Jake and Jenny had gone to the park and Peyton had promised to meet them there later. She gave them both a kiss and said she loved them. She would see them after running an errand. But she couldn't reveal what her important errand was. Her family would never understand it. Peyton herself didn't really understand it. She just knew what she had to do.

The drive was long and antsy. Her heart pounded. Her pulse quickened. Her breath was coming in radical spurts. Her hands were sweaty. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

The building was large and after Peyton parked, she sat in the lot for a few minutes questioning her decision and her own sanity for that matter. Jake would have killed her if knew where she was and what she was about to do. But it was a trip she had to make.

The hospital smelled funny. It gave her chills. It looked exactly like something one would imagine a mental institution to look like. All it needed was crazy doctors, screaming patients, and a chamber for electric shock treatment.

"Mrs. Jagielski, you made it."

"Please. Call me Peyton."

"And you call me Carol."

The two women shook hands.

"Um, thanks for letting me come down today."

Carol sighed.

"I must admit I was pretty surprised when you called. I couldn't believe it."

"Neither could I", Peyton said truthfully. "Um, how is she?"

"Same", Carol answered sadly. "There never really is a change and that is the worst part."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I. I know Melanie practically destroyed your life and I can't apologize enough for that. I feel just terrible."

"It's not your fault."

"Is it? Because I feel like I failed. Peyton, I love my daughter. Despite all her problems. She's still my little baby. Mel is my greatest joy and my greatest sorrow all at the same time. It's very difficult."

"I'm sure", Peyton tried to sympathize.

"You have no ides what it's like. I look in her eyes and I see nothing. No soul, no conscience…just nothing. It's black and blank and just ugly. That scares me. I pray. I pray a lot. And my husband and I have spent countless dollars, we even took out o second mortgage on our home to get her every treatment you can name. But it doesn't help. It never does. And I don't know if anything ever will. Peyton, can I ask you something?"

Peyton nodded.

"Sure."

"Do you believe in evil?"

A shiver ran across Peyton's body.

"I do now."

Carol looked away.

"They say some people are just born evil. And maybe that's what happened to Melanie."

"I don't know", Peyton said softly.

Carol wiped away a tear and brushed her hair out of her face.

"I know you don't have much time. Are you ready?"

Peyton took a deep breath. She was as ready as she ever would be.

"Yeah. Um, I think I am."

Carol nodded and they stood. She led the way down a dark and quiet corridor. Together the women stood in front of a door.

"It's okay", Carol pointed. "She's in there. You can go in."

Peyton opened the door before she lost her nerve. She knocked as she entered, still a bit afraid to approach the bed. The girl on the bed was held in place by straps across her arms and legs. Her long, blonde hair had been combed straight back.

"Fancy seeing you here", she smirked.

Peyton didn't know what to say.

"Hey", she mumbled.

"It's okay. You can come in, you know. In fact, welcome to my humble abode. I don't bite or at least I can't until they take these damned restraints off of me."

"That's not funny", Peyton said quietly.

"Not in the mood for my jokes?"

"Actually, no…"

"It's okay, Peyton. Amanda? Mandy? Melanie? Mel? Confused about what to call me? I'll make it easy on you. Why don't you just call me Amanda, you know, for old times sake?"

"Fine", Peyton cleared her throat. "Look, Amanda, I didn't come here to taunt you or blame you or yell at you. I only want to know one thing. I have one question and you owe me the answer."

"I'll decide that but go on."

"Why? Just tell me why. I mean, I don't understand. I loved you. I gave you a home, comfort, financial security...I was your friend. I gave you whatever you needed and wanted. Amanda, I tried to show you that there are good people out there. I wanted you to see that the world wasn't all that bad all the time. I cut you a break and what did you do? You totally lied and betrayed me. You took advantage of my friends and you nearly destroyed my entire family. How could you? And now it's like you don't even care. You look at me like I'm the crazy one, like none of this stuff ever happened. I wanted to be someone you could look up to. I'm sure now it was all bullshit but one day in the car when we were driving home after school, you looked right at me and you told me that you wanted to be just like me. Do you remember that day? Well, I do because it made me so proud. It was one of the happiest moments of my life."

Amanda/Melanie's face took on a serious and somber look for a minute.

"That's where you're wrong, Peyton. I didn't want to be like you. Don't you get it? I wanted everything you had. I saw it and I wanted to take it away and destroy it."

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"Because I could. I wanted to be you."

"That is so sad", Peyton shook her head. "You could have had everything. You could be so much. You tried to take over my life and the minute you couldn't, you set out to destroy it."

"Basically."

"I don't believe you…"

"What do you want from me? You want an apology? What am I supposed to say, Peyton. Get over it already. Geez. Shit happens. And don't take it so personal. Hell, it could have been anybody."

"I do take it personally, Amanda. When it comes to my husband and my family and my friends, I take it very personal. But you're right. What else is there to say?"

Peyton held her purse close to her and turned to leave the room. She could feel the steely eyes drilling an imaginary hole in her back.

"Hey, Peyton?"

Peyton turned around.

"What?"

"Regardless of everything that happened, I want to say thanks for everything. I mean that. Yeah I screwed you over and stuff but hey...I appreciated what you did for me. You're a good person and don't let your bad experience with me hinder you from helping other kids. Who knows? There might be another lost soul out there just waiting to be rescued. And when you look at that person, you'll see a piece of yourself. Just don't be so quick to turn your back. Not everybody is like me. I'm a special case, you know."

The girl smirked.

"That you are. Look, I have to go. Good bye, Amanda."

"Later", she grinned.

Peyton was visibly shaken when she left the hospital room.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked in a concerned tone.

Peyton nodded.

"I'll be fine."

"Just…take care of yourself…okay?"

Peyton turned and walked to her car. The ringing of her cell phone startled her.

"Jake…"

"Hey, babe. You on your way?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I shouldn't be too much longer."

"Good. Jen and me are waiting on you."

"Okay."

"You sound funny. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Peyton took one last look at the hospital. She cranked her car and pulled out of the lot. She drove away not looking back, leaving Amanda and all the bad memories behind.

"Yeah."

"Okay", Jake said, still not convinced. "Just be careful. The weatherman was calling for a storm earlier. The roads might be slick later on."

Peyton looked up at the sky. There were a few dark clouds but the sun was still peeking out. It brought a smile to her lips. That sun reminded her of herself. There would be no storm if she had anything to say about it.

"Nah, it's okay, babe", she relaxed as she made her way to the park. "I think we're pretty much safe from the rain now. In fact, you could bet on it."

The End!