Shutting Down

There was a loud bang that woke Kayleigh up. She gasped, sitting straight up in her bed. It was dark now. She looked around the room. As she expected, nobody but her was here. She was yet again alone in her pathetic sad world. She realized it must be late at night now. She once again heard a series of loud bangs. She quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed out of her bedroom.

That was when somebody grabbed her as she entered the kitchen. A hand immediately covered her mouth and she struggled against the intruder's strength. It was useless. They were a lot stronger than her. The intruder wrapped an arm around her waist to anchor her in place.

"Shh," a familiar voice whispered to her. Her heart clenched. "Somebody just showed up in front of your shop and started trying to break down the door."

Chance?

Wait. That can't...

She immediately tore herself away from the body behind her. Spinning around until she came face to face with the guy that didn't disappear, her eyes drank him in. Icy blue eyes pinned her in place. He wore the same clothes. Her eyes darted to the cup still in the sink of her kitchen.

This was supposed to be a hallucination. This was supposed to be over. Panic was overtaking her. It had been hours since she took her pills. It had been daylight and it was clearly now night, but he was still here.

So he was... real?

How he could be real?

She swallowed. "You're-You're real?"

"I am real," he told her slowly as if he was afraid of spooking her. "The others downstairs are real. The Darklings that attacked you are real, Kayleigh. You took your meds earlier. This is real." There were more bangs. He sighed. "That right there is real. Somebody trying to break into your shop is real."

She heard footsteps on the steps leading to her apartment above. Her eyes slid to the hallway and saw Liam come into view.

"They're here," Liam said grimly. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before they settled on Chance. "The Darklings are back. Chance, they have the numbers. We put up protection spells to keep them out, but it won't hold forever."

Chance shut his eyes. She could feel his fear and dread. She could tell that it was bad. "It's night too," he muttered, shaking his head. "How are we...?"

"We'll figure it out," Liam promised. His eyes shifted to Kayleigh. "Do you understand now this is real?"

It *had* to be real. She took her medicine and they were still here. This was reality. Everything that happened today was actually real. She nodded her head finally and there was visible relief on both their faces. The tension in their bodies eased.

"Good," Liam remarked. "Get ready to make a run for it."

Just as he was about to turn around, she took a step forward. "No."

Liam frowned, eyeing her in confusion. "No? Kayleigh, they will break in. We have--"

"There's a secret passage," she gasped. Liam's eyes widened at that. "It leads outside of town. Would that give us time to get away?"

Liam nodded. "Plenty of time."

"It's in the basement. It's in the bookshelves downstairs. There's an owl figurine that you pull toward you and it'll open the hideaway door."

Hope and excitement surged in his eyes. "I'll check it out with Alessia, Eli, and Rose. Get what you need and head downstairs."

Liam quickly left. Kayleigh heard his footsteps until they disappeared. She turned back to Chance, who was watching her with amusement. She raised an eyebrow at his expression.

"What?"

"Nothing," he chuckled as he approached her. "Anything you need before we go?"

She sighed as she walked around a bit. Her eyes came across the medicine bottle and she felt his eyes burning into her. She wasn't insane. All those sessions with her psychiatrist and being treated her like a psycho were all for nothing. It was wasted time. Her grandma had known since the beginning and encouraged her to embrace it not run. It had been everyone else clipping her wings and grounding her so she couldn't choose freedom.

"No." She shook her. "There's nothing to bring." She glanced over at Chance. The smile on his face looked much better on him than the frown. "I can't bring my books. They're my only friend... or my Keurig."

He chuckled. "Where we're going they'll be plenty of books," he assured her. "There *is* something you're forgetting."

Confused, she looked around, trying to figure out what she was missing. She gasped when she felt her body being gathered up in strong arms. She barely looked up into icy blue eyes when he caught her chin between his fingers and tipped her face up. His mouth captured her mouth with his and she forgot how to breathe.

For a moment, she forgot the Darklings were trying to break down her shop doors. She forgot about everything that was happening as she melted into him. This was real. His kiss was real. Everything was real.

It was actually all real.

He pulled back, but she felt him press a gentle kiss to her lips once more before he stepped back away from her. Her eyes drifted open to meet his. She spotted that smirk and his beautiful sparkling eyes gazing down at her.

"No more goodbye forever kisses," he told her. His voice was husky and rough. Shivers rolled down her spine. "There will be none of those anymore."

"How about 'see you soon' kisses?" she murmured, still in a daze.

He chuckled. "Better."

~

Why did kissing Chance feel so right? He was still a stranger... except he didn't feel like one. None of them felt like strangers. Holding hands with him didn't feel wrong or even too fast. She couldn't understand why she was just fine holding his hand as he led her downstairs. With everything that going on, she didn't have any time to really question what was happening. She just knew that the voices in her head and dreams were truly real.

Willow spotted them first and her eyes immediately dropped to their joined hands. Kayleigh blushed at the huge smile that spread across her face. Her long waves of platinum blond locks flowed around her as she took a step forward.

"Finally," she gasped as she approached them.

Jesse, who was watching the backdoor shake, turned to see what Willow was doing. His eyes also saw their hands and he smiled as well.

"All set I take it?" he asked. "The sooner we leave the better."

Chance nodded in his head in agreement. "I'll get the others up front," he told them as he let go of her hand. "Stay here."

"Kayyyylleiiigh," a familiar voice crooned from the front of the store. Kayleigh's eyes widened at that voice. No, it couldn't be. Please no. "Kayleigh Yale, I know you're in there."

She swallowed, walking deeper into the front part of the store. She absolutely knew that voice. Both Rhiannon and Darwin glanced back at her from the front door, watching her as she came to a stop.

"What is it?" Chance asked. She felt his hand on her shoulder.

She turned slightly to him before looking back at the front door where the figure stood in the frosted windows. Licking her lips nervously, she waited for a moment.

It couldn't be.

Right?

"All that therapy was for nothing," the figure rasped. "You could've stayed alive. All you had to do was remain the way that you were, you stupid girl."

Tears filled her eyes. Her heart dropped. "That's my psychiatrist."

"Your psychiatrist?" Chance repeated.

She nodded her head too overwhelmed to speak. All this time, her psychiatrist had been in it. She had supplied the medication. She had drugged her up so she wouldn't hear the others again. Sure, she didn't trust her psychiatrist, but she didn't think this. Her psychiatrist started laughing hysterically as she pounded against the door.

"Now you have to die! All of you will die, because of her!" she shrieked through her maniac bouts of laughter. "I can't wait to get my hands on you! Do you know how long I waited for this moment?"

Chance tugged her back into his chest and she allowed his arms to wrap around her. She hadn't realized she was shaking until he held her against him. Emotions stabilized at his soothing touch. Soon, he was moving her towards the back. It was all a blur as he gently helped her down the steps leading to the basement. Liam had found the hidden passageway she told him about.

She heard all of them speaking to each other, but she felt numb and hollow. Chance was her anchor, grounding her from completely disappearing into herself. She was shutting down. Instead, she was operating on autopilot as she joined the others to escape through the passageway out of town.