Shattered(Book 1 of the Dream Realms Trilogy)

By Sophia Sharp

Copyright © 2011 by Sophia Sharp

Cover and art copyright © 2011 by Sophia Sharp

Amazon Kindle Edition

This entire book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Anyresemblance to actual events, locales, persons – living, dead, undead, or vampire – are entirely coincidental. All right reserved.

June 2011

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Chapter One~An Ordinary Life~

Laura Cubus lived an ordinary life, in a very ordinary school.She went to a public high school in Vancouver, Washington, located the outskirts of nearby Portland. She had been in one place her whole life, and couldn’t

imagine what it would be like having to move around while growing up. She knew every nook and cranny of the town she lived in, and wouldn’t have preferred itany other way.

She felt stable at her school. She felt normal. Nothing particularly exciting ever happened where she lived, and if that sometimes made things dull, so be it. There was nothing to complain about – but nothing to write home about either.

In fact, sometimes she found herself feeling bad for those people she’d read about in stories or see in movies – the kind who always founds themselves on themove, in a new environment, a new place, and always struggling to fit in.

Laura fit in at her school. She had a good group of friends who she had grown up with and loved with all her heart. At home, she had a happily married motherand father, a well-behaved younger sister, and one large, rather bulky dog.

She never felt herself to be one of those people destined for greatness; and by all indications that life had given her, neither did anyone else. While she wouldn’tconsider herself beautiful by any stretch, she had been called pretty often enough in her 17 years of existence. She was pretty, but not spectacular. More or less likeevery other girl going to school with her.

If it all seemed a little bit ordinary, so what? She had fun with her friends, did well in school, and – as she knew all too well – everybody around here lived thesame way.

In fact, she considered her life to be nearly perfect. Sure, it was a cookie-cutter kind of perfect, but it was hers. Now, if she could only get Brady Shell to look ather twice…

That was her biggest problem, and by far the most pressing. That Brady Shell didn’t seem to know she existed. Brady – of course – was the typical all-American high school heartbreaker. A star on her school’s lackluster football team, Brady had golden flowing locks that

Laura had fallen in love with the first time she saw them. Eyes as radiant as emeralds graced his face, and he had an easy smile whenever he was talking tosomeone he liked. The problem was, he was never talking to her.

Laura has been completely and hopelessly infatuated with him ever since entering high school. Back then, he was the shy kid sitting at the back of the class, theone who got picked on for being too small, for having hair too long. Back then, she had been his only friend. They sat together that year in English class, andLaura’s heart would start pounding every time he came near. And she was sure he felt something for her, back then. But, in their youthful innocence, neither hadthe courage to do anything about it.

That all faded the following year, when Brady came back to school tall, fit, and muscular. He had hit an unexpected growth spurt, and suddenly the same boywho was being picked on before transformed into the most popular guy in school. His athletic abilities developed just as much, and the same guys who werepicking on him before became his best friends and teammates. And he became the jewel of every girl’s eye.

Laura thought she had some advantage, at first, for having known him before the summer transformation. But she learned it afforded her little in the way ofstanding out. Now, three years later, she was just one in a legion of adoring Brady Shell fans.

Which was why, at the start of spring semester in her junior year, she resolved to win back Brady’s attention. But, on only the second day of the term, an unexpected turn of events forced her to postpone her plans. A buzz had built among her classmates, as word spread that a new student would be transferring to their school next week.It certainly wasn’t anything she expected. Her class hadn’t had a newcomer since the eighth grade, when preppy Joanne Stark enrolled for a few weeks before

her parents pulled her out to place her in a private school. She had left as quickly as she came, yet people still remembered her brief stay. Which was to say, a newstudent was a novelty that certainly got everyone’s attention.

What fascinated Laura more, however, was the way her school first announced the new student’s upcoming arrival. A very formal, terse letter was sent home,informing parents that a new transfer would be coming. And, noted in fine print at the bottom of the page, a single sentence said that this transfer student had been

informing parents that a new transfer would be coming. And, noted in fine print at the bottom of the page, a single sentence said that this transfer student had beenexpelled from a previous school on account of “physical misbehavior.” What that meant, the letter didn’t say, but rumors started flying around like arrows from acrossbow as soon as the letter was printed.

“I heard he got into a fight with a teacher.”“I heard he put some guy in a coma, who’s now on life-support in the hospital.”“I heard he…”Laura looked to her friends, all seated with her at the wide cafeteria table, and had to roll her eyes. She was certain there was a simpler, less exciting explanation

for the student’s arrival.“We don’t even know it’s a ‘he,’” she reminded the group.“Well, what else would ‘he’ be?” Laura’s friend Stacy laughed. Stacy had long, bleach-blonde hair, and a year-round tan that Laura thought belonged more in

California than rainy Washington. “A girl? I don’t think a girl would get herself in trouble like that!”“You never know,” Laura replied evenly. “For all we know, she might be the biggest, meanest girl to walk the face of the earth.”“Here? Nuh-uh.” Molly sat beside Laura, and frowned as she spoke. “Maybe somewhere ghetto like New York, but here, on the west coast, the girls are all the

same. All like us. Pretty, petite—”“—and delicate,” Laura finished the sentence, smiling. Everybody laughed. All the girls poked fun at Molly for looking too much like a porcelain doll, and

acting the part as well. Molly took it all in stride, laughing along with all of them. It felt like the loving ribbing you might give a little sister.“Anyway,” Laura continued, “I don’t think it’s going to end up even half as bad as the stuff we’ve been hearing.”“But why would they send home a letter,” Kelly, sitting beside Laura, spoke for the first time, “if it wasn’t something bad?” The way she emphasized that last

word made you feel like ‘something bad’ was the end of the world.“Who knows?” Laura replied. “But I think it’s something much simpler. Like… what if the district required them to send the letter?”“To alert the parents?” Kelly asked.“Not to alert them by spooking them,” Laura said, “but to let them know that the new student had been in some kind of trouble before. I think the district, or the

school, are just watching their backs in case anything happens here.”“In case this new kid starts a fight?” Molly asked.“…or mauls someone in the hallway,” Stacy mused. “Or attacks an innocent, fragile girl.” She winked at Molly as she said that, which caused her to jump in her

seat. That caused everybody to laugh again. “Well, I know one thing,” Laura said once they’ve settled down, “we’ll all find out how much truth there is to these rumors in less than a week.”

Chapter Two~An Unexpected Encounter~

The following Monday, Laura walked sleepily into her early morning Math class. She covered her mouth with one hand to prevent too big a yawn fromescaping. She had walked to school by herself this morning, and while her house wasn’t too far away – maybe ten or eleven blocks – the morning mist sorepresentative of west coast weather had made her feel damp and clammy. Which was odd, because usually she felt refreshed walking through the pristine, earlymorning mountain fog. She blamed it on the sun, which had decided not to come out today, making the start of a new week all the more miserable under cover ofgray cloud.

She was also frustrated with herself by a lack of progress on the Brady front. Try as she did, she never managed to have that serendipitous encounter with himthe previous week. They didn’t have any classes together, so her only hope had been running into him sometime before or after school, or between classes, in aneutral environment like the library or cafeteria or hallway. Or anything, really. She’d even planned out what she was going to say:

‘Hey you,’ she’d call out to him with a smile. He’d smile back, melting her heart, and walk over to greet her for the first time in years. ‘Hey,’ he’d say shyly, looking down at his feet.‘I haven’t seen you in ages, you know,’ she’d tell him. ‘You know, it’s too bad we drifted apart the way we did. I always cherished our friendship, and—”“Miss Cubus?” the voice was harsh, uncompromising. “If you’d take your seat, please, class can begin?”Laura came to with a start, and realized that she stood right in the doorway, blocking the entrance to the classroom from all the late arrivals behind her. Her

teacher, Mrs. Millburn, examined her harshly, frowning hard enough to make the white bun on top of her head start to quiver. Laura blushed, ducking her head,and hurried to take her seat in the middle of the room.

She sat down, placing her bag underneath the desk, and pulled out a binder with all her math notes. Mrs. Millburn didn’t take kindly to students who weren’tpaying attention in class, and after the blunder just now, Laura didn’t want to draw any more of her wrath.

Almost everybody around her was already seated and looking to Mrs. Millburn at the head of the class.Laura pulled her jacket tighter around her, and looked to the front of the class, pen in hand, mimicking like she was paying attention. Mrs. Millburn started

talking about last week’s lessons, and the plan for the day, and other such things that Laura couldn’t force herself to become interested in. Instead, in her mind, she was chastising herself for the ridiculous interaction she just daydreamed about. ‘Hey you’ was the best she could come up with? After

an entire week in which she could have thought of something better? She shook her head roughly. She wasn’t going to win Brady over like that. In fact, shewasn’t going to win anybody over like that.

She wished she could know what he thought of her. If he thought anything of her. Brady had the attention of nearly every girl in the school. What were theodds that he was going to pick her? Especially when their paths seemed almost destined to never cross.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when something large and heavy slammed into her shoulder. She looked up, and saw that it was a backpack, carriedprecariously by someone she didn’t recognize. Then her heart froze. The new kid!

“Sorry,” he muttered half-heartedly, before continuing to walk down the aisle. He didn’t even look at her when he apologized! Laura twisted back in her seat tolook at him. He was taller than average, maybe 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4, and skinny. He wore the most inconspicuous clothing she thought possible: dark jeans, ahooded black sweatshirt, and plain but well-worn Chuck Taylors. His hood was down, and she saw that he had long, straight black hair. She couldn’t tell fromwhere she sat, but she guessed it was cut in the vintage Justin Bieber style, or maybe a touch longer. Not long enough to be considered emo, though.

He was making his way towards the very back, where a single empty desk awaited him. Laura kept her eyes on him. She was curious what he looked like –what his face looked like. He kept walking, slowly, his head tilted down.

Something about the way his shoulders slumped told her he wasn’t particularly thrilled to be here. She could sympathize with that: he was the most novel thingthis school had seen in years, and she doubted he would feel anything less than an oddity among her peers until that initial interest wore off.

“Daydreaming again, Miss Cubus?”Laura spun around, and found Mrs. Millburn standing right in front of her desk, staring daggers at her. For a second, Laura felt like Mrs. Millburn could see right

through to her soul, see the very essence of her being. And her stomach clutched up in response.

through to her soul, see the very essence of her being. And her stomach clutched up in response. “Or perhaps Mr. Sutherby over there has caught your attention?” She paused, just long enough for the snickers in the classroom to be heard. Laura could feel

her cheeks grow hot. “Well, since you seem to have taken such a personal interest in him, perhaps I should task you with getting him caught up in this class,hmm?” Oh God, no. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea to me. You can be the person responsible for his academic development in this course. Mathematics is astrong point of yours, is it not?” Both she and Mrs. Millburn knew it was not, and Laura felt her cheeks grow warmer and warmer by the second. “Of course it is,since you so very clearly have little enough regard for the course to pay attention to my lecture, which obviously means you can cruise through the material withoutany problems.” Laura cursed herself for failing to pay attention earlier. “So I’ll tell you what,” Mrs. Millburn continued, “you and Mr. Sutherby can come inafterschool today, to this very classroom, in order to begin your new assignment together. You’ll come in every day after school this week, and you’ll be gettinghim caught up.”

“But Mrs. Millburn,” Laura began, desperately trying to protest, to say that she didn’t do anything to warrant the punishment. She was cut off as Mrs. Millburnloudly smacked a ruler on her desk, causing her and nearly everyone around her to jump.

“Every day this week,” Mrs. Millburn said precisely, emphasizing each word. “I will see you, and Mr. Sutherby, in this classroom at exactly 3:15PM every daythis week.” Satisfied, Mrs. Millburn turned around, head held high. Laura slumped in her seat. What a horrible way to start the week.

Just then Mrs. Millburn turned around, a kind smile on her face. “Oh, I just thought of something,” she said sweetly, “that will ensure your compliance. Thelowest mark between the two of you in my class at semester’s end will be the mark that goes on both your report cards.” Mrs. Millburn nodded happily to herself,and returned to her position at the front of the classroom.

Laura groaned. By the time class ended 90 minutes later, she could still hear the giggles from her classmates in her head.

Chapter Three~Punishment~

Laura dragged her feet as she made her way to the math classroom after school. Thankfully, she hadn’t had any classes throughout the rest of the day with “Mr.Sutherby” – she didn’t know his first name – so there wasn’t any awkwardness between them. Not yet, anyway.

She wasn’t looking forward to the arrangement that her math teacher had set up for her, and thought that the punishment she received what completely out ofproportion with anything she may have done. All she did was look back at him for a second! Mrs. Millburn was known for a harsh demeanor, though, and Laurawas caught experiencing it firsthand. She hadn’t bumped into Brady today, either, which only worsened her mood.

And then she had to endure her friends’ ominous projections of what being forced to spend time with the new student was going to be like. They had picked upall sorts of new, swirling rumors about him, and now that some of them had put a face to him, it only made them exaggerate the tales even more.

“Have you seen him?” Molly asked Laura at lunch, before shaking her head quickly. “Of course you have. You had class with him this morning, after all.

He’s scary, isn’t he? Looks like an axe murderer to me. Like those creepy guys you see in the movies. And he’s quiet, too. Secretive, maybe. Like he’s hidingsomething.” She laughed uneasily. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, though.”

“I heard he started a massive fire at his old school,” Kelly added, “that nearly killed half the students. And he jammed the doors so that they couldn’t get out. Luckily, the sprinkler system kicked in to stop it. He looks like the type to do something like that, doesn’t he? That’s just crazy.”

Before Laura could interrupt, her friend Stacy jumped in, adding all the bits and pieces that she had heard. And on and on it went, despite Laura repeatedlytrying to assure her friends that it wouldn’t be that bad, that he couldn’t have possibly done all those things, and that people were just excited by a new student inschool so couldn’t help but spread those rumors.

In the end, Laura just gave up, and did her best to ignore the more disturbing pieces of gossip that came her way during the day. But despite being absolutely

certain there was little truth in the rumors, she still found herself feeling apprehensive as the clock ticked closer and closer to 3:15 PM. Which was exactly the timeher cell phone showed, now.

Laura sighed and pushed open the door to the classroom. It was empty, except for Mrs. Millburn seated at her desk.“You’re early, Miss Cubus,” Mrs. Millburn said without looking up. “Take your seat, please, and wait quietly for Mr. Sutherby to arrive.”“Yes, Mrs. Millburn,” Laura sighed, and walked over to a seat at the far back of the classroom. If she was going to be spending time with this new kid, she

wanted to at least be able to talk to him without Mrs. Millburn overhearing every word.Laura didn’t have to wait long before he burst through the door, hair frazzled as if he’d been running. Laura looked, and saw his face for the first time. If her friend Stacy could be considered too-tanned, he was the polar opposite. His skin was pure white, and reflected the light strongly. It wasn’t a sickly white,

though; rather, it reminded her of the strong, clean white she could imagine on a horse or unicorn. His eyes were sharp and dark, and set deeply into a strong, leanface. If Laura hadn’t known that he was her age, she would have guessed him to be in his early twenties. And he looked more a man than a boy.

His face looked strong – proud. At least, that’s the first impression she got. Although at this particular moment in time, it looked like all his strength and pridehad drained away, and he felt every bit the young boy of sixteen or seventeen that he was in an unfamiliar school.

“You’re late,” Mrs. Millburn said sharply, and he dropped his head, looking right at the floor. He mumbled something, but Laura couldn’t make it out.“What? Speak up, boy! There’s no shame in being loud enough to be heard.”“I said, I’m sorry,” he repeated, louder this time. “I got lost in the hallways on my way here.”“Yes, yes, that’s perfectly understandable,” Mrs. Millburn said waving him away with one hand. “The only one you’re harming by being late is your friend over

there, sitting at the back. Every minute you’re late is an extra minute she’ll have to stay.”“I’m sorry,” he said again.“Bah! Don’t apologize to me, boy. It’s her you should be saying sorry to. But that’s neither here nor there. Miss Cubus?”“Yes, Mrs. Millburn?” Laura said.“For your first day at Mr. Sutherby’s personal tutor, I want you to go over all the chapters we’ve completed so far this year. Take note of anything he may have

not seen before, and make sure he learns it well.”“Yes, Mrs. Millburn.”“Hmph. Good, then. Well, Mr. Sutherby? You’re not going to learn anything standing up here. Go say hi to the nice girl at the back, and get started.” Laura

knew that Mrs. Millburn knew how awkward this whole thing was going to be for her, and figured it was just a way of punishing even further. “Go on, she won’tbite. Although I’m not sure how good her attention span is.” And with that, Mrs. Millburn turned her attention back to her desk.

Laura switched her gaze to “Mr. Sutherby,” who still stood at the front of the room, looking at his feet. A bag – the same one that hit her this morning – hungslumped over his shoulder. Finally, she saw him shake his head, and start to make his way over to her. He walked slowly, and every step he took looked like itwas one step closer to agony.

In spite of herself, Laura began to feel a little nervous, too. Her heart started beating faster, and she could feel her palms start to clam up. He sure was taking histime coming over. Was he always like this? Was there something wrong with her that he didn’t like? Was he just shy? Questions raced through her mind as the

time coming over. Was he always like this? Was there something wrong with her that he didn’t like? Was he just shy? Questions raced through her mind as thedistance between him and her closed ever-so-slowly.

Finally he came up to her desk, pulled out a nearby chair, and collapsed heavily into it. He still hadn’t made eye contact with her.“So…” she began unsteadily after a moment’s silence, not sure of what to say, “…are you, uhm, any good at math?”He shrugged his shoulders in reply.“Do you… know what we’re doing in class?”He shrugged again, eyes glued to the floor. Laura swallowed. She felt like she was talking to a wall. She didn’t know what else to say. The silence stretched,

growing awkward.“Thanks for dragging me into this,” he finally mumbled. Laura could barely make out the words, but when they registered, she was taken aback.“What?” she demanded.“I said, thanks for dragging me into this,” he shot back, and rose his eyes to meet hers. His eyes were fiery, ablaze with untold emotion. For the first time in her

life, Laura felt truly scared. It looked like they pulsed – angrily or not, she couldn’t say – and wielded supernatural power. She felt cold, lost, and alone. Isolatedfrom everyone else in this world, stuck forever in his unnatural gaze, helpless to ever escape.

Then he blinked, and all that died, and her fear disappeared. His eyes were normal again, and he as looking at her askance.“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked.“What way?” she answered. “And what’s wrong with your eyes?”“My eyes?” He looked perplexed. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes.”“But just now, when you looked at me, they were…”“—they were what?” he asked.“They were… raging.”“Raging?” He laughed. “I’ve never heard that one before.”“Ah! So you do know what I’m talking about.”“No, I’ve got no idea.”“But you said ‘that one,’ like you’ve heard things before?” she answered slowly.“Did I?” he mused, and smiled at her. “No, I promise you, I’ve got no idea.”“Then why’d you say it?”“Say what?”“That you’ve never heard that one before.”A wide smile slowly spread across his face, and she suddenly understood. He was teasing her!“Very funny,” she said drily. He spread his arms in response. “So, Mr. Funny-man, it looks like we’re both stuck here for what remains of this week, and

potentially this whole semester. So I think we’d better start this relationship by exchanging names.”“Logan,” he said simply.“Logan?” He nodded. “That’s funny, you strike me more as a ‘Jonathan’ or ‘Steve.’ I’ve never met a ‘Logan’ before. My name’s Laura.”“Nice to meet you, then,” he said. “I’ve never met a ‘Laura’ before, either.”“So it’s something new for the both of us.”“Looks like it is.”“Ahem!” An angry voice at the front of the room interrupted, causing both of them to look up. Mrs. Millburn stood behind her desk, frowning. “You two

lovebirds are here for a reason, and that reason is to learn math, is it not? Laura, why do I not see your textbook, or a single worksheet, on your desk?”“Sorry, Mrs. Millburn,” Laura said, thinking quickly. “I was just… asking Logan how much math he’s done in the past.”“Well, you’d better start to show him what we’ve done in the past. Unless you want me to extend your stay here?”“No, Mrs. Millburn. I will, Mrs. Millburn.” Laura hated being so subservient, but it wasn’t like she had much choice. She reached down in her bag to pull out

her math textbook, and put it on the table.“She’s a bit of a hag, isn’t she?” Logan asked, eyeing the desk where Mrs. Millburn stood warily. “What’s the history with you two? Did she always hate you,

or did that just start today?”Laura sighed. She didn’t feel like explaining all of that to Logan right now. “Never mind that. We need to at least start looking through this math book, or else

she’s going to yell at us again.”“Yea, alright.” He looked down again, and for a second Laura found herself admiring Logan. There was something about him, something… different.

Something mysterious, maybe. The way he walked around, shoulders slumped, was a stark contrast to the way he had just teasingly interacted with her. He wasprobably just shy, coming to an entirely new place, and found it easy – for whatever reason – to open up to her.

And now that she’d talked to him, she thought it even less likely that he could possibly have been responsible for any of the horrible things that were being saidabout him. He seemed like the shyest, most peaceful kid ever.

In any case, Laura didn’t think she’d be dreading coming here afterschool anymore. She thought Logan might develop into somewhat of a friend.

Chapter Four~Brady Shell~

The rest of the week passed without incident. Laura still hadn’t managed to find Brady anywhere, and began doubting whether she’d be able to do good on herstart-of-semester resolution. She was still determined, however.

But thankfully, her afterschool detention sessions with Logan were turning out not quite as bad as she’d imagined. She learned that Logan actually knew moremath than she did, and ended up teaching her some of the things she didn’t yet understand. He was sharp, and afterschool, in the relative privacy of the near-emptyclassroom, he was engaging, lively, and interesting.

Which was why she didn’t understand the way he acted during school. Every math class she had that week, he’d arrive after her, and shoot her a shy smile as hepassed. Otherwise, though, he didn’t acknowledge her presence in any way. Or anybody else’s, really. He kept his head down, and always wore the same, dullclothing. It was like he wished he could shrink his long limbs so they would stop taking up so much space.

Laura found herself starting to wonder what happened to cause him to transfer here. What really happened. She didn’t put any stock into the rumors she heard. At the same time, she had been unable to force herself to ask him about it herself. It felt like she would be invading his personal life if she pried like that, and shedidn’t feel comfortable doing that yet.

One time during math class, Laura snuck a peek back at Logan. As expected, he sat with his head down. But just at that moment, an image flashed in her headof a powerful lion – a king – who’d been disgraced. It felt like all the power was still there, just…restrained. Like it was forcibly being thrust down. Just as

of a powerful lion – a king – who’d been disgraced. It felt like all the power was still there, just…restrained. Like it was forcibly being thrust down. Just asquickly as it came, the image disappeared. And she found Logan looking back at her, meeting her gaze strongly.

She spun around quickly. He had seen her looking. She hoped he didn’t get the wrong impression. She also hoped Mrs. Millburn wouldn’t notice.Thankfully, their teacher was busy writing on the board. Relieved, Laura returned to her notes. But she could feel Logan’s gaze on her back. Logan was also always the first to leave at the bell, brushing by people to get to the door. Laura knew he had heard the rumors swirling about him by now, and

hoped they weren’t getting to him. She couldn’t imagine the instability his life held. But she knew things would get better for him, if only he started speaking upmore.

Which is what she decided to tell him at their next detention session together on Friday. Today’s session – Thursday’s – was cancelled by Mrs. Millburn onaccount of her grandson’s birthday.

So, it was on a rainy Thursday afternoon, in the break before the last class of the day, when Laura found herself in a hallway struggling with the mechanism onher locker. The second bell had already rung, marking anybody coming to class late, so the hallway around her was completely empty. But no matter how manytimes she tried the combination, her locker wouldn’t open. She banged her fist against the cold metal in frustration, producing a clang that ran all the way down thehall.

“Do you need a hand?” a strong voice asked her. It seemed familiar, in some way…Laura looked towards it, and felt her heart freeze in her chest. Brady Shell was standing beside her, with that easy smile gracing his face. Brady Shell! And he

looked handsome as ever. She couldn’t believe it. All this year, she hadn’t seen him pass by her locker once, and now, with almost everybody else already in class, he was standing here,

beside her, offering to help. What were the odds? “Uh… yea,” she muttered, stumbling over the words. “I think the lock is busted.” Idiot! That was the best you could come up with? “Oh, well that’s OK,” he said, turning his attention to her locker. She stepped aside, letting him examine it. Which was when she felt a strong hand grab her ass.“Hey!” She whipped around, and came face to face with some guy she’d never seen before. He was grinning widely. He was wide, too, and built like a

football player. “You can’t do that!”“Oh really?” he asked, still smiling. “Can’t do what? This?” And he reached around with one hand to grab her again. She shoved his hand away, and stepped

back, trying to get some space, but felt herself bump into another body. She looked behind her. Brady was standing there, grinning as widely as the other guy. “Didn’t we know each other, before?” he mused at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw another two guys approaching them. “I think we did. You’re…

Laura, right? From back in ninth grade? My, but how much you’ve grown since then…”“And developed very nicely,” the wide-guy added brusquely. “Yes, she has, hasn’t she?” Brady said. He grabbed her by the waist, and started moving his hand up her back.“Get off me!” she exclaimed, pushing him away. But those other two guys she saw approaching had already surrounded her, blocking any escape route she had. She looked in terror from one guy to the next. All three looked like big, mean football players. And then there was Brady, who didn’t look like he matched them

at all, yet he was smiling as wickedly as the rest.“Ooh, she’s a feisty little vixen, isn’t she?” one of the two new guys crooned. Somebody pushed her – hard – and she went flying right into the guy. He caught

her easily and spun her around, then wrapped his arms around her body, hugging her close to him. “Why, I didn’t know you liked me already,” he said crudely,and all four of the guys laughed. She struggled, trying to escape, but his grip was too strong. She looked desperately to Brady, but he was laughing just as much.

“What should we do with her, Brad?” the guy holding her asked. She tried to swing her head into his, to do something that would cause him to let up on his irongrip, but she was too short. Wait. Brad? Was that what these guys called him, now? The guy finally let go, and she stumbled into the middle of the clearing. Allaround her, hungry eyes stared at her body.

“I think she’s a good girl,” Brady said ominously, stepping closer to her, “so I think she’ll cooperate with anything we say. Won’t you, Laura?” Laura shrunk back. All four guys stepped even closer. She was trapped, with no way out. She felt another hand slap her ass, and a roar of laughter erupted

from the group. She was scared, now. She could scream, but she doubted anybody would hear, here in the most abandoned corner of the school. Brady took another step towards her, and she was about to make a fist right when her arms were grabbed and held. She struggled, trying to get out of the grip,

but it was no use. There were four of them, and only one of her. Oh God, what were they going to do? How could this be happening to her, right here in theschool? And Brady, of all people, seemed to be their ring-leader. She felt her whole world start to collapse on itself.

“Stop.”A loud voice broke cut through the laughter, causing all four of the guys to look up. Laura looked up, too. And found Logan standing a few meters away, feet

spread in an aggressive stance, looking right at them.“What did you say?” Brady said ominously, turning to face him.“I told you to stop,” Logan replied simply. “Or what?” Brady rounded on Logan.“Or I will make you.”“Oh really?” Brady’s tone was incredulous. “Boys, this guy here thinks he’s going to stop us.” That caused another roar of laughter to come from the three guys still around Laura. “We’re probably scaring his little girlfriend,” Brady continued derisively. The words stung, despite everything what was happening, because they came from

Brady’s mouth.“Hey, isn’t it that new kid?” the guy holding Laura offered. “Yea, Brad, I think it is.”“And you’re new?” Brady asked, walking right up to Logan. “Well, new kid, I think you better get on your way. We wouldn’t want to see you getting hurt.”

Then he shoved Logan right in the chest, knocking him back. He staggered back, but made no move to counter. Laura’s arms were still twisted behind her, andthey hurt.

Brady turned around, back to face Laura and his crew, satisfied that he’d dealt successfully with the nuisance. But then Logan spoke again:“Last chance, Brad. Tell your friends to back off.”Brady spun around furiously. “Nobody ever call me Brad,” he spat, “except for my teammates!” And he threw a punch right for Logan’s head.Everything happened at once. Logan stepped aside easily, avoiding Brady’s fist, and Brady lost his balance and staggered forward. Logan swept a foot out, tripping him, and allowed Brady’s

momentum to carry him to the floor.At the same time, one of the guys standing behind Laura charged at Logan. Just as he was about to slam his shoulder into Logan’s side, Logan raised a knee

hard, and the guy’s chest rebounded against it. The guy gasped, having the wind knocked out of him, and fell back to the floor. Brady had already gotten up, and was in the middle of swinging a sucker punch to the back of Logan’s head. Laura screamed, but Logan twisted around just in

time to block the blow with his forearm. Brady looked stunned for a moment, but that expression quickly turned to pain as Logan clubbed him in the midsectionwith a fist. Brady fell down, clutching at his stomach.

with a fist. Brady fell down, clutching at his stomach.Growling, the guy holding Laura let her go, and ran at Logan. So did his friend. Laura collapsed to the floor. When she looked up half a second later, the wide-

guy who held her before had his hands at his face, trying desperately to stop the blood flowing from a vicious gnash on his nose. And his friend was also writhingon the floor in pain.

Logan stood there, amongst the four bodies, completely unscathed. And looking worriedly over at her. Just then, the second guy – the one who had gotten a knee in the chest – decided that he hadn’t had enough yet. He got up, and ran at Logan from behind. “Watch out!” Laura screamed, but Logan just gracefully – majestically – extended his left leg back in a roundhouse kick. Logan’s foot struck the guy in the

chest, and he collapsed heavily to the floor. Logan looked back at Laura. Seeing that she was still there, he walked over to Brady, who lay face-down against the floor. Gruffly, Logan kicked him over to

his back, and dropped to one knee to pin both of Brady’s shoulders to the ground. From where Laura was, she thought Brady was in enormous pain.“Listen to me, Brad,” Logan began, “I don’t want you doing that to her, or any other girl, ever again. Do you understand?”Brady whimpered desperately and nodded his head in agreement. “In fact, Brad,” Logan continued, “I don’t even want to so much as hear of you being in this part of the school again. Do I make myself clear?”Brady kept nodding, over and over. Laura thought she could see tears running down his face. Somehow, holding him like that, Logan was hurting him. Really

hurting him. She had to end it.“Stop it!” she yelled. She tried getting up, to pull Logan off, but her knees were weak, and didn’t want to support her.As soon as the words left her mouth, Logan looked to her. And removed his hands from Brady’s shoulders. Brady exhaled in relief, and weakly rolled to one

side to cradle himself with his hands. Logan rose, and stepped quickly over the bodies to walk up to Laura. Before she knew it, he had his hands gently under her arms, helping her up.“Are you OK?” he asked, frowning with worry.“Yes,” Laura answered. “But… why did you do that?”“Do what?” Logan asked quizzically.“Do that,” Laura emphasized, pointing to the four guys still mostly on the floor. “Why did you do that to them? Why did you interfere?”“They had no right to treat you that way.”“But I didn’t ask you to do that!” This felt wrong, somehow, arguing like this with her rescuer, but she couldn’t control her emotions. And right now, they were

demanding an outburst. “Oh my God, now Brady’s going to hate me. They’re all going to hate me. All going to blame me!”“You cannot be complicit in things like this, Laura…”“Oh, like you would know?” she spat.“I know more than you might think,” he said.“Oh, give me a break. You haven’t lifted your head once in school! I don’t think you’ve even spoken to anyone other than me! You had no right to interfere,

no right to do that at all!”“And without me, Laura, what would you have done?”“I don’t know,” she said. She felt herself getting close to tears, and had to bite off the end of every word. “But I know I still would have had a chance with

Brady! Oh, who knows what he’s going to think of me now. He’s probably going to hate my guts! Why did you have to do that?” Her eyes began to water, andshe clenched a fist, swinging it right at Logan’s stomach. He made no move to get out of the way.

Her blow connected, and it felt like she had hit a concrete wall. The reverberation ran all the way up her arm, hurting both her elbow, her shoulder, and herknuckles.

“Very well,” Logan said quietly. He turned and walked away, leaving Laura to slump against her locker. Tears began to stream down her face.

Chapter Five~Shock and Murder~

Laura had run home as soon as her legs were strong enough to carry her. Run from the scene that lay before her. Run from the memories there.She lay face down on her bed, the door to her bedroom locked. Away from her parents, away from her sister, away from her dog, away from everybody.She hadn’t told any of her friends what happened. She hadn’t told anybody what happened, for that matter. She had dozens of missed calls from her friends so

far, wondering why she didn’t show up in last class, wondering why she wasn’t there to walk home with them afterschool, wondering a hundred different things. She ignored them all. She was in no mood to talk to anyone.

It felt like in that one afternoon, everything had collapsed around her. She dreaded what school the next day would bring. An encounter with Logan, in firstperiod math, for starters.

Her world was collapsing around her, Logan was at the heart of it all. If Logan hadn’t shown up in the hall, maybe things wouldn’t have gone that way withBrady. If Logan hadn’t come to school in the first place, maybe she would have bumped into Brady sometime after school, instead of having to endure detention inmath. If Logan hadn’t been there to beat all those guys senseless, warning them to stay away from her, maybe she’d still had a chance with Brady.

The rational part of her brain told she couldn’t blame Logan entirely. It told her that Brady was an asshole, and that she shouldn’t feel heartbroken over him. Butshe did. Years of utter infatuation over him weren’t swept aside just like that. She found herself being overwhelmed completely by her emotions, and it wasn’t afeeling she was familiar with.

How was it that Brady had become such a jerk? He was so nice before, so quiet and well-meaning and polite. She couldn’t believe what he tried to do to her. Could it have been his friends, the three guys he was with, pressuring him into doing something like that? And was she a special target, or would they have donethe same to any girl they found that day? Or, for that matter, had they grouped up on lone girls like that before?

Laura wouldn’t believe it. Not out of Brady. He wasn’t like that. She knew that. Or… she thought she did, were it not for a small voice telling her that yes, he was like that. She refused to listen. She had held out for him for so long, lusted

after him for so long, that she couldn’t just flip a switch and forget about it all.She buried her head further in her pillow and sobbed. Brady was like that, and he had tried to do things to her. Along with three of his friends. Anything her

imagination had conjured up before about what he was like was coming face to face with reality. And reality was winning. Stubbornly, she pushed herself up from bed. Reality was winning, and she couldn’t just hide from it. And reality was that Logan, of all people, had rescued her

from her assailants. And that one of her assailants was Brady. She nearly broke down again after that last thought. Instead, she shut her eyes tight, and willed the pain to go away. After a moment, it did subside, and Laura

could open her eyes. The reality of things was that Logan had saved her, and if he hadn’t been there she couldn’t say what might have happened. But it would have been much, much

worse. Logan had saved her, and she repaid him by punching him in the gut. Idiot! Complete and utter idiot! Logan had risked his wellbeing, had risked himself, just

Logan had saved her, and she repaid him by punching him in the gut. Idiot! Complete and utter idiot! Logan had risked his wellbeing, had risked himself, justto help a girl he saw was in distress. He had faced four guys much bigger than him without blinking, all for her. How could she have been so blind, exploding athim like she had?

She stood up. It was because she let her emotions take hold of her in that moment. It happened so rarely to her that she didn’t know how to react. But now sheknew. If she ever felt even the tiniest shred of emotion trying to come to life within her, she would push it down as harshly as she could. Push it down and keep itthere, locking it away forever. She never wanted to be vulnerable enough to do something stupid again.

And she knew she had to thank Logan. It was going to be hard, but she had to do it. She was determined to, now. It was too bad she didn’t have his phonenumber, so she could text or even call and apologize.

The apology could wait until tomorrow, at least. She though it would be an awkward, uncomfortably tense moment for her. And after the way she reacted to hisrescue, she doubted very much he would want to listen.

She heard scratching at the door, and opened it to let her dog in. The great thing jumped up to her, and she caught him in her arms, letting him lick the trails ofher tears away.

--

Laura woke up late the next morning, and had to rush to school. She arrived fifteen minutes late despite her best efforts.She got a stern look from Mrs. Millburn when she opened the door to interrupt lecture. But her eyes instantly darted to Logan’s spot at the back. It was empty.A strange mix of relief and disappointment flooded over her as she walked to her seat. Logan wasn’t there. Meaning that she couldn’t talk to him. Which meant

that the apology would continue to loom over her until she saw him.She watched the door the entire class, hoping he would come through it, hoping he was late just as she was. But he never came. And when the bell rang to

dismiss class, Mrs. Millburn called Laura up to her desk.“Yes?” Laura asked over the sounds of shuffling students and brass conversation behind her.“I just wanted to inform you that your arrival today was unacceptable, Miss Cubus.”“Yes, I know. I’m sorry. I overslept accidentally this morning. It won’t happen again.”“Hmm. You better see to it that it won’t. I also wanted to let you know that your presence afterschool today will be unnecessary.”“What? How come?”“As I’m sure you noticed, Mr. Sutherby didn’t come in today. I was informed by the office that somebody called in an absence for him for today. So, seeing as

he won’t be here, I see no point for you to come in by yourself.”“Oh.”“Of course, come Monday, I expect to see both of you here precisely at 3:15 PM. You will have the opportunity to make up today’s session then.”“Ok.” Laura turned to the door. “Thank you, Mrs. Millburn.”Laura shouldered her way to her next class through the thick throng of students in the halls. After an agonizing 90-minute science lecture on the anatomy of the

bacteria cell, it was finally time for lunch, where she would see all her friends.She found them in the cafeteria, sitting around their usual table. She made her way over to them, and Stacy was the first to notice her, and jumped out of her seat

to grab Laura in a big hug.“Laura!” she exclaimed, “where have you been? We were all so worried!”“Worried? Why?” She hadn’t told anybody what happened yesterday, and she doubted Brady or any of those guys did. And since Logan was absent, he

couldn’t have mentioned anything either. “Haven’t you heard?”“Heard what?”“Somebody was murdered near us last night!”“What?” Laura was shocked at the news. And somewhat relieved that it hadn’t had anything to do with her.“Yea, it was all over the news and TV this morning.”“This morning?” Laura said as she sat down. “You know I don’t watch TV in the mornings.”“Duh, which is why I was calling you all last night!” Stacy’s dad was a news anchor, which gave her an inside scoop to anything that happened in town before

anyone else. “We couldn’t figure out why you were missing yesterday, and none of my calls went through, so when daddy told me what happened, I got scared,because, you know… you never know what might happen.”

“Wait, so what happened exactly?”“Some guy was murdered here yesterday,” Molly offered.“Like here, here?” Laura asked.“Here, here,” Molly continued. “It happened outside a bar nearby.”“Well, what was so special about it?”“Nothing really, not at first, but then the police found out that the guy who got killed was a hitman from Portland.”“A hitman?” Laura was getting interested. This was completely unlike anything their town was used to.“Yea, that’s what the police say.”“Well, what was a hitman doing here, anyway? And if he was the one who got killed, he had it coming, no?’“No, you don’t get it!” Molly jumped in. “Don’t get what? Can someone just tell me the full story?” She looked to her friends. “Stacy?”“Ok, so it goes like this,” Stacy began. “A fight broke out at a bar last night. Which is unusual by itself, since not many of those happen here. It was Black Bear

Pub, just a few blocks away from the movie theater.“Apparently, this hitman was involved in the fight. The two guys took it outside, but nobody paid it any mind. Nobody wanted to interfere, from what I heard.

Anyway, that’s not the important bit.”“Well, what is?”“When they found the guy later, the hitman, lying out in the back, he had all his blood drained out of him.”“Wait, what?” Laura was, for the first time this whole conversation, completely taken aback.“That’s why the news is so big,” Kelly explained.“The guy had two gaping holes in his neck,” Stacy continued, “right beside each other. The cops say they looked like bite marks.”“Bite marks?” Laura laughed nervously. “What, like a vampire or something?”“I know, right? It sounds like something out of one of those books,” Stacy said, “but it’s true. The police say the guy got knocked out in the fight, and they’re

“I know, right? It sounds like something out of one of those books,” Stacy said, “but it’s true. The police say the guy got knocked out in the fight, and they’renot blaming the other combatant for the death, but they’re trying to find and question him anyway.”

“Wait, so the other guy got away?”“For now, but that’s not the real important bit.”“And then what is…?”“The police issued an animal warning.”“An animal warning?”“Yes. They say the guy got knocked out in the fight, and when he was unconscious outside on the ground, some animal killed him.”“An animal sucked his blood?”“Yes, that’s what they say.”“But what kind of an animal could do that?”“They don’t know,” Tracy admitted. “My dad told me they called in specialists from Portland, agents from the CIA and FBI, different scientists, zoologists, and

those morgue guys to try to figure it out.”“So then if it’s all taken care of,” Laura said, thinking, “and there’s no like… hitman, or serial killer on the loose, why were you so worried?”“Well, they placed that warning out for the animal. They don’t know how dangerous it might be. They told everyone to keep off the streets, especially if they

were by themselves. And it happened so close to us, you just never know…”“Know what?”“Know what might have happened! You walked alone here this morning, and from school yesterday, right?”“Oh my God, that’s right,” Laura said, finally understanding the gravity of the danger in her mind.“That’s why we were worried something might have happened to you. You didn’t come to last class yesterday, after all, and after I started getting the updates

from my dad, I just didn’t know…”“Wow. Well, thankfully nothing happened.”“That’s right. Thankfully not.”

Chapter Six~An Unexpected Offer~

Afterschool that day, Laura walked home together with Stacy. News about the animal warning had spread through the entire school, and an assembly was calledthat day to alert the students to it. There, the principal emphasized that the threat was likely very small in nature, but advised them all to take precautions necessaryto make sure nothing untoward happened.

From there, for the second time in less than a week, the school was abuzz with something new. It was like everybody had forgotten all about Logan’s arrival,and now shifted their attention to the bizarre animal warning. Again, all sorts of rumors started going around, from the completely implausible (that somebody hadbeen bitten by a wolf and transformed into a werewolf, and the hitman was the latest victim), to the more sane (that a bear had become rabid and killed the guy). But mostly, everyone was just uncertain. Uncertain about what to expect, and uncertain about the scope of danger facing them.

When Laura got home, her mother raced over to embrace her in a giant hug, proclaiming that her sour mood from yesterday had been forgiven and that she wasjust glad that Laura was safe. It seemed like news of the death had rattled the entire town of Vancouver to its core, especially here in the suburban area – since ithappened in such close proximity.

Stacy stayed the night, and the girls spent time gossiping and watching movies together with Laura’s little sister. Laura debated telling Stacy about whathappened Thursday afternoon in school, but ultimately decided not to – at least not before talking to Logan about it. And Stacy, sensing Laura’s decision,thankfully didn’t press the subject.

Sunday evening, just as Laura was about to go to bed, her mom informed her that since there have been no new developments in finding the rogue animal, shewas going to drive her to school in the mornings from now on. Laura had no problem with that, and didn’t protest.

On the drive to school on Monday, Laura found herself wondering if she’d see Logan that day. She needed to talk to him. And the sooner it happened, thebetter it was for the both of them.

Since her mother had to get to work in the morning as well, Laura arrived at school well before her usual time. As she walked by her locker, hearing the echo ofher steps bouncing around the empty hallway, she shivered involuntarily and hurried on. Memories from what happened there last week flashed in her mind, butshe shoved them down harshly. She didn’t want to stir up any repressed emotions. And the further away she was from this spot, the better.

She entered her first period math class, and found that she was the first to arrive. Mrs. Millburn looked up from her desk to frown at Laura, but otherwise didn’tcomment. Laura sat in her seat, and waited for the rest of class to fill up.

Half an hour later, the last students were rushing through the door. And still, there was no sign of Logan. Laura hoped that she wasn’t responsible for hisabsence, after what she said that day. Or, worse yet, that the animal had gotten to him. Although after the display against Brady and his friends, Laura doubted hehad trouble taking care of himself. Which, again, was what made everything about him so weird – the type of calm confidence he had displayed facing the bullieswent at odds with the other way he acted otherwise.

The second bell rang, announcing the start of class. Mrs. Millburn came to the front of the room, and greeted everyone with an effusive “Good-morning.” Laurasighed. It looked like Logan wasn’t here today, either.

Just then, the door at the front of the room opened, and a tall man Laura didn’t recognize stepped in. His head was held high, and a sleek black trench coat sat onhis shoulders, opened to the chest to show a vibrant red shirt underneath. His straight, dark hair was combed back and up, and… wait. Laura rubbed at her eyes,thinking they were deceiving her. Was that Logan?

“Sir, I don’t know what would possess you to interrupt, but as you can see, I’m in the middle of teaching my class,” Mrs. Millburn began. Then her eyeswidened, when she realized what Laura had realized herself. It was Logan. “Ah – ahem. Mr. Sutherby? If you would, ah, take your seat, we can continue.” Thatwas it. No reprimanding him for being late, no demand for an apology or excuse. Mrs. Millburn never acted that way.

Logan nodded to her, and walked towards his seat. Strutted towards his seat was more like it. He walked with shoulders swinging grandly, and made strong eyecontact with everybody on his way. Well, then. Laura had certainly not been expecting this.

As he passed her, their eyes locked, and whispered in a stage-whisper – a loud whisper – “We’ll talk after class.” Everybody around her heard, but nobodydared comment. Laura just nodded quickly. Satisfied, Logan walked on.

And it wasn’t just his manner of dress or his hairstyle that was different, Laura realized. His milky-smooth skin had also become more vibrant. It was still white,but shone with a renewed vigor. Laura allowed herself to peek back at him as he sat down.

His body language was completely different. He leaned back comfortably in his chair, shoulders and arms spread wide. He wasn’t afraid to take up spaceanymore. And with his hair style up like that, it looked almost a crown. A black, thorny crown belonging to a king. Most of all, though, Laura thought that Logan

anymore. And with his hair style up like that, it looked almost a crown. A black, thorny crown belonging to a king. Most of all, though, Laura thought that Loganlooked proud.

She twisted back to look at the front of the class. Mrs. Millburn was talking, something about trigonometric functions and probability equations. Laura tried tofocus, but her entire mind was racing with questions about Logan. What had prompted him to make such a drastic difference? Was all of last week just an act? Why did he look so much more vibrant all of sudden? It was like he underwent a weekend transformation, and came out of it a completely different person.

More importantly, though, she was trying to figure out what she would say to him. And what he would say to her. He told her quite clearly that they’d talk afterclass. Did he want to clear the air regarding what happened on Thursday? Laura couldn’t imagine it being anything else.

Suddenly she became uncomfortably conscious of the fact that he was sitting behind her. Meaning he could very easily be watching whatever she did. Not thatshe was doing much, sitting there pretending to pay attention to the teacher, but the possibility of his eyes being on her made her rigid. She felt awkward.

Slowly, the clock ticked away anxious-ridden minutes leading her closer and closer to the end of class. Would Logan want to talk with her right away? Orwould he wait until their detention session with her afterschool? She wasn’t sure. She knew she wanted to talk to him as soon as possible, before – but now shewasn’t so sure. She wasn’t even sure who she would be talking to – would this new, more confident version of Logan act differently with her than before?

Finally, the bell announcing the end of class rang, stopping Mrs. Millburn mid-sentence. She looked mildly annoyed, but didn’t protest when her students startedgetting up. Laura sat still in her seat. If Logan wanted to speak with her right now, she didn’t want to rush out prematurely.

“Laura.”She looked up, and saw Logan standing beside her. For a split-second she thought she could see a golden-red halo surrounding the pupils of his eyes, but it went

away as soon as she shifted in her seat. Probably just a strange reflection of the light.“Hi, Logan,” she said.“We need to talk,” he said seriously. “Would you come with me?” And without waiting for an answer he started walking away, leaving Laura to scramble to

get her belongings into her bag before rushing after him.She caught up outside the classroom, where he stood with one shoulder leaning against a locker. On seeing her, he nodded to one side and proceeded to walk in

that direction. Laura had to push her way through the mass of bodies in the hallway to keep up. Not losing sight of him was easy, though. He stood nearly a headtaller than everyone else.

She trailed after him, wondering where he was taking her. She knew the hallways of the school like the back of her hand, but couldn’t figure out where theywere going. Plus, the longer they walked, the less time they had before they had to go to their next class.

Eventually he stopped, pulled open a door, and ducked inside. Laura paused before following. She had never noticed that particular door before. Bodiescontinued to mill around her, and she was jerked to and fro by the crowds. Well, there was no use in waiting. She twisted the doorknob, and walked inside.

It was a small room with a single row of lights. A stack of chairs stood in one corner coated in dust, but otherwise it was empty. Logan leaned casually againstthe far wall, and smiled as he saw her.

“What is this room?” Laura asked suspiciously. “I’ve never been here before.”“Just as well. I stumbled upon it last week, when I was searching for a particular classroom. I thought we’d have some privacy here.”“I mean, I guess…” Laura began, “…but we don’t actually have much time. I have to get to next class soon, and so do you, I think.”“Yes, I know,” he replied. “But I didn’t want to talk to you where anybody else could hear.”“Why not?”He paused for a second, studying her intently. Then he sighed audibly. “I wanted to apologize.”“Apologize?” Laura was taken aback. She was ready to apologize to him!“Yes. For what I did last week. I realized, in the last few days, that what I did was… wrong.” Laura could see that he was struggling to say the words. “But it

was wrong not because of what I did, but because I did it without asking.”“Asking who? Me?”“Yes. I shouldn’t have acted without your permission.”“Well, to be honest… I doubt I would have objected. I just wish you weren’t so violent. With them.”“I know. But I also know this: he’s not good for you.”“Who, Brady?”“Yes.”“You know, I kind of figured that one out myself, this weekend.” Laura laughed nervously. “And I also wanted to apologize to you. For the way I acted after.

I had no right to punch you, or say all those things. But… I was emotional. I couldn’t help it. So… I’m sorry.”With the apology complete, Laura turned to leave. Stiffly. Her cheeks grew hot as she said that, and she didn’t want him to see her blushing. “Wait,” Logan said, stopping her right before she opened the door. “You told me you wanted to know what Brady thinks of you.”“I did, yes,” Laura admitted, looking down at her feet. “But I was just caught up in the moment. It’s irrelevant, now, anyway.”“Well, if you want, I could show you.”“What?” Laura turned back slowly, and looked at Logan. He looked very serious. “What do you mean?”“I mean what I said. If you want, I could show you what Brady thinks of you.”“How?” Laura asked suspiciously. “Is this some kind of trick?”“No, no trick,” he assured her. Then he held out his hand towards her, palm up. “Take my hand.”“Uh…” Was he trying to hit on her in some strange, unorthodox way? Suddenly the confinement of the room became all too apparent, and the feeling of being

trapped that she experienced with those four guys around her returned. “There’s no trick, I promise.” His voice was sincere, and it seemed… trustworthy. If he wanted to do anything to her, he would have already made his move.

Laura met his gaze, and saw only the purest assurance in his eyes. She could trust him.Slowly, tentatively, she reached out to place her hand on his. Her fingertips grazed his palm, and their skin touched. A flood of thoughts, not her own, erupted into her mind. It was commotion. Mayhem. A thousand different voices cried out disjointedly, each clamoring for her

attention. It felt like her head would explode. Images completely foreign to her flashed through her mind, but none was there long enough for her to make it out. There was not enough room for all of them. The thoughts trampled through her head, until she thought she would lose herself in the uproar. Her own voice criedout to her, but was just as quickly lost in the turmoil. She was disoriented. Where was she? Who was she? The link. She saw her hand, touching another. Who’swas that? She couldn’t tell. Her sense of self-awareness was fading. Her conception of herself was fading. She didn’t know how much longer…

Abruptly, all that was gone. Her own thoughts rebounded harshly to her, and she staggered back. She looked up. Logan was standing there, smiling at herknowingly.

“What… what was that?” she managed.“A trick.”“Is it… normal?” She was short of breath, and felt like she had run a hundred miles.

“Is it… normal?” She was short of breath, and felt like she had run a hundred miles.“Normal enough for me, anyway.”“All those voices I heard… what were they?”“Thoughts.”“What?”“They were thoughts, and you could hear them.”“Who’s thoughts?”“Everybody’s in the school. And some people outside the school, near us.” The way he said it made it sound like he was explaining the most natural thing in the

world, like spring weather.“Wait,” Laura said, staring wide-eyed at Logan, “are you telling me that I just heard the thoughts of all the students in the school?”“And some of the teachers, and some other people close by.”“That’s… astounding. Is it dangerous?”Logan shook his head. “If it was, I wouldn’t have shown it to you.”“Was that some sort of link that was made, when our hands touched?”Logan smiled. “You’re quick. Yes, you could say that a link was created. It’s more of a bond, really, but it’s… hard to explain.”“And what about you? Can you hear them, too?”Again, Logan shook his head. “No. I can’t make any of them out. All I can do is transfer them to another person.”Laura stared. She had just heard the thoughts of people around her. And Logan was explaining it to her patiently and calmly, as if he was completely used to it.

“How long have you had this? How long could you… transfer… these thoughts to other people?”“Forever,” he said simply.“What are you, like some kind of mutant? Like those X-Men?” The closest thing Laura could think of that would match this was Professor Charles Xavier’s

mindreading abilities in the X-Men, but that was just a movie!Unexpectedly, Logan began to laugh. “No way,” he answered. “Definitely not.”“Then… how do you do it?”“I don’t know. I just can.”“Have you ever used it before, then?”“Like how?”“For some kind of an… advantage?”He laughed again. “Some advantage,” he said sarcastically. “All the voices converge as one, and you can’t separate them at all.”“Then, what’s the point? Why’d you show me?”“Well, to tell the truth, there is one way you can separate them.”“And what’s that?”“If you have a strong emotional bond to somebody, and they share it with you, their thoughts… stand out. Call out is more like it, actually.”“A strong emotional bond? Like… love?”“Or hate. The person… calls to you. Their thoughts become more distinctive. But in that case, it works both ways.”“What do you mean?”“They feel the emotion more intensely if you do it.”“You mean, if you listen to their thoughts?”“Yes.”“That’s… that’s a miracle,” Laura marveled.“Not so,” Logan answered.“What? Why not? It’s absolutely a miracle.”“No, not really. They start to feel the emotion more intensely. So somebody who hates you starts to detest you, wanting you dead. And somebody you love

becomes obsessive, following your every move. It’s quite the opposite of a miracle, really.”“Woah. I didn’t think of it that way.”“And if the emotion fades some time later – if you stop feeling it yourself – the bond from this still remains.”“They continue to hate you?”“Yes. But in the new, stronger way.”“Wow,” Laura whispered.“Did anyone call out to you like that, when we touched?”Laura thought back. She knew what Logan was asking. He wanted to know if Brady’s thoughts beckoned her.“No,” she finally admitted.“Well, I think that answers your original question, then.”“Yes… I think it does.”“So you see, I meant what I said.” He flashed a triumphant grin. “That I could show you what Brady thought of you.”“Apparently, not much,” she mumbled. “But it’s not like I expected anything more after what happened, anyway. Thank you, Logan, for sharing this with me.”“Of course. But you mustn’t tell anyone about it.”“Who would believe me anyway?”“That’s right,” he chuckled. “No one would.” He paused for a second. “And, Laura… I hope you won’t hate me.”“Hate you?” She was taken aback again. “Why would I hate you?”“Because of what I showed you.” Suddenly, he looked every bit the shy boy she had met last week, and nothing like the proud young man who was standing

before her.“You shared with me a precious gift,” she told him quietly, “and I could never hate you for that.”“Thank you.” He looked relieved. Then he smiled at her, returning to an image of confidence. “We’d better get going, then, to our next class. I’ll see you

afterschool?”Laura smiled back. “I’ll see you there.”

Chapter Seven~Questions~

~Questions~

When Laura got to her math class afterschool, Logan was already there, waiting for her. He smiled from their usual spot in the back as she walked in. She’d hadall day to think about what he showed her earlier. And the more she thought about it, the more amazed she became.

She racked her brain all day, trying to put some type of logical explanation to what it was. But she couldn’t think of anything. It was illogical, it wassupernatural, it was paranormal, it was… magical. It was nothing short of a miracle.

She wondered how many people knew about his gift. She didn’t think many did. And he must have felt really bad for what transpired on Thursday, for actingwithout asking her, to show his ability to her. She felt privileged to have been shown it at all.

But above all, she was curious. Curious to know more. So despite herself, she rushed to the back of the room as soon as she saw him there, eager to ask him amillion questions and more.

“Hey,” he said as she sat down.“Hey,” she replied. Then, looking up to see that Mrs. Millburn wasn’t paying them much attention, burst out with, “What you showed me today was amazing!”“I thought you might like it,” he said slyly.“Oh, absolutely! But… can I ask you something?”“Sure, go ahead.”“The mind thing… can you do it whenever you want? I mean, does it happen whenever someone touches you?”“Yes and no,” he laughed. “I have to consciously decide to let people experience that before they make contact. So like, if someone brushes my hand

accidentally,” he reached over to slid a finger over Laura’s hand, “nothing happens. But if I want them to experience it, like I did with you earlier today, then I haveto decide to let them in, so to speak, at the moment contact happens.”

“Wow. And did you always know you had that ability?”“The truth is, I didn’t always have it. It developed when I was very young, but I wasn’t born with it, I don’t think. Then again, maybe I just can’t remember

back far enough. Everything from my childhood is a bit dark, and somewhat blurry. There are not a lot of good memories from there.“But you were right. Before I learned to control it, it happened every time somebody touched me, no matter how briefly. Most people just pulled away, thinking

they experienced something like an electric shock…”“What about you? What’s it like, for you, when it happens? Like today, when I held your hand, what did you feel?”“Nothing,” he replied simply. “That’s why it took me so long to understand what people experienced when they made contact with me. My earliest memory of

it was when I couldn’t figure out why adults were becoming frightened of me. Of course, it was because whenever they touched my skin, they experienced that…flood… of thoughts, barraging through their heads. I can’t imagine what it’s like, personally. But I’ve been told, and pieced enough things together.”

“So you’ve shown other people before, then?” A little bit of disappointment blossomed in Laura’s stomach as she said that, and she didn’t really know why.“Not many,” he shook his head. “There was one person, though, who I shared it all with, a long time ago. And they helped me learn to control it, taught me

what it really was.”“Wow. Who was that person?”“I… can’t tell you. Something happened to them that I still… can’t… make myself talk about.” He sighed, and his eyes looked sad. “I’m sorry. I know I must

be giving you more questions than answers. And I can imagine how overwhelming it must be for you.”“No, not at all,” Laura said. “I didn’t mean to pry.”“No, don’t worry about that. You didn’t pry at all. It’s my own demon I have to battle.” Suddenly his eyes lit up again, this time with concern. “You mustn’t

worry, though. What happened to her had nothing to do with my ability. There’s no danger to you.” Laura caught something in what he said that stuck out immediately. He said her. Meaning the person who helped him develop the ability had been female. She

didn’t think he meant give away a detail like that. She decided to change the subject. “You know what I think?” she said. “I think your gift is an angelic power.”To her surprise, he burst out laughing. A rich, booming laugh that caused Mrs. Millburn to look up. On seeing that, he quieted down, but inadvertent chuckles

still escaped his lips. “Hardly,” he said to her finally. “That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”“No, I’m sure it is,” Laura persisted. “That’s the only explanation I could come up with.”“No, it definitely is not that. It’s a curse, if anything.”“How can you say that?”“Say what? That it’s a curse?”“Yes.”“There are still parts of it you don’t know, Laura.”“Like what?”“I… can’t say.”“So you do know more than me!”“About what?”“About your ability!”“Yes, a bit more,” he admitted. “But it’s nothing you should worry over.”“You showed me so much already,” she said, “it’s not fair for you to not tell me more!”“Laura, I wish I could, but I can’t.”“Why not?” She knew she was pressing the subject, but didn’t care. She had to know more.“Some things aren’t meant to be shared,” he said. Then, he added quietly, as if to himself, “Some things are a burden you must bear on your own.”“What was that?” Laura asked.“Nothing.” He shook his head. For a second, he looked to be fighting two conflicting thoughts in his mind. Then he sighed. “Laura, I can’t tell you everything,

but if you want… I can show you some of it.”“Show me? You mean something other than the mind thing?”“Yes. In a way.”“…ok. When?”“Today?”“Like, right now?”“No, not right now,” he laughed, “but after we’re done with this class.”“Oh.” Laura thought for a second. “My mom’s picking me up after. Because of the animal warning.”

“Oh.” Laura thought for a second. “My mom’s picking me up after. Because of the animal warning.”“Animal warning?”“Yea, haven’t you heard?”“No…?”She was surprised. It had been all over the news for the past few days. “Everyone’s talking about it. It’s been pretty much the only thing on the community’s

mind.”“Well, if you haven’t noticed,” he said drily, “I’m somewhat new here.”“Oh.” Laura blushed. “That’s right. Well, there was this murder last week, sometime Thursday evening, in a nearby pub. A fight got out of hand between two

people, and they took it outside. Apparently, one of them got knocked out, and the other left. But that wasn’t the lethal blow. When the police found the guy whowas knocked out a few hours later, he had two inexplicable, large, like… teeth marks… on his neck. And his body had been drained completely of blood. They’renot sure what did it, but they think some type of animal was responsible. So they issued a warning for nobody to walk anywhere alone until they figure it all out.”

“So that’s what they’re calling it,” he said quietly, half to himself. Laura was sure she wasn’t meant to hear. Then he looked up at her. “I have a car,” he said, “Ican drive you after school.”

“Really?”“Yes.”“Well, ok. I’ll text my mom then.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and switched it on. While she was typing, she spoke up again. “So what you want

to show me… is it similar to the mind thing?”“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.“Ok,” she laughed. She had no idea what it would be.

Chapter Eight~At the Lake~

When the clock hit 4:15 PM, Laura and Logan were dismissed from their afterschool detention. She’d already texted her mom, saying she was going out with afriend, and that she’d have a ride home.

Logan lead her outside, where a few cars dotted the parking lot. He made his way over to one in the corner. It was a gray old Volvo, and had a few dents alongits outer body. The tires looked worn, and a bit of rust edged out from underneath the vehicle.

“That’s your car?” Laura asked incredulously.“She’s old, but she’s trustworthy,” Logan said. He patted the car’s roof affectionately. “She’s been with me for a long time.”“Did you buy it yourself?”“I saved up for it, yea. I know it might not look it, but the car’s safe, trust me. I do the maintenance.”That didn’t offer much reassurance to Laura.“Come on,” Logan urged as he unlocked the car, “it won’t bite.”A light drizzle started to fall, and Laura shrugged. As long as the car worked, it would get them where they needed to go. She came around the front and

climbed in.As she closed the door and pulled her seatbelt on, Logan inserted the key and started the engine. To her surprise, it started smoothly, purring as all the gears

started to move. “See,” he smiled at her, “I told you it’s well maintained.”“I was expecting it to barely turn on,” Laura laughed.“Ah, come on, it doesn’t look that bad,” Logan laughed back. “No, I guess not,” Laura admitted. The start of a familiar song started playing from the speakers, and Laura listened for a second to catch it. Then she got it.

“Bob Marley?”“It’s a classic, yea.” He flashed her a grin. “A CD of his greatest hits.” He leaned forward to turn up the song.She laughed. “Nice.”Logan nodded, and switched the gear to drive. As the car started moving from its parking spot, Laura spoke up, “Where are we going?”“There’s a lake around here, isn’t there?” Logan asked, pulling out into the street. “Lake Vancouver?”“Yea, there is.”“We need to go there.”“How come?”“For what I want to show you, we need to be somewhere calm… somewhere serene. I’m sure there’s a lookout point at the lake, right?”Laura thought for a moment before remembering. “Yea, I think there is.”“Good. Do you know the way?”“Yea, I think so.”They drove off, and Laura started giving Logan directions to the lake. She didn’t quite know where the lookout point was, but thought they’d be able to find it if

they started driving along the shore.“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Laura asked after a while as Logan took a left turn off the main road.“Sure.”“It’s kind of personal, and I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been wondering this ever since last week.”“Yes?”“Um, when you took on the four guys in the school. You were like, amazing. Fast and agile, and you knew exactly what you were doing.”“Thanks for noticing,” he chuckled.“Well, I wanted to know, how’d you learn to fight like that?”Logan spared a look over his shoulder at her. “That’s your question?”“Well, yes,” Laura said. To her surprise, Logan burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, feeling her cheeks start to grow red.“It’s just the way you framed that,” Logan said amidst laughter. “Building up the question like that. Saying it was something personal. I was expecting

something much worse.”“No, I…” Laura stumbled abashedly. It felt like he was laughing at her, and she began to feel awkward. “I just wanted to be polite!”“Well, after what I showed you this morning, I don’t think you need to worry about prying,” Logan said lightheartedly. Then he smiled over at her. “Ahh, come

on, I’m not making fun of you. I’ll answer your question, don’t worry. How’d I learn to fight like that? Well, you don’t know this, but I alluded to it, earlier. When I said things from my childhood were dark and foggy. The truth is, I don’t have much of a family. I don’t have a family at all, actually.

“I grew up in an orphanage, and moved around a whole lot. Doing that as a kid, especially without a real family to back you up, you learn to stick up for

“I grew up in an orphanage, and moved around a whole lot. Doing that as a kid, especially without a real family to back you up, you learn to stick up foryourself. I guess I just learned to do it on the streets.”

“Wow,” Laura said. “I’m so sorry. About your family. It must be tough not knowing who they are.”“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Logan shrugged it off. “It’s not like I haven’t gotten used to it by now, anyway.”“I guess,” Laura said. “But I can’t imagine what that’s like.”“Nor should you,” Logan answered.They drove a bit further in silence, and then Laura spoke up again.“Your ability,” she said, “you said you developed it when you were a kid. Have you ever met anybody else with it?”“No.” Just then, Laura recognized the area they were in. “Ah, ok, we’re very close,” she said. “Take a right at the next side-road, and I think there’s a little lookout at

the end of the dirt road.”“K.”Laura looked out her window at the evergreens around her as they drove down the small road. She always found them beautiful. Clean, and pristine. Sure enough, after a minute or so, the road up ahead ended in a small dirt lot right on the shore of the lake. They drove up to it, and Laura saw they were the

only ones there. Logan parked the car, and looked over to her.“Do you dream, Laura,” he asked suddenly.“Do I dream? Of course I do. Everybody does.”“No, no.” He shook his head. “I don’t mean dreams like dreams and hopes. I mean the journey that you go on when you’re asleep.”“Of course I do.”“And do you ever believe in your dreams? Do you ever feel like they have something to reveal to you, perhaps a truth about the world?”“Hmm… maybe. When I was younger. Not much, anymore, really.”“Well,” he said coyly, “how would you like to experience that feeling again?”“What, dreaming?”“No, not just dreaming. Knowing your dreams. Knowing they signify more.”“How?” Laura asked suspiciously.“I can take you there.”“What do you mean?”“It’s another… ability… I have. It’s what I wanted to show you.”“Umm, ok.” She couldn’t back off now.“Ok.” He looked ahead, at the lake, and when he moved his lips, the words were barely distinguishable. “Look outside, Laura. Look at the calm of the lake.

Feel at the serenity of the water.” He rolled down his window a bit. “Breathe in the air, feel the freshness, the vibrancy of it all. Actually,” he looked to her, “thiswould work better outside.” And he stepped out of the car. Laura didn’t have any choice but to follow.

Logan jumped up onto the hood of the Volvo, and motioned for Laura to do the same. She climbed on, sitting beside him, hands wrapped around her knees.“Breathe the air in, Laura. Take in the silence, the nature. Hear the sounds of the lapping water, the rustle of wind through the trees. Embrace it all, Laura.”“Ok…” she said uncertainly.“Now, I want you to focus on this very moment. The very spot you’re in right now. Feel the cool metal of the car beneath you, the breeze tugging at your

clothes. Inhale the pristine smells of the trees all around you, the rhythmic lapping of the lake.“Ok,” Laura said. She listened to what he said, and made her mind focus on only what he pointed out.“Now, I want you to give me your hand. But before you do, know that this is going to be different from last time.”“Different, how?”“I will show you what I know.”“Ok.” She reached over to take his hand, not knowing what to expect. When their fingers touched… there was nothing. No barrage of unwanted thoughts

flooding into her mind. For some reason, she started to feel drowsy. Her eyes began to droop shut. Her focus was wavering, and she had a hard time keeping herhead up. She held his hand, though, and noticed it was icy cold, stealing her warmth.

“This… will go the other way,” he told her gently. “You’re going to want to take a nap.”“I will?” Laura said drowsily.“Yes, you will.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “Do not be afraid, Laura. Relax your mind, and let go.”“...o…k…” she drawled the words. She felt her eyes close, and just before she fell asleep, she slumped heavily into Logan.

Chapter Nine~Into the Dream~

Laura opened her eyes. She was in exactly the same spot she remembered, sitting on top of the hood of the car. Nothing had changed. She looked up, realizingthat Logan was holding her, looking down at her. His face looked a little… different. It was clearer than before. Or maybe everything else was a bit fuzzy.

“Ah, there you are,” he said. “You took a while.”“What do you mean?”He smiled. “Welcome to my world.” And he leapt up off the car. But instead of landing on the ground, as Laura would have expected, he just floated

horizontally in the air. He twisted back, hands behind his head, as if reclining on a couch. Laura gaped.“How are you doing that?” she asked. “Is this another trick?”“No, no trick,” he promised. “You’re now in the dream world.”“The dream world? What do you mean? Am I asleep?”“That’s right. In fact, we’re both asleep, and you’re holding my hand.”Laura looked around her. Nothing looked different. She put a hand down to feel the metal of the car. It was cool to the touch, as before. And the small, lapping

waves at the shoreline continued just as before. She spun around to look behind her. The same dirt road she remembered driving down was there, as were all theevergreens, swaying gently in the light wind.

“How is it possible?” she asked. “I can see you just like I would in real life. Except, you know, for the fact that you’re floating in the air!”Logan laughed lightly, and touched down on the ground. He offered a hand to help her step down, which she took gingerly. And took her first step inside the

dream world.The ground felt solid enough underneath her. But just then, as she took another step, reality blurred. It was only for an instant, but in that instant she felt like she

The ground felt solid enough underneath her. But just then, as she took another step, reality blurred. It was only for an instant, but in that instant she felt like shelost all her coordination, all sense of where she was. She stumbled, and Logan caught her before she fell.

“Careful there,” he said. “On your first journey here, your body needs to get used to it.”“What do you mean?” Laura asked again. “I don’t understand what this is. Get used to what? You need to explain everything!”“Everything?” Logan mused.“Everything. And don’t you dare leave anything out! You brought me here, after all!”Logan laughed. “In time, Laura, you’ll know more than you’d ever hoped. Explaining everything could take a very long time, though. Let’s just start with the

basics?”“Ok,” she said reluctantly. “Ok, so the basics are,” he said, just as he leapt in the air again to hover a few feet off the ground, “that I can do this, and you cannot. Not yet, anyway.”“How come?”“Reality is mutable, here. But you have to learn to control it.” He touched back to the ground. “For example, take floating, what I just did. How do you think I

did it?”“Um, I don’t know. You just jumped, and… stayed in the air.”“I jumped.” He smiled. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. What I did, in truth, is push everything else down. I pushed reality down, a few feet away

from me. You went along, with it.“Now, from your perspective, it looked like I jumped up and floated in the air. But for me, I actually stayed perfectly still, in the same dimensional plane. It was

everything else that moved.”“Woah,” Laura breathed. “Can I learn to do that?”“Yes, eventually. If your mind is strong enough. But not yet. Like I said, reality is mutable here, which means we can control the things around us. Let’s try

something simple. Like… your hair.”“My hair?”“Yes. What color is it?”“Um, I don’t know. It’s dark. A deep shade of brown, maybe?”“And mine?”“Yours is sleek black.”“Ok, I want you to watch me very carefully. Are you looking?”“Yes.”“Ok… and now?”Laura’s jaw dropped. On his words, Logan’s hair changed to the lightest shade of blonde she could imagine. There was no transition. One second it was black,

and the next, bleach-blonde. Everything else about it stayed the same, though.He laughed, and his hair changed back. “You want to give it a try?” he asked.“Me?”“Yes, I think you’re strong enough to do that.”“Um, ok. How do I do it?”“Well, the first thing you’ll discover is that you can’t do it to me. You can’t change anything about me, actually.”“Why not?”“Your mind has power over this world. As does my mind. But we aren’t actually a part of this world. We’re more like… reflections. What you see before you,

the person you’re talking to – and who I see when I look at you – is just a reflection of your real self. So since I’m not actually a part of this world, you can’tchange things about me. Just like I can’t change things about you.

“However. You do have power over your reflection. It’s kind of like… adjusting the filter that a light goes through. If you put a blue screen over a beam oflight, the light turns blue. You can put a yellow sheet over that, and the light turns green. But the light itself isn’t changing. If that makes sense.”

Laura nodded.“In truth, I think I could change something about you, but it would only be changed to me. You wouldn’t notice any difference. It’d be like me putting some

type of special glasses on.“But you can change things about yourself. If you do it, your reflection onto this world becomes whatever you project. So you can be anything, here.”

Suddenly, he was a head taller than before. Laura gasped. And in an instant he was even taller, rising high above her until his knees were of level with her head. She looked up, speechless. He was as tall as the biggest evergreen, now, and looked down upon her with eyes as big as the sun. Then, just as quickly, he wasback to his regular size. He smiled at her. “That, for example, was much like the hair thing. It just took more control. I don’t think you’d be able to do it, yet. ButI think you have enough control to be able to change the color of your hair, though.”

“Ok,” Laura said. “I’ll try. What do I do?”“It all begins in your head,” Logan said, tapping his forehead with a finger. “First, you have to believe that reality can be changed here. You have to believe that

you have full control.”“Ok, I can do that…”“But it’s not enough me telling you. You have to experience it for yourself…” Abruptly, a huge explosion came from the car, knocking Laura backwards with its force. She fell, and when she hit the ground, she saw that enormous flames

engulfed the ground around her. She tried to scream, but couldn’t get her lungs enough air. She scrambled back. The heat from the sudden flames made the airthick, and she could feel the warmth against her skin. She spun her head wildly from side to side, to find some way to safety. But all around her, the flames onlydoubled in strength. She was trapped, and couldn’t get out.

The flames roared higher, getting closer to her. Trapping her. The air was too hot to breathe. Heat blasted from the inferno, and she flung a hand in front of herface to face to reduce the blare, but it was no use. The flames were getting closer. She needed to get out. But how? The fire roared, nearly engulfing her. Shecould already smell the bitter scent of her singed hair. Wait. Hair. Her hair.

Suddenly, she remembered what Logan had done to his. He had changed it. Meaning she could change hers. More than that, she could change reality. Desperate, not knowing what else to do, she squeezed her eyes shut and imagined the ground as it had been. She focused on the clean, cool air she rememberedbreathing before. On the breeze moving gently through the trees. On the sound of lapping water from the lake.

The lake! It was still there – it must be! Frantically, she imagined a great invisible bucket scooping up water from the lake beside her, and throwing it over thefire.

She gasped as a heavy sheet of icy cold water slammed hard against her. Her eyes popped open in shock, and she coughed loudly, choking on the bit of watershe had breathed in when she gasped. But the heat of the fire was gone. As the coughing fit died down, and she looked around her, she saw that the ground was

she had breathed in when she gasped. But the heat of the fire was gone. As the coughing fit died down, and she looked around her, she saw that the ground wasabsolutely drenched. Puddles of water were everywhere, and she sat in the middle of the biggest one.

Laughter came from behind her, and she spun around. Logan was there, picking his way along dry patches of ground. And he didn’t have a drop of water onhim.

Suddenly everything had come together. He had done this to her – he had caused the explosion! Anger raged through her, and she started to rise, ready topummel him to oblivion with her fists, when a better idea struck.

Doing as she had before, she imagined a giant bucket dipping into the lake to pick up huge amount of water. Twice as much as before. As she did that, sheallowed the water to be touched by a hint of frost, making it as cold as possible while remaining just short of freezing. Then she threw all that right on top ofLogan.

He gasped as the water fell on his head, then slipped and fell as the stream engulfed his entire body. Laura placed an invisible border of air around her so thatthe water from the lake wouldn’t get to her. Only when the pouring stopped, with Logan lying helplessly on the ground, drenched just as much as she was, did shelet the border of air dissipate. And she walked over to him.

As she came closer, she saw that he was shivering. He had gotten up to his hands and knees, with his head down, and his body shook with shivers of cold. Suddenly she grew alarmed. Had she hurt him? Did she make the water too cold? Did she pour too much?

Then his head swung up, and he looked at her. Mirth filled his eyes, and an enormous grin sat on his face. He wasn’t shivering at all. He was laughing! Probably laughing at her. Her anger returned, and just as she was about to think of something else to do, Logan was at her side.

There was no movement that she saw. One moment he was on the ground, wet and laughing, and the next he was beside her, dry as a duck and holding herarm. It was taking all of her dignity not to claw his eyes out for what he’d done.

“Before you do anything else,” he said quickly, “realize that I know a lot more than you, and I could counter before you even knew it.” Then he took his handaway and frowned. “And you’re still wet.”

Abashedly, Laura had realized that she was. Could she change that, too? She imagined herself in the same clothes, dry as they had been. Nothing happened. She closed her eyes, and tried again. When she opened them, her clothes were as wet as ever.

Logan smiled. “Remember what I said. You are just a reflection, but everything else is part of this world. You and everything that came with you – clothesincluded – are reflections. Instead of thinking of dry clothes, think of taking the water out of your clothing.”

Laura growled, and tried again. This time, like Logan suggested, she imagined the water being pulled out of her clothing. She saw the cross-weaves of thefabric in her mind’s eye, and thought of tiny little droplets coming out of the cloth and evaporating into the air. As she did that, she realized that she was completelydry.

Logan laughed. Laura looked at him strangely for a moment, but then she began to laugh, too. His laughter was contagious. And, anyway, doing all this feltwonderful!

For the first time in her life, she was in full control of nearly everything around her. Any angry thoughts she had before quickly cleared away, and she laughedwith pure joy. This truly was an amazing world Logan was showing her. An astounding world! One that just brimmed with endless possibilities. She felteuphoric, and let her laughter sweep her away. She spun around happily, and Logan laughed even more.

Finally, with the laughter starting to subside, Logan looked at her somewhat seriously.“You did a fantastic job back there,” he said.“Thanks,” she said. “At first, I couldn’t believe that you were responsible for the explosion!”“Yes, but I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you. But you handled it by yourself like a pro. Your mind is a lot stronger than I would have thought.”“What do you mean?” Laura asked, curious.“For most people, the first time they come here, they panic so much in those flames that they seize up, and rip themselves out of this world. It’s just like when

you wake up in the middle of a nightmare. Your mind can’t handle the pressure, and wants to escape. You, however, fought it all off very well. And especiallythat water touch at the end. That was something.”

“Wait, what did you just say?”“Hmm? About what?”“About ‘most people.’ Are there others you’ve taken here?”“…yes,” Logan answered slowly. “Never mind that. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”“No, but you did,” Laura pressed on. “Who else have you brought here before?”“Not many, personally,” Logan answered. “But I’ve seen people come here. Sometimes, people stumble upon this place in their own dreams. Everybody has

access to it, you see, but most people don’t realize it. In fact, I don’t think any people really realize it. Every time you dream in your bed, you have a chance –however small it may be – of drifting into this place. That’s when you have your most memorable dreams, and the ones you’re sure mean something. Because thisplace stands out so much in your mind compared to your regular dreams.

“I’m not exactly sure about how it all works, but from what I’ve pieced together… I think that right here, right where we are right now, exists as a… parallelplane. To our regular lives. Maybe to our regular dreams, even. And like I said, everybody has the ability to enter this… plane.”

“Like a parallel universe?” Laura asked.“Sort of. But it’s more like… two sheets of paper, held parallel to one another. If one sheet of paper has something drawn on it, and you shine a light through it

onto the other sheet, the shadow of the drawing falls onto the second piece of paper. I know it’s confusing – it doesn’t even make much sense to me – but I thinkthat’s sort of how this place works.”

“So our real world is the piece of paper with the drawing,” Laura said slowly, “… and this world is the second sheet, with the shadow falling onto it?”“Yea, exactly. That’s the best way I can explain it. I know it’s not very elegant, but it’s been useful to me. A bit hard to grasp though, right?”“No, no, I think I got it. I have another question, though.”“Ask away.”“How did we get here? How did you bring me here?”“Ah.” Logan smiled. “That. That has to do with what I showed you at school.”“With your mind-reading ability?”“Hah. I wouldn’t call it quite that, but yes, it has to do with my ability. When we touched hands in the real world, a sort of… wrinkle… occurred. It happened

right before all the thoughts come flooding into your head. That wrinkle, I think, has to do with reality shifting slightly right before the thoughts come. But Ilearned that if I timed it right – if I let you experience that flood of thoughts just as you’re falling asleep – in that last split-second, your mind, and mine as well, shiftsinto this realm. And you come here. The world of dreams.”

“That’s amazing,” Laura breathed.“Yes, it’s very interesting, isn’t it? Oh, one more thing. Time flows differently here. Sometimes much faster than in the real world, sometimes – much slower.

Usually, though, it’s much faster. So everything we’ve experienced so far – from me jumping off the car all the way to this conversation – has occurred in the span

Usually, though, it’s much faster. So everything we’ve experienced so far – from me jumping off the car all the way to this conversation – has occurred in the spanof only a few seconds in the real world.”

“Wait, so in the real world,” Laura emphasized for clarification, “we’re both asleep? On top of your car?”“That’s right. And as soon as we go back, we wake up.”“How do we go back?”“I’ll show you. Not just yet, though. What I was just saying, about time flowing differently, that’s more important. Now, do you remember when you took your

first step, and you stumbled towards me?”“Yes, I do.”“What’d you feel, when it happened?”“What did I feel?”“Yea, like what was that like for you?”“Um… I felt dizzy, I think. Like I lost my sense of gravity. Kind of like I couldn’t say which way was up and which was down.”“Did objects kind of… streak together for you?”“Oh that’s right! Yea, my vision blurred a bit and all the colors merged.”“Ok, well, I call that a glitch. And what it is, I think, is your body protesting you entering this realm. It’s nothing to worry about. Unless it happens in rapid

succession, and doesn’t stop.”“Does that happen often?”“No,” Logan admitted. “But when it does, you have to watch out for it. Like I said, sometimes time flows faster here than in the real world, but – sometimes –

much slower. It’s rare when it flows slower, but you be careful then.”“How come?”“Because if it flows slower here, you might get caught sleeping for a very long time in the real world. Days, weeks, or even months can pass in seconds. Years,

maybe, I think, if you don’t get out fast enough.”Laura gasped. “Years?”“Yes. And nothing will wake you. Your only clue to that happening is if those glitches occur, over and over, right when you get in.“If that happens, you need to get out as fast as you can. You never know – every second you stay here longer might be another few hours you’re asleep for – or

more – in the real world.”“Has that… ever happened to you?”“Once, when I was much younger. I came here, and wave after wave of those glitches attacked me. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t think too much

of it, though, once they stopped, and stayed for maybe half an hour. When I got up in the real world, nearly ten days had passed.”“You were out for ten days?” Laura marveled.“Yea,” Logan grinned. “I found myself in the hospital when I woke up, and I had no idea what was going on. The doctors thought I had fallen into a coma in

my sleep. I gave the nurse quite a scare when I shot to life in the middle of the night.” He laughed. “That’s the only danger for you here. Getting caught whentime flows slowly.”

“But you said that doesn’t happen very often?”“No, it doesn’t. Usually it’s flowing a lot faster, like right now. It all comes in waves, I think. Maybe the best way to think of it is… the scale of time oscillating

back and forth. Like a pendulum.” He made a sign with his hands designating one. “When it swings to the very right—” he brought a finger to the right, “—timehere is much slower than in real life. And as it falls back and swings to the left—” he motioned with his finger to the left “—time here gets faster and faster, until itpeaks as it hits the very left. And then it goes back. On and on again, back and forth, in a cycle.

“Now, one thing I’ve realized is that it’s not a perfectly even pendulum. Most of the swing is spent in the zone where time is faster here. Only a small sliver—”again, he motioned with his finger “—of the pendulum’s swing is spent in the zone when time is slower here.”

“I think I get it,” Laura said. Then she smiled. “You explain it very well.”“Nah,” he said, waving the compliment away. “You just pick it up very quickly.”“Maybe. So, what else does this place do? …Now that I’ve gotten the entire airplane safety lecture,” she added with a wink.“Oh, I can show you,” Logan replied, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Chapter Ten~A Watcher~

Laura felt exhilarated. She’d spent the last few hours exploring this world together with Logan. Reality really was mutable here, and she couldn’t believe thethings they could do.

What stood out most to her was that you could go anywhere. Really anywhere. You had to know your spot to get to it, though, which meant you have to havebeen there in real life. Unfortunately for Laura, she hadn’t been much further than the border of the town where she grew up. Fortunately, Logan had.

“Ready?” he asked after explaining how traveling would work. She nodded, and took his hand. Instantly, everything around her started streaking in onedirection. Landscapes raced by, towns and cities and mountains and highways and rivers and fields, all flashing by her in the blink of an eye. It didn’t feel like shewas moving – there was no wind in her face, no resistance from the air like when you put your hand out the window of a speeding car. But everything around herchanged, rushing by.

She couldn’t do it by herself, yet, which was why she needed to take Logan’s hand. It was the only way he could bring her along where he went. Finally theystopped, and Laura found herself atop a lush green hill, where wild flowers and grasses grew as far as the eye could see. The sun shone brightly above them,radiating heat onto Laura’s body.

She laughed and twirled around, spreading her hands to feel the flora brush against them. Logan laughed too, and sped down the hill, taunting Laura to follow. She ran after him, right through the tall grass and colorful flowers. Her toe caught and she tripped, but the soft dirt cushioned her fall, and she didn’t even bother toget up as she rolled down the hill laughing and giggling.

At the bottom, Logan was waiting. She landed right at his feet, and another fit of giggles overtook her. He pulled her up, laughing alongside her. “This is wonderful!” she exclaimed for what must have been the tenth time thus far. “Everything about this place! The feeling of freedom, the absolute control,

the endless possibilities… it’s wonderful!”“Glad you like it,” Logan smiled.“Although I’ve been wondering,” Laura added, “is it possible to bring things into this world?”“Like what?”“Objects, maybe?”

“Objects, maybe?”“You have to know it very well. Like…” he thought for a moment, and Laura jumped as his Volvo fell down behind her. “Your car?” she said, raising an eyebrow. He spread his hands defensively and smiled. “I’ve been working on it for a very long time. You try.”“On what?” Laura asked.“Something simple, at first. A purse maybe. It’s just like anything else here, you have to picture it down to its finest details.”“Hmm. Ok.” Laura thought for a second, and then a heavy book appeared in her hands.“A book?” This time, Logan rose an eyebrow.“No, not just any book,” she said, and threw it to him. He caught it, and flipped it over in his hands. “Our math book,” he chuckled. “That’s how all this started, after all.”“That’s right,” Logan said.Just then, Laura felt a shiver run down her spine. She turned back, wondering what caused it. Logan caught her movement.“What is it?” he asked.“I thought I felt something,” she said slowly, then shook her head. “Never mind. It’s gone now.”“Are you sure?”“I think so, yes.”“Ok,” Logan said. Then he extended his hand to her. “Want to see something really cool?”“Of course,” Laura replied, and took it.Again, landscapes raced by, streaking alongside Laura. And then they stopped, and Laura found herself standing with Logan before a beautiful lake. It was

hidden deep in the crest of a mountain, the far side cradled by cliffs of ragged stone. The water was crystal clear, casting perfect reflections of the sun’s rays, andthe shore contained only the smoothest blue-gray pebbles.

“I found this place once after walking for an entire day through the dream world,” Logan explained. “I come here sometimes to think.” “I can see why,” Laura said. The air here felt even fresher than at the lake they began at. A bird sang in the distance, and the rustle of trees came from behind

them. The only thing that foiled the illusion was the slight edge of fuzziness that lay upon all the items of this world.Logan let go of her hand, and strolled up to the lake. He bent down to dangle his fingers in the water, then, picking out a round stone, got up and skipped it

across the lake. “Can you skip rocks, Laura?” he asked.“Uh… no, not really,” she admitted.“Come on over, then. I’ll teach you.” He smiled at her. “It’s easy, really.”Laura walked to him, but as she got closer, that feeling of being watched returned. She glanced back, but, on seeing nothing, continued on. Logan tossed her a

stone, and she stumbled catching it.“Come on now, that’s the easy part,” he teased. Laura grinned at him devilishly, and chucked the rock as hard as she could into the lake. It fell lifelessly into the

water without a single skip.“Well, you sure have the strength for it,” Logan laughed, and threw another rock himself. His skipped five times before sinking. Then he came over to help.For the next twenty minutes, Logan tried teaching Laura how to duplicate his feat – without much success. Still, they was having fun, and they both laughed at

her attempts while playfully poking fun at one another. By the end of it, Laura’s arm was absolutely exhausted, and her shoulder kind of hurt, so she collapsed,defeated but laughing, onto the ground.

Right when she fell, that feeling of unseen eyes returned, stronger than ever before. This time, she was sure somebody was there. Just as Logan threw one laststone across the water, she looked back – and froze as she saw a man, dressed in all black, peek out from a faraway tree. Their eyes met for an instant, and then theman disappeared.

Suddenly Logan was at her side. “What’s wrong?” he asked.“I just saw somebody.”“What do you mean?” His tone was grave, and his face serious.“At that tree, over there,” she pointed. “He disappeared right when I saw him.”He relaxed visibly. “Sometimes people drift in here, coming to places they know,” he explained. “They only stay a moment, and then return to their regular

dreams.”“This man was looking right at me, though. I felt his gaze.”“What?” His eyes became laser sharp, and he focused on her. “Are you sure?”“Yes. I felt it before, too, but I didn’t think anything of it.”“This man,” Logan said, “what did he look like?”“I didn’t get a very good look at him,” Laura admitted. “And he was far away. But he had a black coat on, and a black hat. Everything about him was black.

Except his skin, it was pale white, much like… yours.” Laura gulped the words.“What?” Logan demanded. “Are you sure?”“Yes.”“Shit.” Logan got up, looking over his shoulder, looking all around. “Take my hand,” he said to her urgently.“Why?”“We need to leave. Now.”Laura reached up to grasp his hand. On contact, a blast of cold jolted through her bones, and everything around her turned dark. She felt herself fading away,

felt her body begin to disintegrate as the world around her started to crumble. The only thing she was sure of was Logan’s hand, gripping her own tightly. Thenshe felt heat, the flare of molten-hot rock churning down a river of lava, and she started to fall. Direction became meaningless, and she fell for infinity, for eons, inno direction and in them all, with no sense of time or space to guide her. She fell through layers of heat and layers of cold, and the frost from all the world’sglacier’s froze her body as the heat of a thousand suns coursed through her veins. She fell… and was ripped back into her body, on top of Logan’s gray Volvo infront of the lake.

Her eyes popped open. A light rain had begun to fall while they were asleep, and her clothing was slightly damp. She felt Logan’s hard body at her side, andlooked up. He was blinking, coming to as she had. He looked down, and his eyes met hers momentarily. Then he pushed her aside and leapt off the car. Hestarted to pace back and forth in front of her, and he looked troubled.

“Logan, what’s wrong?” Laura worriedly. “What happened back there?”Logan looked at her, but didn’t answer. He kept pacing back and forth in front of her.“Logan, tell me what’s going on!” Laura demanded.

“Logan, tell me what’s going on!” Laura demanded. “I’m not supposed to bring you there,” he said, half to himself. Then he spoke louder, “Get in the car.”Precipitating his own words, he had unlocked the door and climbed in before Laura even had a chance to get off the hood. She opened the door and sat inside,

and looked at Logan. He looked worried, uncertain, troubled, and conflicted all in one. Without speaking, he started the engine, and backed the car up in reverse.“Where are we going?” Laura asked.“I need to get you home.”“Why? Logan, what’s going on?”“I need time to think,” he answered. He turned the car around, and sped down the dirt road, away from the lake.“Does it have to do with that man I saw?” Laura asked.“Maybe,” he said quietly. “I’m not sure.”“Logan, look at me!” Laura practically screamed the words. His behavior had her on edge, and she wasn’t getting any answers. He hit the brakes hard, causing

her to fly forward and hit the dashboard. She grunted on impact. “Why did you do that?” she demanded angrily.“You told me to look at you.” Logan turned his head to stare right at her. “I didn’t mean it literally,” Laura said under her breath, but returned his stare. “Logan, you have to tell me. Is this… any of this… dangerous?”“I’m not sure.” He sighed. “I can’t say.”“Well, what can you say?” she said furiously. “You brought me into this, and if there’s any danger, I need to know!”“What can I say?” he repeated. “Not much. Not much that would make sense to you. But… this might. There are others… like me. My kind. They’re dream

walkers. Where we just went, Laura, that was your dream. To access it, I needed your touch. To bring you into it. Everybody has their own dreams. Most occurin the safety of their own imagination, but from time to time, people access the same place we went to. That place is the same for everyone, and yet everyone hastheir own version of it. I…” he paused, struggling, “… I know I’m not making much sense. Think of… of a movie DVD. If you have a movie on a disk, and Ihave another disk of the same movie, the two disks exist as separate objects. But if you put them into a player, they’ll both output the same thing. They’ll play thesame movie. But one of the disks is mine, and the other is yours. It’s the same thing with the dream world. A person can’t access another person’s dream worldlike we just did… not consciously, anyway, and not at all most of the time.

“But there are some… that can transcend that limitation. They don’t need the touch. I wouldn’t think they’d notice, if we went into your dreams. But they jumpfrom people’s to people’s dreams like a frog jumps from lily to lily over a pond. In between the dreams… an abyss exists. We touched it briefly when we left. Butthat’s the only time we reach that abyss. To go to it consciously, to jump from dream to dream…” he shivered. “To go to it consciously means you might loseyourself forever. But the dream walkers can do that.”

“Wait,” Laura said, “are you telling me that somebody else was in my dream?”“Maybe. I can’t be sure. But I need time to think. I don’t know what attracted his attention. I was sure that our trip was going to be inconspicuous. I was sure,

dammit!” Then he started the car again, and continued driving forward. But something he said stuck out in Laura’s mind.“What did you mean,” she asked, “when you said ‘your kind’?”“Others like me,” he replied absently. Then he looked at her. “Where do you live? I need to get you home.”She told him the address. Before she knew it, they were on the right road, heading towards her house. The drive was spent in silence; every time Laura looked

over at Logan, he appeared to be even more concentrated on the road ahead. Soon enough, he pulled up in front of her house. She got out of the car, and told himthank you for the drive. As he drove off, she realized something: she didn’t give him any directions to her home.

Chapter Eleven~A Visit~

The next day at school, Laura sat idly beside her friend Kelly. They were in second period science class, and the teacher was doing attendance. As names werebeing called out, followed by answers of “Yes” or “Here” by the students, Kelly was telling Laura about a new boy she had met. But Laura was only listening withhalf a mind. Mostly, she was thinking about what happened yesterday. About everything that happened yesterday.

From learning about the dream world, to experiencing its wonders with Logan, to that strangely quiet drive home – all the events swirled in her head. Mostly,though, her thoughts kept wandering back to what happened at the very end. After she saw that mysterious man, and Logan pulled them out of the dream world sovery quickly. There was definitely something there… something he wasn’t telling her.

“Miss Cubus?”Laura looked up, and saw that her teacher was looking right at her. Everyone else in the class was staring at her, too. Suddenly she realized that the teacher had

said her name three or four times without it registering, and blushed. “Yes?” she asked meekly.“I’ve been told by the secretary that you’ve been requested in the principal’s office.”“Really?” Laura was confused. She’d never been in trouble before. What could this be about? “Do you know why?”Her teacher frowned. “They don’t tell me why, Miss Cubus, and I don’t concern myself with it either way. Get going, now, so you can be back before you miss

all of today’s lecture.”“Yes, Mrs. Donnelley.” Laura looked at Kelly before she left, who shrugged at her, and then walked out the classroom into the hall.As she walked towards the office, questions popped into her head. What was this about? Could it be something to do with the detention she’d received in

math? No, that had already been dealt with. Maybe it was something to do with what happened with Brady? She hoped not. She knew Logan wouldn’t sayanything, but could one of those guys have told on him? She might be in trouble, then.

Deciding not to take any chances, Laura decided she would peek through the glass panel doors of the office before walking in. If any of the guys from Brady’sgroup were there, she would turn away and go straight back to class. She didn’t want to deal with them, now.

As she got closer to the office doors, she pressed herself against a wall and looked around the corner. She immediately recognized Principal Cole leaning againstthe counter, talking to two men. Their attention was diverted off to the side, so their heads were turned. But Laura could have recognized one of them fromanywhere. It was the man from the dream.

Laura’s vision blurred, and she became dizzy. She pulled back so she wouldn’t be seen, and leaned heavily against the wall. The same man from the dream. She was certain of it; he wore the same dark clothes, had the same milky pale skin.

She became acutely aware of her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Her breaths had become short; ragged. And adrenaline pumped through her veins. Herentire body was signaling danger, danger to her.

She didn’t know what to do. Slowly, panic started to set in. What was that man doing here? How did he get here? She started to walk away. Slowly, at first,but then her pace quickened, until she broke out in a run. She had to find Logan. He would know what to do.

But she didn’t know where he was. She knew he’d be in class – she just didn’t know which one. She ran through the halls. How many classrooms were there? Dozens, at least. But she knew the teachers, knew what subjects were being taught in which rooms for students in her grade. But she didn’t know Logan’s

Dozens, at least. But she knew the teachers, knew what subjects were being taught in which rooms for students in her grade. But she didn’t know Logan’sschedule.

Picking at random, she flung the doors open to one classroom, interrupting the teacher mid-sentence. Everybody stared at her. She quickly scanned the faces,and, on not seeing Logan, ran back out.

She burst into another class. Logan wasn’t there either. The teacher yelled, and followed her into the hallway as she backed out. Laura ran on, leaving the criesof obscenity behind. Another classroom. Quickly, she opened the doors and scanned the faces. Logan wasn’t there.

Desperate, she ran to another class. Still, Logan was not there. Dammit, but he was taking the same subjects as her! All the students in her grade were,everybody was taught by the same teachers, so he had to be in one of these classrooms.

She ran into another room. No Logan. Another room. Still, no Logan. The man’s presence in the office was weighing heavily on her. She was getting moreand more scared. She ran, as fast as her legs could carry her, into a room at the far end of the hall. She was already panting, and her hair was a disheveled mess. She had to catch her breath before looking up. When she did – she saw that everybody was gaping at her.

“Laura?”It was Logan’s voice. Logan’s voice, from the back. She rushed over to him, not caring what anyone saw or said. He stood from his desk, and she jumped up

to embrace him in a tight hug.“Laura, what’s wrong?” He sounded concerned.“I saw him,” she said quickly, the words rushing out.“Saw who?”“They called for me in the office. Two men. One…” She gulped. “…one was the man I saw yesterday.”

Chapter Twelve~On the Run~

If it were possible, Laura would have said Logan turned even paler than usual. Suddenly, the confident young man she knew looked very frightened.“Are you sure?” he asked her.“Yes!” she practically screamed. “Would I come here like this, in the middle of class, if I wasn’t?” Everybody was still looking. The teacher started making her

way over. “Miss,” the teacher began, but Laura ignored it. She had eyes only for Logan.“You’re right,” he nodded. “We have to go.” And, taking her hand, he led her into the hall.“Logan, wait,” she said outside the classroom. “Where are we going?”“We have to get away,” he answered, continuing down the hall. His hand gripping hers gave her strength, made her feel stronger. Less scared.“I don’t understand.”“I’ll tell you. Later. But right now, we need to get out of the school.” The hall forked into two, and he looked down both ways, seeming uncharacteristically

unsure of himself. Finally, settling on a direction, he led her that way.They came up to an exit door, and he opened it for her. Before she stepped through, though, he stopped her.“Your bag,” he said, “where is it?”“I left it in my other class.”“There’s no time to get it, now,” he mumbled to himself. “Do you have anything important in there?”“Notebooks, school notes, that type of thing.”“What about your cell phone?”“It’s in my pocket.”Logan nodded. “Good.” And he ran out the school with her trailing. Outside, Laura realized where he was headed: towards the parking lot, where he

presumably had his car.Sure enough, Laura picked it out, standing in that same far corner as before. Logan was at a dead-run, now, and Laura struggled to keep up. He got to the car

way before her, and was already in the driver’s seat with the engine on when Laura opened the door.As soon as Laura clicked on her seatbelt, he gunned the engine, and sped out of the lot. When they were on the road, he started checking his back mirror every

few seconds. Obsessively. There was an obvious tension he was feeling, and the silence that stretched between them didn’t help.“What do you keep looking for?” Laura asked suddenly.“If they’re coming,” he replied distractedly.“The men from the office?” Laura asked. Logan nodded quickly in reply. “But how would they even know that we left?”“Trust me. They know.”There was such conviction in his words, that Laura started looking over her shoulder, too. Everything seemed fine at first – there weren’t many cars on the road

this close to the school at this hour – and nobody appeared to be coming after them. Just as Laura started to relax slightly, a black car appeared far behind them. Laura squinted her eyes. It appeared to be getting larger, getting closer to them, very quickly.

“Logan, the black car,” Laura said.“I see it.” His face was the picture of concentration. Laura looked back again. And was shocked to see the black car almost right behind them. The windows

were tinted, so she couldn’t see inside, but she could make out the model. They were being chased by a black Cadillac.“Hold on,” Logan muttered, and hit the accelerator. Hard.Laura cried out at the sudden acceleration, and flew back against her seat. Logan was doing fifty, sixty, seventy miles on the small road. Parked cars flashed by

the sides, and Logan swerved left and right to pass other vehicles on the road. Laura gripped the bottom of her seat so tightly she thought she’d never be able to letgo.

Laura knew this stretch of road, knew that it would narrow into one lane each way quickly. And she saw a car not far in front of them. There was no way topass it in this section. Looking back, Laura saw that the Cadillac was still on their tail.

Suddenly Logan switched into the oncoming lane. A yellow school bus came hurtling towards them. It sounded its horn, loudly, urgently. Laura could see asmall gap on her right, where the car that had been in front of them slowed down. The bus kept coming, the horn got louder as it came closer, and Laura screamedas they were about to hit it.

At the last moment, Logan veered back into the right lane, just in front of that car. The bus passed by, the reverberations from its passing shaking the Volvo. Laura’s breath caught. She stared at Logan in amazement, but he didn’t look the least bit anxious. At least, not anxious about driving. All he did was keepchecking the mirror, continuing to monitor the progression of the black car.

Laura saw an intersection far ahead of them. With a stale green light. She gripped her seat tighter as Logan sped up. He was going to try to make it. As theyraced closer, Laura watched in horror as the light turned amber. They were too far to make it. But Logan didn’t let up, didn’t slow down. If anything, he went

raced closer, Laura watched in horror as the light turned amber. They were too far to make it. But Logan didn’t let up, didn’t slow down. If anything, he wenteven faster.

The light turned red, and time slowed for Laura. She watched, paralyzed, as the cars lined up at the light started inching forward, ever so slowly, in theperpendicular direction. And Logan kept going. The other cars started accelerating too, moving further into the intersection. Laura felt their car going faster. Thegap between them and the intersection closed. Cars were coming from left and right. And Logan wasn’t slowing down. He was going to go through.

Laura shut her eyes and prayed for nothing to happen. Just at that moment, the loud blare of angry horns from all directions sounded. She felt the vibrations ofcars passing in front and behind them, heard the swerving of tires, and was sure she was going to die.

Suddenly, all was quiet. The sound of horns was coming from behind them. She opened her eyes. They were driving on the other side of the crossing. Theyhad made it!

An ear-shattering crash sounded from behind her. She spun around, looking out the back window of the Volvo. And, back in the distance of the intersection,she saw the black Cadillac smashed against the side of an orange truck.

She looked to Logan, who let up on the accelerator. Slightly. He stared straight ahead, now. And he was tense. His jaw was tense, his posture was tense;everything about him was tense.

“Logan, we made it,” she said, “they got hit.”“Not for long,” he answered. But then she saw him relax. Just a little.“Logan, you have to tell me what’s going on. Who were those people?”“I didn’t want to bring you into this,” he answered.“You have to tell me!”“It wasn’t meant to be like this.”“Logan, you have to tell me!”“I’m sorry, Maria.” He said that in the barest whisper, so quiet that Laura thought she misheard the words.“What? Logan, what is going on, tell me!” Laura felt herself on the verge of tears. She was scared, emotionally drained. Terrified, really. And uncertain.

“Who are you?”He looked at her. His eyes were red, too. “I’m sorry, Laura. You deserve to know the truth. And you will. I’m going to tell you everything.”

Chapter Thirteen~Revelations~

They sped down the freeway, away from the city where Laura had grown up. Where she met all her friends, where she had her first crush. Where she got herfirst kiss. Where her family still was – her mother and father, her younger sister, her big loving dog. They sped away, and Laura looked sadly out the window. She wasn’t sure if she was ever going to be back.

When Logan said he was going to tell her everything, he meant it. Laura still wasn’t sure how to take what she had just learned.

“Where do you want me to start?” he asked her.“Start with who you are,” she replied. “Tell me who you are. I barely know a thing about you.”He sighed, and looked forward at the road. When he spoke, he didn’t look at her once. “I’m not like you, Laura,” he began. “Not entirely. I’m not… human.”“What?” she exclaimed. “What do you mean?”“I’m something else,” he said sadly.“Are there others like you?”“Yes, there are.”“Those men chasing us… are they like you?”“Yes.”“Tell me.”He sighed again. “If I do, you’ll want to run from me. You’ll want to run and hide forever. But you can’t, now. I wish I could let you go, Laura. I wish I let

you go before. But if you go now, they’ll find you. No matter who you’re with, no matter where you go, they will find you. And I can’t let them do that.”“Logan.” She reached over to take his hand in hers. She held it tight. “You can tell me.”He paused for a long moment, and took a deep breath. “There’s folklore about me. About… things like me. Legends and stories that are told to scare children

into behaving. Tales about things that go bump in the night.”“Would I know them?”“I’m sure you would.” He tried to pull his hand away, but she wouldn’t let him. His skin was ice cold silk.“Tell me. I’m not afraid.” She felt afraid, now. She was afraid she would never see her family again. Afraid she would never come home again. Afraid of what her parents might think

when they found out she ran away.

“The dream world I showed you,” he said, “is restricted to those of my kind. We’re the only ones who have direct access to it, who can go there at will. Humans… they can only drift in and out without realizing it.

“But I discovered that I had the ability to draw humans in. To explore their dreams, together with them. Like I did with you. “When I learned I could do it, I thought I was unique. I thought I was one of a kind. But it turned out that every one of my kind could do it. Everyone could

draw humans in like that. Except… it’s prohibited. By ancient creed, we’re forbidden from doing that.”“When I brought you in, I thought we were safe. I haven’t had contact with any of… my elders… for a very long time. I had hoped most had thought me dead,

or dying. Or had long forgotten about me. I still don’t know how we drew their attention. “It shouldn’t have even worked that way. We entered your dream. They couldn’t have been watching. They know the rules, too. They abide by them better

than I do. For them, the creed stands above all else. Above their own lives. They weren’t allowed to be there, either. But they were – or at least, one of them was– and they saw us.

“And for that, I’m sorry, Laura. I’m sorry for dragging you into all this. I’m sorry for my carelessness. I know I should have never done it, should never haveshown you what I did. Believe me, I fought the urge as much as I could.

“But there was something about you… something that tugged at me and begged me to show you. Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe I wanted to believethat you needed to see that world. Maybe I needed to believe it. But it was my own shortcoming, my deficiency that put us in this situation. And for that, I’m trulysorry.”

sorry.” She looked over at him. She pulled her hand away when he told her the truth, and hadn’t moved it back since. He looked hurt when she did that. But he drove

on, looking straight ahead.

“And what is ‘your kind,’ exactly, Logan?” she asked. “My kind.” He laughed softly. “Those who are like me, of course. Those who the stories are written about, and legends are twisted from. We are a separate

race, Laura, removed from humanity long ago. Each of us is given… abilities… that transcend that what a regular human can do. But it goes both ways. Wehave weaknesses unique to us. Some of them, I’m sure, you can even laugh at.”

“I won’t laugh,” she promised him. “Just tell me the truth.”“That’s what I said I’d do, isn’t it?” He sighed again. She could see he was struggling to form the words. “I’ll start with the physical. We’re usually taller

than your kind. By a head or more, at least. I’d actually be considered fairly short.” He laughed, but it was an oddly forced laugh.“Our skin is also much lighter. ‘Elven skin,’ some call it, but that gives it unnecessary embellishment.”“It shines, though,” she said gently. “Sometimes, I’ve seen yours absolutely radiate in the light.”“That’s when you should have stayed away. We’re most dangerous, then.”“Tell me,” she pressed. “Tell me why you say that.”“We’re stronger than humans. More agile, too. Our bones are nearly unbreakable, but they’re unbelievably light. It gives us a certain… grace. Our balance is

better because of it. I’m what, nearly a foot taller than you? And yet I can guarantee that I weigh less than you do.“Our vision is also better. When I look at your face, I can see every imperfection that makes you so unique. Every flaw that makes you so beautiful.”“You… find me beautiful?” she stumbled, amazed.“Of course I do, Laura. Of course I do.”Her heart fluttered. Maybe she was developing feelings for him. It was the only thing that would explain her sitting here. If she were sane, if she had any shred of common sense,

she would be clawing at the door, desperate to escape. She would be calling the police, telling them she’d been abducted, and have fifteen cruisers chasing themdown the highway already. But instead she just sat there in silence.

“We’re here,” Logan announced. It was the first time he spoke since she pulled her hand away, nearly an hour ago. She looked across at him. He still looked straight ahead, and despite having parked the car, kept his hands on the wheel. His shoulder slumped, and he looked

tired. Maybe as tired as she felt. But she knew it wasn’t a physical weariness that touched him. It was an emotional one.She studied his face. His skin looked so smooth, so delicate. So white. His dark eyes made a perfect contrast, as did his pitch-black hair, which was styled up so

exorbitantly. She realized for the first time that he had near-perfect cheekbones, not too high and not too low, and that his nose and jaw were both strong andhandsome. He was handsome. But he was also something else.

“You’re a vampire,” she whispered.He cringed. “I hate that name. Hate that title. And it’s not who I am. It might be a small part of what I must do to survive, but… it’s not me.”A vampire. He had told her that’s what human folklore would call him. A bloodsucker, a monster, a predator, a killer. And he was sitting right beside her, close

enough for her to reach out and touch.“You feed on human blood.” She should be terrified, saying that. She should be terrified, sitting so close to him. She should be terrified, except that… she

wasn’t. All she felt was a cool, dark calm.“Yes,” he admitted. “Every time, I try to fight it, but… I can’t. Morals and ethics mean nothing when you’re starving. We battle depression between feedings.

The longer we go without blood, the less confident we get. The less graceful we get, the less powerful we get. We become shells of our former selves, and webecome obsessive about finding food. My only solace is how infrequently I need to feed.”

“How often do you do it?” she asked.“Twice a year, only.”“And…” she gulped, “…when was the last time you fed?”Despite himself, he smiled. “Less than a week ago.”All of a sudden, all of it clicked into place for Laura. All of a sudden, everything made sense. His arrival here. The unusual murder. The animal warning. And

his transformation after.“You’re the animal,” she breathed. And for the first time in his presence, she felt a shiver run down her spine.He nodded. “I am, aren’t I? And you’re the only one who knows. Usually I don’t leave my prey like that, for people to find after, but I was careless.”“The hitman,” Laura continued. “You’re the one who killed him!”“Yes. You see, I try to balance things out in choosing my targets. The man had a body list at least twenty long on him. A contract killer, he would have struck

soon had I not acted. And then some time again, thereafter. It’s a small solace I can take in thinking I might have prevent some deaths.”Laura understood. She understood what he meant. She identified with him. “Logan,” she asked suddenly. A question had occurred to her, one that she wanted to know the answer to. “Are your kind born that way, or can they be

transformed?”“Both,” he answered.“And you, then?”“I was born a human.”Everything clicked again. She understood his struggle, understood his morals. Understood why he tried to fight something that came so naturally. She had one

last question, though.“How old are you?”In reply, Logan smiled sadly, and turned his head. For the first time in what seemed like eons, their eyes met. “Do you want to know my age, or how long ago I

was born?”“What’s the difference?”“We stop aging once we’re transformed.”“Tell me both.”“My human age,” he said, “is eighteen years old.”“And how long ago were you born?”“I was brought into this planet four hundred and twenty-nine years ago.”

“I was brought into this planet four hundred and twenty-nine years ago.”Too much blood rushed to Laura’s head, and she passed out.

Chapter Fourteen~Confrontations~

“Laura? Laura, wake up.”Laura opened her eyes. Logan was standing over her. She was lying down, on a hard surface. Somewhere damp. She blinked. She was inside, and the interior

reminded her of a wooden cabin. She pushed herself up, and looked around. She was in a small room, a single window letting in the outside light. The walls and ceiling were both made of

wooden planks, but they were heavy with age. The room was completely barren. Mildew grew thick on the walls, and the floor she was lying on was dirty. Heavy dust filled the air, causing her to cough.

“Where are we?” she managed eventually.“An old grain mill,” Logan said. Laura noticed a closed door in one of the walls. “Nobody comes here anymore, and I thought it’d be a good place to regroup.”Laura stood up, eyeing Logan warily. “How come you didn’t tell me we were coming here?”“You passed out before I had the chance. I carried you here from the car.”“You carried me? How far away are we?”“An hour from the road. Nobody should bother us here for some time. We should have tonight, at least, before we need to move on.”Suddenly Laura’s ears caught the heavy clunking of machinery coming from the adjacent room. She went to the door and cautiously edged it open. And felt as

if she’d stepped into the past. In a vast, largely empty room, huge spinning pulleys and belts worked overhead while metal poles positioned horizontally rotatedquickly. Gears and levers dotted the floor of the room, providing control over the machinery. Much of the metal was red with rust, but it still moved, clanging andgroaning along.

“It’s still running,” she marveled.“It never stopped,” Logan shrugged. “The river runs year-round, and as long as it spins the waterwheel, the mechanisms in here keep going.”“The river?”“Yes. You can hear it from here, can’t you?”Laura strained her ears. And realized she could make out the sound of rushing water nearby. Logan walked to another door, right by a window, and motioned

her over. When she came, he pushed it open, revealing the outdoors.Beautiful vegetation surrounded them. They stood at the bottom of a narrow gorge, with a rocky slope to one side and thick forested trees on the other. Under

her feet, right beneath the building, a river roared with life. The sun shone through the leaves of the forest, making shadows on the ground. It felt like they werehundreds of miles from civilization.

“So,” Logan said once Laura turned back inside.“So,” Laura echoed.“We need to get rid of your belongings.”“Why?”“The men tracking us. They’re like me, and once they have your scent, they can track you forever. Getting rid of your belongings might make it harder for them

to do it.”“Is that how they knew we left the school?”“Yes, I think. The man you saw – he knew your scent from the dream. Thankfully, amidst all the other students, you were harder to pick out. Otherwise he

would have come for you right in the classroom.”Laura shivered. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened then.“We have to change you out of your clothes as soon as possible. It might help us get a lead on them. But you have to understand Laura, they’re like hounds.

No matter where we go, they’ll only be a single step behind. If we ever stop, if we ever rest for more than is absolutely necessary, they’ll get to us.”“Let’s go to the police,” she said suddenly. “They can help us.”Logan laughed bitterly. “The police? They can’t do anything.”“Why?”“The men after us are my kind, Laura. There’s nothing that will stop them. If we go to the police, they’ll just tear right through them before getting to us. The

best thing we can do is run, and never look back.”“And then what?” Laura demanded. “Do you expect to just run forever?”“You haven’t seen what they can do,” he said quietly. “You have no idea what they’re capable of. If we run, we have a chance to get away. If we’re smart, we

might be able to lose them before they can reach us. But it won’t be easy.”“You can fight them!” she blurted out. “I saw you fight four guys at once like it was nothing!”He laughed again, cruelly this time. “Laura, you have no idea what they’re capable of. I fought when there was little at stake, against four children. The two

men behind us – they’re bounty hunters. They’re my kind. And when they fight, they fight to kill.”Laura had to get her head straight. She had to think. That momentary lapse in thinking when she said Logan could fight… that wouldn’t do. They were both in

danger, and the least she could do was understand what she was facing.“You mentioned weaknesses earlier. Of your race. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. What are you bad at, compared to humans?”Logan sighed. “Not much that is helpful in this case. Our vision in the sun is the main thing. Things become hazy in direct sunlight. Glare, when the light

reflects off glass, nearly blinds us on any day. And these woods might give us a slight advantage, as well. The air is dense here, and your scent is harder to pickout. It might make it—” Logan cut off with a strangling sound, and in an instant was at the door. “They’re coming,” he hissed back to her.

“What? Already? You said we have until nightfall!”“I was wrong.” He shut the door quickly and rushed to the opposing wall. “You need to hide.” He pulled back a board to reveal a small cubby in the wall.

“Quickly!”Laura ran over. “Get in,” he told her, “and don’t make a sound.” Laura nodded. Her pulse was racing, and she felt that kick of adrenaline again. A mixture of

fear and dread came over her as she pushed herself into the wall. There wasn’t much space, and splinters and rough pieces of wood pierced her skin and got caughtonto her clothing. She wedged herself further in, and Logan replaced the board.

Light scattered in from cracks along the wall, and Laura pressed an eye to one of them to peer out. She could see the entire space between her and the entrancedoor. Logan stood with his back to her, facing the door. In a predatory stance. Anxious minutes passed. Only Laura’s ragged breaths broke the silence, and theysounded loud as hammers to her ears.

sounded loud as hammers to her ears.Slowly, the door started to move. Logan tensed. The door creaked open all the way, and a tall figure stepped into the entrance. Laura’s breath caught. It was

the same man from the dream, the same one she saw at the school. “Where’s your friend?” the man asked Logan crudely. He spoke with a harsh accent.If it were possible, Logan tensed even more. The man took a step forward. He had the same long coat on from before, the same dark hat. He and Logan were

approximately the same height. Leisurely, he started to take off his coat. Logan still hadn’t moved. The man dropped his coat in a pile at the side, and Laura saw that he was much thicker than Logan. Bigger, more developed. Stronger.“Don’t try to hide her. I can smell her stench from here. I know she’s been here.”“You will not have her.” Logan’s voice had a steely edge to it. The man laughed derisively in reply.“Oh? Is that so? Or what, you’re going to stop me?” He laughed again. “You are but a youngling, only a child, and you have broken the ancient creed by

bringing her into our world. You will answer for your crime harshly, as will she.”“You will not have her,” Logan repeated.The man waved dismissively, and took a step towards Logan. “You cannot stop me,” he said. “And I don’t intend to take just her. You’ll be coming along, as

well.”“No,” Logan growled.“Oh, yes, I will take you both.” The man was only a pace away from Logan, now. “You cannot imagine what they will do to you. You will be bound in

chains, locked away forever to never again see the dark of night, feel the cool rays of the moon. You will grow weak and feeble, forever barred from taking blood. You will not be fed, and you will never feed again.

“Your body will be the first to go. Your muscles will wither away to nothingness, and your bones will crumble. You will become a mere shadow of what youonce were. A shadow of what you could have become.

“But they will keep your mind sharp. Make no mistake, you will know you are suffering. An antidote will be administered, and it will stave off the madness thataccompanies your feeding deprivation. You will languish forever in misery, forever conscious of your mistake. That will be your sentence. Until the end of time.” The man took one last step, until he was nose-to-nose with Logan. And he spoke just loudly enough for Laura to hear.

“But that pales in comparison to what they will do to her.” Logan snarled. “Yes, her. Your precious human.” He spat the word. Then he raised his voice. “Iknow you are here, my darling. Listen well to what I have to say.” Then he spoke to Logan again. “She will suffer for your sin. A human mind and body is muchweaker than that of our kind, that of the Vassiz, and for that reason… she will be converted. And sentenced to suffer eternally alongside you.

“You know of the savage bloodlust that overtakes a new member of the Vassiz, do you not? Oh, but I think you do. You were once one of them, were younot? You were born a human.” Again, he spat the word. “A despicable thing. A despicable creature to risk to much for, wouldn’t you say?”

Logan didn’t say a word, and the man continued. “I will give you once chance. One chance now, to repent. Give her up freely, and your punishment for yourtreason will be less severe. You will be only bound for one century, and then be returned your freedom.” He put a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “You know youcannot win. Is eternity in hell worth it, for her?”

Suddenly Laura caught movement at the door. The other hunter. “No!” she screamed. It was a trap. Everything happened at once.On Laura’s cry, both newcomers looked in her direction. Logan curled back from the man’s hand and smashed an elbow into his face. The thick man – no, the

thick vampire – stumbled back. Then he laughed cruelly, and flung himself at Logan. They both went down hard.The other vampire, the first one’s accomplice, walked towards her from the door. He ignored Logan and his friend completely. He looked right at her, and

walked closer ever so slowly, taking his sweet time. She was trapped, and she knew it. She had to get out. She edged towards the exit, and she could see throughthe cracks the vampire watching her had stopped. He had a crude smile on his face, and his eyes followed her movement. He just stood there, waiting. He knewwhere she was, and where she would go.

She heard a shout. Logan’s shout. It was a cry of pain. She couldn’t see him; couldn’t see what happened. She flung herself at the board and crashed throughto the other side. And she saw Logan lying lifelessly on the floor.

“No!” she screamed, and scrambled to get to him, to help him up, to do anything. But the vampire who had been watching her moved impossibly quick. Hegrabbed her roughly by the arm, and pulled her close.

“No, girlie,” he breathed on her face, “you’re not going anywhere but with us.”“Let go of me!” Laura cried, and struggled against his grip. But his fingers around her arm didn’t budge. “Logan! Logan!” She saw him on the floor,

struggling to get up. And as soon as he was on his knees, he collapsed back down as a boot came down hard on his spine. “Stop!” she shrieked. Desperately, she tried to get away, struggling against the grip on her arm. She squirmed and screamed, but the vampire’s hand was an iron

chain. Suddenly, she found herself being lifted, and the vampire was carrying her, over his back, out into the forest. “Logan!” she screamed. Tears streamed down her face. She frantically wanted to help, to run back in and help him to his feet. But she couldn’t do anything.

She was absolutely helpless. She hit the vampire’s back as hard as she could with her fists, but it was like hitting a rock. It didn’t even faze him. Abruptly, she was flying through the air. She hit the ground with a grunt and looked around wildly. . She had been thrown off! The vampire who carried her

was standing over her, smiling sweetly.“Don’t fall behind,” he told her. “I don’t intend to carry you the entire way, but if you run, I will catch you. And this time, I will hurt you. So don’t tempt me.”

And as if that were all the instructions she needed, he turned away, and started making his way deeper into the woods.Laura looked back at the mill. She contemplated running back, trying to help Logan. The vampire continued walking away, further from her. She could make a

run for it… but then she remembered how fast he had been after she crashed out of the cubby. She remembered how strong his grip was. He would be on her inseconds. And this time, he would not be so gentle.

A strangled cry came from her throat, and she tore her eyes away from the mill. And followed her captor.

Chapter Fifteen~An Unknown Strength~

Laura followed the man in front of her for what seemed like hours. The vampire in front of her. She still wasn’t used to thinking about him like that.She looked up to the sky, and surprised herself when she realized the sun was in almost the same position as it was when she was dumped on the ground and told

to follow. She thought they had been walking for hours, but it must only barely been one, if that.She rubbed her arm where the vampire had grabbed her. A bruise was already developing, and the spot was tender to the touch. Her feet hurt from traversing

the uneven forest ground. She had been forced to climb over logs, over fallen trees, push through thick bushes – all while following the vampire. He had notrouble with any of it, obviously, and slowed his pace so she could keep up.

“Where are you taking me?” she tried for what must have been the thousandth time. But, as usual, there was no reply. It was an uneasy feeling, being sohelpless and so trapped. She was a prisoner with no chains.

helpless and so trapped. She was a prisoner with no chains.Suddenly a blur of motion caught her eye. And the next thing she knew, the vampire in front of her was down on the ground. Somebody was standing over

him, looking away. Logan?She rushed over. It was him! With a cry of joy, she jumped up to embrace him. But he didn’t reciprocate. He just stood there, arms at his sides. He was

breathing heavily. “Logan?” She looked at his face. He was unnaturally calm. “Logan, what happened? How did you get here?”“I took his blood,” he said simply. “Took who’s blood?” Laura was too overjoyed to think straight. “What are you talking about?”“The vampire I fought in the mill. He looked away, and I jumped him. And I sunk my teeth deep into his flesh. He cried out, Laura. A cry I would have never

thought a Vassiz could make. It was a sound of pure agony, of anguish and torture. It was my only chance, and I… I took it.“It is prohibited, Laura. Cannibalism. It goes against all the rules of our race. It goes against our very being. None have done it for thousands of years. Maybe

never. But I did… and it gave me strength, Laura. Strength like I have never imagined. My senses increased tenfold, my agility even more. A rage overtook me,and I felt an animal, more so than ever before. Taking a vampire’s blood…” he shuddered, “…it is nothing like taking human blood. Human blood is but a paleimpression of it.”

Laura gaped. She had not known it was even possible for a vampire to feed on another’s blood. “Is it… safe?” she asked. “Safe for you?”“I don’t know. I have heard legends, but those are rooting in myth as much as truth. I have never heard of anyone doing it once our race became organized. I

don’t think any of my kind have even thought of doing it. It is a heinous crime.”Laura abruptly realized that Logan had not moved once since she hugged him. Instead, he was staring at the body at his feet. Laura looked up at his eyes, and

saw they were ablaze with intensity. An intensity that he struggled to contain. She moved back, and it seemed to break him out of his trance. For the first time, he met her gaze, and a small smile spread across his face. “A heinous crime, but

it keeps you safe. That’s all that matters.”“Did you… kill him?” she asked, looking at her captor.“No. The Vassiz are surprisingly hard to kill. Back there, in the mill, might be the first casualty of our race in generations. I could kill this one, though, if I fed.

But if I did that, I don’t know if I could contain myself with you.”Laura gulped nervously. And Logan laughed. “Don’t worry,” he said, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen in her face. “I wouldn’t do anything to risk

you.”She gulped nervously again. But this time, it was a different type of nervousness. She felt a little lightheaded, and cleared her throat. “What was that word you

used? I heard them use it, too. The Vassiz?”“It is what we call our kind. To humans, we might be known as vampires. But to us, we are all a part of the ancient Vassiz race.”The Vassiz. Somehow, it was easier to think of Logan as a Vassiz than as a vampire. “So what happens now?”“We run. We get as far away as we can. We can’t make contact with anybody. Hopefully, we can escape the others.”“Others?”“More are coming. I think the first two were only scouts. Once they realize what I’ve done, they’ll put the entire militia after us.”“The militia? How many are there?”“Vassiz live in separate packs all over the world. We don’t communicate with one another much, outside the pack. But… I know there are five packs near us, on

the west coast. Some are hidden, out in the wilderness, and others live right with humans in the city. I fear we’ll soon have all five packs after us.”“How many… members… is that?” “Maybe twenty-five, thirty vampires total. Once the elders hear of the scouts’ failure, they’ll recruit them all.” Thirty vampires. All coming after her. For the first time, Laura felt truly terrified. She had seen what only two can do. “But you said vampires don’t

communicate outside their pack. How are they going to be recruited?”“We communicate through the dream realm,” he said, “in times of great need.”“You said they can track us by my scent. How are we ever going to get away?”“Our only chance is to run as far as we can, as fast as we can. That’s our only escape. We can’t face them.” Then he looked down at the body and nudged it

with his foot. “Anyway, this guy is going to be out for a while, so we’ll be able to get a bit of a lead. But we can’t take my car.”“Why not?”“It has your scent. We have to go by foot.” He paused, thinking. “Do you have your cell phone still?”“Yes, it’s right here in my pocket,” Laura replied, pulling it out.“Give it to me. I don’t know how well these packs are integrated within human society, but I don’t doubt that one of them will have the connections to track our

location by that.”Laura dropped the phone in his hand. Giving it away, she felt it symbolic of starting her new life. Logan reached back, as if he were about to throw the phone

far into the distance, but then he stopped himself. “Actually, I have a better idea,” he told her. He put the phone into his own pocket, and knelt down to hoist the unconscious vampire on his back. “Wait here.

I’ll be back.” And before Laura could blink, he was gone, an indistinctive blur racing away through the woods.

--

Laura was sitting on a stump when Logan finally emerged from the woods. He carried a small bundle in his hands, and held it carefully. “Where did you go?” she asked him when he came close enough. “Back to the mill. I remembered something hidden there, long ago.” He nodded to the bundle. “I also brought our friend there and tied him up. He’ll be able to

get out, eventually, but it gives us even more of a head start.”“That’s good,” she said. “What’s in the parcel?”“It’s for you,” he answered, and lowered it into her arms. She took hold. It wasn’t heavy, and felt soft in her hands. Like fabric, or cloth.“What is it?” she asked.“Open it and you’ll see.”Slowly, she unwrapped the string that held it together. And pulled aside the brown paper flaps. Inside, she found a carefully folded piece of dark fabric. She

held it up, and let it fall to reveal its shape. It was a beautiful black dress, delicately decorated with silk lace at the neck- and hem-line. The bodice had an elaboratepattern of flowers and shapes sewn into it that curved around the back.

“It’s beautiful,” Laura breathed. “But why did you give it to me?”

“It’s your size, I think. You should put it on. It’ll help us significantly with the tracking if we leave your old clothes behind. It might be uncomfortable to run in,sure, but…” he shrugged uncertainly, “…but I think it’ll help us get away.”

“You really want me to wear this?” Laura had never seen a dress that looked as exquisite as this one, much less worn one. Logan nodded.“Ok,” she said. “But only because it’ll help us get away.”“Of course,” Logan smiled.

Chapter Sixteen~History Revealed~

Later that night, Laura sat in front of a small cookfire. Night had fallen, and all the sounds from the forest around her seemed amplified in the dark. Thankfully,Logan was with her.

He was diligently watching over a small hare that roasted over the fire. He had found and caught if for her, and was now preparing her meal. Laura watched ashe meticulously rotated the branch the rabbit was speared on, watched as he kept it a perfect distance away from the fire to let the meat cook. She was absolutelyravenous, and aside from a few berries she found on the trip, hadn’t eaten all day.

“It’s ready,” Logan finally said, handing the branch to her. Laura took it, and was surprised at the weight of the animal. It was much heavier than it looked. She took a bite – and was surprised again at the rich flavor the rabbit contained. Logan had cooked it perfectly, and all the juices flowed into her mouth

deliciously. She was careful not to get any on the dress she was wearing, though.“Hungry, huh?” Logan laughed. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat a regular meal like that.”“But apparently not how to cook,” Laura replied. “Where did you learn to do that?”“I’ve been alive for a long time, remember?”“Right.” Laura took another bite, and chewed it thoughtfully. “Can I ask you a question?”“Now would be the best time.”“Is it true what that other vampire said? About the punishment you’d face if they caught you?”“I… I believe so,” Logan replied.“It seems a little harsh, doesn’t it? When you think about it compared to the severity of the crime, I mean. From what little of it all I understand, it’s all because

you took me into the dream world, isn’t it?”Logan sighed. “It’s not that simple, Laura. What I did was prohibited by a doctrine sacred to our race. It’s a doctrine that has kept us alive and safe for all these

years. It’s what keeps order in what we do, in who we are. It keeps us safe.“Now, to be honest, I didn’t think anybody would notice if I showed that world to you. If we entered the dream world together. It was your dream, after all, and

you have just as much a right to be there as anybody else. More, in fact. But typically humans only enter fleetingly, and not in full as we did. “Usually, vampires stay away from human dreams, from human realms. The only time they would do so is in the hunt.”“The hunt?”“Yes. The dream world isn’t quite as wonderful as I made it seem. When it was discovered by vampires, they started taking full advantage. They would jump

into humans’ dreams, haunt their dreams. It was used by hunters, to find and stalk their prey.”“Wait, it was discovered? So you mean you didn’t always know you had the ability to enter that world?”“No,” Logan admitted. “the first of our kind didn’t have the ability. It was only the first converts, the first vampires who were born human, who discovered it.

A purebred vampire – one who is born a vampire, not converted – lacks the ability to dream. The ones who were converted, they knew of dreams from theirprevious lives. And with their new abilities, they learned to enter that world.”

“What abilities do you mean? Is it like the mind thing you showed me? Can every vampire do that?”“No. I’m the only one I know of. Although, that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t others. You see, aside from the physical benefits of our race – speed,

strength, vision, all that – each Vassiz has another, more mysterious ability. Most keep theirs secret, and don’t share with others. Not even with others in their ownpack. We’re a selfish bunch, you see,” he laughed.

“But you shared with me,” she marveled.“Yes, I did. But understand that I’m not like most others. When a human is newly converted… as I was, all those years ago… they want nothing to do with

other humans. Except to take their blood. Most converts go into hiding, and the packs seek them out. Slowly, as converts acclimatize their new… talents… theycan withstand human contact better.”

“What do you mean, ‘withstand’? Is there something wrong with humans, for vampires? For the Vassiz, I mean?”“Well, first of all, you stink,” Logan laughed. “New converts are repulsed by humans as a species. Taking their blood, feeding on them, killing them – it

becomes an obsession. The drive to do so can overwhelm a convert without the proper guidance. And too much blood too quickly can kill a vampire, if he’s notcareful.

“Now, the purebreds, they don’t have that problem with humans. They have the same drive to feed, the same need for blood, but they aren’t repulsed byhumans, either. That’s why they can be found living right beside humans in society.”

“But you were living amongst humans, right? Before you came to my school?”“Yes,” he laughed. “My conversion did not go as smoothly as it could have. I am told I fought it, resisted the poison until I nearly died. Because of that, I think

I retained a better… affinity for humans. A better regard for them.“It helps that I have little love for my own kind. Most are a selfish, hating breed. There are some who are not like that, though…” his eyes became sad, “…

though most of them were killed a long time ago. ‘Purification,’ the elders called it. To get rid of the weakest of our race. “I was around when it happened, and only nearly avoided getting caught in it myself. It was a ridiculous undertaking. It spread as a wild cult idea, at first, the

notion of purification. But then the elders started to listen, and they were seduced by the poisonous whispers of their followers. The peace that existed between thevampires was broken, and warring factions broke out.

“There was one I knew. One I cared deeply about. And she was caught on the wrong side of it all.” His jaw clenched. “Who was she?” Laura asked. “What happened to her?”Logan sighed. “Her name was Maria. She was the love of my life.” Laura felt an inexplicable stab of jealousy as he said that. “She was one of the first to take

pity on humans, and dreamed of coexistence with them in the future. A world where vampires did not have to hide their true selves. And where humans did nothave to fear us.

“She was the first to be targeted in the purification. She was set up as an example of the weakest of our race. But nothing could be further from the truth…” Hetrailed off, staring into the distance.

“…was this very long ago?” Laura asked.

“…was this very long ago?” Laura asked.“Almost two centuries.” Logan sighed. “But that’s neither here nor there.”“Do you… still love her?” A small voice in the back of Laura’s head told her she was a fool for asking such a question, for bringing up ghosts of the past. But

she had a burning desire to know.“I… ahh. She was a part of my life, but you must understand it was a very long time ago. The memories I still hold… they have paled and dulled as the years

have gone by. The truth is, I do not think I can still remember her face.” He shook his head gruffly. “This is a poor subject to draw our attention to. I shouldn’thave brought it up. We have more pressing matters to attend to now.” He picked up a twig and started poking at the fire haphazardly. “The vampires that are afterus… that is of importance. I’ve told you nearly all I know about our species. Laura, you have to understand the danger we face. The ones coming after us, they’reperfect killing machines. And if they ever catch us, they will not show mercy.”

“Your eyes,” Laura said suddenly, remembering she felt when they first met. “You haven’t mentioned your eyes.”“Oh?” Logan raised an eyebrow. “And what would I have said?”“When I first met you,” Laura explained, “and you first looked on me… I felt an enormous stab of fear. It was gone as soon as I blinked, but it was there.

Why?”“Ah. Well, yes, that might have happened. Our eyes can strike fear, irrational and completely primal fear, into humans. It’s always different, how people react.

And the effect gets stronger the further away we are from a feeding. Usually, we can control it, decide when to let it work, but sometimes that control falters… thefurther we’ve been from a feeding.”

“The longer you go without blood?”“That’s right. When the hunger strikes, it’s difficult to control yourself. That’s why I was so… withdrawn… that first week you met me. If I had been engaged,

with all those humans at the school, well… let’s just say that murder would have struck slightly closer to home for many of you.”“So you were controlling yourself? Restricting your desire?”“Yes. I had to find a… target… for my feeding. Somebody I would have no moral qualms overtaking. Well, maybe that’s not quite right. There are always

morals that fight in conflict deep within me, every time I take a life, but – I try to push them down by feeding only on those who deserve to die.” He barked alaugh. “But who am I to make such decisions? The truth is, what I am repulses me in those moments. But it’s the only way to survive.”

Laura felt a yawn coming, and tried to stifle it, but it escaped anyway. She didn’t want to be disrespectful, and what Logan was telling her was fascinating. “You need to sleep, don’t you?” Logan said.

“Yes,” she admitted. “What about you?”“I’ll stay guard and watch.” Logan put out the fire by kicking some dirt over it. “I wish I had something you could sleep on, but…” he spread his hands, “…

looks like the ground will have to do for tonight.”“That’s alright,” Laura answered. She thought it a shame to soil the dress by sleeping on the ground, but it wasn’t like there were any other options. Logan sat

down, facing the direction they had come from, away from her, and Laura tried to find a comfortable position on the dirt. It was hard. Roots and rocks poked ather, and there was no comfort on the rigid earth. She lay awake for what seemed like hours. When she finally found sleep, it was of a restless sort, and darknightmares haunted her dreams.

Chapter Seventeen~The Marble Twins~

For three days they trekked through the wilderness, going east and north. Headed towards the Canadian border, where Logan said there would be less people. With less people came less of an opportunity to be noticed.

Laura hadn’t seen any signs of their pursuers, but Logan assured her they were coming. He made haste, pushing the pace as often as he could to increase theseparation between them… and whoever was coming after them.

Laura’s dress fit snugly, and Logan complimented her on it once or twice. More importantly, though, he said it was doing its job – by leaving her old clothesbehind, Laura had less of a scent by which they could be tracked. Laura wondered how much of an advantage it actually gave them. Logan assured her it wassignificant.

She also wondered sometimes how Logan managed to procure the garment, but whenever she asked, he went curiously mum. No amount of prodding or urgingwould change his stance, and Laura decided to drop the subject eventually.

On the morning of the fourth day, while making their way through dense shrub and heavy bush, Laura noticed a strange gleam from among the branchesoverhead. She stopped, and squinted her eyes. There was nothing here she could think of that the sun could reflect off like that.

“What is it?” Logan asked, once he noticed she stopped following him.“Look up there,” she replied, pointing to her left. “Do you see anything?”Logan looked, and shook his head. “Just leaves and branches. Why?”“I thought I saw light reflecting from there.” She moved her head to the side. “There it is again!”“Really?” Logan picked his way back to her. She pointed in the direction of the glare. He looked that way. “You’re right,” he nodded. “I can’t see it as well

as you, but that reflection’s definitely there.”“Should we go see what it is?”“We need to continue on, but…” he shrugged. “A few minutes won’t kill us.”He started towards the source of light, and Laura followed. The reflection disappeared as they walked towards it, blocked by the trees, so after a while, Laura

couldn’t be sure if they were headed the right way or not.Unexpectedly, they stumbled into a clearing. Laura’s jaw dropped. Hidden deep in the seclusion of the woods stood a polished white tower. It looked like a

marking of sorts, or perhaps a monument. A narrow base converged into a point high in the sky, doubling the height of any nearby trees. Laura thought if shewrapped her arms around the structure, her fingers could nearly meet on the other side.

“What is it?” Laura asked.“I… don’t know,” Logan answered. Cautiously, he walked up to it. By the overgrowth in the clearing, Laura guessed they were the first ones to come upon it in

generations. She followed Logan.As they got closer, Laura started to make out symbols inscribed in the marble. They looked like hieroglyphics, and twirled all the way up to the top. Logan was

studying them intently. “Do you know what they are?” she asked.“They’re hard for me to see, but… I think they’re here to ward against intruders.”“A warning?” Laura asked.“Maybe. I think this tower may have a twin around here somewhere.” He looked around. “You can see better in the light – see if you can spot another

reflection.”Laura looked around them. The clearing in which they stood appeared to be isolated from the growth of trees and vegetation around them. Then her eyes caught

something: a twinkle, from not too far away. Had she not been consciously looking for it, she thought she would have missed it. “Over there,” she told him pointing in its direction. “I saw a glimmer there.”“Ok.” Logan started walking in the direction she pointed. Instead of going with him, Laura walked closer to the tower. Its vibrant shine called out to her, its

pure white surface begging for her touch. She reached out to put a hand on it…And she knew danger. Terrible images of death flashed in her mind. Danger! Humans being carved like pigs on a sacrificial stone, children hanging by their

necks in chains with blood streaming out of their eyes. Danger! Women being skinned alive, their tortuous screams unaffecting their hooded captors. Danger! Danger!

Laura ripped her hand away from the stone, and the images died. She looked around wildly, searching for Logan. She was alone. “Logan?” she cried out. Noanswer. “Logan, where are you!?”

She ran in the direction she thought he went. “Logan? Logan!” She tripped on a root, and started to fall forward, right on her face – when a pair of strong handscaught her.

“There you are,” Logan said as he helped her up. “What’s going on?”“Logan, the tower,” she began breathlessly, “I touched it, and there were images, images of death, and suffering, all the bodies, nobody was safe!” She collapsed

sobbing into him, and he held her tight.“There, there,” he said soothingly, “nobody’s going to hurt you. Not when you’re with me.” Laura felt the sincerity in his words, and gripped him even tighter.

For better or for worse, he was all she had. “Now, you said you saw images?” She nodded vigorously. “And they came when you touched the tower?” Again, more nodding. “I want to see for myself.”He held her close as he walked towards the tower. She stopped a good ten yards short, not wanting to come any closer. Logan, however, marched right up to it.

He reached out to place a hand on it…And nothing happened. He looked back to her quizzically. He took his hand off, and placed it on again. He tried a few more times, but then shook his head and

came back to her.“Are you sure, Laura? Perhaps the travel is getting to you.”“I’m sure.”“I felt nothing.”“I felt… danger. A warning. For me to stay away. Far away from this place.”“That’s interesting,” Logan mused.“Interesting? It’s terrifying! Have you ever heard of anything like it before?”“My own gift,” he said absentmindedly. “I have a suspicion…” he trailed off. Then he grabbed her hand and led her away. “The other tower,” he explained. “I got sight of it when I heard your cries, and rushed back. But I have a feeling… well, you’ll see.” He led her through the

dense forest, around thick trees and right through heavy shrubs. Finally, another clearing appeared ahead of them.This one was smaller; much more compact. But a near-identical tower stood right in the middle. Except that this one was pure black. Again, the stone gleamed

in a marvelous luster. “I don’t want to come any closer,” Laura said. Logan looked at her, and nodded. “I understand.” Leaving her at the clearing’s edge, he marched up to the tower. And bent his head close, examining its

surface. “There are markings here, too,” he told her. “Just as I suspected. And I think I can understand them.”“You can? How?”“Come closer and I’ll show you.” She hesitated. “You needn’t worry; I don’t think this tower will have any effect on you.”Cautiously, she inched her way closer. Just close enough so she could make out the inscriptions. She saw foreign letters and shapes, completely different from

the ones that adorned the white tower. They spiraled up in much the same way, but in an opposite direction.Logan ran a finger along one line. “These,” he said, “are ancient vampire symbols.”“They are?”“Yes. It is a language that has been long forgotten in favor of the human tongue, but I’ve picked up bits and pieces of it over the years. Not many of my kind

even know it exists, now. But I think I can make out enough…” he paused, studying the letters. His finger ran up, following the twisting text, and he walkedaround the tower slowly, reading. “This predates the elders,” he said to himself with awe.

“The elders? You’ve mentioned them before, but you never explained to me who they are.”“Ah. Well, just as it sounds. They’re the most ancient of vampires, and they watch over our race. We answer to their demands, and they administer justice over

matters of… importance. They provide their wisdom, and ensure the unity of the Vassiz. They are highly revered. Almost as much as the vampire creed.” Hesmiled at Laura knowingly. “Which I broke.”

“How long have the elders had control?”“Since our history started being recorded. Perhaps longer. There is not a single vampire alive who can say they lived in a time when the elders did not rule. But

this…” he looked to the tower “… this, I have not heard mention of before.”“You said the markings predate the elders?”“Yes. I believe so. If they do – if these towers do – it is a monumental discovery. There is no consensus as to how the elders came to power in the first place.

But there are whispers, uttered in only the darkest of crevices, and under penalty of death, that their ascent to power was not peaceful. In fact, some say it wasmuch the opposite. They say our race paid a great price for the overseers.” He turned his head back to the tower, and continued reading. “I think… I think thiswas a place where great rituals once took place. And I think there’s more to it than just these towers.”

“What do you mean?”“If we look, I think we can find it. A sanctuary, maybe. A part of the writings, they say… ‘Come hither, Thou who seek Respite, and Fear Not for your Mind.’

I think… that this was a safe-place for the Vassiz, once.”“A safe place from what?” Laura could not imagine a single vampire – a Vassiz – needing to hide from anything.“Maybe if we find it, we’ll find out.” He set off, but Laura caught his arm.“Logan, wait. I don’t think this is a good idea. What I felt, what I saw, when I touched that tower…” she shuddered.“You’re with me, remember?” he said reassuringly. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Besides, I suspect that part of the power of the sanctuary is to keep

humans away.”

Chapter Eighteen~Into the Ruins~

~Into the Ruins~

Laura and Logan had been searching in the area around the towers for the better part of two hours when Laura hit her foot on a stone. They were surrounded bydense forest on all sides, limiting their viewing distance severely, which made it significantly more difficult to look for anything. Annoyed, and frustrated with theirlack of progress, she kicked at the stone – and was surprised when it didn’t budge. She bent down to pick it up, brushing away the earth and grim that covered it. And surprised herself by finding nearly washed-out markings on it.

“Logan? Logan, I think I found something!” Logan came over and peered over her. “What is it?”“Markings. I can’t make them out, but they look a lot like the ones on the tower.”“Hmm.” Logan bent down beside Laura to look at it himself. Then he nodded satisfactory. “You’re right. Nicely done.”“What do you think it is?”“I don’t know. But what I can tell you is that it’s not just some stone stuck in the ground. I think it’s a part of a much larger structure… like a buried statue.” He

looked around. “And I bet there’d be another one close by.”Laura watched as Logan examined the ground carefully, making his way forward on hands and knees to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Suddenly he looked

up. “Found it.”“Can you tell what the markings mean?”Logan looked at the stone piece sticking out of the ground, and shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. It’s in the same script as was on the first tower.”“So what now?”“I think we’re getting closer to the sanctuary.”“Are we really going to go there?” Laura had been over this with him a hundred times in the last few hours, and he always seemed to get the upper hand. “If it’s

designed to keep humans away, how do you know there won’t be any… traps set, for me?”Logan shook his head. “I told you, I’d notice them long before they can be sprung. And if it’s any kind of physical mechanism, it’d be long since eroded by

time.”“What about what I felt when I touched that tower?”Logan waved it away. “I wouldn’t worry about it. That precise feeling was likely the last defense against human intrusion, anyway. It’s nothing physical, and

nothing that can harm you.” He paused to smile at her. “But if you feel it again, let me know, and we’ll leave this place.”“But not before?”“Not before.”Laura sighed. There really was no arguing with a vampire.“Come on,” Logan said, pushing his way through the ferny undergrowth, “I have a feeling we’re on the right path.”Laura followed him for maybe a hundred yards before they reached another clearing. This one, however, extended far to the left and right of them. The forest’s

growth seemed to just stop abruptly. On the other side, about twenty grass-covered feet away, a large rock cliff stood covered with ivy. Lots of shrubbery andvines grew outward from there, but they did not reach the edge of the forest.

Laura started to walk forward, but found Logan’s arm pressed against her chest. “Wait,” he said, holding her back. “I can smell something.”“What is it? Is it dangerous?”“No, I don’t think so, but…” he trailed off, and walked to the other side, to the vertical slope. Conspicuously sniffing the air, he moved off to the left, coming

closer to ivy-covered rock. Then he bent to the side, and ripped away a large bunch of fern with his hands. He stepped aside, smiling at Laura. Behind him, in thegap in vegetation he just created, was a small opening, complete with a rotting wooden door.

“How did you find that?” Laura asked, walking up to him. She couldn’t have picked out the spot from any other along the face of the slope.“The air smelled different. Stale. It was coming from there.” He pointed at the opening.“Do you think this is the place we were looking for?”“It could be.” He thought for a minute. “I’m going to go check it out. You wait here. There’s no light inside, but I can see in the dark.” He made to move the door out of his way, but the rotting wood collapsed as soon as he touched it. Shrugging, Logan bent down and went into the cave.

Leaving Laura to wait by herself.Laura sat down by the opening and waited. And waited, and waited. The sun started going down, and Laura was getting impatient. But she waited, and waited

some more. Half an hour passed, and then another. What was taking Logan so long?Soon, Laura’s thoughts turned dark. Logan was taking too long. What if something happened to him? What if he didn’t return? What if there was a trap in

there, and—Her thoughts were interrupted when Logan suddenly emerged. He had a triumphant smile on his face. “Come with me,” he said, extending Laura a hand.

“You’re going to love it.”Laura took Logan’s hand and followed him into the tunnel. It was dark inside, and the air smelled damp. Stuffy, even.As they walked, her eyes kept trying to adjust to the darkness. But once she was a good hundred feet from the entrance, everything was pitch black. Her only

guide was Logan’s grip on her hand, and the sound of his footsteps against the stone.Her eyes may have been tied shut for as much as she could see. But, she kept walking. Laura thought the tunnel sloped down, but perhaps that was only her

imagination. More than once, she stumbled over a rock, but Logan caught her gently every time.They had walked for what must have been at least two hours, when Laura’s eyes slowly started to see past the dark. Dark shapes started revealing themselves

around her, rocks and chipped boulders on all sides. She thought it was the better of her imagination getting to her, when suddenly a pale light appeared far in thedistance, at the very end of the tunnel.

“Do you see that?” she asked Logan. “Of course. That’s where we’re going.”As they got closer, Laura realized it was the exit of the tunnel. And when they walked right up to it, Laura’s jaw dropped.Below her lay an epic cavern. The tunnel exited onto a ledge above it, which connected to a set of crudely carved stairs that led down. There, an enormous

opening at least the size of a football field had been carved in the rock. Cracks in the ceiling provided enough light to see nearly everything. Laura noticed thegurgle of flowing water, and looked down. Directly under the ledge ran a small river – more of a creek, really – that fed into a clear pool off to the side. And rightbeside the pool lay beautiful crystallized boulders.

“What is this place?” Laura asked, her voice echoing across the chamber.“This,” Logan replied grandly, “is the sanctuary. Come. I’ll lead you down.”Laura took his hand and he walked her down the steps, which curled around the outside wall of the enclave. Looking around, Laura realized the steps did not

only lead down, but also up on the other side – to another ledge above the one they were descending from.

only lead down, but also up on the other side – to another ledge above the one they were descending from.“Hold on,” Logan said when they got to the bottom, “I think I see something.” He let her go, and walked over to a side wall. He did something with his hands,

and suddenly a small flame appeared in front of him. It flared to life, growing much larger. Laura saw that it came from a the top of a thick wooden club.“A torch,” Logan laughed. “And it still has tar on it!” The flickering fire cast shadows that danced across his face and the surrounding rocks. He picked it up

from the wall, and carried it over to her.“Are there more?” Laura asked. Logan looked around before nodding happily. “Yes, there are. All along the walls! I’ll be right back.”Laura felt a gush of wind as Logan moved away from her with impossible speed. It was the first time she’d actually seen him make use of his enhanced physical

abilities. She followed the trail of light from his torch as he ran all the way around the vast chamber, stopping only momentarily to light the other torches along thewall. When he got back to her, only a few seconds later, all the torches were emitting light, providing her eyes and the chamber with much-needed luminance.

“There,” he said in a satisfied manner, “that should be much better for you, no?”“It is, thank you. How fast you moved… that was amazing.”He laughed. “Sometimes I forget you’re only human.”Laura stuck her tongue out at him in reply.“I saw something that might be interesting,” he said, ignoring her taunt completely. “Come, I’ll show you.”Again, Laura followed him as he led her across uneven ground to the center of the chamber. From there, a small pathway was carved in the rock that ran directly

underneath the entrance ledge above. They took it, and as they came closer, Laura saw that the far wall had been polished smooth, and shone with a slight greenluster. The river ran along the wall, making it impossible to reach. But they could get close enough for Laura to realize that there were symbols carved into thestone.

“It’s a mixture of the two scripts on the towers outside,” Logan told her. “The vampire one, and the other one, written interchangeably. Whoever made this wasfluid in both tongues.”

“Do you know what it says?”“I think they’re directions.” He paused to study the lettering. “This cave extends much deeper, I believe. It says… that there are tunnels. Crisscrossing far into

the depths of the earth. There’s a warning… a warning to ‘take the Proper path’. But… I don’t think it says what that is.”“What else?”“Oh! It says here there’s another level.” He looked up above. “Yes, I think I see it.”“What’s up there?”“We won’t know unless we check, will we?” He set off back towards the stairs.“Logan, wait.” He paused, turning to look at Laura. “You’re not planning on taking the tunnels deeper in, are you?”“I don’t know yet,” he said thoughtfully. “If we keep going through the forest, we’ll be more vulnerable for attack. But if these tunnels can lead us through the

mountains… well, if we get that far, we’d almost be scot free.”“What if we get lost?” she asked worriedly. “At least outside we know where we’re going.”“Let’s just check the upper level out first, and then decide. At any rate, this is as safe a place as any to spend the night, even if we don’t take the tunnels

tomorrow.”“Fine.” Laura didn’t want to pout, but she just didn’t feel comfortable here beneath the earth. And the prospect of going deeper in, without knowing how long

the journey might take, didn’t sit well with her either.She followed Logan up the chipped rock stairs. Past the ledge where they entered, and higher up. The light from the bottom pit sent large shadows flickering

against the walls. They reached the highest level. It was another ledge, jutting out from the side of the rock, and built to overlook the entrance. Rocks that looked an awful lot like

tombstones sat in neat horizontal rows.Logan took a step forward, and stopped. “Wait.” He paused, holding Laura back. “Do you hear that?”“Hear what?”Logan shifted his weight in response, and Laura thought she heard a tiny echo of crumbling stone. She wouldn’t have picked it out if she wasn’t actively

searching for it.“The structure’s weak here,” Logan said. He bent down to one knee to examine the ground. “There are cracks in the stone. I don’t think it’s very stable.”“Should we go back?”“Not yet. You stay back. I want to see what these stones are.”“Be careful,” Laura urged.“Don’t worry.” Even in the dim light, Laura saw him flash his teeth in a grin. “I’m very agile, remember?”“Of course,” she said drily. Like he needed to remind her.Laura watched as Logan picked his way across. He went from stone to stone in the first row, analyzing each one carefully. The last one stood at the very end of

the ledge, almost like a baluster. Logan placed a hand on it to support himself as he leaned closer, and it shifted uncomfortably. Logan jerked back, hissing. “What is it?” Laura asked.“I nearly fell.” He barked a laugh. “You distracted me.”“Me?” Laura was incredulous. “I didn’t even do anything!”“I felt your eye on me,” he said.“I’ll be sure not to do that anymore,” Laura answered laconically. Suddenly the ground groaned, and Laura flinched as the sound of rubble crashing down

reached her ears. The last tombstone was still there, but it now leaned over the edge precariously.“Looks like we disturbed some of the rock beneath us,” Logan said as he gingerly picked his way back to her. “There’s nothing up here to see. We should get

back down to where we at least know the ground is stable”Laura sighed in relief. The whole situation had her on edge.She turned around, and started walking down, when suddenly Logan was on her, pressing her against the wall. “What are you doing?” she tried to say, but it jumbled as Logan placed his hand over her mouth.“Sshh!” he hissed to her. “Someone’s coming.” He released his grip on her mouth.“What?” Laura whispered urgently. “Who?”“I don’t know. Stay here, and don’t move.” And just like that, he was gone, a blur streaking down the stairs.

Chapter Nineteen~A Fighting Chance~

Laura’s breath caught as her ears picked up on the noise. She could hear footsteps coming, too. Carefully, she inched closer to the edge of the stairs. She couldsee Logan, standing in front of the entrance below, with his shoulders stiff.

The footsteps were coming from the same tunnel Logan and Laura had come from. They echoed loudly across the chamber, amplified by the hollow space ofthe cave. Whoever was coming wasn’t afraid of alerting them to their presence.

“Well, well, well,” a voice boomed through the air. Laura instantly recognized its source: it was the voice of the vampire who had held her captive before. “Look who we have here.”

Laura moved back from the ledge. Her heart was pounding fast with fear. How had he tracked them so quickly? Logan had said they were days ahead of anypursuers!

“You shouldn’t be here.” Logan’s voice was grave. A wild laugh answered from below.“I shouldn’t be here? You dare tell me what to do? You are an outcast, forever damned for having committed treason against the Vassiz. You have forsaken

your race, broken the ancient doctrine that binds us to who we are. You have spat on everything you have been gifted. And for what? A human?”“Leave now,” Logan warned. “You saw what I did to your friend.”“Oh, I don’t think I will be going anywhere. Vladimir was a fool, and he paid the price for his ineptitude. He took you lightly. I won’t be making the same

mistake. When I deliver you and your human to the elders, all their glory shall come upon me. I will be exalted as the one who delivered the rogue to them, andtake my place amongst the most revered of all our kind.”

Laura couldn’t see anything. She couldn’t take the unknowing, the uncertainty of what was happening below her. Summoning all her courage, she dropped toher belly and crawled to the edge. Peeking over, she saw that Logan still hadn’t moved. And she saw the other vampire’s shape right at the entrance.

“They sent out a call, you know,” the vampire continued. “The first such in hundreds of years. All of the Vassiz know what you have done, and they haveunited against you. The packs smell blood on the water. They’re coming for you. But once I’m done, they will be too late.”

Laura could tell a fight was about to break out. One Logan might lose. And she couldn’t do anything about it. She hated feeling so helpless. Being sohelpless.

“So, traitor, tell me, where is your human? Her scent is weak, but I know she is here.”Logan growled. “You will not have her.”Wait. The tombstone! The one Logan had nearly dropped! She looked down, did a quick calculation in her head. The vampire… he was standing right below

it! If she could just reach it, maybe push it forward…“Oh?” The vampire laughed cruelly. “We have been through this before, have we not?”“I have spared your life once,” Logan said. “This time, I might not be so kind.”“No. This time, you won’t have the opportunity. Once I defeat you, I will make you watch as I have my way with your human bitch. I will make you watch

her scream, make you watch her squirm under my touch, and you will be helpless to interfere. Yes, I think I’ll quite enjoy doing that. I haven’t taken a young girllike her in quite some time. The elders have asked for both of you, alive. They made no mention to the condition of your health.”

Laura crawled on hands and knees towards the last tombstone. She felt the earth shift underneath her with every motion she made, and prayed that nothingwould collapse to alert the vampire to her presence.

“So be it,” Logan said. “If that is your choice, I am prepared to face you. Although I do not look forward to having the blood of two vampires on my hands.”The other vampire laughed again. “You are weak, Logan. Your conscience is what holds you back from your true potential. A pity, what I will have to do to

you…”Laura’s dress caught on a rock, and she pulled it forward. Her breath caught at the sound of thread ripping.“…you would have risen high in the ranks of the ancient blood…”He hadn’t heard her. She was at the tombstone, now. It stood, balanced by a hair. She pushed it with both hands. It didn’t budge.“…the elders would have taken you for one of their own…”She was running out of time, and she knew it. How much longer would the vampire stand beneath her? “One of their own?” Logan sounded shocked.She backed up, and threw her weight against the stone. And felt it shift ever so slightly under her shoulder. Again, she backed up and thrust herself against the

rock. A loud crack sounded, and she felt the earth give way. She scrambled back.“What was—” the vampire began, but cut off with an ear-piercing scream. The stone broke off, and fell. Almost instantly an enormous crash sounded, and the scream broke off.Suddenly the earth below her began to move. The ledge was caving in, falling down. She had broken the entire structure! She flung herself backwards as the stone crumpled. Large cracks and fissures jerked their way unevenly towards her. One by one, large pieces of stone started

to fall, creating a deafening roar as they hit the ground below. Laura leapt to the side, to the safety of the stairs. She grabbed desperately at a the steps ground, and pulled herself up just in time. The ledge behind her had fully

collapsed.An eerie silence descended on the cave after the last stone had fallen. Laura was breathing hard. The drop must have been fifty, sixty feet, and if she had

fallen… well, she didn’t want to think about that.But she was safe, finally. She sat down against the wall. And before she knew it, Logan was at her side.“You killed him,” he exclaimed in wonder. “Nobody has killed a vampire, certainly no human, since… since the start of our recorded history! There’s never

been a human responsible for a vampire death!”“And now I’m just like you,” Laura said. “We’ve both got vampire blood on our hands.”“So we do,” Logan laughed. He bent down to offer a hand, and she took it, rising up.“Now what do we go?” Laura asked.“After the elders discover this death, they’re going to double their efforts to catch us. Quadruple them. I fear we’ll have all the clans in North America coming

after us.”“We can escape.” Laura’s voice took a newfound confidence. For the first time since discovering the true identity of her pursuers, she did not feel helpless. In

fact, she felt better than that. She felt strong. “I know we can.”“Glad to have you confidence,” Logan told her. “But it looks like what you did left us with little option of what to do next.”“What do you mean?”“The entrance,” Logan explained. “Everything collapsed right in front of it. Even with my strength, I don’t think I’ll be able to move the rocks.”“Do you mean…”“Yes. We have to enter the tunnels.”

“Yes. We have to enter the tunnels.”

Chapter Twenty~An Ancient Riddle~

After a bit of searching, Logan found the entrance leading deeper into the cavern. Before setting off, he painstakingly studied the glyphs on that smooth wallagain, trying to glean some hint of the right direction. There was none. He read to Laura what he could, and it amounted to a very fleeting mention of “the Properpath.”

The entrance deeper was tight, creating a claustrophobic feel with the two of them walking side-by-side. But Laura wouldn’t be separated from Logan if her lifedepended on it. He was her only chance of survival.

A mixture of satisfaction tinged with doubt flooded her at that thought. Here she was, in the depths of the earth, accompanied by a creature of near god-likepower. Not only that, but he was sacrificing all that he was, all that he could become, just for her. For some inexplicable, unfathomable, and incomprehensiblereason, he seemed to care for her. He had forsaken his race, his own kind… for her.

She couldn’t understand what led Logan to show her the dream world in the first place, especially if he knew the risks it would entail beforehand. And heclaimed he did. Knowing that he had taken on that risk for her – despite how it all had turned out – gave Laura a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. Shestumbled a bit, but caught herself. She wasn’t getting woozy, was she?

No, she wouldn’t let herself be a slave to her emotions again. She had to focus on her current situation. On surviving her current situation. She carried a lit torch, which broke the darkness for a few yards in front of her. Logan was carrying more, as a backup supply in case hers died before they got

out. If and when they got out, she thought somewhat gloomily.She had no idea how long this tunnel was, and neither did Logan. So far, it had been cut straight into the rock, with no division or splits. But she would bet

anything that that wouldn’t last long. For all she knew, it could take ages for them to find their way out.Abruptly, a thought occurred to her. “Hey,” she asked Logan, “what about the dream world?”“What about it?” Logan replied.“I was just thinking… if you take us into the dream world, like you did before, we’ll be right in this tunnel, won’t we?”“That’s right.”“So, you said time flows differently there. We can explore the tunnels and find the right way out before coming back to our bodies.” She was critically aware

what the danger of getting lost down here, with no source of food or water, meant for her. “If we catch the dream at the right wave, we can be back in minutes. We’ll know the right path, and there’ll be no danger of us taking a wrong turn and getting lost down here forever.” She was also critically aware of the hungerpains that were starting to attack her stomach.

“No,” Logan said intently, “we cannot do that. The elders are monitoring our dreams – mine in particular. If we enter the dream world, they’ll know right werewhere are, and how to get here. They’re watching for our entrance to that world.

“And that’s not the worst of it. The elders have great power, great control, over the world of dreams. If we leave the physical realm, they can turn the entiredream into a never ending nightmare. They will torture us, inflicting pain so severe that it cannot be matched in reality. We will be trapped forever, with no hope ofever returning to our bodies. That is a sentence much worse than death.”

“But isn’t it possible to enter the world without arousing their attention? It must be!”“I thought so when I went there with you.” He shook his head. “No, we cannot do it. It’s too much of a risk.”“I’m not like you, you know,” Laura suddenly snapped. “I can’t just go without food forever.” Her hunger was getting the better of her.“I know. I’ll find a way out. I’ll find the Proper path.” His voice was determined, steely. Half to himself, he added with a whisper, “I know I will.”Laura prayed he would.

--

They had been walking for what must have been a few hours when the slope of the tunnel started going down. The air was becoming damp, stale and heavywith age. Laura did not think anybody had been here for generations.

Slowly, the sides of the rock came closer together, until Laura couldn’t walk side-by-side with Logan anymore. She took the lead in front of him, and he let hergo without protest.

A pang of guilt struck her for the way she snapped at him before. They had walked in near-silence since then, and she debated apologizing, but thought thebetter of it each time. In the dark, damp air of the cave, she wasn’t in the most tolerant of moods.

Suddenly something caught her arms and legs, preventing her from moving. She tried to jerk them free, but they wouldn’t budge. She was trapped! She criedout, and struggled mightily against whatever was holding her. But the more she moved, the more restrained she felt. What the hell?

“Stop moving,” Logan laughed behind her. “You’re in a giant cobweb.”“A cobweb?” Laura hated spiders, hated anything to do with them, and the thought of being entrenched deep in their disgusting sticky thread was petrifying.

She tried to pull back, to jerk herself free with more force than before, but ended up only feeling more trapped. She could feel the gluey substance on her arms, onher face, in her hair.

“I said, don’t move,” Logan chuckled. “I’ll help you out.”Laura felt a jerk above her, heard a tearing noise, and dropped to the ground unceremoniously. She stared daggers at Logan.“Why didn’t you tell me it was coming?” she demanded. “You must have seen it, with your eyesight!”“You were in front,” Logan shrugged, “I figured you would have a handle on things.”“A handle on things?!” Laura was furious. She ripped the threading from her arms, from the front of her dress, and out of her hair. And she threw it all at

Logan. Deftly, he caught it, and tossed it back at her. It landed right in her arms. Emitting a high-pitched screech, she shoved it away and scrambled back. Andhe laughed.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me!...” she began, but suddenly realized the humor in the situation. Either that, or Logan’s laugh was so overpowering it had affectedher. She started to chuckle too, and soon broke out into a full laugh.

“So you’re not mad at me?” Logan asked.“Mad? Why would I be made?”“You haven’t said a word for the past hour.”Laura stared in amazement. Was he really so sensitive as to how she regarded him? Here was a paragon of an man, with superhuman abilities and otherworldly

powers, and he was worried if she was mad at him? None of it made any sense.“No, I’m not mad,” she told him gently.“Good,” Logan said. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I take the lead? We can avoid any other nasty cobweb incidents then.”

“Good,” Logan said. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I take the lead? We can avoid any other nasty cobweb incidents then.”“I think I’d like that a lot more,” Laura replied kindly.They kept going, marching on in the darkness. Laura noticed the floor started to curl up a bit, hopefully signaling that they were done with the descent into the

earth. The light from her torch had grown weaker, but she didn’t want to replace it until it was fully extinguished.In the distance, Laura started to make out a widening of the tunnel. As they got closer, she realized that there was a fork in the path. The two holes carved into

the rock were completely identical – neither gave any indication of where it led.“Which way now?” Laura asked.“Hold on,” Logan replied. He walked a few paces into the first split, turned around, and walked the same distance into the other one. After a moment’s pause,

he nodded. “This one,” he told her.“How do you know?”“The air is fresher here.”Laura breathed in deeply, and coughed. The air was not fresh no matter what he said.

They continued on for a long time, coming across no other divisions in their path. Abruptly, the tunnel curved left sharply. When they walked across the corner,Laura saw the tunnel split into two again. But thick steel bars barred one way.

Laura walked up to them, and shone her torch inside. Shadows swallowed up the light in the distance.“What do you think is past here?” she asked.“A prison,” Logan replied with unexpected conviction. Laura shivered. “For who?”“I don’t know.”Just as Laura was about to turn back, she noticed her light reflect off a small white surface. She looked down – and stumbled back when she realized it was part

of a human skull. And scattered on the floor lay broken bones that had been snapped at unnatural angles. Laura had a flashback to what she’d seen when shetouched that tower – the screaming faces, the hanging bodies. Had it been done here?

She was breathing heavily, and her eyes were darting from side to side. Every lingering shadow around her could hide anything– anything at all. Suddenly shewasn’t so sure they were all alone down here after all.

Logan caught her by the shoulders, and turned her around to face him. “Don’t worry,” he told her soothingly, as if reading her thoughts, “the remains you saware ancient.”

That calmed her down a little. She didn’t know if it was the sound of his voice, or the feel of his strong hands on her that did it, but he made her feel slightly lessfrightened. More at ease.

She gripped him in an iron hug, and he wrapped his arms around her too. “Logan, I’m scared,” she mumbled into him. She had been fighting her fear before,fighting against the unease and uncertainty that emerged from being in this unfamiliar, completely foreign situation. But saying the words out loud made her admitit even to herself. “What if we never get out?”

“Laura.” He pulled back so he could look in her eyes. “I promise you, I will get you out. We will survive this, and we’ll emerge stronger. That, I swear.”She sighed. Hearing the assurance in his voice, it… summoned the courage within her. “I know you will,” she said softly. And this time, she truly believed it.

They ventured further into the cavern, coming across more divisions in the path. Each time, Logan would come into each entrance, sniff the air carefully, andthen decide which way to go.

The ground had tilted down again. Which meant that they were straying deeper and deeper into the earth. Laura hoped it would slope up soon.They walked a long way in silence. Laura was alone with her thoughts. For better or for worse, she had to embrace the situation she was in. Everything about it

was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and it all started from that journey into the dream. It seemed to have happened ages ago. And the incident with Brady, in the hallsof her school, where Logan first defended her… that seemed to be an entire lifetime ago.

She missed her family, her friends, her dog. She missed home. But she also recognized the harsh reality of it all. She would never be able to go home, never beable to see anyone she knew again.

Logan was walking a few steps ahead of her, and Laura watched him. He had been her only constant since leaving only a few days ago. She realized now thatshe was with him to the bitter end.

He walked on, and she watched. She admired his posture, his gait, and the way his skin was so perfectly smooth and beautifully white. His hair, his manner ofbeing, the way he talked. And his laugh. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she now realized that his laugh was absolutely amazing. She loved the way he laughed– she knew it would fill up a room. She hoped bitterly that they would live long enough for her to hear it again.

Suddenly the tunnel opened up into a small cavern. The rock above her head became much further away, making the enclave feel spacious. They walked rightinto the middle of it, and Laura waved her torch around. To her amazement, she saw two other ancient torches, still enact, bolted against the walls. She lit them,providing light that covered the whole space.

She heard the sound of dripping water, and turned towards it eagerly. A small stream, barely the width of her forearm, flowed across the floor. She jumped to it,kneeling on her hands and knees to drink the sweet liquid.

“Wait!” Logan hissed at her, but she swallowed it greedily. She hadn’t had anything to drink since entering these tunnels, and was parched. Suddenly she feltLogan’s hands on her shoulders, and was being pulled away.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.“You don’t know if it’s safe to drink,” he said sternly. Laura realized he was right. “Let me try it, first.” She nodded.He dabbed a finger in the stream, and brought it up to his mouth. After a few seconds, he nodded at her. “It’s fine.”With only a little more composure, Laura dove back down to gulp up the water. When she was done, she looked over at Logan, who had taken a seat beside her.“It’s getting late,” he said, “and we’ve had a long day. I think we should spend the night.”“What, here?”“Why not? Better than sleeping in one of those cramped tunnels.” Laura could see the logic there, and realized that she was getting tired.She agreed, and they set up camp in the enclave. Which consisted of little more than arranging some of the rocks in the ground to make room for a spot to lie

down. The earth was cold, and Laura shivered.“Here,” Logan said, taking off his shirt to give to her as a blanket. “It might keep you warm.”Laura huddled into it, and watched Logan as he sat back. He had a perfectly shaped chest and chiseled abs, and the muscles in his arms were lean and hard.

And there were three wide scars, almost like claw marks, stretched across his torso They looked old, faded.“How did you get those?” Laura asked.

“How did you get those?” Laura asked. “An accumulation over the years,” he replied simply, looking down at himself. “Memories of another time. They never healed quite fully.” “Did it hurt?”“I’ll tell you another time. You better get to sleep for now.”Laura wondered what would be strong enough to get close enough to a vampire to harm him like that. She wanted to ask more, but could tell he didn’t want to

say anything on the subject. Her heart went out to him. She wished she were there when it happened, so she could nurse him back to health, tell him thateverything would be alright.

He sat back, staring into the distance. Laura realized she hadn’t seen him sleep once over the past number of days. She asked him about it.“Normally,” he disclosed, “after a regular feeding, the urge to sleep goes away. You stay up for maybe a day or two, sometimes more. It feels a bit like you’re

stimmed out, but… more serene. It’s hard to explain unless you experience it.”“But it’s been longer than that,” Laura said. And yawned unintentionally.“I know. Ever since I tasted vampire blood… I’ve felt different. Not even stimmed out, just… calm. Haven’t felt the need to sleep, yet. I feel like I’ve woken

up from a very long nap.”“Ok.” Laura yawned again. The day had gotten to her. She turned to her side, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

--

“Wake up,” Logan whispered, shaking her awake.Laura looked up. The light from all but one torch had been extinguished, creating a cover of darkness. She could see Logan kneeling beside her. He looked

alert. “What’s wrong?”“I feel… a presence.”Laura sat up groggily. “What do you mean, a—”Suddenly something flew at her. A large shadow. She screamed, but before the sound was out of her throat, Logan pounced in the way. Next thing she knew,

Logan was on the floor, tussling with someone else. A man. Unclothed except for a ragged loincloth. He looked ancient, but he was strong. He had Logan underhim, and clawed at his face, but Logan threw him off just in time. Before the man had a chance to recover, Logan was on him, pinning his arms and legs to theground. They struggled for a bit, but Logan had him caught.

“Who are you?” Logan demanded.“I should ask the same of you,” a raspy voice answered. The man did not fight Logan’s grip anymore. “Enough of this struggle. I see you’ve brought a treat.”

His eyes focused unnervingly on Laura. Her eyes widened. He was a vampire.If it was possible, Logan strengthened his grip. “She is not a treat,” he said harshly.“What?” The man – vampire – seemed genuinely shocked. “You… protect this human?”“Yes.”He sneered in response. “So be it. Let go of me, I won’t harm her.” Logan didn’t move. “Do you take me for a liar? I live and die by my word. If she is

yours, I will not touch her.” After a moment’s pause, Logan relented. Slightly.“Who are you,” Logan asked again.“I will answer your questions, friend, if you first answer mine. What brings you here, to disturb me in my place of peace?”Logan paused, and then spoke. “I am Logan, and my companion is Laura. We came to these dungeons seeking respite, but now search for a way out.”“A way out?” The vampire snorted. “My child, you have been going the wrong way if you are searching for a way out.”“What do you mean,” Logan asked slowly.“The way out lies at the black and white towers. For those who enter, it is the only way.”“The towers outside this place…” Logan said to himself. Then he rounded on the man. “You lie. There is fresh air along the paths the way we are going.”The man laughed bitterly. “You don’t know where you are, do you? Of course not. You are much too young.” Then his tone shifted considerably. “Get off

me. I mean as I say, I will not harm her.” Cautiously, Logan backed off. And placed himself between the ancient vampire and Laura.The man rose to his feet, and regarded Logan openly. He did not spare another look for Laura. “What I say is the truth. You will find no entrance to this place

other than by which you came. And you are not deceived – it is in fact fresh air you smell along the paths. But it comes from a gap in the ceiling high above. Youwill find no exit there.”

“The way back is blocked,” Logan said defiantly.“Oh? Then you are doomed to roam these tunnels for eternity.”“Who are you?” Logan asked again.“Ah. Yes. You may call me Rafael.” He nodded to himself. “It has been a long time since I have heard anyone use that name. You are welcome to use it,

brother. I have not seen another of our kind for some time.”“How long have you been down here?” Logan asked. Laura thought it might have been centuries upon centuries.Rafael spread his hands grandly. “I am a recluse, and have been so my whole life. But in this place? Perhaps since I was as old as you.”Laura gawked. She didn’t know it was possible for vampires to age, but this Rafael looked absolutely ancient. And if he claimed to have been here since he was

Logan’s age, and Logan had been alive for over four hundred years… her head spun. It was a length of time that was unfathomable.“I see you, little human.” He moved his head to look around Logan at Laura. “You are the one who has been in my dreams.” Rafael took a step forward, and Logan snarled. “Stay back,” he warned. Rafael spread his arms again. “You intrude on my space, demand answers to questions you should not ask, and now you threaten me again? I have told you, I

am of no danger to your human. But I know of others who may be.”“Who?” Laura blurted out. “Ah, so the child speaks,” Rafael chuckled. He addressed Logan again. “I suspected it was you when I first saw you outside, examining the towers. But

hearing her voice confirms it.” Laura frowned. She didn’t like being ignored.“You saw us outside?” Logan sounded stupefied. “I would have felt your presence had you been there.” Rafael smiled. “You have things to learn, still, young brother. Not everything is quite as it appears.”“What do you mean?”“I mean what I say, quite simply. Had I so desired, I could have snatched the girl from you before you had a chance to blink. That is what those who call

themselves the elders would have wanted, anyway.“As for your question, Laura—” he emphasized her name as if believing it to be false “—those of danger to you are the ones who chase you. But you already

“As for your question, Laura—” he emphasized her name as if believing it to be false “—those of danger to you are the ones who chase you. But you alreadyknow this. What you may not know is the scope of the threat. Our elders have placed quite a high reward on your capture. And yours too,” he addressed Logan,“kin-slayer.”

“What did you call me?”Rafael shrugged. “Do you not have the blood of vampires on your hands? Or, perhaps more accurately, the blood of a vampire running through your veins?

We are all a family, bound by a bond deeper than that of siblings. And you have killed two, have you not?”“If you know all this,” Logan said harshly, “why have you not acted? What I have done is an abomination of our creed. No vampire alive would look upon me

without planning my death.”“No vampire you know of, perhaps,” Rafael replied, “but I doubt you knew of me before today.” He took another step forward, and this time Logan didn’t

protest. “Ah. I am free to walk in my own home? Yes.” He started pacing in a circle, around both Logan and Laura. “The Vassiz have not killed one another forhundreds of years, Logan. Not since the rise of the elders has there been bloodshed amongst our kind. You change this, I know it. I believe your friend Lauraknows it too. But why has this happened? Why have you broken the peace?

“Is it for the girl? As much as I would believe in happy endings, that is much too simple explanation for what has happened. And what has happened to you inthe past week alone might rattle our kind right to the essence of our very core. But… I am simply an impartial observer. The politics of the elder councils do notintrigue me. I much prefer my quiet. Perhaps that answers your question. I do not look to get involved in the happenings of the upper world. Killing you,abducting your friend… it would draw too much attention to myself. That is why I pose no threat to you.”

“How can I trust you?” Logan asked.Rafael laughed again. “Oh, but you already do. From the moment you released your grip, you have ceded your trust in me.” And before Logan could even

react, Rafael was at Laura’s side, holding a fistful of her hair and tracing a fingernail along her neck. Before Laura could form a scream, Logan roared, and chargedat him, but Rafael moved impossibly fast, coming to the spot where Logan was before. He laughed.

“You see? You do not know a tenth of the power your body possesses. I have lived long years, and have learned many secrets. But I am of my word; I did herno harm.”

Logan looked down at Laura with worry plain on his face. She met his eyes and nodded. “He didn’t hurt me.” She shivered as she remembered his touch,though.

“You will not do that again,” Logan growled.Rafael laughed again. “Or what? You’ll catch me with your quick foot speed? Hah! You move so slow it’s like you’re running in quicksand.” He was

taunting Logan; taunting both of them. “You have no choice but to trust me. You are in my domain.”Logan looked at Laura. And sighed dejectedly. “What he says is true. I do not like to admit it, but… he is truthfully faster than me.”“Boy, I am not only faster, but stronger, and more intelligent, too. I have seen more in my years in this cave than you have your whole life. But hear this: if you

and your girl behave yourselves, I may be willing to help you.”“Help us?” Laura spoke this time. “Help us how?”“…you let her speak freely,” Rafael said to himself, “it is not like the old days…” Then he turned his attention back to them. “If you listen well, heed what I

say, you may yet get out of this cavern alive. But you have to put your absolute faith in me.”“Why would we do that?” Logan spat. “You have done nothing but taunt us with your riddles and mixed words. What benefit is it to you, if we survive or not?”“Son, you have much to learn yet. Seek the truth behind my words, and you will understand everything. What I say… it is of no consequence.” He waved a

hand dismissively. “But what I mean – that is important.”“And what do you mean, Rafael? Why seek us out and engage in conversation if you could have skewered us both like pigs?” “Perhaps I grow lonely,” Rafael said, “or, more likely, perhaps I do not appreciate my dreams being interrupted by these so-called elders.” He scoffed. “They

are generations younger than me.”This time, it was Logan’s turn to gawk. “They are younger than you? But the elders are supposed to be the oldest of all the Vassiz. That is how they ascend to

the council.”Rafael laughed again. “Do not be foolish, boy. Your pride blinds you to the truth. All your life, you have lived in fear of the elders, obeying their commands

and abiding by their laws. Is this not true?” Logan gritted his teeth, but nodded. Reluctantly. “You were told it is how things have always been, and that withoutthe elders there is only chaos and disorder. How our race would not survive without their guidance. Were you not?” Again, Logan nodded. And his jaw clencheda little bit more. “Not many have dared to defy them, but you have. And this girl… Laura… she will have a part to play yet. No, I believe your story is far fromfinished. In fact, I think it’s just begun.”

“What you’re saying… about the elders… it is blasphemy.”“Do you think I am afraid of the elders? Or their little puppets? There are few things that scare me, boy, and the elders are not one of them.” Rafael’s tone

shifted, and it became denser. More ominous. “But for now, you should be afraid. For the elders have visited my dreams, and the dreams of every other livingvampire. Whole packs are coming after you, boy, and your darling friend. Packs of vampires enraged by the desecration of your crimes. They will be here soon.”

“Here?” Logan thundered. “You told them we were here! You lied to us!”“No, I did not lie, nor did I give them any information. But I am guessing the untimely death of one of your pursuers tipped them off. Listen. They are

coming.” A silence came upon the enclosure. Laura strained her ears. She could hear nothing. She waited, holding her breath. Everything was silent. And then she

heard… a distant thud. And then… another one. It was a rhythmic vibration. Low, and nearly inaudible. The thudding quickened, coming from the direction theyhad come from. Yes. She wasn’t imagining things. She could hear it.

“They have broken in!” Logan exclaimed. “Through the blocked entrance!”“Yes. They’re coming after you.” Rafael smiled. “Your only chance lies with me.”

Chapter Twenty-One~The Pursuit~

They ran. Hard. Laura gripped Logan’s chest with all her strength. She was on his back, clinging for dear life. Logan was following Rafael, who was urging them on. Vampires

were fast, Laura knew, but Rafael was even faster.They stormed down into pure darkness. Laura couldn’t see past the black, but still her eyes were open wide, still straining to see. Her hair blew backwards as

Logan ran on, and she struggled to catch breath against the wind in her face. She could hear the vibrations behind them. They were getting louder. Whatever was making them was getting closer. “Quickly, quickly!” Rafael yelled. Logan doubled his speed.They sped through long corridors, down twisting tunnels, and into long paths. Laura gasped, trying to gulp down the air that streamed by her, but it was very

They sped through long corridors, down twisting tunnels, and into long paths. Laura gasped, trying to gulp down the air that streamed by her, but it was verydifficult.

Suddenly the path they were on widened, and unfolded into an open space. The moon’s rays streamed in from a hollow in the distant ceiling, allowing Laura tosee her surroundings. They ran on a single path that jutted out from the rock. A long, dark abyss lay on either side of them. One wrong move, one misstep, andthey’d be hurtling down. But Logan was steadfast, and kept on undeterred at the same speed as before.

Ahead of them, Laura realized with alarm, was a large gap in the path. A place where the ancient rock had long since fallen away. She watched, stunned, asRafael raced towards it and leapt into the air. He rose, higher than she would have ever thought possible, and landed deftly on the other side.

“Faster!” he yelled from the other side. “Go faster!”For a second, Logan faltered, but quickly regained his step. Laura realized with horror that they would have to jump the gap as well.Logan ran towards it, and sprang into the air. For a split second, Laura felt weightless – a feather rising on a cool wind. And then they started to go down. They

were falling, down towards the other end. But they were coming short.Laura screamed, and buried her head against Logan’s back while locking her fingers tighter. They slammed the edge hard, and the impact broke her grip. She

lost her hold, and was knocked off Logan. She was falling.Desperately, she grabbed at something, anything. Anything that might save her. Her hand caught cloth, and she jerked to a stop, nearly dislocating her shoulder

from the impact. For half a second, she just dangled there, amazed that she caught on. Then she looked up, and realized she had hold of Logan’s leg. His foot, more precisely.

Her heart was beating out of her chest. She didn’t dare look down.Summoning all her strength, she reached up with her other hand, securing it around his calf. But her arms were exhausted, and she nearly lost the hold again.

She felt Logan move, and looked up to see him also hanging halfway off the cliff’s edge. He was struggling to get up.Suddenly Rafael appeared above them. “Hold on,” he told her, and grabbed Logan’s arm to pull him up. Logan grunted as his bare torso scraped over the hard

rock. Laura held on for dear life. Then Rafael’s hand came over the edge, gripping her forearm, and pulled her up.She collapsed onto the icy rock floor. She was breathing hard. Her head spun from the adrenaline she felt. She peeked up, back the way they came – and saw

her pursuers for the first time.They were still in the distance, just now entering the open cavern, but they were gaining fast. A horde of vampires at least fifty deep moved in unison towards

her like a giant wave. The moonlight reflected sharply off their skin; they were a pale army in the night.“Come on!” Rafael roared, and Laura felt herself being picked up. Logan was carrying her. They headed to the end of the path, where a wide opening led

deeper into darkness. As soon as they were through, Rafael activated a mechanism, and a giant boulder slammed down behind them, locking them in. There wasno light for Laura to see.

Logan could see, though. “What is this?” he demanded angrily. “You have brought us to a dead end! There is no exit!” Laura felt his body quiver with rage.There came no reply. Laura heard shuffling, and then the agonizing sound of rock scraping against rock.“Help me,” Rafael said gruffly. Logan put Laura down. She felt him move away from her, towards Rafael’s voice. She couldn’t see what they were doing, but

the scarping grew louder, momentarily. Then Laura felt a gust of wind across her face.“A way out,” Rafael said. As the words left his mouth, a thunderous crash sounded against the boulder. The vampires were already on the other side – and they

were trying to break down the entrance! Another crash, and Laura saw thin beams of light stream in around the edges. They were destroying the border!“They’re here,” Rafael said stiffly. “You go. I will stay, to buy you time.”“They will overwhelm you!” Logan exclaimed.“Boy, I have more tricks up my sleeve than you may believe.” Another thunderous crash, and the whole cave they were in trembled. “Go now! You will find

an enormous maze. There is only one way out. Take the crossings left, left, right. Every time. Miss but one and your path will lead deeper into the ground, andthere will be no escape. Hurry!” Another crash, another massive vibration. “They will break in soon. The barricade won’t keep for long. GO!”

Laura felt herself being picked up again, then felt the wind against her skin. They had left Rafael behind. The last sound Laura heard was that agonizing scrapeof rock against rock.

They ran. Logan ran for his life; for both their lives. They ran down curving pathways with hard angles. Left, left, right. They ran ahead, far ahead. Left, left,right. The sounds behind them lessened. Their pursuers were being left behind. Left, left, right. Logan ran for everything he had, and Laura clung onto his backwith a grip she would never release. Left, left, right. She couldn’t see anything in the dark, but she trusted Logan. Left, left, right. She could feel his heart beatingagainst her chest. Left, left, right. On and on they ran, until the sounds in the distance became an inaudible hum, and then disappeared altogether. Only then didLogan slow pace.

“I think,” he said finally, “that we got away.” A flood of relief greater than anything Laura had experienced before came over her. “We’re safe?”“I think so.” He set her down and took her hand. “Come, we should be out of this labyrinth soon.”Laura followed him – and gripped his hand tightly. She couldn’t help but smile. She hoped he wouldn’t notice.Logan led her straight down the path, then turned left. They walked further, and took another left turn. Further still, for a stretch of time that seemed to last

hours, and finally took a right – and Laura walked right into Logan’s back.“No…” he stammered. “No, no, no, no!”“What is it?” Laura asked cautiously. She couldn’t see anything in the dark. Logan started breathing heavily, like a cornered animal. With no word, he picked her up again and ran down the path, until Laura saw a dim, distant light source

far away. As they got closer, Laura realize they had come to an enclosure.A single ray of light streamed into the middle of the circular room. A round rock slab stood at the center, and the light shone onto it. There were symbols carved

on it, the same as the ones outside, in both scripts, and they gleamed in a brilliant turquoise against the light. Laura looked around her. The walls were smoothglass rock, the same as the wall underneath the entrance to this entire dungeon had been. And the light shone from a long, narrow chamber that was cut into therock above them.

Laura looked around again, growing alarmed. The walls were smooth; there were no cuts or partitions in them. The only way out of this chamber was… theway they had come.

“A dead end,” Logan said slowly.“What? No!” It couldn’t be. Not after everything they’d gone through. Not after everything they’d done. Everything he’d done. For her. “I must… have missed a turn,” he said. And he slammed his fist against the wall, hard enough that Laura winced. “Dammit!” he roared in anger.“We… we can go back,” Laura said. “We can retrace our steps.”“No.” Logan shook his head sadly. “You might not hear them coming, but I do. If we go back, there is only death.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two~The End of Hope~

Silence fell upon the room. For Laura, it was a shocked silence. To have come so far, to have done so much… it didn’t seem fair that it had all been for nothing.And now they were only minutes away from the imminent confrontation. A confrontation that would leave both of them dead. “Laura.” Logan’s voice was heavy. She looked across the room to him. At least in her final moments she could see his face, so beautiful against the moonlight.

“I’m sorry,” he said.“No,” she told him, but he interrupted.“I’m sorry for taking you away from your life. I’m sorry for everything. You… you did not ask for this. I have forced it upon you. I have taken so much

away.” Laura thought she saw his eyes glisten. Were those tears? “Logan, no…” she began, but again he broke in.“You deserve so much better.” He stepped towards her. “I should have never spoken to you.” He stepped closer, until he was right in front of her, and looked

down sadly. “I should have never shown you the dream world. You would have lived the full life you deserve.” He took her head gently between her hands, andplaced a kiss on her forehead. She shivered at the touch of his lips.

He turned away and walked to the entrance. He stood there, staring out into the darkness. His shoulders were tense, and Laura could see every sculpted muscleof his back.

“When they come…” he swallowed, “… when they come, I want you to stay back. As far back as you can. Hide against the stone slab. And whatever you do– don’t watch.”

His words tugged at her heart, and tears swelled in her eyes. He was bracing himself for the upcoming fight. To try to save her. She knew it was a losingproposition. They would kill him, tear right through him to get to her. There was no escaping this time.

She hated feeling helpless. Hated feeling like they had come so far, done so much, and achieved almost nothing. She was alone with Logan, deep underneaththe earth, and he was readying himself for one last desperate fight to save her. He would lose. And… she couldn’t let that happen.

A thought had tickled her mind ever since she first learned what Logan was. A thought she had suppressed, and kept hidden. A thought that frightened her. Butnow, in the darkest of hours, there was no other choice but to face it head on.

“Logan,” she said with unspoken conviction. “They’re tracking us by my scent, right?”“Yes,” he said curtly. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t know where to go in the labyrinth, would they?”“That’s right.” “And you… you have no scent?” The words came slowly, but she was determined.“Yes…?”“So…” she swallowed, summoning all her courage. “So bite me.”“What?” Logan spun around, outrage clear on his face.“Bite me. You said you were once human, you were converted. Bite me, and make me one of you!”“No,” he shook his head, “it’s against all the rules. It would go against everything.”“So?” Laura wasn’t about to be pushed away, now. “You’re an outcast anyway! If you do it, we can get away.”“I can’t do that to you.” Logan walked up to her.“Why not?” she demanded harshly. The stubborn man wouldn’t listen!“It’s a life of suffering, of immortality. You watch loved ones age and wither away. There is no peace.”Laura closed her eyes. The words that escaped her mouth were barely a whisper. “There is peace, with you.”She opened her eyes, and for a long moment, regarded Logan in silence. Then, in a voice just as quiet as hers had been, Logan spoke. “Are you certain?”Laura felt conviction stronger than anything else flare up within her. She took his hands in hers. “Yes.”

~

And so upon that night, under cover of moonlight, Laura Cubus became the first known human to become willingly converted. She screamed as the fangs sankin, thrashed when the taint of vampire blood mixed in with hers. But her will was strong, and she survived the poison, rising from her sleep to become one of theVassiz.

Her coming heralded a time of change and of unrest. For the seeds of doubt that had been planted in the elders’ minds had now blossomed and bore fruit. In one single act, Laura Cubus had destroyed a long standing equilibrium; shattered the very bonds that bound its strength for millennia.

End of Book 1 of the Dream Realms Trilogy.

Table of ContentsChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter Eleven

Chapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-Two

Table of ContentsChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-Two