"It's long." Cal whispered

This is the first thing either of us had said since we had started driving. We'd been driving in silence for hours, allowing Cal the space he needed to work through what he needed to work through. Then a few minutes ago he had started to finger his now shoulder length hair. "My hair is longer." His voice was very monotone like he was speaking from a distant place, but at least he was finally talking.

Without taking my eyes off the road I replied "You've been gone a long time."

"I have?"

His question surprised me, "Yeah, it looks like you have." I risked a quick look at him before looking back at the road, "How long do you think you've been gone?"

His brow crinkles in confusion "I... I didn't...I don't know." He looks around countryside before turning back to me "Are we going to your school now?"

"No, I don't think it's safe." I said surprised at his abrupt change of subject.

"From the Grendels?" he asks slowly.

"Yeah, if they've been following you then they probably saw you at my dorm. We can't risk going there."

"Right... okay." He went back to starting out the window and then after a few moments he added softly, "I knew I'd be the reason you dropped out."

There was nothing to say to that. He was right. I couldn't go back to college, at least not until I was sure they wouldn't find us. I knew that if Cal was in his right mind he'd be kicking up a fuss about me leaving college for him. He didn't understand, he'd never understood. I'd gladly give up my life if it meant he could keep his. Don't get me wrong, I loved going to that school and if there was any way to do both, protect Cal and go, then I would. That wasn't possible though, not now. Which meant I had to choose one, and that choice was a no brainer.

We drove for another few hours before I'd decided we were far enough away that the Grendels should have trouble finding us. I pulled into the next road side Motel.

"I'm going to get a room. I'll be back as fast as I can." There was no response from Cal.

Leaving the reception with a room key, I looked at the number and saw that our room was right in front of the car. This meant that I could sweep it first while still keeping a close eye on Cal. I knew that there was almost no possibility that the Grendels knew where we were, let alone that they were lying in wait in our brand new motel room. But I was still shaken up enough that I needed to check to make sure that I wasn't leading Cal into a trap.

Once my search of the room turned up no lurking monsters and a quick listen through the walls showed no signs of suspicious behaviour I went back to the car. Cal hadn't moved but I hadn't expected him to. After grabbing the necessities from the boot I went and opened Cal's passenger door. He jumped a little and looked at me.

I pointed my thumb towards the motel room door, "Got us a room for the night."

As soon as we were both in the room I locked the door and tested it twice to make sure it locked properly. Cal just stood in the middle of the room looking around at the room's minimal surroundings before turning to face me.

"I'm going to go...umm...get clean." He walked towards the tiny bathroom.

"That's a good idea." He was filthy and did need a shower but I was concerned about the way he'd phrased it. "I'm going to go try get us some supplies while you do that. I shouldn't be more than a few minutes." He just stared at me from the bathroom doorway. "Do you think you'll be okay alone for a bit?" He gave me a small nod as he closed the door behind him.

I didn't want to leave him alone but we needed supplies if we wanted to survive. I figured that the longer we were here the more likely it was that the Grendels could track us down. Which meant the quicker I got our supplies the better. I went to the small grocery store I'd noticed just down the road when we drove up.

I was gone longer than I intended, but when I unlocked the door and entered the room Cal was still in the bathroom. Putting the grocery bags on a table I walked over to the door.

I knocked, "Cal you okay?"

There was no answer. The shower wasn't running so there was no reason for him not to have heard me. My heart started to beat a little faster. I tried the door but it was locked. I knocked harder "Cal?" I reasoned that his silence was probably due to his fragile state, I mean he'd hardly said a handful of words since he'd come back. But there were other possibilities for him not answering. Which was why I kicked in the door.

Cal was standing in front of the mirror still wet from his shower. There was no danger in sight. Cal hadn't even reacted to my sudden and violent entry. He was staring very intently at the small mirror hanging over the sink.

"I look different." His voice had lost that distant tone and sounded stronger than it had since he'd came back.

He turned towards me, "I remember being dragged into that thing." His voice wavered "The next thing I know, you're tackling me to the ground."

"You don't remember anything about where you were." It wasn't a question.

He fingered his long hair, "Nothing."

I put the lid down on the toilet and sat down. I wasn't sure if I was relieved about this fact or not. On one hand I was glad that he didn't seem to remember whatever horrors they had put him through. On the other hand, if he didn't remember anything then I didn't know what they'd taken him for, or how he'd gotten out. Did they let him go because they were done with whatever they needed him for, and therefore leaving us alone to live our lives peacefully? Or did Cal escape from them, which would probably mean that they would be out there looking for him even now? I'd bet on the latter.

I rubbed a hand over my face. My eyes felt heavy. It felt like years since Cal been taken, in reality it had only been 3 days. Still it was a long time to go without sleep, even for me. I decided to let Cal's amnesia go for now, I'd deal with that later.

"We'll figure it out-" I said standing up "-tomorrow. For now I think we could both use some sleep." I left the room as Cal turned back to stare at his reflection.

When Cal finally did emerged from the bathroom he was once again wearing the old sweats I had put him in earlier. It was clear that 'getting clean' had been good for Cal. He's movements weren't so forced and his eyes had lost that glazed look.

"Are you sure it's safe here?" Cal asked.

"There's no reason for the Grendels to know we're here." There were two single beds in the room, I claimed the one closest to the door, "It should take them awhile to track us down and we'll be long gone by the time they do."

I climbed into the bed making sure the sheets were loose in case I needed to get out in a hurry. I waited until Cal had gotten under the covers of the other bed before reaching for the light switch.

"Don't!" Cal shouted his eyes wide. As I moved my hand away from the switch he visibly relaxed.

There was no need to say anything. I didn't judge him. If he needed the light on to sleep then it was going to stay on all night.

I closed my eyes waiting for the blissful sleep. Hoping things would be a little clearer in the morning.

"Nik?" Cal whispered.

"Yeah."

"I thought you were dead." He paused, "In the fire...I thought you were dead." I looked over at him. He was curled up under the sheets looking at me.

"I'm really glad I was wrong." With that he closed his eyes. It wasn't long after that that I was asleep.

***

A noise woke me up with a start. Looking over at Cal's bed my heart stopped. He wasn't there. I sat up and looked wildly around the room, he wasn't anywhere. I was ready to jump out of the bed when I heard it again. A small thud coming from the bathroom. I swung my feet out off the bed and onto the floor hoping that Cal had just needed to use the bathroom. As I stood up I noticed the hand poking out from under the bed. Crouching down I saw Cal, in a fetal position, fast asleep under the bed. Which meant he wasn't in the bathroom. There was another thud. Something else was.

Reaching under my pillow I gripped the knife I'd bought earlier, and crept towards the bathroom door. It was slightly ajar. Leaning against the wall I peered inside and froze at the sight. There were three Grendels standing in the bathroom surrounding one of their portals. I could feel the blood drain from my face.

I didn't waste any time. As fast and I silently as I could I moved back across the room, thinking they would hear my pounding heart at any moment. I crouched by the bed and put my hand over Cal's mouth waking him instantly. I held my finger to my lips and mouthed 'Grendels'. His eyes widened and his breathing quickened. I heard another small thud, a forth one had come through. I knew we'd never be able to flight them off. My brief altercation with them the other night showed me they were too fast. We had to run, now. Motioning Cal to follow me we quickly went for the motel door. Stopping only to grab the car keys on the stand, we were out and making our way to the car in seconds.

We'd just gotten the car doors closed when I heard a crash from inside the room. I didn't bother to look to see what was happening, I shoved the keys into the ignition, turned the engine, slammed the car into gear and screech away. I risked a glance in the rear view mirror as we were leaving the parking lot. One of them was standing in the doorway. Red eyes gleaming as it watched us drive away to safety.

***

"What the hell." Cal said looking over his shoulder.

"Cal..."

"It's not following us. Why isn't it following us?"

"Cal!."

His head whipped back around to look at me, and snapped out "You said I was safe there."

His words were like a knife in the heart. He was right. I'd assumed we were safe simply because we'd driven far enough away. Clearly distance didn't matter to them if they could find us there that quickly. I let out a shaky breath. I'd almost lost him again because of my own carelessness. The adrenaline was starting to leave me and I was feeling shaking.

" Nik..." Cal sighed rubbing his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant that. My head's just fucked up."

His wasn't the only one. If they could find us that quickly and easily then nowhere was safe. I felt fear, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to keep him safe from those things. They'd proven themselves to be a far more formidable enemy than I'd originally thought.

I wasn't about to give up though. Everything had a weak spot, even them. There had to be something we could use against them or use to hide from them. I knew very little about the Grendels. No book I'd looked though in the past had given me much information. There was only one person I could think of who might know anything of use. I looked over at him. Cal said he didn't remember his time with them. Hopefully the memory block proved temporary. As much as I want Cal to be able to forget what he's gone through, the knowledge stored there might be the only thing that will help us survive. It was time to figure out exactly what Cal knew.

TBC

Please Review.

Bia007- I tried hard very hard with that so thank you for commenting.

Nikki Morgan - There should be so much more Nightlife fics. I got tired of waiting for more and decided to add one of my own.