Merry Christmas/Happy Kwanza/Happy Hanukah/if you don't celebrate any of these, disregard this! Enjoy the chapter! It'll be kind of short, because I have four other fics I would like to update before 10:00 tonight, so sorry if you don't like the length. Oh, and another thing, for something that might be confusing in this chapter; this takes place before book 15. Or any book after12 for that matter. I'm making it like a whole other arc, almost.

Chapter 21- The Truth Comes Out

Hay Lin's PoV

Hay Lin was overjoyed to see her friends were actually talking to each other without fighting. It was the first time she'd seen it in awhile. They'd overcome one hurdle on the track. But now it was time to overcome another, better known as-

"Cornelia!" Irma yelled, banging on the door, "Cornelia, I know you're in there!"

Hay Lin sighed. They'd been knocking on the door for about ten minutes, and still no answer.

"Cornelia!"
"Maybe we should come back another time?" Will suggested meekly.

"I know she's in there", Irma said as she continued to bang on the door, "CORNELIA!"

"Hey!" one of the neighbors came out of their apartment, "Obviously the Hales aren't home, so why don't you just-"

"Forget it", said a depressed voice from behind them; Cornelia had finally decided to answer the door, "What do you guys want?"
"To talk to you", Taranee said, "I mean, I don't know if you noticed, but Irma was trying to break down the door-"

"Could you please take this inside?" the neighbor asked huffily before slamming her own door. Cornelia sighed and motioned for them to come in.

"Okay, what?" she asked as she flopped on the couch. Hay Lin noticed the flower that had once been Caleb was sitting on the table. She sighed; she knew what this was about. First Cornelia had lost Caleb, and now she had to deal with the fact that her best friend was a traitor. Not an easy thing.

"Cornelia, can we talk?" Will asked in a quiet voice. Cornelia didn't answer, all though Hay Lin noticed her friend's face harden at Will's voice.

"Cornelia, please-" Taranee started to say, but finally Cornelia completely snapped.

"I don't want to talk!" she snapped, jumping up, "Get a clue, I don't want to talk! Especially not to her!" she jerked her thumb at Will, " She is the reason all this happened!" She looked over at Will, "If you had never moved here, none of this would have happened! It's all your fault! And now you think you can all just talk your way out of this! Talking doesn't always work you know! Sp why can't you just leave me alone!" None of the girls knew what to say, so Cornelia continued, "All I ever wanted was to be normal, but I can't have that because I'm stuck with these dumb powers! My best friend is the ruler of some other dimension, and, oh yea, don't forget she would destroy us if she ever saw us again, just because she's a spy for some other worldly person! Am I supposed to be okay with that! Because I'm sorry, but I'm not! And if you expect me to be, you're all insane! Now just get out and leave me alone!"

"Cornelia-"
"No!" Cornelia yelled, turning to Will, "Leave me alone! That's all I ask! I don't care if you want to or not! Just get out! No, not a word!" she said as Will opened her mouth to speak again, "I don't want you to say anything! I'm done listening to you, every time I listen to you, something bad happens! I don't care if I ever see you again, Will Vandom. Right now, I hate you!"

Will listened to Cornelia, her eyes wide with shock. Hay Lin shifted her gaze to Irma and Taranee. Irma looked mad. Taranee looked surprised. Hay Lin looked back to Will, and wasn't exactly surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. Cornelia turned away from them, her arms folded. Will gazed at the blonde girl for another second, before whirling around and running out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"Well I hope you're happy Cornelia!" Irma snapped, I really hope you're happy!"

She stormed out of the apartment without another word. Hay Lin and Taranee exchanged a glance, and ran out behind Irma, neither in the mood to try and talk to Cornelia now.

They followed Irma out of the apartment building. Will was nowhere to be seen. Irma looked up and down the street before turning in the direction of Will's apartment. Hay Lin and Taranee followed her, all three of them silent.

"I can't believe Cornelia would say something like that!" Irma said suddenly, "I mean, I doubt Will moved here saying, Gee, how can I ruin the lives of my new friends? How could Cornelia even think that!"

"She doesn't have an excuse for the way she acted", Hay Lin said quietly, "No matter how upset she was, that was over the line"

Taranee nodded in a silent agreement. And that was when the cold hard truth hit Hay Lin in a weird way. It was just the four of them now. Will, Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin. There was no Cornelia. Not anymore.

"Will!" Irma seemed to have a thing for pounding on doors that day. Only this time it was Will, who the hoped to have better luck with. Irma finally lost her patience and grabbed the door knob, and found the door was unlocked. "Perfect", Hay Lin heard Irma mutter. She walked into the apartment, Hay Lin and Taranee close behind. It came as a shock to find the place empty. No Will in sight.

"Will!" Irma called as they walked through the place. Hay Lin made her way to Will's room. And that was when she found it. The note that changed everything.

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry, but I just can't be around anymore. I've done enough damage here. I've ruined my friend's lives in ways even I don't know about yet. I just can't stay in Heatherfield anymore

Love,

Will

Hay Lin nearly dropped the note. Will…she hadn't…no, she wouldn't, she wouldn't!

"Guys!" Hay Lin ran out of Will's room, the note gripped tightly in her hands, "Guys, I found something! Something bad!"

"What?" Irma and Taranee looked at her as she handed Irma the note. Taranee read it over Irma's shoulder. The looks of shock on their faces grew as they read the note over. They looked at Hay Lin when hey were done reading. Neither of them knew what to say.

Now, before any of you say, Well Witchlover did the same thing, having Will run away, the circumstances in her story were completely different. Will ran away because she thought her mother was dead in Witchlover's story. And this is going to span over quite a few chapters, trust me. Now, as an added bonus, I'm gonna give a tiny, tiny preview of the next chapter:

It's going to Be Irma's POV, and she's gonna go back and have it out with Cornelia. Meanwhile, Hay Lin and Taranee are left with the task of informing Will's mom what happened. Won't that be fun? R & R! Well, R as in review, really, if you got this far, you already read it.