His training just kept getting more intense. Each week was tougher than the week before that. It was to be expected, but it was still tiresome. That particular night, it was quite different from the other times. Dexter was sneaking through the hallways as silently as he could, using his lock picks to get the door to the apartment open. He'd gotten the hang of it, it seemed. As he snuck inside the apartment, as silently as he could, moving stealthily as if he wasn't really there, he readied the wire in his hands.

"Yes. Yes, very well. Thank you. Yes, goodbye." The voice said from the living room, apparently having just finished a phone-call. Dexter snuck in that direction, and his victim had her back turned. Perfect. He snuck up on her, getting closer and closer, and when he was close enough.

"Got you!" He hissed as he spun the wire and put it over her head, stopping just before it tightened around her throat. The woman yelled in surprise, turning around to face Dexter.

"My god, Dexter," Vogel said, taking a few deep breaths. "I didn't think you'd reached this level of stealth already. You almost seem ready already." She uttered, smiling faintly. "Very good, Dexter."

"Thanks," Dexter said, seeming a bit satisfied with himself. It was a morbid thing to be proud of, Dexter knew that much. But then again, he wasn't exactly normal. He'd come to terms with that fact long ago. And now, with Vogel, he was starting to accept himself more and more, for who he really was. But a part of him was afraid Debra might notice. Notice that he'd changed, that he was more confident in himself. After all, time had gone by, and...

…

"Two weeks," Debra grinned from ear to ear as she crossed off another day on the calendar before flopping down on her bed. "Two more weeks, and I'll be leaving this shithole. Ah, it's going to feel so ~ fucking good," she mused, dragging out her words.

"Aren't you overdoing it a bit?" One of the girls that shared rooms with her asked, raising an eyebrow in question. Debra sat up and shook her head as she hugged her pillow.

"Absolutely not," she huffed, rolling her eyes a little. "You seriously have no idea how much I'm looking forward to leaving." She said, before hurriedly adding; "Nothing personal, of course. I just have something much better waiting for me."

"Like what?" The girl asked, tilting her head curiously. Debra started grinning again, as if she couldn't contain her excitement.

"Something precious to me," she beamed.

"And I thought you were getting better along with your studies now. Weren't you?" The girl asked, still prying.

"Well, yeah," Debra replied. "Because to begin with, I didn't see anything… no hope, nothing. But like, when I get closer, I can see it, you know? I mean, they always say it in the movies and it's really fucking cheesy, but it's kind of true. There's a light at the end of this dark-as-shit tunnel. It's like I've finally found a way to crawl out of Satan's asshole, but to do that, I need to work for it. So I'll work better in school too."

"Well that's… an interesting point of view."

"It works for me."

…

"Jesus christ, Morgan," Doakes said as he saw Dexter in the cafeteria, approaching him with a surprised grin on his face. "I'm gettin' really good grades here, man. Thanks."

"No problem," Dexter chuckled, raising his eyebrows a little. "School year's almost over, it's important to study a lot now."

"I'll keep that in mind," Doakes laughed as he took off with his friends.

"He's getting pretty friendly, isn't he?" Masuka asked while chewing his sandwich, looking a bit suspicious.

"To be honest," Dexter said, stirring in his coffee with a spoon, "I couldn't care less, as long as he doesn't try to beat me up again."

"Sounds like good reasoning," Masuka nodded. "So, Dex. You have any plans the first weekend of summer vacation? Me and Angel were thinking of going bowling or something."

"Ah, sorry, Vince… kinda got something important." Dexter said, gritting his teeth a little. He knew he'd be busy for quite a while as soon as summer started. Stuff with Vogel, but more importantly, his sister. "My sister gets here that weekend."

"But you can spend time with your sister any other time, can't you? And I mean… she's your sister. Aren't siblings like, super annoying?"

"Sure she's annoying," Dexter huffed, not able to keep back his little smile. "But we'll have a lot to talk about. I've barely seen her since our dad died."

"Yeah… Yeah, I understand," Masuka sighed. "We'll hang out some other time, then." He said, and Dexter nodded.

"Yeah, some other time sounds good."

…

Dexter snuck through the woods with the wire ready in his hand. He was trying to concentrate on everything that happened around him, every sound and every movement. His eyes scanned over the silhouettes in the darkness, hoping to find the one he was looking for. He kept walking, crossing the road and going further away from the school grounds. Eventually, he passed the wooden shed, and went further, further than he'd went before. In some way, it was exciting. Knowing he was entering new grounds, places that he wasn't used to. It was a nice challenge.

He repeated the task he'd gotten in his head over and over again, making sure he remembered every step of it. It wasn't long after that he spotted it, behind a tree. The silhouette of a man. He used the skills he'd earned, being as quiet as possible, sneaking up on the man, and then when he came behind him… he raised the wire and tightened it around the doll's neck, pretending to choke it as he pulled it back, using all his might to pull the limp doll after him back through the woods. Vogel had even taken the time to make it believably heavy, so it took him time and power to get it back to the shed.

He hoisted it up on the wooden table in the middle, and then closed the door behind him. He felt like it was all going well, but then again… the doll couldn't put up a real fight. He had placed his bag in the shed a day before, still wondering if that would be the best way to proceed later on. It did seem to work, though, as he could now easily access his knifes. He pulled the black pouch out of the bag and rolled it out, grabbing one knife out of it. Doing what he was doing made him imagine the real thing. The thrill he'd get. He couldn't wait.

He held the knife tightly in his hands and after pausing for a second, he plunged it into the doll's chest. This would work, it definitely would. But there were still problems he'd have to take care of. Like, how would he get rid of the body, and how would he clean up the mess? Those were things he'd have to find out about sooner rather than later.

…

"Today, we'll be making a colour bomb!" The science teacher exclaimed, looking a bit too excited for his own good. It wasn't often they got to do fun experiments, so they already knew he'd take every chance he got.

The students got to work on their colour bombs, making sure not to mix the components in the wrong order. They didn't want a pre-mature explosion, after all. They had been split into groups that took care of different things.

"Ok, uh… Dexter and Vincent, you take the plastic." The teacher said, pointing to several rolls of plastic and tape.

"Plastic?" Vince asked, narrowing his eyes in question. "What do we need that for?"

"I don't think the dean of students would like it if we messed up one of the school's classrooms. We'll be covering all the walls in plastic, that way we won't get any colour on the walls, and we can easily take down the plastic and get rid of the liquids at the same time." The teacher informed, so Dexter and Masuka got to work. It wasn't an easy job, but they got it done eventually.

"What colour should we use?" One of the students asked, looking through the different food dyes they had. They soon agreed on red, and it didn't take long before the colour bomb was ready. They all exited the classroom, but before they closed the door, the teacher asked.

"So, who wants to mix the chemicals?"

The teacher was grinning quite widely, but everyone seemed too nervous to say yes. The teacher eyed Dexter questioningly, and he nodded. "Sure, I'll do-"

"I wanna!" Masuka exclaimed. "Can I?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Dexter chuckled. Masuka went into the classroom and grabbed the two main pieces of their bomb, and after waiting for a few seconds, he mixed them together in the plastic bottle and screwed the cap back on.

"Okay, hurry out!" The teacher exclaimed.

"Holy shit!" Vince yelped as he rushed for the door and closed it behind him, and they waited. About 15 seconds later, they heard a sound, and after waiting for another 30 seconds, they were allowed to enter the room.

"Woah…" The students all uttered, mumbling and talking amongst each other. Dexter stood in the door. His eyes were wide with surprise and wonder as he saw the red liquid that was sprayed all over the walls, like some morbid kind of painting.

This is what I need. This is perfect. Plastic wrap. I didn't think of it before, but this could be the best way to get rid of the blood. Lots and lots of plastic.

…

"I don't understand, Dexter. Explain it a bit more, please." Vogel said as she folded her hands in her lap, smiling up at Dexter as he paced around the room with an excited aura about him.

"Plastic! If I use tape, or nails, to cover the entire room in plastic, I don't… I don't have to worry about the mess."

"Well, surely there won't be all that much blood from stabbing or choking someone, will there?" Vogel asked, suddenly seeming a bit confused. Maybe even worried about what Dexter was thinking.

"I don't know… it depends, you know? Say I was to change location of the stab wound, right?" He started, making stabbing motions in the air. "If I end up putting the knife in someone's jugular vein, you know… carotid artery? Slice that open, and the heart will keep pumping blood for at least seven more seconds, and that'll be ejected from the opening and… the blood will be everywhere." He finished with big eyes, a laugh escaping his mouth.

"How come you know so much about this?" Vogel asked him, tilting her head curiously.

"Well, there's school… and, I mean, I want to work with this kind of stuff… you know, blood, the body… it intrigues me."

"I see. What kind of job are we talking about here, Dexter?"

"Well, Harry always said I need a job where I can blend in, but also use it to my advantage, so… I was thinking forensics, at a police department, you know? I've been reading up on this… blood spatter analysis type of job, and it looks like something I could do."

"I see. It sounds risky, but then again… your family is respected with the police. I think it could be possible, Dexter, but you need to consider the risks. You would be working with people who'd want you behind bars, after all."

"I know… I guess it's something I'll have to think about."

…

That night, Debra did nothing but curse at herself. She was so mad that she couldn't get better on her own. That she couldn't stop crying at night. She was getting tired of staining her pillow with tears every night, but she couldn't control it. She used so much of her energy just to keep herself quiet to not wake her roommates with her crying. She hoped this would end as soon as she left Miami. She didn't really believe it would. Someone as fucked up as her didn't just "get better" as soon as that. But she hoped. She shut her eyes tightly… and she hoped. With Dexter's help, it might be possible. That's what she kept telling herself, because no one had ever been better at helping her than him.

She fell asleep not long after that, but sometime in the middle of the night, she woke up again. She could hear the wind blowing outside, and when she opened her eyes, she felt a pang of fear go through her chest. On the walls, something was moving. Black figures, creeping around as if waiting to attack. Monsters. They were monsters.

"Pull yourself together, Deb," she whispered to herself, balling her fists to try and get her fear under control. "They're not gonna eat you, Deb. You're grown up now, you don't believe in that kind of stuff." She whispered. But the fear was still there, boiling in her chest. But then, a voice started resonating inside of her head. That voice.

"It's the shadows, Deb. It's just the absence of light."

Of course. They were the shadows. Nothing else than that. She remembered now. How could she forget in the first place?

"It's okay, Debra. I'll stay here. You don't have to sleep alone."

Even when he wasn't there, Dexter was her only salvation. The one person who would fall asleep on the floor next to her bed just to make sure she felt safe. Dexter Morgan. Her brother.