Marina came storming toward them, she made a motion of opening the door, her hands clasped on thin air and her wrist jerked and she pulled open the invisible door, she ran right through Raven, but collapsed into Austin with steam engine force.

All three of them flew backwards off the step and Austin landed hard on his back. He coughed and sputtered, trying to get his breath back, but it wasn't going to come, Neve and Marina were both smothering him. For one brief second, somewhere between his state of unconsciousness and awareness, he saw her, smiling down on him, Raven, beautiful in the moonlight.

"Woah there boy, you've had quite the fall there." A black man in his late 50's was standing over Austin, shining his flashlight in his face.

Austin squinted against the brightness and tried to lift himself up again, but the man placed a strong hand on his chest and pushed him back down to the pavement. Marina's mother came into his vision, an ice pack and a glass of water in her hand.

"Here you are Officer O'Riley. Is he gonna be alright?"

"Oh I think so Rose, kids are like a Timex, take a lickin an keep on tickin."

She nodded, but didn't laugh, didn't even smile, her eyes red and her face puffy.

Austin pushed himself up this time and Officer O'Riley didn't try and stop him, "Ok kid, how you feeling?"

"My head hurts....," Austin answered, reaching for the glass of water, "Where's Marina and Neve?"

Officer O'Riley sighed, "Neve is waiting for her parents, as for Marina, well... she is going to go to the station for a little while."

Austin almost lost the glass, his fingers slippery with a sweat that was breaking out all over his body, "But she didn't do it, she didn't kill Alana!"

Mrs. Rogers gasped and the hollows of her thin face sent shadows, dark and horrified, around her face.

"Son, what do you know about the disappearance of Alana Rogers?" Austin looked from Officer O'Riley to Mrs. Rogers to Neve, who's dark shadow of a body was sitting on the front steps, huddled to one side. A wind swooped down over the hill and across the lawn, whipping branches and leaves around them, Austin shivered and saw a cat, black as coal, sitting beside the dead apple tree in the front yard, Raven. The cat lifted it's lips in an evil grin, showing pearl white pointed teeth. "Haha Austin, you lose." It whispered, it's glowing, yellow discs burying themselves into Austin's mind. He couldn't take his eyes off the cat's eyes, they enveloped him, transfixed him.

From the steps, Neve gave a sudden shriek and began pulling at her hair, clawing at her eyes and Marina inside the cop car screamed out and began smashing her head and hands against the window. Rose leapt up and ran to her daughter, her hands raised to her cheeks in terror. O'Riley jumped up and dashed to Neve, grabbing her wrists and pulling them from her face, scratches ran down her cheeks and blood oozed from some.

Austin got up, his eyes still on the cat, yet some part of him still fought, was brought back with the girls agony of fright. He walked toward the cat, it's fur beginning to spike along it's back. Then it was Austin's turn to smile with evil, Raven was trying to pull out of his mind, pull her eyes away, for his mind was winning, eating her alive inside him.

"NOOOO!" She shrieked, turning into a bird again, right before his eyes and took flight into the dark sky. He watched the Raven fly up and up until it was gone and then he turned to the others, a smile creeping across his lips.

Neve and Marina had both stopped their epileptic seizures of terror and the two adults stood there staring at Austin with a slight fear, they had not seen the cat change and take flight, but they did see the glimmer in his eye, they way he looked at them and seemed to know their thoughts, they feared the power within him and he loved it.

"Let Marina go." He hissed, his smile diminishing and his face turning dark and stony cold.

The cop nodded and ambled toward the car, unlocking it and letting Marina out, she looked at him and then Austin then walked toward him and then dropped to her knees, her face lowered to the ground. Neve stood up too, not bothering to even wipe the blood that ran down her face. She kneeled down before Austin also, her face planted against the ground.

"What....what is gggoing on?" Rose stuttered, stepping back, away from the kids. O'Riley shook his head and moved around to the other side of his cop car. He got inside and without even looking back, sped away.

Rose stood there, staring at them and then turned and ran into her house, her long brown hair flying out behind her.

"Stand up girls." Austin whispered, looking down upon their heads.

Neve was the first one to rise, her eyes huge, "Austin, you have the power?" She watched him with awe.

"I don't know Neve, I beat Raven though, at least I think I did."

Marina stood now and shook her head, "You didn't beat her Austin, you merely won the first round."

He nodded, "Well, I guess I am going to have to win all the rounds."

Marina sighed gravely, "Yeah, win every one." She didn't sound optimistic at all.

Neve's face suddenly creased with pain as she let out a cry and raised her hands to her face, as if just feeling the pain of her scratches, then Marina gasped out and doubled over, holding her head as if it was going to explode. The pain from their previous actions was just beginning to show. Austin stared at them, with slight guilty amusement. Why was he feeling this joy of seeing them suffer, the one's he cared the most about. Fear crept up the back of his throat and he felt that he might have to throw it all up, but he found control and stood there as the girls cried out in pain, begging him to do something.