For the thousandth time, Jethro assured himself he was not scared, even though his body shivered as he paced out of the wattle fence. The night was cold actually. Maybe it was that.

It was that.

He assured himself again and expelled warm air from his nose as he stared blankly into the night. He would go alone but he would be on alert, and if any danger shoot up, he already planned the escape route he would take back home.

Yeah.

He sighed and fell into steps along the sidewalk. He moved past the dark malls, making a low whistle to give himself false boldness. The wind blew harshly as he cornered into an adjacent street, making the big duffle coat he had worn dance around him ridiculously. He had purposely chosen to wear that with some cowboy hat. Crazy? Yeah. If he was going to see someone unknown, maybe he needed some funny disguise himself.

His heart thudded and his whistle died into the cold air as he finally came close to the rendezvous. The store was black and old with windows almost falling off their hinges. Some scared birds flew off the windows as he peeped in, looking for whoever had invited him. He strained his eyes into the empty store and just when he sighed in despair, a hand came from behind, wrapping stiffly over his mouth. He tried to give a fight but was overwhelmed by a force that dragged him somewhere unknown. His breathing grew tense and when he was finally set free, he puffed as he saw a masked face staring at him in the stark darkness.

"Thought you're the strong boy fighting for someone. Are you this weak?" The gritty voice from the masked face scorned him as he steadied his breathing.

"Who're you?" He asked in almost a gasp and watched timidly as a dark hand went to the mask and pulled it down. Instantly, a blurred recognition of the face hit him. He squinted at it, trying to remember where he had seen it.

"Now you know it, don't you?" The voice chuckled.

"Stan!" He exclaimed, his body shaking as he did so.

"Yeah." The boy breathed, bobbing his head as a wry smile rubbed on his face, "Heard you fought for Ava." He sniggered.

"And I heard you ran away." Jethro scowled back.

"Ran away?" Stan snorted and clenched his teeth in a mix of suppressed anger and amazement, "Is that what you were told?"

"No." Jethro retorted, "That's what I know. You ran away after what you did to Ava and..."

"Will you hush!" Stan spat at him, his palm circling tightly on his neck.

"Will you stop this.." Jethro choked as he battled to get free but the hand was too strong for him.

"I did nothing to Ava. You say that again and I get you strangled, quick!" Stan snapped and gently released his neck.

"You did nothing?" Jethro scoffed, " And yet the pictures..."

"Yeah, the pictures!" Stan howled his interruption, "I was also in the picture. Will I be there if I was the one behind it all? What the heck are you thinking? What crap have you heard about me?" Stan's hostile voice rumbled into the night and Jethro just smirked as a little silence set him.

"Crap?" Jethro licked his lips in a harsh smile, "That you wanted to hurt Finn and then drugged Ava to do all the shit you did."

"You shut that your..." Stan yelled and then stopped, his breath too heavy to continue with words. He rubbed his thick palms over his face, pushed out a lungful of hot air from his nose, and then stared calmly into Jethro's cold eyes, "Who told you I drugged Ava? Did she tell you that? She's a big liar if she had." He said vehemently.

"Oh, I get." Jethro nodded his head in mock comprehension, "She wasn't drugged and was aware when you were taking those defiling pictures.."

"Jeez! Jeez!!" Stan cut him off again in a frustrated grunt, "I wasn't the one who took those pictures. I was also in the pictures, man!"

"And you have nothing to lose. You could have arranged someone to take them." Jethro argued back and watched Stan sigh in frustration. The boy rested back on the black wall behind him and his eyes went closed in total loss of words.

"Why do you think I'll hurt Ava?" He asked after a short silence, his eyes still well shut.

"Because she's with Finn," Jethro replied harshly.

"Really?" Stan scoffed as his eyes instantly flew open, " Who do you think Ava is to me? My girl?" He laughed, full of pain.

"Of course, she's no longer your girl. That's why you can hurt her." Jethro sneered, forcing himself not to be moved by the glum sound of his voice.

"Have you asked Ava about what happened that night?" Stan asked in a soft, quiet tone.

"Yes." Jethro mouthed in a forced calmness.

"Then she had told you absolute lies," Stan chuckled sadly, "Wonder why she did that."

A longer silence set in afterward, gloomy and full of emotions as Jethro gazed pitifully at the thin line of tears creeping down Stan's cheeks. Had Ava lied? Was Stan saying the truth? Who should he believe now? He remembered the moment Ava had told him she was unaware of what had happened to her that night. She had said that with tears tumbling down her face. Now, Stan was saying a completely different version of the story and he was in tears too. Whose tears should he trust now? His head burned with confusion.

"So what's the truth?" He asked in a tender voice and Stan chuckled without giving a word. The distant hoots of cars and gentle murmuring of the night air disrupted the silence as Jethro patiently await a response to his question.

"Ava was aware of what happened to us that night. But..."

"But?" Jethro prompted rudely, showing his slight disbelief in what he was saying.

"She was forced. I was forced. We're forced to do all you see in those pictures." Stan sputtered, a bit annoyed Jethro would still not believe him.

"Why does it sound like you're lying?" Jethro smirked and that ignited the fire in Stan.

"Lying?" He snorted, "Did you see the pictures at all? Didn't you see Ava's face? Was that a genuine smile? She was forced to do that." He barked in frustration and Jethro's eyes narrowed, trying to recall what he had seen in those pictures but they came all blurred.

"Who forced you guys?" He asked after a short break.

"I'm scared to talk about that." Stan breathed nervously.

"Damn liar!" Jethro tittered harshly and folded his arms across his chest, "Is that why you called me here? To say all shit lies and expect me to suck them in like a fool." He said in a voice dripping with scorn.

"No, I did because I heard you fought for Ava," Stan said in a cool act, refusing to be angered by Jethro's hot words.

"And you're scared you're the next I'll sniff out and fight?" Jethro still hit back and Stan gave a sinister laugh at the statement.

"I'm scared you might be starting a thriller you wouldn't be able to stop." He chuckled.

"Is that a threat?" A sneer flew out of Jethro's lips as their eyes did a double.

"No," Stan's head wagged, "It's a warning instead. Stop sniffing into what happened that night. You don't have an idea of how grim it might turn out."

"You scared you might get exposed?" Jethro challenged curtly.

"Crazy you're still suspecting me," Stan grunted, took a step forward, and tapped Jethro's shoulders for his next words, "If there's anyone you'll have to suspect, then it's Jessy, not me." He said and added a meaningful wink.

"Jessy?" Jethro's eyebrows fused in confusion.

"Goodbye, Jethro." Stan dismissed, a smile of satisfaction lacing his face as he put back the mask and then jogged out of sight, into the grievous darkness.

Jethro gazed bewilderedly at the black wall in front of him. His head rang with a flurry of ideas failing to link together. Gavin had suspected Finn of what happened to Ava. Katie had said it was Stan. Now, Stan had said it was Jessy.

Finn? Stan? Jessy?
Finn? Stan? Jessy?

He sang mentally and then hit his head on the wall in absolute confusion.

This was certainly going to be a thriller as Stan had warned.