"Mom," Leah looked at Tracy, "people looked down on you, because of how you behave. Everyone likes dad. You married into the Chaney family." She shook her head, "If you run into a jerk, they're probably a jerk. If you run into twenty jerks, you're the jerk." Mom, everyone at school talks about you, even before all this. You constantly start trouble, church or the factory. Everybody hates you."

"They don't hate me!" Tracy screamed.

"They do," she crossed her arms, body crumpled into itself. "They do hate you. That New Money, Duncannon girls said that you were a science experiment, part rat and pig. The daughters of the other factory workers try to fight me or spread rumors about me. The only person who defends me is Gage Weber." She wiped away tears. Last Time he had stopped a football player, she recalled; he got a busted nose, lip, and almost got a broken arm.

"None of that is my fault!" Tracy screamed, and her face turned a deep purple.

"Nothing is ever your fault, even Dad leaving."

"He left us."

Red snatched Leah's phone from Tracy's purse, "This yours?" She handed it over.

Leah took it; though, her mother tried to snatch it away. She burst into tears, for it had unread messages from Landen. She covered her face, "How could you keep this from me?"

"I," Tracy opened her mouth, but Red squeezed and shook her.

The car was silent except for the Leah's low sobs. Hemi looked at Clay, who nodded, and the muscle car moved back onto the road. They moved up Lear Mountain, where the old plantation rested, unchanged since the Civil War. Up from the township siren arose, and crawled over the bitter night. Leah looked out of the darkness, as shafts of silver fell upon the road. Blood and chocolate lingered below the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. Clay held a bottle, contents thick. It caught the light in shimmers of crimson. Distant lights of the town grew as word spread of the fight. No one had ever dared to fight inside. Word of the Rangel community's destruction had also spread.

Above all set Swannanoa. Three properties rested there, and the Lear family plantation rested at the back. Before anyone could enter, they had to pass the heavy gate. The high wall was built by slaves, but the gate was designed by a La Voison woman. People spoke of dark deals, when they whispered of it, but none dared to even touch it.

The muscle car pulled up to the front gates. Even Hemi's custom work could never break it. Clay motioned for all of them to exit. Hemi hooped and hollered. Red looked at the gate, eyes again wild. Leah stepped out, before Tracy crawled out.

Clay drew closer to the elaborate iron work. He frowned, and reached for it, but something forced his hand back. "I heard rumors," he looked at the intricate symbols worked into the metal.

"What do you mean?" Hemi chuckled, but was pushed back from the gate.

"We can jump over it," Red shrugged.

"NO," Clay turned back. "There is no telling what'll happen to you. They're some powerful wards around this place."

"What do we do now?" Red looked at him.

Clay pushed against the ward, and a figure lurked in the darkness beyond. He studied it. "Why don't you come out, Lance, and see the handy work of the Iron Monger?" he asked, but the shadow drew no closer. He waited, but the General was gone. I have to keep them moving, Clay thought, and recalled his family's actions of the night. "We were loyal, and it cost us!" he challenged but was met with more silence. "But," Clay studied the wards, "I see someone else was tried too."

"How do we get inside?" Hemi kicked the invisible ward with a laugh.

Clay turned to them, "We need to go. All sorts of hell will come down on us, if we stay."

Red looked at Leah, "So, we're just going to leave?"

"You can hear the police sirens," he turned to Leah. "We have to go," Clay held up the strange bottle, "but you can come."

She looked down, and then to Red and Clay, "I…can't, I just can't." Leah looked back at Hemi's wife, "I'm sorry. You guys seen really cool, but I just don't know." No one, except Dad, has ever wanted to be around me, Leah thought. "I still have your card," she said, and Red's smile returned.

"When you're eighteen," Red's wild smile returned, "you can come to a decision; it doesn't have to be now. You can call the number, no matter what happens."

"You'll be welcomed into our family," Clay smiled.

"You can have HER!" Tracy jumped behind the wheel of the muscle car.

She peeled out. The muscle car shot away from the heavy gate. Tracy laughed, and looked at the rearview mirror. "No way would they kill me," she squealed, "after I tell Barnett about the Bliss family." Surely, the Queen of Lear Mountain won't hurt me, she mused, after a bunch of drifter psychos killed my daughter. "Landen will come back too," she swore, "because I just lost my baby." She tried to force tears, but a jagged laugh burst out.

Tracy looked into the rearview mirror again. Hell fire red flames burned behind her, before they went dark. She jerked the wheel, and the tires squealed but kept on the road. Twin fires drew closer to the car, and Clay smiled in at her. With a scream, she jerked the wheel towards him. A loud thump, eyes disappeared, but there was nothing in the rearview.

The car accelerated. "Impossible," she begged. Back and forth the road weaved. Boom, something struck the passenger side, and Tracy jerked the wheel left. Back wheels kicked up dirt, but the front pulled her onto a side road. A faded sign, half claimed by the forest, had Green emblazoned on it. Red leered in at her with burning eyes, and impish grin. Though she wrenched the wheel, the woman clung to the side. Faster the muscle car moved, engine roared. Darkness deepened around the car.

"SLOW DOWN," Hemi roared beside her with a bellow of good cheer. Laughter erupted from both sides and behind.

Tracy screamed, foot now pressed the accelerator to the floor. The Black Priory raced past, and she frowned. Never had she set foot here, most of Lear County had never even seen it. "PREACHER'S JUMP," she screeched and stomped the brake.

The wheels locked, and the rear end fish tailed. As the front end lifted, they sailed over the bluff. Tracy clutched the wheel. Clay sighed, and Red burst into a feral, rebel yell. Hemi hooted. They saw the bottom bathed in moon light.

Leah jerked. The echo of the wreck crawled over the mountain. Landen pulled her closer. All over the entire town the news of the bar brawl spread. He heard that some crazy drifters had kidnapped his soon to be ex-wife and daughter. After checking the Rangel community, which looked like a tornado hit it, he had followed the police and deputies up the mountain. Tracy had left her, and he swore Leah will never set foot in her mother's house again.

"I'm sorry, Honey," Landen stroked her hair. "I just couldn't take any more."

"It's okay," she touched the business card.

He looked at her, "No, it isn't okay." Landen looked into her eyes, "I left, and I should've taken you with me."

"Mom lied," she looked at the road, "she told me that you didn't bother to call or message me. I just saw your texts tonight."

"We are going to leave Lear County. You need to be in a place to become your TRUE self." He sighed, "I'll have to deal with your mother."

"Does anyone become their true self?" Leah asked, and thought of the Bliss family.

Red looked up, and wondered if the police had found Leah. She glanced at the twisted heap of the muscle car. That girl is special, she knew. Hemi looked at the wreck, laughed, and shook his head. He walked around the twisted metal, but finally threw up his hands. Clay found an unbroken bottle of whiskey. He studied it, and already considered their next task. As long as they moved, they would keep their sanity together: horrors and long life played havoc with the mind.

"Help," Tracy garbled, and the door opened.

Red turned, "Like a roach, like a rat, the Devil must watch over you.

"Help," she reached and tried to pull herself out.

"Geez," Hemi looked at her, "she'll live, but she'll never walk again."

Clay looked at the broken woman, "We need to get going. They'll come to check the wreck."

Red drew closer to her, "Your daughter is special. She is BETTER than you." She covered Tracy's mouth with a finger to silence her pleas. "You will live, if they find you within a couple of days, I think. Leah, your daughter, will help you, and you'll use her love as a cudgel. She'll take care of you, while you destroy her hope of escape, her sense of self." Hellish flames burned in Red's eyes.

"Help," Tracy begged.

"Oh," she drew closer, "I intend to help Rosalie." She looked at the night. "I mean Leah," she whispered. Red held her palm over Tracy's mouth, and pinched her nose shut. Tracy struggled, but soon stilled. Red wiped the hand on her jeans, "Now, she will have a chance."