Nothing To Fear ....

Everyone Has Secrets

       "Yeah , man , there's nothing wrong with being scared sometimes ." , Andy said .

       "But if you don't want us to tell anyone , we won't ." , Faith told him . "Everyone has secrets , of one kind or another . I'd be willing to put money on the fact that everyone here has something they'd rather not have anybody else find out ."

       "Indeed , Miss Faith , I would venture to say that you are most likely correct ." Crane said . "There are things about myself that only a very few trusted people are aware of . Not because they're necessarily bad , but because they would cause most folk to question my sanity ."

      Turning to Faith , Jenny inquired , "Do any of these things you're talking about have any bearing on what's happening here ?"

      Faith sighed , and replied , "No , nothing like that . I just have a tendency sometimes to do things that would complicate my life if anybody knew about them , and might piss a few people off . I prefer not to do that , so I just don't make a habit of discussing them . But don't worry , there's nothing illegal or anything , I just don't necessarily think things through as much as I should ."

      "Happens to all of us , hon ." , Andy interjected . "My biggest problem is that my bad choices usually end up with me in the ER ." 

      Crane and Jenny looked rather puzzled by that statement , which caused Joe and Faith to chuckle . "Ask him to tell you the Batman story later , Mr . Crane ." , Joe snickered .

       "Don't worry , Jen , I'll explain later ." , Faith said to Jenny . "Let's just say that Andy isn't necessarily someone you want to go rock - climbing with , or anything like that ."

      They finally went back inside , and rejoined the rest of the group in the living room . As they found seats among the others , Jake Wells turned to Crane and inquired , "So what's our plan of action here , anyway ?"

       "Until we can identify what we're dealing with , it's rather difficult to say , Master Wells . But , to start , I believe we should pay a visit to this abandoned home you've all spoken about . As this seems to be the place where your problem originated , perhaps we could find some clues there ."

       "That place is in bad shape , dude !" , Jesse said . The stairs are so jacked up you can't even get to the second floor ."

      "No prob ." , Jenny replied . "I've got ropes and grappling hooks out in the car . I can go up that way if we need to do that ."

      "And we should probably go fairly early , too ." Diana added . "It gets dark fairly early this time of year , and it sounds like this thing is pretty much nocturnal , so we don't want to be outside after dark any more than we have to ."

      "And do not leave the house alone , especially after nightfall ." , Crane said . "There is truth in the old adage about safety in numbers ." 

      "Are we really sitting here talking about how to protect ourselves from a demon , or whatever the fuck this thing is ?" , Ashley burst out . "Does anybody actually know how insane that sounds ?" 

       "Yeah , we do ." , Alex said flatly . "But no matter how it sounds , this is what's happening , and you're just gonna have to deal with it , just like we've had to do ."

       "I know , I know , you're right !" , he huffed , raking his fingers through his hair . "It just seems so ... , out there . I've always been a big horror movie fan , but I never actually wanted to fucking LIVE in one !"

       "Ash , just breathe ." , said Faith , who was seated between Ashley and Jesse . "I know exactly how you feel , I got myself into the same position when I was sixteen , and it took me awhile to accept , even though I knew what I saw ."

       Everyone looked at her curiously , and she and Jenny recounted the story of their encounter with the demon in the warehouse . Crane and the rest of their team had already heard the story , but the rest of the guys listened wide - eyed to the account . 

       "So I guess that explains your aversion to the board ." , Jon observed . 

        "Yeah , pretty much ." , Faith replied . "I knew that Jinxx believed in it , but no one else took it seriously , and that's mostly what worried me ."

        "I don't think anybody will make that mistake again ." , Yanni observed .

         "Well , if everybody's planning to go exploring tomorrow , we should probably get some rest ." , Jon said . "I know our guests had a long drive this morning , and I don't think any of us have been sleeping that well the last few nights . So you all can do whatever you want , but I'm turning in . Goodnight , everybody ."

        He walked up the stairs to the room he shared with Yanni , and most of the others decided to retire for the night , as well , except for Ashley , Jake , and Jinxx , who decided to work a bit more on the song they had started earlier .

       After they had gone to their room and changed for bed , Jenny and Faith sat on their beds , while Diana was in the bathroom . Faith looked at Jenny and said , "Uh , Jen , I don't know if I should bring this up or not , but Todd told me about your sister . I know you weren't particularly close , but that still sucks . I'm really sorry ."

      "Thanks , I appreciate that ." , Jenny replied , blinking rapidly several times . " We actually patched things up a couple of years ago , and we were pretty tight again , so , yeah , it's been kinda rough . Honestly , though , I think in some ways it was harder on Crane than it's been for me . They were best friends , and she helped him through some pretty bad times , so he was a bit lost for awhile . I think that's part of the reason that we've gotten so close . Yeah , he's a good guy , and if you're his friend , he's loyal to the end , but we're each all that the other one has left of Abbie , and that's something that neither of us is willing to let go of ." 

       At that moment , Diana emerged from the bathroom, and Jenny got up to take her turn , so the conversation ended there , and eventually all three women were in their respective beds , drifting off to sleep .