Is This Sound Okay? - Coconut Records <- perfect for the ending of this long chapter :) definitely have a listen guys!!

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After the general aftershock of what I'd done, I came back down to earth quite quickly.

I didn't have time to change my clothes - Florence' blood was over my jeans - because by the time we had her bound by some sort of charmed chains she was waking up.

She bounced back pretty fast.

The basement was bound by Kate to be soundproof just how Ana had done the same when Amy was giving birth. Celia's cabin, where we held Lewis once upon a time, was the only place we could keep her that was far enough away from Vancouver and Burnaby.

Lewis stood rigid and waiting for when it was his part to play. Nate and Jackie were sat talking and brooding in the corner whilst Christian was upstairs with Katherine who'd arrived ten minutes ago. Pam and Nick and Callum were out making sure no one followed.

I caught Michael's eye and he gestured for me to follow him outside.

I felt pretty good. At least I thought I did. The panic attack I had was... Minor. It was odd to think Ana's funeral was barely thirty-six hours ago.

"You feeling okay now?" He asked me, drawing me into his arms.

I relaxed immediately. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Well, good." Mike's eyes searched my face for what seemed like an eternity but I turned away. "But you're not fine are you?"

"No, I'm still angry because now I feel like death is an easy way out for her, Michael. She gets to die just like that after everything she's done to us. But then I feel like we're prolonging the inevitable because she will die tonight no matter what I say or do."

"You're right she is going to die tonight." He confirmed.

"I'm going to speak her again."

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Closure."

"You've had your closure. You stabbed her for God's sakes."

I stepped out of his hold. "It'll never be enough." Slowly, I turned and made my way back inside, ignoring the looks from the other vampires and swiftly made my way to the basement door. But of course, Christian stopped me.

He stepped right into my eye line and shook his head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going down there to speak with her-"

"No you bloody well aren't." Christian protested. "She has to be here until dawn."

"What?" I blanched. "Why until dawn? What's going on? That's twelve hours away. Anything could happen especially since we didn't find her protégé Jonah."

"Katherine's rule not mine. She said something about the spell and the edge of night and dawn and something witchy, I don't know."

"Then..." I stepped closer and whispered, "Let me see her."

Christian rubbed his fingers over his moustache. "You'll-"

"Provoke her? So I've been told. But apparently I'm good at it."

Nate made himself known when I bypassed Christian for the basement door. I exhaled now a little annoyed everyone was trying to stop me. "Nate-"

"It might not be a brilliant idea, Evie."

"When has any of the things I've done been a brilliant idea?" I challenged.

He actually pretended to have a think and nodded and moved. It's true, I couldn't even think of an idea I've come up with that was actually brilliant... well, apart from this one and the new vampire idea.

I quickly walked through the basement door and made my way downstairs before he changed his mind. Gosh, she looks terrible. The wound was healed leaving a wide circular hole in her t-shirt on her stomach. Her wrists were bound by chains connecting to a bolt in the ground that appeared to be burning her skin. I shuddered at the sight. Her eyes were as black as the night as she glared at me, the veins on her face throbbing down and along her neck.

I sat against the far wall already knowing the chains didn't reach far enough for her to reach me. Her eyes were cat like, darting over me, over the door upstairs and then back to me.

"Come to watch me suffer, Evangeline?"

I shook my head. "No, I've come to talk."

Her laugh was as if I'd spoken the funniest joke ever created. "Because the last time we talked it turned out so well."

"Last time, was different. Stabbing you was for when you stabbed me all those years ago."

"Wow," She lay her head against the wall with a sneer. "Someone knows how to hold a grudge."

I narrowed my gaze. "You deserved it Florence. You deserve a lot more."

"Let me ask you, Evie," Her eyes returned to their original violet as she leaned forward. "Do I deserve to die?"

"Yes." I answered without a hint of hesitation. "Anything else?"

"Do I deserve to suffer?"

"Definitely."

"By whose hand would it be fair for me to suffer?"

"Every single one of the people in this house."

Her brow rose. "Everyone?"

"You want me to list everything? Okay. Katherine - her grandmother would have lived a lot longer if it weren't for your return. You burnt down Celia and Ethan's cafe a few months ago. Michael and Nate, well, you already know what you did to them. Christian hasn't spoken to his brother in centuries and the obvious. Lewis - he's your great-times-whatever grandson or nephew and he's had to suffer with this damn hunter gene-curse. And me? Well, let's not forget you almost killed my brother, you did kill my best friend, you bit me, you stabbed me, you punched me, and I'm sure there's more but I can't think of much else right now."

She held a hand to her chest and gasped. "My God, is that all I've done? Personally, I thought there was more."

I watched her silently, my gaze unwavering. "You really don't care."

"I fight or I fly, turtledove. It's my natural instinct."

"I keep thinking there is more to you but there really isn't there? I shouldn't have even considered giving you the benefit of the doubt."

"You gave me the benefit of the doubt? You're too nice, Evie."

"You're right." I glared. "I am."

**

I watched her watching me, her top lip occasionally twitching upward exposing her elongated fang. "You want to kill me don't you," I murmured to her a few hours later. I hadn't moved, not even for food or a drink. I hadn't even slept yet. I couldn't, not just yet. "You're tugging on those chains like their silly string. Why? Finally realised you're not getting out of this?"

Florence shined me a brilliant sharp-toothed smile. "Don't you have a love-triangle to get back to?"

"Filled with jokes aren't you?"

"Mmhm I am. Don't get me wrong, I love a good broken heart but this will come back to bite you right on that petite little ass of yours-"

"Hey!" I yelled. "First of all... My ass is not petite. Second of all, it won't. I have high hopes for Nate. Especially since I'm pretty certain Jackie likes him." Her eye twitched and I smiled. "She's gorgeous isn't she? If she doesn't do anything about it then I will make sure he does."

"You're just hell-bent on destroying me aren't you?"

"Weren't you hell-bent on destroying me no more than eight hours ago? Tell me something, Florence, why you've waited so long to kill me? You've had so many opportunities; you've stood closer to me than this and yet you continued to torment me."

She started to stand but I remained in my seat. She stumbled slightly the chains not giving her a lick of headway. "Because you were just that easy. You were fun for me don't you see? We're the same you and I."

"No, no we're not." I scowled. "I'd never hurt Michael like you did Christian."

"Again with the Christian thing, God you're more pissed about it than he is."

I narrowed my eyes at her as she started to sit back down. There was something that was bugging me about how nonchalant she was being about the whole Christian ordeal. Florence may be good at masking her emotions now but in those woods, she literally looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Was it ever love for you, Florence? Did Christian ever mean anything?"

Her complete bout of silence baffled me. Her eyes were staring ahead in a corner completely vacant. There was no smile, no emotion in her face. Had she heard me?

But then she nodded. "I cared a great deal, yes."

"This room is bound by a spell, no one can hear inside." I confessed. "So tell me why you betrayed him."

I watched her hands wring the other nervously. Her throat bobbed up and down as her eyes darted from my face to the door like she was half expecting him to suddenly emerge. She looked like the teenager from Christian's memory. For once, her emotions reflecting through her unusual eyes almost like a child.

"I betrayed him because I wasn't ready for it. But I wanted the power, I needed it. I never had power growing up, I was my mother's prized daughter and my uncle's bitch. I needed control, and I needed to fight for myself. And with Christian telling me he was a vampire I saw my goal and it was for him to make me one. I cared for him, yes. I loved him, oh yes. But never was I in love with him."

Incredible.

She wasn't a sociopath, no she actually did have emotions. But she was just a few steps behind the borderline. Because as she spoke of caring and love, her eyes turned from that innocent teenager to Vampire Florence Huddleston.

"Are you going to tell him?"

Her question surprised me. Should I tell Christian that she basically played him for power? I sighed heavily and shook my head. "No. The memory of him seeing you with his brother is enough. He doesn't need any more reason to hate you. That's how I show I care for someone."

Once again we fell into silence, her eyes occasionally burning black and the veins on her neck highlighting almost like a wave.

She must be thirsty by now, I could imagine. After John was stabbed he was extremely thirsty; he was weak. But I wasn't worried about her escaping. Ana taught Katherine everything she knew.

**

I jolted awake when I heard shouts from upstairs. Florence was still bound by her chains but there was a horrible smile on her face. I narrowed my gaze at her before running up the steps.

"The hell?" I grumbled rubbing my eyes. Where was everyone? Kate made herself known and I jumped when she threw me my crossbow. My eyes widened. "What-"

"Company, outside. Go in the dining room, Lew left you a few things," And just like that she was gone. Crap.

From the window I could see the vampires moving at their usual incredible speed. Dear God how many were there?

On the dining room table there were countless stakes, what kind of resembled knuckle dusters but were wooden - how strange. I shoved my jacket off and slid them onto my hand. Well, this is new. With a deep breath I ran outside, crossbow locked and loaded.

There were at least thirty... And there was Jonah looking ahead at all of us as if he were the leader.

"Evie! To your left!" I heard Pam yell.

Without even considering it I shot to my left; the male vampire dropped to the ground with a jolt. Everyone was fighting at least two... But they were new, they didn't know what they were doing.

I jolted back when an arm flew in front of me.

The female vampire looked rabid. "You smell good..." She smirked.

They were fast, too fast in fact. But Michael's blood was helping; it was enough for me to dodge and duck from their swift advances. I aimed it at her chest, she gasped and I fired. It was easier said than done, I mean I wasn't exactly a born killer. It still affected me to see them drop to the ground like a pile of rocks but I had to man up and move on.

I spun around. Michael was on the floor... "Mike!" I threw him a stake.

And just as the new vamp descended over him he stabbed him.

I had only ten bolts and I'd used all of them. Jonah was still standing there but his eyes were on me. Well, looks like he remembered me from three years ago. I didn't want to discard my crossbow but damn I wanted to be the one to get rid of him. I dropped it - carefully! - and started towards him but of course I wasn't that lucky was I?

I didn't even notice the vampire until they grabbed my arm and-

"Son of a nutcracker!" I screamed when their fangs sunk into my forearm. Don't think about the pain, don't think about the pain, I chanted in my head as I spun from his evil grip and punched him with the wooden knuckle dusters.

"Evie! Are you okay?" I heard a Mike yell frantically behind me.

I glared at my bleeding arm and flinched at the throbbing travelling up and down it. "I'm fan-bloody-tastic."

Then I heard Christian's laugh.

Jonah approached me as I approached him, his smile as sadistic as his maker's. "You haven't changed one bit, Evangeline."

"I don't think I've ever spoken one word to you, Jonah." I threw my fist but he grabbed me and curled my hurt hand behind my back. I tried to struggle but his grip tightened. Sweet Mary mother, the pain. White hot searing pain roamed and exploded all over my body and I bit my lip to hold in my groan.

"Nope, don't come any closer or I snap her arm." He announced.

I darted my eyes over everyone. All the new vampires were on the floor with either arrows of stakes protruding from their chests.

"Where is Florence, Evie? Hm? Give her to me." He breathed down my neck. I tried to move away but he placed his hand on my neck and turned me back. "Give me Florence and she lives."

Now what the hell do we do now?

My eyes cast over each and every vampire approaching him with minuscule steps. I grunted a little when he tightened his hold. Like hell would I let them release Florence. And looking into Michael's eyes it looked like he actually would. But then my eyes roamed over Nate. He was trying to tell me something with his eyes but what? They kept darting to my waist.

I knew the stake was in my waistband but how exactly did he... Expect me...

"But, from this movement," Tate loosened his grip on the arm behind my back and used my other arm - as if it were a puppet - to pretend to lift it up into the air. He used the stake to lightly tap his shoulder. "If this were to happen, then you do this." He repeatedly pretended to tap his shoulder with the stake. "The vampire will let go and you're free to take it out and stab them in the heart."

Oh, my god. Nate taught me this.

He must have seen the recognition in my eyes because he nodded.

I took a deep breath, grabbed the stake from my waist and used every ounce of strength I had to stab it into shoulder. He released me with a girlish squeak and the others grabbed him before he could recover.

"Oh, thank god." I breathed holding my still bleeding arm to my stomach. "This is getting exhausting." Michael caught me before I could just give up and collapse and I patted his arm in thanks. "And this really hurts."

"I know honey, we'll fix you up."

I darted my eyes over to Jonah being held by Callum and Christian. "What about him?"

Together we watched as the boys dragged him off away from everyone and everything. "He'll be taken care of." Michael said.

**

"Ow! Katherine."

"What, I said hold still you idiot. You can't have any vampire blood until tomorrow so I'll have to stitch it up." She said as she cut off the string. Her own head had a cut on it as well as smudge of dirt all over her left cheek and neck. "And until then this will have to do. Don't want you ODing on Mike's blood."

I ran a hand over my stiffening shoulder and leaned back against the dining room chair. "What time is it?"

"Almost four o'clock."

"Dawn's in an hour. Has anyone been down there?"

She shook her head. "Not since you. Oh, you have a few scratches here, did you fall?"

I flinched when her finger skimmed over my neck. "Nah, that would be Jonah's wonderful nails."

Kate poured a generous helping of hydrogen peroxide onto a cloth and wiped it over my wounds. Everyone looked like they'd been through war and back; blood splattered on most of their clothes, cuts and scratches on some of their arms and faces. We didn't know if that was all of the vampires but it'd been a lot.

Kate bandaged up my arm after cleaning it a bit and patted for me to go. This nightmare was almost over. But I couldn't relax yet. Not yet.

No one stopped me when I made my way back to the basement. The first thing I saw was her usually full lips thinned into a line and her violet eyes black. Her hands were bloodied and her wrists were raw. She'd tried to get free. No one may be able to hear in but she could definitely hear out. And with her vampire hearing she must have heard everything.

Her eyes ran down to my bandaged arm but there was no satisfaction like I would have expected. This was a furious Florence and I'd only seen it first-hand once before when Michael had killed Ronald.

"Jonah's dead." She stated. "As well as all of my other protégés."

"All of them?"

"Three quarters." She supplied and I blinked at her truthfulness. "Is it dawn yet?"

I stared at her sunken shoulders and shaking hands and realised this was it. She'd given up because she knew that there was no way out of it this time. Her oldest vampire was dead so who was left to save her?

"What happened to fight or fly?"

She shrugged. "My fight is dead. And how can I fly when I don't have any wings?"

Slowly I approached her still unsure whether she was trying to play me or not. I crouched down in front of her meeting her black stare dead on. "Are you ready to die, Florence?"

She chuckled darkly and sighed. "Is anyone ever ready for death, sweet Evangeline?"

As her eyes slowly returned to their original colour, I eyed them and said, "You should be."

"This is pretty dark for you,"

"I have to be." I murmured. "I may have nightmares about this night for the rest of my life but it has to be done."

"Is it worth it, Evie? Is getting rid of me worth the nightmares?"

That was a good question. Was this all worth the nightmares? The sessions of therapy I won't be able to book because who in their right mind would believe any of this?

I stood, looked at my watch and straightened. "It is. I have no sympathy for something like you."

And with those parting words I left her. It was barely an hour later when Jackie was dragging Florence out by her unbound hands through the house and outside. All the bodies were gone thanks to Ethan and Nick. Katherine was stood by a tree with an old book in her hands muttering in Latin. The sun was peaking over the horizon but only by a sliver so Florence wouldn't burn.

I didn't know what I expected as the end; I didn't know whether I expected it to be this peaceful, I don't know. Maybe I imagined her going down fighting. I imagined her being killed during an all-out war. But not this way. There was a smile on her face as they made her kneel. Almost a content smile. She knew it rattled me, I could see her watching me. But then the smile slowly left her face when she faced Christian beside me. He looked as detached as everyone else here. Probably more so, to be honest.

Lewis stood behind her with a stake in his white knuckled hands.

"Do you want me to release you before I die, Michael? Nathaniel?" She said.

I looked over toward Nathaniel and Michael standing side by side. Katherine was still rattling off in Latin but apart from that, the silence within the woods was deafening.

They looked at one and other, a silent conversation going on between them as the wind picked up and swirled the leaves around us.

And together they shook their heads. "No." Michael answered. "I want our sire to die with you."

Her smile widened wickedly. "Would you have returned to me, Michael? If I'd have killed Evie?"

His eyes met mine as he spoke. "Not in this or in any life time Florence."

Katherine's muttering stopped...

And Lewis lifted his hand.

But I found myself saying, "Wait."

He paused.

I stepped toward her and she eyed me warily. "I have one last question for you." Everyone waited silently for me to speak, even Florence. My last question would sound odd to everyone here, but it was one Micah had told me to ask just before we left the house. Micah didn't tell me how she would answer it but he had promised that I would want to hear her answer. "In your entire lifespan, what was the most tempting thing you have ever allowed yourself to succumb to?"

Florence Huddleston took a deep steadying breath and released a breathy laugh before answering with, "You, Evangeline O'Shea, were the best temptation I've ever had the pleasure of biting into. My reasoning? Your blood tastes like your personality; carelessly bittersweet. Even in the presence of countless vampires your veins are reckless enough to sweeten the meer taste of your blood. And that, is the God honest truth whether you or anyone else here wants to hear it or not."

From everything that had happened in the last twelve hours this had been the most... surprising. Over six hundred years and she says me. And it's not even like she has any reason to lie when death was inevitable. I didn't know how to process it. Maybe I never will, not entirely.

So with a curt nod to Florence I looked to Lewis.

He nodded his head and I watched as that familiar smile lit her face...

Just before her skin paled to its deathly grey and the veins outlined allowed her face and arms. Her violet eyes turned black and vacant as she dropped to the ground with a small thud. The sun emerged no more than thirty seconds later and her body smoked and caught fire in the light of day.

I took a few shaky steps back and watched. I watched Florence Huddleston burn. It's done. it's finished.

The fire burnt out when nothing was left but her ashes and I could almost feel the tension within the air dissipate. In front of me Lewis shook his head, swaying slightly on his feet and gasped. He was free. Hell, we were all free.

The realisation hit me like a freight train and I dropped to my knees. Free.

"Evie-"

"I'm fine." I reassured. "Give me... Just a sec,"

Freedom. No more looking into dark corners, no more protection at night.

I tilted my head up and closed my eyes as the warmth of the sun spread right through to my bones.

"Hey Evie."

I looked up at Christian with a small smile. "It's over,"

"I know." He smiled right back. He didn't look sad, he didn't even look remotely sorry about what just happened. He was free too. "You look happy. So... what do you want to do now?"

Now? I stood and looked at every face here. The smiles were hard to ignore. Nate and Michael patting each other on the back was definitely hard to ignore.

"You know what I want to do?" I stood and faced everyone. "I want to go to IHOP. They have an IHOP in Canada right? I haven't been to one here."

Although my idea was met with laughter I was being one hundred percent serious. And that's how we found ourselves, taking up two booths in the half empty restaurant at six o'clock in the morning half asleep, a little slap-happy and covered in quite a bit of blood.

We gave the employees a bit of a shock that's for certain. The only people not present were Celia and Ethan who'd returned to their baby boy, John who'd returned to Amy and his baby girl and Christian and Jackie who wanted to see how Chels was getting on.

So here we were; Michael beside me, Nate and Kate in front of me, and Pam, Nick, Lewis and Callum in the booth behind us.

I smiled at Michael when he took my hand in his. For the first time in months there wasn't a shadow of fear in his eyes. He looked... Relaxed. However, "You look exhausted." I smirked.

"So do you Ms. Temptation,"

I shook my head with a light laugh. "Oh, so you can tease about it no more than an hour after she said it? And that's okay?"

"All we can do is laugh about it now don't you think?"

"Give it a few decades and I'll laugh with you." I murmured pressing a kiss to his cheek. Kate and I exchanged a wink before I faced Michael again. "What do we do now?" I whispered.

"Well..." He exhaled a breath and I watched as his eyes roamed over our friends and family. From outside I watched curiously as two familiar cars parked and the rest of them emerged; John, Micah, Celia and Ethan and well, everyone. Amy included. She waved frantically at me before running toward the door.

Michael sent me his most alluring smile and said, "We move on."

I grinned at him before getting up and meeting Amy halfway for a tight emotional embrace.

Yeah, I thought. We move on.

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DING DONG THE VAMPIRES DEAD. FLORENCE IS NO MORE. A few more chapters and an epilogue and then its allllll over :( sad but true.