Jackson slowly sat down at the kitchen table the next morning, holding a bowl of cereal in his hands. His mother looked pleasantly surprised as he poured some juice into a glass and took a sip. She glanced at Jeff, who had just entered the kitchen fixing his tie. He stopped in his tracks as he saw his son sitting at the table eating his breakfast.

"Jackson? What are you doing?" He asked, sitting down by his own breakfast.

Jackson looked up from his bowl. "Eating. Hence the bowl of cereal and kitchen utensils. What are you doing?"

"Me? I have a meeting with the mayor again today. That Hale house is more trouble than it's worth."

"Why? You can't just tear it down?" Jackson didn't like this idea one bit. His past was in there, little did his mom and dad know. The only answers he could find were in that house.

"Nope. That Hale kid, Derek, refuses to leave it. Saw him yesterday as we went to the house. Just sitting on the porch without a care in the world. He was all smiles, for whatever reason, and his right arm was covered in dried blood."

Jackson stared at the table as he sipped his juice. Wilson must've gotten a shot in him yesterday. "Huh. Weird."

Jeff nodded. "That family always was weird. And I heard they hoarded people, too. Took in the homeless and fed them and gave them a home for a while. Your mother and I used to joke that they plumped the poor souls up for a feeding later-" A thud from under the table silenced him, and he glanced at Linda, who glared at him with her brown eyes. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

Jackson gulped as his parents smiled at each other with pure love in their eyes. This was just like the dream he had last night. Of course, he remembered waking up screaming louder than he ever did before, and his mother was holding him; comforting him. He fell asleep with her beside him as she gently stroked his hair and spoke to him in a gentle tone, telling him that everything was okay and he was only having another nightmare.

"Um, I have to go to school. Where are my keys?" Jackson glanced in the dish that normally harbored his keys and sighed heavily. "Dad...come on. Seriously?"

Jeff shook his head. "I thought I could give you a ride today. That okay with you?" He grinned as Jackson eventually nodded in agreement. "Excellent! Now come out to the garage. I have a surprise for you."

In the garage, Jeff flicked on the light and strode over to the antiwue car, climbing in and starting it up.

"It...works?" Jackson looked at the old car in awe. "I thought it wouldn't work before?"

"I've been working on it for the past couple of weeks. Wanted to surprise you on your birthday."

Jackson looked at him. He completely forgot it was his birthday today. He was 17. How could he have forgotten? Under other circumstances, he was normally talking about his birthday plans 3 weeks before his birthday, planning out who was coming to his party, who the DJ was going to be, the whole shebang. This year...was different.

"Right. I forgot..." He ran a finger over the paint job of the car.

"You forgot? That's not like you at all," Jeff half smiled and shook his head. "You know, son, it's seven years ago today that your mom and I took you in. Do you remember that?"

"No," Jackson lied. Of course he remembered. He remembered sitting on the bed of the orphanage staring at the wall ahead of him and fiddling with his too big jacket. The Whittemores sat next to him on either side and talked to him, asked him questions, but none of which he answered. The only response they got from him was a small whimper when they asked him if his cuts and bruises hurt. His mother took his hand then and gave it a squeeze, whispering to him that from now on, everything was going to be okay. They would take care of him.

"Ah, I didn't expect you to. You had a...rough life, Jackson. No kid should have to go through what you did. Losing parents at your age. I'm glad your mom and I took you in. You lit up our world."

Jackson looked away as he climbed into the car and pulled out of the garage. His father talked away, telling him how excited he was for the upcoming lacrosse game (even though he never shows up for any of them) and how he was thinking of redoing the dining room. Jackson said nothing, just nodded his head at the right places of the conversation and stared out the window.

"Here we are. You sure you're okay for today? Did you want to stay home?" Jeff glanced from Jackson to the school. 'Your friends look excited to see you."

Jackson looked over at the entrance to the school. Danny and his other teammates were bouncing up and down, waving to him with goofy grins on their faces. "I'm cool. See you later."

"Wait, Jackson." Jeff opened up the glove compartment and took out a small gift wrapped package. "Happy birthday, kiddo."

Jackson hesitated before taking the gift from his father. "Thanks. What is it?"

Jeff grinned. "I'm not telling. You have to open it and find out for yourself. Have a good day, son."

Jackson nodded, watching as the antique car sped away and he was ambushed by his teammates. "Guys! What the hell?"

"It's your burp-day, dude! Why the long face?" One of his friends, Filippo, said while making a face. "Cheer up! Big party tonight! Drinks! Girls! Did I mention girls?"

Danny shook his head. "Whatever Jackson decides to do, I'm fine with. It doesn't always have to be this big party. I'm cool with just sitting down and watching a movie with friends. Just hang, you know?"

The boys stared at him as if he was nuts. "Danny's getting a little soft," Filippo whispered. "Should we hold his hand and start singing Celine Dion?"

Jackson gave a him a shove. "Lay off, Fil. He's right. I'm not doing anything this year for my birthday."

"You're what?" The boys said in unison. "Why the hell not?"

"I have too much on my mind, that's all. I'm not in the party mood," Jackson pushed past them and headed inside. People pat him on the back and gave him a high five, wishing him "Happy Birthday!" as he walked to his locker. Lydia was standing beside it, looking over her nails.

"I hear it's your birthday..." She said, looking up from her nails. "What do you say to me?"

Jackson looked at her. "Excuse me? What do I say to you? What's that supposed to mean?"

Lydia smiled, putting in his combination for his lock and opening his locker door. "Last year, you said you hated the gift I got you and gave it back to me. Do I look like I have use for expensive men's cologne, Jackson Whittemore? Really?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'm really not in the mood today, Lydia. I've had a rough night-"

"Oh. Rough night. What, couldn't decide what to wear today? Or how to style your hair? Jackson, you're so full of it. I'm we're broke up-" She was caught offguard as Jackson grabbed her by the waist and planted a kiss on her lips. Her eyes widened in both shock and surprise as he continued to kiss her. She lift her knee and hit him as hard as she could at his groin. He grunted, falling to he floor and holding his crotch.

"Ugh..." He groaned. "What was that for? That hurt!" His voice went up an octave and he wheezed for air.

"For missing me, you idiot. If I wanted to be kissed, I would've asked, but I certainly didn't want to be kissed by you. You're cute, Whittemore, but we're done. So good bye," she turned and walked away, her heels echoing down the hall.

Grunting, Jackson got to his feet and placed his forehead on the cool locker. Not the greatest way to start off his birthday. His groin still ached even as he went to his first class, gym (unfortunately) and he limped into the locker room. The boys looked at him oddly as he sat on a bench, head in his hands.

"Jackson...you okay?" Danny pat his shoulder.

"Got kicked in the balls by Lydia..." He heard snorts of laughter, and when he snapped his head up to look at them, their faces turned into a frown quickly. "That's right. The girl has boney knees, okay?"

"Whatever, man..." Danny smiled. "You ready for a run today? Finstock says we're going in the woods. I don't believe him, but you can never tell with him, right?"

Jackson shrugged. "Do we have to? I don't like the woods..." He shivered, thinking about Derek lurking about as his class went for a jog through the trail.

"You're scared? Come on, man. The mountain lion's long gone. Argent shot it the other day."

Jackson glanced up. "Argent? As in Chris Argent? Allison's dad?"

"One and only. Oh, Finstock's calling. Hurry up, man. We're leaving for the woods now."

Jackson sighed heavily, quickly changing into his sweatpants and gym shirt, and went outside to catch up with the rest of his class. He hesitated in front of the entrance to the woods, but evetually worked up enough courage to go in. He oculd hear his class up ahead, laughing and screaming as the boys teased the girls by grabbing their waist and making animal noises. He half smiled to himself, sticking his earbuds to his iPod in his ears, and broke out into a jog-

"Going somewhere?" A voice made him jump in fright. Derek was suddenly in front of him, a wicked smile on his face. "It's not like you to be in the back of the line like this. I thought you were a leader?"

"Leave me alone, Derek..." Jackson tried to pass him, but Derek stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. "What? What could you possibly want from me now? I helped you kill your uncle. You wouldn't bite me when I asked, and now you're bothering me for something else? Get out of my face-"

Derek growled, a deep rumble that came deep within him. "Move, and I'll snap your legs. Stay and listen to what I have to say, then you might just live. Sound good?" Jackson let out a shuddery breath and nodded. "Excellent. Now I hear that your...posse is planning a party at my house? You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, do you?"

"What? No! I didn't even know-" He winced, a hand going to the back of his neck. "Derek, please. I didn't know about this. I swear to god, I didn't. Where did you hear this?"

Derek thumbed over his shoulder. "Oh, just your little friends up ahead. I can hear them right now. 'You think Jackson would be surprised?' 'Oh, hell yeah! Jack loves surprises, This'll be dope!' Sound like your friends?"

Jackson grimaced. "I'll talk them out of it. Just don't hurt them, Derek. Or I swear to God-"

"Or you'll what, Jackson? You're nothing compared to me. You're weak. A child. You think you can take me on?" Derek spread his arms out before him. "Try me. Knock me over. Push me. Punch me. Do it. I dare youI." Derek's eyes turned red and he smiled.

Jackson shivered, shaking his head. "No. Just leave me alone, and I'll handle this, okay? I'll talk to them later and stop this party before it ruins everything."

Derek lowered his arms. "Fair enough. Now start running. I'll give you a ten second head start."

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" Jackson croaked. "What are you doing?"

"One...two...three..." Derek smirked, his teeth getting longer.

Jackson bolted down the path, stumbling and tripping over rocks and stumps as he rushed to catch up with his classmates. He could hear heavy footsteps behind him, and none of them sounded like a normal man on two feet. This sounded like something on all fours. He whimpered, looking over his shoulder to see if Derek was behind him, but slammed into something solid. He grunted, falling backwards and onto the ground.

"Holy f-Jackson! Watch it, dude! Vicky, you okay?" Filippo shook his head as he helped a girl to her feet. "What's wrong with you, Whittemore?"

Jackson fought to catch his breath, shrugging his shoulders as he propped himself against a tree and closing his eyes. "I don't know, man. I honestly don't know."