Before I get into the chapter, I wanted to tell you all that I dedicate this book to all of you guys that are still here sticking with Corey and. I can't express how much I love you all, but I'll get to that later. 

I hope you all are prepared for the end. 

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"Is your arm okay?" Allison asks me as she races towards the school, driving 75 MPH down the empty highway. It was dark now, making me more terrified.

I glance down at the bandages wrapping around it, seeing blood starting to soak through again. "It doesn't hurt much, but I think I need to change the bandages soon."

"I should have grabbed some before we left," she curses to herself, even though it wasn't her fault. "I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," I tell her, my eyes going back to the road. "I didn't even notice that I needed to change them soon."

The car is silent for a moment before Allison speaks softly. "Corey, not trying to be rude or anything, but maybe you should sit this one out-"

"Sit it out?" I furrow my eyebrows. "I'm going to help Stiles, I'm not sitting it out."

"I know, but Corey..." she fades out, shaking her head. Her tone changes dramatically. "I almost lost you back there. I thought that the Oni was going to take you from me and I can't do that again. You're already hurt, and I don't want you getting hurt or possibly worse again. We'll take care of the nogitsune; we won't let him take anyone else from us."

I understood her reasoning. Her words sounded similar to mine that I had thought about losing her, but I wasn't going to wait this one out. The nogitsune was one of my problems now too; I wanted to see him dead. I wanted to be one of the ones to end all of this. For Stiles, and for everyone else as well.

I lick my lips slowly. "Allison, I know I'm not someone you can rely on when it comes to fighting. You taught me enough to keep myself safe, but I'm not like you or the others. I don't have a bow and arrow or claws, but I can't sit this out. Stiles is my brother; I can't let him go into this without me, I couldn't live with myself if I did." I take a deep breath before adding on with a slight little smile,"I can protect myself."

Allison smiles over at me, shaking her head. "Stealing my line again, I see."

"You convinced me that you could protect yourself, so let me prove to you that I can too," I smile as I look over at her. "After all, I had a great teacher."

She laughs then as I take it in, it being awhile since I've seen her smile in general. It still gave me a feeling of comfort and that I was home, and that was one of the main reasons I loved Allison Argent. I was just thankful that she was here now to show me that again. 

"I can't believe we ended up here," Allison shakes her head, her smile fading from her face. "Through all of the fighting, the grief, and the loss, we still have each other."

I reach out and take her free hand then, intertwining my fingers with hers. "You'll always have me."

She pulls into the school parking lot then, stopping the car before looking back over at me, a hopeful smile on her face. "I know."

My eyes flash forwards then when I see Scott and the others pull in, all of them leaping out of the Jeep as Lydia helps Stiles stand. I quickly get out of Allison's car as the both of us dash over to them, there to help if they needed it. Stiles nods at Lydia as she nods back, thankful that he had her to lean on. 

"How are you?" I ask Stiles, already knowing what he wanted to tell me. He looked worse than before; more paler, more weaker, and more deathly looking. I couldn't bear to see him like this.

Stiles doesn't answer me. Instead his eyes fall to the ground as Lydia speaks for him. "He's okay, just a little weak."

I nod my head, knowing she just said that to make Stiles feel better about all of this. I admired her for that. Allison slips her quiver over her shoulder containing silver arrowheads before slipping her gloves on, ready to go. 

"Before we go, I just want you guys to know that whatever happens..." Stiles fades out, looking around at all of us. "If your plan does work, and it does kill me, go through with it. Just...stick with the plan, okay?"

Scott wasn't going to listen to it. "The plan is to save you, and that's the one I'm going with."

Scott doesn't let him say anymore as he walks forwards towards the school doors, Kira right behind him. Stiles and Lydia start to follow as well, along with myself, but that was before Allison holds me back for a minute.

"Here," she speaks, hanging me a different weapon. Instead of it being a regular Chinese ring dagger, it was a silver one. "I found this at home after I figured out that silver kills them. Just make sure you aim good."

I take it from her as I stick it into the rim of my pants. "I always aim good."

Allison gives me a lazy smile before we follow after the others, catching up quickly. It doesn't take us long before we're standing outside of the school doors, staring at them as if we all were scared to make the first move. However, Scott finally takes a deep breath and shoves the two doors open, but what we saw inside wasn't the school hallway we were all used to seeing. Instead, we were standing in some type of winter wonderland.

We all walk farther inside, our eyes trying to take it all in. I breathe slowly, seeing my breath turning into fog. "I'm not the only one seeing this, right?"

"You see a winter garden too?" Kira asks, lowering her sword. 

"It's the garden of Yakuza," I hear a dark and raspy voice say from behind me, causing all of us to whip around and see the gauze man walk out, his shiny teeth reflecting as he talked. "You should know about this place, Kira."

Kira draws her sword. "Bardo?"

"The point between life and death," the nogitsune hisses, his eyes landing on me then. "You know this place too, don't you Corey?"

"I don't remember a snowy garden, no," I snap back, trying to take his presence in. I hated seeing him like this, but not as much as I did seeing him with Stiles' face.

"But this is the place you spent your time after death," he breathes, walking forwards a little ways. "And now it's going to be the place you die in."

Allison cocks her bow back. "Why are we here?"

He ignores her question. "I've captured almost all of the territories on the board, Stiles. The hospital. The Sheriff's station. And now, the animal clinic."

It all made sense then. The reason the Oni were there at the hospital was because of his dumb game, and he intended on hurting Melissa. An awful feeling buries itself in my gut then. 

"Why are you doing this?" Stiles chokes out, leaning up against Lydia still for support.

"To win the game, Stiles," he breathes, smiling ever so slightly. In that moment, three of the Oni come out from behind him as two others come from behind us, causing all of us to gather in a circle in the middle of the garden. I hold my dagger up, fear starting to set in.

Allison starts the fight by firing an arrow. Of course, the creature just slices it out of the air, but it was the movement that caused everyone else to move. Kira was flinging her sword left and right as Scott wolfs out, attacking the best he could. Lydia and Stiles huddle together as they try to get away from the fight scene, and that was when I realized that I needed to stay close to them. I had a silver dagger; I could kill one of these things if they get too close to either of them.

I put my back to the two of them as I watch Allison fire another arrow, it not doing any good. Scott fights two of the Oni at the same time as Kira tries to help, but we were outnumbered. We couldn't beat them with only three of us up to fighting speed. At least, that was until I remembered something.

"Lydia," I shout over my shoulder, getting an idea. "I need you to scream."

She furrows her eyebrows. "What? Why-"

"Just trust me," I say as I nod my head, knowing that this had to work. The nogitsune had said that he wanted me dead, and I never knew why until I remembered what Deucalion had said about Lydia and I. He told us that we could be an unstoppable duo; I planned on figuring out how to achieve that now when we needed it most.

I wait for Lydia as she sucks in a deep breath, bellowing out a loud, high pitched scream. Everyone stops fighting because of the sound, but I just focus on her scream. It only takes a moment before the scene around me changes back to what it should be; almost as if I was glimpsing into the reality. Lydia's scream put me on a different frequency which allowed me to see the school hallway, where reality was. Wherever we were now, it wasn't real. 

Lydia's scream ends as she gasps from the sound. I shout towards the others. "It's not real! None of this is real, it's just an illusion!"

"A distraction," Scott fades out as he looks back at the nogitsune, seeing the Oni now standing in front of him and the doors. I grit my teeth as Scott takes a step forwards, letting the Oni slice his leg and his abdomen. Kira follows right behind him as well, the both of them taking whatever the Oni were throwing their way. I watch with anticipation as Scott roars loudly, leaping forwards and grabbing the nogitsune before pushing him through the doors of the garden. 

Suddenly, we were back.

We all gasp as we look around, finding ourselves standing in the same school hallway as we should have been a few mere moments ago. I turn and see Allison standing there with wide eyes, looking around in confusion like the rest of us before she stops on me. Scott seemed to be the one who was surprised the most.

"We're back," Scott breathes as a smile starts to form on his face. "We're actually-"

Scott's voice gets cut off when he's suddenly being thrown up against the school lockers, knocking him out cold as he falls to the ground below, motionless. When I turn to see who the attacker was, I feel Lydia grab my arm and tug me back, but I wasn't exactly sure why until my eyes landed on the attacker. 

Void.

Kira turns and raises her sword, but before she even has time to land a punch, the spirit wearing Stiles' face back hands her, knocking her to the floor as well. I take a step backwards as Lydia tugs me away, terrified just like me. My eyes go to Allison then to see her cocking her bow back, causing the nogitsune to do a double take.

"Take one more step," Allison snaps, eyes hard as stone. "You'll regret it."

Void looks terrified for a split second, but then, a smirk forms on his lips. "Silver doesn't hurt me, huntress. What makes you think I'm scared of you?"

Allison holds her stern look, but the nogitsune was right. The next thing I know, an Oni is appearing behind Allison and knocking the bow out of her hand, taking it's katana and pressing it up against her throat. Memories of the Kanima doing the same exact thing to her last year flick through my head before they're gone and I was back in reality.

Allison's eyes find me as I shout her name, begging for him to let her go. We saved her from fate once; I wasn't going to risk losing her again. "Please, let her go-"

"I'm surprised you figured out how to get out of bardo," Void says as he takes a few steps towards us, making Lydia, Stiles, and I back up slowly. "I didn't think you were that smart."

I clench my teeth. "Guess I'm a lot smarter than I look."

"Smart, maybe," he taunts, his smirk burning into me. "But not smarter than me."

Lydia decides to speak out then. "What more do you want? You have the Oni and you're killing everyone we love, what more could you possibly want?"

"That's the thing," he breathes, narrowing his eyes. "What I want can't be explained. What I want is something that only you and Corey can give me, but like I said, I'm not stupid. I know you can't and won't give it to me, so that's why I'm going to have to take it away from you."

"What?" Stiles says, his voice sounding weaker than I remembered. "What could they possibly have that you want?"

"The banshee and the seer," he snaps, eyes looking at both of us. "The rare pairing that everyone wants on their side. What they're capable of could give me the power I crave, but even that dream can't be a reality. That's why you're a threat to me."

"That's why you wanted me to kill Lydia," I breathe, putting the pieces together. "That's why you wanted me dead."

"That's why I want you dead," the nogitsune snaps as he raises his hand, causing two more Oni to appear out of the air behind us. "You're the only real threat, and you don't even realize it. You don't even know how to use your power. It's really a shame...you won't even get to learn what you can do together before I kill you."

"No!" Allison screams out before the Oni holding her covers her mouth, holding onto her tight as she struggles against it.

Lydia's hand on my arm clasps me tightly. I wasn't sure if it was because of how angry she was or because she was afraid to die, but for some reason, it snapped me back into the reality of the situation. Maybe I wasn't afraid to die, but I wasn't going to let him take Lydia or anyone else. No one else ever again. 

Never in my life did I try and think faster than I did now. There had to be a way around this, but nothing would come to me. Whatever reason the nogitsune was scared of us for, we didn't know how to activate that or how to even do it. I needed more time, and there was one way I knew how to buy it.

"Lydia, scream," I say once again, knowing that this got us out of bardo the first time. Maybe it could do something else the second. 

Lydia doesn't question me as she does what I say, letting the scream form in her throat before letting it out. Stiles covers his ears as I focus on Lydia, hoping that something would come to me. I needed an idea on how to stop him; there had to be a way. 

As I stand there and listen to Lydia's scream, I'm struck with yet another vision. It wasn't one for the future, but instead, it was of the past. It's blurry for a moment before I see myself standing in Allison's old room, leaning over her desk that was sitting there in the corner. I watch myself leave the room in a hurry before I walk over to the desk, seeing the pages that Lydia had translated for Allison laying there. Written across the top of the page was "How to Bring Back the Dead", meaning that this was the night before Allison brought me back to life.

I was confused as to why I was seeing all of this again, but then I did a double take at the pages that were lying there. Farther down the page was a new heading; one that I didn't remember at all. I must have been too focused on the other side that I didn't look at the other, but written across the page was:

How to Activate a Banshee's Death Song

I skim the article before the vision was gone, and I was back standing in the school with Lydia at my side. She gasps as she looks over at me, wondering why I made her do that. The nogitsune was clearly ticked off about Lydia's scream, meaning we were running out of time faster than I had thought. We had to do this now, and it had to work, despite the risks. 

I turn and face Lydia, ignoring the nogitusne now. "Listen to me, Lydia. You have to scream again, but focus on me, okay? Focus on me and him, nothing else. We only have one shot at this."

Lydia nods sternly up at me, trusting me, as I turn back around, seeing the nogitsune huffing in and out. "I'm going to-"

He gets cut off once again as Lydia steps forwards and screams, much louder than the first time she had done it. Her eyes burn into the copy of Stiles as he falls to his knees, not being able to take it. He just didn't know what was coming.

I step up beside Lydia as I remember bardo; how I had changed frequencies and was able to see into reality. That frequency was key to this now. I had read that a banshee's death song could kill anyone that was around her, listening to her song, but in the presence of a seer, she could alter her scream to be on a different frequency and target those on that frequency. She had to focus on me to achieve that, and if she did, she could kill the nogitsune. If she didn't...well, it wouldn't be good, but I trusted her. She could do this. She was our only hope.

Time feels frozen still as I watch the nogitsune fall forwards, forehead against the ground. It was working; it had to be. Lydia found my frequency and was now aiming it towards him. There was only one thing left to do, but not yet. I wanted to make him suffer more.

The nogitsune looks back up at the two of us again then, pure hatred on his face, but that wasn't the only thing. All over his face were cracks in his skin, almost as if he was going to shatter to pieces in any moment. Lydia was doing it. 

He knew he was dying; he knew that these were his last few moments. I watch him with eyes cold as stone as he shakes his head at me, utter hatred radiating off of him. A small smirk dances across his lips in that moment, sending chills up my spine, but I didn't care. He was dying; we were ending this.

"Like you said, a banshee and a seer are a powerful duo," I shout at him, hope and power radiating off of me. "Looks like you lost the game."

"That's the thing about games, Corey," he yells at me over Lydia, another crack forming down his cheek. The next words he says to me will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life, since they were the last words I heard before my whole life came crashing down. "Sometimes the lines blur on who the actual winners and losers are."

I wasn't sure what he meant. At least, that was until I saw the Oni that was holding onto Allison draw it's sword again.

I start to lose focus as I scream at Allison, but she couldn't hear me. She had her hands pressed against her ears and she was hardly paying any attention. I don't have time to react or do anything as I watch the Oni do what it was supposed to do the night before. The sword pierces her abdomen as her hands fall from her ears, eyes going wide as blood stains her snow white dress.

I was screaming, but I couldn't hear myself. Despite the chaos going on around me, all I could hear was a ringing in my ears. Everything that I had known seemed to come to an abrupt stop as I watched the creature take everything from me; the only person that meant too much to me. The person that I couldn't stand to lose. 

And I was losing her.

Lydia's scream turns into a name; her name. The way it rang from her lips shook my entire core, and I knew that everyone felt the same thing I did in that moment. Time feels like it's frozen as Lydia's scream echos on and on, but she wasn't done yet. I see her bring her hands up forwards in some type of motion, utter rage and heartbreak in her eyes. She seems to do the impossible as her scream literally becomes a moving force; almost as if she was directing it forwards. I watch as it hits the smirking nogitsune in front of us, his body shattering into multiple fragments like I had predicted before. He was gone; Lydia did it. 

Everything goes silent.

Then, I hear Allison say my name. I open my eyes to find them filled with tears, but that didn't matter right now. I find myself running as I go to Allison, finding all of the Oni gone, even the one that stabbed her. Everything else around me gets tuned out as I kneel next to her, pulling her into my arms.

"This isn't happening," I say, remembering how Jade had said the same thing. This was what she had felt; this is what she had to go through. It wasn't fair. "No, no-"

"Is he gone?" Allison asks me, trying to turn her head to look over towards the others. "Is S-Stiles okay?"

I don't take my eyes off of her. "He's gone...Stiles is okay."

"Good," Allison smiles faintly up at me, tears falls from her eyes just like mine. I run my fingers through her hair as I take in her perfect face, not wanting to say goodbye. "Corey, I-It's okay."

I shake my head as my tears fall onto her. "I-I can't say goodbye-"

"Then don't," she says back to me with a smile, just like how she had told me that before leaving to France last year. My face wrinkles up as I stare down at her, watching her reach her hand up to my cheek. She nods her head at me, trying to convince me that this was all okay, but it wasn't. I couldn't lose her.

I thought that my vision was starting to get blurry because of the tears, but in reality, I was getting another vision. I scream at myself to stop, that it wasn't the right time to see something. I wasn't going to get to tell Allison how much she meant to me. But then I blink and find myself somewhere I didn't expect.

The Navy Pier.

It was beautiful. It was night, which allowed the lights below to shine even brighter than I could ever imagine. People looked like tiny ants and the breeze against my skin somehow was able to calm me a little. I don't even look to my right before I feel a soft hand on my own, causing me to turn and see Allison here with me, up at the very top of the ferris wheel with me.

"How are we here?" I ask, all of this feeling too real. It didn't feel the same as a normal vision did, but instead, it felt more realistic. Like I was actually here now.

Allison looks around, the lights below reflecting off of her face. "I..I don't know. I just sort of imagined it and now we're here."

I try to say something, but she doesn't let me speak. Instead, she pulls me closer and smiles at me, that same damn smile that made me fall in love with her in the first place. I had saved up my cash for the past year to bring her here to this place, and it didn't occur to me until now that that dream would never be a true reality. But somehow, we were here now together, giving us some little sense of peace before we had to say goodbye to one another for good.

"I'm sorry this happened, Corey," Allison breathes as she looks out onto the people below, a faint sad smile on her face. "Did...did it hurt when you died?"

Tears fill my eyes again. "No. You don't even feel it."

She nods her head at me, looking back out. "Isn't it beautiful up here? I forgot how much I loved it up here."

I don't answer her. I couldn't make small talk with her. Hell, I couldn't even form works in my throat. Allison turns back to me then, taking my hand as she takes a deep breath.

"It's better this way, Corey. Now...now you can go back home and see your parents and have the life you should have lived. I won't be here to tie you down anymore," she says to me as if she thought I was actually agreeing with what she said. "You at least deserve that."

"I can't lose you," I shake my head, tears continuing to fall. "God, Allison, you're the only person who's kept me going these past few years. Hell, I wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for you. What...What am I going to do without you? I can't..."

"You're strong, Corey. You can go on without me," she nods her head as she presses her hands on my cheeks, bringing my face up to make eye contact with me again. "You will go on without me. Find someone else, start a life, be happy. That's all that I want for you."

"This isn't fair," I shake my head. "We were supposed to stay together, you were supposed to meet my parents, and I was supposed to bring you here alive under different circumstances-"

"But it's perfect," she smiles at me once again. I take it in again, knowing now that it would be the last smile I would see on her face. "I'm here with you at the top of the ferris wheel, the only place I would want to be."

She brings her hands down then as she lays her head on my shoulder, pulling me in closer. "I love you, Corey. I always have."

I rest my head against hers as well, letting my tears roll down my cheeks. I tried telling myself that this wasn't real; that I would wake up from this nightmare soon, but it was real. This was what it had come to. "I love you, Allie, and I always will."

She hums softly as we look out over the city below, the lights twinkling in my eyes before it all starts to fade away. I tried to hold onto it as long as I could, but not even I could keep her there. When I open my eyes again, I find myself holding Allison again, her eyes staring up at the celling like Isaac's had; lifeless. 

She was gone.

I hear Lydia sob as I turn and look over, seeing her in Stiles' arms. Scott and Kira were awake now too, shaking their heads as they held one another. It wasn't until I looked all of the way to my left that I saw Jade standing there, tears in her eyes. I wasn't sure how she ended up here, but I could tell by the look on her face that she was sorry; that she knew none of this was fair.

I look back down at Allison then, thinking to myself how lucky I was to have her in my life while she was here. I didn't know what I was going to do here without her, but I knew I would try to move on...for her. Everything I did was for her, and everything I will do will still be for her.

With my heart heavy, I reach out and close Allison's eyes forever, my face being the last thing she sees before an everlasting darkness.