Edie was dead. She must be.

So how come she opened her eyes and found herself in a wooded glade? A barren and freezing one at that.

Laurie was there, were they both dead?

Laurie rubbed her ribs and winced, looking around frantically.

"The boys!" Laurie startled, "where are my sons?"

"Safe," said a female voice, "no time passes in the Winter Court, nor ever will."

"This is the Winter Box?" Edie said, "I thought there would be something inside to defeat evil?"

Another voice answered, "that is the problem with the living, if it is not physically present then it does not exist." It was a male this time. The one that had spoken to Edie.

"Oh do close your mouth, Matthias, these women were wise to summon us."

"I was merely stating a fact Anna."

Edie gave the area in which she thought the spirits were a look, "You're Anna Stitchwell?"

"I am, or the spirit of her is. There is no time to waste."

"I thought there was no time here?" Edie said.

"No time here, for you, time is running out," the spirit Matthias said, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, "hold your sister's hand and look into the darkness."

Edie did as the spirit told, grabbing her sister's hand trembling. She felt as light as air. It was not hard to find the darkness.

It flowed from her neck to right in front of her. True black, no light shone out of it.

Except a tiny spark of blue. Sol.

"I bind you!" The voices chanted, "say it! I bind you! I bind you, I-"

"Wait!" Edie whispered, "I can get him." Reaching out she grabbed the spark from the dark, it pulled at her grabbing her . She would fall in... She was pulled back. "Dear girl you are a fool!" Matthias said, "do you have the soul?"

Edie opened her hand, there it was.

"I hope you know what you have let yourself in for, but kin is kin after all, even if it is impossible to explain. Now, chant!"

"I bind you!" Edie shouted, ivy crept up around the darkness, enveloping it, "I bind you, I bind you!" They all chanted, even as the darkness screamed as it was smothered by the ivy.

"Just keep chanting. I bind you , I bind you, I bind you.

There was another blinding flash and then it went black.

********

"I bind you, I bind you, I bind you, I-" Edie uttered the words as if they were the very thing keeping her alive, maybe they were. She had to keep the vines from engulfing them, stop the Entity, whoever the hell it was. She smelt the coppery tang of blood, with a hint of coffee and acrid smoke.

Laurie's house. She must be back, the sense of smell was always the last to return.

She opened her eyes, it was her sister's house, though not as it had been. It was chilly and damp, she lifted her head to get a closer look.

Strong hands held her down, "I'd stay still, love, if I were you, you've been in the wars a bit."

Slowly the events of the night trickled in, "Sam, Lin, Laurie? Are they alright?" She did not mention the others, she didn't want to know or did she?

The man who held her said something about taking her to hospital but she slipped out of consciousness. When she regained it a moment later, someone had strapped her into a stretcher with a neck brace. Laurie was holding her hand and three worried faces looked at her. Thank goddess her nephews were ok, Edie tried to stick her thumb up in a gesture that she was alright. Finding it an effort she gave up and flashed a weak half smile.

Being conscious was too much, the last thing she remembered was hearing an argument about whether to take her to hospital or Riverside. She didn't care about anything except oblivion.