It didn't take me long to settle in my new location. I had been saving up enough before I left so that my move would be as painless as possible. I had made a few calls before leaving the Manor, asking managers from different apartments to reserve a living space until I was able to meet them in person, so my living arrangements luckily came with ease.

My first week in New York was a bit of a revelatory period for me. I was always tagged as the irresponsible one, the girl who couldn't stay out of trouble. Friends treated me like a rebel to be admired, and family treated me as a nuisance to be ignored. After awhile, I admit, I started to fall into their behaviors toward me. I started to actually believe that I was a bad person, that I shouldn't be trusted and that people should always expect the worst from me because setting me to any higher standards would only result in great disappointment. I truly believed I was capable of nothing more than going through life acting rebellious.

But when I arrived in New York and settled into a routine, I realized I was actually more than what everyone thought I was. I wasn't just some defiant girl with childish views and a disruptive way of life. I wasn't as irresponsible and naïve as my family and friends thought, pounding that notion into me until I had no choice but to believe it. I went to New York, found a place to live, a fairly reliable source of income, and even managed to make a few friends and I did it all on my own. I was proving to myself every day that, when it came down to taking care of myself, there was nothing that could stop me from taking on the responsibilities expected of any normal young woman my age. I could be an adult and I could be just as successful and fulfilled doing things my own way, not the way Grams expected of me or the way Prue preferred.

I nervously thought things through, planned and saved, and put things into action. I did it all on my own, and I was very happy with how it turned out.

My first week in New York, I focused on getting my apartment set up. The former residents were kind enough to leave me their furniture, and I was happy that they did. The furniture was in good shape and well within my taste. Their generosity also saved me some well-needed money, enough to live off of until I could get my first paycheck.

I was moving my things into the apartment, and just as I had lifted the last box from the ground, I heard a few soft giggles and then a pair of feet rushing in my direction.

"Here, let me help," the woman said, grabbing a hold of the opposite side of the box.

"I'll get the door," the other woman called, rushing over to open the door to my apartment.

We set the box on the ground, brushing our hands of the dust that had collected on the bottom of the cardboard.

"It's good to see some new faces around here," the first lady said with a smile, holding out her hand for me to shake. "My name is Jenna, and this is my sister, Rainey." The other woman stepped over, offering me her hand.

"I'm Phoebe. Nice to meet you both."

We stood there in awkward silence for a minute or two before Rainey spotted an old journal of mine, sitting on top of one of the opened boxes.

"Jenna, look," she said, walking over to lift it. "Mom had one just like this!" She turned the silk-covered book in her hands, fingering the gold embroidery and cooled golden latch. Jenna and I watched as Rainey tried to open it, just short of breaking the lock that held its secrets.

"Rainey, you know it's impolite to go through someone's things like that. I'm sure Phoebe doesn't appreciate it."

With a nod and a murmured apology, Rainey returned the book to its spot in the box before walking over to stand by her sister. I could tell that Rainey was the younger of the two, and though her appearance seemed just as mature as Jenna's, Rainey couldn't have been much older than fifteen.

"So, Phoebe, what brings you to our side of town?" Rainey asked, wandering over to the little kitchenette.

"Actually, I just moved here from California."

"Really? Do you have family here?"

"No, um… it's just me."

"Really? Then, what made you chose to move here as opposed to-"

"Rainey, that's enough with the questions."

I couldn't help but smile, even if I felt a little uncomfortable with the inquiries. Rainey seemed like a really sweet kid.

"Okay, okay. Enough with the questions," Rainey said with an exaggerated tone of feigned annoyance. "Phoebe, I noticed you have, like, no food in this place. Jenna and I were going to get lunch from Pete's deli down the street. You could come with us."

"I don't know… I wouldn't want to be in the way, and I have a lot of unpacking to do."

"You won't be in the way," Jenna spoke. "We asked you to join, and we'll even help you unpack later on, if you want us to."

I was about to tell them 'no' when my stomach growled loudly, answering for me. We all laughed and I agreed to go, stopping in the bathroom to wash the dust and dirt from my face and hands.

"Oh, and we can show you around town," Rainey said with contained excitement. "We'll show you where to get your groceries, your clothes… the mall isn't even that far away." Jenna smiled at me as we walked, and Rainy continued to talk.

I couldn't help but feel a little relieved that I had ran into them. Even with all my need for freedom and doing things on my own, it's always nice to have a little company to share it with.

Jenna, Rainey and I spent a lot of time together as the weeks passed. I learned a lot about them, yet they learned very little about me and the life I left behind in San Francisco.

Jenna ran a small flower shop around the corner from the apartment building. She had taken over the business after her mother and father were killed in a car accident a few years prior. After their deaths, she took custody of her sister, Rainey, and together, they worked to keep the business going.

Rainey was sixteen-years-old, and home-schooled by Jenna so that she could be of more help around the shop and apartment. She was actually going to a public school before their parents passed, but Rainey had gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd, showing her pain and grief by staying out late and partying, defying everything her sister asked of her. Jenna felt it would be best for Rainey to take on more responsibilities, to take part in something for which their mother held a great fondness. Rainey, realizing the negative path she was taking, agreed to be home-schooled for the remainder of her high school years while she helped Jenna keep the shop going.

I had taken on a job at the flower shop, helping them and making some money at the same time. They'd been so nice to me, taking me under their wing and making sure I was comfortable enough to get around town. They'd introduced me to all of their neighbors and worked to include me into their little group of close acquaintances.

I remember the night we sat in their apartment, eating pizza and laughing at the craziest things. Rainey thought it would be fun to play 'Truth or Dare,' a game Jenna and I were well beyond playing, but it gave us something to do. It was almost twelve midnight, and things were just starting to wind down when Rainey asked the last question.

"Truth or dare, Phoebe?"

I lifted my head from the couch to glance at her, knowing my eyes were nearly closed with exhaustion.

"Dare."

Rainey laughed, rising from her seated position on the floor. Walking to where I rested lazily on their sofa, she grabbed my hand, pulling me up and toward the door.

"Rainey, what are you doing?" Jenna's voice just as drowsy and slurred with exhaustion as I'm sure mine was.

"Showing Phoebe her dare."

I heard Jenna following us to the door, and watched as Rainey opened it slowly. Without releasing my hand from her grasp, she led me toward the stairs, and I listened for the soft snick as Jenna closed my apartment door and followed.

We walked up the first flight, and then the second before reaching a hallway identically similar to my own.

"You see that door down there?" Rainey asked quietly, her slender finger pointing in the direction of apartment forty-four. She waited for my nod before continuing. "Jefferson McKinney lives there. He's a twenty-six-year-old man, single… but single for a reason."

I looked over at her, waiting for the reason why I had a feeling this was no longer just a game.

"Jefferson has been here almost as long as Jenna and I; he moved in about six months after us. For awhile, he had been pretty active around here – helping to repair the damage to the garden out behind the apartment, showing up once in while when we had our bi-weekly neighborhood barbeque. He even helped maintenance fix up most of the apartment units in the building."

"Sometimes, he would get a group of us together," Jenna added, lifting herself from leaning against the wall, "and we'd all go into the city and just shop… all day. Sometimes, we'd see a play or something. A lot of the time, we would all just go out to lunch and shop. There were times when a bunch of us would just walk around at night just to be surrounded by the city lights and nightlife… but he would always be the one to initiate it because everyone else was too busy. I guess, if we didn't have to think of it on our own, we could always manage to find time if we were invited."

"Jefferson was a really nice, cute guy, always going out of his way for people he didn't know, and he hadn't even been living here for that long."

I looked back at the door, wondering what had become of Jefferson.

"So what happened?"

Rainey sighed. "He met this woman. She seemed nice at first, followed along with him we all went to the city, clung to his side during barbeques and such. I'd say…about a little less than a month later, Jefferson just stopped socializing with us. He had become such good friends with everyone in the building, so when people began seeing less and less of him, people started to worry. More than a few times, some of the guys would knock on his door, only to be met by silence or an angry voice telling them to go away. Shortly after that, people began to take his advice and leave him alone.

"About a year later, we found out Jefferson's girlfriend was dead. Gone. Just like that. Some said it was suicide… but a lot of people believe Jefferson murdered her."

I looked in Jenna's direction and was met by a weary shrug.

"Murder? Why would you all think she was murdered?"

"Well, first off all, Carla was a bitch."

"Rainey." Jenna's tone was admonishing, but I could tell she was thinking the same thing. "Carla seemed to have an air of…"

"…bitchiness," Rainey finished. "There's no other way to describe her. Some might've called her self-confident, some prideful, but it was obvious she was just a bitch. You could always hear them arguing, and she was just… horrible. Things would crash against the wall, glass shattering constantly. The rare times when we did see Jefferson, he was covered with bruises and scratches."

"Okay, so she wasn't the friendliest person to be around. How did you all come up with the idea that he killed her?"

Jenna sighed. "The night before we all found out about Carla's death, we heard screaming coming from the apartment. The police were called, things were handled, but we all found out later that Carla was dead. Because of their history and that night… everyone just assumed…"

I nodded, looking toward the man's door for the umpteenth time that night. Even with all they had told me, I still felt I knew very little about Jefferson. Maybe it was because I've never met him; maybe it was because they all knew him before and after Carla and I didn't, but something inside kept me from believing that this Jefferson guy had killed his girlfriend. Maybe it was just me being sensitive and understanding, knowing what it was like to be judged by those that didn't have the full story.

My thoughts were interrupted by Rainey's hand waving in front of my face, breaking myself from staring at Jefferson's door.

"So," I said before clearing my throat. "Why are we up here? What does this have to do with my dare?"

Rainey smiled. "Your dare, Phoebe, is to knock on Jefferson's door and introduce yourself."

"Rainey…" Jenna sighed, shaking her head.

"It's a dare, Jenna. She has to do it. You can't tell me you haven't been the slightest bit curious about Jefferson. And besides, Phoebe's new here. She has to meet him sometime, and it's highly unlikely he'll bite the head off a beautiful woman just knocking on his door to introduce herself."

Rainey smiled again, pointing her finger in the direction of the door.

"Rainey, it's late. He's probably asleep, and beautiful woman or not, I'm sure he won't like it too much to be awakened over a silly game."

"Jen-na! He won't know it's a game, and it is not too late. We're still awake." She turned to me, giving me a slight nudge in that direction. "Go ahead, Phoebe. If anything happens, Jenna and I will be here."

I agreed with Jenna, feeling a bit nervous about waking him up over Rainey's silly dare, but I had known them both long enough to know that I wasn't going to hear the end of it until my fist and that door connected.

Casting one last glance in Rainey's direction, I slowly walked in the direction of apartment forty-four. My heart was pounding, and I could feel my nerves on edge, but I continued on until I reached the door.

With a nervous sigh, I closed my eyes and knocked softly on the door. I could hear Rainey's gasp and turned to see them both watching me intently. I knocked again, and once more a few minutes later – each knock being met by nothing but silence.

I turned around to walk toward Jenna and Rainey when I heard a small sound in the hall perpendicular to the one where the two women stood anxiously waiting for me. The sound made me jump, quickly turning in its direction. After a few seconds, I started to walk away, but heard the sound again… only louder.

"Phoebe, what's wrong?" Jenna called, but I ignored her for a moment, walking in the direction of the noise.

I didn't walk far before a little body peered from around the corner.

She was about four or five-years-old with dark, curly hair and caramel color skin. Her eyes were big and a deep chocolate-brown, and she wore a pink nightgown that flowed down to brush against little toes with nails shaded a hot-pink color.

I stopped a few feet before her, and together, we studied each other with solemn gazes.

"Hi," I said, kneeling down to her height.

"Hello." Her voice was small and gentle, making me smile for no apparent reason.

"My name is Phoebe. What's your name?"

The little girl continued to look at me, not giving any indication that she'd heard my question. She took a hesitant step in my direction and I could see her hands fiddling with something behind her back.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" I tried, hoping she would tell me her parents were somewhere close by.

Again, she didn't answer my question. Her gaze fell to her feet, and an uneasy feeling settled over me.

"Are you lost?"

"No, I'm not lost." She looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine in a firm gaze that surprised me. "I saw you knocking on Jefferson McKinney's door, and I just wanted you to know that he isn't home right now."

I nodded, surprised that this little child spoke with more clarity and confidence than I'd ever seen in a kid her age.

"Okay, I can try back later… can you tell me your name, sweetie?" I asked, hoping that my kid-voice would set her at ease. It was a voice I'd used maybe twice in my life, seeing as I had never been around many kids at home.

"I'm not lost, Phoebe. I know exactly where I live."

Her assured tone threw me off, and I found myself at a loss for words.

"I just wanted to return this to you."

From behind her back, she pulled out a small, black box I immediately recognized as my own. It was a jewelry box Grams had gotten me for my tenth birthday, and I would have been frantic if I'd realized it wasn't in my apartment.

"I think you may have dropped it without noticing. It was on the sidewalk outside, and I picked it up as soon as I saw it because it looked pretty important. I know it's yours because there's a picture of you and two other ladies inside," the girl said, and the photo Grams had taken of Prue, Piper and I immediately popped in my head.

"I just didn't know where you lived so that I could return it to you." Reaching out, she handed the box to me with a bright smile. "I know I would be upset if I'd lost something like that."

I took the box from her, finding it extremely hard to tear my eyes away from her baby face. Before I could thank her, she waved and said in a happy sing-song voice, "see ya later, Phoebe!" before running around the corner.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm still not sure about this story, so please, please let me know if it's disgustingly OOC because I think it is. It's really up to you guys if I should keep this story online, or take it down and try again later.

Thanks, again.

Johannah