Chapter Fifteen

Cassie, Peter and Voldemort ran for their lives. The net was closing in fast. They feared that, should they not find and emancipate Edmund immediately, he would be lost forever. Queen Bella would kill them all now, of that Cassie was sure.

They ran through corridors, down flights of stairs. The castle was a maze, and Cassie tried to remember where she had gone the first time, but everything seemed so similar. There were no defining features on any of the walls, not even a single painting, though, as luck would have it, soon they began to hear the harsh notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which she knew to be coming from the basement, which she knew to be very near to the dungeons.

Peter ran ahead, his feet slapping against the solid stone floor. Cassie and Voldemort, neither of the two being of an athletic disposition, fell behind. They were at least two or three feet apart from Peter when the wall fell down, separating the two parties indefinitely.

"Peter!" Cassia cried through the wall. "Peter, are you there?"

"I'm here!" he called from the other side. "What happened? I can't see a way through!"

"Shit," hissed Cassie. "Shit, shit, shit!" She kicked the wall in her fury.

"Yeah, I'm okay too, if anyone was wondering..." murmured Voldemort. "Pull yourself together, Bateman.

"We'll find another way through, Pevensie. Go on without us!"

"Okay," he said quietly - and then a pause. "Cassie?"

Voldemort exhaled loudly. "Just go, lover boy; you'll see her later!"

They heard his quick footsteps retreating in the opposite direction. Cassie leaned her forehead against the wall as Voldemort looked at her with obvious disdain.

"Are we moving, or what?"

"It's over," she said softly. "It's over."

They didn't hear her approach, but Cassie knew she would be there, and be there she was, grinning to herself like the Cheshire Cat.

"Oh, yes, it is," said Bella. "It's all over now, Cassie."

Cassie turned with a grimace, but let her face return to a neutral expression as she faced the queen. She would not let her fear show. Beside the White Witch, Jacob Black and two other werewolves waited with sneers stretching at their mouths.

"Which one of you do we kill first?" asked Bella.

"Come on, Bella," reasoned Cassie, "surely we can talk about this like adults."

"NO!" Bella screeched. "I AM NOT AN ADULT! I WILL NEVER BE AN ADULT! I WON'T GROW OLD! I WON'T DIE! I'M GOING TO LIVE FOREVER!"

Cassie held her hands up in an effort to appease her Royal Highness, but Voldemort cut off anything she was about to say.

"Woah, woah, woah," he said. "Hold on a second. What did you say?"

"I'm going to live forever," Bella repeated. "I'll never grow old."

"Mentally," said Cassie quickly. "She'll never grow old mentally."

Voldemort started to laugh. "Oh, wow," he said, shaking his head at Cassie. "You lied to me."

"No!" she cried. "No, I didn't lie. You're a powerful wizard. I thought you would know! Besides, you never asked."

"Oh, whatever. You knew this was what I wanted the whole time!"

"Tom-"

"Don't call me that!" he cried. "Don't you dare! You're only a friend when it suits you!"

"Come on," she said, her voice breaking as she tried to plead with him. "That's not true."

"You're a loser, Cassie," he said. "Why would I want to play for the good team, when the bad guys get to live forever. Does that make sense to you?"

"Voldemort, please..."

But Voldemort was already being escorted away by Jacob and the other werewolves. Cassie could only watch in horror as he disappeared.

"Oh, Cassie," said Bella softly, taking Cassie by the chin and forcing her to look at her. "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. Don't cry. It's all going to be okay, I promise. I have what I want now. I have Voldemort, and now all I need is you. Now you're going to join me too."

Cassie laughed mirthlessly and pushed Bella's hand away. "You really are insane."

"I know," said Bella with a nod. "People keep telling me that, but they have so many misconceptions about me. They think I'm an idiot. I'm not. They think I'm just a psychopath. I'm really not, Cassie. I have a vision; a very clear vision of how I want my school to be run. There is a purpose to everything I do, and, in that way, I suppose I am more of what you would call a sociopath.

"You don't need to cry. You might not understand it now, but you will be grateful one day."

"I will never join you," said Cassie bluntly, but the presence of tears in her eyes somewhat belittled the courage she was attempting to convey.

"Yes, you will. Yes, you will. Oh my goodness, you don't even see it." Bella threw back her head and cackled. "You really are an idiot. You will join me because you don't have a choice, and it is the only way you can hope to save your friends. I know your intelligence is limited, but you must understand what I'm saying."

"You'll go back on your word."

"Maybe, but are you willing to take the risk?"

"And your army?"

"Will be incinerated. Join me, become a vampire, and your friends never have to get hurt again. They can go home, and you can live forever. Is that not a good idea?"

Cassie couldn't even say anything. Her voice was not her own: she was no longer in control of it. Every breath trembled on her lips, shaking as it escaped her. She could not speak for fear that she would burst into tears, and even now they lingered in the corners of her eyes, threatening to expel themselves no matter how much she commanded them not to.

"Chin up, Cassie," said Bella. "I already look forward to our next meeting. You have twenty-four hours. If I don't see you by then, I will find you all, and kill you."

She smiled so brightly that anyone passing by at that moment might never have guessed that she has just promised mass murder. She backed slowly away from Cassie, whose tears were now pouring forth from her eyes, and said softly, "It's so nice that we can finally get along."

In a moment she was gone, and the wall behind Cassie disappeared too, back into the ceiling where it had come from. She heard footsteps approaching, at least two sets, and quickly wiped at her eyes and took deep breaths to steady herself.

It was Peter, and beside him Edmund.

"Are you okay?" he asked, upon noticing her smeared makeup.

Cassie nodded quickly. "I got a little over dramatic when I thought I'd lost you. I'm okay now though."

"Are you sure? Where's Voldemort?"

Cassie looked back the way said Voldemort had retreated, and couldn't speak for a moment. She swallowed hard. "He's fine. Let's go, okay?"

Cassie smiled and took Peter's hand. Edmund, the terrified wretch that he was, tightly occupied the other, and together the three made their way back to the ballroom to collect the rest of their party and quit the Cullen Castle for good.