Late on the morning of December 31st, the funeral for Katherine was held. Her remains were buried in the same patch of land as her parents’ remains. Carston was the only person that went to the funeral, due to his close relationship with Katherine. He was still distraught at seeing her burn alive the night of the barn fire.

            As soon as the funeral and burial finished that evening, he went back home to the house he was living in, shared with Noemi and her brother Troy. When he walked through the front door, Noemi greeted him. ‘How was the funeral?’ she asked. Carston replied, ‘It was solemn but beautiful. It was just the way she would’ve wanted to be remembered.’ The two friends hugged and walked into the dining room, where Troy was already seated at the table. ‘I made lasagna for dinner, complete with the sides of garlic bread and salad,’ said Noemi.

            Troy then asked, ‘Noemi, how are we going to rebuild the barn?’ Noemi replied, ‘We don’t exactly have the money to do that right now. Besides, it’s only been a a week and a half since the fire.’ Carston then said, ‘She’s right, but if we turn the barn site into something a bit more outdoorsy, we could make something work. I already was thinking of a fire pit or some sort of outdoor lounge underneath a canopy.’ After thinking about it for a while as they were eating, Noemi then said, ‘Why don’t we do both of your ideas together.’ We can use the canopy over on the back porch and leave the fire pit as its own separate area over near where the barn was.’ The trio agreed on the decision, but still thought it was too soon after the fire to get started on such a big project.

            On New Year’s Eve night, the group, along with Felix, Em, her parents, and Sally and George, gathered in the Raskin-Kerby house to watch the local festivities for ringing in the new year. While the others were gathered together in the living room, Em and Willa were in Willa’s bedroom talking. ‘Em, how are things going at home?’ asked Willa. Em replied, ‘Things could be better. I’m still trying to mentally work my way home after being locked in a cabin for months.’ Willa then said, ‘That’s understandable, especially with all that you’ve gone through.’ The two friends hugged and then Em asked her another question, ‘Have you shared your secrets with the others?’ After pondering the question, Willa then replied with, ‘I have, but there are still more secrets that keep coming. Do you have any that you want to share?’ Em was uncomfortable, but was eager to answer the question saying, ‘I only want this to remain between us two for now, but the other person helping Anna out… They assaulted me about a month ago, and I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. I’ve had the whole gamut of symptoms that go along with the first trimester, but I’m too scared to tell my parents. I’ll only tell them when the time is right, but I’m scared that it’s too late for them to notice the baby bump.’ Willa agreed to keep it a secret between the two of them, but was also eager to tell Dominic and Noemi about what she was told.

            The two friends went downstairs only a few minutes before midnight, and they joined the others gathered in counting down to the new year. After a while, Em pulled Dominic and Noemi aside to the kitchen and told them exactly what she had told Willa earlier that night. Dominic was welling up with tears, also knowing what sexual assault felt like. He hugged her and then said, ‘Do we help you tell your parents?’ Em replied, ‘I think that might be the best option. When I’m ready to tell them, I’ll text the three of you about it.’

            A few days later, on a frigid day at the beginning of January, Em called her Dominic, Noemi, and Willa over to her house, saying, ‘I’m letting my parents know about what happened while I was locked in the cabin.’ Noemi immediately said, ‘We’re on our way!’, and the trio made their way over to the Wyckstrom home to assist Em in the reveal of her secret to her parents.

‘Mom, Dad, I have something I need to tell you when I was being held in that cabin,’ said Em. She continued on, telling them about her assault and that she might be pregnant. Her parents, despite their horror in finding out what had happened to their daughter, decided to support her in all the help she needed throughout, including going for an ultrasound to see if she was indeed pregnant.

            While that was happening, Max and Jennifer were hanging out in the living room at Jennifer’s house, keeping warm against the very cold temperatures in the town of Fairlake that week. ‘No Z sightings since the night of the fire,’ said Max. ‘That’s good, but we still need to be alert about any sightings of Anna or Z,’ replied Jennifer. The two continued to talk about their recent messages when suddenly, a knock at the front door startled the two. Jennifer went over to the door, and opened it. It was Wesley, and he was in his finest winter coat, barely freezing in the cold air. He entered the house and met Max for the first time. The trio talked for a couple of hours before Wesley had to leave. As he was leaving, a note fell from his coat, which he failed to notice. Max picked up the note, which read, ‘BEWARE OF YOUR EXES’ in handwriting similar to those of the notes from Anna which had been strewn around town and only recently cobbled back into a pile on Dominic’s desk.

Jennifer also read the note, and immediately texted Dominic saying, ‘Wesley had a note with him. It looks like Anna’s handwriting.’ Then, Dominic replied saying, ‘Bring it over when you’re ready. It’s really cold out today.’ Jennifer and Max both put their winter coats on and made the trek over to the Raskin-Kerby household to show the note to Dominic.

            As soon as they arrived at Dominic and Willa’s house, they were welcomed by Felicity and let inside. ‘It’s a cold one out there today, no wonder why you both basically ran over,’ said Felicity. Dominic came down the steps and had Jennifer hand him the note. He blurted out, ‘This is definitely Anna’s handwriting. She’s making notes for people that are extensions of our friend group.’ Jennifer and Max looked at each other with perplexed expressions on their faces.

            As they tried to wrap their heads around the note, Wesley was outside in his winter coat when he encountered a black-hooded figure with bright blue eyes. He was perplexed, but seemed comfortable around the stranger. He looked into the figure’s eyes, and then kissed them. He then let them into his car, and they drove off; unknowingly being watched by Willa from her bedroom patio.

            ‘I finally figured out who’s working with Z!’ she whispered to herself. She went back inside, and then told the others about what she secretly discovered. ‘You’re never gonna guess who’s working with Z this time,’ she said to the others gathered in the foyer. Max asked, ‘Who is it?’, to which Willa replied, ‘I think it might be Wes, babe. I found him kissing a hooded figure outside, and the hooded figure seemed a lot like Anna, given what we all know about what she wore while being Z.’ Jennifer was gobsmacked, now knowing that her ex-boyfriend was working with her girlfriend’s half-sister.

Dominic called Noemi and Carston over and he told them exactly what Willa had told him, along with Max and Jennifer. Both friends were also surprised to hear this new development in the game of cat and mouse that they were so eagerly wishing was over. Noemi then said, ‘Is Willa certain that she saw Wesley kissing Anna?’ ‘She says she is, even with the hooded figure looking having Anna’s stature and what-not,’ said Dominic.

            As soon as they reached a house on the other side of town, a woman who resembled Anna, albeit with black hair and brown eyes got out of the car. She walked behind Wesley as they went inside the house.

            The following day, Jennifer was working at the coffee shop when Wesley walked in following his work shift. Jennifer, still reeling from what Willa had told her the previous afternoon, was hesitant to talk to her ex. Wesley had walked over to the counter, and said, ‘Hey Jen. I was wondering if you’d want to meet my new girlfriend, Lauren.’ Jennifer then said, ‘Sorry, I’m busy tonight. Got stuff to do with Willa.’ He replied, ‘You two could come over to my place. She really wants to meet you.’ Jennifer was hesitant to go, and she hadn’t figured out yet that he was being honest. He said, ‘Come on Jen, double date?’ Jennifer reluctantly agreed, ‘Fine, but don’t be surprised if we’re late. Willa has a project she wants me to help her with.’ Wesley said, ‘See you tonight!’, and then he walked away with his coffee.

            That evening, Willa and Jennifer had finished up working on Willa’s project for one of her classes at the university. As soon as they finished, they went over to Wesley’s house to meet him and Lauren. Jennifer rang the doorbell, and Wesley came right to the door and said, ‘Hey Jen, hey Willa. Come on in.’ As soon as they walked in and saw Lauren, Willa’s face tensed up. ‘It looks like you’ve just seen a ghost,’ said Lauren. ‘Sorry, you look a lot like my half-sister,’ replied Willa. Lauren then said, ‘Wesley told me about what happened. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that, especially now that she’s escaped.’ The foursome kept talking for hours about life, and about how Lauren had just moved to Fairlake over the summer from Brooklyn. ‘Why’d you decide to move to Fairlake from being in Brooklyn?’ asked Jennifer. Lauren replied, ‘I wanted to get away from the daily hustle and bustle of the city. It got too much, plus Fairlake feels a lot like home.’ Willa then asked, ‘Where are you originally from?’ Lauren replied to Willa’s question saying, ‘I grew up in the Finger Lakes, right around Keuka Lake.’

            The more that they asked Lauren questions and got to know her made Jennifer and Willa feel a lot more comfortable around her. Suddenly, Willa’s statement about Wesley the day before felt more like a piece of fiction. After they finished dinner and talked for a few more hours, Jennifer and Willa left Wesley’s house. As they walked out the front door, Willa said, ‘Now I don’t think that he’s working with Z. She seems too goody-two shoes to be manipulative like Anna.’ Jennifer agreed, and then said, ‘I feel a lot more comfortable introducing her to the others.’ The girlfriends got into Jennifer’s car and drove back to Willa’s house, as Willa was going to be dropped off. They continued to talk on the way home about how Lauren may look like Anna with black hair, but is nothing like Anna. After 15 minutes driving through town, Jennifer pulled up at the Raskin-Kerby house, and said goodnight to Willa, and then drove home.

            A few hours after Jennifer and Willa had left Wesley’s house, Lauren was still there and was chilling out on the sofa with him when he got up to go get a snack. After a while, a red-hooded figure jumped out from behind the sofa, lunging at Lauren. She struggled to fight the stranger, but ultimately lost, getting the assailant’s bowie knife right plunged right into her chest, killing her. The assailant then took her body and laid it in a snow-covered field a few blocks away. The red-hooded figure made it back to the house and took their time to clean up the crime scene and make it like nothing ever happened.

            The red-hooded figure then turned the lights off in the house, and then drove to the cabin in the woods outside town, where Anna was located. They got out and headed inside the cabin. Anna then said, ‘Is the threat neutralized?’ The figure said in a low voice, ‘Yes, the threat is neutralized.’

            The following morning, Willa woke up early and found an envelope on the front porch adressed to her, and she opened it and read the note which read,

We know Everything, you Sly fuck.

 - Z

            Willa shuddered and went back inside. She went upstairs and woke Dominic up, and showed him the note. He was easily confused, thinking it was some sort of prank. But Willa reassured him that the handwriting looked like Anna’s. She went back to her room and put the note in her desk, and then went downstairs to get her breakfast.