I was running, running impossibly fast, my footfalls echoing in the alleyway. I glanced behind my shoulder, seeing the dark shadow chasing me down the rank smelling passage. I tried to scream, working my throat furiously, only to find that it would make no sound. I shook away the panic I felt overcoming me, continuing to run from the dark pursuer.

I tripped on a garbage can lid, and arms wind-milling wildly, I crashed to the ground. My yells of pain and frustration were once again not audible. What is going on? I tried to stand, but some unseen force was weighing down on me, not allowing me to move upwards. I could hear it closing in on me now. Pounding my fists on the gravel in anger, I noticed feet had appeared in my line of vision. Looking up, I saw him there, ablaze in a brilliant light, his hand reaching down to me with a warm smile on his face. Chris.

I clasped his hand, and he pulled me up strongly, and I felt the forces that had entrapped me give way. Now on my feet, I stood close to Chris meeting his calm gaze. All thoughts of the creature behind me fled as I stared into his tranquil blue eyes. A thin, vertical light appeared in his left pupil, growing larger until it engulfed us.

My eyes slowly opened to reality. I blinked and shut my eyes tight as I realized a very bright light was blinding my own left eye. I moved to the right before opening my eyes again, and realized that the strip of light was sneaking into my room from the crack between my curtains. I shifted around on my makeshift bed, finally casting my gaze on my actual bed. Chris was lying there on his stomach, staring back at me with a contemplative look in his eyes. I raised my eyebrows, drawing back slightly in surprise.

"Do you always stare at people like that?" I asked, a bit unnerved.

He shook his head. "I'm not staring at you exactly. I'm thinking, and my eyes just happen to be looking your way."

Was he being sarcastic? I didn't think so, but I threw a pillow at him anyway. He caught with a smile, stuffing it under his head with the rest of the pillows. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he just gave an exaggerated sigh of content and ignored it. I took this chance to examine him. His bruises and black eye were still quite colourful, but at least the swelling had gone down since the last night. Although the cuts looked painful, they weren't showing signs of infection.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving!" I exclaimed, jumping up. When Chris didn't follow, I turned to him questioningly.

"Are you sure your mom won't care that I'm here? I mean, if anyone else's mom found a Chambers in their house, they'd just about die." He accentuated Chambers as if it made everything perfectly understandable. I hated how he thought he was lower than everyone because of his family.

"My mom's not like anyone else's mom. She probably doesn't know anything about your family except that we're neighbors. And," I added, looking at the clock, "she's at work right now anyway. Now will you come downstairs so I can have my morning nourishment?"

Chris laughed, smiling, and stood up stiffly. I watched him carefully, making sure he could walk okay. He could. I led him through the hall into the kitchen, sitting him down in a chair.

"What do you feel like eating," I asked, searching the cupboards. "I'll make anything."

Chris looked at me in mock surprise. "D'you actually mean to tell me you know how to cook? Without burning it to hell and back?"

I shot him the finger good-naturedly, still rummaging through the food. "Of course I know how to cook, Christopher. And," I said, eyeing a bag of flour, "I know exactly what I'm going to make! PANCAKES! You like pancakes, right?"

"Yep."

"And apples?"

"Mmhmm."

"What about cinnamon?"

"Yeah. What's with all the questions?"

I smiled broadly. "I'm making apple cinnamon pancakes! My mom and I used to make them when I was growing up." With a sadly fond smile on my face, I thought back to when my mom and I lived in Los Angeles, before we had to be on the run.

I gathered up all the ingredients, and employed Chris as my assistant. Actually, it was his idea, because I don't think he believed that I could make them properly, and I let him entertain that thought for the moment.

"Hey! Watch it!" Chris exclaimed as I laughed evilly, pouring out flour carelessly, raising a cloud around our heads. When it cleared I chuckled at the sight of Chris.

"Wow, flour sure is messy," I commented, pretending not to notice that both of us had the powdery substance in our hair, on our faces, everywhere. I stirred some milk into the bowl of flour, sprinkling in some baking powder. Next step: eggs. I looked from the eggs to Chris, who was peeling an apple, and back again. Dare I? Grinning slyly, I answered my own question. Grabbing an egg and hiding it in my hand, I went up to Chris and put my arms around his neck. Before he had a chance to do anything, I neatly cracked the egg above his head and ran.

He gasped as he felt the cool, slimy contents of the egg start to run down by his ear. "I'm gonna get you for that!" Laughing, he chased me throughout my house.

He finally caught me, pinned me on the floor and started tickling me mercilessly. "Stop!" I giggled, unable to control the ticklish part of me. "I'm s-sorry just s-stop t-t-tickling MEEE!" I struggled to breathe between bursts of laughter. After a few moments he did stop, propping himself up on his elbows, me still lying on my back under him, breathing heavily…That sounds like we were doing something else doesn't it? Forgive me, but I don't know how else to put it. I had finally gathered myself together when Chris kissed me, and just like that I was in pieces again. It was light and feathery, and I remembered he still had a busted lip. When we broke apart I brushed away some flour from his cheek. "You still have egg in your hair."

"As I recall, that's not MY fault," he accused, giving me a hand up. "Or do I have to tickle you again?"

"No!" I quickly said. I was way too ticklish, and now he knew the most vulnerable spots. "You can have a shower while I finish making the pancakes. The bathroom's the second last door to the left, and there's towels and everything in there."

"Sounds good," he said, giving me a smile and disappearing down the hallway. I heard the shower turn on moments after, and went back to making the pancakes.

"Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me, my lover stands on golden sands, and watches the ships that go sailing…" I sang softly, as I flipped the pancakes, my female interpretation of Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea". I liked the lyrics, but never really liked the way he sang it. When I heard the bathroom door open and footsteps getting closer, I stopped. I didn't like people listening to my singing, I didn't think I was very good.

Chris sat down at the table looking refreshed and his hair was still damp. I put the pancakes on two plates setting one in front of Chris, and he stared at them. I sat down and starting forking them into my mouth. I was hungry.

"These pancakes are green you know."

I looked up, my mouth half full. "Yeah, what of it?"

Chris just shook his head and took a bite of the lime green pancakes. I loved dying food funny colours with food dye. I'd gotten the idea from a Christmas recipe that dyed food red and green. Then I started doing that with everything. One of my favourites were green eggs, like in the Dr. Suess book.

"Hey, these are good!"

I nodded in exaggerated self-appreciation. "They're my specialty. Actually, they're one of the only things I can cook."

After we ate, Chris called his mom, not wanting to risk going back if his dad was still there. After a short while he hung up and turned to me, with worry in his eyes. "He's still there. My mom said he'd probably be leaving for the tavern soon. I can go home then," he sighed. "I hate leaving her there with him. He's not as hard on her as he is on me an' Eyeball though."

I reached for Chris' hand and gave it a squeeze. "It'll be okay Chris. Someday it will." I didn't know if I was talking more for myself or for him. We decided to pass the time by going to see if Gordie was busy.

It turned out that right when we got to his house, he was getting in the car to go to his cousin's in Portland and would be gone until tomorrow afternoon. He looked at Chris wordlessly, understanding immediately why his best buddy looked beat up. "You guys will just have to have some fun without me," he said before leaving. "If that's possible," he added with a smirk.

"What should we do now?" I asked as we watched his car drive out of sight.

Chris shoved his hands in his jean pockets and turned to me. "We could take a walk around town. Maybe we'll run into Vern or Teddy." I agreed and we set off down the road. I didn't know that I'd find my worst fear lurking around there.

We walked at a casual pace, partly because I was still worried about Chris' health since last night, and partly because we really weren't going anywhere. We just cracked jokes, talked about random things and tried to find something to amuse us for the day.

"So, how come you dye food weird colours?" Chris asked me, when other talk became dull.

I shrugged, looking up at the blue sky. "Awhile ago I got bored of food, and my mom thought I was anorexic. That wasn't true though, because I wanted to eat, it's just that I couldn't bear how everything was always the same. So she suggested I make it different. Dye was my solution. Odd isn't it?"

Chris kicked a pebble and it went flying. "Kinda, I guess. But I know what you mean."

We were passing the Blue Point Diner when I heard a sharp intake of breath from Chris. "Jesus, would you look at that car! That's one boss car!"

I turned to look at what he was talking about. There, parked in front of the diner was a ruby red 1958 Mercedes with a black leather interior. Oh god, could it really be it? Trembling, I looked at the license plate. MKE 437. The very number that was burned into my memory. I have to get away from here.

By that time Chris had noticed that my face was as white as milk and I was shaking badly. "Callie, you don't look so great. What's wrong?" I was frozen and unable to respond, so he grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Callie!"

I snapped out of it, my wide, frantic eyes meeting his puzzled ones. "It's happening," I informed him, in low, dead tone. "It's finally happening." I shook my head, trying to think clearly. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me, running away from the diner. The tree house, I thought. It's close.

Chris didn't say anything, just ran with me, sensing my distress. When we had climbed up into tree house and shut the door tightly, I let myself relax, slumping against the wall with my eyes closed. I could feel Chris' eyes on me, probably wondering what the hell just happened. I opened my eyes, looking at him. "Got a smoke?" He fumbled around in his pockets and came up with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. I took it gratefully, lighting up and taking a quick drag.

"I didn't know you smoked."

I grinned wryly. "I only do to settle my nerves, when they're really bad, like right now. I don't like to much, so I try to stay away from it."

He nodded, accepting my explanation. "So, you gonna tell me what just went on?"

I sighed deeply. I didn't really want to tell him, I had never told anyone this in my entire life. You can't keep secrets forever, I told myself. They always come out eventually, and you know it. So just tell him and get it over with!

"Yeah, okay. I know yours now anyway. It's only fair." I gave a nervous little smile, and continued. "You have to promise not to tell anyone this, not ever. People might find out later, and I might end up telling the other boys, but don't say anything until then. Promise?"

I knew Chris could sense the severity of the matter. "I promise."

"On your mother's soul?"

"Yes. On my mother's soul," he repeated the oath quietly.

"It all started when I was seven…"

A/N: Sorry, you're going to have to wait another chapter to find out Callie's secret! Hopefully I'll have that chapter out before I go to Costa Rica on March 8th. I'm sorry this one took me so long to write, I've had a writer's block. And I've become obsessed with The Outsiders, mostly Sodapop Curtis….I'm in love yet again. I bought the book and the DVD recently. If you haven't seen it or read it, do so at once! You really won't regret it. So yeah, I hope y'all are still reading this fic! Please review!

StormShadow21: You adore me? I feel so loved! Hehehe I love "your mom" jokes too. And yes, I saw Kalan Porter. It was so beautiful…starts daydreaming Ahem sorry bout that… I own Stand By Me! (One of the few things I own) I also own The Outsiders, as I said above, and I kidnapped Sodapop Curtis so he's mine too! I wish, anyway…Have you seen that movie? If you haven't, GO SEE IT! I'm trying to persuade everyone to. I like to share obsession haha. It's soooooo good. I think I'll switch topics now. I agree, Chachi is a hottie! I love him. Well anyway please review this chapter, and I'll try to get the next one out faster than this one. Cya!

Aleka: I'm glad you like my fic! And I love you for using the word "immersed". It's one of my favourite words, I like how it sounds. I'm odd, I know. Thanks for all the compliments, and I'm glad you don't think Callie's a Mary-Sue or anything! Hope you like this chapter!

DiggingDog: pictures Chris' father in a washing machine YAY! Hehe that would make my day. Chris staying at my house would also make my day! I love the "let the Chris be with you" thing. Thank you very much for reviewing!

Ktk2005: Thank you! Yes, Chris and Callie are adorable together if I do say so myself… I just wish I were her! But I'll have to be content with being the creator. Enjoy!

ViCioUsKiTTie: Wow, your name took my awhile to type! I'm really tired I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, hahaha. Thanks for saying my story's amazing! And for reviewing!

Screaming666: Thanks for sticking with my story and reviewing! I hope you haven't given up on it, I know it's been weeks since I updated. I had to force myself to get over my writer's block and write this. Which was kinda hard 'cause I sprained my wrist earlier and it hurts to type. Please keep readin' and reviewin'!