Disclaimer: I own Set Fluttaz, John Drake, Elliot Pagenoi, Mrs. Erikson, Pierce Lewis - he was supposed to be in this chapter, but I had a great idea and he got transported to the next chapter -, The Seer, and this story, while Ms. Carroll/Cabot owns everyone and everything else.

Comments: Eh, I didn't know anyone else thought Paul liked Suze. I mean, he didn't hit on her when they went out for a bite after Suze was babysitting Jack - then again, if he did hit on her then, she would have probably either gotten mad or gone home, and that would of brought Jesse back to her house and ruined Maria, Paul and Felix's plans. But until a little while ago I thought the whole 'I guess it was not to be. . .for now' stuff was Paul trying to get Suze to join DMA - Dark Mediators of America - or something. . .Okay, I'm freaking myself out now. . .Let's get on with chapter seven. . .I am such a freak. . .

Note: Uh, I just wanted to say that I love the "come hell or high water" saying - it's so. . .uh. . .romantic? Don't ask. But I'm not sure who said it first. Oh, and as always; review. Oh, and the reason this is up so late is because I've been really preoccupied lately. But, on the good side; if I hadn't of been "preoccupied" I wouldn't have thought of the whole meeting with The Seer thing. And, chapter eight will be up soon - I promise.

Chapter Seven: To Please the Birds

I started to get out of bed when I woke-up and winced - I had a killer headache. Then again, that kind of made sense since I had just found out that a group of people were conspiring my death - again. I suddenly remembered my wanting to visit Father Dom and jumped out of bed, headed to the bathroom to get some aspirin before I got dressed. Damn! I realized halfway to the bathroom that I had used up the last of my stash of aspirin last week after beaten up a ghost with an attitude problem - and a gift for giving hard punches. I made a mental note to get some more aspirin and started to get dressed. I pulled down my red T-shirt - although it was Christmastime, it was still hot as hell out in Carmel - and was heading toward my closed bedroom door, when the noise began.

It began as a soft humming, but continued on to a rumble of thunder. The room started to tilt as I grabbed open the door and walked straight into a wall of black fire and water. I tried backing up, but the room tilted even more and I went hurdling into an sky of oblivion. . .

. . .I woke up laying on the lush green grass of what looked like a forest. I started up quickly, startled by my changed surroundings - the last thing I could remember was. . .Oh god, I must be a lot more tired than I thought or maybe all the years of mediating had worked up into insanity - I was hallucinating. I had to be! But the more I thought about it - standing there in the middle of some unknown wood - I realized I shouldn't be questioning my sanity. No, I had witnessed that some people - like Paul - could go places they shouldn't be - maybe somebody had sent me here. A living exorcism like the one Father Dom performed on me, when I went to the shadowland to get Jesse back.

I looked around my surroundings and saw a stone figure that hadn't been there before - it was like the bird bathes my neighbor in New York used to put out in springtime, to please to birds. Mrs. Erikson had been a bit eccentric and had told everyone that her husband - who had been dead for almost a decade - told her that one sure way to get to heaven, was to be kind to birds. I walked towards the stone figure and looked in the water - it seemed to go deeper and deeper and never touch bottom. I blew on the water - like I had in Mrs. Erikson's bird bathes, when mom and dad had gotten her to babysat me when they went out -, which sent ripples to the sides of the water, causing small waves to lap over the side of the structure.

A lady came out of the wood surrounding the clearing where I know reclined. The lady was incredible. She had neither pale nor dark skin, but a color that seemed to own itself - a mixture of everything. Her originality was even more difficult to figure out - she was a mixture of every nationality. Her hair was a snow white that didn't match her youthful face. Her eyes - oh, her eyes - changed every moment. Each new incredible color made me forget the color before.

The lady walked over to me in a mixture of predator and goddess - which I had no doubt she was, even though I didn't even believe in God. She smiled as she came closer and looked me over as a mother might look at a long-lost daughter. She smiled again, this time a smile of remembrance - of a time I was yet to discover. I didn't know how I knew these things - they seemed like a natural instinct, like when I saw my first ghost and found out that my mom could not see the figure, I had realized that the ghost was to remain a secret.

"You are coming to a fork in the road - you must chose between to difficult things," the goddess told me when she finally looked away from me and towards an ancient stump, in the center of the clearing - which had not been there earlier. "But there will be someone to help you - only one person." She must of known I thought she was talking about Jesse, for she said, "You have just met him or will soon - I cannot tell you everything. I can only try to guide you - you are meant for great things Susannah. I am sure of it - and you will need all the help you can get." She smiled that smile of a remembrance of things to come.

"Who are you?" I managed to gasp.

"People have called me "Mother", "Goddess" and other such - but you may call me by my one true name. The Seer," she - The Seer - said.

"What are you?" I asked in a weak voice - although I knew the answer. I always had - since the beginning of time. The Beginning. Wait - where did that come from?

"'Till we meet again," said the goddess and with that she turned away and disappeared - I suddenly felt my knees go weak, and my world collapsed around me.

Note: Review, review, review. Want to learn more about The Seer? Read Origin of the Mediator.