The door fell away from Travis's hand with a creak that echoed loud as a scream as he stepped into the room-

The first thing he saw was Alessa- even though he saw all the figures surrounding her, all he could focus on was her -she didn't have any hair left, he could barely tell it was her-

The figures in capes and hoods and masks were turning to look at him now.

She didn't look like Alessa. She looked dead.

"Alessa!" her name burst from his throat in a scream even as hands grabbed at him, keeping him from moving- "Alessa! What are you doing to her?"

"Bad boy!"

Travis froze. He knew that voice.

"You bad boy!"

He winced as one hooded figure came forward, as hands with needle sharp nails grabbed him and started to shake him. "You bad boy! How dare you interrupt the ceremony?! How dare you come here?!"

Her hands were moving to his throat and he couldn't breathe-

Gunshot.

The thing that was not his mother wrenched itself away. Inhuman guttural noises escaped a mouth that was all jagged edges and too large and too sharp teeth as it lunged at a slim figure at the other side of the room.

Even as more gunshots rang out, Travis pushed himself off the floor where he'd landed, gripped the sledgehammer tight again. It was snake like, he could see that now, no legs, only a long strong tail that it supported itself with- and whoever that was on the other side of the room, they'd probably just saved his life.

Not Mom, he told himself even as he stepped forward and lifted the sledgehammer in the air, that monster is not Mom- even if it did used to be, not anymore! - and began whaling away.

It screamed before lashing out at him and sending him flying into the table fixed into the center of the room.

The other person -blonde girl, Travis noticed absently, with the most determined look he'd ever seen-took advantage of his being out of the way to start shooting again, filling the air with flying lead.

The snake jerked and screamed each time it was shot.

Travis shook his head as he got up, his head was still spinning slightly from the blow he'd taken.

He would not stay down. He was no longer a child who could do nothing but cower in the face of a grownup's rage. He was a grownup himself now. He could- and would- fight back.

Even as he and the blond girl fought the monster, they began to move closer together- the monster lunged forward, aiming itself at the blond but Travis stepped in the way and swung the hammer, using it as both an attack and a shield. It only struck a glancing blow, but it was enough to prevent the monster from reaching them- before it had time to do more than hiss at them, the girl was stepping beside him, her side pressed against him even as she raised the gun and fired again, throwing it back with every bullet that entered its body.

For a brief moment, Travis tilted his head, trying to look at her without taking his eyes off the monster, and he smelled flowers and fruit- so out of place that for a moment he couldn't recognize them-

Then the girl ran out of bullets and Travis moved back in again, pummeling it until it fell down and even then, he hit it a couple of times extra, not willing to take the slightest chance that it might get up and attack them again.

My mother- she tried to kill me -Ms. Gillespie had to pull her off, talking about how they could use me, taking advantage of the half of Alessa that they did have and me, they should be able to summon the other half- and-

"Are you okay?"

It was the girl, worry reflected in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just-" and she was reaching forward and touched him, lightly, just on the shoulder. That was when the sirens started again and he just had time to catch her before he too blacked out.

OoOoOo

He woke up on a bench, outside in a garden (or at least an area that was trying hard to be a garden, even if it was more dead than alive) with the weight of the girl's head on his shoulder. There was dirt and grim smeared on her body and her clothes- not surprising considering where they'd been- but the scent of some fruit smelling shampoo still clung to her hair. Strawberries, he realized and couldn't stop himself from smiling at how out of place it was hre and yet how fitting it seemed for her.

Even as his lips moved, she shook her head- slowly at first, then quicker, more awake- and stood up.

"Where are we now?" She asked as she looked around, then turned back and faced him. He could actually look her over now- she had some shallow cuts and he could see areas that would become truly impressive bruises later, but nothing life threatening. That was as long as he could bear to look at her. Her question had made him focus again.

"Outside the hospital," Travis said, lowering his head into his hands. So many memories… and a lot of them were painful. His mother had-

"Are you hurt?"

He looked up into big brown eyes, fixed on his. Something Travis didn't understand jumped in his heart and he had to clear his throat before he could speak. "No, I don't think so. I just-" he sighed and looked away.

Shake shake shake. He looked back to see her holding out a health drink, obviously offering it to him. "I found a bunch of these. Here, take it. You look dead on your feet."

Travis smiled wryly. "I feel it," he said, as he reached out and took it. Oddly enough, it did make him feel better. Maybe it was just the fact that there was a normal human being with him now.

As he drank it, the girl stood there, watching him, with a thoughtful look on her face, watching him.

He watched her too. He wasn't sure how old she was, late teens probably. Pretty too. Her blonde hair was short, and messy. And possibly dyed, if the darker streaks near the top of her head were any indication. Travis was certainly no expert though, so he could be wrong. But it was her eyes he kept looking back at.

"Thanks," he said as he stood up to throw away the empty bottle.

"No problem. So, do you know what's going on in this town?"

"I know a bit," Travis said, wishing he knew more. He wasn't even sure why he'd ended up in that room. Alessa had been there before, but she certainly wasn't there now. "It shouldn't-"

"It shouldn't involve you" was what he wanted to say, "now that you're out you should be fine, should be safe. Go home and be safe and live." That was what he wanted to say, but what came out of his mouth was "what's your name?"

"Cheryl Mason."

"Oh." For a moment, he fought with disappointment that she hadn't said "Alessa". He'd asked because of the possibility that she might have been someone he'd known back then- her name was familiar- but of course, she couldn't be Alessa.

The way Alessa had looked the last time he'd seen her flashed before his eyes- burned all over, laying as still as if she was dead for real- Travis breathed out and focused on the girl- Cheryl- in front of him, her dark brown eyes focused on him. And as their eyes met, he remembered where he'd heard the name "Cheryl Mason" before. Or more accurately, where he'd read it.

For a moment, his hand twitched towards the sketchbook he'd tucked into his vest before he stopped himself. It took him a couple of tries before he could get his throat working again. "I'm Travis. Travis Grady. What-what happened to you? How'd you get involved in this mess?"

"I wish I knew," she gave a frustrated sigh as she crossed her arms, "all I did was climb though the hospital window and then I was attacked by this weird nurse monster. That's when I found this," and she gestured to the gun. "And I kept finding these arrows-"

"Drawn in crayon?"

"Yeah. You saw them too?"

"Not only that, I saw the girl who was drawing them."

"It was a girl?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just- in the hospital, for a moment, I thought I saw a boy. Maybe it was just a trick of the light…" she sighed again, and she shook her head before facing him again. "Listen, can we go talk about this somewhere else? I came to this town with my dad and I'm a little worried about him."

"That sounds like a good idea," Travis agreed. "Let's go find him."

Finding Cheryl's father was a bit more difficult than Travis had thought it would be. It wasn't like he expected anything in this town to be easy, but he hadn't expected the street to be blocked by several cars, forming a makeshift barricade. It almost looked the inhabitants had decided to prepare for an invasion.

After Cheryl kicked one of the cars, he gave her a boost over before he clambered over himself.

"So, you've never been to this town before?" Travis asked as they began walking again.

She looked away. "I don't think so. What about you?"

Travis waited a moment before responding, trying to fit his memories together. "I think I used to live here…a long time ago. The girl I mentioned before, the one who's drawing those arrows…I knew her. And then, something happened to her. I need to find her, find out what happened to her. Once I do…this- what ever this is that's going on should end." He sighed and looked at Cheryl. "I don't understand how you became involved though-"

Gunshot.

The two of them froze before taking off in the direction of the shot.

A gas station. And old jeep, surrounded by- Travis knew those outfits- his mother had had one- it was the uniform of the people who took Alessa away!-

And a man in a brown jacket was facing them, leaning for support against the car but pointing a gun firmly at them. Older than Travis, middle aged, brown hair-

"Dad!"

That answered that question.

The robed mob turned to face them now and began muttering.

"The Holy One!"

"It's her!"

Two things happened at once.

"Cheryl run!" yelled her father and Travis, without having to devote thought to it, stepped in front of her, gripping the sledgehammer. Like an old habit, so deeply ingrained, protecting her felt right.

"Kill both the men, but leave her alive."

Behind him, Travis heard the sound of clips being slid into the gun. "Over my dead body," Cheryl said in a fierce voice that made him smile.

At least the humans weren't as tough to kill as the monsters.

Cheryl backed up and began taking out the cultists furthest from Travis and her father.

Her father also began shooting and Travis stood his ground as two of the robed men came after him. One of them ran ahead of the other which gave Travis the perfect opportunity to take out his knee caps. When he fell to the ground Travis did the same to the next one. The third stopped just outside of his swing radius and moved to try to circle around him, but Cheryl shot him in the leg, and then Travis smashed the other one.

Two more of them came rushing at him and Travis struck one as Cheryl moved to his slide and also struck.

And then they looked around and there was only one left- but he was standing right beside Cheryl's father with a gun to his head. "Drop your weapons!"

Without a choice, they did so.

He started to laugh, but then stopped and collapsed- and then the man from earlier, the one who Travis had talked to in front of Alessa's house stepped foward with a bloody knife and a sick face. "Ha yourself."

"Vincent, what-" one of the cultists that wasn't dead started.

"Oh shut up," the man said wearily. "You idiots don't understand what you're getting yourself into." He turned and gave Cheryl's father, who'd slumped back against the car, a know it all smile, although the weariness pulled at the edge of it. "Hello, you must be Harry Mason, the one who stole Alessa from us."

Cheryl reached him then, brushing past the man in the glasses, and began helping her father up. He winced as he straightened up and faced him. "She wanted to be stolen," he said simply.

Travis took a step forward- shut his eyes and suppressed a groan as more memories clicked into place. He opened his eyes in time to see the man- Vincent- spread his hands in a smugly benevolent way. "Don't worry, Mr. Mason, I'm on your side."

"So you say," Cheryl said, giving him a distrusting look.

"How rude of you to say that," Vincent said, with sweeping gestures. "Here I've just saved the lives of your father and-"

"Shut up Vincent," Travis said, trying not to smile as he walked past and moved to help support Harry. "Should we go to the hospital?" he asked as he slid an arm under Harry's other shoulder, ignoring Vincent's stare.

"No," Harry said, wincing. "The hospital staff is riddled with cultists."

"Then we need to get out of town," Cheryl said.

Travis frowned. "I'm not sure we can. Vincent, you know what what's going on, right?"

"Of course I do. Who are you anyway?"

Travis chuckled. "Lisa didn't recognize me either. I guess I really do look different. Come on Vincent. You're supposed to know everything, but you don't recognize me?"

Vincent gave him a baffled look before it hit him. "Travis?!"

"Long time no see."

"But-how-" and then he looked at Cheryl again and smirked. But somehow, this one was different. Not as annoying, not as smug. This one was almost… friendly. "Oh, I see. Even after all this time, when she cries, you still come running, huh?"

Harry began to look at the two of them suspiciously, and Cheryl broke in with "Should we really be hanging about here?"

"Good point. Follow me," Vincent said with a gesture, and began to walk away.

"Is he really trustworthy?"

Travis started to say something like "of course!" but then caught himself and shrugged. "More than anyone else in this town. And he did save our lives."

Harry sighed, and they began to follow.

OoOoOo

Man this chapter- and the rest of my life- was so intent on killing me. I'm pretty much posting it to get rid of it. Is it too rushed? There are some explanations coming up next chapter.

As for good news, there's about six chapters left for this fic.

Cheryl: Assuming you don't go crazy with revision.

True.

Travis: There's also your job tests you need to be studying for.

Yes, yes.

Harry: And all the other fanfics and original stories you want to write and keep getting distracted by.

That's it, I'm going to go hide under my bed now.