A/N: And she strikes again! Here we are with Chapter Eleven of What She Left Behind, also known as the masterpiece of Beth M!

~Linear break~

Matt rolled over- and onto the floor. He groaned and massaged his buttocks as his sister silently woke up and leaned over the side of the bed, dangling her arms. "Sup?" she asked sleepily.

Matt looked up at her silhouette from his vantage point on the ground. "I fell off."

"I see that." And Amy went back to sleep.

~Line breaker~

Someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," Tom yelled upstairs, rolling off the couch. He looked out the window and wished he hadn't. The Demon from Hell, a.k.a. Amon Hern, stood with his arms crossed, scowling. His biceps bulged, making Tom roll his eyes; that kid had no clue how to keep a low profile, did he? At the end of the driveway, a young woman with chocolate skin and far too many tattoos was just getting out of her car, bringing a smile to Tom's face.

Willa thumped her foot at the top of the wooden stairs, bringing his head whipping around. A towel wrapped around her body testified that she'd been about to get into the shower. Jiggling at the lock, followed by creaking floorboards and silence, testified that Amon had finally succeeded in picking the lock open.

"Wow," he said, looking Tom up and down. "I should have known you wouldn't let me in."

"If you want a surprise, you should see her," replied Tom, jerking his head up the stairs. Will picked her way down, one hand on the rail, one hand holding the towel in place. Amon wolf-whistled.

"Shut up," Willa retorted.

Eva knocked on the door. Tom took the opportunity to tow Amon over to the table and shove him into a chair; Willa took the moment to escape into the shower.

Gavin slammed the door open, leaving Eva standing bemused at the speed of his passage. The boy dropped his backpack on the ground with a thump, flopped onto the sofa, then opened his mouth and started going. "Alex hasn't left Longview yet, Dylan and Mia are still in the air, I passed Claire on the road and flipped her off for everyone, and Kate's dead but you already knew that."

"Thanks for the newsflash," Willa yelled drolly from upstairs.

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

"So what was that address again?" Matt asked. Amy noted that the spoon in his hand was a blur passing between his bowl and his mouth.

"207 Jurisprudence Lane," Amy told him, passing him the map.

Matt raised his eyebrows, indicating in no uncertain terms:

-his full mouth

-his full spoon

-the fact that there was a very large milk spill on the table

and

-the fact that he really didn't have an open hand at the moment.

"Fine, be that way," Amy told her twin, sighing. She grabbed the map back and started refolding it. "Think we can get a ride over from Rachel?"

Matt shrugged eloquently.

~LINE BREAK AGAIN- NEW POV~

Rachel stared at the mirror, scowling at her face and the fact that she looked like death warmed over. She always felt that way, these days, as the spirit got weaker.

The last prophecy had been barely understandable, even after she'd played the recording of it five times. The only reason that she knew what it had been was because of the tiny tape recorder she'd taken to carrying attached to her shirt.

She picked it up now and pressed playback.

*crackle*

*water running*

A hissing sound can be heard.

Then Rachel's voice, hoarse and alien.

Water-born *snxxettccitxxxxxxxxxxssszzz*

*unintelligible muttering* changing fate

Promise *snrck* at the light

Falling, falling forever ni-*snrk*

The rest dissolved into static.

Rachel started cussing and threw the tape recorder onto her bed. She knew there was more to the prophecy. But- nothing. Her stupid recorder had frozen out. Not to mention, of course, that even without the static, the words were quiet and nearly indistinguishable.

She could only hope that the few lines she'd gotten would be enough.

Someone knocked on the door.

~THIS IS NOT A LINE BREAK THIS IS A SHARK~

Tom sat at the table and thought about fate.

"You do realize, of course, that you can choose fate," Kate told him, sipping her tea.

"Uh-huh." Tom nodded, trying to look wise and not at all like that had completely gone over his head.

He was ten years old at that time. Kate was fourteen. They were sitting in a park in Houston, drinking tea. For reasons that were unfathomable to Tom, Kate actually liked the stuff and made it whenever she got her hands on a tea bag and a cup and kettle.

"Of course, you can't choose where you go or who you talk to," she continued. "But your life is what you make of it, no matter how you got screwed up. Think about this. A mom of two kids gets told that she can't keep both of them safe, has to drop one so all three of them can survive. She picks the girl, flies to some distant city, and leaves the kid in an alleyway. Kid grows up, makes friends, but never forgets her mom and brother. How well do you think the girl lasted?"

Tom shrugged.

"Pretty good, actually. Last I heard, she was hanging out with a friend of hers. Hasn't thought about home for ages. Hopefully she'll keep going good, but who knows?" Kate's turn to shrug, taking another gulp of tea. "Life is weird. Maybe she'll be dead in five years. Maybe she'll live to be a hundred. Maybe she'll reconnect with her mom and brother; maybe she'll go to college and get married, have kids and a job and be happy. Or-" she sighed- "maybe life is just going to pass her by."

~CANDYGRAM~

"Land shark!" Amy yelled as soon as Rachel opened the door.

"In other words, we need a chauffeur," Matt added.

Rachel's eyes went wide.

"O-kay then. Where am I driving you to?"

~LAND SHARK!~

"That'd be Claire, then," Gavin said as the doorbell rang.

Tom opened the door.

~fin~

Five guesses as to who that might have been!

Song of the chapter: "C'mon," Panic! At the Disco

Last book read: 1634: The Galileo Affair, by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis.

-Beth M