Disclaimer: I own Set Fluttaz, John Drake, Elliot Pagenoi, Mrs. Erikson, Pierce Lewis - he's finally here! -, and this story, while Ms. Carroll/Cabot owns everyone and everything mentioned in her books.

Author's Note: Eh, just more of me being a freak - I think I'm actually going to write a Mediator fan fic later about DMA (Dark Mediators of America, incase you have forgotten or didn't read the author's note for chapter seven) later. I could have this bunch of rebel teenagers sitting in shadowland and trying to agree on how they're going to take over the earth/shadowland or both. . .Ahem. . .

Chapter Eight: Decades Before Our Time

I sighed as I sat down in the Land Rover - Andy and Dopey had both come down with some flu bug and my mom proposed that me, Sleepy, Doc and Set should go out for dinner, while she took care of Andy and Dopey. Set called it a 'great idea' - who is he trying to kid? I'd rather sit in a room full of poisonous snakes than in a room with Set. But, of course I had to go - I might try to lie to you and say that I wouldn't leave my two step-brother's in the clutches of a vampire - I doubt Set would do anything to them while in a restaurant, full of people -, but my mom ordered me. That right; she ordered me.

"Where are we going?" asked Set as Sleepy turned on the engine.

"Carmelina - a restaurant built in the former house of Elliot Pagenoi," answered Doc.

"Oh - Carmel's poet," said Set. I was disgusted - Set was trying to small-talk Doc; earn his trust. And from what I was seeing it was working - I had to figure out some way to tell Doc how dangerous Set was, without telling him exactly what he was.

"A very famous poet at that. Pagenoi's work can be seen in many of our nations most beloved poetry anthologies and his art work - in the later years of his life, Pagenoi started to paint America's wildlife - is displayed in many of our country's historic museums. Although Pagenoi lived decades before our time - he was born in 1847 and died in 1913 - his work is used 'til this day in essays and inspires American poets and artists," said Doc - where was he when I was doing my report on Elliot? I mean, really.

I yawned as Sleepy pulled the Land Rover into a parking space near Carmelina - see what lack of sleep and dreaming of receiving messages from a god-like lady does to a girl? And I was even starting to believe that my dream of The Seer hadn't been a dream at all - I woke-up on the floor, wearing the same clothes I was in my clearing dream. It's too much - although, I no longer wish to not be a mediator. I mean, if I didn't see ghosts I wouldn't be able to see - and kiss - Jesse - who, by the way, I haven't seen since the night I caught Set in the library.

"Up too late last night?" asked Set in a sly, almost flirtatious, way as I got out of the Land Rover. Sleepy looked at us in a surprised way - oh, god, I hoped he wasn't thinking what I thought he was thinking. What was Set thinking? I mean, why the hell would he flirt with a girl who knows that he's a vampire and that he's conspiring to kill her, along with other mediators.

"Did mom make reservations?" I asked Doc, pretending I didn't hear Set.

"Yep. She said she put it under Ms. Simons," answered Doc as I opened the door of the restaurant for him - and letting it close after me in Set's face.

I walked up to the middle-aged man standing at the entrance of the main dining room. I told him the name the reservations and he guided us - Sleepy and Set had come up behind Doc and I - to a table for four near a window overlooking the sea and the beach surrounding it. The restaurant was a lot fancier than I thought - but still looked homey.

Dinner continued without much interesting events - Set didn't talk to me much, but he did talk a lot with Doc about American events like the Civil War and such, while Sleepy just sat there looking confused - which was kind of a compliment to Doc and Set, considering he wasn't asleep.

"I need to visit the restroom," I announced when I decided I was going to go crazy if I heard any more facts about America's first space shuttle - curtsey of Set, who seemed to know a lot about America's history for a guy from Africa. Then again, he might of lived the history he was talking about, considering the fact he was a vampire.

I left the table and headed for the stairs off the main hallway, which led upstairs and to the restrooms. The hallway upstairs was the exact opposite of the downstairs - instead of bright and cheerful, it was painted with dark colors and had dark lighting. It kind of creeped me out. The decor, I mean.

I turned down the hallway - towards the wing that held the washrooms, according to the waiter I had asked earlier. I suddenly walked into darkness - pure black. I thought I had blacked out again - until a hand covered my mouth and another hand wrapped around my waist.

"Don't scream," said a young male voice - someone around my age. "My name is Pierce Lewis - I just want to help you."

Note: As I always say; begging sometimes works - please review.