Episode 0, Part 4:
"And boys, that is how you do it!" Emily cheered, holding up her video game controller in victory. Emily, Ethan, and Benny were all playing Knights of Ninjitsu at Ethan's house while Sarah, Erica, and Rory were out searching for food, though they would be back soon.
"Aw, c'mon!" Ethan exclaimed in frustration, while Benny banged his head with his controller. "Best two out of three?"
"You're on," Emily said, and with the press of a few buttons, they restarted the game once more.
Though they were doing a good job of hiding their true feelings, Ethan and Emily were a bundle of nerves. It had been two days since Grandma had told them that they were to be Bonded, and 10 days since their first dream of each other. They had until precisely midnight to be Bonded, or else…
*Flashback*
"There's more," Grandma said sadly. "If a Seer and his partner aren't Bound within 10 days of the start of their first vision/dream, they can both die."
"What?!" everyone screamed. Emily didn't say anything, but she sat down shakily and her face paled.
"Calm down, calm down," Grandma said soothingly, attempting to prevent chaos from ensuing. "I said they can die, not that they will die." Ethan let out a sigh of relief, and Emily's face resumed some of its previous color.
"The severity of the backlash of not Bonding depends on how strong the connection is between the Seer and his partner." Grandma explained. "The reaction can range from death to simply getting a cold."
"Then why couldn't you have just said that, instead of scaring us all?" Ethan asked indignantly.
"Because from what I've heard from all of you, I think the reaction will lean more toward the death end of the spectrum. Your dreams, vision, and the clarity of the image within my crystal ball lead me to believe that your connection is strong."
"Great," Emily muttered. "Just perfect."
"Wait," Sarah said, "what about the fact that Ethan didn't feel drawn to Emily? Wouldn't that make their connection weaker?" Ethan squirmed in his seat; he had felt drawn to Emily but he just didn't say it.
Grandma thought for a second. "Yes, I suppose that's true. If only Emily felt the bond, then they both might only faint instead of die."
"Then I guess you're saved!" Benny said happily. "Let's celebrate with marshmallows!"
Ethan chuckled nervously. "Yeah… saved."
*End of Flashback*
"No!" Benny gave a cry of despair as Emily beat them for the second time in a row. "This isn't happening. It's not possible!"
She smirked. "We can go for best three out of five, if you're willing to suffer more defeat."
"Benny," Ethan said with a determination he didn't feel. "Let's do this!" They started the game one more time.
As she was playing, Emily thought over how things had changed so quickly in only a few short days. She had learned of the existence of magic and the supernatural, in addition to making five new friends.
Indeed, Emily fit well within the group; she seemed to even everyone out. She could relate to Erica because of their mutual love of Dusk and shopping. She provided Sarah with another girl friend to talk to, that wasn't as harsh and cynical as Erica. Benny was impressed with how she could simultaneously be a nerd and love Star Wars and sci-fi stuff, and be "babe-tastic". And she tolerated Rory, so he automatically liked her.
Her relationship with Ethan was more interesting and complex. Emily definitely felt a sort of pull toward him, one that she couldn't explain. They both got along really well and liked the same things. After only a few days, they had gotten really close, almost as close as he was to Benny. She didn't feel romantically inclined to him; it was more like they were siblings or really close friends.
What she didn't understand was how they had such a close relationship without Ethan feeling that same connection to her. Emily felt a little hurt that she was the only one that felt a connection to the other, even though she knew it wasn't something Ethan could control.
Emily actually wanted to Bond with Ethan; she was intrigued by the whole process and the idea of coming in to her own powers, as well as the fact that there would be no worries about death. She hadn't brought up the subject again with Ethan because he had seemed so adamantly against it that she didn't want to hurt their friendship by making things awkward between them.
Sitting only a few feet away from her, Ethan was having similar thoughts. Though Emily didn't know it, Ethan felt much the same way as she did. She was quickly becoming one of his best friends, and the thought of Bonding with her didn't seem so bad anymore. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Ethan was worried that if he told everyone that he was lying about feeling drawn to Emily and not wanting to Bond with her, then Emily would hate him for lying to her, and Sarah would think that he liked Emily as more than a friend. He just couldn't do it.
So, instead he sat there playing video games with Emily and Benny, trying to ignore the fact that in a little while, he might be dead.
Both Ethan and Emily were shaken from their thoughts when Rory burst through the door.
"Wassup?!" he yelled, startling the three teens. "The Rorster is here, and the party can start!" Sarah and Erica then entered the house and both smacked Rory.
"Hey, what was that for?" he asked sulkily as he rubbed his head.
"That was for all of your annoying nerdiness that we had to put up with!" Erica growled. "Every time we found a rat, you had to name it before we could eat it. I for one did not enjoy eating food named things like Fluffles McRabies!"
Sarah just rolled her eyes and turned to Ethan and Emily. "How are you guys doing? It's about 11:40, there's only 20 minutes left."
Ethan and Emily looked at each other with some fear in their eyes. They had lost track of time and didn't realize how close it was to midnight.
"Yeah, we're okay," Ethan squeaked out.
"Guys, why don't you just do the magic mumbo-jumbo ritual with Grandma and get it over with so you don't have to die and I'll still have people to play video games with."
"Benny!" Emily groaned. "Now is not the time! Besides, your grandma said that we might only faint. I can handle that."
"Are you sure about that?" Grandma said as she materialized into the living room.
"Whoa, I want to be able to teleport too!" Benny shrieked. His grandma merely patted him on the head.
"You're not advanced enough yet. That's a level 5 spell; you're still on level 1."
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Ethan asked. "I thought you were babysitting Jane at your house?"
"She's out like a light, and I wanted to come over to give you two one last chance to change your minds. If you want to Bond, there's still time."
Emily looked at Ethan hopefully while he tried his best not to meet her gaze. She sighed when he said nothing and turned back to Grandma.
"I'm fine with whatever Ethan wants to do, it's his choice," Emily said.
"Well, Ethan, I guess it's up to you," Grandma said and turned to look at him. He fidgeted for a few seconds and then seemed to come to a decision.
"Okay… I was against this before, but now I think the best thing to do is t–" Ethan stopped talking abruptly. He and Emily simultaneously grasped at their heads before their legs collapsed and they fell to the floor.
"E!" Benny screamed as he went to help him up. "What's wrong?" Ethan and Emily just moaned in pain. Sarah and Erica used their vampire strength to help them up into a sitting position on the couch. As they moved their friends into a comfortable spot, Ethan's hand brushed Emily's shoulder, and he was sent into a vision.
Flash
A clock chimes midnight
Flash
The intricate symbol signifying Bonding
Flash
Two gravestones
Flash
"It's happening," Ethan gasped. "It's exactly midnight, and we're both going to die."
"But the clock says you still have ten minutes," Rory said nervously, pointed to the clock on the wall.
Benny paled. "That clock has always run slowly."
Sarah turned to Grandma frantically. "I thought you said they were just going to faint?!"
She shook her head. "I said they might only faint. Their connection must have been stronger than we thought."
"Please do something, anything," Emily whispered, as she writhed in pain. Grandma looked at her sadly.
"The only thing that will save you is if the two of you Bond right now. Are you willing to do that?"
Emily ignored the agony for the moment and turned to look at Ethan. "Please?" she asked quietly.
Ethan stared at her for a second before closing his eyes and gritting his teeth from the pain. "Just do it."
Emily smiled. "Thanks…" she trailed off and lost consciousness. Erica grabbed her shoulders and tried to shake her awake.
"Emily! Stay with us. If you die, who am I going to go shopping with?"
"Erica!" Sarah said indignantly. "How can you say that?" Erica started to reply, but Grandma cut her off.
"There's no time. Quick, lay Emily out on the floor." The vampires did so, causing Ethan to have a sense of déjà vu.
"It's like in my dream," he said softly. He then went back to thrashing from the discomfort flooding his entire body.
"Now Ethan," Grandma continued, "you lay beside her and hold her hand." Unable to do so himself, Sarah carried him over to Emily. As he placed her hand in his, Ethan took one more gasping breath and also lost consciousness.
"Alright, everyone back away. Quickly now, we haven't got much time!" They all did as they were told. Grandma took a deep, calming breath, raised her arms, and began the process.
"Usque in finem utriusque nexus. Usque in finem utriusque nexus. Usque in finem utriusque nexus," she said, repeating the chant over and over again. She increased her volume each time she repeated the phrase, and as she did, a gold light seemed to emanate from Ethan and Emily's bodies.
The light grew brighter and brighter till it was almost blinding. Grandma gave one final shriek, and the light crescendoed with a bright flash, and then faded. All was silent.
A/N: Another cliffhanger, wow I'm mean! Anyway, I've had a lot of questions about whether Ethan and Emily were going to get together, and hopefully I answered that in this chapter; I love Etharah too, believe me. But that may change because of a little thing called a love triangle! Ethily has a nice ring to it, don't you think? ;)
