A/N: I am currently grappling with writer's block. If the chapters aren't up to spec, my apologies. UPDATE: BAM! Edit. UPDATE: BAMO! ANOTHER edit!

THE MORNING AFTER

Will was at a lost these days, and he didn't know why.

Everything had stopped making sense. First the book, then the strange rider, then the Dark, and now Lexi Rainsong.

It was almost as if there was a world beneath a world. (No, that's just stupid. That's sounds like something out of one of those weird sci-fi/fantasy stories that you read on the internet.)

What was wrong with this picture?

Will sat back a bit in his chair, turning over the facts in his mind...

"Will?" Will snapped out of his thoughts to see everyone in his family looking down the breakfast table at him.

"... Uhh.. Yes?" he ventured nervously. Will's twenty-year-old sister Barbara scoffed.

"Where were you just now?" Max asked, sounding midly amused. Will slowly shook his head and shrugged.

"Nowhere. Nowhere at all..." His mum and dad exchanged knowing looks while the rest of his siblings either snickered, exchanged their own looks, or went back to their breakfast.

Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling that when he had been interrupted during something important, and had now forgotten it.

(Nah.)

Will was currently walking to what used to be Dawson's Farm. The reason it wasn't anymore was the fact that Mr. Dawson (who had also been an Old One) had left with everyone else. Now it was empty, and had yet to find another owner.

What had happened to the rest of the Dawsons, was that after two years, a still somewhat grief striken Mrs. Dawson (now more Widow Dawson for the villagers)
could no longer bear to be in the empty house and farm. John Smith, his wife Martha, Old George, her own husband...were gone. Departed. Never to return.
And so Widow Dawson and her son fled the silence, the memories and the well meaning villagers..

Besides being an empty building, the house had another purpose: it was the hiding place of the Six Signs of the Light.

True, it was a lesser place to hide something of such importance, but it was an Old One's house. It had many good hiding places.

As Will walked up the street, the wind began to kick up. It was a familiar feeling… A sound caused him to look up. There, in a tree, were hundreds of rooks, all of them looking at him and cawing. Will held up an hand in greeting. The rooks suddenly fell silent, and one single rook hopped down from branch to branch, and onto a fence post. It stared at Will for a while, then gave out one single shriek.

Will decided to ignore, thinking the rook was just staring to annoy him. The rook just gave Will a long look, and flew away, the rest of the rooks following him, all of them shrieking with him, circling above for a few moments then scattering. Will watched as they did so, feeling a sense of foreboding.

His feeling was right. There, out of the shadows that were gathering, was a black horse.

JUST the black horse? Where was its rider? The horse had all of its tack on, but it was wounded as well. Slowly, he walked up to the black horse, watching for its master.

Before he knew it, Will was within reaching distance of the Dark horse. Slowly, but surely, Will reached out to the horse. When he finally made contact with the horse's skin, the horse shuddered, its eyes rolling back till he could see the whites. Wait... this horse didn't look quite right...

There, on the left side of its long neck, was a white mark. This COULDN'T be the Black Rider's horse. It was now that Will also noticed how odd the tack was as well. Instead of simply being black, the saddle and bridle were adorned with silver. It was almost as though someone was trying to fake being the Black Rider, but didn't quite know what he looked like.

"Shh. It's okay." Will murmured to the horse, gently stroking its sweaty flank.

Will just wasn't getting it.

"Come on," he murmured again to the horse, taking hold of its reins and leading it to Dawson's Farm.

(The Signs may be able to help the animal,) Will thought.

Will had originally planned to tether the horse to a nearby pole, but thought twice of it when it began to snow, so he led the into the farmhouse with him, tying its reins there.

The floorboards creaked as Will walked further into the house, like the house was greeting him as an Old One.

Perhaps it was.

The main reason that Will had departed (unwillingly) from the Signs in the first place was before Merriman and the others left, the Signs had faded.

Not permenantly, thank goodness.

Instead, they had been taken here, a place of solitude.

Well... at least the basement was.

As Will walked through the aged house, it seeming that the house would fall down around him. The only thing keeping it intact was the fact that Will was still a part of the linear world. To be clear on the matter, the house was centuries old already, and Mr. Dawson's presence was keeping it intact, as were the other Old Ones. But, as memory serves, they were gone now. Amazingly, Huntercombe Manor was still standing. That was up for sale as well. No buyers, of course. It was far too expensive for just about everyone that had come around. The price had even amazed rich couple from New York City.

Will rummaged around in the shadows for a bit, until his hands grasped an old throw rug, which he yanked back, feeling around once more. His hand came across a metal ring in the floor, which he grabbed and pulled up. The door opened with a loud creak, an automatic light activating.

The way into the panic room (yes, Will was surprised when he found out, too) was down three flights of stairs, most likely created by way of magic. It was a famous way of building with Old Ones, that and building with your bare hands.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned to a long corridor, which then lead to a large door. Oh, it wasn't even a third of the size of THE Doors, but it was still large.

The way to get into the room which was located on the other side of the door, was to give a certain code that would open it. Yes, it was THAT simple.

Will paused for a moment, making sure that he had the movements right, then proceeded to place his hand the steel door. The metal hummed and began to glow as he rested his hand there, slowly spreading his fingers. "Creefine sluro greefraray." Were the words that were needed, and were said. With a shudder, the door gave a tremendous hiss, and slowly began to open.

To near full explain the room's appearance, it was a large, rectangular room, encased with six-inch thick iron-and-bronze on the outside (if you could see it) and plated with oak and rowan wood on the inside. There was a space between the metal and the wood, and that hollow space was filled to the brim with holly, and the floor made of stone, thus deeming the room impervious to the Dark. The wood and fire part came solely from the torches on the walls and the small fountain, which came from the underground springs.

It was a rather impressive room… if not a bit superfluous. Especially with the beautiful tapestries and carvings and such.

Will did a half smile at the thought, knowing that it may seem that way, but it was truly necessary.

He walked over to the far wall, which was hollowed and plated with glass, a showcase of sorts.

The perfect place for the Signs.

Will gave out a long sigh as he pulled the key out of his jeans pocket, nervously running his hand through his hair. It had been a while… Shoving his fears aside, he shoved the key into the lock, turned it, and opened the glass door. As he reached in, he could feel the warmth radiating from the six signs, picked them up, strung the chain through his belt loops , and fastened the clasp.

Will couldn't help but do a full shiver as a tingling feeling ran through his entire self. Naturally, the golden chain melted into his belt, only showing as a dull shine in the leather, each Sign set on the belt like an extra buckle… like in the beginning.

A loud whinny reminded Will of his commitment.

"Alright! I'm coming!" He yelled out the open door, and the black horse neighed in reply. Will just laughed at that.

With one final look around, mainly at the tapestries of King Arthur, closed the glass case, and left the room, sealing the door behind him.

As he walked up the stairs, a thought came to Will:

How on Earth was he going to explain the horse to his family?

Will pondered this as he shut the trap door behind him. As he entered the room where he had left the horse, he stopped. The horse was gone.

A/N: *Don't know if that's right….. if anyone here has the proper names for locations and objects for this, it would be MAJOR help if you posted!!! You know… Will seems a lot happier…

Special thanks to Shadow-Nightfall. If not for your help, this story would be beyond weird.