"𝚆𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚢𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚢𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

The roar of the fire dwindled as Anna sat between Claire's legs, resting her back against her chest. They were alone, transfixed by the flames in front of them. It was something that Anna cherished because it was a time Claire cut the bullshit and acted human.

Reese's annual lake party was well underway as most of his guests took the party inside, leaving the pair to nestled by the fire. It was the last big blow out before the summer weather turned into the bitterness of fall, which had seemed to arrive early. 

The cold settled in early.

Reese hosted 50 of his closest friends at his family's estate on Lake George. It was one of the many properties they owed in the upstate area, not to mention the countless others around the world. 

Reese and his family were never shy about their wealth, it was something they gloated whenever they could. Hosting lavish parties was a way of showing off just how much money they had. It was something that Anna learned to not complain about, for she enjoyed the free booze and the party-loving company.  

It was her world now, so different from anything she ever experienced and she didn't want it to end. 

But tonight, Claire was laying low, unlike her center of attention alter ego. She wanted to stay out of the limelight inside and choose to spend her time with Anna in front of the dying fire. 

Anna could feel Claire's hands run through her hair, twirling a piece between her fingers as the crackle of the flames and waves of the water crashed against the dock beside them. 

Watching the burning embers float into the sky, Anna was tempted to reveal her troubles to Claire. She wanted to confined in her in some way and usually, this rare alone time was the perfect way to do so. 

However, she didn't know where to begin. 

And she could sense that Claire didn't want to speak about the night that Molly vanished and the events leading up to it, as she did her best to avoid the subject with anyone who tried to rekindle it.

But each thought burned hot in Anna's mind, just as the embers of the fire did. She watched the ash disappear into the night scary, only to be replaced with new ones, until the process became so overwhelming she couldn't keep track of any of it. 

Much like her thoughts.

But what she experienced in the woods was the most startling of all and it was something she wanted to get off of her chest. 

It was if she blacked out, losing all sense of time. Or, was she hallucinating? 

What if she had a mental illness? Did this mean she was becoming sick like her grandmother? 

Surely that was the reason her father looked at her the way he did the day of the search. Perhaps he feared that Anna would end up just like her.

The thought filled her heart with dread knowing that it might all be the beginning of an ongoing illness. The same illness that ripped her father and her grandmother apart. 

"What's on your mind?" Claire asked quietly, still playing with Anna's hair. It was a known fact that when Claire was away from the group, she was a good listener. Someone who would carry all the thoughts and burden of another person, just so they could feel less heavy, "You've been quiet the past few days. Haven't seen much of you in school."

"Nothing, I just can't believe summer is over," Anna admitted. It was the truth, but only because summer was easy. And it seemed that it would be the last normal time in her life, "Blake Fields actually spoke to me. I figured you'd find that interesting," she said, twirling a leaf between her fingers.

Anna could hear Claire crack a smile, "Oh god, what did that crackpot have to stay now?"

Shrugging, Anna studied the leaf in front of her,  "She didn't really say much of anything really."

Claire scoffed, "I find that hard to believe."

And she was right. Blake had a lot to say and although it was in only a few simple words, she got her point across loud and clear. 

It was time to change the subject.

"I think I might try out for soccer this year," Anna blurted hesitantly, her words hanging off the edge of her mouth waiting for Claire to pick them up.

She could feel the rumble of Claire's chest as her head rested against it, "That's the funniest thing I've heard all night and Paige has said some stupid shit the last few hours."

Anna cracked a smile at Paige's carefree and clueless attitude, "I'm serious," she admitted, her smile fading when she could no longer feel Claire laughing along with her, "I haven't played in years and maybe it'll be a nice change."

Claire sighed, a clear indication she didn't like was the conversation was going, "What do you need change for? We have so much to look forward to and you already want to rearrange things? Think about how fun Halloween will be. That's coming up quick and I already have a costume idea for the dance."

"How well do you even know Molly?" Anna asked before the ember of thought floated away from her. Suddenly, Claire removed her hands from Anna's hair and leaned away from her with a frown, causing Anna to turn back and look at her, "It's just a question Claire."

Lips forming a straight line, Claire blinked as she looked away from Anna and into the flames, "Molly was always a loner. She never sought out friendships," she answered, her eyes connecting with Anna's once again, "None of us were ever friends with her," Claire's gaze averted back to the fire, proving that she was over the conversation, though it had hardly begun.

"Yeah but that's not what I asked," Anna challenged quietly. 

Claire's dark eyes slowly moved back to Anna's, "What?"

"I said that's not what I asked. The question was how well did you know her, not were you ever friends with her?" 

Claire paused, huffing a laugh before pushing away, "Where is all of this coming from anyways? Don't tell me you're feeling guilty about how we treated her just because she ran away?" 

The statement was more of a question as she looked at Anna with concern.

Yes, she felt guilty. 

Guilty for treating Molly the way she did and for allowing her to be treated the way she was. But most importantly, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were all somewhat guilty in regards to her disappearance.

What if she ran off and hurt herself because of the words that were spoken to her? The group would surely be to blame if that was the outcome of all of it.

"What is happening to you? You've been acting so weird lately," Claire admitted as she stood, shaking her head.

"Isn't everyone?" Anna questioned a little louder than she should have, "Someone we went to school with disappeared. Poof, gone and that doesn't concern you at all?"

"No Anna, it doesn't," Claire now matched her elevated tone, "And you want to know why? Because Molly isn't my responsibility!" 

"But she was, you invited her that night. What if all of this happened because of us?" Anna finally admitted, breathing a sigh of relief as she let the statement fall from her mouth.

Claire's eyes widened as her finger pointed sternly in Anna's direction, "Stop!" She warned, "Don't," she paused, "Don't even go there, don't you put that on us," her words were firm as she slowly dropped her stiff finger. 

Suddenly Anna's thoughts and the concerned stare from Claire were broken as the French doors up near the patio swung open. The loud music from within the home chimed into the air, sending the rhythm along the water as Reese and his groupies descended down the stone stairway. 

"Unless you're having hot lesbian sex out here, I want to know why the two hottest girls at my party are isolating themselves in the dark," Reese exclaimed, the fire glistening in his eyes as he neared the pair. 

Claire smirked at his comment, shifting her personality back to the one everyone knew, "Oh come on Reese, you know if Anna and I were tasting each other, you'd be the first to know about it." 

It was amazing to see that she was so resilient and could bounce back so quickly from such a tense conversation. 

Reese bit his lip, "I better be."

Claire strolled over to Reese as she laughed. Meeting his height, she stood on her tip toes, her lips near his ear, whispering a few hushed words into it.

His eyes fell to Anna and his mouth fell into a straight line. 

It was rare for Reese Wicker to have a look of discontent on his face, especially at his own party. Opening his mouth, Anna tensed wondering what he might say next and curious as to what Claire had mentioned. 

"Can I talk to Anna for a second?" He chimed to the group, as his dark eyes stayed in a deadlock with Anna's. 

Isaac pushed the group back up the stairs, "You heard the man, back inside," Claire stood next to Reese for a moment as Isaac reached for her, "Claire, come on."

When she didn't move, Reese turned his head slightly, his eyes flickering to Claire for a split second, "Claire, go inside. I'll only be a minute," he reassured her as her eyes frowned, a look of confusion on her face.

Finally following his commands, Claire began her trek up the stairs. Isaac reached for her hand to hurry her along, but she ripped it away harshly as he followed her back into the house. 

The sound of the patio doors shutting, sealed Anna to the ground as Reese walked closer to her. They were completely alone, only the dim light of the fire accompanied them. 

"You know, I've never really taken the time to ask you how you like it here," he pondered, looking into the flames as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I mean, you fit in so well I'm sure you have no complaints. But if you do," his eyes now moved to Anna, "Feel free to let me know, I'm sure I can pull a few strings and make any of your worries disappear."

Anna nodded slowly, looking away from his stares and out into the darkness of the water, "Somehow, I believe you," she joked. The crunch of the grass next to her made her turn her head just as Reese crouched down, clasping his hands together as he stared into the water just as she had. 

He was only a few inches from her.

"My family has owned this land for over 150 years and no matter how many times I come up to this lake, this view never gets old. But maybe I just enjoy the simple things."

"I'd hardly call this house and this lake, simple," Anna argued flatly, waiting for him to get to the point. She was annoyed now that Claire pushed her dirty work onto Reese. He wasn't built for a conversation like this. 

Reese chuckled and she watched the corner of his mouth lift into a smirk, "Then what would you call it?"

"Flashy," she blurted, shaking off the fact that her tone was slightly rude.

"That's one thing I've always loved about you Anna, you're honest," he said genuinely, "That must be why it's so hard for you to let this whole missing girl thing go."

Chuckling with frustration, Anna tilted her head back, "Give me a break, what is with you guys tonight?"

His white teeth began to show in his smile, "Molly was a cute girl, quiet though. She just could never quite measure up. So I guess I can't really blame her if she decided to skip town, this place isn't for everyone."

"So you think she left too?" Anna asked, trying to pry like she did with Claire, who shot her down quickly.

"I mean, what's your dad saying about it all?" Reese looked to her, tilting his head.

Anna smirked, "My dad?"

"Yeah, Sheriff Walker, your father," he joked, continuing his question, "What is he making of all this?"

Shrugging, Anna wasn't sure how to answer the question, "He hasn't really said much of anything. I think he's just as shocked as everyone else."

"I mean, maybe he's more rocked than usual because he knows something like this has happened. I bet it's giving him flashbacks to when he was growing up."

Anna frowned, turning to him. She was unaware that anything like this has happened before in Wicker Woods. If it had, it made sense as to why her father was so strict on her movements within the town.

But why had he never mentioned it to her? Especially if he now feared there was someone still out there hunting others.

"Wait, someone has disappeared before? Like recently or when my dad was younger?" She asked quietly, feeling a slight chill down her spine. 

But Reese didn't answer. Keeping his blank eyes on the dwindling flames. His reaction, to his own admission was odd. Breaking from his trace, he threw a hunk of grass into the fire.

"I love you, Anna. I really do and I can see why Nolan tries so hard with you," the swift change of subject made her Anna scoff in confusion, "So I think it's within my boundaries to be honest, and tell you that Claire is worried about you. I know how she operates and she might start to think that you have ulterior motives for your friendship, so maybe it's best that you cool it with your questions."

Anna laughed, humored but still confused by both his statement and subject jumping, "I'm sorry, I must be misunderstanding something here. Are we taking about Molly's disappearance or my relationship with Claire? I'm having a hard time keeping up with whatever point you're trying to make?" She asked harshly, standing as she wiped the dirt from her clothes.

She was beginning to get frustrated with the mind games her friends were attempting to play. 

Reese looked up at her, putting his hands up in defense, "Look, Anna, you don't need to get defensive. As your friend I'm trying to give you some perspective," he looked stunned by her aggression.

The air was still. The breeze had stopped and the fire was almost completely out, filtering heavy smoke into the sky.

"So which is it Reese, do you think she left or do you think her going missing has something to do with whatever happened when my dad was in high school? And since we're on the topic of unanswered questions, where the hell has Nolan been?"

Before he could answer, an annoying voice penetrated the silence. 

"Alright, private meeting adjourned," Isaac announced, busting through the patio doors once again. He had Layla thrown over his shoulder as he made his way down the stone stairs to Reese and Anna, the rest of the group followed in his wake, "Everything okay you two? Figure everything out that you needed to figure out?" He asked in a joking tone, lifting his eyebrows as he slapped Layla ass, forcing her to yelp.

But before Anna could tell him to fuck off so she could get back to some kind of answers, Randy Millen, an unachieved drama student who offered nothing more than decent weed, ran from beneath a block of trees near the side of the large home, "You will never believe what the fuck I just heard!"

Emmett emerged from behind Isaac with Paige beneath his strong arm. He forced her out from under him and approached Randy, using his hand to hold him back from their group, "Unless you're here to bring me the weed I paid for 3 months ago, you can be the fuck on your way before I kick your ass you little pussy," Emmett's jaw tensed as he pushed on Randy's small chest, sending him back a few inches.

Ignoring his threats, Randy looked past Emmett to the group standing near the dead fire.

"The sheriff's department just called for a press conference. They found Molly."