The next morning, Jackson woke up and threw his feet over the side of the bed. He turned on the small lamp above his bed, and looked down at his brother. He was on his side, blanket up to his chin and his back to Jackson. His side rose and fell with each breath he took.

Figuring he was asleep, Jackson walked around him quietly, leaving the room, and followed the smell of bacon and eggs out to the main living area. Luke was making breakfast, and Macy was sitting on the counter talking with him while sipping on a cup of tea. Liam was laying on the couch with a damp towel on his forehead, foot elevated. His eyes were barely open.

This was the first time Jackson had seen his foot fully exposed, and it was a gruesome sight. A bandage was wrapped tightly around the wound, but blood was soaking through. Bailey was sat beside him, helping to feed him breakfast.

"Is he okay?" Jackson asked Bailey.

"He got worse overnight. He seemed okay yesterday, but he walked out this morning, running a fever, and collapsed before he could make it to the couch."

"I told him to take it easy but he didn't listen to me," Luke said from the kitchen.

"I think it's probably infected, but it's not something I can't treat," Bailey replied. "This fever should break soon, so I'm just making sure to keep giving him fluids and trying to get some food in him."

"I hope he gets better," Jackson said, walking over to Luke. "Mind if I grab some breakfast?"

"Of course! Where's your brother?" he asked, handing Jackson a plate from the cupboard.

"He's still in bed," he replied while dishing up. "I don't think he was sleeping though. His breathing was too shallow, but he didn't say anything to me."

Macy looked at Luke as Jackson sat down at the table. "I think I'm gonna go try to talk to him."

"What difference would that make?" Jackson asked.

Luke sat next to him with his own plate of food. "He told Liam and I about everything last night."

Jackson paused his eating and looked at Luke. "Everything?"

Luke nodded. "Everything."

Jackson sat back in his chair. "What prompted that conversation?"

"He snuck out of the shelter last night and was about to shoot up. I followed him out."

"Shoot up? He's using heroin?" Jackson asked, surprised. "He told me someone offered him some once. He didn't tell me he said yes."

"There's more," Luke said hesitantly. "When we went to talk to Liam, we made an unfortunate connection. The Dean of our school, and his daughter, are your dad and sister."

Jackson took another bite of eggs and chewed on them silently for a moment before quietly responding. "Darien's probably not doing too well with that news."

"That's why I was going to talk to him," Macy explained. "I've had a similar experience, and I think it might be comforting to hear from someone else."

Jackson nodded. "That's a good idea."

Macy set her tea cup down and walked down the hall. Luke placed a hand on Jackson's shoulder.

"We're gonna do everything in our power to protect you from him, but we need your help so we can get him arrested. We just need a motive, and you might be able to help figure that out."

"The ruins of our house might be a good place to start. Darien and I went back a few years ago, and it hadn't been touched since the fire went out."

"That's a great idea. Where is the house?" Luke asked.

"It's in Portland."

"We'd have to figure out transportation. Low profile transportation that can't be traced back to us."

As Jackson and Luke discussed the trip to the house, Macy knocked on the door of Darien's room. When she didn't get a response, she cracked the door open slightly.

"Darien?"

He moved slightly, eyes weakly looking up at her.

"I wanted to talk to you a little bit," she explained as she sat on the mat beside him. "Luke told me what happened last night. I've had a similar experience happen to me."

Darien rallied all his strength to sit up, using his hands to shakily move his body. "What happened to you?"

"In freshman year, I started dating this older guy, Calvin. He was really sweet to me. He took me on tons of fun dates, bought me gifts, and wrote me the sappiest poems. Things were great until the relationship started getting serious. We'd been dating for a few months when he hit me for the first time. I'd accidentally shrunk his hoodie in the wash, and he was infuriated. He slapped me in the face. I started crying and he started to apologize, promising it would never happen again. It did. I didn't tell my family about it. Jacob could tell something was wrong, but he didn't push me for information. After about a year and a half of that, I almost died. Calvin thought I was cheating on him with some guy from school, my partner in Chemistry. I kept assuring him it wasn't like that, but he didn't believe me. He beat me up. In my own home. He knocked me completely unconscious, and did awful things while I was blacked out. My parents came home to find me covered in blood with a concussion, two black eyes, a few broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis. I was in the hospital for several weeks. The fracture in my pelvis caused internal bleeding, and they had to surgically seal my veins to save my life. I slipped into a coma post-op. They didn't think I'd wake up." She lifted the hem of her shirt to show her stomach, with a long scar across her abdomen.

"What happened to him?" Darien asked. "He deserves the death penalty for that kind of aggression."

"He went to jail, sentenced twenty years for aggravated sexual assault."

"Only twenty years?"

"My parents tried to contest it. My dad was a judge though, and the court said he was being biased."

"That's a lot, Macy. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"Thanks, I've healed for the most part. I'll still always have that connection to him, that part will never change, but the daily triggers have lessened," Macy explained, looking at Darien.

"How did you live with the trauma still so present in your life?"

"Well, I didn't do healthy things. I self-harmed a lot. I drank. I used some drugs."

"That's where I'm at right now. What changed?" Darien asked, wrapping a blanket around himself, shivering.

"My parents found out. They sent me to a Christian mental health and rehabilitation facility the summer of my junior year. The therapists there used EMDR therapy to desensitize my brain toward the trauma, which helped lessen the triggers. I'd been home for about three months before my parents were killed," she said as she looked down, trying not to cry.

Darien reached out and put his hand gently on her back. "You don't have to hide your sadness. You're in good company." He smiled softly.

"Thanks. How are you feeling? I'm guessing you're starting to feel withdrawals pretty bad."

Darien nodded. "I didn't sleep at all last night. I feel like hell. This is like the worst hangover ever, but nothing will make it feel better. Well, heroin would but that's kind of the issue."

"Luke made eggs and bacon. You need to eat something. The nausea is going to be severe in the next few days, and you're probably going to vomit a lot. You need electrolytes. Jacob and I are planning another trip into town today to get some clothing for you and Jackson, as well as some medicine for Liam's fever and infection. We can pick up some pickles and sports drinks for you."

"Liam has a fever?" Darien asked.

"Yeah, he walked halfway to the living room this morning before he collapsed. We think the open wound on his foot is infected, and that's causing the fever. Bailey is trying to nurse him back to health with herbal remedies, but there's only so much plants can do."

"I hope he gets better. He's a good man, he doesn't deserve that."

At this point, Jackson and Luke walked into the room. Luke smiled at Macy, and Jackson hopped onto his bed.

"We're going to Portland," Jackson said excitedly.

"Portland? Why Portland?" Darien asked Luke.

Luke chewed at his lip. "Jackson thinks there might be something in the remains of your house that could help us figure out a motive."

"We all should go," Macy suggested. "The more there are of us, the more difficult we'll be to stop."

"We can't all go. Liam is slipping in and out of consciousness. Someone will have to stay to take care of him," Luke said.

"I'm sure Bailey will stay," Macy replied.

"Do I have to come?" Darien asked.

"I don't really remember where our old house is. How else will we get there?" Jackson asked.

"I'm in withdrawals right now. Are we walking? It'll take days to get there on foot, and I don't think I'm physically capable of that."

"We're gonna find a car," Luke said.

"You mean hijack?" Macy asked.

"Well, yeah," Luke laughed.

"Darien, you could stay in the car the whole time. You wouldn't need to get out for any reason once we get to the house," Macy said.

Darien sighed. "I guess. When are we leaving?"

"We should leave as soon as possible, so tonight? That way we get there when it's night. It'll attract the least attention," Luke said. "I'll go tell Bailey what's going on. We can still stop in town for supplies for Liam. Pack only what you need, we won't have a ton of space."