Matt swiveled around, a relieved look on his face vanished as tears streamed down his face. "You shouldn't be out so late."

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I had a bad dream about that girl."

Bailey nodded knowingly and plopped down next to him, draping an arm around his shoulders. "I know, Mattie. Me too."

"I have a bad feeling about ."

She frowned. "What?"

"That something bad is going to happen to you."

Bailey swallowed, but patted his shoulder. "Nothing is going to happen to me Mattie."

He shook his head. "You don't know that. Didn't you always think Mom and Dad would be together forever?"

Well he had her there.

"You don't even know how to punch someone," he continued to argue. "And you're very weak, clumsy; you have no balance."

"Hey! Alright, I get the picture. What is pointing this out to me going to do?"

He sniffled. "I asked my Sensei to teach me extra defense moves for you, so that I could teach you. Or maybe you could sign up for my karate class. That would be best." He paused and rolled his eyes. "I told Sensei you wouldn't do that though. You're just too stubborn."

The look in her brothers' eyes was very serious and it would be entirely wrong, in that moment, to make fun of him. "No, you're right, I won't do that."

With his jaw set he stared her dead in the eye. "So I'm gonna teach you," he informed her. "Get up."

He leapt to his feet to stand in front of her. "We'll stretch first," he added. "Come on, get up! I'm serious Bailey."

"Mattie, I'm tired."

"You don't understand," he growled. Tears welled in his eyes and he sniffed again. "You don't understand what it's like to be this afraid."

Gale slowly walked into the room and Matt turned his head away from her as she sat down next to Bailey. "Baby, why are you so afraid?" Gale asked, reaching for his hands and pulling him towards her.

"Dad's not here anymore. I'm the man of the house..." he stopped to sling a glare at Bailey's chortle. "Don't laugh, Bailey, it's not funny!"

"Bailey, stop it," Gale told her.

"And you're lazy, both of you. You won't take any self-defense classes," he started. "Dad says-"

"Have you been talking to him?" Bailey snapped. "Is he putting this crap into your head? Mattie, you're a kid."

His eyes glinted with a challenge. "I might be a kid, but I'm the only one in this house that knows how to fight. I'm the only one that is not this serial killer's type. So I demand you either get lessons professionally, or take them from me."

"I have mace," Bailey supplied, wanting to be helpful.

He folded his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. "And if he attacks you from behind?"

Bailey shrugged. "I'll... turn around?"

He brought his hands up to his face with a smack. "Mom!"

Gale nodded and she gave Matt a knowing look. "You're right, Mattie. You're absolutely right."

"Mom!" This time it was Bailey's turn. "I don't want to. It's not like anything is going to happen to me."

"You don't know that. Bailey, get up, we're starting tonight."

Matt nodded his approval.

Bailey's mouth dropped and she let out a whine. "It's almost one o'clock in the morning!"

Both of them ignored her and Gale listened intently to Matt's instructions.

"Just practicing isn't going to do anything. Sensei makes us lift weights a couple times a week and we run constantly..."

Ah, now it made sense. In the past nine months Bailey had thought he'd just gone through a growth spurt. He was definitely taller, but he really had started getting some lean muscle. He was going to be a real good guy when he got older.

It was the last good thought she had about him until he'd said they would start running in the morning before breakfast every morning.

"Oh my God, I'm gonna die!" Bailey cried.

She hated running.

_____________

There an assembly at school the next day, only it included a good portion of the parents too, and Sheriff Lambert was at the head of it, with no good news. They hadn't found Samantha Levy, not even a hair of her. It was like she'd disappeared and the fear on his face told Bailey that this was the work of the grave digging killer. And he was good enough to not leave a trace.

A curfew was set for seven pm, which didn't sit well with some people. Most complained that it should just be the females, other said it was an infringement of their rights, or something like that. Sheriff Lambert handled it like the pro he was and answered every question with a stern voice.

"The curfew is non-negotiable and it applies to everyone."

"Is it the gravedigger?"

He paused, raised an eyebrow, and turned towards the voice whose face had been drowned out by the masses already in the bleachers. He cleared his throat before answering. "We don't have any specifics at the moment..."

Bailey didn't hear what else he said as voices rose, some angry, some afraid. It was clear though, that when an officer said they didn't have any specifics they either really didn't or the information they did have wasn't for the public.

It was the killer. He'd taken a girl right from the storybook town of Haven...perfect on the outside, corrupt on the inside.

This was the safe town her mother had taken her kids. Bailey couldn't help but wonder if her cheating father would be willing to let them stay with him for a while, but as soon as she had the thought she immediately thought of Gwen and Grayson. Of Damien and she knew she couldn't leave them, not when she finally found such good friends, friends that were willing to deal with her weird and introverted ways.

For the first time she was grateful for the ache in her joints from the run Matt had forced on her. After she'd thrown up, Matt had patted her on the back, saying he'd thrown up the first time too.

"Bails, come on, the assembly is over," Kate pushed gently on Bailey's shoulder.

She'd zoned out long enough to miss at least twenty minutes of the meeting. "Did I miss anything other than the curfew?"

Kate shook her head. "Not really. I hear you're going to make dinner for the Levy's tonight. I was thinking of joining you. Do you mind?" Kate's question seemed polite, but the hidden meaning of it was there none the less, and Bailey appreciated the question.

Bailey shook her head, knowing she'd gotten over Kate's crush on her. Just two months ago everything had been somewhat normal and Bailey had actually found out from Grayson that Kate had a smallish crush on her. Of course, Grayson hadn't used such gentle words. If she remembered correctly it was 'hot', 'lusting', and how much he'd enjoy watching anything that should happen between them.

Bailey had tried not to feel uncomfortable around Kate after that, she was after all, one of her friends thanks to Gwen, but Kate had picked up on those vibes. She'd pulled Bailey aside and spoke with her, letting Bailey know that she wouldn't act on anything that made her uncomfortable. It made Bailey feel better that she was still asking if she could do stuff with them, but she was going to let her know that she didn't have to anymore.

"Kate, you don't have to ask me anymore. You don't have to make sure I'm okay with it. It seems kind of ridiculous now that I'd reacted so strongly about it. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm not a-um- a homophobic or anything. I am really sorry I reacted that way."

The corner of Kate's peach colored lips lifted and her green eyes twinkled. She ran a hand through her blond hair and gave a chuckle. "It does seem kind of weird to continue this with what's happened, but not if it still makes you awkward. I especially shouldn't expect everyone to be okay with me being a lesbian."

"It's not that you're-I mean, it's that-well," Bailey stopped her stuttering, realizing how flustered she was.

"It's that you're a lesbian. I get it, but I'm glad we can still be friends. I'll get over my crush you know. Don't get so bent out of shape," she grinned devilishly and patted Bailey's back to get her moving.

After the grocery shopping was done they'd quickly gone to the Levy's house to prepare a simple steak and baked potato dinner, neither Kate nor Gwen could cook much else. Bailey wasn't even going to try, the main reason being that the curfew was coming up and aside from the search party that was continuing until midnight everyone needed to be in their homes. Of course, the problem occurred when Bailey pointed this out and Gwen wanted to do a quick search with the car around Haven.

"We have half an hour left Bails, we should at least try."

Bailey shook her head, not even really hearing the words as she started reaching for the door handle to Gwen's car. "We need to go home."

"I get that you're afraid, but we can be a little past curfew," Gwen said in a clipped, agitated tone before she folded her arms across her chest and turned to the other girl. "Kate, what do you think?"

Luckily Kate agreed with Bailey. "We should go home, Gwen. The point of a curfew is that we have to be home at a specific time. It defeats the purpose if we don't follow it."

Gwen scoffed. "You're just siding with her because you want in her pants."

Kate's cheeks flushed and her eyes turned towards Bailey's before quickly turning to the car, her gaze fixed on the window. "Not this time."

...not this time. "Does that mean you've sided with me before because of-well- because of that?" Bailey felt a little outraged.

Kate shrugged slightly. "Bailey, you're kind of wrong a lot, except for when you're not."

"What does mean?"

Gwen decided to fill in the blanks. "It you're a very black and white person. There are any gray areas with you and sometimes your opinions are too extreme."

Bailey could hear the anger in Gwen's voice and while she knew it was because Bailey didn't want to break curfew and look for Sam it still hurt a little that she voiced her opinion the way she did. She's was hurt by Gwen's words, so she snapped back. "Don't stop there Gwen, you're so far ahead and all high up on that horse. And the other part?"

"The part about you sometimes being right?"

"Yeah. You can't just forgo the good because you're mad."

"Who said it was good? Everything you've been right about involved something horrible. Grayson's dog, my dad's appendix, honestly if I didn't like you so damn much I'd find it almost a little too weird."

"Two things and they were guesses. Besides, I never asked you to be my friend!"

"Guys, calm down," Kate tried to intervene.

"No, you didn't," Gwen said softly, her eyes flashing with anger. "You just kind of knew," she added before reaching to pull open the drivers' side.

Once they all got into the car Gwen remained silent, so Bailey thought that was that, until they dropped Kate off and stayed until she was safely inside. "Bailey, come on. What if it was you out there?"

Bailey gritted her teeth, feeling the tension radiating off Gwen. "But it's not and I just want to go home. Gwen, we need to go home," she pleaded. "Did I tell you Matt's got me and Mom doing over four hours of running, weight lifting, and karate? And he's not the only one scared."

Gwen heaved a sigh. "Please do this with me. I can't go alone, I'm too afraid. I can do it if you come with me Bailey. I'm sorry I was being a bitch earlier." She seemed to add as an afterthought. "Please? For Sam! This is the right thing to do, Bails."

"We're teenagers, not heroes. No damn it! I said no. Gwen, it isn't safe for either of us. Just take me home."

"Fine!" Gwen snapped her wrist and jerked the steering wheel, causing the tires to squeal against the pavement.

Bailey folded her arms angrily over her chest, glaring out the window. It was a stupid fight and they'd realize it tomorrow, but they clearly were going to butt heads until this car ride was over. Gwen saw to it with her last parting words of 'chicken' and 'don't bother going to school with me tomorrow.'

Bailey pretended not to hear her as she slammed the car door shut and walked rapidly towards her front door. Gwen would get over it. They'd apologize tomorrow and everything would be back to the way it was. Until then, she'd be mad.