The big city.

Cora didn't say anything; she didn't even hear them. She had her head buried in a pillow, feeling stupid.

Carlisle felt like a moron, he sat outside the door waiting for her to come out.

After a few minutes, Cora stood up and walked over to the door. She hesitated before unlocking it.

Carlisle heard it unlock and quickly stood up. He stood their an apologetic smile on his face waiting for her to open it.

Cora didn't open it, however. She just went and sat back down on the bed, saying nothing.

Carlisle sighed and open the door enough for him to slip in the room before closing it again and locking it behind him. He just looked at Cora for a moment, "I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

"It's fine," She said quietly. "It wasn't your fault," she mumbled, still refusing to meet his eyes.

"Can we pretend it never happened?" Carlisle asked, hoping the answer was yes but knowing it probably wouldn't be.

Cora shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so embarrased. I mean, we're married, and I shouldn't---" She cut herself off, and shrugged again, falling silent.

Carlisle sighed and walked over to the bed, "Don't be sorry. You haven't seen me completely naked until then and I understand it. I'm just sorry it had to be that completely embarrassing way."

"It's my fault," Cora repeated, still looking away. She had her hands folded in her lap nervously, and fell silent again.

Carlisle sat there awkwardly, not sure what to say to make her stop think about it. "It was an accident... no one's at fault here." he said.

Cora just shrugged. She looked down at the ground, before sighing and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Carlisle smiled slightly and lightly brushed his hand over her hair.

Cora closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh. She reached down a hand and took his hand in hers silently.

Carlisle kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes as he set his cheek lightly on her head.

Cora's breathing soon became slow and even. She had fallen asleep, still leaning her head on his shoulder and holding his hand.

Carlisle smiled slightly and sat still for her to sleep.

"None." Mason anwsered.

~!!~
"It doesn't need to." Lance repiled.

((XD))

Cora didn't move, still asleep.
~!~
Ashlyn stared straight ahead, her arms wrapped around herself, as if she were trying to hold herself together.

A year ago, none of this would have bothered her. She would have been perfectly fine. But now was different. Mason had changed her.

A year ago, if someone she had met not long ago died, she would have went on with life differently. A year ago, if someone left her or hurt her, she would have put on her mask and said that everything was okay, and went on. A year ago, she would fight over anything and was ‘strong’, or so she tried to make herself believe. But now was different.

She couldn’t just pretend that she was okay now. Mason was gone; that was the bottom line. She would never have let herself open up to anyone else if she knew that it would hurt this bad. For once in her life, she took a chance. She made that leap that she had always been so afraid to make but she fell.

Life had been so simple before. She never knew what made her the way she was; so violent and angry. She convinced herself that she had always been that way, but she knew that it wasn’t true. Maybe it had something to do with her mother leaving her. Her father turning to drinking and yelling at every single little thing she did. Then they moved, and she got angry. She would yell at anyone who tried to talk to her, and others got sick of her. Then she started getting into lots of fights at school, until eventually she was kicked out. She didn’t understand why she acted the way she did, but she had lost her old self. This was just who she was now, or so she convinced herself.

And then those who she got in fights with before didn’t want to let go, and several times she had been hurt badly. As she thought about this, she ran her fingers over several of the scars on her arms and legs. And then just a little while ago, her ribs had been broken. They were okay now, but she still remembered the pain that she had felt that day. Both physical and emotional. The day Mason had died.

She closed her eyes, pushing these thoughts out of her head and hugging herself tighter, afraid that if she let go she would fall apart right there.

She had been a nice girl before, believe it or not. The girl who loved to laugh and would never hurt a fly. The girl that had started to come out again around Mason, but disappeared again once he left.

She couldn’t believe that her life had turned out this way. Maybe if her mom hadn’t died, then her father wouldn’t have turned to drinking, they wouldn’t have moved, and she would have stayed the same. Everything would have stayed the same. She never would have met Mason, and her life would be fine.

But the fact was that it had happened, and there was no going back now. Besides, even though it hurt so much, she was glad to have met him. He was lost, like her. They bonded through pain.

She didn’t know what to do now. She didn’t know how to deal with all of this. This had just pushed her over the edge. She felt broken. Broken beyond repair, perhaps.

Yes, that was it. There was no fixing this, was there?

Her ‘guardian angel’, who hadn’t really done much for her, was gone. Ether was sending her thoughts every day about Mason and his death, and how it was her fault. Even now, she could feel the sense of guilt, of horror, of powerlessness overtaking her, yet she didn’t even know if it was Ether or her own mind anymore that was the cause of it.

She let out a cry, and clutched herself tighter. She shook her head back and forth as more thoughts came pouring into her mind.

‘Your fault.’

‘He hates you.’

‘You deserve to die.’

‘You killed him.’

Then pictures. Mason falling down dead. Him staring back up at her, his eyes cold and dead.

‘Murdered. By you.’

‘Killer.’

‘Murderer.’

‘You don’t deserve to live.’

Ashlyn opened her eyes, unable to take it anymore. She stood up, still shaking. She took a few unsteady steps towards the door, and walked to her father’s room. He was passed out on the couch again; good. She dug through his dresser drawers until she found what she was looking for; his gun.

She walked back to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. Her hands were shaking. The thoughts kept coming, and any part of her that would have protested didn’t. She sat down on the edge of her bed, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘Murderer.’

‘He hates you.’

She took off the safety, and cocked the gun. She attempted to steady her trembling hands. What would her father think when he found her body in the morning? If he did. He could stay passed out for hours like that, almost days. The shot probably wouldn’t wake him up. They wouldn’t find her body until later. And that was fine with her. She’d be gone by then anyways, long gone.

She found herself wondering what came after death. Would she come back like Ether? She soon decided that she didn’t care, as long as she didn’t have to go through this anymore. She slowly lifted the gun to her head, steadying her trembling hand with the other one. She took a deep breathe, and her finger slowly tightened on the trigger. Her tears had stopped; she looked almost peaceful. The thoughts were still coming, though, both from the demon sitting next to her on the bed, smiling and laughing, and from her own mind.

She let her finger press down more. Not much longer now. A little bit more pressure, and it would all be over. All of it.

Finally.
~!~
"Alright," Melody said. She was talking very fast now. "You're a guardian. Your job is to look over one human. Your human is named Ashlynn. She's been having a terrible time since her friend died. Your job is to protect her, especially from her demon," She said. "Here," she said, handing him a pendant. "It will glow when she really needs you." Even as she spoke, it began to glow, very bright.

"You'd better hurry," She said, and touched his arm. "Good luck!" She said. "Come get me if you need any help or have any questions," She said, then touched his arm and made him reappear in Ashlynn's room.

Carlisle lightly picked her up and walked to herside of the bed and set her down gently. He then walked around and laid down next to her.

Cora mumbled something in her sleep, and moved closer to him.

"Ashlynn?" Mason mumabled.

Then he was face to face with her, his friend, she holding a gun to her own head. He suddenly felt so angry. Why was she tring to kill herself? He had a feeling it had something to do with him.

"What are you doing!?" He yelled, suddenly becomeing visable, he had no idea how he did that.

~!!~
Lance soon pulled into the parking lot of a nice resurant.

Penny was running around through the dark caverns in the underworld, trying to hide from George like she used to when she was alive to make him think she had gotten lost outside.

George was chasing after Penny a few feet behind her. "Penny stop running, I don't feel like looking for you if you get lost here!", he said.

Adrian was running beside him.

Penny looked back smiling, even though she couldn't see them in the dark, she could hear them running and could tell they weren't far behind her but when she looked forward again she ran into someone. Abby.

Abby was in her 12 year old form, and was walking down the cravens looking for her brother, Roan. She was having much luck. Then she heard voices, and before she had time to move, one of them ran into her. She stumabled back, and let out a cry.