 
# Traveler

# The runaway

# L. Steffie

#

We are born, and we follow the life's course. But are we grateful for what we have? Are we happy when we eat an apple or when we listen to a song? Do we appreciate when we have food on the table, hot water, family, and friends? Most of us live with the impression that all of those things were always there, so we take them for granted. But what do we do when everything disappears, and we realize how important it is to appreciate every season, every moment with our loved ones and their unconditional love or every smile? Sometimes we forget that we are part of a much bigger story than our little problems and let ourselves comprised of the technology and money, and at the end, realize that all we ever needed to be happy was always under our nose. The question is: how many of us realize this at the right time?

# CHAPTER 1

"Home" is for a lot of people a place where they can be their true selves, for others, it is a person, and for others, it is just a word that awakens a lot of nostalgic memories. A house is made of wood and brick, but only love will turn it into "home."

I was sitting on the grass, at the back of my house, reading from a book that I have started just the day before. I was enjoying the sun and the good weather. I hadn't had time for myself lately. I was preparing for the end of the school's year. It was the final year of high school. I had near me some university brochures, but they belonged to Crista. I hadn't touched them yet.

"Crista! Jo! I brought you the papers."

"I'm coming, aunt Nadia!" I exclaim from the back of the house.

Aunt Nadia was the woman whom my sister and I owned everything. She took care of the business of our parent, from the moment they died in a horrible car accident. Nadia was mom's sister. She was a woman full of energy, short and she also had short hair. She looked confident since she'd dyed her hair red.

"Hi, Nadia! Thanks!"

"Where is Crista?" she asks.

"She remained at school to play tennis. She is making the best of this month. You know she is melancholic when it comes to the last year of high school. "

"And you, Jo?" she asks.

"I am not that excited to go to college. I'm thinking of taking a gap year, to decide what to do with my life. Maybe in this year, I will learn some things from you, you know, about taking over the family business."

"I understand. You let me see what you decide, and I will help you."

"Do you want a coffee?"

"I have to go, thanks. I have to pick up Robert from one of our customers."

Robert was her husband. A big and bitter man. He and Nadia were a perfect match. Nadia hugged me; then she left in a hurry. I wasn't an affectionate person, but I hugged her back anyway because that was the polite thing to do.

After that, I made a cup of coffee, and I sat on the swing that was near my doorway. I was wondering what was the right thing to do, to go to University like Crista, or to take a burden off Nadia's shoulders and handle our part of the business.

My parents had a business in the construction domain, with Nadia and Robert. After the tragic accident, Nadia tried to help us and to take over all the responsibilities, for us to have a financial source in the future. Everything was going excellent, but I thought that it was time to take the matter into my hands because she had done enough for us.

Crista was a young and dreamy soul, appropriate to an eighteen years old girl. At my twenties, I considered myself mature enough. Nevertheless, we were both finishing high school together. The idea of crushing her dreams about University was not on my mind, so I didn't think to ask for her help with the business.

Crista was shorter than me. Her long and dark brown hair and also her green eyes highlighted her beauty. We were different. In fact, I was different from the rest of the family, from every point of view. I was taller than her, and my hair was shorter and lighter. A few strands of blonde hair were lost in my head for a while. Neither at the eyes, we weren't the same because I had brown eyes.

While I was reflecting on these life's problems, a car stopped in front of my house. George was behind the wheel, Crista on the front seat and Deborah in the back. We were friends with George and Deborah since childhood. George was a tall and dark-haired guy. Every time I saw him I wondered why was he single because he was good-looking. He was a freelancer and had his schedule, translating acts from different languages. Sometimes, Nadia applied to his services, when she had foreign customers.

Deborah was a tall girl, with brown and gorgeous long hair. Her green-brown eyes reflected her entirely mean girl personality. She never had a good relationship because of her impulsive character. She was very pretentious too. She was living alone, and she had her money. However, I never had any problems communicating with her, and we got along very well. I've always seen beyond her badness mask, and I considered her a sensitive person. Of course, I never told her that because I never wanted to risk a fight full of contradictions.

"Hey, Jo! Do you have any coffee left?" asks Deborah.

"Sure. Come on in!"

"You should have stayed to play tennis with us. We had an excellent time!" says George.

"Next time. I promise!"

"We're not going to stay long here. We just came to take more tennis balls", says Deborah.

"Yeah, someone thought he was a professional and all of them ended up over the fence. We didn't find them", grumbles Crista pointing at George.

George was staying across the street since we were four years old when we moved into the neighborhood. Then we befriended with Deborah, at the kindergarten, and we went together to the same school and high school. They were always feeling like home at our place. While we were drinking our coffee, someone rang at the door. Crista hurried to answer.

"Sabrina! Come on in!"

"I came to tell you that I am organizing the final party of the year! I am so happy that after all those years, I can finally host a party! Even if it is the end... Never mind, I don't want to become melancholic. Tomorrow night, at eight, I see you at the Orin Lake. It will be a beautiful thing with drinks, food, tents, music, crazy stuff... you know."

"See you there!" says Crista.

"Ok, bye!" exclaims Sabrina.

After she had left, we remained with some stupid smiles on our faces. She was a classmate and a good friend, since the beginning of the high school. She was a favorite girl, but she wasn't very good at organizing parties, and this was the reason for which nobody let her organize anything. I don't know how she convinced anyone to let her host the final party, but I had a feeling that I didn't want to know.

"Where is Cora?" asks Crista.

Cora was our dog, a Golden Retriever. We had her for seven years, and we loved her very much. I trained her, and this was the reason she didn't listen to Crista, a fact that made her angry sometimes.

"She was outside when you came" I say.

"Ok. I will give Cora something to eat, and then I think we will go again to play tennis. Do you want to join us?"

"Sure, I'm going to change."

I went to my room to get ready. When I went downstairs, I was ready to play tennis and very excited. I saw everyone bored and waited for me, and Cora was ready to go.

"Come on!" says George. "We're waiting for twenty minutes!"

"Sorry, I didn't realize that time flies!" I grumbled.

"I thought that it would be a good idea if I take Cora for a walk too!" says Crista.

"Ok then. Let's go!"

We got into George's car and went to the tennis field from the skirts of the town. It wasn't so far because our town was small and everybody knew everybody. Cora was staying quiet in the back of the trunk. She was used to long rides in the car because I took her everywhere with me.

We got at the field quite fast, and we started to play. I made the team with Deborah, and George with Crista. We won the first set, and we took a break. It passed almost an hour and a terrible headache cut off my playing mood.

"I think I'm going to let you play" I said. "I don't feel so well, so I will stay here for a while, then I will go home."

"I'll take you" offers George.

"No, thanks. I want to get some fresh air. I'll walk."

"Do you want to take Cora back home?" asks Crista.

"Yes, it's a good idea."

"I knew I'd remain alone in the team" says Deby.

"Ha" I commented.

After fifteen minutes, in which Crista and Deborah played an excellent game, I decided to stand up. George was looking at them bored. I took Cora, and I started walking home. On my way, I saw three houses that were built-up recently by D&M, the company of my parents, that were ready to be lived in them. They looked so good than the other houses, and they awoke in me a feeling of pride.

That feeling didn't last long because I heard footsteps behind me. When I turned around, I saw Sebastian, the classmate that nobody tolerated. Whatever, almost anyone, because he had his group of less tolerated friends. He had a problem with attractive girls. I was sure that he had a piece of brain missing. He was obsessed with me, and he always found a reason to talk to me. To be honest, this man annoyed me, but he also scared me.

"Jo, wait!" he said.

Of course, I didn't react, and I continued to walk until he started running and caught up with me.

"Hey, don't you hear me or are you avoiding me?" asks he with a strange voice.

"I'm in a hurry, Sebastian. I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes."

"Why do you avoid me every time you see me? I don't like to be mocked, especially by a girl like you. So, tell me... do you want to have an evening... how can I say..."

In what moment, I felt a strong smell of whiskey. How was I supposed to get rid of this crazy drunk?

"You've been drinking. You don't know what you're talking. I'm going to leave now."

"Not so fast!" he says and grabs me on my arm.

"Let me go! Now!" I scream.

"And if I don't? What are you going to do? Put the dog on me?" he laughs.

I tried to get rid of him, but he was holding me strongly. He grabbed me with both hands. He had no intention of letting me go. Cora started to bark. All I hoped at that moment was that somebody could hear Cora and come over to see what was going on. When I saw nobody was coming, I started fighting back, and I managed to get myself free. I couldn't run so far because he threw himself over me and started pulling off my jacket.

"Come on, Jo! Don't make such a big deal! I'm waiting for you since the beginning of the high school, and I don't accept to be refused by a girl."

"Go to Hell!" I scream and scratch him on the face.

At that moment, I realized that I made a mistake. Sebastian's facial expression changed, and he got very mad. He grabbed me by my neck and took off my jacket, with an incredible force that it tore up. He started plucking at my shirt. The fight was exhausting, Cora was barking, I was screaming, and he was laughing and shouting at the same time.

I don't know where it came from, but a hand took Sebastian off me and gave him some earned hits.

"Get lost now when you have a chance!" says the man.

He was dizzy and confused, but he finally got up. He looked surprised. Not a lot of people had the courage to get into his business. It was the first time when I saw him scared. He started running and grumbling something.

"Are you ok?" asks the man that saved my skin.

"It was my favorite jacket!" I said trying not to cry and to embarrass myself.

"Where do you live? Let me take you home. My car is here. I was in the neighborhood, and I heard the screaming. You were very lucky."

"I think I'll walk home. But thanks anyway" I say trembling.

"Come on! You can't bump into two crazy men in the same night!" he says smiling.

"I hope not!" I respond with a smile.

We got into his car after he put Cora into the back. I was not usually getting in the car with strangers, but this time I was pretty shaken, so it was an exception. Above all this, he inspired me some weird feeling of trust.

"Thank you for stepping in. I am Josephine."

"I am Andy. Tell me, where do you live?"

"Turn right here, then the fourth house on the left."

"Who was that jerk?"

"He's a sort of bad boy around here. Nobody has the courage to get into his business. He has a problem with me for many years now. I didn't give him enough attention. Now he was drunk, and I couldn't get rid of him. It all degenerated... Thank you again!"

"No problem! Take care!"

"By the way, I haven't seen you around."

"That's because I'm new in town. It's the first time I come here. Until now, my brother took care of the land, and he bought the house, and now I decided to come. "

"I see. It seems like you had quite a welcome! See you around. Thanks for bringing me. Good night. Come on, Cora!"

"Good night!"

# CHAPTER 2

At my place, the light was on. Deborah, George, and Crista were in the lobby. I saw their bodies through the window. I was welcomed by their angry looks.

"Where have you been?" asks Crista.

"And who was that guy that left you outside?" asks Deborah.

"Are you ok? What's with your clothes?" George continues.

"I'll explain everything to you, but first, let me take a shower!" I say passing by them.

I went upstairs to wash and to change. Cora went straight to the water bowl. She needed it after so much barking. I cleaned myself up, and I went downstairs in the living room, where my friends were waiting for me curious and surprised. I told them what happened to me that night.

"Oh my God!" exclaims George.

"What a wretch!" says Deborah. "Don't worry! We will get revenge on him!"

"That's what is missing!" says Crista.

"Andy took care of him, believe me!" I say.

"I don't want to imagine what could have happened if this guy, Andy, haven't passed by there!" says Crista.

"I called you all night. Where is your phone?" asks George.

"Ah... I looked for it upstairs, but it's gone. I must have lost it in the fight... I don't know. I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Good night, Jo!"

The next day I woke up craving for coffee. Half asleep, I went downstairs to make it. Usually, I made more because I never knew who was going to come over. I went to change and to wash. When I got out from the bathroom, Nadia was standing at the table, with a cup of coffee in her hands. Like I said... I never knew who was coming over.

"Morning, Jo!"

"Morning, Nadia."

"Morning!" says Crista from the top of the stairs.

"Jo, I came to ask you to take these papers to one of the new owners. Today he's moving in for good, and I don't have the time to get there because I'm leaving for two weeks. I have an appointment in London with some new partners. "

"Sure, Nadia! Consider it done! Safe trip. Call me when you get back."

"Kiss you girls. Take care!"

I rolled an eye over the papers, while I was finishing my coffee.

"I'm getting into the shower" says Crista. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm leaving to take these papers to a certain Stefan Smith. See you later."

"Ok, take care. Are you taking the car?"

"Yes. Bye!"

"Bye!"

I drove to the address. The small and blue Volkswagen was acting well. Driving wasn't my strength, but I got used to the car, which was my mother's some time ago, and I was doing fine. I  got out of the vehicle, and I knocked at the door. Surprise! It opened no one else but Andy, the guy who saved my ass a night before.

"Hi! Very strange to see you here. I'm looking for a certain Stefan Smith!"

"Yes, he is my brother. Come on in!"

"Stefan, she is Josephine!"

"Jo. Happy to meet you!" I say.

"Hi, Jo!" he says.

"I have some papers for you. You need to sign them."

"Ok, let's see."

"Is it your business?" asks Andy.

"It belonged to my parents, but now I'm inheriting it with my sister."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean..." says Andy.

"It's ok. I need your signature there" I say to Stefan.

"Done" says Stefan. "Everything ok?"

"Yes."

"I have to go. See you around!"

"Have a beautiful day, Stefan!" I say.

"Do you want to drink something?" asks Andy.

"No, thanks. I got to run and help a friend to organize a party. By the way, it is tonight at eight. It'd be great for you to be there. You can get to know better the people in  this town. It is near the Orin Lake."

"We will be there. Thanks."

"Good! See you there!"

I got into the car and drove to Sabrina. I couldn't stop thinking about this coincidence. What was the chance that those papers were for Andy's house? And what were the odds that he drove by just in time to save me from Sebastian? How had Nadia to leave town for me to take the papers there? I found myself smiling like an idiot. Andy was a cute and an educated guy. His brother seemed older than him and a little grumpy. And he had blonde hair and green eyes. Andy was dark-haired. Initially, I thought that he had blue eyes, but now I've seen that they were green-blue. I was hoping that they will come to the party. It was something mysterious about them. They were the first new neighbors in a very long time, and they were indeed breaking all the patterns.

I took my dumb smile off my face, and I went to Sabrina. I found her instructing some guys about how to arrange the balloons. The tents looked good near the lake. I was surprised to see that everything looked excellent, except the balloons suspended in the trees.

"Hey, Sabrina. How's working?"

"Good! I'm very proud of this! Do you like it?"

"Yes, it looks great! But don't you want to move those balloons? They will look a lot better here, near the tents."

"Oh, I think you're right! Hey, you! Move these! Don't you see how they look over there?" she shouts at one of the boys that were helping her.

I started laughing. Sabrina wasn't very smart, but she was my friend. And she was funny. I loved her. She had a long bright hair, delicate features, and blue eyes.

"What can I do?"

"The drinks! Take that beer and put it here! Then you can go and bring the rest of them from the car!"

I went to the car. I was wondering when the guests were going to show up. Around seven and a half, they started to come. I saw high school mates, neighbors, but I didn't see Andy and Stefan. And surprise, neither Sebastian and his friends.

I grabbed a cocktail and started dancing with Deborah. Suddenly, I saw the Smith brothers and I went to welcome them.

"Hi! I'm glad you made it!"

"Hey!" they said.

"Let's introduce you to my friends. They are Andy and Stefan. She is my sister, Crista, he is George, our friend, she is Deborah, and here is the host, Sabrina."

"Glad to meet you" they say.

"Take something to eat, to drink, and have fun!" says Sabrina.

We drank together some Corona, and then we started dancing. When we got bored, we gathered around the lake to tell stories. The music was loud. Sabrina was walking around with some glasses of Coke in her hands. She wanted to be sure that all the guests have something to drink.

"So, Andy, what are you two doing in Vals?"

"We came here to open a business" says Andy.

"A bar, to be accurate" adds Stefan.

"It's a good idea! If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask for help! It's the least I can do, after what Andy did for me."

I didn't manage to end my sentence because we heard screaming from the other side of the lake. The agitation was bigger and bigger, and people went to see what was going on.

"Help! Someone!" screams a girl.

We ran over there. What we saw left us terrified. Among the crying and the screaming, we saw Sabrina lying dead on the grass, hit on the head.

"Oh my God!" shouts Crista.

"What's happening?!" asks Deborah.

"It can't be true..." I whisper when tears flow on my cheeks.

"I'm calling the police!" says Stefan.

Everybody was horrified. We waited worriedly for the police and the ambulance to come. The doctors confirmed the death and the police interrogated us. Sabrina was seen last time when she headed on the other side of the lake. She said to some girls that she was going to bring more drinks, but she never came back. She was found by a group of young teens that were running around the lake.

"The party is over! We will contact you in the next days if we need more details!" says a police officer.

"I'm afraid to go home!" cries Crista.

"We will take you home" says Andy. "I can go with you in the car and Stefan can follow us."

"Fine" I accept.

We arrived in front of my house. George, Deborah, and Crista were standing in the back of the car. Andy was driving my car. I couldn't drive because I was in shock and I was also drunk. Stefan arrived soon.

"Don't you want to come inside for a little while?" asks Crista. "I'm afraid to stay alone with Jo in this house after what happened! Just a little, please!"

She was very scared. I can't say that I wasn't, but I never showed what I felt in the way she did. We went to the house, and I unlocked the door. I had a strange feeling. I had in mind only Sebastian's face. Why did he miss the party? "Ok, calm down." I was saying to myself to stay focused. Sebastian couldn't have been a criminal.

The guests were staying in the living room, on the couch and the armchairs.

"I think I need something stronger" says Crista pushing aside the beer she had just opened, and cleaning the tears off her face.

"I will bring the bottle of whiskey. I'll bring Cora too. Cora! Cora!" I shout walking through the back of the house.

It was silence. Usually, Cora welcomed us barking at the door. This time, I was too shocked to see that something was not ok. I got out on the back door, and I went to the storage to get the whiskey bottle. I continued to call Cora. When I arrived in front of the storehouse, I remained stone-still. Cora was lying on the ground. It followed a scream full of fear and grief. All came in a hurry to see what had happened.

"What happened?" asked Deborah.

"God... this is not possible!" exclaims George.

"No!" cries Crista.

"Is Cora?" asks Stefan.

"Yes!" I say among the tears.

"Who does this?" asks Andy.

"Someone just killed Sabrina!" shouts Deborah. "Is no one safe here? What's going on?"

I wasn't feeling safe at all. I was shocked that someone got into my yard to get revenge on Cora. From what I could see, she was probably offered poisoned food. I sat in front of her, and I touched her head. I felt powerless but angry and outraged.

"Jo..." says Stefan after a couple of quiet minutes. "If you want to go inside, I will stay with George to bury Cora. Andy, go with them."

Crista went ahead, and I got up. Deby grabbed my hand, and we got inside together. I went directly to my father's shelf, and I took from there the bottle of whiskey, which he used to say that he kept for  a special occasion. Obviously, this was not a special occasion, but I didn't care. My friend was dead, and my dog too. Something was happening there, and I couldn't understand what. This was until I thought this through.

"It was him! The wretch! He is guilty!" I started screaming and crying.

"Who? What are you talking about, Jo?" asks Deborah.

"Sebastian! This is why we didn't see him at the party! He was probably too busy to get in here and revenge on Cora!"

"I don't think he is capable of this. He may be bad, but to kill?" says Deborah.

"Do you think he is behind of what happened to Sabrina?" asks Crista terrified.

"I'm sure! I'm going to the police! I'll tell them that he is guilty of all!" I shouted.

"Calm down" says Andy with a gentle voice. "Let's calm ourselves and look this through. You can't go there and blame him without evidence. They will keep you there, especially if you go in this shape. Look, I will come with you tomorrow if you want to do this, and we will find a way to tell the cops to verify Sebastian without making a scene, ok?"

"But...oh, fine" I respond.

I couldn't say anything else to him, considering the calm voice he talked to me.

'I'm never going to sleep again" says Crista.

After almost an hour, Stefan and George showed up. We looked at each other uncertain. We stretched the couch in the living room and locked all the doors. I fell asleep on it with Crista and Deborah, while the boys were talking. After two hours, it was quiet. I opened my eyes and saw them sleeping on the armchairs.

I looked around. My house was a mess, and so was my soul. I dreamed of Sabrina in those hours of sleep. A thrill passed through me. I couldn't imagine my life without her laugh, the stupid things that I always had to repair after her or without her energy. She was the soul of our group, and now we had to learn to live without her. I sighed. I laid on the couch, and I remained there, looking at the ceiling, thinking about Sabrina. At some point, I heard Stefan snoring. Practically, I was with some strangers in my house, and I was thinking of what happened since they appeared in this town. I watched them sleeping, and I realized that it was something mysterious about them, but not bad. They seemed good people. In a short time, I managed to fall asleep.

# CHAPTER 3

The losses change us. They make us not to trust ourselves or anyone around us as we used to do. They make us think twice before we act. Sometimes we shut ourselves down in our corner, to push away the others and to look at everything with suspicion.

In the morning, I woke up first. I saw Crista looking at me.

"Are you up for long?"

"I couldn't sleep too much" she says.

"Oh, Crista. I'm going to make some coffee."

When I entered the living room, everyone was up. I was standing there with two boys that I had met a day before, and I knew nothing about, even slept with them in my house, but I felt strangely safe.

"We're going home" says Andy. "I'll take a shower, change myself and I'm coming to pick you up to go to the police and talk about Sebastian. In the afternoon. Is it ok? "

"It's perfect" I said.

"Thanks for staying with us" says Crista to Stefan.

"No problem" he says and smiles.

After they had left, I had a feeling like a gap in my stomach.

"What do you think about them?" asks Deborah.

"They seem good people" answers George.

"They inspire confidence, but at the same time, a little mystery" says Crista.

"Jo?" asks Deborah.

"I don't know what to say... They seem nice guys. A lot of mystery, but I hope that we'll get to know them better soon. I'm glad that Andy passed by two evenings ago. I have no idea what would've happened if he didn't. Maybe I would have ended up like Sabrina."

"Don't ever say that again!" says Crista.

"Let's not overthink this" says George. "Maybe Sebastian has nothing to do with it, and we blame him for nothing."

"I don't know what to think anymore..." whispers Deborah.

It was two in the afternoon, and I was already dressed up. I was waiting for Andy. I knew that it was early, but I was agitated. I had a moment when I wanted to go in the backyard with George, to show me where they buried Cora, but I couldn't get passed the door. I remained blocked, and I went back into the house. It was three and Andy was not there yet. Then it was four... five... I was asking myself if he bailed on me. I could've called him to see what was taking so long or I could've waited, in order not to become too insistent. I decided to hold on, thinking that he would show up eventually.

It was six o'clock when the bell rang. George opened the door. I was surprised to see Stefan.

"Jo!" he says astonished. "You finished so quickly!"

I didn't understand a thing. All the evil thoughts rolled on into my head at that moment.

"Finished what? I'm waiting for Andy for four hours..."

Stefan changed his expression. He looked like he was crossed by a shiver.

"He left at three" says Stefan surprised.

"He didn't come here" I say.

"I'm calling him" he continues.

His phone was off. I didn't want to think of the worse, but something wasn't right.

"He left with his car. I'm going out, maybe I'll see him around" says Stefan.

"I don't think that is ok if you go alone, with all these things going on around here" says George. "I'm coming with you."

"I'm coming too" says Crista.

I had a feeling that she liked Stefan, but I didn't take it too seriously because I couldn't imagine that my sister was thinking of anything else than finding Andy now.

"I'll stay here with Jo, in case Andy shows up" says Deby.

"Give us your number, Stefan!" I say.

Finally, I remained with Deborah. We got out and sat on the rocker on the porch and waited for a sign.

"It's getting cold. I'm going to get a blouse. Do you want one?" she asks me.

"No, thanks!"

I sat there, looking at Crista's old phone. I had only about seven numbers on it. My phone disappeared in the fight with Sebastian. Suddenly, I got a text. It was Andy. He wanted to meet me at the factory at the Mill Street, at the second entrance. I was staring at the phone when Deby showed up. I got up.

"What's with this face?"

"I got to go" I say.

"Where?"

"Andy texted me. He wants me to meet him at the factory."

"Why didn't Andy text you until now? And why don't you see him at the police station?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out!"

"I'm calling the others to come back" she says.

I got into the car, and I left. On my way to the factory, I saw Andy's car. It was stopped on the street, and I could tell that he had left in a hurry because his door was open. When I got closer I saw that it had the mirror broken, the bonnet was bent, and the window chapped. It didn't look good. Something had happened there. I called him, but his phone was off. I wanted to go, but I saw blood on the car.

I ran back into the vehicle. I took a breath. Did he hit someone? I didn't understand a thing. I started thinking that something was not in its place.

"Ok... it's going to be ok. It's nothing serious..."

I didn't believe a word I was saying, but I thought that I would use some encouraging words. I arrived at the back of the factory. Andy wasn't there, but I saw the door open, and I thought that he might be waiting for me in there. I knew it was possible to find something strange in there. The image that I saw confirmed me that I had in front of me a bunch of crazy people. I gulped. A man who kidnaps another has all the chances to be a criminal. Too bad that I didn't think this through. Andy was there, surrounded by Sebastian and three of his friends. It was clear that I had no chance against them, especially if Andy couldn't take them down. They hit him a lot until I got there. They put on a whole show.

"Welcome, Jo!" says Sebastian with a malefic smile on his face. "I was beginning to think that you would leave your friend to have all the fun with us. But now that you're here, it's going to be more fun!"

One of them took out a bottle of alcohol, and he shared it with his friends. They ended it in less than two minutes. I couldn't just walk away and leave Andy there. I got into the game, so I needed to play.

"Now that we familiarized, you can come closer, Jo."

"What are you going to do?" I ask.

"I have in plan to have an evening just like I've always wanted. But before this, I wanted you to be here when we teach your friend a critical lesson: no one gets into my business, especially if he's new in town" he laughs at Andy.

"It is not necessary for her to see this! Let her go!" says Andy.

"If I were you... I would shut up!" says one of them.

"Now, where do I start? Robert, bring Jo closer. She's shy today."

He comes near me and grabs me by my arm. He takes me close without letting me go. Sebastian grabs the empty bottle and hits Andy hardly, while the other two hold him. I started to struggle, but the narrow got strengthened, and it hurt. The others began to hit Andy from all around. I began crying and screaming. At that moment, my phone started ringing. Robert took it out from my pocket and hit it on the ground. It was shattered. It seemed like I wasn't able to take care of a phone.

"Who did you tell you are here?" screams Sebastian.

I didn't even want to imagine what he was going to do, even if I was there alone. Bad idea!

"Stop! I came alone!"

"Who did you tell where you are going?" asks me and hits Andy.

"Nobody! Let's get things straight! Please, leave him alone!"

"To leave him alone? After he hit me? After he humiliated me? I can't do that, dear! You know damn well that who comes into my way doesn't get away so easily! But I'll leave him for now because I have plans with you."

He comes near me, and he squeezes me by the neck.

"Now, let's finish what we started, but this time with an audience!" he laughs.

"Get your hands off me!" I scream.

I didn't get the chance to move because he hit me so hard that I fell on the ground. I woke up after two minutes. He was standing over me, pulling off my clothes and laughing with the others. I heard Andy screaming at him to let me go, but another one kept hitting him. I saw Sebastian sitting over me and laughing. He enjoyed that situation. He was a crazy person.

I noticed on the ground, on my right, a piece of pipe, or at least that I thought it was because I couldn't see well because of my injury. Near me was a track of blood but I was sure it wasn't from Sebastian. He tore up my shirt, and I managed to push him away from me, then I grabbed the pipe. Without thinking that through, I hit him on the head with all my powers. The others jumped on me, and they immobilized me, but I started fighting. Andy was shocked about what I did, but he managed to hit the guy who was holding him. He ran to me. Andy wasn't running straight because of the injuries, but he was able to put down another one. I pushed the one who was holding me, but he was not going to let me go.

At that moment, I saw Sebastian getting up. The blood was flowing from his head injury. His face was red, probably of rage, and I was sure he saw dancing stars. I was wondering where did he find his strength to get up. He ran after me, and Robert put Andy on the ground. I was sure that was not a good ending, but in the next moment, three cops got in. They were accompanied by Stefan and George. They immobilized that bunch of crazy men, and I ran to Andy to see if he was ok. Of course, I couldn't define "ok" at that moment because there was blood everywhere, but he managed to get up and to ask me the same thing.

The police officers explained to us that Sebastian and his group were guilty of some robberies in another town and a lot of scandals. They arrested them, and we waited for the ambulance. George and Stefan got us out from the factory. At the car, Deborah and Crista were waiting for us. They were stunned when they saw in what shape we were. I think I had my shoulder dislocated, a lot of bruises, a bad injury at the head and my lip was cut. But I couldn't feel anything. Andy had injuries on his head because of the hits with that bottle. Stefan was holding a compress while we were waiting for the ambulance. He had bruises on his face, and he was also walking carefully.

The ambulance came after a few minutes and took us to the hospital, where the doctors took us over. I got away without stitches, but Andy needed five of them, plus two broken fingers and hard pain around the ribs. The doctors didn't keep us there, but we insisted on going at Andy's place after that.

On our way there, everyone asked us at least twenty times if we were ok. That question started to piss me off. When we got inside the house, Stefan helped Andy to sit on the bed.

"I'm going to make you some tea. We're going to need something stronger" says Stefan.

I sat next to Andy.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! You shouldn't have been caught in the middle of this" I say through tears.

"It's not your fault, Jo! If I wasn't there that night, God knows what could have happened! Calm down. Bruises are going to heal. It's going to be ok!" he says and grabs my hand. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, but I feel guilty about what happened."

"You don't have to. Those people were crazy! Anyway... I didn't expect you to hit Sebastian with that pipe..." says Andy with a smile on his face.

"What have you done?" asks Crista shocked.

"Bring that drinks, and I will tell all about it!" I say.

"I will need something stronger too" he says.

Even though all were hurting me, I found the strength to smile a little. We sat there until next morning and talked. George promised the Smith brothers that he would help them to open the bar. We got ourselves some new friends, and I felt like I knew them since forever, even if I just met them.

# CHAPTER 4

It was Sabrina's funeral. Her parents were grieving and silent. We asked if they needed help, but they refused us. When I looked at them, I realized how strong I needed to become. Maybe I was already that way, and I had to show it.

The next day, George and Stefan were busy taking care of the opening of the new bar. Life was going on, inevitably. We continued to live, but there was a gap in our souls. I was missing Sabrina so much, and I couldn't accept the fact that she was never going to come back. Deborah promised Andy that she would pick him up and they will come together at my place. I understood him that he needed to be around people after what happened. I got home, and I went straight into the shower. I got rid of two set of clothes in the past two days because of Sebastian. After one hour, Deby and Andy showed up, then George and Stefan.

In the evening, we all gathered in my living room and talked for hours. It was the first time, after the death of my parents, when I felt a little better. It has been one year and a half. I couldn't think about that. I avoided all my life to talk or think about things that bothered me. I just felt like if I wasn't talking about them, they were going to disappear.

I've had a quiet week since the last incident. I've just returned from the hospital, where I've accompanied Andy to take his stitches down. He left me in front of my house. I got in, and I found Crista in the middle of the kitchen, rubbing her hands.

"What happened, Crista?"

"Ah... nothing" she says.

"When you are nervous, you can't stay in one place. I know you."

"Look, I think I'm in love but don't laugh because I'm not going to tell you anything! "

"Ok, Crista. Are you in love with Stefan? "

"Is it that obvious?"

"I think it's just for me because I know you so well" I say smiling.

"The prom is near, and I don't know what to tell him. I want him to come with me."

"If you don't ask him, you will never know."

"Who are you going with?"

"I haven't thought about this lately..."

Crista hit a sensitive part of me. I didn't know what to tell her next. I've had only three relationships until that moment, not very serious or long, and all of them ended not so well. After the incident with my parents, I haven't thought about this. Until now. Andy seemed an excellent man. He was my type, but I didn't want to rush things. I didn't know anything about him.

The next day, Nadia woke me up with a phone call. I needed to take care of some contracts nearby. I got dressed, and I left. Until two o'clock I was done. I stopped to grab something to eat, and I went home. When I walked in, Crista didn't let me breathe, and she started:

"Today is the day! I'm asking him to go with me to prom!"

She was very excited, and I was hungry and exhausted. I was happy for her, so I hoped that Stefan was not going to be too surprised. At that moment, her phone rang. It was Stefan. After they had finished talking, she shouted:

"He asked me out tonight! I need to see what I'm going to wear!"

She ran into her room. At seven o'clock, Crista walked out the room's door very elegant and enthusiast. She was dressed in a red dress, above the knees, black shoes and a black jacket. I noticed that she had borrowed from me a red bag.

"How do I look?" she asked me.

"You are gorgeous! He will love it!"

Stefan was waiting outside for her. I told them to have fun; then I went on the balcony. I was looking at my phone. I entered in my contacts about four times to call Andy, but I finally changed my mind. I poured myself a glass of wine, and I listened to music all night. When Stefan brought Crista home, at about three in the morning, I was still on the balcony. I saw the car, and I went inside. Crista came in after five minutes. She looked at me and exclaimed:

"He kissed me! It was so good and romantic!"

"I'm happy for you! Tell me all about it!"

"I'm in love!"

I started laughing. Crista had a hilarious way to explain things. She was also more childish than me. She lived life to the fullest, and all the small things made her happy. She was always falling in love so fast. She told me all the details. He accepted to go with her to the prom. He only kissed her, but she was so happy as if he asked her to marry him.

At four o'clock we went to bed. The next day, we woke up at ten again. We didn't sleep too much, but Crista was too excited to sleep. It was the big day. In the evening was the prom. I went downstairs, and I saw George, Deborah, and Andy in the lobby.

"Morning, Jo."

"Morning. I see you made yourselves coffee."

"Yes. We passed by to tell you that we are all gathering tonight to go to the prom" says Deborah.

"Yes, we decided to go a bigger group, and how we can't have fun without Stefan and Andy, we invited them too" confirms George.

"Great! See you tonight at eight?" I ask.

"Sure! We're coming to get you!" says George.

Ok... a group invitation to the prom. Nothing was weird in that. I rolled over my eyes. I went upstairs to get ready. At seven and a half, I was ready. I was wearing a white dress, with sleeves. I suited the cream-colored shoes with a little bag, and I took a jacket too, in case it was cold. I put two stripes of my hair at the back, and when I looked in the mirror, I liked the final result. I smiled. Crista let her long hair on the back. She was wearing too much perfume, probably because of the emotions.

I heard a lot of noise outside. When I opened the door, I saw two cars: Stefan's and Andy's. Crista got up on the free seat from Stefan's car. In the back were George and Deby. Andy waved at me to go with him. He looked so elegant in that suit. He looked like a businessman. That night was predicted to be so much fun. At least that is what I hoped.

"You're very elegant in this evening, Jo."

"Thanks. Same goes for you. I see you got your car fixed!" I say trying to avoid the subject.

The blue suit highlighted his eyes. He looked at me, and he smiled, then he started driving.

"Yes, today it was ready, and I said that she couldn't miss the opportunity to go to prom" he joked.

"I hope this is not something boring for you because you finished high school some time ago."

"In fact, I didn't go to the prom when I graduated. Stefan did. When it was my turn, something happened, and we had to leave town."

"Then let's hope that you'll enjoy it!"

We got out from the car and headed to the main ballroom. We got in there in couples, of course, me on Andy's arm. We sat at the table, tried some food, then we went to look around. I was looking at Stefan and Crista dancing, when I heard a voice:

"Do you want to dance?"

It was Andy. He was inviting me to dance, and I was staring at him like an idiot. Finally, I sobered, and I responded:

"Yes!" and in my head, I said: "I thought that you'd never ask me!"

I felt happy, after a long time. All I wanted was for that dance to never end. I put my head on his shoulder, and I felt very relaxed. Crista was dancing in front of me with Stefan, and when she caught my eyes, she smiled and winked at me. Deby, who was dancing with a colleague, showed me the "ok" sign, but not very discreet. I rolled over my eyes because I started blushing.

Unfortunately, my happiness was blown away after a short time. From outside I could hear a lot of noise, and I saw some guys in colored uniforms. Again, I thought about the worse. And I was right. The bad news couldn't stop coming. I heard from the people that in that evening Sebastian and his friends had escaped from the police. We were shocked when we saw the officers carrying their bodies from the same woods where Sabrina had died. Now I was sure. Sebastian didn't kill Sabrina. I was still uncertain about Cora's death.

The prom ended right after the incident, and we were lucky that we were surrounded by people at the time of the murder. Otherwise, we could have been suspected, after our last meeting and for a good reason. Some remained there to talk to the police, but we went at my place. Nobody wanted to be alone in those moments. Stefan went outside to smoke. Even though I haven't smoked for a long time, I grabbed a glass of water and went with him. He handed me the pack, and I took one.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Is it always like this around here?" he asks.

"Now that I'm thinking about this... around here never happened this kind of crimes. There were accidents. My parents, for example. But murders? And the guilty one is not found. When you came into town it started. Do you think about leaving? Because if you do... no one will judge you."

"We're not leaving. We haven't thought about this. Now that we are here, we're not going back. Especially now, that I am with Crista."

"I see..."

I went inside just when Andy came out. He stayed with his brother on the porch. In the living room were Deborah and George. Crista was going upstairs. I walked two steps then I realized that my glass of water was on the porch. George and Deby moved into the kitchen. I made not a very artistic pirouette and went back to the porch to recover my glass. Before pressing the handle, I heard Stefan raising his voice at Andy.

"What if she followed us here?"

"Nobody followed us! Keep your voice down!" says Andy.

"How can I not shout when I see what's happening in this town? We came here with a purpose! We have to find her!"

"And the what? We leave again? I finally started to feel that I have a life here! I'm sick of moving around!"

"I don't know! We'll see after we find her. Since when is life fair? I want to stay here too! Especially now, that I have a relationship! But we must be careful. I don't want our past to follow us here!"

If I haven't pushed myself on the door too much, and it hadn't opened, I could have heard more about this mysterious "her." But the door opened in the middle of their conversation. I took action and stepped outside.

"Ah... I came because I wanted another cigarette!" I say changing my mind.

Stefan handed me the pack.

"I'm going inside to see how's Crista" says Stefan, throwing an angry look at Andy.

"Andy, what do you think about all these crimes? Do they frighten you?" I ask trying to keep digging.

"Of course! I hope that they will catch the killer soon so we can go out in peace."

We didn't have the chance to finish our conversation because Stefan came out in a hurry.

"Andy, are you coming home?"

"Yes, good night! See you tomorrow!" says Andy and gets into the car.

They left me there, without an explanation. The truth is that I had changed my mind at the last minute. I didn't want to receive an answer right away, but I wanted to find out everything slowly. It wasn't the time to rush or to confuse things because, at the end of the day, Andy was still the one who saved me from Sebastian.

# CHAPTER 5

Only one lie can create doubts about everything that someone says. The same does a secret. Everything can tear apart because of a secret. The people are not what they seem, but what they hide. The two brothers were hiding something, and I wanted to find out what. I didn't tell anything the others about what I heard outside. I wasn't planning on telling them until I knew something for sure. The next day I haven't heard anything from the Smith brothers.

"Jo, I'm going to sleep at Deby's place tonight. Do you want to come?" asks Crista.

"I'll call you if I come. I have some papers to do for Nadia."

"Ok. Don't lose this phone too. I don't have another one to give you" she laughs.

I looked at her unpleased and angry.

"Sorry. It was a bad joke. Call me if you change your mind!"

"Ok. Bye!"

I finished the papers soon, but I wasn't in the mood to sleep in  another place. I went to make a tea. I took it with me, and I found the courage to enter my parent's room. Since the accident, we haven't got the courage to get into that chamber. Everything was untouched. I remember Nadia saying that we should call her when we decide to enter, to help us clean and move things. She was away, so I didn't want to share that moment with anyone. I sat on the bed and tasted the tea. Soon, I felt tears on my face. I opened the wardrobe, and I took out an old shirt. That smell was awakening so many beautiful memories, but unfortunately sad.

Among the clothes and the old smell, I saw a box made of wood. I opened it. There were pictures with us from our childhood. I looked at them for about half an hour. After this melancholic moment, I put the box back in its place. When I was about to leave the room, I dropped the cup of tea on the carpet. "Great." I had to move the bed, get out the carpet and wash it. My melancholic moment was over. I pulled the bed, pulled out the carpet and I saw two pieces on the floor that were painted darker. After a closer look, I realized there was a lock too. It was a type of door. But where did it go? I didn't remember to have a basement in there, or anywhere. I looked after a key in the whole room, but I couldn't find it. I went down to the kitchen. I checked the doors to be locked, and I called Crista. Not to tell her about what I had discovered, but to let her know that I wasn't going to Deby that night. I took a set of knives, forks, and other sharp stuff and I tried for an hour to open that lock. I wasn't a good thief so that I couldn't open it. Finally, I realized that all I had to do was to get angry enough, to use my power and done! The door opened, and a cloud of dust came out of there. I avoided it, but I was already dirty. Down there was even a switch above the stairs, which led me to an unknown basement. It looked not used for a long time. The smell was unbearable, and the dust was about at least three fingers.

There were old things and pictures. While I was searching for some clues, I found some old photos of me, from the childhood. Among others, I found my mom's journal. I put it aside, and I continued searching. A bunch of papers drew my attention. On them, I saw my name written. Josephine Elena Martin. I was shocked for a while because I couldn't understand why my parents  kept a secret basement in their room. I gathered my strengths, and I read all the papers. Apparently, when I was only three months old, this name was given to me. The papers showed me that my parents were looking for a girl that was three years older than me. Her name was Kate Weber.

I continued searching, and I found Crista's birth certificate. I also discovered an act that was giving my parents my full custody. I was adopted. I supported myself on the wall, and I started trembling.

After more searching, I discovered a notebook. There was written, "Josephine Elena Weber" and a question mark. Then I realized that I had a bigger sister named Kate Weber. Crista wasn't my real sister. The room started to spin.

I took mom's journal, went back into the room and I put the bed as it was before. I put the journal in the closet, and I poured myself a glass of wine, to get some courage. I found out in one-night things that I haven't known all my life. I was sure that my sister, Crista, who wasn't my sister, had no idea about this. I was shaking, and I couldn't hold back my rage. Why did my parents lie to me?

In all this madness, I remembered the Smith brothers and how they were whispering on my porch. All I needed was a glass of wine, and I decided to go and confront them. I needed to turn my bad energy on someone, so I started walking to their house. I was so angry, and I took the bottle of wine with me. Of course, I forgot my phone home. It was for the better. I was sure that if I had it with me, it would have ended up broken or lost.

When I got in front of their house, I saw only Andy's car. I climbed the stairs not very graceful, and I started banging with my fists in the door. It was two in the night. Andy was probably sleeping, but I couldn't care less about his beauty's sleep.

"Andy, open the damn door!" I shouted banging harder.

Finally, I saw a shape on the window. The door opened, and Andy was standing there, half naked, wearing just some shorts.

"What happened to you? What are you doing out at this hour?"

"Leaving aside the fact that I had just found out that I am adopted, I have a sister who I never met, and my parents lied to me all my life? Or that you and Stefan are lying about everything on my porch? Or besides the fact that after that argument you two had there, you never bothered to give a sign? I get it, ok? You have secrets! But you should've left us alone! Stop confusing us with your lies! You should have been honest! Damn it! When I'm thinking about the fact that I started to like you!"

"What? What are you talking about?" asks Andy visible shocked and off guard.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! Stefan is lying to my sister, and you... well, I don't know what do you want from me, but you came exactly in time that night with Sebastian! And all the murders? They all started when you came to this town. And who is that "she" that you are so afraid that followed you? I heard all of it, Andy!"

"Look... let me explain..."

But he couldn't manage to end his sentence because we saw a lot of firetrucks outside. We got out to see what was happening, but I was shocked when I saw the fire coming from my house.

"Oh, no!" I screamed and started running there.

"Wait! Jo!" yells Andy.

When he saw that I had no intention to stop, he makes the decision to run after me barefooted and half naked. He stopped me from running.

"Halt the fire!"

"They're going to stop it, Jo!" he says.

"It is not possible! Too many bad things in one night!" I say among the hiccups.

Deby and Crista came there too, alerted by the neighbors, and after a while, George showed up. Finally, Stefan appeared as well. I didn't know what to think anymore. The firefighters managed to stop the fire. I found out from them that it has burned only the part of the house where was my parent's room, with the secret basement and a part of the first floor.

"You can repair it" says one firefighter to me.

I was going to punch him in the face when I heard that, but I realized soon that I was only getting myself into more trouble, so I calmed down. I crushed into my knees, and I started to cry.

"Jo, are you ok?" asks George.

"How did you get out?" asks Deby.

"Where were you when it started?" I hear Crista.

All were asking at the same time, and I was demoralized and exhausted. I didn't know what to answer.

"I wasn't home" I said briefly.

"You'll sleep at my place until your house is ready" says Deby.

"I don't think I'm going to sleep ever again" I say. "I need some fresh air. I'll call you. oh, wait. My phone was in the house. I'll find you."

"Jo!" I hear Crista shouting, but I wave at her to shut up.

I took the car, and I left. I drove to the lake. It was the only place where it was quiet. I didn't get out of the car because I was thinking about all the horrible things that happened there. I turned the music on, and I started crying in peace. I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to tell the others about what had happened or about the Smith brothers. After all these, I still had a weird feeling of safety near them. And I still had on my mind the image of Andy standing in the door, half naked. Damn!

I calmed myself at the lake, but my mother's journal was still missing. Or it burned. The same about the basement. All I knew was in my head, but I still had a lot of things that were uncertain.

I decided to leave. I started the car, but it wasn't moving. It was stuck. I got out, and I saw that my wheels were stuck with some long weird things. Before I realized what they were, I heard a noise behind me. When I turned around, I saw a pair of shining yellow eyes, which  were coming at me. I started running through the same woods where were killed so many people. I fell into the muck twice, but I got up and continued to run as fast as I could. I looked back, but there was nothing. I ran on the bridge that crossed the lake. I needed to get on the other side of the lake, to arrive in town. It wasn't in my plan to go back to the car. I could have recovered it the next day, if I survived that night, of course.

I ran again, but I heard noises at the end of the bridge. I saw a silhouette. "Damn it!" I said, and I started running in the opposite direction. I heard her screaming: "Stay!" . But I obviously didn't do that. Then I heard a gunshot. It was a woman. Then I realized that my only option to get out alive was to jump into the lake. That is exactly what I did. The distance was not huge, so I jumped from the bridge into the water. It was freezing. I looked up, but there was no one on the bridge. It was very dark so I couldn't tell for sure. I kept swimming until I reached the shore, but I didn't take a moment to catch my breath. I started running like hell. I felt my lungs collapsing, and I was choking when I inspired the cold air, but I didn't stop. The first hideaway was Andy's house. I noticed that I was bleeding, but it turned out that the bullet just scratched me.

Finally, I reached the back door from Andy's house. I tried the door, but it was locked. I started hitting the door with my arms and legs, shouting at them to open the door. I was looking all ways because I was afraid that someone could've followed me.

"What happened?" asks Andy and drags me inside.

I would have let myself on the door mat, after the way I yelled at him earlier.

"Oh, God!" says Stefan.

"They tried to kill me!"

"Who?" asks Andy.

"I don't know. I don't think that I can say anything real now."

"It's important, Jo. Who tried to kill you?" asks Stefan.

"What," I say. "It had yellow eyes! Then who. A woman shot me, and someone blocked my wheels, in order not to leave that place."

"You're bleeding" observes Andy. "We need to get you to a hospital."

"I don't want to leave this house! What if they wait for me outside? You were the first shelter!"

"It's ok, Jo. Andy knows how to treat a superficial wound. I see that you're just scratched."

"Calm down first; then you can tell me what happened."

"I need to clean..." I grumble.

"Sure. I will go to get the bathroom ready and to find you some clothes. Andy, keep an eye on her."

"Was it "her"?" I ask Andy looking into his eyes.

"I don't know, Jo. Her name is Kate Holz. She is my ex-girlfriend. It was all good six years ago when I first met her. I had a relationship of two years with her, but she went crazy. She started killing people, and I didn't know what was wrong with her. She just went nuts. We left town, but she found us and the history repeated. Then I heard that she was caught and locked away at the hospital. From three years, we haven't heard from her. We hope that it's not her. It's not her style, you know..."

"I can't believe what you're telling me!" I shouted.

Andy took care of my scratches, but I didn't feel a thing, probably because of the adrenaline.

"I have a lot to tell you, but first, go and relax in that bath! We can talk after" he says when Stefan gets away from us.

"Can you call Crista and tell her I will stay here overnight? Don't tell her what happened, please!"

"I'll call her."

After I got rid of my dirty clothes and cleaned up, I went downstairs in some big clothes, that Stefan left for me. I sat on the couch, next to Andy. Stefan was staring at me from the armchair. I started telling them what happened that day, from the beginning. From the moment when I found the basement under the bed, until I showed up at their door, covered in mud.

"Now that I have told you everything, you can be honest with me. What is all about?"

"We came here because we heard it was a quiet place. We also had to find a person that was in contact with Kate in the past years. That was the only way we could have been sure that she is not after us again. But now, we are not sure of anything! And we didn't find anyone" says Stefan.

"What a situation... Can we continue the talk tomorrow? I am exhausted."

"Sure. Upstairs, the second room on the right is the guest room. You can rest in there" says Stefan.

"Thanks a lot!"

After I had left, the discussion continued downstairs and not in a good way, because I heard Stefan screaming at Andy again. I couldn't understand what they were saying because I was too tired. I fell asleep.

In the morning, when I went downstairs, I saw a big reunion. Deborah, Crista, George, Andy and Stefan were talking in the kitchen. Crista called Andy to ask about me that morning when she saw I didn't show up home.

"Morning, Jo!"

"Morning. I have something to tell you, but first, let me drink some coffee."

Andy gave me a full cup.

"Thank you."

I started telling them what had happened to me. Then the brothers told them about the crazy Kate. It was a chance that she was behind the murders. But she would have shown herself, according to them.

"I can't believe that our parents kept this from us!" says Crista.

"It was something crucial in that basement or in that journal if they set the house on fire" I say.

"In two days Nadia comes back home. When she's going to see it..." says Crista

"We will talk to her. She is mom's sister. She must know something!"

"Do you think she lied to us too?"

"We will find out in two days. Nothing surprises me anymore" I said.

"George, I need some help until I open the bar" says Stefan.

"Sure, now we're leaving."

"I'm coming too" says Andy.

"I'll go with you" I say to Deby.

When we arrived at her place, I saw a poster on the fence. I looked closer, and I saw that it was about a young girl that had an accident last night when she entered our town. She needed blood, type 0. What a coincidence! I had all she needed.

I went to recover my car with Deby and Crista. When we arrived, we noticed that my wheels were blocked with some long things made from steel. It was weird because that night I haven't seen or heard anyone near my car. It's right that I had the music loud, but that didn't explain the fact that I didn't see anyone. We tried for an hour to get my car out of there. Finally, we managed to do it, and we went home. It needed to be washed immediately. It was a little blue Volkswagen Golf, perfect for me. Crista had one just like mine. The only difference was that it was yellow. That one belonged to our father. We liked loud colors.

The next day, I asked Deborah to take me to the hospital. I stayed at a very long queue, but it was worth it. My blood was welcomed. The patient was going to have surgery, so they didn't let me see her. Her name was Erika Moore. I left my contact details there, for them to keep me posted about her and I went back home. I was happy that I could do something good. 

# CHAPTER 6

My life suddenly wasn't so boring. It was literally on fire. I never asked for any of these, but they kept coming to me. Everything has changed so quickly, and I needed time to adapt. I thought I never needed a plan. I just needed to breathe. I tried to believe that everything was going to be all right.

The rest of the day passed so fast because I helped Deby at the house matters. I asked Crista to buy me another cell phone, and I was waiting for her to come back home. I was looking for a good movie to watch with Deby when someone rang at the door. She ran to open.

"Hi, Deby. Is Jo home? "

"Sure. Come on in, please!"

"Jo, you have a guest!"

I went downstairs in my pajamas, and I saw Andy. A quiet smile appeared on my face, but I tried to hide it quickly. I wasn't ashamed of the fact that I was in pajamas, after the night when I showed up at his door covered in mud.

"Hi, Andy. How are you? "

"I came to talk to you. In fact, I came to see if you are in a mood for a walk and to talk then."

"Sure. Just wait five minutes to change my clothes."

I ran into the room, and I looked for some clothes. I didn't know what to wear. I looked for some jeans, a shirt, some sneakers, I let my hair on the back, and I put on some mascara and perfume. And I've done all of there in only five minutes! I felt a gap in my stomach, but not in a bad way. I haven't felt like this for a long time, and I had the impression that I liked Andy more than I thought before. When I was nervous I used to take a deep breath, so I did this, and I went downstairs. Only then I noticed that he was wearing jeans too, a shirt and a jacket. At least we fit into something. I took my bag, and we left.

"Where are we going?"

"I discovered a beautiful place. I hope you'll like it!" he says.

I liked his mystery. He drove some time quietly. We left town, and he turned on the music.

"After all that happened these days, I wasn't sure if you want to see me again" he starts the conversation.

"These days, my life totally changed, and to be honest, until I saw you in the lobby, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see you."

"And what changed your mind?"

"You" I say honestly.

I looked at him, and I smiled. He wasn't expecting me to be that honest. He smiled back and stopped the car.

"We're here. We need to climb a little over here, but I promise it will be worth."

We walked about seven minutes on that road, and when we arrived at the top, I was impressed. We could see the whole town from there, and it was incredibly  peaceful. It was a beautiful view. I had been living there for so long, but I've never discovered that place.

"Do you like it?"

"It's magnificent" I say.

We stood on the grass. It was a quiet and bright night. The stars were shining, and I could feel from time to time an autumn breeze.

"When I feel nervous, I get on the roof to look at the stars. I mean... I used to do this until my house burned. "

"Jo..." he says, but then he stops.

I saw on his face that he had something to tell me, but he couldn't find his words.

"My life is not all pink as you may think. There are things, as you've seen, that turn me into not a so good person..."

"Maybe a couple of days ago I couldn't understand the real meaning of what you're saying right now. But believe me, now I see that someone's life is influenced by other things."

"What I'm trying to say is that I hope you don't blame me for what happened since I came in Vals. All sort of bad things happened to you since I got here."

"I don't blame you, Andy. You're not guilty that I've found out that I've been lied to all my life or that my house got on fire, neither if we discover that Kate is behind my attack. It's not like you planned for all of this. I can say that I am to blame for all the Sebastian thing because you got in trouble. If you haven't stopped the car then, maybe we weren't standing here now. Anyway, all I know is that you saved me that night and I am grateful for that."

He wasn't saying a thing. He just sat there and looked at me.

"I talk a lot when I'm nervous, I know. Sorry."

"It's not that. It's the fact that you are so sincere."

I felt I was blushing. I was lucky that it was dark outside. We stood there and looked at each other. We didn't say anything. He came close to me. It was like we read each other's minds at that moment because our lips got closer and closer into a kiss. And what a kiss! I looked deep into his eyes, and I realized that there were hiding a lot of stories that I hoped he would tell me some day. He put his hands into my hair and touched me on the shoulder. I grabbed his hands, and we lied on our backs. He put his jacket on me. We remained quiet for a while, and we looked at the stars. After a while, the conversation started without noticing. I felt like I could talk about everything with him. We lost track of time. Soon, we saw the sun rising over our little town.

"Is it morning already?" he asks.

"Time flies..."

"I think we should better get going."

"Yes" I confirmed.

We stood up and walked to the car. I wasn't sleepy at all, even if we were up all night. On our way home, Andy turned on the radio, and we found ourselves singing song after song.

"Today Nadia comes back" I say.

"Are you going to confront her?"

"I have to. I'm sure that Nadia hides something. I can feel it."

"I'll wait for your call, to tell me how it goes. See you later?"

"Yes" I said and wanted to get out of the car.

He grabbed me and pulled me near him. He kissed me again. I didn't want to go back home, to my messy life. I wanted to tell him to start driving away, to run together wherever we want. I didn't want to find out anything else. When I was back to reality, I secured that thought in the corner of my mind, and I threw away the key. I got down from his car and went home.

"Someone had a great night!" laughs Deby.

"You can say that!" I say blushing.

"We want to know all of it!" says Crista from the kitchen.

I started telling them about my amazing time with Andy, but Crista's phone interrupted my story. Nadia was calling her.

"She said she's coming over. She's angry, and she doesn't understand a thing! She went to our place, and she found everything burned. Didn't you tell her? "

"No. I considered that is better if I face her. They lied to me about this! She deserves a little postpone!"

After about five minutes, Nadia walked in with Robert, our uncle. Whatever, just Crista's uncle. They didn't even bother to knock on the door.

"What happened?" she screams.

"Are you ok?" asks Robert.

"Why didn't you call us?" asks Nadia.

"Because I thought this wasn't important" I say.

"Are you crazy? You could've died!" she screams.

"I don't think that you are so interested about this. If you were, you haven't been lying all this time!"

At that moment, they changed their faces. Nadia went white, and Robert avoided my eyes.

"What are you talking about, Jo?" she asks.

"I think that you figured out that I'm talking about the little basement under the bed. Everything makes perfect sense now. This is the reason you wanted so badly to be there when we open that room. You wanted to keep us away from all of that so I would have never found out that I was adopted at three months!"

"Jo, you must understand that we did this to protect you!"

"How can you lie to someone this whole time and say that you want to protect him? Who are my birth parents? "

"Jo, believe me, you don't want to know the truth! What else did you find out?"

"You tell me everything you know! Why should I say anything? So that you can know what to leave aside?"

"Jo, trust me, the things are not what they seem. It is better for you if you just forget about this! You found out some stuff; I get it, you're angry. I only respected your parents' wish."

"They are not my birth parents! What was in mom's journal?"

"Did you read it?"

"I never got the chance. The house got on fire, and the fire started from that room. The journal burned or disappeared and the room with the basement burned. What was so significant in that journal that got the house on fire? "

"Jo, you found out what you needed to know. Don't look for anything else, please. Leave the things as they are and move on with your life."

"It seems that you don't want to tell me more. I will find out on my own!" I shouted and slammed the door after me.

I took the car, and I left. I had no idea where I was going, but I found myself in front of Andy's house. I knocked at the door.

"What happened?" he asks.

I couldn't help myself, and I burst into tears, then I passed by him angrily. I threw myself on the couch.

"Tell me, what did you find out?"

"Nothing new! No one tells me anything! Nadia says to move on with my life, that this is for the best, that she respected my parents' wish. Bullshit! She keeps lying to me! Someone tried to kill me, my house burned, I am adopted, and I have a sister, other than Crista, and no one tells me anything! I want to know what's going on!"

"I will help you find out the truth, but first, calm down."

"Can I use your laptop?"

"Sure. I'll make some tea."

Without thinking this through, I put my part on the business on sale. Crista never wanted that business, so I intended to give her half of the money. It was enough for both of us to live. I just wanted not to hear from Nadia again. My phone kept ringing. I had about ten missed calls from Nadia and Robert. Finally, Crista called.

"Jo, are you ok?"

"Yes, I will call you when I calm down. I have something to do right now. Do me a favor and tell me when Nadia leaves. I don't want to see her again."

"Fine..." she says.

I was waiting for someone to call, to tell me that he's going to get me rid of that unpleasant business. I just wanted everything to be over.

"Where is Stefan?" I ask Andy when he brings the tea.

"Away with George. He helps him with the bar."

After this long day, I felt the time differently when I was with Andy. We talked, looked for Kate Weber, my so-called sister, on the whole internet. There wasn't a person with that name, or we couldn't find her. I wanted so desperately to find my parents, my sister. I needed something real. I looked at Andy, and I felt a strange peace. I was in love. Bad timing! And judging by the look in his eyes, he felt something too. A few moments of silence were enough for our eyes to decide that in that evening was going to happen something more than just some kisses. So it happened. We let ourselves into the moment. Our clothes ended up on the stairs, and we found ourselves in Andy's bedroom.

We left behind us a total mess, so I was hoping for Stefan not to come home too soon. We demolished the things on the nightstand, on our way to bed. I was standing on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a blanket, looking at all the things that were lying on the floor.

When I got out of the shower, all the things were in place, and my clothes were waiting for me on the bed. Andy hasn't wasted his time. I dressed up and waited for him in the living room. I was wondering how a man can be so skilled and look so good. My imagination was far away when I heard the bathroom's door, and I woke up from my dream.

"Do you want to get some fresh air?" he asks.

"I was thinking about this!" I say.

We went for a cappuccino, a few blocks away. We walked there. We stopped at the hospital, and I asked about Erika Moore. I wanted to know about her condition. I was told that she was fine and she had been released. I still felt like I wanted to see her, but I was glad that everything worked out for her.

We were on the stairs, on our way to the park, when I felt a hit on my back. Something hot spilled on me. A young woman had tripped over, and she was trying to get up. Andy helped me to get up. At that moment, I saw his face. He was terrified.

"Sorry" says the woman, then she smiles ironically. "Hi, Andy. Can you believe how small the world is? "

"What are you doing here, Kate?"

I felt the sky crushing on my shoulders. It was just not possible for all those things to keep happening.

"I heard you're in town, so I couldn't miss this meeting, you know, like the old times."

"Jo, let's get out of here!" he says and grabs my hand.

"What's the rush, lovers? I bet you want to know all about the late murders..."

Andy turned around, keeping me away from her.

"Was it you?"

"Well, let's see... I punished those bad boys because I heard that they beat you pretty bad. You used to be tougher. Oh, and that blonde girl. She was very friendly that night at the party, but she didn't want to let me in without an invitation. Not so nice of her."

"You are crazy! Get out of this town!"

Andy pulled me to go, but I stopped him.

"Did you try to kill me by the lake?" I ask her full of anger.

"Ah, poor thing. You don't know anything, do you? I just wanted to play with you that night, and I blocked your wheels, but someone was one step ahead of me. So I just sat there and enjoyed the show" she laughs.

I was shocked. I had a weird creature and a psycho after me. And it was someone else on the list. My heart started beating fast, and I made two steps to her. Andy pulled me back.

"I advise you to keep your girlfriend under control, Andy. Anyway, you know better that we are going to end up together. It doesn't matter how hard you try to get your life back" she said and winked at me.

Then she turned around and left, looking over her shoulder from time to time, just to be sure that we were watching her beautiful walk.

"We're going home" says Andy severely.

On our way, he called Stefan to let him know about Kate's return. When we got home, he locked all the doors. He was walking across the room.

"Stefan told me that he couldn't make it home until the morning. He was out of town with George. He said he would be here as soon as he can."

"Calm down, Andy. Let's see how can we fix this."

"To calm down? This crazy came all over here after me! She's going to kill everyone in her way! She was behind the murders."

"I don't know what to say anymore..."

"I need to leave this town, but I don't have any insurance that she will follow me. What if she stays to finish her job? She knows you now. She's after you! You can't be around me because she is coming after me. But if you go home, she will still find you! I just don't know what to do!"

"Breathe!" I say, and I grab him on his shoulders. "Nothing is going to happen. We will be careful. "

"If I were you, I would have been long gone by now. What are you still doing here? How do you take this? I expected you to tear apart half of my house and leave without looking back!"

"We'll fix this together. I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. If someone is leaving, she is! "

"We can't tell the police. We don't have evidence. She will not admit it anyway. Do you hear yourself? How can you stay here? In this mess?"

"You didn't ask for this. It's not your fault. I will help you get rid of her."

"Jo, you don't know what she's capable of doing. I can't ask you this."

"You don't ask me anything. I want to do this."

"You don't know what you're walking into..."

"I'm not leaving, ok? So, instead of lecturing me, we better find a way how to deal with Kate."

We didn't sleep all night. We were looking for answers. We didn't put things together. Andy was sure she was coming after me. It was a strange and messed up situation. All the problems were on us at that time. In the morning, George and Stefan arrived home. We called Deby and Crista to come over, and we explained the situation to them. Things went crazy, but we all agreed on watch our backs until Kate was gone.

I told Crista that I put the business on sale and she wasn't angry. On the contrary, she was happy to hear it. A buyer called that day. He wanted to meet with me at a restaurant, near the town's entrance. Andy insisted on going with me. He was obsessed with the idea that Kate was after me.

When we got there, the sale completed successfully, and I got the check. I was going to cash it in the next few days.

"Let's grab something to eat" I say.

"Ok" says Andy.

We got down from the car, and we walked to the restaurant that was near us.

"Oh, I forgot my wallet in the car. Wait for me here. I'll be right back!" he says.

Andy got into the car, but he couldn't find his wallet. He wanted to get out to tell me that it wasn't there, but the doors wouldn't open. I had the key, but I wasn't doing anything. The remote wasn't working, and he was stuck in there. I wanted to run to help him, but a hand stopped me. When I turned around, I saw Kate. Andy was agitating, trying to break the window, but he didn't manage to do it.

"Hi, Jo? What a funny name" she laughs.

"What do you want, Kate?" I say to her, forgetting that she was a psycho murderer.

"I see you can't wait for me to get to the point" she says.

I looked straight into her eyes. She was a beautiful woman, tall like me, with long and dark hair, brown eyes and delicate features. If I saw her on the street before I met her, I would have thought she was a nice person.

"I know that I am on your blacklist, Kate. The thing is I don't think that you're going to do anything here, in front of this restaurant. Here are cameras and a lot of people inside."

"You have a sense of observation. I like it! I came to scare Andy a little and to warn you that you are next. "

"I'm not afraid of you!" I say biting my cheek to hide the shaking.

"You have guts!" she says and pushes me into the wall, with her hands around my neck.

In all this time, Andy was trying desperately to get out from the car. I was wondering how he got stuck in there in the first place, but I couldn't concentrate on this with Kate's hands around my neck. Finally, she let me go.

"Don't hope for anything. Andy is locked. A friend took good care of it. You are a fool if you think for a second that you are going to win this game!"

"I don't play any games, Kate!"

"You will!" she smiles and walks away.

Then I remembered what she said one night before.

"What did you mean last night when you said I don't know anything?"

She stopped, rolled her eyes and started laughing.

"You have no idea what's going on, do you? You poor thing! Let's say that neither the Smith brothers nor I came by coincidence into this town. Everybody is here for a reason. We all have our parts. You need to be eliminated. It's going to be funny!"

"You said you watched the show. If you didn't try to kill me by the lake, then who did?"

"It's no use to fill your pretty head with things that you don't understand. You know better what you saw that night. I'm going to leave now, and I will not turn around because if I do, it will be the last time."

I watched her until she disappeared around the corner. Then the car unlocked itself, and Andy got out. He ran at me. I was standing there, stone still.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

"I think so."

"That bitch! She locked my car! She knew that we were going to be here!"

"How did she do that?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you..."

"Try me."

"She has a witch friend."

I should have laughed. I really should have. Instead, I looked seriously at him. I believed him. Then I realized I knew what I saw that night near the lake. I didn't saw two yellow eyes, but three pairs of them.

"Ok" I say.

"Ok? Just like that? Do you believe me?"

"Yes. Let's get out of here."

The first half an hour we spent in silence. Eventually, Andy couldn't take the pressure, so he started talking.

"What did she tell you? And why are you still talking to me? What happened there?"

"She told me that I am next. And just like everyone else from my life, she said that I don't know anything. She told me that I am a problem and I need to be removed. Now, tell me... are there Cerberuses?"

They were mythological creatures, of which I knew about since childhood, from the books. They were huge dogs, with three heads and they had yellow eyes.

"What?!" he asks shocked.

"You heard me. If there are witches, what are the chances that I saw a Cerberus on the night of my attack? "

"There are... and Kate is involved in this part of the world more than you can imagine..."

"You are too. You can tell me now why you indeed came in Vals."

"We got here to find a witch who can tell us how can we kill a creature that all we know about is that it's here and it puts in danger the balance of the world. "

"If you'd told me those things yesterday, I would have run away and never looked back."

"What stops you from doing this now? I lied to you!"

"Well, first of all, I am with you in the car, and we're away from town, and second... I believe you. "

I had so many questions. I didn't know where to start. I got at Andy's place shaken up badly. I sat on the armchair.

"There are a lot of creatures that people think they are fairy tales, but some of them exist, others don't, starts Andy the story. I don't know for sure which indeed exist because I was not involved so much in this part of the world. The point is that our parents used to hunt witches. Just like people, there are good and bad witches. All the creatures all this way. Our parents were killed, when we were very young, by a witch. Since then, we tried to stay away from all of this. When Kate showed up in my life, she brought with her a lot of problems. She was influenced by a witch. She wasn't always crazy. She was ok at first. At least until she got the taste of the supernatural stuff. I tried to save her, but she didn't listen to me. Then, I left her, because she was hurting people. I didn't want near me all that stuff. Since then, it all got worse and worse. "

"Now it all makes sense."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, but you would have thought me crazy. I tried to keep everyone away from this, but it caught up with me, and now you're in trouble too. "

"We need to find a way to stop Kate. If you're saying that she was normal someday, maybe we can make her that way again."

"I wouldn't bet on this..."

At that moment, the others walked in. It was a time of silence. It was the right time for them to find out the truth. We left Andy's place at three in the morning.

I slept at Deby's that night. Of course, if I could call sleeping three hours with breaks. In the morning, I woke up and I went to the window. I was under the impression that Kate was going to show up to finish her threats. Crista was sleeping on the couch. I looked at her, and I couldn't imagine that she wasn't my sister. It was true that there were some differences between us, our behavior, our thinking, even of appearance if I took a closer look, but it was still a strange feeling.

I couldn't understand why it was happening to me. All I ever wanted was a normal life. I had so many doubts, I couldn't trust my family, but that wasn't the only problem. I wasn't safe anymore, and the only question that came to my mind was "why?".

# CHAPTER 7

Some things can't be hidden forever. The truth is one of them. Even if there were hidden things from me all my life, it was the time to find out the truth, but it was not coming alone. It was accompanied by pain, incertitude and also fear. Probably the fear of the unknown. Life isn't always the fairytale we hope for, but as long as we are in it, we need to keep playing our part.

I went downstairs to make breakfast. Deby appeared. When it was almost ready, I heard Crista slamming the bathroom's door. I took something in my mouth, and I pushed the plate away. I had a bitter taste, and I was sure it wasn't the food. I poured a cup of coffee, but after I had tasted  it, the phone started ringing. I winced. I was thinking of bad news. It was Robert. I answered.

"Yes?"

"Jo, we need to talk. I mean to meet you. I have something for you, but I don't want Nadia to find out. She doesn't want to involve you in all of this, but I think that you have the right to know and to make your decisions. "

"Ok. Where?"

"Meet me at five o'clock, at that bar Jeff's."

"Ok. See you there."

I was dying of curiosity. What wanted Robert to give me? It was a day full of emotions... again. What was I going to find out? I was asking myself a lot of questions, and I didn't realize that I remained to stare at the phone.

"Jo? What happened?" asked Deby.

Meanwhile, Crista got downstairs, and she heard a part of our conversation.

"Who was on the phone?" she asks.

"It was Robert. He wants to meet me, to give me something, but he doesn't want Nadia to know."

"What do you think he is trying to give you? "

"I don't know, but judging by his voice, I don't believe it is something that will make me happy or to make my problems to go away."

It was a moment of silence. Deby put her head between her arms and groaned. Crista was looking at us uncertain. Sometimes I thought that this situation was too much for her.

"I'm meeting Stefan" she says.

Before leaving, she did something strange, even for her. She turned around and hugged me. She held me so tight, in a way she hasn't done before.

"I want you to know that whatever happens, whatever you find out, you will always be my big sister! Forever!" she says with her childish voice.

She got out before I could say anything.

"That was weird, even for her!" says Deby.

"I know..." I approve.

I called Andy to let him know that I was going to meet Robert. After a long discussion, I convinced him not to come with me. I had a feeling that Robert was not going to open up in front of me if I was with someone. I left to Jeff's at four and a half. On my way there, I tried to disconnect from everything, so I turned on the music. It wasn't very effective because I kept associating every lyric with a bad episode of my life, so I turned it off.

It was almost five when I got there. I saw Robert's car. He was always late, so I was surprised to see him there on time. He truly had something important to say to me. I entered the bar, and I saw him at the corner table. I sat next to him. He was nervous, looking around and sweating.

"Hi" I say.

"Jo" he whispers. "I have here Daniel's journal. I know that Mary's journal burned, but I hope that you can find in here what you need."

He stood up, left some money on the table and disappeared. That was all. Just as simple as that. I remained at the table, staring at the bag he gave me. He was a weird man, but his behavior from that night was too strange. I thought that it was not an excellent idea to start reading the journal in there, in order not to make a crying crisis, so I took the bag, and I left.

I was wondering where to go to read it peacefully, at Andy's or Deby's. I finally decided to go at Deby's place. She was sleeping when I got there, and Crista wasn't home. I went upstairs quickly, trying not to wake her up. I sat on the bed and opened the bag. It was an old journal, covered in brown leather. It was fragile. I opened it.

"1987- July 25th \- The day I decided that all I live is worth writing down. Mary and I begged Andrew not to go after the killer of their parents. Mary dropped the revenge after she found out that they weren't after some ordinary people, but after some asps. Andrew didn't listen, and he left to Riba, the town where he had the last lead on them. He never came back."

Andrew was mom's brother. I wasn't sure what was an asp, but after some digging, I found out that it was a legendary poisoning reptile. At least that was what the stories said. I left the research aside, and I continued reading. Another part drew my attention.

"1990- April 27th \- I couldn't ever think that a creature which is not human can save me from the death. A dryad saved my life when I was attacked by a genius. Then I realized that there aren't only bad creatures out there, but they are just like us: good and bad."

So this was the way that I found out my parents' lives were a total mess since they were young. Even my grandparents have been involved with these mythological creatures that my sister and I always thought they were fairytales. I kept reading until I saw the year 1996. The year of my birth.

"1996- March 10th \- We managed to locate the creature that the witch told us about. We don't know what it is. All we know is that we have to kill it because it's going to make a dangerous ritual. Her evil is beyond limits, but she could have used her powers to do good things. I can't wait to get to Chios. We have traveled so much time for  her! All we know is that her name is Eva and she is pure beauty. The witch warned me not to fall for her beauty."

"1996- April 23rd \- Our desperation is beyond limits. We couldn't capture Eva. We were distracted. When we arrived in Chios, we heard about a beautiful creature that could do whatever she wanted. We followed every lead, but we didn't find anything. Until the 22nd April's evening. While walking on the sea shore, we almost gave up on finding her. But she wanted to be found. She appeared near the forest. We saw a bright light, and there she was, holding in her arms a baby, that wouldn't have been more than three months. It was a full moon. She wanted to do a ritual, to gain more powers. For this, she needed to sacrifice her second child. But she needed something more. The blood from one of us, her hunters. She told us all these things, without even blinking an eye. I fought so hard, but she hypnotized me with her beauty, and I couldn't do a thing. Mary didn't let herself fooled by her, so she pulled out a sword, and she attacked her. She wanted to end that. But Eva threw the baby in front of the sword, thinking that Mary will make things easier for her. It wasn't that way. The sword scratched the baby on the right side of the belly. Then the child fell on the ground. Hearing her crying, I woke up from the hypnoses. I picked her up. Mary was fighting Eva. Eva's plan wasn't going well because I wasn't under her powers anymore. Mary hit her with the sword; then she disappeared in a bright white light. We took the baby and got into the car. We looked at her. She was a tiny girl. We decided that baby was not guilty of anything. We fell in love with her, and we decided to keep her. We wanted to protect her. We named her Josephine Elena."

I was shocked. Without noticing, the tears started pouring on my face. My hands were shaking. I lifted up my blouse. I had a scar from my childhood, in the right part of the ribs. I couldn't remember when I got that, but I was told that it was an accident. It I was thinking this through, they didn't lie in the real meaning of the word. I was the child of some creature that no one knew anything about. Then I remembered that the Smith brothers came into town to find a creature that they knew nothing about it. I had a shiver. Were they after me?

"1998- August 23rd \- We wanted so badly a sister for Jo, and Mary finally had a baby last night. We named her Crista."

"1999- December 24th \- On Christmas's Eve, we found out from a good friend that Eva didn't die that night. She was out there somewhere, and she was looking for Jo. She wanted to finish her ritual. She is still sick for power."

"2000- March 15th \- We gathered all our things and left town. Eva had a lead on us, and we needed to go. We erased everything in our way, and we moved to a quiet town named Vals."

"2000- May 27th \- Mary told Nadia and Robert where we were. They decided to come here and help us how they can. Nadia is thinking about a construction business."

I had had enough. I closed the journal and put it into my bag. I was going to keep it with me, as a precaution. I went downstairs. Deby was still sleeping on the couch, and Crista was probably with Stefan. It was eleven in the night. I took my jacket and went out. I wanted to call Andy, to see him. I left him earlier a message to tell him that I was going to call him that evening. It was night now, so I didn't want to wake him up again. I had made a bad habit of it, and I wanted some time alone anyway. I was living the shock of my life. I didn't know if it was okay to tell Andy. What if they were looking for me? Or they wanted to kill Eva? If she were in town, she would have come after me. They also said that the creature they're looking for lives in this town. It was evident that they were after me.

Then I realized what meant Kate when she said that I don't know anything. She knew something. I needed to protect myself. Andy knew how to fight. I saw him in that night with Sebastian. I found myself in front of his door, and I knocked. I didn't know what to tell him. When he opened the door, lies started coming out of my mouth. I couldn't back off.

"Hi, Andy."

"Hi. Did you read the journal?"

"No, I haven't found my courage yet. I left it at Deby's place, and I still think what if something catches fire again because of it."

"You should have brought it. "

"Look... I've been thinking about these past few days, and I want you to help me with something. I want you to teach me how to fight."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I need to learn how to protect myself."

"Ok, when do you want to start?"

"Now."

"It's midnight, Jo!" he says surprised.

"I'm determined" I say.

We went outside, and he thought me some things that he knew. I felt weird because I was taking advantage of him, but I needed to know how to fight before I told them anything. Just in case.

For a whole week, I practiced with him every day. It was like I was born to fight because I learned very quickly. I haven't told anyone I read the journal. I was getting along very well with Andy. It was the perfect relationship. Too bad it was based on lies lately.

I slept at his place and Stefan at Crista's. One morning, I woke up before Andy and I went to make some coffee. I forgot about the bag with the journal that was in the room on the chair. It was only a matter of time until Andy would have discovered it.

When I saw that he was not coming down, I shouted after him. He didn't answer. I went in the room, but he wasn't there. I saw the bag. It was untouched. I kept wondering if he saw the journal. He had plenty of time to look inside. I closed the bag and threw it in the wardrobe. Andy came out of the bathroom.

"Morning" he says and kisses me.

"Morning. Coffee is ready" I say.

"Good. I need one!"

I analyzed the situation too much. I was afraid that I would not be ready for what was next. Andy didn't say anything, and he was acting too good. I was feeling like an impostor. I started feeling nervous, and that feeling needed to go away.

# CHAPTER 8

When you discover something that important, you can't stay indifferent. It doesn't matter how powerful, calculate or prudent you are, the emotions take you over. The fear that you are part of something bigger than you, something that you don't understand, it makes you stronger. This wall that you build around helps to form yourself, become wiser, see things differently, then find solutions. I was doing this. I was looking for answers.

It was a strange situation. I waited all day for Andy tell me something, but he never did. Maybe he never read the journal, or maybe he was waiting for Stefan to come home, to finish what they started. I got rid of that thought. I couldn't believe that Andy was going to hurt me. I could tell because of the look in his eyes. That idea troubled me all day. The next day I decided. I wasn't going to let that thought damage something that could have been beautiful.

I called all my friends and told them to come over. I was going to tell them the truth. Crista kept asking me the past few days about what I did that day with Robert, but I avoided the subject. When everyone arrived, I put the journal on the table. Andy didn't react, a fact that left me speechless.

"I have read it. I will let you read it too, and then you can decide what you want to do. I lied, and I told you that I didn't read it because I couldn't find a logical explanation. What is in there includes you too, Andy and Stefan. It puts you in a troubled situation."

I left them the journal, and I went outside on the porch. Andy told them something and came after me.

"Don't you want to find out the truth?"

"I know the truth. I wanted to hear it from you. That is what I was waiting for. Why didn't you tell me? "

"This is the part when Stefan comes out, and you do your job?" I ask.

"What are you talking about, Jo?"

"I am the creature that you've been looking for! Why do you think I haven't told you? Because everything was too damn good between us and I didn't want to ruin it!"

"Jo, I know that you are. But this changes a lot of things. Nobody is going to hurt you."

"I don't understand..."

"It's simple. Destiny made it this way, so I can find you and fall in love with you. I can't ever hurt you. Neither does Stefan."

"I don't know who I am anymore..."

"I can't tell you who you are, but I can say to you this: I have always looked inside the people's souls, and I did this because I knew that there was more that I could see. I saw something good in you, a spark that was waiting to be alighted at the right time. Now I can tell that I wasn't wrong. It's something beautiful about you, the way  you care about others, and this can help you answer your question. You are a kind person."

I remained silenced. I swallowed my tears, and I threw myself into Andy's arms. I held him so close, and I never wanted to let him go.

"What I'm going to do now?"

"Eva's looking for you. We're not going to let her find you!"

"But what is she? What am I?"

"If I had any idea, I would tell you. All I can say is that you are the human I love and I will never let anyone, not Eva, not Kate, to hurt you. I promise you this. I can't imagine why everyone wants you dead because you can't do anything bad. Since I've met you, you always wanted to do the right thing. "

I hugged him again. Our moment was interrupted by Stefan, who opened the door angrily. I thought that he was holding a shotgun or something, but all he said was:

"Get into the house, now!"

Everyone was staring at me. I felt like an intruder.

"You don't even imagine what you're a part of, Jo! We were looking for you for so long! Of course, the plan changes under these circumstances" says Stefan.

"Thanks, I guess..." I grumbled.

"What's next?" asks Crista.

"All I know is that tomorrow I will go to the bank, and I will get the cash from the sale, in the case of... you know...."

"Stop it!" she shouts.

"I think that all of us need some sleep" says Stefan.

"I will go with you, Deby" I say.

"Wait for a second "says Andy before I leave.

"We'll wait for you in the car" adds Crista.

Andy came close and touched my face with his warm hands.

"Jo, I want you to know that nothing changed between us."

"I appreciate this" I say and I kiss him.

When I got at Deby's, I was exhausted. I don't know how much time passed, but I was sleeping deeply. Some loud banging on the door woke us up. I looked at the clock. It was three in the morning.

"What's happening?" asks Crista.

"It's someone at the door!" exclaims Deby.

"Shhh!" I say. "I'm going to see who is there."

"I'm coming with you!" says Deby.

"Don't leave me alone!" cries Crista and follows us.

We went downstairs slowly, without turning the light on. The beatings were louder and louder. I passed through the kitchen, and I took a knife. I felt like I was watching a horror movie, where I was the main character. I didn't know what my next move was. I heard a voice behind the door:

"Open the door!"

"This voice sounds familiar" I say.

"Open the damn door!" she shouts again.

"It's Nadia!" says Crista.

I opened the door slowly, but Nadia busted in and closed it quickly. She locked it and went to the table. She was crying, and she was terrified. Her hands were shaking.

"Stop staring at me and help me move this thing!" she shouted.

We put the table in front of the door.

"You look like hell" I say.

"What happened to you?" asks Crista.

"They killed Robert!" she cries.

"Who?" I ask.

"What? This is not possible!" screams Crista.

"I don't know who, but I think I have an idea why!"

"Oh my God!" says Deby.

"Jo, he must have told you something! Tell me what he said!"

"I know everything. He gave me dad's journal."

"It is not happening! Now that you know, she will come after us! She will come after us all! He just couldn't shut up! Now he would have been alive if he minded his own business!" says Nadia among hiccups.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Jo, a lot of them are looking for you. You are the key to something, but I don't know what! You weren't supposed to find anything! Now you're making things hard for them so that they will kill you!"

"I know that a woman named Kate is after me, so is my birth mother who wants to kill me, also, in the woods, someone tried to shot me, probably it had to do with Eva, and a Cerberus wanted to eat me. I don't even know how I am alive. "

"What happened to uncle Robert?" asks Crista.

"They caught him when he came back in town. He was attacked, but he managed to call me. I couldn't talk to him because it was too late when I picked up. I went looking for him, and the GPS from his cell led me to his car. I called the police, but they said that it was an animal attack. But let's be honest, since when an animal kills a man like that?"

"I can't believe what's happening..." I say.

I called Andy, Stefan, and George. They came in a hurry when they heard what had happened. Nadia told us about her night at the police station.

"No one is safe here!" she says.

"We need to be careful and to watch each other's back" states Stefan.

"You can stay with us" says Deby to Nadia.

We couldn't sleep all night. Nadia was thinking about the funeral. She wanted to bury Robert as soon as possible. She was afraid. We tried to calm her down, but we didn't succeed. She cried all night. She decided to make the funeral after two days.

In the morning, Crista received some letters. Among Deby's letters, I found one for me. It was sent from the hospital, three weeks before. Probably because of the fire, it got lost and ended up here.

"It's for you, Jo" says Crista.

"It's about the day when I gave blood to that girl, Erika."

I opened it. There were all my medical tests because that was the procedure when you donate blood. What I saw seemed incredibly weird. I was completely compatible with Erika.

"I'm going to the hospital. Something's wrong with this."

"I'm coming with you" says Andy.

"I'm coming too" states Deby.

"We're staying here" continues George.

"What's wrong?" asks Crista.

I showed her the paper, and I left to the hospital. I was lucky to find Mary there, a family friend.

"Hi, Mary. I have a problem. Can you tell me why I am compatible with this girl?"

"Hi. Wait a second. Aren't these Crista's medical tests?"

"What? No! They belong to a girl who was here a couple of weeks ago. She had an accident, and I gave her blood. Erika Moore. It says there, right on the bottom of the page. It must be a mistake."

"Wait here. I'm going to the back to check this out."

We waited nervously for Mary to come back with some news. Andy and Deby looked worried. I was waiting and shaking my foot. My heart was racing, and I was sweltering.

"It's not a mistake, Jo," she says and shows me another set of medical tests. "If I didn't know Crista, I would say that these are her tests. Are you sure that you are not related to this girl?"

"No... I don't know! Can you find out if there is any connection between us?"

"We're going to make a test. It takes approximately four days. I will call you when I have the result. Leave me your number."

I left the hospital very insecure.

"What if she is my real sister?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions" says Andy.

"But what if she was right here and I haven't met her?"

"We will find out, don't worry!" he says.

We arrived home just in time to help Nadia with everything for the funeral. She was tired. She looked around with contempt. It was like she blamed everyone for that. I felt guilty too. I tried to help her as much as I could.

The next day after the funeral, Nadia locked herself in one of Deby's rooms. She came down only to get some water and food; then she enclosed in that room again. Nadia wasn't talking to any of us. At least she didn't blame us directly for Robert's death, but I knew she was thinking that. Perhaps that was the reason she was staying in that room because she didn't want to blame us. That... or she was in depression.

I had that feeling, not sadness, but emptiness. Sometimes I wanted to escape from life, to take a break. To leave somewhere alone, to put my thoughts in order, then to come back and know what I had to do. But it was impossible. Robert tried to help me, and he ended up dead. It was all because of me. I tried to be happy, and I managed to do that for a while with Andy, but then I got back to the cruel reality. Everything was so messed up in my life, so I couldn't know where to start and where to finish, or how to go on.

# CHAPTER 9

If you want to live in a permanent stress, you can blame yourself for what others feel. I had that feeling. It was morning. Everybody was quiet when they passed by Nadia's room. I had a lot of questions, but I couldn't ask Nadia.  It wasn't the right time.

"I'll buy some food" says Deby.

"I'll meet Stefan and George. I'm helping them with the opening of the new bar" says Crista.

The girls left, and I called Andy to see how he was doing. He had a strange voice.

"Are you ok?" I ask him.

"I had better days. I think I've eaten something rotten... I don't know."

"I'm coming over. Do you want me to bring you something?"

"No, it's ok. I'm waiting for you."

I left, and I stopped by the pharmacy to buy some tea and some pills. When I got at his place, I knocked at the door. It took him forever to open, so I tried the door. It was locked. Finally, he opened.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I couldn't make it faster."

He was not looking very good. On the floor were lying some clothes, food boxes and some napkins.

"I got you some pills and some tea. I'll make a tea for you."

"Thanks" he says.

I made some tea, and I went into the bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

"As a truck rolled over my stomach. How's Nadia?"

"The same. She's still not talking to anyone. I know that she doesn't say anything, but she blames me for what happened to Robert. And she's right. I started feeling that this is because of me."

"You didn't do anything, Jo. Stop blaming yourself. We need to focus on the present. Have you noticed something strange lately?"

"No, believe me, I've been looking over my shoulder all the time."

We talked for twenty minutes; then I got up to fill the cups. When I returned to the room, I heard the phone ringing. It was Crista. I answered, and I heard her crying.

"Jo, you need to come home now! I don't know what to do!" she cries.

At that moment, my cup fell from my hands. Andy's face turned white.

"What happened? I'm coming!"

"I'm alone, and I don't know what to do! Please hurry!" she cries and hangs up the phone.

I ran at the door.

"I don't know what happened to her! She hung up on me! Something's wrong."

"I'm coming with you!" says Andy.

"Not in this shape! Stay here, I'll call you!"

"No way!" he says and took his jacket over his pajama.

We arrived at my house. Crista was terrified, but she was fine.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's aunt Nadia!" she cries.

"What's with her?"

"I think she killed herself!" she cries again.

I ran upstairs. When I arrived in the room, I saw a terrible image. Nadia had hanged herself.

"Did you call the police?" asks Andy.

"No! I waited for you! I didn't know what to do!"

"I'll call" he says.

But when he took his phone out from his pocket, he fell on the floor unconscious.

"Oh my God!" screams Crista.

Deby walked in. Bad timing.

"What happened?" asks her.

When she saw Andy lying on the floor and Nadia dead, she started screaming. I felt like I was in a loony bin. I took a deep breath and decided that someone should stay lucid.

"Deborah! Put yourself together! Call the police and the ambulance! Now, Deborah!"

She wiped her tears and took her phone out.

"Where are Stefan and George?" I ask.

"They left me here and went to buy more ornaments" says Crista.

"Are you capable of calling them?"

"I think so..."

I tried to move Andy, but he didn't wake up. I called him, but nothing changed. I checked him for the pulse. Thank God, he had. Finally, he opened his eyes. He tried to get up.

"Hey, calm down. The ambulance is on its way! It's going to be all right!" I said, but I couldn't believe it.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"We're going to help you sit comfortable until the ambulance arrives. Deby, give me a hand! "

We supported him on the wall, on a pillow. Changing his position made a red ribbon show up from his pocket. I pulled it out. It looked weird. Andy was terrified when he saw it.

"Burn it! Quickly!" he says.

After I've done that, Andy started getting better.

"It was enchanted. I don't know how it got into my pocket. I bet that Kate's friend has her ways."

"Do you think she did this to you?"

"I'm sure..."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Thanks. "

The ambulance arrived and, in a short time, the police too. They confirmed Nadia's death and also confirmed that it was a suicide. They said Andy he suffered a breakdown of calcium, the fact that he found funny, under those circumstances.

"Yeah, breakdown, right..." grumbles Andy.

"We'll need to seal this room for investigations. This is the protocol. We're going to need you to let us in for a couple of days" says the police officer.

"You can stay at my place" says Andy.

When the officers left, Stefan and George arrived.

"I heard what happened. Are you ok?" asks Stefan.

"Define okay" I say.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Jo..."

"Andy, are you ok?"

"Yeah, it was just a breakdown... or an enchanted ribbon. Call it how you want."

"Kate..." grumbles Stefan.

That night we moved in at Andy's place. We invited George to stay with us. It was better if we were all in the same location. Their house was big. It had two bathrooms and five bedrooms. It was enough space for all of us. Stefan took a bottle of whiskey from his store. We needed it after that day. We were just sitting there, looking at each other. I remembered when I saw Andy collapse. It was not a good feeling. I remembered the fear that I had when I took his pulse. Then I realized that my life wouldn't have been the same without him. He appeared in my life at the perfect time, just when I needed someone like him. I felt safe around him, and I was grateful for that.

There were a lot of thoughts that were crossing my mind, but they were going to stay there because I couldn't say those things to him. He would have run away if he had any idea of them. Or maybe he wouldn't. Anyway, I decided not to try.

Crista was devastated because of Nadia's death. She'd been through a lot, and she was too sensitive and childish for all those bad things. I felt guilty about Nadia's death. I sighed. I knew that guilt couldn't fix the past, and fear couldn't change the future. I knew that guilt was toxic for me, but also for the people around me. It was important that I forgive myself, before anyone else. I kept saying that, but no one thought that it was my fault. Sometimes I felt like I was carrying a huge burden, that was not mine to sell.

# CHAPTER 10

I found the way to bring Hell on Earth, by blaming myself for everything that happened. I was full of rage, anger that I held into me. I kept thinking what would've happened if I haven't done some things the way I did.

That night passed quickly. I slept upstairs with Andy, Stefan with Crista in the next room, and George with Deby in the guest room. Nothing was going on between them, but we were friends for a long time, so we all had a healthy relationship. When I woke up in the morning, I saw Andy looking on the window.

"Morning" he says.

"Morning" I grumble trying to adapt my seeing to the bright light coming from the window.

Even if it was November, the sun was shining brightly. It wasn't too cold, and the winter didn't show any signs of coming soon. I was ok with it because I never liked winter.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Eleven and a half" says Andy seriously.

"I overslept. Are you up for long?"

"I woke up at nine when the rest left to the bar to help Stefan."

"I think it's time for us to go and help too."

"We can go today if you want."

I got up sleepy, looking for my slippers. Finally, I saw them, and I went to brush my teeth. When I went to the kitchen, the coffee was ready. So was the breakfast. Andy couldn't take his eyes off me.

"What? You've seen me in the morning before. You know that I can't work without my daily dose of coffee" I said grumpy, sipping from the cup.

"It's not that. Ignoring the present situation, I feel good around you. I feel like I've known you since forever."

I smiled. I didn't tell him that I thought about the same thing some time ago. It didn't matter how bad was the situation; we were feeling good with each other. After breakfast, we went to the bar to help Stefan.

"Tomorrow is the big night! It's going to be a party. I hope it will work" says Stefan.

"It's going to be okay" says Crista. "We all worked for this."

"We can postpone it if you don't feel good with it" says Stefan.

"Life is too short to postpone anything" responds Crista.

"We're going to make something limited for Nadia in the morning. We don't have any relatives left" I whispered.

"We don't have anyone anymore..." says Crista.

"You have us", says Stefan. "After all that what we've been through, I think we can call ourselves a small family."

Crista was sad. She loved Nadia so much. I loved her too, but a part of me was still mad because she had lied to me. I had a guilty conscience.

During that day, Mary from the hospital called me. She told me the results were out and that girl from the accident was my sister. I asked her if she was sure about that and she said that the tests were checked twice. I let the others know that I had found my sister. I knew her name, I knew that she was in town, but I couldn't find anything else of her. It was like she was inexistent. I was planning to find her and to meet her, at any cost.

The next day, after Nadia's funeral, we went to the opening of the bar. It was going well, and Stefan was pleased. People were doing fine and having fun, which was evident because they had free food and drinks. The music was good, chosen by Crista, of course.

"I like it" I say. "I hope it will turn out fine!"

"Thanks a lot" says Stefan. "You had your part in here, so you'll always get a free snack."

"Jo, help me whit these!" shouts Deby from the back of the trunk.

"I'm coming!"

"Take this. By the way, I wanted to ask you, how is your relationship with Andy going?"

"Excellent. We get along so well. I haven't felt that good in a while."

"I'm happy for you."

We got into the bar to leave the boxes; then we returned to get the other stuff from the car. Suddenly, Deby grabbed me on my arm.

"Jo... it's something there!" she says pointing at the forest across the street. "It's watching us. "

It was true; some eyes were watching us. And not any eyes, but yellow. I told Deby to move slowly to the bar. In the next moment, George appears, parking his car in our view. I had no idea if the Cerberuses were still there, or they made some magical jump and were near George's car. I told Deby to go inside the bar and get some help. I stayed there, trying to wave George to remain in the car. He didn't understand why I was waving my hands like a crazy person, so he got down from the car. I walked near him.

"Stay right there!" I said and looked under the car.

There was nothing, but I couldn't help myself wonder where were the eyes.

"Did you see anything across the street when you parked the car?" I ask.

"No. What was I supposed to see? "

"Shh!" I say.

I got close and went in front of his car. I looked in the forest, but there was nothing.

"Cerberuses! That was what you were supposed to see! I don't see anything. Let's get inside. We can't stay here. "

When I wanted to return to George, a bright light blinded me. The next thing I know is that George jumped and pushed me away. I fell into the ditch, and I hit my head. Then I heard a loud bang. Everything was happening too slow. I saw George's car moving. Another hit it. There was an accident, and George saved my life. I tried to keep my head up, but I couldn't because of my injury. I saw a woman getting into the car. She looked at me and drove away. It was Kate. She tried to kill me.

When she was gone, I saw George lying on the street. The image started shaking in front of my eyes. I heard noise and voices, and the last thing I saw were some silhouettes coming near me.

"Jo, wake up!" shouted Crista.

"Why isn't she waking up?" I hear another voice.

"She hit her head" says another.

"George is not breathing!" screams someone.

"Jo is breathing! She has a head injury. We're waiting for the ambulance."

I felt some warm hands holding my head. I realized that they were Andy's. I heard the ambulance. The next thing I remember is a woman pushing me on a stretcher. I opened my eyes, and I saw Andy next to me.

"I'm coming with you at the hospital. I'm not leaving you" he says.

I tried to talk, but I couldn't say a word.

"She's in shock" says the doctor. "We're going to arrive at the hospital and...."

That's all I heard; then I fainted again. I woke up in a hospital bed, with Andy near me. Crista was standing next to me too, and Deby was outside with Stefan. I saw them through the window.

"Andy" I said when I realized that I was able to speak, but he stood up.

"I'll bring the doctor" he says. "She's awake."

He was still holding my hand, so I gathered all my powers and squeezed him.

"Stay" I say.

"I'll go" says Crista.

"George?" I ask.

"Don't think about this now !" he says avoiding my eyes.

"He didn't make it... did he?"

Andy didn't say anything more. He just held my hand.

"Kate..." I finally said. "It was her."

He was shocked. I couldn't believe it, but I saw tears on his cheeks. He let go of my hand and stood up. He wiped his tears and put the hands on his head. I could see on his face that he had no idea what to do next. I wanted to say something, but Crista walked in accompanied by a doctor.

"I see you're awake. Good!" he says checking me with a small flashlight and pulling off a bandage. "I stitched your head injury. You needed three stitches, on the left side. You'll be all right. I'm going to release you tonight or tomorrow if you don't experience other complications."

I nodded my head, and he left.

"Andy, what's with you? Why are you so nervous?" asks Crista.

"This is just not right! Kate did this!"

He left the room in a hurry. He passed by Deby and Stefan, without any explanation. They stepped inside and asked me how I was feeling. I told them I wanted to sleep. I woke up after three hours. In this time, Andy explained to them what was going on.

"I called George's parents. It wasn't ok to hear his mother's crying" says Crista. "They are coming in the morning."

"Shut up! She's waking up" says Deby.

"Hey, how are you?" asks Andy.

"I'll live" I say. "Don't hide from me. I know about George. I saw him lying on the street. I was still hoping that he got away... It's all my fault! He saved me, and he died!"

"It's not your fault! Kate is the one to blame! She'll pay for this! The police are looking for her. "

"She's smart" says Stefan. "It's not going to be easy. She must be using another name."

"I want to go home. Take me back, please!" I say.

We looked at each other and Deby stood up.

"I'll talk to the doctor, and I'll ask him if we can take you home tonight."

Stefan got out, and Crista followed him. Andy stayed with me. I looked at him, but he avoided me. I knew he was feeling guilty, and I was aware of that feeling. I held his hand, and he squeezed mine and closed his eyes. He put his head on the bed and sighed.

We didn't need words at that moment because we both knew very well how each other felt. The worse thing was that George died in a stupid accident, while he tried to save me. He managed to do that, but at what cost? A life for another... that wasn't right. I knew that I was supposed to be in his place, but I couldn't change anything.

# CHAPTER 11

The winter was finally here. I was standing by the fireplace, with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands. My house was finally ready. Crista and Stefan were upstairs, and I was looking out the window. I fell into deep thinking. George's death broke us down completely. He saved me, and he was caught innocent in the middle of my problems. We were friends since childhood. A piece of me was missing. I wanted to see him coming through the door, with some coffee, something to eat, anything. He never stepped into my house empty-handed. I couldn't believe that he was not going to enter into my  home ever again. I was tired of funerals. My life was nothing as I thought it would be. I blamed myself for everything, even though I was not directly responsible. Maybe the others thought the same way, but they never had the courage to tell me.

Andy came inside. He brought something to eat. For a minute, I remained silent, and I saw George instead of him. Then I came back to reality. He kissed me and asked how I was. I tried to force a smile, but anyone could have noticed that it was a fake one. He hugged me. That was all I needed, and I busted into tears. I wanted to turn back the clock, to change everything. I wanted to put myself in their place. But time was passing, and life was going on, with or without us.

The wind started blowing, and I could hear it whistling. Deborah walked in, frozen and disheveled. She came back from the store. She helped me with all the stuff I needed in my house. I don't know what I would have done without her. I didn't want to know that either.

We went to sleep. Andy fell asleep instantly. He was exhausted. I couldn't fall asleep for an hour, so I went slowly downstairs. I made a tea and sat near the fireplace. Suddenly, I could have sworn I heard Cora barking. I felt a cold shiver. The barking didn't stop, and it was louder and louder from the back of the house. I got out wrapped in a pillow. The barking stopped. I thought I heard things. I wanted to believe it was true, but it wasn't.

I prepared to go back inside, but the wind brought to my feet some rumpled papers. I took them and went to the fireplace to burn them. Something stopped me, so I took a closer look at them. They were pages of a book. Nothing that I could recognize, until one point. It was a genealogical tree. I saw Deby's mother's name and her name. It was shocking that all the names on that page were witches. It was something else written there, but I couldn't read it. It was probably Latin.

"Oh, great! Wonderful! I just can't have a silent night, can I?"

I started talking to myself, to mock the situation, when I hear Deby behind me. She was drinking water.

"What are you doing, Jo?"

"Deby... I think you should see something."

I showed her the papers. She was as shocked as me. Deby was not in a good place with her parents. They had a bad fight three years ago, and they left her behind. She was working part-time to afford a rent, and I used to help her with money too. She didn't miss them. She was a cold and independent type. At least that was the face that she showed us.

"Do you think I am a witch?" asks her.

"I think anything is possible after what happened this year. I don't believe in coincidences. I'm sure that these papers got in my hands for a reason. It was no one outside. "

"My mother has no idea about this, I'm sure! I don't want to bring her into this, especially now, when we don't talk anymore."

In the morning, we showed the papers to the others. Stefan knew Latin, so he translated some of the pages.

"The ones who are from the Muller's bloodline are the most powerful of our kind. They will not know what they're capable of until they've had their first homicide."

"Ok, so I am an incredibly useless witch" she jokes.

"I think you're the one we've been looking for when we got into Vals" says Stefan.

"You were supposed to help us finding Jo" adds Andy.

"It all makes sense" says Stefan.

"I don't fell more witchy now that I found out" says Deby.

"Can it become more awkward than this?" asks Crista.

"It can" says Stefan. "It says here that the witch is the Protector of some Traveler. "

"Do you think it's Jo?" asks Crista.

"If it's about me, I don't know what I'm doing here, but people are dying around me!" I say bitterly.

"Listen here: It is said that a Traveler is capable of incredible power, once she realizes that a lot of unbelievable things depend on her. The world's balance will bend then; the impossible will become possible, the unreal will be real. She would be able to travel between worlds and to change the destiny."

What inspiring words. I still hoped that they were not about me. I never asked for any of these, but they were coming to me. I was a simple girl, who didn't even have time to think about University, who had no idea what tomorrow's going to bring or what life looked like. How could've depended so many things on me? I put the hands on my head, and I started walking across the room. This situation was way over my powers. I was trying to adapt. I asked Stefan a cigarette, and I went outside. I needed a moment alone. I sat on the stairs. The wind blew off my fire, so I went near the rocker to light the cigarette. I never got the chance to smoke it, because I felt something on my face, then it all went black.

I woke up in a cabin, which looked abandoned for some time, judging by the mess around. At least I was standing on a chair, not on the ground, and I was tied up.

"You're finally awake! I don't have the whole day to lose" says a voice behind me.

The silhouette moves around, and I saw Kate in front of me. I thought that was a bad joke and I started laughing hysterical. She probably thought me crazier than her at that moment. It was a probability for me to go crazy, after what I had been through. I couldn't control my reactions. There were too many things happening in a very short time. If there was a prize for the unluckiest person in the world, it should have been mine.

"I'll explain what is next, until my friend, Helen, is coming back. She will take care of the ritual. Until then, we have some time to chat" laughs Kate.

"Kate..." I said, but she didn't let me finish.

"Look how it's going to be. I'm going to speak, and you are going to shut up! Let's begin. I need to sacrifice you to become a powerful witch. And it's simple. You're going to die! And you know what the best part is? That it wasn't necessary for me to bring your sister too, because you are bonded in blood, so when the spell starts, and you'll die, she will die too. Two from a single shot!"

The smile disappeared from my face, and I started freaking out. I realized the situation I was into. I needed to do something to get out of there, but I was tied up. I couldn't hope for a kind of Superman to come and save me because no one knew where I was. Maybe they didn't even notice that I was gone. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I was apparently running out of that vital factor.

"You're mad! You can still change something, Kate!"

"Do you think I am mad? Oh, no dear. I did this for Andy! All I ever did was for him! I was with him when I met Helen. She predicted my future, and she told me that you are going to steal him from me. I did some digging, and I found out that you are the key to something crucial and you need to be eliminated. And I said to myself... if so many want you dead, why shouldn't I kill you myself and take all the power? And I can have Andy too!"

"He will never forgive you for this! You're making a terrible mistake!"

"At least I know that you will never have him. You, stupid child! Don't interrupt me again, because you will die without knowing a damn thing! We needed your blood but you had to give it to us on your free willing, so I came up with that accident and the poster on the fence. And you fell for it! All the dead... collateral damage. The dog? Well, that wasn't me, but that boy I killed. What can I say, I have a weakness for the animals."

"Oh my God, you're making a big mistake! Listen to me!"

"Shut up! Oh, poor George. He died so heroically. So sweet! I didn't even want to kill you that night. I just wanted to injury you and to take you, to have you here in the evening with a fool moon. But as I said, collateral damage. If I weren't forced to run then, it would have been all over now. "

With every word that Kate said, my mind was blown. I connected her to Erika, and all was clear now. I had found out some time ago that my sister's name was Kate.

"Kate, Crista is not my sister! Now it all makes sense! Helen is lying and using you!" I manage to scream.

Kate approached and grabbed me by my neck. She truly had a problem with it.

"Do you think that you can get away like this? To fool me with this nonsense?"

"Kate, you're the one I gave my blood at the hospital. You said that yourself! Crista is not my sister."

"What do you mean by this?"

"I did a DNA test because there were too many similarities in our tests. I found out that I was adopted!"

"You're not saying this..."

'I don't like it either, Kate! You killed my friends! But it seems that you are my sister, and if you let Helen do this, you're going to die with me!"

"Shut up! How can I know that you're not lying?"

"If you don't believe me, wait and see. She lied to you! She used you to do all those murders to bring you here, and finally to kill both of us. She will probably take all the power! She was very smart."

"You're lying..."

"She's right" says Helen from the back and hit her hard.

Kate got up and ran to her, but Helen was too strong. She threw Kate on the other side of the room and took out a knife. It was the first time of my life when I saw a witch in action, and probably the last. She came at me, whispering something in Latin. I couldn't get free, and Kate was still on the ground. Then I knew that only a miracle could save me, so I closed my eyes and prepared for my final moment.

In the next second, Stefan and Andy walked in. Helen used her powers and took them down. Kate got up and screamed, then she threw over Helen, who dropped the knife. Andy ran to untie me, and Stefan grabbed the witch. Kate took the knife and put it into Helen's back, without blinking. She collapsed into a pool of blood.

"You turned me into a murderer!" she shouted.

She looked at us perplexed. She couldn't believe that she was the one who saved my life. Andy and Stefan couldn't realize it either. Kate was covered in Helen's blood, and she was standing there, without moving. She put her hands on her head.

"Damn! What the hell did she do to me?"

Andy and Stefan were looking at her shocked, and I couldn't get my eyes off her.

"After you leave, I will take care of this mess. See you around, sister!" she says and runs on the back door.

Andy wanted to go after her, but I stopped him. She saved my life after all, even if it was in her interest.

# CHAPTER 12

When we got home, I went directly into the shower. My friends were waiting for me to tell them what indeed happened. I told them something on our way home, but I wasn't thinking clear, because of the shock.

"How did you find me?"

"You were lucky that you had your phone. Have you heard about something called GPS?" says Stefan and rolled his eyes.

"Kate save my life" I said.

"I still can't believe this. If I wasn't there to see that, I couldn't find it real" says Andy.

"She's Erika Moore" I whispered.

"Are you saying that she is her sister?" asks Crista.

"Something like that... Do we look alike?"

"Yeah... sure!"

We spent what was left of that day trying to process the news. It started snowing. Stefan and Andy went home, and I stayed with Crista and Deby. It was getting cold, so I took my jacket and went to get woods for the fire. The lock from the storage was frozen, and the wind started blowing. I struggled for ten minutes to unlock that thing. Finally, I did it. I got inside, and I scrubbed my hands to get them warm. I couldn't feel them. I heard all kind of noises, and I hoped that it was the wind. I took a few pieces of wood and ran back to the house. I was almost there when I heard the door banging. "Great," I said and put the firewood down, in front of the house. I went back to close the door because the snow was getting inside. When I touched it, I heard a loud noise. I turned around, and I saw a Cerberus circling my house. What was with these creatures? They started to piss me off, but they also terrified me. Without making a sound, I went into the storage, and I closed the door. I watched it through the door cracks. It didn't see me, or at least that was what I hoped. I remembered how I got away from these creatures twice. I didn't know if I was lucky because I got away, or unlucky because they were following me everywhere. I felt like a magnet of bad stuff.

Any minute, Deby or Crista should've appeared on the porch because I was kind of late with the wood. They would have come looking for me, and that creature could have seen them. I thought about my options. I looked around, and I saw more firewood and a paddle. Nothing from there would have been useful against it. At that moment, I heard the door. Crista came outside and saw the firewood. She started calling my name. She walked in the snow and looked at the storage. The Cerberus saw her, and it started running. Then I grabbed the paddle, and I got out.

"Crista, get back into the house!" I shouted.

She saw the creature, and she ran back in. It saw me too, so it started running at me. I realized it would have passed the storage door quickly, even if I would have closed it. I didn't have any options, so I got inside and closed the door. I was waiting for it in the corner, with the paddle in my hands, thinking of how awkward I looked at that moment.

Suddenly, I heard a car. I saw it speeding, and finally, the Cerberus was hit by it. The creature wasn't injured, just thrown away, but the vehicle looked like it hit a wall. Kate got down and shot the Cerberus. After three gun shots, the creature was lying dead in the snow. I got out from the storage.

"Next time use your brain!" she said and stepped back in the car.

"What are you doing here?"

"A simple 'thank you' would have been enough" she says. "Don't think for a second that I saved you because I like you. All I know is that when Helen did  that spell something could have changed, so it is a possibility that I can die if you die."

"And you were doing what exactly? Watching me?"

"I was just passing by, fortunately for both of us. I can't take any chances with you! I don't want to die! So stay out of trouble because you're going to get us both killed!" she says and finally started the broken car.

Deby and Crista were on the porch, and they heard some of our conversation. The Cerberus was lying dead in the snow. Deby was holding a shotgun in her hands.

"Where did you get that?" I ask her.

"I brought it from home. I thought if I slip it here, it would be useful. It turns out that I was right" she smiles.

"Is it even legal?"

"Never mind" she says and puts it away.

I didn't ask if she knew how to use it. I had a feeling that I already knew the answer. I returned to the storage to get the paddle, and I asked the girls for help to bury that creature. It wouldn't have been nice if someone saw some mythical creature with three heads lying in my yard. The shotguns alerted the neighbors, and I saw Ms. Still walking in the alley. Deby said she had it under control, and that she was going to make her go away. I stayed with Crista to finish the job. After a while, Deby appeared.

"Well?" I ask.

"You know old people... they believe everything. I told her it is my birthday and we're launching some fireworks."

"And she believed you?"

"Of course she did. She even said 'Happy Birthday' to me!"

When summer started, I was an ordinary girl, that wanted to take over the family business, without any University plans. Not that I had any plans at this moment. If someone had told me that on Christmas's Eve I was going to bury in the back of my house a fabulous creature with three heads, I would have told him to get himself into an insane asylum. Now, the insane asylum was my life, and it all was pretty convincing. On the other hand, things weren't so bad at the moment, if I compared them to the beginning of the summer because the list of people who wanted to kill me got shorter with one.

Crista missed her entry at college because of the mess I had dragged her into. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go next year because... well, neither of us knew for sure what was going to happen with our lives. We called Andy and Stefan to let them know about our trophy. They promised they would come over.

Even though there were a couple of days until Christmas, I went after presents the next day. I liked making gifts. I honestly loved this part of the year, even if I hated winter. That was the only day of winter that I loved. Every year I used to prepare myself with gifts, and I waited excitedly for that day. I bought a lot of pair of socks and mugs with drawings, with reindeer and Santa Claus for everyone.

# CHAPTER 13

I loved the Christmas memories that brought a smile on my face, every time they crossed my mind. At that point  , it didn't matter anything that was happening in my life, all the problems disappeared and was living over and over again the lost moments, when I didn't know about the worries. I had some peaceful days with Andy. I was staying at his place, and Stefan moved in with Crista.

On Christmas's Eve, we all went at my place. We organized a small party, with food, drinks, oranges and chocolate. I woke up early in the morning to put the presents under the Christmas tree, but I discovered that there wasn't enough space. I was the last one who didn't set the presets there. I've hidden my disappointment, and I made some space for them. I wrote some notes on them, and I was ready just in time. I heard noises from upstairs, and that was a sign that people started waking up, so I ran into the bathroom.

The next moments were special and unique, full of excitement, especially when we all opened the presents. We had some pretty quiet weeks if we didn't count the Cerberus and Kate's uncomfortable appearance. I hoped that we earned our peaceful days. Sure, I wasn't expecting that problems would just disappear.

The next day, when I arrived from shopping with Deby and Crista, Deby slipped when she got down from the car. All the things scattered on the ground and she started swearing.

"Damn! I think I broke my leg!" she snaps.

We gathered all the things, put them back into the car and went to the hospital in a hurry. There, the doctor immobilized her left leg, telling her that she had a luxation. She was going to be okay soon. When we arrived home, I parked near the stairs for Deby so that she could get down easily. I took the bags, and Crista helped her climb the stairs.

When we got to the door, we had a surprise: it was opened. I didn't remember to give Andy or Stefan a key, and judging by the look on Crista's face, she didn't do that either. I entered the house, and I had a shock. Kate was sitting on my armchair, eating my cupcakes.

"Did you cook these?" asks me in an ironic tone.

"Get out! Now!" I shouted.

"I didn't come here to fight!"

"I don't care why you are here! You killed two of my friends, in case you don't remember!"

"And four enemies", she adds. "I was under Helen's spell, so I didn't know what I was doing."

"I'm not going to ask you again to get out!" I said and approached her. "Maybe you saved me, but that doesn't mean anything, compared to the things you've done! I'll call the police if you don't leave this house!"

"Fine, I'll go. But first, I have to tell you something. I came here to warn you. Eva knows where you are and she's coming for you. And inevitable... after me too. She gave me away because she didn't need the blood of her first born. I did some research. All those creatures that followed you lately were sent by her. The point is that if she finds you, she kills you. And it is a huge possibility for me to die too. I advise you to get out of this town."

"Why should I believe a word you're saying?"

"You can believe me or not, but if you don't leave town, I'll take you, and I'll get you out of here myself! "

"Let's not exaggerate!"

At that moment, Andy and Stefan walked in. I could read all over their faces the astonishment, when they saw Kate in my living room, feeling like home.

"What the hell is this woman doing here?" asks Andy shocked.

'She came to warn me" I say.

"She needs to leave town. Eva found out where she is and she's coming" she explains.

"And you know this... how?" asks Andy.

"I have my sources" she responds.

"Thanks for the warning" says Andy and pushes Kate out, slamming the door after her.

I had a feeling that if I stayed in Vals, everyone that I cared about was going to end up in a bad way. I ran upstairs, while the others were arguing. I gathered all my stuff, and I got downstairs with two suitcases. The argument finished when they saw me.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks Crista mad.

"I'm leaving. I didn't believe that I was ever going to say this, but Kate is right. Eva is coming after me, and if I stay here, she's going to hurt everybody I love. It's best if she doesn't find me, so I'm leaving, so I can be a step ahead of her."

"You're not going anywhere alone! If you want to go, I'll come with you!" says Andy.

"We can't talk about staying here" says Stefan. "If you remain here, Eva will find you, so the best choice is to leave. I'm going to pack our things, Andy. We're leaving at first hour in the morning."

"Hey. I'm supposed to be your Protector, right? That's what the legend says. So I'm not going to stay behind, in this boring town. I'm coming too" says Deby.

"Of course, I'll come too. It's not just like I'm going to leave you guys alone" says Crista.

"You don't know what you're getting into" I say. "I'm going in order not to put you in any danger, and you want to come with me?"

"We're together since forever" says Deby. "This town is not safe anymore. I'm coming. End of discussion. "

"Even if you're not my real sister, you're going to be my sister forever!" says Crista.

"I promised you that we are going to set things right and that I will help you" says Andy. "You thought you're leaving alone? You're better protected with us by your side, and I think it's healthy for all of us to get out of here together because when Eva arrives, she will probably look for friends of yours, people that had to know where you left. We're the only ones who know the truth, and we're leaving with you. "

"I don't want to bring you into this mess" I say.

"We already were into it from the very beginning, but we didn't know about it!" says Andy.

In the morning, we were ready to go. I saw a summer hat hanging on Deby's backpack.

"What are you doing with that hat in the middle of winter?" I ask her.

"It's there since last summer. It's my lucky hat. And we don't know how long we're going away."

I rolled my eyes, and I took two bags to the car. We carried into the cars all our stuff, such as blankets, food, tools, clothes and other useful things. Deby took Crista's car. It was easy for her to drive that car, even if she had problems with her leg. She also took her shotgun. Andy and I took my car, while Stefan took Andy's. Stefan had Crista in his right, and Deby was the most comfortable because she was alone.

I looked one last time at my house, hoping that I was going to see it again soon. Stefan closed his bar, thing that made me feel awkward, and Deby didn't even call at work to announce that she wasn't going anymore. She didn't care. How was going to be my life? Sleeping in cheap motels? Running all the time? Andy explained to me that was how we were going to live until we got rid of Eva. They were used to that kind of life because they were on the run since they were kids. They were going to help us to adapt.

I was looking in the small mirror and sighing. I was leaving behind all my life, my childhood town, but I was running for my life. We all did. If I took a better look at my life, I haven't got much left. My only relatives were dead, and everything was a big lie. I was leaving behind a place full of murders, and I had with me the only people I needed. I had a family. They were the only thing that made me feel better. They were the people that left everything for me. I owed them everything.

# CHAPTER 14

I felt like I was carrying on me all the problems in the world. It wasn't fair, but I knew that in life nothing was. I've survived this long, and I had no intention of giving up. Despite the explosion of information in my life, I was moving forward. I buried the regrets in the corner of my soul, but I knew that they would eventually come out. I had two options: to stay and to endanger everyone or to leave and never look back. Even if I felt a coward, I tried to seem strong and brave. The decision of moving on has been, after all, an act of courage.

We didn't stop for two days. We switched seats and drove by turn, only Deby insisted on driving continually. She was on coffee and energy drinks, but it didn't seem a problem for her. We were driving on a straight road, near a river, for about three hours. It was wilderness. Maybe because it was night. Finally, we decided to stop for a break.

"What do you say if we get some rest here, by the river?" asks Stefan.

"And we sleep in the cars?" asks Deby.

"The first motel is about one hundred kilometers away. I don't think that we can drive that long. But I have good news. Andy and I took some tents, sleeping bags, pretty much all we had back home."

"It's cold, but we're going to make a fire" says Crista.

"We have some firewood in the trunk, enough to make through the nigh t" says Stefan.

It was freezing, but at least it wasn't snowing. We made a fire and some tea. We finally got all into one tent to keep ourselves warm. At one point, I wanted to go in the car because I wasn't very comfortable, but I decided that I prefer the hustle than the cold. I didn't think that I could sleep that night. Stefan was snoring loudly. Great. I looked at the shadows made by the fire. The only sounds were the river flowing and the cracking from the firewood.

I thought that I heard some whispers, like a song. At first, I believed that I was dreaming, but the song was louder and louder. More, at some point, I heard someone walking in the river. I was sure that it was just my imagination because the water was icy, and no one could have been walking around on that temperature, even if he was drunk. I got up slowly, and I opened the tent's zipper, to look outside. I opened my eyes, and I rubbed them. A woman was walking down the river and singing a beautiful song. Her voice was magnificent. I examined her. She was stunning, and she was wearing a short white dress. It was something weird at her hair. It looked like it was moving in all directions, but the wind wasn't blowing. When she got closer, I couldn't believe my eyes. Instead of hair, she had a bunch of snakes on her head. I went all creeps. At first, I thought that she was some lunatic, because of that short dress, but then I realized that it could have been something more than that. I closed the tent's zipper, and when I turned around, I saw Andy looking at me.

"What are you doing on that thing opened? The cold is getting inside!" he says.

"Shh! Shut up! It's something outside!"

"What? Let me see."

He got up to see for himself that atrocity.

"A Gorgon..." grumbles. "Don't make any sound and help me to wake up the others."

"Have you seen this before?!" I ask shocked.

He beckoned at me to shut up, and woke Stefan up, covering his mouth, trying to keep him quiet. I did the same with Deby. Crista woke up because of the rustle, and I told her to be quiet.

"It's a Gorgon on the river" says Andy to Stefan.

"What? We really can't have a peaceful night? She's not going to leave until she gets her tribute. We have to get rid of her!" says Stefan.

"How do we do that?" I ask.

"We must stab her in the heart with something made of steel" says Stefan.

"The good part is that we have something made of steel" adds Andy.

"And the worse part?" asks Deby.

"Ah... what's a Gorgon?" asks Crista in the middle of our discussion.

"It's a creature of the water. In the Greek mythology, it is said that she feeds on men. She hypnotizes them with her song. To be hypnotized, they must look into her eyes. "

"Oh, so this is the bad news, which you can't go anywhere near her" says Crista.

"One more thing... she has snakes instead of hair" I say.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that" says Stefan.

"So, you can't kill her, but we can do it."

"How are you planning to do this?" asks Andy.

He didn't manage to finish his question, and I took the knife from his hands.

"So, who's going to be the bait, girls?"

I can distract her. Oh, for God's sake!" says Crista.

"Ok. When she comes after you, I will grab her and stab her. Be careful, ok?"

"Have you ever killed something?" asks Stefan.

"I once ran over with my car, by mistake, a mouse. I'm not going to let her feed on you! I can handle this!"

"It must be another way" says Andy suspicious. "You don't have any experience. It's not safe."

"It's going to be okay. We are two, and she is one."

"Wait" says Andy and gave Crista another a knife. "You should have one too."

"I don't even want to know where did you get this stuff" she says.

She got out from the tent and started making noise. The Gorgon saw her, and she didn't stop singing. Crista was walking parallel to her, and I ran behind her. All good, but we didn't count the possibility of another gorgon showing up. I heard steps behind me. Another one stepped out of the river and ran after me.

"Damn!" I say.

"Jo, run into the car!" shouted Andy.

I started running. Crista was chased too. The plan failed. The gorgons felt the boys and changed their running direction. They ran at the tents singing.

"Crista, get into the car!" yells Stefan.

They ran in the opposite direction, but the song made Andy turn around. Stefan pulled him in all directions, but he wasn't moving. Stefan covered his eyes and shouted at Deby, who was looking at them confused.

"Deby, throw me the knife!"

She woke up in time and gave him the knife, but Stefan didn't manage to grab it because he had to run. He was running in a circle, trying to grab the knife from the ground and not to get caught by the gorgon. The other one grabbed Andy. The snakes from her head circled him. I ran faster than ever, and I threw myself on her back. At that moment, the snakes tried to bite me. I fixed the heart, and I stabbed it. She screamed a horrible sound that made the other one turn around. Then, Crista reached the knife and threw it to Stefan, who managed to kill the last creature. Her screaming blasted into the wild like an echo. Andy went out of hypnoses.

"Bad plan! The worst idea ever!" he says and hugs me.

I hugged him back. I was shocked that I killed that creature like I've done that before.

"I'm glad that you are ok" I say.

"Next time I tell you there's another way, you better listen to me!" he says.

"The plan would have been a success if the other one hasn't shown up" I respond.

"All that matters now is that we are all fine" continues Stefan.

"Let's get out of here" says Deby.

We started packing things when Crista threw herself in the snow.

"What is it?" asks Stefan.

"I still can't believe that these creatures are among us."

"Trust me, there are more, but we didn't see all of them" says Stefan.

"We don't even know what they all look like, but we are aware that they are out there somewhere" adds Andy.

"I wasn't expecting for us to get out of this alive" grumbles Stefan.

"You thought we couldn't do this?" asks Crista.

"We've never been the ones in the position to be saved from something" says Stefan.

"I think that we owe you a 'thank you' " adds Andy.

"You did a good job" continues Stefan.

"What do we do with their bodies?" asks Deby.

"We burn them" explains Andy.

We put the bodies on the fire and took the rest of the stuff in the car. I looked around before getting in the car. It was silent. I took a deep breath, and I left behind the frozen wildness. We were on the road again.

# CHAPTER 15

The next evening, we stopped at a motel. I was truly glad to take a hot shower and to sleep in a real bed. If that was going to be my life, I couldn't say if I would have managed. I went into the shower, and I let the hot water flow over me, trying to relax. I was enjoying every drop of water because I had no idea when I would have that again.

The bathroom's door opened, and Andy stepped in. I told him to join me, and he threw his clothes on the floor, letting me see his tight abdomen. He smiled at me, got into the shower with me and closed the transparent door. While the hot water was flowing on us, I passed my hands through his wet hair, and my lips got close to his. We finally managed to have a moment just for us. Andy was exactly what I needed at that moment: a soft man, who knew when to be rough.

We woke up at five in the morning, because of the banging on the door. Deby was taking care that we don't stay too long in one place. We were on the road again.

"I don't have much gas" says Andy after a while.

We waved at the others to stop. We all needed to fill the tanks. The next gas station was in fifty-five kilometers. When we got there, we stopped for a break. Andy and Stefan went inside to pay and to buy something to eat. Deby was just filling the tank.

I got down to smoke. I walked away from the car and sat on a curb-stone. I saw a black van, with dark windows, stopping near me. Two strong figured men stepped out from it. They both fixed their eyes on me. I imagined as a joke that they were assassins. When I saw they were approaching me too fast, I stood up. They ran after me and grabbed me by the shoulders. Crista started screaming and ran into the gas station to get Andy and Stefan. I remembered my training with Andy, and I hit one of them with my elbow in the nose, hard enough to make him let me go. The other one ran after me.

I heard Deby racing the engine, and I knew that I had to change my running direction. I did that, and after that, I saw Deby hitting with the car one of the men. He was thrown away several meters. She shouted at me to get into the car because the other man was running after me. I listened and started running at her. Andy, Stefan, and Crista were already outside, and they were shocked by Deby's gesture. Andy ran after the man, but he tried to get to the van. He wanted to escape.

Suddenly, we saw a big and red car racing towards us. It wasn't going to stop. I saw a woman jumping out, and the man was caught between the two vehicles.

"I think I need another car to get me out of here" says Kate flicking her clothes.

"Oh my God! We need to get out of here! The police are on the way, and we can't explain this!" says Stefan.

"I don't think that's a good idea to run away from the police" says Crista.

"I don't know how are they going to react when they see some creatures that are not human lying on the ground!" says Kate. "They were manananggals, some creatures like vampires. That is why they look so human!"

"Get in the car!" says Deby to Kate.

I ran in the car with Andy, and he started driving. I looked in the mirror to see what we left behind. The employees from there were shouting at us. When I looked at the bodies that were lying on the ground, I saw them turning into dust. I imagined the shock of the people over there. We were leaving behind a total mess. Among all of these, Deby forgot to pay.

We didn't stop driving until in the evening  when we arrived on a deserted road. All we could see around were a field. If someone were going to come after us, we would have seen them in t ime. I hoped that the police weren't looking for us, but the chances were not so good. We were truly on the run. We also dumped the phones, as a precaution.

"Deby, are you ok?" I ask her.

"My road colleague here explained to me how I will feel from now on, that I have my first kill."

"I thought that was available only if you murder a human being" says Stefan.

"The mannangals were human before they became monsters. Deby also thought that she was killing a human in that time. I heard that it counts how you feel when you kill" explains Kate.

"So, I'm going to be a witch?" asks Deby.

"Something like that" confirms Kate.

"What were you doing there?" I ask.

"I ran away from Vals when I saw that you went missing. I didn't want Eva to find me. With a simple blood spell, she can see where you are. So, I think it's better that we've met. It was a coincidence, I swear."

"Wait a second. You're not saying that you're going to stay with us from now on" says Andy.

"Uh, yes. I broke my car saving you, so you owe me a car. I didn't hesitate a second when I saw what was going on there. I hit him without thinking. I will not walk from here. "

"She's right" I grumble. "Look, Kate. I don't like you, even if we're family. In fact, I wish that there's a way to get rid of this bloodline thing between us!"

"Me too, trust me! I didn't ask for this! I have a life to live, and I'm stuck here with you because we may be bounded! It's not a good feeling."

"Good. I'm glad that we exposed our true feelings. And by the way, you are a part of this too, from the moment you started working with Helen. We wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for your friendship."

She bent at me, but she didn't say anything. It was not very cold, so we put the tents on the ground. We made a fire, and I opened a fish tin. Everyone went to sleep in the tents. I stayed by the fire. Suddenly, I saw Kate sitting next to me.

"Too cold to sleep" she grumbles.

"You said you were an ordinary girl. Why did you do all those horrible things?" I ask.

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Josephine. But I will tell you. All the creatures that I've killed since I've met Andy were not human. I don't think he knows this, but I didn't bother to explain it to him. We broke up. "

"Weren't his friends humans? "

"No, and he didn't want to see it. They were just supernatural creatures that were trying to kill them. That is what they do. They fool you, use you, then kill you. "

"Why did they want them dead? "

"Because their parents were a part of that world before they died. Their simple existence was a danger to them. They used to hunt these creatures. They killed the bad ones and released the good ones. This is what they said, but I think all of them are bad. They didn't want to see the truth."

"My friends were humans" Kate.

"Since I got in Vals, Helen forced me to do some things that I am not proud of. Her spells affected me. I see things different now. Yes, I hated you because Andy loves you. Now I am still not a big fan of yours, but to be honest, I don't feel the hate I felt some months ago."

"I don't know what to say to you, Kate. I understand that is a necessity for you to be here right now, but I will not close my eyes knowing that you're around us. You tried to kill me."

"I believe you, Jo. I assure you that I don't want to hurt any of you. I don't feel the need to do that anymore. After this thing with Eva is over, I will go on my way, and I will never bother you again. I haven't always been a psycho, as you call me."

"Ok, I hope you're right."

"Don't get me wrong. I love Andy, and I will always love him. But he chose you, and I can do nothing about it. I am aware that if I hurt you, he will never forgive me. It was all a big misunderstanding because of what Helen did to me. He saw a monster in me, and I believe that was what I was. "

"This is quite a moment of sincerity" I say.

Was she sincere? She seemed that way. And she didn't seem crazy anymore. Was it all just a spell? Did Andy lose the love of his life because of Helen? Was Kate right and Helen did a spell and found out that I was going to be with Andy? Was I the bad guy here? What if because of my simple existence I ruined Kate's life? The witch took advantage of her to get to me. All the pieces were falling back together, and that freaked me out.

"I'm going to sleep" I said.

"I thought you told me you would not sleep with me around" she says astonished.

"You convinced me for now."

The morning was quite warm, comparing it to the others. A question that I wanted to ask Kate was bothering me. I didn't know how to ask her, in order not to believe that I wanted to talk too much to her.

"Spill it out, Jo. I can see from a distance that you want to ask me something" she says.

"Is it that obvious? Ah... I was thinking. You know a lot about this part of the world. I am still learning. Why does everyone want me dead?"

"For the sacrifices and for the power they can receive by using your blood in spells."

"But what am I? I'm human, right?"

"I don't know what you are, but all the creatures wouldn't be running after you if you were just a person. "

"I was hoping for you to tell me what am I... it was written something about me on an incantation in Latin. I am supposed to be a Traveler and Deby is my Protector. "

"Hmm, that's strange" she says curiously.

"What's next now? Will she have powers? How does this thing work?"

"If you have a Protector, I see a point why you're hunted. But the rest I don't know. I suppose that we will find out soon what Deborah can do."

Deby didn't felt any different. She wasn't lasers on her eyes or moving objects, and she didn't have wings for sure. If it was going to come to her protection, I had a feeling that was not going to end well for either on us.

We started driving again. We were approaching the port. We had a plan to leave the country. After that, we had no idea what to do. Suddenly, Deby drove parallel to us. She and Kate talked to the ones from behind, and they wanted to tell us something too.

"Listen to me" says Kate. "We're being followed. We're going in front of you, and you will come after us. "

We listened to them. If we were followed by somebody, it wasn't the best time to argue about the fact that we were listening to Kate. A black car was behind us. It was almost dark outside. We drove through some small streets, and I hoped that someone knew where we were. I saw Deby and Kate stopping the car. We stopped too, and we got out at their signal. We blocked the road, leaving the cars there. We took some bags with food, clothes and some weapons and we ran in the port. We heard a bang behind us. I was sure they hit my car, and even if that was breaking my heart, I loved my life more than that car. On the shore were some boxes that were ready to be taken on the ship.

"Do you want to live?" Kate asks me.

"What do you think?" I respond ironically.

"Then we will do this my way if you want not to get hurt."

"It doesn't sound well, but okay!" I say.

"Quick, get into these boxes until someone shows up!" she says.

This idea was the dumbest someone had, but it was the only one. We heard noise from the street, so we hurried to get into the boxes. Through the cracks, I saw some men lifting up the boxes on the  ship. From the ship, I could see some manananggals running in the port. They were looking for us. When the ship left the port, they were still running around.

Anyway, I was floating in a wooden box, surrounded by construction materials, on the Black Sea. I had no idea where we were heading, but a thing I knew for sure: we got away from Eva, at least for the moment. All the decisions I've made brought me into that very moment. I had a lot of doubts that I did the right thing going on that ship, but I couldn't risk the other people's lives. I put my head into my hands, and I waited in the dark.

# CHAPTER 16

After an hour of waiting in the box, Kate lifted up the top of it.

"Think we can get out now. It's just us here. It's a cargo ship. I didn't see anyone besides the captain and another man."

"Now what?" asks Crista.

"I can't believe where we are!" says Deby.

"I think we're heading to Bulgaria" says Stefan. "We're going to arrive there in approximately two days."

"Let's stay in one place. I don't want anyone to see us" says Andy.

We spent that night on the deck. We had a view point from where we were watching over the captain and the other man. We took turns. I went on the edge of the ship and looked at the waves. Andy came from behind and hugged me. We stood there for hours, watching the waves, the stars and listening to the sea. It was a beautiful view. If we left aside the reason why we were on that ship, it was a romantic moment. We were holding hands. I've always wanted a cruise on the sea, for at least two days. My wish came true into a strange way, and I found myself smiling. Then I realized that only a mad person could laugh in a situation like this, so I took my serious face again.

I turned around for a moment, and I saw Kate. She was sitting alone in a corner, looking at the sky. I said to myself: "She saved all of us, even though she did this to protect her skin." Maybe she was under a spell when she killed my friends. She was an entirely different person. I went and sat next to her. She had a terrible sadness all over her face. Maybe it was because of Andy, of me, because she was surrounded by people that hated her or because her plans didn't turn out the way she wanted. I couldn't know, and I didn't ask her. My feelings for her were somewhere between pity and hate. She looked at me, but she didn't say a thing. We remained both quiet for a while. She was my sister, after all. I closed my eyes, and with them, I closed this thought too into a corner of my mind. I left.

The morning caught us all on the deck. The sun woke us up at the first hour. I was adjusting my eyesight when I saw that nobody was on the observing point. Before I could say something, the two men arrived on the deck.

"Who are you and what are you doing on this ship? Marin, go and announce that we have clandestine persons on board" says the captain.

Andy grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait. We can work this out" says Stefan.

We were in trouble again. The man didn't want to hear anything and wanted to leave, but Andy grabbed him again. He pushed Andy, and they started fighting. The captain wanted to step in, but Stefan stopped him. It started a bad fight, and I didn't know what to do next. I wanted to help  Andy, to end this battle, but they the edge and the captain fell into the water. Andy was shocked. It was an accident.

"What have you done, you..."

But the man couldn't finish his sentence because Kate hit him in the head with a pipe.

"What the hell, Kate?!" shouted Stefan.

"He was going to announce our presence here! We're wanted by the police! He would have got us into a lot of trouble!" she says.

"Oh, so now we're not in trouble at all?" asks Stefan ironically.

"Let's think this through... What can we do?" I ask.

"I did what you all were thinking, but the only difference is that it was me, Kate the psycho! The only one who can do what it needs to be done!"

It was a moment of silence when we stared at each other. After that, they started arguing.

"Kate, very smart of you! You've just killed a man with cold blood! I knew that you're mad, but this? Seriously? He didn't do anything wrong!" says Stefan.

"Yet! Andy killed the other man too! Are you not going to say anything to him?" she asks.

"It was an accident!" says Crista.

They continued the argument for minutes, and I was just about to start too when I heard Deby.

"We throw him in the water, and we take over the ship. We're going to get to the land, but not in the port. The ship will be announced missing shortly, so we need to change his trajectory. What is done is done! We can't make any difference and we better start doing something, or we will be in trouble! "

She had a whole plan in her head. She couldn't stop talking. Maybe it was all about that witch thing, but I didn't recognize her.

"Finally, a good idea!" says Kate pushing the man in the water.

"Now, does anyone know how to lead a ship?" asks Crista.

They seemed to adapt so quickly to this situation, and I couldn't believe my ears. Neither did Stefan and Andy.

"I know" says Kate.

"Sure you do" grumbles Stefan.

We all went into the captain's cabin, and the first thing Kate did was to destroy the communication stations, keeping the GPS. She took over the lead of the ship.

"How do you know to drive this thing?" asks Crista.

"Let's say that the fact Eva abandoned me wasn't so bad after all. I've traveled the world a lot, and I ended up in a box, only on a bigger ship."

I read all over her face that she was about to tell us a tragic story. I noticed regret in her voice.

"The captain found me, but he was more friendly than this one. He helped me and thought me all he knew. We sailed together. I was fourteen years old. I was going to stay and sail with him for all my life, but a group of sirens attacked us."

"I thought there are no such things" says Deby.

"Oh, yes there are. They slaughtered all the crew members. The captain told me to hide in a barrel full of gunpowder and not come out regardless of what I might have heard. So I did that. After four days, some sailors found me. There wasn't anybody else left to save. I was the only person alive from that ship."

"Oh God, I'm sorry" says Crista.

"Let's not become sentimental!" says Andy.

"And we thought that you found out later about this part of the world! You've known all along!" exclaims Stefan shocked.

"I must destroy the GPS as soon as I find my way because they will find us" says Kate changing the subject.

Andy took my hand, and we walked on the deck.

"How are you holding up?" he asks me.

"I don't know, but it's a good thing I guess. You?"

"I'm trying to stay lucid. I killed a man..."

"It was an accident, Andy!"

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that I did it! Regrets will not bring him back, or make me less of a murderer" he says sadly.

"Do you think Eva's going to find us in the middle of the sea?"

"Normally, I would say no, but after what is happening these days, I can't tell..."

'Anyway, in this time she can't appear!" I say and kiss him.

We went out of control and found ourselves in one of the cabins. At least there were clean bed sheets. The room was simple and cool, and some books were lying on the nightstand.

After that, we went on the deck to watch the sunset. The sea was calm, and I was feeling like on a cruise. I thought about how much would have paid a lot of people to see this. The view was magnificent, and for a couple of minutes, we pretended that we weren't in this situation. Kate came on the deck. Stefan and Crista too. I heard Deby somewhere behind us. We all enjoyed that moment.

It was night and totally dark. All we heard were the waves hitting the ship. I got out to smoke. Stefan was there, so I accompanied him. A cold wind started suddenly, so I put my hood on.

"It's quiet..." says Stefan.

"We're in the middle of the sea, Stefan!" I laughed.

"I've never sailed" he says. "It seems fascinating."

Suddenly, we heard a strange noise, as if the waves were hitting faster and harder. It was louder and louder.

"What's this?" I ask.

"I don't know. It's coming from there" says Stefan pointing in front of us.

"What's that noise?" asks Crista showing up.

"I can't see anything, but it's like something there" I whisper.

"I'm going to tell Kate, maybe she can light something around here" she says.

After a while, Andy shows up. We still couldn't see what was in front of us. There were a lot of thoughts in my head, but I kept them to myself. Lately, everything was possible. In that case, I wouldn't have been shocked if it appeared a whale with three heads. Kate managed to turn on the light and came up.

"Oh my God!" said Stefan.

"Are those..." says Andy.

"Sirens!" shouts Kate desperate. "They're going to slaughter us! I don't know any weapon that can kill them!"

She was terrified. If she was that way, it was clearly an awful situation because I've never seen her like that.

"Deby! Do something!" she shouts.

"What can I do?"

"I don't know! You are Jo's Protector! She's in danger, in case you didn't notice! We all are! We're going to die!"

"I don't know what to do!"

"A witchy thing!"

"Hey, stop screaming and calm down!" I say.

"Don't tell me to calm down! It is the second time when I'm living to see this, and I know better than the first time was an accident that I escaped! We're not going to make it! "

Among us was a feeling of panic, while the sirens were approaching. We all started screaming. Suddenly, the ship started moving. I saw them climbing on the deck. Then, Deby hit the floor with her hands. It was a bright light, a sharp sound, and the sirens were thrown into the water. But Deby couldn't take off her hands from the deck, so the bright light swallowed the ship.

The next thing I know is that I woke up lying on the deck. It was daylight and sweltering. When I lifted my head, I saw all of my friends lying on the ground. I was sweating. I tried to make a sound, but my voice didn't help me. I tried to reach Andy, and I moved him to wake him up. I saw  Stefan moving, so I went to Deby. She had dried blood on her face. I tried to wake her up, but I couldn't. She had a pulse, so I kept going. Crista and Kate woke up too. I felt like we were there since forever. The sun was up, a sign that we could have been there for a long time.

"It can't be right!" says Kate.

"What?" asks Andy.

"I think your friend had thrown us into a portal!"

"Where exactly?" asks Andy.

"I wish I knew... and I have a feeling she doesn't know either."

Then Deby woke up, making a sharp sound.

"Are you ok?" I ask her.

"Everything is spinning... are the sirens gone?"

"Yes, witch! And we are gone too!" says Kate.

"What?"

"You had thrown us into a portal! That is the only explanation! We don't know where we are."

"Oh, God..."

"At least you saved us from the sirens" says Crista.

We looked around. It was only water. Summer came overnight, and we took off our clothes and remained in what we had thinner. We went to the GPS, but there wasn't any signal. I started thinking that we were in another dimension. I looked over the edge of the ship. The water was so blue, but one night before we were on the Black Sea, where the water had a darker color. Water's color doesn't change overnight, so I started believing Kate's version. Now what? Elves? Aliens? I stopped thinking about that because I was smiling lik e an idiot in the middle of that situation.

All we had to do was to find land and where we were. For that, we had to wait. Where were we? Everything went crazy, but the real problem was that everyone adapted so quickly, like they were made for that kind of situations. That thought gave me a shiver. I was wondering if I was the only one asking myself these questions. I needed to understand why were all that things happening.

# CHAPTER 17

In the morning, our situation was the same. Kate was heading North, but there was no sign of land. It was the same on the third day... in the fourth... and it passed a week. We had no fuel left, so the ship was drifting. We checked our food store. Thank God, we had for almost three weeks. I didn't understand why the two sailors had so much food if their journey was going to last two days. I enjoyed the food. We were nervous because we didn't know what was going to happen next.

The winter clothes were laying aside, and we changed them with summer clothes. Crista made shorts for us, and Deby was wearing proud her hat.

"We don't know where we are or what are we going to do" says Crista sad.

"It's my fault. I dragged you into this situation, and I would fix it, believe me, but I don't know how!" says Deby.

"It's better this way. If you try something else, who would know where we would land, in some lion's cage!" screams Kate.

"It's not her fault!" interferes Crista.

"We will find a way out of this!" says Stefan.

"You're saying this for almost a week! We're never getting out of this! Who knows where we are? In the middle of the Pacific!" exclaims Kate.

"Hey, Deby saved us from the sirens at your demands!" shouted Andy.

"Yes, but I didn't ask her to teleport us at the end of the world! I wanted to make them go away!" explains Kate.

"Next time make yourself understood!" says Andy ironically.

"It is all your fault!" screams Kate and Deby started crying.

I was silent until then, but I couldn't manage the tension anymore. There were too few times that I'd seen Deby crying. I stood up and pushed Kate into the rum barrels.

"That's it! Shut up! You don't know anything but to complain! Do you want to leave? Be my guest. Oh, wait! You can't go anywhere! You can tie yourself to a barrel and throw yourself in the water!" I scream angrily.

"After all that I've done for you, this is how you treat me? Do you think I'm afraid of you? Me? "

"You should be, Kate!"

I grabbed her shoulders.

"Get your hands off me!" screams her and grabs me by my hands.

I looked at her without letting her go, but she pushed me. I saw red in front my eyes, and I hit her hard with my fist in her face. She hit me back. Andy and Stefan tried to separate us, but they got themselves some hits and scratches. The fight was over when Kate tripped, and we both fell on the stairs that led to the cabins. I let out all my anger on Kate. I was holding it in for too  long. Andy came to help me, but I refused his help, pushing his hand away. They kept asking me if I was ok. The truth was I'd never felt that good in a long time. I got rid of all my anger.

"Yeah, I'm ok too! Don't bother to ask!" grumbled Kate from the top of the stairs.

We sent each other a mean look, and we went to do whatever stuff we needed to do.

"Hey, are you ok?" asks Crista when we were alone.

"Are you joking? I am just getting started!" I said trying to act tough.

"Can I say something?"

"You can say anything to me."

"It would probably sound stupid and childish, but I need to tell someone!"

"I'm listening, Crista. "

"I love Stefan. I'm so in love, and I know that when he appeared the problems appeared too, but I don't care. He makes me happy. And I thank you for this because if you've never met Andy, I would have never met Stefan and I wouldn't have been so damn happy right now!"

"Breathe!" I say laughing.

"But I'm happy!"

"I'm glad to hear this"

"Is it a bad thing that I feel this? I mean... in the middle of this..."

"Crista, you should never feel guilty for being happy or in love. It means that you're living! Enjoy your life, because you never know what tomorrow brings you! Live the moment!"

"I'll go live the moment!" she says laughing. "I'm going to find Stefan."

I didn't mean that when I told her to live the moment, but I hoped that she got the main idea. Crista always made me laugh with her childish behavior. Andy took her place next to me.

"I see you overcome your teacher" he jokes.

"I've trained on my own too, but I owe you my skills. I don't know what got into me, honestly."

"You don't have to make excuses. Kate has an annoying way to get on people's nerves."

"Andy, I have to tell you something. She didn't tell you, but you need to hear it."

"Stop it" he says.

"But you need to know!"

"I see what you want to tell me, Jo. I heard all the story that night from the tent. At least, I listen  ed to enough."

"And what do you think?"

"Maybe it's true, but this doesn't change the fact that I'm in love with you and I want you by my side."

He was opening up in front of me, and I was staring at him like an idiot.

"Andy..."

"You don't have to say anything now."

"Just let me finish! I want to say this! From the moment I met you, I felt safe around you. I felt like I knew you for a lifetime. And even if our first date was kind of late, I was hoping for you to feel the same way I did. "

"You have a very weird way to tell someone you care about him" he laughs.

I smiled, and I kissed him. For a moment, there were just us on that ship. I wanted this, but not under these circumstances, but it was fine at the end of the day. I was taking an example from Crista. I was living the moment.

"I can see something, but it's far away!" says Deby.

We all ran on the deck. Indeed, it was something there.

"Land..." whispered Kate.

"We're saved!" shouts Deby excited.

It was true. There was land. I was hoping to find out sooner where we were, on what continent, on what side of the world, in what year... All these questions invaded my mind at that moment, questions that I never asked before. I felt a cold shiver. I hoped it was for the best.

# CHAPTER 18

We arrived on the shore and anchored. There was no move on the island. We got down carefully. When I touched the sand with my feet, I went goosebumps, and my eyes got wet. I had no idea how much I missed this feeling of walking on the sand. I was certainly not the only one who had that feeling. A general state of happiness was among us.

We decided to look around in the morning because it was already night. We needed to light a fire. It was warm outside, but we needed some light. We were worried about the wild animals. The beach was wide on both sides. There was a forest when we were going to enter the next day, to search for food. We were running out of food, but we were on an island, after all, so we were sure that it was food there. We sat around the fire. Crista and Stefan fell asleep quickly. Deby was lying on the sand and Kate was walking on the shore. I put my head on Andy's legs, and I looked at him. Above him, the stars were shining like never before. He put his fingers in my hair, and I fell asleep while he was playing with it.

I opened my eyes. It was morning, but it was still hot. "At least we got rid of the winter," I said happily. Kate was sleeping a few steps away on the sand.

"Morning!" says Deby. "It's time to wake up, everybody! Do you want to see what's around here? "

"Take us slow" grumbles Kate.

When were all sober, we took some knives and hit the road. There were no paths, but even if there could have been, they were not used for a very long time. It looked like a desert island. Palm trees, stems of pineapples, avocado, bananas and last, but not least, mango. A thing was sure: we were not going to starve. It was strange that we found all kinds of fruits from different parts of the world on that island as if they were put there especially for us.

We continued our road and discovered a spring with drinking water. The bottles were on the ship, so we needed to come back later to take some water. We searched the area for a while; then we got back on the beach. It was nothing unusual, excepting the fact that it was a wild island.

"We must go back and take some water" says Stefan.

"I can go with Deby" I say.

We took two backpacks from the ship and went back into the forest. It was not so far from the beach.

"Wait!" says Deby at one point. "Something moved there!"

We remained standing for a minute; then we went in the place where Deby saw the leaves moving. Suddenly, a gray creature jumped from there and started running. We both winced.

"A rabbit" says Deby. "We got scared by a rabbit!"

"At least now we know that we can eat some proteins as well" I joked.

We filled the bottles and went back to the beach. The others made some camp with the things we had on the ship. They improvised some tents. They discovered something too. Not far from the tents, they found some storage. Inside it was a lot of fishing and hunting tools. Gunpowder, guns, a sword, and some knives. They were unused for a very long time. I could tell that because of the dust and the rust on them.

"Wow" says Stefan.

"Now we can hunt down that rabbit!" smiles Deby.

"Where are the owners of all these things?" asks Crista.

"I have no idea, but they look ancient. We'll take them out, and I will take a look at them, to see if we can use something" says Stefan.

It was a strange situation because we didn't know what was next. The others seemed to want to remain on that island, while I was wondering if I was going to grow old there. That was going to be my life? We didn't know how to get back. We got into trouble through a portal, and we had no idea where we were. Our lives changed too much in a couple of weeks.

The next day, Stefan, Kate, and Crista were busy with the guns, and we ran out of drinking water. We decided to go and get more, in order not to get there every single day, so we went to the spring. This time we had an extra man. Andy joined us.

It was sweltering heat, and there was no sign of the wind. We were stepping on briars and weeds, looking around. When we got to the spring, we filled the bottles and wanted to leave. Something caught out attention. A trodden path was behind the spring. We didn't see it until then.

"Let's take a closer look" I say.

"It looks like someone is using it" says Andy.

"I don't think this is a good idea' whispers Deby but she follows us.

We discovered something that looked like a camp. There were burning fires. It was strange because we saw nobody there.

"This is not okay" states Andy.

"We better go back" says Deby.

I heard a strange sound and turned around. A tall and bearded man was holding a knife at Andy's throat. Other three men appeared, and one of them grabbed Deby. They surprised us, and something was telling me that they knew of our arrival on the island since the first night. I remembered then that, in a moment of intelligence, I took one of the guns we found on the beach. I took it out, and I pointed one of the men. I had no idea if the gun was working, but I was going to find out if something went wrong.

"Put the gun down, pretty!" says the bearded man.

"After I see my friends released."

"Do you think this is a negotiation?" he laughs.

"I think so. We are not here to hurt you. I believe we can talk."

"Who are you?" he asks.

"We shipwrecked here. We have no idea where we are, in what country, on what continent, nothing. Maybe you can illuminate us without a fight."

"Really?" he says surprised.

He said to the others to let Deby and Andy go, and they pushed them next to me. I didn't put down the gun.

"Why did you let them go when you heard we had no idea where we are?"

"I think as you said earlier, we can talk civilized. You can put the gun down."

He was suddenly acting weird. I put the gun down, but I was still on alert. Something was wrong.

"We are on an island, in the middle of the ocean" he says.

"We figured that out" I grumbled. "What ocean?"

"The thing is... Where do you come from?"

"Europe" I say.

"Ah... there's a problem. How did you even get here?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

"Through a portal, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It is how we got here too. After some research, we found out that we are in another dimension. Nobody came to save us because no one knows where we are. We think that this island is the only piece of land from this dimension. We can leave this place only through another portal."

I was listening to him shocked. The bad news was coming with every word. I didn't know if I wanted to stay here or to go back home, where Eva could have found me.

"If this is the way it is, we should not kill each other" I say.

"I agree. As long as you stay away from our perimeter. What is beyond this spring is ours" says the bearded man.

"Fine" I said, and I wanted to leave.

"My name is Garet" he says. "They are Carl, Jon, and Adam."

"I'm Jo, and they are Andy and Deby."

I nodded my head, and we left. I turned around, and I saw them whispering. As we were leaving that place, it was weirder and weirder. How were we supposed to live with them around? I could have stayed and talked to them, but I had a feeling that they were not that friendly.

"Something is wrong" I say. "They threatened us, but the second they heard we don't know where we are, they became close."

"Can you just stop for a second?" says Andy angrily. "This is the second time you do something stupid by yourself, and if I count the gun that you took, it's the third! What the hell are you thinking?"

"I saved you" I said.

"You could have died! You thought that you have a lot of experience with guns, so you thought what... that you were going to try your luck?"

"Stop it. It all worked out fine!"

"No, it didn't! You're right; something's wrong. If what they said is true, we're never getting out of here! "

"What if they are cannibals?" asks Deby.

"Let's not change the subject!" says Andy. "We were talking about how unconscious you are, Jo. Like that moment when you tried to kill by yourself that Gorgon."

"And I didn't die! I'm right here, arguing with you, in case you haven't noticed!"

We walked out from the forest screaming at each other. Debt tried to say something, but our screams covered her. She was probably trying to tell us that we arrived on the beach and everyone was listening to us. I left Andy yelling behind me, and I went on the shore.

"What's wrong with them?" asks Crista.

"Fights of lovers..." says Deby. "I have to tell you what happened to us."

Deby filled them in with what happened in the forest. They all agreed that something was not ok. I remained on the shore until evening. I wasn't in the mood for Andy's speech. Deby was lying on the sand, with her hat on the head. I started laughing when I saw her. When she heard me, she took her hat of her face, and she smiled proudly at me.

"I told you that you don't know how long we're going to be away. I did a great thing taking this."

"Are you sure that hat is so lucky?" I asked.

She didn't answer me. She laid back down with the hat on her face, even if the sun went down long ago. I saw a shadow coming at me. I could've bet it was Andy. He had the same angry face when he sat next to me.

"Don't do that again!" he said.

"As long as I think I'm doing the right thing, I will do it."

He nodded his head as a disapproval, and he took my hand into his.

It was night, and I couldn't sleep, so I got out of the tent and walked on the beach. The water was calm, and on the bright sky, I could see the moon in all her grace. The view was great, and I stayed there, trying to calm myself.

My relaxing was interrupted by some noise. I looked in the forest, and I went to the place where I heard the sound, holding the gun in my hands. I walked into the woods. I saw a pair of eyes looking at me. It was a wolf. At first, I had a shiver, but then I realized that it wasn't there to hurt me. I put the gun down because of a blind instinct. The wolf walked ahead as if it wanted me to follow him.

I looked behind to see if it was someone there, then I followed the wolf. My mind was telling me to run in the opposite direction, but my feet were carrying me after him. He stopped in a clearing where the moonlight was shining. I noticed his furring. It was brown and thick. That  animal was bigger than an ordinary wolf. He started digging with his big paws; then he stepped aside for me to go there. I went over there, and I found a tablet of stone, with some inscriptions and drawings on it. I looked around, but the wolf was gone. I took the tablet, I cleaned it, and I ran on the beach.

When I got out from the forest, I saw Andy. I was scratched because of the weeds I stepped on in the dark. He looked at me mad.

"What's in your head? Where have you been? Everyone is looking for you! When I saw that I couldn't find you anywhere, I alerted everybody."

"I... I was..."

"I found her!" he shouts.

"Where have the hell you been?" asks Crista.

Kate was looking at me weird, wrinkling. I had the feeling that under that face were hiding some laughs.

"I found this!" I say, showing them the tablet.

"How did you find it? Where?" asks Andy.

"Something guided me there" I say.

"You know that you're not going to get away without telling everything, so spill it out" laughs Kate.

"A wolf took me to it, then it left! "

"What?! And you thought that it was a good idea to follow a wolf?" asks Andy with the hands on his head.

"Let me see" says Stefan taking the tablet. "Something in Latin, about a sacrifice of a woman, to get out from a kind of world... I need some time to study it."

Stefan went to study it and Crista followed him. I stayed there, under the mad looks of Andy and Deby, and of course, the slay one of Kate's. I hear some noises from the forest, and I felt a powerful sting into my back, then it all went black.

I woke up in Crista's screaming.

"What happened?" I ask.

"They took Andy!" she screams.

"What the hell do they want with him?" asks Deby.

"We need to get him back before it's too late!" I say.

"We have a problem" says Kate.

"What now?" asks Stefan.

Kate had a note in her hand.

"I found it near me. 'If you want to see him again and alive, Josephine will come alone to the spring. We need her. Don't try any tricks because you will all die. You have until tomorrow night'. "

"You've got to be kidding me!" says Stefan.

"We need a plan..." whispers Crista.

I knew what I had to do. I entered the belly of the beast for real.

"I will go there!" I say.

"No way!" says Stefan. "Don't you get it? They want you for the sacrifice! They are the wolves, and you are the woman from the tablet!"

"A wolf tried to warn me!"

"Yes, but we didn't react in time. Let's think..."

"Why did they take Andy if they wanted you? This doesn't make any sense" says Kate.

"Hmm" I said. "I'm going to drink some water. I need it."

"Bring some more" says Kate.

Of course that I wasn't going to bring water. I watched over them until I arrived near the tent, and when I saw nobody was looking, I ran into the forest. My legs carried me there, but I didn't know what to do next. The darkness made me hit a tree, and I fell. Then I was back to reality. What was I doing? I couldn't go back, even if I were terrified. I couldn't have been so selfish to leave Andy there because they wanted me. I got up, and I started walking. I arrived at the water source, but it was no one there.

"Ok, I hope that you hear me!" I shouted. "I will be here tomorrow night! You have my word! Until then, I want Andy in a piece, in our camp!"

I thought that I was going crazy and talking to myself. I waited there for about two minutes, while my mind was filling with bad things.

"Interesting" I hear a voice. "I didn't expect you to show up so fast."

It was Garet. He looked at me with a malefic smile on his face,

"Do we have a deal?" I ask. "Why do you need all of these when you could have taken me instead? "

"Even if it is easier for me if you come now, I will be fair. We have a deal. Wait here. I will get you the boy."

"If you needed me, why did you take him?" I asked again.

"I need you to come on your will. It is all I'm going to tell you."

In a few minutes, I saw Garet carrying Andy on his shoulder. He put him on the ground, in front of me.

"He had more of those arrows, but he will live. Don't forget, tomorrow night. Don't try anything stupid because we will kill all of you!" he says and disappears into the woods.

I took some water from the spring and slapped Andy's face. After a couple of minutes, he woke up.

"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" I ask.

"I think I am fine" he says.

"Good. Can you walk?"

"Just leave me another minute."

I helped him to walk back to the beach. There I saw the others. They didn't think for one second that I wasn't on the ship to get water. They were shocked when they saw me with Andy.

"You're going after water, ha?" says Kate ironically.

"How did you find him? What happened?" asks Stefan.

They put Andy on the sand. He looked at me confused, and he didn't understand anything. Truly, no one understood that situation.

"I made a deal. I promised I would give them the tablet if they give me Andy back."

"Why does this tablet matter so much to them? I thought they want you" says Kate.

"Look, I don't know why, but I know one thing. Andy is ok, and this is all that matters!" I say trying to avoid the lies I was caught up in.

I sat next to Andy, and I took his hand. I read the suspicion all over his face.

"You've done stupid things again" he says huskily.

"I'm glad that you're ok" I say.

"They wanted you, Jo. I don't see how you managed to negotiate with them to let me go and leave you alone."

"I know how to do business" I say with a fake smile.

After a while, Andy fell asleep on the beach. I went on the ship, and I took some cigarettes. I was smoking on the beach.

"Nervous?" asks Kate surprising me.

"Kate, you scared me.'

"Maybe you can fool them, but you don't fool me. They still want you, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't fool me on the face! I know damn better that if they want you for some spell, they need you to go and give you your blood from your will. It was the same thing with Helen."

"If you say anything..."

"Do I have another option?"

"Sure you do! If you say anything, they kill all of us! I'm doing this for us! They were going to kill Andy, so I found a solution. You just can't ruin everything now! They warned me! I don't even know what they want with me, so why should I put your lives in danger?"

"You're insane. I can't let you do this. In case you've forgotten, if you die I can die too! I will not let you do this!"

"Ok then. You give me no choice" I say and hit her with my gun in the head.

Kate passed out on the sand. She didn't think of that. I grabbed her hands and took her on the ship. I tied her up on a bed. I covered her mouth, and I got off the ship. Until the sun came up, I walked on the beach. I didn't hear a sound from the ship. What if she wasn't up yet? I was nervous. Then I saw Andy waving at me. I took a deep breath, and I went to see him.

"You didn't sleep in the tent" he says.

"I didn't sleep at all."

"Is there something that I need to know?" he asks.

"No."

"Jo, lately you're getting yourself into a lot of trouble."

"Not this time" I smiled and kissed him.

I ran away, and in the next hours, I avoided him. I couldn't tell him that he was right, that what I was about to do was the dumbest thing of my life, and I couldn't change anything. Garet's threats were real. I had to keep my word, in order not to end up in a bad way.

"Jo, what about the tablet?" asks Stefan.

"Ah, give it to me! I will leave it at the spring, and they will take it!" I say taken by surprise.

I was telling a pack of lies. The sun wasn't shining so bright, a sign that the evening was coming and I needed to go. I had no idea how I was going to do that. If I said goodbye, it wasn't going to end well because I would have admitted my lies. I couldn't just leave either. I was struggling around when I saw Andy going on the ship. I blocked. I thought he heard Kate and I ran after him.

"Hey, what are you doing on the deck?"

"I'm looking for some cigarettes for Stefan."

"Ah, good" I said following him.

"You're acting weird. What's wrong?"

"Nothing! It's all perfect!" I say forcing a hysteric smile.

As if the situation wasn't hard enough, I heard Kate struggling to escape from the cabin.

"What's that noise?" asks Andy.

"I don't hear anything. You hear things. "

Everything was out of control, and I didn't like it. Then I saw in the captain's cabin a pair of cuffs. I jumped on Andy, and I kissed him. I pushed him inside, and I took his shirt off.

"I'm sorry" I said cuffing his hand on the board.

"What are you doing?" asks him uncertainly.

"I lied to you."

"I knew something was wrong!"

"I'm sorry, Andy. They said that if I don't take your place, they will kill you!"

"Now what? Are you going there? "

"I need to do this."

"So, all of it was a lie! Nonsense about a tablet! You fooled me!"

"Andy, I'm sorry!" I started crying. "I wish it were another way, believe me, but I can't sit around while people get hurt because of me, especially you!"

"Don't you dare leave me here!" he says with tears in his eyes. "Don't leave!"

"I'm so sorry..."

"No, you're not! If you were, you would have let me go! And we deal with this together!"

"We don't have anything to deal with. They made it pretty clear if I try anything, they will kill you."

"Jo, I'm sick of your stupid ideas! I accepted the fact that you always put yourself in danger for others, but to go there when you know damn well they will kill you?"

"It is the only way! I don't even know what they want!"

"Jo, I can't understand you! I can't do this anymore! You can't do this to me! I will feel guilty all my life. Don't you dare to leave!"

"Andy, don't make this harder than it already is!"

"If you turn your back on me, we're over! Do you hear me? I can't just sit here watching how you sacrifice yourself. I just can't. I would rather not feel anything. I will consider that I never met you, that we never had something."

"Don't do this, Andy!"

"If you leave me here, you can forget about us! About me! I didn't ask for this! I wanted a normal and happy life with you! It wasn't normal, but at least I thought it could have been happy! You liked complicating things!"

"If this is your choice, fine!" I say.

I approached, and I kissed him. I felt tears on my cheeks. He grabbed my hand tight.

"Don't go!" he says.

I looked him in the eyes, I pulled my hand, and I turned my back on him. I got down of the ship, and I started running to the woods. My tears were flowing uncontrollably. I kept telling myself that I've done the right thing and no one else was going to end up dead.

It was dark when I arrived at the fount. I was nervous and frightened, but I had no intention to back off. I was there, and I wanted to end that.

"I came! Let's finish this!"

"You showed up!" says Garet coming out between the trees. "I'm surprised. Not many people manage to surprise me twice in two days. Now, I can't let you see where I'm about to take you, so..."

I didn't get the chance to say anything because I felt that sting on my back again. I fell on the grass. I woke up in a cabin. At the door, I saw two big wolves, like the one I saw in the forest. My hands were tight up. I was desperate, but I had no regrets about that decision. I kept telling myself that, in order not to go crazy.

I looked outside. I wasn't in the camp near the spring, thing that calmed me in some way. I knew that the others were going to search for me there. This place wasn't familiar so that they couldn't find me soon. I was shaking because of the cold, but most, because of the shiver.

I didn't want to think about the mess I had left behind. I was out of line, and I knew that. Andy and Kate were stuck on the ship. I couldn't imagine what they felt.

I stayed there quiet, looking at the wolves that were guarding me. I was waiting for somebody to explain what was going to happen to me, but I didn't rush. My only regret was that I didn't have the chance to say goodbye, and the others were going to find out the truth in a not so pleasant way. Sometimes we leave the most important things unsaid. Considering all these, I wasn't going to apologize for what I'd done, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Why? Because I was Jo, the one who did everything she could for others. I never wanted to be anyone else, and I always wanted to be different. I wouldn't have changed a thing because that was me, and I preferred to die than to let others pay for my mistakes.

# CHAPTER 19

We're defined by what we have in our soul. Even if I had lived among people, nobody knew what I had in mind. Maybe only the quiet nights knew about my ideas. It was good that they couldn't bring them to life, they could only carry them in silence until they would have got lost in the moon's light.

The tiredness installed over me, and I couldn't hold my head. I was half asleep, and I felt my eyelids closing, but I was wincing at every sound and in every minute.

"Make yourself like home!" says Garet walking in.

"What are your plans?" I asked.

"Well, you are the sacrifice we need. See, when you appeared out of the blue, having no idea where you are or what are you doing here, I realized that a prophecy is about to come true. We're here for a very long time, more than you imagine. When you said your name is Jo, I knew that you are Josephine that we were waiting for so long!"

"You are the wolves" I whisper.

"Yes, and we became this way along the decades we spent on this damned island. We've waited long for you to come so that we can finish the spell. Now we just need to be a little more patient. It's not a full moon tonight, but it will be tomorrow night. Then we will make the sacrifice, and it will all be over. We would be finally able to get away from here! "

I looked scared at him. I gulped. I had only one day left. The only thing that was crossing my mind were Andy's words. I had one regret, and that was the way we broke up.

The wolves from the door were replaced by one. It had brown fur, just like the one that showed me the tablet that night. When no one was around, he entered the cabin. It was him. He looked at me and approached. He looked around one more time; then he turned human. It was Adam, the one that was with Garet at the spring the day we first met.

"Listen to me carefully" he says. "I want to help you, but we don't have much time. I need some of your blood."

"Why should I believe you? I can start screaming right now!"

"You can do that, and you can say goodbye to your last chance of getting out of here. Or you can just let me take some blood from you. Tomorrow night, before the great ritual, they will make another small one. I will put your blood over the ingredients, and when the spell starts, everything will go crazy. I promise you that the second ritual, which requires your sacrifice, will not happen anymore."

"Fine. Anyway, I have nothing left to lose. But why do you want to betray them?"

"Everything at its time. It will hurt, don't scream."

He took a knife and cut me on my back, under my blouse, for the wound not to distract their attention. He took what he needed and disappeared. He left me there with tears in my eyes and an injury that hurt so badly. I had no idea if he was going to help me or if he lied to me. I spent the rest on that day tied up on that chair alone. I was thirsty. Also hungry...

There were a few more hours until the great ritual, but there was no sign of Adam. I started to think that he took what he needed and he was long gone.

Garet walked in and grabbed me. He didn't untie my hands.

"I have nowhere to run" I say ironically. "I came here on my will, remember?"

"I don't give up on the precautions."

He took me outside, where were gathered about thirty wolves. The wildness they showed when I passed by them scared every cell in my body. He threw me on the ground and went in the middle of them. My mind was telling me to run, but the legs were stuck there. I thought that they would be able to catch me anyway and then all it would have been more unpleasant or painful.

"Where did you know my full name?" I ask to buy some time.

"I know more than you imagine" he laughs.

"You can tell me. After you sacrifice me, I can't tell anyone!" I say, trying to fake a smile.

"It's better if you know less" says Garet and goes to a log where were the rest of the ingredients.

He started whispering something in Latin, and the rest of the wolves gathered around him. My heart was racing, and I started shaking. I was terrified. While he was telling the spell, a bright and white light came out from that log and fire started blowing out of it. I felt released.

"You thought that I forgot about you? Come on, let's get out of here before it's too late!" says Adam.

We rushed to find shelter. Behind us, we could hear the howling of the burning wolves. We ran without looking back. We stopped when we were far enough and when we could not hear anything.

"I think I deserve an explanation!" I said gasping.

"I think I deserve a 'thank you'," says Adam.

"Thank you, but why did you save me?" I ask embarrassed by the situation.

"Let's light a fire, and I will tell you everything I know" he says after a while.

We made a fire, and we sat next to it for a couple of minutes, without saying anything.

"When we got here, we arrived just like you, through a portal. Someone took us from different corners of the world and threw us here. We don't know why. The thing is that we changed when we got here. We could turn ourselves into wolves and hunt every night. That is how we survived."

I tried to keep listening, but I was exhausted.

"We lived here for almost forty years until we discovered some tablets with a spell on them. Almost all of us knew Latin, so we realized that it was an escaping spell. All we needed was the blood of some girl named Josephine, who was supposed to arrive here  without knowing where she was or what she was looking for. Then we found out that a creature like you, a Traveler, as the tablets called you, is born once in a very long time, so we couldn't hesitate when you were going to show up. You matched the description: light brown hair, brown eyes, and an insane courage."

"And why didn't you let them finish the job? You would have been out of here!"

"I didn't think for a second that something will go wrong when I heard that you got here. So, I went with Garet at the spring. But something changed when I saw you."

"What?"

"I looked at you, and I realized that it's not your fault that you are in the middle of this. I expected a monster or something, not a young and innocent girl. And in all these years, my humanity didn't disappear. You were an innocent human being who obviously didn't know how to use a gun. You were just trying to protect your friends, and I would have been part of murder if I would have let them make the sacrifice. I just considered that you don't deserve to die. They are the real murderers."

"I am grateful, Adam. What was that big fire that burned the wolves?"

"At first, it was necessary for Garet to do a spell that would have turned us back to humans when we arrived in our world. I added your blood, and it changed the spell-work. That is how the fire appeared."

"How did you know that it was going to work? What if it didn't?"

"I read on those tablets that your blood is very powerful in spells. It was enough to know that it was going to change something."

He lied down on the grass, near the fire and closed his eyes. I lied down too, and I looked at the stars. I was there. I was alive, and my salvation came from the most unexpected place. I looked at Adam. He was not a bad creature, but I still couldn't fall asleep, thinking that he might turn in a wolf any moment. He wasn't a tall man, maybe half a head taller than me. His eyes were brown, his hair light brown and under his little beard was hiding a gentle smile. His eyes were ingrained in my head since the night he showed me the tablet. He tried to warn me.

I got away again, but the wolves paid the price. Every time I got away alive, someone else paid a big price. I couldn't imagine how it was possible for me to be alive after all of that. It was like I had a guardian angel or something. I wanted to sleep, but I was on a mysterious island, in the middle of the forest, with a wolf next to me. I lied on one side and stayed there, in the peaceful night, waiting for the morning that would have made me feel better.

# CHAPTER 20

I felt like I was born again. All I've been through made me wonder how I was alive and, most important of all, why me? It was a miracle that I was here and I was in a shock. I realized that I had produced a lot of trouble and stupid things, but I was not sorry. I had made the right decision, and I was at peace with myself, whatever came next. I was the living proof of that. I didn't have any control of my life, and even if things went wrong every time I tried to do something good, at the end the destiny showed me that it was on my side. I had no intention to let someone else write my life's story.

In the morning we started our trip. The plan was to arrive on the beach, to my friends. I didn't want to imagine how they were going to welcome me, if they were going to do that, of course.

"Listen... after we arrive there, I will leave" says Adam out of the blue.

"Why? Where will you go?"

"I don't know. I survived until now, and I will be okay on my own."

"You're welcomed if you want to stay. Really. You saved me. This is the least I can do. You were here before us, anyway."

"Do you think that they will not make faces at me? Stare at me? Accept me?"

"I will tell them what kind of person you are. They will understand. They have to."

We were walking through the trees when Adam stopped. He waved at me to get behind him. Something was following us; I could tell that by the look on his face. The branches started moving, and a wolf ran towards us. Adam pushed me on the ground, and he turned. They started fighting, but I couldn't see which of them was Adam. I could see that one of them was stronger and he was winning the battle. I looked at them powerless because I didn't know what I could have done in that situation. After a howl of pain, one of them was down. The other one stood up, and I realized that Adam was the winner. He took his human form again. He had scratches all over his body, but he was proud that he had won the battle.

"Are you scared?" he asks me improvising some pants from the clothes he had left.

"I had a moment when I thought that you were not the one who won the fight."

"When I told you that I would get you out of there, I meant that I would get you safe back to your friends", he says smiling. "If I had lost the battle, I wouldn't have kept my promise, and I am a man who keeps his word."

"The word 'man' misguides me" I say smiling.

"Let's not stay here too long. We don't know how many of them got away."

It was already evening when we walked on the beach. I saw the tents at a distance. Then I saw their silhouettes. They didn't recognize me at first because I was far away. When we got closer, I saw Crista putting down her weapon and running at me. She hugged me.

"I thought you are dead!" she cries.

Then Deby showed up, but instead of hugging me she slapped me.

"Don't do this again!" she says and then hugs me.

"Whatever you do, it seems you just won't die!" laughs Kate. "Welcome back. I owe you a battle."

"We looked everywhere for you!" says Stefan.

I smiled. I was happy even to see Kate. Stefan welcomed me too, but I didn't see Andy anywhere.

"Where is Andy?" I asked scared of the answer.

"After we had searched everywhere for you and Kate didn't die, we thought that you died and she wasn't connected to you with that spell" says Deby.

"Andy went this morning into his tent, and he wouldn't talk to anyone" explains Crista.

At that moment, I saw Andy out of the tent. He probably heard a noise and got out to see what was happening. When he saw me, he remained dumbfounded. I ran into his arms. He held me so tight than never did before.

"You're here" he says. "How is this possible?"

I looked at him. His face looked different. He was tired of all of this.

"He's Adam" I say. "He's the reason I'm standing next to you now."

Everyone welcomed him well. I went to clean up and to eat something. Adam started telling them what we went through those days and how he saved me. I was looking for something to eat on the improvised shelves when I saw Andy approaching.

"Are you ok?" he asks me.

"Yes. I'm here, so I'm ok. Are you?"

He nodded his head unconvincing, then he came and kissed me hard. It felt like a goodbye kiss.

"We need to talk" he says.

I looked at him, and I approved. We went on the shore, where nobody could hear us.

"I can't imagine how could you do this to me" he says after a while.

"Andy..."

"Please don't stop me. We looked for you for three days! I have no idea where you could have been, but we turned this island upside down! I told you that if you leave, everything will be over between us. I didn't think for a second that if you were going to leave, you'd come back by some miracle. But you left anyway, thinking that you're doing us a favor, I get it! But your leaving meant something more to me. This is not about trust or love, Jo. Remember this. I will never stop loving you. "

I remained speechless, looking at him, without knowing what to say. But he continued:

"The problem is that I didn't want to be part of all this. I can't go through this every time you do something stupid. I forgave you so many times. I just can't sit here watching you destroying yourself because I never get to say a word in what you do and you are not interested in what I have to say, anyway! So, you and me... we're not possible! We don't work. I can't feel every single time what I felt now, and maybe I am selfish, but this is it! I just can't love you the way you deserve. You're like a storm... too powerful for me and I can't keep up with you. I have to retire before I get thrown away by the wind. I hop e you understand me. I don't hold grudges on you, and I hope you don't either."

"I can't hate you, Andy. You know that. I see that everyone around me is hurt or dies and I understand your decision. But don't you ever say to forget you or to stop loving yo, because I will never do that."

"I can't tell you that for I can't do it myself" he says looking at me sadly.

Now that we cleared things out... I got up. I couldn't sit there without bursting into tears.

"Do we have something to drink around here?" I asked Kate because she was the only one outside.

"Problems in paradise? Five barrels of rum, on the ship. The sailors liked that filth. I don't get it why. "

"Thanks" I say and get on the ship.

I poured some rum into a bottle and got down. I sat on the shore, and I started crying loudly, not before checking if there was someone around. I lied on the back. The waves were hitting my face every time they touched the shore. My hair was full of sand, and it was tangled. I heard some steps, and I wanted to get up, but I couldn't.

"All good?" asks Adam.

"Pff, I don't think that is a good idea for you to be here right now. I will embarrass myself."

"Listen to me. It will pass."

"Good advice, but this moment seems to have stopped. Anyway... tell me, have you decided? Are you staying with us?"

"I think I will remain for a while. Your friends are nice people."

"Something bothers me since we talked two days ago" I say.

"Tell me."

"You said that you've been on this island for forty years, but you look twenty-five!"

"All of those who travel through portals... how can I say this... time stops for them. They stay as they are."

"So, if I traveled through a portal, I will stay as I am now?"

"It seems so."

"At least this is a good thing in this bad situation!" I say taking a sip of rum.

"I miss the food back home" he whispers.

"Me too. There are many different things now. "

Adam took a deep breath and sipped some rum. After he had helped me finish the bottle, I wanted to go to sleep. He went on the ship, where he had a cabin to sleep into. There were no free tents left.  I stayed and thought about it, and I decided that it would have been embarrassing to go and sleep with Andy in the tent, so I went on the ship too. There were plenty of cabins so I could sleep peacefully. I found one that I liked, and I fell asleep.

The sun rays that entered on the small cabin's window woke me up. "Inspire, expire, move on. Everything will be ok." That was what I was telling myself until I got down from the ship. The others were on the beach, including Adam, who was apparently a morning person.

"Good morning" I say and grab a mango.

I threw myself on the sand, away from the people. I saw Andy, and I didn't want to be around him yet. You can't just stop loving a person. I couldn't lie to myself, I was very disappointed by the decision, but it was his, and I respected it. I took my face in the palms, but at the moment I felt that tears were about to come out, I slapped my face. "Come on; you have to get over it! You're still friends! A break-up can't demolish you!"

I saw Crista happy in Stefan's arms. I was happy for her, but some people were just too exaggerated, so I rolled my eyes and stood up. I went away to enjoy my fruit.

"How are you holding up?" asks Adam showing up behind me.

"Oh, God. Please tell me that I didn't speak too many stupid things last night."

"Relax, we were both euphoric. Well, you were more than me, but you didn't say anything stupid" he laughs.

"That's good!" I say laughing.

I think that our laughs distracted the others because it suddenly became quiet behind us. I didn't want anyone to misunderstand things, so I excused myself to Adam, and I left.

That evening was Andy's turn to taste the rum. And he tasted too much of it. He was sad and acting weird, so Stefan took him to his tent. It wasn't so long after Stefan retired with Crista, and he got out again. I finally went to him because he kept falling on the sand. He pushed me away, telling me that he doesn't want anything to do with me. Deby, woken up by the noise, overheard our little conversation.

"I got this" she says. "Andy, let's get you into the tent."

"I don't want to! I want to stay here, to take some fresh air."

I didn't think she was going to pull it through, but she managed to get him inside. I sat on the sand, next to Adam. I didn't want to interfere in their conversation.

"Andy, I think you've had enough!"

"All I wanted was a quiet life next to her!"

"To Jo?"

"Yes, to her. But she kept making all those sacrifices, and I couldn't love her the way she deserved. She deserves something more than me. I can't sit around thinking about what stupid thing she will do next, so we broke up! Of course, I love her! This is not just a thing that disappears overnight! "

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep" says Deby.

"No! I try to move on, even if it is so hard to me, and what she does? From the second she left me tied up on that ship, I thought her dead! Then she shows up here with one of the guys that tried to kill us, and she thinks he is her hero! "

"Andy, enough! Stop saying stupid things and go to sleep."

At one point, I saw Deby getting out from the tent.

"We need to talk" she says.

I followed her aside.

"Andy thinks that you replaced him too fast with Adam.

"What? He's drunk, Deby. Of course I wouldn't do this! We just broke up! I'm not in the mood for adventures!"

"I know you, and I know that you can't do this. I'm only telling you what he said to me when I was inside. I think he's asleep now. Come on, walk with me near the forest to get a bottle of water."

"Sure. Look, I'm sorry that it ended like that, but the decision was his. I wanted to stay with him. Damn it! I love him. But sometimes I think this is too much for him, this situation, I don't know... me..."

"I'm so sorry, Jo."

"Me too."

When we were heading back, we saw Andy on the beach, falling again on the sand. Adam was nearby, so he went to help him.

"You should get your hands off me!" screamed Andy.

"I just wanted to help you get up" says Adam.

"I don't need your help! You think that you can come here to our place and do whatever you like?"

"Andy! Shut up!" shouts Deby.

"And you" he says pointing at me "you leave me tied up on the ship, I thought you were dead, then you show up here again and twist my mind! And this is not it! You show up with him! What are you now, her hero?"

"Andy, stop it!" I say.

"No! Because he comes here and you stay all the time with him, you slept with him on the ship, then what? Ha? I think that's all you've wanted all along, to get rid of me to be with him!"

"Andy, you don't make any sense!" says Deby.

I was shocked at what I was hearing. I knew that Andy was drunk, but he was way over the line, and he probably realized that because he threw himself on the sand, without saying anything. Adam was heading to the ship. I stayed there, listening how Deby was trying to convince Andy to get into the tent. Stefan and Crista got out because of the noise. Kate showed up too, but I didn't say anything to them. I was trying to process all this situation, when I saw Adam getting down of the ship, with a backpack on his back. He walked by us, grabbed a bottle of water and put in inside.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily.

"I'm leaving. What does this look like to you? I'm not going to stay here to ruin your days. As you can see, I am not welcomed."

"Andy doesn't decide this!" I said briefly. "You've done nothing wrong to leave, and I will not let you walk away like the last man!"

I pulled his backpack from his hands, and he let it go without a fight.

"I can leave without this!" he says walking out on me.

I threw it on the sand, and I ran after him, blocking his way.

"You don't want to do this!" I yelled.

"Yes, I do! I don't want to cause you trouble."

"You've been fine here. Tomorrow it will all work out! Please stay. We will work this out! I know that you belong here, so you don't have to go. The fights are inevitable in any group. You can't walk away after the first one!"

He looked at me and turned around, walking to the ship. He was grumbling something, but I didn't understand what.

"I'm going to sleep!" he shouted.

I was feeling weird. Deby explained the things to everyone, so I was feeling even more bizarre.

"What are you doing to them?" laughs Kate.

"Shut up!" I said and walked away.

Stefan grabbed my arm.

"I convinced Andy to go to sleep. He has never done this before. I just can't imagine that Andy did what Deby told me. He doesn't usually drink this much."

"Look, Stefan. We have our issues, and all I did was to respect his decision."

"Don't explain yourself, Jo. The thing is he is my brother, and I don't want him to make trouble. Adam seems a good guy. What did he say? Is he staying? I wouldn't want him to leave because of Andy. He will realize tomorrow the stupid things he did."

"I think he will stay. I'm going to sleep. I can't stay awake for another moment. I feel like I'm losing my mind!" I say and walk to the ship.

I fell asleep in a second because of my anger. In the morning, I woke up with the same outrage. I took a deep breath, and I decided to stay on the deck to calm down before seeing Andy's face. There I found Adam.

"I thought you were going to leave overnight" I say.

"I wanted to, but I realized that you were right. There are problems in every group. We just have to work them out."

"I'm glad that you decided to stay."

I headed to the beach. Andy was still asleep. "Better," I thought, and I went to Deby. I was feeling very strange. I couldn't forget his words. Finally, I saw him leaving his tent. He avoided me all day long. I saw him looking at me several times, but he didn't say anything.

It was in the afternoon, and for the first time we were there, the wind started blowing. I was sitting on the shore, with Deby's hat on, feeling the breeze. It was useful after all that bunch of straw. I closed my eyes, and I walked into the water. I stayed with my feet into the wet sand for several minutes. It was an excellent feeling, a sense that I had missed so much. I calmed myself. I threw the hat on the shore, and I walked further into the water. And I walked and so on... I couldn't stop. I had forgotten how much I liked to swim. I was good at swimming, so I ventured offshore. It relaxed me.

I was looking on the beach, where I saw Crista. I swam a couple of minutes, and I headed for the shore, but something pulled me into the deep. I fought to get myself free, and I managed to show Crista that something was wrong. She didn't know to swim too well, and all she did was to scream for help. I was under water, held by some gelatinous and green creature, who was scratching me with her claws. I couldn't hold my breath, and soon everything went black.

I woke up on the beach with Deby over my body. I spit the water, and I started breathing. I felt my eyes rolling into my head.

"What happened out there?" I asked when I was able to speak.

"Are you asking us?" asks Stefan.

"You drowned" says Crista.

"Something dragged me into the deep. It was disgusting, green and it had claws!" I explained showing the scratches all over me.

"I've never heard of something like that" says Stefan.

"Are you ok?" asks Deby.

"Yes, I think so. Ah! It prickles me. Who pulled me out?"

"Kate" says Deby.

I looked at her and thanked her. It was annoying me that I started to like my real sister. Stefan took care of my scratches. We had all the medical technique we needed on the ship, so I wasn't going to die from an infection. I got up there with Deby's help. Andy appeared near me. Stefan took his things, and he suddenly found something to do in the cabin. Great. We were about to have a discussion.

"I don't know what to say to you" he starts. "I'm sorry for what I did and said last night. I didn't mean it, I was..."

"I will not fight with you, Andy. I hope that you don't believe everything you said because if you do, I don't know how can we live together."

"Adam is a good guy, and I will talk to him. You have to understand that I couldn't help myself. I'm so sorry. "

"Fine" I say shortly.

Andy got up, and I saw him stopping to talk to Adam.

"I found it! I found the way to get out of here!" shouted Stefan. "All of you, gather around me! On the tablet that Jo found it was something written in Greek, besides Latin. It took me some time because I don't speak Greek a lot, but I finally did it. It is a spell, and Deby can get us out of here with it! We need some of Jo's blood, not a sacrifice, just some drops, a rabbit, something that connects with our town and ah... the bones of a wolf."

"I can get you two of that ingredients" says Adam.

"Jo, are you with us?" asks Stefan.

"Of course!"

"Wait! If we go back home, Eva will find us!" says Crista.

We all looked weird at her. She had a point, but we were not safe there anymore.

"After all that we've been through, I think we can handle Eva" I say.

"Are you sure about this?" asks Deby.

"I want to go home, I want a healthy life, so yes, I am sure, and I know what I have to do to get it. I am ready. When we get the ingredients, we get out of here! "

The night passed fast, but we didn't sleep. We stayed and made plans for our leaving. The next day, Adam prepared in the morning to go after the wolf bones.

"Do you think there aren't wolves left in the forest?" asks Stefan.

"When we left, they were all on fire. I don't think that is a chance to find one of them alive. The one that followed us then, it was probably away from the fire, so he got away. He was injured, anyway."

"I'm coming with you."

"Ok" he says.

I expected something like "No, do you want to slow me down?" or "Do you want to get me killed?", "It's not safe," or "Do you want to die?", but I didn't get any of this.

"Are you sure?" asks Deby.

"Very!" I say and get up.

I went with Adam to the place where we knew there burned almost thirty wolves.

"Who is Eva?" he suddenly asks me.

"She's my mother, who is trying to kill me for a ritual that is supposed to bring her more power. She is trying to do this since I was three months."

"Oh, God! How easily you told me all of these!"

"I am already bored how many times I had to say this story, so it doesn't affect me anymore."

"And you think that you will be ok with this if we go home?"

"I have to! I deserve a normal life! What about you?"

"I will adapt. It's what I do."

"I have one curiosity."

"What?"

"Why were those tablets buried there?"

"We hid them all over the island a long time ago, and it was a coincidence that was buried near you. None of us knew Greek, so we had no idea about that spell that we are going to do now. It would have been so much easier everything!" says Adam.

He probably had some remorse that he sacrificed his buddies for me, but he didn't say anything. We arrived at the place, and we saw a lot of bones around. It was all burned down, and you could see clearly that there was a massacre. Adam took the bones and put them into the backpack, then we left that place and started looking for a rabbit, to finish the job. I had seen him turning before, but I was still amazed by it.

At the half of the way, the silence was disturbed by a great noise and a growl. From between the trees, Garet ran at Adam's throat. He looked like he was back from Hell. His eyes were pumping out of his head, and he had serious burn marks. He assaulted Adam, screaming powerfully.

"Traitor! You killed us all for her! You'll see what's going to happen to you!"

I ran to help Adam, but I was suddenly dragged away by some giant wolf. I didn't have the strength to pull it off me, so I put my hands in front of his mouth. I thought that if I had a chance, it was to keep his mouth closed. His claws were scratching my legs, and he kept biting my hands. The pain was awful, and the blood was flowing from the scratches. I put my left hand in his mouth when I took with the other one my gun. I put it under his chin, and I pulled the trigger.

I couldn't get up. My body was shivering from the shock, and the pain was unbearable. Adam was trying to get away from Garet's hands. It was a big fight over there. There were pieces of clothes and a lot of blood all over the place. I grabbed the gun. I couldn't see much because of the blood on my face. I concentrated, and I gathered my ultimate strengths. Adam pushed Garet, and he was ready to turn, but I pulled the trigger. Garet fell on the ground. I shot him in the head. I didn't know that I had such a good direction, excepting the fact that I pointed the heart... Adam ran at me. He pulled me up on his knees.

"It's going to be ok" he says to me.

I tried to fake a smile, and I fainted. He carried me on the beach. I tried to talk, but instead of words, groans of pain were coming out. The others were shocked when they saw me. The bites on my hands were bad, and the scratches on my legs were still bleeding. I saw what was happening around me. All of them were running around, and I felt some hands on me at one point, but after that, I fainted again.

I woke up on the ship, with Adam and Stefan next to me, treating my wounds. I saw Stefan sewing a bite from my hand, but I couldn't feel anything. It was probably the adrenaline, or I became immune to pain. After a few minutes, I started feeling something. When he put the needle in my hand the last time, I screamed in pain. I felt that deep into my soul. Crista brought me some water to drink. It took a while until I got back to my senses. Deby bent over me.

"You look... well..." she says.

"Like hell, I know" I say.

"I can't do the spell with you like this. We'll have to wait until you get better."

"Are you insane? How much? Two weeks? A month? I am not going to stay here this long, after what happened in the forest!"

"Adam told me you killed the wolves."

"What if there are more?"

"I don't think there are any left, but we are ready in case there are" says Adam bending over me.

"Are you ok?" I ask him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he says. "Are you really asking me this right now?"

"It's a flaw of mine, to think about others..."

"It's quality" says Kate walking by.

Everyone stared at me and treated me like I was dying. I didn't feel too away from it, but I knew that wasn't my limit.

"Hey, you know what? Stop treating me like a glass that is going to break! I will be ok! I survived, and I will heal. As long I'm still breathing, I will move on. If the wounds close in a week, we're leaving this place! I'm not planning to stay here for long."

"I brought you here..." whispers Deby.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for one second! You're not the one who started a fight with the wolves in the first place, and more, you're not the one that messed things up with them!"

"Yes, Jo. But I am supposed to be your Protector, whatever that means, am I'm not doing an excellent job at it! I don't know what to do! I don't know if the spell is going to work! What if we land somewhere else?"

"That's possible" says Kate. "But at least we will get out of here because as you see too, it's not safe anymore, and I don't want to know what's hiding in this forest. "

We remained on the ship that evening. It felt safer. I rested a lot. When I opened my eyes it was dark. Andy was standing on my right and Deby with Adam on my left. Crista and Stefan were sleeping, and Kate wasn't around.

"This damned island" I hear Adam.

"Why are you saying this?" asks Andy.

"Because I lived here long enough to know that some very weird things take place here!"

"Hey, Jo! You're awake" says Deby.

"Yes, I was listening to Adam's story. Continue, Adam."

"When we got here, we found inscriptions and bodies. The legends said that no one ever left the island. That was right because many found their end here. But I have a hope in you. I know we will make it. Garet wanted to take us  somewhere we could have started over, but he needed a full sacrifice because no one knew it was another spell!"

"We will make it!" I whisper.

"Do you think that is a good idea to show up again in Eva's territory?" asks Andy

"I believe that we are stronger together now. We've been through a lot, and I know that we can handle Eva. Before, I didn't know what was happening, but now I think that we have a chance. And as long as there is a chance, I will take it, if this means us leaving here."

"I hope you're right" whispers Andy.

In the night, I heard Crista sighing. A waft passed by my nose and I opened my eyes. People were sleeping on the ship, everyone besides Crista, who was looking over the deck. I didn't know what was in her mind, but I didn't want to disturb her thoughts, so I closed my eyes again.

Each of us was an alive story. At the same time, I realized how fragile we were. Apart all of these, I felt lucky. The life should be appreciated, also every moment with our loved ones. I was motivated to heal fast because I wanted to go home. Even if there Eva was waiting for me, I still wanted to go. If someone was going to leave Vals for good, Eva was going to be the one. I had been through so much to realize that, but it's better late than never.

# CHAPTER 21

It is perfectly reasonable to feel sometimes angry or sad, as long as we don't let these feelings overtake us. We all have moments when we feel the world is ending right there for us, but it is just an illusion. An illusion which we have to defeat with a smile. We are humans, and we have feelings, which is perfectly normal.

In the morning, I woke up with Adam next to me. He was feeling guilty about what happened to me; I could tell that by the look in his eyes.

"Adam, you don't have to babysit me all night."

"I promised you that we would be ready if anything happens."

"It's not your fault for what occurred in the woods."

"Yes, it is, because I couldn't stop Garet and I was the one who needed to be saved. This is why you almost died."

"Look, I don't understand what happened there, I admit this. You are powerful, and I don't know why you couldn't defeat Garet, who was also injured. But all that matters now is that we are both ok."

"I don't know what to say anymore, but something weird has happened all along on this island."

"What do you mean?"

"I tried to turn then, but I couldn't."

I looked at him, and I stretched my hand to him. He looked at me, and he grabbed it. I wanted everything to be ok. I was trying so hard to keep myself together, even if I was screaming on the inside. I wanted to get out of that island. I wasn't blaming Adam for what happened back there, but I didn't want either to live through that again. I felt weak but, at the same time, powerful. I had been through a lot, and I was stronger than before. I felt like I was changed.

I was living with the impression that the island was some transit place. I didn't understand the thing with other dimensions, but I had the feeling that I was going to. I was thinking how Adam could have lived for so long and to remain young. What if his passing through the portal was going to hurt him? I liked the idea of being young forever. Who wouldn't want this?

Time was passing quickly, and we moved definitively on the ship. It wasn't safe on the beach, after what had happened to me. Stefan, Andy, Kate, and Crista went to gather some food, enough for a week. I remained with Deby and Adam. It was time to clean my wounds, so Deby said she was going to do that for me. Adam was on my left. He had tried to turn, but he couldn't. Something had happened to him that day.

"Why do you want to leave this place so badly?" I ask Adam. "Don't get me wrong, but it has been a long time since you left our world. All the people you know are probably dead."

He looked at me, and I realized that I touched a sensitive part of him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to say anything that might disturb you..."

He wasn't saying anything, but his brown eyes were reflecting a lifetime. Feelings absorbed him, and I could see that in his eyes.  I took his hand, and he looked at me.

"When the portal took me, I had nothing to lose. My family was just killed in the war, and I was all alone. I was just a twenty-five person who didn't know what to with his life anymore. I was running to find shelter between the ruins left by the attack. I climbed on a building. I took the decision to end my life. Sooner or later, I was going to die anyway. I didn't have where to go or what to do anymore. And then it happened. It was a bright light, and I suddenly woke up here, surrounded by strangers. After many years, we realized that neither of us had changed. Then we knew that time stopped at the moment we passed through that portal."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Why should I be? I lived a long life, and I stayed young. I had the chance to do a lot of good lately, and I am glad that I chose this path. Damn, I am pleased that I can't turn anymore!"

"Aren't you afraid to die? What if when you go through the portal, your youth disappears? And you will wake up at seventy years or worse?"

"Dust? A pack of bones?" he laughs.

"I don't think this is funny" I say.

"Are you worried about me?"

"You saved me. This is the least I can do" I say ironically.

"And you ended up in this situation by killing two wolves, to save my skin. So we are even. You don't owe me anything."

"This is me, just like Kate said... I have this quality. I care about the people around me."

"And less about the situation this thing brings you into. Have you ever thought this is not good? "

"Believe me. I know what you're saying. This is the reason Andy broke up with me. But I can't, when I feel I must do something and I know it depends on me, the consequences don't matter if I can save a life. I don't think that I could get hurt."

"You're an optimist. This can be a good thing sometimes. Now it turned out well in your opinion?" he asks pointing at Deby, who was cleaning my wound and assisting to the discussion.

"I'm alive. I will be fine, so yes... "

He rolled his eyes and stood up to look offshore. Deby finished bandaging my wounds. They burned me, and I was feeling some awful pain coming from the inside. I closed my eyes, and I said to Deby:

"Give me your hand."

She looked at me in a strange way.

"Are you going to help me or should I manage to get up myself?" I ask irritated.

She grabbed my hand, and I tried to get up. My body was hurting, but I didn't have anything broken. The next minute I was standing on my feet, supported by a barrel of rum. I couldn't use my left hand. It was pretty damaged. I could use the right hand and stand, but I was facing some awful pains.

"Are you ok?" she asks.

"Yes" I say grinding.

She went down to the cabin to take the medical equipment, and I remained supported by the barrel. Then Adam came.

"You don't have to prove anything to anyone", he says. "I know how to recognize a lie when I hear it, and I know the pain when I see it in someone's eyes, or when I hear it in the voice."

He grabbed me on the middle and told me to relax.

"I want to get out of here" I say.

"We will. Just take it slow. "

I threw myself on the ground, and I closed my eyes.

"I know her since we were kids" says Deby to Adam. "She's the most stubborn person that I know. When she wants something, you can't stop her. It can be bad sometimes. "

"I noticed that" says Adam. "She thought she convinced us"

"I am afraid" Deby says. "I hope I can get you out of here."

"It will work. The thing is that it's not up to you entirely where we will land. I heard that you are not very experienced."

"Are you saying that is possible to arrive in another place like this?"

"I think this is possible. I hope we will enter into our world. Anyway, here is not safe anymore. Let's hope it will be okay. All that matters now is to get out of here. "

The others arrived on the ship when Deby was having that discussion with Adam. They had food for more than a week. I was thinking about Kate and how much she had changed lately. She was a better person. She was an entirely different person. Everything started from her interest of saving my life, to save herself, but it seemed that something made her consider the fact that my life was worth saving, even if we weren't connected. And I started to believe that too. She would  have felt something in the moment of my attack if our lives were connected, so the spell that Helen did had no effect on her.

I was looking at her, and I was trying to hate her with all my heart when I remembered that George and Sabrina were dead because of her. Then I remembered that she was under a spell. What she had done in that time wasn't her fault. Then I remembered how she killed the captain and it started getting on my nerves again. But again, I thought that Andy killed the other one, accidentally of course, but he still did. Kate was always right. I had a shiver when I realized that I might start to like her. Damn, I would have missed her ironical jokes. The conclusion was that she was here with us because I told her she was my sister. Helen never finished that spell and Kate tried to save me for nothing. I felt like my head was about to explode.

I threw away these thoughts, and I looked at the others. Andy was sitting on the other side of the deck. He had sadness in his eyes, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for it. I got used to the thought that we were never going to be together again, but it still hurt. I knew that I was always going to love him, no matter what. He was a part of my soul, and I couldn't just get rid of him. I knew that he felt the same way, but it was embarrassing. I was thinking about the morning when I will wake up and realize that I would not feel the same. Then I will know that was going to be the day that I could move on.

I looked at Crista and Stefan, and I smiled. I was happy for them, especially for Crista. She was in love, and I had never seen her so full of life. Every time I thought about how worst was this situation, I remembered that something good came out of it: Crista and Stefan's relationship.

I was thinking of something else. Kate. Her changing was a good thing. It's not easy for a person to change that fast, but there was a possibility that she was that way long before Helen found her. It was Deby, who in her quick and desperate way to set things right she amused all of us. She was spreading energy all around, and she was there for me. And it was Adam. He saved my life, and I saved his. We could have considered ourselves even, but I felt like I still owed him something. He always tried to keep me safe, advise me or guide me. He knew me from the inside, and it was like I was looking in the mirror sometimes, the thing that frightened me. He knew how to keep a secret. We were getting along so good because he was just like me. I saw in him a good friend, even if I knew him for a short time. I didn't use to have blind fate in people, but Adam earned it since the first moment. Ok, theoretically from the second.

# CHAPTER 22

The days were passing, and I was already feeling better. The scratches started itching me, and only the bite on the left hand was still hurting me, but it wasn't an insupportable pain. I managed to get up on my own and walk on the deck on the third day. Now I was walking without problems. When my hand started hurting badly, I just ignored it. I needed to get better soon, so in ten days I was ready to go. At least that was the impression I left among the others.

"Come on, gather around me!" says Deby. "Let's make a circle and start this."

We put the ingredients in a barrel, and Andy approached me with a knife. Stefan held a cup under my hand. Crista threw inside a bracelet, which she had from the beginning of high school. That was the ingredient that connected us to Vals because it was made by her hands, from a tree in our garden.

"Are you ready?" asks Andy.

"Of course!" I say.

"I will try to make it hurt less."

"It's ok. Just let's get this over with!"

Andy cut my skin in my right hand, leaving a small mark. I didn't feel anything, and I didn't know if it was because of all the pain I endured before, or I just couldn't feel the small wounds anymore. My blood mixed with the ingredients and Deby started the spell. In the first seconds, nothing happened. Finally, from the barrel started coming out some black smoke and it covered us. We took each other's hands and then we saw that white light. It seemed like it was cutting through the smoke.

"It worked!" shouts Deby.

"We're finally going back to unhealthy food!" says Andy happy.

"I miss the coffee" I grumble.

"Let's go home!" exclaims Crista.

Crista's voice was the last thing I had heard before the bright light covered us. We were going home. Even if we didn't know what was expecting us back there, if we were wanted by the police or by Eva, I was still excited.

It's weird how you can attach to some people that are not even your blood, how you consider them your family, how you would do anything for them, and the ones that are your flesh and blood are simply strangers that you have to accept into your life.

I felt water in my mouth, nose, lungs. I was struggling to get out. The adrenaline took control of me, and I was trying to reach the shore. The wounds were hurting me badly, but I had to keep  going. Around me, my friends were doing the same thing. Stefan was screaming Crista's name. Kate was swimming with Deby on her back. Andy and Adam were heading to the shore. I looked for Crista, and I saw her on Stefan's back. It was so quiet. We were all out of the water,  but nobody said a thing. We were still recovering from the shock. The portal had thrown us into a lake. Were we home? Something wasn't right. It was all so dusty around.

"It's Orin Lake" says Crista.

"Something's wrong" says Kate.

Everything was burned down. Everywhere you looked it was gray.

"What happened here?" asks Deby desperately.

"I think we should have a look around to see" adds Kate.

"We're home" whispers Andy.

We went slowly through the town. The rising sun was our guide. When I stepped on the street, my eyes got wet. The whole town was a ruin. The houses were burned down, damaged, and the streets were desolated. There were still standing some old buildings. There was no one in that town. And it was too quiet.

"What the hell happened to our town?" asks Deby.

"Something tells me that we don't have from whom to find out" says Andy.

We continued straight. With every step, it was raising a cloud of dust. The town that once was green and full of life was now looking like a ruin, like after a war. We arrived in front of my house, or what was left of it. I stepped over the burned doorstep. All that was left there were the floor from the living room and something that used to be a wall. A shiver went down my spine. My eyes got wet, but I swallowed my tears and moved forward. I looked at Crista. She was wiping her tears. It was nothing left of our home. I threw myself in the dust. I looked up at the sky.

"I will wait outside. I can't stay here anymore" says Crista,

I nodded as an approval. I was full of dust and ash. I took a deep breath; I left a tear to flow down my cheek, then I swallowed the rest of them.

"Are you ok?" asks Andy.

I looked at him, and I responded:

"I think we all feel the same way. There is nothing left of this town, as far as I can tell."

"Yes, but we weren't sentimentally attached to the house like you."

"You're right, but I will be okay. "

He gave me his hand and helped me to get up. I cleaned myself of dust, and we kept going until we saw Deby's house. It was the same, burned to the ground. Deby held herself together, but I knew that she was screaming on the inside.

"I'm not going in there" she says.

We continued walking in that town until we arrived in front of the Smith's house. Their bar, their house, everything was down. We sat disoriented on the ground. We didn't have another place to go.

The destiny got us back here. The place where everything had begun. "Home." We were in Vals, but it didn't look like my childhood's town. I felt like I lost everything with my home. I haven't ever thought about this ending. I always thought that I was going to come back home and everything will be just as before. I was now standing in a ghost town, a ruin. Nobody ever prepared me for this moment, when I had to give up on everything that I didn't think I would ever lose.

# CHAPTER 23

Sometimes we broke our hearts by expecting too much. We wanted so bad to come back home, but we found this instead. We looked lost at each other, without the strength of going on. There was so much incertitude among us. We had lost all, but we still had each other, and that gave us strength.

"Pssht!" I heard from behind some ruins.

I looked that way, but I thought I imagined things.

"Psssht! Hey, come over here, quickly!" says the voice.

We got up and went there. A little boy, who was about fourteen years old, looked at us scared. He checked around and said:

"Quick, get in here!" he says, taking us to an improvised house.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I am Sammy."

"I am Jo. They are Stefan, Crista, Andy, Adam and Kate."

"Oh my God! Are you Josephine? "

At that moment, we all took a defensive position. We didn't know what was next, so we wanted to be ready for anything.

"Yes, that's me. Where have you heard about me?"

"That sick woman... She came four years ago in the town, and she burned down your house. Then she burned the houses of your friends. It seemed like she was looking for you desperately."

"Eva..."

"Yes, that was her name. Then she took us all, and who didn't know who you were or where you were... she killed them all!"

"Oh my God!" shouts Crista.

"I can't believe this!" I say shocked.

"One by one... I was ten years then."

"Wait a minute!" says Stefan.

"Ten years? How old are you now?" asks Andy.

"It's been four years. I am fourteen now. She killed them all! Nobody knew anything about you or your friends. I ran, and I stayed hidden in the forest."

"How is it possible? Four years? We were on the island for a couple of months!" says Deby.

"The portals... We lost track of time!" says Kate.

"I didn't know that was possible" says Adam.

I couldn't get rid of the shock on my face. I was angry. Eva killed so many innocent people to find me.

"Sammy, is anyone else here, besides you?" I ask.

"No. I survived on my own. After she had burned the whole town, she left. The fire took over the forest, so I found shelter by the lake. Then I made that shelter, and I waited. I waited for someone to come, but nobody showed up. "

"How is this even possible? Police? Anyone?" asks Andy.

"Well, the last time when I watched TV before Eva came in town, there was something about war... politics... I didn't understand. I was too young, but now I would understand. But I don't know where to look for the answer. Something happened to the world. Before she came, there were a lot of warplanes and helicopters. Then nobody came."

"Are you telling us that it has been a war that destroyed the world?" asks Stefan.

"What else could it be, Stefan?" says Kate. "No one came to save this child for more than four years!"

"I hope I helped you. I will be here if you need me" says Sammy.

"Do you want to come with us?" I ask.

"I feel safe here, and I can take care of myself. I advise you to do the same. It's silent here. I don't know what you will find out there."

"We will go to see what is happening" I say.

I left with a strange feeling in my heart. We were leaving a child behind, but we couldn't take him if he didn't want to come. It had been four years. Something happened with the world, and we were stuck. We didn't know what happened, but we wanted to find out. We settled at the exit of the town, in a ruined house. We made fire there. The next day we were going to leave Vals, to see what had happened around us.

"Hey, look what I found!" says Kate.

"Volkswagen Transporter! This is so cool!" says Andy.

"It would be a good idea not to continue our way on foot" I say.

"Does anyone know how to start it?" says Deby.

"I know" says Stefan.

He managed to start the car in five minutes. It was a big van, and we all had a lot of space in there. And it was blue. This was going to be our car. After we admired it and tried it, we went into the building. Kate remained to guard, and we got some sleep.

In the morning, we got up and hit the road. Stefan was driving. Andy was in the right seat, and the rest of us in the back. At least we were not walking.

I had always wanted to travel with people I love in a big van, to see the world. I'd never thought that my dream was going to look like this in reality. The others seemed to adapt too fast, and I was wondering why it took so much for me. When I got used on the island, we were forced to get out of there. The same was when I decided to stay home and not to go to college before this whole thing started. Now I was trying to adapt with the returning home, but something was telling me that I was struggling for nothing.

"Home" was not what it used to be. In fact, "home" was now a feeling more than a place. The people by my side made me keep going, even if I felt like I was losing everything.

The sun was shining ahead us, and the wind was blowing the trash and the dust in the air. Everything around us was too gray, untouched, dead. I had a lump in my throat. I gulped, and I put my hand on the forehead. Something wasn't right, and I didn't understand a lot of things.

# CHAPTER 24

"We should stop to provide us some food" says Kate.

"Good idea" adds Adam.

We stopped at the first shop on the side of the road. Everything was shabby, even after we left the town. I had a small hope that it would be different. Now, when I was looking ahead, I saw only ghost towns. We got inside, and we took all we could find. From knives and medical stuff to pens. Then we continued our way. We didn't see any humans or animals. We were driving on a forest road. We were on alert, in case we saw any movement.

One of our wishes was granted, and that was the one where we asked for anything else to eat besides exotic fruits. Now we had the car filled with preserves and other silly stuff, that probably didn't have an expiration date. Adam was amazed by some things which he tasted for the first time. "At least some of us should be happy," I thought while I looked out the on window.

After three hours of driving, Stefan saw the leaves moving in the forest, and he slowed down. Two people jumped right in front of the car, fighting with two Cerberuses. Stefan accelerated and hit one on the creatures; then he stopped the vehicle. We opened the doors and shouted at them to get up. They didn't think too much about it, and they got in. We closed the doors and Stefan continued driving. He managed to get away from the other creature that was following us.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"They caught us pretty bad" says the girl, lifting her shirt.

"We will pull over somewhere safe, and we will take care of you" I said.

"My brother's hurt too" she says pulling off his blouse.

"We will take care of him too" says Adam.

"I am Jo" I said, and I left the others to introduce themselves.

"I am Julia."

"Aaron" says the man.

Julia was a tall and blonde girl, with some beautiful blue eyes. She seemed friendly. Aaron was too quiet. He was a tall man, and he looked like he was a Viking from the movies. The same as his sister, he had blue eyes and his hair was light brown, with golden reflections, and long to the ears. It was something strange about him, but I couldn't tell right away.

"What were you doing there, in the woods?" I ask.

"Running from that damned creatures, what else could we do?" says Aaron ironically.

"Aaron, shut up!" says Julia. "If you are going to be as rude as always, you better shut up! Please excuse my brother. He is a little... how can I say..."

"Impertinent" I add.

Aaron makes a contempt sound, and he curls into the corner.

"Look, I don't know how to explain our situation. It's kind of weird" says Julia.

"Nothing is weird on these days" adds Kate.

"We were home, preparing to eat when it appeared that strange bright light. Then we were here" she says.

"Oh, God!" says Deby.

"I think you messed up the years and the worlds!" says Kate to Deby.

"Then we were here, but we were in 2016 when we left, and now we are in 2020! At least that's what we saw in some newspapers we found here. It then appeared a lot of creatures and all we did for two weeks was to run from them. "

"Creatures that we knew they existed only in fairy tales!" adds Aaron with his eyes closed.

"I don't know what we would have done if you didn't find us! Thank you so much!" exclaims Julia.

"It's going to be okay" I say.

"We will stop here to take a look at your wounds" states Stefan.

"We will take a look around, to see if we can find something useful" says Kate.

"Look! A gun shop there!" observes Stefan.

"Let's see what's inside" adds Crista.

"Can you stay with Deby and take care of them? Can you handle it?" asks Stefan.

"It's ok" I say.

I stayed in the car with Deby and the two brothers. She sat next to Julia, and I looked at Aaron.

"Take off your shirt" I say.

"Have you done this before?" he asks.

"No, but I will practice on you" I laughed.

"I see we get along in an ironical way" he adds.

"Oh, God! Here are the most cynical people of the group! Kate's missing."

"Ah!" he grinds his teeth.

"Hold still! I will disinfect it, and I will stitch it! It's a nasty cut."

"It's not uglier that what you have on your hand" he says pointing at my scars.

"We are here to help you, not to talk about me!" I say irritated.

I disinfected his wound, angry that he talked about my scars. Then I started sewing at Deby's indications. I was almost done when he continued:

"Hey, can you be just a little gentle? I was never in this situation, but I think it should hurt less! "

"You can do it yourself if you are not pleased!" I screamed. "You are not in a hospital, in case you didn't notice, we don't have any anesthetic, and I am not a damned nurse if you can't see, and I don't even know why am I still here, trying to explain it to you!"

I got down from the car, trying to calm down, leaving him with his wound opened.

"Aaron!" screams Julia. "Stop it! This girl is trying to help you, and you're acting like a jerk!"

"Hey! Are you going to leave me like this?" he shouts after me.

I turned around, and I threw him an angry look. I thought I was going to punch him in the face soon, so I went into the store. I got out with a lot of cigarette cartridges. I threw them into the car, and I lighted a cigarette. Deby finished the job for me. Shortly, the others were back, and we were ready to go. I was still looking angry at Aaron. He gave me the pip, but I didn't think that he did it on purpose, just that was the way he was.

"Do you know something? Anything else besides the fact that we are in 2020?" asks Andy.

"No" says Julia.

We decided to stop on a field, to make a fire and rest there. It was going to be dark soon. We all went after firewood, besides Deby and Crista, who stayed by the car. I looked at the way Aaron lifted the wood. It was something that made me angry about him, and I don't know if it was the way he lifted them, but it was the way he threw them near the car. I swallowed my comments. Andy lighted the fire, and we all sat around it.

"Tell us something about you" says Stefan.

"Well, I was in college. I had just arrived home, and I was preparing something to eat. Then Aaron showed up, who is a rebellious guy..."

"Adventurous" he adds smiling.

He had a gorgeous smile. He seemed another person when he smiled. He had a big problem, though. His character was negligent. If I could make a comparison, it fit perfectly what it is said about that apple that looks perfect on the outside, but it's rotten on the inside.

"Yeah, he liked adventures. He never had a relationship or something serious. He's the type that breaks hearts. Anyway, he came home, and he had just broken up with this girl. He was with her for about two days, and he was telling me about his day, then when I took his hand to explain that it's not a good thing what he does, the light appeared and threw us in the forest."

"Look. I'm a witch, and I caused that light, but I don't know if it has anything to do with you. I hope you don't think we are a bunch of crazy people" says Deby.

Aaron lifted an eyebrow, and we remained stunned because we didn't expect her to say all those things so fast. We explained them for the next hours about our situation. Julia was fascinated.

"I can't believe this. You have days! Something wants you alive!" she says.

"Yeah" I add.

"I'm sorry that you've been through a lot and lost so many people. We are alone since childhood. Our parents died when we were very young, and we had to handle ourselves. "

"I'm sorry" I said.

After a half an hour of stories, we laid around the fire. I waited like that for ten minutes, but I couldn't fall asleep, so I got up. I went to the car, and I sat there. I looked at the sky. I stayed there for a while; then I saw Adam coming at me.

"Can't you sleep?" I ask him.

"No, you?"

"No... I think I'm still filled with adrenaline."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes. I'm just confused. This situation..."

"Jo" he says suddenly.

"What is it, Adam?"

"I have to tell you something, but I don't know how to do it without sounding weird."

"Just tell me."

"I'm in love."

"Adam! That's good that you have the power to do this under these circumstances. Tell me, who's the lucky one?"

"You..." he answers me shortly.

My smile disappeared from my face. I wasn't expecting that. I was in a situation that I didn't know what to say. I looked at him, and I realized that whatever I did or said, it wasn't what he expected me to do. I was going to hurt him, in a way or another.

"Adam, I don't know what to say..." I whispered babbling.

"You don't have to say anything, Jo. If you felt the same, I suppose you would have told me. I just wanted to be honest with you. I don't want you to feel odd around me from now on, but I just wanted you to know. You probably love Andy. "

"Stop" I said. "What was between Andy and me, well... it passed. It's over, and I will always love him. But this doesn't mean that I'm still in love with him. I moved on, Adam. This is not the problem. The problem is that I don't feel the same. "

"I understand" he says.

"No, I don't think you do. In this time that we all spent together, like a family, I started to care about you, to love you. But the same as I love the others. Not in that way..."

He was looking at me, and that made me boil inside. I knew that whatever I said, it couldn't get him to feel better or to take his words back.

"Adam, I don't want anything between us to change because of this."

"I'm glad that you are honest. I promise you everything will be as it was before. I will try to pretend that this night never existed."

He headed to sleep before I could find my words. I remained there; more stressed that I was before that. I put my hands on my head, and I laid down. I fell asleep. I didn't notice how time passed, but it was already morning when I opened my eyes. The sun was on my face and the first face I saw that morning was Aaron's.

"Morning, sunshine!" he says jumping over me in the car.

"Morning" I say.

"It seems that you have some admirers" he continues laughing.

"What?" I asked sleepily.

"Adam. How could you turn him down? I get it, you broke up with Andy, but Adam? Let's be honest; he's a handsome guy. A man is telling you this!" he laughs.

"Aaron, shut up! You don't know anything about my life, so don't judge! And how do you even know about this?"

"I was up last night, and I overheard your sweet and romantic conversation" he says laughing.

"Shut up!" I say grumpily.

I woke up in a bad mood, and after the conversation with Aaron, my day would probably have been worse. I have never met such a person until that moment. I couldn't stand Aaron. He made me angry every time I saw him. I had a feeling that he was the one who was going to screw up all my next days. This if he would have stayed with us, of course. I started to hope that they will go another way soon. I felt sorry about Julia because she was a nice person, but I didn't like Aaron at all.

# CHAPTER 25

I was the last one who didn't get into the car. We had to go, so I stopped making excuses, and I got in. I sat on the only seat left: next to Aaron. As I said, my day wasn't going to be that good. He was just sitting there, impassive and with his eyes closed. He was not interested in anything and anyone. He opened an eye from time to time, to check what was happening around him. He kept pissing me off. On the other side, Julia was very talkative and funny. I couldn't understand how they were brothers. "Maybe he's adopted too," I thought amused.

"We need to get to a gas station" says Stefan. "We're running out of fuel."

"Pay some attention, maybe you'll see one" says Crista from his right.

"Pff, great" grumbles Stefan.

"What?" asks Julia.

"It's a dead end" says Stefan.

"Great" adds Aaron ironical.

I had an intention to tell him that nobody asked for his opinion, but I kept the words to myself. I threw him an angry look instead.

"We need to go back" says Stefan.

"I saw a gas station at about three kilometers from here, on the right. I think we can get back there" says Adam.

Aaron was looking at him and laughing, and lifted his eyebrow from time to time and looked at me. We arrived at the gas station and got out of the car to see if we could find anything useful inside, while Crista and Stefan filled up. It was funny to have all we wanted without paying, but not under these circumstances. We got inside and started looking for something useful. Suddenly I heard a gruff voice.

"Deborah, it was about time to show up. I'm waiting for you for a very long time."

I took my knife out, and I went to the place where I heard the voice. Deby was frozen. In front of her was an old woman, who was sitting on a chair with her back to us, looking at the window.

"Who are you?" asks Deby.

"Someone who's waiting for you for a long time. You can put the knife down, Josephine" she says.

I didn't know what was happening, but a shiver went down my spine. That woman knew our names. Behind us appeared Aaron, Julia, Andy, and Adam. We all waited for the old lady to say something else.

"Deborah" says the woman and turns around. "I have something to give you. Come closer."

"I think it's ok" she says and approaches her.

The lady grabbed her hands and continued:

"I don't believe you understand the power you have or the role you play into this. Deborah, you caused this. "

"What?" she asks scared.

"Let her go!" I say getting close.

"I just want to help you find the truth and to guide you, Josephine. It's no need to be violent."

"Jo, let's hear what she has to say!" says Andy, grabbing my hand.

"You" continues the lady "you provoked a superposition of time when you did the first spell. Because your first crime wasn't something human, you were given more power than you can control and when you released it, time went off the track. The world went mad, everything accelerated, and the human kind started to destroy itself. The viruses were released from the labs, the people went on wrong directions started attacking, they started wars, and we got here. Every time you release power, the world changes."

"Did I bring the end of the world?" asks Deby shocked.

"I'm afraid so, Deborah. You are the one who brought the world closer to an end. When you did the second spell, you freed some supernatural creatures from their world. They were walking among us before that, but not so many of them. You made this world a joining of other worlds, times and creatures. "

"How do I stop this? How can I make the world as it was before?" asks Deby desperately.

"I'm afraid that I can't give you this answer."

"But who?"

"You will find out when the time is right. Take this. It will help you in the next spells, says the lady handing her an old book. If you do the spells after these instructions, you will not free supernatural creatures every time you do a spell."

"I don't want to do anything anymore if this is the reason why the world is how it is!"

"My dear, I'm waiting here for you for four years, and every day I prepared myself for this moment. I have waited long to give you this book. I moved paths, and I changed destinies for you to come to me. My role is over. I just deliver what is given to me. I don't ask questions. "

She got up, but I took her hand. I felt that she didn't tell us all she knew. I felt her old skin in my palm.

"Wait" I said.

At that moment, she looked in my eyes, trying to see inside my mind. Her eyes turned orange for a second. She shivered and pulled her hand.

"Oh my God! You are the Traveler!"

"What?"

"You have no idea what you are, don't you?"

"I think you are not going anywhere until you tell me!"

"You don't understand! Even if I want to tell you, I can't because I will find my ending. All I can say is that you are the key to this situation. You need to defeat your fears because people are dying around you!"

"How do you know so much?"

"Your future is foggy, and people are going to die if you don't follow your path. I haven't seen something like you before, but I heard some things."

"Tell me what you know! What am I?" I screamed.

I grabbed her with both hands on the shoulders, and I held her. A bright orange light covered her, and she left behind some orange dust. I fell in it, on my knees, disappointed. Adam helped me get up.

"Where the hell did she go?" asks Deby.

"She fulfilled her destiny, and she died" says Kate who watched all from behind. "She was a moraine, one of the sisters that predict the fate."

"And you know this how?" asks Aaron.

"By the orange dust that she left behind" adds Kate. "And Aaron, I know more than you, so next time just take my word for it."

We got out of there disturbed. I was full of orange dust, so I started shaking it off. What the moraine said to me was a lot to swallow. I tried to understand the situation, but I was overwhelmed by it.

"What took you so long?" asks Stefan.

"We were held by one of the moraines" explains Kate. "Let's go. We will tell you everything on the road."

We left that place. Deby was studying the book. I was in a panic. My heart started racing in my chest, and every time I remembered what the moraine said to me, that people were going to die, I felt like I couldn't breathe. My eyes got wet. I started trembling and breathing faster and faster.

"Jo? What is it?" asks Andy.

"Are you ok?" I hear Adam.

"Stop the car! Now!" I scream.

Stefan stopped, and I got out and started running. I wanted someone to explain to me what was happening, what was next, and more, I wanted to know what was I and what role I had in all of that.

"I got this" says Adam and runs after me. "What's wrong?" he asks me grabbing my hand.

"Leave me alone, Adam!"

"Do you think that you're going to run like this until tomorrow? If you do, I will run after you until you tell me what is wrong."

"Adam, don't you get it? All the people around me are killed because of me!" I say stopping.

He put his big hands on my head and looked into my eyes. He was bigger than me, but he couldn't handle me. I saw the others getting down from the car, assisting to the show where I had the main role.

"George, Sabrina, Sebastian and the others, Nadia and Robert!" I screamed. "They are all dead because of me!"

"I killed some of them" says Kate.

"But because of me! You wanted me dead!"

"This story is getting better and better. How can you travel together after you tried to kill her? You forgot to tell us this" says Aaron ironically.

"She's my sister! But this is not your business!" shouts Kate.

"Damn, don't you see that something is wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing is right! It's the end of the world!" says Deby. "Let's all blame us! If it's like that, it's my fault because I brought the end of the world! "

"Enough!" shouts Kate. "We all contributed to something, so let's not blame ourselves. Let's focus on what we can do next. We found out what happened to the world. It's a start. Now let's see what's next."

The others nodded their heads. Adam took my hand and dragged me to the car. I didn't want to go, but I couldn't stay there either, so I walked.

"Let's go further" says Crista. "I don't like this place."

"We will stop further to get some sleep. We all need it" says Stefan.

I got into the car, and I put my head between my knees. I had a strange feeling of fear, incertitude. I was sending it to the others. I knew that because when I looked around, all of them were staring at me.

Deby hugged me, trying to make it easy for me. Adam was staring at me with pity, which I couldn't stand, and Crista was worried. Julia was confused, and so was Kate. She wanted to say something, but she changed her mind. It was nothing left to say. I thought I was going crazy, but I hoped that I was wrong. I was stronger than that, I knew it. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened them, I looked around me. Nobody was staring at me anymore. It had worked.

I took the decision to control my emotions better because I wanted to get through that without going crazy. Aaron looked at me thoughtfully for a few seconds. I waited for an irony, a comment, something that could have made me to punch him and to get rid of my anger, but I didn't get any of that. That shocked me somehow, but I needed to find some other reason to release my anger. I closed my eyes, and I fell asleep for a while.

# CHAPTER 26

They say you have to be strong, even when everything falls apart. Even if I was prepared for what was coming and I knew that people were going to die around me, I couldn't have been ready for that feeling. I was looking at them and thinking with fear what if one of them was gone. Maybe the only one I wouldn't miss was Aaron.

"Are you feeling better?" asks Julia.

"I will be good, but I'm tired of what keeps happening around me and because of me."

"Oh my God! There is someone hanged in the doorstep of that house! It looks like a child..." says Crista.

Stefan stopped the car. It was a child there. Crista and Kate ran at him. When they arrived, Crista started crying, and Kate took him down, but it was too late.

"He was shot first, and then he was hanged up here" explains Kate.

I saw Kate coming at me. She pushed me aside, but I passed by her.

"Don't go!" I heard her saying.

It was too late. Sammy was lying on the ground. I felt tears on my cheeks. Who could have done this to a child? I felt cold shivers. The world was ending, and a terrifyingly thought appeared in my mind: what if some humans did that? I didn't want to believe that the real monsters were people.

"How is this even possible? We left him behind us!" I say.

"We left him, and now he's dead! It's our fault!" says Crista.

"What's wrong with this world?" asks Julia.

For several minutes, we stayed there quietly, without knowing what to do besides wiping our tears and being angry or sad. The last mark of innocence was gone from the world.

"We need to bury him" says Andy. "Adam and I will take care of this."

They took the body and went near the forest to bury him. At that moment, I saw Aaron with a different look in his eyes, something I'd never seen before on him. It appeared that it was some humanity under that tough guy mask. However, I still wanted to punch him in the face. I wiped my tears and got up.

"Let's see what's inside. They put him here with a purpose" says Crista.

"I will go" says Kate.

Finally, I got inside too, with Kate, Crista, and Deby. Stefan, Aaron, and Julia stayed outside. We climbed on the rotting and unstable stairs. It was an old house, and the floor was creaking under our feet. We split up and went in different rooms, to cover a large area faster. I looked outside on the  window. Then I saw them. Two manananggals were approaching behind the ones left outside. I could tell by the gray dust they were leaving behind them.

"Stefan! Behind you!" I screamed.

I wanted to turn around, but I felt someone grabbed my hair. A manananggal was staying behind me. I started fighting. I heard the girls screaming in the other rooms, a sigh that they were in trouble too. I remembered all Andy had thought me, and my soul filled with hatred when I remembered Sammy. It was them. I freed myself, and I pushed him with all my strength. In the next second, I saw him falling through the window. It wasn't time to be shocked of my force. I ran out of the room, and I saw Crista running down the stairs.

"Come on! The others need help!" she yells.

"Come on, Jo!" says Kate.

"How did you beat them?" I ask.

"Kate has some experience, and with some help from us, we did a good job together!" explains Deby.

We got out from the house and ran to the others. There was a big fight. Andy and Adam came back from the forest, and they were fighting too. There were a lot of manananggals on the ground. We ran to help them, but in the next moment, the house blew up. The explosion's blast threw me several meters away.

"It's done! We caught her inside! She's dead!" I hear a voice.

"You're an idiot! She's here!" yells another.

Andy hit him in the head, and he collapsed. The other one ran away when he saw he was outnumbered. We had won the fight. The explosion was meant for me. Then I looked around, and I transfixed.

"Crista? Where is Crista?!" I shouted.

Stefan turned white. Crista had remained stuck inside when the building had exploded. They thought she was me.

"No!" I shouted.

I ran through the house from which was coming out black smoke, but Adam stopped me. He grabbed me in his arms, and he didn't let me go. I was fighting with all my strength, but I couldn't escape from his arms.

"If you go in there, you will die!" he says.

"But my sister is in there!"

"She's gone..." whispers Stefan, falling down on his knees.

I started crying, fighting, screaming, but Adam wouldn't let me go. Stefan was sitting on the ground, with tears on his face. Crista couldn't have survived that.

"This is not possible" says Deby with her face in her palms.

I felt like the whole world was falling apart, that what the moraine had said was true, that nothing was fair. Looking around at the others, feeling their pain, watching the smoke coming out from the house, I felt a little hope. In all my grief, I had an idea. If in that world existed magic, if Deby knew how to use it, if all that I thought until then impossible it turned out to be possible, then it must have been a way.

"Deby! The book!" I yelled.

"What about it?"

"Maybe you can find a spell to do something!"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course! If any of you were in there, I would have done the same thing!"

"Fine, let's go to the car and see what we can find" says Deby not very convinced.

We moved into the car, and we studied the book for a couple of hours. Stefan thought it was a crazy thing to do and he stayed away from it. He was suffering. I felt empty, and I couldn't accept the fact that it was going to end like that. We sat there all night, looking for something that could have brought Crista back. We were living in a mixture of worlds, where magic was at every step, so I felt there could have been a loophole. In the morning, Deby shouted:

"I found something!"

"Thank God!" says Stefan. "I can't believe it!"

"But there's a problem" she continues.

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's a spell that can turn back the time. The problem is that it can't be more than eight hours and I can make it one single time. That means around the time we were in the house."

"Ok, so what's the problem?" I ask.

"We won't remember anything. The only who can remember is the one whose blood I use, and the rest will remember when it's all over. The blood will be yours because I have used it before and I know that it's working."

"Ok, let's do it!" I say.

"There's one more thing" she adds.

"What?"

"As I said, I can't do this spell more than once in my whole life. Are you sure you want to do this now?"

"I can't believe you just asked me that! She's my sister! Sure I want this!" I shouted angrily.

"Jo...?" continues Deby.

"Yes?"

"Just be careful, ok? Don't die in there, don't do anything stupid, don't try to be the hero like you always do... This is the only chance we have, so don't screw it up! You both have to get out of there alive!"

"I will bring Crista back safe, I promise!" I said and looked at Stefan.

I offered Deby what she needed, and she started the spell.

It's weird what we can do for the loved ones sometimes. We all have some madness in us that's waiting for the right time to come out. The moment of true is when we are facing the real situation, and we are given some choices that we can't refuse. The problem is that magic always comes with a price. But does it matter when you get what you want?

# CHAPTER 27

It is said that if you love, you must love with all your heart, all your soul, without regrets, as the night loves the moon and stars, as the wind loves the storm and they make chaos together. If you're not ready to deal with chaos and loss, then you are not willing to love. I didn't feel anything like that, but I felt a regret about my breakup with Andy. I was wondering if he felt the same way. Then I was looking at Adam, and I wondered what his feelings for me were. Maybe I treated him too rough, too cold, thing that wasn't really in my character. I wondered why I treated him so cold and left so many things unsaid.

Before the white light appeared, I looked at Adam. He was standing next to me, and I grabbed his hand. I felt that I had to tell him something, but I couldn't do it in time because I woke up on the stairs of the house, where I had met the manananggal. I didn't have a chance to process things for I landed right in the middle of the action. I turned around, and I saw the girls behind me.

"We need to go back, now!" I shouted.

"What's wrong?" asks Kate.

"Believe me! We need to get out of here! "

At that moment, we heard noises from outside. Downstairs, we faced three manananggals. Outside, the others jumped right at Julia, Aaron, and Stefan. We didn't prevent them, and they were taken by surprise. Something was wrong. Behind them, Andy and Adam appeared. They were not there that early. Something was different, and I didn't have time to realize what. I saw black all around. I needed to focus in order not to screw it up.

"Get out!" I yelled.

A manananggal threw over me. I hit him and freed myself, enough to shout what I needed to say.

"Crista, get out of here and don't come in, whatever happens!"

She sneaked outside, where the battle was. I saw her hitting a creature and putting it down by herself. Deby and Kate were carried outside too, by the fight. I tried to get out, but I was surprised with a lot of hits.

"Eva wants to see you!" says one of them.

"Dead!" adds the other one.

The battle moved slowly outside and left me inside with the two creatures. One of them hit me so hard that he threw me in the middle of the room. He grabbed me by my hair and hit me with my head on the wall. The blood st arted flowing on my face. Then I heard a shout.

"Get out now!" said one of them to the one next to me.

He hit me again, then he left me there, pushing something into the door to block it. Nothing was going as I planned, but I hoped that Crista was still outside. I looked up, and I saw a small window. I managed to climb and get to it. It was tiny, but I had to fit in  there. The building was going to explode any minute, so I said "Screw it!" and I hit the window with my elbow, then I threw myself out through the cullet. I fell on the ground and, in the next minute, the building exploded. Pieces of it were falling over me, so I covered my head with my arms.

Something was ringing inside my head, and I felt like it was crashing into a million pieces. I dragged myself a portion; then I managed to get up. I had pieces of glass stuck in my body, but at least I was out of there. While I was walking around the corner, I saw the others. They had won the battle. The manananggals bodies were lying on the ground, and some of them were turning into dust already.

I was looking desperate for Crista. She was there. I felt released. They saw me, so Andy and Deby ran at me. I can't describe Deby's face when she saw how I looked.

"Oh my God! You're hurt!" she says.

"I'll be fine" I say.

"We thought you were stuck inside!"

Andy hugged me. I felt my eyes closing, and I wanted to rest. I tried to stay awake. When I arrived next to the others, I noticed someone was missing. The image in front of my eyes shivered for a couple of seconds.

"Adam?! Where is he?" I shouted.

"Oh, God!" says Stefan.

"I saw him going inside after you" says Kate. "I ran after him to get inside too, but a bastard hit me. Then it blew up! I thought he got out!"

"This can't be happening..." I say with a déjà-vu sensation, and I fell on the ground. "It is not possible!"

"No..." I hear Deby. "The spell..."

People started remembering. I was sitting on my knees and crying. I had a bad injury on my head, and it was bleeding. My lip was cut, and I probably had a black eye. My ribs hurt me, and I felt pieces of glass in my body, but it didn't matter anymore. Everything comes with a price. I saved Crista, but I did something wrong, and Adam was now dead. The death was always taking its tribute. I had played with forces that I couldn't understand, and someone else paid the price.

"Jo..." says Crista coming closer to me. "You saved me..."

I hugged her. There were no words left to say. I had lost Adam, but I had Crista back again.

"We will wait for the smoke to calm down and we're going inside to look for Adam" says Andy. "He deserves a proper funeral..."

When I heard that, I started crying, and I stood up. I went to the car. I wanted to be alone, so I left when I saw people getting closer. Near us was a river, so I threw in it and started cleaning my wounds. The injury from the head and another cut from my back needed stitches, so I called Deby for help. She sat next to me, shivering. Aaron came there too, and I saw him washing his face. He was suddenly too quiet. That twisted smile disappeared from his face. When I  thought that it took the death of some people for it to go away, I felt like I was going to punch him. Deby was sewing me, but I didn't even blink. I felt the pain, but I was hiding in it. I was feeling it like a punishment. I blamed myself for Adam's death.

"Before you did the spell, I wanted to tell him I'm sorry..."

"Why?" she asks.

"Because he told me he loved me, and I responded him cold and cynical, but it doesn't matter now. I couldn't say to him anything. He's dead, and it's my fault. "

"No, it's not, Jo."

"He went inside after me! Nothing went as planned! If he hadn't loved me, he wouldn't have gone inside! Everyone who loves me dies trying to save me! It's not fair! Why them and never me?"

"You saved Crista" she whispers.

"Yes, but she's not very happy that a man died in this process..." I whispered sadly.

I wanted to go back in time, to tell Adam that I loved him, to respond differently to him, to appreciate more his love for me. He changed his destiny for me, at the time when he chose to save me on that island and to betray his friends. If he didn't save me, he would have probably been alive. What was the purpose for all of it? I lost again a person that loved me with all his soul, and I couldn't do anything about it. This was something to think about.

It was the time to look around and appreciate what was still there because life isn't always fair. You never know when is the last time you see someone, so it's better to say something good every time, so you don't have to live with regret in your soul. I thought about what was the last thing I said to Adam, but my memory didn't help me. I couldn't think of anything else but the moment when he told me that he loved me. That feeling of guilt took me over again, so I huddled and started crying. I didn't want to hear anything anymore.

I was a complicated person, but all I needed now was to run, far away from death and loss, closer to peace and life.

# CHAPTER 28

The others were making the fire. We wanted to stay there overnight, so we could take out Adam's body in the morning. The evening passed fast, and the others fell asleep quickly. I remained by the fire. Aaron offered to stay on guard for the first time.

"I'm sorry for your friend..." he says catching me by surprise.

"Can't you sleep? I'm not really in the mood to have a conversation with you right now!"

"I can't sleep..." he says and sits in front of me.

"Have you thought for one second that maybe I need a moment alone right now?" I say mischievously.

"You're weird" he says.

I knit. I knew that it wasn't a good thing to be mean to others just because I was suffering, but I couldn't help it.

"You have an annoying way to get on people's nerves, in the worst moments, Aaron!"

"You have a very weird life" he continues.

I stood up and left him there. I looked behind, and he was still by the fire. He was trying to communicate with me, but in his cold way he couldn't deliver the message, and I wasn't in the mood to understand him.

It was morning, and I haven't sleep at all. My tears dried on my face. Andy and Stefan woke up and went inside the house. After ten minutes, they came out with Adam's body... what was left of him, anyway. I gulped when they put him on the ground. They dug a grave that evening, and they put him in it. When they started covering it, I felt something tearing my soul apart. I couldn't breathe so I sat on the ground.

"Are you ok?" Deby asks me.

"No! I want to cry, but I can't do it anymore!"

"I think she exhausted them last night..." says Aaron seriously.

Then I realized that he had respected my wish while he stayed on guard, but he watched me all the time.

"I just don't know what to say. I'm directly responsible for his death, and I will never forgive myself. "

"Jo..." says Andy.

"I will kill Eva! This is all because of her!" I yell.

"We will think this through. Now we need to calm down..." says Andy.

"We will not do anything! 'I' will do something! Eva is a miserable person, and she wants me dead! I will deal with her. No one is going to die because of her! "

"You will not do this alone! We are a team!" says Stefan.

We got up and walked to the car. We were hitting the road again, but this time we knew something for sure: Eva was close, and she wanted me dead. What a coincidence! I was furious with her. I was revolted.

"Jo? How are you?" asks Crista.

"Stop asking me how I am!" I snapped. "I'm not ok, of course! A lot of people I cared about died because of me! Eva burned down my childhood town and killed everyone in it just to find me! She will not stop until one of us is dead! So don't ask me if I'm fine, because I'm not!"

They were all shocked by my snapping. No one said anything. It wasn't anything more to add because I had covered it all. Aaron was looking at me like I was a "weird" person, as he told me the night before. I threw him an angry look, and I closed my eyes.

We drove for one day, on the only road that was ahead of us. When I opened my eyes, I looked at the window. There was nothing new. Ruins and dust. A house caught my attention because it looked like the ones we made at D&M. I thought I see smoke coming out the chimney, but it was just my imagination. I was so tired.

"Let's stop here" I say.

"I will go inside to see what I can find" says Deby.

"I will be right there" I continue.

I checked if I had my knife and I went inside after her. I was climbing the stairs, and I felt something was wrong because I called her and she didn't answer. I heard the door banging downstairs. I shivered, but I didn't go back. Then I heard noises outside. I looked out the window, and I saw a lot of manananggals holding my friends and threatening them. They took them by surprise and disarmed them. I didn't know what to do. To go down and help them or to keep looking for Deby? Then I heard her, and it wasn't Deby.

"You're playing hard to find, my dear."

I walked into the room with the blood boiling in my veins. She had a knife at Deby's throat.

"Eva" I said feeling hot under my collar. "Or do you want me to call you 'mother'?"

I wasn't going to let her kill anyone else. This meeting was nothing like I had imagined. She was always a step ahead, so she was proud that I was caught in her trap. Somehow, she knew that we were going to stop there. She had everything planned. I was looking at her and didn't know what to do or say. I was standing in front of the woman who wanted me dead for so long. My hands started shaking, but I couldn't back off or leave Deby there.

"Let her go" I say.

"Who should I do that?" she asks me calmly.

"Because I will stay" I say without thinking it through.

"Don't do this!" yells Deby.

"Shut up!" shouts Eva.

"So, you for her. Interesting. How do I know that you will keep your word?" she says smiling.

"You don't. You just have to believe that I am nothing like you and you will see that I will stay. No one needs to die."

"You're incredibly wrong! You must die!" she laughs.

"Let her go!" I say and take a step towards her.

I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew only one thing: I had to get Deby out of her hands before it was too late.

"I searched for you for so long! You ran from me, you opened portals, you destroyed the world to get away from me, and now you're just going to come to me? I came in person to get you because I noticed that my men kept disappearing in the mission. I didn't expect from you to get rid of them so quickly. "

"I'm sick of people dying for me and because of me. I'm here, so let her go!"

"Fine" she says and pushes Deby out through the window.

I heard a scream, then a lot of noise. That was enough. I didn't know if Deby was alive because it was a significant distance from up there. I felt I was on fire. Eva was tall, and she had short brown hair and green eyes. At least I didn't have her eyes. I was curious who was my father, but I didn't have time for those questions. Eva was a beautiful woman, but she was a wretch. She ran at me with a knife. I took mine out, and I hit her.

"You're miserable! How can a mother want to kill her child?"

"I made you for this sacrifice! I didn't want children. You and your sister were burdens to me. I got quickly rid of her. She wasn't good for the ritual. You got away too many times from me. You got away from the explosion!"

She didn't know that Kate was there too, so I decided to keep that a secret.

"I can't believe what I hear!" I say.

"Power requires sacrifice. After I sacrifice you, I will make the ritual, and I will become the most powerful witch! I will be able to do a lot more than your friend who flew out the window!"

I hit her, and she dropped the knife. I ran at her, but she pushed me so hard that the door opened with me. She was strong. I lost the knife. I fell down on the stairs, and she got her weapon back. I managed to get up, but she hit me with her legs. I slipped on the stairs, and I grabbed her by the foot. We both fell. She got up before me, and she started hitting me with her legs. At that moment, I saw them outside. Deby was injured, but she was alive. They were immobilized by a group of armed manananggals.

I looked up, and I saw her ready to put her knife in me. I pushed her, and I got up with my last powers. I hit her again, but she kept pushing back. I didn't feel anything, though. I didn't care. I was thinking about all the people she killed, and I was seized with hatred. I managed to push her out, through a window. She dragged me with her.

Then, I saw Aaron grabbing the gun from one of the manananggals. My fight with Eva distracted their attention. Then the chaos began. They started a battle.

I hit Eva again, and I took her knife, but she threw at me. I heard gun shots all around, and I was praying for my friends to be alive. Then I fell with Eva over me. She grabbed my neck and started squeezing.

For a moment, I felt how the time stopped. I looked at the others. I saw Kate falling on the ground. Our eyes met, and I saw the fear in hers.

"How I struggled to find you! Every second will be worth it! I waited for this moment all my life!" she says breathing fast.

With my last powers, I grabbed the knife.

"Me too" I said.

I wanted to stab her in the heart, but I couldn't. I thought of Kate, how she had another chance, so I thought Eva deserved one too. I hit her in the head, with the back of the knife. She fell on the ground dizzy. I got up, and I saw Kate looking at me. I gave Eva a chance, even though she didn't give me one.

Kate's face changed quickly, so I knew that I had to turn around. Eva got up, and she wasn't going to take the chance that I had given her. She wanted to end her plan. She threw on me, and my knife fell again.

"You should have done it when you had the chance because I never quit!" she shouts.

She kept hitting me. Kate screamed angrily and ran at us, but she was hit from one side. Then Eva was distracted for a second and looked at Kate. I saw something strange in her eyes. She realized that Kate was someone she knew. A second was enough for me to grab the knife. I looked in her eyes, and I gathered my strength to do it. I didn't want to be a murderer but had no other chance. Probably neither my friends, if I would have let her go again. I pushed the knife into her belly, and I saw the shock on her face. I saw how life was flowing from her green eyes. I felt her hands letting go of my neck and how surprised she was. She fell over me.

"It seems like we have something in common, at least!" I say trying to breathe.

Then Kate showed up running. I couldn't stop my tears, even if I did the right thing.

"You did it! I saw you on the ground, and I thought she was going to kill you!" she said.

She ran at me and hugged me. It was the first time when she did that. I hugged her back. Then the others showed up. They looked like they came out of war, with their clothes ragged, injured, but alive.

"I can't believe this!" exclaims Andy.

"You don't see this every day..." continues Stefan.

"I can't believe I did it!" I shout.

"Not Eva! You're hugging Kate!" laughs Andy.

We all started laughing. Stefan was hurt at his hand, and Aaron was shot in the arm. Deby had a head injury and two broken ribs from what she was saying. They left behind them a lot of bodies that were going to turn into dust.

"You did it, Jo!" says Deby.

"Yeah..." I say and hug her. "I didn't know if you survived."

"I don't understand how you manage to get out alive every single time! I thought you died like twice!" says Kate to me.

"Either she's immortal, or she's too lucky" smiles Andy.

We got rid of Eva, and we were walking again in the middle of nowhere. I left her there, without bothering to bury her body. She didn't deserve that. After all that time, all the trouble, we had done it. And we were alive. I gave her the chance to change something, to walk away, but she didn't take it. I thought that she could change, bury that hatred, but I was wrong. I had too much faith in the second chance, in a family, in people, and this thing had almost killed me. I had a regret that it ended that way. I thought that anyone could change. Only the strong people can realize their mistakes and do the right thing.

I haven't met anyone by accident. Everyone who was there had contributed with something to the end of this, in a way or another. There were two reasons why I was standing next to them: I loved them, and they thought me that family isn't always blood. They were my family. My life wasn't perfect, but it was just what I needed at that moment. And I realized something: they loved me too.

Deby had destroyed the world for us. Andy and Stefan had killed so many creatures to protect us. Crista had died... sort of. Kate behaved like a real sister in the end. Julia got into the family without judging anyone. And Aaron... well, he was impassive, or that was the impression he left us, but he contributed to saving us in the end. When I looked at him, I knew that under that shield of cold, harsh, and dangerous man was a kind person. I was grateful for all I had  at that moment.

Sometimes you just have to sit and be with your thoughts. To hear them shouting, whispering or trying to put you back on track. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and listen to the silence. It always has the answers to your questions. At the end of the day, look at the sunset and listen to your heart. If it's still beating and you feel the sun warm on your face, you managed to survive another day. Be true to yourself! Be weird, fool around if that is what you want to do, laugh with all your soul and don't forget to tell someone how you feel because time flies. A lost second, a postponed moment or an unsaid word are the things that you never get back. Be yourself, because it's not enough time to pretend to be someone else. And the most important aspect, appreciate the ones you have. Forget about their past and focus on their present because  some of them are fighting with all their powers to change, to become better, to leave behind chapters that hurt them, and sometimes they do this for you, but you have no idea about it.

In life, we meet all kind of people. There are some that we never think about, but there are some that we don't want ever to let go. This is what I had. People. Family. And I didn't want to let them go. Even if I didn't have anything else, even if the world was destroyed and there were walking all kind of creatures on this Earth, and we were the last ones alive, we were together, and that was all that mattered. A family doesn't necessary mean the same name or kinship, but commitment. It means watching each other's back and unconditionally love even in those days when we are not so lovable. After all we had been through, we realized that we couldn't let go of each other. We were together in all that was coming next, and we knew that the most important lessons in life were thought in the hard times and from the big mistakes. Every family has a story to tell, and ours had just begun.

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