Disclaimer from previous chapters applies, plus the lyrics used in this chapter are from Phil Collins' song In The Air Tonight and do not belong to me.

I got two reviews this time! Thanks, guys! I really appreciate it =)

I wanted to do a chapter with song lyrics sort of scattered throughout the writing. It took me a while to find the right song, but in the end, I think this one was perfect. I don't know how well it worked, and it's something I've never done before, but I was pretty pleased with it personally.

CHAPTER SIX: FRIENDSHIP

Isolated. Alone. Disconnected from the world. That's how Lindsay felt. Almost as if she were in quarantine with some deadly disease. People would avoid her eyes in the hallways, and whisper to their friends when she came past. Sometimes, they'd say a word or two to her.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Lindsay," one girl would say.

"I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to," said the next.

"Listen, Lindsay," another would tell her. "I understand what you're going through. My uncle died of cancer – I know what it's like to lose people. But you can come hang out with me and my friends if you want to, OK?"

It wasn't the fact that she knew the names of none of these girls that bothered Lindsay the most. They were just trying to be nice. They were trying to help, she knew that. It was that third girl who bothered her...I understand what you're going through.

No. She didn't. Her uncle died? She didn't witness his murder. He died slowly; she had time to say goodbye. Maybe, yes, she lost him, but there was no way she could understand what Lindsay was going through. She hadn't been through what Lindsay'd been through.

Nobody would understand.

So Lindsay began to hide in the toilets at breaktimes and lunchtimes, only emerging to go to lessons. It was the only way she could be sure that no interfering freshmen were going to come and pity her, or that Sarah's junior-year friends weren't going to whisper if she passed them in the hallway. At home, her brothers watched over her every move, so much that she could hardly be herself for fear of them worrying.

In fact, the only time she felt vaguely human was in Chemistry lessons. Zach sat next to her, chatted to her. He made her laugh, smile, and temporarily forget about how much of a nightmare her life had become since that day in the diner. In less than a week, she felt closer to Zach than she'd ever been to anyone except her dead friends and her closest family.

He was her walking stick. He helped her stand, helped her hobble along the twisting, turning road of life.

Yet outside of Chemistry, Zach had other friends, and Lindsay had nobody. So she was confined to a 36" by 60" toilet stall in break and lunchtimes. She didn't dare go to the cafeteria and get food, lest she run into some sympathetic students there, so she no longer ate during school hours.

Each time she locked the door of her stall – the farthest from the entrance of the girls' toilets – and leant against the wall, her mind wandered back to why she was in there in the first place, and the man who'd made her life a misery.

Covered in blood from head to toe, with stony grey-blue eyes and brown hair, the face glared at Lindsay out of her memory. How much would she give to have her revenge on this man? To meet him again, and have the power to harm him somehow, cripple him for life or kill him...

The lyrics to a song – one of Kelly's favourites, one that seemed to be playing every time Lindsay was at her house – shifted to the forefront of the girl's brain.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

She would wait for all her life for that moment, for that revenge. She didn't have to think about it at all. She would kill that man without a second thought, whether she was locked in jail for life, or if it were the last thing she did on this earth. He deserved it.

Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand

And she wouldn't ever forgive anyone who did.

I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am

Lindsay froze. She hadn't been moving much anyway; she never did whilst she was in the toilet stall. But her breathing stopped, and her lungs turned to ice.

Did he know she'd seen him?

He must do. Otherwise he wouldn't have set Dr. Cadence on her...Lindsay wondered what kind of threats the killer had given the Medical Examiner. Had he taken his family? Threatened to kill the man? Had he given Cadence the exact same threat that the latter had given Lindsay?

Had Cadence spared Lindsay's life even though he'd been instructed to kill her? To Lindsay, it felt that way. The killer was not a man of mercy. He wouldn't let her live.

Lindsay was sure that Dr. Cadence had not been acting of his own accord. He was with the good guys. The police. He'd been trying to help...

She wondered if she should tell someone what Dr. Cadence had done. But who was there to tell? Her brothers would fuss over her, her dad would ask why she hadn't said something earlier, and her mother would worry.

Zach? But, if she was honest, she didn't really know him that well.

Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies

Those lines conjured up the killer's face in Lindsay's mind again, but this time, he wasn't expressionless. He was grinning. An evil, triumphant smile. He was almost celebrating...

The toilet stall began to spin, faster and faster. Lindsay nearly fell over as she unlocked the door. She wasn't sure why, but she needed to get out.

The sound of a faucet running penetrated her mind. Someone was washing their hands.

And, as she had been so many times in her nightmares, Lindsay was transported back to that fateful day in the diner. The water splashing in the sink next to her. The face of the killer, a triumphant smile now spread across his face.

"Lindsay? Lindsay!" a voice cried, but Lindsay wasn't sure where it was coming from. The screams, she thought. They were screaming...

"Is she OK?" another voice asked.

"I don't know," the first girl replied, as the song continued playing in Lindsay's head. "She looks dazed..."

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember, don't worry, how could I ever forget
It's the first time, the last time we ever met

Lindsay knew she would never forget. Every single detail of that day was burned into her mind. A man she'd never seen before, a man she'd probably never see again...because, despite Officer Lee's promise, the case had never been solved. And now, it probably never would be.

"We will, Lindsay," the officer said. "We will find him. I promise." Empty words. Lies. A broken promise.

"Get the nurse." It was the second voice that jolted Lindsay from her memories. "I don't know what's wrong with her, Rubes."

"I'm fine," Lindsay managed to mumble.

But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, oh no you don't fool me
Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you and me

But he wasn't in pain. It was she who'd lost almost everything that day.

"Are you sure, Lindsay?" the strawberry blonde girl asked. Lindsay was aware enough of her surroundings now to recognise her. Ruby Emerson, a girl in her English class. The other girl was blonde, and Lindsay didn't know her name though she'd seen her with Ruby many times before.

"Yeah. I'm OK," Lindsay managed to get out. In all the weeks since her friends' deaths, she hadn't had flashbacks as strong as that. Nightmares, sure. But not when she was awake.

The song lyrics bounced around her skull, painfully repetetive now, as Ruby and her blonde-haired friend helped Lindsay to her feet. Staggering a little, Lindsay managed to take a few steps forwards.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

"I think you should probably go home, Lindsay," Ruby said, but Lindsay shook her head.

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

"I'm fine, Ruby, really," she muttered.

And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

"Hmm..." It was obvious that Ruby didn't really like this idea. "Well...what do you think, Janet?"

The blonde girl, Janet, shrugged. "We only have one lesson after lunch. I'm sure she could survive that." She smiled warily at Lindsay.

Great, thought the darker-haired girl. Someone else who thought she was crazy.

Lindsay turned to leave, but Ruby stopped her. "Hey, um, Lindsay? Do you, well, have anyone to spend lunch with and stuff?" Lindsay shook her head, and Ruby continued. "You could always hang with me and Janet. We don't mind."

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord

It took a while for Lindsay to process this. "Like...friends?" she asked. After what happened in the diner, she wasn't sure if she'd ever set herself up to fall so big again. Even if it meant getting close to people.

Ruby read her expression perfectly. "Friendly acquaintances," she ruled. Lindsay nodded.

"OK. Fine," Lindsay responded. A slight smile crossed Ruby's features, and Lindsay's mouth twitched a bit. No more hiding in the toilets for her...

Just then, the bell rang, and the three girls headed off to their lessons. Ruby and Janet both had Biology, but Lindsay had Chemistry. The weight on her shoulders seemed to lighten as she headed towards the classroom.

"Lindsay," Zach greeted her as she sat down. "You, uh, you kind of look like hell...no offence or anything."

Lindsay managed a small chuckle. Zach seemed so unsure of everything he said, it was almost funny – except, of course, for the fact that Lindsay wasn't blind to the self-doubt that always seemed to consume Zach's mind.

"So, um, how was your day?" he asked. And, for some reason, Lindsay launched into the entire tale of her past few weeks. Hiding in the toilets wasn't something that had come up in casual conversation with Zach, but in the end, it wasn't something she was trying to hide. She trusted Zach.

"I – I just don't know what's going on any more," she said to conclude her tale. And then, without warning, Zach wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight, warm hug.

OK, I admit, not the best I've written. But there are a few good twists to come...if I do say so myself.