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They let me cry myself out, and when my eyes felt puffy and dry, and I could feel a headache forming, Kaden released us and Brie pulled me up to sit beside her on the couch.

"What do we need to do?" I asked quietly. Brie and Kaden looked at each other.

"We sort of...prepped the car. We need to be on the move, in case my brother sends minions after us. It'll be a little safer, we hope, plus we may be able to reach him faster if we're already moving. I'm not sure how this will feel Rue. Your mind is a link between two supernatural creatures, and that was never meant to exist. You can still refuse...it's a big risk." Kaden softly told me.

"The way I see it... is that we really don't have a choice." I slowly respond. "If the King gets a foothold in this world, he and his creatures will run around killing indiscriminately, and they'll be unstoppable. Worse, most people can't see beings from your world, so they wouldn't even know to fight back."

"Basically, there's no other way. Kaden, you asked me once what you had to do to earn my trust. This. This is what you have to do. You have to promise me to destroy those shoes, your brother, any monster that gets in the way, do whatever you have to do to keep him from gaining this world. Please.... Eve if it means... destroying me in the end." Tears leaked from my eyes again as I said this and I wiped them away brusquely. Kaden didn't wait for my permission, he simply scooped me up in a big hug, clinging to me as if I was going to blow away.

'I will do what's necessary, but I won't harm you if I can find a way around it' whispered Kaden in my head. Brie was sniffling beside me.

"Kaden can't kill you Rue!" Brie spoke with a stuffy voice. "Stop trying to say your goodbyes."

"Brie, you're adorable, but let's get this ball rolling, huh?" I replied with a small smile.

Walking out into the cold night air, I looked up at the stars in wonder. It was so beautiful, and I felt a little dramatic, but I wondered if I'd ever see it again. Kaden pulled me into a one-armed hug.

"You will." He said quietly, gazing up. Brie somberly locked the door and we all headed to her car. It felt like I was walking towards my own hearse before I had even died. Kaden gripped me tighter.

Kaden and Brie had put all the back seats down in the SUV to create a huge floor space, which was now piled with blankets and pillows.

"No use being uncomfortable, this could take a while." Kaden explained sheepishly as I looked at the SUV with amusement. He opened the back hatch and crawled in, then patted the space beside him.

"What, no innuendos? This must be really serious then." I joked half-heartedly.

"Would you like me to make a few suggestions?" Asked Kaden wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "You normally just say 'gross' at them though." Kaden mimicked me on the "gross" bit.

"I really don't sound like that." I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Yes, you do." Mocked Kaden.

"Seriously-too much time around us." I replied, rolling my eyes. Kaden grabbed at his heart and groaned at that. I crawled into the SUV and Brie shut the hatch before jumping into the front seat.

"So, how are we gonna do this?" Brie asked, looking over her shoulder at us. Kaden wedged himself in the corner between the front passenger seat and the door before replying.

"For now, just kind of coast around aimlessly until I start feeding you directions. We're just trying to avoid being attacked at the moment, but once I have more info, I'll try to give you a general direction to go. Rue, it'll probably me more comfortable if you lie down." Kaden said, patting his lap.

"I can't tell if there was an innuendo in there or not." I huffed suspiciously, but lay back on the blankets with my head beside him anyway.

"Here, put your head on my lap so I can maintain contact with you easier. I'm going to lean back here so this is less draining, and so that Brie can hear me easily. There, there you go." Kaden directed and I shuffled around trying to get situated.

"Yup, I'm definitely sensing some innuendo boiling around under your facade now." I complained. Kaden laughed and rested his hands on the sides of my face. Brie looked at us once more before backing the car out of the drive.

"Ok, you ready?" Kaden asked me.

"No." I whispered, but I knew he could read my thoughts telling him to go ahead. He nodded once and with a jolt the darkness took me.

It was like being under water. Kaden managed to put me into a lucid dream state in a way. I knew I was dreaming, and I cold hear the outside world, but I was sort of, floating... I jerked a little when I realized he was using one of the themes from our dreaming session before-water. He remembered it made me feel calm. I felt a burst of appreciation, and could almost sense Kaden smiling lightly.

Then a jumble of images began to run through my mind, finally stopping somewhere I didn't recognize. The image was tossed to the side and a new one appeared.

"Kaden, are you seriously rooting through my head right now?" I demanded.

"Shh, I'm trying to see where he's at." Replied Kaden, his voice floating down from somewhere above me. That must mean he was speaking outside of my head then? The current image was discarded and yet another appeared. It was the cemetery, but there was nothing there either. That image was tossed as well. Another 20 or so images flashed by and then I the Nightmare King's menacing laugh rumbled through my head.

"Trying to find me, brother?" His voice echoed in my head, making me shudder. His very presence in my head was like an ice pick to my temple. It was nothing like Kaden's. Kaden was like a shadow blending with my consciousness, unobtrusive. The King reeked with malicious intent. The very feeling set off my anxiety and I felt his influence draining, not trying to kill me, through the link. Gritting my teeth, I tried to keep calm.

"Good job Rue. Don't give in to the panic, it'll only feed him faster. Brie-make a right here!" Kaden's voice reached me from outside the hollow nightmare.

"I can't be letting you find me, now can I?" The King continued, and all at once my brain and body were on fire. I gasped and started flailing, trying to escape the pain.

"Hold on Rue, don't break contact with me! Hold on!" Hissed Kaden and then said something else to Brie I couldn't understand.

"I can't... I can't!" I sucked in a deep breath through my teeth and felt my body start seizing. Something in my head felt like it had burst open.

"I can't breathe! I can't BREATHE!" I screamed, trying to escape the clutches of the King as his influence slowly squashed me inside my own head. The King chuckled again and then I saw him. He was sitting in darkness, but things were slowly coming into view around him. He had the shoes in front of him with a hand on each, they had been pieced back together. There had been an intense purple glow swirling around him, that looked like strange fireflies, but it was fading fast as his attention was drawn to us. There were creatures around him in heaps, most looked dead, or dying.

'Why? This makes no sense!' My mind cried with confusion.

"He used them, draining them for power, just as he's doing to you." Kaden snarled, stepping out of the shadows beside me.

"But were is he? I don't recognize this place." I asked Kaden.

"He's no longer in your world." He replied. "He's in the ruins of our old one." I felt a cold shiver run through me.