Sitting and watching the Ghost Investigators episodes that I have saved on the DVR, I think about all of the things that have happened since moving to West Virginia. I hated everywhere else we've lived over the years, New York worst of all. What was I thinking when I lived in New York. None of those other places felt like home, they were all missing something. But this place was different from the beginning. Now two years later, I feel more comfortable here than I have anywhere else. The problem is, I don't know if it is the place or who lives here. I'm not sure I felt like this when we first got here, or even a couple months ago. Suddenly though, this place feels like home, like a place that I can be happy. I shake my head, trying to clear the cobwebs. I need to think straight and stop worrying about nonsense. It's not like there can ever be anything real for me with anyone other than Ash. I just need to resign myself to that and be done with it.

After an episode of Ghost Investigators and some self-pity I walk to the front door to check to make sure that Katy hasn't gone anywhere. I should hear that noisy car of hers, but I better check just in case.

When I look out I see that her mother's Prius is gone, but then I see that her car is gone too. Shit, how did I miss her leaving? I head toward my SUV, but quickly realize that I'll get to town a lot faster without the car. Throwing down my keys, I pocket my cell phone and take off toward town. The sun setting and a storm threatening overhead makes the evening seem much later and more foreboding than I should have.

By the time I arrive in town, it's completely dark and there are not many people bustling around town. I rush past Foodland and toward the library. The parking lot across from the library is dimly lit and surrounded by nothing but trees and empty buildings, the perfect place to abduct someone or harm someone without anyone noticing. And of course it would be the place where Katy would automatically park since it's supposed to be for the library.

When I get into the parking lot, I see her car, but I don't see her. Suddenly I hear a faint cry, a strangled sob, calling for help. It was Katy, I know it. I zip toward her car and find her pinned to the ground with an Aurum hovering above her, his hand around her throat choking the life out of her and his other hand ready to plunge into her chest and take her life.

I rush up and rip the Aurum away from her and throw him to the ground out of sight. "Stay away from her," I growl in my own language as I punch and kick at the Aurum. I grab him by the neck and lift him high into the air and launch him away from where Kat will see what's happening.

He launches himself at me and throws me to the ground near Kat. I stand and ready myself for his attack, and throw him away from me and further away from where Kat can see. "Dammit," I growl when he rushes at me again, this time in his shadow form. Instead of just attacking he immediately thrusts his arm into my chest, trying to go for my power.

Calling on the source, I bring a ball of light into my hands and launch it at him, forcing him to back off and run away. Rubbing my chest, I know should go after him and finish this, but then I hear Katy coughing and wheezing behind me. I rush over toward her to check to see if she's okay.

"It's okay," I tell her. "He's gone. Are you okay?" I place my hand on her shoulder and stop her from toppling over onto the ground. When she tries to lift herself off of the ground I stop her. Gently keeping my hand on her to try to calm her. "Just sit still. Everything is okay."

Her face is scraped and her eye is swollen shut, there are hand prints around her neck from where he had his choke hold on her and her wrist is mangled and seems to be broken. Without realizing what I'm doing I start to pull on my ability to heal and send the healing powers that I have through her body. As the healing penetrates her body, she starts to move and look around, toward me.

"Thank you for…" she says looking up into my face. She stops abruptly when she sees me crouching before her, hand still on her shoulder, trying to heal her before she realizes what is happening.

"Kat. Are you still with me?" I ask gently.

"You," she whispers looking up at me.

"Yes, it's me," I assure her. I move my hand down her arm to her wrist to try to heal the broken bones. But something in my touch seems to unnerve her because she flinches and pulls away from me. Concern written all over her face.

"I can help you," I tell her trying to take her hand again.

"No!" she shrieks, looking at me like I'm going to hurt her.

Straightening I look down at her taking in her appearance. Her wrist isn't broken anymore, but it's still swollen and bruised, her neck is still bruised and her eye is still swollen. I could fix all of this if she would let me. But the fear in her eyes and the tense set to her body tell me that now isn't a good time to try to help her. "Whatever. I'll call the police." As much as I don't want to involve the police in this, I don't have much of a choice. They'll never find the thing responsible for this that is something that I'm going to have to take care of on my own, but Kat is going to expect the police to be called.

I kept my eyes on her and scanning the area the entire time I was on the phone with the authorities. When I was done, I stood over her watching, waiting for the Aurum to return.

"Thank… you." She whispers in a hoarse voice behind me. The damage to her throat evident in her voice.

"Don't thank me," I tell her. Running my fingers through my hair I look out around the parking lot and into the surrounding woods. "Dammit, this is my fault." If I'd have stayed away from her, if I'd have listened to what I have been telling Dee about being with humans, this would have never have happened. It's my fault. If I wouldn't have been with her when the bear attacked, if I hadn't used my powers to scare it away. If I was paying better attention and would have heard her leave before she actually left. So many decisions that I've made that have led to this moment. If I would have stayed away, she wouldn't have had the trace and she wouldn't have been attacked.

I stand above her, searching the surrounding area for any sign of the Aurum. I will protect her with my life if that's what I have to do. Damn…

Glancing down I see her staring up at me, admiration and something else showing in her eyes. Ever the smart ass I smirk a little, "See something you like, Kitten?"

She immediately drops her eyes to her hands, she looks so meek, beaten down, and abused. She's silent for a few moments, "Light – I saw light."

I know she's talking about my light. Her eyes were closed, but there isn't much that can shield someone from my light when I unleash it. "Well, they do say there is light at the end of the tunnel." Damn, that was a stupid thing to say. Nothing like making her feel worse.

I watch as she shrinks away from me more, like I just reminded her of the fact that she almost died. "Dammit, I'm sorry. That was thoughtless. How bad are you hurt?" I ask.

She looks a little surprised and confused, but then she speaks. "My throat… It hurts." She runs her fingers across her throat then she touches her wrist. "So does my wrist. I'm not…sure if it's broken." I know her wrist isn't broken, my still be sprained since I didn't get to completely fix it, but the bone is mended. "But there was a flash… of light."

Ignoring her talk about the light, I look at her wrist, "It might be broken or sprained. Is that all?"

"All? The man… he was trying to kill me."

I glance up at her and narrow my eyes at her. "I understand that. I was hoping he didn't break anything important." I look her over and take in every part of her. Even with her bruised and swollen eye and her black and blue throat, she's still so beautiful. It pisses me off that that she was almost taken away from me. Going back to her condition I meet her eyes. "Like your skull?"

"No… I don't think so." She says much to my relief.

"Okay, okay." I look around again, making sure we are still alone. I doubt the Aurum will come back here right now, but I can't let my guard down. "Why were you out here anyway?"

"I… wanted to go to the library. It wasn't that… late," she says, struggling with every word and breathing. "It's not… like we are in a crime-ridden… city. He said he needed help… flat tire."

Why would he use such a ridiculous excuse to get her attention? He could have just grabbed her, he would have been fast enough, strong enough to overpower her immediately. Using a ploy to get her to take her guard down doesn't make sense. I find it hard to hide my surprise when my eyes widen at her. She lived in a big city, how could she possibly not know better than to stop and help a strange man in an empty parking lot? He would have gotten to her no matter what she did, but if this was just some normal psychopath, the result would have been exactly the same.

"A stranger approaches you for help in a dark parking lot and you go and help him? That has to be one of the most careless things I've heard in a long time." Staring down at her, trying to get her to understand how bad this could have been I continue. "I bet you think things through, right? Accept candy from strangers and get into vans with a sign that reads free kittens?" Staring at me, shocked at my blatant rudeness I go on. "Sorry wouldn't have been helpful if I didn't come, now would it?"

"So why were… you out here?" she asks, ignoring my words.

Rubbing my chest, "I just was." I can't tell her that I was supposed to be watching out for her while Dee was at her meeting with the DOD.

"Geez, I thought you guys were supposed to be nice and charming."

Confused I send her a frown, "What guys?"

"You know, the knight in shining armor and saving the damsel in distress kind."

God, I want nothing more than to be her knight, to take care of her, but that's just not possible. "I'm not your knight."

"Okay…" she whispered. Silence washes over us for a few moments, I don't mean to be such an ass when it comes to her, but I have to. I have to make sure that she stays safe, even if that means pissing her off and forcing her to stay away from me and Dee. Keeping my eyes trained on our surroundings, I don't see when she looks up at me.

"Where is he now?" she asks after looking up at me again.

"He took off. Long gone by now." She lowers her head again and looks like she's going to pass out. "Kat...?"

She lifts her head once again and looks at me. Her heather gray eyes full of pain and fear. Meeting my gaze she attempts to stand. "I don't think you should stand. I kneel down next to her and steady her. "The ambulance and police should be here any minute. I don't you passing out."

"I'm not going… to pass out," she argues, but she can barely sit still. In the distance the sound of sirens approaching get louder.

"I don't want to have to catch you if you do." I look down at my knuckles, not a speck of dirt or any indication that I was in a fight is found on my knuckles. Without meeting her gaze I speak. "Did… did he say anything to you?"

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "He said… I had a trace on me. And he kept asking… where they were. I don't know why."

Shit, I was hoping he didn't say anything to her or that I got here before he had a chance to try to get information from her. "He sounds like a lunatic."

"Yeah, but… who did he want?"

I look up at her and try to convince her that this was just some everyday normal lunatic, if there is any such thing. "A girl stupid enough to help a homicidal maniac with his tire maybe?"

"You're such an ass. Has… anyone told you that?"

I don't want to be an ass, but I don't know how else to fix this. Everything is going to shit so quickly, I don't know what else to do. I smile at her, trying to distract her from the real problem and get her to focus on my arrogance. "Oh, Kitten, every day of my blessed life."

"I don't even know what to say," she says looking at me in disbelief.

"Since you already said thank you, I think nothing is the best way to go at this point. Just please don't move. That's all I ask. Stay still and try not to cause any more trouble."

She scowled at me causing me to smirk to myself as I turn my attention back to our surroundings. The last thing I need right now is to get bum rushed by an Aurum with the police coming and Kat sitting here. I stand there, arms folded watching and waiting until the police arrive to take care of her. All I know is I won't be leaving her side for quite some time. I have to make sure that she's safe. If she didn't have this damn trace then…

I'm ripped from my thoughts as I look down and notice that she has started quivering and shaking from the cold. Her clothes are completely soaked from the rain and sitting on the ground she's probably frozen. Without a word, I take my shirt off and gently pull it down over her head to warm her. She looks up at me, surprise and contentment in her face. Just as I'm ready to resume my place, hovering over her, I notice her sway. Her eyes roll back and close and she begins to topple to the ground.

Before she can collapse and smack her face off of the ground, I grab her and gather her into my arms. Pulling her cold battered and bruised body to mine, I hold on to her as the police and the ambulance pull into the parking lot. I want nothing more than to heal her wounds and take away her pain, but it will have to wait.

"Is this the girl that was attacked?" the police officer asks as he walks up to me. The paramedics take out the gurney and wheel it over to us, gesturing for me to lie her down.

Hesitating with her for just a moment, I walk over to the gurney and lie her cold and soaked body down.

"What happened to her?" the paramedic asks.

"She was the girl that was attacked. She was awake and talking up until about five minutes ago when she just seemed to start to fall asleep. I was crouched right next to her when she fainted, so I stopped her from hitting the ground and picked her up to get her off of the cold ground. She was shivering."

He nods and starts his assessment of her injuries as his partner makes notes. Together they push the gurney into the back of the ambulance and finish their assessment.

"Are you the one that called 911?" one office asks.

"Yes, I was waiting for my sister to come pick me up. I was walking through town toward the diner when I her a scream and I saw a guy attacking this girl."

"Do you know her?" the other officer asks. I recognize him from the missing person's search for Dawson and Bethany.

"Yes, she's our neighbor. I guess she was at the library, I'm not really sure."

"Sir, would you like to ride to the hospital with her?" one of the paramedics asks.

"Yes," I say firmly and turn from the police and climb into the back of the ambulance. Inside, Katy has a heart monitor on her, and other wires and monitors attached to her. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. She probably just passed out because exhaustion from the experience. She will be fine."

I stare at her, wishing I could have healed her before they arrived and hoping that she is okay. I can take away the pain and the bruising, but I can't take away the memory or what she heard or saw.