Many, many thanks to my reviewers! Hugs to Laughing In the Night, Sarah's State of Grace and bongi! This chapters for you! XD!

Sunset

The interior of the house was as creepy as I remembered. The smell of incense was heavy in the air, Cara could hardly breathe. "Your uncle… Needs a new nose…" Cara told Mike and Jake between coughs. Her eyes felt like bursting taps that she refused to turn the knob for. Jake ran in and dumped the heavy sack in the kitchen. Mike followed after Cara's dad and pinched the crook of his nose.

The two boys held their noses in unison. "Upstairs." They told her together before rushing up the black, twisting metal stairwell in the center of the living room. Cara rushed up the stairs, uncaring about how unstable the thing looked for the moment. She took a gulp of sweet, clean air when she reached the top, holding to the railing for support.

"Does the pwettie-witty princess need a hand?" Mike asked, mispronouncing the words on purpose. He held a hand just above Cara's head. She pulled back her lips in a snarl.

"Does Mikey-wikey need a face-lift?" she gristled, imitating his baby-talk voice, raising a fist.

The wooden ceiling was close enough to Cara's height that both Mike and Jake had to hunch to fit and Cara's dad had to bend. The walls had been replaced with glass windows, making ventilation on the second floor much better than the first. "Mike? Jake? Is that you boys?" a croaky old voice wafted from the smoky room to the left.

Shiva sounded way older than Cara had remembered. Though his house smelled just about as awful as it always did… "It's me." Her dad said unexpectedly. She'd thought that Mike or Jake would have replied. But they stayed silent… Weird… "I brought Cara."

Okay. WHAT?

"Brought me?" What was going on? She shot a look to Mike and Jake. Both of the looked away; as if their eyes would divulge their secrets. "Dad…" she made her voice as low as possible. She wished to outright yell at him! Why would he 'bring' her to him? He knew she hated him and his house and his nephews! Was he insane?

"Come in…" he cried hoarsely. Her dad pushed the door open and Cara shivered as she passed through the threshold. The place was dusty, smoky, cluttered and had weird markings on the floor. The old man's head was speckled now and as shiny as ever. He sat legs spread in a wooden rocking chair. "Sit." He waved a hand in front of him. Cara took a step forward and crossed her legs. "In the center..." he told her, the hint of power in his voice made her want to argue. But that seemed pointless... She sat Indian style in the center of the room. "You sit there." He pointed to the cushions at the sides of the room, addressing the boys.

Something didn't feel right… "I need the bathroom." She attempted lamely and made a move to get up.

"Cara. It won't take long. Just sit." Her father told her. It was supposed to be reassuring. Yet she felt as uncertain as ever…

The shiny headed man lifted his wooden pipe and lit it. The smoke rose in waves through the air making it thicker and thicker. Cara covered her mouth, stifling the urge to cough. "There is a dream… In a dream." He began. "It is called reality."

Oh great. A riddle. She recalled trying to solve one once. But in the end she grabbed one of her classmates and made them give her the answer. If he wanted her to figure something out for him, he had another thing coming…

The smoke seemed to gather around her, crushing her. She raised her hands to her head. She felt dizzy and nauseous… "The moon was full. The azure skies were unclouded, as they had been for months… The people of the village looked to the skies and begged for rain to nourish their crops. Alas, not a drop fell…"

They made me sit here, dying, to tell me a bed-time story?

"So they turned their eyes to the heavens and called upon their ancestors to aid them. However, the very ancients themselves had no power over the skies… The village began to despair as one by one their people fell to death and disease." His gaze fell to the floor. Cara coughed, raising a hand to her mouth. She tried to filter clean air through her fingers in a desperate attempt to breathe. The smoke was choking her!

"Then the Clawed arrived bathed in ferocity and the grandeur of great power. He told them stories of a new way to live. A new way to survive. Drawn by his promise they agreed to take part. Their bodies were much too weak to travel… But he had magic to make them strong, strong enough to make the journey. For he wished to rule them and be their king, he did not mention the raging hunger that would take them. Ruled by their instinct they obeyed his every order, ravaging villages and destroying many lives. There seemed to be no hope for those in his group, trapped forever by the wicked spell." The smoke around her seemed to swirl… Or was that the room? Cara pressed her fingers to her temple and rubbed them. She was definitely having problems seeing… The markings on the floor looked like they were moving, moving like seaweed.

"Then the executioner appeared and broke the spell, slaying the one who bound them. The villagers came to thank the one who freed them but the executioner had left. Never to be heard of again…" The old man's eyes opened. "It was only years later that they remembered a youth they had all scorned. The only one who had opposed the decision to become monsters. The one whom had once fled when he had realized what they had become…" He cleared his throat and lay his pipe down as the smoke in the room cleared. "That is the end of your tale…"

Something sickly washed over her. Her hands shook wildly. "I'm going to the bathroom." She ground her teeth together and stood. The floor felt like a sea beneath her. But she refused to succumb. Jake appeared as if he wanted to say something but Mike shook his head at him.

Cara left the room feeling sick to her stomach. It felt like her dad betrayed her. It wasn't irrational. She was sure of it. The betrayal was eating away at her heart. Of all the people! Her own father.

"Are you sure she's ready?" Shiva stood on shaky legs and stumbled, falling forward. Mike was there in an instant and caught him gently. Shiva waved him off and locked eyes with Cara's father.

"She was ready the moment she set foot in this house." Despite her dislike she had come. She was old enough, strong enough…

But that didn't mean that she'd survive.

Cara slammed the door open and looked at her father, her eyes as hard as diamonds. "I'm leaving. I don't think I'm up for a festival." She spun on her heels and tramped down the stairs. She couldn't help but grumble darkly as she did so.

"Cara! Don't-" Jake called after her. Followed by Mike… "Cara!" She flung the front door open, making the hinges groan and ignored their voices.

There were flashes of fur, the snapping of teeth and then nothing…

But darkness.