Jake woke up to the sound of footsteps on the stairs. He was thirsty anyway so he got up to go down to the kitchen. He saw Emily at the bottom of the steps, and she headed towards the living room.

He went down the stairs and frowned as she opened the back door. Instead of heading to the kitchen as planned, he followed her out the back door.

Emily pulled off a long white nightgown and revealed a white string bikini. Jake swallowed hard as he admired her body. She dove into the pool and started doing laps.

"Hey, Em," Jake called to her, sitting on a lounge chair next to the pool.

Emily stopped swimming and came to the edge of the pool and smiled.

"Come on in, the water's great!" She pulled back her long wet hair out of her face.

"Um, Em. Do you realize it's, like, three in the morning?" Jake asked concerned.

"Who cares about the time!" Emily laughed and swirled around in the pool. "It's paradise here! No worries. No worries. No one comes up here and we have no one to bother us!"

She smiled at him mischievously. "Come on in, Jake."

"Naw, you go ahead, Em. I'm too tired to swim," Jake answered, watching her curiously. She didn't seem like herself.

She laughed and continued to swirl around the pool. "Loosen up, Jake! You're in California now!"

"You okay, Emily?" Jake called out. Perhaps she'd been drinking, he thought to himself.

He was concerned not only of her behavior, but she was also starting to cough as she swallowed water.

"I'm fine. Just fine," she answered and coughed again, going under water. Jake waited for her to come up, but after a few seconds she didn't.

"Emily!" Jake called loudly. She still didn't come up. He could see her figure near the bottom of the pool. She didn't move. Jake dove in and swam to the bottom. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

Jake saw her eyes open and then suddenly they turned a glowing red. Emily pulled him toward her and pulled him down.

Her face disappeared and her body turned into dark black fog that surrounded him. Jake couldn't pull free. His lungs burned in lack of air. He tried to hit the fog but he could hardly move.

"Jake!" he heard Emily's voice call. "Jake, wake up! It's just a dream! Just wake up!"

The fog grew tighter around him. Its eyes glowed angrily at him. Jake could feel its hatred towards him.

"Jake!" Emily called again, louder this time.

Jake struggled against the fog. He thought of Emily's beautiful face, her enticing green eyes. He longed to see her again and he longed for fresh air. Jake felt if he didn't do something, and quickly, he was going to drown to death.

Jake pushed with all his might away from the dark fog. He felt air starting to rush towards him. He gasped and opened his eyes.

Emily was on his bed, holding down his wrists against the mattress. George was at the door and Raven was peeking behind him. Jake sat up, he felt his body drenched in sweat. Emily sat away from him. Ray came in with a glass of water and handed it to Jake.

"You okay?" Emily asked, her voice wavering in worry.

Jake took several gulps of the water. "Yeah," he said with a gasp. "Sorry guys. Bad dream." He set the glass down on the nightstand.

"No prob, man." George eyed him, not hiding the concern that was written all over his face.

Emily still sat next to Jake on his bed. She took his hand "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm fine. Really," He assured her, patting her hand with his other. He didn't know what else to do. He didn't want her to cry.

"He's fine, Em. Let's get back to bed," Raven spoke up. Emily looked at him again, searching his face for reassurance.

"I'm fine. Honest," Jake repeated to her.

Emily got up slowly. Jake looked at her nightgown. It wasn't the grandma long white nightgown he'd envisioned; it was a short yellow one that looked like a sundress, but clung to her shapely body.

Ray put his arm around her and pushed her out of the room. They all said goodnight and left the room.

Jake picked up the glass of water and took another sip. He had thought his nightmares would end now that he wasn't in Iowa. He guessed wrong.

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

Upstairs in Emily's room, Tony sat on Emily's large yellow and white bed as Emily paced the floor anxiously.

George, Ray, and Raven sat on the floor on oversized yellow pillows watching her.

"Relax, Em," Tony told her.

"He got to Jake already," Emily said angrily, hitting a fist into her palm.

"You don't know that, Em. It might have been just a bad dream," Raven pointed out.

"That," Emily gestured down towards Jake's room, "was no bad dream. And I do know that," Emily said firmly to Raven, almost challenging her to say differently.

Raven looked away. She knew when Emily said that she was sure, she was sure. And no one could tell her differently.

"It was his choice to come here, Em," Tony said, absently picking at the threads on one of Emily's throw pillows.

"I should have stopped him," Emily said assuredly.

Tony laughed cynically. "You can't protect everyone."

"I sure can try," Emily retorted.

Tony groaned, leaned back, and covered his face with the pillow. He muttered into it in Italian, his left arm folded around the pillow keeping it in place. The other arm madly waved around, gesturing while he spewed out a long tirade no one understood.

The group looked at Tony, at each other, and shrugged.

"We have to tell him," George said certainly to the group.

"He's not ready," Emily shook her head.

"But he could be ready if we help him. If he understood what has happened. What's happening," George argued.

"I don't want to agree, but I agree," Tony said decisively and tossed the pillow across the bed to land on the floor.

"It's the only way he's going to be prepared for what's out there," Tony said. "I'd like him to pack up and go back to his farm in Utah or wherever the hell he's from, and just let him deal with whatever comes after him if anything comes after him. BUT, I know you're not going to let that happen, so best prepare the boy as it's going to be a bumpy ride."

"What's out there wants me, not Jake!" Emily snapped at him.

"Apparently, it wants him now!" Tony snapped back, gesturing towards Jake's room. "I didn't want him here. I still don't. But he deserves to know the truth so he's prepared. If he's not prepared, he's dead. We all know that. Too well."

Emily sat on the floor grabbed the pillow that Tony tossed, and yelled into it.

George put his arm around her. "We won't let him get to Jake or to you, Emily. Or to anyone," George said to her gently.

He glared at Tony for bringing up the past. Emily cried into the pillow. George rubbed her back gently.

"How'd he get in?" Raven asked. "I thought the protections on the house would hold," she said to Emily, frowning in confusion.

Emily looked up and wiped her tears away and took a breath to control herself.

"Jake's dreams are not only his strength, they are also his weakness, especially since he hasn't learned to control them. That... thing got in through the dream. It's mental, not physical. He couldn't maneuver around the house, but he could certainly maneuver around in Jake's head," Emily said angrily, tossing the pillow back on the bed.

She stood up. "I agree we have to tell him. But not everything. Not yet," she said, sitting next to Tony on her bed. "I just can't."

He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her back into his chest in a bear hug. "It'll be alright, sweetheart," he said softly in her ear and kissed her cheek.

"Try to be nicer to him, okay?" Emily said softly to him.

Tony sighed. "I am trying!" Tony protested.

"I know you are," Emily said, pulling away from him. Tony sighed, taking his arm back.

"So, what now, we don't let Jake sleep?" Raven asked, chewing on her bottom lip in worry.

"Cool! All night party!" George said with a grin. He slapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation.

"We can't do that. He needs his sleep. And, so do we. We just stay close to him. I'll put some extra protection on him when he goes to sleep. That should help keep the "bed bugs" away," Emily said, wincing.

"Tony, you're in charge of guarding him at night, since you're up anyway," she instructed him. Tony saluted her.

"How will Tony know when Jake is under the demon's influence?" Ray asked.

"When he starts screaming again," Tony grinned mischievously.

Raven rolled her eyes. "So when do we tell him?" Raven asked.

"Tomorrow night," Emily said with a nod.

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

Jake sat in his bed, sketching in his notebook. He sketched what he saw that night. He didn't know why he did but thought it'd keep it in his mind if it ever happened again.

He was especially afraid of having Emily anywhere near the pool. His dreams were strange, that he knew, but his dreams had come true in the past and there was no way he was going to let Emily drown in the pool.

Jake drew her in the two piece bikini by the side of the pool. Man, she has a great body, Jake thought. He tried to not think how much so, as he drew her.

He turned the page and drew her at the bottom of the pool, eyes gleaming red. He drew her arms which, were pulling him down to the bottom.

There was a knock at the door. Jake quickly shut his notebook and looked up.

Tony stood in the doorway looking uncomfortable.

"You okay?" Tony asked him, leaning an arm against the door frame.

"Fine," Jake answered, wondering why Tony was checking up on him.

"Well... I will be downstairs playing X-box. If you can't sleep and want to come down, I'll play you," he said, backing from the doorway.

"Uh...sure. Maybe. Thanks." Jake forced a smile.

Tony walked out of view, and Jake heard his steps bounding down the stairs.

He turned back to his notebook. This time, on another page, Jake drew the fog wrapped around him and the red eyes glowing at him in hatred.

His chest tightened remembering the experience of drowning. Even though it had been a dream, it had felt very real to him.

Jake felt a presence and looked up. Emily was watching him from the doorway a concerned expression on her face.

He wished he could say something to wipe that look off her face, but he was afraid if he told her about his dreams, his life... well, she'd look at him like everyone else did. Like he was crazy. And, he couldn't stand the thought of her looking at him that way.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, not moving from the doorway.

"It's okay. Come on in," Jake said a little self-conscious that he was laying on his bed only in his sweatpants. He had been told he had a nice chest before, but he hadn't really had much experience with showing it off to anyone.

Emily now had on a knee length yellow robe, which Jake now knew matched the nightgown underneath that she had been wearing when she had run in earlier.

She sat down gently on the bed next to him. "I'm sorry you had such a bad dream," she said to him almost apologetically.

"It's alright. I get a lot of them actually. No big deal. I guess it's just the stress of college, moving away from home to another state, you know..." Jake said, putting the notebook on his nightstand. Far away from her as if it would hurt her to see it.

She nodded, "Well, if you need anything just ask, any of us. We'll be glad to help. We're your friends," Emily said to him.

"Thanks, but I'm fine, really," he assured her again.

She really was sweet being so concerned about him. And, he was glad she already considered them to be friends.

He hoped someday she'd see him as more than a friend. Jake wasn't sure how to go about it, considering they were roommates. He definitely didn't want to mess up his living arrangements but he really liked Emily. She was the most beautiful, sweetest, gentlest human being he'd ever met. He wanted to spend more time with her to get to know her better.

Emily knelt down on the floor in front of him and took his hands into hers.

"Jake, there is no shame in ever asking for help. No matter how stupid it might seem in your mind. We're here for you," she said, looking him deep in the eyes as if it was the most important thing in the world to her.

He squeezed her hand gratefully, "Really, Em, I'm fine. It was really nice of you to say though. And, I'm really glad to have you and everyone here as friends. You've really welcomed me into your home, and I really appreciate it."

Emily quickly leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, as if she was embarrassed doing so. "Sweet dreams," she told him before dashing out of the room.

"I will now," Jake said smiling to the empty doorway.

He put his hand to his cheek, it felt warm and tingly. It quickly spread like fire through his body, warming him all over. He blew out a breath at the intensity of it. He knew he was attracted to Emily, but that was one hell of a reaction to a peck on the cheek.

Jake yawned. All of a sudden he felt extremely tired. Turning onto his side, he stretched to turn off his lamp. He then laid down and went to sleep.

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

"Emily," Tony caught her by the arm in the hall.

He pulled her into the stairway to her room, closing the door behind them. Tony urged her up the stairs and into her room.

"It's too hard," she said, shaking her head when they reached her bed. "I can't do this..." Emily cried, tears streaming down her face.

Tony put his arms around her and brought her into his chest, holding her like he used to.

"You can get through this."

"I'm not strong enough. Jake's not strong enough. None of us are strong enough," she shook her head.

"You are strong enough. You're the strongest person I've ever known. And I've known a lot of people." Tony kissed the top of her head.

"I'm scared, Tony," she tightened her arms around his waist.

He stiffened, "What have you seen, Emily?"

"Just images. I don't know what they are or what they mean yet," she said, shaking her head.

"What kind of images?" he asked gently.

Emily pulled back. "I can't say."

He sighed in frustration.

Emily looked at him apologetically. "You know I can't tell you even if I knew. Things happen for a reason..."

Tony's jaw tightened in anger."So we just let the bad stuff happen? The deaths of our friends? You wouldn't stop that?"

She pulled herself frantically from his arms. "What the hell do you think I'm trying to do, Tony?" she raised her voice in annoyance. "But there's a very fine line with fate and sometimes it just goes where it wants to go no matter how hard you try to stop it."

"This isn't fate!" he snapped. "This is someone or something personally screwing with our lives. We've already lost your parents. And I'm not going to lose you, too! I lost them, I lost..." he trailed off on a choked sob.

"Tony. I'm so sorry," she rushed back into his arms. "Oh, God! You never told me that before!" Tears slid down her face as the images coming off of him played in her mind.

He stepped back. "No! Stay out of my head. You promised..."

"I promised not to purposely read you. I can't help what rolls off you," she put her hand on his arm and he tried to pull away again.

"Shh, it's okay, Antonio," she put a hand to his cheek, wiping away a tear rolled down his face. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Soon for me..." he protested. "Emily, you have no idea how hard life is. How evil life can be. You shouldn't know. Losing your parents ... I hope that's the worst you'll ever know."

She smiled sadly, "And yet I do know. You're not the only one to show me. Don't punish yourself for that, Tony. Don't ever apologize for showing me the truth. And don't hide it from me. I love you for who you are now, and even for who you were then. I need to see the truth. All of it."

He nodded, "I know you do. But, I could never show you everything. Just know it exists and I was part of it."

She ran her hand over his arm soothingly. "It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for that."

"I can't blame anyone else for my past mistakes. They were my choices. They were mine to make, no one else's."

"No matter what I say, you won't change your mind. So...come sit and watch TV with me. At least, until I fall asleep," she pulled him by the hand and led him over to the couch.

"We can watch Vampire Diaries," she added enticingly with a grin as she sat.

"I love you too," he sat down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Tony kissed the top of her head. "Are you sure you don't see us together in the future?"

"I do see us together." Emily smiled up at him, "Forever and always friends."

He sighed, "I guess I can live with that."

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

Jake's alarm pulled him out of a deep, wonderful dream about him and Emily on the beach. He hit the alarm clock and it fell to the floor, bringing his notebook down with it.

The sketch of the thing of fog with red eyes stared up at him and brought last night's events clearly back into Jake's mind. He groaned. He picked up the book and threw it into his backpack.

After showering and dressing, he headed down to the kitchen where wonderful breakfast smells were tickling his taste buds.

Waffles, eggs, sausage and French bread were all sprawled across the table. Everyone was already digging into the huge breakfast. Tony was absent, as he had been the day before.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," Raven called out as he walked in.

"Morning," he nodded to the group and slid into what he thought of as his regular seat.

Tony walked into the room, his sunglasses in place. "Buongiorno."

"Look what the cat drug in," George laughed.

Tony glared at him before reaching for the coffee pot and filling a mug. He sat at the end of the table and started reading the newspaper that had been sitting neatly folded there.

Emily stepped up next to him and rested a hand gently on Tony's shoulder. She leaned over, her long blonde hair partially covered her face. "Would you like something to eat?"

Tony looked up at her and smiled. "No, thanks," he tucked her hair behind her ear. His hand traced her cheek before sliding away. Jake's eyebrows drew together and he tried not to scowl at how easy and comfortable Tony seemed to be at touching her.

Emily nodded. She pushed some of the plates away from Tony's general area.

Jake watched the scene with curiosity. What was the problem with Tony that he barely ate? He wondered. Maybe he had some medical condition. The guy was awfully pale for being Italian, and being an Italian living in the California sunshine.

And Jake had to admit to himself, he was a bit jealous of the close relationship Tony seemed to have with Emily.

Tony grunted and snarled at pretty much everyone but Emily. And she seemed to go out of her way to be nice to him. She often touched him and spoke to Tony softly so that no one else could hear.

Jake was glad for it on one hand because Tony seemed to calm down after talking to her. On the other hand, they seemed closer than Jake wanted them to be.

Emily looked at Jake. It always seemed like she could tell what he was thinking, Jake thought, looking at her. He didn't know if he liked it or not. He didn't want her reading all of his thoughts. She might not like some of them. Especially the ones more of an R rated nature.

"Did you sleep better?" she asked him, concern coming across her face.

"Yeah, I did. Thanks," he said, a bit uncomfortable.

Everyone had seemed to stop their conversation and looked at him as he answered. Jake didn't like that they all now knew that he had nightmares. He was extremely close to them finding out all about his dreams. Jake was afraid of losing them as friends once they found out he was a freak.

"We better get going, guys," Ray told them, picking up his dishes and rushing over to the sink almost as if he'd sensed Jake's concern and had jumped up to get everyone off the subject.

They cleaned up the kitchen and headed out to the garage. George rode with Jake again in the Jeep. Ray took Emily in his green Mustang. Tony roared off on a Harley with Raven on the back seat, her arms about his waist.

Jake followed them down to the college. He hoped, with Raven on the back, that Tony would be careful driving- and he was. Jake was relieved watching them. Tony never went five miles over the speed limit, and he left plenty of room between the motorcycle and Ray's car in front of them. They reached campus and parted ways to their various classes.

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

Later on, Jake got to his parapsychology class early as he'd done the last time. The door was shut instead of open as it had been the previous times. Jake looked through the glass windows. Emily was inside talking with the professor.

Suddenly, Dr. Airheart, or Brian as he had said to call him, put his arms around her and hugged her. She hugged back tightly, her head tucked in between his neck and shoulder. Brian's head leaned against hers, holding her in his arms for much longer than a teacher should.

Emily finally took a step back but kept a hand on Brian's arm as she spoke to him. Brain tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stroked her face.

Jake backed away quickly from the door and decided to go get a soda, down the hall, from the vending machines. That was something he didn't want to see.
Was there something going on between Emily and Brian?!

Jake was sure Emily wouldn't want to be seen accepting a hug from a teacher. Even if it was innocent, it wasn't appropriate. The scene disturbed him. It looked intimate and Jake felt sick to his stomach.

He stationed himself at a chair and small table where he had a good vantage point of seeing the classroom door. He'd try to stop anyone from going in. Whatever was going on, he didn't want anyone else to see it.

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

"Don't worry, Emily. Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart," Brian told her with another hug.

"I hope so," she answered with a weary sigh.

"So, you're telling him tonight?" he asked, holding her two hands.

"Yeah. We figured it's probably his best defense. The sooner he grasps who he really is, the better for him," Emily said, pulling her hands out of his, and rubbed her arms in her own comfort.

"I agree. Are you going to tell him everything?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Enough. For now. I don't think he's ready for everything," she answered, starting to pace the floor.

"Do you need me there?" Brian asked, leaning against the desk in his lecture mode.

"No. I don't think so," Emily shook her head indecisively. "We'll pull you in later if we need to," she told him, coming to a stop in her pacing to stand again in front of him.

"Alright. But don't hesitate to call me if you need me," he said, putting both of his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently.

"You know we won't," Emily said to him, stepping forward into his chest to give him another hug. Brian wrapped his arms around her.

A tear slid down her face. She put her face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in. Emily loved the smell of him. Brian smelled like home. She felt safe and protected. More tears fell and he tightened his hold on her.

"Hey, don't cry now..." Brian said soothingly. Which, of course, had her crying more. "It's going to be okay, Em, I promise you."

She stepped back, putting her hand on his arm. "Don't make promises that you can't keep."

"Oh, Em," he sighed, moving a piece of hair away from her face that had gotten stuck to her tear stained face. Brian wiped the tears from her face.

"You have to trust in yourself and your friends. You'll find a way. We'll find a way."

Emily took a deep breath and nodded.

Brian smiled reassuringly. "That's my girl," he murmured and wiped the tears from her cheeks again.

"You're a lot stronger than you think you are. You need to believe in yourself. You can do anything that you set your mind to do.

She forced a smile and then wiped at her face. "Can you tell I've been crying?"

Brian shook his head."You look beautiful."

"That wasn't an answer, Brian," Emily said, wiping her eyes again.

"Yeah, I know," he said and winced teasingly.

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood and she appreciated it.

Emily stuck out her tongue at him and then dug in her purse for a mirror. She fixed her face with some makeup from her purse and turned back to look at Brian, who was falling asleep standing.

"Wake up."

He groaned, rubbed his eyes, then looked around his desk. "Hey! Where's my coffee?" Brian asked her with a pout.

Emily laughed. "I'll go get you one, you big baby," she said, moving towards the door.

She turned back, "Hey, um, can you get away on Sunday? I know I said last time that I didn't want to anymore, but... I miss it. I miss you. I'm sorry that I was mad at you. It was stupid. I want to spend more time with you, I do. It's just...hard sometimes..."

Brian pulled her to him, hugging her tightly again, "And I miss you, too. Definitely. Sunday."

"I'll be back in a minute with your coffee," Emily said, pulling back, smiling at him.

"Thanks," Brian said, grinning. "And Em?" He called as she crossed the room. Emily looked back. "Things will turn around for the better. We just have to get through the bad first."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Have I ever been wrong?"

Emily shook her head and left the room. She hoped Brian wouldn't be wrong this time. He may be powerful, but he wasn't perfect. No one was. And even with future telling abilities, no one could accurately predict the future. The future changed anytime anyone made a choice. It could go any way, at any moment.

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

Emily headed down to the vending machines. Other students from the class were munching on some snacks and sodas as they hung out waiting for class to begin.

Jake looked up from the small table he sat at. "Hey," he said to Emily, looking up from the book that he was reading.

"Hi, Jake," she said, putting some money in the coffee machine. She concentrated on her task rather than staring at Jake. He'd made the choice to come to California. Emily had hoped with everything in her that he would. She'd seen the future with and without Jake in it, and having him in it was so much more preferable.

Jake looked at his watch. "Almost time for class," he said to her.

"Yeah," Emily replied, leaning against the machine waiting for the coffee to slowly pour into the cup. She rubbed her forehead as if it were tense.

"Is that for Brian?" Jake asked her curiously.

"Yeah," she answered with a frown.

"Why is it that you've been getting him coffee?" Jake asked.

"Because he needs it," Emily replied, taking the cup out of the vending machine.

"I need chocolate cake," Jake said to her with a big smile that made his dimples pop out.

She smiled back. "If you behave, maybe I'll make you one," she replied, putting the top on the cup.

"Me? I'm a good boy. It's my curse," he said, getting up.

Emily looked at him in surprise, "Not a curse, Jake. It's a very good quality."

"I don't know about that. It hasn't done much good for me," he said as they walked down the hall to the class.

"Hasn't it?" she asked when they reached the doorway. 

Jake didn't have a chance to answer, as more of the class came through the door.

Emily put the cup on Brian's desk and sat down in her seat.

"Well, today's the last day for the movie, kiddies," Brian said, popping in the tape. "I want a paper written for Monday's class of your thoughts of the film and what you think could be possible or impossible."

"How do you prove one way or another?" a girl asked.

"This class is not necessarily about proving what is and what isn't. Only showing what you think could be possible and why," Brian answered. "All I want is your thoughts on the matter. We'll work on finding some proof to your theories later."

Jake watched the movie with not much interest as he'd already seen it about a hundred times. He watched as Emily watched it. Jake watched how the light from the TV flickered across her face. How it lit up the gold in her hair. She studiously took some notes every once in awhile.

Jake looked at his other roommates as well. Raven watched the movie particularly uninterested. She yawned. Raven turned to look at him when she felt Jake looking at her. She smiled and yawned again and then went back to watching the movie.

George and Ray were like Emily, watching the movie studiously, and were taking notes. Jake couldn't make out if Tony was watching or not, as he still had his shades on. His arms were crossed along the front of his black tee-shirt. His large biceps peeked out from the sleeves.

He's probably sleeping, Jake thought.

Brian was pacing the room, either out of boredom or checking to see that they weren't actually sleeping. Jake watched in amusement as Brian kicked Tony's chair as he walked past him, and Tony jumped in his seat.

Scowling at Brian, Tony then turned his attention towards the television.

Jake went back to watching the movie and opened his notebook to take a few notes. His sketches from the previous night greeted him.

Jake felt Brian walk near him, and he quickly moved his hand to turn the page. Brian stopped Jake's hand, held the page down with his own hand, and looked at the picture.

Jake looked at Brian's face. His face was straight and was concentrated on the picture of Jake being surrounded by the fog monster.

After what seemed to Jake an eternity, Brian turned the page to the next clean page. He walked back to his desk and sat down as if nothing had happened.

Jake sighed. He hoped that Brian hadn't thought that he was drawing in class. He didn't want to get in trouble, as he often did in high school. Yet, Brian hadn't said a word to him about it.

Even when the class was let out, Brian didn't ask him to stay, as many teachers had his entire life, to give him a lecture on paying attention in class.

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

That night, Jake put on some jeans and a navy-blue collared shirt for going out to the movies with his roommates. They all piled into a black SUV which Tony drove.

Tony was in his usual attire of black jeans and a black T-shirt with a black leather jacket. He wore his sunglasses though it was dark out.

Emily sat in the front passenger seat, next to Tony, wearing white Capri pants and a green shirt that crisscrossed across her chest.

Raven sat next to Jake, in some super tight black jeans and a red off the shoulder halter top. George and Ray sat behind Jake and Raven in jeans and tee shirts. They were ready to hit the town.

Arriving at the movie theater, they got some looks and whispers when they all got out of the car together.

Jake heard one old woman whisper to another "Witch Hill".

Tony pulled down his shades to give her an evil look, and it made them jump back. Tony grinned triumphantly at Jake.

"Be nice," Emily said, elbowing Tony in the rib-cage.

She sent a concerned look over to Jake, but then Raven grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear.

"What's that all about?" Jake asked Ray.

Ray flicked a glance to the others. He shook his head, "Later," he told Jake, and then reached to open the front doors to the theater.

Jake was a little stunned by the fact that whenever their group walked people parted, opening a large space for them to pass. It was unlike the treatment Jake received in Iowa when people crossed the street to avoid crossing his path.

Here, with his new friends, it was like people admired them, they treated them almost like rock stars, or royalty or something. People spoke in whispers, staring at the group in awe as they passed.

Jake looked to his companions. They were a good looking bunch. Emily, Raven, and Tony could easily be fashion models. Even George and Ray had an Abercrombie and Fitch likeness about them. It was no wonder people stopped to stare. They probably thought they were models.

And Jake wasn't humble enough to say he wasn't something to look at in appreciation himself. His days working the farm gave him a strong, muscular body. He sported a six pack and well-defined biceps under his shirt. And he inherited a handsome face from somewhere. He never had trouble getting girls to look. It was the getting them to stick around part that was his problem.

They sat in the back of the theater. Jake sat comfortably between Raven and Emily, setting a tub of popcorn between his thighs so they could all share.

Tony sat on the other side of Emily, and George and Ray sat on the other side of Raven, munching on candy. They passed over some bags of candy and Raven dug in, passing it on to him.

Jake felt like he had been friends with them forever. It was great going out to the movies with an actual group of friends. He felt welcome. He felt as if he were already an established member of the group. For the first time in his life, Jake was truly happy.

Emily looked at him and smiled. He smiled back thrilled she was there with him.

"Twizzler?" he asked, holding the bag out to her.

They all played the pre-movie trivia. Tony was surprisingly good at it, stumping even Jake, who prided himself on knowing movies and TV shows.

The movie was a really good comedy, and they laughed the whole time. Then they laughed all the way home with everyone talking back and forth and over each other. He had a great time. The best of his life.

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

When they returned home, entering through the kitchen side door, it seemed like everyone suddenly turned quiet and intense. As if, suddenly they weren't having fun anymore. There was an uncomfortable silence that troubled him.

"Let's go in the living room," Emily said to them in a commanding voice.

He followed the group. Emily went in and turned on the lights. They sprawled out on the couch and the armchairs. Jake took one of the plush armchairs which he sunk into. He felt like he could sleep all night in it.

"Jake, we have something we'd like to talk to you about," Emily said to him from her seat next to him on the couch.

"Is this one of those emergency meetings about rules?" he asked with a frown.

"No," she answered hesitantly, "We want to talk to you about your dreams," she said gently.

"You guys," Jake sighed in frustration. It always came back to his dreams. "I'm fine. Really. I have bad dreams sometimes. Everyone does," he told them anxiously.

"Not like yours," Raven said ominously.

Jake was startled by her keen observation. "What do you mean?" Jake stammered nervously.

"Jake, have you ever wondered why your dreams come true?" George asked him as if he was asking if he ever wondered why the sky was blue.

Jake stared at him in shock.

"We know that they do, Jake. You don't have to be afraid of telling us," Emily said gently.

Jake didn't answer.

"I'll go first," Raven said, jumping up out of her chair with a grin. "I don't care," she told the group at their surprised looks. "Really," she said, pushing up her sleeves.

Raven got a candlestick from the dining room and put it on the glass coffee table. "Watch this," she said to Jake with a smile, her eyes twinkling excitedly.

Raven put her hands up, palms facing the candle. She stared at the candle intensely and the candle suddenly lit.

Jake jumped in his chair. "How the hell did you do that?!" he demanded in confusion.

"Magic," Raven shrugged nonchalantly and grinned.

"Magic," Jake repeated flabbergasted. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Hey, how 'bout this?" Ray said, and the candlestick lifted up from the table and flew straight into Ray's open hand. He blew out the flame with a pleased smile.

"Okay. Uh, good joke, you guys," Jake said nervously and stood up weakly from his chair.

Emily stepped in front of him. "It's not a joke, Jake," she said to him seriously. "You know we speak the truth," he heard her voice in his mind.

Jake froze. "How'd you do that?" he asked in an almost whisper, completely bewildered.

"It's one of my gifts. I can read minds and put my thoughts into other people's minds," she explained as it was an ordinary thing. "I'm telepathic," Emily continued when he didn't respond.

Jake shook his head as if doing so would clear it or make sense of things. "And you?" He asked George, almost accusingly, and sat down with a heavy thump back in his seat.

"It's similar to Raven's. Elemental in a lot of ways. Anything that is related to nature, I can manipulate, like the weather. Raven can too. I can also communicate with animals, which is really cool," George explained, "Plants and flowers don't like me much though," he said with a puzzled frown.

"That's because you don't like to get your hands dirty," Raven said to him. "And the weeds hate everybody."

George shrugged in response.

Jake stared at him trying to grasp all that was being said. "And you?" Jake asked Tony.

"I'm nothing like any of you," he said, pacing the floor his lip curling as if in disgust. For himself or for everyone else, Jake wasn't sure.

"Tell him, Tony," Emily said firmly.

"I think he already knows," Tony told her amused.

He knelt next to Jake on the floor and looked straight into Jake's eyes. "What am I, Jake?" Tony demanded, his hard, cold, like ice, eyes challenging Jake to respond.

"I don't know, Tony," Jake answered, fighting his urge to look away from Tony's eyes. They had turned from his normal light amber, golden brown color to now almost black. Jake could hardly tell where Tony's pupils were, they were so dark.

"You're not using your gift, Jake," Tony scolded him. "If you knew how to use it, you could tell anything about anybody. But instead, you hide it. So it uses you instead," Tony said, tapping a finger into Jake's chest angrily.

"Tony, stop!" Emily protested, an annoyed scowl on her face.

Tony ignored her. "What am I, Jake?" he asked Jake again. His arms grasped the arms of Jake's chair and trapped him in.

Jake didn't answer.

"Let me help you," Tony said, leaning in closer and more threatening. "I don't eat. I don't come out in the day, and when I do, I avoid the sun. I prefer darkness to light. What am I?" He said it as if it were a riddle, yet it was menacing at the same time.

"You sound like a vampire," Jake told him in a quiet voice, trapped physically by Tony's arms, and trapped by those eyes that seemed to grasp him down to his very soul.

"That's my boy," Tony laughed happily, slapping him on the knee and grinned. Jake noticed Tony's eyes suddenly changed back to his normal light brown.

"See! Tough love!" He walked past Emily and squeezed her shoulder.

Jake didn't know what to make of that, and he wasn't sure he wanted to figure it out. "So, what you guys are saying is that we're all 'paranormal'?" Jake said, searching for the best word.

"Basically, yes," Emily answered, offering a comforting smile.

Jake laughed. "This is crazy!" He declared, covering his face with his hands, and rubbed his face in disbelief. He wanted to believe it was true because that would explain so much about what he'd gone through his whole life. He'd finally have an answer.

But he couldn't believe it was true. For so long he'd been the outcast, the freak. There was no explanation. Jake was just not like everyone else and everyone knew it.

If his new friends were like him, he wouldn't be an outcast anymore, and Jake really didn't know what that was like...until now. Maybe. Unless it was one big joke.

Emily sat in front of him. "It is true, Jake," she pulled his hands away from his face. "I'll tell you something that will convince you that it is true if you think you can handle it," she said, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Go ahead," Jake answered, because no matter what, even if it was a joke, he couldn't deny her anything.

"You were in my house. The night my parents died. The night of the fire," Emily told him, her voice nearly a whisper.

"Fire?" Jake asked puzzled.

"The fire," she raised her voice to emphasize there was no other fire but the one for him to recall.

"You remember. Last year, you were in my house. There was fire everywhere. Tony was carrying me out. I saw you there, Jake. I called out to you, for you to get out," Emily explained in an even voice as it hurt to get the words out.

Jake looked studied her face. There was no way that this could be a joke. No one knew of that dream. "That was you?!" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Emily answered without hesitation.

"But how could I have been in your house? I live in Iowa," he said, not understanding.

"When we're dreaming we're only partially physical. The part that keeps us breathing and our heart beating. Our mind and spirit can travel outside of the body."

"You picked up something that night and you came to my house. Just like all your other dreams, you travel in your mind to other places and even other times. You can pick out what's wrong. And I know you even try to make things right when you can," Emily said, holding his hands.

"This is real?" Jake asked her, desperately fighting back tears.

"It is. I promise you it's not a joke. It's all very real," she told him.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Jake asked them, looking around at the others that had remained quiet while Emily spoke to him.

"Because you should know who you are and what you can do, Jake," Emily answered firmly.

"Who am I?" Jake asked. It was the one question he kept asking himself his entire life.

"That's for you to answer," Emily said to him, adding to his frustration.

Jake wanted an answer, and he thought finally someone could tell him.

"But we can help you uncover what your true powers are," George spoke up.

"How do you know all this about me? About my dreams?" Jake asked confused. "Did you read my mind?"

Emily shook her head. "I try to respect people's privacy. I don't purposely try to read someone unless it's really important. Other times, things about that person just blast at me like a stereo playing. But also, one of my gifts is that I can tell some things about a person's past, present and future. I get...messages ...visions, feelings. I see things that happen. It's difficult to explain."

"We call Emily a guardian," Ray told him. "She uses what she sees or feels to help people."

"What do you call yourselves? What are we?" Jake asked.

Ray shrugged, "No one really knows. There are a lot of theories. We use the term witches just to keep it in simple terms."

"Witches? Seriously? I'm a witch?" Jake asked, surprised.

Yet, he turned the word over in his mind. It didn't bother him. In fact, he felt comforted to have a name to put to it.

Jake glanced at Emily, who was watching him in concern. "There was this... thing in your house that night, Emily," Jake told her urgently. He needed to warn her. And he finally didn't feel afraid to tell someone about what he saw. They were like him.

"I know," Emily said quietly."It killed my parents," she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Emily," Jake said urgently, touching her shoulder truly concerned. "It was here the other night. In my dream. It was here," he said in warning.

"We know. It's okay," Raven answered him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You know?" Jake asked bewildered.

"It can't physically get in. But it got in through your dream," Emily explained to him.

"Will it hurt us?" Jake asked concerned.

"Not if we can help it," Tony said, pouring a glass of wine for himself.

"Should you be drinking that?" Jake asked him.

"I can digest," Tony answered in explanation, taking a sip. "Besides, I'm over the legal age," he said with a grin.

"How old are you anyway?" Jake asked curiously.

Tony sat on the couch between George and Emily. "Permanently twenty-four," he said jokingly and threw one arm around Emily.

She sent Tony a look.

His face turned serious. "I lost track. A few hundred," he said with a shrug.

"A few hundred!" Jake repeated in shock.

"More or less. Time runs together. And you lose track after a while," he said, taking another sip.

"So you've seen all these major events in history," Jake said to him. "All the wars, the American Revolution? The Civil War?!"

Tony shrugged. "Not that big of a deal when you're living it. It was war."

"I guess so," Jake answered with an understanding nod.

"So what now?" Jake asked them.

"You need to watch your back for the demon for one," Raven said.

"Demon?!" Jake nearly came out of his chair again. He sat back down. "God. Is that what that thing is?!"

"Our best guess, anyway," Ray said with a shrug.

George spoke up, "Our research points in that direction. But since there's no one to ask that actually knows..."

Emily cleared her throat, turning his attention to her. "We'll get back to that later. Look, Jake, you need to try to accept your dreams as a gift and not a curse," Emily said to him, unraveling herself from under Tony's arm.

"We've all been in the same boat that you are in. We are still in that boat. We understand what you're going through and we're here to help you. But you also need to help yourself. And the best way to do that is to accept who you are, the way you are."

Jake blew out a long breath."I'll work on it."

"We'll see what else you can do with your gift," Emily said.

"How can we do that?" Jake asked.

"We do some tests," George offered.

"Tests?" Jake asked, frowning.

"Yeah. You know, like in the movies they show the physic reading what's on the side of the card they can't see. Stuff like that," George said excitedly.

"Whatever, yes, I'll do whatever you want to figure this thing out," Jake said, laughing, still not believing any of this is happening. That they were like him, they understood him, they accepted him.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Emily said, looking around at the others.

Jake looked at her in surprise.

"You can ask us anything, anytime, Jake," she said compassionately. She reached over and squeezed his hand. "We're not going anywhere."

"Yeah, let's hit the hay," George said, yawning and stretching. "I'm beat."

Tony kissed Emily on the cheek and left the room. He opened the door to the basement and shut the door behind him.

Raven got up, took the candlestick from Ray and put it back on the table. "Night, Jake," she said and kissed his cheek. "Everything will be okay. You got us in your corner now, kiddo," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly in comfort and understanding.

"Night, Raven," he said blushing at her kiss, and her attention, as she walked away.

"You okay?" Emily asked softly.

Jake laughed then nodded, "It's a lot to take in, but yeah, I'm okay," he said thoughtfully.

"We're here for you, Jake. Just ask if you have any questions. We want to help you."

"I know," Jake said, giving her a friendly smile. "I appreciate it. I'm ...glad there are other people like me...that you're like me."

Emily took his hand and squeezed it. "We're glad too," she said, and she released his hand to his disappointment. "Sweet dreams," she said firmly and kissed his cheek.

She followed Raven, who had waited for her, outside the room.

"I'm not kissing you, man," George said with a laugh as he got up.

"Me either," Ray said with an exaggerated shudder, getting up as well. "I mean, I like you. But not that much."

"Night, guys," Jake said, laughing and got up to follow them upstairs.

Jake slept soundly that night. He dreamed of his new friends all telling him over and over that he wasn't strange like his whole town had always thought of him. He was actually normal in their eyes. Paranormal that is. Just like them.