Disclaimer: I own nothing. Wish I did though.

Summary: Forced into a dream reality, Ryan must find his way out and alive. With his past catching up with him and Eric along for the ride, getting home seems harder by the minute. But what other mysteries must Ryan uncover while in this alternate reality? What exactly is Kendrel's secret and how does it affect Ryan?

A/N: I know, I'm horribly slow, but school is almost over so I'll be updating more when I get it. But today you get three chapters!

l

l

l

Chapter 2

Standing only a few feet in front of them was a tall man, and yet he wasn't a man at all. Eric could feel something dark coming from this man, and his looks reflected that feeling. He was taller than Eric, his skin ashy pale, and appeared to be in better shape than any guy Eric had seen at the gym. His eyes flashed red and he grinned, revealing sharpened fangs.

"How long it has been, Ryan Wolfe?" The demon's voice was smooth. "You seem to have grown up rather nicely. A shame."

Ryan looked into the demon's eyes and felt his body relax, but his mind was still traveling a mile a minute. He knew this creature was part vampire, was more than just a vampire, and he also knew that this demon wanted him dead and had killed his parents. And, yet, he couldn't stop his body from relaxing at the sound of his voice.

"And who is this?" He moved closer and reached out a clawed hand towards Eric. Eric moved his head back, and moved Ryan back with him, glaring back at the red eyed demon. "He's brave, much like your parents were."

"You're not going to touch him," Eric growled out, his hands reaching behind him to take Ryan's, to reassure him that he wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

"You think you can stop me?" The man seemed amused by Eric's actions. "A mortal of your status is going to stop me?" He let out a loud laugh that caused Eric to narrow his eyes more and Ryan to flinch. "I could kill you before you even thought of moving."

Ryan looked around Eric's shoulders and saw something glowing in the demon's hand by his side. "Don't!" He yelled without thinking. He pulled Eric to the ground as something hot flew past Eric's head.

"I won't allow you to interfere again, Ryan Wolfe!" The demon roared and grabbed Ryan's arm roughly, throwing him back into the living room. Ryan slid against the ground and slammed into the bookcase, several books falling on top of him.

Eric scrambled to his feet to run to Ryan, but winced he felt the demon's claws sink into his arm as he was lifted up. Eric struggled and locked eyes with Ryan. His eyes suddenly widened when he felt something on his shoulder blade. It started to burn and push into his skin and he let out a shout of pain.

"Stop it!" Ryan cried out and he turned to get up. He felt something in his leg twist and pull but he ignored the pain, trying to get to Eric.

The demon growled and threw Eric into Ryan, causing them both to fall to the ground. "This isn't over, Ryan Wolfe. I will be back." When Ryan looked up the demon was gone. Eric's pained breathing caught his attention once again.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel jumped from the seat she was sitting in when Eric suddenly started to twist on the bed, grunting in pain in his unconscious state. She ran over and grabbed his shoulders trying to still him. She glanced over at Ryan and frowned when she saw his face contorted in pain, and a touch of fear.

Eric's body jerked and Kendrel was caught off guard. She turned his body a little and saw something slowly forming on his shoulder blade. She touched it lightly and could feel that the mark was still warm. What she found odd was that it was still etching itself into his skin; the obvious source of his pain and discomfort. Kendrel sighed and leaned her head back.

"Why me? Why this family?" She muttered and pulled a blanket over both boys once they had settled down again.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

"Eric? Oh god, are you alright?" He helped Eric sit up and turned to look at his shoulder and grimaced. Eric now sported an identical burn to his own on his back.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured quietly.

Eric shook his head. "It's alright. That could have gone a lot worse." Eric tried to smile at him but groaned when he shifted his arm a little too much. "I could have lost my arm." Ryan shook his head. Eric blinked when Ryan pulled his shirt up from the back, lifting it over his head. He saw the burn on his back, in the same place that the demon had burned him.

"It's not just some mark," Ryan said quietly. "I was supposed to die that night. It's the mark he gives to his victims seconds before he kills them." Ryan pulled his shirt back down and pushed himself up gently from the floor. He winced and almost fell when he tried to walk and Eric sprang into action, catching Ryan before he fell, ignoring his own pains.

"Are you alright?" Eric pulled Ryan into the kitchen and onto a chair.

Ryan leaned back into the chair and nodded. "I think so, I must have sprained my ankle or something. I'll be fine." His voice was quiet and still a little shaky, and Eric could catch the glances that Ryan would direct at the living room, where his parents' bodies still were.

"I'm gonna go find something to wrap it up in, then we're gonna get out of here." Eric touched Ryan's knee for reassurance before getting up and practically bounding up the stairs to the bathroom.

Ryan looked down and saw that even against his legs, his hands were still shaking. He tried to take a couple deep breaths, but found that didn't help him at all. He heard Eric's footsteps coming back towards him and looked up only when Eric was kneeling in front of him again.

"Okay, I got an Ace Bandage and an ice pack. And I think I saw a cane or something around here you could use." Ryan nodded numbly at Eric's words and watched as he carefully lifted Ryan's leg up onto another chair. He was able to concentrate on Eric's soft touch to his ankle, at how he didn't cause any discomfort, and how gentle and nice it felt to have Eric's hands on his leg. He found that he was relaxing slightly in Eric's hands and held on to that feeling.

Soon Eric was putting his foot back down on the ground and running into the dining room to grab a cane from the umbrella holder that was in the corner.

"This should help, at least keep most of the weight off of it." Ryan nodded and took the wooden pole as he stood up slowly.

"We should get moving," Ryan said quietly and turned to head out the back door. Eric opened his mouth to say something but found that no words would help this situation right now. Instead he caught up to Ryan and helped him as he limped out of the house.

Ryan was slightly surprised to notice that his house was no longer sitting in the middle of the field that he had woken up in, but was now sitting parallel to a small creek and surrounded by tall oak and maple trees.

"I've never been there, but I'm pretty sure that Boston isn't surrounded with this many trees," Eric commented as he looked around.

"Where I lived it wasn't," Ryan confirmed. "It wasn't a big city, but there were a lot of kids around to play with when I was younger." He found himself picking at wrinkles and dirt in his shirt, something to keep his mind occupied. "Nice little suburb, you know?"

"Wish I did," Eric let a little smile cross his face. "I grew up in the city of Miami. Cars everywhere, playing basketball in the street, hoping that you didn't lose your ball." Ryan snorted a little with laughter. "What?" Eric looked over at him. "You never had to deal with any of that?"

"Nope," Ryan shook his head. "I left the house when I was thirteen, but then, you know that." Ryan's smile softened a little. Eric felt himself internally wince; he knew that they were going to have to talk about the whole fiasco that had led up to this.

"Yeah, I did. Listen, Ryan, I'm sorry, really I am." Eric looked at him.

"I know you are, I'm just still a little baffled as to why you and Kendrel would take it." Ryan paused then shook his head. "Okay, I'm more baffled as to why you would take it, not so much Kendrel. I mean, she didn't even tell me that she was my Aunt. Of course, I did forget, too." Eric put his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"You're babbling, Ryan," Eric stopped the younger man. "I didn't take the files, but I did look at them. We just wanted to help. But it did bring up some questions while I was looking into it all. I feel like this would be a bad time to ask, but-"

"You're right, right now is a bad time to ask." Ryan nodded, affirming Eric's first point and stopping him from going on. "Let's just, try and find a way out of here." Eric nodded as they continued to make their way through the strange forest, silence descending on them.

Several hours later, Ryan slowed to a stop and leaned back against a tree. "We should stop here to rest." Eric nodded and helped Ryan sit down, and lean his leg out on the ground.

"Is it just me, or does it seem that the sun hasn't moved?" Eric commented as he took a seat next to Ryan.

"It doesn't, I've been here for what would seem almost two days, the sun hasn't moved." Ryan leaned his head back against the tree trunk. "Do you remember what you said in my apartment?" Eric blinked and looked over at the resting man. "When you were talking to me. You said that you were almost killed once. What did you mean?"

Eric nodded slightly, not sure that Ryan had even remembered what he said. "Well, several years ago I actually worked Patrol, on my way to promotion. There was a shoot-out one night and I got hit in the leg. Patched me up at the hospital and set me on my way, but a couple weeks later I went back to the hospital, but in an ambulance from the station that time. Seems everything was not fine. A blood clot had formed in my leg and I passed out when it released and shot up my blood stream."

Ryan watched Eric as he recounted his own memory. He noted that Eric didn't look him in the eye, instead kept his gaze forward, looking into the trees. "They said it just missed hitting my heart, and they caught it before it reached my brain." Ryan heard Eric's voice get softer. "It would have taken about six months to get cleared to go back to the force, and it would have taken even longer to reach the promotion I had been working towards. I decided that maybe it just really wasn't worth it, and took the PR position I have now." Eric seemed to shrug off the end, and the real reason he was at his current job; he had gotten scared.

An almost comfortable silence followed the end of tale, and the two men leaned against the tree as a soft breeze blew through the trees. Ryan tried to stop the yawn he felt coming but no matter how much he clenched his teeth he couldn't stop it, and Eric noticed. "Maybe we should try to get some rest, continue when we wake up, since we'll never know when a new day comes." Ryan nodded a little and leaned his head back against the tree trunk.

//\\// (- -) (- -) (- -) //\\//

Kendrel looked out the window and watched as the sun spread its rays, signaling a new day. Glancing back at the boys, she noticed that they both had relaxed considerably. A smirk crossed her face when she saw Ryan's head leaning against Eric's shoulder. Kendrel wondered exactly what was happening wherever their minds were. She hoped that they were working things out, it would make it that much better when Ryan came back and remembered how mad he was at her.

She stretched her arms and slowly moved her legs from the chair. Her stomach made itself known with a loud gurgle. Rolling her eyes, Kendrel made her way to Eric's kitchen and looked through his fridge. Eventually she made herself a roast beef sandwich with the last of Eric's meat and grabbed a glass of water and made her way back to the bedroom.

As she walked back into the room, she slowed her steps when she sensed something else in the room. Before she could think more on it, she felt a force push her back into the hallway, the plate smashing on the ground with her breakfast, and the water splashing the walls as she fell. When she looked up, her eyes glowing yellow once more, she saw the same shadowed figure that had appeared when Eric entered the same state as Ryan.

She quickly jumped up when the figure moved towards the bed and the boys. With inhuman speed, her leg kicked out and connected with something soft and the shadow dropped back. Kendrel blinked she heard the shadow hiss as her.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded.

Instead of receiving an answer, the shadow slid across the ground and pushed her back into the bedside table, breaking the lamp and clock that was housed on the surface. Her arm lashed out and caught the shadow's arm before it could reach Ryan and threw it back into the wall. She felt something sharp tear at the skin on her arm before it melted back into the wall and disappeared.

Kendrel rubbed her arm and frowned. The boys were still in the same position as before and appeared to be safe. When she looked back out into the hallway at the mess, she cursed the shadow figure. "Bastard, that was the last of the roast beef." She sighed and waved her hand and the mess started to clean itself.