The Fall

“I’m cold. Can I go now?” Sammy asked quietly, fighting to get the words out. She hated having to ask him anything; he wasn’t her keeper or her friend. He didn’t even turn his gaze in her direction; he looked like he was thinking deeply about something. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, and when he still didn’t look up, she took a step back. He finally sat up and glanced over at her, looking dazed and confused. A frown tugged at his lips as he slowly stood up, grasping her hand tightly in his own. Her wrist was healed by now, but his touch made the pain come back as fresh as the moment he’d broken it. She quickly turned her face away so he wouldn’t see her flinch.

When they made it back to her house she tried to pull her hand away, but he held on tightly. “I have to go,” She said quietly, turning to face him, ignoring the way her stomach turned. “My parents will be getting worried soon, and—“

“They’re not home,” He said suddenly. She turned her eyes on him, frowning.

“What are you talking about?” She asked slowly. His face didn’t change expression once.

“They’re not home,” He repeated again slowly. “Your father got an emergency call from the hospital, and your mother and sister went out.” He said the words as if they were the most simple thing in the world, and as she stepped forward to pull the door open, he wouldn’t release her hand.

“Drew, I can’t let you in,” she said slowly, her heart sinking low in her chest. “If they come home while you’re there, they’ll—“

“They won’t,” He interrupted her swiftly, his eyes boring into hers with a fierce intensity. She bit her lip and looked down at her feet, but when his grip on her hand tightened, she opened the door.

“You should go change before you catch a cold,” He said quietly, pulling the door closed behind him. Her eyes widened slightly and she slowly shook her head, fighting to keep her voice from rising.

“I’ll be fine,” she mumbled, but as she tried to pull out of his hand again, he pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her waist instead and pulling her close to his chest until she could hear his heartbeat in her ear. She could feel his warmth against her skin, but it didn’t make her feel any better. It made her feel even colder.

She slowly pulled out of his grasp, turning around and taking a step back. “I’ll go change,” She mumbled. “Just stay here. And I don’t---I don’t have anything for you to wear,” She added suddenly, realizing he was just as soaked as she was. A smirk turned up the corners of his lips as he looked her up and down.

“I don’t need anything,” He said finally. “And neither do you, really,” He added as an afterthought. Her cheeks burned red, though from anger or embarrassment it was hard to say. She spun around and stormed up the stairs, ignoring his amused laughter that seemed to follow her all the way into her room. She closed the door behind her, but the lock was gone, taken off by her father last time she’d gotten grounded. She pressed her ear against the door, but she couldn’t hear him coming any closer. She walked over to her dresser and pulled out a dry pair of jeans and t-shirt, walking back over to the door. She held her breathe and bit her lip before opening the door. He wasn’t there; she hurried across the hallway and into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Something about being one the other side of a door from him put her mind at ease, at least for a few moments. She quickly pulled on the dry clothes and opened the door, and almost ran into Drew.

She stumbled back, glaring up at him through her mess of tangled hair. He smirked as he brushed her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek for a moment too long. “Ah, I missed the show,” He said softly as she deepened her glare, trying to step around him and back into the hallway. He blocked her path, putting his hands on either side of the doorway with a frown on his face.

“You know, all those other boys you were with,” He said softly, taking a step forward and placing his hand on her shoulder. “I bet you didn’t hold out on them,” He mused, as she took another step back, until her back was pressed against the wall. He stood in front of her, looking down at her as he placed his hands on either side of her head. She bit her lip, maintaining her glare as she looked him in the eyes. For a few moments there was only silence; then he chuckled softly, bringing his hand down and tilting her chin upwards to look at her.

“You’re still beautiful,” He said softly, bringing his face down closer to hers. “I never stopped thinking about you,” He said quietly, and she quickly turned her face away from his, her eyes narrowed. She didn’t know what to do; she couldn’t fight him or go against him. She knew what he could do, what he would do; it was useless to go for help, because he’d already gotten away somehow. But she couldn’t just stand here, either.

His hands were no longer gentle as he turned her face back towards his and pressed his lips against hers. She struggled to turn her face away, but he only held on tighter. His hands slid down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. She could feel his hands on her bare skin, slowly lifting her shirt up higher. She made a strange sound in her throat, something between a yell and a cry. She tried to pull away, but he only held on tighter. A few moments later he held her shirt in his hand, but he still wouldn’t pull away. Sammy’s stomach was turning; she couldn’t put her family at risk, but she couldn’t do this. She just couldn’t.

She managed to pull away and grabbed her shirt back from him, stumbling back as she attempted to cover as much of herself as she could. His eyes saw right through her, though; her hands were trembling with pent-up anger and frustration as he stepped closer again. She didn’t know what to do; tears welled up in her eyes, but she pushed them back, refusing to let them fall. This was her own fault; it was her fault he was even here in the first place. She bit her lip hard, tasting her own blood as she pushed herself back against the wall, watching Drew with wary eyes. Luke was back, but he no doubt hated her after what he’d seen; Cole had come back, though how, she had no idea, nor did she care. Her hatred for him burned brighter than the bit of love that she still held. She knew that she was on her own in this, but she couldn’t put the family that she had left in danger.

She turned her eyes up towards Drew again, blazing with anger. But she held her tongue as he stepped closer once more, his eyes never once moving from her own.
~!!~
Though it may have seemed that he didn’t, Hunter did know Tempest. Better than most did, in fact. He knew what she looked like when she was sad, when she was upset, even if she tried her hardest to hide it. His voice slowly lost its tone as he saw the way she hid her hands, biting her lip. He slowly lowered DeAndre down to the ground, and the small boy quickly ran to the other side of the room, though he hardly seemed to notice.

“Temp—“ He began, but he didn’t get a chance to finish. She ran past him and out of the room before he could even get another word out. He hesitated, looking down at the ground. He turned to leave the room when he heard the crash.

He didn’t bother to close the door behind him as he ran out, leaving it wide open for DeAndre to escape again. He ran towards the stairs and paused, breathless, at the top, looking at his mate lying in a heap on the ground. He shook his head quickly and took the stairs two at a time, stopping by her side at the bottom.

“Tempest?” He asked quietly, gently lifting her up to a sitting position. “I told you not to wear heels so high,” He said, but his voice wasn’t demanding or criticizing; he sounded worried. She couldn’t be unscathed after a fall like that. “Tempest?” He asked again quietly, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “Are you okay?”
~!!~
Leanne looked like she was growing even more furious by the second. Her teeth were gritted together tightly, and she kept clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. When he said her name her eyes widened, but Kendra stopped him from speaking. That was when she snapped.

“What do you know about love?!” She cried, turning back to Kendra. “You don’t love someone because they’re perfect! No one’s perfect!! You love someone for who they are, not what you can mold them into!!” She yelled. “You don’t love him; you love what he could be!” She cried. She was getting bolder, it seemed; she wouldn’t stop. “You’re making him into a puppet! He’s not even himself anymore!”

She glanced at Patrick out of the corner of her purple eyes, but she quickly turned away, looking back at Kendra. “You can’t control him,” She said, her voice low and dangerous. “You can’t keep him on a leash like a dog. You can’t train him, you can’t change him!!” She shouted. “He’s fine just the way he is,” She said, her voice softer, as if just the mention of him could change everything. It could. “He’s amazing just the way he is. But you’re trying to change him!”

“You don’t know anything about him, do you?” She asked suddenly, meeting Kendra’s eyes with fierce determination. “Nothing that really matters.” She took another step forward, closing the distance between herself and her even more, but it also brought her closer to Patrick. “I would be long gone by now if it weren’t for you,” She said suddenly. “If he was happy with you, I would leave. I would go and I would never come back. But he’s not; don’t you see that?!” She demanded. “I felt love during the few moments before he mated with you. For a while I thought maybe it was directed at you, but if it was, why would he be like this?!” She demanded, gesturing at Patrick without looking at him once again. “He was furious, confused, and sad, too. I don’t know what you said to him, but I doubt it was the truth, at least not all of it.”

She shook her head slowly, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t care about that, though,” She said quietly. “You have him, don’t you, Kendra? You claim to love him, but isn’t love a two-way street? Has he ever actually said it back to you?” She asked suddenly. “Has he ever told you that he loved you, actually looked into your eyes and said it?”

She finally turned her eyes to Patrick again, and her features softened almost immediately. “Patrick, I’m sorry,” She said quietly. “I’m sorry that this happened. I’m sorry for everything. But you shouldn’t let her do this to you!” She cried. “You shouldn’t let her push you around. Things were never like this with us,” She said quietly. “Never. I don’t get it. I don’t get why---“ she shook her head, smiling sadly at him. “It doesn’t matter,” She said quietly.

She turned back to Kendra, shaking her head slowly. “You know, when I first met you, I thought you were beautiful,” She said suddenly. “I looked at you and I wanted to be like you; I thought that I could never compete with you, that it was obvious who he would choose if he was angry at me. And maybe I was right; but you know what? I don’t want to be like you anymore,” She spat. “I’d rather be the toad than the swan. I’d rather be ugly than beautiful, if being beautiful means being like you.” She glanced over at Patrick once more, and offered him a half-smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I don’t know why Patrick did this, if he wasn’t happy,” She said, turning back to Kendra. “But I’m not going to leave, not while he’s not happy. Not while he’s like this.” She thrust her chin out defiantly, folding her arms across her chest, flinching as she touched one of the bruises on her arms. “I’m not going to give up,” She said simply, struggling to keep from looking at Patrick again. “Not while I still love him, and while there’s even the smallest chance that he still loves me.”
~!!~
Seth heard her voice, but he couldn’t see her. He knew where she was, though. With a small sigh he closed the door behind him, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the ground beside it. “Jordan, then,” He said quietly. “Why are you hiding?” He asked softly, though he knew full well why. He remembered the last time this had happened, how he had held her in his arms. He wished he could do it again.

The words he’d wanted to say to her before were gone now; was it fair to push that on her when she was so scared like this? It would only make things worse. “Jordan, please come out,” He said quietly. “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m right here,” He said, but he knew that wasn’t as much of a comfort as it was before. The thought hurt.
~!!~
Sage was about to answer him when he pulled her closer. She was suddenly aware of the fact that he was shirtless, how close she was to him. She was about to pull away and yell when he kissed her. She didn’t know what to do at first; she was frozen. Slowly, though, she came to her senses.

For some reason, she expected to feel sick, to hate what he was doing. But she didn’t; she found herself wanting to keep him there, and that thought terrified her. She still loved Andrew, didn’t she? As much as she didn’t want to. She was confused; she hated Addison, or at least liked to mess with him. Not like this, though; so then why did she want him to keep kissing her? Why did she wrap her arms around his neck and pull herself closer, finally kissing him back? The chair that she had been sitting on was pushed back and clattered loudly to the floor, and she jumped, pulling away quickly. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked slowly at the chair on the ground, at Addison who was still on the bed, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.

She picked up the album that still lay on the bed from when he’d taken it from her, taking a step back and throwing it straight at his head. It bounced off and onto the blankets. “You idiot! What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” She demanded. She didn’t even seem to notice how one of her hands raised up to the cross necklace around her neck, closing around the charm tightly. “What gives you the right to do that?!” She demanded, glaring at him. “What are you thinking?!?” She took another step back, almost tripping over the chair that she’d knocked over. Why was she so flustered? It didn’t make sense.

“Take care of yourself,” She mumbled, leaning down and picking the chair up again. “I’m done here.”
~!!~
Anne curled up tighter, trying to make herself as small as possible, as if that alone could protect her. She wanted to go back, back to the peace of the nothingness that had overtaken her for who knew how long. She felt disoriented, dizzy, confused. She felt that if she stood up, she would only fall back down. The rain seeped through her shirt and sent shivers down her spine. Any other time, being out in the rain would have had her in bed for a week. But now she was already dead, so did it really matter?

She had nightmares. She always had nightmares that no one could see her, and one night she went out to see if it was true . So many people had walked right through her, not even giving her a second glance. She was invisible to them, as she should be; she was dead, a ghost, the very thing she had always been so terrified of. She still was. She didn’t know how to make herself seen; that scared her more than anything else. What if Tony wasn’t there anymore? How long had she been gone? What if Sandra was gone, too? She would truly be alone then, wandering around unseen until she was able to make it end again.

She opened her eyes with a gasp, pulling herself out of her thoughts. She slowly sat up, almost slipping in the mud. Thunder crashed again and she yelped, burying her face in her hands. She wanted to move, to get up, but what difference would it make? She would still be lost.

She slowly looked up again, at the lights on inside of the house across from where she sat in the mud and grass. Who was there, she wondered? She felt a sharp pang of jealously but quickly shook it off, biting her lip. Who was she to envy people she didn’t even know? It wasn’t their fault that she was like this; it was hers.

She slowly pulled herself to her feet, her legs shaking under the little weight she still held. She looked across to the lights, and saw someone standing outside. She jumped, and stumbled back, falling onto the grass once more. He hadn’t been there before, had he? She slowly pushed herself to her feet again, wrapping her arms around herself tightly as the rain poured down harder. She wasn’t thinking clearly; she didn’t know what was happening, what day it was, how long she had been gone. She stumbled across the street, slipping several times before she stopped a few feet away from him, her eyes wide, frantic, and terrified.

“P---Please,” She stammered. She knew that he probably couldn’t see her; she was probably talking to herself. “What y—year is it?” She asked, holding herself tighter, her legs shaking as she stood covered in mud and scrapes. “What day is it?” She asked. “Wh—“ She didn’t finish; she couldn’t seem to hold herself up any longer. She slowly sunk down to the ground, flinching as lightning flashed again, followed by the low roll of thunder. She looked terrified.
~!!~
Vivian bit her lip and shook her head quickly as he took her hand, but she didn’t pull away. “No,” She said quietly. “No. You wouldn’t have done it if you were sorry,” She said, but when he pulled her closer she still didn’t move. She hated how his touch could calm her down so much when all she wanted to do was scream; she wanted to act like the kid that she never got to be. She wanted to cry until she had no tears left, like she hadn’t in so long, not until the night he left. She slowly let her hand fall from his cheek and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

“I don’t understand,” She cried, her tears staining his shirt quickly. “Whatever it was that you did, you can tell me. You should know that,” She said, her voice muffled by the cloth. “I don’t understand why you left,” She whispered. “Please tell me,” She said. “Please tell me. I want to understand, but nothing could be bad enough to make me hate you. You should know that,” She cried. Her legs didn’t seem like they could even hold her up anymore; she clung to him tighter, though she still felt as though she wanted to hit him. She didn’t know what to do.
~!!~
Rue jumped as she saw Ethan standing there instead of Elijah, her breath catching in her throat. She stumbled back as he pushed her, and she found that she couldn’t say a word as he pulled the guitar from her hands. When the picture blew away a small cry escaped her lips, and she made move as if to go after it, but then quickly turned back to him. His words didn’t’ make sense to her; a new chance? The door opened again, and soon two sets of eyes were glaring at her. Her cheeks burned and she took a step back, out into the rain, which soaked her within seconds. “I---“ She began, when another voice from inside cut her off.

Her eyes turned to Elijah and the blush on her cheeks deepened, but for a different person. Apologies began to pour off of her tongue when he kissed her hand. She didn’t understand; he wasn’t mad? She didn’t hear the other angry voices, nor see the figures behind Elijah. She was only looking at him; when his mother called her a ‘worthless girl’, she flinched slightly, but still didn’t take her eyes off of him. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t, not like this; besides, her voice seemed to have abandoned her now.

She only seemed to snap out of it when Elijah turned away from her. Her eyes widened as his words slowly sunk in. “M—Marry?” She stammered. She looked from Elijah to his mother, to Ethan, then back to Elijah. “What’s going on?” She asked, with more boldness than she knew she still held.
~!!~
Elysia wasn’t sure why she’d fired off angry words at him as soon as he came back into her life, after what felt like far longer than four days. As he stepped closer more hateful words escaped her lips, demanding why he was back, why he’d even thought she wanted him back; her mind screamed at her to shut up, to for once say something worthwhile, but she couldn’t. It was as if her mouth had a mind of its own, and she was taking out all her frustration, all the anger she’d pent up at herself for the past four days on the one person she was supposed to be apologizing to.

But she would never apologize. She knew that; she was far too proud for it, and the defenses that Hayden had begun to break down were crumbling once again. She looked up again as he grabbed her arm, so tightly that her breath caught in her throat. When had he gotten so strong? Anger flared up in her veins as she struggled to pull away, but she couldn’t. She bit her lip, glaring up at him, and saw something there that she’d never think she would.

He looked angry; more angry than she’d ever seen him before. The way he said her name showed that he’d been doing the very same thing she had been four nights before. His words sent chills down her spine, as she realized that she was the one who was in trouble now.

She hadn’t felt real fear in a long time. Killing brought with it a cold satisfaction, a numb chill that reminded her that this was why she was here, what she was born into, as Lawrence had said. It was who she was, and the guilt no longer even registered, not until Haven. But this; this was different, something new. She felt the cold panic like she had so long ago, the night she’d first spilled someone else’s blood. She couldn’t even find the strength to speak as he continued, and she suddenly found herself looking up at him. His words cut deeper than any had before, but she didn’t understand why. She finally remembered what fear looked like, and she saw it when she looked into his eyes.

His words were right; he was right. She knew that, and she had for so long now, but she’d pushed it off with excuses. She didn’t have a right to treat him the way she did; she never thought, never cared, about what it would do to him. He’d always been so stupid, so idiotically happy, that it never even crossed her mind that he had any complaints. She was naïve, looking only in one direction when she should have been looking all around her. She was angry at him not only because of what he did, the way he acted; she hated him because she was in love with him.

She wasn’t sure when she found out; she supposed she’d known for a long time now. But love made you weak; it made you small, it hurt you. She didn’t care about love; she only knew how to hate now. But she was beginning to wonder.

The fear she felt now was real; he wasn’t himself now, and she knew that. Or was the way he usually was not his true self? She felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, and she bit her lip hard, tasting blood. She pushed back the tears and glared up at him, but it didn’t hold the fire that it usually did. She felt her defenses breaking down, but the apologies had all left her. “Hayden, get off of me,” she growled, but her voice wasn’t as loud as she’d liked it to be, nor as bold. It shook, giving away the fear she felt. She mentally cursed herself and glared up at him, struggling to free herself. She had a sudden flash of the other night, but the only difference was now, he wasn’t going to walk away.
~!!~
Rainy hadn’t felt this way in a long time. The knowledge that her friend would be back soon, that she wouldn’t be alone for much longer, brought no comfort at all. She really didn’t know when Leanne would be back, and Sam was just down the hall, and could come back at any moment to claim her again. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought, but she only buried herself deeper in the blankets, swallowing down the whimper that threatened to escape her lips. It wasn’t as if anyone would hear her, anyways.

She heard a noise coming closer to her bed, footsteps. She flinched and made herself as small as she could, her throat burning as it had been for so long, aching for something that she refused to give it. It was Sam; it had to be. She had no energy left to fight, and she hated herself for it. She didn’t care enough anymore; it was useless. Darren was gone, and even if he wasn’t, she didn’t know if she could look him in the eyes, not after what he’d done to help her. When someone pulled her up to a sitting position she closed her eyes tightly, refusing to open them even when she heard the voice she’d been longing for for so long.

His touch sent shivers down her spine, but she still refused to open her eyes. She felt a sort of bitter resentment; why hadn’t he come earlier? Why had he left? She knew that she was being unfair; she was dependent on him, wasn’t she? And she was the one who had been frightened of him in the first place. But even logic couldn’t take any of it away.

What made her finally open her eyes was the scent of blood. Her stomach turned and ached, her throat burning even worse than before. A small whimper escaped her lips as he pulled her forward, so close that she could almost already taste the blood in her mouth. Her stomach turned over almost painfully, deprived of the substance that used to make her sick but that she now needed to survive. She shook her head quickly and turned her head away, feeling sick. She knew how angry he must be at her; even if he didn’t seem it now, she could tell. She knew; and she didn’t want to drink from him. It wasn’t right; he shouldn’t have had to do this for her.

“No,” She whispered, her voice scratchy from not using it for days. “I won’t.”
~!!~
Jen closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. She had to resist the urge to close the distance between them. All of the words she had been about to say died on her lips as she looked at him, feeling his hand in hers. He was the only one who could leave someone who talked as much as her speechless.

His words made sense, for the most part; but something about seeing the way that girl looked at her struck her deep. She looked at her as if she were waiting for her to hurt Trevor again, like she didn’t trust her. And why should she, she wondered? She hadn’t given her any reason to think that she wasn’t going anywhere again.

She wasn’t, though; she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. “I am jealous,” She whispered, opening her eyes and looking back at him. “She was with you when I wasn’t, when I should have been.” She tightened her grip on his hand, smiling slightly, though it held a trace of sadness that hadn’t been there years before; it held guilt.

Jenny didn’t pause in her stride. She was trying to get her mind off of the people in that room. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides. She knew that her anger was justified, but at the same time, it wasn’t. She should have been happy. She shouldn’t care so much. She shouldn’t like him.

She didn’t see as she lost her footing, but the pain when she hit the ground was real. She didn’t move from her spot on the floor, face down with her hair sprawled around her face. She didn’t realize that she was laying outside of Chronos’ room, nor would she have cared much even if she had.
~!!~
Anya felt like she had lost herself. She was barely aware of her surroundings; all she could hear was the soft sound of her breathing, something that she didn’t even need to do anymore. She closed her eyes tightly and pulled herself smaller, struggling to find the strength to stand again. She didn’t know why she’d come back here; Milo was here. She’d come here out of habit, out of having nowhere else to go. She was sick of being a burden, of being broken. She couldn’t fix herself this time; no one could. She was beyond repair.

Her eyes snapped open as arms wrapped around her, and she went tense. All she could see was Joel, his eyes watching her, his arms around her, his lips on hers….she gasped for breath that she didn’t need and shoved Milo back, a strange sound escaping her lips, somewhere between a whimper and a sob. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly, looking at him with wild, frightened eyes, like a caged animal that had nowhere else to go. She pushed herself as far back against the wall as she could, biting her lip hard until blood ran down her chin. She rocked herself back and forth slowly, whispering things under her breath that were inaudible to those even closest to her. She felt like she were breaking in half; she didn’t know what to do.
~!!~
K.C. wasn’t sure how long she stood there, wondering what to do. When she saw his face again, though, she tried to step back, only to find that she was already against the wall. She closed her eyes tightly as his fingers traced the scars on her neck, and she wondered what he was thinking, why he wasn’t speaking. When he did again, though, it wasn’t what she had been expecting.

She stood in shock for a few moments watching him walk away, before his words really sunk in. She knew the only way to get rid of a bond, but she couldn’t believe that he would actually do it. But why not? She’d hurt him; he’d hurt her. They were even, weren’t they? But it hurt to watch him go, with so many words still left unspoken. She had almost lost sight of him by the time she managed to make her feet work again. She took off after him, her eyes wide as she pushed herself harder, managing to catch up to him just in time to throw her arms around him, refusing to let go. For someone of her stature and size, she had a strong grip.

“No!” She shouted, but her voice was muffled, her face buried in his chest. She hated being like this; she hated being in love. She hated being scared, and she hated being broken. She hated that she hadn’t listened to her brother, that she’d gone off and listened to her heart instead of her head. But it didn’t matter now. None of it did. She didn’t care what he’d done, what his family had done, what hers had done. She didn’t care about any of it anymore.

“I’m sorry,” She mumbled, tightening her grip on him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to go. I didn’t know what to do.” She could feel him there in her arms, and she knew that he could feel what she did; confusion, regret, sadness, and love. She knew how open she was to him, like a book that could never be closed. And she didn’t want to be.

She didn’t know how to explain her scars to him. She couldn’t explain what she’d been feeling then, what she’d been thinking then. She’d just wanted it all to go away. But she didn’t anymore. She was afraid to let go again. She didn’t want to. She only hoped he knew that, even without her saying it. He could feel her, couldn’t he? She closed her eyes tightly, her grip increasing. She didn’t want to let go. She couldn’t.
~!!~
Alex didn’t respond for a few moments, instead closing her eyes and wrapping her own arms around him. She didn’t know what to say; she didn’t think she could have said anything if she wanted to. For so long her mind had been plagued with worries of Caden, Dominic, and most of all, Ella. She didn’t know what to do; she didn’t know what to say. She never did.

She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the rain pounding onto the sidewalk. Even the thunder didn’t make her stir; she didn’t care what else came. Right now, things were beginning to feel better, if only for a few moments.
~!!~
Kit jumped as she heard the door open behind her, and she didn’t have time to cover herself before someone walked in. When she realized who it was her cheeks burned bright, and she stood open-mouthed looking up at him as he grabbed her arm, though she still was shirtless. He didn’t seem concerned; he didn’t seem to notice. She wasn’t sure what to feel; anger? Relief? Whatever it as, it was washed out from embarrassment.

“GET OUT!” She screamed, taking a step back and wrapping her arms around herself tightly, kicking out at him blindly. Her foot connected with his leg hard enough that it hurt even her, and she glared deeply at him, though he probably couldn’t see her. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to knock?!” She shouted. “I don’t care if you want me here or not. I’m staying. Now GET OUT!!!” she shrieked. She hadn’t ever been this flustered before. She didn’t understand why, except for the fact that a boy she barely knew was seeing more of her than he should.
~!!~
Haven’s smile slowly faded, more and more with each word that Benny spoke. She took a step back, her eyes wide with fear. “Who are you?” She demanded, but her voice was weak. “How do you know my name?” Her every emotion was written on her face, instead of just anger. Her mind was racing, but she could remember nothing. She didn’t know him. She knew that she didn’t. But if she couldn’t even remember a few years back, who was to say that she didn’t? But she would know, wouldn’t she?

“I---I just need to find my s—sisters,” She stammered. “I’m not d—dead,” She stammered. “You’re crazy.” She took another step back, but she lost her footing and tumbled to the ground. She looked up as suddenly her sisters were there, all three of them, looking at her strangely. Andrea said something that she couldn’t understand, and then she saw.

Fire. Bright flames, brighter than any she had seen before. Red blood as the muzzle of a gun was raised to her head, a bright flash of pain. She screamed and closed her eyes tightly, curling up on the leaves and cradling her head in her hands. Andrea still hadn’t moved, but was instead looking down at her with a blank expression on her face.
~!!~
Violet was still chuckling softly to herself as she followed Noah to the door, as if at a joke that she knew and no one else did. She was humming lightly under her breath as she leaned down next to him, but she didn’t make a move to get closer to the door. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth on her heels, still humming a nameless tune under her breath. It was almost as if she were unaware of her surroundings, caught in a bliss that no one could interrupt.

Of course it couldn’t last.

The scream that emanated from the other side of the door sent her falling back, cradling her head in her hands as a pain unlike one that she’d felt in so long exploded behind her eyes. She closed her eyes tightly and let out a scream that rivaled the one indoors, mumbling incoherent words under her breath. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. It wouldn’t be the last.

She could see them; the same people she always did. And they were always dead. And she was holding the knife.
~!!~
December was exhausted. She knew she couldn’t go much longer, and as soon as she let go she would be back in her own body, powerless to stop him if he tried to go back again. She had to get him as far away as she could before she stopped. She wouldn’t let him hurt her friend.

“It’s your fault,” She said, in his voice. She could feel the hatred directed at her as if it were a physical force. “She’s happy, Moses,” She gasped, sounding as if she were out of breath, though she hadn’t been moving very fast at all. “Leave her alone. Please.” She pushed herself farther, struggling to maintain her focus. The edges of her vision were going blurry, and she could barely feel herself think anymore. All she knew was that she had to keep going.

Tempest fell silent, not making a sound when she heard Hunter stop at the top of the stairs. Nor did she move when she heard him rushing down them. It wasn't until he was next to that she sat up, and even then, it was him who pulled her up. She stared at him with her sad, green eyes. She looked so upset, so dead. Where was the life she usually had? Pain ate away on her face. She wasn't sure what to do.

"I know," she whispered in response to the comment about her heels. "I didn't listen." At that she closed her eyes, her shoulder shaking. She only opened her eyes again when she felt his finger tips alone her skin, brushing her hair out of her face. She bit her lip as he asked her if she was alright.

She looked away, at something that was not there, and struggled away from her mate. The movement sent pain through her body. She gasped and looked back at Hunter. "I been better," she whispered. She paused and leaned her head back. "I'm sorry, Hunter. I had fallen asleep," she admitted softly. She hadn't wanted to tell him. She was afraid of what he'd do if he found out that she hadn't even been awake to keep an eye on DeAndre.

"I'm an awful mother, aren't I?" she sobbed.

It was a horrid realization, but wasn't she? She was always dropping him and losing him. It didn't matter that she cared for him and sat up with him for hours when Hunter wouldn't, she still couldn't protect him. She couldn't keep him safe, and it was an awful fear that one day he'd die because of her.

~!!~
Milo stumbled back and stared at her with wide eyes. There was shock written on his face. He hadn't expected this to happen, not like this. He loved her so much, and yet he couldn't hold her, he should of have known this by know, but he always dreamed that one day he would get to hold her once more, without her screaming and pushing her away, and that had been exactly that had just happened. He hated this love, he couldn't hold the one thing he cared about much, she was slowly killing him, again. He wondered if there was such thing as an after life to and after life. If so,he'd find out soon.

He stepped forward and looked at her. His eyes were down cast. He reached out with trembling fingers to touch her face. He dropped his hand and stared at her as soon as he heard a scream from outside. With something new to focus on, Milo turned and slammed the door open. His eyes narrowed as his eyes met his brother.

His brother pushed himself up and smiled widely, but not at his brother. He was looking straight at his 'love'. "Anya," he said as he pushed past his brother. "Lovely, you look lovely."

~!!~
Hayden's lips turned up into a smile as he watched the tears come to her eyes. It felt strangely satisfying to see them. Finally, he was hurting her like he had been hurt. But still, he didn't think she could understand how he felt. He had to push harder. He had to break her until she was nothing more then a pile of dust underneath him. He would win this time, he wouldn't just smile at her and make another joke like he usually did. She would give him what he wanted, whether she wanted to or not. Today he would just take, like he should of done a long time go.

He was not thinking clearly.

He smirked at her as she told him to get off of her. He only pulled back long enough to pull his shirt off, and dropped it to a ground. There was two large bruises, one on his chest, where she kicked him, the other on his back, which she couldn't see at the moment.

He leaned down and kissed her neck. "You're so beautiful, Elysia, my Elysia." he whispered in her ear as his hands traveled down her body. His fingers tugged in the hem of her shirt. "Come on, Elysia, let me in.Let me know your big secret," he said as tried to pull it up. "You owe me something, you know."

~!!~
Cinder sobbed. "Why do you think!?" But her voice wasn't as strong as she would of liked. Not as strong as she needed right now. Although she loved being able to lean on his shoulder, she hated knowing that she was hurting him. She wanted to see him happy again, but she had this fear that he could never be that happy again with her. She didn't want to cause his pain any more then wanted to cause hers. She kept sobbing, she was so scared, or so many things, she needed Seth more then anything right now, only she couldn't ind the courage to climb out.

She managed to reach out and hold her hand out to him, hoping he would take it, that she could feel him there.

"Why did you try to burn down my house?" she asked softly. She was trying to kept her mind off the storm, and she didn't care that there may have been no reason. She just couldn't think of anything else to say.

~!!~
Trevor traced her lips with a finger when she fell silent again. He did not understand why she would feel jealous. Even though she said that it was because Jenny had been here and had not, he didn't get it. He was in love with her, not that spaz, not that girl. He didn't need her, not like he needed his mate, not like he needed Jen. There was no point of being jealous, because Jen had him, and not Jenny. So he didn't get it.

He frowned at her, still leaning over her. "There is no point for you to feel this way, because I love you, I hope you know that," he said as he looked and out the window. Something crossed his face as he suddenly remembered something. He pulled away and pushed himself up, moving random things out of his was as he walked to his dresser. There, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was old, older then their engagement ring. He unfolded it and looked at her. He was smiling slightly as he turned to her.

"Do you remember this?" he asked when he sat down next to her. It was a document that he had showed her when he had a star named after her. He remembered that night almost clearly. It started as a dinner date, then he took her to the fields out side the city. There he had set up his telescope, and showed her exactly where it was. She didn't understand why he was showing her that star until he had handed her that paper. She started to cry, and he smiled as he told her to turn it over. When she read those words written on the back she started to cry harder; written in his best handwriting was the words 'I love you.' He had brushed her tears out of her eyes as she hugged, saying she loved him as well. And then he had kissed her, the first kiss they had.

He looked at her as he passed her the paper. "Be careful, Jen, it's old now," he cautioned.

~!!~
Eros pulled his father's door open and looked down at the girl on the floor. He smirked and pulled the door closed behind him. He leaned down next to her and poked her cheek. She still didn't even move. He laughed slightly as he stood up and placed one of his boots on her back.

"There is a big bug on the floor," he said. "I wonder how hard I need to step to kill it," he wondered aloud. "Maybe my father would enjoy it's blood." With that he pressed down on her back hard enough to make it pop. The sound was so sudden that he jumped back.

~!!~
It had been a temptation that Willie could not pass up. He had come to the pass a few times before, but this was different. This was the first time he came to the place where his own parents grew up. He been in this house to visit his grandparents, but he never seen his mother grow up here. He knew he told Payton he was going straight home, but he couldn't resist. He had to see at least a moment of her past. He didn't care that she would kill him later for being nosy.

He pushed the front door open and peered in. The living room was empty, unlike other times he had been here. It seemed strangely quiet, and he was about to try a different moment in time when he heard the voices upstairs. He recognized his mother's, but the other voice was a blank to him. He knew he was hazarding his life, and risking punishment before he even did anything, but he stepped in and headed to the stairs. "M- Samantha?" he called as he made his way up stairs. He followed the sounds of the voices, something didn't seem right.

Stepping on the second floor, Willie noticed a light coming from the bathroom door, which was left ajar. "Samantha?" he called again as he pulled the door opened. His green eyes widened as he looked at them. Pink crossed his cheeks as he realized that he was seeing more of his mother then he was ever meant to see. Then his eyes went to the redhead next to her. Recognizance crossed his face, then anger and pure hatred. It was a rare thing to see on the young teen's face. It was usually a whiny frown.

He turned back to his mother, or Sammy as she went by then. His face grew darker. "GAH!" He quickly turned his face. "GET DRESSED!" he whined, loudly. He wasn't sure what was going on.

~!!~
Not unexpectedly, Kendra was furious; raving mad. Leanne's words had stuck her, and she hated them. She didn't care what the girl thought, she didn't care what she said. Kendra just wanted her to shut up. Her train of thought was cut off when the sound of someone slapping someone else reached her ears. She blinked when she let her hand fall from Leanne cheek. She felt no guilt when she saw the red mark on Leanne's cheek. In fact she felt strangely happy at the sight.

But Patrick was.

"Learn to bite your tongue. Your ideals on love are stupid and unrealistic. If you want love to make love stay, you have to make it stay. Don't you know that? You lost him because you didn't make him stay. You're the loser this time, Leanna. You didn't hold on tight enough, so you lost, I slipped in took him. You didn't want him, apparently, or you would have tried harder. THIS IS YOUR FAULT! Don't blame me when it is all on you!" Her words were bitter and hateful as if she had more against love then Leanne.

She narrowed her eyes at her when Patrick stepped forward. She grabbed his hand to pull him back. "Stop. Don't listen to her, you are mine, you'll be happier with me," she whispered as Patrick looked at her. "Please don't leave me."

Patrick remained silent as his eyes drifted from the two girls. They stopped on Leanne. He looked so sad, he didn't look like he knew what he was going to say. "I'm sorry, too, Leanne," he said as he let Kendra pull him away.

~!!~
Addi looked at the album as it fell in his hands. Then he looked back up at Sage and a smile pulled on his lips. She may be denying it, but she had kissed him back. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He closed his eyes and laughed when she said that he could take care of himself. When he opened his eyes he was looking at her sadly. "Who is he?" he asked as he pointed to the cross. "Who is he, the boy you love? Why are you here with me if you have someone else? Where is he? Why isn't he with you now?" There was a touch of jealousy in his voice. Why does that other boy get all her thoughts when he was never around. He wanted to be the one she thought about.

He pushed himself up and walked toward her. He looked down at her with sad eyes as he pushed her hair out of her face. His own ace was red with fever. "I'm -" But he never got to finish. He took a step back, then he was running out of his room, into the bathroom. The door slammed closed behind him. He hated being sick, it was something that happen too often.

~!!~
Payton spun around when a voice entered his thoughts. His eyes feel on to a small girl. She was asking what year it was, what day it was, but she looked terrified. Was it the storm? Payton watched she sunk to the ground. He felt something go through him. Was it pity? The small girl looked, maybe a year or two younger then him, maybe even his age. He walked toward her and his brown stuck to his forehead as he leaned down and offered her his hand.

"I think it's 2009, but I don't know about the day. I don't pay attention," he said, fully aware that he might of have given her the wrong year. He was an idiot and had forgotten to ask Willie what date he was taking him. 2009 had been his best guess, and if he was lucky he wouldn't be wrong or at least not too far off.

"But are you okay? You know you shouldn't be walking around in the rain, you'll get sick. I know I'm not the one to talk, but you already look pale. Are you sure that you are fine? Here, stand up. I'll help you to some place dry," he said as he took her hands and pulled her to her feet. "Ah! You're so small," he noted. Once more he realized that he had no right to talk. Although he wasn't that short, he was far thinner then a normal boy. He looked so much like a stick that even Willie though he could break Payton in two.

He looked around, but the only dry place close by was under the porch of his mother's house. It didn't matter. He was worried for this girl, and thus he didn't care where the dry spot was, he just had to get her to it.

"This way," he said as he lead her toward it. "I'm Payton by the way."

~!!~
Moses was still floating, unsure what to do. Absolute hatred for the girl flew through him. All he wanted to do was see Brooke. He wanted to show her that she could be happy with him, that he could fix things. But no one would let him have that chance. Not Leslie who stole Brooke from him. Not December that was forcing him away. Not Brooke who hated him. It was all too much for him and he felt as if he was about to break. Soon it was sadness not anger that filled him.

~!!~
Noland glared down at the boy. The boy seemed flustered and Noland didn't understand why. He just stared down at him and let out and annoyed sigh. "No, no one told me I had to knock on your door. And, really, I don't care if you want me to or not," he spat as he turned to leave. "If you don't leave I will make you wish that you had left when I warned you," he said as he walked toward the door. "I will make you miserable," he warned as walked out, closing the door behind him.

~!!~
Xavier froze in her arms. He listened silently as she spoke, unsure what to say. He was just as confused as she was, he wanted this end, to be able to hold her and not have to worry about if she was going to leave him again. He was tried of it all. He just wanted to forget.

Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, closer then he knew was possible. He didn't want to let her go. He didn't know if she could understand just how much he missed her. How much it had pained him to leave her when she had told him to. "Kristy Cally, I'm sorry," he whispered as he rested his chin on her head. He knew he should of told her, but he had been trying to forget himself, he wanted his secrets, too. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that," he whispered. "But was it that bad that you had to destroy yourself?" he asked. "K.C.?" his voice sounded so far away, like he was lost in thought.

~!!~
Darren closed his eyes whens she refused his blood. At the moment he didn't think she had a right refuse. And even if it seemed to be wrong, he was going to make her. He wouldn't let her die like this, on such a shameful way. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Yes," he said simply as he held her close. "You will, I am telling you to." He said as he tilted his head to the side. With a free hand he reached up pass her face and dug his nails into the skin of his neck. The blood rushed out, staining his shirt. He didn't care, all he wanted was for her to live, survive another day. He loved her too much to let her end. But he wouldn't tell her that. He didn't think he had the right to.

~!!~
Elijah frowned deeply as he looked at Rue. He closed his eyes as he dropped her hand. "Rue, don't worry about it," he said as he looked at her once more. He didn't want to tell her about Lily-Rose or what his mom was trying to make him do. He wanted to hold her, Rue, and make things up with her. He knew his mom was only trying to help him, keep him safe, but he didn't need her protection. Not if it meant that he couldn't hold Rue. This girl that he cared so much for. He hated his mom for this, but he didn't want to worry Rue by telling her these things.

"I'm sorry. Why did you come? Is it important?" he asked as he tried to lead her back to her car.

~!!~
Sergei held her closer, not wanting to let her go. He felt as if he would fall apart if he did. He was already cracking, she was like the glue that fixed him. He hated himself everyday for giving in so easily, even more so when he knew that she would love him no matter what. Her words proved that. Still he found himself scared to tell her. What if she did hate him for what he had done? He hated himself. He hated that Dimitri had taken the blame. He hated that he had not spoken up. He hated that he had let Dimitri die without telling him he was sorry. He hated this all. Why wouldn't she hate him? She had just much of a reason as anyone else did.

He pulled back slowly and pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. "I was scared. I am scared. I did something awful, and if you found out, I am not sure what you would think. I was stupid," he whispered as he rested his head on her shoulder. "I don't know how your father found out, it was so carefully hidden." His voice was soft as he closed his eyes. He felt as if he had to tell her, and he did. He had to make it up to her. "I want to forget it, but it keeps coming back. It's my fault that Dimitri had a hard life. It was an accident." He paused his voice sad and regretful. "I almost killed someone." The words hung in the air, taunting him. "And I let Dimitri take the blame. I never even tried to fix things. And I never even thanked him for letting me blame him. I never told him I was sorry for that."

Hunter was silent for a few moments, sitting next to Tempest and watching her with careful eyes. When she asked if she was an awful mother, he felt a tug inside of him that usually wasn’t there. He wrapped his arms around her, but he was afraid to hold her too tightly; he’d seen the pain in her face when she moved even a little bit. He didn’t understand how this could have happened so suddenly.

He carefully pulled her up into a sitting position, pulling her back against his chest. “I’m sorry,” He said softly, wrapping his arms around her waist gently. He closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. “You’re not a bad mother,” He said quietly, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. “It’s not your fault.”

He stood up slowly, lifting her up carefully in his arms. He knew that he couldn’t carry her without hurting her at all, but he didn’t know what else to do. “I’m throwing out your heels,” He said softly, his attempt at a joke. It didn’t seem to lighten the mood any. He opened the door to their room and set her down carefully on the bed, but only when he looked around did he realize that DeAndre was gone.

Instead of anger, he looked defeated. “I’ll go find him,” he said quietly, turning his eyes back to Tempest. He looked as pained as she felt. “You can wait here.”
~!!~
Anya watched Milo with tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to push him away, but she was terrified; she knew, deep down, that she had no reason to be afraid of him. This was Milo, the one person in this world that she could trust with her whole heart, with all of her. But she’d been broken too many times now to let herself be vulnerable to hands that could both hold and crush her heart. Logic had nothing to do with it.

She flinched and closed her eyes tightly when he reached his hand out towards her, but when it didn’t come closer she slowly opened them, looking up as he looked at her. Her skin seemed to grow colder as their eyes met, and she wrapped her arms around herself tightly as a scream suddenly emanated from outside. She jumped, and when he opened the door to reveal Noah she could feel herself slipping away.

His words did the job. She didn’t even seem to see Violet, laying on the ground. She closed her eyes tightly as he moved closer and pulled her knees up to her chest, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. “No, no, no,” She whispered, but behind her eyelids all she saw was another face, one that she couldn’t seem to escape from, no matter how hard or how far she ran. Joel was smiling at her.

With a gasp she opened her eyes again, looking from Milo to Noah, Noah to Milo, panicked. “Please go away,” She begged, but it was unclear just who she was talking to.
~!!~
Elysia glared up at him, but her façade was beginning to wear thin. When he pulled back slightly she struggled to sit up, but he was back before she even had a chance to move. She saw the bruise on his chest, and her breath caught in her throat. She knew that she was the one who had done that to him.

She stared up at him, but the fury in her eyes was overshadowed by something else; fear. She struggled against him, kicking out with all the strength she could muster, but still it wasn’t enough; he was stronger than he had let on before. The real meaning of what was happening now made her stomach drop inside of her. She had never seen him like this before, and it was the first thing in years that had managed to send a chill down her spine. She closed her eyes tightly when he kissed her neck, and she hated herself for what she did next.

“Please stop,” She said quietly, pushing his hand away as he tried to pull her shirt up. She willed her voice to stop shaking, and wished for her anger to come back. At least it would take away the fear. “Stop,” She said, her voice stronger now. “Hayden, get off of me!” She shouted, pushing his hands away and struggling once more to free herself from his grasp. The bruise on his chest only reminded her that she was really getting exactly what she deserved. “If you do this, you’re only proving me right!” She shouted suddenly. She looked up at him, breathing hard. “If you do this, you’re only making every single thing I’ve ever said about you true,” she said quietly, her voice surprisingly level. She had managed to keep the tears away for now, though the fear was still there, as bright and raw as she’d ever felt it before.
~!!~
Seth closed his eyes and leaned against the wall near her bed when she spoke, letting out a small sigh that was lost in the sound of the storm. He did, however, see her hand when she held it out, and he didn’t waste a second before he grasped it in his own. Despite himself, he found a small smile making its way to his face when he heard her words.

“It was an accident,” He said softly, gripping her hand tightly in his own. If he were still alive, he knew his heart would be beating faster. The thought made him sad.

He leaned down to peer under the bed, forcing a small smile at Cinder, one that probably went unseen in the dark. “Cinder, please come out,” He said softly. “You don’t have to be afraid; I’m right here.” Truthfully, he just didn’t want to tell her the truth when he couldn’t see her face. Though it had seemed unfair to drop it on her in this state before, he was now beginning to realize that it may be the only time he could do it without losing his courage, or without her throwing things at him. He just wanted to see her face.
~!!~
Violet dreamt of blood.

It was on the ground by her feet, soaked into her clothes, and on her hands. She was covered in it, but the thought didn’t bring her panic like it would had she been ‘sane’. She didn’t care; she smiled.

When she opened her eyes she sat up quickly, her mouth quickly snapping shut as she looked at the door that now stood open, and Noah speaking to Anya, who looked as broken as she’d ever seen her before. She smiled and stood up slowly, taking a step back as she watched the scene unfold before her. Watching Anya’s pain only made her smile grow wider, though exactly why, even she couldn’t have said.
~!!~
Jen closed her eyes when he spoke, and a small smile came over her face as he did so. She knew that it was selfish of her to want to be comforted by him, after all that she had done, but she still felt a surge of warmth when she was. She opened her eyes and watched as he stood up and walked to his dresser. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him pull out a piece of paper, and as soon as he did, recognition flashed across her face.

And then, as if a switch had been pulled and a curtain pulled back, she was talking, just like she used to. “Of course I remember,” She breathed, taking it carefully from his hands as he held it out to her. Out of all the memories she’d kept over the years, that one was the strongest; it was the night he’d said he loved her, and the night she said it back. She carefully turned the paper over in her hands to look at the back, where those words were still written, albeit faded.

“I even remember what I was wearing,” She said suddenly, laughing slightly. “That horrible pink dress that I always hated. Though there wasn’t much clothing that I owned that I didn’t hate,” She added, looking thoughtful. “My mother always bought them for me, saying that ‘I had to at least dress like a young lady if I wasn’t going to act like one.’” When she said those last words, she deepened her voice, mimicking the way her mother used to speak to her before laughing once more.

When she spoke, it was somehow different from Jenny. She didn’t speak to cover up silence, like Jenny did; she wasn’t afraid of it. She spoke just for the sake of speaking. She didn’t even realize when she went on for hours, when Trevor never even interrupted her. Now seemed to be one of those times, until suddenly, she sat up straight, a grin on her face.

“Do you think you could find it again?” She asked suddenly. She carefully set the document down on the bed beside her and stood up, pushing through the mess on the floor to his telescope. “The star,” she added quickly, and she turned around to face him, a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. Her face truly lit up for the first time in so long; she looked as happy as she ever had before. Not even the guilt that still tugged at her heart could stop her from being happy now, at this moment.
~!!~
Jenny knew she should stand up, but she couldn’t find the strength. She knew that she was being stupid about all of this, but she just couldn’t help herself; she couldn’t manage to focus on anything else. She heard the door open, and for a moment she wondered if Chronos was going to kill her. It wasn’t him who leaned down to poke her cheek, though. She opened one eye and glared at him, but it didn’t stop him. She didn’t move as he placed his boot on her back, but his words made an anger flare up inside of her, something different than the apathy she’d been feeling lately. She gasped as he pressed down on her back, and she heard the pop before she felt the pain.

She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough that she tasted blood, her back screaming in pain. She wasn’t sure how long she lay on the ground before she pushed herself to her feet, but she fell to her knees in front of him instead, clutching her stomach, a low groan escaping her lips. The pain made her stomach turn, and she felt sick. “Why did---“ She gasped, but she bit her lip before she could finish. Slowly the pain dulled down, and she finally pushed herself to her feet, biting back the scream of pain that threatened to escape her lips. She couldn’t stand up straight, but the glare she sent his way was filled with enough malice to stop most people in their tracks. It was something that didn’t look quite right on her face, which was usually smiling, though that was something that Eros probably didn’t know.

“You jerk!” she shouted, finally seeming to find her voice. “All I want is to be left alone!” She screamed, not caring that they were still standing outside of Chronos’ door, and she was probably waking him and everyone else up. “Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?!” She demanded. She knew she wasn’t being fair, but she had so much anger and frustration pent up inside of her, and he gave her an opportunity to get rid of it. “Why do you have to pick a fight with me?!” She demanded, her voice rising with every word she spoke. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?!!”

She stood up straight, but it sent a stab of pain through her body that sent her reeling; she stumbled forward, right into him. She clutched his sleeves to keep from falling to the ground, biting her lip hard to keep from yelling at him again. She wanted to scream and yell, but she couldn’t find her voice. In the end, the only noise she made was a small whimper as her back flared up with pain again.
~!!~
Sammy knew how this was going to end; she also knew that she couldn’t stop it. She took another step back, almost slipping back into the bathtub. Drew smirked, stepping forward with ease and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her bare shoulder. “Come on, Sammy,” he said softly, his hands trailing up her back slowly. She closed her eyes tightly, ignoring the way her body screamed for her to run. She wouldn’t risk anything else, no matter what the consequences were for her.

That was when she heard her name called.

Her head snapped up, but Drew didn’t seem to notice. She kept her eyes on the bathroom door, half-hoping that it was her father. Even if he saw this, it would be an excuse for Drew to leave. It didn’t matter that she’d be grounded for life; she was used to that. But it wasn’t him who poked his head through the door. For a moment, she thought it was Luke, and her heart jumped up into her throat, until she saw the small differences between them, their age being the most. The only thing she could think of now was who was this boy, and why did he know her name?

Drew finally pulled back, and she took the opportunity to gather her shirt from where it had fallen to the floor, pressing her back against the cold tile of the bathroom wall. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the look on the boy’s face, one that she recognized from seeing it on her own in the mirror almost every morning. She jumped when he told her to get dressed, but any questions she had were lost as Drew turned his back to her. She slipped her shirt on quickly, wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

“Who is this, Sammy?” Drew asked, his voice low and dangerous. “Seems a bit too young for you, but then again, you have been settling for filthy trash lately.”

She was too confused to listen to his words, or to get angry about them, though she did wonder what his words said about him. “W—Who are you?” She snapped, looking at Willie. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him; he looked just like a miniature Luke. “How did you know my name? How did you get into my house?”

Drew stepped toward her, his back to Willie now. “Stop playing dumb, Sammy,” he said softly. “Tell me who he is.”

“I don’t—“ She began angrily, but he cut her off. The noise of his hand hitting her face echoed loudly throughout the room, and she stumbled back, holding her face as the taste of blood filled her mouth. Rage filled her veins, but she bit her tongue and held her feet where they were. The only thing she could do was stay silent.
~!!~
Kendra’s words stuck deeper than she even knew. Leanne could feel her legs begin to tremble underneath her weight, and she struggled to at least let herself remain upright. When Kendra’s hand met her cheek her eyes widened in pain, but she refused to give her the satisfaction of striking back. Instead she listened to her words with a sort of far away look on her face, and she could feel the fiery resolve she’d had moments before begin to slip away. She knew that it was her fault; every word that Kendra had said rang true.

The last bit of her resolve faded as she watched Kendra take his hand and ask him not to leave her. She bit her tongue to keep from whispering the same words when she knew they would do no good; why ask for something you can’t have? She met Patrick’s’ eyes with ones that mirrored his own sadness, and then her wall was back up. She watched him walk away with Kendra and stood her ground until they slipped around the corner. Then she let herself fall to the ground, one hand flying up to her cheek which radiated warmth under her fingertips, stinging almost as badly as Patrick’s words to her. ‘I’m sorry, too, Leanne.’ Did that mean he gave up? Had he finally left her for good? The thought sent sharp stabs of pain through her heart that she never thought she could feel, like a knife twisting in an old wound and making it bleed all over again. She could feel the despair and pain rushing back at her, and this time she didn’t have the strength to keep it away. She couldn’t find the will to get off the ground again, even though she knew that she should. She didn’t care that Matthew was still here somewhere, that anyone could find her here. It didn’t matter now. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling the sharp burning in her eyes as she wanted to cry but couldn’t find the means.
~!!~
Sage scowled at him, feeling her anger burn brighter again as he smiled at her. She failed to find the humor in the situation, but then the sadness replaced his smile, and she took a step back almost involuntarily.

His words made her freeze, and a hand lifted up to touch the cross he was pointing to. His words cut deep, but her face didn’t show it. For one moment a flash of pain flickered in her eyes, but then it was gone just as fast, covered up once more by the wall she’d so carefully built up and maintained.

She could still feel his lips on hers as he got up out of bed, and she couldn’t even find her voice to tell him to lie back down and stop being an idiot. She stiffened up as he brushed her hair out of her face, and she finally opened her mouth to speak, but was spared from saying anything as he ran out of the room.

She forgot anything she’d been about to say as soon as he was gone. She’d seen the sick look on his face, and heard the bathroom door slam. She closed her eyes and let out a breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding before walking out into the hallway and knocking softly on the bathroom door.

“Are you okay?” She called, her voice cracking, though why she wasn’t sure. She felt another surge of anger at the way he so easily made her uncomfortable like this; she hated it. She should have just left him there to rot.
~!!~
Anne felt a rush of relief as the boy looked at her and answered, but his words made her skin crawl. It was 2010…wasn’t it? She felt her head begin to spin, almost as though she were still alive and out in the rain, getting sick once again. She looked up at his hand through blurred vision as he offered it to her, barely hearing any of his words he’d spoken before. She didn’t let go of his hand once she was on her feet, instead holding on tighter as he commented on how small she was. She was too far out of it to realize how small he was, too.

She wasn’t sure of anything anymore; what if everything before now had been wrong? How could she end up in a different year, a different time? She felt a physical longing in her chest as she thought of Tony, and the world around her began to spin faster. She slipped in the mud in her bare feet, stumbling and almost taking down the boy who’d just introduced himself as Payton with her. She barely managed to catch herself as he led her under the shelter of the house she’d seen lights on in moments before. She didn’t have time to worry about who might live there before she let go of his hand and slipped back down onto the ground.

“I’m A—Anne,” she stammered, as lightning flashed once more. A small whimper escaped her lips as she buried her face in her hands, no longer caring what this boy thought of her. It wasn’t just the rain that was scaring her now; she didn’t know where she is, what was going on. She was terrified.
~!!~
December seemed to sense the change in his attitude. She slowed down her steps, slipping down to the ground. They were far enough away that she no longer knew where they were, but she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to stop Moses again if he decided to go back.

“Moses, I’m sorry,” She said softly, but her voice wasn’t her own. “I’m just trying to help my friend. You’re going to hurt her. Please, let her be,” She said quietly. She didn’t think her words were getting through to him, but she didn’t know what else to say. She had tried everything she knew how to.

She could feel herself slipping away from his body, and she didn’t fight against it. She closed her eyes and slipped out of his body, and when she opened her eyes again she was back on the sidewalk. Her limbs felt like concrete weights on her body, and she groaned, covering her eyes with her arm. She didn’t know what to do; she knew that Moses could just as easily come right back here, but she couldn’t stop him, not now. She bit her lip to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, letting her body go limp as she relaxed, letting exhaustion take over. She’d done all she could do; the rest was up to Brooke and Leslie.
~!!~
Kit stood in place after Noland was gone for several minutes before sitting down on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes tightly. She felt ashamed and angry, confused and torn, and she didn’t know why. She’d always been used to being mistaken for a boy, and up until now it’d been an advantage for now. For the first time in her life, though, she found herself wanting to be recognized for what she truly was. She was angry at Noland for seeing what he shouldn’t have, but also for being stupid enough not to realize anything afterwards.

She laughed at herself, a short, bitter sound as she stood up and pulled her shirt on quickly, placing her cap on her head and walking out into the hallway and outside. The rain raged on, but she didn’t care as she sat down outside under the cover of the edge of the roof, watching the storm rage on around her. She couldn’t believe how upset she was over something so small, compared to everything else that had been happening to her lately. So she wasn’t girly enough; did it really matter? It was just one incident. But thinking of how close he’d been to her made her stomach turn, and she didn’t understand why. For the first time she felt something she couldn’t calculate with her mind, and that scared her more than anything else. She turned her eyes back up to the sky, watching the lightning flash as the rain pounded down onto the ground, closing her eyes and losing herself in the sound.
~!!~
K.C. buried her face in his chest when he wrapped his arms around her, feeling herself finally relax for the first time in so long. She couldn’t answer his question anymore than she could admit to herself the fact that she was never going to be able to leave him again. “I don’t know,” She said quietly. “I wasn’t thinking,” She admitted softly, closing her eyes tightly. “I was so upset. I just wanted to forget,” She whispered. “But I don’t want to; not ever again.” She fell silent then, knowing that nothing she could say could explain it any better.

It was strange, to find herself here after what had happened with Andrew. It was Xavier who’d hurt her, wasn’t it? But she knew that wasn’t true, at least now she did. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that they’d gotten hurt; it just happened. She just wanted to keep the past from repeating itself, and she would start here.
~!!~
Rainy hated herself for what she did next. She turned her face away, pursing her lips together tightly, but her stomach was aching and she could feel herself losing control. She closed her eyes tightly as her fangs sank slowly into his neck, the rich substance she hadn’t tasted in so long coming back to her all at once. She hated the way it made her feel, but she didn’t stop, even when she knew she’d had enough. Her body craved it more and more, and she could feel herself losing control, even though she knew she had to stop. She pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist in what would have been at any other time a loving gesture, but now she was just thirsty. She knew that she was taking too much, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop.

She pulled herself as close to him as she could, until no space separated them at all. She bit down deeper until the blood became fresh again, and she could feel her strength coming back, slowly but steadily. Her mind screamed at her to stop, that she’d had enough, but she couldn’t. She wished he’d yell at her, scream, tell her to stop, but he wasn’t. Fear slowly replaced her hunger, but even as she felt his blood trickling down her chin she didn’t stop.
~!!~
Rue’s mind went blank as he told her not to worry about it and tried to lead her back to her car. She was already soaked, but she didn’t want to get him sick, too. She struggled to find her words, but they seemed to have abandoned her alone in the cold. How could she not worry after hearing what she had? She didn’t understand, and she felt tears of frustration welling up in her eyes.

“I—I wanted to return your guitar,” She stammered, then realized how that sounded. “But I—“ She bit her lip, pulling him to a stop halfway between his door and her car. “I wanted to apologize,” She said softly. “Elijah, I was just upset,” She said quietly. “And though I won’t take back saying that you could have and deserve someone better than me, I don’t want to lose you,” She whispered. “Elijah, I love you,” She said suddenly, and though she knew that the words were true, they still surprised her. She reached out and took his hand in one of her own, looking up at him through the rain. “I know I’m being selfish, but I want another chance,” She said quietly. “Please. Please let me fix it,” She said quietly, her words almost completely drowned out by the rain.
~!!~
Vivian let the silence hang between them after he was finished speaking for several moments as she tried to collect herself. Her heart was racing, the sound of her heartbeat loud in her own ears. She closed her eyes, feeling tears slip down her cheeks again, covered up by the rain. This was what her father had done; it was him she was angry at, him that she hated, not Sergei. Never Sergei.

She didn’t know what had happened exactly with him and his brother, nor did she need to know. She believed him; it was an accident. She didn’t need to know the details to believe that. She pulled back slightly, placing a trembling hand on his chin and turning his face so he was looking at her. “Sergei, I would never hate you,” She said softly. She tried to smile at him, but her lip s were trembling as she struggled not to cry anymore. She closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath, then wrapped her arms around him once more, with enough force to almost knock him over.

“Sergei, I don’t know your brother,” she said quietly. “I never really did. But I can tell you that he didn’t hate you. He couldn’t have; he was your brother,” She said quietly. “And even though I’m an only child, I know that there’s no way he hated you. When I came here looking for you before and he answered the door, and I asked for you, there was no hatred in his eyes.” She pulled back once more, meeting his eyes with her own. “And now look at mine,” She said quietly. “Did you honestly think I ever could have done anything but loved you?” She whispered. “Sergei, nothing could change how I feel about you. I’m in love with you, and I always will be.” She leaned up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “See?” She asked softly, mumbling her words against his skin. “Nothing you do could ever make me hate you,” She whispered, placing a kiss on his forehead. “The past doesn’t matter, because it’s over,” she said softly, kissing his other cheek, the tip of his nose. “I don’t care what you did or didn’t do, because I know you could never hurt anyone on purpose.” She placed a kiss on his lips, despite the facts that her lips still trembled with unshed tears. “See?” She asked quietly, her voice cracking. “I know you, Sergei,” She said softly. “I trust you. I love you, and the past is done and over with. It’s not your fault. Please,” She whispered, wrapping her arms around him once more, tightly. “Don’t ever think that I could hate you,” She whispered. “We’ve all made mistakes. If you knew all of mine, would you look at me any differently?” She asked quietly.

Tempest's eyes were closed tightly and her head was resting against Hunter's shoulder. With him so close, his skin touching hers, she could almost make-believe that the last few months had never happened. However, she wasn't the type to play pretend. She wasn't the type to act as if everything was fine everything was falling apart. At the very least, she had her stone, her rock, her Hunter to keep her from crumbling, but she could never shake the fear that she would be the one to end it all for him. And what was the cause of this, the reason? It all went back to the fact that she was too scared to ask for help. Now all she could do was tell partial truths and hope she could protect her mate and their child from the demon of her past.

It started what seemed like forever ago, but was really only about seven or so weeks ago that he showed up. He being Reed North, the man who Tempest had spent years trying to forget. The man that still gave the woman bone-chilling nightmares of walls painted in blood. Years ago he had told her that she was his, and his alone, that if anyone ever tried to take her away from him, he would kill that person. Tempest couldn't doubt him, not after what he had done to Scarlett, her sister. Ever since the day he came here, Tempest had dreams of Hunter and DeAndre being slaughtered like cattle, and it was all her fault.

Hunter stirred and rose out of the bed, causing Tempest's green eyes to open and stare at him. He offered her a sweet smile, but she could see the sadness deep in his eyes. That was her fault, as well, and she knew it although he tried to hide it. She couldn't tell him the truth, not all it; she was scared of would happen if he knew. She was terrified that she would lose him and she would much rather be in his arms for a few short moments than not at all. He would never understand that she was doing this for him, for their kid.

"I'm going to look for DeAndre," he said as slipped out of the door.

Despite the fact that Hunter had put her on bed-rest, as soon as she heard the soft clicking sound of their door, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. As she walked toward the window, she placed her hand over her stomach which was now slowly rounding. With DeAndre, she had seen it as a blessing, but now it was just another reason to be afraid, another reason to be sad. She had hidden it in hopes that things would get better, later. However, Hunter had found out weeks ago, and he was anything but pleased with her. Until then, she couldn't recall the last time he raised his voice at her, the last time he scared her like that.

He had demanded why she would have lied to him, why she didn't tell him the truth, and the only thing she could find herself saying was a lie. "I wanted it to be a surprise." But Hunter loved her in a way no other person ever had, he knew when she was lying, and he had been right to call her a liar, too. She had remained quiet, even if it did hurt her.

Then there was that day, just a few days later that made her want to cry, to fall to the ground and just mope. She was remembering that day as she pressed her forehead against the glass.

Tempest stood awkwardly in front of Hunter, but her eyes were focused downward at her feet. The words "I'm sorry" slipped out of her mouth before she could have changed her mind, before Hunter could decide that it wasn't worth it. Instead of being forgiven as she had been hoping, he looked up at her with that same look that he had held days before. "For what?" he asked as she shifted uncomfortably.

"For everything, Hunter," she whispered as she looked back into his eyes. For a moment she lost her voice, but she hated how it felt to have him ignoring her. He was her anchor, and without him, she was drifting off to uncharted waters. "For not telling you, hiding it from you, upsetting you, and lying to you," she choked out, only to be once more disappointed by how he answered.

"And why did you do that?" he asked not moving from where he had been moping before she had come in. She wished she could answer him, he deserved the truth, but the truth would get him hurt, worse.

"I don't know," she whispered, deepening Hunter's frown. She wished to wipe that frown away, to kiss it away if she had to. But she had to inhibit that urge, that very powerful urge as he spoke again.

"How could you not know?" he asked, looking her straight in the eye. "You wouldn't have done something like that without a reason." He really did know her well; better than even she thought he did. There was a mixed reaction deep within her; part of her was glad that there would be things that she never have to put into words, but the other part was scared. Would she be able to save him if he could read her so well?

"I feel like a little kid being questioned," she mumbled in hopes that she could change the subject, but she knew, already, that he wouldn't give up so easily.

"A little kid who won't answer my questions." She could hear it on the edge of his voice. He was getting fed up with this routine.

"Does it matter why I did anything?" she asked as she looked at him, trying to sound bolder than she knew she was. Her whole life had been like this, she had always been trying to be stronger than she was; she never felt weaker than she did at that moment.

"Answer me, Tempest!" Anger and sadness mixed on his face and she hated herself for putting it there.

"What do you want me to say!?" she demanded. "That I didn't want you to know?" There it was, there was the truth, the truth Hunter had so wanted to hear. Well, it wasn't all of it, but she wouldn't allow anymore to slip between her lips.

"If that is the truth," he said, his voice strained and his poise tense. "Then yes." Something told Tempest that he was afraid that was really the truth. Her next words were spoken quickly, erasing all doubt that this was a lie. "I didn't want you to know, Hunter." Her words stuck a deep nerve, and she could see the pain on his face. It was like she stabbed him or something. That look, she never wanted to see it, and there she was, the reason it was on his face.

"Why?" His voice was soft, no louder than a whisper.

"Because I fell, Hunter, and it hurts, and I didn't want you to worry." It was the truth, or at least a truth, but not the truth that Hunter was looking for. However, Hunter didn't even seem to notice, he was just staring at her now in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"So you don't tell me?" he sounded... strange, well, it did to Tempest. It took on a degree of worry that she never heard before. "Tempest, if you're hurt...what if something's wrong...." The rest of his words were lost, his voice dropped into a series of mumbles and worried glances that made Tempest uncomfortable.

"See...? This is why, because I knew you would freak out," she answered as she moved to the bed, sitting on the edge.

He was by her side before he even began to speak again. Tempest could already fell the weight of his words on her shoulders. "You need to see someone...someone has to know how to help. Tempest, if you'd said something before, I could already have been trying to help! Instead you lied to me."

"But what if it's nothing, Hunter!?" she demanded. "What if it is all jut in my head? It wouldn't be the first time I ever lost my mind," she added as her voice became quieter and quieter.

"The last time was when you fell in love with me, wasn't it?" Hunter asked softly as he pushed her hair out of her eyes, now wide with horror. "NO!" she cried. "I wasn't insane when I fell in love with you, Hunter," she whispered. She had gotten what she wanted, she kept the truth from him, but why did she feel so bad?

Tempest sat down on the window sill, a frown pulling on her lips as a fresh amount of pain washed over her. All she could think about was weeks before.... She knew that she wouldn't be able to hide it much longer. Reed would see and kill Hunter and DeAndre, and even the unborn child, for it. She would be the murderer of her family. It was just like years ago, where she blamed herself for her sister's death, even if she wasn't the one that did the job.

Just as she took a breath, the door opened and Hunter stepped through the door with DeAndre wiggling in his arms. She smiled widely at him until she realized that she was still out of bed.

~!!~

Patrick had never thought it would come to this, but he wasn't sure what else to do. He didn't want to change her, she was perfect as she was, she always would be. But no one but him could see past her clothes, he just wanted to fix that. However, as he was piling up the clothes that weren't really clothes, all her could think about months ago when Kendra had dressed him up and erased everything that made him who he was. He had to convince himself that this wasn't the same thing; she could still wear what she wanted, just not if it was something... A lady on the street would wear...

It was all to protect her, he thought as he poured the gasoline on to pile of cloth. He didn't think she knew how beautiful she was, how much he was scared to lose her. He didn't want her to be angry with him, but this had to be done. His hands were shaking as he let the match. She would upset at him, but he only wanted what was best for her. For them.

She would forgive him, he thought as the match fell out of his hands. She would, he convinced himself as the flames spread quickly over the pile of clothes, or, rather, what Leanne called clothes. They burned brightly, and Patrick wondered if this was the right thing to do, but he was tried of the talks that she refused to listen to, tried of watching her slipping out with something on that showed far too much of her body. He was tried of watching men stare at her like she was a piece of meat. He was tried of being afarid to lose her. He was tried of it all, and Leanne just couldn't see how she made him feel. That or she refuses to see it.

He watched the flames burn for a while longer before he spun around and walked back into the manor. It was good to be home after so long, but he already missed his family. Matthew the most. Over the years, his younger brother had changed and was no longer the lanky child that would climb the tallest trees only to fall back down to Earth. But Patrick couldn't forgive his brother this time, not after all the things he attempted to do to Leanne while she was there. He didn't think she would forgive Matthew either, would she forgive him for the fire he had started with her clothes?

He made his way up the stairs and toward their room, which was still covered in dust from their absence. However, he didn't care was what was covering the picture frames, all that mattered was the beautiful girl laying in the bed, fast asleep. All he could do was stare at her face as he climbed in next to her. He took her hand and kissed the top very gently. "Leanne," he whispered as he kissed her hand once more. "Please wake up."

~!!~

The darkness seemed to dance around Addison as he stood completely still, a wilting red rose in his hands. All he could do was stare at her as she, all dressed up, ran away from him. Every step she took, Addi longed to follow, but his feet were frozen to the ground. His lips longed to form her name, but his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. All it seemed as if he could do was watch as she left, taking every ounce of light with her, and soon she faded out of sight, leaving Addi in the darkness. He wished it would shallow him up, but suddenly the world was bright as he found himself standing on a clock's face. And he was running now.

The clock arms were spinning, time was moving too fast for the boy to run. He had heard many times before, that time could kill. As the hands moved faster, their edges becoming like that of a sword, Addi thought that this made the saying a little too real. Every step he took began to send pain through his body, and soon enough he fell to the ground as the hour hand swept closer. Surely this would be the place he would die; his murderer would be Father Time. He longed to look away as his death came closer and closer. He could feel it in his bones, his doom would soon be coming. However, the clock stopped.

Just stopped inches from where he sat as a perfect victim. And like the perfect fool, he reached forward and pressed his fingers against the tool that had almost been his death. The sight of his hand was strange, something didn't seem quite right, but before he could figure out what it was, what was happening, he was falling through a dark abyss. This time he hoped that this was the end. Of course, his life had been one let down after the other... And suddenly he was trapped by millions of pairs of hungry eyes. Their hands shot out and their claws dug into his skin. The silent room suddenly filled with sound. His scream bounced off the empty walls, echoing in his ears. He could feel them tearing him apart, destroying him slowly. And he was powerless to stop it. Finally he allowed his eyes to slide close as they tore---

"Addi?" Her voice seemed so far away. "Addison, please," her voice begged as he opened his green eyes. Her face right over his and tears were threatening to spill over to her cheeks. He longed to reach up and tuck her hair behind her ear, but as it was he couldn't tell if he was awake or a sleep. The two worlds seemed to have blended together, and he was starting to wonder if he would ever find the line again. In the end he merely took her hand before falling back into the other world, whether that was sleeping or not, he was unsure.

Somewhere he could hear her sob. He couldn't find that somewhere so he could wipe her tears away.

~!!~

Dyson hadn't visited his family in years. His father had narrowed his eyes at him when he showed up at the door. His little brother had stared at him with no emotion in his eyes. He could hear Nicole's whispers, and he knew they were all right. Years there had been no word from him, and he hadn't even shown up when Allison had died. Now he wanted to come back? How did that makes sense? Still, when Grant- -or was his name Ethan... Tenton?- -had called a few days ago, to tell him his brother seemed to be finally dying, Dyson just couldn't help but come flying over. Somehow he couldn't bear the thought of Addison's and his last moment being them yelling at each other and Addison's fist connecting with his face.

Now staring down at that same boy, Dyson wondered how he could have been so foolish to leave for so long over a fight. He also realized that same boy hadn't changed at all, but at the same time he was a completely different person. Laying in his bed, Dyson could see how fragile his brother was. He was always so easy to break, although he was always able to stand up so tall, now all one could see how close to death he had always been. So why was he so different?

"Sage."

Dyson looked over at Addison's face. "Sage, Addison?" he asked half hoping he was awake and knew he was there. He was quickly disappointed. Addison just turned over in his bed, asking for Sage. Whoever was.....

Dyson sighed as he fell into the chair pushed to his brother's bedside. There he rested his head in his hands, he almost didn't hear the door open... But the shouting that followed was impossible to ignore.

~!!~

The sun had long ago set, and with the night came a cold silence. It was almost as if the snow was erasing all sounds while it turned the world white. The motel room seemed to be its own world, tucked away in some lonely corner of the universe. Hayden was as happy as he could be. Elysia was like any other day; bitter and mean. It only made him want her more. To him, this girl was like nothing before. When playing the piano he knew just what keys to hit to make sweet music. With Elyisa, however, he never knew what to do to make her smile at least once. It was that smile that he worked towards, and if it meant that had to hit all the wrong keys first then he would gladly do so. Playing the piano was something that he loved; he did it out of that love. Hunting Elysia down was a command that he hated from the very beginning. He couldn’t have killed her like that, he knew, so his heart was saved when he fell in love with her. He chased that smile out of love. He looked at her with only love in his heart.

Still, he was beginning to be worn down to the core.

Hayden was pulling off his shirt when Elysia stepped out of the bathroom. Her long, dark hair hung around her face, framing the shape of it. Once again, Hayden had to think how much more beautiful that face would be if she would smile. But, he didn’t want her smile for just anything; he wanted that smile to be his, to be for him. He smiled at her as he watched her move towards the single bed–the bed that she usually refused to let him share. His smile grew wider as she glared him and told him put his shirt back on. Did she think he would listen to her? Surely she knew him better than that. Instead of doing as he was told, he moved to the other side of the room, next to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face into her hair. It smelled of cheap motel shampoo, it would be a smell that he always would associate with his love.

“You smell sweet, Elysia,” he said with a smirk on his lips. “I want that smell,” he added, his words innocent. With months spent around him, Elysia knew just what he meant, and a moment later there was a crash as she smacked him with the closest thing she could find. Hayden sat on the floor and simply laughed. By now, he was use to her abuse; it did nothing to detour him from his chase.

“Elysia,” he whined as he stood, a bruise already forming on his cheek. “Can’t you save that for later?” he asked. The book went flying through the air, aimed at Hayden’s head, like any other day. Only this day there was a knock at the door, saving Elysia from another strange comment and Hayden from more abuse.

It was Hayden who made it to the door first, pulling open even though he still wasn’t wearing a shirt. Outside the door was a tall man with dark hair and a very unhappy look on his face. “Who are you?” the man asked making Hayden blink. “Shouldn’t I be asking that of you?” Hayden asked. “You can’t just be showing up in the middle of the night when you have no idea what we could be doing,” he added, nit really thinking about the things he was saying. The man, of course did not take that well.

“What are you doing in my daughter’s room?” he demanded.

Daughter. Hayden stood and stared at the man. He remembered what his mother told him, how this man killed his uncle, her brother. He remembered how he was sent to kill Elysia because his mother learned that this man was dead. But he wasn’t dead. He didn’t think he had ever been this confused before, however, before he had a chance to reply, Elysia rushed over and pushed him out of the way. He watched as her eyes grew wide and she stared at her father. The look on her face told Hayden all he needed to know; this man was indeed the man he claimed to be.

But, how?

~!!~

Michi frowned deeply, turning her head so that she could see the falling snow just outside the window. How long had it been since she had last sat there? She wrapped her arms around herself, thinking about Draven. The last time she was here, she was actually in his lap. She remembered the way he had held her and she remembered the way he had looked at her. Her inner doubts had hurt him, but she had convinced herself that there was no excuse for the way he reacted. She understood that Draven was never the comforting type, but the day she left she wanted him to stroke her hair and erase her doubts. Instead she got his anger; she should have guessed that was what she would get. She loved him, and that meant that she had to love his temper, too- -but that didn't mean she had to like it...

Her arm was aching now, but she sat still with her green eyes on the window. Michi wasn't sure how long she sat like that before the door opened again. She could feel Draven's eyes on her; still, she didn't look at him. Her peaceful silence was replaced by a thick, uncomfortable air.

"Are you Michi or Oliver?" he suddenly asked in a quiet voice.

"Do you think if I was Ollie I would have come back?" she retorted with her eyes still trained on the white fluff falling from the sky.

"No," he admitted simply, but Michi could hear his slow movements towards her. Was he scared, she wondered, that she would abandon him the first chance she got?

"It's snowing," she whispered when she finally looked up at him. He was still feet away, but Michi wasn't sure if she wanted him to come any closer. She didn't want to admit how the sight of him both scared and excited her. She had missed him so much that it had hurt, but she stayed away as long as she had because of how their last meeting ended. He scared her sometimes, did he know that? "Do you remember last year?" she went on, in a sad tone, trying to push her thoughts out of her head. "You were difficult, as usual, but you took me out into the snow anyways. But I got so mad at you when you killed that bird I had found. Do you remember that?" she asked again as she pulled on the ends of her hair. It was a sign that she was deep in thought, but her white hair was no longer long. Instead it had been cut just below her shoulders.

"You followed me in to the woods; I wasn't expecting that," she whispered, trying to keep the smile of her lips. "And you played with me in the snow. You were so full of surprises, that day." The sad note lingered in her voice, but her eyes showed that her mind was in a happier time. "You pinned me down in the snow and even smiled before you kissed me."

Her eyes snapped out of the trance as she looked back at him. "Do you remember that, Draven?" she asked once more. "Do you think if you tried hard enough you could recall?" She almost sounded desperate to know if he remembered, as if she wanted to know if that was more than just a dream that she had clung on to. "You know, that is my favorite memory," if that was a memory at all. She fell silent now, finally finished talking. No more words came out of her mouth as she turned her head to look back the falling snow. She almost wished to be out there than in that room.

~!!~

Eros could almost see his brother standing in front of him, frowning, getting ready to tell him he couldn’t have a toy. Almost, just almost. In the back of his head, Apollo frowned, once more ready to tell him that he couldn’t have what he wanted. How many times has Eros asked already asked and how many times was he denied? Apollo was nothing like he had once been; nowadays he was just a little voice in the back of his brother’s head trying to keep him out of too much trouble. How many times had he kept Eros from setting himself on fire because he felt ashamed of what he was? How many times did he have to tell him that killing himself would make everyone’s deaths worth nothing? Apollo wanted to close his eyes as he thought, but he had no eyes to close. There was something here; he knew that every time he denied Eros what he wanted, he knew Eros was on the edge of losing something that could very well save him.

And so, Apollo finally agreed to teach Eros how to enter Jenny’s dreams, all for the sake of saving his little brother.

Eros didn’t understand why he felt so strongly about entering Jenny’s dreams. He didn’t understand why he was embarrassed for her to see his scars and his imperfections. He couldn’t grasp why he would want her to look at him with more than just abhorrence. He wanted to show her who he could really be, although reality would never give him that chance, made her dreams would. Something told him that he was never in her dreams; maybe that was why he wanted to put himself there.

He closed his eyes and laid back on his bed, remembering everything Apollo had told him to do, because for him to walk in her dreams, he too had to be sleeping. Sleep came faster than normal that and before the nightmares could begin again, he allowed himself to flow down the hall and fall inside Jenny’s head. What he first saw didn’t at all surprised him; she did quite often talk about waffles, so why shouldn’t she dream of a city made of waffles. Buildings of waffles rose around and the clouds above were a dark brown. And then it started to rain. Water wasn’t what touched his skin, though; it was sticky, like maple syrup.

With a mutter, he looked forward, catching the sight of Jenny spinning in the rain-that-wasn’t-rain. A smile pulled on his lips as he walked forward, to greet her. He knew what she would see. She would see a man that wasn’t covered in scares and mismatched body parts. He looked like he did long ago. He felt like he did long ago, too. He was happy, in a way, even if it was just a dream.

“Eros…?” she looked asked looking at him. She looked surprised, and Eros took that to mean that it was true that she never had a dream about him before.

His smile only widened, though, as he took her hand, kissing it softly. “The one and only,” he said, turning her hand over and tracing the lines on her palm. With a glance upwards, he saw her cheeks were bright red. It was strange, but he supposed anything could happen in her dream.

“You look-” she began, but Eros cut her off with a shake of his head.

“We’re going dancing,” he declared instead. He took both of her hands in his and stepped back. Suddenly they were no longer in Wafflville in the middle of a syrup storm. Instead they were in a well lit room. She wasn’t wearing just jeans and a T-shirt anymore, but instead she was wearing a white floral dress that ended just above her knees. Music was playing softly as he laid his hands on her. “Do you know how to dance?”

~!!~

Freddie’s long brown hair was pinned up into a neat bun, for once staying out of her eyes. Alexis’ short black hair, on the other hand, was sticking up in odd angles, like always. The girl was dressed as if she was going to a grave while her younger brother was dressed like he was going to a rehab center. The flowers in his hands looked so much brighter next to his dark looks. His eyes were heavy with sleep while Freddie seemed to bouncing with energy. Alexis couldn’t understand why she would be so excited about this; it was her birthday, yet they were visiting their mother’s grave.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to lunch instead?” the fifteen-year-old asked. Alexis rather have been in the biggest, busiest restaurant that Freddie could find than in an empty graveyard. Why would he want to look at the graves of two people he had loved? Why would any teenage girl want to spend her eighteenth birthday mourning two deaths that should have never happened?

“I want to spend the day with mom,” Freddie said as she paused suddenly, almost causing Alexis to run into her.

The small boy leaned to the side and looked around his elder sister. He knew right away why she had stopped, but he didn’t know why after all these years she was still scared. Carter and Kay were sitting outside a café down the street. Kay was smirking in a very Kay-ish way while nudging his cousin’s arm. Both boys were looking at them, although Carter’s blue eyes were oddly focused on Freddie. Alexis could tell that she didn’t like that.

“Freddie!” Kay suddenly called, standing up from his chair. “Lexus!” he added in an overtly exaggerated voice. He looked like a fool, but it really wasn’t anything new. However, Carter seemed highly interested in keeping Kay’s mouth shut. It didn’t matter one way or another, though; Freddie spun around and quickly crossed the street. Alexis, not in the mood to deal with the two boys, followed only after he yelled out that he wasn’t a car.

Moments later his phone was buzzing in his pocket, telling him that Kay was now calling. The sound was so easy to ignore as he followed his sister through the streets. As easy as that was, why couldn’t he walk away from Freddie? He didn’t want to go where she was leading him. Yet he followed.

“Mom would want to see you anyways,” Freddie suddenly said, smiling.

“I’m so sure,” he replied sarcastically. Alexis knew raising him had been hard. She had cared for him, and loved him, and fed him, but there had been nothing in return. There had been no goodnight kisses, good morning hugs, no comforting hugs, no patty cake games, no ‘this little piggy,’ no anything that little kids were supposed to do with their mothers. He had been cold since he was young, often locking himself in his room to avoid human contact. Sure, there were times when he had crawled on to her counter just to tell her he loved her, but that was a long time ago. He stopped because he thought it was unfair to her when she might have felt like he wasn’t even her son.

Why would she want to see him after all that? He wished things hadn’t turned out like they had, though. He wanted to make her proud, but he couldn’t even make himself proud.

His skin began to itch and a hurt settled under the surface; he had to resist the urge to claw it out. The boy was just about to use that as an excuse to go home when their names were called. “Alexis and Winifred Yeomen,” the voice almost sang. Years of self-isolation had left the boy strangely resistant to the harmonious tones, but Freddie wasn’t like him. It didn’t take much for the voice to get the girl to follow, and if the girl went, so did the boy did as well.

He wasn’t surprised when they found themselves in a small alley way with a smirking man staring at them. Right behind him was a woman with a strange light in her eyes. “It looks like we need to put you two somewhere,” the woman said in the same voice that led them there. “As far as we can get you,” she went on as the flowers fell from Alexis’ hands.

“We need to get out of here,” he whispered. One hand grabbed Freddie’s arm while the other took ahold of his backpack’s strap and a foot crushed the flowers. It was useless, though; Freddie was frozen by the voice. “Freddie,” he urged as he tugged on her arm, but she was bigger than him. The man walking towards them was bigger than both of them combined.

“Ya needn’t be scared; ya haven’t a reason to be scared,” the man said in a voice that made Alexis want to rip his own ears off. He wanted to run, and he would have too if there weren’t two little problems: Freddie was still frozen and the man now had a death grip on his collar. “We ain’t gonna hurt ya, kido,” he added as a black-hole type of thing formed behind him. Alexis gawked at it, no longer sure what to do.

Suddenly he was face first in something cold and wet. He shivered through his sweater; it was a chill only snow could give him, but it was spring… Wasn’t it? Alexis hated the snow, it reminded him too much of the day that their mother died. Just feeling it on his skin almost made him see it all over again; Lynn running out into the snow, her sudden scream as the shadows wrapped around her, the sudden pain he felt as he too was thrown across an empty parking lot.

He blinked, willing the memory out of his head. Instead, he looked around the little alley. Freddie’s body laid in the snow not far from him. With shaky knees, Alexis walked over to her, shaking her awake. The moment her brown eyes opened and the snow numbed her to the bone, she freaked out. It really wasn’t surprising; Alexis just wished she hadn’t jumped up in panic and run away from him, right into, well… where ever they were…

“Alexis, please tell me that you know where we are,” she cried pausing in the middle of the narrow path. People were walking every which way around them.

“We appear to be in some sort of flea market,” Alexis answered as he glanced around.

“And how in the world did we—” she started, spinning around quickly on her heels. Her words fell short, though, as she ran right smack into a teenage boy.

The boy didn’t look all that pleased to have a shivering girl staring up at him with wide eyes. In fact he looked like he would like to hit her, at least to Alexis. Certainly Freddie was afraid of the same thing. Instead, though, he just glared at her and said, “Watch where you’re going.” Alexis frowned deeper when Freddie’s only reaction was a quick nod of her head; she would be compliant as long as he didn’t hurt her.

“Fred,” Alexis sighed as he walked quickly over to her, offering her his hand. “You’re in their way, you need to move.” His goal was to get her away, to hide them somewhere, though he had no idea where. He had no idea where they were, let alone what the year was.

“I’m sorry, Alexis,” she cried softly as she allowed herself to be pulled up. Annoyance sank into his bones as she stepped behind him, clearly hiding from the other male. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a crash and the voice of a girl.

“Your names are switched!” she pointed out. Alexis was used to this reaction, but before he could reply, he noticed the pile of junk at the girl’s feet and the chipped clock rolling towards his feet. Much to his despair, Freddie saw it, too.

“Hey!” She was suddenly not in hide-from-the-boy-mode; she leaned down to pick it up. “This looks just like the clock Mrs. Benson has.” Alexis glared at her and pulled it out of her hands and quickly handed it back to the girl. His frown deepened as he stared at them. The boy looked just like Carter. He knew who these people were; Blake Anders and his sister, Cora Benson, before Freddie and him were even born.

The girl took the clock with a wide smile on her face. Alexis watched with a stoic expression as she stooped down to pick up the rest of her things – things that he recognized from his few visits to Kay’s house. Freddie also watched, a frown pulling at her lips, as the things kept jumping right back out of her arms. Suddenly Freddie was pulling his backpack right off his shoulders and trying to pull his hoodie over his head. He frowned, glaring. What did she think she was doing?

“Give her you sweater to carry the stuff,” she whined as she tugged harder. “It’s too biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig for you anyways.” With the last words, Alexis was left standing in the middle of winter sweater-less. He stood there, staring, as Freddie helped Cora load her things on to his hoodie. He rubbed his arms. No longer were the protected. Underneath his sweater, he was wearing a tan band T-shirt – he knew neither of them would recognize the logo.

Suddenly his hand felt sticky. When he removed it, all he could see was purple staining his skin. “Fred… I’m going to be…” His stomach turned. “Sick.” He could feel three sets of eyes on him and his stomach turned again. He found himself suddenly on his knees. Seconds later, Freddie was at his side, patting his back and whispering smoothing words. Sometimes he forgot how well his big sister took care of him.

“Something has happened and we seem to be stuck here without a dollar to our names. Do you know a place I could take him?” She paused. “A hospital isn’t an option,” she added as Alexis began to shake under her hands.

~!!~

It was all too awkward. Sergei wanted nothing more than to stand up and walk out of the restaurant. He sighed as he looked over at Vivien – his ex-wife. He loved her, though he had let her father rip them apart the first time. This time he was determined to do it right; her mother seemed equally determined to make sure it didn’t happen. She had never liked him, he knew, but he was trying to look pass that as they are lunch with her.

Vivien twitched next to him, pushing herself up and excusing herself. Sergei watched her go, sadly. Once she was gone, his eyes dropped to her plate. It was all still there, just pushed to the sides. He knew he would see the same if he looked at his own plate. Her mother’s own plate was still full, too, though she didn’t even bother playing with her food.

The awkwardness only grew with Vivien gone. Even as he tried to keep from making eye contact, he could feel her mother glaring at him. His fork dropped out of his hand and coughed slightly. That was all it took to set her mother off. She wasn’t yelling, per say, but she had the edge to her voice. Her goal was to hurt him emotionally.

“This is all you fault,” she snapped, making him look up at her. He was frowning.

“I know.”

~!!~

Luke reached over the table, taking Sammy’s hand in his. This whole time he tried to be there for her, though she always pushed him further away. He always tried to show her that things would one day be okay again, but in return, she always made him feel as if there was no hope. He couldn’t tell you how many times he just laid in bed, not wanting to get up. Sometimes he felt as if things would just be better if he forgot about Sammy and went on with his life. He knew better; he liked to think he was the only reason why she was still alive.

He frowned deeply when she pulled her hand out if his and just went on staring at her food. He knew she didn’t know what to do; he didn’t either, but at least he was trying. It was hard; so very hard. Last week he had found out exactly what kind of scars Drew had left behind. These were scars he could never erase or make better. She hid it well, for now, but there would be a time when the hoodie wouldn’t hide the size of her belly. This lunch, he knew, wouldn’t distract her from it, but he could try.

He sighed as he took her other hand, holding it there. Maybe, he thought, he could make it better just by showing her that he was there for her. “You should eat,” he added as head leaned on his elbow. He didn’t have the right considering that his own plate was still full, but he was worried. He didn’t think she was eating enough for her and the baby. The baby… he hated to think about it and what that would mean. He had already told her that he would take care of it, but he wasn’t sure if he could.

~!!~

Mary Jean paused as she pulled herself through the trees. Ever since she had left so many months ago, she looked over her shoulders, fearful that Sam was right behind her, looking for his “Jane.” She wasn’t Jane and she wasn’t his, but he wouldn’t believe her. He frightened her, but there were days when she missed him, that something inside of her longed for him. Maybe that was why she returned. Just a quick glimpse of him, she hoped, would cure her of that feeling.

She dropped from her tree branch and landed quietly on her feet. She sat with her back against the tree as she thought over what she was doing. The manor wasn’t a place she wanted to go back to; he was there, but how else would she make the feeling disappear. She closed her eyes, losing herself in other thoughts.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours, but she remained there until she heard footsteps coming her way. Her eyes snapped open, hoping it was just some random animal; she was not so lucky. Samuel stood across the clearing, staring at her with a look of a lost puppy dog. How could she have ever been so stupid to come back?

“Jane,” he whispered as he walked up to her. Fear made her body freeze. She whimpered quietly as he stooped down to wrap his arms around her; he was strangely gently with her, as if she really was his Jane. She hated it. She hated him.

Quickly, with more power than she knew she possessed, she shoved him away. She was on her feet by the time he was flat on his back. She said nothing, though, as he pushed himself back up. He looked hurt, suddenly, like he was a puppy and she had kicked him the hardest she could. Then it all changed. Anger was written all over him. She closed her eyes, waiting for his hand to connect with her face.

~!!~

Cinder turned over in her bed, staring at her wall and fingering her eye patch. She would often just lay there, wondering where everything went wrong. When she couldn’t think of anything, she would just blame herself. Often, Seth would sit next to her as if he thought his presence could somehow prove to her that she was wrong. Sometimes, only sometimes, she could look at him and smile. He had done so much for her, yet she had given him nothing in return. She couldn’t even bring herself to say yes to that question he asked so many months ago. Sometimes she would say yes randomly out loud, too see how it would taste, how it would feel; Seth always gave her the strangest look when she wouldn’t tell him why she had said it.

She was scared.

She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed. The carpet felt soft under her feet as she moved towards her bedroom door. The strange quiet made her wonder if that boy who took up residence just down the hall – Peyton – had gone out. She hoped he would stay gone.

Cinder stepped out of the room, looking around; she wouldn’t admit it, but she was looking for Seth. Even she knew she wasn’t fair, looking for him when he was gone and looking away when he wasn’t. Even so, she went looking. “Seth?” she called as she climb down the stair case, following two hushed voices coming from the kitchen

“Seth,” she repeated as she leaned against the doorframe. “I’m lonely.” She looked around, making sure that nothing was on fire. Her eyes fell on Peyton. His lips were parted slightly as if he just been in the middle of a sentence. She ignored him and turned her eyes back to Seth, trying to look less pitiful than she felt.

~!!~

Sevastyan frowned as he threw his bag on Dimitri’s bed. There were so many other places he would rather have been, but instead he was her, helping his aunt cope because Sergei was too busy chasing after a girl. Roza was too busy to come and his brothers weren’t the best choice, after all, they weren’t just Dimitri’s cousins, but his brothers as well.

He sighed as he walked around the room, flipping over pictures and throwing away the random papers. He hated this place already. He hated Dimitri. He hated the view. He hated the room. Oh, he hated everything, everything except himself.

After about an hour of disrespecting Dimitri in any way he could, Sevastyan quickly left the room and the house behind as he went to look for something to amuse himself with. It was quite by accident that he had come to the same club where he picked Ember up at. It was quite by accident that he saw the girl. He recognized her instantly by the colors in her hair, although they were faded and partnered with red roots. She had been the girl at the wedding, Ember’s friend. Sevastyan smirked as he leaned over her.

“You look a little down, dear,” he said softly, as if in kindness.