Bree strolled to the farmhouse in her pinafore. She really hated those clothes. They chafed in the wrong places and Lizzy hadn't made any attempts to wash it. Bree would've done it herself but she had been too preoccupied to remember doing laundry.

She picked up the bucket and gave Jonas a drink. The horse neighed and struggled to fit its mouth into the pail.

"I know, we haven't hung out in a while. I've just been really busy with too many things."

She picked up the pail and headed for the tap then began to fill it up. Miraculously, Herb hadn't called her to give his own interrogation regarding the thief. Bree did not think she was that important considering the army of employees he had and how busy he was.

Even if he wanted to talk to her, he'd have his son do it.

Bree strolled to the pen and counted the pigs. Always count the pigs. But she really didn't have to count anymore. No one would be snatching the pigs anymore - no one she knew at least.

"Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen." Bree pointed as she counted. The pigs looked healthy and despite how fat they were they still moved with so much energy - running around and shoving their faces in the mud.

"Hey, hey, hey. No splashing." Bree cautioned and stepped back to avoid getting drenched in mud.

She dumped the feed into the feeding trough and watched the pigs eat. They did eat like pigs. She turned and stared at her leaf covered trap that perfectly blended in with the environment from where she stood.

If anyone went too close, they would realize a funny looking playground lounged near the Pendulum. She was lucky that work on the site had been put on hold for a long time otherwise she would have been lost as to where to hide the trap.

She was already thinking of returning it to Jimothy. She had initially intended to kill the pig snatcher but had gotten a compromise instead and so the trap was basically useless. She wondered if Jim would take back the trap. They'd had a deal.

The only reason he agreed to build the trap in the first place was because he wanted his freedom so bad, something Bree now realized she couldn't give.

She knew she had to go talk to him about her meeting with his brother. The revelation Sir Richard had given still made Bree's head spin. She thought of little Berry and how she would have looked like if she'd grown up with Jimothy. She took away the beautiful polka dress on Berry and replaced it with a dirty and tattered one. She replaced the smooth silky skin of her face with a coarse one, the environment with the forest and her wild hair decorated by leaves and mud.

In foresight, Berry looked frightening and Bree was thankful the child had a better home. If she were to be in Mr Richard's shoes, she would've also snatched the child immediately from her biological father. Jimothy was in no position to be a father. He had knives on his chair outside and loose nails on the ones inside. He wore a bullet belt and carried a crossbow around like it was a rubber slingshot.

Bree rubbed her forehead. Thinking too much gave her a headache twice the size of her own head. The only good thing she held on to was the fact that her mother was recovering. Bree had never been so happy. The mere thought of made her want to cry and laugh and scream all at once.

"She moved a finger this morning." Dr Palmer had said.

Maybe moving fingers would soon become moving eyelids. Bree couldn't wait to see her mother's eyes. They had the same droopy eyelids and pitch black pupils. Her father had been the total opposite - he had brown eyes like Norman's.

She picked up the shovel and went over to the pen to clean up huge patches of mud that had slipped out into the corners. Her eyes wandered over to the forest. It was so dark from the distance and Bree had to strain to look at a tree branch.

Bruno had failed to fix the single bulb in the farmhouse and now it had gone dead leaving the place nearly as dark as the forest. The only source of light came from the moon and Bree's flashlight. She had made it a point to keep her new smartphone safe to prevent any smashing incidents.

She walked back into the farmhouse and put the shovel and the pail down. She had almost forgotten how much pain came with bending over for so long. She stretched out and cringed at the sound of her own bones cracking.

She pulled out her phone and checked the time - only a few minutes before it struck ten. Bree almost screamed her eyes out. She was so tired and sleep deprived that things were starting to look in pairs. Jonas already looked like a siamese horse to her.

"I really have to start going to bed early but i'll be putting that on my to-do list later." She yawned and walked outside. Another hour of pig sitting and the clock struck eleven. Bree went back in the farmhouse to change. She gave Jonas a few apples and for some reason, the horse slept off.

She put on her brown jacket and carried her handbag then pulled out her phone. She shut the doors and spared the pen a last glance before venturing toward the road.

She walked for a while trying to get a cab on her phone.

"Don't tell me you're asleep too!" She said dialing a number. The road was too quiet and this was the first time Bree had walked this length without getting in a cab. There was a boulevard a few yards to the main roads and Bree found it the creepiest place ever. The trees were so bent they seemed like they were peeking at passers from underneath their eyelids - if trees had eyes.

Bree would usually stare at the boulevard from the window of a cab but looking at it now and walking past it made her realize just how much distance there was.

She began to get the uncomfortable feeling of someone watching her. It could've been paranoia but Bree knew the feeling all too well. She picked up her pace and finally emerged on the main road. Luckily, her ride arrived just in time to bring her back home.

In the morning, Bree felt better even though she could not shake the feeling that she had been followed the previous night. She was also coming down with a fever.

Soon, her insides began to feel like a volcano ready to erupt.

"Oh no, pig flu." She groaned and ran over to the sink. Sawyer had gotten the flu and she never bothered to ask how he'd treated it or how he even caught it in the first place. She had never made contact with the pigs. She made sure to stand five to six feet away from them whenever she worked.

She suddenly remembered she had never really washed her hands after touching so many things.

"Ugh!" She groaned and plopped down on the bed. A sudden cold began to envelope her. She reached for her duvet and buried herself under the sheets, her throat felt dry and she fought to hold back a cough.

"This can't be happening." Bree moaned and walked to the living room with the duvet still around her. She picked up her phone and texted Bruno.

I think i caught the flu. won't be coming in today.

She dropped the phone and plopped on the couch. Her bones felt like they were on fire but she was also freezing.

As the days dragged on. The flu got worse. She would cough and throw up at intervals. She couldn't eat. Her throat went dry and a bad headache racked her head 24/7. Her body ached and she felt unusually tired.

Bruno advised her to stay home and that he'd get a replacement until she got better.

She wanted to go pay her mother a visit but she was too weak to walk. She checked her phone and her eyes widened.

"Oh no, it's Friday." She moaned and rolled over. She had to get pig roast from Roti's or else you-know-who would infiltrate the pen.

She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, thankful that Kate hadn't screamed for the past few days. Her headache would have spiraled into something else.

She placed her order and wore simple clothes topped with a black coat. Despite taking a hot shower, she still had a bad cold. Her nose was runny and she'd already used up two whole boxes of Kleenex.

She took her bag and left the house hoping to not bump into anyone she would have to converse with. Luckily, the lobby was filled with familiar faces she didn't have to say hello to.

Her order already came in so she had to transport it to the farmhouse again. Bree felt sick looking at the platter.

"I hate pigs." She mumbled and turned away, resisting the urge to throw up again.

She set up the picnic by the clover patches as usual and the platter was emptied in a matter of minutes. She didn't even see Beasley come out for his meal.

Her phone rang and she looked at the screen. Her palms suddenly got sweaty and her throat got even drier.

"Hello?"

"Are you busy?"

Bree wanted to lie that she was or at least say she was too sick to go out but she was already moving about.

"No."

"Good, because we need to talk. Come over to my place."

"What about?" Bree asked nervously. His singsongy voice laughed from the other end and Bree felt all the hair on her neck stand on end.

"You'll know when you get here. Be seeing you, twee."

Bree hung up the phone. She tried to calculate how long it had been since her last visit to the interstate. Two weeks? More? Time flew faster than she could comprehend and she always lost track of time.

Sometimes she couldn't tell which day of the week it was unless she looked at her phone. Sometimes she was surprised by how fast the day turned to night or how quickly noon came. She was always too engrossed in one thing or another that she completely ignored the weather.

She took another cab and headed for the border even though every cell in her body disagreed with it. She walked into the forest overwhelmed by the familiar dizziness that came with being in this particular side of town.

The air was crisp and Bree was happy she had a coat on but even with that, the cold seeped in through her top. It was too thin and Bree regretted wearing it. She brushed past the bridge and under leafy curtains to get to Jim's private property.

His house looked the same. Nothing had changed in the environment at all and Bree found that a little disturbing. The ground was still litttered with broken and unfinished weapons. The giant tree next to the hole seemed even creepier than ever. There was a loose rope around it that made Bree nervous. It was stained red and was scratched in different places like someone had tried to cut it with a blunt knife.

Bree took calculated steps toward the rising hill and down the slope. The place was awfully quiet and mist settled all around making it hard to see ahead. Bree could hear her own heart beating so loud that she feared anyone around would hear it as well.

She walked to the boulder and stopped. Jim's door was wide open for the first time.

"Jim?" She called but no answer came. Bree turned a full circle. He had asked her to come and yet he was nowhere to be seen. Bree's cold seemed to be getting worse. She fiddled around in her handbag for a tissue.

"Hello, twee."

Bree almost jumped out of her skin causing her handbag to drop to the ground. She couldn't differentiate between the cold from the flu and the one that hung about her. She placed a hand on her chest and inhaled deeply.

"Jim you scared me." She confessed.

He still wore his dirty grey sleeves and apron bulletproof vest. He looked dirtier than ever with his face covered in grime and his trousers torn in several places.

"Pardon me twee but i reckon we had a deal. Border patrol won't let me in, they threatened to take me to jail which means that you did not keep your end of the bargain."

"I spoke to the Mayor. He refused to sign a petition. Why didn't you tell me he was your brother?"

"Do we look anything like siblings?" Jim asked spreading his arms wide.

"No." Bree mumbled.

"Exactly. I don't have a family, twee. That bastard claims to be my brother but he took everything away from me. He's hated me for years. He throws me to the shadows every single chance he gets because that stupid town loves him. When they tagged me a criminal he did nothing to defend me, instead he cast me away as usual."

"You already know all this then why did you ask me to go talk to him?" Bree asked with a snifle. Jim's voice had elevated to a full on rage yell and she did not want to trigger him any further by raising hers.

He hesitated, his eyes wildly searching around the ground but then he spoke again.

"I don't know why i thought he would listen to you, twee. You're very persuasive and i believed if anyone could change his mind, it would be you."

Bree didn't know what to feel. A couple of people had told her before that she was persuasive but she didn't really believe it. It was a strange gift and Bree had no idea how to use it - she just did.

"What do we do now?" Bree asked quietly.

"You're asking me?" Jim scoffed. "I made a once in a lifetime trap for you and i got nothing in return."

"I'll go talk to him a second time." Bree said. Jim had already begun to walk towards her in a dangerous way but he stopped when she spoke.

"You think that he'd listen to you this time?"

"I don't know but i can try." Bree said wrinkling her forehead. The headache seemed to be crawling around her head and had made it to her temples.

"No. I'm going to make a different request this time. I don't want freedom anymore." Jim said.

Bree swallowed. What could he possibly want now? Suddenly, realization burned behind her eyes.

Oh gods, no! She thought.

"What is it then?" Bree asked even though she had a pretty good idea what he was going to ask.

"I'm pretty sure you met my little girl. I want her. I want my daughter." He said calmly.

Bree looked away in frustration. "Richard would never give her away."

"I wasn't asking you to go ask his permission." Jim said.

Bree's gaze snapped back to him. "What?"

A cold feeling crept up her spine. "You want me to go kidnap Berry?"

"Exactly and bring her to me."

Bree shook her head whilst walking past him. She walked to the slope and stopped.

"I can't do that. I can't do it."

"Yes you can and you will, twee. You owe me." Jim yelled.

"No. I'm not going to kidnap a five year old just because she's your child. She's happy Jimothy, she has a good life. How do you possibly hope to raise a child in your condition?" Bree yelled back.

Jim went silent. "my condition?" He mumbled. Suddenly, a sick smile spread across his face. "So you won't do it?"

"No, i won't." Bree said firmly.

He nodded compulsively and continued to chuckle.

Bree wanted to leave but she found herself still standing by the slope. Jim began to walk up toward her. He came so close, Bree could smell garlic in his breath.

"You're going to regret refusing me, twee." He whispered in her face.

Bree was about to give a reply but she suddenly gasped loudly instead. Something had gone right through her shoulder from behind. She looked down at it.

It was a metal arrow.

She stuttered as pain threatened to shut her brain down. The arrow sent a dull ache throughout the spot it was buried in, paralyzing her entire arm. Blood seeped from her coat and into her top.

"You won't bring my daughter to me. I'll make you pay for that, Helen." He said.

Bree fell on her knees but Jimothy roughly pulled her up. He yanked the arrow out of her shoulder and she let out a bloodcurdling scream that sent birds fluttering in all directions despite the fact that there were no birds in sight.

He dragged her to the tree and loosened the rope around it then bounded her to the tree with it. Bree realized that the red stain on the rope was dried blood but she didn't have enough time to process whose blood it was. She was sick and had a shoulder wound and was about to be manhandled by a maniac murderer.

Jim twisted the ropes around her until they burned into her skin. Bree struggled to breathe but her chest had burst into flames. The ropes secured her from her shoulders to her knees. No amount of struggling would free her from it.

"Been a long time i had target practice, don't you think so twee?" He asked and nocked an arrow in his crossbow.

Before Bree could blink twice, an arrow had lodged itself in the calf of her right leg. She screamed and tilted her head forward, pain thrashing up her leg.

"Please stop." She whispered but Jim's fun had only begun.

"It's okay, twee. They'll find your dead body within a few weeks." He chided and nocked another arrow. This one missed her neck by an inch. He shot another and it buried itself in her abdomen. Bree cried and screamed but she knew no one would hear her and no one would save her.

Jimothy would switch between calling her Helen and twee. Bree became certain that this was how he'd killed Berry's mother and her name had been Helen. Helen's blood was what stained the ropes.

Jim released two more arrows - one stuck in her left thigh and the second in her other shoulder.

Images of Beasley bellowing in pain from her own arrows made Bree cry even more. She hadn't considered an animal or tried to spare it at least and now she was being treated the same way. She felt sorry for attacking it and injuring it. Now she knew and understood the pain it must've felt when she'd pelted its skin with arrows.

The metallic taste of blood filled Bree's mouth and she coughed out a spitful. She wanted to pass out. She couldn't bear it one more bit.

I can't black out. She thought.

Too late. Her brain was already on the verge of shutting down. Her head tilted to the right and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Jim aiming another arrow. He took a shot but it whizzed past her ear and lodged in the tree.

GRRRRRRFFFFF

Bree wasn't sure if she was imagining things. She tried to lift her head and look around but her whole body had gone limp.

She silently prayed her mind wasn't playing tricks and to confirm, the familiar sound came a second time.

GRRRRRRFFFFF