HalfwayParanoid: lol, I love reading your reviews. They make me laugh. Have you guessed what's going to happen? I bet you haven't. ;-)

bookppl93: Haha, yeah I thought so too. I had fun writing that part and I couldn't stop laughing while I was typing it out.

Lorina Lee Belmont218: I'm glad you like it so far!

Dark Room

Kane and I walked in silence toward the school where the dark room was located. I was happy that our project was finally coming to a close and I wouldn't be forced to spend time with him. I hung my camera strap from my shoulders, shoved my hands in my pockets and ducked my head against the unforgiving winter winds blasting through the air around us. Since Kane wasn't a big fan of small talk, I let my mind wander. Before I knew it, I was back to thinking about my nightmare. I played it over again in my head, trying in some way to connect it to my parent's death.

My heart thundered in my chest. I was certain he could hear it in the darkly quiet room. He was there, waiting, watching, listening. I tried to quiet my breathing, slipping a hand over my lips. What use was hiding if my erratic breathing was just going to give me away? I could feel him standing just feet away from me, could imagine that cruel smile. He was beautiful as evil was—dangerous and wild.

"Where are you Jacelynn?" he purred, his voice quiet and soft. Used to entice me no doubt. There was nothing enticing about his voice to me. He was a murderer; a killer. I held my breath; my eyes open wide with fear. I could hear his footsteps in the room; careful, measured steps. I remained silent. If I could just stay hidden, maybe he would give up. Maybe he would leave me alone tonight.

"Come now Jacelynn," he laughed. "Don't be this way." I slammed my eyes closed tightly. He could call me and taunt me all night long if he wanted to—I would not budge.

He was moving again, taking slow steps. My heart beat erratically and stopped all together when he came to a stop right in front of my hiding spot. "Jacelynn." He said gently.

NO! NO! NO! NO!

I could feel him reaching, knew that it was only just a matter of time. The curtain before me shifted slightly and a scream built up in my throat. I was prepared to fight, to claw at his gorgeous eyes. The curtain shifted again as if he were taunting me.

"Jacelynn." He whispered. His voice was smooth like honey, but I knew better. I knew.

I still couldn't shake the feeling that I knew exactly who the stalker was. I knew within my soul that I had met him somewhere before, but I couldn't see his face in the nightmare. His voice sounded so familiar when he said my name and the way he stalked around the room slowly and carefully seemed just as familiar.

I tried to think about where the dream could have possibly taken place, thinking that could help, but I just wasn't sure. I had been in a very white room that resembled a prison cell without the bars, but I didn't know where it was or why I was there. I supposed I could have just been making up a place in my mind and it might not have even been a real place. I didn't know for sure.

"Earth to Jace." Kane said, interrupting my thoughts. I jumped at the sound of his voice and blew out a sigh.

"What? Sorry." I said quickly looking up at his face. He looked annoyed and I realized he had been trying to get my attention for some time. I blushed to my roots.

"Thinking about Erik?" he accused in a slightly antagonistic, yet teasing tone. I rolled my grey eyes skyward.

"No. Contrary to popular belief, I do not spend all my time thinking about him like some stupid blonde ditz." I snapped. Kane narrowed his eyes at me and I realized he was blonde. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"So you two are getting pretty serious then?" he asked. The way he asked made it sound like it was of the utmost importance that he learn this information. I sighed and thought about it, not really sure what the answer to that question was.

"I don't really know. I wouldn't call it serious; I mean we haven't even gone on any dates or anything." I shrugged.

"But you want it to be more serious." He pressed. It wasn't a question. He was making an assumption. I glanced at Kane who was watching me, his blue eyes hard. Regardless of the hostile expression, he looked like he could be a supermodel for perfectly styled blonde hair.

"I don't know. I guess so. Why? Did my joke about me becoming your sister-in-law freak you out?" I chuckled, remembering the look on his face when I had said that to him.

"No, I was just curious." He said defensively. I shook my head in disbelief. He was such a liar. By now, we were at the school and walking to the dark room. There were a few other people wandering around the school, but other than that, we seemed to be the only ones in attendance. We stepped into the dark room and flipped on the red light, illuminating the room with a creepy glow.

Kane and I set to work, developing our pictures on opposite sides of the room. The plan was to get them all developed and then go through them later to see which ones made the cut. This would probably be the easiest part of that plan and I sighed.

"What's the matter, do your pictures suck as much as I think they will?" Kane asked snidely from the other side of the room.

"Nope, I was just thinking of how horrible my life is going to be when I have to sit down with you to go through them all." I retorted. Kane chuckled and something about his laugh caused all the little hairs on my arms to stand at attention. I rubbed at my arms, chalking it up to the coolness in the room.

"Can I ask you something?" I wondered focusing on getting my pictures developed.

"You can ask, but I won't guarantee I'll answer you." Kane said carefully. I bit my lip.

"Why are you so mean to me all the time?" I demanded, my voice a little harsher and more accusatory than I had intended.

"I'm not mean to you. You're just sensitive." He replied coolly. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"That's complete and total bull, but whatever." I sighed calmly.

"You're entitled to your opinion even if it's wrong." Kane replied simply. I rolled my eyes again, but remained silent. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an argument. Behind me, I could hear Kane moving around and I froze at the sound of his footsteps. My heart picked up and my palms started to sweat. Something about the sound of his footsteps reminded me of my nightmare and the man walking around.

I pushed the hair off my face and forced myself to calm down. Stay calm. Everything is fine. Kane is definitely not the man from the dream. Your imagination is just going overboard right now and you just need to get some sleep. Yeah, sleep. That's all. You just need sleep. I chanted to myself in my head.

"That's a nice one Jacelynn." Kane said, suddenly right beside me glancing down at the picture I held in my hand. I whipped around to face him with wide eyes. He had just called me Jacelynn.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking amused.

"Why did you just call me that?" I demanded.

"Um, because it's your name?" he asked, looking confused. "What the hell is wrong with you? You look pale." He commented. I ran a hand over my forehead to find sweat there.

"Maybe I should go home and lie down. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately." I murmured, looking for any excuse to leave the room. Maybe there wasn't enough oxygen in the room and my mind was running amok because of it. Yeah, that was it. Not enough oxygen.

"Jace?" I heard Erik's voice out in the hallway before I saw him enter the room and stand in the doorway. Instantly, I felt better. Kane moved away from me and Erik smiled at me from the doorway. He looked nervous, but I couldn't care about that right now. He was here and for some reason, I felt completely and utterly safe with him. Kane was another story, but I was certain at this point, I was just tired and just needed to go to bed before I wound up in the loony bin.

"H-hey. What are you doing here?" I asked, not really caring what his answer was.

"It was getting kind of late and I wanted to make sure you were okay." He explained throwing a glance filled with ice and daggers at Kane. I glanced at my watch and realized we had been gone for almost three hours. Time flies when you're having fun. Yeah right. Fun my ass. I grabbed the stack of pictures I had developed and walked toward Erik.

"Yeah, you're right. I should get home and get to bed anyway." I shrugged nonchalantly. I glanced down at my hands and realized they were shaking, so I hugged my pictures tightly to my chest, so no one would see.

"I'll just see you guys later then. I'm going to finish my pictures and be done in a little bit." Kane said quietly. I nodded without looking at him and practically ran out of the dark room. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I felt like I was going crazy.

"Are you okay? You look kind of pale." Erik said, feeling my head for temperature to see if I had a fever. "You don't feel warm." He said.

"I think I'm okay. I'm just sleep deprived is all." I assured him. I felt like I was trying to convince myself more than Erik.

"Okay, I'll walk you home." He said, placing his arm around my shoulders. I welcomed the heat and let it warm me from the inside out as we walked back to our apartment building.