In the darkness, his belabored breathing echoes throughout the warehouse. It has come to this. Hiding in the shadows. Concealing his identity for months.

He had a plan.

Initially, he had a plan. He would first reveal himself to his family and friends...let them know that he was still alive. That he was dead, like they assumed he was.

He had very specific plans.

But those had all been shot to hell. Quite literally.

There was chaos now. Too much chaos, and all because of that goddamn Alec Bale.

He murdered someone in cold blood.

And yet, they try and call it an accident. But if he had done the same thing as Alec, it wouldn't be an accident. It would be murder. They've already tried to burn him at the stake before...he has already known the pain of accusations and anger and fear.

But now, he is no longer afraid.

It's everyone else who should be.

He picks up the plastic dolls held together by a thick piece of twine and dangles them in front of his face. The glowing light from the exit sign at the warehouse entrance is enough to illuminate the dolls' faces.

The wonderful citizens of Marquette Cove.

Dolls on a string.

They are whole now, but they won't be much longer. Soon, all that will remain is broken parts. Broken doll parts scattered in chaos. In blood.

They will ache like he aches.

Soon...



MARQUETTE COVE COUNTY PRISON

Valerie Holden tautly paces in her cell, the mere presence of her new cellmate causing her to break out into metaphorical hives. She also has to pee, but she's not going to demean herself to doing it in front of this burly, hardware store employee. No, Valerie will wait until she goes to sleep.

"Quit pacin', Barbie."

"Barbie?" Valerie says, scoffing at the poorly chosen insult. "I'm not even blonde."

"You could be once I get through witchu."

Valerie rolls her eyes. "That doesn't even make any sense. And you're not going to touch me. No one in here is. Not while my maiden name is still Hanley."

"Keep bankin' on that."

"I will, thank you very much," Valerie says, plopping down onto her cot.

She can't take much more of this. She's so far spent seven months in prison, and that's not including the time she spent in lock-up before she was convicted. If she has to stay here for the duration of her sentence, she just may kill herself.

Or Eartha Brute over here.

"Holden, you've got a phone call."

Valerie pounces upon the cell bars, nearly pushing her head through them in order to greet the approaching guard.

"A phone call? Since when does this bitch get a phone call and I don't?"

"Shove it!" Valerie says, ignoring her cellmate. "Who's on the phone?"

"Your lawyer," the guard says.

"Robert?" Valerie says. "Maybe he figured out some way to get me out of this hole!"

"Yeah. Maybe."

Valerie clasps her hands together in anticipation of the good news she's sure to receive from Robert. It has to be good news. With no love lost between the two former siblings-in-law, he's certainly not calling her for idle chit chat.



BALE HOME

Robert Bale stands in front of his son, Alec, praying that he wouldn't be killed. Just like everyone else in the foyer hoped when Alec produced a gun and began to wave it around like a lunatic.

"Alec, put down the gun!" Joel Kincaid says, holding out a hand in an attempt to calm the situation.

There are far too many people in the room with full lives ahead of them — and while Robert should be worrying about them all, right now he's only worried about himself. He doubts that Alec has it in his mind to shoot his own son, anyway. Of course, that was before...

Before he accused Robert of molesting him. Molesting his own son? There's no way anyone in the room could believe him. He sounds off his rocker. And the gun certainly isn't helping.

Robert backs away and looks toward the front door where Alec's wife, Jessica, holds their son Phillip in her arms. Next to her is Alec's best friend, Vincent Moore. Although, perhaps he's now Alec's arch nemesis — it's hard to keep track of their up and down relationship.

"Jessica! Vince! Get Phillip out of here!"

See? Robert does care.

Vince, ever the hardheaded brat, stands in front of Jessica and Phillip instead of rushing them out the door. Does he think he's a human shield? He's not Superman, he can't deflect bullets. "Alec! What the hell are you doing with a gun?" Vince says, staring his maybe best friend in the face.

Alec wildly waves the gun. "Give me my son! Give me Phillip right now!"

He ignores the cries of protest coming from everyone in the room, particularly those from Robert's wife, Melissa. He has no idea how she stumbled across this mess, but she was certainly in the thick of things with the former police detective Kincaid as he arrived home.

He can't let his wife die. He loves Melissa. One might argue that by cheating on his wife, like he'd done earlier that evening, he doesn't truly care for her, but that's something the women in his life have never been able to understand.

He loves them deeply. With all of his heart.

But there is a task at hand. He can't think about loves lost right now. He has to stop his son from killing anyone in this room, and so either in a move of instinctive heroics or a moment of pure, reckless abandon Robert advances on his son and tries to wrestle the gun away.

Alec kicks his father square in the crotch, sending him to the floor in pain. Robert's eyes roll back in his head as clutches at his genitals. That is completely not playing fair.

And yet, before anyone else has a chance to follow Robert's lead and attempt to end the situation...Alec pulls the trigger.

The shock of the gun firing causes Alec to stumble backward. A bullet flies from the gun, immediately connecting with a target. It draws blood. The splatter from the wound hits Alec in the face, leaving him with a physical reminder of what he's just done.

"Jessica!"

Someone screams it. Maybe it was Alec, maybe it was Vince, or Joel...Robert can't tell. But from the tone of their voice, he can tell that the bullet must have hit Jessica. He rolls over in time to see Alec drop the gun and rush to his wife's aid.

Phillip lies on the floor next to Jessica, crying and bawling his eyes out as an infant would do in such a situation. A pool of blood seeps from underneath her body. And in that moment, Robert realizes what everyone else in the room has...Jessica is dead.



OUTSIDE THE BALE HOME

He sits in his parked car, wiping tears away from his face. The ambulance has come and gone, the paramedics have tried all that they can...but she's dead. She's gone.

He hates to see his family torn apart.

He turns on the ignition and speeds off, hurrying toward the warehouse where he's spent most of his nights. In private, away from the prying eyes of the town. He wasn't able to alert anyone to his presence.

But now, there's no point in his ruse.

Not when they've all acted so callously.

He can reveal himself to them and still keep everyone in the dark. Before, he was here to make things better. Almost a protective angel in a sense. But the only thing on his mind now is revenge.

Sweet, inviting revenge.

He cradles the phone in his free hand as he waits to hear the voice on the other end.

"Robert?"

"No, Valerie, it's not Robert," he says.

"Who is this?"

She doesn't recognize his voice.

"I know it's been a while, Val," he says. "I should haven't left you...but I'm here now. I'm back in Marquette Cove."

"Who in the hell is this?"

"I'm so sorry that you've been in so much pain, but I can promise that's all going to be ending now."

"I don't understand what you're talking about, and I'm not in the mood for games."

"It's me, Valley Girl," he says, using his old nickname for her.

The silence on the other end informs him that she finally recognizes him.

"What...what did you call me?"

"You heard me, Valley Girl," he says. "I'm back home. And I'm gonna make everyone pay for what they've done to my special girls."

"No, this can't be," Valerie says. "This isn't...this isn't...you're dead."

"I'm not dead," he says, laughing. "The reports of Kyle Maddock's death have been greatly exaggerated. But don't worry, baby...we'll be reunited soon. You, me, and our beautiful son Matt."

There is silence once again. Is she in disbelief? Attempting to form a sentence? No...it's something else. He presses the phone against his ear to hear the faint sound of a man's voice in the background:

"Someone call a medic! She just collapsed!"



BALE HOME

Hours before Kyle Maddock drove off in tears, ranting about his plans for revenge, Alec Bale was still cradling his wife in his arms.

"I didn't...I didn't mean to..." Alec says, unable to comprehend what has just happened. His hand is covered in Jessica's blood, and he stares at the bullet hole in her torso.

Robert manages to climb to his feet, despite the pain he's in. Vince scoops up Phillip and holds him tightly, hovering near Joel. Everything has happened so fast. And now, Jessica is...

"She's alive," Alec says. "She's still breathing!"

Alec glances up at everyone.

"She's alive?" Vince says.

Alec nods eagerly. "Call 911. Someone call 911 and..."

"Oh God," Robert says. "She's dead."

Alec glares at his father. "No, she's not dead. She's going to be fine, we just have to..."

"Not Jessica! Melissa!"

Robert gasps for air as the others turn their attention to Melissa, slumped on the floor. Her back lies against the wall, almost pinned in place. And her chest...it's covered in blood. And there's a large...

"Bullethole..." Joel says, noticing the expression of tortured anguish on Robert's face. "...the bullet passed through Jessica and it..."

Killed Melissa Bale.