I have decided to do a "Tory moves to Morris" story of my own. Now I know these have been done a few times already, and have been really unique by putting them in the boys' POVs, but mine is going to be done in Tory's. Yes, I know, I'm such a risk taker, haha. But this is where your sarcasm is wrong! Mine is going to be about the events that LEAD UP to Tory coming to the island. This is—in my opinion—very hard to write because of how heart breaking it must have been. So I'm going to do my darn hardest, but please, if it's not exactly what you were hoping for, no hate. That's why they invented the 'edit' button. DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Virals characters, settings, etc. All rights go to Kathy Reichs.

Tory's POV:

I brisk wind rolled off the Cape as my feet slapped the cement sidewalk. I raised my nose to the air and caught the sweet smell of the shore on the cool breeze.

It was early August and starting to get cold, but not unbearable. This was the time of year I loved the most about Massachusetts. School had yet to start, and I was a little nerves. I'd be starting high school in September.

I pulled my coat tighter around me as I made the trek home. I reminisced my year of eighth grade. It was a little weird at first, being that I was a year younger than the other kids and still beat their IQ average by leaps and bounds.

Well excuse me for caring about my grades and being a bit of a brainiac, was the thought that stayed at the front of my mind the whole first week of school. Then I decided to just not care what the hell they thought. At the time, skipping a grade seemed like a great idea. I just didn't consider what that would do for my social life. I would be in high school, where most kids would be turning fifteen or just turned, and I would be coming to my fourteenth year.

I sighed. Oh well. Mom would always be on my side. I smiled at the thought of my mother as I rounded the corner of my block. As I proceeded to my house my smile grew bigger.

My mother was amazing. She was a single parent since she was sixteen. Yeah, I was a bit of a surprise. I don't know who my dad is or was, or if I even have a dad. Mom doesn't say anything of him, and seeing as I'm not terribly interested in where the other half of me genes come from, I don't ask.

My mother has long red hair and a tall slim figure, both of which I'm gifted with. She's very pretty, and a lot of the men in town agree too, although she turns down every one of them.

She's also unbelievably optimistic. She lost her parents a few years after I was born. They didn't leave her out of anger, in fact, my grandmother thought very highly of me. I remember hearing her tell my mom that I was going to do great things when I was older.

I laugh about it now, because the only great achievement I've ever made is skipping a grade. What great things could I ever do?

I walked up to my front door and, pulling out my house key, unlocked the door and stepped inside.

I was greeted with the sweet smell of cinnamon and apples. I shrugged off my coat, kicked off my shoes and walked towards the kitchen. I stood in the doorway as I watched the women with her auburn hair pulled into a loose bun and wearing sweats, bustle around the stove. Ingredients lay spilled across the counter.

Suddenly the women turned around and she smiled warmly and motherly at me.

"Tory, sweetie!" She dropped her oven mitts on the table, walking towards me. "You're home. How was your day sweet heart?"

My mom wrapped my in a warm hug. She smelled like the apples, cinnamon, and pie crust. I smiled, hugging her back.

"It was fine," I said. "Are you making apple pie?"

She pulled back and laughed. "Yup! Your nose, knows, kiddo!" she said, tapping the end of my nose.

She walked back to her oven mitts, pulling them on, then went to open the stove. Reaching in she pulled out the steaming hot pie and set it on a cooling rack next to the open window.

I hopped onto a bar stool around the island. Mom sat down across from me. She was hiding something behind her back.

I quirked an eyebrow, curious. "What's that?"

She smiled, slowly pulling out the object in question from behind her. "It's a letter from the high school you applied for. It just came in the mail about twenty minutes before you got home."

My eyes widened in excitement. "Well, let's open that bad boy!" I cried, leaning forward.

Mom giggled as she broke the seal and shook out a crisp piece of paper. Putting the envelope aside, her eyes trailed down the paper. A smile formed and got bigger as she read further.

Finally she looked back up at my, eyes shining with pride and happiness.

"You're in! you've been excepted on a scholarship!" She cheered. "Oh, honey, I'm so proud of you! You're an honors student!"

I beamed back at her. "Thanks mom!"

She snapped her fingers. "Know what? Let's celebrate tonight! instead of an ordinary movie night, it'll be a girls night to celebrate your awesome grades!"

"Okay, cool!"

Around seven o'clock my mom and I had crashed on the couch. Mom had taken me out sailing on the Cape a few hours ago then we went out for ice cream. When we got back we pulled out monopoly, which I won.

Then we'd gone up to my room where we went through my closet piecing together outfits for the hell of it. Normally, I would hate doing something like that, but my mom wasn't looking to turn my into the next teen model, this was just fun. Although she did have to some motherly force when she tried showing me how to apply make-up. In the end it wasn't so bad. I don't hate make-up and don't mind wearing it sometimes, but if I had to choose, I'd never wear it.

I tilted my head forward and looked at my mom. She seemed to be thinking. She tends to bite her bottom lip and frown slightly. A while back I realized I do the same thing when thinking hard.

"What're you thinking?" I asked.

Her hazel eyes shifted to me. "I'm thinking, pizza and a movie."

I smiled. "Which movie?"

"I don't know," She said. "Maybe, some action-packed humor with the Pirates of The Caribbean! Johnny Depp is such an awesome actor!"

I laughed. My mom loves Johnny Depp.

"Okay, then," I laughed. "pirates it is!"

"Alright!" She leaped off the couch and headed to front door. "You get the movie set up and I'll go get the pizza."

I nodded and walked to the shelf of movies we had. I skimmed through the titles until I found the skull and cross-bones symbol . I plucked the movie off the shelf and walked back to the T.V.

"Alright, be back in a few!" Mom called.

"By mom, love you!" I called.

"Love you too!' And with that she closed the door.

I reached out to put the disk in the machine and froze. I suddenly got a cold feeling and my stomach felt sick. I shook my head and the feeling passed.

Geez? Get a hold of yourself, Tory! You're just hungry! I mentally scolded myself and placed the disk in the player.

Sitting back on the couch I let it load until the previews started playing. Leaving the remote on the couch I went to the kitchen to make popcorn. Tossing a bag in the microwave, I shuffled to the fridge pulling out two cans of Coke. As the microwave neared the end of its countdown, I pulled down a big bowl to pour the popcorn into.

I turned to the microwave as it gave a shrill BEEP! BEEP!

I walked back to the couch with the snack and drinks, placing them on the coffee table. I looked at the clock, and with nothing left to do, grabbed my book and read.

Five minutes later, I got a text from mom.

Pizzas almost ready. B home in 15.

Skimming the message I quickly replied.

Okay, but hurry! Johnny Depp wont wait forever!

She didn't reply right away so I went back to reading. Fifteen minutes later, I looked at the clock and frowned. Eight o'clock. Shouldn't she have been home by now? As if on cue my phone buzzed beside me.

Nice ;) Sorry about the wait. That line was killer. I'm on my way now. 10mins.

Smiled in relief. And opened a new message box, replying.

Good to know! K c ya then. Bring me my pizza!

Coming, coming! Someone's hungry

I laughed, closing my phone. I picked up my book again and dove back into the story. I lost track of time and my eyes began to droop. Soon I was out cold.

I wasn't sure how long I slept for, but when I opened my eyes, I became aware of a knocking on the door. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and shuffled to the door.

"Coming!" I called.

I peeked through the spy hole to see two police officers standing outside the door.

"What the heck?" I muttered as I unlocked the door. I opened it and stared out at the officers.

"Can I help you?" I asked confused.

The first officer, a women who looked to be in her late thirties, stepped forward. "Yes," she said. "Is this where Ms. Colleen Brennan lives? Are you her daughter, Victoria Brennan?"

Oh sweet Lord, what did I do?

"Yes." I hesitated, dragging the word out slowly.

She looked at me sadly. "Honey, I'm afraid I've got some bad news."

I was a little stunned. I stiffly opened the door a little wider, allowing the policemen to come inside.

"Um, well, I'm afraid my mother isn't here at the moment," I said closing the door. "She just went out to get pizza, but I'm sure she'll be back any minute."

I watched as the women officer shared a look with her partner. Then officer number two, a male around the same age as the women, heaved a heavy, hopeless sigh. "We know. That's why we're here."

"Excuse me?" I asked baffled, but that funny sick feeling I felt earlier was starting to creep into my gut. Only this time I was convinced it wasn't hunger.

"Victoria—" He started.

"—Tory" I numbly corrected out of habit.

"Tory," He started again. "Your mother's been in an accident." A pause. "She didn't make it."

My blood ran cold. Everything stopped moving in that exact moment. My heart. My lungs. Everything. It was like someone had wrapped their hands around my neck, choking me. My ears buzzed as the words bounced around inside my head.

You're mother's been in an accident... She didn't make it. Mother. Accident. Didn't make it.

A lump formed in my throat, cutting of the air even more. I shook my head, not believing what I was being told.

"No," I whispered.

"Tory, I know—"

"No!" I shrieked. "That's not true! She texted me at eight, only a few minutes ago, that she was on her way home!" Tears welled up in my eyes.

The officer shook her head sadly. "That was an hour and a half ago."

Her words hit me like a blow to the gut. I ran to the living room and gazed at the clock in complete dread. The hands stared back at me, reading nine-thirty.

The tears were falling before I could stop them. I didn't even realize I had been pulled into a hug but the female officer while her partner stared down at his boots.

Her voice was soft as she asked, "Do you know where your father is?'

I cried harder. "I don't have a father." I choked.

She stroked my hair. "Daniel, do a search for me. Medical records. Anything. I need a legal guardian for this girl."

Officer number two, Daniel, nodded and went back to their cruiser to relay the orders back to the PD.

When he came back, he said to Officer number one. "Megan, the chief says it'll take a few hours, but they're working on it."

Megan nodded and turned her attention back to me. "It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay."

I nodded, still crying, but on the inside I thought, How the hell is everything going to be alright? It'll never be alright!

The next couple of days went by in a blur. Without any known close relatives, I had to stay at the Police Department. While there, I got to meet the asshole who caused the accident. Alvie Turnbauer. The guy was drunk as a sailor from all the Coronas he'd had when he'd T-boned my mom's Corolla after running a red light.

When he was sober, he had come to apologize. I guess seeing the broken fourteen-year-old girl who's mother he'd killed weighed pretty heavily on his shoulders. Before, he'd been yelling about a lawyer and how it wasn't his fault. After his visit with me he told the cop to just take him to the jail cell he'd been assigned.

Days later was my mother's funeral. That day had been the hardest. You'd think the day you find out about the accident would be the worst but it's not. You're too shocked and overloaded to truly comprehend what's happening.

You keep thinking that your loved one is going to walk through the door and it'll just be one big bad dream. But it's the days that follow that are worse. That's when the truth sets in but you still don't believe it. Then the funeral day comes. And that's the hardest day of all. You're surrounded by people that you know , others you don't, and they all start telling you how bad they feel, and what a wonderful person your loved one had been, and how much they'll be missed.

Everything you don't want to be reminded of.

I was in the small crowd of distant family members, and close friends of my mom that surrounded the coffin. I was up front and watched as they lowered it into the ground.

When it was over, Megan, the cop from the night of the accident, came up to me and delivered the news that would flip my world upside down after it'd just been dropped on its head.

"Tory," She said, a little bit of happiness shone in her eyes and I suddenly had hope.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We found your father. He's in Charleston, South Carolina."

Do I need to say anything? Intense I know. But I wanted to try this. Alright, I know what you're all thinking. "What the hell? You're in the middle of writing A Living Nightmare!" That is a very true statement. I am in the middle of writing that story, but I've hit a bit of writers block and this popped into my head. And I figured, writing a two-shot would give me a break from the other story and would help. So not to worry, I haven't given up on A living Nightmare, just taking a short break. Also in this next chapter of this two-shot, I'm starting out with Kit—yeah I know, that's new! I also think I'll add the boys' POVs. Ok, well review and tell me what you think!