This one is loooooooooooooooooooong. But a lot needed to be said and done here. AND there is a lot of line-jumping because there are a lot of perspective changes. You ever get Keely's and Carey's in this one! I hope you enjoy it!

A week later, Annie found herself walking home from the mall with Keely. Seeing her with Jack had gotten easier, but it still bothered Annie more than she'd like to admit. However, Keely seemed to sense her discomfort, so she refrained from talking about him- most of the time. Still, Annie was determined not to let such a good friend slip away from her, so they had hung out together several times since she had found them on the couch. Today, they had lost track of time shopping and had stayed out for dinner. Hope Springs wasn't a particularly dangerous town, so Molly had agreed to let them walk home.

"Maybe I should have gotten the blue shirt instead," Annie said. "It might go better-"

She stopped, causing Keely to walk into her.

"Annie?" she asked curiously. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah but… didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Annie opened her mouth to explain, but she heard it again, a ghost-like whisper.

"It sounds like a child!" Annie cried. "Calling for her cat. You can hear it can't you?"

"No," Keely said firmly. "It must be your imagination."

"I'm sure it wasn't," Annie said. "Some poor kid has lost her cat. We should help her."

"Annie, I don't think it's any of-"

"Here, kitty, kitty…"

"See!" Annie cried triumphantly, noting the look on her friend's face. "I told you I heard something. C'mon, let's go help."

"Annie…"

But Annie wasn't listening. She was busy trailing the voice.

"It's sounds like someone's in that building!" Annie said, surprised.

The building in front of her was large, and clearly abandoned. It looked as though it could collapse any moment, and there was caution tape strewn across the windows.

"C'mon kitty, kitty…"

"Someone's in there," Annie said, certain of it. "We have to go in."

"NO, we DON'T," Keely practically yelled, grabbing Annie's arm. "We HAVE to go home, or Molly's going to be worried about you."

"Look at this place! If there's a kid in there they could get seriously hurt!"

"And so could we! Annie, don't be stupid!"

"You wait out here then," Annie told her. "I'm going inside."

"Wait."

At the quiet tone, Annie turned and looked at her friend curiously.

"If I go in with you, you have to promise me something," Keely said seriously.

"Okay," Annie answered, puzzled at her behavior.

"If something… happens. You can't scream. Just wait five minutes. Then everything will be okay again."

Annie stared at Keely.

"What do you-"

"Annie, promise me!"

"Okay, I promise," she said, confused by the request, and the seriousness in her voice. "Now let's go."

Setting down their bags, they climbed through the disintegrating doorway.

"You're never gonna beat me, bro."

Carey maneuvered his car around the corners with ease. He'd been playing the game longer than Jack, and was always pleased when he could beat his friend.

"Man," Jack grumbled as Carey finished the race a good six seconds before Jack did.

"Can't beat a pro, Jack," Carey teased.

"You should play against Keely sometime," Jack told him. "She's pretty good."

At his girlfriend's name, Carey felt his neck muscles tighten.

"Is this going to be one of those times where you spend the next three hours talking about how great she is?" he asked, trying to sound good-natured and not annoyed.

Jack shoved him.

"I don't talk about her that much," he protested. "She's just…"

"I know, I know. You have a 'connection' right?"

Jack glared at him.

"Think it's lame all you want but someday you'll meet someone who… Carey? Hey, man, are you okay?"

While he was talking, Carey had begun to stare fixedly at the window.

"What time did Annie say she was gonna be home?" he asked suddenly, standing up.

"I don't know, why?"

Carey didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the closet and grabbed two coats. One he threw and Jack and the other he put on.

"Get a flashlight," he instructed, heading for the front door and walking down the porch steps.

"Carey, wait!" Jack called from behind him. "Carey… where are we going?"

"I don't know," Carey answered honestly, his face a mixture of fear and determination. "But we have to go there.

Jack fell silent, and Carey was lost in his thoughts. He didn't know where he was taking them, but he felt an overpowering urge to get there, and fast. It was as though someone was calling to him, pulling him towards them. He was reluctant to believe that's what was happening, but compelled to go forward.

"Ah!" he cried, knees bucking beneath him.

A searing wave of fear had washed over him, so strong it made his head pound and the world go black before his eyes. He could hear Jack shouting at him, but it was at a distance. Then suddenly, he saw a face in the blackness, a face that mirrored the terror he was feeling. He didn't understand it, but he didn't care.

"She's in trouble," he winced.

Using Jack to pull himself up, he gritted his teeth and began to run.

"Great, just great. 'Let's follow the mysterious noise in the darkness! Oh look, it sounds like it's coming from this decaying building. Why don't we go in?' Stupid!"

Keely was muttering to herself as she walked along the pitch-black hallway, trying not to stumble.

'Why did I let her drag me into here?' she wondered. 'Why did I let her come in here? There's no cat, there's no kid, and if anything happens to Annie it'll be my fault!'

"Annie?" she called suddenly, wondering how far ahead of her her friend had gotten. When there was no answer, she yelled again.

"Annie! Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you."

The voice came out of nowhere, and despite herself Keely shuddered.

"You're not real," she whispered, knowing as she said it she was lying. Whoever was talking was real, and it was pulling her towards it.

"Stop it!" she cried. "This isn't the time!"

"Here, kitty, kitty… come and play…"

And then there were no more floorboards beneath her feet. For a split second she was filled with mind-numbing fear… and then there was nothing but blackness.

The sound of splintering wood nearly stopped her heart.

"Keely?" she called out, turning on her heel. "Keely?"

The air was filled with rapacious laughter. It made Annie's hair stand on end.

"Goodbye, kitty."

Eyes wide and frantic, Annie ran. She didn't know how she would find Keely in the dark, but she knew suddenly that coming in here had been a mistake. The stairs she had so carefully come up suddenly loomed in front of her, and Annie half fell half slid down two flights of them, scratching her hands and face in the process. When she finally stopped falling, what she saw made her wish she hadn't. There, in a patch of moonlight, lay Keely, her open eyes wide and staring, unblinking. Her mouth was slightly agape and a thin trail of blood had rolled down her cheek.

"Keely?" she asked in a small voice, crawling over to her friend. Reaching her, she noticed Keely's neck was bent at un-natural angle. At that, Annie did what she promised she wouldn't do.

She screamed.

Her scream ripped through the air like lightning, and ahead of him, Carey ran faster. Jack felt his own heart skip a beat as he recognized the scream.

'Annie,' he thought. 'That was Annie.'

"In here!" Carey yelled, crashing through the doorway of a run-down building.

"Annie!" he yelled. "Keira! Are you in here?"

"Keely!" Jack shouted from behind him, suddenly feeling as though things were very, very wrong. "Where are you?"

"Upstairs," Carey said frantically. "Watch your step."

Without question, Jack followed Carey up the rickety staircase.

Annie cradled her knees in her arms, creating a ball with her body. Tears fell down her face, but she hardly felt them. She kept thinking there had to be something wrong, that she wasn't seeing what she thought she was seeing. Keely couldn't be- glowing?

But she was. A bright light encased her and then disappeared with a flash. A gasp came from the body on the floor as her neck seemed to snap back into position. Annie watched, horrified as Keely blinked slowly at her.

"Don't tell anyone," she rasped. "I'll explain it later, I-"

"Annie!"

Startled, Annie looked to the doorway. Jack and Carey stood there, faces pale in the moonlight. Jack was staring at her in concern, and for a brief moment she though he was going to run to her. Then he realized Keely was in worse shape and the moment was gone.

"Oh my God," he said, rushing to his girlfriend. "Keely… Keira…"

"I'm okay," she said, letting Jack help her up. Almost immediately she fell again, eyes rolling upwards. Jack and Carey both grabbed for her, and it was Carey who seized her into his arms.

"Annie," Jack said, this time helping her stand. "What on earth happened?"

"I- I don't know," she stammered, still mystified with what she had seen. "We heard this voice, a kid. We thought someone was in trouble. And then she fell through the floorboards and I fell down the stairs and I thought…"

"We heard you scream," Jack told her, his hand on her arm to steady her.

"I thought she was dead," Annie continued, and suddenly the image of Keely as she had been only moments before came into her minds eye. Sinking to her knees, Annie heaved, the contents of her stomach falling to the hard wood floor.

"I'm taking Keely outside," Carey announced. "I'll lie her down on the grass. Take care of Annie."

Jack nodded, his hand already on her back. He heard Carey's footsteps leave, and for a moment he was compelled to go with him. Keely was his girlfriend, and he should be with her.

'Carey will take care of her,' he reasoned. 'Right now, Annie needs you.'

When her stomach was empty, Annie fell against Jack, crying softly. He wrapped his arms around her tentatively.

"It's okay," he whispered to her. "It's okay now, Annie."

Outside, Carey sat down on the grass, cradling Keely's head in his lap. He noticed some of her blood had rubbed off on his shirt, but he didn't care. He needed to know that she was okay.

He rubbed some dirt off her forehead, and as he did, her eyes opened and she sat straight up, nearly causing their heads to collide. They stared at him for a moment, and he froze, lost in their intensity. He could see himself reflected there and he bent his head towards her as if a magnet was pulling him. He heard her inhale sharply and he stopped centimeters away from her mouth. He gazed at her, drinking in her face. At this proximity he could see every freckle lining her nose, every fleck of gold in her eyes. Their eyes still locked, he brought his hand to her face and wiped the blood off her mouth with his thumb. Her eyes glistened, and her lips opened slightly, as if there was something she wanted to say but couldn't. He swallowed, eyes darting to her lips. They were full and moist, he noticed, and they were driving him crazy. Looking back into her eyes once more he gazed at her searchingly before finally closing them and pressing his forehead to hers. He felt her sigh more than he heard it, and he squeezed her shoulders lightly, captivated by the tension between them.

"Carey! Keely!"

They broke away sharply, and he could already feel the cold seeping into all the places she'd been pressed against him.

"Keely," Jack breathed in relief, hugging her tightly.

"I'm okay," she repeated, and Jack pressed his lips to hers.

Carey closed his eyes, fighting a moment of nausea at the scene.

'I almost just did that,' he thought with disbelief. 'I almost just kissed Jack's girlfriend.'

"I'm so glad you're okay," Jack was saying, rocking her back and forth. He glanced at Annie. "Both of you. What where you guys thinking?"

"We just wanted to help the kid," Keely said vacantly.

Annie stared off into space as Jack continued to stroke Keely's hair, and Carey had his eyes closed, replaying the events of his evening in his mind, trying to untangle them. Over Jack's shoulder, Keely stared at him, hurt and uncertainty furrowing her brow as the four of them sat there, each lost in their own world of confusion.

Sorry for all the line-jumping, just needed to go back and forth between people a lot. Hopefully the fifth chapter will be up soon. Please R&R!