AN: A new update for Faige, as promised. :) And we're getting new POVs this time, too. Oh how I've missed this story!

Enjoy!

Katie

Faige introduction was a bust to say the least. That Kieran bloke zipped my fucking mouth shut! Not to mention he looks like microwaved shit. I was only trying to ask him if I could check on Effy before he got started!

"Elizabeth is in good hands" is the only explanation I got. I try to protest and before I can say one word the barmy fucker clamps my lips together! Fucking prick.

I sit up on the bed, still pissed, and open my phone to check the time. I let out a heavy sigh and toss it aside. Three hours it's been since I've been back.

"Where is she?" I say aloud to the empty room. Worrying about her is doing my head in. I just wish I knew where she was.

Just when I'm about to head down to Kieran's office and risk being zipped again, the door opens.

"Effy!" I practically shriek, the weight of the world leaving my shoulders; that is until I see a familiar face entering the room behind her.

"Angee?" I ask in alarm, recognizing our form tutor from the college. Angee looks alarmed.

"You recognize me?" she asks, sounding like it's the biggest shock of her life. Effy looks between us, confused. I nod, wordlessly, as if to say 'Uh, duh!'

"Well that's odd." Angee says, looking confused, now, "I was sure the charm worked."

"Sorry?" I ask, still waiting for my explanation. Angee sighs.

"My binding abilities," she explains, "they allow a certain sense of security in difficult situations."

What the fuck does that mean? I stare on, waiting for her to fully explain.

"Last night when you both arrived, Harriet came to me with your situation. I thought it best, for security reasons, that the two of you not recall my presence at your other school. We were still not completely sure of your involvement with the Cook boy."

"You erased our memories?" Effy interrupts, looking hurt and vulnerable. I bristle a bit at that. Hasn't she had her head fucked with enough?

"Not erased, Effy, no. Blocked." Angee explains, "And I'm sorry, I know it's unfair of me to ask you to trust me after all you've been through. But we had to be sure. Cook can't know I'm stationed at his school; even everything he's done to you can't attest to how dangerous he is."

"You still could've told me!" Effy says, tears in her eyes, "I just let you bind what little defenses I had, only to find out there's a connection between this place and Cook! What if he finds me?"

Effy is panicking now, and my instincts kick in. I jump up and wrap my arms around her. I look to Angee, resisting the urge to death glare her for causing this.

"Do you trust us, now?" I hiss at her and she takes a step back.

"Yes." She says, almost a whisper.

"Then no more fucking games!" I tell her, "And if you fuck around in her head again, uninvited, you regret it, yeah?"

Angee looks for a moment as if she's going to protest, but instead, she looks briefly between the two of us and then gives me a curt nod.

"He won't find you, Effy, I promise." She attempts comfort, but Eff only recoils. I give her the coldest glare I can without putting all of my anger into it, hoping I won't actually hurt her. She remains standing.

"Haven't you done enough?" I ask, and with that she nods and finds her way to the door.

I hold Effy as tightly as I can, hoping Angee can keep her promise.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

JJ

Not good. Definitely not good. Too soon. Not trained. Bad. Very bad. Can't fight. Not good. Not good.

"JJ" Freddie calls my name. He'll get hurt. I'll get hurt. We'll all get hurt. Effy. Effy's pregnant. Effy's human. Can't fight.

"JJ!" He yells louder and shakes me. I look up.

"Sorry Freds. Locked on." I try to blink away my thoughts.

"What's eatin' you Jay?" He asks. Should I tell him? Kieran said don't tell. Freds'll be angry. Should tell. Can't tell. Dangerous. Can't fight. Tell him. Don't tell him. Tell him. Don't tell him. Te—

"JJ!?"

"There's a crazy Faige named Cook who raped Effy and got her pregnant and her baby has powers. Cook is killing people and he's really dangerous but we can't fight him cos we're not trained and I wasn't supposed to tell you but—"

"Whoa! JJ!" he cuts me off with a cuff round the ear. I look up and he's staring at me with wide eyes. "A crazy Faige named who?"

"Cook!" I shout, trying to get it out before getting locked on again.

Freddie's eyes grow even wider; a second later he's gone.

Bad. Very Bad.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

*7 Years Earlier*

Freddie

I walk up the front path and approach the front door. Here we go.

The tall, red-headed woman that I've grown to fear opens the door.

"Hello, Frederick." She slurs, drunk again.

"Hello, Ms. Byatt, Is Jimmy home?" Jimmy. The name feels strange in my mouth. Cook hates it. But she only gets angry when I call him Cook.

"Jimmy!" she shouts into the house and I can hear Cook starting to bound down the stairs. She turns and stumbles back through the house, leaving the door open.

Just when Cook gets to the door, I see her collapse on the sofa.

"Hey Freds." Cook greets me with a wide grin.

"Alright, Cook?" I ask. He glances back at his mother and I see his smile falter. He plasters it back on before looking at me.

"Alright."

I follow him through the house and into his room. He starts up the Nintendo and we only get through two levels of Mario Kart before his baby brother, Patrick, starts to wail from the next room. We both sigh, loudly, and Cook goes to fetch him. He comes back a moment later with Patrick on his hip and a bottle in his hand.

"There you are, Paddy, all good now, yeah?" he says, smiling, as he cradles him and places the bottle in his mouth. He turns to me.

"Sorry, Freds." He says, tilting his head toward the paused video game.

"S'alright." I tell him.

It's quiet for a time, long enough for Paddy to finish his bottle and for Cook to set to work changing his nappy.

"How long, this time?" I ask, referring to his mum's drinking binge. It's become a regular thing: Cook looks after Paddy while his Mum stays bladdered.

"Three weeks, give or take." He says, "Mrs. Whalen takes him while I'm at school." Mrs. Whalen is Cook's next-door neighbor. She practically raised him from the time he was four.

"Maybe you should go to the police, Cook." I tell him, though I know what he'll say, "They can help you get out of this."

"No!" he says, flatly, making it clear that it's not up for discussion, "They'll take Paddy. They'll separate us."

He's probably right. But that doesn't make it ok for a 9 year old to be raising a baby.

"You need someone to take care of you, Cook." I protest, but he's not having it.

"I said no, Freds." He hisses, "Maybe you should go. Paddy needs a bath." I nod and make my way to the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

*Present Day*

Freddie

I slam through Kieran's office door to find him sitting in his desk chair. Harriet and a thin woman with long black hair are in the chairs opposite the desk. There's a news video playing on a projector. I watch as a man jumps from a building and lands limply on the concrete below. The camera pans back to the roof to show another man hiding behind a door that leads to the stairwell from the roof. His face is barely visible.

"Could this be the same man from the horrific shopping center quarantine last month?" a news reporter says.

An image of a mug shot appears on the screen.

A mug shot of Cook.

AN: I was honestly surprised no one asked about the fact that Angee was at both schools but Effy didn't recognize her. Well, there's your explanation if you caught it :) But in other news... The plot thickens. *wicked laughter*

See You Next Time. :)