Rebecca found that there was no better way to hide her mess of emotions than to yank out the big guns. Maybe that way, she thought, she could distract other people as well as herself.

The sun was blinding and brigh. Streams of it shone into the linoleum floor of the school when Rebecca opened it. She walked through the doors and intook a large breath of oxygen. It smelt like lead and paper. Perfectly normal.

She stood there for a second, trying to work up the nerve to walk to her locker. Ren was probably waiting for her near it, and as soon as he saw her he would know she was overcompensating. He wouldn't even need to touch her to figure that one out.

Rebecca came back to earth when she noticed a group of girls had stopped their loud conversation to stare at her. Rebecca knew that she should have felt flustered, but it felt good to have positive attention.

Daring to tilt her head up a bit more, she adjusted her bag slightly and continued walking. Most people didn't care when she passed them. Others gave her glances that made the smirk on Rebecca's face grow when she saw them.

Decked out in a rose coloured dress that went to her mid thighs, Rebecca resisted the urge to fidget with the hem when she neared her locker.

As silly as it sounded, Ren's knowledge of the true meaning behind her dressy attire made her self conscious.

So when she finally caught sight of him, gaping while leaning against her locker, she hesitated.

Stopping in front of him, she brought her shoulders up to her ears and spread her hands, scrunching her nose. "Well? What do you think?"

"I'm thinking: How you could have possibly slept and done all this?" Ren scoffed, giving her an amazed sweep from her white flats to her hair, twisted into big curls and framing her face. "And how anybody is going to learn while you look like a super model? If I had known, I would have tried a little harder this morning, too."

Ren gestured to his old polo shirt and jeans. Rebecca laughed and blushed at the welcomed praise. "Thanks, Ren. I just wanted to get my mind off of things-"

"Come on, don't start," Ren waved away her gloomy tone. "Two days ago you went through trauma after trauma. If you want to be Barbie for a day, go nuts."

"You're the greatest monkey alive, Ren," Rebecca said, opening her locker after speeding through her lock code.

"Say it one more time for the record, but exclude the monkey part, please," Ren replied. He watched Rebecca exchange her books. Rebecca shot him a wolfish grin before closing her locker. She fought for a second with her floral printed kimono jacket, as it snagged on one of her zippers. Ren snorted at her quarrel. "The price of beauty."

Rebecca gave him a small shove. "Shut your face."

"Yeah, yeah," Ren fell into stride beside her. They knew the routine; next stop was Ren's locker. "Oh, and before I forget, my dad wants your mom to stop leaving voicemails. He'll head down to the hospital after work today."

Rebecca's face soured into something less happy. For the past few days Myriam had been slipping into a habit of being more stressed than usual, every second of the day. The bags under her eyes had increased tenfold and she looked at Rebecca as if she were a time bomb about to go off.

Rebecca really couldn't blame her. She remembered the look on Myriam's face when she found her daughter, hunched over Theo's body the other night. The look of happiness on Rebecca's face was nothing compared to relief that practically dripped from Myriam's form. Rebecca remembered how her mother had hugged her so tightly she couldn't breathe. It was a nice feeling at the time. But even though she could breathe easily now, it still felt as if her mother was trying to smother her.

"Yeah, I'll tell her," Rebecca promised, holding the rail as she ascended up some stairs. "Later."

Ren hesitated before speaking, not knowing just how far he should press her on this subject. "Alright. Well, speaking of which, have you heard from the patient lately?"

"No," Rebecca answered. Theo had been smuggled out of the hospital last night, how would she have had enough time to speak to him? And why did everyone automatically assume her and Theo were best buds now? "But I have heard my mom scream at Gus for how awfully he snuck Raeken out."

"You shoulf hear what my dad is saying," Ren scoffed, shaking his head. "He's so pissed. He doesn't want to wipe the entire hospital, but now he's got to do a huge part of it. How the hell did Gus manage to survive this long?"

"He's got things on his mind," Rebecca shrugged. She ignored Ren's spiteful glare at her defence of the older werewolf. "Anyway, I don't care. I just don't want to see Theo again."

Ren nudged her with his elbow, silently asking her to elaborate. She ignored him for a few seconds before caving. She rubbed her forehead, exhausted. "I nearly gave everything away the other night. About me, about who I am ..."

"Yeah, you told me," Ren said warily. Why was she so stressed? Rebecca had hid her secret from prying eyes for years, practically her whole life.

"Ren, you know that we've both got a really bad feeling about this kid. I don't care what he did the other day. I can't tell him everything. Not until I'm one hundred percent certain on this guy," Rebecca explained, dropping her arm as her shoulders sagged.

"Good!" Ren exclaimed, happy Rebecca didn't say something along the lines of: 'We should give him the benefit of the doubt.' Or even: 'His hair is too nice for us to hate him. Plus his abs make me drool.' "All the sane people don't trust him. He's definitely interested in supernatural things, and now if he suddenly likes you, we'll know our hypothesis was right ... Rebecca?"

Rebecca ducked out of the stream of people in the hall, and stared wide-eyed at the locker she was standing in front of. Ren was by her side in a second, confusion contorting his features.

Decorated over the locker was a printed out piece of paper that showed a profile picture of a girl. The title of the sheet read: 'MISSING'. Rebecca didn't remember seeing her before, but her name was in bold underneath the picture. It rung a bell: Stacey McLennon.

Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows, her gaze briefly looking over the flowers gathered around the base of the locker. There were various sticky notes posted from friends. It was as if Stacey was already dead. Rebecca's stomach turned as she gave Stacey's picture a lingering stare.

"Another person missing," Ren thought out loud, his voice quiet and low. Rebecca kept her sights on the McLennon girl. She felt as if she was going to throw up. Ren glanced at his best friend, noticing her sick expression, but continuing anyway. "Rebecca, you know what this means."

Rebecca was silent for a moment. When she spoke, she sounded distracted. "We have our third victim. We have to assume it's ... them."

"You're mom didn't tell you, did she?" Rebecca shook her head as a response. Ren frowned. "Rebecca, you have to look over their files. If your mom knows and hasn't done anything yet, we have to, you know that."

"Ren, I don't know," Rebecca said, feeling doubt come upon her. It wasn't a nice feeling. "How the hell am I going to sneak into the station without alerting anyone? And what if my mom catches me? I'm dead meat if she finds out I'm still involved in this."

"Rebecca, listen to what you're saying," Ren pleaded. Rebecca reached his eyes, and her expression slackened. "We're talking about someone's life. Stacey's in my sister's grade. This is a real person, with a real family, that's worried sick about her-"

"I know, Ren," Rebecca snapped. "I'll do everything I can, but I'm not sure how much that is."

"Yo, Virk!" Rebecca turned at the sound of her name. However wasn't until Kamilla snuck up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder that she found the source. She flinched at the sudden contact then spun around, angry for only a moment. Kamilla's eyes were hopeful. "I heard you guys - are you actually going to sneak into the station tonight? Because I could come along if you need a distraction."

Rebecca felt flustered, finding herself being wrapped in solidifiying plans she didn't seem to have a say in. "Hey, hold on for a minute, I never said I was going to sneak into anywhere, I said I'd do whatever I could."

"Such a Mommy's girl," Kamilla scoffed, withdrawing her hand and rolling her eyes. Rebecca was about to unleash a scathing comment onto her friend, but bit her tongue at the last moment.

"Rebecca, that's the only way we'll be able to get their information: To find a pattern between the killings! This could prevent more missing people ... and more dead bodies," Ren pleaded. Rebecca folded her arms. No matter what she said, they wouldn't listen. She would try, but she wouldn't betray her mother's trust like that. Her mother was under too much stress already.

"He's right," Rebecca jumped as Theo appeared, entering the conversation smoothly. She turned to look at him, her expression blank. He gave the locker and the flowers a once over before turning back to her. "We need to stop hanging around and start doing something."

Rebecca drew a blank in her mind. Just being near him made her skin tingle uncomfortably. Why was he pressing her as well? He was comfortable with Gus, why couldn't he sneak into the station? Was it because he wanted to push her to the breaking point to find out what happened a few nights ago?

Whatever it was, Rebecca didn't like it. Instead of answering, she looked at Ren for something to say. He looked disgruntled, probably at Theo's use of the word 'we'. Typical.

"You guys aren't even listening," Rebecca groaned, rubbing her forehead in agony. "I won't just sit on my ass and stand by, hell to the no. I'll do whatever I can, but I won't lie straight to my mom's face. I don't know about your parents, but I don't like seeing mine in emotional pain."

"If she's not doing anything, then maybe you have to," Kamilla urged.

"Old Yeller over here's right. If the police haven't made any progress, it's time we took this into our own hands," Ren agree. Soon the three of them were nodding and looking at Rebecca, waiting for her to cave in.

Rebecca swallowed her growing frustration. "Would you guys just chill out with the peer pressure? I'm not changing my answer. I won't just sneak into my mom's personal business and betray her like that. You didn't see her the other day; she was more scared than I was when she found me and Theo in the woods."

The bell rang, loud and clear, cutting off any of her friends possible replies. Ren cursed and rejoined the crowd hastily, still having to go to his locker. Kamilla gave Rebecca a spiteful glare before trotting off into the opposite direction. Rebecca huffed indignantly and turned, but took a surprised step back when she realized Theo hadn't followed Kamilla, like he normally did.

"Hi," Rebecca offered, half expecting Theo to just give her a nod and then hurry to catch up with Kamilla. He was probably just distracted by the flowers on the locker, but no. He gave her a not subtle once over, then adjusted his bag. He met her questioning expression with one that showed ... gratitude?

"You know, I never did thank you for saving me back there. You've got a pretty good right hook," Theo said. Rebecca nodded, her mouth forming a thin line. She was certain she wasn't supposed to break the ice with, "Happens a lot," so she decided to stay silent. "This all must be really weird for you, having to get used to all the stuff around you. Hell, even your mom knew."

Rebecca tried not to let her relief be too evident. So, Theo was convinced her weird defensiveness was because she wasn't used to what's going on? Maybe he didn't see her and Connor's face off...

"Yeah, well, I'm just trying not to freak out over everyone, that's the last thing we need right now." it was Rebecca's turn to use that word again: 'We'. Though her guard remained firm and standing, even when she gave him a watery smile. Besides, what she said was mostly the truth, except she was being smothered by more important things. Rebecca decided to humour him ... and perhaps see how far Theo's belief stretched. "I'm just finding it hard to trust them now. I see everyone differently."

Theo looked guilty. He rubbed his forearm with his thumb, as if about to be called out on his actions. "Sorry about that. It's just, it's not easy to explain. Especially since before then you hated me."

"Don't sweat it," Rebecca waved away his words with the back of her hand, then realized the hall was clearing. "I've got to get to English. See you later."

Theo only nodded, and they turned and walked in opposite directions. Rebecca's shoulders tensed and her mouth twisted to an odd sort of grin. There was something extremely satisfying about fooling someone who obviously held more secrets than he let on.

Little did Rebecca know, though, that he didn't believe her. Not for a second. Yet the most frustrating thin? Although Rebecca Virk was probably the most well known girl in the town, he couldn't seem to pry anything out of her. No matter what tactic he tried.

Good thing he had one more in mind.


Rebecca tried to make the entrance to her own house as quiet as possible. She wasn't sure if her mom was taking advantage of her free time and napping, or just wanted some quiet time away from the station. Either way, Rebecca climbed up the stairs to her room, trying not to make any noise.

Her room was a calming green colour, and extremely bare, with only a desk, a bed, a dresser, and most importantly, a large diagram of the town. It was blown up and took up most of her one wall. On it, her tiny, neat handwriting scrawled out various locations and measurements for past cases her mom worked on. Myriam used to be thrilled that her daughter showed such interest, but now it was just another burden on the Deputy's shoulders.

Rebecca quickly emptied her bag, keeping her workbooks inside. Kamilla had invited her over, probably to persuade her into going to the station to steal the file. But was better than staying at home and risking waking her mother. She looked around the room for her wallet, which she had left on her dresser. She frowned upon finding it on the nightstand. Yet, if she was to make it to Kamilla's before supper, she would have to let it slide.

Rebecca tip toed to her mother's room and peaked through the opening. She frowned upon seeing messy sheets and an empty bed. Continuing down the hall to the study, she saw it was also vacant.

She walked down the stairs and crossed the living room to check and see if her mother was hiding in the basement. Rebecca froze at the sound of her mother's voice. She could hear it clearly, although it was lowered, as if Myriam was trying to hide the fact that she was making the phone call. Rebecca's interest was piqued, and she knelt down on the landing next to the stairs, listening intently.

"God damnit, Gus, I'm not letting my daughter be interrogated twice in one week!" Myriam whispered, her voice laced with anger. Rebecca could hear the floorboards squeaking, and she guessed that her mother was furiously pacing. "I know what she did! But if we can let things go for the sake of her well being, then I say we should. No one knows about this except us."

Rebecca's blood turned cold, and goosebumps formed on her skin. A million possible situations ran through her head. They all vanished once she saw what was lying on a table near the bottom of the stairs: The book she had stolen from the crime scene, "The Dread Doctors".

Anger rose in Rebecca's gut. Her mother had went through her room? Her personal belongings? Did Myriam really distrust her that much?

"C'mon, Gus, she was probably terrified. Hell, I was when I read it! I mean, remembering things about these ... Dread Doctors that I never remembered happening? That's just something more crazy than I've dealt with in a while," Myriam reasoned. She stopped pacing and walked into Rebecca's line of vision. Panicking, Rebecca quickly backed up until she was hidden by the wall. "I'll definitely talk to her when she gets home. I want to see if she had remembered something or not. I mean, when I saw them in my vision thing, I had trouble sleeping last night. These big, mechanical doctors moving through the woods, following the MonHeim boy a few days ago? I want that far away from Rebecca. Very far."

Rebecca shook her head slightly, thinking bitterly to herself; "A bit too late for that."

"I'm just scared, Gus. I need to know if she's figured something out that we haven't. We both know that ever since a few months ago she's been unstable ... I don't give a rats ass if you think we should take safety precautions. She's still the same person she was before, Gus, she just needs time to recover. And with all that's happening, I'm afraid that maybe this is delaying that. I want to keep her away from it so she can heal on her own terms..." Myriam rattled on, but the disgruntled feeling in Rebecca's stomach left a sour taste in her mouth.

After all the lengths Rebecca went through to keep her mother's privacy, and little did she know, Myriam was snooping through her stuff. It made Rebecca feel stupid. Not to mention angry. She finally couldn't listen anymore, so making a split second decision, she stood up suddenly, and walked back over to the front door. She took a quick detour towards the china cabinet. There, Rebecca knew her mom hid her spare office and cabinet keys in an old teacup her own mother gave her.

Snatching them off the porcelain dishes, Rebecca spun around and quietly retreated out of the front door. She thrust her keys into the ignition far more forcefully than necessary, but remained calm when backing out of her driveway.

After all, if her mother had no regard for her personal privacy, than Rebecca at least had a right to go and see what her mother was withholding as well.


She climbed out of her car, scoping the parking lot she was in. Rebecca had decided to play it safe, and park in the building next to the Police Station's lot. She also didn't want to risk her car being towed for a second time. Locking her Mazda, and then realizing her kimono had gotten stuck in the door, she groaned, inwardly disappointed. She wasn't exactly wearing an outfit suited for sleuthing.

Hastily freeing herself, she didn't bother trying to act like she was sneaking into a top secret facility. She used to go into the station and pick up things for her mom all the time, she'd just use that as her cover. But despite herself, she really wished she had taken up Kamilla on her offer.

She walked through the front doors, visible and identifiable. She made it her mission to get in and get out fast, no sidetracks.

Walking up to the officer at the main desk, she gave the man a small smile. When he looked up he recognized her immediately.

"Just getting a few files for my mom," Rebecca said cooly. Though the hairs on the back of her neck stood up in alarm. A thought had just appeared out of her calm demeanor; what if her mom had told everyone to not let her near anything? That she was not to be involved under any circumstances? He would probably not only send her away empty handed, but also call her mother.

Rebecca blinked slowly, not a trace of doubt or worry crossing her features.

The man nodded and waved his hand in the direction of Myriam's office, then ducked his head to resume working on his papers. Maybe this Officer hadn't gotten the message.

Rebecca shoved a hand into the pocket of her kimono, where she had left her mom's spare keys. Her palms were moist with sweat, but she slid the proper key into the lock effortlessly.

Her mom's office wasn't that big, especially compared to the Sheriff's, but she wasn't there to frown at the interior decorating. She flicked on the light, a rotten feeling erupting from her stomach at the familiar motion. In her minds eye, flashes of the MonHeim family plagued her. Shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut, Rebecca forced herself to continue.

Unlocking her cabinet quickly, Rebecca looked at the file tabs. Her eyes scanned labels about mercury, or teen murders, or ...

'Dread'. Rebecca pulled out the folder and opened it to ensure the files were there. Omar Dhal was first, then Travis DeClair, then third was Connor MonHeim's.

Rebecca faultered at seeing her friend's mugshot. He was arrested when he was fourteen for vandalism, then shoplifting. Rebecca forced herself to check if Myriam had added anything else.

There it was, Stacey McLennon's file. Everything from medical records to her parents' cell phone number.

Rebecca closed the file, locked the cabinet, and made her way towards the door. As her hand extended to grab the doorknob, she froze.

Gus appeared right in front of Myriam's office, his attention on something behind him. Rebecca used this moment of distraction to turn off the office light, so Gus could have a harder time looking inside.

Rebecca hid behind the door so she was less visible, but kept her sights trained on Gus. He turned around and looked at the office window. He was silent, looking at it for a second. Then two, then three...

Rebecca's heart stopped when Gus looked over to where she was. She waited for him to open the office door and expose her. There was no way he didn't hear her heartbeat, her breathing.

"But no file on the mercury used?" Rebecca heard a voice say. All sounds were muffled, but not muted, by the glass walls between them. Gus turned to face the person, who he had been listening to when he entered the room.

"There has been, but it's in Myriam's office," Gus replied. He didn't seem to have noticed her, but he would in a second. He turned the handle and Rebecca jumped back, pressing herself flat up against the wall.

The door swung open, hitting the hand she had propped out to avoid the hard wood smashing her nose. Gus turned on the light and walked into the room, unlocking the cabinet with a key and began to rifle through it. Why hadn't he heard her?

Rebecca decided that such a thing was a mystery for another day. She slipped out from behind the door and was about to escape, files clutched to her chest, when she realized someone else was blocking the door.

She held her breath, eyes widening as she craned her neck back to look at who had caught her in the act. She probably looked like a little kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Her wide eyes met Theo Raeken's. Was this guy everywhere? His own eyes widened as he swept his gaze over Rebecca's terrified face. She was begging him to be quiet, to let her pass. For a second, Rebecca saw him waver. Panic rose in her throat.

Theo stepped aside, using a hand he placed on her shoulder to maneuver her behind him. Theo coughed, trying to hide the sound of her departure from Gus' ears.

She was thankful Theo's chest was much larger than her own, as he hid her from Gus relatively well. She waited for a few moments for Gus to continue rifling through the files. She felt kind of stupid, hiding behind Theo as they stood back to back, trying desperately to steady her breathing. If the officer at the desk looked up, the whole thing would be blown.

Fortunately, Gus started flipping through folders once more. He was talking about how Myriam must have took the cases home with her, since they were missing. Rebecca almost wanted to laugh.

She practically ran to the door, opening it and sprinting to freedom. She didn't stop running until she reached the sidewalk, panting and grinning at her small victory. She just really hoped her shoes weren't ruined.

After reaching her car and sitting there, staring at the files for what seemed like forever, Rebecca peeled away from the lot. She drove at a steady pace, no clear destination in mind. She couldn't go home, but she was sure that Mr. Otsuka would rat her out if she crashed at Ren's place. Kamilla's foster mom was too strict about Kamilla's curfew. Even when Rebecca was right outside her house a few nights ago to see Connor MonHeim, she hadn't even been allowed outside to ask what was wrong. There wouldn't be nearly enough time to look over everything.

She stopped at a red light, a few cars zipping in front of her. She tapped her thumb on the steering wheel and gazed at the sun setting in the west. The days were getting shorter, that's for sure.

Her phone, which she had left in the glove compartment, went off. Rebecca's ringtone was smothered, but she didn't even make an attempt to reach out and see who texted her. Her phone went off again. And again.

The red light seemed to last forever, so in a split second decision, Rebecca reached for her phone to see who was spamming her.

"Hey, it's Theo," the first message from an unknown number said. "Meet me at the school for the mercury files." Rebecca dragged her thumb along the screen to see the most recent message. "Look to your left."

Confused, Rebecca did as she was told. Her gaze was met with the sight of a large blue truck. From the drivers seat, Theo offered her a sardonic little wave. Rebecca shook her head and grinned slightly, wiggling her fingers in return. She tossed her phone to the side and regripped the steering wheel. She guessed she was going to the school.


A few seconds after snatching her phone and climbing out of her car, Theo pulled up rather quickly, about ten feet away from where she stood.

"You might want to ease up on the acceleration, pal," Rebecca called to Theo as he hopped out, files in hand. "Unless you've decided you want to finish the job and run me over after all."

Theo offered a humourless laugh, but he didn't look annoyed. Instead, he seemed kind of excited. "You still have them, right?"

"Nah, I chucked them out my window on the way. Didn't you see? You seem to 've been trailing me this entire time," Rebecca taunted. Theo rolled his eyes up to the orange sky.

"I recognized your car. After all, I did nearly run it over," Theo smirked.

"Yeah, good times," Rebecca huffed, leaning into her car and grabbing the files. She waved the folder back and forth in front of her before draping her hand over the top of the open door. "Now what? We've got the files, we just need to look at them."

"Have you called Kamilla or Ren?" Theo asked. Rebecca shook her head.

"Kamilla's foster parents are crazy. She has, like, an hour before she's locked up in her room. Ren's dad will tell my mom that I took these, so he's a no go," Rebecca explained. Theo nodded thoughtfully, then shrugged.

"I guess it's just me and you, then," he said. Rebecca raised her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side slightly. She acted as if the notion was surprising to her.

"Unless you're friends with some other supernatural teens that I don't know about," Rebecca joked. Theo adjusted the files in his hands, but the amusement on his face didn't waver. Rebecca's ringtone interrupted the silence, and she drew back her wrist, the files with it. She rifled through her pockets.

She got another text, this time from her mother: "Where are you?"

Apparently the disgust on Rebecca's face was too evident to ignore. "Is there something wrong?" Theo asked.

"No, it's nothing," Rebecca said, putting her phone into her pocket without replying. Theo obviously wasn't convinced. "Okay, me and my mom aren't exactly peachy right now, but it's no big deal."

Theo seemed to not know what to say. Rebecca didn't expect him to say anything, but surprisingly, he felt the need to.

"It happens. Parents can be difficult sometimes," he said. Rebecca nodded lamely as a reply. "But hey, if you're up for it, we can go to my place and check over the files."

Rebecca blinked once, the full weight of his words not settling, but when they did, her mouth formed an 'o' shape. Go to Theo's house? The heart of the beast? Where he lived?

"Are ... I mean, will your parents be okay with it?" Rebecca asked, trying not to show just how frazzled she was. What would Ren think if he found out she had casually hung out with the guy she said she didn't trust earlier that day? Rebecca felt two faced ... and guilty.

"Definitely," Theo responded immediately. He watched Rebecca hesitate. "If you don't want to, I'll just give you the files and you can do it alone, if you're more comfortable with that."

"No! I mean, we might as well do it together. I don't mean that otherwise I wouldn't want to do it with you," Rebecca tried not to cringe at what she was saying. Oh God. "What I'm trying to say is, yeah. Let's do this."

Theo looked like he was trying extremely hard not to laugh at her display of panic. He nodded, turning to return to his truck. "Okay, then. Just follow me. It's not too far from here."


What a roller coaster Theocca is, eh?

julieakaweirdo - You're a blessing, truly. :))))

WishUponADragon - No, Connor was not in a good place, at all. Whatsoever. And yes, Rebecca is going to kick someone's ass straight to hell :)))) Yeah, her mom and Ren's mom are the only humans ... awkward. Thanks so much :)