s, and in the last few hours, they'd finally begun coming together. My fingers had flown across the canvas with the paintbrush and I'd watched the empty canvas fi

knew better. I should have waited. A small burst of fire always followed the more powerful emanat

he case, I remained uncertain of whether I wanted to laugh, cry, or be pissed off at the very thing that had saved me. Yes, the little accident

o kill me. Whether it was stalking me, or the bayous didn't matter, it had come

r of the refrigerator, I snagged the pint of ice cream sitting huddled within the swirling mists of iciness inside.

at the carton in my hand when the flavors of chocolate, peanut butter, chunks of fudge

same, and as was with anything you'd rather forget, this morning slithered into my mind, disrupting

everything else I had recently been through. Recently?! Hell, the weird and unnatu

ng the container clean before tossing it in the trash

y head to the left as I pensively stared at it. With a slight nod, I reached

ring to finish the stroke when I gave a jerk as a bright flash of lig

ated click of my tongue, I picked up the cloth that held paint thinner and reached forward, intending to wipe the offending line off, then repair the damaged eye. However,

, I began making my way toward the door, intending to go to the kitchen to get a lighter so I co

om with me. The sensation reached out and wrapped its way around me, squeezing at my stomach until my guts we

bolted from the room. As I fled into the hallway, all I could think of was getting the hell away from the cabin. Even so, I came to a comple

oor and shot across the room, diving onto my bed. Afterward, jerking the comforter over my body, I buried my head beneath my

e above the horizon. Sleepy tendrils of orange and yellow cross

floor, where with an unwavering destination in mind, they stretched and further awakened: det

d with the folds of the sheet I was using for light covering. After a few minutes of systematically moving forward to whe

illow, I tried in vain to blot out its radiant smile. But within a matter of seconds I was jerking my head out from beneath the pill

I'd escaped its intent, Merrick hadn't. I'd seen firsthand what this being, creature...demon, whatever the hell it was, could do as I stood watching the empty air attack Merrick. And, like a scared school girl, I'd done nothing but watch him fight it. After one particular hard blow that flung him

aracteristics and Leighton had been no help either, for he'd stubbornly refused to

en stood, wiping the crystallized bits of slee

bathroom mirror, as glancing at my features, I picked up my hairb

anced at the t-shirt and sweats I was wearing. Being the lazy person I was, I decided against changing;

armload of laundry I'd gathered in front of the doorway to the laundry room, refusing to

my taste buds already on alert as they anti

ver to the counter and set about the simple task

ered both pieces with a liberal amount of butter and jelly, my stomach growling. With steam rising from my cup, and purple-coated toast in tow-one piece already missing a corner from my imp

yed seven years into my past, back to wh