In a person's life, they will come across forks in the road, where they have to make a choice. These choices define who a person is and who they will become.
It's what separates you from one another.
Most people have to decide what career they want to take. Whether they want to marry the person they're with. If they want to take a job offer or move to a new city.
All of these are important choices. They could make or break a person's life. Determine if they will be happy or look back and regret.
Most people's choices don't involve choosing to sacrifice one's self to save a bunch of students that never liked them in the first place or to run away letting them all die.
Most people's choices don't end in death, at least not intentionally.
But of course, Lizzie couldn't be that lucky. She was at a crossroads. One that had three possible paths.
Yet not one had a happy ending.
She could leave. She could stay and die. Or she could stay and live.
Leaving would doom everyone she left behind. Josiemort would not accept this outcome. Who knows how many could die by her hand as a result. And Josie could end up hunting her down anyway.
Now for the last two. They were both the result of staying. She could die before she ever truly lived. Or she could win.
But somehow living was the worst possible option. To live is to kill Josie. She would rather murder her dad than be the cause of her twin's death.
That was not an option Lizzie could accept. It would ruin her if she lost Josie. Especially if it was her fault. This brings her to her biggest problem.
Could she really die, so that Josie could live? Was that something she was willing to do?
And even if it was, she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't win. Sure, her assumption was that she was weaker than her twin, but was she really willing to risk that not being true?
And Lizzie didn't want to die.
Don't get her wrong, she would never wish harm upon Josie, but if it came down to it, would her will to survive outlast her desire for her sister to live.
How does one measure that?
And that was what brought her to the only possible outcome that Lizzie could even think to do. Run.
Lizzie hated knowing that everyone would think she was weak. A coward that ran when things got tough. They weren't completely wrong but they didn't even attempt to put themselves in her shoes.
Her only options were dying or becoming a murder or leaving everything behind.
She knew without doubt that most of the people at the school would choose to run. Even if they didn't care that their 'twin' in this scenario would die, they would still be making a gamble.
Lizzie normally loved gambling. She just didn't love gambling with her life.
But even choosing the safe option wasn't safe. Josie would throw a tantrum at her absence that would involve killing everyone.
Then, she would come after her. Lizzie was confident in her magical ability to hide from Josie but she would eventually run out of magic to use.
She'd have nowhere to run and all of this would be for nothing. Josie would force her to do the merge and everyone would have died for no reason.
And it would be all her fault.
But why was it her responsibility to save everyone? Especially those that never treated her kindly. Who, even if she chose to stay and die, would laugh at her funeral.
They didn't deserve her sacrifice.
Lizzie was selfish, but was it really wrong for someone who hadn't even lived to not want to die for people who'd mock her death?
Hope would, except Lizzie wasn't Hope. She had spent her whole life trying to compete with her and this was one area Lizzie knew she could never beat her at.
Her willingness to die for people who didn't care about her - who didn't even know she existed. That was Hope's best quality.
And it wasn't hers.
But that brings her back to her main issue. There was no situation where no one died. There was no way to avoid the merge.
Ironically, only death could save her now. Jos-now that was an idea…
Lizzie wasn't a good person. She'd never claimed to be. Her main issue with the running away plan was that Josie would eventually catch up. Then, the merge would still happen.
As long as they both were alive, the merge could be done. So, what if they both weren't alive. Being dead was the only escape from the merge, but Lizzie had never considered being undead.
Lizzie swallowed as she stared down at her packed suitcase. If she did this, there would be no going back. No take backs. No redo's.
She'd still have to run. Josiemort would hunt her down for this, but she'd no longer have to worry about running out of magic, so she'd never be found. Not unless she chose to be.
Lizzie wanted to live and if she had to die for that to happen, so be it.
It had been easy to sneak down to the cellar without drawing attention to her. Opening the freezer, she eyed the different vials.
Most weren't labeled. That wasn't a surprise. Looking through them, her eyes landed on the section for werewolf bites.
There was only one person whose blood could heal that. It also happened to be the same person whose blood could turn people into vampires.
She grabbed two vials of Hope's blood. Let out a deep breath, she opened one. It was no longer 'to live or die'. Instead, it was 'die to live'.
She threw her head back and chugged it. She fought the urge to spit it out as the iron taste filled her mouth. Her taste buds screamed as she swallowed. There was no going back from here.
"Saltzman?"
Lizzie froze. Of course the person to find her was her.
"What are you doing?"
She took a deep breath, the taste of the blood was still making her want to gag, but she pushed it down as she shut the freezer, pocketing both the empty vial and the full vial.
She turned to face Alyssa, who was wearing the same outfit that Josie and all her lackeys were dressed in.
It only took one look for Lizzie to recognize that Alyssa was most certainly still under the necromancers control, which meant she was under Josie's as well.
That meant Lizzie had very little choice in what to do next. She wasn't sure if the necromancer could see through the eyes of his victims or if he just simply knew everything they did, but it didn't give her many options.
Silently, she prepared. Reminding herself that Alyssa was already dead.
"I think you'll find that my business is my own," Lizzie finally said, filling the tense silence.
Alyssa's eyes narrowed. "Planning to run, are you?"
"If I was, you'd be the last to know," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes.
"You really are a selfish bitch, aren't you, Saltzman? You'd let everyone die, so you could live," Alyssa said, disgust in her voice. The words stung because they were true.
"Yeah." Alyssa's eyes widened. "I would."
Lizzie continued before she could interrupt.
"And for once, Chang, you're right. I am selfish. I'd be blind to deny that. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I've never claimed to be anything else."
Something flickered in Alyssa's eyes. "Yet you once wanted to be a hero."
"And I was wrong. That was never going to be me. Because this isn't a movie. The world isn't separated between good guys and bad guys. This is real life. This isn't a story. If it was, there'd be an easy answer to fixing this. In a movie, the hero wins despite the odds against them, but the thing is, I'm no hero."
"So, you'll let everyone die?" Alyssa's voice wasn't as hard as before.
"If the situations were reversed, would they save me?" Was the only reply Lizzie could give.
Alyssa was silent because they both knew the answer. Not one of her fellow students would give their life for her, so why should they expect her not to do the same.
It's funny because she'd be painted as a villain for what she was doing but they wouldn't.
Lizzie gave a sad smile. "I have a choice. I can be a survivor or I can be a martyr. And the thing is, that choice has already been made."
She jerked her head and Alyssa fell to the ground, neck broken for the second time this day. Lizzie winced.
She fought any guilt that tried to rise up. Alyssa would be brought back in a matter of hours by the necromancer, so technically she didn't kill her.
Making her way past, she headed up the stairs. Only to run into Hope on her way up.
"Lizzie? What are you doing?" Hope asked, confused.
Lizzie paused, considering her options.
"I need a favor,'' was her response.
Hope frowned. "What kind of favor? Is it a 'stopping the merge' type of favor because I'm already working on that."
She shook her head, then paused and nodded slightly. "Kind of, but I've already figured out a way to stop the merge, I just need some help doing it," Lizzie said.
Lizzie may be planning to die but she wasn't suicidal. Killing herself didn't seem like a great idea with her already shitty mental health, so why do it herself, when she can get someone else to.
Hope blinked as relief filled her eyes. "Lizzie, that's great. What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to kill me."
"What?" Hope stared at her. She looked around. Then, she grabbed Lizzie's arm and dragged her back to her room.
Once they were there, Hope turned to her. "I thought you said you found a way to stop the merge."
"I did. I need to be alive to do it. If I'm dead, boom, problem solved, no merge," Lizzie said, confidently.
"Lizzie, the whole point of finding a way to stop the merge is so that you don't die," Hope said slowly as if she was speaking to a child.
"Yeah, but I've run the math in my head. There's no scenario where I make it out not dead."
Hope opened her mouth to argue but Lizzie held up her hand, shaking her head.
"But that doesn't mean it has to be permanent - or not technically permanent."
Hope paused. "What do you mean? How can you be not permanently dead?"
"Because I'll be undead," Lizzie said with a smirk.
Hope's eyes widened in disbelief then dawned the comprehension. "You want to turn."
"Not want to. I'm going to," she said, crossing her arms.
Hope shook her head at the blonde. "Lizzie, you don't need to do that, we can find another way-"
"And when we turn 22?"
"What?"
"What about when we turn 22? Even if we find a way to stop it now, it will still happen later. No matter what, this ends in someone dead. At least, this way it doesn't have to be permanent."
Hope was silent because what else was there to stay at that?
Lizzie sighed. "I'm tired, Hope. I'm tired of having the merge hanging over me like a boogieman. I'm tired of being afraid that I'll kill my sister or that I'll die. This would end it."
"Lizzie…" Hope said softly.
"Don't try to convince me otherwise, Hope. I'm doing this with or without you. So, I'll ask you this, will you help me?"
Hope closed her eyes then opened them. There was something sad but understanding in her eyes.
"Lizzie, you have to understand, if you do this, that means one day you'll leave everyone you love behind as they age and you don't. Do you even understand what you'd be giving up?"
"Yes, but either way I'm gonna end up dead, so I'll be losing everyone anyways," Lizzie said with a shrug.
Hope gave a bitter smile. "That's only if you lose."
"And kill my sister? Never."
Hope finally nodded, looking down. "Okay."
"Okay?"
Hope looked up. "I'll help you as long as you promise that you'll help me the day I have to do the same."
Lizzie blinked, having never considered that, then smiled. "I promise."
"How do you want to do this?" Hope asked. "We'll need to get you some vampire blood first."
"Oh, I already did that," Lizzie said, pulling out the empty vial and full one.
Hope took them, looking surprised. "Is this my blood?"
"Yep," Lizzie said, smirking. "You taste disgusting."
Hope choked on air. Then, she laughed. "I'm sure once you turn, you'll have a very different opinion."
"We'll have to wait and see then," Lizzie said, grinning briefly. Then, she took a breath. "What's the least painful way to go?"
Hope considered this. "I think I know a spell that could work. It would feel just like falling asleep."
"Okay, then let's do that one," she said, feeling nervous.
"Lie down," Hope motioned to the bed.
Lizzie swallowed and did as she asked. Hope sat beside her, grabbing her hand with her left one, while her right went to the side of Lizzie's face.
"You ready?" Hope asked.
Lizzie took a deep breath. "Do it." Her heart was pounding in her ears.
Hope closed her eyes and focused. Lizzie's hands were trembling and Hope responded by tightening her grip on her hand.
"I'll see you on the other side," Hope whispered. Her next words were in Latin.
A wave of exhaustion swept through her and her body seemed to become as heavy as a rock. Then, she knew no more.
