~Chapter Thirty-Six~

Violent Ends: Part 1

Images. Blurry, confusing, and contorting images was all Rose could see for a few moments as she silently laid in a cold, dark and detached world. Strange sounds filled her mind's eye and it sounded like she was underwater still.

Then… pain.

Intense, excruciating pain crept across her senses, as she came back to consciousness, and more than ever she wished it wouldn't. For once, she wished that she could stay in that place of peace and pain-free darkness and forget all of her troubles. A small part of her, inside her mind however, was telling her to not give in and to wake up. Kevin was here, it was before sunset… and she had to rise to fight for and protect her Clan, Brooklyn, and all that she held dear.

But she still couldn't move. Her heart was pounding inside of her head and intense pain was searing across every inch of her skin, pulling her from that comfortable state of unconsciousness. Another pull from deep within her soul forced her to open her eyes.

When she did, nothing made sense and she didn't know where she was. Her vision was still blurry, but after blinking and breathing a few times, she finally came to. She was lying on her side out in the living room of the castle, and was bound by something stiff and hard. Gasping in the air, she twisted and turned weakly and found that her wrists were tied behind her back by rope, as were her knees, and that same rope was gagged around her mouth; pressing painfully against her broken face.

Finally aware of what was happening, she ignored the pain in her face and entire body, rotated around trying to see where Kevin was, but heard someone struggling a great deal near her. Blinking in shock, she rotated to her other side, and beside her on the stone floor was Xanatos; who was bound as well, but conscious.

Her eyes widened at seeing him awake, but at more so seeing that he was frantically squirming and trying to get out of his own ropes. He was yelling muffled words through his gag, and straining a great deal. She watched him struggle in shock for a moment, before his eyes met hers. They, too, widened and held her gaze with desperate he yelled something at her, but because the gag was placed against his mouth; she didn't know what he was saying.

"Wht?" She asked through her own gag, the words barely audible.

"Ha Lan." He yelled, struggling to get loose from his ropes, and again, she blinked and shook her head at him.

"Wht?!"

He struggled again, roared out against his binding and then screamed, "LAN! THE LAN!"

"Lan?" She asked, then something deep inside of her awakened. Hers and Brooklyn's soul-bond warning her of danger, and then Xanatos' words suddenly made sense and why he was so desperate to get out of the rope.

Rose gasped, rolled over onto her back and then again onto her other side and looked out towards the platform where the Clan was still in stone sleep.

The sun wasn't yet down.

And Kevin was nowhere to be seen… then she understood.

DANGER! DANGER! Her soul-bond was screaming, making her own escape just as desperate as Xanatos'. The Clan was in danger- Brooklyn- Kevin was out there with them… most likely about to smash their stone figures.

"NOOO!" She screamed against her gag, closed her eyes and willed her magic to come and aid her. Kevin's magic had halted her, bound her, but there was no trace of it now. He had moved onto his other kill; thinking so foolishly that he had her, and he did for the moment, but not now.

Never again.

Rose screamed out, rolled around and did everything she could to fight against the painful binds that were cutting into her skin, but nothing was working. She needed something sharp to cut them.

Then the idea hit her.

With a careful whip of her wrist, she wielded a small dagger and eased it up to cut the ropes off. The sharp blade was cutting into her hands, but she didn't care, as long as she cut her wrists free. With each press of the blade into her hand she made to ease up against her wrists, she had to scream and keep screaming; willing the pain to encourage her to keep going. The blade was so close to cutting through the rope.

Agonizing seconds passed as she cut into the rope and the blade pressed into her hands. She closed her eyes and was praying for relief, praying for her efforts to make the pain worth it. Finally, her wrists snapped free from the rope.

Gasping out in relief, she quickly took the dagger in her bleeding hands, cut her legs free, then cut her gag free. Breathing out a breath of fresh air and ignoring the pain everywhere, she then jumped for Xanatos to cut him free.

"Xanatos!" She cried out, but he screamed at her and shook his head.

"NO!" He yelled through his gag. "Te Lan! The LAN!"

Instantly, she understood what he was saying. His eyes were pleading with her to save the Clan, and then come back to free him.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yhes! GO!" He yelled, his eyes telling her that she should have left minutes ago, so she took off running towards the platform, leaving him behind. With each running step, her body was bleeding and aching horribly, but her instincts were screaming at her to save Brooklyn, to save her family.

Rose ran through one of the doors that led outside, stopped dead and gasped in horror. The Clan were all still whole and accounted for, but Kevin had two swords in his hands and was stalking towards Brooklyn. To kill him off first. Rose whipped her head and saw that it was a few minutes from sunset and she had to hold him off until the Clan awoke.

But it was too late.

Kevin raised a sword over her mate's frozen head and brought it down.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Rose screamed, unable to reach him, so she activated her magic and sent it over to Kevin's sword, stopping it and shielding Brooklyn. Kevin's sword froze in her magical bind and was inches from hitting Brooklyn's head.

"What the-!?" He gasped, then turned to see Rose awake and free of his rope. Upon seeing her, his shocked face went from shock to full rage. "NO!"

"Get the HELL AWAY from my family!" She screamed and ran forward, while still holding Kevin's blade from smashing Brooklyn with her magic.

"I don't know how you got free, you bitch…" He snarled, forcing his magic to free his sword from her hold. "But you're going to wish that you didn't!"

Still running, Rose activated two more swords from her wrists with a scream, and went for him with everything she had. Kevin's black eyes lit up with excitement and took her on. Rose slid across the stone and swiped one of her swords to behead him, but dodged it. Using amazing flexibility, he leaned backwards as her sword swiped across where his face was, and then came up gracefully. He was watching her with mocking amusement, as if he were watching a child fighting him; and it enraged her even more.

With another scream, she sent her other sword forward to penetrate his chest; but he blocked it with his own sword.

"Oh, I see. You wanna fight dirty?" He asked, gripping his two swords tightly. "Fine! Let's go then, Rose my darling. You and me… just like old times!"

Gritting his teeth, he then came at her with all he had in him. Rose's body was in complete pain, but her hatred from the monster in front of her was everything she had been training for. The pain she felt now was nothing compared to the pain he caused her, all of the abuse she had endured, for all of these months. And it was coming down to this moment.

With every clang, swipe and stab of her long swords; she was met with his resistance. Together, her and Kevin dueled with their swords in an enraged battle. Rose couldn't believe that she had the energy to keep up with him like she was, but the fact that she was able to still face him and fight; was nothing short of a miracle. However, he was strong, a lot stronger than she remembered and she was weakening with every ounce of energy she was spending. But she couldn't give up… not while the sun was still up and her Clan was still stone and helpless.

Screaming out in rage, she swiped one of his swords out of his hands. It flipped through the air and fell across the platform; and they both watched it fly away, but then he retaliated and did the same thing to her. His sword hit hers so hard that it vibrated through her entire body, and flew away across the platform, near where his went. She watched it go, but realized quickly that pausing during their battle was a mistake. With a roar, Kevin raised a leg up and kicked her hard in the abdomen, meeting her shield, and sent her flying against a nearby wall.

Rose grunted out upon impact, and slid to her backside, groaning, but Kevin's eyes widened upon seeing his boot meet a shield. With another roar, he joined her and pinned her against the wall with his own body. He then grabbed onto her hand that held the sword, held it above her head, and then used his magic to freeze every inch of her. She gasped out as his magic, which was as cold as ice, entered her body; and like a Draugr's ability he held her body and mind captive. He then grabbed her neck with his other hand, and held on tightly, not necessarily to kill her-but hold her attention.

"You really thought that you could beat me?" He mocked her, as she continued to struggle against him. His black eyes were piercing into hers and with a clench of his fists, he broke every bone in her hand, making her drop the other sword.

Screaming hysterically, Rose kicked and flailed, trying and failing to get away, but Kevin held her against the wall and brought his face inches from her.

"You've grown a lot weaker than I remember you being, Rose." He paused, squeezed some more on her broken hand, relishing in her screams and cries of torture again, and then stopped. "It's sad and pathetic! No wonder your parents wish to bring you to Hel and rid you of this weak shell that is crumbling before me. For being the daughter of death, and Hel's next greatest weapon, you're a disgrace, and a complete embarrassment."

Kevin slowly crept closer to her face, continued to hold her body frozen in his magic, and brought his face inches from hers. His black eyes pierced into her hazel ones.

"I can see, deep down, the great and powerful darkness that you are withholding from emerging, and it's so disappointing that you don't let her out. And what for, Rose? For your Gargoyle monster? For… love…?" He spat the last word out and tightened his grip on her neck.

She could only stare into his eyes, those empty, black eyes, and couldn't move. Her magic was bound again, her body betraying her as he held her tightly.

"Love may be powerful, my darling Rose, but I have learned that true love doesn't exist." He sneered. "Only true, raw, unadulterated hatred and rage has made me into who I've always been inside. It has made me into who I am now!" He sounded so proud of what she was seeing in front of her, and it made her sick. And angry.

"And who is that, Kevin?" Rose choked against his grip, daring to piss him off. "All I see is a corpse! A rotting, dead, empty shell of a person who had so much potential for good, but is no more. Hela's magic may have given you some form of life again, but you are merely her puppet now. You are under her control, doing her bidding, and for once… you're getting a taste of your own bitter medicine."

Rose paused, took a gasping breath in through his hold and spat, "You're her little bitch now, Kev, and you will forever be filled with an emptiness that will never be filled; like drinking alcohol that'll never again ease your pain and addictions, food to never fill your hungry belly, love... to never again fill your heart and make life worth living…" She paused, gasped and choked as his gloved hands tightened around her neck and his black eyes pierced into hers with a hatred that would have killed her, if looks could really kill.

But she kept going.

"And you speak of love as if we never had it… but you… you did have it! I loved you, Kevin." Tears filled her eyes and speaking this truth was so bitter against her tongue, and made her want to gag, but it was still true. His black eyes widened in shock, and for a moment, he loosened his grip on her neck enough that she could breathe a bit easier.

"I loved you once, and I would have continued to love you had you not abused me, Kevin. You told me so many times that you were going to change and wouldn't hurt me anymore… but you never did. You kept hurting me… abusing me… and would blame your actions on me..." She paused again and then closed her eyes and let some tears fall. The last ones she would ever shed for him. Behind him, the sun was slowly setting; darkening the castle platform and giving her the help she needed. In just a few more seconds, her true love and soulmate would be awake.

Just a few more seconds…

She opened her tear-filled eyes and stared into Kevin's black coals for eyes.

"You blame me for what happened to you, Kevin, and you say that I'm the reason you're this... powerful corpse standing before me, but we both know that you're wrong. You did this all to yourself. Your severe actions demanded an equal consequence, and my mate was willing to pay that awful price of slaughtering someone, because you were simply too evil to keep alive… and because he truly loved me. He loved me so much that he couldn't allow you to live to hurt me ever again, and still loves me with more power than you're ever capable of!" She paused again, and watched as Kevin tightened his grip back on her neck. His black eyes flashed and hurt filled his empty soul again.

He was getting enraged… good. He deserved to know this…

"You were once a good man with a good heart, underneath it all, Kevin. Yes, you were broken and had a checkered past, but I was willing to love and forgive you through it all…" she paused, grit her teeth, and slid her unbroken hand behind her back.

"And you know what?" She continued in a dark whisper. "You're right, Kevin. I was never enough for you to fill the endless hole in your heart that you chose to fill with abuse, violence, sex, whores and booze. Never once was it my love that fulfilled you- as nothing good would never do that because you refused to let it."

Tears streamed down her face, her own full rage coming out as her magic suddenly burst forth, against his restraint, and encapsulated them both like fire. His eyes widened at her ability to use it past his shield.

"That's why you beat and abused me daily!" She continued in a stronger voice, despite his hand tightly around her neck. "You blamed me for not changing and fixing you… but you know what I've come to realize? Fixing you was never feasible because you weren't wanting it, and also, because it was you who wasn't good enough for my love." She paused and watched even more rage fill his eyes, but his silence ignited the fire within her.

"Did you ever think of it that way, Kev?" She whispered through his ever- tightening grip. "This was never about me, but is about your own failures. You were never, and still aren't, good enough for me! My soul and heart was meant for another this whole time… and you were not him. Because of that, our love never meshed and we never connected..." She paused, and watched as his eyes lit up with his own rage and she continued in rage, "My heart was NEVER YOURS to have, Kevin! And no matter how powerful you become, how much you beat your fists against my face and body to change my mind… that truth will never aren't my soul mate, Kev, and will never again have my love..." She stopped for affect and then smiled darkly, reveling in his pain and hatred over her.

The sun dipped down beneath the horizon, casting a shadow upon them all, and Rose willed a sword to slide out from behind her back.

"You aren't Brooklyn!"

Kevin seemed to realize what was going on because right behind him the stone Clan's skins were cracking and they were awakening; he briefly turned his head to look at them, when Rose stabbed the sword through his chest. He roared out in rage and pain and dropped her from his grasp. With a scream, she punched him in the face with her good hand and tried to run towards the closest member of the Clan she could…

However, Kevin quickly took the sword out of his chest, threw it down to the ground, whipped around to face her and saw her running towards them.

"NOOOOO!" He roared, jumping for her. She turned as he slammed into her and took her against the ledge, holding her by the neck, and raising his own sword up above his head. "I'VE COME TOO FAR TO LET YOU FUCK THINGS UP NOW!"

"Oh, you don't need me to do that!" Rose snarled, feeling unafraid as her Clan awakened. "You do that already all by yourself! You always have!"

Kevin roared out, at the same time that the Clan was roaring and shedding their stone skins, brought down his sword and went to stab it into her abdomen… only to have her shield stop it.

"What the-?" He gasped out and looked down. Rose gasped, thankful and amazed that her child was protected, but Kevin's black eyes slowly slid up to hers; a horrible comprehension dawning on his face. Then a hurt so deep, so raw, overtook his hatred for a small second…

"No…. tell me it's not true…" He whispered, and she knew what he was talking about. Her pregnancy… the very thing she refused to give him when they were married. The very thing he always desired, but she never gave him. His eyes widened even more at her silence and at the hardness found in her own eyes. His breathing increased and he tightened his grasp over her neck. His black eyes went wide.

"TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE!"

She remained silent still, and his seething rage gave her the chance to warn her Clan. She opened her mouth to scream out, but something in his eyes made her freeze. It was one of the scariest things to her… and she's seen it before. Something snapped inside of him… and the uncontrollable monster she had once known… suddenly grew a hundred-fold.

Behind them, the clan was stretching and yawning, but standing closest to them was Angela, who sensed them beside her. She turned, saw what was going on, and shrieked, while holding claws up to her mouth.

"Oh my gosh... ! ROSE!"

"LOOK OUT! IT'S A TRAP YOU GUYS!" Rose screamed at the top of her lungs, finally feeling afraid of the corpse holding her hostage, right as her connection to Brooklyn burst to life, and he was able to feel the danger.

From across the platform, Brooklyn's heart erupted with fear and shock; and from his ledge, he whipped over and saw Rose being held by the neck by a man dressed in all black, with a dagger held to her abdomen, and pure dread and terror shot through him.

Oh my Gods! NO! ROSE!

Kevin roared out in rage upon sensing the Gargoyles behind him, and red magic suddenly erupted out of him, sending lightning everywhere. She couldn't believe he had this much power, and it scared her. The Gargoyles immediately jumped down from their ledges to attack him, but he whipped himself and Rose around and held the sharp blade against her neck.

"If you want to live, then don't move." Kevin hissed in her ear as he hyper-extended her neck, froze her magic with his own, and pressed the sharp sword blade into her neck.

Rose cried out, and was shocked that he was doing this, and couldn't move. Couldn't fight. If Hela wanted her alive and sent him to bring her in… why would he risk killing her?

"ROSE! NOOOOOO!" Brooklyn roared as he tore across the platform towards her with eyes brightly lit up and claws outstretched for her.

"STOP!" Kevin roared above Brooklyn's and pushed the sword further into her neck.

Rose screamed out in pain and panic, but went silent when the blade began to slice into her neck, leaving her to gasp for air. She tried, desperately, to pry her hands in between her neck and blade to protect herself, but nothing was working. Blood began running down her neck, down her shirt and in between her breasts. Brooklyn instantly stopped dead in his tracks, gasped out, and held a frozen claw outstretched to her. To him, he had just woken up… and didn't know what was going on, but it was obvious to him now. Kevin was back and hadn't died in the fire, he was attacking Rose, and came before sunset.

As he looked over his beautiful mate and wife, he was truly stunned into horror, all of the blood, bruises and truly horrifying wounds on her face that made her look unrecognizable to him, was enough to tell him the story that went down. She had been fighting this entire time… alone. And he wasn't there to help or protect her. Since they were out on the platform, she very well might have been saving their lives, but now it was their turn to step in and save her.

"Kevin…" Brooklyn breathed, watching with horrified eyes as he dug the sword deeper into his wife's neck, making her gasp and cry out and more blood oozed down. "Don't… please, don't! Lower your sword…"

"SHUT UP! Take another step towards us and I will slice her neck open!"

Brooklyn obliged and didn't move… didn't dare utter another breath… not while his mate was inches from a very gruesome death.

Brooklyn! Rose screamed out in their soul-bond. I love you… I love you!…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I tried to fight him… I tried…

Her words were desperate in his mind, and the terror was real. So real, his own heart was pounding and threatening to stop in fear. He couldn't seem to respond to her words, which felt like a goodbye, and all he could do was feel her pain and try to come up with a way to save her. As he internally checked her out by their soul bond, he felt sick. All of her body was breaking down, her life was fading, but this knife against her neck was searing and slicing deeper into her, was making it worse. Her magic was frozen by his own, and she was not daring to move her body or breathe, as every tiny movement she made, dug the sword deeper.

"Kevin…" Brooklyn whispered, trying again to talk him down, but Kevin pulled Rose closer to him and moved her neck against the blade, making her shriek out briefly.

"No." Kevin whispered, his voice barely a breath, his voice shaky and unstable. "No… you don't get to TALK, monster. I don't want to hear another fucking word from your mouth! Do you understand me?"

Kevin was shaking in rage, and the trembling moved the blade in her neck, moving it centimetres further into her skin. Tears rolled down her face as he held a palm against her forehead and kept her neck nice and open for him and the blade. She couldn't sob, or breathe, without it hurting so badly. She just wanted the pain to stop…

Brooklyn's bright white eyes faded and was locked on her with wide fear and horror. She could feel that his mind was racing a million miles per second, trying to come up with a plan to get her out of his grasp, without the blade slicing through her skin further. Beside him, the Clan was growling ferociously at Kevin, all ready to pounce on him- but Brooklyn could sense Kevin's madness and it legitimately scared him with Rose in his grasp.

"Call your freaks down." Kevin snarled, as Goliath continued to growl the loudest of them all. When Brooklyn didn't say anything, Kevin looked around at them and then made a more threatening move against her neck.

"Did I stutter? TELL THEM!"

Rose cried out as the blade went deeper and more blood came out, and Brooklyn physically cried out, holding his claws out more and felt himself grow weak in his knee.

BROOKLYN! Rose was screaming in his mind, and brought tears to his eyes.

"I… okay, OKAY!" Brooklyn yelled out shakily, and pointed a talon at Kevin, then turned to face the clan and took charge. "Nobody move!" And they instantly obeyed.

He then turned to face Kevin, who was breathing in ragged breaths through his mask, took a deep breath and began pleading with him.

"Kevin…"

"NO! I GET TO TALK!" And he dug the sword deeper into her neck, making Rose shriek out a sob, and more blood drizzled out from her neck.

"Alright!" Brooklyn yelled in desperation, holding his claws up in surrender. "Alright! Just… stop slicing the sword into her, please! Talk… talk to me, Kevin."

"Is it true?!" Kevin immediately seethed while looking at him, but the question was directed to them both. Rose closed her eyes and was trying to hold herself together.

Steady, my love… Brooklyn's voice comforted in her head. I've got you… just give me a minute to talk him down.

He won't! She cried back. He won't back down… he knows, Brook. Just now, I saw something switch in his eyes. He tried to stab my stomach, but my shield stopped it. I think he knows that I'm pregnant… he knows…

Brooklyn's eyes widened in further horror at their silent conversation, but he kept his gaze on Kevin now, with claws raised in surrender. Beside him, Bronx, Hudson and Goliath were frozen- ready to maim Kevin the second he gave them the second.

"Is what true?" Brooklyn asked Kevin calmly as if speaking to a child, and slowly moved a foot forward.

"DON'T!" Kevin roared, moving the sword deeper and Rose cried out again, but this time it was his name.

"Brooklyn!"

Her desperate plea sent a knife through his own soul.

"Okay, okay… STOP!" He held his claws up again, and stayed frozen. "I… I won't move. Just… calmly… explain to me what is going on here, Kevin."

Kevin stared at Brooklyn with wild eyes and was panting; his sword hand shaking.

"Oh, nothing much, really. I was just having a wonderful conversation with my precious wife here, catching ourselves up… before you all woke up!" He seethed, keeping the knife tightly pressed against her neck. "But then she so kindly told me how I was never good enough for her because I'm not her soul-mate… because I'm not you…"

Brooklyn didn't know what to say at this moment. All of him wanted to gloat and tell him it was true, but not while he was about to kill Rose.

He swallowed, nodded and said, "Okay… what else. Tell me..."

"She fought and protected your stone statues from me, as I was intending to destroy each and every single one of you…but she distracted me with vicious lies." He whispered. "Lies that she once loved me… but now…that's all changed."

He paused, tightened his grip around the sword, making her gasp out in pain. He growled out in his mask, looked down at her, and then slowly back up at Brooklyn. "I was going to bind her and bring her into Hel to her parents…"

"Are you not anymore?" Brooklyn whispered, interrupting him. "I thought you worked for Hela?"

At this, Kevin chuckled darkly, but it wasn't full of humor-

"I do…but things have changed… just now… " He breathed. "Hela and Demona brought me back to life, to bring this…" he paused, "ungrateful BITCH… " Rose cried out again as he dug the blade in further and Brooklyn flinched. His desperation to get her out of there was so incredible, he could barely breathe as Kevin continued, "... into Hel, but something has come to my attention that has fully made me… want to end her life instead."

"But why end her life right now?" Brooklyn asked, trying to get him to keep talking, as his mind was still thinking how best to get her out of Kevin's grasp. "I thought Hela wanted her in Hel for something… for… for a curse…!"

At this, Kevin froze and slowly looked up into Brooklyn's eyes with interest; his rage at Rose temporarily forgotten. He stopped his sword from pushing so hard into her neck and looked amused.

"Hmmm… how interesting." He mused, and then lowered his face to Rose's and spoke into her ear. "Lover boy has been doing his homework."

Tears continued to spill out of her eyes and she could barely see the Clan in front of her through her blurry eyes. She grit her teeth so hard, she thought she was going to break her teeth, but the pain was so real and was tormentingly slow. All she could do was beg Brooklyn in their soul-bond, over and over again to help her. Kevin stayed silent for a few seconds as he looked at her, growled, then adjusted her so he was holding most of her body up. She was weakening, and was about to pass out from the pain and trauma.

He then glanced back up at Brooklyn and eyed him with great disgust.

"She is coming to Hel… and there is a curse that she's needed to help activate. But… if Hela was able to pluck my soul from the mortal underworld… who's to say that she can't do the same if Rose's mortal body ceases to exist?"

Growling, he then pushed the sword harder in. Rose screamed out and felt more blood ooze out.

"Kevin! Kevin… STOP!" Brooklyn begged, her pain was his own and he could barely handle this. "I beg of you! What'll it take for you to spare her?!"

"The truth… then your head." Kevin suddenly spat.

"The… the truth?" Brooklyn stammered frantically, ignoring the last part. "What… what truth? What are you talking about?"

"THIS!" Kevin then pulled the sword blade out of her neck and stabbed it into her abdomen. The Clan all yelped and jolted forward, but his blade was met with resistance. A red shield formed over her abdomen, and nothing else. Despite him holding her magic frozen, she was still able to keep her child shielded… and would do so until she died.

The Clan gasped out, especially Akira and Angela's faces.

Brooklyn froze.

"Why is there a shield over just this part of your body, Rose?" Kevin hissed in her ear, trying to spear it through her shield, at the same time, he tried to overcome her mind; but couldn't. Growling out in rage, he suddenly looked up at Brooklyn, and started gasping.

"Why… would your… precious mate… be able to still have shielding abilities when I have frozen her magic? Especially over her abdomen of all places. Not her heart, not her throat… nothing to protect her own life?"

Brooklyn didn't dare utter the words to Kevin, but it was clear that he already knew the truth. Kevin saw it in his eyes as well… and took a few staggering steps backwards. The Clan growled and stepped forward again, but Kevin quickly brought the sword back up to her neck and held it firmly against the small cut he already made.

Rose was crying, and Brooklyn felt cornered- unsure what to do.

"You just couldn't be content with taking my wife away from me, and then killing me to take me out of the picture, could you?" Kevin asked in great pain, his mechanical voice breaking through his mask. "You had to also take the only thing that I ever wanted with Rose… the only thing she would never give me…" He paused, hyper-extended her neck again and pressed the blade even further. Rose's entire body shuddered, but couldn't scream, as the blade was inches from slicing her neck open fatally.

"Kevin… please… don't." Brooklyn whispered.

"Brooklyn, we've got to act!" Goliath breathed out of the side of his mouth. "She'll die if we allow this madness to go on one minute more!"

"I know… I know…" He breathed back, but still didn't know what to do. If they moved, one wrong move, and Kevin would slice her neck open, and she would die. A death, he wasn't sure he could bring her back because Hela would be ready to take her away the instant he tried. Akira and Angela were making sobbing noises behind him and made his heart pound faster.

"You've taken everything from me!" Kevin whispered, and Brooklyn could only watch Rose's blood seep out over the smooth blade with silent horror.

"Kevin…"

"You've impregnated her… haven't you?" Kevin breathed, and everyone froze. Brooklyn could only hear his and Rose's hearts pounding in his head, and a sweat beaded up on his brow. Kevin stared at him with his deadly, black eyes, and waited for his answer. Brooklyn clenched his fists while staring back at him. One wrong move… one wrong decision… and his mate was dead. He stared at Rose and could hear her begging for him to deny it in their bond; begging him to say no.

However, if he lied… it might be worse for her. Everyone waited for Brooklyn's answer with bated breath, until he broke the silence.

"Yes... it's true." He whispered. "Rose… is… pregnant."

"What?" Goliath whispered in disbelief, looking over at him; and Brooklyn felt a few more gazes of amazement from everyone else, including Rose's, but Brooklyn kept his eyes locked on Kevin's. Not daring to move or breathe… Kevin's shock was instant and his sword was trembling in his hand, making Rose moan and cry harder; shaking Brooklyn down to his core.

Just then, the platform gave a horrifying lurch as if the Earth beneath them endured an Earthquake, and stopped everyone in their tracks.

"What now?" Hudson demanded, his tone full of frantic desperation.

Kevin too froze and steadied his sword against her neck, as he looked around. Then, behind him, red and black portals opened up and everyone instantly knew who had joined their party from the familiar feeling they brought. Icy darkness filled the once summer air around them, icing the castle platform with a thick level of ice. The lights, giving the Castle outdoor light, shattered and blackened everything out, and their breaths suddenly came out in white puffs of air. The once summer air felt like the middle of winter, and everyone began shivering.

"Don't tell me that this can actually get any worse…" Broadway chimed in quietly, as Brooklyn watched the stone around them get icy and slippery. He gasped out in horror. With one slip of Kevin or Rose and it was even more dangerous…

"Um… yeah… I think it's gotten worse." Lexington muttered, as Draugr stepped out from their self-made portals from Hel. The entire Clan's eyes lit up once again, their stances growing more threatening, except Brooklyn's, and geared to attack. But it wasn't just four or six Draugr this time… no… it was ten. One Draugr for each Gargoyle, and more.

Their presence brought a new sense of death, dread, fear, and horrifying reality. The Draugr were all males, dressed in various armor over their skeletal and rotting bodies. Their black sockets for eyes were meeting each brightly lit Gargoyle's eyes, their long, sharp claws were activated and their razor-sharp layers of teeth were gnashing and sounded like metal against metal.

Rose closed her eyes in horror and wished for this night to end.

Brooklyn…. Oh no… Brooklyn….

Steady babe… But he didn't feel steady at all, and she could feel his own fear and uncertainty. They both didn't know how they were going to get out of this alive. The darkness, ice and pure evil power the Draugr brought with them seemed to weaken his body and soul. The Clan was gasping out in shock and terror at the demons from Hel, and suddenly couldn't seem to move. A horrible wave of iciness flowed from each Draugr, as they lined themselves up behind Kevin and personally entered each Gargoyle's mind, freezing them.

Akira fell to her knees, closed her eyes and clutched the sides of her head as if the ice was overpowering her mind. Angela whimpered out as well and also fell to her knees. Goliath was groaning and trying to hold onto his strength… but fell to his knees, as did Broadway Hudson and Lexington. Brooklyn also fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The Draugr in this strong amount of numbers was truly like death. The air was thinning out and bodies weakening.

"Like my army?" Kevin asked with a smile. "Only the dead can stand up to their powers…"

Brooklyn closed his eyes, but to his surprise, one of the Draugr- mostly dressed up in armor more finer than the others, stepped up to Kevin and raised a claw up to his hand, holding the sword. Rose's eyes were also closed, trying not to lose consciousness against their power.

"Gondoh! (Enough)" The Draugr hissed. "Mitä sinä teit? (What are you doing?)"

"The daughter of Hel is carrying a hybrid-monster child within her." Kevin seethed, answering the Draugr's ancient tongue with ease. He kept staring at Brooklyn with hatred as he held the sword to her neck, but to Rose's continued surprise, the Draugr hissed out more dangerously and was stopping him from pushing the blade deeper into her neck.

"If you kill her…" The Draugr warned in a voice that sounded like death, and Rose couldn't tell who she was more scared of. "Then our Lord and Mistress will annihilate your soul from existing." He gripped his black, rotting claw tighter against Kevin's and Rose was stuck between two corpses.

She didn't know what she was doing as she looked into the black sockets of the Draugr's skull face and silently begged him, knowing he could read her mind. Please stop him… please stop him… please…

Brooklyn listened to her begging and knew it wasn't for him, but for the demon of death, and it was utterly horrifying for him to see her that desperate. The Draugr growled dangerously at her plea, and it was obvious that he would do it, only for him to bring her to Hel. Either way, she was not going free…

"The child, Mortiggan!" Kevin hissed, fighting against the Draugr's hold, slicing the sword ever so slowly into her neck, making her cry out. "Rose is carrying a CHILD!"

"That's easy enough to fix." The Draugr, Mortiggan, suddenly whispered, and everyone froze again, even Brooklyn.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"I can sense the child's soul beneath her shield. She and her Gargoyle mate are tethered to each other through a soul-bond that we cannot break… save our mistress and Lord's powers and will alone… but the child is its own soul and is more easily accessible." He paused, grinned a smile that she instantly leaned back into Kevin, and chose him again to protect her, as he continued, "A soul… which can easily be feasted upon and destroyed by us. Either way, Rose's soul must survive… and must be taken to Hel. So, lower the blade from her neck… and let's bring her in. I'll personally see that her child gets sucked out from her womb…"

Protection shot through Rose at his words, and watched with desperation and Kevin slowly nodded, but kept the knife at her neck.

"Alright… off to Hel we go then."

At this, Kevin started to drag Rose backwards, towards a portal that suddenly opened behind him. Brooklyn and the others were being held down by the power of the Draugr and couldn't move. But Rose was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"NOOO! Don't let them take me! BROOKLYN! HELP!"

I'm going to die! Brooklyn… I'm going to die...

Brooklyn gritted his teeth and could only roar his own desperation out, as he strained against the Draugr's hold… as did all of his Clan. What were they going to do? Rose was seconds from being taken into Hel…

"NOOOOOOOOO!" He roared, pulling up and fighting against the Draugr's hold with all of his strength… and to their shocked surprise, it was working. But not fast enough. Rose's screams were all he could hear and it was making him become wildly enraged. He was going to burn them all down...

Suddenly to everyone's relief, Cold Stone and Coldfire suddenly emerged from inside the Castle, with a bloodied and bruised up Xanatos; who was dressed in his own exo-suit, and looked murderous.

"COLDFIRE- toast the Draugr!" He ordered, and she obliged. She raised her robotic arms out, stood in front of her Clan, and blasted fire out at the line of Draugr that was holding their minds hostage. Their bodies instantly lit up in a fiery explosion, their shrieks piercing the sky. Then, with them burning, Brooklyn's mind, as well as the rest of his Clan, was free.

His eyes lit up in rage and revenge, he growled and slowly stood up.

Growling ferociously… he was ready to rip them all apart.

Starting with Kevin.

Across the platform, Coldstone had let out a terrifying roar as he blasted over towards them. He raised a gun up from his robotic arm and blasted Kevin's hand, holding the sword. With a roar of pain, Kevin dropped it, and Rose screamed when the heavy Gargoyle slammed into Kevin, Mortiggan and her, taking them all down. However, he grabbed onto her body and shielded her as they all crashed down. Coldstone's body rolled with her in his arms, and came to a sliding stop, as Kevin and Mortiggan were knocked down. The portal to Hel faded…

"Coldstone!" Rose cried out in relief, not believing that she was feeling so thankful to see him.

"I've got you, Rose!" He said in his very deep voice. "Don't worry… I've got you. You're safe now."

Tears spilled from her eyes, and she could only hold onto his neck, bury her face in his hair and cry. From across the platform, the Clan burst to life, as if they were truly awake now- and Rose watched, through her hysterical tears, as they all came through the wall of smoke and fire from the Draugr's burning bodies and came for Kevin; her mate, leading the charge.

"GOLIATH, BROADWAY, ANGELA… HOLD KEVIN DOWN!" Brooklyn boomed; and instantly the three did as they were told. "COLDSTONE, I NEED YOU!"

Coldstone instantly put her down on the ground and leapt forward; to help Brooklyn take on the Draugr, who was screaming and clawing to get out of their hold. Rose was filled with pure terror to be alone and watch all that the Clan was resolved to do. But, as instant as he let her go, Akira came over, slid to a stop and scooped her up in her arms; and pressed a hand against her bleeding neck.

"I've got you, Rose!"

Rose grabbed onto her sister and watched in horror as Coldstone, Brooklyn, Lex and now Coldfire took down the Draugr. With Coldfire's blast of fire, the Draugr shrieked and screamed; but behind its burning body, Hudson came from the wall of smoke with his sword raised and beheaded the Draugr- as he was doing with all of the burning demons.

Goliath, Angela and Broadway were struggling against Kevin's magic, as he was using it on them to blast them off.

"EVERYONE, GET KEVIN!" Brooklyn roared. And they all listened. Rose watched with amazement as every single one of them attacked Kevin, taking him down to the ground.

"I've got to go!" Akira yelled. "Stay here!"

Rose held onto her own bleeding neck and watched in horror, as her mate moved faster than anything; giving orders.

"LEX, AKIRA- GET SOMETHING THAT CAN HOLD HIM DOWN!"

Kevin was squirming and roaring out like a wild animal, red magic blasting out all around the encircled Clan. She watched with blurry eyes and felt herself weakening… but then Xanatos' face was in front of hers.

"Hang on, Rose!" He yelled out, pressing a towel to her bleeding neck. "You're going to be okay! Just hang on!" He scooped her up into his arms, but remained on the ground. She didn't know why he was waiting… but was probably waiting for Brooklyn to heal her. Best to do that, then separate her from him. From their circle in front of Kevin, Rose could hear his screaming; and Brooklyn's roars above it all.

"HOLD HIM DOWN!"

But they couldn't. Not with his magic blasting out…

Snapping her eyes open, Rose quickly realized that she had to help, as well. Her magic could hold Kevin's at bay… she had the mental strength… but just needed physical strength. Rose closed her eyes, reached out her connections to Brooklyn's, and sucked some of his light and strength to her. This was something he willingly allowed, as it was necessary for her to keep up her strength to live.

Finally, after a few seconds, she opened her eyes and could feel her body once again. She looked up and saw Xanatos watching the circle of Gargoyles roaring and struggling to hold Kevin down, with wide eyes. With a push, she jumped out of his arms and ran towards the Gargoyles- and heard Xanatos yelling after her.

Rose pushed through between Broadway and Akira, raised a hand up and screamed as a stream of red-electrified magic pulsed out of her and hit Kevin's body. Giving it her all, she held onto his live-wire of magic and forced hers to overcome his. Then, when his body was immobilized, barely, she rushed forward; ran behind him and pressed her hands against his skull- forcing her magic to take full mental control… then… after a few screams of effort from her and him… he went still.

Brooklyn and the others were amazed by her strength to keep fighting and how she was able to hold him down.

"Hurry!" Rose shrieked, straining and gasping out. "He's very strong! I can't hold him for long!"

Brooklyn ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her strength to keep holding his mind. But the moment he held onto her, he dug his face into her hair. "Oh, thank the Gods you're alive… Rose…" He whispered, the relief in his tone and body language incredibly intense.

"This isn't over yet." She whispered back, keeping her focus on holding Kevin frozen. With a nod, he stood both her and up, kept her wrapped tightly in his arms; and with her hand still streaming magic into his mind, they both backed away from his body. Then Brooklyn ordered in a growl.

"Coldfire… torch him. He only survived the other fire because he portaled out. Without him able to portal out of here… he's going to finally perish. I want to watch him burn."

Coldfire nodded and whispered, "Gladly."

She raised her hands up, the deep hum of her robotics engineering activating her fire, but something shuddered across the platform like before, and she stopped. They all looked around in surprise for a few seconds, but Coldfire went to do it again. The fire burst out of her hands, and at that moment; Rose released his mind so that he could burn and feel it all… but then the fire was shielded off of him with red, electrified power.

Rose gasped, jolted backwards with Brooklyn and everyone watched in amazement as the fire blasted off of the shield. Coldfire stopped and stared at it, in surprise, and Kevin suddenly started gasping- as he came to.

"What's going on?" Goliath demanded, staring at the red shield of magic, and then whirled around on Rose with anger and wide eyes. "What are you doing?!"

"I… this… isn't me." She whispered, then felt another upheaval from around them.

Everyone froze, and Rose's inner darkness suddenly leapt to life as a familiar presence came near to her for the first time. Brooklyn held onto her tighter in his arms. But suddenly her veins lit up in bright red magic; like hers and Brooklyn's light magic did when they made love a few nights ago, but this time… it was her dark magic shining through. The magic burned and shone through her skin, making her scream out.

"Rose!?" Brooklyn yelled, holding onto her and coming down with her as she collapsed to the ground. Her entire body was stiff, under someone else's control, and she felt like her soul was being ripped from her body. Her screams filled the night, and everyone was staring at her with frantic worry, but then Xantos looked over his shoulder and yelled, "GOLIATH!"

Goliath looked up from Rose and then over to where Xanatos was pointing… then so did everyone else, including Brooklyn, who gasped out in horror…

The night was truly not over.

A deeper red, black and electrified portal was opening up across the way, and suddenly Kevin started chuckling evilly from the ground. Rose was gasping in air, but was able to get a hold of herself enough to twist in Brooklyn's arms and look at the portal opening up as well.

"Finally." Kevin hissed to himself, then turned to look at Rose and mocked. "Ready to meet your maker, my darling…?"

Rose didn't answer him, as she stared into the black portal with wide eyes. The portal waved and exploded with red lightning, and through the black, tar-like middle, a female figure suddenly came through, and Rose knew who it was… even though she had never met her before.

Storm clouds suddenly swarmed all around them, wind picked up and real lightning crashed down and exploded through the air with thunder that made them all almost go deaf. The power crashed through them, shaking them all to the core. But when a female stepped out from within the portal, the lightning stopped… the air silenced and went still… dead… and danger remained.

As Rose stared at her and was amazed that this Third Race female was a strikingly close resemblance to her own Fae version in her nightmare, but didn't have the large wings like she had. She had a similar power and regal status that Titania automatically demanded. The woman had smooth, porcelain-like white skin, pointed elven ears, long black fingernails, and long wavy black hair pulled back in a high ponytail that hit her waist. Her face was thin and had a jawline so firm and defined that her hairstyle only added power to her beautifully dangerous face.

She wore a pointed crown of thorns over her hair, and a full body suit of armor; that still showed off her busty chest, and thin, but muscular legs, and flat abdomen. Her shoulders were exposed and a long black cape came out from the outfit. Her eye makeup was done in all black, a heavy goth-like look, with black lipstick. And behind all of that black eye-make was bright hazel eyes…

Rose's same eyes.

The portal faded behind this powerful woman, and the night remained warm. But she brought a power, darkness, and ice that was all her own; and it was clear to them all now, who she was.

Brooklyn's arms tightened around her, his wings came over to shield her from her view, but it was no use.

Hela, the Goddess of Death, was here.