CHAPTER ONE: BACK TO SCHOOL

Adam stepped before the main steps of his high school. He hadn't been here in ten months, and the last thing he'd done here was push some scrawny kid on his back.

In the weeks following the night of the killings, Adam had done a lot of stupid things. He'd caused way too many public fights, he'd vandalized many properties, and he'd gotten caught behind the wheel while intoxicated.

It would've been an understatement to say that he had been in trouble. He'd gotten ten full months in jail. It had sucked as much as anyone would've anticipated, but Adam had served his time without protesting.

He watched his old classmates hurry up the stairs to attend their first class of the day. It was officially Adam's first day of his junior year.

He let his mind roam to the two senior girls who he'd experienced that night with. They were probably talking beside their lockers right now. The thought of Bianca and Fiona actually smiling together made Adam brighten some. In a way, that night ten months ago had brought kids from different cliques together like a family.

Adam's eyes got hot and moist when he imagined the friends he'd lost walking up the steps next to him. Eli would be smirking about a dirty joke he'd just cracked while Clare elbowed him though she also was smiling with Adam and Eli. Drew would round the corner with a football in his hand and a boyish grin glued to his face. He would nod his head at Adam before running after Owen.

Riley would be trotting down the hallway in search of a missing Zane Park with two bagels in his hands. Then Fitz would be seen down the hall bullying Wesley and pushing his face into the water fountain.

Adam had never realized how much he'd taken his friends relationships for granted. He'd never actually considered what he'd be losing if all of these people ended up being murdered by a deformed psycho who liked to create unknown creatures in an underground basement laboratory.

And now he was stuck in the place where the nightmare had begun.

Adam stepped into the familiar halls of Degrassi and felt every pair of eyes focus on him. People whispered amongst themselves about how he'd survived that night ten months ago or how he'd just been released from jail.

He was sure that most of the people were surprised that Simpson was even letting him back into the school after all of the damage he'd caused after his fight with KC.

But he just stepped silently into the office without any glances at the careless whispers in the now quiet halls. Holly J Sinclair stood in the office in front of Simpson while having a pretty serious looking talk with him. And as soon as she saw Adam in the doorway, it was like Principle Simpson wasn't even there.

"Adam…," she let out in a cracking voice. Adam watched her with blue eyes that no longer held a happy gleam of light in them. She looked him up and down next to Simpson who was awkwardly sipping at his mug of coffee.

Adam cleared his throat before averting his eyes from Holly J completely. "I'm here to pick up my schedule," he announced.

"Ah, I will go get that from my office." Simpson sent Adam and Holly J a thin smile before retreating to his office. They both knew that this was their principle's way of letting them speak with each other for the first time in a long time.

"You look different," Holly J finally breathed.

"Yeah, a jail cell can really change you," Adam quipped. She sighed and cocked her head at her younger friend. His eyes were sad, and he looked like he was still fighting the urge to go and look for Clare or Eli.

"I'm sorry, Adam. I really am."

"Why are you apologizing, Holly J? You're not KC or Gregory Deacon's son," he replied.

"But I-"

"No buts," Adam interrupted. "It's best if we just all try and forget about what happened months ago. What matters is that we're both safe right now."

She was surprised by Adam interrupting her but not nearly surprised by his words pleading her to forget about how KC had murdered their friends. Holly J never would've pegged Adam for the "love and lose" person.

"What are you doing in this hellhole anyways? I thought you were off to conquer your throne at Yale." Adam made his first joke in ten months.

Holly J laughed softly and told him, "You'd better believe it, Torres. I'm just here to pick up some old projects from last year. It's hard, y'know, just standing in these halls anymore without remembering…"

"Holly J…"

"I know, I know," Holly J apologized with her hands held up defensively. "Forgive and forget, I know. But that doesn't make it any easier to really forget."

It was Adam's turn to have no response. He stuffed his hands inside his jeans (Principle Simpson lifted the dress code rule at the end of last year) and held his breath. Holly J watched his every movement intently. She remembered all of the fights this boy had started at the end of last year.

She tried her best to remove the memory of watching Adam step into that police car next to Bianca, Fiona, and every other student at Degrassi. At the time, Holly J had believed that Adam had gotten what he deserved. He'd put some poor kid in a coma for Christ's sake!

But now she found herself second guessing her opinions on Adam Torres last year.

Simpson suddenly appeared back into the main office with a slip of paper for Adam, and a manila folder filled with papers for Holly J.

"I hope that we can start off fresh this year, Adam," Simpson said with a big smile and his arm extended towards him. Both Holly J and Adam glanced down at his hand uncomfortably. Adam was still contemplating shaking his hand.

He finally tried his best to return Simpson's beaming expression and gave his hand a good shake. "I hope so too, sir," he responded in a cheesy tone. He sounded like Wesley Betenkamp.

Holly J chuckled under her breath before Simpson dismissed them from his office with a sweeping hand and luck-filled wishes for them both.

The two friends walked together awkwardly towards the main doors of Degrassi. Adam remembered throwing chairs through these doors. He wondered how much Simpson had paid to have the school rebuilt after all of the windows he'd broken and the walls he'd kicked in.

"It seems like everyone knows," Holly J said to him. It didn't surprise Adam that Holly J had also noticed everyone's eyes glued to the boy walking beside her.

"Yeah," Adam clenched his jaw, "I think most of these kids were there when I was arrested in front of this high school."

This caused Holly J to laugh, but Adam joined in on her innocent laughter. He hadn't laughed with anyone in a long time.

Holly J was taken aback by the serious question Adam shot at her next. "Are they making you take the pills too?"

She suddenly stopped, making Adam turn around and face her with his back to the main doors of the high school. "What pills, Adam?" she asked as if he was cracking a joke.

He nodded to himself. It was almost like he'd only asked this question to find the answer to a question that had bugged him ever since that night. Adam smiled with his blue eyes locked on his own sneakers.

"So I guess I really am crazy, huh?" he asked, almost to himself, in a sad voice.

"Adam, you are not crazy." Holly J tried her best at a reassuring tone before cupping Adam's cheek with her right hand. Her thumb massaged his smooth cheek while she said, "They're probably just anxiety pills."

Adam suddenly took Holly J's forearms in a strong grip. "No, you don't get it, Holly J. I'm not anxious about anything that happened that night. I'm anxious about the things that started after."

Her eyebrows quivered, and Adam leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "I see them almost every night if I don't take those pills."

It didn't take a genius to know who "they" were. Holly J knew exactly who Adam was whispering about.

"You mean you see Clare, Eli, Fitz, Riley, and Drew?" she asked in an unbelieving tone. Adam should've known that his secret would have this effect on the smartest girl he knew.

He dropped his grip on her forearms and took a step back from her with his eyes glued to the doors standing behind Holly J. She could see that Adam realized she didn't really believe him here.

"Adam, maybe you're just having dreams. Most of us started having nightmares and stuff. That's kind of the reason why your girlfriend has to repeat her senior year."

"No," he said between his teeth, "I know what I saw, and I wasn't dreaming."

Holly J still didn't seem to believe Adam.

"Look, you don't have to believe me. I just wanted to see if someone else knew where I was coming from," he said to her with his eyes back on the ground.

"Hey," she coaxed without warning. She tilted his chin up so that their eyes met. Holly J smiled widely, forcing Adam to wear a small smile as well. "Are you gonna be okay here?"

He looked her face up and down before nodding in his approval. "Yeah, I'm tough. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Definitely," she promised. She pulled him into a tight hug with her arms tied around his neck and his around her waist. They were still embracing each other when the bell rang to start Adam's first day back at Degrassi.

Holly J smiled at her young friend with her hands on his shoulders. She pressed a long kiss to his cheek before patting his chest lightly and retreating from her nightmare of a high school.

Now it was Adam's turn to turn away and continue another year back in the place where his own brother had been murdered and Adam and his friends been chased endlessly by KC Guthrie.