Chapter 25

Kazana has lived factionless her entire life, having been found by the rebels who strive to live without the faction system she becomes their new secret weapon. The plan is clear, choose dauntless, pass initiation, infiltrate the system, but what can she do when a certain leader sees through her façade? AU No War, One year after Tris' initiation.

Teaser Link to SAW is in my profile. One chapter left.

Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, but I do have an impressive knack for poor mathematical skills!

Returning to the city had been a blacked out journey, dimmed windows and resolute security ready for when she might make her pounce. She had not seen then in what direction she travelled nor the landmarks that may aid her.

Kaz now crossed the border once more and hurried with trembling legs to the RPTS headquarters, increasingly aware of the fault in her navigation.

It was only as the barrel grew heavier in her arms, and the wound in her side throbbed painfully that she understood the journey was near impossible on foot. A growl of frustration tore through her throat as she took in building after building, the abandoned tracks, all sights which inspired nothing.

Kazana was lost. Without the external constant of sound she felt the ringing in her ears like a desperate alarm, aftermath of the explosion, weighted limbs and a fatal injury left her with the incessant feeling that she was wilting away. Bit by bit, she was breaking down, and leaving a part of herself at each turn, shedding away skin and bone till it was nothing but her will that remained.

If everything had gone to plan then the Bureau were not even aware of the events that had occurred, nor did they have any wish to learn. It was Four's blissful ignorance of Toma's existence that had her stomach churning in fear.

They had lasted through two centuries, this was nothing, the panic would subdue and she would be too late. Kazana's movements quickened in a scrambled attempt to cover more ground.

The heavy sensation in her gut grew ardent as searing headlights blinded her vision, a truck approached slowly, the first of many she imagined, soldiers come to set the situation straight.

Her hand came up to shield her face as she crouched on the ground, floored when an ecstatic voice called down to her.

"KAZANA!"

Peeking carefully through her fingers she watched as the lights dimmed down to a soft glow, still a daunting sight before the rising sun. Lisa's form stood as a tall silhouette, and beside her another woman sat with hands resolutely around the wheel.

"You," Kaz snarled and pounced over the door to pin Marnya down by her neck, the woman's gasps came out in choked splutters as her pale skin turned a mottled shade of purple.

"Kaz!" Lisa screamed, wrapping her arms around her friend's back to pull her away, she would not budge, her eyes were black and rimmed with red as she poured all of her rage in to the attack.

"KAZANA STOP, SHE'S ON OUR SIDE!"

Marnya breathed in with a haggard inhale as the younger girl's grip relented instantly. Kaz did not speak straight away, simply looked from one face to the next in an attempt to deduce their sincerity. It was only when finding Lisa's saddened gaze that she was reminded of one much similar. Sophie. Did she know? Had she known of her sister's betrayal?

"W-we don't have a lot of t-time," Marnya wheezed, her neck marred with the stain of fingertips.

"Lisa," Kazana began calmly, "You don't understand. This woman-"

"Is trying to help us!" Lisa urged, "she wants to stop him too, she's like us."

"Him," Kaz repeated, turning to Marnya with narrowed eyes, "You've helped him all this time, you knew what he had planned and now I'm supposed to believe you've changed your mind?"

She was met with a saddened gaze, like that of a mother watching her child break out of the maternal clutches to find their own feet, it only served to fuel her fury, what right did she have to watch her with such familiarity?

"Growing up outside the city, I idolized Toma. He wasn't just a name in my family, he was our liberator. His emergence, and finally yours, was all anybody talked about, it was the only hope we had for a better future. I followed his work ardently, wrote blogs, articles, I studied every detail of human preservation so that I might one day have the honour to call myself his colleague."

Was this supposed to reassure her? Kazana watched as Marnya reached for the wheel and shot her hand out to grip the older woman's wrist.

"We're not going anywhere until I know I can trust you."

"I was just an intern when they took him out early, over the years I worked my way up through the ranks, became leader of the precinct in Toma's place. I was there when you…," she stumbled over her words for a moment, looking at her again, her eyes, as though she were seeing someone else.

"I hadn't known what to expect, but when you came out you were so…scared, so childlike. All you kept asking for was him, you were so confused, so innocent, only with us for weeks before he had us put you in the city. My doubts started then, I looked into your case closely, tried to avoid suspicious eyes, when I found out about the others…,"

"Others?"

"The failed experiments, when Toma's research was still in its early days, all young children just like you. I knew then that his best interest wasn't in your wellbeing at all, he didn't care who he had to hurt to get what he wanted."

Kazana dragged her eyes away from Marnya to where Lisa sat staring at her hands in disgust, as though plagued with a particularly unpleasant memory.

"I didn't know there were others," Kaz mumbled, the dusting of snow in her hair had melted and began to cling to her face and neck with sickly persistence. Marnie's fingers itched impatiently on the wheel; urgency clung to her taut demeanour.

Kazana knew then, this wasn't just about her anymore.

"Drive."

The snow had melted to a dank grey consistency, yet it lay untouched as the world beyond the gate was one of desertion. Lisa eyed the entrance to the Bureau with grave contemplation.

"Where is everyone?"

Marnie's eyes remained fixed on the road as the steel doors creaked open, not a single soul in sight to guard them.

"They've been reset. We've only so much time before Toma finds out. You need to get in there. Now."

"How do I know this is going to work?" Kazana demanded, "How do I know he'll stay that way?"

"Once the transfusion takes place I'll send the chamber in to lockdown, nobody gets in or out. You'll have 60 seconds to leave before the door seals itself permanently."

Such a crucial timeframe should have sent her heart pounding in to overdrive, but Kaz felt numb to the consequences. The tires squealed sharply as Marnya skidded to a halt, her eyes were alive with an exuberance that brought youth to her tired features.

"Lisa, you stay here and stop anyone from coming in, and I mean anyone, that includes the others. We don't need them interfering now," Marnya urged.

Her nod of affirmation was all they needed to begin the pursuit in to dimly lit corridors; Kazana found herself struggling to keep up with the older woman as the gun wound pulsed with every step.

"This wa-" Marnya gasped on the last corner as a knife hand struck her directly in the wind pipe, a suited figure dragged her in to a fierce chokehold; Kazana cursed the absence of a weapon as the barrel grew heavy in her arms.

"Hand that over and she won't get hurt," she whipped around to where a second suited man stood, eyes hidden behind dark shades.

"No!" Marnya cried, "Kazana don-," her head snapped to the side with the impact of a forceful blow, chest rising and falling in fearful rapidity.

"Give it to us or she dies," he warned. A click sounded from behind and Kazana knew she was currently the target of a final shot.

Turning slowly on her heel, she approached the armed man with a cautious tread. He backed away two paces and removed his glasses, gesturing down to the ground with his gun.

"Put it down there and walk away."

Kaz did as he asked; never breaking his gaze as she walked back three long strides.

The weapon continued to aim directly for her forehead; he neared the barrel tentatively, a small smile curving his lips as he placed it under one arm and stood to full height.

"I'm glad you could see things our way," he smirked

"One little problem," she drawled.

"Hmm?"

"You should have kept those on," Kazana hissed before removing a shard of glass from her back pocket and hurling it at his face. Excruciating screams of pain reverberated off the walls as the jagged edge embedded itself in his eyeball. Diving forward she caught the barrel before it could crash to the floor, narrowly avoiding the bullet which fired past her shoulder in to the opposite wall. Marnya used the split second of distraction to elbow her captor in the solar plexus, shoving out of his hold she tore down the hall in search of the chamber.

With his accomplice wounded, Kazana scrambled to her feet after the suited figure as he sprinted in pursuit of Marnya's fleeting form. In a moment of madness she bowled the glass tank along the floor, praying it would remain in once piece as he tripped over the barrel and fell to the floor.

Kaz relinquished herself to the vicious streak which had been ignited in her blood, he was barely on his knees when she sent a well-aimed kick directly at his kidneys. Winded by the movement he rolled on to his back, gasping in pained breaths.

With one foot pressed on his thigh she placed all her bodyweight on to his leg and snapped it at the knee. A gargled scream filled the air just as another pair of arms attempted to drag her away, she almost wanted to roll her eyes as the partially blinded man hooked his hands round her elbows in a semblance of a hold.

Tightening her arms around his she ducked forward and sent him flying over her back, directly on to his floored colleague. As both lay on the ground gasping for breath she grabbed the first man's head, fingers whitening as they dug in to his temples, and smashed it against the second's skull. Satisfied as the impact knocked both out in an instant.

"I'm glad you could see things my way," Kazana sneered, leaving the unconscious forms behind to grab the tank and follow in Marnya's direction.

Every pant had slowed to a deep, agonized inhale as she limped towards the towering glass door. Marnya's face was stern as she punched the touchpad with her each fingertip and placed her cool hand against Kaz's cheek.

"Remember," she said earnestly, "One minute. Get in, get out, don't waste a single second."

"Permission Granted," an empty voice rung out.

Her senses were clouded with a plethora of menthol mist as the door slid open and a thick fog crept out, bathing her like a transparent caress. It was as though Toma was everywhere, even in the air they breathed.

Marnya had already gone when the glass clicked shut, her pale skin glowed beneath the fluorescent blue lights. Such distractions were detrimental in such a moment and yet in her lightheaded daze, Kazana could not help but gaze in wonder at the eerie effect the glimmering mist created. Of course, everything about him truly was smoke and mirrors.

The aged figure remained peacefully unaware upon his platform as Kazana approached with tentative steps. She traced the tube trailing out of his prominent veins, a small dose of liquid remained in the plastic feed which would buy a sufficient amount of time. Kaz unscrewed the tube and removed the tank of clear bubbling fluids, placing it carefully on the floor; she retrieved the renewed tankard, dark orange in tone and attached the tube to its new source.

Slipping in to the corner chair, she felt the familiar sensation of steel pads pressing lightly in to her temples. Somewhere beyond the confines of the chamber, Marnya entered her in to the simulation, and Kazana saw nothing but black.

Where the sweet sounds of violins might once have brought her infantile self a sense of comfort, the music now seemed the symphony of her suffering. Fingers danced along the strings of a harp, filling the air with gentle notes, how menacing such a sound could seem, when created at the hands of a madman.

Her eyes immediately met those of a figure as helpless as she; the stone statue stared ahead with an unseeing gaze, frozen upon the fountain like a fallen angel.

"I knew you would come back to me, Princess."

Kazana felt a shudder trail down her spine as his voice spoke from a reclined place by the fountain. Turning her gaze to his, she saw now he had swapped his tweed suit for more professional attire. A stuttered breath escaped her lips at the sight of his long white lab coat, the golden emblem RPTS, glittered under the sun's rays.

"I thought you might appreciate me in something a little more familiar," he explained with a smile. "As a child you always begged to wear this coat, the goggles too, though I'm afraid they were a little big for you at the time," he chuckled.

Amber streaks filtered through the lilac skies casting a honeyed shade on the shards of grass which swayed in the fields surrounding them. Kazana could not meet his gaze; she knew it would hold nothing but false joviality.

"And the other children," she swallowed, "Did they do that too? Or were they unworthy of such attention?"

It did not go unnoticed by her, the light clenching of his jaw from the corner of her vision. With a disapproving purse of his lips, Toma retrieved the pipe from his lab pocket and stirred the tobacco with his index finger.

"I did what I had to do," he sighed, "you know this."

Toma looked up at her with a renewed smile, though his eyes now held a glint of warning.

"And you know you were always special darling, my pride and joy."

Kazana closed her eyes, willing herself to stay calm, to wait out the transition.

"You tortured innocent children!"

"It was the only way to keep you," he hissed.

"KEEP ME WHERE?!"

"HERE!" he snarled, "With me!"

Kazana felt a paralyzing sensation itch through her limbs, stilling her into obedience. Her eyes snapped open to gaze furiously at his smug gait.

"And quite honestly darling I'm getting a little tired of your petulance," his own stare was now burning dangerously into hers. "I thought I told you already sweetheart, you're in my world now, my mind, I hold all the cards," he smiled darkly, "I always have."

Her obsidian gaze did not waver as an unusually cool breeze tickled the hairs at the nape of his neck, Toma's hand snapped up in shock, smirk falling instantly from his face.

"What-," he began just as a thunderous roar echoed through the skies; confusion marred his features as benevolent clouds permeated the sky.

Kazana flexed her fingers as invisible binds melted away, she was met with no resistance from the man who continued to gaze at the sun's wilting form. In a matter of seconds the warm glow was replaced with smoke and cinders as the golden crops disintegrated in to fields of ash.

"No," he whispered.

A smattering of red fell across his nose and Kaz could not contain a gasp as she looked up to see that where the wistful woman had once filled the fountain with fresh streams of water, the bucket in her hands now flowed with blood.

"What have you done?" he asked in a hushed tone, staring down at his hands which began to shake lightly as the skin sagged upon aging muscle. Plumes of dark hair fell to the ground revealing a greyed balding skull and wrinkles weaved in to his skin, condemning him to the man he truly was.

"You're right," Kazana answered, "This is your mind, but I'm afraid the cards are all mine."

Dark silhouettes appeared on the bleak hills, small disfigured bodies that stood in endless rows waiting for their retribution.

Their approach was slow, laboured, but heavy with the determination that only the young could muster. On the edge of Toma's consciousness walked the ghosts of his past, the innocents he had wronged. They represented his every twisted failure, the very thing he feared most.

Toma backed against the fountain in terror, hands scrambling for refuge but finding instead crimson stains. His attempts to flee were fruitless as the inevitability of age slowed him down; he fell to his knees, crying out as weakened bones trembled from the impact.

"It's remarkable really, the powers of the fear serum," Kazana stood over him and clutched the lapels of his lab coat, smiling grimly as it crumbled beneath her fingers, leaving him in nothing more than the dirty rags she had known for 12 years of her life.

Tortured cries echoed along the branches of rotting trees, Kaz shivered at the sound, they were distant memories, the pleadings of lives lost.

"You," he sneered, shaking from his hunched stance, "You have no idea what you're doing."

"Oh but I do," Kaz leaned in, lowering her tone an octave to whisper; "I'm trapping you. Just as you trapped me. I'm leaving you to the mercy of your own eternal nightmare."

Nothing seemed more delicious then, than the fear on his face, the dawning realization of his fate. Kazana could not help but smile, a familiar curve of the lips mirroring that of a man centuries ago.

"Sweet Dreams."

It's done.

This was not just a thought, a wish, a fantasy. This was real, tangible, Kazana felt for the first time in her life a sense of finality. The sensation was that which you could taste on the tip of your tongue, and the ache that pulsed in her very limbs seemed one of delicious freedom. Despite everything telling her it was a foolish notion all she could think of was him.

Eric, she wanted to cry, god she wanted to scream it's done. Because nothing else mattered, and it was selfish, everything she pined for down to her very core was entirely self-serving.

He'd done so much wrong, the ethos which he had lived his life by had endangered an entire Faction, but could she not say the same? They had torn the city apart, destroyed its very structure, did they even deserve the happiness they brought each other?

Kazana ripped herself from the seat, wincing as the pain in her side grew ever more present, but nothing could hinder her now. The glass door opened and the countdown began, plumes of mist filtered out of the room, escaping the dim illumination.

She chased after the smoke in that same pursuit of freedom, but found herself in want of those eerie blue lights when the door shut behind her and Kazana was thrown in to complete darkness.

"Marnya?"

12 years on the streets made one very aware of their surroundings, and none more than Kazana, who in that moment knew something was gravely wrong.

"Marnya? Where are you!? We need to go!"

Steel floors squealed beneath her boots, the metallic screams tremored along the walls, but the walls were all she had to find her way.

A strangled yelp escaped her throat as she tripped over a large dead weight and fell to the floor with a crash. Kazana blinked blearily in to the darkness, her breathing had increased to panic filled pants as her hands scrambled over flesh and guns.

Dragging herself to her feet she tore down the hall with renewed force, every step fuelled with sheer desperation. Pathetic hope had her heart soaring as she saw a flickering light in the distance, barely visible and yet prominent in the pitch black void.

It was only as she drew ever closer to the luminous enigma that realization dawned as to the source, the elevator.

A sickly sensation slid over her skin with prickling palpability, it was as though the beat of her heart had slowed to a steady drum, hard and heavy in her chest.

An uncomfortable buzzing invaded her ears, the static zzzst clicking on and off, on and off, as the elevator doors creaked open in a jerked motion and closed again to reveal a sliver of light.

Kazana knew how her stomach churned, how the acidic bile burned a hot stream up her throat, tainting her tongue with bitter acridity. She knew she could not breathe, that her lungs refused to soak in relieving air, she had been winded by a sight so sadistic her eyes refused to conceive.

For there within the four steel walls of the lift hung the head of a girl she had once called her friend. Vivacious pink hair entwined with the rafters, matted blood lined her scalp as fresh droplets continued to inch down her skin, hitting the ground with rhythmic drips.

"Sophie," Kazana choked.

Large amber eyes had clouded over, and though they did not see, Kazana felt her macabre gaze like a searing wound. The flesh of her neck clung to bone in a jagged circle; the severing had been careless, rushed and undeniably violent.

Who? She could not fathom who would have committed such an act, who, after everything had been said and done would inflict such savagery.

The doors continued to open and close as the light flickered within; casting her friend's severed skull in to unbearable reality, teasing her with the vision, and then vanishing, only to appear once more. Over, and over.

Run, a distant voice urged from the recesses of her mind, Run now.

But whoever had done this, whatever this was; it was for her and her alone. There was no escape.

"You know that was always your weakness," a dark voice cooed in her ear, Kaz's senses were filled with the rustic tang of blood and sweat. "You just care too much."

The needle had already pierced her skin, perhaps it had long ago, she just hadn't felt it. The toxic fluid had already entered her veins when Sloane's arms snaked around her poisoned form.

He'd already won.

5 months ago

"I still don't see why I can't just walk," Kazana huffed as two arms carried her bridal style in ascendance of a mysterious building. Her head bumped lightly in to a solid wall of muscle as Eric walked briskly towards their destination.

"That would give the game away," he smirked, she could not see it of course beneath the thick black cloth covering her eyes, but how else would he deliver such a line, she knew how he loved his aura of mystery.

"I could be curled up with a nice book right now…," she began in mock annoyance.

"You read too much."

"Coming from the guy who reads about plant biology for fun."

"It's Botany. Botany is fun."

"Did you also watch paint dry as a kid, or was that a little too thrilling for you?"

Kazana's sardonic smile faltered as Eric stopped and pulled her blindfold up ever so slightly, any wish to discern where they were going fled when he fixed her with a stern look.

"Are you going to shut that smart mouth or do I have to do it for you?"

A cheeky retort was ready on the tip of her tongue when he lifted his brow in challenge, Kaz's mouth snapped shut as she smiled sweetly up at him.

"Good girl," he said softly, pulling the cloth back in to place.

His steps slowed each one deliberate as they neared the unknown aim. A heated summer breeze tickled her skin, a sheet of raven hair hung down past Eric's arm like a rippling waterfall.

The burnished glow of the sun sunk through the material, casting her vision in to a reddish haze. Her smile widened as she heard the distant hum of the train, so familiar yet so different, Kazana felt no shame as she traced his neck with her nose and inhaled the smoky scent.

"Bliss," she murmured.

If he was taken aback by her comment, he did not show it, Eric drew her closer in to his arms and spoke against her hair.

"Not yet."

Kazana leaned in to his touch as long fingers delved under the cloth and drew it away; she opened her eyes calmly, allowing her vision to clear from its languid blur.

She weaved her arms around his neck as he lowered her to her feet, savouring the heat of his body against hers; a comforted sigh escaped her lips as she drummed her fingers along his spine.

They were on the Hancock building, the roof she had spied from warehouses away and Kaz's breath caught in her throat as she looked around at the city, bathed in a luxurious sunset glow.

A pleasant shiver ran through her core as Eric's hand sifted in to her hair, traveling through her soft waves with practiced ease. She turned away and sunk back in to his chest, two arms snaked over her waist and pulled them together, it was difficult not to close her eyes as he traced the skin of her hips, her thighs, her collarbone.

But this was a stolen sight indeed, a rarity that she had always craved but never believed she'd see.

"You said you wanted to try it," His voice tickled the shell of her ear.

Kazana's sound of affirmation caught in her throat, she opted for a simple nod as his hand trailed down to her back, guiding her to where the zip line protruded from the roof's edge.

Eric attached a large sling to the wire and looked down at her expectantly.

"You know I know I've put on a few pounds this last month but isn't that a little overboard?" she smiled jokingly but yelped as he gripped her hips, picking her up and strapping her in to the sling.

"This one's for both of us Little Bat," he climbed in beside her and tightened the harness, meeting her shocked look with a wink.

Suddenly they were hurtling down to the ground face first, jet black locks streamed behind them as wind whooshed through her hair, surrounding her body in icy gusts. An ecstatic laugh bubbled out of her throat when the momentum took them over the city like winged creatures, no guilds, no responsibilities.

Kaz glanced to her side; face lit up in a euphoric grin, and found Eric watching her with undisguised fascination. He studied her the way one studies an exotic creature, a strange discovery, confused yet enthralled.

'I never thought a Dauntless Leader could be ensnared so easily.'

They were nearing the compound and as the distance closed she could feel them slowing, the city disappearing behind a final wall when Eric reached behind them to pull the break.

She'd been ready to pull away, break the clasp and cut the evening short so that she might once again by left alone with her thoughts.

Keep up the pretence, they'd said, keep him hooked.

He turned on to his back and Kazana allowed her head to fall in to the familiar crook of his neck. Cool breaths fell against her temple; she closed her eyes to savour each one.

Every kiss,

Every caress,

A pretence.

Present

The first thing one ought to know about paralysis is the mind does not awaken in a state of blissful unawareness only to find they are incapable of moving their body.

The sensation is entirely present, achingly palpable from the moment the victim awakens. Kazana came to in a bleared, panicked daze, sudden like the first inhale after prolonged suffocation. Her eyes alighted immediately upon a lithe form; electric blue eyes glittered triumphantly amidst the hollowed shadows of his face.

she. Sharp breaths deepened to convulsive shudders as her obsidian stare swept over her surroundings. Screens, monitors, machines, everything was so much more advanced, but she knew this place only too well to be fooled by simple adjustments.

"N-no," Kazana could not contain a staggered cry at the ice cold realization.

"Oh," Sloane's eyes shone malevolently as he soaked in her frozen form, "Yes," his fingers trailed along buttons, smooth surfaces and glass tablets.

"You have no idea," he snarled, almost to himself, "How long I have been waiting for this moment."

"H-how," her lips felt numb as the drugs continued to weave through her system, "how long have you known?"

Sloane shrugged and drummed his fingers against the wall behind her, in such close vicinity he had to crane his neck to look up as she stood elevated on a tall platform.

"Days," he replied "I suppose I should hand it to you," he smirked, "you really had me fooled."

His vile gaze travelled up her body in slow deliberation, though it seemed now to be the calculating stare of a butcher. Which part should he take first?

"It was actually Eric who gave the game away," it did not escape him, the hurt in her eyes, his smile widened at the sight.

"That's right honey," he grinned, "looks like I wasn't the only one fooled. How do you think he'll reward me when he finds out what I've done?"

Kazana wanted to shake her head furiously, hot tears burned in her eyes, blurring what little vision she had.

"Please," she didn't want to beg, not to him, not to this coward.

But god she wasn't ready to leave, it wasn't fair! Her chest rose and fell violently, though the movement was indiscernible as the stilling sensation finalized in her limbs. No, she wanted to scream, sob, damn it she would even beg.

"N-," the words would not come out, her lips had frozen shut, the semblance of a scream still fixed in her throat. Sloane was tapping numbers in to the main screen now, Kazana's body trembled with rage and terror, even from the confines of his mind Toma had managed to wrong her one last time.

"You know when they told me what they had in mind for you I wasn't keen on the idea," Sloane drawled conversationally, dragging the pad of his thumb along the jagged line of his scar.

"I really just wanted to kill you and get it over and done with."

He finished typing and stepped away.

"Passcode accepted. Encapsulation Activate."

"But then as I thought about it," he hummed, "I knew it really couldn't get any better.

I've seen your fears Rat, I know you'll never see your friends again, I know that when you get out of here everyone will be long dead."

He approached the platform with predatory steps.

"How does it feel?" he hissed, "To know that no matter what you do or where you go,

You'll always be alone."

Not again, Kazana thought silently, cheeks cool and damp with freshly fallen tears. Now now, I don't want to leave them! I don't want to go! I can't-

The countdown began with a cold robotic voice; it almost seemed like a dream. She had relived this moment for endless nights; Kaz could hardly believe it was real.

I can't leave him.

"Ten,"

"Shall I tell him how you begged for your life?" Sloane asked with a crazed grin, "I think he'd like that, don't you? He's been out for your blood for some time, guess you wounded him more than you'd thought."

"Nine,"

Glass walls began to enclose around her, his hot breaths fogged against the surface as he leaned in to taunt, "Or maybe he just never cared at all."

"Eight,"

Kazana wanted to scream, you're wrong!

"Seven,"

He was laughing now, silent laughs from beyond her tomb which belied his ignorance.

You're wrong, she whispered, on the teetering edge of consciousness, but she didn't want Sloane to know, he did not deserve her words.

I know you care; she addressed the absent form that remained ever present in her mind.

"Six,"

Eric, I know you care.

"Five,"

Sloane was watching her, a hungry blue stare which had her mind whirling with previous visions. All she'd had ever been was an animal, an exhibit.

But it was never like that with you.

"Four,"

With you I seethed, scorned and shook with rage but my god at least it was real. I know we were forged on a foundation of lies but Eric…

"Three,"

Eric, to me, you were the most honest thing I had.

"Two

Please Eric, Please don't let his eyes be the last thing I see.

And in a last act of wilful disobedience Kazana closed her eyes, relishing in the empty absolute of darkness.

"One."

She did not hear Sloane's caws of triumph; she did not see his eyes gleam with victory.

Kazana entered in to the abyss of two centuries with a single image etched in to her mind.

His silver gaze.

Did I ever tell you that grey is a beautiful colour?