Zoe whipped around toward the slick black car. She yanked the passenger door open before the car had come to a complete stop, and flung herself into the seat. She slammed the door shut, and stared out the window at the darkening woods. Her nails dug into the upholstery of the seat as she watched the shadows breathlessly.
"Zoe, are you all right?" Haley asked from the backseat.
"Zoe?" Kyle said, gently touching her hand.
Zoe tore her gaze from the woods with difficulty. She gave them not-quite a smile.

"I'll be okay." Zoe said. Her voice sounded odd.
"Are you sure?" Kyle frowned worriedly.
"You're as pale as a sheet, Zoe. And... gosh, your shaking! Kyle, get out of the car." Haley rapped out.
Zoe blinked at them in confusion as Kyle obeyed, and then they both were pulling her out of the car.
"I'll get you some water." Haley said over her shoulder as she jogged up to the front door.
"Don't... don't go in there alone..." Zoe's voice came out a small whimpering sound.
"Zoe, what happened?" Kyle had his arm around her, and she realized she was only on her feet because he was supporting her weight.

Zoe didn't want to go back in the house. She really, really didn't, but hysteria bubbled to the surface and she ripped herself out of Kyle's grasp. She stumbled toward the house, her head thudding painfully. The door swung closed behind Haley.
"No!" Zoe shrieked. She didn't know what she was doing or why, but she moved faster than she ever had in her life. She was standing in the empty kitchen without any recollection of how she'd gotten there.
"Haley!"

"Zoe! Good grief, calm down," Kyle was suddenly behind her, his hands firm and steady on her shoulders.
Haley appeared in the doorway of the kitchen a second later. "Oh, here it is. Your house is huge."
Zoe blinked, watching silently as Haley poured a glass of water and then held it toward her.
"Where is your lounge? Let's get you to sit down for a little while." Kyle said.

Zoe motioned in the direction, and then she was being steered by both Kyle and Haley. They sank down onto the couch together, and Zoe gritted her teeth hard to try stop her hands trembling. She sipped the water down slowly, glancing toward the dining room entrance with haunted eyes.
"What happened?" Kyle asked again.
"I just..." Zoe shook her head. Sanity and control was returning, clearing her mind and stilling the tremors through her body. I can't take another day like this. Nothing about today was right, or normal.

"I guess I just freaked out being alone in the house." Zoe lied, glancing toward the dining room again.
"No wonder. This place is pretty creepy." Kyle said comfortingly.
"Did you see him again? The guy from class this morning?" Haley asked with a deep frown.
Zoe stared at Haley for a long moment before she realized who Haley was referring to.

"I... no." Zoe shook her head and looked down at her lap.
"What guy?" Kyle demanded.
"Just some guy." Haley shrugged vaguely.
"What guy?" Kyle asked again. Zoe glanced at him. There was murder in his eyes.
"Never mind, Kyle, Zoe said it wasn't him. So... what was it?"Haley turned her attention back to Zoe.

"It...nothing." Zoe said.
"Nothing? Really?" Haley said sarcastically, and stood up.
Zoe stiffened when Haley started toward the dining room. Chances were the ghost was still there, waiting for someone to come in and give it the opportunity to repeat the whole episode again.
"It... there were people in the woods." Zoe said without thinking. She had to keep Haley from going in there...
"What people?" Haley paused and turned to look at her, surprised.
"A... a guy with... with... and Jess."
"Wait, wait. Jess was here?" Kyle shifted away from Zoe.

Zoe frowned at Kyle's response. "Yeah, I think... they were probably just nearby and heard me freaking out..."
"And what exactly did Jess do?"
Zoe stiffened. There was something written all over Kyle that she recognized and despised all the same. A mixture of jealousy and possessiveness. There was no trace of the affection or awe he'd shown to her earlier, and Zoe felt a stab at her heart. Kyle was just like all the others. Infatuated with her beauty, blinded by it, enraptured by it, obsessed over it... like a loyal puppy to its owner. He wouldn't dig deeper, he wouldn't want to because the surface was enough for him. He didn't really care about her – and the reality hurt her like it never had before.

"What did he say to you? What did you do, Zoe?" Kyle's voice had turned ugly.
"Kyle, get a grip." Haley stepped closer to them. "Was it him that upset you?"
"Half and half." Zoe admitted, shifting uncomfortably under the two pairs of piercing eyes fixed on her.
"What did he say?" Haley asked curiously.
"I... he... we debated about the definition of weird." Zoe's mouth was dry. She really didn't like the look on Kyle's face. "And we... had a fight. He said you're just like all the others, that you saw in him something that's forbidden but that you wanted to have anyway." Shut up, her mind was telling her, and Zoe pursed her lips hard.

"Oh. That's rich." Haley arched her eyebrows and laughed bitterly. "What an idiot. I recon my mom and I are the only ones in town that don't fall over our feet for him. Who was with him?"
"I don't know. I don't know what he is." Zoe said, and her eyes widened. "I mean, who he is."
"Julian was here too?" The ugliness that had crawled over Kyle was now suddenly gone, replaced by genuine disbelief. Then, "What did he want?"
"He came after Jess, I think." Zoe shrugged. "He didn't talk to me."
"Hmpf. Typical." Kyle said in disdain.

"I thought I saw him." Haley said thoughtfully, looking at the window. "He's a slippery one, I never catch him alone. He's always with mom, or Mrs Thornton, or Jess. Julian doesn't socialize with anybody who isn't family."
"We're not family." Kyle arched his eyebrows.
"Mom and Julian have known each other long enough to be family. Even if he's not related to us by blood." Haley sighed impatiently.

"I don't know, Hales. I think there's a lot about them that we're not being told..."
"Maybe that you haven't been told. I know enough." Haley rolled her eyes.
"Why doesn't he socialize with anybody who isn't family? And how come he was alone with me just a few minutes ago if you say he's never alone?" Zoe asked with a frown.
"I thought you said he was here with Jess?" Kyle asked.

"Ugh. Shut yer face," Haley pushed a hand into Kyle's face in annoyance. "Julian doesn't like people. Period. And as for why he was alone with you, beats me." Haley shrugged. "I could speculate for hours, but we have a party waiting for our awesomeness to arrive. So, if you're up to it, shall we go?"