Author's Note:

Hey everyone thank you sooooo much for all the reviews I really appreciate it! I'm sorry it's taken me sooo long to write this chapter but I've been busy, I know I know no excuses but I've worked hard on this chapter so like I said before please review and that's my only favor I ask of you.

Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the Mediator characters they all belong to Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll and I'm just borrowing the characters for my own fanfiction stories so please don't sue me I'm not worth it!

~*Chapter 2*~ Darkness Falls

I stood in front of my bathroom mirror in horror as I lifted up my hair to see that the bruising was all around my neck. I examined the scrape on my cheek, it wasn't too bad but it would be something I was sure that Jesse would ask me about if he saw, and frankly I wouldn't know what to say to him because I couldn't explain it myself. Not to mention my mom's reaction when she saw that her daughter who just magically got beat up in the short time from last she saw me. I put some of that liquid bandage stuff on my cheek and after it dried attempted to cover it up with make up, I did the same with my neck, thank God for foundation. I wrapped a scarf around my neck just in case the cover up didn't work.

I looked out in a crack of the bathroom door praying that Jesse wasn't there, for once a time when I didn't want Jesse to be around, wow that's been a while. The only thing that I have to worry about now is that small scrape on my cheek. I'll just make up some excuse on how I scraped it. I paced in my room and kept looking in the mirror to try and understand what had just happened.

"Hey Suze, it's time for dinner, get down here now!" yelled Dopey.

I rushed downstairs and found everyone waiting for me at the table and staring at me. I sat down uneasily and played with my food for a while before speaking up.

"Can I be excused?"

"Sure Susie, are you feeling alright? You look a little pale."

"Don't worry, I'm just not all that hungry, I'm going to go for a little walk down the beach alright?"

"Okay, just be back before it gets too late."

"I'll try."

"Probably just wants to sneak off and see that guy, although I forgot his name,"whispered Dopey to Sleepy loud enough for me to hear. I threw a roll at him and then walked out the door before he could say something. I didn't need to hear his remarks, or to announce them to everyone else at the table.

It was a quarter past six when I got to the beach. I left my shoes on the sidewalk and started walking along the edge of the water. The wind was picking up and the sky was stained with yellow, gold and red as sunset approached quickly and dark clouds in the near distance. It seemed very peaceful and surprisingly there was no one on the beach.

I was finally alone with my thoughts, my hands were shaking, flashes of what had happened in my room came flooding into my mind. Each image was so intense that it was difficult for me to breathe. I sought the stability of a nearby rock and leaned against it. My world then became black.

***

The images were still flashing in my mind, the events I had witness before then blurred into one and then an image of each member of his family all ending with the image of a hooded figure. It seemed like I was losing my mind, these images were pounding in my head and then there was a deadly silence.



There was fog all around me, my eyes hurt from straining to see past it all, I walked to what I thought was forward although it didn't seem like there was any sense of direction in this place. It is silent as the grave, if there were no ghosts at least, the only sound I hear is the sound of my own quiet footsteps and the racing beating of my heart. This was like something out of the twilight zone or something. What is going on?

I keep walking and it seemed the farther I went the more the fog started to clear until I was in the eerie glow the one place I hated the most, the hallway, the alternative plane or whatever you would want to call it. All I knew was that this was the place that made my skin crawl and the feeling of uneasiness was a given. Maybe walking forward wasn't the best idea in the world but hey at least it doesn't seem I'm lost any more. Although I could just imagine what my curiosity would lead to next.

I was almost half expecting Paul to jump out or something like that. Him I could handle, maybe even if there was some mad violent ghost walking around cursing the world but hey I get the hallway, just my luck.

It was different feeling than the last time I was here, I could barely see and the walls feeling narrow and closing. There was a single pale candle floating toward me, it grew brighter as it came closer. I was curious at its purpose here and when it got just inches away, I cautiously stepped back, the candle flickered and then the flame was gone.

The silence here is killing me, I can't stand it, and the feeling of being trapped in this hallway was unbearable. I'm just cursing my luck here, hey even confronting Jesse on our feelings and such seemed more appealing right now.

I could barely make out the candle figure still floating in the air, I approached it and suddenly there was a pulse that knocked me off my feet followed by a deafening ring that pierced into my head as I attempted to block the sound out.

Then I felt a cold hand on my shoulder.

***

I awoke with a startled gasp, I was unaware of my surroundings and desperately trying to fill my lungs with air. It was pouring rain and I was soaking wet, I had not moved from my position from the rock. Straining to see what was in front of me I quickly grabbed my shoes and ran home. Under the light of the street lights I tried to make out what time it was, and I found that it was quarter of eight. I can't believe I was out there so long. That only propelled me to get home faster.

My clothes were soaking wet and as I reached the house I knew I couldn't go in through the front door. I could just imagine what Andy and my mom would say, let alone Dopey from what he would hear. I climbed up my roof and into the window. I rushed towards the bathroom with my dripping clothes and grabbed the nearby towel to dry off a little and drying off my face and as I did it revealed my previous wounds. I looked into the mirror, the marks around my neck and the scrape on my face slowly disappeared, and within moments it was if they never existed in the first place.

The pain from them was gone, is this really happening, I mean is it so hard just to be a normal teenager for once without getting bombarded with visions of the love of your life's past life before he died or even almost being killed for a second here. I mean jeez, there's only so much a girl can take.

I stared few more moments in amazement until I turn around to go and grab some dry clothes and I'm face to face with Jesse. Uh oh. That's what I get for leaving the door open. Just smart Suze, real smart.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, thank you sooo much for all the reviews I really appreciate it, it means a lot to me and it inspires me to write more of the chapters quickly *hint hint* I'm sorry it took soo long for me to post this chapter up but my word processor here isn't all that great to work with. I hope you liked this chapter because I worked hard on it and stuff. New tone in this chapter, a bit more serious. Hmmmmm what will happen next...

Until Next Chapter,

~Lady Elizabeth