"Someone came to meet you, Diana," John said as he pointed towards the circle of bats forming in the sky.

Soon everyone saw Helena, Ryan, and one other spirit along with the two.

"Diana," Helena began as the three approached her, "Please forgive us."

"We are really guilty about everything we did." Ryan began. "George, Helena, and I were just kids. We didn't know any better. But it was wrong on our part to do what we did."

"And we don't blame you for what you did," George - the third spirit who came along with Ryan and Helena said, "we had it coming. But we have repented our mistakes. We are extremely sorry. Please accept our apologies, Diana."

Diana gave one look at her bullies who were the cause of the start of all this and then gave one look at her mom who smiled at her.

Diana took a deep breath and snapped her fingers. Slowly the wounds, the cuts, the slits, the scars of Helena, George, and Ryan began to disappear.

"I forgive you," Diana said in a calm voice.

"That's my daughter," Diana's mother said proudly as they both shared a hug.

Diana looked at Alex who was lying on the street - fainted - with her body twisted. She focused on Alex and slowly she regained consciousness as her body slowly went back to normal. Emily helped Alex get up and carried her towards Rose, David, and John.

Diana smiled looking at her mother and then she closed her eyes, murmured something, and snapped her fingers. No one was sure what happened.

"Helena, bring everyone back and you three make sure everyone returns home safe." Diana referred to her formal pawns. "I've broken the link and lifted the spell."

"I never thought that I could ever forgive them," Diana said looking at her mother." But one thing was for sure, every time I killed someone or made their life miserable, I thought that the hole inside me would fill, but I would always feel empty - the same way I felt since the day you died. But mom, how do you do it though? I still don't get it how can anyone have a heart so pure?"

And that's when it hit Emily as she smiled.
"This kind of curse to be reversed needs a sacrifice - a pure heart and no selfishness. A person who does not have any grudges, who can't see anyone in pain and who help others without seeing any greed in return."

"Look who we brought with us," Came the sound of Ryan.

It was Emily's mom and dad along with many more spirits that were teleported.

"Mom! Dad! I thought I'd never see you again!" Emily ran and wrapped her hands around her parents. "First of all tell me why you returned? You knew it was unsafe. And secondly, Tom was with you, then how come Mr. and Mrs. Jackson saw only Tom while you were pawns of Diana?"

"Emily," said Mr. Watkins, "we were worried sick about you. It was an internal battle every day to just stay alive in the hope that nothing had happened to you. So we decided to come to you but on the way, we met Diana and the rest is history but before Diana did anything to us, we told Tom to run away and find his family and lead them to the Church. Now call it a mother's instinct or whatever, but your mother somehow knew that you all will gather in the Church."

"What's done is done," said Emily with a warm and happy smile. "What matters now is that we have each other."

"David," Diana began and looked at his ankle. Slowly it was going back to normal. After a few seconds, the pain had gone away as he got healed. Diana smiled looking at him.

Diana looked near the tree where Father Murphy was lying unconsciously. She closed her eyes as everyone looked at them. Soon a smile ran across everyone's faces seeing Father Murphy slowing gaining consciousness.

"I still don't get one thing though," Emily asked in a tone that sounded like she was so close to solving a puzzle but yet one final piece was missing. "how on earth did the three pieces get separated?"

"Let me explain," Helena began, "when Diana accidentally got pushed down the stairs, we still had the pendant - intact. We were so mesmerized by the beauty of the emerald stones that we decided to have one stone each. That's how the stones got separated."

"There was a time when I was going through some tough times," Ryan explained. "Someone told me that the stone which I had is worth thousands or maybe millions as it is an antique. I sold my stone in return for the money. And since then, the stone is moving from one trader to another and somehow it ended up with the Montana family before ending up with the Willows."

"We didn't know right then," Helena began, "that the stones along with the pendant were cursed. We came to know about it when Diana began haunting us and bad things began happening to our families too. Ryan sold the stone way before he knew about the curse. But when he knew, it was too late, the stone could be anywhere.

And as for me, when I found out about the curse, I hid the stone in a box and buried it in my backyard. I never once told my family, relatives, or friends about it.

But years after I came to know that my sister's kids had dug the backyard and had found the box. They broke it open. I was about to take it away from them for their own good when I saw that a person from a nearby museum - my brother-in-law's friend - told them that if they gave the stone to the museum, in return they would get a heavy fortune.

Greedy, which he was, he sealed the deal. But as the stone would be safe in the museum, I let them be.

Many years passed by and no bad news about anyone's death or any bad omen came. The emerald stone was in the display in the museum where no one could touch it.

But then I heard the news that the museum was closing down and all the things were being transferred to the museum of this town. That night, while people were unloading the boxes which carried the items from the old museum, I was visiting Ryan. If only I had been more careful.

When I came back, I saw that a man was dead with the stone clenched in his fist and I knew for a fact that it was the stone. The cycle had started again.

Then I saw a thief stealing from the man and running away. I wanted to stop him, scare him, making him run away and leave the stone, but cops were chasing him and thus the only thing I could do was to watch - keep an eye on the whole situation and when the time was right, take the stone back before any more damage was caused.

The thief ran and hid in the same thrift store which Skylar told you about. He was there to sell the stone in return for some money. While he was giving the stone to Mr. William, cops came in, and leaving the stone on the counter, he hid inside the store.

That was the time when Skylar came in and asked Mr. William to make a replica of the stone for her.

When the cops left the store empty-handed, the thief took the advantage of the situation and ran with the stone - maybe he thought that the stone was way more worth than he thought as cops were chasing him? Who knows? - but while running, he went on a cargo that was docked not far from the store.

That was my moment. I began haunting him so that he would leave the stone alone but somehow he tripped and the stone fell into the ocean. And that was when I knew I lost the stone forever as it sank into the ocean floor.

And then I came to know about John and the rest is history. "

"Diana, it's time," Her mother said calling her. Diana wore her pendant and stood next to her mother in her embrace.

Everyone witnessed the mother and the daughter getting cocooned in the emerald light as they both started to dissolve in thin air as Diana smiled looking at her pendant and then at her mother. Everyone smiled looking at the two. The look on Diana's face was finally of 'peace' as she held onto her mother and her pendant - where it truly belonged.

"It's time for us to leave too," Ryan said when Diana and her mother had departed.

"We had fulfilled our purpose." Helena continued as she and Ryan came close. "We both wish you all a happy life. May you have the strength and the courage to face any difficulties that come your way. And remember, you are much more than what you think you are. You just need to dig deep."

"We'll miss you," Emily and John said all together with tears in their eyes. It was an unforgettable journey.

"We'll miss you all too," Ryan and Helena smiled as they began fading away. And soon George and all the other spirits slowly faded away as everyone thanked them for everything that they did and thanked all those as well who sacrificed themselves to whom they'll be forever grateful.

- - - - - - - -

It had been nearly two years.

Hannah had vague memories of the events that occurred but was fully recovered, the Church was finished building again, the people and the neighborhoods were going back to normal with Father Murphy guiding them when in trouble just like before. The Jacksons still missed Max, Petunia, Lily, and Harry, but they knew they all were in a better place now.

Scarlett and Skylar began meeting Emily, Hannah, John, and Alex whenever they got time. Their favourite activity together was hearing about Scarlett's adventures.

Alex's bond with Emily grew stronger and stronger during these years. They both had become like sisters. Alex looked up to Emily to get the strength when she needed it. Alex considered Emily like her big sister. After the deaths of Olivia, her mom and dad, she had no one.

After that night when the pendant went to whom it truly belonged, Alex lived in foster care. But after a few months, the Watkins family gave Alex news that was heaven to her ears. They adopted Alex and now Alex had Emily as her sister and a loving family.

"What is taking you guys so long?" Mr. Jackson waited impatiently in his car as he honked. "Hurry up or we'll lose our spot!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Hannah screamed in excitement as she loaded the picnic basket in the trunk. Mrs. Jackson locked the house and sat in the passenger's seat while John, Hannah, Tom, Alex, and Emily sat in the backseat.

It was a 20-30 minutes drive from their house to the beach. But when they reached their destination, Tom was the first to get down as he barked and wagged his tail.

Hannah and Emily got the umbrellas, the picnic basket, and other stuff out from the trunk with the help of David.

John helped David and Rose set up the chairs and the umbrellas while the girls played with Tom.
"Fetch!" Said Hannah throwing a frisbee.

While John was opening the portable car fridge to get his orange soda, he saw a kid wearing a dark, bluish-green, full sleeves t-shirt with faded jeans which was folded from the bottom. He was staring at the sea with the waves crashing at his feet. The little boy then picked up something shiny from the sandy water.

John got up and went near the kid. "Hey, that is so beautiful. Does that belong to you?"

The kid shook his head.

"Well, since it does not belong to you, trust me when I tell you to better leave it because sometimes, it's better to keep things untouched."

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