Once again thank you to Erica, i really really like what she did with this chapter, she took all the charectors, but especially Skye and just added that little more depth to them. She really draws us into all the charectors, and makes us able to relate, and feel for them just that little more, so thank you once agian to her.


Chapter 3

"She may look sweet and innocent but rest assured, this is the face of a cold blooded murderer,"

Kira smirked as she handed the passing students the home made flyer she had just made that night. It showed the smiling face of Skye as she posed for the camera, her one arm around that of a blonde headed woman. Four other young women were standing on each side, their faces overjoyed as they stared at the camera. Skye held a trophy in one hand, the school's colours of red and white proudly worn.

"She killed her entire swim team, drove them right off the bridge into the river on the way home from a meet. She was above the limit and was driving,"

She said loudly, emphasizing each word to make her point. By now people had began to crowd around her, some of them clutching flyers in their hands, others staring on
with confused expressions their faces.

"She was never charged, and can no longer face her own school, so she fled here in hopes of living down her shame and guilt. She knows she's guilty, she knows she's a killer,"

She sneered as she spoke the last few words. Kira lifted her hand and looked out over the crowd and smiled. This was her form of justice. The police had never done anything, saying she wasn't at fault for what had happened. But Kira knew better, much better. Skye was the best swimmer that Red Ridge ever had, and she should have been able saved them. She was responsible, and Kira was going to make sure she did everything in her power to make sure every one knew exactly the type of person Skye Dawson was.

"The last of the flyers are up," a tall blonde said as she came up beside Kira. She turned to her blonde headed friend and nodded her head in approval.

She had her place flyers around the school, on every notice board, and on any lockers that would get the most notice. Kira nodded her head and smiled, picking up another hand full of flyers. She turned back to the crowd that was still gathered, the huge smile still in place. She knew she would have their full attention for at least another hour, the bell had only just rang signalling dinner, and she had plenty more flyers to give out.

"The truth is, it's always the quite ones you have to watch out for."


"What's going on?" Sarah questioned, her blue eyes turning to Caleb as he eyed the crowd on front of them. Caleb shrugged his shoulders, unsure himself. He wasn't aware of any activities so late in the year, let alone something that could catch the attention of so many people. "Should we go check it out?" she asked, hoisting her bag further onto her shoulder as she warily watched the massive crowd.

"It's probably just some jocks making fools of themselves again. It wouldn't surprise me if it was Abbot," Caleb said nestling his arm around her waist and pulling her snug to his side. Sarah smiled, nodding her head slowly. She gazed up to him and sighed in content.

"You two love birds done giving each other doe eyes or can we head to lunch now?" Reid snarled, swinging his arm around Sarah's shoulders. Sarah shook her head, managing to successfully shrug his arm free.

"That bitch" Tyler swore, shaking his head in anger and annoyance. The three sons turned their attention to the youngest son, their brows raised in confusion.

"Baby boy finally growing a back bone," Reid mocked. Tyler turned to face him and shook his head, absolutely seething. He pointed to the flyer in front of him wondering how it was even possible for Kira to sink this low. He heard the son's intake of breath and Reid's crude exclamation

"How could she be so mean? Doesn't she realize how much pain and guilt Skye must be feeling?" Sarah exclaimed, her voice raising an octave. She shook her head back and forth, her hand covering her mouth in horror. She always knew that Kira was a bitch, but she never knew that she could stoop to such an all-time low. To call someone murderer was one thing, but to play on the deaths of four innocent girls was a whole new low.

"Do you think Skye's seen this?" Pogue questioned, his gaze lingering on the smiling face of her in front of him. She looked happy and carefree, her eyes sparkling with life, something in which she no longer had. Instead, her eyes were now filled with guilt, and pain. Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair. With a sigh, he turned his gaze onto Caleb. He shrugged his shoulders in reply, not sure if Skye had seen this yet or not. But he knew that if she didn't, it wouldn't be long before she heard about it.

Caleb understood though about how his friend was feeling about this. Skye was a good person, and didn't deserve what Kira was doing. She had tried everything in her power to save her friends, endangering her own life in the process. And in return, she was shunned by her friends and had no other option but to leave. And now in the place that could have been her sanctuary from reality, the shame and guilt followed her.

"If she hasn't seen it yet, she sure as hell will Pogue," Tyler fumed, "I bet these things are all over the school by now."


She didn't mind the cold, in fact, she could hardly feel it. Even though her entire body shivered and she was sure her nose was now a lovely shade of red and her lips would more then likely be turning blue soon, she didn't leave the spot on the bench overlooking the lake in front of her. For so long water had been her escape. To just dive into the clear blue waters and push and push until she could feel the burn in every part of her body was her release. At least by doing this she knew she was still human, and she would push herself some more. But now she could hardly face it, even the simplest thing as stepping into a shower or a bath scared her to death. Her mind would flash back to that terrible night, the sickening sound of metal crunching, and her friends screaming, the pain, the cold, the darkness.

Closing her eyes she felt a tear make a trail down her check, before finally stopping on her chin. Sniffling, she pulled her legs to her chest and lowered her head to her knees. It had been one year since she had let her friends die. Oh sure the police had let
her off, saying it wasn't her fault, but she knew. She knew that if she had pushed herself just that little bit she could have saved them. Water was her home, the one place she excelled in and she had failed. And now they were dead because of that.

Clenching her fists, she felt her nails digging into the flesh of her hand. She pushed harder; she could feel the anger burning at the bottom of her stomach, the warmth as the tears pried their way to the surface.

Her mom had forced her to see a doctor, just to talk she said. She had refused to go, she didn't need a shrink to tell her what she already knew, she was a failure. But in the end she had gone, though she didn't have much choice in the matter. She had finally started dealing, she still blamed herself, but she could finally look herself in the mirror with out hating what she saw looking back at her. She was doing fine until she had stepped out of the office and seen that horrible flyer. There in black and white she stared into the faces of not only herself, but her team. What had hurt the most though was the big black letters that spelled out 'murder' on the top of the page. She had literally fallen back into the wall, her hand clamped tight over her mouth to stop herself from screaming out.

She forced her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry. She silently prayed that she was imaging things, as she tended to do very often. Inside though, she knew she wasn't, she knew that opening her eyes wasn't going to change anything this time. She knew who was behind it of course, how could she not? The one reason she had refused to go to Spencer in the first place was because she knew that at any given time Kira would recognize her, and the hatred and threatening would start again. It was only on her mothers insistence that she was their in the first place. Skye knew something like this was bound to happen, and really she couldn't blame her. Kira had lost a sister that night, and it was all on her shoulders.

"Here, you're going to catch a cold," a voice spoke kindly from behind her. Skye lifted her tear stained face at the feel of warm leather touch her shoulders She sniffed and pulled the leather closer to herself. Now that her mind was off the pain and anger, she could now feel just how could she had allowed herself become. It was biting at her skin, and she had lost feeling in her feet.

"Thank you Pogue, but I really just want to be alone," Skye whispered her voice hoarse. Pogue nodded his head in understanding. He had been the exact same when he had lost his father to the addiction.

Turning his body so he was facing the river, he took in a deep in take of cold air. He gave himself a second to contemplate before he seated himself next to her. Skye smiled slightly as she turned her gaze to him. She gave a nervous chuckle before wiping the tear stains from her eyes. Turning away from him, she redirected her attention back to the lake, and sighed. Wrapping her arms around her body she closed her eyes once again.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about…. that I… ermm… got caught up," she stuttered.

"We saw the flyers Skye," Pogue admitted quietly. Skye snapped her eyes open and turned her gaze onto Pogue. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she knew there was little to say. Pogue smiled softly over at her.

"Its okay, I recognized you before." Skye turned to face him, her brow raised in
confusion.

"You never said anything," she said in amusement. How could he possibly still want to know her if he knew who she was, what she had done?

Pogue smiled and nodded his head, biting his lip as he regarded her for a moment, wondering just what he should say. When he had left the school he hadn't expected to find her sitting on a bench in nothing but her school shirt and crying. But he knew she must have seen the flyers, they were all over school. Tyler had been right all along, she would have seen one sooner or later, and it looked like despite the sons taking them down, she had happened across one.

"Skye what happened to your friends wasn't your fault."

"I'm the best swimmer there is, I should have been able to save them. They're dead because I failed," she said, her words laced with the pain she was feeling.

Pogue turned his gaze to her and shook his head; he could see the confliction in her eyes. He knew that somewhere deep inside she didn't believe what she was saying, but she had convinced herself it was true, and he was sure she had helped convincing herself.

"Skye, you did everything you could to help them. You couldn't have done anything more for them, their death was not your fault," he whispered, his voice conveying all the sincerity he could muster. Skye turned to look at him, her face still streaked with tears, her eyes creased in pain.

"But that doesn't bring them back Pogue! I should have died with them, but I didn't. Why couldn't I have died with them?"