“Shayla, look at me. Look at me, okay?”

Jay was kneeling down in front of the bathtub, frowning as he tried to get Shayla Wang’s attention while she stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to the tears running down her face. But, she did meet his eyes, as frightened as she was. And, Jay couldn’t blame her for being frightened given the madman who’d taken over her home and had her unconscious mother tied up on the living room floor.

“He hurt my dad,” Shayla whispered. “I think he dropped him in the lake after he made me get off the boat.”

Jay opened his mouth, ready to tell her that she shouldn’t worry. That he was sure her dad was fine... but he couldn’t. Couldn’t bring himself to say it to her, because he seriously had his doubts.

“We’re going to get out of here,” he said instead. “D’you think you can help me?”

Shayla seemed to consider the question, and the look on her face was so similar to Jay’s sisters that it almost broke his heart wanting to reassure her.

“What should I do?” Shayla asked.

“I need you to untie my hands,” Jay told her, standing up, even as he struggled with the rope that bound his hands behind his back so tightly that he was certain his fingers were turning blue.

“But I can’t,” Shayla pointed out, shifting her own bound hands.

“Then turn around,” Jay ordered.

Confused, but obedient, Shayla stood and turned around, getting a better grasp on the plan when Jay kneeled behind her and went to work on the binding around her little wrists with his teeth.

“He’s gonna be mad if he sees. You shouldn’t.”

The whisper came from Mark, and it annoyed Jay just enough to make him stop and look over his shoulder at the third party in the room, who was sitting in the middle of the small bathroom floor, watching them, also tied up. Like Jay and Shayla, Mark had managed to force the cloth gag from his mouth.

“Will you shut the up?” Jay hissed. “He’s doing this to you, too. So get pissed off and make yourself useful already.”

Mark frowned, but at least looked curious. “How?”

Jay let out a breath. “Listen at the door. Let us know if you hear anyone coming.”

Mark looked between Jay and the door for a moment, looking uncertain before he finally scooted across the door and brought his ear to the exit’s surface to do what was asked of him. “I don’t hear anything, Jeremy,” he decided a moment later.

“Just tell me if you do,” Jay replied. He continued to study Mark for several moments as the other boy went back to listening at the door. At the moment, Jay wasn’t sure what to think of him. Only moments earlier he’d been wondering the best way to knock Mark out, worried that he’d call out to his father if they tried to escape. But, that could have been the way Mark didn’t resist the older man’s embrace when he’d forced the two of them into the house. Or, because he hadn’t seemed as bothered as Jay had by Mrs. Wang, who was unconscious on the living room floor. In fact, Mark hadn’t even objected when they’d been tied up and forced into the bathroom. So it didn’t seem unreasonable that Jay was suspicious of him. Or, at least it wasn’t unreasonable that Jay thought the kid was a complete nut. But for now, he decided that as long as he wasn’t going to start yelling out for his dad anytime soon, he’d leave him be. Because for some unfathomable reason, Jackson Wang seemed to think that Mark Tuan was okay, and since Jay had a feeling that the current worst-case scenario would be Jackson Wang ending up in the bathroom with them, there was no way he wanted to deal with Raymond Tuan and a pissed-off Jackson, who would definitely be pissed if he did anything to hurt Mark. Necessary or not.

“Jay?” Shayla whispered, drawing his attention.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we can really get out?” she asked.

“It’ll be okay,” he insisted. “Your brother should be on his way here... He’ll see something’s wrong, and... We’ll be fine.”

She nodded, and Jay went back to his attempt at untying her bound hands with his teeth, wishing that he could believe his words as much as Shayla Wang seemed to.

***

“Breathe, Jackson... Jackson, breathe.”

Jackson tried doing just that, although, it wasn’t entirely clear to him when he’d stopped in the first place. But more baffling to Jackson than sudden respiratory problems was that Luke seemed so calm at a time like this. When he was supposed to be dead.

But, then, he wasn’t dead. Jackson stared at Luke Tuan again. It wasn’t anything different from what he’d been doing for the last few minutes, but at least now he was beginning to form clear thoughts. Luke wasn’t calm, he finally decided. He was exhausted, and stunned, and while it wasn’t entirely obvious, Jackson could see signs of uncertainty in his expression, too. But that was all that he had time to see as he suddenly gasped when the heat of the lighter reached his thumb and dropped it, cursing himself as everything went dark again.

But, the dark seemed to be a good thing. At least, it was an encouraging thing as Jackson finally got moving. “Are you alright?” he finally asked Luke, but the silence he received in return told him just what a stupid question that was. “I mean...let’s get the hell out of here, alright? Can you stand?” Jackson reached for Luke in the dark, meaning to help him up. He hadn’t suspected that his hand as it came against Luke’s arm would be unwelcome, but the way Mark’s twin lurched back suggested otherwise.

Jackson was quick to pull his hand back, stunned. But, while he couldn’t see Luke, he seemed to understand. It was something about their last encounters. It had been in Luke’s posture, in his voice, and given what he’d been through, it should have been no surprise that Luke was reacting to him this way. So Jackson said the one thing he thought Luke needed to hear as he reached for the other boy again.

“You can trust me, Luke... Come on. I’m just gonna help you up.”

“Okay,” Luke said quietly, a noticeable tension entering his voice. But, this time when Jackson reached for him, he reached back to accept the assistance. But as Jackson moved an arm around him, pulling Luke firmly against his side as they headed for the ladder, Jackson noticed that Mark’s twin seemed to be dragging his feet, and as the dim light from above struck his profile, he seemed to be looking up at their exit with a certain amount of trepidation.

“We’re leaving,” Jackson said, as if that would answer everything. “Luke?”

“Who else is out there?” Luke suddenly demanded, nothing but suspicion in his voice.

“What?”

“What’s going on? Why are you here now?” Luke suddenly pulled away, catching himself when he tripped over his own feet. “You’re helping them.”

“What are you talking about?” Jackson responded, beginning to feel nervous. But, despite his sudden impulse to back up, he advanced on Luke instead. “Look, the only person I’m helping right now is you. Are you coming with me, or am I going to send someone else back here to help you?”

Jackson watched in awkward silence as Luke looked longingly at the ladder. It was as if he were afraid to reach for it, believing that the moment his fingers touched the cool metal someone would snatch it away from him like a cruel trick. Jackson had never before met someone who had no trust in anything, and while he now believed that Luke Tuan had every right to feel that way, he had no idea where to start trying to understand it. And it might have been cold, but the fact of the matter was that he didn’t have time for it. He needed to get Luke back to Jay and Mark before the Tuan parents returned. And that was assuming that Jay had waited for him.

“Okay, Luke,” Jackson said decidedly, and then before the other boy could react, Jackson reached for his hand and brought it to the ladder before stepping back to wait. “We can go now.”

Luke stared at his hand on the ladder, his harsh breathing growing steadier as his grip tightened, and when his gaze slowly shifted to Jackson, something decisive in his expression changed. The frightened, alone boy became a determined one, and with Jackson right behind him, he crawled out of the hole.

***

Luke felt as if he couldn’t get enough air. Not just air, fresh air. He took it in deep gulps until his blood had rushed to his head. He felt like he was drowning, and as he tasted blood on his lips he wiped his fingers under his nose, pulling them back to discover it had started bleeding. He watched for countless seconds as a few of the light raindrops falling from the clouds washed it away, and Jackson... Luke didn’t know what to think of Jackson. But then, he never had. But what he did think about Jackson at that exact moment, was that his neighbor from across the lake was currently his only ally. Personally, Luke would have picked someone a little taller for whatever waited ahead of him, but Jackson would do. After all, the guy was giving him the shirt off his back just so he could clean up his nose. Never mind that a little blood running down his chin didn’t make much of a difference at this point.

“Here,” Jackson said. “Try to slow down.”

Luke brought the shirt to his face, shaking his head blankly. He didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t know how to respond. Explain. He didn’t need to slow down. It was like he needed to catch up. Everything was spinning around him, moving quickly. He could feel it in his lungs, on his prickling skin. But inside everything was slow. He felt like he was processing one thought at a time, everything repeatedly until he got it, and even then, he didn’t get it. He felt like he was chasing something and wouldn’t be satisfied until he was right on top of it, but if he didn’t stop...

“Luke!”

Jackson’s voice followed Luke Tuan as he out, and a few moments later as Luke sank slowly back into reality, Jackson was next to him, holding him up--or rather, trying to get him to sit down.

“You can’t walk like this,” Jackson stated. “You’ll have to stay here. I’ll come back with help...”

“No.” Luke wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he held himself upright and managed to appear sober for a whole second. “No,” he repeated. “I have to...”

He had to stop them. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d last seen his mother, but he remembered clearly that she was planning something. To leave? Good riddance. But Mark... the thought of his brother was rubbing Luke the wrong way. It was a new feeling directed towards his twin, but still, he wasn’t ready for Mark to disappear, too.

“You have to what?”

Luke’s eyes suddenly cut in Jackson’s direction. “You said somethin’ about my brother. We’ll go to him.”

Jackson was quick to start shaking his head. “No, Luke, I left him back at your place with... a friend. Look, they could be there waiting for us, or they might have gotten out of there before your parents came home. They would have gone to my place, and either way... I don’t think you can make it that far. If you drop, there’s no way I can carry you so I think it’s better if you just hide for...”

Luke didn’t bother interrupting Jackson’s explanations and demands. He wasn’t about to spend what energy he had arguing. By that time he was already too busy keeping his focus on putting one foot in front of the other. And he was learning that Jackson was very good at keeping up. He also seemed to have the sense to not argue when he wasn’t going to win. And he seemed relentless when it came to keeping close, which quickly became uncomfortable for Luke. Jackson Wang was like a shadow in his blind spot, and while Luke considered him an ally at the moment, he wasn’t sure he liked that Jackson was so close, even when he once again saved him from tripping over his own feet.

“I really think you should...” Jackson started, but checked himself when Luke yanked his arm away and kept moving.

“They’re gonna do something,” Luke mumbled through his heavy breathing. “Mark has to get out of the house.”

“Luke...”

“He wouldn’t let me out,” Luke said as if he’d just realized it, his pace slowing. “Mark knew where I was. Wouldn’t let me out.” Luke looked at Jackson, catching something unreadable in the other boy’s eyes. “What, Jackson?”

“It’s not Mark’s fault. Your parents lied to me, and I believed them. Look, it’s complicated, Luke... But Mark did try to tell me where you were. I’m the one who didn’t get it.”

Luke stopped altogether. “Didn’t get it?”

“I didn’t think you even...”

“Existed,” Luke whispered, when it became clear that Jackson didn’t want to say it. Not after their last conversation.

“I’m sorry... but I didn’t realize it until I ran into Jay--Jeremy Bethard--and... well, I put it together, okay? ... It wasn’t Mark’s fault, Luke. I know I haven’t known him that long. I haven’t known either of you that long, but I know that this wasn’t his fault, and that when I walked away from him tonight to come looking for you... I wasn’t afraid of anything more than that when I saw him again, I’d have to tell him you were gone.”

Luke stared at Jackson hard for a moment, not giving away anything that he might be thinking. He stared until his head started to spin and his eyes narrowed, and when he finally spoke, it was decisively, sternly. “Mark left me in there,” he said, and then before Jackson could respond, “Jeremy’s not a friend. You better hope he hasn’t touched my brother.”

Confused when it came to whether or not Luke was actually angry with Mark, Jackson frowned as he continued to follow the other boy through the woods, deciding that now wasn’t the time for talking, anyway. There seemed to be a lot to sort out, and there was no way he was going to get anywhere with it under current conditions. Besides, something about Luke’s demeanor was disconcerting to Jackson, and his instincts warned him to use caution.

As for Luke, he was feeling particularly cautious himself as he decided that Jackson Wang was trying to figure him out. He didn’t care for it. A sideways glance told him that Jackson was holding back questions. Suspicions. And while Luke didn’t know what provoked him to do it, he shot Jackson a look that invited him to say something.

“Why do you say Jeremy’s not a friend?” Jackson asked, but the way he said it suggested that he knew more than he was willing to give away. “Mark said... I mean, he was talking like he was afraid that you were going to give away some big secret or something. Did you know Jay was snooping around?”

Luke shrugged, and then winced before rotating his shoulder. “The guy’s not as subtle as he thinks he is.”

“So were you going to?”

“Going to what, Jackson?”

“Tell him a secret... like the one you were going to tell me.”

Luke’s steps faltered, but he managed to catch himself before Jackson had the chance to, and he kept walking as if it would change Jackson’s mind about asking that question. It didn’t.

“Luke, what were you going to tell me that night? When you called... if I’d gotten there sooner, what would you have told me?”

“I don’t remember calling you. Maybe it was...”

“Don’t play games with me!” Jackson snapped, surprising both himself and Luke with his tone, who finally stopped walking to look at Jackson as if he were ready to ward off an attack. “You called me. You. You asked me for my help, and I get that I ed it up then, but now’s different. Tell me what you would have said if I’d gotten to you. Please, Luke.”

Luke snorted, and then used Jackson’s shirt to nab some more blood from his nose. “I don’t know,” he finally responded, managing an obnoxiously sarcastic tone. “Maybe I would’ve told you that my family’s completely ed, and that you should stay away unless you wanna get hurt, since Mark clearly couldn’t manage to stay away from you. Or maybe I would’ve told you to start talking about it to people who wouldn’t ignore the truth, get me and Mark out... or that if you didn’t bad things would start to happen, like my mom going psycho and trying to kill me!”

“Or maybe you were going to tell me what happened to Gail Lewis.”

Jackson’s interruption might have taken Luke off guard, but he did a good job of hiding it, his mind going blank as it fought for a response for only seconds before he shook his head. “What does that old have to do with anything?” He had to be careful. Things had changed drastically in the last fifteen minutes, because before then, he’d been damn sure that he was dead. But now he was free, in more ways than one, he realized. If he could keep things together. He had to keep things together. He had to think. Think about anything, except for a recent confession he’d made to his mother, and one he had no intention of allowing her to repeat.

“According to Jeremy, a lot,” Jackson replied, moving around Luke to better face him. Luke frowned. With the whole forest to escape into, Jackson made him feel trapped. “Look, I might have been a little slow about some things, Luke, but I know that if you were just going to tell me your parents were hurting you, you would have done it when I asked you--you wouldn’t have told me to look deeper unless there was something bigger... maybe something you weren’t so sure you wanted to tell me. Mark said that there were things no one could know, ‘cause you’d get in trouble...”

“And if that was true what makes you think I’d tell you any of it?” Luke snapped.

“I don’t know... maybe you needed to... Maybe, it was too much to keep carrying around with you.  Luke, is there something you need to say, but you’re afraid you’ll be in trouble if you do?”

Luke looked over Jackson from underneath downturned lashes, remaining silent until Jackson appeared to be as uncomfortable as he was. “Can I trust you, Jackson?”

It seemed like a funny question. To both of them.

“I could say yes,” Jackson replied carefully. “But I don’t think it would matter. You would never let anyone decide who you could trust for you.”

Luke’s attempt to laugh was quickly smothered as he choked on his own coughing. “I think we should keep moving,” he finally said, but Jackson didn’t move.

“Gail Lewis called Jay’s house the night she died,” Jackson said. “Any idea what he heard?”

“Wouldn’t have a clue.”

“She was scared. Thought someone was trying to hurt her.”

Luke’s posture stiffened as he turned away from Jackson again. “What d’you want from me?”

“I don’t know,” Jackson admitted. “I guess I just... I want to know what I’m dealing with here. What your parents did to you--they’re not going to get away with it, Luke. After tonight, they’ll never hurt you or Mark again. They’ll pay for it... but I think maybe, there something else your dad should be paying for. Did he kill Gail Lewis, Luke? Or are you too afraid to say anything about it because someone else did?”

If Luke wasn’t too busy going numb inside, he might have noticed how nervous Jackson suddenly seemed, as if he’d just done the exact thing that he didn’t want to do. But Luke certainly didn’t notice. Couldn’t. He felt like the world was going blank in front of him, everything gone except the fact that he wasn’t going to let anyone lock him up again as he searched for clarity.

No. His parents would pay. It didn’t really matter what they paid for at this point, either, as far as Luke was concerned.

“My dad did it.” He’d said the words so calmly that it was as if it hadn’t really left his mouth, but the look on Jackson’s face told him otherwise. Jackson looked... relieved. “I didn’t see it happen... but she was dead when... when...”

“its okay, Luke,” Jackson insisted, gently reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. Luke looked at that hand for several moments. Jackson Wang. Now he remembered why he wanted Mark to be friends with him in the first place. The guy was actually a friend. Nothing like Luke had ever known. He actually cared. He cared about Mark, and he’d believe Luke. Luke was pretty sure Jackson Wang would be a friend to anyone who he thought was being wronged... but his dad had known it, too. Luke had tried to do Jackson a favor by telling Mark to stay away from him, stay away from things that could get Jackson hurt. That’s why Luke was rather certain that when the time came, Jackson Wang would do him a favor, too.

“She was already dead when he made Mark and me put her in the boat, make it look like an accident. Mark doesn’t know. When things scare him, he forgets. He won’t know if you ask him.”

“But you know. You’ve gotta tell, Luke... If your dad made you help him, no one’s going to blame you. Please just promise me... Luke?”

Jackson found himself grabbing the other boy’s shoulders once again when Luke started to stagger, as if his legs had suddenly decided that he’d been on them too long, and Jackson became increasingly worried as he tried to decide if Luke’s face was a shade paler than it had been a moment before.

“I want to keep going,” Luke said quietly, and this time instead of thinking it over, Jackson gave a decisive nod and allowed Luke to lead the way through the forest.

***

Amanda Flexman lifted the still-warm batch of muffins from the top of the stove and brought them to her nose, inhaling deeply. She loved the smell of muffins. Muffins or cake. Actually, she loved the smell of anything that came out of the oven. She often claimed that the only time she could ever drown out the stench of her husband’s cigars was when she was baking. Amanda Flexman baked a lot.

Using a newly manicured nail, she stuck her finger into one of the warm muffins to dig out a plump blueberry, which she promptly popped into . Using that Rickye fingernail, she picked her teeth, taking a few moments to contemplate the last time she’d eaten corn before her attention turned elsewhere.

She could hear her husband’s boots clanking away on the front porch before he even entered the house, and by the time he had one foot in she was standing in front of him with her arms crossed, her interrogation ready to commence.

“You stupid old drunkard!” she snapped at his red, weary face. “Where on earth have you been? Do you have any idea what I’ve been putting up with from the sheriff’s station? I warned you when you volunteered Edward! You’d have your duties! And do you remember what you told me? Easy as pie, Amanda, easy as pie! Well, you fat, lazy...”

Edward dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he hung his hat and ran a hand over what was left of his greasy hair. “Don’t bother with dinner, Amanda. Had it at the club. Where’s dessert?”

Amanda gaped at him