Chapter 36

With a deep breath, Pogue raised his hands and placed them on the surface of the doors. They opened with a firm push and a heavy gust of wind blew through the opening, extinguishing all of the tiny flames of the candles.

Goose-bumps rose on the back of his neck and with a hard swallow, Pogue forced his feet to move forwards through the now open doors. They closed after him, causing the teen to jump slightly as they came together with a loud thud and Pogue once again found himself submerged in a thick sea of darkness. Almost immediately hundreds of emotions attacked the empath's mind, tearing straight into his skull.

A shriek tore for Pogue's mouth as his head was engulfed completely with their presence and fearing that his head might actually explode from the hundreds sensations he forced all of his energy into deflecting them. It took a few attempts but it eventually worked, drawing a sigh from Pogue's dry lips. Just as he opened his eyes, the room burst with light and Pogue couldn't help but gaze entranced at his surroundings. He was standing in the very same stone walled room that had haunted his dreams for three and a half long months.

(Holy Shit.)

The room was very large, about the size of Gorman's entire house actually, and its walls were lined with dark red bricks that matched the large pillars scattered throughout the length of the entire room. The ground under his feet was also made of heavy stone and was covered with long rows of dark red rugs. Pogue glanced over to his right and felt his blood run cold when his eyes caught sight of the long blue stone table. Candles lined the length of the entire room and all of them burned with a small red light.

Every thing was exactly the same as his dreams, down to the smallest detail.

(Finally found this damn place.)

A chill rose on the back of his neck as a strand of thoughts connected with his own.

I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up.

Pogue jumped as a voice echoed inside of his head and forced the protective barriers around his mind up as fast as he could. The presence halted and withdrew after a moment.

"You don't make things easy, do you?" Came an amused voice behind him.

Pogue spun about and couldn't help the small gasp easing from his mouth. A figure was standing a few feet away from him but what startled the empath was the fact that it was Chase and not Caleb; Chase was in his own body. His clothing was dark and had tears in it and Pogue assumed the teen was wearing the same outfit he had battled Caleb in.

(Did he already do the ritual?)

As if he knew what the empath was thinking, Chase cleared his throat and gave a playful shrug.

"I suppose you're surprised to see me."

"Surprised is a fucking understatement." Pogue snapped back, taking a few steps away from the other boy. "Are you real?"

"Unfortunately no." Chase sighed and tried to reach for a nearby candle but the small item past through his hand like air. "I'm not real...yet."

(Thank god.)

"Where's Caleb?"

Chase watched him with an amused glint dancing in his cruel eyes. "He's around."

"Around where?"

Chase ignored his question however.

"So what do you think of my new home, charming huh? John Putnum himself discovered it and tried to obtain it's immortality before the townsfolk rioted against him. Ironic no?"

Pogue risked a small glance around the room once again. "Very. Who would've thought the golden Hastings boy hangs out in ancient pagan ritual grounds."

Chase's eyes narrowed but the smile never left his face. "So, have you decided to take me up on my offer?"

Pogue eyed him cautiously. "What offer?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Pogue knew Chase wouldn't buy his dumb act but he hoped it would buy him some time. The truth was he really didn't know his answer to Chase's question.

"How about the one I purposed yesterday? You still want Caleb, don't you?"

"That's beside the point." Pogue snapped.

"Is it really?"

Pogue's anger started building once again, as it usually did once Chase tried to get under his skin. He pondered Chase's question and slowly crossed his arms.

"Yes. Why the hell would you give Caleb up so easily anyway, I thought you needed him?"

"I do but once I get my body back I won't have any more use for him. I'd be more then happy to alter his memories and hand him over to you."

"All out of the kindness of your heart right, you'll forgive me if I don't believe you?"

Chase blinked and rolled his eyes. "No, out of gratitude for helping me. You can't even imagine how it feels to be ripped out of your body and forced to live in someone else's."

"It's your own fault idiot. You had to start all of this shit." Pogue snorted.

Anger poured off of Chase in powerful waves. "Pogue, do you really want to test my patience right now?"

With a dark glare, Pogue reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the small gold pendent. Chase's eyes lit up when he saw it but narrowed once again when Pogue held it arm out, signaling he was a few seconds away from slamming the thing into the heavy ground.

"Do you really want to test mine?" The empath asked darkly. "I'll fucking crush this thing if I have too."

"And I'll tear Caleb limb from limb if you do, along with Reid, Tyler and that feeble old man Gorman."

Pogue's eyes narrowed dangerously and his grip around the pendent tightened painfully. "You son of a bitch."

A smile broke out across Chase's face. "Struck another nerve have I?"

Pogue's arm started trembling as his anger grew. "I'll fucking break it, I swear."

"Before you do I think you should reconsider my offer. My body for Caleb."

Pogue glared at the older boy's face for a long period of time.

"And what's to stop you from just killing me?"

"Simple, turn around."

Pogue eyed Chase warily and risked a glance over his shoulder. The large stone table rested behind him; its blue surface looking almost black in the candle light.

"What is that?"

"It's called the Nexus Stone. John Putnum poured most of his powers into it before he died and it contains the power to pull life into our realm."

"I see it but what do you need me for?"

"Notice the crack?"

Pogue glanced at the table once again, seeing the long gash scratched into its smooth surface.

"Yeah, and?"

Chase eyed the table for a long minute. "The damn thing is broken and it can only be repaired by the person who cracked it."

"You don't say." Pogue grumbled, not really giving a damn about what Chase was talking about.

"Your grandfather Gavin cracked it fifteen years ago."

Now Pogue was slightly intrigued but he didn't let it show.

"So?"

"So Pogue..." Chase stressed, growing annoyed. "You're his blood, you can fix it. At least that's what the Book of Damnation says."

The empath looked over his shoulder once again, eyeing the long gash in the stone table. It looked like it ran straight down to the table's foundation and he was amazed the impact hadn't split the thing completely in half.

(My grandfather must've been at least three times stronger then me in order to do that.)

"So you want me to fix it for you?"

"Yes." Chase replied back, not missing a beat.

"What's in it for me?"

"What do you want?" The older boy asked impatiently.

Pogue pretended to think for a moment before he answered sternly.

"I want Caleb, by himself without you around. Now."

He expected Chase to refuse but much to his surprise, the other teen eyed him for a long time and nodded.

"Done."

(Done? He gave in that easily?)

"We have a deal then?"

Chase nodded and raised his arm, pointing towards the large open space past the stone table. "Fallow that hall, there's a door on your left."

The younger teen blinked and eyed the direction Chase had pointed at. Sure enough, there was a thin hallway curled in the wall behind the stone table and Pogue felt himself do a double take. That hallway wasn't there the last time he had looked in that direction.

(This place is growing freakier every second.)

"Go on, it's alright." Chase smiled and waved his hand, gesturing towards the hallway.

Hesitantly, Pogue took a few slow steps towards the small hallway, glancing over his shoulder at Chase in order to make sure the other teen wasn't going to attack him while his back was turned. His eyes moved towards the table as he past it, eyeing the large crack once again before he reached the hallway.

He glanced over his shoulder was surprised to discover that Chase was gone. His presence had completely disappeared from the room so Pogue decided not to even bother searching for it; knowing Chase, he was still keeping a close on him. When he reached the hall another chill attacked his skin, colder this time. He hugged his arms to himself and glanced around the walls in search of the door Chase had described. The hall was less then twenty feet long and ended with a heavy set wall but Pogue didn't see a door anywhere; the walls were solid stone with no openings.

(Son of a bitch. There's no fucking door here.)

Of course there is, you're just not looking hard enough. Chase's voice said into his mind, causing a cold shutter to run down Pogue's back. See?

Pogue glanced upwards and sure enough, a door had formed less then five feet away from him. Intrigued, he hesitantly lowered the protection around his mind enough for Chase to touch.

(How'd you do that?)

It was a few moments before Chase replied. There's tons of magic floating around inside this place. It's easy enough to work with, hence how I created the Darkling.

(You're finest work, I'll bet.)

Oh you haven't seen anything yet.

Chase broke the connection and Pogue gulped before he turned the handle on the door. It swung open easily enough and its interior made his heart skip a beat.

(What the fuck!?)

He was staring at the bedroom of his apartment.

--

Tyler sighed calmly and slowly let himself sink deeper into the vast hot water surrounding him. He raised his recently healed leg up in order to get a better view of it. Thanks to both Gorman and the hot water he was lounging in the swelling had gone down greatly, making the skin return to its normal pale color.

(One less worry I guess.)

He lowered his leg back into the bathtub and leaned back. He was grateful Gorman at least had a few bathtubs in the house and nice long soak sounded wonderful for his sensitive leg. Some time away from everyone else in the house sounded even better.

He scooped some of the hot water up in his hands and used it to clean some of the other sensitive areas on his body. There was a heavy bruise on his right shoulder from when Chase threw him into the wall along with the cut on his lip from all of the punches he took.

The handle of the bathroom door jingled softly as someone turned it and Tyler didn't pick up on the sound until the door was opened. He tried to sink lower into the tub to conceal his nakedness since he didn't have time to reach for his clothes. His fears were calmed greatly when Reid stepped into the doorway.

"Oh shit– sorry."

A slight blush came to Reid's face and the blond turned his back to the room. Tyler couldn't help his grin from the sight and felt his body calm.

"It's okay Reid, you can come in."

The blond risked a glance over his shoulder and closed the door, turning towards the younger boy shyly.

"Feeling any better?"

"Yeah." Tyler sighed and sank back down into the water.

Reid circled the room nervously before he sank down to the floor near the head of the bathtub. "How's your leg?"

"It's fine." Tyler mumbled and raised his leg a short ways out of the water. "See?"

The blond eyed the limb momentarily and sighed deeply. "Good."

Tyler gazed at the Reid's face for a moment before scooting closer to the side of the tub. Reid quickly got the meaning of the gesture and wound his arms around the younger boy's wet shoulders, not caring that his shirt was getting stained.

The two boys huddled together for a moment until Reid broke their silence.

"Ty, I need to tell you something."

"Hm?" Tyler hummed against him, not moving away from the blond's chest.

"It's my fault Chase came after you."

Tyler stiffened against him. "What?"

"He...Chase wanted me to get the pendent from Pogue and when I didn't– he was supposed to leave you out of it."

Tyler moved away from him. "What do you mean?"

Reid lowered his head slightly. "I couldn't get the fucking thing away from Pogue so Chase went after you because of it."

"Why where you trying to steal the pendent from Pogue?"

"Because he was gonna hurt you, I didn't have much of a choice."

"So it was my fault then?" Tyler mumbled darkly.

"No, it was mine, Tyler–"

"Why dose everyone always feel like they have to protect me?"

Reid was rendered silent for a moment. "Ty–"

"Hand me a towel please."

The blond hesitantly did what he was asked and Tyler wasted no time rising from the water and wrapping the cloth around his waste. Reid tried not to look hurt from the behavior, even though Tyler's movements were at deliberate act to keep the blond away.

"Ty listen–"

"You know, I really get tired of being the youngest sometimes."

Reid raised an eyebrow in confusion but Tyler cut him off before he could speak.

"I don't need to be babied or protected Reid. I can take care of my self."

With that, he moved past the blond and into the hallway, not caring that he was almost naked. Reid stood in the bathroom dumbfounded and with a heavy exhale of breath, the blond swore softly.

"Fuck, why the hell can't something ever go right?"

--

(Jesus Christ, everything's here.)

Pogue's eyes kept bouncing off the walls of the room he was standing in, hardly believing what they saw. This couldn't be his bedroom, there was no freaking way. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned when the door he just pasted through faded into the wall, leaving him stranded inside his fake bedroom; he still refused to believe any part of this was real.

He moved towards the bed in the center of the room and blinked heavily when he noticed the bedding was the exact same type he used when he last visited his home. He checked his dresser, shelves and anything else he stumbled upon and felt himself grow dizzy when he discovered everything he owned was there.

(This can't be real, there's no way.)

The sound of a door opening and closing loudly grabbed his attention and he turned to meet an even more puzzling sight.

"Caleb?"