The inner building located behind the stage of the Summit is small and eerie. I feel claustrophobic but I don't know if that's physical or mental. I am dressed in a long, uncomfortable red cloak that almost touches the floor and covers all of my clothing. My hair is tied up in a bun and I shiver every time a small draft leaks through the cave and touches my throat. Erin has been talking for the past few minutes and I haven't listened to a single word. I take a deep breath.

"I'm not late am I?" Natalia bursts through the small door wearing a panicked smile. "Oh, you look so creepy."

"Thanks," I say.

"I hope you take this job more seriously in the future," Erin hisses. "Yes, you are late."

"Traffic," Natalia scoffs, rolling her eyes.

I laugh and Erin glares at me.

"The ceremony is about to begin," she says. "Do you need anything?"

"A shot of vodka?" I say, exchanging grins with Natalia.

"You can't consume alcohol before the-"

"She was joking, kid," Natalia says, patting Erin on the shoulder. Erin straightens and clenches her teeth. "But I've got a few bottles on ice for afterwards."

"I think we'll all need a drink after this," Joey says.

"It's time!" Max appears in the doorway and waves his hand at my advisors. "Let's go."

"Good luck," Erin says.

Natalia just winks at me as she follows her out of the cave.

"I second that," Joey says, placing his hand on my arm. "And remember, even if you don't see them, your coven is by your side."

"Thank you," I whisper.

I wait until the room is clear until I shake my hands and hyperventilate. Maybe I rushed into this too soon---maybe I should postpone the ceremony. What harm could it do? Just a few more days?

Is it worth it? Is changing myself worth it? What if I hurt people instead of helping them? In these final moments, I am filled with doubt. I am second guessing my choice and I am terrified of everything outside of this room. I'm still not ready, but I have to leave now or I don't think I ever will.

I enter through the door and I walk along a narrow, lit hallway that takes me towards a mighty crowd of noise. I arrive at the wall that divides the back areas and the stage, and I hold my breath as I remember when Joey and I teleported here. It was at this very spot that I heard Victoria take her last breath in this world. My heart suddenly aches for my cousin, for all of my cousins that I couldn't save that day. Am I disrespecting their memory by doing this?

"I now call Theresa Harmon to take her place in the light," a voice shouts.

I slowly walk around the wall and the thousands of faces in the seats are merely blurs in the background. I glance to the back wall, I don't mean to, but I can't fight it. I see them all over again. Their cold and lifeless bodies, piled up like garbage. The last time I was on this stage, I had everything to lose even when everything had been lost. I had my coven's legacy to protect, to continue, and that was a burden that I never healed from. But, also, the last time I was on this stage, I took a risk that set the course for the rest of my life.

Sam saved my life that day, he never told me why, but I always suspected it was because he knew Amara wanted me. Maybe that wasn't the reason. Maybe somehow, deep inside, he saw and felt something bigger than I did.

My walk gets slower and slower as I think of him, until I stop altogether. If I do this, I am denying myself the one joy that lights me up with forbidden fire. I can never be close to him again; I will feel the coldness of our distance every second for the rest of my days as Elder. I touch my lips, remembering his kiss. The memory is as raw and as real as the moment we made it.

"Theresa?" Marcus calls. "Step forwards, please."

I step forwards reluctantly and Marcus walks around the drawing to stand beside me.

"I need the amulet," he says. "You have to enter the gateway as yourself."

I nod and my hands tremble as I lift the chain over my head. I place the amulet into Marcus' hand and he walks back to the other side of the stage.

"Step into the diagram."

In a moment of madness, I stare at the covens. I only see the faces of strangers looking back, but among them, I see the faces of those I know. I see Sophia smiling at me with a mischievous glint in her eye, I see Curtis nodding at me while tugging down on his blazer. I see Milasia scowling, Megan's wise and superior look of disapproval. All the thousands of covens vanish and I am left with thirteen eyes watching me. Sam's face is the hardest to look at. He sits at the back, alone, with no expression. A tear rolls down my cheek.

"Theresa!" Marcus hisses.

"I can't do this," I whisper. "This isn't right. I made a mistake. I don't belong here."

"Too late," he says.

Before I have time to understand what he means, my body is forcefully dragged forwards and I enter the diagram of the witching symbol. Fire engulfs around the points, shooting upwards, and trapping me inside a barricade of heat. I can't see anything for fire and my magic won't work against anything.

Suddenly, the fires burn out, and I am standing alone in a very cold and abandoned Summit. Everyone is gone, including Marcus, and I hurriedly edge out of the symbol.

"Theresa," a calm and chilling voice calls.

I glance out to the stadium seats and I see Amara. My heart accelerates as I back up to the back wall. She is herself again, with her short blonde hair and uncharred, pale skin. Amara slowly claps and stands from her seat, as she turns her head, I realise she's not alone. Several Elders are rising up from seats, including Vienna.

"What did you think the outcome to this would be?" Vienna asks. "Did you think just because you're a manifestor that you could simply declare yourself as one of us?"

"She's never really been that bright," Amara says as she joins Vienna in the aisle and they begin walking towards the stage.

"Now you're away from Samara's influence, I can mess around in that pretty little head of yours again," Vienna says. "It's remarkable how vulnerable you are without it."

"Like a puppy that we can throw at a wall."

"Do you know why I did this?" I say. "We all have one common enemy and it's not the Slayers."

"Says the half-Slayer," Amara hisses.

"Even if your intentions to destroy the demons are true, your DNA makes you a liability," Vienna says. "Now it's clear why you resisted my orders to kill the Malachi."

"I've left the Slayers to join the covens again," I say. "If I was one of them then I would have stayed."

"True," Vienna mutters. "But, let's not forget that you are the first of your kind. An abomination to nature, you should have never been allowed to be born."

Amara smiles.

"This strange DNA trait is the cause of your manifestation, but it is not the definition of who you are. What are you, Theresa?"

"A witch?" Amara whispers.

"A Harmon?" Vienna says.

"The child of a demon?" Amara says.

"An Elder?" Vienna stares at me, and then turns to look at the other Elders that are slowly approaching the stage. "Shall we vote?"

"I think a vote is only fair, mother," Amara says. "The vote of a lifetime."

The other Elders join them, five females and three males. I remember their faces from the Palace, Erin would remember them from the history books. There's no point in pleading a case, they've already made up their minds. I'm the only person alive that can help stop the demons, but their pride will rule their heads.

"In the event of a tie my vote will count for all," Vienna says. "To be clear on what we are voting on, there are two options. One vote for Theresa to receive our sacred and pure Elder magic, and another vote for her death."

I gasp. I didn't choose to enter that diagram so I don't know which I'd prefer. If I do die, then at least I can die knowing that I've done all I can. There isn't anything else. I can let the fight go, all the struggles and burdens will simply fade away.

"Those in favour of Theresa continuing with the coronation, raise your hand."

My eyes flick across the line of still faces, and I'm surprised to see four Elders lift their hands. Amara scowls at them, but they are not phased by how they are judged for it. I smile at the ones that have put their faith in me despite not knowing me. Even though it isn't enough.

"Those in favour of Theresa's death," Vienna says.

Amara raises her hand immediately, and Vienna quickly follows. Those that haven't voted yet are hesitant. They probably didn't think any of them would vote previously so they didn't want to, but now they are changing their minds. Eventually, the remaining four Elders lift their hands slowly.

"Death has spoken," Vienna says. "I'm sorry, Theresa. Under different circumstances I believe you would have made a great leader. But all great things must end."

"Or never begin," Amara says, her eyes narrowing at me. "The honour is mine."

Vienna nods. Amara takes centre stage and I keep my eyes on her as she conjures a fireball into her palm. I didn't expect anything less, considering it was fire that killed her. She wants me to feel that agony, to feel my skin melt from my bones as she had to. I'm rendered mortal in this plane, so nothing I do will make a difference. I don't think there's any greater honour than dying as a mortal. The last time she tried to kill me on this stage, I closed my eyes. But I am passed being scared. I meet her eyes and I do not look away.

I picture Sam in my head. The illusion of his face, and his warm eyes, gives me the relief that I need. It's such a hopeless and cold world, but at least it has a chance with him still in it. I can go knowing that it's in safe hands, even if he's on the wrong side. He'll do what's right, they all will, I have to believe that. I have to trust it so that I can find peace in this lonely moment.

"Dying by fire is the least you deserve," Amara says. "But the pain is unbearable. The moment it sets in, when you can feel the heat literally scratching at the inside of your body, you will be begging for death. And I will be waiting on the other side, to do it all over again."

"Get on with it," Vienna hisses.

Amara grins and the fireball lifts from her palm, but it's not even three inches into the air before it blows out. A storm blows onto the stage in the shape of a dozen bodies. I catch my breath as the shadows step into the light.

"You're not the only ones that get to vote," my mother says.

"Mum," I say. "Is this real?"

She smiles at me and stands in front of me, along with my aunts, grandmother, Victoria and several other Harmon ancestors. They form a line to protect me, shielding me almost out of view. Victoria turns to look at me and she winks.

"What is the meaning of this?" Amara demands. "This is Elder business."

"The gateway is open to all of the candidate's ancestors," my mother says. "We are Theresa's family. And we have a right to decide her fate."

"This is absurd!" Amara says, turning to Vienna.

"The vote has been cast," Vienna says. "You are too late."

"I am reopening it," my mother says. "All those in favour of Theresa becoming the Elder, raise your hand."

Every Harmon on the stage raises their hand in unison, along with the four Elders that stand beside Amara and Vienna. They drop their hands and Amara's face turns red. Vienna remains composed, calm, almost asleep.

"You are declaring war on your Elders," Vienna says. "Think wisely about this decision."

"You're not the Elder anymore, Vienna," my mother says. "You might have power but you don't have the power that comes from being alive. Theresa is the only one of us that does. We are dead, our time is done, but she still has a chance."

"You bred her with a demon spawn!" Amara shouts. "You should be forced into eternal purgatory for your disgusting act!"

"And that is what will happen if you do not step down," Vienna says slowly. "I can forgive this strong act of defiance if you all leave now. If you refuse, I will deliver you to the dark side of the afterlife."

I look across the line, but they don't move. Their heads are high, their hearts ready to defy their leaders and take their punishment.

"Theresa shouldn't have to die for my mistakes," my mother whispers. "Her father was a Slayer, but her heart is what makes her a witch. She is good, she is kind, and she will be more powerful than any Elder has ever been before because of that. She won't abuse your magic, and she won't claim it as hers. When she dies, hopefully decades from now, then the Elder magic will be transferred back to your bloodline. But right now, she needs it. She needs it to help save the world which is what you're supposed to be about."

I walk around the line and I stand next to my mother. I take her hand. I can feel her, as though she's alive, and a tear escapes from my eye. She looks exactly the same as I last saw her. Vibrant, dark curls, sharp and wise brown eyes. She wears the grey cardigan and blue jeans that she died in, and she's never looked so beautiful. Suddenly, it hasn't been five years and I'm a child again, feeling safe with my mother's hand in mine.

"What you did to the world, is unforgiveable," I say to Amara. "There's no amount of magic that can undo it. Your selfishness has cost millions of innocent people their lives. You deserved what we did to you and if we had let you live then there'd be nothing left. You had to be stopped. You can hate me for that all you want but it isn't any less fair than what you did to my coven. My mother. You've destroyed lives over and over again, and you think because you're descended from a god that you can get away with it?" I turn to Vienna. "Sam killed you, get over it. If he hadn't done it, someone else would have. The Harmons would have eventually stopped you. You both corrupted yourselves and you allowed your power to control you. And in doing so, you both took a parent from me. You might think that you're beyond receiving punishments for the hurt you've caused, but you're wrong. You aren't gods. You never will be gods. And the real gods will know."

"We are not the ones on trial here." Vienna smirks and the look is reflected back to Amara. "We have it pretty good. We have control over the dead and soon we will have control over the living, too. We don't need you. But we do need your power to access that amulet."

"And death is the only way to take it," Amara says.

As the Elders press forwards, my mother pushes me behind her.

"The only reason Theresa can wear that amulet is because she is half-Slayer," she says. "If you take her power, you will have to take that side of her too."

"Why would the demigod that made us prefer to bond with a Slayer spawn?" Amara laughs.

"Because Theresa represents peace," Vienna says quietly. "She is. . . hope to Samara?"

"Not possible," Amara says. "The gods detest Slayers."

"The gods do," my mother says. "But Samara was abandoned by them. She was forced to live a human life and procreate through an amulet that claimed her soul. Samara isn't as detesting as you may think."

Everyone stares at my mother, but I stare the hardest.

"How do you know that?" I demand.

"The only way she could know that is if she saw it," Vienna says. "What did the Harmons do, Caroline?"

"I located the amulet years before you were even bothered to notice it was missing. I kept it safe the only way I knew how, by allowing a Slayer to find it."

"You allowed a Slayer to take our legacy?" Vienna's voice suddenly fills with the fury that she's lacked in showing. "What the hell gives you the right? You are a witch, a mere shadow of us, you betrayed your own kind!"

"I was saving my kind!" my mother shouts. "Elders don't deserve to wear that amulet; Samara doesn't want that anymore. She paved the way for Theresa to find it because Theresa is the only living being worthy of it. She is a manifestor without the hate of a thousand bloodlines. She is a half-Slayer with the capability of bringing together two species that have been manipulated into wars from their creation. She is more powerful than any of us standing here and she has the support from Samara to access Elder magic."

"And without that support she is nothing but an inexperienced child," Vienna says. "She cannot lead the covens. She won't even know where to begin. Even I can feel that she doesn't want it. She will eventually give it up and turn back to the Slayers for an easier life, what then?"

"Why are we even discussing this?" Amara demands. "They've made their choice clear and they stand against us. We are Elders and we will not be backed into a corner by any coven, especially theirs."

Vienna nods and turns her head. "Very well."

The Elders have been given their silent orders and within a few short seconds the first attack is made. The glow is bright, almost blinding, and it fills the entire room. I didn't even know the dead could fight each other, but it seems nothing is off limits inside of this gateway.

Except my magic. No matter how hard I try, it doesn't resurface. I don't know where it is, or how to get it back, and that's suddenly a very terrifying thought. Marcus said I had to enter the gateway as myself, but magic is me. It's always been the strongest part of me, even when it felt like the biggest curse to bear. So then why am I without it? What kind of test does the gateway give? To reveal your true self as a human?

I back up to the wall as the Harmons take on the Elders. More Harmons are summoned, more Elders are summoned, and the Summit is crowded with battles. My mother positions herself in front of me, defending every attack that comes at my direction. Amara seems to be at the centre of it, but without the extra power acquired from my ancestors, she is weaker than when she was alive. When she died, all the magic must have been restored back to its owners, back to us.

"Why do I have no powers?" I ask my mother.

"This is a test, Theresa. To access your powers, you have to accept what you are."

"That makes no sense."

"Doesn't it?" She grins as she blasts Amara backwards across the Summit. "Do you still believe that you have to be just one thing? That you have to let something go to be the Elder? It senses everything about you, if you're holding back, it won't let you continue."

"I don't know what I'm holding back. Apart from anger. Mainly at you."

A group of my family form a barricade at my mother's side, all of them pushing their hands out to block an attack of manifestation that makes some of them scream. Amara and two Elders have joined together, while Vienna still stands in the same place, not even moving to flinch.

"I'm sorry that I lied to you," my mother says through clenched teeth. "But I had to do everything to make sure that neither side killed you while you were a child. I knew that one day you'd discover it, and that you'd hate me for it, but I also knew that you'd be older, stronger, and that you'd have a chance to fight back. I'm not going to apologize for keeping you safe."

"I understand why you hid it from the world," I cry. "But you should have told me. I had a right to know who my father was, after years of lies thinking I was the daughter of a mortal man, it was the least you owed me!"

"Do you really want to do this now?" my mother hisses as she breaks contact from the spell to look at me. "We've got an eternity to talk about this, at least let me save your life today and then you can yell at me in a few decades when you're united with your coven again."

"What if I don't want to be united with them?" I demand. "What if I want take another path? What if I want to be with the Slayers! What if I want to be a Slayer!"

In the corner of my eye, I see my mother's instant look of judgement, but I'm too focused on what is happening with my hands. A light blue streak of electricity jumps from one palm to the other and I begin absorbing all the energy from the magic around me. I get stronger, I get braver, and I feel proudly glad that my Slayer side is the one thing I don't want to let go. I was holding something back, and the gateway didn't punish me, it gave it back to me.

"No!"

Everything stops. The Elders retreat, the Harmons stare at me, and Vienna finally starts moving. She puts her hood up above her head and her eyes are low and narrow. Without even looking at the Harmons, she brings them to their knees, one-by-one, including my mother. I step around them cautiously, accidentally arriving back inside the witching symbol.

She comes straight to me, and I can't stop her. Vienna is stronger than any Elder or witch here, and she's scorned. She enters the symbol and her hand clutches around my throat, draining the life out of me. I'm not even aware that anything has changed until I hear the thousands of gasps from all around me. She yanks her hand away and I land on the floor, coughing spit onto the chalk. She moves the candles to the corners of the stage and she directs her hatred at the covens.

They can see her. Everyone can see her. I hold my chest as I try to get up, but I stumble over seconds later.

"You need a leader and I am giving you one!" she screams. "But it is not her. Theresa Harmon is a threat to us; she is a daughter of the demons!"

I stand uneasily, my back arched slightly as I glance around at the confused and scared faces of the covens. Joey walks onto the stage, Natalia with him, and they stand either side of me, slowly backing me up.

"What in the name of all that is possible is happening?" Natalia shrieks.

"She is dead, right?" Joey whispers.

I nod. "She's dead alright. But if she gets her way, I don't think she'll be dead for long."

"You heard that right," Vienna yells. "The girl that you choose to be your next Elder shares the blood of our enemy. You can end this charade right now and you can choose to end her life, and give mine back to me. A life for a life. I know that Amara made some terrible choices and I promise you it will never happen again. Under my rule, we will be great again. We will be whole again and we will face our enemy together!"

Joey glares at me, and suddenly his hand drops from my arm. He can't even bear to touch me, to be close to me, like I'm infected with the worst possible virus.

"Kill her!" someone screams.

"Kill her before she gets away!" someone else yells.

I glance over to Marcus, whom is standing at the edge of the stage with the amulet dangling from his fingertips. Even he is shocked and doesn't know how to proceed. Vienna turns around and grins at me, while the raging covens stand from their seats and scream abuse in synchronisation.

"We didn't quite prepare for this," Natalia whispers. "We need to close that gateway, like now."

"We can't," I say. "It doesn't close until someone is made Elder, or the candidate dies."

"Not happening," she mutters. "You are not dying today. This is my fault; I shouldn't have talked you into this. I'm going to fix it."

"You're going to fight Vienna and thousands of covens?" I say.

"I'll damn well try. You know I don't go down easy."

I turn to Joey, but he's inching further and further away from me. I hate this. I hate feeling like I've done wrong by being different, by just being born. This isn't the way the world should be, it isn't the kind of world I want to leave. Vienna may have just ruined every chance of me being accepted by the covens again, but she won't ruin me. I've been through too much, I've fought too hard, and this does not end here.

Vienna starts to circle me, as the covens encourage my death.

"If this is a gateway between the living and the dead, then it's open for anyone right?" I say.

"In theory," Natalia says. "But the gateway has never been opened like this, although I'd imagine only Elders would have the power to enter our world."

Vienna smirks and stops moving. "I thank you for your sacrifice."

Her hand reaches out rapidly and a strong tightness squeezes around my throat again. I scratch at my chest as Natalia begins speaking a spell, but Vienna intercepts it and throws Natalia at the wall. I collapse to my knees, struggling to breathe. My head feels heavy and my body light. My hands become weaker, until they drop to my side. I find Marcus through the impending darkness, outside of the candlelight. I accept it. I accept myself. In my last seconds, I have to. I will leave nothing of myself behind, I will not hide my shame and I will not become Elder as half a person. Sam told me I had to choose. Curtis told me I had to choose. Everyone told me I had to choose. Being a witch is everything I am, but being a Slayer is so much more. It's dark and mysterious, it's seductive and exciting, and it is one with me.

In the last moment of my life, I am over-whelmed with the shock of having my manifestation come back alive inside of me. It gives me more time; it makes me stronger. A mortal would have died by now but I have a chance. I fight back. My shaky hand raises in the air and I yank Marcus into the light of the stage. The amulet shines so bright that I hear him drop it.

It's suddenly silent. The tightness vanishes and I breathe again. I pant against the floor, my hands holding my body above the ground. All of my power has returned, and I think I may have my mother to thank for that, one day.

I turn over on the ground, searching for Vienna's next move, but she isn't looking at me anymore, her attention is turned towards the edge of the stage. To where a beautiful, golden-haired woman whose entire body is rippled with a murky yellow glow stands inside the gateway. She wears a white gown stitched with bird-shaped gold pendants that drapes along the floor as she gently walks towards me. She's an angel. There's no other word to describe her. To be in her presence is to feel the universe screaming it. Vienna falls to her knees automatically, her head lowered in a strange and respectful way. It's only when the woman gets closer, and I recognise her face from my dreams, that I realise who she is.

"Get up," Samara hisses.

Vienna stands immediately. "Forgive me. My name is-"

"I know who you are." Samara turns to me and she displays a warm smile. She walks so graciously over to me that it's almost like she's floating. Her lightly glowing hand reaches out and I take it. She pulls me up with no effort at all, and I am dazzled by her heavenly energy that collides with my Slayer side energy like a puzzle piece fitting perfectly into place. "Theresa. It's an honour to meet you."

"It is?" I whisper.

"The first of your kind, like me," she says. "We have much in common."

"What do you want from me?"

"Humanity has always been the heart of Earth. Before I came here, it was a planet savaged by war and greed. I despised the mortals, I tried to convince my creators that they were too damaged to interfere with. But to my creators, it was the perfect breeding ground for an army. It was only when I became a mortal, that I realised how wrong I had been about them. I felt the love that mortal mothers feel, the love my mother could never feel for me. I had hope. That hope died for a very long time when I saw what my creations had done." She turns and glares at Vienna. "I watched for a thousand years as Wiccans and Slayers tore each other apart. Slayers were half-mortal too. Born from that same love. I could never figure out what made them so different, despite being half-demon, they deserved a chance to live too."

"You were sent here to create an army to fight them," Vienna says. "You succeeded."

"I was sent here to create a new species capable of fighting back against evil," Samara says. "But evil has many faces and it can consume even the purest of souls. You lost sight of what evil is, and so did your ancestors. It isn't just the demons, it's you. It's every decision you made to take an innocent life and it's every pardon you gave to those that did the same. You are scared of Theresa because she is different, but what makes you natural?"

Vienna drops her eyes.

"What makes any of you natural?" Samara projects her voice across the Summit. "You have been taught for a long time that you must respect and adhere to your Elders or you will face the consequences. I was taught the same of my creators, until I broke free. Until I realised, I had my own mind, my own heart, and the power to obliterate them if I wanted to. Theresa didn't ask to be born with both DNA. But she is the hope for uniting both species and coming together to stop a threat that will take us all down. I have been waiting a thousand years for Theresa to be born. To show you that this feud you have with the Slayers is pointless. And if you refuse her now, there won't be another thousand years, because you'll all be dead."

"You'd choose a daughter of the demons over a pure blood?" Vienna questions.

"If I could go back in time and erase the Elders completely then I would," Samara admits. "You were everything we wanted, but you weren't the key. You were never the answer to what we were looking for. Now I know it isn't a witch that holds the power to defeat the demons. It's a Slayer. It's you, Theresa."

I hold my breath.

She smiles at me. "The gateway would never let you leave without you realising that. I created it that way. You have to understand your true self and make peace with it. Whether that's someone that wants to kill or someone that wants to save the world or someone that's terrified of leaving something behind. You find your darkest truth, and you conquer it."

"I've already found my truth," I whisper. "That's how I got my magic back."

She shakes her head softly. "No," she says. "Your darkest truth is the one thing you will never admit out loud. It lies within your heart, Theresa, not your head. As painful as it is, you have to admit it to yourself. To commit to being the Elder, and to focusing solely on the threat of the demons, you need to let go of the past."

I don't know what she's talking about. There's nothing left for me to admit. I've already made my peace with being half-Slayer, I've accepted it, I got my manifestation back. What else is there? How do I get out of this gateway? Do I have unresolved issues with my mother? Yes. Am I frustrated that I don't remember my father and there's a chance I may never meet him? Absolutely. But that's out of my control.

"There is only one thing that will keep someone here for this long," she says quietly, so I am the only one that hears. "A broken heart."

I glance away angrily, staring at a far-away pillar. Maybe, unconsciously, I've been avoiding it, but that's because I want the hope. Without it, what am I? Someone that will be forced to work for Samara and dedicate every second of my time to fighting a losing battle? That truth is easy, that I don't believe we'll win. But it isn't my darkest truth. And that's because it doesn't belong to me, that truth belongs to her. She is the one that won't allow me to be with Sam, she is the one that will use me for my blood.

"To win this fight, you will have to work with the Slayers," Samara says. "But you can do that without hurting. Your darkest truth is that you can't let him go and the energy in that is remarkable. It's inspiring, actually. But your love for this particular Slayer will open doors to all kinds of wars. Let him go, Theresa, and save his life."

"H-how do I do that?"

"Take my hand."

I stare at it. She persists, with a smile. I put my hand in hers and my heart suddenly burns. I can feel Sam leaving me, every piece of him, vanishing. I remember everything, I remember what we did and every moment we shared together, but I can't remember what I felt. He's distant to me now, merely a person I knew in a previous life. I suddenly don't know why I'm thinking about him. Why would I?

"Wear me close," Samara says. "Our fight is just beginning."

I hold her eyes in confusion as her spiritual body is pulled back into the amulet in Marcus' hand. A second later, Vienna fades away. The candles finally blow out and the only sound is from my scream as the Elder magic enters me.