Dream A Little Dream of Me

“	Your nightmares follow you like a shadow, forever.	”
	— Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project

Inferno
Season 1, Episode 5
Air date	October 16th , 2015
Written by	Umayer
Directed by	Selena
Episode Guide Transcript
previous The Three Faces of Sophia	next The Things You Can't Outrun

 Beach-Nightfall 

The cool night breeze blows the loose strands of her long blonde hair all over Daimon's face, filling the air her unique scent of honey and cinnamon, which Daimon inhales deeply before opening his eyes. He reaches out for her hand, gently making contact on her palm with his lips. She smiles, her face lit up by the dying banked fire.

“It's beautiful, the night,” Kiera breaks the long silence, gazing up at the star filled sky. Daimon's eyes never leave Kiera's face.

“You're beautiful. The night is just an accessory to make your beauty shine,” Daimon replies.

“Are you mocking me, Daimon Abigor?” Kiera asks, turns to face her lover and smiles coyly. “Do you really think I can compare to all of this?”, she asks, raising her hands to indicate the cloudless sky dotted with a million points of light.

“Most definitely.” Daimon reaches over to kiss her, but she stops him.

“What's wrong?” Daimon asks, a look of sudden curiosity surfacing on his face.

Kiera stands up and holds out her hands for Daimon to take. Daimon, taking her hand, pulls himself up to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder. Kiera closes her eyes and sighs as Daimon nuzzles her neck. She runs her hand along one of his encompassing arms, and looks up at the stars again in time to see a sudden streak of light in the sky.

“Look, a shooting star! Make a wish Daimon.” Kiera says. Daimon looks up at the direction Kiera is pointing.

“I wish to be together with you forever,” Daimon replies, looking back at her and bending down to kiss her.

“Now it will never come true,” Kiera says in a mournful tone. She turns around and backs away from him.

Suddenly, everything around Daimon obfuscates. The fire is blown out as a strong wind comes in. The million points of light all begin to streak downwards. Their blazing trails across the sky are as mesmerizing as they are terrifying. As they grow larger, Daimon sees they are not shooting stars, but fireballs raining down. The fireballs crash all around them as it looks as if the sky is actually falling. He runs to Kiera, but cannot reach her, the gulf between them getting wider no matter how fast he seems to run. He is horror stricken when he sees a fireball heading straight for her. He shouts at her to warn her, but no sound comes out of his mouth. The fireball lands right behind her illuminating her form in a brilliant orange light, before, much to Daimon's horrors, she catches flames. He arrives at her side just in time for her to smile weakly before fading into dust before his eyes.

  Point Dume Academy - Night 

Damion wakes up from his nightmare. As usual, he is covered in a sheen of sweat, which always accompanies his nightmares. Tossing off the covers to cool down, Daimon closes his eyes and tries to remember Kiera's face from his dream. But, like always, he cannot remember clearly the beginning of any dream where Kiera is alive and happy. No, he only remembers the horrific end as Kiera dies right before him, unable to help her or reach her until it is too late. The only memories of her face he retains are those when she's in pain and anguish.

After several minutes of endlessly replaying her final moments in his mind, he eventually grows weary enough to stop trying to remember. His hand reaches out for his phone and taps it to get the time. It is 4:30 in the morning, and Daimon is thankful the nightmare came late enough this time, instead of earlier in the night. He gets out of bed, wipes his still damp face off with a shirt that was on the floor, then walks over to his dresser and pulls out a pair of boxers and a clean shirt. He dresses in the dark quickly and quietly, an expert by this time, leaving Jamie and Josh's sleep undisturbed. Before heading out, he picks up a copy of H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau from the bed side table.

Slowly closing the door to the dorm room, Damion finds his way to the kitchen without the help of any light or indications. He almost jumps to see Sophia in the kitchen, but just tries to fake a smile, forcing himself to behave.

“Can’t sleep?” Sophia asks the male hybrid rhetorically, licking off the melting chocolate from her fingers, getting some on her face in the process. She seems to have been up baking again. Daimon walks over to her, grabbing the tissue on the counter beside him, and rubs away the chocolate on the chrone’s face. “Well, you know me; I have my issues, what about you? This is the second time this week,” the hybrid replies.

Sophia hesitates, a worried look on her face. Daimon looks at her with inquisitiveness. He understands her reluctance to share what has been going on with her, and he respects her decision. So the hybrid finds himself utterly surprised when the chrone replies.

“It would seem as if you have passed on your problems onto me,” she finally replies. Daimon looks at her with awe. It takes a minute for it all to sink in. Sophia has been having bad dreams as well. She did tell him so the other night, but he shooed it away, thinking everyone has bad dreams once in a while.

“It gets more difficult every night. Mostly it’s dreams about my past, some seem so true, and others are like vague memories. The rest are all there to unravel me. Things I’d like to forget. The worst thing though, is....is the fact that some of them, these dreams, or I don’t know what to call them, come to me even when I’m not sleeping,” the chrone continues as Daimon listens attentively. “I’m constantly worried of all the things that have been happening to me, ever since that incident in Bulgaria, me ending up here, meeting Josh, you guys, sometimes it all just seems like a fluke and I’m scared that one day I’ll wake up all alone and find you all gone.”

Sophia goes silent. Daimon finds himself taking the seat beside her at the kitchen counter top and Sophia allows herself to rest her head on his shoulder.

“I understand what you mean. Even if everything around us is real, it won’t even take a blink of an eye for us to lose it all. And if, as these people say, Agoroth really is out there, well I’d be scared. Shit, I am scared,” Daimon tells his friend.

“You wouldn’t be human if you’re not scared,” Sophia remarks.

“I’m not human girl. Well not entirely at least,” Daimon reminds her. “Oh but what I wouldn’t give to be normal. As boring as it sounds, the probability of them living their life to the fullest is still higher than most of ours. We are often killed right after we are born. When I first came to Point Dune Academy, I had this roommate who's long since graduated. He told me that his parents offered up his youngest brother to Lucifer right after he was born, as some sort of sacrifice. He ran away from home and Headmaster Specter found him and brought him here.”

“That’s terrible,” the chrone comments. “Where is he now?”

“Hopefully he's found peace,” Daimon softly replies. Sophia looks at him, with her grief struck eyes. “Hunter attack,” the hybrid continues. “It was sudden and there were a lot of casualties.”

The news sinks in. Sophia’s mind begins to wander off. Away into the darkness.

 Sophia’s Walking Dream  

Slowly everything becomes clearer. Sophia walks around amidst panicked people, running out, guided by Professor Sherman. Headmaster Nathan’s voice booms in, asking everyone to be calm and follow orders. Suddenly the window of the dorm room breaks and many of the boys are knocked down with wooden stakes. Panic fills in the atmosphere. Everyone start to stream out of the room, but not before some more boys are knocked down by another round of stakes being fired at the room through the broken windows.

When everyone has left, all Sophia could take in regard was the pain of the Point Dune Academy students. She notices one them trying to crawl towards the open door of the room, crying for some help. To her horror, Sophia realizes too late that it is Josh. She bows down to help him but she cannot feel him. She tries to speak, to shout, but her lungs start burning as a feeling of drowning reverberates through her.

“I’m sorry love. You cannot help them. You see you’re not here. This is all in your head,” Sophia follows Eric’s voice to find him standing in front of the broken window. He slowly walks over to her, holds her arms and makes her stand.

“God, you need to stop being so fucking pretty,” Eric comments, running his hands over her face.

“Makes it harder to not miss you. To not love you.”

Sophia is taken aback when Eric presses his lips against hers, the coldness inside him hitting her hard, making her quiver. She finds herself drawn in for more when Eric breaks apart from her, smiling like the bad boy Sophia remembers him to be. The one who helped her grow into herself... Eric turns down to the boy on the floor, trying to make his way to the door. He picks up the wooden stake from the floor and raises it in the air. Sophia understands his intentions and she screams out loud but alas, her voice is still stuck in her larynx, swimming in the pain filling up her lungs. She watches as Eric drives the stake through the Josh’s heart, unparallelled fear in his eyes as he slowly dies.

“Look what you have made me do Sophia,” Eric whispers in her ear, somehow suddenly behind her.

“This is how you think of me? As a monster?”

“You are a monster! Look at what you have done!” Sophia managed to scream, but Eric walks over to the dead boy and looks down, then back up at her.

“I didn't do this,” Eric says, raising his finger to point at her. Sophia looks down and sees her hands all bloody and a heart in her hand. White hair falls down in front of her face. Sophia drops to her knees again and begins to weep. Eric returns to her side and wipes the tears away from her face.

“It’s all gonna be okay. This is just your nature. I still love you, even if you are a monster. You can't help who you are, love. Even though you killed me,my love for you is stronger than that.” Eric whispers in her ears. Sophia wants to push him away, get away from him for what she just did to the her Josh. But as she looks around, she sees more bodies everywhere, bodies of her friends, broken and bleeding at her feet.

She's cursed.

Wherever she goes, death follows.

 Kitchen- Point Dune Academy-Moments Later  

“After that day, Headmaster Specter secured the campus more. Covered the whole thing up. Just another in a series of unfortunate school shooting incidents. So far, no hunter has ever made it past the front gates…” Daimon continues but Sophia looks lost in herself. She has been crying but Daimon hasn’t noticed yet; the hybrid was too engrossed in his storytelling. “But I don’t want you to love me like this,” Sophia suddenly speaks, focusing Daimon's attention towards her.

Daimon suddenly notices the tear mark traces on her face and gets panicky. He asks her if she is alright, and apologizing for making her cry. When he realizes that Sophia is lost in her own world, he shakes her out of it.

Back to her senses, Sophia starts to shake. She looks at Daimon, happy to see his face, but her conversation with Eric starts to come back to her. Daimon holds her tight and Sophia embraces the warmth he radiates, unlike Eric, who in her nightmare was cold to the touch. She breaks down crying and puffing every few seconds. Daimon looks at the clock. It’s 6 A.M. He takes Sophia in his arms and carries her out of the kitchen.

 Tara, Arabella & Sophia’s Dorm  

Tara is not in her bed when Daimon carries Sophia into the room. Arabella, in a state where she is still clinging to her small sweet dream, breaks free and runs to help Daimon as he softly lays Sophia down on the bed.

“What happened?” asks Bella to the hybrid. Sophia is still in a state of fear and sadness when Daimon looks down at her.

“Something I myself am wondering,” replies the hybrid. Tara walks into the room then, coming back from the shower, with a towel cinched around her waist and another in her hair. She stops in her tracks when she finds Daimon in her room and blushes fiercely when she realizes what she must look like right now. But the look on their faces when they turn to look at her spurs her to action and finds herself among the crowd in a few seconds. They can see that Sophia is still too broken to speak at the moment and decides to give her some space, walking away to talk amongst themselves.

“Spill it, Abigor,” Bella says with a curt tone and narrowed eyes.

“We both couldn't sleep again. I found her in the kitchen. We were just talking about the hunter attack at the academy when Sophia suddenly stopped talking,” Daimon tells Sophia’s worried friends. “I think she was having a waking dream but she didn't snap out of it. I had to shake her to bring her back to her senses. Seconds later she started to have a mental breakdown and I carried her here.”

Sophia’s friends sigh. Arabella moves to Sophia and crawls into her bed, wrapping herself around the chrone. Tara also joins her, not even bothering to go change. Daimon finds himself standing in front of Sophia’s bed, looking at the three girls, embracing each other. His focus shifts towards Bella’s hands holding Sophia’s tightly, Sophia’s hair on Bella’s face, Tara taking a corner of her towel to Sophia's cheeks, rubbing off her tears. Seeing her in good hands, Daimon excuses himself and shuts the door, before returning to his own dorm.

 Simulator Room- Last Week 

They young hybrid buries his face in the blonde's hair. He sniffs her scent and kisses her small bloody wound on her head. His tears blur his vision.

“Please don’t cry for me. I don’t want this to be your last memory of mine,” Kiera weakly speaks. Everything around them is dark, the young hybrid’s is unable to see anything of his surroundings. “Think of this as a beautiful evening, the red sunset on the beach, the streaks of pink in the blue sky, the splash of the salty ocean water on our faces, my head on your chest,” Kiera continues, breathless and weak.

“I remember that day. I see it almost every night.” Daimon says to the girl nestled in his arms. He looks down to see her face lifeless, and her chest no longer rising. The hybrid holds her tightly, not letting her go, letting all his emotions flow out of him.

The surrounding slowly changes, a hot pink glow above, a tint of red, yellow, orange, violet, a magical surrounding. Daimon and an uninjured Kiera sit on a yacht slowly sailing off into the sunset, the cool breeze blowing the young blonde’s hair all over the hybrid’s face.

“Where to oh captain, my captain?” Kiera jokes.

“Second star to the right, and straight on 'till morning.” Daimon quips, and is delighted to see Kiera's glowing smile. The yacht sails though a fog bank, becoming more and more thick. It soon becomes impossible to see anything. The deck of the yacht has transformed into an icy and snow covered ground. Damon can barely make out the gates of Point Dume behind him. When he tries to walk, he trips, noticing his feet are chained to the ground. The fog slowly clears off to give rise to a silhouette far away, slowly drawing near. Her Asian features soon becomes all too clear, when Daimon suddenly realizes that it is Tara, a knife to her throat, her voice calling out for him.

Daimon tries to proceed forwards, trying to walk towards her, forgetting that he is chained. He falls to the ground, slowly trying to crawl forwards, watching Agoroth, the white eyed demon, with one swift move, spills red over the white ground. Daimon’s heart fills with certain heaviness, one he cannot simply let go of. He feels like he is sinking, watching the last rays of sunlight disappearing as he plummets down, lost in the depths of the sea of his misery. He watches on as Tara falls down on her knees, collapsing on the white below. He watches Agoroth sneering at him, slowly making his way to him.

Agoroth pulls him up by his hair, and softly whispers, “Who should be next? The chrone, her boyfriend, your gay friend, the Kronin girl or that Martin girl?”

Daimon sees Agoroth’s army, standing behind him, holding all of his friends, knives to their throats, ready to kill them all. Agoroth looks back at the young hybrid, “Daimon Abigor, you are no hero. You won’t be able to save anyone. You’re not built to save lives, but you’re built to make sure that everyone around you dies, while you observe their souls leave their bodies.”

“I’ll kill you for this,” Daimon’s words spurt out of his mouth. He uses his free hands to grab Agoroth’s hands but he is unable to get a grip. Agoroth laughs.

“Let’s make this easier for you,” Agoroth tells Daimon. “On my count of three, slit all their throats open. The pang of pain will be a huge one, but it’ll be easier. Or better yet, let’s burn them alive,” the white eyed demon continues. He turns to Daimon, “I can think of no better fate for you then to have you forever relive the screams of your loved ones being consumed by fire. You failed to save her, just as you will too fail to save them. Don’t you deserve such punishment to haunt you at night? Forever cursed by your cowardice? To live and wake in fear every night? Don’t you deserve an eternity of pain?

Agoroth’s balefully smiling face raises the demon within Daimon. With his orange eyes aglow, he stands, firmly on his feet, and forces the chain around his feet to break. He looks at Agoroth, triumphantly.

“No.” Daimon declares and runs headlong into the demon. He tackles Agoroth to the ground and has his hands around his throat. Suddenly the figure of Agoroth disappears, as does everything else, as an explosion is heard in the distance. Daimon finds himself wearing his red armor training suit once more as opposed to his regular clothes. The simulator room is dark and heavily damaged. He sees the others in various corners of the room. Tara is in tears. Bella still had her hands on her throat as if she were being choked. Sienna was balled up in a corner with her arms over her head. In the most damaged area of the room, he witnesses Sophia, her training suit all but burned off her body. She collapses to the ground and faints. He and several others run over to her. A loudspeaker keeps repeating like a broken record “Simulation Over.” As they try to wake her up, a scream is heard coming from Sienna. Everyone looks over at her.

“It's Josh. He won't wake up either!” She says between her sobs.

 Alazne’s Office 

Alazne’s sharp nails make a small tapping noise on the wooden desk at which she sits, when they come in contact with each other. She looks at Daimon, drenched in sweat, agony and anger.

“I’m scared of the war to come,” he breaks the awkward silence. Alazne slowly examines him, from top to bottom.

“You had a panic attack,” the seer finally reaches her conclusion. Daimon looks at her in awe and envy. Alazne just sweetly smiles at him.

“It’s okay, Daimon. Let’s talk about your week, how was it? The kitchen cameras show that you have developed quite a relationship with Ms. Dimitrov,” the seer continues.

Daimon hesitates. He does not like the thought of cameras invading their privacy everywhere they went. But he understood the security issues. Another perk of the hunter attack, the cameras are.

“We are just friends, I believe,” the hybrid stammers. “I consider her a friend. I don’t know if she considers me as one.”

“I’m sure she does. She seems to care for you,” the seer throws out. “Maybe you can open up to her about all the things you’re scared to open up to Tara.” Daimon is once again thrown under the bus for underestimating Alazne’s powers.

“You’re more alike than you know,” the seer continues. “What I’m suggesting is that maybe it’ll help you better if you would talk to her, or one of your friends, like Josh Frazer about this. But I’d suggest you talk to Sophia. I Have a hunch she’ll understand you better.”

“And why is that?” Daimon asks, curious.

“Well her secrets are not mine to tell now, are they?” Alazne smiles at Daimon. “Well let’s get back to the topic. How was your week?”

“It was better than last week, in some ways,” the hybrid replies. “But my nightmares have taken a turn for the worse. I imagine things even when I’m awake. I keep on seeing her being ripped away from me, again and again. It’s as if experiencing that once was not enough, my stupid self won’t let me forget. I mean I’m with Tara now, but I keep going back to her.”

Alazne nods. “Yes I saw your simulation footage. By now you know that the suits were monitoring your bio-electrical activity, heart-rate and other factors and created different scenarios for each of you based on scans from the computer and our files. You still love Kiera, Daimon. That’s why she keeps coming back to you, again and again. You’re scared that you'll experience love again only to lose once more. It’s just your fear playing with you. You are scared of losing everyone, you’re scared that the world will come apart but there will be nothing you could do to save it,” the seer tells the hybrid.

“So what do I do? How do I remove my fears?” the hybrid asks the seer.

“Daimon, you shouldn't look at fear as something negative you want to cast off. Fear is a natural human response developed over years of evolution. Fear can be good, for it makes us cautious and aids in survival. To admit that you're afraid gives you strength. Keep in mind that feelings aren't always positive and negative. They simply exist. It's what we do with those feelings that becomes good or bad. Love in a negative sense can lead to obsession, just as fear can lead to terror, if not checked. Removing one's fear would be just as bad, leading to recklessness.”

“You’re saying I need to hope that things will be alright again?” Daimon speaks a slight bit of frustration in his voice. “I just sit down and hope that my dreams will go away. Hope that we’ll defeat Agoroth without anyone close to me dying?”

Alazne sighs. “I am afraid you’ve misunderstood me,” she says quietly. “Acknowledging one's fears is only the first step in confronting and ultimately overcoming them. When the underlying causes are identified, then the rational mind can begin to counteract fear with determination. When dealing with fear, don't ask yourself, 'What will happen to me?' Instead think, 'What can I do to prevent this?' For now though I suggest you go back, attend your classes, perhaps go on a walk with Tara, and get to know her more, talk to Sophia, crack jokes with Josh and Jamie. See me again in two days time. We’ll talk about it then.”

“So no remedy for me, eh?” Daimon asks, disappointed with his session with the seer.

“I just gave you a remedy. Go out. Live, Daimon. Don’t let an earlier tragedy prevent you from experiencing future happiness. Let’s see how you do. Then come back to me again,” Alazne says.

Daimon thanks her for her time and exits the room. Outside he finds Sienna Kronin waiting to talk to Alazne.

“Abigor,” Sienna says, trying to hide her apprehension from the hybrid.

“Kronin,” Daimon gestures before leaving. Sienna looks around the hall, clear of students. She enters Alazne’s room, closing the door shut.

 Ian Sherman’s Classroom- Afterclass 

“Where does it come from? This quest, this need to solve life's mysteries when the simplest of questions can never be answered. Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we'd be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. That's not human nature. Not the human heart. That is not why we are here. Think about that over the next couple of days and hand in your reports answering these questions and how they apply to you by Friday.” Says Ian Sherman as the bell rings, indication this class is over and onto the next.

Bella puts in her laptop inside her bag and fixes her hair. She walks over to Mr. Sherman, who pretends not to notice her when she takes a place in front of his desk. Bella looks reluctant. She wonders if she should should go through with this conversation at all.

Finally after much thought, and in part to Sherman pretending she didn't exist, Bella speaks, her voice shaky, but determined. “The other day, you all threw us in that hellhole without any previous warning or anything.”

“Agoroth will not send us an invitation card saying that he is arriving,” Ian replies instantly without even looking at Bella.

“You did not let me finish,” Bella says getting a bit angry at being rebuffed.

“Make your point Ms. Martin, I do not have the entire day for you,” Ian says, annoyed at Bella's rudeness.

“Right, so if we are to indeed stop Agoroth, and you need our help for that, don't you think it's better to keep us updated 24/7?” The young witch asks.

“Look, I'm just doing what I'm told. Maybe you should talk with Alazne and Headmaster Specter about this, “ Sherman replies. “And if I'm not wrong, you have Divination now. So get going young lady!”

“I don't need to sit in Divination while there's a war brewing. This is no way to train your army! We need to prepared for what's to come!” Bella yells.

“I seriously am having trouble comprehending your behavior, but you need to dial it back. I'm a teacher and you're a student. And this is neither the time nor place to discuss such matters.” Mr. Sherman says, his nose almost touching Bella's. Suddenly the door to his classroom flings open and a wave of juniors rushes in. Bella notices Todd Rollings in the crowd.

“This isn't over,” Bella's voice is heard in Ian's head.

Ian looks at her, not intimidated by her threat. He smiles. Disgusted, Bella rushes out of the classroom.

  Tara, Arabella & Sophia’s Dorm – Late Afternoon 

“He looked at me like I was the enemy here. And then he sneered at me,” Bella complains to her friends.

“You did go off on him though,” Tara says. “They're all just trying to protect us.”

“Protect us? What have you done with my friend Tara? Throwing us in a battle without any information whatsoever is not protecting us; where I come from that's basically suicide.” the young witch says, crossing her arms.

“Maybe they don't know enough. Maybe they already told us all they know,” Sophia says weakly, while sitting cross-legged on her bed.

“That's an even scarier thought. Fine, maybe I should not have approached Sherman the way I did. I cannot believe I skipped Divination because I was so angry at him, I am already doing not so well as it is.” Bella comments and sighs. She looks at Sophia and then at Tara. Tara looks down, awkwardly, aware of the fact that she is being looked at. Sophia pretends to not notice anything.

“What the fucking fuck is wrong with you two?” Arabella finally breaks the silence. “Tara has started acting like a lost puppy and Sophia is too shy to talk about anything. What happened to being 'friends'?”

“Look you cannot attack us like this,” Tara says.

“I'm attacking you!? What has Daimon done to you? Do you want to die Tara? I thought you'd all want to be prepared.” Bella looks at Tara, confused.

“Guys, stop, we shouldn't be fighting among ourselves.” Sophia butts in.

“I feel like I'm being shut out from every fucking thing that has been going on around this place and it gets fucking lonely at times. The teachers tell us nothing. Tara won't talk to me about what's happening with Daimon, You won't say what's got eaten you up, and you don't like my new boyfriend, Adam. I feel like I don't belong in my own room anymore,” Arabella spurts out behind tears. Bella quickly wipes the tears away from her cheeks, completely destroying her makeup in the process. Tara comes over with a tissue and starts repairing the damage. Bella smiles behind her watery eyes, appreciative of Tara's help, but gently takes Tara's hand away by the wrist.

“I got this.” Bella says. The young witch gently waves her hand in front of her face, pulling the small droplets of water away from her cheeks and eyes. The droplets dance gently in the afternoon sun. sparkling whenever they are struck by the sun streaming into the room. With another wave of her hand, the water droplets coalesce into a single small sphere, which Bella then directs into a tiny vial she levitated off her desk to hover before her.

“Witch's tears. Used in spells. I may flunk Divination this year, but I'm gonna be a bad-ass in Alchemy class.” Bella states to the other girls who were mesmerized by the display. Sophia giggles, while Tara embraces Bella in an affectionate hug.

“I don't ever want you to say again that you're alone,” says Tara, gently letting go of her witch friend.

“If you guys need the room, I can leave" here,” says Sophia, with a smirk, reminding the two others of her presence. They both turn to look at Sophia who has closed her eyes and making an exaggerated kissy face with her mouth.

“Ew,” both Tara and Arabella says at the same time. Sophia opens her eyes to look at them, straight faced, with no sign of regret in her eyes. Her stoic demeanor and utter silence soon gives way when suddenly all three of them bursts out laughing.

“Oh my god, stop, you both!” The crone says as she tries to stop her laugh. “As much as I appreciate this silly moment, we need to stop and shift our focus.”

It takes a while but they all eventually stop laughing. Tara now sitting on her bed, looks down at her buzzing phone. She blushes.

“It's Daimon,” she declares with a tone of pride in her voice. “He wants to meet for a walk by the lake before sunset.”

Arabella smiles while walking over to her desk She sets down the small vial of tears and reaches for her makeup bag. “I'm happy for you,” the young witch tells her. She turns her attention to Sophia, while beginning to fix her damaged eyeliner. “What happened to you this morning, Soph? You gave us quite the scare...”

Sophia looks at her friends, reluctant to answer the young witch's question. “I could explain to you, but it's just a bit too much for me to talk about,” the crone finally speaks.

“It's okay Sophia, you ....” Tara starts to speak but Bella butts in.

“Maybe we could help you. But we can't if you don't tell us what's going on. It might be therapeutic...” The young witch presses her.

“It's not like I cannot tell you or don't want to tell you. I'm scared of what you'll think of me if I tell you everything about me. I have a tendency of driving people away because of how I can be at times,” Sophia tells her friends, the image of Piper coming into mind. How close they were(like sisters) before things fell apart around her. “I'm....weird.”

“And you think we're not? You sure do underestimate us a lot," the young witch says. “Well just so you know, once I befriend somebody, I find it difficult to let them go and will protect them at any cost.”

“How can you care about me, when you barely even know me?” the crone asks.

“So is Josh the only one who knows you, then?” Tara asks.

Sophia looks perplexed. “Um..he doesn't either,” she tells them. “But I care deeply for him, I really like him but I'm scared of him leaving me, if he learns of my past, if he finds out about about my problems, about Eric, about Bulga..”

“Woah! Dial it back,” Tara stops the crone. “Who's Eric?”

Sophia stares at her friends, horrified of what is about to come. She hates herself for bringing Eric up, and wonders if she can really talk to her friends about him. She looks at Bella's face, and then at Tara's, both their pair of eyes fixated on her. The chrone looks down, studying her shaking hands. She looks around her, and as her vision goes dark, she is shocked to see Eric laying on Bella's bed.

“Oh, you're going to talk about me now, babe? To them?” Eric's voice is cheerful and light as he lounges on the bed, his head propped up on a mass of pillows. He has a baseball in his hands. He's tossing it against the far wall and having it come back to him. The loud thumps of the ball hitting the wall reverberate through the chrone's body, coming in time to match that of her beating heart.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Eric asks, still flinging the ball against the wall. “Do you want your friends to know what kind of monster you really are?”

“I'm not a monster! Go away!” Sophia shouts at the phantom. Eric catches the ball again and grins widely. He pushes himself up and sits on the edge of the bed. He holds out the ball in his hand.

“Remember when I tried to explain to you the rules of baseball?” He pulls the ball back close to him and begins examining the stitches. “All those statistics and rules, the percentages”. He looks back up Sophia. “Well you've got the bases loaded, and 2 outs, bottom of the ninth. You've already got one strike with these girls, for not saying anything. If you tell them who I really am, that's one more strike. And as for what you did to me...well that's strike three.” Eric moves close, sitting right beside her, Sophia looking at his face, and can feel herself getting lost in his eyes. Sophia closes her eyes, trying to dispel the phantom before her. But she can hear Eric chuckling softly. He draws in closer, the tip of her nose touching his.

“Only a monster like me could ever love a monster like you,” he says before moving in for a kiss. It is only Bella's warm hands coming in contact with the chrone’s that forces her back to reality. Sophia looks beside her and finds the space on her bed empty, the phantom gone. Sophia looks at the young witch with growing terror.

“I'm sorry, I can't.” she mutters, shaking her head before burying it in her hands. The onset of tears in her eyes prompts Tara to hug her. Bella snaps her mascara case shut loudly, quickly redoes her lip gloss, and stands up, grabbing her bag and roughly tossing in some textbooks and notebooks.

“I think I'll just go do my homework in the library, ” she says, opening the door to the dorm. She walks away swiftly, and after making her exit, throws her hands in the air, causing the door to slam with brute force, making Tara jump.

“Strike two,” Sophia mutters to no one in particular.

 Lake-Evening  

Daimon watches the stone skip before it eventually falls into the water and sinks down. “You used to be so much better,” the hybrid hears the voice of his former lover.

He looks back and finds her standing in a nice white polka dot dress, staring at the sun as it slowly meets the horizon. The smile on her ruby red lips was undeniably perfect and her cheeks turns rosy when Daimon's hands reached her waist. She lets the moment sink in, every atom in her body vibrating in the heat the hybrid is radiating. His lips almost finds hers when she pulls away.

Daimon frowns at her reaction. He watches her eyes flit up and down his body before staring at the ground beneath her own feet.

“What's wrong?” Daimon breaks the silence.

“Everything is?” Kiera guesses, her voice shaking in the cold evening breeze. “You need to let go of me, Daimon. This is not right. You can't keep living in the past.”

“But what happened to all the promises we made? All the dreams of sailing away into the sunset, hiking up mountains!?” Daimon shouts at her. “Do you even love me or were you just desperate to get into my pants?”

Kiera looks at Daimon in disbelief. She chuckles softly. She walks over to him, tracing her finger over his beautiful jawline. Daimon does not pull back. He relishes the contact.

“You always could make me laugh.” Kiera says before lowering her hand back to her side.

"Why does it have to be like this? Why can't life be..not so complicated?" Daimon wonders, staring intently on his former lover's face.

“The Fates are cruel. But they are just. You lost me, but you found Tara. And she deserves the Daimon I loved, not this Daimon, the Daimon that gets offended easily, or the hybrid that's still hung up on the ghost of his dead girlfriend.” Kiera says.

“I like Tara, but my love for her is just a little dot in the world of infinity compared to all my love for you,” the hybrid tells Kiera.

“And she does not deserve a love like that. You need to stop allowing me to come in between your relationship with her. You need to let me go,” Kiera whispers, her voice croaking, almost on the verge of tears.

“I can never let you GO!” Daimon shouts. “I never loved anyone so deeply.” A tear rolls down the hybrid's right cheek.

“Please,” the girl begs, on her knees, holding the hybrid's legs for support. “I need you to be happy. It hurts me to see you like this.”

The hybrid kneels down, taking Kiera by her arms, gently lifting her up, wrapping his arms around her, letting her sob against his chest. They did not speak, for at that moment, their embrace spoke volumes, transcending them into a world of undying serenity, where death was a foreigner in a land too far away. The blonde lifts up her head, looking at the smile adorning Daimon's face. On her heels, she plants a small kiss on those lips, the salty tears flowing down both their cheeks making it a wet experience. Regrettably, it is she who breaks them apart, her bright eyes lighting up her face. Relishing in the kiss one last time.

“Will I see you again?” the hybrid asks.

“That's not up to me,” she whispers. “But promise me one thing?”

“Anything,” the hybrid mutters.

“Be happy, regardless of what happens.” Kiera whispers in his ear as she bids him goodbye. The hybrid smiles at his first love. Kiera takes one final look at him before she is turning and walking toward the lake that is sparkling as it catches last of the rays of the setting sun. Kiera walks across the top of the water, her footsteps creating little ripples as she moves, her form obscured by the yellow-orange orb of the sun. The evening sun seems to brighten, radiating light all through the place. Daimon looks at her in complete awe and feels the warmth of the radiating sun as well. He rushes headlong into the light wanting it to envelop him entirely. Soon it becomes too bright for the hybrid to keep his eyes open.

“Close 'em,” he hears her voice whispering in his ears. He obeys.

Coldness surrounds Daimon as reality comes crashing back into sharp focus. Underwater, he finds a small fish swimming past his shoulder. He looks around the murky shadows and the darkness to the dim light shining down from the surface of the lake. His desire for oxygen propels him to swim towards it, like a small kid trying to catch the glowing fireflies in their fists and wondering what makes them glow.

“Kiera was right,” the hybrid thinks. “Tara deserves better.”

Coming to the surface, the hybrid takes a deep breath, though he was far from winded. A human would have had trouble rising from the depth he had reached. He swims over to the dock and grips onto the wooden post and hauls his body out of the lake. Water drips down from his wet hair down below to his hands and boxers. Suddenly he feels a warm hand against his cold, pale skin. Looking up, he finds Tara’s face smiling down at him. Daimon looks down, feeling guilty about the fact that he’s been playing with her emotions all this time when he cannot get his in line.

“Odd time to go for a swim, huh?” Tara asks, wonder-struck, admiring the hybrid’s almost naked body.

She takes a seat beside him on the edge of the dock, kicking her feet into the water, her fingers slowly trailing the curves of his face, his wet hair, his neck. Her touch was warm after the cold swim for Daimon too delightful to pull away, and more comfort than he'd known in the past few days, or even months.

“I don't really feel the cold.” he softly replies, smiling at Tara. “Plus, swimming always gets me in the mood. It refreshes me after a long day of constant lectures about evolution, poisons, humans, futures, and what not.”

Daimon leans in for a short kiss and Tara obliges. Tara seems to be lost in a bubble of happiness, of wanting more, so when Daimon breaks apart, she looks a bit disappointed. They stare at the sun almost down in the horizon, in silence, neither knowing what to talk about. Tara surprises Daimon when she wraps her hands around his arm and puts her head on his shoulder. Daimon finds himself pressing his cheeks against her soft hair, her quiet company soothing his worries away.

“Thank you,” the hybrid finally whispers as the sun sets down below the horizon. Tara looks up at him, wondering if he is crazy.

“For what?” she laughs.

“This peaceful, amazing last few minutes,” the hybrid tells her. “You almost made me forget all my worries.”

Tara smiles. “Well maybe you could tell me what’s on your mind, and maybe I’ll be able to make you forget them all, for good,” she says.

Daimon smiles coyly, but it soon fades away, replaced by the guilty look in his dark eyes. The kitsune notices this and gently reaches for his cheek, placing her hand on them, allowing the hybrid to bury his head on her small palm. She slowly raises his head, looks into his hazy eyes, and reaches out to envelope him into her arms. A vulnerable Daimon allows himself to sink into the kitsune’s arms and rest his tired, sleepless head on her comforting chest.

“It’s alright,” Tara whispers in a comforting tone. “You’ll be okay.”

The kitsune holds him in her arms for a few seconds before the hybrid breaks away. He sniffs and looks into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes, glowing in the dark with anticipation, with warmth and with love, making it much harder for Daimon to come up with the strength to open up to her.

He gulps before beginning. “Look,” says the hybrid. “Lately, going out with you has made me realize what I have been missing in life. The humor, the joy, just living life in general.”

“I’m glad I could give that sensation to you,” Tara smiles. “The sensation of living.” Daimon gives her a look of appreciation.

“Well, I have thought of it a lot, how I would say all these things to you. I mean I have practiced this conversation like a million times over the last few days. But I’m scared of getting it wrong. I’m scared that I’ll drive you away, I’ll drive us apart,” Daimon says.

“Nothing you say is going to change how I feel about you,” the kitsune quickly replies.

Daimon looks away at the furthest light in the slowly darkening sky. It is like a palette of colors, messed up together by a bored artist, lost in the echo of his own imaginations. That's how the hybrid felt, he could not decide whether he should go forward, paint the picture just as he had imagined it in his mind or pretend to be happy with the way the incomplete picture was.

“What do we have?” Daimon finally asks. Tara looks at him, confused by the hybrid's current question.

“Something? Something that could be more,” the kitsune replies, hoping that her answer will not force the hybrid to hide behind a wall and never come out in the open.

“Well I'm afraid that I am not ready for this something we have to grow into something more,” the hybrid reveals. “It's not like I don't want it to, I'm just afraid that I'll lose it, I'll lose myself in the deepest pits of Hell if I let down my guard again and something bad happens.”

“I don't understand,” Tara replies, the look on her face that of sadness and confusion.

“Kiera,” the hybrid says. Upon hearing her name, Tara's eyes become cloudy, envy and anger floating all over her face. Daimon notices this.

“I understand if you are angry already. I mean, I would be too had I been in your position but you need to understand that I have never really loved anyone more deeply than her,” the hybrid says. “We were so fucking close and she was just so... scintillating. I know it's crazy when I say this but I don't think I can ever let go of her, even though she is already gone. And I hate myself for doing this to you, but all things aside, Tara, I really do want us to have something. But it is from the deepest part of me, when I tell you this, I cannot give you everything you want. There will always be a part of me that will miss her and I'm constantly seeing her, in my dreams, even when I'm awake. I have tried to let her go, but I honestly cannot.”

Tara does not say anything. The fact that she might be in love with the hybrid empowers the small amount of jealousy that she feels towards Kiera at the moment. She watches Daimon stand and pick up the small stone from the dock and throw it into the lake. It skips three times before drowning in the dark water.

“You used to be better,” Tara says, softly. Daimon looks at the kitsune, taken aback.

“Well now I just suck!” He picks up another stone and throws at the water. This time it skips twice before drowning. “And I'm only getting worse.”

Tara stands up and walks over to the hybrid. She takes his hand into hers, their fingers entwining. The kitsune lets her head fall on the hybrid's shoulder, and in the dark, the hybrid's arm reaches up to wrap the kitsune, protective and loving.

“I understand,” Tara whispers. “But we'll try to work things out the way they are.”

Daimon does not reply. In the darkness, his blue eyes seems distant, cold and scared. Suddenly he remembers his training simulation with the white eyed demon, how helpless he was, how scared he is.

“Guess I'm just scared that I'll lose you too,” he murmurs, his tone coarse. “I cannot love you and then lose you too.”

“You won't.” The kitsune turns back and softly plants a kiss on the hybrid's lips. The hybrid reluctantly kisses back. Pulling away the kitsune stares at the darkness, protected by the hybrid's loving arms, fresh tears descending down her cheeks.

 Point Dune Academy Library-Dusk  

Todd Rollings watches Jamie Moores from a distance, with a slow burning desire to run his fingers through his beautiful hair, to plant a kiss on his beautiful eyelashes, to trace his back with his fingers, to cuddle together in bed after a warm, tiresome love making session. He wanted to walk over to him and pin him down to the wall and push his tongue into Jamie's mouth, but he was scared how Jamie would react, how the rest of the students in the library would react. And Todd was not ready for an embarrassment of that kind of magnitude.

Suddenly, Phillip Jones joins Jamie at the table, handing over to him a coffee cup.

“Thanks,” Todd hears Jamie showing his gratitude to the young lad. He feels his blood boiling up within him.

Was Phillip trying to seduce Jamie?

Or maybe he wasn't because Phillip is already with Sienna.

Could the fact that he couldn't be as close to Jamie as he wish be causing the green eye monster to come out from inside him?

The last thing he needed was Jamie walking away all annoyed at him.

“It wasn't this hard to keep my emotion in check before!”He thinks as his sense of possessiveness flares up. Which he should have better control of due to being a vampire for so long.

“Sure thing,” Phillip replies and smiles at the young warlock. Jamie takes a sip from the cup and smiles back at his friend.

Todd looks away, his thoughts traveling a hundred miles per hour.

What is going on?

Are they dating?

Is Sienna being cheated on?

Does she know about this?

But Phillip was always into girls!

“Shit.”Todd's fingers curled up inside to form a fist. His legs were bursting with adrenaline, ready for the fight. He found himself shaking and with the sudden blink of an eye, Todd turned and found himself punching the wall hard, forming a miniature crack on it, drawing attention from the new student sitting across at a nearby table, Alietta Stone. She looks up, her eyes flitting between Todd and the table with Jaime and Philip. and a smiles at Todd in a coy manner, before diving back into the book she has been reading.

“Bitch!” Todd thinks. But he can't help but notice the mysterious girl sneaking a peek at him every so often, trying to cover up her glances by running her fingers through her long blond hair, tucking a loose strand back behind her ear. He certainly can't deny her certain charm and the undeniable beauty and sex appeal that she exudes. His opinion of her is raised slightly when he recognizes the game she is playing, one that he'd played many times before, the seemingly shy uninterested beauty who really wants nothing more than your undivided attention. “You're quite the sneaky rat,” a familiar vocal noise floods into the vampire's ear. With a quick turn in the blink of an eye, Todd finds the young witch he once called a friend staring at him with curiosity, quite a few books hugged by her left arm, a leather brown bag hanging down from her right shoulder, her soft, wavy dark blonde hair perched down on the left shoulder, her fitted T-shirt exposing some cleavage and her faded jeans too eye catching.

“Well curiosity is quite a troublesome companion if you may ask me,” the young vampire says, a sullen look on his face.

“Well haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?” The young witch asks.

“I have had a first hand experience when I decided to hook up with you,” the vampire rudely replies.

“You say it like it was all my fault, like I came in between you and Jamie as some daft whore or a temptress,” the witch defends herself.

“Well if it hadn't been for you, then perhaps..,” Todd starts, looking back over at Jamie, clearly wishing he could be the one sitting next to the young warlock. The fierce look on the young witch's face compels him to look back.

“You seem to keep forgetting that you were into it too! Maybe you should start placing the blame where it really belongs,” Arabella says.

“Oh I do. You exploited my weakness for a nice smile and a pretty face and seduced me while I was drunk off my ass. If I'd known just how much of a slut you could really be I'd have never given you the time of day.”

“Take that back right now or I swear I'll condemn you to hell,”Arabella threatens.

Todd sneers. "Already there, but thanks.” he says looking back at Jamie animatedly relating a story to Philip.

“God, I had honestly thought you would have figured this out by now, but it seems I overestimated you,” Bella reveals.

“Well, what's that supposed to mean?” Todd asks coldly.

“You know nothing, Todd Rollings,” says a defiant Bella.

“Stop with the mind games and just tell me me what you mean.” Todd retorts angrily.

“Forget it, it's not important. If you can't forgive me, that is on you. The answer has been staring you right in the face. But there's a war brewing and if we do not put our differences aside and unite as one, we will stand no chance,” Bella softly replies. “I honestly don't care how you see me, but I see you as a teammate and will treat you as such.”

“Morality will get you nowhere,” Todd says. “You're weak, Bella. I don't care what Specter says about us. I'll never trust you with my life.”

“Can we at least try to be civil?” Bella's voice echoes in Todd's mind.

“I am always courteous to 'ladies of the night' and make sure they are well compensated. Send me a bill for your services, and I'll cut you a check. I'm sure Maxim will be delighted.” Todd says, giving her a mean look, but inside he was already feeling guilty.

“You're deranged!” Bella grunts in disbelief. “If anything, you're the whore, falling for anything that walks by. You'll never change. Only this time, it cost you Jamie, and something you really cared about, a real connection. Who knows what you'll loose next time. But I didn't come here to trade barbs with you. You've been summoned to the Headmaster's office. You're to be there within the next half an hour."

“What did you say to him, you little witch?” Todd asks, a scared look on his face.

“Chill, it's just a community meeting,” Bella says in the young vampire's head before walking away. Todd looks over to find Alietta Stone still reading her book, and smiling at him when she notices Bella walking away from him. The witch's words still echoing in his mind, he decides to smile back at Alietta, with the full Todd Rollings charm and is rewarded when he sees her blush and her polite smile turns into a girlish grin as buries her head back into her book. In Todd's peripheral vision, he is very well aware that Jamie was watching them.

Jaime takes his coffee cup from the table to take a sip when he catches Todd smiling at the new girl Ali-something. He'd watched as Arabella had come up to Todd, and had been happy to see the two still being cold to each other. But it had been some time since he had seen that smile on Todd's face. He knew the power of it, the pull like a Siren's song, and he felt hollow that it wasn't being directed at him anymore. He feels a weird kind of pain brewing up within his chest, a pain so strong that his hands start burning up, heating the coffee on his hand up, and without even noticing it, he starts to make it boil.

“Dude you’re hot,” Philip says, pointing at the coffee cup on his hand, forcing Jamie to instantly put down the cup.

“Thanks dude, you're not so bad yourself” Jamie smirks, gets up and hugs Philip, knowing very well that Todd was watching him just as he was watching Todd.

 Professor Spectar’s Office- Community Meeting 

Sienna ponders over as to why they have actually been summoned here, and the fact that she had to sit beside Daimon Abigor, who saw her walking into Alazne Scott’s office while watching Sophia and Josh metaphorically licking off each others faces. It was quite an arduous task to say the least for her. Arabella Martin seems to stiffen in her seat as Todd Rollings walks in and takes a seat as far from her as possible. Disappointed in not being able to witness any bloodshed between the two, she fixates her eyes on Alazne, who smiles to her politely. Sienna tries to smile back, but decides to cross her arms instead.

“So, welcome everyone, I guess is a nice way to start it all off, what do you say?” Professor Specter begins in a tactfully playful manner. “We are just here to talk, nothing more, no more of throwing you all into the dark pit or anything.”

“I don't trust you,” Sienna inconsiderately spits out, avoiding the look from everyone that follows. Nathan Specter studies her with certain wistfulness.

“Well you’d be a fool to do so,” the Headmaster finally reveals. “It’s funny how much alike we are, you and I. But that’s not the matter up for discussion at the moment.”

Sienna looks at the Headmaster, still resenting him, but the faces of everyone around her force her to retreat from her defiance.

Awkwardness filling the atmosphere is soon brought down by Alazne. “Well, as we have previously informed you, Agoroth is on the rise,” says the seer to the concerned students.

“Alazne's vision of the future, which we showed you a portion of, is so horrific and cruel, there are not enough words in any language of the world that could be used to best describe it,” the professor takes over.

“Any ideas as to why the white-eyed demon is hell bent on destroying the world?” Josh asks.

“Well we believe his hatred towards hunters has now extended to the entire human race. He wants to kill not just hunters, but normal humans as well, anyone who’s a threat to the supernatural kind. Not that they are being spared either. Any who oppose his new supernatural-only world are targeted and killed. He intends to rule over this new world.” Alazne replies.

“So are we saving hunters as well? They wouldn't lift a finger to help us,” Todd says, looking a bit perplexed by Alazne’s statement.

“It’s not about what they would do, Mr. Rollings. It’s about what we should do,” the seer calmly replies.

Sienna looks at Alazne, considering what is in her mind, wondering if any of it makes any sense. Todd was right, why they, any of them, should throw away their lives by siding with the hunters.

“And what is it that we should do, exactly? Politely ask the hunters to stop killing us long enough for us to save all their collected asses?” Sienna finally asks, unable to keep silent any more and bewildered by the fact the mouths of all the people surrounding her have remained quiet.

“That is uncalled for, Sienna,” Alazne chides.

“I'm just saying, we've all had experiences with hunters threatening us, even Miss “Blows-shit-up” over there, and I don't see why we should be risking our lives to save any of them,” Sienna says icily.

“We strive to keep a mutual relationship, a balance between our world and the human world. We cannot let our actions be governed by a demon, nor is it our place to rule over humankind.” the Headmaster answers. “Because Agoroth’s reign will be bleaker than bleak, if you can imagine it. There’ll be chaos, lawlessness, hunger, death. The ecosystem will die and along with it, us. We are not as strong as Agoroth to survive the world he intends to create.”

Sienna watches Arabella process the Headmaster’s words in her own composed way. Tara throws Daimon a look, a mixture of sadness, fear and anxiety even. Sophia’s fingers find themselves locking amidst Josh’s. Sienna looks at Todd, not startled by the Headmaster’s words, as if he just recited an old Russian folklore made up by mothers to scare their children.

“There’s a chance we die either way,” Sienna murmurs, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “So what’s the point of fighting? There’s no point. Eventually you lose any way.”

“We stand a better chance if we try to fight this,” Arabella finally says. “Fighting is our only hope.”

“I’m out,” Sienna stands up and starts to walk away.

“Ms. Kronin, it is your father’s demands that you be a part of this army,” the Headmaster says as he teleports to appear in front of Sienna. Sienna takes a step back, not wanting to bump into the Headmaster.

“Well tell him I’m not his puppet,” Sienna says with an undertone of regret. “Tell him I’m tired of being what he wants me to be, tell him I’m tired of doing everything he wants me to. Tell him I’m not my sister.”

The headmaster takes Sienna by the arms, gently like she is his own daughter. “Just calm down and take a seat. Please. I need you for who you are, not for who your father wants you to be. You have greatness within you, which you often fail to see. Stop hiding it from the world, and become the incredible leader I know you to be.”

Sienna looks into his misty eyes and genuinely breaks into a smile. “That wasn’t so hard, see,” the Headmaster says and hugs her. Sienna whispers him her gratitude before they join back to the others waiting for them.

“Why us?” Todd Rollings asks the seer as Sienna takes her seat, while wiping her own eyes.

“Because you all harness great powers within you that none of you are well aware of. And that’s why we are here, to help you, guide you to find that light with you, discover all kinds of greatness,” the seer tells the vampire and smiles at him.

“I don’t know, this all seems...outside my element,” Sophia says.

“That’s because you are new to this world, Miss Dimitrov. Your friends have known of the supernatural world, of vampires, werewolves and witches even before they knew how to walk,” the seer tries to cheer her up.

“So what do we do now?” Daimon asks.

“We keep this matter quiet, first of all. Not a word of this meeting or Agoroth to the students outside this room, outside this group. Even some of our teachers are in the dark. It’s better to keep it that way. We would not want any of them to cause unnecessary panic,” the Headmaster says.

“You will have secret training sessions, everyday. This is a must for everybody. We will often have meetings like these,” the seer informs.

“And this meeting is hereby dismissed,” the Headmaster declares. The students get up; ready to leave, when suddenly Alazne falls to the ground. She puts her hands on her head, unable to handle the pain and screams out. He blue eyes turns completely gray, as if a storm is brewing within them and suddenly speaks.

“The seducer of darkness, the betrayer, approaches. Chaos follows in his wake. He is alone. He is not dead. He is coming. He is here.” the seer chants before losing her consciousness and falling down on the carpeted floor.

“She’ll be alright,” the headmaster assures the students as he slowly picks Alazne up from the floor and vanishes into thin air.

“Who was she talking about? Who’s not dead?” Tara asks her friends.

“Hell if I know,” Josh mutters. “We should get out of here.” Josh grabs Sophia’s hand gently and walks with her to the door. Almost at the door Sophia looks back, at Daimon, at Bella, at Sienna, at Tara, her eyes watery and scared. Finally she looks at Josh seemingly resolved to tell him what she has in her mind, ready to tell everyone. But Josh has other things on his mind to notice Sophia’s current state so she lets him drag her out of the door. “Something is not right with her,” Sienna spits out. “Pretty sure that she understood what Alazne was trying to say and oh boy is she scared. Wonder what Bulgarian bullshit she has following her to this place.”

“Don’t say that. She is just going through a lot lately Sienna,” Arabella says, surprising herself because lately she’s had her doubts about Sophia’s weird behavior. Bella understood that it must be painful for her to recall her past but lately she has been wondering why they all trust Sophia so much, or if they should trust her at all. She had decided to not sneak into her mind, but it seems like now she must.

“I'm sure she has” Sienna sarcastically asks. “Early morning rendezvous with Daimon and then all day long with Josh. I wonder if there are any boys left at this school who she hasn't sunk her claws into. Jamie here might be the only one immune to that wannabee-succubus.” Sienna folds her hands across her chest.

Tara looks at the hybrid with utter disbelief. Arabella does not give into Sienna’s words so easily.

“You have any proof?” Bella asks.

“That your friend’s a slut?” Sienna smiles as she reveals the picture she took of Daimon and Sophia. “Deep down, you know it too, honey. A picture is worth a thousand words after all. So tell me, do you trust her? Her stories? How well do we really know Sophia Dimitrov? She’s the real demon here.”

“Enough Sienna,” Todd snaps at her. “We can’t fight amongst ourselves if we have a battle to win.”

“And we won't win any goddamn battle if we keep on trusting Sophia blindly. She’s a stranger and she could very well bring us all down with her uncontrollable powers and fury. You saw what she did during the simulation. We’re lucky to even be alive,” Sienna snaps back.

“You hate Sophia fine. But don’t call her a slut without knowing her well,” Tara say, jumping onto the Sophia defense wagon. Trying with all her might not to look too much into how comfortable the two looked in the picture.

“Like you know her at all,” Sienna says. “Maybe you should ask Daimon about the time when he wiped chocolate from her face. Wonder if he used his tongue.” Sienna looks at the hybrid, who is trying his best to keep his calm.

“Enough Sienna!”Tara smacks the young demoness hard with her left hand. Sienna falls down to the ground, turns back with a fierce look at Tara. With a slight movement of her hand, a silver shield floats up from the wall across and hits the kitsune hard with it. Tara starts to bleed, but her rage overpowers her pain and she lunges for the demon when Sienna suddenly disappears into thin air. Daimon rushes up to pick the kitsune up, but Tara pushes him away to take a stand only to be grabbed by Sienna reappearing behind her and pushing her across the room. Todd Rollings, with his vampiric speed, grabs a hold of the demon in a vice-like grip, while Bella and Daimon rush to restrain Tara from hitting Sienna back.

“If you are finished turning my office into your own personal cage match,” the Headmaster says loudly, after appearing suddenly. “Both Tara and Sienna shall serve some detention after a visit to the infirmary. This detention will begin immediately and you will not attend any further classes or even enter your dorm without completion of this detention.”

“But the kitsune bitch hit me first,” Sienna protests.

“That's cause you were being a bitch!” Bella jumps to her defense.

“Telling the truth is not being a bitc..,” Sienna starts.

“Enough,” the Headmaster shouts. “I have already decided your punishment. Now go. I must attend to Alazne's latest vision and I'm sure your friends have more important things to do than watch the two of you at each others throats. I'd hoped the seriousness of the situation would have helped motivate you to see each other as allies, but I see you probably all still need lessons in teamwork.”

Sienna notices a small frown on Arabella's face as she looks over to Todd. Todd is looking at Jamie, who shifts his feet uncomfortably Daimon still has Tara in his his arms, but they are no longer restraining her, but rather embracing her protectively. He's looking down at the the kitsune, who has a sharp cut on her forehead.

“This will never be a team, we're not The Avengers for crying out loud!” Sienna scoffs, filled with rage and the need for revenge. Tara own fury has yet to abate and she also wants to proceed further and finish what she had started but Daimon's grip on her doesn't budge and she sighs, melting into his chest. Sienna surveys the room once more time before taking Todd's hand and both of them teleport away.

“Well, I see we have a long way to go,” Headmaster Specter mumbles more to himself as the other students start exiting the room. Her anger subsiding, the pain of Tara's cut becomes more noticeable and she winces.

“Ow.” she moans, and wraps her arm around Daimon, who supports her with his other arm and broad chest.

“Let's get you to the infirmary. Maybe by the time we get there, Sienna will already be done and gone. Daimon says softly to Tara while escorting her out of the office.

 Infirmary-Moments Later  

Tara shivers from the pain that reverberates through her being upon the piercing touch of the needle sewing up her cut wound. Even though she was not under anesthesia, or the numbing spell Ava had offered to use, she did not make much noise during the process as her only focus was Daimon, the young hybrid, who was watching her getting stitched up. He looked focused on Tara, throwing in small smiles every so often Each smile was like a soothing balm and more mollifying than any painkiller that could prescribed to her.

As he looked at the open wound and the dried blood, Daimon's inner thoughts began to assault him anew. Once again someone he'd cared for had gotten hurt, and he hadn't been able to stop it. He was failing her just as he had failed Kiera. Even though Tara had said that she had no problems with Daimon holding onto Kiera, he knew how much that simple knowledge hurt. Guess it would have been better if she never knew all these things, but how would have she reacted had the hybrid told this to her when they were in a much deeper stage in their relationship? Would she have been angry at the hybrid for keeping such vital information from her for all the time they had been together? Would him holding onto his dead love while being with the kitsune have been seen as “cheating?”

How will they handle this?

How awkward will their conversations be after this?

Would she ever be able to look at him the same way as before, with nothing but love for him, seeing only the possibility of infinity together?

Or would she look into his eyes and see the ghost of Kiera looking back at her, always present, a constant reminder that Daimon is never truly hers.

Is he being selfish?

Possessive even?

Trying to embrace new future when still holding onto his past?

Is he fooling herself into believing that one day, he would let go of Kiera and love Tara, only her?

What's wrong with him?

Will Tara always be jealous of a dead girl?

“You should heal up in no time, considering you are a kitsune and all, but I've still written you something for any remaining pain and something to prevent any infection.” Ava says, shaking Daimon out of his thoughts. He had been sinking so deep into his own world of the possible outcomes of his relationship with the kitsune, that he had not even noticed that she was standing beside him, her hands wrapped around his.

“I'm sorry you had to fight with Sienna,” Daimon says. “Trust me when I say, Sophia and I are just friends.”

“You don't have to apologize or explain yourself to me,” the kitsune whispers. “I trust you and I want you to know that you can trust me too.”

“How can you ask me to trust anyone, when I cannot even trust myself?” Daimon asks the kitsune.

“How can you ask me to trust you, if you don't trust yourself?” The kitsune replies with another question. This throws the hybrid off. She is right. What right did he have to ask so much of her when he can't bring himself to do the same?

“I'm sorry. That was very rude of me,” the kitsune says. “It's just I've been thinking of what you have said to me, earlier at the lake, and I don't know how I....”

Looking at the hybrid, the kitsune realizes that he is frozen at his place, his eyes fixated at the prescription note Ava had laid down on the medical bed.

“What could he be looking at?” Tara wonders.

“Daimon, you okay?” Tara nudges the young hybrid as a tear drops down his cheek to Tara's dress, expanding while penetrating the cloth.

“I'm fine, Daimon, it doesn't really hurt that much anymore. Why are you crying? What does the prescription say?” Tara tries to get the hybrid to talk again. She takes a grip of her prescription, just a normal pad of paper with Ava's beautiful cursive handwriting calling for an gentle anti-inflammatory and run of the mill antibiotic along with a note for her to take certain herbs for quick healing of her cut wound. She looks up and down the prescription again, yearning for an answer.

What could have been so depressing?

My name?

Did he not know my name? Of course he did.

Does the herb prescribed to me bring up bad memories?

How do I understand him? His needs, his wants if he won't talk to me.

“I forgot.. Shit I can't believe I fucking forgot,” the hybrid slowly mutters while crazily running his hand all over his face. “No wonder I saw too much of her today.”

Tara looks at the hybrid confused by his irrational statement. “Just calm down, you're not making any sense at the moment,” Tara tries to help Daimon out, but the hybrid pays no heed to her words. Seemingly oblivious to her presence, Daimon hurries out of the infirmary, leaving the young kitsune confused and shaken in his wake.

From behind a curtain comes out Sienna, who had witnessed the whole scene. Sienna unable to not take advantage of this moment, proceeds to add fuel to the fire, sneering at the kitsune.

“Sophia probably needs him to go lick the chocolate from her face, and maybe from other parts of her as well,” Sienna comments. In a fit of rage, Tara crumples the prescription in her hand and storms out of the room, knowing that if she channeled her anger to fight Sienna, she might even murder the bitch right then and there.

 Graveyard for Supernatural Creatures, Behind PDA Castle, Night  

It was dark when the hybrid set his bare feet into the moist grass, the surrounding landscape dotted with the graves of all the people that once were a student like him or perhaps a teacher at the school even. Most of the graves are empty, supernatural death is usually traceless. It is the absolute need for closure that prompts the families of these people to bury an empty coffin into the ground. Some say that even though the body has disintegrated, the spirits need a resting place, a safe haven before they are dragged down to heaven or hell and unless they are rendered a place in this graveyard or many others across the world for supernatural creatures, they keep looming over you, even in your most peaceful sleep, haunting you, unable to move on from this world.

Daimon’s knees fail him as he reaches her resting place. The gravestone is as white as the crystalline snow. Under the steady glow of the full moon it seemed to have an aura of its own. Daimon reaches out, running his fingers over the black engraved lettering, Somehow the feel of the stone on his skin brought him some peace, his heart heavy with grief slowly starting to lighten up a bit. It was beautiful, polished and smooth. The wild growth of grass at its foot almost covered up the writing which read: “Young and Beautiful,” something Daimon was given the choice to put onto it when it was made for his departed love. He was far too devastated from her loss at the time, and he had no idea as to why he wanted to paint her headstone with those three particular words, but now amongst all the ones that were there, it did seem rather unique.

The date of the death on the gravestone read 1997-2013. Today is September 23rd, 2014. What has only been a year felt like an eternity to the hybrid. He has always dreaded this day, dreaded all sorts of reminiscences it would stir up within him. The irony of the fact he had forgotten the date was not lost on him.

It was raining the day they buried her. He remembered the black umbrellas and dresses all huddled together as the brown glossy tomb containing her ashes was slowly pushed down to the ground. He remembered his hesitant heart, refusing to put down his lover to the ground just yet, the soil from his hand slowly falling down effortlessly, covering up the brown surface of the tomb. He wondered, staring down at the cold, dark ground underneath his feet if he had made the correct decision in insisting this be the place for Kiera to rest. She had been a student yes, but only human, an oddity at the academy, admitted because of her supernatural healing ability. He had wanted her close by and had fought hard to have her be admitted into this hallowed space for supernatural creatures. He had prevailed after appealing to the headmaster directly and now that it was time to entomb her in the earth, he was unable to move. He remembered how in his head, how she first appeared to him, right then, seemingly alive and beautiful, wearing a white dress standing out in stark contrast to the black ensemble of everyone else. He remembered she'd come over to him, resting her chin on the rain drenched shoulder of his coat, and how she had whispered in his ear how she was never cold, as she had him to always keep her warm. He remembered his smile, quickly letting go of the soil in his hand, letting the rest of the service slip away from his thoughts, so preoccupied by the mere presence of the vision of Kiera by his side.

The hybrid looked at the headstone, his eyes red and puffy, his hands shaking unusually from the cool breeze blowing. He let his demon part to wither away for the night, letting his human self to completely take control of his emotions and body. He could literally hear his heartbeat, every single one sounding like his heart is erupting into smithereens and then re¬forming again only to break into a tiny million pieces again. Even breathing is a struggle for him now as he slowly begins to question his love for Kiera. He still could not begin to comprehend how he could forget the anniversary of her death, the day he has obsessed over for days, weeks and months.

Was he too happy with Tara?

How could he have been so forgetful?

How could he let himself be happy when he had promised himself to be sombre all day long on this day.

Over the past year, the hybrid has had many occasions on which he tried to take his own life, without success, obviously. Kiera’s ghost appeared to haunt him whenever he found a creative way to kill himself and he began to take advantage of this. Josh and Jamie began to take notice of this and after much talk with the hybrid, Josh signed Daimon up for his sessions with Alazne. It was only then that the hybrid finally began to get a grip on his life and start to move on. Kiera’s ghost slowly became less frequent on her visits and he began to joke with Josh about his girlfriends once more. Jamie and Daimon found their bonds strengthening as they both had one thing in common: loss. Then he started to take a liking in the kitsune and things seemed brighter than ever before. His nights were still haunted by her death, but the ghost had been noticeably absent from his waking hours...until this day. Not even Tara's joyful presence had been enough to assuage his guilt to keep Kiera away on this day. She had been wonderful and while he would not say that they officially ever dated, he sure did like the girl.

He still does, but is he strong enough to love her, with even half the intensity with which he loved Kiera?

Is it fair to Tara to only receive this half-love he would be able to give her, his heart always beating for his former love?

His thoughts continued to race through memories of Kiera.

It was a winter night when he lost his virginity to her, and she to him. How she cuddled over him afterwords, before falling asleep eventually. Both Josh and Jamie were away for Christmas then. He remembered their skin, sweaty, sticking together like they were bound by glue. He remembered the smell of her skin, a smell so heavenly that even now, he remembers with such potency, the scent accompanies the ghost every time. He watched her eyes flutter as she slowly woke up to his smiling face, waking up from a ‘delicious dream’ as she had said to him afterwords as they dressed each other up in the faint winter morning light.

“Daimon?” a female voice brings the hybrid back to the present. He does not take the trouble of twisting his head around to see who the voice belonged to, as the chrone was already sitting beside him, a look of worry on her face. “You alright?” she asks.

“Did Tara send you here?” Daimon softly asks, surprised by the weakness in his voice.

Sophia looks perplexed by his question. “No. I’m not allowed to see her until she finishes her detention work,” she replies.

“What are you doing here then?” the hybrid asks.

Sophia is strongly hesitant. She ponders over all the different explanations she could possibly give him other than the truth. “Well,” she finally begins, “you remember how we discovered the diary of Nicholas Dimitrov the other day?”

Daimon nods, remembering the adventure they had, accessing the hidden spots in the school.

“Well I just, Bella told me that there are lingering ghosts here, that they appear to you when you visit their grave,” she continues. “I just hoped I would stumble upon Nicholas’ grave and he could tell me more of what happened to them that day. Perhaps he could tell me more about my family as well.”

Daimon sighs. “Arabella sure does know how to never properly explain what she actually means,” he says. “Well what Bella meant to say was that you frequently see ghosts of people you knew, especially when you are at your loneliest, but they are no more than a figment of your imagination. The information they give is not concrete. And unless you ever saw Nicholas Dimitrov in your life, even if you do find his grave, probability of his showing up is zero.”

Sophia looks disappointed, like all her dreams have been crushed with just a few words. “Oh,” is all she says. She looks at the headstone across from her. It read:

Kiera Veron

1997- 2013

Young and Beautiful

“I’m sorry,” Sophia softly mutters.

Daimon shakes his head. “That’s the last thing I need right now,” he says, with an undertone of sadness.

“I don’t want you to be sorry; I want you to help me get justice for her. I have taken her death as a tragedy for way too long now. It’s time to look at it for everything it is, a murder.”

“Josh never told me..,” she stops for a few seconds, “… that she was murdered.”

“Josh does not like to bring up the matter,” Daimon reveals. “He believes that it is too much for me to handle.”

“So what happened?” Sophia asks gently, albeit not wanting to jump into that matter so quick.

“She was burnt, alive. I had just left her alone for a few seconds to help a man that was in the middle of the road. When I came back she was on fire,” the hybrid recalls, trying hard not to shed any tears. The pain in his voice reflects the pain he must have felt to find his lover like that.

“And then there was the same man, in the shadows, rejoicing the discovery of a creature like me, a hybrid.”

“So you think that man killed Kiera?” the crone asks.

“I know that man killed Kiera, Sophia. She died because she was with me. I’m responsible for her not being here right now, for us being here. I’m responsible for it all,” the hybrid shivers as he reveals his vulnerable side to his friend.

“You cannot completely blame yourself for what happened to her, you know? You people were just..,” the chrone could not finish.

“…at the wrong place at the wrong time. Yeah, that’s what everyone said,” the hybrid says, disappointed with her reply. “Look, I know how it sounds, I’m trying to cheer you up by saying that you’re not responsible for the things that you think you are responsible for,” Sophia says.

“It seems exactly like that, and I am responsible. I should have been the one to die instead of her.” the hybrid tells the chrone

“Let me finish. Was it my fault I was burned alive?” Sophia asks.

“Of course not! Don't be ridiculous. From what I understand, you were caught by hunters,” the hybrid says.

“What if I deserved it, for being what I am?” Sophia says looking down at the grass in front of the tombstone.

“What you are has no bearing on who you are. Nobody should have to experience what you went through. The people that did that to you, they are savages. They are the monsters, not you.” Daimon states in affirmation.

“So if me being a chrone doesn't doesn't make me responsible for what happened to me, how does you being a hybrid make you responsible for what happened to Kiera?” Sophia asks looking back over at Daimon. The hybrid is floored. He had fallen right into her trap of logic and was forced to seriously ponder her words.

“Wow, Dimitrov you can give Alazne a serious run for her money.” Daimon says, offering a small smile of surrender.

“My friends call me Sophia,” the chrone responds, resting her head on Daimon's shoulder. They sit quietly in front of the grave for a time.

Sophia notices Daimon shivering in the bitter cold. She opens Josh’s coat that she had wrapped herself up with before leaving the castle walls and wraps it around the hybrid.

“I’m sorry. Just trying to pretend to be a human today. Hiding the demon deep within,” the hybrid reveals to the crone

“I know all about that. I'm afraid of bringing that part of me to the surface myself. What a pair we make,” Sophia muses, using her powers to warm her chilly hands.

“We sure do,” the hybrid says. “Don’t you think you kinda owe me an explanation for your strange behavior in the kitchen earlier today?”

Sophia's hair on the back of her neck rises, her nerves slowly growing cold under her skin, her instinct to retreat into her shell nearly overpowering. But all of a sudden she feels a rush of blood to the head, and an overwhelming thirst to finally be able to tell someone the truth, an understanding that grew within her about Daimon being the one person she can trust to understand her choices, her feelings.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Daimon says.

“No. It’s just that when you told me of the hunter attack, it reminded me of Eric,” Sophia reveals.

“Eric?” Daimon asks.

“Eric was my boyfriend before he died. I don’t remember what happened, or how he died for that matter, but I know that he is dead...and that I am the one that killed him when the chrone inside of me came out,” Sophia says softly.

Daimon looks at the chrone with a different view. How she has been able to manage herself, to have lost, by her own hand, someone she had once probably loved as much as he loved Kiera, and faced incredible horrors herself, and still be able to walk and talk and laugh and love with Josh.

Is this what Alazne meant when she said that he has more in common with Sophia than he knew?

“We met on a Sunday during a farmer's market in Bulgaria,” Sophia continues. “There was this different charm about him that drew me into his arms, and trust me, it was love like I had never known before. I have been lonely my whole life, and then he came along, and life didn't seemed so bad anymore. It was almost perfect.”

Sophia takes a short break, Eric’s memories flooding into her mind, empowering her emotional state.

“You don’t have to anymore…” Daimon says.

“No, I do. Talking could help. I cannot keep everything buried within anymore,” the crone says. “It’s just that when I came here, I began seeing him, popping up in various places, but then Josh happened and I had almost forgotten about him. But today, during you story, I saw him, he’s been trailing around my thoughts all day long and the worst part is that he seems so very real. I mean, I feel I can smell his aftershave. And I’m scared of all these feelings that are just flying around in the air, for Josh, for Eric, I’m confused as to what I actually want.”

“Wow, Alazne was right,” Daimon acknowledges the seer’s expertise.

“What?” Sophia seems confused with Alazne’s involvement in all this.

“Alazne said that we have a lot in common,” the hybrid reveals. “Kiera has been haunting me all day and I didn't know the reason until I remembered what day it was.”

“Oh,” Sophia says. She offers him a weak smile. “Well I'm not surprised. She is a seer. Maybe she can see the past as well as the future.”

Daimon looks at the chrone, his eyes glittering with a new-found hope of friendship. “Today she was telling me to let her go, and move on. I honestly thought it would never be possible. I don't know if I can.” the hybrid says. “And I’m not sure if Tara deserves to love a man with only half a heart.

“I felt like I’ve been cheating on Josh the whole day,” the chrone declares. “Every time I saw him I felt so drawn in to Eric, despite whatever cruel things he said about me. It felt wrong, but at the same time it felt irresistible and strange, because I stopped loving him, if I am being honest with myself. I can't talk to the girls about this, and haven't even told you everything yet, but I don’t know how Josh would react to all this and I don’t really know how to tell him. I’m scared he’ll leave me.”

“Maybe we should let go of them. We are not fit to love others. We are too broken, at least I am,” the hybrid says.

“I don’t want to live in the past anymore. I need to embrace the future.” Sophia says.

“Well I can tell you, there’s nothing worse than being in love with two people at the same time. It’s unfair. If you’re still being attracted to someone you once loved, it clearly means you still have some feelings for him. Now, I'll admit I'm the last person capable of dispensing advice on love-lives, but I don't see how embracing new love will ever remove the old,” the hybrid declares.

“So you'd put out the fire before even lighting it, huh?” Sophia asks, bittersweet about the fact that they were even having such a discussion.

“Wouldn't Kiera want you to find happiness again?” Sophia asks the hybrid.

“I don’t know,” the hybrid replies honestly. “She would know that I was at my happiest when I was with her. Her death doesn't change that. Anything else would be a pale imitation,” Daimon says as his eyes grew wet again.

Sophia moves closer to the hybrid, allowing the hybrid to rest his head on her shoulder. They look at Kiera’s headstone in silence, the hybrid consumed by the vision of Kiera far away in a red velvet dress, smiling at him, a hand clutched to her chest. He does his best to smile back at her, without seeming sad. Faraway in the shadows, Sophia notices a figure that she too, had known for a long time. She had long ago memorized that shape in the shadows, after so many nights sneaking out of the orphanage to meet up with him, it had become second nature to discern his visage in the outskirts of the dimly lit village. Eric Evergreen was watching her.

None of this is real. Eric is not here. Sophia closes her eyes and opens them after a few seconds. She sees Daimon still smiling sadly into the dark, consumed by his own vision, but her specter had vanished. Eric was gone.

 Simulation Room, Last Week  

The darkness swallowed up the room, sweeping away the fabricated image of the destroyed school building. Sienna realizes she is alone now, the darkness so oppressive she can't see anybody else. She can hear nothing as well, but knows full well they are all still relatively close to each other.

“Cute trick, Specter,” Sienna shouts out into the darkness, not impressed in the slightest. Suddenly she hears the echoes of two young girls, alone, in their room, in the dark, talking to themselves.

“Please, don’t leave me alone,” the younger girl says. “I’m scared of the dark.”

Sienna starts panting. The demon looks around the room, waves her hand, trying to get a grip of any object present in the room, but nothing comes. Her telekinesis does not work.

“Daddy says that we must conquer darkness. Darkness is our lord. It represents death,” says a bit older, matured voice.

Sienna starts running in the darkness looking for an outer wall. She knows how large the room was upon entering and she was already close to the center when the darkness came. She does her best to ignore the voices speaking in the dark, but she can't help when the memory of this entire conversation slowly creeps back into her conscious mind.

“I think Dad’s wrong,” the younger voice replies.

“He’s just trying to make us strong,” the older voice says. “My dear, you’re still so very young to understand things completely.”

“He's trying to make me like the darkness,” the young girl says,with an undertone of sadness. “I don't want to like the darkness.”

“Why are you making a big deal out of this?” The older voice is a bit irritated now.

“I just don't want...,” the young voice stops in it's tracks.

“Get out of my head, Specter!” Sienna shouts back at the voices. She looks around, desperately in search for the wall, for the exit, but there is nothing but darkness. The darkness that once terrified her. She falls to the ground, tripping over her own feet, tears melting her mascara down her face, she is a mess. She places hands to cover up her ears to block the noise, because no matter how soothing they might sound, the demon cannot bear to remember any of it.

“Specter, I swear I will kill you!” The demon screams in agony, her state an emotional wreck. “My dad will find out that you've been torturing me!”

“...just don't want to be alone in the dark,” the young voice finishes.

“Let me out of here,” the demon begs, banging her hands on the cold floor.

“Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?”The older voice asks.

Sienna stops banging her hands and looks up when the darkness recedes enough for Agoroth to approach her.

“Aren't you quite the walking contradiction, a creature of darkness who's afraid of the dark. Hatred for the father that ignores you, yet always running back to him for every little grievance in your life. Will you always cling to your father's leg like a child?

“Shut up, you're not even real. Spare me the psycho-analysis, I have Alazne for that.” Sienna finds her voice again, defiant once again.

“How will you ever hope to defeat me, if you can't even stand up for yourself?” Agoroth asks.

“Maybe I won't, maybe I'll join you, be on the winning side,” Sienna says, taunting the phantom demon before her.

“But that is precisely the problem my dear. You care for nothing, and thus believe in nothing. My cause defines me and propels me to act the way I do. I have no need for someone like you. I shall leave you in darkness, alone and unremembered.” The image of Agoroth fades, and the darkness grows oppressive once more.

“No, come back! Don't leave me here alone!” Sienna cries out into the blackness.

 Simulation Room-Detention  

Sienna once again finds herself in the simulator room. The overhead lights are burnt out, but there are large work lamps on metal frames illuminating the interior of the destroyed place. There are large bins on wheels being used to haul out the destroyed flooring and other debris littering the ground. Her detention with the kitsune was to help haul away the garbage so the room could begin to be repaired. This had to be the most humiliating punishment they could have come up for her.

“This is ridiculous, being forced to perform manual labor to clean up the place that Bulgarian bitch blew up in the first place.” Sienna complained. Tara, across the room struggled to load a large damaged piece of flooring into a mostly full bin. “If you cleaned up as much as you complained, we'd be out of here a whole lot faster,” the kitsune quipped, while grabbing a large broom and heading over to the busted out windows of the observation room and began sweeping the shards of glass into piles. Sienna bent over to pick up a damaged piece of paneling, but dropped it suddenly.

“Son of a bitch,” she swore aloud.

“What is it? Tara asked, coming over to the demon.

“Nothing, I just cut myself on this stupid metal over here.” Sienna shook her hand, flinging blood drops across the floor. Tara inspected the cut and found it to be minor.

“Sorry, but it looks like you'll live.” Tara said, before turning to resume her work.

“Hardy har har,” Sienna fake laughed. She sucks on her wound while surveying the room. “I hope they never rebuild this place.” she says, uncharacteristically honest. It forces Tara to stop and turn around.

“I hate to say this, but I agree with you there. I'm not too keen on coming back in here anytime soon.” Tara said, biting her lip. Sienna can see the fear dancing behind Tara's eyes, but instead of using it against the kitsune, lowers her voice to barely above a whisper.

“What...what did you see, when we were in the dark?” Sienna asks, a small tremor in her voice. Tara looked down at the ground, reluctant to say anything at first, but she sees the need in Sienna's eyes, so she answers.

“Well I was all alone at first. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't even make my foxfire to light up the place. Then I saw you.”

“You saw me?” Sienna asks worried.

“Off in the distance. You were surrounded in a circle of light. You were screaming, but I could barely hear you. You seemed to be crying.” Tara paused briefly when Sienna shifted in her stance uncomfortably.

“Then what happened?” Sienna asked, her voice rough.

“My katana appeared before me. I don't know how it got there. I haven't seen it since I left home to come to PDA.”

“You have your own sword?” Sienna interrupted, sounding incredulous. “It's a katana, and yes, it's tradition when a kitsune comes of age, they receive a ceremonial blade, as a symbol that they are old enough to protect and defend themselves now, instead of relying on their parents. Anyway, there it was, and then I heard Agoroth's voice.”

“Can you get to her before the darkness takes her or will you fall pray to it as well and become the thing you dread most?” it said, and suddenly there were all these dark shadowy smoke figures running towards you. So I picked up my blade and started cutting my way through them to you.”

“Why-why would you come to my rescue? You hate me.” Sienna asks, no resentment in her voice.

“You were on my team. I was alone, you were alone. I'll admit it was strange how urgent the need to help you was, and a bitch will always be a bitch, but I decided that you might matter to someone in this world, and I simply couldn't let you die. Not on my watch” Tara answers.

“I wouldn't have died, it was just a simulation,” Sienna counters, “and it probably wasn't even the real me.”

“I think it was, you still had your combat suit on. Others I've talked to said they saw visions of us all in their own scenarios, but in not one of them were we wearing the training suits. I think I was actually seeing you go through whatever it was they were doing to you. I...I'd never seen anyone look so broken.” Tara looks over at Sienna who has taken a seat on the ground, fear and embarrassment coloring her face. Before anger could take hold, Tara dropped the broom and took a seat next to Sienna.

“I didn't tell anyone...what I saw about you, I mean.”

“What happened next,” Sienna said behind watery eyes. Tara resumes recounting her story.

The shadowy figures that were ahead of Tara flung themselves into the circle of light surrounding Sienna. With each impact the figure vanished and the circle of light decreased in size. Each strike seemed to coincide with a new wail from Sienna. Tara didn't want to know what would happen if the circle was extinguished entirely. She increased the fury of her attacks, striking down the figures in front of her that were blocking her path. She at last came upon Sienna, but could not pass into the circle of light, her progress was blocked as if by thick glass. She turned and cut down 2 more figures as they raced for the column of light. More and more figures appeared out of the nothingness and each fell to her blade, but the supply seemed endless. For every one she cut down two more soon appeared and began to overwhelm her defense, crashing into the column and shrinking it further. The smaller circle made it easier to defend, but the shadows became greater in number and Sienna's cries filled Tara's ears, each wail a sign she had had failed to defend her.

Tara was sweating with exertion by the time the column of light had been reduced to barely large enough to surround Sienna's body who was curled up into a ball with her hands over her head. A superior force of the shadowy figures halted in their attacks as Agoroth, the white eyed demon approached them, looking at the kitsune triumphantly.

“So young, so brave,” Agoroth says, a hint of sneer on his face. “too bad you will both fall now.”

Agoroth then commands the army of shadows to finish the kitsune off. Tara looks down at Sienna and back up at Agoroth into his stark white eyes.

“How did you become like this? So inhumane?” Tara questions him.

“Human qualities are weakness, my dear Ms. Linn,” Agoroth coldly replies.

“Kindness, love, jealousy, and hatred are not limited to humans only,” Tara says.

“Sure they are not,” Agoroth says. “Doesn’t mean I have a need to possess any of them.”

Tara looks at him with utter pity and annoyance. She couldn't believe that she was standing in front of a simulation of the white-eyed demon and still felt so scared of this fake creature.

“Stand aside, ” Agoroth says. “And your death will be painless. Leave the Kronin girl to her fate.”

Tara suddenly has an idea form in her mind. She takes her blade and slams it into the ground, burying the tip several inches. She looks at the ray of light shining down upon Sienna from an unknown source, and if she could harness the light, maybe she could destroy the shadows. Tara closes her eyes, resting her hand on the seemingly solid column, slowly absorbing the energy around her, causing the light to flicker and falter.”

“So eager to condemn her to darkness are you,” Agoroth chuckles softly.

“This isn't real. Real light and goodness comes from within. Not that you'd know.” Tara says. As the light is absorbed completely Sienna rises up and stands next to the kitsune.

“Better I finish you both together,” the white eyed demon says, the shadows around them slowly advancing for the final time.

“You can try,” the kitsune mocks him. With blistering speed, she spins around, grabbing the handle of the katana, pulling it out of the ground and swinging the blade over her head. At the same time she releases all the light energy contained within her, channeling it down through her body and the blade itself. The arcing blade spat out the wave of energy as it sang though the air, which expanded outward as it traveled, cutting though the throngs of shadows, bisecting them all in half.

“Later loser,” Sienna mocked, grabbing the kitsune's hand. Tara nods and closes her eyes as Sienna teleported them away.

It was several moments of silence before Sienna spoke. “I'd hoped that had all been fake.” Tara began drawing in the dust with her finger.

“Nope,” was all she said.

“T-thank you Tara, for standing up for me.” Sienna finally mutters.

“I'm sorry about what I said about Daimon. I still think that Sophia is a magnet for chaos, and I wouldn't want your heart getting stomped on. I know what that's like. So...just, be careful you know.”

“I will. Now what do you say we finish cleaning up this hell-hole and get out of here before they close the kitchen.” Tara asks.

“Sounds good to me.” Sienna says, getting up, dusting herself off, and lending a hand to Tara to pull herself up, which the kitsune gladly accepts.

 Agoroth’s Limousine, Unknown Location, Night  

Alietta leans in to the glowing, translucent image in front of her, uncomfortably flinching on her seat, slowly drawing the screen to herself, basking in the view of what it shows her. A nasty smile forms on her face when she sees Jamie and Phillip in bed together when Todd suddenly comes out of nowhere and throws him across the room with his supernatural strength. The image soon dissolves before her, casting her into temporary darkness. She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, and begins conjuring up a new glowing ball. She soon loses herself in another dream of her long time victim, Daimon Abigor.

Daimon and Kiera lie far away, in a meadow full of wild, lavender flowers and green grasses. There is a beautiful teenage boy with Kiera’s eyes and a little baby girl with Kiera’s smile. Kiera is much older but still beautiful looks over at the young girl playing happily in the meadow. Daimon looks lost, like he can’t comprehend his position in all this.

“Dad, you’ve gotta come see this little flower!” Daimon is led by the hand of the little girl, who had been picking up the purple flowers from the meadow. But the flower the little girl had found was unique, different from all those growing in the meadow. It looked like the color of Kiera’s lips right after a kiss from they hybrid.

“It’s so pretty,” the little girl continues to stay.

Daimon is confused.

What was he doing here? Who are these kids?

Was he their father?

No he couldn’t be. He never thought of life so ahead of time.

Alietta is disturbed by a sudden knocking on the door. The glowing ball with the images of Daimon vanish into nothingness as Alietta gets up and reaches for the door. She smiles, receiving the visitor on the other end.

Dropping her dress seductively, the young woman places a kiss on the white eyed demon’s lips. The white eyed demon impatiently kisses back his mistress before taking a seat, forcing her to the other side of the large cabin. Momentarily disappointed, Alietta moves instead to sit on his lap.

“So whose dream was it today, huh?” Agoroth asks, kissing Alietta, hoping that would mollify her from her annoyance with him.

“Well first tell me you love me,” Alietta insists, with a complaining undertone.

Agoroth looks at the powerful succubus that Alietta has become. All the attention and pampering, all that seduction of men and women, both human and supernatural had led to this. He had actually grown to care for her, in his own way, for when he was broken, Alietta had been the perfect body to fall in with, a creature completely unable to love anyone but herself, despite all the love and lust she drained from her victims. She was just as broken as him, and needed constant assurances of his feelings. He certainly valued her more than anyone else alive in the world, but then again the white eyed demon honestly loved the dead more than the living; they were easier to control. If sacrifices had to be made to get what he needed to achieve, then so be it.

“Oh come on now love,” the white eyed demon toyed with her. “You know how that is an after-sex ritual.”

“Well we’ll have to make it a pre-sex ritual as well starting today,” Alietta demands.

“Very well. You cannot even begin to imagine the depths of my love for you,” Agoroth says, from underneath the writhing form of the succubus. .

“Now that’s more like it,” Alietta sneers.

“Whose dream?” Agoroth asks.

“Todd Rollings. He is quite the jealous lover. Daimon Abigor. Something different from the same old boring shit,” the succubus reveals.

“Did you try to walk into the chrone’s dreams?” Agoroth asks.

“Ever since I laid eyes on that bitch,” the succubus says. “She's protected, somehow. She sure is quite the mystery. I wonder what tales those Fates have fed you about her though. She’s seems utterly boring apart from always making out with the Frazer boy. She must have led a boring life in order to fall for a swindler as big as him.”

Agoroth’s face becomes paler, and Alietta senses that something is wrong. The succubus softly places her hand and runs it over the demon’s face, slowly kissing softly on his cheeks.

“Relax, my love. We'll deal with the chrone and the demon soon enough.” Alietta utters under her breath while continuing to kiss him.

“I need to break up this couple. Trap the Frazer boy,” Agoroth commands.

“What about Todd Rollings and Jamie Moores?” Alietta asks, sinking down onto Agoroth's chest, unbuttoning his shirt.

“Let Cynthia work on Moores. He is just a small player in this,” the demon commands. “Todd Rollings is yours. Do keep working on him. However, above all, make sure the chrone does not fall even more for the Frazer boy.”

“As you wish my lord,” Alietta smiles, before dropping her head, and slowly going down on him, while raking her nails down his chest, leaving lines of red in her wake.

 Fiona’s Bedroom-Morning  

Fiona pins up her hair with a black hair-clip, slowly examining the beautiful glow of her supple skin. It had worry lines, and some weathering, to be sure, a natural consequence of years of hunting around the world in less than hospitable conditions, but through it all, her face had the ageless quality that made her still look stunning. She smiles at herself coyly in the mirror, looking at her eyes as they flutter in the bright morning sun. She looks down at the wooden table top, which gives a glossy feel and look, as if it had just been recently waxed. Perched on top of the table are many ornamental boxes, some photo frames containing the photos of her son, Eric, herself with Theron, her husband, her older son, Jacob, but mostly Eric. It is all Eric at different ages, some of him sleeping, some of him laughing, and smiling.

Fiona picks up the picture of herself and Eric and settles it in front of her. With her other hand, she opens one of her ornamental boxes, and a dancing girl pops up, filling up the room with ballet music. Fiona sighs at the beauty of the music and the grace of the dancing girl. She swings her head sideways, closing her eyes, losing her soul to the music.

Suddenly the melody of the song from the ornament box changes, Fiona’s eyes widening at the sad tune of this new melody, almost as if she recalls some memory from the past. She closes her eyes, slowly, darkly humming the melody along with it as it plays. Fiona looks at the dancing girl and then at herself in the mirror.

A few months younger Fiona sits at her table in the same position, wearing the same dress, only she looks much happier than she is now. The dancing ornament box was open, its sad soulful tone resonating it’s melody in the close room, seemingly matching the mood of the downcast weather outside. The door of the apartment opens, and a brief smile passes across Fiona's mouth as she closes down the music box and walks out of the bedroom. A very much alive Eric stands in front of the open door, his black overcoat slick with the rain still pattering against the large glass doors leading to the spacious balcony outside the common area of the grandiose hotel room. Eric uses a foot to close the door behind him, while from underneath his large overcoat he withdraws a long sword, the blade still gleaming with raindrops and slick red blood.

“It is a mess out there, mother,” Eric says, giving the sword a quick shake, throwing beads of red across the hardwood floors of the entryway.

“Seems to be you're the one making a mess of things,” Fiona scowls, looking down.

“Please, like you'd ever bend over to scrub a floor,” Eric replies, walking over to the coffee table with a large canvas bag. He flip opens the bag, revealing an assortment of weapons all laid out in a row, held in place by black strips. He pulls out a rag and begins cleaning the blade in his hand.

“Are you even going to pay them for the room this time?” Eric says, only half jokingly.

“I take it, all went well?” Fiona asks, evading Eric's attempt at humor.

“Absolutely. Except someone didn't tell me that she'd just had a new litter. She fought tooth and nail to try to protect her young.” The blade, pristine once again, Eric places it into the empty section of the bag and secures it down with the straps.

“I knew you could handle it.” Fiona says with a smile, pride infecting her voice. Eric grunts as he takes off his wet coat, and plops down on the oversize beige leather couch.

“When can we get out of here? I'm unable to stand the fact that we're in the middle of the desert and it has the audacity to rain non-stop the entire time we've been here.”

“Well then, my dear, you are in luck. I already have your next assignment,” Fiona says, walking over to the bar of the kitchen and pulling a file folder from her laptop bag. She tosses the file next to Eric while taking a seat in a beige lounger chair. Eric pics up the file and reads the name.

“Where the hell is Melnik?” he asks, flipping open the file.

“A small little town in the southwestern Blagoevgrad Province.” Fiona replies. Eric looks at her with a incredulous expression.

“Bulgaria, my dear.” Fiona supplies the answer at last.

“Hmm,” Eric murmurs, “International flight...that means passports and an overnight bag,” Eric says, already making a mental inventory of what he'd need, while studying the notes in the file.

“Not this time. This assignment will be a bit different. I've already booked your flight, but I've got to head back home to supervise the movers.”

“What is going on mother?” Eric asks, narrowing his eyes.

“We'll be moving to Bulgaria for awhile. I have my own interests to pursue there, while you focus on your objective.”

“And that would be?”

“Keep reading.”

Eric flips through the file and comes across several pictures.

“Cute.”

“I'm happy to hear you say that, because for this mission, you'll need to make use of your 'other talents'. I need you to get close, work your charms on her, before you kill her.”

“Exactly why do we need to move halfway around the globe for me to seduce a witch? Why can't I just cut out her heart and burn her body like we always do? She wouldn't be my first you know.” Eric looks over at Fiona expectantly.

“Because this girl is no ordinary witch. She's a chrone, or so my sources say, in any event, the potential is there. You've never seen such a creature before. You don't know what a chrone can do. I do. They make regular witches look like magicians doing parlor tricks. They are one of the most vile creatures ever to walk this earth and can kill you where you stand with a mere thought. They are also incredibly hard to kill.”

“So how is making it fall in love with me supposed to do the trick? 'Killing with kindness' is only an expression, you know.” Eric jests lightly, acting as if the information didn't phase him.

“A chrone’s power comes from anger. Trying to cut out her heart would undoubtedly spark some resentment, wouldn't you say?” Fiona replied, condescension marring her attempt to match Eric's earlier tone.

“But love?” Eric starts.

“Love is the key. Love is when she can be the most vulnerable, the most distracted. That is when you must strike.” Fiona smile takes on a fierce malevolence. Eric looks back down at the folder and pulls out one of the many photos, studying it intently.

“Hello...Sophia Dimitrov, pleasure to meet you.”

The tune from the ornament box has changed again to something more lively. Fiona looks at it with rage and with a violent push, Fiona throws the box off the table. The box lands on the floor, shattering into pieces. Fiona looks at herself in the mirror, the monster within her hungry for revenge, for justice for her son.

There is a knock on the door, Adam’s voice asking permission to get into the room. Fiona gathers herself together, and asks the young hunter to come in.

“You asked for me?” Adam asks, gently looking at the rage still burning in the back of Fiona's eyes.

“I need you to deliver something to Miss Sophia Dimitrov for me,” Fiona says. “Get in touch with Arabella Martin. Tell her you want to take her to dinner. Tell her you’ll pick her up from her dorm. Then leave the package I give to you for Sophia.”

“I will get caught if I enter the school grounds,” Adam complains.

“a hunter of your caliber won't be easy to catch,” Fiona says hotly.

“I’ll be back when you decide to act saner,” Adam says, turning around to reach for the door.

“Wait!” Fiona commands. “I’m sorry. That Dimitrov bitch killed my son. I need to make sure she suffers, as I have suffered.”

“And we will do that,” Adam says, walking over to Mrs. Evergreen, taking her hand. “But there is no outsider access to Point Dume Academy. I've already asked Arabella a dozen different times to get me onto the campus in more ways than I can count. All campus tours are by appointment only. Poor girl thinks I'm cross with her for all the times she's had to tell me no. But I don't know how to get past their security.”

“Love. Love is the key.” Fiona states and it almost freezes her in shock at repeating the same words she said not long ago to her son. “You won't have to get past their security. When the Martin girl is smitten for you, she'll do it for you.” A sinister smile spreads across her face.

“Give me the package. I’ll make sure Sophia finds it.”

“You'd better,” Fiona says with a cold glare at the young hunter.

 Boy’s Dorm-Morning  

Facebook is something that Daimon hasn’t known for the past year. He sits on his bed, laptop on his thighs, looking at the photos of his sunny days with Kiera, when she had the ability to wrap herself around him because it was a cold night, when they both used to wear the same t-shirt because Kiera had to pretend to be a boy otherwise they'd get in trouble. Jamie and Josh found the perfect way to tease her for spending too much quality time in their dorm.

Daimon spent the entire last night on his facebook account, browsing through the crazy old pictures he and Kiera had taken, and there were a lot of them. His messages consisted of mostly people sympathizing with Kiera’s death. They speak of how we react to a certain tragedy, how we gather to celebrate the death of a fellow friend instead of actually mourning their loss. One of the messages read, “I’ll miss Kiera’s party spirit,” and other was so disgusting that Daimon had to run around campus at dawn to prevent him from hitting the person who sent it to him.

There’s a knock on the door, and Daimon finds the kitsune slowly sneaking her head into the room. She smiles lightly at him, and closes the door behind her as she walks into the room.

“Look,” Daimon says.

“I have been thinking a lot…,” Tara says at the same time. They laugh as Daimon slowly turns off his laptop and puts it aside.

“You first,” Daimon declares.

“Alright, so, what I wanted to say is that I’ve been thinking a lot, lately and I just think that we should not pursue the something we have further,” Tara says.

“I am sorry if what I said yesterday is making you act like this,” Daimon says. “It was the anniversary of her death yesterday and I’ve been trying too hard for the past year to not think of how the day would pass. And to think about it, I had completely forgotten about it until I saw the date on your prescription note.”

Tara slowly lets the hybrid’s words sink in. She had suspected it had something to do with Kiera. Ever since their conversation at the lake, the kitsune has spent her thinking about the hybrid, even when she was serving detention with Sienna. She had wondered since then if she really loved the hybrid or if he was fooling herself. Maybe it would be better if they would both forget this small romance of theirs that is not even worth calling a romance. She would always have the ghost of Kiera overshadowing everything she did. It was better to get out now, before her heart could be truly broken.

The kitsune’s silence was making the hybrid worried. He wonders if she was thinking the same way he was, if she understood why he cannot completely return her feelings for him, why it would never be entirely possible. Sometimes he so badly wished he had telepathic abilities.

“Sometimes I so badly want to have Bella’s telepathic power,” the kitsune says. Daimon laughs. “What?” Tara asks, wondering if the hybrid was making fun of him.

“I was thinking the same thing,” the hybrid replies.

“Wow,” Tara says.

“It’s alright Tara,” Daimon says. “I guess there will come a time when you will find someone who will love you with all his heart. I think I'll be insanely jealous of them.”

“I honestly hoped you would be that person,” the kitsune’s voice breaks. The hybrid moves over to the kitsune’s side and wraps her with his arms.

“I know I’m a bad, bad person, Tara,” Daimon says. “I’m sorry I played with your feelings like this. You helped bring me back to life, and I can't thank you enough for that. I wish it was enough.”

They break apart and Tara kisses Daimon on the cheek one last time. But the hybrid moves to her lips and kisses her softly.

“Goodbye Daimon Abigor,” the kitsune says, her voice shaking.

“I’ll be seeing you around,” the hybrid reminds her.

“Right. Shouldn’t have gone for the cheesy movie dialogue,” Tara says and they both laugh. Hugging the hybrid, the kitsune makes her way to the door.

At the door, Tara looks at the hybrid, who smiles at her, although his eyes are wet.

“That’s a really nice picture by the way,” Tara points at the picture on the desk beside Daimon’s bed of himself smiling as Kiera kisses his cheek while wearing one of his T shirts. “Hopefully one day you’ll be able to take a picture like that again.”

Before the hybrid could say anything else, the kitsune slams the door shut, leaving the teary mess of a hybrid behind. The hybrid knew that it was the right thing to do, to not hold the kitsune back. She deserves better.

 Point Dune Academy Hallway-Closing Scene  

He walked slowly, letting the world around him sink in. After sneaking around the castle grounds for days now, he has finally found his way inside. His dark hair is slicked back, his black overcoat billowing out around his body, his green eyes desperately searching for what he has been hunting for months now.

Suddenly he notices that his way has been blocked by the supernatural creatures surrounding him. He tries to back away but he is surrounded from everywhere. The Headmaster and the hot nurse knock him down to the ground, and a sharp needle breaks through his skin as the liquid from the syringe on Ava’s hand empties into his vein.

Sophia Dimitrov's morning had gotten off to a bad start. She was told by Ian Sherman that her group was the only one who still has to submit their assignment and that it was required to be completed within the next five days or they all would flunk. She texted Josh to meet her after class, but he was a no show. Bella had been giving her the cold shoulder ever since the day before she refused to open up to her and even though Sophia had wanted to tell her last night, after coming back in from her talk with Daimon, but Bella had been too sleepy apparently, to even listen to her. And she had not seen Tara since their meeting at Headmaster Specter’s.

Upon seeing the sudden growth of a crowd in the hallway, Sophia runs to join and see what spectacle was drawing almost all of Point Dune Academy to gather up together. Pushing through the crowds, the chrone soon finds herself in front of the whole pack and her heart sinks down when she sees what is going on.

Despite his hazy sight, he could make out all of her striking features, like the edge of her nose, or her naturally glowing complexion. The shocked look on her face did nothing to diminish her beauty, it was still a truly lovely sight. He looks into her eyes, his emotions overcoming the powerful sedative enough to offer her his trademark smile.

“Hello love,” he says. “It’s been long time,” before collapsing to the ground and his eyes closing.

Sophia is too shocked to say anything. The crowd around her begins to murmur. Headmaster Specter looks at Sophia doubtfully. Before whatever medicine they injected into him claimed him fully, he still manages to hear Sophia call out his name.

“Eric.”

 Title and Background: 

• The title of this episode refer to the nightmares of Daimon which has been referred to throughout the previous episodes.
• It is a refernce to Doris Day's songby the same name .
• An alternate title for this episode is "I'll See You When I Fall Asleep."

 Continuity: 

• Eric was first glimpsed by Sophia in the pilot episode Down the Rabbit Hole, but she believed he was imaginary at the time.

 Episode Cast: 

Starring :

• Lily Collins as Sophia Dimitrov (created by: Sim) →5/30
• Jeremy Irvine as Daimon Abigor (created by: Stefann15) → 5/30
• Chloe Grace Moretz as  Bella Martin  (created by: Iamlittleliar) →5/30
• Grant Gustin as Eric Evergreen (created by: Jay-Jay-A) →3/30 
• Aya Ueto as Tara Linn (created by: Stefann15) → 5/30
• Lucas Till as Todd Rollings (created by: Jay-Jay-A) →3/30 
• Leighton Meester as Sienna Kronin (created by Sim)→4/30

Guest Starring:

• Alexander Skarsgard as Nathan Specter (Created by: Umayer) → 4/30
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Fiona Evergreen (Created by: Selena) → 3/30
• Matt Lanter as Adam McClain (Created by: Gayaneh) → 3/30
• Diana Agron as Kiera Veron (Created by: Sim) → 2/30
• Taylor Swift as Alazne Scott (Created by: Selena) → 4/30 
• Keenan Tracey as Phillip Jones (created by: Jay-Jay-A) → 4/30
• Candice Accola as Alietta Stone (created by Alietta) → 4/30
• Andy Mientus as Jamie Moores (created by: Jay-Jay-A) → 4/30
• Tom Cruise as Agoroth (created by: Spirit Freak) →5/30
• Alex Pettyfer as Josh Frazer (created by Handsome Liar) → 5/30
• Cymphonique Miller as Ava Peterson (created by: Britt) → 3/30

 Episode's Soundtrack: 

Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams

Opening Scene

Eminem - The Monster (Explicit) ft. Rihanna

Sophia's Walking Dream

Cage The Elephant - Cigarette Daydreams

Arabella complains about being kept in the dark; Sophia breaks down after seeing Eric in her dorm room

26. I Need You - Catching Fire - Official Score - James Newton Howard

Daimon argues with Kiera about his love for her; Kiera asks Daimon to let her go

Burn - Madi Diaz Lyrics

Daimon enters the graveyard and finds Kiera’s grave; he recalls the day she was buried; Sophia interrupts

AG (The Rescues) & Brad Gordon - Terrible Thing

Agoroth enters the limousine, Alietta attempting to seduce him while informing him about the recent occurring at PDA

Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (Finale)

Song playing inside Fiona's music box that reminds her of Eric.

Of Monsters And Men - Lakehouse (Official Lyric Video)

Daimon looks through old pictures of himself and Kiera on Facebook

Of Monsters And Men - Love Love Love (Official Lyric Video)

Daimon and Tara agrees to give up on their relationship; Tara wishes he’ll find someone he can love one day like he loves Kiera

Ella Henderson - Ghost

Throughout the closing scene

 Final Thoughts 

So, hope you all had fun reading the longest Inferno episode yet. I'm sorry if some of you found it too long and I'm also sorry for all the tears, if you shed any that is. None of this would have been possible without Selena, who is so kind and generous and she's the one who gave me this oppurtunity and I'm grateful. Secondly, my amazing editor, Erik, man you rock :D

• What do you think is next for Daimon and Tara?
• Eric's ALIVE & Sophia's AWARE NOW! How do you think this will affect Jophia and Sophia's relationships with her friends?
• What are your thoughts on Daphia? 
• I wonder why Sienna's afraid of the dark, hmn..
• Did anything surprise you?
• Lastly, I know there weren't much hints throughout, but who do you think will die in the finale? Have your predictions changed? 

Thanks for the read. Please review :D