When I finally look up after 10 minutes, the voice chills my bones. The person looks more terrifying then the voice had sounded. I'm not sure of what to do. The person is wearing a white shirt and has on a white robe on top of that. They have no shoes, I can see the bones in there feet, the bones in their hands. They look like a wrinkly old person, but they resemble Luke so much. The eyes are the same, his hair is longer than Luke's, as if it hasn't been cut in years. The skin is so pale, it looks as if he hasn't seen the sun in years.

"Please don't cry, don't fear me. There is no reason to be afraid." The man moves and sits infront of me. He doesn't stand like a normal person he crawls.

"Who... Who are you?" I don't know if I will like his answer or even what I exxpect him to tell me. I am afraid. I don't know what is going on. I am scared, but for some reason do not feel like I am in danger. What is going on here?

"I am Luke's other half, but for the sake of names you may call me Zack. When Luke and I were growing up he was the only one who could see me, and was not afraid. We looked so alike, but now without his presence, without acceptance I am dying. Luke had started calling me Zack when he was young, I was like his imaginary friend, only I did not age like he did. He was afraid of me once, and then stopped as time went on. Now my body is decaying it feels like, and there is nothing I can do. But you must know Luke isn't human. If I die, he will lose his humanity."

I look at the man confused, what does he mean? "What do you mean by if you die he will lose his humanity?"

"Well, the way he was born, he was detached from me. You accepted both halves as a child, he scorned me. He was afraid, so we grew up in seperate bodies. I was fully unhuman, he was fully human. Because of that split, if I die, his humanity will follow. We are two halves of the same coin. Even if he doesn't accept this power, this entity that I hold it will be forced into his body. He can't keep me away, I don't need much to survive. But if he is unable to accept the monster, it will surly eat him alive. I beg you, please don't let me die. I won't make him accept me, I won't force him. But you see, the beast comes out when it hears loud sounds. I am barely in control of it due to my dying form. Please, if he is forced to accept this help him. When he lost the one he truely loved it broke him, he stayed away. His pain has turned into power for this beast. His agony has fed the beast beyond what it should need."

I remember the smoke telling me to aknowledge the one I love, but why? "What did the smoke mean when he told me to aknowledge who I love?"

"That smoke is your friend, he doesn't have a physical body like me. He is your protector, if you acknowledge who you love than he will keep them safe as well as you. He means no harm unless the person who is looking for you does. We all have different abilities, and I have never seen his. He tried to protect your mother as well, but in her dying moments she said 'I would rather die protecting my boy, than live my life knowing I made him hurt.' She had put you in the room with me, she knew I would never hurt you and so did the ghost."

"So, my mom risked her and potentially my life, just to save me from those people?" Zack nodded, "So... then... she really is dead, she didn't abandon me?" I feel the tears coming to my eyes, but I no longer feel emotion like I should.

"Your mother would have never abandon you, and your father wouldn't have either. See, the thing about father is... well... He went missing, just a few months before mother died. Luke wasn't home that day, he was spending the day with his friend. He didn't want to be alone, and mother wasn't able to comfort him, his emotions were effected differently. His body may be human, but emotionally he is detached as well. The girl there... she was able to get him to talk, and I think she will do the same to you. You love her don't you?" He looks at me, soft eyes, the minute he asks the question he looks as if he is going to cry. He looks heart broken, but he also somehow seems to look happy through that solem expression.

I don't know why he asks if I love her. I refuse to admit that, I want to keep her safe. Plus we are only kids what would I know about love? What would I know about her, other than the fact that she has been hurt by the family that is supposed to love her. The way she talked about her brother, I wonder if the thought of him brought her to tears earlier. I know she is afraid, but I don't know what I can do to help her. "Why does it matter if I love her or not?"

"She will be taken from you one day, the sooner you realize that you love her, the safer she will be. We follow those who matter, through charms or shadows, there are many ways. If you admit you love her and shut her out, there is nothing but us to keep her safe. And I believe that the brother, the one April talked about, will indeed find her some day. If you love her, don't let her be hurt again." Zack had crawled to me and put his arms around me, I responded with the same gesture before I even realized it. "Thank you for the acceptance." Rapidly his body changed from being frail and all skin and bones to being stronger. He had shrunk to my height, and his eyes had changed from green to blue. His white clothes had shrunk with his body. When he stood up he was no longer like the Zack who resembled Luke, he resembled me. His hair remained white like Lukes, but the rest had all changed. "I am sorry for the startling change. However for some reason, I change to whoever accepts me most. You may call me a friend, or something else, I am thankful to you."

"...Ok..." I'm still so puzzled by everything that has just happened and none of it makes sense to me anymore.

Zack gets up and leaves the room, a minute later the front door opens with a loud bang. At this point I'm barely even conscious, everything is fading.

"LEO, ARE YOU HERE? APRIL SAID THAT YOU AND THE GIRL WE BROUGHT NEED TO GO. WHERE ARE YOU AT?" I can hear him scream, and no scratching sound follows. I hear banging on the steps. Then to me everything goes black. "LUKE!!! GET UP HERE!! NOW!" Then comes more banging and running.

"So you still follow him, but I guess by your appearance he has accepted you. Now he has two dark entities following him. And I take it you did that to the maid?.. Hm... Well I guess that she was bleeding, am I right?.. Ok, well then thank you at least... Jack can you grab them both, or do you need me to carry Leo?"

" Please, I have enough trouble with her, apparently she had gotten cut on the head, April said there is no evidence of it. And while she is unconcious its hard to tell what is wrong. What happened to your brother?"

"I told you, don't call him my brother. I know that he is, it's just.. I don't want him to be ashamed of me. I don't want him to hate me for not being around." I can feel Luke picking me up, I can feel a tear drip onto my face. "I can't accept that I'm not human, after I have believed I am for so long. It just doesn't feel possible."

"What ever happened to your Dad, do you know?"

"No, I don't he just vanished one day. Leo was too young, and when I got home, he was crying in his crib. No one was in the house, I asked a neighbor, they said that they didn't even know anyone lived there. So I had to find a place for him to stay. To me, this was the best option incase he wasn't human. But April has barely built up a tolerance to being able to be around his blood. The maids, the whole family, they can't bare smelling blood. That maid who was thrown downstairs, she was probably trying to come after one of them. Very few build up the tolerance, and April had said that he licked her wound. Which means he is digesting blood for the first time. And if she lost too much, I am really the only possible doner. Except for Leo, but he can risk making her something like me."

"What do you mean like you?"

"You saw that person in the hall? ... Well he is my other half, growing up I never saw him as a part of me. When I was born I got split, that is the demon part. He isn't evil, but he isn't at all human. He is the only reason I am human at this point. And thanks to Leo, he has been accepted and will continue to survive even if I won't."

"So you are saying that it's possible she could get a little demon in her blood?"

"Yeah, it's possible. If her body can't handle it she will die." More tears hit my face. "It's possible that there is already something wrong, I don't even understand how Leo licking a wound would completely erase it. It shouldn't be possible, but the demons that are outside the body tend to make deals. I know mine, tends to make you admit how you really feel about someone, in order to ensure that they will be ok. However, I don't know if she will be protected. I cant make deals with him, and even if I could, I have no relationship with her."

"Well then I guess we should get going, you never know who will be the next to strike."

I hear us going down stairs, the front door closing. Then the car doors shutting, I can't move, I can't see, all I can do is listen. I feel like I have been paralyzed, but I don't know how. I'm scared of what could be wrong, and I don't understand why Luke would be ashamed of something. I honestly think that he is in love with Jack, but to me, Jack is the only one in his wife's family, that doesn't resent him. I heard from somewhere that she was pregnant when she died. I don't know if it was his, I don't even know if that is true. I'm not ashamed of him, and I never even knew he was my brother. I'm scared of what I remember mom saying when I was little. Saying that Love will always get people hurt. I remember the time that Luke was talking about, I remember how mom had gone to that house and took me back with her. I remember how she and Luke had argued. I remember mom telling Luke that if she died, that is when I could be here with no rejections, and she died 3 years later. I was only 4 when all that had happened, and now I am 8. I can't even tell all I know, so much of it seems hidden now. At least the year is almost half way over.