"Wake up, darling." Nana said, running her wrinkly hand down my face, just as she did every morning for eighteen years of my life. I relaxed under her touch and continued to sleep for much longer. "You can't sleep for that long, Red. I know you're awake." Her slow, throaty voice tingled at my ears as she bent down close. She clearly hadn't forgotten when I acted like I was sleeping so I could get some more love.

I tore through the sleep and my eyes flickered open. A smile crept on my lips as I found my Nana beside me, looking beautiful as she always, just a small glimpse of her was far more than enough for my heart to shine with happiness.

"I missed you, Nana." I mumbled, holding her, feeling her after so long. It felt like a dream but I could tell it wasn't. "I'm sorry for everything."

"It's okay, darling. You had nothing to do in my death and I want you to know that, all right?" she bent down and pressed her warm lips against my forehead, giving me a small kiss. I closed my eyes and a tear slipped down, onto the white pillows I had my head over.

"I shouldn't have left you alone." A small mistake ended her life and till date, I blamed myself for her death.

"You can't be in hundred places at once." She laughed, shaking her head. "But it's fine now. Everything is over."

I crawled up and towards her and she braced me after so long. "I missed you a lot, Nana. I missed making soups and dinners for you—without salt of course." I joked at the end, remembering when my Nana hated whenever I didn't put salt in her food.

She always told me that death would come, with or without salt.

"I know." She ran her fingers down my hair while I looked up at her from her lap. She couldn't have gotten any more beautiful. The smile over her face told me she was happy wherever she was.

My lips turned straight when all the pain, the screams and cries flashed through my head at once. "Where am I, Nana? Is this heaven or hell?" I asked her, calmly. It was a terrifying thought to be dead but the peace after it was questionable.

"It's where everyone comes after their death."

"Am I really dead?" I felt everything, every emotion and my heart was still thumping in my chest, as if I was still alive.

Her hand reached down to my chest and she wrapped her fingers around the locket—the Stone of Lycans.

"You're not dead, Red. You're just here for a while."

My stomach twisted as I got a glimpse of the locket. My eyes widened and I stood up straight from the majestic golden bed that I had been on since I died. I wore the Stone of Lycans during my death.

"What does this mean?" I raised my head, meeting with my Nana's concerned gaze.

"It means you'll have to return soon. The Stone of Lycans doesn't only holds the power of a hundred dead Lycan's but it also holds the power to revive one's wolf after death." She explained to me.

Jacqueline's words rang in my mind—she had told me the same thing when I showed her the diamond.

"I'll live?" I was still confused.

"You will, not as a witch or a human but as a wolf. It's your choice though, you can stay here or return back to earth and live as a wolf for the rest of your lif—"

Nana didn't get the chance to complete whatever she was going to say next. A tall woman walked in through the mystic door, wearing all white and gold.

"Oh, Mae, stop scaring her." The woman said, her golden hair glimmering underneath the bright lights as she approached us.

My intense gaze settled on the woman and I slowly got off the soft bed. Drawing in a breath, I went over to her before she reached me.

"Mother?" It was the same woman I had seen in the pictures Gretel had showed me while at my time at her town. It was my mother and I had no doubt in it.

"Meredith." She responded before spreading her arms. "It's good to see you after so long."

My body tensed but I still went over to her and wrapped my arms around her neck. It suddenly felt like I was a child again, barely two years old, around my mother's warmth as she fed me at our little house in Whitebridge.

Her hold on me was tighter than mine. "My little Red. I have waited for this day." Her hand went into my hair and she grasped onto me tight, never leaving me.

Everyone wanted to be in its mother's embrace. How could I ever move aside?

"You've grown into a wonderful woman..." she trailed off, patting my back before pulling away from me. "I always saw you as one."

There were so many questions at the tip of my tongue but I dreaded to ask of them. The air in the room grew thick as I looked around, studying the room I was in. It was definitely heaven. The white sheets draped down from the long windows, the golden walls shone bright, and there was a massive bed in the middle, where Nana was still sitting.

It took me a long minute to predict and comprehend with what had happened. I was dead. But my family was with me—most of it.

When I finally managed to settle down, I asked, "Who is Annabeth?"

"Annabeth is your sister. I was wrong when I believed she was the chosen one as it's always the firstborn. I had to send her away and protect her from the evil witches. Lady Esther was kind enough to take her in and teach her magic in the right way. But, we all know how things turned out." She explained, her head moving slightly with disappointment.

I turned my hands around, staring at my palms that were porcelain, free of any blood and magic. The darkness finally left off my body—it was gone and so was Gretel, she was dead.

Just as me.

"Is Gretel here?" I panicked.

"Of course not!" Nana exclaimed. "Witches like them end up in another place, it's far away from there. She won't ever find you again." Out of protection, she wrapped her arms and held me.

"She's dead, right?"

"Yes."

"And she won't return?" I just wanted to be entirely sure.

"Never."

I drew in a shaken breath and wiped away the tears on my cheeks. It was indeed over. "What's going to happen now?"

"Do you want to return?" My mother asked me.

"Yes." I didn't give it a single thought or even hesitated. I wanted to be alive, be in Luciano's arms, along with my daughter and our entire kingdom.

Before I died and faded into the oblivion, I heard Luciano and his painful scream of sorrow. It broke me. I never wanted to part away from him but I had too or else we both would have died and Fiona would have no one by her side. She would wonder for the rest of her life where her parents went and putting her through that pain wasn't in me.

Nothing was in me.

"You're lucky that you're wearing the Stone of Lycans—it will take you back. All you have to do is sleep and dream about your wolf." My mother explained.

"But I'll be trapped in my wolf?" There must be a way to rise someone from the dead. Gretel was able to do it with Charlotte, she lived again even when I killed her.

"For now. There is a way to live again but we don't know anything about it. Annabeth must've, her knowledge is as big as a thousand witches." Even when I was shaking from within, the softness of my mother's voice provided me with comfort.

I let out a small laugh. "I'll go to her then."

"You should."

My mother sat beside me and Nana on my other side. I held them both and rested for as long as I could. It felt peaceful being between them, hearing their voices after so long, feeling the serenity, being the child I was but I knew it wasn't going to last.

I still had to live.

Nana tucked me back into the bed, her expression still warm as I held her hand from afar. "Will I see you again?" I asked her.

"Of course, you will. We will be together but not right now, darling. You're too young to die. You deserve the whole world and you'll have it." She kissed the back of my hand before placing it on the bed.

My mother came to me after Nana moved aside. She hovered over me and cupped my face like I was still a little child.

"I love you, Red and remember, you're strong and you can bear everything. This is just a temporary goodbye and I'll see you again when it's the right time. And, look for your father, he's not here with us." She said, love reflecting her gaze as it fell upon me.

I closed my lids and the image of my wolf appeared. Just before the sleep took me, I heard my Nana and my Mother.

"Goodbye, Red."

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