Shadow turned to leave, giving Sam one last... almost playful smile before she slipped from sight and made her way up the stairs towards the house, with each upwards step she took she freed her mind from the dark tendrils that laced it every time she took the journey into the depths of the basement.  Normally she would have a shower each time before she left this room, an almost ritualistic act of cleansing herself of the pain and darkness as much as the blood and sweat that would lace her lithe body, but there was no need for that this morning... Sam's painfully written note had served to prolong his demise for a while longer and save him the same fate that had met his feet, for a while at least.<br/><br/>As she walked up the stairs, she could still feel a faint aching in her body and her eyes felt a little heavier than normal, the previous night had seemingly taken it out of her and she had gotten very little sleep... coupled with her eagerness to return to Sam in light of the new developments.  She moved her hand across the locking mechanism of the door, there was a near silent hiss as the panel slipped from its mountings and slid into the recess.  Shadow blinked a couple of times at the dawning light that filtered through the windows and scattered across the floor, she stepped through and felt the door slip shut and locked firmly behind her, a smile played on Shadow's lips as she suddenly caught sight of Thorn sat across the couch with a drink to hand.<br/><br/>"Good morning Thorn love... how was your morning then?"<br/><br/>It was then she caught sight of the expression in her face, soft and subtle as it was... there was definately something that had concerned her, perhaps something had happened whilst she was out, for a moment Shadow felt her heart pound as her mind conjoured up the very worst case scenarios.<br/><br/>"What's wrong?" Shadow quirked her head a little to the side as she spoke, a waver of concern entering her voice.