Disclaimer: None of the characters, places, or lyrics involved in this fic belong to me.

Chapter Two

Part I:

"I don't want your money
I don't want your crowd
See, I have to burn
Your kingdom down."

The bell rang on the door as Cassie's father opened it, signifying the shop had a visitor.

Or five...

"Hello?" John called out, crossing the floor in the same fashion as he normally did. As if he was forever aware of everything around him. As if there was no chance for anyone to catch him off-guard. As if when everyone's eyes were turned, he'd been there before...

A girl came out of the backroom, her hair long, dark and shiny.

"Hi," Cassie's father greeted, a surprisingly friendly tone to his voice. "We're here to see Calvin."

"My Uncle's not here," she told them.

Diana looked at Jake beside her, watching him slink away, obviously not wanting to be seen.

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"He's been missing for months, but I'm sure I can help you."

Between the time they'd left Cassie's, to the time they'd arrived at the shop, Jake had somehow gotten worse. Much worse. His skin now looked sallow, sticky even. The shadow's under his eyes were now dark circles with a purplish undertone. He was becoming more sullen as the day grew, and Diana could sense, rather than actually see, the isolating place his mind was putting him in.

"I'm sorry to hear that," John told the young woman as Diana slowly stepped towards Jake, watching him turn his eyes on her. She lifted her hand to feel his face, and for a single second he let her. But that was all the time she was allowed as he fiercly flinched away like her hand had burned him.

It was easy to ignore his reaction with her mind on the fact that he wasn't even warm. The cold sweat wasn't a good sign, nor did it feel like a normal cold. It were as if something inside of him was sucking the warmth from his flesh.

She hadn't fully believed in the story about some curse put on the Conant's and the Blake's, but with each passing minute, Jake was significantly worse.

It was real, and the actualization of it hit her sideways.

The quiet in the room made Diana take her worrying eyes from Jake to the rest of them. Calvin Wilson's niece was staring at Jake. Her eyes taking note of how bad he looked, which acted as some sort of pass for them.

"Come with me," she said, walking into the very room she had come out of.

They all followed, Jake morosely walking a few steps behind.

"We have everything but lethe root," she told them, taking things down from a shelf against a wall. "It's very rare."

"Does it grow around here?" Cassie asked her.

"It used to. In Harbor woods..."

John turned to Cassie then. "Might be able to find some if you, uh, go deep enough."

Calvin's niece cut in then. "It mostly grows inside trees hollowed out by rot or age."

Jake's back was turned, making Diana wonder why he was so eager to keep from looking at the girl. Had he known her somehow? Maybe during his witch hunter days, which really weren't that far from the day they were in.

"All right," Adam said. "Cassie and I will go."

Diana's mouth popped open, but she had no idea what to say, much less what she'd sound like if she actually did say it. They'd go and she'd be left to what, babysit?

"And we'll put the rest of the ingredients together and get the elixir ready," John suggested to the girl.

She knew something like this would have eventually happened. Between Adam and Cassie stood nothing. Except for this curse, nothing else existed for them. Diana marveled over that. Once upon a time, she would have insisted that very statement explained her and Adam. But seeing this first hand was like an unadultered aspersion against their very relationship. She was discovering the strong differences between loving someone, and being in love with them. Letting Adam go was for herself of course, but it was also for him. By letting him find out what there was with Cassie, maybe he'd find the things he needed rested in Diana, and Diana alone. Him and Cassie were so utterly different that part of her said it wouldn't be able to last.

She was proving to be entirely wrong.

Instead of not being able to find a likeness in Cassie, he'd found the very things he was lacking and severely needed. Only right then was Diana aware of both the pain and eventual hope that came with this realization. Being in love was the consistency of needing that person, and though she loved Adam, she was getting on fine without him. Missing him, the comfort and security his presence offered by simply knowing him, was the very core of her pain. More than she missed him, she hungered for the love she knew existed for her somewhere, in someone.

Cassie's father followed Calvin's niece into the back, already starting on what they needed in order to make the elixir.

As both Cassie and Adam turned, ready to begin whatever journey they were about to set out on, Jake jolted forward.

"I'll go with you-" His voice stopped short on a cough that he put into the sleeve of his hoodie. His voice strained, but he pushed through it, trying to make himself appear fine though anyone could see he wasn't. "I really wanna make sure that we find this root."

Diana couldn't blame him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cassie asked him, her eyes slightly narrowing as she stared up at him.

"If only you'd asked yourself that last night."

Cassie's eyes hit Diana's, which she had Diana turning her gaze straight ahead of her.

Like the desperation in finding the root for Jake, she was just as desperate to get it over and done with so she could go back to her own personal problems. Free from the hurt. Free from the inner insecurity she was working hard to shadow over. Being here was a sort of test, she knew. So far, she was doing better than expected.

"Let it go," she flatly told Jake, following alongside Diana who'd chosen not to stick around and listen to anymore of their soap opera play out.

When she glanced back, she noticed Jake wasn't with them. Cassie passed her, walking through the door Adam was holding open. She sighed, realizing that with Adam and Cassie also came a blind eye.

As she walked back her eyes caught Jake muttering something at one of the mirrors on the wall, his face shocked pale and terrified.

"Jake?" Diana called out, uncrossing her arms as she approached him. He looked down at her, trying to fix his expression, but not without fail. "C'mon," she spoke carefully, correcting herself before she reached out to him again. She wasn't sure if it was because of the condition he was in, or simply because she was trying to be nice, but either way, it was hard to keep from helping someone in need of it.

As he walked out with her, he shoved his hands in his pockets, managing to keep up a normal pace. Even with his obvious vunerability, she could see he was fighting to keep his pride.

In the backseat of Cassie's car, Diana watched out of the corner of her eye as Jake tried for discretion in lifting his sleeve. The look on his face in seeing how much the strange design had spread over his forearm, wasn't missed. Death was greeting him with swift bat-like wings that leaked with black poison, and he was absorbing the very actualization of it all. Like a demon swimming through his veins, spreading its own version of justice that was taking over Jake's body without an ounce of his control.

Jake turned his eyes on Diana, and she watched the hope drain from his eyes in absolution.

Part II:

"Holy water cannot help you now;
I'm gonna raise the stakes, I'm gonna smoke you out."

Reminiscing isn't a choice when you have nothing to reminisce about.

In the darkest of times, this is when one would hold onto their collection of fond memories. When one would would fight for the light in their lives. But the only light Jake could seek out was the very source that bled darkness. Cassie- who'd managed to get him to care about something. At one point, they'd been traveling down the same road. Now, they were on seperate sides of the state. And with the way he was feeling, he didn't feel like he was on the same planet anymore, let alone in the same state.

"You guys as cold as I am?"

"Yes," Adam answered without bothering to hide the amount of irritance he had. Cassie's same answer also dripped with the irritation.

Stepping over a large fallen tree trunk that had probably been there since before he was even born, he glanced up to see the back of Diana's head shaking. At least he wasn't alone in feeling that both Cassie and Adam should have maybe been a little bit nicer, considering what they'd caused.

Sure, it wasn't intentionally done, but it was hard not to take it all personally.

"Maybe we're all dying," Jake said then.

He was sure he'd never talked so much in his whole life, but he couldn't control it.

"You know, you can still go back to town. We don't mind. At all," Adam suggested freely.

"He can't go anywhere alone, Adam." Diana's own annoyance towards Adam and Cassie, and more than likely the day in general, was finally beginning to show itself.

"And miss out on this amazing bonding opportunity?" He could feel that his whole demenor had changed within the fourty-plus minutes they'd spent hiking through the woods. "No." Diana glanced back at Jake who was trudging only a few steps behind her, ignoring how she tried to obscure the way she slowed so he could catch up. It was beginning to get on his nerves.

"So, tell me," he began saying, not able to help the way the words simply spilled from his lips. "How was your first time?" Diana stopped, spinning around before Adam's steps had even slowed. Jake slowed his already tedious steps as well. "Was it sweet and romantic? Or did Little Miss Bad Girl bring her nasty game?"

Adam stomped forward, his ears would have been blowing smoke had he been the cartoon version of himself. He thrusted his finger up into Jake's face, only one small push away from completely losing it. Diana stepped after him, trying to get his attention, but he rolled his shoulder out from under her hand. "I don't care if you're sick," he practically spat.

"Yeah, that much is obvious." Jake told him flatly. "And it's no thanks to you, buddy."

Diana instantly bent her head back, as if talking to the sky. "For the love of-"

"Stop it!" Cassie yelled out over whatever curse, or non-curse Diana had let out.

Adam harshly swat Cassie's hand away after she grabbed his arm, attempting to turn him away from Jake. Diana stood in place, her arms going from crossed to holding herself.

"Having fun yet?" He asked her. She simply stared at him.

"Why're you doing this?" Cassie's blue eyes were void of any and all fault for what she'd caused him to look like. If it touched anywhere close to how he felt, then he probably looked like a crazed escapee from an insane asylum with a terminal illness, and months worth for lack of sleep.

"Just trying to make conversation," Jake said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Shouldn't you be more excited to talk about this wonderous event?" His voice raised at the end as well as his eyes towards Adam. He looked back down at Cassie. "I know I'm enjoying this, what about you, Diana?"

"We don't have time for this," she simply said, not choosing to humor him.

"You're jealous," Cassie said, a smirk in her voice as well as on her face.

Jake could feel his head give a small shake at how little care she was showing. If she did at all.

Still, a sired-effect stirred inside of him in regards to Cassie. She was, after all, the one who showed him he actually had a heart.

"Deep down, you know that it's you and me that should be together."

"You're wrong," she told him in a definet tone before turning away from him.

"I know you don't believe that," he tried. Cassie's face held the same expression.

"Guys, lets go," Adam said impatiently.

He watched her go, noticing the way Diana was looking at him. Like she understood on some level what he was going through with Cassie, whatever that was. But him and Diana had about as much likeness as the sun and moon. Day and night. Hell, even dogs and cats. The list was endless. He was nothing like her.

"Hold on," Jake told them after clearing his throat. "I need some water." He bent down, opening up his backpack as he coughed. It wasn't even that his throat bothered him, though it was dry. More than anything, it was his body that hurt. As if a cough was the only way it could express its pain.

Jake's stomach dropped and his muscles tightened in defense as he looked over to the three of them, wondering who it was that was trying for a laugh.

"What the hell..."

"What? What's wrong now?" Adam asked, obviously up to his throat in aggravation.

Jake didn't give a damn.

"This," Jake said, thrusting out the small bottle. "It's a witch cruet..." His voice raised, as well as his temper. "Who put this in my bag?"

"Jake-" Diana began, but was cut short.

"What're you talking about?" Cassie asked as if completely ignorant to what he was holding.

"Did you get this from Calvin's?" He yelled. "Is this some kind of a sick joke?" I'm not a witch hunter anymore!" He screamed, throwing down the bottle as hard as he could manage, watching as it shattered before his feet.

He breathed hard through his nose, contemplating who it could have been. His eyes skipped over Diana, instantly suspecting Cassie or Adam. They'd be ones to have a laugh out of his expense. Adam had probably come up with the idea. He looked back at Diana who's face looked startled and slightly confused.

Maybe it had been her and he'd been quick to bypass that possibility. He stomped up to her, keeping his face close to hers even as she tried backing away from him until her back reached a tree.

"Was that why you were in my room this morning? To plant this?"

"Jake!" Cassie yelled from behind him somewhere, but he was certain it was Diana now.

"Yeah, it's always the least likely suspect." His voice was low enough for her to hear, but anyone else would be lost to his words. "I knew you were keeping face for something else. What is it?"

"Jake," he caught movement to the side of him, but his eyes were too busy boring into Diana's brown ones. She had her chin turned up to him, but he could see the fear there, her conscious closing in on her.

"Say something," he told her through his teeth.

Still, she said nothing. Her eyes never left his, as if trying to let him see she had nothing to hide.

His mind was whispering things to him he didn't understand, or hear clearly enough. He thought it was himself that was the one convinced she was an enemy of sorts. She was the darkest of them all, with secrets she kept for demons. The ones that had been talking to him that morning. But he faultered, stepping back as he looked her over, his vision blurring for a moment. It wasn't that he was the one convinced. It was something else trying to convince him. Adam held a water container in his face when he stepped back even more, turning away from his realizations.

"This is not a witch cruet," Adam told him.

Jake staggered until his shoulder bumped against the tree Diana had been standing against, and he let himself sink down onto the thick roots that disappeared beneath the dirt's surface.

"He's hallucinating," Adam said ominously as Diana bent down, putting her hand to his face gingerly.

Cassie bent down as well, pulling down the dropped neck of his shirt. Diana gasped as Cassie looked up at Adam, showcasing just how bad off he really was. He couldn't see, but by following their reactions, he'd bet money to say he was hitting close to beyond repair. Jake looked back and forth between the two, a thankful ease settling over his dazed mind as he stared at Cassie. But the other set of hands besides Cassie's, caused him to turn his gaze on Diana, unsure of how to act. He'd basically attacked her, and yet here she was, worried and fussing over him like he was a fallen baby bird.

It was things like this which made it impossible to trust her. No one was that selfless. No one was consistant in their caring about others rather than themselves. Unless you had made a deal with the devil...

"He's finally broken whatever chill he had," Diana began saying, her voice too soft for his comfort. "He's got a fever now, and it's way too high." She pulled her hand from him when she took notice of Jake's eyes on her. He was trying to balance the difference between good and evil. Evil came in pretty forms most times because temptation was the greatest weakness in all human beings. And since Diana was beautiful, it only added to his distrust in her.

"We have to hurry," Adam stated, already moving along as Cassie grabbed one of Jake's arms to help lift him. He let her, but he wasn't pleased with it.

Part III:

"In the evil's heart
In the evil's soul."

She could have lived the rest of her life without having ever seen the way Jake had looked at her.

Never in her life had she ever done anything ill-mannered towards someone. She made a point of being the better person; a person someone could come to rather than dislike on any level. She knew it really had nothing to do with her, but being singled out the way she had, without knowing how far Jake was going to take it, was hard to wave a hand at.

Jake's movements were slower now, causing Cassie to leave him behind and walk beside Adam, both of which were making a point to be reluctantly looking for the specific root they needed. Diana was keeping a safe enough distance from Jake now. She wasn't scared of him as much as she just flat out didn't want to be taken by surprise. As the sun had gone down, Jake had checked on Diana from over his shoulder less and less. Maybe the hallucinations, the muddied thoughts he must have been having, were dying down.

She wasn't sure that was a good thing or a bad one. Did them fading mean he was as well? Or was it all simply building until he exploded, much like a volcano would?

When Jake came to a complete stop, so did Diana. His head jerked, as if someone were speaking to him, and she held her breath.

"You okay, Jake?" Adam asked after hearing his murmers.

"I'm fine," Jake rushed. But he wasn't fine. "Shut up," he whispered furiously as Diana carefully approached him. "Shut up."

"Jake?" Adam and Diana said in unison, Cassie stayed where she was, waiting with an impatient air about her.

He went from glancing around him to staring at Adam, but Diana could see he wasn't really seeing him.

"Stay away from me, Calvin," he warned.

"Jake," Diana's voice whined, not knowing what they were going to do if Jake completely lost his mind.

Adam's head shook up at Jake. "It's me. Adam."

Jake started panting, seeing something none of them could understand.

"I was just doing what the witch hunters told me to do!" He yelled out in a plea. His eyes full of anguish.

It was all coming together. The way Jake had acted earlier when Cassie's dad had suggested going to Calvin's shop. How he acted when they'd gotten there. And with this... Both of Diana's hands went to her mouth to keep from gasping, or crying out, she didn't know which.

Suddenly, Jake's whole body changed in an instant. All this time he'd been getting weaker and weaker, but suddenly his shoulders straightened and his face fell. He went from standing still, to having Adam's collar clenched in his fists, basically lifting him off the ground, all happening in a blink.

"I HAD NO CHOICE." He spoke furociously through grinding teeth, instantly swinging Adam around, fighting for the position of control.

Diana screamed out to them, not paying the least bit of attention to what she'd said, or if she'd even said words at all. Her body was telling her to do something, but her mind was screaming at her to keep her distance.

Adam held his own for a while, until Jake pulled out strength from his adrenaline, lifting Adam right off of his feet to flip him onto the ground with a large thump. Diana rushed over then, screaming at Jake who had obviously left them. She practically had to climb onto him to get ahold of Jake in anyway, watching his large hands make their way for Adam's neck.

"No!" Cassie bellowed out to them, but Diana didn't have room for any other thought than getting Jake, or rather the shell of him, off of Adam.

"Cassie! Cassie, no! No dark magic!" Adam yelled through his lack of air. Diana was wrestling against Jake, managing to get one arm in her grasp before he would try to shove her off, working his hand back to Adam's throat. "Focus on me! Look at me! No dark magic!"

Diana glanced over at Cassie, seeing her face change completely. Adam finally began to choke and Diana's desperation caused her to cry out, yanking Jake's hand away enough to let Adam suck a single breath of air in before Jake was able to cut it off again.

Whether it was the three of them, or simply Adam and Cassie, Jake was flung from Adam. Diana flung only halfway since she had been on top of his back. She landed on her shoulder, rolling onto her back before hearing a series of thumps that followed from Jake's large body being tossed.

She pushed herself into a sitting position, looking in Jake's direction where he laid completely still. Clinging to Adam's arm when he'd bent to help her up, she was up and running to Jake's lifeless looking body, fearing the absolute worst. She almost sighed a breath of relief when she both felt a pulse, and could hear him breathing roughly.

"He thought I was-" Adam didn't even finish his statement. But he added, "Jake killed him. He killed Calvin Wilson."

His face was banged up pretty badly, and she had no idea of he'd broken anything.

"Jake..." Diana whispered, unable to calm her shaking hands.

"Diana, get away from him. He could wake up and try it again and I won't bother holding back if he does."

"He's knocked out, Adam! He's hardly a threat at the moment."

"Well, that thought got my throat squeezed by his damn hands..."

Jake's eyes opened and at first, he didn't seem to see anything, but his head lifted and he looked at Diana. Adam rushed forward, still on edge.

"Jake?" Diana asked, feeling Adam right over her shoulder.

He groaned, a few curse words spat out into the air before he tried getting himself up. Diana grabbed his shoulder, lifting him even though he tried turning against her. "I don't think you're in any position to deny my help at this point. Swallow your pride and get over it." He groaned in response, but it was mostly due to the multiple pains he probably had in his body. Adam had to help at that point, his mouth formed in a straight line as he lifted Jake's arm from Diana's small and weaker shoulder, helping Jake to stagger along as Diana rushed ahead with Cassie.

"I'm sorry," Jake muttered as Adam set him down beside one of the rotted trees in the area they'd finally reached. Diana sat a few feet away, letting Adam and Cassie be the ones to dig up the roots since they'd already started it. It wasn't until the third rotted, broken down tree trunk they'd searched until they found the leefe root.

"Got it," Cassie said as Adam kept the flashlight on it. She started cutting at it, her voice low but heard still from where both Jake and Diana sat, which wasn't far. Jake's breathing was harsh, his eyes opening and closing on their own accord as his head lolled back and forth against the wood of the tree.

He mumbled something she couldn't understand, and decided to cut Adam and Cassie's precious conversation short.

"Jake's not getting any better, guys."

They both turned their eyes on her, but she was too fed up to even bother trying to be decent. She wondered if it were her, would they have taken their sweet time? Or maybe it was because it was just Jake? Either way, he was a human being and the way they were going about this felt rediculous to her.

Diana warned Cassie she was taking off her seatbelt when they'd all finally gotten to the car.

Cassie glanced back at her in the rearview mirror. "Why?"

Scooting across the backseat, Diana pushed aside her instinct to keep her distance. She pulled Jake, with some difficulty, from the door his head was vibrating against, to her shoulder which ended up being the whole side of her body. Jake was tall, but she'd never considered how wide his shoulders were in comparison to hers. Or how much more weight he had. Still, she kept his slumped body as comfortable as she could during the car ride. Trying to make sense of what he was mumbling about. All she got from him was better dead and she didn't know if he meant Calvin, or himself.

With the knowledge she now had in learning he'd killed Calvin, she'd have expected to keep as far away from him as possible. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was dying, or if it was because he was just so...increadibly lost, that made her take responsibility in helping him.

Either way, she wasn't about to let his parents deaths be in vain.