Helloooo everyone! It's me again! I know I haven't updated I a while, but that's because my play practices have been very time consuming and I haven't had much free time. But there's no school today because of our good friend Sandy, so I'll have a lot of time to myself to write. Though I might not have Wi-Fi for long…

Confession #7: I am fully and completely addicted to tumblr. My tumblr is my baby.

This chapter has been the best so far, I think. I was so excited to write it, but I wanted to do it right, so I took a couple days to do it. I hope you all like it. We're so, so close to the end that I can practically taste it. Give me feedback once you read it. I'd be much obliged! Thanks!

Chaos ensued as soon as Mary started the fire. Cassia fell off the wall and landed in a heap on the floor, coughing as she cleared the smoke from her lungs. Adrian was next to her, holding his side like someone had just stabbed him or he'd just had a bout of appendicitis. Cassia's head snapped back to Mary, who was holding the purple rose in her hand with a raging look on her face. Smoke curled off the ends of her dress as she began to advance towards them.

Cassia grabbed Adrian's arm and tugged him up, slinging his arm over her shoulders as she looked around for the others. Holly, Ib, and Toby were racing towards a door that was being held open by Garry. Garry looked back to her and yelled, "Come on!"

The two of them stumbled towards the door and through the frame as Garry slammed it shut behind them, using the key to lock it. They all backed up from the door as smoke wafted from underneath it. The wood paneling of it began to char and little holes began to dapple the surface. Giggling came from inside as the six kids stumbled backwards and raced down the hall. Fire began to creep down the walls behind them in hot pursuit of their next victims. Belle flickered and formed, running next to Holly and Toby. She seemed to become more solid as she ran, but as soon as she neared the fiery parts of the wall, she dissipated again. Mary's essence was making her weak and unable to form. Adrian was wincing as they raced away, the giggles growing closer and closer with every step. Adrian was growing weaker, and soon, Cassia knew why. A voice echoed down the hall, but this time it was in front of them and not behind.

"Loves me, loves me not. Loves me, loves me not…."

As they skidded to a halt, Cassia saw with horror that on the floor leading down the hall were purple petals arranged in a line leading down to the end. Adrian grew heavier on her side and she could see blood dripping out between his fingers.

"How did she get up there?" Ib asked rhetorically.

"She rules this place," Belle said shakily. She turned and fled in the direction they came from and said, "Maybe I can make a door a ways down. Come on! We have no time to waste!"

Please, Adrian, please hold on, Cassia thought as she supported him more. They all ran towards the middle, but found only a charred mess of rafters and paneling. Pictures on the walls had fallen and cracked in their frames, melting paint oozing out the side. They turned around again, but blocking their way were blue dolls with beady eyes, hanging by their necks on nooses dangling from the ceiling. Hundreds of their blank stares closed off their last exit. Belle put her hand against the wall and slowly a door began to appear. It's not forming fast enough, Cassia thought as the giggles grew louder.

"Loves me, loves me not…"

"Get in everyone!" Belle threw the door open and they raced inside. The hallway before them was long, but there was no fire, so it was their best bet. They ran again, but as Mary's voice echoed down the hall while playing her little game, Adrian slipped to the floor beside her.

She fell to her knees beside him, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. Blood was definitely dripping from his side now, and gashes had opened on his face and arms. His face was pale – paler then usual – and it wasn't looking good. He looked up at her, his violet eyes meeting hers, as the others stopped.

"Cassia! We have to go!" Ib yelled.

"Adrian is hurt!" she called back. She turned back to them and barked, "All of you! Go! We'll catch up!"

"You're crazy! We're not going to leave you!" Garry said.

"I promise! Go!"

The others hesitated, but Garry and Ib ushered them down the hall. Cassia turned back to Adrian and held his face in her hands, the pads of her fingers staining with blood. He looked scared; more scared then he ever did in this place. He looked younger, and his expression said, What did I do to deserve this? What? There was only one question Cassia could think to ask this dying boy.

"Why did you switch the roses?" her voice cracked.

"Ib… she couldn't win…" he managed. "I couldn't let her die… for us..."

"Why did it have to be you?" she covered her mouth with one hand.

Even in a moment like that, he managed a crooked smirk. "There's a Carton for… every story…"

What does that even mean? Cassia thought as the giggles grew louder down the hall.

"You have to go," he said. He must have seen her expression because he took her hand in his and said, "Cassia, please. There's no other way."

"There has to be!" she cried.

Soon, flames began to creep across the walls and all Cassia could hear was, "Loves me, loves me not…." She looked around, but saw no one. Adrian took her hand in his and she felt something small and delicate against the palm of her hand. He moved her hand to her pocket and forced her to put it in it. She was determined not to cry. He looked her in the eyes and whispered, "Remember me."

There was a huge crash as the rafters fell behind them in a charred mess of flames and embers. The door began to crack and the temperature shot up. The giggles tuned into shrill, evil laughter and seemed to reverberate through the halls for an eternity. Adrian pulled Cassia into a brief, electrifying kiss, then pushed her away and yelled, "GO! Run!"

Cassia ran as fast as she could and didn't look back. The others were far ahead but she could hear their footsteps as the fire rained down behind her. She felt like she was running for hours before she crashed into someone. She stumbled backwards and saw that it was Garry. So relieved to see a familiar face, she finally broke down in tears.

"Cassia?" his look was puzzled as he grabbed her shoulders. "What happened? Where's Adrian?"

"No time," she sobbed, tugging his coat sleeve as she quickly passed. "We have to go. Now. Where are the others?"

"Farther ahead. I told them to go so I could make sure you got back safely. What happened?" he looked genuinely worried.

"Adrian is dead," she choked, biting her knuckles as they ran from the flames and the giggles. "He's dead, Garry. He died so Ib could live and we would have a better chance of escaping."

"Cassia, I –"

"Let's just get out of here, okay?" she snapped, and they were both silent until they saw the others, who were surrounded around the end of the hallway. Belle was concentrating hard, but couldn't manage to make a doorway appear.

"It's the end of the line," Toby said, pounding his fist against the solid wall.

"It can't end here!" Holly cried.

"I can't make a door appear," Belle said. "There must be something on the other side of this wall that Mary doesn't want us to get to. There's only one thing that is that important to her."

They all knew what it was without her even saying it. Cassia opened her bag and pulled out a paintbrush and a tube of blue paint. "I might be able to get us through here, but I'll need some time."

There was a bug crash and they could see the fire glow at the end of the hall. "Time is something we need to use sparingly," Ib said.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ib's first plan didn't work out too well, but this one would. She was sure of it.

Even if it wasn't the most intricate plan in the world, Ib knew it was the best: distraction. All of them would have to keep Mary from obliterating them in a fiery raging storm until Cassia finished the door. Cassia went to work while the others surrounded her, making sure nothing got to her. She worked as fast as she could, but not fast enough. Mary appeared and threw a ball of fire straight at Ib's face. She leaped to the left and it hurtled in another direction. The ends of her hair singed but nothing came off. She landed on her butt and her tailbone ached, but she had to keep moving or she'd be crisped.

"Garry! Get down!" she yelled as another wall of fire approached Garry. He ran out of the way and the wall took out a section of paneling, revealing swirling blackness underneath, like the gallery was situated inside a black hole. She saw a spark here and a spark there, but the matter just swirled like a never ending abyss of smoke. Ib had never thought about where the gallery actually was. The answer? It was nowhere.

Toby grabbed Holly by the collar and pulled her into his arms, running in another direction as Mary pointed to the spot where they were and it burst into flames. Toby called back, "Almost done there Cassia?"

"Almost!" Cassia put the last touched on the knob, making it as accurate as possible.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Mary shrieked, and a fireball flew at the back of Cassia's head.

In a flash of blue light, the fireball dissipated into smoke, leaving a wincing Cassia in its place. She opened one eyes, realizing she was alive, and scrambled for her dropped paintbrush. Belle was standing in front of her, holding her hands out in front of her. She looked do solid she could have been mistaken for human. She glowed blue and the air grew chillier, like a cold front was moving in. This made Mary's brightness fade a bit. Mary looked astonished, but still lusting for blood.

"You've gone far enough sister!" Belle's voice echoed through the wrecked hall. Cassia gave the signal that the door was finished, and opened it up to reveal another room inside. She went in, followed by Toby and Holly. Garry and Ib were left in the hall with Belle, and she turned around and said, "Go! I'll keep her here! I have unfinished business to attend to."

Ib and Garry exchanged a glance, and Garry nodded solemnly. She turned and bolted for the door.

. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cassia wanted to run right back out the door when she saw what was inside the room.

Mounds and mounds of the blue dolls lay leaped upon one another, staring their grotesquely blank stares to the floors, walls, and ceiling, which were all covered in painted words in Mary's hand. "DADDY LIVES" and "LOVES ME LOVES ME NOT" appeared more than once. The pyramids of dolls all stood around a figure in the center. Floating by itself in a shower of light sparkles was Weiss' Charmaria. Mary's painting. It was burned severely at the edges, and the only image that was salvaged was hers in the center. There were burn spots on the exact places where Mary's burns were on her body. The yellow roses were rendered shapeless and the beautiful ornate frame was charred and smoked.

"We can't burn it," Holly said. "We have to make sure she's dead this time."

"We could slice it," Cassia said. "I think that my sculpting knife is still sharp enough to do some damage. To canvas, at least."

"Let me see it," Garry said. Cassia fished around in her bag and brought out a dulling carving knife. It didn't carve very weel anymore, but it could still slice if you pushed hard enough. He shook his head and said, "No. It has to change the painting itself, and not just the canvas."

Cassia brought out a little bit of red paint left in the tube of acrylic and took the knife from Garry. She spread it along the sharp edge of the knife and turned to the Charmaria. She took a deep breath, put the knife up to the canvas, and made the first slice, the paint staining the edges on the inside like real gashes. The painting's glow began to flicker and Cassia felt power – or magic, perhaps – coursing through her veins as she willed everything she had into each cut. All the pain Mary caused, all the paint the gallery caused, went into it. Adrian's death went into it. Her sorrow, her stress, her guilt, everything went into it.

Die, Mary. A single tear roled down her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut. Die, die, die, die…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Belle watched the first gash open up in her sister as she pressed herself against a shield of blue magic, preventing the fire from spreading to the door. Mary looked shocked and her fires began to extinguish. Belle's shield came down and she let the glow die, knowing very well that her friends inside were succeeding.

"What… what is this…?" Mary cried out in pain as the gashed oozed red paint, and her yellow blood mixed with it as it dripped down. One opened across her face, disfiguring her mouth. Another over her eye, and she began to sob in pain as she held her face. Gash after gash; fingers fell off, hair fell out, yellow and red spilled across her green dress and matted into what was left of her hair. Her cried of pain made Belle's heart ache for her sister, but then she reminded herself: This is no longer Mary. My sister died almost 100 years ago…

"You can't win this time, Mary Weiss," Belle said softly as she drifted to the ground. She walked over to the bleeding, dismembered form of her sister, twitching and convulsing as the last of her soul dripped out of her in a stream of paint. She looked broken not only physically, but mentally.

Mary's last words were:

"I love you, Belle," she whispered, and her form glowed. In a shower of golden sparkles, the last of Mary turned to charred dust.

Ashes to ashes…

"May God be merciful to you, dear sister. May your soul rest at last," Belle was not human just yet, so she could not cry. She could not weep for her sister.

She turned around and willed the door to open. It swung around in its doorframe and she walked in. She could slowly begin to feel the ground underneath her bare feet. Slowly she was growing more and more human; something she hadn't felt in so, so long. The others were gathered around Cassia inside, who was kneeling next to a fallen picture in a cracked frame. Yellow light was fading out around them and the painting was cut up and stained red beyond recognition. Cassia was sobbing, holding a red-stained knife, and Garry had his arm around her. Ib had her hand on his shoulder, looking around at them all sadly but strongly. Holly turned back to belle as Toby let go of her hand.

"Is it over?" her voice quivered with the finality of the question.

"Yes, Holly," Belle gave a sigh and a small smile towards the group. "Mary is finally dead."