BOSTON

Cafe' Petite - Paris, France - 10:00 AM

"You and I can't see each other again that's all there is to it. I don't want to discuss it anymore." The man known as Alfonso said in conclusion to the topic he and Crispin had been quietly discussing as they sipped their espresso together. 'You'll see in time is for the best."

'No, Alfonse. I don't think I will. Sweeping our friendship aside is one thing. But we've been working nearly three years on this project. I've put every cent I've had into it and so have you. More than me in fact and for almost a decade longer. I can't believe you're abandoning me now when were so close to finding it." Crispin remarked tensely as he struggled to contain the depth of his conviction.

"You're right. I've put everything I have into this. But I must admit, I've been thinking for some time now, that perhaps the time has come to let go and forget about what might have been. For so many years I have been dreaming about a place I'm not even sure really exists. I find myself growing tired of trying to grasp at a vision that I can barely still imagine in my mind, let alone, touch. Even the smells have faded from my memory. It needs to stop now, Crispin. It needs to be allowed to fade along with me." Alfonso's explanation was practically a heartfelt plea.

Toby, Crispin was Alfonse personal name for him, could feel the longing behind his friend's words as well as an overwhelming sense of failure that was so disparaging to Toby that it tore him to the core and shattered him simultaneously. Alfonse was giving up on him, on what they had been working so hard to achieve together. This understanding both hurt and angered him for several reasons of which only a few Toby could properly name.

Worst yet Toby knew in the depths of his soul that if he turned and walked away from the man now then he would never see Alfonse again. the thought poisoned him and profoundly disturbed his usually jovial spirit.

"Listen to me my beloved friend. Go back home. See your family again. I have selfishly kept you from them and I find myself sorry for it. In time you will forget me. Probably sooner than either of use wishes to admit. You are still a very young man. You waste your youth on this and, unlike in that other place, here time is of the essence. Cherish it." Alfonse had reached over by this time to lightly wrap three of the fingers of his left hand around the small espresso cup that Toby was balancing in the palm of his right hand half way between them. The edge of Elfonse lower finger just barely grazing the padding of Toby's thumb.

The contact between them was so subtle and Toby's reaction so entirely innate that it was difficult to tell what was exactly passing between the men in that moment. Whatever it was, clearly it pained Toby greatly although the younger man showed a great strength of fortitude by not allowing his overwhelming emotions to get the better of him. particularly in such a plainly public place.

Alfonse had picked the cafe' on purpose knowing Toby couldn't and wouldn't openly defy him in such a setting. Toby privately hated him for it.

"I may very likely go home Alfonse. At this point you leave me little choice in the matter. But I want you to know right now that I'll never stop searching. I know there's something else, something more, out there. Although I don't need to see it again to know its real I still want to understand it. You might be able to give up on this, but I can't. I know you understand why." Toby said evenly through his clenched jaw and glazed wide eyed expression.

"Yes, Crispin. I understand all too well." Alfonse replied.


http://www.galleryofcelebrities.com/c/crispin10.jpg

Sarah's Household - Boston - 4:30 PM

The woman formerly known as Sarah William before she'd married was currently sitting in her living room rather than being at work like she should have been. Considering Sarah both owned and operated Mirror on the Green it was her purgative to close the shop up early and come home if she wanted to and today was turning out to be one of those times. At the moment no one besides Sarah was home which had given her ample time to mull over the strange phone call she'd received during the morning from her favorite and only brother.

While Toby Williams commonly wrote to Sarah and her family at least once a month sending postcards and trinkets from where ever he happened to be at any given time, Sarah had started to become slightly concerned with the rapid decline in his actual phone calls and visits home. Sarah couldn't help but shake the uncomfortable feeling that something was going on with him and that Toby was purposely not telling her about it.

"I've already talked to mom and dad. Did you know they've been renting out the old house over on Claybourn?" Toby had asked half way through their phone conversation.

"Yeah. Malcolm and I have been keeping it up for them since they moved to Florida. Dad wanted to sell it but you're mom couldn't do it. You were conceived in that house after all. Up until recently there was this sweet old couple renting it until the husband had to transfer to an assisted living nursing facility. For awhile we had some college students living there but its empty right now." Sarah had confirmed over her work phone.

"I know. Mom told me. I bring it up because I'm moving back to Boston, Sarah. I was going to look for a place to stay but Mom offered to let me use the house until I found a teaching job in town." Toby had explained.

"Wow. I'm...Surprised. I guess I never imagined you'd com back here long term. You don't have to stay there. You know? We do still have the guest room in my house. The kids would love if you stayed for awhile and Malcolm and I would be happy to have you." Sarah had offered.

"I can't, Sar. I mean...I'd love to but I've still got some personal work to wrap up and the old house would be a better environment for me right now. Of course dinner is always an option. You know I can never turn down Malcolm's pasta and your desserts." Toby had tried to keep his voice light and airy over the phone but he couldn't completely mask his actual mood which was far from chipper.

"Tobs are you OK? You calling out of the blue and telling me you're moving back home feels weird to me. What's all this really about?" Sarah had asked.

"I can't explain things right now Sarah but I promise I'm all right. Things have just taken an unexpected turn that's all. I'll tell you about it when I get into town and have time to settle in." Toby had promised.

Beyond that their phone conversation had gone on normally with Sarah talking about he daughters and bring up her husband's latest antics. Sarah had hung up feeling good about everything but as they day wore on a flutter of worry began to develop and now that she was home Sarah was almost positive that something was going on. She just had to wait until Toby got back into town to confirm it.

Eva's Grandmother's House - Boston - 6:00 PM

Eva pulled her black 1967 Chevy Impala into the parking lot. She didn't turn it off right away, instead she sat back in her seat and stared at the place. She was not in anyway happy to be here, she wanted to be anywhere else. The hum of the engine flowed through her ears as her eyes scanned the old brick house, memories of birthdays and other celebrations. A soft smile spread on her lips as she remembered the day she got her acceptance letter for university.

~~ Years Earlier ~~

"Eva! It's here, your letter...come read it out loud to me!" Gran's voice boomed through the house. Eva was in her room when she heard her Gran, and wasted no time to complete the request that was yelled out. Skipping two steps at a time, Eva was soon in front of her Gran.

"Where is it? Oh, thank you." Eva said as she received the letter in her hands. With shaky movements, she lifted the paper out of the envelope. She quickly scanned the contents, then read the confirmation out loud. Happy yells soon followed from both women, and they hugged and cried together like fools. When they pulled away, both were wiping tears from their eyes. Eva could see the happiness in Gran's brown eyes, a mirror image of her own eyes, so much happiness...

~~ Present Time ~~

With a smile on her face, Eva turned off the car and stepped out. As she used one hand to tuck a few fallen strands of hair behind her ears, the other pocketed her keys. Her steps were a bit heavy, carrying some sadness in them, as she made her way to the front door of the house.

The house still smelled the same, like a field filled with lavenders. The scent sent tears to Eva's eyes, from the smell being so strong or the memories it brought, she couldn't tell. She figured since she was so emotional right now, anything that would spark memories would spark an emotion or reaction in the mind-

'Stop it Eva. We're not in school anymore.' She told herself, shaking her head as she tried to forget her scientific impulses.

With a sigh, Eva started up towards the attic. She figured she'd work her way top to bottom, starting with the attic. Ah, the attic...one place she wasn't allowed to venture into as a child. 'To dangerous.' Her Gran used to say, but now Gran wanted her to go in there.

Eva's wavy brown hair bounced slightly as she made her way to the top of the house. Her hand now rested on the cool metal of the handle, and then she pushed the door open. A cold gust of air hit Eva as she entered the room, sending a slight shiver down her arms and back. There wasn't much in the old attic, a few boxes and...and object covered by a large cloth. Eva could guess what it was by it's size, a mirror. Pulling back the sheet, she smiled. A simple, but beautiful, mirror stood before her. Another sigh escaped her lips as she went to touch the mirror.

"I wish I could go away. Be anywhere else." Eva murmured as her fingertips softly glided down the glass. With a snap of her wrist, she pulled away when a vibration hit her fingertips. Her eyes widened as her reflection seemed to fade, and another image appeared. Before she could make anything out, she turned on her heel and ran out of the attic and then to her old room.

"I'm going crazy, my mind has snapped from the pressure of..of..." Eva tried to make sense of what had happened, but she laid on her bed and fell asleep.

The Old House - Boston - 7:00 PM

Toby Williams didn't actually tell Sarah when he was going to be in town mostly because he wasn't ready to see her yet. As his older sister, Sarah had an uncanny ability to know when Toby was lying to her. He also knew that if Sarah thought for even one second that something was wrong, she would want to know about it and she wouldn't give him a moments peace until she was satisfied. Toby needed some time to build up a convincing poker face. Or, at least, he wanted to wait a day or so before he announced himself as being back in the community.

Irene had already taken the liberty of sending her son a spare set of house keys. So when his plane got into the Boston terminal early in the afternoon, Toby was able to take a taxi straight to the old house without having to check in with Sarah first. He'd been careful to fudge his timeliness with his mother as well knowing that Irene would probably tell Sarah about it if he didn't call her first. Toby hadn't flown directly from France, he'd made a pit stop in Spain first to pick up some of his research there before he'd come back to the states. Unfortunately there was too much to bring home all in one sitting. He and Alfonse had covered too much ground to conveniently condense everything they'd been working on into one confined package. Of course that exactly what Toby planed to do with it now that he was back in Boston, but that was a separate task entirely.

As Toby sat in the taxi he removed a thick stack of fat envelopes from his jacket pocket and looked through them. There were at least a dozen addresses from all over central Europe. One for every town Toby had stayed while he collected data for Alfonse and followed up on leads. Each letter was from a trusted contact and friend of either Elfonse or himself. All of them included binding promises to send Toby their information by mail and arrangements to assist him in any other way he might come to need them. A few of them had even set cash. A friendly fund some of them had apparently taken up on Toby's behalf so that he could get on his feet and have a little something extra.

There was just enough for Toby to make a down payment on a very used car, pay six months worth of rent to upkeep the house, live off of a weeks worth of Chinese take out and pizza, and to get thoroughly sloshed with some night. The last contribution was undoubtedly from Judith. One of Alfonse distant and zany cousins.

While Toby knew all of it was right and necessary the prompt news from his contacts did little to cheer him and served as even more evidence supporting the time and preparation Alfonse had put into arranging his divorce from what had become their mutual cause. Apparently everyone else had been made aware of the older man's intentions long before Toby had been told and the truth of that considerably stung.

The taxi pulled into Toby's childhood home just around 7:00 PM.

Most of the family furniture in the house was gone but Irene promised that there was plenty of left overs tucked away in the basement and a few boxes worth of stuff up in the attic left over from before each of the kids had gone away to college. The rest of the house was more or less scarcely furnished. Comfortable enough. Although common logic advised against it, apparently one really could go home again.

After dumping most all his luggage in the living room to unpack for later, Toby threw the mail on the dinning room table from the inbox on the porch and proceeded to inspect the kitchen. Not surprisingly there wasn't anything in the fridge and just a few scattered remains could be found in the pantry, no doubt left over by the College kids that had last occupied the house.

Sighing Toby returned to the dining room to have a rest and glance through the junk mail that had been delivered. As he expected almost all of it was a sad excuse for murdering trees and the two envelops that were actually legitimate mail had been mis-delivered by the postman and belonged to one of the houses a little ways down the street. Shaking his head Toby pocketed the envelops and decided he had no other option but to return them on his way back from the little corner drugstore a few blocks away. While Toby could have at ordered out for dinner there were a few other essentials he wanted to pick up. Like toilet paper for one.

And anyway Toby figured the walk would do him some good.

Gran's House - Boston - 7:10 PM

Eva woke up with a pounding headache, one that she didn't fully realize until she lifted her head from the pillow she had been sleeping on. With a groan of displeasure, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. After she stretched her neck, Eva pulled her hair out of it's ponytail...a rare happening. Slowly she stood up and made her way out of the room, momentarily forgetting about the strange events that happened in the attic. That moment of forgetfulness soon ended as she reached the end of the hallway, there were two directions she could take. One would lead her down at set of stairs and into the foyer, while the other led her up another set of stairs and into the attic. Eva stood there, debating with herself whether or she should try to go back up there.

"What happened?" She asked her self aloud. What she had experienced, seemed like a door or portal to somewhere else. That was the only explanation she could come up with. Well, other than she was crazy and needed to be sent to an asylum ASAP.

"If that led somewhere else, does that mean there are..other creatures there?....Wait...d-does that mean they could have been alerted to that mirror, door, whatever that was...being opened?" Eva paused for a moment, then thought back to what she saw. She closed her eyes and tried to replay that earlier scene in her head. She didn't try to make anything out before, but now she may as well try to remember what it was. She pushed her brain hard to remember, it looked like...a huge maze...with something in the middle. A house? Castle? Eva sighed and opened her eyes, then...

Eva giggled, then she laughed, hard. What she was saying and thinking was crazy, wasn't it? There were no such things as other worlds and other creatures and doorways that lead to a huge maze. Nonsense is what she thought it was. In fact, just to prove to herself she was seeing things, she would go back up there later. But for the moment, she needed some medication for her headache.

Eva closed another cabinet door. There were no meds in the house she could take, this meant a walk or drive was in store. Hadn't there been a small drugstore a few blocks away? Yes, she was certain that she had passed one on the way to the house. Nodding to herself, she grabbed her coat and stepped out the door.

Eva breathed in the fresh air, and decided she could walk. A couple blocks wouldn't kill her.

The Corner Store - Boston - 7:35 PM

Not suprisingly walking to the corner store did a great deal to calm if not alleviate most of Toby's tension. In fact the entire little trip was entirely nastalgic given that he was literally walking through his old naiborhood for the first time since he'd left for college. Toby remembered how Sarah had shown him how to ride his first two wheeled bycicle down the street. Although both had quietly feigned ignorance about it when Clint, their father, had wanted to teach him again without knowing Sarah had already beat her father to it. Then there were the many Halloween's and Christmas gatherings every year when the entire block would get decked out and throw street parties.

The set up had been all so quaint that it might have been hard to imagine why Toby had been in such a hurry to get away from it. The truth was that staying in Boston had felt a little too comfortable to him. Toby was the type who always thirsted fo new challenges. Plus maybe he was just a little too sensitive for his own good. Being comfortable scared him and felt a little to much like being complacent. When it came to the Williams children almost everyone they'd ever mutually known had predicted that Toby would be the one to settle down while Sarah went away to persue adventures.

It just went to show how little most people knew about either of them.

Humming lightly to himself, Toby eventually reached the corner store and started idly picking through the isles like a man without any cares in the world. Shoping was always something he enjoyed doing no matter what it was for. The only thing that would have made the trip better was if the corner store sold wine which he would have loved to pair with the frozen pizzas he was buying. However the nearest liquor store was double the distance of the corner store and since he wasn't willing to walk that exstra distance Toby decided he would settle for some cranberry cocktail instead.

Corner Store - Boston - 7:37
Eva’s walk was filled with only silence on her part. She nearly blocked out entirely all the passing cars, yells of children, and shouts from one neighbor to the other as she continued along the sidewalk. Her thoughts were swirling about that damned mirror. Could have been a dream, she did have a long drive from her apartment to Gran’s place and had been pretty tired.

As she was nearing the corner store, Eva noticed she had been playing with her old family ring. It was given to her by her Gran on her 13th birthday. The day where she woke up from a crash, only to hear that her parents didn’t survive but she did and would be able to leave soon. She shook her head and entered the store, blinking back a few tears.

Eva scanned the isles with her dark eyes, noting there weren’t many people shopping right now. She saw a few couples, a kid, and a man humming to himself. The man looked carefree, a state which Eva was currently envious of. A ringing coming from her pocket drew her state of mind back to reality. She quickly checked the ID...Rodney?

“Hello?” Eva sounded a bit uncertain, but was happy none the less to hear a voice she knew.

“Hello cupcake, how’s my docile little friend today?” Rodeny’s voice was still the same, rich and deep sounding. Eva could almost picture his smiling face, holding the phone to his ear.

“Well, I think I may be visiting an asylum soon for a permanent visit, you?”

“Whoa, what’s the matter Ev?” Rodeny’s voice went carefree to serious and worried in one second.

“Get this, I touched a mirror and saw another world...er...or something like that.” Eva lowered her voice and went to grab the pain medication, glancing around once to see if anyone heard her little outburst.

“....Well, I don’t know what to say...Except that you always were the crazy one. Doesn’t surprise me.” Then he started laughing. Eva smirked and turned to walk towards the cash register, that was the reaction she wanted, she needed to hear that she was crazy and what happened to her...didn’t really happen. But she was still worried, and wondering. She paid for her item and then left the store, continuing her currently idle chat with her old friend.

Gran's House- 7:50

The phone call ended just in time for her return to her Gran’s house. She raced up the porch steps, and calmly went inside the house. Eva placed her phone on a desk that was near the door, and headed towards the kitchen. She popped a pill, and leaned against the sink and closed her eyes. Then carefully, she took of her heavier jacket. She was wearing her longish business jacket with a white shirt underneath, and her favorite jeans and shoes. The black ankh necklace she was wearing was cold against her skin, but she ignored that as she headed towards the attic. She was surely crazy for trying it again, but there was a feeling she couldn't figure out. Excitement?

She stood in front of the mirror once again, and slowly she reached out her hand. Her heart was pounding as her fingertips grazed the cool glass for a second time that day, and then...nothing. Eva pulled back, slightly relieved but also...disappointed? Was anything different now? Great, now she really was crazy and now she really did wish-That was it. Her wish...She reached out to touch the glass again, “I wish I could go away. Be anywhere else." Eva's words were barely above a soft whisper. And then it happened again.

The mirror image of herself faded, and began to swirl with colour. Another image soon appeared, the one she had barely seen before. She hadn’t realized her hand was still against the mirror, when all of a sudden her hand slipped through, and made Eva stumble half-way into the mirror. One foot was still in the attic, as was one hand that was gripping tightly to the side of the mirror. With a breath, she stepped through entirely.

By the time Toby had picked up his wanted supplies from the corner store all thoughts of dropping by the neighbors had left him. So instead he went back to the old house, defrosted his dinner, and spent the rest of his night writing replies to his friends and watching channel 2.

3 Days Later - Sarah's House - Morning

Mornings in the Ethden household were always active. Sarah and Malcolm liked to instill the importance of family time whenever possible and meal times seemed to be the easiest to organize even if breakfast time was often rushed.

"Mal, is Meri up yet? I'm not driving her late to school again." Sarah remarked as she simultaneously flipped a hot cake and tended bacon all in the same large pan.

"I believe I heard some nondescript groaning when I passed her door on the way down. I'm sure that's as good a sign as any." Malcolm replied as he settled into his seat at the kitchen table and made faces at their younger daughter while she spooned her Cheerios into her mouth and tried not to giggle.

Sarah was about to encourage her husband to double check when Meridith suddenly appeared in the archway between the kitchen and the living room fully dressed with her books already in hand. "Morning dad. Hey, mom. Look, don't bother cooking me anything I should have been out the door five minutes ago."

"Why is that again? I believe I've forgotten." Malcolm inquired. Although the truth was Meridith probably hadn't told told them her plans.

"I want to check out something before class. Don't worry. I promise I'll get to class. Is it OK if I barrow the car this weekend?" Meridine asked.

"Um...Ask your mother." By now Malcolm had plucked up the morning paper and disappeared behind it only to occasionally glance over the top and sides to confirm what was happening around him.

"Mom?" Meri asked after narrowing her eyes at her father for not telling her yes or no himself.

"What do you want it for? Where are you going with it? And who are you going with?" Sarah asked steadily as she plated the food she was cooking and carried the dishes to the table to set down before her husband and then her own spot.

Meridith rolled her eyes and sighed audibly for being delt the third degree.

"Mer, you know the rules. If you want to use the car you have to tell us what your plans are with it. When you get your own and can pay for the insurance and gas you can do what you like with it and your father and I will stay out of your business. But until then..." Of the two of them, Sarah was the stricter parent.

"Yeah. I know." Meridith said under her breath. "Look, never mind. OK? Its not important. I'll figure something else out..."

Apparently annoyed now Meridith rolled her eyes and shook her head as she grabbed her backpack and started to turn around and walk into the living room.

"Hey...HEY." Sarah eased out of her chair and walked towards her teenage daughter meeting her in the living room and encouraging Mer to turn and look at her. "You don't have to make this so hard, you know? I don't think these questions are that invasive. Your dad and I just want to make sure we know whats going on. I know you're a young adult and you don't feel like you should have to tell us certain things anymore but I'm telling you that we're only trying to do what we think is best. When you have kids of your own someday you'll understand."

"Wow. This conversation is way more uncomfortable than I imagined. Like I said, don't worry about it. I swear I'm not planing on joining any cults or orgies this weekend. If you won't let me have the car I'm sure I can work something out with Tess or Angela." At that Meridith glanced at her watch. "I got to go. I'll see you later."

Meridith gave Sarah a peck on the chin as if to say -this was just a discussion and not a fight- before she disappeared out the garage door muttering goodbye to her father and sister before the door finished swinging shut.

"Well isn't she in a sharing mood." Sarah muttered sarcastically in the same manner as her older daughter while she glided back into the kitchen. "Crysta, sweetie, if your done eating then go get your homework for daddy to check. OK? I'll take care of your dishes."

"Sure mommy. I know when to take a hint." Crysta said in a very non-childlike, though still adolescent manner.

Her younger daughter's tone made Sarah smile. "Where does she learn to say things like that?"

"I can only imagine, my love." Malcolm replied energetically as he folded over his paper and looked fully at his wife. "Now that you've strategically dismissed our other offspring, are you planing to tell me what's really on your mind?"

Sarah met her husband's eyes and then sighed deeply. "Something...Is going on. I don't know what it is yet but I swear..."

"Darling, you've had these kinds of feeling before and they've always proved to be exaggerations of very minor things." Malcolm knew what his wife was getting at and felt the need to reassure her.

"I just don't think its a good idea to let the kids too far out of our sight right now. Plus my brother is supposed to be coming into town and I know he's not telling me the whole reason he's coming back..."

"Sarah, Meri is almost eighteen. You have to admit we've kept her far more restrained than you or I ever were at that age. Very soon we're not going to be able to protect her from the realities we both know exist. And anyway there's been no indication that we need to worry about all that other business anyway. We've never had an unexplained incidents with either of the kids. As far as their concerned the things you experienced growing up are just make believe. Its not real to them and with any luck it never will be." Malcolm reasoned.

Sarah looked as if she wanted to say something else on the subject but was interrupted by the return of Crysta as the young girl bobbed her way back into the kitchen with her red book bag into tow and her book report in hand for her father to examine.

"Mommy when I get home from school today can I go over to Nana and Grampa's house and visit uncle Toby?" Crysta asked very seriously.

"No, sweetie. Uncle Toby isn't in town yet. but I'm sure when he get here you'll be the first person he wants to see. Promise." Sarah answered.

"But Mommy, Uncle Toby's plane landed already and I want to see him before the weekend." Crysta insisted.

"Crysta, Sweetheart, you need to put your name neatly in the top of this corner." Malcolm pointed out right before his wife kicked him from under the table. "...And your mother is right. Uncle Toby hasn't arrived yet, he'll call once he does and we'll all visit with him together."

At that Crysta gave her father the most adorable look of exasperation any child had ever possessed. "You're not listening to me, Daddy. Uncle Toby is already here. If you don't believe me than call him and see for yourself."

At that Malcolm and his wife exchanged glances and an unspoken question passed between them.

"Sweetie," Sarah motioned for her daughter to come to her so that she could look into Crysta's face. "Can you tell me how you know this? Did Uncle Toby talk to you when we weren't here?"

"No." Crysta replied honestly.

"Than how do you know. Explain it to me because I want to understand." Sarah implored her.

For a second, the nine year old simply stared at her mother as if she could see something Sarah and Malcolm couldn't. "I dreamed about it. Last Wednesday. Can I go now?"

Crysta tilted her head innocently to the side.

"Yeah. Go get your jacket and head out to the car." Once Crysta was out of sight Sarah settled uncomfortable back in her chair deep in thought while Malcolm observed her.

"Well," He said after a few seconds while placing down his folded news paper atop his plate. "If you make the call I suppose I'll drive her to school."

At that, Malcolm pushed away from the table and placed the remaining dishes into the sink to be tended to later. He then walked over to Sarah, bent down, and gently kissed his wife upon the lips lingering longer than necessary as the buzz of older but unfazed chemistry passed between them. "You can tell me about it later. I'll see you at three."

After this final exchange Malcolm straightened and hurried out the back door of the kitchen, scooping up his keys fluidly as he went, and headed out to the car.

Once he was gone it almost seemed like Sarah was planing to dismiss the entire conversation. That is until her teeth clamped down gently on her lower lip and she chewed at it thoughtfully. The next thing Sarah knew she was on her feet with the kitchen's wall phone in her hand punching the number to her parents old house.

Sarah realized she might very well be reacting to nothing and yet her daughter's insistence had struck her.

Sarah waited patiently as the ringer on the other end began to ding. Once, twice, three times. By the fifth and sixth ring Sarah was beginning to think she was being silly. That is until she suddenly heard the reciever click over and a groggy familiar voice on the other end.

"H-Hello?"

On the road - Dawn

Rodney Miller was driving on the road in Boston, heading for his old friend's house. He had promised Eva that he would come down and help her out around the old home, and to help with the funeral arrangements. Unwilling to admit it to anyone else, Rodney had missed Eva a lot and was glad to have the chance to be around her again.

A free hand ran through his short brown hair, while the other handled the steering wheel. The windows were down, and he was listening to the radio, which was threatening to lose it's signal completely with all of that white noise. His hand dropped to the wheel in mild annoyance, and the other quickly moved to change the radio signal.

His thoughts drifted to the conversation he had had with Eva around three days ago, when she had just arrived. She had sounded freaked out at some...dream she had. Or she was just a really good actor and liked to mess with his head. He opted for the latter, and smirked to himself. They had discussed later on about when he was coming to visit, and he told her he'd be in by the end of the week. He had kept his promise, and was a few days earlier than expected. He had problems to deal with at the university he and Eva had attended, but to his surprise they were cleared up rather quickly. Rodney was quite pleased and had called Eva to tell her the news that he'd be early. But she never answered her phone.

Glancing over to his passanger seat, he saw his cell phone sitting there. He leaned his right hand over and grabbed it. The road light had changed to red, and he took the opportunity to check his messages. None. He sighed loudly, and dialed Eva's cell phone. He let it ring a few times, only to end up getting the answering machine. His brown eyes rolled in frustration.

"Oh hi. It's Rodney, you know Eva, it would be great to get a call back. I'm just glad to have gotten your Gran's address before since you have seemed to disappear. I got into Boston half an hour ago, so see you soon. Love you." Rodney looked at his cell phone as the words passed his lips, then he ended the call and tossed the phone back to the seat next to him. He hadn't told her he loved her in a long time, but she would probably take it as a friendship love kind of thing. Didn't all the women and their friends say that to eachother? Clearing his throat, he turned up the music and sang to the familiar songs he came across.

Gran's House - Morning

"That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight, I'm losing my religion" Rodney bounced his head to the beat, making a turn onto an old street he hadn't seen for years. He had come to Boston with Eva a few years ago, for Christmas. He looked along the houses, until he spotted Eva's old car. He pulled in behind it, and shut of his car and pocketed his keys. He grabbed his back from the backseat, and stepped out of the car and jogged up the porch steps.

Rodney tried the front door handle, and found it unlocked. He walked in, hit by the pleasent aroma the house had and turned to lock the front door.

"Ev! I'm here and I'm going to bed!" He called, walking up the stairs. He saw the attic door opened, and raised a brow. "Eva! You up there?.....No? Ok." He shut the door, and walked into a bedroom, knowing it wasn't Penny's. He could tell it was Eva's, and he walked out and into the spare bedroom. He dropped his bag, and flopped onto the bed. He had been driving for a few hours, and he was tired. Soon, he fell asleep and began snoring lightly.

Toby had been in a sound deep sleep when the phone in the corner of the master bedroom had begun to ring. Had he been in full possession of his mental faculties the young man might have been smart enough to just let it go one ringing like it was until the person on the other end gave up. But alas, such foresight was not meant to be.

"H-Hello?"

"I suggest for your own bodily health that you stay where you are, I'm coming over in ten minutes. You have until then to get yourself presentable for the firing squad." At that Toby's sister promptly hung up on him leaving the younger man blinking where he stood.

"You are in so much trouble." Sarah muttered evenly a little while later when she let herself into the house and met Toby as he swiftly padded down the stairs. "You wanna know how I found out you were already in town? My nine year old daughter had to tell me. And you wanna know how she apparently came across this information? She had a dream about it."

"Now," Sarah's arms were crossed over her breasts as she tilted her head to the side and stared at him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry?" Toby offered after a few seconds of assessing his sister's level of annoyance.

"Nope. Try again. And this time really think about it." Sarah replied.

"I meant to drop by the house today. I swear. I was totally planing on showing up on your doorstep and surprising you." Toby replied insistently.

"Crysta seems to think you've been her a few days. Is that true?"

"Yyyyyyes." At that Toby came the rest of the way down the stairs to meet his half sister directly. "I really hoped you wouldn't be made at me. The truth is I needed some time to myself and so I made arraignments to arrive here early and unannounced. I know it might have been a little inconsiderate of me but I can't exactly undo it now. How are you? You look really good."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Golden Curls. And anyway I'm not mad, I'm just a little annoyed. I can appreciate that you wanted some you time but I have to admit you make me nervous when you do these kinds of things. Now come here you big brat and give me a hug." At that Sarah finally smiled and relaxed her body opening her arms up to her brother and motioning him towards her.

---

Not to long after they had there nice sibling reunion Sarah was seated in the dinning room with a hot coffee mug in her hand waiting for Toby to join her.

"So why are you really back here? I could have sworn being overseas was like...Your home away from home. Are you and your mysterious boss not getting along or something?" Sarah asked before taking a careful sip from her steaming mug.

Toby sighed as he eased into the chair beside her. "Alfonse dropped me from his project, Sarah. I still can hardly believe it. I've put practically my entire adult life into our work and now its just...Over. Honestly I decided to come home because I just didn't know what else to do with myself."

"Well I can't say that I'm not happy to have you around, but I also can't really claim to understand why he'd do that to you. Granted you've never exactly been upfront about what you've been researching for him these last several years. Does not working with him anymore mean you can finally clue me into what you've been doing since you left college?" Toby had always been more secretive than she was but generally Toby told her about the important stuff eventually.

Toby's work for the reclusive writer however had always been a sensitive topic though and one of the few secrets Toby had withheld from her out of respect to his employer, so he said.

As for Toby's real motivations for secrecy the fact was that he'd always been a bit afraid of bringing his work up with Sarah mostly out of a real fear that she wouldn't approve. But then again with his work now permanently suspended it seemed silly to deny, if only to her, the truth of what had really been going on.

"Originally Valentini approached me to help compile research for a new manuscript he was working on. I was bored in college and I jumped at the chance to travel around Europe. About a year and a half into it Alfonse trusted me enough to tell me the truth. He told me that he'd once traveled to a strange and magical world that he believed existed like a mirror image to our own. Something else happened and he eventually came back but from the way he told it Alfonse seemed desperate to return to this other place but didn't understand how to. He never told me why but I assume it was probably because he'd formed some kind of intimate connection with someone on the other side and being separated tore him apart. Since that time I've been working with Alfonse to try and discover away to travel to this other place. In the last eight months I swear we came close to a huge breakthrough but I don't have all my data so I never finished making all the connections." Toby explained at length.

Sarah remained quietly stunned into silence as she listened to her brother explain what he's been up to in the last few year. "Toby no offense but your boss sounds like a raving crackpot. Why..."

"No, Sarah." Toby interpreted firmly. "Alfonse Valentini isn't delusional. I've read his books, including the three unpublished manuscripts. It all adds up. Alfonse's novel aren't works of fiction their directly autobiographical. In the last few years I've seen enough to know the truth of his experiences. And besides, you and I are ones to talk when it comes to taking unexplained trips to places that shouldn't rationally exist."

"Toby your not suggesting that this guy...I mean thats so..." She couldn't seem to find the words.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm flat out tell you. Alfonse has seen the maze. I don't know that his experiences went along the same vein as ours but there's no denying he was there...Underground, as he likes to call it." Toby paused. "If I hadn't been there myself I'd call Valentini a crackpot as well. But I have and I can't dismiss it."

"But why help him rediscover something we both know is better off left alone?" Sarah's tone had gone cold. Here she thought she'd spent her entire adult life distancing herself and her family from the sibling magical encounter and run in with the world of Faerie, only to discover that Toby had been openly seeking it out for the last several years without telling her.

"Sarah, not everyone is like us. I think some people who go to that other place are supposed to stay there. Who knows what Alfonse left behind there? Maybe its like what happened with us only in reverse. Instead of getting out he was trying to get back in. Can you honestly say that if you were ever separated from Malcolm and the kids and brought back there you wouldn't do everything in your power to get back home to them?"

"Fine." Sarah conceded. "Point taken. I just think its dangerous, is all. I almost lost you once, Tob. I never want to lose you like that again."

After that the siblings finished their coffee and Toby promised to come to dinner. Sarah wanted to speak more about the situation but she still had to get to work. Toby promised they talk about it again and there was also the subject of Sarah's younger daughter Crysta to mill over.

Gran's House

Rodney woke up with a start, his neck sore from the position he had been laying in. He streched, and pushed himself off of the bed. His feet shuffled across the floor as he walked, and he continued back downstairs.

"Evvvvva?" He continued to call her, wondering where the woman had went. Walking into the kitchen, he saw a bottle of pain medication. He sighed and popped open the bottle. Swallowing the pill dry, he turned and leaned against the counter and rested his hands on the edge. He sighed in deeply.

"Well...this is fun.." He said to himself, looking around the room. With a smirk appearing on his face, he pulled away from the counter and went back upstairs to Eva's old room. He walked in, and looked around. Wandering to the bookshelf, he let his eyes scan the title. The books were about either Myths, history, or psychology. Rodney ran his fingers across the different books, smiling to himself how Eva hadn't changed in all the years he'd known her. He grabbed a random book, and went back to the room he had dubbed as his during his stay.

Sitting on the bed, he looked over the book he had taken. It was worn, and well used. "Myths and Legends from the anicent worlds", was the title. He opened it up, and saw the hand written note that Penny had written to Eva.

'To my beautiful granddaughter, may this book tell you it's secrets and perhaps some of my own.' He didn't understand the note, but began reading it anyway. Rodney wasn't to worried about Eva, she often disappeared when they came here...went for a walk, walked to the nearest shopping store. The possibilites varied, so he was calm for the moment.

After surviving the invasion of his sister who eventually left for work. Toby went about with his house keep because...Well there wasn't alot else to be done. Most of his friends still had to ship his file to him and although Toby could have always started looking for work or a new car he was still keen on treating his first week back in Boston as if he were on vacation. There were always chores to be done however and Toby had come home from Europe with a whole suitcase of dirty cloths not including what he'd been wearing the last three days.

Therefore the laundry was certainly due to be done.

Gathering up his cloths from the last few days along with his suitcase, Toby tromped down to the basement to put his soiled things in the wash. That was the thing about being back in the states, most homes had the washer and dryer located in the basements instead of the main floor. As Toby casually started hauling things into the washer the two envelopes that had been addressed to his neighbor happened to fall out of the pocket he'd forgotten them in.

"Oops. I forgot about you." Toby mutter as he scratched behind one ear."

The next thing he did once his laundry was loaded was to pick up the letters and head out the door. Not ensuring they got where they belonged would have made Toby feel like as arse since he personally hated not getting his mail on time. Briskly walking up the front porch the young man knocked soundly on the door and began to wait. While he would have done just as well to leave the mail in the mailbox Toby wanted to hand the letters over directly and apologize for not binging them sooner.

Rodney closed the book, he couldn't quite follow the words. Fairies, goblins, magic...he enjoyed reading, but not children's make believe stories. He lifted himself off of the old, handmade quilt his bed was covered with, and returned the book back to it's rightful place.

Humming a tune as he lightly skipped down the steps, Rodney decided to make himself something to eat. Surely Eva wouldn't mind, and it wasn't like he was a stranger in the house. He stuck his head in the fridge, and grabbed out some supplies to make a sandwhich. It didn't take him long to make, and soon enough he was resting against the green counter and shoving food into his mouth. He breathed in through his nose deeply, the house was unusally quiet. And he suddenly missed the old stories, songs and voice of the old woman who meant a lot to his best friend. He swallowed, and bowed his head in respect and let memories of old begin to wash over him.

A knock of the front door brought Rodney out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head in it's direction. "Um..." He said, looking around, trying to decide if he should get it or not. It was then that he realized that he was making whoever was at the door wait longer than theys should, and he set his food done and rushed to the door.

He opened it awkwardly, and placed a smile on his face. 'Hello, what can I help you with?" He said, quickly and quietly observing the man, wondering if he knew Eva. Thinking of the women, he realized she should've been home by now. He held in a frustrated groan and looked back to the man before him.