This is a newwww story! Whoop whoop! Based off Teen Wolf, a show that started off fantastic but has since really gone to the dogs... *ba dum tssss*

I'll let myself out.

There was something unmistakably frightening about the woods. Anyone, even the most intrepid explorers of the human race would say the same. Half of it stemmed from the stories they heard as children; tales of big bad wolves lurking behind trees, or huntsmen waiting to rip a young woman's heart from her chest. These fears turned to caution, a more realistic take on knowing damn well that there could be dangerous animals in the woods. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, it was important not to take stupid risks when it came to these things. More frightening than this, however, for a lot of people, was the fear of people waiting in the trees for a chance to attack. Huntsmen, kidnappers, murderers, rapists; the fear of our own species can often be more terrifying than any carnivorous animal.

The small town of Sherwood was surrounded by woodland; in rested in a somewhat lower level of the area, like a valley, though much less dramatic than that, much less interesting. Nothing ever really happened in the forest, nothing worth causing a scene over. The occasional animal sighting or even rarely, animal attack, was the cause of a little bit of drama but hey, that was nature, they were just animals, no need to cause a scene. Some people even went out into the woods, just for the thrill. But never at night, of course. That was too difficult a challenge for most people, of course.

There was only one house in the woods, and although the path to it had long since been covered in leaves, there was still space to drive through the trees, if someone ever, for a bizarre reason, wanted to go there. It was the old Rocques' house, where a large family of strange but very kind people had lived. However, years previously it had been burned in a mysterious fire, killing everyone inside but one; he was the eldest son, Gustavo Rocque, and since then had left the house and moved into an apartment in the town. He was the sole owner of the land and never sold it, for reasons unknown. Perhaps he didn't want to let go quite yet. The house still stood, despite the burnt out mess that it was. Gustavo sometimes drove out there, some people claimed, but who could blame the guy? He had no one left to call family, except, at a stretch, maybe the students and fellow staff members at the high school where he worked.

So this was easily one of the most terrible things that ever happened in the woods surrounding Sherwood. 'Sherwood Forest', as some people jokingly liked to call it. It added a little touch of light to the place; a little childish hope that it really was a safe place, the most dangerous thing being the occasional noble thief or greedy king. This, unfortunately, was not the case. It became ever so clear one evening, when a young girl named Katie Knight went out walking on the outskirts of the woods and vanished. Fearing that she had wandered off into the woods and lost her way, the not so busy police force of Sherwood ventured out to find her. It was dark out when they found her body by a fallen log, her eyes wide and empty, her throat slit and dark with blood.

Sheriff Hortense Mitchell was the man to find her, stomach churning at the sight of this brutally murdered child at his feet. After calling backup to the scene to examine it as best they could and move her body, he took it upon himself to inform her family. By the time he got back into town, her body was being moved with him and word was starting to spread. And so he went to the Knights' house to break the news to the remaining three Knights. He knew Jennifer Knight quite well; the two had always gotten along, both bonding over separation from their spouses, both discussing how it had hurt them, how they felt that they could never love again. Hortense felt that maybe he could learn to love her, if he gave it time. But he never did seem to have the time; in any case, she was only separated, while he and his ex-wife had filed for divorce at the earliest opportunity. Katie was the daughter of some strange woman Jennifer's ex husband slept with; he had no idea what happened to her. After Jennifer and Will were separated, he left town with Katie, and this was the first time, as far as he knew, that they had come back. Jennifer and Will had a son too, Kendall, who lived with his mother; perhaps they brought the two together so they could get to know each other at last. Hortense didn't know Kendall very well; he and Hortense's son Logan used to share rides to and from school, but now they didn't seem to get along too well. Different social circles was all he could guess from that.

He arrived at the Knights' house and knocked on the door, swallowing nervously and clenching his hands tightly together. Jennifer answered the door, greeting him with a smile, albeit a nervous one. "Hortense, hi . . . any news?"

"Um, yeah, Jen . . . can I come in?"

She nodded, stepping aside to let him in before leading him into the living room. Kendall and his father, Hortense assumed, were sitting on the couch. Kendall was sitting with his hands folded on his lap, at the very edge of the couch, a visible gap between them. Jennifer sat down beside her ex, gazing up at Hortense, eyes wide.

"Listen, um . . ." He cleared his throat. "This isn't easy for me to say, Jen . . . I'm so sorry."

Her jaw dropped. "W-what?"

"We found Katie's body in the woods . . . I'm afraid she was murdered."

"K-Katie?!" Will choked, hands squeezing into tight fists, knuckles cracking. "My Katie, no, you can't be— who would do something like this?!"

"We're going to find out," Hortense told him determinedly. "Don't worry about that."

"I-I just . . . I can't believe this." Getting to his feet, he wandered out of the room, chest heaving with the sobs he was trying to hold back. Jennifer quickly got up, eyes full as she gave Hortense brief hug. "Thank you for telling us," she said softly. "I should go after him . . ."

"Go, I'll let myself out," he replied kindly. "And it's nothing. It's my job."

She left the room and Hortense found himself alone with Kendall, who was still seated on the couch with his hands clasped under his chin, biting his lip heard. "You alright, kid?"

"I-I, I don't know . . ." Kendall swallowed, one hand brushing a stray tear off his cheek. "I mean, it's not like I knew her very well, but . . ."

"I understand."

"I don't feel well, I . . . My head hurts." Hand pressed to his forehead, Kendall slowly got to his feet. "I need to lie down . . . you said you'd let yourself out."

"I will, you go get some rest." He watched Kendall leave the room, unsteady on his feet, breathing uneven, and walked slowly back to the front door. It was a sad night for the Knights, there was no doubt about it. But it was more than that, it was a sad night for Sherwood. A ten year old girl murdered in the woods, it took a special kind of evil to commit such a crime. He was determined to find the culprit. It was more than just his job; his own morality wouldn't allow him to let someone like this walk free. They would be punished, no matter what.

Only a day or two later he heard from Jennifer that Will left town again, not wanting to be anywhere close to where his daughter had been murdered. The funeral took place where they had been living, Jennifer and Kendall driving back to Sherwood only an hour after it ended.

James skipped the track playing on his iPod for the fourth time, sighing in frustration as he rested his head against the car window. The shuffle option on the thing really was just plain shit. He sat up a little straighter as he saw the sign, at last; 'Sherwood'. "I thought we'd never get there," he said with a smile, glancing out the window. It was totally ordinary, like he'd expected, but he liked that. Most kids, teenagers in particular, threw a gigantic tantrum if they found out they had to make a big move, away from their friends, away from everything they'd ever known. But his hometown (or homecity) had never been very important to him. Brooke, his mother and owner of an internationally famous cosmetics company, decided she wanted to live a quieter life, working from home or from a small office building she bought in the centre of Sherwood. The vast amount of money she earned, rather than spending it on a lavish house, would be spent on important things later in life. For now they would live like ordinary citizens (though nothing would stop them from buying expensive clothes and other products; the Diamonds were a shallow bunch since the dawn of time).

"Sorry it took so long to actually make the move," Brooke said with a chuckle as they drove down an equally ordinary street; it was wonderful. "But I wanted the house to be furnished when we got there. Not just that, but our boxes have been delivered already today which means we've just got to unpack our possessions when we get there. Easy peasy! We'll be finished by evening and we can order pizza for dinner. Then tomorrow I'll go shopping. Then on Monday you two will be starting school."

"I liked my old school," Bobby piped up from the back seat. "My science teacher was the prettiest woman in the whole world, it was the best part of middle school!"

"I am the prettiest woman in the world," Brooke corrected haughtily, earning a chuckle from James. "Anyway, I'm sure there'll be pretty teachers in your new school. Don't worry, honey. You'll like it here, I promise."

"Okay," Bobby sighed, dipping his head back down to resume his game, fingers tapping at the buttons of his DS furiously.

"Here it is!" Brooke announced suddenly, pointing to a house coming up up on their left, in the middle of a row of equally unassuming houses. "Number 8, isn't it lovely? The backyard is decently sized too and leads out into the woods. This place is so rural, I love it."

"It's great, Mom," James said with a genuine smile, taking his earphones out and stuffing his iPod away into his backpack. They parked in the driveway and got out.

"The delivery men left the key under the doormat," Brooke said, reaching down to get it as they approached the front door. "That's another thing I've gotta do tomorrow; get some more house keys cut." The three of them walked inside the house and Brooke turned on the light. She was right; the house was already furnished, similar to their old house but definitely somewhat stripped down. It was nice, it was homely.

"Which room is mine?" James asked as he headed straight for the stairs.

"The first one on the left!"

James walked in and looked around, smiling to himself as he shut the door after him. The bed was by the window, how he liked it. The mattress was bare but he saw the box labeled 'BED THINGS' beside it and walked straight over, getting to work. The walls were painted blue, his favourite colour, a desk and wardrobe side by side on the other side of the room. It was quite plain but he had plenty of time to decorate it, plenty to decorate it with. He started by tearing open the box followed with bed sheets and pillow, tugging the contents out with a huff and dropping them on the wooden floor.

By far what he was worrying the most about with this move was his new school, mainly making new friends. His frequent difficulty with making friends (or keeping them) was in fact one of the reasons he hadn't minded moving away to another state. He wasn't leaving many people behind, and certainly nobody of importance. They were bound to forget he even existed within a week or two. He was okay with that; he was sure he was going to do the same. Whether he would make friends worth remembering here was unbeknownst to him, but that was okay. He could wait until Monday to find that out. Or maybe a little longer than that, one day was hardly going to make a huge difference.

After making his bed and putting the spare sheets away he began to unpack his clothes, organising them immaculately by clothing category rather than colour. He lined his shoes up neatly at the foot of the bed, where he had kept them for as long as he could remember. He recalled that his parents used to trip over them quite often during that one period where his bed was very close to the door. After many almost accidents, they had decided to rearrange his room layout. Only a couple of months later, his dad left. He knew it had nothing to do with his shoes, it was a ridiculous notion, but for months when he was a child he had felt that way about it. It took a lot of convincing from his mother that the reasons for his father leaving were far more complex than just tripping over shoes. He learned that in full as he grew older.

When he finished unpacking everything, he stacked his empty boxes and shoved them next to the wall, glancing out at the sky; his window faced the backyard, stretching out into dozens after dozens of tall trees. The sun was starting to set, so he tugged his new curtains across over the window and left the room, switching off the light as he did. Downstairs, his brother Bobby was already sitting in what was bound to be his new designated spot on the couch, watching TV and sipping from a tall glass of juice. "Mom?" James called, heading back towards the stairs. "Do you want a hand finishing up?"

"No, I'm done now! Hold on, I'm coming down." A moment later she appeared at the top of the stairs and walked down towards him, smiling in greeting. "Are you happy with your new room, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I am. It's smaller but I don't have much stuff anyway. I like the view out my window."

"It's nice, isn't it? I think I'll order dinner for us now, where did I put my phone . . ." She found it on the kitchen counter and made the call, the three of them sitting in the living room together and watching TV while they waited, making occasional witty remarks or jokes at what was depicted on the screen. He always appreciated that they were a family that got along well; they were a tight knit group, they always had been. They were also quite close to his mom's relatives; he'd always felt like her younger sister, Jo, was more like his older sister. They were quite close and had a lot in common, despite their difference in age. One of the things that interested him most, in fact, about his town was that she apparently used to live there, the whole family did, but they left years ago. Obviously his mom had always wanted to come back, it was a nice sentiment. When the pizza arrived they ate it in the living room, straight from the boxes. Brooke may have enforced immaculate tidiness in most aspects of life, but when it came to food, there was no holding her back.

Afterwards, James took the empty boxes out to the trash cans at the back of the house. Sliding the back door across, he stepped out onto the patio and walked across to the trash cans shoved in the corner, pressing the boxes inside. Afterwards he turned back to face the backyard. It was dark out but not too cold, and so he took a seat on the stone bench at the edge of the patio, smiling and letting out a little sigh as he let his gaze wander across the long stretch of grass that was their yard. Maybe in the future they'd plant something, a tree or some flowers, though there were plenty of trees beyond that, in the woods. James wasn't used to such surroundings; growing up in a city, the only trees he ever saw were in organised clusters at the park or those sad looking single ones trapped in iron cages. He could practically feel all the fresh air these trees were releasing. And yes, that was total shit, of course he couldn't, but it was a nice thing to think about.

He then heard a sudden rustling in the trees and sat up straighter, breath quickening slightly as his hands tightly gripped the edges of the bench. The rustling only happened once, and didn't seem to quite be at the edge of the trees. But it was certainly close. Then he heard another rustle, a louder one, and out of a cluster of bushes, out of the darkness, something dashed out all of a sudden. James shrieked and jumped to his feet, stumbling back and remembering too late what he was standing in front of. He toppled over the bench with a grunt of pain and wasted no time in rolling back onto his hands and knees, rubbing the back of his head in pain. He expected to see some frightened (or angry) animal on the lawn, but now that he was paying attention, he saw that it wasn't an animal at all.

A boy about his age had just fallen to his knees on the lawn, twigs and stray leaves in his air, pale skin scratched and muddy, naked from head to toe. He was breathing erratically, one hand feebly scratching his chest, the other's fingernails being bitten apart by his teeth. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, the whites of his eyes visible all around. "U-um, are you okay?" James asked at last, stammering as he crept a little closer. "Do you need some help?"

"I-I, I . . ." The boy looked around, hand scratching harder at his chest. "I was running."

"Yeah, you were, uh . . ." James looked around helplessly, eyes finding the back door. "Mom!" he yelled, praying she'd heard him. As he turned back to face the boy he saw that he was now sitting flat on his backside, heels digging so hard into the grass he was grinding them into the mud underneath— putting his whole body on display in the process. James shielded his eyes and felt his cheeks turning red. He was not a pervert. He was not. "Mom!" he roared again. "Get out here now, please!"

"Don't go into the woods," the boy said suddenly, urgently as he lunged forward and grassed James' leg tightly. His hands were dirty and looked to have dried blood on them, which was disgusting, but James was more focused on the terror stricken look in his eyes. "Promise me you won't go in there, you can't, it's n-not safe, it's not safe—"

"I won't, why would I go into the woods? Come on, that's crazy," James laughed, prying the boy's hands off his leg. His laugh came out high-pitched and squeaky; it always happened when he laughed out of nerves or just sheer confusion. This was a mixture of both.

"James, what's the— what . . .? Who the heck is this?!"

"I wish I knew," James replied with a weak shrug, another nervous laugh bubbling from his chest. "Can you call someone? I-I don't know what to do, what do we do?"

"Relax, it's fine." She gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "I'm going to call the police and tell them what happened. You take him inside to the kitchen and get him clothes, or a blanket, whatever he prefers. And just stay calm, okay? Freaking out won't make things any better."

James glanced down at the boy, who was now hugging his knees and rocking back and forth and mumbling incoherently into his knees. "Uhh, I-I guess I can do that . . . oh." She had already disappeared back inside the house. "Hey, uh, listen," he said nervously, tapping the boy lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, let me take you inside, you'll catch a cold out here."

"W-where are you taking me?!" he demanded as James grasped his hand and tugged him to his feet. He squirmed his hand a little, though he couldn't do it too much as his hand seemed to be hurting him a little. "I-I can't go back to the woods—"

"I'm not taking you there," James said impatiently, regretting it immediately afterwards. "Look," he said in a gentler voice as he led him to the back door. "I'm taking you in here instead, see? I can give you some clothes to wear, but if you'd prefer a blanket I can give you one of those instead."

"B-b-b . . ." He looked around the kitchen dazedly, James shutting the back door firmly. "Bobby!" he called, keeping an eye warily at the blond slumped in one of the kitchen chairs, fingers drumming strange beats on the table's surface. "Can you get me a blanket, please?" He stood in front of the back door in case the stranger tried to make a run for it. But he seemed only interested in his strange songs, humming them lowly in a throaty voice.

"Here you go," Bobby announced, walking into the kitchen and shrieking in surprise when he saw the boy, blanket flying from his hands. James ran for it and hurried over to the boy. "Thanks, Bobby," he said, beckoning for the blond to stand up. "Also, I'd get lost if I were you . . ."

Bobby squeaked, covered his eyes and ran from the room. James wrapped the blanket securely around the boy and sat him back down in the chair. "Now you just sit tight until the police get here, and then they'll take you . . . somewhere. Maybe the hospital? You look okay to me, except for your hands. What happened?"

"I broke through," he whispered, eyes wide and blank as he stared straight past James, into the darkness outside.

"Broke through what?"

"That. The wall between, b-between . . . I . . ." He scratched his head, a leaf fluttering down to land on the kitchen tiles. "I feel really hot."

"Do you want me to get you some water?"

"N-no, I need, I . . ." He looked around, reaching to scratch his chest again under the blanket. "I need to get rid of it," he whimpered. "Th-this fire, I need it gone, I want it out of me!"

"Just relax, what are you—"

"Their temple, my tomb," he changed, rocking back and forth, trembling. "Their temple, my tomb, their temple, my tomb—"

"MOMMM!" James called, jumping up from his seat and running to the kitchen door. "Where the hell are the cops?"

Then, like a call from the heavens, there was a knock on the door. "That's them, James, that's them!" Brooke said reassuringly, jogging to the door and opening it up. "Hi, hi, thank you so much for coming so quickly."

"It's no problem," the man in front said, shaking her hand. "Sheriff Hortense Mitchell are your service, so where's this kid you've found?"

"He's in the kitchen, follow me." They walked back through to the kitchen, where James was trying to hold the boy's hands still as he squirmed and tried to get to the back door, wailing.

"Kendall!" Sheriff Mitchell exclaimed, hurrying over and grabbing hold of him, turning the boy to face him. "Kendall, it's okay, you're safe. It's me."

"Sh-sheriff," the boy, Kendall, choked, hands touching his face. "Don't let them take me."

"Don't worry, son, you're safe. You're going to be fine."

James watched the two with wide eyes, pressed back hard against the kitchen counter. Brooke stood beside him, observing the scene with a similar baffled expression.

"Take him to the hospital, okay?" Sheriff Mitchell instructed to his partner. "And make sure to call his mother. I'll stay back here, just to hear more about what happened. I'll meet you later."

"Got it, boss!" The handsome deputy left with Kendall in tow, Brooke letting them out of the house before shutting the front door after them and walking back to the kitchen, where James and the sheriff now sat.

"I want to thank you for calling," the man said to the both of them with a small smile. "His mother's been tearing her hair out worrying about him. We were sure he'd been killed . . ."

"Killed?" Brooke exclaimed. "Uh, Mr Mitchell, doesn't that seem a bit extreme? He just seemed a bit scared and sort of . . . wacky."

"Call me Hortense, please. Wait." Hortense frowned. "Wacky? Really?"

"He kept saying all this weird stuff about breaking through things and tombs," James said quietly. "It was really strange. And he was telling me not to go into the woods."

"Hmm, the woods . . ." Hortense sighed. "Okay, well . . . here's the thing. That kid, his name is Kendall Knight. He's almost seventeen, going to the local high school. He's never been "wacky", as you put it, ma'am. Always a normal, polite kid. And as for the woods, I don't know what he was doing there, but I can tell you those warnings might be to do with what happened to his poor sister."

"His sister?" James repeated, feeling himself turning a little cold. Oh god, was he about to hear a classic horror movie backstory? Please no, no burial grounds or demons unwillingly laid to rest . . .

"Her sister was murdered, in the woods," Hortense told them both grimly, keeping his voice low. "It happened just under two weeks ago. Kendall was due to go back to school a few days ago, but he disappeared during the evening, his mother reported hearing a window breaking and found him gone. He'd been taking a shower, it was still running, which would explain why he was naked. That happened three days ago. You can see why she was a bit concerned for his safety."

"He was running around those woods for three days?" Brooke said incredulously. "That poor boy, he must've caught every cold and infection under the sun!" Classic exaggeration, as always.

"Well, let's hope not. I should go and check on him, maybe ask him if anything did happen to him while he was missing. Thanks for sharing what you know." Hortense stood up, finally smiling in a friendlier manner. "You folks are new to town?"

"Yes, we're the Diamonds, just arrived today," Brooke replied and returned the smile. "My boys are starting school on Monday."

"That's nice. Hey, kid." Hortense turned to James. "Keep an ear out for my son, Logan. You might get along, he's not a bad boy. Anyway, I need to get going. Let's hope I don't have to call back here again, eh?"

"I hope so too," James said firmly, meaning it with all of his heart. Brooke saw the sheriff out while James let his head slump down against the edge of the table, giving a long exhausted sigh. On the floor, a leaf from keys hair still lay. It was such a strange sight; all he could do was stare at it. At last he stood up, bending down and picking it up, twirling it lightly between his fingers.

"That was some first night for us, huh?" Brooke chuckled, walking in. "That kid was a serious wackjob, I don't care what that sheriff said. Still, as long as he's alright, that's the most important thing. I can't imagine what that poor mom was going through, losing one child and then another disappearing. Must've been the longest three days of her life."

"Yeah, it must have . . . uh, Mom?" James tossed the leaf into the trash. "I think I'm going to head to bed, it's been a tiring day and after that last incidence I'm kind of pooped."

"Sure, I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, homey." She pecked his cheek on the way out and he walked upstairs, flinching slightly when one step creaked. He made sure to check his new bedroom for any mystery demons hiding in dark corners before he changed, brushed his teeth and got into bed. How could one encounter rattle him so much? Kendall's words kept floating around in his head in a flurry of craziness; that was all it could be, surely. None of it could be true. There were no tombs, there was nothing in the woods. Except maybe whoever murdered his sister . . .

Now less enthused about his bed being placed by the window, he snuggled further into his cocoon of blankets and tried to will himself to sleep.

The next day was wonderfully uneventful. At least, the morning was. Since he had no school to attend, he was pretty much stuck sitting at home with his family. Of course, he could've gone out and explored the town but he wasn't quite in the mood for that just yet. Maybe during the week. It was in the middle of the afternoon, just after lunch, when he did at last leave the house. However, it was then that he pulled up a map on his phone to find out where Sherwood Hospital was. Once he tracked it, he set off.

He wasn't quite sure himself why he wanted to visit Kendall. It certainly wasn't to hear more of his creepy chanting. It was, perhaps, partly to see if he was still the same as last night, or if he had recovered. He wanted to see if he was alright. Who the hell wouldn't be concerned for someone after their first encounter with them was that bizarre and frightening?

Upon arriving at the hospital, he checked at the front desk for Kendall's room number and then stopped on his way there, at the hospital's gift shop. It was not only to take a breather for himself, but also to maybe buy something nice for him. As he wandered around the rows of flowers and boxes of chocolates, he passed them out and finally settled on a little brown teddy bear dressed as a nurse. It was cute, silly but cute. Maybe Kendall wasn't even into bears, but it was better than nothing. He bought it and held it behind his back as he at last arrived at Kendall's door, knocking on it and waiting a few seconds before walking in. He saw Kendall sitting up in bed, eyes moving from the TV on the wall to James as the door opened. His hands were bandaged here and there and he was a still a little scratched, but other than that he looked fine.

"Hey," James greeted awkwardly at the door, stepping in a little nervously.

"Hi," Kendall greeted, turning back to the TV before picking up the remote and turning it off. He turned back to face James, smiling sweetly. Now that he waan't chanting creepy things or muddy all over, James could see that he was actually pretty cute. He had a little dimple in the cheek; James had always been a sucker for dimples. "You're the guy from last night, aren't you? I never heard your name. Have a seat."

"Uh, okay . . ." James sat down, producing the bear at last. "I wanted to get you something at the gift shop, they had flowers and chocolates but I thought you might be allergic and even though they're kinda lame I figured hey, nobody's allergic to teddy bears."

"My cousin is, actually." Kendall chuckled, taking the bear. "But I'm not. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And I am the guy from last night. My name's James."

"Are you at my school? I've never seen you before."

"I just moved here, I'm starting school on Monday."

"Well, you'll like it. Just beware if you get Mr Rocque's chemistry class, he's a total dragon. He yells a lot."

"I'll keep that in mind . . ." James cleared his throat. "So, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Kendall replied with a casual little shrug and a carefree smile. It was becoming very difficult to link him with the quivering mess of a boy from the previous night. "You know, I was a bit sleepy this morning but after breakfast I felt better. Hospital food totally sucks ass but it's better than nothing. And how are you?"

"I'm good, I'm . . ." Not at all shaken up by how you were a complete freak show last night and are now acting like it didn't even happen. "I'm fine." He bit his lip, wondering if what he wanted to say next was the right thing. But he figured he may as well go for it. "I'm glad you're okay, really. Especially with what happened to your sister, the sheriff told us about it . . . I'm sorry for your loss."

"Oh, my sister . . . yeah." His smile fell, eyes dropping to the hospital blanket as he tugged on the end of it weakly. "Thanks. We were pretty shaken up about it, but I didn't know her that well. She was my half sister, she was living with my dad."

"Oh. I, uh, I didn't know that." James bit his lip, watching the way Kendall's long eyelashes rested against his cheeks when he yawned, eyes drifting shut for a moment. "Any other siblings?"

"Nope, it's just me and my mom. How about you?"

"Me?" James echoed, cheeks flushing.

"Yes," Kendall laughed, pointing at him. "You, James."

Oh, wow. I love how you say my name. "Well, there's me, and my mom, and my little brother Bobby. You might remember him from last night, he brought in that blanket for you . . ."

"Hmm, I don't remember that. Oh, by the way," he pointed across the room to where James' blanket sat folded up on the table. "That's it over there. Thanks, but I don't need it anymore so you can take it when you leave."

"I will, thanks . . ."

"Kendall!"

The two of them turned towards the door to see two girls standing at the door, before they hurried over to the bed and sat down in the chairs at the opposite side to James. One had curly dark hair and pale skin, the other sporting a golden tan and long blonde hair. "Who's your friend?" the blonde asked, sending a flirty gaze James' way as the brunette blurted out at the same time, "We were so worried about you!"

Kendall chuckled, giving them both a long warm hug. "Well first off, this is James. James, these are my friends Camille and Mercedes."

"Nice to meet you," James said shyly, giving an awkward little wave.

"James is the one who called the cops in to get me," Kendall told the girls. "I guess I ended up in his backyard."

"Where the hell were you, Kendall?" Mercedes, the blonde, demanded. "What was going on with you, you smashed right through a window."

"Oh, you know, I guess I was just scattered after Katie and everything," Kendall said nonchalantly, shrugging. "But I'm fine now. I'm going back to school on Monday."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Camille asked.

"Come on girls, I'm fine. Isn't it better I get my life back to normal? I think so."

"Well, um," James spoke up, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He stood up. "I should get going. I'm glad you're okay, Kendall. I'll see you on Monday." He walked over to the table and picked up his blanket, tucking it securely under his arm.

"Yeah, I'll see you. Thanks again for your help. And the bear," Kendall added last minute, holding it up with a smile.

"You're welcome . . . see you around." He left the hospital ward and shut the door firmly after him, letting out a long breath and running his hand through his hair. What happened last night was not normal, he knew that. Was Kendall lying through his teeth about his behaviour, or did he really not remember? How could he just say he was "fine"? He was most definitely not. How could he be?

Shaking his head, James walked down the hospital corridor towards the lobby. He needed to go home and try to clear his head. Maybe he could play some video games or just lie face down on his bed until he could stop thinking about it. All he could hope was that this was a once off occasion, and that this town really was the normality he and his family had been searching for.