A thousand hammers banging a million nails into her head. That was what it felt like when Leah woke up to the sound of her own weeping. Loud thumping pierced her skull as a sweat storm drizzled down her forehead. Her chest felt close to concaving to the point where she was convinced she'd really been trampled on.

The world around her was a muffled ball of background noise and voices, none of which she could make out. All she knew was she was alive, or barely hanging on.

In darkness, the muscles in her body seemed to slowly come back to life. Each one revived, seemed to instantly grow sore. The painful awakening brought her to the reminder of what had happened, or at least what she could recall.

The snakes had made a guest appearance on the porch, and under her clothes. There were no boundaries after all, they'd do as they pleased. And Simon, she flashed back to his expression and words; he swore he wasn't in control of her torture. He had in fact been inviting them to come inside when she flew past him, snakes on her skin. But that was the last thing she remembered- cold slimy snakes.

Leah throbbed. The voices around her began to morph into one, and then it became clear they weren't speaking English. The tongue of the Tamanaka sprung into her ears.

Her body tingled, sparks traveling across every inch of her flesh. She needed to know what was going on. The longer the darkness veiled her, the more her mind tried to rekindle her nightmare. Her chest tightened. It had been a dream right?

Of course it was, stupid.

How else could she have seen what she'd seen? It was impossible. It was also intensely horrifying. Those glazed eyes were full of so much of the past and yet there was no life behind them. They were the eyes that would haunt her forever.

Leah heaved all the effort she could and tried to turn her head. And then very slowly she opened her eyes.

Though it wasn't bright, the light still hurt her pupils. She part her lips, running her tongue over them before swallowing to coat her dry throat. "What's going on?"

The voices stopped and the background noise slowly faded until she heard him.

"Leah," strong hands caressed the side of her face before a blurry face looked down at her. "She's awake."

"My head hurts."

She blinked harshly and finally focused on Daniel peering down with furrowed brows. He ran her hair away from her face, "Welcome back."

"What happened?"

He bit his lip and turned to someone behind him. Leah watched her vision fully restore before she tried to sit up. Dizzy, she fell back on an elbow and rubbed her head, fingers wiping over a bandage on her forehead. Well that hurts like a bitch.

She winced and focused over his shoulder, where Simon was kneeling down, "Well, what happened?"

He stood and wiped his hands on his pants. A serious expression bound to his face. "The puppets of the craft were here. Those snakes," he inhaled sharply, "They were everywhere and on you. You were running from them when you tripped and fell, and you cracked your head."

It made perfect sense and brought her back. She had in fact fallen, but obviously knocked out after the impact. Leah pushed herself up and slumped forwards still sore, "Well that explains a lot. Is it serious?"

Daniel switched his position and sat beside her on the couch, "We were able to stop the bleeding fairly quick. Simon here sealed it with aloe ash so you won't need stitches."

She gazed at the man with dark hair and guardian bracelets on his wrists. Though she still felt unsure about him, she did feel a twang of gratitude towards his actions. "Thank you."

He smiled minutely. "You are most welcome, dear. But while I am glad you're okay, I have to say it seems as though this crafting is growing demanding of your peace," he flicked on a table lamp and sighed, "I've never seen something so hungry for life in my entire days."

"Hungry for life?"

"Yes," he nodded, "Usually people don't want to take anything out of any dark crafting book, it's risky. Especially that one, which by the way I did not check out. It appears as though this person is careless and very hell bent on your torment."

Torment.

She was being stalked and tortured. Leah wrapped her arms around her body, "I don't know what to make of this anymore. No offense, but if you really aren't behind this then I don't know what's going on."

"None taken. And I can understand that, but do you know of anyone who would try to hurt you?"

There goes that God awful question. Third times a charm. If the stranger who gave her the chills wasn't behind it, she truly had no clue as to who it could be. Since she'd moved to Channing, she kept her circle small and going over each person in it, none of them could be responsible.

Her mother's eyes teased her.

Leah shook her head, dumping the nightmare out her ears, "I dont know." She choked on the very words she spoke.

Daniel put his arm around her, "Hey I told you we were going to figure this out. It's gotta come to light eventually."

"When?" She spun her head to him, "When I'm a second away from death and it doesn't matter anymore? I don't want to run from this my entire life."

She'd spent years running from her past until she was old enough to leave it all behind her. The last thing she wanted to do was donate the rest of her adult years trying to escape evil. Less than a week had presented her with exhaustion and trepidation. Her soul ached, nothing was ever as it should have been and her anxiety was the worse it had been in so long. Enough was enough- but now she was faced with a blank wall and no ideas of how to continue.

Daniel kept his arm sturdy, "It's going to be alright, Leah."

Her body shook, "I can't do this. I've been through enough and this is just... this is just too much."

"I promised you."

"How can you promise something like that? We have nothing to work with!" She jumped from the couch and glanced at them both, "This is a lost cause."

Simon interrupted her, "Not necessarily. I know you probably don't want to hear this but in time, I can help you."

"I-I don't have time."

"Oh but you do, you have your whole life ahead of you," he met her stance and perked his lips at the corner, "We are fierce, our tribe, we can conquer anything."

"How are you going to help me?"

"The same way I found you," his hand sunk into his pocket before showing off one of the prettiest things in a whirling mess. It was a small woven circle, similar to a dream catcher. Beads and stones were threaded around it but in the very center there was a small mirror. They called it a Soul Map. The story behind it was any medicine man or guardian could hunt a troubled soul down with it. It could also reveal stories of the past and future, or so it was told.

"A soul map?" Daniel asked.

Leah gawked at it spinning from his hand, "That's how you found me?"

Simon nodded, "Yes sir. You see, some odd nights ago I was drawn to it and when I peeked inside, this dreadful story reflected from it, a soul was being hunted not just by a present evil, but by the past as well." He met eyes with Leah, "It was you."

She remembered a time when she wondered how much he knew about her; and if he knew about her secrets. Seeing the soul map in front of her and hearing it had manifested her troubles, it made her rethink the question. Did he?

Wetting her lips again she crossed her arms, "W-What did you see?"

He frowned at her, almost as if to say he was aware of her story, "A lot." His hands cradled the piece, "But I knew I had to begin a duty of protection and as a guardian I am keeping my word."

"How's it going to help me?"

"Well I can see your past journey and future. When something or someone tries to interfere, I can see it here. This is how I have managed to keep you alive thus far. This is how I will find who is behind this sooner or later."

"You can see them in it?"

"Soon. Besides your struggle I have only seen a black figure with no face and no form. Sound familiar?"

She gulped, "Yes."

"They will be revealed, Leah. And then the hunt will be on," Simon reached out a hand slowly and rest it on her shoulder, "I just need you to hold on until then."

They exchanged looks neither one of them could explain, but as the pause ended he leaned forwards and whispered something in her ear. It hurt to hear it, even though it answered her question. "You have to do this, do it for your father. He never blamed you, you should know that."

Her heart skipped a beat. He did know.

She backed away and looked into his eyes, tears welling up like diamonds against the greenest background. Leah felt goosebumps cover her arms as she shook her head. She could do it, she just didn't want to. But if two people she barely knew weren't going to give up on her, it was only befitting that she didn't give up either.

She nodded, "Okay."

Simon gestured to the curious Chituweh, the one with compassion in his eyes, "And you?"

Daniel walked up and put his hand on the small of her back, "I'm not going anywhere."