A/N: I don't own the Wrestlers. Not even in this younger form. :P Also, I'm making up place names and descriptions as I go along.

Walkin' After Midnight

Chapter 3: After Midnight

The wind thrashed the trees. Jeff tilted his head, listening as the strains of music permeated his consciousness. It was maddening; the song, so familiar, yet so out of reach, drifted to his ears as a soft wave of sound. He stepped away from the trees, turning so he could see the pond in the distance. The surface rippled, water cresting in small waves. Jeff frowned as he saw the girl, sitting beside the water, her hair flying around her face. Everything felt like it was in slow motion. He tried to run, but it felt like his feet were stuck in mud. Finally, he somehow managed to pull through the muck and he stood where the grass met the rocky shore of the pond. "Hey," he called to the girl.

She turned and smiled at him. "Jeff. I wasn't sure you were coming."

"I said I would." He stared at her, trying to remember her name. "Um."

She laughed, and he reveled in the sound. "It's Sera."

"Right," he said with a smile. "Sera. I knew that."

Sera smiled. "Yes," she said. "You did know it. I keep telling you, but you always forget."

"I won't forget this time," he said.

"You always say that." She stood up and took a step toward the water.

"Hey, Sera, maybe you shouldn't…"

"Shouldn't what?"

"Go near the water?"

She said, "But it's harmless, Jeff." Then she took another step.

He tried to step forward, but the water was enveloping her before he could so much as move. "Sera!" The song swelled around him on the wind. He could almost make sense of the words, but it somehow eluded him.

"I'm all right," she said, and he saw her, standing on a huge wave in the middle of the pond. "The water means me no ill. Why are you so afraid?"

"I'm not," he said, even though he could feel fear in his stomach, coiled like a snake. Jeff took a step, then another. His feet were on the edge of the shoreline, and he looked up at her. "Can you come down?"

"I don't want to." She laughed again. "This is the most amazing feeling, like flying. You'd love it."

"Sure. What's that song you're humming?"

"It's my anthem, Jeff."

"What do you mean?"

"It sums me up." She stepped to the edge of the wave and peered down at him. "Do you want to come up?"

"No, I'm fine down here, thanks. What do you mean, it sums you up?"

She sighed. "You're not a dense boy. It is the musical version of myself at this moment. Everyone has one."

"What's mine, then?"

"Listen and maybe you can hear it."

"All I can hear is yours."

Sera said, "Then you're not listening hard enough. You need to find the quiet in yourself and allow the song to come through to you."

"This is such a weird conversation."

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know." He stared up at her. "You're surfing in the pond, and telling me that I can hear the music of my soul if I'll just listen for it."

"Seems like a normal conversation to me."

Jeff laughed. "Girl, it's so not normal that we've wandered out of weird and into crazy."

Sera said, "Not crazy, just dreamlike." And then she was gone.

"Sera?" he asked. He could still hear the notes of the song, though he had no idea what it was. "Sera!"

"Time to go back to reality," she whispered in his ear. Jeff whipped around, trying to catch a glimpse of her, but she wasn't there.

%

The pillow hit him squarely in the face, bringing Jeff out of the dream with a whoosh of sound. "What the hell?" he growled, and Shannon smirked and hit him again. "Agh!"

"'Bout time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty," Shannon said. "Get up. We've got things to do."

Jeff groaned. "One of them is sleeping."

"No way. Sorry, man, but we're going out to fix the mess we made of the track last night."

"It wasn't me!"

Shannon smirked. "I know. That's why you're helping today. Phil's obviously worthless when it comes to making ramps."

"I could have told you that," Phil said. "In fact, I did. Yesterday, when you suggested we make a ramp."

"Whatever." Shannon whapped Jeff with the pillow again.

"Ow! Hey, knock that off! What is this, a girl's slumber party?"

"Close enough, with you two," Shannon said.

"That's funny," Phil said, "coming from the guy with a girl's name."

Shannon stopped hitting Jeff with the pillow. "You're next."

"Uh oh," Phil said. "Um, I'm just going to…" He dashed out the door.

"You'd better run, Brooks!" Shannon called after him.

Jeff used the distraction to grab the pillow from Shannon and whap him with it. "Ha ha! Now you see how it feels!" he said triumphantly.

Shannon stared at him. "Wow." He grabbed the pillow when Jeff whapped him a second time. "You suck at this, Hardy."

Jeff let go of the pillow. "Yeah. We should go down to the pond today."

"No way. No pond for you."

"Why not?"

"Because, dude. You get all weird and moody when you go to the pond, and we're going out tonight. I do not want to listen to you whine about how you want to paint and it'll just take five minutes, because it never takes five minutes. It's always more like five hours."

Jeff sighed. "This time will be different."

"You always say that." Shannon studied his friend, then said, "You know what? Fine. You suck at ramps, too. Go down to the damned pond."

"Seriously?"

Shannon shrugged. "Yeah. But man, you'd better not be moody tonight or I will kick your ass. And if you're still down there in four hours, Phil and I are going to throw rocks at you until you leave."

"Awesome. Thanks."

"You know you're leaving me stuck with Phil again, right?"

Jeff laughed. "It'll totally be worth it. I'll be in the best mood ever tonight. Promise."

"Whatever. Go draw, or something."

%

The pond wasn't far from Shannon's house, maybe a mile. Jeff strolled along the road, loving the way the wind played through his hair. It reminded him of something, though he wasn't sure what. It felt like it was on the edge of his memory, teasing him. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the memory that was bugging him, but it wouldn't show itself. Finally, he managed to push it away and just enjoy the walk. Summer felt close, even though it was long gone. The day was warm and he looked forward to being by the water, despite the fact that it would probably make the air more humid. The old pond wasn't somewhere he could swim; it was full of leeches and snakes and who knew what else. Still, it was beautiful to look at, in its' own way.

Jeff settled down on the shore, near an old tree. He'd taken a sketch pad to Shannon's, as usual. He hardly ever went anywhere without one. He pulled it out now and grabbed the pencil out of the pocket in his shirt. It was a stubby pencil, worn down and comfortable in his hand. He'd borrowed it from Shannon's mom on the way out the door. He looked out across the pond, then lowered his gaze to the blank page before him.

He lost track of time, as usual. The only hint that time passed was the sunlight's changing angle. He paid it no mind until the shadow fell over his paper. At first, Jeff thought it was the tree, and wondered why Shannon hadn't come for him yet.

"Jeff." The voice was disorienting. He felt like there should be a voice saying his name, but not this voice. Still, he looked up, squinting so he could make out the features of whoever said his name.

"Matt?"

Matt sighed and sank down beside him, allowing Jeff to see his brother's face more clearly. For once, Matt looked troubled. "Hey, baby bro."

"What is it?" Jeff asked, instantly alert. "What's the matter?"

Matt said, "Nothing." But his gaze was on the pond when he said it. "Phil said you were down here, so I thought I'd come down." Jeff was silent. "Look, uh, about yesterday…"

"What about it?"

"I thought you were checking your messages." Matt shrugged. "Otherwise, I'd have tracked you down before the end of school. But the early start to practice was a last minute thing, so… yeah."

Jeff pondered. "It's okay. Shannon was still at the school, lucky for me."

"Oh, good."

"Matt?"

"Hmm?"

Jeff sighed. "It's nothing."

"No," Matt said. "What is it?"

Jeff bit his lip, debating what to say next. "How's practice going?"

Matt relaxed. "Fine. Coach says that we'll have scouts coming to the next game."

Jeff nodded. "How was Orton?"

"He's great." Matt gave Jeff an odd look. "Why would you ask about Orton?"

"No reason. I heard he tripped in the cafeteria, is all."

"Oh, that." Matt frowned. "Things like that never slow him down. He seems to trip a lot."

Jeff half smiled. "Funny, Shannon said the same thing."

"So, why are you down here, anyway?" Matt asked. "I expected you to be at Shannon's. He and Phil were working on the dirt track again."

"Yeah. I just needed some time to think."

"About what?"

"School," Jeff lied. "I've got a big math test coming up next week."

"Oh. Need any help?"

"I'm good." Jeff paused. "Hey, Matt?"

"What?"

"Do you think that people's souls are like songs?"

"What do you mean?"

Jeff frowned. "I don't know. It's weird. I just feel like, if we could listen hard enough, our souls would make music."

"That is kind of weird," Matt agreed. "But sure. Why not?"

"What do you think my soul would sound like?"

Matt considered his brother. "I don't know. It'd probably be loud and boisterous."

"Like heavy metal?"

"No!" Matt said, chuckling. "More like a really annoying pop song that gets stuck in your head and won't go away for hours. Something catchy."

"Gee thanks," he said sourly.

Matt grinned and ruffled his brother's hair. "No problem, kid."