Beckett felt something akin to a shock wave pass through his body, and he shuddered at the unknown. Casting his eyes once more around his darkened room, he tried to shake Miles, to wake him up so he would not have to spend this dark night alone. But Miles would not wake. Not only would he not wake, he would not move – he was frozen, as solid as a statue and nearly as dead. Frightened, Beckett pushed away from his brother until he was at the edge of the bed. He cast nervous glances at the darkness of the floor, and weighed the strangeness of his brother's sleep to the frightening prospect of going all the way to Mother and Father's room in the dark. He compromised, and decided to visit Artemis. His room was closer, and he was more likely to know how to help. Older brothers knew everything.

Beckett took a deep breath, and hurled himself off the edge of the bed. He pelted out of the room, running into a little trouble with the closed door, but frantically got it open eventually. Hurtling down the hallway at a speed he never seemed able to accomplish in the yard, he managed to make it to Artemis's room in less than thirty seconds. Again, he had trouble with this door, but the darkness was overwhelming and as he struggled with the handle, a panic attack coming on, it opened abruptly from the inside and Beckett tumbled in.

The light was frightening, and blinding. He sat in a little huddle on the floor, waiting for his eyes to get used to the light. When he lifted his head, he saw Artemis sitting on his bed, looking as amused as it was possible to be when you were Artemis Fowl II. "Did you have a bad dream?" he asked his younger brother, not unkindly.

Beckett didn't say anything, but shook his head furiously. Interested, Artemis cocked his head to the side. "Afraid of the dark?"

Beckett managed a half nod, half shake. It meant he was essentially turning his head in a circle, but Artemis understood what he meant. He waited patiently for Beckett to regain his words. The younger boy got up from the floor and joined his brother on the bed, snuggling against him. Artemis pulled away at first – he had never been one for small children – but his younger brothers were something else entirely. He put one arm around the younger boy, still waiting to hear what the matter was. He checked the clock – 5 in the morning.

"It's Miles," Beckett whispered quietly, calmed by the presence of his older brother. "He won't wake up."

Artemis knew better than to ask if Beckett was sure it wasn't just a dream, or suggest that Miles was very deeply asleep. Beckett didn't work that way. Instead, Artemis stood up, Beckett holding tightly onto his hand, and left the room. They headed down the hall towards the twins room, where the door was still open. Artemis went in, shook Miles gently. The boy did not respond. A small frown creased Artemis's brow, and he tried again, with more force. The boy did not wake, would not even respond to his touch. As if someone had replaced Miles with a wax statue, except wax statues did not have the heat of a living body.

Beckett was standing right next to Artemis' leg, as if the presence of an older brother banished the monsters for a three foot radius, enough to protect little boys. Artemis didn't want to frighten him by telling him nothing, but he knew nothing that he could tell Beckett. Instead, he took him by the hand and said, "Let's go talk to Mother and Father, alright?" Beckett nodded furiously, and huddled closer to Artemis. This made it slightly awkward to walk, because there was a small child tripping up his right leg. Artemis sighed softly, and found the small flashlight Angeline had put in the boys room, even though they never remembered to use it. He clicked it on, and Beckett sighed with relieved fear. The little circle of false light was a comfort on the way through the dark mansion.