OK, it's been a while. But that was due to a load of real-life stuff and also other writing I was doing. Regardless, here's Chapter 9! :) Leave a review if you like it. :)

"One thing" said Merrill, sitting down beside me. "She did give us the message."

I glared at him. After reciting her "They're coming" message for around the fortieth time, Bo had lapsed into an eerie silence, one that didn't suggest a calm at all, but rather something brewing underneath, something I wasn't sure I wanted to see.

I was sitting with my arm around Bo's shoulders. She'd let me touch her but she hadn't said anything, not when I'd asked if she could hear me, not when I'd asked if she was all right. In fact, if it hadn't been for that strangely glassy-eyed gaze that stared straight ahead of her, I'd have wondered if she was awake at all.

"We need to get her home" said Graham, who was staring at his daughter as if he'd never seen her before. I didn't blame him. He took a step towards her, and as his hand brushed her shoulder, she stiffened all over. I frowned at her. "Bo?"

Her eyes flickered to mine and a second later, she relaxed, allowing Graham's arm to slip around her. I watched her as Graham spoke to my teacher, allowing my mind to relax, as if that would somehow clue me into what Bo was thinking.

Tell me what's wrong with you.

But Graham was already turned away towards the door and Merrill and I followed. Morgan stared up at me and I looked back.

"What's wrong with her?" he said, and I closed my eyes. "I don't know, Morgan."

But he grabbed my wrist. "No" he said, and his voice was short and terse. "You can't just say you don't know anymore. Look at her." His voice cracked slightly and I watched the movement of his throat as he swallowed. "Just look."

I closed my eyes, vaguely aware of Hannah standing in the hallway. "Morgan-"

"We have to do something" he said, and I could hear the desperation striped plain through his voice now. "There has to be something we can do. There has to be."

I closed my eyes. "Let's get her home, Morgan. We'll do something-" he'd shown every sign of interrupting. "I promise we'll do something but let's get her home first, OK?"

He opened his mouth and then his face seemed to crumple. Turning toward the door, he let my arm slide around his shoulders.

"We'll help her" I said, and I meant it. "I'm not going to let it beat her" I said, and I meant that too.

Morgan's eyes met mine and I could see the doubt in his gaze. I looked back at him. "It's me" I said, and he nodded slowly, and leaned against me, as we followed the others out of the classroom.

"I take it I'll just stand around like a clock" was Hannah's assertion as we walked through the door, Graham already carrying Bo up the stairs. I tried shooting a glare at her, but my heart wasn't in it. But the lights flickered on when I pressed the switch, which was a nice surprise.

"Maybe we're too far away for it to affect us" Merrill said, eyebrow arching at my finger pointing at the lights. I'd have devoted more thought to the matter but somehow, right then, it wasn't my main concern.

Morgan sank onto the couch, but then, just as quickly sat up again. "I've got to phone Devon" he said, without preamble. "We need to tell him-"

He was pushed back down into his seat again by Merrill. "Not the best idea."

Morgan glared at him and Merrill shrugged. "You have just been suspended for fighting."

Morgan nodded. "Good point."

I blinked at Merrill. "Did you actually just take the sensible course of action there?"

Merrill shrugged. "Been known to happen."

I sat down next to Morgan, a hand closing over his shoulder. "Call him tomorrow" I said. "We can sort it out."

Merrill opened his eyes and stared at me. "How? We don't even know what "it" is."

I pushed my hands through my hair. "Turn on the TV."

Merrill glanced towards the stairs. "You think Graham would be OK with that?"

"After last time, yeah." I was already leaning forward, dragging the TV towards us. I pressed the button in, bringing the screen into life.

"And we bring you an update on the black-outs that have been occurring across most of North America-"

Morgan stared at the screen, which was showing an image of New York City. "Every light's out."

"What?" Hannah moved to stand next to me. "I remember in New York" she said, and I glanced at her. "When there's a blackout, it's like a ghost town."

I stared at the screen, which was now showing a map of the US with red spots all over it. "That's most of the country." I sank down into my seat. "That is literally most of the country."

Morgan shook his head. "Dad's got to listen to this." It was me who caught his sleeve this time as he made to stand up. "No, Morgan, he doesn't."

Morgan's eyes met mine, and I shook my head. "Tell him tomorrow. He's got Bo to worry about-"

Morgan slowly sank down again and I looked at him. He glanced at me. "What's going on?" he said, and I shook my head. "You can't say this doesn't have something to do with it."

It was Hannah who said "Here, Morgan, come with me. I'll get you something for-" She pointed to the myriad injuries littering his face.

I leaned against Merrill as Morgan followed her out of the room. "What are we going to do?" I said, my voice cracking now that Morgan was well out of earshot. "This is a nightmare."

Merrill kissed the top of my head. "Look, let's just wait until tomorrow when Bo's back from Planet Freakout. Maybe we can do something then."

"Like what?" Dimly, I was aware that the phone was ringing and I heard Hannah's voice as she answered.

Merrill shrugged, his head slumping against mine. "I don't know. I wish I knew but I don't."

I stared at the television. The newscasters were now informing us that despite the fact all the lights had gone out, the heating and other electrical sources seemed to be continuing as normal.

"That's weird" I commented. "I mean, why go for just the lights? Why not go for the full factor and switch everything out?"

Merrill shrugged, but it was at that moment that there was a clatter from the kitchen and Hannah appeared in the doorway. Her face was white, her eyes wide.

"I have to go" she announced, and I felt something twist in my chest.

"Hannah-"

"It's Carl-" she said, and I felt Merrill's hand close over my arm. "It's Carl-"

"Bookshop Carl?" said Morgan and Hannah nodded. I stared at her. "What's wrong? How did they know you'd-"

Hannah bit her lip. "We have to get over there now."

"You don't have to come" said Hannah, even as she scrambled into the passenger seat. "I could go on my own-"

"No way." I was leaning in from the backseat, Merrill already slamming the driver's side door shut.

Hannah shot a glance at the house. "Is Morgan all right?"

Morgan had not been best pleased at being left behind and had evinced his displeasure by kicking the door frame. I'd persuaded him with the facts that Graham, currently occupied with caring for his sick daughter, would probably be sent into forty fits of cursing the heavens if he discovered that his suspended son had vanished as well.

"He'll be fine" Merrill said, as I asked "What happened exactly?"

Hannah shook her head. "I don't know" she said, and I watched her teeth dig into her lip. "There was just all this-noise. And he said my name-he said it over and over, about three times. And then there was this bang and the line went dead."

I stole a glance at Merrill. Though he made no outward reaction to Hannah's description of the phone call, I could see from the tension in his shoulders and his gaze aimed rigidly ahead that he didn't derive any comfort from it.

I leaned against the seat. I searched for something comforting to say, but there wasn't anything.

Hannah leaned back in her seat, her eyes determinedly staring the other way. "What if-" she said, and she didn't finish the sentence. I let my hand sneak into the gap between the seats and my fingers close around her wrist, as Merrill pushed the gear stick forward, driving as fast as either of us dared on these roads, as dark as if it was past midnight.

My fingers were already tapping the door in a nervous back and forth rhythm when we saw the police cars outside.

My eyes snapped shut. Something seemed to slam into my head; a darkness, wavering behind my eyes. My fingers opened and closed on the door handle-dimly, I heard Merrill say my name, and the sound of Hannah's door opening.

Later than I expected.

The words echoed inside my head, though I knew without a doubt it had not been me who had thought them. The darkness pressed further on my eyes, blacker, and I opened my mouth but I couldn't feel, couldn't see, couldn't find anything-

"Izzy." Merrill's hands closed on my arms and my eyes opened. They found his, less than an inch from mine. "Izzy" he said, and I realised the door next to me was open and Merrill was already unfastening my seatbelt. "Izzy" he said again, and this time he was guiding me out of the car. I could hear Hannah's voice, becoming louder with each second, but Merrill's eyes were fixed on mine. "Izzy, what happened?"

"I-" I opened my mouth but it was at that moment there was a shrill cry and I turned to see Hannah racing into the shop.

"Hannah" I said, and I pulled away from Merrill's grasp, sliding my fingers between his as an afterthought. Ducking my head down, I sprinted towards the bookshop, my heart slamming against my ribs and that sickness twisting in my stomach, the same as it had the night Ray Reddy collapsed in the street.

I half-fell into the doorway, ignoring the outstretched hand that I realised a second too late belonged to Caroline. "Isabelle-"

But I could already see inside, and I could see Hannah kneeling on the floor, and the room spun in front of me. My hand fastened on the door frame and it took a moment before I could focus on the scene in front of me.

Hannah was kneeling on the floor, her auburn hair a curtain hiding her face. She had her arms around the shoulders of a figure lying still-a figure with white hair, a figure that wasn't moving.

"Izzy-" Merrill skidded to a halt behind me, and then stopped dead.

Caroline stepped past us and bent down to Hannah's shoulders. "Hannah-" she said, and her voice was very soft now. "Hannah, I'm sorry."

Hannah shook her head. I couldn't see her face. I waited for some sign from her-a sound, anything, but there was nothing. Just a long silence, a silence that seemed louder with each second that passed.

"Hannah-" and it was then that Caroline touched her shoulder.

Hannah screamed then-or at least the closest word I could think to describe the word was a scream. But it was more like a cry, this strange, desperate sound torn from the depths of her throat, her hands knotting into the fabric of the shirt of the figure on the ground.

"Hannah-" I took a step towards her but Merrill's hand on my arm held me back. It was Caroline who knelt down next to her, and slid an arm around her shoulders. I could hear her whispering, feel Merrill's arms around me, but I couldn't turn away. All I could do was watch.

It took moments for Hannah to turn away-moments more for Hannah to let Caroline pull her upright, try to turn her around. She fought for a moment, and that's when I caught a glimpse of the figure over her shoulder, and even though I'd known what it was, had known from the moment I stepped into the shop, it still felt as though something had been thrown into my chest when I saw it.

Carl was lying on the floor, his eyes stretched wide open as he stared at the ceiling. He was quite clearly dead.

The room started to spin around me. I was vaguely aware of Hannah's sobs, of the books that I was only just starting to notice had been knocked to the floor, of the shelves lying scattered around me, and of Merrill's arm around my shoulders, but the only thing I could see was Carl, Carl lying dead on the floor, Carl lying with his eyes wide open and the phone still grasped in his hand.

I was sitting with my head on Merrill's shoulder, and his hand in mine. The hard plastic of the chair was digging into my shoulders, but I couldn't get away from the feeling, no matter how hard I tried. And the sensation seemed to sneak into my brain, the niggling feeling lodging itself inside my thoughts, the image of Carl dead on the floor.

It was Merrill who touched my hair. "Izzy" he said. "Relax."

I didn't even look at him as I answered. "How am I meant to do that?"

Hannah's family were gathered inside one of these rooms. They were there, somewhere, all of them being told what had happened. And Hannah was there with them.

"Did you phone Graham?" I asked, and Merrill sighed. "Yeah" was the answer as his hand stroked my hair.

I waited. "And he said-" I prompted when Merrill didn't say anything more.

Merrill's thumb lingered on my forehead. "He said he'd come and get us."

"What about the car?" It had been Caroline who'd driven the three of us to the hospital. Hannah's head had been leaning against mine, her hair tangled in my shirt. She hadn't cried. That was the worst part. After the first bout of sobbing, she'd sat there, silent, her fingers wrapped with mine. It had been like holding a doll, stiff and frozen with grief.

"He said he'd get that later-" Merrill's voice trailed off. "He didn't sound happy."

I let my head fall into his lap. "He's got to be fair. I mean, Hannah's just had her uncle-" I couldn't say the word.

Merrill shrugged. "Guess we'll find out when he gets here."

There was nothing to do but wait.

Hannah came with us. The second I stepped into the room to tell her we were leaving, she got up and walked with us. And no matter how much I protested, telling her she could stay with her family, it was fine, she had shaken her head and eventually I'd wondered if it might be crueller to make her stay where she was.

Graham had shown absolutely no surprise when Hannah walked out with us. In fact, he'd simply put an arm around her shoulders and walked her to the car in utter silence, settling her in the passenger seat, leaving Merrill and I to slide into the back next to Morgan and Bo, who was curled up, asleep on her brother's lap, mercifully.

Graham hadn't said anything to us. In fact, he'd barely looked at us at all. Morgan had cast us several quick, nervous glances but then his eyes had flickered away, as if he could ignore what was coming.

It was Graham who offered Hannah the spare room to lie down in after he'd tucked Bo into bed, who made her a cup of tea and asked gently if she was OK, if she wanted him to phone her family at the hospital. All this he did without a word to us.

Merrill and I glanced at one another on the couch, his hand in mine. It didn't take Einstein rising from the dead to figure out Graham was annoyed but it might have taken a little more deductive work to figure out why.

We were about to find out.

It was a few moments before Graham came downstairs from seeing if Hannah wanted anything to eat and stood in the doorway. For a long moment, he simply looked at us.

I swallowed. "Is Bo OK?" The words seemed to crack in my mouth.

Graham nodded. "She's fine." His hand covered his eyes for a moment. "Sleeping."

I nodded, but couldn't bring myself to say anything else. Merrill swallowed, and his fingers squeezed mine for a moment.

It was another moment before Graham spoke. "Is there anything anyone here wants to tell me?"

I glanced at Merrill who glanced at me before we both turned to glance at Morgan, who looked away. Something niggled in my mind, a suspicion tugging at the back of my brain.

"No?" Graham looked from one of us to the other. "How about this?"

And he dropped Morgan's alien book onto the coffee table.

Merrill stared at it. I stared at it. Morgan stared anywhere but at it.

"That's Morgan's book" I said, rather lamely.

Graham nodded. "I'm aware." He folded his arms. "Which you've been using the past few weeks."

I looked at Morgan and my nephew's gaze flickered away from mine. "I'm sorry" he muttered to the floor. "He didn't know where you were."

"So imagine" said Graham, who'd clearly prepared this speech at some earlier stage. I imagined him rehearsing it silently the entire way home. "My surprise when Morgan tells me that you went to visit the author this weekend."

Uh-oh.

"And imagine my surprise when I go to type the author's name into Google and I get a bunch of results telling me about his mysterious death."

Uh-oh. Graham was looking from one of us to the next. I exchanged a glance with Merrill.

This was not good.

Graham spread his hands. "Is there an explanation?"

Merrill looked at me. I looked at him.

There was an explanation but I didn't think it would be one Graham would particularly want to hear.

But glancing at Morgan, I figured that leaving the whole breaking-the-rules thing to my twelve year old nephew to explain, while it would be easier, would probably not win me any brownie points. So I opened my mouth and launched into an explanation.

It took me a while to get past the alien book thing.

But it was me who started telling Graham about Ray Reddy appearing in the car and the night of being chased across the driveway, the figure that had appeared behind Hannah, the sense of unease that seemed to be pervading the atmosphere recently. It was Merrill who told Graham about Vincent McHale, and the birds that had covered the apartment building. And it was me, glancing towards the stairs, who explained about the phone call that had summoned Hannah to the bookshop.

Graham listened in silence before taking his seat in between us on the couch. He did not speak. Instead, he merely stared ahead, his eyes lost in thought.

"Graham?" I asked, and felt Merrill's fingers intertwine with mine. Graham shook his head for a moment. Merrill squeezed my hand and to my right, I felt Morgan shift uncomfortably.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Graham's voice was low and I swallowed, tightening my grasp on Merrill's hand.

It was Merrill who spoke. "We thought you had enough on your mind with everything going on with Bo."

Graham looked at us for the first time. He wasn't glaring, which would have been tolerable-instead, he was looking at us like he'd never seen us before.

"But you told Morgan about it" he said, instead. "You dragged my twelve-year-old son-"

"Dad, nobody dragged me-" Morgan slid off the couch now and again, I was surprised by how tall he was-it was as though he was growing several inches a day.

Graham kept his eyes fixed on Merrill and I. "You and Hannah drove two twelve-year-olds out for a meeting with a-an alien obsessed recluse who you found dead in his bedroom-"

"To be fair, Graham, we didn't know we were going to find him dead in his-" I trailed off at the sight of the look on Graham's face. "Continue."

Graham shook his head. "He's twelve" he said, pointing at Morgan. "Twelve. And so's Devon."

Morgan cleared his throat. "Actually, Dad, Devon's thirteen.""

Graham gave Morgan a silent look and Morgan pressed his lips together. Graham stared at Merrill and I.

"What were you thinking?"

"We didn't want to bother you" I began, but given the situation we were currently in, that sounded pretty lame.

Graham looked at me. "Isabelle?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm bothered now."

I opened my mouth and closed it.

Merrill closed his eyes. "Graham-"

There was a small noise-a whimper-and all of us looked towards the landing at once. There was silence for a moment, a silence that dragged for several seconds, before the whimper came again, elongating into a gasping little cry.

Graham got to his feet. "Bo" he said, and without another word he headed towards the stairs to soothe whatever terror had woken his daughter from her sleep.

Merrill, Morgan and I sat in silence, none of us looking at the others. I threaded my fingers through Merrill's again and squeezed hard, as if keeping our fingers interlocked could keep us united against whatever came next.

It was Morgan's voice that broke the silence. "Well, that could have gone better."

Morgan's assessment of the situation, however unwelcome, appeared to be correct. When Graham returned from soothing Bo's nightmares, he was polite-that was the only way to describe it. He treated us politely and asked if anyone was hungry. It would have been worse if he'd shouted.

Morgan fidgeted next to me. "He's raving" he muttered. "That's why he's not yelling. He's probably just building up to it."

I almost hoped that was true. This icy silence was almost worse than anything, if nothing else than for the fact it left us with no distraction, nothing to occupy our thoughts, which were that things were quite clearly spiralling out of control.

With little else to do, I headed for the TV once again. We might as well know what was going on, even if there was little we could do to prevent it.

"And the majority of the Midwest has been plunged into blackness. Widespread power shortages and severe weather warnings-"

It was worse than I'd expected. I sank back onto the couch between Morgan and Merrill and stared at the screen. There were pictures of major cities, including nearby Pittsburgh, with buildings nearly invisible in the blanket of darkness that seemed to have descended. Merrill's hand slid into mine.

"Hope Devon's OK" Morgan muttered and shrugged when I glanced at him. "You know, he is with Lionel."

"He'll be fine" I said, with a lot more conviction than I felt. "Lionel'll just rant for a bit." Morgan raised an eyebrow but I was already staring at the screen again. "What the hell's going on?" I muttered to Merrill. "If this is them-then what's with all this?"

Merrill shrugged. "Attention seeking?"

I kicked him gently and then leaned my head on his shoulder. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that Morgan raised no objection to this whatsoever.

"What are we going to do?" I whispered, letting my words brush against Merrill's skin. "I mean, what's going to happen?"

Merrill shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Izzy. Maybe hide out? Like we did last time?" He pressed a kiss to my hair and this time I caught a glimpse of Morgan rolling his eyes. At least some things never changed.

"We'll be OK" Merrill whispered. "You know I would never let anything happen to you. Or the rest of them."

I glanced at him. "Even Devon?"

Merrill nodded. "Even Devon."

I moved closer, keeping my gaze firmly on his. "Even Lionel Pritchard?"

Merrill raised an eyebrow. "There's got to be some sacrifices."

It was lucky that Colleen had been fond of cushions because it meant there was an abundant amount for Morgan and I to use as weapons.

It was around an hour later that the phone rang. Graham handed it to me, mouthing "Your mother." I sat bolt upright.

"Mom?"

"Isabelle?" The voice was level but with an undercurrent of tenseness, tautness, as though the anxiety was trying to break through. "Isabelle, are you OK?

"Yeah, we're fine. We're all fine-are you and Dad OK?"

"Yes, sweetheart, we're both absolutely fine, but why didn't you call? We've been absolutely worried sick, we didn't know what was wrong-"

"I'm sorry-it's just we had to go and pick Bo up from school and then we had to pick Morgan up and something happened, something happened with Hannah-" Briefly, I filled my mother in on the events of the morning.

I heard her intake of breath on the other end of the phone. "Oh God. Oh God. Oh no, poor Carl. That's awful-"

"Yeah." It took me a second to realise I was shivering, and suddenly, it was all I could see-Carl lying there on the floor of the shop, the books he had prized so much scattered around him. I'd been going to Carl's shop since I was five, and had to stand on tiptoes to see over the counter. I remembered Carl staring down at me, always with an opinion on the day's news, but with a wry smile twisting his mouth, holding out a lollipop for me before I left.

"Isabelle?" I heard my mother's voice again but I was suddenly shivering all over, my arms wrapped tightly around myself, my nails leaving crescents in the skin of my upper arms.

"Izzy?" Merrill's arms were around my shoulders but my teeth were chattering together and suddenly all I could see was the Dean's office, and my father's face across the room, and tonight, there was an accident.

I closed my eyes as my stomach twisted and ground my nails into my skin, willing myself not to vomit.

"Isabelle?" My mother's voice was high-pitched now. "Isabelle, what's wrong?"

Merrill reached for the phone but I shook my head, pulling it back to my ear. "I'm-I'm OK" I managed. "It was just-" I closed my eyes, trying to push away the image. "I'm OK."

"Isabelle?" and my mother's voice was halting now. "They're saying-this could be something big."

I kept my eyes closed. "I know. We're here."

"I-" My mother swallowed for a moment and then she said "I'm not going to ask you to come home." My teeth dug into my bottom lip.

"I know it's too dangerous" and I heard the crack in her words this time. "I know, sweetheart. I'm not going to ask that of you. But I'm just going to say-we love you, darling. Me and Dad. We do."

"I know" I said and it was a struggle to push the words out. "I love you, too."

"Remember that, sweetheart. Remember that."

I nodded and kept my eyes closed. Remember that. "Where's Dad?" I asked, and the words came out far smaller than I expected.

"He's having a rest, sweetheart. He's tired out. Plus, we're taking turns sleeping so that we can keep an eye on things."

"Are you OK?"

"There've been better times." My mother laughed for a second but the sound was brittle through the line. "Isabelle?" she said, and for a second I was eight again and she and Colleen were tucking me into bed.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, OK? Be careful."

"You too, Mom. Tell Dad I love him."

"I will." There was another small pause and then "Goodbye, sweetheart."

I didn't want to say it but I had to. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Isabelle."

It took another moment and then I hung up. The second I had, I wanted to redial the number.

Merrill was watching me. "You OK?"

I nodded, and he pulled me into his chest. I kept my eyes shut. The longer they were closed, the longer before I'd have to look at the TV screen. Dimly, I could hear movements somewhere overhead-Hannah must be waking up.

"This is worse than last time." Morgan was peering at the screen, chin resting on his hands. His eyes were fixed on the newscaster, who was peering seriously into the camera, as if he could impress upon us how severe the situation was simply by virtue of the solemnity of his stare.

"How'd you figure?" I asked, my fingers tracing Merrill's palm. I focused on the heat of his skin, the feeling of his fingers between mine.

"They're taking a lot longer" said Morgan, and his own fingers were now linked together. "It's like they can afford to take a lot longer for some reason."

I stared at him over Merrill's arm. He looked up, meeting my gaze. "What?" he said.

"Nothing." I turned back to stare at the screen. "It just..makes sense."

The doorbell rang, and I sat up, pushing my hair off my face. Graham appeared in the doorway, his eyebrows contracting. "We expecting anyone?"

I glanced from Morgan to Merrill. Both looked bemused and after a quick exchange of glances, they raised their shoulders in a mutual shrug.

"I'll go." I slid off the couch, wondering if Devon had somehow managed to slip away from Lionel Pritchard. Or if Ray Reddy had escaped from his hospital bed. To be honest, at this stage, nothing would have surprised me.

Naturally, when I opened the front door, I was looking at the one person who could.

"Is Hannah here?" he said, and for a second all I could do was stare at the guy I'd been pretty sure was a few hundred miles away.

"Isabelle?" Graham's voice was behind me but whatever he was about to say was cut off by the voice from the top of the stairs, that brought my head round to see Hannah standing there, her auburn hair tangled and knotted but her eyes wide and fixed on the person now standing in the doorway. "Darren?"

You could say a lot of things about Graham Hess but you could never accuse him of not having good manners. Despite the fact he'd never even met Darren before, and had only heard about him vaguely from Hannah and I, he was the picture of hospitality immediately, inviting him in with a wave of the hand, asking him if he'd like anything to drink. Darren accepted with a few words, his eyes still fixed on Hannah, who after a brief hug, had stepped back and was staring at him as if unsure whether or not she wanted him to vanish into thin air.

When Graham and Morgan had tactfully disappeared into the kitchen (Merrill and I untactfully remaining on the couch), Hannah stared at Darren. "What are you doing here?"

Darren blinked. "I wanted to see you were OK" he said, pretty politely in my opinion.

Hannah swallowed. "I am."

Darren looked at her. "I'm sorry about your uncle."

Hannah shrugged and looked away. "So am I."

Merrill and I glanced at each other. Darren stared at the floor. Hannah seemed determined to look anywhere but at him.

I took pity on them. "Look" I said to Merrill. "Let's go upstairs and check on Bo."

Merrill blinked. "Both of us?"

I kicked him, and he nodded. "Oh. Oh, yeah. Both of us. Obviously. Yeah. Both of us."

I rolled my eyes as we headed out of the room.

"Because that was subtle" I said to Merrill, as we made our way up the stairs. "Very subtle."

Merrill shook his head. "Yeah, well-" He caught me at the top and kissed me, leaning me back against the wall, my arms winding around his neck. I was amazed at the fact I could concentrate on kissing, when everything else was falling to pieces around me.

But I did concentrate on it, letting my hands find their way into Merrill's hair, my thumb dancing along his jaw. He broke off with a gasp, and let his hands brush at the hem of my shirt.

I grabbed his wrists. "Hey" I said, my voice no more than a whisper. "Stop now."

Merrill was gasping for breath. "Why?" he asked, before he brought his mouth to my neck, leaving my head spinning for a moment before I could pull away.

"Because we're outside a six year old's bedroom, we're in a house full of our family and we've got some kind of apocalypse going on."

Merrill raised an eyebrow. "Bad timing?"

I let myself laugh, falling against him. Then I stopped and let my eyes meet his. "I love you" I said and my finger stroked his lips. "I really love you."

Merrill's mouth brushed my hair before he let his arms settle around me. "I love you too."

"Good." I let my fingers dance across his neck for a second. "Now let's go and check on our niece before Graham comes up."

Bo was sleeping peacefully when I bent over her. Her little hands were curled into fists under her chin, her eyes closed, her breathing soft and regular. She looked more relaxed than she had in weeks.

I pressed a kiss to her head. "Sleep, sweetheart." I took Merrill's hand, backing away from her. "Let's not wake her."

I kept my eyes on Bo all the way to the doorway. Once we were outside, I stood and listened for a few seconds just to make sure.

As we headed down the stairs, we came across Graham on his way up them. He stopped, his eyes narrowing at the sight of us. "What were you doing?" I guessed we'd be on the second or third apocalypse before Graham began trusting either of us again.

I shrugged. "Just checking on Bo."

Graham's face cleared at that. "Oh."

"Is Elizabeth coming out to see her?"

"No" said Graham, in what was actually a fairly civil voice. "Nobody can drive anywhere, because of the power cuts. You'll all have to stay here, tonight."

I swallowed and glanced at Merrill, who shrugged. "Where are we all going to sleep?"

Graham sighed, clearly considering the issue. "Well, Morgan and Bo can go in their rooms, and there's the guest room-"

"Hannah's already in there" I said quickly. "And I guess, Darren-"

"Then, there's the family room." Graham sighed. "I'm sorry, I wish there was a better place-"

"Don't be" I said, waving it off. "We're fine in the family room." Sleeping arrangements were the last thing you worried about in the apocalypse, after all.

It was around an hour later after another quick call to my parents to let them know how everyone was that Hannah and I got the time to talk alone.

Well, alone sitting on the stairs, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Well?" I whispered, with a quick glance at the family room where Darren was explaining something about music to Morgan. "What happened?"

"He said that he wanted to check on me." Hannah shook her head, still looking bemused. "He wanted to know I was OK. He hadn't even heard about-" Her uncle's name caught in her throat and she glanced away for a second. "Until he got here." She looked at me, and her eyes were huge, lost. "He wanted to see if I was OK, Isabelle."

I stared. "Why's that such a surprise? You are dating, you know."

Hannah shook her head. "Yeah, but we're-"

"Not serious, I know, I know, you keep saying."

Hannah pushed her hands through her hair. "I can't believe this. This is just surreal. I'm sitting in your brother-in-law's house with your nephew and niece, you and Merrill and Darren. And Graham. And there might be an apocalypse going on."

"Yeah, when you put it like that-"

Hannah laughed shakily and then slapped a hand over her mouth. "I can't believe I'm laughing."

"It's OK to laugh." I looked at her closely. "He wouldn't have wanted you to feel guilty, you know."

Hannah let her head fall into her hands. "I don't feel anything" she said to her fingers. "I don't feel anything, though." She glanced up at me. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No." I shook my head, threading my fingers through hers'. "No, it just means it hasn't sunk in yet."

"When will it sink in?" asked Hannah, a little desperately.

I sighed, gesturing around all-encompassingly, not knowing what else to do. "When all of this does, I guess."

Hannah managed a small smile. She leant her head against mine and I stroked her hair, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

We all went to bed pretty early that night. Or Merrill and I went to couch. I curled up with my head on his chest as he sprinkled kisses into my hair.

"Hope Morgan sleeps OK" I muttered, already feeling sleep lapping at the edges of my vision, the half-light from the hall somewhat comforting against the darkness.

"He'll be fine." Merrill pressed another kiss to my forehead, his hands lost in my hair. "Just try and sleep, Izzy."

I turned over and let my head rest on his chest, directly over his beating heart. I slid my hand into his, letting our fingers interlock.

"Keep hold of me" I whispered and it was seconds after that that I fell into sleep.

The little girl is standing on the landing and I take a step towards her. Her hair hangs down over her face and she stays very still, as if she's completely unaware that I'm there. She holds something in her hand. Something sharp.

I take a step towards her. "Hey" I say and she doesn't move.

I need to get her to look at me. I need to get her to move. "Hey" I say again and she doesn't.

I move closer. It's as though she can't hear me or see me. And that's when my eyes settle on her hand and I realise that what she's holding is a knife.

I swallow. I take a step towards her. "Please." I hold out a hand. "Give me it."

And then the little girl lifts up her head and gives me a smile. And for the first time, I see the piece of paper at her feet and a thrill of horror goes through me.

She lifts the knife. "Don't-"

And then her eyes meet mine, those round blue eyes, and I know her and how did I not know her before? And I'm falling forward. "Don't!"

Bo laughs and with one swift downward thrust, stabs the knife clean into the paper's heart.

I jerked awake, gasping for breath but Merrill's arms were around me immediately. I glanced around, recognising the familiar shapes of the family room, the couch, Merrill's voice in my ears.

"Izzy?"

I turned to look at him. He was staring at me, eyes heavy with sleep. "Don't worry" I whispered. "Just a bad dream." I kissed him quickly. "Just a nightmare, go back to sleep."

Even half-asleep, he didn't look convinced. "Are you OK?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I swung myself off the couch. "Just going to check on something."

I could feel Merrill's eyes on me as I headed for the stairs. I forced myself to slow down, to hesitate outside her room, even as my heart was flinging itself back and forth inside my ribs.

Slowly, I pushed open the door.

Bo was curled up in bed, fast asleep. The room was in semi-darkness, and the covers were pulled up to her chin. Everything was exactly as it had been when I'd last seen her a few hours before.

Slowly, I retreated from the room, heading back down the stairs and returning to the couch.

"What was it?" Merrill whispered and I shook my head.

"Just checking on Bo. She's fine. Go back to sleep." I kissed his cheek quickly and curled up against his chest, letting my eyes close.

Isabelle. Something inside my head. A voice, a word. Isabelle. Quiet, nudging.

If I'd been more awake, I might have listened. But I was tired and it was warm and I'd just got up after all. So I closed my eyes and curled further into Merrill's chest, willing the voice to disappear along with the rest of the conscious world.

It was when Graham cried out that my eyes flew open next.

"Graham?" I half-fell off the couch along with Merrill, who was already scrambling to his feet. "Graham?" Dimly, I noticed that there was a greyish half-light spilling across the room-it was clearly dawn.

"Graham?" Merrill was quicker than me, he was already at the bottom of the stairs, his feet taking them two at a time. I followed him, bumping into Morgan on the landing.

"Graham?" Merrill was already following the voices into Bo's room, while I slid my arm around Morgan's shoulders. He turned, burrowing his face into my sleeve, and I said "It's OK, it's OK-" as if me saying it over and over could make it so.

It was a second later that Hannah appeared on the landing, with Darren trailing behind her. "What's happened? " she said and it was at that moment that Merrill appeared.

"Call an ambulance."

At that, I tried to push past him into the room but Merrill's hands closed around my arms, holding me back. I caught a glimpse of Bo's teddy lying on the floor, arms flung out and it looked so horrifyingly normal.

"Bo." Graham was shaking her. "Bo."

She wasn't moving. She wasn't speaking. She was just lying with her eyes closed, her head turned to the side and there was acid burning my throat.

"Izzy-" said Merrill but I was already pulling out my phone.

"I'll do it" and Hannah took it from me. I was about to protest when I glanced down at my hands and realised they were shaking so violently I could barely see them.

Merrill pulled me against his chest and Morgan slipped past us into the room. Merrill made a grab for his shoulder but it was too late. Morgan had skidded to a halt at the sight of his father shaking his little sister's shoulders.

"Morgan-" Merrill reached for him again and my hand touched his shoulder, but Morgan shook his head, taking a step back. His eyes were wide and his face was tinged a strange, ashen colour.

I could hear Hannah speaking behind me and she leaned into the room. "Graham, is she breathing normally?"

It was as Graham lifted the bedcovers to place an ear to her chest and listen that I saw them, and I grabbed Merrill's arm. "Merrill-"

Merrill's gaze followed mine and I saw his face whiten as he swallowed. "Jesus-"

There were cuts littering Bo's hands, shallow cuts to her skin, as if they'd been slashed with something sharp. None were deep or huge, but the sheer amount of them meant her hands were smeared with blood, and Graham let out a small gasping sound as he saw them, a sound that was worse than a sob.

"They're on their way" Hannah was saying but I could barely hear her. "They're on their way."

Graham travelled with her in the ambulance-there was no question about that. That left Hannah, Darren, Morgan, Merrill and I to get ourselves to the hospital in Graham's car. It was Hannah who suggested we bring some clothes for Bo to change into.

"We don't know how long she'll be there" she said, her voice terribly calm. "She might like a change of clothes."

I leapt on the order eagerly, partly because it was something to do and partly because it was a sign that someone-even just one person-believed that there was a chance that Bo would be well enough in just a couple of days to want a change of clothes.

It was Hannah and I who went to her room, with Hannah removing pillows from her bed in case Bo preferred her own, and me turning to her closet.

"She likes her blue dress."

This was from Morgan, who I turned to find standing in the doorway. He was watching me with his lips carefully pressed together and as I watched, he blinked hard.

"She likes her blue dress. That's her favourite. She'd want that one-"

I was already crossing the room towards him and I pulled him against me. "Hey, hey-"

He nestled into my chest and suddenly, he was three years old again, with me rubbing his back as he puffed on an inhaler, desperately sucking medication into his tiny little lungs.

"She's going to be OK" and I wasn't saying it just for Morgan's benefit. "She's going to be OK."

Hannah kept her face averted, her eyes fixed studiously on the bed. I let Morgan keep his face hidden in my shirt for as long as it took to wipe his eyes, and take a deep breath, and nod.

"OK." I turned back, pulled open the door of Bo's closet and gasped.

The floor was littered with pieces of broken glass. "What-"

My first thought was that something must have fallen-some accident, some heirloom shattered-but there was nothing among the wreckage, nothing to show what had caused the damage. There were just jagged pieces of broken glass, covering the floor, and several of them were smeared at the edges with blood.

I stepped back, with the thought of closing the door so at least Morgan couldn't see this-but he was already peering over my shoulder. "What-"

Hannah stepped forward and her hands fastened on his shoulders. "We'll take a photo" she said briskly, though her brimming eyes betrayed her true feelings. "We'll show the doctors."

Staring at the closet floor, still watched by the unseeing eyes of Bo's dolls, all I could do was give her a slow nod.

The drive to the hospital seemed to take an age, an hour, a year. All I could do was press my lips into Morgan's hair, who was squeezed between Merrill and I in the back seat and nod at Hannah who sat grimly in the driver's seat, her eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead.

Graham was standing in the hospital lobby when we arrived. "They've taken her for a scan" he said, turning hopelessly as though one of the walls might give him an update on Bo's condition. "A scan."

It was Hannah who placed a hand on his arm. "Let's see if there's somewhere we can wait."

He reached out for Morgan and his son stepped towards him slowly. It took a second before Morgan leaned into his father's arms and Graham stroked his hair, his eyes closed.

"Graham?" Hannah was taking out her phone. "We found this in Bo's closet-we thought it might be important-"

I turned away. I couldn't stand to see Graham's face when he saw the pictures. Instead, I just leaned into Merrill's shoulder and closed my eyes. If I did it enough times, maybe it would prove that none of this was real.

It was hours. Hours that dragged by. Each minute was an endless black hole of waiting. My head lay on Merrill's shoulder, except for the times one of us got up to get a cup of coffee or tea, which burnt my lips. Somehow, I was grateful for the pain.

Graham came out and told us that they were running tests on Bo's brain, and that was when I buried my head further in Merrill's shoulder. All I could picture was Bo the first time I saw her, a tiny baby staring up at me with those bright blue eyes.

Merrill's hands threaded through my hair, and I could feel his ragged breath against my neck. His long fingers were gentle against my skin, tracing the shape of my neck, as he pressed his lips to my forehead. His other hand clasped Morgan's shoulder, who sat with his head lowered, clearly lost in his own thoughts. Hannah sat on his other side, with Darren hovering awkwardly next to her occasionally asking if she wanted anything. I wondered just what had happened between them the night before.

It was around two hours later that I heard clacking footsteps and my parents appeared, my mother's face ashen and pinched, and my father's eyebrows furrowed, his lips compressed into a thin line.

"Graham" and my mother enveloped him in a hug, before she turned to me. "Sweetheart-"

I nodded, refusing to move from Merrill's lap. It wasn't that I didn't want to move-I couldn't force myself to pull away from the safety of his arms and she seemed to understand as she nodded, and turned to Morgan, brushing her lips across his forehead. It was a mark of the severity of the situation that Morgan did not roll his eyes and pull away.

Hannah was the one who slid her arms around both of my parents and Graham took them aside to explain the situation. Hannah glanced at me. "You want to go and get something?"

I was about to protest but Merrill, glancing down and taking in my expression, gently pulled me upright, saying "Yeah, you need a break."

Hannah and I made our way down the corridor to the cafeteria, Hannah shooting nervous glances at me every now and then, her eyes darting anxiously back and forth, fingers tucking her hair behind her ear. It was only when we were pulling teapots onto our trays that she took a deep breath and said "So how are you holding up?"

"OK, I guess" I shrugged. "We don't know anything about what's wrong with her yet, but she seems to be peaceful at least-" I dug my teeth into my lip and tried to push away the sight of Bo with cuts littering her hands.

Hannah shook her head and I glanced at her and said, more for the purposes of distracting myself than anything, "What's going on with you and Darren at the moment?"

Hannah opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I don't know" she said and I could hear the attempt at bravado in the words, but the way they crumbled at the end of the sentence.

My hand brushed her arm. "He turned up when he heard what had happened" I said, as we began our journey back to the hospital ward. "I mean, that must mean something, right?"

Hannah drew in a breath. "Exactly. And that's just it." I stopped, narrowing my eyes at her and she avoided my gaze.

"We're not meant to be serious" she said and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes with great difficulty.

"We're not" she said, her tone slightly sharper at my expression. "I mean, I didn't expect that."

"Well...do you want to be serious with him?"

"No" she said, too quickly. "I just-God-" She shook her head. "It's the wrong time to be talking about it." She stepped into the elevator and jabbed at the button, as though it had been the one to suggest she should get serious with Darren.

It was when we reached the end of the hospital corridor that I spotted Merrill standing, leaning against the wall, apparently alone. I motioned to Hannah to go on without me and took a step towards him. But as I got closer, I realised that Merrill wasn't alone. He was accompanied, surprisingly, by my father. I hesitated, then stepped behind a fountain on the pretence of getting a drink, where I was hidden from their sight.

"...apparently, the power's back on here, and in some other buildings" my father was saying, while Merrill listened, his hands grasping his elbows. "But others over the city are still experiencing widespread power shortages."

Merrill nodded. "We had to stay at Graham's last night."

My father looked at him. "Is Isabelle OK?" he said, looking directly into Merrill's eyes.

Merrill swallowed. "She's holding up. But she's scared" he said, and I closed my eyes. "And I don't know if I'm doing the right thing."

"The right thing for what?" My father's voice was sharper now.

"The right thing to help her" and I opened my eyes in time to see Merrill raise a hand and lean his forehead on his hand. "I mean, I just-I don't know if I'm there for her enough, I don't know-" He looked up and met my father's gaze head on. "I love her" he said, and his voice was lower now, somehow stronger. "I love her so much."

My father nodded. "I know" he said, and I held my breath, hanging on his next words. "You're good for her."

"It's more than that" and even though I was no longer looking, I could picture Merrill swallowing, glancing away, and then glancing back again. "I just-I would never let anything happen to her."

"I know that too" said my father, and there was a hesitation before he said "She's always been like this, you know."

"Like what?"

My father sighed. "Trying to deal with everything on her own. She needs other people, and sometimes, she won't let them in."

Merrill's voice was soft. "She lets me."

"I know." And then my father's hand reached out and fell on Merrill's arm. For a second, it looked as if he was about to say something but then he shook his head. "Look after her, OK?"

Merrill nodded. "You know I will."

I stood still, waiting until they turned and headed back down the corridor, before I followed them, my arms crossing across my chest.

"They can't find anything" said Graham and I'd never seen him look quite so hopeless.

We were all standing around Bo's bed. She lay, her little face pale even against the bedsheets, her eyelashes brushing her cheeks. Morgan's hand stretched out, as though he longed to brush her cheeks with his fingers, but didn't quite dare.

"There's no point in all of us being here" said Graham and I turned into Merrill's shoulder. "You might as well go home and get some sleep."

"No-" I started but it was my mother who placed a hand on my shoulder. "Isabelle, you can't do anything for Bo here."

"I can't just leave her." I knew that it didn't make any sense, that Bo didn't even know I was there but the thought of just walking away and leaving her in the hospital, even with Graham at her side, made me feel as though my heart was being twisted slowly inside my chest.

"You're not just leaving her" said my mother softly. "You can come back tomorrow. The lights are coming back on gradually. You can take shifts staying with Graham. Your father and I'll stay tonight."

"But-" Merrill slid his hand into mine and pulled my head onto his shoulder. "It'll be OK" he whispered, his breath hot on my skin. "It'll be better if you get some sleep."

Graham looked at me. "You'll be here tomorrow, Isabelle" he said gently. "It'll be best for everyone if you guys get some sleep. For Bo, too."

It was this finally that convinced me.

Hannah and Darren got a cab home-it always surprised me that we had cabs in Bucks County-and Merrill and I took my parents' car back to our own apartment. But it was halfway home that Merrill glanced over at me and then pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"Izzy-"

I looked away from him, wiping at the tears trickling down my cheeks. Merrill's hand brushed at one, and his arm slid around my shoulders, and my head fell onto his shoulder. "Shh, Izzy-" Merrill's lips pressed to my forehead, and his fingers tangled in my hair. "Sweetheart-" He kissed my cheek. "It won't help-"

"I know that" I said, when I could speak again. "It's not just leaving her."

Merrill brushed my hair back with his fingers. "Tell me."

More tears spilled over. "We don't know what's wrong with her" I said, my head nestling into his shoulder. "Everything's going wrong and we can't help her."

Merrill pressed his mouth to my cheek. "You're not going to help her like this" he said reasonably. "If you get some rest, you'll be able to think more clearly." He kissed me again, under my ear. "She wouldn't want this, Izzy."

I leaned against his chest, feeling his heart beat against my ear. "Not fair" I whispered after a few moments, feeling his arms tighten around me. "When did you get so smart?"

A soft laugh vibrated through Merrill's chest. "Hanging out with you. It rubs off on me."

I elbowed him gently and then curled against him as he pressed another kiss to my hair, his fingers tracing my jaw. "Love you."

"Love you too." He trailed his fingers through my hair again before he brought my mouth to his in a gentle kiss. I closed my eyes, losing myself in his mouth for a moment, letting the rest of the world fade away.

We found a note on Mrs. Longdon's door when we got in and Merrill ripped it down, his eyes scanning the words quickly. "She's gone to stay with her brother" he told me, carefully sticking it back up. My finger tugged at the zipper on his jacket, playing with it absent-mindedly. My finger brushed the top of his jeans and I heard him inhale sharply.

I leaned into his chest, let his hands slide into my hair. "Come on" and he tugged me upstairs.

Inside our apartment, I switched on the TV for five seconds. "National panic-" I switched it off again.

I could feel Merrill standing behind me, feel him watching me. I kept my eyes on the floor and tried to push away the thought of my sister.

"Hey." Merrill's voice was as soft as I'd ever heard it, his arms sliding around me from behind as I twisted to hear his words. His lips brushed my cheek, finger tucking the hair behind my ear. "You OK?"

I leaned back into him. "I miss her" I said and my voice was heavy with how much it was true.

Merrill pressed another kiss into my hair, and my arms slid around his neck as I twisted to kiss him. A second passed before our mouths came together again in another, longer kiss and then my hands tightened on the back of his neck.

"I don't know what's going to happen" I said and suddenly, my breath was desperate in my throat. "I don't know and I want to be with you." And I kissed him again.

"I know" he said and he kissed me harder, his breathing ragged against my mouth. "I know."

I slid my arms further around him and said "I love you."

"I know" he said and his forehead pressed against mine. "I love you too."

I could feel his heart slamming against my hand when I pressed it, fingers splayed, against his chest. "Merrill" I said and his name fitted perfectly in my mouth. "I just-"

"What?" His eyes were an inch from mine and all I could see was them, their colour, and the bright blue-green that I'd stared at so many times before, and my fingers stroked the edge of his jaw.

"I just want to be with you right now" was all I managed before I pulled his mouth back to mine, his hands sliding under my shirt now, hot against my skin as he kissed me back, frantic whispers into my mouth as he lifted me, half-carrying me towards our bedroom, as my eyes closed and I lost myself in him.

It was at the moment when Merrill paused for a second, his skin hot against mine and his eyes staring at me, that I froze. "What's wrong?" My hands slid into his hair, pulling him closer.

"I just-" His eyes slid down me, lingering slowly until I reached out to pull them back to mine. But then I stopped, letting him stare, something in his eyes telling me to keep still until he raised his gaze back to mine.

"I love you" he said, and he pulled my mouth to his, and even though my mind was pulled to a dozen different sensations, that was the one that brought me back again-the softness of his lips on mine.

"I can't-" He gripped my shoulders and buried his head in my neck for a moment, and I felt him tense against me, and my hands gripped his arms. "What is it?"

His eyes met mine and they were burning. "I can't lose you" he said, and the words were quiet and fierce and I closed my eyes, kissing him again. "I can't" and this time, the words broke in his mouth and I said "Shh" and pulled him in to lie against me, and it took a second before he could meet my gaze.

"You're not going to" I said, and I slid my hand into his. "You're not" I said and one finger danced across his jaw and I said "I'm going to try to stay with you" and I meant it. "I'm going to try. And so are you."

Merrill took a deep breath. "Doesn't feel like enough."

One hand slid under his chin, this time and lifted his face so that his gaze met mine. "I know it doesn't" I said, and my voice was quiet. "I know. But no one can know what's coming next." I had enough proof of that.

Merrill took a shaky breath and I kissed him harder. "If we get through this" I said, and my voice shook. "I want to be with you. Just be with you." And I kissed him again, and this time he kissed me back, his hands sliding into my hair, lowering himself over me, so that I gasped.

"I know" he said. "Me too." His thumb brushed my cheek and I closed my eyes as his hands slid lower.

It was later, when he was lying against me, both of us still gasping for breath, that I looked down at him and brought my mouth to his again. "I mean it" I said, feeling his heart slam against mine. "I want to be with you for as long as we can."

"So do I" and he kissed me so gently, I thought I was going to cry. "So do I."

The next morning, when I opened my eyes, Merrill was still asleep, his hands braided in my hair, my legs wrapped around his. I propped myself up on one elbow and took him in with my eyes. His eyelashes brushed his cheeks, and I reached out, tracing his cheekbone with the tip of one finger. His lips twitched in his sleep and I watched him for a long moment before I lowered my lips to his forehead and kissed him gently.

"I love you" I whispered and hoped that he heard.

When we returned to the hospital, it was to find Morgan sitting in the lobby, his eyes on his knees. "Morgan" I said, and my hand covered his shoulder. He raised his head, his gaze meeting mine.

"Hey, Isabelle." His voice was hoarse and he leaned his head against my shoulder as I sat down.

"Hey." I leaned my head against his, my fingers braiding themselves in his hair. "How is she?"

Morgan shrugged. "She's asleep." He scrubbed at his eyes with his hands. "Still."

Merrill let his hand rest on Morgan's shoulder for a moment. "How's your dad?"

Morgan shrugged again. "In there with her. He fell asleep for a while but he's been up since, like, five."

"What about you?"

"Grandma took me to theirs'" said Morgan and I winged a silent thank you to my mother for getting Morgan out of there. "Stayed over. Grandpa stayed here, though."

Merrill opened his mouth but at that moment, the door opened and we all turned to look at the newcomer.

Elizabeth was standing in the doorway, a small bag in hand, looking remarkably well put together for so early in the morning. "Sorry" she said. "Am I interrupting?"

"Graham must have called her" I said, leaning against Merrill's shoulder. Elizabeth was currently inside the hospital room, talking to Graham. I felt Merrill's shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. I glanced at him. "What about the glass?" I asked, feeling safe to whisper this, now that no one else was around. "What about the glass on the floor?"

Merrill's eyes focused on mine and he shrugged again. "I don't know" he said and his voice was even softer this time. "Maybe something in her room?"

I wondered briefly if Bo had somehow smashed through her window again, but then I remembered that we'd have heard that and Graham had triple-locked them after the diving incident, hiding the keys from his daughter. Anyway, Bo's window had been whole and unshattered that morning.

I nibbled at a thumbnail as Elizabeth stepped out of the room. The lines on her face were more prominent than I remembered, her hand raising itself to her eyes as she gave us a strained smile.

"How is she?" said Merrill, scrambling upright. Morgan's fingers slid into mine and he held on tight. I didn't blame him. I was squeezing back just as hard.

Elizabeth sighed and pressed her fingers to her eyes. Somehow, that was worse than anything I'd seen here this morning, so far. If we couldn't trust the shrink to not fall apart, what were we meant to do now? Turn to the chairs for help?

Elizabeth slowly lifted her head and her eyes met mine. "We're reconsidering the possibility of a physical condition that could be causing this" she said quietly, and all I heard was so much for us being thorough last time, huh?

"But there's also been-" and she exhaled heavily, lowering her head again before she lifted her gaze back to ours'. "Some further news."

Merrill's fingers squeezed mine and I could sense the tension coiling in his body, as I stood in between him and Morgan. "What?" he said, rather abruptly, when Elizabeth failed to speak.

Elizabeth sighed and glanced away and Merrill spoke again, his voice louder. "What?"

Elizabeth turned and looked straight at us. "You said there was glass on the floor of Bo's closet?"

I nodded slowly, and Morgan's fingers twitched in my hand.

Elizabeth sighed. "Ray Reddy's truck had all of its' windows smashed last night."

"No way." I was still shaking my head five minutes after Elizabeth had left us and gone back into the hospital room to be with Graham. "No way was it her."

Merrill lowered his head into his hands."Isabelle" he said slowly, the same way he'd said my name after I'd half-exploded at Elizabeth, asking if she was actually paid to dole out this stuff. It had not been one of my finer moments.

"She's six years old, Merrill. How the hell would she walk to Ray Reddy's house in the middle of the night, smash up a car and get back inside?"

Merrill did not look up. "She's not saying that's what happened, Isabelle."

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I pushed my hands through my hair. "She wouldn't do that" I said, my voice quieter now. "I know Bo. She wouldn't."

But then again, three months ago, I'd have said that Bo wouldn't have thrown herself out of a window or trashed a classroom. The Bo of three months ago wouldn't have, either.

Morgan was staring straight ahead. For a moment, I wondered if he was in some kind of trance and then I wondered if I'd got enough sleep recently.

Suddenly, he seemed to snap out of it, then turned to look at me. "What's wrong with her?" he asked and his voice trembled and cracked halfway through. "What's going to happen to her?"

I slid my arm around his shoulders and let his head fall against mine. "I don't know" I said after a few moments and I wished I was able to give him any answer but the truth.

When my mother showed up, the first thing she did was to scrutinize Morgan for a few moments with her head tilted sharply to one side and then say, snapping her eyes up to mine "He shouldn't be here."

"What?" I said, glancing at Morgan's head, which lolled against my shoulder where he had fallen into a doze.

"He shouldn't be here" said my mother with another anxious glance at Morgan. "He needs some rest."

"He had rest at yours' last night" I said, but taking another look at Morgan, I couldn't deny that he looked exhausted. "What do you want me to do?"

My mother looked at Merrill and I. Merrill was leaning with his head against mine, his eyes flickering closed every now and then. For the first time, I wondered just how much sleep he'd got the night before and felt a wave of guilt for not wondering sooner.

My mother sighed. "Take Morgan back to Graham's and all three of you get some rest. It's not doing anyone any good just sitting here."

I raised an eyebrow and her face softened. "I'll stay with Graham and Bo" she said, her voice lower now. "We'll call you straight away if anything changes. They'll be fine."

"Elizabeth's here, too" I said, for some reason.

"Elizabeth?"

"Her therapist."

My mother nodded. She placed a hand on my shoulder and Merrill's eyes opened slowly, lingering on Morgan and I. "Go and speak to her for a minute if you want" my mother said softly and I knew she didn't mean Elizabeth.

I got up slowly off the chair, carefully sliding Morgan down so that his cheek lay against the plastic of the seat. Merrill's hand settled in his hair, gently brushing it off his cheeks. Morgan was lost in sleep, his eyelashes brushing his skin.

"Where's Dad?" I asked my mother before letting my eyes flicker to the door of Bo's hospital room.

My mother shook her head. "Down in the canteen, trying to get a good cup of coffee."

I felt my lips twitch in a smirk and almost as quickly felt it disappear as I took another glance at the door. My mother followed my gaze.

"Go in and see her" she said quietly. "And then go home and get some rest."

When I opened the door, I walked straight into Elizabeth who had just pulled it open on the other side. Both of us cried out and Graham looked up sharply from where he was sitting by Bo's bed.

"Sorry, Isabelle." Elizabeth offered me a placating smile, her hand brushing my arm, her fingers seeming to linger for a moment at the scars at my wrist. I blinked but she was already moving past me, heading into the hall with a smile at Merrill and my mother. I turned back to the bed, already forgetting the curious moment.

"Hey, Bo" I said, feeling vaguely stupid. I knew Bo might be able to hear me but that still didn't make it any less disconcerting to have her lying there, with not one sign of recognition to anyone's voice.

Graham, glancing up at me, gave me a wan smile. "She's been like that for a day now" he said and his hand lingered for a moment on his daughter's forehead. "At least, she's getting some rest."

I rolled my eyes and his lips twitched for a moment before his eyes fell back to his daughter. "I don't know what to do for her" he said softly. "I don't know what to do for the best."

I walked round to his side of the bed, my arms sliding around his shoulders. "It's not your fault" I said, the first words that rose to my lips. "She needs to be here. They're going to find out what's wrong with her." I wondered briefly if Elizabeth had told him about Ray Reddy's truck and decided not to ask.

Graham drew back, his eyes flickering back to Bo's sleeping face, as though it were a magnet with an inexorable pull on his gaze. "She looks so peaceful" he said, and he smoothed her hair again.

"Listen" I said. "Morgan's exhausted and so's Merrill. I'm going to take them back to yours', so Morgan can get some sleep. He didn't get much last night, apparently."

I wondered if Graham would be annoyed at this perceived abandonment of Morgan's little sister but instead, he just nodded. "Probably for the best. He can't do much here."

"Mom and Dad are here" I said, my eyes still on my niece. "And Elizabeth just went outside."

Graham nodded and let his head rest on his hand for a moment. I bent lower, letting my lips brush Bo's forehead. "Get well soon" I added, rather lamely. As I looked at her, lying there so still, my throat filled with a sudden surge of words I wanted to say-my arms around her, the feeling of her smile, bright, filling her cheeks with colour-but I couldn't say any of it. Instead, I just touched her hair and then turned away, my mind suddenly filled with the first time I'd held her and she'd turned to look at me, those big blue eyes fixed on mine, as though even then she could see inside my mind.

"Thanks for calling Elizabeth, by the way." I stopped as Graham's voice sounded in the air behind me, standing quite still for a second before I turned to face him.

"She said you called her." I stared at him for a long moment. "She said you called her from the hospital."

Graham shook his head. I stared. "But she-"

"No" said Graham softly. "She told me you called her."

I stared at him and he shook his head again slowly. "Isabelle, I didn't call her. I didn't."

We both stared at each other across the room. The only sounds in the room were the slow beeping of machines and the soft, laboured breaths of the little girl in the hospital bed.

I waited until we drove back to Graham's before I turned to her. "Can I ask you something?" I could feel something boiling under my skin, the words burning to get out of my mouth and my fists clenched at my sides. We were standing in the hallway and Morgan had disappeared down the hallway to phone Devon, presumably to update him with the important news that there was absolutely no change in Bo's condition. (If he hadn't phoned him at least once from my parents' the previous night, I'd have eaten each one of my Harry Potter books.)

Elizabeth took a step back and leaned against the wall. Merrill glanced between us, his eyes narrowing at the look on my face. "Izzy-"

"Of course, Isabelle" and that was enough to undo me. I took several steps forward, and felt my teeth clench together, hard enough that the words came out muffled.

"How come you told Graham it was me who called him?" and I saw Elizabeth's eyes close for a moment and that just made me angrier. "How come you told me it was him, when he never called you?"

"Wait, what?" Merrill's eyes shot to Elizabeth, one hand landing on my arm but his gaze fixed on her.

"What's going on?" and my fists were clenched at my sides because somehow, I knew. I could see Bo lying in that hospital bed and I knew it was something to do with what was wrong, I could feel it clearer than I'd ever felt anything in my life.

Elizabeth stared at me for a second and then wilted against the wall. "I didn't want to have to tell you."

Merrill froze next to me and that gave me the chance to take another step forward. "Tell me what?"

Elizabeth sighed and looked at me. "That the same thing happened to me."

"I was eight" said Elizabeth and I kept my eyes on the cup of tea Morgan had made her and pressed into her hands. "And the water tasted wrong."

I swallowed. Ever since I'd stared at her disbelievingly and called Morgan in to listen-he had a right to listen, I'd said, when Merrill had argued, he was involved in this too-I hadn't been able to meet her gaze. Maybe because it seemed like this was just one more thing that was being turned upside-down. Maybe because it was getting creepier and creepier to learn that Bo and I weren't the only ones.

"They sent me to someone-" and a wan smile crept over Elizabeth's face. "Well, someone like me."

"And?" I pressed, when she didn't say any more. She could hardly drop a bombshell like this and then expect to stop there.

"And they asked me about the voices."

"Wait." I held up a hand to stop her. "You heard voices too?"

Merrill's head snapped round to look at me. "You never told me that."

I shook my head. I'd tell him later but right now, I just wanted to focus on anything that could help Bo.

Elizabeth nodded, keeping her eyes on mine. "And they wanted to try drugs and therapy and everything else. But then it all just...stopped."

I blinked. "It stopped?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I'm as bewildered by it as you are. But yes, it stopped. My parents were thrilled-they thought it was the therapy, obviously. But I didn't."

"What did you think?" asked Merrill, when Elizabeth lapsed into silence for a moment.

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head slowly. "I thought it was something else" she said quietly. "I guess everyone who is would say this but I knew I wasn't crazy."

I swallowed, and my gaze flickered to Merrill's. "But what about Bo?" I asked, choosing not to say "What about me?" "Why hasn't it stopped for her?"

Elizabeth glanced up, meeting my gaze for the first time. "I don't know" she said quietly. "Maybe whatever this is just...likes her."

"And how did you know?" It was Morgan who spoke this time, and any traces of tiredness were gone from his face. "How did you know we needed you?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes but Morgan had already stepped forward before she could speak."How did you know?"

"Morgan-" Merrill's hand landed on his arm, but Elizabeth shook her head.

"Don't" she said to Merrill. "He has every right." She looked at Morgan this time, though her eyes flickered briefly to me as well. "This'll sound strange."

"We're kind of used to that." The words slid out slowly, through clenched teeth. I didn't care.

Elizabeth drew in a deep breath and said "I dreamt it."

Morgan blinked. "You what?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I know how it sounds." I was amazed she was so calm. Then again, she was a shrink. "But I saw it. I saw her on the stretcher. I saw her. And I knew I had to come when I woke up. I even knew where I had to go. And I saw her-"

Elizabeth's voice trailed off but Morgan and Merrill were both already staring, slack-jawed. It was me who said "Something else-"

Elizabeth turned to me. "Yes?"

I swallowed. "This might sound strange" I said, uncomfortably aware that I was echoing her words of a few moments before. "But did you see her stabbing a piece of paper?"

Elizabeth's eyes widened and I knew the answer before she gave it.

My heart was thudding as she moved her head slowly in a nod. I stared at the floor, avoiding Merrill's gaze, as his fingers slowly slid into mine, and I saw once again, Bo driving that knife, driving it straight down into the centre of that sheet.

I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about Hannah and Carl in amongst all the chaos but somehow, I had.

"Morgan, can I use the phone? I need to call Hannah."

Morgan was already clutching it, his head curled into the receiver. "I kind of wanted to phone Devon."

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes with great difficulty. "Hannah's uncle has just died, Morgan."

Morgan rolled his own eyes but handed me the phone, and I punched in the number.

"How's Bo?" was the greeting I received almost immediately.

I really would have to nominate Hannah for the list of Best Friends of All Time because she listened to me ramble on about Bo's hospital admission for the better part of fifteen minutes, and I could picture her nodding away on the other end. It took a while for me to say "How are you?"

I could hear Hannah's indrawn breath even at this end. "I'm good" she said, and her overbright tone wouldn't have fooled anyone. It wouldn't have fooled Lionel Pritchard, put it that way.

"Hannah, Carl just died."

"Thanks, Isabelle, I'd forgotten."

"Yeah, but I mean, come on, no way are you just good."

"Thanks again, Isabelle."

"How about Darren?"

There was the smallest hesitation before she said "He's fine."

I swallowed. "Um-"

The silence stretched out between us, thicker than extra-thick treacle collected in the thickest hour of the thickest night.

"Are you guys all OK?" asked Hannah, and I hastened to give her an abridged version of how everyone else was doing.

"Poor Bo" she said, after I'd finished. "We're going to try and visit her, if we're allowed?"

I hesitated. "I think that Graham might want to just keep it down today" I said honestly. "I mean, she got a load of visitors yesterday. But in the next few days-yeah." I was more buoyed by the fact she'd said "we."

Morgan was tugging at my elbow frantically and I rolled my eyes. "Hannah, I've got to go, Morgan is not so subtly hinting he needs the phone."

After we'd hung up, I turned to eyeball him. "You couldn't wait five more minutes?"

"No." Morgan was already dialling.

Devon turned up less than an hour later and the first thing he did was slide his arms around Morgan's shoulders. I couldn't have been more shocked if he'd announced he wanted to be a ballerina.

The hug only lasted a second before both of them pulled away, each looking anywhere but at the other. "Hi" Devon said after a second while Morgan stared steadfastly in the opposite direction.

"Hi" I said, hearing footsteps as Merrill came up behind me. "How are you?" By which, I meant, how is your life with the Resident Town Torturer.

Devon shrugged. "OK" but he was still looking at Morgan. "How is she?"

He and Morgan were already turning towards the stairs so I turned back to the living room where Merrill and I sank onto the couch. I'd almost forgotten Elizabeth was there, and she shot a curious look towards the stairs. "Who's that?"

"Morgan's friend." I let my head fall against Merrill's shoulder as I sat down and Elizabeth glanced at me. I stared back.

"Are you actually a psychologist?" I asked, after a moment. "You know, in real life? Or was that all made up, too?"

To give her credit, she flushed. "No, I'm a psychologist." She stared back at me. "I didn't lie, Isabelle."

I snorted, and burrowed my head further into Merrill's shoulder.

"You can believe what you like" she said, leaning back on the couch. "But I never lied to you." She sighed. "You have to understand" she said, her voice quieter now. "All I want is to help Bo. And others like her."

I swallowed. "Why didn't you tell us any of this?" But I already knew.

Elizabeth laughed but it was a sound without much humour. "Isabelle, would you ever have told anybody?"

Bo was lying there, her body thrashing back and forth in the bed.

"How do I make it stop?" I turned to him, even though I couldn't see him. "How do I make it stop?"

I could feel his eyes on me, could feel his voice in my ear. "You know what you have to do."

My eyes flew open and I jerked upright. Merrill's arm was already around me. "Izzy?"

I rubbed my eyes, an image of Bo still imprinted on my eyelids, thrashing back and forth in that bed. For a moment, it was all I could see and my hands fastened onto Merrill's sleeve. "Merrill?"

"Yeah?" He was already guiding me upright, one hand sliding into my hair. "It's OK, Izzy, I'm here, it was just a stupid dream-"

Behind him, I could see Elizabeth leaning round, eyes resting on me, narrowed in concern.

I swallowed, leaned back against the couch. "I know" I said, trying to convince myself as much as him. "Just a stupid dream."

Merrill's arm stayed around me and I let my head fall against his shoulder. He brushed a kiss to my hair and my hand slid into his. "Try and go back to sleep" he whispered and I nodded, curling against him.

But behind my closed eyelids, my mind was racing. Whatever I'd just told Merrill and Elizabeth, that dream hadn't seemed like any other I'd ever had. In fact, more than anything, it seemed like something else-something that was lying ahead, just out of reach of my fingers when I leaned to grasp it, but there all the same, biding its' time, waiting.

Poor Carl :( And poor Bo. Leave a review if you liked it :)