"What the fuck do you want Coop?" Ky called out as the group of Hangmen stalked across their yard towards the gates.

"I was hoping Zane Deyes was here," the officer replied loudly from his spot.

AK hurried to the front of the group asking in and incensed tone, "What the fuck do you want Zane for?"

Cst. Cooper held his hands up in a sign of surrender as soon as AK started to speak. "I just have a couple of questions for him about a missing person called into us this morning. His aunt said he most likely would be here."

"Yeah, he is. HUSH! Open the gate!"

The Constable waited patiently until the gate moved so that there was an opening big enough for him to walk through. He then made a direct route to AK because he figured Zane's uncle would be the quickest path to the young man that he was needing to question. He also correctly assumed that AK would in turn have some questions for him before he would allow the officer to speak with his nephew.

"Who do you think he disappeared?"

Cooper couldn't help but to laugh at that question because he had predicted that that would be the gang's assumption. "No one. But he is the only other classmate our complainant said is a close friend of our missing person."

"Oh... well... Wait here and we'll go get him."

"Thanks, AK."

Word had quickly gotten to the Prospect that the police were at the gate because they wanted an audience with him. He nearly ran into his uncle, literally, as he hurried out into the yard. AK pulled the younger man to a stop and quietly cautioned, "Just ask yourself, will Lou want to explain how she got injured to the cops?"

Zane frowned in thought then replied, "Right. I understand Uncle X."

He then rushed over to the Constable saying, "Hey Coop, how can I help you?"

"We got a call today from Stella Bellemont reporting her friend Chloe-Faye Kent missing. She mentioned you being a friend of Ms. Kent's and that you were the last person she saw speaking to Ms. Kent at your school's dance last night."

"Yeah, I wasn't really feeling it, so I left the dance early. When I noticed Stella was leaving too, I checked with Lou that she had a ride home. She told me not to worry, so I said goodnight and continued on my way."

"Oh... So...? You wouldn't know where I can find her?"

Zane shook his head replying, "I honestly don't know where she is right now."

And he really didn't. After Styx and Ky confronted the sisters, Beauty had lead Lou out of the clubhouse. He could make an educated guess that Beauty was taking Lou to her apartment, but he honestly wasn't sure that was their destination.

"Have you tried tracking her cell phone?" Zane offered as a way to fish for information about what the cops might or might not already know.

Cooper shook his head. "She left it behind at the coat check, so it's going to be lodged as property at the station at the end of my shift. When she's finally found, she'll be able to pick it up there."

"Oh, shit. That sucks."

"That it does." Cooper then passed Zane his business card saying, "If you hear from Ms. Kent, please let her know that she's been called in as missing and to give me a call. Or at the very least, have her text Stella to ease her mind."

"I'd be more than happy to pass on that message. Have you...? Uhh... Have you talked to her mom and stepdad?"

Officer Cooper shook his head replying, "She's eighteen, so she's an adult and is allowed to do what she wishes with her time under the law. We're only looking into her disappearance because her close friend is concerned about her well-being. We have to assume something unlawful happened until we have confirmation that it hasn't... Y'know just in case this turns out to be more than a missing person."

"Right, that makes sense. If I find out anything that I can pass on, I'll make sure to call you right away."

"Thanks, Zane. I appreciate it."

As they watched the officer walk back to his car, the Hangmen who had been hanging out in the yard moved towards Zane. He tried not to fidget too much in his spot because he didn't want them to see how nervous he felt about being the center of attention.

As the brothers closed in, Zane quietly announced, "Apparently Lou's friend, Stella, was freaked out enough about not hearing from Lou that she called the cops. I'll get Lou to contact her ASAP."

"That's all it was?" AK asked. "Nothing about...?"

"No, just her not returning to Stella's after the dance."

"Alright, good. Tank, why don't you take him to your apartment so he can find Coop's missing person?"

"Come on, Lo. It doesn't take this long for anyone to get changed."

I cracked open the bathroom door to poke my head out replying, "Are you sure Tank doesn't have a flannel shirt or hoody that I can borrow?"

"For the millionth time, no he doesn't. Now get your skinny ass out here."

I closed my eyes and let out a dejected sigh. "Fine."

Reluctantly, I slowly exited the bathroom with my arms wrapped tight around my midsection. As I got closer to her, I noticed Beauty's eyes growing wider and wider. Thinking that something was wrong, my feet slowed to a stop as I worriedly whispered, "Sis?"

She got up off the stool she had been sitting on and approached where I had stopped in a worried silence. She didn't say a word as she took each of my wrists in a gentle grip. I didn't make any moves to fight her, so she easily pulled my arms away from hugging my torso and placed them at my sides. I had to force myself not to fidget as Beauty then slowly circled around me.

She suddenly let out a low whistle as she settled in a spot in front of me. "If you weren't my little sister, I would be pissed at how good my clothes look on you. Seriously, Lo, you are one sexy bitch."

I shyly looked down at the black tank top with a bejeweled skull on the front of it down to a pair of skintight pleather leggings that were tucked into a pair of black Doc Martens boots. This was so not the type of outfit I normally wore. In something like this I would stick out in a crowd. Normally I did everything I could to blend in with my surroundings. That meant my usual 'uniform' was a pair of jeans, a t-shirt that was always paired with an oversized flannel shirt and a baseball cap.

When she realized how uncomfortable I felt, Beauty placed her hands on my face, running her thumbs over my cheeks to comfort me. I'm not sure what she was thinking or what she wanted to say because the next thing I heard her say was, "How 'bout I do your hair and makeup?"

"You... You already did my hair."

The corners of her lips turned up into a sly smile while she answered, "No, I did Lou's hair so she would stop fidgeting with it. Now I wasn't to do Lo's hair so shat she can see how beautiful she truly is. I want you to see yourself the way the rest of us see you."

"Okay. But Suze...? You know that Lou and Lo are the same person, right?"

She shook her head and led me to her bedroom answering, "No, they aren't. They're different sides of you that come out based on who you're with."

"I... I don't understand," I admitted just over a whisper.

She had me sit in front of her vanity so she could start with restyling my hair while she explained, "We all do it to some degree, Lo. It's like, when you're with the guys in the auto shop, you're Lou. Tomboy extraordinaire, who's just one of the guys. But when you're with someone like Stella, you're Lo. Sure, you still have Tomboy tendencies, but you'll still dress up with her and do 'girly' things. Both are you, but you would never act like Lo with the guys or Lou with Stella." She caught my gaze in the reflection of the mirror of the vanity and added, "It's kinda like how I became 'Beauty' after meeting Tank and Susan-Lee got locked away."

"Oh goodness, Suze... uhh..."

"Shhh," she kindly interrupted. "It's fine, Lo. I don't expect you to just flip a switch and call me 'Beauty'. I was just trying to illustrate my point. We're good, Baby Sis."

"Okay. But… I'll try my best to remember that you're 'Beauty' now. I really don't want to pick at any old wounds or anything."

"I appreciate it, but don't beat yourself up if you call me Suze. I know it can take a while for the name to stick. It won't make me love you any less."

I smiled at the kind, serene look on my sister's face. "Thanks, Sis. I love you too."

"Alright, now for the real magic to happen."

She turned the chair I was sitting on so my back was facing the mirror. She continued to curl my hair then instructed me to close my eyes so that she could do my makeup. We didn't talk while she worked because I didn't want to move my face and screw up her work. Whenever Stella did my makeup or vice versa, we couldn't have a conversation because we wouldn't be able to read signs while our eyes were closed, so I was used to this kind of work being done in a complete, comfortable silence.

When she finished applying mascara to my lashes, Beauty picked up the curling iron again to do some finishing touches. I just remained passive in my seat while she worked. Her face screwed up into such an intense frown of concentration that I couldn't help but to smile and laugh quietly.

A soft smile started to light up Beauty's face, but suddenly it fell and she was frowning again. When she started to take a couple of steps away from me, I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but after I opened my mouth to do so, the words got stuck in my throat.

"Fuck, I hate you," Beauty grumbled under her breath to herself with her arms crossed over her chest.

Suddenly, I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. I sniffled in a breath, trying my best not to burst into tears as I questioned, "What…? What'd I do?"

"OH SHIT! No, Lo… Oh fuck, please don't cry." She called out as she lunged forward to hug my neck. "Please don't cry. I didn't mean it. I just…" She leaned back so that she could see my face. Beauty gently brush ed away a tear that had escaped out of my eye with a sad frown on her face. "I really didn't mean it, Baby Lo."

"Why...? Why'd you say it?"

"Because you're too damn gorgeous. When the hell did that happen?"

I shook my head causing my curls to bounce against my cheeks. "I'm not."

She let out an unimpressed scoff. "I'm not going to argue with you because as usual, I'm right. Even if you won't admit it. I was just hoping to hide some of the bruises that are blossoming, but DAMN. Seriously..." She pushed on the chair so that I was facing the mirror again. "Check yourself out. You are on amazingly hot bitch."

A rosy blush colored my cheeks at her compliment, even before my eyes were able to focus on my reflection. My right hand unconsciously moved to touch my cheek as if I was checking that the person, I saw in the mirror was really me. Beauty had curled my hair in such a way that it stayed off my face without having to use any pins. That allowed my eyes to become the most dominant feature on my face.

When she first saw me, Beauty had said that it was almost like looking in a mirror, but I knew that wasn't true. Yes, we both had golden blond hair (mine was lighter from the long hours I spent in the sun tending to our fields with my dad), high cheekbones and almond shaped eyes. However, there were a lot of our features that weren't the same. My lips weren't as full and as plump as my sisters and my nose was so much smaller that it almost looked like I had had surgery. But the one feature that truly set us apart (besides the stitches that she couldn't hide with makeup) was the color of our eyes. Beauty's eyes were a brilliant blue that always reminded me of the color of a perfect cloudless, summer sky. Mine on the other hand were a yellow green that always evoked images of the color of moss that you would find growing on a tree deep within a dark, dank forest. Not the most flattering of images, but it was the best I could come up with to describe how the green color of my eyes tended to favor a more yellow hue to them most of the time.

But today something was different. Today moss wasn't the object of comparison that I would use. I had no idea how Beauty had managed to do it, but now my eyes literally twinkled so brightly that it looked like someone had replaced my irises with a ring of Peridot gems. I never would have thought that the color I loathed so much could look so striking and dazzling. I had to remember to ask her how she had accomplished such a feat.

Before I could formulate that question, Beauty stepped up behind me so that we could see each other in the reflection of the mirror. "See, Lo?" she started in a soft, loving tone. "I told you that you were a damn, sexy bitch." She must have been able to tell that I was going to argue with her because she wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me from behind. "My Little Lo, if I do nothing else in my life, I WILL get you to see how beautiful you are. Even if it only happens once."

I moved my hands to grip her forearms that were still wrapped around my neck. I had no words for how relieved I felt to be held in her arms again. As much as I hated to admit it, I had truly started to believe my mother when she told me, repeatedly and passionately, that my big sister detested her and me with every fiber of her being. Suzie had left us because of her hatred for us, so I should just put up a wall around myself to keep from being hurt by her or anyone else.

For the most part, I had heeded her advice and it had worked and Stella had been the only person (until very recently) who had been able to rock the foundation of that wall. She had always tried to counter any hurtful thing my mother had said, but most of the time I hadn't believed her. It got so bad at one point that I had told her if she ever said my sister's name to me, that she would be as dead to me as my sister was at that point in my lift.

Oh, how wrong I had been about all of it. Thankfully, Stella stuck with me through thick and thin. Even when I got irrationally angry at the most random or off the cuff comment about my estranged sister, she was there to help me through it. It was becoming painfully obvious to me that she had understood something that I could never see or comprehend. Well, at least not until now.

My grip on her forearms tightened. There were so many thoughts running through my head that it was hard for me to focus on just one of them so that I could tell her what I really wanted her to know. But I had to tell her, no matter what. I had...

"BEAUTY!"

My sister smiled warmly and squeezed my neck tightly. "Come on, Lo. Let's go see what my old man wants."

I nodded dumbly, however I made no moves to follow her. She made her way to the door but stopped when she noticed I wasn't with her. I was still just staring at my reflection, so she put her pinky and thumb of her right hand against her lips to let out a loud, ear-piercing whistle to force me to shift my focus to her.

Once our eyes met, she frowned and glared at me as she playfully chastised, "Stop ogling your reflection and get your perky ass over here, NOW."

I immediately jumped to my feet and hurried over to her side. She didn't say a word as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders to lead me out of the room. That was such a familiar embrace from her that it almost brought me to tears. It felt like she was ready to protect me and shelter me from any negativity that would dare cross my path, just like she had when we were younger.

Once his eyes landed on Beauty, Tank started smiling predatorily. I felt Beauty shudder under the weight of his gaze, but she didn't slacken her hold on me. She now only had eyes on her old man and seemed to have forgotten that I was still in the room as Tank started to stalk towards Beauty.

Before he could make it to her side, I dislodged myself from Beauty's hold. I had no real destination in mind while a freed myself form her arms, but 'away' was enough for me. As Tank scooped Beauty into his arms, Zee finally caught a glimpse of me and gasped out, "Holy fuck, Lou, you... you're fucking gorgeous."