Behind a hiding hole in one of the wall panels of the old Victorian a prize momentum kept. In 1946 a young girl by the name of Myriam, Myra for short found the picture of a lovely, sophisticated woman. Myra looked like the unnamed woman with piercing green eyes and light auburn hair.

http://cdn.hitfix.com/photos/683603/mildredpierce15_featured_photo_gallery.jpg

?You?re no good fire cracker. What good are you, red? No one in your family has red hair. Your mother must have cheated on your dad.? That?s what Myra heard most of her impressionable years. Though when she looked at this unnamed woman, she saw a woman who oozed confidence and was dressed in a lovely green frock. The woman looked well off and Myra decided she would find some way to make a name for herself.

Years later, Myra forgot about the image she left in that hiding hole. Claire did not. Since her death, she?d visit that picture to remind herself what she once looked like in her happier days. It was one thing that gave her strength and a means to channel any anger into energy.

Lately, Ewan was gone. She felt more alone than she had. Could she feel or was it residual energy in the form of jealously and anger? The first time the golden haired woman entered the small apartment, Claire felt something strange. Spirits were charged to go into the light, to move on, to leave and seek peace. She felt it wasn?t time yet. Why?

Others were reaching out to Claire so she could warn her wolf, warn him of the impending danger. He had to listen to the spirits. He had to. Is this why she lingered? He wanted to help her move on, but it wasn?t time yet.

Claire stood over the blonde woman as she slept. Was she jealous? Can ghosts be jealous? No matter what her feelings, there was something she had to do for Ewan, and it must be done.

The air filled with energy, the kind of invisible static humming in the ether. Looking in from the outside, you could see the windows frosting over. Small condensation ice formed and hung from the old wood as life and death battled with another. Claire whispered, "Forgive me Ewan."

Claire bent over and crawled into the one called Norah. This woman is strong, she fought in her dreams, but Claire pushed her back until she could deliver the message. She twisted and made the flesh sit up. The feeling was so strange to have limbs again. The arms felt like heavy sticks, she moved the legs, but there wasn?t enough time to practice making the flesh walk.

Using Norah?s hand, she touched Ewan?s face. ?You must wake up.? She screamed. ?EWAN. You must wake up. There is news. WAKE UP.? He had to wake up, there?s little time and she could not waste a second.

"Norrie...you're cold...why are you so...cold," he stopped and looked right into her eyes and saw someone else completely.

The blue in her eyes burned out and was replaced with green. The bluest eyes he'd ever seen before gone in the time Claire held Disa's body captive. As Ewan stared into the now green eyes, he?d see the faces of those ghosts lost in the murky water. They were haunted, still and waiting.

"You call her by many names." Did he recognize her voice in this body? It was hard to control the vocal chords and the lips at the same time. Norah's face held no expression, no smile, no life. The eerie words humming from non-moving lips. Fingers curling around his arm like those gnarled limbs from his dream trapping him. "Have you forgotten me?" Wait! The true message must be delivered. "He's coming for you. Until you find the thread of truth you will both join me. Wouldn't you like that Ewan?"

Ewan felt numb. He wasn't sure what to think. What to feel. He felt as if this part of his strange dream with the voices of the drowned. He watched Disa's face. Now a macabre mask for her host. He looked right into those murky swamp green eyes. Fingers wrapped around his arm keeping him captive. His face keeping a look of anger and bewilderment. He realized the dead usually spoke in riddles. ?Whot truth is thot?? Ewan asked the ghost. ?Let her go...Claire. This is cruel. She's dying...why would ye rob her of what little time she has left?"

"To warn you he's coming for you. He is returning for her but when he finds you, it will be her end." Claire grabbed his face attempting to kiss him.

Disa wasn't having any part of it. Her neck snapped the other way. Claire fought to look at him face to face. Disa moved her neck the opposite way, turning away from Ewan.

"Don't forget what I told you Ewan." Claire said.

Disa's body began to convulse and she passed out.

"Norrie wake up." A sweet and gentle voice called to her from beyond. "Open your eye my sweet girl. You must open your eyes to see the truth all around you. Come now you aren't going to let a savage like him win are you? Don't give into the pain, fight it. Fight with everything inside you. I've been fighting for you. My father, pappa Robert is here for you, I'm here, the whole family is rallying for you. You have to wake up though."

Disa felt her head swimming. She felt the weight of Ewan on her, which prevented her from getting up. Opening her eyes was an even harder task to accomplish. "I can't Myra. I'm not strong enough this time." She whispered in her mind hoping Myra would hear it. If she was even there.

"All you have to do is open your eyes."

"I'm afraid."

"I know you are. You were afraid when we found you. You were a slip of a thing bloody, battered and broken. He did that to you, but I saw the strength in your eyes. You have to open them up Norah. You have to open them. Please.."

In his dream Ewan was in wolf form. A long legged beast with shaggy fur as black as midnight. He was roughly the size of a horse with eyes that glistened like rubies in the moonlit night. He searched on end. His large paws padding through the ruins of an ancient graveyard, overrun with wild weeds and unkempt grass. The wolf was hunting for a specific spot. He stopped right before a statue of angel. Her back was bent and her body turned away as her hands were covering her face as if she were sobbing. Ewan started to dig right in front of the statue rapidly as his claws shoveled away grass and dirt. He began to dig like this for what seemed forever until he had seen strands of blonde hair peeking out of the dirt. Ewan whimpered and began to dig even more furiously now until now visible laying in the dirt was a familiar blonde woman, but her skin was pale and her skin bloated just like the dead in the river Styx. He found himself licking her face as he moved over on top of her as trying to desperately awaken her. It was then she had awakened her dead sightless eyes and screamed at him.

"GET OFF OF ME!!" Ewan had awakened with a startled sound and fell right off of Disa and crash landed none too gracefully on the floor. He uttered a few choice words in Gaelic and looked to Disa who appeared frantic. Hell, did he blame her for wanting to get the hell out of dodge? Absolutely not. He got dressed quickly grabbing a faded pair of jeans and a red t-shirt which read "STEPHEN KING RULES" in bold yellow letters. He had just grabbed his vans and slipped them on when he saw the the picture fall out of her bag. Curiosity was peaked as he reached forward and picked the paper up thinking it was one of her posters but it was anything but...despite the situation Ewan found himself grinning...
"Yew drew me." He was genuinely touched. Especially since she drew him far better than he thought he looked. He saw her urgency and was out the door with her in no time.

"I'll drive yew. Let's go." and out the door they were heading down the stairs as he helped her carry her things. Holding the door open for her and closing it before he climbed into the driver's side before he started the van. He looked up towards the window with a narrowed gaze thinking he saw a figure of a woman watching them. Ewan drove off quickly trying not to speed but like Disa he just wanted to put as much distance between them and the Victorian as much as possible right now.

As she searched, she asked. "Was that Claire in the window when we left Ewan? I know you were trying to help her. Why would she do this?" She wanted answers without demanding he give them. Was he leaving something out?

She started looking at each and every envelope searching for anything with Myra's name.

"Got it! Looking!" Ewan replied, he began his search uttering "This is like lookin' fer the needle in the haystack." He was deep concentration when the questions started coming. "Aye...I'm sure t'was. I woadn' know why she would do thus, Norah. I never suspected she woad do thus. I told her I'd help her fynd her door. She was set oan it at first. I don't know what--" and then...it hit him..."changed." He said this under his breath and all the color seemed to drain from his face.

It wasn't that he was hiding anything. He wasn't. It was things he had overlooked. Giggling when he stepped out of a shower with a cheeky whisper of, "hmm, you have a nice body. It's really a wonder why you're still single." She would whisper in her aristocratic British purr of a voice. Feeling a strange chill on his cheek like icy fingers in the dead of night. Her absence when he had brought Disa there. It was all hitting him in the face now. He sighed and looked like he was going to be sick. "I think...she quite fancies me... why the bleedin' hell did I not see it b'fore?" He continued on his search. His nimble fingers sliding through the envelopes and his pale eyes searching for names.

"What do you mean changed and what door?" This was all new to her. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She wanted to know what in the hell he was talking about with a door. "You never told me these things before. I asked you about it." She stared to sound a little upset with him. "You know when you leave things like that out. do you remember me telling you in the cemetery that she might not be good?"

Disa slammed the desk drawer and exhaled. "I asked you." Then she took another breath. This wasn't all about what Ewan didn't tell her, she was upset for other reasons too.

He was on his feet now. He non-confrontational. No, he wasn't leaving anything out. He looked to her in confusion. "Norah...did yew forget? I told yew at the cemetery I was tryin' t' help her cross over. Aye. Yew told me that. There's a thing that's called denial. I din't want t' believe she was bad b'cause she was th' only friend I had."

He had an extremely pained look on his face. Feeling like he was taking the brunt of her anger that was directed him when it shouldn't have been...then again...looking at it from her point of view...he realized how this look. "This isn' just about Claire is it? What else..."

"Is that the door? Crossing over is the door?" She was angry, but she hadn't raised her voice yet or screamed at him. The desk drawer had been slammed in anger. "Who is Genny then?" Trying to be logical in this, which may not work. She's not talking about what else it can be.

She needed to find anything about Myra, like a newspaper article, old letters anything.

Why was she asking him these questions when she had gotten answers before? Ewan was confused and a bit upset but he kept calm thinking this was the sickness and the stress talking. "I told yew all o' this before...Disa. She wus a girl I met in th' grave yard. She wus lookin' fer a composer who her mum wus involved with. I haven' even talked t' her since thot last time in th' graveyard." She was being illogical. Why was she questioning him on the same things over and over....it's the sickness not her. He reasoned. He turned his back on her and continued his search. That was probably a bad idea.

"You said Claire was your only friend. What about Genny? You told me Genny was your friend, but you just said Claire was your only friend. Which is it?? She left like he was lying to her. ?I want you to leave." She said.

The sickness and the idea of feeling like he was lying to her was enough for her to say. "Just stop. I want you to leave." She crouched down looking for something in the bottom drawer. There had to be some emergency money in there. How much did he pay for the bed? She was trying to remember. Slowly she went through the files looking for the one she kept cash, or she used to. This was the never touch it stash unless you were destitute.

"What?" Feeling like the breath was taken out of his chest. "Damn it, Disa! You're totally blowing this whole bleedin' thing out of proportion! We talked about this b'fore." Lying about what? He didn't understand what was happening?

Ewan was dense but he wasn't a liar and he hadn't spoken to Genny since that day. "Stop pushin' mae away at every opertunity ye get!" He was probably preaching to the choir at the moment. She wasn't going to listen to him. He had so many questions of his own but...those would have to wait.

She said nothing as she continued looking for the cash. When it was finally found, it was folded and stuck in an envelope. Leaving the envelope on the table. "Take it and leave."

She's not going to go through what happened last time he told her she was blowing things out of proportion. This just proved he wasn't going to be able to handle the worse that was coming. This had to be what Myra meant by open her eyes. Disa left him standing in the office. If he wasn't going to leave, she would.

There was a wretched stabbing pain in his chest. He felt like his heart was ripped away from him and crushed in front of him. All his efforts, everything he tried to do was all for nothing. That voice in his head was right after all. He didn't want to leave, god he didn't. He had nothing now...no one. He didn't want her to walk out alone but what good was it if she didn't want to be with him and he looked back to her feeling the rage build up. "All I ever wanted...was for you to love me." It can't end like this. He screamed in his head. He was calm but inside he was raging.

He had Claire and her fucked up sense of whatever. Disa said nothing. She couldn't. Ewan wanted what she couldn't give him and she couldn't deal with what he was doing to her. He was there in her office alone. She went to pack a few things; she was leaving the warehouse soon. It's not that she had much at all, so it wasn't going to take long for her to gather what was needed.

He decided to leave. It was her home. If she wanted him out that badly, he'd go. He walked past her and made his way out the door and off to the van and slammed the door quickly. Told you...she never loved you anyway. No one will ever love you. He didn't start the van. He just sat there feeling that pain in his chest and for the first time he could remember he wished he was the one who was dying.

When she heard the door closed, she finished gathering her things. The bag sat by the door and she went back into the office to see if she could find anything from Myra. It was going to take her hours to search. "Where Myra?" She said she read the letters, that means she received them, right? She'd mixed piles of mail for the last few months. This whole place could easily go up in flames.

Maybe Myra wanted her to remember the fire? Was it Sebastian or was it her? Disa looked around and she started staring at the large canvas hanging up near the window. Oil paint burned slow.

In the back print chemicals on fire could set of a small explosion that would shake the neighborhood. A million thoughts ran through her mind. Maybe that's a solution. "Why Myra?"

Ewan wasn't sure what to do now. Nowhere to go. No one to turn to. He certainly wasn't going back to the Victorian. He had an urge to do something reckless. No one would care. He squeezed his eyes shut. That's not his thoughts. You want to end it. You want to put silver to your throat and slide it down. She's too hung up on that idiot ex of hers to even give you a thought. You are nothing. She never loved you. Give up, Ewan. Give up. You wasted enough time for over eight hundred years. Why cause more pain? Worthless pathetic dog that you are. "Stop it!" Ewan snapped to no one at all. "Shut up!"

She had stared for a long time at the canvas and realized others would probably be hurt if the warehouse went up in flames. So she tossed a four-foot-tall stack papers, bills and letters on the floor. She was going to be there for some time searching. The second desk has almost as many things to go through. "Myra.. I'm losing faith." She murmured and started to search.

Those thoughts weren't his own. He didn't think like this. He breathed in and looked back to the wherehouse. He had to go back but the voice still continued. Don't Ewan. She dosen't care. You don't get it. You're chasing a ghost. I dun't care. Ewan said and got out of the van and slammed it and made his way back to the warehouse.

She sat there amidst her confusion and clarity sorting through a huge pile of shit. If this wasn't the proverbial picture of complete and utter disorder, nothing else was. After sorting for ten minutes, she found one letter from Myra and set it aside. Once she had everything, she would be able to create a time line to figure where her confusion started. All the personal papers, bills, letters and such there were no good, they landed in shred and recycle pile behind her. Standing for a moment, she needed some music, so she landed on gothic instrumental and classical for some reason. The melodies were haunting, but also comforting.

We spent a few days at a friend?s cabin in the woods for Ewan?s changing. He said he was used to running wild and didn?t want to be alone. I promised to be with him this time, but for the next moon I think he should go alone. I?m not sure he?ll agree, but I think I need to suggest it.

While I was there, Esme called and told me she saw a vision and I should come as soon as possible. I explained it would be in a day since there was one more night of the full moon. She understood and before we hung up she asked for a lock of his hair and clothing from his apartment.

This sounds like some Romany voodoo. She?s an old Romany, I mean ancient. She?s blind in one eye and wears her age well. You can see the hard and soft lines on her face. I said she looked like an old native woman, she said there was a native somewhere in her past.

It wasn?t until later I realized what she meant by that. Every time she helps someone or they come and use her body as a shell, they leave a little piece behind. Esme would not say the name of the native woman who sought her out, but I have a feeling it?s why she is blind in one eye.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/f6/ef/60/f6ef6099a7ba1365622a87fab69405c4.jpg

Ewan insisted on going with me. I?m having trouble adjusting to what is right and how to be representative of what I am now. We?re from an older time where submission is expected. He?s not insisted on submission as a fact, or threatened me.

I know when two people are married it?s hard to think as one mind. Theology says I should submit to his authority as much as I had it. I WILL not submit to any man who does not have the understanding of how to respect what should be respected. I?m not sure that Ewan knows and sure as hell I?m not telling him. It?s not about the man being a slave driver, not at all. It?s about one being the leader in the family. There can?t be two bosses. When the husband takes lead and knows this is what must be done after weighing all the options, he is the leader and I?ll follow.

I know Ethan relies on Sach. Sach is a pig headed Russian and does what he wants. However, I know he never does anything without talking to Ethan and taking in consideration Ethan?s feelings. In the time I?ve known them, Sach has never really made any bad decisions when he had to be the leader. There was one time Ethan was pissed off at Sach after he made a decision Ethan thought should be the other way, but soon after the decision was made, it came to light that Sach made the right decision. Ethan was thankful and since then as I know of has not lost his temper because sometimes a decision has to be made.

Ewan is either the leader of our family or not. If not, then I?m making decisions for myself. I wanted to pepper spray him when he followed me out of the loft. I felt like he was being some fucking two-year-old not wanting to be alone.

He even said, ?Look...I KNOW whot this looks like...I'm nwot followin' yew b'cause I can't stand t' bae alone. Thot text I got...watchin' yew. It wusn' good.?

I let him finish, though I was thinking, ?no shit it?s not good. It looks like something else.?

He said, ?Whotever happens t' yew Norah I am responsible fer whot happens. We need t' go t' together. Husband an' wife...we have thot bond. I trust yew...but thar's a feelin' in mae gut thot is tellin' mae thot leavin' yew t' yer own defenses is a bad idea."

I can protect myself. I so wanted to hit him. I rarely if ever feel like I want to hit someone. He was pissing me off because I couldn?t get to Esme?s. So me, I had to ask. "What makes you think you're responsible for me?"

Yes, I was expecting some fucking lame answer. I just wanted to get to Esme?s. I wanted to walk alone. I wanted to be alone. Is this wrong? I know I can be selfish sometimes. I wanted to know why he thought he was responsible for me. I can think one thing, but he can have a completely different point of view.

I forgave him. I can?t remember if he asked or not. We didn?t quite make up, but things are okay.

We?re under so much pressure with Claire after us, the threat of Sebastian, the murders, my illness, the babies and just finding each other again.

I?ve had a few memories coming back, but nothing I can quite put my finger on. At first I thought it was a fluke, I even questioned if we were really married or not. There?s enough evidence, but I need to know for sure. I?ve asked Sach to look into things, even when Ewan said he was looking into things.

We?re secure with each other. I?m not sure how this whole thing happened to be honest. I still feel strange, as I?m sure anyone would. I am not going to leave him and he promised to be there with me through this illness. Part of me wishes he wouldn?t. I don?t wish this on anyone.

Esme helped Ewan with his voices, but only for a few days though. She said the voice would stutter and hopefully it will help his madness. There are so many things against us, but we?re for each other.

We made up. We had a talk. We made up and had another talk.

I saw the look on his face when I changed my mind. I told him I wanted to be alone for the 4th because he didn?t plan anything. Though that?s not the exact reason I did. I?ve explained it to him a few times, but with the voices, the outside forces and the lack of knowledge to our shared past. I know it?s hard on him, it?s hard on me too.

I want to be alone before this surgery he wanted me to have. I hate that he asked me to do it, but I am doing it for him. It?s fucking unfair that he is selfish and wants me to have it. The doctors said it was a mass they could not operate on, but him and his wolf nose didn?t smell sickness. I know there?s an end, I know it. Why can?t he just let it go? I?ve come to accept what it is. Why can?t he? I?m going though.

All day he could have said let?s do something, but he didn?t. So I made plans on my own. I?m going to go and clear my mind. I?ve said everything I can say to him. I said I love him and I left. I?m not upset, I?m hurt. I get hurt with him and I think because he?s wearing the label husband and I wife. I never wanted to get married, not that I could remember. But we are and I will be faithful to that oath. We both have our minds back and we?ll discover the truth, or at least he will without me and can learn to love again.

Esme told me it was going to get worse before it got better, and well, I think it depends on how you look at things. A prayer was answered. Now it's time to find out why. I told Ewan not to follow me. I don't know if he will respect my wishes or not. I know how to lose him though, I've done it before.

I am going to see Kaleb.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/12/7d/c8/127dc82dea3b99ef1365ad4bbcd3b776.jpg

Several hours later she emerged from the bones and stones covered in blood, mud and other unknown substances. She promised to have the fucking surgery done, so she?d show up.

They expected her at the hospital at 5:30 am, she was there at 5:15 so she could shower and be prepped.

An hour later, the last thing she remembered were bright lights. The doc put her under and started his exploration.

They wheeled her in and started the surgery. The waiting room at the hospital was empty except for an elderly woman asleep in one of the recliners and a tall, slender man in a dark jacket with a hood, dark pants and boots. The tall man in the waiting room stood quietly in the large window overlooking the city. The sun hadn?t come up yet, so the street lamps and the rain illuminated the dim waiting room.

A dark haired nurse came into to deliver some news to the older sleeping woman after waking her up and leading her down the hall. Now the man was alone watching out of the window.

Security had directed Ewan to the waiting room once he had asked. He was silent of course and saw the waiting room was empty. He noted the only other person in the room but paid him no mind as he took his seat.

He watched Ewan come in via the window's reflection. He was sure it was him, he could smell the wolf and he could also smell the familiar woman on him. Kaleb stood there for a few more minutes and finally turned around and stared at Ewan. He's a patient man.

Ewan scented something strange...off about the other man in the room. It was making the wolf go crazy but Ewan quelled it. Instead his red tinged eyes looked to the strange just as he was staring at him.

Kaleb stepped forward and extended his glove covered palm. Inside the palm was Disa's wedding ring and the rosary Ewan gave her earlier that evening. "I believe these are yours." That's all he said for the moment.

Ewan felt a cold chill up his spine when he saw the rosary and the wedding ring. Without thinking he took them quickly and his eyes narrowed. "No. These are hers. Why would yew have them?" Why indeed. His red eyes staring at the strange mystery man. "An' just who are yew?"

Kaleb had the smell of earth, blood, mud, and other scents of the forest on him. An old thing he is, a very old thing. One among the barely living and decaying. "If things go as she thinks they will, they are yours. You should guard them carefully." Kaleb said. "She asked me to bring them here at dawn. I was early. She said I would know why."

Ewan smelled the varying scents and the age. The age was what was the most intriguing. He watched the man carefully. He was silent for a moment after what he had said. "Aye but thot still does nae answer me question o' who yew are? How is it thot yew know her?" Wait a minute....had Disa mentioned Kaleb to him? There was something missing. *d*

Disa had never mentioned Kaleb. ?It doesn?t matter who I am in the grand scheme of things. What matters is the reason I am here.? He motioned for Ewan to sit. They were in a public place, so they could be civil. ?She is a beautiful woman, Disa.? He was judging Ewan?s reaction to his statement about her being beautiful.

Ewan was not about to fight. The man hadn't given him any reason to. He had sat right back down. Her image came into his mind when he said she was beautiful. His expression seemed to change. All this anger was petty and he had to let it go. Kaleb would see Ewan's expression change when he mentioned her. The red vanishing and a look of both love and worry crossed his features. "She is and so much more." He slid his fingers along the Saint Thomas medal.

He reached into his coat pocket and removed a folded piece of paper. ?This is also for you.?

The letter was for Ewan.

Ewan,

I said I love you. Those were my last words to you. However, your last words to me, were do what I want to do, there?s no point talking about it. I wish they had been how you felt about me. I wish they would have been something I could remember when I closed my eyes before this surgery. I was hurt when they weren?t.

Though several hours later I knew that if I didn't do something you'd blame yourself for the rest of the years you were alive. We can't change things; we can only move forward from where we are. I hope you love me and your lack of saying it was just anger.

I want to believe you love me, so I will go into the wild trying to believe this. I did this for you, not for myself. If you're reading this letter it means that I'm dead. I wanted to save you from the hurt and pain from knowing that this is going to happen.

He would not have come if it wasn't my time.

Goodbye,
Norah

Kaleb stood there. "I hope the Saint brings you hope." The medal had been messed with, but it was hard to see that it was a locket of some kind. "When you are alone, cherish the last moments. I'm sorry for your loss."

About the time Kaleb said he was sorry for Ewan's loss, the same dark haired nurse came into the waiting room. "Ewan Skye?" She started at both men. The nurse was tired of delivering this news. "The doctor would like to talk to you, please come with me."

Kaleb nodded and he left. For now, his job was done. Though he was sure they'd cross paths in the future.

The last words he had spoken to the two most important women in his life had been anger and frustration. It hit him in the face again and Disa had died feeling like she didn't love him. This was his fault. He had lost her again because he had been so afraid of losing her. This this it was final. Ewan said nothing he couldn't speak. Everything was closing in on him and walls felt like he was spinning it was his worst nightmare. No worse than a worst nightmare. He hadn't noticed the medal had been tampered with yet. There was nothing but Disa's face in his mind. There was a feeling of numbing cold washing over him and he stood when the nurse called him over. He nodded and whispered a thank you to Kaleb before he the nurse led him to the doctor.


Kaleb left, at the end of the hall he vanished into the darkness when the lights flickered.


The nurse lead Ewan into a small room not far from the waiting room. "Please wait there. The doctor will be here shortly." The nurse waited for Ewan to sit, then she closed the door to the room and walked down the hallway.

A few minutes later the doctor returned to the waiting room. "Mr. Skye. I'm sorry to meet you on this occasion. I'm Dr. Magel." He offered his hand and released.

Ewan had a feeling about what the news was. His heart felt still in his chest. He couldn't function. No...no no no no no no no no. He thought in his head. This had to have been a dream. A terrible dream. It can't end like this. His eyes raised to meet the doctor and he extended his hand and shook it. He gave a small barely inaudible "Aye.?

Kaleb also delivered a letter from Disa to Luke. Inside the letter, Disa explained she needed his help. The letter was brief, but she asked him to trust her and get Ewan out of there as soon as possible. Luke arrived at the hospital as quick as he could. He saw Ewan sitting there alone. "Hey, man. I'm sorry. I just found out. Some dude said you were alone at the hospital." He couldn't say much more than that in public.

"She's gone, Luke...and it's my fault. She died thinking I din't love her." Ewan stared off at the wall. He saw images play along his mind. He saw her laugh. He saw her smile. The look on her face when he gave her her favorite candy. The sunlight bouncing off her hair. His voice sounded far off and away. His hand clenching tightly around the wedding ring and the medal.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. You and I have to go. We have to go now. There isn?t much time.? He was taking Ewan away before he could say goodbye to his wife. ?Man, you have to trust me. I wouldn?t be doing this if it wasn?t important.? Grabbing Ewan's arm.

"W-whot are yew doing? I have to say goodbye!" Ewan cried out and snatched his arm away from Luke and looked down the hallway. He inhaled trying to get a scent but he smelled nothing at all. "She needs to know....she needs me..." Ewan didn't fight but it sounded like a small tiny plea from a lost soul and it was exactly what it was.

As Luke lead Ewan away, anyone could tell Ewan was upset. Luke and Ewan passed a man who may have looked familiar to Ewan, but he wouldn?t remember him yet.

"I'm taking you somewhere you can mourn," Luke said.

Sebastian walked down the hall of the hospital. He was here, he?d been here for some time watching the couple. He was suspect about Disa?s death. The chip wasn?t supposed to kill her, but he was here to find out how she died and to collect the body.

Sebastian saw the pain Ewan was in and he smiled while he stepped up to the nurse's station. "Derek Halsey, with the watch. I'm here to inquire about the.." Whatever he said couldn't be heard by Luke or Ewan.

Luke was dragging Ewan out. "That will have to wait, mate. You have to get out of here." He dragged him out of the hospital and shoved him into the car. "I'm supposed to take you somewhere, Ewan." Is all he said.

In the meantime, they had to clean up the body. As the staff left the nurse to clean up things, she stitched up the vein in the back of her neck. The body was washed up, and taken to the morgue where there?d be an autopsy.

What was odd is that Disa?s body was tagged and the mortuary was already coming to get her. The doctor wanted an autopsy, but magically the tag was replaced with one releasing it for the mortuary. The body was picked up in a non-descript white van, in and out without anyone realizing what was done was done.

The nurse had the detective sit down, she'd have to get the doctor. Sebastian aka Derek would have to wait for the doctor.

Luke started the car and he said. "Do you have the rosary? The rosary tells me where I'm supposed to take you."

If Ewan looked at the metal, he'd see fiodh taigh engraved on it.

Luke was all Ewan had right now. For better or for worse. God had sent him another angel it seemed in the form of a crazy southern fried Norweigan. Ewan composed himself and went with Luke. However, he passed a familiar man in the hallway but when he looked upon him his vision started to blur and the back of his neck itched. It was a painful burning sensation at first and there was a loud buzzing in his ears until he looked away and the buzzing stopped. Ewan was lead down the hallway wondering what the hell happened. He shook out of his blindness confused when Luke grabbed his arm and was lead by the blonde man out of the hospital and into the car. He was silent the whole way until he looked at the rosary in his hand. Seeing the engraving in it. He didn't say anything, he just nodded.

Luke was driving around. "Man, you're the one who has to tell me where to take you. It's what my note said. Your girl told me you'd know where to go."

"Cabin in the woods," Ewan replied. "The inscription was in Scots Gaelic. Said wood house. Here..." Ewan had a feeling a gut instinct that he knew which one and he had the addressed saved on the iphone. He put in the directions and the voice on the phone would instruct Luke where to go. Thank God for google maps.

?Why would she tell you to go to a cabin?" Luke asked. He seemed confused by the whole thing. "Look, brother, you're lady love sent this skinny dude with a letter and a message. The man told me to get to the hospital asap, you were alone and had bad news."

Luke kept driving according to the google maps. His letter simply said Ewan can't be alone and he'll need you, Luke. Please take care of him. Don't tell him I asked you to come and get him. Shit! Luke remembered. "Damn man, I mean a message, all this weird shit has me boggled. I was worried about you and came. I saw the letter in your hand." Made sense, right? He kept Disa's secret.

"You have any idea why your girl would say that?" Fuck, he already blew it twice. The note asked him to keep the secret, Ewan would know where to go and not to let him be alone. He can do that, he could. He drove in the direction the GPS told him to go.

"She sent yew to look after me didn't she?" Ewan wasn't looking at him. His eyes still carrying that glazed over catatonic look. He just wanted to rip off his skin. He wanted to shift and run as far as he could into the woods and howl. Ewan didn't break down. He didn't burst into tears and he felt partly ashamed that he didn't do any of those things. He felt as if he was too far broken to do that. "Yew d'nae have to thot, Luke. I d'nae need a baby sitter. I've lived oan mae own fer a long time and I'll go back to doin' thot now. Ye've already done enough." There was no moon in sight. It would be present until a few weeks time but he wanted to rage badly. He breathed in and took a deep breath and looked down praying silently.

"Yeah, she did." He shrugged. "Look, Ewan, I'm not going to deny a dying woman her last wish or for that fact your wife, who helped me. You think I want bad karma? You don't need to be alone man, not at all. This is what friends are for. I'm sure you would have done the same for me if I were here when Lucy died. For the sake of me being an ass, why would your lady want you to go to a wood house? You have any idea?" He pressed for an answer.

Begrudgingly, Ewan agreed that Luke was right. Ewan had tried to get a hold of Luke when he found out about Lucy. A part of him was in disbelief. Mentally arguing that this just couldn't be possible. He meant to try to save her life and instead he just hastened it to it's end. Never again. Ewan thought to himself. I will never love another soul for the rest of my existence. "Thot's the funny thing, Luke. Disa is a complex female." He did NOT say "was". There was no past tense even in death she was complicated

as ever. "Yew keep askin' questions and ye may get an answer but yew'll only get more questions and riddles. Her codename is Disorder for a reason." What are you really trying to tell me Disa? Ewan thought. He breathed in deeply and looked out the window.

"She seemed pretty straight forward to me, but maybe that's complex." He shrugged. "You don't think it's a woman thing, Ewan? Your lady said women are emotional and men need to fix things. She told me Lucy wouldn't want me blaming myself, that she'd want me to move on. Disorder. Hm. You know Ewan, disorder can be mental too. Maybe she felt like she was mental or emotional all the time. Not saying she's not complicated, but when we talked it made sense to me. You need to figure out why she'd want you to go to this cabin. Why don't we stop and pick up some food before we get there and we'll figure out." That would give them plenty of time and Ewan won't be alone.

He pulled off several miles away so they could get some food and beer. When they were back in the car and on the way Luke spoke up. "Disorder also means disrupt the way we think." He'd been thinking about what that meant. "You have any reason for her to disrupt the way you think or act?"

Ewan was silent most of the way. He hardly touched his burger but he downed the beer like one would water. He did not order another one. Another thing that sucked about his insanely rapid healing ability was that it was a lot harder for him to get drunk and if he did it barely lasted for more than ten minutes. Ewan had been silent in the car ride as well. He had been going through his iphone looking over the pictures he had of her. The first one she had sent him had been his background picture. He had taken as many as he possibly could but he looked at the very last one he had taken of her. The night where it all went wrong. "I have a history, Luke. Yew know I'm nwot the most mentally balanced person. Yew know about the voices. Mebbe she thinks I'll do somethin' stupid. I won't."

His eyes shifted to the radio when Elvis' "It's Now Or Never" began to play

As Ewan looked through his phone, he'd find some pictures she took at the cabin of herself. She also took pictures of the cabin itself, of the mantel, the rug in front of the mantel, a few doors, and an unopened letter. There were also some selfies she took for him, almost half naked, but none were.

"Don't matter what I think Ewan. I told you I'm not negating the last request of a woman like your Disa or my Lucy. Can't do it man. You're stuck with me for a few days. It'll help. I know you feel like shit now, I do too. Have, but doing better when I attempt to stop blaming myself." Ironic, the song.

Ewan went through the pictures. How had he not seen these before? He was listening to look but he thumbed through the picture with the letter and enlarged it. His red eyes looking to the envelope. "She left me something there. Something she needs me to find. I cannae explain it." Was there something behind those doors? Something under the rug? However he just went back to those selfies. disa...I'm so sorry...I do love you...you're the only person I ever loved. I never believed this was final...it can't be final.

"You'll find it man. We have a few more hours before we're there. Why don't you try to get some rest. I'll wake you up when we're near there. You've been through a lot." Luke hoped he would try to get some rest while they drove out to where the fuck boonies.

Ewan said nothing at all. He just looked out the window seeing images flashing through his mind. Mostly of Disa. Remember her scent. The way her body felt against yours? Like your bodies were made for each other. How she called your name. How she kissed the demons away. How she didn't run when you changed in front of her. Remember how the sunlight bounced off her hair. How her laugh was like the sound of Heaven. Remember this, Ewan...remember this always. Ewan eventually closed his eyes. He didn't want to sleep but his body was resisting. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He closed his eyes and fell into the arms of Morpheus to the tune of Santos and Johnny's Sleep Walk.

Luke drove an extra time so Ewan could sleep. Sleep was the hardest thing for him after Lucy died. As they pulled up to the cabin, he felt something weird going on, so he backed up and pulled into a side road. Ewan was out, so he left the car running and went to check out what was going on. He saw that tall dude from earlier, the one who delivered his message. He looked like he was alone, but you can't be so sure. Astral projecting himself closer to the cabin for a look. The man was walking around inside after he'd been smoking outside. None one else looked like he was around. Gone a few minutes, then he returned to his body and went back to the car. "Ewan.. hey man. We're here, but I think some shit is going down. Some man is the cabin."

Ewan had been dreaming. He had been running through the graveyard after Disa. He had been calling after her but she still ran from him and he couldn't keep up with her despite his wolf speed. Ewan awakened when he saw a shadowed man in his dream grab Disa by the hair and pull her into the shadows. Ewan snapped awake suddenly and looked to Luke. Some man is in the cabin. All of a sudden Ewan was out of the car and he was in the cabin hardly little more than a blur.

Luke was out of the car and stopping him. "Man.. wait. You can't just go running in there. Think this through. He looks like the only one in there. Slow down. Don't do something stupid." Luke said. It was better to think this through.

Kaleb was inside waiting. He'd been there an hour before them, how? He had his ways.

"Whoever it is. He's waiting fer us." Ewan inhaled, "It's the man from earlier. Disa's messenger." He made his way into the cabin and looked to Luke to make sure he was coming along. He was silent however as he made his way into the cabin. That smell.

Luke followed him.

Kaleb was standing inside, he was aware the men were outside. "Hello again. Were you followed?" He asked.

Luke looked at him. "I don't think we were followed, but I wasn't aware that I needed to watch out for something like that."

Kaleb looked at him. "You would have noticed if you were followed."

Luke shook his head. "I didn't see any cars behind me for miles. What the hell is going on?"

"Waiting for him." Kaleb looked at Ewan.

"Fer the time I was awake, no. I dint see anyone." Ewan asked him. His blue-green eyes focused on him. "Why?" Ewan didn't exactly care about his own safety at the moment but it was Luke that he was most definitely concerned over.

Kaleb stood there silently for several minutes. "Last night your wife came to me asking for my help. She wanted my unusual gifts at her disposal. The payment was more than she was willing to give." However, he made an exception because she talked him into it.

Luke looked at Kaleb like he was some sort of freaky. "Man where I'm from, it sounds like you wanted to bang her or some shit like that. I don't know what your talents are, but that's not what you're talking about." Right?

Kaleb put his fingers together. "She was very fuckable."

Luke grabbed Ewan's arm before he did anything stupid. "Hear him out." He felt a but.

The rage burned with him. His eyes were red and it was within everything he could do to not shift and devour that bastard right then and there. "I'd thank yew...to get yer hand off me please." His red eyes focused on Kaleb but he did not move a muscle as of yet. But if it were true he would rip his heart out and devour it. Make no mistake about that. *d*

"No." Luke said.

Kaleb watched Ewan. "It won't do you any good to try and kill me. I'm already among the dead. Disa assured me you'd be interested in what I have to tell you about a ring, a ghost and someone who tortured you. We couldn't quite reach an agreement, so you'll have to meet my terms. Are you willing to pay them?"

"Whot are the terms?" Ewan asked him, his voice still calm and of void of feeling. He only watched the dead man. His eyes still blazing and a hellish red but it was the only fire that burned within them now.

"Agree to the payment or you will find nothing. I've done my part. She assured me you were willing to pay it. Hn. She's a liar." Kaleb stepped around the men on his way out.

"I dint say no now did I? I merely asked whot th' terms were. I'll pay yer bloo'day price." Ewan answered the man looking to him as he attempted to step out. "We have an agreement then?"

Kaleb grinned when he shut the door. "I'll tell you. You have no right to ask."

Luke knew there was something stinky going on, but he watched Ewan and Kaleb before stepping out to have a smoke.

I felt a strange sense of clarity after Disa's visit and after letting the beast loose. Everyone deals with grief differently and turning into a raging destructive wolf seemed to help me deal. Luke in his way was helping me too. If anyone could relate to what I was dealing with Luke would be the one. His love, Lucy was killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street. She had gone for a walk after an argument and the last words they had shared had been ones in anger. Luke is loyal and Luke is a great pal. I want to choke the ever loving ***** out of him sometimes but I wouldn't trade him for the world.

We spent time talking, watching a movie, playing a video game but I felt time was wasting. So much time I could be still be looking for clues on how to bring Disa back. Luke thinks it's a fool's errand. Sach tells me she isn't done with us. I'm doing what I can but there's a terrible sinking feeling that it all may be too late. I'm not giving up on her though. Not by a bloody long shot. After that night I told Luke goodnight and pointed him in the direction of the guest room. I went back to the room I once shared with Disa. I thought I could be prepared for anything when I closed my eyes once again. It turns out that I really wasn't. Not at all.

My dream was anything but pleasant in fact it was one of the most disturbing nightmares I had in recent memory. I was in a room that was darkened. The lights were dimmed but I could see somehow through the extreme agony. Each of my arms were pinned to the wall by the wrists by long blades. I was stuck against the wall and in terrible agony as my clothes were soaked in my own blood but I did not scream. I would not give them that satisfaction. I made hardly a sound at all and it seemed to only serve to irritate my tormentor. A man who's face was unseen. His voice was smooth like silk but hiding the real cobra's poison that oozed within.

"Your fortitude is trying my patience, boy. You will do as I bid and you will guide me to what I seek." The man stormed over and pushed the hilt of the blade further into my already bloody wrist. I gave no sound but the grinding of my teeth betrayed my agony. That was all.

"alright...alright...I'll tell yew..." I whispered hoarsely. My tormentor leaned in quickly.

"C-c'mere...closer....I...cannae speak....I'm so...tired." I managed to choke out. The man obliged, "yes??" Before he knew what was happening a ripping agonizing pain shot through him but he was not able to scream as his throat had been cleanly ripped out. The man fell down blood gushing from the wound. All over the floor and all over me as I continued to chew what I had ripped from the man's throat and I swallowed. "See yew in hell, chief." I uttered to him. There was no pleasure in what I had done. The dream was not finished however.

I somehow found myself appearing by my own bedside. Watching myself sleep and and little did I know at the time that Disa was behind me. I called her name in confusion...this was eerie and holy cricket I was as pale as a polar bear in a snow storm. I would feel her hand on my shoulder.

"Why are you watching yourself sleep?" She asked the question, but knew the answer. Part of me would have to come to terms with what I was dealing with. Sometimes you have to step outside and watch to learn.

The darkness started to fade into light as I watched my body sleeping. The blood slowly turned to a field of wild flowers I was laying in blanketed in pinks, purples, white and other pale colors. I was napping with a little red head next to me, it looked like a boy.

The memory was light and it felt like there was sun on my face. I would feel the sun and cool air.

I had started to speak but didn't finish what I was about to say. Whatever had been in my brain died right when I saw that image of me and Disa's son. "Thot's our son...." I uttered softly as I watched the scene. I felt a sharp pang in my heart as it ached and mourned for someone I had hardly any memory of. I turned and looked back to Disa. "I miss yew....I feel like I'm missing part o' me with yew gone." That was most certainly true. I think she knew that and felt it as well.

She smiled and kissed my cheek. There was so much she couldn't say, but maybe her eyes said it. This visit was different because they were hunting her, and she expelled too much energy to speak more than she had to speak. "He brings a memory you forgot. Try to remember." She kissed the other side of my cheek.

"Try to remember what you need to remember." She could not be more clear, it was a dream. Though she planted seeds, they'd have to grow. She moved her hand and there was another memory of me with a little red headed girl, about thirteen dancing on my feet with her arms around me laughing. Her hair was down and danced around her hips as we danced around together. I was teaching her how to waltz.

"Remember how you feel," She sad to me. Disa was starting to fade, but she did her best to stay without drawing out the memories. Dreams come and gone, and what she was doing is simply bringing memories to my mind that maybe I should see.

She waved her hand again, waiting to see what we would see together.

I saw the look in Disa's eyes. I pulled her into my arms for a quick moment. I stole a kiss upon her cheek when she kissed me. I didn't understand why this was happening but I was trying. There were so many more bittersweet memories. I remembered those feelings of love and contentment. I love my children. They were my world. Just like Disa. I watched the girl giggle as I lead her in a dance. "yer gettin' better than me at this," I told my daughter as I laughed in the memory. Before I could speak to Disa the memory of our daughter faded.

"Disa...please...let me help yew...Fos is coming." I pleaded with her. Her smile faded when I told her that bit of information. I know there was so much more she wanted to say to me but she was not able. There was nothing...all I saw were these memories and maybe the clues lay within there. I tried to reach out for Disa but she backed away from me. "I love yew..." I told her and I didn't stop her. Did she really know how I felt? I hope she did. I knew there was something she needed to do and she was risking herself just by visiting me. I nodded to her in understanding although it was hard. We were soon back in the room that I had once shared with her.


She smiled and put her fingers to her heart to show that she knew I loved her. When she faded, there was some morning light coming through the window.

I awakened and I sat up with a sigh. The images fresh in my mind. There was a reason why Disa had sent me all these images. They meant something to me. To both of us. Family, our family. It was painfully bittersweet but I smiled none the less. "Thank you..." I whispered softly even though I knew she was gone. My smile faded when I saw her write the name CLAIRE in the window and I knew. I was out of bed still in my old clothes that I really hadn't switched out for a day or so and I was out like a shot. Luke was just going to have to forgive me. I hated to do this but I texted Luke's phone. Luke...I'm sorry and I can not explain this to you now but Disa has gone back to the Victorian to confront Claire. I have to go. Kick my bum later. Disa needs me. I pulled my gym shoes on and I grabbed my keys off the night stand. I went to the window and lifted it before I jumped out said window and landed on my feet. I ran as fast as I could to the van and opened the door to the driver's side and jumped in. I started the van and peeled rubber as I raced to get to the Victorian.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/49/9e/2a/499e2a5f7a373135f5d6c942246db6fd.jpg

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange

A walk on part in a war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here


I was not sorry that Claire was gone. I was only sorry that I could not have dealt with her sooner. After the confrontation, interrogation and execution I felt that I was left with more questions than answers. I can't say that I was happy or sad about her final outcome. All I can remember about it is that I felt nothing at all. She wasn't worth wasting any sort of emotion on and I will do my best to forget her. Luke and I for what it's worth are dealing with this situation as best as we can. We both know we are in over our heads. I almost drove him away with my anger issues. There is nothing worse than having so much rage and grief built up and you unload on the wrong person. I apologized and we're good as gold now. I'm worried about him however. He's starting to drink heavily again. I don't know if this is because of the fact that he's unfortunately been dragged into my worst week in recent memory or...if it's because he's seen a lass that resembled Lucy in the dive bar he wanted me to meet up with me in. He told me had some news about Kaleb.

So...good news or bad news first? I'll give the good news. It'll help me see the cloud on the silver lining. Ehm, no that's not how the saying goes.

THE GOOD NEWS: Kaleb has a way to bring Disa back. Apparently he is in league with Hades. You know who he is, aye? Good. He needs an ancient tome known as The Lazarus Book. I have an inkling as to where that book is. We also know where Disa's body is located.

THE BAD NEWS: We ran into a rather slimy androgynous wee skunner. He was a demon and a rather nasty one at that. He also seemed to fancy Luke quite a bit. In order for him to help us deal with Fos and to bring my wife back he wanted a nephilim named Silas brought to him. I just had to go and agree before I realized what in the blue hell I was agreeing to. Which leads to the creature telling us that Disa's body is in the catacombs. Which could be anywhere. It would take me months to find her, even with excellent tracking skills and all. I'm not fool enough to get lost underground.

With that bit of information the creature left. We were both left with a bunch of what ifs. What if this Silas person wasn't actually a bad sort of fellow? Disa would never forgive me for knowingly harming an innocent. Neither would I. Truthfully I have a feeling that I may not make it out of this alive. I have been lucky for this long. However, what happens when your luck eventually runs out? Luke and I parted our separate ways for the night. He has to feel some resentment. Disa has been visiting me whenever she is able. Luke admitted that he never once had gotten a visit from Lucy. I feel terrible, guilty and I know I really shouldn't. It doesn't sound like Lucy to not visit him. Maybe there is something that is keeping her from doing so. Luke is good at keeping a straight face but I know he's falling apart. You can only keep the charade up for so long. I promised Luke I wouldn't do anything stupid. Like run into the catacombs or try to hunt down Silas alone. I couldn't sleep that night. My mind was running five hundred miles. I miss Disa. I remember the good times.

I even remember the bad and it all seems so trivial now. Disa loves me for all of my faults and I tell you true there are many. I haven't lost faith even though I feel as if the walls are closed in on me from all sides. I have been through hell. I have burned like a fire in the darkness and I will continue to burn. It's not over yet. I was told it would be worse before it would get better. It has to get better. It just has to.

They'd met with Silas at the shelter and spent the day serving food the homeless in RhyDin. By this point, they both knew there was no option. They couldn't do what the demon wanted.

A few days later, Luke texted Ewan. Mate I'm down stairs, let me in. I'm starving. Is your lazy arse in bed? He'd wait for Ewan to get up. They were going to talk about more stuff, what to do and where to go.

Luke also had some interesting info from one of his resources.
The sound of the light saber from his iPhone snapped Ewan awake. He groaned finding himself sitting back at his desk. His lap top open but oddly it was a picture of a statue of a man holding a torch. He looked down seeing pages from a notebook which was all of his hand writing and he realized it was exactly the same wording from the pages in his dream. He had no time to speak to Disa and she was fading faster and faster. They were running out of time. Ewan would check the security cameras seeing his friend and very soon Luke would be greeted by Ewan at the door. "Mornin' Luke. Glad t' see ye, mate. I'll make ye breakfast." He let Luke in and shut the door.

"Good mate. I brought some sausage." Handing the bag off to him. "What's up. You take your morning shyte? You look constipated." Maybe it was his way of saying something looked wrong. Grabbing a water from the frig and sitting on the stool around the kitchen bar counter.

"It's pretty fucking hot outside this morning. My balls were sticking to my boxers. Not supposed to happen." He snorted.

Had this been the normal run of things Ewan would have made a humored remark about Luke's sausage but this was not the normal run of things. He thanked him and took the sausage with a thanks. "No, bodily fluids are running jus' fyne." Ewan replied. He grabbed some pans began to fry up the sausage with hash browns and eggs and toast. He poured Luke a glass of orange juice.

"Good. You know Lucy gave me this poo-pourri shyte, to keep me from stinking. You ever heard of that mate? I saw the commercial and laughed my arse off." He brought it up on his IPhone so he could watch it.

"I found a few bottles, I'm still fucking using that stuff now. I suppose I am gonna have to buy some more when I run out. Why is it we let women change us?" He chuckled.

He watched the red head with the clipped and polished English accent speak about excrement. She looked like a 1950's prom date. Ewan thought the woman eerily resembled Lucy but he knew better than to remark about that. He actually managed a chuckle or two and went back to cooking. He smirked at Luke's comment but found it resonated as well. He served Luke a heaping platter of sausage and hash browns and eggs. He removed the toast from the toaster once it was ready and handed him his eating utensils. "There's som'thin I need t' show ye once we got breakfast done with." Ewan said to Luke. He was really going to think he was off his rocker by this point. Ewan would not be inclined to disagree with him.

Luke just showed Ewan a commercial about shyte. Who is crazy?

"Sure mate." He started shoveling the food in his mouth. He almost said he had some news to share too, but that could wait until he was done. "Since you cooked, I'll clean up. Damn fuck shyte... Ewan. We sound like a fucking married couple. Lucy made me clean if she cooked." He grumbled.

He's being quiet now and shoving food in his mouth.

"Ye dinnae have to do thot, pal. Yer me guest." Ewan remembered Lucy as a powerhouse. Ewan wasn't very hungry but he made himself eat eggs and toast and sausage. Once he was finished he started to clean up but not before giving Luke more sausage and eggs. He could pack away more food than he could and that said quite a lot. He walked away for a moment and brought Luke the pages he had written but did not remember writing at all and set them before him. "Check this oot..." It was definitely Ewan's elegant writing on the pages. "Th' thyng o' it is...I don' remember writing any o' thot."

Luke looked at the page and raised his brow. "Mate, these look like pages from an old book. I don't see you writing anything." He read the pages. "Torchbearer. Weird. You mean someone like running before the crowd guiding the way?"

Luke looked confused. "Mate, maybe you're dreaming or something. Just print on the page, a very old type press looks like." Handing the pages back, and no handwriting, just as he said, old letter press type.

"Is that what you saw?"

Ewan was a but flustered but it was not with Luke at all. "No...there was more than thot, man. I could nae sleep so well last night so I went online and started to research. Tryin' t' find ways to attempt to trap thot Fos fecker an' suddenly I'm lookin' up th' myths on Orpheus and Eurydice. Don' ask why. Then I reckon I fell asleep at the desk an' Disa guides me t' the kitchen table and then..." he explained everything in explicit detail about the gods and the torch bearer and how he had been kept hidden. It almost seemed like he was on a tangent almost. He almost went to speaking Gaelic a few times but he checked himself quick. He stopped after a pause. "This is all connected Luke...it has t' be...I know it sounds like I'm off me hinges...mebbe I am."

Luke looked confused. "You think you're this torchbearer?" He asked. "Nah, mate. I'm confused to what you think this is. This isn't talking about Orpheus, this is talking about Hades, Hecate and Hermes. You need to tell me what the hell you think this is." Luke was so confused to think he Ewan was off his rocker.

Ewan shook his head in answer to Luke's question. "Bloody hell, no. I'm no one's torch bearer. It could be Disa...hell...mebbe even..I don' know. All I know is I was shown this fer a reason. An as fer Orpheus he went after his dead lady love to bring her back an' he lost her again." But why did he lose her? He lost her because she looked back....He felt like she was slipping away from him. The more time it was taking for them to get her back the more she was slipping away from him. He felt like they were on borrowed time.

"OH." Luke was dense sometimes. "So maybe she's the torchbearer and you're trying to find her to bring her back? Got it. I'm not fucking calling you Morpheus." A play on Matrix there, maybe it went over Ewan's head.

Ewan should probably say that to Luke so he didn't feel like he was a stranger in a strange land.

"Thot's it! Aye! Hopefully it'll fare better fer me than Orpheus." Ewan stared at Luke blankly not getting the reference. He thought he had been referring to the god of sleep. So he merely shrugged his shoulders. "I get this horrible feelin' thot she's slipping away Luke. The more time she spends in the nether..." Ewan stopped himself. "No...I cannae think like thot."

"Mate. You need to stop thinking about that shit. Take one day at a time. Do what you can do." What else could he tell him? Maybe Disa would never come back. Maybe she would. He didn't know and would not get wrapped up in Ewan's what ifs.

"I did hear some news brewing underground. Apparently there's some rumors a body was put in torpor. Usually torpor is something vamps drift into. They said this body was human, or something like a human."

"Don't usually hear rumors like that." It made Luke wonder.
His brow was knitted together as he took in just what Luke was telling him. Yes, he knew what torpor was and until now he thought it was only something that effected vampires. Ewan mulled long and hard over this. Luke was not the only one who was wondering. "torpor's a death like sleep...occurs from blood loss." The doctor spoke about the cause of death being from too much blood loss. Ewan stopped and was at a loss for words at the moment.

"Yeah if you're a fucking blood sucker. Torpor means inactivity or lethargy. If you're not a vamp, then it just means your body is inactive. Heard me some rumors old magic used to put bodies in coma's like that. Think about it. You're a vamp, you need blood to live. You don't have it, but you're immortal, so you barely exist. You shrivel and waste away. Think about if you're not a vamp.. your body goes to torpor if you're in a coma." He was scratching his head. "Or bears hibernating." He added.

There was no vocal response from him at the moment but he listened very very carefully to what Luke was saying. This was all so bloody confusing. Oops horrible unintentional pun there. Ewan was silent for a long time. "Aye...sweet baby Jesus..." Ewan remarked with a sigh.

"What?" He looked confused and he looked at his friend really strange. "You just can't say shit like that Ewan. Explain."

"I'm jus' tryin' t' make sense o' this all." Ewan remarked. He was still processing the dream and what Luke was telling him. The meeting with Silas. The fact that maybe just maybe...Disa wasn't quite as dead as he thought she was. Hell maybe she was. He scratched the side of his face absently and checked his watch. "We still need to meet up wi' Silas."

"I'm not trying to get you to make sense of anything Ewan. I think that's the point of discovery. You need to figure something out. The pages, the mystery, the fucking weird ass things.. Silas, demons and all that shit. I'm just as confused as you, but more. If you try to make sense of it, I think you'll be dead."

"Yer ri'...an' I'll be no good to anyone dead." Ewan remarked with a sigh. This was Rhydin after all. Things never ever made sense here to begin with. He ran his fingers through his messy black hair absently. Thank God for Luke, that was it that was all. He would literally be nowhere without him. He knew this.

"This shit don't make sense." That's what it was. "It's a friggen puzzle. You don't have to make sense of it, you need to find out how the pieces fit together and hope when it's together you can figure out what the hell it is your supposed to see." He thought a moment. "You get a card or anything from Silas? We should call to make sure he's there before we go over."
"I grabbed a card on our way oot." Ewan admitted, he did think about what Luke had told him. He grabbed the card from out of his pocket and looked it over and removed his iPhone and dialed the number. He watched the wall as he heard the ring and then Silas' voice. "'Lo, Silas s' Ewan...I wus just wonderin' if yew were goin' to be in at the shelter today....Oh ye are, grand thot. Wha' time? Ehm...ye get there at ten. Oh...ri'...ok kewl. See ye soon, man. Ok bye." The rather quick conversation had ended there.

When Ewan called him, he nodded. "What time we need to get there?" Luke was ready to go now if he wanted to go.

"Says he gets thar a'roond ten an' s' almos' thot time. So mebbe we shoad leave now." Ewan suggested. He walked to the table and grabbed the keys off the counter. He walked downstairs with Luke in tow and made his way out of the pub and towards the van. He opened the door for Luke and made his way to the driver's side and started the van and took off once Luke was inside. He didn't drive manically even though he was half way tempted.

Luke followed Ewan to the van. "Yeah, that's not a bad time for getting around." He got in the van but he opened his own door, Ewan just unlocked it. Luke even stared at Ewan for coming around that way. "Mate, I ain't your bitch." He didn't mean Disa or anything.

Ewan looked confused when he said that and realized what he did and he started to laugh. It was the full on infamous hyena cackle and he hadn't laughed like that in a long time. He shook his head. "Sorrie, man, Sorrie..." he sobered up quick thinking of Disa. "Habit..." He was suddenly in the driver?s seat closing his door and started up the van and turned the radio on. The Beatles "Get Back" was playing and he sang along with the chorus as he drove.

"You better not tell your woman it's a habit to open the door if you get her back. She'll think you don't care about her. Women are weird like that, hell." As they took off, Luke grabbed the door handle so he didn't freak out as Ewan drove. He was glad when they arrived.

"Not if, mate. When" Ewan corrected him but wasn't snarky about it. He was trying to keep a positive attitude. "Bloody hell no, I'm not a'bout to say thot to her. I'm not thot stupid." He was about to say more but then swore when he was cut off by a motorist that was more asinine then him. He honked the horn but that was as far as his aggression got. He finally pulled up into the parking lot and turned the van off before he got out.

Luke thank the gods and just before the ban stopped, he jumped out and stepped back. "Mate you're a fucking crazy driver." Wait. Revenge will come. He promises without saying a word. His mind going back and forth plotting how.

Glancing at his cell, there was still time before ten. "I need a beer."

Ewan shrugged his shoulders when Luke stated the obvious. Yes, he was a crazy driver. Hell, just plain crazy. Maybe Ewan should have been worried about that but right now he was worried about something else.

Luke stared at Ewan like he was out of his mind. "What? Why the feck you shruggin'? You're crazy man. You're crazy." He waited to figure out where they were going.

"Well thot's bloody well, obvious." Ewan replied to Luke's comment saying he was out of his mind. "We can get beers later, Luke. Ri' now we need to get to Silas. I have a feelin' he arrived early." He started to make his way towards the shelter.

"Are you a seer now Ewan? You trying to practice shit you don't have?" Luke's ribbing him because he can. "You gonna tell him what's going on? I hope you're not just gonna jump on it. A little tact man, a little tact. What's the first thing you gonna do if your girl comes back?"

"I'm not th' seer. Thot wus me Mum." The joke went right over his head just like a lot of things in life. He glanced to Luke when he said the last bit about her coming back. WHEN she comes back. He wanted to correct him but he didn't. "Apologize fer bein' such an idiot." Ewan huffed slightly. It was something he had entertained in his brain for so long. He didn't have time for what ifs anymore. It was all or nothing at all. True to Ewan's suspicion Silas had arrived earlier than he had told Ewan. He had been leaving his office when the boys had made their entrance.

Luke actually snorted. "You're gonna apologize?" He shook his head. "I thought you'd say something like give it too good for several days." Luke was trying his best to lighten the mood. The door closed behind him and he stood straight. At least he didn't say fuck her good.

Ewan appreciated the humor but he was feeling a little too tense at the moment to crack back any jokes. Silas approached the two and Ewan straightened a bit as well. "Good morning, gentleman." He greeted them cheerfully. Ewan was feeling his heart sink down to his feet. He did not have a very good feeling about this.

He had most certainly caught that familiar face. He could breathe slightly easier now. However, his gaze was focused on Elmer at the moment. "aye...off wi' ye now." Ewan added with a slight growl. He let loose a breath and looked to Luke. He nodded when the celestial was mentioned. "Alri' mate. Keep me posted. Need me to drive ye?" Ewan figured the answer was going to be no but at least he made the offer.

"No, I'm going to get a cab. I'm on this side of town." Luke nodded. He'd hailed a cab and left Ewan on his own.

When Ewan got home, he'd find a video message to watch.

He saw Luke off and then made his way home. Before he did he made a stop at the grocer and bought himself a bottle of highland Scotch malt. Once he was home he closed the door and locked it behind him. He sat down at his desk and opened his lap top and raised a brow at the message. He watched the video.

When the movie started, Ewan saw Sach talking. "Ewan, I got your message. I'm afraid we're taking back the invitation for you to come. Ethan knows you're supposed to be in Rhydin. The babies are coming soon and Constance is having some problems. We want you here when the babies are born in September. I heard what you're doing and as much as I want to say you can find her, you can't. I have her body; we'll have her cremated per her request in a few days. Look at the envelope I've left for you. You'll see it was her last wish. I'll give you until August 1st to do something. Ethan and I have labored about this and do not want you to hate us for it. We have to respect her last wishes."

There was a pause in the video. The Russian looked like he had been crying and moved to tears over the decision. "We have to move on. All of us. We were trying to believe something could happen, but in her own words, she said for all of us to move on. I have a ticket for you through the nexus. Come when you want, but I figured you'll take the next week or so to figure out what you need to do. We are family. It is with a heavy heart we do this. We have to watch over you too." The video ended.

This day was Saturday, 23rd, mid-morning.

Ewan watched the message. He sat staring at the screen. He could only stare in disbelief. It wasn't Sach and Ethan he hated, it was himself. He closed the lap top. His hand shaking slightly. He got to his feet and thought about downing that bottle of scotch but thought the better of it. Instead he remembered the map and the key he kept hidden in the bottom compartment of the dresser drawer. He ran into the bedroom and went through the bottom drawer removing said map and key...there had to be a way. "I'm no' giving up. I've worked too hard. I'm so close." He muttered.

Luke got the message and sent one back. ?Mate, don't do anything stupid. You have the key and map to some supposed book. If that book is real, what you think you're gonna do with it? You know if that book gets in the wrong hands, it's going to fuck everything up. Is it a map and key or is it what she left you when she died? I was checking out a few leads before you sent the message about someone having her body. I heard it was a Russian who got her away from that weird fuck. He also sent a message that if anyone messed with her body or you they were going to be fucked up. Seems the rats are running and flailing. You're not failing anyone Ewan. People die. It happens. You need to stop beating yourself up. She was sick. I'll be in touch with you soon. What are you going to do? DO NOT go after that book. I'll be back in town tomorrow morning.?

The message was reviewed and noted. Ewan sent a text with a reply "I'll be waiting". In reassurance to Luke that he was definitely not about to do anything stupid. All he could do was partake in the activity he despised the most...waiting. While he waited he tried to make the best use of his time researching information on Celestials, The Greek Mythos, taking notes and especially underlining information on the titans and anything on Hades. However, he continued to play Aurora's "Winter Bird" over and over. He listened to the lyrics. Stopping his task for a moment and looking towards the radio.

There was a light breeze coming through an open window. Who opens windows in RhyDin in the summer? The white gauzy curtain fluttered back and forth, it almost looked like a silhouette of a woman. Almost. The radio played the same song he was listening to, but it was the end of the song.

Esme rarely left her home, but today she went for a walk and ended up being able to get into the pub and take the elevator up to the top floor. The elevator opened into the loft. How she got in was a bit of a mystery. When the door opened, she stayed there and called out. "You left the door unlocked. I am coming." Her cane stuck out of the elevator. She was giving Ewan plenty of notice in case he was naked or something.

It was probably a known fact that most werewolves were nudists. Ewan not so much. He had been dressed in the usual black t-shirt and jeans. The only thing bare being his feet. His hands ran through his hair as he took a break from his research feeling as if he was running in circles chasing his tail. However, his eyes widened when he heard that familiar voice and he darted out to meet Esme at the elevator. "Och! 'lo Esme! d'nae expect t' see yew." Wasn't that the truth. How could he had left the door unlocked? Had he been THAT tired. Moot point now. His focus was now on the little elderly fellow Romany.

Esme came in and took his arm. "Show me to a seat." The elder Romany demanded so she could sit down. When he sat her down, she stared at him. "Where is your wife? She usually comes to see me every Tuesday and Thursday and we go for walks." Esme knew she was not feeling well, but she'd never seen her death.

Ewan had sat across from her and he was about to get up. "Cannae I get ye tea or--" She cut him off with her question. His face fell and the look on his eyes said it all. He down away from Esme. "She's passed on...Esme." For the moment Ewan couldn't say much else.

Esme sat there quietly. "Tea. She passed? When did she go? If she went, she would have come to me. She hasn't come to me." At this point she didn't believe Ewan that she was dead. "If she did why aren't you in bed weeping for her? I thought you loved her." Not that he should be in bed weeping, but it seemed weird to her.

Ewan walked away to make her tea. He filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove and turned the burners on. He heard Esme. Not sure why that comment pissed him off slightly because he felt she was questioning his love for her. He kept his face passive however. "Because I have been spendin' me time on tryin' t' find ways to bring her back to life." Ewan replied as he walked on over and resumed his seat waiting for the kettle to scream. "Me time is runnin' short....Sach and Ethan have her body and they 'r' about to cremate her in a week." He did get a bit misty over this and he wiped his eyes but he thought about what she said, and his blue-green eyes looked to Esme. "Whot? She has nae visited ye?" Ewan sighed and shook his head. "Find it odd, thot. Fer visited me...a few times." No...it couldn't be my imagination could it? Ewan thought.

"You can't bring someone like her back to life. If she's dead, you know she'll be damned. What is dead is dead, you should know that. Then let them cremate her. You cannot raise the dead. I won't let you, Ewan." She'd not damn her friend's soul. "No, she has not been to see me." Esme shook her head. "She would have come to see me." If she was dead, Ewan would find himself in a voodoo plot if he did try to raise her from the dead.

Ewan was not angry. He knew he should have felt anger and rage boil but he didn't. He listened carefully. "Esme...I respect ye. Greatly." there was no "but" in there. "Ye know I woad nae do anythin' t' harm her....no mebbe ye dun't." In fact if he felt that this was truly a lost cause right then and there he would have stopped his hunt and did as Esme told him too. "She d'nae visit yew...so...all this time she isnae dead I've been lookin' in the wrong directions." Ewan growled at his own folly and was ready to face palm himself but the scream of the kettle stopped him from doing so and it seemed as if within the blink of an eye he was in the kitchen and he put in two sugar cubes and set the Darjeeling tea bag in. He took the kettle and poured it over and sugar and tea bag. He brought the cup over as well a small shot glass of milk in case she took it with her tea like he did. He sat back down and handed her the tea. "Me best mate Luke, he mentioned sum'thin' about rumors o' a woman's body bein' in torpor. Connecting th' dots I'm suspectin' It's my wife." Ewan was looking a bit distraught. The pain and grief he was shoving back was starting to crack through the wall he had built. He sighed and looked down. He didn't want Esme to think less of him either. She was pretty much the only link he really had to his own culture. The culture he had fought so hard to leave behind.

Esme stared at him. "That's what I said. Are your ears clogged? Are you done with all this talk about trying to raise the dead? If not, I swear I'll stop you Ewan." Esme would too. He just had to try the old Romany and he'd be sorry for sure.

When he brought tea, she took it. "Torpor? That is when animals sleep. They sleep or are in active, like when bears hibernate. Why would she be sleeping?" She asked. "Did you do something to her?"

The questions weren't meant to accuse him, but he talked about death then about her sleeping. "Your wife is dead you said she passed. Now you're talking about her sleeping. You left out what happen to her. Why did she die?"

"Absolutely an' positively done." Ewan wasn't going to go against Esme. She didn't need to threaten him. He respected her like he would his own grandmother which was who she reminded him of almost exactly. "I woad never go against yew." He meant that. The questions did sound accusatory but to be fair he wasn't telling her everything. He mentally prepared himself for her reaction. Which would not be good. "As ye know it was thought she had cancer. I din't smell it on her. I thought it would be a good idea to get another opinion. Mebbe the doctors could find oot whot really wus there. So she went fer surgery. Turns out...they did find whot wus there but she died...ehm..." he scratched behind his ear absently. He became quite flustered with himself and changed the word "went into torpor. They found a chip on the back of her neck thot wus feedin' off her blood." His eyes watered and he looked down.

She wrinkled her old nose adding another line on her face. "What did they find?" Esme asked before passing judgement.

"It wus a small clear thing, lyke. It looked some odd computer chip but it wus alive. The doctor seid they tried t' remove it but it tried t' go in deeper. They removed it and disabled it but it was nae cancer. It wus thot chip thot wus affectin' her." He had his suspicions of how it had come to be but he had no proof. Only a suspicion. His eyes were onto hers and he was doing those nervy habits of his scratching the back of his ear and animating the scene of the doctors cutting and disabling and chip and the size with his fingers.

"So she died in the hospital and someone took her body?" Esme was trying to follow what he was saying. She didn't have any social media accounts, but she was a hit on the local social media social bloggers. Her advice and visions were always spot on. "If it was alive, I wonder if it was like a .."

Esme heard Ewan's phone go off.

It was a text from Sach. ?Her body is missing. I think she's been stolen.?

Esme stared.

The radio repeated this song over and over on the eve of the 29th.

"Running With The Wolves"

Go row the boat to safer grounds
But don't you know we're stronger now
My heart still beats and my skin still feels
My lungs still breathe, my mind still fears

But we're running out of time
Oh, all the echoes in my mind cry

There's blood on your lies
The sky's open wide
There is nowhere for you to hide
The hunter's moon is shining


I'm running with the wolves tonight
I'm running with the wolves
I'm running with the wolves tonight
I'm running with the wolves

I'm running with the

Trick or treat, what would it be?
I walk alone, I'm everything
My ears can hear and my mouth can speak
My spirit talks, I know my soul believes

But we're running out of time
Oh, all the echoes in my mind cry

There's blood on your lies
The sky's open wide
There is nowhere for you to hide
The hardest moon is shining


It's been cause betrayal in hearts
They can in dream tonight deceives us
A million voices, silent dreams
Where hope is left so incomplete

I'm running with the...
I'm running with the wolves
I'm running with the...
I'm running with the...
I'm running with the...
I'm running with the wolves


I'm running with the...

(by Aurora)