The sound of a distant cry woke her from her slumber. She sat up slowly and looked around, disorientated. Where was she? Why did her neck hurt so much? Rubbing her eyes so that she would wake up a bit more, she looked around the room.

Jeff was still sitting in front of the screen, fixated. Both Kim and Erica had disappeared and Stephen was going downstairs. "Morning, sleepyhead," Jeff teased as he noticed his girlfriend's movement. "You awake now?"

She got up and moved to the chair beside him. "Is it really morning?" she asked.

Jeff shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "Nah. Just fucking with your mind." He got up to pour himself a cup of coffee, holding the pot up in the air with raised eyebrows, silently asking if Athena wanted a cup.

She shook her head and yawned. "I had the weirdest dream," she recalled, more to herself than Jeff. "I was in the woods, but I was lost. And it wasn't the woods here, it was the woods at home." 'Home' to Athena was North Bay, Ontario. She was born and raised in Canada and was proud to admit it.

"Strange," Jeff remarked, leaning against the table, studying Athena. She looked up at him and couldn't hold it back any longer.

"What happened out there, Jeff?"

He sighed a heavy sigh and glanced at the floor. "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't know?" he asked without looking up.

"I would," Athena replied slowly, "but I find it odd. We've camped out there many nights and nothing's ever happened to us. Why now?"

Jeff remained silent but shook his head. "No idea," he finally remarked. "But it was weird. We ran into this other tour group, the Blair Witch Walk or some shit like that. We got into a fight and Stephen told them something about Coffin Rock and how it was a scary fucking place. The other tourists wanted to go camp out there so they took off. The five of us made a solemn vow to stay up all night, to make sure those assholes didn't come back to the foundation." He paused and shook his head. "But that's all I remember. There was a lot of drinking and drugs, but you would think one of us would be able to remember something."

"You don't remember anything?"

"Nothing." He looked up. "Hours of my life are lost and I can't remember what the hell I did. It's like we blacked out. But even better is, when we woke up this morning, my cameras were trashed. Tristen and Stephen's research was trashed. And the tapes of the footage were missing."

Athena glanced at the screen where the frame remained on the foundation. "We found them," Jeff said, answering her silent question. "The weird thing is, we didn't actually find them. Kim saw them. In her mind." There was skepticism in his voice but a slight quaver was there, too. "She's psychic or some shit like that. And she told me exactly where they'd be. Right where Heather's tapes were found." He stopped and took a deep breath. "So I don't know what to think," he concluded.

Athena didn't know what to think, either. For two years, she had Jeff had been making the trek to the Black Hills without a single problem or concern. Jeff and Athena, who had perfect trust and perfect love for one another, never encountered a single thing to do with the Blair Witch. But Jeff goes into the woods with four complete strangers and things happen, things that Athena never would have dreamt of. She couldn't help but feel a little singled out. Did Elly have something against her? Did she not find Athena worthy of her presence? Or was Athena letting Jeff's overactive imagination get to her and was it really just the drugs and alcohol that caused them to black out?

She got up. "I'm going to get a glass of water," she informed him. "Want something?"

He held up his coffee mug. "I'm going to need something stronger than water to keep me awake tonight." He reclaimed his seat at the desk and began staring at the screen again. "I'm determined to find out what happened last night."

It was on the tip of Athena's tongue to say, "You're a drunk," but she kept her tongue and descended the stairs into the kitchen. Erica and Stephen were seated at the table, obviously discussing the previous night's events. They stopped when Athena entered the room. "Don't stop on account of me," she said with a smile, going to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"How long have you known Jeff?" Stephen asked suddenly.

Athena thought for a moment. "In exact numbers, ten years. And a few months, I'm sure."

"Is he trustworthy?"

This question took Athena by surprise and she felt a mild wave of anger sweep over her. Who was this man to invade her house and then begin questioning the reliance of her boyfriend? After all, Stephen was the one who booked the tour, wasn't he? "Excuse me?" she questioned calmly.

"I'm sorry," Stephen immediately apologized. "That was rude. I didn't mean that. I'm just so confused about what happened last night." He put his head in his hands and Athena felt her anger fade away.

"Don't apologize," she offered, opening the bottle of water. "You have every right to ask. You're confused and you've all been through a lot." She paused before asking, "How's Tristen doing anyway?"

"Not so well," Stephen replied. "She's having dreams, acting weird and she looks awful. We're going to leave in the morning."

"I can drive you to the airport if you want," Erica offered, startling Athena. She had almost forgotten about her being there.

"I'd appreciate that," Stephen replied with a smile. Athena crept back upstairs to the editing loft where she tapped Jeff on the shoulder and motioned that she was going to pull the old mattress in the corner out so they could sleep on that. She fished some sheets out of the linen cupboard in the corner and fitted them over the mattress, which smelled musty. Grabbing two pillows off the couch, she curled up on her makeshift bed and waited for Jeff.