Hey there everyone! I've been working really hard to get this story finished, and I can officially say that the next chapter is the climax of the story! Wow... I've been working on this thing forever!!

This is an update for TwilightPrincessFan, who told me that "the suspense is literally killing me!" Well, hate to disappoint you, but this chapter totally ends in a cliffie. Sorry.

Okay, now I have something important to address. You'll realize that in this chapter, some people's names are different. This is because I went back and edited the entire story, and some characters needed their names changed. So now Star is Kori, Alfie is Garth, Steve is Roy, Cy is Vic, and Larry is Leo. If there's another character I've forgotten and you're not sure who they are, please let me know so I can add an author's note for that. :)

"Jinx, what are you doing?"

Raven was sitting on Jinx's bed, blindfolded. Jinx had invited her over because it was her birthday, but instead of surprising Raven with a cake (which Jinx did every year), she had ushered Raven up to her bedroom and blindfolded her.

"You'll see," Jinx repeated for what had to be the fifth time.

"Not unless you take the blindfold off," Raven protested.

"When it's ready, I will," Jinx argued.

These words had barely left her mouth when Raven heard a telephone ring.

"I'd better get that," Jinx said. Raven heard footsteps leaving the room and running down the stairs. Then she heard the phone stop ringing and Jinx ask, "Hello?"

Even though Jinx had made her promise not to take the blindfold off, Raven lifted part of the black cloth so that one of her eyes was uncovered. She opened it and looked around, wondering what Jinx wanted to hide from her.

There was nothing different about her room. Raven frowned, confused.

"Are you ready?" she head Jinx ask. Then, a few seconds later, "Okay, be right there." She head the phone click, and footsteps coming back up the stairs. Raven hastily replaced the blindfold over both eyes.

"Okay, Raven, ready?"

"For what?"

"To go!" Jinx sounded very excited.

"You want me to go somewhere blindfolded?" Raven pointed to the cloth around her head.

"Uh, yeah." Jinx grabbed Raven's arm and began helping her walk out of the room. There was a slight mishap on the stairs, where Jinx lost her footing and caused Raven to tumble down with her, but they reached the first floor without serious injury. Raven heard the door open, and she was pushed outside.

"Watch your head," Jinx warned her. "We're getting into a car."

After being helped into the seat of a car, Raven felt her seat belt being buckled for her. The door closed, and she head Jinx's voice next to her ask, "You all right?"

"Apart from the fact that I can't see, I'm fine," Raven folded her hands in her lap. Jinx laughed.

"Don't worry, it's a short drive."

The car started, and whoever was in the front seat began driving. The driver had not introduced himself or herself, so Raven asked, "Who's driving?"

"Me," Raven recognized Jinx's mother's voice.

"Oh, hi Mom," Raven laughed. "If I didn't trust the two of you I'd swear I was being kidnapped." Jinx and her mom laughed at this.

The drive continued with the three talking and Jinx asking Raven very distracting questions, as if trying to keep her mind off the fact that they were driving somewhere. Raven felt that she had a point. After all, the sequence of turns and stops seemed oddly familiar. She must have driven from Jinx's house to wherever they were going before.

"We're here!" Jinx exclaimed as the car halted.

"Can I un-blind myself now?" Raven asked.

"No." Raven heard the three clicks as three seat belts were released, and two doors were opened. Two people exited the car, and then the door next to her was opened as well. She felt a hand close around her wrist.

"Jinx?" Raven asked, trying to figure out if it was still her best friend.

"Nope," a voice she recognized sounded excited as the person it belonged to helped her out of the car.

"Gar?" she squinted, as if that would make her able to see through her blindfold.

"Who else?" he laughed.

"Where'd Jinx go?" Raven asked, looking around blindly.

"Here!" Jinx's voice came from behind her. Gar put an arm around Raven's waist and gently steered her along what felt like a road or sidewalk or something. A few seconds later they paused.

"Ready?" Gar asked, now obviously standing behind her.

"I've been since Jinx tied this thing around my head," Raven smiled.

"Okay." She felt someone untying the blindfold, and seconds later it was whipped from her eyes.

She squinted, trying to take in everything she was seeing.

"Happy Birthday!"

As Raven's eyes grew used to the sunlight streaming in them, she looked around her in surprise.

They were at the apartment building she lived at. An enormous purple banner was hanging above the doorway, reading, "Happy 16th Birthday Raven" in green letters. A table was set out in the front lawn with a cake on it, and chairs were all around, a balloon tied to each one.

It seemed like all of her friends were there. Kori and Robin were standing by the table with Vic and Bea, both couples holding hands. Wally was laughing with Leo, Garth, and Roy. Kole and Toni high-fived each other and walked over to join Angela, who was smiling broadly. Everyone was wearing funny party hats.

Raven turned around to see Jinx's mom, Jinx, and Garfield, all smiling and wearing funny hats as well. Gar walked closer to her and put one on her head as well.

"How did you guys do this?" Raven asked, pulling Gar into a hug.

"We just did," Gar answered simply, hugging her back.

"But how'd you convince the guy who owns the place?" Raven asked as she and Gar broke apart. The two of them, along with Jinx and her mom, began walking over towards everyone else.

"We just asked for permission to hang a banner and have a party. He was actually really nice about everything, and said we could as long as we saved him a piece of cake."

Raven and Jinx both laughed.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," Jinx's mom pulled Raven into a hug, then released her and gave her a little push towards her friends. "Now go have some fun!"

- - - - -

Malchior was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking out his window down into the front yard of the building. Raven's so-called friends had obviously planned her a surprise party. As he looked down, he saw Garfield take her hand and pull her over towards all their other friends.

Turning away from the window, Malchior opened the book that lay on his pillow. He turned to the page where he had left a gold-colored bookmark. He traced his finger along the page, looking over a certain part in the story.

"There," he smiled. His eyes traveled across the page faster than lightning, and he turned the page to look at the elaborate picture emblazoned across the other side.

This picture showed a man who bore a strange resemblance to Malchior holding a golden sword to another man's chest. This other man was lying on his back on the ground, a look of terror in his eyes. He had rather long green hair, a few strands of which were plastered to his forehead, no doubt by sweat.

"I can't wait," Malchior whispered, tracing the two men's outlines with his fingers. His eyes left this gruesome scene to look into the background of the picture. There stood a girl with long purple hair that hung down to her waist. She had tears streaming down her face, and she had both hands over her heart. Malchior felt his own heart skip a beat as he looked at her.

He closed his eyes, and closed the book gently. Then, pushing it aside, he knelt down to his floor. There lay the black weapon…

- - - - -

"Make a wish!"

Smiling, Raven wished for the first thing that came into her head: for Jinx and her to stay best friends for all of eternity. Taking a deep breath, she blew out all sixteen candles. Everyone clapped, and Gar kissed her on the cheek.

"Happy birthday," he said, blushing.

"Thanks," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek as well. There were appropriate 'aww's' from everyone crowded around the picnic table. Angela picked up the large knife and began cutting the cake as Raven and Gar pulled the candles out. Jinx's mom helped with plates, and everyone else passed around pieces of cake until everyone was eating.

"So how do you like being sixteen?" Kori asked, smiling over her piece of cake.

"Well, technically I won't be sixteen until eight o'clock tonight, so I can't really say," Raven laughed.

"I'll ask you then," Kori gave her a thumbs-up.

Everyone began talking amongst themselves, and Angela took this opportunity to take Raven aside.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom," Raven hugged her mother.

"Isn't that Ryan's son up there?" Angela pointed up to one of the windows of the apartment building. Raven followed her arm, and sure enough, Malchior was staring down at her.

"Yeah, that's him," Raven's eyes met Malchior's, and she quickly looked away.

"Why don't you go ask him to join us?" Angela suggested, obviously feeling sorry for the boy alone in the window.

"Do I have to?" Raven asked before she thought about how that would sound.

"Why wouldn't you want to?" Angela was obviously confused. "He seemed like a very nice boy when we had dinner with him and his dad."

"Mom, he didn't talk," Raven pointed out, "so how could you know if he's nice or not? Besides, he took my and Gar's notebooks when we went out on our first date."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he doesn't want me and Gar to be together," Raven figured she had better tell her mother the whole story. "See, he's obsessed with this book series, and the main character in those books is named Malchior and looks kind of like him. Then there's these other characters that are like me and Gar, and he's convinced that the books are real. In them, my character and his character get married."

"I'm sure he's just teasing," Angela insisted. "Nobody would be crazy enough to believe that a fictional book is real. Now go up there and ask him to come down."

"Can Gar come with me?"

"Just go," Angela rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a pat on the back before walking back over to where everyone else was gathered, and began talking to Jinx's mom. Raven caught Jinx's eye, and beckoned for her to come over.

"What's up?" Jinx asked as Raven pulled her into the apartment building.

"Mom's making me go invite Malchior to come down."

"What?" Jinx exclaimed as the two girls entered the elevator. "Why? Didn't you tell her about how he's completely out of his right mind?"

"Well, yeah," Raven admitted, "but she didn't believe me." At the look on Jinx's face, she continued. "I mean, she believed me about the book thing, but she figured he would never be crazy enough to believe it."

"Joy," Jinx said sarcastically as the elevator came to a halt at the fourth floor. Raven pulled Jinx along with her to Malchior's room, and knocked on the door. A minute later, it was opened.

"Raven?" Malchior was surprised, but sounded pleased.

"Hey," Raven said shortly, trying to keep this conversation as brief as possible. "Look, my mom saw you up in your window, and asked me to invite you to come down with everyone else. Are you coming?"

Malchior seemed to be weighing his options. Then, without warning, his arm shot out from the opening in the doorway and grabbed Raven's wrist. Before either girl even realized what was going on, Malchior had yanked Raven inside the apartment room and locked the door, leaving Jinx alone in the hallway.