I am Emily. Or, at least, that's what I've identified myself as for the past fifteen or so years. Only Tanya knew. Only Tanya will ever know. 

It's the final battle. Somehow, someway, I just knew that today would be the end of it all. There were no signs to tell me it would soon be all over, but I just knew. Just like I just "knew" a lot of things. So here I am, sitting on my couch thinking about what I would be doing if Tanya was still alive, when Amelia bursts through the door and starts shouting incoherently. She starts grabbing things and shoving them into her bag as she yells for me to hurry up. Hurry up with what, I don't know. But I don't ask and instead help her with her current task. When she seems satisfied and plops down on my recliner with a heaviness of breathing, I ask her what's going on.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she states with a dark shadow casting over her chocolaty brown eyes.

I chuckled a bit at her sentence. "Try me," I say. I've seen so many things that it would be a miracle if I didn't believe her.

She takes a deep breath and then begins to explain to me what she had experienced. When she's done, it takes everything I have in me not to blow up with questions. Though she says she doesn't know the name of the boy that appeared to her, I have a feeling I know who it is. 

Carlos has finally come back. And this time, it's for good. At least that's my perception, whether it's the truth or not is something that I won't know until it happens.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you? Ghosts aren't a thing, angels aren't real unless they're from Hell, and powers can only come from the book. I know that. But if you had just seen it-"

"I believe you," I interrupt. She seems shocked but joyful that I do. "I've known for awhile about angels and shrines." I don't tell her that all that information is in the book. If I did, it would make her feel more of an idiot than she probably already does.

 Most people forget that I was one of the first owners of the book. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks, hurt that I would withhold information from the one in charge. 

I playfully roll my eyes at her. "You weren't exactly my best friend." 

She laughs awkwardly as she remembers the feud that was between us. She would always fight for Wanika's honor just like Tanya would. Jealousy overcame us all at every Hunter meeting when it came time to recite the things we'd done. 

"Anyways, we have to get going. Now," she commanded with urgency. I grab the bags she packed and follow her out of the door without question.

We drive to the site of the underground safety shelter that was to be used in emergencies only. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't want to, so I didn't dare to ask. When we enter, we are greeted by Wanika and all the other Hunters in a fifty mile radius. Panic seemed to grip the guts of every one of us and hang in the air like an  unspoken secret. 

This was the end. 

"I gather that everyone knows about the state of our prisoner," Wanika addresses to the crowd of us. Some did, some didn't. The ones who do fall utterly silent and the ones who don't speak excitedly about what it could be. 

"What is it?" A male voice from the back calls out.

Wanika smiles weakly at her attempt in humor. "We don't exactly have one anymore."

The excited chatter turns to horrified gasps followed by "what"s and "how"s. Wanika sticks up her hand to quiet them and they obey. I stand in awe; her natural ability to be in command never ceases to amaze me. Even after stepping down and declaring a new leader, Wanika still holds power over all the people who have loyally followed her all these years.

"At this time, there is no plan on what we will do as the outcome of the escape is not to be predicted. The only thing we can safely assume is that it isn't safe," she explains. Silence pierces the air. The people who hunted down the evil have nothing to say when the fear of them finally being the prey crept into their heads. 

A quick glance around the room tells me that no one had ever prepared for this. As Hunters, we have thought of every possible outcome for everything and every possible action we would take for anything. Somehow, arresting Sibyl and her escaping with some strange book light didn't pop into anybody's head. 

"So we're just going to stay underground until things are resolved?" Someone in the back questions.

Wanika knew the answer, she just didn't want to say it . More silence. The people seem to get the memo and decide that they aren't very happy with it. 

The same voice from the back speeks up his feelings towards the decision. "Hunters never back down from a challenge!" He declares. This caused a roar of angered agreement to stand up and fight. 

Wanika nervously looks at Amelia and me for help. Amelia shrugs her shoulders and I bit my lip as I think about what I could do to assist in this monstrosity. I don't have the desire to get involved since leadership isn't one of my gifts, and I certainly don't want to say the wrong thing and have all my fellow Hunters glaring at me for the remainder of our time in the bunker. A simple shake of my head would suffice if I hadn't felt eternally guilty for not being able to save Tanya.

That's how I knew. We would all go out there to avenge her death, or we would die trying. There was simply no other way.

***

KATIANNA POV

It was only a matter of time before Sibyl would come running back to me as she always did. She never stayed angry for long when it came to me and my ways. Especially since I had gotten word of her escape.

The moment I see her, I must congratulate her for killing Wanika's apprentice, though it should have been Wanika herself that she shot. But alas, we can't have everything, now can we? Anyways, without Tanya, Wanika was weak. Depressed. Powerless. The things she showed me that she could do would no longer be a problem. 
She may die of darkness, but I will feed off of it. All the weight she carries around will cause my abilities to thrive the next time we meet. Which, according to my calculations, should be any day now. My calculations are never wrong. Sibyl would come back, and then Wanika and her army of pathetic "hunters" who think they can beat me will arrive. 

It's going to be beautiful.

Three days later, my predictions came true in ways I couldn't imagine. 

I was sitting in my abode, getting ready to call up a friend from another world when my door flew open and a burst of white light rushed in. Without a second of hesitation, I sprung up and leaped towards the source. 

A prerecorded message displayed in front of me. 

"If you're watching this," the voice started.

I sank to my knees. "No," I weakly whispered. I knew what this meant. Sibyl and I had found a way to create a message in case either one of us was in a death-or-death situation. 
A way that would destroy us and our book forever. 

"-it means that something has gone terribly wrong and there is no other option but to terminate our presence."

I grabbed the sides of my head and tucked my knees to my chest. This was not happening. My whole plan revolved around the return of my partner and my book. Without it, the world was as good as their's. I was as good as dead.

"Unfortunately, nothing this book contains can be preserved except for the things we have in our memories. You will now watch a message taken at the time of destruction."

I looked up at the light in confusion. Another message? This wasn't agreed upon. Sibyl and I didn't create this when we created everything else. How is this possible? 

"Uh, hey," Sibyl's 3-D image appeared in front of me like she was actually there. Her sweet, innocent voice sounded just like the one she had spoken to me in when she expressed her distaste for my actions. It had seemed so annoying then, but now it was nearly heart-breaking. I longed for more of it. I wanted to grab her and hold her and ask her what happened and why she did that.

We both knew-or, at least we thought we knew-that there was always a way out. When tested, there will always be another choice, even if it's not exactly visible. 

"So, I kind of got myself into a bit of trouble. Though, I'm sure you already know all about that. What you don't know is what happened moments before, and I guess I'll explain. You know, if you care enough to listen-which you probably don't. I know you're angry because I ruined everything you worked so hard to get..."

We, Sibyl. We worked hard to get.

"But I'll tell you anyways because why not? I was trapped in Hunter HQ prison when they set off an alarm and I somehow got released. The hallways were empty and I was the only soul for miles. It was a trap, and I knew it was a trap, but I left anyways. I was somehow lead to the exact location of the book, like it had been calling to me. Like a magnet or something.
"When I found it, I realized that I had been set up and that they were purposefully trying to watch me to see how to open it, and there was no way out of the situation. They had cameras that I couldn't see but knew where there and I'm sure there was somebody somewhere waiting on me to bail. The only way to successfully escape would be to use the power of the book, which I couldn't do because then I'd be giving them what they wanted.

"And so, here I am. I don't know how I got to be able to tell this to you now, but I am so I'm not going to question it. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. Over the past few years, I've grown very fond of you. When I realized that, I unlocked a bunch of other emotions, such as regret and happiness.

"I understand that you have a world to claim and a war to finish. But I beg of you, as my 'dying wish' to preserve the life of my sister and tell her that I'm sorry. Tell her I didn't mean to kill Tanya, I just didn't know what else to do. Tell her I would take it all back if I could. Most of all, tell her that I love her. I finally understand what family is." 

And then it went dark. Her picture faded away and the light disappeared and all that was left was me. I instinctively reached out to the spot where her image once stood. I don't know what I expected, but I was disgusted when all I felt was the cold draft of the open door. 

Her words bled into my brain; she always a way of sneaking her ideas into my head. Wanika...what had she really done wrong? Did she really deserve the fate I bestowed upon her?

Before I could even decide what to do next, I was forced into it. Aria suddenly appeared in the room in the way she always had and instructed me to get a move on.

"They're rising," she informed me. "The girl you killed, her friend has declared a meeting with us."

I looked at her questionably. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "I told her we would."

"Why would you do that?" 

"It would be the perfect chance to exterminate them. She'll no doubt have Wanika with her and you can kill her yourself, " she persuaded.

That last sentence roped me into this 'meeting'. "That sounds fantastic, then," I caved. "When shall it be?"

"On Friday at their headquarters."

I smirked. 

Perfect. Carlos would be pleased to hear this . We can initiate stage three of our plan.

_________________________________________

Yes I am very aware that's it's been like a month. I've been super busy and I didn't know how to end it and yadda yadda yadda excuses excuses

Well, the chapter is here now! Please enjoy it and leave feedback<3

I decided to split the ending into two parts!