The woman standing in the doorway is almost the same as when I left. The hair is a couple of shades lighter, and cut a bit shorter, and the clothes are different to those I remember, but I would recognise the face anywhere. Even if she is as pale as a ghost. I glance to my right and see Laura watching her with a strange intensity and I grab her arm, shaking my head at her with the tiniest of movements.

"I'll be back at the jet. Take as long as you need." She hasn't opened her mouth, or spoken a single word, but her voice is in my head. She pulls her arm from my grip and walks out the front door, her footsteps nearly silent on the floorboards, shutting the door behind herself.

"Mum?" I whisper, keeping my distance.

"Darcy? What are you doing back here?" she asks, taking a step towards me.

"It's kind of a long story. Where's Dad?"

She smiles, a small, half-smile. "I guess that's a long story, too. Do you want a drink? Go and sit down in the lounge room and I'll make you one."

She watches me as I walk into the lounge room, but not warily. More with curiosity, like she wants to know what I'm going to do. I take my coat off the stool and bring it with me, laying it over the arm of a chair, and straighten up as I hear the kettle boiling. I look around the room, and the furniture is the same, but without any of Grace's things scattered about. I turn back to the doorway when I hear Mum coming back, but something above the TV catches my eye and I do a double take to look at it.

It's a large photo, blown up and framed, and it's of Grace and I. I remember this being taken a couple of weeks before she died. It's of her lying in my arms and smiling at me, and Mum took it outside, under the old tree.

"Do you like it?" Mum asks, standing in the doorway with two steaming mugs. "I got it a few days after your father and I divorced."

"You split up?" I take the mug she hands me and sit down on the couch. She sits next to me, and I watch closely, ready to move if she gets too close.

"About a week after you ran away, we decided that we couldn't stay together. We were both at Grace's funeral, but a couple of days after that we couldn't stop fighting, and he left. I don't know where he is now-"

"I don't want to see him," I say quietly, interrupting her. She smiles at me and continues.

"He kept blaming you for what happened, but it's not your fault. I know what happened to you, and you couldn't help it. Yes, it broke my heart, but I can't blame you for something you can't control."

We sit in silence for a minute, Mum always watching me, until she sighs and I turn to her.

"Why did you come back?" she asks, setting her mug down on the table. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

"I'm not staying," I mumble, and her eyes drop. "I can't stay here. I'm wanted for murder, and I can't control my own body. I have to go back."

"Back where? Where did that woman take you, Darcy?"

"It's not just her. There's a school, in New York, for people like me. They teach us to control our powers, and the best get to help them protect people."

"You're not talking about that vigilante group of mutants, are you?" she asks, eyes bright, whether with worry or excitement, I'm not sure.

I nod sheepishly. "If you're about to say that I shouldn't be involved with them, then don't even say it. I could have died out there, and they're helping me."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be with them, I'm just saying you need to be careful. And you still haven't told me why you're here."

"There's a girl, she's a lot like me, and she's teaching me to control my gifts, but there's something stopping me. She said I should come home for a bit to try and figure out what it is."

"So she wouldn't even tell you what you had to do?" Mum seems almost outraged, but I just shrug, taking a drink from my coffee.

"She doesn't exactly know herself. She could only give me what she knew."

Her face softens, and I know she understands. "So what do you think you have to do?"

I sigh, shaking my head. "I don't know, but I have to find out soon. It had something to do with 'unfinished business'."

Mum doesn't say anything for a moment, and we both have a drink, but then she looks up suddenly.

"Grace," she says, a triumphant smile slowly spreading across her face. "You never got to say goodbye to her. What if that's what it is?"

I drink the rest of my coffee in one go and stand. "Mum, I think you might be right. If I go there now, I can come back and say goodbye before I leave."

"Then go. Do what you have to do. I'll see you when you get back. You can take some flowers from the garden if you want."

"Thanks, Mum," I say softly, almost a whisper, one of the only genuine smiles I've had in months spreading across my face. "I'll see you soon."

I take my coat off the arm of the chair and pull it on, doing up the buttons and belt, and pulling the hood over my head. Despite the fact that I need to say a proper goodbye to my sister, I'm still wanted for murder, and the cemetery's in the middle of town, so I have to be unbelievably careful.

I walk up the main street, keeping my eyes downcast, trying to avoid attention. I see a couple of people I know, old teachers and friends, but pay them no attention, and they don't seem to notice me. But when I see one familiar face stepping out from the corner store, I stop in my tracks for a second, and have the nerve to raise my head as she starts walking towards me. I take another look, and I don't see the girl coming out of the shop, I see her sitting on a bench with me, singing while I play guitar. I'm so tempted to reach out, tell her I'm here, but she beats me to it. She's just opened her mouth when I shake my head.

"In here," I whisper, grabbing her arm and leading her into a side street with a dead end. I know there's a blocked-off doorway near the end, and I don't say anything else until I've pulled her inside. We're too close for my liking, but I can't run the risk of being seen. It's madness for me to even be talking to her, but she was my best mate, and I couldn't just walk past her like she meant nothing to me.

"Darcy?" she says, her eyes flitting over me, almost panicked. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Ssh, keep your voice down," I say, my voice low as I pull down my hood. "I shouldn't be here, let alone talking to you."

"You're wanted for murder, Darcy," she says, a little quieter this time. "Why are you strolling through the middle of town?"

"I need to get to the cemetery, and there's no other way. And I wanted to see if anything had changed," I admit, shrugging.

"This doesn't have something to do with Grace, does it?" she asks, voice even quieter this time. "And have you ever heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'?"

We share a quiet laugh, and her eyes sparkle even in the dark, just as I remember. Just like Morgan's do.

"So why are you here? And what happened to you?" she asks.

"I lived in the bush for a while, and then this group of people, people like me, came and took me away. They took me to a school, in America, for people like me. They're teaching me to control my gift, but I have some unfinished business here that's stopping me from improving. And I think I need to see Grace one last time."

"You're crazy," she says, shaking her head. "So you're what, a mutant or something?" Her eyes grow wide when I slowly nod my head.

"Maddie, I'm not going to hurt you. But if you touch my skin, you'll get hurt. That's what happened to Grace." I take hold of her arms and hold them tightly. "I swear to God, I'm not going to hurt you, or anyone else."

"You just took off, and that hurt more than anything you could do now." She looks and sounds hurt, and I cringe. "Sorry," she says at my expression. "It was just so unexpected."

"Well sure, nobody ever expects that their best mate's a killer."

"You're not a killer, Darcy. But you are my best mate. You still are. Nobody can replace you."

"I do have to go, though. There's someone expecting me back soon, so I've got to go."

"I wish you didn't have to," she whispers. "I need you."

"I need you, too," I whisper back. "Give me your number or something and I'll call you."

She hands me a small slip of paper and I immediately shove it in my pocket so I don't lose the one link I'm going to have left to my old life.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" Maddie pleads. "It's been too long here without you."

"I can't, Maddie. No matter how much I want to, I can't stay here. Not after everything that's happened. Not just to me, but everyone around me. I've hurt everyone that's come near me."

"I don't care about any of that. I forgive you for anything you've ever done to me. Please, just stay." Tears are welling in her eyes, and I shake my head.

"I can't, OK?" My voice is starting to shake, and I can feel my throat closing over. "I need to leave, and I'm not sure if I can ever come back. But I'll always remember you, and I'll keep you close."

We hug each other tightly, and I make sure she doesn't touch my skin. This kind of contact is just so weird after so much time without it, but I can't live without it, either.

"What are they doing about me? Are they still looking?"

"It's more of a 'if you see her, we need to know' kind of thing. It's not really active anymore." She shrugs, almost like she doesn't really care about it anymore. I don't think even the police do, from what she's said. They might even think I'm dead. Good.

"Maddie, you can't tell anyone I was here, OK? They can't find me, or know you saw me."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone, Darcy. I wasn't going to risk it. I promise."

We hug each other again, and step out of the doorway. I look up into the mouth of the street, and my mouth drops open slightly.

"What's the matter?" Maddie asks, carefully putting a hand on my shoulder.

"The last time I was in a street like this, I nearly ended up dead," I admit shakily.

"How the hell did that happen?" Maddie exclaims, spinning me around to face her properly. "What happened to you?"

"I ran away, got kidnapped and tortured for information I didn't have, then got dumped in a river to drown. The people that took me away from here saved my life."

"Why did you run away?" she asks, letting go of my shoulders.

"Because I was being a moody bitch," I sigh. "I really do have to go now, Maddie."

We hug each other tightly one last time and I pull my hood up even though I don't want to let go.

"Keep yourself safe, Darcy," Maddie says softly as I'm about to step into the sun. I turn back for a second and nod.

"I'll never forget you, Maddie."

I go before her, head down, never looking back, but I know she's going the other way. I don't regret seeing her, but I do regret leaving her again.

I continue towards the cemetery, unnoticed by everyone that walks past me. I still see familiar faces, but no one had the same impact on my life as Maddie. She was always there for me, and never let me down, even when I completely lost it.

The cemetery gates are cold even through my gloves, but I don't care. This is where Grace is now, and I have to say goodbye. I pull out the small bouquet of flowers I picked from the garden and look over the headstones. There's a new-looking one over the other side, and I've got a feeling that's where I need to go.

My footsteps are light on the ground, but my soul has never felt heavier. Even the night I killed her, I didn't feel this bad. Now I'm seeing exactly what I did. What's happened because of me.

The headstone is a little smaller than most of the others, but it wouldn't feel right if it was bigger. It would dwarf the little angel it's there for. It's made from polished stone, and nobody's put any flowers there recently, but it's well looked after.

I kneel down and sigh, placing the flowers in front of the headstone. I look up at the inscription and read, and tears well in my eyes.

Grace Caitlyn O'Hara

3/5/2013 - 13/10/2013

Loved by her family more than their own lives. This little angel is watching over us, and she will know how much her family loved her, and still loves her.

"I will never let them hurt you."

I start crying when my eyes rest on the quote at the end. They're the first words I ever spoke to my baby sister, just after she was born. The tears are flowing faster now, and I'm shaking, my body racked with sobs.

"Grace, I never meant to hurt you," I manage to choke out. "I loved you more than anything, and I would have laid down my life if someone tried to hurt you. I don't know how to live knowing that I killed you." My voice has just stopped, the next words on my tongue, but I can't force them out.

I pull off my gloves and stuff them in pocket and reach inside my coat, feeling for the handle I know is in there. I feel it on my fingertips and reach for it, pulling it out into the sunlight. Nobody really comes to the cemetery much, so I'm pretty sure I won't be seen.

I hold the knife out in front of me, the sunlight glinting off the blade. I take a deep breath and fix my eyes on the headstone, on the words that I told my baby sister the first time I ever laid eyes on her. The first time I ever touched her. The promise I broke.

"Gracie, I'm so sorry."