight sigh. "I'll be fine, just shaken up a bit never saw someone up close like that.." Alicia admitted running a hand through her own hair.

Alicia looked over towards Scout, and shrugged slightly she had no clue why out of all days something like this has happened. "I'm pretty sure that the bastard is still rotting in his cell in prison. Maybe some sort of copycat killer or something?" Alicia shuddered slightly at the thought of someone taking the place of the murderer caught three years ago. "I guess this sort of ruins our date tonight?" Alicia said looking over towards Kat and squeezed her hand gently.

"Are you doing alright? I've never seen you scared like this before." Alicia was concerned for her new girlfriend, after she asked Alicia looked over to see her mother walking in carrying three water bottles from one of the vending machines in the hallway and handed it towards Scout, Katalina and Alicia. "How are you girls holding up?" Mrs. Smith asked, Alicia took the bottle of water quickly twisting the lid off Alicia took a large gulp of her water before setting the bottle down on her lap, and closing it shut. "Been better I guess.. I feel horrible for Rachel's parents though.." Alicia said softly. She remembered feeling Jade nudging her and running away from the scene and was concerned for her friend as well.

"Hey Jade, are you alright? Please text me back when you can."

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Everett didn't say much other than telling Nina and Petyr to help themselves to anything they needed. He quietly snuck out the backdoor, asking Dags to stay with Nina. It was a little more than alarming just how much Dags liked Nina. It did mean however, that Everett could be alone. Not having to babysit Nina and her brother while keeping them both safe.

Everett changed clothes, making sure to grab his old beat up hat. He slipped out the back door and headed for the cellar. He grabbed a few things that needed tending to and took them to the barn. It was still set up for Nina and what he had planned for her. Given the days events he didn't think it was gonna happen.

The barn was a place he spent a good deal of time in. At one point he had given thought to moving in there full time. Go so far as make a makeshift bedroom in it. There was always something to do in there. Even if it was just shoveling horse shit. The smell in the barn reminded him he needed to do that.

Hard work dispelled worry or so his mother always said. He sat the items down in a corner and to work cleaning. It took an hour or two but he got it done. When he was done he went back to doing what he had intended to do.

He climbed the steps to the second level. His items in tow, he laid them on a table that sat not far off from a window. Everett did something he knew he shouldn't do but did it any way. Everett went to his makeshift bedroom and pulled a pint of whiskey. Sitting on the table, he pulled out his cell phone.

Everett hit the play button, playing some traditional country music. Taking a small drink from his pint, Everett went to work on his preferred task.

Singing along to the music, Everett started cleaning the items he picked up from the cellar. Those items were his guns, his favorite, most used guns. As he started cleaning, Everett couldn't help look at the bottle. He wanted little more than to turn the bottle up and drain it right there.

He wanted to so badly. It'd be a fair response to the events from earlier today and had he been alone, just him and Dags, he would have done it. He might have if it was just Nina, but her brother was there and it was pretty easy to tell that he didn't trust Everett. Everett didn't know why that was or what he had done to give her brother pause but it was there.

There was talk coming between them, Everett and Petyr. Most likely not that different than the one between Everett and their father. Still that wasn't something to worry about right now.

Everett looked out of the window, the trees caught his eyes. They called in way, one that almost made it okay to leave the two in the house. He could leave right now, drink his bottle and forget all about what was going on in this town. If today wasn't bad enough he couldn't engage in his coping habits. Running off in the woods to get drunk was far from healthy but it's how he'd dealt with things.

A tear fell from his eye. Rachel had remained him of his parents death, no matter how hard he'd tried to push it from his mind. He pulled a chair to the table and sat there. Blankly staring out the window. Right or wrong, in his head he was alone now. His family was gone, dead and rotting in a grave. Aunt Lou would be getting a plane ticket to Nashville, Tennessee.

Nina for all the good she could do was fighting her own demons. Talking to her about this was the definition of unfair in his mind. How could he even start to tell her about all this?

With another drink Everett pushed himself towards the window. His 458. SOCOM in his lap and his feet propped up on the window seal. The breeze was calming, it almost made him smile. He put his hat on and started cleaning his weapon, quietly singing to himself. Anything to get his thoughts on a new subject. This mood and his thoughts would pass in a little while, but right now being alone with a little buzz was the best medicine for his ailing mind.

He wondered if anyone was gonna show up to the party now. He'd be fine and sober by then, it was still more than a few hours away.

Location: Lincoln Memorial Gym
Interacting with: Each other and Scout @Liriia

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Kata kept Alicia close as they sat together with Scout in the gym. Her mind was swirling with a thousand thoughts as the questions just kept coming. She frowned a bit and kissed Ali's forehead. "I was under the impression that they had caught the person responsible for the killings before... otherwise why would we have such a huge gap between them? It could be a copycat, the killings were... very well documented." Kata shivered a bit, remembering all the clippings that were at the diner. She preferred never eating there again, but she knew it still had the articles everywhere.

She then turned to Ali. "I'll be fine, I'm just scared because I got more to lose now then I did a few years ago if this continues... As for why today, I mean the whole town turned out for the memorial... perfect alibi maybe? Or just a way to mock us... I don't know." She then looked at Mrs. Smith and offered a half smile. "Thank you for the water Mrs. Smith. It is appreciated. I'm holding up fine, I guess."

Alicia smiled softly as Katalina kissed her on the forehead and sighed softly as she tried to relax, looking around the auditorium then looked at Kat. "Well we have powers now to defend ourselves with." Alicia whispered as her mother headed towards the entrance to see if other students or staff needed anything. Alicia gently squeezed Kat's hand lovingly, before leaning back into her girlfriend.

"I'd rather not think about this now, its to much to handle right now.." Alicia said quietly as her mother came back and sat across from her daughter, Kat and Scout. "Your welcome Katalina. If you two need to talk I'm here for the two of you."

"Thank you again Mrs. Smith." Kata continued to hold Alicia's hand gently, giving it a squeeze. Soon her own parents returned and sat down next to Mrs. Smith.

"Good, you're all still here. The police pretty much want everyone to stay put, even thought they're sure there are a few that already left. However, we should stay for now." Molly pulled out a bottle of water and took a small swig. "How are you doing Alicia? How are you holding up?"

"No problem at all Katalina, thank you for watching over Ali for me." Mrs. Smith said as she looked up to see Katalina's parents coming over and sat down next to her, Alicia's mother taking a sip of her own water before setting it down onto the floor.

"I'm doing alright I guess, just never expected something like this to happen today of all days." Alicia managed to say, and groaned slightly when Kat's mother said they had to stay a bit longer due to the police getting statements from pretty much everyone who was at the scene.

"I know, not a fun prospect, but hopefully it will be quick." Molly said and looked at Kata and raised an eyebrow and then smiled. "You two seem close."

Kata blushed a bit at her mother's comment and took another swig of water. It didn't seem like the right time to tell her mother about her new girlfriend. "We'll talk later mom... but yeah... why it had to happen today... just makes it all the worse. Especially for those who are already suffering." She sighed a bit. She wasn't looking forward to being stuck in the gym for too much longer herself, but she was at least with Ali.

Alicia blushed deeply at Mrs. Hargraves comment, but didn't say anything either at that as she finished chugging down the rest of her bottle. She crushed it slightly and looked towards Kat she was glad she was right there next to her. "I hope this doesn't take up the rest of the day." Alicia said quietly to herself.

"You are are more then welcome to come over to our place after this is all over. We could help set something for Rachel's family." Mrs. Smith offered Katalina and her parents if they did want to come over and talk about what happened and do something nice for Rachel's family.

"We'll probably be keeping the shop closed anyways, so we'd like that. I'm sure Katalina won't argue. I doubt they're having that memorial at the lodge anyways. Don't know what that boy was thinking..." Molly trailed off, but Kata was only half paying attention.

"Sure, I'd love to come over. If Ali is alright with it?"

"Of course I'm fine with you coming over Kat." Alicia said looking towards her girlfriend and smiled. As she looked over she saw two police officers coming in and motioned for Alicia's mother to grab her statement of what she saw happened. Alicia wasn't sure if Everett was still planning on hosting the party tonight, she thought about going but after what happened she would rather stay at home.

About five minutes later Alicia's mother came back. "Its your turn hun, just tell the truth and what you saw." Alicia nodded slowly as she stood up looking down at Katalina once and smiled slightly. She walked over to tell the two Verona officers what she witnessed and if there was anything odd she saw before it all happened which she didn't and came back and sat down.

After Alicia gave her statement, both her parents and then her gave theirs. It was fairly consistent. Once Kata was done, she sat back down next to Ali and let out a sigh. "I think we can go now... I doubt we're having classes today after this."

"Would you like to ride to the Smith's with us hon, or with them, if they'll let you?" Molly asked, looking at her daughter.

"If Mrs. Smith is okay with it, I'd like to go to their house with them..."

"I have no issue with you riding back home with us hon." Mrs. Smith said as she stood up, Alicia looked over at Scout for a moment. "Ill see you later Scout." Alicia said and looked towards her girlfriend and held her hand.

Alicia walked behind her mother looking away as the police were going over the crime scene and like an episode out of Law and Order they were closing off the scene. Alicia's mother unlocked the car and Alicia quickly got into the back seat.

Kata took Ali's hand and nodded to Scout. "See you later." She then walked with Ali to the car, and got in the backseat with her and took her hand again and gave it a small squeeze. She wasn't sure what else to say for the moment, but she kept on holding Ali's hand, comforting both Ali and herself.

Location: Wilcox Lodge
Interacting with: Each Other

---

---

The Wilcox guest room was a friendly little place, if a little down-home on the range in feel. Which, Petyr reflected, was probably the intention. A little slice of Tennessee in Washington, as it were. Petyr wasn’t sure how secure he felt in such a place, but Nina seemed to think it was a better option than their house. And it was rather difficult to argue the point with what was either a large dog or a small wolf trotting behind her like a lost puppy.

”Well, let’s unload then,” he said as he set his bag down on the bed. ”How are you doing?” he asked quietly as he turned to look at his sister.

”As well I can, I suppose… I will admit I’m probably not all here…” Nina had set her own bag down on one of the beds, and turned to look at Petyr. She reached over to the dog and gave him a small scratch. ”Good boy Dags… How are you doing bratr? I realized I haven’t really asked that since… we were at the school.”

”I guess I’m still in shock. I mean…” he sat down on the bed for a moment. ”Why did this happen? And why today? It hasn’t sunk in yet, but… I’m not sure if I can go through all that again, you know?”

Nina moved to sit down next to him and put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. ”I know, too well. When I saw her up there… It was just like Jan, all over again. I can’t do it bratr. I can’t go through with it again. I don’t want to stay in this town any longer if this is what is going to become normal here. I just can’t.” Petyr could hear some tell-tale sniffles of his sister trying to hide the fact she was crying from him. His reaction was to put his arms around her and squeeze gently.

”We’ll get through this sestra. I don’t know how just yet, but we’ll find a way. So stay with me, alright?”

“Samozřejmě (of course) bratr. I just… I hope Tess hasn’t seen it. I told her to stay away and not to look, but… well. I’m worried for her, and for you.” Nina looked up at her brother, as she reached up to dry her eyes a bit.

Petyr’s response was to ruffle her hair a little bit. She wasn’t overly fond of him doing that, but it served well as a tension breaker between them. ”Hey, don’t you go fretting over me, that’s my job. As for Tess… she’s got a good head on her shoulders. And if all else fails… maybe we go get her and we all look after each other like old times. You look like death though, I think a nap would be a good call. I’ll be right here if you need anything, so get some rest. Okay?”

Nina made the face she usually did when he ruffled her hair, partly miffed, but partly amused. ”Well if you get to fret over me, I’ll fret over you sometimes. And yes, she does… You’re probably right. A nap would be a good idea. Don’t be afraid to wake me if you need anything as well.” Nina got up and went over to the other bed and removed her bag from it. She tugged off her coat and folded it up next to the pillow and then laid down.

Petyr sat on his bed for a while afterwards as Nina drifted off, thinking about any number of things. Dags had curled up at the foot of her bed, his nose facing the door of the room, which made him feel slightly better about turning his mind elsewhere and over everything they’d gone through in the last hour. Somewhere along the lines, something clicked in his head. He turned around and faced away from Nina, as he didn’t want to wake her or cause her discomfort. His side of the room would be getting very cold for some regular intervals...

---

---

Olivia had prepared for the Memorial service at school today. She had even picked out the black dress she would be wearing to the sombre event, where several people had lost their loved ones to the tragic tragedy that had befallen the sleepy town of Verona. But no, despite all the preparations she had done to prepare herself for the event, it seems like fate didn't want her to attend the event after all. And, it all because of that ill-fated crash that rang through the house that early morning. She was already fully dressed, doing some minimal primping in front of her dressing mirror, when a loud crash echoed throughout the house. It seemed to came from the stairs outside her room, and rather taken aback, she opened the door to her room. She could hear a commotion down the stairs, and the voices of her parents, most notably, her mother. She hurried down the steps, only to see her father lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs, clearly in agony.

Her mother rushed off amongst cries of alarm and dismay, helping her husband up as she did so. "What happened?" Olivia queried. "I'm pretty sure, I'm just tripped and fell down the stairs. My head hurts, and I'm starting to see stars. Thee last thing I remember was me losing my footing and stepping onto nothing." Mrs Johnson caressed the back of her husband's head, searching for any signs of injury. She found a small bump that was definitely going to be developing into a bruise. "We best get that looked at. Head injuries are nothing to joke about. Let's get you to the hospital." Olivia fixed an anxious gaze at her father. She was unsure at what was going on, but her dear father clearly looked in pain. "I'll accompany you to the doctor as well!" Just like that, the Johnson family bundled into one car and made their way to the hospital near the town centre. By the time, they were at the hospital, the Memorial service was already well on its way. Looks like she would be missing the entire thing.

While she was in the hospital's lobby, lounging around waiting for parents to come out from the consultation room, her phone rang, its quirky Super Mario message tone gave out a cry. A text from Grant. The only thing that could brighten up her day just did. Grant. Oh, how much she loved that boy. It was a secret of course, and no one knew but her. She'd convinced her that it would be better that way. As much as loved him, she didn't want to risk jeopardising the great thing they had going on if he didn't feel the same way. That would be incredibly awkward, and things would never be the same again. Grant wanted to meet her at Simonè’s, the coolest cafè in town. He really needed to talk to her, and she was always happy to talk to him.

Hey Grant! I'm so sorry, I couldn't be there with you to attend the service. My dad fell and had an accident and we had to send him to the doctors. I'll be at Simonè’s as soon as I can! I'm looking forward to seeing you! I'm leaving in a bit, as soon I inform my parents.

Just as she finished sending the text back to Grant, her parents came out from the doctor's room. Olivia got up from her seat. "How is it?" Her mother did a brief waving gesture in the air. "Oh, its nothing. Everything seems to be fine. He'll be real sore for a couple of days though with a bruise." Olivia gave out a sigh of relief, now that she knew her father was going to be fine. Grabbing her backpack, she then informed her parents. "I've got to get going now. I'm meeting Grant." Without waiting for a reply, she quickly left the hospital and started making her way to the cafè, a common meeting point for just about everybody in town. In about fifteen minutes or so, Olivia finally made her way to Simonè’s, her golden tresses and the hem of her black dress fluttering lightly in the breeze that seemed to come without warning. Looking around, she spotted Grant sitting at one of the tables outside the cafè, alone. She walked up behind him, hugging him by the neck, uttering a "Heya!" before releasing him, and taking up a seat on the opposite side of him. She was definitely pleased to Grant again.

When Olivia sat down, there were two cups of White Chocolate Mocochas waiting. One of them were for Olivia and the other for Grant. "Hey Liv!" Grant said excitingly, a wide smile plastered over his face. But it was a false smile. Grant couldn't hide his previous worry that much. He couldn't hide it entirely. He just couldn't, especially in front of Olivia. "I'm so glad you are safe." Grant, again, put that facade of a smile on for Liv, thinking it might be able to hinder her detection of his great worry. His hand somehow found it on Olivia's. Perhaps an uncontrollable reflex or partially his own doing, Grant wouldn't know. It just seemed to happen.

As Olivia sat down, she noticed a cup of White Chocolate Mocha sitting in front of her. Seems like Grant had taken the liberty of ordering for her. Why not? He knew what she liked anyway. As she gazed at him, she noticed that something wasn't quite right. He was smiling of course, but they have known each other long enough to be able to differentiate genuine feelings from false ones. Grant seemed to either be bothered by something or he was hiding something from her. She lifted the cup from the table, taking a couple of sips, before placing it down onto the saucer. It was then that he spoke for the first time said he said hi. He was glad she was safe. Must have been the story she'd had heard about the murder of Rachel Lewis, at school earlier, when she had conveniently missed because of the issue with her father. Olivia answer him. "I'm glad you're safe as well, considering you were at school when you happened." Narrowing her eyes as she continued to fix a gaze onto him, she inquired, "Is something the matter? You look like something is bothering you deeply. What was it you wanted to talk about so urgently anyway. Sounds really important."

She had saw through his facadè. What was Grant even thinking? Of course she saw through it. This person in front of him, sipping her White Chocolate Mocha, knew him for the longest time — almost as long as Tess has. "Yeah, I guess you can say that," Grant said, looking down at his coffee briefly. He was unsure how to proceed to what he texted her so urgently for. After about half of a minute, he looked up at her, smiling softly. "Seeing Rachel's body, hanging there lifelessly, opened my eyes to a lot of things. We aren't on this planet for that long. Considering the recent events with all of us getting these weird abilities, the longevity of our lives might be cut somewhat short." The usually quiet, verbally-minimal Grant was not present today. He was replaced with a more thoughtful, talkative version of the guy he normally was.

As Grant spoke, Olivia placed her hand onto his, slipping her fingers into his, gripping him for moral support. She would do anything to support him, anything for him, really. Seeing a person die, or a dead person could often led one to do things one would normally not do. She read that in a book before somewhere, sometime ago. Giving his hand a little squeeze, she said. "Don't worry G, I'm not planning on going anywhere, and I hope you aren't too." The death must have shaken him up considerably as the boy began talking with a purpose, his speech and words suddendly impactful and confident. The usually timid and unconfident boy was no where to be seen today. This must have been more serious than she thought it would be. Feeling the warmth with her hand in his, with their fingers interlocked, she said "Is there anything I can do to help? I know you might be going through a rough time and all, seeing such a thing."

Though he looked at her somberly, Grant gave Olivia a smile as he felt her hand squeeze his. "Thank you, Liv. You've always been there for me and Tess too, especially when Janice died," Remembering that time brought a frown to Grant's face. Seeing Rachel's body brought him back to that time when his cousin died, specifically how Tess pretty much lost her whole world. Only recently has Grant seen her get better. Perhaps it had something to do with Austin."I-I think today showed me just how much I appreciate you, Liv. I thought I saw you today at the crime scene, but it wasn't. I think that's when I realized—" Grant cut himself off abruptly, a strange sensation starting to fill his stomach. What could it possibly be?

"I know it's difficult, so I've always tried to be there for you whenever I can." Olivia then giggled at the thought of Grant mistaking her for someone else at the memorial service at school. "You thought you saw me? Oh that must have been embarassing. One might have thought that you missed me too much or something!" She ended with a joke, seeing it fit to do so. Yeah, Tessa seems especially close to Austin recently. Perhaps they were an item? "I appreciate you as well G, you know I do." Cocking her head sideways, she gave him a puzzling look as he cut himself mid-sentence. "You realised what? Why made you stop halfway?" Olivia gave her best friend another quizzical look. He most certainly was acting weird today, perhaps the incident at school had shorted his brain out? That was a possibility, considering the fact that he was acting the way he was. "Something's really wrong isn't it?"

"I, uh," Grant tried to collect himself. He needed to say it and he wanted to do it without studdering or rambling. "“I realized that, ever since I can remember, you’ve been there by my side. You were there when we were all in elementary school and the kids used to pick on me, calling me G-spot. You stood up for me when King couldn’t. You were there for Tess and I when Janice was murdered unexpectedly. You were there when everyone, despite us being friends since our K-years, didn’t want to hang out with me. You’ve always been there, Liv.” Grant’s words suddenly stopped, his hand squeezing hers warmly. There was a light sprinkle of tears dropping from Grant’s eyes as he spoke sincerely. “I hate myself that it took a tragedy like Rachel dying to realize how much you really mean to me.” Grant leaned closer, as if wanting to look her directly in the eyes. “I never once thought that, through all the time you were there by my side, that I would end up falling in love with my best friend.” Grant finally said it. All of the years that they have been best friends has been leading up to this moment. The moment that Grant told Olivia his true feelings for her.

And then it came. The bombshell. The Grant equivalent of a fat man and little boy. He began spilling his heart to her, reminsicing about the elementary years, when they were already together, friends, and their peers would already began picking on him, calling him G-spot because he was so sensitive. Everytime she heard them call him that, she would always yell back, "He's G-SHOCK! not G-SPOT!" Back then, watches like Baby G and G-Shock were really popular, and that was the only thing she could think of that hopefully reversed the effect of the negative word being used on him. Olivia had been there for Grant ever since. She'd been there when Janice died, and she's here now. As he began pouring his heart out, she began to see tears welling up in his eyes, beads of tears dropping off his face. She leaned forward, catching the tears on her fingers. "Don't cry G, you'll make me sad too." Then the real bombshell came. He said the 'L' word. He said he loved her. Olivia was stunned, completely taken aback. She would never in a million years thought he would love her as well. She had carried a torch for him, for a long while now, probably even longer than he had, and now she knew that the feelings were mutual. Tears began to well up within her eyes as well. It was something she had always wanted but had never dared ask. Now that she knew he felt the same way, she would let her true feelings be known as well. "I'm been in love with you for a long time Grant, for a long time now. I would've never had imagined that you felt the same." She ended as she caressed his hand lovingly.

"You love me too?" Grant was surprised as much as she was. He didn't think it was the same for her. Never would he had thought she felt the same way as he did for her. There was never a moment that it would occur to him. He always thought it was a one-way street on this express way to Lovesville. Who knew that he was wrong? "Had I known you felt the same way, I would have told you sooner — and there were so many times I wanted to," Grant felt himself laughing through the remnants of his tears, looking at Olivia with a wide smile. "I just can't believe this. We were both in the same place and still we didn't confess," Grant couldn't help but find a laugh or two out of the situation. He and Olivia both felt the same way for each other and both were too afraid to say anything. Gotta love irony.

It was a rather peculiar situation the couple had found themselves in. Both of them actually had feelings for each other, and yet not one of them actually said anything! As Grant started laughing through his tears, Olivia began chuckling along with him as well. The situation they had found themselves in was so ironic that she couldn't help but laugh out loud along with him. She got up from her seat, stepping over next to him, before pulling him up from his seat, giving him a warm hug as she did so. "I'm really glad I'm with you G. I can't imagine life without you. I'm so glad you feel the same way."

"I couldn't either, Liv. I don't even want to think about life without you." Closing his eyes, Grant embraced Olivia. He felt the warmth of her arms around him and he smiled. There was an overwhelming feeling of happiness going through Grant's body right now. In the entire time he has been best friends with her, Grant never felt as close to Olivia as he did at this very moment. Feeling her arms around him, feeling her body lightly snug agianst his. This must be what real love felt like. That feeling of never wanting to leave someone's side. It was something that was relatively new to Grant, yet, as he rested his head on her shoulder, Grant felt as if this was one of the most natural feelings he could ever experience.

Lifting his head up from her shoulder and breaking the hug for a moment, Grant gazed into her beautiful, bluish, almost gray eyes. He had known her to have eyes of a rare shade, but today seemed to make them pop out to him even more. In his mind, he was thinking that here she was, the one person whom he confessed his love to received them back tenfold and now he and her had this moment to do what they wanted. Forget it being in a public space. Grant felt as if that was just a detail that didn't matter, not at the moment it didn't. Grant brought his left hand to her right cheek. For a moment, he was holding his breath, as if anxious about what came next. He then, slowly but steadily, cocked his head slightly and embraced her lips with his own. It was soft and a lot of love went behind it.

The last thing Olivia remembered was being in a hug with Grant. Now, he had pulled her back, caressing her right cheek with his left hand. As his hazel eyes gazed affectionately into her own blue-gray ones, she return the loving gaze to him. Before she even realised what was happening, he brought his lips onto hers, giving her a passionate kiss. It was their first kiss, and all she had to do now was savour the moment, and enjoy the experience.

---

---

Scout waved as the two girls left with her left hand while her right was busy pressing the water bottle she had received against her forehead. She shook as chilling droplets landed on her nose and lap, blue eyes wearily scanning the auditorium. People had gathered back inside, chatting quietly as Scout heard the blaring sirens of police cars and ambulances. The noises, though far off, already nauseated Scout to the point of turning green with fear, and after a moment of letting her feet tap aimlessly she stood, turning to bow her head slightly at Ms. Hastings.

“My… Parents. They’re worried sick about me.” She was lying through her teeth, though her lax expression would make it almost impossible to tell, “I’ve gotta run, thanks for everything.” And before she could be pulled back to her seat with coaxing hands Scout turned and ran towards the exit closest to the stage. Slipping the water bottle into her rather roomy sweatshirt pockets, Scout took her now free hand and flipped open her phone. The old screen lit up instantly, though no new messages were seen. She kept one eye on the old phone and another on the empty halls around her. Her loud steps reverberated against the lockers and panelled walls, sounding much heavier than Scout ever intended, but she wasn’t too focused on staying hidden now. Instead, her eyes scanned the shaking keyboard of her phone, typing out a message to her old ‘friend’ Noah.

To: Noah
The plan is off murder at school cops are gonna be swarning town soon i need to talk to you go to wilcoxs party

Not caring much for her typos or punctuation she hit send, and as she glanced up she skidded to a stop, right in front of the school’s main doors. Scout sucked in a few breaths, glancing back once to make sure Hastings didn’t follow her before pushing through the doors. The September sunlight blinded her momentarily, and Scout blinked away the blue afterimages of the day quickly before staring at the scene before her. The crowd was still gathered down by the assembly hall’s entrance, though a few stragglers from town had started to walk towards it, and Scout stepped forward cautiously before breaking into a half-jog, quickly making her way from the school towards The Gallery.

In all honesty, Scout didn’t have much of a plan. Jay was elsewhere, she didn’t really wanna bother him, and everyone else was caught up with seeing the body. She felt sick, lonely, ignored, and even worse as she realized what a scumbag she was for feeling that way. Cutting through a few yards, Scout eventually made her way into the familiar building, and after scaling the stairs up to her massive pieces she collapsed, landing like a broken doll onto the hard cement floor. She heard shuffling in the shadows, probably some junkie or homeless person, and after a moment of heavy breathing she lifted her head and glared, hoping her sharp eyes would scare them off. She then crawled, very slowly, to her current piece and settled against the wall, flinching as she knocked over a few spraypaint cans. Breathing deeply, Scout calmed her frayed nerves and reached for the water bottle that had been painfully banging against her hip. She opened it with a shaky grasp, sipping the chilled water slowly until it was half drained. Another sigh escaped her lips, and she placed the water bottle beside her knee while pulling out her phone again. At a loss on what to do, her mind turned towards the eventual booze and lights of Everett’s party. Who would be going? She glanced down at her thumb, which tapped quietly on her phone’s keyboard, and then with sudden inspiration she slowly typed out a message to her two best friends.

To: Jaaaaay, Ollie
You guys going to wilcox’s party? I dont wanna go alone

And once the message was sent she let her hand drop and her head lolled lazily onto her shoulder. What a day, what a day.

---

---

The past few hours has been bizarrely surreal, the murder of Rachel Lewis and the way she was killed was deeply ingrained in Gerard's memory. He wasn't exactly acquainted with her, but he has heard of her astonishing achievements, well, who hasn't. Gerard wandered off after witnessing the dead body and found himself in the forests near Lincoln high. After doing so, he lied down on the dirt, while looking up at the sky. It had a reddening hue, as the sun began to hide.

Gerard dusted off the leaves and dirt that was eskewn on his clothes. He slid his hands into his pocket as the air grew colder. Whilst on his stroll a distinct smell of charcoal hit his nose. He slowly and carefully tread towards the source. A tree stood out, burnt and ashened grey, the smell of charcoal still permeating strongly around the area. Gerard examined the tree up and down and whistled, "Impressive." he said to himself outloud, a smirk forming on his face "Now, I don't recall any storms or the like for lightning to hit something, and this roughly too. I guess another one also got something, huh?"

"Though," Gerard continued talking to his lonesome, "This is still a bit conspicuous, what kind of person wouldn't think this is suspicious by the least." He knew that this practically destroyed tree stood out from all the healthy and living ones surrounding it, he wouldn't want anyone skulking around with questions, he sighed in displeasure. "Well, I guess I can try this, I've been sitting on this for a while." he continued talking to himself whilst whispering. Earlier in the day Gerard had accidently broken a cup filled with his cocoa, and in his annoyance he found that he reverted its time back to when it wasn't broken. Course, he reverted it to much back in time and the cocoa powder wasn't stirred, much to Gerard's chagrin but a smile formed on his face despite this, he had dubbed this new skill 'reverb.'

Whilst looking at the tree he tried recalling the feeling and annoyance when he broke his cup. Energy started to ripple out of his hands, and a small tinge of ivory white on his eyes. This time, a crushing headache hit him. Blood quickly poured out of his nose as energy rippled around the tree. His head felt like he was tearing, but his curiosity won over his pain. After a while, the tree was healthy once again, the trunk a dark brown and green leaves falling ever so silently.

He collapsed downwards, blood still flowing from his nose. He looked up at the tree now fully invigorated as if no lightning hit it in the first place. He smiled at his work, as if a painter would smile upon his creation, or one that his father would by being proud of his child, a smile of contented pleasure. "This gifted better be damn grateful and shower me with praise cause that hurt." he said to confirm himself, even though he did it to sate his curiosity. Wiping his nose with his sleeve, he just shrugged and just thought that he washes his clothes himself so what the hell. Of course the throbbing headache couldn't be subsided, and Gerard knows he wouldn't be doing that for a while. He lay back down on the soft dirt, pleased with himself.

He looked at the now darkening sky, the light night- stars, appearing lightly. He sighed a deep and longing breath- the stars had always intrigued and amazed him. They always stand independent of one another, but a few of them in a position makes up a formation. He felt some measure of gratification. He lay there, under the tree he had just 'reverb'ed' on. He got up, noting mentally that Everett's party was going to happen and that he needed to 'freshen' up. "How many would appear at the party?" he chuckled to himself, "My parent's would not allow me but they're way too busy to enact that restriction." he continued, nothing again mentally that he was a loner, as per usual. "Why did the thought of lonely noodle pop up in my mind?"

Gerard looked around, and noticed something, "Which... which way did I come from again?" he asked himself in confusion, normally he was good with directions.

---

---

Everett sat in his chair starring out the window, memories had a funny way of coming and going. He had nearly missed the fact that the music had stopped and an alert was going off. Everett looked at his to see a text message from Jay.

From: Jay
Yoooo man you arent still doing the party thing, right?

Everett had been so lost in his own word that he had completely forgotten about the party. Everett hadn't gotten anything done about it yet but there was no time like the present. Everett sent a text to Jay, telling him the party was still on. He almost wanted to pick on for losing most every fight he was but Everett thought better of it.

From: Everett
Yeah you gonna come? Ought to be a hoot and half. Think can go the night without getting into a fight?

From: Jay
I guess so I wasnt gonna but the show must go on I suppose… gotta sneak out. see you there, Everett… and if King’s there, no promises.

From:Everett
Lol, fair enough. If all yall get into it, I might have to join in. I can't let yall have all the fun.

When Everett was done he shoved his phone in his back pocket and headed back to the house with all of his items in tow. Everett didn't know what the twins were doing. He just hoped Dags wouldn't start growling. Which was the first thing Everett heard when he walked into the the house.

Everett hung his head for a moment before telling Dags to stop. Everett didn't have to shout for Dags to hear him, damn wolf howls five minutes before a siren could be heard before human ears. Without fail the growling could be heard disappearing.

Everett went silently up the stairs and as quietly as he could, opened the door to the guest room and tapped his hip three times. Dags came out at a trot. As Everett closed the door as quietly as he could. “You little shit, you try to scare off every fucking person that's ever set foot on this land but you're ready to jump in bed with her? That's beat up dude. Come on let's go.” Everett told his companion.

As Everett looked into the sizable backyard with Dags next to him. He spoke trying to figure out what to do. “So what do you think Dags? Twenty, thirty people show up? How about we do eight benches, encircling a fire… we’ll put poles up between the benches and run night lights up top. One string out to the barn, and one out to the house. Sound good?” Everett said looking down at Dags. “Times like this Dags, your the biggest help in the world… Well come on, let's get this done.” Everett said walking towards the barn.

This set up was used often. Everett owned almost three miles worth of land, but thanks to a deal that was worked out with the state, Everett had the right use nearly five times that. In exchange for that, the Wilcox Lodge was used for Boy Scout troops and the like for educational purposes. It was an easy exchange to make. Over twelve additional miles for a a couple of weeks a year of his time to show kids around and teach them a few things.

Everett first came back with a huge string of lights, then the poles. The benches however, were gonna be the problem, they weren't benches so much as they were trees with seats cut into them. It was a creative use for the trees but they were extremely heavy and hard to move. It almost made Everett wonder why they didn't just keep them in place. He was gonna need help but he he felt it would he rude to ask his guests for help.

Everett hooked the lights to the poles and drove them into the ground. When the lights were set up, Everett set to work on fire, a Dakota fire pit, an underground fire pit with three holes. One large and deep rectangle and two smaller holes that connected to the larger rectangle by underground tunnels. It burned hotter and more efficiently than a regular fire, plus Nina was gonna have a hard time burning everything to the ground like this. It also could made to be smokeless.

When the holes were dug and the fire was going, Everett thought to dig a third hole to feed the fire. This would help to make the fire smoke much less than usual. Everett couldn't help but chuckle at just how dirty he had gotten. It was just part of it. All that was left now was hooking the lights to the house and barn and getting the logs in place. The lights came first.

It was a struggle to get them attached to the top of the barn but Everett got it done. The house was much easier and thankfully quicker. "Well Dags, it's coming a long nicely isn't it? Think we should tell Nina and her bother?" Dags just looked at Everett. "Don't care much for the brother do you? I ought not be surprised, you'd like to scare off any guy that comes near here." Everett said as he sat down next to Dags. Still he pulled out his phone and sent Nina a text.

From:Everett
Party is gonna start soon. Let me know if yall need anything.

It seemed just as he was done, people started showing up. Everett quickly directed them for help. His first order was to get the logs in place. Each one sat around the fire pit forming an pentagon. There would be plenty of room for the people that would show up. Give the days events he didn't expect many.

It seemed the sun just starting to set when everything was done. With the addition of two tables, food and drinks. All that was missing was a people. The party had just started,Everett only hopped for a fun nigh, but he'd settle for Dags not trying to kill anyone.

Despite how his day started, which was with his father telling him to come strait home and practically breaking his arm when he lightly defied him, Grant was walking down Pester Lane, which was just about a half of a mile or so away from his house, with such a euphoric smile on his face that it seemed everything horrible that happened today seemed to be nonexistent. It wasn’t anymore than an hour ago where he hugged and kissed his new girlfriend, and lifelong best friend, Olivia Johnson. They had stayed at Simonè’s for a while. The sun had already started to set when they said good bye. It wasn’t no more than an hour ago when he told her goodbye and he would see her at that party that everyone has been raving about. Grant got a text from a friend of his that told him he should totally check it out. Grant was reluctant, but when he told Olivia about it, she told him that they should go. He could never say no that girl. Well, perhaps that was a good thing. She does bring the best out of him, after all.

So lost in his own thoughts about Olivia, Grant didn’t even realize how late it was getting. More to the point, it had just donned on him that he was running late — like a few hours past when his father told to be home — late. Fearing the worst, Grant ran the rest of the way home. It was a bit over a third of a mile, but he ran as fast as he could.

Quickly and rapidly, his averagely-sized legs ran, left in front of right. In rapid succession, he passed several of Rieredge’s homes. He ran past the Wilsons, the Anders, and the Kings. About five enormous estate-sized houses down, there he saw his house, The Wells Estate. The entire family lived there, as Grant noted based on the amount of cars in their large driveway. Grant saw his grandparents’ Town Car, his father’s Red Audi RS-7, his mother’s Mercedes Benz Convertible, his oldest brother, Thomas’ Black and White Camero, and the cars of the twins, Adam and Ava, a green and blue 2005 Honda Accord.

As Grant was going to approach his house, he noticed something was off. “Wait, where are the other cars?” Grant thought aloud. He had remembered his father had told him to be home right after school. Granted, he didn’t exactly do that, but the street lights had just came on, so Grant couldn’t have been that late, could he? “I sure hope I’m not,” Grant feared the worst again.

Swallowing his nerves, Grant approached the front door. As he was about to dig into his pocket to grab his house keys, it opened. When he looked up, he saw his grandfather, Jack Wells. Grant smiled lightly, but Jack simply looked at him as if something horrible had happened. “Grandfather, what’s wrong” Grant asked concerned.

He looked at Grant. He noticed the boy‘s left arm. It was in a sling. He raised an eyebrow at it, but said nothing about it. “Grant, my boy.” He said, gesturing Grant to follow him. The young Wells male did, worryingly looking at the back of Jack’s grey mien.

As they trekked through the long foyer of the Well’s Estate, they took a left turn into the living room where most of the family meetings and social gatherings took place. When he came to the view of it, he saw everyone sitting around Wesley. His grandmother Ellen was sitting on one of the two couches that faced each other with a wooden table in front of each couch. There was a color scheme of tan and beige all around. The rug that covered the dark brown, hardwood floor was evenly placed between each couch. Two recliner chairs were placed beneath each other and that’s where Wesley, Grant’s Father, who seemed to be less-than thrilled with his youngest son at the moment, and his mother, Amy Wells, who seemed to try and hide whatever pain she was feeling. Everyone else was placed on the couches. Danielle and Thomas were on the couch to the left of Grant and the twins, along with Ellen, were on the opposite couch.

Jack had walked to join his wife on the couch and Grant was frozen. He was getting a look by his father. It was that same look before Wesley would start to yell. Grant always knew that the yelling was followed by his father punishing him. Even worse, he saw his father had a glass of whiskey in his father’s hand.

“How wonderful of you to join us, Grant.” Wesley said coldly, sipping his whiskey.

“I’m sorry I am late, father.” Grant apologetically said.

“It’s not I who you should apologize to. Isn’t that right, Thoamas?” Wesley looked to his oldest son.

“Father, that’s not--”

“Oh don’t be silly. This was your big night. You secured tenure at Seattle University Hospital. Your family is so proud of you, my son. We all were here for your triumphant success.” Wesley took another sip of his drink, “oh, well all of us except you, Grant.” He put it down on the table next to his recliner.

“Father, please. I don’t need --”

“Go on, Grant, apologize to your brother. Tell him how sorry you are for missing his big day.” Wesley’s words seemed to be slurred slightly.

Grant was fearful of his father in this state. The more he drank, the angrier he seemed to get. The more livid that his father would get, the worse the beatings would happen. Grant didn’t want that to happen. “Thomas, I’m sorry that I missed your party. I hope you can forgive me.”

Thomas was gritting his teeth lightly, but he forced a laugh and a smile. “Don’t sweat it, kiddo. You can make it up to me by coming to my next one.” He joked partially. Thomas didn’t need that apology, but he faked being thankful for it just so he didn’t have to hear his father go on about how ungrateful he was being or how Grant was showing a lack of support for his family.

“All right, now that we have that out of the way, you all can retire for the night.” Wesley announced.

Everyone was about to leave. Amy took notice to his son’s state. “Wesley, perhaps you should as well. You look lik--"

“If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.” Wesley retorted. Amy simply left Wesley in his chair with his whiskey. She was about to take Grant with her, “he will stay!” Wesley ordered. Amy looked back and nodded. Everyone else left, but Grant stayed.

“Why didn’t you let mother --”

“Sit down.” Wesley’s firm voice demanded.

Grant took a seat on one of the couches, eyes nervously trailing to his father.

Wesley hiccupped and stood up. “You better have a good reason for missing Thomas’ party.” He said, eyeing Grant carefully.

“There was a murder today at school.” Grant told Wesley.

“Yeah, yeah, I saw the report on the news. Boo-hoo. That still doesn’t excuse you from not showing up.” WEsley took another sip of his drink.

Grant didn’t know what to say to that, but he saw the look Wesley had in his eyes. If Grant didn’t say something fast, Wesley would resort to physical violence to get what he wanted out of Grant. “I was at Simonè’s Cafè with Olivia.” The thought of Olivia brought a small smile to Grant’s face. Wesley noticed.

Wesley cocked his head to the side, his body slightly staggering. He hiccupped. “You mean to tell me that you missed your brother’s big night to hang out with some tramp!?” Wesley angrily said.

Grant’s smile was gone. It had been replaced with a slightly livid expression. His teeth were gritting, his right hand gripping his pants as tight as they could. It was taking all within Grant to not go after his father, but he knew he’d lose. It would be a no contest between them, especially with his broken arm. “Father, you’re drunk.”

“And you’re an ungrateful little shit!!” His voice skyrocketed.

“I’m not..”

“I provide for you. I give you a nice home, good clothes. I have money stashed away for you for whenever you go to college. I even had planned on giving you my Audi for your 18th birthday. And all I ask for in return — all I ask from YOU — is a little respect and loyalty. But noooo, you can’t even do that much.” Wesley had exploded, his feet moving close to Grant. His glass had fell to the ground as Welsey gripped Wesley’s broken arm, completely undoing the sling that Tess had worked so hard into doing for him.

“Father, please, you’re hurting me--”

“Oh what’s wrong? Can’t handle a bit of pain? You fucking pussy! You’re just like your mother. One little squeeze too hard and you start crying. “ WEsley said, a proud smile on his face.

Did Grant hear that right? His mother — his loving, caring mother — was abused by this man too? Grant only thought it was him and his siblings that got the abuse. This changed everything. Grant would have let it slide that his father would sometimes lash out on his kids. That seemed to be slightly understandable, but Grant, though he doesn’t show it most of the time, was quite protective of his mother. Maybe it was the momma’s boy thing he had to him, but if there was one thing he wouldn’t allow, that would be any abusing to his mother.

“You monster!” Grant yelled to him, trying to force his father away from the grip of his arm. It didn’t work.

“What’s that? I couldn’t quite hear that over the sounds of a pussy for a son that I have.” Wesley was drunk and his abusive tendencies always started to show in the worst ways.

“Let me go!!” Grant yelled, but still nothing. His father’s grip kept hold.

“Listen here, you’ll learn the hard way what it means to show respect!” Wesley tightened the grip. “To do that, you’re going to drop out of Lincoln Memorial and you are not going to see anyone of those degenerates ever again!” The grip tightened even more, “oh, and that tramp Olivia Johnson? Yeah, you can say goodbye to her. Refuse to do so and she’ll find herself without working parents. Her mother’s job at the post office will be gone and that radio station job her father has will disappear.” The grip got as tight as it possibly could. “Are you hearing me? Stay away from that blonde slut or the life she knows will disappear! You’ll never se--”



Suddenly without even a moment’s notice, Wesley was sent flying to the wall on the opposite side of the room. The look of disbelief as he crashed into the wall was written on Wesley’s face, but it was nowhere near the livid expression that Grant had on his. There was never a time that Grant had been this angry. He approached his father, not even feeling the pain of his arm at the moment. Perhaps the anger was numbing that. He took a handful of his father’s black tie and raised Wesley up. “No, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to stay here and I’m going to keep seeing Olivia. Because, unlike your pathetic self, Wesley, I have a reason to smile — and her name is Olivia.” Grant got low to his father, his hands glowing with an eerie purple shine. “If you ever threaten to harm her in any way, you’ll regret it. I don’t care what will happen to me, but you WILL pay."

Ever since he was twelve, Grant had held such a deep, poisoning fear of what his father might do to him. It was well-placed, too. The scars on Grant’s back proved that. The years that followed were always met with wary and cautious approaches to Wesley. Even more recent months were the same way. However, when Wesley threatened Olivia, Grant suddenly found a strength inside him that he didn’t know he had. Sure, having that strange power helped, but Grant wouldn’t have been able to use it to that extent without some kind of motivation to use it like that. Well, there’s not any better motivation than the love for someone who makes you smile. And if someone threatens that person, you have an obligation to stand up for that person. And that’s what Grant did.

When he started to leave the living room, Grant saw his entire family standing there. They all had a small, confusing smile on their faces. They probably didn’t see what happened, but they heard a crash and looked at Grant. “Ava, Adam, Danielle — you up for a drive?” Grant held his father’s keys to the Audi.

“What?” Danie asked, almost speechless.

“What happened bro?” Adam asked, looking at Wesley on the ground.

“Yeah dude, spill!” Ava echoed Adam’s question.

Grant smiled at his siblings. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

“To where?” Danie asked.

“First to pick up Olivia, then to a party.” He said smiling. They all looked at Grant as he went towards the front door. He looked back at them. “You’re coming, right?”

They all shook their head. “I’m driving, though.” Dani said, following Grant. The twins soon followed and then they were all off to wherever Grant was wanting to take them. If there was one thing that was for sure, that would be that Grant seemed to be a better man now, whatever that meant.

Location: Wilcox Lodge
Interacting with: Each other, Everett via text @AcerRo

---

---

Nina had been woken up when Everett had come by and summoned Dags. She rolled over a bit and sighed and then sat up. She looked over at the mirror in the room and then herself. She looked like she had seen a ghost still, her eyes haunted a bit.

She reached over for her bag and pulled out her hairbrush and then paused. The new dress from Everett was right on top, taunting her a bit. It was a lovely dress, but was it appropriate for what what happening? She shrugged and tugged off her grungy clothing and then tugged on the dress and looked a herself in the mirror. The dress was perfect. It clung in the right places, and looked better than any of her other clothing.

As she was trying to figure out what to do with her hair, her phone buzzed. She saw a text from Everett and sighed. "Be down in a moment." She texted back and tossed her phone on the bed. She decided to tug her hair up into a loose bun, with some curls hanging around her face. She tucked her phone away, and headed downstairs.

As Nina was heading downstairs, her phone buzzed once again. When she pulled it back out, she found that she had a text from Ashton.

A bunch of shit went down today huh? Is the party still on despite the..thing? Not really in a party mood, but don't want to be alone either.

She paused for a moment and realized that she was not the only one suffering from what had happened. "Hey, yeah. So much shit, but the party is still on and I'm there. Petyr and I are crashing at the Lodge tonight b/c dad out of town and don't wanna be in house alone. However, I'd love to see you at the party. Don't want to be alone either." She texted back and then paused. Her phone photo background made her sad, especially today. She flipped through the photos and found one of her and Ash from the past summer and smiled a bit.

Ashton had bid goodbye to Jay after they had magically teleported back to Ash's home. Thankfully, Jay had been able to calm Ashton down a bit, so there was no danger of him electrocuting everyone... For now, at least. He quickly checked his phone when it buzzed, managing a hint of a smile at Nina's prompt reply. So the party was still happening, eh? That was a ballsy move on Everett's part--would parents even allow their children to attend?

Be right there then, I guess.

After he had replied to Nina, Ashton climbed into his car to head over to Everett's place.

Nina felt her phone buzz and she flipped over to messages and saw the text from Ash and managed a smile. "See you soon then." She stepped outside and sat down on one of the benched of the porch of the Wilcox Lodge, waiting for Ash to arrive. It would have been rude not to be there to greet him.

A few minutes later, Ashton's car pulled up to the lodge. Before jumping out of his car, Ashton took a moment or two to compose himself before facing all of the party goers. He didn't look like complete hell, did he? The last thing he needed right now was to suddenly become Zeus and blast everyone with lightning. He was a bit tired right now, so that was a good sign.

He heaved a sigh as he swung his car door open. He lifted a hand in greeting to Nina as he sauntered over to her. "Hey Nina. You doing okay?"

Nina walked over and hugged Ash tightly. "I could be doing better. But what about you? You didn't... oh you did, didn't you? Oh Ash, I'm sorry." Nina knew that Ash was probably going through hell right now, considering what had happened a few years ago. "I'm here for you Ash."

Ashton wasn't the type to shed tears very easily or openly in front of other people. But when Nina said that she was here for him, something inside him snapped. While no tears escaped his eyes--thankfully--he gave a shuddering breath as he buried his face in Nina's hair. His arms tightened around the shorter girl.

"Thanks Nina." There were so many words that Ashton wanted to say, so many emotions that he wanted to display but he didn't. There was no point in it now. The only one that mattered currently was his gratitude to his friend.

Nina's own grasp tightened around Ash as she heard his shuddering breath and felt him bury his head in her hair. She ran a hand along his back, in a comforting gesture. No where in her thoughts were how this might look to others, just right then and there, she wanted to be there for her friend. "Anytime Ash. You know I care about you, right?"

After a few moments of silence, Ashton loosened his grip around Nina and leaned back. There was now a half smile upon his face. It was a little faint and strained, but it was there nonetheless. He poked Nina's forehead while saying, "Wow Nina. Tell me something I don't know."

There was another pause. "In all seriousness... Yeah, I do. And I care about you too."

Nina blushed a bit and rubbed her forehead a little where he had poked and looked up at him. "I know. Thanks. So, how are you holding up? Anything new I should know about besides the obvious?" She pulled back a little bit, a look of curiosity on her face.

Ashton hesitated for a moment. Why yes, there was something new but he didn't really want to make a scene. He gave a glance around and saw that more people were beginning to arrive at the party. He nodded to Nina and grabbed her hand. "Let's go somewhere secluded first, I don't want to make a scene."

He lead Nina over a little ways away, where they would be obscured by trees. After giving one more glance to make sure that there wasn't many people around, he released her hand and backed away from her a little. "Guess you're not the only one with cool powers." He said with a slight smirk. He held his right hand at around shoulder height before concentrating his energy and emotion to his hand. A few moments later, Ashton's hand crackled with electricity.

"Woah... you're like Verona's personal Zeus. That's really cool Ash. I can't generate my power, so I'll admit I'm a little envious. May I ask how you found out?" Nina looked at Ash's hand in amazement.

Ashton gave a slight grimace at her question. "I uh.. May have accidentally destroyed a tree." He closed his hand and his eyes and took a deep breath. The electricity disappeared, and a slight headache took its place. He opened his eyes and grinned. "Zeus, eh? That sounds both amazing and horrifying."

"Oh, but you probably don't want to touch me for a little while. I'll probably shock you."

"I mean more with the powers than personality. As for accidentally destroying a tree, might have done that a little myself yesterday." Nina looked a little sheepish at that. "Was trying to see what I could do. But I don't quite have control of my power yet." She noticed the electricity disappear and nodded. "Noted. After you power done, no touching for a bit." Nina reached for the lighter she had stolen from her father and flipped it over in her hand a bit.

"This is insane, Nina." Ashton chuckled, "We have superpowers. And we're talking about them like it's normal. Controlling fire has got to be the coolest thing ever."

"You're telling me. But, I guess it is normal now. As for it being the coolest thing ever, I don't know about that. I mean, I burnt breakfast to a crisp, nearly burnt down a forest, and I gotta make sure I keep my emotions in check... not that it has been easy lately. I mean, everything is so confusing right now. I thought things were getting better but, bam, today happened and I... I just want to get the hell out of this town Ash. I can't do it... not again." Nina could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. She was trying hard not to think about it, but well, her she was, doing just that.

Ashton instinctively moved closer to her to throw his arm around her, but he paused. He wasn't completely sure that he was completely electricity free. After awkwardly lowering his hand, he crouched down a bit to peer into Nina's face.

"I know," Ashton said quietly, "And I wish that I could tell you to run away from here and never look back... But I can't. I hate this town and I don't want to stay either, but I dunno. I don't think that leaving right now isn't going to help."

Ashton ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. "Sorry Nina. I don't know what I'm saying, and I don't know what to tell you except... I know how you feel."

"No, you're probably right. Leaving won't really help, just... I don't know anymore. I'm sorry Ash. I know I probably shouldn't dump this on you right now, but I got the feeling you'd understand. Seems I was right." She flipped the lighter over in her hand again. "I just wish I could go back a few days, y'know, to when everything made sense?"

"Everything has changed so much in like the past two days." Ashton murmured in agreement. "We're all a little on edge. But like all cheesy movie quotes and standard cliche statements, I guess we have to make the best of it. I wish we didn't."

Nina nodded, and tucked the lighter away. "I guess so. Should we go join the others? I'm sure at least Petyr will notice I'm not there... but honestly, this just feels wrong. Everett must have something lose in his head to have this party still going on despite everything."

Ashton gave a grimace. "A party on the night someone was murdered... Yeah, it's pretty twisted. But at least it'll take our minds off of it? I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm. But yeah, we should go back. I wonder how many people are gong to show up?"

Ashton started heading over to the lodge, trying to at least attempt to imitate the usual confidence he had in his step. Nina was right. This party did feel wrong.

"You're right. At least something to keep our minds off of things." Nina sighed and headed back to the lodge with Ash, keeping a bit quiet. Her mind was racing through a thousand other thoughts, but one stuck with her. "I'm keeping my damn lighter with me tonight."

It was a short drive from the high school to Alicia's house she still held Katalina's hand feeling more calm now as Alicia's mother parked the car in the driveway. She got out of the car as her mother got out as well and closed the car doors, once everyone was out Alicia's mom locked the car door and headed inside Alicia followed behind her and took off her shoes setting them by the front door. "We will be in my room mom." Alicia said as she led the way up to her room and closed the door behind her. Sighing slightly Alicia looked over towards her bed and saw Buddy sleeping on her pillows, and sat down next to the cat. "So what do you want to do Kat?" Alicia asked looking up at her girlfriend.

"I'm not sure. I mean I would like to calm down a bit.. but how are you doing sweetie? What do you want to do?" Kat sat down next to Alicia and wrapped an arm around her, and used her other hand to give Buddy a friendly scritchy. "Hey Buddy. Just being lazy like usual?" Kata had to chuckle a bit.
Buddy mewed slightly and rolled over onto his back, Alicia smiled as she rested her head against Kat's shoulder feeling safer now in her arms and in the safety of her own room. "I'll be fine, what about you how are you holding up?" Alicia asked as she started to pet Buddy as well scratching under his chin.

"I'll be fine as well, just... poor Rachel. Poor everyone. No one is ready to have to deal with... this happening all over again. However, you're safe and here with me, so I'll be good." Kata kissed Ali's cheek genly and looked at her.
"No one would have expected something like this to happen.. I usually see Rachel at Simone's when I work sometimes and knew what she liked to drink as well. I'm happy that you are safe though." Alicia smiled when Kat kissed her on the cheek and leaned forward and gave her a gentle but loving kiss on her girlfriend's lips.

Kata smiled and kissed Ali back and kept her close. "I guess that means our date is on hold till it is a bit safer, unless you want me to just make you something here, or we could just watch a movie?"
Alicia smiled when Kat kissed her back and just cuddled up closer to Kat, then she heard her phone going off. When she pulled it out of her pocket she saw that it was Jade, looking over towards Kat for a second before answering it putting the phone on speaker. "Hey Jadey, how are you and whats up?" Alicia asked.

"Hey Ali," Jade said, pausing, "I got your text. Sorry 'bout earlier. I felt shakey.."
[color=cyan]"I remember feeling you bumping past me, after you know what happened at the school.. and I was concerned. Where are you right now?" Alicia asked looking over towards Kat.
"You can go ahead and say it,not like it's taboo or anything. A girl died." Jade always making light of a tragic event, "and I'm at home. My uncle is helping Everett with that party of his tonight."[/b][/color]
"I know, just to me it feels weird though." Alicia said as she set her phone down on her bedside table so she wouldnt have to hold it. "I'm guessing that you will be going to that party tonight as well?" Alicia sked.

"You bet your lesbo ass I'm going. All those hot guys and girls dancing, drinking, and doing devil-knows what. It's going to be a blast." Jade's voice suddenly got all excited, its volume raising up almost twice as much. "You should come too. You sound like you need to let loose some of that stress and strife from today."

"Of course you are going; you are my party girl." Alicia laughed slightly when Jade brought up about her going she rubbed the back of her neck slightly she wasnt sure if she wanted to go or not after the murder back at the high school and seeing Rachel's body there. "I dunno, I really dont think its safe to go over there after what happened today."
"To hell with safety; it's time for fun!" Jade said, trying to persuade Alicia.
Alicia then looked over towards Kat. "What do you think Kat?" Alicia asked.
Kata seemed to pause in thought for a moment. "You said it's Everett's party right? Meanig it will be at the Lodge?"
"Yes, Miss Kitty Kat," Jade annoyingly said. "Or did you think that we'd just have some wild party out in the city?" Jade was trying her best to sound nice to Kata, but it was hard for her.

"A party at the lodge would be at least somewhat safe. I know that Everett has like nine types of guns. I mean if you really wanna go Ali, but I'm going with you. Your mom would kill me if I let you go alone. Jade, you gonna be okay if I tag along?" Kata let out a sigh at Jade's new nickname for her, but she seemed to let it slide.
"Why wouldn't I be? It's not like you're going to be sucking my face the entire time, now is it?" Jade responded sourly.

Alicia giggled softly when Jade gave Katalina a new nickname which sounded kind of cute to her, but looked at her girlfriend's reaction and decided to not call her that. She thought about going more now, and she did want to go out and have some fun with her new girlfriend and sighed slightly. "Alright Jade we will go, but if something happens tonight i'll haunt you for the rest of your life." Alicia said jokingly.

"Just give us a few to figure out how to get out of the house. Both our parents are here, and I believe mine were boycotting the party... so we'll have to be ninjas or something." Kata sighed a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, you go deal with those annoying parental units and I'll be here enjoying my Red's Apple Ale." Jade said disinterested in the aspect of pesky, annoying parents.
"We will see you there Jade, talk to you in a bit. love ya girlfriend!" Alicia said as she hung up and looked over towards Katalina holding her hand gently and smiled. "Are you sure you want to go?" Alicia asked.

Kata seemed to pause for a moment and then nodded, taking Ali's hand. "Yeah, if you want to go, then I'll go with you. Besides, gotta make sure no weirdo's hit on my girlfriend, right?" Kata giggled a bit and looked at Ali. 'So, what is the best way to sneak out of here?"

"I do want to go, besides having a date at home wouldnt really be all that fun if both of our parents are here." Alicia smiled and hugged Katalina tighty and kissed her once more. "And you know I would only have eyes for you, so the weirdos wouldnt be all over me. I would be all over you." Alicia then stood up and walked over towards her window, and opened it looking down there was a slanted side of the roof under her window which went low enough to be just in front of the garage.
"Would you be okay sneaking out of the window?" Alicia asked looking over towards her girlfriend.

"Not my favorite idea, but it will work for now." Kata looked out the window and then slid out the window and down the roof, and waiting for Ali to join her there.
"It will be safe." Alicia smiled as she slipped out of her window as well and closed it behind her. Alicia looked towards Kat as she stepped forward and looked down the ledge which was just a six foot drop, she slowly edged herself to the end and sat down and turned around before letting go and landed on her feet in the driveway. "Your up my love." Alicia smiled looking up at Kata.
Kata blushed at that, and dropped herself next to Alicia on the ground and smiled. "That wasn't so bad! So, shall we go then?" She held her hand out to Ali.
Alicia smiled as she watched Kata jump off of the roof and took her girlfriend's hand and gave her another loving kiss and nodded"Im ready to have some fun." Alicia said as she took out her phone knowing that it would be a pretty long walk and texted Everett for a ride.

Everett sighed as he heard his phone go off. He just hoped and prayed it wasn't bad news. When he look he saw that Alicia was asking for a ride. If this was the worse he had to deal for the moment then he was doing okay. Everett sent a text to Nina telling her where he was going.

After telling Dags to go find her and stay with her, Everett took off to collect the girls at a corner store he told them to wait at. When he pulled in he couldn't help but buy a drink or two and a couple packs of cigarettes.

When Everett was done and picked the girls up. Everett took them back without saying much at all. When they arrived Everett made a straight line for the barn.

---

---

From: Jaaaaay
Yo scout where u at

To: Jaaaaay
Was at the gallery, now im somewhere between old town and hillside why?

From: Jaaaaay
alone??? hold on ill be right over

To: Jaaaaay
oh-kay??? haha ill wait around jean-luc blvd for you then

---
Scout blinked down at her phone a few times, rereading the incoming and output messages a few time before snapping her phone shut. Glancing about, she discovered that the lovely, suburban neighborhood she had wandered into was almost completely empty, save for a few distant barks and the occasional rabbit tail scampering through the bushes. This part of town was rather nice, honestly, it was quiet and the houses were varied and colorful. The only issue Scout had with the place may be the snooty teens who lived within the walls of the middle-class neighborhood, but then again that was just another common issue with Verona all together.

Leaning on the pole that held up the street’s name, Scout yawned, rubbing her puffy eyes roughly in an effort to wake them up. She had fallen asleep after settling at The Gallery, and then after waking up she cried over nothing and/or everything for an hour before heading back out into town. Scout looked haggard, maybe even a little messy, but she didn’t care much, all she really wanted at the moment was something to take her mind off of things, and that something just so happened to be Everett Wilcox’s party. Staring forward aimlessly, Scout stifled a yawn and awaited the arrival of her friend, and she silently hoped he wouldn’t point out her drab appearance.

All of a sudden and without any warning whatsoever, a tall shadow loomed over her from behind. “Boo,” Jay said in a snarky, deadpan voice, standing with one hand upon the street sign and the other stuffed in his pocket. Scout let out a small, surprised noise and jumped forward, completely unaware of the faint blue shield that formed between the two for a split second. As soon as she turned to glare at her friend the shield vanished, and Jay was left unprotected from Scout’s annoyed stare.

In return, Jay blinked owlishly, as if he hadn’t expected teleporting behind a girl as a freakishly tall guy without a single word being something possibly threatening enough to warrant his best friend’s superpower to activate.

Superpower?

“What.” And then, he stared at Scout, eyes narrowing before he slung an arm around her neck and pulled her in for a half-hug, half-frog march as he pulled her along towards Alice Malone’s house, the direction of which he sort of knew. “Ooh! My midget buddy’s got a gift! She can make – uh, bubbles? Walls? How long have you been keeping that under your hat for?”

“Ack, I’m not a midget you stupid noodle fuck!” Scout snorted, stumbling slightly as Jay dragged her along, “and I discovered it yesterday, while almost getting hit by a truck. It’s cool, huh?” Any initial annoyance she had felt from Jay’s scare had vanished, and it was instead replaced by a wide, relieved smile. Honestly, just being close to her best friend was enough to quell her worries, he just seemed to exude that kind of stoner-calmness at times, even if he wasn’t a stoner. Glancing up at his bruised face, Scout felt her eyebrows furrow, and then she sighed and stared forward, watching familiar houses pass with curious eyes.

“Uh, where’re we going, bud?”

“Malone’s,” he said dramatically, as if Alice was a movie villain. Maybe a 1930s Irish gangster – that seemed to fit the surname. Jay thought that he was being rather harsh on his friend in his mind, so he decided to change it up. He tugged Scout around a corner in picturesque Hillside, and they were almost at Alice’s house. Verona was a small town, after all. “We’re going to pick her up. Speaking of: do you think she’d hate us if I started singing ‘Bugsy Malone’ songs at her?”

“Probably not, she’s kind of saint-like don’t you think?” Scout struggled to keep her up with Jay’s longer legs, and in the end she merely grabbed on tight to his denim jacket and allowed him to drag her along. Watching the bigger houses of Hillside pass-by, she sighed and allowed her head to hang lazily to the side, “I’m ready to get drunk, super drunk. Just sooo drunk, ya know. So drunk.” She laughed slightly, eyes staring into each open window she saw.

“‘I’m so wasted! I’m soooo wasted,’” Jay parodied in a high-pitched girl’s voice, snorting in laughter when his voice cracked at the end. Then he paused, adding as if to help her out, “That’ll be you. Drinking unleashes your inner white girl… or your outer one. Whatever.” He wondered what the people in the houses that Scout was staring into might have thought. Both of them were New Town kids, even if Jay’s step-dad was known to be a good, incorruptible cop and Jay himself lived on Copper Hill nowadays. Probably that they were thieves.
“Which house is Malone’s?” he wondered. “Is the outside pink? In my head it’s pink.”

“Actually, it’s white. With a pretty roof and lots of plants.” Scout glanced up at the sky, remembering the days she had spent playing with Alice in that big house, and a nostalgic smile met her face. She squirmed away from Jay’s embrace eventually and pointed out the house with a small hand, “that one over there is her’s, don’t ask me how I know. I just do~.” She threw him a playful grin, and then she bent at the waist slightly and waved her hands towards the pathway to Alice’s front door,

“After you, Princess Bubblegum.” She stuck her tongue out, curling a strand of blonde hair around her pointer finger as if to remind him of his own colorful head.

Unsure as to whether or not he should be offended, even mockingly, Jay sputtered out, “Yeah, well, you’re Finn. Eat a dick.” And with that obscenity, he went up and knocked on Alice’s front door. Then he blanched, belatedly, as he realised that it might be one of her parents who would answer. Jay hoped to God that wasn’t the case.

After her initial breakdown in her garden, Alice had retreated to her room to calm down. It really wasn’t a good time to be cackling and sobbing like a madwoman, after all during such a tragic time. Once she had managed to relax, she had cleaned herself up and changed clothing. She had just finished applying the finishing touches to her eyeliner when Jay knocked on the door. After a quick checkover to make sure that she looked presentable, Alice skipped down the stairs to open the door.

“Jay! Scout!” Alice greeted with a smile, “Didn’t expect to see you guys here. What’s up?”

“Party, wanna come and get wasted?” Jay asked – short, sweet and to the point. His grin could have split his face in two with how cheesy it was, but he managed to give Malone the desperate puppy-dog eyes at the same time. Scout, meanwhile, was half-hidden behind Jay’s lanky frame, but she gave her best effort to wave at her old friend, allowing a small smile to gleam on her otherwise haggard-looking face.

“Oh God yes.” Alice sighed with an eye roll. “I’m going to need something to get through the day, probably. And how could I say no to that face?” Alice giggled softly, poking Jay’s chest. She then turned her attention to Scout hovering behind Jay. Her eyes softened in concern as she took in her old friend’s haggard appearance.

“Scout, you okay? No offense, but you look seriously tired. Have you slept? You could come in to freshen up a bit. I have makeup, clothes… Everything someone would ever need to clean up a bit.”

“Grunge aesthetic looks nice,” Jay defended Scout instantly. And himself. Scout dug her elbow into his gut, smirking up at him in thanks before returning his wide gaze back to Alice. Sheepishly, she rose a hand and rubbed the back of her head, and then she nodded once and smiled,

“I’m fine, but freshening up sounds like a good idea.”

“Hey, I never said that grunge is bad. I wish that I could pull it off, honestly.” Alice giggled, swinging the front door open wide and beckoning her friends in. “All of us could probably use a quick face wash though, it’s been kind of a crazy day. And Jay, the invitation is open to you as well. You can wear my makeup and clothes if you really want!”

“Ooh, I’ve never had a makeover before,” Jay said as he slid past Alice, ducking under the door frame (as he often had to do). “Will I be a real girl now?”

“Makeup doesn’t automatically make you a girl, Jay-Jay.” Scout sneered at him, eyes twinkling playfully, and then she slowly slid over to Alice, ready to follow her to whatever room they were headed too. Glancing about, Scout felt subtle hints of nostalgia, but of course, every house changes just slightly over many years. She stared down at her feet passively, then glanced at Alice's profile, again allowing a small smile to slip past her playful smirks.

Alice chuckled as she led them up the staircase. As expected of Alice Malone’s home, there were plenty of flowers in vases placed strategically through the halls. The entire home had a bright, pristine look with not a single mess in sight. Even the wooden floorboards seemed to have a certain shine to them. Alice opened a door, revealing a room decorated with pastel pink and lavender. As expected, there were more flowers scattered around the room with a couple of stuffed animals sitting beside the vases.

“Well, Jay if you want makeup I have a bunch of them. If you want to borrow my clothes, you could… But I don’t think you’d fit.” Alice chuckled while pointing out her vanity dresser and closet. “The bathroom is directly across the hall.”

“I’ll, uh… wait out in the hall. So you can do girl things?” But before he took a seat on the floor, he couldn’t help but ask: “I don’t suppose you’d mind lending me some nail polish? I want in on this too.” Scout bowed her head once towards the bathroom, as if to say ‘I’ll be going in’, and then she vanished through the doorway and shut the door.

“I’ll be a minute, hey Liss- ALICE,” basically shouting the last bit through the door, Scout briefly wondered if Jay would say anything about the nickname, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks, “Alice, wanna… Do my makeup for me? When I’m done in here?” While waiting for a response she turned on the sink, splashing her face quickly with icy cold water. Though she had tried to miss catching her own eye in the mirror, she eventually rose up and examined her appearance, eyebrows furrowing as she suddenly saw what Alice meant. The flesh under her eyes was dark and puffy from the few tears she had experienced before, and her cheeks were sullen and pale. Gross. Running her fingers through her messy hair quickly, Scout allowed silence to fill the bathroom, and she quickly allowed her ears to tune into the conversations going on beyond the shut door.

Alice retrieved the bag that contained all of her nail polish from her closet. She placed the heavy bag next to Jay. It was filled with a variety of nail polish colors--there were easily over 20 different colors. Some would be sparkly, others were scented, while the rest were fairly standard and all with every color you could ever possibly want. “Have at it!” Alice grinned. “I also have stickers if you want to have tiny flowers or stars on your nails.”

Once she heard her name being called by Scout, Alice leaned against her doorframe and called back to her. “If you want me to, I will! It’ll be so much fun!”

Jay nodded seriously and solemnly, and rifled through the bag of nail polish, removing the star stickers too at the same time as black. He wasn’t quite secure enough in his masculinity to wear hot pink, even if his hair was already that colour. “I’ll get right on it.”

Scout eventually opened the door, staring up at Alice with her usual lax eyes, and after a second of staring she rose up to tight her hair back. Once satisfied and finally able to see clearly without all the stray blonde strands in her vision she held up her thumb, grinning at the dark-haired girl cheerily as she whispered, “have at me then, Lissy.”

“Hmmm…” Alice took a long look at Scout’s face before turning to dig through her make up supply. “You have such a pretty face Scout, I don’t think a whole lot of makeup would suit you. The natural look would probably suit you more, with hints of blue. Blue is definitely your color.” Alice turned back to face Scout with a grin.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Alice left Scout sitting there to go to the bathroom, and she grabbed two face towels, soaking one in cold water, and the other in hot. She returned moments later and instructed Scout to close her eyes. She then placed the hot towel on her eyes. “Alternating hot and cold towels on your eyes will get rid of the puffiness.” Alice informed her gently, “And it also feels really nice after a long day.”

“It just feels like you just put a hot towel on my face, to be completely honest.” Scout replied in a deadpanned voice.

Alice opened up a tube of foundation and rubbed it onto her skin, comparing it to Scout’s pale complexion. Once she was satisfied with the hue, she started applying it to Scout’s face. After she found the right color, it was all just routine from here. Add some contouring, blending, eyeliner, a hint of blue eyeshadow… Alice’s touch with her makeup brush and such were always extremely gentle, taking care to not make her uncomfortable in any way.

Several minutes later, Alice put her brushes down. “Done! What do you think?” She asked, gesturing towards her vanity mirror. Alice was seriously satisfied with Scout’s makeup right now. Instead of covering her already pretty face, Alice accentuated and enhanced, making sure to highlight her all of the good features.

Scout blinked at the mirror a few times, tilting her head to and fro as if to confirm it was really her face looking back at her. When it came to makeup Scout knew the bare basics, eyeliner, blush, mascara, lipstick, though she did consider herself a master of the smokey-eyed grunge look. But this, whatever Alice did to her face must have involved some kind of magic. She turned back to her friend, fighting a cheesey smile as she said in a soft voice.

“It looks so good, thanks so much…” And then, as if to save face, she snorted and turned to Jay, pointing at herself with a straight finger, “hey Jay-Jay, do I look pretty or what?”

Jay looked up as he applied the last star stickers onto his thumb nail, and gulped. “Yeah…” he said, blinking owlishly. “Yeah, you look awesome. Well, I mean, you always did– uh, do, but Alice killed it.” He tried not to look to closely at Scout, figuring it would be like staring at the sun. And, most of all, Jay did not want to think of his best friend as pretty. That was a whole can of worms that should stay in the pantry.

Laughing nervously, he waggled his black-and-white-starred nails at Scout as a distraction. [b]“How about me? Do I have it in me to be a lacquerista?”

“Most definitely, kid. You should just forget about being some kind of science major all together. Nail art is your true calling.” Scout stuck her tongue out at him, lifting her hands up easily to let her hair loose again, and with a few quick swipes she managed to neaten it nicely around her face. Standing up, Scout stretched slightly and glanced down at her watch. The party would be well on its way soon, and she glanced at her two friends curiously, hands fiddling with the hem of her sweatshirt.

“We should start heading out soon, but, uh, how the hell are we getting there?”

Alice giggled at Scout and Jay’s exchange. She hadn’t expected to hang out with these two today, but she was so glad that they dropped by. For the first time today, Alice was genuinely smiling and laughing, and these two were the ones that caused it. For that, she was grateful.

“That’s a good question Scout,” Alice replied uncertainly, “I guess we could ask my parents if they’ll give us a ride?”

“I could, uh, wormhole you. One at a time.”

“Doesn’t it hurt you to do that though?” Scout questioned instantly, remembered the sight of him after the fight yesterday. She glanced at Alice, considering the idea of sitting in a car with adults she hadn’t seen in years and a shiver of fear ran up her spine. Still, it was better than walking through the woods… “I think we may need to ask your folks, Liss.”

Jay really had no defense to that and so shrugged. “Sucks,” he said with some sympathy. Hopefully Alice’s parents would phone his, and ask if he was supposed to be out. He had just… hopped out, even after his step-dad made him promise not to leave the house after the murder.

Alice flashed her two friends a thumbs up before leaving the room to knock on a door down the hall. “Mom? Dad? Can you do me a favor?”

Christine Malone poked her head out of the room. “What is it dear?” She asked wearily. Due to the recent murder, Christine had been running around the past hour or so and forcing a calm front while being on camera, reporting to the entire town that another tragedy had struck.

“Um, do you think that you could drive me and my friends over to the Wilcox lodge?” Alice asked meekly, knowing that it would make both of her parents worry.

Christine hesitated, turning to call back to her husband. “Kyle! Alice and her friends want to go out… What do you think?”

Kyle appeared beside his wife, concern etched into his face. “I don’t know Lissy. A lot has happened, and I don’t know if you’re going to be safe… And what about your friend’s parents? Are they fine with it?”

Alice hesitated, unable to come up with an answer. Instead, she turned back to summon her friends over. “Guys? Can you come out here?”

Jay obligingly followed Alice’s command, waving jauntily at the Malones as he stuck his head around the door to see them too. “Hey, uh, Mrs. Malone. Mr. Malone,” he said a bit awkwardly, voice lower out of respect. He swiftly moved his hands – and his painted nails – out of sight. Scout, again, stood a bit of a ways behind Jay and waved shyly towards the parents, her heart thumping painfully. She really hated adults, after all, and besides, it was embarrassing seeing such familiar faces after so many years.

“Guys, my parents are concerned that us going to the party is potentially dangerous. What do you guys say?” Alice asked the two, focusing her attention on Jay. She raised an eyebrow at him, knowing that he was the son of the Chief of Police. Perhaps her parents would be more convinced by him.

Jay cleared his throat. “Well, uh, I have my dad on speed dial, and he has a police cruiser and a gun…” He coughed again. “And I’m responsible so you should definitely let Alice go to the party. Please?” Maybe hiding Scout behind him would be a good idea, too.

The Malone parents exchanged a glance. Fortunately (?) they didn’t see Scout behind Jay’s tall frame. Kyle glanced at his wife, Jay, then finally his daughter’s puppydog eyes before heaving a sigh. “We can take you kids, as long as you can promise that all of you will be safe. Make sure to call that father of yours at any sign of trouble, young man.” The last sentence was directed towards Jay.

“Kyle!” Christine chastised, “They’re just kids!”

“No Christine,” Kyle said with a slight sour edge to his tone, “Alice is an adult now. Just… Just promise me that you’ll come home safely.”

Alice gave a solemn nod, with her eyes wide. Would it really be as dangerous as her parents thought? Despite her parent’s reluctance, they conceded for some reason. Perhaps they were reassured by Jay’s father. Maybe they realized that cooping their children up in the house was unhealthy. They could’ve seen that they were determined to go, one way or another.

Whatever the reason, Mr. and Mrs. Malone ushered all three of them into the backseat of the car, proceeding to drive them over to the party.

---

---

Funny thing about forests, they were pesky and all the trees looked the damned same. Gerard was lost in them for a solid 20 minutes until he found a ruined building which he recognized. "Ahah, found you sneaky building you." he said outloud, his voice disappearing into the forest. This building was a landmark of sorts for Gerard, just in case, and it was the case since he got lost, though he will vehemently deny ever being lost. It took another 10 minutes to walk to Hillside and find his home.

He tried to reach in his pockets for his keys, not there. He then tried to look in his rucksack, not there. Gerard palmed his hand into his face, You serious right now? He misplaced his keys, again. Third time this month. He looked up at the now starry skies and let out a long and dreaded sigh, he went through the sides of the window, and he wedged the window open. The window would never lock properly, but it was hard to pry open, so good enough. He slid like a snake through the rather uncomfortably right opening. It was a strenous battle against the odds, but by gods he achieved it. With a short stretch, his bones popped.

"Damnit, gotta have to tell my parents I lost my key again. They won't be pleased." he mumbled to himself whilst opening the door to the bathroom. He lazily took off his clothes and dumped them all into the basket. He jumped right in the shower, flinching at the cold water hitting his back. After the water calmed and became warmer, he began humming funky town under his breath.

Stepping out of the shower after thoroughly drying himself up he dressed up in rather normal clothes as per usual, hoodie with an darker inside shirt and dark blue jeans with running boots. It wasn't anything special but hey, Gerard never really cared much for it. Well he also did put on perfume for this 'special' occasion. A few spurts on his shirt and chest, whilst fixing his hair, even if a little. He then overshadowed said hair with his signature dark-ish green beanie.

Fortunately, Wilcox' lodge was close to Hillside, well, close enough. He got in his shoddy car, and drove a bit. As 'close' as it was, it was atleast twenty miles away. Gerard would tough it out and walk, but he'd rather not arrive sweaty at the party. He'd get to that later. After parking his car, he noticed that the lights and everything was still all over the lodge, so the party was still on. The lack of noise was weird, "Seems like the party hasn't started?"

AsA rather disgruntled person walked in view of him, "What're you doing here?! What do you want, townie?" he said with a surprised and vexed tone, "Uh, where's Everett's Wilcox party?" he asked, also surprised at this persons sudden entrance, What are you, Batman? With eyes of distrust, he hesitantly pointed Gerard to the area with tables. With a quick thanks he plopped one down and opened a chips packet and muched away.
"Looks like I may be one of the first ones here?"