Author's Note:

-squeee- So excited to be getting my Haven muse out.

Chapter Three

"We can't be dead," Duke said firmly, as if there was no possible way it could be true. Audrey wasn't so certain.

"The barn was destroyed while we were inside. The chance of us surviving that is pretty slim," she admitted.

"What about Jordan and Arla and what's his name – Howard? Why aren't they walking around like us?"

"They weren't in the barn when it disappeared," James pointed out. He crossed the room and took the seat next to his mother, though his eyes were trained on Nathan.

"There's gotta be a way. We can't just take this sitting down!"

"Just give us a minute to process this, okay?" Audrey said, glancing quickly and James and back to Duke. "Why don't you go find out what you can about Nathan's condition?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, deflated. He left them alone and for a little while the room was silent but for the heart rate monitor as Audrey tried to think of what to say.

"We'll be okay, you know?" She said eventually. James looked at her and she smiled. "We just need to figure out a way to tell Nathan what's going on, and then he can help us get back."

"But what if we really are dead?"

She chuckled a little at the incredulousness of the situation. "Coming back from the dead wouldn't be the hardest thing we've dealt with. Actually, we've done it before."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a couple months ago … Nathan died." The smile fell away as she looked down at the police chief's sleeping body and said a silent prayer that she wouldn't have to relive that horrible experience again.

"How did you bring him back?"

"There were these sisters. Their trouble was being able to bring back the dead."

"Do you think they can bring us back?"

She hated to dash his hopes, but there were far too many things wrong with that plan. Moira and Noelle were far away from Haven by now, for starters. Asking them to come back in the middle of a meteor shower – even if she could get a hold of them – would be selfish. Not to mention it was well passed nightfall and she didn't think she even had a body to be resurrected in.

"No. I'm afraid they won't be able to help us this time. But there'll be another way," she added when she saw his look of disappointment. "There's always another way with this town."

Duke came back then. He waited just outside the door until Audrey gave him a little nod so he knew it was okay to come in.

"I wasn't able to find anything out since I can't, you know, move anything. And apparently the nurses here are not in the habit of leaving patient files open for anyone to read. So it looks like we'll just have to wait it out."

They didn't have any other options. They spent their night going between nodding off in the chairs and testing their limits. They could go through walls and any other solid thing, but they could not eat or move or communicate or really even feel anything other than each other.

At around four a nurse came in to check Nathan's vitals and Audrey perked up. The boys were asleep so she tip-toed around the bed to try and read the chart over the nurse's shoulder, but it didn't give anything away. The best clue she had to his health was the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor and it annoyed her to no end.

She managed to get in a couple hours of sleep before dawn, though it wasn't pleasant. She dreamt that she was helpless as everyone she loved went in the barn as it was imploding. Her hand found its way onto James' arm at some point during the nightmare, and she was secretly pleased that he had not removed it when she woke just after seven to find Nathan awake and being looked over by a doctor.

"You're going to want to take it easy for a few days," the doctor was saying. "You're lucky you're not paralyzed, but those bullets still did some serious damage. Strenuous exercise could set back your chances of recovery."

"I'm not interested in sitting in bed all day, Doc," Nathan told the old man. "In case you haven't noticed, the town's getting blown apart right now."

"I did, Chief, but there's nothing you're going to be able to do to stop an act of God so you might as well rest up." The doctor left, closing the door behind him. Nathan lied back down and then, thinking better of putting pressure on his wounds, rolled onto his side.

"Anyone got any bright ideas on how we can get his attention?" Audrey asked, allowing herself a small moment of relief that Nathan would be all right.

James stayed quiet, but Duke stood and started jumping up and down, waving his arms and yelling "Nathan!" at the top of his lungs for a full minute. When this accomplished nothing, he sat back down and shrugged. Audrey glared at him from across the room.

"I said bright ideas."

"I don't hear any suggestions from you," he countered.

"Are Ouija boards still a thing?" James asked tentatively. Duke's eyes lit up.

"That's it!" he practically shouted, grinning like mad.

"Don't tell me you've got an actual Ouija board on the Rouge," she moaned.

"Nope." He didn't seem put out in the slightest. "Better than that."

He seemed to be waiting for some sort of response, so she caved.

"What, Duke?"

"I know a real, live psychic."

Author's Note:

REVIEW … please? Duke wants you to.

-Lizzy