The fall semester had now officially finished for the students of Summerland High, and for the next three weeks they were free to do as they pleased from morning to evening...

There was only a week left until Christmas and as the sun rose slowly on the following Monday morning after the winter wonderland dance, Alice Murphy was already up. With earphones in she continued working out quietly on her bedroom floor as the clock struck six in the morning. She was wide awake, and had been for the past two hours... for some reason she couldn't sleep properly, not since everything had happened with the hole in the middle of the woods. Every time she closed her eyes she felt the icy coldness of the snow against her skin and woke up sharply again.

Her mind had been whirring all weekend, thinking obsessively about what had happened at the dance and what it all meant. She'd just been talking to get herself out of a sticky situation with Magnus... but he'd actually let her go, and she'd heard nothing for forty eight hours. She couldn't help but feel the tension, as if she was waiting for something to happen... and that was possibly the underlying reason as to why she didn't feel like sleeping anymore.

At half six Alice made her way downstairs quietly, after having a shower and dressing herself in sweats and an oversized jumper. She made coffee, which was a drink she didn't consume regularly, and sat down to watch tv in the living room just underneath her parents bedroom...

"That's the third morning in a row," Sophie Murphy whispered from where she was meant to be sleeping on the left side of the bed, but she could hear the tv murmuring underneath her. "What time is it?" She asked, seeing as the sun had barely risen.

"Six forty five," Richard replied, rubbing his face as he sat up and yawned. "I should get ready for work anyway," he mumbled and got up, grabbing his robe before he left the bedroom to wander downstairs sleepily. "Morning sweetheart," he said softly to Alice who was curled up on the sofa with their dog, Polly. "Up early again?"

Alice glanced over and smiled half heartedly before looking back to the television in silence. Richard wanted to ask more questions, but because of Alice's body language he decided against it, and helped himself to some of the left over coffee in the pot...

Later that same morning, when it was a little closer to mid-day, Alice was staring absently at the wall above the television when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket... she sighed quietly before she reached for it, seeing a message from Candice suggesting that they went shopping together for Christmas presents. Alice realised slowly that she'd made no preparations for the up coming holiday and stared vacantly at the message before she made up her mind.

As she stood up from the couch her mother approached with a warm smile, "We're heading out to get the Christmas tree today honey," she announced, expecting a joyful response since Christmas was Alice's favourite holiday... at least it used to be. But Sophie didn't know that.

"I made plans with Candice," Alice replied as she walked past her mother and climbed the stairs in silence. Sophie's eyebrows furrowed as she turned over the gloves in her hands then looked up the stairs to see Alice turning the corner... she didn't understand for a moment, as she replayed what had just happened. Her daughter was being unusually distant, although she'd never been a bubbly personality to begin with, however around this time of year she'd perk up a little bit.

At that moment Alice's younger sister Charlotte hurried down the stairs excitedly with her matching gloves and hat on, "is-Alice-not-coming?" She signed as she tugged her coat on and looked up with those wide innocent blue eyes at her mother.

Sophie shook her head and touched the top of Charlotte's head, trying not to overthink her eldest daughters behaviour too much, for it was a trait of her caring nature to do so... maybe she's just going through a phase... she thought to herself and put a warm smile on her face as the rest of the family began to gather up their things to go and pick a Christmas tree.

At half past twelve Candice pulled up outside the Murphy household and beeped the horn of her new baby blue Mini Cooper, since she'd just passed her driving test that previous Saturday, had used every excuse to bring attention to it.

Alice emerged a few moments later, dressed in a grey checkered mini dress with her usual white turtle neck underneath it and over the top was a black fleeced jacket. Her hair was down and left slightly messy, yet her make up was done perfectly. Candice and Olive watched her walk down the path beside her driver way in an awed silence... they'd suddenly noticed it too... something about Alice Murphy had changed, yet they couldn't put their finger on it yet.

"Hi," Alice said calmly as she slipped into the passenger seat, which was her usual place in any car that the trio shared.

"Hey," both Candice and Olive said simultaneously as they continue stared at her.

"What?" Alice asked after a few moments of them watching her put her seatbelt on then put her favourite mini red leather tote bag beside her legs.

"Something's different," Olive voiced, feeling it in the air too as Alice looked between her friends, feeling the silence begin to get a little strange. "Did you and Noah have sex?" She then asked suddenly.

"I was just about to ask that," Candice gasped quietly and excitedly as she glanced back at Olive then looked back at Alice.

"No..." Alice replied slowly, furrowing her eyebrows for a moment. "... can we go shopping now?" She then asked as she saw her friends narrow their eyes in a playful suspicion, since neither of her could shake that feeling that there was something that was different with their friend.

Candice started up the car again and turned around in Alice's road before driving unnecessarily quickly back towards the centre of town...

* * *

... The trio were stood in the local boutique clothing store browsing the circular rings of colourful clothing in a comfortable silence. "I'm gonna go these this on," Olive announced, lifting up vintage style denim dungarees and smiling happily.

"I'll come with you," Candice said and the two girls wandered off together, aware that there was a subject they needed to discuss without one of them there. Alice glanced after them for a moment then looked back at the clothes she was carelessly flicking through. She was growing bored, and had only managed to purchase a few Christmas presents for her family before the others decided they wanted to shop for themselves.

"What do you think?" Olive asked, turning to Candice who was sitting inside the dressing room cubicle with her.

"It's cute but kinda baggy," Candice replied honestly, as Olive looked at herself and hummed in agreement. "So what do you think is up with Alice?" Candice asked quietly just after she peeked out the crack of the door to see Alice still browsing the clothes.

"I don't know," Olive replied quietly, "like I know she's usually super distant but she seems like... I don't know how to explain it, but I noticed it last Friday,"

"I noticed it too," Candice agreed, "like, it's weird I don't know, she's different. I hope she doesn't feel like she can't tell us if something major happened,"

"We're approachable right?" Olive asked, "Like I feel like I can tell you stuff,"

"I feel like I can tell you stuff too," Candice cooed and the girls awed at each other and hugged tightly, "maybe if we just tell Alice she can be open with us then she might tell us what's up,"

"Yeah, let's do it now," Olive agreed and they both opened the door, revealing the boutique store as they'd left it, but the only difference was that Alice wasn't there anymore. "Alice?" Olive asked as the two confused girls walked back into the main area of the store and glanced from left to right.

"Alice?" Candice called a few moments before it dawned on them that Alice had left the store without them.

At that moment Alice was stood outside a tattoo parlour on the high street just as it began to rain, she was admiring the designs in the window with interest and hadn't noticed the weather beginning to close in above her. She'd barely thought about how she'd left Candice and Olive behind after hearing them discussing her like it was the local news. What they'd said hadn't bothered her, but she wondered if maybe it should have.

She was never one to discuss her issues so openly like her friends, and before she used to believe that it made them resent her a little. But right now she didn't seem to care, her attention had been taken by the design of the tattoos in the window. Her curiosity took over a little more as she found herself wandering in, causing the little bell above the door to chime. Inside, the quiet sound of rap music filled the silence and Alice tucked her hair behind her ear as she wandered over to the wall of tattoo designs. "I think you're in the wrong place kid," the guy behind the counter said as he sat there playing with a vape pen with his eyebrows raised.

Alice looked over to him calmly and smiled, "I'm just escaping the rain," she said softly, blinking gently once and looking back at the art work. "Did you draw any of these?" She then asked,

"I drew them all," he replied, still looking unimpressed that this innocent looking teenager had wandered into his place. "Don't touch anything," he added, causing Alice to tense slightly with a flash of irritation at his tone however she continued to smile and didn't respond to him as she began to look at the pictures of his customers with their tattoos.

As if by chance, or maybe it was a coincidence, Alice's eyes landed on a picture of the guy that was sat behind the counter and Magnus Johnson. He was shirtless, with his hair a little longer than it was now, and a tattoo on his chest of the phrase SON OF GOD. The picture caused goosebumps to rise all over her arms and a chill to travel down her back... his eyes had that eerie empty look even though he was smiling... but it was a strange taunting smile. "Ironic," she murmured to herself as she stared at the picture a little more.

"Alice?" A voice asked, causing her heart to jump but there was no evidence of the sound of Noah's voice startling her on the outside. She turned around and gave him a small smile, seeing him just leaving behind the counter with his left sleeve pushed up, revealing the tattoo he'd just gotten done that was wrapped in cling film. "What're you doing here?" Noah asked, looking slightly embarrassed for a moment after he'd seen her looking at his tattoo which was of a very detailed snake wrapped around a knife...

"Escaping the rain," she repeated like she had said to the owner of the tattoo parlour. "What happened to your face?" She asked, seeing his bruised left eye, she also noticed that his glasses had changed to slightly bigger black rims.

"Uh- it was nothing," Noah replied as they stood either side of room looking at each other in silence for a moment.

"I have to go now," Alice said, glancing at the owner and glancing away again as she began to leave, but that was just as another person appeared from behind the counter... Alice's blue eyes met the golden hazel ones of Magnus's and she felt her heart clench suddenly. A blush feathered her cheeks as his blank expression stayed the same, but he continued to watch her.

"Don't go," Noah said suddenly, going slightly pink as well, just as Magnus came to stand behind him, and Trey behind him followed by Charlie. "Uh, just wait a second, please," He continued, feeling slightly vulnerable as he asked her to stay so he could talk to her about what happened without making it too obvious to Magnus.

Alice felt like she was being cornered for a moment as Trey and Charlie wandered towards the door to leave and opened it, deciding to hang around by the entrance outside since it had stopped raining. Magnus stayed however, his hands tucked into the pockets of his olive coloured jeans. There was a tense silence hanging in the air as Noah paid for his tattoo, and Alice avoided Magnus's stare.

He was drinking in her appearance as he stood there quietly, glancing at her thighs then back up at her face. "Are you getting a tattoo?" He asked, knowing that he had her attention.

"No," she replied quietly back, glancing up at his eyes then finding it hard to look away as she remembered what had happened at the dance. She had the urge to ask him why he had let her go, he'd had the opportunity to drag her away and finish her off but he hasn't. Unless he was planning something else... the dance probably would have been too obvious.. and since he'd so far managed to get away with thirteen other murders, he must be smarter than that.

Magnus chuckled under his breath, seeing the conflict happening behind Alice's eyes and decided not to say anything else. Noah turned around and looked between Alice and Magnus, feeling the tension. "So uh," he said, trying to get Alice's attention back.

"Did you hear about the Wells and Rodgers case?" Alice suddenly asked, looking from Magnus to Noah. "It's a murder investigation now," she added, unsure as to why she said what she did but she held the confidence steadily and looked back at Magnus.

"What?" Noah asked, his eyes going a little wide as Magnus stood up a little straighter and narrowed his eyes for a split second.

"Blunt force trauma, apparently..." she continued and held eye contact with Magnus who said nothing. "It was on the news this morning. There's a town meeting tomorrow so that anyone who might know anything can speak up."

"Alice." Noah hissed, lowering his head a little.

"I'm just passing on the news, you were on his team, right? For ice hockey?" She asked Magnus and he began to smirk. Alice's heart was racing, and she had no idea why she was taunting him like this... but the words and her tone kept coming back.

"You're right, I was." Magnus replied calmly.

"And he was captain, and now you're captain," she continued as Noah let out a nervous breath as Magnus leant away from the wall where he had been resting against.

"Correct," Magnus replied calmly again, slowly walking towards her... step by step, like he was challenging her silently.

"Did you always want to have a career in ice hockey?" Alice asked, "and be a professional athlete?" She added, her voice becoming a little softer as her heart raced. Magnus looked amused at her questions, the emotion obvious on his lips but in his eyes it seemed to be this void of emptiness that almost made Alice forget to breathe for a moment.

"No, I intend to get into politics," he replied, stopping half a metre away from her and reaching forward. Her head moved back instinctively but she blushed as she released he was reaching for a coat behind her on a standing rack she hadn't noticed. Alice had no response for him... it was evident he was prepared for questioning, he didn't answer to quickly or too slowly, he had no obvious motive, unless you would want to disregard his intention to be a politician instead of a professional athlete.

"Clever," she whispered, causing him to tilt his head for a moment. He seemed taken aback by her response, since it seemed genuine. "I have to go now," she then said, surprised herself at her own response to him. "I left my friends somewhere.." she continued as she walked around Magnus and towards the main door,

"Alice-" Noah began but she smiled warmly, and looked back at him but left shortly after without saying anything more or looking at either of the boys again. Magnus watched the place where she had just been stood... wondering if he had heard her right. He turned around once she had left and looked from the door to Noah and folded his arms.

"What?" Noah asked, looking at Magnus with a worried expression. "I didn't- I haven't-"

"Shut up," Magnus shot back before pulling on his coat and leaving the tattoo parlour and glancing down the road to see Alice wandering back into the boutique clothing store... he chuckled to himself, but it was more out of disbelief than amusement for there was something about Alice Murphy that he was starting to like...

* * *

That following Friday, on the twenty third of December, Alice was getting ready to go out to dinner with her parents and younger sister, it was a family tradition to go out for food on Christmas Eve-Eve for the Murphy family and usually it was take away but this year Sophie Murphy felt like a little fancy family dinner out would help pull Alice out of her distant behaviour.

There was a knock on the bedroom door as Alice applied red lipstick to match her nails, "Come in," she called, combing her fingers through her hair just after she rubbed her plump lips together.

"Are you almost ready?" Richard Murphy called as he walked into his eldest daughters room, seeing how immaculate it was and feeling a little surprised.

"Yeah," Alice replied quietly, glancing at her phone that was next to her on the counter. She'd been waiting for Noah's phone call, and was annoyed at herself for expecting it so soon... and for expecting it at all. She should hate him, she should hate them both... but there was something pulling her towards that group, pulling her towards Noah and Magnus. And she knew it was partly because of her curiosity... she deeply wanted to know more... she wanted to know how they managed to get away with so much in such a small town.

In the car on the way to the restaurant Alice gazed out the window, noticing suddenly how different Summerland looked in the dark. Charlotte watched her sister check her phone again and leant over to tap her on the arm to get her attention, "Whats-wrong?" Charlotte signed to Alice, concern laced in her expression.

"Nothing," Alice signed back and smiled a little at her baby sister before she looked away and stared out the window again...

The restaurants the Murphy's had chosen to dine in on that crisp, cold evening was busy with people. The colour scheme was deep reds, browns and golds and the atmosphere oozed elegance, however the sound of the calming classical music seemed to be slightly drowned out by the numerous voices having separate conversations...

Alice and her family sat at a booth by the left side of the restaurant, the seats were a deep red leather the table was a deep brown with a few little etches in it from being well used. "What do you want to have?" Richard asked the table as everyone browsed their menus and Sophie sipped her wine and hummed happily. Alice felt her stomach growl as she explored the mains section, wondering what she'd want specifically. Her eyes began to drift over other sections... and in the end she ordered what she always did, steak-frites, which translated from French was just steak and fries.