Hallow Ends

This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.


I'd never been hit so hard. No Strigoi compared to my head being split opened against stone.

Nothing made sense.

Words just echoed in my head. My vision was unclear and incoherent; all I could see was black and grey and white all over. My brain was pulsing back and forth, tick and tock, as if blood was moving from side to side, wall to wall, bone to bone. It created a rush, a high, to fall over me like I wasn't even there. I was swimming...sinking...

The only thing that was clear, sure of, was the voice. It was loud and pounding, although that may of been my head - laced with a faintly faded Russian accent.

I tried to make sense of what he was saying, trying to look like I was paying attention, but I'm pretty sure the outcome was what I looked like in Stan's class during a lesson: eyes barely opened and drool running down the sides of the mouth.

He kept talking though. I wasn't sure if he was turned to me or at Avery since I couldn't see anything. The little rainbow colored dots kept dancing in front of my eyes swirling around like they owned me. Like I wasn't giving them something. Like they wanted me. As if they were alive.

But slowly they washed away, draining from my sight within a few minutes. Things became clearer and my feelings became more coherent. I could feel the dried blood sticking to my forehead, and the newer blood running slightly down the back of my neck. I felt the bone of my skull scream with pain as oxygen revealed itself to the inside of my head - literally. The world seized to be but all in the same was spinning in front of me.

My ears hinged in place as well. Sounds came back to me replacing the eerie hum of silence.

His voice.

"And poor, poor Roza. Now you have no where left to run." I had a feeling that I'd missed his entire speech.

"Dimitri?" I managed to croak. I pulled myself up onto my elbows only able to go so far attached to the iron, which now that I looked close enough had thin stems of ivy linked through the chains.

"Wrong," He answered swiftly, and if I wasn't so out of it I would have thought he was smirking.

I swore under my breath when the earlier hours of the day came back to me. Seeing James, being kidnapped, talking to Lissa through the bond, Avery's possession. It wouldn't surprise me if that had been what was happening to Eddie and the others. And now, Dimitri was no longer Dimitri. He was the one who had pretended to be a Strigoi - if he hadn't been faking in his possessed state -, the one who I'd seen in the mirror, who I saw on the dance floor. This was who was possessing him. The question was, if it hadn't been James like I thought - since James was hypothetically alive anyways, and you can't posses someone if you aren't dead - then who was it?

The dots began to dissolve and disappear into oblivion.

And my eyes met Dimitri's.

They were stark green, greener than Adrian's. The color contrasted greatly with his hair and toned skin, making it look like he was so much more than just a Dhampir, which was exactly the case. Right now he was a Moroi in a Dhampir's body, just like Lissa and Eddie and the rest of them.

I tried to figure out who had green eyes. What ghost have I met that had green eyes. I don't think-

Or have I?

Adelina once told me that Will - her Spirit welding bond mate - had brought her back to life when James stabbed her, but the process failed, that he couldn't completely cross her back over and that made her a ghost, able to stay here instead of the Otherworld. And he had green eyes.

But if he was a good guy, if he helped Adelina, then why would he be trying to hurt me and her now? I mean, Adelina was inside Avery. The two friends would have been reunited. He should have been happy.

No. I crossed him off the list.

"You see, Roza. I've lived for you. Literally. I've felt your fears and memories - kind of like your bond mate. I know who you are."

Lived for me? What did that even mean? He was now leaning down in front of me, staring at my face curiously. "Don't you remember not remembering?" He asked. More chills lined up through my spine.

Don't you remember not remembering?

The possession. I remembered everything I'd missed. I remembered the pain and sinful torture of him in my mind and body. Oh god.

This was Mikael. The same Mikael that Anna had warned me about - the leader of ghosts that wanted me to lead them. He must have seen the realization on my face because his smile grew even larger and his face drew nearer to mine. I could feel his breath on my cheeks and even though it was still Dimitri's lips blowing it I had to remember that this wasn't Dimitri.

"Bastard," I spit once I found my voice.

He ignored my insult though. "I'm glad you remember."

And then, Avery appeared back into the stone room through a small hole in the corner of the cave.

"The daywalker is awake," She said with a controlling voice. His attention snapped to her.

"Bring him here," A few moments later she reappeared through the hole which James in her arms.

And it looked like that the dead had beat the undead.

His hair was deflated and tangled and his eyeliner and glitter was smeared below and across his face. With contacts no longer in his eyes, the red gleamed against the dark rock. Blood was stringed into his eyelashes very visibly as if someone had tried to pull them out. His clothes were tethered and torn and coal black dirt scratched his arms and legs.

It looked like hell had finally claimed him.


"Why do they want us?" I asked a few minutes after they left me and James chained back to the wall.

"It's what they want with you actually. I just happened to be in the way when they went after you," He said grimacing. He was silent.

"Does it hurt? Seeing her again?" He sighed and looked in my direction from the other side of the cave. He looked reluctant to answer.

"That's not her. The old Adelina that I fell in love with was different. She wasn't power crazed, or out for revenge. She just wanted a happy normal life that she'll now never have because of Anna." He answered. "So no. It doesn't hurt. And as for what they want, well, I'm guessing Anna's around here somewhere. I'm guessing they decided that it's time to start fighting. They've given up on you turning by choice, so now they'll probably attack your mind all at once and take over. But since now they have other bodies to control I'm not sure they want you anymore."

"God..." I swore under my breath. "There as to be a way to destroy them! To stop this!" I shouted in frustration.

"Oh. There is," All time froze. My body seized in sudden anger at his words.

"Do you mean," I hissed through my teeth. "That all this time there has been a way to kill Anna. And you never told me?" I exclaimed.

"That's why I came to get you away from the academy!" He said firmly.

"Well...are you going to tell me?" I inquired after a moment.

"I would, but there's no point now. It's over. If not everybody, the majority of the students at Vladimir's has probably already been possessed."

"And what are they planning to do with the bodies?"

"Simple. Kill the guardians. That was the plan all along, they're just now going about it in a different fashion."

He confirmed what I already knew. "Just tell me how,"

He sighed in frustration. "Do you remember the bloodstone you got from Vladimir's grave? Well, the whole point you could use it to talk to Vladimir himself was because it was connected to him, to his death. To the other side. When it was destroyed in that fire, so was Vladimir, because they were bound together, him and the bloodstone, get it?"

Then I realized that he didn't know that the bloodstone hadn't been destroyed, but only broken. I opened my mouth to intervene, but he stopped me by speaking first.

"The same would apply to the other ghosts. If you bound them to a bloodstone and then destroyed it, it would destroy them as well."

"So why did you want to leave campus exactly?"

"Because we needed to get more bloodstone. We don't have the other one anymore-"

"Actually," I interrupted. "We still have it. It's not in one piece but it was never fully destroyed." I explained. His eyes widened.

"Where is it?"

My mood dropped even more. "The academy,"


Avery POV

I knew everything I was saying and doing and hearing, but I couldn't control any of it. I regretted everything that was happening to Rose and the daywalker Strigoi. It felt like I was the one causing them pain and hurt, but I couldn't do anything about it because it was no longer my body to own, to move.

But the connection to me and the spirit was the same. I could see her thoughts too, her past. I saw her old life as a human, her connection to Vasilisa...but it was one thing that attracted me to her past the most. Her death.

Her old friend, the Shadow Kissed one, the boy, he had tried to bring her back to life when she was stabbed by the daywalker. But he hadn't succeeded and she'd only been brought back half way. Her soul had been brought back, but not her body. This connection to her was uncanny to my situation.

And I put it all together.

When I was in the car crash with my parent, a spirit user must have found us and tried to heal me. But he or she didn't succeed and and it resulted in only bring back half of my soul. It brought back my body but not my soul. And now, when I died I would be reunited with my soul in hell. Because that must be where I was going.


Rose's POV

An hour later, we had an honest to god plan. A real one with a real outcome. The only way it wouldn't work would be if Lissa was too much of a wimp to come through for us.


Lissa's POV

My head burned from the pills that Dr. Olenski had provided me with. My magic was gone, but the pull was there. But I needed to get through for Rose. I needed to ignore my own selfish needs for one minute and help her. We'd been talking through the bond for almost an hour now, trying to find a solution for the problem.

The guardians refused to help. They were still reeling from the fake Strigoi attack and Rose missing. I couldn't find any of our friends so they were out of the picture.

Gosh, Rose. You seriously need to clean your room! I pulled open yet another drawer and tossed the clothes to the floor, searching for any sign of what might be the bloodstone.

"Hey, Lis?" I heard Christian call from the bathroom.

I tossed the remaining clothes back into the dresser and carried myself to the bathroom door where Christian was staring oddly at a small golden brown jewelry box sitting on the counter top.

"What's in there?" I asked curiously, swinging carelessly from the door frame and into the titled room.

"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it's what we're looking for."

Taking one last glace at him, I slowly slid my fingers around the cress of the lid, stopping at the lock, where I lifted the silver. It clicked without a noise. The lid was light and raised easily. Inside it was a dark mahogany wood carved deeply with ivy designs. And sitting on the floor of the box was a necklace. It was the rose chain that Uncle Victor had given her for taking me safely to Massoula and back.

And next to it was a pile of small green gemstones. The pieces of the bloodstone. I sucked in a breath reached inside curling my fist around the jagged chucks, scraping my hand in the process.

"Let's go."


(I just finished writing this and realized that I somehow switched from Lissa's point of view to third person. Don't ask me how that happened...)

The door handle was boiling. The lock inside was melting. The copper burned a bright red as it started loosing it's form and sinking inwards. Christian stared at it harshly, eyes squinted, watching it burn. Lissa, next to him, was swinging her head back and forth abrasive watching out for incoming guardians or professors.

"Hurry up!" She hissed under her breath.

"I'm trying!" They stood in front of Mrs. Carmack's private room in teacher housing, trying to break in, and the quickest way they could figure to find a way in was to burn the knob, since neither of them knew how to pick a lock.

And finally the door swung loose, falling from the hinge. That hadn't exactly been the plan - burning the whole thing off the wall - but if it worked...

Christian pushed the door aside. Once he and Lissa were in he securely, well, as well as he could, fit the door back into place.

The room looked completely different from the student dorms. The bed was a double for one, and was covered in a canary colored comforter. Because it was pushing against the wall instead of in the center of the room, a large body pillow filled a good part of it. The walls were each painted a different colored: purple, red, yellow, and orange, completely contradicting the the white carpet and black tiles on the baseboards and spread carelessly along the edges of the ceiling.

And in the corner was a huge floor to roof bookshelf built into the red wall. Ancient looking texts lined the many shelves, most dusty brown or rusting black. They weren't just any books. They were magic books, containing the oldest of magics going back to the beginning of Lilith.

"That's probably our best bet," Christian said behind her, taking in the room.

Despite the pills, Lissa could tell he was right. She could feel the magic pull to the books. They wanted her to look at them.

She ran her finger over the bindings on the top shelf, her Moroi height finally coming into advantage. She wasn't sure which volume they were looking for. Rose hadn't specified so she assumed that she hadn't known. All she had was to go on was her gut instinct. But she knew it had to be older than the rest and preferably contained dark magic. Or darker than usual.

"What are we looking for?" Christian asked coming up next to her. She grabbed a random book and shoved it into his chest.

"You're looking for a binding spell. And I suggest you skim fast because I have no idea when Mrs. Carmack is going to be back."


They were still in luck an hour later. Half the books had been thrown across the room and while they'd covered a lot they still hadn't come across the right combination of spells.

"There is so much in these," Lissa admired enthralled in the magic and fantasy.

"Lissa, we're here to help Rose, not learn the forces of nature. You know that," True, she'd only hit half the books Christian had because she was reading them in more detailing instead of just scratching the titles. But she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to be curious about things she couldn't have.

"I know, I know. I want to know everything. Those cults and hidden covens are right. If we could just use this magic, our magic, to fight with the guardians we'd be twice and strong and more durable."

"Lissa." Christian looked up from his book sharply. "We can talk about this later."

"But-"

"No, Lis."

"But I found it!" Lissa hopped onto her knees from the bed holding the book in the palm of her hand, using her other fingers to read the lines on the paper. "It says right here: Infernal Bonding - The process of binding a soulless creature of the undead to any blessed object upon choosing." She read directly from the creased crumpled yellow pages excitedly.

They'd found their weapon.


Underneath the janitor's basement below the cafeteria was a cellar used to store old textbooks and new chemistry chemicals and such on. But now, the books and solutions had been pushed to the side of the cement walls and Christian was locking the wrought iron gate-like door that held them inside. They couldn't be Lissa was following the exact instructions in the grimmour, drawing a thick line with salt.

She was no where near a witch, but her spirit should be enough to channel the energy needed to cast the binding spell.

"Now what?"

Lissa didn't respond, but stepped inside the circle before closing it with the remaining salt. "Now I contact Rose."


Rose's POV

Me and James sat waiting in silence for what had to have been a few hours before we got a response.

We got the book and the bloodstone. The spell is ready to cast but I kind of have nothing to cast it on... Lissa's voice echoed through my head without warning startling me from my thoughts.

I filled James in on the progress and couldn't help but feel the adrenaline shoot through me. It was finally time for the end.

Now, I thought carefully choosing my words, you do exactly what the spell says, no matter what it is, and transmit it through me. I'll do the rest.

And suddenly, I felt heat and energy flowing into me, lighting me up and smoking me out. My skin burned and tingled and the ground shook beneath me.

James was staring at me curiously.

Though not for long, because only a second later the changes around my wrists and ankles melted, burning so hot and fast. My skin smouldered with ash and smoke as steam erupted from the stone walls around us. Lissa's words filed into me. Tenebris Celso Tkhe nuntius ut sunt de-Tempus, knov tuam Enem officium Tkhe Instituti corpus cogitari Andes. SOLUM Chang Tkhe iura officium est Mens Tkhe tenebris. Dissimilis Tkhe realis natura-de-facto blatskness sanguinario. Revenga super eget, Luxuria, Monya Andes chang ... nos sunt. Caecus nos sunt. Unvake nobis. Chang irrumabo INTE Tkhe propositum tenens officium Tkhe University.

And the cave exploded.


When I woke, I was laying on soft grass in the middle of a huge field. The only thing in sight was green grass, fields and fields of it. And of course, the burning rock and stone behind me. The cave had collapsed and I had been blown from it. Now it was just a heap of dirt and rock with flames licking the sides. That spell was more powerful than I thought.

I looked around for James but found nothing. No Dimitri or Avery either.

The sun was setting against the horizon and I could tell we only had a few minutes of daylight left.

Lissa? After a few minutes I gave up on getting a response. I had no idea how the spell would have effected her but I could only hope that she was okay. And where did that leave me? Was the spell finished? Did something else need to happen? Was I lost? Had I lost? I answered my own question when a girl appeared in front of me.

She was no older than twelve. Black hair hung loosely to her hips and starking blue eyes stared back at me. Child Anna. Black flames were circling her in a fiery dance.

On the ground in front of her the grass was gone and humid brown dirt covered the small pieces of bloodstone.

That's when I realized that destroying this would also destroy Vladimir, like James had said. But I didn't have a choice. It was me or her.

Lissa's spell came back to me.

"Please Rose! Let me out of here! Don't let me die!" Her whines were childlike in her state and more high pitched. It was so sad but I couldn't let myself look at her face in fear of giving in.

The bloodstone began to glow and smoke, like the rock behind us.

"I'm so sorry Anna. But this needs to be done," I said. My last words to her. And then I closed my eyes and Lissa's subconscious sent me the remaining words of the incantation.

"Fieri." The black flames engulfed her body and she shrieked out in pain. Her arms flew out in the airs and her head flung backwards.

And then she was gone. The blank spot in the grass was there and the bloodstone was sending sparks of fire in every direction, lighting the darkened sky like fireworks. And an explosion occurred again. I was pushed up from the ground and flung at least a dozen meters from where I had been.

I landed from the blow a second later with my hands and knees buried into wet dirt and grass. I could feel blood seeping painfully from my palms. My head lifted from the ground and peaked through my hair, seeing Dimitri's face on the other side of the field. He unconscious but breathing. He was free from the souls.

And Lissa, and Eddie, and Adrian, and Avery… God, relief washed over me. I had finally killed her and sent her soul to the Otherworld. The spirits were retreating, weakened without a leader, free to live – or…do whatever ghosts did – their own lives without a force compelling them. Everyone was in peace.

With sparks of fire falling from the darkened sky, a new feeling – never felt before – filled my chest. It was hopeful, and gentle, and pressing, but all in the same needy and wanting…

Victory.

Because the battle was over. Nightfall had come.


Not with a bang, but a whimper.


Kind of Anticlimactic, huh? Well, if you've read my other stories then you know I suck at beginnings and endings, but whatever...

LotD is finally complete! Thanks for all those who reviewed and helped! I've come to the conclusion that there will be NO epilogue or sequel. I'm kind of tired of writing VA fan fiction for now. I might pick back up on it soon, but for now, no.

And now that I've gone back and read the first 15 chapters or so I've realized that throughout the entire story my timing has been way off. I mean, half the chapter it's day time and then four minutes later it's the middle of the night - like chapter 12 for example. So I apologize profoundly for any confusion.

xxElisabeth