UPDATE! Ok, for all of you who have read this, commented, favorite, story alerted, and more, THANK YOU!1 Your comments and story alerts have made me SO happy and inspired to right more, and I'm So sorry for not updating faster! But now, I'm back on the work bus and I hope to right more for YOU guys! Again, thank you!

Dangerous

I didn't know whether to shout to the heavens in happiness at sharing a smooch with Michael or to scream in utter frustration at him duping me with a kiss and leaving me to fend for myself in that room.

But I chose to do none of the above, for I heard Eli coo in his sleep over on the bed.

I cussed again in my head.

When he came back, I knew I'd give Michael a mouthful as I wiped away the new tears of frustration from my eyes. I returned to Eli's side, and cuddled up under the blankets and watched him sleep. Damn Michael for leaving me again, just when I felt that I never wanted to leave his side. But as I watched little Eli, my fingers grazed his new tuft of hair, an adorable honey- but I presumed it would turn darker as he aged. Suddenly, I realized something; I knew this baby would never leave me. It wasn't just because I was his mother or the one to look after him- no. He was mine. Yeah, a man may have helped create the little bundle of cute, but he was my gift to cherish. And slowly, the anger I felt for Michael began to dissipate, and my eyelids grew heavy. And in that moment, with my fingers still brushing Eli's soft head, I fell into a sweet (and direly needed) slumber.

"Charlie."

"Hmmm?"

"It's time to get up darlin' we got to get up before the sun does." I could hear Jeep talking to me, but I kept my eyes closed.

"Can't we stay here for a bit longer?" I moaned.

"I'm afraid not. I got this- this vision ya see? That there's somewhere we're supposed to be. Come on Charlie, you can sleep in the car if you'd like. I'll make sure you're nice and comfy. Does that sound good?" I could already feel Jeep delicately helping me to my feet. I opened my eyes, but they just wouldn't seem to stay open. "Now let's roll darling, wake up."

Finally, a bit out of my sleepy stupor, I was coherent enough to work on autopilot. I grabbed my little bundle Eli, making sure as to not wake him, and headed for the door. As I slowly looked around I saw Jeep hadn't wasted anytime; all of our stuff was already packed and ready to go.

"Now, we're almost done now Charlie, up you goes." Jeep ushered. I reluctantly hoisted myself into the car with Jeep helping me. As soon as my legs were securely inside the vehicle, he slammed the door and quickly ran to the other side to jump into the driver's seat.

"Buckle your seatbelt, and then you can sleep." I reached across and felt for the metallic buckle, and somehow managed to buckle it.

"You ready? Let's go." There was one last thing I could remember before I fell asleep again. I looked out the window, sighed dreamily, and thought. "I bet Michael's not even up yet."

"Open your eyes. We're here."

Heat fell upon my cheeks, almost painfully, as I tried to open my eyes to see where we were.

Oh no.

The sun pelted us with its rays, and as I skimmed over the wide landscape, I realized I shouldn't have ever let Jeep take me. He had taken us to the blasted valley, the damn valley Michael had told me to never go to and the same stupid valley where impending doom was supposed to come! I said every cuss word I could think of at the moment, and if I had learned another language, I would've worn out all their blasphemy as well. Dammit!

Jeep seemed unaware of my string of swears that flew from my lips. He was already out of the car, and from where I could see, was acting very strange. He walked slowly, as if one wrong step could result in the world crumbling beneath us. That's when I started to panic. What was he doing? Was he possessed? Michael had never warned me of what to do if, by some miraculous chance I didn't follow his warnings, I was faced with the fact Jeep had led me to the dangerous place of unknown evil. All I could do was wait and watch as Jeep continued to walk awkwardly against the dry, cracked land.

And suddenly, I saw the real evil of the land.

Jeep wasn't stepping carefully; it was as if each step opened up a new edge of darkness. At first I hadn't noticed, until little tentacles of black started to ooze from the cracks in the ground, getting bigger and bigger as Jeep walked on. And as he walked farther away, the faster that black darkness seemed to grow. I screamed.

"JEEP! Stop! Jeep, can't you hear me?"

What was I to do? Jeep kept walking on, slowly and methodically, as the darkness seemed to stalk towards the car- towards Eli. The darkness was already reaching our tires, and I could almost hear it moaning for Eli. I looked up to see Jeep still moving away, but as I did, I noticed the darkness didn't touch him. It moved away from him, towards the car, almost as if it couldn't touch him. Then it hit me. No wonder Michael didn't want Jeep to take us to the Valley; nothing celestial could be touched there- but if you were human…. As I saw the black ooze start to cover the windows, I held Eli closer. What was I to do? Whether it was maternal instinct or sheer terror, I screamed back "YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!"

Moving as fast I could to the driver's seat, I turned on the car, used my right hand to put it in reverse while holding Eli with my left, and slammed down on the gas petal. I didn't even have time to see the darkness being stripped away from the Earth as I reversed the car as fast I could. Dammit, why hadn't I been awake? There was no road to be seen, and as I tried to flip the car into drive, I smelled something. It was too late before I realized what the smell was.

BOOM.

The front of the car went up in flames before me, scaring me as I began to swivel as my vision blurred. I had no idea whether I would head over a cliff or run into a damn mountain. But as I slowed, the fumes from the smoke came in through the air vents, making me cough with each breadth. I slowed the car, the fumes unbearable. My vision was beginning to go blurry. And suddenly, I felt faint. I was fading fast. I still held Eli to me as tightly as I could, but my grip on the steering began to loosen, and I felt myself falling, black darkness consuming me. Consuming me before I could save Eli- or see Michael- ever again.