Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the collective works of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga

Chapter 34: What's In a Name?

Louisa couldn't remember the last time home had been so lively— before Mum and Laurie died, she supposed— but between the seven Cullens, Petya, and her family, it was almost difficult to move in the Collins' small house. The adults had secluded themselves in the kitchen whilst the teens took over the lounge, the thin walls separating them doing little to quell the growing ruckus. Petya, Emmett, and Alice got on like a house on fire and could be found giggling together for a majority of the party. Dottie, who still displayed various degrees of nervousness around the Cullens, had braved the crowd and joined Edward at the little upright piano in the corner of the room, assisting him in serenading the party guests. Rosalie sat next to Louisa on the sofa and watched her husband with a fond smile. Every so often, Emmett would look up to meet her gaze and flash her a dimpled grin before returning to his conversation. Jasper stood in the archway between the kitchen and the den, listening to both groups. He didn't participate in any of the conversations unless he was directly asked a question, but Louisa could feel his tranquil influence settling over the room.

She watched her family and friends interacting with each other, and for the first time in a long time, Louisa felt at peace. It didn't feel like she was hanging out with her human family or her supernatural friends, but rather, she was surrounded by loved ones. It was the meeting of the two very different worlds she walked through daily, but instead of clashing, they melded together to form one cohesive group. And she did love everyone present, albeit in very different ways. She, of course, loved her sister and her father and Jasper. She loved quirky and shrewd Petya, just as much as she loved phlegmatic and sensible Rosalie. She loved Emmett in all of his jovial cheer and Alice with her constant scheming. And whilst nobody could ever replace her mother or father, nurturing Esme and compassionate Carlisle had slowly become like a second set of parents to her. She even loved Edward like a dorky little brother who couldn't keep his nose out of her business (he shot her an exasperated look at that).

The realisation made her chest feel warm and fuzzy, which appeared to attract Jasper's attention. He pushed away from the wall and slinked over, inserting himself between her and the end of the sofa. Louisa curled into his side and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling so relaxed she wondered if she would fall asleep. Conversations buzzed around her and she couldn't muster up the desire to focus on them—though, considering the mischievous grin on Petya's face, she probably should. Instead, she laced her fingers through Jasper's, cuddled closer, and watched in contentment.

That was until Alice stiffened, sending an almost palpable tension through the room. Jasper's posture straightened and he leaned forward, watching his long-time companion with an inquisitive set to his brow. Edward's fingers stilled as well, leaving Dottie playing Rachmaninov's Sleeping Beauty Waltz by herself. Louisa didn't need to be able to see Alice's face to know that her eyes had gone glassy and distant.

"Is she okay?" Petya asked Emmett, watching Alice with concern.

Emmett gave him an easy-going smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "She gets like this sometimes. Nothing to worry about. Ali's always lived in her own little world."

This was a polite way of explaining to those unexposed to the supernatural that Alice saw visions of the future. And a particularly long one at that. Louisa had witnessed Alice's gift on numerous occasions, but she could count on one hand that they lasted more than a few seconds. Emmett's comment must have caught Carlisle and Esme's attention because they entered the room moments later. Carlisle crouched down in front of his adopted daughter and cupped her face in one of his hands, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb.

"I don't understand," Alice muttered under her breath. She turned her head in the direction of the front door as if she could see it through the wall of the den. Jasper slid off the couch in one fluid motion and moved to kneel beside Alice as well, pulling her into a hug. She went easily, if a bit stiffly, and rested her temple against his shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut and her brow furrowing. "It's too early."

Petya made eye contact with Louisa over the top of the Cullen's heads, a baffled expression on his face. Her heart clenched at the soft look in his eyes. Petya had a soft heart and there were few things he enjoyed more than helping others, even the pixie-like girl he had only known for a few hours. The only problem was, he wasn't sure what he was witnessing. And how could he? He had no way of knowing that Alice was seeing a vision of the future, and Louisa wasn't about to tell him. There was nothing to be gained by either Louisa or Petya by introducing him to the world of the supernatural. She settled for a smile, hoping to reassure him that this was a common occurrence for the Cullen family.

There was a knock on the door and Chief Swan's gruff voice penetrated the stiff silence that had settled over the room. He offered Louisa a brief 'happy birthday' before Mr Collins ushered him into the kitchen. They spoke in low voices too faint for Louisa to hear no matter how much she strained her ears. Alice tracked their movement, her forehead wrinkled in concern.

The Cullens didn't stay for too long after that. Dr and Mrs Cullen ushered their adoptive children towards their cars, pausing to hug Louisa and wish her a happy birthday one more time. Jasper stooped to press a kiss to the top of her head, before carrying a still dazed Alice and placing her in the backseat of Edward's Volvo. Louisa didn't even get the chance to wave the Cullens off before Mr Collins appeared behind them, suggesting that she and Dottie show Petya round town. Louisa could see Chief Swan in the kitchen sitting at the table, his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea. His normally stoic face awash with conflicted emotions, and it took every bit of her willpower to not ask questions.

"There's not much to see," Dottie complained as they donned their raincoats and shoes— it wasn't raining, but the three teens had lived in the Pacific Northwest long enough to know how quickly that could change— before stepping into the damp early evening air. "There are like, three stoplights."

"I counted two on the way in," Petya said, claiming the shotgun seat of Louisa's Prius. Dottie slid into the back with a huff, taking extra care to kick the back of his seat while she slid in. "But if the driver is taking requests, I'd very much like to see the cliff you claimed to have jumped from."

"That's a good thirty-minute drive," Louisa explained as she pulled away from the curb.

"I am fine with that," Petya replied. "Besides, it will give you time to tell me the details of your upcoming nuptials."

If Louisa hadn't already been sitting at a stop sign, she would have slammed on the brakes. "My what?"

"It's another word for a wedding. It was on my vocabulary test last—" Dottie began.

"I know what nuptials means," Louisa snapped, turning to give her friend a wide-eyed stare. "Why do you think I am getting married?"

"Besides the fact that he couldn't keep his eyes off you for the entire party?" Petya asked, raising his eyebrows. "I think the eye sex I was forced to witness might have gotten me pregnant."

Louisa reached over to swat Petya at that.

"Dr Cullen's car is right there," Dottie chimed in, pointing to the familiar black Mercedes sitting at the stoplight ahead. "Flag him down so we can ask him."

"Stop it," Louisa demanded, her cheeks growing warm.

"No, truly. The two of you make a beautiful couple. I'm just curious when you will be making it permanent," Petya replied. Louisa didn't have to look at her friend to know that he was grinning like a fool.

"We've been dating for five months," Louisa snapped. "We've not getting married."

"Yet," Dottie corrected from the back seat. "Besides, Mummy and Daddy had only been dating for six months when she got pregnant with you."

"Louisa, are you pregnant?"

Louisa braked with more force than necessary at the stoplight, her safety belt biting into her shoulder. "Stop talking or I'm kicking you both out of the car." She kept her eyes trained on the red traffic light and not on Carlisle's tail lights, and focused on taming the blush that tinted her cheeks.

"That wasn't a denial," Petya pointed out. "Can I be godfather?"

"I'm not— We're not— I haven't—" Louisa spluttered. Was it her imagination or was the Mercedes shaking? "Will the two of you shut up?"

Dottie rolled her eyes. "Relax, it's not like they can hear us."

If only you knew, Louisa thought, glaring out the windscreen. Jesus, this had to be the longest red-light on the planet. She could only hope the Emmett was in a different car.

On que, Louisa's mobile chimed.

Petya dove for the phone and pulled it out of reach. "No, we don't text and drive in this family, Lastochka," he said, avoiding her hands and unlocking her mobile. "I'll be the designated texter."

"Don't go through my phone!"

He fixed her with an amused stare. "You're berating me for snooping."

Her friend had a valid point, but there were also sensitive conversations on her mobile of the paranormal variety. "How do you even know my passcode?"

"You haven't changed it since you got it," he exclaimed, opening up her text messages. "Rest assured, I have no interest in reading through sexts from your lover." When Louisa dove for her phone again, he expertly evaded her hands, raising his voice to speak over her shouted protests. "It is from… The Incredible Hulk? I am assuming this refers to Emmett. He's sent a picture with his parents and Rosalie in the car. Should we respond?"

"No!"

"That is fine, it is best you don't— the light is green, by the way. Care to respond, Dot?"

Her sister, the traitor that she was, stuck her head between the front seats and the two snapped a selfie, taking extra care that a red-faced Louisa could be seen in the background.

"The middle finger was a nice touch, Louisa," Petya said before sending the picture.

"Hey, Pyotr, how do you say 'fuck you' in Russian?"

"Such crass language," Dottie tsked. "There is an impressionable youth in the car."

"Besides," Petya continued. "We all know that it is Jasper you would like to—"

"I'm serious. Shut up or both of you can walk to La Push," Louisa growled out, glaring at the receding bumper of Carlisle's car. It was one thing to get light-hearted teasing from friends but it was a whole new level of embarrassing when your boyfriend's adoptive parents were in earshot. The fact that Emmett was also present made it downright mortifying. It would be a very long time before he let her live this down.

The two giggled and exchanged looks but complied with her demands. They drove in silence for a while, only for it to be broken by Petya asking, "Does this mean I won't be the man-of-honour?"

But despite Louisa's numerous threats to leave Petya and Dottie on the side of the road, all three teens made it to First Beach sometime later. The setting sun was peeking through the Olympic Peninsula's ever-present cloud cover, turning the ocean a soft lavender. It didn't take long of wandering along the grey, rock covered beach for the group to stumble cross the section Dottie and Louisa landed on a month prior. In the distance, a tall cliff jutted out over the crashing waves, which Louisa pointed at.

"That's the one," Louisa said when she got her friend's attention.

Petya let out a soft oath. "Bozhe moy," he murmured, reaching up his left hand to cross himself. "The two of you jumped off of that?"

"Yup."

"Are you mad?"

"Quite possibly."

"Louisa, that's got to be sixty metres."

"Forty-three, actually," A voice that did not belong to Louisa or Dottie, corrected. The group of three spun around to face the new-comer, a teen of below-average height, prominent cheekbones, and long, dark hair. She was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a purple flannel, and she carried her trainers in her hand leaving her barefoot on the rocky beach. She opened her mouth to say more but was cut off.

"You're beautiful," Petya said the same time Dottie asked, "What's your skincare routine?"

"Ignore them," Louisa said. "What were you saying?"

"In the summer, some of the local boys jump off it for fun." She leaned in close and spoke in a low voice as if to reveal a secret, her smile laced with schadenfreude. "My dad said he saw two idiot white girls jump last month."

Louisa couldn't help but smile at that. "Yes, it was rather stupid, wasn't it? Though, to be fair, we were being chased by a madman."

The stranger blinked before stepping back a step, her cheeks darkening in embarrassment. "You are…"

"The 'idiot white girls?' Guilty as charged," Louisa replied, sticking out her hand. "Louisa Collins."

The girl took her offered hand after a moment of hesitation. "Leah Clearwater."

"I'm guessing your father was the man who found us. Harry Clearwater?"

"That would be him," Leah replied, falling into step with the little group as they continued their stroll down the beach. "My boyfriend, Sam, was there too."

Petya looked disappointed at the statement.

"He brought us blankets!" Dottie said, stepping forward. "Are they around? I'd love to see them again. I'd like to thank them."

"The six dozen cookies got the message across," Leah said. "Dad's out for the day. I'm on my way to Sam's house now, if you'd like to join me. He'd probably be interested in seeing what you look like when you aren't being dragged from the ocean."

"Less purple," Louisa supplied while they headed up the beach's embankment and began to trek through the woods. The girl led them down a well-worn, though easily overlooked path lined with towering evergreens and stubborn mounds of unmelted snow. Despite the rapidly fading light, Leah appeared unconcerned that they were walking through the woods so late in the evening. She walked with the confidence of someone who had made the journey hundreds of times before and could do it easily blindfolded if she so chose. In fact, they were almost definitely slowing the girl down, though Leah never said a word about it.

Older sister, her brain supplied, watching when she reached out to catch Petya with a calloused hand when he tripped over a tree root. Has a brother, at least five years younger. Clumsy. Why else would she be carrying SpongeBob plasters?

The diminutive stature combined with the girl's well-defined muscles screamed of a competitive gymnast, which Leah confirmed at Louisa's gentle prodding. A very talented competitive gymnast, if UCLA was scouting her. Leah had every right to brag.

Very much in love with her boyfriend. No deductive reasoning skills were needed for that observation. The moment Sam appeared on the front porch, the tension in her shoulders slipped away and her face softened into a warm smile. Leah called out a greeting in an unfamiliar language and quickened her pace, tossing herself into his arms.

Even from a distance, Louisa could tell that Sam was a tall man. He was around Carlisle's height, with long, lean muscles and broad shoulders that all swimmers seemed to possess. His faded blue jeans hung a few centimetres above his ankles, and the way his shirt rode up when he scooped Lean up into his arms spoke of a recent growth spurt. And, just like Leah seemed to adore him, Sam appeared as equally enamoured with her. He stooped to press his forehead against hers and rubbed their noses together. It created a sweet yet intimate picture that the other three felt like they were intruding upon.

Petya cleared his throat and looked away, gazing into the surrounding woods as if he had never seen a tree before. The sound seemed to snap the two locals out of their reverie, and Sam straightened, fixing the newcomers with a curious look.

"Who are your friends, Lee-Lee?" Sam asked, his deep, resonating voice.

She replied again in the same foreign language, her eyebrows raising and a smirk flitting across her face.

Sam's eyes nearly bulged out his head. "The Idiot White Girls?"

"I see we have a reputation," Dottie said to Louisa, who shrugged.

"It's better than the Teacher Killers, I suppose."

"It doesn't have the same gravitas," Dottie replied. She plastered on a dazzling smile and crossed the short distance between them and Sam's house, her right hand outstretched. "Dorothy Collins."

He leaned forward to shake her offered hand, though he had to lean around Leah to do so. "You look much… warmer?"

Leah huffed out a laugh before disentangling herself from her boyfriend's arms and bounding back to Petya and Louisa, leaving him to deal with Dottie's hero-worshipping. His face was a polite mask, though even from several meters away, Louisa could see the thinly veiled panic in his eyes. Especially when he tried to assure her younger sister that he very much did not need more blueberry muffins. Leah snickered at Sam's obvious distress, blowing him a kiss when he shot her a dirty look.

"Your sister seems quite… intense?" Leah commented, shooting Louisa a questioning gaze.

"This is nothing. Ask her if she thinks Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin were a good couple," Louisa replied. "That got a two-hour rant out of her."

"With textual evidence," Petya added, unable to hide the pain in his voice.

She let out a soft 'oh,' but didn't press the matter further. Instead, she turned her head to survey them, her eyes narrowing. "So are the two of you…" she made a vague gesture between the two friends, which took a moment for them to decipher.

"God no," Petya replied. "That's disgusting."

"I think I've been insulted," Louisa replied, rolling her eyes. "I have a boyfriend. Not him. We just get into a lot of trouble together."

"You get us into a lot of trouble, Lastochka," Petya corrected. "I'm dragged into it."

"Don't be like that, baby. You know you love it."

Leah watched them with the same calculating look for a moment longer before launching into her next question. And she had a lot of questions. Some of them were normal and friendly, like asking about school or their hobbies. Then there were the ones that were intrusive and were accompanied by a hungry gleam in her eyes. Louisa didn't pick up a malicious intent from the girl, but rather an intense curiosity. She got the impression that Leah was the type of person to break things not for the sake of destruction but to see how they worked. Even if she did have to ask Louisa to describe, in detail, what had happened between her and Mr Hewitt.

Leah Clearwater was an interesting girl, once you got past her prickly exterior: her biting remarks were more witty than mean-spirited, and a mischievous light danced behind her dark eyes when she spoke. She gave off the impression of knowing more about someone than they would like and was waiting for the right moment to use the information. All in all, a girl after Louisa's heart.

They continued like this for what felt like several hours; the sun had long since set by the time they decided to call it a night. Sam offered to drive them back to their car so they wouldn't have to repeat their trek through the woods, to which nobody objected. Leah had a standing claim over the passenger seat, leaving Louisa, Dottie, and Petya to cram themselves into the back of Sam's faded Volkswagen hatchback.

Sam, in comparison to Leah, didn't say much, though Louisa got the impression that he was a man of few words, rather than harbouring any sort of dislike for three teens. He seemed content to allow his girlfriend to dominate the conversation, smiling at the young woman fondly, and answering any questions tossed his way in his deep, slow voice. When he dropped them off at the Collins' little Prius, he sent them a warm smile that made him look simultaneously boyish and like a wizened old man.

They didn't linger for long after that. After exchanging numbers and following each other on Instagram, Louisa herded her sister and friend back into their own car and departed, thankful that Sam had had the foresight to provide instructions on how to navigate the pitch-black backroads. Louisa shot a quick text to their father with their estimated time of arrival before tossing her mobile to Petya and instructing him to choose a soundtrack that they could all sing to.

Petya, they would find out, made for a very good Veronica Sawyer.

No Stone Left Unturned

They were nearly home when Louisa had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting a herd of teenage boys who were running towards Tillicum Park. Their shouts were so loud that they could be heard over the sound of the Heathers soundtrack which was blasting in their car. Petya let out an oath in Russian, cutting off his rendition of Dead Girl Walking, and threw his arm across Louisa's chest to keep her from banging her head against the steering wheel. Louisa murmured a quick thanks to her friend before refocusing on the noisy group she had nearly ploughed down.

Her sister let out a strangled gasp from the backseat. "That's Spencer!"

Spencer Garner was a friend of Dottie. He was a soft-spoken and awkward boy who had yet to grow into his gangly limbs, and his calf-brown eyes gave off an air of distinct vulnerability. A weakness that others preyed upon. It was only several months ago that Louisa had found him in the rain, tied to a football goal, courtesy of the Spartan baseball team.

Dottie instructed Louisa to pull over. She complied, but by the time she had killed the engine, the boys had already vanished from sight. They tumbled out of the car and took off after the group, the cool night air burning in their lungs. It didn't take too long to locate the boys (as they made no effort to lower their voices), who had caught up with their prey. Two of the taller boys held onto Spencer's arms and kept him still whilst another stood before him, swinging a baseball bat, and mimend hitting Spencer in the gut.

The crowd jeered around them, shouting suggestions about what they should do with their victim. Spencer kicked out at the boy with the bat but his captors held him fast, and the boy was able to sidestep the flailing feet. The group cheered again, and this time another stepped forward, a well-built boy with dark wavy hair and bleach-white teeth. It took a moment to place him, but when she did, Louisa bit back a growl of anger. The newcomer was Tommy Garner.

Tommy Garner was Spencer's twin brother, though if there was any sort of fraternal loyalty between the two, Louisa never saw it. Tommy made no effort to curb his fellow teammate's abuse of his brother and could be found participating more often than not. He had first landed himself on Louisa shit-list after standing Dottie up for homecoming the previous year and had worked his way up with increasingly disparaging comments towards her sister. Dottie tried to downplay his bullying but even if her sister didn't have a supernatural gift for nosiness, Louisa would have heard about it anyways. Forks was a small town and people loved to gossip.

"Stop it!" Dottie cried, darting forward before either Petya or Louisa had the chance to catch her. She grabbed onto Tommy Garner's arm, trying to force the baseball bat down and away from Spencer. "You're hurting him!"

Dottie was able to duck the backswing of the bat but doing so unbalanced her enough for Tommy to shove her, hard, knocking her to the ground.

Louisa saw red.

"Enough!" Looking back, Louisa wouldn't be able to recognise her own voice in the memory. There was something primal— almost animalistic— that flared in her chest, red-hot and all-consuming. She stormed forward, shoving the boys aside and wrenched Spencer out of their grips. They were so surprised to see her that they let him go without a fight and scuttled backwards several paces.

"Dorothy, get up," she snapped, marching Spencer away from his brother and the rest of the baseball team, her grip so tight on the sophomore's arm her knuckles turned white. Petya, who had frozen several paces away, sprang into action and rushed forward, wrapping Spencer's free arm around his neck and guiding him away from the other boys. Louisa let Petya take over, and turned to her sister, who has still sprawled on the ground. "We're leaving."

"Well look who it is," Tommy sneered, recovering from his shock. "Fork's golden girl and Spencer's knight in shining armour."

"Ignore him," Louisa said, helping her sister up. "He's a 'high school has-been waiting to happen.'"

"'A future gas station attendant,'" Dottie quoted back.

A small smile quirked at the corner of Louisa's mouth and she slid a hand to the small of her sister's back and began to usher her towards the car. They didn't make it more than a few steps before Tommy's oily voice began speaking again, taunting them.

"Hey, Collins, I think Mr Varner lives over on Fir," he called at their retreating backs. "Do you mind paying him a visit? I have a maths test on Tuesday."

"Keep walking," Dottie hissed when she felt Louisa tense beside her. "He's not worth it, Lulu."

Sensing that he had her attention, Tommy went for a subject that he knew she wouldn't be able to ignore. Needing to look like he still had a semblance of control over the situation, Tommy hit below the belt with: "Better yet, do me a favour and pull a Mummy Collins. Crash your car and kill him for me?"

Louisa froze and for a moment all she could hear was the pounding of her own heartbeat, and despite the fire that had been lit in her stomach, an icy sort of feeling washed over her skin. Every nerve in her body felt jittery and electrified, her muscles twitchy, waiting for the decision to fight or take flight. She didn't notice Dottie tugging futilely on her arm, nor her pleas to continue on towards the car. Instead, Louisa craned her neck to look over her shoulder, surveying the boys who stood behind her, all sweaty temples and huffing breaths, mud caked on their shoes and grass stains on their knees.

Then she let loose.

"I can sort of understand why you're here, Theodore," she said, nodding her head toward a wiry blond with a thin, rat-like face. "Your father beats you and attacking Spencer makes you feel like you have some sort of power in your life. It's a shame that you feel the need to resort to physical violence, but hey, I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree in this case." Theodore looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to turn his fists on her or not, so she quickly switched to her next target: Casey Lewis, a lanky outfielder who was more legs than torso. "I know you're only here because you are in love with Tommy, but I'm afraid you are wasting your time. The two of you are batting for different teams if you'll pardon my pun. Besides, he already has a girlfriend."

Outing Casey was a cruel thing to do, but the vicious beast in her chest roared in approval as the words tumbled out of her mouth. She shifted her gaze to her final target, who was torn between watching Casey in horror and glaring furiously at her. Good. Her muscles tensed, red-hot and coiled tighter than a spring, read for a fight.

"Or did she dump your ass?" Louisa asked. "I certainly would have. Though maybe she plans to drain you for child support. Tell me, Tommy, are you ready to be a daddy?"

There was a collective gasp from the group at that. There were things you didn't discuss in Forks, and Tommy Garner knocking up his girlfriend was one of them. Marissa Lee had been Forks High's (Home of the Spartans!) leading actress, set to star in the fall production of Othello. Rumours had circulated when she suddenly disappeared in early November the previous year, claiming that her parents sent her away to live with relatives until the baby was born. No one, not even her closest friends, had heard from her since. Marissa's involuntary departure had split the students into two main factions: those who thought Marissa was a troublemaker who wanted to ruin Tommy's chances of getting into a good college; and the rest who thought Tommy was just a privileged white boy who could rely on his parents to get rid of any problem.

Bringing up Marissa was a sure-fire way to get a reaction out of him, and this time was no exception.

Tommy charged, letting out a furious, guttural scream. Louisa managed to step out of the way in the nick of time, sticking out her foot to trip him. "Good, Tommy. Use that anger to your advantage. It gives you fuel. Most people would say it makes you stupid in a fight, but honestly, I don't see much of a difference. That's why you beat up your twin brother, isn't it? Because he stole all of the brains at birth?"

Tommy let out a string of words so foul that had she not been accustomed to hearing similar language during Emmett and Jasper's video game tournaments, she probably would have blushed. He rose to his feet, his dead, shark-like glare never straying from her face. In the distance, she could hear the whine of sirens and she idly wondered if the police were coming to investigate a noise complaint or at Alice's request.

"You think you're so tough because you solved that slut's death."

"Solved Anna Sweet's murder," she corrected in an icy tone.

"We all know who the real murderer in this town is, and it wasn't Mr Hewitt."

His words were intended to hurt her and had she not already heard them hissed thousands of times since the incident in February, they probably would have. But as Jasper had reminded her, Mr Hewitt's actions were his and his alone; he had been the one too afraid to face the consequences of his actions, and it wasn't her fault that he had taken the coward's way out of the situation.

"The law would say otherwise."

"Mr Hewitt was a good man and his family were decent folk. They were run out of town because of you."

"You'll forgive me if I don't agree with your assessment. And nobody ran the Hewitts out of town." Though she couldn't blame them for leaving. Whilst none of the residents of Forks seemed to blame Mrs Hewitt or her sons for what her husband had done, Louisa didn't have to imagine what it was like to feel like the entire town was watching your every move. Less than three weeks after Dottie's kidnapping and her husband's subsequent suicide, Mrs Hewitt had packed up their little house and moved with her children to live with her parents in Utah.

Some of the townsfolk blamed Louisa for what had transpired. They saw Louisa, a relative newcomer to Forks, Washington, as an interloper. Some seemed to think that she took some sort of perverse pleasure in stirring up trouble. In their minds, if it hadn't been for her, a nice family would still be together. (Louisa wanted to point out that Mr and Mrs Hewitt were less than a year away from divorce, but besides her psychometry, she had no evidence that would support this claim.)

Tommy moved towards her, towering over her, and blocking the flashing lights of the approaching police car. He was so close that she could make out the freckles that dotted his face despite the low lighting, the heavy scent of his cologne burning her nostrils. "Bitches like you always get what's coming for them. You all meet the same sticky end. Remember that, Louisa Collins."

She hoped he couldn't see the shiver of fear that ran down her spine, nor the gooseflesh that pebbled across her skin. Tommy Garner was a bully, undoubtedly, but looking into his dark eyes, she saw something she hadn't seen in almost a year, and it made her want to vomit. Because something sinister was lurking behind those eyes— something cold and savage— and it reminded her a lot of Jason Lambe.

"I look forward to it," she replied, hoping that her voice belied confidence she didn't feel.

He gave her a toothy grin that looked more like a feral animal baring its teeth. The police car had stopped in the car park, the heavy slam of the car door punctuating the night air. The sound seemed to break Tommy out of his reverie and he shouldered past Louisa, calling for his gang to follow him. Louisa didn't turn around until the last of them had disappeared into the trees that surrounded the park.

"Are you okay?" she asked, at last, turning to face Spencer who looked worse for wear. His clothes were ripped, one of his calf-like eyes had begun to swell shut, and a trickle of blood was streaming from the corner of his mouth. Dottie hovered over her friend, picking out twigs out of his wavy hair, murmuring words of comfort into his ear. Petya had manoeuvred the boy to sit on a park bench and was kneeling beside him, examining the extent of his injuries.

"Nothing feels broken," Petya stated, his hand still palpating Spencer's sides. "But you need inspection from a doctor. I do not know if you were hit hard enough to lacerate a kidney, but it is good to be nervous in these situations."

Spencer gave no indication that he heard Petya's words. He hunched his shoulders like he was collapsing in on himself, arms snaking their way around (what Louisa was sure was) his bruised rib cage, and let out a shaky breath. A wet cough racked its way through his body, and when Louisa caught sight of his face, his lips were wet with she thought might be blood.

"Convince me not to slash all of his tyres," Louisa growled.

"His insurance would pay to have replaced," Petya pointed out. His words were slow and deliberate as if he were struggling to string them together into a cohesive sentence. "It would be inconvenience, but he would not lose much money in the process."

"It's also illegal," Dottie cut in.

Louisa nodded at their advice. "It's no secret in town that Tommy and I hate each other. I'd be the first suspect."

"Three-inch screw is enough to puncture inner tyre. It would look like an accident," Petya supplied.

She held back her reply when she noticed the police officer's approach. The torch he was carrying blinded her and threw his face into shadow, but there was no mistaking the bored drawl that came from the newcomer.

"What have you done this time, Collins?" Sergeant Todd asked. Louisa could only imagine how big the accompanying eye roll was. "We received several noise complaints."

Louisa launched into the story of what had transpired, with Dottie and Petya inserting their own commentary as she went. Sergeant Todd swung the beam of his torch towards Spencer as she spoke, looking for signs of injury. He didn't have to look too hard. In the light, Spencer's injuries looked far worse than she had initially thought, and Louisa wondered how long the baseball team had been assaulting him before they intervened.

"I am…" Petya said slowly, his words heavily accented. "Paramedic, in Tacoma. He should be transported for hospital."

Sergeant Todd nodded, moving to kneel in front of Spencer, and introduced himself to Spencer in a soft voice that surprised Louisa. She had only ever seen the cocky and abrasive side of the police officer, especially when they had been working on the Anna Sweet case together.

"I've called for an ambulance. Spencer, isn't it? Your dad works over at the firehouse."

When he still didn't respond, Dottie spoke up, filling Sergeant Todd in of all the sordid things Tommy did to his brother. Some of them, like shoves in the hallway or stealing his brother's lunch sounded like normal bullying. Others, like breaking Spencer's wrist or setting his bed on fire did not. The picture Dottie painted of Tommy sounded less and less like a jealous brother and more like a budding psychopath. But it wasn't until Dottie began describing the scene on the football field that Spencer reacted.

"No—" Spencer said, at last, cutting Dottie off mid-sentence.

"I— no?" She spun her head, her mouth dropping open as she gave her friend an incredulous look.

"No," Spencer repeated, his soft voice growing more firm. "This has been a misunderstanding."

Sergeant Todd looked dubious at the boy's announcement. "It's okay, Spencer. You're safe now—"

"No," he snapped, standing up. He glared down at Sergeant Todd for a moment, and it might have almost looked impressive if he wasn't swaying on the spot. "I'm fine. Thank you for your help, but it isn't necessary." He pushed away from Dottie and stalked off, quickly disappearing in the night.

Silence reigned for several moments as they tried to process what had occurred. Dottie rounded on Sergeant Todd, asking what he was going to do about the situation. He attempted to explain that there was little he could do if the victim refused to report the crime, but his words did little to soothe Dot's anger. Louisa watched her sister rant for a moment before kneeling beside Petya, who was still crouched next to the bench Spencer had vacated.

"Are you okay?" She asked her friend, placing a hand on his arm.

"Da." It wasn't uncommon for Petya to substitute English words for his native language, but there was something in his voice that made her think it wasn't a conscious decision this time. It had been quite a while since Louisa had heard her friend fumble over his English, and hearing so many errors had alarm bells ringing in her head.

"What is wrong?" She asked, slipping into the foreign language. "Something is upsetting you."

He looked up at her at last, his dark brown eyes wild. Terrified. "It is nothing."

But it was something. It took a lot to rattle her easy-going friend, and she was going to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.


"Angry people are not always wise."Jane Austen


A/N: Back baby. Depression is a bitch. What was it that that Alice saw? What do you think Petya is hiding? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. -CheckAlexa