The town of Moonhaven looked frighteningly unrecognizable. A myriad of fake and real alabaster-white cobwebs tangled all over each and every tree in sight; it wasn't easy to tell which were real and which weren't. In the front lawn of each house, hung a black cage prop with a skeleton locked inside. In the windows of some of the houses, sizeable black cut-outs of maniacal looking creatures lurked. On someone's front porch, a decoration of a witch was crashed into one of the columns, seemingly dead-looking. On one of the sidewalks, was a dead person's outline done in white chalk and fake blood splattered all around it.

By the pond, the stone obelisks were all dressed up as little ghosts with terrifyingly cut-out faces of the sheets, and each with an even more terrifying jack-o-lantern by its side. At the head of the pond, a scarecrow dressed in a black cloak with a red bow-tie and black trousers was stationed. Its head was a bashed-in jack-o-lantern, leaving something of half a grinning face in remains, and a sign written in red taped to its chest: 'hi i'm a SCARECROW'.

Students of Somber Ridge high school had repeatedly considered fleeing the town of Moonhaven and never looking back, but a mass text sent out by the student body president earlier after lunch, had left little room to debate missing the impending second-round showdown.

Only a couple of hours had gone by, but already the fight between Ziro and Nick was being deemed 'Fight of the Century' on multiple social media sites. The same had been said about the first match the two had last spring, but the sudden news about round two had attracted a bigger crowd.

The crisp air was unwinding, becoming cool and refreshing. Riviam Point was packed with an uproarious throng of students. It was four p.m. and at least half of Somber Ridge had arrived, crowding around one another but leaving a circular space available at the center of the field. To prevent news of the fight from reaching beyond the ears of just students, every phone, camera and similar device had been collected from everyone and placed into several burlap bags tied with ropes and hoisted into the trees, being kept there until the fight was over.

Ziro was down below at the grotto along with Carsyn and Lev, preparing for the match. Above ground outside, Tate, Nyne, Evan, Jeremi and Alex were keeping an eye out on the crowd, as well as watching for Nick, whenever he decided to show up himself.

Alex couldn't help but pace back and forth. The day had escalated in the blink of an eye, and it truly seemed that he alone among the group was still processing everything that was happening. Turtleneck was dead. It was his fault. And now Ziro was literally about to fight for him. He dreaded having to explain any of it to his father, but luckily Ridley was going to do the honours instead, just as she did when round one of the fight had taken place. Alex already had a pretty good idea of how convincing Ridley could be, although he was still hesitant about her ability to appease the other parents again.

Alex's heart was uneased, right now more than ever. It was starting to seem like everything was suspended by just a mere strand of loose thread at the edge of the Grand Canyon. He wanted to do something — burn something — even if not by his own doing, he wanted to at least see something burn.

"Hey, Lyx," Jeremi called as he ambled over, throwing an arm over Alex's shoulder and startling him as he did. "Whoa, never pegged you for the 'jumpy' type, Lyx. Sorry 'bout that."

Alex shook his head. "No I'm fine. It's just...this is all my fault. Two months at Somber Ridge and I've incurred the wrath of your guys' nemesis."

Jeremi chuckled. "Actually, I'm pretty sure this is all my fault. I shouldn't have fallen in so deep with v-dust in the first place. If Ridley were hearing us, she'd probably say that it was neither of our faults."

This time Alex chuckled. "Can she really do it? You know, talk our parents down?"

"Well what she does is more like cushioning the blow by explaining the gist of what happened without too much detail. We might still have to deal with some minor fallout, and when I say minor, I seriously mean minor. Don't fret, Lyx."

Alex nodded, the unease in his heart alleviating, leaving him more assured than he was a few minutes ago. His impulse to see ignited object was dwindling, but still he craved to at least catch a glimpse of a brilliant, scorching flame.

"Oh, just a sec, Lyx," Jeremi said as he pulled his cellphone out from his back pocket.

Alex hadn't even heard the ringing until now. He nodded again as Jeremi went over to a tree to take the call from Iker, and then he felt the vibrations of his own phone inside his pocket.

Alex faltered at the caller's ID on the screen, and paused to breathe in and out before answering. He didn't mean to, but he stumbled out a, "h-hey..."

"...hey..." Grayson said on the other end. "Listen Lex, Ridley's filled us in on some of what's been going on. Not in so many words, but enough. We don't have to talk about it — any of it — but I still need to know if you're alright."

"Yeah...I am. I'm fine. I'm not fighting, or thinking about fires or anything. I'm okay."

"I know you are. I was right beside you during all those therapy sessions. You're getting better, not that you were getting worse in the first place. I should say, you're doing better. And besides, I have no doubt that either Ziro or Lev would be my 'Inside Guys' if you weren't doing better." Grayson laughed at the last part, hoping to lighten the mood.

'Inside Guys' was the first movie Alex had watched after the unravelling of the Prior family — courtesy of his mother and uncle Wylliam — and he had gone to the theater with Grayson to see it. An action comedy where a father and son crime duo are hired by a wealthy man to steal from his ex-wife. Instead of executing any robbery, the duo uncovers a mess of unresolved emotions between their client and target, then decide to find a way to rekindle their love and trust for another, thus doing the same for their own strained relationship in the process.

Alex tried laughing along, the fond memory of navigating through the packed theater to get to their seats, Grayson's hand secured to his shoulder until they reached them, gradually resurfacing in his mind. But how could he laugh when just mere minutes ago he was conscious mess? Grayson probably wouldn't say that he was lying, but Alex knew that he was.

"Dad?" Alex asked. The laughter on the other end seized. "...can we talk? Like, later tonight maybe? Just you and me, if you're not busy with anything." The silence returned, and Alex wondered if his father was still conscious.

"Not busy," Grayson finally said. "Definitely not busy. Of course we can talk, we can talk about anything you want. I'm also going to take a day off work tomorrow."

"You don't have to-"

"I know I don't have to. I've just been working non-stop since we moved to Vancouver, so it's overdue that I take a little break. Besides, I want to take you to school, and pick you up. This isn't negotiable, but it could still be just the two of us, or you can invite some of your friends to join the ride if you want. Just remember that only five people, including me, can fit in the car."

Alex pondered the plan as he glanced over at Jeremi, still on his phone talking to Iker, looking as calm as Grayson sounded. "Is there any way we could reserve two seats for Jeremi and his dad then?"

Though Alex couldn't see him, Grayson's eyes lit up. "Absolutely! I'll talk to Iker about it of course. I guess I know who that last spot might be for."

Still Grayson was practically invisible to him, but Alex knew his dad had to be making some sort of sly face to mock him. An actual laugh was finally spurred from Alex, despite feeling a bit embarrassed. His cheeks warmed to a numb pink as he imagined sitting thigh-to-thigh beside Lev in the backseat of his Grayson's car. "I gotta go. See you tonight, dad."

"Alright alright — yes, see you then! Love you, Lex."

"Love you, dad." Alex shoved his phone into his back pocket, feeling significantly better. He suddenly remembered that he had the DVD for 'Inside Guys' hiding somewhere on his bookshelf, ad he hoped he could remember to find it later.

"Damn, it's been a while."

Startled, Alex spun around just in time to see Nick stroll to a stop next to him.

Nick scanned the scenery of Riviam Point, pretending not to notice Alex, but he continued to speak anyway assuming Alex would still listen. "Even covered in cobwebs this place manages to look like a paradise, but can't say the same for the rest of this town though. Looks like a mass murder happened back there." He feigned a shudder and sputtered a sound of aversion. "I seriously considered having a helicopter airlift me here so I wouldn't get scarred taking the long way through the town. Know that I tried to give this town a second chance, I really did, but even the devil would find it creepy."

Sharp on his heels, Alex spun right back around, dragging his phone back out of his pocket. He thought that if he paid more attention to it instead of Nick, he could drown out his incessant talking entirely. He only needed to be around him long enough to send a text to Tate, Nyne, Evan or — Jeremi.

Alex had forgotten that Jeremi was just a few meters away from him, on a call with Iker. He lifted his gaze from his phone and tried glancing in his direction again, but instead his face nearly bumped into Nick's, who's curious eyes studied something on Alex's face. For a strange moment, Alex thought he actually seemed amiable.

"Alex...are you blushing?" Nick teased.

Quickly distancing himself from Nick, Alex tended to his face with both his hands. He hadn't realized that his cheeks were still recovering from his earlier reverie of Lev.

"Man, I'm flattered and all, but aren't you spoken for?"

Through his pinkish-flushed cheeks that he ferociously kneaded, Alex made a face, one of bona fide exasperation. He spun around yet again to face Nick, ready to spew the meanest words he could think of.

"Look who finally decided to stop wasting everybody's time," Tate announced with his sudden appearance, letting his arm rest on Alex's shoulder and halting him in his near irritated frenzy.

Evan, Nyne and Jeremi had gathered around him too, arms all firmly crossed and expressions directed at Nick that were unrelenting.

"Hey, it's the weakest links one through four! I don't think you guys are the right type of people to play scary bodyguards , but it was a good effort though," Nick teased again.

"You're late," Evan stated, ignoring every word Nick had spewed.

"Fashionably so," Nick riposted as he flaunted his white, half-finger boxing gloves. "Just cuz the match isn't going on camera, doesn't mean I gotta look like some hoodlum."

"Follow her," Evan said, again, not sparing Nick an ounce of attention. She gestured with her head at Nyne, who was already off towards the center of the field. Amused, Nick did as he was told and strutted off after her. "You okay?" Evan asked Alex once Nick was far enough away.

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "I definitely am now."

"Sorry you had to spend an unnecessary amount of time around Nick. I should've noticed him as soon as he came," Jeremi apologized.

"No worries, I'm still in one piece," Alex assured. He glanced at Evan and asked, "is it going to start now?"

Evan nodded. "Just as soon he knows Nick's here. Tick, call 'em."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Tate said eagerly. He reached into a knitted pocket inside his vest and whipped out his cellphone; impatiently he waited for the ringing to be over, until someone finally answered. "It's showdown time!"