"It was that woman! When she attacked, me she knocked me on the ground and this is all just a hallucination that is being brought on by a drug-induced coma," I rambled on and on but that thought horrified me. I searched frantically for a door, for a way out. "I gotta wake up! I gotta get back to my children and my husband." Reaching my hands out I tried to feel around for a wall that might lead to a doorway. I found a wall and followed, but every time I looked back, I hadn't gone anywhere. I ran, but it was the same and when I looked back, she was still just a few feet away. It felt like I was on a treadmill, running as fast and as hard as I could but still not getting anywhere. "I've gotta get back. I can't stay here. I've gotta get back," I chanted as I felt the tears build up and up until my words were nothing but sobs. My lungs burned and my thighs threatened to seize so I had to stop. I leaned against the wall and continued talking, rambling, hoping that the sound of my voic

Louis would barely think of something before Julia had it in his hands; he had a smile and call her a psychic before continuing his work. The next thing I knew I was all fixed up and ready to go."Now, I want you to stay off that leg today," Louis instructed as he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. "But I can't!" I argued slightly surprised that he honestly thought I would stay in this bed all day.He sent a weird, incredulous look my way. "Why not?""I gotta take care of my kids. We still have a lot to do around here, and someone has to help take care of the four newborns."Amid helping him clean up the wrappers and equipment, Julia paused to put her hands on her hips and pin me with a raised eyebrow. "You are acting as if we don't have enough people around here to help out. We have at least twenty people, all in all, I think a few of them can get off their butts and help. You are not irreplaceable." I flushed in embarrassment. She was right; I was acting a little too big f

All I could do was stare at him for a moment or two as I considered this. Louis didn't seem like such a bad man and neither did Craig, but I knew their stories. I didn't know Chandlers, but my gut told me he was telling me the truth. In a split second, I listened to my gut and trust him despite all the evidence to the contrary. "Okay," was all I said. Chandler blinked several times then nodded accepting the only piece of approval I could give him. "All right," Craig blurted almost making us all jump. "Let's get this happy little show on the road." I waved him ahead of us since he seemed to know the way. He led us down the right hallway until we came to a group situated around a big metal door. A few of them I recognized, but most of them I couldn't even remember their names. Yet, they all seemed to know me well. "Vicki! What are you doing up?" one asked. "You really should be in bed," another said. I would have been warmed by their concern if my attention wasn't focused on

I floated in the darkness for hours, days, weeks. I didn't know. Where I was, there were no clocks, no calendars nothing to judge my stay by. There was no past, no present, and no future. There was nothing save for a giant shadow I was floating around in. A sound echoed through the darkness causing me to jump and just as abruptly, I was standing in an unfamiliar hallway. I looked down both corridors searching for some sign to where I was. One end held a bright light that seemed to move yet stay stationary at the same time and the other end held a door that seemed so familiar, but I had never seen before. I felt as if I had seen it somewhere, but every time I tried to grasp the memory it fled into the oblivion it came from. I wanted to go near the light, purely because I wanted some substance in all this darkness, but the door intrigued me. What was behind it? Why did it look familiar? So, I walked toward it slowly and the voices became louder and louder until they were almost recogni

Hope rose as I listened to her words. The souls would come back if the curse was broken... my husband would return… Melissa's mother would return… the infant's mothers."So, everyone will return once the curse is broken?" I inquired quickly. My voice was breathless with excitement. She nodded emphatically with a broad smile on her face. "What about the ones who have died?" I asked enthusiastically. Her face fell this time, and she looked away. "No, I'm sorry. If their body is alive, they have a place to return, but if not… their souls move on." A sense of urgency came over me. I had to get back and warn the others; I had to find a way to stop this curse before more people died and stayed that way. "When is the next full moon?" "In three weeks." Without hesitation, I jumped up and raced to the spot right before the pain started. I recalled how overwhelming it had been and practically skidded to a stop. I searched the empty space in front of me as if I could find a way around