I clicked my tongue in annoyance and searched through the drawer again.

"Are you sure you left it in here?" Drakon asked, popping out of the bed, pausing to cough at the dust and wave a hand in front of his face. Tom came out of the bed, sneezing and then stretching out its leg to lick it as he couldn't stand being dirty.

"Yes, I remember I left... I found it!" I exclaimed as I finally got the envelope with Tristian's name written on the front. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Tristian appeared at the doorway.

"You found it?" He asked. I nodded and held it out for it. Tristian slowly took it and held the envelope, his eyes roaming over the envelope.

"I'll leave you to it." I said, gesturing Drakon to follow me. Drakon picked up Tom and I paused by Tristian, rubbing his shoulder. Tristian glanced at me and I offered a smile. Tristian patted my hand and then went to sit on the bed, eyes still glued to the envelope. I closed the door behind me and ran my hand through Drakon's hair.

"Want a snack?" I asked him. Drakon shrugged and we went downstairs to the kitchen. I looked through the top cabinets and pulled out a bag of Hershey kisses. I pulled over a stool and sat down next to the counter, spilling out the chocolates over the counter. Drakon put Tom down on the table where he started to sniff at everything, pausing to sneeze every so often probably due to the dust.

It had been a while since I properly cleaned the house.

Drakon plopped himself next to me and took a chocolate kiss. "Who's Belle?"

"She was the wife of my step-papa's friend, Mr. Stevens. I visited Belle a few times in a hospital."

"Why was she in the hospital?"

I unwrapped the chocolate and thought out my words carefully. "She... went through a lot of traumatic things in her life and, well, she was admitted to the hospital where she would get the help she needed twenty-four-seven, you know?"

Drakon's lips formed in an 'O' shape and he popped a chocolate in his mouth. I watched as he neatly folded the wrapper and put it the side. He grabbed another one and slowly unwrapped, his eyes too focused on his fingers.

I looked at the entrance of the kitchen, wondering how badly Belle's death affected Tristian. I didn't know much about the kind of friendship they had. All I really knew was that Tristian was there when Belle got violently assaulted and I wasn't sure how it sparked a friendship or how deep their friendship was. Judging how Belle seemed to know about me and about the curse, it seemed that they were close.

My chewing slowed as I felt a pang of hurt. I didn't know about the curse that loomed over my head since birth until Javon tried to kill me. Until this shadow monster tried to kill me and my son. Tristian neglected to tell me anything until it was almost too late. I admit a heads up would have saved me from a lot of wondering and "why is this happening to me" questions.

But when I really think about it, my destiny wouldn't have changed much. I was still going to die regardless if I knew about it earlier or not. This curse wasn't going to vanish. I don't think anything can make it go away.

I swallowed hard at that and looked at Drakon. He was curling all the wrappers together to a ball with Tom looming over him, occasionally sticking his paw in between Drakon's hands to get the ball. Drakon lightly moved Tom's paw away and turned away. Tom hopped on top of Drakon's shoulders, still trying to get the ball until he successfully got it and started playing with it.

Drakon and I chuckled as a second later, the ball rolled under the stove where Tom couldn't reach. He sat down and meowed at us as if asking if one of us can get it for him. Drakon slid off the stool and looked under the stove.

"Hey, mom? Can you get something long for me? I can't reach it." Drakon asked.

"Yeah, I'll get the broom." I stood up and went to the hallway closet where I searched for the broom. I frowned as all I found was a shovel and the mop. I grabbed the mop, noticing how thick the stick was.

"Would this fit?" I asked, handing Drakon the mop. Drakon shoved the mop handle but it wouldn't get through. Drakon shook his head.

"Um, you remember where I last left the broom? It's not here." I mentioned as I went back to the closet, moving things aside.

"Maybe the bathroom?" Drakon offered, petting Tom on the head.

I hummed and went upstairs to the bathroom. I was about to turn on the lights of the bathroom when the door of my old bedroom opened slowly, the creaking noise filling my stomach with dread. I gasped, watching the door slowly open with wide eyes. I quickly turned on the lights to fill the hallway with light.

I pressed my back against the doorway of the bathroom, doing a quick scan of the bathroom for the broom and was about to head back downstairs when there was a thud. I jumped and my hand flew to my chest where I could feel my heart beating loudly.

On the floor in front of my old bedroom was the handle of the broom. I chewed on my lower lip and pressed my back against the opposite side of my old bedroom, my eyes focused on the darkness to see anything moved. Once I was almost in front of the door, I crouched and leaned forward to grab the handle. My fingers wrapped around it when I heard Drakon.

"Never mind, mom! I found the broom in the living room!"

My heart stopped beating and I quickly looked at what I was holding. Instead of the handle, it was an arm. My eyes trailed to the inside of the room until I was met with those white eyes of the shadow monster. It smiled and I was quickly pulled inside the room as if I weighed nothing.

I screamed as I was thrown to the wall and the door shut with a loud bang. I panted as the only source of light came from the window. I sat up, the back of my head bumping into something sharp. I hissed and saw a piece of wood from the wall was pointing out. I must've been lucky to have missed that from impaling my chest. I rubbed my head and something ran across the window. I ran towards the door, trying to pull it open but the knob was impossible to move. I moved towards the window but it suddenly turned black. I panted as the shadow monster's face slowly appeared in the window and then lunged forward.

I cried and dropped myself on the floor, putting my arms around my head and curling myself up in a ball. I waited to feel some type of pain but when I couldn't feel anything, I slowly opened my eyes, immediately noticing I wasn't on my bedroom floor anymore.

I looked at the floor, wiping gravel pieces off my face and staring at the double yellow line on the floor. I slowly sat up, a breeze making my hair fly in front of my face. I pushed my sweaty hair back, taking in the lonely road I found myself in.

There were trees on either side of the road and the fog around it created a chilly atmosphere. I picked myself up and did a three-sixty when I spotted a figure standing in the middle of the road.

I gasped and quickly picked up a thin branch with a leaf hanging off the end. I was about to swing when I heard a familiar voice that made my heart stop.

"Varia?" Javon asked, stepping closer to me. I took a step back, ready to swing the branch even though I knew the only damage I could inflict was no greater than a scratch.

"Don't you dare!" I stated firmly, my chin wobbling as I stared at him. He looked exactly the same as the night I told him about my first encounter with the shadow monster. There was nothing creepy about him; no black eyes, no sharp teeth, no long fingers.

He looked... normal.

"Varia, it's me. Baby, it's me." Javon assured, holding his hand out to grab the branch and taking small steps towards me.

"Enough with the tricks, Harry! Leave Javon alone!" I shouted, swinging the branch at him. Javon caught it and spun me around until I was his arms. I automatically struggled against his hold as he warped his arms around me, holding my wrists. I threw my head back but Javon moved just in time, so all I hit his shoulder.

"Varia, stop! You're going to hurt yourself!" Javon grunted as I pushed with my legs and threw us on the ground. I sobbed as Javon still had his strong grip around me and stopped to catch my breath, keeping my body tense as we laid on our side.

I felt Javon's breath against my ear and then his lips on my ear lobe. I sucked in a sharp breath as he kissed me under my ear, a pleasure secret soft spot only he knew.

"It's me. It's me." He whispered. He loosened his grip from my hands and I slowly turned my head to stare at him.

When Harry was in Javon's body, Harry never expressed any type of affection. Since he took over, Javon was cold and distant and I haven't felt safe whenever Javon was around, but now... there was a different feeling. A feeling I haven't felt from him since we moved out of the city.

"Javon?" I asked, my voice hoarse. He smiled, his curls falling over his eyes. I breathed out a shaky sigh of relief and reached up to tuck his hair behind his ear. My hand rested on his cheek and he put his own on top of mine, warmth spreading through me.

"Yeah, I'm here."

I chuckled breathlessly and warped my arms around his neck. Javon put one arm around my back and sat us up with me on his lap. I pulled away, my hands touching his face to make sure he was real and not some trick.

"Yes, Varia, that is my eyebrow. Can you stop poking it?" Javon chuckled. I smiled and slid off his lap, holding his hand.

"I... I just can't believe you're here," I said, "You have no idea how much Drakon and I missed you."

Javon smiled and reached out to tuck a standard of hair behind my ear.

"Your hair has gotten longer." He pointed out. I touched the ends of my hair, now realizing how long it has gotten since I last cut it. It used to be around my neck but now it has gotten close to my waist.

"Yeah, I haven't had the chance to get a haircut since everything that has happened..." I trailed off, noticing Javon hasn't changed. At all. He still had the same haircut from when we came back to town for my mother's funeral. His fingernails looked fresh and clean. Even the stubble around his jaw was the same as that day.

"How did you manage to be so clean all this time? You're set up somewhere?" I asked. Javon frowned and my stomach started to fill with dread.

"No, I've been on this road since I woke up here."

"And... How long has it been since you woke up here?"

"I'm not sure. It's hard to keep track in a place where time doesn't exist." Javon shrugged slowly.

"What do you mean by that? Where are we?" I asked, feeling panic swell up in me as I stood up. Javon stood up and held my shoulders, forcing me to look at him.

"It's weird, I get it, but this place is only temporary until the big man in the sky or the thing downstairs picks us up, ya know? It's not so bad." Javon answered calmly, lowering his arms and shoving them in his pockets.

My breath got caught in my throat and my vision blurred with tears as his words repeated themselves over and over in my head.

Where time doesn't exist.

The big man in the sky.

The thing downstairs.

I'm not outside the house or even on earth anymore. I'm dead.