The four felt a dizzying sense of dislocation for a few seconds as the room settled into a new configuration. The cushions had vanished, revealing smoothly polished hardwood, covered in slightly tattered throw rugs. A large, four-poster bed occupied the opposite wall. The room was spartan, the draperies on the window moth-eaten. A breeze blew through threadbare curtains.

A woman lay in bed, huddled under blankets despite the warmth of the room and the heat that blew on the late spring breeze.

"What ... where are we?" Heather said, immediately lowering her voice when she saw the bed was occupied.

"My room," Mara said, her voice somber. "May, 1969. And no need to speak softly, no one can hear or see you."

"Come on, you can't be serious," Richie cried. "We can't be in 1969!"

"You're not. Think of this as an echo from the past."

The woman stirred on the bed, tossing and turning violently, raven hair spilling over the pillow.

"But that's ...!"

"Richie, shut up!" Melinda hissed.

"Richie, please," Jason said.

"You'll understand shortly," Mara said. "All of you. Now, watch."

Richie folded his arms indignantly and sighed dramatically.

The four were startled when the woman in the bed abruptly bolted upright in bed with a loud, frightful gasp, a terrified look on her face. Several of the teens looked from the woman in the bed to Mara.

"Yes, that's me," Mara said.

The younger Mara shook, her eyes darting around the room in abject panic. "Elizabeth!" she shouted. "Elizabeth!"

The door to the hallway burst open, and an older woman ran into the room. She had dark brown hair, tightly curled, and a worried, harried look on her face. As she came around where Jason could see her eyes, he blurted, "That's Elizabeth Jellison, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Mara. She sighed. "I would have gone mad without her."

"I'm so sorry, Mara, I had to take the water off the stove for tea!" Elizabeth cried as she came around the side of the bed. As soon as she sat down at the edge of the bed, the younger Mara clutched at her. Elizabeth immediately hugged Mara to her, Mara burying her head in the older woman's bosom.

Elizabeth cradled Mara's head. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay. It was just another nightmare."

"I-It wasn't a nightmare, Elizabeth," Mara said in a frightened voice. "Not this time."

Elizabeth's expression darkened and she appeared to pause. "Mara ..."

Mara abruptly pulled away from the older woman, fire in her eyes despite her fear. "Don't tell me to ignore it, dammit! Or that I'm having flashbacks! You don't know what I went through! I'd know what flashbacks would be like!"

"I don't know because you won't tell me everything," Elizabeth said in exasperation. "I only know bits and pieces of it, and, by the goddess, it's frustrating to me."

"It was another vision, Elizabeth," Mara said in a hollow voice, her eyes taking on a disturbingly haunted look that made the onlooking teens want to cringe. "I-I'm seeing ... I'm seeing the future ... something's coming, Elizabeth. A darkness."

"Elizabeth had been hearing this from me for some time now," the older Mara commented. "I drove her to her wits end, the poor woman."

Elizabeth sighed and placed a hand on Mara's shoulder. "I know, love. I ..."

Mara cut short the older woman's comfort and threw the covers off, revealing a wrinkled nightgown, exactly like the one the older Mara was wearing. She leapt out of bed and walked across the room towards the window, hugging herself tightly. "They're coming every day now. It means something. What happened to me ... it wasn't the end ... it was just the beginning."

A chilled look came over Elizabeth's face, and she visibly shuddered. "I know," she said very quietly.

Mara whirled around. "You what?"

"I said, I know, Mara."

"You ... you believe me? You finally believe me?"

Elizabeth rose to her feet. "What do you want me to say?" she said, her voice quavering, her face anguished. "Yes, I believe you. I've started seeing it myself. But there's nothing I can do. There's nothing you can do."

Mara's expression hardened. "That's where you're wrong, Elizabeth," she said in a low voice. "I can do something. If you'll help me."

Before Elizabeth could respond, Mara came back to the bed and dropped to her knees. She reached under and pulled out a small wooden box with a tiny padlock. The older woman looked on with keen interest.

"She knew I had something under there," the older Mara commented to her charges. "She had been curious about it. She knew it had something to do with my past."

Now the four teens edged closer for a better look.

Mara placed the box on the bed. She clutched at her neck, yanking at a thin gold chain that encircled it, snapping the chain easily. Using the key that had been threaded onto the chain, she unlocked the box and paused, taking a deep breath. With trembling hands she opened it and stared fearfully at the contents.

"I can't see it!" Melinda complained.

"Patience," the older Mara said.

The younger Mara started to reach into the box and stopped herself. "I can't." She looked away, shoving the box towards Elizabeth. "You take it. Carefully."

Elizabeth nervously peered over into the box, reached in, and withdrew what appeared to be several broad leaves, pressed and dried, still attached to a withered stem. She handled it delicately, as it was brittle, cradling it in her palms. She furrowed her brow as she examined it. "What is it?" she asked, but there was already fear creeping into her voice.

"Elizabeth was a witch," the older Mara said. "A damn good one. She knew every herb there was. She didn't know that one. That scared her."

The younger Mara heaved a small sob. "The plant," she said in a tiny voice. "The one ... the one the Loner used ... t-to make the drug ..."

The others shifted nervously.

Tears came to Mara's eyes and she drew in a deep breath. "The drug he used on me and the others ... to keep us enslaved."

"A drug," Elizabeth said in a weak voice. Her hands trembled and she looked as if she wanted to recoil from what she held. "It enslaved you? H-how much? How badly?"

Mara stood up and hugged herself tightly again, her gaze dropping to the floor. "Completely," she said in a shaky voice. "No will of your own. None. You do what you're told. You feel what you're told to feel. He used it to keep me and four others as his private sex slaves."

"By the goddess ..." Elizabeth murmured in shock.

Mara looked up, her eyes taking on a haunted look again. Melinda's eyes shimmered, and she bumped into Jason. The next second she was clutching at him. A surprised Jason tentatively put his arm around her.

"We were happy and care free," Mara said with a smile devoid of warmth or humor. "Joyfully tending to his every sexual need."

"Stop," Elizabeth cried.

"We delighted in his attentions, we submitted to everything he wanted."

"Stop it!"

"Perfect, perky little slaves."

"Enough!" Elizabeth shouted.

Mara turned. "I thought you wanted to know, Elizabeth."

"I-I've heard enough." She held out her hands. "Take this back from me."

"No. You need it for what I want."

"I want to destroy it!"

"No!" Mara shouted. "Don't damage it! It's the last of its kind. Or at least the last in the wild."

Elizabeth gave Mara stricken look. "Is there more of this out there?" she asked fearfully. "Does someone else have it?"

"The answer to the first question is no. If there was, do you think I would be languishing in this house? I'd be out trying to destroy it! No, that's all that's left of the Loner's supply. He was growing them in the backyard behind the tavern. As to the second question, yes, someone else has it."

"Who?"

"The government."

Elizabeth looked on in confusion.

"One of his girls died," Mara explained. "She always had problems with the drug. Had trouble keeping the first doses down. She finally reacted badly to his latest batch and went into shock. He covered it up badly. The police tracked him down, and he blew his brains out when they came for him. The police had no idea we were there, since he kept us down in the chambers under the tavern."

Elizabeth frowned at this. "Chambers? What chambers?"

Mara gave a bark of cynical laughter. "I'm disappointed, Elizabeth. You should read up on Haven history. Or did you not know there used to be one of the largest whorehouses this side of the Mississippi at that spot?"

Elizabeth shook her head. From the looks the teens exchanged, they did not know this either.

"It operated during the 1880s," Mara explained. "Closed up around the turn of the century. Chambers are still there, though. He used them to keep us. The Loner stopped coming for us after he killed himself. The drug started to wear off. And that's when most of us figured out the worst of it, Elizabeth. You remember everything. Everything. Every act he had us perform. Every humiliation. Every degradation. For nine years. We knew what had happened to us.

"And the sickest part of it, Elizabeth? We didn't want to be free. It was too horrible knowing what we were forced to do. We wanted more of the drug. We wanted to go under again. It was easier to cope that way."

Jason shivered as he recalled his conversation with the elder Elizabeth. The others were also looking very spooked at this point. Richie's face was drained of color as badly as Elizabeth's.

"I found those leaves after I starting coming out of it, near where he used to brew up the drug in the back of the chambers," Mara continued, her eyes wide and staring as if reliving it in her mind. "Or that's what's left of what I found. I was so d-desperate to go back under, to forget, that I-I tried chewing the leaves, but it only made me sick."

Melinda momentarily looked as if she were going to be sick herself, remembering how much she wanted to go back under briefly after what Richie had done to her.

"I hid the rest. I'm not sure why. Maybe I had the crazy idea to brew the stuff myself. Anyway, it didn't matter. One of the other girls went up the stairs and started to claw and scratch at that door. Finally a cop revisiting the scene heard us and found us. And then the feds came."

Jason's eyes opened wide, his heart skipping a beat.

"It was a few days later, I think," Mara said in a somber voice. "They swooped down and spirited away the plants he was growing in the back, everything was that wasn't nailed down in the house, and threatened the cops into silence. You know the routine. National security and all that."

"But where did they take the plants?" Elizabeth demanded. "Where??"

Mara shrugged. "My guess would be the base outside town, since it used to be a lab back then, but who knows where it's gone by now."

Heather shuddered.

"Great goddess, they can't be trusted with that!" Elizabeth cried.

"I can't do anything about that, Elizabeth."

"And why do you still have this? How did you ..."

"I went back," Mara said. "After those two years of rehab. I was drawn back to the place. I found the leaves, right where I had hidden them. The feds had missed it."

Elizabeth looked back down at the leaves and paled.

"Listen to me, Elizabeth!" Mara cried, rounding on the older woman. "Something good can come out of this! This drug ... it screwed with my mind ... I was the only one to come out of it with some sanity. After we were taken from the chambers and the drug wore off completely, two of the others committed suicide. Another went clinically insane. And then there was me. I didn't understand why I was able to recover until now, until I started having these visions. There's got to be a reason for this! You know there has to be!"

Elizabeth was silent for a long moment. "What would you have me do?" she asked in a low, frightened voice, as if already scared of what the answer will be.

"Elizabeth, you told me yourself, there are forces at work in this town," Mara said, sitting back down on the bed, looking to Elizabeth with a pleading expression on her face. "Those forces are stirring, you said. And you're right. I've seen it. And it's not pretty. The power in those leaves you hold, it's present everywhere in this town. Those plants are just one manifestation of it, isn't it? Isn't it?!"

Elizabeth swallowed. "I-If the forces somehow converged," she started in a shaky voice. "Y-yes, it could. Maybe. And only if ..."

"Not 'if', Elizabeth. You know for a fact that they do. The lines of force converge right at that tavern."

Elizabeth paused, then her mouth dropped open in shock, and then indignation. "You looked at my journal! My private journal! Mara, how could you?!"

"Because you'd never tell me yourself if you knew what I'm planning."

"I'm not sure I want to hear it anymore!"

"You're going to anyway," Mara snapped. "Listen, Elizabeth. Something is coming. A darkness. An evil. People are going to find this power and use it. If the forces keep surging like you said in your journal they would ..."

"Damn you, Mara!" Elizabeth muttered darkly.

" ... then it's going to manifest in other ways, and people will find it, and others will succumb to it. Unless someone can resist it. If they can resist it and turn away from it, they may be able to help stop this!"

Elizabeth said nothing. The unspoken question was "how". The four teens had an idea, for they had already experienced it. And as the realization of what passing this "test" really meant started to dawn on them, they began to look uneasy.

"In your journal, you said this house sits right on one of the strongest lines of force, I want to make this house into a ... a proving ground ... a sort of test ... or a trap, if they fail the test."

Elizabeth look down at the leaves in her hands, making a face as if she suddenly felt soiled.

"Attract people that want the power," Mara said in a lower voice, her eyes intense. "Let them taste it. Let them wallow in it for a bit. See what they're willing to do to get it."

The teens exchanged guilty looks.

"And if they still want it, Mara?" Elizabeth said, her face hard. "What then?"

"Give it to them, but limit their total control to a few people. A few token slaves to occupy them. A little extra power to control another person or two after that as they need it. It will keep them out of the way, stop them from trying to gain greater power. Their permanent slaves will be a distraction to them, and eventually a burden, like it was for the Loner in the end."

"I can't do this, Elizabeth."

"Yes, you can! You can distill the power from those leaves and imbue it in the house!"

"I can't!" Elizabeth wailed. "Your scheme won't work without an intelligence behind it! I can't give it that with just a few magic spells!"

There was a long pause. Finally, Mara said, "I'll be the intelligence."

Elizabeth gave Mara a horrified look.

"You can do it, Elizabeth. I know you can."

The older woman started shaking her head.

"You can. I've read your journal. The past research you've done on spirits and hauntings."

"I can't, Mara."

"Can't? Or won't?"

"Both!" Elizabeth cried. "Mara, you can't be the intelligence behind it! Your spirit cannot reside in your body and in the house. It can only be one or the other."

Mara paused again and stood up. "All right."

Elizabeth stared, her eyes glazed.

"How soon can you do it?"

"Mara, no! You'll die!"

"I already died thirteen years ago!" Mara screamed.

Elizabeth fell starkly silent.

Tears welled up in Mara's eyes and trickled down her face. "You think this is really me? You think this is what I was when I was kidnapped by him at seventeen? You think the real Mara would conjure up insane schemes like this?!"

She pinched viciously at her own arm. "This isn't me! This is a shell! That's all I am anymore! The Loner destroyed what was me in 1957, when I had been under the drug for a full year. That was when I started to come out of it, just a little, when I was reaching the end of one dose and he was a little late in giving me the next one. Had I come out just a little more, I would have killed myself. That's when I knew I had died."

Horror-struck, Melinda covered her mouth with her hand. Jason's arm tightened reflexively around her, but his own eyes misted as well. Richie clandestinely turned his head and wiped at his eyes when he thought no one was looking. Heather was simply too shocked to react.

"So you're just completing the job, Elizabeth," Mara said in a softer voice. "The one the Loner started in 1956 when he first kidnapped me. I don't want to live anymore. I haven't wanted to live any more for the past year. If I had not been having these visions ... if I had not wanted to know what they meant ... I would have killed myself already."

Elizabeth lowered her eyes and heaved a slow, despondent sigh.

Mara came up to her and slid an arm around her shoulders. "You have to do this for me. It's the only way to stop it."

"I don't want to," Elizabeth said in a shaky voice.

"I know. But you will."

Very slowly, Elizabeth nodded. "May the goddess forgive me for it," she sobbed.

As Mara drew the now crying Elizabeth to her, the room began to shimmer again. The younger Mara, Elizabeth, and the other contents of the room faded and vanished from sight, leaving the room as it was before.

"And of course, you know the rest," the older Mara said softly. "Which brings us to the present."

"No."

Everyone turned and looked at Heather.

"No?" Mara inquired.

Heather started shaking her head, backing away, her face a mask of fear. "I can't."

"Can't what, Heather?"

"Whatever you expect us to do! I can't do it!"

"I don't understand," Melinda said. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not doing it either!" Richie shouted. "No fucking way! No chance!"

"What??" Melinda demanded.

"Melinda, remember what they said," Jason explained, an edge of impatience in his voice. "Mara wanted to test people to help stop whatever is coming to this town. We passed the test, so ..."

"But ... but not us, right?" Melinda cried. "She doesn't mean us! We're ... we're just kids! She means our parents. We go tell our parents about this and they ..."

"No, Melinda," Mara said. "You cannot tell your parents. They're part of the problem. Your parents are already touched by the darkness."

Melinda looked taken aback. Heather surged forward, her hands clenched into fists. "You liar!" she screamed at Mara.

"Jason, when you did your research," Mara said, without taking her steady gaze from Heather. "Did you locate where the tavern was?"

"Um, it's not around anymore," Jason replied after a moment's hesitation. "It was torn down."

"Yes, but what's there now? At the convergence of these forces?"

"Oh, it's the Li'l Missy Inn. Why?"

Heather paled.

Melinda swallowed hard. "No, come on," she said in a small voice. "That's where ... where Mom works, that can't ... Heather? Heather, what's wrong?!"

Heather had turned away from the others. Her face was in her hands, and she was sobbing softly.

"Melinda, it's not important right now," Mara said quickly.

"Like hell it's not!" Melinda cried.

"Melinda, Heather, it's not the same thing," Mara said loudly. "Yes, your mother is affected by this, but it's not the same as what we're dealing with here. Not exactly. She'll probably be okay."

Heather whirled around. "Probably?!"

"I just mean you can't rely on her to help you. None of you can rely on your parents."

"My mother?" Richie asked in a stricken voice.

"Again, different situation. But the same problem. You can't turn to her for help."

"Sh-she knew," Richie said in a hollow voice. "She somehow knew ... she knew what I was doing to her. How did she ...?"

"Mara," Jason said, his voice quavering badly. "What about me? What about my parents? ... My father?"

Mara sighed. "There is more than just 'non-disclosure' behind your father's reticence to talk about his 'research'."

Jason swallowed and just nodded, too choked to speak.

"Listen to me, all of you!" Mara said. "You have something now that no one else in this town has. You have the ability to see it coming. It can't hide from you. It can't fool you. You'll recognize it now. And most important, you'll know if someone has been touched by it."

"But what do you expect us to do about it?" Heather demanded it.

"Keep an eye on the ones so touched. Be wary of others being seduced by them."

"I d-don't think I can do it," Melinda said in a helpless voice.

"I don't want to do it!" Heather said. "You said I'm the oldest. That doesn't mean I want to deal with shit like this!"

"And I'm only thirteen!"

"No one asked me if I wanted to do this, dammit!"

"And do you think I like asking you to do it?!" Mara roared. "You think it was a pleasure to see four teenagers find this place? You think I wanted to do something like this to someone so young? Well, as it turned out, this was meant to be. Every adult that's come in here succumbs to the seduction. They all fall into the trap and never get out. Maybe the fact that you are still so young helped you escape it."

"You can't be serious!" Richie cried. "You want us to stop people from doing this? From doing what you were? Or what this Loner dude was doing?"

"No," Mara said sharply. "Do not try to stop someone directly. Don't ever stand directly in the way of someone who has already been taken completely into the darkness."

The others exchanged helpless looks.

"You'll understand what I mean this coming semester at your school. A girl from Haven High will fall to the darkness. Do not try to stop her, or you'll get hurt. You can see the darkness, but you are not immune to it. Instead, you can try to stop others from falling victim to her, or from giving into the temptation of gaining the power themselves. Or if you're very lucky, you may rescue the ones she will torment with her power."

"Who? Who is it?" Melinda demanded. "Who is going to gain this power?"

"I cannot tell you that. The vision is not clear enough."

"Then how do I stay away from her? I'm only just starting high school this September and now I have to deal with this?!"

"I told you, Melinda. You'll sense it. You'll have to trust me on this."

"W-wait," Heather said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes again. "You said ... you said we can steer people away from it ... what about Mom? We can save her, right?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't. I might have seen her in one of my visions, but I can't know for sure."

Heather started crying softly. Melinda went over to her and squeezed her hand, and then drew her into an embrace.

"I don't want my Mom hurt again," Richie said, eyes shimmering. "Please."

"I did not see her in any of my visions, Richie. So there's some hope."

"And my Dad?" Jason demanded. "What about him?"

Mara remained silent for a long, heart-stopping moment. "I'm sorry, Jason," she said in a quiet voice.

Jason swallowed. He just nodded once, but it was obvious he was fighting back tears. Richie saw him, paused, and then clapped him on the shoulder in what Richie hoped would be taken as a sympathetic gesture.

"Why should we listen to you?" Heather demanded. "You already lied to us before! What if this is just another lie? What if ..."

"Then don't take it at face value," Mara said darkly. "Wait until the days and weeks pass. Wait until things around you here in Haven suddenly don't seem quite like they were before. Wait until you start to see the pall over those touched by the darkness. Then you'll know."

Heather shivered. "Wh-what if I just don't want to do it?" she asked in a small voice.

"You must."

"Why?"

"Because I told you that power has a price, Heather," Mara said softly. "You used it when it was offered to you. All of you. And I said that the price must now be paid. This is your payment: responsibility. You're going to have to be responsible and help stop the darkness before it can spread too far."

No one said a word in the short silence that followed.

Mara sighed. "I don't like doing this to you. Back in 1956, my innocence was ripped from me, and so was my spirit. The same will happen to that girl this fall. She will lose her sense of self along with her innocence. But this is different. Yes, your innocence is forever gone, but not yourselves. You turned away in time."

Jason was not at all sure he was himself anymore. All he was sure of was that the Jason of now was a very different person than the Jason of two week ago. He looked up, and saw dubious expressions on the others' faces as well. They were having thoughts similar to Jason's.

"I don't expect you to understand completely. Not yet. You're still young. You're going to have to learn."

"Are you going to be able to help us?" Heather asked.

Mara shook her head. "My task is done. I've been waiting to move on for thirty-six years. I have but one thing remaining to do, and then I am gone."

"But can't you stay? Just ... just stay in the house, so we can come talk to you when ..."

"I cannot, Heather. I told you that no one should have this power. That includes me. I have held it for far too long. The longer I wielded it, the more tempting it was to keep it forever. Elizabeth realized this. That's why she was reluctant to do it. Jason knows, he talked to her."

Jason nodded silently.

"In fact, it would suit me just fine if you all hated me for the rest of your lives. When I sounded gleeful over using the power over you, that was not an act. I was gleeful. I adored wielding the power, controlling you, making you do everything I wanted. Yes, I can see that frightens you. Good. That's exactly how you should react. I have to give it up, now, while I am in the proper frame of mind to do so."

"We can't do this alone," Jason said flatly.

"I know I can't!" Richie cried.

"You're just abandoning us!" Melinda wailed.

"You have to find your own help," Mara said. "Find others you can trust. Those you save will gain some measure of the same ability you have to sense the darkness. And in that way you will gain friends and allies."

The four of them glanced furtively at each other. No one could quite look another in the eye.

"Though I might suggest you work on gaining friends amongst yourselves again."

"I dunno," Richie said in a dubious voice. "I think the rest of them here wanna kick my ass by now."

"Yeah, we do," Melinda said sharply. "But that's going to be real hard to do now without this power, huh?"

"Look, guys, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine, okay?" Jason said suddenly. "I'm the one that found this stupid place to begin with."

"Yeah, and all because you drooled over naked photos of Heather."

"Wait, what naked photos?" Heather demanded.

"Yeah, what naked photos?" Richie said. "And you never shared them with me? ... Ow! Stop it!" Melinda and Heather had punched him in the arm.

"There are no photos, Heather, not anymore," Mara said, a small smile on her lips. "It was a ruse, a lure. I'm sure Jason can explain all that to you later."

"Gee, thanks," Jason said sullenly.

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Heather said, folding her arms.

Richie snickered, and Melinda cracked a tiny smile.

"It's time for you all to leave," Mara said. "Your clothes are still downstairs. This will be the last time you'll see me. Once you leave the house, I'll be gone. Remember everything I told you. You're this town's only hope."

"Yeah," Richie said with a humorless smirk. "But no pressure, right?"

Jason actually grinned at this. "Come on, let's go."

"Heather," Mara called out.

All four stopped and turned.

"I want to speak with you for a moment. Alone."

Heather swallowed. "I'll catch up with you all," she said softly.

"No, I want to stay!" Melinda protested. "I want to know what ...!"

"Melinda!"

Melinda bit her lip and fell silent.

Heather sighed. "I promise to talk to you later about everything, okay?" she said softly.

Melinda hesitated a moment, and then nodded. Slowly, her and the two boys left the room.

Heather took a deep breath and let it go before she turned to face Mara. "This is about my mother, isn't it?"

"Indirectly," Mara said, stepping up to her. "But it's more about you. You probably don't need this additional warning, but I don't want to take any chances."

Heather just nodded. She trembled slightly.

"You became sixteen this year. There's a danger for you. A small one. Your mother has already been trying to protect you from it in a roundabout way, and my visions told me someone else will likely fall instead of you."

"I-I don't understand," Heather said in a shaky voice. "What does this have to do with my mother?"

"I wish I could give you more information that that. I can only tell you this. This Halloween, Heather, stay home."

Heather blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"If your school has a Halloween party, or some other function, don't go. Stay home."

Numbly, Heather nodded.

"You better go now, Heather, your friends will be waiting for you."

"Mara, what about my mother? Please tell me I can do something for her!"

Mara considered for a long moment. "You might. But not directly. You might be able to do it through someone else."

"Who?"

"The student who is the slave."

Heather stared. "What??"

"That's all I can tell you. That's the only clue I can give you. You need to go, now, Heather."

"But ...!"

"Please," Mara said in a tired voice. "Just remember what I said. You'll understand it in due time."

The four of them stepped out into the sunlight and paused a moment, as if savoring it.

"I think this is the first time I'll be glad never to see this place again," Jason commented, glancing back behind him.

"I need a damn shower," Heather in a listless voice, grimacing as she tugged on her shirt. She took a step and winced as she felt a tug at a pubic hair in her nether regions.

"No offense, Jason, but I don't want to have sex with you for a little while, okay?" Melinda said with a small smile.

Jason nodded, lips curling slightly. He was focusing more on her implied meaning, that she was perfectly willing to have sex with him again at all. At least it meant that she wasn't so angry with him anymore.

Richie thrust his hands into his pockets, eyes flicking between Heather and Melinda. "Look, um ... I-I'm sorry ... about what I made you two do ... aw, shit, I'm sorry for everything."

Heather opened her mouth to retort and paused, then let go with a sigh. "Just ... forget it," she said, waving her hand vaguely.

Richie dared to lift his eyes to Melinda. She regarded him with a look that was hard, but not hateful. It softened slightly as it met Richie's gaze. She drew a deep breath and let it go. "I'm sorry about your Mom," she said in a low voice.

Richie shrugged. "I'll manage," he said tonelessly.

A few looked at Jason, but the expression on face made it clear that he did not want to be asked about his father right now, and they let it drop. Richie cast a long look at him until Jason finally turned his eyes upon his former friend. In the space of those few seconds, the "former" appellation vanished.

It had to. They had no choice, if they were to face what was to come.

"So, uh ... what now?" Richie said. "Four teens save Haven, film at eleven?"

The girls cast dark looks at him, making him cringe.

"Not now," Jason said.

The others looked at him.

"I don't want to think about it anymore for awhile. Everything Mara said ... it will keep for later. I ... I need to kind of get back to normal."

The others nodded slightly, though everyone had their doubts about what "normal" was anymore.

Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey, um ... maybe after we all get cleaned up, you want to meet somewhere? Go have lunch? See a movie? Anything? Just so we can forget about all this for awhile?"

Melinda snorted. "Yeah, if I'm not grounded for the next five years," she said sullenly.

"Mom will get over it," Heather said, her voice a little hollow.

"And what is it about her? What were you so upset about? And what did Mara tell you? And what about Sunday when you ..."

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Heather interrupted her quickly. "Not ... not out here. But I will tell you everything, I promise. No more secrets between us."

Melinda burned with curiosity, but she nodded and subsided.

They headed down the walk, where the gate was still open, and passed through it. They were no more than a few feet away when Richie suddenly stopped and slapped Jason in the chest with the back of his hand.

"Huh? What?" Jason said in surprise as the rest of them came to a stop as well.

"You born in a barn or something?" Richie said with a small grin. "Go close the gate, genius."

Jason rolled his eyes. "What difference does that make?"

Richie grew more serious. "I think we should leave it the way we found it, you know?"

Melinda and Heather nodded assent.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, just a sec."

Jason turned and raised his eyes.

"What the fuck?!"

The other three turned, and looks of complete astonishment came over their faces as they gazed back towards the house.

Where a pristine, neat house stood not a few moments ago was now a mouldering ruin. The paint had long been weathered from warped and cracked siding. Most of the windows were broken or missing, and the front door had long since fallen off. On one side of the house, the eaves had collapsed onto the ground. As a breeze blew up, a shutter creaked as it dangled from one hinge. The walk was cracked and broken, and tall weeds and wildflower dotted what was once the lawn. The fence was badly rusted and crumbling.

Numbly, Jason stepped over to the gate. As he swung it closed, ancient hinges squealed, gave way, and dropped the gate to the ground in a small cloud of dust.

"It's over," Heather said, her voice gushing with relief. "It's really over. We really won't be coming back."

"This part is, anyway," Jason commented softly.

Before anyone could reflect on this, a loud bark startled the four of them. They turned around to see a white dog with black spots sitting on its haunches, wagging its tail madly. It barked again and nudged a stick on the ground before it towards them.

Richie grinned and dropped down to pet the dog enthusiastically, grateful to see something familiar and safe again. "Hey, Tramp! How are you?!"

"Buster," Melinda corrected.

"Tramp," Richie shot back.

"That's a stupid name."

"I thought he was Chicken?" Jason said with a grin.

"Nah, not anymore. Betcha he was out here the whole time, snapping and growling at that house til it let us go, right, boy?"

Tramp barked once and licked Richie's face enthusiastically.

Melinda wrinkled her nose. "Eww."

Heather uttered a short derisive laugh. "Yeah, right after he ran from his own shadow."

"Aw, don't listen to them, boy. Come on, let's play!"

Richie grabbed the stick and ran out ahead of the rest of them, the dog giving chase.

Jason actually smiled at this, and ran to catch up with his friend. The girls followed close on his heels, their thoughts turning quickly away from the house at the end of the street.

Yet the four of them knew in the back of their minds the huge responsibility that Mara had given them. Seeing the house suddenly transform itself into a thirty-six year old ruin had truly emphasized that. They knew there was a long road ahead, and they had no idea where it went.

Mara had implied they had not lost themselves. This was true. Yet something had changed. While they did not consciously acknowledge it yet, a bond had formed between the four of them. It mattered not how repulsed they may feel about what they had suffered at the hands of the others. There was no room for grudges or resentment, not if they were expected to carry this huge responsibility.

But as Jason said, that would keep for later.

For the rest of the day, they were just Jason, Melinda, Richie, and Heather: four teens out of school for the summer, whose only concern was the boredom that typically afflicts the youth in a small, sleepy town like Haven.

After the past two weeks, the boredom was most welcome.

"Elizabeth."

Elizabeth Jellison jerked awake. Her eyes flicked back and forth fearfully, her hand shaking as she raised it to her face. She lifted her head slowly. "Don't bother me," she grumbled, shifting in her wheelchair.

"Elizabeth, I've come to say goodbye."

Elizabeth froze. Her mouth dropped open and quivered. "That ... that voice ..."

Someone stepped in front of her. She raised her eyes, and for a moment she was terrified, her body shaking.

"No, it's okay," Mara said. She smiled. "It's more than okay."

"M ... Mara ... no, please," Elizabeth begged, shaking her head. "Not again ... I ..."

"No, no, Elizabeth, shhh. It's over. It's finally over."

Elizabeth stopped and stared. "Over? ... It ... how ... th-the boy. The one who came to see me!"

"Yes, Jason."

"Please don't be angry!" Elizabeth wailed. "I had to tell him!"

"It's okay, really. I'm glad you did. You see, he and his friends did it. They turned away from the darkness. None of them would take the power."

"None? Oh, my ... finally ... how long, Mara? How long d-did it finally take?"

"Thirty-six years, Elizabeth."

"Great goddess," Elizabeth breathed. "Is ... did it ... is it in time? Is there still time?"

"Barely," Mara admitted with a sigh. "Just barely. And there will still be one we can't save."

"And the house?"

"Gone. Or will be. Now people will notice it. It won't be too long before it's torn down. But the power is gone from that house for good. I gave it up. It ... it was very hard, Elizabeth, but I did it."

Elizabeth started to smile. Her face lit up, and for a moment, it looked at least twenty years younger.

"I had to come see you before I moved on. You deserved to know that it all worked out."

Elizabeth reached out a hand and grabbed Mara's, squeezing it, tears leaking down her face. Mara smiled and bent down to embrace her.

"I can die in peace now, Mara," Elizabeth whispered. "You ... that house ... the only reasons I stayed alive."

Mara parted from her and straightened. "And I'll be at peace as well, now that I know there is some hope after all. Goodbye, Elizabeth."

"Goodbye, Mara."

With little fanfare, Mara faded and vanished from sight.

Elizabeth smiled and settled back into her chair, and let herself fall into a final, peaceful sleep.

END

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