he darkness came deep into the night and surrounded these youngsters in its smothering silence. Still none of them knew where they were, how they got there or even who the others were. Each noise brought them jumping from fear, and although they knew nothing of each other, they somehow knew they needed to stick together to just get out of this.

'Hey..... We're going to be stuck out here a long time, aren't we?' Mark said, his voice slightly quivering. He looked too muscular and tough to be so frightened of such little noises like these. He stood tall at 6'2", his blonde short hair and blue eyes making him look like your average high school football player.

'I hope not, my parents are going to kill me if I stay out past curfew! I'm already grounded!'This voice came from a young girl, 15 at the most. Her dark curly hair bounced around the shoulders of her slim 5'8" figure. Mark looked over at her and saw her eyes full of fear in the night sky. He wanted so much to just reach out to her and tell her things we're going to be alright, but he didn't want to promise her things that not even he knew.

Quickly he just looked away from her, down at the ground instead. 'So do you even know how we got here? The last thing I even remember was, well, sleeping.'

The girl just shook her head. 'I have no clue. I was lying in bed listening to music and all of the sudden I was here.'

Mark scratched his head and looked around. 'Strange how we would both get stuck here like this. I don't even recognize this place at all.'

The girl just threw herself down on a large rock. 'Someone has to find us, right? I mean there has to be a logical explanation for all this. Maybe I'm dreaming and your not real. Maybe none of this is real.' Tears started to slowly fall down her cheeks as she talked.

Mark walked over to her, the only sound were the leaves crunching under his boots, and held her tightly to his chest. 'I don't know what's going on here but I know for sure this definitely isn't a dream. But whatever this is I'm going to be here with you every step of the way,' slowly he pulled himself away from her and looked into her eyes, 'ok?'

She smiled weakly at him and thanked him for being so kind. 'Hey since we're going to be together for who knows how long, I should probably find out your name.' She stretched out her hand to him, 'I'm Melinda.'

He smiled back at her and grasped her hand and shook it. 'I'm Mark. So tell me Melinda, what exactly did you do the entire day before you vanished? There needs to be some sort of explanation to all this.'

'I don't know. I went to school, came home, me and my mom got into this huge argument. That's why I went and was just listening to music. I was just wishing that she would die or that I could get out of there or something.' A look of shock slowly echoed through Melinda's face, 'You don't suppose my wish came true, do you?'She looked up into Mark's eyes, 'Tell me my wish didn't come true.'

Mark sighed and reached out to hold both her hands as he looked into her eyes. 'I wish I could tell you that but the truth is I was wishing for the same thing. I was wishing that I could find some way to get out of my life, out of the house, just out of everything. That's what I fell asleep thinking about.'

'Oh my god.' Melinda's bottom lip started to quiver slightly as she bit down on it, tears welling up in her eyes. 'You... you don't think that my mom... that she's dead, do you?'

'No, I'm sure this isn't that drastic. I mean what are the chances of your entire wish coming true?' Mark wiped away a tear that was slowly rolling down her cheek.

Melinda just nodded in defeat. 'I suppose your right.' she said as Mark sat down in front of the rock. Slowly she slid down beside him and looked up at the stars peering down through the branches of the trees.

Quickly, Mark jumped up and grabbed a small pocket knife out of his jacket at the sound of leaves rattling. 'Wha.. what was that?' he quietly whispers to Melinda.

Melinda just laughed as she noticed a rabbit hop out from a bush. Mark laughed nervously as he noticed the rabbit and put his knife away. He slid back down beside Melinda and looked up at the stars with her.

Mark yawns and stretched as he looked around. His eyes scanned every surface around him, from the rock he was leaning on to the leaves atop the trees. Slowly the night before all started to come back to him.

'Well hey I see your finally awake.' Melinda walked over to him and sat down. 'Took you long enough. So when are we going to find our way out of this place?'

Mark rubbed his eyes and looked at her. 'Just as soon as I find a place to piss,' he said as he walked off of the path into the woods.

A few minutes later Mark came wandering back, looking like he was going to pass out any minute.

'Hey what's wrong? Something grab a hold of you out there?' Melinda asked him as she winked.

Mark just grabbed her hand. 'You gotta come see this.'

'Hey what is it?' Melinda started fighting out of his grip a bit but he just kept pulling her farther along. Finally she just gave up and walked along beside him. After just a short walk he stopped in a small clearing and pointed to two large gray things. Slowly Melinda walked over to them and noticed a faded engravement in them.

She ran her fingers over the words as she read them. 'Here lies Melinda Kay Peters. May her soul forever rest in peace. 1982-2002. Oh my god. That's my grave!' She went over to the other one and did the same thing. 'My mothers. My wish did come true. How could i do this to her?' Melinda fell down, sobbing uncontrollably, saying she was sorry and that it was all her fault over and over.

Mark went over to her and tried to put his arms around her but she just hit him and ran off.

'Melinda!' he yelled as he started to chase after her, but before long he lost sight of her. He looked around in desperation until he found a strong tree. Being careful not to fall he climbed as high as he good to see if he could see her, but all he could see were tree tops for miles around.

He sighed and pulled himself down, out of the tree. Looking around, he picked the direction he thought she might of gone and ran off. He kept running, calling her name until suddenly he tripped over something.

Mark gathered up all his courage and then looked down to the ground, fearful of what he might find. As he looked down he saw a slightly older, bloodier version of himself lying on the ground. His hands slightly shaking, he bent down beside the body and checked for a pulse.

The second his hand touched the body there was a slight groaning coming from it. Quickly he pulled his hand back and jumped away. The body slowly started to move a bit, still groaning as its eyes started to flicker open. The minute it's eyes opened it started scrambling away from the sight of Mark. 'Wh..Who the f..f..fuck are you?' it asked, its voice quivering.

Mark just looked at it and tried to gather his thoughts. He tried to hold his fear back as he said, 'I'm Mark. Who the fuck are you?' He stuttered slightly as he said this, that being the only sign to the body that he was at all scared.

The thing laughed nervously and shook his head. 'That's impossible. This cant be real. There's no way in hell you can look exactly like me and have my name. Man I must be hallucinating or some shit.'

'Oh my god, this can't be happening' Mark quietly mumbled to himself. Mark looked at the thing and said 'Yes it can. What year is this?'

The thing scratched its head and thought. '2002.'

'Shit.' Mark started pacing back and forth quietly muttering to himself. 'What is this place?'

'I..I..I don't know. Melinda took me here to visit her mothers grave.' Tears started to well up in it's eyes as he mentioned Melinda.

Mark stopped pacing and looked directly at his other self. 'You know Melinda?'

The thing just sighed. 'I used to know Melinda.'

Mark looked confused for a second before it hit him. 'The tombstone. You know what happened to her, don't you?'

The thing looked at the ground and nodded. 'Yeah I do.'

'Well?' Mark said getting impatient, 'Are you going to tell me?'

'I don't see why the fuck you even care, but fine. She took me here to go to her mothers grave with her. It was the first time she had ever been here since her mother died and she wanted me here for support. When we got to the grave she went berserk. She saw her grave by her mothers and well, I don't really know what happened. She just started yelling at me and smacking me. Melinda hasn't been overly stable since her mom died. She kept saying things about how it was all her fault which is why she never came sooner. When she got through with me she just ran. I tried to catch her but I lost sight of her. When I finally found her she was at the bottom of a cliff, dead. I just brought her back and buried her in the grave.' The thing started crying hysterically at this point.

A look of worry suddenly crept over Mark's face as he realized that Melinda had ran from the graves with him too. 'Where is that cliff?'

The thing just kept crying, ignoring Mark's every word until Mark went over, grabbed the things collar and shook it. 'Where the fuck is that cliff?' he said impatiently.

It cowered away from him and slunk away in fear. 'Follow me.' it said as it kept just walking away.

Mark started walking behind it, hoping and praying that his thoughts weren't going to be true.

'Oh my god! MELINDA!' Mark cried out as her saw her body lying at the bottom of the cliff. Quickly he started running down as fast as he could and threw himself down at her side. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he reached for her wrist to see if she had a pulse. A gentle beating greeted his fingers and gave him a glimmer of hope.

The thing came up behind him and pushed him out of the way. 'Melinda! Your back!' he cried as he pulled Melinda's body close to his. Tears of joy started falling out of his eyes. Carefully, he picked her body up and started walking away, quietly talking to her the whole time.

Mark just followed along helplessly for every word he said was ignored by the thing. They kept walking for what seemed like forever before the thing put Melinda down. As soon as Melinda was out of the things hands, Mark pulled it aside and made it listen to his words. 'Listen, that's not your Melinda. This is the Melinda from my time. So just fuck off and let me near her, ok?'

The thing just shook his head. 'No. That can't be true. I can't have her taken away from me like this again.'

'Hey you buried Melinda, right? How could this be your Melinda when you fucking well buried h er?' Mark left the thing and knelt down beside Melinda's side, holding her hand waiting for her to wake up.

The thing just walked over to Melinda and kissed her forehead. 'Goodbye my love' he quietly whispered as he walked away into the forest.

Mark watched the thing until it got swallowed in by the trees before he carefully laid his jacket overtop of Melinda. He sat there, watching over her all day until the sun finally set in the distance.

Mark lay down beside her and started talking. 'Hey remember the stars? We watched them together last night. They were beautiful. All I could think of was that they looked like the sparkle in your eyes.'

Mark just smiled weakly at Melinda and squeezed her hand slightly before looking back up at the stars.

Mark blinked and reached up to shade the sun from his eyes. His hand was still wrapped around Melinda's as he looked over to her.

Melinda lay there still unconscious, her heart barely beating. Mark sat up and looked around.

The thing was back, leaning against a tree, smiling at him. 'You know, I did the same thing with her. I sat there all day until her last breathe came out. I stayed by her side even after she died, just hoping it was all a dream and I would wake up to her beautiful smile just one more time. I had asked her to marry me just days before we got here, and then this happened.' A tear slowly rolled down his cheek, hitting the ground.

'That's not going to happen to her this time. She's going to make it no matter what.' Mark just glared at the thing.

The thing just held it's hands up in defense. 'Hey hey don't get like that. I just said that's what happened to her with me. Maybe things will be different with you. I pray that they will be.'

Mark just ignored the thing and gazed back down at Melinda. Slowly he ran his finger across each line of her features as tears slowly welled up in his eyes. He wasn't sure why he felt this strongly about her since he hardly knew her but there was just something there. Something magical about her that he had never felt with anyone else before.

He just sighed and looked at her. 'Come on Melinda, wake up. I need you. Don't leave me already.' he quietly whispered.

The thing just laughed and put his hand on Mark's shoulder. 'You know you should just give up man. She's going to die just like my Melinda did. It's over.'

Mark just threw himself up and slammed the thing into a tree. 'What the fuck is up with you? You sit there praying for her one second and then the next you tell me to give up hope? I can't believe you.' Mark threw the thing onto the ground and went back to Melinda.

Carefully he kissed her on the forehead as he grasped her hand within his again. He leaned his forehead against her hand and started crying until suddenly a felt a small squeeze coming from her hand. He lifted his head and looked at her.

Melinda's eyes were flickering slightly as she struggled to open them. Slowly she tried to sit up but quickly sank back down and held a hand to her head. It was throbbing like crazy. She tilted her head slightly to look at Mark. 'What happened?'

'I..I don't know. You ran off and when I found you you were lying at the bottom of a cliff unconscious.' Mark's voice quivered slightly from nervousness. He smiled at her. 'But your okay now.'

'Oh my god. I was hoping that was just a dream. It had to be just a dream.' Melinda ignored the pain and sat up.

'What had to be a dream? What happened out there?' Mark leaned down to look in her eyes. 'Tell me what happened.'

'I.. saw something. It looked like me. It said... said..' Melinda just shook her head and looked at the ground. 'No. It had to be a dream.'

'Melinda, what did it say?' Mark put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up slightly so he could look at her.

'It kept telling me to come closer. That it needed me to help it.' Melinda sighed and pulled her head away from Mark.

The thing walked up and looked at Melinda. 'Melinda. You saw my Melinda.'

Melinda slowly started backing away from Mark and the thing. 'Shit. Now I know I'm dreaming. Two of you?'

Mark smiled. 'I found some things out while you were gone. We've somehow gone into the future and this is well.. That's me in the future.'

'Well, that would at least explain the graves. But what the hell would we be doing in the future? Explain that to me.' The look in Melinda's eyes told Mark she didn't believe him.

He sighed and shook his head. 'I honestly don't know. There's got to be some explanation but I haven't found it yet.'

The thing just stood there quietly mumbling. 'My Melinda. She's still here somewhere. I've got to find her.' He wandered off into the forest still mumbling to himself about finding his Melinda.

Melinda lay down and put her head onto Mark's lap. 'I need sleep.' she said as she closed her eyes and drifted off.

Mark just smiled and quietly whispered 'Sweet dreams' and then leaned back and watched the clouds float overhead.

Melinda blinked her eyes. Her head was still resting on Mark's lap as she looked up. She smiled as she saw his features all lit up in the moons glow.

'He's cute' she thought, pulling herself up carefully so she wouldn't wake up Mark. Quietly she walked out into the woods to go to the bathroom as a hand reached out and covered her mouth. 'HELP!' she screamed repeatedly, but not loud enough for anyone to here from the muffling of the hand.

'Quiet' the voice hissed at her. Melinda started struggling so the thing pulled it's other arm around her waist and pulled her close. Quickly he started dragging her away.

Melinda was still screaming and kicking, trying to wake Mark up but to no avail.

A few minutes later the thing stopped in a dark cave. All Melinda could hear was a small drip coming from somewhere within the cave and the things voice quietly muttering to itself.

Melinda stood still out of fear, the thing's grasp around her wrist was too strong to wiggle away from and he had dragged her too far away for Mark to hear. She heard the thing quietly cry in victory and then was dragged off to a pole of some type. The grasp around her wrist was soon replaced with rope as she was tied to the post. A fabric was pulled into her mouth and was tied tightly behind her neck before the thing moved to tie her feet to the post too.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she tried to plead with the person. It just laughed at her attempts to talk and started walking away.

'Now you stay quiet and be a good girl, i'll be back soon' it whispered hoarsely to her as it turned the corner to get out of the cave.

Melinda waited until she couldn't hear the footsteps anymore and tried to untie the knots in the rope somehow. She sighed and gave up after 5 minutes had passed and just stood there in the dark, waiting for someone to come back.

Mark yawned, stretching, the sun gleaming down into his eyes. He blinked a few times before standing up. Slowly he looked around. 'Melinda?' he called walking towards the edge of the forest. 'Melinda? Are you around?' Mark started to get worried as his calls were unanswered.

Mark jumped as a voice behind him said 'So you lost your Melinda too, huh? Sad really.'

Mark turned around and looked his future self straight in the eye. 'What the fuck did you do to her?'

'Me? I didn't do anything! Do you really think I would hurt her? She was my fucking girlfriend too.' The thing bunched it's hands up and just looked away from Mark.

'I'm sorry. I just need to know where the hell she is. I can't lose her now.' Mark turned away and starting walking into the forest.

'Hey wait up!' The thing ran to catch up to Mark.

Mark sighed and just kept walking back towards the cliff, in hopes that Melinda would be there again.

All that was there was a small piece of paper fluttering under a stone. Quickly he ran down to get the paper and read the words silently to himself.

'Sacrifice your life for your dear Melinda or she will die tonight at sundown. Come here tonight or you will both die!'

Mark shuddered as he read the note. He studied the handwriting in hopes of recognizing it but there were no signs of any personalization in the block letters.

As soon as he put the note down the thing grabbed it up. 'Wait. You can't die.' it said after reading through the note. 'And neither can Melinda. If you two die then I wouldn't exist. And my Melinda would never of existed.'

Mark nodded as the words slowly sunk in. 'Your right. Which means I can do whatever I want without worry. Hey, your my future self. You can tell me what happens.'

The thing just shook it's head. 'I don't remember any of this. The whole year your living is just.. a blank. It's weird but I don't remember a thing.'

'Shit' Mark just sunk down to the ground. 'Okay, well at least I have something to work on. I know I'm not going to die and that Melinda's not. So I just need to discover where whoever wrote this is hiding at the time.'

Mark kept mumbling to himself about his great plans as the thing sunk down beside him and stared off into the distance. 'You know, it's weird thinking that I lived through all this and don't even remember it.'

Mark nodded. 'What happened to your memory any ways?'

The thing just shrugged. 'I... don't know. It's just completely gone for some reason.'

'Ahhh.' Mark grabbed the note and looked back down at it. 'I hope she's not in pain.' He just crumpled up the note and threw it down the side of the cliff. Looking out into the distance he quietly whispered 'It's ok Melinda. I'll save you soon.'

Night fell and a voice came silently through the night. 'Well, I see your still alive.'

Mark strained to hear the hoarse whisper. 'Yeah, come out and kill me. I dare you too.'

'You think I won't, eh?' The voice quietly chuckled.

Mark slowly started stalking around looked into the woods trying to discover where the voice was coming from.

'You want to find me? I'm right here.' A figure in a black robe jumped out from the woods. Mark just jumped as he saw it.

'W-w-where's M-melind-da?' Mark's voice started stuttering from fear as he stepped closer to the robed figure.

The figure just motioned him closer and started walking into the woods. 'Follow me.'

Mark ran after it to catch up. Mark kept following the thing until right before the caves entrance. Just a few steps away from it, 2 more robed figures jumped out and tackled him to the ground. Quickly, they tied him with ropes, gagged him and dragged him into the cave.

A muffled noise came from Melinda as she saw Mark there. She struggled to get out of the ropes again once they started tying Mark to a post beside her.

Finally, as they were both tied to the posts, the figure that led Mark there just looked at them. 'So I bet your wondering what's going on here? Who we are.' The thing ripped off its robe as the others did the same.

Mark and Melinda's eyes just grew wide as the robes were dropped off.

'Bet you never thought it was mommy dearest now did you Mark?' Mark's mother laughed to herself. 'Surely you know your cousin Peter. He did such a wonderful job of playing you in the future.' Mark's mother walked over to the other figure. 'And this here, well this is Melinda's mother.'

Melinda's mother walked over to Melinda. 'You were supposed to be my little angel.' She smiled sadly. 'After so many arguments and hearing of your wishes of death for me I just couldn't take it anymore. Don't you just love this plan we came up with? It's so perfect.'

Peter grinned at Mark and Melinda. 'I introduced them into the wonderful world of murder. I did this same thing with my last girlfriend. Such a beautiful girl but she hurt me so.'

Mark finally managed to struggle free from his gag. 'Your all fucking insane.'

'Well of course dear. If we weren't insane how could we come up with this beautiful future plan? Or get the power to get rid of you both?' Mark's mother pulled out a gun and pointed it at Mark.

'How, why. Why us? Why Melinda?' Mark looked at his mother intently, waiting for an explanation he knew he would never receive.

'Well what do you think? I met Melinda's mother at the beauty salon and we started talking about our kids. It just seemed so perfect. Just needed a few preparations like the tomb stones and Peter and then just slip you two some sleeping pills and drag you here. It was pure genius.' Mark's mother laughed and walked over to Melinda and ripped her gag out. 'Any last words?'

'You make me sick. I can't believe you would do this to your own daughter.' Melinda sputtered the words out through sobs, barely making any of them audible.

'Insanity is such a wonderful thing, isn't it dear?' Melinda's mother grabbed the gun from Mark's mother and pointed it at Melinda's head. Slowly she pulled the trigger and Melinda's sobs went silent.

'H-h-how could you do that?' Mark started struggling even more.

His mother walked over and took the gun from Melinda's mother. 'Like this dear. Goodbye.' *BANG* 'Insanity is so wonderful. Keeps you from dealing with your children.