"Hayley."

My footsteps quickened. I pretended not to hear.

"Hayley! Hayley, wait!"

A group of boys walked out in front, laughing. I took the opportunity to weave behind them, dodging into the next hallway. With my back to the wall I flattened my bag to my chest and stopped breathing.

Leila came into view, neck craning, searching. For a moment my lips parted as if to call her out. She walked past.

I breathed again.

It was Monday. Over the weekend Leila had been spamming my phone with messages and missed calls, wanting to know what was going on. Switching off my phone to avoid her had been easy, but in school things were bound to be a little bit trickier.

The wound in my shoulder throbbed, and I remembered Kaylan's scream as Jasper sawed down on his thumb, and the emotionless look in Jasper's eyes as I begged him to leave Emrys alone.

A foot in both worlds.

Shouldering my bag with renewed determination I turned out of the hallway - and knocked straight into someone.

"Sorry -"

"Hayley?"

"W-william," I stuttered.

His eyes flickered to the bandage that my short-sleeved shirt couldn't quite hide. I tried to tug down the material but it was too late, I saw the concern flared up in his eyes and words were already pouring out of his mouth.

"Hayley, what happened? You guys never came back, and Leila was crying after that phone call. Roxy had to calm her down before we could get anything out of her . . . Were you hurt badly? Why did you ignore our calls?"

I looked at William. As usual his shirt was a bit loose on his skinny frame, his hair scruffy and soft in its trademark just-out-of-bed way. His eyes were wide behind his black glasses, wide and patient for my answer.

"Hayley?"

William Winston. The boy who was my friend. The boy who had a sister. The boy who might be Jasper's next target. William Winston.

William looked around. "You know, Emrys didn't come to class today."

Because he's dead, a little voice in my head whispered. And guess whose fault was that?

"I have to go," I managed to say. "I'm sorry."

I turned to leave but he gripped my hand. His fingers wrapped around my wrist in perfect fit, as if they belonged there. I looked down to push it away, and then stopped.

I stared.

Seeing the direction of my gaze, William blushed and quickly pulled away.

"I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"You have a leather watch," I whispered. "The leather watch."

In my mind an image flashed, short and sharp and quick. Of a boy who had left the store after defending me, a boy who had curly brown hair . . . and a leather watch.

"You were the boy. In the store." I looked up at him then, looked into those puzzled eyes. "You helped me, in my first day in town."

The bewilderment vanished as William brightened. His eyes lit up, his entire face seemed to glow with pride and pleasure. "You remember me!"

He let out an awkward laugh as his hand reached up to brush the back of his neck. "You know the funny thing is I've been trying to tell you that since day one, but we kept getting interrupted for some reason . . . "

In my mind's eye, William's face warped, and suddenly he was screaming as Jasper sawed his sister's thumb.

"Remember our first study session? I was trying to tell you that but your taxi came and I chickened out . . . maybe I should have been braver, huh?"

Now William was lying on the ground, choking on his own blood, as Jasper placed the cold metal of the gun down his ripped out throat.

"Speaking of being brave . . . I - I need to tell you something." William's voice changed, becoming nervous. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"I have to go," I whispered.

"Hayley I - "

"I have to go," I said, louder, until it seemed as if I must scream. "I have to go, William. I'm sorry. I have to go."

He stopped mid-sentence, and now that perplexed look was back, the perplexed look that reminded me of the first day I had saw him, the perplexed look that reminded me of all the times that he'd helped me with homework - sweet William Winston, sweet dead William Winston -

"Hayley?" He sounded shocked now, and his voice had dropped to a gentle tone. "Hayley, are you crying? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I - "

And I turned tail and run.

|*|

I managed to make it all the way until the end of the day without talking to both Leila and Roxy, which was no mean feat considering how I had three classes with them. I came in late, sat far away from them both, left early and generally vanished out of sight when they appeared. Leila was worried sick and looked pleading whenever she caught my eye, which I pretended not to notice. For once I was glad of Roxy's caustic nature, my attempts at avoiding them both for what looked to be no good reason seemed to have pissed her off, and she fought fire with fire by avoiding me back.

When the school dismissal bell rang I had never been more glad. The glimpse of the outdoors through the opened school doors beckoned me and was enough to set me off running. I stopped just outside the threshold and slipped to the side, watching as people streamed past me, chattering. Closing my eyes I breathed in. Already I could taste the chill of late autumn in the air. 

"Hayley!"

I opened my eyes but it was too late - Leila was right in front of me. Behind her Roxy lingered. Her arms were crossed and she looked unwilling, but she didn't  move.

"Hayley . . . what happened? Are you okay?"

I looked at her and realized William was right, she had been crying.

"Tell me. Please. Were you hurt bad? And Emrys . . . where is he? He - "

" - didn't show up to class today," I finished, blunt. "I know."

Tears began to shimmer in Leila's eyes and I hated how I couldn't look at her straight.

"Hayley . . . what's going on?"

I bit my lip and shook my head. "I - I can't tell you. I can't, Leila, I can't."

"Screw this crap." Roxy stepped forward and grabbed Leila by the wrist. "If Little Miss Lone Ranger here thinks that troubles aren't meant for sharing and friends should abandon each other in times of hardship, then let her do what she wants. We tried our best. Let's go."

Leila yanked her hand out of Roxy's grip. "No. I'm not leaving until Hayley tells me what's going on."

I breathed, deep. "Roxy's right. You should go."

"Hayley - "

A loud honk, accompanied by several wolf-whistles and sounds of admiration caught all of our attention. A glowing red convertible had just pulled into the parking lot, and more than several students were suffering from a complete mental breakdown. 

"The fu -" Roxy breathed, sharp and quick. "Holy sh - " She seemed quite unable to finish her sentences. Her eyes had bulged wide, pupils completely consumed by the image of the car.

The parking lot burst into incessant chatter.

"Is that a Lykan Hypersport?"

"One of only seven existing in the world?"

"Featured in the movie Fast 7?"

"With a price tag of $3.4 million?"

"Who the hell is that?"

The wheels of the car turned slow and deliberate as it glided through the gawking students. I watched as it made a complete circuit of the parking lot, showing off its every flawless side, polished wing mirrors and tinted windows. As it reached me and Leila it slowed, and suddenly, like a frying pan over the head, I had a sickening realization just who it was.

The windows rolled down soundlessly, smooth like a knife through melted butter.

"Hello sweetheart. Finished school?" And Jasper smiled.

"Why are you here?"

"Came to pick you up, of course. Naturally. Hop in? Or do I have to make you?" He let out a laugh like he was joking, but the humor was far, far away from his eyes.

His gaze traveled to Leila and Roxy and I wanted to slam myself against the car, blocking the two of them out of sight. 

"Hello. Hayley's friends?"

Leila looked a bit stunned to react. Warily, Roxy moved in front of her. With a glance at me - I hoped my face conveyed enough panic - she said,

"Maybe. Why?"

Jasper's eyes dragged the entire length of their stature and I knew he already had them memorized, the information stored away for further use.

"Curious," he said, voice light.

Hurriedly I opened the passenger door and stepped in. Leila reached out a hand but Roxy placed an arm on it. Grateful, I gave the slightest of nods.

"Bye," I whispered, and the door closed.

Despite knowing that the people outside couldn't look in, I still stayed low in my seat until we had pulled out of school. Once we were outside Jasper drawled,

"Sit up straight. Don't forget whose fiancee you are."

I sat up straight. "What do you want?" I asked, mood sour.

"Definitely not the pleasure of your engaging company." Jasper reached over to the backseat and grabbed hold of a brown, A4-sized envelope, which he gave to me. "Open that."

I had just slit it open when I stopped. "What did you do to Emrys?"

A flick of the ring finger had the right blinker lights on. "Only what was coming to him."

"You - you killed him?" I choked on my words.

Jasper shrugged. "I don't know. Last I saw him he was screaming on the road."

The edges of the envelope crumpled under my clenching fist and Jasper frowned at the sound. 

"What did you do to him?"

"Please don't dog-ear that."

"What did you do to him?"

The traffic light signaled red and Jasper stopped at a busy intersection. Turning to me he said, with that same coldness in his eyes,

"I broke his arm, stomp on it, and left him for dead."

The air that came through my nose was minty, like jagged dust of glass, and I struggled to speak. The traffic light turned green and the Lykan Hypersport purred forward. Jasper turned his face back to the front.

"Now read that, and don't ask me questions you don't want to hear answers to."

I opened the envelope. Black and white photos fell out, along with a stapled piece of document. One photo in particular caught my eye. It was a clear shot of a boy, face half-turned to camera, fearful but defiant, his hands tied together with rope behind his back. Tall thin men had him by the arms, and walking in front, one hand pushing up his glasses, was a short stout man in a three piece suit.

"Eric!" I exclaimed.

Jasper nodded. "Look at the document."

It was a detailed analysis of a building along Harwood Street, twelve miles away from the city center. Fabricated from glass and steel, the building looked like any other office building out there, and the receptionist at the counter too looked to be your run-of-the-mill desk worker. Except, the document noted, that this building seemed to have far more nocturnal activities than usual, and in fact seemed to have an abundance of workers who just loved to put in overtime work. According to the uncle who manned the opposite convenience store, the lights in the windows never seemed to be out, and workers who came in at night far outnumbered those who came in the morning. And, the uncle added, though he had seen his fair share of people entering those revolving glass doors, he could count on his fingers those that he had seen walking out.

"These photos were taken by a traffic surveillance camera in the corner of the street," Jasper said. "Two days after they were taken a short British-accented man came in and asked, politely, that the supervisor erased all data of the previous week from the camera. The supervisor secretly stored them however, and my men managed to get them from him after some delicate persuading."

"So this is it, then? This is Black and Tan's hide-out?"

"So it would seem. But we would need far more evidence before we can barge right in. Wouldn't like to fall into a trap now, would we?"

Something outside caught my eye and I looked up. The road had turned familiar and that was when I realized that we were at the warehouse. The warehouse where Kaylan and his family had been kidnapped and tortured. 

With his right hand Jasper turned the wheel in one masterful stroke, and then we were parked and stationary in front of the warehouse's locked shutters. He cut the engine and silence fell with a dull thud, like an executioner's axe.

Jasper turned in his seat and looked at me. Out of the sunlight his skin seemed even paler, like a vampire's, I thought.

"In the end I managed to find out where they were without your help. So . . . I guess that means only one thing?"

His right hand moved. I didn't want to look but I couldn't help my eyes being dragged toward it, even as my lips trembled ajar to ask,

"What do you mean?"

"You're really useless, aren't you?" And Jasper pulled a gun out of his pocket.

|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|

Hey guys! HAPPY NEW YEARRR AND I HOPED YOU LIKED THIS GIFT *insert starry eyes* I was so worried I couldn't get it done by midnight but I did ~ phew ~

Anyways, this is for My_life32 ! I know I haven't updated in awhile >.< sorry, please forgive me? Pretty please?

Hope y'all liked this!