"Something is amiss," Rosa mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, something is utterly wrong. I cannot shake this insidious premonition which has nestled within me. Something is truly amiss."

"But what, Rosa?" Helena asked, letting out a small laugh of exasperation. Rosa had quite a tendency to speak for ages on end but never get to the point - she would much rather glide around it in a magnificent figure eight filled with her vocabulary. "What, exactly, is wrong?"

"Mr. Jasper."

"Did he-"

"He didn't do anything to me," Rosa said, answering Helena's question before it was asked. "He didn't touch me or even speak to me. But I know something is wrong."

"Then it's nothing he's done to you. You're worried about him?"

"I...I suppose I am!" Rosa exclaimed. "I am worried about Mr. Jasper. Goodness. You can loathe a soul for all too long and then here I am, worried about him. I feel as if I have glossed over a vital detail about him...I feel as if something terrible is about to occur!"

"Rosa, why do you feel like that?" Helena asked. "I haven't noticed anything different."

"No, of course not," Rosa sighed. "I just...I just know something is amiss with Mr. Jasper."

"How can you know that?' Helena said, taking Rosa's hand within her own. "You haven't even talked to him, you just said. Why are you certain there's something the matter? And, Rosa, why do you care?"

Rosa looked down, beginning to tug on the hem of her skirt as she attempted to collect her thoughts and articulate them into something that make sense. She could barely understand what was going through her mind, how could she possibly express that to Helena?

"I don't believe there is anything to be gained if I ignore these feelings of mine any longer. I believe I must speak with him," Rosa finally said.

"Why? Are you going to warn him of what you're thinking about? That you feel like something's wrong?"

"No," Rosa said, her eyebrows creased. She was every bit as confused as Helena, even though she was attempting to drive the matter forward. "No, I...I don't believe that would work."

"Then what are you going to tell him?" Helena said. "You're not going ot hlep him by going there, and you're certainly not going to help yourself. Rosa, I don't think you should go. It's not going to end well for anyone."

"He has desired to speak with me ever since I returned," Rosa said. "That much is certain. He must wish to know what I have done when I disappeared. And if something is amiss, as it must be, I can manage to determine matters that are occurring and allow him to turn his glance aside if I speak to him..."

"Is this because you think he's somehow guilty for what happened to Elliot?" Helena asked. "You know what happened last time you tried to get him to confess to something."

"And it shall not happen again! But I don't know if this is a matter of guilt and confession, I..."

"If you're going, you should take someone with you. Take me with you, Rosa," Helena said. "You might be putting yourself into danger by going to him, and I refuse to just stand by and let that happen. You know what he's done to you before, and it could happen again."

"I ran away into the abyss the last time he assaulted me, he wouldn't dare let such a thing happen again unless he had a specific wish to be caught! I have learned immense amounts of knowledge since I vanished, and he knows I won't be foolish enough to disappear again, I will just-"

"Rosa. He doesn't know about how much you learned. I don't think he cares. Men like Mr. Jasper don't care about morals. You just said that he assaulted you, and now you're going to walk right back into his otherwise empty office?"

"I refuse to allow him any way to take advantage of me. I will stand in the doorframe and make certain the door is open so that I can escape."

"You can't go do this alone, Rosa."

"I must," Rosa sighed. "I do not believe I will be able to converse freely with him when you're around. He is far more likely to confess things to me when I am alone. He wouldn't dare say he loved me with other people around, remember? He also wouldn't dare confess anything else with others present."

Helena tilted her head as she said, "Do you really think he's going to confess something?"

"No," Rosa said, and then reconsidered her answer. "Perhaps. I do not know yet, Helena."

"I don't think you should go. There are better, safer ways to find things out. I know you want to find out everything possible about Elliot, but..."

"It's not just Elliot!" Rosa burst out. "There's something far more...I don't know...profound than that...yes, I need to know what occurred with Elliot, but there's more than that. I must go."

"I'm not going to be able to convince you to stay, am I?" Helena asked.

"No, you're not," Rosa sighed.

"Fine then. If anything starts to go wrong, you run. If you can't run, you get out your phone and you text me immediately. If you can't do that...scream. Make sure someone finds you."

"Helena..."

"I don't want you to get hurt in any way, and I don't trust him not to hurt you. But I'm respecting your wish to go alone. I love you, Rosa."

Rosa wanted to protest, wanted to say that no matter what Helena thought might go wrong that it wouldn't, she would be fine on her own. But instead all she said was "I love you too." She pecked a quick kiss on Helena's lips and then made her way out of the dorm room.

Almost immediately after leaving, Rosa wished she had taken Helena's offer. She would have Helena standing beside her and offering support in every way, but instead she was alone and unsure of what to do. All she knew how to do was to take step by step by step towards the chorus room.

Lost within her thoughts, she barely even noticed she made it to the arts building...then to the chorus room...then to the office connected to the chorus room. She stepped into the office where she could peer in and see Mr. Jasper standing there, peering at something spread out across his desk.

And then she simply breathed for a moment.

She couldn't wish for Helena now. That wouldn't help her. She put a hand within her pocket as if to be certain that her phone was indeed there, ready to be whipped out and used in a moment's notice.

"Hello, Mr. Jasper," Rosa said, her voice soft. "I...I do hope I am not interrupting anything of vital importance. That is not my intention by any means..."

Although Rosa's voice lacked volume, it also provided the only sound within the office. Mr. Jasper whipped around, clearly shaken by her presence. He neglected to notice the pearls of tears beginning to form within her eyes and instead only wondered why she had come back. For a moment he wondered if she was simply a hallucination.

But no. She was breathing. She was real.

"Rosa? What are you doing here?"

"I...I feel as if something is going on that we must converse about..." she began, realizing her distinct lack of a plan aside from speaking to him. "And I know that I need to speak with you, now, and avoid any further delays."

He stared at her for a moment, as if questioning her reality once again even though he had decided that she was indeed real. He had thought about her quite a bit in the past weeks, even more than usual, and somehow she seemed to know that already. He didn't waste another moment in moving forward with what he had been waiting to say.

"You ran away from me, didn't you?" he asked. "You disappeared off of the face of the earth right after we-"

"I feel as if no answer I supply to you will be sufficient for all that you wish to know," she replied, swallowing back her tears.

"In other words, yes," Mr. Jasper said. "Yes, you ran away because of what happened between the two of us. I knew it."

"What does it matter now?" Rosa asked, feeling herself beginning to lash out as the fear from her former experience crept back into her veins. "It has happened. Now we must carry onward."

"But why did you have to run away?" he said. He clearly did not want to keep up the image of being the chorus teacher. He wanted answers. "Why would you run away?"

"I was frightened, Mr. Jasper," Rosa said, trying to keep her voice steady. Despite her efforts, it still shook with a promise of oncoming tears. She couldn't keep them back, of course.

"Frightened? Really?"

"Are you really so terrible at determining my emotions? I was terrified, horrified - choose your synonym, it does not matter...I...I just...I knew I had to leave."

"I don't think you understand."

"How could you be certain of whether I understand or not?" Rosa asked. "You do not have the faintest idea what goes on within my mind. And I believed that I was discussing my own feelings."

"No, I am pretty sure you don't understand," Mr. Jasper continued. "I thought that perhaps you might be the one person to notice, if not Elliot - but, of course, Elliot is gone now.

"What does Elliot have to do with this, now?" Rosa asked.

"Don't mind Elliot, now, then. I don't remember what happened between us, not really. Well, I have an incomplete image but I'm missing most of it. There's just darkness. I don't remember coming to the sundial, I don't remember starting anything. I only remember you and I. Not what it feels like, but that something that did happen."

"You...you didn't remember it then, either..." Rosa forced out, unwilling to think back to everything that happened even though she didn't have a choice in the moment. "You forgot it right as it happened."

"I did. And I frightened you away, frightened you all the way to...where did you go, Rosa?"

Rosa refused to give him an answer, even while staring straight into his eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?" Rosa asked.

"Simple - you came here to listen to it. You want a confession, whether you admit it to yourself or not. And I have offered you a confession."

"What confession?" Rosa said, desperation causing her voice to crack. "You have yet to confess anything to me, as far as I can see!"

"I didn't remember most of what happened with you, and that's not the only thing. I've forgotten time after time after time, but shades remain. You want a confession? Well, in my mind there's shades of the worst crime I could've imagined. I can remember shades of murdering Elliot."

"Oh my God," Rosa cried out. "Oh, my God!"

"I needed you to make certain, of course. The murder feels the same way for me as it does being with you, and now I know that being with you certainly did happen."

"You...you..."

"I'm going to confess to the murder of Elliot Drew, my only nibling. That should cause quite a stir, shouldn't it?"

But Rosa didn't offer any sort of response to him - she was only thinking abou his confession. His confession had something missing. He confessed. And it seemed wrong. It was what she had thought and had been desperate to confirm. Yet it didn't sit right within her chest.

The murder felt the same way as when he was embracing her. He confessed to her that he could not remember most of that embrace. To him, it was little more than dream with substance. And he had been on opium before. He could've been under its influence time and time again without a soul realizing.

And as Rosa thought back on all the evidence she knew combined with what she had just learned, she found that no matter how she twisted and turned the confession it would not sit with her. It simply did not feel right.

"Then you didn't do anything," Rosa mumbled to herself. "You didn't...it could not have been..."

"What are you mumbling about?" he asked. "You're going to have to speak up if you want me to know what's going through your mind. You're thinking, I know you are, and I want to know what about."

Rosa made certain to keep at least one of her hands fixed to the doorframe - she promised Helena she wouldn't dare go any further, and now she reminded herself of why she had promised such a thing to begin with. If she needed to run, she needed to be as close to the exit as possible.

But as soon as he started to move forward she found herself paralyzed. She could hardly breathe, let alone move out of his path.

He walked over and placed his hand underneath her chin, pushing it up so that she was forced to face him. Rosa still attempted to divert her gaze from his eyes, but he wouldn't have any of it.

"Look at me. I need to make sure you're listening."

Rosa continued trying to turn her head away. She would refuse to listen, refuse to meet his eyes and listen to whatever words he would attempt to force into her mind. She didn't need to stay by him if she didn't want to. She could leave. She could run. She could scream. She could damn him.

"Look at me," he repeated, desperation entering his voice. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want you to meet my eyes so that I can be certain that you're listening to me. Look at me, Rosa."

"It sounds as if you crave nothing more than to hurt me," she replied. "Your voice is filled with fury. I shall not meet your eyes, I shall not listen-"

He took Rosa's head within both of his hands and forced it to tilt up and face him. She felt tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. She should've listened to Helena. She should've avoided this completely. How foolish she was. She loathed herself. She loathed him.

"I'm not going to remember this, am I?" Jon said, releasing a low chuckle. "I'm not going to remember how you spurned me after I made the biggest confession I could possibly make."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you've made me upset. I must've been upset when we were kissing, before we were kissing...that must be why I've forgotten it all. Ah, yes, of course. It all makes sense now. It wasn't my fault."

"God," Rosa exclaimed, unable to stay quiet with this new revelation. "You...you're the one who assaulted me! And now you deny it?"

"Assaulted? I suppose it was me, but you were the one who kissed me. And I'm not denying anything. I just can't remember it, neither confirming nor denying work."

"I thought you...!" Rosa continued. "I thought..."

"Doesn't matter what you thought," he sighed. "I forget everything until it drives me insane. Sometimes I remember...and I remember kissing you. I remember you in my arms. I remember that and that alone."

"I don't think so. From what I comprehend you know precisely what has happened even if it is not clear to you. You must recall all that you have done.You can divert the blame for the crimes you have committed against me, but I shall see through it."

"No, no, no. You're not listening. I said I don't remember what it feels like. Only that it happened," he admitted. He took a step towards her, but Rosa had already placed her foot behind her to step away. She would sooner scream than give in to anything more from him. But she had drawn out a confession already, and there was clearly more he could say.

What else did she know? What else did she need to know? She had never been able to draw so much out from his lips, not even when they had touched her own.

"You've smoked opium before," Rosa finally sputtered out. "It is highly likely that what you perceive to be your memory may simply be a hallucination from a pipe, opiates have that tendency-"

"And how did you find that bit of information out?" he asked, slightly tilting his head as he took another step toward her.

Rosa simply shook her head, afraid that if she spoke somehow Paula's name would come spilling out from her lips. She wouldn't put anyone else in danger by speaking out. She could see the menace in his eyes and as much as she loathed it she would not divert it to anyone else.

"Maybe that's all it is," Mr. Jasper finally exclaimed. "Maybe it's all just some hallucination from opium. That would just make too much sense, wouldn't it? But no. No, no, no. It must be what I think. I must've killed them. And maybe opium had something to do with it. I wouldn't be surprised."

Rosa just shook her head, trying to take a moment to comprehend everything that met her ears. She knew she had been searching for these answers for ages, but now they were all falling apart before her as she thought about it further.

He was addicted to opium.

He thought he had killed Elliot.

He thought.

"Why would you have any desire to divulge such secrets to me?" Rosa asked, finally breaking her silence to see what else she could discover.

"Simple. You're the only one who is going to pay attention. I've wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how, knew I couldn't do it until now. It wouldn't be the first time that sort of thing has happened, after all."

"Is there truly no one else who will listen to all that you have to say? Especially with matters as dire as these?"

"People might listen, but they won't believe me. You will. And you have believed me. Now I know what has happened and I can confess. I can confess, and I can finally fall asleep at night."

"You cannot."

"I can't confess to a crime I did?" he asked.

"You can't confess to a crime might have done," Rosa answered. "And then you be will be the one who goes through the tortorous aftermath. If you are innocent, you cannot confess! You cannot possibly..."

"It's not your decision to make, Rosa."

"And it's not your decision to make either," she replied, seething. "You cannot decide to do this...you do not understand how you will only end up tormenting yourself...you have dealt enough damage, please make it cease this instant!"

"If you're so certain that I didn't kill Elliot, then how have I caused any damage?" he asked, wearing her down even further. "You clearly don't care about me, so that can't be the damage."

"We both know that there is far more occurring here at Cloisterham than simply what happened to Elliot. Their...their death was simply the final pebble to cause an avalanche. There is much more here than just Elliot's death. And much of that damage was what you created, if you view it from such a perspective."

For a moment it seemed as Mr. Jasper was going to give in to this particular idea, that these words from Rosa would finally twist everything together. But he did not.

"What if I don't see it from that perspective? As far as I can see, I haven't done anything...anything else wrong."

"You blamed Neville for this crime. You tried to turn an entire school against one new student. And you...you turned my life into an absolute living hell! What happened at the sundial...that was a damage that cannot be healed..."

"You don't seem to understand. All I want to do is figure out what happened to Elliot. Same as you, same as whoever this DA person is, And I think I have it figured out."

"But you don't know you've had it figured out."

"Well, I know I've done something. That must be more than you know, because all you're doing is asking and questioning and..." His voice trailed off as he looked over to Rosa, whose glimmering eyes were growing in size. He didn't want to argue with her. He just wanted to speak.

"What have you done?" she asked. "What did you do?"

"I've been telling you, Rosa, I don't know. But I remember...I remember Elliot the way I remember that I kissed you. I don't remember what it felt like. But it happened. You're telling me now that it happened. How am I supposed to know that this didn't happen, either?"

Rosa struggled to organize her thoughts to the point where she could give a legitimate argument in response. Everything in her mind seemed to zip around to make connections here and there, but nothing managed to make sense for the moment. She should've known this would happen. She should've seen it coming.

"I just...the evidence..." she sputtered out.

"The evidence on DA's little website, you mean?" he asked. "I don't know if that really qualifies when it comes to what I've actually experienced, even if I'm not sure it was an actual experience."

"No...yes, well...DA has compiled quite a large amount of evidence and has displayed it for the entirety of Cloisterham, and anyone else who wishes to view it...I am willing to put all my faith into such evidence," she said, whipping out her phone and frantically attempting to go to DA's blog as soon as possible.

"But have they proved anything?" Mr. Jasper questioned. "Have they figured it out? They haven't even told their name to Cloisterham. How can anyone really expect to trust them?"

"Because all of the evidence they have provided is true evidence," she stated, still typing away on her phone.

"And how would you know that, Rosa?"

"I..." Rosa's flying fingers began to slow, her desperation to find the website beginning to falter.

"It's because there is no one else to trust," he corrected. "You latch on to the first thing you can find, the first person who seems to understand everything and you never let go. You and everyone else at this school. But it's beside the point. There is no real justification for why anyone should trust DA or a word they say, not when I carry the truth with me."

"But..." Rosa began to protest, finally looking up from her phone. "But there's no reason why anyone should believe you, especially not when you are barely grasping at the truth yourself."

Despite what she had said, or perhaps because of it, Mr. Jasper did not give an answer to Rosa for this particular matter. Instead, he focused on the phone that she continued to glance at. How could there be anything that took her focus so completely when she had been in the middle of a conversation with him?

"What's got you so interested on DA's website now?" he asked. "You seem to have found all of your answers there. Let me see."

Rosa wished she could leave, but she simply planted herself in the ground as Mr. Jasper positioned himself behind her. If she tried to resist, he would simple wrench the phone out of her hands to see what she peered so intently at. Rosa knew it would benefit both of them more to stay still and silent.

"Seems like I'm not the only one who has a confession to make," he said, peering over Rosa's shoulder. "DA is going to reveal themselves to the world today along with everything they've figured out. It looks like I don't have a choice. Today it is."

Rosa did not burst into a response as she usually did whenever Mr. Jasper said such things. She simply stared at her phone, seemingly defeated at least for the moment. This new silence seemed to be disturbing to Mr. Jasper, who wanted to hear her voice and her thoughts, her anger and distress and compassion all rolled in one.

But he could not force her to speak. He knew that she would remain silent until her silence blossomed into something more. There was no way to compel her to release the emotion that he knew was pent up within her.

She finally did speak up again, but could not string her words together into a comprehensible sentence.

"I...I just...it shall not..."

After she continued to babble out several more words, he gave a response to the words he knew she was trying to say.

"If you're going to tell me that I can't again, I already know. But there's nothing more to be done now. You told me I've done enough damage already. Now it's time for me to try to fix some of that damage, and you can't tell me that I can't do that."

"I...I...I have to...have to do something," Rosa said. "I shall. I shall...do...do something."

Without another word, she fled from the office.