AN: Zeldazonkk: That was exactly what I was aiming for in this chapter, I'm so happy with your review and I'm really glad you like how the story is going!

Clouldcity'sbookwarm: I'm glad I'm doing well with Dakota and Ben's relationship, because it's an important part of the plot even though the story doesn't centre around it. I hope you like this chapter more :)

This chapter will be loosely based off of the episode "Home Invasion." I'm obviously going to change it up, though, and I won't copy the show. I used one of the lines from a different episode because I felt like it would benefit the story and I couldn't think of something that would really fit better or make the ending of this chapter as intense. I know it's sorta short but I hope the content makes up for it! Please review, thankyou so much for reading!

When Dakota woke up, the blood stains had disappeared from her clothing, almost completely. Almost. There was just enough staining left to remind her that it had in fact happened. At least she knew who to blame for it. That had to be why Sophia had been tiptoeing around her until she could execute her little plan.

It was night outside, she could tell from the lack of light in her room from outside. She switched her lamp on and out of her peripheral vision, saw something written on her blackboard. Her stomach did what could only be described as a 'flip-flop' and she sat up and looked at her board.

One word was written on it: "TAINT".

"Huh," she tilted her head slightly, trying to work out what it meant. She was sure it had been Tate this time.

Well, a taint was something that would be left somewhere forever, usually. A stain? For some reason, she couldn't help but have a feeling he was referring to something other than the blood residue on her clothing, something more complicated...

Dakota got changed into pyjamas for the first time in a long time, she needed the comfort of the silk right now. It reminded her of better days and it just felt clean. They were a champagne colour, given to her as a gift from her mom on her birthday two years ago. One of the many gifts she had received that year, and possibly her favourite since it was an accurate representation of her mom: beautiful, simple and special. They still fit perfectly, somehow.

Dakota checked the time on her phone, it was 10 o'clock. There was also a message from Sasha about what had happened in school, but Dakota didn't feel like revisiting the subject right now and decided to reply tomorrow, instead. She felt like telling her mom, she had to talk to her about it... But then, she didn't want to worry her, so she figured it would be for the best if she didn't know for now.

"Mom?" Dakota walked into the hall.

"I'm just gonna get changed, honey, then we can watch a movie or something," Her mom called from her bedroom. "Dad's in Boston visiting a patient, we can have a girls night."

Dakota smiled. "Sure."

Then the doorbell rung, almost making Dakota jump. Who could it be, at this time?

"Dakota, don't-" her mom began, but Dakota was already halfway down the stairs. She thought it could be Tate, for some reason, maybe he was worried about her and decided to take a risk and come by. But then, wouldn't he find a less obvious way to get her attention? He never seemed to have trouble getting inside undetected any other day...

"I won't open it up, Mom, don't worry!" Dakota called up to her mom, who trusted her. They were close, and if Dakota told her she wouldn't do something, she wouldn't do it. It didn't mean her mom wasn't aloud to worry, of course, and something about this just felt... Off. Strange, to say the least. But her daughter had to be independent, and she was safe with the door locked.

Dakota peered into the spy-hole and frowned when she saw a woman with a bleeding wound at the side of her head.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm hurt and needing some help," she said it like she'd rehearsed it more than a few times. Dakota instantly felt suspicious.

"What happened to you?" She asked, sounding firm. She couldn't let herself appear to be weak to this woman, she just didn't seem genuine.

Something weird was going on. It had to be fucking Sophia's aunt or something, playing another twisted game with her. Well she was done. She was done with people playing games with her. She just wanted a quiet, calm night with her mom so they could re-watch The Notebook for the tenth time and cry.

"He hurt me, and he's going to stab me, please help!" The woman seemed desperate but not panicked, strangely enough. She didn't look like she actually feared for her life, so she was either a shitty actress or a remarkably fearless woman. But why didn't she say that in the first place? She had no sense of urgency about her when she had first spoken, so Dakota's instincts were correct to some degree; though she was disregarding her theory about Sophia being involved. This was something else entirely, but what?

"I'll call someone for you-"

"No, you have to let me in! He's out here! He's going to kill me and then he'll kill you and your mom!" The woman exclaimed, eyes wide.

"My mom?" Dakota narrowed her eyes. How the hell could she know her mom was with her unless she'd been watching her... And then it all made sense. It had seemed rehearsed because it was, and she had been watching them. That, or Dakota was about to watch "him" stab this woman at her front porch...

"Yes, Dakota, your mom," the woman smirked. There was something dark about her expression now. The act was over.

Dakota turned to go look for her mom, realising that she should have came down to find out what was going on long before now.

"Going somewhere?" A sinister laugh came from behind her.

Dakota whipped around and saw a guy with a sack with holes for only his eyes over his head standing four feet away from her, and she screamed loud, then turned and darted up the stairs. "MOM! MOM-"

She got to the fourth step and then he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her back to the floor, and she blacked out completely after hitting her head.

Dakota's eyes flickered open, and the first thing she felt was a pounding in her head, then, looking up at three masked people, remembering where that pain had come from.

"Mom?" she said in a small voice, turning her head to face her mom who seemed to be unharmed but had her wrists tied in front of her, sitting on a chair beside Dakota, who was also sitting on a chair, though her wrists weren't tied. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Dakota was more concerned about her mom than herself, it was obvious.

"Stop being so pathetic, we haven't done anything to her... Yet," The woman that had been at the door pulled off her mask and so did the other two. "But we have something planned for both of you."

"She's going to be Gladys," the other woman smiled, she looked younger.

Dakota's face was screwed up in confusion. "Who the fuck is Gladys?"

Her mom nudged Dakota and frowned, not only at Dakota's reckless choice of words but also at how sinister this was all beginning to get.

"Look, if you want money, you can have as much as you like, alright? Is that what you want?" Her mom asked, trying to seem calm for Dakota's sake. "Or if you want the house, or the car, you can take them, too."

"Take her upstairs," the woman from the door ordered the other woman and the man, ignoring her mom's efforts at bargaining."It's almost time."

"What? Time for what?" Dakota's eyes widened, and she jumped to her feet. When the guy gripped her mom's arm, she punched him hard, right on the nose.

"Bitch!" He raised his arm to punch Dakota back, like an immature child in a playground fight would. She braced herself for the pain, but the woman from earlier who seemed to be the leader of the trio stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"We're wasting time. Hurry," she grabbed Dakota by the waist and was surprisingly strong, holding her back as they took her mom away.

"No, let her go!" Dakota cried frantically. "Please take me, not my mom, don't hurt her, please don't hurt her!"

"I love you, Dakota, you're gonna be okay!"

Her cries quietened into sobs as her mom disappeared around the corner and up the stairs. But she noticed a flicker of hope in her mom's eyes when she began to turn that corner, and began to feel herself calm down a little at that. Her mom had a plan.

A few seconds later, the woman pushed her back into the chair. Her back slammed against it and she winced, but glared at the woman, carelessly wiping away her tears.

"You'll die, too, you know," she threw a white garment at Dakota. "Put it on."

Dakota glanced at the dress. It was a nurse's outfit. The woman threw stockings at her too. "And them."

Dakota stood up and threw them back at her, hard.

"No," she shot back defiantly. "It isn't fucking Halloween, and I'm not in the mood to play dress-up."

She thought that using sarcasm could buy her some time, maybe throw the woman off if she got her mad enough.

"You have to, everything has to be perfe-" She broke off when the lightbulb blew abruptly, without even flickering.

Dakota froze, waiting for something terrible to happen. It usually did, when the bulb blew. That was what it was like in most horror films, right? And her life was starting to mirror one.

She winced at the sound of a knife meeting flesh and the woman before her screaming in agony.

The knife stabbed into the flesh again. Another scream, more pained than the last one. And another.

"STOP!" Dakota screamed, and immediately the light somehow turned back on, causing her to blink several times to adjust to the sudden, drastic change of brightness, and also to confirm that what she was witnessing before her was really happening.

Blood was seeping through the woman's shirt, a dark scarlet stain... The knife was pulled out of her back, and her body fell limp, crashing against the floor, revealing the killer: it was Tate.

Dakota stumbled backward against the kitchen table, eyes wide in shock.

Tate looked... Un-affected. Numb. Until he cast his glance onto Dakota, of course. When he looked at her, it morphed into one of concern.

"Did she hurt you?"

She shook her head, noticing that he was still clutching the bloody knife.

"What are you going to do with that?" She asked shakily.

Tate glanced at the knife and then back at her. "You think I'd hurt you, Dakota?"

She really wasn't sure what Tate was capable of, after that. Definitely murder. But could he hurt her? Would he?

On an impulse, Dakota darted past him and upstairs. She heard him behind her, but she also heard him drop the knife. Knife or no knife, she had to admit that she was scared of him, especially after witnessing him kill someone right in front of her.

When she got inside her room, she slammed the door in his face. "I never wanna see you again!"

All of her dad's words about Tate echoed in her head, and she found herself wishing he was here right now. None of this would have happened if he'd been here.

She didn't mean what she was saying, she just needed time to think about what had just happened, what Tate had done... It was to protect her. But was that woman really going to do what she said she would? Surely there could have been a way to injure her but spare her life.

Since the shooting, Dakota had began to value life in itself and others' lives as well as her own more highly, and she just hated the whole subject of death. She was beginning to feel like she attracted it, brought it upon everyone around her, but not herself.

"Get out!" She cried.

For a moment there was silence.

"I care about you more than anything else in this entire fucking world!" He yelled, and she sobbed again, louder this time. "WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?'"

Dakota's body trembled uncontrollably with more sobs, and she let her back slide down against her door until she was sitting holding her knees against her chest. "Get out!"

After hearing nothing for a few moments, Dakota took a deep breathe and stood up. "Tate?"

No answer.

She opened her room door. He was gone.