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Thorn Sanders was at Sweetwater River on the day Jason Blossom drown. She was swimming in the shallows on the fourth of July like every other day of that summer. She swam most days before dawn, near the pier, by the water's edge. It was free water there, the cleanest and steadiest of the river. She felt free in the water, weightless and without judgement. She swam alone, although, on the fourth of July, she felt she was being watched. As she swam, she felt eyes on her and then the gunshot fired.

                          
Her name was Thorn, like the spikes on a rose stem. Like a rose, she was delicate and blooms beauty; and yet, she was given the name Thorn. She was beautiful and she was dangerous, the deadliest of matches. Thorn Sanders was a weapon waiting for the day of her reckoning.
                          
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