Chapter 4 – What Follows

After meeting Aiden—and realizing I never asked for his name—we travelled through the forest for what seemed like a fairly long time. He was really slow on his bike compared to me, so I started running ahead, around and back in loops to see if there was anything interesting.

There wasn't.

Worst of all, as we got further and further away from the town Aiden had called 'Keswick', the paths got more and more awkward to navigate. At least for him on his bike anyway—I was absolutely fine. Now that I'd had a lot more practice with using my legs, I was confident moving about on rough terrain, because my muscles seemed to know exactly what to do all by themselves.

"Come oonn…" I whined, standing atop the fallen tree Aiden was trying to pull his bike over. He seemed to have enough trouble climbing over obstacles like this with his huge rucksack of stuff, but his bicycle was even bigger, and probably heavier too. "Why do you even take all this with you if it slows you down?"

"Well I can't just leave my bike out somewhere—it'll rust and somebody might take it," he grunted as he shoved it over the crest of the tree trunk, and it fell to the other side with a thud.

"Fine," I huffed and followed him off.

"And this rucksack is my life—you'd be dead without it. Everything in here has a purpose and a use when I'm out and about, which is like…ninety percent of the time. It means I can leave society behind and wander."

"Why would you want to be away from other people?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Why wouldn't I?" he muttered darkly, and I was taken aback.

"Don't you…like…being with them?"

"Almost everyone I've met either doesn't understand me, or embarrasses me somehow, or just straight-up pisses me off!" he exploded, throwing one of his arms up the air. "Nobody gets why I go camping for days at a time, no-one sees the clear signs that I'm awkward in public, and just when I think someone might actually understand, it turns out they're some self-obsessed prick, or greedy, or enjoy bullying other people just because they can!"

I cringed and pulled my earfins against my head.

"There's only so much of that you can go through before you stop trying to deal with shitty people and just leave. Humanity just takes and takes, and when we run out of things to take, we start destroying everything instead. The few people that are actually nice and trying to do their best to help get left in the dust, so you know what, fuck humanity—I don't want to be a part of it!"

He was breathing heavily and stared at the ground as he continued pushing his bike through the undergrowth.

"That's why I stay away from everyone. It's just best if I'm alone," he kicked at a fallen branch bitterly.

I looked on in deep sympathy and fell behind a little, absorbing everything he'd said. This wasn't the same sadness I'd felt in him when I was looking in from the Above, but it was clearly a huge issue. I had no idea what could have happened to cause so much hatred and pain for his own species, but I'd come here to help, and that's what I was going to do. I sped up again and fell in beside him with renewed determination.

"Well tough, because I'm not going to let you be alone," I said, a little jokingly. It worked though, and Aiden snorted a laugh, breaking the tension.

"Thanks," he gave me a small smile and my heart leaped in glee. Yes! This was solid proof that I could help people, no matter what Tutor said. I didn't need knowledge or experience, just the want to do the right thing!

I leaned forward and happily rubbed my head against his side, expressing my joy. Aiden didn't seem to share it though, as he stepped away, almost falling over his bike in the process, casting his eyes down again.

I felt a little rejected by that. I'd only just found out about the wonders of physical contact; after coming from a place where thoughts could be sent and heard much faster than actually talking, learning about body language from the Library was a blessing. I could give a gentle nuzzle instead of simply saying 'I'm happy', but Aiden seemed very closed off about it. He'd mentioned being awkward…maybe this was something human I didn't understand yet.

Just another mystery I would need to solve while I was here. I needed to be careful though, I didn't want to upset him—he clearly liked me enough to have me along, and I didn't want to jeopardize that, especially after everything he'd just told me about.

"So how much further are we going?" I asked, in an attempt at distraction.

"It's about…an hour's walk from here."

"UUUUGGHHHH," my chin hit the dirt as I allowed my legs to fold beneath me at the thought of having to go all that way at the pace he was walking.

"If you're bored, why don't you just run ahead like you were doing before?" he gave me a bemused glance.

"Because there's nothing," I pushed myself back up, plodding slooowwwly alongside him. "It's just trees, bushes, more trees and the occasional rock."

"Well you'll like where we're going then. The forest ends at the edge of a lake, and there's a fantastic view of the mountains on the other side of the glen."

"Mountains? Like, big ones?"

"Well…yeah. They're mountains," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I've never seen them up close before…" I gazed into the distance, as if I could somehow see them through the treetops.

"I thought you 'looked down on the multiverse' and all? If forests exist in other universes, mountains should too, right?"

"We don't…see things from the Above, not like physical sight. We can feel the emotions minds have, and their connections to each other, sort of like our own Networks and Connections. The only time we actually see the multiverse is if we go there ourselves, or when another entity that's been there shares their memories to the Library. The only mountains I've seen were in some of those memories, and they were really far away."

"Well, you're in for a treat then."

That settled it—I was not going to put up with his walking speed if that was what awaited me at the end of it.

I narrowed my eyes as Aiden tried to push his bike between two particularly large boulders, and when it wouldn't fit, had to push it up on top of them before climbing up himself. I saw my opportunity and leaped up before he could, and grabbed one of the central metal bars between my teeth before jumping off the other side.

"Hey!" Aiden exclaimed, struggling across the rocks after me. "Give that back!"

"Mopf!"

Talking, as it turns out, is not quite as easy with your mouth full of bike. I danced backward as he advanced towards me, trying to make a grab for it.

"Ashburn, what are you doing?" he asked exasperatedly.

I turned and started trotting away from him, glancing over my shoulder and almost falling over as the front part of the bicycle twisted and poked me in the eye. I kept that eyelid firmly closed and resolutely kept moving—if I could get him to chase me, we'd get there a lot faster.

"Drop that, or I'm not moving."

I looked back again to see him standing with his arms folded, glaring at me. Drat, he'd caught on to my plan. I met his gaze for a moment.

And then I started running.

"OY!" I grinned past the metal in my mouth as I heard his feet hitting the ground behind me—a lake next to some mountains where the trees ended? I could find that, easy.

- O -

- O – O – O – O -

- O -

Three miles and a lot of sweat later, I collapsed on the grass feeling half-dead with my legs and back burning.

"I…hate…you…" I wheezed, and the stupid dragon actually had the audacity to laugh at me.

He had kept stopping any time I fell behind, and then would disappear again when I got close, taunting me and staying just out of reach. Now he'd put down my bike, and finally got to see that view he'd so desperately been after.

I watched as his jaw dropped and I actually saw his pupils widen as he took in the sight in front of him. The trees around the edges of the lake were sparse, but the spot on the other side where they cleared led his eyeline up past the heather and gorse bushes, to rocks and scree on the more jagged edges of the mountain, and even higher where small patches of snow could be seen near the tops, shining in the afternoon sun and surrounded by wispy clouds.

I discarded my rucksack and lay down in a more comfortable position to relax, closing my eyes and soaking in the warmth of the day, silently thanking the weather for not conforming to the seasons. The leaves on the trees were a strong shade of orange by this point, but by some miracle it'd been dry and sunny for the last few days.

Ashburn had fallen onto his haunches and was still staring at the mountains in complete wonder, so I took the time to chill as he gawked at the scenery. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I felt a nudge in my side and opened my eyes to find Ashburn staring down at me.

"So, when are you gonna teach me how to swim?"

"Uh…now I guess," I pushed myself up and glanced around. I'd probably not been asleep for very long, the sun looked like it would be up for another hour and a half at least. "Easiest way to do this is if I go in with you, I fancy a dip anyway."

I rummaged around in my rucksack and had to take several things out before finally finding my towel buried somewhere near the bottom. I then began stripping down to my boxers, and halfway through realized Ashburn was just watching me.

"Please tell me you have the concept of modesty in that Library of yours."

"Oh! Oh, yeah we do."

"Okay, good, because that's not a conversation I ever wanted to have with you," I laughed and my teeth chattered a little as the breeze hit bare skin. I walked over to the edge of the lake and dipped my foot in, drawing a quick breath at the temperature. "Damn, that's cold. Are you sure you're gonna be alri—"

Ashburn happily splashed into the water until he was knee deep and I yelped as I was showered with freezing cold droplets.

"It's fine!" he chirped.

"Seriously? You got hypothermia from the river, but you're not cold here? How does that even…" I had to remind myself that I was dealing with a dragon that wasn't even a proper dragon—the rules of normal didn't apply anymore. "Alright just…if you start shivering, or feeling drowsy, get out immediately okay?"

"You're shivering already," he pointed out.

"Yeah, that's because I need to get used to the temperature. I don't know how your body works, so your safety is going to be up to your own judgement. Just…be careful," I slowly waded in until the water was most of the way up my legs, teeth chattering the whole way. He, meanwhile, was joyously bounding deeper and deeper into the lake. "Don't go further than your legs can reach! I need to teach you how to actually float first!"

He looked back at me, sticking out his tongue "When did you get so protective?"

"I didn't…I'm not— " I spluttered.

"Yeah you aaare. Watch, I'll prove it!"

He then proceeded to leap towards the deeper waters, and his body immediately vanished beneath the surface.

He didn't come back up.

"Ashburn!" I shouted, frantically trying to push my legs through the shallows and meeting heavy resistance. When he didn't come up for several seconds I swore and dove forward, barely recognizing the shock of cold water engulfing my torso and arms. I began the front crawl, feeling brain freeze set in as my head briefly fell below the surface, taking desperate breaths.

When I came within a few feet of where he'd disappeared, he suddenly exploded back up, laughing like it was the funniest joke in the world. Now that I was closer, I could see that his paws were still on the lakebed, and he'd crouched underneath the surface to trick me.

"Ha, see? You totally panicked!"

"What? This isn't—"

He ducked his snout underwater and blew out through his nose, going cross-eyed as he watched the bubbles rise to the surface.

"Fuck's sake, this is not funny!" I slapped the side of his head, hard. "You could have died!"

He recoiled, staring at me in fear and shock, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. I was breathing heavily, still recovering from the shock of cold water, but I couldn't stay angry at him—he looked like he was about to cry.

"Sorry…I shouldn't have hit you. That probably hurt a lot more than I meant it to…since you're not used to pain and…you just really scared me. Don't do that. Please," my throat choked up as thoughts of what could have happened flashed through my head—him losing his footing, panicking and taking in water, unable to lift his head above the surface to get air…I shuddered, and it had nothing to do with the cold.

Neither of us said anything for several awkward seconds, both trying desperately not to make eye contact.

"…Sorry," Ashburn finally mumbled, sniffling a little.

"It's fine," The relaxed atmosphere we'd had only moments before was completely shattered. I took a steadying breath and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to douse my anxiety and relieve the tension. My mind drifted back to the swimming lessons I had when in primary school, how my mother had nearly leapt into the pool when I'd been struggling without water wings for the first time. Surely there was no I way I was that bad…

I shook my head and tried to get back to the matter at hand—a good distraction was what we both needed right now.

"Alright…the first thing you need to learn is how to tread water, so you can keep your head above the surface when the water's too deep to keep a foothold. Basically, it's just keeping your limbs all moving about in circles and pushing down against the water," I demonstrated by swimming out to the deeper parts of the lake and showing him the motions. He had turned to watch, but didn't seem particularly sure of himself after that ordeal.

"Now you come out here and try it," I gestured for him to move closer, where his paws wouldn't be able to touch the bottom.

"But…you said it was dangerous," he was staring into the depths with some measure of unease, and I worried I might have scared him off the idea of it entirely.

"I…was being a bit ridiculous," I admitted. "It's only really dangerous if you have no idea what you're doing, and there are strong currents. If you don't feel confident just try taking your paws off the bottom where you are, and tread water where you know you can keep your head in the air."

He hesitantly moved a little closer to me and moved one of his front and back paws up, balancing on his two others. As soon as he took them off the lakebed though, he panicked and flailed, falling under the surface, completely unprepared for the sensation of floating. He quickly got his legs back under himself and came back up spluttering and choking, eyes watering.

"Are you alright?" I asked concernedly, drifting closer. He was hacking and coughing, desperately trying to clear his throat, and I realized that he'd probably never had his own body fighting against him before, blocking his breathing.

"…I don't think I want to do this anymore," he said quietly.

"Hey, don't give up on me just yet," I replied softly, swimming over to him. "I've got one more idea that might work, we can take it slowly, and I'll be right here, okay?"

He swallowed, meeting my gaze with soulful, scared, but trusting eyes.

"…Okay."

I really hoped this worked, for his sake.

"Alright, try spreading your wings and let them sit on the surface, along with the smaller ones behind them, and keep your tail level with the water," he did so, nervously unfolding his wings. "…That's it. I'm going to stand next to you and hold your head up the best I can, and I'll keep my feet on the bottom," I placed my hands on either side of his jaw. "Now you move each of your paws, one by one, when you're ready."

I held his stare, meeting him with a small smile.

"You can do this."

He took a few seconds to slow his breathing, and then nodded. He removed the first paw from the lakebed.

Then a second.

He teetered a little and I gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Moments later, the third was gone too.

"I…I think it's working!" I felt a huge smile stretch across my face as the excitement returned to his voice.

And just like that, he was floating.

"I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it!" my heart melted at the expression of absolute joy that grew on his muzzle, eyes shining. "Thankyou thankyou thankyou!" He pressed his head into my arms, closing his eyes and cooing. I allowed it for a few seconds, relieved and happy for him, before moving back and releasing my hold, kicking into deeper waters again.

"Now move your paws forward in circles and move your tail up and down," I instructed, figuring his tail fins and tail wings would act like flippers. I demonstrated the doggy paddle motions to him and he copied it, beginning to slowly move towards me. Then he started flicking his tail up and down and quickly increased his speed. I swam to the side and avoided his torso without much difficulty, but there was no way I would be able to get around his huge wingspan. I settled for diving underneath as Ashburn's form briefly blocked out the sun, and despite my efforts, got whacked by his tail on the way up anyway.

I probably deserved it for earlier.

He figured out turning on his own and continued zooming around the lake with his wings out for several minutes. I watched him as I floated lazily around, able to enjoy the cool sensation of the water now that my body had lowered in temperature. Eventually he got bored of that though, and swam back over to me.

"So, what's next? How do I catch fish like this?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Well…you could try holding your breath for as long as you can," I suggested. "That way you'll know how long you can stay underwater for, and it'll stop you from panicking."

With that he took a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks a little (which I didn't even know was possible with his mouth shape), sat down in the water, and waited.

…And waited.

…And waited.

After at least a minute and a half of us both just drifting about and making faces at each other, I began to get a little worried.

"Are you good? You don't feel a sort of…tightness in your chest?"

He shook his head.

Time dragged on.

"Right well…I think we can safely say you'll be just fine underwater," I gave a nervous laugh. He continued holding his breath though, clearly wanting to see how long he could go for. I'll admit, I was curious myself, but I'd not expected it to be for this long. Bigger body, bigger lungs, I supposed.

After maybe three minutes more he finally gasped a breath, breaking the silence that'd fallen over the lake.

"Was that good?" he panted.

"Considering it was a hell of a lot longer than I'll ever be able to hold my breath for, yeah I'd say it was pretty good," I chuckled. "So long as you don't freak out and breathe in water, you should be able to dive and figure it out on your own with no problems."

"Aren't you going to teach me?" he sounded disappointed.

"I…really don't have much of a clue past the basics. Your body is completely different to mine, and the vast majority of swimming comes down to experience honestly. I think I need to get out and dry off too—I'm starting to feel the cold."

"Awww…but I don't feel shivery or anything!" he looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Then you can stay in and keep practicing—there's nothing stopping you is there?"

He opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and glanced between me and the lake in indecision. I started wading back to shore, figuring his eagerness to learn would push him to keep swimming until the sun went down. So I was surprised when I heard him come splashing up behind me, but didn't give any sign that I'd noticed.

A shard of regret and shame stabbed my chest—that was definitely my fault. I'd scared him so much that he wouldn't go in alone.

I tried to forget about it as I started drying myself off, while Ashburn simply shook all the water off his scales. Thankfully he had the common sense to do it further away from where I was towelling myself down.

I moved behind some trees to get changed back into dry clothes, but I'd need a campfire to get the seeping cold out of my skin. I returned to the campsite with an armful of twigs and was startled to find Ashburn had already collected some firewood while I was busy.

"You didn't need to do that," I said, dropping my load onto his considerably larger pile.

'You didn't need to make me feel even worse,' I added internally.

"We both need the fire, so I should help," he said matter-of-factly. "It's gonna take me ages to get the taste of wood out of my mouth though," he smacked his lips a few times, pulling a grossed-out face.

"So, you actually feel cold? Now that you're out of the water?"

"I don't know how it works! I've only had this body for like a day and a half, I figured you'd know," we both settled around the pyramid shape I was building out of the wood, surrounded by stones to stop the grass catching fire.

"Well the sun is going down now…maybe that has something to do with it," I made a mental note to do some research into cold-blooded animals – they must be similar on some level. He watched with interest as I spun a pointed stick rapidly between my palms, one end touching the kindling. I blew gentle, focused breaths onto it as the friction began to generate heat and a little smoke, before blossoming into a tiny flame.

"Woah! I've never seen that before!" Ashburn's face was right up close to the fire, watching it slowly consume the smaller pieces of wood before growing and spreading.

"Well I'd use matches to start it much quicker if the firewood was wet, or if we desperately needed the warmth, but it's good practice when the weather's dry."

"Matches?"

"Yeah, these things," I pulled out a box from my rucksack, taking one from the little card drawer to show him. "You flick them against the side here, and they ignite."

"So why don't you use them all the time if they're so easy?"

"Because I might need them for emergencies or something. Like when you were, y'know, dying last night."

"Oh…" he laid his head on the grass and stared out at the mountains.

'God, you're just brilliant at this. You were having a perfectly normal conversation, and then you just go and bring up last night like a complete twat!'

"Sorry," I sighed, adding some more sticks to the fire.

The shard dug deeper.

The uncomfortable silence was finally broken when a helicopter flew overhead, and of course Ashburn wanted to know what it was. This led to questions about Earth, humans, and a million and one different tangents.

The downside of talking to someone who has a near-perfect memory is that they will pick up on every unexplained detail. The more answers I gave, the more questions he had, and I eventually had to ask him to stop so I could go and relieve my bladder.

On my way back, I noticed something strange in the waning daylight. On the opposite shore of the lake, barely visible against the trees, was a person. They weren't moving, they didn't have any sources of light with them, they were just…staring. The creepiest part though, was the fact that I couldn't see any physical features or clothes. Just…black.

An unsettling feeling of dread formed in my stomach.

"Ashburn…" I half-called towards him, still a few dozen feet away from the campfire. "Can you see that?"

He looked at me, then over towards the silhouette on the bank.

"Uh…yeah. Is that maybe the woman from before?"

"I don't think so…"

Something felt very wrong.

All of a sudden, I had a strong urge to run. The fading sunlight seemed to stretch the space out, the hopeful light of the fire dimming as if the shadows from the forest would swallow me. My skin prickled with a thousand imaginary insects but I wouldn't dare move a muscle, lest it trigger movement from the shadowy figure.

I held my breath.

The only sounds I could hear were the thumping of my heart and the small splashes of waves on the water's surface.

"Hey!" Ashburn shouted, and I flinched at the sudden noise.

Instantly my vision was filled with black, the silhouette appearing only inches from my face and causing me to stumble back as it advanced, seeming to grow into the corners of my eyes until I could only see absolute nothingness. I fell onto the ground, the breath knocked out of me, and tried to scramble back, squeezing my eyes shut as the very presence of the thing seeped through my skull, invading my mind, breeding fear and panic.

"HELP!" the scream ripped free of my throat as I tried to curl into myself as tightly as possible. The worst part was that it wasn't even making any noise; my frantic thoughts were the only things running through my mind as they were distorted by shadow and pain. Nightmarish images flashed behind my eyelids, fuelling my own fear in an ever-increasing loop of terror.

I cried out again and again, my shouts slowly devolving into meaningless whimpers. Without even so much as touching me, this thing had reduced me to a trembling scrap of a thinking being, forced to live in perpetual darkness with only my own horrific thoughts for company.

After what seemed like an eternity in my abyssal prison, the stream of fear and paranoia began to end. Slowly but surely, the real world began to leak back in, until I registered something touching my face. My eyes flew open and I was treated to one last burst of adrenaline as my vison was filled with darkness once more, and the silhouette manifested before me, before I realized they were scales.

Ashburn had wrapped himself around my shaking form, a wing pulled across as if to shield me from the world. My head was pressed into his shoulder, and I pulled back, taking deep gasping breaths as I slowly readjusted to the environment. I met his eyes, still panicky and trembling as he folded his wing back to his side.

"Aiden! Aiden are you okay?" he tried to nuzzle my face but I jerked back at the invasion of personal space, an afterimage on my eyes of the silhouette doing exactly the same. I tried to stand only to find my wobbly legs barely able to hold my weight, and I tripped backwards over his tail.

"Stop!" I shouted as he made to move towards me again. He froze with one paw in the air, in the middle of standing up. "Just…I need…I need…" My eyes darted back and forth before landing on the campfire flickering a short distance away, my rucksack lying next to it.

I staggered to my feet and tried not to fall over as my limbs disobeyed my every thought. My throat and eyes stung, and I felt like I could be sick at any moment.

No, wait a minute, this was all too familiar to me. I was just having an anxiety attack, and I knew how to deal with those.

I took a deep breath in for three seconds, and let out for five.

In…out…

I tried to focus on my surroundings; what was I doing?

I needed to get back to my things, and keep the campfire going, or it would run out of fuel.

I continued my breathing exercise and pushed onward, lifting my feet off the ground and straightening my back. Before I knew it, I was collapsing next to my rucksack, hands clasped tightly around the shoulder straps as if it would try to escape. I was still shaky and a little nauseous, but it would fade with time—I just needed to relax.

I sat myself upright and put some more wood on the fire as Ashburn tentatively padded over and lay down across from me, staring through the flames. Neither of us said anything for several minutes as I slowly released all the tension in my body, goosebumps rising from the warmth of the campfire.

"Okay…what the hell was that?" I finally asked.

"I have no idea," he shook his head. "I wondered if it might be something from your world but…"

"That thing was not human, and it sure as fuck wasn't any animal I've ever seen. It was like…a living shadow or silhouette, or something."

"Could it…be from another planet in this universe?"

"That would be a ridiculous coincidence if it was," I snorted. "No, it showed up a day after you did. It must be some kind of multiverse crap." I looked out over the lake again, at where it had first appeared. Night had covered the area by this point, which meant I could barely see anything beyond the reach of our firelight.

If the silhouette was completely black, then there was no way we'd see it coming until it was on top of us. I glanced back at the trees surrounding the area. Theoretically, it could be anywhere right now, and we'd never know. Waiting.

The drumming of my heart began to speed up and I tried to focus back on the fire, grabbing my rucksack with one hand again. I noticed Ashburn looking at me with something bordering between sympathy and pity, and felt a small spark of anger.

"What?" I growled.

"Why won't you let me help you?" he asked quietly. The small frown, the crease of his brows; all they did was infuriate me.

"Because I don't want help," I scowled, rolling out my sleeping mat and bag on the grass. "I just…" my throat choked up, and I looked down. "A l-lot's happened and…I don't know what to think anymore," I stuttered out, cheeks burning with shame.

I tried to hide in my sleeping bag, turning my back to the fire. "Just leave me alone."

- O -

- O – O – O – O -

- O -

I sighed as Aiden shifted so he was facing out to the forest.

"Okay," I replied softly. I rolled onto my side a little, paws resting on top of each other and closed my eyes. I left my wing half-open, the end resting against the ground and intentionally leaving a space in front of my chest.

Aiden clearly wasn't going to accept any help from me, even if he sorely needed it, and he definitely wasn't going to be able to sleep alone after what he'd just been through. I didn't know what that thing did to him, but seeing him so frail and scared with it looming over his shaking body had changed something within me.

I'd come here with the purpose of simply resolving whatever issues he'd been having, to prove to myself that I could do more than what Tutor told me. But now I wanted to do more, be more. I didn't know what exactly that meant, or what it would lead to, but I was going to find out.

I slowed my breathing and was careful not to move as I lay in wait.

Sure enough, after a little while I heard Aiden shifting about, and I had to force my earfins from twitching as his footsteps drew close. I tried to stay as limp as possible as I felt him crawl up beside me, and underneath my waiting embrace. I let him get comfortable as his breathing gradually slowed, and I allowed my wing to rest on him like a blanket. When I was sure he was asleep I put my paw on his shoulder and gently pulled him a little closer, curling my tail around us both.

The silhouette would not haunt his mind tonight.

- O -

- O – O – O – O -

- O -

Author's Note

Well now wasn't that an emotional rollercoaster! I did say this chapter would be longer than the last, and it turned out double the length, though I didn't actually plan for half of the stuff that happened this chapter so…I might need to do some editing of my plans.

On another note, I recently saw some people saying they don't leave reviews because they don't know what to say that will be of any value. As an author I can tell you that I will hugely appreciate ANY review, even if it's just a couple of words. But if you don't know what to say, here's some questions for you: what are your theories about the plot so far? Any particular quotes you liked? What did you think of my first attempt at horror-ish writing? And, do you think my writing has improved this chapter compared to earlier ones? I've tried to use more show-don't-tell methods here, metaphors and the like, so I hope it came through.

Thank you again to my betas Layla and netWARIOR for putting up with my nagging, and thank YOU for reading!

Rowan