Wow the FOURTH chapter in Tenebrae. Hope you enjoy it. This one is a little off the topic but it fits in with the story eventually.

As her alarm clock blared, Sonya woke up startled. She thought everything that happened last night was a dream. She got up without a hint of trouble or yelling from her mom. As she reached for her skateboard to head out she found Christopher holding it for her by the front door. She suddenly jumped back startled that she so called dream was real.

"Jeez you scared the crap out of me Christopher. Please don't do that again." Sonya gasped stifling a scream, gasping for breath and trying to clam her racing heart.

"I'm sorry Sonya. And you can call me Chris; I like it better than Christopher any way. I just wanted to say good-morning before you left and that I had someone who needs your help after school." Chris said as he handed Sonya her skateboard.

"Um…okay I guess. I will have to finish my homework first. If you want to come along to school with me you can. You can see my friends Devon, Jared, and maybe Jesse if she comes to school today. But I won't be able to talk to you because people will think I am crazy." Sonya said as she walked out the door and began to ride down the street to school.

"That is okay. Our thoughts are connected so I can talk to you inside your consciousness like this." Chris spoke; his voice resonated through her mind.

"That is so cool." Sonya thought as she rode down the street. "This is Devon and Jared. Devon's family is Asian. Jared is just plain weird that is why I hang with him. Well that is why I hang out with all of my friends. They are all out of the ordinary."

"Hey guys. It is finally the final day of school before the weekend. What do you guys have planned for the weekend?"

Both boys replied. "Nothin'. What do you want to do?"

"How about we go and see a movie, eat at the coffee shop, joke around, and finally go to the arcade and play DDR!!!" Sonya said counting on her fingers.

"Sound awesome. When do we start Sonya?" Devon asked

"ASAP. WE only have 2 days to get all of this done. I say we do the coffee shop tonight. Then see a movie and arcade tomorrow. Finally go to the skate park and fool around. How about that boys?" Sonya quizzed as she skated backwards toward school

"AWESOME!!!" the boys yelled as they made the final leg of their journey to school.

After seven hours of pure torture for the students of the Jefferson High School the final bell rang. Sonya raced to her locker and grabbed her skateboard, backpack, Fearing the Shadows, and her literature book to finish reading Edgar Allen Poe's Raven. All day Sonya had filled Chris in on the advanced in technology, which people she stayed away from and the ones she talked to, how the vending machines worked, and any other information she could give to him about the advanced society of today. It was a lot easier since she could talk to him with out any one knowing, plus he helped out on her history test on Spanish aristocracy For her the end of the school day was, in a way, a saving grace. After stopping to tell Devon and Jared when to meet at the coffee shop, Aroma, before heading toward home, a shower, and a change of clothes.

Since her mom didn't get home till 5:30, Sonya had to be a latch key kid. She didn't mind coming home to an empty house. It was comforting for Sonya to be alone. Now having Chris to talk to, it might break the silence which she usually filled with punk rock.

"Sonya…. I need you to help a child tonight since you are…going out. She is only 4 years old. She lost her parents and her life. I need you to help her find peace and well rest in peace. Her name is Cassandra and she is haunting your friend Devon's house." Christopher told Sonya as she put on her make-up.

" Uhh… ok. But how am I going to get to his house. I mean I can't stay over at a guy's house my mom wont let me." Sonya exclaimed as the phone rang. Sonya's mother's voice came out of the receiver.

"Darling I am not going to be home tonight. I have some business that I need to see to. I have already made plans for you to stay at Devon Williams house. I know that you two are friends so it wasn't a problem. Well I've got to go. I love you Sonya." Her mother said quickly before hanging up

"I told you there was a way to get to Devon's house." Chris said smirking.

Sonya rolled her eyes as she put the receiver down. After she recovered from the shock she ran around her room grabbing Cd's, DVD's, and her bathing suit and stuffed it all in her backpack. Now Devon's family was pretty wealthy but he didn't like to show it. It brought bad company. At 4:00 Sonya locked the house up and skated towards Devon's. While she skated towards Devon's house Chris in formed her about the 4 year old ghost haunting Devon's house.

"Hey Sonya," Devon said. "My mom told me that you were coming. What a surprise eh?"

"Yeah. Normally my mom would never let me sleep over at a guys house. I guess it is very important what ever she is doing." Sonya shrugged and took off the skates.

Devon showed Sonya to his room where they would be spending the night. His room was so hi-tech. He had two big screen TV's: one in the wall and the other was installed in the ceiling above his bed. He had surround sound, X-Box, Game Cube, and almost every DVD, CD, and game that ever existed. The room was paradise. His room also had a secret stair way to the basement and pool. So the two changed into their swimsuits and went down the stairs.

The pool was Olympic sized and had three different diving platforms. Sonya immediately saw a challenge and took off her cover shirt to reveal a black bikini. After that she took off towards the highest diving platform. After running up three flights of stairs she reached the top. Down below Devon jumped into the pool and swam to the deep end to watch her. Sonya walked to the end of the diving board and bounced three times before jumping off. Gracefully she did two back flips before entering the water without a splash. Devon applauded her as she surfaced looking like a monster. Laughing, Sonya moved her black hair out of her face.

"Man I wish I lived here. It would be so awesome to be able to swim everyday and fall asleep watching T.V." Sonya said as she swam over to Devon

"It isn't that great. But the sleeping part is pretty cool I guess. Mom is going to let us stay up as long as we want so we can watch pretty much anything we want. I can't wait. This is the first time my mom let me have a girl over. Oh and we can tell ghost stories. MWHAHAHA!!" Devon spoke as he splashed Sonya.

"Yeah, I have a few good ones. Last one to the diving board is a loser" Sonya said as she sped toward the diving boards."

The two played in the pool for almost two hours. They dove off the diving boards and had music playing the entire time. At one point Devon's two older twin brothers came and they played a couple bouts of chicken. Devon and Sonya won most of the challenges the twin sent their way. After that their mom called them upstairs for dinner. All the while Chris was taking in the scenery and looking for the 4 year old girl.

After changing into dry clothes Sonya made her way to the dinning room. There the twins, Sonya Devon, and their parents ate dinner and spoke of what they did the entire day. After dinner Mrs. Williams let everyone have cheesecake and ice cream. The parents and kids went their own ways. The twins went out side to play football. The parents went to do the dishes. Sonya and Devon went to his room and began playing X-Box games. Time passed as the two friends passed the whole night away playing games, watching movies and sneaking down the backstairs while everyone was sleeping to the pool. As the sun began to sink below the horizon the teens decided to just hang out in Devon's room and watch some movies, they watched Van Helsing and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King…well at least part of it till they began to fall asleep.

Sonya had fallen asleep while Lord of the Rings was running so she was curled up on the couch. She looked so peaceful and serene while she slept. She shuddered in her sleep from the cold. Suddenly Devon walked over with a blanket in hand without thinking and tenderly, almost brotherly tucked the blanket around the sleeping girl. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face without thinking and looked lovingly at her face. Suddenly he drew his hand back alarmed.

"What am I thinking????" Devon thought to himself. "I don't even like her like that…I mean she's like a sister to me. Oh who am kidding other than myself." With a sigh he flopped onto his bed with a thud.

He tried to stare at the ceiling but his gaze kept falling on the sleeping girl. As were his thoughts. He kept thinking about her laugh, her smile, how her eyes glittered when she was challenged to do something, the way she flipped her unruly black hair out of those deep gray blue eyes, and just the way she acted in general, just like a guy. As he thought about her he watched her chest rise and fall in time with her breathing HE sighed as he turned onto his back to think about thing but mostly about a way to admit his major crush on Sonya to her.

Sorry for the short chapter. I am running out of story so I am gointo finish typing and go add more for everyone.