"NO!" I scream as Malcolm drops the stone to the ground and swings the hammer downward. Like a sudden vibration, little specks of green dart out in all directions, and as instantaneously as the hammer drops to the ground, I drop.

"VEL!" Someone shrieks.

More cries follow, but they seem so far away. Jin, Jaxson, and Maeve appear before me as my eyes blur. Their scared eyes pierce into mine as I try to listen, but just can't quite understand their tunneled voices. Then, the paralysis starts. This is it. I'm going full Red Lady. I prepare myself for the darkness, I prepare myself to lose control of my body, and I prepare myself for the unimaginable horrors I will do. But, as I close my eyes, nothing takes me away. This time, I see myself lying lifeless on the ground, and I rise as Red Lady.

The faces once crowded around my body, quickly scurry back, running to grip the walls. I can tell they are screaming at the sight of me, but I just can't quite discern the sound. I know I should be afraid, but I'm not. I look down at my arms in awe as their translucent waves dissipate in and out of form. Suddenly, my eyes are drawn to something else—darkness. It creeps into my peripheral vision as my eyes narrow on an emerging arched light. Then it happens—indescribable anger.

I try hard to fight the waves of emotion filling my body. I should focus on...? Who should I focus on? I know there is someone. I look down to see a face, calling up to me. I can't hear him, but he's reaching his arm to me, as if he's trying to tell me something, but what? As all the unintelligible voices around me go quiet, another voice enters my mind—Malcolm's.

"Vel, it's time."

Something within me somehow knows exactly what he's talking about, and I rush forward towards the light. Like being on a crashing elevator, I go through the white light, and I drop. My eyes close as I find myself free-falling as if on a ride a million times more powerful than The Tower of Terror. Then, as if yanked, I drop and my eyes open.

I can't hear anything except ticking. It's cold. It's dark. But, in an ironic turn of events, I see red. As if lining a path for my eyes through the dark, a viscous red lays before me. What am I doing here? My feet seem to answer me because soon, I'm racing down the red path as if my feet know. I feel it again—the anger. I stop suddenly as a small glow emerges—it must die. Before I can think, I'm inches from a shadowy figure, my tensed hand reaching for it, my mind envisioning it crushed under me.

"Vel." A voice from behind me paralyzes my hand just inches away from the figure—I know that voice.

The figure's face rises from the darkness, its eyes meeting mine to reveal a smile I think I know.

"Vel Bear," the voice from behind me calls again—the voice of my mom.

Suddenly, like a wave crashing over me, the shock of her voice wakes me, and I remember. The figure in front of me is Grandpa Shamrock. Every ounce of me wants to turn, to run to my MOM, to see her one more time, but nothing happens. My eyes stay focused on Grandpa as the pain and anger seethes once again inside me while my hand clenches towards his face.

"You won't be able to see her," Grandpa's quiet voice says. "You don't belong here. You can only see the one your soul has been sent to kill—me."

I know I should want to say something back, but I can't find any words. All I feel is anger, and the uncontrollable desire to hurt him.

"Vel!" Mom's voice feels little daggers into my heart, blocking every other feeling other than sadness.

"Vel, take it," she says desperately.

What is she talking about? My eyes try to look around, but all I see is Grandpa's hideous eyes, burning into my soul. Hideous eyes? What's wrong with me?

"She means this," Grandpa says, as he brings a soft, glowing green up to my view. "A little green star."

A fleeting feeling floats in the back of my brain, but it's hard to focus on, I'm too angry, too enraged.

"Take it, Vel, it'll send you back. Give it to your sister. She'll know what to do," Mom calls again.

My heart aches, I try to open my mouth to tell her I love her, but the only thing that escapes me is a screech of agony. My hand waivers and shakes uncontrollably as everything seems to boil up inside me. I can't take it anymore—he has to die. My hand darts forward towards Grandpa's unmoved figure. And just as my fingers come close enough to grasp him, something happens—I feel Mom's hand on my shoulder. A wave of summer, smiles, lullabies, and trees rush through me, and I know—I know it's Mom. Suddenly, every feeling of hatred is gone, and a new emotion overtakes all my senses—love.

I know it's love because I've felt it before with Mom, but now I realize I've felt it with others. I've felt it with Silas, with Jaxson, with Maeve, and even Jin. And with love overtaking my heart, I remember everyone back in that basement, and I remember I am still in the basement—this isn't me. I scan Grandpa Shamrock's face and remember the horrible things I just had the urge to do. 

And with the sudden strength of love running through my ghosty body, I grab the stupid, little green star from Grandpa's hand, and everything goes dark. 

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