captain

The next I was aware, I felt something against my mouth. My chest expanded, then something was pressing down on me, again and again, in a rhythmic pattern.

"Come on," muttered a low, tense voice. "Breathe."

There was a second voice, close to the first, insistent, frantic. "Wake up, Beau! You've got to."

Where's Edythe? I thought vaguely, and felt a sharp stab of pain at the thought that I had lost her again.

With what little strength I had, I forced myself to roll onto my side, and I coughed violently, spraying water everywhere. I had to sit halfway up as I hacked and gasped, until what little was left of my dinner the night before came up on wet sand.

"Beau," cried a relieved voice, and I felt a pair of hot arms around my torso, squeezing the air from my lungs again.

"Jules," I gasped. My throat felt like it was on fire, and my voice grated against my throat.

Jules pulled back and I also saw Samantha leaning over me, her expression impossible to read.

My eyes flickered about me as I struggled to get my brain working and catch up with what had happened. However, exhaustion overtook me again, and I laid back down on the sand, just concentrating on breathing.

"I think he'll be okay," Sam said, getting to her feet. "But he's turning blue. I think we should get him out of this cold as soon as we can."

Jules had a got hand against my face, and the influx of warmth kept my teeth from chattering.

"Yeah," Jules said. "Don't worry, I've got him."

I felt a pair of arms slide underneath me, and Jules lifted me from the sand with surprising ease. It felt strange, being carried like this by a girl, and a person who was smaller than I was, but my entire body was completely spent, and I doubted I could walk even with support, so I didn't argue. A second ago, if my head was clear, I might have been wondering how Jules could have pulled me from those powerful currents—since I figured she must have—but of course I'd forgotten her freakish wolf strength.

"All right?" said Sam. "Need help?"

"No, I'm fine," said Jules. Even bearing my weight, her voice didn't sound strained. "You better get over to the hospital. I'll meet you later."

Sam nodded once and quietly slipped away, back up the beach.

I stared back vaguely at the shoreline, and as Jules carried me off, I saw the foamy water lick and writhe up the edge after us, as though irritated I'd gotten away. My eyes flickered up to the dark water a little further out, and I noticed a flash of color just on the surface. Orange and red, like a ball of fire. It looked out of place amidst the dark gray of the angry ocean and heavy clouds above, and I squinted, trying to get a better look, but maybe it was some kind of optical illusion because by then it was gone. I shook my head, and my eyes went back to Jules.

"How did you find me?" I asked. My voice scraped against my throat and I sounded like a dying car engine.

"The bloodsucker got away from us," she said. "Escaped into the water—they're good swimmers, we can't fight them there. I know how much time you spend on the beach, so Sam and I raced back here to find you. The rain pretty much washed away your smell, but when I saw the truck was gone from the house, I sort of guessed where you might have gone."

"Sorry," I muttered. "Guess that wasn't too brilliant."

Jules shook her head. "You are a complete idiot, Beau. Jumping alone, and in the middle of a storm—what, did you have a death wish?"

"I thought I was beating it," I muttered. "The water looked calmer from up high. And I'm a good swimmer. Usually."

Jules sighed. "Just swear you aren't going to do that again. Wait for me to be there. And wait for a clear day. Seriously, Beau. I won't be able to concentrate if I think you're going around jumping off cliffs behind my back."

I lifted one of my limp arms to my head, and managed a weak salute.

Jules's smiled slightly, but I noticed for the first time there was something else in her eyes. She looked distracted, worried. And I had a feeling it was about something other than me jumping off cliffs.

"What?" I whispered. I suddenly remembered what Jules had said to Sam about going to the hospital, and I felt a new fear seize hold of my chest. "Is someone hurt?" I felt my face go pale, and I whispered, "You fought with Victor."

Jules shook her head. "No, like I said, he got away. I think we were right, the bloodsucker really doesn't want to go up against us directly. No...it's Holly Clearwater. She had a heart attack this morning."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Is she okay?"

Jules didn't meet my eyes. "From what I heard, it doesn't look good."

I didn't know what to say. Something cold had slid into my stomach, and I felt like a jerk. Something like this going on, and I went and nearly got myself killed feeding my adrenaline addiction. The last thing they needed right now was to be worrying about me.

"Does my dad know yet?" I whispered.

Jules nodded, her eyes still on the path ahead of us. "Yeah, he's over at the hospital with Saul and my mom."

"Oh," I mumbled. We spent the rest of the walk in silence, and I felt the heavy, icy drops of rain against my face. I shivered.

It wasn't until we reached the front door of Jules' house that she spoke again.

"Can you walk?" she asked.

I nodded. "I think so. A short way, anyway."

Jules carefully set me down on the doorstep, then opened the door and we went on in. Jules kept a careful eye on me as I staggered over to the couch and half fell onto it with a sigh.

I could still hear the hammering of the rain on the metal roof after Jules shut the door behind us. "Just relax a minute," she said, already halfway toward the side hall that led to her room. "I'll get you some dry clothes—I have few extra baggy ones that should fit you."

I nodded slowly, but by then she was already gone. I looked around the dark room. It felt empty without Bonnie there. I pictured her, in the waiting room at the hospital, sitting next to my dad. I felt my throat tighten at the image.

Jules returned moments later with a towel and pair of sweatpants with an elastic waistband, along with a big T-shirt with a racing car and the words Indianapolis 500 stamped across the top.

"I'll let you change," she said, starting to turn, but I found strangely I didn't want her to leave, and without thinking I reached up and grabbed her wrist. She glanced down at my hand, surprised.

I hesitated, embarrassed and not sure what to say.

However, Jules seemed to understand and she sank down to sit at the base of the couch. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. I noticed the dark circles rimming her eyes. She looked as exhausted, and I wondered when she had last slept.

I was tired, too. My wet clothes were heavy and uncomfortable, but somehow I just couldn't seem to get my body to move. My eyelids felt like lead.

"You really should change," Jules murmured, eyes still closed, looking like she was just on the verge of drifting off. "You'll give yourself a cold."

"Yeah," I mumbled back. However, I stayed where I was a moment longer.

I heard the moment when Jules's breathing turned deep and even, and I shook my head. She was right; if I didn't change, I might go and get myself sick. With my luck it would be pneumonia.

Picturing myself being wheeled into the hospital, I finally found the strength to sit up and I began peeling off my shirt. The wet material clung to my clammy skin, and the back was covered in grit and sand. I hoped I'd remember to come back and vacuum Bonnie's couch when I got the chance.

Jules's clothes fit well enough. The ankles of the sweatpants had been rolled up, as apparently they were a little long on Jules, so when I rolled them down they were just about the right length. I discarded my wet clothes on the wooden floor, laying them near the radiator with the hope they would dry faster, and I was relieved by how much warmer I felt. I laid down on my back on the short couch, folding up the towel and placing it on the armrest for my head, and bending my knees at the end so I would fit.

I stared up at the ceiling, thoughts of Holly Clearwater and the rest of her family drifting through my mind. No matter what the odds, I hoped she would pull through. What would it do to her husband Saul if she didn't make it? Not to mention her kids, Lee, Sarah...

The warmth of the nearby radiator made me feel drowsy, and the sound of Jules's deep, even breathing was oddly soothing. Before I knew it, I'd drifted off to sleep.

For the first time in what felt like forever, my dreams were perfectly normal. Just a disjointed series of images, flickers of old memories. Warm Phoenix sun beating down on newly laid asphalt, my mom's smiling face, an old tree house, a wall of mirrors, a flame sitting on choppy dark waters...each faded almost as soon as it came.

Only the very last image lingered a little longer than the others. A man, standing with his hands clasped behind his back at the helm of a great submarine, the blue light of the surrounding ocean filtering in around him.

It didn't have anything to do with anything, but when my eyes opened, the enigmatic Captain Nemo was on my mind.

Jules was still asleep. I noticed she'd shifted slightly, so now she was laying down on the floor beside the couch with her head resting on the crook of her arm. I felt an instant stab of guilt—if I'd been thinking, I should have let her had the couch, or at least part of it.

I turned my head slightly. The house was darker than it had been before, and the sky outside the window was black, either because it was that late now, or because of the storm, I wasn't sure. I could still hear the wind howling and the rain pounding against the roof.

My throat was on fire, and I needed to get up and get a drink, or at the very least check to see if my own clothes were dry enough to change back into. But instead I just laid where I was, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the sound of Jules's even breathing and thinking I would have liked nothing better than to just sit here and never move again.

My thoughts wandered, and I found myself thinking again of Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Losing absolutely everything, the family he loved so much—then building himself a submarine and taking off into the darkness of the ocean depths, cutting himself off from the world.

I wondered if the captain ever could have been induced to go back to land. What if, instead of just the three hapless men he saved from the shipwreck—the professor, his servant, and the sea hunter—there was a fourth captive? What if she was different from the others, a bright spot, who brought sunlight even to the very heart of the ocean depths?

Of course, nothing could replace what he had lost, or erase the scars he carried with him. Nothing would make him forget the pain of seeing everything he loved destroyed. But what if he had met someone new? Someone who warmed him, made him forget his rage, his thirst for vengeance. Someone, who could heal his heart just enough to give him hope of returning to civilization and living an ordinary life again.

I almost laughed at myself. It was a pointless thing to wonder about, really. The captain was who he was, and would not find solace. That was why people who read the book both admired and feared him, rather than saw him as a tragic figure to be pitied. He knew his purpose, and he would never let himself forget the intensity of the emotions that drove him. He would never deviate from his course.

And yet, this wasn't a book, and we weren't characters playing out some predetermined storyline. If Captain Nemo was a real person, would he have been better off...letting go?

I shook my head. I didn't want to think about this anymore, so I forced it from my mind. Instead, my wandering thoughts took me back to the cliffs. And they wandered back even further, to before that, the motorcycles, and even wound all the way back to Port Angeles, when I'd approached those people outside the bar.

I'd been pretty irresponsible lately, now that I thought about it. I really could have gotten myself in a bad way, maybe even killed. How would that have been for Charlie? Hearing about what was happening with Holly Clearwater, it was suddenly real, just how easy it would be to die. Life was dangerous enough without me going out of the way to seek out ways to put my fragile human body in harm's way.

I realized abruptly that something had to change. I couldn't keep acting like this, like some rebellious, out-of-control teenager. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair to Charlie, or anyone else here in Forks who cared about me.

The idea of completely letting go of the hallucinations was hard. They helped me still feel tied to the past, helped continue to reassure me it was real. But...

My eyes flickered down to where Jules still lay, curled up on the floor. She was snoring softly.

Maybe I could swear off of them—I knew I would never forget, but maybe I could learn to be strong, responsible again. If there was someone who I loved to be around, someone I wanted to make happy, maybe I could be just strong enough to do the right thing.

I stared down at her for a long moment, watching her shoulder gently rise and fall. Then I looked away.

It was too soon to make any definite decisions. My thoughts and feelings were too much a tangled up mess at the moment to do anything. But I would think about it some more. And eventually, I would have to decide, what I was willing or unwilling to do without.

My thoughts wandered aimlessly for awhile. Memories of the fall from the cliff were still fresh in my mind, and I couldn't seem to force them out. The feeling of the wind whipping my face and the cold water closing around my head didn't feel quite so good in my memory as they had as they'd happened, now tainted with guilt as I pictured the mess I would have left behind if I'd gotten myself killed. However, I also remembered Edythe's face in front of me, clear as crystal, and I wanted to linger there longer, but I forced myself past it. I remembered something against my mouth—Sam giving me CPR I guessed, and I winced at that. I remembered the feeling of Jules warm arms around me, then carrying me back up the beach. I remembered that odd spot of flame in the water, so much brighter than the landscape around it, so out of place...It couldn't have actually been fire, I knew that much. I didn't think I'd been hallucinating, but then what—

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard the groan of a car engine and tires in the thick mud outside. The car came to a stop outside the house, and I heard the car doors click open a moment later. I heard Bonnie talking with someone else, her voice uncharacteristically low.

I thought about sitting up, but again I couldn't seem to find the energy, and a moment later the front door opened and the light flicked on. Jules went from being dead to the world to being immediately awake and alert, and she was on her feet so fast I barely saw her move. She spun toward the door as though expecting an attack.

"Sorry," grunted Bonnie. "Did we wake you?"

I raised my head to study Bonnie's face, and as I took in her exhausted, haggard expression, I knew.

Bonnie looked at both of us bleakly. "Holly," she began, and her normally even, stoic voice cracked. "She didn't make it."

Samantha came in behind Bonnie, pushing her wheelchair into the room, to get out of the rain.

Jules stood there for a moment, her eyes wide, shocked. Then she crossed the room in two strides and wordlessly took one of her mom's hands between hers. She gripped it tightly. As she gazed into her mother's tired face, her eyes shone with deep emotion.

I didn't know what to do. I'd gotten up from the couch, and now I stood there uncertainly, feeling like an intruder as I watched them.

I turned my eyes to Sam's face instead. Her normally cool features looked exhausted, and her brow was furrowed with pain. I asked her in a low voice, "Have you seen my dad?"

Sam nodded. "He's still over at the hospital, with Saul. There are...quite a few arrangements to be made."

I looked away, and my throat burned. I felt something sting my eye.

"I'd better be getting back," Sam murmured to Bonnie. She turned and slipped back out the door.

Bonnie had reached up and given her daughter one pat on the back, before she pulled away from her and rolled herself in the direction of the kitchen.

Jules stared after her for a long minute. Her eyes were moist and slightly red. She glanced at me, where I was still standing awkwardly by the couch, and she reached up to wipe her eyes roughly with the palm of her hand. She sniffed once, then came to stand beside me. She looked up at me, and I thought she looked like she didn't know what to say any more than I did.

"You look pale," she said at last. "Maybe I should have taken you to the hospital or something."

I shook my head. "I'm fine." My voice still grated against my rough throat, but I barely felt it.

Wordlessly, I reached out my hand, and after a moment, she took it. Jules pressed her face into my shoulder for a moment, and she breathed deeply. She gripped my shoulder holding me to her.

After a moment, she pulled away and looked up. "I'll go get your truck," she said quietly, and her voice sounded almost as hoarse as mine. "You probably want to be home when Charlie gets back."

I nodded listlessly. She stood there for a moment longer, still holding my hand, before at last she turned and headed back out into the rain.

While I waited for Jules to get back, I changed back into my regular clothes—I was relieved to find them perfectly dry again, if a bit gritty with sand. After that, I sat listlessly on the couch for a while. I was anxious to leave now—Bonnie was in the kitchen, sitting silently in her wheelchair, and I felt like she wanted to be left alone with her grief. And I suddenly really needed to see my dad.

Jules got back sooner than I expected, and she kept close by as we headed out to the truck, pressing closer whenever I shivered in the rain. Without discussion, she went to the driver's side door and I went to the passenger's. When we were in, she reached over and took my hand, and I didn't pull away.

"How will you get home?" I asked in a low voice.

Jules shook her head. "Not going home. We've got to the get the leech. He got pretty deep into our territory—too deep. This is our chance."

I felt a shiver down my spine, and concentrated very hard on the landscape outside the window.

It was a quiet ride, neither Jules nor I talking much. However, I was wide awake now, my mind alert and hard at work. Going again through the considerations that had passed through my head earlier.

There was no question by this point that Jules was vital to me—there were so many things I loved about her, so many things I wasn't exactly sure what I would do if I lost. When Edythe had left, I'd become something like Captain Nemo. I'd dived deep into the ocean, cutting myself off from the world. But when I'd surfaced to breathe, I'd run into Jules. And I felt if I lost her now, I wouldn't just dive down to the depths of the ocean again—my entire ship would sink.

However, I also knew only too well that what I was doing wasn't fair. Jules knew I needed her, and I liked to think she needed me too now. I liked to think I brought some light to her new dark world the same way she did mine. But I knew this best-friends thing couldn't just go on indefinitely. It wasn't right. Jules was a werewolf, but she was a normal girl, too, and she must want to find love and happiness—if I wasn't going to give it to her, then I shouldn't keep standing here, where I might be blocking the way of someone else. Someone who would give her a love and happiness that was far more complete.

The way things stood now, what I was doing wasn't fair. So I had to make a decision—either step back and make way for someone else...or let myself be to Jules what she wanted me to be. Love her—at least in the way which it was left to me to love.

If I did take that step, I wasn't about to go into it half-cocked. I had to commit myself absolutely, just as I had committed myself following that strange evening in Port Angeles. First, there couldn't be any more lingering secrets between us. I would have to tell her everything, from the beginning. I would have to tell the truth, just how deep the wounds went, how messed up I really was. I'd have to tell her about the delusions I'd been having, how I'd been seeking them out. I would even have to be honest that I wasn't sure if I'd ever really completely get over the one that had left. I knew some of those things would be painful for her to hear.

But somehow, I knew. I knew she'd accept me in spite of everything.

This wouldn't be about trying something out to see if it worked. Once I had decided to do this, that would be it. Would I do it, though? Could I?

Jules stopped the truck in front of my house, cutting the engine so it was suddenly silent. She turned and studied my face, the expression in my eyes, and like she so often could, she seemed to detect some of my thoughts there.

Jules squeezed my hand hard, and she slowly slid across the seat, out from behind to the steering wheel, so we were right beside each other. She stared up earnestly into my face, resting her hands on my shoulders, then she pressed her face into my shoulder, and she breathed deeply in.

It felt good, being close like this. Like we were unified, two parts of one greater whole. One always there to be strong when the other was weak. I remembered how before I almost wished Jules had been born my sister. But really, I'd just been wanting the right to be close, to have some kind of tie—she wasn't like a sister to me. She never had been.

I thought she was probably thinking about her mom and Holly Clearwater, but she said softly, "Sorry, Beau, I know you don't...feel like I do. But I'm just so glad you're okay." She raised her head, and I felt her cheek against mine.

I could feel my heart pounding in my throat, my stomach was twisting in knots. Memories of Edythe flickered in my mind.

Edythe didn't care what I did. She didn't love me like I loved her, and she never had. The only thing holding me back was my own sense of unswerving loyalty. The fact that I had sworn myself absolutely, committed myself as much as if I spoken our wedding vows.

I felt Jules press her lips gently to my cheek. All I would have to do was pull back a little and press my lips lightly against hers. That would be enough to tell her what my decision was.

Could I do it? Could I betray myself, break from the eternal vow I had sworn, in order to make Jules happy? To salvage what was left of my life, to at least live a life as a cripple instead of living no life at all?

And then, as though I were in immediate danger, Edythe's voice wafted up to me, echoing in my mind.

"Be happy, Beau."

I blinked, startled, and my entire body went rigid with shock.

Jules felt the change immediately, and she quickly pulled away, going back over to the driver's seat. Without looking at me, she opened the truck door.

I wanted to tell her to wait, wait just a minute, but I was distracted as Edythe's voice lingered in my head.

Cool air rushed through the cab of the truck, making me shiver.

Jules suddenly let out a sharp gasp, and she stared into the darkness outside, eyes wide and horrified. "Oh no," she breathed. "Oh no, oh no."

"What?" I asked, alarmed by the look on her face.

She slammed the door shut and twisted the keys in the ignition so hard and fast that the truck's engine sputtered and faltered. "Vampire," she spat.

I felt as though the air had been knocked from my lungs, and for a second my voice failed me. "What?" I said at last, my voice hoarse. "How do you know?"

"I can smell it," she said through gritted teeth. Her eyes were wide and wild, and they scanned the dark, empty street. Her entire body was quivering, as though she were planning to go wolf and hunt the monster down right this moment. However, her eyes shot back to me, and she seemed to come to a decision.

"Let's get out of here," she said. She twisted the key again, and this time the truck engine came to life with a roar. The tires squealed on the pavement as Jules spun the wheel to the limit, and the truck swung around so fast the world spun in a blur around us.

However, as the front headlights passed across the pavement and the line of the black forest beyond, I saw something. A black car parked across the street from my house—a car I knew.

"Wait!" I blurted. My fingers fumbled with my seat belt. "Wait a minute!"

Jules had already hit the gas petal, and the truck roared down the small street like a panicked elephant.

However, I knew that car. It was a black Mercedes, an S55 AMG. I'd been in it before—more times than I could count.

"Stop!" I said again, and this time I reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. "Turn around!"

"Are you crazy?" Jules demanded, slapping my hand away.

"It's not Victor after all," I said, and I realized my voice had risen with excitement. "I know that car back there—it's Carine's car!"

Jules's expression froze. The truck slowed a little, but didn't stop. Her eyes were fixed on the dark road in front of us, and I watched as the horror slowly drained, replaced by ice.

"Come on," I said quietly. "Please, take me back." I hesitated. I tried to keep my voice calm as I added, "We should find out why she's here. Maybe there were some loose ends she still needed to tie up."

The truck rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. I struggled to make my face a mask of indifference, to conceal the sudden fierce surge of joy—but I couldn't. Even if my voice was nonchalant, I knew my expression was glowing, radiant.

Jules sat where she was for a second, staring out the windshield at the dark road. Then she abruptly spun to face me. As she looked in my face and read the look there, I saw different emotions warring in her eyes. Fury, loathing, disgust...hurt.

A sudden quiver ran through her body, and her fists clenches around the steering wheel. However, she closed her eyes, focusing on keeping herself together.

"How do you know it's not a trick?" she demanded.

I shook my head. "If Victor could get this close, he wouldn't bother stealing Carine's car. It's Carine, I'm positive."

Jules gritted her teeth. "Even if it is her, she's still vampire," she hissed. "And you still want to go in there?"

I looked away. "Yeah...I do. Please, Jules, take me back."

Jules was silent for a long moment. Then she roughly put the truck into neutral. The truck door opened, and she got out into the rain. Over her shoulder, she spat, "Take yourself back."

She turned her back on me, and started toward the dark forest.

The cold wet air curled into the truck from outside, and I felt a spasming chill down my spine. I scrambled across the seat, leaning my head out into the rain.

"Wait!" I shouted after her. "Please, Jules. Don't—"

I choked on the words, and I didn't know what I was going to say. Don't leave? Don't hate me for betraying you?

My voice made Jules paused. She looked back over her shoulder, and this time her expression was more sullen than angry.

"Look, Beau," she muttered. "I can't go back there. We might have some kind of treaty, but they're still our mortal enemies—every single one of them."

She turned her head back so I couldn't see her face. "I have to report this to Sam as soon as possible. If they're back, it changes everything—we can't be caught on their territory."

I relaxed slightly, but I felt a new anxiety replace the one from a moment ago. "It's not like that," I said. "It's not a war."

"Really hope you don't die," she said curtly, then took off running into the darkness. As she did, I saw her shaking form blur.

I stayed where I was for a long moment, frozen in place, staring after the place she had just disappeared. I felt the rain soaking my hair, and dripping down my chin. My gaze flickered down, to look at the face I saw reflected in the truck side mirror. I watched the eyes harden with distaste, unable to stand the person I saw looking back any more than I could—that pathetic guy who pulled people along on a string just to protect himself, and hurt them at a moment's notice.

However, my thoughts flickered again to the car on the other side of the street. And though it made me like the guy in the mirror even less, for the moment painful thoughts of Jules faded to the back of my mind, and I felt a tremor of excitement. I drew myself in and shut the door, then turned around to head back.

The house was unusually dark when I pulled the truck up and turned off the headlights. Charlie must have run out of the house in such a hurry that he'd forgotten to leave the porch lamp on, and long, deep shadows covered the entire drive.

I suddenly felt a flicker of doubt. What if Jules had been right? What if it was a trick, and he was in there, waiting for me?

That would serve you right, I thought. But as I looked at the black Mercedes again, I was certain it was Carine's. I doubted Victor would have risked stealing one of the Cullen's cars for the sole purpose of fooling me. If I'd been alone, it wasn't like I would have had any idea of a vampire being in there anyway.

Still, I approached the house warily, my hands shaking slightly as I turned the key in the lock. I pushed the door carefully inward, but the hallway was dark, and I could see nothing.

I slipped quickly inside, though I didn't shut the door all the way, afraid of the noise it would make. I squinted through the darkness, but still couldn't make anything out. Maybe there wasn't anyone here. Maybe Carine had parked the car here, but then left to go somewhere else. I felt my entire being deflate at the thought.

However, as I groped in the dark for the light switch, an image flickered in the back of my mind. An image that had been bothering me all day, but I hadn't been able to figure out.

A spark of flame on the dark water, as Jules carried me away from the shore.

Jules had said that Victor escaped them by jumping into the water. That she'd come running back because she was afraid I would be in danger if I was pacing the beach as I usually was.

I froze where I was. Of course. Why hadn't I made the connection before now? That bit of red out there—it had been Victor. Right out there, in the harbor with us. Probably the only thing that had kept him from attacking was the fact that Jules and Samantha were both there, and he didn't like the odds of two on one. But to think, we were that close...Victor had been that close...

The light abruptly came on, though my hand still hadn't found the switch.

I blinked at the sudden light, and I saw someone standing there in the hall. Waiting for me.