I get home from school around 3:00 and enter the empty house. I lock the door behind me and head to the kitchen, where I get some yogurt from the fridge and make some tea. I sit on the couch and turn the television to Lucifer. A minute goes by when I hear some inscrutable noises from the other side of the house.

"Hello?"

No response. I set my yogurt down and rise from the sofa, walking into the kitchen where I thought it came from. Nothing. I hear it again, this time from upstairs. I run up, looking in my parent's bedroom, then my own. Nothing. I check my pocket, ensuring my phone and Sarah's pendant are in there. I exhale a sigh of relief when I feel it.

Everything is going according to plan.

I head back downstairs and sit on the sofa, resuming my activities. I sip on the tea, cringing slightly at the strong taste. This isn't how I made it at all.

Once I finish my yogurt, I stand up with my tea and go to the kitchen to throw out the empty snack cup. I keep drinking, despite the taste and go back to the couch.

After a while, my eyes become droopy, and the television screen starts to blur before me. This is it.

I pull out my phone and open my messages. I text Amber.

It's happening.

She responds immediately.

I'll be there by 6.

I shut the phone off and stuff it in my pocket, standing to put the empty cup in the sink. When I do, I see a sight that startles me, and I almost drop the cup. Brendon's standing on the second step of the staircase.

"How'd you get in here?" I ask.

"You're not the only one who can break in through an open window. What is it with parents always wanting to 'air out the place?'"

My footsteps falter, but I regain my balance.

"Right. Back to the task at hand." He says walking toward me. "I believe you have something of mine."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I back up.

"I'm sure you do."

"What'd you put in this tea?"

"Don't change the subject, where is it?!"

I can feel myself on my last legs. I won't be able to stand much longer. "Brendon... I say this with all honesty, and I do mean honest when I say... I don't have your book."

He glares at me with fire in his eyes, then pushes me to the floor out of anger and my vision dissipates. The last thing I'm able to process is the sound of a shattering cup, and Brendon grabbing me by the legs.

This is when I blackout.