They drove in silence, though not for lack of effort on Sebastian's part. He kept making attempts to strike up conversation, but Serena stared resolutely out the window and pretended to be enamored with the passing scenery.

She had decided that if she was going to have to suffer through this unwanted outing, she was going to do so in protest. Her silence was her way of reiterating what she had already made quite clear -- she didn't need him as a friend.

Eventually Sebastian stopped trying and for that Serena was grateful. Though she wouldn't admit it, a part of her felt bad about giving him the cold shoulder. If she really stopped to think about it, he'd done nothing to deserve that sort of treatment. All he had done was try to be her friend, he just seemed to be having trouble accepting that she wasn't interested.

"Where are we going anyway?" She asked when she realized it had been some time since she'd seen a building or gas station. This lack of civilization indicated they had left town behind and were heading out towards the countryside.

"It's a surprise," Sebastian replied cryptically.

"A surprise? Nope, no way, take me home right now," Serena replied, suddenly feeling quite uneasy. When she had initially agreed to go with him, she had assumed it'd be to the mall, or the library, or something equally as mundane -- not the middle of nowhere. She suddenly felt as though she had been dropped into the middle of a slasher flick.

"Serena, seriously, calm down," Sebastian replied. "Are you always wound so tight? You're making a big deal out of nothing. We're almost there, no sense in turning around now."

Serena could feel her chest growing tight as panic welled up inside of her. What if he was some sort of serial killer? It would certainly explain why he was so damn persistent.

Forcing herself to breathe, Serena assessed the situation. She had her cellphone, she could call the police, tell them ... tell them what?

She didn't even know where she was.

A thought struck her then and Serena reached into her pocket where her cellphone had been set to play music from a predetermined list. Until that moment, Serena had never thought her curse might prove useful. With a sweep of her thumb, Serena disabled the music and waited.

Several seconds ticked by and all she was able to hear was the sound of her heart pounding against her chest. She shifted closer, even going so far as to lean a little even though proximity had never been an issue for her in the past.

Nothing.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked and she looked over to see him watching her skeptically out of the corner of his eye. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? Yeah," Serena replied, her thoughts whirling. She couldn't hear him, for some reason, she couldn't hear his thoughts. She cleared her throat, momentarily forgetting the reason she had been trying to listen to begin with. "Um, Sebastian, this is going to sound really strange but... what are you thinking about?"

"Right now?" Sebastian asked, clearly confused by her question. "Well, I'm thinking about how good those pancakes were that your mom made. Also wondering if you're going to let me stay for dinner... oh, and trying to figure out why you're acting so weird."

Serena frowned.

Why wasn't she hearing any of that?

It didn't make any sense.

Before she could consider it further, Sebastian turned off the highway and onto a wide dirt road. It wound up and around a hill before disappearing out of sight. Sebastian followed the road for a few minutes and as they crested the hill, Serena caught her first glimpse of a large, rustic-looking building. It was made to look old, but at the same time Serena could tell it was a relatively new construction. The rough hewn logs gave off the appearance of having been in place a while, but the furniture decorating the porch was too clean and the wrought iron posts too new.

As she drew closer to the building, a woman, wearing dark blue denim jeans and a button up plaid shirt knotted at the waist came bounding down the steps waving frantically at them. Her hair was the brightest shade of red that Serena had ever seen in her life and despite efforts to contain it in a braid, it bounced in wild, unruly curls around her face.

"It's about time," she called out as Sebastian pulled the car to a stop. "I was starting to think that the old bucket of bolts had broken down."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" he grumbled.

Serena was too bewildered to respond.

What exactly was going on?

"Is this her?" the woman asked curiously as Sebastian climbed out of the car. The question made Serena feel even more awkward. This woman had been expecting her? Why couldn't Sebastian had warned her first?

"Yeah, this is Serena. Serena, meet Rory Emerson," Sebastian exclaimed. "She's the owner, she runs this place."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Serena reluctantly pushed the car door open and got out. Before she had a chance to say, or do, anything, Rory reached out and pulled her into an unexpected hug.

"It's so nice to meet you! Sebastian has told us all about you," she said.

"Has he? Funny, he didn't mention you," Serena replied, shooting a glare towards him. He offered her a shrug and a sheepish smile before strolling casually towards the porch.

I warned him this wasn't a good idea... too soon.

Serena glanced back towards Rory who was still beaming at her. It was then she realized that she hadn't turned the music back on.

"Would you like to come inside?" Rory asked. "We just finished remodeling the place. We're going to open in a couple of days. I could use another perspective. Sebastian has absolutely no head for this sort of stuff."

"Oh... yeah, sure," Serena replied, once again feeling incredibly out of place. Rory grinned and motioned for Serena to follow as she headed in the same direction Sebastian had gone. Once her back was turned, Serena reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. She flipped the music back on and felt a sense of calm sweep over her, carried on the melodious backs violins and pianos.

"Coming?" Rory called when she realized Serena hadn't followed as she had instructed.

"Yeah, sorry," she said, hurrying to catch up. She figured since she was stuck here, she might as well make the best of it. Her earlier concerns that Sebastian might be intending to murder her and bury her in the woods had dissipated like a puff of smoke on the wind. That wasn't to say she wasn't curious about his motives for bringing her here, but she was far more curious about why she hadn't been able to hear his thoughts than anything else.

Once inside, Serena found herself standing in an open lobby. Polished wood floors stretched out in all directions, broken up by the occasional colorful rug. To the left was a wide counter behind which was a wall lined with cubby holes, each with a little brass plague that had a number etched into it. If this was to be some sort of vacation spot, Serena imagined the cubbies held, or would hold, the keys to the rooms. To the right was a sitting area, several plush couches and chairs were set up around a massive fireplace which seemed to encompass the entire back wall. The rest of the walls were made up of floor to ceiling windows which looked out across the wooded expanse of Blue Creek Valley.

It was picturesque and reminded Serena of something straight out of the travel magazines her mother got in the mail.

Opposite the hearth was a piano, no doubt meant to be played by someone who knew how and not the dark haired butcher of music who sat plinking away at the keys with far too much enthusiasm. Sebastian might have had the looks and the charm, but he was certainly lacking in areas of musical prowess.

"Sebastian, is that really necessary?" Rory called out as she went behind the counter and disappeared through an open doorway. "If you are trying to impress Serena, that is not the way to go about doing it."

"Practice makes perfect," Sebastian called back, unbothered by her teasing. Thankfully, the persistent plinking finally came to an end.

"Why did you bring me here?" Serena asked, settling her eyes on the dark haired boy still sitting at the piano.

"No reason," he admitted with a casual shrug. "Rory wanted me to come help with some things and I thought you might like a change of scenery."

"Why would you think that?" Serena snapped, her irritation with him growing. Sebastian either didn't notice, or maybe he just didn't care, because a moment later he rose and strolled towards the wall of windows.

"Isn't it beautiful?" He said wistfully, his eyes fixing on some distant point. Serena couldn't refute that statement, it was quite beautiful. She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of an answer though, especially not when she agreed with him. "Want to go for a walk?"

"No," Serena said.

"Suit yourself," Sebastian declared with a shrug, "Probably for the best, I've got to go do some manual labor for Rory. She likes to act like she can't do it herself, but I know the truth."

Serena quirked a brow but said nothing.

"If you do decide to go out, don't go far, stick to the path, and stay out of the woods, it's dangerous to go in there alone," he instructed, his tone taking on an unexpected seriousness that did not suit his normally playful demeanor. "Got it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Serena said, waving her hand dismissively at him. He smirked and looked like he wanted to say more, but Rory shouted for him to hurry up and he hurried off without a backwards glance.

Left to her own devices, Serena wandered over to the piano and tapped absently at one of the keys. The soft plink plink plink sound fading almost as quickly as it was struck. Moving away from the piano she moved to stand in front of the windows where Sebastian had been earlier. In the distance the mountains rose up, towering over a dark line of evergreens which stood out in stark contrast against the bright blue sky.

It really was breathtaking and Serena was confident that the lodge would do well once it was officially opened to the public.

As she moved to turn away, something at the edge of the tree line caught her attention. A child, dressed all in white, was playing in the clearing. The child, however, was not what had initially caught Serena's attention. It was the shadow skulking towards her through the trees that gave her cause for alarm.

Feeling her heart skip a beat, Serena instinctively raised her hand to bang on the glass, trying to get the child's attention. When that failed to work, she scanned the length of the wall for a way to reach the girl before the bear or wolf or whatever was lurking in the trees did. She spotted a door at the far end of the room and darted towards. Shoving the door open, she charged through it without giving much thought for her own safety.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Hey, kid, watch out!"

The child didn't seem to hear her.

"Kid!" Serena shouted again, running down the path towards where the child was standing. There was a brief moment where the ground dipped and Serena lost sight of the child. As she neared the crest of the hill she feared what she might see, all manner of possibilities sweeping across her mind in a matter of seconds.

To her surprise, there was nothing.

No child, no lurking shadow, absolutely nothing.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Serena couldn't help but wonder if perhaps her condition was getting worse. It was bad enough hearing things she had no control over, but if she had to deal with seeing things that didn't exist she wasn't sure she would survive.

Help me!

The small voice penetrated her thoughts so suddenly that she jerked back as though she had been physically slapped.

Help me please! Hurry!

Don't worry, I'm coming.