Edward landed unceremoniously at the bottom of the steps, face down in a puddle. He cried out and grabbed at his jarred right knee and rubbed. He turned and looked back see the guards walking away, their laughter ringing in his ears. Edward knew he should brush himself off and head home, but he remained in a heap, defeated. Everything seemed to be slipping away from him and it was all because of her. It wasn't supposed to be like this. For eighteen years he'd waited to become a man, a man of standing; living proof that being born in the gutter didn't mean ending up there. But here he was now, in a gutter.

Edward decided that as soon as he got home he would instruct his father to sue the guards who has assaulted him, as well as the doctor and the council. They couldn't do this to him and get away with it. A small, metal object caught his eye; it was the key to his new car. He reached out for it, but a highly polished shoe crushed down on his hand and he cried out in pain again.

"Filthy scum! Get up off the floor and go find a job. People like you should be ashamed."

Cradling his throbbing hand, he watched as the finely dressed owner of the shoe, side stepped him and walked off. Why couldn't the man see that he wasn't one of them? He wasn't a Flawed! Was his new, reduced SPR score visible for all the world to see? With his pain-free hand, he placed the key in his jeans pocket and forced himself to get up.

"Are you ok?"

Edward almost didn't hear the quiet, feminine voice behind him.

"Sir, I asked whether you're alright. I saw what happened and wondered if you needed any help."

Edward spun on his heels. Oh, so now someone wants to help, do they?

Go a...!"

A pretty young woman was looking up at him and stopped him mid-sentence.

"I'm, err ... fine, thank you. It was nothing. It looks worse than it is."

"But you're bleeding. Here, let me help."

He reached up and touched his face. His chin felt warm and sticky; a little blood coated the tips of his fingers.

The young woman fumbled in her bag and withdrew a neatly pressed handkerchief. She unfolded it and reached up to dab at the blood now drying on his chin. Edward flinched at her touch and the girl jerked her hand away.

"I'm sorry, I...," she said.

"There's no need. I'm fine. Honest."

The young woman's concern confused him. Woman rarely even looked in his direction.

"I'm Melody." Her cheeks flushed with colour.

"Edward," he replied. The girl replaced the handkerchief in her bag.

"Well it was nice to meet you." She began to walk away.

Edward began to argue with himself. A small hopeful voice told him to run after. A larger, more familiar voice told him to get back in his car and drive off. She wouldn't be interested in you anyway, the inner voice, chided.

"Melody!" He called after her. Maybe his luck was about to change? "Would you, err... like to go for a coffee some time?" The words didn't slip easily from his lips. Awkward and anxious, he waited for her rejection.

"Now?" she asked quickly.

"Now, is good with me," he grinned.

"I know a place not far from here where you can dry off and get warm. They also sell good coffee."

"Great, warmth and coffee sounds good."

They walked slowly towards the north of town; an area he wasn't too familiar with. Their conversation was lightweight, inane; he wasn't prepared to answer questions as to why she found him on the pavement. Neither did she ask.

"So how old are you?"

"I turn seventeen in January," she replied.

"Do you live near here?"

"Not far."

"Where do you go to school?"

"I don't at the moment. I'm taking some time out, helping my Dad."

"So, what does he do?"

"This and that," she replied. "Are you still in school?"

"Yes, I've got a couple of months left."

"What are you going to do then?"

He stopped walking. Now that was a question he would so easily have answered just a few hours earlier and yet now he had no idea. In just a matter of hours he had gone from turning eighteen, with the world at his feet and yet now, with his reduced SPR, his options had severely shrunk. Medicine was now out of the question. He didn't even know what careers he would now be allowed to pursue with an SPR of just eight-four point seven. If it hadn't been so bloody cruel, he might actually find it funny.

"I haven't decided yet," he answered, he couldn't let her know his status yet; it might have her running for the hills. "Is this coffee place much farther?"

"Just around the corner."

They continued further. Edward was now far from home. The area was becoming more run-down. The buildings they passed looked uncared for and in need of renovation. People milled around and stared at them as they walked by. Edward checked is jeans pocket for his wallet. It was still there, the contents of which, suddenly made him feel nervous. In addition to the new car, his father had given him some money and it now weighed heavily in his pocket.

"Should we actually be here?" he asked.

"Oh, don't worry, we're safe here. My father has, shall we say, interests in this area." She didn't elaborate further. ""We're here now, anyway." Melody pointed to a small building just up from them on the left. It had a pharmacy on one side of it and a boarded-up bar on the other. A ripped, green and white awning extended precariously from the wall just above the window. The glass was painted with white wash, although it had flaked off in places. Melody opened the door and a bell chimed. Edward hesitated for a moment, but she turned and smiled at him, so he followed her. He could imagine himself happy to follow here anywhere.

"Take a seat, I'll go and order. Coffee with milk?"

Edward nodded and looked around. Of the ten or so tables in the café, only one of them was occupied. A man was reading a tabloid newspaper.

Edward went to the opposite side of the room and chose a table. His nose turned up as he noticed the red vinyl tablecloth to be sticky and littered with crumbs. He moved his chair back slightly and turned to watch Melody. She wasn't at the counter, but the woman behind it was pouring two coffees so he assumed she'd gone to the restroom.

The woman came over and placed one of the cups in front of him, the other she placed on the table where the man read the tabloid.

He reached for his drink and took an eager sip; the hot liquid burnt his top lip.

"They make a good cup of coffee here, Edward."

Edward's head spun around. "Sorry, do I know you?" Edward asked the man with the tabloid.

"No, Edward, you don't."

A chill ran down his back and he placed the cup back on the table. Edward looked around the café hoping Melody would appear soon. In his gut he knew something was very wrong and he wanted out of there.

"How did you SPR review go this morning?"

"What?" Edward snarled.

"Oh, I take from your reaction that it didn't go so well."

Edward decided he wasn't going to wait around for Melody. He moved his chair back and stood up.

"Sit down, Edward. We have much to talk about." The door-bell chimed and two men entered and stood either side of the door.

"What do you want? If it's money you want, my father has money. Look I have a little, in my wallet." He removed his wallet from his pocket and threw the bundle of notes onto the table. "Please, I really do need to get home."

The smile on the man's face disappeared. His eyes seemed to darken. "Your lot think it's always about money, don't you?" He spat the words out like he had just tasted something rotten. The man walked over to Edward's table. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Edward shrugged. "If it's not money, what do you want?" He dreaded the reply.

"I want your sister."

Edward laughed out loud. Hannah! Even here, she was the one everyone wanted and she was the one thing he would happily give away to anyone who would have her. The further she was from him and his family, the better. "You're welcome to her," he replied.

The man looked a little confused.

"Seriously, you can have her. Do what you like with her, I won't stand in your way."

"Interesting," said the man. "I gather then, that you are not as enamoured by dear, sweet Hannah as the rest of your population then?"

Edward stared at the man and felt a modicum of relief; maybe he was going to get out of this place alive. He had been doubting that. "What do you want with her?" he dared to ask back.

"Did you enjoy the ball the other night, Edward? It was an eventful evening I hear."

Edward shivered.

"Where is she?"

"The last time I saw her she was waiting outside the SPR appraisal room. But that was now a couple of hours ago. I would imagine that she's gone home."

"No, my sources tell me she is still in the building, somewhere."

"Maybe she's cosying up to Briggs?" Edward suggested with a sneer.

"No, he left over half an hour ago."

"Then I don't know. Can I go now?"

The man laughed softly. "No, you can't. Edward, may I speak candidly?"

"Are you bothered if I say, no?"

The man laughed again, "You're not what I expected at all. I thought I might have to coerce or threaten you into helping me, but now I see that just maybe, you might actually want to help us. What a pleasant turn of events this is."

Edward straightened up his back a little. He suddenly felt important. These people clearly valued him highly and they seemed to share his hatred of the girl. He thought of his parents and how devastated they would be if something happened to their precious daughter. The thought didn't bother him at all.

"What would I get in return? "Edward asked. He knew he sounded cocky, but he had something they wanted and that gave him some bargaining power.

"Oh, Edward, please don't overestimate your worth to me, you silly, greedy boy. If you agree to assist me, then I will let you live. That's the deal."

Edward swallowed hard and his shoulders shrunk forward again. He sat quietly, evaluating his options which were limited in the extreme.

"Why do you want her so badly?"

The man rubbed at the abrasive stubble on his jaw, considering his response.

"She took something from me Edward, something I can never get back. I want her to suffer for what she did. I want them all to suffer for what she did. Will you help?"

"I don't suppose I have a choice do I?"

"No I don't suppose you do."

The door opened and Melody walked back into the café, passed the new men. Edward looked up at her, desperately to warn her of the danger.

She approached the table and sat down.

"Has he agreed, Papa?" she said turning to the man.

Edward's jaw dropped and he watched as the man clasped Melody's hand in his. The man saw the look on Edward's face and laughed again.

"Nothing is ever what you think it is, Edward. You would be wise to pay heed to that."