Roses and Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Two

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic

Replies to reviews:

BlueAngel07: There is going to be more Blake/Tori at some point, so don't worry

Jorgitosbabe: Glad you liked it, and I'm glad you're ok . I was worried that something may have happened to you

CamFan4Ever: -Takes DarkCat back- You know, if you wanted to, you could use her for help on FYL II . Anyways, thanks for reviewing

garnetred: Lol, glad you like this fic . I'm really bad at writing loads of cliffhangers, so there won't be that many of them. Probably. Hopefully

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"Blake's dead."

Shane looked up at Tori from where he had been pestering Cam about the so-called 'secretive work' the green samurai ranger was doing. "What?"

"Blake's dead," Tori repeated, looking extremely close to tears, which was very unlike her. "It looks like it was the same person who murdered Kelly and Hunter. I went round his house, and the door was open... And he was just lying on the floor with his eyes wide open, completely pale." She put a hand to her mouth, her eyes shimmering with barely held-back tears.

"Oh, Tor." Shane came over to the blue wind ranger and hugged her gently, though he knew that no amount of sympathy would bring his friend comfort. She'd lost her boyfriend. That was harsh.

Cam flinched at Tori's words, and looked at his computer screen. "There's been other deaths, too," he said in a low voice. "The police think that the deaths are gang-related, with more than one person responsible."

"Only, there are no gangs here," Tori replied in a low voice. "I want to get the person, or people, responsible for this!"

Cam remembered Blake's words to Faye before the navy thunder ranger had stormed out of NinjaOps. He had been insistent that the killer of his brother be found and brought to justice. But if it was a vampire, then how could it be found? And what possible connection could Cally, Dustin's ex-girlfriend, have with such a creature of darkness?

Faye obviously didn't know. The only person who might have any idea of the connection was Cally, but the violet light ranger wasn't going to be any help considering the comatose state she was in.

"Cam, are you all right?" Shane wanted to know. "You've got this really thoughtful expression on your face, like you're thinking of a theory for something, or something like that."

The green samurai ranger hesitated. Should I tell them? he wondered. I know that I promised Faye I wouldn't... But there are people being murdered seemingly all over the place, and three of them are people that we know.

Then, Cam's eyes narrowed slightly. Was it possible that Faye could be responsible for the deaths? She didn't seem like the sort of person who would do something like that... But you could never tell, could you? After all, if you knew that someone was a killer, then you'd be able to stop them from murdering other people, wouldn't you? And, considering what Cally was going through with her depression, it would hardly be surprising if the orange light ranger decided to get revenge on the people she believed to be responsible for her friend's condition.

There were only two problems that Cam could see with that analogy. Firstly, Faye had only met Hunter and Blake after she and Cally had returned to Blue Bay Harbour. There was no reason for the orange light ranger to want them dead. Not unless she had decided that Hunter and Blake were somehow contributing to the pain Cally was going through. The same went for Kelly, though Faye could have meant to go after Dustin, and mistaken the shop owner for the yellow wind ranger in the darkness. She had, after all, been surprised that Kelly was the one who had been murdered.

Then, of course, there was the whole vampire business. After all, if you were going to frame someone else for murders you had committed, why would you go for supernatural creatures that hardly anyone believed really existed?

Cam heaved an inaudible sigh. All of those ideas were making his head spin. He had no idea whether Faye was good or bad. He could ask her about it, but that could cause the orange light ranger to either feel that he thought she was the murderer, or for her to think that he knew too much and to then kill him.

"Cam?" Shane asked. "You've gone really pale. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," the green samurai ranger replied shortly. "Just a little... disturbed over all of these deaths." Well, that was the truth, as far as it went. He decided not to mention his suspicions to the others just yet. If there was nothing to worry about, then he'd just look like an idiot... If there was something to worry about, he could cause the orange light ranger to become suspicious.

Even so, Cam felt a chill creep up his back. He wasn't keen to be left alone with Faye unless he was sure that she wasn't a killer. He decided that he would ask his father to stay with him whenever Faye came.

Cam had to wonder, though. Who would the killers go after next?

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"Lila, are you all right?" Peter asked his sister softly, his eyes showing his concern for her.

"No," Lila replied shortly. "I'm not all right. Didn't you hear the news, Peter? Hunter's dead. Some sick person's murdered him, made it look like some kind of vampire killing."

"I know," Peter said in a low voice. It tore at his heart to see his sister like that. He'd tried to suggest going shopping to her, but she'd just thrown a cushion at him. He'd been able to dodge it easily, but he felt bad for her.

"The police are looking into it," Peter reminded the silver silk ranger. "They'll catch whoever did it. They'll catch him, and they'll put him away in prison where he belongs." The brown silk ranger sounded much more certain than he really felt.

"Yeah, well, the police will probably be round here at some point," Lila muttered with a deadly certainty.

"Why?" Peter asked with raised eyebrows. She doesn't think that they suspect her for the murder... Does she?

Lila laughed bitterly. "Because I was quite possibly the last person to see him alive," she answered. "Besides whoever murdered him, of course."

"Of course," Peter murmured. He bit his lip slightly, and inwardly cursed whoever had murdered Hunter. First their parents, and now Lila's boyfriend. When was it all going to end?

A couple of tears slid down Lila's cheeks. "Oh, Peter," she sobbed softly. "Why is all of this happening to us? I lo... liked Hunter. And now he's dead, and he was the best thing that happened to me."

She almost said that she loved him, Peter knew. His sister could hide her true feelings from herself, but not from her own brother. Lila had somehow managed to fall in love with Hunter Bradley, and now his death was ripping her apart.

Peter jumped as the doorbell suddenly went, and then glanced at Lila, who had suddenly sat up straight.

"It's the police," Lila whispered in a strained voice. She knuckled at her eyes, wiping away the stray tears that had escaped, and attempted to look composed.

Her effort almost broke Peter's heart.

"It might not be the police," Peter replied with a calmness he didn't really feel. "It might be a good idea to get a tissue, though. Clean yourself up a bit. Make yourself presentable." Peter was taking charge. It was something that came naturally to him. Lila said that he was a control freak, but he wasn't. Not really. He just tried to look out for his sister and make sure that she was all right. That she didn't get herself into trouble that she couldn't handle.

Peter walked to the front door, and opened it.

Lila had been right. It was the police. There were two officers – one male, and one female.

"Can I help you?" Peter asked without much warmth. The last thing his sister needed was someone grilling her on what happened when she last saw Hunter. And what she definitely did not need was the police thinking that she may have had something to do with his death.

"Peter Kenring?" the male police officer asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Peter answered shortly, stepping back to let the officers enter the house. "I think I know why you're here. Let me just say, for the record, that my sister had nothing to do with the murder of Hunter Bradley."

"We know that," the female police officer answered, extending a hand towards Peter. "I'm Officer Harley... Please call me Sharon." Sharon was reasonably pretty, with auburn hair cut into a short bob and wide green eyes. She had some freckles on her cheeks, which made her look younger than she actually was. Her grip was firm, though her fingers were cold.

"I'm her partner, Jim Jacobs," the male police officer put in, also extending his hand for Peter to shake.

Jim was tall with short brown hair and hazel eyes with rugged features. Clearly, he worked out a lot. He was large, but muscular rather than bulky. He had quite a strong grip. The brown silk ranger felt that, had he wanted to, Officer Jacobs could have broken every one of his fingers without breaking a sweat.

"You're here to ask me about Hunter's death, aren't you?"

Peter glanced up to see Lila hovering in the doorway leading to the lounge. He was quite proud to see that she had managed to completely compose herself. She looked unhappy, but she appeared to have her tears under control for the most part.

"You must be Lila Kenring," Sharon smiled. "We're just here to ask a few questions. You're not a suspect or anything like that, so don't worry."

Peter regarded the two police officers carefully, wondering if they were going to do a 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' routine. He didn't think so. Neither Sharon nor Jim looked particularly aggressive. But Peter wasn't going to relax just yet. If either officer started accusing his sister of being a murderer, he was going to get mad.

"What questions do you want to ask me?" Lila asked softly.

"Why don't we go and sit down?" Jim suggested.

Lila shrugged, and stood aside so that the two police officers could enter the lounge. Once they had, she settled herself down on the sofa, while Jim and Sharon sat down in two of the armchairs. It was a safe, comfortable distance. They weren't crowding Lila, but neither were they sitting at too large a distance away from her.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Peter asked.

Lila shook her head slowly. She was too sick with nerves. Though she had expected the police to want to talk to her, it was still a shock to have them actually arrive here. Nervously, the silver silk ranger ran through her mind anything she might have done that was illegal, and couldn't think of anything.

"Any cold drink will do me fine," Sharon smiled at Peter.

"I'll just have a coffee," Jim said.

Peter nodded, and moved into the kitchen.

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Cam and Faye studied the images on the computer screen. So far, they weren't really seeing much. Just a forest path and two unicorns plus a blond-haired male.

"So, are we looking at this scene through Cally's eyes?" Faye wanted to know.

Cam nodded slowly. "We're seeing what she sees," he replied.

The violet light ranger had been laid on the bed in the rec. room. There was a metal helmet-type contraption on her head which had wires going from it into the computer in there, enabling them to see what she saw in her so-called dreams.

"Are you sure that this won't have any nasty side-effects on Cally?" Faye asked, her eyes flashing with concern.

"Yes, I'm sure," the green samurai ranger sighed. "She should be fine." If she ever actually wakes up, Cam added darkly to himself. But he said nothing out loud. He didn't want to upset Faye or make her mad at him. Especially not if she could be the one going around killing people.

"I can't believe that Blake's been murdered too," Faye commented, her eyes watching the events unfolding on the screen. For some reason, there wasn't any sound, so both she and Cam had to try and lip-read whenever they saw the male's lips moving in silent speech.

Cam shot the orange light ranger a quick, appraising glance. "Well, he did technically threaten you," the green samurai ranger pointed out.

"Yeah, but I can't really blame him for that," Faye responded. "His brother had just been killed, after all. He was quite understandably upset."

Cam eyed Faye carefully. Is she telling the truth? he wondered. Or is she just trying to get herself off the hook and stop me from suspecting her?

"What's wrong?" Faye asked, noting the way that Cam was looking at her and not liking it one bit.

"Nothing," Cam replied shortly, looking away again. He couldn't very well tell Faye his suspicions of her.

"It's not nothing," Faye frowned. "Cam, please tell me what's bothering you? We can't really work well together if something's bothering you."

"We can't really work well together if you're a murderer, either," Cam muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, Faye heard him. She stared. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

Cam shrugged slightly. "I just wonder if you could be the murderer," he responded, noticing his father standing just in the doorway and feeling slightly better for him being there, even if he was a guinea pig.

"That's totally ridiculous!" Faye snapped. "Why would I be the murderer? What possible motive could I have?"

"Revenge for your friend's depression, for one," Cam answered. "And as for Blake? Well, that's simple. He threatened you."

The orange light ranger scowled. "Oh, the human brain is a fine invention," she muttered. "Look for any other explanation except for the most logical one. The one that's right in front of your nose."

Cam knew without asking that Faye was talking about the theory that the murderer was a vampire. But he merely shrugged. "Draining blood would be quite a simple trick to manage."

Faye threw her hands up into the air, an exasperated look on her face. "I'm not a murderer!" she insisted. "There's no evidence to prove that I am."

"No, there's not," Cam agreed. "But there's no evidence to point to anyone being a murderer." Except for a vampire, the green samurai ranger added silently to himself. There's plenty of evidence to point to the fact that a vampire is the murderer... Except for one small problem. Vampires aren't supposed to exist.

"Ok, I can't prove that I'm not the murderer," Faye was saying. "But I say that I'm not. Will you at least try to believe me, Cam? At this point, we need to work together rather than be enemies. It's important that we at least try to trust each other. Will you please try, Cam?"

The green samurai ranger hesitated for a long moment. Then, he sighed. "All right," he replied. "I can try."

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Tori walked quietly down the street after leaving Dustin and Shane, still feeling the tears on her cheeks.

Why did Blake have to die? the blue wind ranger wondered. It's not fair! He didn't deserve to die! It wasn't his time.

Tori wiped at her eyes, and took several deep breaths. It didn't help much, though. She suddenly felt as though she couldn't get enough air. She was pretty sure she knew what this was. Hyperventilating.

Oh, Blake, Tori thought sadly. Why did you have to leave me? I love you so much. I don't think I can go on without you. I thought that being Power Rangers meant that it was more difficult to kill us. It turns out that that was wrong. It's just as easy to kill us no matter what we are.

Tori suddenly felt something slam into her back, knocking her to her knees. It felt like someone, or something, had rammed her from behind. It wasn't a car or anything like that, though. At least, she was pretty sure that it wasn't. The pain wasn't that serious.

Tori slowly got up to face her attacker, and then her mouth dropped open in shock as she recognised him.

"Blake?"

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