I stirred in the darkness, unable to sleep.

All sorts of images were flashing through my mind. The look of pain etched on my brother's face, the beast's head exploding around my tensed fist, Jester laying there motionless and dead... And then Demrin. The one guy who had put his life on the line to protect us, was now gone. The one who had ultimately tried to sacrifice himself, but in the end had died for virtually nothing.

Jester lay beside me, snoring softly. Everybody else was asleep. Adder and Calla lay together, Calla's head resting against his chest. It was only me who was awake. 

I thought about calling Reuben, to see if he was okay. I missed him so much that it hurt. There was an aching within my chest, something tugged at my heart. I couldn't get his face out of my head, the way he had looked as he writhed in pain under my merciless glare, my outstretched hand.

I began crying, softly at first, but my body started shaking from the sobs and tremors that racked through me. I bit my hand to stop myself from making a noise, and curled up on my side. 

Jester rolled over in his sleep, and for one second I thought about waking him up, just for someone to talk to. For someone to share my pain with. But he looked so peaceful, and he had been through so much. Instead, I stood up, taking care not to creak the floorboards as I padded softly into the next room. 

I flopped on the sofa which was placed directly beneath a large glass window. I became swathed in the moon's silver light, watching how it changed my normally tan skin into alabaster. My finger lightly trailed the veins running along the inside of my arm, thinking how close I had come to death tonight. How close all of us had come... 

How Demrin had met death tonight.

Life was too short. Every day I was getting closer to dying, every second that passed marked a moment lost to me forever. I was ageing with every breath I took, every movement. Life was too short. 

'Reuben?' I spoke into my mobile after the ringing had stopped.

'Ana?' came his reply. It sounded distant and distorted.

'I'm sorry,' I began sobbing fitfully again, the tears ran freely down my cheeks, splashing onto my top. 'I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you. Please, I need to see you again.'

'Ana, what are you talking about?' his voice was muffled. 'Do you realize the time?' 

I blinked, the wetness matted my eyelashes together. 'Wait, what do you remember?'

'What do you mean what do I remember? You told me you had to work tonight.'

'No I didn't,' I whispered. 'We...we fought. I nearly killed you...'

'Urgh Ana I don't have time for this. I'm absolutely shattered, my head is pounding, and I have work in the morning. Go away.' He hung up on me.

I sat there, staring at the phone, one hundred percent mystified. Why couldn't Reuben remember the fight? The one that had permanently divided us? The one where he had nearly died! 

Unless....

I gasped, a short sharp sound as the realization dawned on me. It was so obvious thinking about it now!! I had been so STUPID.

Reuben had been possessed.

Scott had obviously used him to work for him, to get rid of me. There's no way Reuben would have done that of his own accord. I bit my tongue, hard, to stop the euphoric giggles from escaping my lips. I felt like jumping, running, laughing, anything. My brother had no memory of the fight, he hadn't even been in control of his own body!!

'Oh my gosh,' I whispered to myself, ecstatic. 

I ran into the other room without thinking about it, shook Jester's still form, waking him. I had to tell somebody.

'Jester!' I hissed, shaking his shoulders. 'Wake up!'

'Nrgh...wha? Ana?' he groaned. 

'It's my brother!' I squealed, still in a whisper. 'He was under Scott's influence! He never attacked me on purpose! Of course he wouldn't, how on Earth could I ever think he would? Oh you don't know how happy I am!'

'Ana that's great, that's amazing,' Jester murmured, still half asleep. I rolled my eyes and let him rest, deciding to tell the others in the morning. 

I shuffled back under the covers. The grin still hadn't shifted from my mouth, my eyes were widened in glee and I felt completely giddy. There was no sleep for me now, but I didn't care.

I had gotten my brother back.

RATE THIS CHAPTER!

Author guidance for This exercise

The sequel from Dark of the Night. Read the original first in order for it to make sense :}
http://www.protagonize.com/story/dark-of-the-night

With me, TheRosesBloom, Anna_Devlin, Colm and JSimmons.

Name: Ana Sommers
Age: 17
Appearance: Olive skin complexion, dark eyes. Favours black kohl. Long dark chestnut colour hair, falls in layers past her shoulders. Roughly 5 foot 5 with a slender figure. Very pretty.
Personality: A little introvert. Has no self esteem and little confidence. Extremely loyal and caring, always looking out the best in everyone. Believes everyone deserves a second chance. A little naïve.
Other: Moved to London with her brother Reuben, 19, to get away from their parents. Comes from a broken home. Always relies on her big brother to help her, would feel lost without him.
Type: Human
Author: xkatieshepherd


Name: Demrin Artuna
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Appearance: Tall and slim, Long greying hair, crooked nose(previously broken), Long, black robes( to aid him in blending into the darkness), A single long, thin scar marks his left cheek, his eyes are deep green,
History: He trained for ten years with the previous Warlock and upon the death of his master, gained the title. He has yet to take an apprentice of his own as he has dedicated most of his life to his fight against the dark.
Personality: Prefers to keep to himself however is a definite people person once he gets to know them, Resilient, Strong willed, Loyal to his people, Sees himself as a defender of the people
Magic: Controls the elemental magics(Fire, Water, Earth and Wind), has dabbled slightly in the dark magics in his fights against the dark( he finds them a useful weapon),
Author: Colm

Name: Calla Wiles
Race: Succubus
Age: undetermined, but appears as 22
Appearance: teased blonde hair with wild streaks in varying colors. Slender frame and nice, ahem, assests ;)) wide violet eyes that depict innocence, even though we all know she's anything but. Favors revealing clothes and stilettos. She can change her appearance slightly to fit into whatever role she needs.
Personality: demands to be the center of attention, sometimes acting out to do so. Short tempered when she doesnt get her way. Loyal to those who she truly loves, even though love is usually a mystery to her. Maybe the one thing she needs to figure out.
Author: TheRosesBloom

Name: Known only by the nickname "Adder" for his sharp fangs, (his real name is Cyrus Kyote though no one knows that)
Age; Physical age: 21 Actual age: 256
Appearance: Very Dashing. Stands about 5' 10". Pale but handsome. His hair is shaved just above his skull, the hair buzzed on his head is black . He is slender, yet fairly muscular with a toned figure. His irises are an enchanting dark blood red, most humans don't notice (and if they do it's too late). He has flawless pale gray skin and sharp pearl white fangs. Often has a twisted grin set on his face. He wears a black zip up hoodie with the words "Pain in the neck" in white and an outline of bloody fangs hanging from the words. He also wears all black cargo pants that just drape over his red converse high tops. Has two silver snake bite piercings on his upper lip and one silver stud on the edge of his right eyebrow.
Personality: Dangerous, Cynical, Apathetic, with a sick sense of humor. Dark, Predatory, Sadistic, and Charming. He plays himself off as a college student with gothic influences but he is really a mysterious vampire that has been hanging around London for the past few months. He can be very tricky and sly, with wit and a silver tongue to sweep anyone off their feet.
Other: Not much is known about him except that he hangs around many of London's clubs, raves, and parties. Has not real friends and is very guarded about his past or anything personal about him. Loves warm blood mixed with a shot of vodka or a fresh human (takes only young teens/adults because their blood is the purest). He also has hyper senses and abilities that no one knows about.
Type: Vampire
Author: Anna_Devlin

Name Jester
Age: 17, (he thinks)
appearance: Being a shapeshifter, it changes, I'll describe each form thoroughly. True form is something like a cross between a cat and a human, pointed ears on top of the head and a muzzle, short side of average for a human, often down on all fours, though could stand up straight easily. Dressed in a black suit that can change into just about anything clothingwise.
personality: Quiet but mischevious, does what he's told without question, though in his own way.
other: Raised by the people who finding this big, Evil. He hasnt known anything else but the dark room he's kept in, the facility the room is in is inside some big London warehouse.
author: JSimmons

updated May 30 '11 by xkatieshepherd