Devils Roses 05 - Death

must take back the heart but don’t murder him. Make him suffer for all eternity."
    Henry looks sad. He nods once.
    Lydia looks at me, "You take care of them child. Don’t let them kill each other. Take care of each other and love each other. I'll be watching."
    "What?"
    She pulls open her blouse, flashing her old lady bra at Henry. I wince, "What are you doing old woman. Put that back on, do those buttons up. Jesus." I grab at her. She swats at me. It's then I see the tears streaming down her cheeks and Henry's. He's about to do something he doesn’t want to.
    My mouth drops, but even as I try to wink and move forward, I'm throw into one of the huge old oak trees. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I scream. Lydia shakes her head and looks at me, "He has to stay pure. He has to. If the evil gets into him Jonathan can corrupt his magic. He's been counting on this moment from the beginning."
    I'm sobbing and struggling but my back doesn't budge from the old oak.
    "Ophelia, Ophelia help me. " I scream.
    O walks over. Her body is shifty and weird. Her eyes are magical all the time now. She tilts a head and asks with the voices of the sisters, "Why do you need help? What is happening?"
    I point, "Stop them." I'm panicked and breathless. "Stop him."
    She shakes her head, "The witch is right. The Fae king cannot kill or his soul will be tainted." She turns and walks away.
    "He killed Aleks's dad. Lydia his soul is already dark."
    Lydia shakes her head, "He removed the curse that gave Jon his long life. He never murdered him."
    I slump, "Aleks, ALEKSSSSS!" I can't flash. I can't move. Henry pulls back. Lydia looks at me and smiles, "Look away my love."
    I can't see her clearly. My eyes are so full of tears. "SAM. BEN. LUKE. ANNABELLE. SOMEONE!" Annabelle comes through the door as Henry's hand breaks flesh, but it's too late. Lydia drops to the ground in a heap. Her heart glows like a red ball of flames in Henry's hand. Henry lifts it to the sky and shouts something I don’t understand. Annabelle screams. Her ghostly body is pinned by the guards. She cannot get out of them. She screams and pounds. I shake and sob, but can't move either.
    Henry grabs Marcus and lifts him off the ground. He shoves the fist into the vampire and comes out with another heart. I see the light of it but it's too bright. I turn away. He does something I can't see and then the light is gone. Henry smiles at me.
    "She wanted you to know she lived an amazing life." He walks towards me and puts his hand on my face, "She wanted you to have these."
    The pictures come flooding in. They stretch everything in my mind. I sob and scream and laugh like a madwoman, as everything finds its way back to its proper place.
    His magic lets me go and I drop to my knees. I bend forward and lose my stomach on the cement.
    Somehow her words roll through my mind. Words she spoke to me in the very beginning of it all. "One day we will all see the big picture and where we fit inside of it. For now, we just try to do the best we can to make the world the place we would want to live, if we were human."
    I remember it all. The switches with Ari. The death's we've lived through.
    Dorian.
    His smiles and sneers. The way he kissed me when we were alone. The way he watched me all the time. The heartbreak is bigger than anything I've ever lived through. Bigger than my mother. It's over as fast as it hits. I pull the feather from my bra and hold it to my face. Other memories filter in.
    My heart panics. Aleks. I need him. I scan the street for Shane. He is gone. I'm dying inside about changing him into a monster.
    Marcus looks at me and laughs, even though I can tell he is in terrible pain. He howls and screams some more.
    "What did you do to him?"
    "Gave him a heart again. Feelings. You just suffered through a couple years worth. He is suffering through hundreds of years worth."
    "You must free her too." I point to where Annabelle is lying on the grass reaching.
    "I know." He looks back, "There will be no safe place when I do." He grins, "Except Marcus's."
    He flashes to where Annabelle is and reaches through the guards. He touches her hand and pulls her to him. He touches her chest, which is still heaving and sobbing. Annabelle is in such a fit, she doesn’t look at me. She doesn’t even try to say goodbye. She clutches to him as he puts the light out. It hurts me she leaves and doesn’t say goodbye, but I get it. Lydia was her Ari.
    Sam flashes back without Hanna. He looks at Lydia's dead body