It was a hot summers evening in Trinity, South Carolina and Caleb Temple was riding his new bicycle down the street not far from his farm house. His birthday was in a weeks time and his cousin Gail had bought the bike as an early birthday present. Caleb was excited for whatever surprises that his sister and cousin had planned for him, he was used to just a small cake; however, this year his cousin was in town and she had promised to spoil him, so far she had not disappointed him and he was delighted with his early birthday gift.

Caleb smiled as he saw his sister Merlyn-Ann walking in the distance, with her long brown hair trailing across her shoulders and her school books under her arm. He rode towards her but she had not seen him coming, so he discreetly placed his bike to the side of a car and hid behind a tree that she was approaching. When she was about to pass he jumped out at her and she screamed out in shock, dropping her school books.

'Caleb Temple! I swear one of these days your going to scare me to death...come here!' she yelled and tried to grab him.

'Never!' he called and ran playfully away from her. Caleb turned a corner and hid underneath a car, trying to stifle his giggles when he heard his sister calling for him.

'I'm gonna find you Caleb and when I do there'll be hell to pay' Merlyn called, trying to locate him behind bushes and trees.

Caleb risked a glance from under the car and quickly moved back to his position, when he saw Merlyn approaching from around the corner. When he was sure that she had passed his hiding place, he slid out quietly and started to tip toe behind her, with the aim of making her jump again. He had no doubt that she would likely hit him when she caught him; however, he could not resist scaring his sister twice in the space of 5 minutes. When he was positioned perfectly behind her he grabbed her shoulders, spun her around and yelled 'Boo!'

Merlyn turned around and stared silently at him with blood running down her face. Caleb screamed at the sight of his sisters full body covered in blood. 'Wake up Caleb' she whispered.

'Caleb...' she whispered again.

'Caleb, wake up!' Gail shouted concerned, shaking him awake.

Caleb awoke covered in sweat and breathing heavy. He was shocked to see his cousin in his bedroom, with her hands gripping his shoulders. 'What happened?' he asked confused.

Gail hugged her only living relative and kissed him reassuringly on the forehead. 'I came over to take you to school, but you weren't downstairs so I came up here to wake you. Caleb you were hysterical, screaming and thrashing in your bed. Are you ok?' she asked, clearly worried.

Caleb took a deep breath to try to steady his heart rate. He had been waking abruptly from bad dreams all week, but he had not told Gail as he knew she would worry. 'I'm fine cous'' he lied and tried to force a reassuring smile.

Gail looked at her cousin knowingly, she often suffered from bad dreams and knew the signs. Caleb clearly did not want to talk about what was going on; however, she was convinced it was to do with the horrors he had experienced last year, with his birthday being only a week away. Gail was no stranger to the stress that came with tragedy and could still barely stomach a forth of July celebration, due to her parents death's and the mental scars she had.

She would make sure she kept a watchful eye on him and help him however she could, but for now it was important that Caleb kept to his usual routine to make sure he was not consumed by his troubles. If depression began to fester in him, Gail worried that it would be hard to pull him back with the amount of death and loss that he had suffered.

Gail gave her cousin another hug and pulled him out of bed. 'Come on, your going to be late for school'

Caleb playfully protested then signalled for his cousin to leave so he could get dressed.

Gail walked out of her cousins classroom agitated, after taking the blame for Caleb's lateness with Miss Coombs. Selena had scolded her in front of Caleb's class mates and she had to endure a lecture on the importance of ensuring that her cousin was in school on time; however, at least Caleb was in the clear over it. She approached her mustang and sat on the car bonnet for a moment to gather her composure, when she heard the familiar smooth southern voice behind her.

'Well, well darlin', I'm surprised you arrived at school late when you crept out of bed so early this morning. Problems?' Lucas asked and approached Gail with two cups of coffee in his hand.

Gail sighed and took one of the cups that he offered. 'Not now Lucas, not after the lecture I've just endured'

Lucas smiled seductively, 'have you been a bad girl, Miss Emory?'

Gail rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee, this was not the time or the place to get into one of these playful discussions. She had been spending her nights with Lucas on and off for the past month since her initial visit with her old friend Matt, so this intrusion was of her own doing for not making her boundaries clear. She had stood her ground and not slept with Lucas, believing they could keep their relationship casual and so far that was working. Gail knew how stupid she was for even contemplating any kind of relationship with this man; however, she had found it was less hassle to just give in to her urges now and again. It also meant that he did not show up unexpectedly as much, as he knew he would have her attention most nights.

Lucas placed himself beside her on the mustang and stroked her arm, before leaning down and tenderly kissing her shoulder. Gail would have pulled away if she had thought there was even a slight possibility of anyone seeing them; however, as Selena had pointed out, every other parent had dropped their children off on time, so the school car park was empty and she was too preoccupied with being worried about Caleb to be concerned with Lucas right now.

'What's there to be worried about darlin'?' Lucas asked, reading her mind. 'Is your cousin having more behavioural issues in class?'

Gail shot an irritated glance at Lucas. She had tried to forget that Caleb was his son as the thought made her feel nauseous, but every now and again Lucas would make a comment that reminded her. 'What I worry about in relation to my cousin is none of your business Sheriff...' she said candidly then took another sip of her coffee, '... and if you want a spy to watch Caleb you should think of shacking back up with his school teacher.'

Lucas feigned a hurt look and brushed away a stray strand of hair from Gail's cheek. 'Whoa there darlin', I'm only trying to help. Why don't we get outta here and go somewhere more private so I can help you relax? If you hadn't have sneaked out so early, I could've put you in a better mood for your day ahead'

Although Gail had accepted the nightly visits from Lucas recently, she still felt the same shame and anger with herself that she always seemed to feel after their encounters. She knew she was a grown woman and should either accept her actions or end it for good, but it seemed easier to sneak out most mornings and avoid dealing with the situation.

Gail hopped off the car bonnet and started to move towards the drivers side of the car, she was starting to get that familiar feeling which came just before her body betrayed her to this man's will and decided this would be the perfect time to leave. 'As inviting as that sounds, I don't need your help Lucas. Besides, I've got a lot to do today' she lied.

Before she could open the car door, Lucas was behind her. He gently moved her hair away from her shoulders to allow his lips access to her neck and placed his hand on the car door to prevent her from getting in. Gail turned around, trying to ignore the warmth that was creeping up through her body and the urge to embrace him. She placed her hands on his chest in an attempt to push him away and create some distance between them, but her hands betrayed her and instead she stroked his chest and let her hands travel down to his waste.

Lucas smiled triumphantly and leaned in for a kiss. Gail began to lean forward, yearning for his lips to be on hers, then a sudden flash of light shot threw her brain and brought her back to her senses. She tensed, put her hands back on his chest and pushed him away with more force than she had intended. 'Not here Lucas' she said, giving herself a mental shake and proceeded to get into the drivers seat of her car.

Lucas stared at her with agitation and confusion. 'Did I miss something darlin'?'

Gail was confused herself over what had just happened; however, she was thankful that something had stopped her from committing an inappropriate act in her cousins school parking lot. She cursed herself for nearly losing control, started the car engine and rolled down the window. 'I've got to go Lucas, I'll be busy all today and possibly tonight but I'll call if anything changes' she said and drove away.

Lucas, left standing in the deserted parking lot alone, was seething. He had tried to search Gail's mind to find some clarity of what had stopped his fun but he seemed to be blocked. Lucas took a deep breath to regain his composure and shook off his frustration, after all it was his son's birthday in a weeks time and he needed to plan something memorable for the boy.

Merlyn-Ann Temple sat invisible in the back seat of Gail's red mustang, contemplating her next actions. She had tried to appear to Caleb on a number of occasions but something was warding her away, it took her over a month to realise that her cousin Gail had been sensing the signs she had left for her brother and when the realisation became clear, she had decided to try to reach out to Gail; however, Merlyn was not sure whether Gail would be susceptible to her advances.

Merlyn was unsure of her cousin, on one hand she wanted to protect Caleb from Lucas Buck; on the other hand she had given herself to the man, which gave him the opportunity to manipulate her. Merlyn respected that Gail would not knowingly allow Lucas to use her to get closer to Caleb, but she was disappointed that Gail continued to have relations with the man who had raped and impregnated Merlyns mother. Although she was unsure of her cousin, she felt the urge to protect her.

From what she had observed, Lucas and Gail were drawn to each other. Her cousin was clearly in denial over this fact but Lucas had seemed to accept it and was pushing for them to get together whenever he had the opportunity. Merlyn was suspicious of Lucas's motives and was intrigued as to why he was so interested in Gail. She did not like to get close to any of their encounters; however, recently she had taken great pride in derailing Lucas's plans, she had even found a way to cloud Gail's mind so he could not read certain things. It helped that her cousin was strong willed and could block her thoughts if she tried, Merlyn had just provided a little extra internal guidance to enable those skills to be used.

At this moment in time Merlyn decided that she would just sit back and wait for her opportunity to strike, just like she did earlier and when the time came she would reveal herself.

Gail drove her mustang away from the school with no destination in mind. She had an uneasy feeling that she was not alone; however, that was crazy as there was nobody in the car with her. She shrugged off the uneasy feeling and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Gail was confused over what had just happened with Lucas, but she chose to push the encounter out of her mind as she needed to focus on Caleb. It was her cousins eleventh birthday and she had no idea what to do to take his mind off the tragedy that he had experienced the previous year. It was not fair that he was going to be forced to deal with these feelings each year on his birthday, she wished she could take on the burden for him but she knew from experience that he had to work through the pain on his own; although, she would be there to assist and support him.

Both their lives seemed to be plagued with tragedy, it was hard to believe one family could be so cursed. Gail was relieved that they had found each other, it was just unfortunate that it was under such sad circumstances. Having Caleb around had helped her come to terms with her own inner turmoil with her parents. She acknowledged that Lucas also played a part in steering her towards the truth; however, it was Caleb that had brought her back to the light and made her realise that her only living relative was much more important than the dead.

So many of her relationships with friends and partners had suffered due to her obsession with her parents death, to the point where she closed herself off completely and would only allow her friend Christie to be part of her life. When she had finally accepted what had happened with the fire, it opened her up to a proper relationship with her cousin and her resentment for Lucas began to fade. She was not stupid and knew this was her downfall when it came to Lucas, it was hard to resist his charms when there was nothing concrete for her to hate him for. Had she have pieced together his true relationship with Caleb and her Aunt Judy, things would have been very different.

Gail gave herself a mental shake and returned her thoughts to Caleb. Her heart ached at the thought of her cousin going through the same torment that she had gone through when she was younger, so she decided to make it her mission to make this a wonderful birthday so he could celebrate rather than mourn.

-To be continued...-