Alexandra O'Rally gritted her teeth, gripping onto a tree branch. She felt tears in her eyes, staring face-to-face with the girl who had decided to possess her body.

"You know, time is getting closer. I'm making it two days," Hope said with a smug smirk. "I'm getting sick and tired of you constantly nagging."

"She won't join you," Alexandra spat, Hope laughed. From the projection she used, she appeared to be a teenager like herself. "Amaris should know how awful you are."

"I'm awful? Do I have to bring up erasing her mind? I never did that to my sister, nor would I have ever if I had that skill," Alexandra went to punch Hope, but she disappeared.

It felt like a wave of energy had exited her body, falling limp on the grass of an abandoned house. Hope stood there with her normal amused grin, her arms crossed over her chest.

"If you didn't seal my powers, we wouldn't be in this problem, would we?" Hope taunted her, as Alexandra stared at her in a daze. Hope snapped her fingers, and the facade of dirty blonde hair went dark brown.

"Isn't my real hair quite pretty? I like keeping the act that I have Aubrey's hair colour," Hope said smugly.

Alexandra tried to get her body to stand, but she felt her hair pulled to meet eyes directly with Hope.

"I'll warn my sister about what you've truly done. Aubrey's suicide was forced by your words," Alexandra spat with anger. Hope looked unconcerned with her eyebrows raised.

"Who was the girl trying to save Mari when I was sick? Oh, wait," Hope pointed at her. "You," Hope mockingly laughed. Alexandra gritted her teeth, feeling rage building inside her body.

Alexandra hated Hope with a passion. "She needed to be saved," Alexandra grated. "If you weren't so selfish, you might understand," Alexandra felt her jaw squeezed hard, as Hope gave her a hard glare.

"Don't spit those words in my face. Aubrey was in pain, so I healed her pain with this opportunity. Isn't that what caring sisters do?" Hope taunted, before she dropped her jaw to hit the hard grass.

Alexandra felt something, which meant she felt it. Hope stepped over to the road as Alexandra dragged herself over to the sidewalk. If it had been Amaris, she would have jumped to tell her sister that Hope was the real liar.

"I knew it," Kai spat, his arms crossed, but he was alone.

Hope appeared amused, but Alexandra couldn't even stand. She stared at the boy, who narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"Why aren't I surprised you sensed something? You can leave us be," Hope said, waving a hand at him. "Are you two Mari's personal body guards?"

People were protecting Amaris. No, it was her job to protect Amaris, which is why she did this in the first place.

"Friends is the term, which does mean we do protect her," Kai stated. Hope looked at her with a devious grin, as Alexandra felt anger spark.

"Did you hear that, Alexandra? Maybe Kai needs to say it slower," Hope taunted. She pushed her dark hair behind her shoulder. "This means your nightmare is coming to reality."

"Shut it!" Alexandra snapped, using the tree to stand. "It won't happen."

Hope tilted her chin up, her amused smirk appearing. Alexandra looked at Kai, but he kept a frown on his face.

Hope started laughing, spinning on her heel. "It will," Hope's voice got serious. "Don't you understand that your sister is much stronger than you? Or is that another concept you haven't looped around your head yet?"

"I said it wouldn't!" Alexandra yelled, but Hope snapped her fingers.

Her mind spun as her body fell to the ground. Kai stared with wide eyes, but he didn't rush over to help. They are on the same boat, so shouldn't he be helping her?

"Do you know what protecting someone means, Alexandra? It means making someone feel safe, but you didn't do that when you agreed with me. Everything you've done hasn't fulfilled your wishes," Hope taunted, her hands on her hips.

Alexandra felt rage throughout her whole body. "Protection takes time," Alexandra growled, clenching her hands into fists.

It's not that she had much energy, but she felt all her flowing anger. Hope shot her an intimidating expression, where she smirked with pride glowing.

"Do you know what that means? Protection doesn't work for everyone," Hope said with an evil expression. She wasn't even alive, and she showed worse behaviour.

"Maybe we'll go see Amaris or your father," Hope implied, waving a hand mockingly.

The girl had been taller than herself, but Kai was still the tallest of the three of them.

"Do you know why you could never protect your sister?" Hope started. "It's about bonding, but you erased that. It's not her memories that could be returned, but the Crossfield twins switching your role."

"That's a lie, asshole," Alexandra spat. "I'm the one that has to protect her from your harm, not them!" Alexandra pointed at Kai, while Hope looked amused.

"Are you done with your false accusations?" Hope asked, her eyebrows raised. "Do you know why they could save her? Rain on any of your answers," Hope said, causing Alexandra to punch her stomach.

Hope disappeared, leaving her in an immense rage. She glared at Kai, who stood unimpressed instead of afraid.

"What?" she spat, since she didn't understand why he stared with such contempt.

"I may not know your sister well, but she needs more than just protection," Kai stated.

Alexandra didn't understand what he meant, as he ran a hand through his golden hair. Don't people need protection to save them?

"Your sister needs love, but you don't understand that," Kai said, as Alexandra gritted her teeth. "I don't want to side with that thing, but I don't think you could protect her."

She held out her hand, as Kai narrowed his eyes. The best concept then would be to seal away his powers. "One of these days, Hope might show who you really are, since she is killing Jackson soon," Kai spoke, turning on his heel to look back at her.

"She'll be wrong, and I'm not granting her wish," Alexandra spat.

Hope couldn't have her wish of being a real person again. That will cause damage because Hope will find a way to sabotage everything with Amaris.

"Aren't you doing more harm than good?" Kai inquired before walking away.

She wasn't doing harm, because she'd get full control of her body soon. If she gave Aubrey and Hope the freedom to live, they might find a way to wreck everything.

Suddenly, she felt exhaustion flowing through her body. She swayed before hitting the sidewalk. Aubrey's facade appeared, as Alexandra knew, Hope was controlling her like the doll she is.

"We're attached, so you can't hide any of your interactions with me. I'm surprised he's wry about you," Hope laughed.

Alexandra couldn't respond, since that's what happened when the personalities of each person switched.

Alexandra was sitting and watching her surroundings in a dark space, where her body felt slow. Aubrey had been there too, but she wasn't the least bit concerned about her own health.

It was like watching a movie, but your body felt made of air. All of it didn't feel normal, which made her angry. Alexandra wanted to be there to help Amaris not make the wrong choice of helping Hope, because she deserved to burn in hell.

"Why don't you give Hope her wish? Isn't that helping Amaris?" Aubrey said dumbly, causing Alexandra to grit her teeth.

She talked with these things in her body, as illusions, but she couldn't say any words from the outside.

"I'm not giving her what she wants," Alexandra spat.

Hope wouldn't care about hearing her voice fight with Aubrey, because it brought amusement to Hope.

"That greedy asshole can keep killing, but I'll be killing Jackson," Alexandra grated.

Hope laughed from the outside, causing Alexandra to narrow her eyes. "Don't try and lecture her about a topic, Aubrey. Her decisions will eventually kill her in the end," Hope taunted.

Alexandra wanted two things: Amaris to be safe and Hope to get out of her body. However, the only thing that got Hope out was her own power. She would never think to give Hope and Aubrey that freedom to return as free humans, instead of dead girls.

"I'm not letting you win by getting a body," Alexandra growled.

"Oh, I won the moment I got to take control of your body. Congratulations by thinking you have won, Alexandra, but you haven't. If you snatch any of my opportunities away, I'd know how to expose your true personality," Hope said darkly.

"I'm not evil!" Alexandra exclaimed, causing Hope to laugh.

"Are you calling me evil? I bring out the truth, and take what actions are appropriate. Justice doesn't exist in this society, right?" Hope taunted, but Alexandra said nothing.

"You are as horrible as me, Alexandra. I mean, I don't think I would have agreed with someone who wanted to take over my body," Hope said.

Alexandra felt rage building, causing her to grit her teeth. She couldn't punch or kick Hope because she was in her real body.

"I'm not like you," Alexandra declined.

She wasn't like Hope and would never get to that level of evil. Why would she want to become like her? That greedy bitch who ruined her life! Never would she be that heartless where she would even kill her sister.

"You will be proven wrong, Alexandra O'Rally. I possessed you for your powers, which is exactly where your fall will come," Hope stated. "Give me my body or I'll do something you'll regret."

Amaris walked down the sidewalk with Jaxton, chewing her lip. She didn't know Claymore any better than he did. All she knew would be places, not street names or people who owned houses.

"I know this might be personal, but what are your real parents like?" She stood frozen at Jaxton's question, looking up at him. Did the question scare her? Yes, because nobody has asked that question.

"Uh," she started. "They are both really nice. They divorced because mom cheated on my dad with Jack... Well, Jack forcefully made her cheat."

Why should she spill her family problems to Jaxton? Isn't it better to keep it all inside? "Why forcefully cheat?" Jaxton asked, as Amaris looked back up at the boy.

"My dad is the head doctor in Claymore, so Jack felt jealous. I guess you could say Jack wasn't the only ruiner of our family..." Amaris trailed, rubbing her glossy eyes.

Why did talking about personal subjects always make her want to burst into tears.

"Yeah, our dad left when we were seven. Kai used one of his freaky illusions that accidentally hit him in the head. He ran, leaving his wife and sons behind," Jaxton said.

Amaris felt her phone buzz in her pocket, slowly taking it out to have it drop on the sidewalk. "Pick it up," she panicked. Jaxton grabbed the phone to widen his eyes, before setting it on speaker.

"Amaris' phone," Jaxton answered. Amaris felt her fingernails digging into her palms, chewing on her lip.

"Is she available?" her mother's voice answered, as Amaris shook her head repeatedly.

"She is actually," Jaxton said. Amaris felt sweat on her palms, slowly taking her cell phone.

Why would her mother call her? Is something wrong? Would she force her to go see Jack?

"Hi mom..." she trailed, biting her lip nervously.

"Did you know that there was spotting on Alexandra?" her mother inquired, as Amaris felt her hands shaking.

"Yeah..." Amaris whispered, while Jaxton still held the phone on speaker.

"Amaris, I want to tell you something," Molly started. Amaris shut her eyes, expecting that something wasn't going to come out of this.

"I never meant to harm our family or you," she started. "I tried to stand up for all the abuse you've suffered, but he threatened to kill you," Amaris eyed the ground, feeling tears stream down her cheeks.

"I know," Amaris' voice cracked.

There would be no sense explained that she has died six times already, but magically is still alive. She'd sound crazy because surviving death isn't possible with what has happened.

"You leaving here is the best choice you can make, Amaris. Find someway to contact your sister about what's wrong with her eyes," Amaris felt chills through her body. She knew the reason why her sister's eyes weren't ocean blue like her own.

"I love you, Amaris, and I'm sorry I could never properly show it," Amaris felt the tears weren't stopped. She used her forearm to cover her crying, because others shouldn't see her cry.

The call ended as Amaris sat herself on the ground, feeling her body trembling. Why were such words associated with emotions she didn't understand? It was all overwhelming that she just wanted to lie on the ground in a puddle of tears.

"See, she never hated you," Jaxton murmured. Amaris stared up at him, feeling him slowly lift her to her feet. She didn't flinch, but her heart raced like she had run a marathon.

"Why now? Did someone tell her to tell her that?" Amaris didn't understand the sudden call. Is she leaving the house as well? It left her mind confused, setting her head on his shoulder.

"You've made a choice that was right," Jaxton stated.

Was it actually right for everything that has happened? All of it left her extremely confused, much like a lot of things in life.

Amaris raised her head to see Kai coming back to them. "I caught Alexandra and Hope conflict," Kai said. Amaris felt her heart racing, wiping her tears away.

"Hope knows where to push Alexandra's buttons like a game. I've never seen anyone in my life as manipulative as Hope," Kai explained.

"If she does end up having a body again, I don't think she'll switch to nice. Aubrey maybe, but not that girl. It could be that she is a demon," Jaxton spoke, as they started walking down the sidewalk.

"Alexandra doesn't understand protection," Kai stated.

Amaris didn't understand it either, just being by someone's side. Isn't that how her stepsisters were? Did they indirectly protect her from the abuse Jack would cause? That could be quite possible, but she didn't know.

"I'm guessing Hope has a plan," Jaxton sighed. "They're interconnected, but the only reason it may stop is Hope's greedy desire."

Amaris wasn't confident about making either choice. If she makes one, something bad may happen. Doesn't something bad always happen to her, though? Is it all just a repeated circle that will come back to the same conclusion: pain.

They walked the sidewalks, leading to the street she stays on now. "We could do that one," Jaxton pointed at a small house with grey shudders. "And it's not far from where you stay either," he said. Amaris slowly nodded, as Kai tried to open the door.

He faced his palm to the door, but nothing happened. "My powers aren't working," he groaned.

Jaxton faced both his palms directed at the door handle, but it didn't work either.

"They were sealed," Kai spat, his eyebrows narrowed.

Amaris didn't understand what he meant. "Remember how Hope said her powers got sealed away from Alexandra? That she couldn't use her telekinesis that she uses to kill people?" Kai explained, Amaris slowly nodded her head.

"She probably sealed our powers away," Jaxton said acidly.

Amaris didn't know of any supernatural powers she had, but wasn't that a disadvantage for them? Why would Alexandra want to take away the chances of Jaxton and Kai helping?

"You're right," Aubrey said from the roof, wearing a sly grin. "She thinks this will prevent the dangers that will spill, but isn't it smarter to leave you with powers?"

"Are you following us now?" Kai asked, Aubrey nodded her head.

"The Rare twins are wandering this world. Oh, and we're killing Jackson in two days, Mari," Aubrey implied.

Amaris felt her heart racing, staring with wide eyes. "We're supposed to be in school.." Amaris trailed.

"Yes, I'm aware you are starting school with your sisters tomorrow. However, I'll show you actions, since that's what you wish," Aubrey stated.

"Where?" Amaris asked, but Aubrey shrugged. This would come sudden like everything Aubrey does.

Well, she should say Hope, but this wasn't the human body Hope Prices. It's the conjoined Prices twins in Alexandra's body.

"How far are your extremes?" Jaxton asked, as Aubrey had a evil look in her eyes.

"See, I'm not all evil because I love my sister, since I know what that is. However, I do what is applicable," Aubrey stated, raising her eyebrows.

"You said that Rare twins have to kill each other at the same time, but what happens if one kills the other?" Kai questioned, as Aubrey's devious grin appeared.

"That I don't know," Aubrey remarked.

One sibling killing the other? Would her sister do that? No, because that's insane and nobody would want to physically kill their sibling in cold blood.

"I don't have any evidence on that subject," Aubrey said, tapping her temple.

"I'm smarter than the Rare twins, since you're supposed to have amazing intelligence," Aubrey started. "You could say when I get my wish, I might stop killing. It will be a real blow if someone else kills Jackson."

How could she just talk about it as if it were a normal topic? "So, this possession is more Alexandra's end that she isn't allowing?" Jaxton asked, causing Aubrey to nod.

"I'm the demon she made a deal with. See, me and Aubrey aren't normal, just like you. I had powers, but Aubrey didn't. So, I want to not live with a deadly illness in my body," Hope stated, setting her hands on her hips.

"Our parents were shot by Jackson during a party in Whiterose. Three weeks later, I died from my illness," Hope explained, as Amaris felt her own jaw drop.

It had been no wonder Aubrey killed herself when she was twelve. All that pain of being alone, living with guilt.

Wasn't she like Aubrey? Not in the joyful personality she met with Josh, but pain wise?

"So, getting justice for the harm Jackson caused was the best course of action. Alexandra seals my powers, but it's not my fault for her joining. It was a choice," Hope said.

It was a chilling choice, causing Amaris to dart her eyes to the side. "I don't care if I'm evil, I enjoy it. You don't have to follow rules and you get away with anything. You should be thankful I'm not shameless, but I am ruthless, so you better make your choice," Hope winked and disappeared.

Amaris fell on her knees, feeling her panic increase. If Alisha had the mindset of still trying to capture Aubrey, there would be no way they could ever. Her felt her heart was going explode as she rocked back and both with her knees in her chest. Jaxton and Kai's voice were muffled, because flashbacks started playing.

The one she had drown in the pool, since Jack had kept her head underwater. The constant hitting and harsh language, making her bloody. How she wants to end it all, because it's too much.

"Amaris, breath! You're having a panic attack!" Kai exclaimed, as she opened her eyes.

Was that why her hand trembled and that she felt nauseous? However, it wasn't shutting off, even when she tried to slow her breathing.

"In and out," he said in a calm voice.

She tried, as she stopped rocking. Both of them stared in concern, because she never remembered having these. Her mind felt dizzy, setting her forehead into Jaxton's chest.

"Panic attack?" she asked, as Jaxton rubbed her back.

"It's when a person finds something very overwhelming that sets off a trigger," Kai explained. "Which the stress of Hope could cause your flashbacks..." he trailed, as Amaris chewed her lip. It did, because she doesn't care and Jack never cared.

"Do you want us to get your sisters?" Jaxton asked, but Amaris shook her head repeatedly.

"No, they can't know," she strained.

They couldn't known about the abuse that set her off, because they'd ask questions. She feared they'd turn their back if she even said anything about Jack.

They sat on the cement porch out front of the house, remaining silent. Her heart still hammered from the confusion that had just happened.

"Will I always have these?" she murmured while Jaxton and Kai looked at each other.

"We aren't doctors, but you may if something sets you off," Jaxton stated.

Would seeing death set her off? Maybe seeing her father or Hope talking about how killing is all fine.

"There are conditions that follow abuse victims such as PTSD or anxiety disorders," she looked up at Jaxton.

"We can't be certain if you have that, but we learned about it in school," Kai stated. "Or even depression."

Is that what she had? It's not that she has ever heard of those terms in her life. Weren't they normally for people that have problems?

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital," Jaxton suggested but Amaris widened her eyes.

"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head multiple times.

They couldn't go there because that's where her father worked. Seeing him after ten years would stir up a lot of emotions she couldn't handle.

"I'm fine," she tried to say firmly, but it didn't work well. "Don't worry."

Amaris still felt like her whole body was trembling when she tried to stand. What's wrong with her? Why does she keep having flashbacks like she's reliving everything that happened.

Amaris looked over on the sidewalk to see a blonde girl walk by with a smile, waving a hand. People weren't supposed to be outside right now, which meant she was risking her life like them.

"Have you seen Aubrey around? I'm supposed to go back with her," she said. "Then again, Aubrey's always been quite powerful at everything she does."

"I'm Sydney, Josh's twin sister," Sydney greeted.

Is this another one of Aubrey's slaves? If she had to guess, Sydney had to be connected with Josh in this. Where were those two even from?

"Do you know information that Aubrey keeps hidden?" Kai asked, as Sydney nodded her head.

"Aubrey wants you to pick a choice by tomorrow, where a day of full of surprises will be granted," Sydney said with a smile.

Sydney twisted on her heel to walk away, causing Amaris to widened her eyes. Why did it have to be tomorrow during school? Amaris didn't understand any of it, as she closed her eyes. What did Aubrey have planned?

Who do you think Amaris will choose: Aubrey or Alexandra?
-Lexi