Mia dragged herself into our room after me, spinning around in circles with her arms out to either side. She'd been doing this the whole way up from the beach, so I had no idea how she wasn't dizzy right now.

"Ever wonder what it'd be like to be a bird?" She questioned with a giggle. I raised my eyebrows as she started to babble about flying over the ocean and having feathery friends, or something. "My dad once told me that there's this type of parrot that vomits into its mate's mouth before they do the dirty. Don't you think that's gross? I think that's so gross. Maybe I don't wanna be a bird after all... hey what's this?" Mia stopped spinning and paused in front of my open duffle bag, reaching forward to pluck out something that had been half covered by a shirt sleeve.

I glanced at her curiously, ignoring her prior drunken spiel on bird mating habits and jumping off the bed.

"It's a... polaroid? Who took this? When?" Mia asked, offering me the photo. I swallowed loudly and allowed my eyes to trace over the image, feeling my heart drop into my stomach.

This one was even worse than the last two; me brushing my hair before bed, taken through my bedroom window at the McCormacks' home. Panic rose up into my chest as I struggled to keep myself in check. I was used to my privacy being invaded because of my line of work, but no one ever sent their photos to me after they'd taken them. They always ran away as soon as they got what they wanted, determined not to get caught. A clever paparazzo could take their photo and sell it without my ever even knowing. This was not like that.

"I think there's something written on the back." Mia muttered, her blue eyes growing concerned. "Did you write that?"

I held my breath and flipped the photo over, bracing myself as a mere couple of scribbled words were revealed.

Too easy.

The first two photos I could play off as coincidental— as paparazzi photos or kids who just wanted a snap of me. But this... I couldn't convince myself that this was innocent.

"Yeah. I wrote it. I was just going to play a prank." I mumbled numbly to Mia, offering her a weak smile. "Guess you caught me out though."

Mia stared at me a moment longer before letting out a huge sigh and dropping her head into her hands. "LA gave you a weird sense of humor Sav." She stated before flopping down onto the bed and cuddling up to her pillow. I shoved the polaroid into the very bottom of my bag and pulled my pyjamas out with shaky hands. Moonlight shone through the window onto the bed, and I hastily drew the curtains shut. Mia's soft snores filled the room as I changed, and I forced my breathing to match hers in an attempt to keep myself calm.

After folding my clothes away I slid into the cold bed covers, tucking the blanket under my chin to hide as much of my body as possible. What if the person taking those photos was here now? A shudder ran down my spine as I realized that they had to be. Or at least had been recently. Otherwise how would the photo have gotten there? Unless...

The blood drained from my face. Unless someone already welcome inside the house was to blame. Tears welled up in my eyes and I choked them back.

Calm down, Savannah.

Just because it wasn't the paparazzi didn't mean it still couldn't be a prank. The thought brought me the slightest bit of relief, and I settled a little further into my pillow. That had to be it. Dallas was pulling a prank on me— he'd always done stuff like that when we were kids. It had gotten him thrown out of many a class.

I closed my eyes in the hope that sleep would come, but it evaded me for hours until I found myself wondering why I was even trying anymore. Carefully as to not wake Mia, I rolled out of bed and crept downstairs to the kitchen.

If I couldn't sleep, might as well eat.

The downstairs of the house was still warm from the earlier fire, so I found myself rolling up the sleeves of my pyjama top as I searched through the cupboards for something to nibble on.

"Hungry?"

I shrieked, whirling around so fast that I practically gave myself whiplash. I placed my hand over my heart as I took in Brooks standing before me, his mouth raised into an amused smile. I struggled to catch my breath, leaning against the counter for support.

Hey, I had reason to be jumpy.

It took me a second to regain my composure, but when I did, I almost did a double take. Brooks was barefoot and shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants that hung low enough on his hips to display the white rim of his Calvin Klein underwear. My mouth went dry as my eyes trailed over his muscular stomach and chest without my permission. When my gaze finally landed on his face, he smirked.

"Are you going to do that every time?" I asked nonchalantly, brushing my hands on my pants to try and distract from the fact that I'd just been caught staring.

"Do what?" Brooks questioned as he walked over to where I was standing and pulled the cupboard door open wider. Standing so close I couldn't help but notice his mussed up bronze hair, or how he smelled like minty soap. Brooks reached one muscular arm forward and grabbed a box of Cheerios, stealing a glance at me over his shoulder.

"Scare me." I replied to his previous question. "You can never approach someone face-on like a normal human. You have to stand behind them like a creeper. You did it when I first got to Beaufort too."

Brooks shrugged and pulled out two bowls, pouring a serving of cereal into each one. "It's not my fault you're so jumpy."

I mean he had a point there.

Brooks poured milk into the two bowls and held one out to me for take, shoving a spoon into it on its way to me. "Thanks." I smiled, walking over to sit down on one of the bar stools. Brooks sat down next to me and we ate in silence for a moment.

"Do you remember when we used to come here as kids and try to stay up all night on Christmas Eve to look out for Santa?" He asked all of a sudden, surprising me.

I grinned as I shovelled a spoon of cereal into my mouth. "How could I forget? You were the only one out of the three of us who'd figured out the truth, but you still stayed up with Mia and I just to play along."

"Yeah, well, it was fun watching you two be clueless. Knowledge is power, you know."

I snorted, giving him my best eye roll. "Please, you were having just as much fun leaving cookies and carrots out as we were."

Brooks pursed his lips mischievously and reached up to run a hand through his hair. "You may be right. But still, I also liked knowing something that you didn't."

I laughed, but the noise simmered when I caught his eye. "Your Christmas traditions have changed a little since then hey."

Brooks smiled and chewed thoughtfully as he nodded. "Yeah, a bit. We definitely didn't get so drunk as kids."

"You don't get drunk now either." I teased gently. "I've never seen someone handle their alcohol so well— and I have been to parties where The Rock was there. You didn't even seem tipsy! What's your secret?."

Brooks chuckled and placed his empty bowl in the sink, turning towards me afterwards. "A magician never tells." He scolded.

I opened my mouth to respond, but my words were lost forever and replaced by the screeching sound of glass splitting in the distance. It sounded like it had come from outside, like a window or something. The smile instantly fell from Brooks' face as he stood up and sent his bar stool flying onto the floor. "What the fuck was that?"

I stalked Brooks as he grabbed the fire iron from beside the fireplace and unlocked the front door.

A dreadful thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I blanched at the idea. What if this was them, the person who was sending me photos?

I guess part of me wasn't so convinced that it was one of Dallas' practical jokes after all.

"Stay inside." Brooks instructed me, taking a step out onto the front porch.

Uh uh. No way was I going to let a potential psycho loose on Brooks. Besides, it was me they were after.

I let Brooks close the door and waited a few seconds before I slipped out behind him and ran quietly around the house. It was pitch black as I crept towards where I thought the sound had come from, and my footsteps seemed deafening against the quiet backdrop of the forest. As I rounded a corner of the house a dark figure appeared in front of me, and suddenly I was pressed up against the wall with a hand around my throat, so fast that I didn't even have chance to scream.

"Savannah?" Brooks hissed, releasing his hand a second later and staring at me as if I'd just grown two more heads. I choked on my own breath, startled by the strength with which Brooks had restrained me. "I told you to stay inside."

"And let you die out here all by yourself?" I wheezed when I could finally speak. Brooks cursed under his breath, closing his eyes briefly.

A deafening bang rang through the air, making me jump about six feet. Was that a gunshot? Brooks slapped his hand over my mouth to stifle my scream before it had even conjured its way into my throat.

"Savannah, please go back inside." He pleaded, his wide eyes glinting with alarm under the moonlight.

I shook my head stubbornly.

He shot me a warning look, but I met his gaze with a determined look of my own. I wasn't going back inside when there was someone with a gun on the loose. No chance.

Brooks pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation and then lifted his hand from my face and instead entwined our hands together.

"Don't make a sound, you hear me?" He instructed firmly as he pulled me close to his side. We crept over the gardens until we reached the patch of grass where Jaz' car was parked. Just behind the car I could make out the shed, and, I squinted... oh my god. Was that...?

Brooks seemed to realize what he was seeing at the same time I did, because he snarled under his breath, all of the muscles in his body tensing.

"Luke?"

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful day, please don't forget to press the little vote button if you're liking this story so far! See you next chapter!

Meg xx