With Mike out of town, Jenny was glad to have some company over.  Her dreams had become more violent again, and it had been weeks since Amiel had appeared.  She felt uneasy and drained, but the thought of seeing Brenda gave her some comfort and an energy boost enough to make dinner.  While she was chopping some broccoli, she glanced over the letter from Brenda once more.  She wondered when Brenda got married and who her husband was since she didn't talk much about it in the letter or on the phone.  "LeArud" seemed like such an odd name to Jenny.

The sun finally broke through the clouds, and Jenny opened up the windows.  She continued chopping and cutting when a reflection in the glass door on her stove startled her.  Jenny quickly turned but saw nothing.  She glanced about and resumed preparing dinner.  She moved on to slicing potatos when the glass cutting board she was using cracked, cutting her hand.  Instinctively, she put the bleeding finger in her mouth as she ran off to treat it.  As she turned, a gust of wind scattered some of the papers on the counter, gently tumbling them to the floor.

Jenny returned, her hand delicately wrapped in gauze.  Knowing that Brenda would be arriving shortly, she bent down to pick up the papers when her eyes were drawn to the reflection in the oven window.  First, she saw the large black bird sitting on the flowerbox outside her window.  Then she saw the paper in her hand, the letter from Brenda.  "durAeL"

"...and remember, Jennifer - we are not alone.  There are others, some who would be envious of the ability that has been unlocked within you soul..."

Jenny slowly stood up, the voice of Amiel echoing in her mind as she recalled a conversation long past.

"...it is fair to say that we have enemies.  I can use my influence to keep them at bay, but at some point, they will come..."

She felt cold.

The name kept repeating in her mind over and over again.  Durael.  What was it?  Jenny didn't have answers for herself, but she knew too well that her intuition would not misguide her.  Hesitantly, she finished preparing dinner and took care of the broken cutting board.

Eventually there was a knock at the door.  Jenny welcomed her old friend in and they hugged.  All the strange tensions melted away for a while.  They sat and talked and shared a few drinks.  They ate at the coffee table while looking at old pictures.  Jenny talked about Mike, hoping that Brenda would talk about her relationship.

Instead, Brenda just seemed remote, almost sad.

"Are you all right, Bren?" Jenny asked.

Shaking her head subtly, Brenda replied. "I... I'm fine.  Really... I'm fine.  I just wanted to get some friends back in my life, that's all."

They chatted a while longer, until Brenda needed to head out.  They embraced again, this time a little longer and Brenda seemed to bury her head on Jenny's shoulder for a moment.  As the released, Jenny took Brenda's hand.

"You want to meet me for lunch tomorrow?  I'll be right near your work?"

"Yeah," Brenda nearly coughed.  "That... that'd be great."

Slowly, Brenda turned to walk away.  Jenny waited until she was downstairs before closing her door.  She went over to the window and watched Brenda get in her car and drive off.  She could smell Brenda's tears in her hair, and heard her timid voice whispering over and over again.

Help me.