Note: I have not given up on this story. I just hit a road block on writing it. I have been trying to finish this chapter for months and I put writing all other fics to the side to finish this chapter. My spirits, it was hard. Now, I need to get to work on finishing the next chapter. Endings are hard because I have to tie everything together just right and I wanted to end it in such a way that... is not very easy... Review please!

Finding the coffin had been easy, Matt thought to himself. It was as if something had wanted them to find it. He imagined that there were a lot of souls damned because of this curse. He could understand that there were those willing to help them, but a part of him was worried. These spirits could also be trying to trap them. Dr. Clark seemed ready to run if need be, but that didn't mean that would save her.

"We should turn back." He whispered to her, but she just ignored him. Something was wrong here. He could hear whispers in the wind. They wanted fire and death to pay for there years of suffering. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. He wondered if she could hear it to.

"I will not leave her." Dr. Clark snapped. She turned to face him and was surprised to see that he was no longer focused on her. "What are you doing?"

"Listening." He said.

"To what?"

"To them."

"You can hear them now?" Dr. Clark asked. This was new.

"I guess." He said as he raised a finger. "Fire, Burn. They keep saying that over and over."

"They want us to burn her." Dr. Clark smirked.

"Yeah...but which her?" Matt pointed out that it could be any female.

"Why the witch of course." Dr. Clark huffed out.

"There are two of them, Melody and the one that cursed her." Matt shook his head.

"She's not a witch." Dr. Clark shouted.

"Maybe not in this life, but she was a witch..." Matt closed his eyes as he thought about her. This whole plan was looking so stupid as time went on. They should have taken her as far away as possible and trained her in magic, if that was possible. This was her battle, not his as he had pointed out before, and they were just getting in the way more than helping.

"What good would that do? Burning Melody I mean. They did that once and it did nothing but curse people."

"They are angry and scared." Matt frowned at her. "Cursed for hundreds of years, I doubt they can think clearly."

"If we burn the other witch, would that save Melody from the spirits?" Dr. Clark questioned.

"I'm not sure." Matt said as he thought it over. "But we should hurry. The longer we wait around the greater the chance they will kill Melody before we can help her."

xxx

Norman, Tessa, Neil and the white haired man ran towards the tombs. They paused at a fork in the road. Tessa turned her head left and right unsure which path to follow. She glanced at Norman and placed her hands on his shoulders. He looked into her face as he tried to understand what she was doing.

"I sense darkness down both paths. What do you want to do? We could split up, but I have no idea which road will go towards her and which will go to something else..." Tessa explained. "What do you want us to do?"

"What's going on?" Neil asked. He couldn't see or hear Tessa, but knew that they had paused for some reason. "Is something wrong?"

"No...yes... kind of." Norman sighed out. "We have to pick one of the two roads before us."

"And you don't know which path leads to Melody." Neil sighed out. "We could split up."

"That's not wise." Tessa muttered. "Anyway he goes will be dangerous. Unlike you, this dark spirit won't mind killing him or worse."

"You could all go one way and I can go the other." Norman stated.

"If you find her...like the way she was before, would do you the same thing again?" Tessa questioned. Her voice sounded very tight. It was clear that she was worried about something.

"I don't understand the question." Norman narrowed his eyes in thought. What was she getting at?

"Just know that sometimes acting on what is right can be wrong." The white haired man stated. "That's why we're here."

"Just think before you act." Tessa sighed out. "And we'll meet you when we're done. Tell your friend we're ready."

"Norman? What are they saying?" Neil wondered why he kept following his friend. Half the time he was clueless about what was going on.

"They want us to be careful, to think before acting." Norman said. "They said they would watch over you. If anything tries to attack you, run as fast as you can away from here. They'll cover you."

"Right." Tessa nodded her pretty head.

"Okay." Neil nodded his head as he tried to be brave.

Xxx

Willow Song? Melody Pine? Aria Evergreen? Carol Maple? Who were they? Who was she? It was like images floating in her head. A multitude of pictures, sounds, and scents crashing into her. She couldn't tell up from down or right from left. All she could pick up was his face, that face. The face that caused her curse. The face that gave her so much joy and sorrow. Norman! John! There were other names for him, just as many names as there were for her, but that didn't matter. All that matter was that in each life they crossed paths, he did everything he could to help her. No matter what they faced, he always stood by her. Some lives he died from protecting her. Others, he failed and had to live with that.

Willow, Aria...they said that such a kind person, one who showed true goodness in the face of darkness time and time again, were rewarded for their actions. Norman was such a person. His powers, and the ones he would get after his death, were gifts for being so noble. It was the least he deserved for all his help throughout all their shared lives together.

"Melody?" A voice called out to her. She glanced up to see Carol reaching out to her. "We need to end this. We need to let go. Running has done nothing but hold everyone we care about back. We're a curse on this Earth."

"I made a mistake." Willow stated in a saddest voice imaginable. "I thought I was doing the right thing...I was selfish...and it now look at us."

"I don't know..." Melody cried out. But she did know, she did know what to do. Somehow all their lives flashing in her mind, all the pieces they had picked up, they were telling her what to do. "I'm scared."

"We know." Aria cried softly. "We are too."

"I'm sick of being scared though." Another woman stated. Melody didn't know this one. It was odd to see someone so much younger than the others. Why was she so young? She was just a child. "I'm sick of being attacked, of people saying I'm crazy."

"I don't know you. I don't know recall you." Melody whispered.

"I was the first." The girl seemed so sad. "The first born cursed. I had the displeasure of being born in the town that killed us. SHE was still alive at the time. She saw me...knew who I was...it is best you don't remember me...but I know the words you need to say... she whispered to me before she understood who I was..."

"Spirits! Hear my words. I beg you to touch me not. I beg you to let me suffer." Melody said as she watched the girl. Slowly, as the words came to her, she started to see the child's life. Melody saw what became of the little girl. Truly, there wasn't a life untouched by horror since the curse was cast. It was because of this child that Helen lost her life. "I am filled with a darkness inside me. It shall end with my days, and rightly so...with my pain and blood at it's highest. Let my suffering bring peace to those I have wronged, for I am not innocent and I have no light left within me. I beg the spirits of above and below...give me no mercy for the crimes I have done. Aid me not with a quick end...let me burn as I should. Please, ignore my cries. Ignore my breath. Let this be the end of me..."

Melody felt the child, and the other women, leave her. She could feel her senses returning to her. She could feel smoke burning of her throat. She could feel the heat of hot flames all over her body. Her eyes teared up as she tried to see through the smoke. She saw a mass of faces. They were looking at her. She couldn't make out what they looked like, nor their reactions to her upcoming death. She wondered if they were pleased with her fate. She sobbed out as she prayed for their freedom. She hoped that they would be freed of their curse. They had suffered enough. They had all suffered enough.

Xxx

"Okay." She huffed out. "It should be just around this way." They had been running towards the bottom of the tomb. Mat had felt as though something was behind them. He hadn't been sure what, but he wanted them to finish up soon.

"Yeah, that looks like the right crest." He nodded his head as he raced ahead of her. He touched the top of it to see how he could open the wall. There appeared to be no way to open it without smashing the wall to pieces. He bit his cheek in thought. He wondered how they could break it open. It was highly possible that the witch spelled her grave.

"How did you do that?" Dr. Clark questioned when the wall started to part and the coffin slowly floated out.

"I didn't." Matt stated in awe. He had no clue what was going on.

"That would be Tessa and her boyfriend." Neil said as he finally made it down. "They're like spirits helping us."

"Spirits?" Matt didn't believe that at all. He couldn't sense any spirits, just a strong light near by.

"Well, Norman said they were kind of like angels, but not." Neil frowned. He really didn't understand it himself.

"Knights? Of the Light?" Matt smirked. "That's a myth."

"What?" Dr. Clark felt more confused.

"It's...a high honor given to souls that show amazing light through all their lives. They gain great power and spend their spirit lives helping to save others from dark forces. It's a story." Matt explained. "They can't be seen by just anybody...Norman can see them? Hn, that's amazing."

"Ugh, we don't have time for more spirit stuff. Let's just burn this thing and leave." Dr. Clark shouted. "I really, really will kill myself if you add any new, crazier information right now. This was meant to be simple and you're ruining it!"

"It's never simple." Neil pointed out. "When you think it's one thing, it's really another."

"Kid's right." Matt agreed. "Never simple."

"I'm kind of scared to set it on fire." Neil said after some thought.

"Yeah, I mean ghouls could come out of the wall or something." Matt pointed out.

"Or it could rip us apart." Neil added.

"Or-" Matt was cut off as the body of Heather was set on fire.

"Or we just burn the thing and be done with this whole shit!" Dr. Clark yelled.

Matt pulled out his lighter and tossed it to Dr. Clark. She gave him a look of confusion. Why was he giving it to her? Neil took a few steps back. Matt huffed out a curse as he moved closer to the stone tomb. The two gave her a knowing look.

"If you want to lit this baby, by all means do it." Matt pointed to the coffin. "I'm only going to help open it and leaving the rest to you."

Dr. Clark frowned. What was there to fear from a rioting body? From what the doctor could tell, the dead woman could only harm Melody. So far, she hadn't hurt anyone else... The doctor went to smash the coffin to pieces, but felt a hand on her wrist. She could feel her bones crushing under the hold. She looked at it to find that no one was holding her. She pulled back her arm and felt the pain release from her body. Her eyes were wide with horror.

"What was that?" She whispered.

"That was a good defense." Matt bit his lip in thought. "Now, let's think of a way around it."

xxx

Smoke. Norman could see smoke in the distance. His mind raced as he thought of the reason why a fire would be burning at this hour, in the middle of the woods. They were burning something. They were burning her. It was just like time. They were burning her because of him. He had failed her once again. It was all his fault. Norman fell to his knees as the cold, horrible truth set in.

"Come on! You can't save her if you don't get moving!" Norman heard someone yell at him. Norman was shocked to find the white haired man with him. The teenager was surprised by this. He thought that the man would be with Tessa.

"Hey, are you listening?" The man yelled. "You can still try to save her, or will you live the rest of your life in this moment. Regret and hollowness. At least if you keep trying...you won't feel so hollow, so empty. But if you just lay here, if you give up, she was nothing. You're her only hope. She's counting on you."

"On me?" Norman realized how true those words were. Melody's mother had given up on her, tossed her away. Her father was gone. She had no family, friends. She had no one looking out for her. Melody had put her faith in Norman. She had let him in and now he was sitting on his knees. What was wrong with him? This was no time to give up. Until he held her dead body, he had no reason to believe she was truly gone. Norman rose to his feet.

"Okay, that's much better."

xxx

Tessa stood in the graveyard as she stared at the stone door. How was she going to open it? She could sense the souls inside, three living and a few spirits. She could also sense strong dark magic. She needed to get inside in order to keep her word. She had promised to help Norman. She doubted the ghost seeing teen would like his best friend to die.

"Alright door, I can't knock you down. I can't dig under you, because zombies pop up. That means you have left me no choice but to burn a hole through you. Since you have been able to know and defend against all my actions, I am willing to bet that you have some kind of life force." Tessa's hands lit on fire. "I highly believe that you will be able to feel me burn a hole into you and that it will hurt."

Tessa lifted her hands and took aim at the door. She started to cut into it and a loud moan could be heard echoing from deep within the tomb. The angel type being smirked as she kept making her hole. She heard another loud moan and soon the stone door started to shake. Tessa knew that it, the tomb, was starting to break under the pain. The door flow open and Tessa stopped her assault.

"Stay open or I'll do worse." The cherub threatened. She flicked her hair out of her face and walked into the tomb. She heard the sound of voices and the movement of spirits. She bit her lip wondering how her boyfriend was doing and why she let him talk her into this. They should have never parted ways. He was going to get himself killed without her. At least she was strongly gifted in the light.

Xxx

"I rather do not understand." Heather stated as she watched the fire burn. "So much fight...has it all gone from you? Have you seen your error after all these years and lives?"

"Have you?" Willow asked as she appeared behind the ghost of Heather.

"Hn, using this moment to speak with me instead of finding a new host. It does not seem very wise." Heather smirked.

"In this life, my soul has no wish to go on. While I doubt in such things as heaven, I believe that it is time to see what is on the other side of this realm." Willow explained. She seemed tired. "Do you not want to know?" She seemed to be fading in and out.

"I want him to be mine." Heather hissed out. "And it seems that your body wants you to return. If you do not go back, you will die and be mine all over again."

"I highly doubt that this will go on for much longer." Willow sighed out. "I sense our ending is coming near. What will you have if I do not return? If you are unable to touch me, find me? Will you have anything at all?"

"I will have him." Heather snapped out. "He will be mine. You will not keep us a part."

"I have never kept you a part." Willow pointed out. "He did not wish to be with you. You poisoned his mind through drink. Did you think he would find that agreeable? Did you think he would want to be with you? Has he shown any signs he wishes to return to you in any life?"

"Shut up." Heather screamed as she covered her ears. She felt horrifying truth trying to break its way through. Willow faded back into Melody's body and the choking girl woke up with a start. While the flames were close, they had yet to touch her. The smoke made it hard to see and it filled her lungs. She kept fading in and out. There was no telling how much longer she could keep this up. She only hoped that it would all be over shortly. She was sure that it would all be over shortly.

Xxx

"Heather!" Norman screamed with a deep rage. He could see the fire roaring half a mile behind her. It was clear that the ghost was crying.

"Why? Why are you screaming?" Heather seemed to be confused. "I am freeing you, freeing us. The witch will die and we can be together again." The white haired man frowned and narrowed his eyes. He tried to think of a way around the dark spirit. If he could get close to the flames, he could use his powers to stop them.

"Us? There is no us." Norman tried to reason to her. "This is just wrong."

"No! This is right. We must point an end to her and than you will see. You will see how she waved her dark magic onto you. She caused this. She cursed us. But soon you will be free and come back to me." Norman didn't understand how she could believe that. Heather had been the one using black magic. She had tried to control him.

"You can't believe that." Norman tried to think of something else to say, anything at all. Words were failing him. He couldn't think with Melody roasting to death. She needed him. Melody needed him.

"You think you love her?" Heather sounded shaky. "But you can not love her. You do not know her. She is some woman that lived in the wilds. No manners, no respect. She acted as though you meant nothing to her and took you to her bed at night." She sounded disgusted. "She bewitched you and that is why..."

"Your spells failed?" Norman finished. "That had to be the only reason your charms were failing? What if it was something else? What if I love her? What if it was I that forced her to look at me and see that she cared for me back? Did it cross your mind that this had nothing to do with magic?"

"Of course it was magic! Why else would you want her?" Heather screamed.

Norman spied behind Heather's ghostly form. He saw the white haired man moving slowly towards the fire. The ghost seeing teen didn't feel sure that he should trust this man, but he had to believe that this being could help. Norman frowned as he thought about what he was about to say.

"Do you know what love is?" Norman asked. He could hear a whisper in the wind.