"You're sure you don't mind my spending the summer with you?" Angie asked as she loaded her stuff into Dawson's car. "Home is just so...Well..."

Dawson shrugged and smiled at her. "If anyone should have a problem, it's you. You're the one that'll be staying with the town leper after all. Besides, it'll be nice to have a friendly face to go along with all the unfriendly ones."

"Glad to be of help," Angie said with a smile. "So your parents don't mind?"

"No. They're just glad that..." Dawson stopped. "They're fine."

Angie nodded, getting into the car, knowing that pushing right now would be a bad idea. "So let's go!"

"Capeside, here we come!" Dawson said, much more brightly then he felt. This summer was going to be hell, and he wasn't looking forward to it at all.

"So," Angie said, when the silence was wearing too much on her nerves. "What's Capeside like?"

"It's a small town," Dawson started. "There's not much to say about it. It's small, there's not much to do, but it's peaceful..."

"That's what I'm looking forward to," Angie said. "Peace. There is no such thing at my house in the summer. God, you'd think that my sisters could find someplace better to stay with their herds of kids, but no, it has to be my house. Screaming babies are so not my thing."

"You sound like..." Dawson stopped.

"Who?" Angie asked gently.

Dawson smiled softly. "Pacey and Joey, actually. Both had sibling's baby problems at one point or another. Pacey moved out in order to avoid them during our Junior year."

"Tell me about them," Angie said, noticing the far off look in Dawson's eyes. "Before everything went wrong."

Dawson sighed, a far off look in his eyes. "I...I wouldn't know where to start."

"Start..."

Dawson laughed shortly, interrupting her. "I know. At the beginning."

I just want to feel safe in my own skin,
I just want to be happy again
I just want to feel deep in my own world
But I'm so lonely
I don't even want to be with myself anymore
On a different day,
if I was safe in my own skin,
then I wouldn't feel lost and
so frightened
But this is today and I'm lost in my own skin

Dawson thought for a moment. "They were great," he said simply. "The best friends I could ever hope to have. We did everything together. Inseparable. The three musketeers. I feel lost without them. Incomplete. They were so much a part of my life. A part of my soul. Without them....It's like this huge chunk of me is missing."

And I'm so lonely
I don't even want to be with myself anymore
I just want to feel safe in my own skin,
I just want to be happy again.
And I'm so lonely
I don't even want to be with myself anymore
And I'm so lonely
I don't even want to be with myself anymore
I just want to feel safe in my own skin,
I just want to be happy again.

"They were always there. Any time I needed them. I could count on that. Always." Dawson paused for a moment. "God, I miss them!" He exclaimed. "It hurts so much, knowing what I did to them. I..." Dawson went silent. He couldn't talk anymore. Angie realized this and remained silent too, not wanting to intrude further on his pain. They remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

CAPESIDE

Dawson pulled up to his house and took a deep breath before leaving the car. His parents hurried out of the house to greet him. "Dawson!" Gail exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "We didn't expect you til later! I'm so glad you're home."

"Hey Mom," Dawson said awkwardly. "Dad."

"Great to have you home, Dawson," Mitch said, smiling at Dawson, worry hidden deep in his eyes. It was obvious just by looking at Dawson that he wasn't eating or sleeping well. Mitch had thought that they had gotten beyond this stage. They had worked so hard with him and going away to school had seemed to be so good for him. It was coming back here that was the problem.

Dawson confirmed that with his next words. "Wish I could say it was nice to be back." Gail looked hurt. "No Mom," Dawson said quickly. "It's great to see you and Dad, but this town...The moment I drove in here...I look at this house, at that dock... I..."

"Oh, Dawson," Gail said softly, giving him another hug. "I understand. I do." She held him for a minute and then looked over his shoulder. "Angie!" She exclaimed. "I'm sorry, we haven't even greeted you properly yet! Come in! Dawson, your dad will get the bags. I have lunch made up for you. Just sandwiches, but you must be hungry..."

"Thanks Mom," Dawson said softly. He followed her into the house, Angie close behind.

They went to the kitchen and Gail moved around the kitchen, gathering things together for Dawson and Angie to eat. "Let me help you Mom," Dawson said.

"No," Gail said, handing him a soda. "You've had a long drive. Sit down." Dawson nodded and he and Angie sat down at the table. Gail was just setting the food down on the table when the phone rang. "Oh, honey. Can you get that?" Gail asked.

"Sure Mom," Dawson said, getting to his feet. He reached out and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Dawson." A voice said softly. Dawson's face went white and he dropped the soda he had been holding in his hand.

His mother and Angie looked at him in concern. "Dawson?" Gail asked softly. He ignored her.

"Joey?" Dawson asked softly.

"Okay, Dawson. Being the overly generous, kind, loving, caring girlfriend that I am, I will say something." There's a slight pause. "Good luck!"

"Who is this?" Dawson demanded, pain running through him as he realized that though the voice was Joey's, it was from another time. Another life. Immortalized on film, but still painful to hear.

A harsh laugh sounded from the other end of the line. "Recognized that, did ya?" Someone asked, their voice deep and scratchy, obviously disguised. "I thought that you would. Got your attention, didn't it? It's hard to forget the voices of the people you kill, isn't it?"

"What do you want?" Dawson demanded.

"Justice," the person growled. "Payment for your sins Dawson. Check your mail. You'll see what I mean." There was a click as the person hung up. Dawson returned the phone to the cradle, and turned to face his mother and Angie who were watching him with concern.

"What is it, Dawson?" Gail asked, concerned.

"Nothing, Mom. You know the people in this town."

"Not again!" Gail said, her mind returning to the horrible time after Joey's death. The calls he had gotten... "I thought they had stopped. I'll call the sheriff..."

"Mom, NO!" Dawson said. "Don't ask Sheriff Witter for anything. It's fine. They'll give up eventually." Gail nodded, but didn't look happy about it. "Is the mail here yet?" Dawson asked.

"Yeah, in the livingroom I think," Gail said, turning her attention back to the food, knowing that as far as Dawson was concerned, the subject was closed.

Dawson went into the living room, Angie following close behind him. "What was it really?" She asked him softly.

"Some crazy, same as they all were," Dawson said softly.

"Is that why you're searching wildly through your mail?"

Dawson sighed. "I..." He stopped as he found what he was looking for. It was a plain white envelope, but the writing on it was in a deep red. There was no postmark. "They delivered it," Dawson whispered softly.

"What?" Angie asked.

"Nothing," Dawson said. He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It was written in a flowing script to disguise the writing. "At least they didn't use newspaper cutouts," Dawson muttered to himself. His face went pale once again as he read what was written:

The wheels of justice move slowly and sometimes the guilty go free. You escaped their justice, but you won't escape mine. I'm coming for you Dawson. I won't rest until your sin has been punished. Not until they have been avenged! You and your friends must pay for your actions.

That reminds me. How are your friends?

"Oh god," Dawson said softly, rereading the words.

"What?" Angie asked, looking over his shoulder. "Oh," she whispered softly.

Dawson's mind raced. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and hastily scrawled some numbers on it. "Call this number," he said. "Ask for Andie or Jack. If they're there, tell them to meet us at the ruins in an hour, okay?"

"Sure," Angie said softly. "Where are you going?"

"To check on Jen," Dawson said. "I'll be right back."

Dawson hurried out of the house and over to Jen's. He knocked loudly on the door. There was no answer. He was about to go back home when he heard a loud crash from inside. He opened the door and hurried in. "Mrs. Ryan? Jen?" He called.

"Dawson?" A tentative voice asked from the livingroom. He hurried in and found Jen standing in the midst of broken glass, a note clutched tightly in her hand, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh Jen," He said softly. "I got one too."

"Why won't they leave us alone?" Jen asked, her voice breaking.

"I don't know," Dawson said softly.

"I'm scared," Jen said, looking down at the note in her hand. "All the others...they were just your usual prank calls, nasty notes. This guy..."

"This guy wants to hurt us," Dawson said softly. "Yeah...Yeah, I got that feeling too."

"Do you think Jack and Andie...?"

"We'll find out soon," Dawson said. "My friend Angie, she's calling them right now. They're going to meet us at the ruins."

"You told..." Jen stopped.

"She was there when I got the note. She knows the story Jen. Everyone knows the story."

"No one knows the story," Jen said softly. "No one knows why this happened. Why any of this is happening."

Dawson sighed. "She knows enough. She'll help."

Jen shrugged. "Okay, Dawson. Whatever you say."

"Let's just go," Dawson said softly. Jen nodded and followed him out of the house.

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