The blood had a haunting, demonic chill, as if Satan himself had bled. The blood was spreading, covering all the windows to the point where we could no longer see inside. Xander's instincts must have forced him to action, because once he saw the blood, in a split second, he rushed into the office. Dennis stayed with me though, he too gaping at the blood as it seeped across the glass like wine spilling over a table. I was reminded of that one scene from A Tale of Two Cities, when the barrels burst and wine flowed through the streets. I hoped that no one would start drinking the blood like the citizens had the wine.

"Oh my gosh," Anne said, "I can't believe it happened, it actually happened. I thought we...we'd stopped it," Tears gushed from her eyes, but she did not squeal. Tanya seemed distraught, but not by the blood. Something else occupied her mind.. "I knew it was no use, but I didn't want to think it. You know what this means, right Tanya?"

She nodded. What was going on? Believe what would happen, this murder? How could she? What's happening now? People in the cafeteria were trying to figure out what was going on and why Tanya had screamed. But the teachers waved them off, proclaiming it was just a joke. Either they were trying to keep order, or they didn't know what had actually happened. I couldn't take this. Everything was just going so wrong all at once. I passed out.

I awakened in the nurse's office, with Angel, Xander, Tanya, and Anne all looking down on me as I laid on the bed. There faces filled with joy, yet something was wrong. I sat up against the pillow my head rested on. Everyone stilled looked at me, wanting to say something. But who would be the first to speak? I decided it would be me.

"What happened?" My voice starched and quiet. "What happened with all the blood and Angel and...ANGEL!"

He looked at me with a nervous smile, and a freshly bandaged wound across his left cheek. "Hey, Mama. You miss daddy?" I could feel my face warm, as I turned away, meeting Xander's eyes.

"Come on, Angel." Xander said, "Not now,"

"Sorry,"

"What happened? I'm so confused," I said, my voice slightly less cracked and slightly louder.

"Well," Tanya said, "After you fainted…"

I shook my head. "No, what's happening? You two said you knew this would happen. Xander said you told me I was...I was…" I lost myself in my words, not wanting to remind myself of Cole. Then, I remembered, something of the utmost importance, "You guys know, don't you,"

"Of course we know what happened, we were there,"

"No, you guys know who set the fire at Snowball." The look I had seen on their faces earlier intensified to the point I would have had to be blind to miss it. They were staring at me sadly, like they knew if they answered the question it would break me. I didn't care. " It was Andres, wasn't it?"

They all had a look of shame in their eyes, except for Angel who was completely shocked. "It was Andres! But why? I don't get it…"

I felt a hand, rested on my arm,"You need to rest some more," Xander spoke in a soothing and warm voice, "You're under a lot of psychological stress right now and you don't know what you're saying,"

"Xander," Anne spoke authoritatively, "I think we need to tell her the truth," she glanced at me, sighed, and pulled up a chair. "Do you know what an pyromaniac is?" I nodded.

"I don't, tell me!" Angel shouted.

"An pyromaniac is someone who finds joy in setting things on fire, sometimes it can manifest as a fetish or sexual desire." Tanya answered him.

"Right." Anne continued. "Well, you see, Andres, for whatever reason, is a pyromaniac. That's why he…"

"How do you know?" I asked, not wanting to hear what she was saying, "I'm his girlfriend and I didn't know. How would you know that!?"

"Because I saw," she paused for a moment, then pointed at Tanya, "We saw him do it,"

"Impossible. I was in the bathroom with you guys when the fire started,"

"Do you believe in the supernatural?" Xander asked.

"No. What's that got to do with it?"

"Well, you better start." He paused and glanced at the two girls beside him, who nodded despite the grim looks on their faces. Xander turned back to me. "See, Anne and Tanya are psychics. They saw him do it, before he did it. They saw it in their minds."

I was angry and confused. Does he think I'm that gullible?

"You're crazy," I said, flabbergasted by his comment, "You're all crazy,"

"Think what you want, but you were the one who wanted the truth. We're the one's telling it," Xander said, almost like a student council member, "Guys, I think we should let her rest some more," He left. Slowly, Anne and Tanya both left, leaving me with Angel. We sat quietly for a moment, neither of us wanting to speak.

"I bet you're curious about how daddy here's not dead," He said suddenly. I nodded and he replied with a smirk. "Well, it's a crazy story."

"We've got time." I replied.

"Ok, so I was in the office, right? And I was just sitting there, thinking about how awesome I am, when all of a sudden there was this guy. He was standing in the middle of the office, just staring at me." Angel shivered at the memory. "It was really creepy. He had this weird mask on, so I couldn't see his face. But man," he shook his head, "it was like he was staring into my soul."

I gaped at him, astonished. "What happened then?"

"I'm not sure actually. We had this sorta staring contest for a second, and then he was jumping on me with a knife." Angel straightened in his chair. "Of course, I beat the stuffing outta him, but as you can see, he was pretty good with the blade." He motioned to his forehead and the stab wound in his side that I had failed to notice earlier.

"Oh my God!" I screamed when I saw the bloodstain on his shirt. "Angel, how are you alive?" It looked like the knife had impaled him very close to his heart. A large wad of gauze was held to his side by a band.

He laughed at my reaction. "You have so little faith in me, young one."

"Faith isn't going to stop you from bleeding out." I pointed out.

"But I am a saiyan." He announced proudly. "It's very hard to kill me."

I blinked confusedly at him, then shook my head, grinning slightly. At least he was well enough to keep being his usual self.

"What happened to the guy?" I asked after a pause.

"I don't know. I was lying on the ground, bleeding, then Xander came in and the guy just disappeared. Poof. Like he was never even there." He shrugged.

"This is all so weird." I grumbled, putting my head in my hands.

Angel laughed nervously. "You're telling me."

The loud sound of footsteps approached. We both looked up in alarm as several of our CGS friends screeched to a halt in front of the doorway. They stared at both of us for a moment, eyes flashing with alarm and relief.

"OHMYGOSHWEWERESOWORRIED." Karina shouted, springing over to us. She hugged Angel so tightly that he started to gag, then she proceeded to do the same to me.

"Karina...I kind of need oxygen." I gasped

"Oh right sorry I was just SO WORRIED!" she exclaimed in a high pitched squeal while releasing me from her death grip.

Angel rubbed the back of his neck. "We know." he laughed.

The other people who had entered the room all appeared equally concerned. Of course, they didn't jump on either of us, but I could still tell.

"What the heck happened, anyway?" Lydia asked. Angel launched into the story he had just told me. Our friends faces grew more shocked as time went on. By the end of it, half of them were staring open-mouthed at Angel.

"Someone tried to kill you?" Julia screamed.

"Dang it. Wish I'd been there." Bethany mumbled. Neffisah shot her a questioning look, but didn't say anything.

"I don't blame them." Angel shrugged. "I'd be jealous of me too."

The entire room rolled their eyes. But we were all just happy no one was dead.

"What was the blood like?" Kirsten asked me, a half-smile on her face. Several people glanced at her, though by now we were all used to the fact that she was a bit strange. Actually, we all were, in some way.

"It was like Shark Week." Aries shouted. Kirsten gave him a suggestive look, and a few of us laughed.

"Actually it was more like that one scene from A Tale of Two-" I started.

"NO CHARLES DICKENS HERE YOU BLASPHEMER!" Angel bellowed, springing up from the chair he was sitting in. I was startled by his outburst and jumped slightly, my heart thudding in my chest.

"We do not speak of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." he lowered his voice to a hiss.

I shook my head but laughed. "Whatever Angel."

"I ship it!" Kiara shouted, and the second after she covered her mouth.

I whipped around to face her. "I have a boyfriend."

"Suuuuuure you do." Angel looked to the side nervously.

"Angel…" I threatened dangerously. He raised his hands in mock defense.

There was an awkward pause as I glared daggers at the boy across from me. The silence was broken as authoritative footsteps sounded in the hall. We all turned towards the door was the footsteps drew nearer. I could hear someone speaking.

"Pardon me, Student Council coming through." Adam said, voice muffled by the several walls and doors separating us.

"Step aside...OK you need to-MOOOOOOVE!" he shouted. I could hear the frantic shuffling of feet as people ran to move out of his way. The Student Council, with Adam in their lead, stepped into the nurse's office. For a moment, we all just stood there, staring at one another. Then Adam cleared his throat. "We need to question-er, talk to these two." He motioned towards Angel and myself. The non-Student Council members glanced at one another, not sure if they should listen to their president or not. Adam narrowed his eyes at them.

This got them all to move. They whispered hasty goodbyes, then quickly left the room, shutting the door behind them. There was silence for a minute.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Adam asked. He spoke like one would speak to a child, like he was looking down on us. I was used to this by now, but it still bothered me a bit. Angel didn't seem to notice. He just jumped right into his story for the third time. The Student Council watched with expressionless faces as Angel told of his 'heroic actions'.

"And you didn't see his face?" Adam asked once Angel had finished.

He shook his head. "Nope. He was wearing a 'Phantom of the Opera' type mask."

The Student Council thought about this, determined looks on their faces. Ashley reached up to scratch behind one of her pointed cat-ears. Meaghan shot her a withering glare, and Ashley stuck out her tongue. I hoped they didn't start fighting again.

"Do you think that this attacker is the same person who tried to burn down the Snowball?" Cole asked sternly, eyes blazing with anger.

Angel and I looked at one another. If Anne, Tanya, and Xander were right, and Andres had tried to burn us all alive, that would mean he was an attempted murderer. I couldn't believe that. There was no way he would ever try to kill anyone, let alone a friend of his. That meant it had to be someone else. But did that mean Andres wasn't a pyromaniac. I was finding it harder and harder to convince myself that it wasn't him.

Angel looked back at the Student Council, who was watching us anxiously. "Um...I don't think it's the same guy." He started.

A knot formed in my stomach. Was he going to tell them that Andres was-no, might be-the person who tried to kill us all at the Snowball?

"Why's that?" Adam asked. Clearly he had picked up on the strange looks we were giving one another. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I-um…" Angel gave me a nervous look. I pleaded with my eyes for him not to tell.

"Well, just...Why would he try to kill us all at once, then shift to murdering us one by one?" He suggested, covering up what was undoubtedly playing through his mind right now. I sighed inwardly. Thank you, Angel.

Adam and Cole regarded this comment, while Ashley and Meaghan were staring each other down. Meaghan was red-faced, like Ashley had said something that offended her. Ashley had a triumphant look on her face.

"Very well." Adam announced. He straightened. "We will summon you if we need any more information." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out, Cole following closely behind. Meaghan and Ashley realized the two had left, and forgot all about their disagreement. They pushed one another to get out the door first.

Angel and I stared at the place they had disappeared, then glanced at one another.

"That was...weird." I mumbled, shaking my head.