Author's Note: Two more chapters after this. I know it's a longshot, but it'd make me love you forever if I could make 400 reviews with this.

Chapter 30

"John," called Angela, shifting her pack uneasily as they began the sharp climb up into the forest. He was several hundred feet ahead, vanishing now and again behind bends in the trail. She hadn't had the heart to tell him about waking in the cabin the night before. Just that she'd had another dream. The body was strange this time, and didn't fit with the rest of the pattern. A single gunshot wound to the head.

Though it was only late afternoon, the rainforest was already beginning to get dark, clouds gathering overhead. The trees overhung the path and the dirt squished underfoot, cold mud.

"Yeah." He turned back at last, perching long-legged with one foot up on a log.

"You do realize what we're doing here is insane."

"The thought had crossed my mind, yes." The piercing call of an unseen forest bird punctuated his words, a high, mournful note as though nature was already planning their funeral.

"Do you really think that this—"

"Don't you?" he asked firmly, interrupting her.

Angela sighed and paused as she caught up with him. She knew that what she was doing was way out of character for her, even with everything that had happened lately. And still there was something inexplicable about her decision, a pull toward the forest, the feeling that she had to come here and follow this path. She could not rest until she had done so.

"I…I hope so." She wasn't sure of anything anymore, to be honest, but at the moment appeasing whatever had taken hold of her body and stolen her rest was of utmost importance. Truth be told she wasn't sure if she even had the physical capability to make it to wherever they were going—she felt lightheaded already and they'd barely been walking for half an hour.

Constantine gave her a look as she stumbled over a tree root for the umpteenth time, grabbing her hands to keep her upright.

"Tell me I'm not going to have to carry you," he quipped, though the worry was evident in his eyes.

Angela shook her head and plunged ahead of him, too tired to come up with a response. The trees grew more dense as they continued walking, huge old growth trees covered in moss that hung down like hair. Branches snaked up toward any opening in the canopy, fingers groping for sunlight and sustenance. As they came to one with several holes in the trunk, Angela thought she caught a glimpse of something moving in the underbrush behind. Something neither human nor animal. Something not quite alive.

"We have to go off the trail," she decided, not clear how she knew, but sure of it nonetheless. There was something here, something in the vibrations of the place. Something calling to her.

She shifted her pack again and stepped off the trail, peering around the tree in search of the movement again. Something was at the center of what she'd been feeling all day; something was giving off those waves. It had to be.

Nothing.

"Angela?" Constantine crashed noisily through the brush behind her, now struggling to keep up. The flash of whatever it had been had given her renewed energy, a strength she hadn't felt in days surging through her veins as the adrenaline spread.

"This way. Do you feel it?"

He nodded, caught up as she tripped again, took hold of her by the shoulders.

"Angela, stop."

She turned to face him, resisting the urge to flinch as he took hold of her shoulders. Her shoulder pressed into his chest, and for a moment it seemed there was an electrical current between them.

"Slow down. Be careful. You can see it, it can see you."

"But I can't—"

"Just focus."

Angela nodded, pulled out of his grasp and continued walking, more carefully. Thick raindrops began to fall, hitting the leaves with little pop noises. The already mushy trail quickly turned slippery, their feet sinking into the dirt. The presence was growing stronger, pulsating. She could practically see waves forming in the air.

She began to walk again, slowly, letting her eyes fall half closed. It was crazy, she knew, to try and walk through a forest blind, and yet she felt she could see more clearly this way. The colors changed and intensified as her vision began to make the crossover from physical to astral. Trees vibrated with life, shimmering luminescent green, covered in jade moss. Eyes peered out from all over the rainforest, beings unseen, hiding in the undergrowth. And something else. Something dark and slithering.

Behind her loomed Constantine's presence, shining brighter than anything else in the area, but swirling with red and black. Angela shuddered, looked away. She could never look at him for long, no matter what her vision. The new Sight was dizzying, and she couldn't hold onto it for long. She paused after a moment, stumbled, fell to her knees.

They were in a meadow of sorts, a clearing in the trees. They had come much farther off the trail in what she'd thought had been a short time—but then she knew that time changed when a crossover occurred. Her entire body shook with exhaustion—any last shred of energy was now gone, as was her connection to the presence.

"Jesus," she whispered, resisting the sudden urge to cry. Her hands had sunk several inches deep in the mud, and her entire body felt cold and clammy.

"Angela." Constantine bent down and took hold of her waist, worry evident in his voice for once. "Can you get up?"

"I…I don't think…"

"Damn it." He knelt down, slipped one arm under her knees, effectively scooping her into his arms. " 'Said I wasn't going to have to fucking do this."

"John I'm sorry," she mumbled, feeling suddenly reduced to complete uselessness. She'd failed again, failed when it really mattered this time. She'd put them both in danger without even thinking, and now they were trapped out here with the killer.

"Quiet," he muttered, carrying her over to a huge old tree. The roots had been hollowed out, blackened and burned away by lightning, creating a hollow large enough for them to sit in. With surprising ease, he knelt down and lowered Angela to the ground, leaning her back against the giant roots.

"Can you see it?" she asked after a moment, shivering. "I…I lost it somehow."

Constantine shook his head.

"No. It's waiting for us. Baiting us. It'll be back."

"So…what now?"

"We wait." He took off his pack and hers, sat down next to her. "As long as it takes."

Review please!