Disclaimer: Alrighty. Who really reads these things anyway? They get kind of boring after a while...Anyhow. I do not own Everwood. WB Network owns Everwood and any other shows that they air. I know you're all tired of all of this junk of rambling, so I'll shut up after some thanks and some notes to you all!

JustNheaVen - hey! How are ya? Hope you've been enjoying the story!

Meg - Hey girl! How have you been doing? Been a while since I've heard from you. Hope your great!

Sk8tboardrider12 - Welcome aboard to the Ephram's Angel list thingy ma bobber! Whatever you want to call this. Anyway, hope you're enjoying everything!

ShaniaTwainrox74 - Thanks for hanging around with us, amidst my terrible writer's block I went through!! Enjoy!

Faith - How ya been doing? Haven't heard from you since ch. 11! Oh well. As long as you're reading still and enjoying this!

And, a sad goodbye to my friend Josh, otherwise known as Valenil on ff.net. He has moved somewhere else and won't have internet for a while. If you're able to read this, Josh, I'm praying for ya! Miss ya! Hope to talk to you soon!

I think that's everyone for now. Anyone that's not on my mailing list yet, email me at Fallenangel19902003@yahoo.com and I'll put you on the list. Bon appetite!

Chapter 12

POV-KARIN

I sighed as Ephram and I sat down at the food court in the mall. We'd had no luck whatsoever trying to find my parents' murderer. I knew he worked somewhere in the mall, I just didn't know exactly where. He had been right those three weeks ago - it was hard trying to find someone in New York.

"Are you hungry?" I heard Ephram ask, drawing me from my thoughts of revenge.

"What? Oh, kind of," I answered quietly, pulling myself back to May 9th, 2001, three and a half weeks after my eighteenth birthday.

"Karin, don't worry about it. We're taking a break, so that means no thinking about it." Ephram grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently.

I nodded, then clenched my free hand into a fist around a small paper towel with cubes of ice in it.

"Did we really have to do that wood burning? I smell like a sauna and my hand is dying, regardless of the icing or not," I murmured.

"Yeah. But there was really no way around it. He said if we wanted information on this 'Mr. Sanders' then we'd have to help him burn some wood," he said, clenching the ice pack we'd taken from the shop.

I rolled my eyes and loosened my grip on the ice pack when I heard the ice crunching quietly under my vice, unintentional grip. Today would be a long one. It was only noon, and we had started searching the huge mall at eight, before everything opened.

"Are you sure it was this mall, Karin?" Ephram asked.

"Yes, I'm-"

A gasp caught in my throat as I saw a shadowy figure stalk from behind a plant to the west side of the mall. I stood up, my pulse racing, and quickly walked after him, leaving Ephram behind.

"Karin, wait!"

"Shh!" I hissed. I slowed my pace slightly for Ephram, then, when he caught up, sped up again. We continued slowing down and speeding up until we were about ten feet behind him. He turned slightly and looked over his shoulder, and Ephram and I quickly jumped behind a plant.

"Thank you God for the little things in life," I murmured aloud. I peered over one of the great leaves on the giant plant and saw the figure running from the store.

"Come on!" I said quickly, then ran towards the exit, Ephram trailing behind. I ran outside, then down to my car, neatly parked in a space near the front.

"Is that him?" Ephram asked.

"Yes!" I said through clenched teeth as I jumped in my car and tried to crank it up. "Stupid car, go! Come on!" I continued turning the ignition until finally, it roared to life. "Yes! Let's go!"

I quickly backed out of the parking space, then drove off after the tan Mustang GT that our prey had driven off in.

"You're sure that was him?" Ephram asked as we followed at a safe distance behind the tan vehicle in front of us.

"Absolutely positive. I'll never forget how that man moves and walks," I said icily towards the car.

"But you couldn't see his face," he went on.

"So?"

"So this could be the entirely wrong person that drives the same car Mr. Sanders did."

When we stopped at a stop sign and waited for some small traffic to pass, I looked over at Ephram and conjured up a look that only a woman who knew she was right could.

"Or, maybe this is the right car and you're right," he said quickly.

"Thank you." We took off again and drove until we pulled into an apartment complex in an 'iffy' place in New York.

POV CHANGE-EPHRAM

It had been three hours since we drove into the dark apartment complex. The constant sound of Karin squeezing her now wet paper towel that once held ice echoed in the alleyways. Every now and again, we would hear yelling and distant traffic.

"Karin?" I said quietly. "Nothing's happening."

"Something will, Ephram. Something will, trust me." She had a grin of pleasure on her face, like she was actually enjoying this.

About half an hour later, Karin's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" There was a silence. "All right. Okay. But-! But Uncle Charles-! Oh, all right. See you in a few minutes." She hung up her phone and sighed.

"What'd your uncle say?" I asked.

"He said we had to go back to his house. Everyone's having dinner at his house tonight," she said irritably.

"All right."

She sighed again, threw a glance at the apartment complex, scribbled something down on a notepad, then drove away.

After about fifteen minutes of driving, we were a few blocks to her uncle's house, Karin suddenly pulled into an empty parking lot.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She took a deep breath and clenched her fists. Then, she slammed her fist down on the horn of her car and held it there for a few seconds.

"Karin?"

"This close!" she said, half-shouting. "This bloody close! If Uncle Charles hadn't called, then we would have had him!"

"Karin, I know. But maybe we weren't supposed to get the bad guy yet," I told her, grabbing her shaking hand.

"You're right," she scoffed. "We weren't supposed to get him yet. Someone has to die first. Someone always does."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, never mind. We're going to be late." With that, she pulled out of the parking lot and drove the rest of the way to her uncle's house.

POV CHANGE-KARIN

'How could I have been so stupid? We weren't supposed to get him yet! Somebody-and I know who-has to die first. I don't look forward to that day at all and what the task is for me to carry out.'

I closed my journal with a snap and rolled over on my bed. Delia, Ephram, Todd, John, and I were all staying at my uncle's house. The boys were in the far guest bedroom near the kitchen, and Delia and I were in the other one near the bathroom.

I was just about to turn off my light when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway towards the room. I swallowed, slight fear erupting inside of my.

"Karin."

The young voice reassured me of my safety.

"Yes, Todd, what do you need?" I asked him, trying to control my shaky voice.

"You know what's going to happen and you didn't tell Ephram." He looked at me and his eyes glistened slightly.

"How could I tell him? It was hard enough to let him know about the story when Sanders tried to kill me the first time, and I wasn't even tell the story," I said as Todd sat on the end of the bed.

"You need to have faith that he'll be able to listen, to handle the realization of the matter, and to accept what you really are, Karin. You need to tell him," Todd told me quietly.

"I know, Todd. It's not so easy being an-"

"Shh!" Todd hissed quietly, pointing at Delia. "She might hear."

"Right. Thanks Todd. I'll tell him tomorrow." I smiled at my little brother and kissed his head. She smiled back and walked down the hallway again. I turned my lamp off and laid down then went to sleep.

POV CHANGE-EPHRAM

I yawned as Karin and I drove down the interstate to go to her 'surprise' place. She hadn't been so happy this morning, and was still quiet even now as we topped the speed limit by five. It was only seven in the morning, and she had woken me up at five. We'd been driving for one and a half hours to this place she said that would explain a lot of things.

"Karin?" I said at length.

"If you're going to ask where we're going, the answer is no, I'm not going to tell you," she said quietly.

I nodded and sighed. All we heard now was the hum of the cars around us and the clank of Karin's own car. Wind blew her hair around her head, creating a small halo almost. I continued thinking of all the places we might be going.

'Couldn't be the theatre. They don't run this early, plus, how would it explain anything? It's not this far to the ferry station to go see the Statue of Liberty. I can't think of anything else in this direction," I thought.

I looked over at Karin, who was slowing down as she passed by a cop on the side of the road. He turned his lights on and drove close behind Karin's car. She mumbled something inaudible and pulled off to the right side of the road.

When the policeman parked, Karin pulled her driver's license and ID card out, as if it were a routine.

"Not you again," she mumbled.

"Haven't I seen you before?" the cop asked.

"Yes. Five weeks ago, you pulled me over since you thought I was too young to have a license, and here it is. Not expired, I have my ID card with me, and he is family," she said, gesturing over to me with a bored expression on her face.

"You sure you want to be driving with this girl, son?" the cop asked me.

"Yes, quite sure. She said she's got a surprise place she wants to take me. She hasn't told me yet," I said, yawning.

"Mind telling me the place, Miss?" the cop asked her.

"Sure. We're going to-"

She finished by whispering something at a pitch I couldn't hear. The policeman laughed and nodded his head.

"You kids be careful now," he said as he gave Karin her ID card and drivers license back.

"Yes, sir!" she called as she pulled her seatbelt on again.

"You just lied to an officer," I told her with a grin as we drove off again.

"What? When?" she asked, glancing over at me.

"You said I was family. I'm not," I told her meticulously.

"My uncle is basically your uncle in a way, so yeah, we're like distant cousins removed many times," she said, smirking. "I'm dating my distant, many times removed cousin."

"Better than dating your first, no times removed cousin," I joked.

"Oh, what will we do with you?"

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Okay, guys. There's some important information coming your way in the next couple chapters. I don't know whether I should make Karin tell Ephram straight, or wait until the 'surprise' happens. So, in reviews, emails, et cetera, tell me what you think I should do. Your choices are to tell Ephram straight, or wait until the surprise. So, emails or whatever, and whatever happens the be the most by the time I'm getting to that part, then that'll be the way it comes. Happy voting!!

Oh, and wood burning really is painful! I did that earlier today, and my hand is still sore!! Squeezing a paper towel with ice in it does help, but faintly. I burned a ship, a cat, and a pair of horses. Anyway.. They came out alright. TTYL! Oh, one last thing. I might start a sequel for this to make it easier on you all, alrighty? You can vote for that or just say you want to put everything on this one still. It wouldn't be a different story. It'd still be this, but just in a different link. Anyhow, tell me what you think, and I'll ttyl!