Tumult.

"Who could have done this?"

The dimly lit room is filled with an air of tension as the five individuals seated inside engage in a heated discussion. The only sound aside from their hushed tones is the soft creaking of the old wooden floorboards beneath their feet.

"The parking lot was empty. I had been watching from the window. No one was there. Not a soul. We don't know how the explosion happened." One of the five tells the rest.

"Yes, we do." someone says quietly, their voice barely audible over the sound of the wind rushing in through the slightly open windows.

Everyone else turns to him. "What?"

He looks up, hesitantly, his eyes darting around the room, as if unsure he should be saying this, but then he goes on anyway. "It was Rexine. I felt her."

"Thomas, what the hell are you talking about?" someone asks, looking incredulously at him.

"Rexine was channeling." Thomas states firmly. "I could feel her do it. I'm certain she made the parking lot explode.”

Someone else scoffs. The sound is harsh and dismissive. "Thomas, we all know there's no love lost between you and Rexine. But this is a tad too much, even for you."

Everyone turns to look questioningly at Thomas.

He glares back at them. "I wouldn't satisfy you with a response, Vi." he snarls.

Vi scoffs again. "But you just did."

"Listen, okay!" Thomas snaps. "I know what I felt. The minute before the parking lot blew up, I felt my hairs stand on end. Whenever Rexine channels, I always get that feeling. And next thing, boom." Thomas says, imitating an explosion with a loud clap of his hands, making everyone jump slightly. "She was the one, I'm sure of it."

"Wow, Tom. I didn't think you and Rex had that kind of connection." Violet says, drily.

Thomas shakes his head. His eyes flash slightly with frustration. "Listen to me. It was her, okay. I know it.'

But Violet shakes her head, adamantly. "You didn't see her, did you? You claim you felt her and I'm going to tell you what I think about that. I think it's bullshit."

Thomas clenches his jaw, looking ready to burst with anger. "Can't you believe me for just once, Vi! I wouldn't lie about this."

"It could have been someone else, Tom!" She snaps back. "It could have been anyone at all. There are hundreds of people like us. Why would–"

"Violet! I know what Rexine's channeling feels like, okay? Believe it or not. It was her."

“But... why?” Someone else questions, cutting into the argument.

“Because she’s Rexine. She hasn’t really changed.” Thomas says, gravely.

Everyone else exchanges glances. The room is quiet for a while until someone speaks.

"Okay, let's assume this is true, yeah? Why didn't you confront her afterwards?"

Thomas turns to the speaker with an odd expression on his face. "Confront her?" he asks in obvious surprise. "Are you... are you insane, Ethan? That would have ended well, wouldn't it?"

Ethan shrugs and says, "I guess." But he looks away as he does.

"You guess?" Thomas sneers. "Don't act like you don't know Rexine, you son of a bitch!"

"Language, Tommy." Vi scoffs, again, rolling her eyes. "What Tommy's trying to say, Ethan, is that he has a stick up his ass."

"Shut up, Violet!" Thomas spits.

Violet raises her arms in surrender. "Okay, brother dear." Her voice is sweet, but her eyes are filled with rage.

"So, what do we do?" Ethan asks, turning to the girl who's been quietly watching them all.

She looks over at him and sighs. "Good question, Ethan. What do we do?" and this time, she directs the question to Thomas, raising her eyebrows delicately.

Thomas chokes a little as he notices her gaze on him. He starts to stutter until Violet snorts. He glares at her and she stops.

"I have no idea, Yvonne." he finally says, sadly, as if he's unhappy he's disappointing her.

Someone jumps off the table, their movements sudden and jerky. "So...so Rexine's gone rogue again?"

"No, don't!" Violet says, sharply. "Don't say that! We don't know that, Piper. My brother must have been hallucinating or something."

"Why are you so keen on defending her, Violet?" Thomas retorts, furiously.

"Because your judgment is clouded with your misgivings towards Rexine!" Violet shouts back. "You're not thinking straight and you need someone to blame." She seems pretty mad now and the room falls silent. She looks around pleadingly. "Come on, guys. Rex is our friend! You're just going to throw her under the bus like that?"

"And I'm your brother, Vi. Your twin brother! You should at least, believe I wouldn't cook this up." Thomas tells her. Violet goes silent.

"You've gotta admit, Vi." Piper points out, quietly. "The whole thing is suspicious. It reeks of foul play."

"Besides, she's done this sort of thing before." Thomas reminds them.

"But she seemed to have genuinely changed." Ethan says, forlornly.

"Nah, man." Thomas begins, "You're just way too sweet on her to notice anything strange."

"Yeah? Like you're sweet on Yvonne?" Violet shoots back in Ethan's defense. Thomas goes red. "You know what, guys, I'm out of here. Y'all can stay here and talk shit about Rexine, but I'm not going to be here for it. Good night!" And Violet storms off, slamming the door.

Thomas sighs, refusing to meet Yvonne's eyes. "I should go talk to her." He says and quickly leaves too. Soon after, the sound of raised voices floats in.

Yvonne sits in her chair, looking deflated. "This is not good news at all." She mutters. And truly, it's not. Not for her or anybody. She breathes in heavily and looks up at the others. They all have commiserating looks on their faces. She snorts.

"Don't look at me like that. It's disgusting." She cannot keep the bite out of her words.

Piper shakes her head and jumps back onto her table. "This is just...this is wild."

"You don't really believe Rex would do that, do you?" Ethan asks, carefully, trying to keep the accusation from his voice. "I mean, we...we all know Thomas just doesn't like her. Rex couldn't have..." he breaks off there, suddenly looking ten times his age.

Piper shakes her head again. "I don't know what to believe at this point, honestly. Thomas wouldn't outrightly lie, would he?"

Ethan has a look on his face that suggests he's not far removed from entertaining that idea, but he says nothing.

"And we can't exactly be too...er... trusting either. Knowing, knowing her background..." Piper stops and sighs heavily. She looks to the other girl in the room. "Yvonne, what do you think?"

The other girl looks sort of cornered, but she exhales and shakes her head. "I just...if Rexine is innocent, why isn't she with us?" She asks.

Ethan looks pained. "She told us this is an in-night for her. Don't tell me you've conveniently forgotten that. She's been telling us this for weeks." This time, the accusation in his voice is unmistakable.

Piper is about to say something else in response when Thomas and Violet come bursting in.

Violet is still visibly irritated and does not bother to hide it, but she goes to a corner and sits. Thomas gives Yvonne a look that is a cross between defeat and triumph. She offers him a smile in return, but it does not reach her eyes.

Piper clears her throat, the sound loud in the silence. "Whatever thoughts we may all be having at the moment," and she chances a look at Violet, who's slumped in her chair, her arms crossed, "We need to stick together. And we need to move forward." She looks at Yvonne this time with a challenging look in her eyes.

Yvonne gets the gist. She needs to get off her ass and act the leader she is.

"Right." She says and stands. "Piper's right, of course. We can't afford to be divided right now. So, get your shit together, all of you." She shoots the twins a look.

Violet crosses her leg in response, but she looks less disagreeable.

Yvonne goes on. "I understand it is difficult for us to entertain the idea that Rex might have been behind this, but–" and there's an emphasis on that– "we must consider it."

Violet snorts and Yvonne shoots her a dark look.

"We must consider every option we've got if we're going to get to the bottom of this." Her eyes scan the room, resting on every face. "I say we go find her and ask her to her face." Her voice is firm, but her eyes betray a hint of uncertainty.

Thomas suddenly looks frightened. His face pales and his eyes widen. "I don't reckon that's a good idea, Yvonne." He ignores Violet's perfectly raised brow and goes on, his voice shaking slightly. "I..I mean, all of us going to her. We could instead send someone she trusts or something."

Everyone turns to Violet. For a second, she looks uncertain, then she nods. "I'll do it. Just to prove you wrong." She shoots spitefully at her brother. He suddenly looks very weary.

"But not alone." He shakes his head, his eyes darting to Piper.

"Piper should go with you."

Piper looks startled. "Me? Why can't you go?"

"Don't be daft, Piper." Thomas snaps. "Rexine doesn't trust me."

"I wonder why." Violet mutters, standing up. Her chair scrapes against the ground noisily. Piper reluctantly gets off the table too and grabs her coat.

Just before they leave, Thomas calls out. "Do be careful, Vi." He looks suddenly paler.

Violet shoots him a disgusted look and walks out the door into the starry, windy night. Piper hurries after her and slams the door in her haste.

Yvonne watches the door, her eyes narrowed in thought. Then she announces, "We're going with them." Thomas starts to sputter a protest, but she raises her hand to silence him.

"We're going after them." She repeats, firmly. "If Rexine did this, she's dangerous and we can't put them in danger. We'd shadow them and hope we're not all walking into a trap."

"And if we are?' Ethan asks, but nobody answers.