“Do you think she is okay?” Kevin questioned as Ria pulled out her keys to her mother’s place. She fumbled through the keys before finding the right one.

“I hope so,” Ria sighed, thinking about how frantic Trisha had sounded earlier on the phone. She hoped to god that Trisha was okay, she had never heard Trisha sound that scared in a long time. “She sounded really bad on the phone.”

“I’m sure she is going to be okay,” Kevin sighed, waiting for Ria to push in the door as he quickly walked into the place. He looked around the room before calling out to Trisha. “Trisha, it’s Kevin. Where are you?”

“In the bathroom,” Trisha informed him, getting up from the floor as Kevin ran over towards the bathroom. As soon as Trisha saw him, she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he hugged her. “Oh god Kevin, I’m so scared.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kevin hushed, holding her tighter in his arms as he felt her tears against his t-shirt. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise. We’re here now, I’m not going to let anybody hurt you. It’s okay sweetheart.”

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” Trisha looked up at Kevin with tears still falling freely from her eyes. “He’s out there and…”

“He’s not going to hurt you again,” Kevin declared with a small frown as he walked her out into the living room. Ria was already sitting down on the couch waiting for them as Kevin and Trisha took a seat next to her. “ Trisha, I promise--I will be here for you. I won’t let that guy even come close to you.”

“I know you will be here to protect me Kevin,” Trisha let out a small sigh as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand gently. She felt Kevin squeeze her shoulder gently as she pointed to the television. “I saw what they said about him. He’s back again and he just killed another girl. I know he is going to come back for me, I just know it…”

“Don’t say that,” Kevin hushed, pulling her into another hug as he felt her tears continue to soak through his t-shirt. “Trisha, he’s not going to find you.”

Kevin’s anger began to build up when he thought about this guy that had hurt Trisha. The police should have caught this freak already, but they haven’t.

“When are they going to catch this damn guy?” Kevin questioned, his dark eyes glancing up to meet Ria’s. He shook his head slowly as Ria reached out to squeeze Trisha’s shoulder supportively.

“I don’t know,” Ria frowned, thinking of some way to reply to Kevin’s question. “It’s like he is invisible to everyone. No one can seem to catch him.”

“I want to know more about this guy,” Kevin stated with a small scowl as he loosened his grip on Trisha as she backed away from him. “I’m going to find him and I am going to take care of him myself.”

“Kevin, you can’t do that,” Ria shook her head slowly as he saw Trisha and Ria look at him with worried expressions.

“Well why not? He hurt someone I care about and he can’t get away with that,” Kevin pointed out as he saw Trisha shake her head slowly.

“Kevin, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Trisha sighed, looking back at Ria with a frown. “We don’t want to lose you.”

“In case the both of you haven‘t realized, look at me. Look at my history. I think I am capable of taking care of myself,” Kevin promised as he gave them both a small glance. “Who has gotten away from this freak?”

“Well, there’s Avery Morrison,” Ria informed him with a small shrug as she thought of the small amount of people that had escaped Bruce’s evil. “She was dating him for a while and all of us had thought he was normal. He tried to kill her, but she was one of the luckier ones that had escaped.

“I would like to speak with this Avery,” Kevin began, taking in a deep breath as he stood up from the couch and rubbed his hands together. “How can I get a hold of her?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You two about ready in there,” Martha called out from Nick’s driveway after she’d closed the back of her Jeep. She peered out over the side seeing Angela standing in the front doorway of the house.

“We’ll be out in a second,” Angela promised holding up a finger before turning to look at Nick with a small giggle. He was still shuffling to get dressed after Martha had popped up on their doorstep ready to drive them over to the castle after their earlier car troubles.

“So much for spending the day alone together and being fashionably late to your engagement party,” Nick mouthed tucking his shirt into the top of his pants as he searched the living room for the shoes Angela had brought out for him for tonight.

“Over there,” she pointed to the dress shoes she’d picked up knowing that tonight wasn’t as informal as most days for them, “and what can I say? Martha’s excited.”

“Obviously,” Nick laughed lightly, “but I really didn’t think that she’d come that close to busting in the front door while we were well, otherwise occupied. I mean what if she had succeeded in finding her way inside while we were together?”

Angela couldn’t help but offer up a small chuckle. Her eyes perused him over from head to toe, “Well then she would certainly have a greater understanding of why I’m such a lucky woman to have you as the man I’m going to marry,” she couldn’t help but tease.

“You’re terrible,” he shot her a small warning look as he sat down on the couch. He began to slip into his shoes hearing her laugh at him with mild amusement.

“Yes, but you love me anyways and besides you have a lot to be proud of,” Angela stepped in closer to him, “You are by far one of the sexiest men I’ve ever known and you look good naked.”

“Well thank you,” he cocked his head up to the side to glance up at her only now seeing how beautiful she looked in the slinky black dress she’d quickly put on in the hopes of getting ready for their engagement party. “Of course you do realize I was kind of hoping that we’d keep that little secret to ourselves though.”

“Well I’d hardly call it little,” Angela licked her lips slightly thinking about how intense they had been getting with one another when Martha had arrived, “but I will say that I have no problems keeping that all to myself.”

“That’s my girl,” Nick sprung up on the couch to pull her into his arms. He leaned in to kiss her wanting to savor one moment away from the chaos between them when he heard the distinct sound of Martha laying in on the horn of her Jeep. He groaned inwardly, “Does she ever just relax?”

“I think she’s just excited for us,” Angela giggled tipping up on her toes to offer him a quick kiss regardless, “Tonight’s going to be a special night for us. After all it’ll be your first time to the castle and this will kind of decide whether or not you want to get married there.”

“As long as it’s what you want, then I have no problems going there. I will marry you anywhere,” Nick promised squeezing her in his arms just in time to hear the horn again.

“I think I’ll go tell her that we’re almost ready,” Angela assured him with a small smile. “Just don’t take too long in here or else she might hunt you down.”

“I won’t,” Nick nodded accordingly watching her race around the living room and out the front door. He looked around searching for his house key and he found it near the edge of the coffee table. Bending down he picked it up just in time to notice that he’d somehow put the key chain he’d been trying to inspect the previous night upon it. He’d done it in the hopes that maybe if he carried it around it would somehow bring forth a memory, but now he realized he hadn’t had time to ponder it. Jamming the keys into his pocket as he heard Martha lay in over the horn once again, he let out a groan knowing that while tonight was supposed to be about celebration, it was already off to a very hectic, very chaotic start. Something told him he wouldn’t be able to have a moment to relax once they were at the castle, but then again perhaps that was the price to pay for being the guests of honor tonight. With a tiny laugh he walked out of the house ready to do whatever was necessary to keep both Martha and Angela happy tonight or else he feared what kind of consequences he might face between the two of them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Avery come on,” Grady knocked on the door once again feeling his frustrations mounting, “Please open the door. We need to talk.”

Silence followed his pleas. He knocked again.

“You can’t stay in there forever,” he tried to appeal to her taking a step back and bringing his fingers through his dark hair. While he’d understood that she was upset, he couldn’t quite understand why she was working so hard to shut him out. They’d shared a beautiful evening with one another and things had been going rather well until she started speaking about Brant. Thinking about that man now only soured the mood, he realized as he too thought about Avery’s husband.

Okay, so Grady had never approved of an affair especially after Susan had cheated on him with an Ashford herself, but that wasn’t all that was happening here. He was convinced of it. He and Avery had found their way together because it was meant to happen. They had a connection with one another that time hadn’t been able to break. She loved him and he loved her as well. As crazy as it sounded after the hell he’d put her through, Grady had always had a soft spot for Avery and that was never going to change--especially now after what had transpired between them. There was something there--something strong--something that he wasn’t ready to walk away from and he knew deep down that she wasn’t either even if she was being her usual stubborn self.

“Come on Avery. Please just open the door,” Grady begged of her hating to feel her pull away from him like this, “I swear that nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. I just want to talk to you. Please Avery…”

Still there was no response as Grady moved over to the bed. He reached for his pants sliding into them. His gaze swept over the bed where they’d lost themselves to passion again and again and a moment of heat filled him up inside. Their time together had sparked something inside of them--something that he’d been in heavy denial about for years, but now that he’d opened his heart up to her he wasn’t about to walk away from what he felt. He had to find a way to reach her--had to somehow get her to be honest with herself about what had taken place between them.

“That’s it,” Grady got up off of the bed again ready to try another approach when he heard the sound of her phone ringing from the other side of the bed. He stopped himself mid-movement thinking about what she’d said about Brant. Sure, she might not be feeling good about what had happened and how she could’ve hurt Brant, but Grady knew full well it would be easier to deal with this now rather than to keep putting it off. Sure, Brant had accused them of having an affair and up until a few hours ago that hadn’t been the case. Of course now that it was, Grady had absolutely no intentions of letting Avery go back to Brant. He needed her in his life and he had to prove himself to her one way or another.

Hearing the phone again Grady marched over to it ready to tell Brant Ashford the way it really was if he was in fact the caller on the other end of the line. Holding the phone up to his ear Grady answered with a sugary sweet voice.

“Hello,” Grady began smoothly.

“Grady, is that you?” a female voice question uneasily.

“Shannon, is that you,” Grady frowned wondering how in the world he’d found himself on the phone with Shannon. Come to think of it, what was Shannon doing calling Avery? Grady had thought the two women had hated one another.

“Yeah it is, but um I thought I was calling Avery’s cell phone,” she explained apologetically. “I don’t know how I wound up getting you instead…”

“Actually you called the right number,” Grady revealed taking a seat on the edge of the bed, “I’m with Avery right now, but she’s not by the phone. Is something wrong?”

“Unfortunately there is,” Shannon hesitated not really sure on how she was going to approach the subject matter at hand, “I had to call her because there’s something I think she should know.”

“What’s that?” Grady couldn’t help but ask his worries mounting. “What’s going on Shannon?”

“It’s Bruce Mathis,” Shannon blurted out worry sweeping in over her tone, “He’s back in Coral Valley. I was just at the scene of a crime he was involved in once again. There’s another woman he killed and…”

“Oh my gosh,” Grady gasped thinking about what she was telling him. “When? Where?”

“Not far from where he tried to pick up the last woman,” Shannon continued to explain, “With his killings I can see he’s getting sloppier and more desperate with each one. There is nothing I can say that can convey to you the level of violence that’s increasing here and I’m worried about Avery. Given the level of his obsession with Avery, well I think it’s safe to say that he’s going to be working his way back to her. He seems like a man at the end of his rope and…”

“That means he’s ready to come back for what he’s wanted all this time,” Grady realized thinking about the horror Bruce had put upon Avery’s life. “Do you have any clues about where he might be?”

“I wish I did Grady, but at this point we don’t know much of anything. I’ve tried to contact my higher ups, but they aren’t offering any more information to me,” Shannon sighed again heavily, “but for the time being I think it’s pretty safe to say that he’s staying pretty local. I know that I shouldn’t be telling you all of this, but I’m worried about Avery. I know with the baby and all she’s a perfect target for him. He’s got a lot of rage inside of him right now and I think he’s ready to snap--beyond what we’ve seen thus far.”

“Say no more,” Grady replied focusing on the door again, “I’m with Avery and I’ll make sure that he can’t get to her. We’re not in Coral Valley right now…”

“Which is a relief because I think if she was here, she’d have major problems ahead of her. If you want my advice I’d say keep her wherever you are and don’t tell anyone where you’ll be. At this point it’s just too much of a risk to come back here,” Shannon explained a few noises sounding in the background.

“Don’t worry. We’re not coming back,” Grady vowed knowing full well what he had to do in order to keep Avery safe. She might hate him for it, but he was going to do what was necessary to keep her from being hurt. If she thought Brant was something to worry about, then she would be doubly afraid if she knew Bruce was back in town. “Thanks for calling Shannon.”

“No problem and Grady…” she began again.

“Yes?”

“Stay safe. Bruce is very dangerous, so please be on your guard. There’s no telling what he will do,” Shannon warned him before they said their final good-byes.

Hanging up the phone Grady thought about what Shannon was telling him--about what he already knew about Bruce and with that thought in mind, he vowed to find the gun that Avery had gotten rid of the previous night. Better safe than sorry, he rationalized to himself. He moved up off of the bed just in time to hear the door open alerting him that Avery was coming out of the bathroom. He looked up to see her standing before him still looking a bit shaken with the sheet wrapped around her body tightly in a makeshift toga of sorts.

“Avery,” Grady started turning to face her with worry behind his eyes.

“I’m just coming out for my clothes,” she replied stiffly refusing to meet his eyes. She took a step forward before feeling him move in closer to her.

“Avery, we need to talk,” he started thinking about Shannon’s warning.

“Grady, right now all I want to do is go home. I want to go home,” she answered flatly trying to keep her voice from shaking as she looked at him. Her eyes were still clouded by tears and he reached out to her, but then thought twice of it. He nodded taking a step back.

“Alright I’ll take you home,” he lied knowing full well that was the last thing on his mind. He bent down to pick up her blouse handing it to her. He watched her accept it with shaky hands before she collected the rest of her things.

“I won’t be long,” she mouthed going back into the bathroom and closing the door behind her-the tension in the air between them almost suffocating.

While she hadn’t said much more than she had before she’d run in there, Grady knew full well she was probably beating herself up right now for what they’d shared. More than anything he wanted to reach out to her--to hold her in his arms and convince her that what they’d shared with one another hadn’t been wrong, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to focus on the state of their relationship. It was about keeping Avery safe and if she needed to believe that he was taking her home to make that happen so be it.

Quickly searching around the cabin Grady realized that his gun was no where to be found. A sudden thought occurred to him and he walked outside. He spotted the trash can right out front and walked over to it pulling off the lid to reveal his gun. Reaching down he picked it up and grabbed the clip as well knowing full well that he would need this and a lot of luck in the event they ran into Bruce along the way. He had to take her somewhere that she wouldn’t feel threatened--somewhere that she would feel safe and somewhere that Bruce would never be able to reach her. Granted this place was isolated, but at the same time he knew Avery would never agree to staying. She would fight him every step of the way because of her guilt and right now they needed to be on the same side instead of fighting a battle over their hearts. He had to find a place to take her to where he could accomplish that. Suddenly the perfect location came to mind. Yes, there was no way Avery would ever refuse him taking her there.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brant picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed in Don’s number. He was getting tired of waiting for Don to call back. He had been waiting too long, he had to know if Don had found any news on Ken and he had to know now.

“Hello,” an out of breath Don answered the phone as Brant sat forward in his chair.

“Don, did you find Ken yet?” Brant questioned as he heard Don’s breathing become a little more steady. “Don?”

“Sorry, I have been running all over the place,” Don explained letting out a small sigh, “I can’t find him man. I have no idea what I should do or where to even begin looking.”

“Listen Don, you have to try as hard as you can,” Brant declared, standing up from where he was sitting, “I will be back shortly, but you have to find Ken. You can’t let him get married to Michelle. Not now, I’m so close.”

“I’ll try the best I can,” Don frowned, running his right hand along the back of his neck lightly. “I don’t know how to start, but I promise I will try.”

“Just try and find him,” Brant looked down at his watch before letting out a small sigh, “I have to get going.”

“Alright, I’ll call you when thing are looking up,” Don promised, hanging up with Brant before looking around the area around him. “Where would Ken be right now?”

Don shrugged his shoulders before realizing that he needed help. Sure, he could try and do this by himself, but two heads were better than one when it came to searching for someone. You could spread out and search in different areas.

“Shannon,” Don suggested to himself, pulling out his cell phone and dialing her number. He knew that she was at work, but maybe she was off by now.

He soon got his answer that she was still at work when her voicemail came up. Obviously this case was too big from her to walk away from it and knowing his luck--she was going to be on this case for a long while. He held onto his cell phone thinking of another person who could possibly help him with this. Who was good enough at searching for people?

“Hart,” Don snapped his fingers before dialing his friend’s number into his cell phone quickly . “I know he can help me.”

“Hello,” Hart answered his cell phone, noticing that Don’s number had come up on the id.

“Hart it’s Don and I need your help big time,” Don declared, taking in a deep breath, “this is a big emergency.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ken stood in the police station lobby tapping his foot impatiently. He looked up at the clock finding himself increasingly irritated by the wait he’d had to deal with in coming to bail out Michelle. After he’d gotten her frantic phone call he’d rushed over to help her, but still nothing about her being in this place made sense. Looking over to the far corner of the room he watched her rush out behind a door practically leaping into his arms.

“Thank God you’re here Ken,” she sighed emphatically kissing him and hugging him as if she’d never let go. “I was so afraid in that place. It was just so awful and…”

“And Michelle, how did you wind up in there,” Ken questioned with clear cut confusion, “You weren’t really making much sense when you called and…”

“That bitch your friend is married to arrested me. She got me drunk and then she locked me up,” Michelle explained with obvious agitation curling her fingers into the center of his shirt. “It’s a conspiracy I tell you..”

“Well I don’t know about that, but…” Ken started uneasily.

“It’s the truth Ken. She and your friend Don are working with your brother. They enlisted their help to stop our wedding because Brant thinks that you’re incompetent and shouldn’t be getting married…”

“What?” Ken’s eyes widened, “No, that can’t be possible.”

“Ken, the witch locked me up in jail in order to keep me away from you. I don’t think that it gets anymore obvious than that Ken,” Michelle squealed in a fit of rage, “They don’t want us getting married because they don’t want you to be happy. They just want you to keep hurting…everyone you think that you love feels that way.”

“I just can’t believe,” Ken stopped himself thinking about his brother’s knack for screwing up the good things in his life. Immediately anger surged through him, “No I take that back. I believe every bit of it. Damn Brant for thinking that he can step in and control my life. It’s my decision to make and…”

“And once they hear that you bailed me out chances are that your brother will be waiting to swoop in and stop us from ever being able to live out our dreams of being husband and wife with one another. They hate me Ken and if they have their way, then they’ll see to it that you and I won’t ever be happy,” she explained urgently tears coming to her eyes, “Ken, if they have their way then you and I will be apart forever and…”

“That’s not going to happen Michelle,” Ken promised her with a clenched jaw, “Whether my brother likes it or not, it’s my life. I decide who I want to be with and what is right for me--not Brant.”

“He’ll never see it that way Ken. The only thing he is thinking about is what he wants--what he needs,” she continued seeing his fury building up inside of him.

After Shannon had tricked her she was in a bit of a rage herself. She knew that time most certainly wasn’t on her side and if she was going to become Mrs. Kenneth Ashford then she was going to have to keep pushing all the right buttons to make it happen. Reaching out to him again she poured out the tears.

“Ken, they aren’t going to stop until they take you away from me,” she whimpered breaking into tiny sobs, “Putting me in jail was a horrible experience. There were people in there trying to maul me and…”

“It’s okay sweetheart,” Ken pulled her more completely into his arms kissing the top of her head, “That’s over now. It’s all over and we’re not going to let them hurt us. They can’t keep us apart.”

“They’ll never stop trying,” she sighed with heavy emphasis, “not unless we are…”

“Are what?” Ken tipped his head down to look at her.

“Husband and wife. I mean that’s the only way they are going to accept us together Ken. They won’t be able to keep us apart if we’re married,” she poured it on thick adding to her tears with tiny sobs. “That’s the only way…”

Ken grew suddenly silent thinking about what she was saying to him. Once again Brant was stepping in on something that wasn’t his concern. Brant had found his way to happiness--had married Avery and lived the good life, yet here Ken was trying to pull his own life together and Brant was already causing him grief. Well no more, Ken decided. He wasn’t about to let his brother be the one calling the shots any longer.

“We’re getting married,” Ken blurted out his voice now overcome with a renewed sense of empowerment, “We’re going to go to get married tonight and then no one will be able to stop us from being together Michelle. Once we’re married I promise you that I’ll deal with my brother, but first, well first I think it’s time that you and I quit stalling and find a way to make this happen for us.”

“Are you sure about this Ken? I mean if you’re not ready yet,” she paused searching his eyes in the hopes that he’d taken the bait.

“Oh I’m more than sure. We’re getting married tonight and nothing is going to stop that,” Ken vowed ready to make his family pay for daring to think that they could interfere in his affairs again and again. This time it was war.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Deidra slowly flipped through the papers on her clipboard as she let out a small sigh. She had been at work for quite a while and she was having a hard time not being worried about the whole Bruce thing. Sure the idea of being home and being safe sounded really nice, but really--she had to work and she couldn’t let her fears overtake her. She had to go to work and she had to go on with her life. But even if she was scared, she had an officer on her tail always and she was never going to be left alone no matter how hard she tried.

Sure she liked the feeling of being safe, but how can you feel safe when you know someone is always on your tail? In all honesty, it was nice that people wanted her to be safe, but when it got down to it, she believed that she could take care of herself.

“Whoops,” Deidra ran into someone as she dropped the clipboard and some of the papers slipped onto the floor. She bent down to pick them up until she felt someone’s hand against hers as they tried to help her pick everything up. Her eyes glanced up to find Dean staring back at her. “I should have figured it was you.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you,” Dean apologized, giving her the last paper before she stood up straight. His eyes gave her a small glance over before he stood up slowly.

“Sure you didn’t,” she rolled her eyes, watching as he took a step out closer to her, “What are you doing here anyways?”

“Um, I was here getting a checkup on my wound,” Dean informed her with a small frown, placing his hand gently over the wound she had given him. “They wanted to make sure that it was healing a little bit.”

“Oh,” she mouthed under her breath, feeling a small amount of guilt behind her body as she thought about what she had done to Dean. “How are you doing? Is it healing any?”

“I’m getting better,” he assured her with a small frown, reaching out to touch her until she backed away from him slowly. He let out a deep sigh as he realized it was never going to work again. He wouldn’t be able to touch her like he used to. He was never going to get that trust back that he had worked so hard to get for the time he spent with her. She didn’t trust him like she used to, like he wished she would. “It’s not me I’m worried about. I ’m worried about you. How are you doing?”

“You don’t have to be worrying about me at all Dean,” Deidra declared, folding her arms out in front of her chest, holding her clipboard against her tightly. “I can take care of myself, but if you will excuse me…”

“Deidra,” Dean frowned, catching her hand as she began to walk away from him. When she had turned to face him, he saw in her eyes a pain that he never wanted to see in her beautiful eyes. “Please, can we just talk. I think some things were left unsaid between us and…”

“I don’t feel like talking,” she informed him with a small shake of her head, “Maybe some other time.”

“Some other time,” Dean muttered nodding slowly as she walked away from him and down the hallway with the officer not far behind her.

“Listen,” Deidra stopped walking to look back at the officer behind her, “Do you think I could use the ladies room alone? Without you coming in there. It might look a little weird.”

“Well, my orders were to,” the officer began before Deidra threw her hand up in the air to cut him off.

“Just please let me go into the ladies room by myself,” she begged, seeing the officer nod slowly as she let out a sigh of relief.

She needed a moment alone after what had just happened. She had wanted to talk to Dean so bad, but it was getting hard to even think of something to say to him.

When she walked into the bathroom, she looked around to make sure that no one was around before walking over to one of the sinks. It felt like her head was filled with a horrible ache of fear and pain at the same time. The fear from the fact that Bruce could still be out there somewhere and the pain from facing Dean like that again.

She turned the water on, bending down to splash some of it in her face lightly. The cool water felt nice against her warm skin. At that moment she felt a bit of worry over her body as it felt like someone was behind her.

“Oh my…” Deidra began, rising and seeing a face in the mirror behind her. She began to scream as she felt them grab her around the waist. “Somebody he…”

“You should be quiet Deidra, you wouldn’t want me to somehow make that pretty little voice of yours go away forever now. Would you?” the voice of Bruce Mathis echoed through Deidra’s ears as he tightly placed his hand over her mouth so no one could hear her cries for help. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get out any sound to lead the officer that was on the other side of the left door to believe that she was in any type of danger alone in the room. Fear overcame her as she realized what was going to happen. “Did you miss me baby?”

Bruce smiled at the reflection in the mirror before him. Deidra’s eyes were full with horror as he held onto her. This was his time and he was going to get back what was rightfully his.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Open the damn door,” Kyle pounded on the doors to the Ashford mansion, knowing that something had to up at the mansion. There was always someone home at this place. Avery was here and he had to talk to her about Grady one way or another.

“What’s the rush?” Augustus questioned opening the front door, feeling Kyle push his way through and into the house. Augustus simply shrugged his shoulders as he shut the door and turned around to see Kyle standing on the bottom step.

“Avery,” Kyle called out a couple of times before hearing Augustus beckoning him to walk back towards the door. “Where is she old man?”

“I don’t know where she is, but I can tell you she isn’t here,” Augustus explained, folding his arms out in front of his chest as he looked over Kyle. “When she gets home, I can tell her that you came to see her.”

“That’s just good not enough gramps,” Kyle declared, looking back towards the stairs before letting out a small scowl. As much as he wanted to believe that Avery couldn’t be here, there was always that certain chance that the Ashford’s were lying, just like they were known for. “She has to be here.”

“Son, if you want to go check every room upstairs I’ll let you, but you probably still won‘t find her anywhere,” Augustus stated with a small shrug as he rubbed his chin lightly. “I don’t know what to tell you kid.”

“Don’t call me son or kid,” Kyle snapped, looking down at his watch as he let out a small sigh. “If she isn’t here, then where in the world can she be?”

“I really don’t know,” Augustus tried to search for an answer to give Kyle so he could be a little bit more helpful. “If I knew where she was, I would tell you son. I just know that Brant is out of town and she hasn’t been here quite a lot since he has been gone.”

“She’s not here then?” Kyle repeated, feeling a worry build up behind his body. “If she isn’t here, then Grady must be by himself which means…oh damn.”

“What?” Augustus looked over Kyle for a moment before seeing Kyle’s brown eyes look up into his. “Can I help you with something? You look like something is bothering you.”

“Unless you can hand miracles away, I don’t think so,” Kyle sighed, running towards the door, “Thanks old man.”

“No problem kid,” Augustus shrugged as Kyle ran out the door and closed it behind him.

“I need to get a hold of Grady, somehow,” Kyle frowned, getting back in his car quickly. He had to find Grady if it was the last thing he did.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kevin knocked on Seth’s front door franticly finding himself needing to talk to Blake now more than ever. Remembering what Ria had mentioned about Blake’s relationship to Avery Kevin had decided that it was time for him to get up close and personal with the woman that Bruce Mathis was obviously obsessed with. He knocked once more hearing someone on the other side of the door and a few seconds later Seth opened up.

“Kevin, hey what’s going on?” Seth asked opening the door wider to let him inside.

“Is Blake here,” Kevin questioned going straight to the point as he saw her walking out of the kitchen.

“Hey Kevin,” Blake waved at him with a small smile, “What are you doing here? Come to visit for a while?”

“Actually I’m here on another matter,” Kevin frowned slightly, “I came here to ask you a few questions about Bruce Mathis. Ria thought that maybe you could help me a bit and…”

“Bruce Mathis,” Blake gave him a strange look, “Oh right that lunatic serial killer doctor. Yeah I’ve heard of him every now and then especially after what he did to Trisha.”

“Why do you want to know about him? Is it about Trisha?” Seth questioned thinking about Ria’s sister.

“Sort of,” Kevin explained with a small sigh, “Rumor has it that he’s back in town and on another killing spree if you will. The police seem to have their heads up their asses so I thought I’d take to looking around and see if I could find the guy first, but to do so well I need a little information on him.”

“Kevin, I don’t think it’s a really good idea to go after him,” Seth started uneasily, “He’s a murderer and…”

“He tried to kill Trisha,” Kevin answered tightly, his jaw clenched with anger, “That alone has him number one on my hit list there. I think he and I need to have a chat.”

“You won’t be chatting with him Kevin. You’ll be dead if you find him,” Blake spoke up worriedly, “I mean he might not look like much, but the man is a lunatic.”

“Who likes to prey on innocent women. He’s obviously not really into a match with someone who can defend themselves,” Kevin snarled thinking about the man who had terrified and tortured Ria’s sister, “I used to be a boxer Blake and I’ve been in the security business for some very important people for over the last decade of my life. I can take care of myself. Now tell me where I can find your sister-in-law.”

“My sister-in-law?” she repeated blankly before it registered with her, “Oh you mean Avery, don’t you? Why do you want to talk to Avery?”

“Ria told me she was with this creep for a while before anyone knew what he was capable of. I was hoping that she could help give me some clues as to where I might be able to find him,” Kevin explained smoothly despite the raging inferno inside of him. When he got his hands on Bruce Mathis, the man would be begging for mercy, which Kevin would be less than forthcoming about given that he hated men who hurt women. In that moment he flashed back to another point in time--to a place when he’d met up with another man who had thought it was fun to play games in hurting women. He could clearly remember how giving he’d been that night as well in dealing with that jerk.

“I don’t know if she’s home, but she might be at the mansion,” Blake suggested thinking about Avery. She looked to him catching his twisted expression. “Kevin, are you okay?”

“Could you just call her,” Kevin snapped out of his daze, “See if I can meet with her…”

“Of course. Brant’s out of town for a while, but I’m sure that she’d be more than willing to talk to you,” Blake nodded going over to see if Avery was around.

“Kevin, what’s going on? I mean I can understand you’re upset, but you can’t just take justice into your own hands. I’ve seen how that’s caused problems around here lately and…” Seth started to reason with his cousin knowing that something far deeper was happening.

“Just let me take care of this Seth. I’ll be fine,” Kevin tried to assure him despite his own inner conflict about what was going on.

“I tried the mansion, but Avery’s not there. No one knows where she is,” Blake piped in rejoining the two of them, “but that doesn’t mean that she’s not around here somewhere.”

“Where do you think she could be?” Kevin asked again trying to think of how he would trap the little worm who had hurt Trisha.

“Well, she didn’t answer her cell phone either when I’d tried to call, but she might be at her old house,” Blake explained pondering it for a long moment, “She was married before she was with my brother and I don’t think she’d ever sold the house. I think she'd spend some time there trying to remember her past with her husband since he was one of the ones that died in the airport bombing a while ago.”

“He was Grady’s brother,” Seth added thinking about how hard it had been for Grady to lose Russell. “Another one of Susan Hastings’s victims.”

“So you think it’s possible that Avery could be there, huh?” Kevin scratched his head, ‘You wouldn’t happen to have the number to that place would you?”

“Unfortunately no,” Blake wrinkled her nose at the suggestion, “I wasn’t exactly a big fan of his. I mean no disrespect now that he’s gone and all, but he and Avery were kind of hot and heavy before she married Brant and they hurt him. That didn’t make me too happy with her in my brother’s life considering what a flake she was and…”

“Do you have the address Blake?” Kevin cut her off impatiently.

“No I’m sorry but I don’t,” Blake shook her head firmly, “though I’m sure you could look it up if need be. His name was Russell Denton and I’m sure the house is still in his name…”

“I can give you the address. I have it,” Seth added breaking his silence, “but Kevin you have to promise me before you decide to go off on your own over this one that you at least call me and let me know what’s going on. I’m worried about you and…”

“Don’t be,” Kevin tried to assure him. “It’s Bruce Mathis that you should be worried about because by the time I’m through with him, he won’t have anything left to hold onto. His days of terrorizing women will be over forever. That much I’m sure of.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are you doing?” Dean questioned, walking down the hallway and stopping when he saw the officer that was supposed to be watching Deidra in the hallway by himself. “Where’s Deidra? You are supposed to be with her no matter where she is going.”

“She is in the bathroom sir,” the officer stood up straighter as Dean rolled his eyes at the way people listened to rules these days. “I think she may have a stomach ache or something because she has been in there for quite a while.”

“How long?” Dean questioned with a small gulp, seeing the officer look down at his watch before shrugging. “You people are so stupid. You were never supposed to leave her alone. You‘re always supposed to follow the rules. You‘re job is probably at risk right now I hope you know.”

“But sir,” the officer began, but they were the last words Dean heard as he ran into the bathroom.

“Damn,” Dean ran his hands through his hair slowly, noticing that Deidra wasn’t in the bathroom after checking every stall. The door opened on the other side caught his eye as he quickly ran out into the hallway and looked both ways.

“Help me,” Dean heard Deidra’s screams as he followed them to the left and looked down every hallway to see where they were coming from.

Finally, Dean came to the right hallway and saw Bruce dragging Deidra down the hallway by her hair as she kicked her feet to try and get away from Bruce. Dean quickly ran over to Bruce and Deidra as fast as he could before he nailed the back of his arm into the back of Bruce’s head, making him fall to the ground.

“Run Deidra,” Dean ordered as Deidra tried to get up, but Bruce grabbed her foot and pulled her back down to the ground. “You get your hands off of her.”

“Dean,” Deidra gasped, watching as Dean tried to punch Bruce, but Bruce grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down to the ground. She watched in horror as Dean and Bruce threw punch after punch at each other.

“Deidra, run,” Dean yelled as Bruce, wrapped his thick fingers around Dean’s neck tightly, trying to choke the air out of his lungs.

“Get off of him,” Deidra screamed, jumping on Bruce’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. She felt him jump back as she wrapped her legs around his torso, trying to hold on as long as possible.

“Let go of me you bitch,” Bruce snapped, swinging Deidra back and forth before running her back into the wall as she dropped to the ground. “That should teach you a lesson.”

“You son of…” Dean pushed Bruce up against the wall as he wrapped his hands around Bruce’s throat. Dean squeezed as hard as he could, trying to find the best way to knock out Bruce so neither him or Deidra would be in harms way anymore.

Yet did Dean know that Bruce was reaching for his knife that he had on him. Trying his best to get Dean away from him, he stabbed Dean in his old wound and making him fall to the ground.

“Dean,” Deidra saw Dean fall to the ground and pull the knife out before falling to the ground. She watched as Bruce ran away from the scene, knowing that if he stayed there any longer, he would be caught. She couldn’t help but yell out as she crawled over by Dean’s side and saw the blood soaking through his shirt. “Somebody help us.”

“We’re going to get some help Dean,” Deidra assured him, running her hand through his hair slowly, “Just hold on. We are going to get you some help, I promise.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Thank god you’re here,” Don breathed in deeply as he rested his hand against the cool brick, seeing Hart approaching him. “I can’t tell you how many times I have ran around this certain area. It’s like I can’t find anything that can help me lead me to Ken.”

“I think I can help you out there with that,” Hart frowned, looking down to the watch on his wrist, “I believe that Ken just bailed Michelle out of jail a little while ago.”

“Oh man you have to be kidding me,” Don frowned, throwing his hands up in the air before running them through his hair angrily. “This means that they are off somewhere, getting ready to be married. Where in the world can they be?”

“Buddy, I wish I could answer that for you, but I can’t,” Hart shrugged, thinking back to what he had already tried to do to get more information on Ken. “Listen, I tried calling Ken, but Ken hasn’t answered at all.

“Damn it,” Don scowled, shaking his head slowly as he thought about how Michelle had taken Ken’s own choices into her own hands. “He is going to be getting married to Michelle and there isn’t a thing we can do about it. And I promised Brant…”

“Brant,” Hart repeated Brant’s name before folding his arms out in front of his chest curiously. “About Brant…where the hell is he exactly?”

“All I can tell you is that he has something big up his sleeve,” Don promised, reaching for his cell phone to look if Ken had called him yet.

“It better be pretty good there,” Hart shook his head slowly, not quite sure how they were going to be able to pull this off right at the moment. “Because if it isn’t, it looks like Brant is going to have a new sister in law and I really don’t think he is going to like her a whole lot.”

“What are we going to do man?” Don questioned with a small shrug. He had made a promise to Brant and Don never broke his promises to his friends. When he made a promise, he kept it that way. “I have no idea what I am supposed to do.”

“I have an idea,” Hart declared, reaching his hand out to grab something from Don, “You have Ken’s cell phone right?”

“Yeah,” Don nodded slowly, slightly confused at what Hart wanted with Ken’s phone. Don pulled the phone out of his pocket slowly before feeling Hart quickly grab it from his hands. “What are you doing?”

“Hold on, I will be right back,” Hart promised, holding up his finger to motion him to wait while he walked away for a moment.

“Okay,” Don watched Hart carefully as he saw Hart pull a pen and a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“Okay, I have something good here,” Hart declared, walking back to Don with a wide grin spread across his face. Hart handed Don the phone back before holding the sheet out in front of Don’s face.

“What’s this?” Don questioned, grabbing the piece of paper and reading it slowly. “What does this mean?”

“I called the phone company just now and told them that I needed to trace Michelle’s phone by her number,” Hart informed Don before rubbing his hands together, “And that my friend is everywhere that Michelle has been.”

“This is great,” Don stated with a small smile as he folded the sheet up and slid it into his pocket. “I’ll call Brant to give him an update before we go.”

“How about I drive so we can get there before it’s too late,” Hart suggested, seeing Don nod slowly before following him towards the car. “Call Brant now.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brant looked outside of the window of the jet thinking about the latest news on Ken. It wasn’t good, but Don was still trying to convince Brant that they could fix this mess. Brant eyed his passenger who had been unusually silent during the ride and he really hoped that there was a way to salvage the situation.

“You ready for this,” Brant questioned beckoning her from her thoughts.

She nodded, “Not really, but it doesn’t look like we’ve got much time to really think about it, now do we? I mean it’s kind of a do or die situation, right?”

“Unfortunately thanks to Ken’s stupidity we’re going to have to push everything into high gear,” Brant frowned hoping that this didn’t wind up blowing up in all of their faces after everyone had worked so hard to save him from himself. His frown intensified as his cell phone rang once again. He pulled it out from his pocket and lifted it up to his ear.

“You’d better not be telling me that they’re already married,” Brant warned into the phone knowing full well Don would be on the other end of the line.

“Not yet, but we’re running out of time. However, Hart and I found a lead. We know exactly where they’re at and we can pull this off Brant,” Don explained eagerly thinking about the task that was ahead of them. “Hart and I are on our way to get them and do what we can to stall, but you’re going to have to hurry. I have the address within a two mile radius and…”

“Give me it,” Brant pulled a pad of paper out of his pocket along with a pen to jot down the details of what he needed to know. He eyed his passenger for a moment before letting out a small sigh, “Okay we’re still at the airport so it will take us a little while to get there, but we can make it in about half an hour. Do you think that you can stall until we get there?”

“Of course,” Don replied eagerly pondering what he needed to do to get the job done, “It might take a little bit of fancy footwork, but we’ve come too far to let this fall apart now.”

“Exactly,” Brant added hoping that they would be able to beat the clock. “You’d better get moving and remember whatever it takes, you do what you can to keep this wedding from happening.”

“You’ve got it Brant. Although I hope Ken doesn’t kill me for trying,” Don replied uneasily.

“He can be unhappy about it, but in the long run we’re doing him the biggest favor of his life,” Brant replied hanging up the phone before looking to the woman seated across from him, “Well it’s time to move.”

“Okay let’s go. I know this isn’t what we discussed, but if that woman is half as miserable as what you’ve told me, then we need to get there fast. Forget about my stipulations,” she decided taking in a small breath, “We’ve got to help Ken.”

“See I knew you’d be coming around,” Brant smiled at her ready to pull off the biggest gamble of his life. He just prayed that it paid off!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Avery kept her eyes glued out the window not wanting to look at Grady for fear that in doing so she would give herself away. During the time she’d locked herself up in the bathroom, she’d thought about a lot of things. She pondered her life and how she’d come so far from where she’d always imagined she’d be. She had never in her wildest dreams envisioned that she would end up becoming Grady’s lover--sure she might’ve entertained the notion a few times in the past, but it hadn’t ever really occurred to her that it would become anything more than a thought--than a random fantasy that popped into your head every now and then. She’d spent most of her life in love with Russell and now she was certain she’d loved Brant, so why in the world had she wound up in Grady’s arms? In his bed? It made no sense. Even if they had an attraction, they’d both known to never, ever act upon it, so why did last night change all the rules for them?

“You know you can’t just keep avoiding talking to me,” Grady mouthed glancing over at her to see her lost in her silence, “Sooner or later you’re going to have to say something to me again.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied quietly closing her eyes only to have her mind filled with visions of making love to Grady. She felt a shiver race over her as her eyes snapped open once again.

“Whether you want to talk about it or not, it doesn’t change the fact that we made love Avery,” Grady blurted out not bothering to skirt around the issue with her, “We were together because it was what felt right--because it was something that we both waited a lot of years to have happen between us.”

“No Grady it was just…” she glanced over at him seeing the way he was looking at her and she felt her stomach tied in knots. Big mistake, she thought to herself tearing her eyes away from him, “I just want to go home to Brant.”

“To live out a lie? To pretend that you feel something for him if anything at all? To deny yourself what you know in your heart is where you should be in your life?” he challenged sensing her discomfort, but never had they ever gone without being brutally to the point with one another in all the years of knowing each other. “Avery, you know that won’t make you happy.”

“He’s my husband and I love him. Whether or not you want to believe that, it’s the truth,” Avery snapped back at him, her fingers tangled in her lap.

“He might be your husband, but he doesn’t make you the way you feel when you’re with me,” Grady explained boldly reaching out to touch her leg gently. He felt her push his hand away and he let out a sigh, “Avery I know you felt it too last night and this morning.”

“It was sex Grady,” Avery snapped back at him scooting closer to the door in an attempt to put a distance between them, “We had sex because we were both feeling the heightened awareness after you almost died. We were both on emotional roller coasters because…”

“Because you wanted me every bit as much as I wanted you and we couldn’t hide from that any longer,” he corrected turning his attention to the road ahead, “and besides we both know that it had more to it than just sex. Sex is being together in a physical experience where you’re exchanging things with each other purely for means of pleasure. What you and I had was on an emotional, spiritual level and we both know that. We made love last night Avery. Don’t cheapen it by calling it sex.”

“Grady, it was sex. It was stupid, clearly a mistake spur of the moment sex that never, ever should’ve happened between us,” she argued with him, her eyes fixed on the road ahead of her. Suddenly she noticed a familiar sign on the side of the road. Frowning she turned to look at Grady, “Where are you taking me? Coral Valley is the other way.”

“I know,” he nodded not offering up anything further as he kept driving.

“Grady I specifically told you to take me home. I want to go home to Brant and…” she snapped feeling her frustrations mounting.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m not taking you home Avery,” he shook his head all the while clenching his fingers on the steering wheel and knowing full well that he was about to be in for it.

“Grady Aaron Denton I specifically said that I wanted to go home not off on some joyride with you. I need to be home with my husband and not out with you. I need to find a way to make things right and…” she started in the beginnings of a fit.

“I don’t care what you think you need right now. I know what’s best for you,” he added tightly.

“How can you presume to know what’s best for me simply because we were lovers last night? That has nothing to do with what’s best for me Grady. It was sex plain and simple and if you think you can manipulate me again into…” she snapped further feeling her anger growing by the second. Shaking her head at him she let out a pinched huff, “I don’t believe you. How dare you try to tell me what you think that I should do right now when I know what I want to be…”

“Oh would you just shut up?” he shook his head at her glancing over at her to see her lip curled in a frown, “Avery I’m not trying to manipulate you.”

“Yes you are. I want to go home,” she clenched her fingers into fists. “I want you to turn this car around right now and…”

“Look Avery, I realize that you’re upset about our making love and maybe I was pressing my luck in pushing it to get you to try talking about what happened, but that’s not what this is about. In fact, I promise you that I’m not going to keep pushing it right now--especially not when it’s too important for us to stay together,” he sighed heavily realizing that this was going to be far more difficult than he’d anticipated. “Right now I’m not taking you back to Coral Valley because I need to make sure that you’re safe.”

“Safe?” she repeated with a huff, “Grady, I’m not safe with you. You’re trying to confuse me and manipulate me into destroying my marriage far more than I already have and…”

“And nothing. This isn’t about your marriage or that idiot of a husband you have. This is about you and keeping you alive,” he explained with a grumble. “That’s what I want to do.”

“And I want to go home to Brant,” she huffed impatiently her gaze dwindling to the road again.

“If you remember correctly sweetheart Brant’s not home. He left town and you and right now you can’t be alone,” Grady pointed out with a groan knowing that they were in for a long day ahead of them. “And for the record I’m not manipulating you Avery. Bruce is back in town.”

“What?” she blinked back at him her argument coming to a halt when he mentioned Bruce’s name. “What did you just say?”

“Shannon called me and Bruce is in Coral Valley. It’s complicated, but the gist of it is that you’re not safe there. She told me to keep you from going back there right now when he’s so volatile. They don’t know where he is, but she’s hoping to find him and…” Grady started to explain to her.

“How do they know that Bruce is there?” she questioned thinking about the man who had terrorized her.

“He killed someone else,” Grady revealed feeling a chill wash over him before he turned to look at her with worried eyes, “and right now even if you’re not happy being around me, the last thing I want is for something to happen to you. You saved my life last night and now I’m going to return the favor.”

“Grady I…” Avery stopped herself thinking about what he was telling her. If Bruce was in fact in Coral Valley, then there was no telling what kind of position she would be in if she was on her own. It was true that Brant was gone, yet in being alone with Grady she worried that she wouldn’t be able to trust herself. She looked over to him again and he must’ve picked up on her apprehensions over what he was telling her.

“Avery, I promise you that I’m not going to pressure you into being with me again,” he reached out to touch her leg this time she didn’t refuse him. “I won’t force us into anything that you’re not ready for. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to keep from telling you how much you mean to me, but I care about you enough not to make this any harder than it is.”

“Grady, this situation is already…” she started again.

“I love you Avery which is why I want to do this so that you can see I mean it when I’m telling you that. Last night wasn’t just about sex for me. It was about something I’ve been holding back on for years and even if you’re not ready to see what we have between us, I’m willing to push that aside for now if it means keeping you safe,” he paused thinking about where he was taking her, “In fact just to prove my intentions, I’m taking you somewhere that would be the last place in the world that I would ever make you feel like there was an added pressure for us to make love again. I promise it’s neutral ground and you’ll be safe there. It won’t be about us, but rather about keeping you safe.”

“Grady,” she started seeing the hurt behind his eyes at her pushing him away. There were so many things she wanted to say--things that she wanted to tell him, but right now there were too many things going on inside of her--to many emotions she was dealing with. If she tried to explain any of it now, then she knew it would only make things worse. Sure she hadn’t conveyed how last night and this morning had effected her other than her thinking about what it meant to her relationship with Brant, but as she watched Grady for a moment longer she knew that things were far from finished between them. Saying nothing she placed her hand on top of his offering a light squeeze before releasing it. “Okay. I trust you.”

“Thank you,” he smiled at her giving her one last look before heading off to their location in the hopes that maybe this would be the best place for them to deal with what was happening in the world around them and keep her out of danger for a while.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“This has got to be the place,” Kevin got out of his car and took a look around to see no one outside. He walked up to the front door of the house that Seth had directed him towards and knocked on it slowly. “Hello, is anybody home.”

Kevin walked over to one of the windows and saw nothing but darkness inside. He took one more glance over the neighborhood before pulling his wallet out and grabbed his credit card.

“I’ll take that as no one is home,” Kevin whistled to himself before walking over towards the door to try and break in.

Sure, this was probably a wrong thing to do, but he needed to know more about this Bruce Mathis. He wasn’t going to find anything more on this guy unless he did some work of his own. He had to know what was up with Bruce and how he could find him. And if no one was home, how were they going to be bothered by him?

“I’ve still got it,” Kevin smiled to himself as the door popped open and he walked in slowly, taking one more glance outside before quickly pushing the door forward.

He had left the door open a small crack so if someone may happen to come home, he would see them coming before he got caught.

“Well, maybe he got here first,” Kevin pondered, looking around the floor before him. He stepped forward, hearing some glass crunch underneath his feet as he looked down.

Right now as he looked at the mess that surrounded the whole house, he realized that it could have been possible that Bruce could have been here first before he was.

“Hello,” Kevin whispered, looking in some of the rooms before stopping at the study and walking in. “Is anyone in here?”

A computer in the corner of the room caught his attention as he walked over to it and took a seat in the computer chair.

“Let’s see what we have here,” Kevin looked around, seeing a bookshelf to the side of the desk before a small smile peaked at the corners of his lips. Kevin grabbed the first book that caught his attention, it was one of his books. Whoever lived here was a fan of his, he could tell because there was more than just one of his books there. “Nice taste.”

He took one final look at his book cover before putting it back in its right place. A small sigh escaped his lips as he looked around the room and stood up. When he walked past the desk, his cell phone ran into something that was placed on the corner of the desk. When he bent down to pick up the item that was a picture. When he turned the picture around to look at the owners, he felt his own body begin to form with confusion.

“What the hell is this?” Kevin’s eyebrows tensed together as he noticed the two faces before him. What in the world was going on and why did they have a picture of…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Wow, it really is amazing. I can’t believe I’ve forgotten how wonderful it looks out here,” Angela gushed stepping out of the Jeep with Nick following behind her. She turned around to look at her fiancé seeing the way his green eyes were fixed on the old castle before them. “So honey, what do you think?”

“I think it’s,” Nick began finding himself overcome with an eerie feeling. He stood still for a moment seeing flashes of Angela in a wedding gown approaching him and looking as beautiful as ever. He could see them kissing in a stone-walled room that was surrounded with flowers. He could feel her in his arms--feel her lips against his as they danced the night away underneath the stars. Her long veil surrounding her face making her more beautiful than he’d ever…

“Nick, hey where’d you go,” Angela snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, “You hate it, don’t you?”

“Huh? What?” he snapped out of his daze his attention returning to her. He looked at her--really looked at her and tried to process the vision that was in his mind. He’d seen her so clearly in the wedding dress inside what he believed to be was the castle, yet there was something different--something that…

“You really don’t like it, do you?” she curled her lip in a pout, “You don’t think this is a mistake, do you?”

“No of course not,” he shook his head his gaze averting back to the castle before him, “It’s just that it feels like something that kind of stepped out of a dream…like a fairy tale I’ve read before.”

“I know and that’s what makes it so amazing,” Angela hugged him excitedly, “Just wait until we get inside. I know you’re going to love it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Nick answered uneasily still trying to process what he’d just witnessed in his mind. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something different about Angela in the vision--something that didn’t feel quite right. It was if she was somehow…

“Hey honey, what’s the stalling for,” Martha jabbed him in the ribs breaking him from his thought once again. “The real action is taking place in there. Come on. Let’s get going inside before the guests get here. We have a few last minute touches to do in there.”

“Of course,” Nick nodded feeling Angela drape her arm in his as he looked to the castle finding himself lost in a sudden sinking feeling that he couldn’t shake. It was as if he’d been there before, yet he was quite certain he hadn’t. Or had he?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

...to be continued...