They arrived on time for their dinner invitation at the Airheart residence on Friday night.

Jake had avoided Emily as much as he could for the week. She left him alone though and didn't approach him as to what was bothering him.

He dreaded this night seeing Brian and Emily together in the sanctity of the man's home.

Emily pulled Tony's black SUV up to a large Spanish style home. The walls were tan stucco and the roof an orange tile.

There was a multicolored plastic playground in the corner of the yard proving that Brian did have at least one child. Jake closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against them, trying to rub out the images of the evidence against Emily and Brian's betrayal to his family.

They walked up to the door, and Emily rang the doorbell.

A pretty woman with shoulder length dark brown hair opened the door and smiled at them.

"Hi, come on in," she said. She kissed Emily on the cheek when she walked through the door.

"I'm Megan," the woman said to Jake as he walked in. She extended her hand to him in welcome.

"Jake," he said softly, shaking her hand.

He couldn't believe that Brian would cheat on such a beautiful and friendly woman. Sure, Emily was also those things but at least Megan was Brian's age and he had made a commitment to her.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Jake," she said, smiling at him. "I have heard nice things about you."

Jake frowned. "You have?"

Brian came down the stairs carrying a baby and holding a bottle to its mouth. "Hey, everyone. Come on in."

Jake felt like punching the guy on behalf of his wife and kids. His wife seemed very genuine and nice.

"Is she sleeping?" Emily asked in awe, coming over to them.

"No, still awake," Brian said yawning.

Emily took the baby from his arms. "Hey, Joy," she cooed to the baby.

Raven went over to the baby and took her tiny hand. "She's so soft."

"Emily!" A little girl of maybe five came running down the stairs. She hugged Emily.

"Hi, Hope," Emily said, kissing the girl's cheek.

Raven stroked Hope's long brown hair. "What about me?" Raven asked her. Hope hugged Raven.

"What are we chopped liver?" Ray asked.

Hope ran over and hugged Ray and then George. She stopped in front of Jake.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her brown eyes studying Jake.

Jake looked at her. If it wasn't for her brown hair and brown eyes, Jake would have thought she was a younger Aurora. Her features were so similar it was shocking.

"I'm Jake," he answered, kneeling down to her level to study her.

Hope grabbed his hand and shook it formally. "I'm Hope," she said enthusiastically.

"Hi, Hope," he said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He spun her around. She laughed hysterically. Jake set her down, smiling.

He looked up, and saw Brian was smiling too. "Why don't you go help your mother set the table, Hope," Brian said to her.

"Okay, daddy," she said, running into the kitchen.

"Can I help you with something, Megan?" Emily called to her.

"You're helping me already by keeping Joy quiet," Megan called back.

Emily lifted the baby up and she smiled at Emily. She kissed the baby on the cheek.

"I'm glad you all could make it," Brian said, sitting across from them in the arm chair across from Emily.

Jake, Raven, Ray, and George sat on the big overstuffed couch.

"Do we get extra credit for this?" George asked him.

Brian grabbed a throw pillow from behind him and threw it at George. George caught it.

"Speaking of which," he got up and left the room. When he came back, he handed Emily a big envelope. "Your paper from Dr. Franklin. I forgot to give it to you in class," he said.

Emily opened it, looked at the grade, and stuffed it back in the envelope.

"What'd you get, Em?" Raven asked her.

"An A," Emily said with a shrug and tossed the envelope on the coffee table.

"Of course," Raven said, rolling her eyes.

"You really should be taking a more advanced class, Emily," Brian said. "All of you should," he said, looking at the group. "I've never known any freshman or seniors for that matter, that know as much of the paranormal world than this group right here."

"Dr. Franklin? Doesn't he only teach senior year classes?" Jake asked, confused.

"Yes," Brian replied.

"Well, I don't understand. You're not in any of his classes. Why are you writing a paper for him?" Jake asked Emily.

"You didn't tell him?" Brian asked her, sounding surprised.

Emily shook her head. "Not yet. I guess this is as good of a time as any," she said, taking a big breath.

She looked over to Jake. "Brian's not allowed to grade my papers. It'd be a conflict of interest," she told him.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, even more confused.

Did the university know about their affair? And approved of it?! As long as Brian didn't grade Emily's paper they were cool with him fooling around with a student?!

"He has no clue by the way," George said, looking between Emily and Brian.

"Brian's my father," Emily told Jake.

Jake looked back and forth between the two of them.

Brian smiled.

Jake stared at them in shock for a minute before letting out a laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

"It's true," Brian said, leaning over and patting him on the knee. "Excuse me. I'll let Emily handle this," he said, getting up and heading toward the kitchen.

"I thought your parents died," Jake told her accusingly.

"They did. Brian is my biological father. It's a long story. Basically, my dad couldn't have children. Brian and my parents were best friends. My parents asked Brian to help them have a child, and he agreed. So here I am," Emily explained.

"You mean your mom and Brian..." Jake trailed off, baffled .

"No, no!" Emily laughed. "I was a test tube baby, to put it simply."

"Huh," Jake muttered, trying to digest all that was happening.

"Don't strain yourself," Ray said, patting him on the back. "Brian's her biological dad. It happens all the time."

"She's sleeping now. I'm going to go put her in her crib," Emily said, getting out of her chair carefully not to wake the baby. She went upstairs.

"Why didn't you guys tell me?!" Jake scolded them when Emily was out of earshot.

"It was Emily's business to tell," George said defensively.

"She's a little embarrassed by it too, I think," Ray said softly, leaning in towards him.

"She shouldn't be," Jake said.

"Well, Emily feels different enough. And then to have to tell people that you're a test tube baby from your parent's best friend. That's hard to do," Raven said.

"I guess so," Jake said still in shock. He laughed.

Raven shook her head, "Tony and I knew her when she found out. She totally flipped when she found out her Uncle Brian was her real dad. She loved the dad that raised her. She thought he was her dad. She was heartbroken, really."

"We know what you were thinking," Ray said with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it. George and I thought the same thing at first."

"You did?" Jake asked, relieved he wasn't the only one who thought Emily was having an affair with her married teacher.

"Not all of our minds are as pure as Emily's. We can imagine so much more bad in people," Ray said. "She sees a lot, but I don't think she really believes anything like that could happen. At least until recently..." he trailed off.

Raven got up, "I'll go see what I can do to help," she said, walking up one step and over to the kitchen.

Jake watched her go with a frown, worried that there were still some things that his new friends were keeping from him.

*******************************

"Hey, what can I do to help?" Raven asked, walking into the kitchen and stopped abruptly finding Brian and Megan in an embrace, kissing. "Whoops! Sorry," she laughed, backing away.

Brian and Megan laughed, as well, as they pulled away from each other.

"It's okay," Brian said, but placed a quick kiss on his wife's nose before stepping away from her.

Megan blushed, and then turned her attention to Raven, "I have the perfect job for you, Raven," Megan said, restoring her composure.

She grabbed Raven by her shoulders and pushed her to the sliding glass door, leading to the backyard.

"Honey!" Brian said in mock shock.

"Well, she can do it!" Megan retorted, opening the slider.

"Do what?!" Raven demanded, as Megan led her onto the patio.

"We can't find the matches. Brian hid them so that Hope wouldn't find them and play with them. And, well," she pointed to the grill on the patio, "dinner is in your hands. Literally."

Raven laughed. "Piece of cake," she said, pushing up her sleeves.

She held out her hands and the charcoal lit on fire. She turned and lit all the Chinese lanterns, which hung in the trees surrounding the pool from a previous party.

"Well, isn't that nice," Megan sighed. "Thanks, sweetheart," she said, giving Raven a sideways hug.

"My job here is done," Raven said with a grin. She satisfactorily dusted off her hands and turned to head back into the house.

"Raven," Brian called, chasing after her. They stepped into the kitchen. "Very nice control," he said, patting her on the shoulder proudly.

"I learned from the best," she said, and kissed his cheek.

Brian followed her into the hallway. Emily came down the stairs from the bedroom level and followed them both into the living room.

"Why don't you kids come on outside?" Brian suggested to the group.

Emily and Raven changed gears and headed back into the hallway. They all followed him outside and sat around a picnic table.

Megan came out as well and set some potato chips, tortilla chips, dip, and salsa on the table. The group pounced on them.

"There are sodas in the cooler," Brian told them, pointing to a red and white cooler by the sliding glass door.

"I'm going to go back in for a minute and put Hope to bed. At least try to," he said, heading back inside.

Megan put on some chicken skewers and some steaks on the grill. "So how's Tony doing?" Megan asked the group, looking over her shoulder.

"He's doing okay," Emily replied between bites of her tortilla chip. She dipped another one into the salsa. "He should be home by Halloween. He really wants to be back for it," she said between chews.

"He likes scaring the little kids," Raven told Jake, grinning.

Megan laughed. "I hope he doesn't take it too far."

"Too far from Tony?" George asked sarcastically with a chuckle.

"Someone talking about me?" a voice said behind them. Tony stepped out of the house.

"Hey Tony!" they cheered.

He went over to Megan and kissed her on the cheek. He pulled out a red rose from behind him and handed it to her.

"How sweet," she said, kissing his cheek in return. "You are so thoughtful."

Tony smiled sheepishly and then sat down at the table next to Emily.

"Scoot over," Tony pushed her at the hip.

She did and it pushed Emily closer into Jake. Jake smiled at her as she brushed against him.

"Would you like some wine, Tony?" Brian called from the kitchen doorway, holding a bottle up in question.

"Only if it's mine," he called back.

"Wouldn't dare drink anything else," Brian winked.

"Better not," Tony shot back. Brian came out and handed him a glass.

"Thanks," Tony told him and took a sip.

"How was Italy?" Brian asked him as he checked on the steaks Megan was cooking. She elbowed him away.

"It was...good," Tony replied.

"I was so sorry to hear about Katarina," Brian told him.

"Thanks. Well, she lived a good life. That's all that matters," Tony replied softly, looking at his glass and then took a gulp of the wine.

"Yes, it is," Brian said, toasting him. "So, how's the vineyard?"

"It is doing well. We had some bad rains so some of the crop was lost. Not too bad though," Tony said. "We'll see how it ages." He nodded at his glass. "This one's good. 1910?"

"I think so," Brian answered. He turned to the group. "And what about Halloween? Are you guys prepared?"

"Prepared for what?" Jake asked him.

"Halloween. It's the day of the dead. All souls day. Can be fine or can be very dangerous."

"You believe that?" Jake asked.

"I do. And you should start believing it too. I know about you, Jake. I knew the minute I saw your name on my roster who you were and what you are. It's time you start believing in yourself and what you can do. You need to be prepared, being who you are. The demon who hounds you, Jake, he's not going to sit still for long. Halloween's the perfect opportunity to come after us. Especially you, Jake, you're not trained like the others. You need more training. If you're unprepared for him, it could prove deadly."

"What do you know of the demon?" Jake asked him.

"There are stories about demons, like this one, that they are servants to more powerful demons. It's possible that this one could be working for another demon. There are also stories that humans, or witches, that deal in black magic can summon these lower level demons and use them for their own purposes. I'm pretty sure that both of those rumors are true, based on what I've seen over the years. For some reason, this demon keeps coming back to us, and to you. It's possible that it's just the fact that the demon is evil through and through. And evil wants to destroy all that is good. Apparently, this demon has figured out that we, and you, are good," Brian said, toasting him, and took a sip of his wine.

"Honestly, I am hoping that's all it is. If someone is controlling it," Brian shook his head, "that puts us in a whole new ball game, and, if that's the case, I don't want to play anymore. It's already gotten ugly, we've lost family. I'm not going to lose more."

"He's gone after you before?" Jake asked him. He knew too much for him not to have dealt with it before.

Brian sat down his glass. "He has. You know of the fire that killed Emily's parents?"

"Yes," Jake said, glancing at her.

"I was there too. Jessica, Dan, me, and Emily. We tried to fight him. He's really strong. He threw a bunch of lightning at us, which set the house on fire. We couldn't stop it. He kept fighting us, and he killed Jessica and Dan. He left me and Emily for as good as dead. He didn't count on Tony pulling us out," he said, pointing his thumb towards Tony.

"How'd you know what was going on?" Jake asked Tony in surprise.

"I didn't. Emily and I had just broken up and I was... upset. I still wanted to talk to her about it. Even though it was late, I came by the house and it was engulfed in flames, so I ran in," Tony explained.

He glanced at Emily and then back to Jake. "You know the rest, you were there in your dream," Tony said, and took a sip of his wine.

"Sorry to interrupt," Megan said, coming to the table from behind Jake. "Dinner's ready," she said, and she set food on the table.

They all eagerly dug in, filling up their plates.

*****************************

"So, what do I need to do to prepare?" Jake asked after they had been eating a few minutes in silence.

"Be on guard. Be in control of your power," Brian told him.

"What power? I still don't get it. All I do is have dreams. Sometimes they come true, sometimes they don't. The ones that do come true, I try to help before the bad things can happen. But, half the time, I don't know what's real and what's just part of a dream, and not a prediction," Jake complained.

"You have to learn to differentiate," Brian told him.

"Are we all real?" Brian asked him, gesturing around the group.

"Yes," Jake told him.

"How do you know that?" Brian demanded.

"You just are," Jake said, frowning.

"Are you sure?" Brian asked him.

"Yeah. You're sitting in front of me, aren't you?" Jake replied.

Suddenly everything went dark, and when the light came on again, Jake sat alone at the table. "What the...?" Jake started to get up.

"Are we real, Jake? Or are you just imagining us?" he heard Brian's voice.

Everything in front of him started spinning. Or maybe Jake was. The world was a blur, as it sped across his vision. He felt dizzy. "What's happening?" Jake yelled.

"Answer me. Are we real? Or have you imagined us this whole time?" Brian's voice asked, as the world came to an abrupt halt.

Jake looked all around him. The pool had turned into his computer desk at home in Iowa.

The picnic table had turned into his bed; the dark sky around him pulled close to form his walls, windows, and ceiling.

Jake sat alone in his room. The room was quiet. He heard his parents laughing at the TV in the living room. He ran out of his room and down the hall to the living room.

"Everything okay, honey?" his mom asked, looking up. Jake stared at her.

His dad looked up. "You alright, champ? You look a little pale."

"Fine. Um, I'll be in my room," he told them, swallowing hard, and walked back to his room.

He stroked his fingers through his hair. Had he imagined all of them? Is he going crazy? He touched his walls, his computer, and his bed. Everything was sturdy and real.

He must have dreamed the whole thing. That was the only explanation. It was another product of his messed up imagination, like Aurora!!

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He really was losing his mind! He plopped down on his bed and picked up the college catalog of the University of California that still sat on his night stand, as if he'd never left home.

He wanted them to be real. They were the best friends he ever had. The only friends he'd ever had. He loved their house, and he loved California. He didn't want to be alone in Iowa anymore. Were they real?

They were real to him. They had to be. Despite everyone's best efforts of trying to convince him that he was crazy, Jake knew that he wasn't. He had a gift, that was all. And so did his friends. And so did Brian.

And Brian was messing with his head, trying to convince him that what he had wasn't real. Jake wasn't going to stand for that. He was going to fight for what he wanted. And he wanted the life he had with his friends.

"You're real!" Jake shouted to the ceiling.

The room went black again. And when he could see again, he sat at the picnic table. He touched nervously, hoping that it was real.

"It took you long enough," Raven said, punching his arm. He stared at all of them and breathed hard.

Tony handed him his glass of wine. "You need this more than me," he said. Jake took it and drank. He coughed.

"Was that necessary?" Emily said to Brian angrily.

Brian looked at Jake. "Was it?" he asked him.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Jake demanded. "I would swear to God that I was home. I touched the walls! I talked to my parents!"

"Magic," Raven said smiling.

Brian smiled. Shrugged, "Magic," he said in agreement. "I just messed with your head a little," Brian said simply.

"Well, don't do it again!" Jake yelled angrily, taking another gulp of Tony's wine. He coughed and handed it back to Tony.

"Ugh, how do you stand that stuff?!" Jake asked in disgust.

Tony shrugged and drank from his glass again with a smirk.

"Jake, what Brian did, the demon can do too," Emily told him.

"He can get into your mind and change your perception of the world around you. That's why you need to stay in control and know who you are. If not, he could leave you there," Emily said her voice wavering.

"You did good coming out of it. It was a lot sooner than I expected," Brian told him.

Jake laughed bitterly. "This is totally insane," he said, getting up, and he went to get a soda from the cooler.

"No, it's the truth," Brian told him.

"This is who you are and what you can do, Jake. If you choose to do so. You could forget about it, if you'd like. You can go back to your farm in Iowa and forget about all of us. We can make that happen, if you want us to," Emily told him.

"I don't want to forget you," he told her, sitting down sideways next to her, straddling the bench, and hugged her tightly.

"We don't want you to forget us either," she said, rubbing her hand across his back.

He pulled away embarrassed. He pulled his other leg around the bench, so he was facing the table, popped open his soda can, and took a big gulp.

"Actually, that was pretty cool," he said after a minute, and then laughed. They all laughed with him.

*******************************

That night he decided to try and control his dreams. He decided a good safe one would be to have one of Aurora on the farm.

He turned off the light and lay back in the bed and concentrated on thinking of Aurora. Her heart shaped face, her green eyes, and her blonde braids. Her cute little jean short overalls and her little legs sticking out from them.

He imagined her swinging on his swing set as she usually liked to do. Her braids flapping back in the wind. She smiled at him. The dream started to fade, he was losing his vision of her.

"Aurora, come on, I need you now," Jake said frustrated.

She appeared again. "Why didn't you say so?" she asked him.

"I never knew it before."

She nodded. "I understand."

"Where are you?" Jake asked her.

"You'll find me when it's time. It's not time yet, Jake," she told him apologetically.

"When will it be time?" he asked her.

She touched his face with her tiny hands. "You'll know," she said, smiling, and disappeared.

Jake opened his eyes. He reached to turn on the light. He looked at the clock on the table. He'd been asleep only a few minutes. Jake grinned. He did it!

*****************************

He opened his balcony door and stepped out. He looked down at the pool below. Jake heard a cough from above. He grinned again.

He went over to the steps and climbed up them to see Emily sitting on her chairs, staring out into the yard across from them.

She sat in white shorts and a pink tank top. She looked like a peppermint candy. He chuckled at the thought.

"I heard that," Emily said, smiling, and turned to look at him.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked her.

"No," she replied. "You either, huh?"

"I slept for a bit, but then woke up," he replied hesitantly.

"Dream okay?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, it was good," he answered, sitting down next to her.

"That's good," she said and frowned looking up at the sky. Suddenly lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and rain started to pour. They ran inside her room.

Emily started chanting something in some foreign language that he couldn't understand. She quickly closed the door and locked it. A lightning bolt struck just above the balcony.

"He can't get us inside the house," Emily said, backing away from the glass. "We have so much protection on this place, he can't get us when we're inside," she explained confidently, though her voice wavered betraying that she wasn't as confident as she was trying to appear.

"How do you know it's him?" Jake asked.

"I can feel his evil," she answered, shivering.

Jake picked up the yellow blanket off her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Emily said, giving him a soft smile as she pulled the blanket closer around herself.

He walked her over to her couch with his arm protectively around her shoulders. They sat down, and Emily curled up next to him. She put her head on his shoulder as she had done weeks before. She turned on the TV, and they watched a rerun of "I dream of Jeannie" on Emily's favorite TV station that only played classic shows.

"I'm glad you decided to stay with us," Emily said softly to him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He cautiously kissed the top of her head. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried," he whispered to her.

"Do you like Brian?" she asked him.

Jake frowned at the sudden change of subject. "Yeah. He's cool. He's pretty direct. But he's cool."

"He does get to the point, doesn't he?!" Emily said with a fond smile.

"He's pretty powerful, isn't he?" Jake asked seriously. What happened was really cool, but it was also downright scary.

"Mm-hmm," Emily replied in agreement . "He likes to use his gifts to help other people. That's why he teaches. He knows that kids with gifts are going to take those kinds of classes. Then he can pull them aside and help them how he can."

"That's great of him," Jake said, stroking her hair. It was so soft.

"I'm glad you like him," Emily said, yawning.

"You want to go to sleep?" Jake asked her.

"No. Stay here a little bit," she protested, squeezing him in a hug.

He loved the feel of her soft body against him. Taking a deep breath, he bravely asked what he'd been dying to ask for weeks, "Can I have a date with you, Emily? Just the two of us?" he asked her, stroking her hair again.

"I thought you'd never ask," she murmured, drifting off into sleep.

"Em?" he asked, and looked down at her sleeping face.

Jake smiled. He liked that she felt comfortable enough with him to fall asleep on him. And he wasn't upset with her for falling asleep. He knew that her telepathy came with a price. She always had to block people's thoughts, if she didn't, she would go crazy, hearing all those voices in her head all the time. It had to be exhausting, both physically and mentally.

He held her in his arms a few minutes longer, just enjoying the feeling of her up close to him. He watched her chest rise and fall as she drifted off into a deeper sleep.

He picked her up and carried her over to her bed. He set her down and adjusted the yellow blanket that she still wore around her. He lightly kissed her cheek and stroked her hair one last time. She smiled in her sleep.

"Sweet dreams, Emily," he whispered to her. He shut off her bedside light. He rechecked that her sliding glass door was locked and went down the stairs.

******************************

Jake decided to go to the kitchen to see if there were any chocolate chip cookies left that Emily had made after George complained that she hadn't baked in a while.

He opened the fridge and found that there was. He poured some milk and brought the whole Tupperware box full of cookies over to the table with his glass of milk. Tony walked into the kitchen.

"You planning on eating all of those?" Tony asked him.

Jake shrugged. "Possibly."

Tony took one and took a bite. He slid in a chair. "I wish I could enjoy this more," he said, looking at the cookie almost as if he were depressed at the sight of it. "Is it really good?" he asked Jake.

Jake took a bite out of his own cookie. "Heaven," he said, as he chewed, and rolled his eyes in delight.

Tony tossed the cookie onto the table. "I knew it."

"You can't taste food?" Jake asked him curiously.

Tony picked up the cookie, set it on its side, and spun it like a toy. "I can, sort of, but it's...unsatisfying. Bland, I guess, would be the right description."

"What's it like for you? Do you drink blood? Like in the movies?"

"Pretty much," Tony told him with a shrug.

"Everyday?" Jake asked him.

"Yes. I need to drink it regularly, just like you need to eat regularly."

"Like, you bite people's necks and stuff?"

"Only ones willing," Tony told him. He hesitated, "Not so much before. It didn't matter before, if they were willing or not. I was...different than I am now. Not as...human."

"You forced people?" Jake asked. Tony hesitated and then nodded. "Have you killed anyone?" Jake asked him, leaning forward, his eyes widening as he thought he knew what answer was coming.

Tony took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, I have," Tony admitted softly. "Believe me or not. I'm ashamed of it now, but I won't deny it."

"Wow," Jake said, not sure how to respond to someone admitting they'd killed people.

Jake thought a moment of what else he was curious about Tony. He'd obviously caught Tony in a good mood as he'd never really had talked so much to him before. And nothing so personal.

"Do you drink animal's blood?"

"Yes, and again only when they're willing. And again yes, I've killed them as well. In the past," Tony answered.

"Do you have to?" Jake asked.

"Do I have to what, kill?" Tony asked with a frown.

"No, drink blood," Jake replied.

"I'm afraid so. What I do now is, I have people at hospitals. They get me stored blood. It's not as good, but it does the job. Then I recruit four times as many people to donate blood. It's a fair trade."

"What about the question you brought up, do you have to kill? Or did you have to kill?" Jake asked, wondering if Tony could really have been so evil.

It was hard to believe. Sure, Tony was grumpy, but he'd never said or done anything to hurt anyone that he'd seen. It didn't seem possible that Tony could have killed anyone. He'd even seen Tony pick up a spider and set it outside, rather than step on it as Jake had planned on doing.

"No, I didn't have to. At the time, I thought that I did, I suppose. I just..." Tony grasped for words, "You do unspeakable things when you're turned into a vampire. Things you'd never think of doing as a human," Tony continued, not looking in Jake's eyes.

"You're still human, Tony. Just a bit different from the rest."

Tony looked at him. He smiled a smile that actually reached his eyes. "Thanks," he said, befuddled that Jake had said that to him. "You too," Tony told him seriously. "You're not half bad, for a human."