It was very late at night, and the Cahill household was all asleep.

Except for one.

Eighteen-year-old Luke sat up in bed. His hearing was excellent, and he was a very light sleeper. This had been a problem, for he shared a room with his brother Thomas, who snored.

Loudly.

Over time, Luke had grown accustomed to the noise. But this was different. He was awake, and Thomas was snoring away.

Loudly.

Luke was entertaining the idea of strangling his brother to stop the infernal noise, he became aware of something else.

Another noise.

It was soft, but high-pitched- a girl's voice?

Jane, he thought. In an instant he was out of bed, his blankets shoved to one side.

Thomas gave an enormous, grunting noise and Luke stopped in his tracks. He stared through the dark, but Thomas merely mumbled unintelligibly and resumed snoring.

"Oaf," Luke mumbled to himself. He slipped out of the room and down the hall to the door where his sisters, Katherine and Jane, slept.

He put his ear to the door. Yes, the sound was definitely coming from inside. It couldn't be Katherine- it was too high. It had to be Jane.

As Luke listened, a fresh round of soft sobs broke out.

"Oh, be quiet, Jane!" Katherine grumbled. The crying sound became muffled, as though Jane was pressing a pillow to her mouth.

Luke opened the door. Jane was sitting up in bed, hugging her pillow tightly to her face. Even through the darkness, Luke could see her shoulders shaking.

He glided into the room, skirting Katherine's bed and sitting down beside Jane. Jane gave a little squeak, then turned to look at him.

"L-Luke?" she whispered.

"Luke?" Katherine sat up in bed, her expression one of utmost irritation. "What are you doing in here?"

"Shut up, Katherine," Luke whispered harshly, putting an arm around Jane's thin shoulders. "If you can't be there for your sister, then I will. Go back to sleep."

Katherine knew better than to argue with Luke when he was in a mood like this. Huffing, she rolled over and was still.

"Tell me, Jane," Luke said softly, stroking his little sister's hair. "What happened?"

"I dreamed I was p-painting a wolf," Jane sniffled, "and then as I was finishing him, he j-j-jumped out of the paint and- and-"

Her voice trembled, and broke. Luke hugged her tighter.

"There is no wolf," he stated quietly. "There is no wolf here. It was a dream, nothing more. Just a dream. There is no wolf. Say it."

"No w-wolf," Jane murmured. "No wolf."

"Very good. Now, do you think you can go back to sleep?'

Jane wiped her nose on her sleeve, nodding.

"Good girl."

Luke slipped quietly out of the room as Jane lay back down in her bed. He crossed the hall again, re-entering his own bedroom, and allowing himself to fall asleep again to the sound of Thomas snoring.

Loudly.