Ethan's POV

It was hard to see Austin flinch the way he did, when the huge guy grabbed Ally's arm. But I know Sarah would've never allowed it to happen if she had a choice.

I remember her tapping the ground, as if impatient, saying one last mental goodbye to Austin, Sarah and me before they dragged her out of the stadium.

We stand inside their Practice Room now, waiting for Jesse to make his appearance. Its time for the final confrontation, or at least, we hope this will be the end.

"Guys?" Austin speaks up, looking up from his piano, his eyes dark and gloomy. I can almost already tell what he's going to ask.

I shift uncomfortably.

"Wha…" He trails off. "What do you think he's going to do to her?" His voice caught, and he returned his stare to the keys. Sarah stood, walking over to the piano.

"It'll be ok, Austin. She's getting stronger by the minute, and she knows Trent well." She assures him.

My phone rings. Ally Dawson lights up the screen.

Both of them look at me. I click the answer button, then turn on the speaker.

"Um, hello?" I ask tentatively, not sure what I'm about to hear.

"Et…etha…" It is Ally.

"Oh my gosh, Ally? Can you hear me, are you ok?!" My voice rises. There's a long pause. Austin gets up from the piano and rushes over beside me.

"I…It's…ov…" Her breathing hitches, and the phone goes dead.

"No…No! Ally? Ally can you hear me!" Austin grabs my phone, yelling into it like a madman.

Nothing.

"They've hurt her! They've hurt her!" He drops to the ground, sobbing.

"She's going to die. And it's all my fault!" He covers his face with his hands, and my phone clangs onto the ground. It lights up again.

Sarah kneels down in front of it, and clicks answer.

"I hope you recorded her last words, Austin." Trent's voice booms. He laughs, the sound terrifying in its own way.

"What did you do, Trent?" Sarah shouts angrily. Her eyes glow, as she stares at the screen, as if she could be glaring at him now, personally.

"Oh don't be so morbid, Sarah. It's not pretty on you,"

We all turn to the voice, Austin wiping his eyes. Jesse shuts the door behind him, grinning like an idiot. Sarah ends the call.

I feel my hand ball up into a fist, even though I know it will do nothing to him.

"Jesse. Why are you doing this? What changed? What did they promise you?" Sarah steps forward. Austin forces himself up, glaring daggers at him.

"Sarah, I don't understand why you care so much about these nobodies? You shouldn't be fighting me. I don't want to hurt you…" He pauses, staring at his hands as if he'd written his dialogue on them, and then he looks to me. "And Ethan, after the Lucifractor, we were cool. You care about Sarah, I can see that. So why would you see her involved in this kind of fight? You can't win. You won't. Not against the new Council."

She growls at him, taking another step. I move to stand in front of Austin, before he can do something to get himself killed.

"They're my friends! Just like I thought you were. Why would you ever join Anastasia? And Trent, Trent? This isn't you. You don't follow anyone else's rules. But now you're going around as an unpaid assassin to people you don't even know?"

"You don't get it do you?!" Jesse steps back, his eyes turning gold, then flipping back to their natural.

She steps forward again.

"Then explain it to me? Explain why you would betray us all? Why Anastasia has you wrapped around her little fing-"

In seconds he's in her face, his breathing rough. Her breath hitches.

"Oh my god."

"Sarah? What is it?" I ask, holding my stance in front of Austin.

"You're not…but that's not possible! You're powers…"

"Sarah…" I probe further.

"The Lucifractor explosion took it all from me, Sarah. It wasn't immediate, but it happened. I'm half…I'm half mortal." Jesse confesses, their faces close enough to kiss.

"Then how have you been able to do everything you did? The glamours, the strength," Sarah trailed off.

"It's fleeting…" He starts.

"And if you don't follow through they'll find you and kill you. For good." She finishes for him. He nods slowly, backing away from her.

"There isn't any limbo for half-vampires, Sarah. This life will be my last."

"You don't have to do this, Jesse." I finally find the nerve to speak. All eyes go to me.

I can feel Austin tense behind me. I can only guess he wants us to kill Jesse now.

"Didn't you hear anything I just said, Ethan? Or are you just that dense!" His fangs extended, his eyes a dim yellow.

"You can run! There are places they will never find you. If you help us now, we can help you hide." I declare, and finally, Austin pushes out from behind me. I try to grab his arm, but he pulls away, getting as close as he possibly can to Jesse's face.

"How dare you give us that sad excuse for killing Ally. My Ally. She did nothing to you. She is innocent. Is anything ever not about you?!" He nearly shouts. Jesse doesn't flinch, instead placing two hands on Austin's shoulders, and shoving him back fiercely.

He falls back to the ground, but doesn't move to stand again.

"I'm done with the judgement! None of you understand! I thought maybe you'd hear me out, maybe you'd be able to overlook this one thing, for me! Two lives mean nothing in the span of time! I am not going to die for them, I won't let it happen, I won't!" He yells, ramming into me, both of us hitting the floor with a thud.

His elbow finds itself over my windpipe, and suddenly I can't breathe. I see Sarah trying her hardest, to get Jesse off of me. But it's not working. His strength is surely back.

Jesse looks away from me and at her as she pushes ferociously. I watch dizzily as Austin watches us, paralyzed in fear, it seems.

"This is what you wanted Sarah! This is what you wanted! I will not die for Austin and Ally, I WILL NOT!" He shouts crazily, placing all of his weight onto my throat.

I see him send her flying back at the opposite wall with a flick of his free hand, just before I lose consciousness.