AN: This is the second-to-last chapter. Chapter 10 will end the story.

Jamie couldn't move. The horror of seeing him was too much for her. But Michael knew. He knew this man, the man who had helped him and encouraged him to hurt so many. He could also see the horrid memories in Jamie's mind. Michael stalked over to the man, and before anyone had realized it, lifted him off the ground by his neck. Wynn startled and stiffened, shocked at the invasion. Without the mask, it took a moment for him to realize it was Michael who held him. Wynn smiled. "Put me down, Michael. You can't hurt me."

"He couldn't hurt you. Now, it's a completely different story." Wynn's head jerked at the sound of Jamie's voice. "YOU! You're... You're dead!" he cried.
"Not exactly," Jamie told him. Lifting her hair, she showed him the rune her body was marked with.

"When you created Michael, you didn't realize the curse moved through families. Now, his invulnerability is mine, too. However, I have no desire to inherit his curse either. So you're going to tell me how to stop this."

Wynn glared at the girl. "You served your purpose. You were supposed to die!" he snarled.

Michael's grip tightened at Jamie's unconscious demand. Wynn flinched in pain. Michael wasn't responding to him. Only to Jamie. That only meant one thing. It was a spell, one meant to undo a powerful but destructive spell. It wasn't strong enough to break the curse, but it could hinder it. Wynn looked at Jamie angrily and started chanting a reversal. Jamie knew immediately that he was up to something. He didn't get far before Jamie walked over, pulled Michael's hand away, and replaced it with her own. Then, without any indication of emotion, she crushed Wynn's larynx.

Wynn coughed and collapsed. He could still breathe, but barely. "Now," Jamie said to him, "you're just going to have to show us where to find the information we want. I'm not Michael. I'd rather torture you to death than let yours be over quickly."

Wynn struggled to breathe, but did nothing. He was given a full minute before Jamie started breaking his fingers. In agony, Wynn finally pointed at his desk. On it, a large book lay open. Jamie picked it up and viewed the cover. She was shocked. She held in her hand Thorn's own Book of Shadows. This was it. This would have any and every answer. Tommy and John bound and gagged Wynn so that she could read. They each sat down, waiting for an answer. Jamie scanned the book hurridly, but thoroughly.

There was nothing on how to break the curse. Nothing at all.

Jamie howled in frustration and approached Wynn. "Where is it? Tell me!" Wynn looked up at the furious girl and grinned. "It doesn't exist, my dear girl. It doesn't exist," he said raspily, each word a stuggle. Jamie walked back slowly, then collapsed. John and Danny ran to the book as Tommy went to Jamie to comfort her. This was Wynn's chance. His voice low and soft, he recited the reversal. Something snapped in Michael's mind. Wynn nodded to his desk, above which a ceremonial athame was displayed. Michael went straight for it, reaching over John and Danny to pull it down. Danny noticed him first, and said, "Hey!" Michael plunged the dagger into his chest, again and again. John jumped back, and Jamie and Tommy saw what was happening. Tommy made it to Wynn within seconds, ready to knock the bastard out if needed. Jamie recited the words she had when Michael came after her in her cabin a few days prior. With a start, Michael dropped the knife.

Danny lay on the floor, a sickening death rattle coming form his chest. Blood gushed from the wound. Jamie ran to him and said, "It's okay, Danny. You'll be fine. The curse won't let you go, even for death. Believe me, I've been there before. Many times." Behind her, Wynn laughed. Jamie turned to him angrily. "Stupid little girl," he told her. "The curse only keeps the one it's affecting alive. You are connected to Michael telepathically. That's the reason for this. You may be a potential, but it's that connection that keeps you alive." Danny wheezed, and took a last breath. In Jamie's arms, he died.

Jamie was horrified. Not only was Danny dead, but the fact that he was able to die upset all of Jamie's notions. She knew she couldn't die, but what did this mean? Wynn could tell what Jamie was thinking. He decided to enlighten her.

"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie," Wynn said condescendingly, roughly. "You're not cursed. You never were. You're pulling on Michael's curse. The connection between you allows you to read his mind, and he yours. It also, apparently, is strong enough to grant you his invulnerability. However, that also means that you're just as susceptible to his instincts.

We never planned for you. We couldn't have forseen something like this. Originally, we thought you might serve a purpose." Wynn glanced sideways at her. "But you failed there too, didn't you?

It doesn't really matter what you do to me; the others will find you. The curse will move on to someone else. There's nothing you can do to stop it." It was hard to understand him, but Jamie managed.

Jamie was suddenly furious. "Maybe. But I can stop you!" Jamie rose to her feet picking up the dagger on the way. Before Wynn could so much as raise his hands in defense, she plunged it into his shoulder. "This is for my childhood!" she screamed. "This is for my family!" she brought the knife down again. Each thrust of the blade into his body was punctuated by Jamie's infuriated cries. "This is for raping me! This is for forcing me to give up my son! This is for shooting me IN THE HEAD!"

By this time, Wynn was laying on the floor, his body totally lifeless. The others were shocked at this outburst, as well as the violence they'd just seen.

However, they didn't have long to think. Soon, other members of Thorn moved through the basement. They weren't alone anymore.