Alex thought he must be dreaming again. He was standing in the middle of a deserted street. Then everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks came crashing down on him. He staggered from the weight and implication of what was happening. They had tried to change fate. But still he had wound up exactly where he'd been seeing himself for the last three years. He wanted to deny it. He wanted to just be able to turn around and walk away, hop on a cab and head home.

As he turned, he saw movement at the far end of the street. Something inside him knew that it was evil, that he needed to run. Without stopping to question it, he sprinted in the opposite direction.

There was the distant sound of traffic on the nearby highway. No one was in sight. Alex didn't dare turn around for fear that it would slow him down or cause him to stumble. As he ran, his footsteps echoed hollowly off the buildings around him. All the buildings were in a sad state of dilapidation. Most had broken or missing windows.

He was frightened of his pursuer but he was more frightened of coming upon Steph. He wanted to stop and let it come for him. That way he knew that he would not carry out his destiny. But no matter how hard he tried to stop, he was unable to do so.

He turned into a dark alley and froze. He wanted to turn around and pretend he hadn't seen her lying there. But if he left her alone there was still the chance that it would hurt her. He didn't know what would be worse.

He ran towards her. She was lying on her side, holding her arm and moaning. There was no way he was going to leave her behind. He swore to himself that he wouldn't hurt her. He loved her; somehow he would find a way to save her.

He didn't have to lean down to hear her words. They were engraved in his mind. He'd heard them hundreds of times. "Just go Alex, I'll be okay, it wants you, please go."

It was approaching; the faint light from the street elongated its shadow and kept its face hidden in darkness. Steph feebly gripped his arm and implored him to run. The contact caused her to start shaking. He gently removed her arm and stood. He'd just found her. He wasn't going to lose her, not now. He'd protect her; he was ready to give up his life to save hers. He steeled himself for what was to come.

It walked closer and its features were visible. Stephanie had thought she had dreamt the encounter with CJ in his car. But now seeing his face, she knew it was all real. She let out a blood curling scream when she realized she had misplaced her trust.

Upon seeing his brother's face contorted in mad glee, Alex felt the breath knocked out of him, his body started going numb. He knew that darkness would soon follow so he did the only thing he could. He staggered toward CJ, reached out and held on to him for dear life.

Once the connection was established, Kade, from within Chris, was able to see that Alex was drawing strength from Stephanie. The thought occurred to him that he needed to eliminate the bond Alex had with her. His orders are to avoid any further unnecessary deaths. In his mind, this one was necessary. Chris shoved Alex away and reached for the dagger inside his coat.

Alex was shoved aside. He was disoriented and unable to focus his vision. He had tried to communicate his feelings to Chris, to get him to stop. He'd not only given his feelings free reign, he'd actually pushed them through. The connection had been there, the more he pushed, the stronger it had gotten. But it hadn't worked.

A couple of seconds later, Alex realized that he was looking at himself lying on the floor. How could this be? He saw the dagger in his hand. He heard Chris' voice like a faint whisper in his head. "I'm sorry bro. I couldn't stop it. Its mind is too strong, I've failed you."

Everything became clear. Somehow it had gotten to Chris. When Alex connected, a fragment of his mind had also remained with Chris, inside Chris. Maybe it wasn't too late; maybe they could still save Steph and themselves. With Chris, help, they could push it out. They had to try.

The exertion to stop Chris' forward movement was too much for them. It caused Alex momentary disconnects in which he found himself completely back in his body. It wasn't working; they were just delaying the inevitable. But they wouldn't give up, they owed it to Steph.

After what seemed like hours, he reached Stephanie. Alex saw himself plunge the dagger into her heart. There was a horrible scream; it came from Chris' body, the combined scream of the two brothers. Alex hadn't been able to save Steph and Chris had just lost someone he'd started thinking of as a sister.

That final combined anguish and anger was what managed to cast Kade from Chris' body. Chris crumbled to the ground, barely conscious. Alex got up from the floor and stumbled toward Stephanie.

By the time he'd reached her, she was taking her last shuddering breath. Looking up at him, she tried to lift her hand to him. Her hand dropped to the floor. She was gone.

Tears streamed down Alex' face as he screamed in agony, "NO! Take me, not her. Take me! What's the point anymore? I can't live without her. I won't live without her. I'm better off dead."

Alex' sobbing was the only sound heard in the alley. "I failed you Stephie, please take me with you, please, please", he chanted as he held her lifeless body against him. He was finally able to touch her without needing to worry. He could no longer hurt her. The thought caused a bubble of hysteria to rise in him. It was swiftly followed by rage.

I should have been stronger, he thought. I should have found the strength to stop him before he hurt you. Closing his eyes, he re-lived the moment he'd plunged the knife into Steph. He did so over and over, each time drawing more anger and desperation from the moment.

He fervently wished he could go back to the moment before he'd killed her. If only, he'd been stronger. He pictured Stephanie lying there while Chris' body, he could no longer think of it as Chris, advanced on her.

Then suddenly he felt it, the shifting sensation which signaled teleportation. He was there, in Chris' body again. It couldn't be happening, not again. He must have gone mad; losing Steph had pushed him over the edge. But he couldn't risk it, not with Steph at stake. So he used all the feelings he'd experienced while seeing Steph die. He pushed his rage, his grief and his fear to the entity in Chris.

It was as if a million stars had exploded in front of his eyes. The blinding light brought with it extreme heat and pain. Alex felt as if he was flung back into his body. As he lay there, unable to move and barely able to see, he watched Chris crumble to the floor.

He looked towards Steph; she was still lying on the floor. But her shirt, it wasn't covered in blood. He wanted to run to her but found that he couldn't move. Again the shifting sensation overtook him.

Alex found himself holding Stephanie and rocking back and forth. "Hurting, Alex, please", Steph moaned quietly.

He almost dropped her at the sound of her voice. Instead he gently laid her back on the ground. She was okay. She was alive. He wanted to smile and laugh and scream. Instead, he dropped to his knees and cried. His were tears of relief and happiness. He wasn't sure how it had happened; he just knew that he'd gotten a second chance, a miracle. He had Stephanie back, she was his miracle.

Chris was finally coming around. Alex knew they were going to have a lot to talk about in the coming weeks. But for now all that mattered was that Stephanie was alive and Chris was going to be okay. They needed to get home. He was sure Mary would have a few words for all of them. Then they needed to get to the hospital and check on Rose. Alex had a feeling Rose's strange condition was related to the entity that had been in control of Chris. Fervently he prayed that his new friend, Rose, would be okay.

When Alex had pushed it out of Chris, he had felt it weaken. He wanted to believe it had been destroyed, but he couldn't delude himself. It was no longer strong enough to be an immediate danger. But it was something they would need to guard against in the future.

"Alex, you saved me", whispered Stephanie as she slowly sat up.

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you", he replied with a teary smile.

"But how Alex, I, he, I saw him stab me, I felt myself die Alex. How can I still be here without a scratch?"

"No Stephie, he didn't stab you. It was just a nightmare. You're going to be okay, we all are", he said as he reached out to gently touch her hair. He was starting to get the hang of the self-control thing after all.

"Alex, I saw it, I felt it. Then something happened and the scene replayed. When Chris dropped to the ground I saw your body do something. It kind of rippled or something", she trailed off trying to recall exactly what she'd seen.

"Steph, we'll have a long time to talk about it. Let's not do it now. Let's just go home."

"Thank you Alex, you saved my life."

"Stephie, you are my life", he replied as he leaned forward to gently kiss her.