A/N: I feel bad for cliffing y'all last time even though I cliff pretty much every time? I'm kind of the worst but it's fine. Hope y'all enjoy this one

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"Happy Birthday," I called to the child in front of me before wrapping him into a tight hug. He giggled and pulled my hair. I yelped and jumped away from the one-year-old, stomping away from him. I sat by the wall, pouting.

"What is wrong, my little sun?" asked a smooth voice from above me. I looked up to see my mother, golden hair glowing like a halo.

"Kal pulled my hair," I grumbled, crossing my arms.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked, reaching out to my head. I guide her hand to the spot, wincing as her fingers ghosted over it. She pulled away and offered me her hand. "Its nothing a little food won't fix, come along."

I grabbed her hand and she helped me up off the floor, guiding me through the party. We were stopped by a man. He had dark hair and light eyes. His face, though smiling, was wrought with worry and pain. Dark circles under his eyes gave away the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well.

"I'm glad that you and my brother could make it," he spoke with slow, steady words and an air of importance. "And you brought little Kara along."

He smiled at me and I beamed back. He had kind eyes.

"Alura," he said, lowering his voice. "May I speak with you and Zor-El on the veranda? It is of utmost importance."

The smile on my mother's face wavered for a moment before nodding. She crouched down to my level. "Could you go play with the other children for a bit longer, sunshine? Then you and I can go eat as much as we want."

My face fell but I mumbled a yes before walking off, dragging my feet as I went. They were always leaving me out of their adult conversations.

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I rubbed my eyes and looked around. I was back in my bedroom. Sighing, I rolled over onto my back. I had been scared to fall asleep and tried to stay up all night. I didn't want to see Hadley in pain. I was glad that I didn't.

Laying in my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. There was very little glow in the dark stars up there from when I was a kid. My dad had arranged them to emulate the night sky, doing his best to follow the star maps he could find in the library. They hadn't glowed in a long time but I left them up there. It felt wrong to take them down after my dad spent so much time on them.

I picked up my phone and checked the time, wishing it to be closer to dawn. Sheriff Jackson wanted to question me about our trip to the woods. My mother wanted me to get a good night's sleep.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled over to my dresser. I was wearing the same clothes from last night. After I had called the sheriff my mom had taken Gavin home and my dad had gone out to help search the woods. I had wanted to go with my dad. They made me stay home. I eyed the window. It wouldn't hurt to leave before my parents wanted me to. They would get over it.

Pulling on my army jacket, I slipped out the window and out onto the roof. The sky was overcast and glowing a pale gray due to the coming sunrise. I stood there for a moment and closed my eyes. I saw Hadley. Her pointed chin and sparkling green eyes. The red had started fading from her hair and her roots were just barely peeking out. She had told me she wanted to try purple hair next. I had told her I liked the red.

I had never told her about my powers. It was my parents' cardinal rule. Don't tell anyone you're different. I'd never really resented that rule until now. I would tear that forest apart if I could. It was my fault she got taken. If I hadn't taken her out to that barn. If I hadn't told her about my dreams. If I hadn't been different. God, I was such a screw-up.

The sound of the screen door opening pulled me from my thoughts. My eyes shot open and I realized I was floating five feet above the roof. Quietly dropping down, I pulled off my glasses and peered through the roof to see who was on our porch.

My dad sat on the porch steps staring across the yard. He didn't look like he had planned to come outside, still wearing his pajamas and a robe. He silently sipped his coffee, looking broken. I pushed my glasses back onto my nose and flew down to sit next to him.

"I thought I'd find you out here," he said softly without turning to look at me.

"Were you looking for me?" I asked quietly. He shrugged.

"Not particularly," he answered, taking another sip from his mug. "I just wanted to think for a minute."

I nodded in agreement. We sat for a moment before I spoke up. "I was going to go see Sheriff Jackson."

"I know."

I bit my lip. "You could come if you want."

"Nah, kiddo," he replied, starting to stand up. I shot up to help him but he shooed me away. "I would only slow you down. I should get back inside anyway."

I smiled and thanked him. He shuffled into the house. I turned a got a light running start into the air. I needed some answers.

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I sat in the waiting room at the police station. It was extremely boring with only a few beige, leather chairs and a sad potted plant to keep one occupied. The officer on duty, Jay Moore, sat at his desk across the room doing paperwork. I tapped my fingers against the arm of my chair and watched Officer Moore scribble words onto the paper he was working on. I had accidentally left my phone in my room but Sheriff Jackson was supposed to be here any minute so I couldn't go back and get it.

Officer Moore looked up from his desk, "Don't you have something to do while you wait?"

"Shouldn't you have some magazines for me to read or something?" I asked sarcastically. He went back to his paper, grumbling about kids these days need to learn respect. I sighed and turned to look out the window.

The sun had come up over the horizon and the town was starting to wake up. It was a school day today but I didn't think I'd be able to go. I checked down the street, looking for Sheriff Jackson's patrol car. Focusing harder, I forced the buildings to fade out of my vision, but I couldn't find the cruiser. I turned back around, tempted to fly out and find the Sheriff myself.

Suddenly, radio static cut through the air and I jumped out of my seat. "Jackson to Moore, I'm just coming into town, over."

"We're patiently awaiting your arrival, over," replied Officer Moore into his radio.

A few minutes later, I was sitting inside Sheriff Jackson's office. The man was pouring himself a cup of coffee. He looked disheveled and tired, dirt on his boots and foliage in his hair. I didn't look much better from my last few sleepless weeks.

The sheriff sighed and slowly sat down across from me. I lightly smiled at him. Sheriff Jackson was usually a pretty scary guy, tall, rough features, and a stoic expression the majority of the time. Right now, however, he just looked sad. He reminded me of my dad this morning.

"Okay Miss Danvers," he started, putting down his cup and folding his hands. "I know that this just happened last night but we need to know all the details as soon as possible. Tell me everything that transpired before you learned of Miss Matthews disappearance."

I took a deep breath. "I had gone out there for some alone time earlier that day and I found the old barn. I brought Hadley and Gavin out there to check it out. While we were there Hadley wanted to go inside but I thought it was a bad idea. We fought and she went back to the car. I went the opposite direction and jogged home. I was getting out of the shower when Gavin came in and told me what happened. Then I called you."

"Why was this barn so interesting to you?" he asked.

"Well, we were sort of investigating Thea and Josh's murders on our own and we thought a weird abandoned barn in the middle of the woods where they were found would be a good place to look around in."

Sheriff Jackson raised his eyebrows. "You were investigating the murders? With what evidence?"

I shifted in my seat. I was pretty sure telling the Sheriff about my dreams wouldn't end well. "Well, um, I had a dream about Josh being tortured after he went missing and when I told Hadley and Gavin about it we all just kind of clicked on the whole mystery solving thing, ya know?" He kept looking at me. I hadn't answered his second question. "We didn't really have a lot. Just what was released to the public by the police and th-" I stopped myself. If I told Sheriff Jackson about AJ's story about the blonde woman I'd be breaking his trust. I had promised him I wouldn't tell the police. This was different though. Thea was dead and Hadley was missing. I couldn't take the risk anymore. "That the night Josh went missing someone saw him with a blonde woman."

The Sheriff looked surprised. "Who?"

"I promised them I wouldn't say who-"

"Miss Danvers, you are aware that by not telling me who told you this is you are impeding a police investigation and you can get in a lot of trouble?"

I bit my lip. "AJ Samuels."

Sheriff Jackson scribbled the name down on a notepad. AJ was going to kill me. He looked back up at me. "How long have you known Hadley Matthews?"

"Since second grade when I was adopted," I easily answered.

"You said that you and Miss Matthews fought right before she disappeared. Did you fight often?"

"Not until the past few days. We had a few fights about the investigation but- wait. You don't think I have something to do with this do you?" I asked loudly. The sheriff winced.

"We are just covering all of our bases Miss Danvers." I leaned back in my seat, eased by his explanation.

"Sorry, I've just been on edge recently," I offered an apology.

"We all are," he replied, looking down. Silence filled the room for a moment before he got up out of his chair started for the door. "Well, thank you for your time, Miss Danvers. If we have any more questions we will contact you."

I stood up and he started to usher me out of the door. "Wait!" I said, turning back to face him. "Did you find anything? In the barn?"

"No, Miss Danvers. We searched every nook and cranny and it was just a normal barn." He smiled sadly and I thanked him before leaving. When Hadley came back she was going to be really disappointed about that. If she ever talked to me again after getting her kidnapped.

As I walked down the street, it came to my mind that I didn't tell the Sheriff about how Thea and Josh were adopted in the same year. I guess it wasn't relevant anymore. Hadley went missing and she wasn't adopted at all. At least I didn't need to be worried about being the intended victim of a teenage murder tirade.

With that comforting thought in mind, I picked up the pace, wanting to get away from the town so I could fly the rest of the way home. The late January air might make me feel more at peace.

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I bit my lip, studying the shading I had put on the face on my sketch pad. The eyes were right but I was making the cheeks too narrow. Whipping out my eraser, I went to work. I was drawing Hadley. I had tried doing something else, but Hadley was the only thing I could think of. Before I could return to sketching Hadley's face, I heard a car coming up the driveway. My mom was at the Matthews' house and my dad was out searching the woods (which I was still banned from doing), so neither of them should be coming home just yet.

Curious, I put down my sketch pad and crept out of my room and down the stairs. I snuck up to the window and peered through the curtains. A black, four-door sedan I didn't recognize was parking where my mom usually did. The driver's door opened and I ducked down, not wanting to be seen spying.

I was crouching underneath the window frame when I finally remember that I could actually see through walls. I considered shoving my face through one when there was a knock on the door. I scurried to my and over to the door. I definitely wasn't expecting who I saw.

Dr. Elizabeth Kane stood on my porch in all of her red-headed, kind of scary glory. She smiled at me a tad awkwardly. "Oh, Kara! I didn't expect you to be here. I thought you'd be out searching the woods."

I leaned against the door frame, trying to block the inside of my house from her vision. "No my parents won't let me. Why aren't you out there?"

Her nervous smile slipped into a kind one, well, it changed in the one that read as 'I love puppies' but felt like 'I will get rid of your puppy like the wicked witch of the west'. It was unsettling. "Well, I just wanted to come by and give your parents my condolences. I know that you and Hadley were best friends."

"Are." I corrected. "We are best friends."

"Right, sorry," she apologized. She tried to scan the room behind me, which was unfortunately very easy for her due to the height that she had on me. "Are your parents home?"

"No, they're out helping the Matthews," I replied, trying to close the door more to indicate I was done with the conversation. Teachers shouldn't go to their students' houses, even if their best friend was just kidnapped by a murderer. Thankfully, Dr. Kane either got the hint or decided I wasn't useful anymore.

"Well tell your parents I send my well-wishes," she said. Her smile seemed more forced now. I nodded in reply and she turned to go. I stayed at the door, watching her climb into her car and drive off. I even gave a wave as she went.

As she disappeared from view, I closed the door and locked it behind me. I wasn't a complete idiot. When someone, even if they're your teacher, shows up at your house and asks if your parents are home, you take some cautionary measures. Sighing, I slid my back down the door until I was sitting on the floor. Hadley was gone and I was sitting here worrying about my teacher just trying to be a nice person.

I crawled over to the couch, not wanting to actually walk. I pulled myself up and looked around, contemplating picking up and reading the copy of The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe that my dad had left on the table. Not wanting to punish myself too much, I grabbed the remote, flipping to Wheel of Fortune. Hadley hated when I watched game shows, but right now I needed something that felt normal to calm me down.

A/N: Well, there's chapter seven! I hope it did what I wanted it to, despite the kind of filler-y feel it has. I promise the next chapter will get a lot more action. Until next time lovelies!