A/N: I have a surprise in store for some reviewers. I'll let you all know on the final chapter. Oh! And if there are mentions from Cryptic Cravings and Immortal Hearts so if you're confused, message me!

Chapter. 20

*In Halloween Town*

Sometimes in life and in death you have to do things you never want to. No matter what it does to you. What happens to you. Only for the ones you love.

Jack watched as his children escaped through the portal, only some comfort came from it. He knew they would be safe, the humans who had taken in Raven would hide both Briar and her away, keep them safe from any harm. He hated himself for lying to Raven but he couldn't have her thinking this would be the last time they would see each other, he needed her to have hope for the both of them. "Jack?" A voice broke his concentration and he looked down to his wife, his queen Sally. The worry in her face made his anger boil, he was going to end whoever made his Sally suffer.

"They'll be safe." He wrapped his bony arms around her in attempted comfort but he wasn't sure now. The chances of these supernatural beings overpowering them and their small militia of Halloween Town was great and Jack knew it. Sally knew it. Everyone did. The two vampires at the front of the armada walked forward through the cemetery gates and stopped when there was only a handful of headstones between them and the Halloween royals.

"Jack Skellington." The male vampire said exposing fangs as he looked at the couple. From behind them, Halloween Town residents had gathered readying for a fight. The vampires that did dwell in the town were surprised to see their brethren on the opposed side.

"Constantine Sterling." Jack met his tone with authority. "Why have you come here and brought these others with?" Jack was a master at stalling. Constantine laughed and took another step forward.

"Now Jack you know very well what we've come for." Jack didn't budge and kept his stance, Sally safely behind him. "Your child."…..wait. He only said child, he didn't say daughter or Raven. They didn't know Raven was one of the Heirs. Jack held onto that fact and stared blankly at Constantine.

Cassandra spoke up. "Produce your Heir now and we will all peacefully go." Her voice carried that she knew something her husband did not and she looked deeply saddened by it. "Please." She knew. Cassandra knew the Heir that they had to end was her son's eternal love and it killed her.

"No." Sally moved from behind Jack. "You will not hurt my children, you will not damage what little joy we have left." Her voice wasn't that of the doll she had been created to be, not it was the voice of a queen, of a mother. Sally looked pleadingly to Cassandra. "Please, would you want someone to take your son? Or your daughter Athena?" That struck a nerve in both vampires.

"How dare you compare my children to your abomination!" Constantine howled and his fangs bared. The other supernaturals behind him did the same. "Dear Sally," Jack wasn't fond of his words or tone. "Did you say children?" The rag doll's eyes went wide and she quickly covered her mouth as if she could force the words back down her throat. From where Jack stood in front of his people he saw some Holidays there who protested Raven being born. The Pilgrims were still opposed as was the Easter Rabbit. Many vampires gathered among the edge of the woods but Jack couldn't recall any of them. All seemed intrigued by the idea of ending not only one but two Heirs.

"Please brother." One of the Halloween Town vampires stepped forward in all ghoulness. "Do not be closed minded."

"We have seen the children." Another, shorter one stepped forward using their umbrella to hide their face. "They do no harm and grow like any other. Neither shows any nature to harm others." Constantine was enraged to see his own kind going against him. "Do not make any foolish decisions on your own resentful notion." That didn't help.

Constantine let out a loud screech and focused back on the King and Queen of Halloween. "Produce both your children now or I will be forced to act!" But neither budged. "Fine, have it your way." But before he could act, something came through the portal. Someone did.

"Stop this!" Constantine smirked seeing who stepped through. Alexander and with him was Raven. "Father why are you doing this?" Alexander had Raven safely hidden behind him so no one could see her eyes even if the rest of her looked normal. "I have seen the Halloween Town Heirs, they are nothing like we thought. Both are like any other children, they are growing and kind." He tightened his grip on Raven who was still thinking of quickly outing herself. You see when Raven had stepped through the portal, a part of her mind made a last second decision and she had reached for Alexander who took her hand easily. They had both fallen into the portal and now ended up here. The only thing that Raven was surprised at was a fight hadn't broken out yet. Did time flow differently here? Probably not but she didn't understand why it seemed only a minute had passed here.

"Oh?" Constantine looked at Alexander. "Then tell me, my son. Who are these Heirs?" Alexander tensed and Raven slowly moved from behind him. She tried not to look too suspicious but the second she moved, the elder vampire's eyes was on her. He looked slightly saddened to see her and it gave Raven a little blossom of hope that he would change his mind. That hope was shattered by the look in his eyes. "Raven," his voice curled her name in a way she didn't like. "I am sorry for this happening to you but…" He took a deep breathe. "But I have obligations to my kind." And if you think Hell is when you see a body blow up in front of you, then you should tread carefully. One second Raven stood next to Alexander, in the next she was pinned against a mausoleum. Alexander went to pull his father off but his arms were pinned behind him by other, older vampires. Jack and Sally made their move but the Holidays quickly took them. "I do wish you didn't have to end like this." Constantine looked down at her and his gaze faltered when he saw the tears in her eyes. True, was slightly frightened seeing the blue and black but behind them he could see her green human irises and felt how he and Cassandra came to love her like a daughter. Was he really going to do this to her? Constantine shook his head and pulled a similar blade that Lillian had from his waistband, he had to.

Raven looked at the man who had only a year earlier said he would be pleased to call her his daughter. Her tears blurred her vision but she could still see his face and it hurt knowing how much Alexander looked like him. They had the same bone structure, same set jaws, wide brown eyes, everything. Raven closed her eyes waiting for the final blow. In a sudden rush, things started to fill her mind. Things, it seemed, she had heard or seen since before she could remember. Clearly in her head she could see the nights she spent awake watching Bela Lugosi's Dracula with Paul and Sarah. The day they brought Billy home from the hospital, her first day of school, meeting Becky in second grade. Getting in trouble for pranks and wearing sun glasses in class. She remembered everything from her childhood, the childhood she only had because Jack and Sally were selfless enough to let her go. A sob broke through her lips as she thought of everything that lead up to this day. The lies, the holding back, the truth. Everything flooded into her mind and her body went slack as she crumpled to the ground and out of Constantine's grasp. She wrapped her arms around her head as voices trailed in and she tried not to give in. The first time she had spent the night in Alexander's coffin, the first time they kissed on his couch, when they first spoke to each other, the night they first met. Halloween.

Raven gasped as something in her shook and clicked like a puzzle finally finished; parts of her burned, her neck, her hands, her back but she couldn't stop it. Only when she finally struggled to stand right did the burning stop and she heard gasps around her. Raven's eyes flew open and she took in the scene before her. Constantine was on the ground barely breathing like the wind had been knocked out of him, her parents were still restrained but they looked to her in awe. Everyone, supernatural and Holiday looked at her like they had seen something beautifully tragic appear before their eyes.

Alexander could only stare, his lips slightly parted as he took her in. She had been in Constantine's trap for a second before she crumpled to the ground and now…now she was standing, her posture perfect and her features that of what her true form was. Only advanced. The stitching on her mouth had continued down her face to wrap around her neck like a sick three wrapped chocker. The black tears that appeared below her eyes seemed darker bringing out the blue of her changing irises. No longer did her hands fade from black to blue but so did her now bare feet; the very light blue went up her body, her stomach and neck were now covered by it too. And her back…where a black t-shirt had covered was now ripped to shreds as to black bone protruded from her. A sick wet sound made everyone cringe as the bone unfolded to show off what looked to be leather wings. Not only just wings, bat like wings. Raven looked the epitome of Halloween and it's horrors.

She looked like the abomination the Vampires and Holidays feared she'd be.

A/N: I. Hate. This. Chapter. I know I say it a lot now but I genuinely do. I don't know where it came from but I don't like it and feel it's a filler.

Raven: you gave me badass wings, I think it's fine.

LBVBA: Thanx. Anyway, I should say it now, there's only two chapters left and maybe an epilogue and then you reviewers get your gift.

Raven: So review!