My palms were burning fiercely, and I was ready to take on all of them. But before I could do anything, I felt a needle sinking into the top of my spine, near the base of my neck.

That's cheating. You didn't even give me a chance, you bastard.

Evan sent me a look that read something along the lines of: now, whoever said we play nice?

Fatigue washed over me, and my knees buckled, sending my body slumping to the ground. A hunter caught my head before I hit the floor — gotta keep me alive, right?

They carried me out of the room as I felt my consciousness slipping away from me once more. Somehow, I gained the strength to turn my head and glance at Theo one last time.

"Be brave." I saw him mouth, or maybe he shouted it; along with my eyes closing, my ears muffled out all sound.

A tear squeezed its way out of my right eye.

And, for the second time that day, I lost my grip on my consciousness, though thankfully this time it was a peaceful darkness — with no twisted hallucinations to haunt me.

The room I woke up in was completely different from the room that they had been holding me and Theo in; it was bright, white and clean — the complete opposite. So opposite, in fact, that for a millisecond I thought I'd gotten out and escaped.

"Welcome back, Ember." Evan appeared above me.

In attempting to get up, I thrashed around in the hospital-like bed and discovered I was tied down with tough-looking iron restraints.

Speaking through gritted teeth, I growled at Evan, "I won't let you have it."

"You don't have much of a choice about that," he told me, faking a smile. "We're going to get it whether you let us or not."

A tall woman dressed in a white lab coat walked into the room, looking like a doctor with a clipboard in hand.

She threw a look at Evan. "You realise how dangerous this is, right? Especially with her conscious." She surveyed me with a steely cold gaze, before muttering, "Hard to believe such a weak body can harness such a powerful being."

"Hey!" I frowned at her, but she ignored me.

"From what we know," Evan told her, standing behind my bed and placing his hands on my shoulders, "She can't harness it very well."

"I'm literally right here." I rolled my eyes, and if my hands were free, I would've thrown them up in the air incredulously.

"We should get to work straight away." The woman narrowed her eyes at me, pulling on a pair of fireproof gloves and surveying a metal tray — on which there were surgical instruments.

I'd never been any good at coping at the dentist's, so how I was going to fare here... Well, it probably wouldn't end very well.

"I'm going to give her a mild sedative to ensure she doesn't move around too much," the woman announced, picking up a needle and flicking the syringe, before squirting out a little and eyeing me. "It'll temporarily paralyse her."

"Just do whatever you have to do to get it done, Everly," Evan snapped at her.

"Are you two related?" I raised an eyebrow and strained to look at both of them. Their features were similar and they looked like brother and sister. "Huh, I guess the whole hunter thing really does run in the family."

With that, Evan placed a strip of tape over my mouth.

Guess the sedative doesn't paralyse my tongue as well then.

Everly came over to me and stuck an IV needle in my inner elbow, right into the vein — before injecting the sedative into the IV drip bag. Then she tightened the chains around my wrists and waist that were securing me to the bed.

Frowning, I narrowed my eyes; how do you even extract fire anyway?

"I'll check on how you're getting on later," Evan told Everly and walked out.

My head fell back onto the bed as I felt a numbness flood through my body. I closed my eyes — not because I was tired or because of the sedative — but because I was praying. I'm not religious, and I can't claim to believe in any higher being, but I was praying that someone, anyone would come and help me and Theo.

Oh shit. Theo.

Snapping my eyes open, I mumble-screamed against the tape, "MMEOO!!!"

The chances of him hearing me were very, very minimal, and there was a high possibility that some bastard was beating the crap out of him right then — but it was worth a try, right?

Ignoring Everly clattering around with metal instruments (aka: tools for torture), I strained to hear Theo. Regardless of my lack of supernatural hearing, I thought I heard him yell my name back, but I couldn't be sure.

"Now then." Everly came over to me and slowly began peeling off the tape, "I'm going to take this off, and you're not going to scream—"

"THEO!!!" I screamed for him as loud as I possibly could, my lungs burning; I don't think I'd ever screamed that loud before.

"You little bitch!" Everly seethed at me as she clamped her hand down over my mouth, "You're just as troublesome as Evan said you'd be."

She firmly stuck the tape back over my mouth, then grabbed hold of the hospital bed and the IV drip and wheeled me out of the room.

Where are we going? I thought as I squinted at the ceiling — the bright lights were much like those in a hospital and their brightness seemed to burn into the back of my eyeballs.

All of it was like a hospital, actually — the bright white lights, the clean white walls and floor and ceiling, that hospital bed, the medical equipment. There was even that awful stench of bleach that hospitals have. I wouldn't've been surprised to find out that we were in an actual hospital, and that Theo was miles away in some underground bunker being beaten bloody...

But I heard him yell back to me, right?

We took a left, then a right, and then another left before Everly used the foot of the gurney-like bed to push a set of double doors open. The room behind the double doors was dark, and due to that paralytic sedative, all I could see was the dark, metal ceiling.

"Time for you to have a cooldown." The smirk on Everly's face was evident in her voice as she hooked me up to a different IV drip, one with a thicker needle and a thicker tube by the feel of it being jabbed into my arm.

Leaving me blankly staring up at the metallic ceiling, Everly walked off and shut a heavy-sounding door that must've been open when she wheeled me in there — wherever 'there' was.

A hissing sound suddenly started filling the room, like the rush of gas, and I urged my lifeless body to move, but it was like my body was beginning to freeze—

Oh no. Freezing. That's how they're gonna extract my fire.

I screamed hopelessly against the tape, trying to open my mouth and push it off with my tongue. I wanted, I needed to thrash around and get the hell out of that room; I'd been frozen once before and I didn't exactly fancy a trip down memory lane.

"You'll be okay, Ember." I heard my Uncle Rob's voice in my mind as my body began to stiffen cold.

No! A tear leaked out of my eye and froze near my ear — I was running out of time.

If I didn't get this tape off my mouth by the time the numbing cold reached my nose, it'd freeze up my nostrils and I'd end up suffocating in about five minutes.

In one last attempt, I was able to push the tape off one corner of my mouth and blew so that it flopped over and off my mouth. As I felt my face freeze, I inhaled one last breath of the bitterly cold air.

And then my body shut down.

"In extreme cold, the human body goes through several stages to try and warm itself up," Uncle Rob explained to me, "First shivering to try and warm yourself up, and then as your body gets colder and colder, everything starts shutting down. Your heart pumps slower, your brain thinks slower and your blood pressure drops until your body becomes completely comatose."

"What about me?" I swallowed, holding back a shiver as we looked out across the vast and glacial Svalbard landscape that I would soon be heading out into. "Won't my body cope better? Because of my fire, I mean?"

He shook his head slowly. "No... If anything, your body will fare worse and will shut down faster."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Uncle." I huffed.

"You want to be able to control your fire, don't you?" He checked and I nodded quickly, "Well then if your fire's a survival instinct, we need to get you in a survival situation."

Then he left to get something from town, leaving me alone.

By this point, I'd been in Svalbard for a month and a half, leaving us nearing the end of a bleak and bitter January. This was to be my second trial out in the wilderness; my first one was over the Christmas period — I'd failed then, and trained relentlessly since to get to the point where I was ready to be trialled by nature again.

Thankfully, my Uncle Rob wasn't a God-fearing man, otherwise, I think he would've had me praying to the heavens for the purging of my soul. So instead of Bibles and prayers, I faced the cold wilderness and silent wishes that my fire would be controllable.

Dusk was beginning to fall by the time my uncle returned, signifying the start of my second trial. I was to hike out into the mountains, away from the safety of Longyearbyen and into the wild lands where polar bears roamed.

Uncle Rob had picked up a fair bit of Norwegian whilst staying in Svalbard, and he told me a few words as we parted. "Fred være med deg."

I never found out what it meant, but he said it to me every time I left, and so I took it to be a good thing.

About half an hour of hiking away from Longyearbyen, I was truly in the wild. I had nothing with me apart from the winter clothes I was wearing and a Swiss army knife in my jacket pocket.

It was cold and dark and a dreaded sense of hopelessness washed over me, engulfing me almost to the point where I could no longer find the willpower to go on. It would've been easy at this point to turn around and walk back to my uncle's warm house and demand that there had to be a better way to gain control.

But I didn't; somehow, from somewhere deep within me, I found the strength to go on. I knew what I had to do: I had to spend the night out here, curled up and freezing as my body shut down.

How this would help me gain control, I didn't know, but I still followed and trusted my uncle with blind faith.

The night was cold and I'd been walking for an hour and a half before I reached the shelter of a couple of trees. The thick stew I'd had for dinner was long gone and I was hungry once more. And in the pit of my stomach, along with hunger, there was the bitter feeling of regret. Regret for everything that went wrong with Theo, regret because I missed him so much now.

I'd probably never admit it to him if I ever saw him again... But I did love him back and I should've said so at the airport. I should've gone all the way with him on our last night together — so many things I should've done and now I didn't know whether I'd end up seeing him again.

Cold and regret... Cold regret... Regretfully cold... Regret and cold — no matter which way I organised my thoughts, I still couldn't shake the regret. The cold was unavoidable and, evidently, so was the regret.

I pushed it to the back of my mind and sat on the cold ground, shivering as I pulled up my jacket's hood. Curling up, I let the cold and the darkness consume me — my body shutting down exactly how Uncle Rob said it would. My heart almost ceased beating, my thoughts slowed to a complete stop and it felt like my blood was freezing in my veins.

I lay there in a comatose state — my body rendered useless, but my thoughts still manage to trickle through like hot water through ice.

It seemed like I would die here; my time had come. My fire wasn't coming to save me, my Uncle Rob wasn't coming to save me — no one and nothing cared if I died out there in the Arctic lands.

I would die, and then they would take my stiff corpse home to my mother and my father and they would mourn me. They would blame me; I wasn't strong enough to deal with my fire, just like I wasn't strong enough to deal with the cold.

Or maybe they wouldn't find my body, and I would remain out here frozen and young for eternity. It's illegal to die on Svalbard; the bodies wouldn't decompose due to the permafrost. So, I'd be breaking the law by dying out here, but it wasn't exactly like I had a choice.

My eyes would no longer open; I was numb, and I was certain that I was dying.

"Are we sure this 'Phoenix' is real? I mean, the girl could just have pyrokinetic powers."

At some point, though I have no idea how long I was actually out, I returned to a state of semi-consciousness.

Everly was talking, presumably to another hunter, "Evan is crazy if he thinks he can extract the essence of her fire without killing her."

If my blood was actually running through my veins at that point, it would've run cold. The double doors suddenly burst open — and if I could move my body, I would've jumped out of my skin — and another hunter rushed in; it was Evan.

"How long is this going to take?" He exclaimed at his sister, "We can't keep the two of them here for much longer before the pack or the authorities figure out that they're missing."

"It takes time, Evan," Everly snapped at him, "You can't expect me to just beat up a teenager and have the results you want. It takes precision and actual brainpower to extract something as powerful as the fire of a Phoenix."

As much as I despise Everly, I've got to admit it — she's a badass.

"I can't get any more out of the boy, and there's little point testing on an ex-Omega," Evan hissed at her, "We only needed her, but we had to take him as well."

"What do you propose we do? Kill him off?" The way Everly said it was unbelievable — like she was talking about putting down a rabid dog...

Whilst I lay there frozen, my blood slowly trickling out of me and barely hearing the conversation, Evan continued speaking, "Killing him would be... messy, to say the least. We could—"

"I've got it," Everly cut off Evan, causing him to huff grumpily, "If this way doesn't work... Then I have another idea to extract her fire."

"I'm listening," Evan prompted with an edge of irritation to his voice.

"I mean, it's the absolute last resort," Everly clarified, "If we do this to her, there will be no going back. Unless..."

"Everly," Evan spat out, "Tell me. Or I'm taking over and putting you on another assignment."

Another assignment? What are we, little projects to them?

"You know I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for years," Everly hissed at her brother. "And you know I'll never get a chance like this ever again. Give me ten more minutes with her, and then we can go to the last resort."

"Five minutes." Evan started walking out, "But you still haven't told me what this last resort is."

"You." Everly snapped, presumably to the other hunter, "Get out."

The other hunter left instantly, probably wanting to be out of the room and away from a good ol' sibling argument.

Meanwhile, some feeling was returning to my body — the tips of my fingers, and my toes were now movable. Now it would only be a matter of minutes before I could move my arms and legs...

They were two possible reasons for me defrosting: one, the; freezer that I was in was a bit dodgy, and therefore not able to remain cold for long periods of time. Or two, my fire was returning to me, slowly thawing my body. In all honesty, it could've been a combination of both factors.

"Now, I only intend this as a last resort if I can't extract any of her fire through my other methods," Everly continued, before getting cut off by Evan.

"Yes, yes, I get it," Evan snapped, "You've already had an hour and a half with her. How much longer do you need before we start to see results? How much longer until this last resort can be carried out?"

Everly smacked her clipboard down a table as her voice raised considerably, "Like I've told you a hundred times before and like I'll tell you a hundred times more if I have to; it takes time. That's all there is to it; time and dedication and actual skill."

"Just get it done." Evan huffed, "You don't have much time left, so I suggest you try all your options within the next five minutes."

With that he left, the double doors swinging shut behind him, leaving Everly muttering something indistinguishable to herself.

She came over to the giant freezer I was in and unlocked the door, before quickly wheeling me out of there. Keeping still with my eyes shut, I imitated still being frozen, though my that point I almost would've been able to get up and walk out.

Everly started checking the IV drip, taking down the bag that was probably filled with my frozen blood, before reassuring herself, "This should probably be enough..."

Enough for what? Enough for you to extract my fire and leave me to Evan for the last resort?

"I can tell you're conscious, Ember," Everly told me and tore the remaining strip of tape off the side of my mouth.

I opened my eyes only to narrow them at her again, before spitting out at her, "Can you also tell what it's like to be frozen?"

Everly narrowed her eyes right back at me and ignored my question, "Look, Ember. We don't have much time left. Either you willingly give us your fire, or I hand you over to Evan."

"I couldn't willingly give you my fire," I hissed at her, "The Phoenix wouldn't have allowed me to before you froze me, and now I'm basically a lifeless, heatless — and therefore fireless — corpse thanks to that freezer!"

"You really are as weak as Evan told me." Everly shook her head despairingly, "You leave me no other choice, Ember."

She plunged a syringe into my arm, and I began feeling the effects of the sedative almost immediately — my body was fatigued beyond comprehension. Everly scribbled something on her clipboard and inspected the IV drip bag of my blood.

"I had hoped this would be enough," she told me as I struggled to keep my eyes open, "But you really have left me with no other choice."

"Screw you..." I muttered as sleep began dragging me into its miserable chasm.

"It'll be such a waste." Everly's voice seemed to be getting further and further away, "Such a waste..."

I woke up to being dragged along the ground; two hunters were holding my arms on either side of me and dragging me down a dimly lit corridor.

"W-where are you... t-taking... m-me?" I asked groggily, confused and disorientated — not even trying to fight them.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." One of them grinned down at me, showing dirty teeth and a crooked smile. "We're taking you to see your boyfriend."

"Theo..." I mumbled, my slow brain beginning to wonder what the hunters had been doing to him whilst Everly was testing on me.

I didn't have to wait long to find out, as the two hunters dragging me shoved open a side door and literally through me into the room. It was the room where they were holding me before Everly's tests before they took me away from Theo.

Oh my God — Theo...

He was sat hunched over in the chair, and his head raised at the sound of me being thrown in. I gasped at the sight of his bloodied face and dragged myself along the floor towards him.

What have they done to you?

His face was covered in trails of blood, both his eyes were black and his nose looked like it had been broken several times over. There was a tube in his arm, and it looked like they were pumping something grey into him... silver. He wasn't healing because of the silver they were pumping into his body. Beside him, close to Evan, was a table of freshly bloodied torture devices...

I sobbed as I croaked out, "What have they done to you?"

"What have they done to you?" He asked back, his voice breaking from pain. As I was now closer, I saw the awkward way in which his chest hunched over — they must have broken his ribs.

"Tie her up!" Evan yelled to the two hunters who brought me there.

They chained me to the chair, using those awful iron chains that I thought I'd escaped.

"You two have caused quite a bit of trouble for us," Evan told us as he pulled on a pair of leather gloves, Theo flinching each time the leather snapped against the hunter's skin.

These bastards have broken both of us.

"It's time to put an end to that trouble," Evan announced, pulling a long-barrelled revolver off the table and inspecting it.

"Leave her alone," Theo spoke up, his voice strong, trembling ever so slightly as he struggled to make eye contact with the hunter.

"Again with the selfless sacrifices?" The hunter rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You just don't know how to have fun do you?" He came over to Theo and grabbed his jaw fiercely. "You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut."

Theo didn't do or say anything, and Evan let him go. He then walked over to me, planting his feet firmly in front of me and narrowing his eyes at me.

Cocking the revolver and holding it to my face, Evan questioned me, "Do you know what sort of gun this is?"

This must be the last resort — the last attempt to extract my fire.

"No." I trembled; something about the revolver didn't feel like a normal revolver.

It was old, with a dull metal barrel and a carved wooden grip. There were ornate swirls on the frame, and something was carved on the grip itself, an emblem of sorts — I couldn't quite see what it was, but it didn't really matter what sort of design it was if it was going to kill me.

"This, Ember, is a Colt Paterson from 1836," he explained, examining the gun closely, "It has been passed down through the many generations of hunters, each waiting to have captured the right supernatural in order to utilise its power."

"A Phoenix, right?" I already knew the answer; he was holding it to my head, after all.

"Precisely. Phoenixes are very difficult to kill, but this gun is the only one of its kind." He appreciated the killing device. "The cap and ball have been specifically modified to fire iron cartridges. This beauty's only been used once."

Fear coursed through my veins; there was no escaping this one. I would die if — when he shot that revolver at me.

I'm too young to die, I don't wanna die like this. Hell, I wanna grow old and tired and boring and I wanna watch the sunrise and the sunset a million times over with Theo by my side... Wait, what?

I looked to Theo, tears leaking freely from both of our eyes; this is the end. I'm going to die.

Confusingly, Evan holstered his gun, unchaining me and then unchaining Theo as well. Neither of us was going anywhere, everyone in the room — everyone on the Earth knew that we weren't going anywhere.

I knelt as I faced Evan, the hunter pulled out his revolver again, cocking back the pistol.

My fire isn't coming to save me; nothing and no one is coming to save us.

Sobbing slightly, I stared defiantly up at Evan. "If you kill me, you have to promise to leave Theo and his pack alone."

"Ember, what are you doing?" Theo hissed at me, also on his knees, his body broken.

I glanced across at him. "Saving you."

"You're not exactly in a position to be making demands." Evan shook his head incredulously at me, holding the Colt Paterson 1836 to my chest.

Sniffing back my tears, I eyed the bastard of a hunter as he shot me in my chest — the revolver made a loud crack and the bullet implanted itself in my chest, and a dull heat began spreading through my chest.

It won't be long now before my world turns into a dark and hopeless abyss.