Eva flipped her bag over her bed and collapsed against the soft sheets. She turned on the flat screen in her room immediately, which was something she had been doing religiously for the past week, a week that had been nothing short of madness. 

First the news about the leaked and doctored tapes had dominated every television screen, every news channel and every post online. There was no denying Julian's solid alibi by now and two days ago it was announced that the murder case involving both Fiona and Jason had been reopened. 

The whiplash from this sudden turn of events had made Eva's anxiety worse. She stole her mother's prescription of Xanax every chance she got and popped one before bed every night. 

The ants were crawling out of the woodwork. Eva should have known it would happen eventually. She'd felt this growing sense of dread ever since the van escorting Julian to juvy had crashed leading to his timely disappearance. 

She flipped through the news channels which were all talking about the same damn thing - Julian's innocence and the fact that he was wrongly executed - but then she stopped when she saw his mother speaking to a reporter outside her house. 

Julian's mother looked haggard, like she had aged twenty years in the span of a few months. Her face was ashen, deep lines marred her forehead and her cheeks were sunken, hollowed out. It was as if she had stopped eating properly, stopped brushing her wispy blonde hair and stopped bothering about her appearance in general. 

Eva remembered finding an old picture of her in the safe her father hid in his office. Eva's father was a ruthless business man but he was terrible at keeping secrets, especially from his daughter. And his passwords were always the easiest to guess. 

Eva had begun sneaking into his office at the tender age of five, it was her way of connecting to a father that was often there but never present.

It was only when Julian disappeared in middle school and she found his mother's picture in her father's safe, did she realise why. 

Julian's mother, Mrs. Paula used to be beautiful, her blonde hair wavy and shiny, her slim figure almost statuesque as she posed for the camera. Her long legs were barely obscured by the short white dress in the picture. Eva could never tell if the dress had been splotchy or if the picture was just too old. 

But she would always remember the carefree smile on her father's face as he stood next to her, his arm wrapped tightly around her tiny waist. Eva had never seen him smile like that, even when he was around her mother. 

He'd never smiled at Eva like that either and sometimes it caused a ball of fear to lodge in her throat. Maybe he'd never really loved her to begin with. After all she was adopted, she didn't share his DNA. 

She wondered if he smiled like that when he thought about his biological son. 

Eva shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts that always haunted her nights in this bed. She stared at Mrs. Paula on the news channel, who was currently looking into the camera with a broken smile and sagging eyes. 

She was begging for her son to be found safe and sound. Her voice was breaking and she looked so frail, if the wind picked up she could very well be swept away with it. 

There was a gnawing feeling in the pit of Eva's stomach. She felt bad, horrible even. She'd hated this woman, ever since she found her photo. She had blamed her for her father's distractedness but the more she looked at her, the more she began to hate herself. 

This was all Eva's fault. Julian had been framed because of her. Because of what she had done. Fiona and Jason had been killed because of her. 

It was all because of her. 

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away harshly. Her thoughts wandered to Nalini, as they often did and she remembered the night Tyler and her had waited across the street from Lola's house. 

Nalini was as beautiful as ever. Her messy black hair even wilder in the wind. Eva smiled knowing Nalini had probably ran her hands through it repeatedly to make it that way. Her pulse raced when she remembered how Nalini had looked into Tyler's car and Eva had never been more thankful that his windows were tinted. 

She didn't know what she would have done if Nalini had spotted her but Nalini had been distracted, afraid. Eva saw her eyes widen when she passed by and then Damien's jeep had hovered in front of Lola's house before driving away. 

They were there for something, a drop off maybe but seeing Tyler's car had made them drive away. Eva couldn't think of any other possibility. They had to know where Julian was. That was the only thing that made sense. 

Tyler was right and he needed to get into Lola's house fast. Before Julian resurfaced as the hero and people started looking elsewhere for the villain. 

She picked up her phone and dialled his number quickly. He answered on the second ring and his smug voice made Eva's insides curl. 

"Eva, always a pleasure to hear from my favourite damsel in distress." 

She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his tone, the bitterness always there because she had chosen someone else over him. Always. 

"When are you going to that Lola girls house? I think she might be hiding him. I don't why. Just a feeling." Eva turned to the door, checking to see if it was locked. She'd started doing that a lot recently. 

"Well, hello to you too." 

And there it was that sarcastic voice feigning hurt that she could never stand. Eva gritted her teeth and forced a breath out to stay calm. It was so hard to pretend to tolerate a guy when she could never stand him to begin with. 

"Hello Tyler, how did your day go? Did you have lunch, tea, dinner? Have you used the toilet, brushed your teeth, prepared yourself for another shitty day of school tomorrow?"

"Okay, okay, stop. And you know I love school. It gives me the chance to see my favourite girl everyday," Tyler drawled but his words made her freeze. 

He used to say 'my favourite girl' not Tyler. Those were his words. 

"Don't say that," She snapped. 

There was a pause on the line and then some shifting around. "Why? Do you miss him?" 

Eva wanted to say 'no' because he had ruined her life and then he was gone, leaving her to deal with the aftermath. And what she'd felt for him was fleeting, nothing like what she felt for Nalini. 

She thought about the girl on a daily basis, always longing to talk to her or just hear her voice before bed.

Nalini had been preoccupied recently, she didn't show Eva as much attention as she used to. Their fights were becoming more scarce. Nalini was slowly slipping away the longer she spent time with Damien. 

Eva cursed her ex under her breath. She'd never liked him to begin with. They dated briefly and that too because everyone thought they looked perfect together. It was such a farce and now here he was, hanging out with Eva's longtime crush, slowly stealing her away. 

Eva hated him for it but mostly she blamed herself because she had isolated Nalini to begin with. 

"So you do miss him." Tyler said softly, his voice now hurt. He had taken Eva's silence as a yes. 

"Tyler," Eva sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. "It's not like that." 

"It never is with you, apparently." 

"Now isn't the time for this. We need to focus. You need to keep an eye out on Lola. Get into her house and look around." 

"That girl is such a bore. She hardly talks and is always so shy around me." Tyler was bragging now. He loved the fact that Lola liked him. He mentioned it every chance he got. 

"Then it should be easy for you to manipulate her. Since she likes you so much."

"I have her wrapped around my little pinky  finger. Trust me. I'll approach her tomorrow. Stop worrying so much, you're going to develop premature wrinkles," Tyler joked and Eva rolled her eyes. 

She heard a sharp knock on her door and quickly straightened up. 

"Someone's here. I have to go," She cut the line and jumped off her bed. Her parents rarely came to her room this late in the evening and it made her nervous.

She unlocked the door and saw her mother standing there her night gown. Her hair was unbrushed, a very rare occurrence and it immediately made Eva worried. Did she know Eva was stealing her pills almost every other night?

"Why do you look so haggard?" Mrs. Maximus stated as she stood there, judging her daughter's appearance. "Haven't you been using the skincare line sponsoring you?" 

Eva touched her cheeks, suddenly feeling self conscious. Her mother walked inside and sat on her bed. She smoothed her hair and ordered for Eva to lock the door. 

"We need to talk." 

Those words always frightened Eva, especially when they came from Jeanine. 

Eva sat by her side silently, waiting for whatever it was her mother had to say. 

She touched her daughter's face tenderly and Eva could see the love in her mother's eyes. Jeanine had never made Eva feel like she was adopted. She doted on her, worried about every aspect of her life and she always obsessed about her appearance - although Eva knew that was probably more for her benefit than Eva's - but still it made Eva feel important. 

Jeanine had never been an absent mother and Eva knew her mother would do anything to protect her family, even if it meant framing an innocent person for the crimes he didn't commit. 

"Have you been watching the news?" Her mother's voice was guarded, filled with worry. 

It was a stupid question. Everyone's been watching the news but Eva nodded anyway. 

Jeanine grabbed Eva's shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. "Darling, I will take care of it. Mommy will take care of everything, okay. I'm not letting anything happen to my baby girl. My precious girl." 

Eva's heart softened into a pile of mush. Her mother loved her, she knew this but she also knew her mother loved her status and reputation. She just didn't know which one she loved more. 

Jeanine released her much too quickly and then she stood up. 

"I don't want you doing anything stupid. Remember we are a family. We are a unit and we protect each other, okay? It's just you and me, Eva. We need to have each other's backs."

So that was what she came here for. She didn't want Eva to do something dumb like admit the truth about what had happened before and after the murders. 

"I promise," Eva mumbled, feeling unsure of herself for some reason. She was tired. She wanted to escape, for it all to end. 

Jeanine stared at her for a long moment and then she walked to the door. She opened it and then paused. 

"Oh and ease up on the Xanax, dear. The last thing I need is to cover up another mess of yours." 

The door shut and Eva sank back into her sheets, wanting the duvet to smother her till she stopped breathing.