Chapter Twenty; Return to the Darkness.

"So what happens now?" Jane asked when they were all sitting around the kitchen table once more.

"You said Merriman was on his way?" Will asked her. She simply nodded and he continued, "Well, the Signs must be found as quickly as possible and we can't wait for Merriman, as we don't know when he is going to arrive."

"They must have them hereabouts." Bran said. "They were going to use them…" he trailed off, and finished delicately, "at the barn."

"I didn't see them." Jane answered brusquely "but I wasn't allowed to see much,"

"Should we search back there then?" Barney asked.

"It is the logical place to start." Simon agreed, "But perhaps Jane shouldn't come. She should stay here and rest…"

He was cut off by his sister.

"I am coming as well."

"But…"

John effectively stopped the brewing argument by standing up

"It looks like I shall be coming with you then. Let me just tell your uncle where we are going, Will bach." The man strode up to the larger house, leaving them to get ready. The children didn't see his face twisting in dismay and uncertainty though. He blamed himself for Jane's injury; the Drews were staying with him and he felt responsible for them. He vowed that they wouldn't be going anywhere else without him this holiday. They were only children after all, although now he was beginning to wonder. They all acted so old, easily debating things which he had problems conceiving. No, he supposed they weren't children anymore.

They watched him leave the house and then Simon began to speak again

"Jane, I'm not sure you should come with us. Are you up to it?"

"I need to go." She said firmly.

"Besides," Will said, earning a glare from Simon before he could continue speaking. "She will be safer coming with us then if we left her here on her own."

"And she has the bracelet." Bran added

Simon scowled in annoyance; he was clearly in the minority here. He turned to Barney for support. The younger boy had been watching the discussion with interest and he said gently.

"He is right. But it is up to Jane really. She must make her own decisions." He shot a pointed look at Simon, who flushed lightly.

"Fine!" He said roughly. Jane smiled at him, she knew he only wanted to protect her, although it did get a little annoying at times, she didn't really mind.

John came back into the kitchen to see them all still sitting at the table,

"There is one thing that I must ask you before you go anywhere. Like it or not, I am in charge of you all and I can't let you go anywhere where you might get hurt. We've had one narrow escape already." He nodded at Jane. "And I don't want another."

Will looked grave as he thought

"The Dark should have fled the place. Spilt blood of the six is dangerous to them; powerful but dangerous. I will know if they are there as we get near though. I think the worst thing we will find there is a warestone which either I or Bran can dilute its power enough for us to escape."

"I don't think there will be anyone there." Jane said slowly.

"How would you know?" Barney asked. "You said you were kept downstairs all the time."

"I was," She shrugged. "It's just a feeling."

Will looked at her searchingly

"Very well then," John broke in, "Let's be on our way then."

They climbed into his jeep, a brown blanket spread over the back seat.

As they drew nearer the barn, both Jane and Will were straining with all their senses for any signs of the Dark's presence.

Jane could almost feel the emptiness of the barn in her mind. A hole yawned in her consciousness and she felt herself being drawn towards it.

A hand, roughly grasping her shoulder and shaking her slightly, pulled herself back from the brink.

Her eyes snapped open and saw her brother in front of her, his face twisted in worry.

"Simon?"

"Jane!" he exclaimed in relief, "we've been calling you for the last five minutes."

Jane blinked a couple of times, clearing her vision. The inside of the jeep slowly came into focus.

"What was it Jane?" Will sounded worried.

"I don't know. I was trying to see if the Dark were in there and then I felt a... I don't know how to explain it…" she gave up in frustration.

"Try." Will said in the gentle voice of an Old One, not a teenage boy.

"It was like a hole in my mind." She struggled to explain. "There was nothing there. No light and at the same time, no Dark. Except for the hole… it was completely empty."

John and Will exchanged a quick glance

"Jane, I don't think you should come in with us if it affected you this way."

Her face was set in a stubborn frown, but she didn't bother arguing with them, instead she simply opened the door on her side of the car and walked out, heading towards the barn.

The boys all scrambled out of the car at once, following her towards the building. John sat in the car for a moment more, thinking. He was just a man, nothing special, like these five, and he didn't like being involved in these magickal things. He was out of his depth here, and still he followed the children in.

Jane stepped through the large doorway only a few steps before the others. She stopped almost at once, and Simon, mistaking her hesitation for fear or pain, quickly looped an arm around her waist, taking some of her weight for her. She smiled at him, and then moved aside so the rest could enter. The barn itself wasn't an unpleasant place, but their perception of it was clouded by the fear and panic they had felt on that night, when Jane had been stabbed. Although there were few windows, they could all see clearly. Bran's eyes swept the interior as he walked towards the middle of the floor.

"There's no one here." He said with a remarkable certainty. Will joined him there and said awkwardly,

"I guess we should begin searching for the signs then. We should go in pairs, and if you see anything, shout. We'll all come running."

They split up into pairs, Bran going to the other rooms with Simon, Will and Barney exploring the main floor, and Jane and John climbing up into the higher level, which formed a hayloft.

He gave her a half smile as he moved to one end of the loft, leaving her the choice of whether to join him, or to go her own way. A soft smile came across her face, he understood that she didn't want to be protected all the time. She already felt like a liability. She perched on the edge of the loft, her feet swinging in the open air.

She remembered sitting like this when she was younger, always feeling safe, because her mother and father were there, within call, and Simon was there with her, Barney was down on the ground, sulking because he was too young to climb up the ladder. She had been very young then, exhilarated by the possible danger, as she walked along the edge of the floor, teetering sometimes, and then giggling with glee as she regained her balance. She hadn't fallen then, but now…

Jane was already in motion before she had finished that thought, as quietly as a whisper moving to the ladder and hurrying down it. She could hear Barney calling out to Will quite close by as she slipped past them, pausing a little at the door, thinking back to their conversation a couple of night ago, and then, suddenly she moved on once more.

John methodically moved from one end of the hayloft to the other, moving bales of hay to see if anything was concealed beneath them. He had only seen the Signs a couple of times, on the way to the Tree, but those pictures were burned onto his memory, the six circles quartered by crosses, all burning with some inner fire. He glanced up when he heard Will's voice urging Barney to push something with him, he heard the scrape of wood along the floor and then, looking down resumed his work. Suddenly, something registered in his mind, he was nearly at the end of the loft and Jane was nowhere to be seen.

"Jane!" He called at once, and the only reply he received was Barney and Will's appearance up the ladder. He turned to face them as the other two boys clattered into the main room.

"She's gone."

She stood outside the door, staring at it from the opposite side for once. It had been tricky getting past Bran and Simon, as she didn't know where they would be and they had almost spotted her, but she was here now, that was all that mattered.

She opened the door and stepped in, leaving the door open behind her. A figure sat in the corner, watching her. A smile crept across their face.

"So, you've returned."

"Yes."

She had fallen.

So many apologies from me for not updating sooner! I have neglected this for far too long. I've been writing this chapter by chapter, and after the last one, I wasn't quite sure where I wanted this to go. Now, I do have more of an idea, so I promise I'll do by best to update more often!

What did you think of it?

HuntressDiana