A/N: My apologies for the lateness. RL has been killer. My motivation and inspiration has been nil over the past couple of months. I had half of this chapter written out and then my creativity dried up. Part of the problem for me is that my fingers can't keep up with my thoughts and my interest wanes with whatever I'm doing. So I bought a program called Dragon NaturallySpeaking and I got the other half the chapter done that day in little over 2 hours. So, hopefully we won't have issues like this again.

Oh, yeah, also! If you haven't been reading Conversations With My Killer by Oracle Vas, Leaves of Grass by Nauticalmiss or Distant Starlight by CladenstinePen, go find them and read! They all have me entranced as of late.

Another thing. We've been getting an amazing amount of reviews and people checking in on us. Thank you all, so, so much for that. It means a lot to us! I'd like to reiterate how much we appreciate you taking this dark journey with us.

Disclaimer: We don't own, we merely puppeteer.

Chapter 10 – The Imitation of a Vacation Part II

"Dare to think for yourself"

-Voltaire

"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart."

-Anne Frank

I blearily opened my eyes the next morning and stretched, cat-like before flopping back down on the bed and glancing to the clock. I groaned in annoyance when the red digits only read 8:30 in the morning. I supposed though, that since I got up at this time almost every day it would only be natural to keep to my routine.

I was halfway expecting to sleep later though with the way I slept. I'm not sure I moved very much at all, which would explain the minor stiffness. His bed was just so much more comfortable than my little cage.

I contemplated going back to sleep, but the longer I laid there, the more awake I became. With a huff, I hauled myself out of bed and into the bathroom for my morning routine. I decided to give myself a treat and leave my hair down to hang freely. When I came back into the bedroom though, I came up short. He always picked my clothes. Down to the underwear and the rare accessory. Now I had to choose for myself. I wondered where he kept my clothes now. He probably had someone relocate everything while we were stuck in his office day in and day out from my room to his.

I walked over to the dresser with its large mirror and leaned on the smooth top with crossed arms, peering at myself in the silence. Who is that girl? At this point, I didn't fucking know. All I knew was that I would never be the same. Used to I considered a treat being picnicking with Mike or a box of expensive candy a treat. Now I considered being able to dress and do my hair as I pleased a treat.

"Who are you?" The girl in the mirror asked me, reminding me of a pink and purple striped disappearing cat. I could only stare back. I had no answer. I decided to obsess over this another day. One where I had no one to talk to and my time wasn't my own again. For now I was going to enjoy what I had. If I had learned anything during my time here it was to enjoy what you had while you had it.

I opened drawers and I closed drawers. Shirts, boxers, socks and pajama pants filled most of them. The wide yet short drawer at the top center was the only one different. I slid it out and found myself looking at a blue velvet lined drawer containing treasures. Watches, rings, necklaces, money clips, cuff links, baubles, all sorts of shiny and beautiful items were precisely categorized and organized. Every place had a thing and every thing had a place. It was typical him with that aspect. I supposed what surprised me was the fact that he never wore any of it during my time here with the exception of a simple solid band on his right pinky.

Something in the corner caught the light differently than the jewels and I pulled the drawer out just a little bit further. If I pulled out much more I'd most likely end up holding it or have things scattered about the floor. I could now see what had caught the light. It was a sizable blue glass bead. What it was attached to was rather pretty and very seemingly out of place in a man's jewelry stash. I picked it up and marveled at the weight. The butterfly brooch was lovely, yet understated. The inner part of the wings were ivory with onyx veining. The top of the wing was the same blue glass that the bead was and it was surrounded by more black onyx. It looked like the onyx was very intricately carved so that the glass could be melted and poured into the cavity. I knew nothing of jewelry crafting, but it sounded good in my own head. Either way, it was nice to see something so lovely. I bet it belonged to his mother.

That thought in and of itself brought me up short. It made me think of him differently and in a way I'd rather not. If I thought of him as having parents, like me, it made him seem more human and I didn't like to equate him with that. He was a monster of epic proportions and I needed to remember that.

I ran my thumb across the colorful, smooth front again in admiration before placing it back exactly like it was. I wanted to poke around more in the drawer and speculate over some of his other items. It made me feel like I knew him more.

"Know thine enemy" I muttered as I gently closed the drawer after having compromised with myself to come back to it later. I ventured over to the closet doors and pulled them both open. I hadn't been in here before. Whoever did the laundry came in and took care of everything while we were out of the room and he always had my clothes laid out by the time I woke up. There were a few instances I remember him getting something out of there but usually I was in my kennel or just coming out of the bathroom. In any case, it never interested me until now. I suppose that was because I never had the opportunity to snoop a little.

I saw my clothes hanging on the left hand side with pairs upon pairs of shoes sitting neatly beneath them. Both the clothes and the shoes were categorized by type. Dresses, skirts, blouses, sweaters, jackets, dressy looking shorts and some slacks. Beneath them were sandals, clogs, ballet flats, a pair of boots and some high heels. I had seen the clothes but I never remembered any of the with the exception of the ballet flats and the pair of sandals I wore to the auction. There were no jeans or sneakers anywhere in sight much to my dismay.

I wandered back to the very back of the closet where a set of mahogany drawers were built into the wall. I opened the top drawer and breathed a sigh of relief. Underwear, finally. I plucked a mint green satin pair and found the matching bra a couple of drawers down. After gathering my underthings, I picked out a pair of the dressy black shorts, a simple pink tank and a pair of matching flats. I wanted the red top, but due to my time spent with Alice, I knew it wouldn't go with my pink collar. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at myself, yet still didn't take the one I really wanted.

I dumped my bounty on the bed and tossed my nightclothes in the hamper before getting ready to go downstairs. I snatched the collar off of the bathroom counter and put it on with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I knew it kept me safe from everyone in the house. On the other, it was an obvious symbol of my situation. After I checked myself in the dresser mirror again, my eyes flickered to the drawer once more before I turned and headed down to the kitchen.

Instead of seeing my blonde acquaintance busying herself around the kitchen, I came upon a note in front of my usual spot at the breakfast bar.

Bella,

Today is shopping day, so you'll have to spend your time with either Peter in his office or Stefan and Vladimir. They should be in the library down the hall and through the double doors at the end. I'll be back sometime after lunch.

-Charlotte

Spending the day with Peter meant spending the day with the spider and I didn't think I'd be up for that quite yet. I took the note and headed out of the kitchen before hanging a right and going underneath the grand curving staircase and straight down the hall to the double doors. When I reached them, I hesitated, not knowing whether to knock or just go in. I raised my hand but felt ridiculous so I lowered it to the heavy brass handle and turned slowly.

Peeking my head in, I saw the white blonde hair of Vladimir cascading over the back of the leather couch that was facing away from me with a sketch pad propped up on his crossed legs. In his left hand was a stick of charcoal, his fingers stained from handling it. The picture he was working on was of a naked woman, stretched out on a chaise lounge with a shawl draped across her legs and fluffy looking pillows under her back, head and neck. As I approached I could better see one arm above her head, resting languidly, the hand disappearing behind the lounge and her other arm was resting on her pregnant belly, her fingers lightly caressing the side as she looked towards the viewer with a sweet smile.

"This is Daliah, my wife. We're expecting our first daughter in September." He said softly, shading her skin lightly to give shadow in the areas closest to the furniture.

I hadn't made any noise when I approached and the door hadn't creaked at all. I let out a slow breath that I had quickly sucked in when he'd spoken.

"She's lovely. Congratulations." I said softly as I came around the couch to find Stefan lying on the floor under his brother's propped up legs with a book and a throw pillow.

"Thank you, Isabella." He said, just as quietly as earlier before going into heavier detail on her long, flowing hair.

I figured since he wasn't getting up then I would pick a book and make use of the overstuffed chaise here in the library. It was curvy, yet still elegant with the supple brown leather. The only thing to keep it upright was the wrought iron footing on the back.

I walked along the bookshelves and stopped at a plain white cover with Lullaby written simply on the side. On the front it had what appeared to be a bright yellow, albeit dead, raven on it's back. When I read it the first time, Mike commented that it looked like a radioactive raven. He referred to it as the 'Radioactive Raven book' until I informed him that radioactive things that glowed, glowed blue rather than yellow.

I picked up the strange little tale and took to my seat, opening up to the first page. I zoomed through the book in the quietness. The only other sounds were the occasional wind pushing against the windows and Vlad's charcoal scrapping against paper. I got three quarters of the book before breaking off into fantasies of whispering that little death poem into unsuspecting people's ear. Once everyone here was on the ground, I could get away with actual supplies and a vehicle. Too bad it was just a fantasy.

The idea brought back to mind a very vivid dream I'd had last night. In the dream I had gotten out of the bed in the room that was supposed to have been mine and snuck down to the garage. There I had gotten a small gas can. Then I went back to my room and doused everything. I dumped my clothes in the bathtub and soaked them, soaked my bed, the rest of the clothes in my closet, opened drawers to soak more clothes and then just worked my way around the house. It reminded me of movies with those guns that never ran out of bullets. The little bitty gas can never emptied until I got to the garage door that connected to the house. Then I pulled Jasper's expensive platinum and sapphire lighter out of my pocket, lit it and threw it onto the freshly soaked carpet. It had caught quickly and spread along the trail very, very fast. I turned and ran to a motorcycle standing in the open garage doorway, yanking the keys out of my pocket as I went. I remember hopping on and kick-starting it, taking off and stopping at the top of the hill to turn and look back. The sky was ablaze with the dancing fire. The entire house was alight with it by that point. I stood there and watched it burn in silence, hearing explosions from ammunition that had been in the house and Lord knows what else. At the end though, when the house had started collapsing, the front door opened and fell backwards into the foyer, and He came out. He walked up the hill with the whipping wind scattering his blond curls across his face. I scooted back on the bike while keeping balance and watched him mount calmly. He placed a hand on my thigh, patting it before turning his attention to the motorcycle. He revved the engine a couple of times and we took off into the night, my arms wrapped securely around his waist.

I wondered if it was a sign of things to come.

I finished my novel and leaned back to stretch. I peeked over to my companions to see that Stefan had abandoned the book for the New York Times and was currently doing the crossword. Vlad was signing his name to the portrait before gently laying it on the newspaper covered table, right in the center. He took a can that was hidden next to the leg of the coffee table that was labeled 'Lascaux Fine Art Fixative' and shook it up. I listened as the balls clacked around in the can, mixing up the contents before he held it a fair distance away and began spraying a fine mist from the top to the bottom of the picture, coating it evenly. After he was satisfied he sat the can down and glanced to his watch.

"Let's go get some lunch." He suggested.

Stefan drug himself off the floor after throwing his pen down on the half completed puzzle and followed us out of the room. When we got to the kitchen, they went to the refrigerator and began pulling out an assortment of items. Freshly cooked seasoned pulled pork, fresh salsa, guacamole, lettuce and some cheese all made their way to the counter. From there the two of them made quick work of making a large plate of soft tacos. In addition to this, they filled a small bowl with salsa and a larger bowl with chips. After piling everything onto a tray, Stefan headed out the back door to the back porch. Vladimir took a bucket from the pantry, filled it with ice and loaded it with bottles of Dos Equis, adding a few bottles of Coke for me. I bit my lip to keep my grin under control. Jasper rarely allowed me sodas.

"Grab the salt and some napkins please." Was all he said before following his brother out the back door.

I did as I was told, grabbing the salt shaker and a small stack of white napkins before following them out and joining them at the table. They had drug a papasan chair over for me to sit on while they took the other two cushioned wrought iron chairs. They had placed the plate of tacos, the salsa and chips within reach of all of us on the little table. I started snacking on the chips and salsa while the other two chowed down on the pulled pork tacos. Watching the rate they disappeared at, I put three on my plate for safe keeping.

In the midst of their feast, Stefan's phone rang. With an annoyed grunt, he pulled it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID before answering.

"What?" He barked. Yep, he was annoyed.

His eyes narrowed at whatever the person on the other end was saying. It caused his bushy eyebrows to scrunch together almost enough to make him look like he had one big unibrow.

"I'll be there directly." He replied, hanging up on the caller.

He stuffed his last taco in his mouth and finished it off before chugging the rest of his beer and standing. He looked to Vladimir with a serious glint in his eye.

"Exista o gaura in gard. Unul dintre cei mari." He muttered as he wiped his mouth, his eyes flickering to me and back.

No, that doesn't make me nervous at all, I thought sarcastically. I shoved the salsa coated chip in my mouth and took a drink of my Coke. Hopefully they weren't thinking about burying me in the desert or anything like that.

I watched Stefan descend the few back porch steps and head to the side of the house. Moments later there was the revving of an engine and Stefan reappeared suddenly on a bright yellow dirt-bike, headed to parts unknown.

I looked to Vladimir before glancing to where his brother just left. Maybe I'd ask in a little bit. I sighed and continued eating my chips, poking a bit at the tacos on my plate before deciding to leave them for the time being and just enjoyed the fresh air.

I reveled in being outside again. It didn't happen often and when it did, I was usually on Jasper's little balcony off of his office. The covered back porch was so much more spacious with its depth and I had the option of moving over to laze in the sun or come back and rest in the shade.

I looked to my temporary companion for a few moments, wrestling with myself over whether or not to ask the questions that have been floating around in my mind all morning in the library. Sometime during the fight with myself, he caught sight of my internal musings and decided to interrupt.

"Just ask if you're so curious. I can always just refuse to answer." He looked to me out of the corner of his eye as he tipped his beer back.

"Where did Stefan go earlier?" My eyes remained on the chip I was fiddling with on my plate. Fidgeting out of my nervousness.

"There's a hole in the fence. He had to go deactivate the electricity to it so they could repair it." He kept his eyes focused on me and I froze at the mention of a fence.

"What fence?"

"The fence that borders the property. It's approximately 10 foot tall and electric. Usually it has a high enough electrical charge that nothing can get through it and if something wanted to go over it, it would have to contend with the barb wire at the top." He explained as if it was common knowledge.

I sat back in my seat and thought about it. I realized that even if I had made it to the edge of the property I wouldn't have made it past the fence. It definitely complicated matters and I realized that I would have to wait until we actually went somewhere to attempt my escape. This wasn't America though, I didn't know how the police would react to Jasper or his crew and didn't know how much influence they had over the local government. For all I knew he could do anything he wanted in public and get away with it. I decided I would think on this later tonight and continue to question Vladimir.

"How did you and Stefan end up in Mexico?" It had been bugging me ever since I heard them speaking Spanish, but having the Russian accent when they spoke English.

He thought about it for a moment, looking out towards the stables as he did before glancing back and saying. "You eat on your lunch and I'll tell you."

I nodded easily and picked up one of my tacos, keeping my eyes on him as I did.

"You know we're part of the Mafia by now so I'll skip that. Now, I want you to think of a business. In a business there are different areas of specializations. For example, you have people who specialize in accounting, people who specialize in sales and people who specialize in shipping. Each of these separated would do fine, but when they work together, they get a much better result. More profits, more expansion possibilities, more product moving and being sold. The same is true for us. We each have strengths and weaknesses. When the Italians brought us and the Mexicans together and proposed a partnership of sorts, we were skeptical, but once we started actually working together we found we had a much farther reach. When we tapped each others strengths, more things happened successfully, more money was made and we've become a stronger force overall. Stefan and I were raised by Uncle Balthazar and Uncle Gabriel and we went with them when they came first to America and then here. After the partnership with Señor Jasper was established between he and Bal, Bal sent us here to work for him. We have been here ever since."

I thought this over while slowly eating. It made sense. He gave me more credit than I deserved because until then, it was just speculation that they were mafioso. It made me realize just how dangerous Jasper really was. If he really wanted to he to get rid of not only my father but all of my friends and acquaintances and make it untraceable back to him. He had great power over me and I was just starting to realize the extent of it.

"Do you like what you and your brother do?" I asked. I couldn't really imagine working for Mafia but then again, I'd never been there had never been in his position. He looked thoughtful for a few moments before answering me.

"It has its ups and downs. For the most part, yes, I like what I do. Do I approve of everything I'm ordered to do? No. Although, I'm not paid to approve of things, I am paid to do them. If you think about it, it is really just like any other job. You are told to do things and you do them. If you refuse you are disciplined or fired. Or in my case you are tortured or killed." At first glance he look nonchalant as he explained things, but if you looked closer you could see that he felt more than he was letting on. There was no telling what things he been made to do in his life or how he felt about himself after he had done them.

"Where in Romania are you from?" I asked after swallowing a bite of my taco, changing course.

"Constanta, off of the Black Sea." He smiled fondly, getting a far away look in his eye.

"Do you ever get to go back?" I asked curiously.

"Sometimes. When we aren't being bogged down, dealing with governments or threatened by other organizations and there is a lull in things to do. It is always hard though, coming back. Our mother misses us and of course we miss her too. She is getting up in her years though and it gets harder to leave her every time, knowing we may never see her again. Conversely, it is hard on her too, seeing us leave. Our father passed many years ago. My sisters Kate and Irina care for her. My mother is the oldest of her siblings."

"Is all of your family from Romania?" I didn't think they were but it would be best not to assume.

"No. My father's side of the family is from Russia. Bal and Gabriel grew up in Moscow. Stefan and I spent much time there growing up. Our uncles taught us much about the Mafia and provided us with all the skills we'd need to survive. We started firing weapons at a young age, becoming master marksmen over time. We also learned hand-to-hand combat early, improving upon it too as we aged. We can speak multiple languages and our favored language is Russian but from time to time we'll also speak Romanian as well."

"When did you come to the Americas?" I knew I needed to knock off the questions but it was hard. I needed to get conversation with them while I could because I knew Jasper would be back all too soon and I would be isolated from everyone again.

"In 1986 right after the Chernobyl disaster. We wanted our mother and sisters to come with us, but she would not leave the house and life my father had built and my sisters would not leave her. We had been planning on coming around that time anyway but the disaster made us leave that much faster."

I had to stop asking him questions about life and his family, despite my curiosity. Thinking things like that made me see them as human and I needed to dehumanize them to see them as my enemy properly. That way, if the time came, I would have to have no hesitation to kill him or any of them if it meant my freedom.

By the time he was finished speaking I had finished my lunch and drank the last of my coke. I was about to ask one more question, despite myself, when I heard the engine of the dirt-bike. Stefan was back.

He returned the bike from where he got it from and came back up onto the back porch.

"Did you save me any beer?" He inquired, peeking over bucket. I suppose he found it empty because he glanced back up with a non-impressed look. "I guess not. Let's go back inside, its hot out here anyway." He groused as he got back up and loaded half the dishes onto the tray. Vladimir shrugged and picked up the bucket, loading the rest of the dishes into it.

"Bring the rest of those napkins back in with you please, Isabella." He said as he walked off, trusting me to follow him. I guess he either forgot or didn't care about the salt. I went ahead and grabbed it because Charlotte would end up noticing something wrong with there was only the lone pepper grinder sitting on the counter.

I didn't really want to go in, not knowing when I get to come back outside and relish in the warmth. Perhaps Charlotte would either come out with me or let me come out on my own. I sighed and reluctantly followed them back into the kitchen to deposit the napkins when I saw my blonde hair companion standing at the sink peeling potatoes. I figured the Brothers Grimm had had enough of me for today so I decided to spend some time Charlotte.

"I'm going to spend some time in the kitchen if that's okay with the two of you, and Charlotte of course." I tacked that last bit on at the end because Charlotte might want some solitude in her kitchen. She could have had enough of me already from the previous night.

"Whatever you wish, Isabella. It does not matter to us. We'll be back in the library if you need to find us." Vladimir said and headed out the door with Stefan following, back to their hiding place. I had a feeling that they spent a great deal of time in there.

I realize they didn't give Charlotte a chance to say one way or another but I supposed if she was tired of me she could just kick me out and send me on my way back to them. I turned around to see her still peeling potatoes.

"Now Bella, you know I don't mind your presence in my kitchen. You are good company and even better help. I'm making Southern fried chicken for dinner tonight. So if you wouldn't mind helping, please cube these potatoes." She asked, knowing I wouldn't mind and that I would still do it even if I did mind. It was unusual to hear anyone in the house call me Bella. Jasper had called me Bella once and I'm not sure that it was on purpose. It felt right coming from Charlotte though and I decided I liked it. I hoped she continued to call me by that.

I moved over next to the sink where the cutting board and a knife was situated and began him the process of cubing the potatoes. After I was done I dumped all the little cubes into a pot of boiling water, giving it a stir before I stuck a lid on it. Also cooking on the stove was green peas and corn on the cob.

I turned around to see what Charlotte was up to to see that she had two bowls of milk and two bowls of flour set up on the counter along with the large container of chicken pieces.

"Bella, I'm going to put you in charge of breading the chicken while I get the banana pudding ready. I always do a double coating because that's how both Peter and Jasper prefer their chicken." She said as she indicated to the bowls of milk and flour and chicken.

I nodded, knowing already how to do it because that's how my grandmother Swan had taught me to do it.

"That's how I've always made chicken. It will be a piece of cake." I explained, sparing her from having to teach me all over again how to do it.

"Excellent I leave you to it then." She went farther down the counter to the refrigerator and began pulling out all the items necessary for the banana pudding.

I went to the bowl of chicken and began the process of breading each piece thoroughly. When I was done and had filled the wire racks with the finished chicken I noticed Charlotte had ready a large cast-iron skillet on the stove. She had also covered the countertops with paper towels and placed wire racks on top of them for the chicken for when it was done. She waved me to bring over a rack. I set it on the opposite counter of the empty ones.

"I need you to start frying these while I make cornbread, if you don't mind." She said as she moved off to start whipping up said bowl of cornbread. Thankfully the double ovens were mounted into the wall and we didn't have to dodge each other when she wanted to put something in to or take something out of it and needed me working on something at stove.

After she had the cornbread in the oven she took over frying the chicken and had me put some hot plates on the counter and put the pots of the other cooking food on them and then finish the mashed potatoes. After that was finished I saw her begin to put down pieces of finished chicken on the racks and got out a stack of plates. She then instructed me to put a thigh and a drumstick on a plate along with mashed potatoes, peas, an ear of corn and a piece of the cornbread.

I watched as she took a jug of buttermilk out of the fridge and poor some into a large glass before buttering the cornbread. After she stuck a fork on the plate she handed me both the glass and the plate and told me to go deliver it to Peter and gave me instructions to where his office was. It turns out that Peter's office was only two doors down from the library.

When I got there the door was already open thankfully I could see a man with long, light blonde hair that hung freely, sitting behind a large desk. What was with all the blondes in this house? Charlotte, Jasper, Vladimir, James and now Peter, I found, all had blonde hair.

He was typing away furiously at the keyboard and I didn't exactly have a hand to knock with so I cleared my throat. He didn't stop what he was doing or look up from his computer screen, but instructed me to come on in. I approached his desk to set his plate down along with his drink but his desk was nothing like Jasper's. It was messy and utter chaos. Papers, notepads, pens and Lord knows what else was strewn from one side of the desk to the other.

"Um, where would you like me to set this?" I asked quietly. This was the first real time I'd met Peter other than seeing him that day that I'd first seen James and of course I saw seen him around the house but had never really interacted with him.

"Oh, anywhere would be fine!" He said as he waved his arm over his mess of a desk.

I look for a flat place to deposit his dinner and finally set everything down, hoping that nothing would spill.

"This smells wonderful, did you help my darlin' little wife?" He inquired with a grin that told me he knew I did.

"I did, sir. I made the mashed potatoes and breaded the chicken." I tried to be respectful because I didn't know how Peter was on any sort of subject or how touchy he was and I figured that it was better safe than sorry.

"Well bless your little pea pickin' heart. It looks like you did a fine job." He complemented with a wink. I couldn't stop my lips from quirking up into a grin.

"Thank you sir. Do you need anything else while I'm here?" I asked and hoped to be dismissed. Peter seemed sweet and charming but I didn't want his dinner getting cold and all the wonderful smells from the kitchen had caused my stomach start growling. It had taken a while to get dinner finished and by that time those tacos had well worn off.

He shook his head, that same grin still on his lips. "No darlin', go on and go eat your dinner while it's still hot." He said, nodding towards the door.

I gave him a soft smile, despite myself, and went back to the kitchen to eat with Charlotte. I'd been afraid that Peter would be cold and hard like Jasper, like he appeared to be that first day I saw him. While I was sure he could be, I was grateful that he was nice to me.

After we were done with dinner, I dropped some of the pudding off to Peter in his office. Then after that delivery was done I went to the library to pick out a couple of other books to take up to Jasper's room. I bid everyone good night and headed upstairs to lock myself in. After I reached the top of the stairs, I instantly froze as I saw James coming down the hall. He spared me a glance and a light nod and kept on going. It puzzled me because that was unlike him. He showed no interest when before I could see the gleam of intrigue in his eyes quite plainly. I hurried on my way and locked myself into Jasper's room before he could change his mind and come back to harass me.

I went through my nightly routine and put on the shirt I had worn last night before crawling into bed, deciding to lay in the middle again. I opened the book to the first page and began to read, losing myself in the story and eventually falling asleep.

Again I was plagued by strange dreams. This time I went tiptoeing from room to room, whispering lullabies into people's ears and watched as their eyes closed forever or their breathing slowly stop. When I reached the front door He was waiting on me. I could not bring myself to say the words to him though. My mouth wouldn't cooperate and my brain rejected the actions. Instead he offered me his arm and led me through the house, out the back door and to the stables where we mounted a solid black stallion and took off into the night.

I sat up abruptly in bed, startled and confused. It was still dark outside, the alarm reading four o'clock in the morning. I had left the lamp on as well as the bathroom light and I knew I was alone. I didn't know what woke me but I sat and listened to the silence until I felt comfortable with going back to sleep. Sleep came easily again but along with it the strange streams centering around Jasper and I returned.

Note: Teasers for reviews, as always :) Please forgive me for a lack there of from the last chapter! I'll make the next set a little longer to make up for it. To those I owe an early chapter, you'll be getting the next one to make up for it.