"You know, you really don't need to sleep in here," Darien said as Bailey set her blankets on the bed.

"Actually I do," she replied. "You need more balm every hour. Besides, you're in withdrawals so you'll be up all night anyway. Might as well have some company."

Darien smiled at her. He sat up, back against the bed. Bailey laid on her stomach facing him.

"So what's your story?" Darien asked, looking at her.

"Well, my parents died when I was really young, so I was thrown into foster care, where I stayed for a lot of my life. I moved around from house to house, one family after the other, no one wanting to adopt me. Until the Madisons. They were good people. My mom was a nurse, and my dad was a surgeon. They met at the hospital. They brought me into their home as a foster child, but did what was necessary to adopt me. Even though they had crazy schedules, they always made time to spend with me. Then they died. The doctor's said it was food poisoning, but I know now it was the Dean," she said.

"I'm so sorry, Bailey," Darien said, looking her in the face. "I can't help but feel I'm partially responsible for this. If I hadn't tried to kill him, maybe he wouldn't have gone this crazy."

Bailey shook her head. "No, Darien. You attempted to stop him. You knew what he was capable of, and to your knowledge, you killed him."

Darien hung his head and sighed. "I guess."

Bailey scooted closer. "You're not the only one here with a broken family, Darien. We have all suffered tremendous loss. You're not alone anymore."

Darien's eyes met hers. "Thank you, Bailey. For everything."

Bailey blushed and looked away. "Of course, Darien."

The two talked for a long time, stopping every hour to apply the pain balm. Around 2:00 a.m., Darien fell asleep. Bailey was still wide awake, watching the tall man below her. His chest rose and fell gently. His face was peaceful for the first time she'd seen, and she was able to admire the beauty of his features. His nose had a slight upturn and his lips formed a perfect pout. His face had filled out a bit more since he'd arrived, but his cheekbones and jawline were still chiseled perfection.

The time came once again for Bailey to administer the balm, but she was hesitant to wake the boy. The wars inside his mind were placated by this deep sleep. The darkness that followed his every move seemed to have lessened in that moment. His face held an air of serenity. Bailey dare not wake him. She laid her head down on her pillow, allowing sleep to overcome her.

A few hours later, Bailey awoke to a tap on her arm.

"Bailey," Darien whispered softly. "Isn't time to reapply the balm?"

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Yes, sorry. I fell asleep." She yawned.

"It's okay, I did too," he said with a smile.

"Here, roll on your stomach," she said, grabbing the tube from the headboard of the bed.

She kneeled over him, resting her weight slightly on his legs. She squeezed a dollop of balm into her hands and began massaging it into his soft skin.

"All done," she said, moving off his legs.

He turned over and looked at her, rubbing his eyes. "The fumes from that stuff makes my eyes water," he laughed. "It has helped an awful lot though."

"Good," Bailey smiled, yawning.

"Lay beside me," Darien said, moving his blanket to make room.

Bailey raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "You will help keep me warm, and maybe help me sleep again."

Bailey carefully laid beside him. His arm was under the pillow she rested her head on. He smiled at her and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take over yet again. His breathing softened to steady rate.

Bailey closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of the pain balm and the soft smokey musk that lingered on Darien's clothing. The world swirled around her, and she fell asleep.

She awoke to Darien's arms holding her close. She looked at his face and smiled softly. The same peace had returned to his face. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to have lessened, and his lips were slightly upturned into a smile.

His green eyes fluttered open, seeing Bailey admiring his face. He pulled a lopsided grin. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," he said.

Bailey's cheeks flushed. "How'd you sleep?" she asked.

"Really well. Better than I've ever slept before. Your presence banished the demons in my mind. I think you might be my guardian angel."

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Bailey laughed.

"I wish you were coming with us today," he said. "I will need a guardian angel when I'm at the house."

"I wish I could. If Liam wasn't an invalid still, I would."

"I know."

"Darien, come on! It's 8:50 a.m.! We have to leave!" Jackson's voice called from outside the door.

Darien groaned and got up. "I'll be out in a few minutes," he yelled back.

Bailey pulled her hair into a bun as Darien slipped on a sweatshirt. He tied on his boots and buckled his belt. Bailey folded her blanket and set it beside her pillow. Bailey had her hand on the doorknob when Darien put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait."

"What is it?" Bailey asked, turning to him.

"Don't, um, tell them about what I said," he said, rubbing his neck.

"About me being your guardian angel?"

Darien laughed nervously. "I can't have them thinking I'm soft."

Bailey chewed her lip and nodded. "Okay, I won't."

The two walked to the living room where everyone else was waiting. Luke was coming down the ladder, car keys in hand.

"We're all loaded, so we can leave," he said, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

Darien turned to Bailey with a half smile. "See ya when we get back, nurse."

"Don't go too crazy out there without me," she replied with a laugh.

Luke started up the ladder, and the rest of the group followed. They walked through the forest and onto the street.

"Here she is!" Luke exclaimed, patting a maroon van parked along the road.

"This is perfect," Jacob said.

Luke opened the side door and helped Darien in the back. "I figured since you're the tallest you can have the entire backseat. Jacob and Jackson can sit in the first row, and Macy will sit shotgun with me."

"Thanks, man," Darien said. He pulled a blanket out of one of the bags and draped it around his shoulders.

Jacob and Jackson took their seats and buckled up. Luke opened the passenger door for Macy, helping her up, and kissed her hand before closing the door. He got in the driver's seat and started the car. They drove toward the freeway in silence.

"I can't take this anymore. Did this thing come with an aux cord?" Macy asked.

"You are in luck," Luke said, opening the glove compartment and grabbing the cord.

Macy plugged in her MP3 player and started playing Twenty One Pilot's album Trench. Luke turned the volume up, and Macy leaned her head back, eyes closed.

Two and a half hours later, Jacob's stomach rumbled loudly. "Guys, I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere for food?"

"We can stop in the next town," Luke said. "I just saw some signs for McDonald's."

"Oh yum. I've been craving a Filet-O-Fish for months," Macy said.

Luke looked at Macy in disgust. "How? That's not even real fish."

"Listen, it's delicious, it's food, and I don't discriminate."

Luke just shook his head and laughed. At the next exit, they pulled off into the McDonald's parking lot. He parked and they all got out of the car.

"I wonder where we are," Jackson remarked to Jacob.

"According to my gps, we're in--" Luke paused, staring intently at his phone. "You've got to be kidding me. Macy, look at this."

Macy, Jacob, and Jackson all looked at his phone.

"Castle Rock?" Jacob asked.

"It's a town in a few of Stephen King's novels, like Cujo and Shawshank Redemption," Macy explained. "I didn't realize it was a real place."

"Well, the Castle Rock in Stephen King's books is set in Maine," Luke responded. "Can't believe we just stumbled upon a town of the same name."

"That's all good and fine, but can we please go inside? I'm starving," Jacob pleaded.

After they ate their fill of burgers and fries, they continued the drive to Portland. Darien gave them exact directions to their target location. The closer they got, the heavier he breathed. Memories started filling his mind, making him almost lose focus of where he was going and what he was doing.

"You okay?" Luke asked, standing outside the van. 'We're here. You look like you've been zoned out for a bit."

Darien snapped back to reality and looked up at Luke. All the blood had drained from his face. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. He made an attempt to get out of the car, but his knees failed to support him. Jackson rushed to his side, helping him sit on the floor of the van.

Jackson took it all in. The support beams and bricks from the house remained, tarnished with soot. He could make out the basic footprints of the house, and led the group over to where his parents' bedroom once stood.

"Here is where my dad slept. We should look through the rubble to see if we can find anything," he said.

"Let's do it quickly. I don't want Darien to be here any longer than necessary," Luke said.

Macy and Jacob walked over to one corner of the house and began sifting through the remains of the house. Luke and Jackson scoured the area near what used to be the bedroom while Darien watched from a distance, still shaking.

"I'm not seeing anything useful," Macy said to Luke, walking back his way.

"Wait!" Luke exclaimed. "What's that by your foot?"

She looked down. To the left of her foot, under a pile of bricks, there was a faded red shoebox. She knelt to look at it more closely, brushing soot off the lid before opening it.

Inside was a stack of pictures. Many pictures of happy people, several of the Dean and his wife, and a few photos of Darien, Jackson, and Zoey as kids. Towards the bottom of the pile there was a photograph of the Dean with his wife, Macy and Jacob's parents, Luke's grandmother, Bailey's foster-mom, and a middle-aged man they couldn't identify.

Macy touched her parents' faces softly. "They look so happy," she said, a tear dropping onto the picture.

Jacob hugged his sister, and Luke placed a hand on her back. They had a moment of silence for the lost loved ones, tearfully reminiscing on the wonderful memories.

Jackson grabbed the picture from Macy's hands and flipped it over. On the back there was a written description.

"Chairmen of the Benefactors. What does that mean?" he asked.

"I think our parents were on the board of the society. The founders," Luke explained.

Jacob walked toward where the chimney once stood. "Guys, I think I found something else."

Luke walked over to him, picking up the object he was looking at: a singed ouija board. Beside it, in much worse condition, was a book. The book was badly burnt, but the words on the spine were still visible.

"Book of Sorcery and Black Magic," Jacob read aloud.

"Well, this confirms Liam's theory. Still doesn't provide a motive though," Luke said.

"We've done a thorough sweep of the place. That's all there was," Jacob replied.

"We should bring this stuff back to the shelter with us," Luke said, carrying the board and the book back toward the car.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Macy asked. "There could be demons attached to that." She gestured to the ouija board.

"We can't just leave it here," Luke replied. "This will help our case."

Macy sighed, getting into the passenger's seat yet again. At sight of the book, Darien vomited out of the side of the van.

"Good thing we're not driving yet," Luke laughed.

"Can we get started?" Darien pleaded. "I don't want to be here."