Gary stood in the center of the room, and I faced him blankly. I had the ability to cause pain, and for a moment he had been afraid of me. For a moment he had been at my mercy. I didn't fear him as much just then, but something in me was prepared to if he moved to hurt either of my two companions.

Lincoln sat on the bed, looking almost unaware of the way his hands weren't clasped in his lap entirely by choice. His mother stood in the back of the room, making everything look natural, just like her son. If he moved as though he might cause either of them pain, I would show him the same hell he showed me.

Woman, Gary addressed her, you don't have to come. The Angel and the Soul—your son—don't have a choice, but I have no use for you.

"I'm not leaving my son," she stated briskly.

Gary turned to me. He made to grab my arm, and he did, but the contact made me glow again. It had the same effect as before, but it didn't come with the same gratification. I started moving myself so I was between him and Lincoln. Gary stared at me. He just turned towards the other person in the room. I couldn't protect them both. Lincoln stood behind me.

"Don't touch her," Lincoln commanded.

Gary didn't say anything, he just turned back around, glancing at Lincoln. He was getting smarter, this time grabbing me by my sleeve. It didn't burn him, just like the cold hadn't made me feel anything if I touched his clothes. I walked easily out the door, letting him tug me along. Lincoln followed, jogging so he was walking next to me. His mother fell into step behind us.

We were alone in the halls. We all just followed him as he guided us out of the mansion. The freshness of the outside hit my lungs, and I took deep breaths of it. For the first time, I tested Gary's hold on me. I came to a complete stop. He forced me along, stronger than me. Figures.

I tried to keep the pace as slow as possible as he led us around outside. The air wasn't stale inside, but man, was it fresh outside. Another building came into view with rows of large doors, looking like the biggest garage I'd ever seen.

Garages were for cars. Cars were to get someplace faster. Gary was running away. And if Gary was really as mighty as I'd thought, he'd have no reason to run. He feared Mr. Devil's unhelpful threat.

Oh, that was too great. I mean, it was horrible for several reasons, but it was also great. My hands were bound, and I was being shoved into a building by a creature who was careful not to touch me. A creature who was afraid of me, but also sort of kidnapping me. I wasn't sure whether I was the one who was supposed to be afraid or the one who was feared. Maybe, I was both.

The cars were what you'd expect from a mansion. They were exotic. They looked faster than any normal person would want. They were all beautiful in their own ways, but I didn't have time to notice as Gary roughly opened a door to one of them and shoved me in. Lincoln and his mother followed in the backseat. It was a nice interior, I had to admit. I had gotten shotgun, which made it all the nicer. The backseat also looked nice, but they didn't seem to be enjoying it.

Gary was in almost instantaneously, slamming his foot on the gas. The door slid open just in time for us. The car was already mounting speed, and Gary timed it so we were able to pass cleanly through. Say what you want about Gary, but he was an excellent driver. He scared me out of my wits with how fast he went, and how close he cut the corners, but he was truly fantastic.

When we went through the gate, a few cars chased us out. I wasn't sure if I wanted them to catch us or not. It didn't matter much for me, so I buckled in for the ride. Gary drove for hours, never slowing his speed. There weren't really roads, and we went back through the first city. It was huge, and the moon had said hello before we were out of it. Lincoln's mother was the first to nod off. Lincoln fell asleep soon after.

Gary didn't speak to me, and I didn't speak to him. The muted sound of the road below us made everything seem like I was a kid again, the scenery flashing by as I got closer and closer to home. Farther and farther away from my vacation. I wasn't tired then, as I had been when I was young and alive, but the feeling was the same. I forgot about the chains on my wrist and watched the quiet city rush by.

The buildings got increasingly spaced out until there weren't any at all. It was just a clear sky and miles and miles of grass. The road turned to ruts and then nothing at all. The grass started to get sick looking, and the dirt was red. The stars shone just as kindly on that as it had the road through the beautiful fields.

The sun illuminated everything when it dawned again. Everything looked so malnourished, so depressing. There was nothing to tell one area apart from the next, but Gary seemed to know exactly where we were going. The car even seemed to be able to run forever, which was good considering how little chance of a gas station there was. The only way to tell direction eventually became the sun. The car had a clock in it, which is how I knew that Lincoln woke up at 7:45.

"Are we there yet?" he mumbled.

"Depends on where 'there' happens to be," I answered.

Lincoln was sitting on the passenger side, directly behind me. I felt him lean forwards and looked back at his still sleepy face.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine," I answered simply, "You?"

"I guess I'm fine too," he smiled, "though I have a crick in my neck from falling asleep in here."

"For everything that's happened, I don't have that specific problem."

"No. You'd have to sleep. You'd have to lay back and have sweet dreams."

"Stop," I smiled playfully, "that's not fair to tease me about that."

"Life isn't fair," he said, lucky I couldn't hit him for several reasons. So, I would have to have a comeback verbally.

"This isn't life though. We're dead, and therefore, you'll treat me fairly."

"But death isn't fair either."

"I guess not, but you're not Death, now are you?"

He chuckled and said something rueing the fact that he fell in love with a smart girl. Darn right, he did. And he loved me for it.

Then we didn't speak, staring out our respective windows. The car eventually started to turn, and even later, it came to a singular door, the kind that old houses have, leading to the cellars. Gary stopped the car and pulled me out. He pulled Lincoln out as well, leaving Lincoln's mother, who'd been awake for hours by then, to scramble out by herself.

The stairs were steep, and I wasn't graceful enough to descend them without Gary's help. I reached the bottom, letting my eyes scan up and down the gray brick walls. It looked exactly like my basement had, only much less welcoming, and my basement, unfished as it was, was a low bar. A single window let a grungy light filter in, giving me a dim view of a few beds pushed against a far wall. Beams crisscrossed the ceiling and a single pole stretched up to the roof in the middle of the room. A metal rack hung between two of the beds, holding fresh clothes. A spicket came out of one of the walls.

Gary looked at the three of us, taking in the room. He leaned to one side and flipped a switch, so a single light bulb lit the room. It wasn't much, but it made everything more visible. A tub that I hadn't noticed took up a corner. A cabinet that had probably once been vibrantly painted but was starting to peel away, took the far corner. I walked over to it, cautiously using my hands, restricted as they were, to open it. I smiled at the contents inside. Soap, shampoo, lotions, and even make up products lined the shelves. I didn't care so much about the last one, but the first three were things that made me grin.

Lincoln came up behind me, putting his nose in my hair.

"You're so easily pleased," he murmured in my ear.

"And you're in a remarkably good mood. How come?"

He didn't answer right away, and I didn't really care if he did, almost forgetting I had asked anything when he finally started talking.

"I guess it's just that you seem so happy, and that makes me happy. And I don't know. Something about being in the middle of nowhere and talking to you feels nostalgic, and I know there's so much wrong, and it's not the same at all, but..."

"I know what you mean."

"Remember that one day we had off school, so I took you on a drive in the country. I know this isn't that, but something about it feels familiar."

"Last night, it felt like when my dad would drive us home from vacation, and it would just be my mom and I and Ashley in the backseat, and I'd close my eyes, fall asleep, and Ashley'd wake up when it was time to get food. And you're right, today felt like that time you drove me up to see all the pretty farms because you knew I'd like it."

He smiled. "But then we didn't have these," he held up his wrists, the rope still thick around them.

"And we were still alive," I said, the good mood slipping away.

He noticed. Of course, he noticed, and he was immediately there trying to help me hold on the easy smiles and the jokes.

"Hey," he backtracked, "it still all feels the same. It doesn't matter that we're dead. I still love you, Sky. I'll never stop loving you. We're in this together, just like we've always been."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I explained, running my fingers over the rope. The rope that I'd tied.

He looked down as though seeing it for the first time. He sighed and didn't say anything to me. Only Gary made us pay attention to anything, only his footsteps moving around the room.

Angel come here. I'm leaving you all in here for a few hours while I figure some things out. I'm leaving your hands free so you can deal with any facilities any of you feel you need. The clothes are for your use, as well as the tub and soaps. I encourage the Souls to make use of that, to try to wash off their awful smell. Angel, understand that if you move even one of these bricks, everything will collapse in on you. The trap door is the same metal as your current bindings, and it will be locked securely. You and the Souls can't escape. Now come here.

He took the chains off, an action I didn't expect from him. He untied Lincoln and his mother, taking efforts to preserve the rope, keeping it as he left. The door banged shut behind him, and a screeching, grinding sound followed as he turned locks and bolted us in. At least we'd know when he was coming back in.

I turned to Lincoln. The clothes I had on did feel like they could use a changing. It didn't hurt to see what they had.