A/N: No, Caleb did not turn around to help her... He had too much going on (ex: the dead student, the phone call with Pogue, the dream, the 18-wheeler) to actually realize that he had run her over. He saw her get up, so he figured she was ok... Any questions?

CHAPTER 3:

2:08 A.M.

(This chapter takes place the Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning, however you want to look at it) before school starts on Monday... It's the last week of summer...)

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Sheila lifted her head a little, her lips resting on his. She lightly gave each part of his mouth a peck. Left, right, middle. Left, right, middle, before he started responding to her. Her soft tongue flicked out, licking the bottom of his mouth. He sighed, opening his mouth as well, his tongue venturing out and meeting hers.

She rolled over to where she was now on top of him, her petite body straddling his hips. Sheila pulled away from him. He let out a tiny whimper, yearning for the touch of her lips on his.

"Sshh..." She placed a finger to his lips and he lightly kissed it. She smiled. He reached for the bottom of her Henley and gently pulled it over her head, throwing it to the side as soon as he got it off.

Shifting his position, he sat up a little more, his lips making contact with hers again. He quietly brushed away a few tendrils of hair from her neck, his hands cradling her round face. He pulled back, grinning, and eyes locked with hers, lowered his head slowly to kiss the top of each bare breast. She relaxed beneath his touch and leaned back, his arm muscles tensing to hold her up. He shifted, following her body with his in one solid movement, folding his legs beneath himself and lowered her the rest of the way onto the bed.

Sheila placed her hands on his head, her hands ruffling through his soft hair. She gasped, his warm mouth taking a dark pink nipple into it. He sucked thoughtfully, his tongue playing lazy circles around it until her breathing turned to deep pants. He smiled up at her, releasing the nipple as he removed her pajama bottoms, bit by bit, shifting his body to kiss each part of newly exposed leg skin. He finally got them off and threw them next to her shirt.

Without hesitation, she reached for the waist band of his boxers and slid her hands inside, tenderly grasping his hard length, slowly moving her hand up and down. Up and down. His eyes flashed to black, an animalistic sound escaping his throat, and she retracted her hand, almost scared. He removed his boxers in a flurry of movement, slipping a finger beneath the elastic of her pink underwear and into her very hot, very wet sheath.

He took her lips prisoner once more as he stroked her. Teased her, her moans muffled by his tongue. Her eyes flashed to match the color of his and he didn't wait to ask. He brutally tore her panties off, leaving bruises on her hips, and entered her swiftly. He closed his eyes, growling, her hands going to his back, grasping, scratching.

He moved his hips slowly, beautifully, and she lifted hers to meet his each time. She could feel the heat bubbling just below her abs.

Magic was surrounding them... She could feel the static warmth of it from his body as it casually trickled into hers. He was Claiming her, she could smell his scent, musk and spice, as it enveloped her.

His head fell heavily onto her shoulder. He kissed her collarbone, then the place where the neck meets the shoulder. Another growl escaped his throat and with his teeth bared, he bit into her delicate skin, blood trickling onto the pillow beneath.

She cried out. Tried to fight him off, but he latched on, harder, bruising her shoulder, all the while pounding his hips against hers, the waves of pleasure mingling with the pain.

Sheila braced her palms against his shoulders and shoved, hard. He jerked back, hissing, and slapped her, her head snapping back, from the hit and from her climax. She closed her eyes and opened them quickly to find, not her young, handsome lover, but a decrepit, gray-skinned man on top of her. She froze, pinned down by his eyes and his body. She couldn't move...

His fingers snaked their way up her neck where his hand made a fist around her throat. She whimpered. He leaned down, tongue flicking out to lick the tears from her cheek.

"Mine..." He whispered into her raven hair. "My Lady..." He looked down at her, into her, and she stared courageously back. He grinned and abruptly exploded into a million spiders.

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Sheila's eyes fluttered open, her heart jumping. 'Not again...' She sat up quickly in bed, groaning, holding her head in her hands. She pulled them away and saw blood glistening on her fingertips. She choked back a sob and turned, finding a blob shaped stain of blood on her pillow. It looked fresh, still wet... 'The dream.' She touched her shoulder.

Blood there too... She pulled her nightshirt down, revealing her shoulder. She shuddered as the icy cold of the room licked her body. She sighed, running the pads of her fingers up and down the exposed skin.

No wound... No blood...

She looked at the clock on her bedside table. 2:06 blinked red back at her. She blew out a breath, rubbing her arms with her hands in an attempt to warm herself up, her right hand unknowingly trailing up and down the scar on her left forearm. She looked at it, the moonlight glinting off the mark.

She smiled, despite the situation, remembering how she got it. That day... That day her father died and she had found that boy in the woods... That boy...

She glanced at her clock again. 2:08. She sighed. 'Now what?...'

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Little did Sheila know that at that exact moment, several miles away, a boy of seventeen awoke abruptly in his bed, sweat covering his body. It slid down his chiseled chest and he ran a shaking hand through it, trying to get his breathing under control. He picked up his cell phone, the blue neon light reflecting off his glistening face and checked the time.

2:08.

He shook his head, throwing the phone onto the bed beside him, and looked around the room. He licked his dry lips, his eyes black, searching for the Creature. It always came after the dreams and he knew this time would be no exception.

He found it crouched in a corner by his dresser and flashed his eyes at it. It stood, unafraid, staring back at him. It looked like it was laughing, its mouth pulled tight around its jawbone. It raised a hand to point at him, then touched the corner of its mouth before exploding into dust.

Caleb blinked, raising his pointer finger to the corner of his mouth. He pulled back, revealing it to the shadows of his dark room, a drop of crimson glinting back at him. He clenched his jaw, suddenly realizing that it was throbbing. Like it was sore. 'Or...' He didn't want to even think it.

It was sore... Like he had bitten hard into something... or someone...

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Gorman Twoberry scooted a thick, yellow envelope across the table. The young boy picked it up, opened it, and pulled out a photograph.

The boy held up the picture. "This?"

"Yes."

The boy examined the photograph, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Not bad..."

"Would you like a name to go with the face?"

He shook his head. "No, I like the element of surprise. It's very... dangerous..."

Gorman smirked. "Very well." He proceeded to tell the boy the details of the contract and the circumstances in which he was to perform his duties in. The more and more he spoke, the wider the boy's eyes got.

"So, what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Gorman steepled his fingers, leaning back in the leather, desk chair. "It's called Claiming and you must do it before the Ascension. Otherwise, all this planning would've been for nothing."

The boy nodded. "Do any of the other Sons know about this?"

Gorman shook his head. "No, but they are very intelligent... I fear they may figure it out before the Ascension day comes..."

The boy's eyes flashed. 'We'll see about that...' "Well, don't we need their signatures too, I mean in order for the contract to actually be established?"

The older man smirked. "There are other ways to obtain a person's signature without their knowledge, young one." He slid a heavy piece of parchment in front of the boy, producing a pen from his jacket pocket, and handed it to him.

'Deception... I love it...' The boy thought, smirking, as he signed the paper. The paper glowed red and for a moment, the boy felt faint, a bit of his magic being sucked out and given to the parchment.

"See, easy, wasn't it?" Gorman pushed back his chair and stood. "Now, I do have other business to attend to so if you'll excuse me..."

"Just a question." Gorman stopped, eyebrows lifted. "This Claiming thing. How do I go about doing that?"

Another smirk. "You've had the dreams. Do that..." He paused. "Only without the biting..."

A/N: Interesting... Is Caleb the one in the dream...? Is he the one that receives the envelope? We shall see... Review please!!!