I didn't care to watch the city that passed me by. It would only hurt more to watch my home disappear before my eyes. So instead, I stared at my hands folded into my lap. The tears kept coming, dripping down my cheeks and onto those borrowed sweatpants.

Thankfully, Inara didn't make any small talk attempts. I wasn't yet ready to speak with her at any length about what would await me at the end of our journey.

The tears finally stopped falling once we passed through the Haxville city limits. Without the tears, the only thing left was a hollow aching inside of me. My home was gone, disappearing beyond the horizon.

Along the way, Ernie eventually tried to make small talk, but I wasn't interested. Inara obliged him. As they talked, Ernie occasionally glanced at me in the mirror. Whenever he did, I could see the pity that lurked in his eyes.

And I didn't want to be pitied. So, I sulked in the backseat and pretended that I couldn't see it when the driver looked back at me. I still thought of my mother, alone in that house with Vincent.

With me gone, would Vincent decide to take his anger out on her instead? Would bruises lace her skin like mine? Under the long sleeve shirt, my ribs itched where I knew the bruises lay. I shuddered at the thought of my mother like that.

At some point, Ernie and Inara stopped chatting and the radio was turned on instead. I tried listening to the music, but there was none. It was a news channel, and they were talking about the bodies they'd found in the woods. As much as I didn't want to listen, the words haunted me anyway.

"Tragedy strikes Haxville as several teens are found dead in the woods. Police are currently investigating and are not releasing details at this moment. But if you have anything that would help their investigation, please reach out to the Haxville Police Department."

The anchorwoman kept talking about other news, but the silence that hung in the car's air was heavy. These people had picked me up in front of the police station. Would he think I had done these horrible things? Would he drop me on the side of the road, to travel the rest of the way alone?

Did Inara already know?

Ernie made a non-committal noise before shutting the radio off. "What's the world come to these days?" He asked. "Children killed in the woods. These are crazy times."

"Hush, Ernie," was Inara's stiff reply.

A pit carved into my chest. She knew. Of course she knew.

"Apologies, miss," Ernie said, casting his sad eyes to me in the mirror again.

I didn't bother replying. After all, there's was nothing I could add to this conversation. I'd been there, and I'd been a person of interest, but the police had let me go.

But the thought that maybe I had played a hand in that poor girl's death made my stomach squeeze with nausea. And what about Oliver? Could I really have been responsible for his death as well?

I'd been jealous and heartbroken when I'd seen Samantha on Mason's arm. When they'd kissed, I'd wanted to cry. But Hanna had held me together and stood by me. Until I'd apparently vanished and she'd never found me again. Where had I been that entire time?

Oliver had been a thorn in my side. The weird little brother who was terrible at socializing and told Vincent every step I took. Had I hated him? Sometimes. We were two people forced to live together, both part of a dysfunctional family we'd wanted no part of.

Detective Brennan had been right about one thing. I'd had reasons to want both of them dead, even if they were petty and childish reasons. But now they were both dead, and I was their only link. It still surprised me the police had let me go. Especially after Hanna had told them I'd disappeared with a bone to pick.

Silence hung in the air. I had nothing to say, and my companions said nothing else. I preferred it this way, even if the silence allowed me entirely too much time to think about what those missing memories could hold. Did I see who had done this horrible crime? Is that why I couldn't remember?

People say that sometimes the human brain makes itself repress traumatic memories. Is that what happened? Had I witnessed something so horrible that I'd made myself forget it? And how had I ended up covered in blood?

So many questions about last night roared through my mind. And I had none of the answers.

Miles passed by in silence, until Inara finally looked at me.

"What has your mother told you of Whitethorn Academy?"

I didn't meet her eyes, instead I watched the miles of farmland pass out the window, the summer crops swaying in the breeze. Near golden wisps of corn shifted as one, dancing with the wind.

"Not much," I replied. "Though I assume it's meant for delinquents like myself."

One of Inara's eyebrows arched. "Do you think yourself a delinquent?"

I gave a shrug of my shoulders. "Does it matter what I think I am?"

"It matters the most what you think of yourself," Inara replied. "We cannot place our own self-worth into the hands of others. It's something we must decide on our own."

I stared out the window again. I'd never thought I was a delinquent. But Vincent had convinced so many people of that fact. And I'd assumed my mother had convinced Inara I was trouble.

"I'm not a troublemaker," I said at last. "Vincent seemed to think otherwise though."

Inara made a noise, but didn't comment on that. After a brief silence, she said, "Whitethorn Academy is a place of new beginnings, Selene. A place for students to find themselves and their inner power. Only you can decide your future."

Inner power? What was that supposed to mean?

At my confused look, Inara frowned. "If your mother never mentioned Whitethorn, has she brought up your heritage at all?"

"Like where my family comes from?"

Inara nodded. "Yes. Do you know where your family originated from? Or know any of your family history?"

I gave a shrug of my shoulders. "Not really. We did a project once on our family tree and I ended up failing because she wouldn't tell me anything. My dad was already gone and there was no one left to ask."

That answer didn't seem to sit well with Inara. Her brows furrowed and she frowned.

"Whitethorn Academy isn't a place for ordinary people, Selene," Inara said. "I'm afraid there's a lot your mother hasn't told you and there's much you need to know."

"There's nothing special about me."

Inara seemed sad by my reply. "You're more special than you realize, Selene. And by the time your journey at Whitethorn is complete, you'll realize just how special you are."

I doubted that fact, but said nothing. Instead, I turned to look out the window again, watching everything I know pass me by.

"Are you thirsty?" Inara asked suddenly, holding out a bottle of water.

I took it from her with a grateful smile, taking a big gulp. Until she'd offered, I hadn't realized how thirsty I'd been. By the time I'd finished, I'd drank half the bottle.

Exhaustion washed over me, rushing through my body. Everything felt heavy all at once and I let me head lean against the window.

Even though the glass was uncomfortable, the steady vibrations soothed.

It wasn't long before I was unconscious.

My dreams were a jumbled mess. Fragments of thoughts and memories floated across the surface of my mind, shifting and rotating and distorting.

Oliver, his ever-frowning face, appeared before me, before melting off, revealing the bleached white of his skull underneath. I screamed, but there was no sound in the blackness of my mind.

~

"Selene."

Inara's soft, yet insistent voice woke me.

Darkness had fallen beyond my window, revealing only my reflection. The dark-haired girl that looked back at me was nearly a stranger. My haunted green eyes, the same as my father's, gazed back at me and I turned away.

"Are you okay? You seemed unsettled."

The water bottle I'd had before was gone, but my throat was parched.

"I'm fine," I replied, though I felt anything but.

I leaned my head against the glass of the car window, the icy touch bringing me back to reality. Outside the window, the sky was dark and dotted with stars. There was no moon, leaving everything shrouded in darkness.

I could just make out the snowy tips of a mountain range in the distance. I'd never seen the mountains before. We'd never traveled anywhere. The only place I'd ever known was the small Midwestern town I'd grown up in.

The car turned around a curve and a strange, warm sensation washed over my skin. At all once, I was hot, too hot. Nausea churned in my stomach and I swallowed back a wave of bile that rose in my throat.

As if sensing my sudden unease, Ernie cleared his throat, drawing my attention to him for the first time since we'd gotten into the car. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, which ached, though the pain was slowly fading. "I don't feel so well."

He gave me a look of sympathy. "We're approaching Whitethorn now. If you look out the window, you might be able to catch a glimpse."

Thankful for the distraction, I looked out the window again, straining to see in the dark. Over a line of evergreen trees, I could see lights. A large building, barely a silhouette against the night, rose. Lights gleamed in a few windows, despite the late hour.

"It's beautiful," I said, my voice nearly breathless. I hadn't expected a place so full of beauty, even in the darkness.

"I think so too," Inara replied, her voice full of pride.

The faint gleams of light were a beacon. I wasn't sure what my future would look like at Whitethorn, but there was no going back. I couldn't go home. This was the only place left for me.

The car slowed to a crawl as we approached a large, wrought iron gate. A large W and A stood out against the rest of the curved iron. Reaching up, the driver hit a button and the gates opened silently. I kept my face pressed nearly against the glass as we continued our drive.

The building I'd first glimpsed, with it's glowing lights, came into focus first. It was made of gray stone, much like castles in fantasy stories.

My breath puffed against the window, fogging it. But I still strained to see anything else in the darkness. More buildings, all shadowed, loomed beyond my sight. The building we approached seemed bigger than the others, with several spires that twisted into the night sky.

"Welcome to Whitethorn Academy," Inara said, a bright smile blossoming on her face.