"I suspect you will not answer me even if I insist," Johann said from his position chained against the pipe in the underground cells he had been taken to by Gareth Griffiths. "I would have thought you would do me the honour of letting me know just what this is about."

Gareth glanced back at Johann but did not respond to the professor. Instead, he continued setting up some strange camera rig nearby.

"You think Ryan will fall for this?" The distorted voice came from the masked Pigritia, who was leaning against the wall next to Johann. "This seems… theatrical."

"Jason will not believe anything short of my death," Gareth said. "Much to his chagrin, the man wears his emotions on his sleeves. He sees a picture of me dead, then, well… that's my out."

"I wish you would have come to me before you took the old man," Pigritia said.

"Why?" Gareth looked at her. "This is not part of your plan. The professor doesn't factor into your plans."

"Whether or not it is a part of my plan doesn't matter, when this is going to directly involve people I might not want to get involved."

"Pigritia, this only benefits you."

This new, foreign voice came from the entrance to the room and Johann watched carefully as a woman entered. She was not wearing a mask like Pigritia. She was slim and tall, pale as snow, with eyes vibrant as ice. Her hair was white yet there was some youth in her face. She seemed like a spectre of death as she walked into the room and approached Johann directly. She was dressed as ghostly as her looks, with a white dress that was at a slight slant by her knees, and connected to her shoulder with two straps. Strangely, she wore two gloves as if she were a surgeon. As she got closer, Johann could see no sense of emotion in those cold, cold eyes of this woman.

"What are you doing here?" Pigritia asked. "I thought you weren't coming back."

"I gave you the pieces you needed, Pigritia," the woman said, her voice as frosty as her looks. "The professor here is a piece for myself and Purgatory as a whole."

"You are risking my entire-" Pigritia stepped forward but stopped short at the side-glance from the woman. "…I'm sorry. It is just that I am trying to keep things together."

"Trying being the operative word, Pigritia. Your work is growing sloppy. Nevertheless I still trust you." The woman looked back at Johann and crouched in front of him. "Professor Johann Schneider. I have heard a lot about you. There are not many the DSI trust that are not within their ranks."

"I guess they respect my age and wisdom," Johann said slowly. "You seem to have my name. May I have the pleasure of yours?"

"You may not," the woman cocked her head to the side. "Do you know why you are here, professor?"

"Sadly your two cohorts have remained tight-lipped on the subject. I was hoping that someone who called me friend would be more forthcoming but it seems I shall remain disappointed," Johann stared through his spectacles at Gareth but Gareth remained working on the little makeshift studio they had going on near the wall.

"Well allow me to give you the information you require. We are going to enact a ransom note, as Jason Ryan has taken the pawns I have given to Pigritia. In this ransom note there will be a picture of you, with a pistol pointed at your head, kneeling next to the corpse of one Gareth Griffiths. The goal of this deception is to invoke an emotional reaction from Jason Ryan. Is this sufficient for your needs, professor?"

Johann narrowed his eyes. "I had not expected you to simply come out and say it."

"It is the least I can do, for the amount of information you are about to give me."

The professor smiled. "I am afraid you will be most disappointed, my dear. I know who it is that I am against, and this organisation of yours lies at the base of that. If you expect me to talk, then not even torture will turn my tongue. I am trusted as a secret keeper to those who need their secrets kept. You can cut off the rest of my limbs if that so pleases you, but nothing will come from it."

"It is good to see such firmness in your eyes. There will be no need of such… filthy business." The woman raised her hand and slowly pulled off one of her gloves, revealing a slender hand beneath with well-maintained nails cut level. She reached forward slowly. Although Johann had no idea as to what was happening, his instinct told him not to let her touch him, but there was nowhere for him to turn. He shivered as the cold fingers touched the side of his face, and slowly caressed the side of his worn face, before resting on his chin. "Now, Johann Schneider. Let us ensure you are telling me the truth. What is your name?"

"…Johann Tobias Schneider." The professor spoke with all but the briefest of hesitation. His eyes flashed as if he were surprised at what he was saying.

"How did you lose your arm?"

"It was crushed under the collapse of the Tor." Again Johann's eyes flashed but his mouth was working despite himself.

"Who do you work for, Johann?" The woman's voice was the softest of snow, undisturbed.

"I do not work for anyone," Johann said and tried to stay silent, but it was like his voice wanted to be heard. "…I… I work with Joshua Valentine."

"Well now, isn't that interesting." The woman leaned close so she was nose to nose with the old professor. "Tell me all about your alliance with Joshua Valentine."

It was strange walking through the corridors that led down to the library. There weren't any windows looking into the corridor so they were safe, but there was this tense silence to the four of the knowledge that at any moment, if they were careless, it would take but an instant to end their lives. They had heard some screams and cries from beyond the administration building, but that had been muted. Conner heavily suspected that when the shots had rang out, any patients who had been outside had run back into either the dormitories or the Rec-Zone.

Rebecca was still quivering, clearly scared beyond reasoning. The warden had to keep gently pushing her just to keep her moving. Behind all of them, Charlotte walked, standing straight up, cool as a cucumber. Conner knew that she was scared for her sister, but she clearly wasn't scared for her own life. Was this because she knew she wasn't a target? Or was it simply because she had accepted death, just as she had said back in the woods?

They reached the doors of the library together and Conner opened them swiftly. "Okay, let's take a—" Conner stopped and his eyes slipped past the people in the room and to the window above the shelves. How could he have forgotten that window? Even as part of him doubted that anyone could see through that window, the dreaded CRACK echoed through the room, shattering the window.

Standing next to Conner, Theodore Hearthome's neck suddenly burst outwards in an explosion of crimson as the sniper shot tore through his throat with ease. Theodore gurgled fruitlessly, collapsing to the floor twitching.

Rebecca Cox let out a scream as crimson specks dotted her face and suddenly ran straight into the library.

"No, stop, stop!" Conner called out but it was too late.

Rebecca made it perhaps two steps before another CRACK burst through the shattered window. It took Rebecca Cox directly in the chest and for a moment she pirouetted like a doll before twisting and slamming hard to the floor.

"Everybody to the back of the room, now!" Conner roared, pushing himself and Charlotte back into the doorway.

Thankfully, if any were surprised to see him, they still obeyed his shout. Conner watched as Johann, Robyn, Noah, Ollie, and Penelope herself all rushed to the wall below the window. It was strange though, only Ollie, Penelope, and Johann looked particularly worried. Noah and Robyn both seemed a little listless. They had listened, yes, but both moved a little too slowly for Conner's liking. He didn't know if they were on this hit list but he wasn't about to find out. Both of them looked as if two people hadn't just been shot in front of them.

"…Char!" Penelope called out from across the room. She was evidently pleased at seeing her sister, yet there was worry in Penelope's eyes. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Stay there, Penny," Charlotte called back. "Under the window, okay?"

"Everyone, there is a sniper outside the windows," Conner called out. "I need you all to stay calm, okay? There is an old door at the back of the library, it leads further into the building. If you stay in that corridor, you will be away from any windows, and you will be safe."

Conner couldn't believe that in such a short time, all of the fake sins had been slaughtered like lambs. Shot down like they were nothing. And that was not to mention Jason as well. Such murder, so quickly, so simply, it was hard to wonder how Gareth Griffiths could do it so cleanly and without remorse. Well, not so hard, Conner supposed. Sometimes there is just a love for taking a human life. Conner grit his teeth. The stench of blood was strong and it was getting to him.

"It's funny," Charlotte muttered from behind him. "In all of Robyn's insane ramblings, she often thought that you may have been a werewolf. What nonsense she speaks. Yet here you are, practically foaming at the mouth at the smell of blood."

"…Don't say that," Conner said quietly.

"Don't like being called an animal, Shepherd?"

"Don't call Robyn insane!" Conner spat back. He was trying to figure out just what the next step was and didn't need Charlotte whispering in his ear like some kind of devil on his shoulder. God knew he had enough devils for that.

"Well she is! All of you are! It's why you're in this madhouse, after all. And you, Conner, you're the craziest of them all. To think that the DSI are placing their faith in you…" Charlotte chuckled. "What are you going to do next? I thought you had all the answers and yet here you are, hesitating, just because someone you cannot see and you cannot reach is pinning you down."

"Do you want me to save your sister or not?" Conner asked seriously. "Because if you keep talking, I'll let her be shot down."

"You and I both know you won't let that happen. This hero complex in you is rising up, Conner. I can speak to you like this because I know it's not going to change the decisions you make. My sister will be safe under your watch, because you and I are very much alike. You do not want to lose. And if my sister dies, that will be a loss. You've started formulating a plan, correct? The eleventh shot you said to Berlin. How many are we on now?" Charlotte raised her bound hands and started flicking her fingers up. "Seven shots. We're getting close, Conner. And only one of those shots have not met its target." Charlotte grinned behind her raised seven fingers. "Are you going to let anyone else die, Shepherd? All the pieces that were given to me have been shot down. It is a shame. I did care for them, in some small way, but they are nothing when compared to Penny."

"It would be easier if you told me who Gareth was targeting," Conner said.

"I wish I knew, Conner, but I can only guess, as you have, and my answer isn't so different from yours. You need to stop playing on the defensive, Shepherd!" Charlotte suddenly pushed past Conner despite being bound to walk straight into the library.

"Stop!" Conner reached out to grab her shoulder but instantly retracted it as a sixth sense crept into his neck. Maybe it was a sense that killers shared. Quick as his instinct allowed him, Conner quickly drew back into the doorway.

CRACK!

The shot whistled straight through where Conner's outstretched chest would have been had he not moved himself back straight away.

"And there's the eighth!" Charlotte grinned as she walked into the library proper. She walked slowly, purposefully, and for Conner this confirmed two things. One, Charlotte Hayes truly was not a target of Gareth Griffiths. Was this simply because she was also a member of Purgatory? Second, it confirmed that Conner himself was on the hit list. He supposed he ought to have felt proud of this distinction, but instead he felt sick. He was not somebody touched by this woman in white, nor was he a member of the Department of Human Protection. Was he being targeted just because he was a thorn in the side of Purgatory? Or did that mean that people like Noah and Robyn were targets as well?

Conner took a deep breath and called over the room. "Meet me in the medical bay. It faces away from where Gareth is shooting from. Charlotte…" Conner hated that he had let her go. Hated that he couldn't get past the library floor to the others. Charlotte had effectively used Gareth to split him away from her. Yet her hands were still bound. It didn't seem as if she was trying to escape. Instead she had gone straight to her sister. Even bound, there were none of that side that could have fought her if that was what Charlotte decided to do. Ollie and Johann were the only ones who looked wary and unsure of Charlotte's arrival. Robyn and Noah both still looked out of it, disconnected. "Charlotte! Know that if you cannot leave the administration building while Gareth is still out there. The entrance is covered. Your sister will never make it! Follow the group, keep your head down, and your sister will live! Professor, Ollie, keep them together, get them to the medical bay. Noah, Robyn, you two get your fucking heads out of your fucking asses and get it together!" Conner practically shouted this last sentence.

Conner didn't need to be a genius to know what was going on with both of them, but it certainly helped. Robyn was easy to figure out. The remnants of her camera were on the floor against one of the shelves further into the room. Tie that with the fact that she had been clearly crying, and the fact that Penelope had a mark on her cheek, the truth about the camera had come out. Conner had hoped against the fact that Robyn would break her camera, but he knew it would have been a possibility. "Robyn!" Conner called out again. "The camera never made you who you were! Just because you were used, doesn't make you at fault! Get your head in the game!"

Noah was slightly more difficult to figure out but Conner could see that he was growing pale again, just as he had looked when he first arrived back in Hearthome after John had been shot. With his unfocused eye, there was something going on in that head of his, something no doubt related to the List, as it was only the List that made Noah so unfocused. Usually he would be quiet yet serious. It was the List, and all that related to the List, that really bothered him, and that centered back down into his mind. "Noah! Your mind is your own, and nobody else's!"

Both of them looked up at him and both seemed to at least gain some semblance of clarity. Worry and some slight fear came back into their faces. That was good. Worry and fear meant that they would take care. Both were brave people. In fact, every member of the group on the other side of the library were brave people, even Penelope and Charlotte.

And Conner was separated from them all and it was as if fate was calling him a coward.

Conner had to agree with fate in this particular matter. It was fear that had driven his every choice. Fear of being blamed for something that wasn't his fault. Fear for being called a killer yet again. Fear that the Department of Human Protection would change their opinion and line him up on the chopping block. Fear of death? Those three words stabbed at Conner like one of his own blades.

Fear of death…

Am I scared of dying? Conner's fast mind took stock of this question. He had walked into the hands of a Horseman of the Apocalypse and bore the marks of that encounter across every inch of his skin. He had done so fully under the belief that he was going to die. When he had emerged with his life, that was when everything had changed. Why was that? Because you thought that was your punishment. You thought that it was a just ending to a man who had done what you did.

You thought you would die a hero and be redeemed of your sins.

"…And yet here I stand…" Conner grit his teeth, furious with himself and these questions. He took a single step backwards. "…I am not a hero…" Conner took another step backwards. He was annoyed he didn't think of this earlier. The library was a big room, but not a long way to go from the doorway to the back of the room. In order for a sniper to hit a running target, they needed to be able to see where they were going. The run across the room would be two seconds at most and likely less with the limited view the window gave. "…And I am not a coward!"

Conner burst forward like an Olympic sprinter out the gate. He put every ounce of everything he had into this one sprint, pumping his arms and legs as best as his frame would allow him, kept his head low as if that might help avoid a bullet. He waited for the inevitable crack of the bullet, waited for it all to be over, and realised in that one frantic second that he had no desire to die, not from a bullet or a List. He wondered what had changed from the Apocalypse.

And then it was over.

Conner came to a stop on the other side of the library, panting. No shot had been fired. Gareth had clearly deemed it an unnecessary risk this time, especially after missing Conner before.

"Conner!" Robyn suddenly wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "You could have been killed!"

"…That's the second time you've hugged me now… I'm okay Robyn, I'm okay," Robyn didn't seem to want to let go and Conner found his hand rifling her hair. It felt natural. It felt strange yet it felt natural. Conner found another source of fear rising in the pit of his stomach. Fear of emotions. He had started to think of Robyn like a younger sister. Yet her honest reactions to him started to change that feeling into something more… something much more dangerous…

Love made smart people do stupid things.

Conner gently pushed Robyn away and looked to Charlotte and Penelope. The two sisters were standing side-by-side and it was unnerving to see the twins standing together, even though they were dressed differently. It was like a warning that Conner was now in twice the trouble he was in previously. Nevertheless he stepped forward. "Sorry Charlotte, change of plans. I told you I wasn't going to let you out of my sight and I mean to keep that promise. Everyone, follow me. We should be safe in the following corridors but keep your head down, just in case."

Up at the entrance, Gareth Griffiths took a moment to pull away from the scope and take a deep breath. When he was in the zone, he would often forget to breath. He had to make a concentrated effort to do so. It had been a successful effort for the most part. Only two shots missed. Only five targets to go. Conner Shepherd and Penelope Hayes were sooner rather than later. The both of them were smart. They wouldn't make it so easy like the rest of the fake sins had. Gareth enjoyed the hunt.

It was the other three that could pose a problem. Berlin. Rhino. Wasp. Three members of the Department of Human Protection that he had called friends. Three people who would no doubt be after his guts for what he had done to Jason Ryan.

Jason Ryan… Some part of Gareth had expected to feel sad, to feel upset, or perhaps to hesitant pulling the trigger. But it had been surprisingly easy. Pulling the trigger, watching Jason fall, watching him raise that hand before the final breath left him.

Gareth felt nothing.

He glanced back to see that Irae had left him on his own on top of the building. No doubt getting the jeep ready for their escape. Gareth wagered he had five minutes left. It should be possible.

He put his eye back to the scope, and sucked in his breath again.

Away from the gate that entered the Hearthome facility, behind Gareth Griffiths, and unseen by all, a pair of yellow goggles stared out from the treeline. Wasp looked across from the branch she was perched on to Berlin, who blended into the darkness like a panther. He was standing straight, leaning his back against the trunk, with his arms crossed. They were not looking at an ally anymore, nor a friend, nor a brother. They were looking at a target. Both were counting the shots in their head, and both were ready to act as soon as it came.

The eleventh shot would prove Gareth Griffiths undoing.