The air in Alice's lungs seemed to freeze in her throat. Her eyelids fluttered as ice travelled through her veins, she could smell the metallic stench of blood and held her hands still, even though she was beginning to tremble slightly with panic.

Slowly, she stood up, keeping her hands extended in front of her she managed to make her way over to the light switch and shakily turn it on, her hands smearing the blood across the white plastic surface. Breaths left her throat shakily as the lights came on, and in a way she had naively hoped that her eyes would've mistaken her.

But the light only revealed what Alice had been dreading. Her lips parted as her eyes began to water instantly, there was blood all over the kitchen floor in a large crimson pool. Smears of it where all over the counter doors and there were four stripes on the fridge. Panicked whines began to leave Alice's throat as she looked at the scene, tears dropping down her cheeks as her hands began to shake... her gaze dropped to her hands and her legs, seeing that she was covered in it too. "Mom?" She asked, her voice wavering as she felt her heart turn to ice and drop like dead weight onto the floor. "Dad?" She asked a little louder, looking around herself to see blood spatters across the ceiling and on the counter tops, there were more smears across the dining room floor and spatters across the glass table.

"Charlotte?" She called, knowing that if Charlotte was still here she wouldn't be able to hear her. Silence echoed back and Alice's eyes blurred as tears flooded her vision. Ragged breathes scratched her throat as she clumsily reached across the counter to grab the home phone, dialling for the police as she accidentally moved some hair out of her face, and smeared the blood across her forehead...

Alice could barely breathe as she tried to explain what had happened over the phone. She was frozen in the corner of the kitchen, staring at the blood across the floors, walls and ceiling... "Miss, we'll have a patrol car come to your location soon." A woman's voice said on the other side of the phone, since Alice had said little except mentioning blood and that she was scared that her family were hurt.

Her mouth felt dry as she hung up the phone out of frustration, feeling as if she'd slipped into a daze even though she'd heard the operator asking if she was able to respond. Alice stared at the blood, feeling helpless and angry that she'd been enjoying herself at Magnus's house whilst her family had been... here. She felt sick to her stomach, her mind involuntarily showing her what could have happened. The house was so silent it felt like it was screaming in her ears, ready to blow her ear drums with its volume.

She didn't move for fifteen minutes, her heart was still thudding heavily, pumping adrenaline, fear, panic and rage into her bloodstream as tears slipped down her cheeks and dropped off her chin. Her face was void of emotion, and she barely noticed the red and blue lights pull up outside her house. She didn't notice the police coming to knock at the open door... she didn't notice them calling her name and hurrying into the scene, calling for back up when they saw the blood everywhere.

They believed the innocent faced sixteen year old was in shock, and panicked themselves as they saw the horrific mess of a scene. Alice was dazed and silent as she was escorted to the back of a ambulance to be checked over, and it was as if she was watching the events that followed unfold around her in slow motion. More cop cars pulled up, closing the scene with their yellow and black tape, their lights flashing. People in white forensic suits made their way into the house with their briefcases and a police officer tried to get something, anything, out of the girl they knew to be Alice Murphy... But she barely breathed above the sound of a whisper. She barely blinked.

"Give her some time," an officer whispered softly to her colleague who had been hopelessly asking Alice for her witness report. "How do you think you'd feel if you came home to that? It looks like someone got massacred in there."

"I know, but..." the other mumbled, only earning a specific look in return. They turned away from Alice, keeping their voices low as they looked towards the house which oozed an ongoing crime scene investigation. "It's a little strange that they haven't found any bodies, don't you think?"

"Strange? What are you suggesting?" The officer asked, a disbelieving chuckle leaving their lips. "Wait... you don't think some five foot one sixteen year old managed to do this, right? Look at her. She looks like she couldn't hurt a fly even if she wanted to." They said with a slight sneer.

"I'm five-three," Alice said suddenly, causing them to pause their conversation suddenly. "Actually." She added as they turned to look at her with subtle shock on their faces. She'd heard every word they'd said and it had only increased the dark rage that had begun to infect her bloodstream. They could see the dark flash across her bright blue doe eyes and furrowed their eyebrows, suddenly not seeing such an innocent looking sixteen year old after all...

But a commotion to the right of them distracted them suddenly, causing all three to look over as a couple pushed past some officers to get past the police tape. "-this is my house!" A familiar female voice said loudly, the slight French accent making Alice's heart jump. "What the hell is going on?!" Sophie said loudly, her eyes scanning the chaotic scene in front of her property.

"Mom?!" Alice called, standing up from where she sat at the back of the ambulance. "Mom?!" She called again, feeling her eyes welling up with heavy tears as relief washed over her harder than a tsunami.

"Alice?! Are you alright?" Sophie gasped, hurrying over to her daughter as a few officers looked over with confusion and interest. "What on earth happened?" She asked as she enveloped her daughter in a tight hug as Richard came up beside them, placing his hand on Alice's back as he looked towards the house with confusion. "I thought you were with Candice tonight,"

"Where were y-you?!" Alice asked, trying to grasp the sobs before they came out but she couldn't stop them.

"We were at Nigel and Sally's for dinner," Sophie replied with shock and worry dripping from her tone and her expression. "Charlotte is staying at Harriet's house tonight," she continued to explain in a comforting voice as Alice began to sob even more. "Oh sweetheart," She cooed, glancing towards her husband who had evident worry etched into his expression as another familiar face walked over to the trio.

"Mr and Mrs Murphy," Sheriff Wilson announced as he got closer, gaining their attention as he held his hands on his hips. "I have to say it is a huge relief to see you here," he said whilst sighing heavily.

"What the hell is going on, Wilson?" Richard demanded, feeling angry and protective over his family and directing the anger at Wilson.

"Alice called us to the scene after she came home to find blood all over the kitchen floor." Sheriff Wilson said, getting straight to the point. "When she couldn't find you, obviously she assumed the worst." She continued as the blood drained from Sophie's face and she hugged Alice closer. "There was evidently a break in, however... what concerns me was that whoever it was obviously knew where to find the spare key."

"Oh god," Sophie whispered as Alice held onto her mother and stayed silent. The air seemed to drop in temperature as the wind blew over them, causing Alice to shiver suddenly... with part of the reason being because she'd heard the voice in the back of her mind telling her she already knew who it was.

"Was someone hurt... in our... in our house?" Richard asked, finding the recent news a difficult pill to swallow. "We were just next door. Less than a hundred yards away."

"Not someone, but some thing. It's pigs blood." Sheriff Wilson revealed, causing both Alice's parents to sigh with relief silently even though the incident was still very unnerving. "But whoever put it there obviously wanted to send a message. Is there anyone any of you could think of that might want to hurt either of you?" He asked, now looking at Alice for longer than a second before looking back at her parents.

A name came to mind in each of their heads... but it seemed that none of them felt like confessing in that moment... Confused shakes and mumbled no's was the response Sheriff Wilson received form the Murphy family, and nearly instantly, he knew that they didn't want to answer. "Okay. Well if you guys think of anything don't hesitate to call." He replied, looking between all of them again and then for a little longer than usual at Alice. He couldn't help but think he'd seen Alice one too many times for this to be just a coincidence, but decided to keep the thought to himself. "I'll get the guys out of your hair then we'll be off. I've requested for an officer to sit outside your house tonight just in case."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Sophie said softly, glancing down at Alice who was wrapped in one of the blankets from the ambulance. Slowly, the red and blue flashing lights began to leave one by one... the police tape was taken down and the night seemed to grow quieter and quieter as the minutes slipped past...

Alice felt slightly dazed as she walked back into the house, leaving her parents outside as they discussed what was going to happen next with the remaining police officer who had agreed to wait outside the property for their safety. Alice scoffed quietly to herself as she walked back into the kitchen... one police officer from small town Summerland could do nothing up against a few individuals she knew. The thought made her a little uneasy as she stared down at the blood that had dried slightly on the kitchen floor... it looked different now that she knew it hadn't leaked from the veins of her own family...

A glint of something on the floor suddenly caught Alice's eye and she turned her head towards it, still holding the ambulances cheap blanket around her shoulders... her gaze took a moment to find the object that had caught the light in such a way... but from amongst the blood pool closest to the fridge... she saw it. Careful to avoid stepping into the blood anymore than she already had done, Alice made her way over to the object and picked it up with the tips of her fingers...

She smeared the blood from it using the blanket and furrowed her eyebrows tightly together as she held up what looked like a tear drop diamond earring... confusion washed over her, since she knew it didn't belong to anyone in her family so she assumed whoever had dropped it obviously hadn't meant to...

Alice could hear her parents voices getting closer to the open kitchen door and closed her fist around the earring whilst turning away, using her free hand to wrap the blanket closer around her. She stared at the chaotic red stained mess around the kitchen and dining room, pretending to be engrossed in the scene as her parents walked into the house and closed the front door. "-definitely get the locks changed." Her father finished saying as he put the bolt across the door and sighed, pressing his palm against it as he felt the uneasiness wash over him...

He glanced over at Alice, exchanging a look with her mother and allowed the worried expression to take over his face. He couldn't deny or even hide that what had happened this evening had shifted a lot of things out of place.

A pair of hands were placed on Alice's shoulders and she looked up, seeing her father mumbling for her to head upstairs and shower then try and get some rest... She smelt of the blood, and now that the shock was wearing off... Alice could smell it too.

She couldn't help but feel, as she walked up the wooden stairs carefully, that the house felt different around her. The air felt colder, like a window had been left open to let the draft in and it seemed to feel slightly emptier even though nothing had been moved or taken. Familiar sights felt disconnected, like the pair of Charlotte's socks hanging on the bannisters or the lone book that had been left by the top of the stairs, the same one her mom had been reminding herself to take back to the bookshelf but continued to forget...

Her home had been invaded, and she felt the discomfort pressing against her skin. It was strange, she thought, how she had not felt like this before... the house had been invaded before only a month or so back... and maybe it was because it had been so secret her mind had been able to disconnect from it. But this time, it had been so public, such a display of how easy it was for someone to break into her home and taunt her like that.

Alice showered, and the water was hot and burnt her skin slightly, turning it red with the high temperature. But she didn't care too much since her mind was elsewhere. Her expression was blank as she rubbed soap across her body, trying to remove the patchy stains of blood that had managed to soak through her top and onto her arms and hands...

She was annoyed that she'd left her phone in the back of the Uber, but the emotion was pushed violently to the back of her mind as she began to deeply about who it might've been that had left their diamond earring behind. She stared down at it in the shower, letting the water wash down the back of her head and some drip some droplets down onto her face... it didn't take her long before she had a few names come to mind, since there were not many people who she knew didn't like her and could also afford to spend lots of money on jewellery.

She'd received the message that was meant to be delivered loud and clear. But instead of scaring her in the long term like they'd hoped, they only fuelled the darker side of her that was attracted to their lifestyle in the first place.

Once out of the shower Alice, wrapped in her towel, sat at her laptop and checked her messages - considering her phone and her laptop were connected - most of her messages, photos and videos were backed up. She answered messages from Candice in the group chat she had with her and Fei and said she was safe at home. She had expected a message from Magnus, but felt the little sinking in her stomach when she realised she didn't have one, but knew she should've expected that... since they'd barely spoken through messages anyway.

She glanced at the earring sitting next to her laptop once again and inhaled deeply... she had a feeling as to who it may belong to, and opened up Facebook and typed in a name. Her heart was thudding against her chest, fuelling the anger she felt for being targeted for some sick prank.

She searched through Juniper's pictures with an eerie yet subtle glare on her face... her blood stained finger tapping the next icon, her skin tainted a faint red since the shower hadn't managed to remove the blood completely. She skipped the picture she was looking for accidentally and had to press back... but within a few seconds she was staring at a picture of Veronica and Juniper stood together, smiling whilst staring into the camera as if to taunt her.

Alice's stomach turned at the sight of Veronica's face and she bit the inside of her cheek to try and distract her mind from the intense discomfort she was feeling. Her eyes moved from glaring at Veronica's digital face and found what she was originally looking for... both Juniper and Veronica were wearing the same pair of earrings... tear drop diamonds that glinted brightly with the flash of the camera.

Alice's conscious began to whisper to her that Juniper was using the earring to taunt her... that she'd left it there on purpose to freak her out and push her away from Magnus by reminding her what he'd done. Alice's bottom lip quivered as she replayed those events, the body, the questions, the fact he'd tried to kill her over what she knew... the anger built up in her chest until she could do nothing but release frustrated tears from her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down. Sharply, she shut her laptop and clenched her jaw, trying to fight the rage she was feeling.

It felt like the emotion was pushing against the inside of her skin, trying to force itself out like some kind of explosion breaking out of a bomb shell. Maybe it was because of the events that had happened the day, the violent ups and downs from her being with Magnus to her coming home and being lead to believe her parents had been murdered...

Maybe it was because Alice had always had an issue with the rage she'd been burying deep down inside her, hiding it underneath layers and layers of suppressed emotions, her academics and outwardly calm nature... little to no one knew about the intense icy hot fire that burned behind the gentle ocean blue of her eyes and she wasn't about to let it get the better of her... again.

She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled slowly, attempting to silence the layers of her own voice in her head telling her everything she didn't want to know. She didn't care about what Magnus had done, she was honest with herself from the very beginning. What she cared about, was the fact Juniper was trying to punish her for it. Her fists were squeezed tightly together to the point where they were shaking... but soon enough she felt herself disconnect, her mind successfully suppressing the emotion and she opened her eyes again calmly... deciding that although her anger wanted her to react and blow up in Juniper's face, she decided to let it pass.

She'd convinced herself it wasn't personal. That this prank was nothing more than Juniper expressing her right to be protective over her dead friend. Alice told herself that she would've done the same, if not worse, had the roles been reversed... and she wasn't going to give Juniper the satisfaction by reacting... although, deep down inside her, she could still feel the ice hot burning of the anger she was trying to forget. The anger that wanted her to act out impulsively and potentially cause more damage than was necessary.

~

The next morning when Alice had come down stairs, having only slept for a couple of hours, she found her parents getting to work cleaning the kitchen. It had only just gone eight in the morning... and although most members of the house were awake, it was still eerily silent. Her parents cleaned quietly, without the radio on, scrubbing away at the dried blood that had been left to stain the hard wood floors.

Without saying anything at all, Alice pulled on some rubber gloves and began to help... knowing that this was all partially her fault to begin with...

"We might have to replace these," Richard said quietly as he stood up, annoyed that the wood he'd picked out himself had now been ruined because of some prank. Although most of the blood was gone, what was left was a dark blotchy stain.

Sophie sighed in defeat, leaning back on her legs as she squeezed the sponge into the bucket beside her. "They'll have to take apart the whole kitchen," she replied as Alice glanced up at her parents whilst she continued to scrub a bloody patch on the floor that didn't want to budge.