Author's notes: Wasn't engrish fun? WHOO! Anyway, this part took far too long to get out. Being involved in a "romance" myself has helped to write more "romantic" parts… but don't expect much! I've never been a sucker for romance.

As hard as I try, I can never resist her. Seeing her in pain makes me want to do whatever I can to stop her tears. It's amazing how much control she has over me.

-Gìomanach

I stopped my car in Hunter's driveway, knowing that I had come here not only because I needed his help, but because I needed his comfort. A few minutes passed as I tried to compose myself in Das Boot before I approached his door and knocked. A few more minutes passed before he answered the door. As hard as I had tried to compose myself, the tears started flowing down my cheeks faster upon seeing the anger in his eyes as he answered the door.

Hunter's face softened and I found myself in his warm embrace, with him kissing away my tears. "Shh…," he hushed my sobbing and led me through the door into his house, where he promptly set to getting some tea for us. The familiarity of his warm house was comfort enough, but being seated next to him with a warm cup of tea almost made me forget about my worries. He allowed me to sit in silence for a while before speaking; it was amazing how well he knew what I needed.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday, I… well, I—" I stammered, trying to find my words before he interrupted me.

"I understand, but don't worry about it. Just tell me what happened," he said.

I looked over the warm cup of tea and began to tell the long story of all that I had noticed this past week, ending with running out of the school upon finding out that Mary K. was gone missing and ending up at his door. All of it sounded mundane, a simple explanation could easily be that she was seeing some boy and she didn't want anyone to know, and was skipping school to see him, or just to simply go to the mall. As far as her influence over our parents went, they could just be too wrapped up in their work, as well as worrying about me (and my grades) to notice a whole lot. In all realism Mary K. was probably just feeling ignored.

Hunter, however, took all of this with utmost concern and seriousness, especially when added to the dreams that I had been having about Cal. He considered all of this for a good many moments before stopping to retrieve his scrying stone. Picking up his cue, I set my now empty mug of tea on the coffee table and sat across from him on the floor, our knees touching. My mind quickly slipped into the state of meditation from practice. I became aware of only the blackness of the stone before I willed to see my sister as she was now. A faint glimpse of a house surrounded by a forested area before the stone became clouded and blinked out.

It was apparent that Mary K. was actually in some sort of danger, there wouldn't be any other reason for the stone to blink out like that, she had to be involved with someone who didn't want what was going on to be seen. I looked up at Hunter, and without him asking I knew he was wondering if that house was the one that I had walked to before. I closed my eyes and nodded, realizing that my suspicions had been correct; if this has happened before I knew who I really was I would have been amazed, but I had come to learn that my instincts could generally be trusted.

"Come on," he said, standing up and then taking my hand to help me up as well, "Mary K. obviously needs us." We rushed to Das Boot, the car had saved me once before, with Hunter practically pulling me out of the house in his hurry.

'Goddess, just let Mary K. be okay.'