Sorry it took me so long to update. I was dealing with finals and projects for class. It was hectic. Anyways I hope you guys like this chapter, I made it a long one to make up for the hiatus. Please tell me if you like it or not. Have a lovely day.

I tiptoed into my house and quietly shut the door so it only made a little squeak. I winced when I heard it; my father had bionic ears, he could hear a drop of milk from miles away.

"Rose Hathaway," I flinched at the full use of my name. "Where have you been?" I turned around slowly almost savoring the last nano seconds I had before I was met with my dad.

His shrewd eyes—the same brown color as mine—stared at me with a mixture of concern and bemusement.

I realized then what I had to do. I felt the impulse to protect Mia even though she left me stranded.

"I had to stay after school for a project." I thought quickly. "It was kind of last minute."

"Why didn't you call?" His stature wasn't that of a tall man, he was around 5'9", and had the tan skin I inherited. I was told I looked a lot like my father; we had the same messy hazelnut hair and the prominent cheekbones.

"Sorry; I didn't think about calling. Which was stupid of me; I won't do it again." I promised sincerely.

I was more of a daddy's girl; my mother always preferred Mia because she could take her shopping and buy her little dresses that highlighted her beautiful face. Mia looks like a younger version of my mother, so she was able to parade her daughter with the angel face around. When I came, let's just say I wasn't the most attractive baby; I grew into my looks, a little bit but I have too much of my dad in me. So while my mother took Mia to do girly things my father took me out to play sports. We too became distant once the weirdness set in but he understands me more. He isn't like the rest of my family; he doesn't try to change me into something I am not.

"I'm holding you to that promise." He said sternly. "Do you know how worried I was when I came home and found out you hadn't gotten here yet."

"Sorry." I said in a small voice. I didn't like to make my dad worried. His voice started taking up a deeper twinge of his Turkish accent when he was worried.

"It's ok." He patted me in the back. "Just don't do it again, ok, baby girl."

I smiled; I loved it when he used that nickname. It felt like no time had passed; I felt like a five year old girl again when he and I would pass the soccer ball around. He would always say you're doing great, baby girl, even though I really wasn't.

"Alright, Dad."

"Now go to the kitchen and eat, your mom made food." Uhh, food. I really did not feel like eating any.

"I'm kind of full." He looked at me strangely. "Because they fed us at my after school thingy." I lied horribly.

"Your after school thingy?" He glanced at me suspiciously. "What was it about again?"

"It was, umm," My mind had drawn a complete blank, "umm about, math?" I said it like a question.

He crossed his arms, "I don't know, you tell me."

"Rose!" My mother, the life saver, called me from the kitchen. "Rose, get in here."

"Sorry dad; got to see what mom wants." I called as I ran away from him and went into the kitchen. My mother was sitting down on the table looking out of our small white curtained window.

"I saw something interesting a couple of minutes ago." My mom told me ominously.

"And what was it?" My dad answered for me as he walked in behind me.

She turned around and looked at me with a smug smile. "I don't know." Her eyes twinkled with glee. "I might have seen a black Mercedes pull up, one that a handsome young man was driving."

I gasped out loud.

"And," she continued, "I might have seen a certain daughter of mine climb out of that car." She quirked an eyebrow. "Care to explain Rose."

I gulped audibly. The silence was thickening but my father broke it. "Mia sneaked out with some boy. Hell, I didn't even see her get out." He shook his head.

"Ibraham." My mother admonished. "I wasn't talking about Mia; I was talking about Rose." My mom's voice went soft.

My dad's eyes went as wide as saucers. It took him a while to answer but when he did, I was shocked to hear a smile in his voice. "So much for that after school thingy." He laughed.

I didn't get it, weren't parents suppose to be mad when they found out that there child lied to them about being with a boy.

"Why do you guys look so happy?"

"Because sweetie." My mother turned her blue eyes towards me. "I'm happy that you're getting more friends, maybe even a boyfriend."

I was left slack jawed. Boyfriend; Dimitri and me together. That was beyond impossible.

"Shouldn't you guys act like parents and tell me I can't date. Especially you dad, I thought higher of you than this complete disregard of my dating life."

"Baby girl, at this point I'm just happy you have a dating life." Well I never. I didn't know if I should break it to them now or wait till later; I still didn't exactly have a dating life.

"Calm down." I shushed them. "We're not dating, we just—.

We just had dinner, he paid for my food, he picked me up in his car and he drove me back home. It all sounded exactly how a date should be like. We bantered, we talked, we laughed, we got to know a little more about each other. Did I go on a date and not even know it?

"You just what?" My mother asked anxiously.

"We just had a date." I said shocked. I went on a date with Dimitri. I lived the dream that every girl from my high school has. Hell, I accomplished what my sister wanted and while she left me to go home and sit in her room I was having dinner with Dimitri. The irony.

"Wait a minute." My dad put his hand up to silence us. "I know I'm being lenient but I still expect this guy to come meet me."

"Come meet us." My mother chipped in. "You can invite him to dinner."

"Wait, wait, wait. You guys are going too far, we had like one date. Tomorrow he can wake up and not talk to me ever again; ignoring me for the rest of my life."

"Don't get too mellow dramatic, this isn't a soap opera. No one actually does that in the real world. And if they do well then there not worth it." My father signaled with his hands that that would be the end of my paranoia.

"Besides, what's not to like. You have a body that can be envied if you put on the right cloths. And with a little help from my makeup your face will be glowing with beauty. Dimitri won't be able to take his eyes off of you." Here it came, the inevitable you need to change talk. I knew it was just a matter of time before my mother brought it up.

"Janine." My father reprimanded my mother. "She is fine just the way she is; if this boy won't like her unless she's got makeup and girly dresses then he's not worth it." My father ended the conversation and I almost high fived him for standing in my favor.

I got out of the kitchen to avoid any further third degree my mom seemed to be dishing out, and went to my room.

Christian was going to get here in a couple of minutes. I called him before I entered the house. His phone rang several times before he managed to answer it. The voice that answered was almost unrecognizable, he sounded like a chain smoker; his voice all croaky and awful. I almost couldn't get past it to ask him what I needed.

But once I did he seemed more suspicious than ever for my want of the book. It took several reminders that he was the one who ditched me today for him to let me borrow the book. He owed me big time.

I took out my journal from my dark blue desk drawer and began doodling to keep my mind straight. It was all loops within loops looking like a tangled up web; my thoughts were no different.

Dimitri told me to read the book. Fine, I get that but what does he expect me to find? There was nothing in there but old remedies and some fictional creatures.

Unless, of course, the ritual; the one that was so similar to my dream. A thought occurred to me, maybe it wasn't about demons and portals. Maybe someone believed that demons and portals were real, and they imitated the ritual. The murder I'm witnessing could be the act of some psychopath that believes the rituals are true.

But then it would mean that I'm actually seeing a murder in my head, which is just as supernatural as demons.

This is hopeless; I was building something rational out of something that was completely un-rational. How could I criticize the demon theory if I myself believe I'm witnessing a murder through an out of body experience?

I heard the doorbell ring interrupting my jumbled thoughts. That had to be Christian. I rushed down the stairs before my parents could answer the door and was met by Christian already standing in my living room. He was under the hard gaze of my mother.

"Christian, you are here, good, come on lets go to my room." I said in a single breath.

"So, Christian," My mother kept staring at him until he flinched, "you and Rose be careful now."

"Of course Ma'm." Ma'm? Since when does Christian say Ma'm.

"Good." She walked back into the kitchen. Christian visible exhaled in relief.

"Ro, your mom is scary."

I looked at him hard. "What? Don't tell me you're still mad at me." I didn't answer. I turned away and led him upstairs without speaking.

"Ro, I'm sorry I left you, ok." He nudged me with his shoulder. "Can you forgive me?" He pleaded. He was going to have to beg a lot more than that to gain my forgiveness.

As soon as we made it to my room I shut the door behind him—I didn't want anyone to hear this—and released the fury of hell.

"What the hell is a matter with you? How could you leave me? No, how could you not invite me, you knew I always wanted to ditch." I yelled out. "You cared more about a book then me, your best friend in the whole wide world."

He put his arms on my shoulders. "Rose, call down. You need to breathe."

"I am breathing!"

"Good. Now do you want to hear the reason I had to ditch?" I frowned. "I promise it will be good." Damn, now I was curious.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." He better. "That passage, the one you showed me, I've read it before." His face scrunched up. "Well, I am not sure if I read it, but it sounded really familiar."

"Familiar?" It's a demon summoning ritual, how could that be familiar to anyone?

"I don't know why, it just is? The memory is like really far away I almost have to squint to remember it, but it's there, I know it."

"And why didn't you mention it before. It seems like something you would mention the second you heard it?"

"Because I didn't know I knew it till after I read the passage. It was like it brought back a memory I had long forgotten." I could tell from his voice that he was confused.

"That still doesn't explain why you ditched me."

"I am getting to that part." He shook his head at my impatience. "I wanted to know if maybe I had read it in another book. So I went home and looked through my stack. And the only way I could do that is if I faked an illness so my mom would let me stay. I couldn't bring you along, what was I going to tell her, I'm sick but let my friend stay with me in my room."

My fingers fidgeted in annoyance. "Couldn't you wait till after school to do that?"

"Rose" He gave me that are you kidding with me face. "Have you seen how into this I am? Do you think I would have survived the whole day without knowing?" He did have a point. He would not have survived one hour let alone seven.

"Well you still should have told me, I was waiting for you at the table like a dumb ass."

He sagged in defeat. "Ok, I am guilty of that, sorry. But it was kind of a last minute decision. It came to me when I was walking to class."

"So, did you find the book?" I asked. Believe it or not I was dying to know.

"Nope, I could have heard that passage anywhere though. I'm not sure if it was necessarily a book, but it has to be. I spent my life with my nose in a book." His face became solemn. "If the book is back in the library we'll never find it. We've been through too many of their books to retrace our steps."

"What about The Seer's Handbook? Does that have anything about it?" I didn't know what compelled me to ask. It was like the words blurted from my lips without my knowledge.

"The what?"

"The Seer's Handbook, you know that book on your drawer." Why was I explaining this to him? He should know what book I am talking about. The title is kind of weird; it's not one you'd forget.

"Rose," He said slowly, "I don't have a book called The Seer's Handbook."

What? "But I saw it it was in your room yesterday." Was he lying straight to my face now?

"Rose, trust me, if there was a book in my room called The Seer's Handbook, I would know about it. I turned my room upside down yesterday looking through all of my books. There was not one in there called that. It was just my comics and the same old ones I've let you read."

"Ok then." I let it go. I knew what I saw though. That book was there, I was sure of it. But I was sure of Christian too, he looked so sincere. I couldn't not believe he was telling the truth.

"Here." He said as he passed me the book. "You asked me for this."

"Yes." I said as I grabbed the leather book. I had already forgotten about it. I was still thinking about the other one. There was something about the title that stuck with me. Seer; the word caused me to feel something in my chest. It was like trying to remember a dream you know you had, a dream that you try so hard to recall but your mind doesn't want to bring it back to you.

I set the book against my desk, saving it for later, before another thought occurred to me. Christian was kind of creepy and he loved scowering the town for places to hang out in. He always said he felt more at peace when he was out of his house. Christian might have found the place I'm looking for in one of his scowers.

There was something deep inside me that knew my dreams were true. I couldn't explain it, but the feeling was there; always looming, never letting me be at peace. I knew suddenly with such certainty why the dreams were not letting me be at peace. It was like I had known all along and refused to believe it till this moment. The dreams were not going to leave me alone till I found it; till I found the truth, till I found who killed Natalie.

It was like a lightning bolt had struck me; I didn't want to believe it at first. I didn't want Natalie to be dead, but I knew that she was. She didn't run away like the rumors said.

"Christian, do you know of an empty house, maybe one that's been abandoned and has graffiti on the door and scratches." I said, recalling the dream.

His head snapped up. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Just answer the question." I whispered impatiently.

"Maybe," he looked at me his eyes narrowed. He knew exactly the place I was talking about. I could see it.

"Where?" I stared at him till he fessed up.

"By Whittier Road."

My breathing stopped completely. "That's where the cemetery is at."

"Yeah, it's in a little shacked up corner, a few feet away from all the tomb stones, there's this little room. No one goes in there. It was made like over 50 years ago by the coroner; he was the only one who used it till he died. Now it's just there; taking up space. No one really knows about it unless they venture in the cemetery and stumble upon it. It's really hidden, behind tress and mossy vines. It blends in."

I looked at him weirdly. "When the hell were you venturing in the cemetery?"

"It's a nice place to go and think, don't look at me that way."

"What way?"

"You're getting that face. The one that says you're crazy but you are too nice to say it out loud."

That was exactly what I was thinking.

"You tell me you basically hang out in a cemetery and you expect me to be all normal about it."

"Rose, look at me." Christian's, shaggy black hair fell over his face; his beady blue eyes peaked from behind the strands. "Don't I look like someone who hangs out in a cemetery?"

Looking at it, he kind of does. He looked like one of those psycho kids you would find hiding behind graves, awaiting there next victim.

"Okay, you've got a point. It still doesn't mean you should be proving it. I thought you went against conforming."

"I am." He looked at me seriously. "Rose, you shouldn't go there."

"Where?" I asked innocently.

He gave an annoyed breath. "You know what I am talking about; the room. Don't go there."

I lifted my chin up. "And why not?" I challenged.

"You wouldn't like it." Christian didn't explain it further, even though I kept pestering him about it.

He left shortly after, leaving the heavy questions unanswered. Christian was becoming a mystery to me; he was hiding something, I didn't like it.

Christian and I were supposed to tell each other everything. We never kept secrets. He was the only person in the world I could trust, and now I didn't know if I could say the same.

My life was becoming a mess. It scared me to think that the person I was beginning to trust more was Dimitri. Crap, what had this world come too.

I spent the next several hours busying myself with school work. Calculus especially took up a great deal of my time, with all the derivatives and anti-derivatives. I mean why have an anti-derivative; is it like the derivatives evil brother.

I was in the middle of my English homework when I snapped. I could not keep up the pretense anymore. The book was just lying there, comfortably, on my desk, begging me to open it. I had avoided it long enough.

As soon as I realized this I ran the short distance to my desk and slammed open the book in my eagerness.

I scanned the same words I remembered—silly of me to believe anything had changed. Still I went through it all pausing at the page I discovered this morning—really this morning, it seemed much longer than that.

There was something about this page, the yellowed paper held much meaning to me. The shadow and the ritual, those were the only parts in the book that directed towards my dreams. I knew they were important when I read it. I knew that this is what I was seeing: A demon summoning ritual.

The portals of hell would have to open in order for a demon to come out. And somebody performed the ritual using Natalie's blood. Whether they opened the portals—which I seriously doubt—or were disappointed with the result is not clear. What if it is some psycho killer that is out there? Is that what Dimitri was trying to tell me, that there is a deranged murderer on the loose.

But why couldn't he just tell me that? Unless, what did Dimitri say. He said something about not being too quick to discredit the book. Could it be that Dimitri believes in all of this demon crap?

The cold truth hit me. Of course Dimitri believes in it, how else could he believe in my dreams. And how he thinks that ears are everywhere hearing us. I felt like an idiot. The only one who believes my dreams is a guy who believes in demons. That thought didn't really help, in fact it discouraged me. How could I believe I was seeing Natalie's death? How could I let the thought that someone actually believed me turn into this whole chase for a murderer that doesn't exist?

Natalie was probably having a big laugh over the scandal she created. Maybe she went to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. She could be anywhere, and me having a dream that she was killed doesn't mean anything. People have dreams all the time and they don't blow it into this huge deal. They usually forget about them. Which is exactly what I should do?

I had to convince myself that Natalie was alive, that she was well. Only she wasn't.

The ten o clock news broke it first. The body of a sixteen year old girl was found in the trunk of a car. Apparently neighbors had reported a foul smell coming from inside it. The police were all over the scene ruling the cause of death as murder.

According to the reporters there was a gash in the victim's neck. I didn't need to see the next headline to know who it was, Natalie Dashkov.

I woke up the next morning, startled. My heart beat thumped erratically, and I was taking shallow gasps of air. Finding Natalie's body only made everything more real, more scary.

The images of my latest dream were etched permanently into my mind. I just wanted this to be over already.

I spent the rest of the morning getting ready, trying to avoid the dream at all cost. But even as I finished dressing I couldn't help a glance at the book. The early morning light shined through my window landing directly on my desk, illuminating the book.

I made a fast decision and grabbed it, stuffing it into my backpack. It might come in handy when I need to beat the shit out of someone, I told myself. But I knew that wasn't the only reason.

My eyes glanced quickly toward the bottom of my bed. I wasn't desperate enough to get it. What was hidden underneath would hopefully never come to use.

I rushed down the stairs—I was running late—and barely managed to grab a banana before I was shoved out the door by my sister.

It was a strange morning; Mia didn't say one word to me. Even as she evaluated my outfit she kept her mouth shut. We were usually quiet but we always exchanged at least a couple of words.

Mia kept her head inclined straight ahead; blue eyes always on the road, pink pouty lips set in a grim line. Something was not right. I wondered if she heard the news.

"Mia." I said breaking the silence—the radio wasn't even on. "Are you ok?" No answer. "Is this because of Natalie?

She glanced at me confused. "Natalie, why would this be about her?"

"Because of what happened to her."

She scoffed "I didn't know her. So she died, big deal, from what I remembered she was an attention hog. Always trying to get people's attention. She was annoying if you ask me."

"Okay then." I said quickly. I mean what do you respond to that. I know Mia and Natalie didn't really talk, but you tend to talk nice about someone once they're dead. At least most of us do. The irony is that when Mia arrives to school, she's going to be acting like if Natalie was a saint. She can only ever be real with me.

"So." I dragged. "Why were you so quiet?"

"You still don't get it do you." She looked upset. "Don't you even remember what you did?"

"Umm no." What did I do? If anything I should be mad at her, she left me yesterday.

She looked at me expectantly. "What?" I asked.

"Do you really need to ask?"

"Yes." What did she think I was; a mind reader.

"You," she glanced at me before turning her eyes back on the road, "you were with Dimitri yesterday. IN HIS CAR!" Oh, that.

"How did you know about that?" I gasped.

"I saw you get out of his car from my window." She sounded mad. "What the hell Rose, you know that I like him. That I've wanted to talk to him for like ever and you're trying to snag him from under me."

I could tell that she was trying to make me feel bad. It kind of worked. I mean, my sister did like him, and I was being a pretty fucked up sister by going out with him; but in my offense it wasn't my fault.

Actually—"This is your fault." I told Mia.

"Mine." She looked at me shocked. "How could you blame this on me?"

"Because you left me stranded in school yesterday."

"So you looked for some payback. Way to hit below the belt." She looked at me like she didn't know me. "I expected better from you Rose, you're not like this. This isn't you."

"I didn't try to get revenge." I yelled out. "I was walking home when Dimitri saw me and offered me a ride. That was it."

She looked like she didn't quite believe me. "Then why did you last so long getting home. It wouldn't have taken that long."

"Because he took me to eat—"

"Aha. I knew it." She sounded betrayed.

"Let me finish. He took me to eat because he needed to ask me a question on umm," I thought of something fast, "on calculus. He needed help with his homework and since I'm the only person he's talked to he thought he should ask me. So it took us a long time to finish the work."

"And that's it." She asked skeptically.

"Yep."

"Good." She immediately relaxed. "I knew it couldn't be anything. Especially with how you looked. No offense sis, but you kind of looked like shit yesterday." Great, just great.

She turned on the radio and started humming to the upbeat pop song that was playing. She was completely content even going as far as taping her fingers against the wheel and swaying her hips in her seat.

Yep, she was completely content that Dimitri was still free. Too bad he was a little more freaky than she likes. I would love to see the look on her face when she finds out Dimitri has more things in common with Christian than with her.

As soon as we got to school, as expected, the topic of everyone's conversation was Natalie. The students were all huddled in little circles talking in hushed tones. Many were speculating over who could have done it. Someone even went as far as suggesting that she paid someone to do it so she could be the focus of attention. I couldn't believe someone was stupid enough to say that. It boiled my blood even more to find people agreeing with them.

That was the first time I rushed to first period. I couldn't stand to hear any more of their idiocy.

I sat in my usual seat and fidgeted, my knee kept bouncing up and down, and I couldn't make it stop for anything in the world. Everyone kept running their mouth about Natalie, I couldn't escape her.

Mason was once again sitting in the seat behind mine, thankfully. I really needed to talk to Dimitri. He might be the only one who could help me. This whole Natalie thing was driving me crazy. And the dream, last night's dream. I couldn't get it out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes I would see it.

This wasn't a normal dream. In my dreams there were always two people: Natalie and the shadow. But this time when I surfaced into the candle covered room someone else appeared.

I stood there, in my normal spot, as I watched Natalie's impending doom. I watched as the shadowed man emptied her blood in a bowl and drew with it upon the floor. My usual dreams had always gone this far.

I was surprised when I watched him finish the crest, he never finished the drawing. His blood covered hand traced the last images of the swords piercing the crest before he stood and turned his back on the drawing, as if he didn't want to see it. The room had gotten so hot at this point; I was surprised I didn't burst into flames. And then, impossibly so, it got hotter. So hot I could barely breathe; the heat ensnared me in a cocoon.

My vision blurred but I felt rather than saw the huge hole that appeared in the center of the room. The room shook and the floor crumbled to bits it was like a huge earthquake hit one small part of the earth—it was only about four feet wide.

I chanced a glance and felt my breath come in rasps because before me a mist appeared to leak out of the hole. It looked kind of like smog, before it got darker and chunkier. Even worse, the feeling it brought sucked at my soul. I was drained of everything only to be replaced by a deep burning that scratched at my insides, like a monster burst free in my belly. In that moment I wanted to die. I wanted to be taken away from this world to escape the horror I was feeling. I would do anything to leave; as soon as that thought entered my head the mist seemed to gravitate in my direction. As if I had called to it. In my lucrative state the mist appeared to have eyes, eyes that saw through me. Eyes that knew I was there.

The dream seemed so familiar. With a shock I remembered why? When I was eleven, there was a whole month I got weird dreams. It was right after people started calling me a freak. And in these dreams a dark mist would would have dark piercing eyes and claws from hell. I was always scared of it. The feeling it brought burned me to the bone. I would wake up screaming like a lunatic. My dad would come rushing into my room to calm me down, I was hysterical. I would cry into his chest each night and tell him they were out to get me. He would always ask what, what baby girl, what is out to get you. And I would answer back, demons. Demons were out to get me.

I was transported back into the presence when Dimitri entered the classroom. His tall frame walked through the door, menacing and charming all at once. He was a package deal; a two for one.

He took the seat next to mine, his dark hair in its usual disarray. One glance at me told him everything. He knew that I knew. It was written all over my face.

We sat there in silence. I wanted nothing more than to harass him with questions. Everyone in class was focused on gossiping about Natalie, they wouldn't notice.

I opened my mouth to speak when he beat me to it.

"I know what you're going to say." He said. "And let me tell you now that I am not going to answer them here."

I huffed in annoyance. Why do I always have to wait with him?

The class quieted down once Mr. Nagy entered. He didn't acknowledge any of us; he only wrote down our assignment for the day, on the board, and assigned us to work in pairs. Probably thinking the arrangement worked out perfectly since we were all sitting in pairs to begin with.

The sound of pencil on paper filled the whole classroom. The quiet whispers of the students were hardly noticeable. "So what changed your mind?" Dimitri asked, ten minutes into our work.

I wasn't sure if I should unleash the whole Natalie dream on him. I didn't know him that well, and the dream felt really personal. I wanted to keep it to myself until I was sure I could trust him with it.

Instead, I gave him the gist of what caused it. "I saw something." I could tell he got what I was meaning.

"And what was it?" The curiosity was evident in his tone.

"So you're allowed to ask me about my dreams but I can't ask you anything. Is this how it's going to work?"

"You couldn't ask me yesterday." He whispered more quietly than before, "but today I can answer a few things; just not here." He looked around. "And maybe you should save the dream for later, too. I don't even know why I was asking you. I guess I was just curious."

"So later?" I asked. Please promise me you're going to tell me, I am dying over here.

He thought about it. "Sure, later."

"Mr. Nagy." A voice from the back called. My sister. "I don't get these problems you assigned." She currently had two partners because she was sitting alone—probably still hoping Dimitri would sit next to her. Her partners were her two cheerleader best friends. They sometimes came over to our house to discuss with Mia the advantages of make-up and stuff like that.

"Well, Miss Hathaway, you have to resolve them with your partners." Mr. Nagy perched his glasses on the tip of his nose.

"Can I switch partners? I think I need someone else to help me." She pouted her full pink lips. Oh no. I could see where this was going. Even in light of everything that happened, my sister would never give up on a chase.

"I don't see any problem in that."

"Thank you." She squeaked innocently. Only I could see the horns popping out. She gathered her papers and came straight toward Dimitri and I. Without giving it another thought she pulled up and empty chair and sat it next to Dimitri; a little too close to him, if you ask me.

"So, Dimitri, I hear you're good with math." She said smiling prettily at him, dimpling. Her shiny hair shimmered down her shoulders and her eyes appeared larger with the dose of mascara she dapped on.

"Really, from whom might I ask?"

"Well, because you and Rose worked on homework together, yesterday."Crap.

"Did we?" He turned his head towards me. I gave him a pleading look with my eyes. "Oh yes, we did."

I exhaled relieved that he had backed me up.

"Right after I had my way with her on the restaurant table."

My jaw nearly dropped. Shit I spoke to soon.

"You what? With my sister, what?" Mia was speechless.

"Oh gosh, he's joking Mia." I said quickly. "Seriously, how could you believe that? And you," I pointed at Dimitri, "Have got to stop making all these sexual comments."

"Sexual comments," He smirked. "And here I thought we were talking about the lovely dinner we had."

I snorted. "Oh I'm sure that's what you were talking about."

"Why are you trying to dirty my gentleman manners with your sick mind?" He said mockingly.

"Ha, gentleman manner. You wouldn't know a gentleman if he poked you in the eye with his pinky finger."

"Yes, my dear, but then he wouldn't be a gentleman." A throat clearing forced us to straighten. We had been unconsciously leaning towards each other; our arms were brushing, our chest nearly meeting.

"Well, going back to the class work." Mia began; it had been her throat that had cleared.

"Yes, Mia, back to the work." Dimitri stared at her straight in the eyes clearly flustering her. "You can copy my work, I finished it minutes ago, and then when you're done you can time a certain experiment I thought of. It's about human pheromones; I want to see how long Rose could resist mine before we have at it. You could time that too if you want."

I elbowed him, hard, in the ribs, but it just ended up hurting my elbow because ow, he was really ripped. Not to the extreme where he was scary ripped; he had long lean muscles which looked wonderful.

I looked at him hard. He was doing this on purpose. "Fine, I guess I might lose against Rose's pheromones too. They do smell quite intoxicating; mouthwatering." His eyes glinted.

Mia kept looking back and forth between us. "Well, Mia, you wanted to know how Dimitri is, and now you have unleashed the asshole." I told her.

She was speechless; she just sat there staring straight toward the white board. I don't think she expected Dimitri to be like this, he was a little too straight forward. Mia liked her men to tell her how pretty she was, and to always admire her. She didn't want them to have a mind of their own. And Dimitri was exactly the opposite. He was a smart mouth, who said what he believed, and was a major tease.

"I think you pushed her to the edge." I whispered to Dimitri. Mia's eyes looked empty; they were no lights on in her brain.

"She'll get over it." He shrugged. "You still want to do the experiment." He grinned.

"Shut up." I laughed.

"Is that a yes?" His eyes were smoldering. I didn't answer.

When the bell rang I fully expected Dimitri to rush out of the room. He surprised me when he stayed in his seat. I put all my things back into my pack and stood up to leave when he stopped me.

"You don't have anything important to do right now, do you?" He asked.

"Aside from going to class, no I don't."

"Good, let's go." He pulled me out of my seat and led me into the hallway, pushing his way through the horde of people.

"Where are we going?"

He turned his head towards me, "somewhere we could be alone."

We waited till the hallway cleared before I let him take me out of school. It was easier than I expected, we simply walked out the front double door and were met by no opposition. Why hadn't I done this before?

His black Mercedes was parked in the back of the parking lot. I was worried that a school official would spot us, but again, no one was out there. It was too easy, getting out of school.

When we reached his car he went ahead of me, stopping in front of the passenger door. For one wild second I thought he was going to let me drive but then he opened the door and signaled for me to get in.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"What? You accused me of not being a gentleman. I need to change your mind somehow. Isn't opening doors for a lady the most gentlemanly thing a man could do?"

"So you'll open doors for me just to prove a point? What else can I make you do?" I said as I slid into the car.

"Anything you want, darling."

I chose to ignore the sexual innuendo. He closed the car door and made his way around the car.

"So, are we going to any place in particular?" I asked once we were settled in. He turned the car on and sped away, leaving the school behind.

"Nope, were staying in the car." I looked at him weirdly. "What, there's no place safer than in this baby."

"So what, your car has armor that protects against demons." I clasped my hand over my mouth hard enough to make a smacking sound. I couldn't believe I'd said that out loud.

Dimitri didn't say anything, but he was gripping the wheel harder than usual. I could see the blue veins bulging out of the back of his hands; they looked like they were going to explode from the force.

"Not armor." He finally answered. "I just know for sure that no one is in here hearing us. Besides that the car is moving at a pretty high velocity so our voices are pretty much distorted by the sound of my engine." No one is hearing us? Like a demon? Was I actually believing this now? I think I was; I spent all those years helping Christian out convincing myself that all these things were crap, but maybe deep down I believed it as much as he did. Why else would I have helped him out for so long?

"Let me get this straight. I needed to read the book that say's nothing about this crap because—"

"Well, I would prefer you had the other book but you don't." Other book?

"What other book?"

"The one you were supposed to get." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I'm sure my faced conveyed how lost I felt. "Hell, that's right, you don't know anything about this crap." He looked like he was struggling to find the right words."You see, you were supposed to be given a book when you became of age."

"But I'm still not of age, I'm only sixteen—"

"Not that age, when I say that it's more like when you hit puberty. You were chosen at a young age, and the one who chose you was supposed to give you a book when you became of age. That way you wouldn't be heading into this blindly." He rushed out.

Puberty. I hit it when I was around eleven. In my sixth grade year.

"What happened to me when I became of age?"

He looked at me with those deep brown eyes before he answered. "You became a seer. Well technically you always were, it just laid dormant within you till you matured."

A seer, why did that name sound so familiar to me? Where had I heard it before? Could it be….

"Why didn't I get the book?" Was it possible that whoever made me like this lost hope in me? Did they deicide I wasn't worth being a seer?

He looked at me sincerely, "I don't know. A seer is never left blind, it's unheard of." The lines on his face became worried. "We can't let anyone find out about you. If they know that there's an untrained seer, well." He shot a nervous glance at me. "Let's just say you don't want to find out."

I knew it; all along I knew I was different. It just felt weird to have my suspicions confirmed. I felt like a huge weight lifted off me. I finally knew what was wrong with me. But at the same time I didn't. What the hell is a seer?

"So I'm a seer." He nodded. "And what is that, exactly?"

He exhaled, frustrated. "I really should not be the one telling you this." His face looked defeated. "I'll try though."

"Yes." I encouraged.

"You see a seer, see's things." He said stating the obvious."Things that haven't happened and things that have. They look between the past and the future so they could act on the present." We were traveling away from the town; I could see the houses begin to fade from the window, merging into trees. Orange and green trees began to blend together; the interstate became longer curving downward in the end where it disappeared.

"So, I could see things, like the past, and also the future?"

"Yes." He said it like if he was in pain.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "I'm not supposed to tell you this."

"And why not, because someone forbade you to? Didn't you just tell me yesterday not to let myself be pushed around? Well it looks to me like you are doing the same thing." I argued. Dimitri was always criticizing me for being a push over. He was being a hypocrite.

He smiled at me. "Wow, you do listen. Why do you think I told you that? Because I know how it feels like to be treated like dirt, but unlike me you have a choice."

"What do you mean? Why don't you have a choice?" Who doesn't have a choice now a days? We live in the country of the free, right?

"It's complicated." He winced. "But today's not about me. Since no one showed you the ropes, I guess I have to do it. If you want?" He was giving me a choice. But I already knew the answer.

"Yes, I do want you to." I wanted nothing more than to know who I was.

"Good, but I'll warn you, I might not a very good teacher."

"I don't care. I have to take what I can get, right." I joked. It worked he laughed. His eyes crinkled up in the sides, and I saw light dimple's appear on his cheeks.

I went back to business before I got too caught up on his dimpling cheeks. "So, does it only come in my dreams, these visions."

The car jerked sideways, scaring me a little before Dimitri righted it. "What?" He asked. "Oh man we got our work really cut out for us." His eyes became stressed. "You mean you're still not able to get your visions at will."

"At will? I can do that?"

"Yes you can." He looked frustrated again. "When you're sleeping you're more in tune with the natural order of your body, but you've got to learn how to harness that while you are awake. That way you're open to your visions. You don't know how much you need this."

"No, I don't know, why don't you tell me, everything."

He looked desperate before a determination overtook his features. "Ok, I'll try. But I don't know everything. I could only tell you the parts I know. What you really need is your book. We've got to find it, it could be anywhere."

"Book, Seer, Book." I mumbled. "Do you know the name of the book?"

"Well, every seer has a unique book; it comes to them in a form that is best for the seer. The name could be anything; it's made for the seer to recognize it." He looked pensive.

"But I don't know anything about this book. If it comes in a form I would recognize, then wouldn't the name have to be something obvious? Otherwise how would I know what it is?"

His eyes brightened, for the first time he looked hopeful. "You're right it would have to be something obvious."

I knew then which book I needed.

"I need The Seer's Handbook."