CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Joey had taken a risk in bringing Moira into the hall that led to the other dimensions, including the world only he could access, but he trusted her now. She'd risked everything to try to save him from her sister and her cousin. Joey was willing to risk everything for her, too.

"They'll find me..." Moira mumbled to herself. "They'll find me, and they'll kill me, but it's worth it. This is the right thing to do."

Joey's mind was far too advanced for his toddler body. He wanted to explain to Moira that he could keep her safe, and that he could bring her anywhere she wanted to go in the world. Nothing could reach them where they currently were, but he didn't know how to make her understand that. Instead, all he could do was keep moving and hope she'd follow him.

"Alestair and Jebediah are going to sacrifice me," Moira continued to ramble. "Or worse, they'll let Jonah do it... Or even Zachariah." She was starting to hyperventilate as she worked herself up.

Her panic was perfectly understandable. Joey knew he couldn't do much to help her if Jebediah, Jonah, or especially Zachariah got involved, but there was one person on Moira's list who might actually provide a solution to the problem instead of making it worse.

"I help," Joey said with determination.

"How?" Moira asked softly.

"I ask Ali," he replied.

"Who's Ali, Joey?"

"Ali name too big. Just Ali to me. He help."

"I don't understand," Moira admitted.

"That okay. You will."

Joey closed his eyes and focused. Soon, a door opened. "You stay here," he told Moira.

"Joey, you shouldn't run off alone," she protested.

"It okay. Stay. I be back."

He walked through the door and entered a familiar garden before closing the door behind him. He quickly walked up to the front door of the house he had decided to go to. Joey began knocking frantically.

After several moments, the door opened. The man who stood in front of Joey was intimidating to most. At first glance, he was just a handsome man in his early twenties with dark features. He was generally very charming, but beneath that charm was an intense darkness that radiated from his core. This made sense, since he was the literal embodiment of Darkness, but Joey wasn't concerned. He knew Alestair would never harm him.

Alestair looked down at him in surprise. "Joey?" He asked, his eyes confused and curious. "Is it truly you?"

"Ali!" Joey cried in relief. He flung his arms around Alestair, finally feeling safe, even if he knew it wouldn't last.

"I knew you lived," Alestair said softly. He quickly led the toddler into his home before anyone might see him. "I could not sense you, and I was unwilling to give Jade false hope of your survival, but I knew you were not as dead as they claimed."

"They hide me," Joey explained, showing Alestair the scar he'd gotten from finally removing the bracelet Zachariah had forced around his wrist the day Joey's grandparents had handed him off to the evil immortal. Joey pulled the broken gold bracelet out of the pocket of his overalls and handed it to Alestair.

Alestair frowned. "This is Zachariah's magick," he realized. "It blocked your powers and cloaked your energy so you could not be detected."

"He hide... But my powers go poof, and I think, must be bracelet! So I keep pulling till I break!" Joey explained. "Took long time."

"I must locate your mother, Joey. Where is she?"

"I find Mama. You hide fwend."

"What friend?" Alestair asked.

"Moi. She good. She help. You let her go?"

He squeezed Alestair's hand and focused, telepathically showing him what he'd been through over the last two months at the hands of Renee, Keither, and others from the Queens Devil Worshippers. He also showed Alestair that only Moira had helped him.

"My own chapter of the cult did this," Alestair realized. "How dare they betray me?"

He was furious, and most would have flinched at his tone, but Joey simply nodded. "Uh-huh," he said. "But Moi help me. You help her?"

Alestair softened slightly. "I will make arrangements for Moira to be relocated," he replied. "The girl will have all she needs, including sanctuary from the cult and the chance to start over."

Joey smiled and hugged him. "Thank you," he said.

"Rest assured, Joey, the traitors will be dealt with. Now, we must return you to your mother. Much has happened since she lost you. She ran away."

"I find. I feel Mama in here." He pointed to his chest.

"Allow me to accompany you, Joey."

"No, you help Moi, Ali. I find Mama." Joey opened the door to the hallway of dimensions again and ran inside.

"Moi, you stay with Ali. You be safe," Joey said to her. He took Moira's hand and led her into Alestair's living room.

Seeing Alestair, Moira began to tremble in fear. "I'm sorry!" She said. "He's just a little boy. I had to help him! Please don't kill me."

"Your fear, while a good instinct, is unnecessary tonight, Moira," Alestair replied. "You are being released from your vows to the cult. I will break them tonight. I cannot remove your programming, but I will relocate you to a place where it will hopefully not be triggered. You will be free to live the life you wish."

Moira hesitated. "Why are you being so generous to me?" She asked.

"Joey Collins is under my protection. Zachariah and Jonah deliberately went behind my back and caused great harm to this child and his mother. I will speak with Zachariah about this matter. Jonah will face an appropriate punishment. I shall deal with your sister and cousin if they survive this night. You alone have proven worthy of mercy."

Moira began to cry. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Weep not, child," Alestair replied. "Your life-long ordeal ends tonight, at Joey's request."

Moira turned toward Joey. "How can I thank you?" She asked as she knelt in front of him.

Joey hugged her. "You help me. You good. I help you," he replied. He kissed her cheek and released her before he began walking back toward the door.

"Joey," Alestair called.

"Ali?" Joey asked.

"Do be careful. Call if you have need of me. And send your mother my best."

"Okay," Joey replied. "Bye, Moi! Bye, Ali!" He hurried into the hall, sealing the door shut before focusing again.

Find Mama, he thought. Find Mama and go help.

Somehow, Joey knew exactly where to go. He focused on gathering his strength for a few minutes. He had a feeling he was going to need to be at full power before he opened the next door.

~*~

The tunnel was freezing. Aideen was worried about the fact that so many non-fighters were present, but she knew that the Silver Society wouldn't have let her do this alone, even if there hadn't been a prophecy. They truly were a family. Aideen only hoped that none of her other family members would end up dead that night.

Several tunnels connected into the main one, and as they walked, they got further and further away from the other group. Aideen had heard a lot of rumors about a system of underground tunnels existing beneath Salem, but she had a feeling the tunnels surrounding the tomb didn't connect to any others.

Their footsteps echoed as they walked through an especially long tunnel. This one was darker than the rest, and Aideen was starting to get nervous. She manifested a ball of fire in her hands.

If you can find a way in, come to me, she thought, reaching out to any Earth-based dragon spirits that might be lurking. She immediately felt a few respond.

Two small dragons lurked just out of sight, connecting to her mind and waiting to attack at her command. Aideen felt safer with the tiny guardians nearby, especially because she knew they could call their larger brothers and sisters if things got out of hand.

"It's too quiet," Arnie said after a while. "Where the hell are they?"

"Maybe they're hiding?" Melissa asked. "What if this is a trap, guys? What if they know we're coming?"

"They probably do," Jesse replied. "That's why we have to be careful."

"What if they're where the others are?" Randy asked suddenly. "I mean, we have more slayers here than they do. What happens if they run into trouble?"

"They have Cassandra. They'll be fine," Cierra replied. "Not to mention, they have Alex and Dylan, who are both skilled slayers. The other group can handle themselves just as well as we can."

"I smell someone close by," Jesse said suddenly. Sometimes, it really came in handy to work with a lycanthrope.

"A good someone?" Melissa asked hopefully.

"More like a couple of really bad someones," Jesse replied. "Sorry, Melissa. I doubt we'll run into many good guys at all tonight, aside from our friends."

As if on cue, two warlocks walked in. Mitchell Marshall was one of them. At the sight of her father's killer, rage filled Aideen's entire being.

The tiny yellow dragons raced to Aideen's side. One stood to her right and the other moved to her left. In unison, they released identical streams of fire from their mouths, warning the traitor not to cross Aideen.

"You!" Aideen shouted, her anger burning as bright as the fire from the dragons. She lunged at Mitchell before he had a chance to react, but the other warlock flung a spell at her and Aideen missed Mitchell by inches. She cried out in pain as the spell knocked her to the ground.

"Deenie!" Arnie shouted. He hurried to her side as the dragons grew more agitated. They looked like they might set Mitchell and his warlock friend on fire.

No, Aideen thought. Leave them to me. I'll handle this myself.

The dragons weren't thrilled by being told not to defend their mistress, but they obeyed her anyway.

Randy attacked the warlock that had attacked Aideen with the spell, knocking him into a wall with a powerful kick. The warlock tried to fling a spell at Randy in retaliation. Melissa pushed Randy out of the way of the spell before she walked over to the warlock.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. Her hair was suddenly blonde and her eyes shifted to baby blue as she approached him. She batted her eyelashes at the warlock and smiled at him innocently. "That was a really cool spell. Can you teach me how to do that?" She asked.

"What?" The warlock asked in confusion. He studied her as she swayed her hips subtly and eyed him flirtatiously.

"Teach me the spell. I mean, why be a witch?" Melissa asked. "Warlocks are so much more powerful because they don't have any moral limitations. I want power. I want to be a warlock."

"You're kidding," he said skeptically. "You're part of the Silver Society. You would never become one of us."

"No, I'm serious," Melissa insisted. "I really want to learn." She batted her eyes at him again and pressed her body against his suggestively. The warlock was clearly pleased by her actions.

"Melissa, what the hell are you doing?" Arnie demanded, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. He looked like he was ready to kill the warlock on the spot.

"The good side's fun and all, but it's just sort of... dull, babe. I want to be a bad girl," Melissa said. She couldn't help but smile at Arnie's obvious jealousy before she looked deep into the warlock's eyes and added, "A very bad girl."

Suddenly, Arnie noticed Melissa's hand slide against the warlock's hip holster. The warlock didn't seem to realize anything as he was entirely focused on the inappropriately young girl who was currently trying to seduce him. At least now Arnie understood Melissa's plan. He might have smiled if he wasn't so bothered by the sight of her pressed up against someone other than him.

"Well, I guess I could take on a new apprentice," the warlock said as he studied Melissa with too much desire in his eyes.

"That would be great," Melissa replied before she suddenly plunged the knife she had pulled out of his hip holster into his chest.

The warlock cried out in pain. Melissa pulled the knife out of his chest. "Sucker," she said as she laughed. "One, you're way too old for me. Two, you're so not my type. And, three, I only have eyes for one guy, and it's definitely not you."

"Nice work, Missa!" Arnie said, pulling her into a hug. He was extremely impressed. "I think you'll make a really good slayer someday, and you've already got the working undercover part down." He pulled her even closer to him and kissed her, reclaiming her for himself. Melissa clearly didn't mind. She lingered in his embrace for a few seconds before pulling away.

Suddenly, Arnie noticed that Aideen was still trying to regain her strength and Mitchell had turned his attention back toward her. "Deenie, be careful!" Arnie shouted.

The warning came too late. Mitchell used a spell to knock the tiny dragons away from Aideen before he pinned her to the floor and smiled at her savagely. "Hello, Aideen," he said. "It's so nice to see you again. I was terribly upset to hear about your father."

Aideen glared at him, regaining some strength as her anger took control of her. "Don't you dare talk to me about my father!" She shouted.

"He was a good man, Aideen. He just stuck his nose in where it didn't belong," Mitchell continued. "Much like you're doing right now."

"How could you? He was one of your best friends, Mitch!"

"He was weak," Mitchell replied.

Aideen kicked Mitchell so hard that he fell off of her and winced in pain. "You are weak," she said firmly. "My father was anything but."

"It was business, Aideen. Can't you understand business?" Mitchell asked as he tried to get back on his feet.

"Business? You killed my father, you bastard!" She shouted, finally standing up.

"Such language from such a pretty girl. You and your sister are both so pretty." Mitchell tried to touch her face with his index finger. Aideen caught his wrist and nearly broke it, twisting it painfully.

"Don't you bring her into this. Courtney has nothing to do with this!" She said. The tiny dragons released puffs of smoke to emphasize her point.

"I should pay the poor dear a visit and offer my condolences to her in person," Mitchell said in a tone that implied what he'd do if he got his hands on Courtney.

"Stay the hell away from her!" Aideen shouted. "If you touch her, you'll be begging me to kill you after I get my hands on you!"

"Is that a threat, Aideen?" Mitchell asked in a mocking tone.

"I don't make threats, Mitchell." Aideen hit him again, this time catching him in the stomach so hard that he couldn't breathe for several seconds. "I make promises."

Mitchell recovered suddenly and pinned Aideen to the wall. He held her up by her throat. As she struggled to free herself from his grip, digging her nails into his hands, he said, "And now, the tables have turned. You're a lot like your father, Aideen. Brave, noble, willing to die for what you believe in. What a pity that you will do just that!"

Mitchell cast a paralysis spell on her. It took effect quickly, and Aideen remained motionless no matter how hard she struggled to break free.

Jesse and Randy moved to attack Mitchell at the same time, but Arnie stopped them. "Let Deenie handle this," he said. "She needs this."

"She can't get out of that position, Arnie," Randy protested. "She's paralyzed and can't fight back. She'll die."

"Yeah, and the fact that she'll come back is not the point," Jesse added. "We have to help her."

"She won't die. Trust her, guys," Arnie insisted.

"He's right," Cierra said. "Aideen needs to do this on her own."

Aideen was struggling to focus. There had to be a way out of this situation. She couldn't physically fight him, but that didn't mean that she couldn't regain control of things.

It takes more than physical strength to be strong, Aideen thought to herself. Her father had said the words to her so many times over the years, but in that moment, she struggled to remember them. It takes strength of will and mind. Anything is possible, if you only believe in yourself.

Benny was with her. Aideen could feel his spirit watching her, waiting to see what would happen.

Believe in myself, Aideen repeated in her mind. Believe in myself! I can do this. I can stop him. I can finish what you started, Dad.

The feeling began to come back into Aideen's body. Everything was on pins and needles, but she forced herself to hide her discomfort. She didn't want Mitchell to guess that she'd broken the spell until she was ready.

"And now, Aideen, you and your father will be reunited," Mitchell said. "You're welcome."

He tightened his grip on her throat a bit more, causing Aideen to began choking violently. She knew that she didn't have any more time to spare. She kicked him as hard as she could, right in his groin.

Mitchell screamed and doubled over in pain, dropping Aideen. She rubbed her throat and caught her breath before pulling out her father's dagger.

"This is for my father," she whispered as she plunged the dagger into Mitchell's back. He tensed in surprise and let out a cry of pain. He tried to fight back as Aideen stabbed him again. It was a pointless effort. He was a warlock, but she was a Reaper. Once she decided to kill someone, they were unlikely to survive.

Aideen stabbed Mitchell over and over again, filled with nothing but rage and a need to fill the giant hole that her father's death had left inside of her heart. She was empty, but killing the monster who had stolen her father from her gave her a sense of purpose. She unleashed all of her anger on him, stabbing him harder with each thrust. She wanted to hurt him. He deserved to suffer for what he'd done.

Deenie, don't lose yourself in this, Benny's spirit begged, but Aideen was already too far gone to care.

He murdered you! She replied. He has to pay! He has to suffer! He has to-

"Deenie, stop!" Arnie cried out.

She barely heard him. She couldn't stop. Didn't he understand that? The dragons seemed to get it. They watched her with apparent approval and possibly mild amusement.

Strong emotions could trigger out of control bloodlust in a vampire, especially one as powerful as Aideen. She gave in to her instincts and ripped Mitchell's throat open. She drank a decent amount of his blood, but when she realized he was no longer actively bleeding because his heart had stopped, she returned to stabbing him.

"Enough!" Arnie finally shouted. He grabbed Aideen and pulled her into a tight hug. She nearly attacked him, but his sudden embrace made her realize who had dared to touch her. She went nearly limp in his arms, allowing him to hold her as she struggled to regain control of her emotions.

"It's okay, Deenie," Arnie said soothingly. "Mitch is dead. It's over. You stopped him. You avenged your dad."

Aideen eventually realized that the others were staring at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I flew into a blind rage."

"I get it," Jesse replied. She knew that, as a werewolf, he understood the loss of control strong emotions could trigger.

"You did Benny proud, Deenie," Arnie said softly as he hugged her again. "Now, let's go stop the apocalypse."

Aideen fought back tears. She returned Arnie's hug before composing herself and saying, "Alright, people... We still need to find the key. Let's move."

No one dared to say anything as they left the corpses of Mitchell and the unidentified warlock on the ground and continued their search for the key.

~*~

Fairly early on, the other half of the Silver Society was attacked. Beth stared in horrified fascination as Jade shot the attackers, but they kept coming. Cassandra and Spencer did their best to use their swords, but still, their enemies continued their assault. Most were warlocks, but at least a few of them were corrupt slayers. Dylan and Alex were mostly battling without weapons, and it seemed to be working for them, but Beth was worried that their efforts wouldn't be enough to get them out of there safely.

Jade made it to a corner using the gun to cover herself and Beth. "Stay behind me, Beth," she said firmly.

Beth trembled in fear as she cowered behind Jade. "I hate this," she said. "I feel so useless."

"You're not useless, Bethany," Jade replied firmly.

"But I can't fight."

"You'll learn. For now, you're keeping me focused. In the future, you'll find your place in things and learn how to help in an active fight. Watch us. Study what we're doing. Eventually, you'll pick up what to do."

Cassandra cried out in pain suddenly. Beth felt her own right shoulder pop out of place as a corrupt slayer slammed Cassandra into the wall. Beth screamed in pain and clutched her shoulder with her good arm.

Jade sighed and said, "Brace yourself, Beth."

Beth took a deep breath and waited. "On three," Jade said. "One... Two..." Without saying three, Jade popped Beth's shoulder back into its socket. Beth had to bite her lip to keep from screaming again, but the pain faded almost immediately, and she quickly realized that she felt better.

Unable to use her right hand to hold the sword any more, Cassandra simply switched it to her left hand, and with the skill of an expert, she decapitated the corrupt slayer that had dared to cross her. She was visibly in pain, but it was clear that she could handle it. Like a true warrior, Cassandra popped her own shoulder back into place. She stretched out her muscles quickly before resuming the fight like nothing had happened.

Alex was doing well until a corrupt slayer came up behind him and slashed his throat. He clutched his throat with one hand and bashed the corrupt man's head against the wall in a killing blow with the other. Falling onto his hands and knees, Alex tried to stop the wound from bleeding, but he was losing a lot of blood very rapidly.

He couldn't call out for help in his current condition, and the rest of the Silver Society was occupied with finishing the fight. He made a conscious effort to block Beth, determined not to take her down with him.

As the last of the corrupt slayers and warlocks were killed, Spencer, Dylan, Beth, Jade, and Cassandra gathered around each other in the corner that Beth and Jade had moved into. "Is everyone okay?" Cassandra asked.

"I think so," Dylan replied.

"Where's Alex?" Beth asked suddenly.

Cassandra cursed. She looked around the tunnel and saw that Alex was lying motionless on the ground.

"Oh my Gods," Dylan whispered, following her eyes. He hurried to Alex's side. The others quickly followed behind him. Dylan's face fell as he realized that Alex was beyond simply needing a healer.

"Alex..." Spencer whispered. "My Gods... He can't be..."

"Can you fix him?" Cassandra asked Spencer. "Do we need to get him to Aideen?"

"Fix him? Are you saying that he's...?" Beth asked, unable to finish her question. She started crying into Jade's shoulder as Jade numbly held onto her tightly.

Spencer nodded sadly as he said, "Alex is dead, Beth. And no, Cassandra... I don't think that I can."