"You're fine with not having a honeymoon?" David asks as he takes a seat next to me.

David hands me a bowl of popcorn and I snuggle into him. This whole 'married' thing isn't so bad. In fact, I could get used to this. David's question is inane. Honeymoons are for noobs. I don't need an extended vacation, probably somewhere tropical...okay, now I'm rethinking everything I just said.

"You understand, right?" He asks, "I don't feel right taking money from our Mom for this. It's something I want to save up for."

"After the wedding, I don't think I want them to buy anything else."

"So, that brings me to a question you're going to hate."

I sigh, "And that is?"

"What do you want to do with your life? I mean, career-wise?" He asks, "I mean, I'm not rushing you, but it would be a total waste of your talent to not do anything."

"Pretty sure that's not a valid sentence."

David laughs.

"No, but seriously, I kind of want to be a writer."

"Like novels?"

"Like advice." David looks down at me and nods. I continue with an explanation, "Maybe I want to help a kid like me. Or like you. Or like neither of us."

"What do you mean, like me?"

"Closet case jock stereotype?"

David frowns, "Okay, not going to win the 'best husband' award like that." He clears his throat, "Moodkiller. And I thought I'd be the one who'd have to buy flowers and jewelry."

"I don't like jewelry."

"And I don't like being called a closet case nor a jock."

I shake my head, "You married me so that closet thing isn't an issue."

David lightly pushes me and puts the bowl of popcorn on the table, "I-Are you serious right now?" He asks.

"No, not if you're to get butthurt."

"You're an asshole." He growls.

"I love you but right now you're very emotional."

"I'm emotional? You just called me a meathead!" He says loudly, "Dude, you are so out of line! I'm going out."

"Out, like to the gym?"

"I-No!" He says as he storms out and slams the door.

I sigh to myself, "What the Hell was that?" I ask.

-

I wait up for David to come bursting back through the door and accost me for the weird things I said.

Of course I didn't mean anything by it. I don't even know where it came from.

I'm psyched when I hear someone knock on my door. Of course, I quickly realize that David would not knock on the door. I resign myself to whatever crazy crap is headed my way. I steel myself and open the door to see Parker.

"Hey, I need your help."

I nod boredly, "Yeah, I figured." I gesture for him to come in, "Let me guess, you got attacked by a big half-horse in the woods because the woods is where the best parties are."

"Offensive, but no."

"Sorry, doing a lot of that."

Parker looks around, "That explain why you're alone in your apartment?" He asks.

"Yes. So, what's the what?" I ask.

Parker nods and surveys the room, "So, there's this girl..."

"And she's a demon. Or a mermaid. Oh, a fairy?" I ask.

"Banshee." He says with annoyance, "And she keeps saying she can hear death."

"Is she a red-head?"

He nods.

"Irish?"

"Most people are nowadays."

"Okay, a banshee. New territory. You said she can hear death? Okay, where exactly does she hear this 'death'?" I ask.

"Everywhere."

I laugh, "Sorry, but she's so spot-on. I almost forgot we were in Endor."

A look of annoyance flashes over his face again, "Her name is Willa and I'm worried about her."

"You really like her, don't you?"

"Okay, I know you can't fathom the rest of us having lives, but our existence doesn't revolve around you. Not all the time." Parker taunts. He frowns to me, "I didn't mean that."

"It's fine. It's me. I keep saying the wrong things. My reaction should be, 'Parker, I'll do anything to help you because you do the same for me'."

"I just need to know about it, death, I mean. You're more acquainted with it than I am." He frowns, "I just-She can sense death and she...she sensed it on me."

"What?" My brain goes into overdrive. This is a sentence he should have led with. I stare at him with wide eyes, "Okay, I know I said I wouldn't be snarky, but that's a very specific sentence that probably should have come out first."

"I was hoping to avoid that expression."

"Okay, first thing we do is-holy balls, I have no clue what we do first." I stare at him in shock, "I need to meet her. I don't know much about banshees. Did she die? They're usually spirits."

"No, she's very much alive." Parker says with a smile.

"Gross."

"Hey, you're married to my best friend and he tells me stuff all the time."

"About me? And him? And...us?"

He shakes his head, "It's not something I want to rehash." Parker averts his eyes, "I'd pretty much owe you forever."

"We're friends. Friends do this kind of stuff for each other. Maybe not the whole 'Banshee' thing but we help each other."

He nods.

"Show me this amazing screaming girl."

"How did you-" He stares at me before his eyes go wide, "Nevermind."

"Still...so...gross."

-

"That does not sound like my brother." Porter frowns. He picks up his glass and tosses the whiskey back, "Are you sure he's still on his medicine?"

"Positive." David frowns. He downs a shot of vodka and looks over to his brother-in-law, "I thought he was over all the crap we went through. I admit that I was cruel and a dick. He made me own that. We got married for fuck's sake. So, why is this still an issue?"

"My brother rarely forgives and doesn't forget. Though, he's been a lot better with the forgiving lately." Porter shrugs, "Did you think marriage would be that easy? If it was, we'd all be married."

David grunts and picks up one of the many shots he still has left. David shakes his head, "I should have known, you know. Maybe the past is always going to be a thing. I deserve it."

"No, you don't." David looks over at him, "My brother isn't always right. In fact, he's wrong more times that he'll admit. He was wrong about you, he was wrong about how much Dad loved him and are we forgetting that he kind of spiraled last year?"

"Hard to forget."

Porter chortles as he takes a sip of whiskey, "You obviously weren't on his shit list."

"I kinda was." David laughs, "The whole 'Charlotte' thing kind of killed us for a while."

"Yeah, not really wanting to hear that."

David nods to him, "Yeah, I'm not too fond of his relationship with Lucas. Can't really forget it." He sighs, "The fact that he's back, waiting in the shadows..."

"Yeah, I think that chapter is over." Porter says softly, "Can't say I'm not happy. It always creeped me out. The idea of them always felt a little...gross."

David chuckles, "You said it."

He raises his glass and Porter clinks it before they both down their respective drinks.

-

Parker leads me to a very posh house on the outskirts of town.

Parker warns me that I might see something extremely disturbing and he isn't wrong. The house is a mess. It seems as if everything in the house is either broken or displaced. The mirrors are all off the wall and smashed against the floor. I can hear something moving above us.

My first instinct is turn and run away screaming from the house.

The minute I walked into the house, I could feel the supernatural energy surging. The worrying part is that it's dark. The whole house is surging with a cold, unnerving energy. It hits me out of nowhere and I stagger back.

Parker catches me, "Hey, you okay?" He asks.

I push myself from his grip and turn to him, "Okay, what am I walking into?" I ask angrily.

"The death is all around her. This town is full of it. You know that more than anyone."

"Because it's all around me, you mean?"

"This isn't about you." Parker frowns, "This is about the darkness, the same darkness that plagued you, swallowing her."

I'm about to respond when a loud, shrill screech comes from upstairs. Parker and I cover our ears. I can't keep the screech out of my head, even with my hands over my ears. I see Parker bound up the stairs and I can't help but to follow after him.

The upstairs is like the rest of the house. It's as if a tornado has torn through the house. Parker runs down a hall and ducks into the last room on the right. I look around as the screeching continues. I follow Parker into the room. He's huddled in the corner with a pale girl with wild, frizzy red hair in his hands. The girl is screeching.

I'm not sure if it's the darkness in the room or if it's my annoyance hitting an all-time high, but I push my hand forward and she is pushed against the wall, knocking her unconscious. Parker glares up at me as he moves to her again.

"Dammit, Perry, what the Hell are you doing?" He asks as he pulls her head into his hands.

"She's alive."

Parker stands and stalks towards me in a menacing one but pauses, struggling against my binding. He groans, "What's wrong with you?"

I fight against the darkness but it's pulling at me. I can feel it digging around in my mind. I grab my head, trying to steady my thoughts. It's not working in the least. It begins to seep into me and I let it. Parker notices and his face softens.

"You okay?" He asks.

I nod, "Her constant screaming was pissing me off." I glare at her, "She's not wrong. This house is full of all sorts of bad."

"Clearly." He stares at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask.

"You obviously aren't yourself. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"It was a fucking fantastic idea, now shut up so I can figure this out." I move towards her despite Parker vehement calls for me to stop. I kneel down to her and notice that her hair is turning white from the roots on. I see something in her, a dark spot standing next to her. I stand and stumble back, "Oh...Oh shit."

-

"Why in the Hell are you here?" Charlotte asks as David moves into her dorm.

Eva stares up at him over the magazine she's reading. Both girls regard him with suspicion. Eva stands as Charlotte closes the door behind him. He paces in front of them and the girls look at each other with confusion. David catches this and sighs.

"Davey, shouldn't you be living in wedded bliss?" Eva asks, "What brings you to college."

David is quiet as he looks between them. He clears his throat as his eyes land on Charlotte, "I'm sorry."

The apology noticeably rattles her.

"You drove here in the middle of the night to tell her that?" Eva asks, "They make phones."

"Ev..." Charlotte says softly, "Me too."

"I'm still angry about the abortion. I'm just not going to let that be our friendship." David frowns, "You're Perry's best friend. When he died, you were a really good friend to me. Both of you were. I just-It's important that we all know how important we are to each other."

"This isn't going to break out in a huge threeway, right?" Eva asks, "Because I've seen wicked witch Perry and he haunts my nightmares."

"No. It's just that I said some pretty crappy things to both of you. I know neither of you never felt I was good enough for Perry. I don't think I was mad because I disagreed. I think I was mad because you were right."

"We all were wrong. He married you." Eva crosses her arms across her chest, "Why are you here, David?"

"He still sees me as the dumb, mean jock. I don't want to be him anymore."

"You're not." Eva snaps, "If you were, do you think we would have let you marry our best friend? Yeah, we definitely had a problem with you after you slept with him and left him but since then, you've more than shown how much you care about him. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Because I love him."

"And?" Charlotte asks.

"And he hasn't forgiven me. He still thinks I'm that guy."

"Is that what he said?" She asks, "He still thinks that?"

David stumbles a bit, "No! He said I was. That's all he thought I was."

"Well, before him, what were you?" Eva asks.

"That! But, he's never said it. He never made me feel like I was a horrible person."

"Look, you're drunk...a bit. You need to go home and work this out. Maybe call a cab?"

"Porter's holding the cab."

"You and Porter got drunk and he's in the cab? This is really really crazy, you know." Charlotte frowns.

"I'm going now. I think I have to throw up." David says as he moves to the door.

Without another word, he stumbles out of the dorm. Charlotte closes the door behind him and stares at Eva, who shrugs.

"I think I'll start dating women."

-

Parker and I stand back as the Banshee, Willa, stares up at me. Her eyes, as well as her hair, are stark white. They bounce between Parker and I and wind up staying on me. She smiles and it unnerves me.

"You're him. They keep whispering your name. It's death and he wants you."

"Okay, snap out of the creepiness. You need to center yourself and pull yourself out of it!" I move towards her and Parker reacts. I stare at him and he steps back. I kneel down so that I'm eye to eye with Willa, "The death. You need to be more specific. You need to tell us what's going on."

"She'll come in the night and destroy you piece by piece."

"I hate supernaturals." I stand, "The darkness here is almost deafening. We need to remove her. She needs to be somewhere safe."

"What happened in this house?" I ask, "Death is all around you. What happened?"

"He waits in the darkness. He dwells, waiting to be free of a Kingdom he no longer wants. He's the Nowhere Man and he serves on the darkness. Loves only the darkness."

"What's she talking about?" Parker asks.

I ignore him, as my attention is on Willa, "The Nowhere Man. What do you know about him? Where is he?"

"Here."

My stomach drops as the lights flicker and burst over our heads. I can hear a low growling in the darkness and I command Parker to stay still behind me. A screech comes from the darkness and dies just as quickly.

Parker cries out for Willa and there's no answer. I want to move but something inside me knows that we're not alone. I can feel breath on the back of my neck. I hear another low growl, as if it's right beside me. Every inch of wit and bravery disappears as my breath starts to hasten and my heart is beating a mile a minute.

It's not until I hear a dangerously demonic voice whisper, "I will rise!" that I drop to the floor.

The lights flicker back on and I find myself laying on the floor, curled in a ball. I know enough to know that I'm having a panic attack. I can faintly hear Parker screaming my name. The world seems to fade around me and I hear the voice over and over. It's as if the voice touched my soul.

The Nowhere Man isn't coming, he's here.

-

I'm not sure how I got home but I wake up in my bed.

I hear Parker and David arguing. David is yelling, big surprise. He's asking why Parker would take me there. Parker argues that I agreed. I don't say a word. I'm facing away from either of them and their argument eludes me.

My mind quickly goes back to the voice and the presence. It rattled me, caused an anxiety in me that brought me to the ground. I can still feel it's breath on my neck. It beckons me back to the time I entered Porter's mind.

He described it as the devil.

I know it's not now. It's something much older, much more insidious.

I roll over and gain the attention of both men, "Stop." I say quietly.

David walks over and I put my hand up, "Are you okay?" He asks.

I push myself up into a sitting position, my feet dangling from the bed, "I agreed to go. It was my decision." I stare at David, "He's your best friend. Don't do this."

"He-"

"I did." I snap, "It wasn't random. It picked her, maybe because she was banshee but most likely because she's close to Parker."

"Why would it do that?"

"Because I'm close to Perry." Parker says as realization passes over his face, "It knew."

"It's been watching us. Waiting. It succeeded in only one thing."

"Driving my girlfriend crazy or pushing you into a panic attack?" Parker asks.

"Pissing me off." I say angrily, "It's going to come at us and it's going to come at us hard. We need to be ready. This game it's playing isn't just some game, he's playing for keeps."

"Are you rallying the troops again?" Parker asks.

"No. Yes. It's something more important than that." I push myself off the bed, "I'm waging war. Hecate...Lucifer...the Darkness...we're destroying all of it. They're in our house."

"I need to check on Willa." Parker nods, "After I know she's alright, we can, I'm with you."

I nod to him as he leaves. David catches my attention. His face is awash with a concern and anger. I take a deep breath and sit back on the bed. Panic attacks literally take all my energy. It's the one problem I wish I could solve with magic.

David sits beside me on the bed, "That was really dumb. To march into certain danger with just Parker. Lucky I showed up when I did."

I shake my head, "You stormed out. I didn't think you were in the mood to help me." I chuckle, "I know how you work. You think that I still feel that you're that guy. I don't."

"I hate that you ever thought that about me."

"Look, I don't want this to be a struggle against our past. I don't want us to get caught in this cycle. I love you for the person you are. That's what matters. It's the only thing that matters." I frown at him, "Whatever I felt...it's doesn't matter."

"You really okay?"

"No. Not really. I feel like I'm marching us all into certain danger. But I just feel so angry and so tired of being afraid of whatever is out there. People keep telling me to use the darkness, to use it and the light. If I go to that place..." He searches my face and shakes his head. I pout at him, "It has to be you. If I take it in, if I become it, you're the only person I can trust to end it."

"What about Lucas?"

"To kill me?"

"Okay! I need us to not talk about killing you. We're going to make it through this." He pulls me close to him and I lean on his shoulder. He adds, "It's you and me, kid."

I sniff him, "Are you drunk?" I ask.

He pats my head, "A little."