CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The scene was horrific. The earth was scorched where Aideen had been, and the explosion was strong enough to shake the entire park. Once he was able to clear his mind enough, Arnie desperately searched for any hint of Aideen's energy. She couldn't really be dead. Aideen never stayed dead for long. She must just need some help coming back this time.

Arnie's biological father had vanished, but he didn't care at the moment. Evan stared in disbelief at the scene and didn't say anything to Arnie. Neither one spoke for a long time, each almost holding his breath as they waited for her to miraculously reappear.

"Where is she?" Arnie finally asked. "Why can't I feel her? Oh Gods... Gods, no... This can't be happening. Not Deenie. Not Deenie!"

"Arnie, look, I know you're freaked out but-" Evan began.

"Shut up," Arnie said.

"Excuse me?"

"Shut the hell up, Evan. You don't know anything. Just shut up!"

"Arnie, you have to pull yourself together."

"I'm fine. Just like she's going to be." He ran off before Evan could say anything else and headed straight for Aideen's house. He needed to tell Courtney and Clarissa what had happened. If Aideen needed help, they could give it to her, and regardless, they needed to know that she was dead.

Temporarily, Arnie told himself. I can't feel her because I'm too freaked out. They'll be able to find her.

Tears were streaming down Courtney's cheeks when she answered the door. She flung her arms around Arnie and asked, "It's Deenie, isn't it? Something's happened to her."

Arnie took a deep breath. "There was an explosion," he said.

"No. Gods, no..."

"I'm sorry, Court. I'm so sorry. It was my birth father. He flung a spell at her. This is all my fault."

"She'll be okay. She has to be. She can't be dead."

"Do you feel her? I can't find her, Courtney. Please tell me that you feel her..."

Courtney visibly focused what little energy she had on trying to find her sister. Finally, she began sobbing harder. "I can't feel her, Arnie. She's gone. She's just vanished."

"She can't be... I... Oh Gods, I'm so sorry!" Arnie sobbed.

Courtney retreated to the couch, where Clarissa was already sitting in tears. Arnie followed her, trying to keep himself from completely breaking down.

"It's not true," Clarissa said. "She's not dead. If she was dead, we'd be able to feel her. We can't."

"It was an explosion, Mom. Who knows what was in that spell? Maybe she's been smited," Courtney replied, then began sobbing even harder.

"I don't believe it. I'm not giving up on her," Clarissa insisted. "Deenie's tough. She's got to be hiding somewhere." She stood up. "I'm going to get Johnny and see if he can trace her. He's usually able to find her even when we can't."

"Mom-"

"Don't, Courtney. Don't say it. I'm going to find her, and we're going to fix this. She isn't dead. She's my daughter, and I would know if she was really gone. She's still out there somewhere." Clarissa walked out of the house.

Courtney looked at Arnie and said, "She's in denial. She just can't handle this, not so soon after losing Dad."

Arnie nodded. "Will you be okay, Courtney?" He asked.

"I always am, right? I don't want to be alone, though. I'll call someone to come over. I know you probably want some time to yourself."

"Yeah, something like that. Are you sure that you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine." She hugged him again. "I love you, Arnie. And so did Deenie. Don't blame yourself for this." She started sobbing again.

Arnie nodded. "I love you, too," he said. He hurried out of the house. He wanted so badly to do what Courtney said and not blame himself, but the words my fault kept repeating in his mind no matter what he did. Everyone around him always died. It was only a matter of time before everyone he loved was dead and he was the only one left. He had to do something to stop that from happening.

~*~

Courtney was relieved when Rafe arrived a few minutes after she called him. "I got here as fast as I could," he said as she hugged him. "What happened, Courtney? What's wrong?"

"It's Deenie, Rafe... She's... She's... She's gone," Courtney said between sobs.

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Rafe asked gently as he tried to comfort her with his embrace.

"She's dead. There was a spell, and an explosion, and she's gone... My sister's dead! This can't be happening..."

"You're a Reaper, Courtney. Can't you fix her?" Rafe asked.

"I can't feel her. It's like she just vanished."

Rafe took her hands in his. "Work a spell with me," he said. "I know a powerful spell, but I'm not strong enough to do it on my own, and it usually requires the blood of the person you want to resurrect... You guys are identical twins. If I use your blood, I think the spell will work."

"You want me to do a blood spell?" Courtney asked in surprise. She's done a couple over the years, always because Aideen needed her to, and never without her twin by her side. Blood magick was dark, and Courtney's specialty was light magick.

"The strongest spells often involve blood, Courtney," Rafe reminded her.

"I don't know... It's dangerous, Rafe."

"It's the only way we might be able to fix your sister."

She thought about that. If their roles were reversed, Aideen wouldn't hesitate to do anything to save Courtney's life. "Alright," she agreed. "Where do we need to do this?"

"Where is your sister's sacred space?" Rafe asked.

"It's in the basement, but we can't use it. She's got spells to keep everyone out of the spot, and I don't think her death would break all of them."

"Alright, then we'll use yours."

"Mine is in the attic."

"You guys really do balance each other," Rafe said with a smile. "Come on, Courtney... Let's go save your sister."

~*~

Alex was beside himself with grief. "I have to fix her," he mumbled. "Deenie can't be gone for good."

The scroll began glowing ominously, and Alex automatically wanted to beat it. Now was not the time for riddles. Still, he unrolled it and looked at the word which appeared on its surface.

Trick.

"What trick?" Alex asked in confusion. "Is her death a trick?"

The Reaper will not die so easily. She still lives.

"Are you serious? Then where the hell is she?" Alex demanded.

She is in the forgotten place where neither light nor dark may touch her.

"Goddamnit, can't you give me a straight answer, just once?"

Yes.

Alex blinked at the single word on the scroll. "Oh yeah?" He asked skeptically. "Prove it. Tell me where Aideen is."

After a minute, the scroll rapidly began to reply. Alex stared in disbelief at the answer.

Aideen is in the original Unit headquarters, abandoned long ago. She is being held in a safe room where no energy can touch her, nor can she reach out to anyone. Her captor kept one of her bodies alive and in that room to trick everyone into believing she had perished. The safe room kept that body protected when the other one was destroyed.

"Wow. I have never gotten such a direct answer from this thing before..." Alex mumbled.

Point proven. Consider that your one straight answer. Go find Arnie. He's in trouble. Then rescue Aideen or all will be lost.

Alex rolled his eyes. "I should have known I'd only get one, but I'll take it." He hurried out the door to try to track down Arnie.

~*~

Arnie had walked aimlessly for hours before ending up in the cemetery. He didn't even remember going there, but when he finally became aware of his surroundings, he wasn't entirely surprised. He curled up in front of his parents' headstone.

"It all started here," he said. "I got you guys killed. I didn't know it then, but the only reason the house burned down was because my birth father wanted to punish you for raising me. You two must hate me so much. Then, of course, there were the girls... Every girl I've ever loved has been killed. Melissa nearly joined them because I selfishly made her my girlfriend. And Spencer... Spencer sacrificed himself because I was in a coma and would have been killed. Now Deenie... Gods, Deenie! How could this have happened? How could I have gotten her killed, too? So many people have tried to kill her and keep her dead, and the one guy who finally pulls it off is my father? What the hell, Universe? Why does everyone I love have to die? Why am I poisonous?"

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom, Dad... Meghan, Tara, Alexis, Jamie, Karen, Serena, Desi, Lauren, Jenny..." He ticked his dead girlfriends off in order, a habit he'd picked up over the years. He reflected on their deaths, trying to make sense of too many losses.

Meghan had been beaten and tortured by her own family, and then a foster family, until she finally snapped and killed herself. Tara and Alexis had been killed by warlocks almost exactly one year apart. Jamie had died in a car wreck. Karen had been kidnapped by corrupt slayers and tortured for days until Arnie found her, and when he had, they cut her head off in front of him. Serena had been a strong swimmer and was a lifeguard. To the confusion of all who knew her, she drowned. Desi had been a drinker, and she died from alcohol poisoning one night when Arnie hadn't been with her to tell her that she was going too far. Lauren's kidneys had mysterious failed shortly after she began going out with Arnie and she'd died almost immediately. Jenny had been kidnapped by some random schizophrenic who stabbed her twice before leaving her outside of the hospital. No one knew why he'd done it. She should have survived, but she died from surgical complications.

Then there were the others who had died. He started to speak again. "Hey, Berlins, I know you can hear me too. I'm so sorry... You should never have taken me in. You were good people... The best people... You deserved so much better... And Spencer, Deenie... Everyone. I'm so sorry, but it ends now. No one else is going to die because of me. This disease I seem to spread ends here."

He wrapped his finger around the trigger of his gun, raised it to his temple, and paused. What's more effective, the temple or the mouth? Either one should work, right? Even I can't screw this up, he thought.

"Oh my goodness, Arnie, stop!" Someone cried out in alarm.

Arnie looked up, startled to see Cierra standing in front of him. "Go away," he said. "You shouldn't have to watch me do this."

"That won't be a problem, seeing as how I won't let you do it," Cierra replied.

"You can't stop me. This has to happen, Cierra. I have to die. Everyone I love is dead because of me. I can't do this anymore. I'm poison."

"Arnie, please, put the gun down. Let's just talk, okay?"

"No. I'm through talking."

"You can't shoot yourself."

"Sure I can. I'm not quite as good a shot as Evan, but I figure it's hard to miss when aiming for your own head."

"Please think about this, Arnie!"

"I have thought about it. This is the only answer."

"No it's not, Arnie. Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry. I have to. Too many people are dead because of me."

"Do you think this is what they'd want? It's not, you know. Your parents loved you."

"And it got them killed!"

"What about Melissa?"

"She's better off without me. She almost died, too."

"Spencer wouldn't want this. He was very against suicide."

"Spencer essentially killed himself, too. He gets no say."

"Sacrificing yourself to save someone else isn't the same thing as suicide."

"I'm saving the lives of everyone I'll ever meet by doing this."

"If you die, what he did was a waste."

"He saved a bunch of other people, too. The guy was a serial killer. It's not a waste. It's tragic, but not a waste."

"What about Aideen?"

"What about her? She's dead, Cierra. Really dead this time."

"No, she's not, actually," Cierra said.

He froze. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen her, Arnie. She's coming back to us. I don't know how, but I know that she is. I saw her, and I saw you. I saw you here, killing yourself, and Spencer begged me to come stop you. He doesn't want you to die, especially not like this. It's exactly what his father did. You remember that, right? It messed everyone around him up so badly."

"His dad wasn't poisonous. I am."

"Look, I've been there, Arnie," Cierra said. "I almost killed myself once. No one knew about it, except Spencer. He stopped me. He talked me down and saved my life, and I was grateful to him. Now he wants me to do the same thing for you, and I'm not leaving until I do."

"Then you're going to want to avert your eyes so you don't have to watch, Cierra."

"Think about how Aideen will feel when she comes back and you're dead! You're her best friend, Arnie."

"She's not coming back!"

"I saw her!"

"Your vision was wrong, Cierra. You're mostly clairvoyant. The precognition is still new for you... You don't usually have visions. You're still learning how to interpret them. Deenie's dead! Even Courtney can't feel her anymore."

Cierra threw up her arms in exasperation and declared, "You're being a dumbass!"

Arnie blinked at her. "What?" He asked.

"You heard me," she replied firmly, maintaining eye contact and giving him a stern look.

Suddenly, the voice in the back of his head shut up, and Arnie started to laugh. It was a small laugh at first that eventually grew into manic hysterics. Arnie tossed the gun aside, pulled his knees to his chest, and started to cry.

"Thank you," he finally said.

"Um... You're welcome?" Cierra replied, not sure what had just happened.

"The Fosters planted an obsessive thought in my head about how it was all my fault. It was probably easy enough with how much guilt I already feel about all of this. I know it was them because it started after Mrs. Foster said certain things to me. I may feel like everything is my fault and I get everyone killed... But you cursed. You're Cierra, and you cursed at me and called me a dumbass, and it was so shocking and, well, funny that I guess it broke their hold on me."

"Are you okay now?" Cierra asked gently.

"Okay? No. Not at all, actually. But I think I will be, and I have you to thank."

"She'll be back, Arnie. I promise. I don't know how, but I know Aideen, and she's no quitter."

"You're alive," Alex said breathlessly, appearing beside them. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, Kid!"

"How did you know?" Arnie asked.

"The scroll told me you were in trouble, and I had a vision on my way here. Listen, are you up for a fight?" Alex asked.

"I guess?" Arnie replied cautiously.

"Deenie isn't dead," Alex informed him with certainty in his voice.

"What do you mean? Did she come back?" Arnie asked hopefully.

"She never actually died... Not fully, anyway. The body you saw explode wasn't her only one, but the other one was kidnapped and locked in a room at the original Unit headquarters. She's in one of the old safe rooms, where nothing gets in or out, and no matter how strong your connection is to someone, you'll never feel them."

"You're sure?" Arnie asked, afraid to believe the words in case they weren't true. False hope would destroy him.

"I'm sure, Arnie."

"But if no one can feel her, how do you know where she is?" Cierra asked.

"The scroll told me."

"You're kidding. You got a straight answer out of that thing?" Arnie asked.

"Yeah, and I suspect it's the only one I'll ever get," Alex replied.

"The world's ending again," Arnie decided.

"Not today," Alex replied. "Come on... Let's go get Deenie out of there."

~*~

The circle had been cast, and Rafe and Courtney sat inside of the sacred space. "Just keep your mind clear," Rafe told her. "I'll do the work. I just need your energy to focus on the ritual's success."

"I don't know... What exactly are you going to do, Rafe?" Courtney asked.

"Don't you trust me?" He looked at her sadly. "Courtney, your sister is dead. This is her only chance. I'm just trying to help, but if you'd rather not do the ritual-"

"No, no, I'll do it," she replied quickly.

"Okay... Just focus." He chanted so softly she couldn't hear his words. Then he looked at her and said, "This may hurt a bit." He pricked her finger and used three drops of her blood to anoint a black candle.

"Shouldn't the candle be white?" Courtney asked.

"Shhhh," he said. "Focus, Courtney."

"Rafe, I don't know about this," she protested.

"It's okay, Courtney. Black is for protection, remember? And death. Aideen is dead."

"White is for rebirth. We're trying to resurrect her," she countered.

"Trust me, okay? Please? Or this won't work."

She hesitated before nodding. "I do trust you," she replied.

"Good." He finished the ritual, but nothing seemed to happen. Courtney was exhausted. She quickly fell into a deep sleep on the attic floor. Rafe picked her up and carried her downstairs, where he carefully placed her on the couch and left the house. Courtney would wake up soon and be fine, but he had other things that he needed to do.

~*~

When Aideen regained consciousness, she was in an unfamiliar place. "What the hell?" She wondered aloud. One of her bodies had been summoned off of her, which was no easy task. Only someone who knew her energy well could do it. She had no idea how she'd ended up in that room... The last thing she remembered was getting ready for school that morning.

She was tied to a bed, but no one was in the room with her, and she wasn't bound in a position that screamed that someone was going to try to violate her. She was being held hostage, but she had no idea why.

She started to guess the reason when the door opened and a man wearing a cloak and a ritual mask entered. He didn't bother to close the door behind himself, allowing light from the hallway into the room. "Nice cloak... I assume you're one of the witches. Is this part of the stupid war?" Aideen asked. They'd tried a lot of things, but they hadn't resorted to kidnapping her until now.

"Oh no, Aideen," he replied. "It's much more than that." He grinned at her. "You see, you're very important to my son, and I'm trying to make him see reason. I won't harm you, my dear. I know better." He took off his mask.

Aideen could not believe what she was seeing. Standing before her was Luigi Ossinini.