Chapter 2

On a Friday they let her out of the hospital, despite hesitation rooted in how avidly she'd tried to insist there had been a living, breathing intruder in her room. She'd begged them to review the security tapes, and they told her they had. That they'd found nothing. Not hide nor hair from the bluebell eyed boy at her bedside. No indication he'd even existed. Lin was firmly convinced they hadn't bothered to check, chalking her accusations up to too much painkiller and a weak, traumatized mind.

The only trauma she was at risk for, in her own opinion, was the one of not being believed.

However, eventually she gave in to their reassurances there had been no one, ignoring the vague prickles on the back of her neck that would fade as she turned to face their supposed source. To find a space empty of life behind her. How silly and paranoid she was growing, she'd scold herself in the dead of night, even as she drew the thin blankets on her hospital bed closer up her neck. As if Lin were trying to hide from the sense something was watching her despite her own diagnosis of simple paranoia and jitters.

Her dreams in the week she stayed before being released had been troubled by dark figures chittering and screeching at the edges of her conciousness, rancid breath caressing the back of her neck as they dug claws into her fear with a hellish glee. Sometimes Lin would think she saw a flash of those bluebell eyes, and her nightmares would shriek, recoiling. Temporarily leaving her alone for an hour or two of sleep unbothered, or only pestered by normal dreams and mediocre nightmares, like the accident.

Even now, standing at the front desk, signing herself out with a binding wrapped tightly around her ribs, there were sleepless shadows under her eyes. Lin hobbled from the building, aiming for the bus stop before the sky released the rain it was threatening overhead. Her nervous gaze drifted upward, stealing glances at the thunderclouds roiling above, and she blinked as a drop hit the space between her eyes. She sidled underneath the shelter of the stop just as the occasional drop rushed into a down pour like a dam had been broken.

She shrunk into the back of the structure, pressing against the glass wall. Her hair rose once more on the back of her neck, and Lin risked a peek behind her. Nothing. No creatures. No disappearing boys- or could she just not see them, she thought wryly -behind her. Nothing but a sopping wet squirrel chittering indignities at the rain sinking into his fur before he skittered off in search of shelter.

She turned her gaze back to the water-darkened pavement in front of her. Silence except for the occasional crack of thunder. At this, Lin shrank slightly in apprehension. Something had to be there this time. Where were all the cars? The foot traffic? Cyclists and motorists? This was a generally crowded area of Henderson County, North Carolina, stationed in historical downtown, active in rain, cold, or heat. Main Street was only a few blocks over, for crying out loud. Yet even the rain seemed to take a breath now, waiting.

Fearful.

Something slunk down the street in Lin's peripheral vision, and the eighteen year old girl stiffened. She bit the inside of her lip hard enough to bring the taste of old pennies to her tongue. The shadow in her vision stopped for a brief moment in time, cocking it's head with eerily birdlike movements before scuttling forward.

A small whimper of fear had fallen from her lips in fear as Lin tore out into the rain, some hidden instinct screaming at her, needing away from it before she could dig up the memories, and the fear. She recognized it, from however briefly she'd glimpsed them through an apartment kitchen window. Then, a small pack of the creatures had lingered on the dying green for the barest second before sinking into shadows. Later that night, something had drawn taunting claws down her door. Lin had been suddenly grateful for the locks she'd only had to use three times beforehand as she found herself clutching the Witch's Pentacle her Wiccan mother had passed down to her. She hadn't slept well that night, plagued by fear that lingered on the edges of conciousness like a parasite.

Now, it gave a screech loud enough to send a spike of pain through her head and conjure strange electricity pulsing like a second heartbeat through her veins as it moved in pursuit of her, the ground rumbling under it's gait. In a pitch of fear, Dahlin sped up. Already, she was short of breath. Her ribs hurt like she'd taken a sledgehammer to them, and red starbursts of barely ignored agony appeared like fireworks in her vision.

Something blindsided her, latching onto her upper arms with an iron grip, and pulling her into a side alley between a dog groomers and the warehouse farmer's market. Warm, sodden fingers smelling of spruce and clove clapped over her mouth as her assailant pulled her into the shadows at the far end of the alley, going completely still as the shadow skinned nightmare on her tail paused in the opening.

The person behind her drew further into the darkness, breath held. Lin found herself holding her own, body as taunt as a piano wire.. The creature, nearly six foot tall even when hunched over, lifted a vaguely humanoid face to the pouring rain. It's chest, bare and sluicing water over blackened skin and strange ropes of what seemed like scar tissue, heaved in a bellows breath. Was it...good Lord, was it really smelling for them? Seeming greatly frustrated, or maybe angered, it chittered like the squirrel Lin had laughed at just minutes before. It swept black, beady eyes, like beetle eyes, over the alleyway and their hiding spot. Yet all she could think about was that peeved squirrel compared to this thing. She caught herself making the connection, a slightly delirious smile on her face, the rising giggle smothered by the horror that it was still standing right there.

After another bellows breath, this one held, the creature moved ahead with strange, off-kilter steps. Lin stood there for a good five minutes after, the faceless stranger's hand still clapped firmly over her mouth, before she pulled away with a jerk. Her captor- savior? -let her go without a fuss, though maybe it was only because of the umbrella weilding couple that swept in front of the alley entrance.

The girl, looking now like a bedraggled, homeless street dog, put as much steel in her eyes as she could muster as she whirled on her target, words poised for who knows what- maybe she meant to thank them, or rage. Whatever her intention, the words died as the bluebell eyed boy from her hospital room, that everyone, even she herself, had determined was a figment of imagination simply met her gaze, a smirk hovering just barely on his lips. His hair, darkened to the color Lin would nickname 'drowned fox', was plastered to his forehead as the rain came down around them, drumming staccato beats into the metal of dumpsters and discarded crates. His bluebell eyes were hooded and seeming more troubled than they had since last time, but here he was. Existing. And sincerely pissing Lin off.

The ink black strands of hair cracked like soaken whips against her cheeks as she moved with such speed to send her fists flying in futile, sloppy punches aimed at his midsection, fawn pelt eyes simmering with indignation and tracings of fear.

~~~~

Spencer was about ninety nine point seven three percent sure he'd made the right choice to tail Miss Dahlin. He'd kept the the wings and the pockets of time for the most part, when he wasn't wandering the surrounding hospital on the lookout for the muni that had attacked on of the younger saq'ur, a solemn faced girl of twelve by the name of Jessie.

A brief spike of panic had hit Spencer when he'd shown up to check on Miss Dahlin, like he'd told himself he would, and the bed had been empty, the walls stripped of the cheery little generic cards brought in by the nurses who noticed she didn't have any visitors. He'd combed the hospital for her, and found her just as she vanished out the door. Stepping into a shadow to disappear into a fold, he'd traveled outside into the branches of an oak tree overshadowing the bus stop, a guess he was happy had paid off. Immensely happy it'd paid off, seeing as the muni had scented her.

He knew he couldn't risk getting between them now, not when they were out in the open like this. So Spencer had scaled the slick branches, using a high limb to strep onto a rooftop. He kept pace with Lin below, seen how she was laboring. Spencer had dropped into an alley and nearly tackled her into the one on the other side, ignoring the smell of cherry blossoms from her hair and vanilla on her skin as he held her against him, one hand clapped over her mouth. He had been faintly hoping she didn't bite him, or scream. He'd chalked it up to luck when she hadn't done either. They'd stood there, in silence as the muni searched for her and eventually left, taking it's bubble of fucked silence with it. She'd pulled away from him just as life had started as normal again, and Spencer had let her go.

Now Spencer almost laughed at the absurdity of this pixie of a girl trying to hurt him. Her fists connecting with his stomach felt like a dragonfly's accidental collision. Barely there. He was fairly sure he could pick her up without much trouble, and put a stop to it if he wanted to. But instead, he just stood there, letting her rain blows that he didn't feel upon him as his mind wandered to the moments when the muni had stood not yards from them. His mind tossed around thoughts and theories why only one would be present when the animals usually weren't solitary. Very dimly he felt the useless assault falter, and eventually stop. Spencer pushed the questions in the back of his mind, shutting them out from his present thoughts as Dahlin stood in front of him, fists still clenched at her sides, chest heaving in pants he could tell hurt like the devil.

Lounging on a discarded crate like it was a throne, despite the puddle soaking the seat of his pants, he felt slightly better when he grinned up at her, a cocky little bastard's smile that he knew for what it was. "I'm waiting."

Lin blinked in front of him before giving a choked, desperate laugh that Spence recognized. It was the laugh of denial, the one that said Dahlin was trying so hard to pulverize the memories of the muni, and he would hazard a guess of him too, that if she didn't stop soon she was likely to burst a vessel somewhere. He'd heard it with every recruit that was still seeing this world. Still trying to comprehend that it existed. He was pleasantly surprised when instead of the usual stuttering pleas to assure her that had been some joint hallucination he was greeted with a nearly spat, "For what?"

"For saving your lovely white ass," Spencer drawled obnoxiously. Even as he said it, he could see Lin recoiling from the idea of giving anything to him, much less a thank you. Still, he waited, an eyebrow cocked in that arrogant way of his.

Lin made a small noise of outrage, shaking small, weakling fists at him. "You're lucky I don't thank you the way my mother taught me to thank boys."

Did she honestly think she was intimidating, as short and doll like as she looked? Spencer's laughter fell from his lips before he could stop it, and before long, he was hunched over, wheezing with it. He brushed water, maybe tears, maybe rain, from the corners of his eyes when he finally did stop laughing, straightening on his homemade throne.

Lin stared at him, agape. As if she wasn't sure how to take Spencer's outright laughter. She shook herself, dark brows pulling down into a face that he assumed was supposed to make her look angry and terrifying. In reality, it made her look like those posed porcelain dolls with the permanent pouts. He had to restrain another bout of laughter, and settled for a half-smirk, and the words, "Wow, princess. You win the 'Most Un-Intimidating Doll of the Year' prize."

Lin bristled, opening her mouth as if she meant to yell at him. She closed it once, a short snap that must have jarred her jaw, before opening it again and replying in a voice that sounded like she'd signed a death warrant by talking to him, enduring him, "My name isn't princess. It's Lin."

"Spencer. Also known as Spence, My Lord, His Royal Highness of the Province of Life-Saving, Devastatingly Handsome Men, etc." Spencer's bastard's grin was back, never mind the fact it hadn't left to begin with. His smile only grew when her gaze narrowed.

"Are you sure you don't mean His Royal Highness of the Province of Unconscious Annoying Stalker Males?" Lin snapped at him.

Spencer just grinned at her, before giving a lazy wink as he unfolded his long limbs from the soaked crate-throne. "You flatter me, princess. You truly do." He crooked a finger at her as he strode past, whistling a tone-deaf rendition of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

He thought for a brief moment she would stand there in the rain after he left, but the sound of wet sole hitting ground told him she was following like he had told her to. Lin, silent, most likely sulking, stayed behind him for the most part, until Spencer swaggered up to a coffee shop door, raising that same arrogant eyebrow he knew would rankle her as he nodded to the door. "Aren't you going to get it?"

Lin made a scoffing, disgusted sound in her throat, but opened the door to the establishment, happily named The Caffeinated Cub with a little cartoon mountain lion cub on the sign.

As Spencer breezed past, he offhandedly remarked, "Seems to me chivalry is still alive and kicking." Maybe he wanted to see how long it took Lin to explode. Maybe he wanted to see how long it took for her to really do some damage. Either way, a coil of delight twisted in his chest as he caught her scowling at his back.

Spencer sauntered up the counter, waving a careless hand for Lin to seat herself. He didn't glance back to see if she had, just ordered two cream and sugar drowned coffees and a bagel. He dug sodden bills from his pocket, handing them over in exchange for the food, and turned. For a moment, he didn't see Lin.

His first thought was that he should have locked the door. An absurd thought really, and in the end useless. He found her squeezed into a dark corner booth, scowling at the shiny table and sidled up, plopping the coffee in front of her as he watched the valor curl into the air. He wondered what he would have done if she had left. Debated asking her if it had crossed her mind, then decided he didn't want to give her ideas.

He nudged half a cream cheese smothered bagel toward her, propping his feet up on the edge of her seat. Lin tried not-so-subtly to move away from the mud dripping off his sneakers, ratty things that must have once been a sort of maroon color. At least, Spencer remembered them a a sort of maroon. Maybe they were red. Or brown. So that was either mud caked into the fibers, he mused, or his own blood. Maybe from the knotted scar tissue on his calf? No...maybe from the shiny, faded one stretching tight across the base of his torso? Or maybe it was an accumulation of dozens of others that dotted his arms and skin.

Lin made a brief face as she lifted the coffee to her lips and took a swig of liquid, grimacing. "How do you drink this? It's so sweet I think I just got a cavity."

Spencer shrugged, a controlled movement then instead of his useless careless ones. "Drink it. You'll need it. And eat the bagel too."

"Why should I?" Lin asked like some petulant child, lifting her chin and setting her mouth in a firm line.

Spencer shrugged the aimless thoughts of bloodied wounds and maybe maroon sneakers away, making eye contact with her, fastening his gaze on those fawn eyes. "Because you need it."

Spencer didn't break away from that gaze. Maybe to figure out how long it took her to look away. Maybe to make her see for once he was completely serious as he crossed a muscled, rain slicked arm behind his head, the other steadily feeding him bites of bagel and scalding coffee sips in between. Because he was. Completely and honestly, for once, serious as he tipped his head back against his arm, and said in a voice that might have convinced curious passerbys and gossiping eavesdroppers that the pair were a couple on a first date, "You have questions. Ask away."