Authors Note:

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I honestly thought I'd got the hang of the deadline thing, but I guess I proved myself wrong. I have a tonne of excuses but they'd take forever to list, so I'll just be concise and say it was a combination of end of year exams, visiting relatives and preparing for a trip to France I'm making with my school.

Nothing else has really happened so onto replies!

creepergurl2002- Thanks for the fourth review and you'd be right! Some things are definitely going down in this chapter.

AliceHeart247- Thanks so much, and extra thanks for commenting a fourth time! And yes, Portsmouth was fun. Hope you like this next instalment!

PotOphan- Thank you and glad you still like it. And I've heard weirder. At least your teeth don't hurt any more :D

DreamsOfSong: Thank you and welcome! I actually received your review while I was at a bus stop, which was…..interesting. This chapter is a bit longer than the previous two, so I hope it satisfies!

TrinJ- You are very welcome! This is your fourth review, fifth if you count the PM you sent me, which I am so sorry I had to wait until now to reply to. I only noticed it in my inbox about five minutes after I posted the last chapter- derp on my part. And no problem about the review and favourite, your story deserves them!

When Tia first saw Erik on Friday morning, she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She clutched the straps of her rucksack tighter as relief washed over her. She'd been wrong about everything. He was here. He was fine.

She walked faster to catch up with him, but found this surprisingly difficult as his pace seemed to quicken. She sped up again, almost running, and finally got to the boy just as he made a sharp turn into the Science corridor.

"Erik." She forced out the name between short gasps, tired after her burst of unplanned exercise.

He turned and looked at her, but his eyes surveyed her smile with no expression in them. Tia's brow furrowed in confusion-what was wrong with him? Erik looked as though he was about to say something, but quickly turned away instead as if he would have been punished for letting words out. He set off at an even rapider pace than he had previously, but before he'd got a few steps she reached out and grabbed his arm just above the elbow.

With lightning speed, Erik spun around and knocked her hand away, sending Tia reeling back in shock.

"What is your problem?" he hissed, and even though he was quiet the anger contained in his tone was so great that Tia had to stop herself from backing away even more. Her voice was even more on edge than the rest of her; her heart was thumping erratically in her throat, preventing any sound from escaping. She shook her head lamely, hoping the gesture counted as an apology. Even if she'd done nothing wrong.

"Look, I know you mean well, but you've been making things worse. You should just leave me alone."

These words seemed to alleviate the pressure on Tia's voice box, if only slightly.

"But- you said-I don't understand. What happened to you?"

This didn't help. Erik rounded on her again, his masked face inches from her own.

"Why do you need to know? This is exactly what I'm talking about. You're always wanting to know my business, ever since that time after lunch. I thought you'd actually improved, but I must have been mistaken."

As he was saying this, Tia stayed frozen in front of him. She truly didn't understand- why was he suddenly so angry at her? And why had she been so stupid as to try and stop him? God, she had been naive, thinking that everything was alright.

It wasn't until he turned away again that she noticed the bruises marring his forehead.

"Magnesium."

Tia was supposed to be mixing elements in her first period Chemistry class, but so far her mind had been elsewhere and Meg's instructions had floated past without her bothering to try and catch them.

"Magnesium…"

She glanced to the next table, where Erik was working with Ryan and another boy named Sam. He was facing her, could probably see her in the corner of his eye, but he didn't look up. Why-

"Tia! Magnesium! Please!" Meg almost shouted. The brunette jumped and quickly passed the small vial over to her friend. Megan used a pair of tweezers to secure three shavings of the silver metal and dropped them into the growing mixture, which was contained in a plastic cup clamped above their Bunsen burner. The metal fizzed as it came into contact with the clear liquid, and the blonde surveyed the steam it began to release with an air of satisfaction. She then turned back to the other girl.

"What's wrong?" she said quietly, leaning on the table to keep the conversation just between the two of them.

"Nothing" Tia mumbled, looking at the polished wood between her elbows.

"Yes there is." Meg pressed "You can tell me."

She clearly wasn't going to give up so, slowly and trying not to cry, Tia told her the whole story. As she spoke Meg's eyes seemed to dilate to the size of tennis balls. When she was finished, there was silence as they gathered their thoughts.

"I'm sorry," the blonde said "but why are you wasting your time? If he got angry about something like that he has some serious issues."

"No he doesn't! Look, if the thing about the fair is true, he has a heck of a lot more to deal with."

"How are you planning to find out if it is?"

Tia had an idea, and another look at Erik cemented it. She swallowed.

"By going there myself."

"What?" If Meg was shocked before, her jaw was hitting the floor now. "Not alone!"

"Yes, alone. It'll be easier to sneak around if it's just me. Anyway, no offence but you aren't really tall enough to look 18." Tia replied, eying her friend's just-over-five-foot frame.

And it needs to be me that talks to him if he's there.

Now their roles were reversed, and Meg sighed in defeat.

"Well, if you want to go, I think I know who you need to talk to."

Tia had never really understood the phrase 'fish out of water' before, but when she arrived at the canopy beside the basketball courts she started to get a pretty good idea. Everyone was either perched atop the small picnic tables, taking group selfies for Instagram with the school field as a backdrop or leaning against the metal poles that held up the green canvas shelter. All the girls wore their hair in high ponytails, some with ends dyed blue or neon pink, and had rolled up their skirts so far that the articles more closely resembled shorts. The boys had taken off their blazers and folded up their shirt sleeves. None of them seemed to care that they were simultaneously violating about a dozen uniform policies. Tia, with her unstyled hair and appropriate clothes, defiantly didn't fit in.

Feeling very self-conscious, she made her way over to the most crowded table, where she was almost certain she would find who she was looking for. Sure enough, sitting in the centre, was Ari.

Short for Aria, this girl was the centre for gossip in Tia's year-maybe even the whole school. She knew everyone, as well as their grades, who they were with and, especially, what they thought of everybody else. She also went to most of the popular events, and the annual fairs in the local park were included in this category. What made her different from the majority of people who had this kind of information was that she was often willing to share it. From her, Tia could learn when the fair opened, what was there, and most importantly how to get into the restricted areas. Still, that didn't change how freakishly intimidating she was. Tia gulped.

This is for Erik, remember?

" Ari?"

The girl looked up and stared at the intruder, probably surprised that someone who hadn't been invited had the audacity to enter the popular kid's space. She recovered quickly though.

"Tia, right? What do you need?"

All of them were staring now, and Tia forced herself not to look at the gold earrings, blinding when combined with sunlight.

"Well, I was just wondering what was at the fair….I was thinking about going tonight and no-one in my class has been. Apart from Erik, maybe.

Aria flicked her black- and- gold hair behind her back and squinted as if trying to recall something. After a moment's pause she started listing attractions.

"There's the usual rides and stuff, games, food stalls, but the best bit is the freak show."

Her friends nodded in agreement and Tia waited for her to continue. When Aria didn't, she pressed the point further.

"And what's in there?"

Aria smiled and tapped the side of her nose.

"Where's the fun in telling you that? Go and find out."

Tia knew she wasn't being mean, but couldn't help feeling frustrated. Then again, even if she had known that he was there, she would have to attend to see exactly what she was up against. So there was no harm in going along.

A blonde girl sitting next to Ari slid her phone out of her pocket and checked the lock screen.

"We'd better start going."

The group slid off the table and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Tia called. "How do I get in?"

"Just exaggerate." said Aria over her shoulder.

At half past seven that evening, Tia stood at the park's entrance , clad in a knee length denim skirt, a black and white top, black tights and black boots that hopefully made her look taller. She couldn't fit all her curls into a generic high ponytail, so she settled with sweeping them to the side of her neck. She'd applied a little foundation, as well as some dark red lipstick and mascara. All of this was following what Aria had told her, but was also so different from her normal appearance that she felt thoroughly ridiculous.

A small group of girls who were roughly her age approached, giggling at some unknown joke. Tia followed them down the stone path as casually as she could. As they rounded a corner she took a deep breath, then surveyed the spectacle.

The field was packed with people making their way around. Younger children ran amok brandishing balloons and sticks of candyfloss, boys tried to leap onto rides without paying and adults chaperoned their screaming offspring.

There were food stalls on one side, selling everything from hot dogs to sweets, and each was crowded with their excited customers. On the other Tia could see spinning shapes, some of them suspended high up in the air. These must have been the main attractions. In the centre there was a ring of fairground games, the soundtrack of which was a mixture of cheers and disappointed groans.

But on the far side, just before the row of pine trees where the park ended, was something else. A large tent, the colour of it ambiguous in the half-light, surrounded by a much smaller following.

Maybe those were the brave ones.

No sound came from there, and Tia knew the moment she saw it what it was.

She took a deep breath and started walking.

Authors Note:

Oooh….the tension is mounting! The next chapter will be quite short with what I have in mind, but on a good note that will mean it's out quicker. I'm going on my trip in just over a week for six nights, so if I disappear that's why.

R&R!