WARNING: There's some violence in this chapter from Ruby going psycho.

~Butters' P.O.V~

"Stella, I'm going to come and visit you again very soon, alright?" Pip says to the young girl. She's clearly very sleepy, since it's very late. And she's most likely been sedated. I'm surprised the hospital's even open. Well, it isn't actually meant to be. Ruby went mad and rammed on the doors until a nurse opened them, and then the crazy girl just went in without consent. Not to self: apologize to nurse.

Ruby is beside me, shuffling her feet. She looks all fidgety and nervous, similar to Tweek. We thankfully made her change into some real clothes on the way. She was irritated that she had to go into an alley and rummage through her bag for clothes, but at least she did it.

"Do you not like hospitals, Ruby?" I ask, bending down slightly to see her face properly. She's handing her head so low that her fringe is covering her eyes. She catches a glimpse of me and looks up, unfazed. She's very good at acting, this girl is.

"Not in particular. It's just that once I made a friend in the 1970s, and she got hit by a car. She sort of died in the hospital, and I was at her death bed. It was real sad. So yeah, I don't have the best memories of hospitals." I nod, not understanding quite a few words. In fact, barely understanding anything at all. All I understand is that her friend died in hospital.

"What's a car?"

"It's like a horse carriage that doesn't need horses." Ruby answers casually.

"Whoa…" I cannot imagine such a thing.

"But my God, this hospital is crap. I mean, look at this hellhole. Need friggin' candles to light the damn place." Ruby looks around disgustedly. I raise an eyebrow.

"How else would you light it up?"

"With electricity!" Ruby exclaims, as if it's the most logical thing in the world.

"Electricity? What's that?"

"You've seen lightning, right?" I don't understand what she's asking, but I know what lightning is.

"I've seen lightning."

"Electricity's that, basically. What they've done in the future is that they've got electricity from resources and controlled it. So made it into like a power source. And they use it for lights and TV and computers and stuff."

"Com-pu-ters." I break down, not knowing what on Earth that word is.

"A computer's like… imagine a box with a glass screen. Imagine stuff inside the box that makes it do this; it creates images on the screen. Wait… that's more like a TV. Well, a TV's for watching movies and stuff. And computers are for working on. And now they're mostly for the internet. Sorry, I can see you don't understand me. I'll try to speak normally now. Sorr- er, forgive me."

"It's quite alright. It's interesting to hear about the things from the future. Even if I mostly don't understand a word you're saying." We watch Pip finally finish saying goodbye to Stella. He turns around, smiling.

"I'm glad I came to see her."

"Is she alright? That carriage must have broken her to pieces." I remember how much she was bleeding on the street, and shudder.

"She's got a lot of broken bones, but she'll be fine. She just needs to stay here for a long time."

"That's good." Ruby chips in. "She's even younger than I was when I died." The same nurse comes and practically chases us out of the hospital, since we weren't even meant to come in in the first place. I didn't get a chance to apologize to her for the intrusion, but oh well. Ruby holds up her middle finger to the hospital and trudges down the steps. Phillip and I exchange glances and shortly follow. As we start walking back to Tweek's house, I ask Ruby what holding up the middle finger means.

"It can mean a lot of rude things, but it most commonly means 'fuck you' or 'fuck off'." I'm glad to hear that Ruby is speaking normally for now. I study the female fairy closely. She really is, or was, young. She's childishly trying not to step on the lines between the tiles of the road, holding her arms out for balance. She may be two centuries old, but I can see that she has the heart of a little girl. How could someone possibly hurt her?

"Ruby, how did you die?"

"I was shot in da head." Ruby says, continuing with her little tile game, as if the question didn't affect her at all. Either she really isn't disturbed, or she's continuing to be a damn good actress. I sigh at her colloquial accent.

"Who shot you?"

"A soldier."

"Why?"

"'Cause I stole somethin'."

"What did you steal?"

"HEY, THERE'S DAMIEN!" Ruby yells, purposely changing the subject. Pip and I look across the street. Sure enough, Damien's standing there with a large paper bag clutched to his chest. He scowls at us. Since I'm still looking at Damien and not watching where I'm going, I walk straight into someone. The person falls to the ground and their hood falls off, revealing a young girl with black hair tied in a perfect, high bun. I blink. It's unusual for a girl her age to have her hair in a proper grown up style. She holds her hand out, glaring at me from under her long fringe. I frown because she looks similar to Damien. Her face is the same as his.

"Are you going to help me up like a proper gentleman?" She asks. I comply, but just as I'm about to take hold of her hand, Pip pulls my arm back.

"Pip, what-

"Leopold, we need to run! Girls with black hair and red eyes are dangerous! Come on, we need to run away!"

"What are you talking about? She doesn't have red…" I stop talking when I see that the girl does indeed have red eyes.

"WHAT THE F-

"Come on! We need to go!"

Pip turns around… and runs straight into a lamppost.

~Damien's P.O.V~

"Weekly chocolate, I love you…" I whisper into the bag of chocolate I just bought. I think it'd be better if I bought it at night from now on what with my stalker and all. The shop was closed when I got there, so I just kicked on the door until they saw me and opened. They know I'll give them a shitload of money for chocolate, the cheap fuckers.

"HEY, THERE'S DAMIEN!" I hear Ruby yell from across the street, making me stop dead in my tracks. I turn my head towards the voice to see Ruby, Leopold, and Phillip. I scowl at them. Leopold isn't looking where he's going and walks straight into a hooded child. She crashes to the ground, and her hood falls off. I almost drop my chocolate when I see her face. She has exactly the same face as me, not to mention hair and eyes. How is that even possible? She holds her hand out to Leopold expectantly, looking aggravated.

"Are you going to help me up like a proper gentleman?" I hear her ask. Just as Leopold is about to take her hand, my human pulls his arm back. I narrow my eyes. What is he doing?

"Pip, what-

"Leopold, we need to run! Girls with black hair and red eyes are dangerous! Come on, we need to run away!" I frown hardly. What does he mean? Has he encountered more girls that look like that, or the same one?

"What are you talking about? She doesn't have red…" Leopold shuts up when he sees the girl once again.

"WHAT THE F-

"Come on! We need to go!" Phillip turns around and runs straight into a lamppost. It hits him smack bang in the middle of his forehead, and knocks him unconscious. He falls to the ground like a ragdoll. My mouth drops open and I run across the street, almost being hit by a carriage. A man yells at me to be careful, but I don't even acknowledge him. The streets are surprisingly busy at night. When all the bars are open. Many people are staring at Phillip.

"OH MY GAWD! THAT… THAT IS A BLEEDER RIGHT THERE!" Ruby shrieks, covering her mouth in shock. I get across the street and drop to my knees next to Phillip. He hit the lamppost so hard that his forehead is bleeding.

"Jesus! Pip! Pip, are you alright?" Leopold starts to make his way over to Phillip, but the girl grabs his sleeve and pulls him back to her. I stare in disbelief at her strength. She barely even moved her arm, and Leopold has been brought to his knees.

"Are you going to help me up, or not?" She hisses at him, still sitting on the ground.

"What?! Did you not see my step brother run into that pole!? Let me go!" Leopold tries to pull away from the strange girl, but she keeps a firm grip on his sleeve.

"Not until you help me up! And apologize to me for the inconvenience!" I stand up and look at her with my highest authority.

"Girl, will you just stop with your pride? This boy is obviously in more trouble than you. You're problems no longer matter in such circumstances." I tell her, showing how irritated I am. She reminds me of a fly; nothing but a pest.

"Shut the fuck up, Damien! You have no idea who I am, so now you ought to apologize to me as well!" My mouth drops open. How does she know my name? And who the hell does she think she is, speaking to me in that manner!?

"You little bitch…" I curse at her. "Shut the hell up and leave before I kill you. Haven't you been taught to stay away from fairies?" I ask while smirking, expecting her to run away when she figures out what I am. She does the opposite.

"You fool! I'm not human either, I was born in 371BC!" The girl smiles smugly. She must be a fairy as well, the little nuisance.

"Well, I'll have you know I was born in 387BC! I'm sixteen years older than you! You were born one year after I died!"

"I know when the fuck you were born! My mother was-

"Shut up! Why the hell do you have the same face as me? Answer me, you witch!" The girl suddenly jumps up and punches me in the chest.

"FUCK!" This girl… is strong. No normal fairy is capable of that strength. "What the hell are you? You are not a fairy." The girl smirks maniacally.

"Maybe you should try and figure it out yourself. It won't be that difficult for the former son of Satan." My eyes widen. How the hell does she know who I am? "Now, apologize to me. Both of you." I ignore her and grab the collar of her cloak, ripping it at the top. She blinks in shock. Leopold gasps at the violet collar around her neck. She steps back abruptly, covering her neck.

"As I suspected."

"You fucker…" She glares at me so hard that her red eyes almost start glowing. "You're going to perish soon. You and your human." She runs off, clutching her collar. I watch her go, wondering why she was so adamant on convincing Leopold and I to apologize. Refusing to admit she was wrong. It was like pride was the only thing that mattered to her.

"Leopold, I'm sorry, but I have to go to the 21st century and get a proper first-aid kit." We both turn around, having forgotten about Ruby. She stands up and looks at me desperately. "Please, can you take Phillip to Tweek's house? I'm begging." I eye her.

"I cannot let him die." The girl should know what I'm really saying. I'm telling her 'I'll make sure he's safe.'

Ruby smiles at my answer and disappears into thin air. I sigh and look at Leopold. "Hold my bag." I order him, holding out my bag a chocolate. He takes it, and when I let go, he almost drops it. I pick up the unconscious Phillip and reluctantly start walking. Leopold staggers after me.

"What is in this?" He asks, almost dropping the bag.

"Chocolate."

~Kenny's P.O.V~

"What the…?" I hear Craig say when the door opens. I frown and turn around, wondering what's wrong. I just about have a heart attack when I see Damien come in with Phillip hoisted over his shoulder, and Leopold staggering after him with a large paper bag in his arms. I run over immediately and help him carry it, since it looks as if it weighs about ten tonnes.

"What is inside this?" I hiss under my breath. Leopold answers me, exasperated.

"Chocolate, apparently." We all watch Damien toss Phillip down on the table.

"There. He's safe. I'm done here."

"Wait! What in the hell happened?" I shriek at him. Everyone looks at him expectantly.

"Leopold should be able to tell you."

"No I want you to tell me. Now stop trying to run away." Damien sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Nothing but trouble, as always, Kenneth. It's simple. I'd gone to get some chocolate," He gestures to the paper bag. "And Ruby pointed me out from across the street. Leopold was stupid enough not to look at where he was going, and knocked a girl to the ground. Phillip was scared of her and tried to run away, and smacked into a lamppost. I carried him home. End of story."

"Where's my sister?" Craig demands.

"She went off to another time. Said something about a 'first-aid kit'." Craig and I exchange glances. What in the world in a 'first-aid kit'?

"W-Why was Phillip afraid of the girl?" Tweek slyly asks.

"…" Damien doesn't answer. Leopold decides to do it for him.

"She had red eyes. The same as Damien. In fact, she even had the same face as him." I looks at Damien, outraged.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Don't act as if it's somehow my responsibility! I don't know who the hell she was. All I know is that she isn't a fairy and most definitely isn't a human. And she somehow knew my name."

"Then what the hell is she?" Craig asks. I frown in thought.

"If she isn't a human or fairy, then there's five alternatives. An angel, a demon, a soul reaper, a ghost, or a god."

"She was most likely a demon then, if she had red eyes. Any fool would know that only demons have red eyes." Craig remarks, shrugging.

"She's definitely a demon." Damien suddenly says, completely sure of himself.

"Whoa, whoa, Damien. We cannot be completely sure yet." I tell him.

"She is. I ripped her coat off partly and saw her collar."

"As in… a hell collar!? The ones they use to restrain demons?" Craig looks surprised.

"Yes. It was most definitely one of those."

~Damien's P.O.V~

I watch boredly as Phillip finally opens his eyes, taking a few seconds to stare at the unfamiliar ceiling. He soon notices me kneeling beside the bed, watching him closely.

"Did you carry me home?" He asks quietly.

"Perhaps." He instantly takes it as a 'yes'.

"Thank you."

"Mmmm." I growl hatefully, not liking the phrase. Phillip smiles sheepishly at me, as if he finds it sweet.

"Do you love me now, Damien?" He asks. I stare at him impassively.

"No. I just don't feel the need to kill you."

"So then you at least like me?"

"I never said that."

"But you do want me around?"

"Will you stop with your petty questions? I don't want to answer them."

"But you must care a bit, since you carried me here."

"I wasn't going to let you die. End of story."

"But you stayed until I woke up." I manage to look unfazed at his statement, though my tone is otherwise.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

"…?" The boys gives me an inquiring look.

"You were afraid of that girl. You said girls that looked like her were dangerous. Explain to me how you got that result."

"Well… after Craig attacked me about a week ago-

"He did what?" I tense angrily.

"It's fine, it's fine! He's made up for it! Anyway, I was left lying in the woods, and I heard to girls talking about me. They came over to see if I was dead, and they said things as if they'd never seen a human before, or at least not for a long time. I saw the one girl's red eyes, and slapped her since she scared me. I quickly apologized and ran away. That was my first encounter with them. Now that I think about it, both of them looked similar to you. And just today, on the way back from the camping trip, I got bored during a lecture and snuck away. I saw two girls in an orchid and approached them. They both had red eyes, but they didn't seem to have any recollection of me."

"So they were a different pair of red-eyed girls?"

"I think so. Though, they didn't look like you like you. But what struck me was that one of them, this lazy, sleepy one, ushered me away and warned me that there were more of them. She said to run away from any girls with red eyes. Especially the 'proud' one." I think back to how the one I encountered wouldn't let go of her pride.

"It seems the one we encountered of the street was the 'proud' one."

"W-Was she?" Phillip's voice trembles.

"Go to fucking sleep." I snap suddenly, making him flinch. "I'd rather that than watch you being a trembling little coward."

"Damien… will you stay here?"

"No. I just wanted to ask you those questions."

"B-But-

"SHUT UP!" I scream, losing my temper. Why can this child just not be quiet? All this talking back, all this lovey-dovey nonsense, it's driving me mad! Can he just not do that, for once? Can he not listen to me, do what I say!? "LISTEN!" I point directly at him. "As my wife, you're going to goddamn respect me, and never talk back again! You're going to stop begging me for the impossible, and you're going to go to fucking sleep!" I storm out of the room, infuriated. I slam the door for good measure.

~Kenny's P.O.V~

Craig and I are just peacefully sitting at Tweek's kitchen table, chatting, when we both hear loud shouting, and the slamming of a door. We both glare at Damien when he comes down, looking agitated.

"Are you mad?" I hiss. "You're lucky you didn't just wake everyone in the house up."

"Shut the fuck up, Kenneth! I'm not in the right mood for your shit." Damien barks, sitting down. Craig gets up suddenly, looking frustrated.

"Damn, I need a drink…" He mutters, rummaging through the cabinets.

"What? Craig, why…?"

"Kenny, I'm in human form. Humans get thirsty. Live with it. AHA!" Craig gets excited when he finds something. I wonder what it is.

…I feel like slapping him in the face when he pulls out a huge bottle of scotch.

"Craig, no. Don't even think for one second I would let you-

"Come on! Be a sport! I'm thirsty, and I've never tried it." Damien chuckles and shakes his head.

"Craig, Kenneth's right. Just don't do it. Especially if you haven't had it before."

"Have you?"

"Yes, and it wasn't very pleasant. Don't." Damien stares at the bottle blankly.

"You two don't know anything. I can do what I want." Craig finds a glass and slams it down onto the table. Damien and I watch him pour some of the scotch in it. He sits down again and takes a quick glance at us before taking a gulp of the liquid. As expected, he chokes and starts to cough. What I cannot believe is that he managed to swallow it all.

"Tastes like burnt corks…" He manages to say, having been brought to his knees.

"Come on, Craig. Get up." I grab his collar and drag him off the floor, rolling my eyes. I deliberately make eye contact with Damien. "You can have some, if you want." Damien nods and takes the bottle and glass, pouring some. He drinks it as if it's water.

"It's much nicer when you're actually used to it."

"Shaddup, Damien! Ya can only drink it 'cause you're in fairy form!"

"Unbelievable. You're drunk after only one shot's worth." I facepalm.

"I'M NAWT DRUNK!"

"SSH!" I hiss quickly, not wanting Tweek's parents to wake up. Craig scowls at me and reluctantly sits back down. Damien casually finishes the bottle as Craig and I glare at each other. Our silence is broken by the slamming open of the back door, making Craig and I jump. Damien continues sipping leisurely; and Ruby comes running into the room. She drops a tonne of paper bags and a metal box onto the table, looking very proud of herself.

"I'm back!" She declares smugly, but her smirk vanishes when she sees the three of us.

"Where are the humans?"

"They went to bed. A long time ago." Craig answers.

"What!? Phillip's still injured! And I bought a shitload of McDonalds! You have any idea how much it cost?" She sighs, shaking her head. "Honestly… you guys will have to eat it all. Oh! And Kenny?"

"What's wrong?" Ruby gives me one of those golden bangles used to trap fairies in human form. I remember she still has a few from the other day.

"If something happens, use this, m'kay?" She winks at me. What does she mean? What could happen?

"I am not eating this." Damien states, frowning at the bags.

"What is it, Ruby?" I ask.

"I said, it's McDonalds! Burgers, chips, coke, I even got nuggets!"

"Yes, well-

I'm interrupted by two identical screams. Leopold and Tweek.

"Tweek!" Craig shoots up in alarm and starts to run to the stairs, but remembers Tweek's parents. He sprints to their (downstairs) bedroom door and leans against it, preventing them from opening it.

"Tweek? Tweek, is that you? Allow us out at once!" Tweek's mother says firmly from the other side of the door.

"S'not Tweek, ma'am! It's… Robert! I'm sawry for the racket, but Leopold, Tweek and Phillip seam to be having sum nightmayres, but we shall take cawre off it!" Craig gestures upstairs to me with his eyes. "Pleese, go bayck to sleep!"

"Robert, are you drunk?!"

"Naw, ma'am!" I shake my head and trudge up the stairs hurriedly. Ruby follows shortly. Damien continues drinking from his precious glass of scotch. I slam Leopold and Tweek's door open (they had to share a bed since there weren't enough rooms) and see a hooded 'Nightmare' fairy standing over them. He steps away from them when he realizes I'm here.

"Who in the hell are you!?" I growl, fairly ticked off.

"What happinned!?" Craig asks frantically, running into both Ruby and I. We both crash to the floor. Craig quickly apologizes and helps us up. Through Ruby and Craig's childish bickering, I hear the 'Nightmare' fairy open the window and jump out.

"Damn it! He ran away!" I shriek; but my anger fades when I see Leopold. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but… that was by far the most frightening nightmare I've ever had."

"It's alright, the fairy's gone now." I reassure softly. Leopold glowers at me.

"Stop speaking to me as if I'm a small child!" He snaps. As Craig is reassuring Tweek as well, I notice Ruby staring out of the window in a trance.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" She turns head towards me dazedly.

"Craig… you called me a coward last time this happened," She says. Suddenly, she gets a fierce, passionate look on her face. "Well, NOT THIS TIME! I'M NOT A COWARD!" She pulls a contraption out of her large bag. "It's a good thing I brought my motherfuckin' baseball bat!" She proclaims, before jumping out of the window.

"RUBY!" I quickly jump out of the window as well, changing into fairy form in mid-air, and land on the ground, running after her. My mouth drops open when I realise how far she already is. This is by far the fastest she has ever ran; human or fairy life. I struggle to catch up with her. "Ruby, what are you doing!?"

"I'M GONNA TEACH THAT FAIRY A FUCKING LESSON!" She shouts, glaring straight ahead. I've never seen her so determined before; it awes me tremendously. "THERE HE IS! OH NO, NO WAY IS HE FLYING AWAY!" Ruby jumps up and flies behind the 'Nightmare' fairy, who's just taken off in an attempt to get away. With Ruby chasing him in this state, he has no chance. She uses her 'baseball bat' to injure his wing. He crashes to the ground instantly, and Ruby lands on her feet next to him. She chuckling evilly.

"You're fucked." She says, not taking her eyes off of him. I turn away when she starts to beat him with the bat. How can Ruby do such a devious thing? When she was human, she scolded me when I swatted a fly. Unable to bear the sounds any more, I turn around and grab Ruby's arm in mid-swing. She looks star-struck.

"Stop it, Ruby! What's happened to you?" I scold her, slightly afraid. She suddenly bursts into tears. I waver at the sudden mood change.

"I just wanted to make him proud of me! I wanted Craig to praise me!"

"Have you gone insane? How can he be proud of this? Somebody such as Damien could be proud of it, but not Craig!" I yell angrily, trying to pull her arm away so that she'll drop the bat. Her arms are as strong as metal, and they don't budge.

"What would you know…?" She says quietly. "YOU CAN'T EVEN GET YOUR FUCKING HUMAN TO LIKE YOU!" She screams, suddenly reverting back to her wrathful side. Once she sees she's struck a chord in me, Ruby shoves me away roughly, making me go crashing to the ground. I don't believe it.

Ruby…

She slowly lowers the bat and steps towards me shakily.

…you would never…

She glares down at me. I take notice of her now red eyes.

…hurt me…

She lifts up her bat with both arms and, with a ghastly smirk, prepares to bring it down.

…would you?

I dodge the bat at the very last second, and stand up, quickly moving away from her. Ruby grits her teeth and lifts the bat off of the ground, turning around to face me. She doesn't look conscious anymore. She's either possessed, or this isn't even Ruby. I suddenly remember the golden bangle she gave me earlier. Did she predict this would happen? I shake my head, deciding this isn't the time to debate with myself about that.

Ruby calmly lunges at me, but I once again dodge to the side. I swiftly grab her wrist and clamp the bangle on it. She doesn't even blink when her wings disappear. Her eyes stay red, which scares me. I grab the bat with one hand, her shoulder with another; and separate them. The bat goes clanking to the ground next to the unconscious 'Nightmare' fairy. Ruby eyes suddenly widen and she lashes out at me angrily, unlike before. She continues trying to claw at me, shrieking hysterically. I eventually resort to kneeing her in the stomach, knocking her out. I sit on the ground in exhaustion, panting.

"Kenny! There you are! We've been looking everywhere!" I hear Leopold shout. I glance around and see him, Craig and Tweek running towards me. Tweek has to help Craig since he's drunk. "What happened? What's going on?" He asks. Unable to even find the strength to utter the words, I hang my head in shame.

Ruby suddenly opens her eyes and tries to attack Leopold, I grab her arms just in time. Ruby thrashes about furiously, kicking me several times. I stand up, and Leopold, bless him, grabs one of Ruby's arms and helps me drag her away. I notice Craig staring at the unconscious 'Nightmare' fairy and narrow my eyes.

"Come, Craig. We're going now." Tweek says kindly, clinging onto his arm and gently pulling him away from the scene.

Ruby has stopped struggling and gone back into her calm state by the time we get back to Tweek's home. Tweek quietly opens the front floor and we sneak Ruby in. Leopold stumbles and I move to help him up. As I take hold of Leopold's perfectly shaped hand, I want to say 'Keep in mind that Ruby is visible now to humans' but I still cannot manage to speak (most likely from shock). Leopold looks over at me, astounded.

"It's alright. I know." He says, referring to my thought. It doesn't faze me in the least that Leopold just read my thoughts. Humans should be able to read the thoughts of their fairies, and vice-versa, as long as they're physically touching. I've just never felt the need to use that ability. Damien peeks around from the kitchen doorway, and freezes when he sees Ruby. He hurries over and holds her chin up, making her look at him. He turns her head, examining her.

"You'd better sit her down." He suddenly commands, looking troubled. We pull Ruby over to the kitchen and sit her down on the table. She remains in her zombie-like state, staring ahead with half-lidded eyes. She might as well be dead. Well, she is… but…

Damien observes her, obviously knowing something.

"Wh-What's wrong with her?" Tweek asks anxiously.

"Someone put a spell on her, allowing my father to possess her."

"Why is she like this, then? Until a few minutes ago, she was lashing out at all of us!" Leopold says.

"It seems she's trying to internally fight back. That's what's stopping Satan from trying to killing you all. There should be a marking somewhere." I bend Ruby's head down, brushing the hair away from the back of her neck. I gasp, making everyone except Damien crowd around me. On her neck, there is a bold, black symbol that looks like a six-sided star inside a circle. There are also some other symbols next to it.

"It says 'wrath'. Not surprising, since my father is associated with that sin." Damien remarks. "Kenneth, dispose of it." I look at him questionably. "You're the purest one out of us all. The opposite of this spell. Just take out your cross and put it on the mark. That's all you need to do." I nod, and pull my cross out of my sleeve (all positive fairies carry a cross) placing the tip of it onto the back of Ruby's neck. The symbols fade away. Funny, I would have expected the whole ground to suddenly start rumbling, or something similar. I lift Ruby's head up, to see her red eyes turning back into their normal greyish-blue.

She blinks, registering what's happening. Holding her hand up in front of her face, she realizes she's back in control of her body, and sighs thankfully.

I sink to my knees and beckon Leopold over. He complies, crouching next to me. I gesture for him to hold out his hand. He holds out his hand as instructed, and I place my palm on his.

You wouldn't ever hurt me, would you?

Leopold looks surprised that he's able to hear my voice without my having to open my mouth. But then, he takes my question into consideration, and shakes his head.

No, I wouldn't.

I smile sadly, not knowing if he's being completely honest. Leopold smiles back, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.