A/N: I forgot to post this chapter! I only remembered that I didn't post it when I finished the first paragraph of the next chapter. I am having a little trouble with the next chapter. I seem to have come down with a mild case of writers block. I know what I want to put in the chapter, but I am having trouble putting it all together. All I can say is that the next chapter is going to reveal what is going on with the bond and who caused it. Lots of Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

I was trying to be calm, but the situation was just so frustrating! For the first time in a long time I am at a loss for what I am supposed to do. Alex fainted and his heart stopped momentarily. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been here to save him.

I never cared or felt anything when it came to death, but this is the first time that I felt true fear and hopelessness. Once I got Alex to the couch; I shoved as much of my power and life force into his body and begged his core to accept it. I am not of his blood. What I did was very dangerous and it could have killed me. I could have drained my life force and had my power thrown back at me causing my core to explode and the destruction of my body.

Thankfully Alex's core accepted my power. I cannot stomach the thought of losing him. He still has a fever and his breathing is labored. This worries me. I know that my powers have been greatly weakened because I shoved all most all of it into Alex's body to stabilize him.

I went to the kitchen and got a bucket from under the sink and filled it with hot water and soap. I started to clean up the vomit that was on the floor. What worries me the most is that someone was able to hurt Alex in his own home from a large distance. I could not feel anything; I have no knowledge as to where the attack came from or who was behind it. All I know is that when I find out they are dead.

How dare they attack my family?! I picked up the bucket, took it back to the kitchen and dumped it out. I scrubbed the bucket with scalding hot water and a lot of soap. Once it was thoroughly cleaned I once again filled it with water; only this time it was cold.

Alex looked deathly ill. Considering his near brush with death a little over forty minutes ago I guess it is to be expected. I do not have enough energy left to pull off a full blown healing spell, but I am hoping that I have enough energy to at least bring his fever down.

I sat the bucket down next to the couch and kneeled down beside him. Here go's nothing. I stuck both of my hands into the ice cold water and gathered almost half of my remaining energy into my hands. The water started to form around my hands and glow an ominous dark blue. Once the water had fully formed around my hands I removed them from the bucket and placed my right hand on his forehead and the left one on his chest.

The water slowly seeped into his body. I watched as the dark blue glow spread all over his body and then vanished. I felt his forehead. His fever has broken and his breathing has become steady. I let out a sigh of relief.

I sat back and leaned against the couch. I feel so weak and tired. I do not think Alex and I will be able to attend school tomorrow. We have to save our energy for the fight. I do not want Alex in any trouble so I guess I am going to have to contact Principal Snyder.

I need rest, but I am terrified that something might happen to Alex while I sleep. I will be unable to live with myself if he took a turn for the worse. I know that if I do not rest I will be of no use to him tomorrow. Once I regain some of my energy I should be able to brew an energy boosting potion that should restore part of my power core. The dosage must be precise or I could risk over loading my core; causing it to collapse and explode.

Things are becoming slightly more difficult than I had expected. I know Marcus is the one that can figure out feelings and spells that are usually combined with emotions as well as the mind, but I am starting to believe that I should look into this as well. I understand that the only reason Alex did not ask me first is because I am known for my temper. I am one hundred percent sure that whatever is happening to Alex is because of his bond with the vampire. If that vampire caused this; I am going to get a bunch of chopsticks, file them to a sharp point, soak them in holy water, and make him become my special project.

I sighed and tried to pull myself up off of the floor. Fucking hell! My body aches so bad. It feels as though I have run a marathon. I need to get up and leave a message for Snyder. I ignored the ache and forced my body to obey. All I have to do is get to the computer on the other side of the living room and send an email to Principal Snyder.

I basically collapsed into the chair once I reached the desk. Typing out the message was bothersome. Even my fingers ached! When I finished that I went back over to the couch and moved Alex so I was able to lay beside him. We were extremely close; which is perfect. If anything happens I will be able to feel it and take appropriate action immediately.

I felt myself slow drifting into sleep as I listed to his breathing and his heartbeat. Everything was steady and precise.

The darkness was all around me. It was thick and sticky like honey or corn syrup. No matter which way I turned I only saw the darkness. The panic that was welling up inside of me began to subside when I heard a familiar voice.

I turned around expecting to see only darkness, but saw a room. I turned back around and saw the darkness. When I looked over my shoulder the room was still there. I must have stumbled out of the darkness. I tried to listen really hard, but heard nothing. I stuck my hand out just to see if I came from there, but before I was able to touch it, a smooth inky black tentacle shot out and wrapped around my wrist. It tried to pull me back into the darkness.

I pulled away as hard as I could and tumbled backwards into a brighter part of the room. As I stood up I was able to hear the voice again. I looked around the room and saw no one. The voice sounded like an echo. I spotted the door and slowly walked towards it. The door opened before I even reached it. I looked out into a long hallway that was filled with hundreds of doors.

I stepped out into the hallway and the door slammed behind me. When I looked back at the door; it was gone. The only thing that was there was the wall. I heard a loud thump down the left side of the hallway. Following the noise the voice I had been hearing had gotten louder. The voice was coming from behind a bright yellow door.

When I opened the door I saw Alex, Marcus, a two or three year old Jesse, and Alex's vampire. Alex looked pregnant, the vampire was holding Jesse, and everyone was arguing about something.

"I am telling you Angel the baby is going to be a boy!" Baby? Marcus just shook his head and sighed. "Xander, you don't know for sure if the baby is going to be a boy unless you have some form of test done". Alex moved to sit down on the couch. "Angel I don't need a test. I have a feeling that the baby is going to be a boy!"

This is all so confusing. Since when does the vampire know about Jesse and when did Alex get pregnant again?! "What the hell is going on in here?!" Everyone stopped talking and looked at me. "Hey Chris! How's it going?" Alex look happy to see me. Marcus came over and guided me to the couch to sit next to Alex. "How are you feeling Chris?" I looked at Marcus like he had lost his mind. "What are you talking about? I feel fine. There is no reason for you to ask such a strange question". Marcus grabbed my hand and squeezed it to show me some form of comfort, but I do not understand why.

"Chris it isn't that we think your weak or anything. We just worried about you and Alex, because of your conditions". Is he high? "What are you talking about? I do not have a condition". There is something wrong here. "I keep forgetting that you don't like it being called a condition". What is 'it' and why is 'it' being called a condition? "Hey! I feel the same way". I just stared at Alex. What are they talking about?! "We're pregnant! How can you call it a condition? Are you really that insensitive?!" Alex yelled at Marcus. Marcus just rolled his eyes. "Of course not Alexander". Wait a second…PREGNANT?! I looked down at my stomach and saw that it was swollen with child. I think I am going to faint.

"So…Chris how is your mate? I haven't seen him for a few days". My mate?! Who would be foolish enough to mate with me? "Ris…Chris…Chris!" It felt like someone was shaking me. Suddenly the room started to fade and the darkness surrounded me again.

I groaned and tried to shake the hand off of my shoulder that was shaking me. Why do they not understand that I need the sleep? My body is still so weak. "Chris can you hear me? Please wake-up. I need you to wake-up". Hearing Alex's plea I bolted up and pulled him closer. I hugged him for dear life. "I thought I was going to lose you".

"What happened last night Chris? I thought I was going to die". I pulled back from him and looked him straight in the eye. I wasn't going to lie to him. "Technically you did. Your heart stopped beating. I used my own life force and energy to save you". The silence that followed was unsurprising. He looks like a gaping fish. "You did what?" I should have thought about how I was going to break it to him gently; instead of blurting it out like that.

"Look, you were dead. I panicked! I was desperate. I did not care that I was risking my life for yours. You have so much more to live for then I do and you have a child that needs you very much". He shook his head as if to clear his mind and grabbed onto my shoulders. "Promise me you will never ever do something like that again".

"I cannot promise you that and you know it. I value you as well as Marcus to much not to risk my life for you. Please understand that". He sighed deeply. "I do understand. I would do the same for you guys too. It's just harder for me to accept that you would sacrifice your life for mine without yelling at me or lecturing me about how it was my fault even thought it wasn't".

"Alex…I am going to kill your old friends". He laughed. "So, how do you feel? Is there anything that feels wrong?" He looked thoughtful for a minute. "No, I feel fine. A little tired, but fine none the less. How about you?" I still ached a little and was still deeply tired. I rubbed my eyes. "I ache and I am so very tired. What time is it anyway?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "5:36am; we have to get ready for school in an hour and a half". I yawned. "No we do not. I sent a message to Principal Snyder before I passed out on the couch. We need all the energy we can get for tonight. I do not want anything to go wrong".

"Thanks for sending him a message. Let's get a few more hours of sleep and then we can prepare for tonight". I nodded my head as we both stood to go upstairs. At least the ache in my body has numbed somewhat. "Fine, but when I wake-up I need to talk to you about the weird dream I had".

"Why not tell me now?" Once we reached the top of the stairs I moved down the hallway to my bed room door and opened it. "Too tired and it did not strike me as very important for the immediate future".

"I see. Try to get as much sleep as you can. I am going to set the alarm for two o'clock this afternoon. Goodnight Chris". I started to kick off my shoes as I entered the room. "Night Alex. If you need me for anything just wake me up". I closed the door when I heard his bedroom door close. I got ready for bed as fast as I could then I collapsed onto my bed and curled up under the covers.

I did not want to go back to sleep, but my body rebelled against such thoughts. Stupid dream. I rolled over and fell asleep thinking about what was going to happen later tonight.