She was quite the sight. Jamie had remained oblivious to Sophie's protests and called their mother, who came rushing in almost immediately only to rush out again in disgust. Sophie was almost unrecognizable beneath the blood and bruises that adorned her face, even after the doctors patched her up.

Jamie and Mrs. Bennett cagily approached Sophie, as the doctors finished their job, afraid she might snap at them or send them away. However, she looked weak and defeated, lying almost motionless but awake.

"Are you her mother?" asked an approaching doctor, causing Jamie and Mrs. Bennett to avert their attention.

"Yes," Mrs. Bennett responded, her voice quivering slightly. She glanced over her shoulder at her daughter. "There aren't any serious injuries or permanent damages, are there?" Jamie crossed his fingers behind his back.

The doctor glanced down at the clipboard and exhaled deeply. Jamie uncrossed his fingers. "She has a mild concussion, but that will cease over time. Some damage had been done to both her eardrums, nothing too severe, but her left eye runs the risk of being permanently damaged."

Mrs. Bennett was silent. "Runs the risk?" Jamie asked.

"There's still hope."

'Hope'. For the first time in his life, Jamie wasn't interested in hearing the word. He didn't want his sister to have just a glimmer of hope; he wanted her to have the certainty that she wouldn't go blind. The subject of hope also reminded him of the guardian associated with it, and Jamie couldn't imagine Bunny's reaction should he see Sophie in her current state. Easter was that weekend. How much could Sophie heal in a week?

#

Mrs. Bennett stood outside the door, a bundle of nerves though she had nothing to be nervous about. Jamie stood next to her, having agreed to accompany his mother to the house. He rapped on the door and waited.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" Mrs. Bennett asked her son. Her face was drained of colour, though not from anxiety. She was still shaken from the events of the previous night and her eyes were red from continuous sobbing at her daughter's side, much to the latter's dislike.

"It's the only thing we can do," Jamie responded, in a low voice, lest anyone approaching the door on the inside could hear them and decide not to let them in. After what seemed like an eternity, Jamie was about to knock again when the door swung open inwards. A severe-looking, middle-aged lady stood in the doorway, glancing at both of them expectantly.

"Mrs. Bennett?" the lady's pursed lips widened into a smile of recognition. Jamie realised with a pang that Anna's mother and his were friends. He frowned slightly, hoping they weren't best friends, as it could make things a lot harder. "Is there anything you need?"

Jamie looked past the woman, into the hall and up the stairs, at the top of which, he spied three faces trying to sneak a peek at the unexpected visitors, one of which was familiar. He felt an uncommon rage boiling inside of him and hurriedly tried to calm himself, lest he might do something horrible.

"Um..." Mrs. Bennett seemed lost for words, averting her gaze, not meeting the other woman's eyes, as though she had committed a heinous crime and was trying to apologise for it. "Let's get to the point. It's just that..." She trailed off.

"Your daughter Anna and a few of her friends beat up my sister last night at a party she was throwing here," Jamie decided to step in. As those words left his mouth, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the three faces disappearing and footsteps hurrying up the stairs. Afraid they might escape the house by some means, he quickly added, "And you might want to stop them right now."

The woman's smile vanished, only to be replaced with a frown directed at Jamie. She stared at him for a few moments, as though processing his words in her head, before responding, "What are you talking about? Anna beat up Sophie? At a party here?"

Jamie nodded. "She's in the hospital right now and..."

"There was no party here last night," snapped Anna's mother, cutting Jamie off, much to the boy's indignation. She was glaring at him. "I came home last night to a house that was spick-and-span, not one that suggests the aftermath of merrymaking. And what was that about Anna beating your sister up?"

Mrs. Bennett was about to speak, but Jamie just couldn't let her. "At exactly what time did you come home?" he asked. "For all you know, your daughter could have cleaned up the place before your return and sent everyone home. But right now, I don't care if you believe your daughter threw a party here yesterday night or not. The main problem is, my sister's in the hospital with injuries that could be permanent right now and they were inflicted by your daughter and her friends, according to her. I know she wouldn't lie about such a thing. And now, we're really here to see them, not you."

The woman seemed taken aback and did not give an immediate response. "Is there proof?" she finally asked, as Jamie began to grow restless and impatient. "Besides Sophie telling you who did it, do you have evidence?" Her voice attained a crescendo towards the end.

Irked, Jamie gritted his teeth to keep his anger under control. He badly wanted to just rush in past the lady, but didn't wish to embarrass his mother, who had remained silent. "That's why we're here," he spoke, through gritted teeth. "We're here to find proof. Sophie mentioned there was a video. And we want it, though with this foolish argument mostly on your part, your daughter and her cronies had had every opportunity to destroy it."

Anna's mother blinked once, disbelief and indignation etched on her face, before turning and yelling up the stairs. "Anna! Come down here at once." The girl in question appeared at the top, and descended the stairs, two steps at a time, with nonchalance that almost infuriated Jamie.

"What's up, mom? Oh, hi, Mrs. Bennett! And... Jamie." She gave him a look, before turning back to her mother, though the older lady was inviting the Bennetts in.

"Anna, what have you done to Sophie Bennett?" Anna's mother questioned her as soon as the Bennetts were indoors.

"Where's the video?" Jamie demanded.

"Her eardrums and left eye have been damaged. The eye injury can be permanent," Mrs. Bennett finally spoke up, her voice trembling slightly. Anna's mother's frown deepened.

"Bring me your phone. Now."

Anna was indignant. "Oh come on, mom! You actually believe them?" She gestured rudely at the Bennetts. "You actually believe I did something to Sophie Bennett? It's not like I was ever friends with her, anyway."

The mother took a deep breath, torn between believing her only daughter and finding out the truth, though it may be shocking. "All the more reason, then. I didn't say I believe them, I just want your phone now," she replied, firmly, putting emphasis on the last four words.

Jamie scanned the top of the stairs, having a heated inner debate on whether he should rush up and confront the girls or just stay put and wait till Anna's mother managed to coax the truth out of her. Though the former could potentially bring more trouble, he took the risk and brushed past Anna, thundering up the stairs, startling everyone. At the top, he bumped into the other two girls whose faces he had seen earlier, catching them by surprise. A door stood ajar, and beyond Jamie could make out what appeared to be the bedroom of a typical teenage girl and rushed in, before anyone could stop him. As he caught sight of the screen of a computer on a desk in the corner of the room, he realised it had been a risk worth taking.

"It's here!" he yelled, and barred the way to the computer as Anna's two friends tried to get to it to exit the video, which had been paused. Before they could attempt to coerce him out of the way, three sets of footsteps thundered up the stairs and Anna's mother glimpsed an image of Sophie Bennett, in the process of lifting herself up from the floor in the same bedroom. She sported bruises on her arms and a couple of girls were gathered around her, their mouths opened wide with laughter.

#

Sophie looked out of the window, at the fresh snow falling. It looked like Jack had decided to interfere with Easter again. Though she had always associated snow with the guardian of fun ever since she started believing again, the day seemed dull and depressing, reflecting her mood. She placed a hand on the cold, frosted glass, focusing on the chill at her fingers, trying to ignore the sound of the television in the living room, as the news reporter droned on about the video and the arrest of Anna and her friends.

"Are you looking out for Bunny?" came Jamie's voice, as he walked up to her. "I don't think he's gonna be coming along anytime now, not in this mini blizzard." Jamie allowed himself a small chuckle. "Though I don't see Jack anywhere."

Sophie didn't say a word.

"Hey, are you okay? It's Easter! And those girls are getting what they deserve. Cheer up!"

"I don't think I made the right choice," Sophie finally responded, in a quiet voice.

"What do you mean?"

Sophie took a deep breath as she did a quick, mental recollection of the past week's events. Mrs. Bennett had decided to alert the authorities immediately after watching the video and was still recovering from it. Anna and her friends were arrested, and were facing life sentences. Sophie then retraced her memory back to the beginning of it all, shortly after the blizzard, when she had make a rather nasty remark about those girls, having never had a good relationship with them. The more Sophie thought about it, the more she thought she had been harsh, wishing they had died in the blizzard. She had been acting on her emotions and deeply regretted it. The comment had sparked cyberbullying against her, and deteriorated to assault.

"It was all my fault," Sophie said, turning slightly to Jamie, not taking her numbing hand away from the chilly pane. "I never liked them, but I did go too far. I don't think..."

"You don't think what?" Jamie asked, gently.

Sophie knew what her brother's response would be, but she went on, anyway. "I don't think we should've called the police."

Jamie's eyes widened and he was about to retort when there was a tap on the door. He hurriedly opened it, and welcomed in an old friend.

"A wintry Easter, brought to you by yours truly!" Jack bowed before stepping into the living room. Sophie withdrew her hand from the window with a slight shiver as the temperature plummeted. "Well, Jamie, B-... Sophie, what happened?"

Sophie balled her hands into fists. "I deserved it," she said, through gritted teeth before Jamie could say anything. She then turned and left the living room, running up the stairs. Entering her bedroom, she was only half-surprised to see six-foot rabbit who seemed to have gotten in through the window, and was in the process of placing a basket of eggs on her desk.

"Sophie! Crikey, what happened to your face?"

Jamie and Jack barreled in at that precise moment. Jamie, however, was oblivious to both the guardians as he walked over to his sister and grabbed her by her shoulders, causing her to wince in pain as he applied pressure on her healing bruises. He let her go with a quick apology, before launching into a lecture.

"You didn't deserve it, Sophie," he spoke. The two guardians briefly shot dirty looks at each other before leaning in to hear what Jamie had to say. "You just made a remark about them. That was all. Just words. You never liked each other, anyway, and I bet they say worse things about you even before the blizzard. However, they overreacted by sending you obnoxious messages before deciding to invite you to Anna's home, where they jumped you. And almost permanently damaged your sight and hearing. Are you even listening to me?"

Sophie had remained silent, her gaze averted, allowing her brother to ramble on. She noticed her mother standing in the doorway, having heard odd noises. Relieved it was on the two spirits, her attention was now redirected towards her two kids. She appeared to have overheard Jamie's pep talk.

"Can I speak now?" Sophie asked, snappily. Jamie took a step back and looked at her expectantly, his arms crossed. She sighed almost inaudibly, before continuing to speak. "Look, I do want them to pay for what they physically did to me, but I don't think they should be serving life sentences."

"Why not, Sophie?" Mrs. Bennett asked, as she walked in and stood next to Jamie. The two guardians were trying to make some sense of the situation, putting two and two together, feeling it wasn't right to interrupt and demand an explanation or something similar at such a time.

"Don't you think it's... harsh?" she said, and before Jamie could reply, she hurriedly went on. "I mean, they're just about a year or two older than me. Do you really think I can just sit back here and watch them face their life sentences?" She emphasized the word 'life'. "I want them to face some sort of punishment, but please, nothing as heavy as a life sentence."

"How's your hearing?" Mrs. Bennett asked.

Sophie knew this change of subject to that of her injuries would ultimately be linked back to her dissatisfaction at the girls' sentences. "The right ear's fine now, but the left still feels like I stuffed a tissue in it. It'll be fine, mom."

"And your sight?"

"Still blurry. But I think it did improve in the past few days."

"They did this and you still want to defend them?" said Mrs. Bennett, proving Sophie's theory right.

Sophie flopped down on her bed before cupping her chin in her hands, resting her elbows on her thighs. "You know why I accepted that invitation in the first place, though I knew it was almost impossible that they actually wanted me to show up?" No one answered, so she went on. "Anna promised reconciliation. She seemed sincere. I know she's not one to be trusted, but that was something I wanted ever since they began sending all those hateful messages. I was sorry, and I wanted them to know it, but I couldn't find the courage to approach them. And then they just turned up, out of the blue and handed me that invite. I guess it's because of my ignorance and desperation to be forgiven that I totally dismissed the possibility of them jumping me."

She was silent for some time, but no one spoke, sensing there was more she was going to say. "I was stupid to trust them. I was stupid to make that dumb remark. I deserved this." She gestured at the healing bruises on her face. "But in the first place, what I wanted was reconciliation. And I still want it. I want this to end."

"It is ending, isn't it?" spoke Jamie, exasperated.

Sophie shook her head. "It looks like it. But I don't think I can live, knowing that they served life sentences while my injuries are healing fast and will soon be absent. If I live to an old age, I don't want to think back at how we condemned five teenage girls to a lifetime in prison. No matter what they did to me. Isn't making them serve a life sentence similar to getting revenge? Well, I'm not interested in revenge."

Silence reigned in the room once more, before Mrs. Bennett broke it. "So, you want some sort of punishment administered unto them, but nothing too heavy?" A nod from Sophie. Mrs. Bennett took a deep breath before continuing. "I think... it can be done."

Before I proceed to the apologies, here's an odd question: If you were to ship Sophie with one of Jamie's male friends, would it be Claude, Caleb or Monty? Or someone else? Thanks in advance!

And so, sorry for the late chapter! I apologise if this chapter seems rushed, but I just didn't want to bore anyone with details of the events that happened during the week (because I think everyone has an idea). Thanks for reading!