A/N: Thanks again to my beta raktajinos for going through this long chapter. As always Emeraldawn and calrissian18 for doing word wars with me and chat Teen Wolf.

Weregrrrl13 The symbol on the ankle was nothing with special meaning, as for the not smelling Peter on her, I'll go into that in chapter six, Peter has another car besides the jeep (which was for driving to the cabin ... not everyone drives their fancy car through the woods) Not sure about describing the pairing as romantic though but there will be more Peter/Lydia in the later chapters ...

The good thing about the morning was, that Lydia did not awake screaming her head off. There was something unpleasant lingering on, a feeling of dread and terror in the aftermath of waking which she usually pushed away. Grateful that nasty images did not haunt her for a change. Only know she forced herself to hold onto that unpleasantness. Lying in bed, her eyes still closed, she focused on what she was feeling.

It was hard to tell why she felt the way she did. There was this awful smell that even now felt almost real. The smell of decay would certainly explain that feeling of dread, even though it was not human decay. Apart from knowing what that smelled like due to the nightmares she had gotten from Peter, it smelled too much like rotten fish.

There were voices in the darkness. It was more whispers or maybe just the wind. Maybe the darkness was because she was not able to remember the dream. Lydia kept thinking that nothing was scarier than a place without light and something moving, when she knew that something was there in her dream.

Sitting up, she took a few deep breaths. It was a lot harder to shake off that gnawing feeling of terror now that she had embraced it. Something that Peter had not bothered to warn her about. Probably served her right for doing exactly what he had suggested.

'Idiot,' she thought and meant herself.

Once her anger passed, she realised that of course focusing on a nightmare would be terribly unpleasant. She was not sure what her dream might mean or if it was useful at all. For all she knew she might have some weird recall due to the images Peter planted in her mind about a year ago.

There was something she could not pinpoint, that made her look for something to write it all down, just on the off chance that it was going to be significant. Sighing she turned and rummaged through her drawer. Her little notebook she found easily, but before she was able to locate a pen, her fingers touched a little box. Another reminder of Peter's intrusion on her life. She shoved it deeper into the back and then got a hold of a pencil. Leaning back, she wrote down what she had experienced in her recall.

Finally, she shut the book and threw it into the drawer. Lydia decided it was high time for a good long shower. If she was lucky today there would be no more weirdness, apart maybe from having her sort of werewolf boyfriend sleep on the couch downstairs. All in all she hardly considered that unusual anymore. She was pretty used to the werewolf part of her life. Except for those moments when that included tearing and shredding. With the Alpha pack finally broken up or dead, that had not been going on for a while now.

Slipping out of her nightgown, Lydia looked at herself in the large mirror. Apart from the two old scars there was not a mark on her. It was like it never happened, she did not even felt like she had exhausting sex recently. Yet, there was that gorgeous dress, which she had hung up on her semi-open walk-in-closet last night. Lydia was convinced that Peter had followed a strategy even after they had performed that ritual.

Lydia had the feeling, he wanted make her seem like a liar if she told the others about what happened. He wondered how he had set up the surprise party, there had to be some proof of his involvement. The others would certainly not believe he did that just to apologize for ruining her party last year. At least she hoped her friends would choose to believe her, if she decided that she needed to tell them.

Rushing into the shower, she let pleasantly hot water run over her body. Maybe it was indeed best to just forget what had happened. Last year she was even more messed up and had eventually worked through all of that mostly on her own. Lots of distracting sex with Jackson before his departure to London had helped as well.

In hindsight, she was more than glad that she had not opened up to Miss Morrell. Good advice or not, Lydia did not trust her. There was an air about her and the clear fact that she had known what her drawing meant and not said anything. Since the lunar eclipse, Lydia had not been called back into the office for more pointless talks.

Reaching for a towel, she first dried of her hair a bit before wrapping it around her head. Wrapped in a huge towel, she went back to her room, intend to find a suitable outfit for the day. Or she would have if she did not find Aidan sitting on her bed. He lounged, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. Lydia realised that if she looked for distraction she might have found that.

"Morning," she said and walked over to kiss him.

Aidan acted as is he was not particularly interested, playing it cool as she remained casually draped over her sheets. It was hard to resist such a gorgeous set up: there was something about his well pronounced, muscular body practically begging to be ravished that called forth her own libido.

Lydia figured he was still upset about last night, usually he was not playing the reluctant lover. Even when he was not particularly sure where to put his hands, he had seldom shown reservations. It was a challenge she felt like taking: winning over the brooding, slightly unwilling boy toy. Not that she pegged the battle as particularly hard.

Lowering the towel a bit more to reveal more of her breasts, she put one knee on the bed to lean over him. At first she acted as if she wanted to simply kiss him but instead choose bend down closer to his neck. She had long since figured out that it drove him crazy in the best of ways when she was teasing the right spot. It took her a few seconds before she was sucking gently where the shoulder met the neck.

A moan escaped Aidan as she tested the area, slowly moving closer to where she knew he would not hold back for long. Her mission was almost accomplished when he roughly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. It was not hard enough to get her off the bed but Lydia felt that it was not a playful shove either.

"What?" she asked angry.

One did not get Lydia Martin all worked up and then decided to pull the brakes. He had been the one to walk into her room without knocking, draping himself provocatively on her bed. That move was just not right.

"How come, everytime you are in the mood, we are doing it, but when I feel I like it you can simply say no?" Aidan lamented.

Blood rushed through her body, but this time from between her legs to her cheeks. It was probably the dumbest thing Aidan had ever said to her. Lydia was overwhelmed by how much of a turn-off this was. Usually, she was not that easy to put out of her mood but this got really under her skin and in an irrational emotions flaring up way, too.

"You know what, forget it!" Lydia snapped.

With a fluid move she got up and wanted to head away from the bed, when she felt Aidan's hand on her arm. Brushing it off, she ignored his surprised protest and head over to her closet.

"What's the matter? I was just pointing out that I simply can't seem to resist you …" Aidan said.

The tone in his voice, was so genuinely hurt but with a hint of annoyance, that she did not even know what to say to that. On the one hand she wanted to apologize for being so abrasive, on the other hand she wanted to tell him that he should maybe stick to saying less. Talking was really not his strength and sexy, complementary talk had not worked out well before.

"Look, the moment is gone - take a cold shower."

With one quick step back into the room, she gestured at her door giving him a quick lock. The cute thing about Aidan was that, whenever he looked like a kicked puppy, he also looked like he wanted to bite your arm off. Although today that did not really help to win her over.

"Fine."

Aidan did indeed sound angry, like she really had done it this time. She half expected him to walk out of her room but he did went for the shower. That at least gave her time to get dressed and think a bit. Picking a skin-tight pair of jeans, she put on her long, high-heeled boots and then just standing there with her bra on went through the tops.

Noticing the missing dress with the buttons, she asked herself if Aidan's comment had only gotten her so upset because the night before she had not exactly wondered what Derek, or whoever it had been, might have said to the sex. Not that she had really been able to think much. She ruffled through her hair, which was still a bit too wet. Going back to that night her mind told her that it had been so wrong but if she recalled it, she had a hard time remembering anything past the arousal and intense orgasms.

If not for a few drops of cold water falling onto her back, she could have lost herself in the memory of that. Then poor Aidan would have been really perplexed if she went after him again. Instead she forced herself to think clothes, finally choosing a combo with a long-armed, white undershirt and a more loose short-armed top. She had just tuck the white shirt in her jeans and fastened the belt, when Aidan came back into the room. He was dripping and naked.

"Do you have any larger towels?" he said with a big grin.

Lydia took one from her closet and threw it over. "You know, that might work better next time if you don't actually take a cold shower."

With that she pulled over the final top and and headed out of the door. Not sure if Aidan would stay for breakfast, being not that hungry herself, she just grabbed a light snack, while listening to noises coming from upstairs. She just had gotten something fixed, some cereal with fresh fruits, as she heard him coming downstairs. After a brief moment, he joined her in the kitchen. He was clearly not planning to stick around, since he was wearing his jacket.

"Do you want me to pick you up later?" he asked. "I assume you don't want to come with me now …"

"Did I forget a date or something?"

The moment she said that, she remembered. Yesterday before leaving, Allison had mentioned that they were going to meet at noon at her place, to see if they can come up with a strategy. Mostly it would serve to compare notes and compile everything they had found out so far. It was certainly a good idea, but she did not feel like going herself.

"I meant the meeting at the Argent's place."

"Yeah, sorry, I don't think I'll go. Its not like I can contribute anything and Allison can tell me later what the consensus is."

Aidan came closer and waited until she looked up. Laying his hand on her cheek he said: "Maybe hearing us put all the pieces together, gives you an insight."

"It does not work that way," she took his hand off, but held onto it for a moment. "I can not control it, right now I do not even remember clearly what I've dreamt."

It was frustrating for her to realise that she just did not have the means to contribute constructively. This was something she had to figure out by herself, it was not like she could ask anyone for advice, since she knew what everyone would say: Stay away from Peter. They had no idea what it was like to sense that there was something just lurking to come out and being unable to let it.

Others counting on her to figure something out was not exactly helping the situation. At first, she had just tried to ignore it, merely humouring Stiles when had brought that Ouija board to school. Then she had ended up drawing the tree, something she had also tried ending up with her drawing eyes. Over and over again, sometimes open, sometimes closed, big and small.

"Well, if there is anything … you know call."
"Don't worry, if I find myself taking a nap and then have the urge to find a dead body, I will call you first thing."

Aidan shook his head. "That's not what I meant."
"Oh," she found herself saying, as she got his meaning. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"In case you change your mind, the meeting starts at 2pm. You stay with us, or I could come over, whatever you prefer."

"I'll have to see," Lydia said finding herself rescued by the phone ringing.

Her parents called, complaining that her cell phone was turned off and the line inside the house busy all day long. As she greeted her parents and made excuses, saying she had problems with her loading cable, Aidan gave her a kiss on the cheek and mouthed a good-bye. He knew her mother well enough to know that this would take a while. Lydia got belated birthday well-wishes and the information that they had put money and gift certificates in an envelope on her father's desk. It seemed that ever since her parents got back together, they were giving less thought to her presents. In the past years, her mother had least always found the time for some mother-daughter shopping at her favourite mall. It might not seem much but it seemed those moments were getting rarer and rarer.

After the call, she finished her breakfast and decided to put her birthday money to good use. Remembering that in November a new bookstore had opened, one that dealt with esoteric content, she decided to finally give it a look. There was still this feeling of complete bias against this pseudo-scientific, half-baked magic stuff, but some of it had to be coming close to the truth.

Werewolves were real, she was a banshee and whatever that meant, was reason enough to believe that maybe some answer were to be found in the oddest places. First she had to fix her hair and makeup. By the time she got out of the house it was already close to 11 am. Lydia hoped the store was open today.

Her worries that she might need to return on monday were unfounded, the open sign hang inside the door. There was also a whole lot of other stuff visible in the door and the windows: crosses of all kinds, chinese symbols and the like, dragon, bat and other pendants were displayed next to crystals and books pertaining to the history or use of whatever object was shown.

Lydia pushed open the door and gentle jingle was heard. The inside of the store was not that different from the windows, between the books were glass cabinet with jewelry and stones, the books themselves were sorted by topics, except for a shelves in the back of the shop. Those books were noticeably older.

"Good morning."
The female voice greeted Lydia, who was a bit freaked out since turning around did not reveal anyone close by. It was only when she looked up, that Lydia saw a woman crouching on top of a shelf busy exchanging a light bulb. Once she was done, she jumped down landing with catlike grace a few steps from her.

"Sorry, if I startled you."

"Sorry, yes - good morning. For a moment, I thought I was hearing voices ..." she acted as if that was a joke but the awfulness of that possibility was making it more a bitter confession.

"You are new here …"

Luckily the voice and the woman were very real. Lydia could not help but stare, since the Korean woman in front of her was not really what she had expected from an esoteric bookshop employee or maybe owner. While clearly in her thirties, the slender, very athletic woman was looking more like someone bound to a heavy metal concert. Instead of long, woolen skirts, a perky pair of glasses and self-knitted sweaters, it was tight black leather pants, heavy steel-capped boots and a armless shirt with a transparent back section. Then there were those tattoos and the three piercings, Lydia smiled and forced herself to say something before her staring became obvious.

"I am, I was looking for something … a book about dreaming." That made the woman laugh for some reason. "What is so funny about that?" Lydia wanted to know.

"I just heard the skeptic tone, so I wonder is it a gift for a believer or are you having bad dreams …"

"No, my dreams are just fine." It was the standard reply, whenever she got asked by an adult about her dreams. At least one that did not knew better. Lydia wondered what made this woman so spot on about it. Since she was looking for something, there was no need to be totally abrasive about the issue. "I just used to be able to remember what I dreamt. At least most of the time, lately … not so much."

The woman nodded listening to her without interrupting her. It seemed that while her skepticism was noticed, Lydia was still welcome. She was observed with curious eyes and wondered how much older the woman actually was. If she had to guess she would say she was not quite her parent's age but she seemed older than Derek.

"What made you decide to come here?" she asked eventually, then added: "I am usually at first name basis with my customers, so feel free to call me, Yoon - Lydia."

Hearing a name sent a slight shock through her and removed the colour from her face. That was really not what Lydia had needed from this visit. "How do you know my name?"

Yoon held a hand in front of her mouth, she was clearly laughing even though her eyes rolled up as if she was embarrassed. "Oh, I am so sorry. It's part of my role here - to give the impression that I am psychic. I read an article in the newspaper a few days ago. They mentioned that over a year ago there had also been animal attacks and that only one person attacked survived. There was a picture with your name. I guess you being so skeptical I wanted to impress you and did not even think that through."

Of course, there was nearly always a non-supernatural explanation. It must be that stupid dream, that stupid ritual, the whole situation that had her on the edge.

"I just slept reasonably unwell," Lydia said. "At any rate, it's good to know that you don't actually believe you are psychic."

"Hardcore skeptic, but I got those as customers as well. What exactly are you looking for then? A way to remember your dreams?" Yoon was back to business, but the smile had now disappeared and she did look apologetic.

Lydia shrugged, she did not want to sound too nutty after having made her point that she was not fooled by the fake esoteric stuff. Being skeptic was that much harder if there was actual something supernatural. It was almost impossible to make the point that a lot of this was contrived when she herself tended to wake up in the middle of the night with the urge to find torn up bodies.

"Active Dreaming," she recalled the term Peter had used. "A friend mentioned that to me, do you have anything about this."

That explanation brought up another big smile to Yoon's face. "Hmm, a friend … well let me see what we got and if there is anything useful among these volumes."

Lydia followed Yoon as she took course towards another shelf, the one that was closer to the back with the older books. All the time she had a clearer view of the tattoos on her back and arms. They were all in the black tribal style, one was over her heart in some sort of spiral pattern, the others had spiral elements but were more lengthy or contained others patterns. Lydia could not help but think that they did look beautiful on her even though she was not a fan of tattoos.

"That must have hurt a lot," Lydia found herself saying.

"Oh, yes, it did!" Yoon turned briefly to give her a knowing smile. "But it was worth it."

"It's very you."

It certainly fit her style, even though, her style did not seem to fit the rest of this store. Then again what did Lydia know about esoteric book stores? In this town was nothing as it seemed anyway. After all she was bringing her injured boyfriend to the vet and not the hospital. At the shelf with the older books, Yoon crouched and looked at the row of books in the shelf over the bottom one.

When she rose again, she was was holding a thick volume with an unimpressive beige cover in her hands. It looked like it was bound fifty-sixty years ago. "The Art of Dreaming," Yoon read. "By Salanda Melbourne. If you want more control over your dreams, that is what will help you."

Lydia took the offered book and looked at the cover and back. There was no ISBN number, even beyond that it seemed as if was privately published by a someone called BlackTorn Publishing. The content table showed the book was separated into three parts: the nature of dreams, followed by the dangers of dreaming and the active dreamer.

"Wow, that is … sort of interesting," Lydia commented still not sure if this was any good. Chances were that this book might help her or be total waste of time and money. Figuring that she was a fast reader and this was not exactly heavy lecture, she asked Yoon for the price.

"Oh, just take it. It's my apology for being so insensitive earlier. If you don't like it, you can bring it back and look for a gift for a friend - but I think you will find it useful. It's not like this new age nonsense. It is written by someone who knows what is what."

"Okay," Lydia said not sure if she should accept the offer. As she contemplated the question, she had a few more for Yoon. "So, you do believe that there is more to all this?"

"I don't believe, I know." After a dramatic pause, she continued. "It is just most of the time, it is all fake. But once in awhile, we do cross paths with the real thing. I might not be psychic but I can tell the difference between a fake and a true psychic."

"But you fake it."

"Ah, you keep thinking that I am deceiving my customers, by pretending to be something I am not." Yoon laughed again, making Lydia wonder why that accusation amused her so much. "I give people what they want, but I don't go around pretend I can find lost puppies or children. If I am asked I always tell them how I know. They still come, if people believe a little dose of reality won't turn them away. Although occasionally some start to question things, then they still come back."

Lydia began to understand where Yoon was coming from. "You are also a skeptic."

"You've seen right through me."

Then they heard the soft jingle from the door as an another customer entered the store. It was strange but Lydia had the feeling that Yoon had heard the electric bell before her. That was another oddity, if there was ever a shop that should have a real bell hanging over the door, it was this one.

"Well, why don't you read the book, see if it helps you. If you got more question, please come back, Lydia."

"Okay, Yoon. I take the book. Thanks."

Pressing the book against her chest, she said goodbye and then walked past down the corridor wondering why the customer immediately had crept out of sight. She caught a glimpse of the man and knew that she had seen him somewhere before. Then she left the store and hurried to her car.

Curious to read a bit more she flung open the book and studied the introduction, which still seemed rather pseudo-scientific to her. Then again, this was not exactly science. There seemed to be rules to all of this but if anyone knew them it was only the druids and to a lesser degree the werewolves. At least, some werewolves seemed to know stuff. She was not so sure about Scott or Isaac and even the Twins seemed to know very little about the legends and old rules. Probably, because that was only shared between the emissary and their alphas and from what she could see so far, that was on a strict need to know basis.

Halfway through the first page of chapter one, her cell phone rang. It was Stiles.

"Heh Lydia, hope you slept well - no weird dreams?"

"Not really and no, I'd had no special insights either …"

"That is okay, I just wanted to call because we are going to be away until Tuesday."

She almost did not asked this but realising she had to know, she brought it up regardless.

"And you are sure that Derek is there?" Lydia closed the book and put it on the passenger seat.

"Deaton said, that his colleague had seen Derek and Cora with the pack just Thursday, so they should be there."

"Wednesday, when Wednesday?"

But she knew it hardly mattered, there was just no time for Derek to slip away unnoticed, get possessed and be accidentally found by Peter. If they needed that long to get there, then nothing added up. She had known it right away but somehow she had pushed it aside, because if the other werewolf had been Derek, that was sort of okay. Given the chance she would not kick him out of her bed, even though he was bit too brodish for her taste. Maybe that was why she had known, possessed or not possessed, Derek was cute. The other werewolf had not been.

"I don't know," Stiles said sounding annoyed, then suddenly worried. "Lydia?"

Her breath came too fast and too hard. It was only by the third time, a silent Lydia came from the phone that she picked it up from her lap.

"Yes, what?"

"Everything alright?"

"Yes, I am okay. Look Aidan already volunteered as my call pal while you are out of town. You know, in case I get the urge again …"

Stiles was not good at hiding his devastating disappointment. "Okay, that is good."

"I need to get going, call me when you found Derek, will you?"

It was a hassle to keep herself together and sound unbothered, when part of her wanted to tell him what was going on. With Derek out of the equation it seemed more likely that nobody would find out; at least the more hefty details. If those never came out, that was alright with her.

It was not that she was shy about her sex life but that had been a number too kinky even for her. Then there was the fear that they won't believe her or that they go after Peter. While she doubted that they would kill him again, she did not felt that the situation warranted a violent solution. If there was a solution to the problem. For that she would need to know what exactly the problem was.

The lack of information made it impossible to make an informed decision, which meant she needed to go to the meeting. Not so much for more details on the killings but she did need a few questions answered that only a werewolf could answer or maybe a werewolf hunter. Lydia looked at the clock and realised it was way too early. Nonetheless, she decided to drive over right away.

It was shortly after noon, when she parked her car behind Allison's. Given that she could either go up to the Twin's apartment and ask them questions or take a crack at Allison's father, it seemed obvious that the latter was the more sensible option. Aidan was a lot easier to get a hold on.

Then her phone rang again, this time it was Allison. "Hi Allison," Lydia greeted her.

"Hi, em I was wondering, will you come over later?"

"No - I am not coming over later," she replied and heard her friend's disappointed "Oh".

"I am already here, actually," Lydia explained. "Is it okay if I come up?"

"That is perfect, Dad is cooking dinner and we were hoping you might want to join us."

Allison's voice lightened right up. The way she had initially sounded, Lydia had the feeling her friend felt like she had reason to be worried. As she walked over the elevator, she realised that in all likelihood Stiles must have called her. She had after all dropped the phone and not replied to him for a few moments.

She was greeted cheerfully at the door by Allison. In the background she heard cooking noises. At least, her friend's father could cook unlike either of Lydia's parents: they were better at fancy appetisers and having the catering service on speed dial. Yet, it had always been equally uncomfortable to eat over at either place for them.

At first, because Allison's mom was so weird when it had come to her, then of course because she was no longer there leaving a gaping hole at the dinner table. Lydia knew that Allison was still bitter about it, although more due to the sheer absurdity of the situation. After all, if anyone knew how to keep a werewolf under control under the full moon it was her parents. If they only killed werewolves that had killed innocent people, then why should hunters take their own life.

It sometimes seemed to her that all their families were absolutely messed up. Hers were casually disinterested in her life or at least those aspects that did not fit in their hush-hush view of life. Allison's was made up of psychos and sometimes she had the feeling that Chris Argent who ran around chasing werewolves was the most normal of the bunch. Stiles' father was one step away of being an alcoholic and only lately had begun getting closer with Stiles. That made Scott almost the runner up for having the most normal parents, given that his mom was pretty much the most down to earth stable person Lydia could think off. She never really had met his father but since he was with the FBI, he could not be that totally messed up.

Allison suggested that she might taste what her father was cooking, while she was setting the table. While she was sure that Chris would not botch up the dinner, as his meals had always been edible, it might give her a chance to ask him a question or two.

"Hello, Mr. Argent," Lydia greeted him.

The last time, she had seen Allison's father was in a khaki outfit with mud encrusted boots, two guns and a crossbow reading tracks in blood sprayed ground. It was a stark contrast seeing him with a pink and white apron as he stood at the stove in front of something that looked like a hybrid between a wok and a pan. From the smell he was cooking something mediterranean.

"Heh, happy belated birthday wishes," he said. "I hope you are doing okay?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Lydia realised that she had sounded way too hostile and smiled. "Sorry, everyone just wants to know if I had dreams lately. But I don't, none that I recall. I wish everyone would like ask my opinion on things in general."

His expression softened as she had gone on. He kept opening the glass lid and stirred what was underneath. It definitely smelled delicious. "I understand, from what Allison told me, you have also been good at translation old texts. That is an extremely valuable talent as well. Even though you do not feel comfortable with weapons that might be something you could look into."

"Yeah, that for example, then I am also capable to put information together or analyse it. I don't want to butt in on the running around the woods. I had my share of that."

Lydia was a bit taken back by her own anger. So far she had mostly ignored the feelings of being left out, after all she had rejected Allison's offer to learn how to fire a gun. It just gave her a weird feeling holding a weapon created for the purpose of killing in her hand. She could not quite explain it. Just because because she was not interested in the physical stuff did not mean she wanted to be excluded from everything else. Sometimes she was just left out, as she did not necessarily want to go canvassing through the woods.

"Aren't you afraid that emerging yourself deeper into what is happening might actually make things worse? Maybe to keep out of it, keeps your intuitions at bay ..." Chris suggested.

"If my father was actually concerned, he might sound like this," Lydia said and smiled back. It was sort of touching to hear the genuine concern without any belitteling. "When I first drove out to find a body … I was pretty much out of the loop, so I doubt it."

He nodded and his face turned all concerned. "Oh yes, the boy at the pool."

"I've been wondering, with druids out there, werewolves … is there more, if so could something like spirits and demons exist?"

"Thinking about messing around with Ouija boards?" He looked at her for a moment, but if Lydia knew to deflect one thing it was the critical stare of an adult. "These things certainly exist, however, from what I understand, the more unnatural they are the less likely we are to encounter them. Spirits, like actual haunted places exist. Demons I am not so sure about, what the church does for example, has not anything to with actual supernatural entities. Either way, I suggest not mess with these things."

She was wondering how the Argents knew these things, if they did hunt other things as well. Then again, Allison had told Lydia that her father had asked her to keep on eye on her after she had been bitten. . When it turned out she was no werewolf they lost interest quickly.

"But real exorcisms exist?" she pressed on.

Chris shrugged: "As far as I know, the only way to get rid of a demon, that is according to my father's books - is to kill the person."

"Oh."
Lydia had hoped for a different answer. It need not be the truth, just because a book owned by Allison's psychotic grandfather was saying as much. Yet, it was disconcerting.

BTW, since I wrote so much already and the plot is a bit more complicated, I would be grateful for alpha readers who don't mind reading through longish chapters and tell me whether I mention some things to often, if I should expand or answer certain questions sooner (if possible).

Given that I am currently done till chapter 11 (not beta read yet), with chapter 12 and 13 just needed some editing and smoothing that I need to do myself first, that gives you an awful lot to read. If you are interested sent me a pm.

I try to put out the chapters as fast as I get them beta-read ...