Alone.

It was inevitable that she would be alone again at some point, no matter how much she dreaded it.

The darkness pressed around her, but even more stifling was the loneliness. And the fear. Invisibility couldn't hide her when she wanted to hide from No One.

Every noise sounded like a silver claw finger scraping at the window. Every small speck of light was the malicious glint of an emerald eye.

She took what refuge she could under the covers. It was the middle of summer and very hot, but the more blankets she was under, the more layers of protection she had against intruders, darkness, and Nothing. It was impossible to sleep, so she wrote haiku poems in her head. She tried to think of pleasant, lyrical things, but they all seemed to turn out broody at the ends.

A quiet night sighs.
On a bare twig a bird sits
singing 'all alone'.

A quiet city,
for once it sleeps. Down below
...

She didn't even want to finish that one. It ended with sewers and rats and green eyes and pain and fear and nightmares.

An hour later, when the door opened a crack Katrina was asleep. She didn't notice the figure creep into her room to peel back her protective coverings to look at her face. Nor did she hear the mother's sigh of relief upon seeing her daughter safe in bed.

Water trickle and flowed, rippling over and around uneven stones that jutted up from seemingly every angle. The path followed the river and she followed the path, though her way was much smoother than the water's. Up ahead was a bridge, an old stone thing that arched over both the river and the path. She hesitated before going in, but it looked safe enough.

A step inside and she was in the sewers. The smell of rot and evil swirled around her and she gasped. Before her the underground tunnel stretched on into infinity and behind her, the same. The light by which she had walked was gone. She could hear the cackle of the water, of the stench, of the darkness. She could feel her three enemies circling around her, but all she could see was their slitted green eyes glowing.

She ran. Even though her feet were hampered by the water, the stench pulled at her hair, and the darkness snagged her clothing she ran. Forever and ever and getting nowhere,while her pursuers were tireless. Finally, she turned herself invisible so her enemies couldn't see her anymore and she was able to escape up a ladder that lead to the surface.

She emerged from the darkness into the blinding sunlight. A big crowd of people stood on the mansion lawn, mingling and talking. There was Sam giving her mother a tissue. And there was Abyss, or maybe it was Saturn because he was frowning, leaning against a tree. In the branches a white cat with black spots flicked his tail back and forth. Fausto was playing a sad song on his guitar while Isabel and Koga politely listened. Kaz squeezed Ghost's hand to comfort her.

“It's okay!” She called to them, “I'm alright!”

They didn't hear her.

Frowning, she walked over and waved her hand in front of Slate's face, but he kept staring at the sky with a confused expression on his face, as if he couldn't quite tell what he was feeling. He didn't pay any attention to her.

Slate, that's not funny.

He wasn't laughing either.

She walked through the crowd but she was invisible wherever she went. She thought she saw Syn look right at her from her spot in the crowd, but a moment later the woman with red and black streaks in her hair had disappeared again as if she had only been imagined in the first place.

All the way around the crowd and not a single person could see her. No matter how hard she tried to turn visible she seemed stuck. Feeling panicked, she walked to the front steps to the mansion to sit down and figure out what she should do. Instead of sitting, she found herself staring at a long wooden box she found there: an empty casket with her name on it.

Daylight streamed through the window, spilling in large yellow puddles across the bed of a blonde teenaged girl. In her dream someone was shining a bright light on her face. She didn't understand what they were doing, but she didn't like it. A cool hand touched her forehead, but when she opened her eyes it was just her mother.

“Mom,” she croaked, her throat raspy.

Claire swept her arms around her daughter's shoulders and pulled her up into a sitting hug, “I was so worried about you. You didn't tell me that you left.” Her mother hadn't meant to make that sound like an accusation, but it did anyway.

“I looked everywhere,” the elder Dumonde continued. “I was positively sick.” She meant sick with worry. Katrina understood her shortened version. She couldn't speak, could only hug her mother tightly.

Mrs. Dumonde massaged her temples with one hand, still holding her other arm around her daughter's shoulders. She didn't ever want to let her go again, “What happened? Why is you hair...?”

Katrina just shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes and spilling over and leaving blotches on her mothers' silky shirt.

Claire understood, and simply held her daughter close while she cried. They stayed that way a long time.

Dreams that daylight weaves shine true and bright
Brighter than the haunting dreams of night
But still sewn from threads both the dark and light

Hand in hand in hand, a grown up Slate, a grown up Katrina, and a forever seventeen Calley walked through the valley. Slate held a checkerboard blanket precisely folded and tucked under his free arm. Calley held a basket that overflowed with tuna sandwiches (one third of which were cut into perfect squares), frosted cookies (one third of which were heaped with enough frosting to horrify any dentist), and three bottles of milk (one each of chocolate, strawberry, and regular skim).

There was a tree in the valley that was perfect for picnics. It was a maple tree that stretched its limbs wide enough to provide plenty of shade, held its boughs high enough for sitting under and low enough for climbing afterwards, and had already started changing colors for the fall. The outer most leaves of red beckoned the hungry travelers hither. The golden yellow ones behind them welcomed them cheerfully to sit down. The innermost green leaves assured them that they needn't hurry. There was still plenty of time left.

Nevertheless, lunch disappeared quickly and the trio soon found themselves exhausted by the tree climbing. They took their seats around the base of the tree to rest and soon fell asleep hand in hand in hand. Calley was the last to fall asleep, and though his body was the youngest of all his eyes were the oldest. They knew something they weren't telling to the the other two.

When they woke up again Calley was gone.

Dogs have an uncanny ability to know when something is wrong. Katrina woke to find a very full bed. Kenzie lifted her head from the pillow next to her and licked her right on the face. Thor wagged his tail upon seeing her lift her head. Bruce yawned even louder than she had done as she stretched. One. Two. Three?

There was a note folded up on the dresser with her name scribbled on it. Inside was a note from Shin reminding her that she was taking care of Thor for a few days. More like Thor would be taking care of her. She didn't even feel like leaving her bed.

She flopped back against her pillows with a sigh and the dogs wriggled, each trying to get as close to her as possible. Kenzie won her right side, having already had a head start, Bruce won her left, and Thor settled for sitting right on top of her, though it was less comfortable a perch than the other two got.

Even in the daylight, protected by her furry guards, the foreboding of the dream clung to her. Even after all that had happened, Calley was still missing. The dogs understood that loneliness of having someone disappear without telling them. Even if it was only for a few hours, it felt like a lifetime when someone you cared for was gone. Katrina petted their heads, scratching each ear in turn. She showed them a picture:

Calley messing up her hair with a big goofy smile on his face, then walking out the door and across the lawn while she watched out the window.

They wagged their tails in sympathy. Thor whined. They didn't understand words, but they understood this. Katrina didn't have words for it anyway and once she started, she might as well tell them the whole thing.

Walking in the park, smelling the leaves, looking for a cat. The cat had spots, they saw it flick through the bushes, but then it was gone again. A man came with a friendly smile and took the leash, but before they walked far his smile turned to a growl and he hit them. They could still feel the pain in the back of their heads. He took them somewhere dark, that smelled of garbage. The man smelled too, of sweating on a hot summer day from wearing a long sleeved jacket. His hands smelled like metal, like a child after hanging onto the chain of the swing on the playground. The hands brought more hurt.

Kenzie nuzzled her hand, begging to be petted more. It was a comfort to both of them. Bruce growled at the door, then snorted and shook his head which wiggled his whole body and the whole bed. Thor stretched and crawled forward up her lap until he was close enough to lick the salty tears off her chin.

They understood and they would protect her.

The door opened and Bruce immediately jumped off the bed to inspect whomever was coming in. He sniffed at Mrs. Dumonde's hands and decided that she was acceptable and let her enter. Thor stole Bruce's spot on the bed.

Claire chuckled when she saw her daughter's bed completely full of dogs. “It looks like you have plenty of company, but would you like me to sleep in here tonight as well? There is an air mattress...”

Katrina nodded vigorously, yes please.

Dreamless sleep was a blessing.

Mrs. Dumonde sat on the edge of her daughter's bed, watching her sleep. There was barely room for her there with the pile of mutts that had decided to also keep the young girl company. Ever since Katrina had been a baby, she had loved to watch her sleep. Usually it gave her such a sense of peacefulness, but tonight Claire could only worry.

Katrina had disappeared yesterday from the mansion without a trace, then had suddenly reappeared back in her bed hours later with her hair nearly all cut off and unable or unwilling to talk about what had happened, plagued by nightmares even in the daytime. She had spent the whole day in bed, barely moving, hardly speaking at all, and eating only because food was put right under her nose.

Katrina's mother assumed the worst; that some sick freak had taken her, had his way with her, then dumped her again like a used burger wrapper from McGrease King. She felt terrible. She had failed to protect her child, no matter how hard she had tried. Now all she could do was help pick up the pieces and hold them in place while Katrina glued them back together. She wasn't even sure what she would say if Katrina did tell her exactly what happened. Motherhood didn't come with an instruction book; there was no place she could look up the problem and the solution. Counseling might help, or possibly self defense lessons that could protect her in the future. Maybe if she had made Katrina sign up for self defense lessons ages ago and maybe this could have been prevented. How was she to have known?

Claire rubbed her temples. She had a headache again. Every time she used her ability to split into two bodies, it gave her terrible migraines. Probably because she still had to keep track of both of her halves at the same time by flitting rapidly back and forth. It had been necessary, though, to cover as much ground as possible as she searched for her missing child. There was no question; it was worth a little headache to have Katrina back again.

As she rubbed her baby's back she was reminded of a line from a children's book. “I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, your mommy I'll be,” she whispered.