A ray of sunshine passing through the stained-glass windows woke up Matt. The bed was hard and dusty for some reason, and he was sitting up against the wall instead of lying down. That was when he remembered he had not reached the sleeping quarters of the mausoleum last night. Morgan was lying asleep just beneath the funeral pyre at the center, having sweet dreams with a smile drawn on his face. Matt mimicked his best friend’s smile, thinking that they must have had so much to drink and so much fun last night for them to pass out on the floor like this.

That was until everything that had happened came back to him in a quick flash.

The last thing he can recall was running in the thick fog, shouting for Kira’s name, when a creature jumped out toward them. Everything happened so fast, but Matt was sure that what he saw was a wolf and that it had white fur and red eyes. They have been known to roam the forests surrounding Lawton, but he has never seen one that big before.

A striking pain came from his arm, a reminder that the white wolf had attacked him. There must be bruising in the area, but Morgan got it worse. Matt crawled to his friend’s side and examined his torso. A small bite would be putting it mildly. The wolf had its fangs digging inside Morgan, almost tearing him apart.

"Go!" Matt heard a voice echoing from behind them when flashes of green light sped like a bullet hit the white wolf, sending it spiraling into the air. A pair of high heels came into view from where the green bullets of light came from, but everything after that is a blur.

"Who’s there?" Morgan winced as he tried to sit up, groping his abdomen and inserting his hand inside a hole in his shirt. "Did you wrap this last night?" Morgan pointed to the clean bandage around his body.

Matt shook his head no, then nodded yes, and then shook his head no again. "I remember high heels, but I can’t remember anything else. You don't happen to wear high heels from time to time?"

Morgan’s face went blank, as if trying to solve a puzzle he knew he would fail to complete. And then he perked up, remembering something that made him stand on his feet, shouting Kira’s name. He moved too quickly, and he stumbled back on the floor, hurting from the pain in his abdomen.

"You shouldn’t be moving at all," Matt said, noticing the blood that had almost dried up on the floor. There was too much, and it is a miracle Morgan is still alive. There is color on his face at the very least, which is a good sign.

Morgan was back on his feet again and would not shut up about looking for Kira.

"We should get you to the hospital," Matt said, but he was only ignored. Morgan was not in a condition to walk and, in fact, was struggling to even stand up straight. "Morgan. Hospital. Place where boo boos get checked. This is a very big boo boo. Major, major boo boo. Oh god, you might need surgery."

"I’m okay. We gotta find Kira first," Morgan said, his voice faint.

"Okay?! No, you are not okay! You should be dead!" Matt shouted to get his attention. "You know that. I mean, look at the blood on the floor. That’s all yours. I don’t know how or what miracle happened here, but any normal person who lost that amount of blood would be dead by now. You also have diabetes, for god’s sake, so you walking and talking is just so... I don’t know how. So we are heading off to the hospital first thing, right now! And I don’t care if you don’t want to go. I am going to drag you there. Knock you out if, I have to. ‘Cause we need to get you checked out." It seems Morgan was too weak to even argue.

Morgan stared at him. The pain must be growing more and more. "You talk a lot."

"Ah, Darn it!" Matt shouted, realizing the large hole in his jacket. "That wolf put a hole in my jacket! I just bought this one to replace the one that went missing. It has a name tag sewn inside with my contact number, and people still don’t have the common decency to return it."

"Priorities, Matt!" Morgan said, smiling. "You have many of those at home and a few other places all over town. I’m up and walking, and Kira's... we don’t have any idea what happened to her."

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"Don’t make me regret dressing up your wound. Assuming I did it. I can’t remember much of last night," Matt hissed as he stood up. "I’ll get us clothes to change into." Matt made way for the back room and picked out a black long-sleeve and handed a blue shirt over to Morgan. "Just put your clothes in the pyre. I’ll just burn it later when I come back to clean up this mess. I’ll tell Doc we’re on our way."

"You’re gonna burn all these?"

"I don’t know, maybe just put them in plastic in case we need them later. If not, better just burn them, ‘cause this much blood, I don’t think it’ll come off."

"Doc’s not gonna tell my dad about this, right?" Morgan stood by the doorway, waiting for a response. "My dad is going to freak out if he tells on us."

"Well we’re gonna have to tell Doc," Matt answered bluntly. "What do you think is gonna happen when show up there like, hey what’s up Doc? Morgan slipped and fell and now he’s got an open. It’s true. I was there.” Matt paused, waiting for Morgan’s annoyed face to fade. “We’ll have to tell some sort of truth. I’ll coach you on our way, but yeah, if we tell Doc, he’ll have to tell your dad." Morgan groaned in protest. "Well, legally he has to tell your dad because you’re a minor. I think that’s the law. I am not sure."

"Matt, we can’t go to the hospital. My dad can’t find out about this."

"Dude. There’s a body outside without a head because someone probably smoked the strongest weed available to mankind, and decided to take the head and turn it into a disco ball prop for a party last night. What happened to us is gonna be the least of their problems." It sounded less morbid in Matt’s head until his mind caught up to what his mouth had said. "Oh yeah, Sara… her body was still outside when I dragged you back here." Matt sighed. "I’ll have to call that in too as soon as we’re at the hospital, anonymously, of course. Burning the clothes might be the better idea after all," Matt whispered to himself.

"Anonymously?"

"I’m sorry, did I not just mention there is a bloody headless body outside of my family’s crypt? And here we are covered in blood!" Matt said in a mocking tone. "Do you wanna get called for a police lineup? I, for one, do not. Not another Franco."

"Fine." Morgan picked up the bloodied clothes on the floor and threw them in the pyre as Matt instructed. "But no hospitals."

"Fine," mimicked Matt. "First aid kit here is already used up, so we’ll have to go to my house and ransack Doc’s supplies. Let’s just hope my unofficial and scrappy medical training is actually worth something."

Matt made sure to clean up as much as he could, and only stopped after they ran out of bleach. He will be sure to get some more before he returns later in the day to clean more thoroughly. The one thing bothering him is the headless corpse resting in a pool of blood outside the door.

The thick fog that covered the area also concealed a lot of the details of what could be a very gruesome scene when observed in broad daylight. Morgan was quick to turn away, his stomach turning so that he almost puked himself. Matt, on the other hand, took his time staring at Sara Gutierrez.

The powerful queen bee of Lawton High School is no more. After everything they had to go through under her spiteful rule, this is all that is left of her. The girl who tormented him for the last decade. The reason he skipped school for days, sometimes weeks even. She was the reason he almost had to repeat a school year. She is why he carries pepper spray in his pockets, in case she sends her flying monkeys to attack him again. Sara Gutierrez was the girl who never stopped telling everyone how evil Matt’s parents were. And now here she is, a very gruesome end, to a very hateful girl.

Matt would have felt pity and sympathy if it had happened to anyone. But he is no saint, and he has no plans to pretend to be one. With a stoic demeanor he said, "She deserved worse," coming from a place of hate.

"The face of rage engulfed in flames," Morgan uttered, pointing at the scribbles written on the wall behind her in what seemed to be Sara’s blood.

A high-pitched scream startled the two of them, but not as much as the people they saw when they turned their heads.

"That’s her, isn’t it?" Janina was the one who screamed. Her face was drowning in fear. "We went shopping for that top just last week. That’s gotta be her."

Morgan’s delighted face may not have been the appropriate response to her question, but it was a reflex upon seeing Kira alive and well. But unlike Morgan’s, Kira’s face was filled with fear, repulsion, pity, and something difficult to recognize unless you have worn it before: guilt.

"The police are at the school." Janina shook her head as if to snap herself out of shock. "They could show up."

"I have nothing to do with this," Matt uttered, his voice shaking. Even if he were telling the truth, one word from Janina and Kira, and he is doomed. "I swear I didn’t do this."

"Of course not," Kira said. Janina agreed with her, surprisingly. Kira glanced at Morgan, examining his entire frame.

They could hear voices from a distance. It was coming from the direction of the school. It seems the police are on their way here.

Matt grabbed Morgan by his shirt, pulling him to run for the cemetery’s entrance. It was instinct, and he hoped the girls had the same idea in mind as they ran in a different direction. Being accused of a crime you did not commit is a terrible thing that Matt is all too familiar with.