The car ride was silent. There was nothing to be said. Lacey's mind had gone numb, and Justin knew there was nothing he could say to comfort her. And so they sat, inches away from each other with a thousand miles in between them, and even more miles on the road ahead. They were an hour away from Danny's grandmother's home in Arizona.

Justin stole a few glances over at Lacey whose bronze skin was bare and pale. Her eyes were blood shot from crying so hard and for so long. It looked as if there were no tears left within her. She was drained, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

"Do you wanna pull over? Grab something to eat?" Justin offered as his eyes darted from her direction back toward the road.

"No, I'm not hungry," Lacey replied weakly.

"Okay," his voice was a patient and gentle embrace.

Lacey wanted to speak up, to say anything to let him know that she appreciated him. Justin had been so sweet to her during these turbulent times, and he really didn't have to. She broke his heart. She'd strung him along for weeks knowing good and well that her true feelings were for Danny, and not him. And still he went through great lengths to ensure her happiness. Justin's kindness, Lacey thought to herself, was superhuman, but she did not say a word to him. She did not say anything at all. Her mind was simply exhausted, and from fear that she would break down again, she did not want to speak.

Justin placed his hand over hers, a comforting gesture, as he drove the remainder of the way in silence.

Grandma Desai's home was a humble abode in the most rural part of Arizona – a lone brick house isolated from the rest of the world. It looked vacant. The lawn was clearly unattended to. The small patches of brittle grass were overthrown by masses of dust and dirt, and dozens of succulent plants that cut through the air like knives. For the first time it occurred to Lacey that Danny had not returned her calls, not because he'd moved on or he didn't want to speak to her, but because he got no signal in the middle of nowhere. She braced herself before she got out of the car.

"And you're sure you don't want me to come with you?" Justin asked for the third time.

"Yes, I'm sure. It might…complicate things." Lacey swept her hair from her face, trying to make herself presentable.

"Right," Justin responded hesitantly. "But I'll be right here if you need me, okay?" He offered up a half smile as she went on her way.

"Kay," Lacey replied simply.

With every step that she took towards that lonely home, her legs grew weaker. Things were bad back home, and Lacey knew that, but seeing Danny again, even if just for a moment would heal all the hurt and the pain she held on to. Inhaling deeply, and then slowly allowing breath to leave her body, she knocked on the door. Several moments passed before anyone answered, and just as she was ready to give up hope, an elderly woman peeped her head out of the window, and then proceeded to open the door.

A woman with long silver hair, and a hard expression, flung the door open. She eyed Lacey without even the slightest bit of humanity in her face. "I don't get any visitors. Who the hell are you?"

Lacey gulped. The woman had one lazy eye, and the other was a dull grey. "I um...I'm sorry. I was looking for the Desai residence. Perhaps I had the wrong address."

"I'm Cheyanne Desai, sole owner of this house, now I ask again, who the hell are you? And what do you want from me?"

"I'm sorry. I was just looking for Danny. He's my … uh … we're friends."

"Daniel? Did he escape from prison?"

Lacey frowned at the odd woman's confusion. "Juvie," she corrected her, "and no he didn't escape. He was released months ago."

"Hmph," she laughed condescendingly. "That was a mistake."

"I'm sorry, is he not staying here?"

"Daniel? Here? Why I haven't seen that boy in ages. Like I said before, I don't get any visitors."

Lacey's heart fell to her stomach. She was starting to feel nauseous and weak, confused, and lied to. Perhaps she should have eaten something like Justin had suggested earlier. "I don't understand," she spoke up. "Karen said that he would be here."

"That bitch is a compulsive liar. Don't you ever speak her name in my house!"

"I'm so sorry! I-I should go," Lacey did not want to disturb the woman any more than she had already done.

"No, come inside," her expression softened, "I need to know what you know about my grandson."

…

Danny sat, staring at those dull, colorless walls that seemed to represent his achromatic soul. He looked around him. The place no longer seemed like an ordinary prison cell. It was solitary confinement. For the past few months he existed entirely in his own head, but nowhere else. He had not expressed himself in a while. He had not conversed with his so-called friends in the institution. He spent his days so drugged up on anti-psychotics and anti-depressants that he couldn't feel anything but numbness and isolation. He sat on the edge of his bed, disconnected from reality, as his unconscious mind grew aroused.

"I do you love you, dad." Images of himself as child flashed through his mind on instant replay.

"Do it quickly." He remembered father's eyes and how they were murderous and cold.

"Your father is a monster, and he doesn't love you!" Tara cried out.

Tara's screams, "Somebody help!"

"I know why you killed your Aunt," Regina taunted him seductively, while wearing his victim's necklace. That memory faded.

Then he recalled a moment in his life where he'd almost lost all hope. "I'll never be able to get over this, will I?" He searched Lacey's face for confirmation. "What I did…this decision. I'm never gonna have a normal life. I'm never gonna do normal things. I'm never really gonna be happy."

"That's not true." They stood alone in a graveyard, Danny slightly drunk, Lacey slightly terrified, and their mouths collided. Right in front of Aunt Tara's grave, he laid her down as he devoured her lips, suckling on her neck, desperate to go further to bed with her in the presence of his victim's tombstone as if to say fuck you all over again.

And then the ground shook beneath them, and the earth began to diverge. Tara rose from her grave with a fury, with vengeance in her eyes.

"Your father is a monster, and he never loved you!" Those words struck him hard.

"Shut the fuck up," he whispered at his Aunt Tara, whose image seemed to be projected off of the plain white walls.

But her voice prevailed, "That's why he let you take the fall for this. That is why he stopped visiting you in juvie."

"Shut the fuck up!" Danny was growing angrier. He rose from his bed, clinching his fists.

"Danny, you're a fool," she taunted him, "You killed for your father, but your father killed you!"

"SHUT UP!" He punched her right in the face with every ounce of strength within him, and then he pulled back his bloody knuckles which had made an imprint in the wall. When he realized what he'd done, what he'd become, Danny fell down to his knees and curled up in fetal position. For the first time since he'd killed another human being, since he'd murdered his aunt, for the very first time, almost six years later, he wept.

"I'm sorry, auntie. I'm so sorry," once the tears had started, he couldn't stop. "I promise I won't hit you again. I love you. I love you. I'm sorry," he began biting his fingernails viciously as if he were trying to rip through his own flesh.

Without his noticing, someone had barged into his room. "Desai?" Marcus ran over to embrace his friend.

He slipped Danny some Valium, and waited for him to calm down.

"Damn, I'm really screwed up. Aren't I?" Danny said when he realized he'd had another hallucination.

"Yeah, you are." Marcus' honesty was always so strong. "But we all are. Every person on this planet has some kind of hole in their heart, some kind of force that could consume them if they allowed it to, and most of us don't face our demons. We repress them. We deny them with sarcasm or wit or humor. We try to fill the hole with distractions, and most of the time it works…outwardly. But on the inside, we are still damaged. We are eternally broken until we face those things in our lives that hurt us so much. Danny, you did something awful. I'm not going to sugar coat shit, you killed someone."

Danny just nodded in agreement.

"But it wasn't your fault. You were a frightened boy who would have done anything for his father's approval. You were deceived and manipulated into becoming something that you're not. You are not a monster or Sociopath, or a serial killer."

Danny wanted to hold on to the things that Marcus was saying. He wanted to believe that he was still a semi-decent human being, but so much of his memories were foggy.

"I went to that party—"He said meekly, "the one where a guy ended up dead. I was drunk, so drunk, and broken-hearted, and I hated Archie with every fiber in me, but I don't remember what happened. I think I might have killed him, but I'm not sure."

"I thought you said that you weren't there, that you left the dance early and went straight home. Your friend Cole and your mother even corroborated the story."

"Yeah, but in hypnotherapy the other day, it became clear to me. I was there. I just, I can't remember what all happened. I have another session this week. Hopefully I can recover the memories."

"And what if you didn't do it?"

"I guess this will all be over, and I can have my life back."

"And if you did do it?"

Danny looked with such conviction, into Marcus' eyes, "Then I'll be ready to give my confession, and face the consequences, whatever they may be."

…

"Daniel's mother used pregnancy to trap my son, Vikram into marrying her." Mrs. Desai leaned back in her rocking chair which screeched, mimicking the sound of a dying animal.

"So you're saying that Danny's mom married Vikram for his money?"

"Around the same time, he was in love with this woman he had in Connecticut. She was brown-skinned and had very harsh features, but he loved her. She was a strong woman, independent, brilliant, the whole family was taken by her. Vik was taken by her aura, but she wasn't beautiful, and he was a man with needs, so he screwed around, and got some chick he used to know in high school, pregnant, and well you know the rest."

"So what happened to her? This other woman?"

"She was pregnant also, and Vikram was furious. He was going to have two babies around the same time, and by two different women, and so he did what any sensible man would do, he offered her money to have an abortion, but she said no. She didn't need him involved if he didn't want to be, and she told him just that, and so he pulled away. He wanted to make her regret choosing her unborn child over him. He wanted to show her how disposable she was to him, so he went along with Karen, married her, and fathered their son, while Indicah struggled as a single parent with no support."

"My god. That's awful." Lacey shook her head, trying to digest everything that Danny's grandmother was telling her. "So where is she now?"

"Last I heard she moved down south somewhere, but I'm not really sure. She was always on the run. We lost touch after a while."

Silence ensued. "Did Danny's aunt Tara know about all this?"

"Of course she knew. Of course she knew! Indicah and Tara were the best of friends. For a while, she stayed with her."

"When?" Lacey frowned as she tried to piece the story together.

"Around '08, right before Tara—well, you know what happened."

"I don't know what happened, really. I can never get Danny to open up about it."

"Hmm," was all the woman said. After several moments of unrelenting silence, she spoke up. "I think Vikram had my Tara killed. I think he used Danny to do it. He always was a venomous snake, that Vikram, and that boy idolized him too much. I'm glad he's dead now. I'm glad the ocean ate him alive, because if it hadn't, I might have done so myself!" Lacey knew that she meant it, the way her eyes lit up with fury. It was clear that Mrs. Desai despised her own son, which was chilling to her.

She continued, "The way he did that woman. The way he did his own children. It's repulsive! That man got everything he deserved, and he will burn in hell for his sins!"

Lacey's eyes grew with terror as she watched Danny's grandmother rage about a man she had given life. "I should probably get going," she cleared her throat. "My friend is waiting for me in the car."

"A friend, have you? I saw him out there, rather attractive, isn't he?"

"Yes ma'am, but we're just friends."

"Hmm," she nodded doubtfully. "He brought you all the way across the country, to see your little boyfriend, who is being investigated for murder, because you're his 'friend'?" She asked rhetorically. "I think you need to check that boy's intentions.

Just then, there was a pounding on the door. It was Justin.

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you've been in here for a while, and I got a little worried." Lacey ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"He's not here." She whispered, "Danny isn't here."

"What?" He pulled away to search her face for an explanation.

"I'll explain everything to you on the ride back."

"Okay," he allowed her to bury her face in his chest. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear.

Justin caught a glance of the old haggardly woman whose eyes seemed to pierce into the depths of his soul. She shot him a bitter expression and then slowly retreated to the other room.

"I'll be out in just a second, okay. Wait for me outside?"

"Of course," he kissed her on the forehead tenderly and then went back to his car, closing the door behind him as he did so.

Mrs. Desai peered around the corner to say her final goodbyes. "Don't you tell that boy a word of this, you hear?"

Her haunting expression pricked Lacey's skin. "Of course not," she replied meekly.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," the woman called out as Lacey exited. She watched them drive away into the calm and eerie night.

Hours later, Mrs. Desai sat, rocking in her chair that screeched. An un-touched knitting kit lay before her, an unused remote to control the television, books that she could be reading, a crossword that remained unfinished, but instead she rocked on that rocking chair that mimicked the sound of a dying animal.

The old woman was startled by another knock on her door. She wrongly assumed it was Lacey, back to get more details out of her. She made her way to the door, slowly, carrying a coffee mug filled with vodka, which she drank on occasion. Mrs. Desai opened the door without checking first, a fatal mistake, that she never made in all her days of living alone. She was stunned to see the familiar, malevolent face that stood before her with murderous eyes, and a dulled expression. He wore all black, the color of his soul, the color of the heart he lost in Connecticut. And he inched his way into her home despite her attempts to slam the door in his face.

"Now, now, mother," he spoke with an unsettling amount of delight, "I know that you've missed me, and that all those nasty things you said about me, were only because you love me...Am I right?"

"You are Lucifer in the flesh," she threw her heavy mug at his head, but he dodged it swiftly and allowed it to crack against the wall.

"Mommy, dearest." He laughed, "You're getting so old and senile. You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Get away from me!" She shouted as he backed her into a corner, "Somebody help! Help me!"

He grabbed her by her neck and slammed her against the wall. "I hope you burn in hell for all your sins!" He yelled at her so loud. His face was strained and the veins in his temples were bursting through his pallid skin. Vikram looked his mother in her blood-shot eyes as her face morphed from a soft almond color, to a harsh blue. She tried, unsuccessfully to gasp for oxygen, but he just gripped her throat harder.

"Kill—me" she barely managed to get out.

"I can't kill you," he replied simply, "I'm already dead." Then he snapped her neck swiftly, and allowed her fragile body to fall to the floor.

"Poor, old woman had a terrible fall. She had no business living alone at that age." He drug her body to the stairs to make the whole thing appear as it had been an accident. "It's a shame," he carried on talking to himself. "I blame her son for the whole ordeal. He should have put her in a nursing home." He laughed at his own sinister humor, and then walked off whistling.

Mary had a little lamb

Little lamb

Little lamb

Mary had a little lamb

His fleece was white as snow.

…

With bright eyes, Danny broke the night as he raced to the nurse's station. He was shaken, mortified, and in deep in thought. "I remember what happened the night of homecoming," Danny told one of the nurses. "I remember everything so clearly now, and I need to give my confession." He looked deranged and completely out of it.

The nurse wrinkled her brows at him. "Go back to bed, Desai. It's nearly 3 in the morning."

"I don't care," his eyes widened at the revelation that had come to him after his hypnotherapy session with Dr. Appel earlier that day, and it re-occurred to him in a dream. "I murdered Archie Yates, and I'm ready to take full responsibility."

…

"Lacey, eventually we're going to have to go back to Greengrove. We have school. We have our whole lives." Justin handed her coffee and a croissant that he'd picked up from the continental breakfast that was served at their hotel. It had been two days since their trip to Arizona, and they were only a few miles away from home. Justin allowed her the weekend to clear her mind, but she wasn't opening up to him at all. He rested his hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to, but I think you should talk to someone."

"I can't go back there. I can never go back there! That place is filled with people that I knew and loved that died – no, they were murdered! It's filled with horrid memories. You can leave if you want to, but I can't go back!"

There was silence between them for a while. "I'm not leaving you." Justin spoke up.

Lacey searched his face for impurity. "Why did you come with me practically to the other side of the country to find my boyfriend, knowing our history?" She could not seem to take the extent of his kindness as simply that, kindness. It had to be something more.

Justin dropped his head in shame. He felt guilty for feeling the way he did about her in the midst of all the tragedy.

After moments of trying to compose the words he could say to her without making an ass of himself, he finally said, "My mother always told me that if you love someone, you have to let them find their way. You have to sacrifice your pride and let them pursue the things that will make them happy."

He brushed a piece of Lacey's hair behind her ear as he caressed her cheek. "I was willing to drive 8 hours with you to find your ex who left you to clean up the colossal mess that he made, because even if he deserted you, even if he doesn't deserve you in my humble opinion, he's the only thing that makes you happy. And I needed to see you smile. I can't take seeing you in so much pain."

Justin bit down on his lip, trying to control his impulses, but against his will, his eyes traveled down Lacey's face, where he lingered on her plump lips. "Because I love you," he said softly. Justin closed in the space between them, but Lacey hesitated. She pressed her hand against his chest.

"Justin…" She wasn't sure what to say to him.

"I'm sorry," he looked away nervously.

Then Lacey turned his head to face hers. Her hands grazed his chin gently, and she kissed him. Through the pain, in an attempt to find satisfaction, she kissed him, and he laid her down on the stiff bed that felt like a coffin, kissing her lips, suckling on her neck.

A/N It's been about 2 years, and I don't expect many reviews this time around. I'm sure most of my readers have drifted and pretty much given up faith that I'd continue this story, but in those 2 years I have contemplated a lot about how to end this story, and I finally figured it out. I've grown a lot as a writer, and I know this time, exactly where I'm going with this. Before I was just writing emptily to please the followers. This was my first fanfic, and it has taken me a few years to complete, but if you'll stick with me, I plan to conclude in just 2 chapters. I'm still a senior in college, working a full-time job, so it might take some time, but rest assured I'm still working hard at it, so your patience is so greatly appreciated.