"So that guy last week was your boy from America, then?" Jess asked. Roberto had left to go back to the Institute and so Claire and Jess had dragged a protesting Rahne out to the village pub, ostensibly for lunch, but in actual fact, as all three were quite aware, with the purpose of getting the complete story of the Brazilian's visit.

"Um… aye, he was at the school with me," Rahne replied. In truth she really didn't feel like talking about Roberto. She preferred the idea of not having to dwell on the fact that he was gone.

"What a cutie!" gushed Jess. "With those bonnie brown eyes! I still canna believe that ye met a hot Brazilian, Rahney!"

"Well, uh… aye, I did," said Rahne. She wasn't quite sure what she could say to that.

"So, does he…." But Jess never got to finish her next question, because at that point the girls were interrupted by the dramatic entrance of Murray Crawford and his father, both looking extremely irate.

They strode over to the corner table where the three girls were sitting, drawing the stares of all the patrons of the small establishment.

"Demon!"

The word rang out across the room, causing all conversation to cease as if some bored deity had decided to suddenly push the mute button. For a couple of seconds Rahne was too stunned to think or do anything except try and burrow into the back of the seat she was sitting on and wish to God that she had suddenly developed Kurt's ability to teleport. She was trapped between the other two girls, how was she going to get away? But then rationality kicked in and she realised that the accusing finger that Murray had raised along with the exclamation wasn't directed at her. It was pointing at Jess.

"What the…?" Jess began, but once again she was interrupted.

"Silence Demon!" ordered Mr Crawford. "We have discovered your sin!"

The whole pub seemed to have been brought to a standstill while everybody frantically tried to process what was going on. As far as everyone had known Jess and Murray had been an item, despite the interference of Mrs MacBride, not enemies. Had he discovered a secret or was something else happening here?

Finally the barman, Terry McGinnis spoke up. "Excuse me, Crawford," he said "But what in hell's going on?"

"The lass is a demon!" Crawford declared. "One of them mutants! She's stolen the claymore!" There was a collective gasp from the onlookers. Everyone present knew what the man was talking about, a famous sword dating back to the 11th century that was the Crawford family's pride and joy. It was kept in a special cabinet in a room that was deemed to important for anything more than display.

"No way!" exclaimed Jess. "I'm nae mutant! And I didna take yer stupid sword!"

"Liar!" retorted Murray. "Ye were bitter because I dumped ye, so ye decided ta steal the sword ta get back at me."

"Ye dumped me? That isna the way I remember it! Ye were pleading with me ta take ye back!" Jess got up and faced off against the Crawfords, who stared right back at her.

"Right, okay, we'd best all just calm down a wee smidgeon," said Terry. "Now, when everyone's settled again we'll start over and sort this out, all nice and quiet like, okay?" There were reluctant nods from both parties. "Right. Ye first, Crawford."

Mr Crawford took a deep breath, and began. "Well, as most of ye probably know, my boy Murray has been seeing this girl here for a while now." He paused. "Last week she tells him she's a mutant, that she can walk through walls like that lass on the tv." There were a number of surprised looks. "Well, as ye all know, we Crawfords are a good, god-fearing family, and of course my Murray does the virtuous thing and tells the demon he doesna want ta see her anymore.…" Jess gasped in indignation and glared at Murray, about to protest. "And then the demon gets all fired up like, and tells him… well, ye tell them what she said lad."

Murray, who was studiously avoiding Jess' accusing gaze, spoke up, somewhat hesitantly. "She said that I'd made a mistake, and that she'd make me pay for it.…"

"And then today I found the claymore missing," finished his father. "Murray and I are the only ones who can get in there – so it must have been a demon – one who could walk through walls…."

The pub was silent. No one knew what to say, or even what to think, especially Rahne. She desperately tried to force her brain to process the conversation. Was Jess a mutant? The possibility was slim, she decided. In any case, it would be better for her friend if she wasn't. But she could smell the emotional atmosphere of the people sitting there begin to change, from a kind of stunned astonishment to something with a nastier undertone. She nudged Claire, who had sat silent throughout the whole interchange, watching impassively. "We've got to do something!" Rahne hissed.

"What?" asked the blonde girl. "There isna a thing ye can do for a demon, Rahne."

"Jess isn't a demon! She's our friend!" Rahne pleaded desperately. "Come on Claire, you know that Murray's always trying to cause trouble.…"

"The Lord has a plan, Rahne," was the only reply she got.

Well, obviously Claire wasn't going to be any help. Perhaps her friend was right about God too – she had much more experience with religion than Rahne, whose grasp of religion pretty much amounted to a conviction that God existed and little else. Rahne was aware that interfering in this would only lead to suspicion being placed on her. She also knew that that was something she didn't need any more of, but still, Jess was her friend, and one of the most basic aspects of the wolf instincts was loyalty. She couldn't possibly stand by and watch someone close to her in danger. She stood up, and went to stand beside Jess. The room's attention wavered, and refocused on her.

"Come on, people," she began, taking a deep breath. "Both of them are saying they dumped the other – who should we believe?" As she found her measure, her voice picked up strength. "You've all known both these two all their lives. Have ye ever known Jess to lie? What about Murray?" there were some nods at that. The sandy-haired boy did not have a reputation for honesty around Ullapool. "Making up a story about Jess being a demon is a pretty low kind of revenge, but… would anyone put it past him?"

"But what about the claymore?" protested Mr Crawford. "How did that go missing?"

Rahne looked pointedly at Murray. "Ye said that you two are the only ones to have access to it, Mr Crawford?"

"What! I didna take it!" he protested. Rahne could smell the spike which invariably occurred when a person didn't tell the truth.

"You're lying, Murray Crawford," she said simply, but so that everyone could hear. The look of fear that washed over his face confirmed it for everyone.

"Is this true, Murray?" asked his father. The boy squirmed under the gaze, and looked in vain for a way out. "Don't lie ta your father, lad!" Mr Crawford said harshly. Murray nodded. His father frowned. "I apologise on behalf of my son for this fiasco," he said, addressing the room as a whole, rather than Jess. "We'll be going now, and believe me he will be punished for this…." He dragged the boy out the door.

Slowly, the pub began to fill with the comforting murmur of conversation again. There were a few furtive glances directed toward the girls, but no one said anything to them, which Rahne was hugely grateful for. She couldn't quite trust her voice.

She and Jess were both shaking slightly as they sat back down. "Thanks, Rah," said the dark-haired girl. "Ye saved my arse there! I thought they were going ta lynch me our something." Claire refused to meet Rahne's gaze at that. "Ye were so cool and calm though…," Jess went on.

Rahne smiled wryly. "Cool and calm definitely does not describe how I'm feeling right now," she said, deliberately making her tone overly light. "In fact, I think I'm going to have to go to the toilet, or something really terrible will happen in a moment." Jess laughed, only slightly hysterically.

Rahne managed to make it into one of the stalls and shut the door, before her self control gave way. She sank down onto the seat, trying to control her pounding heart and ragged breathing. What if that had been her facing that subtle current of fear and hatred from the crowd?

"Definitely a strange one," she heard a voice agree, as the main door swung open. She drew her knees up to her chin and transformed just enough to be able to make out every word without straining. Two women had walked into the bathroom. They were discussing someone. She assumed that it must be Jess, after the events in the bar.

"Apparently she started acting strange last year, before her parents sent her away," said the second voice. "Got all distant with people, was spacing out, and all jumpy."

"And she just suddenly came back here?" asked the first voice.

"Aye. Nae explanation, just one day, she was back. And even odder than before…,"

"Jamie told me that she that she healed far too quickly," the first voice said, in a conspiratorial whisper. "After that football game – she got injured, and then a few days later, she was absolutely fine…." Suddenly it dawned on Rahne who they were talking about, and it wasn't Jess.

"That's true – and ye know, I've never once known her ta be sick. And then, sometimes she seems ta know what ye're thinking without ye saying it – did ye see her accuse Murray today?" Rahne silently cursed her own stupidity in how she dealt with the situation.

"Aye, I did. That was uncanny… it was like she could read his mind or something.…"

"I ken. And did ye see that guy who was staying with her last week? There's nae way that that girl could pull a guy like him without some kind of witchcraft, I'm telling ye…." Rahne felt her anger mount and her cheeks burn. Roberto did like her, didn't he? He'd said so!

"I know! That lad was totally fit! And she's…." The voices trailed off into laughter, and their footsteps grew quieter as they walked out the door again.

Rahne stayed sitting in the once-again silent room. She only just remembered to shift back into her human form before exiting. The conversation was replaying itself over and over again in her head, worrying her immensely. She was already labelled as strange – even glimpses of the latent parts of her mutations were causing her to fall under suspicion. What would people do if they had any glimmer of an idea about her shape-shifting?