Twenty-seven years for this day. She had kept him waiting for so long. He had told enough people "no" to know what he was giving up for her. He knew it was worth it. He only needed her, no one else. Even if she didn't remember him, she would still be Audrey underneath.

He remembered the beginning. He had been so determined. Of course. He had loved her. He would always love her. That was why he hadn't left town. That was why he hadn't met anyone else. He was holding out for someone special. He knew he would have his heart broken again. She would have to leave.

Besides, though he had aged well, he would be much older than her. It didn't really matter; he could still protect her no matter the age difference. He knew he had no chance with her. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Was this how Vince and Dave had felt? The years aged you and took away your hope. At the beginning, you always say you're not going to end up like that, but by the end you do. He didn't know if he could stand watching her from the sidelines.

There she was. Amazing. No amount of preparation could have prepared him for this. He never could have forgotten her face. The only thing that was different this time was her hair. Instead of blonde, it was light brown and densely curly. It reached to about the bottom of her neck. He tried to hide his emotions when she approached. He had to play his part perfectly.

She flashed her ID, "Lyssa Terro, FBI. I've been sent to investigate a trail of murders left behind by Alecia Naril. More victims?" She was already so much like Audrey. He couldn't wait to get to work with her again.

She gave him a look that clearly said that it was his turn. "Nathan Wuornos. Haven PD," he showed Lyssa his ID, "Yes. The body was found a little over an hour ago." She leaned over to investigate the body.

"Male. Approximately 20. That's odd," she frowned.

"What?" Nathan crouched next to her to see what she was looking at.

"It looks like he burned from the inside out," he didn't look surprised, "But that's impossible. People don't just spontaneously combust." He gave her a knowing look. She trusted him for reasons she couldn't explain, but she didn't like all these little inside jokes he wasn't sharing with her.

"We could do some tests to see if you're right." He was humoring her.

"Okay, what do you know that I don't?" She gave him a firm look. He pretended he didn't know what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?' He gave her a cute confused look, and she couldn't hold back a smile.

"You know what I mean. You're humoring me. What did you see that I missed?" He had a strange look on his face like he was remembering something. She was going to ask what was on his mind, but he would just deny he was thinking about anything in particular. Besides, his expression had already returned to a casual glance. She hoped all the people of this town didn't keep this many secrets.

"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about. You want a drive to the station?" He gestured at his car.

She shook her head, "I do want to see the station, but I probably shouldn't leave my car here. I can follow you."

"You have a car?"

She nodded, "That would be how I got from Boston to here. Bit slow, aren't you?" She didn't see why that would be surprising to him. She wasn't sure how long she wanted to stay in a town where spontaneous combustion was the norm but it was odd to have a car.

The first little while had been painfully boring. It was hard to keep conversation fresh after the first couple hours. That wasn't a problem anymore.

Duke's world spun around him. He felt sickeningly dizzy. He didn't understand. Were they being punished? He didn't think this had happened the time before, because James looked just as surprised as him when it started. It went on for what felt like forever. Then it stopped abruptly. He felt too dizzy to get up for a minute or two.

Duke was the first to get up. Once he did, he noticed a door that hadn't been there before. There had to be a reason. He struggled toward it, tripping once or twice but getting there quickly. When he tried it, the door slid open easily. Arla rose. She turned to both of them before she bolted for the door at top speed. Duke caught her and threw her to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm not setting a murderer on the world." Duke stood firm at the door. She shot him a look of pure loathing.

"I tend to side with him on this one." James rose shakily to his feet and joined Duke at the door. Arla stood up again.

"Where do you expect me to go then?" James rejecting her hurt her so much. In a way, he understood. Being the one rejected was never easy. Being told you had to kill people was even harder. But that was where the parallels ended. He had fought his fate. She hadn't.

"We'll have to take her with us," Duke said. James gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you serious?" James was definitely having trouble forgiving her.

"Yeah. Look, if we let her go people could get hurt. If we leave her here she'll just go off on her own anyways. If we take her with us, we keep her out of trouble." James didn't seem to like this solution, but he grumbled something that resembled a yes.

"Alright. Let's go. We can have a look around. See the date and what's changed while we were gone." Duke lead the others through the clearing and saw the little boat he had "borrowed" decades ago. He thought it was odd that it would still be there after all that time, but he pushed the thought away. They rode it back to the town. Something was bothering Duke. As they got closer to the mainland, it got more apparent. Everything was much too quiet.