A/N: Wow. I have no excuse for being late with this chapter (and honestly none of them would be justified). Nearly two years since my last update. That's completely uncalled for. I can't apologize enough. Seriously.

I guess if I was to come up with any form of excuse, it would be that I was stuck at one part of this chapter. It wasn't that I didn't know where I wanted it to head (I actually had the whole story mapped out, start to finish, before I even started writing). It was that, well, it's weird. You'll know what part I'm talking about once you read it. I didn't know if my ideas would communicate well. I actually rewrote this particular part about five times (which is unusual for me because I rarely ever do that).

I've been rereading through my story and, because I'm my own worst critic, I've stumbled upon a lot of scenes that I would delete or completely change. I tried to be really conscious of what I included as I wrote this chapter. Because of that, I would really appreciate any reviews (especially critique- you won't grow as a writer without it!).

P.S. I also apologize if my tenses are off/if I suddenly switched to present tense. Reading The Hunger Games non-stop for two years does something to you.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the Darkest Powers series. (but the lyrics below are mine)

"Keep believing,
If it's the last thing you do.
And I'll keep believing,
I'll believe for you."

My arms were raised out in front of me as I attempted to guard myself, but trying to smother the thought was a waste of time. Defenseless. I was absolutely defenseless.

Red light flashed before my eyes as they all rushed towards me, each one heading for a certain body part. They viciously barked in unison, as if they had done this a million times before. As if they tore apart innocent young girls in their free time.

Time slowed, and then I felt the impact. Claws scraped across my skin, drawing blood. Hair was yanked from my scalp and thrown into the air, the wind scattering pieces of the black mess everywhere. A burning sensation licked its tongue down my back as a scream ripped its way out of my mouth. I was bleeding, I was mauled, I was dying.

Pain seared through my body as a particularly large dog clamped onto my arm, its teeth digging into my flesh, ripping it as if it was paper. I jerked my arm back and the dog still held on, as if his undead soul depended on it. Adrenaline pushed through my veins and I swung my arm back and forth before slamming it into a tree, the dog's neck snapping as it made contact. The dogs gnawing on my body stopped and backed up a few inches. My head told me to run, get the hell out of there while I hung on to the remaining threads of my life. But... I couldn't. Like the rest of the nine dogs, my eyes were glued onto the mutt lying on the ground, twitching, as the rest of his life drained out of him. Mesmerized, I watched as a red smoke rose from the wounds on his body and consumed the dog whole. I winced and swallowed the bile rising in my throat. After a couple seconds passed, the dog was gone, and the only evidence of his presence was the singed grass from where he once laid.

I ripped my eyes away from the sight. The rest of the mutts were staring at me. All nine of them.

I yanked my legs, trying to run, but they wouldn't move. I gasped and grunted as I grabbed onto the nearest tree- the one I tumbled out of- and tugged and tugged and tugged. They wouldn't budge. My stomach dropped. I was stuck here, in some sort of trance. An awful, sickening, detrimental trance. I tried to pull myself out of it, but once again, I failed. Something was happening...

As if on cue, the red glowing eyes floating around me transitioned into a crystal blue. They all glanced at each other, nodded, before staring back at me again. I gritted my teeth. It was happening. They were going to attack like they did last time. I tugged on my legs again, but they were frozen to the ground. A small whimpering sound flew from my lips. Not again.

But then something strange happened. Their eyes altered once more, except this time into an eerie shade of purple. My eyebrows inched higher on my forehead. This wasn't a coincidence. They were mimicking my-

My thoughts were cut short. Happening just as quick as before, their eyes shifted to a coal black, causing them to disappear into the night. My eyes traveled all around me. A strangled babbling noise escaped under my breath.

Their vicious barking echoed in my brain, knocking repeatedly on my skull. I strained to catch a glimpse of anything, a wisp of a tail, a patch of fur. It was no use. I yanked my body back-and-forth, trying to free my feet so that I could run and escape and rid of this nightmare and-

Teeth dug into my back and yanked out a huge piece of flesh. I sunk to my knees and cried out in pain. My torture invited them in, luring them closer. I felt the scruff of their fur brush against my bare skin. They were mocking me, laughing. All of them. I knew it.

They proceeded to claw at my back, my legs, my face. Pain scorched my body as I became a meal for these beasts. My tormented screaming mixed with their thunderous barking, creating a perfect melodic tune of terror. I was slowly losing touch with reality. This was it, I thought. This was finally it.

Floating through a blurry cloud, I tried to make sense of where I was, what I was. But all I could feel was the agony that was on the verge of swallowing me whole, and all I could think of was how easy it would be to give in. Just give in like my uncle did.

I soared through the mist until my eyes became fixated on a glowing green light in the distance. A whisper was being chanted around me: my name. It mixed with the wild barking around me, echoing, beckoning me forward. My hands reached for the emerald glow, up, up, up through the light vapor. Chloe. Chloe. My fingertips nearly grazed it. Chloe. Chloe. I was so close now. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe...

"Chloe!"

The fog vanished and I rushed back into my old body. I felt a presence above me, the dogs again, and I shrieked, shoving it away. A loud thump shook the ground.

"What the hell?!"

I raised up against the tree. Derek sat across from me, rubbing his elbows from where I had pushed him. Him. Not the dogs.

My eyes darted around me, frantically searching for the vicious beasts. I pointed a shaky finger and opened my mouth to warn Derek that they were still out there, that they nearly killed me, that they would murder him too if given the chance, when something on my hand made me stop. When the lack of something made me stop. I was unscathed. There was no open flesh, no blood gushing endlessly, no pain, no... nothing. I opened my mouth again. Shut it.

Derek broke the silence first. "Would you care to explain to me what's going on?"

"I..." My voice trailed off as I inspected my surroundings. My clothes weren't ripped in shreds. My limbs were still intact. Even the singed ground was replaced by fresh green grass. I felt a steady pounding begin in my head and rubbed my temple. "I... I don't know."

Derek intensified his stare on me and all I needed was that look, that sudden flash of unsteadiness in his eyes, to confirm my worst fear: I was insane.

I wouldn't let myself believe it until now. I wouldn't let myself truly believe that I'd end up like my uncle. Plagued by nightmares. Always frightened of the inevitable. Mentally unstable. Was I heading in that direction, or was I already there?

My eyes became fixated on the enveloping darkness and I kept them there, simply staring, letting the time roll away as thoughts of the future rocked my skull. Derek didn't mutter a word, and I was glad. He gave me this moment to fully assess my situation, something that I had been needing to do for a while now, and I didn't take it for granted.

After a few minutes of silence, when I was certain that at least an ounce of sanity had returned to my body, I shakily whispered, "W-we should get going." I swallowed, mustering as much confidence as possible. "Andrew will be worried."

My hands stretched out and grabbed the tree trunk for support, and, despite protests from Derek, I started to lift myself up. As soon as the task proved to be more difficult than initially thought, he rushed to my side to help. I waved away his requests, though, since he had already done so much, and uneasily stood upright on my feet.

I met his concerned stare and forced my lips into a twisted smile. "Let's go."

"Chloe..." He grabbed my arm when I turned away. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but I think it'd really be best if-"

"Do you think I'm crazy?" The words flew from my lips and, for some odd reason, it felt good to say them aloud. "Well, I mean- that sounded really stange, but lately I've been thinking about it, and what happened with Uncle Ben, and-"

"You won't end up like your uncle," Derek adds.

"That's what I keep telling myself, but what ha-happened, back there..."

"What happened, Chloe?" His words are so soft that I barely catch them.

"It was all so real," I begin and lower myself to the ground. Derek does the same and settles down beside me. "I was convinced that it was real. It... it felt real. The sensation, the setting, the sounds. Everything." I pause to gather the correct words. "Lately, I've been having nightmares. Just a few. A continuation of a story, or something. I'd like to chalk it up to the movie buff in me creating these nightmares, but after everything that has happened, I have a feeling that my 'necromancer' setting is going a little haywire."

Derek's eyes widen. "What have your nightmares been about?"

A shaky laugh escapes me. "Well, I'd like to give the simple and generic 'slasher-movie' response, but apparently I'm too imaginative for that."

I rack my brains for a reasonably sane description, then continue, "At first, I'm strapped to a table, wires running from my body. I-I-" I struggle to remember the scene. "I am in some sort of... lab? Yeah, a science lab. Very tiny, though. I'm thrashing around, trying to break free, when someone leans over me and-and it's... it's Dr. Davidoff."

Derek goes quiet for a moment, soaking in the new information, then nods, motioning for me to continue.

"That happened the morning I noticed my necklace went missing. I had shrugged it off until... until I had another one later that day. Like I said before, it was a continuation of sorts. Davidoff must've done some type of experiment on me because in this dream, I'm different." The old sensations flood my brain and I shudder. "I'm powerful, but weak. I'm a threat, yet completely vulnerable. When Davidoff leaves to fetch some water, I study the room. There are four computers set up at a station, one of them having my initials at the top. There are test tubes with colored liquids everywhere. There's a... a mirror. I look in it and my reflection frightens me. I look just as bad as one of the zombies I've raised. Then I... I change into one?" I struggle to remember the nightmare. "Yeah, I turn into one. As soon as that happens, Davidoff comes back and looks terrified of me. I'm terrified of me. In the nightmare, I decide right then that I'm a monster." I let out a sigh. "And that's it so far."

I peek at Derek. "What do you think? Too cliché?"

He jumps up and nearly knocks me over. "This is not good," he mumbles, then swears under his breath. "I knew it. I knew that we shouldn't have agreed so easily."

My heart stops. "W-wait. Derek. What's wrong?"

He continues to pace back and forth. "I don't know why I even let us come here. I knew it was a bad idea. I never trusted Andrew and-"

"Andrew?" I barely get in. "Derek, you need to tell me what's going on."

"I-" He sighs. "After our trip to the library this morning, I went back and did some reading. Mostly about our powers and the 'science' behind them. But I found something interesting about necromancers. I was going to just slip it by you earlier, but I didn't want to ruin your date."

I slowly stand. "A-and?"

"I found something about your necklace. Um..." Derek struggles for the right words, making the news even more difficult to receive. "Remember earlier when you read that it was your power source? Well, apparently, it does more than that. Since necromancers are so rare, cures for the possible side effects have not been found. Usually the side effects are psychological and range from the initial self-doubt to insanity, like your uncle experienced. But there is one other thing: continual nightmares."

"But wouldn't my nightmares be more stress-related than something genetic?" I shakily ask.

"I thought of that, but the more reading I did, the more I doubted it. The books I read, written by necromancers nonetheless, said that the nightmares tend to... exaggerate the necromancer's emotions."

"So puberty times ten?"

Derek's grave look told me he wasn't in the joking mood. "If you want to call it that. But, uh, there was one other thing."

"What?" I ask, fearing his answer but desperate to know.

Derek's eyes meet mine. "They said that the nightmares produced by a necromancer's powers foretell the future."

The forest is dead silent. When his words register, my insides twist into an uncomfortable knot. My sweaty hands clench and unclench. My heart plunges into the empty pit of my stomach, which is now churning like the ocean's choppy waves.

My throat tightens and I struggle to mutter, "B-but... that would mean..."

"We end up in Davidoff's custody again?" Derek says. "Yeah, it seems like it."

All of the air is knocked out of my lungs. Back at the Edison Group lab? After all of our efforts? The blood in my veins turns to lead. We could be captured anytime now. It could be tonight. It could be in the next hour. Simon, Tori, and Andrew could already be captured, the Edison Group personnel already waiting to snatch Derek and I.

I turn towards the house. "We need to leave. Now."

I'm heading in that direction when Derek grabs my arm, yanking me off my feet. "We can't." Derek notices his tight grip and lets go. "At least we can't right now. If we start acting suspicious, Andrew will know."

"If we pack up and leave while Andrew's sleeping, we won't have to worry about that."

"I... I can't."

My head whips around in his direction. "What?"

"I can't. I can't leave him for the Edison Group to take." Derek continues despite my protests. "I know I was just saying how I didn't trust him. I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to let Davidoff take him. I don't care about what happened with the fallout. He's been friends with my dad for years." Derek's green eyes cloud over with regret. "No matter what happens, it's supposed to be us against him, I know. And as soon as he gives us a reason to leave, we bolt. But not now."

Derek looks out over the forest, averting his face from view. Was I shocked over what Derek just said? Of course. His change of heart was completely out-of-character and frankly, a big inconvenience. But was it right to place my opinion above his? Definitely not. Derek had known Andrew for practically all of his life. If Derek thought Andrew didn't pose a threat, then I just had to trust his instinct, which was almost always right, no matter how much I hated admitting it.

"Okay. We don't leave. Under one condition."

Derek raises his eyebrows, obviously not expecting my negotiations.

"You don't leave me in the dark about this anymore. About anything."

"I didn't-"

"Don't. If you're withholding information because you think it'll hurt me, then you're just putting all of us in even more jeopardy."

His jaw tenses. He opens his mouth, then closes it. Finally, he says gruffly, "Fine. Okay. You're right. I'll tell you if I find out anything else."

"Good." You better, I think. Don't keep it to yourself because you're protecting us. Don't play the sacrificial hero, always jumping to the frontline, always willing to take a bullet for us. Don't think that your life is any less valuable than ours. Don't.

Awkward silence stretches on and I find myself wanting to dart back to the house, wanting to bury my face in my bed covers, wanting to be alone with my thoughts because I'm afraid of what will happen if they tumble out. But there's also a part of me that wants to stay here and threaten them to spill, to confess more than I'm ready to because these surges of confidence are few and far between. And it's frightening. Oh God, it's frightening. But it's real. Incredibly real and if only-

I banish my thoughts and force my mouth into a thin line.

Derek speaks up first. "We should get going."

"Yeah," I mutter.

We start heading back towards the house. Derek breaks the silence again by asking me about what had happened in the woods. I tell him everything. The dogs, the sequence, the sensation. I keep waiting for him to give me a pointed look, one that says, "Am I sure I should be alone in the woods with someone this mentally unstable?", but it never comes. Instead he nods and offers suggestions and we hash it out together.

"Did you consume anything odd earlier today?"

I think for a second, then shake my head.

"What about any head trauma?"

"No, I..." A memory surfaces. "Wait, actually, I did fall from a tree and hit my head before the-"

"You what?" Derek's eyes glow with concern.

"I was out here when I heard noises. My first thought was that it was the Edison Group. Thinking it was better to be safe than sorry, I climbed a tree." I pause. "Yeah, definitely not the smartest thing I've ever done. Of course, being the clumsy person that I am, I fell. I hit my head pretty hard and was dizzy for a second, but I'm fine now. Really, I'm-"

I stop as Derek rushes to my side and begins to part the hair at the back of my head.

"Derek..."

"You're bleeding. Be still."

I sigh, but let him continue inspecting.

After a moment, he says, "There's some dried blood. Not too much, but enough to raise concern." His hands fall from my head. "You should get it checked out."

"I don't want to freak anyone out-"

"You should get it checked out," Derek repeats, his words full of worry, his eyes expressing the same thing as he stares at me, my heart doing an odd thud.

Derek rips away his gaze, ending the moment, and we set out again.

"So," he says with a pensive look plastered on his face. "We definitely have to consider your fall when coming up with a conclusion. It could've easily caused you to lose touch with reality and dream up the vision."

"Possibly," I say. "But with the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply insanity."

"Maybe it's shock and all of the experiences of this past week are causing your brain to conjure up these images," he offers. "Maybe it's your mind's way of dealing with the stress."

I snort. "Of course. I survive several run-ins with guys pointing guns at me, raise armies of the dead in my sleep, and then... nearly destroy my own self with visions that aren't even real. " I roll my eyes. "Way to go, Chloe."

"At least you don't spew projectile vomit with your powers."

I look at him. "How is that going? Any signs of a Change?"

Derek turns his head away, suddenly pretending to be highly interested in a towering pine tree.

"If you're feeling like you are going to Change-"

"I'm not," he snaps, then softens his voice. "I'm not. At least not anytime soon." He rubs his arm. "I'll get a sudden hot flash, or will start to sweat excessively, and I think I'm about to Change, but nothing happens beyond that." He catches my calculated stare. "I'm not. Honestly. I'd tell you if I were."

"Okay," I say, and we walk in silence until we get to the edge of the woods. Derek saunters ahead, but I stay behind, my feet rooted to the ground, my lips trying to force out the words that have been haunting me all night.

Derek notices me lagging behind and turns, staring at me, simply staring.

"Chloe?"

"Did you see Simon? Is he okay?" The words tumble out and I don't think he heard when he moves beside me, arm reaching out then retracting.

"I was waiting at the back door when he came into the house. I saw him for a second, yes."

"Is that why you went out to find me?"

"I knew something was up when Simon returned 20 minutes into your date. I had scoped out the place earlier; it would have taken longer to get to the ice cream shop."

Something inside me shatters into a million tiny pieces. "He was planning ice cream?"

"Been gushing about it all day."

My heart sinks. How stupid, I think. How stupid and incredibly cruel. What was I thinking?

No, I wasn't thinking. If I was, I would've been happy on our date to please Simon. Or, better yet, I would've been reasonable and told Simon I didn't feel the same way. This wasn't worth losing a friend over. Nothing was.

"I screwed up," I whisper. "Again. I'm sure you're surprised."

"No, I-" Derek starts, then stops. After a moment, he says, "You know, no matter what, I'm going to have to take Simon's side on this."

Did that sting? Only for a second. Because I knew where his loyalty was. It was where it had always been- with his brother. And it wasn't my place to question or attempt to change that.

Derek's voice softens. "He seemed really upset, Chloe. He really liked you."

"I know."

Those two words echoed in my head. I know. Was it worse knowing and having to fight the guilt, or walking blindly into a trap you could've easily prevented? I wasn't so sure.

A rumble of thunder crashes in the distance and, as if on cue, a fine mist begins to trickle down from the sky. Derek and I rush inside. I linger at the back door, staring out into the blurriness of the world in front of me. I pause for a second, taking it all in, and then quietly close the door behind me.