HELLO! Oh my gosh, it feels like it's been ages since I wrote anything. But I finally got something down. If you are still following this story, thank you, and I'm sorry for the wait. Also for the train wreck it's becoming. 

Anyway, here's chapter nineteen. It's a dark one so... be warned.

--VIVKELLER23

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Today was a big day. At least, that was what all the girls in school wanted everyone to believe. But Collins had never quite understood why.

According to the flyers lining the high school hallways, tonight was the Hunter's Moon Dance. That meant that folks in town were too busy setting up a magical night for the teen population to care whether students were actually in classes for the day. As Collins made her way to Mrs. Grails' math class, she sighed recalling last year's dance and how lonely it would be this time around without Simon.

This time last year, she'd surprised everyone in town by showing up to a dance with Simon Hayes at her side. A powerful duo that no one had expected, two outcasts people liked to try to analyze joining forces. It had been all anyone could talk about for weeks.

She'd never liked dances much. Most of the time, they ended in disaster anyway.

Someone bumped into her, nudging her out of the way to enter the classroom before her.

"Watch it, moron!" Collins hollered, and instantly regretted having spoken at all. Twenty something pairs of eyes rose to look at her as she entered the room and walked to her seat.

Miss Grails glanced up from the stack of papers on her desk. "Good morning, Collins," she greeted.

She placed her book bag on the chair beside her and smiled. Despite the way everyone else in Sailor's Port seemed to treat Collins, Miss Grails chose to go out of her way to be kind. "Morning," Collins replied.

Miss Grails acceptance of her seemed to serve an even better purpose. It made it clear that at least in this classroom, Collins was just another student. The others in class didn't have the energy nor the expertise to make that a reason to hate her.

The eight o'clock bell rang and Miss Grails motioned the group of students still walking in to close the door behind them. She inclined her head, waiting patiently as they each took a seat before she turned her attention to her roll sheet.

Down the list of alphabetical last names she went, pausing every so often when she reached a student who wasn't present.

"Brock?" the math teacher called.

Right on cue, the classroom door opened to show a beaming Vance carrying a bouquet of red roses. "Right on time," he replied, flashing a sly smile.

Miss Grails huffed, a disapproving frown on her face. "Every single time, Vance." The way she crossed her arms over her chest would have been all the reason to turn tail and run. She was in charge of math homework after all. "I even saved your name for last," she told him.

Vance shrugged. "I apologize."

Collins shook her head because she'd seen this exact exchange so many times before. He always apologized, and he was always forgiven. At this point, it was just a cycle.

Vance caught her eye and winked as he shrugged away from the doorframe. As he passed by Miss Grails desk, he paused to place a bright red rose on the cluttered surface.

There was a collection of whistles around the room as he continued his way to his seat. The teacher cleared her throat and tried to look stern, but the bright pink color in her cheeks gave away how flustered she was. "That's enough," Miss Grails warned. "Don't think I won't give you all a pop quiz just because there's a dance tonight."

That threat was very effective. In an instant, the noise died down.

Collins kept her eyes focused firmly on the front of the classroom as the chair beside her was pulled out. She breathed deeply, mentally counting to ten as the chair legs were dragged across the tile floor. Then came the shuffling.

The math professor sighed. "Is there a problem, Vance, that you can't seem to quietly get into your seat?"

Vance shrugged. "No problem," he told her. "Just trying to get a certain girl to answer a question for me."

For the second time that morning, all pairs of eyes turned to look at her again. Only this time they weren't so much annoyed that she was present as they were amazed. Amazed that somehow she'd managed to scare Vance Brock to Europe and back again.

Maybe she was cursed? Was that why people came and went in her life while she remained stuck in the middle? Somewhere in between fitting in and merely existing? That would certainly explain why her life was such a painful mess.

"Collins?"

She blinked, and turned her face to the guy standing beside her, a bouquet of eleven roses in his hand. "What?"

His mouth curved in a smile that reached his eyes. "Will you go to the dance with me?"

For a moment his question pulsed in her ears. She stared at Vance, trying to decipher if he meant it the way she wanted him to, or if this was a ploy. But Vance had never been one to use grand gestures when they weren't necessary.

He'd also danced with her in their treehouse all those days ago. Was she crazy for wanting to experience that magic once more?

She opened her mouth to answer...

But Miss Grails had lost her patience it seemed. "All right, that's it." She clapped her hands and pulled out a stack of papers from her tote bag. "Clear your desks. We're having this quiz."

"Yes," Collins whispered.

Failing a pop quiz wasn't such a bad deal now that she knew who her date to the Hunter's Moon Dance would be this time around.

vVv

Jonah was not happy when she got home and broke the news to him. He'd already made plans for her to stay over at Miss Susannah's since she had insisted she wasn't going to go that morning.

Collins sighed and dropped her bag on the living room couch before she walked into the kitchen to find a vase for her roses. "It's not that big of a deal, Jonah," she tried to reason with him. "Now you'll be able to watch me at the dance yourself and see once and for all that you have nothing to worry about."

But her brother simply shook his head at her. "Why are you so set on letting Vance Brock into your life again?"

Probably because he'd never truly left? "It's one dance, Jonah. Everyone will be there."

Jonah knew when to cut his losses. He'd basically raised both of them on his own, so he'd learned to read the signs of when Collins' mind was made up. That Estrada stubborn streak was something they'd both inherited.

"Fine," he breathed, sounding defeated and grumpy. "I'm going to be Aimee's date tonight, but if there's any reason at all you decide you want to leave, you let me know. I don't want you around anyone if they make you feel uncomfortable, alright?"

Collins took the empty glass pitcher Aimee had left behind the last time she'd stayed over and placed the eleven roses Vance had given her inside. Then she turned to her frowning brother and smiled. "Don't worry. I know you will always have my back, just like I'll always have yours."

The frown left his face then to be replaced by an amused smile. "Right," he said as he turned to walk into the guest room that had been turned into his office. He paused with one hand on the door handle. "I almost forgot. There's a pile of mail on the counter. With everything going on lately, I haven't had a chance to look at it."

"I'll look at it," Collins told him. She heard him go into his office and close the door behind him.

Alone, she began tidying up the kitchen. There were leftover quesadilla slices her brother had brought home from work that needed to be put in the fridge. Then she added water to the makeshift vase for her roses and set the flowers on the coffee table in the living room.

Once she was done setting things right, she focused her attention on the mail Jonah had mentioned. For the most part, the mail consisted of bills and letters addressed to her brother. The annual letter Sailor Sea's High sent out to parents reminding them of upcoming events, important dates to keep in mind, and the like was also a part of the pile.

A postcard fell from in between two white envelopes and landed on the tiled floor. Collins frowned as she bent to pick it up, knowing instinctively that it was yet another card to add to the collection she'd been receiving from Simon.

As was usual, he'd explained how he was enjoying his time outside of Sailor's Port and that he'd see her soon. Be happy, he'd written before signing his name at the end. But how could she be happy, truly happy, when he was so far away? Things were different now, no matter how much she'd tried to keep her life the same.

Too many secrets had surfaced for her to ever see Sailor's Port as the boring town she'd once thought it. It had never been home, but now, it wasn't even a place she really knew. Sailor's Port seemed like just another place on the map with every passing day, and the burning need to leave it behind was becoming impossible to ignore.

Perhaps when Simon Hayes finally made the choice to come back home, he'd realize he was better off anywhere else. Maybe then they could make their grand escape for good. Together this time.

In an effort to scatter the sobering thoughts, Collins shook her head and jammed the latest postcard into the her jean pockets. Tonight wasn't the time to dwell on the things she couldn't change. Simon wouldn't want her to allow anything to cast a shadow over the one night she finally had to enjoy herself with Vance Brock. He had been the shoulder she leaned on after all when Vance hightailed it out of town. When everyone else had stared and criticized her for her part in sending Vance to Europe, Simon had stood by her and listened. Besides Jonah, Simon Hayes was the only other person on the planet who understood just how deeply she'd fallen for Vance.

She wondered what Simon was doing tonight. Wherever he was, whoever he'd met along the way, she hoped he was happy. She hoped he was getting back a little bit of the kindness and love he'd always shown others. But most of all, she hoped he would call Kat, just to give her the peace of mind she so desperately needed.

But Simon wasn't the only one who could offer Kat some answers. Collins admitted to herself for the third time in under a week that she was the worst kind of friend for keeping Simon's post cards from his sister. It wasn't even a decision she'd made intentionally. She just always allowed other things to distract her from having to share the only connection she had to Simon now.

No more. Collins turned to walk down the hall and into her room, determined to find something nice enough to dance the night away with Vance Brock before she had to hand the pile of cards she had stashed beneath her bed over to Kat Hayes.

A quick glance at the muted tones of gray, blue, green, and black hanging in her closet proved she had her work cut out for her. Then again, Collins Estrada had always lived for the challenge.

vVv

Vance Brock in a suit was a sight to behold.

Collins had known he would be, but no amount of mental preparation actually lived up to the reality. He made a comment on the dress she wore, a flowy aqua colored floor length gown that Aimee had loaned her for the night that she didn't quite catch. From the slight smile on his face and the way his eyes kept darting over to her during the drive to school, Collins was pretty sure he liked the dress.

Sailor Sea's High shown like a thousand stars. Literally. Dainty fairy lights were wrapped around the tree trunks of every tree in the school parking lot. Solar lanterns lit up the entire sidewalk path leading to the huge gymnasium doors. A fountain had been hauled from somewhere and deposited right in the center of the sleek gym floors with miniscule candles floating in the water.

Collins shuddered as Vance led the way onto the center of the dance floor.

"Cold?" he asked her, his hand going to the small of her back and gently rubbing in a circular motion.

She shook her head. She couldn't possibly be cold with him this close. "Just wondering who's idea it was to light candles in a room full of high schoolers," she explained. "Think of the fire hazard."

"Only you, Collins Estrada, could look at candles and automatically assume the worst."

She saw the gleam in his gray eyes, the amusement that turned the corners of his mouth up into a proper smile. "You're telling me that with everything that's gone wrong in this town for months now, you didn't just assume a fire would break out at some point tonight?"

The hand at her back stopped rubbing. His palm flattened against the delicate fabric of her dress with just enough pressure to move her forward the last few centimeters that had separated them. "Depends," Vance murmured, bending his close enough for his breath to fan against the exposed skin of her neck. "What kind of fires would you be setting, Collins?"

The kind that require holy water to put them out, for sure. "I don't think-"

The lights in the gymnasium dimmed as Mayor Brock walked out onto the dance floor with a mic in hand. As he walked, couples moved out of the man's way, their eyes following him until he came to a stop beside the fountain and its stupid candles. Vance's hand closed tightly around hers and pulled her into the small crowd of high schoolers that had gathered as soon as the Mayor stepped out.

"I hope you are all ready to have a great night," Neels Brock announced to the sound of cheers. "The past few months have been a hard time for many of us, but Sailor's Port has always been a town born of resilience. In a time of so much uncertainty and pain, it's even more important to show we can continue. We won't fall."

His speech seemed to resonate with the others in attendance, but Collins only cared about one boy's reaction to the words the Mayor spoke. Vance's jaw was clenched, his eyes narrowed into slits as he watched his father. Everything about the way he stood while the others clapped and cheered around him gave away the animosity that existed between the father and son.

How had she never noticed it before?

The Mayor inclined his head and when he raised his gaze once more, there was a deep sadness in the dark depths. "Sailor's Port lost a beautiful soul with Regina's passing, but I believe she is at peace and looking down on all of us." Behind him, just beyond the fountain and its candles, Sheriff Tills and Jonah walked out. "It is with gratitude that I unveil a portrait of Regina Brock, as painted by Mrs. Adalia Moss."

Jonah and the sheriff grabbed at the stark white veil and let it fall to the glossy gym floors.

Collins' breath left her lungs in a rush. No matter how much she disliked Adalia Moss and her buzzing friends and the way they could shun anyone they wished to as if it was a sport, she had to admit that the woman could paint. The canvas was more a photograph than a painting, at least to her. It was as if Regina had never left. Her jewel-like eyes and gold spun hair looked as alive as Regina should have been at the age of seventeen. An angel whose wings had been torn off too soon.

The rest of Mayor Brock's speech was a blur that she snapped out of when with a jolt as the room filled with applause. Vance turned to her, all traces of the warmth he'd felt before his father had interrupted gone. In its place was a raging fury and a helplessness she knew well.

"I need to speak with the Sheriff," he told her.

Collins nodded. "I know."

She recognized the need there. She'd felt it all her life, too, though never with the same intensity he had. Her need for answers was rooted deep in a past she couldn't recall, while Vance's was set in the present, in not knowing what had happened to the only family he'd ever loved.

She watched him walk away, her eyes trained on his back until the crowd of dancing couples made it impossible to see him anymore. Then she buried her hands into the skirt of her gown and headed towards the bathrooms located at the back of the gymnasium. She'd asked Kat to meet her tonight in an attempt to make up for the way she'd ignored the older woman. Kat was all the family Simon had left just like Jonah was all Collins had.

And if she'd learned anything in the past few years, it was that family was what kept you going.

The small hall that led to the bathrooms was pitch black, but Collins had walked it enough times to know the way. She ran her fingers against the cool wall, using it to guide her until she reached the bathroom door. With both hands on the door, she pushed it open.

The lights flickered on automatically as soon as she stepped inside. Behind her, the bathroom door opened once more.

Collins took a deep breath and spun around to face Kat Hayes.

But the bundle of post cards Collins had tied to her thigh beneath the dress which had been the reason she'd asked Kat to meet her never made it into Simon's sister's hands. The lights flickered overhead for a few brief seconds before the bathroom went pitch black.

"You'd think with the amount of money that has gone into this building, they'd make sure the freaking lights worked," Collins grumbled.

The lights returned, blinding her for a moment.

And then came the screams.

One from Kat as her eyes zeroed in on the blood red message scrawled angrily across the bathroom mirrors.

Fear no evil. Death sets thee free.

The other screams were from the dance floor. As Collins led Kat back towards the horrified sounds, her mind raced. Why, why, why... Why was Sailor's Port, a town so small and uneventful that Collins had always yearned to leave, turning into such a nightmare?

The lights were off in the gym when Collins reached it, but no one was dancing. No music played in the background. Only the fairy lights shown along the walls. And the flame of the candles floating atop the fountain's water. Water that Collins realized was no longer as clear as it should have been.

She looked around. Saw pale faces drowning in tears. Shocked silence filled the room as people looked up at the ceiling.

Principal Flannigan hung from a bright red cord.

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