CHAPTER TWO

BILL

I was going to die. Literally, one way or another, this was the end for me. I hadn't known that when I showed up. All I knew was Leah was terrified and she needed my help. As soon as I'd arrived, however, I was ambushed. Thomas, better known as Baron Corbin, walked out of the shadows with Stephanie McMahon, who smiled at me with the most evil grin I'd ever seen in my life.

"It's okay, Baby," Leah insisted. "You don't have to be afraid... I found a way for us to stay together."

"Leah... You know where I stand," I said.

"I do... But he made me a deal, Bill. All I have to do is remove your pesky morals and nothing will keep us apart ever again."

"Lee... Please, this isn't the way."

"Just stop fighting it, Baby. Everything will be okay."

Thomas came closer to me. I saw the ritual blade in his hand and I knew what this must be, but my mind refused to believe it. Leah wouldn't do that to me... She couldn't... She loved me.

As Thomas attacked, I fought back. I had no choice. He'd kill me without hesitation. I knew that. When Stephanie got in my face, I dodged her blows, but I didn't touch her. Evil or not, she was still a woman, and I was well aware of the fact that, very deep down, the sweet, naive girl who'd once lived in fear of her father still existed. Chaos had given Stephanie the power she needed to stand against her father, and honestly, I couldn't hold her choice to take him up on it against her. There was a time when WWE's greatest source of evil was Vince McMahon. Stephanie had turned evil simply to survive.

"What's the delay?" A new voice asked. It was Raj, and that's when I knew I was in real trouble. Jinder Mahal was no joke. The guy was built like he lived entirely off of steroids. He was also one of the most powerful minions Chaos had ever recruited. Raj had once been a powerful force of good, fighting at Drew and Heath's side. Although 3MB had been a complete joke in WWE, in the battle against Chaos, they were three of the strongest warriors. When Drew and Raj got released, Raj was furious Heath still had his job. His jealousy alienated him from Heath. Drew proceeded to absolutely blow up on the indies. If there was a title to be had, Drew Galloway went and won it. He had six titles at any given point, and he defended them all internationally, bringing a prestige and recognition to companies no one had heard of before that. Drew McIntyre might have fallen into being a bad comedy character, but Drew Galloway quickly reminded the world why he'd once been Vince's Chosen One. This had led Raj to completely lose it, and once he cut Drew out, too, he was vulnerable. Chaos influenced him with promises of success that Drew and Heath would never see, and here he was a short time later, the face of the WWE. The fans were stunned when Raj defeated Randy for the title, but we wrestlers all knew the horrible things Raj had done to get to the top.

"He's fighting," Thomas said.

"Well, wouldn't you?" Raj asked. "Idiot. Who wouldn't fight having their heart and soul ripped out? Get on it. He's coming."

I knew I was screwed now. Chaos was going to turn me. Very few people escaped once he decided to do that. My only chance was Colby. When Seth Rollins had turned on the Shield, it hadn't just been a storyline. He was the very first person Chaos had ever forcibly turned evil. Colby, once full of light, purity, and everything good in this world, had been murdered and resurrected without his heart or his soul. He'd been tortured leading into it, and it had taken most of the minions to pull it off. Team Good had been left with no idea what the hell happened as Colby attacked his Shield brothers with a brutality no one thought he could possess. He'd proceeded to do a lot of other horrible things before Joe (Roman Reigns) did what Dean could not bring himself to and killed him. They'd ultimately found a way to reverse it, but Colby had never fully recovered. His light was forever tainted. Being the first, however, had given Colby the unique gift to sense when others were about to be turned. He'd saved a lot of people from sharing his fate.

"Uh-uh-uh..." Leah said to me. "Team Telepath is nice and blocked from hearing you right now."

I cursed silently. That meant both Colby and Randy were no longer options. In desperation, I tried to split myself. If I could keep even a small part of my mind separate, maybe it wouldn't work on me. Sure, I might die and stay that way, but that was better than becoming a monster.

"Hold him down," Stephanie said. Thomas and Raj held me tightly. I couldn't move no matter how hard I tried.

"I'll do the deed," Thomas offered.

"No. This is Leah's test," Stephanie said.

Leah took the ritual blade from Thomas. "Lee..." I whispered in desperation. "Please... Please don't do this."

"Shhh..." Leah said. "It'll all be over soon, and everything will be fine. I love you, Baby." With that, Leah plunged the blade into my chest.

"No!" Someone screamed. Leah jumped and pulled the knife back out. The wound wasn't that deep yet. I was confused. I knew the voice of my rescuer. I also knew what side she was on. I watched as Nikki Bella pulled Thomas off of me. She proceeded to kiss him hard before tossing him aside. She grabbed Raj and did the same thing to him. I stared at her, not understanding.

"Nikki, what the hell are you doing?" Stephanie demanded.

"What I have to," Nikki said. She then pulled Stephanie into her arms and kissed her, too. That kiss lasted slightly longer until Stephanie collapsed.

"Run!" Nikki screamed at me. She suddenly trapped Leah in a waterfall. As Thomas stirred, she flung one at him, too. She then grabbed Raj and I watched in shock as she not only physically restrained him with impossible strength, but proceeded to turn her entire body into flames that didn't seem to hurt her, but clearly burnt Raj as he screamed in agony.

I tried to get up as I stared at her in confusion. "Bill! Run! I can't hold them off for long!" She shouted.

"How are you doing that?" I asked.

"I'm a succubus, and a personal skill of mine is that I can temporarily use the powers of anyone I feed on. It works better if I have sex with them, but kissing has to be enough right now. Just go, okay? Get out of here. He's coming. I feel him."

"Nikki... I can't just leave you."

"I made my choice, Bill. Don't let it be for nothing!"

I knew I had to run, so I tried. Unfortunately, I ran straight into Luke Harper. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded.

Nikki bashed Raj's head into a wall and knocked him out. She then lit herself on fire again. I could tell how scared she was, but she was ready to keep fighting. Harper hit me with a spell that felt like a truck. I hit the ground. He proceeded to grab Nikki.

"You're going to pay for this betrayal, Nicole," he promised darkly. And then, he summoned Chaos.

"What is the delay?" Chaos asked.

"Your pet succubus has betrayed you, Master," Harper said. "I can kill her if you like."

"No," Chaos said. I couldn't even begin to describe the panic his mere presence was stirring in me. I'd never felt anything quite so evil before. "I have other plans for her. If she wants to lie to herself and think she can be a savior, then she shall be treated as such. Take her to the punishment room, Harper. I shall deal with her later." With a wave of his hand, he broke all of Nikki's spells. Nikki fell to the ground with a scream.

As Harper dragged Nikki off, Chaos stood over me. Raj and Thomas resumed restraining me. Leah picked up the knife. "Now, my dear," Chaos said to her. "Finish what you began."

Leah didn't even hesitate. She plunged the knife back in, deeper this time, and literally tore my heart from my chest. My mind officially fully snapped as I clung to the smallest shred of my sanity.

I look at the figure before me now and hardly recognize her. Nikki is nailed to a cross. She is too pale and I can sense how weak she is. "Nikki..." I whisper as I remember why she ended up here. "I'm sorry."

"No, Bill... I'm sorry," she says weakly. "I tried."

"Why? Why would you betray him, knowing what would happen?"

"Remember that day we went overseas and did that Tribute to the Troops show?"

"No... Maybe. My memory isn't great."

"It's the spell... Your soul remembers. Let me remind you." She sighed. "After the show, I got cornered by some very drunk soldiers who got too hands-on. I could have handled myself, as a succubus, but you didn't know that... And the second you saw them pin me against a wall and grope me, you stepped in and defended me. You saved me. You knew I was one of the bad guys. You knew I didn't deserve help... But you saved me anyway. You didn't even hesitate."

"I did?" It's hard to imagine that now. Had I really been that heroic? Why? There was nothing to gain, and I could have been fired for getting into a fight with the soldiers...

"You did. And I never forgot that act of kindness. No one else would have done that for me... Except, maybe, for John. I swore to myself I'd pay you back if I could... And when I saw you there, defenseless and about to be turned into a monster, I decided I couldn't let that happen, consequences be damned."

She looks exhausted. "He's starving you," I realize. "You're a succubus. You have to feed... Kiss me, Nikki. It'll help."

She looks at me sadly. "Even turned, you're still so sweet..." She sighs. "You can't help me, Bill. I feed on souls. You don't have one anymore."

She's right. I nod, forced to accept her answer. Nikki is only here because she tried to save me, but I can't return the favor. "Go on," she says. "He'll be angry if he sees you here. I'll be okay, Bill. He'll release me eventually. I can take it for now."

I leave because I have no choice. I am supposed to go meet Leah, so I do. It's time to plan out how I'm going to kill Enzo.

ERIC

The time for crying is over. I'm ready to fight. I head straight to the top, the unofficial and extremely reluctant leader of Team Good. "Dean," I say. "We gotta talk."

"Shit, Eric, are you okay? Colby and Randy have been out looking for you since yesterday," Dean replies.

"I needed some alone time."

"It's not safe for you to be alone right now. You're probably Bill's top target."

"Bring it. Maybe I can slap some sense into him."

"Nah, that's Brian's job... He picked a hell of a time to go on paternity leave."

"The guy's entitled to some time off. He works harder than pretty much anyone."

"I know. I just wish the kid had waited a week to make her debut."

"Look, I need a plan... And backup would be nice."

"We recalled Cody for this. That's our plan. He's on his way."

"Cody's got indy gigs."

"He's got a couple of days off until the weekend. And without Brian, we gotta do this the old fashioned way."

Cody Rhodes is the only reason we got Colby back. His soul is actually an Egyptian God of the Underworld. He is one of the only people in existence who can reverse the process Chaos uses to turn pure people evil, and it only works if he has the canopic jars the person's heart and soul are stored in. Saving Colby had damn near killed him and shattered his mind. That's how Stardust happened...Cody's mind briefly snapped and Stardust was born. Anyway, he's gotten better at it, but it's still a lot of work for him. Also, Cody technically belongs to the indies now... But he'll never abandon us when we truly need him in this battle.

"Okay. So Cody's in. Who else?" I ask.

"Joe and I are going after his soul. We can't risk Colby, so whether he likes it or not, he's helping purely telepathically," Dean says. "Drew and Heath are with us. We think Raj and Paul are sharing custody of the soul jar, and none of us can take Raj on except those two."

"Would Paul do that?"

"Of his own choice? No. But Steph's got his nuts in a jar and keeps taking control of his mind, and especially without Brian here to give him clarity with daily head slaps, he's totally at her mercy. And Chaos knows he's the last person we'd suspect of holding a jar."

"You're right."

"Where Joe goes, his cousins follow, so we'll have the Usos, and that probably means Trinity, too. Nattie came to me as soon as she saw the heel turn. She wants in. And Stephen will probably come because he won't let Drew go without him."

I nod. Stephen, better known as Sheamus, is Drew's best friend. "That sounds like a good team," I say.

"It gets better. Remember my friend, the Goddess? She wants to come play."

I laugh. "They're screwed."

"Extremely. Anyway, another team's going after the heart. We're pretty sure Harper's got it. Randy's leading that team. Jules is going with him." Jules is the third member of Team Telepath. She's not a wrestler, so she's not always around, but she is stuck in Randy and Colby's heads twenty-four-seven. (Oh, that poor girl!) I know she's a powerful witch.

"Who else?" I ask.

"Cody, of course. Randy's not letting him out of his sight on such a dangerous mission. Also, since it's Harper, Bray's going with them. That means Rowan and Taylor, too." Rowan's name is Joseph, but that's too close to Joe, so we usually use his ring name. No one calls Bray by his real name, Windham, except for his little brother Taylor, otherwise known as Bo Dallas. (Can you Bo-lieve those two are related?) Dean continues, "Pam insisted on helping because it's Bill, so Fergal's a given. Lexy jumped on board, too." He pauses. "There's a slot left if you're up to it, Eric. Randy already expected you to want in on this."

"Let's see... Me, Randy Orton, a super witch, Cody Rhodes, Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Bo Dallas, Bayley, Finn Balor, and Alexa Bliss against Luke Harper? I like those odds."

"Pam, Fergal, Lexy, and Taylor will be hanging back as much as possible. They're all super high on his list of pure hearts he'd love to turn. Randy's asked that you keep a close eye on them especially."

"I can do that."

"Good. Tomorrow's the summer solstice. It's the strongest day for the Light and we're pretty sure it's our best shot. Are you ready?"

"To save Bill? Hell yes, I'm ready."

"Okay. Touch base with Randy. I'll see you later, when the deed is done. After we get the canopic jars, Cody's going to do his thing and hopefully still be functional enough that it's not Stardust who competes for the Ring of Honor title this weekend."

I laugh at that visual. "But it's the cosmic key!" I say.

Dean shakes his head. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I reply. Some of the nervousness I'm feeling slips into my voice.

"We'll save him, Eric. I promise," Dean says as he notices this.

I nod and Dean walks away. I know we'll save Bill. There simply isn't another choice.

GRACIE

I finally break through. "Eric!" I shout.

He looks up, startled. "Great, now I'm hearing voices," Eric mumbles.

"Eric!" I shout again.

"Gracie?" He asks in confusion. "Gracie, where are you?"

"I'm stuck," I say. "I'm in-between."

He seems more confused. "Between? What does that mean?" He asks, and I realize he's only partially hearing me.

"Bill's been turned! You're in danger!" I try.

"Bill... Yeah, I know what happened. Gracie... Why weren't you at Money in the Bank? I tried to call you, but you didn't answer... Are you okay?"

"Bill," I say urgently.

"What? No... No, Bill wouldn't hurt you..."

"Eric, help me! I'm stuck between and you're in danger!"

"Help... Danger? Are you in trouble, Gracie? Where are you?"

I sigh. With all of the energy I can find, I reach across realms and move a pen with my mind, scribbling a note on his hand. Bill was turned. You're in danger. Stuck between, body dying, can't find it. Help.

Eric curses. "I'll find you, Gracie... I promise. So don't you fucking die on me, okay?" He looks terrified, but at least now he knows what's going on.

I feel myself starting to fade from sudden exhaustion. I fall uncontrollably and end up at the Performance Center. To keep myself from continuing to fall and possibly ending up back in my body, I tether myself to the first thing I can touch, a talisman in Drew Galloway's pocket. I realize I'm safe for the moment before everything goes black.

ERIC

I'm freaking out. Bill hurt Gracie...Bill may have killed Gracie, unless I can save her... This isn't okay in the slightest. I close my eyes and try to breathe.

Bill and I were working on planning our match with Leah. I looked up as I felt something in the room shift. There stood the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. Her hair was black with two purple streaks on either side of the front of her head and her eyes were bright blue. I caught a glimpse of a pentagram tattooed at the base of her neck. She wore a tiger's eye wrapped in a silver spiral as a necklace. Everything about this girl screamed magick, and I was totally enchanted.

"Excuse me," she said politely. "Do you know where Hunter is today?"

I realized she must be a new NXT recruit. Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, made all the new people call him Hunter.

"He's not here yet," Bill said.

"Come back later," Leah added. I could feel the jealousy oozing off of her.

"Nah, stay," Bill said obliviously. "You can keep us company."

"Thanks," she said as she sat down beside me.

"Hi," I said lamely. "I'm Eric. That's Bill and Leah."

"We met," Leah said. "This is Grace Marie. She's new."

"What a beautiful name," I said.

"Thanks, but it's kayfabe. My real name is Grace Louisa Cinelli. Can I get any more Italian?" She laughed, and I was in love. "Everyone calls me Gracie."

"Nice to meet you, Gracie," Bill said. "That accent sounds like we're from the same place."

"Bite your tongue, Mr. Met! I'm not from Queens. Brooklyn's my home."

I laughed. To a non-New Yorker, Queens and Brooklyn are basically the same thing, but trust the Jersey Boy here... They're totally different worlds. Queens, home of the Mets, is cool, in your face, and slightly crazy, but once you meet Brooklyn, you realize Queens is just her tamer cousin, and Brooklyn's the nutjob running around town with a machete and a baseball bat for no apparent reason.

We kept talking and I was crushing hard, but I kept that to myself. In spite of talking tough, Gracie was a nerd at heart. She was obsessed with Harry Potter and comic books. She cosplayed. She went to comic cons. She played video games better than Mr. Up-Up-Down-Down, Austin, a.k.a. Xavier Woods. All-in-all, Gracie was an epic geek who somehow made that look extremely cool. Over the next couple of years, Gracie would become our best friend, and I would fall completely and totally in love with her. Leah hated her, but she tolerated her because Bill and I were so attached. Truth be told, Leah was jealous because Gracie fit in with us better than she did.

I shake my head, trying not to think about my memories of Gracie too much. What if that's all I get? What if she dies before I get the chance to tell her I love her? I can't let that happen. I have to find her, and save her, and I also have to save Bill. It looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me.