Thank you to everyone that has commented. (It means so much to me!) Yeah, Lauren's different in this because I was getting so tired of her being so . . . aunt lauren. Anyway, finals are next week and I have a LOT of studying to do… particularly in Español, math and chemistry. So I may or may not have time to upload after this for a while. I guess we'll see.

Let chapter three commence!

(I do not own the Darkest Powers.)

CPOV

I jerked awake suddenly, sitting upright in bed, banging my head on the bed post. I swore, rubbing it and looking over to see if I'd woken Tori up. Of course not. She was a heavy sleeper.

My heart rate slowing, I lowered myself back down onto the bed and laid on my side, staring at the hardwood floor bathed in moonlight from the window.

My dream hadn't been pleasant. But what it was about, I couldn't have said. It was slipping away. Soon, it would be gone. A lost memory. I tried to remember. It was important – I could feel it. My gut told me it was.

Closing my eyes, I wracked my brain, then finally, I remembered. I dreamt of raising a body.

Leaping out of bed (and hitting my head again), I pulled on a jacket and took my shoes into my hands. Then I quietly walked down the hall towards the boy's room.

After a few minutes of quietly clearing my throat in the hall and no one coming out of the room, I went inside. It was dark, but I could make out Simon in his bed, snoring slightly. The other was clearly Derek, who was on his stomach, his jeans still on.

I walked to him and leaned over, shaking his shoulder. For a split second, I wondered if he'd been drugged again, but he soon woke, blinking his eyes open and gazing sleepily up at me. "Huh-?"

"Sorry to wake you," I whispered, brushing his hair back from his face. I needed to cut it for him soon.

He closed his eyes, then pushed up onto his elbows and rubbed his face. "There must be a good reason if you're waking me up at" – he glanced at the clock – "three a.m."

I nodded. "There is."

He turned over, the bed creaking. He froze, waiting to see if it had woke Simon up. It didn't. He jumped off and stretched. I tried not to stare.

"Put a shirt on," I said reluctantly. "It's cold outside."

"Outside?" he asked, suddenly wide awake. "Have they -?"

"Nothing about the Edison Group," I told him. He looked slightly relieved. I wanted to explain, but I really should downstairs, so I wouldn't wake anyone else up. I motioned for him to follow me and he did, grabbing his shoes and a shirt.

Downstairs, I told him about my dream. After I finished, he said: "I'm glad you woke me up. I'll look around outside, just to be sure. I'm sure it's nothing, but better be safe than sorry, right?"

I agreed and followed him out. It was cold outside. And dark. I stayed close behind him, but still stumbled over rocks and roots. He wandered into the trees surrounding the house, sniffing the ground and the air, searching. Seeing him like that, it reminded me of something.

"While we're out here," I began. "We should look for the best place for you to Change."

Derek turned to me, his hair spiking up in the wind from the back. "Yeah. Might as well."

So as he searched for a zombie, I searched for a clearing. I had a harder time, though, with my lack of super senses.

"If only I had your sense of smell," I muttered.

He heard me, of course.

"It's helpful," he admitted. "But it can also be a bitch. Some things and some people smell awful." He grinned at me, his teeth flashing white in the dark. "But not you, of course." He pulled me to him and buried his nose in my hair, making exaggerated sniffing noises.

I laughed, pushing him away. "I can't smell that good after being on the road for so long."

"Well, you certainly smell better than anyone I've ever smelled."

"What about Aunt Lauren? She wears perfume."

He made a face. "Perfume is too strong." He paused. "You see? An example of my sense of smell not being what it's cracked up to be. But hearing? That's a different story. I can hear your heart beating, even from here."

Of course, that just made my heart beat faster.

He gave a soft chuckle, then continued to search.

I didn't find a clearing, but we did make some progress.

"Found something," he said softly.

I tensed. "Human?"

"No. Animal. Squirrel, I think."

He began to walk through the bushes and I hurried to catch up. He crouched next to a small, writhing heap of fur on the ground, covered by leaves. I swallowed, just standing there. He looked up, sensed my nervousness, and took my arm, pulling me down next to him.

"Send him back," he said into my ear. I felt him pull my hair back. I took a deep breath, trying to clear my mind before I thought of the squirrel.

I imagined myself pushing his ghost away without using too much energy. But I must've been really tense because Derek rubbed my arms, suddenly behind me. I didn't remember him moving there.

His hands froze on my arms. "Should I stop?" he asked.

I shook my head.

So he leaned against me, warming me, my body relaxing. When I thought I'd sent it back, I opened one eye. It was still moving.

"It's fine," he said, his voice a deep rumble. He rested his head against my shoulder blade. "Try again."

So I did. I tried again, ramping it up a bit. When I began to gasp, I looked at the tiny body was relieved to find it was still.

"It's gone," I announced. Then I turned to him. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

Now that that was out of the way, we began to search for a spot for him to Change. Of course, with Derek helping, we found it within ten minutes.

"Perfect," I said.

"Yeah." He didn't look at me.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh. No . . ."

"You're worried."

His shoulders slumped. "Yeah."

Derek hadn't been able to shift after that day at the lab. He tried, but it always ended up being a lost cause. Which made him nervous. And irritable. "It'll work this time," I said.

"Yeah." He sounded uncertain.

I sauntered closer to him. "It will."

He clenched his jaw. "But what if . . . what if I'm done? What if that's it?"

"It isn't."

"What if I want it to be?"

I paused. I remembered all the pain I'd seen him go through three times already. It was horrible. I wished I could've taken the pain away. "Well, then I guess, if it is done, you should be thankful."

"But . . ."

I snorted. "Stop acting like a teenager who can't make up his mind."

"But I am a teenager who can't make up his mind."

He was right, of course. Derek may be uber-smart and look older than he was, but he was still a sixteen-year-old guy. He was still young – we were still young. Too young.

"If it comes, it'll come. If it doesn't, then it won't," I stated, then winced at the awkward wording.

Derek rubbed his neck, then pushed back his hair and yawned. I yawned, too.

"Let's go back to bed," I said. "Sorry tonight was so uneventful."

"It wasn't uneventful. I got to spend time with you." He smiled at me, almost shy.

I rolled his eyes at his cheesiness. "Come on."

It wasn't until we got near the house that Derek stiffened. "What?" I breathed.

He sniffed the air, then pulled me to him quickly, a small growl bubbling up from his stomach. I looked over my shoulder to see the outline of a man.

Edison Group, my mind said immediately.

But Derek corrected me. "Zombie."

Sort of a cliff-hanger. Or maybe a lot. Sorry about that. And I've noticed (after reading DP again, that Chloe and I are practically the same people. Same height, same age range, our first names begin with C and our last begin with S.. we both love movies.. and Derek. But I don't stutter or have blonde hair… anyway, just an observation. Sorry to bore you.)

Anyway, till the next chapter!

R&R please!