Will was officially miffed. Never before had he had an encounter like that.

God, this year was going oh so odd.

Will shook his head, ridding himself of, well… himself. This was no time to be thinking like an ordinary human. This called for the real him.

After the strange unsensable girl had disappeared, everyone in the café had been looking at him in a weird way. It was probably because one moment he had been in his seatand the next on the other side of the room. Like a superhero, they had most likely thought. He had to erase the memory of everyone there, all thoughts that he had ever been in there, gone from their minds. But Will was still ashamed with himself. How could he have let time start again without him noticing it? It was pure, through and through madness.

Shortly after that incident, Will found himself walking the darkening streets of London, away from the bus stop.

He wasn't ready to go home. Not quite yet. He also felt that he couldn't go through the Doors either. He hadn't the heart to be in the place of the Old Ones, not when he had been deceiving them for the amount of time that he had.

It was wrong.. but he was stuck. Throughout the months after the happenings in the Hall. whenever he had convinced himself that he would tell the others, that damned book stopped him in his tracks, showing images of death and despair for him, his family, and the rest of the world. A world covered in pure darkness, and not by the hand of the Lords of Dark, no. It was done by something far worse. But Will didn't know what.

Will had come to hate the book, and was thoroughly convinced that it was evil. He hadn't been in the Hall for 3 months (even if it was mainly his fault).

But then there was something… Had he missed something in that cafe? Something important, maybe…

No, there was nothing. He had looked over everything from that singular moment in time. Here's how it was:

He had felt the presence of the Dark, so he stopped time. Then time started again without his meaning to, and that wasn't supposed to happen. Not never ever. Why had the Dark been there? And why had he stopped time? He could have simply traveled through time to have a scuffle away from people.

"Uggh!" Will stopped in the middle of an empty street. He STILL wasn't thinking properly.

He couldn't remember… something. What had he been thinking about?

"Oh! Yes, my battle with an agent of he Dark." Will slapped a hand over his mouth, shocked that he had said that out loud. What was happening?

Will shook his head again and took a deep breath. (Focus. I am Will Stanton,) he thought.

(I am the 7th son of a 7th son. I am an Old One. I am the youngest Old One. I am the last to be born. I am protector of the Great Six Signs of the Light. I am the last old one in the mortal world, I am alo-)

He caught himself mid-thought.

Why was he thinking this way?At the risk of sounding ridiculously mundane, he wondered what exactly was happening to him. What had the Rider (Yes, that's who it was. He wanted the book.) done to him?

'CLANG!' Will spun around, sensing for anyone else near him. There WAS someone! Wait.. no there wasn't.

"Mreow!" A cat padded out of an alley nearby, causing Will to breath a sigh of relief. It was nothing short of a 'Well, DUH' moment.

The cat was small, and very clean. The reason he noticed this was that strays aren't exactly known for being clean. The cat gave him what could have passed for an amused look, sitting down a few feet from him. It was almost like the cat was saying, "I'm just a cat, and you can't prove otherwise. So there." Will gave the ever-silent cat a good glare. The cat responded (if cats can respond to such looks) with a stare of it's own.

Will just shrugged at the animal, which he had just noticed in the lamplight, that this cat had odd bronze colored fur and crimson eyes. RED eyes!

He took a step towards the cat intending to keep it in its place with a spell, when it suddenly took off at an astonishing speed.

"HEY!" Will ran after it, calling a spell, but still the cat ran. Will ran after it through the streets, it seeming like the cat would never tire, when it turned into a small back alley. Most likely a dead end.

He ran after the cat into the alley, intending to catch it. But the cat wasn't there. The alley ended with a tall wooden fence, and the way that Will had come in had been the only way in OR out, except the doors on the buildings, but they looked like they hadn't been opened in years...

All that was there was the homeless, huddled around a fire. Cautiously, he approached them.

"Excuse me?" The four – no, five – turned to look at him.

"What?" the oldest asked harshly.

Will took at slight step back at the man's tone. "Did you see a cat come this way?" he asked, slightly nervous.

The five looked at each other, another saying, "Nope. Sorry kid. Haven't seen a cat in weeks."

The group nodded.

"That's animal control for you," said a man with odd black scars. "Finally taking in the strays." The others nodded again, this time a bag lady speaking up.

"And stealing our Christmas dinner, too!" Once again, a group nod.

Will felt slightly sick at that... They obviously didn't know and well it was just a cat... Best to end this awkward conversation now.

"Well… thanks anyway!"With that said, Will walked hastily away from that ally, the odd homeless people, and, more importantly, the being behind the crimson eyes.

LATER: ANOTHER POV

"THAT, was disgusting," said the man emerging from the shadows. He looked about 20, with a full head of bronze hair with gold streaks, but his eyes held far more age than his skin did..

"Christmas DINNER? Seriously?" The man turned in a full circle meeting everyone's eye.

"Come on!" he said again, this time with more of a whine. The homeless group no longer looked homeless, but of the upper-class, fine threads and all. The elderly bag lady (now a beautiful young woman) blushed.

"Sorry," she said, not quite meeting his hell-fire gaze. "it was the first thing that came to my head."

The red-eyed man just scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Now, Cameron." Chided the elder one of the group, now seeming a bit younger and stronger than he had. "You know she meant nothing by it."

"Yeah, Cameron." The man with scars called. "It's no to get mad. That'd be very bad, you know." Another group nod (this seemed to be very popular with the group).

Cameron (now called) just scowled at them, a certain rage in those eyes.

"Cameron." The elder looked at him expectantly. Cameron just shrugged, saying

"I'll do it once I get home." The group all shook their heads.

"You know we can't let you go in until you do." Cameron shook his head, a slightly sadistic laugh coming from him.

"Nuh-uh. Who said I was going in anyways? I can get home on my own, without Lorne's help." Even as Cameron spoke, the look of hate in his eyes was changing to a wild look, like an animal getting ready to hunt. The elder obviously noticed this.

"Calm down, Cameron. We can't have you lose control here. There are too many people here. Too many for you to hurt." Cameron rolled his eyes again, this time turning away, but the elder grabbed his arm. Cameron first looked at the mans' arm then the man's face, his anger becoming obvious.

"Now, Cameron." The others of the group all seemed to be at the ready for an attack.

Cameron suddenly relaxed, a look of peace on his face.

"Will you take your medicine now?"

Slowly, Cameron nodded, reaching into one of the pockets of his leather jacket. In a flash, Cameron whipped out his switch-blade and spun about with a feral look on his face.

Outside of the ally, if anyone had been there to hear it, multiple screams of terror and pain could be heard.

END OTHER

Will had made it back to the bus stop alright, and was now one of the three people that was on the actual bus.

To explain, Will's town was a ways out, and not that many people came and went from it.

Right now, Will was on the verge of falling asleep, when he realized that someone was next to him.

(WHOA!) He hadn't seen the girl before…

Will said so to her. The girl just smiled and nodded, flipping her light chesnut hair behind her shoulder.

"Yes, well, you WERE asleep.." She said in a teasing voice. Her voice was that of an American's. Will shook his head, his senses feeling cloyed and allayed. The girl was studying his face intently, causing Will to stumble in his speech.

"I-f I was asleep… then why did you come sit next to me?" he asked. The girl just shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe 'cuz the other people are kinda creepy..?" she gestured to the two others, one an old woman, the other a man in his thirtys.

(You didn't want to sit by yourself) Will concluded in his thoughts.

Will felt a warmth in his fleece jacket pocket. He reached in and pulled out the book, and when he did it became even hotter, making his hands slightly uncomfortable. The girl leaned to see it.

"That your diary, or something?" she asked.

"What? No!" Will shook off the shakiness in his voice. The girl just shrugged.

"Okay! No need to be so touchy about it…" she looked out the window on the opposite side, her green eyes glinting in the poor light… she was rather pretty, and she looked Will's age… No, stop thinking about that! Merriman had shunned such thoughts for human: one must feel compassion for the lesser race, but it would be disaster to love one…

"Well… Are you going to meet someone?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.

The girl snapped her head back to look at him, a grin on her face.

"Yeah, my Uncle. He's going to meet me a the next stop." Will nodded in understanding.

"Um.." He tried to think of something else to say. "What's your name?" He asked awkwardly. The girls' eyes widened in surprise.

"Sorry! My name's Lexi. Lexi Rainsong, if you want to be proper." she smiled in satisfaction.

"What's that short for?" Will wondered if maybe that was too personal a question...

"What, Lexi?" She scoffed. "Nothing. It's just L-E-X-I. Lexi." She looked away for a moment, then looked back.

"What's YOUR name?" She asked back. Will smiled.

"The name's Stanton. Will Stanton." Lexi held out her hand, which Will took, and did the full handshake.

"Then it's a pleasure to make your aquaintance, Mr. Stanton. I take it that you intend to save the world from a great evil in some shape or form?" she asked in a teasing way.

Will laughed. "You have no idea…" Lexi tilted her head in a question, but the bus stopped, the driver's voice calling back saying what stop they were at.

"That's my stop!" Lexi smiled at Will. "Goodbye, Will Stanton." After that she pulled up a black bag that had been set in the aisle, and stood up. Will nodded, feeling slightly saddened that she was leaving, and waved a bit as she stepped off the bus. Will watched her from the window as she walked out to the stop. There was a man wearing a brown leather duster walking out of a strange blue box with a smile on his face, holding his arms out for a hug. Lexi complied, wrapping one arm around him, holding her bag with the other. The bus started to pull away before Will cold see anymore.

Will pulled back pulled back from the window, settling into his seat once more. Pity. He would mst likely miss the girl... And you know what? This time the feeling felt perfectly natural.

A/N: Yes, yes, yes…. I introduced many people and said farewell to them at the precise same time… But Cameron and Lexi will have their 15 minutes… Just wait…

Will's going a little CRAZY isn't he? AND I changed Lexi's hair & eye color!!!!

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