Michael and Jack came home with me although I'm sure it was for the express purpose of making sure that I would pack like I said I would and leave immediately as promised. For some reason, Michael especially has major trust issues where I'm concerned,

After I finished packing, they hustled me out the door without even letting me say goodbye to the Everses or any of my family. I don't know why. Maybe they thought I would linger too long or something.

Anyway, we left the house without a word. Jack held one of my bags and Michael held the other. I was sandwiched between them and in that fashion, we went to Thunder Mesa and Ravenswood Manor.

When we arrived, the state of the town surprised me. On my last visit, it had been lively and busy and fun. Now, people were absent from the streets and no sound carried on the wind.

"Jack, where is everyone?"

He regarded me without seeing me. "Little Lily, Thunder Mesa is not a twenty-four hour town. Most folks need their sleep, and with it being so late at night, they're all home in their beds."

I nodded. Of course they all were in bed. I'd been at home for too long. Gracey Manor was a twenty-four/seven place. No matter what time of day or night, someone was always up.

"What about Melanie? Do you think she's asleep?"

This time, Michael answered. "No, she wouldn't be. She never slept at night. At least she never did when I visited before."

Finally, we reached the house high on the hill. Michael and Jack stood with me and waited for someone to get the door, and didn't leave until I was safely inside with Melanie watching me.

"I don't know what's gotten into those two," she said as she embraced me. "You see them one minute, and the next, they're off and you never see them again."

"They need to get their house back," I explained to her. "According to Jack, it's urgent, and after seeing the guy that took it, it's no wonder to me why they want it back so badly."

Melanie looked at me wide-eyed. "You saw him Chrissy? You saw Frank Malrooney?"

I nodded. "Yes, I saw him. He's disgusting and vile, and I don't think he's ever bathed one day in his life."

Melanie smiled a bit at that. "It should be easy to get the house back, right? All Michael has to do is beat him in another duel for the deed."

I shook my head. "Mellie, I'm afraid it's not that simple. According to my Mama, who knows everything there is to know about the whole Michael-Frank Malrooney fray, the house won't return to Allen-Park family hands until the last living member dies. And supposedly, he's still young."

Melanie's eyes were narrowed. "I can just picture him, the last living Malrooney," she said, her voice full of hate. "I bet he revels in what he has and is just as heartless as the other members of his accursed family were."

Just then, her father came into the kitchen and sat next to Melanie at the table. When he saw me, he grinned.

"Well, hello Miss Christine! We meet again."

I smiled back. "Hello Mr. Ravenswood." He still didn't look like the perfect picture of health, but he'd gained some weight and most of his color was back in his face.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked.

Thanks to my southern upbringing, I'd never turned down a meal, although Michael had tried to curb my compulsive eating habits.

"Sure! What do you have?"

He looked around in the pantry. "There's some extra chocolate chip cookies Martha made last baking day. Would you like those with a glass of milk?"

I could feel my stomach grumble. "Yes please. And thank you."

When he came back with the milk, he placed the glass and three cookies in front of me. Smiling at him, I immediately bit into the cookies. They were delicious. Not as good as my Aunt Vickie's, but Martha Ravenswood was no slouch with an oven.

After all my dishes were cleared, Melanie led me to an upstairs room that seemed very familiar to me.

"Do you like it? No one's changed anything since they shut the hotel down."

I looked around the room contentedly. "It's perfect. Just the way I remember it."

Smiling with satisfaction, Melanie sat down on the bed and motioned for me to sit beside her.

"So Chrissy, what's been going on lately?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Daddy sold the house and now it's an amusement park ride. Scott's back, but now it's really him and not just some body Leona stuck him into. I know I should be scared, seeing as how he tried to exorcise me last time we were together, but I'm just not."

Melanie had the same worried expression as Michael and Jack had.

"Oh Chrissy, be careful! You never know what he'll do next! Be on your guard always."

We didn't talk about Scott for the rest of the day, and instead, explored the town and went to some theater shows. It was very enjoyable.

That night, I went to bed sufficiently exhausted. Despite it, I slept fitfully, tossing and turning in every direction, until about midmorning when I finally relaxed and fell asleep. I didn't see anything, I didn't know anything. That being said, I didn't see Scott and Leona bring me home, and it was the words of an ancient and evil spell recited in Scott's calm, soothing voice that rocked me to sleep.

When I finally did wake up, I felt strange. I couldn't speak, and I had only one thought that while not unreasonable, was somewhat belated. It was revenge.

Thanks, AW!