Hey everyone, I just want to thank you all for reading and all the great feedback. Once again, I apologise for the late update. Fifth year has a lot to do with my lack of time, that plus writer's block and a brother who uses the laptop all day and I'm surprised I got the chapter written at all. Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Once again, I apologise and thank you for all the reviews, 94 for just 7 chapters? They're all lovely and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave them. :) Enjoy the chapter and, of course, don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: If I owned Darkest Powers, would I be here? Really? No, of course not. *sigh*

I simply lay there for a time. How long, I did not know. I had stopped crying, my body could no longer produce tears, it was that simple. I wondered briefly whether I might be dehydrated. Perhaps, did it matter? It didn't seem to. Did anything matter? Nothing specific came to mind. I stared at a spot on the wall, my eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Why I did not know, but I could not seem to tear my gaze from the wall. Just concentrating on that one spot, it seemed to calm me. It filled me with a sense of...something. Numbness, perhaps. Yes, that was the best way to describe it. I felt immune to pain, to happiness, to sadness, to anything really. That was why I remained there, clinging to the vain hope that maybe, just maybe, if I fixed my gaze on this very spot I would be able to evade the tsunami of emotion that was simply waiting to engulf me, balanced precariously above me, taunting me, relishing my imminent destruction. So I remained there, crouched on that hard, uncomfortable floor, folded in on myself because of the lack of room, and I stared at that spot until I drifted off into a fitful sleep, full of cruel green eyes that laughed at what a naive little girl I was.

I awoke to the sound of movement in the house. My entire body ached, for a moment I surveyed my surroundings with confusion. The space was small and cramped and I was most definitely not lying on my bed. Then, realisation dawned and I recalled the events of last night with horrible clarity. Derek pulling me into the closet, Derek kissing me, my naive belief that we would be together forever, and finally, Derek leaving. I gasped at the sharp pain that thought caused in my chest. Derek didn't love me, he never had and the numbness that I had felt the night before was well and truly gone. I felt anything but numb at that moment. I felt completely miserable. The grief washed over me and the pain in my chest was becoming unbearable. It was becoming harder to breathe. What was I going to do?

I pulled myself into a tight ball and tried to slow my rapid breathing. Calm down, I told myself. Calm down. You can get through this, you will get through this. My breaths slowed and I felt the hysteria subside, for now. However, I could feel it, bubbling there, right under the surface. But, for now, if just for the moment, I could remain somewhat calm.

I stood up slowly and braced myself for the day ahead. I would take a shower, that would make things better, if only marginally so. Then I would begin to forget him and the pain he had put m through, the completely unnecessary agony that I was fighting. This brought on a wave of different emotion. Something that momentarily overpowered my misery. Anger, I was so very angry. Furious, what right had he to do what he had done? His actions before last night had been bad enough. Mixed signals, confusion, his ignoring me. To an extent this was normal behaviour for Derek. However, last night, last night was inexcusable. He had to have known how I felt for him. In retrospect it was probably painfully obvious. He wasn't unintelligent. He would have noticed. And yes, maybe, the fact that he didn't feel the same would have been an awkward situation, but he could have dealt with it much better. He didn't have to convince me he felt the same and then make a complete and utter fool out of me. even though nobody had witnessed what he did, it was still humiliating.

With every passing second, I could feel my anger increasing. He had done an awful, terrible thing and I seriously doubted that I would be able to forgive him. I squared my shoulders and used my anger as courage to open the door and face the houseful of other people on the other side of it. I turned the knob and pushed only to have it collide with some unknown object or person. ''Oh I'm sorry,'' I said apologetically. When I saw who the person was however, I glowered. Of course, it was Derek. Someone up there really must despise me.

His eyes bore into mine for a seemingly infinite moment, he appeared to be confused as to what to do. I could feel myself being mesmerised by the green orbs, as per usual. Suddenly, he shrugged his shoulders and grunted, then all but ran away. I shook my head and scolded myself. I should have hit him, or shouted at him or at the very least made a cutting remark and walked away. Of course I had done none of these things, I had simply stood there looking gormless. Well done, Chloe. Simply astounding.

My shoulders dropped and I made my way to my bedroom to grab a towel and clean set of jeans and a shirt. Thankfully I got safely into the bathroom without seeing anybody. I would have time to compose myself, hopefully. The hot water of the shower did help, though not nearly as much as I would have hoped. I simply wanted to crawl into bed, safe from the world. I wanted to go home, I wanted all this Supernatural stuff to simply be a dream, a dream that would soon end. I would wake up in my room at home, and everything would be as it was. However, I knew this would not happen. Supernaturals were real. I was a necromancer, I could see and talk to ghosts, I could raise the dead. The Edison group had altered our genetics and were hunting us like wild animals, perhaps with the intention of killing us. All of this was real, not a dream that would end. This may not ever end, this constant running and hiding. Perhaps we weren't safe even here. Perhaps it would just be a matter of time before we were on the run again. I didn't know.

I felt so very tired. Not physically, just emotionally spent. Maybe I would pretend to be sick and stay in bed for the day. No, I shook my head, I would not hide away. I had nothing to be ashamed of. That was Derek. I entered the kitchen and found everyone eating breakfast. Derek looked up from his huge pile of food and stared at me. His mouth opened hesitantly, as if to say something, but then closed, his eyes falling back down to his food. I sat down as quickly as I could,next to Simon. He looked from me to Derek and raised his eyebrows, I simply ignored him.

At several intervals throughout breakfast I caught Derek staring at me, a thoughtful look on his face. Every time my face heated with anger and he would look away. After breakfast I decided to go to my room for a little while. Just a little while, I reassured myself. I wasn't running away. I wasn't hiding. I hoped I wasn't anyway. I had just put the earphones in and settled on my bed when a knock sounded on my door. Before I could answer it was opened and the last person I wanted to see entered. ''Chloe,'' He said, while closing the door softly, ''We need to talk.''

Cliffy? I think so. Heehee. I just love cliffies! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review!

Thanks,

Kate.