Selena Coombs stood in her kitchen making herself some breakfast, she had chosen to have bacon and eggs which meant she could make a significant amount of noise with pans to disturb her lovers peaceful sleep.

Billy had come home after midnight last night stinking of alcohol. Usually she would not begrudge anyone having a little fun; however, she had been grading papers all night and had been woken up by his incessant drunken ramblings when he finally stumbled his way into her bed. She could not sleep properly after that and as she was not as important has he was in his career she could not choose to lie in like he could, so she had gotten up irritated and was now seething.

The amount of noise was not providing her desired affect; therefore, she picked up a clean pan and launched it at the bedroom door. She smiled when she heard him curse in surprise at the loud bang and he rushed out of the bedroom. 'I'm sorry, did I disturb you honey?' she asked cattily.

Billy glanced around the kitchen to locate the cause of the bang and spotted a pan on the floor. When Selena did not turn towards him he suspected he was in trouble and let out a sigh. 'Not at all sweet pea' he answered sarcastically and took a seat at the dining table.

Selena poured a mug of coffee, slammed it down hard in front of him and smiled when he reached for his head due to the load noise. She would at least get some satisfaction knowing he was suffering with a hangover. 'You're gonna wanna drink that honey, your shift begins in an hour and I'm sure you could use a pick me up to start your day'

Billy closed his eyes at the throbbing pain in his head, he should not have drank so much especially midweek. 'I'm not goin' in today Selena, I don't feel great'

'The hell you aren't...' she snapped then turned towards her breakfast on the stove, '...You chose to stupidly stay out and drink an inordinate amount of alcohol when you knew you had work the next day...Suck it up William, you reap what you sow'

Billy let out a long sigh and got up from the table, there was no talking to her when she got like this. He strolled over to her and placed a kiss on her cheek, then grabbed the plate of bacon and eggs she had just finished dishing out. 'How sweet of you to make sure I'm well fed before work, you're a peach' he said knowing the breakfast was for her and headed to the bedroom with the plate.

Selena stood with her hands on her hips and shook her head at how mundane her life had become, then went to the cupboard and found herself a bagel that she could toast for herself.

Gail awoke from a deep sleep to an intense migraine, she closed her eyes tight to keep the daylight from making the pain worse and pondered over the strange dream she had awoken from. She had been alone in an old cabin which had initially appeared to be deep in the woods; however, the faint sound of water indicated she was close to a river. Keeping with the theme of her dreams lately, it was safe to assume it was the Trinity River as that always found a way into her subconscious these days.

She appeared to be drawn to the water and she could not explain why, she had even felt the strong pull in her dream and wanted to find the riverbank; however, something deep within her had warned her against leaving the cabin. Gail had surveyed her surroundings as she normally did and made a mental note of the layout of the cabin. She had spotted a dreamcatcher above one of the doors and entered the room to find a large king size bed with an old log fireplace. It struck her as strange that the fireplace would not be in the main room of the cabin, but she had pushed that thought out of her mind and focused on locating anything which indicated where she was.

Gail caught sight of something out of place on the bed, she approached the pillows and found the talisman she had stumbled across in the Wicca store situated in Goat Town. She carefully picked up the talisman and examined it closely, everything appeared to be connected and she felt like she was getting close to the truth; however, she was unsure what truth that would be and it had crossed her mind that she may be better off not knowing.

Before she had a chance to contemplate the matter she had caught sight of something in the corner of her eye, she turned towards the window and saw the dark haired woman from the riverbank that she escaped the previous night. Gail took a step back as the woman banged on the window with her fists, this cabin was old and it would not take much force to break the window. It took her a moment for her senses to kick in and she realized the mysterious woman could not enter this place, she did not know why but she somehow knew she was shielded from her while she remained there.

Gail had approached the window slowly with an overwhelming need to identify her; however, her hair was dripping wet and draped over her face. She did catch sight of the woman's grim smile as she bared her sharp teeth and pointed at her, then she had been jolted awake to the dull pain that surged through her head.

Her dreams had been getting stranger over the past few weeks and it was not uncommon for her to wake up with an ache in her head, or with physical afflictions like deep scratches in her skin. She assumed her dreams had been so intense that she scratched herself unknowingly and would have to consider trimming down her nails to avoid this in the future.

A sudden brush across her stomach caused her to tense up and her eyes shot open, then she sighed when she saw Lucas watching her intently. With the strange dream and her migraine, she had forgotten she had agreed to go home with him in her drunken state. She relaxed into the bed and closed her eyes again, allowing him to stroke her stomach gently. She did not have the strength to fight him at this moment in time and just wanted to lay here until it the pain in her head dissipated.

Lucas watched Gail curiously, to his surprise it had not taken much to convince her to come home with him after he had dropped the children off safely and came back to the pool hall for her. He had initially expected resistance from her, with how close she was getting with Billy-boy; however, when he had taken hold of her hips and pulled her to him possessively, she had not protested at all and was more than willing to participate in their usual fun.

When he got her home he could not wait any longer and had taken her against his front door. She had pushed him down at the bottom of the stairs when they entered his domain, then straddled him and rode him vigorously. He managed to finally pull her to his bedroom where they worked off their frustrations and gave in fully to their desires, he still felt exhausted after their activities and had slept peacefully for longer than he usually did; however, it appeared his love did not have the same good rest that he had.

He moved his hand further up her naked body and squeezed her breast softly. When she let out a soft moan he let his hand trail gently down to her sweet spot and began to stroke her.

'Don't' she protested with her eyes still closed.

Lucas narrowed his eyes at her and removed his hand from between her legs. He propped himself up so he could gaze over her, then stroked her head with his free hand when he sensed she was in pain. 'I suppose as an officer of the law I should lecture you about the consequences of drinking too much...'

'That's not what this is' Gail interrupted and tried to tune out the pain.

Lucas regarded her curiously then leaned his head down to hers and inhaled deeply, he could sense some inner turmoil within her but disregarded that for now and focused on the source of her pain. When he located it he reached out with his minds eye and pulled it out of her, then smiled at her surprised intake of breath. 'Don't say I never do anythin' for you Darlin''

Gail opened her eyes and waited for her vision to fully focus, then glanced around his extravagant bedroom in an attempt to locate her clothes for a quick getaway.

'Is that anyway to thank me for relieving that pressure Miss Emory?' he asked knowingly.

Gail sighed and stared deep into eyes, then took his hand and placed it back between her legs. 'I suppose it would be a little ungrateful of me to just leave' she smiled and allowed him to play with her.

Lucas smiled and leaned down for a kiss, last night had been unexpected so he did not expect anything from her this morning; however, he wanted to remind her of his giving side.

Gail allowed him to kiss her softly then let out a loud moan when his movements became more focused. She could never just lay back and allow him to service her without repaying the favor; however, it appeared he was content with just watching her unravel, as when she reached for his manhood he pulled away.

'Relax love, I don't need anythin' from you right now' he whispered and nipped at her ear.

Gail felt her resolve fading and stopped holding back, when she let go she felt her climax rise intensely then called out his name as she came. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to slow her heart rate and allowed Lucas to pull her to him then nuzzle his head into her neck. 'This doesn't change anything' she panted and felt his smug smile on her neck.

'No it doesn't...I still need to punish you for going behind my back and taking advantage of my trust' he whispered in her ear.

Gail laughed and shook her head. 'Oh please Lucas, I've always been honest about my intentions from the start...if you chose to convince yourself that I would stop searching for the truth then that's down to your own bad judgement, I won't take the blame for that'

Lucas sighed then bit down hard on her shoulder to show his irritation. 'If I chose to believe my soul mate would stop trying to dig up dirt so she could put a noose around my neck, I suppose that was my own naivety...I won't make that mistake again' he warned.

Gail rolled her eyes, then pushed free of his grasp and got out of the bed. 'Firstly, I'm not your damn soul mate...' she said reaching for her clothes, '...and secondly, you can throw warnings and demands at me all you want but I won't stop. You either accept that and get out of my way, or bring it on as I'm not afraid of you and never have been'

Lucas watched as she put on her clothes and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm his twin, who was clawing to be released at her blatant disregard of his authority. 'You're playing a dangerous game Gail'

'See, there's that warning again' she said sarcastically as she pulled on her cardigan, then turned around and exited the bedroom leaving him alone.

Lucas lay back down on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation, she appeared confident and even a little cocky which indicated she may be on to something. It was obvious now that he could not convince her to stop whatever she was doing; therefore, he would have to figure out the best way of dealing with her, whether he was fond of her or not.

Ben sat outside the coffee shop across the street from the Sheriff's Station as he usually did each morning, waiting for his friend. He had already ordered her a latte and was half way through drinking his espresso; however, she appeared to be running late which was out of character for her. Even when Gail was busy or hung up on a story, she would always make time for their coffee morning and he was beginning to get concerned.

'Hey Ben' Merlyn called and approached the table.

'Hey yourself...you don't know where Gail is by any chance do you? She's half an hour late' he asked, trying to hide the concern in his voice.

Merlyn smiled and sat down in the seat which Ben had clearly reserved for her cousin, she liked Ben and felt bad that he always seemed to get caught up in her family drama. 'I guess she's still with Lucas, he went back to the pool hall for her after he dropped off me and Caleb' she shrugged.

'You were at the pool hall with Lucas?' he asked curiously.

'No!...' she snapped defensively, '...I was there with Gail and Doctor Peele'

Ben nodded and finished his espresso, he should be annoyed that his friends had gone out without him; however, with Rita in the delicate state she was, he supposed it was best that he remained at home.

'That's what I thought' Gail said reading his mind as she approached and looked for a spare chair.

'Here, take mine...' he said and got up to get another chair, '...I was startin' to wonder if you were ever gonna show up'

Gail sat down and reached for her latte, then took a large sip. She savored the taste of the warm coffee as it flowed down her throat and nodded at Ben appreciatively. 'I had to go home and get my car, you know I'd never stand you up if I could help it...'

'Are you patrolling goat town today Ben?' Merlyn interrupted, ignoring Gail's unimpressed look at being distracted mid sentence and focused her attention on Ben.

Ben glanced at Gail who was watching Merlyn suspiciously, then turned towards the girl. 'Well I suppose I co...'

'I'm heading into goat town after I've finished here, I can take you...' Gail interjected and took another large sip of her latte, '...Why do you wanna go there?'

'Why do you?' Merlyn asked smiling sweetly.

Ben watched the exchange between the two of them and chose to keep quiet, he was actually happy to see Merlyn had come into her own and was displaying some confidence. Seeing her this way almost made him forget she had been dead, but then he would picture Lucas snapping her neck and the illusion was broken.

'Ben?' Gail asked concerned.

'Huh?'

Gail laughed and shook her head. 'I asked if you knew where Lucas was and if he had turned in yet?'

Ben shrugged and stood up. 'He called earlier and said he had some business to attend to so he would be late in, why?'

Gail signaled for Merlyn to get up and finished her latte. 'No reason, you take it easy' she said giving his shoulder an affectionate squeeze and turned towards her car.

Ben sighed and shook his head, he should not get involved with anything these pair were up to; however, Gail was his friend and he was protective of Merlyn. 'Gail...' he called after her and smiled when she turned towards him, '...Don't you be doin' anythin' untoward with that girl in your company...Lucas has been in a strange mood recently, so this isn't the time for you to set him off'

Gail put on her sweetest smile to reassure her friend. 'I'm not looking to set anyone off Ben, I'm just doing my job...Don't worry, I'll keep this girl out of anything untoward' she said and headed towards her Mustang.

Ben inhaled deeply and ran his hand through his thinning hair as he watched the pair get into Gail's car. He had a bad feeling about what they were going to do; however, he had done his part by warning his friend and he would now just try to focus on his tasks of the day.

Lucas walked down the overly bright elementary school corridor straight to the Principles office, he had a theory on how to keep Gail in line after their conversation this morning; however, he wanted to have some fun first. As he bypassed the secretary completely and headed straight to the office, he smiled when caught sight of the secretary's shocked look. He walked into the Principles office without knocking and stood over the man in a dominant manner.

'Sh...Sheriff?...Wh...what can I do for you?' the cowering man before him stuttered.

Lucas' smile grew wider, he did not even have to threaten these days to get the respect he deserved. 'Caleb Temple, call him to your office...now'

The Principle did not hesitate and went straight to his announcer. 'Caleb Temple, report immediately to the Principles office' he said and took his finger off the announcer. 'Anything else Sheriff?'

Lucas shook his head at the nervous man in front of him, then turned around and left the office. He began to walk back down the corridor and spotted his son exiting his classroom. 'There his is' he called out and smiled.

Caleb was confused as to why the Principle would want to see him when he had not done anything, at first he thought word of his deals had gotten around; however, his friends would never betray him like that. When he caught sight of Lucas and the smug look on his face, he knew this was his doing and smiled. 'Hey!...What did you do?' he asked curiously.

Lucas put his arm around the boy when he reached him and led him out of the school. 'I don't need to do anythin' son...you wanna do something with me today?'

Caleb glanced behind him to make sure no-one was watching them, then put his arm around Lucas' waist. This type of closeness to a man felt strange, as Gage had never shown him any attention; however, this was his real father and he felt ready to explore everything that came with that. 'Alright, let's do somethin'...Does Gail know what we're doin'?'

'That's none of your concern son...this is about you and me, not that ol' cousin of yours. Now get in' Lucas said as they reached his car and smiled at the excitement on his sons face. He would deal with Gail in his own time, but right now he would take advantage of her attention being elsewhere.

Merlyn walked around the old Wicca store, regarding the place suspiciously. She sensed something dark in here and did not trust the simple outward facade of the store, she suspected that there were more specialist materials hidden just like in Abe's Antique store. Gail had wandered off as soon as they had entered, leaving her to make up her own mind on the place. She did not want to come here; however, Gail had taken her to her mothers old place of work and had waited patiently while she had done what she needed to do, therefore it was only fair that she did the same.

Merlyn had felt a strong urge to return to her mothers place after what she had experienced the day before, she sensed she was changing and was not sure whether it was a good change or bad. Ever since Gail took her to the burial ground behind Lucas' house and she had protected herself from the apparition that she had sensed meant her harm, she had felt conflicted. On one hand she would love to have her powers back, it would mean that Lucas would have no hold over her and she could defend herself; however, she was not convinced the source of the power she felt surging through her was coming from a good place, after all she did have the spirit of a Buck inside of her.

When she had been on the motorcycle with Earl yesterday she had been drawn to Gail, their bond appeared to be getting stronger with each day and she was starting to be able to sense her location. That was concerning considering her cousin had managed to lose Lucas on occasion, which meant there was something inside her blocking his powers but Merlyn somehow managed to pierce through the blockade.

Before she became whole again she had sensed her cousin slipping away, Gail's light had began to fade and Merlyn had been concerned for her soul. There was nothing that indicated her cousin had turned back towards the path of light, which indicated Merlyn may have started to lose her own light as she was somehow connected on a supernatural level with Gail. This way of thinking scared her and she wanted nothing more at this moment in time than to take the road she knew.

'You should never be afraid to take the road less traveled...' Gail said appearing from a back room, '...Plodding along like a good little girl doing whatever everyone thinks is right isn't really living'

'And what you're doing is?' Merlyn asked defiantly.

Gail laughed at the girls confidence and began to walk around the room. 'I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just following my gut and seeing where it leads...it beats sitting around in my office writing about bake sales and such'

Merlyn considered her cousins words, she had never just followed her gut instinct and there had always been some structure to what she had done. She may have strayed a little from her orders at times, becoming a bit too obsessed with bringing Lucas down; however, she had performed her tasks rather than make her own decisions. 'I can read your thoughts...' she said honestly, '...well some of them at least'

Gail stopped for a moment and turned towards Merlyn. 'You think?' she asked sarcastically, not believing this girl could read her thoughts when Lucas could not.

Merlyn was not afraid of her cousin but she saw something change in her eyes, Gail's look had become cold as she waited for her answer. Following her gut Merlyn stood tall and began walking around the room casually. 'You think this place was owned by Lucas' mother, who you also think was the woman at the graveyard with us...You didn't get a good enough look at her to confirm your suspicions fully, but you're confident she matches the picture you saw in Lucas' library'

Gail stayed still in an attempt to hide her shock and felt something rising within her, it almost felt like rage; however, she refused to believe she could direct such a strong emotion like that at her cousin, who she had become very fond of after she accepted who she was. The girl was accurate with her statements and that was concerning. 'Get out of my head' Gail warned, in a voice unlike her own.

Merlyn turned towards her cousin and could see she was trying to hide her anger. 'I don't wanna be in your head Gail, I don't want anything to do with the darkness that surrounds Lucas Buck but for some reason I'm starting to feel drawn to it'

'Drawn to it or me?' Gail asked curiously, sensing their connection had become stronger.

'I'm not so sure they aren't the same' Merlyn replied honestly, then regretted the comment when she saw the wounded look in her cousins eyes.

'I shouldn't have brought you here with me...' Gail said turning away from Merlyn and walking towards the door, '...Let's go'

Merlyn felt relief flow through her and quickened her pace to catch up to Gail, then suddenly something flew off the top of a bookshelf and hit her hard on the head. Merlyn fell to the floor and touched the top of her head, then lowered her fingers to find them covered in blood. 'Gail!' she called and watched as her cousin was pushed from the shop and the door slammed shut behind her.

Gail felt a strong force push her and caught sight of Merlyn on the floor as the door slammed closed, she pulled on the handle in an attempt to gain entry; however, the door appeared to be locked. When she looked through the store window she caught sight of something lurking at the far side of the room and somehow knew it was stalking her cousin, she banged on the window to get Merlyn's attention and cursed out loud when she saw how scared the girl looked.

Merlyn sensed she was being watched and could see Gail looking behind her through the window; however, Merlyn did not want to see what might be there. Visions of the dark haired woman who they had discovered yesterday flashed through her brain and she was finding it hard to breath. She closed her eyes and tried to create something within her that could help like it did at the burial sight, but she felt nothing. She was alone in here with some unknown presence and she could feel terror rising within her.

Something brushed against Merlyn's shoulder and she screamed. After believing she had regained some of her power, she now felt naked and could do nothing but stay frozen in this place on the floor. She felt stripped bare all alone in here and all too human, her body began to shake uncontrollably and she felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She had never experienced crying when she was whole, not even when Gage would hit her in his drunken state. The trail of the tear left a tingling on her cheek and it distracted her from the fear she had initially felt.

Merlyn took a deep breath in an attempt to regain control of her emotions, then forced herself to stand up and turned around to face whatever was in here with her. She would not sit quietly and allow herself to be murdered like she had been previously. She had witnessed her cousin being attacked by a rapist who had visited the town with his group not long after she had arrived and Gail had fought him off before Lucas had interfered, Gail had also attempted to fight off the Boston Strangler not knowing she could not possibly win. Her mother had also tried to fight Lucas when he forced himself onto her, all this made Merlyn realize that she came from a long line of strong woman and like them she would not go down without a fight.

Laughter echoed all around her and Merlyn took another long deep breath, then clenched her fists. 'Let's get this over with' she shouted and watched as papers flew up in the air, as an invisible force charged at her from the other side of the room.

Suddenly the back door flew open and Gail ran in, the invisible force dissipated instantly as Merlyn shielded her face with her hands and a burst of light shone out of them. She looked towards Gail confused then let out a loud sigh of relief. 'What the hell was that?' she asked and rushed towards her cousin.

Gail grabbed Merlyn by the arm then pulled her instinctively out of the back door and into the fresh air. She felt safer out in the open as daylight shone all around them, from out here she could see darkness engulf the room and realized that no natural sunlight found it's way into that store at all. Her body let off a sudden shiver and she turned towards Merlyn. 'I don't think I wanna know what that was and I can't even begin to process what just happened'

Merlyn linked Gail's arm reassuringly, it was easy to forget that she was not used to the supernatural presence in Trinity and it had been just as hard for her to process it all when she had been dead. 'Come on, let's just go...I wanna get as far away from here as we can'

Gail nodded and allowed Merlyn to lead her away from the Wicca store. She knew she would return due to her curiosity, it was inevitable; however, this was not a safe place for her cousin, especially when she knew whatever was in there had targeted Merlyn and not her.

-To be continued-