Welcome To My Nightmare

That is insane. We can’t just trust a djinn. We… There must be another way.

Lenna looked at the others. It was common knowledge that when you die in dreams you wake up, but would the djinn really give them this information? Lenna knew that she would do everything to safe Rome, but what about the others. They know him the longest for a week; she would understand when they wouldn’t agree to this deal. Lenna wasn’t even sure if she would accept this deal for any of them, well actually yeah she would because she would sacrifice her life for everyone just because that is the way she is.

“I can’t talk for the others and I would understand when they say no to this deal, but count me in. Let me go into Rome’s dream, get him out and we can leave.”

“Elenna?” Georgie tried to get her attention but Lenna shook of her hands and stepped closer to the djinn. She was still scared as hell, but she knew that it couldn’t help Rome by being scared. And she wouldn’t let anyone stop her.

Well, this was quite the problem: They couldn't kill the djinn. They really shouldn't trust it. But then again, if they didn't at least try, they were going to lose one of their team.

Scratch that, two of their team. Lenna had just decided to go try to save Rome. Well then. . . everybody seemed a bit hesitant as tension rose in the room, then Danila stepped closer to the djinn and set his rifle on the floor. "Eef we can't shoot you," he said with a shrug, "I may as well play your game."

Lily rolled her eyes. Typical. It was always assumed by the shooter types that if a bullet wasn't able to kill, there was no use for it.

That was idiotic. Just because a bullet wouldn't kill didn't mean it wouldn't hurt, wouldn't incapacitate long enough for a killing blow to land.

Granted, this was a slightly different situation. But Lily wasn't convinced that there was no way to defeat the djinn. There had to be a way. She just had to think about it. She just had to put the puzzle pieces together, and... and...

She couldn't think. She couldn't think of the answer.

But she did know that she didn't want to go into dreamland, with a djinn in control.

But there might not be a choice.

Aly lowered her gun. Rome had risked his life for her, now it was her chance to return the favor.

"I'll play your game, genie."

She stepped forward. This might allow her to let off some steam without physically harming herself--either that or get her killed. Seemed like promising odds.

"What do we have to do?"

"The how is simple enough." Adara said in her musical tone.

She moved across the room and resumed her position on the floor next to Rome. She reached out a hand and ran her fingers through his shaggy hair in an almost absent-minded fashion as she smiled at the group.

"All you need to do it hold hands. I will take care of the rest."

Lenna stared incredulous at the djinn.

Firstly, stop touching Rome you... b*tch. Secondly is she joking? I never said I wanna join a yoga-meditation group.
But the djinn didn’t look like as she was joking.

“Fine.”

This is insane. I swear Rome next time it is your turn to do something stupid to safe me; like wearing a chicken costume in a crowded Shopping Mall. Or something other totally unbelievable.

Lenna put her knife on the floor and sat down it was more practical to sit when they enter Rome’s dream, after all they will be also sleeping like he is.

“Let’s get started.”

Aly raised her eyebrows and blinked a few times as the genie sat down and told them to hold hands. This was unbelievable, but such was her life now.

"Alright, but if someone starts singing Kumbaya, or chanting crap--silver bullets will start flying."

She sat down next to Lenna and took her hand.

"I'm in," Caleb stated gruffly, sitting down alongside the ex-Fed and extending a hand to her.

He puffed his chest out and sat up ramrod straight, telling himself he was ready for this Djinn's screwed-up dream world thing. He flexed his fingers around the grip of his sword, then set it down in front of himself, staring the Djinn in the face the entire time. He felt obliged to joke around and say something like "Hi, my name's Caleb, and I'm an alcoholic", but kept it to himself.

Georgina sat down next to Caleb and reached out for his hand. "Count me in as well."
She didn't like the fact that one bloody Djinn was in control of all of them, but if they wanted to safe Rome they had no other choice but to stick together.

Adara's eyes glowed with anticipation as the remaining members took their places on the floor. She lifted her right hand. It crackled with bright blue electricity. A laugh escaped as her hand hovered above Rome's forehead.

"I am going to enjoy this very much. I have not had fear this plentiful in centuries."

Her hand pressed against his forehead with a flash of blue. All the hunters slumped over into various positions as the darkness took them in.


Caleb

The mother huddles in the far corner of the room, her young child as hidden behind her as possible. The wolf has finally caught up with them. They have no where else to run, and no help is coming. The child whimpers with fear as a growl of victory rises from the wolf's throat. Through your own eyes you watch the scene begin to unfold, but are powerless to stop it...or are you? (Save them from yourself!)


Elenna

Run Elenna! Run! But mind your skirts while you do. You're the object of desire in this Ye Old Witch Hunt! The locals of this sleepy 1700s town want you dead. Of course you'll be given a fair trial first. If you drown you're innocent! The woods are thick, but the dogs will smell you out. (Save yourself Elenna!)

Aly

Ring around the rosy! You twirl in a circle with three little girls, the only light in the room shines down upon you. It's a mere second before you realize that you too are nothing more than a small child. Men in dark cloaks watch you from the shadows. A deep chanting begins as the other girls speed up the pace. The men close in on your circle. The dancing stops and one by one the other girls are lead away into the shadows till you stand alone in the light. The men return and surround you, kneeling in a semi-circle a foot away. From the shadows, a small whimper emerges as your sister appears from the darkness and is shoved into the light by another cloaked figure. He presses a knife into your hands before making the girl kneel and backing away. (Can you save her Aly?)

What the hell? Rome would never be here, so why am I here. Why are they chasing me I didn’t do anything to them, I am not a witch. Gosh these skirts are really not made for running.

The townspeople were chasing her; they had torches, pitchforks and bludgeons. Lenna couldn’t do anything else then run. She was surrounded by fields and valleys. In her right hand she had the indictment that indicted her of using witchcraft and blasphemous speech. She didn’t even know what blasphemous speech is. But here she was running in something that looked more like a Halloween costume to her. The dress was ridiculous it had so many skirts and the corset didn’t give her space to breath.

“Screw the etiquette.” Lenna hid behind some bushes, took the knife that was in a sheath at her ankle and cut off the tight corset. “That is better. Okay let’s see what I can do against the mob.” Lenna had a pouch, she found some herbs, stones and quill with a bottle of ink.

“Okay this is not helpful at all.” She looked back on the indictment.

Witchcraft. Huh?

“There she is!” The shouts go closer and they have spotted her. She wanted to run, but her dress got caught in the bushes. She was stuck and started to panic. She pulled and tried to free her dress, but it seemed not to work until she tore it apart. It took her a moment to realise that she was free, yes in her underwear but compared to what she knew as underwear she was still dressed enough. She run, but not fast enough the town and her surrounded.
She was trembling. “I am not a witch!”

The townspeople didn’t care.

The ink.

She took the ink out of the pouch and drew symbol for fire, air, water and earth on her left wrist, she knew that she wasn’t ready to use all of them but something made her do it anyway. But it was too late the mob had her.

“Elenna Abigail Fee your action of running from your trail made clear you a guilty in witchcraft and blasphemous speech. Your punishment is death on the stake.”

Out of nowhere the stake appeared and Lenna got tied to it. The ropes cut into her flesh, and the pole she was tight to hurt her back. It happened so fast that she couldn’t react. All the defence Rome had taught her were forgotten. All she did was crying and begging with a trembling voice.

“Please I am innocent. I am not a witch. I never sold my soul to a demon. I am not what you think I am. Please, let me go. Please.”

But the people around her just laughed, they all laughed and with them three faces she knew to well. There was a woman, a man and a boy she knew them all too well.

Mom. Dad. Nick. No you can’t be here. You wouldn’t let them burn me alive. You know me, you know who I am... No they don’t know me anymore. They...

Lenna started crying. But when the people light up the stake something changed. She looked up and for the first time since she used her powers she didn’t feel that she needs to hide them. She yell as loud she could

“Feuer in mir, brenn!” A large fire ball appeared it consumed the fire of the stake and swallowed the town and with it the townspeople. She could hear them scream and she didn’t care that they burned, all of them. She blinked and...

It was sunny a beautiful day. She was in a pretty bedroom, on the night stand was a note that said Welcome to Tex B&B.

“What? Where is the fire and...” Lenna looked down at herself she was wearing a simple black dress, she looked clean and decent, but not normal in her eyes. Something was different. There was a bouquet of white Lilly’s on the table, but not in a vase. And not only this there was a suitcase, a real suitcase did she always travel with it? Half of it was full with books, old books, weird book; Latin, History of the ancient Greek, Germanic mythology. She felt comfort in seeing those books, until she found a red sweater.

Harvard???? No I can’t be going to Harvard.

But what better proof as her student ID could she get?


“Why am I here?”

Romulus Remington was still dreaming.

Now he was riding in a car with Rawson. Rawson was driving. Rome was so glad, actually, to see his brother sitting next to him that he didn't even mind--and half wanted to forget--that this was a dream. It was nighttime in this dream. Rome didn't recognize the road, but that was the story of his life these days, so that wasn't unnatural. It wasn't a busy area: they seemed the only ones out tonight.

Rawson was talking to him:

"I'm telling you Rome, strange things have been happening."

"Um...what?" Rome said, as if Rawson had, out of the blue, turned purple.

Raws fixed him with a glare for an unnervingly long time before turning his eyes back to the road. "This is serious, Rome."

"Okay, okay!" Rome raised his hands in surrender, where he noticed on his left ring finger a gold wedding band. He blinked at it in confusion, briefly, before remembering oh, right, this is a dream, and letting it go.

"I'm telling you: Elenna, Aly, the others. They're all acting insane. I could understand it coming from the FBI chick--"

"Ex-FBI," Rome reminded him.

"Huh? What, she get fired or something?" Rawson looked genuinely confused.

Rome balked. "Uh...yeah?" he tried, more timidly, trying to ring a bell and worried that he wouldn't. "After she let me escape...?"

"Ha, nice try, Rome, but you're the moron who went and got himself hitched, remember."

Rome swallowed a snort of derision. Yeah, because that sounds just like me. What a weird dream. "So...what exactly are we worried about now?"

"I'm serious, Rome, I don't know who we can trust anymore! Lily, Danila, Georgie, Caleb. They're all acting weird. Talking about hunting...but like, for vampires and weird crap. Elenna's studying Folklore and Mythology at Harvard--just like cousin Vor--so I expect her to say weird things, but Caleb? He's a cop, for crying out loud. He's supposed to be the straight man!"

Rome didn't ask any further questions, even though he was completely confused. He just let Rawson talk--which was a rare enough occurrence, even in his dreams.

"Are you listening to me, Rome? Something's not right. Don't trust anyone, you hear--"

SMASH! as the green Camaro crumpled like a tin can around the fender of the semi.

...

Rome awoke.

The room he awoke in was bright and sunny, and he didn't recognize it: a second story bedroom, painted a pale yellow. The bed was a dark wood and was covered in white and green linens. It was soft and warm, the kind of bed you loved to climb into at night and were loathe to get out of in the morning. Like his childhood bunk bed. Although he'd never gotten the privileged top bunk, he'd still lamented the day he and Raws had grown out of that thing. This bed felt like the grown-up version of that.

There was a matching dresser on the opposite wall. A large mirror hung on the wall above it. Rome peered in alarm at his face reflected in it: to say he looked a bit roughed up was being generous. He looked like he'd insulted the mothers of the entire Seattle Seahawks and hadn't run fast enough afterward. His face was covered in healing black eyes and cuts, and he had stitches on the side of his head at his temple. Rome sat up and touched it. It was very tender. As he raised his left arm to his head, he discovered a healing cut on his forearm, stitched and wrapped, and a gold wedding ring on his finger.

Okay, seriously, what the hell?

He felt like he had been saying that a lot lately.

The ring wouldn't budge. Like he had been wearing it for months and his body had fit to it. Like his bracelet was getting to be--except he wasn't wearing his wolf bracelet! Where had that gotten to?

A soft shuffling of covers startled him, and Rome now noticed the dark hair spilled across the pillow next to his own. His mind drew a blank. How did he not remember who he'd gone to bed with last night? He had a killer headache but he prided himself on being good about this sort of thing, regardless. His eyes darted around the room in a panic, hunting for clues:

Pictures. There were pictures on the bedside table, on the walls, on the opposite side of the room:

Him and Raws, fishing. Him and Raws and--Rome swallowed hard--and mom and dad. Him and Raws and Elenna, Georgie, Aly, Dan, Caleb, Lily: at the Grand Canyon, at Fenway Park, at the MGM in Las Vegas. Aside from the fact that he'd never been to these places with these people ever in his life, something wasn't right about the people in the pictures, themselves. Lily was wearing an MIT hoodie. Caleb had a beer gut! They looked a little too made-up, posed. Like, a little more Stepford and a little less flannel and MacGyver jackets.

Wedding photos. With him in them. As the groom! Horrified, Rome grabbed the picture and peered closely at it. Him and...a woman with long dark hair suspiciously like the hair lying next to him in bed. Only now she had a face. And he remembered her. From the club! The DJ who took him home with her to that creepy warehouse where--

"Rome? Honey, you're awake! You okay?"

With an undignified yelp, Rome shot out of bed like it was full of snakes, and stood there in nothing but his boxers and this wedding ring which didn't belong to him and wouldn't come off while he let his nightmares finally catch up with him in a massive freakout moment. "You! Y-you--who are you? Where the hell am I? Why don't I remember any of--who are you?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~

((Adding to Maeg's post to save on too many posts between the rest of the dreams.))

Adara sat up, her hair spilling around her nearly bare shoulders. Her face was free of make up. Just hazel eyes, naturally dark lashes and skin rosy from sleep. She raised her hand slowly to try and calm Rome.

"It's okay baby. You came home from the hospital yesterday. The doctor thought it might help your memory if you were in your own home."

She slid to the edge of his side of the bed and swung her bare feet over the edge. "Why don't you ju...."

He backed further away, eyes full of fear and anger. "Stay back! I don't know who the hell you are, or how I got here, or where the hell here is, but I want out. Like, yesterday. Where are my clothes?"

Adara's brow furrowed with concern as her feet touched the ground, and she moved forward slowly, the silk of her pale pink slip shifting as she moved.

"You know me Rome. Please, just come back to be..."

"I said stay back, lady!" He backed up further until he hit the wall, panicking as he found himself with nowhere to run. Adara's eyes now filled with tears as she backed unsettled toward the bed, perching on the edge and pulling the blanket towards her for comfort.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be this bad. I suppose it was too much to hope you'd wake up today, remember, and we'd just go back to the way everything was before." She choked down a sob and brushed tears from her cheeks with the hand not clutching the covers. The diamond ring and gold wedding band on her finger sparkled in the sunlight.

...

((Aaaaaand adding to again! ))

Crap. Well now who was the first-rate douchebag?

"Um..." Rome tried again to make sense of the situation. "Okay, look, lady. I don't know you, except from last night at the club in Chicago. I--I don't want you to--I don't want to hurt your feelings but--I don't know who you are. I'm sorry, I just don't. I need to..."

Rome trailed off. Go to ground.

Rawson. That meant calling Rawson, who was probably on one of his damn fool merc kicks, but he'd better answer his phone.

Still eyeing the woman warily, Rome slunk around the side of the room to a table where a phone rested. He picked it up, dialed Rawson's number--the only one he knew by heart--and waited.

Doo-da-dee! We're sorry. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected...

Rome went cold. Hung up the phone. Tried the number again, dialing more carefully. But he got the same answer.

She had approached him now, and gingerly laid a hand on his arm. Rome tried not to flinch. "Who are you calling?"

"My brother. Why is his phone disconnected? What is this place?"

Her eyes grew sad, and she peered at him closely, searching him for somthing. Rome didn't like being stared at--at least not by her. "You don't remember, do you?" she whispered.

Rome could actually feel his heart skip about five beats. His mouth was suddenly very dry, and he couldn't remember being more terrified of anything in his life:

"Remember what?"

The woman licked her lips, did not respond.

He grabbed her roughly by the arms and pushed her up against a wall. "Remember what?" She burst into tears. But Rome didn't care--was appalled at himself for not caring--and did not let go. "Tell me!" he bellowed, "What don't I remember?!"

"Your brother's dead!" she shrieked, cringing against the wall. "Rawson's dead!"

Rome dropped her, seeing bruises already forming on her bare arms, and stepped away. He wanted to question her, but he didn't. He couldn't. Somehow, that felt right. Correct. Horribly wrong, but correct. Somehow he had already known this, had seen Rawson die, only he couldn't remember how or why or when or what the hell he was doing married and in this strange house...

What else couldn't he remember?

Rome didn't remember sitting, or even his legs giving out. He was just suddenly on the floor. Sobbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

((It's the never ending post! ))

Adara curled her bare legs to her chest and wrapped her arms snugly around them as soon as she landed on the floor. Rome dropped to ground a few feet away. Sobs wracked his body as he processed the harsh news of Rawson's death. Tears dripped silently off Adara's chin as she watched him. It took a while, but finally he quieted.

"I waited up for you that night." She said quietly. Rome shifted slightly.

"I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember it was 3am, and the doorbell rang." Adara wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "There were two police officers there. They told me that there had been an accident. Rawson was dead, and you...you...you weren't going to live through the night."

Adara's body shook from the sob she held back. "I went with them to the hospital. The doctors told me you only had a few hours. But then a few hours passed and suddenly it was a few days. And then it was you'd never wake up. When you woke up, I was so happy. It was a miracle."

Again she brushed at the tears. "But then you began ranting. They had to sedate you the entire time you were in the hospital because they were afraid you'd hurt yourself. The doctors did some scans and found damage to your long term memory. I didn't want to believe it though, so I made them bring you home. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Rome."

Rome turned his face to look at her. The anger in his eyes was gone, so Adara moved forward cautiously. Laying herself down next to him, she reached out a shaking hand and touched his face softly.

"I can't lose you twice." She whispered as tears dripped onto the carpet.

His heart pounded in his chest, thumping like a primal drum. His blood rushed through his ears. His chest heaved with ragged, savage breaths that sprayed saliva into the air in front of him with every snarling exhalation. His pupils dilated and contracted with each breath. Muscle shifted and rippled under his skin as he inched forwards in an animal slouch, his claws dragging through the plaster on the wall as he advanced.

Claws? No. Nonononononono!

He'd always blacked out before, chained and sealed in a cold concrete vault where he couldn't hurt anyone. He shivered as he felt hairs on the back of his neck rising. Animal intimidaton. He stretched his neck, producing a series of disgusting cracks as he lowered himself to a crouch and locked eyes with the mother. The children cried and whimpered. He shook his head, trying to clear it. His body didn't respond. The wolf was in total control.

NO! It stumbled. It staggered back to regain its composure, its eyes going foggy for a second. It reared up and snarled, preparing to advance again. STOP! Again, it stumbled, catching itself on the walls as its knees wobbled and buckled. Sweat beaded all over his body as he strained against his own head, his own mind as the wolf tried to advance again. He could've sworn he felt something tear as he strained against the wolf.

He blinked. Something had torn. He looked at the creature in front of him. It was him. But not him. It had sharp teeth. It had talons. Its pupils were slits that throbbed between dilating and contracting like some sick heartbeat. It growled and hissed. The wolf? It didn't even have fur.

"You have to be the most pathetic excuse for a werewolf ever. I thought the one that jumped us wasn't done changing. You look like a Vampire on meth. Man, you suck," Caleb ranted, waving his hand in front of the stunned, staggered werewolf's face.

It snapped back to reality. Caleb winced as it lashed out. It floored him, sending him skidding along to the woman and her children. Blood dripped from his chest to the floor. He froze for a second. No pain. The wolf came at him again.

He ducked its strike and hit back, doubling it over with the crunch of shattering ribs and the wheezing of a collapsed lung. It bounced off the wall, breaking the plaster away.

"Oh no, buddy. This is my dream. My mind. My. Territory," Caleb stated, raising his boot and bringing it down on the wolf's face, driving its head through the floorboards, "What I say is law. In here, in my head, I. Am. God."

Caleb drew a long, silver knife he could've sworn wasn't fixed to his belt before and easily avoided the wolf's final attempt at lashing out. He rolled it onto its face with a brutal kick and drove the silver knife into its chest, nailing it to the floor. He stood up straight, running his hands over his face as the wolf went still on the floor.


And saw his reflection in the mirror. His shirt was gone and he was in a bathroom, just shaved. He glanced around, confused for a second. He looked himself over. Black slacks, charcoal socks. Smart shoes. A white shirt hung behind him with a black tie. A black suit jacket hung on the wall outside the room. He sighed and finished dressing himself, walking around with his jacket open, fiddling around with the tie. He glanced around. He had a feeling he was waiting for someone else to finish up. He was here for a reason.

"The Hell just happened?" Caleb muttered to himself.

Candlelight flickered on the high ceiling. Something about their phantom dance was familiar. She blinked a few times before realizing the candlelight wasn’t the only thing that moved.

“Ring around the rosey…”

Aly twirled around a tight circle, her white dress swishing from side to side. The ribbons in her braid slapped her face making her giggle. She looked down. Her hands were small and were joined to hands only slightly larger. She lost her rhythm and stumbled out of the circle.

“Jenna!” She raised a hand to her throat at the high pitched child’s squeak that issued from it.

Her sister glanced at her with large pleading eyes. “Come back to the circle, Aly…please come back to the circle.”

It was too late. Shadows emerged from the darkness beyond the candlelight and became men. One by one the five little girls in white were led away until only she remained. Soft whimpers echoed through the vault, tormented souls trying to escape through the high skylight.

Aly looked around. There was nothing within her reach with these small hands.

Jenna stepped out of the shadows with one of the men. Tears streamed down her face. He pushed her into the candlelight. Another man emerged holding a long thin dagger. He pressed it into her shaking hands but it was too heavy for her to hold. Tears streamed down her face as her heart beat wildly in her ears.

“Jenna…Jenna..”

“It’s ok, Aly—we’re playing pretend.”

She wanted her gun. She wanted her size back. She wanted to kill the dog who held her sister—one of the men who had killed her. She closed her eyes and opened them again.

NO. This will not happen again. I am an adult—a trained FBI agent. I won’t let them hurt you again.

She felt taller now, her sister smiled below her. Aly took the knife from the floor and plunged it into the gut of the man who held Jenna.

“Go, Jenna—get the other girls and go. This time I protect you.”

___

Allison sat up, the covers falling off her. Her hair clung to her in sweat soaked clumps. She took a deep breath and looked around the quiet bedroom. Funny, it didn’t look like her apartment back in New York, or DC. Maybe it was another hotel? She didn’t remember being on a case, and usually the hotels weren't this nice. She looked over to the bed stand after swinging her legs out of the bed. A small note welcomed her to Tex’s Bed and Breakfast.

Tex…hunter by night, hostess by day or something?

No, something was different about it.

She stretched and rolled her neck from side to side feeling the tension leave her.

“Thank God. It was all some crazy ass dream. See if I watch an X-files marathon ever again.” She grabbed some clothes that were already laid out for her, and began unbuttoning the overly large night shirt that she realized was a man’s shirt about two seconds before entering the bathroom.

Aly yelped as the owner of the shirt stood in front of the mirror with wide dark eyes. She yanked the shirt closed and held it to her chest.

“Caleb?! What the Hell are you doing in here?! Did Rome put you up to this?! I am going to wring his scrawny little womanizing neck! You should be ashamed of yourself! What the Hell?!”

Caleb jumped at the sound of a distinctly feminine yelp, nearly swallowing his toothbrush before spitting it and a mouthfull of toothpaste foam into the sink and holding up one hand while he rinsed his mouth out. He cleared his throat and turned back to the ex-Fed. The ex-Fed? Yes. The ex-Fed. His brain blanked for a second when he registered what she was wearing. A man's shirt. His shirt ... she had nice legs. And apparently, nothing else, going by the look on her face.

"This is my room?" Caleb answered, confusedly, "I'm supposed to be here?"

---

Allison pried one hand off her chest and ran it shakily through her hair. Everything in her mind screamed no, but there was something oddly familiar about this. She gave him a once over with her eyes. As mysterious men in her bathroom went, he wasn't exactly an unwelcome surprise. Still, she had procedure for these kinds of things.

So much procedure that they never happen. The voice in her mind was right, which only pissed her off further.

"The Hell it is and the Hell you are!"

Her voice softened slightly. "Were we drunk last night? I ah...I don't remember...anything."

---

"I don't really remember much either. I think I," Caleb cut himself off, sliding his hand into his shirt ... no cuts, "Just had a s***-crazy dream. Booze would explain that and the current situation."

Something was strangely familiar about the situation. He had to make a conscious effort not to wrap his arm around her waist as he stepped past her and into the bedroom. He cleared his throat and headed straight for the room's kettle. A relatively cheap little yellow thing sitting on a shelf with two upturned mugs and a variety of coffee sachets and teabags. Tex knew how to run a B&B. Tex running a B&B? Caleb shook his head and turned the kettle on, dropping a sachet of the strongest coffee on the shelf into each cup and waiting for the kettle to boil up.

"How's your head?" Caleb called to Allison as he poured out the coffee.

---

Aly reflexively raised her arms to rub the back of her neck. The wideness of his eyes when he turned back around made a fierce blush consume her cheeks.

"I ah...it's pounding. You know, I had one hell of a dream too." She backed into the bathroom with her clothes, tucking the lacy pink bra under the navy blue blouse to hide it. "I'm going to get uh...dressed...yeah."

She quickly showered and pulled on her clothes. They were usual fare for her, charcoal gray slacks and a nice dark blue blouse. She finished the look with her casual pearl stud earrings and waited for her hair to dry to put it up. She had to face him again. It had only been a few minutes.

She stepped out of the bathroom and the blush returned to her cheeks immediately. He handed her a steaming cup of coffee. She smiled. Before she realized what was happening she had lightly kissed his cheek.

Allison pulled back, spilling her coffee over the rim of the cup.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to...what the Hell is going on? All of this feels natural, but it couldn't possibly be--I mean, Tex owning a B&B? You and I...doing...this...whatever this is."

---

"Don't worry about it. Hormones flying around, all that stuff. Who knows, she probably does run a B&B. She's gotta line the bank account somehow," Caleb answered as his mind tried to get over the shock of the kiss on the cheek.

He also had a niggling feeling he'd wanted to turn towards her lips when she'd stood on her toes. He glanced down at his free hand, settled comfortably on her waist. He jerked it away immediately and headed for the window, looking out at the cars parked outside Tex's B&B.

"One car too few..." Caleb trailed off, "Did someone arrive with someone else?"

---

She hadn't even noticed his hand on her waist. It felt that natural. Aly moved over to the window with him, though whether it was out of curiosity or just some unexplainable need to be near him, she wasn't sure. They stood close enough to feel each others heat, but not close enough to touch.

"I don't have a car, remember?"

She peeked between the curtains and looked out at the collection of vehicles. The monster of a truck he drove stood up above the rest.

"Caleb, you never told me you were from New York." Slightly worn New York plates glinted in the early morning sunlight. She could just make out the expiration--six months from now. Since plates were renewed every two years that meant he had been there a while. "What part of the city? I have a condo on West 96th Street--near the park."

---

"Red Hook, Brooklyn. The only thing ever came out of my neighborhood was criminals, cops and priests," Caleb answered, "You'd never tell from my accent though. I hide it pretty well. Or rather, never really had one."

Caleb sighed and inched closer to Aly as if it was a relief, until his shoulder touched hers. He stopped for a second and glanced at her briefly, then stepped away and drained his coffee.

"D'you want a refill?" Caleb offered as he started to top up the kettle.

--

"Thanks." He took her cup and moved away, but not before their shoulders bumped into each other. A shock went through her for a second, but she shrugged it off.

Aly licked her lips as she went back over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She gasped as she saw her badge and gun, then put them on as if they were supposed to be there. Then she pulled out the second leather billfold and opened it. A huge grin spread over her face.

"Detective Daly--NYPD? Nice."

When did that happen?

Memories that hadn't been there before started rushing back. She pitched to the side having to lean on the dresser for support. They had worked cases together. It was how they'd met. There was the bang of a mug being slammed down and then she was in his arms.

"Sorry...I...I'm alright."

---

"You sure?" Caleb asked, taking the billfold from her and glancing at it.

Detective Caleb Daly. NYPD. Homicide Detective and Reserve SWAT Officer. His head pounded as years worth of memories were crammed into his brain in fractions of a second. He'd met Aly through the PD working joint cases with the FBI. He was an accomplished detective. They were now on the floor. His shoulder ached from where he'd landed, but all his mind let him think about was if Aly was okay.

"You alright?" Caleb asked.

---

Aly looked down at him after he'd broken their fall. She felt laughter try to bubble its way up, but stopped it at her throat with a slight squeak.

"Yeah, thanks--how about you? Is your arm hurt?"

He sat up and moved it around. "Nah."

She slid off him and onto the floor so he could sit all the way up. She was now between him and the dresser. He reached over to pull them both up, but his hand never made it to the dresser, instead he brushed damp hair out of her face. She trembled, closed her eyes, and parted her lips feeling her mouth go dry and her heart speed up.

---

Caleb paused for a second to contemplate what their reflexes told them both to do, then leaned in to her, his head tilted a little to avoid bumping noses and drew her into a lingering kiss. Yeah. Felt right. He broke the kiss after a few seconds and stood up, bringing her with him and straightening himself out in the mirror. He smiled and helped her straighten her hair out, and only managing to get in her way.

"Sorry, I'm not helping here," Caleb chuckled, stepping away and letting her fix her hair up properly.


---

She laughed as his hands tickled the back of her neck. This felt right, natural, invigorating.

"When do you ever?" His nose wrinkled up like a begging puppy. "Why we've been almost late to work for the past year and a half--my special favorite was the time we were called to the same crime scene and tried to pretend like you hadn't gotten out of the car a half block early."

He laughed, stepped forward and nipped at her bare neck.

She gasped and gently chewed on her lip as he pulled the neck of her blouse down to bare her shoulder.

"Mmmmm." Her eyes rolled back as he turned her around for another kiss, gently pushing them against the bathroom sink. She pulled back as his lips traveled down her jawline.

"You're messing up my make-up. Tex has something important to tell us, remember--hence the unpaid vacation time and two day drive down here."

He groaned but continued kissing along her jaw.

She leaned into his kisses and it all came back, that it had ever left she shoved away from her mind. He wasn't a stranger, he was her lover, had been since the Ruiz Case. They hadn't made it in time--her missing persons became his homicide. It was the usual jurisdiction battle but he had been gracious enough to let her in on it. He knew she needed the satisfaction of getting her perp and seeing him pay. Afterward had been a few beers, and then a few more, and then they had drown their sorrows in each other. He hadn't been like most men. He wasn't intimidated by her badge. They had kept telling themselves that it could never work, and yet nights turned into weeks, weeks into months, and then all of a sudden he had stopped paying rent on his place--hers was nicer--and it was settled.

She couldn't imagine having any other life--didn't want to. She accepted him as his lips closed lightly on hers again.

It had all been a bad dream.

---

This was it. This was life. With her. Caleb smiled. But not enough to break the kiss.

Georgie

Small and afraid, you huddled under the covers as the dark shadow passes by your room. It pauses at the door of your parents bedroom before passing through the door. Your mother screams and your father hollers. (Can you save them Georgie?)

((Never-ending post gets a sequel! Stay tuned!))

Rome licked salty tears off his face. "Um," he said. "I...I had...I don't remember..."

She was touching his face, thumbing tears away, comforting him. This didn't feel bad. This felt good, even, natural, maybe. The only thing wrong with this was his brother was dead, which, just, you know, hurt. Wasn't truly unbelievable, really, in the scheme of things. It was just horrible.

He leaned into her shoulder and let another sob escape. "I miss my brother..." he whined, like a child, and not caring that he sounded like a child. He was scared, and was sick of being scared. He wanted to be comforted.

"Shh..." she soothed, holding him to her, running her hands up and down his spine. "I know. I know." She let him cry a little longer--it might have been a very long time--to get it out of his system. Not that the grief and horror would ever be completely "out of his system," but this helped.

It helped that his face was pillowed on possibly the nicest rack he'd ever seen on a woman. Who was wearing a skimpy silk nightdress and claiming to be his wife. Not bad.

Too soon! yelled the memory of Rawson, but if this woman was his wife...

"Adara," he whispered.

And then it all came back. He'd met her last time he and Rawson had been on leave, at a club in Chicago. A mutual interest in playing around for a night ended in a surprise second night--for both of them--and then he, he of all people, had wanted to get serious: at which she had freaked, left, but had come back almost immediately, and the rest was history. They'd only known each other six months before wedding bells, like she had put a spell on him.

Rome gasped. "I--I remember!" he said excitedly. "It wasn't a dream...I...well, I remember some weird dreams...something with sharks. But--but that wasn't a dream. Me and Rawson on the road--the car crash--I remember he said--" The pang of his loss struck him again, and in the midst of the ecstasy of remembrance he choked on another sob. He remembered it all now. Rawson was gone.

Rawson was gone. The though inflicted more than pain and sadness. It was terrifying. It was like the ground had been ripped out from underneath him. True North was now So'Southeast. Nothing was certain. If Rawson was dead, he was vulnerable. He was half a person. It was horrifying. And it was the truth.

"What did he say?" she pressed.

Rome sniffled, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Uh..." he shivered. "He said that...our friends were acting weird. Not you, though," he added quickly, taking her hand, afraid she, too, might leave him. "Like--Elenna, Caleb, Georgie, everyone. I don't know. Trust no one, he said." Rome sat up, trying clumsily to wipe his eyes. Adara was looking at him with concern. "You and he were close," he said, suddenly remembering: "Raws talked to you more than he ever talked to anyone except me," which elicited a half-chuckle-half-sob, "like, I was almost worried about you two," he said with a wink. Then, serious again: "Do you know what he might have been talking about?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

((Never ending post is never ending!)

Adara shook her head. Or as much as the floor would allow anyway.

"I spoke with him the day before the accident. He told me to be cautious, but he didn't say why."

She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Rome shoved himself up hurriedly as if afraid she might run away, panic visible in his eyes. His arms encircled her pulling her into his lap, as close as possible. Her mouth met his gently as he moved them from the floor to the bed. Even consumed by fear and grief as he was, Rome was still hungry.

The time passed slowly as they grieved together and found comfort in the familiarity of each other's arms, her lovemaking gentle and nurturing, his needy and desperate, till at last they were spent.

Adara sighed into Rome's chest. "We have to get dressed."

"Why?" He said with a note of panic.

"We have to go to Rawson's...funeral." Adara said quietly. She felt his body shake with grief and rolled over in his arms to face him. "Go shower. I will take care of everything else." She said gently, wiping the fresh tears from his cheeks. He nodded and complied.

The moment the bathroom door shut, Adara sat up. She slid out of bed and sauntered over to the mirror across from the bed. Black ink swirled across her skin, and her eyes glowed blue for the briefest second as she smiled broadly at her reflection. Rome was her's. Hook, line and sinker.

Georgina's heart was beating incredibly fast while she was trembling towards the hallway. After she heard her mom's scream a second time she felt goosebumps all over her arms.

I have to save them... I can't leave them alone.

She slowly walked towards her parents' room. She stopped in front of the door and bit her lip while her knees where shaking. She breathed heavily, than quietly slipped through the door. Her mother was squatting in a corner while her dad tried to protect her from... an Acromantula!

Georgina stared at the gigantic spider it eight eyes were fixed on her parents, it’s fangs were clicking in excitement of the meal of two humans, it’s long thick and in black hair covered legs standing above her parents.

No! That can't be true. Spiders don’t eat human, they are not that huge.

From the fangs dripped highly toxic venom. There was no doubt that it wasn’t killing her parents when she doesn’t act fast.

I have to save them! Georgina's hands were shaking while she raised the Mossberg 590 Shotgun. It was pink and looked a bit like a toy but one shot was enough...

Georgina opened her eyes, which she had closed by the sound of the gun. She was looking at herself in the mirror, then scrutinized the black dress and the black shoes she was wearing. Why am I wearing black? Confused, she walked around the yellow room of the Bed and Breakfast. The same moment she heard a voice in the room next to hers. She walked out of her room and knocked at the other door. Elenna opened, she was wearing black as well. "Hey..."
"Hi Lenna..." Georgina said. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know why I'm wearing black?"

"I have no damn clue. I'm wearing black was well. What the hell I am going to university, Harvard."

"Aehm...yeah. Why not?"

---

Lenna stared at her blond friend.

Yeah why not? She remember the red brick building, Wigglesworth Hall. Georgie was there as her "big sister" at Harvard. She was there from the first moment to help her to settle in.

"I don't know why I am so surprised, I guess because it is one of the best schools in the country and I am still shocked. But I have no idea why we are here. I just know one time you were wearing black and that was when your Chihuahua Aurora died." Lenna looked shocked at Georgie. "Whoa wait, did you got a new dog and it died again? Dude you shouldn't take care or any living organism."

---

"No, I didn't get a new dog", Georgina replied. "And by the way, it was not my fault that Aurora died! One freaking old lady with the butt of an elephant sat on my little darling." She scrutinized her manicured nails. "I really want to know what's going on, Lenna. Why are we here? Why are we wearing black?"

---

Lenna stepped to the window. She knew all the car she saw, which ment that the others are here too. This whole situation was weird.

Georgie just wears black when someone died, someone that was important to her. And well I never wear a dress I mean I look like a girl.

"I don't know. And I had the weirdest dream ever, but never mind. Lets go downstairs and see what we find out there. How come that we both have no idea what's going on? Normally, at least one of knows."

Lenna turned around and took the flowers from the table and...

The carcrash, Rome in the hospital and Raws...

"Georgie, the funeral."

"What?"

"Raws. The carcrash. It's... we are here for his..."

Lenna stared blank at Georgie, and it seemed that the blond girl understood what she tried to say. Georgie quickly stepped to the younger girl and hugged her. Raws was a awkward guy and her friend but somehow Lenna seemed to be more upset by his death.

((Things will move tomorrow. I promise. Bad night, long day. My plans for this have changed so completely -in a fun way though- that I'm now just making this up as I go, without any sort of plan. Please bear with me! I'm trying to make this as much fun for everyone as possible.))

((Double post. OMG!))

Danilla

The ringing in your ears and the splitting headache are the first signs that you're still alive. You open your eyes and are greeted by a single bright light in the middle of silent darkness. As your eyes adjust, you notice a dark figure. It moves forward, blocking your view with the light. Questions are asked, deals are offered. Noncooperation results in pain. (Can you keep the hunters secrets?)

Lilly ((Disclaimer Alert! A Werewolf isn't what killed Lily's parents. I don't know how they died because it's not written anywhere, and Kati hasn't told me. The reason I'm using Caleb is simply because he's been protecting her, and I'm trying to make her feel unsafe. I am also not outing Caleb. It's a dream. If later on, Run and Kati want Lily & Caleb to talk about that's fine, but for now this is just a bad dream. As you were.))

Your chance to avenge your family has finally arrived. After months of tracking and hundreds of dead ends, at last you've caught up to the creature who stole your family from you. You twirl the knife in your hand as you stare down the beast. He's a scraggly creature, not fully human, not fully wolf. He snarls at you from the corner he's backed into. A glint of metal catches your eye. A pair of familiar dog tags hang 'round it's neck. Caleb's dog tags. (To kill or not to kill?)

Danila straightened and twisted, trying to see where he was. Bad idea. Pain shot through all his nerves, forcing him to return to a slouch and stay still. After the first shock of pain had settled down into a severe aching, he took account of himself.

Cuts in various places on his body. His shirt and pants were both shredded and deteriorated from lack of care. Half of his fingernails were missing, and the blood on them was still fresh. And that was just what he could see.

And from what Danila could feel, it was probably a very good thing he had no mirror.

He forced himself to struggle against the bonds for a few seconds, quickly stopping from the sheer pain of it; besides, whoever tied these bonds was good.

Speaking of which, whose torture room was this? Why was he here? Danila thought hard to recall. . .

Then he remembered it all. The FBI had chased the team, and he'd distracted them and drawn their fire to save the others. And for that act of loyalty and heroism, he was now deep in some cement bunker with blood dripping and pain stabbing into nearly every part of his body.

Suddenly the door slammed open then shut, letting in more light - softer light than that damned bare lightbulb just above and in front of him - for just a few seconds. But oh well, that was long enough to take in the room - dank, cement, cold, and furnished with only a metal table bearing the implements necessary to the trade of which he had obviously been a victim. A typical, questionably-legal torture chamber.

He only had a few seconds to take in his surroundings, however, before a dark man in a suit was standing in front of him. He felt large hands grip his shoulders on either side - As if I could somehow escape from these bonds. . .

"We know you've been through a lot, Mr. Dragunov," the man started, "So why don't you just tell us?"

"Tell you what?" Danila asked, spitting the blood from his mouth as he replied.

"Oh, don't play games with us, Dan - I may call you Dan, right?"

Danila glared, remaining silent.

"I'll take that as a yes," the man said with a smirk, "Now then. All you have to do is tell us where your little friends went and hid, and we'll turn you over to your own government! That easy! No more pain, no more questioning, no more bleeding. . ."

The man leaned in to Danila's ear and whispered, "And I can assure you, if you don't cooperate with us, there will be those things. In fact, you may even die."

The man straightened with a smirk as Danila trembled, obviously fearful despite his normally hardened demeanor. "Now really, Danny-boy, all we need to know is where your friends are. Really, how hard is that?"

Danila glared at the man. Something in him said to give away the team, but something else said this was all wrong. The FBI torturing him? The team hadn't come to help him?

He would have continued thinking, but he was suddenly far too focused on the jagged razor in the man's hand. Danila started to cry out "Wait!", but the word turned into a scream of agony as he felt the sharp tip rip through a tendon in his arm.

"What was that?" the man asked in a calm - friendly even - voice, wiping the blade clean with a white cloth and setting it back on the table.

Danila looked down, not responding. Something still wasn't right. . .

"Oh, come come, Dan!" the man said, picking up some other sharp, painful instrument, "You've told us you've hunted vampires! Werewolves! Genies! Surely you can tell us where your little outlaw friends are hiding?"

Suddenly it hit Danila. Genies. The djinn. This was all a horrible, horrible nightmare. A dark, evil dream.

But it was his dream. God damn it, this was his dream. Danila looked up at the man, a smirk on his face. "Thanks for the tip," he said, the bonds suddenly feeling looser as he easily untied them - insanely lucid dreams had their benefits.

"What do you--" the man began, but his head had slammed into the cold, cement wall before he could get out his sentence. Danila couldn't help smiling as he purveyed the table full of sharp objects - what had only a minute ago been unspeakable horrors were now immensely helpful tools. As one of the big men drew his pistol, Danila's fingers picked out a nice, long-looking hacksaw. Yeah, this would work nicely.

All the pain was either gone or unnoticeable now. Something about adrenaline and being conscious of a dream made it easier to ignore. The man's pistol was hardly to firing position before Danila had driven the saw a good three inches into the top of his skull. He pulled back on the saw, the disgusting sound of bone-crunching and flesh-tearing bringing an oddly high amount of delight to Danila's ears as the man fell twitching to the floor. He turned on the other guard, easily embedding the saw halfway through his neck before turning on the man in the suit. By now he was standing and had his pistol drawn, but Danila picked up the metal chair from the middle of the room and swung it at the man. He felt the searing pain of a bullet entering his torso somewhere, but he brought the chair down a couple more times on the man's head and watched him crumple to the ground before looking down to see the damage.

Somehow, the bullet had passed through without causing any major damage. Danila bent and took the coat from the man's now-still body, throwing it over his own shoulders before opening the door of the room and stepping out into a beautiful, cold rain outside.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly, Danila's eyes flashed open. He was in. . . a shower? The water was cold. Of course, that wasn't unusual - a good, cold shower was better than any class of coffee in the morning, and a good deal less addictive.

But no. The temperature of the shower wasn't what was odd. . . it was that he didn't remember getting in that shower. He tried to recall, but suddenly he remembered. He'd had some kind of horrible dream, hadn't been able to sleep, and now he was taking a frigid shower to keep himself from falling asleep before the funeral.

. . .wait, funeral? Where did that come from? Danila thought hard to recall. . . it had been some kind of business associate. . . his memories were all mixed up. . . it seemed like it was one of the Reming---Rawson! That was it! But how had he died?

Once again, hard thinking. Once again, it was like the memory came to mind only when he wondered why there was no memory. but then again, his friend had died - in a car crash, with his brother. The shock and mixed up memories and nightmare made perfect sense, considering the situation.

Still. . . that torture chamber had seemed so real. . . ad the paranormal creatures, and the adventures. . . God, his mind had played an elaborate hoax. . .

Danila stepped from the shower and toweled himself off, then got dressed. But when he reached for his suit coat, something fell from the pocket - a wallet. It was now open on the floor.

He bent down and picke dit up, looking at the odd badge. . . what was this?


Danila reeled. He quickly steadied himself on the shower rod, trying to remember. . . CIA? A cover, probably. . . No, something about this seemed too real. To un-elaborate to be fake. Then he remembered it. . . remembered it all.

The capture by the US. The job offer. The betrayal. The acceptance. The career. . . his whole life. It all flashed through his mind, suddenly there where only a muddled void with misplace memories had been only seconds before. Something about it didn't seem right, something about it was wrong. . . but it had to be right. He remembered it. No degree of even Russian torture could have tricked his mind this well.

He staggered to the bed, sitting and holding his head in his hands. That nightmarish world all seemed so real. . . all this seemed just slightly off. . . he slowly regained his bearings, standing slightly wobbly.

Just then, the voice of Tex Moseley boomed up the stairway with something about cars and leaving for the funeral soon. He picked up his pistol and holster - even at a funeral, a double agent can't be too careful - and stepped from his room.

The fog twined around the trees, the dew glistening on the trees and the leaves and the grass in the moonlight, turning the woods into something out of a fairy tale.

Yeah, maybe Brother's Grimm, since those fairy tales sucked ass.

Lily had done it. She'd followed trails and information, and made deals with everyone she knew, and owed quite a few people favors that she'd really rather not, and had finally gotten answers that led her somewhere and she was here and the monster was not getting away, not this time!

And then the wolf turned to look at her, and she almost dropped the knife in her hands.

Caleb's dog tags. Caleb's eyes.

She couldn't kill Caleb. He'd watched over her. He'd been nice to her, tugged her hair and managed to make her smile. He'd asked about what she was reading, and actually seemed interested. When she'd explained to him about her machines, nine out of ten words went over his head, but he'd still listened.

She couldn't kill him.

But he killed her parents. He was a werewolf. He had to die.

She screamed as the werewolf leaped at her, his claw-like fingernails digging into her shoulders as his teeth went for her throat. His weight pushed them both over backwards, though, and her leg came up between herself and the mostly-human body, her foot solidly planted in his diaphragm and she propelled him over, yelping as he clawed out chunks of skin in her shoulders.

She didn't want to use the knife. The knife was what you used when there was either no other option, or you wanted to get in close and enjoy it.

She no longer wanted to enjoy the kill. It had come down to her or wolf-Caleb, and she chose herself. But that didn't mean she'd enjoy it, not anymore.

Her hand found the gun that she kept in it's holster, and drew. She didn't waste time apologizing to Caleb, or explaining why she had to do it. She simply aimed and fired, and fired again until Caleb dropped.

She crawled over to the body that was turning back into being fully human. "I'm sorry, Caleb, I really am. It started out as revenge, but... it's not, not anymore. You killed my parents, you killed my brother, who knows how many other people you killed, and I'm still sorry." The small redhead allowed herself to cry, mourning the loss of another brother, even if this one was spirit rather than blood.

When she reached up to wipe her eyes, she was in a new place. A room that she'd stayed in at Tex's often enough, the bedspread neat-ish, some white lilies on the bedside table. Lily was dressed all in black, and a quick look in the mirror showed that she had her hair neatly pulled back in a classy french braid and was wearing subtle make-up.

Something wasn't right, something was wrong, something was very wrong.

Facts started pouring into her brain, as though she were remembering. Funeral. She was here for a funeral. Rawson's? Oh, god, poor Rome. He must be- He has amnesia? Huh. Okay. Caleb was alive- and dating Alyson? Odd. Georgie and Elenna, Harvard students. Okay, Elenna she could have guessed, but Georgie? That was a shocker. Lily herself was a student at MIT. A flash of hope went up- maybe her family was still alive?- but no, now she remembered getting the phone call that they'd died in a car accident.

Something wasn't right, something was wrong, something was very freaking wrong but she couldn't figure out what-

Adara.

Adara was married to Rome, and that was what was wrong, although Lily couldn't figure out why. But there was something wrong there, and that's where the badness stemmed from.

She just needed to figure out why and what. And then how to convince the others.

Rome didn't remember showering, which was probably a good thing. The last time he'd been this stricken, it had been Rawson who had pulled him out of the shower and made him grow a set and learn to go on again. But try as he might right now, he couldn't remember what he'd been so devastated about at the time, which was probably a good thing, again.

And there was no Rawson anymore to make it better.

So Rome took a quick shower, toweled off, and came out into the familiar bedroom to find his dress blues already laid out and waiting for him. He had mixed feelings about these: Rawson had always been the one into the military, into playing with guns, into being a badass. Rome had always felt like the tagalong little brother, despite being the twin--and the one born first, for that matter! Now he felt like he was cheating, wearing these. Raws was probably gonna be buried in his, though.

So Rome grew a set and put on the fracking uniform. He left the hardware in its case and carried that downstairs, from where wafted the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Rome seemed to remember hating coffee, but right now it sounded like the only appetizing thing in the world. He needed his head cleared. Even if he didn't want his head cleared.

Adara met him on the stairs, looking surprised to see him. "Hey, that was quick," she remarked, and kissed him on the cheek, slipping the box out of his hand and began pinning him. Which was good, because he was lucky he'd gotten his shoes on the right feet this morning.

She was dressed in a sleek black dress that hugged every freaking curve of her body. Her hair was pulled back into a neat, ladylike bun, belying the hot chick he knew was hiding underneath. Rome considered, in spite of things, that he was a lucky man.

"I, um, I made you some toast," she said quietly, "though I know you're probably not hungry. Anything to keep busy," she added, as a single tear slid down her cheek. Impulsively, he leaned out and licked it off her face. And she laughed a little at that before another tear joined it. And then he felt his eyes prickle and he pulled her into his chest, hiding his own tears in her hair.

She let him hold her for a long moment, but then she sniffled and pulled away. "You better come downstairs," she said, turning and guiding him down. "Mom and Dad are here."

Foot steps sounded as Tex's came up the stairs. She paused in the middle of the hallway.

"Best get a move on! The cars'll be here in few minutes to take y'all to the funeral."

With that she turned and headed back downstairs to the kitchen.

He gently backed her against the bed, their kisses a little more heated and insistent. It was like they experienced this for the first time. Everything felt new--the taste of his lips, the smell of his cologne, the heat of his body pressed against hers. She sighed softly as his lips left hers and traveled a now familiar path down her neck and over her shoulder.

A voice boomed morbid southern charm from the stairwell.

"Best get a move on! The cars'll be here in few minutes to take y'all to the funeral."

It was as close to an ice bath as skinny dipping in Alaska. She pulled back from him, so they weren't there for their enjoyment after all. A million possibilities flashed through her mind but none of them made any sense. Names and faces of familiar people almost spilled off her tongue, but their position in her mind had changed somehow.

Caleb helped her re-button her shirt as she fixed her hair and make-up. He kissed her cheek--a solidly platonic kiss, reassuring but without passion.

"Who could have died?"

He shrugged.

Her hand went to her belly as if recalling an old wound...stabbed...but when...on a case...a month ago, some crazy-ass serial killer who thought he was a shapeshifter--and he was, just with the help of a nicely padded bank account and a dozen plastic surgeons. Maybe the dead man was a colleague? But then why were they at Tex's--was it Rome? She sighed. He'd always been a thrill seeker. Maybe it was a venereal disease? No. She had the strangest feeling he'd changed his wicked ways. Someone had made a real man out of him, but she couldn't picture who.

"Let's go." His arm wrapped around her as she reached for the door.

Lenna broke slowly away from Georgia's embrace and dried her tears.

“I guess we have to go.”

Lenna couldn’t hide that she had cried and she didn’t care, for once she didn’t care that everyone would see that she was vulnerable.

Georgie looked worried at Lenna, she looked small.

“I’m fine.”

Lenna pushed Georgie away and stepped in the hallway. Over and over mumbling. “I’m fine.”

Lenna stumbled along the hallway, when she was over floated by a memory.
Rome was standing in one of the rooms here he was furious and terrified about something or someone. She asked him with a timid voice “You okay?”. He huffed and answered "Yeah. Fine. Hey, look, I'm gonna need a ride." She was nervous but of course she would give him a ride.
This whole memory made no sense at all, why should Rome need a ride, where was Raws, when was this and where was Adara in this?

For once it was handy that Lenna was not that make up wearing type. She could cry and not look like a monster. But never the less she took the tissue offered by Georgie. It was not right to meet her friends through these horrible circumstances again. Not with one missing.