So this is a new thing for me to write about. But I love this series and Kelley Armstrong with all my heart.

If characters seem off, tell me. This is the first time for me writing them, so I'd like all the feedback possible.

Trigger warning: mentions of cutting and suicidal thoughts. No actual death though.

I don't own the Darkest Powers or the Darkness Rising trilogys.

GENERAL POV

Corey waved cheerfully to Daniel and Maya as they left for their weekend trip to the city, happy to be done with lessons for a while. Of course, they had Moreno as their chaperone, but that didn't seem to bother them all that much, as they had become quite comfortable, if not wary, around the man.

The teen started back to his house at the edge of the lake, kicking at a rock that was abandoned on the dirt road, but a gentle hand grabbed his shoulder before he had gone far. He glanced back with a smirk to see Chloe standing there, Derek just behind her with his usual scowl on his face.

"We were about to go swimming in the lake," she informed him with a bright smile. "Want to join us?"

Corey paused for a moment before shaking his head, giving Chloe an apologetic grin. "Thanks but no. I'm going to go for a walk."

He gestured towards the woods behind them and Chloe frowned slightly, glancing back at Derek. "Well...do you want us to join you? Keep you company?"

Corey grinned and shook his head. "Nah. I'll be fine. Just gonna go for a little hike, get in some quality me time before Maya and Daniel come back."

Before Chloe could argue, the boy with premonitions darted into the forest. Chloe tilted her head and frowned, her eyes flickering with concern. "Something is bugging him, but I don't want to intrude on him when he wants to be alone."

Derek grunted. "I'll do it," he muttered half-heartedly, starting forward. Chloe reached out and placed a hand lightly on his chest, shaking her head. "No...no, I don't want him knowing anyone is there. Also, no offense, but you're not all that great at talking to people," she said with a sly smile.

The teen werewolf rolled his eyes but didn't argue with his girlfriend, staying where he was.

Glancing to her right, Chloe tilted her head at something that Derek couldn't see. "Liz? Can you go watch him?"

A moment later she sighed in relief and turned back to Derek. "She said yes. Let's get some swimming in and then I'll go check on him, see if he's okay."

Derek nodded in confirmation and tugged her fingers into his, glancing back over his shoulder once before following Chloe to the shore of the lake.

Liz watched Chloe and Derek scamper off before turning her gaze to the woods in front of her.

Having recently finishing what she liked to call "ghost orientation," Liz had returned to earth (this time in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers instead of her stupid giraffe socks and Minnie Mouse nightshirt) to help keep an eye on the adults running Badger Lake. So far, nothing had happened, but the young poltergeist wasn't taking any chances, considering what had happened the last thirty or forty times they had let their guard down.

The blonde trotted quickly into the woods, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of the dark blue sweatshirt that Corey had been wearing.

She crept through the woods carefully for several minutes before slapping her forehead and remembering that Corey couldn't hear, see, or touch her. Slightly disappointing, but she had gotten used to it.

Breaking into a jog, Liz glanced around, taking in her surroundings as she searched for the teenager.

The forest was scattered with trees of all different sorts, most of which Liz did not know the names of. She recognized pine and maple immediately, knowing that Maya and her father could probably name each tree without hesitation.

Sunlight flickered down from the branches, scattering gold across the fallen leaves and logs that crossed Liz's path. Birds flew from branch to branch, talking with each other in animated tones, oblivious to the ghost running below them.

Liz ducked under a branch out of habit alone and walked around a tall maple tree dripping with sap, coming to a halt on the other side.

To her left was more forest, trees branching out for miles and animals scampering to and fro, hidden by dead foliage.

To her right was a fifty or sixty foot drop, a steep cliffside ending in a fast moving creek, or possibly river. Liz wasn't quite sure which term was more accurate.

She peered over the edge nervously, knowing that even if she fell she wouldn't get hurt. That didn't stop her metaphorical heart from jumping into her throat, though.

Lifting her gaze back to the solid ground behind her, she caught sight of Corey, just a little farther down the cliff than her and hidden slightly by several shrubs.

He was pacing anxiously, his hands twisting around each other and his eyes squeezed shut, close enough to the edge that Liz darted towards him in concern.

As she got close, however, Corey dropped to his knees and pressed his fingers to his head, stiffling a cry by biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. Liz froze in front of him, knowing that this was a sign that he was having a vision.

While Corey had gotten rid of the most violent pain that came with his visions of the future, Liz knew that it still hurt him, and the sight in front of her was proof enough.

Corey gasped in agony, pressing his palms to his eyes and pushing his hands up so hard that, had Liz not known better, she would have thought he was trying to push his eyeballs into his head.

She knelt next to him, knowing that she really couldn't do anything, and hovered a hand just over his back. That made her feel better at least.

"Shit," Corey growled, seeming to calm down as he sat up, his eyes red and his hands shaking. "What the hell even was that?"

The teen groaned and plunked his head back into a tree trunk, causing Liz to flinch at the thumping sound she heard. Corey rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and glanced out over the precipice, his gaze weary and irritated.

"So much for useful powers," the boy grumbled, picking up a stick and shoving it into the dirt at his feet. "Can't even identify the person in the vision, so how the hell am I supposed to help her?"

The sileni paused and then fished his phone from his pocket, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers as he scrolled through his contacts and clicked on Chloe's name. Liz settled down next to the boy and tilted her head, able to hear the phone ringing on the other end.

When the voicemail picked up, Corey sighed. "Hey Chloe. You'll probably get this too late for us to do anything, and I'm not even sure of what I saw, but I just had a nasty vision...it looked like a girl about our age, strapped to a table," he stated, shutting his eyes as he struggled to recall details. "She had really long, blonde hair and was wearing Disney pajamas...I don't really know. By the looks of it we'd be too late even if we knew exactly who she was or where to find her. See you later."

As he hung up the phone and sighed sadly, Liz pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out, despite knowing he wouldn't hear her.

Corey had just described her death.

Trying to keep calm, Liz rubbed her fingers in circles against her temples, thinking. Corey had recieved the vision almost the second she had approached him. Had she triggered it?

The ghost shook her head. She had been around Corey before. Never for long, and never alone, but she had been around him. So why would the vision appear now?

Corey dropped his head into his hands, his throat bobbing as he gulped heavily. "Why is my power so goddamned useless?" he groaned. "If that was a vision of the future..."

He ran one hand across his forehead, shaking, and used the other hand to push himself to his feet and move towards the precipice . He kicked angrily at the dirt, sending clumps of it over the edge of the cliff and into the fast moving water below.

Liz stood up slowly, wrapping one hand around a long stick and keeping a nervous eye on Corey. He was too close to the cliff's edge for her comfort, and she wanted to be ready.

Corey sighed and shoved his hands into his back pockets, dropping his chin to his chest and shutting his eyes.

"What is the freaking point of these powers if I can't save the person I have the vision about?" he murmured. "I'm so useless!"

He growled and whirled around, punching the tree behind him with such force that the branches shook. Liz gulped, reminding herself that he'd been wrestling since he was a kid, and tightened her grip on the branch in her hands.

As she did so, the stick raked up against a nearby bush, causing the leaves to rattle. Corey's head shot up and he locked his eyes on the piece of tree, seemingly hovering in mid air.

Liz paused and then moved the branch to the soft dirt under her feet. Corey's eyes never left the bizarre sight, and she used this to her advantage, drawing a smiley face in the soil.

Corey's lips twitched upwards and he raised an eyebrow, glancing in Liz's general direction. "Liz?" he asked, knowing only one poltergeist by name.

Liz circled the smiley face and added a line to its mouth so that it was laughing. Corey snorted and lowered himself to the ground. "Guess that answers that. What are you doing here?" he asked.

Liz sat down next to him and snapped a smaller piece of the branch off, one that she could hold more easily. She began to erase the smile so that she could answer, but Corey held up his hand. "Wait. Let me guess. Chloe sent you to watch me."

It wasn't a question, and Liz winced at the annoyed pout that had overtaken Corey's features. She scribbled the word 'yes' into the ground.

She watched him carefully as he sighed in irritation, running a hand through his dark hair.

"I wish they wouldn't worry about me so much," he grumbled.

Liz raised an eyebrow and scrawled at the ground quickly. Considering your knuckles are bleeding because you punched a tree, I'd say they have reason to.

Corey glanced at his hands, which were indeed scraped and bleeding, and cursed softly. He pulled off his sweatshirt to reveal a white tank top underneath. As he ripped off the hem to wrap around his hand, Liz couldn't help but stare.

He wasn't the most fit boy ever, but at just over six feet tall and second place island wrestling champ, Corey certainly wasn't hard on the eyes. His biceps were toned just enough so that, while he wasn't terrifying, people would think twice about aggravating him in a dark alley.

As he slipped his sweatshirt back on, Liz glanced away, blushing ever so slightly. Could ghosts even blush? She'd have to ask Chloe that.

Corey finished wrapping his hand up and sighed, glancing in Liz's direction. "So I guess you kinda saw my mental breakdown," he muttered, tugging on his sweatshirt strings anxiously.

Liz hesitated before poking her stick into the ground. I wouldn't call it a breakdown, she assured him.

Corey snorted. "Yeah right. I just...felt so bad. That I couldn't help that girl. She's my age, for crying out loud, and I couldn't save her!"

Liz paused for a moment, wondering if she should tell him. That the girl in his vision was her, that no one had been able to save her, that she was already too far gone.

What could you have done?

Corey stared at the words for a moment, uncertainty flashing in his eyes. He sighed and tugged at his makeshift bandage. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "But I wish I could try. She looked so scared and I...the vision cut off just before anything happened but the look in her eyes...it was heart breaking."

Liz had never heard him speak like this and if she could have cried, she would have. As it was, there was a lump in her throat.

Why would you do it? I mean, you don't know her. You'd be risking your life.

Corey shook his head, leaning back against the bark behind him and plucking a dandelion from the ground, tugging on its pale yellow petals.

"That doesn't matter," he choked out, chucking the flower over the edge of the cliff. "She needed help. That's what supernaturals should be doing with their time. Helping each other. She looked...abandoned. Alone, like...like she didn't really have anyone to go to."

Liz gulped and pulled her knees to her chin, watching him. A tear slid down the boy's cheek and he furiously swiped it away. "I know how she feels and I...part of me just wants to hug her and tell her she has someone to listen to her."

Liz trembled as she pressed the stick to the ground, forcing the letters out. She knows.

His eyes stayed locked on the words for a solid two minutes, and Liz could see him trying to put the pieces together in his brain. Finally, he lifted his gaze in her general direction, his cheeks bright red and his lips quivering ever so slightly.

"You're her, aren't you," he whispered.

It was, once again, not a question, but Liz still scrawled 'yes' into the ground.

Corey cursed softly, his shoulders shaking as he reached a hand towards her before abruptly pulling it back and clenching his trembling fingers into a fist. He brought his hand to his mouth and bit down on it gently, his memory flicking back to the image of her face.

"Holy hell," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm so sorry, Liz."

She gave a small smile and poked the stick into the soil. I've gotten used to the idea. I'm sorry you had to see that.

Corey tilted his head, a faint smile on his lips. "I'm glad I did. At least now I can put a face to your name. But why did I get a vision into the past?"

Liz frowned and twirled her hair around a finger thoughtfully. I don't know. I thought maybe because I showed up, but I've been near you before and it hasn't happened.

Corey nodded slowly and leaned back against the tree, tilting his head up to stare at the specks of sky visible through the tree tops. "Why did you come? I mean, why did Chloe send you?"

Liz trailed the stick through the rocky ground, wishing she could actually speak to him. Chloe was worried about you. Why did you come out here?

Corey paused for a long time, staring at the words. "I needed to think. Alone."

Liz caught the word and she winced, pulling the stick back from the ground ever so slightly. Corey sat straight up, holding out his hands in a gentle manner. "No, Liz, I...I just have a lot on mind and I needed to decide what to do."

When she hesitated to write anything, Corey sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead and rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, keeping his arms on his lap.

"I've felt really useless lately," he said, staring out towards the cliff. "Really...depressed. I've always had depression, but only my mom and Travis, my brother, knew about it. I stayed happy so that no one would worry about me," he admitted softly.

He glanced in Liz's direction nervously and she motioned toward him with the stick, telling him to continue.

"Daniel figured it out pretty fast after our helicopter crashed. He didn't tell the others, but he said if it ever got bad he would tell Maya. I don't think he ever did. But when we met your group, the Edison group...Chloe figured it out. Or rather, Derek did and he told Chloe."

Liz tilted her head. Derek was not an empathetic person with anyone except Chloe, Simon, and Kit. He had begun to open up towards Daniel and Maya, but he was still unable to really understand their feelings.

Corey snorted. "I know. Derek isn't good at the whole emotion thing. He didn't have to be."

About to ask what he meant, Liz stopped when Corey flipped his arms over.

Hundreds of cuts, most barely noticeable and others obviously fresh, littered the pale skin of his forearms. Liz gasped, a hand flying to her mouth, and she looked up at Corey with sad eyes. He kept his gaze on the forest floor as he tugged down his sleeves.

"Derek smelled them and got Chloe to talk to me about it. She promised not to tell if I stopped."

Liz glowered at him and smacked him lightly on the knee with her stick. Corey grimaced. "Sorry. They...thats probably why they sent you after me. I've been in a pretty bad state of mind recently, feeling like I don't belong with this group."

Her gaze tightened and Liz glanced towards the cliff. "That's probably why I got the vision," Corey said, interrupting her thoughts. "I was close to giving up and in the scene I saw, you were..."

He glanced towards her and winced, shaking his head. "I'm an idiot. Talking about death while talking to a ghost."

Liz smacked him with the branch once more and knelt over, scribbling furiously in the dirt.

Don't you ever say you don't belong, Corey. The people here care about you. Do you know how long it takes Derek to warm up to people, and how nervous he looked when I was leaving? People care, Corey. I care. As much as I like you, I don't want a friend in the afterlife. And please stop. For me. You couldn't save me, so save yourself. Please.

Corey sat still for a long time, staring at the ground. He slowly drew his knees up to his cchin, wrapped his arms around his legs, and started shaking, tears in his eyes. Liz lowered her stick and moved next to him, brushing her hand up to his cheek.

It of course went through his skin but Corey shivered slightly and leaned towards her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Liz gave a sad smile and reached over, tugging lightly on the strings of Corey's sweatshirt. He glanced down and gave a small smile, bringing his hand up and wrapping it around the strings. His hand passed right through hers but Liz could have sworn she felt something for a moment.

"Thank you, Liz," Corey finally murmured, looking up and meeting her gaze almost perfectly. "So much. I wish...I wish I had been able to save you," he said quietly.

Liz smiled and leaned down, writing just in front of his feet. Save yourself Corey. I'll be here.

He grinned warmly. "You know, you're really pretty. In case no one ever told you."

Her mouth dropped and Corey chuckled, beginning to stand up.

"Corey? You out here?" called Chloe from around the bend.

The boy scrambled the rest of the way to his feet as the necromancer rounded the corner, Derek just behind her. Chloe grinned. "Oh hey. Look, I got your voicemail. About the vision..."

Corey held up a hand. "I know. It was Liz. She told me," he said, gesturing in her general direction.

Chloe looked startled, but nodded. She glanced towards Liz and blinked. Was she...blushing? Could ghosts even do that?

Derek nodded towards Corey. "Come on," he grunted. "Dad's setting up the barbecue for lunch."

Corey glanced in Liz's direction, his eyes pleading with her not to say anything to Chloe. She drew a winky face in the dirt and Corey sighed in relief before following Derek. Chloe watched them go and then turned to Liz, who had dropped the branch and was now pacing, head in her hands. "Liz? What happened?" she asked.

Liz looked after Corey and then turned to Chloe. "I...nothing. He needed to talk, is all."

Chloe raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to persue the matter, but was interrupted by Derek calling her name.

"We're not done here," Chloe informed her friend before sprinting towards her boyfriend.

As soon as she was out of sight, Liz flopped to the ground where Corey had been sitting and gave a sigh. What was she doing?

She should know better than to fall in love with someone who was still alive.

This was different. Also my new otp for this series.

Review!