AN: Hello! Uh, I'm really sorry that I didn't upload a chapter sooner. Things have been hectic lately with school. Wow! The response I got was truly surprising! Thanks to all those who followed and favourites! Thank you! ^_^

Doctor Golan sighed and rubbed his temples. Looking at Anna with disappointment. "I can't help you of you're not going to cooperate with me." He stated.

Anna stared at him, her face blank. "I'm telling the truth." She said simply. She wasn't actually telling him the truth. But from her parents reaction when she tried to tell them she decided that it was for the best if she didn't. They had already taken her to see a psychiatrist, she didn't want to end up in an asylum.

"So," doctor Golan started. "You're telling me that all of a sudden you just stopped having these dreams." He said, raising his eyebrows and staring steadily into her blue eyes. Anna nodded. The dreams that doctor Golan was referring to were an occurrence to her whenever she slept and all of them consisted of the same thing; the monster. The thing that killed her grandfather. The thing that almost killed her. Most nights now, she couldn't sleep because she kept hearing the things laboured breath outside her window, could feel it's hollow stare on her.

"I don't know what to say Anna. I told you that you could trust me." Doctor Golan persisted. Anna sighed. "I'm serious. I think that I'm really getting better now." She said. She looked at Doctor Golan with her big, sad eyes and he seamed to yield under her stare. Sighing again, he wrote down another prescription of drugs for her. "Okay. But take these in case."

"You saw them too didn't you."

Jacob startled. He turned his wide eyes to his sister. "Wh-what?" He said.

Anna fixed him with an unimpressed stare, her blue eyes boring into his matching gaze. "The thing. The monster. You saw it to didn't you?"

"I-i, uh. . .no."

"No?"

"No."

Her face fell and her eyes turned to the floor. "Oh, okay," She muttered and turned on her heel. Heading back to her room before Jacob could even say another word. Anna looked so put out that Jacob seriously felt guilty. Anna barely talked these days and when she finally did, he just had to put her off. He knew what she was talking about. After all he had seen the monster. But, but, it couldn't be real. Could it? Of course not, It couldn't. It was just something his mind conjured up in the heat of the moment because he needed an explanation for his grandfathers death and his sisters attack. He had an acute stress reaction. Nothing more, nothing less. But that didn't stop him from having nightmares of the thing. He would stay up all night for fear of falling asleep and on the off chance that he did succumb to sleep. He would always wake up in cold sweat, his breathing ragged and a chilling fear settled in his chest. Those nights were the nights that he slept together with Anna in the laundry room, huddled up on the floor and wrapped in blankets like a bunch of tacos.

Anna had it worse though, she never slept. Never. He knows because if she did, she would wake up screaming, crying out to grandpa and saying, "I'm sorry!" or "Get away from me!" And he would crawl into her bed and hug her until the shaking stopped and she had calmed down or went back to sleep. He doesn't know how she got Dr. Golan, their psychiatrist, fooled. With dark circles finding their place under her eyes and the unfocused way that she moved around, anyone could tell that she wasn't sleeping at night. He couldn't blame her. That was why he couldn't tell her that he had seen it. She would think that the thing was real when it wasn't, she would never get better then. Jacob couldn't do that to his sister. So he lied.

"Happy birthday!"

"Yay," Anna muttered, her best forced smile on her lips as she pretended to be surprised. "You guys didn't have to do this for us." The room erupted in laughter. "Oh honey, stop bring modest," her mom said. She already had a wine glass in her hand as she let out a suspicious sounding laugh, obviously faked. "Come on. Enjoy your birthday with your family."

As she said this, she put her hands on both of Anna and Jacob's shoulders and pushed them into the sea of people that were supposed to be her family.

Soon, Anna found herself a place squeezed between her snobbish cousin's, Amber and Erin. They were uncle Bobby's kids, they didn't look like him, taking to their mother's side of the family in that department, but they sure did act like him. "So," Erin started. "What do you, like, do for fun around here?" She asked, her mascara covered eyelashes moving rapidly as she batted eyelashes at Jacob's friend Ricky. Who was standing on the other side of the room. He seemed to get the message well enough and started making his way over to them. Anna wasn't in the mood to deal with both him and her cousins. So, she excused herself with the classic, "I need to use the bathroom." They barely paid any attention to what she was saying—their eyes were on Ricky—and responded with "uh-huhs." Shaking her head, Anna wandered off to find Jacob.

"I'm not sure that my psychiatrist would think that that's a good idea right now."

Uncle Bobby's bushy eyebrows came together. "Oh, well, sure pal. We'll just play it by ear then, yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jacob confirmed. In truth, Jacob had no real interest in 'cracking heads' with his uncle at Smart Aid's HQ, or going fishing with his uncle and cousins in Tampa, or his uncle's yacht.

A bit sated, Uncle Bobby moved on to grab another person's shoulder in another corner of the room. Sighing with relief, Jacob made to get out of the corner that his uncle had dragged him into. Quickly, he spotted Anna standing near the snack table, drinking from a bright red plastic cup. Worming his way through the uncles, aunts and cousins he barely knew, Jacob came to stand near Anna.

"Nice party huh," he said conversationally. Anna gave him a weird look.

"Yeah. Pretty neat." She replied.

"Look, about last night. I-" he was interrupted by his mother's sudden squeal of, "Presents!"

Placing the cup on the table, Anna stood up and turned to face him. "It's no big deal. Really." She gave him a tiny bit still there reassuring smile. Jacob stared at her, gouging the truth out of her with his eyes, when she didn't react, he relented in his scrutiny and gave her a smile in return.

Anna had to stop herself from wrinkling her nose in disgust at the shinny pink sequinned dress currently in her hands. "It's wonderful." She said for decorum's sake. And, to up the game, she added a smile that she hoped didn't look too forced.

Apparently it worked because Aunt Marie smiled and started talking about how long she had to decide between the pink or the purple dress and how afterwards, she had to wait in a long queue at the boutique and how much money it cost.

Anna nodded along and commented where she needed to. A quick glance at Jacob revealed that he was in the same condition. A ghost of a smirk passed over her lips. She knows how Jacob hates the Christmas country music CDs that uncle Les always gives him.

Laughing internally at Jacob, Anna proceeded to announce that she was going to open the last present, she was glad that it was from Aunt Susie.

"Wait," her aunt said, an almost nervous smile on her face. "This one's for the both of you."

With a look of surprise, Jacob stood up to come over to her table, her expression mirrored his. Wrapped in simple brown wrapping paper, the present didn't look that special. Bit aunt Susie is her favourite aunt, and she was thoughtful when she needed to be. So, with fear and trepidation rising in her heart, Anna begun to tear at the wrapping paper with Jacob's help.

The paper was hiding a simple old book. Dog eared and missing its dust jacket. The selected works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. She heard Jacob take in a shaky breath from beside her. She turned to look at him, question in her eyes. His eyes were fixed on the book and they had a sort of wild look to them. She couldn't see what was so special about the book. This whole thing was starting to look like a bust. But, before Anna could plaster another one of those faux smiles of hers that had be come so useful in these sorts of situations and give another hollow thanks to her aunt, said aunt uttered the words that would change her whole perspective of the book.

"Actually," her aunt had said. "The book was from your grandfather."