After knocking on the door for a few minutes, Brian grew impatient and opened the door, letting himself in. Walking around the foyer, he looked for any signs of activity. He could see, nor hear, any signs of Kevin. Rolling his eyes, he figured that the scattered-brained habits that his cousin had picked up in recent months had caused him to forget their meeting.

He walked idly over to the desk that graced the hall, figuring that he would try to find the papers that had brought him there in the first place. Shuffling hurriedly through them, he came upon an interesting set of papers that stopped him dead in his tracks. A little disturbed by their presence in his drawer, he stared down at them.

A distant crash echoed through the empty house. Brian's head snapped up. Something is going to happen to him. Something bad. A wave of nausea washed over him, sending his stomach down into his knees and his heart into his throat. He could hear some shouting in the distance. He knew, he just knew what was about to happen. And he couldn't move.

An absolute fear had spread through his body like poison. He could not make himself move. His cousin needed him, and he couldn't make a move to help him. His breathing quickened as he forced himself to make a move forward. A scream ripped through the silence, and it seemed to break the hold that his fear had over his body. He ran, following the sound.

Everything was moving in excruciatingly slow motion. Every heart beat seemed to last an hour. So many thoughts, so many fears all crowded in his mind. Too late. Please God, don't let me be too late. Please God. Air burning lungs. Gasping for breath. Desperately running, racing, speeding. Why didn't I see this coming? Why didn't I know this would happen? He had been forewarned, but he had been too late to make anything of that strange girl's cryptic message.

He reached the door to the bedroom and was overwhelmed by a putrid smell. He almost gagged with the stench of anger, blood and fear. His stomach reeled, and he fought to keep control of his body.

He suddenly felt something reach out behind him, cover his mouth and pull him down. The tension he was feeling sudden snapped into adrenaline, and he fought against his attacker, desperately trying to throw them off so that he could get into that room and help his cousin.

"Be quiet, or she'll hear you," his attacker whispered softly, desperately. He twisted his neck around, and found himself facing a familiar pair of eyes. Her solemn gaze stared into his mind, to be certain he would not say anything. He nodded slightly, and she released her hold on him.

"What is going on?" Brian demanded. The amber eyes glanced into the room before him. He could hear shouting and crashing. Something dangerous was in there.

"She wants to hurt him. I don't know why, but she needs to hurt him. If you go in there, she'll hurt you instead, and I can't let that happen," she explained.

"Who is she?" he asked. The strange girl from the bookstore winced slightly as his tone was very accusatory.

"I don't know. I don't know why she is here, or how she got in, or what she wants to do. But it's not good, and you are, so I'm here," she explained quickly. Her head snapped up as a tortured shriek emanated from the room. She pushed Brian down, and dashed in the room. Brian, who had been sprawled onto the carpet, lay stunned for a minute, before his judgement gave out, and he chased after her.

* * * *

She was living a nightmare. He was there, flesh and blood and real, and right in front of her. And the danger was also real. She could smell the acrid stench of fear and blood that before had only been felt, perceived by his mind's eye. And here it was, for her five senses to detect, to perceive. And the fear was much more intense than the connection had allowed her to feel.

But she had future knowledge. She knew what was going to happen. She had a weapon greater than the madness that she could feel in the room. She had knowledge. And need. She needed him, she needed to feel him, to have a source of light in the dark.

With a flash, the knife was being waved through the air.

"You can't just hurt people and not expect retribution," the woman was screeching. She was wearing a white shirt and a hat, both stained red with blood. Her back was to Beth. The green eyes met hers over the woman's shoulder, and she knew that whatever her purpose in life was, it had led her down this path for a reason. The green eyes.

Heart pounding in her ears, she searched quickly around for something to distract the woman, to get her away from the intended victim. She saw a vase, glittering in the light, and leaned over quietly to pick it up. In that moment, she felt movement behind her, and saw him, Brian, flash by her.

In a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, Beth watched helplessly as Brian attacked her from behind. The green-eyed man, injured and weak with relief, slumped to the ground, leaving a red streak of blood, stained on the white wall forever as a memento of this event. Brian was holding her down, trying to wrestle the knife away from her, when she freed herself, and threw him off of her. Grasping for the knife, she finally gained a hold on it, and leapt onto Brian's fallen form. She held down his arms, pinned them beneath her knees, and as poised her arms, ready for a killing blow, she gazed down into his eyes.

As Beth watched this scene with horror, she fought the overwhelming sensations around her. She grew dizzy, and lost her footing. As she sank to the ground, she felt herself slip away from her body. With a scream of pain as her mind was torn from her body, she let herself go, to see.