Ash looked up as Julia stepped inside, accompanied by another student. She kept her face blank as the student introduced them, following Julia's lead as they pretended not to know each other.

'Do you mind if the curtains are closed? I-I have a few personal questions to ask,' Julia sniffled to the student.

'Of course.' She was quick to comply with Julia's wishes and enclosed them both in the tent. 'Elijah loitering around the back of the tent. He didn't want anyone seeing him coming in through the front,' Julia explained as she took a seat.

Ash just stared at her. Who knew the pathologist was such a good liar? Wordlessly, she headed to the back of the tent, seeing the looming figure of the Deputy behind the material. She separated the flaps and ushered him in quickly.

'Where's Jess?' he asked.

'She's gone to see someone about a friend. She won't be long. What have you found out?'

'I'm still waiting for most of the information.'

'But you wouldn't be here if you didn't have something.' She took a seat as he joined Julia.

'Daryl originally went to another university before moving here two years ago. My IT contacts checked and a girl matching Charity's description went missing around the same time. Her body was never found,' he added before Ash could ask.

'It's sinister, but not definitive. How many slim, blonde women go missing every year?'

'Hence why it's just us here,' Julia replied.

'I don't like you and Jess putting yourself in danger like this. If we're right, you could be in the room with a serial killer.' The Deputy ran a hand over his head, wiping away the perspiration.

'This wasn't my idea,' Ash reminded him.

'But you didn't talk her out of this.'

Ash snorted. 'Like I can talk my sister out of anything.'

'Do you really think you'll be able to see something if he comes?' Julia asked with genuine interest.

'It's hard to say. Being around people, I can usually get a feel for the person, but I don't know what I'm looking for. You'd assume that a secretive, quiet person would be the person committing crimes, but what if it's a different emotion? A serial killer may walk around being the happiest person in the room, because they're doing what they wanted.'

Julia's face fell and the Deputy's hardened.

'What about your visions?'

'I can't control what I see. I can try to dictate the direction, but most of the time I just get pulled along for the ride.'

'Like Charity's ring,' the Deputy said.

'Exactly like that. I never saw Charity dying. But I saw Darcy. My visions aren't an exact science.'

The Deputy's phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out and held it to his ear.

'Odugu,' he answered, putting the phone on speaker.

'Deputy, we've pulled together the information you wanted.'

'And?'

'Daryl Simpso was born in Austin, Texas to Marleen Simpso and Thomas Simpso deceased. Marleen Simpso works as a nurse at Austin General Infirmary.'

'And his father?'

'You were right. He was a janitor at the university. And he had priors. It appears in his twenties, he was done for stalking, harassing and fraud, but never served any jail time.'

'And after that?'

'Looks like he went straight in his thirties. Tidied up his act. He was forty when Daryl was born and died at fifty-four.'

'How'd he die?'

'Car accident.'

'What about the boy?'

'No priors. But he's been questioned by the police before. When he was eleven, his neighbours' younger daughter went missing. Her body was found beaten and bruised two weeks later, about a mile from her house. He was never under suspicion, but he was seen walking with her before she went missing. When he was sixteen, his girlfriend went missing. Her home life could best be described as abusive and it was chalked up as a runaway, but police never found any evidence that she'd run, and all her belongings were left behind...she also had blonde hair.'

'So what are you saying?'

Maria cleared her throat. 'The boy's been close to a number of murders/missing person cases. All surrounding young women or girls with blonde hair and slight builds even after his father's death.'

'There's a pattern,' the Deputy muttered.

'It looks that way. But it's all circumstantial. It's not illegal to be closely connected to other cases,' Louis said.

'So despite the fact he appears to be our best lead...'

'We've not got anything concrete to back it up,' Maria finished.

The Deputy sucked on his teeth. 'Thanks guys, I'll let you know if I need anything else.' He hung up after a few closing pleasantries and looked at a pale Ash.

'Do you still think it's him?' she asked.

'Maria and Louis are right. It won't stand up in court.'

'I didn't ask that.'

They stared at each other before he finally spoke. 'I think he's hiding something.'

'Let's just hope that he comes-' But Julia broke off as Ash bent double clutching at her head.

She screamed when she saw Ash's face. Her eyes were milky white, and blood dripped down both her nostrils and gathered at the corner of her eyes.

'No!' Ash shrieked.

The Deputy was quick to cover Julia as the overhead lights burst, sending shards of glass over them.

Shouts and yells could be heard outside, followed by the sound of more exploding glass. Darkness fell as a stampede of feet surrounded them as people scurried away to safety.

'What's happening?' Julia whispered.

The Deputy looked up to see Ash, her arms cradling herself, blood tears dripping down her face. The objects in the tent were vibrating, responding to her.

'Ash! What the Hell?' he shouted.

Her white eyes found him and the agony he saw there frightened him. There was only one thing that could cause that look.

'Jesse,' she whispered. 'He killed her.'

The objects stopped shaking and the explosions outside ceased, as if saying the words out loud had released her from the vision's hold.

She folded inwards on herself, sinking to the floor as her eyes returned to their normal colour.

Picking his way carefully, but speedily, through the glass, the Deputy forced her to look at him. He gripped her shoulders tightly.

'What did you see?' he demanded.

'Jesse,' she whimpered.

'Ash, you need to pull it together. What did you see?'

She looked up at him, her blood tears now replaced with normal ones, but it couldn't wash away the stains on her face. She looked like a scene from a horror film.

'H-he slashed her throat. I watched her bleed out.' Ash's bottom lip wobbled as she tried to control her sobs.

'Who did you see?'

Her eyes locked with his. 'Daryl and that boy with the black eye. The one Jess went after.'

'Ash, this is important; how long ago did Jess leave?'

'A few minutes before you showed up.'

'Your vision? Did it take place in the future?'

She opened and closed her mouth. 'I-I don't know.'

'What do you remember about the place?'

'I'm not sure.'

'Outside? Inside? Big room? What was the furniture like?' he encouraged.

'Inside, I think. It was dusty and there was plastic sheeting everywhere.'

'What else?'

'It smelled strange.' Ash tried to wrack her brain. 'Chlorine,' she said finally.

'Why would a building site smell like Chlorine?' Julia wondered.

'Because they're expanding the sports building,' Ash said in a rush.

'I'm calling this in. We'll get to her Ash, I promise you that,' the Deputy vowed, already pulling his phone out and dialling. 'I'll make sure she's safe.'

***

Jess strained against the ties, holding her to the chair. The bright orange rope was wound around her wrists and ankles, chafing her skin and cutting off her circulation. After a few minutes of useless struggling, she gave up.

She tried to spot Gareth, but he wasn't in the dimly lit room. She hadn't seen him since he'd attacked her on the hill, having woken up alone. But she could hear muffled voices beyond the plastic sheeting that constituted a door.

She shimmed in the seat but couldn't feel her mobile in her pocket. The bastard must have searched her before tying her up.

The crunching of plastic made her shiver as the voices seized. She held her breath as the makeshift door was held up and two familiar men walked through.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' she demanded, struggling once more.

'You really have left us no choice,' Daryl said, though he glared at Gareth. 'Though I admit my brother didn't have the best of timings.'

'Brother?'

'Half brother,' Gareth clarified, soothing a red mark on his cheek that had not been there when she last saw him. He had put noticeable distance between him and Daryl.

'Our old man was a bit of a bastard. I highly doubt that Gareth is the only sibling I have, but he was the only one dad trusted me to meet. Said he saw something in us.' Daryl smirked whilst Gareth shrugged.

'But it leaves us with what to do with you and your sister.' Gareth said.

'What are you talking about?' A shiver skated up her spine as she watched them. They looked nothing alike, and yet there was a strange intensity in their eyes that she'd never seen before. A hunger that she couldn't understand. It scared her.

'Laura was so sure that Charity hadn't spoken to you that night. But then you turned up at the old science building. Imagine Gareth's surprise when he saw you, your sister, and the local deputy on our security footage.'

'You spoiled a good night for my customers,' Gareth said darkly.

'So somehow Laura was wrong and Charity did tell you about her and me. Unless it was Laura who told you?'

'Laura knew?' Jess mumbled.

'Charity told her before she left the house. She was so desperate to find you. And it was a good thing that she had such a big mouth. If she had never told Laura, Laura would never have told Gareth, and I wouldn't have had time to intercept her.'

'You killed Charity.' Jess' heartbeat quickened as she finally saw the link.

'It's amazing how you know about Charity, considering the police are still looking for a missing person,' Daryl spat.

'Just intuition,' she lied.

'Somehow, I doubt that. You and your sister, there's something unnatural about you,' said Gareth.

'I'm not the one going around killing people.'

Daryl smirked as he stepped forward, crouching by Jess' bound feet. 'Killing people is just human nature.'

'Why the fuck are you doing this?' begged Jess.

'Our old man was a piece of shit, but he got something right. You gotta take what you want and punish the ones who get in your way,' Gareth said. 'He was on his way to a full scholarship with the swim team when he got accused of sexual misconduct with a female team member. She cost him his place on the team, his scholarship, and the life he wanted.'

'And what?'

'And he killed her.' Daryl traced down her jawbone, and she flinched away from him. 'His first.'

'But not his last,' Gareth said.

'And Charity?' she asked.

'Not my first.' Daryl smiled.

'She was just...'

'So pure. Unspoiled. And yet she was fascinated with everything,' Daryl interrupted her. 'She was just a passing thought. She actually got a kick out of having one over on you. Did you know that she knew about your sister? She clocked the similarities between you, and she figured you for a liar. My god she hated you. She hated your sister for what she did to her family. And she hated you because you acted like you knew nothing.'

'I didn't know.'

'Right, because you and your sister are estranged, right?' Gareth rolled his eyes. 'You seem pretty chummy to me,' he snarled.

Daryl pointed in his direction. 'He's right Jess. Do you know how much that hurt me? I didn't believe Charity, not at first. She was a vindictive little thing, the drivel that used to come out of her mouth, but then your sister shows up.'

'The very night that we kill Charity,' chimed Gareth.

Jess shook her head. The wind blew at the exposed plastic covering and for just a moment; she glimpsed an imposing figure. The Deputy had his weapon drawn as he hid, but his eyes were focused as he looked at her.

He raised one finger to his lips and pointed around him. She understood; they were surrounded. But that still left the problem of how she was going to get out there alive.

'But you were both at the frat house. The fight,' she said.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the Deputy nodding his head. Keep them talking was the only thought going through her mind. The longer they talked, the longer she lived.

'What better way to make everyone remember you were there than a fight,' Gareth said.

'Of course, going to jail was just the icing on the cake. Charity was already dead and us with the perfect alibi.'

'I'm at the hospital.' Gareth grinned.

'And I'm with you at the station. No one would remember that half an hour it took for me to replace the keg.'

'Always have an alibi. It was the one lesson he drilled into us,' explained Gareth.

'Not that the cops will ever figure it out. They never figured out the others.'

'So that just leaves you? The one who got too close. Charity we dealt with.'

'Pretty little Laura is gone.'

'So now, Jess is all alone,' Daryl said sweetly.

'Laura?' she choked.

'The bitch was fun,' Gareth said. 'But she was too quick. She put two and two together and came too close to the truth. Of course, she blamed herself and that made her too easy to manipulate. She thought we'd spare her life if she made things difficult for you. And boy did she tell the cops everything.'

'She came here. She wanted answers and Gareth promised her answers since she knew he was the one that told me what Charity was going to tell you.' Daryl pulled a short, stubby knife from his pocket. It didn't look like much, and yet Jess couldn't stop staring at the blade as it glinted in the dim light. It was wicked sharp.

'She wasn't my usual choice. I've always agreed with my father when it comes to blondes; they're meant to be angels, but they're tricksters. But she walked right into our game so it's really her fault.'

'This isn't a game,' Jess whispered.

She felt the cold blade rest against her skin as Daryl leaned in. 'And that's where you're wrong,' he breathed.

'Then what was I?' Her eyes locked with his, only she didn't recognise what she saw there.

'Our father taught us the difference between prey and the prize. You were supposed to be my prize, Jess. Someone who didn't look too close beneath the surface. A person playing their own game. But. Then. You. Had. To. Go. And. Change. The. Rules.' With every word, he tapped the blade against her leg.

'So what are you going to do?'

His hand moved so swiftly that she didn't have time to react as he pulled her necklace from around her neck.

'With all the heat around, it's easier if you're just a mugging gone wrong.' He held up her necklace like a trophy, but Jess didn't see it. Her head exploded as soon as it was removed.

With bleary eyes, she looked up into the face of her once best friend. A thin line of red crossed Laura's neck. But it was her expression that tore into Jess.

Laura stood shoulder to shoulder with Charity. Both of them wore the same expression of resigned grief as they watched her struggle.

Daryl backhanded her across the cheek. 'Don't ignore me, Jess,' he demanded.

Laura fell forward, landing on her knees as she looked up at Jess with so much sorrow.

'I'm so sorry,' Jess cried.

But Laura shook her head, her own silent tears streaming down her face.

'That's right. Though your apology came too little too late,' Daryl said.

Jess' eyes snapped to his. 'You seriously think I'm apologising to you?' she spat. 'I'm saying sorry to my friends. The ones that you fucking murdered!' she screamed.

She watched as Laura and Charity's form flickered as her gift connected with them. The Deputy's eyes widened as he felt the same energy that had been present in the morgue.

'You think you're so powerful? You don't know real power. And you never will. You're just weak. Pathetic. Preying on people who don't deserve it just so that you can feel superior,' she raged. 'And it ends now.'

She closed her eyes, and for once, she truly focused on her gift. She focused on Charity and Laura. There was so much anguish, but also anger. Anger that she could use. Somewhere close, she could feel her sister and her gift called to hers, and there was no hesitation as Ash responded. Physical distance no longer mattered as their gifts became whole, like they had for their ancestor, both working simultaneously to right a wrong.

Charity and Laura flickered, tossing Daryl and Gareth against a wall. But they didn't stop.

Repeatedly, their bodies rose and fell against the same wall. Again and again. The sound of bones against cinder block was sickening, but they didn't stop, not even when the cops stepped out of their positions to watch open-mouthed.

The two ghosts only stopped when the wall finally cracked, allowing the two men to slump unconscious.

'Jess?'

She looked as the Deputy approached her, but she couldn't get her mouth to form the words she wanted to say.

'It's okay Jess.'

'There's something in here,' someone called as they peered into the space behind the broken cinderblocks.

The Deputy turned back to her and picked up her necklace. Without needing her to ask, he fastened it around her neck. But this time Charity and Laura remained.

'You can go now,' she mumbled, knowing that it sounded like gibberish to the Deputy but that the two watching ghosts understood. 'They'll be punished. They wouldn't get away with this.'

Laura hesitantly held out her arm and Jess closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of her friend's hand on her shoulder, though she knew she'd never feel it again.

'It's time for you to go,' Jess said with confidence. The last thing she wanted was for them to linger. She knew little about what happened after death, but it had to be better than hanging around the living for eternity.

Charity nodded wordlessly whilst Laura hung back.

'I'll be okay Lau,' she promised. 'Finally got that back bone you told me to grow,' she joked.

Laura smiled, though tears continued to fall from her face. With a final touch to Jess' face, Laura walked away, passing through the swarming officers as they flashed their lights into the recess. But Jess already knew what they would find.

For a second, she watched as Charity and Laura glowed so brightly that she had to turn away. When she looked back, her best friend and housemate had disappeared. She only hoped that they'd moved on to what lay beyond.

Her body tilted forward as the Deputy cut her from the chair.

'Jess, you're okay. I have you. It's over.'

'I think I need to sleep now,' she said, quoting her sister, before passing out.