A/N: PLEASE READ!

Okay guys, this is a very special chapter and I was literally in tears as I wrote it. This chapter is a very strong T-rating and there won't be an author's note at the end. This is a very intense chapter, so don't be fooled by the fact that it starts off light. This is one of the darkest chapters I've ever written and it's going to change the ENTIRE landscape of the story. Unfortunately, one character faces something that we'll all have to face one day. I'm guessing you guys know what I'm talking about. This character is very close to my heart even though its someone else's OC and its very hard for me to let them go. I want to thank the person who sent in this OC last year. I can't reveal who the creator is until next chapter and I hope they aren't too mad at me. If you guys want to discuss the chapter or why I chose to do this or anything else, please feel free to go to my forums or send me a PM.

Louhearst vs. Seathroul

Special Chapter: Garden of Fate

Things had been peaceful between Louhearst and Seathroul in Azalea after the first day. Duncan Mendoza's sister had taken him out of Seathroul and he had been sent to Throuleas, another academy that was similar to a military school and as far as anyone was concerned, Louhearst had technically 'won' the war between the two academies. With Duncan gone, the animosity had seemingly ended. As the expedition prepared to move towards Goldenrod, it seemed that the students were in high spirits.

"Here's the spot…"

Logan led the group of second years into Ilex Forest and stopped as a grin formed on his face. "As you can see from Rus's video, this is the exact spot where that troll's Salamence fell. Think of it as an early birthday present to myself."

"Damn, Logan," Jett said as he finished watching the video. "You were an absolute monster, then Ethan beat Mendoza in that brawl at Seathroul, and now I have my guitar. Man, we are on fire! Plus, your birthday is tomorrow. We should celebrate."

"We can hang out in the department store in Goldenrod," Rietta suggested. "They have tons of fun stuff to do. Hey, we can hang out at my house after we're done."

"No thanks," Jett scoffed. "Your dad already hates me and today's Friday which means that I want to have fun before the tournament begins on Monday and that does not include being harassed."

"Well, your dad hates me!" Rietta countered.

Jett shook his head. "My dad only says what he says because your dad starts it. Plus, whenever we were on the webcam this summer and my dad came in my room and said something about you, I defended you. When your dad said something about me, you just sat there and let him drill me over a bunch of nonsense."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Rietta replied. "My parents are gone to Saffron to visit some of our relatives and they won't be back until Monday and I don't even know where my sister is."

"Wait…" Z.K. said as she approached the trio with the second year girls. "Your parents are gone until Monday and you have the house all to yourself. I've seen your room on Logan's webcam and it's pretty sweet, so I'm guessing the rest of your house is. How many rooms do you have?"

"Six," Rietta answered. "Eight if you include the basement and attic. Why?"

"Paaaaaarty!" Z.K. and Becca shouted in unison.

"Absolutely not," Rietta said quickly. "My parents told me that if I went home any time during this weekend, I had to keep everything in order and in every movie when the teenagers have parties, they tend to get out of order."

"This is real life, Rietta," Z.K. said as she grabbed onto Logan. "And come on, tomorrow is your best friend's birthday. Try to say no to this cute face."

Logan quickly put on a false sad expression and Rietta groaned. "Well…" she started. "I'm not-"

"What if it's just a small get together?" Z.K. interrupted. "It'll just be a few of the second years hanging out."

"I guess that'll be okay," Rietta told her. "But no more than twelve people and everyone will have to keep their Pokémon in their Poké Balls. Now, let's get out of this forest. Bug Pokémon creep me out…"

The group continued towards the exit, but unbeknownst to them, the first year trio had been eavesdropping on the conversation. Mark stopped Asher and Jericho in the middle of the forest as a grin formed on his face. "No," Jericho told him immediately. "They said second years only."

"You got it wrong, my half-albino friend," Mark replied. "I didn't hear the words 'second years only' at all, but I did hear twelve people. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we dropped by. What if I ask Jett?"

"Fine," Jericho said. "But don't tell anyone else about this. Keep it a secret."

Mark nodded his head and grinned. "Secret is my middle name…"

"I thought it was Bartholomew?" Asher said curiously.

"You know what I mean!" Mark snapped. "Seriously guys, I won't tell anyone about the party…"

Rietta led the group second years into Goldenrod City Department Store and for the most part, they were all amazed. Almost immediately, everyone dashed in different directions. Rus led a few of the boys to the arcade while Becca led some of the girls into the various department stores.

"Hey guys," Ethan said to Logan and Jett. "I'm about to head out. Ronnie is taking Joey to see some of her family later on and she wants to take him to National Park for a bit, so I'm going with them. She's not going to be at the party tonight and Lyra has a cold, so she's not going to be there either. You guys know I'm still up for it, though. Text me the directions to Rietta's house when you guys get there."

"Alright," Jett told him. "But before you leave, remember that tomorrow is Logan's birthday, so that means JEL has to go all out tonight. It's just a small get together, but we still need to party hard. Damn, we need to come up with like a JEL three-way handshake. Ethan, think of one while you're at the park."

"Got it," Ethan said as he walked towards the door. "Catch you guys later."

Logan and Jett watched as he disappeared through the sliding doors and the second that they were sure he was out of earshot, they turned to one another.

"Dude, I need to talk to you," they said in unison.

"You first," Logan told Jett.

"Well, I really want to invite Sonia to the party," he said. "But Rietta's so damn hateful, that she definitely would say no. Damn, I need Z.K. She's the only one who can help with stuff like this."

"Hmm," Logan started. "Rietta's actually been a lot nicer today. I think it's because we're in her hometown, so she might let you. Still, you'd probably need Z.K. to help you convince her."

Jett nodded his head in agreement. "So, what's the deal with you?"

"Well…" he began. "Tomorrow's my birthday and I want to celebrate tonight, if you catch my drift."

Jett arched an eyebrow at him before he realized what Logan was talking about. His emerald green eyes widened as a grin formed on his face. "Man, you are on fire. Making a chick strip in Ilex Forest and now you're trying to go all the way. No problem, I'm sure Z.K. or Becca or better yet, Z.K. and Becca won't mind helping you out with that. They're very generous girls after all."

"Actually, I don't want them. It'd be way too easy. I kind of want a challenge."

"Man, you have gotten a big head since we beat Seathroul, but I'm with you. Now who are you going to try to seduce with your emo love magic?"

"I was thinking that it should be Emma tonight and if I'm lucky, Roux tomorrow night."

Jett burst out laughing as he thumped his friend on the head. "Good luck with the impossible. You might have a chance for Roux if I put in a good word for you, but Emma? Yeah, right. What are you going to do, write her a poem about how life sucks and she's the only one who matters?"

"An emo joke," Logan said sarcastically. "You are so hilarious. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit."

Jett went over to Rietta and Z.K. as Logan made his way down the department store. The Poké Mart back in Viridian City paled in comparison to the large department store. As he stepped into the elevator, he thought about his conversation with Jett and realized that he was right. He had become arrogant ever since he had defeated Sadie in that battle a month earlier and with Seathroul technically losing the war against Louhearst, he felt even more confident heading into the tournament and he was glad that it was being held in Goldenrod. He had been planning on getting a car for months and Goldenrod City was the best place in Johto to find a cheap one. However, he realized that a car would definitely boost his ego and that he needed to find some way to keep his arrogance in check, but he wouldn't worry about that until later. Tonight, he was going all out. The elevator stopped and he found himself on the roof of the department store. He let Mawile out of her Poké Ball and she quickly hopped on his shoulders.

"Alright, Mawile, I'm going to need you to help me."

"Maaawiile!"

She smiled and nodded her head, giving Logan a sign that she was fully cooperating with him. He stepped further out and stopped when he saw Emma overlooking the city down below. Pushing his hair out of his eyes, Logan began creeping up behind her.

"Guess who?" he said as he put his hands over her eyes.

"Well you smell like cinnamon mixed with the smell of Cold Shoulder clothing, so I'm going to guess its Logan."

Logan removed his hands and sniffed himself. "Damn, you're right. So, you came to the roof instead of shopping?"

"Well, I live on a farm," Emma replied. "Money's not exactly splendid if you know what I mean."

"I totally understand. My Mom grows her food too, but that's probably because she's a hip-I mean environmentalist. So, what have you been up to? We haven't really talked in a while."

"Nothing much," she answered. "Jett's been helping me hook up Jerry and Sarah, I helped Jewel win the preliminaries for her beauty pageant back in Azalea, and me and Roux have been hanging out." She paused for a second and shifted her vision to the ground below. "I can see why you like her so much."

"Yeah, but there's a lot of reasons why I like you. Are you coming to the get together at Rietta's house?"

She nodded her head. "Tomorrow's your birthday. What better way to have fun then to spend time with your friends? I'll definitely be there."

"Cool. I think we could, you know, spend some one-on-one time just hanging out…"

"It's easy," Z.K. whispered to Jett as they walked a few feet behind Rietta. "We just need to get her a guy for the party. If we do that, she won't care about you bringing a girl to the party."

"How?" Jett asked. "She hates everyone and most people generally don't like to be around-"

"Rietta?"

They looked up to see two boys approaching Rietta. Jett recognized the first one from Emma's peace summit for Seathroul back in Violet City. He had brown eyes and medium brown skin with straight black hair. The second boy had short curly brown hair and kind brown eyes with fair skin.

"Hi, Cody…" she greeted to the second boy. "Jett, Z.K., this is Cody. He was on the Louhearst tour."

"Hey…" Jett and Z.K. greeted in unison.

"Nice to meet you guys," he said as he gestured to my friend. "I think you guys met my pal, Jahmil back in Violet City."

"Yeah, I remember him," Jett replied. "He was at the peace summit."

Cody nodded his head and turned his attention back to Rietta. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Rietta's just showing us around the store," Z.K. answered. "She's from Goldenrod."

"Wow, you are so lucky. This place is awesome."

"Thanks…" Rietta said as a slight smile formed on her face.

Jett noticed the smile and instantly a light bulb went off in his head. He grinned as he elbowed Z.K. She stared at him in confusion as he pointed at Cody. It took her a few seconds before she realized what he was referring to.

"Rietta," Z.K. suddenly said. "I'm hungry. Can you go get me a pretzel or something from the food court?"

Rietta frowned at her and pointed to her left. "It's right over there. Why can't you go get it yourself?"

"I could do that, but walking all the way over there and walking all the way back would tire me out and I get really angry when I'm tired out. I'd really hate it if I ended up kicking someone's pale ass for not going to get me a damn pretzel after I asked her nicely!"

She moved closer to Rietta and glared into her eyes. Rietta sighed and nodded her head. The last thing she wanted to do was get her teeth kicked in for something as stupid as a pretzel and Z.K. was even more unreasonable than she was. "I'll be right back," she muttered as she headed for the food court.

"Hey, Cody," Jett said the second he noticed that Rietta was out of earshot. "What do you think about Rietta?"

"She's pretty cool," Cody answered honestly.

"Do you like her?" Z.K. asked curiously.

"Sure."

Jett and Z.K. grinned at one another. "Well," Jett continued. "We're having a small party for my friend Logan at Rietta's house. Do you two want to come?"

"I'm up for it," Jahmil answered. "It'll be a great way to end any lingering hostile feelings about our schools. What do you think, Cody?"

"Yeah, we'll come."

"Cool. Just out of curiosity, do you guys know Sonia Barret?"

Cody and Jahmil nodded their hands. "We're cool with her," Cody explained. "Why?"

"Bring her with you," Jett told him. "But don't let anyone else know about the party and you have to keep your Pokémon in their Poké Balls. We don't want it getting too out of hand."

Rietta walked up and handed the pretzel to Z.K. "You owe me two dollars," she told her.

"I owe you what?" Z.K. questioned as she glared at Rietta. A large grin formed across her face. "An ass kicking? Is that what you said, Rietta, because that's what I heard? I'd be more than happy to pay you right now."

Rietta sighed. "Forget it. It's just two dollars."

"Listen," Jett started. "Cody and Jahmil are coming to the party to end any hostility between Louhearst and Seathroul. Is that cool?"

"Yes," she answered as she looked at Cody. "But don't tell anyone…"

Rietta led Logan, Jett, Ethan, Roux, Z.K., Emma, and a few more of the second years into her backyard and they were amazed at what they saw. There was a large white gate enclosing the gigantic yard with an east entrance and a west entrance. Inside was an enormous garden covered with a variety of beautiful and colorful flowers. There was a wide concrete path placed in the garden for people and their Pokémon. In the center of the garden, there was a large bird bath and to the far right, a large cherry tree stood overlooking the entire area.

"I usually come in through the east gate," Rietta told them. "The west gate is always hard to open."

"Wow, Rietta," Emma said. "This place is beautiful…"

"Whenever I used to have some sort of problem, I'd always come to the garden to help me take my mind of off things," she explained. "It's like you can escape from all your problems when you're back here…"

After a few more minutes, Rietta decided to show them around her house. The living room was extremely large with two expensive couches with several chairs surrounding the area as well as a large flat screen television. There were luxurious curtains draped over the large windows and the beige colored carpet was spotless. The rest of the house was just as impressive. The rooms were spacious and extremely neat and there was even a skylight in the attic.

"Okay," Jett started. "I haven't asked this because I hate your dad, but what exactly does he do?"

"He's a businessman," Rietta answered. "And my mom's a doctor."

"Wait," Logan said. "So you're like almost rich?"

"Well," she said. "I'd be lying if I said that we weren't well off, but we're nowhere near Clarke level. Anyway, let me lay down the rules for this little get together..."

Immediately, everyone began tuning Rietta out as she went on and on about what not to do. They were planning on having a good time and they felt that she should at least trust them. After what seemed like forever, the group of second years was ready to start enjoying the night. The sun had set and since there was no curfew for Louhearst on weekends, they had the entire night ahead of them. Jett and Ethan placed a large chocolate cake on the oak table in Rietta's kitchen as Z.K. began lighting the candles. She grabbed onto Logan and pulled him towards the cake as everyone began shouting.

"Happy Birthday, Logan!"

"Don't sing!" Logan quickly told them. "Whatever you do, do not sing! You can save that for tomorrow when it's my actual birthday."

"Would you rather us read you a sad and depressing poem?" Jett taunted.

"As soon as I think of a comeback," he told Jett. "Just wait."

"Just make a wish," Rietta said as she pushed him towards the candles.

Logan glanced at Emma and grinned as he blew out the candles. The blonde girl turned red as she made her way to the living room. Roux put on the music and the second years began dancing as Z.K. heard the doorbell ringing. "I bet that's Cody!" she said as she winked at Rietta. Rietta rolled her eyes at her as Z.K. opened the door.

"Nina?" she said looked at the fourth year girl in confusion. Nina smiled at her as she walked in, followed by several more students. "Jeremy? Kaylee? Nikki? Eliza? Blake?" The students kept filing in and Z.K. tried to close the front door, only for it to be reopened by the first year trio.

"Hello beautiful," Mark greeted as he led Jericho and Asher into the party. Z.K. rolled her eyes at him and attempted to close the door once again, but before she could, it was kicked open, almost hitting her in the face. Shane Clarke simply shrugged his shoulders at her as he led the Soul Snakes into the house with a large case of beer in his hands.

"I brought the beer!" Shane shouted. "I would've brought champagne, but I didn't want to make any of you less fortunate people feel out of place!"

"Clarke, what are you doing here!" Rietta said as she looked around her house to see teenagers everywhere. "Who even told you about this? Did you seriously bring alcohol? As a matter of fact, how did you even get it?"

"Relax, Muk-Face," he said as he winked at her. "It's a party. You can't keep a party a secret. I just brought the beer to lighten things up. Arceus knows, you have no idea how to throw a party."

He and the rest of the Soul Snakes made their way into the living room. Rietta's eyes widened as she noticed two more boys entering her house. She immediately could tell that they were a part of the Seathroul gang who started the war. The first one was a tall, handsome and athletic looking boy with light brown eyes, spiked, dark brown hair, and slightly tan skin. The second one was a tall and lanky boy with pale skin and piercing brown eyes. His flaming red hair peeked out of the hood that he always wore on his head as he carried a case of beer in.

"Hold it!" Rietta said firmly as Jett and a few other boys walked up behind her. "Listen, this party is supposed to be private. If you're not friends with Logan, you need to leave."

"That's not an inviting tone," the dark-haired boy said with a cocky grin on his face. "What do you think, Vic?"

"Definitely not an inviting tone," the red-haired boy replied as he turned to Rietta. "Chill, Mackenzie. Zack and I came here to have some fun. That's all."

Jeremy immediately placed his hand on Vic's shoulder and the two upperclassmen glared at one another. "Just letting you two morons know," Jeremy started. "If you're here to cause trouble, don't even think about it."

"Wait a second!" Z.K. yelled as she squeezed in between Jeremy and Vic. "The war between Louhearst and Seathroul is over and the tournament is on Monday. Can we start the peace by at least getting along at this party?"

"One thing and you two are out of here," Jeremy warned as Rietta nodded her head in agreement.

"That's cool," Zack stated as he and Vic headed for the living room. "Think of us as friends…"

The two Seathroul thugs walked passed Rietta and she felt a shiver go up her spine, but she figured if everyone was happy, she didn't have anything to worry about. When Cody, Jahmil, and Sonia finally arrived, Jett quickly walked up to them. "What's the deal?" he told them. "I told you not to tell anyone."

"What are you talking about?" Cody asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Those two psychos, Zack and Vic, are here!"

"What?" Cody said in surprise. "Listen, Jett, we honestly don't know how they found out about this party."

Jett sighed and turned his attention to Sonia. "Well, we told them if they caused any trouble, they were out of here, so the situation is under control. Come on, Cody, let's go find Rietta."

The two boys began searching for the party host through the sea of people, but Shane was the first one to find her. "Hey, Muk-Face," he said as he took a seat on the stool next to her. "I have a present for you."

He reached into his jacket and Rietta gasped as he pulled out a large transparent bottle. He grinned as he handed it to her. "Is that what I think it is?" she questioned as she stared at the bottle. "Clarke, this is illegal. You've already brought beer to the party. You could go to jail."

"It's just a little tequila," he told her. "And I'm rich, so I don't think I need to worry about going to jail. They should be worried about the store owner who sold it to me. Anyway, just have a few sips. It'll help you lighten up and enjoy the party."

He grinned as he stood up and rejoined the dancing teenagers in the living room and Rietta could tell that Shane was either drunk or very close to it. Rietta stared at the bottle for a second before she noticed Jett and Cody approaching her. She quickly stuffed the bottle under her and pretended to be focused on something else.

"Look whose here!" Jett said. "It's Cody!"

Rietta managed to smile. "Hi, Cody," she greeted.

"Hi, Rietta," he greeted back. "You look really pretty tonight."

"Um, thanks…"

"You two kids have fun!" Jett said as he left to rejoin the others.

Rietta and Cody sat in an awkward silence. Z.K. had told Rietta that Cody might've had a small crush on her. She didn't know if she liked him yet, but she could tell that he was a nice person. Still, she didn't want to be rude since she realized that the reason that she was in the Friendship Club in the first place was because of her attitude towards people, but she didn't know how to ease up. She glanced at the bottle under her seat and sighed.

"Stay right here," she told him as she quickly reached down and placed the bottle behind her back. She walked backwards towards one of the bathrooms and locked the door behind her. Rietta stared at the bottle and sighed. "Let's hope this works…"

"Rus! Rus! Rus!"

The party had been going on for a while and Z.K. was struggling to keep control of everything. The music was getting too loud, people were snogging all over the place, and a third of the party-goers were completely drunk. Rus was breakdancing drunk in the center of the large crowd of students. Z.K. started looking for Rietta and found her stumbling around and giggling in the kitchen.

"Can I have a little help?" she asked her. "It is your house!"

"Chill out, Z.K…" Rietta said in a drunken slur as she began giggling. "It's a party!"

"Are you drunk?" Z.K. yelled as she smelled her breath. "Tequila! Where in the hell did you get that?"

"It doesn't matter…" Rietta giggled. "Where's Cody? I want to dance with him!"

Z.K. pointed to the corner where he was seated and Rietta stumbled over towards him. The drunken girl took a seat in the confused boy's lap and Z.K.'s eyes widened when Rietta planted a kiss on his lips. Z.K. immediately began looking for some water as Rietta led Cody to the dance floor.

"You know this shit is getting out of hand when I'm one of the few sober people…" she muttered to herself.

Jett and Sonia took a seat on one of the couches. They had been dancing together the entire night and Jett finally saw his chance to ask Sonia out. "So…" he began. "I've been thinking about you a lot since we've met."

"The feeling's mutual," Sonia said as she smiled back at him.

"Really! That's so great. I was wondering if you'd like to you know, make this official?"

"Are you asking me out?"

Jett nodded his head. "A lot of girls have taken a ride on The Jett, but they were only good enough for coach. You'll be flying first class all the way."

"First class?"

Jett nodded his head once more as he took a drink. Sonia grinned and moved closer to him. "Nah," she whispered seductively. "I'd rather ride in the cockpit…" She winked at him and Jett's eyes widened as he spit out his drink.

"That was the hottest thing any chick has ever said!"

She stood up and grabbed his hand. "It's about to get hotter…"

Jett flashed a huge grin at Logan as he and Sonia passed him and headed towards the entrance to the basement. Logan let out a laugh as he went searching for Emma. He passed the first year trio, who were flirting with Becca.

"If you want to take a ride some time," Mark told her. "I'm getting my dad's car as soon as I turn sixteen next year."

"Baby, do you even have the training wheels off of your bike?" Becca taunted.

Logan laughed and continued forward. He had been drinking a bit, but compared to the others, he was pretty sober. He found Emma near the stairs, overlooking the party. "Having fun?" he asked her.

"I am now," she said as she smiled at him.

"Can we talk?" Logan said as he gently grabbed her hand. "Privately…"

He led her upstairs as the party-goers continued their fun. However, things were getting even more chaotic. The sound of glass shattering was heard and everyone stopped to see what had happened. Zack and Vic high-fived each other as the crowd discovered the broken window. The two Seathroul thugs had thrown one of the chairs through it and it was obvious they were both drunk. Jeremy and Blake immediately went into action as Shane opened the front door.

"That's it!" Blake yelled as he slammed Zack against the wall. "It's time for you two to hit the road."

"Chill out, dude!" Zack told him. "It's a party! Things get broken!"

"And people get kicked out!" Jeremy countered as he grabbed on to Vic. "Sayonara!"

"Get your hands off me!" Zack shouted as he and Vic were shoved out of the front door. "Big mistake!"

"You'll regret this, Louhearst!" Vic threatened.

Shane simply smirked at the two boys and closed the door behind them as the crowd cheered for him, Jeremy, and Blake…

"Clarke! Clarke! Clarke!"

Logan led Emma into one of the guest rooms and the two took a seat on the bed. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until out of nowhere, Logan gave Emma a kiss on the lips. She stared at him in confusion, but she didn't say anything. He kissed her again and after a moment of hesitation, she took off her jean jacket and kissed him back. The two quickly began making out, their tongues swirling around in each other's mouths. Logan broke the kiss and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. When he started trailing kisses down her neck, Emma decided that things were going too far.

"Wait," she said as she moved away from him. "This isn't right. I don't think we should be doing this if we're not going out."

"I don't see a problem with it," Logan told her.

"Well, I do. We shouldn't even be kissing if we aren't dating and what's the deal with you today? You broke up with me and now you're kissing me."

"Look…"

He stopped and shifted his gaze to the floor below him. Emma's confused expression quickly turned into a frown as she figured out what Logan was up to. "I can't believe you…" she told him, her voice full of hurt. "You were just using me to get a birthday screw! After everything we've been through together, you try to pull something like this. What happened to you? Last year, you were the sweetest boy on the planet, but now you're just a jerk!"

"And what happened when I was nice!" Logan shouted. "You tell me because everything I remembered sucked! I got shit thrown at me by Shane Clarke every day, I got blamed for blowing up Mt. Moon, I saw my friend get killed by some psycho terrorist group, my mom was shot, and my best friend almost died of poison! When I changed my attitude, I got a good job, I got on good terms with Clarke, I have more friends, and I'm not getting walked all over. No one cared about me last year!"

"I did!" Emma yelled as she stood up and quickly went out of the room and down the stairs. Logan followed her, pushing the random party-goers out of his way, and stopped her at the front door.

"Listen," he tried to explain. "I have too much going on to be dealing with a girlfriend. If all this wasn't going on-"

"Let me ask you something," she interrupted. "Do you love me?"

The question caught Logan off guard. "Um…"

"Do you love Roux?" she questioned.

"I-"

"Do you love either of us?"

Logan sighed. "I care about you a lot, but-"

"But you don't love me?"

"No, it's not that. It's just-"

Emma shook her head. "You know what, you don't even have to explain. If I had a birthday wish, I'd wish for the old Logan back."

"Guess what, he's not coming back, so you might as well deal with the new Logan."

"Well, I have two words for the 'new' Logan," Emma replied, the anger in her voice at its most absolute level. "Fuck you!"

She opened the front door and walked out, slamming it behind her. Logan buried his face in his hands as he took a seat on one of the empty couches. He realized that his plan was not only stupid, but it was extremely hurtful. He wanted to punch himself in the face and he knew Jett was right about his attitude. He had gotten arrogant and he was no better than Sadie Yanes or even the Soul Destroyers. Logan finally understood that getting back together with Emma wouldn't be too hard to handle. With everything else going on, having a girlfriend could actually make things better and convince him to lighten up like the 'old' Logan would do. He came to the conclusion that as long as he was at Louhearst under Dean Horace, he was safe. After a few minutes, he was joined by Jett and Shane, both boys coming from opposite ends of the house. He noticed that Shane had Emma's jacket in his hands.

"I saw what went down," Shane told him.

"What went down?" Jett asked curiously. "I've been pretty…busy."

Logan sighed. "It's nothing. Me and Emma got in this huge fight. I want to go apologize, but there's no way she'll accept it."

"Sure she will," Jett told him. "She's Emma, the most forgiving person on the planet. Give her a few minutes to cool off and then go look for her."

"I'll even help you," Shane told him. "She left her jacket and her Poké Balls are in it, so she's not going to leave. We'll go outside in a few minutes and I'll help you out with your apology."

Logan could tell that Shane was being sincere and he wondered what kind of conversation he could have had with the Elder Sage that made him start being nicer. "Thank you…"

Emma made her way to the back of the large house. The moon was shining brightly and the loud music could be heard from outside. She checked the time on her watch. It was midnight and part of her wanted to go back in the house to wish Logan a happy birthday, but she was too hurt. The blonde girl made her way into the garden through the east gate and closed it behind her. She hoped that the beautiful sight of the flowers would help her feel better. However, this was not the case.

"What happened?" she said to herself in shock as she looked around the garden.

The beautiful flowers had been trampled on, the bird bath had been knocked over and smashed into pieces, and the entire garden looked like a tornado had hit it. It was the exact opposite of what she had seen just hours ago.

"Niiii…"

"Sheeeedii…"

A Ninjask and a Shedinja sped past her and over to the cherry tree where she saw two figures leaning against it. Her eyes widened as Zack and Vic recalled their Pokémon and approached her. "I should've known it was you two!" she shouted.

"Look who it is," Zack taunted. "It's the cowgirl who slapped Duncan. What's wrong? Your emo boyfriend not good in bed." He smirked and grabbed onto his belt. "I have something you can ride, cowgirl. Ask that slut, Ronnie, and she'll tell you about it! I'm a stallion, baby!"

The two boys began making horse sounds and continued their lewd comments. Emma could tell that they were drunk and decided to just ignore them. She headed for the nearest gate trying to tune out the two thugs.

"Hey bitch, we're talking to you!" Vic shouted.

"Hey, Miltank!" Zack added. "Turn back around so we can see those amazing udders!"

The two boys high-fived one another as Emma's face turned red in anger. She turned around and marched up to them. "Listen, I don't have time to deal with you two jerks." She turned to Zack. "Instead of making fun of me, you should be out getting a job to help support your son that you're making poor Ronnie raise all alone. What kind of man ditches a girl after she gets pregnant with his child?" She turned to Vic. "And you need to get a personality transplant, see a therapist, and maybe see a dentist. This conversation is over…"

"Ooh, the hick's getting all brave!" Zack taunted as he and Vic turned in the opposite direction. "Come on, let's get out of here…"

The two boys headed towards the east gate and Emma shook her head in disgust. "Losers…" she muttered as she turned her back to them and began trying to open the west gate.

Vic suddenly stopped and allowed Zack to pass him. Not only was he drunk, but he was extremely angry for being thrown out of the party and now he was being trashed by the same girl who started the war in the first place. Duncan had been sent to military school and Vic immediately wrote him off as weak for how he dealt with the situation. The red-haired thug felt his anger boiling. "You know what, cowgirl…" he whispered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black handle. He flicked his wrist and there was a quick clicking noise as the six-inch blade emerged from the black handle. "It's about time someone shut you up!"

Zack whirled around as Vic sprinted at the blonde girl, the knife grasped firmly in his hand. The moment that Emma managed to get the west gate open, her ocean blue eyes widened in shock as she felt the blade being driven into her back. As Vic backed up with the knife, he and Zack looked on in horror as Emma's pink camisole was stained crimson with blood.

"Vic…" Zack said as his eyes widened in utter shock. "What did you do…?"

They watched as the girl began struggling to breathe, blood pouring out from her mouth and back. Emma slid to the ground against the gate, staining the white canvas red with blood. Vic froze for a moment. He couldn't believe where his anger had taken him. He ran past Zack and bolted out of the gate. Zack took one last look at the girl who was dying before his very eyes before running after his friend. The two boys ran past the Vella Cousins who stared at them as they disappeared into the night.

"Clarke?" Logan said as he arched an eyebrow. "Was that a…knife in Vic's hand?"

He didn't get an answer. Logan turned to Shane and was surprised to see that his face was twisted in horror and his skin had become pale. He slowly lifted a finger and pointed to the garden where the two boys noticed a figure crumpled up against the gate. They ran inside the garden and Logan was horrified to see Emma lying there. Her skin had gone extremely pale, her blue eyes were staring off into space, and her shirt was covered in blood. He knelt down beside her and had to keep himself from screaming as he noticed the stab wound in her back.

"Come on, Emma!" he shrieked as he attempted to hold her head up straight, only for it to fall back down again. He held her tight as tears streamed from his face. She wasn't responding at all and he knew this was worse than Rietta when she had been poisoned. Shane immediately began panicking as he whipped out his cell phone and started punching numbers.

"This is Shane Clarke!" he yelled into the phone. "I'm on 214 Ashbury Street. Send an ambulance, quick! A girl's been stabbed!"

Sonia nervously ran her hands through her hair as she, Cody, Jahmil, Logan and Shane stood outside of Goldenrod Hospital with two police officers. "Vic Lawson and Zack Winters," the girl told the police.

"They're both Seathroul students," Cody said. "And they're known for getting into a lot of trouble."

"Vic has red hair, brown eyes, and his skin is pretty pale," Jahmil told them. "He usually keeps his hood on his head though. Zack has spiked brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin."

The police officer wrote down the information as his partner turned to Logan and Shane. "Did either of you see which one committed the offense?"

"No," Shane answered. "But Lawson had the knife when he and Winters ran past us. We're pretty sure it was Lawson…"

The officers nodded their heads and the two of them walked towards their car. "Logan, I am so sorry!" Sonia told him, trying to fight back her tears. "Please let us know how Emma's doing…"

He nodded his head as the three Seathroul students made their way towards Sonia's car. "Listen, Martin," Shane started. "Jewel told me that Louhearst is on lockdown, so as you soon as you and the others finish up here, you have to get back to the school. Um, if you need anything…"

Logan simply nodded his head as Shane walked off. He couldn't understand how Emma would make Vic mad enough for him to stab her. He had her rumors that Vic Lawson was a 'psycho' but he didn't know that he would take things as far as he did. Logan sighed to himself as he slowly made his way into the hospital to see Jett, Rietta, Ethan, Roux, and Z.K. in the waiting room.

"This is all my fault!" Z.K. cried as Jett attempted to comfort her. "I shouldn't of let the party get so out of hand!"

"Yes…" Rietta said into the hospital phone. "They broke a window, destroyed the garden, and Emma's hurt. She was stabbed! Dad, I'm so sorry. Okay, I'll see you when you get here…"

She hung up the phone and rejoined the group. Logan looked down at his hands only to see them covered in Emma's blood. He began breathing heavily as he rushed into a nearby bathroom. The other five comforted one another as one of the doctors approached them. They all stood up as he stopped.

"Is she going to be okay?" Roux asked him.

The doctor sighed as he managed to put on a straight face. "I…I need to speak with a family member immediately."

"Well her parents are on their way," Jett told him. "They'll be here in a bit."

"Wait," Ethan interjected as he walked in front. "I'm her…brother. Does that count?"

The doctor nodded his head and sighed once again. "The blade pierced your sister's lung and caused severe internal and external hemorrhaging. We tried to contain the bleeding, we tried to revive her, we tried everything, but the damage was too great. She didn't make it…"

"You're kidding, right?" Ethan said in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry, young man," the doctor replied. He was used to giving out bad news, but he knew it wouldn't be long before his voice began cracking. "There was nothing more we could do…"

The doctor walked away and the five students stood there in total shock as Logan walked up to them. "What's the news?" he asked. "Is she going to be okay?"

Ethan shook his head angrily as he grabbed his hat and threw it onto the ground. Tears streamed down his face as he wrapped his arms around Logan. Logan looked at his friends. Roux and Rietta's eyes were still widened in shock, Jett's eyes were watering, and Z.K. was sobbing lightly.

"No…" Logan whispered in total disbelief.

He held onto Ethan as Jett and Rietta wrapped their arms around them. Roux and Z.K. joined them and the six students embraced on another in a tear-filled hug for the loss of their friend. They couldn't believe that a school rivalry could end up going as far as it did. The war with Seathroul had claimed a life…