Aya and Gabby had worked out a plan as they sat by the lake. As simple as it sounded, it was actually quite complicated. Once they executed it, she would be totally and utterly revealed to Gabby. Everything she had hidden from the world for thousands of years. That was more terrifying to her than facing Katrin.

She stood with her back to the room, staring into the cold fireplace, hyper aware of the irritating buzz of Zac in the room behind, not able to bring herself to look at him. Everyone was at the manor, even Alex, despite him not being able to help. His show of support was strangely comforting and she was thankful.

“We need to go to the in-between place,” Gabby was explaining their plan as simply as she could. The others were on a need to know basis, only. “It's the space that exists between life and death. There we will be able to sense what is keeping Katrin's spirit anchored to life. If it's what we suspect, then we can try and destroy it.”

“And where does Aya come into it?” Sam asked.

She felt everyone's gaze fall heavily on her back. Turning she said, “You saw what I can do. That will be an advantage.”

Aya considered asking Zac if she could drink some of his strange blood again. Curiously, it had strengthened her other abilities and she was sure that it was the only reason she had been able to summon enough power to destroy Caius. Then she remembered their argument, Zac declaring himself to her. Disregarding the thought, she knew that he'd ask more of her than she was willing to give if she dared ask the question. Besides, it was too personal a thing to share with another vampire and he would undoubtedly take it the wrong way. Knowing Gabby was there with her, she was reassured they had more than enough power to get the job done.

“No magic can penetrate the veil,” Gabby was saying, “but matter can. Anyone can just walk into the between place while we have the doorway open. That's why we need you all to keep watch.”

“You just want us to sit there and wait?” Zac sounded exasperated. “What are you going to do in there?”

“It's witches business, Zac. I don't have to tell you anything,” Gabby said, not really caring if it annoyed him. “We just need our backs watched. Can you do that?”

He grunted in response.

“When are you going to do this?” Sam, steered to conversation away from the inevitable bickering.

“Tonight,” Gabby said. “The old cemetery.”

“That's not much time to prepare,” Liz said, concerned.

“No time like the present.”

Night had already fallen but they had all assembled at the cemetery; four vampires and one witch. Sam, Zac and Liz had positioned themselves around the clearing at the center of the cemetery, watching the forest around them for any interlopers. Aya stood next to Gabby as she chanted under her breath, summoning the doorway to the in-between place.

It was eerie sensation when the mist crept into the clearing, the air around them still warm from the day’s humidity. Gabby felt the change in her spirit, felt herself slipping into the place between life and death. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt the depth of Aya's power as they joined minds. She had had no idea, even after witnessing it in Memphis. She was something else. No wonder witches feared her coming.

“We need to detect where her anchor is,” Aya said, after she had gathered her thoughts. “Let me know if you can feel anything. No matter how small.”

Before she could cast her mind out, Katrin was before them, her expression total darkness and malice. Gabby staggered back a little, almost severing their link. How had she known they would be here? Had she expected it? If this truly was the place where her spirit lived, she would undoubtedly know when anybody set foot in it.

“Do you really think you can end me, Aeriaya?” Katrin scoffed. “You and your pitiful little witch?”

Gabby glanced sidelong at Aya, was that her true name? As her thoughts swirled, the grey mist began to swell around them, the emptiness melting into another place. Katrin was creating a vision in the void and Gabby could feel the power pulsing in the close air, reverberating in her bones. The founder was more powerful than she had ever thought possible.

The vision swirled around them, morphing the mist into a glade of deep green, speckled with a carpet of white flowers. A house was nestled at one end, the trees of the surrounding forest tall and ancient, sheltering arms reaching into the sunlight. Through Aya, she understood it was a protected place of power. A place of light and love; until blood began to drip from the trees. It wept from under the front door to the house, from the windows, its sickly copper tang filling the air around them.

“Stop it!” Aya screamed at Katrin as her eyes misted into two white orbs, her hands clawing at her black hair. She knew this place.

“It was your fault,” the founder sneered as the vision changed again. They stood in the middle of a bedroom that was dominated by a large bed. Gabby's heart thudded in her chest, Aya's fear echoing through their link. The room was full of blood. It was splattered over the walls, pooled on the floor. Gabby knew if she stepped forward, she would see that there were corpses on the bed.

“They killed them! You ordered them to!” Aya cried, tears streaming down her face. “They tore them apart, my brother, you...”

“You killed my son,” Katrin said, drawing her towards the bed. “Then you killed two more of my children. It was your fault.”

“He was a vampire!” she cried, trying to avert her face. “He was a monster!”

“No,” Katrin said with a sneer. “You are the monster, Aeriaya. Look at what you’ve become. Look at what you forced onto your family.”

Gabby, who was linked so thoroughly to Aya, gasped in horror as she saw the remains of the man and woman on the bed. They had been torn to shreds and placed back together by some sick sociopath, their hands linked. Their unearthly silver hair was tinged red in places from their mingled blood, the pallor of their skin marred by their brutal death. Gabby knew that these people were Aya's mother and father and her heart broke.

Aya roared in pain, her hands over her eyes to block the horrible sight. “It's time to die, Katrin. I won't let you get away with this! You've no right to call yourself witch. I'm taking it back!”

Katrin laughed at her, seemingly secure in her own knowledge that she was the all-powerful witch who cheated life and death. It was then that Gabby felt Aya begin to draw on her power. She'd asked for her complete trust. The link couldn’t be severed now, even if she tried. All she could do was watch as the vision cleared around them, dissolving back into the grey mist of the void. Katrin's expression faded into one of utter shock. She mustn't have expected her vision to dissolve so easily, but Gabby was too fixated on Aya to notice. She was beginning to change.

Her hair seemed to shimmer with strands of shining silver and her skin danced with tendrils of color, like she was made of pearl. She was becoming like her parents. Silver hair and translucent skin. Gabby knew this was what she was before she was turned. Katrin was visibly afraid as she stood face to face with Aya, or the creature Aya had become.

“No,” Katrin gasped in disbelief. “How did you? You can't. The Celestines are dead.”

“Goodbye Katrin,” Aya's voice soothed. “You'll face your judgment from the true founders. You'll answer for the eradication of my kind and the evil you spread in this world. I am honored to be the one who delivers you to them.”

Gabby shielded her eyes as a pure white light began to gather around Aya's form, the power that emanated from her was overwhelming. She was vaguely aware that Katrin was begging, her voice becoming more desperate as the light grew. The anchor that was holding her spirit was being severed, the power that Gabby had sensed earlier was dissolving.

The drain on her was extreme as she wavered on her feet, desperate to hold on, her trust now completely in Aya. She felt incredibly sleepy and struggled to stay alert. Aya wouldn't let anything happen to her, she was safe. Through the link Gabby could see the whole universe. The stars. Aya really was one of them, just like all of the stories said.

And just as suddenly as the vampire had changed, Katrin was gone. The power that she'd sensed, the anchor, was completely gone. Whatever Aya had done, it had worked.

Abruptly, they were back in the in-between place, just the two of them. All pretence of the house and the mist had fallen away. Aya stood before her, clasping her hands, worry etched into her face. She was back to normal, familiar features of deathly pallor and hair that was black as night filled her vision. The creature she had become was buried again, but not gone.

“Aya,” she whispered, clutching the vampire’s forearms to steady herself. “I don't understand who you are.”

“I'm the last of my kind, Gabby. A horrible, incomplete hybrid,” Aya said with a note of sadness that was so deep, it made tears fall from Gabby's eyes.

The young witch would probably never fully understand the woman who stood before her, but she had learned much that made most of what she knew of her make complete sense. Why Aya was the way she was. Her peaceful existence had been torn from her in the most brutal way possible, turned by the creature that killed her family, destroyed her home. It was no wonder that she had sought vengeance on those that would abuse their gifts.

“I... We all came from you, your family...didn't we?” she stammered, not quite believing that the people Aya had come from had given the first witches their power.

“This is important, Gabby,” Aya said, deadly serious. “You must keep this secret. It's not for others to know. What I am, what you've come from, this is a secret that must be learned. If you were to tell anyone something horrible will happen.”

“Like what?” she asked, a note of fear in her voice.

“I don't know. I've never known anyone foolish enough to try. That is enough warning in itself.”

Gabby sunk to the ground, exhausted, as the edges of the forest started to reappear. Nodding feebly, her head sunk to her knees. It was done. They had won, but she'd learned a deadly secret in the process. She couldn't fathom any of it.

Suddenly, there was a gust of wind that blew her unruly hair into her eyes. Scraping it away from her face, she gasped as she saw a dark shadow flying around them. It had the semblance of a person, emanating a dark malice that penetrated deep into her bones. She knew that it was trying to get back into reality, back into the forest where her friends were. Zac, Sam, Liz. But her power was spent; she could do nothing to help them.

“Stay down,” Aya cried, standing over her. “It's not over yet.”

Aya had risen to her feet, positioning herself over Gabby, raising her hands to fend off the shadow, but now that she had returned her power to Gabby, they were equal. A stalemate. Regardless, she tried to fend it off, but her fingers slid through its inky blackness. It had to remain in the in-between place. She kept trying desperately, aware that their reality was coming back into focus, the presence of the three vampires waiting for them pressing on her senses.

Abruptly, the wind dropped and the shadow thing wailed out into the forest and collided with Zac, disappearing into his body. Gasping in shock, he fell to the ground and began convulsing. Sam dropped to his knees beside him, holding his shoulders down, calling for Aya.

Liz fell to her knees beside them, grasping his shaking hand. “He's dying, his skin is turning grey!”

Aya dropped into a crouch beside them, placing her palm on Zac's forehead. “She's cursed him. Katrin has cursed him.” Tears began to well in her eyes as she gazed down at him and she brushed them away furiously. Katrin knew exactly what she was doing when she sent the curse, a last ditch effort to hurt her. She knew Zac was her weak spot, that she would do anything for him. Even if it meant giving him her blood, the only thing that would save him from the curse. And she would do it, knowing full well the consequences for doing so. Leaning close, she brushed his messy hair from his forehead and whispered, “Please let me save you, Zac.”

She bit the vein in her wrist open and went to place it at his mouth, but Liz grabbed her arm, “What are you doing? Your blood will only make it faster!” That's right, she'd lied and told Sam that her blood was poison to vampires with good reason.

Aya pulled her arm free and glared at the vampire who Zac had once loved. “My blood is the only thing that will save him now,” she growled. “Do you want him to die?” Liz edged away, fearful.

Turning back towards Zac, Aya leaned in close and whispered, “Please let me do this for you. Trust me, Zac.”

His eyes were wide as he shook his head. She couldn't bear to force him to drink her blood after they had all been turned against their will. He would have to choose to live on his own and she hoped that he would. He was a dark grey now, his body almost desiccated. Time was running out, and fast. All she had left was the truth, and she hoped it was enough.

Her blue eyes were full of sorrow as they pierced his dying muddy green and she whispered, “I love you, Zac. Please let me save you.” Stroking his face, she kissed him softly on the lips, her tears dripping down onto his cheeks. When she offered her wrist again, he willingly took it and drank and drank until his convulsions began to still. Color began creeping back into his skin as her blood purged the curse from his body.

Sam relaxed his grip and looked sidelong at Aya, concern etched into his features. She couldn't look at any of them. Such an admission tore her apart and her blood... She was alarmed at what Zac might see once he recovered. She stood hastily and backed towards the line of trees, her knees shaking. The loss of blood had drained her physically after her transformation, the emotions flying about the clearing overwhelming and it was all she could do to focus herself.

Liz was back at Zac's side, stroking his hair from his eyes, her hand against his forehead and she felt a stab of jealousy. His skin was almost back to normal, the curse disappearing as her blood circulated. Zac was out cold, his breathing so slight it was a miracle his heart was still beating.

“Thank you,” Sam murmured, looking up at her.

Aya shivered with exhaustion and wavered. “He will sleep a while,” she said detached. “When he wakes, he will be well.”

Sam nodded his acknowledgment. His eyes focused on a point behind her, widening in surprise and she knew that she had made a fatal mistake.

The last thing Aya saw was a hand bursting through her chest clutching her heart. Then there was nothing.

Sam and Liz stared in shock as Aya fell to the ground, eyes wide and vacant, a gaping hole through her chest.

But she couldn't die, she just couldn't!

Liz grasped Gabby's hand, she was still exhausted from the fight with Katrin, deathly pale.

Sam hissed and stood over Zac's unconscious body, glaring up at Aya's murderer.

He was shorter than Sam by a head, deathly pale skin, close-cropped dark brown hair and a hard face. A long scar from forehead to jaw marred his otherwise good looks. He had blood up to his elbow, a heavy hand still clutching her heart. He threw it nonchalantly to the ground beside him, a sly smile on his lips. “So, the witch made some friends. How quaint.”

Sam growled deep in his throat in warning to the vampire who stood before them. “And who the fuck are you?”

The man bared his fangs, eyes turning black. “I am Arturius. I was her maker.”