"There are no heroes... in life, the monsters win."

(George R. R. Martin)

I'll admit, I hesitated on following after it.

Of course, I hesitated.

First, because I knew it could be a trap - as far as I knew, it was impossible for me to hear my friends. We were so far away, not to mention I wasn't good enough at this telepathy thing to fully trust it.

Which sucked, but oh, well. It was life. Or death, you got it.

Second, because I'm not too ashamed to admit that I did wince upon thinking of Malach's reaction at his discovery of me having disobeyed a direct order of his. Malach had this protective streak a mile wide, and I would hear a huge lecture over it, not to mention I'd probably be punished.

Third, because of the pain I had felt when I glimpsed that picture was still too fresh in my head, despite how much time had or hadn't passed since that had happened. I was afraid of feeling it again.

But when I heard the sound again, I took a deep breath and made my decision. That voice, it sounded like Jace's.

Jace was my brother. In my mind, I could see clearly - almost as if it was a movie - all the scenes of our life together. He teasing me over losing my baby teeth. Hiding chocolates in my bedroom. Lecturing me on guys and their lewd intentions after I told him how Lewis Michaels tried to hold my hand during the movies.

So, without knowing if it would work with me not having actual permission to do it, I attempted my first teleport.

And I prayed nothing went wrong.

*

The next thing I knew, wind as sharp as nail blades cut into my skin, the icey feeling making me feel cold from the inside.

Opening my eyes was difficult, but I managed. My hair was all around, whipping into my eyes. It was annoying and I briefly wished for something that allowed me to tie it up, before shrugging it off.

There wasn't time for that.

It took me a moment to recognize the place - the cemetery looked particularly scary in the evening. There wasn't a moon shining in the sky, in fact, there weren't any stars either - the night was as black as a pot full of ink.

Black, gooey ink.

The only source of light in that place was coming from a circle of candles, all lit in front of a grave. I couldn't read what was written and I didn't care, mostly because I recognized the person standing in front of it.

"What the hell is going on with you, Joanne?" I managed to hear, despite the fact the wind was harsh, howling now inside my ear. It was Jace, and he was crying as he yelled at the woman, his blond hair seemed plastered to his forehead, dyed with streaks of red.

I turned to glance at the woman, squeezing my eyes attempting to recognize her - was it really Joanne? And if so, the man standing close to her...

Jace shouted something I couldn't quite understand as the man stepped into the light - and sure enough, it was Izak, Joanne's new boyfriend.

It was funny how someone could look so different in such a short time. You see, I never thought Izak was particularly handsome - he was the usual boy next door, the one that doesn't really make a huge impression.

I remember wondering what my sister saw in him - Joanne was so worried about appearances, what others would say and so on, it seemed strange to me that she'd get herself attached to someone who wasn't particularly remarkable.

And then I shrugged it off. I mean, people grow up and they mature, not to mention love is supposed to be blind, isn't it? So maybe she loved him so much, so deeply, that his appearance didn't matter. That nothing, but staying with him mattered.

I know, I know. I'm a bit of a romantic.

That's not to say he's ugly - he's just, you know, normal. You could notice he took care of his appearance by the clothes he chose - they were clearly well taken care off and he had the care to match them. He took the time to make himself look good - which I never remembered Jace doing, but still, it wasn't a crime.

I don't remember talking much with him - we were introduced, of course, but that was it. Joanne was a very possessive person, and she almost had a thing the day she found the two of us talking.

And note that that 'talking' was an introduction. Literally.

So we never talked much and I didn't have anything against him.

It was hard to believe a guy so normal looking could be so... evil, I guess. You expect evil people to have red eyes, or at the very least to have an evil laugh.

Something... anything to let you know to keep your distance. To let you know you needed to be careful.

But there was nothing - he was perfectly normal, just like anybody you might meet on the street.

Still, as he stood there beside my sister, a hand carefully put on her shoulder, I felt myself shudder. There was something going on there.

And whatever it was, it wasn't good.

It was then I saw it - there that I noticed the circle of people standing there. Where had they come from? Were they always here?

And if so, why?

I had many questions, but I felt my eyes going back to Jace. His hands were bound, and there was a small puddle of red liquid forming underneath them, at his back.

He was standing, but his pants were torn in places, creating stripes of thick red dye through his legs. It was also falling through his cheek, dripping on the floor beside him. So much red.

Like blood.

"You weren't supposed to be here, it should be that unrefined twat Maisie called a friend!" She yelled as she walked towards him, making Jace step away from her.

"So what? So you could hit her with... What did you hit me with?"

"This is magic, stupid!" Joanne yelled back, hands waving around crazily. "Izak has given it to me, and all I need to do is to make two sacrifices and it will be mine forever and-"

"Sacrifices? So Ingreth was right? You sacrificed our sister?"

Her eyes shining with hatred so strong it defied an explanation, Joanne snorted. "You should leave, leave and get Ingreth in here before I run out of time and have to sacrifice you instead."

Shaking his head in disbelief, turning his face on the side and trying to wipe it off on his shirt with his bound hands.

He came off with his face smeared with dirt and the red liquid.

Blood. I told myself. It was blood.

Jace was bleeding.

For some reason, the sight of the red liquid dripping from his chin and fingertips made my stomach twist with nausea. I was still trying to control myself when Izak moved.

My heart stopped.

His steps were calm and precise as he walked towards my sister, his eyes twinkling with amusement. He found this whole situation funny.

I wanted to hit him.

It was then I noticed him.

Not too far away from me, hidden behind one of the tombs, Hugo looked worried. He was signaling for me to leave, to go to him, but I found myself stuck on the ground.

I couldn't move.

I mouthed an apology to him and gestured for him to leave, but Hugo stubbornly shook his head and attempted to approach me...

Only to slam in a wall.

I watched as he fell on the floor after meeting the wall and attempted to go to him - I wasn't going to leave, but I wasn't going to leave Hugo hurt either.

I should be able to help him leave and come back for Jace.

I watched with my side-eye as he braced to face Joanne and Izak as I moved towards Hugo. It surprised me, but it really shouldn't have, when I met that same wall.

Touching it, I found it was smooth, tough, and had no end - that we could feel anyway. We probably would find some sort of hole if we had time to search for it, but as Joanne halted her movements and Izak nuzzled her hair, I knew there wasn't time.

We didn't have any time.

"Hugo, you need to go back. Get help," I whispered, stressing the words to him. I could see he was going to refuse, so I added. "Please."

He frowned, before shaking his head. "Natalia knows you're not home, they should be getting here soon. I'm not leaving you alone." Glaring at me, he got to his feet and mumbled. "I'll figure out a way to get in."

I was watching him attempt to find a hole in the invisible wall when Izak's voice called my attention to what was going on.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, love," He told her, even as he slipped an arm around her waist. "There's no more time - either we sacrifice Jace or we lose the opportunity."

Jace's expression changed from disgust to fear, but he swallowed and turned to Joanne once again.

"Jo... I'm your twin. We're twins," he whispered, and I could hear the pleading in his voice. It brought tears to my eyes, but I quickly wiped them off. I had to pay attention - if I could do something, maybe cause a distraction... I had to try.

"Sorry twin, but there are certain things..." she trailed off, and I wondered - why would she be doing this? Why? What did Izak promise her?

What could be more important than her siblings' lives?

When she lifted her hand, though, and Jace hissed in pain, I knew there was no time. There was no choice. I would be making a lot of people pissed off by doing what I was about to do, but... but there wasn't any other way out.

It was either me or Jace, and in the end...

In the end, Jace was my brother.

Malach could find someone else to stop Joanne and save the world. My parents would get over my death. Ingreth would find another best friend and Dash... Dash would be alright too.

But if Jace died as well, would any of them ever recover? Would I?

Suddenly I wasn't afraid anymore. I didn't know what this would do to me, I didn't know if this would mean turning into nothing, but... but it didn't matter.

Between Jace's death and becoming nothing, nothingness became the best alternative.

Rushing forward, I focused all my strength, all I had in me on pushing Jace away. I didn't expect it to work, to be honest, but at the same time, there was desperation filling my whole being that didn't accept the alternative. Still, I can't deny I was a bit surprised when he fell on the ground, and ended up looking around as if trying to understand what was going on.

I couldn't see much more because, the next second, my sister had finished whatever she had been weaving - and the black mass of what looked like electrified energy was hurled to where Jace had been standing five seconds ago.

Where I was standing now.

**

Time stopped

There weren't any other words for this. It was as if things had slowed down, the huge ball of energy moving towards me in slow motion.

I closed my eyes and braced for the pain as my mind swirled with a thousand different thoughts.

They said you see memories of your life when you died.

That was a lie. Dying was easy - easier than falling asleep. I didn't have any movies, any words, anything.

But as I rushed forward to push Jace away, I saw it. That movie. I remembered Jace attempting to teach me how to skate - what a failure that had been. But he had been the sweetest, never hurrying me, patience in its ultimate form.

I remembered baking a cake for Mom's birthday - the two of us had taken hours to get it just right, and of course, it had been a disaster. I still felt bad for Mom as she had eaten everything.

And said it was the best cake she'd ever had. Poor Mom.

I remember Jace helping Dad wash his car - and then running after me with the hose. The idiot ruined my hair for a week - not to mention I caught a cold.

But he felt terrible about it - and nursed me back to health as much as Mom and Dad let him. He even learned how to make chicken soup.

It tasted terrible. I ate it anyway.

And then there was the day I wanted to make Dad a scarf. I had seen people doing it on tv, I wanted to do it - nevermind I didn't know how. It would be the perfect Christmas gift.

Jace was the one that helped me, by spending way more time than he wanted to modeling for me. And going with me to buy things for the scarf.

It was a terrible looking scarf, but Dad had looked happy.

Jace was a terrific brother. Mom always said this was true because he had wanted a baby sister so much that, from the second she stepped inside the house with me, I had become his little doll. She had tons of pictures of him playing with me even as a toddler, singing me to sleep and so on. It was a pity I couldn't remember those things.

I wished I did. I really wished I did.

Also I wished really badly that I could talk to him once. Just once.

And then, in a burst of excruciating pain, everything went black.

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IF YOU'VE READ THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SKIP IT AND KEEP ON READING THE NEWEST.

Thank you for being so wonderfully patient with me!

This week we're back with Evenfall! I'll keep updating the updated chapters AND there will be a new one soon. 

I hope you are all being safe in lockdown!

Originally published: January 17th, 2020

Revised: April, 27th, 2020

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