Okay, since no one seemed to be reviewing the rewrite, this is now the rewrite. If you're rereading, things WILL be different. Not too much, but little things. Please review.

Vengeance is Sweet... Unless You're on the Receiving End of It

(Vengeance is Sweet, but Pineapples are Sweeter)

Chapter One: Annoyance of the Past Meets Annoyance of the Present

"Shawn! Stop it! Leave me alone!"

A little girl of about seven had her arms folded and was glaring at another boy that was about ten years old. She had long, brown hair and hazel eyes. She looked a lot like the little boy, Shawn. On the porch were two adults, a man and a woman that were about the same age. The man had blond hair and blue eyes, and he was sitting with a woman a bit younger than him with hair and eyes like the little girl's. Her hair was tied back in a braid that fell forward over her shoulder.

"Shawn, leave your cousin alone," Henry scolded from the porch.

The ten year old looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't do anything!"

The little girl scowled. "Don't lie, Shawn!"

"I'm not lying, Izzy," he said with a knowing grin.

The little girl seemed to boil over in anger. "Shawn! My name is not Izzy! It is Isabel!"

"But 'Isabel' is such a mouthful," he whined. "I'd rather call you Izzy."

"Shawn!" Isabel retorted before continuing to chase him around the yard, trying to catch him.

The woman on the porch laughed at the antics of the two children. "I see Shawn hasn't changed a bit," she commented.

Henry just kept his arms folded as he watched his son terrorize his niece. "Unfortunately, he's just as mischievous as ever." He paused for a moment before speaking infinitesimally less gruffly. "How are you, Sara?"

Sara turned to Henry with a raised eyebrow. "Henry, I'm fine. You need to stop worrying about me; I'm not a baby anymore."

"You're still my little sister," he said, the gruffness returning.

Sara smiled. "I'm not so 'little' anymore."

Henry sighed. "How can I help but worry, Sara? You live all the way out in Salem; I barely see or hear from you. I don't know what's going on in your life."

Sara smiled at Henry knowingly. "I'm fine. What you seem to neglect to realise is that I enjoy living in Salem. I never did like all the sun of Santa Barbara."

"Shawn!" Isabel shouted. "Stop running so fast and let me catch you!" Henry and Sara looked at each other and began laughing at the seven year olds comment.

"Why should I stop, Izzy?" Shawn asked, laughing as he ran from his cousin. "You'll just try to hurt me!"

"Shawn!" Isabel shouted, somehow managing to elongate his name into two syllables.

"I don't think those two will ever get along," Sara laughed. "Shawn enjoys annoying Isabel too much."

"He enjoys annoying everyone too much," Henry corrected

Isabel Spencer hated warm weather. It was one of the rainiest places in the country. Unfortunately, she was in California now and overcast days were a rarity. I miss Seattle, she thought as she drove through the streets of sunny Santa Barbara. She didn't understand why California had to be so hot. Why would anyone want to live in a place where they got burnt by the sun everyday?

Isabel swallowed the lump in her throat as she pulled her car into the driveway of her uncle's house. She noticed that there was a motorcycle in the driveway and doubted that her uncle drove it. Being a former police officer, he had an ingrained hatred toward two-wheeled motorized vehicles. Isabel and her mother had visited this house often in her childhood and she felt nostalgic, being back here. She stayed in the car a moment longer than necessary to gather her thoughts. She didn't like the idea of telling her uncle that his sister was missing. She didn't like the idea of thinking of the fact that her mother was missing. Taking a deep breath, Isabel got out of the car and made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited. She was only slightly surprised by who answered the door.

She recognized Shawn despite the fact that she hadn't seen him since they were both teenagers. "Izzy?"

"Hey, Shawn," she greeted with a ghost of a smile. "And I have told you time and time again to not call me 'Izzy.' It hasn't been that long since we've seen each other."

"What are you doing here?" Isabel narrowed her eyes at his response. Well, so much for family, she thought vaguely.

"Thanks for the warm welcome, Shawn," she answered sarcastically. "It's good to see you too. Is Uncle Henry home?"

"Yeah," he said. Isabel could tell that her sudden arrival had shocked him. "Would I really be here if he wasn't?"

"I don't pretend to understand the way that your mind works," she said dryly, her humour coming out. She was surprised. She hadn't had much of a sense of humour in the past few days. She supposed that Shawn had that effect on people.

She could see that Shawn had mostly gotten over the shock of her appearance when he started yelling for his father in his usual manner. Isabel thought that it was more appropriate for that of a child. She saw Henry come through a doorway and had to suppress a smile at the irate manner he always had with his son.

"Isabel, what are you doing here? Where's your mom? She should have come to visit with you," he greeted in his familiar, gruff manner.

"I'm not here to visit, Uncle Henry," she said softly, sitting in the living room amongst the hanging fish. "I got a call from the Salem Police Department two days ago. Mom's missing."