Author's Note: Greetings, this is chapter 5! Exciting, I know. Anyway, it took me a while to write this one, so i hope it is satisfying. Review with your thoughts.

Bug woke up the next morning hearing Leah crying.

"What's wrong?" He said as he entered her room. Leah whipped her head around and glared at him through her red- rimmed eyes.

"Last night I went to pick up Maria… and I found her outside her home. She was lying there, bleeding."

"W-what do you mean?" Bug asked dumbfounded.

"What do you think I mean Bug?" She spat. "She is dead. She was killed in the same way all the others were. The way the Ripper killed. He is fucking back." Bug sputtered as Leah pushed him out of her room and slammed the door.

Aunt May was standing in the hall, her eyes wide. Bug looked at her then walked into his room once more. He heard her walked into Leah's room.

"Honey, do you want to stay home from school today?" He heard her ask. Bug was unable to hear what his sister had said, but he figured she only nodded between sobs. "I will call the school. Get some sleep." She walked and knocked on Bug's door. "Do you want a ride to school?"

He was ready within fifteen minutes. As he sat in his aunt's car he wondered about Maria and how traumatized his sister had been. He almost felt responsible for her pain, but he hadn't killed Maria. Or had he? He had a foul taste in his mouth due to the migraine he had. Once he was at school he tried to throw up with no luck, as usual. He washed his hands and glanced up in the mirror. He about screamed when he saw Seth's reflection behind his own.

"Man, are you bulimic or something?" He asked jokingly. Bug shook his head furiously, which only added to the pain. Why was it suddenly so bright in the bathroom?

"Migraines, I suffer from them." He pushed open the restroom door and left, Seth following close behind.

"Your girl keeps asking about you. She managed to find me this morning and she hasn't stopped talking about you." Seth said rolling his eyes.

"You mean Hayley?" Bug asked. Seth nodded dramatically. "What did she say?"

Seth chuckled heavily.

"Man, you like her." He said. "She just wants to know your whole life story. She thinks that it is so amazing that you are the legendary hero. I don't see how it is so awesome, I mean it happens everywhere." Seth was only joking; he had acted the same way the first day that Bug returned to school after that horrible night.

"She is cool." Bug finally mustered. "She actually talks to me about stuff other than that night. She doesn't try to treat me like a hero." Seth shrugged, not knowing what to say.

The tension in the class was evident when Bug walked into the room. Some students looked at him, but when he caught their eye they looked away. No one greeted him good morning, which was strange. He knew what the silence was about: Maria and Dalia. Even after the bell had rung for class to begin, they sat in silence. Bug had never thought that silence could make a migraine worse, but it did. Every small sound was ten times louder than it should have been. A girl to his left was rolling her pencil along her desk top, he was tempted to turn to her and snatch the pencil. Instead, he took a deep breath and put his head down.

He didn't find Hayley until she was getting into a car after school. He waved to her, but she must not have seen him.

"I think she is ignoring you man." It was Seth walking up behind him.

"Wasn't it you that said she was talking about me this morning?" Bug said, spinning on him. Seth made a gesture of surrender.

"Girls are weird," was the only thing he said. Then he clapped his hand on Bug's shoulder. They walked through the woods together. Bug still didn't understand why Seth would bother walking all this way when he lived in the opposite direction.

Seth crept off silently when they reached the road again. Bug watched him walked back into the woods. He only turned once and saluted to Bug, who returned the motion. When he walked into the house, he found Leah sprawled across the couch asleep. He tried to be quiet as he shut the door, but she woke up.

"How was school?" She asked unconcerned.

"It was pretty lame." He said throwing his bag to the side. "Leah, I'm really sorry." He said awkwardly.

"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. Then she stood and walked into the other room.

Bug wasn't able to figure out why Leah ignored him for the rest of the week. By the weekend he had given up on trying to communicate with her. On Saturday he left the house and went for a walk through the woods accompanied by his old friend. The crow was the closest his Aunt had come to letting him have his own Condor. Even so, he appreciated the gesture. Edgar flew above the trees for a while, then perched himself on Bug's shoulders. It was a foggy morning, just the way Bug enjoyed it. Though this morning, it seemed eerie. Several times he found himself jumping at the slightest noise and he could have sworn that he saw a figure in the distance.

"You're letting your fear get to you." He said logically. "The Ripper can't be back."

He continued to walk. As he did he thought he heard screaming. It was a deeper, male voice. It almost reminded him of… no it was impossible. Brandon was dead, and had been for over a year now. He scanned the woods and swore he saw something lying on the ground. It looked like Brittany's purse. He doubled back and looked at the spot he had saw it. There was nothing there, but in place of the purse was a ringing sound. It sounded just like his phone. He reached into his pocket, but his phone wasn't ringing. He walked over to the area the sound was coming from, but it disappeared. It was silent now. Bug heard something to his right; he spun around and only saw the rustling of a nearby bush. He reasoned that it was probably a squirrel or a rabbit. He hurried in the opposite direction of the noise and watched as his companion flew above him.

The sky suddenly darkened, clouds were swarming above the trees creating a green color in the sky. Thunder crashed and lightning struck, so suddenly that Bug screamed. Rain was pouring heavily, he ran in the direction he had come and covered his head in a futile attempt to stay dry. By the time he reached the road, he was drenched. He had another fifteen minute walk until he was home, he hadn't anticipated this storm.

He stomped into the front door glowering at his feet, he slammed the front door. When he looked up he saw the worried glance from his aunt and the glare from his sister.

"What?" He demanded. Leah continued to glare, while Aunt May looked to the floor.

"Oh, nothing." Leah said in a sarcastic tone. She scoffed and walked into the kitchen. "Aunt May only called you like ten times." Bug could tell she was rolling her eyes.

"Why didn't you answer your phone Adam?" His aunt asked in an even tone. Bug took his sopping shoes off and stood in front of his aunt.

"It didn't ring." He was sure it hadn't rung. He remembered hearing it ringing, and then finding that he was hearing things. It was strange.

"That can't be. I left you a voicemail, look at it." Bug sighed and pulled his phone out. Surely enough, there was one voicemail, he was flabbergasted. "I could have sworn that my phone didn't ring."

"Where were you?" His aunt asked seriously.

"I was going for a walk in the woods." He turned to walk upstairs and change.

"Bug, please come back in here." His aunt called, but he was already walking into his room.

"I need to change." He called down before slamming the door. He knew that she didn't believe him.

It was chilly, even after he had stripped off his wet clothes. He pulled on a new pair of boxers and jeans before he realized that his window was wide open. He walked to the window cautiously, looking at his closet, the bed and the doorway. He slammed it shut then stared out of it. There was a slight glare in the window; he swore he saw something gleaming. He spun around and saw Leah staring at him through the doorway.

"What has got you spooked?" She was laughing at him. He glared at her.

"Did you open my window?" He asked as he pulled a sweater over his head. When he pulled his head trough the top, he saw that Leah was just staring.

"No, why?" She leaned against the threshold.

"It was open when I walked in." Leah looked to the window then back to Bug.

"Weird." She shrugged and walked away." Bug knew that she was thinking the same thing he was. The memory was still too fresh for him to forget.

He didn't bother looking for Hayley the next day. He wanted to be alone anyway. Seth found him at his locker, but Bug slipped away once he was distracted by a tall red-headed freshman. He endured the first few hours without any disturbance, his teachers were still regarding him with some sort of fear, but he ignored it. He skipped out on lunch and sat outside perched in a tree.

In the distance he saw a flash of red. He doubled over, and fell from the tree, hitting his head against the trunk.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. He sat up and looked back in the direction he saw the red flash.

In the distance was a tall, thin, red-headed girl. His heart did a flip in his chest. He knew she couldn't be there, but yet she was there, walking towards him.

"Hello Bug, God's peace." She greeted him, smiling. Bug let out a soft sigh and smiled back at her. "How are you?" She asked placing her arm on his shoulder. She was wearing a knee length skirt and a simple blouse.

"I am good." He replied simply. Penelope saw right through him, she always had, even if they didn't associate often.

"Truly, how are you?" She said he hand touching his cheek. She sat in the grass and beckoned him to join her.

"Alone, I am alone." He said softly. "Most of all I am scared that the rumors are true. Penelope, is the Ripper back?"

Penelope smiled kindly and stood up.

"It will all be okay. Just keep your friends and family close to you. Don't let this turn them against you. You have a kind soul Bug." She hugged him briefly then walked off into the distance, fading as she got farther away.

"Who were you talking to?" A voice from behind him said. Bug jumped to his feet and spun around.

"No one, I was talking to myself. I was conversing with myself. It is what I do when I am alone, which tends to be most of the time." He looked at his feet. "Look I know you might not want to talk to me anymore, but just don't do anything stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Hayley asked. Bug looked up into her pale green eyes.

"Just forget it," he said hastily. He headed off back to the school without waiting for Hayley. She hurried behind him silently. When they were back inside she slipped something into his hand.

"Read it," she said before falling away into the crowd. Bug opened the note once he had made it to his next class, careful to keep it out of sight.

Meet me at the tree you climbed today. Please? Message me with your answer. She had beautiful handwriting. Bug folded the note and shoved it in his pocket while he pulled out his phone. Wary of the teacher instructing the class, he pondered over the idea of meeting her.

It wasn't like he wouldn't want to meet her after school. He just couldn't trust her. When he thought it through, it seemed ridiculous. But he was going to have trust issues no matter who he became close to. By the end of the hour he had his reply: come home with me, we can walk together. I don't think we should be outside alone. You know, he sent the message then tried to pay attention to the lesson at hand.

Bug watched the clock with anticipation during the last hour of the day, waiting for the bell to ring.

"What has got you so riled up?" Seth whispered across from him.

"I am meeting Hayley after school." He replied, keeping an eye on the teacher. She had never been fond of Bug. Apparently fame was nothing to her. At first, he found it refreshing. She treated him like everyone else. But now she was being downright rude. The bell rang and he jumped up rushing from the class, he ran into a few desks on his way out, causing a couple of girls to giggle. Seth followed him until they found Hayley in the front of the school.

"Good luck," he winked and trotted off in the other direction.

The walk to his house was quite uneventful. Bug felt jumpy, every sound caused him to fly three feet in the air, but he noted that Hayley was in the same state. They walked along to road, agreeing that the woods were not a place they wanted to be. Fang's car was parked in the drive and she was standing outside smoking a cigarette. Her anger had lessened, but she wasn't herself. She eyed the two of them cautiously before saying,

"Hey."

"You know Aunt May hates it when you smoke." Bug said as he held the door open for Hayley.

"I'm not in the house." She replied softly. Bug shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah," he muttered as he shut the front door. "So, shall we do our homework first?" He asked turning to face Hayley. She nodded sheepishly and settled on the couch.

The two of them had gotten lucky; they didn't have much homework. When they finished they walked up to his room. Hayley sat on his bed and looked up at him. He was beyond nervous; it wasn't like they were going to do anything mischievous, but that didn't help. He felt a cold sweat appear on the back of his neck. His eyes flickered over to the window, it was opened again. He rushed over, placing his hands on the top of the window and slammed it shut. He saw Hayley jump from the corner of his eye.

"Sorry," he muttered before he left the room. "I'll be right back."

He hurried down stairs to find his aunt sitting in the dining room.

"Have you opened my window?" He asked in a frustrated tone. He placed his arms on the back of a chair and leaned forward.

"Adam I don't understand what you are asking me." She looked confused, she shuffled the pile of bills that she had been looking at, and eyed him. He stalked off and walked back to his room. Hayley was looking at the objects on his dresser, one of which was himself and Alex. She spun around when she heard the creak of the door.

"I… I'm sorry Adam, I was just curious." She grabbed her arm and rubbed it nervously.

"Its fine, but you know; curiosity is what killed that cat." He smiled softly. He knew how cliché it sounded, but he couldn't resist.

They sat there for some time in an awkward silence. Hayley rubbed her arm continuously. Bug paced the length of the room until Hayley spoke up.

"Do you want to sit? I can move if you want." She made room for him on the bed. Bug slid next to her and fell back, laying his head against a pillow. "Are you okay?" She asked as she tucked her legs under her.

"I think he is back." He said abruptly. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep sigh. "Leah won't speak with me because of what happened to Maria. I was worried that you weren't going to after what happened to Dalia. Everything is falling apart again."

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about." Hayley said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He sat up, leaning on his elbows. Shaking the hair out of his eyes, he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked, he felt mentally worn out, and the week hadn't even ended. Hayley was a bubbly and happy person, so it was strange to see her so uncertain and timid.

"I don't know if I was seeing things or if there was something out there, but I could have sworn there was something or someone in the woods last night." She looked at Bug apprehensively. "I went for a short run to ease my thoughts. I was about halfway through my usual route when I hear a rustling and what sounded like a scream. I whipped around and saw something in the distance. It was big, but it hunched over. That was all I saw because I turned around and booked it home."

Bug thought in silence for a long moment. He didn't know what to say; nothing was making sense to him. His door was opened farther and his sister stood there with her arms crossed.

"I spoke with Officer Jeanne, the religious woman." She said to both Hayley and Bug. Bug stood up and began to pace. "She said that it would be more appropriate to speak with her mother; she is wiser. She also told me that we could all go out for lunch this weekend, at her grandmother's home. Hayley, I guess you could come along as well.' She didn't make eye contact, but it was the closest communication that Bug had had with his sister since Maria died.

"Tomorrow then," Bug said looking from Hayley to his sister. Leah simply nodded then walked from the room, Hayley nodded and watched Leah walk from the room.

"Is she okay?" She whispered.

Bug only shrugged. He hoped that her mood would fade, but he feared that it wouldn't.