A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever. My muse decided she wanted a vacation, and until she gets back, this is all I have to offer to you. My sincerest apologies, because I know it's short, and probably sucks, but humor me, and please leave me a comment!

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Information

City Park

"So, Spence…" Ashley began while staring at their entwined fingers.

They were halfway through the park already, and Ashley wanted to tell Spencer her findings on DuPonte before they got home.

She figured, now might be a good time.

"Yeah?" the blonde asked, swinging their arms back and forth.

Ashley smiled at the gesture, and looked up into Spencer's eyes, forgetting for a moment what she was going to say.

"Ash, you were saying something." Spencer reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Well I kinda did some snooping…" she ran her free hand through her hair, worried at how Spencer would react to such grizzly news, considering the missing Environmentalist just may as well be the person she and Glen witnessed being murdered.

"Okay, honey, on what?" she asked, a little curious now.

"Alaric DuPonte." Ashley blurted.

Spencer stopped walking for a second, than began once more, her mind racing with question after question. She asked the most important one though,

"Who was it?"

Ashley immediately understood who Spencer was talking about. She wanted to know the identity of the victim that she saw. Ashley was unsure whether to tell her about this Charlie person, or lie and say she had no clue.

She went with the truth, or at least, her theory.

"Charlie Jacobs, at least, that's who I think it is. She was an Environmentalist person for Alaric's company," Ashley found them a bench to sit on, "and she disappeared like eight years ago."

Spencer looked at Ashley, confused.

"But what I saw happened only two years ago."

Ashley had thought about that when she read it on the website, so she did more digging. It turns out that Charlie had disappeared about six and a half years earlier, trying to escape from Alaric (Ashley's assumption. All the website had said was that she was trying to stay hidden from someone).

Spencer's eyes widened as Ashley told her this newly acquired information. As Ashley finished telling Spencer about the events that lead up to her disappearance almost nine years ago, Spencer's brain began to ask more and more questions.

Questions she desperately need the answers to. Like, is Charlie really dead, or did she survive the brutal attack? The police never found a body in the place she told them about. Did Alaric get to her, kill her, and just stash the body some other place?

She needed to know, and she wanted to know, now.

Grabbing the brunette's hand, she yanked the both of them off of the bench, and in the direction of their apartment.

"Come on." She said simply.

Ashley, a little surprised at her girlfriend's sudden behavior, just followed silently.

---------------------------

Somewhere Unknown

Alaric had his pawn prepared.

It was set.

She was to arrive in three days to that wretched girl's location, and get into her life, and prepare Alaric for the final moments of the young girl's life.

He was giddy.

After all this time, he was finally going to dispose of the last thing that tried to ruin him.

He laughed.

He had been spared, not having to take out the blonde boy, her brother. He was disposed of by someone else. Someone Alaric was grateful to.

He paced.

He needed to continue his plan. After the pawn was planted, he needed to give her directions, the exact times and places he wanted her to show. He needed to burn her image into his brain.

He would never forget.

It was only a matter of time…