The waters that were the night were whirling around her as Leah sat barely alert on the edge of the couch. What she had seen, who she said seen was one of the biggest shocks since it all began. It left her spirit digging for answers she wasn't sure she wanted. The ensemble of confusion she wore weighed her down as she fell further into thought.

Her nightmares had gone from snakes to figures to her late mother, and now her brothers face was placed upon who had been sentencing her. It had been so long since she'd seen her older brother, Derek.

The entirety of their relationship was simple and not very close. Being years apart, most of their contact was fighting over juvenile things or purposely trying to ignore the other. They didn't have an unbreakable bond some siblings were lucky to have, and the gap between them always left her wondering why.

After the accident, they were pushed even further apart. But Leah had grown distant from everyone at that point and she didn't have the time to try to mend an already incomplete relationship.

Did that have something to do with her dream? Had her subconscious pulled faces from her past to include in the dark crafted nightmares or was there something she was missing?

Deep inside Leah, there were walls around walls surrounding secrets she never wished to discuss nor rekindle their origins. Had it come time to dig them up?

Anything is possible now.

Daniel sat beside her, taking her mind back to her living room. He rest his hand on her knee, "I put some tea on the stove for you."

She nodded her head, "Thank you."

He stared into her with a deep lingering worry in his eyes, "You're not all the way here, are you?"

His question pulled her closer. Leah wet her lips and raked a hand through her hair, "Is it that obvious?"

"To me. You just look so... gone."
I wish I was. She tilted her head allowing her hair to fall past her shoulder, rushing below her breast, "I'm so lost right now, I don't think having a map could help me."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know if it will matter, nothing is going to change until this is all over with."

"Yeah but it might make you feel better."

"Doubt it."

"Don't," he grabbed her hand, "Try me."

Behind her glazed eyes, she yearned to talk to him until everything locked inside of her head was spoken into the night. There was such a longing to be relieved of the pressure of keeping things in the cellar of her soul.

They had come such a long way in such a short time. He seemed so kind and selfless; so warm and inviting. If it felt good just having him around, how wonderful would it be to dive in and not come up for air until her cripple soul was relieved?

Leah sighed, eyeing his hand holding hers. He was raised to be a good man. Good men didnt belong beside a basket case, abandoning their good lives to save someone who might not be able to be saved. She swallowed in guilt, "I... I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"Its too much," her hand broke free of his grasp and she looked away, "This is all too much."

"What do you mean?" There was a hint of hurt in his voice that swirled into her ears. She leaned forwards and tucked her head into her palms, "Im sorry. "

"Why?" He inched to the edge of the couch when she didn't reply, "Why are you apologizing Leah?"

Her eyes were wet, mind racing between the man in her dreams and the man beside her. Two very different emotions rolled around in her stomach, fighting for spotlight. The fear and the frustration it brought would determine the rest of her life.

And then there was the admiration for the man who made her feel something she had never experienced before. She felt safe, like she actually mattered. He didn't make her feel like a pawn in a game, he made her feel like a person.

Focusing on just him would surely never solve anything. She had been sidetracked from what could end her life because of a charming man who she wanted to be in her life. But there would be nothing to include him in if she didn't solve the case.

Leah rose her head, "Because my life is in danger and I, I don't want to drag you in any further."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Daniel all of this goes further than I can explain. This is happening to me for a reason and I don't want you to sit here being nice to me when I need to focus."

"I thought I was helping you?"

"I thought so too but..." she stood up and walked around her coffee table. What exactly was she supposed to say that would make him understand without pushing him away?

Daniel Stood Up, "But what?"

"You're being nice to me is a distraction. I can't solve this as long as my head is wrapped around you."

"I'm sorry?"

She groaned, a flushing irritability cloaking her skin suddenly, "You're too nice!"

He scoffed, "Once again you're the only one complaining about it."

"Because I'm the only one who might get killed if I fall for it!"

The den went silent, but flames were slowly stretching from the floor. What she'd just said was a pure accusation that he was going to cause her demise- purposely. She didn't mean for it to come out that way, but the fact that it did heated her face up.

And Daniel was stung by it. He turned his head, scratching his forehead before returning to her with eyes affected by the statement. "So you're basically saying my kindness, my being here- is going to get you killed?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

"But it's what you said."

"I didn't mean it like that, I just-"

"You just called who I am and what I try to do for people, for you, a trap."

Leah combed her hair with shaky fingers, "It's just so hard to try to focus on what's important with you being so nice to me."

"I'm being nice to you because I want to help you. I've been spending my time and energy trying to make this as easy for you and youre..." he growled under his breath and turned away.

She crossed her arms, "I'm what?"

Daniel cocked his head towards her in an odd fashion, "You're being selfish."

Her eyes dropped loads of tears instantly, "I am not."

His eyes darkened turning black as an abyss, face stern and voice raspy and angry. "You are," he turned his body and let his arms hang at his side, "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You caused this, all of it, and yet you play the victim."

Something in the air changed, a tensions so thick a razor couldn't burst it. "And now... you will truly feel what it's like to be a victim. You will have no one."

Leah's chest quivered, "W-what are-"

"Bleed for me native slave!" A dark, repressing voice roared from the pit of his chest as Daniel bore soulless eyes into hers. Right in front of her eyes, he began to transform until his cheeks were bony and a black robe appeared over his body.

Her heart sank, legs vibrating beneath her weight. Scared and nauseous, Leah bolted from her spot in the den and with wide eyes headed for the door. Without looking back she ripped it open, flying out into what she thought was cold air.

But instead it was him again.

She screamed when her body slammed into his and swung her arms fighting off a gravitational pull, before lunging her body away. Legs moving quick, bare feet hitting the icy ground she fled with her own home behind her. She didn't know where she was going but she knew she had to get away.

Tears rained from her eyes like they never had before. She was hurt when she didn't think she could feel any more pain. There is no saving me.

Her body moved forwards at lightning speed before the world seemed to tip and send her into a space between houses. It was dark and lush, a way she would have never run before. Slamming over leaves, hair whipping behind her head, Leah dove into darkness.

Before she knew it, houses were dim lights behind her and all she could see were shadows of trees under the moonlight.

Deep into the woods she had gone when suddenly her body came to a stop.

Where she was, it was so familiar. There were trees with moss climbing up their trunks and scraggly roots poking from the Earth. The pale light room the moon overhead shone down.

The dream.

Her eyes scanned around, appauled that what she had seen was surrounding her. It was very, very real. And that frightened her. Especially when something moved in front of her.

The dark figure stood out from the shadows as she panted in the shock

It rose a finger, cueing the sound of snakes and the perfect view of their purple bodies slithering across the ground towards her. They came so quick; they came to squeeze the life out of her. Able to move this time, she tried to back away from them, but they wrapped around her legs and knocked her over.

The ugly feeling of cold and slimy scales covered her. Should I even try to scream for help? Does it really matter anymore? Her body was still until they covered her, the last thing her eyes saw being the large white moon watching her disappear.

Leah Edenwood felt the very life being sucked out of her, physically and metaphorically. Her lungs squeezed, starving for oxygen. Her mind slowly began to shut down. She was betrayed by someone she trusted and by herself. It was a mistake thinking she could run from the truth forever...

However, just as the gates on life were about to seal shut, something decided it wasn't over yet.

The odd feeling of bursting air began to run up her body. It traveled until her teary eyed face was once against beneath the moonlight.

Leah exhaled and blinked rapidly. Her vision cleared leaving her and the moon to themselves. Until just as the dream before determined, another dark figure looked down at her. This time the pendant wasn't hanging from its hand.

But the arm that reached across her was decorated with something else familiar. Guardian bracelets.

"Leah, don't you give up on me."