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  She stood slowly, unsteady and still hesitant, before brushing the twigs from her hair and clothes, and she vacated the bush. She looked down the way the two men had run, but it was obvious to Brian that the fog was too thick to see anything. "Go to Brian's. It's safe there."

  She shook her head as if trying to clear it. "I...should to go to Brian's till I figure out what’s going on..."

  He smiled as he watched her run off into the fog and into the small woods that would take her to his home. He couldn't help but wonder why he never tried this before.

  Chapter 2

  Brian combed his thick dark brown hair to the side for the hundredth time. No matter what he did, the long swath of hair would drop over his right eye, covering half of his face. Well maybe not half, but it sure felt like it. He had been meaning to get more hair gel from the store, but he just hadn't bothered to get around to it lately.

  "Well it can't be helped now..." he mumbled to himself. Any moment now, Heather would be bursting into his home, panicked and looking for help. A smile crept onto his face as he thought about it. Admittedly he wouldn't have dared anything like this in the past, but the current circumstances were definitely falling in his favor.

  Brian took one last look into the large mirror set into his bedroom dresser. His blue jeans and black tee shirt looked clean enough, he wasn't sure why he was feeling so nervous. He never thought he would be one to have butterflies in their stomach.

  Downstairs, he could hear the back kitchen door squeak as someone opened it. Well, this is it... he thought. He paused again to look at himself, before turning to head for the kitchen, his hair already fallen in front of his face by the time he left his room. He wasn't too sure where this was all going to lead to, but it really didn't matter. The most important thing was that he was about to get some alone time with Heather. For once, no Chuck, no school, no dreams to wake from. Nothing to interfere with them for the first time. He just hoped she wouldn't find him to boring.

  "Hello?" he could hear her voice trembling from the kitchen "Brian, are you here?"

  "Heather?" he walked into the almost empty kitchen. He really hadn't used it since his Mother had died six months earlier in a car accident. There really wasn't much use for it. The only thing he actually used was the refrigerator, and sometimes the table, which sat square in the center of the room. His aunt Margret provided him with all the food he needed, so cooking was not a necessity for him, though he did like the taste of some food still, mostly memories from his past when he was younger.

  "Heather, what are you doing here?" He asked, as he reached out for her with his right hand.

  Heather paused as is if considering his words for the first time, the look of confusion crossing her face. "I..I don't know." She paused, and looked back out the way she had come in. The door still standing wide open.

  Brian could see cuts along her arms where branches had obviously scratched her as she hurried to the safety of his house, and a smudge or two of dirt lined her beautiful face. "Come here and sit down for a second. You're safe now." He laid his hands on her shoulders and turned her away from the open door. Her eyes locked onto it longingly, until he turned her full away from it. After he sat her on one of the few chairs around the lone table, he quickly turned and closed the door she had been looking out, locking it as he did so.

  "You're safe, Heather, tell me what happened to you." Pulling the last chair in the room away from the table and placing it in front of her he sat and looked intently into her eyes and waited for her answer.

  "I'm not sure..." She hesitated. "Some men were following me and I hid, and this fog came from nowhere, and...and..." She stopped and swallowed, pausing for a second.

  "Go on," he said, to get her talking again.

  " I'm sorry... I should be going home. I'm not sure what I was thinking." She began to stand.

  "Wait a second, Heather!" Brian stood and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes as he caught her attention. "You obviously felt you would be safe here, and you know what? You were right. Nothing's going to happen to you here. Now, catch your breath and relax a moment." Before she could respond, he pulled her stiff form to his chest and embraced her tightly, whispering into her ear that everything was going to be alright. She pushed against him trying to pull away, but he had her off balance, making it difficult to easily do so. "Relax, I'll walk you home in a bit," he said. He felt her body relax as he spoke the words, and he patted and rubbed her back, telling her everything was going to be alright.

  He couldn't believe he was so close to her, that he could feel her body tightly against him. He could feel every breath she took as it caused her chest to rise and fall against his stomach. He never thought anything could feel this good, or ever would again. He wished he could make it go on forever, but he knew it wouldn't if he didn't get her talking to him about the night's events.

  "Now, tell me what happened, and then I'm taking you home." He helped her sit back down on her chair, then he quickly sat himself in front of her on his own chair.

  "Ahm...Chuck and some friends were having a party at the old Warren's place." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, smearing some of the smudges on her face even more. He couldn't help but think how cute she was, doing that. No one else could smear dirt on their face and somehow look good doing it like she could. "Then, I decided I was bored and left for home" It was a good thing he had witnessed the whole event firsthand, as somehow he had gotten so lost in watching her that he missed part of what she said.

  "Then these two men came out of nowhere as if they were looking for me, and I hid in some bushes until they were gone." She looked around the room for a second. "Can I have a drink of something?"

  Brian nodded and got up and walked to the fridge. He wasn't surprised to find nothing but I.V. bags filled with blood. He was really hoping something was left from when his mother was alive, or maybe something his aunt might have left for herself.

  "How about some water? I haven't done much shopping here lately." He opened a cupboard door and sighed in relief to see it still filled with drinking glasses. Dusty, but still usable.

  "Sure, that would be fine," she said, then continued her story. "Anyway, I was scared, I kept having this feeling like they were after me, and were really dangerous."

  Brian smiled to himself remembering the scene from his perspective

  "All I could think was I needed to get to Brian's house, I need to get to Brian's house. Just over and over." Brian smiled even bigger as he finished rinsing off her cup and began filling it with tap water.

  The sound of cars pulling out front in the street made him look up and look out the window over the sink. Several black SUV's were stopped on both sides of the street as several men dressed in black suits and dark sunglasses converged on the house across the street from him.

  "I just somehow knew..." she was saying

  "Heather, come here."

  "What?"

  "Are those the men outside?"

  "What?" She jumped up. "Outside? Here?"

  "I think you need to see this." Brian watched as the men produced a hand-held battering ram and knocked the front door on the other house open then surged inside, as several others stood around in the yard looking about as if on watch duty.

  "That's my house! What are they doing?" She all but hollered. He knew very well it was her house, he had been living across from her for several years now, he wasn't stupid.

  "Lower your voice or they might hear you." He tried telling her unsuccessfully.

  "Mama, Daddy..." she started to turn to run toward his front door. He glanced out the window before he turned to grab her, he saw in that brief second two figures in various states of undress, with black hoods over their heads being dragged from their home, each between two men simultaneously supporting and dragging them.

  "Heather, no, you can't." He grabbed her and began to turn her back toward him.

  "No, let me go! They have my parents!" She struggled wi
ldly, trying to escape his grip. Brian turned her forcefully toward him and shook her to get her attention.

  "Listen to me!"

  "I have to stop them!"

  "Heather, look at me!" He shook her again, this time more forcefully, and she turned in response trying to knock his arms away. He barely felt her hands striking his arms as he bent down and locked his eyes to hers

  "Heather, relax, it's going to be alright," he said, as he looked deep into her blue eyes.

  He felt the fight going out of her as he spoke to her.

  "But my parents.." she trailed off

  "You're going to be alright. Trust me."

  She stared at him for a moment, confusion crossing her face not for the first time tonight, and nodded.

  "Okay then, we need a plan." He pulled her to him, and gently caressed the back of her head. The smell of her hair filled his nose with her sweet scent. He didn't feel any resistance from her, her body was completely relaxed against his. He couldn't help but wonder if she were in some form of shock.

  He hoped she was alright, as if anyone could be, with what was going on around them at the moment. Something strange was happening, and that certainly said something, given his regular life.

  Car doors slamming brought him away from his thoughts, as he moved back to the window with Heather, and watched as all but one SUV pulled away from Heather's house and left in a convoy. The remaining vehicle pulled under an old weeping willow whose branches hung over the street and parked itself facing Heather's home. A stake-out, no doubt waiting for someone to return home. Someone currently held in his arms. Yet, he still had no idea what they could possibly want with her. He was there, and he hadn't seen them do anything that would cause this kind of reaction.

  What could Chuck and his friends possibly have done down in that basement?

  "We've got to do something Brian," she started saying, gaining more strength in her voice as her determination began to resolve. "We need to go to the police or..."

  "Heather, look at me." He bent down trying to get her to look at him.

  "No... We need to get help."

  "Heather, wait!" He grabbed her chin with his left hand as he continued to hold her with his right. "You need to sleep."

  "No...I need to..."

  "Sleep, Heather. We will get help after you sleep." He forced her to look into his eyes.

  "Sleep..." she mumbled, "we'll get help in the morning?”

  Brian nodded "Yes, after you sleep." She smiled and closed her eyes, her form going limp and her legs buckling.

  He caught her before she hit the floor, lifting her easily then carrying her up to his room. He laid her on his bed, and watched as she curled into a fetal position. Her breathing was deep but at least it was relaxed. He stood there and watched her for several minutes. The rise and fall of her chest was one of the most beautiful things he thought he had ever seen. It was amazing how wonderful she looked even with the scratches and smudges on her.

  It was almost like a dream, standing here so close to her. The fact that she was in his bed was a miracle in itself. He couldn't have dared to hope for this before. But here she was, sleeping in his bed. All he wanted to do was to climb in next to her and slide into a spoon position with her. The thought of it was nearly driving him mad, but he was going to have to control himself. There were too many things he needed to do. First, he needed to find out what was going on. The best way to do that, was to go back to where it all started.

  He headed out of his bedroom, pausing and looking back at Heather's sleeping form a moment. He probably should have thrown a blanket over her, but it was already starting to get warm this time of year, so she should be fine. As he turned and headed down the stairs, heading for the front room, he wondered what she was dreaming about. This would be the first time that he hadn't shared her dreams with her in a long time, and he wondered if she would miss him. It couldn't be helped, and if he hurried, he should still have time to catch up to her in whatever adventure she was on.

  That brought a smile to his face. The things she dreamed of... well he needed to concentrate, so he had to put those memories aside.

  He laid down on his mothers old couch. He really didn't keep that much of the old furniture that came with the house. He didn't have much of a need for it, as he rarely left his room. Everything he really needed was there, so what did he need the rest of the house cluttered for? Okay, relax. I need to clear my thoughts. That wasn't going to be easy knowing who was waiting for him upstairs in his bed. I need to concentrate on Chuck. The idea seemed repulsive to him. A part of him rebelled against the idea of thinking of that monstrous goon. After all, he spent most of his day trying to forget the stupid jock. But, right now, he needed to see where he was and what was going on, and truth be told, he knew Chuck better than he knew the others.

  Slowly, he cleared his mind, remembering the times that Chuck was with Heather in the school. How they ate together during lunch time, and walked between classes together. That infuriating smile and the ugly bright Letterman's jacket he wore.

  A pop sounded in his head, and his front room blurred to his eyes, as he raced to wherever the big jerk was. He stopped abruptly and the blurred vision cleared, sending bells ringing through his head, and causing him to see stars.

  "What the?" He grabbed his head, as it throbbed painfully. "I can't hurt myself in this form!"

  He looked around at his surroundings, trying to clear the flashing lights that filled his eyes. He was standing in the stairway that he had seen Chuck head down. Turning and looking behind himself, he could see the doorway that led to the room with the old gray couch the girls had been sitting on.

  "This doesn't make any sense..." he said out loud, "I don't see Chuck anywhere."

  He was sure that this was impossible. He always went to whomever he thought about. Yet, here he stood, his target nowhere to be found. The stairway looked dark the further down it went, but from what he could see, it leveled at a landing then turned right and went on, descending some more. He wasn't too sure how any of the guys were able to walk down it without breaking their necks, as the darkness was almost tangible in this form. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to go the normal way. He shook his head and began to walk down the stairs.

  Three steps away from the landing, he found he couldn't go any further. He didn't feel a wall, or any kind of obstacle in front of him. He just couldn't move another step forward. It was the wildest thing he had ever experienced. He looked at the walls and the steps, but he couldn't find anything that would obstruct him from preceding further into the basement. He had no idea what was going on. He pondered the problem for a moment before returning to the top of the stairs, determined to see if there was any other way down

  "Something isn't right here." He scratched his head. "None of this makes any sense."

  He paused in the room with the couch, and thought about the last time he had been here. Well, not here physically, but here in the spirit, anyway. It took him moments in his ethereal form to see that the entire house was empty, with no discernible entrance to the basement except the stairway that was barred to him. This whole place was really starting to give him a bad feeling. Something was going on that he couldn't explain, things that he didn't think were possible.

  He didn't like that at all. He went through his life believing he wasn't subject to the normal rules of the universe. If he wanted to see someone, he just went. Doors and locks meant nothing to him.

  Yet, here, in this broken down abandoned house, stood a stairway that blocked him better than any door or lock he had ever encountered before.

  "I wonder if I could physically walk down there?" But what would that accomplish? He'd seen that people didn't come back up once they went down there. Were Heather's parents down there, or were they someplace else?

  He needed answers, and he needed them now. He started this for Heather, to help her and to get answers for her. Now, he found he had questions that needed to be answered as well.