Dedicated to shamad27 for being such a wonderful reader!

[ Laura ]

"No, Laura, it's not your fault. I was foolish not to see through what was going on. I should have known this person couldn't be my uncle. I should have." He clasped his palm on his forehead.

"How could I be so careles!" He continued.

I wondered why was he taking all the blame. He didn't know his uncle was possessed and there was no way of knowing that. Before I could try to calm him down, something startled us.

Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you're done

Sebastian quickly reached the dashboard where his phone was playing his favourite song.

"Zac." he sighed with relief as if he'd been expecting the call.

He picked up the phone but hesitated.

"I'll be right back." He told me and rose out of the car, leaving me alone.

Wondering why he left me in this wilderness, I kept glancing at him while listening to the classic rock I hardly liked.

He looked quite serious when he spoke to the Zac guy. When he noticed me staring at him, for some reason, he moved further into the forest. He certainly didn't want me to find out what he was talking about. Was he keeping a secret?

But before my mind could go through the cycle of trust and mistrust again and I'd feel bad of thinking Sebastian to be a bad guy which clearly was illogical, I found him opening the door beside me, which slightly startled me. I mean, yeah I was engrossed in thought and couldn't notice him earlier. But he shouldn't have been able to come here so soon without me noticing. Perhaps my tired brain needed rest.

"Zac just called me. He said..." he started.

"Zac?" I asked wondering who this guy was.

"Right, he's a friend of Pamela's. I'd asked him for her address." He explained which reminded me I didn't know her either.

"Didn't I tell you? She's the best psychic in US. She must be knowing something about.."

"No way! Are you suggesting you're going to show me to a psychic. I'm not psycho, Sebastian. It's just something..." I blurted out.

"Who said about you being psycho, Laura. If anything, you're one of the sanest people I've ever met." He broke the sentence and continued "Just something what?"

"Something within me. I..I know this sounds crazy but I think something's wrong inside me." I admitted. Over a last few weeks, I'd been feeling weird. I used to be a timid girl whose brave side would burst in because of adrenaline only in rough times. But now I'd become cocky and though I didn't really like to go on jobs, I somehow got the feeling that I'd to. It was as if I'd developed simultaneous multiple personalities which, though I didn't show much, was driving me crazy.

"And that's why we need a psychic. Uncle Rob suggested we should go to Pamela who lives round bout here. Besides she's my friend. And according to Zac, she's somewhere in the forest." He explained.

"Can we go tomorrow? It's just I'm too tired." I said after realising how dizzy I was right now. I was not in the mood of visiting my friend itself, and was least interested to visit a granny whose looks, living, everything screamed super-weird. If I was needed to visit a psychic, I'd go only when my mind was fresh. And today was a bad bad day.

"About that I can't say. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are quite close to where she lives. Zac said she keeps a veil covering her area and if we are anywhere near that veil, our minds may not work properly. Like, for example, I don't really know whether I'm talking to the real Laura or to just my imagination. And same goes for you. I may not be the guy you were talking to earlier."

"Dude, you're sounding crazy." I said.

"Well, maybe a bit." He admitted.

"So, shall we get going?" He said as he pulled out a sack from the trunk.

I nodded and reluctantly got out of the chevy. I never thought I'd like any vintage but got to say, this car was something, more like a home to me.

Sebastian locked the car and after making sure it wasn't in the middle of the road, he finally readied to go.

"Dude, from when exactly did you start caring about traffic rules?" I asked. Sebastian was good to me, but to other people he still behaved like an arrogant ass, except to beautiful bartenders maybe.

"So that some truck doesn't poke its head in my chevy's smooth ass." He said and then made a weird face.

"I guess I'll take that back, now let's hurry." He said as we hurried into the forest. I giggled and followed him.

Though the joke was bad, I couldn't help but feel a bit better. I remembered how Sebastian was behaving a while ago. I myself needed reassurance and support. But instead I'd to do the same to Sebastian. I couldn't bear looking at him when he was about to cry. Through whatever situations we had been through, whenever I faltered, it was always he who gave me courage and hope. And now that he himself needed those, I was shattered from inside. And this time, there was no one to glue together those shards. But since Sebastian seemed to come back to normal, by making his weird jokes, I myself felt at ease.

Isn't it strange how much our mate can affect us? His saddened face can shatter us completely and his bright smile can mend our hearts.

Twenty minutes passed and we're still getting further into the forest. If it weren't for my nature loving attitude right from the beginning which made me explore forests, I'd have been badly beaten by the branches and toppled over the thick roots. There were gigantic roots and weird insects all over the place. It was night time and the high trees made it impossible for the silvery rays of moon to enter through the majestic canopy. Even if it were dawn, we wouldn't know. So I felt as if I was playing hide and seek with my eyes blindfolded.

"So, where does she live?" I asked wondering what kind of people lived in a forest so dense and thick. Right, psychics perhaps.

"I...I don't know." He said gulping down ego.

I paused and looked at him. He didn't know where Psychic Pamela lived and he'd been walking ever since we got here like an idiot, without telling me.

"Dude, is something wrong with you?" I asked, disappointment clear in my voice. I'd drank blood and for some reason, I'd succeeded in managing not to think about it. I'd witnessed the wrath of Alzaknos, a demon whose glare had almost stopped my heart. And we'd barely made it here, alive. The last thing I wanted now was to get trapped in a forest at night which could play with our minds.

"I don't know, Laura. We should have reached there in like ten minutes. Something's wrong. My compass isn't working anymore." He said worriedly, sounding confused.

"Maybe it's what zac said." I couldn't believe we were lost. Honestly, I didn't care whether a demon would show up on the road now. I just wanted to get to a motel, take a hot shower and doze off on a comfy warm bed. I absentmindedly rested myself onto a bark of a giant tree, partly longing for the bed of my dreams and wondering what to do now.

Damn it. What's wrong with me. I was lost in a dense forest said to mess up with minds and I was just attacked by Alzaknos, a demon far more powerful than any other Sebastian had seen and yet I was thinking about shower and warm bedsheets. Right, the forest was indeed playing with my mind.

"Laura, look out!" Sebastian suddenly said, his shocked eyes fixed on the tree I'd been leaning against. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a rough slithering sound and felt my body trembling. The roots beneath my legs slithered across the ground as the branches ruffled as though a strong gust suddenly appeared around the branches. The tree was moving on its own!

Before I could hurry away, the tree grabbed my feet and stomach and clasped me on its bark by sliding a heavy branch, grazing against my dress. I started screaming and kicking against the bark with whatever little energy I had.

"Laura, calm down. I know this tree. It's a Dectalus ,the more you move the more will it...dance." He said through my screaming and thrashing. The tree now began jerking sideways and rotating and twisting.

"Just cut the branch." I managed through the rollercoaster ride and with a sharp sound, I heard Sebastian pull out his dagger.

"On my way." He muttered. But as soon as he motioned towards the branch which kept me stuck to the tree, the ground beneath him tore open as he went straight through the hole, disappearing beneath the tree.

"No!" I screamed in horror as tears streamed along my cheeks. The moment Sebastian disappeared, my heart clenched in uneasiness and my mind trembled with fear. The ride isn't joyful when it's given by an unsafe non-permitted dancing tree.

Finally, the tree decided to end its game by throwing me across the forest. I screamed more, if possible, as I hit the ground straight on my stomach. The fall was sufficient enough to make me unconscious. But surprisingly, where my ribs and bones should have cracked in a dozen pieces, I actually felt nothing, except for a heavy revolving head.

When I woke up again, I found my face kissing the dirt below, while my blonde hair were decorated with mud and fallen dried leaves. I felt a buzz near my ear and realised there was a group of flies approaching me. I quickly rose up and cleared my eyes of the mud and my hair and ear of the leaves and flies. The tree in front of me which went on a hardcore dance a few moments before, now looked as if it hadn't moved in centuries. Its roots had stabilised and so were the branches.

Wondering where Sebastian was, fighting against my fear side, I silently approached the silent tree, half expecting that it would start up again any moment soon. Fortunately I didn't.

When I reached the hole, I crouched low so as to look through it. The thick roots which earlier slithered like anacondas were now stable, forming a border around the hole. Though it was a suicidal idea, I peeked through the entrance and whispered "Sebastian." No answer came. I looked back at the tree which still looked asleep. I whispered again only in failure.

Damn it. I murmured when I realised I'd no other option than to slide down the rooty passage.

"You better not be sleeping." I muttered as in one clean movement I adjusted myself through the hole, crouching initially until a slippery passage led me through the root and mud and insect eggs and what not. The narrow way grew wider and wetter and now, managing my speed became impossible. I half expected the roots beside me to jump to life all of a sudden, but fortunately that didn't happen. Finally, I realised the slippery wetness had now developed into a small stream telling me that I'd soon enter some underground water reserve! But soon, even this expectation failed, fortunately. So long, luck was quite on my side. Well, if you call getting your hair messed up and tearing bits of your clothing or getting scratched at various places lucky.

Soon, the passage grew narrower and inclined slightly upwards, again contrary to my expectation. My speed gradually decreased and so did the water which found a very narrow outlet where I halted, rather got tangled in thick and thin roots and dense vine. A ray of light peered through the opening above and I quickly forced open the network of roots above me.

With whatever energy I was left with, I managed to climb out of this hole, loose mud falling on my face. I cleared the dirt by water from that stream, its water flowing through a narrow opening behind the network of roots. I found myself standing in a vast open area bordered by dense trees. The faint light in this part of the forest told me that it was dawn. As I approached clear ground, I realised I'd lost one of my shoes. Damn it! But what bothered me wasn't the pain from walking on sharp black stony ground. But in front of me, a small girl was standing. And through her pale white skin, I could see the rest of the area. She was translucent!

She wore a red frock with white polka dots. Where she stood, the lower frock gathered around her feet. She had pure white hair which curled on her tiny shoulders. Though her tiny pink lips seemed to turn in a satisfied smile, her eyes told a different story. They radiated such profound darkness that for one moment I thought I was staring right into Alzaknos's eyes. Her wine coloured eyes seemed to flicker redder and darker when she started approaching me, her extra large frock rubbing against the stony forest ground, as she walked towards me, my heart filling with fear.

I didn't know why, but I felt a strong urge to back away. She was a kid, not more than 8 years old and she might be needing help. She might have got lost in this forest. But somehow I felt something darker was going on.

But then I realised she was no longer walking towards me. She'd stopped approaching me and stood there, her eyes fixated on me. But though it seemed she was observing me minutely, which made me feel a bit weak in knees, her eyes seemed distant. Like she was studying as well as ignoring me simultaneously.

Then she took one step further and I couldn't bear it. The feeling of immediacy shook my senses as I moved one step back. Somehow, I was afraid of this seemingly normal 8 year old.

But instead of the stony surface I'd expected to step on, my leg dashed against what appeared to be a smooth stone wall. I turned to check what it was as horror struck my eyes.

Wherever my vision went, I saw graves. I was just a small point in the vast expanse of the graveland surrounding me. I looked here and there in shock, wondering how can there be a graveland this vast in a remote forest. I looked back in the direction where the young girl had been standing, in confusion. But where she was present, stood another similar grave.

MARY AND LUCY DEATHSTAR

MAY MOTHER AND DAUGHTER FIND PEACE

The inscription read. I looked here and there frantically, wondering where the girl was and whose were all these graves and realised where I'd been standing, was the precise center of this graveland, black marble graves standing around me in a spiral fashion.

And at the centre of this spiral, what my leg had kicked accidentally was another grave. A grave built of black marbe having an inscription reading which shook me to the very core. For it read,

LAURA HANNIGAN