And here we are, at the end! Please read the notes below, i'll say a few things there.


Is interesting how certain events can disrupt your time perception. Maybe there is some truth in that saying that time goes faster when you are having a good time and slower when you are feeling stressed –and that's something Jackie knew about. The proof was there: once she stepped outside the building she was greeted by the fading stars. It was 5:30 AM Sunday. She came to the party at 10 PM Saturday. She was in that hellhole of a basement for little more than 7 hours –and she suspected she spent most of that time passed out in the floor.

Not that it was a small amount of time. It was quite a lot. It just felt longer when she was running for her life and fighting psychopathic cult members. Now that she was outside, the rest of the world came back to existence as did its entire people. Some of them must be waking up just now, aliens to what has transpired in that building. A stab of envy pierced her as she thought that.

No sooner she stepped outside when the cops intercepted her. By the looks of her clothes they deduced she was a victim. It took a little longer to convince them that Tom was innocent of anything –which was ridiculous because he was the one carrying her outside! Horns, tails and what not aside, how could they thought he had hurt her?

After the humor calmed down, a policewoman gave Jackie a brief interrogation. Jackie said that she was abducted by a child murdering cult and left it at that. She wasn't sure this woman could handle a whole talk about demons and reapers and deals with the Devil. The policewoman was nice enough though. She explained to Jackie how a patrol car was policing the area when a 'crazy loon in a cat tunic' stopped them and directed them to the house. The cops took him to the house in the car, but when they stopped to ask for reinforcements he 'ran like a bitch outta hell' and disappeared.

That was Cat, obviously. Jackie was conflicted. On one hand, Cat had helped them many times. On the other, he has been mere seconds away to kill her. It happened as she has promised: They got out of there alive –sort of- and Cat got to walk away free of consequences. He made good to his end of the deal and Jackie to hers. Nothing more.

She wasn't the only one who made it thought. All around were many ambulances with doctors mending the surviving kids. Half of the snatched kids were killed in the ritual. And from that half, another half was killed in battle. Jackie was glad to see Not-Sam among them. The girl greeted Jackie with a wink and a soldier's salute, addressing her both as a friend and –even stranger, as a leader. Jackie did want to say something to her, but what exactly? 'Hey, I am glad you didn't die. That was some weird crap uh? Also I never asked your name.' No. Jackie simply returned Not-Sam's salute. She would probably catch the girl around the neighborhood another day. They will chat then.

The remnants of the Red Hand were there too; many of them were being escorted by a police officer or already in one of the many police cars and vans. All of them were unmasked. It was bizarre. Until that moment Jackie could see them only as members of the terrible cult they were part of. Not as people but as creatures from nightmares. Monsters. Now she saw them as they really were. Killers. Simple men and women. The only one she didn't saw was Ed. He might have died, but Jackie had the feeling that was not the case.

Her thoughts abandoned her when Tom came running to her. He was carrying something in his hands. Jackie smiled weakly at him and lent him a space on the ambulance next to her.

"How are you holding up?" asked Tom, straight to the point.

Jackie looked down to the cup of tea the cops had given her. It was mostly tasteless brown water but it was warm. They had provided her with blanket too for that same purpose. She knew for certain her wounds were fully healed –she had touched the scar around her neck as soon as she was alone. Still, she was in so much pain that the she knew the moment she felt on a bed she would sleep until Hell freezes over –which apparently was less an expression and more of a certainty.

She was not alright, not even a little. But she was going to be, she knew that. Not now and not tomorrow, but as long as she lived she was gonna be fine. She just needed a tomorrow to look forward to.

"It just pain," said Jackie calmly, "I'll live."

They weight of that expression felt heavy on the kids. Jackie sipped her tea again. Yep, still as disgusting as five minutes ago. She gave Tom a good look up and down. He looked as tired as her, maybe more. His arms were covered by deep scars, a memory of the Restraining Spell.

"And how are you doing?" asked Jackie.

"Me? Fantastic!" said Tom in a rush and then took it back. "No, that's a lie. Sorry. I am actually terrible b-but I'll live. Or not like 'live' like you do. I am undead. Kind of? Whatever the point is I'll keep existing so t-that's a victory, right?"

"It is in my book," said Jackie.

Know he knew how she felt. But again, if at this point he didn't 'get her', then nobody would. The calm didn't last however, because at that moment a pair of cops passed by, pushing an emergency bed. When they were in front of Jackie and Tom they stopped to talk with the medic in the ambulance.

Jackie's heart jumped to her throat. Sage was in the bed. It was the first time she had laid eyes on him since the Spirit World. Half of his face had been mangled and what was left of skin was burned up; doing little to hide his skull. All eyebrows and muscles were gone, leaving only his exposed eyes. By the look of it all right side of his body has suffered the same fate. Has Tom really done all that?

"This is not over Tomas," said Sage with a calm voice that betrayed his appearance.

Tom put an arm in front of Jackie as if shielding her from harm. Sage wasn't looking at him after all. His dark eyes were stuck on Jackie.

"You will pay. And so will you little girl."

He wasn't even angry. This was just an inconvenience to him. Jackie swallowed hard and tried to bring forward any leftover valor she had.

"Maybe in forty years. Enjoy your prison time," she said.

"I will."

And with that the cops pushed him away and carried him in an ambulance. Jackie deflated. The tears were rolling freely now, but she couldn't gasp or moan.

"It's alright. You are safe now," Tom put his arm around her shoulders. He was no longer afraid of physical contact. "He said that because you showed him right. Fuck that guy."

He was right. Jackie knew he was. Even with all the pain and fear, Jackie had stood up to Sage, not one but twice now. They had fought and she had survived.

"Yeah fuck him. He has no power over me," said Jackie, "Or you."

Tom's puppy smile was as bright as the day. And yet he kept staring at her in a weird way. Almost like he was trying to discover a mystery.

"Dude, what's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" said Jackie, but Tom didn't answer.

He didn't have the guts to inform her that the Dead Lights, the light of the Spirit World, now shined behind her eyes. That was a long talk due for another day.

"Just looking at your smeared make up," he lied.

"Oh, right. I must look like a freak. I don't even have a mirror, lost it with my purse," said Jackie.

Tom produced Jackie's purse out of his back. "This one?"

"Yeah that's the one! Where did you find it?"

"One of them cops gave it to me when I said I was your friend," said Tom shyly. "It looks like the cult had everyone's stuff locked in a closet. That cop was kind of irresponsible though. I-I mean, I could have said I was your friend and then ran away with your purse."

Jackie scoffed. "I can't imagine you doing that. I think rescuing damsels in distress is more of your thing."

Tom turned as red as a cherry tomato.

"I guess they didn't find my skateboard. Or my dad's pocket knife," Jackie asked.

"They didn't say."

Of course not. That would have been too much to ask for. Jackie opened her purse and went to her phone.

"32 missed calls from my dad!?" she shouted, and then added, "I thought they would have been more."

"You want to call him? I can give you space-"

"No no, the cops already told him what happened. He should be here any minute now."

Jackie found her pocket mirror and when she opened a loud gasp escaped her.

"What happened? You alright?" asked Tom.

"I look horribly!" shouted Jackie, not with rage or sadness but with humor.

She did look messed up. She was like one of those paintings of sad clowns. And that's not to mention the rat nest that was her hair. But on the bright side, Tom's magic had fixed her nose and eyes, so that's something to be happy about. If only he had mended her bags too.

"I-It's not that bad. You look…" Tom checked his mental dictionary, "Natural?"

"You are such a lousy liar!" said Jackie, "I look like the clown of 'It!"

The boy stopped any effort to hide his laughter. "Yeah y-you kind of have the look for it."

"I know!" said Jackie, "And you too!"

"I what?"

"You look horrible too! You look like a Hammer films' monster!"

The boy took offense to that and wrestled Jackie for her mirror. Now it was he who yelled.

"I am a mess!" shouted Tom.

It was truth. Only now Jackie realized that Tom had been wearing eyeliner the whole time, and that now it was totally smeared.

"Uh… well whatever. I am still a handsome devil aren't I?" said Tom.

Jackie covered her mouth.

"It's just that I am, how did you said it? 'Not feeling so hot right now'?"

So he did get her joke before! Except that this time he did laugh. And so did Jackie. She laughed and laughed because she was happy! She was alive. She went to literal Hell and back! And even after all that she could look at her smeared makeup and crack terrible jokes and laugh like a child.

And that gave her hope for tomorrow.

They hugged and laughed as loudly as they could. They didn't care when people turned around to stare, nor when the cops cleared the area of injured and criminals alike. So distracted they were they didn't notice the Blood Moon casting its red shadow on top of their heads as the first ray of sun peeked in the sky.

A new day has dawn. For both of them.


WOW, what a trip. Thank you all SO MUCH for reading this fic and for the amazing comments you gave me. They really made there few months memorables and help me keep going.

This is a big deal for me cause its the first 'long' fic that i ever finish. I had distanced myself from writing for a while and now i have returned. Its great knowing that i keep getting better and better with each day.

And now? Well i am going to post some more stuff.. some day. I have MANY plans for this fandom and this pairing (even though i will probably no write anything more with this particular au).

But for now on i will publish fics ONLY in spanish, my birth tongue. I wanted to publish in english to have a wider audience and as an language exercise. Now i see maybe it was a mistake. It was lenghty and difficult. I should stick to what i now and to my language. I just wanted to let you guys know that.

Well, not gonna explain myself anymore. Thanks again for reading and commenting!

BUENO, eso fue largo. Quiero agradecerles a todos los que leyeron este fic y a los increibles comentarios que me dejaron. EN serio, hicieron que estos meses fueran memorables y me ayudaron a no parar.

Este es un gran momento pra mi. Es la primera vez que termino de publicar un 'longfic'. Me habia alejado de la escritura por mucho tiempo, pero al final pude volver. Y me encanto ver como dia a dia iba a mejorarlo y ya no pienso abandonar.

Y ahora? Voy a seguir publicando fics!... Algun dia! Tengo MUCHOS planes para el fandom de esta serie y para esta pareja (a pesar de que ya no escribire nada con este AU en particular).

Pero a partir de ahora solo voy a publicar fics en ESPAÑOL, mi lenguaje materno. Quise pulicar algo en ingles para poder tener una audiencia mayor y tambien como ejercicio de escritura y para practicar el idioma. Ahora veo que fue un error. Tarde un monton y me costo horrores. Tengo que concentrarme en lo que se, en mi idioma. Solo queria que lo supieran.

Sin mas que decir, me despido. Y gracias de nuevo por sus comentarios! Ta luego!