Heyyyy guys… ya miss me? I know I've been gone for a while, but I'm here and ready to roll! So please don't hate me forever, even though I've been a terrible person… Long story short, I had the worst case of writer's block I've EVER experienced, and everything I wrote for 2 months sucked. But the good news is, it's over now, and I'm determined to get this chapter out to all you awesome people!

Shoutouts go out to: Eruaphadriel, CrazyObsessedVampireGirl, and every single person who reviewed. BIG, HUMUNGOUS, ENORMOUS shoutouts and hugs go out to everyone who stuck with this story – and me – since the beginning (which was, in case you've all forgotten, more than a year ago!). I love you all, and I would never have gotten as far as I did without all your help. Thank you from the bottom of my wee piggy heart! :D

Disclaimer: Christina is finally done exams and ready to tackle that "to be read" pile Steph's been building for her…

Steph: *Plops down a huge stack of books onto Christina's dresser*
Ok, I've got If I Stay, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stolen, Before I Fall, Living Dead Girl, and Matched. These are the bare minimum!

Christina: *Pouts*
But… why are there so many?
*Picks up Before I Fall*
And this one is HUGE! How am I supposed to read this?

Steph: *Narrows Eyes*
If you don't read these, I'm not talking to you anymore, got it?

*Points to stack*

You need to read these to be a better person!

Christina: But I'm already a better person!

Steph: *Raises eyebrow*
Oh really? Why don't we ask Simon what he thinks?

*Shakes head and mutters*
Poor guy… he hasn't been the same since that night…

Christina: *Shrugs*
Listen, he didn't tell me to stop, alright? Mind your own beeswax, and stop being bitter just because you still don't own DP!

*Turns around*

Steph: *Takes Before I Fall from Christina's hands*
You're right, Chris. I am bitter. I think it's because I always keep my emotions locked up tight inside… but I'm gunna let them out from now on!

Christina: *Smiles*
Reeeally?

Steph: *Smiles sinisterly*
Yup!

*Proceeds to hit Christina over the head with the book. Christina lands on her bed. Steph smiles and leaves the book next to her before retreating to her writing cave*

Sacrifices

"You know, it's strange – our society has taken the word 'love' and twisted it to mean 'enjoy' or 'like'. But what is the true definition of love? Personally, I think love means you would do anything and everything to keep someone safe; that when you love someone, you know it, because you would give up your life for them. You would plead with God Himself and ask Him to take your life instead of theirs – sacrifice yourself in order to ensure that they keep breathing."

Anonymous

It was like every slasher flick you've ever seen – the heroine or hero turns around in slow-motion, only to realize (too late, of course) that the killer is standing right behind them, wielding some sort of bloody weapon - all it really needed was a ditzy blond wearing stilettos as she ran for her life.

Except it wasn't a slasher flick, and the person standing in the doorway wasn't some bloodthirsty killer…

It was Lauren. Lauren, the woman who'd adopted and raised me when no one else would – the person who called me 'hun' and 'sweetheart' and kissed me goodnight, promising I was safe and that everything was going to be all right now.

I shut my eyes tightly for a second; unable to process what was going on.

This can't be happening.

But it was happening, and no amount of begging, pleading, or disbelief on my part was going to change that fact, so I balled my hands at my sides and turned around. I looked my foster mother – the one who had claimed to love me once upon a time – dead in the eyes and said, "Hello, Lauren."

She half-smiled, half-frowned while she examined me from head to toe, "I missed you, hon. You've been gone for so long… where have you been, anyway? You look horrible," she said, as nonchalantly as someone commenting on the weather.

She's one to talk. I never knew the phrase 'you look like shit' could ever be applied literally, but in Lauren's case, it seemed to describe her haggard appearance perfectly – she had multiple layers of bags under her eyes, and her usually healthy-looking skin was pale and stretched taut over her hollow cheeks. She also had a crazed look in her eyes that told me she wasn't exactly firing on all pistons.

"You know perfectly well where I've been," I said, my tone accusatory. "I was locked up in that place you let them take me to… you do remember it, don't you?" I asked, sarcasm colouring my tone.

She shook her head and took a few steps towards me, but I stepped back, keeping the amount of distance between us constant. She seemed hurt by that, but I honestly couldn't find it in me to care.

"Chloe, sweetheart, I never wanted any of that to happen. Never in a million years would I have let them do that to you if I'd known… Davidoff told me he was taking you somewhere to keep you safe!" It was like she had two personalities – one that cared about me and one that couldn't care less.

"So you just let them take me?" I demanded. "Like I was something you could just give away? Is that what you're saying?" I forgot Tori and Simon for a minute, letting all my anger rush out at once.

"No! Of course not! I begged Marcel to let you stay; begged him!" She started to tear up, her face getting redder by the second. "It didn't do any good! He took you away, and when I asked to see you, he said- he said you were already with another family – people capable of caring for your unique needs… I would have never known you were locked in that cell if it wasn't for-"

"Frankly, I don't give a shit who told you," I interjected, cutting her off. "The point is you knew I was in there, and you did absolutely nothing about it!"

"There was nothing I could do!" she cried, eyes wild. "I'm just a mortal! I'm powerless against them!"

"You're not powerless; you're just lazy. Your job was over, your work was done… after all, they'd only paid you to take care of me for a few years; no point in working over-time for no pay, right?"

"No, it wasn't like that at all! I loved you like a daughter, and I still do!"

"You're a liar," I whispered. "You never loved me. You left me alone, day after day, getting as far away from me as you could… I bet you were counting the days until they took me away and gave you your life back!" I knew it was cruel to taunt her when she was in the state she was in, but the accusation sprang to my lips, unwilling to go unheard.

"Chloe, we have to go," Tori whispered, pulling me backwards. "I know how you feel, but we have to get out of here before she can call for back-up!"

"Don't bother," Lauren told us, sitting down. "I've already called the Edison Group to confirm their sighting of you. They're on their way here as we speak."

Shit, shit, shit!

"We have to get out of here, now!" I told Simon and Tori. I started running through possible exits in my head, but I knew it was pointless: we were trapped. The Edison Group's guards were probably stationed all around the property, leaving us no opportunity to escape.

"We could take the car," Tori suggested half-heartedly – she knew all it would take to stop us in a car was a spell. We needed a fool-proof way out.

"We could try the forest; go back to my house and figure out something there," Simon whispered, keeping his voice low so Lauren couldn't hear us.

I shook my head. "No good," I whispered back. "They're probably already out there, waiting for us. The first place they'd think to check is your house, Simon."

He nodded but didn't say anything else.

Frustrated, I converged on Lauren. "Why would you call the Edison Group without hearing us out first?" I demanded. "If what you said about caring about me is true, then you should have been ready to protect us from them instead of calling them the second you saw us!"

She looked down at her hands for a second, then looked up and met my gaze. "I never called them," she admitted quietly.

"WHAT?"

"I never actually called them!" she repeated. "I just needed you to think I did so you would stop trying to escape for a minute and hear me out!"

I swear, I wanted nothing more in that instant than to go over to where she was sitting and slap her – hard – across the face. I was sure her little stunt had shaved years off my life (judging by the racing heart in my chest), but I knew she wasn't thinking straight, so I just crossed my arms and glared. "Well?" I asked impatiently, staring her down. "What is it? What was so important that you had to trap us here to make sure we knew about?"

She tried to place her hand on my arm, but I jerked back, ensuring I was out of her reach – I was so disgusted with her at that point that I wanted to keep a three foot radius between us at all times. Her arm hung there in the empty air, bent at an awkward angle. After a few seconds, she pulled it back towards her chest, covering it with the other hand. The entire process made her look so delicate and breakable – like a porcelain doll – that I immediately felt a swell of guilt in my stomach; I had to remind myself of what she'd done to keep the apology from leaking out from behind my lips.

Finally, she spoke: "I knew your parents long before the accident," she began, eyes glued to my face, watching for my reaction.

That was the last thing I'd been expecting her to say. Almost immediately, a thousand questions appeared in my mouth, fighting to get out. I tried to ask one, but it was like my words were tripping over each other.

Thankfully, Simon spoke up in my place, asking the most important question: "What do you mean, you knew her parents?"

She returned her focus to me, eyes wide and shining with tears. "I thought you would guess after all these years, but you always looked more like her than I did," she said, smiling sadly. She started to cry, and I still had no idea what she was talking about. She pushed her hair off her shoulder in a way that sparked something in my memory…

My mom used to do that-

And then it dawned on me: Lauren was a few years younger than my mother had been when I'd come to stay with them. And the way she looked – hadn't I compared her features to my mother's the first time we'd met at the orphanage? She had the same shade of light blond hair, and the same build…

"No…" I whispered under my breath. "No! It's not possible! Mom would have told me! She wouldn't have kept a secret like that from me!" I bellowed, trying to convince them even though I knew that was a lie: my very existence had all been one big secret, and my parents had never bothered to tell me about it. Even so, I couldn't believe that this was true – it just wasn't possible.

Lauren smiled, the trails of her tears making her face appear shiny. "I loved your mom so, so much," she said. "She was the best sister I could have ever asked for, even after everything I did to her. She and your dad decided to run to keep you safe, and she knew it was a long shot. She asked me to take care of you if something ever happened to them…." Her smile disappeared, replaced by something that wasn't distinguishable – it looked like a cross between 6 years of guilt and heart-wrenching grief. "After the accident, I searched for you for months - I finally found you in that hell-hole of an orphanage, but the Edison Group had already begun the process of adopting you. The only way they'd let me raise you was if I agreed to help them…"

I still couldn't believe it. "You're… my aunt? Really?"

She nodded. "I wanted to tell you Chloe, but they wouldn't let me. They said it'd make you ask too many questions… They told me never to talk about your parents because it might upset you -"

If it wasn't happening to me, I would have found the situation comical. "The Edison Group was worried about upsetting me? Those bastards are the ones who killed my parents!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Lau—Aunt Lauren, the Edison Group is responsible for the death of my parents. They killed them to get to me!"

"Who told you this?" she asked in a quiet voice, her face even paler than before.

"Davidoff told me himself. He was taunting me, telling me I'd end up like them if I didn't cooperate with his plans…"

She looked like she was about to pass out then, so I waited before saying anything else. I knew I'd dropped a bomb, telling Lauren that her sister's death was planned by her boss, so I gave her a few seconds to process what I'd said.

If I'd been expecting her to react in any way, it definitely wasn't in the calm, cool way she did. I could tell she was ready to kill someone – Davidoff, I hoped – by the look in her eyes, but she stood up and crossed the room, heading in the direction I'd just come in from. I looked at Simon and Tori and shrugged, motioning for them to follow me out. They did, staying so close behind me that I could feel Simon's breath on the back of my neck. We followed Lauren down the hall and into my bedroom.

She was standing by the door to the balcony, holding some sort of over-sized cellphone in her hands. Before we could open our mouths to ask what she was doing, she held up her finger to her lips, warning us not to make a sound. We did as she said, staying silent until the moment she pressed and button and looked up again. "Had to sweep for and disable any listening devices," she explained cooly, as if such things could usually be found in the bedroom of a sixteen-year-old girl.

"What was that thing?" Tori asked, pointing to the brick-sized device. She sounded somewhere between disgusted and intrigued.

"My husband built it," Lauren summarized, as if that was all that needed to be said on the topic. Then, before I could ask her where exactly Andrew was, she strode over and hugged me fiercely, squeezing me so tight the air rushed out of my lungs mid-breath.

"You didn't deserve all of this," she said, her voice muffled by my hair. "And I want to protect you, but I can't. I can't keep you safe – the best I can do is run with you, stay with you while we figure out what to do next…" She released her vise grip on me and stepped back. "But I can't even do that yet! I still have half that whole damned group watching me, spying on me…"

Lauren returned to her spot next to the balcony's entrance, pulling the glass door open. "You'll have to go without me for now," she said simply.

She held open the screen door, waiting for us to step through; watching as we descended the stairs. "Call my office as soon as you're safe," she whispered urgently. "I'll meet you there once I lose my tail. Understood?"

I nodded, hugged her, and followed Simon and Tori down the steps.

The second my foot touched the ground, I felt it again – that feeling, deep in my stomach, that there was some evil presence lurking nearby – the same feeling I'd had in the forest only hours ago.

I didn't even have time to warn Tori and Simon – dozens of armed guards rushed into the backyard, guns held aloft, ready to shoot. They came from deep within the forest, gathering in a sort of semi-circle in front of us in order to block our escape route.

He appeared last, dressed in a button-up shirt and black pants that looked odd next to the guards' uniforms.

"Chloe, sweetheart! We thought we'd lost you!" Davidoff's plastered-on smile became a pout as he addressed us as a group: "You've been very naughty, children – what with the escaping and the destruction of our facility…" He shook his head disappointedly. "That little stunt of yours cost us eight million smackaroos, kids! Do you have any idea how much money that is?"

We stood, frozen to the spot, unable to move for fear of being shot. Part of me wanted to believe that they'd never actually shoot us – we were their 'weapons', after all – but I wasn't sure that was enough anymore, considering the number of times we'd escaped. In fact, I was pretty sure that this was our last chance to get on Davidoff's good side.

Why bother, though? The only thing we would accomplish by going quietly was going right back to where we'd started – square one: an eight by ten foot cell. I glanced at Davidoff's face for a moment - I knew Davidoff was taunting us, but I had more important things to worry about – namely, keeping us alive and getting the hell out of here.

And, really, who says 'smackaroos', anyway?

I was almost one hundred percent sure we were done for – the guards outnumbered us by at least three to one, and our powers were useless against them, since a binding spell wouldn't work on this many people at once.

Did I neglect to mention the huge, menacing rifles carried by each one of the guards?

Tori grabbed my arm, her grip so tight that her nails dug into my skin. "Listen to me, Chloe," she whispered hurriedly, "if you get the chance, run for it. Don't worry about me, all right? Just take Simon and run."

I shook my head and whispered, "Absolutely not, Tori! I'm not going to just leave y-"

Simon saw the look on my face. "Chloe?" he whispered, probably hoping I had a plan that would miraculously get us out of the mess we were in.

I shook my head slowly, and Davidoff noticed, his eyes narrowing dangerously though he had no reason to be suspicious – there was no way we could make it past him and a dozen armed guards without some sort of miraculous intervention. "You're not gonna get out of this one, kids!" he reminded us. "No use in planning an escape!"

Tori straightened, released my arm, and took a step forward. "This is getting really old," she announced, to no one in particular, "And frankly, Dr. Davidoff, you're wasting your time! None of us will ever agree to become your W.M.D." She put her hands on her hips and waited for him to say something.

I tensed, anticipating some cruel form of punishment for Tori – the way she'd spoken to Davidoff reminded me of the way students yelled at teachers at my old school – there were almost always serious consequences when it came to disrespecting someone in an authoritative position. And they were usually worse if that person happened to have an ego the size of Massachusetts.

But Dr. Davidoff didn't yell. He smiled.

"W.M.D.?" he repeated, as if he'd never heard of the phrase. I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face, but I figured it was a bad idea considering the number of guns he had at his disposal.

"Weapon. Of. Mass. Destruction." Tori clarified, speaking in the same tone you would normally use with a five year old. "We know all about your stupid plan to win the war, but you know what? It's not gunna work. We refuse to be a part of it."

She looked smug, but Davidoff's smile didn't disappear – I wondered for a second what the hell Tori thought she was doing.

Davidoff reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange device. "Oh, but that's not true!" He turned to face me. "Chloe will help me, won't you Chloe? Because if she doesn't…" He pointed behind us, back towards the house. I turned around to see what he was pointing out and froze.

Tori's mom was standing over Lauren's body, which was nothing but a crumpled lump on the patio floor – almost exactly where she'd been when we said goodbye. Tori's mom's smirk matched Davidoff's.

I forgot about everything else – the way Lauren had betrayed me, the way she'd always seemed a little distant towards me…. I forgot it all when I saw her lying there, and I started screaming.

"LAUREN!"

When she didn't stir, I turned back around to face Davidoff. "What did you do to her?" I demanded, voice hoarse from screaming.

"Nothing!" he assured me, "but if you don't co-operate with us, Chloe, Lauren might have a bit of an… accident. Do you understand me, sweetheart?"

I stared up at the man who'd been the source of everything bad in my life, and I understood only one thing: he needed to die if we were ever going to be happy again, and I needed to be the one who killed him.

Apparently my face had displayed some of what I was feeling, because Davidoff's smile faltered for a second, and he stepped back, distancing himself from me. When I looked up again, he was tapping his foot impatiently, all traces of a smile removed from his features.

"Chris!" he barked at the nearest guard, startling the guy so much he almost dropped his gun. Chris looked at Davidoff like he was honoured to be in his presence, but Davidoff just started belting out instructions to his minions. "Take them to the vans!" he demanded, his eyes on us. He turned to the ground on his left side. "Make sure the witch and the sorcerer are knocked out before we start travelling, got it? Now go!"

Everything started happening really fast then; I was almost sure time had sped up somehow without me noticing, because one minute I was watching as the guards swarmed us, and the next, I was being pulled by Tori towards the road, and the guards who'd been about to grab us were almost a dozen feet away. I couldn't believe our luck – how could we escape so easily, so quickly? – until we almost ran head-first into another wall of guards.

We stopped running immediately, realizing just how trapped we were – they had us surrounded. There was nowhere we could run to, unless….

"We have to lure all the guards to one place!" I whispered, grabbing Tori's hand. "Then you guys can hit 'em with a spell, and we can run like hell once they're knocked out!"

Simon looked at me like I was crazy. "Chloe, there could be hundreds of guards in those woods! We have no way of knowing when we've lured all of them to the clearing!"

"We don't need all of them," I reasoned, still whispering. "We just need some of them – enough to leave us a big enough trail for the way out."

"How the hell do you expect us to do that?" Tori asked exasperatedly. "In case you haven' noticed, there's no-" she stopped and surveyed the property for a moment; she blinked, and I recognized the gleam in her eyes that meant she had a plan - one I probably wouldn't approve of. She turned to me for a second and caught my gaze. "Remember what I said before!" she whispered.

And then she took off running.

"Tori!" Simon yelled her name with an undertone of panic in his voice, but she didn't turn back. She ran towards the path that lead to the front of the house, and I suddenly realized what she was doing: she was luring the guards out of the way so we could escape.

And it was true - six or seven guards appeared from around the front of the house and started running towards Tori, who led them away from our escape route and back towards the pool. She was a pretty fast runner, but they were catching up to her. We wouldn't be able to prolong this opportunity.

She knows the guards will go after her. She's their number one priority because she's so powerful. That'll leave our escape route unprotected.

I hated myself for thinking it, but I knew it was our best bet for escape.

I grabbed Simon's arm and started running towards the side of the house, praying Tori would be all right. Simon was running alongside me; he should've been in front of me because his legs were longer, but he kept glancing backwards to see if Tori was okay. When I said his name to get him to pick up the pace, he jumped, then kept going at the same pace, ignoring what I'd said. "We can't just leave Tori!" he repeated, and it took a lot of self-restraint to keep me from telling him we wouldn'tbe leaving Tori if he didn't start running faster.

But I felt it too - that stab in the chest, the sinking feeling in my stomach - we couldn't just leave her behind after all she'd done for us. No matter what the Edison Group thought she was, Tori was - first and foremost - our friend.

So I did something really stupid: I turned around.

I sprinted back towards where I'd last seen Tori, all the while sending out a wave of something, begging for help from whoever happened to be listening at the time. Please, I begged whoever happened to be listening, help us make it out of this alive.

I knew there was nothing I could do - what help was a 5 foot 3 inch necromancer against a dozen half-demons and sorcerers, anyway? - but I figured that (realistically speaking) we would all be captured eventually... I just happened to be speeding up the process a little by charging into battle completely unarmed.

It wasn't a big deal or anything.

I could hear Simon calling my name, but my U-turn had caught him off guard, and he was trailing more than forty feet behind me. Run, you idiot! I wanted to yell at him. You could still escape! I knew he would never do it, but I had hoped he might take the opportunity and save himself while I attempted to play superman.

Almost immediately, one of the guards noticed me hurtling towards their little circle around Tori; he shouted something to his comrades, and they turned around, a few of them preparing to capture me. A few of them nudged each other and laughed, probably finding humor in the fact that I thought I could save the day – necromancer with no fighting skills to speak of.

I faked left towards them and a few lunged, but I turned back at the last second, almost smashing face-first into Simon, who'd been following me all along.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" he bellowed, doing his best to follow my zig-zagging trail. He got too close to the group for a second and a guard lunged at him, but he jumped backwards out of harm's way, narrowly missing the guard's hands.

Simon looked up and whispered something, and suddenly the guard who'd lunged at him went still as a statue. It all happened so fast I would've missed it if I blinked, but it still triggered a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach – I'd never seen Simon use his powers to hurt anyone before. I've never even seen him kill a bug, I realized.

Simon started back towards me, running as fast as his legs could carry him in the opposite direction of the guards. "WE HAVE TO MOVE!" he shouted, tugging on my arm as he ran past.

I followed his lead, sincerely hoping that Tori had used our pathetic attempt at a distraction to get herself free.

When I dared to look back, I realized she was doing worse than ever – she'd been captured, and she was being restrained by a multitude of guards; for a moment, I wondered why she hadn't used any spells on them – then I realized that with the amount of guards around her, the effect of Tori's powers would be almost 'diluted'. And with Simon unable to do much, and me unable to do anything at all… she was helpless.

"TORI!" I shrieked, trying to get her attention. When she looked up, she met my eyes from across the yard.

In her eyes was a fierceness I'd never seen in anyone before, and it terrified me – I knew beyond a doubt that she was about to do something crazy. I started running back towards her, not caring that I had nothing to fight with. I had to get her out of there – no one else was going to die because of me.

They were closing in around her, blocking my view of her completely. The ones in the front raised their guns and trained them on me, and I was forced to back up a few dozen feet or risk getting shot. Simon was right beside me, and he pulled me back, urging me to run… I couldn't do it – couldn't leave her like that, defenseless and alone, trapped like a wild animal.

"REMEMBER WHAT I SAID BEFORE!" she shouted from within the confines of the group, and a felt a chill go down my spine: the way she'd said it, it seemed like she was saying goodbye.

And then the whole yard exploded.

At first, I didn't realize what had happened: the bodies of the guards littered the ground dozens of feet away from where they'd been standing, and there was a crater originating from where they'd been holding Tori. The whole backyard was a mess – the grass was singed all around the outside of the crater, and there was definitely smoke coming from the general vicinity of the thing. Simon and I had been thrown onto our backs, and as I sat up and rubbed dirt from my sleeves, I realized with a start that there was no sign of Tori anywhere.

I bolted upright and turned around to help Simon up. He was rubbing the back of his head gingerly – he'd probably landed on a rock or something – and cursing under his breath. When I told him I couldn't find Tori, he tensed up and dropped his hand, forgetting his pain and scanning the yard for any sign of her I might've missed.

"What was that?" he asked. He began running towards the origin of the explosion – the crater – dodging the lifeless bodies of the guards who'd seemed so threatening moments ago. I jogged to catch up and fell into step with him, telling him I had no idea. "Do you think it could've been a bomb or something?" he asked urgently. "I know the rebels were developing a new-"

He went silent as we reached the edge of the crater and for good reason – instead of the shrapnel, or debris, you'd usually find in a bomb crater, laid Tori, unconscious and pale as a ghost.

Neither of us hesitated before racing down to the center of the thing. We sprinted with every ounce of speed we could muster up from our tired muscles, reaching her in seconds. I tried to shake her, but when she didn't respond, I lifted her head and supported it in my lap while Simon checked to see if she was breathing. When he was sure of that, he checked her pulse, resting his fingers gently against the inside of her wrist.

After a few moments of silence, he let go of her wrist and met my gaze. "She's barely breathing, and her pulse is so slow…" his voice broke at the end, and he looked like he was going to start tearing up. "How the hell did she do that…?" he whispered so quietly I almost missed it. I didn't answer his question – what was there to say, after all? 'She was genetically modified to be the most powerful spell-caster alive, and this is why your brother didn't want her anywhere near us?'

He shook his head, wiped his hands on his pants and stood up. He bent down to pick her up and stood straight again, then started walking – I thought he'd be unsteady on his feet with her in his arms, but he didn't even sway.

I followed Simon out of the crater, my senses on high-alert again as I scanned the guards for any sign of movement. They were all just as lifeless as they'd been before, though – I didn't know whether to be happy or worried that they'd been more than just 'knocked out'. I looked around again; where the hell were Davidoff and Mrs. Enright? Had they left once they'd been sure the guards had us, or were they still lurking around somewhere inside the house?

I returned my attention to Simon, watching as he carried Tori towards the front of the house. Thinking about what she'd done, I felt my eyes prickle familiarly, signaling oncoming tears. I remembered how she'd sounded while reminding me that I'd promised to take Simon and run if I had the opportunity. She sacrificed herself to save us. She knew how badly it would affect her, but she still did it.

I started to cry then, silent tears that mixed with the dirt and sweat already present on my face. How could she do that? How could she be so stupid? I ran through a few dozen swear words in my head, trying to figure out which one to use to describe her. I was so angry at her – she knew how I felt about protecting her and Simon after everything that had happened… First my parents, then Derek, then Lauren, and now Tori? Why do all the people I care about end up like this?

I shook my head, trying to pull myself together. "Where are you going?" I asked Simon, voice unsteady as I wiped my face. I wondered if he had any idea what we should do next, because as far as I could see, we were wingin' it.

"Garage," he said simply, but I knew what he meant – he wanted to check for a car, because we couldn't get very far with Tori on foot. I nodded, following him out past the shrubs; past the only cover we had from the road.

The minute we stepped out, I spotted a white cube van parked across the street. The engine was running, but the glass was so tinted, I couldn't tell if there was anyone inside or not. I figured it must've belonged to the Edison Group – how else were a dozen armed guards supposed to get to this stretch of the forest without being noticed? There's probably nobody inside, I rationalized.

The van pulled up to the stretch of road in front of us, and we stopped dead in our tracks. Apparently there was someone inside….

My mind was reeling – I was still hyperaware of my surroundings, the adrenalin still coursing through my veins, and I knew no matter who it was inside, we would have to fight our way through them to safety. But we had a little bit of a problem: our only weapons were a necromancer and a drained spell-caster, not to mention the fact that Simon held a lifeless Tori in his arms….

We waited - the hair on the back of my neck sticking straight up - but no gunmen jumped out and shouted 'boo!' In fact, no one jumped out at all.

Instead, the van door slid open and a familiar voice called urgently, "Get in! We don't have much time!" My eyes widened as I realized what was going on, but I couldn't get my mouth to work.

"Chloe?" Despite everything he'd done, Simon was still looking to me for direction. I nodded, sincerely hoping I wasn't going to regret my decision.

Simon stepped forward, gently placing Tori on the seat closest to the door before climbing inside himself. I couldn't see his face, but he held out his hand to help me up into the van.

I stepped into the van and turned to shut the door, allowing myself one last look at that place that had been my home for so long. After a few seconds, I slammed the door shut, saying a quick prayer for Lauren: please, if there's anybody listening, keep her safe until we can come back for her. Please don't let her be—

The van shot forward as the driver increased the pressure on the gas pedal. "You!" Simon's angry tone shocked me out of my daze. I turned my back to the window in order to face the driver's side, confused at how Simon could possibly know the driver as well. "You worked with my dad! You're that double agent who was spying on the Edison Group for the rebels!"

Andrew nodded somberly, not taking his eyes off the road.

A/N: Phew! Can you say Carpel Tunnel? Leave me some lovely reviews to read when I come back from taping my wrists, okay? Please?

And again, I'm so, so sorry for taking so long to get this out! I love you all!

PS. I'm working on a multi-chap one-shot at the moment – I'm not gunna promise anything time-wise, but it'll definitely be posted before summer!

PPS. It's Christina's birthday on Saturday, and then mine ten days later! So to celebrate (and because I'm really, really sorry about the long wait...), I'm gunna be giving away a copy of The Gathering to one awesome reader! :P If you'd like to enter, leave a review telling me you wanna enter. The winner will be announced in my Author's Note in the next chapter! :)