Allen

"They're stopping for gas." I said, peering out the window. We should keep going so they don't notice us.

"Um, no." Isaac interjected. "We need gas too. We could either wait till they drive off and get gas, or get out right now and kill them if they try something. Either way, I'm not driving past the gas station."

"Fine." I muttered. All of the other spots were filled, so he pulled up to the store and turned the engine off.

"Okay, everyone watch closely, they could attack is at any moment." said Jamie.

"I doubt it," Shaye chimed. "They don't seem to be in the mood for that."

Axel hopped out of the front seat and stuck his head back in. He was talking to one of them, but I couldn't tell, their windows were tinted. He looked irritated and tired.

"Shaye, what's happening?" asked Marissa.

"He's asking them if they want something to eat while he's in there. Wait no, now he's pleading Jessica to eat something, anything."

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Marissa asked, staring at him intensely. I don't see how she did it. His eyes were creepy colorful, and mesmerizing.

"She's becoming what Elijah became."

"Oh." Marissa became silent and looked away from Shaye, staring out the window squinting as if that would help her see through the tinted glass.

Suddenly, it was hard to make out, but it looked like the girl in the front seat flinched. The guy pumping gas behind them walked over and spoke to Axel.

"Now what?" asked Donovan.

"He just yelled out her and that guy came over to make sure things were okay."

Axel nodded and reassured the man, then turned back to the car.

"He's apologizing." Share told us.

Axel softly closed the door and walked towards the store.

"Duck down!" Isaac half screamed, half whispered. Everyone except Shaye did it, who's glowing eyes were getting brighter.

Fortunately, Axel didn't notice and walked inside. Meanwhile, the girl in the backseat got out and slammed the door.

"That's Jessica?" I asked, not remembering who was which.

"Yeah, that's her."

Her condition was nowhere near as bad as Elijah's, but it was still noticeable. There was no way she could hide the darkened peeling skin stretching all the way down her neck. The skin on the left side of her face had mottled become a brownish color. It looked as if she'd been scratching herself severely, because lots of the rotten skin on her arms had been ripped up and blood was seeping from the wounds.

She walked over to the gas pump and laid against the car, apparently waiting for Axel to pay.

"It seems like we're safe, for now." I told them. She's not even aware we're here.

"With her problems I doubt she cares." Donovan replied bluntly.

"Well I'm not scared is Axel, so I'm going to get gas. I'll just fill up the red container and we can go. Simple." Isaac opened his door to get out, and Shaye reached forward and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait!" He hissed. "Not yet. Look."
We all turned our attention back to Jessica, who was looking at her reflection in the glass, her face unreadable. The girl in the front seat poked her head out the window and said something, but if Jessica heard her, she didn't show it. She was glaring at all the wounds on her body, and looked close to having a breakdown.

The other girl stepped out of the car to talk to her, not we couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Shaye, what are they talking about?" I asked.

"She's telling Jessica that everything will be okay. That Avery will find a cure."

"A cure for what?" Donovan interrupted.

Jessica pushed the other girl away from her and shouted so loud we could hear her from the car.

"Avery doesn't give a damn about revenants!"

Everyone at the gas station turned and looked at them. When Jessica noticed she said something in a much lower voice, and the other girl got back in the front seat.

Jessica then turned to the car parked behind them and asked him for something. He promptly pulled out a cigarette and lit it for her.

"Do any of you know what a revenant is?"  Isaac asked us, slowly slipping out the door.

"It's probably that thing that Elijah was becoming- Wait!"

Isaac snuck out the car and slammed the door. He went to the trunk, pulled out a red container, and went inside the store just as soon as Axel came out, but Axel paid him no attention.

"Why didn't Axel recognize him? What magic did you use?" asked Marissa.

"I, I didn't do anything. Axel must be too wrapped up in Jessica's situation."

"Or maybe he forgot Isaac, since Isaac appeared to be dead the last time he saw him." said Donovan.

While they were trying to figure out why he hadn't recognized Isaac, Axel stopped halfway to his car. Everyone went silent. Jessica noticed he had came out and started to pump the gas. Then Axel turned and looked at the store.

"Crap, he does remember!" said Jamie in a hushed whisper. He started walking back to the store, and Jessica frowned.

"She's wondering what he's doing?" Shaye told us. "And he's thinking-ahh!"

Shaye clutched his head and starting breathing fast, like he was having an asthma attack. He held his head down and his leg was shaking furiously.

"What's wrong Shaye? What's wrong? Say something!"

He tried to stop shaking, but it wouldn't work. He looked up at us, and everyone jumped back. His eyes and nose had started bleeding, but his eyes were still glowing.

"Gabriel. He did this." Shaye hissed. His eyes faded and he slumped forward, collapsing on the spot.

"Dammit we need to go! Why the hell did Isaac think this was a good idea?" Donovan was about to get out and confront Axel when all hell broke loose.
Isaac came dashing out the store with blinding speed, dropping the red container at the door. He ran straight to their car. Axel, whose reflexes were just as quick, spun after him.

Before I had time to even guess why he did it, I saw.
I saw the multicolored light in Jessica's eyes.
I saw the gas nozzle drop to the ground, spraying gas everywhere.
And I saw her drop the lit cigarette into the gas.

Samantha

I was worried about coming back, but it turned out to be fine. The neighborhood was still gone, which was a good thing. I thought Samirah might have come back to this location, but I was wrong. Where was she? I'd practiced a little magic on the way here, and I felt a presence, but not Samirah's. The hard part wasn't finding out who. It was making sure they don't kill me while I'm trying to discover them.

I took out the charm bracelet and and blew on it. It glowed faintly, and then the glow disappeared. That means that someone was really close to me, a few feet away for all I know. I tried to calm my mind and create a protection spell. I closed my eyes, breathed in deeply, and imagined myself being encased in a warm bright light.

For some reason, nothing happened. It irritated me, but I know I'll get back to original level of power soon. I pulled out the book, flipped through some pages, and read. I found one that seemed accurate enough, and spoke it aloud.

"Garde!" I chanted.

"Oh that's not going to work." said a voice.

I whirled around, trying to find out who spoke. Nobody was behind me.
"Where are you?" I demanded. "Come out!"

The disembodied voice laughed. Samirah's laugh.

"You know exactly where I am, you just don't want to admit it." She said gleefully.

"Turn around, and come on in."

I looked back, and they cars, the trees, the houses were back. The entire neighborhood had been brought back.

Gabriel

"Everything is working, though not the way we planned it." I told some of the guards standing post.

Everyone in the building was on alert. They all knew the other vampires were coming. They just didn't know what time.

"What do you mean not the way we planned it? What changed?" London came at me, asking me questions.

"Why are you here?" I responded.

"Gabe, answer the damn question." Avery said as she came in the lobby.

She was wearing a very loose silky black dress. It went down slightly past her knees with a split that went all the way up to her thigh. Earlier, she had asked me to put a glamour on her to hide the revenant curse.

"Wow, uh... Why are you... I..."

London couldn't pick his jaw up of the floor, so I snapped my fingers. Her glamour disappeared and we could see the full effects of the revenant curse. Now it completely her right arms, while dropping a little bit past the elbow in the left. Her chest and throat were covered as well, and her face was mottled and blotched, it hadn't started peeling off like the rest, and it hadn't reached the rotten color yet.

The look of disgust on his face was instantaneous. Had she been standing closer to him, he probably would've reflexively backed away. She saw his reaction and glared at me. Before she could form a sentence, London snapped his fingers and returned the glamour.

"Do that again and I swear I'll-"

"You'll what, Avery? Our situation can't get much more worse than what it is."

London looked back and forth between me and her. He didn't like her plan anymore than I did, but for a different reason.

She stopped talking and stared at me intensely for what seemed like forever.
Then she closed her and eyes and slowly said, "What did you mean when you said things aren't working the way we planned it?"

I decided not to antagonize her more. "Axel's group. Jessica couldn't handle becoming a revenant, so she committed suicide."

I waited for Avery's reaction, but she didn't blink.

"How does that, in any way, change our plans? All we need is for Axel to get Allen."

"That's the thing. The way she committed suicide. She threw a lit cigarette into a huge puddle of gasoline at a gas station. It destroyed everything.

"So Axel and his group are dead?" She asked.
Axel's not, but the two girls are. They were the closest to the blast.

"Damn it." she said under her breath.

"London, you're going to have to go get him for me."

London looked surprised. But I don't know who or where-"

"Relax," I told them. "They are already coming this way.

Samantha

Small talk might be my only chance at living.

"So, Samirah, tell me. What's the point of all this? What will this accomplish?"

"Open the door, and go inside." She commanded.

"What's in there?" I demanded. "None of this should exist!"

"NOBODY ASKED YOU THAT!" Samirah screamed.

Suddenly I couldn't breathe. The door opened, and I was lifted off my feet, floating in the air. Then, with an extreme force, I was thrown towards the house against my will, flying so fast I would've screamed if could've spoken.

I went soaring all the way into the living room, crashing into the same glass table I crashed into before. A sharp ringing in my right ear and a piercing pain in my side, I wasn't sure where to move, or where Samirah was. The house had been completely rebuilt, but there was no lights on, I was shrouded in darkness.

Blinking the spots out of my eyes, I looked around in horror at a things that shouldn't exist, a room that shouldn't exist, a chandelier, a table, a staircase, a couch. And I heard Samirah's laughter, mocking me and my pain.

I tried to pull myself to my feet, being very careful of the broken glass.

"Just tell me why." I pleaded into the darkness. "Why would you do this? Why would Donna want you to do this? What do you have to gain?"

I felt a breeze, a cool breeze that didn't feel natural inside a house. A looked over and saw Samirah standing over me. I froze.

"Unlike you, my mother never  reformed. This house is her life. This magic is her life. It don't matter if greed was the cause of the curse, this is all she's known. And you, you were so quick to give up magic when you could've been figuring out a way to destroy curse and keep everything the same. You took the cowards way out. You don't deserve to be my aunt."

As much as that stung, it made me realize that Donna must have been grooming the girl for this for a while. She probably had this planned out before I left the first time. If not, immediately after.

"But why," I continued, trying to send a message to someone, anyone, out there. Allen, Marissa, other mages, anything, but I knew I wouldn't get a fast enough response.

"Why does your plan involve Allen? I wasn't there, but I had a vision. You too that beast that Allen found, didn't you? Why are you resurrecting it? What is it for?"

She laughed and crouched down to me.

"Why am I not surprised. Something else you don't know."

Samirah opened her right hand and dropped a bunch of tiny diamonds in front of me. She bent down even closer and whispered into my ear.

"The curse is created by greed. That creature, the one Allen found, is one of the greediest, strongest, most powerful creatures alive. I alone can't create enough greed to bring the curse back, but that thing sure can help. Want to meet him?"

She smiled and snapped her fingers. The house started shaking and she vanished in the spot. This time, ignoring the glass and the pain, I got to my feet and ran for the door. I slammed up against it, but it wouldn't budge. The house kept shaking violently, and I found feel the presence of something huge. She's used her magic to bring that beast inside the house, and trapped me with it.

I barraged the door with several different spells, and nothing made a difference.

"Samirah!" I screamed. "Samirah stop this!"

A loud crash shook the floor, and the house stopped moving.

"Barron says hello." Samirah voice echoed in my head

"Samirah?" I called out. "Where are you?" My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but still didn't notice the lumbering creature till lit took a step forward.

"Oh, God, no."

It took another step.

"Samirah please."

Silence.

I tried to conjure a huge ball of flame, but I had lost too much blood already. The ball grew smaller and smaller as it reached the creature, only illuminating the beast's red eyes as it fizzled into nothing.

"Kill her." Samirah whispered from above.

The giant beast bounded toward me like a lion chasing it's prey, and all I could do was close my eyes and scream.