"This gets more brilliant all the time," I mumbled. "We're searching for a library, which probably isn't even a library, that only Denis Washington has access to, that you've never even seen before."

"It's not too late to leave," Jesse said hopefully, instantly categorizing my sarcasm as a strike towards surrender.

Paul blinked at him lazily through those long thick lashes, smirking, before turning to me, serious once more."I know the general direction, I've seen him disappear around this corner…"

I sighed. "Even if we do find it, he has to have it safe-guarded Paul. It's not going to just swing open wide. And then, if it's not a library, it could be another holding cell for a creep like the one downstairs."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Susannah Simon was giving up on her own plan." He smiled, crookedly smug. "You do realize it was your decision to stay?"

"Yeah," I said sharply, "But the whole find a safe place thing isn't working out. AND he probably knows we're looking for it now, because he HEARS everything apparently."

"Your negativity is irritating me," He said flatly, "Quit talking please."

I glared at him, "Let's think about this for a minute. You irritate me all the damn time and I can't ever get you to shut up."

"Do you mind?" Jesse said quietly. "The constant friction between you two is exhausting."

"Not even," Paul grumbled, "She's refuses to engage in my kind of friction."

"You're disgusting." I snapped.

He studied me for a moment, before something in his eyes flashed and suddenly his sure expression was back in place. "Then kiss me."

"The hell?"

"Slater-" Jesse warned.

"If I'm as disgusting to you as you say, then it wouldn't be a risk at all. If you're not worried about how much you like it when we kiss, then why are you always so dead set against it?"

"Because we hate eachother Paul."

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, that's right. Almost as much as we love eachother."

"Dios mio- shut up! Both of you," Jesse turned, and in his black eyes I saw a rage I wasn't expecting to find there. "She has chosen neither of us, and as far as I'm concerned, that's not going to change as long as I can help it. I'm not alive for her the way she needs, and you, you're not even human enough," He spit, his inky irises flashing. "I'm tired of hearing about this delusion of yours, it doesn't exist. Now, if you please, let's find this place so we can figure out how to get the girl you supposedly love out of the hellhole you've managed to drag her in to."

"Well, Zorro, you don't have to worry your pretty little head any longer," Paul sneered, "Looks like I found the solution to our little puzzle."

He stepped forward, pushing his body weight into a small gray slab of blank, unpainted wall. Had I been paying attention before, I would have noticed what he'd obviously seen- a halo of crimson red fanning out from the space, a humming, live energy.

But despite Paul's efforts, it didn't budge. He scowled.

"I told you," I began- but as the words left my mouth, the wall began to shift, contorting, the gray material twisting slowly, but surely, into the twisted skull of a man.

Jesse made the sign of the cross.

I stared aghast.

It's blank gray eyes moved to us, it's mouth opening slowly, as if it were yawning. Paul stepped closer, his eyes narrowing, just as pure, stygian sable poured out of it's stretched lips, instantly swirling around us.

The inhuman laughter screamed from the misshapen skull, and whispers of indescribable horrors began to slither their way through the air, dancing along the misty current. I shot Paul a look, though he didn't catch it. I knew it. Another creepy demon thing.

This time, the voice was lower, smooth, pleasing to the ears, but ringing with a quiet deadliness, a sharp bloodied knife beneath a cool façade. "You wish for entry?"

"No," I said, just as Paul asserted a confident, "Yes."

"Then you must pass through me."

"I don't know how I'm supposed to fight with a head encased in a wall. Sorry." Paul shrugged dismissively.

"Not a fight," It corrected, "You must try to truly pass through me, to travel through my soul."

"Okay, what's the catch?" Jesse demanded. "What kind of horrors does that entail?" I could feel his eyes flicker to look at me worriedly, but I refused to look back.

"If you fail, you become a part of me. If you survive, you may pass."

"How do you fail then?" I asked.

"It's rather simple, really," It sounded so mild, so appealing, it sounded like the voice of a politician, smooth and pleasing to the ear. "There are two obstacles. The first being the horrors, my essence if you will." The pale skull in the wall smiled. "The second is temptation, it's the energy that draws the flesh I consume. If you give in to the temptation, you lose your soul to me. That's really the only obstacle."

"Dennis does this every time?" Paul asked wryly. "I somehow doubt it. There's an easier way through this."

"Dennis Washington imprisoned me," It hissed. "I'm in bondage, a slave to his power. He created this test, made me the only passable way through the wall. He created the rule, so therefore he doesn't apply." It snarled, clearly unhappy at the thought.

"He's seemed to got this all figured out." Paul sighed. "Well, that's the only way in?"

The thing smiled again, and I shivered violently. Jesse touched my elbow, studying me in his ever-present concerned stare. I could still see the love behind it, the way his eyes softened when I looked back at him. I swallowed hard and focused on the demon once more. The way he looked at me never failed to weaken my resolve, and right then, my love life was definitely low priority. Despite what Paul seemed to think.

"Yes, it's the only way," The thing said, slightly gleeful. I frowned, couldn't help noticing that it didn't seem at all even concerned that there was a possibility we'd make it past it. That kind of confidence was not a good sign.

"Very well then." Paul shrugged, and walked straight into the wall, disappearing instantly into the material.

"Paul-" I screamed, staring wide eyed. Jesse started beside me, shocked.

The demented skull twisted, slowly sucking the black inky mist back in through it's nostrils. It began to fade back into the blank slab,

Winking at me just before it disappeared.