For Adam, everything that happened next was like a blur. He just reacted instinctively.

"Adam, STOP!" Saddie yelled, but it was too late. Adam had already begun to lower the candlestick with a crushing blow. He struck the figure on the head with all of his might. The figure crumbled to the floor. Before Adam could even move, Saddie had jumped up and ran over to the figure.

"It is your brother!" Saddie said as she rolled the figure over.

Adam was still in shock; first of all that Jason could even possibly know that he was at this house in the middle of no where. Secondly, that Saddie knew that he had a brother. He never told her that he had a brother. The only relative that he even mentioned was his father.

"He is hurt, aren’t you going to help him?" Saddie asked again, now cradling the figure’s head in her lap.

It was then in the firelight that he saw the face of the stranger. It was the familiar face of his brother, except now he had blood trickling onto his forehead. Then his stomach sank. He could not believe that he had hit his own brother. He gained his senses and quickly helped Saddie carry Jason over to the fire. Adam quickly examined his unconscious brother. He found a small cut above his left temple that was bleeding. Saddie took her shawl and handed it to Adam to use to help stop the bleeding. After applying the makeshift tourniquet, Adam sat back and held his head in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Saddie asked softly as she put the blanket over top of Jason to keep him warm.

Adam could not even face her. He just held his head down and tearfully said, "I can’t believe I hit my own brother like that."

"You didn’t know it was him," Saddie answered. She could tell that the incident had greatly upset Adam.

Adam was quiet for a moment. The he looked straight at Saddie, who was looking over Jason like a nurse.

"How did you know he was my brother? I never told you I had a brother," Adam asked quizzically.

"I just knew. I told you I get these thoughts for some reason. It is these feelings and thoughts that have gotten me into trouble with the townspeople," Saddie replied. "I just got this impression that he was your brother at the last minute."

"Well I wish you would have told me sooner," Adam snapped back. Things were very quiet for a few minutes before Adam broke the silence. "Look Saddie, I am really sorry. I should not have said that to you. I am just really upset right now."

"I know Adam. You love your brother. It was an accident," Saddie said with an understanding voice.

"But I could have permanently hurt him," Adam said quivering at the thought. He knew that he had hit Jason very hard in a sensitive part of his head. He reached down and touched the area. Jason winced when Adam touched the wound.

"Jason? Jason! Wake up!" Adam said as he hung over his older brother. Jason continued to stir, but he had not opened his eyes. "Come on, Jas. I need you to wake up!"

Jason slightly opened his eyes before he slowly opened them completely. He was waiting for his eyes to focus when he heard Adam ask, "Jason, are you alright? I will never forgive myself if you are not okay."

"Give him some time and some room, Adam," Saddie said to Adam and gently pushed him back a little.

Jason continued to come back to life. He could feel this horrible throbbing coming from the left side eof his head. He struggled to remember what had happened after he entered the house. Everything was a blur, but he finally recognized one of the voices that were talking around him. It was the voice of Adam.

"Adam?" Jason finally whispered.

"Jason! How are you feeling?" Adam asked with deep concern. He placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

"My head is killing me. What hit me?"

"A candlestick," Adam replied. His voice was quivering.

"How in the world did I run into a candlestick?"

"I am so sorry Jason," Adam finally confessed. "I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was the townspeople coming back again."

"You hit me?" Jason said as he rose up slowly to face his brother, but quickly lay back down.

"I am sorry Jason. I did not know it was you, I swear," Adam said frantically.

Realizing that his brother was very upset over the incident, Jason replied, " It is okay Adam. I know that you would never intentionally hurt me. I get you out of trouble with mom and dad too much."

Saddie had to chuckle at that comment.

Adam was not very amused. But was still concerned about his brother. "So are you alright?"

"I will survive," Jason said as he finally sat fully up. ‘Now explain to me why I had to come here and find you and why OUR van has a tree going through it."

Adam explained about picking up Saddie, the townspeople and their mad dash to the house after wrecking the van.

"At least you are safe. We were worried sick about you," Jason said, now holding the shawl up to his head.

"I couldn’t get a hold of you because the cell phone does not have a signal and I could not just leave her out here like that," Adam answered. "So I take it Dad is mad."

"By now he is probably furious with both of us. I was supposed to check in an hour ago," Jason said. "But he will come soon and when he does he will know just what to do since we can’t drive the van now," Jason muttered. The boys shared the van that was given to them just two months ago for helping the police solve a crime ring in their own small town.

"Jason, I am sorry about the van. It just started sliding."

"Adam, I thought you knew that vans were not meant to climb mountains, ESPECIALLY MUDDY ONES!" Jason said as his voice rose. He had waited a long time to just have a vehicle and he did not want his brother tearing it up. Then he sarcastically added the comment; "Maybe we should get a 4WD."

"Really? You would really consider it?"

"Only if it came with inflated bumpers all the way around."

"Very funny Jason. We could have been killed and as I said I am sorry about it and I will fix it," Adam quipped back. There was a long pause between the brothers. The pause made Saddie very uncomfortable and she walked over to the window to allow them some privacy.

"Look, Adam. I am sorry to be coming down on you. I am just tired from running around looking for you," Jason said sincerely. "When I found out you were safe, my worry turned to anger."

"I didn’t know you cared so much big brother," Adam said with a funny voice. Jason nudged him enough in the shoulder to send Adam falling backwards from his sitting position.

"Don’t test that luck. You have already done enough for the next year in this one night," Jason replied.

"I am sorry Jason, about everything and I will make it up to you, okay?"

"Fine. Now all we have to do is hope that the townspeople do not come back before Dad can get here."

"Are you sure your Dad will come?" Saddie asked, looking out the window and into the night

"Yes," both boys answered at the same time. They knew their father well and knew that he would be worried. "And he will probably bring James," Jason added. James was their father’s good friend. He was a lawyer and the boys had known him all of their lives. Sometimes he helped their father on cases.

Saddie smiled gratefully at the reassuring answer.

"Well, we had better get some more wood for the fire to make it through the night. Do you have a woodpile?" Jason asked. He knew the outside wood would be too wet to use.

"Don’t worry about that. The house will keep us warm."

"What?"

"The house will protect us and keep us safe," Saddie said, stepping away from the window and sitting down in a chair next to the bookshelf. "This is their house and they will watch over us."

"Are you saying that your family is in this house?" Jason said. He was not one to believe in these types of things. He was wondering whom exactly his brother did pick up.

"They have never left it. It is their home," Saddie answered without a doubt. "Everything is the same. Nothing has changed since the day that they were murdered. I tried to change some things around, but when I come back it is back to where it was before."

"Someone must have came in and moved it back to try to scare you off," Jason said, still not believing that the house was haunted.

"They are too scared to come in here," Saddie replied, not phased a bit by Jason’s disbelief.

"I sure hope you are right!" Adam said leaning close to the fire to get warm.

"No we are safe, right Mom?" Saddie said towards the ceiling. With that statement the lights flickered on and the sound of a music box was heard from upstairs. It played the song, "Momma Is Going to Buy A Mockingbird". This sent chills down the brothers’ spines and Jason could not wait until morning. As much as he wanted to investigate the music box, he did not want to upset Saddie or invade her privacy. Maybe this was her way to cope with losing her family, even though he could not explain how she turned everything on. He looked over at his younger brother by the fire. He thought for a moment about how he would feel if someone murdered his family. Jason felt a deep sadness. As much as his brother drove him crazy, he could not imagine life without him. So if this helped Saddie feel closer to her family, then let her believe, he thought to himself.

As the three of them discussed their lives for the next hour, the fire did keep going with the same fury as a newly started fire. Saddie reached over and touched the one small lamp and it turned on. Jason did enjoy talking with her about what had happened to her family and the days following the incident.

"I just can not let it rest until I know who did it and why. I don’t want revenge, I just want answers," Saddie said. "It is up to God to deal with the murderer. I just want answers."

"Well, Jason and I are very good at investigating. As soon as Dad gets here, we will get started. I am sure that he will help," Adam volunteered. Jason nodded with agreement.

"How can I ever thank you for your time?" Saddie said with a smile.

"It is what friends are for," Adam said as he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Saddie blushed with embarrassment, but you could tell that she enjoyed the little peck on the cheek.

But the moment was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass from the two front windows. Glass flew everywhere as the three dove to the floor for safety. Then they heard the sound that they did not expect to hear.

"It is time for the witch to burn!" a single voice shouted. "Since no one else would do it, I am finally going to send you to where you belong-----Hell!

Adam jumped up to see who was outside. It was the man who he had talked with before, but he was alone. He had a torch and ran to the back of the house. The bottles that he had thrown threw the windows were now ablaze and blocking all of the windows. He quickly ran to the front door and grabbed the doorknob.

"We can’t go out this way!" He yelled back to Jason, who was helping Saddie get up from the floor. They heard glass shattering in the back of the house and even into the second story. Adam ran over to the stairs. A fire was blocking the upstairs route as well. They ran to the back of the house to only be faced with the heat and glow of the flames.

"He must have used gasoline, the fire is so hot!" Jason called out. But when he did he breathed in a lung full of smoke and he fell to the floor gagging and coughing. Adam immediately went to his brother’s aid as Saddie and Adam helped get Jason to his feet.

"DIE WITCH, DIE!" A voice yelled from outside.