Timmy frowned sympathetically as he and Tabitha watched Ivy look on while Sam left to join his wife. "Poor Ivy, it all must be so hard for her. Timmy likes this version of Ivy; she's actually good and nice!"
Tabitha looked as if she was about to vomit. "Yes," she replied disdainfully. "Sickening, isn't it? She was so deliciously evil before Kay had to go and cast that spell. All those long hours of hard work for nothing!"
"What does Tabby mean by that?" Timmy asked, once again confused.
"When I began to set into motion the catalysts that would eventually lead to Ivy being trapped in a marriage with Julian, I had more in mind than for her to endure decades of pain and suffering, though that was certainly a bonus. No, I had hoped that she would eventually be corrupted and become a potent force of evil, for a human. I succeeded wonderfully, but now she's reverted back to the flawed but essentially good person that she once was, and all of my handiwork has been undone. At least she's miserable like this," Tabitha consoled herself feebly.
"Timmy doesn't like it when his Princess enjoys watching others in pain," he admonished her earnestly, a worry line darkening his brow. "Timmy would want her to get fixed so that she won't suffer anymore, except that she would just go back to being evil again."
"Don't be so sure of that," Tabitha answered in an apprehensive tone. "If the necessary counter spell is ever performed, Ivy Crane will still be forever altered by the remnants of this Ivy. The thing is, we have no way of knowing how much of Ivy Winthrop will be 'left over,' or what the effect of the fusion between the two will be. There are many possibilities: Ivy may indeed revert to evil scheming and manipulation, she may turn to good, or the melding might be so traumatic that she could end up incurably insane. We simply don't know."
"Timmy supposes that Tabitha wants the reversal done, so that all of her work to make Ivy evil might possibly be saved," Timmy said glumly.
"On the contrary, lad!" Tabitha exclaimed vehemently. "Having that cursed counter spell done is the last thing I want to happen!"
"Why is that?" Timmy asked, hoping against hope that Tabitha for once had a goodhearted motive in wanting something.
Timmy, however, was about to be greatly disappointed. "While I would love to have her back on the side of evil," the witch explained, "the possible consequences of her choosing to be good are just too severe to risk it. Right now, as Ivy Winthrop, she's essentially useless to either side, and is suffering beautifully. However, if Ivy Crane, possessing a much greater degree of power and know-how, were to repent of her past sins, she could become a formidable force for good. If she did nothing else, imagine what would happen if she set about righting her wrongs! The plot to break up Sam and Grace, the virtual Sword of Damocles forever hovering over Eve Russell's head, and the persecution of Theresa would all cease, reaping happiness where chaos and pain had been sown. Just think of what a disaster that would be for our side! No, Timmy, Ivy must remain as she is now."
Timmy's eyes lit up with optimism. "If the spell is found, then Ivy might become good and a lot of good people in Harmony will become much happier! Timmy hopes that Kay can manage to find it; with a little luck, it might fix everything!"
"You little traitor!" Tabitha scolded in disapproval. "I specifically stated that such a happening would be cataclysmic, and you proceed to openly wish for it to come to pass! I swear, Dim Tim, if I didn't love you so much I would have disposed of you long ago, for all the trouble you cause me. Anyway, that's one thing I don't have to worry about: there is absolutely no chance of Kay finding the reversal."
"Why not?"
The exact spell, though simple to actually perform, was written down in a book in which very few copies had been made to begin with. There is reliable documentation showing clearly the destruction of all but one of the copies. That copy disappeared many years ago, and most believe that it too has been destroyed, thus making the spell lost forever. Even if it still exists somewhere, Kay doesn't have the slightest prayer of locating it, especially seeing as how the only books she has to look through are ones that I lent her! Rest assured, there's no way in Hades that I would have given her anything that might really tell her what she needed, and she won't have the slightest clue as to where to begin looking past my collection. Without a doubt, Ivy Winthrop is here to stay," Tabitha finished triumphantly.
Although Timmy didn't say anything in objection to Tabitha's assertion, his brain nevertheless furiously contemplated the situation. Restoring Ivy would be risky, since she could still go bad again, but he knew that no matter what the result of it might be, it was still the right thing to do. The problem, of course, was now figuring out just that might be done. Finding the counter spell did seem hopeless, but somehow Timmy had the strongest feeling that something could be done. Somehow, there just had to be a way to fix Ivy. Furthermore, Timmy firmly believed that he might eventually be able to do something to help. However, he knew that there was nothing he could do at the present, and decided to stay quiet, while in the meantime he would keep his eyes and ears open in case he should happen to come upon the perfect solution to the problem.
*****
"Oh, that," Cassandra replied languidly, not particularly concerned. "Well, you know, this soiree was getting rather dull, so I thought I'd find something to amuse myself. I didn't think you would mind, since while you might have been best friends with her once, the two of you did have quite a nasty falling out as of late."
"That doesn't mean I want anything weird or horrible done to her!" Kay's anger, though, soon turned to confusion. "And, h—how did you know that anyway? About Simone and I being best friends and then fighting? I'm sure I never told you anything like that!"
Offhandedly, Cassandra dismissed her questions. "Oh, I have certain…methods of my own. You'd be surprised at what exactly I know, so you might as well get used to it. As for what I did to her, it's simple, really; I just helped her out with a little problem she's been having."
"What problem?" Kay asked suspiciously.
"I'm sure you know that she found out that the man she thought was her boyfriend actually loved her sister?"
Kay nodded. "Yes, of course."
"I asked her if she wanted some 'help' in getting him. I was rather surprised, really; she was more than willing from the very beginning. I simply gave her the power to do so."
Kay studied the vampire's features, convinced that she had not said everything. What exactly did you do, and what'll happen to Simone?"
Cassandra smiled. "I transferred some power to her. It allows her to do what she's doing right now. It also makes her seem possessed, although in reality, she's just become rather, shall we say, single-minded, consumed by only two thoughts: getting Chad and punishing Whitney. It'll get worse, though she seems to be progressing remarkably quickly, no doubt because she was halfway there already."
"What'll happen, if it keeps going on?"
"Oh, eventually she'll be totally mad with it. I daresay she's likely to try and kill somebody, or even several somebodies, which I daresay she'll probably succeed at," Cassandra remarked with all the emotion of someone commenting on a chess tournament. "Then, since humans aren't built to endure that kind of spell, it'll kill her, not to mention anybody unfortunate enough to be standing next to her at the time."
By this point Kay was brimming over with unconcealed rage. "You basically killed her then, and a bunch of bystanders with her! Why, what was the point?!"
"As I said before," Cassandra repeated patiently, examining her nails. "I thought it might be amusing. I only promised her that she would get Chad, not that she would live to keep him, so it's really all her own fault for agreeing so readily to my proposal. You certainly wouldn't think that I'd have any moral qualms about putting people in danger, would you? I'm a vampire, my naïve girl; I've killed more humans than you could possibly imagine, and I've relished every single one."
"Then, what's keeping you from killing me?" Kay asked uneasily, the fact that she was alone in a room with a vampire finally beginning to sink in.
"Please," Cassandra laughed. "You're my Heir, and killing you would be counterproductive, to say the least. Besides, even if you weren't, you're still my descendent. Oh, I know some vampires who went and murdered their entire families after being turned, but I happen to believe in the sanctity of family bonds. I've spent the past three-and-a-half centuries doing my best to strengthen Crane power, and feeding off of, or otherwise killing, a family member is one of the few things I'd never do. This is also an unequivocal rule for the family that you'd best hear now: under no circumstances, no matter what, are you to murder another Crane."
"Fine, I'll remember that," Kay promised, just grateful that she wasn't in danger of becoming an appetizer at her own party. "But I still wanna know how long we have until the spell kills her, and how I can stop it."
"All right," the vampire sighed. "I'll tell you, if you really feel the need to do something about it. You'll need to grab a hold of her, because you need to directly purge her of the power, and speak the words, Risipiti-va, puteri furate!, and if you put enough power behind them, and are lucky, you should be able to save her. If not, well, let's just say it won't be very pleasant for you, so I do wish you'd just let the situation play itself out. If you insist, however, you'd better make it quick, since, at the rate she's going, I doubt she has half-an-hour left."
Glaring disgustedly, Kay replied, "Oh, I'm gonna stop this, and after I do, it's over. You're insane, and I'm not going to be learning ANYTHING from you, so you can just forget all about that 'education' stuff."
Having said her piece, Kay left hurriedly, determined to find Simone before she hurt herself, or anyone else. Cassandra stayed behind, completely unruffled by Kay's last statement. "You may not know it yet, Kay," Cassandra said confidently, "but you reacted exactly as I had hoped. By the end of the night, if Fortune is smiling down on us, you'll have fully come into your role as the True Heir of the Cranes."
*****
Once Kay had finally found Simone, in a clearing not far from Sheridan's cottage, she was was momentarily struck speechless by the shock of the sight that befell her. Simone was positioned under a tree, Chad next to her (unwillingly, Kay assumed), while several feet away lay Whitney, looking for all the world as if she had been tied up with invisible ropes. Somehow, Mr. and Mrs. Russell had happened upon the three, and stood about ten feet from them, banging helplessly on what appeared to be thin air; no doubt they were being held back by some sort of force field.
"What is this, Simone?!" Dr. Russell yelled, utterly baffled.
"C'mon, Sugar Bear, you don't really want to do whatever it is you're doing!" TC pleaded.
"Sorry, Daddy, but I do want to," Simone grinned, and turned her attention to Whitney. I'm sorry, 'sis', but we both know this is the only way. As long as you're living, Chad will always love you, but, with you dead, he'll realize that we're supposed to be together."
"NO!!!" screamed her parents.
Whitney looked up at her sister, eyes wide with terror. "Please, Simone, I'm sorry," she begged, sobbing. "Please don't kill me. I never meant to hurt you, it just happened!"
Yeah, Whit, you're breaking my heart," Simone sneered. "Face it, it's over. Somebody's not going to Wimbledon after all." She directed her palm at Whitney, prepared to deal the fatal blow—
"WAIT!" Chad shouted desperately, grabbing Simone's attention. "Let Whitney live. Do this, and I promise that I'll break up with her, and be with you forever."
Simone thought about his proposition for a second, but then shook her head decisively. "Uh-huh, Chad, I can't risk you going back to her, which you definitely can't do if she's dead. 'Sides, she betrayed me, and it's time for some sweet revenge!"
Once more, Simone raised her arm, and once more she was interrupted, this time by Kay, who ran at her shouting, "Cut it out, Simone! You'll never get away with it! Anyway, the force you're under will kill you if you don't get a reversal!"
Effortlessly, the mad teen stopped Kay in her tracks by casting something on her. Before she knew it, Kay found herself laying on the ground, feeling as if she had been tied down, though nothing physically held her. Damn! Kay thought wildly, She must've put the same mojo on me that she used on Whitney over there.
Simone walked over to Kay, gloating at her old friend's helplessness. "Ya know what, Kay? That felt really good! I've been so sick of you, always acting above it all, like you could do anything you wanted. Well, who's superior now? Just for fun, as soon as I get Whitney I think I'll finish you off while I'm at it. Then, nothing can stand in my way."
Simone turned her back on Kay, and slowly made her way back to Whitney. Kay, meanwhile, began struggling once again, and realized that, for whatever reason, the spell didn't have nearly as strong a hold on her as it did on Whitney. Although it felt like something very strong was holding her back, Kay discovered that, if she fought it with all her strength, she could indeed move. With a great exertion, Kay managed to stand up, and fighting her bonds, forced herself to run over to Simone, who, facing Whitney, did not notice her oncoming presence. Simone raised her arm, this time really about to kill her terrified sister, when Kay finally grabbed her arm, and forcibly turned her around until they stood face to face.
Before Simone had time to react beyond utter shock, Kay commandingly yelled, "Risipiti-va, puteri furate!"
Although Kay did not know it, her eyes turned gold for a split second, until a blinding red blast tore the two girls apart, throwing them in opposite directions. Now that was strange! It certainly didn't feel like any magic she had ever used before; the power source was somehow different. When Kay regained her senses, she saw that the force field imposed on TC and Eve had vanished, and Whitney had been able to get up. Simone, once she managed to stand up again, looked around her with an expression of total confusion that Kay could easily tell was fake, and asked, "Wh-where am I? What happened?"
"What happened?!" Chad yelled, absolutely enraged. "You were doing some sort of weird magic stuff, and tried to kill Whitney, that's what happened!"
Somehow convinced of his daughter's innocence, TC gave Simone a hug, and whispered, "Shh, it's alright, Sugar Bear. You were under some sort of mind control, but it's all going to be okay now." Turning his attention to Kay, TC stared at her fiercely. "I don't know exactly what you did, but somehow this is all YOUR fault!"
Kay gaped at him, not believing what she was hearing. "MINE?! Excuse me, but Simone's the one who went all Dark Willow on us, not me. She was outta control, and I stopped her!"
TC remained unmoved by Kay's righteous indignation. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I know you were behind it! You probably stopped her 'cuz you were losing control or something."
"And why would I have done it anyway, even if I could?" Kay protested furiously.
"Kay has a point, TC," Eve pointed out nervously. "I can't see any reason for her to put Simone under some sort of spell like that."
But TC wasn't listening. Instead, he was seeing red at the thought of this Crane girl doing something to his little girl. "Crane's don't need a reason for being evil, they just are! Maybe she's learning the family secrets, and decided to practice on Simone, or she could've just done it for fun. Whatever it is, I just know that she's responsible. I know, we'll ask Simone about what happened. Sugar Bear?"
"C'mon, Simone," implored Kay. "Tell them how you made a deal with her, and went all psycho."
Simone, too humiliated to look Kay in the face, stared at the ground and softly replied, "Kay's lying, Daddy, the last thing I remember is talking with her tonight, and she, uh, twirled something at me, and I can't remember anything after that. I guess she must've had something possess me or something."
"You self-righteous, hypocritical, lying little bitch!" Kay screamed, fighting the desire to tear her "friend" to pieces right then and there. "You know perfectly well that I haven't even talked to you tonight before now. You remember everything, don't you, and you've decided to blame it all on me to save your own skin! After all the lectures and telling offs you've given me, and the way you always smugly told me that you would never do anything evil, not only do you turn around and do it, but you can't even own up to it! I should rip you to shreds right now!"
She made as if to attack her, but TC stepped between the two of them and hovered over Kay imposingly. "Keep away from my daughter, you, you Crane!" he spat out, using what in his mind was the dirtiest word he could come up with. "There's no way I'm gonna take the word of Julian's daughter over my own child's. It was you, I'm certain of it!"
"No, Mr. Russell, your daughter got herself into this of her own free will, and if I hadn't stopped her, she would've killed herself and all of you," Kay seethed, her voice dangerously low. "I wasn't behind it, but I did save her life, and yours."
"You stopped her, alright," TC admitted. "But, if you're innocent, how come you knew what was going on, and how to break the spell?"
Kay had no answer to that. She certainly couldn't tell him that Simone had been enchanted by a vampire who had then told Kay how to stop her. In a voice barely above a whisper, Kay finally answered, "I can't explain how I knew."
TC grunted in triumph. "So, you've admitted it, then? I knew it. If you weren't a girl, I'd tear you apart right now for what you've done to my daughter! As it is, I'm warning you to stay away from my family. Thank God that your true nature was revealed in that DNA test, so we know to keep away from you now. I guess this just goes to show that Crane blood is so tainted by evil that even being raised a Bennett can't change a Crane at the core. Come on, everybody, we're leaving this evil house."
Although it was readily apparent that the others were not as convinced of Kay's guilt as TC was, they knew enough not to argue with TC when he was in one of his episodes. One by one, they all filed away, Simone too ashamed of herself to even dare to look at Kay.
Finally, Kay was all alone, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. "Was it just me?" Kay asked to the night sky, "Or did I just do the hero thing and save the day, and end up getting crucified for my trouble?"
"It wasn't just you," uttered an all too familiar voice originating from behind her.
"You." Kay turned around and was rewarded with the sight of Cassandra, smiling, as usual. "You're the one who caused all of this."
"Yes, I am," Cassandra agreed casually. "And you're the one who righted it all, but they didn't believe you, did they? TC didn't even give you a chance; in his mind, you were guilty at the outset."
"He wouldn't let me explain myself," Kay remarked absently. "There was absolutely no way he was going to believe me, no matter what. He's known me my entire life; hell, I must've slept over at his house dozens of times, and he was so convinced that I'm this purely evil creature that he wouldn't even hear my side of the story."
"That must be very hard on you."
"Oh, don't give me the fake sympathy routine," she hissed. "I know you had some sort of ulterior motive in all of this. What was that spell I cast, anyway? It felt strange; I've never done anything else like that before."
"I should think not," Cassandra replied offhandedly, with a slight hint of pride. "What you just did wasn't any sort of magic that you can learn; it isn't even human magic, but vampire magic."
Kay raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Vampire magic?"
"Yes," the vampiress asserted. "Nosferitia is its proper term. Your popular culture may not know this, but we vampires are actually very powerful enchanters in our own, unique way. As I said before, it's a trait inborn into vampires, but those carrying a vampire's bloodline sometimes possess it, to varying degrees. It's not as strong in the human, though, so whereas I don't need any words, you must recite the right incantation to call upon the magic within you. It feels different because its source is inherently different from your other magic source. If you had been unable to cast the nosferitia, I would have been greatly disappointed, seeing as you're my Heir."
"Whoa, back up a sec! Other magic source? What do you mean, and why does the fact that you have this 'nosferitia' mean that I'll have it? What, if I had kids and then became a vampire, they'd get vampire powers?"
Cassandra laughed. "No, I'm not just some ancestor who got turned, Kay; I was pregnant when I was made, and my child, and by extension all of his descendents, inherited a certain 'vampiric' nature."
Kay's blinked several times, totally stunned. "I'm part vampire?"
"No, you're human, but you possess certain abilities and tendencies that set you apart. I'll get to those later. As for you other question, you also possess Standish magic."
"But, I'm not a Standish!" Kay exclaimed.
"Yes, you are, a distant one. Alistair's wife, your grandmother, descended from a branch of that family. That strain had lost their powers, but in you and Sheridan, actually, they have resurfaced. The difference between you and every other Standish I've ever known of is that all of them had powers of unequivocal goodness while yours are neutral, at best."
"My God," said Kay, still reeling from Cassandra's revelation about the Cranes. "The Cranes really are 'tainted by evil'!"
"I suppose you could say that. Which means, of course, that no matter how hard you try to be good, people will always distrust you, just because of who you are. They'll always sense the evil."
"Then, that's why I'm so alone," Kay whispered. "I am unworthy. That's why Miguel doesn't love me."
Cassandra scoffed. "Unworthy? Hardly, Kay. You possess the potential for enormous power; that's why you're my Heir. As for Miguel, who cares whom he 'loves', anyway? If he can't see your superiority to that nauseating, tiresome Charity, then you're better off without him."
"That's not true!" Kay protested. "He-he's—"
"A 'loser,' I believe your generation would call him. A simpleton and an idiot, who follows Charity around like a sick puppy and has no life of his own. He's dull, without any sense of humor to speak of, and while he is undeniably good-looking, he's not interesting or exciting in the least. If Charity hadn't come along, you probably would've gotten bored with him and would have broken it off long ago. What's more, he's so preoccupied with Charity that he's not even a good friend. When you were all trapped on Warlock Island, and you were dangling off of the ledge, about to fall to your death, he wanted to leave you to look for Charity, who might have been in danger! He had to be persuaded not to let you die, Kay! Now, whether he loves you or not, no actual friend should do that to another."
"You're right," admitted Kay miserably, fighting back tears. "He doesn't care about me at all."
"No, nor should you for him. He was a girlhood crush that would've fizzled out on its own had you not been thwarted in the first place," Cassandra insisted.
Kay looked deep within herself, and found that Cassandra had spoken truly. She realized that she didn't really love Miguel, and hadn't for a long time. She had been desperate for love, however, so she had singled out Miguel for that purpose. How stupid and pathetic was she, doing everything she had done for someone whom she didn't even love, and who didn't give a damn about her? As she contemplated this, a new emotion towards Miguel began to emerge: she despised him for unwittingly making her a fool, for never really caring, even as a friend, and most of all, for picking Charity, just as everybody else from whom she'd sought love had done.
Cassandra could sense the girl's rage, and encouraged by it, pressed on. "Don't worry, Kay. As my Heir, you'll surely be a force to be reckoned with."
"NO!" Kay shouted, "I don't want to be evil!"
"You don't have much of a choice, dear. It's been born within you."
"I don't care! I want to be good; I don't want to be unclean," she persisted.
"Good," Cassandra laughed harshly, her voice hinting for the first time at a genuine bitterness, "Good. Let me tell you about 'goodness' and 'virtue.' I believed in all of that once, far more passionately, I have no doubt, than you do ever did. In life I was a puritan, after all. I'm not saying I never faltered, for I surely did, but I believed in a just and righteous God, who would not abandon His people so long as they stayed true to His word. I'm not trying to tell you that God doesn't exist, for He most certainly does, but I learned firsthand of his 'justness'. Some people have trouble believing in a good God because of all the suffering in this world. That's nonsense, and it never shook my faith in God. After all, we're responsible to a certain extent for ourselves in this world, but God, I was certain, was always there in spiritual crises if not earthly ones.
"One night, in the year 1650, I was walking back home late after helping Goody Bennett with her quilting. My husband didn't like me out and about so much when I was so close to giving birth, especially since he was one of the most prominent men in the town and felt that, as his wife, I was above such activity. However, Goody Bennett was a good friend and I insisted upon going. That same night, three vampires that had just landed in the harbor descended on Harmony, and I was unlucky enough to have been out that night. For some reason, and to this day I'm not sure why, they decided to turn me alone. I was given no choice in the matter, and I have a vague recollection of myself, horribly weak from loss of blood, having the crimson liquid forced down my throat, while I had no comprehension of what was happening. Apparently, the townspeople found my body, cut my son out of my womb, and took me back to the Crane house until my burial.
Later that night, I awoke, terrified and utterly disoriented. Modern horror films show the newly arisen vampire as an instantly ferocious demon, but apart from a horrible confusion, I felt no different, no bloodlust or anything you might think that I would have had. Panic-stricken, I arose and wandered fearfully through the house until I found my cross necklace that I always wore on a nearby table. I always felt safer with it on, so naturally, I grabbed it, only to find that it seared my hand with an excruciating pain! Well, this unsettled me even more, but in my bewildered state I thought that maybe it had somehow been heated up and was still hot from the fire that had warmed it.
"For some reason, the only thought now in my head was that I had to get to the church, that if I made it there, somehow everything would be all right. I can still vividly recall running through the empty streets until I arrived at the church. Well, I tried to enter—and I couldn't! An invisible barrier of some sort prevented me from entering, when all I desperately wanted was to pray and receive guidance from God. I then looked down at my hand, and saw the burnt cross in the center of my palm. It was then that it finally hit me: God had turned me away, deemed me evil and unclean. If I end up living forever, that instant will still be etched in my mind as if it happened an hour ago: I was unwanted by God, and nothing I could do would ever change that.
"I don't know what would've happened to me if I'd been left alone that night, but the other vampires found me and explained to me what I was, and instructed me to go back home and play dead until I could be buried, so that I could then rise from my grave. It was all so unreal to me, but I obeyed them. After the funeral, they returned and helped unearth me; I think that they expected me to join their pack, but I refused, wanting only to remain in my home. I revealed myself to my husband, who, after the initial shock, saw the potential advantage of the situation and secretly installed me back in the house, building the first, crude underground chambers that are now an intricate passageway beneath the mansion.
"From that point on, I was determined, determined to 'stick it to God,' as you would say. I was an evil creature, but not by my own volition. I didn't make a deal, or accept an offer; no, I was raped into being a vampire, and still, God punished me. If I had been just killed that, it would've been another story, for things like that happen, and would my soul would have remained untarnished in His eyes. But to actually cast me away over something that I had no control over? There's your just God, right there. It hurt unbearably for a long time, but eventually I came to the decision that if God wouldn't let me be good, well then, I'd be the worst monster imaginable. I also decided that my bloodline, also being afflicted against their will, would rise up above all others, and I would make it my unlife's work to see it done. And so, Kay, you see that, just as God has condemned me unjustly, so he has you as well."
Kay had been held virtually mesmerized throughout Cassandra's tale, but drew back in confusion and disbelief after her last statement. "What are you talking about? How has God 'condemned' me?"
"Don't you see?" she asked pointedly. "Because you come from 'tainted' stock, you had pre-made marks against you that you can never erase. He gave you all these setbacks, and whenever you tried to fight them, he never gave you any help or consideration. Instead, he favored people like Charity, to whom He gave powers of goodness, and no dark side of her nature to speak of, making it so much easier for them to turn away from the temptation of evil. In addition, she got priority with Him and all the love she ever wanted. What did He give you? Angst and conflict and rejection from those whose love you sought. I'm sorry, Kay, but God, just like everyone else, has picked Charity, and you never even had a chance."
Oh no, Kay thought, finally bursting into heavy sobs, an uncontrollable surge of tears flooding down her cheeks, she's right. Even God doesn't want me, has never wanted me. "What can I do, then?" she asked desperately as soon as she could muster enough breath to speak.
"Kay," Cassandra intoned, with an obvious excitement in her tone, as if she had waited for a very long time to speak the words that she was about to utter. "You are powerful, far more so than you know. You possess a strength that still lies mostly dormant, but that calls out almost deafeningly to me. I know that you never fully accepted my explanation of why I had you made the Crane heir, and you were right to doubt. You see, you are not merely the heir in the limited sense that Alistair and the others understand. Not many years after I was turned, I began to work towards the betterment of my family. I sought out advice, read all the relevant texts, and even consulted soothsayers at one point. Most of what they had to tell me was absolute rubbish, which my vampire senses could easily distinguish, but one of them was able to give me a true prophesy: if I survived long enough, I would eventually find among my descendents a True Heir. That True Heir would have great power, drive, and a certain intangible something that I would effortlessly pick up on. Together, the two of us would at last complete the Crane ascendancy. Well, Kay, I've been waiting ever since, until now. I had resigned myself to the fact that this generation of Cranes was another wash, but fortuitously you were revealed to us. You are my True Heir, Kay; all you have to do now is accept it."
"Me?" was all Kay could respond, struck dumb with shock.
"Yes, of course. As I said, you and you alone qualify." Cassandra's words were smooth now, tempting. "Just think: you'll have unlimited power over all who've wronged you and you'll never have to worry about being good again."
The tears were gone now; instead her mind had opened up to the endless possibilities that now lay before her. What she wanted, she could take, and none lived who would be able to stop her. Her eyes darkened and her heart hardened as she, without hesitation, responded, "I'll do it."
(A/N: Risipiti-va, puteri furate!—Romanian, loosely translated: "Be vanished, stolen powers!" Translation courtesy of my Romanian suitemate. Thanks, Ruxy! ;-) )