Hey! Sorry for not updating in over a year! Here's chapter 18, enjoy!

I own Alex, David, and Ian. That would be all!

Alex's POV:

I opened my eyes to find myself lying on the ground. Getting a better understanding of my surroundings, I found myself near the Tree of the Dead. Except...it wasn't quite as dead as I remembered it. Getting up, I noticed the snow.

"What the..." I said aloud, last I checked it had been fall. Then I heard it. Screams being carried on the wind, gunshots piercing the air. On instinct I started to climb the tree, hiding behind a thicker limb just as someone barreled into the clearing. Sneaking a peek I saw Kass, except he was back in the outfit I first saw him in. Decked in silver and black armor, two axes at his side, his sword in his hand, and the billowing black cape, Kass was yet again the Hessian.

He was panting, glaring cautiously all around him in a panic.

"Kass! What's going on?" I called, making myself visible. But he didn't respond. It was then I saw the blood on his sword. Fresh blood stained the majority of the blade crimson, the only thing on the blade still silver was the snake fangs and the emerald eyes.

"You don't need to kill anymore! What's going on?" I scream at him only to get no response. He was walking silently through the clearing, not even the spurs on his boots making a sound. His sword turned the snow pink wherever the blood dripped. But it was then we both saw the little girls that were watching him from the tree line. Both were in pink dresses with long blond hair. One had an arm full of sticks and watched him like a deer in head lights, terrified and confused. The other was emotionless.

I could hear footsteps in the trees behind Kass, the people I assume he was running from. Desperately he held a finger up to his lips in a gesture of silence. Neither little girl had any response. He slowly starting moving toward them, sword firmly in hand. As he got closer to them I could see an insane smile starting to carve its path on his face. He was going to kill the little girls just because he could. But then the emotionless little girl took one stick from the other, and with a smug smirk, broke it. The sound of the stick breaking was as loud as a gunshot in the quiet wilderness. The girls ran into hiding and before I knew it British soldiers were rushing into the clearing. Kass managed to kill a couple of them before he was outdone by their numbers. Taking his sword, and without a second thought, they beheaded him.

All I could do was sit in a shocked silence as I watched Kass's head roll. I was paralyzed in my seat in the tree. I stayed that way as they dug a shallow grave near the base of the tree, and even as they carelessly threw his body and head into the hole. They covered him in the frozen dirt and snow, lastly stabbing his sword into the ground above his body. Only when the soldiers left did I finally fall from the low branch I had been balancing on precariously. All I could do was sit next to his sword.

I knew the man they had killed was a monster consumed by blood lust in a war. But even with that knowledge in mind I was still crushed and breaking on the inside.

"This was the fall of the great Hessian. I must say I'm glad for having a part in it," I turned to see the little girl from before. So this was my ancestor. This was the girl who put a curse on Kass. All I can do is scream.

"Alex!" With that I woke up, tangled in covers and sticky with sweat. Someone's arms were around me, trying to stop my hysteric movements. I looked up into crystal blue eyes.

"You're alive!" I then proceeded to strangle Kass in a hug. I think I even kissed his cheek.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, hands running up and down my back in soothing gestures. It took me a few minutes to compose myself before I could say anything.

"I saw you die. I saw the little girl, Mary." Kass froze. His eyes stared at me with so many emotions I felt a headache coming on.

"Then you know I deserved to die." His voice was as cold and hard as stone. I was so shocked I couldn't reply.

"I always have been and always will be the Hessian, Alex. And for that alone I am cursed. I was taught to kill. But I was good at it. When I would go into battle I didn't care about my safety, money, or even my own men. I cared about seeing the world soaked in blood. After the adrenaline would fade I would feel terrible, but that was still a part of me. My last thought was that I should have beheaded them all. Even now, as an abnormality, I feel the need to see heads rolling," his confession weighed heavy on me. I couldn't exactly say he couldn't help it, he went into battle willing, knowing his monster would come out.

"To take the good with the bad is to live." Was all I could say in comfort. That measly phrase I'm pretty sure I read on a fortune cookie was all I could respond with when the person I care for quite a lot told me out right he was a cold blooded slaughterer.

"Then maybe that's why I'm alive," Kass replied with a hint of a bitter smile, sharp teeth gleaming white. We sat there in silence after that, just trying to get our bearings after this hectic episode. Looking around I find myself in an unfamiliar room.

"What happened?" I asked, ignoring what just happened completely. Kass took a minute to reply, trying himself to remember.

"You got so stressed out after we argued you passed out. I put you in my bed and been having to deal with your brother glaring at me like I am a child molester for the last half an hour." With that I laughed, taking in the good to even out the bad.

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