The bags were packed and Jesse was loading them into his rust-bucket of a car, ready for our almost week long trip up North. We were going for a funeral, hardly the happiest of occasions, but I couldn't help the somewhat giddy feeling that bubbled in the pit of my stomach; my plan had worked and this case was finally going somewhere – and that somewhere was apparently up in Yorkshire.

It had been surprisingly easy to plant my suggestion into Jesse's head, he had to feel that asking me to go along with him was a good idea and I'd expected to need at least two or three goes at rooting around in his brain, planting subtle suggestions before the idea really took root. It wasn't so easy to influence someone's thoughts when the idea wasn't already brewing at the back of their own minds, waiting to be coaxed to the forefront – like with Shane and the strangling - planting an entirely new idea was more difficult. Not to mention it played slightly fast and loose with the whole 'free will' concept we were instructed to follow, but I'd always thought our whole world, whole purpose, played a little free with this moral code, bending the rules a little more couldn't hurt.

I reached into his mind that first night while he slept. Jesse had shown me to the guest room, spent an unnerving length of time searching for clean sheets to make up the bed with, then bid me goodnight before he headed down the hall to his own room. A good few hours passed while I did little but twiddle my thumbs before I ventured out of that bedroom and down the dark hallway; I had to be sure he was asleep or the plan wouldn't work.

Gentle snoring came from behind the wood panel door and I whispered a quiet word of thanks; tired wasn't even the word to describe how I was felt at that moment, I really didn't want this to take too long. I pushed the door handle and inched it open carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, and stepped into his room; leaving the door open behind me. I found Jesse sprawled on his front, taking up as much of the bed as his tall form could find – sleeping alone had its advantages. The thin sheet covering him was bunched at his waist and a thin shaft of moonlight fell over his bare back as it crept through a gap in the curtains.

I tiptoed as far into the room as I dared, still needed to be able to make a hasty exit should Jesse show any sign of waking. Jesse's face came into view, finally peaceful in sleep. I closed my eyes for a moment to gather myself, to call on my innate power before opening them again and gazing at Jesse. I concentrated hard on the air just around him willing my eyes to see the faint coloured hue of energy that surrounded his body, his aura, my doorway into his subconscious.

My eyes turned just this side of blurry as the deep, muddy colour of Jesse's aura started to glow in the darkness. Subtle streaks of red had started to form around his torso and neck, the shades of violence and aggression beginning to grow in his nature, this was a good sign for me. I reached for that haze of light energy with metaphysical fingers and gently felt my way into Jesse's sleeping psyche.

I'd expected his thoughts to be busy, distracted, as his sleeping mind worked through all the chaos that his life had turned into, and that the journey through to find a prime spot to plant my idea would be something akin to trekking through a jungle; a mess of chaotic thoughts and feelings waiting in the darkness to jump out and trip me up. But I found the way surprisingly clear and easy to navigate. Jesse had made some real headway in bringing order to his thoughts and quantifying the emotion he carried while he slept and, from what I saw as a searched for a dream, an image, in which I could inject my own influence, my earlier words had also taken their own hold over his unconscious mind.

A woman, who looked so much like Jesse, featured predominantly in his dreams. I could only assume it was his sister – what I felt was a pretty safe assumption – she was there in many different incarnations. As a young, smiling child, a petulant teenager annoyed with the supervision of her older brother, a university graduate beaming with pride...a bloody corpse, wide eyed and staring as a man that I could not recognise stood over the body, blood dripping from his fingertips.

Concentrating hard on the dead face that was so familiar, I imagined and pulled us into a different setting. The blood was gone, her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful. The coffin lay open amongst a sea of lillies as mourners gathered and sobbed silently in grief and loss, clutching to one another for comfort. Among them stood Jesse, deer in headlights look upon his face, bewildered at the sudden change of scene, he hadn't been expecting this image to creep across his mind and it took a moment before the sight before him sank in. Even only in a dream his reaction was gut-wrenching.

“JEN!” he yelled. The word echoed eerily through the silence of the scene. He ran to her coffin and sank to his knees by its side, crushing lillies beneath him and sending their scent thick and cloying through the room.

He reached out to take her hand and that's when I stepped in beside him. I took his hand in mine as he turned brown eyes, wide and glistening, towards me. A sad smile on my lips, I pulled him to his feet.

“It will be hard to say goodbye, but you must. You know what must be done.” I spoke the words in my head and watched as the projection of my image in Jesse's dreams moved her lips to form the sound – it was always a strange experience, like controlling a puppet with only the use of your mind.

I looked down at the coffin and projected another image into the scene, the image of Jen laying on the floor, bathed in blood. It flashed, for a second, in front of our eyes and Jesse flinched. I gripped his hand tighter as the peaceful image of his sister reappeared back in her coffin.

“...I can help you, you know. If you'll let me.”

On a whim, I leaned in and placed a chaste kiss upon his lips before backing away. I dropped his hand and slowly retreated from the dream, pulling those psychic fingers of consciousness out of Jesse's thoughts.

When the connection was broken I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Jesse's still sleeping form wore a frown that deeply creased his brow, at least I had given him something to think on while he slept.

Quietly I turned away and made my exit, closing the door softly behind me, and I headed back down the hall for a bed of my own. The morning would tell me if my thoughts had taken hold or not. I was hopeful, but mostly I was tired. I sank beneath the sheets and slept the most contented sleep that I'd had in a very long time.

Jesse woke me the next morning with a gentle knock at the door and the smell of fresh coffee that he carried with him. It was late, closer to midday than still morning; seemed we had both needed the lay in and my tired body certainly appreciated it. He entered the room when I answered his knock, while I pulled a thin cotton dressing gown around my shoulders; I was dressed in pyjamas, but I still felt more comfortable tugging the extra clothing over my bare arms and shoulders.

“Thanks,” I muttered as he handed me the mug of coffee and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“No problem,” he replied.

The silence that stretched out between us then was awkward and strained. Jesse stared at me with an odd, calculating expression on his face. Was he thinking over the dream I'd planted in his head last night? The sight of my face slowly filtering the memory of it back to the front of his mind?

“So, you not working today?” I asked, purely to break the silence.

Jesse shook his head. “No. The foreman gave me some leave till after the funeral,” he replied in a monotone voice, his expression never changing.

“Okay. What is it?” I asked, unable to stand the scrutiny of the man's gaze any longer. “That is one serious expression you're wearing. What's up?”

“Just thinking is all. Something...well a weird thought came to mind and I was just wondering if, maybe, it wasn't such a bad idea...”

I frowned, “yeah, okay. So that cleared that up,” I said, voice laced with sarcasm.

Jesse sighed, “I had a thought,” he continued, a little more assuredly than before, “that perhaps it would be a good idea to bring someone along with me. To the funeral I mean, y'know, for moral support and that.”

“Yeah, that sounds like it might be a good idea,” I replied, hoping I didn't sound too eager for this information.

“At first I thought one of the lads, maybe Nick or someone. But, I dunno, they're not exactly the best for support during emotional stuff. You know what blokes are like, we don't do the mushy stuff, especially not together, makes us uncomfortable. So then I got this crazy idea that, well, maybe you might come with me?”

“Me?” I asked, trying to sound surprised that such an idea might have occurred to him.

“Yeah. Y'know you've been around for most of this whole drama. You've been offering to help me, to listen to me even when you barely know me. And I was the first person you turned to when you needed some help,” he said, adding the last with a smile that brightened his soft features.

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess I owe you a favour for the pleasure of your hospitality,” I said with a chuckle. “Sure, okay I'll come with you, if that's what you want. Not like I have anything else to do.”

So there we were, up at the crack of dawn and loading up the car with bags; I'd even made a show of packing, that's how eager I was feeling for this trip.

“Oh shit, almost forgot my suit,” Jesse said before he ran back down the driveway, through the gate and back up to the house. Of course, the suit, can't go to a funeral without a suit to wear.

I was going to take a seat in the car when a sudden rustle in the bushes along the driveway caught my attention, it was probably only a cat, but something made me curious – oh great, curiosity and cats, that wasn't a good road to start heading down. A few steps further down the gravel driveway, just as I neared the corner that led back around to the gate, I jumped back suddenly and let out a shriek of fright as Frank stepped out through the hedge. How long had he been lurking in there?

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I gasped when I found my voice to speak once again.

“Hmm, now watch that filthy mouth of yours,” he said with a gleeful cackle, “came to see if you'd considered my offer, it's a good one you know.”

I shook my head, avoiding the ink black of his gaze – it was much more unsettling to see in the daylight that left their appearance undeniable. “I'm still no such fool, go try your tricks on someone else.”

He dragged in a hiss of breath through his teeth. “Such a shame, and it was such a good offer too. But what is this?” His head cocked to the side and took in the sight of the loaded car just as the front door slammed as Jesse made his way back. “Going somewhere with lover boy now are we? You actually think you're getting somewhere don't you. Poor, poor, misguided little girl, doesn't know the half of it.” He cackled again, a great burst of sinister sound that sent shivers down my spine.

Jesse seemed to have also heard the sound by the way that his footsteps suddenly started to hurry down the gravel path and he quickly appeared around the corner of the hedgerow.

“Hey! What the fuck are you doing lurking around here? Go on, get lost. I don't want to hear word of you hanging about near here while I'm away.”

Frank merely sneered at Jesse, fixing him with eyes that were somehow grey and normal once again. “Just passing by,” he said in a cheery tone, “ getting some fresh air for me health. All need to think about what's best for us now don't we.” His gaze turned to me with those last words, there hinting again that something about this case was a threat to my health? To my life? And that he alone held the key to that knowledge. The baited hook was set, but I wasn't going to bite.

“Yeah, well maybe you should consider giving up the drink first off. No amount of fresh country air is going to help you with those alcohol fumes forever following you around.”

“Then I best be on my way then, I can see when I've exceeded my purpose. Can't help some people if they refuse to listen to reason. You two go have fun now, see you in Hell.”

“Yeah, go on, clear off,” Jesse muttered, not really paying attention to Frank's parting speech for which I was almost thankful. I didn't need him to question me about the man's cryptic message. Sure Frank was crazy, but those words felt uncomfortably specific.

Jesse was too busy fidgeting with his phone, keying in a text message, to watch Frank walk away; but I watched him until he disappeared from view. He walked backwards all the way, eyes fixed on me as a sly grin curled his lips. At the end of the path he paused, raised his hand and ran a thumb across his neck, miming someone slitting a throat, then he waved at me and was gone.

“Well, that's one less worry. Nick's going to keep an eye on the place while we're gone, don't want Frank thinking he can sneak in and steal stuff, or use a bed now he knows it's going to be empty. You ready to go?”

“Huh...” Frank's words and and actions had be worried, a sick feeling of concern started to grow where my eagerness had before been bubbling happily. Though if I was honest with myself, Frank the man, or rather the demon he housed, concerned me more. Perhaps it was foolish and I should heed his words a little more carefully, but putting half the country between myself and him didn't sound like a bad plan in any shape or form.

“Right, yes, all set. Let's get going.”