Chapter Five:

Delia:

"You let the spawn of Crocker use you. Because the daughter of Crocker saved your life?" a bodiless voice asked from around me.

I started seeing one of the more intense experiences between me and Duke. It had left me bruised for almost a week, sore for days. Watching what we did as an observer, even now I could see how rough he was with me. I knew that I should talk to him about that, but I doubted I would.

"No. What's happening with me and Duke has nothing to do with Hope. She has no idea about the details, how… intense things are."

"Abusive you meant to say."

"Duke isn't abusive."

"How hurt were you after this?"

"He would've stopped if I asked him to," I said, defending him.

"Then why didn't you?"

Duke:

I was surrounded by Gloria, Vicky, Nathan, and Audrey. I was watching as I threatened to kill Vicky and anyone who got in my way. Finally, I was forced to watch as Nathan ended my life, Audrey trying to soothe me as my life was snuffed out on my terms, Vicky and Gloria crying in the background, and me seeing the last thing Vanessa told me I would ever see… Nathan's Guard tattoo.

"You should not have been returned to this life spawn of Crocker," a voice said.

"Are you the ones punishing my sister?"

"She is a Crocker, one with powers we've yet to see manifest in a descendant of a Crocker. Your family is already capable of such great destruction," the voice replied, showing me some of the things me, Wade, my father, and others in the Crocker clan had done to the people of Haven over the years. "The daughter of Crocker has much more potential for destruction, without the Troubles to power her."

"My sister hasn't hurt anyone since she's been in Haven."

"And you?"

"I haven't…"

"LIES!" the voices said in unison as searing pain in my head bringing me to my knees.

Dwight:

"You were a faithful member of the Guard. You know what the Crocker family can do. Why are you trusting them?"

"I don't know who you are, but I know Hope and Duke has earned my respect. Hope saved my sister's life. Duke was ready to die to save Haven… did die to save Haven. He told me how to save my daughter. I didn't automatically trust either of them. But they earned my trust and respect.

"Hope relocated to be with the brother she'd never met, to bring him back, and help him adjust after she did. The way she brought him back, she made sure that all of the Troubles inside of him were stripped away when all the other Troubles were stripped outta here. When she wasn't doing that she was spending time with Gloria so she could go back into retirement and helping at the hospital, where she was using her abilities to help her patients heal faster. So my question is, if she's helped the citizens of Haven, not causing any harm to anyone, why do you have a problem?"

"She has the blood of a Crocker… the blood of a killer."

"And yet, she also has the blood of the Corey family, who raised her, taught her to be the woman she is. She has done nothing to earn wrath and punishment from you. Even with everything she's been enduring because of you, she has gone out of her way to protect me and my daughter, Lizzie, Delia and Duke."

"And left herself vulnerable to us."

"What?"

"The more she called on higher powers to protect all of you, the more vulnerable she became to being punished by us. If she does not pass our trials today, she may not wake up."

Suddenly I was awake by the fire. I ran to Hope's side. She was cold and seemed like she was in pain. I drank the tea she gave each of us when she called us to this ritual to steady myself and picked up my phone.

"Nathan, it's Dwight. I need a favor…"

Hope:

It looked like the spirits had brought me to Haven right after Duke had lost Jennifer, when he first started needing to release Troubles. At first, the spirits just let me follow Duke's movements for a bit, showed me how he released Troubles, how they affected other people. Then they seemed to put a test in front of me.

I hadn't noticed at first, but I was no longer wandering unseen among the vision. Instead, I was part of it. I brushed against a Troubled person who was injured, I didn't even see who. Their blood hit my bare forearm and I doubled over as their blood dissolved into my skin… activating the Crocker Curse in me.

I cried out in pain, the feeling of the Curse was so unnatural to me. Someone touched me. I looked up and saw that it was Nathan. He was shocked by what I guessed were the telltale silver Crocker eyes that came with Troubled blood. Part of me wanted to hurt him, the Curse was calling for it. Instead, I begged him not to touch me and I ran. I wasn't going to give into this Curse inside of me, especially since I knew it was only active as long as I was in the vision.

"You can't fight everything. All this Troubled blood. Your true nature will show itself, Hope Crocker," I heard the spirits.

"You don't know anything about my true nature! I'm not going to hurt anyone!" I shouted back in anger at the spirits.

"Your brother Duke tried to say the same thing," they replied.

Duke:

"What are you talking about?" I yelled, trying to hold myself together through the pain.

Suddenly they were showing me Delia… the things we'd done together… and what she looked like after the fact. I was hurting her and she never told me.

"She never said anything to me! I wouldn't have gone that far if she'd asked me not to!" I defended myself. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not that!"

I watched as she winced in pain cleaning herself up. My heart ached for her. I couldn't even be mad at Delia. I was worried about her. Why would she let me hurt her like this over and over? I reached out, trying to comfort the woman in the vision.

"I wouldn't hurt Delia," I said, pain in my voice. "Why would she not stop me?"

I looked up, wondering what the spirits were going to do now. They put me actively into the vision.

"Duke!" Delia said in surprise, trying to cover up her pain.

She immediately tried to distract me by going for my pants. As much as it would have been easy to let her, I stopped her. I carried her to her room. After grabbing a bucket of ice and filling her tub with cold water, I brought her back to the bathroom, placing her in the cold water to take care of the injuries.

"Delia, why do you let me do this to you?" I asked her, as I stroked her hair.

"Because I have to," she replied.

"What? Why?" I asked confused.

"Because it's all I've ever been good for, Duke."

Delia:

The spirits had me facing Duke in my vision. He had put me in an ice bath and was stroking my hair, taking care of me. I wasn't sure he'd go this far, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me if I told him he was. As he stroked my hair, realizing how hurt I was, I could see tears in his eyes. I figured the Duke in my vision was a figment of my imagination, so I did what Hope said we should do, be honest since lying could make everything worse.

"What do you mean this is all you've ever been good for, Delia?"

It wasn't easy to answer him, even in this vision, but I finally started talking.

"When me and Dwight were little, our mom walked out on us, Duke. Our father was a drunken bastard with a hand problem. He'd beat the hell out of us if we got into any trouble or if he was having a bad day. Dwight tried to shield me from that as much as he could. But at night, by the time we were about ten or so, the Troubles were around last time, he started coming into my room at night.

"He took everything from me Duke… and he was rough and made sure he hurt me while he did it. He made it clear that I was his… and unlike my mother I couldn't get away from him. It took everything for me to keep Dwight from figuring it out. He still doesn't know."

"This is why when you get drunk you get so… sexual?" Duke asked me.

"How did you…"

"Hope told me to watch you. She was worried after the first night at the Gull that you were gonna start drinking again. She told me she trusted me with you, but if you were drunk that I should try to stay sober to make sure you stayed safe."

"You're not a figment of the vision, are you, Duke?" I said, my worst fear coming true.

"No, Delia, I'm not. It seems these spirits merged our visions to show me what I was doing to you and I'm guessing to see if you would stop me," he said, pulling me into his embrace. "I am so sorry for what you went through for all those years, that you went through it alone, but letting other people hurt you isn't the answer. I can't keep hurting you, Delia. I won't."

"I thought you cared about me, Crocker."

"I do. I don't know if I love you, just like I don't know if you love me, but I care about you enough to say I can't do this to you anymore," Duke said to me. "I'm sorry."

Duke and I woke up at the same time. I tossed him his tea before I drank mine. Dwight was looking between the two of us confused.

"What happened between the two of you?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I said, getting my things together. "Do you two have things here? I think I'm gonna go back to your place and take Lizzie off of McHugh's hands."

"Go, Lia. We can talk later."

"Delia… I'm sorry," Duke said to me.

As I walked away, I heard Dwight ask Duke what he was sorry about. I stayed in earshot long enough to hear Duke's answer.

"The spirits showed me I'm no good for her Sasquatch… so I ended it," Duke said.

Hope:

"You can't run from your lineage," the spirits said to me.

"You can't force me to give in to a darkness that is not natural to me."

"It is natural to you. The blood of the Troubled exhilarates you, excites you. You need it."

"No, I don't."

"But you're a Crocker. This is your legacy," said a man behind me.

I turned slowly and saw a man I could identify as Simon Crocker. I took a step away from him. As I did, he took a step towards me.

"Stay back," I said to him.

"Why should I? You're my daughter, aren't you?" he asked me.

"How…"

"When you die you figure things out. I thought that someone like you would know that, with what your mother and her lot apparently were."

"Then you should know that I'm not like you."

"Really?" he asked as he took a bloody knife and wiped it over the palm of my hand.

I could feel the Troubled blood as my skin absorbed it. Falling to my knees I fought what I was feeling. It was too unnatural to me.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I said, looking at Simon.

"Because you're my daughter and the Crockers are meant to heal people of their Troubles. Aren't you a healer, Hope?"

"Not like this, Simon."

He hit me hard in the side of my face.

"I'm your father. Show me respect."

I had never been hit like that before. Grams and Gramps didn't believe in corporal punishment.

"This isn't how I heal someone of their afflictions. I can't take a life. It's unnatural to me," I tried to plead with him.

"You'll see how it's done," he said, looking behind him. "Bring him up!"

Duke was coming into the clearing Simon had followed me into. He had Dwight with him and he was bleeding. I wanted to save him, but I was scared to try to get past Simon.

"End his family affliction, Duke," Simon said, and Duke shot Dwight, making me scream.

Dwight's blood was on Duke and I could feel his life force fading. I tried to force myself past Simon. He sliced my arm as I tried and in my shock, he was able to grab me and throw me backwards. When I was able to get to my feet, I knew Dwight was gone.

"NO!" I screamed, shoving past both Simon and Duke to Dwight.

Holding Dwight in my arms, I started to focus. I could feel the spirits fighting me, but I didn't care. Dwight wasn't supposed to be dead. Pain was radiating everywhere in me, but I was going to find a way to do this, to bring him back.

Duke:

Dwight and I were pacing back and forth, watching Hope. It was when a gash opened up on her arm and she started crying that we both went from worried to freaked out.

"What the hell was that, Crocker?" he asked me.

"I don't know. I don't know what the fuck they're doing to my sister," I said, finding the knife she had us all use to combine our blood. "But I'm gonna find a way back to her. Keep an eye on us Sasquatch."

"Duke! Wait!"

"Why?"

"I don't know what they're doing, but they mentioned some kind of trials to me. They said if she didn't prove herself…"

"If she didn't prove herself, what, Dwight?"

"They said if she didn't prove herself she might not wake up. Help her, Duke. Bring her back and be careful. These spirits aren't playing around. I seemed to have gotten it the easiest."

I cut my hand again, then combined it with the blood from the gash. Finally, I let the blood flow into the fire.

I was standing in a clearing. Hope was with our father and me. She was leaning over someone. When I got closer to her, I realized it was Dwight, and he was dead. There was a bloody knife in Simon's hand… he cut her. And the other me had a gun… he killed Dwight.

I rushed to Hope's side. She was looking pale and weak. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked at me. I didn't expect that.

"Don't touch me! You killed him!"

"No! Hope, I didn't," I said, making her stand up, realizing she had lost her grip on what was and wasn't real in the vision. "Look at me, Hope! I'm your big brother. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Then why did you shoot him, Duke?" she asked desperately collapsing into my arms.

My bloody hand touched her bare arm and she flinched from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Why didn't your blood affect me?"

"Affect you…" I looked at her then at other me and our father. "You have the Crocker Curse, don't you, Hope?"

Still crying, she nodded at me.

"Why are you doing this to her?" I called to the spirits.

"To teach her she is no different than any other Crocker," the reply came.

"Really? How's that going for you? Has she gone on a killing spree after people with Troubles, since I assume they still exist here?"

I made Hope look into my eyes, crouching down to her height.

"Hope, focus on me. The me right in front of you. I'm your big brother. I'm the one you brought back from the dead and told that you would never judge me for my past because my past was connected to the Crocker Curse which was connected to the Troubles which are gone. And Dwight, for some reason, you've gotten closer and closer to in the five months you've been in Haven, after the Troubles have been gone for good. He's watching over us right now, because a new cut appeared on your body and you were crying, so I came back to try to find and help you. None of this is real, Hope. The spirits are messing with your head, trying to make you think you're something you're not. Don't let them, Hope. You're the only Crocker that's cared more about others than themselves I've ever met. You risked everything to bring me back. I love you, Baby Sister. Don't let them take you away from me."

She blinked a few times. Dead Dwight and other me disappeared. Unfortunately, Simon was still there.

"Duke?" Hope said to me as if coming out of a haze.

"Yeah, Sis. I'm here. I'm not leaving you alone."

"How sweet, Duke. Is this what it would have taken you to have followed your legacy to begin with? Knowing you had a sister that you needed to protect? Because it didn't seem to matter that you had brothers."

"When are you actually going to stay in hell already? I thought we went over this before, I didn't like you when you were alive. My opinion hasn't changed since you died. Leave us alone."

Hope was shaking in my arms.

"Are you okay, Sis?"

Simon lunged at us. He cut us both, but there was still Troubled blood dripping on his knife. Both of us hit the floor because of the Crocker Curse.

Hope:

"How is he doing this to us?" Duke asked through his pain.

I tried to focus through the curse. Duke reminded me that I wasn't in my body. Which meant that our Crocker Curse would only be active here, because it couldn't exist in our bodies. I forced myself to my feet.

"I'm not you," I said to Simon. "You can't force me to be you. You've been dead since Duke and I were children. The Troubles are gone. The Crocker Curse has been ended."

Simon came at me again, but I was ready for him. I felt Duke get to his feet behind me, but I put my arm out to stop him. As I let my energy build up, I let a cleansing energy go on Simon. The amount of energy released brought me to my knees, but it brought Simon to his knees as well.

"What did you do to me, Hope?" he asked me.

Duke helped me up and over to Simon.

"Blessed you with a cleansing energy, to release all of the anger that you've kept pent up even after your death. That energy will help you face what your family has always had thrust upon you, not by choice, but by force, so you can heal," I said. "It is this pent up anger, the rage, the prejudice against anyone different that kept my mother from ever telling you that I existed. She kept tabs on you until I was born, told her parents about you so they would make sure to keep me safe from you. They promised because they knew when I was born she would die."

"And they probably hate you for it," Simon said to me.

"No, they don't. I've had a good life. My grandparents taught me all about my mother, about you, your curse, and why my mother didn't want me anywhere near you. They also told me I had a destiny to come to Haven one day to help my brother. And I did, I came to Haven and met Duke and we've become so close. Maybe it was because the Troubles and the Crocker Curse weren't factors in our relationship. But I love my brother. Maybe if you had chosen a different path with your life, maybe then we would have been meant to be in each other's lives. But we weren't. So just go, I'm not going to do anything that will hurt you, even though you've hurt me. That's not how I was taught to do things. I'm not like you, I know how to live and let go."

Duke was holding me and I knew I was bloody and shaky in his arms.

"Maybe you should listen to her. She's more like her mom than any Crocker. Just let her be. She doesn't want to be like you and she doesn't want to hurt you. Now, I may not want to hurt anyone, but you hurt my baby sister here… cut her up pretty good. Forget what you did to me. I've dealt with worse, but you hurt Hope, Old Man. I may decide you may be worth hurting."

"Duke, don't," I said to him. "It won't solve anything. And I just want you to hold me. I feel cold and weak."

Simon faded away and suddenly I realized how much weaker I was. Duke must've noticed because he carefully put me down on the ground.

Duke:

"What more do you want from us?" I shouted at the spirits. "We've already proven we're not going to just run around hurting anyone! Hope could've hurt Simon! She could've hurt the me in the vision you had kill Dwight! All she did was try to bring Dwight back! How else can we show you that she isn't a threat to anyone?"

Hope was so cold and pale in my arms. She was losing blood from the different places our darling father had cut her. At first, I thought the spirits were just going to let her die in my arms, here in the vision. Finally, they answered me.

"Very well, Spawn of Crocker. We shall return you both to your bodies. If she is strong enough to survive the injuries she sustained on her journeys here, we will allow her usage of the energies of Haven."

Just like that, we were back in our bodies. I still felt woozy. I crawled over to Hope. She was as cold and pale as she was in the vision.

"Dwight, help me get her cleaned up. Please," I asked him frantically. "She's losing a lot of blood."

Dwight started helping me to bandage Hope up. Behind us, I noticed the fire had gone out. Suddenly, I noticed that Nathan was there.

"What the hell happened?" Nathan asked.

"Hope's been dealing with some issues… and we tried to solve them," Dwight said, staying clear headed. "Spirits that didn't want her doing magick in Haven… accused her of trying to hurt the people here. We tried to face them together to prove them wrong. They attacked Duke and Hope the worst."

"We need to get her somewhere safe," I said, panicking.

"It needs to be either my house or the Cape Rouge," Sasquatch said.

"What? Why?"

"The spirits. They said as she protected us she made herself vulnerable to them. I think she'll be safer with one of us," he explained. "I think she'll be better with you. Besides, I don't want Lizzie to see Hope like this. She likes your sister."

"So she protected all of us instead of herself?" I asked desperately.

"Yeah, Duke. We need to get her to the Cape Rouge. You and Nathan get her to the Rouge. I'll go to her place, get some of her things."

Dwight rushed off on us. I looked up at Nathan. He had started packing Hope's stuff while Dwight had helped me bandage her up.

"You got her stuff, Nathan?"

"Yeah, Duke. We'll put her in my truck. Follow behind me in your car. I'll put it on the radio to clear the way for the two of us from here to the Rouge. Then I'll call Gloria and ask her to meet us there with some supplies to keep her taken care of until she wakes up."

"Nathan… what if…"

"She's gonna wake up, Duke. She's your sister. You're not gonna lose her now," Nathan reassured me.

Delia:

I felt horrible when I found out what Duke and Hope had been through. I had just left them with my brother and Hope had been in some kind of coma since. Duke hired Paige to stay on the Cape Rouge when neither he nor Dwight could be there. Gloria and I were rotating checking on her IVs, injuries, and vitals. It had been a week already. Her wounds were healing, but she had yet to wake up.

After checking on Hope while Duke was at the Gull, I went by Dwight's house. I figured I'd check up on him. I hadn't been able to get over to his house much since the thing with the spirits.

"Hey Dwight," I called, letting myself in.

Dwight was sitting on the couch just staring off into space. It worried me. I knew he and Hope were close, but I didn't like that it was having such an impact on him. After all, he had Lizzie.

"Dwight?" I said, touching him lightly on the shoulder.

He jumped at my touch, before relaxing when he realized it was me.

"Lia, sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I got off the easiest. I pretty much just got pushed to defend why I trust Hope and Duke. You and Duke seemed broken when you both came out of things together. All I know is what he told me, that they showed him he was bad for you and so he ended things between you. Then Duke went back in after Hope when she started getting cut up and they both came out more cut up, but she hasn't woken up yet. Duke won't even tell me what happened when he went back in. He looks haunted, but all he does now is look after Hope and take care of business."

"So you don't know what happened to Hope and Duke?"

He shook his head at me.

"I just don't know what they did to you that made you run off, Lia. Duke didn't seem happy himself, but you couldn't get out of there fast enough. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. It's personal, stuff between me and Duke," I said to my brother. "Besides, I wanted to let you know that I just came from the Cape Rouge. Paige is with Hope right now, but we should be able to remove her stitches in the next day or so. Her vitals are still coming up slowly, but there hasn't been any drops in blood pressure or oxygen levels, so that is definitely a good sign."

"But you still don't know when she'll wake up?"

"I'm sorry, Dwight. I wish I did. But I know the same thing that you, Duke, and Nathan know… she needs to heal from whatever the spirits did to her on her own. What Gloria and I are doing… it's like putting a bandaid on a surgical wound. It won't do much on it's own. Hope needs to come back to us on her own."

"I hope she's strong enough," Dwight said to me. "Those spirits were putting her through hell."

"Hope is very strong, Dwight. Give her time. I'm sure she'll come around."

Duke:

It had been nearly two weeks since Hope had slipped into a coma and had been moved onto the Cape Rouge for her protection. I hated seeing her the way she was. She looked so frail.

"You're missing some very good spiked coffee, Sis," I said, standing at the door to her room on the Rouge.

Everything looked more or less the same as it had since we'd brought her onto the boat. She had slightly more color to her and according to the machine that was keeping track of her vital signs, they were basically normal. Based on this, I would guess she could wake up at any moment. Suddenly, I heard someone calling me from up on the deck of the Rouge.

"Hello? I'm looking for Mr. Duke Crocker?" the female voice called.

I made my way up to the deck, hoping this woman wasn't going to be some kind of trouble. When I got up to the deck, I noticed the olive complexion, soft brown hair, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a red tank top.

"Are you Mr. Duke Crocker?" she asked me, as she turned around to notice me, making me notice her hazel colored eyes.

"Yes, I am, call me Duke. And you are…"

"Amelia Corey. You can call me Mila. I'm here about my cousin Hope," she said.

"You're Hope's cousin?"

"And you're her brother. Small world, isn't it, Duke?" she said, giving me a dazzling smile. "Where is Hope?"

"Follow me," I said leading her below decks. "She hasn't woken in nearly two weeks. Me and Dwight… I guess he's her boyfriend… we've been trying to keep her grandparents updated with whatever we knew as we found out."

"I know. My family really does appreciate that. But we figured at this point her issue isn't necessarily a medical issue," Mila told me.

"Before I let you in there, I want to tell you, I had no idea that she had put protection on me or my boat. Hell, I didn't know she had put protection on anyone using ancient gods until I saw that she had been attacked by the spirits. I pushed her to do the ritual to try to put an end to all of it. I didn't know until after it had all been started that she had done all of that leaving herself vulnerable to the spirits."

"I know you didn't, Duke."

"You believe me?"

"I can read it on you. You're genuinely concerned and feel very guilty for the shape that Hope is in. You need to understand that it's not your fault. We all make our own choices, our own paths, as you did when you chose to die to protect everyone here in Haven. Regardless of your mistakes, you have a good heart," she said putting her hand over my heart. "Now, let's go check on Hope."

I led Mila into Hope's quarters. She went straight to check her vitals and her injuries. She completely removed the bandages from Hope's arms. In their place, she applied some kind of ointment that she pulled out of her bag. Where there had been redness from the injuries Hope had suffered in the vision, her skin was turning back to its normal color. The cuts, which weren't as deep since they had been stitched, didn't seem as angry on her skin anymore. Instead they looked as if they were further along the healing process than they had been a few minutes before.

Next, Mila took an oil and put it over Hope's forehead and her heart. Almost immediately, Hope's color fully returned to normal. Like she hadn't been on the mend from a near-death experience since she'd been on my boat.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "That's a nice set of party tricks you've got there."

"This is nothing. I'm not even using my energy really. These items are already charged by a group of family members for these purposes. They just get past along where they're needed."

"So what other party tricks do you have?"

Mila smiled at me as she pulled a pendant out of her bag. It looked valuable, like the type of thing I had been paid to smuggle into the country before.

"What is that?"

"One of many family heirlooms," she said mischievously.

She put the pendant on a necklace before fastening it around Hope's neck. As soon as the necklace was clasped, Hope's eyes opened, for the first time in nearly two weeks.

Hope:

"What the hell just happened?" I asked sitting upright suddenly.

I looked around me. I was on the Cape Rouge. Duke was standing a few feet away from me, looking kind of pale. There was an IV in my arm. I pulled it out. When I did I noticed Mila standing next to me.

"Mila?" I asked confused. "What are you doing in Haven?"

"Are you serious, Little One?" she asked as she hugged me. "I came back to the east coast as soon as I could when I found out that you were in trouble. Sorry it took so long, Cuz. I had some… loose ends to tie up before I could get back to Massachusetts and come up here."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Almost two weeks, Sis," Duke said, coming to the other side of me, hugging me as soon as Mila let me go. "The spirits finally let the two of us go, but they said you needed to survive your injuries and then they'd let you access Haven's energy. Dwight told me you'd be safer here or his place, but with Lizzie, he thought here was better. He's been coming by every day, though. I can't get rid of Sasquatch. The things I do for you, Baby Sister."

"Thanks, Duke," I said holding him tighter.

"How are you feeling, Sis?"

"I feel fine, actually. Sore in some places, but other than that, I feel pretty good," I said turning to Mila. "Thank you."

"How did you wake her up so easily?" Duke asked.

"The pendant. It's a symbol of the god Apollo. He's a god of healing among other things. As healers, he's one of our family's patron gods. On top of it, that specific pendant belonged to Penny. She wore it until the day she died, when she passed it on to her mother to hold on to for you until the time was right. Apparently, Grams thought that time was now," Mila said.

I looked at the pendant carefully. It was something that belonged to my mother.

"This was my mother's?" I asked in amazement, holding back tears.

"Yeah, Little One. It's not just Apollo that will look after you while you wear that pendant. Your mother will as well," Mila said, rubbing my shoulder.

I started crying. I hadn't cried over my mother in years. Even though I never knew her physically, I knew so many stories about her and sometimes, I did feel her absence in my life.

"Can I get either of you anything? I think I should go up on deck real quick and let Nathan, Gloria, Dwight, and Delia know that you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," Duke said, and I could tell he wanted to give me and Mila a few minutes alone.

"Spiked coffee?" I asked.

He laughed.

"Sure, Baby Sister. One shot or two?"

"Three. I've been out for almost two weeks, right? That means there is absolutely no alcohol in my system. That is blasphemy," I said trying to laugh through my tears.

"Fine," Duke said, giving in to me. "Mila, coffee? Tea? Bourbon? Scotch? Anything?"

"Spiked coffee doesn't sound bad," she said smiling at him.

Duke smiled back at her and his eyes lit up.

"Two spiked coffees for the lovely ladies aboard my boat. As soon as I make these phone calls," Duke said as he walked away.

"Your brother is kinda cute, Cuz," Mila said to me when Duke left.

"You know he can hear you up on deck, right?"

"So what?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Help me get washed up. I want out of these pajamas, especially if our friends are gonna rush over here after hearing I'm up. I want a real shower and real clothes."

"Are these all your things?" Mila asked, looking at the bags of things that somebody obviously rushed to grab from my place.

"No. I don't live on the Rouge anymore. I haven't in a few months," I told her. "I guess someone brought these over after the ritual."

"So where do you live if not with your brother?"

"I live above his bar, The Grey Gull. Can you just pick something decent for me to change into after a shower? Keep in mind in two weeks I've probably lost a few pounds, being on an IV instead of a normal diet."

"I gotcha, Cuz. Go take your shower," Mila said as I walked away from her.

Dwight:

I was getting ready to leave to drop Lizzie off at school when my phone started ringing. It was Duke.

"Is everything okay with Hope?"

"Sasquatch… you're not gonna believe it… Hope is awake. She's walking around below decks with her cousin Mila who just showed up on my boat a little while ago."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"I'm coming to the Rouge as soon as I drop Lizzie at school," I said to him.

"No. I figure you, Delia, and at this point even Nathan, Paige, and Gloria are gonna want to see her. Meet at the Gull. I'll make waffles. She's gotta eat anyway. Can you just do me a favor and call your sister and have her call Gloria? I'll handle Nathan and Paige. We'll meet on the deck at the Gull as soon as she's ready to go."

"Alright, Duke. See you guys there."

Hope was awake. A cousin came to Haven and helped her. Things were looking up. Now if only I could figure out what was going on with my sister.

"Lizzie! Let's go! Time for school!" I called to my daughter.

Lizzie came running down the stairs, ready to go. As we were walking out the door, McHugh was coming up the steps.

"I thought I'd take Lizzie to school so you could go check on Hope," he offered.

"Hop in. We'll drop Lizzie together and I'll explain."

After I dropped Lizzie, I explained what Duke had told me about Hope and her cousin.

"So after almost two weeks a cousin just shows up and wakes her out of the blue? She's okay?" he asked.

"We're gonna see for ourselves. We're heading over to the Gull. Duke is bringing them both over there to meet up with all of us who know what's been going on with her."

"You don't sound like you believe this, Dwight."

"I saw the shape she was in when Duke woke up. Those spirits… McHugh… they did a real number on her. I guess I'll feel better when I see her with my own eyes."

"Are you in love with Little Crocker?"

I didn't answer for a minute. I thought about the way my heart felt like it had been shredded when I saw the shape she was in, knowing there was nothing I could do to help her.

"I think I might be."

We rode basically in silence for the rest of the way to the Gull. When we got there, a woman in a red tank top was sitting by one of the tables on the deck. She had similar features to Hope.

"You must be Mila. I'm Dwight, this is McHugh. Where are…"

"Duke and Hope?"

I nodded at her.

"Hi Dwight," I heard her voice behind me. "McHugh, it's nice to see you again."

I turned around to see Hope, coming down from her apartment in a simple black sundress with a purple sweater open over it, covering where the gashes had appeared on her body. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. I closed the distance between us almost instantly, picking her up in my arms, feeling her warmth, feeling her… alive and awake in my arms. As I put her back down on her feet, I lifted her face to mine and kissed her, something I had missed doing.

"I missed you too, Dwight," she said as our foreheads rested against each other.

"Already, Sasquatch? Really?" Duke said coming out of the Gull with coffee.

Hope started to laugh and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Guys, this is my cousin, Mila. She just got into town this morning, sent by my family," Hope explained as an introduction to her cousin.

"Why now?" McHugh asked. "You've been down for almost two weeks."

"Because, her body needed time to heal from the physical trauma she endured from the spirits," Mila started to explain. "Show them, Hope."

Hope took off her sweater and we could see the gashes that had been on her back on her arms… looking a lot better than they had just yesterday.

"With her body recuperating enough, regaining her blood volume, starting the healing process on its own… she was basically ready to come around," Mila said as Hope put the sweater back on. "She just needed a little help. So I came."

"And you had to wait two weeks?" McHugh pushed.

"I wasn't even on the east coast until recently. I got to Maine as soon as I could after making a stop by the family in Massachusetts for supplies."

"McHugh, really, it's okay. Mila did more than wake me up. She gave me a piece of my mother. I owe her so much," Hope said, as she slid her finger under a necklace that she'd never worn since I'd known her.

We spent some time with Duke, Mila, McHugh, Nathan, Paige, Gloria, and Delia, who only stayed long enough to make sure Hope was okay and show her relief, before McHugh volunteered to get Lizzie, Nathan and Paige went their own way, Gloria went back to work, and Duke took Mila out for coffee. Finally, I brought Hope upstairs to her apartment.

"I've missed you so much, Hope," I said, as I started to take her sweater off, but she stopped me.

"Dwight, no," she said to me.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to see those ugly marks on me," she replied.

I led her to the couch and sat down with her.

"Take off your sweater, Hope," I said to her gently.

She hesitated, but ultimately, she did it, looking away from me. As gently as I could, I kissed each of her injuries.

"Hope… I don't care if you are Hope Corey or Hope Crocker or Hope Corey Crocker. I don't care if you have scars from fighting for your life while you fought to protect all of us. What I do care about is that you know that I love you… scars and all. You don't have to be self-conscious around me about these. I will kiss the pain away, they won't make me see you any differently."

"What did you say?" she asked me in shock.

"I said I love you, Hope," I said again, as I lifted her face to mine and kissed her deeply. "Nothing is going to make me stop loving you, Hope. Just remember that."

Hope led me to her bed, stripping my clothes off as she did. It didn't take long until we were both naked. She was so beautiful, I didn't understand why she was so self-conscious. Our kissing was getting more intense by the minute. Just before things went any farther, I pulled away from her.

"Are you sure, Hope? I don't want you to rush into anything. Not after what happened last time," I said, breathing heavily.

She kissed me again.

"Dwight, I love you, too. I'm sure," she said to me, as she pulled me closer to her.

As we made love, I couldn't help but be amazed that this woman had come into my life.