It's so hazy. But I see her again. The woman who looks like me but is not me. I'm hiding behind the couch, and I can feel tears dripping from my eyes. I don't know why I'm crying. I look down, my tiny hands clenched up in terror. I'm so small. Why am I so small? Somehow, I know I'm supposed to be quiet, but I don't remember why. I look back at the woman who is not me. She's on her knees, her arms shielding her neck. A man stands above her shouting phrases I don't understands, screaming meaningless words I can't comprehend. He brings his hand down on the woman hard, a loud thump echoing across the room. I jump up, screaming, "Mom!"

I jerk up, and pain swells through my head, throwing me back down onto my back. Mom? I gasp, confused, and try to sit up again, but lights dance across my vision. Was that my mother? Steady arms push me back into a laying position. I remember my mother. I begin to panic, but something about the gentleness of the touch eases my fright. My eyes slide shut involuntarily and I'm unconscious again. In my dreams, voices echo through my mind, hazy and far away. Mom, I'm here...

"She's out again?" I hear a familiar female voice ask.

"I think so," a deeper, less familiar voice responds.

"What happened?"

"She grabbed her head like she was in pain, and I thought she was about to scream, but then she just passed out. I think it was too much for her mind to handle, so it shut down."

"Was- was it my fault?" The girl's voice cracks, and a pain shoots through my heart.

No! No it wasn't! My heart wants to yell, but my mind is slow and unthinking, filled with a lazy black fluid.

"No," another deep voice cuts in, dripping with concern and kindness, before abruptly changing to a snarl, "but if this traitor here doesn't explain what's happening soon, there's gonna be blood spilt."

What a strange dream, I think as the voices muffle and the black washes through my mind. After a moment, the voices sharpen, closer this time.

"-doesn't need a hospital, she needs a miracle. You know what kind of miracle."

There is a moment of silence before the girl's voice surfaces again in hushed tones, "You know we can't do that. It's against our contract."

"Contract? You guys need contracts to work for the man downstairs?"

"We had to sell our souls somehow, didn't we?"

I can almost hear the shudder in the man's voice, "I guess so."

I sold my soul? I wonder quietly, Why would I sell my soul? Was I desperate? For what? Suddenly, my dream becomes more vivid, and a room glows around me. The details are fuzzy, but that's how dreams always are I guess. My friends sit around me, and I smile, but my eyelids feel droopy. My head is propped up on something warm, and I snuggle into it involuntarily. A chuckle surrounds me and my eyelashes flutter quickly, staring up at a soft smile. "Caleb?" I mutter incoherently, "You're in my dream, too?"

"Sure, love," he says, and concern flickers across his face. His voice sounds like its at the edge of a tunnel, echoing back to me, far away.

Suddenly, his image begins to fade, the black consuming my gaze again. "Don't go," I mumble, relaxing into the warmth and allowing the darkness to consume me.

"I'm not going anywhere," His voice echoes from somewhere above me, getting farther and farther.

"I still don't understand why she's laying like that," I hear another voice complain, but before I can place it, my mind shuts down again.

For the next while, my consciousness fades in and out. I hear voices, but can't make out words. Most of the time, I'm just floating in a black expanse of space, endless and unknown. Time itself is impossible to tell, but for some reason that didn't concern me. I just felt a blissful calm. Eventually, that bliss fades and I can feel a throbbing headache. It was more discomfort than pain, but I could only rest for so long. My eyes began to flutter open, and my mind began to sputter again, starting the engine. The room around me was dimmed and empty. I remember laying on some sort of heat source before, but that was gone. I was laying on a couch now, tucked into a little ball. I took a deep breath, and stretched out, trying to go over what had just happened. I passed out, I think. Because of the pain. Why was there pain? I assessed myself to check the pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad. Just an echo of the agony I had felt. I searched the room, but still found it empty. "Hello?" I called out. I heard some shuffling in the next room, and Kianna peeked her head around the corner, her light skin standing out among the dark grey walls.

"Oh, thank goodness," Kianna sighed, rushing up to the couch, "you're okay."

"What happened?"

Kianna didn't hear me, "I mean, he said you'd be okay this time, but I still worry, of course-"

"Kianna! What happened? What do you mean this time?"

She flipped her gaze to meet mine, "Well, I... he just... hold on a minute," she points a finger at me, "Let me get the others. Then we have a... a lot to talk about."

"Get the others?" I wonder as she starts heading upstairs.

"They're all asleep," she calls back.

Asleep? I swivel around at the window, confused. It's dark outside. How long have I been out? It couldn't have been more than an hour or two, could it?

A pair of heavy footsteps pound down the stairs excitedly, signaling the entrance of Rev. "Seven!" He smiles like a two year old and bounds over to me, wrapping me in a bear hug. I laugh and pat his back awkwardly.

"How long was I out?" I question nervously.

"Only, like, two days, I think?"

My face pales at the thought, "Only? " I squeak.

"Felt like an eternity, though," Damien says sheepishly, navigating around Rev and giving me a hug as well.

After them, the others start drifting in, one by one, each of them with dark circles under their eyes. Like they haven't been sleeping. They probably haven't because of you, my mind whispers. Shut up, I whisper back.

"Finally," Zach says loudly, a smirk on his face, "Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. Glad you're done laying on Caleb's lap." Rev glares at him.

I gasp, swiveling around to face Caleb, "I- I what?" My face begins to heat up.

Caleb laughs, "when I brought you downstairs, for the first few hours, anytime you weren't touching me, you started, like, convulsing. You laying on my lap just seemed better than me having to carry you around," he shrugs. My face flushes a deep shade of red, making his smile wider.

"Alright, let's move on," Kianna turns towards me, her expression apprehensive, "So, Zach told us a few things about... a rumor of sorts. And it goes a lot deeper than we expected." She glances at Caleb, who's still sitting in the corner of the room, his deep chocolate gaze on me. I blush under the intensity of it, and turn my head away, but it was not before noticing his amused reaction. "Nevertheless, let's start with the basics." She turns her head towards Rev, who takes it as a signal and begins to speak. Lucky for us, Rev's ability is a healing ability of sorts.

"So, I've scanned you, more or less, and there's this thing. This mass of black essence that's rooted deep in your soul," he hesitates, "and it feels like it's been there for a really long time. I don't know how I haven't noticed before..." Rev trails off, his expression distant.

"What's it- what's it doing?" My voice is shaking.

"I'm not sure. When you were... in pain," his face distorts at the thought, "it was thrashing around, like it was trying to tear your soul apart." He says the last words quietly and I shudder. He quickly continues, "Right now, it's dormant, but we're assuming something triggered it, which means it can be activated again. We think since Caleb's an Angel, it must have counteracted the demon's power."

"And it can't be a coincidence that this started when that lady came screaming at me about us, right? It's gotta be connected," Kianna butts in, her mind deep in thought.

"Death himself told me" Zach joins in, "that I needed to find you again, no matter how bad our last meeting ended."

I lay stunned for a second, "Our last meeting? What bad happened at our last meeting?"

Zach furrows his brows, his signature smirk disappearing from his face. "You don't remember?" His voice fills with a strange concern. Or maybe it just sounds strange because, quite simply, I'd never heard concern in his voice before.

I rack my brain, but find nothing. I remember seeing him years before, but one week I saw him and the next I just... didn't. My throat dries, "I, uh, no. I don't remember."

He looks down, his mind turning gears as fast as possible. "Huh," he mumbles. "Anyway," he moves on, "that's not important. What's important is that I have the same essence in my soul. Mine's just smaller and doesn't affect me as much. Death only gave me one clue as to how to get rid of them. He said, 'search your memories.' And I think he means it has something to do with our pasts or how we came to be sins," he gestures to Caleb, "or Guardians."

Everyone seems to nod, readying themselves.

"What does that mean?" I wonder, more curious now than worried.

Zach's smirk reappears and he puffs out his chest, "Have you ever heard the full stories of how us sins came to be?" I shake my head, a smile pulling at my lips, "Well then, Seven, buckle up."