Five

I shivered violently. I couldn't tell if it was because I was in The Diamonds Generation which still really spooked me out, or if it was because of what Drew had just said. He was looking at Mel, who we had just discovered was his twin sister, his eyes full of worry. Being a ghost, he couldn't show any other emotion other than sad ones. But at this point, he wouldn't have wanted to anyway. After all, he had just informed us that Matthew Perkins, the Mayor of the Rubies was on his way to kill us. And that he was Mel's and Drew's Father. It was a lot to take in.

"Look, why don't the three of you come back to my house? I have the ability to watch Matthew at all times, I know exactly where he is. I can keep you safe for a while. At the moment, he's still in The Rubies Generation. He's already killed two vampires out of pure anger in the last hour. He's always been violent, but the news that his vampire daughter has run off to help a Sapphire has tipped him over the edge. Come on."

Drew started floating away just ahead. I nudged Jamie.

"Do you think you could go ahead and walk with Drew while I talk to Mel. I want to make sure she's OK."

Jamie smiled and nodded.

"Just remember not to walk through any ghosts. They can appear out of nowhere."

I nodded as he walked off in front to catch up with Drew. It looked quite comical seeing Drew above Jamie as he glided along and Jamie struggling to keep up.

I linked Mel's arm and gave her a little squeeze with my heavily bandaged hand that was still throbbing.

"Are you OK sweetie?"

She shrugged, staring blankly ahead.

"I don't know. I'm not supposed to feel anything Cassie. So why am I so shocked? Why am I terrified? And why do I feel so heartbroken that my own father wants to kill me?"

I squeezed her again, noting how sad her light blue eyes looked. If she had the ability to cry, she would.

"Remember what you said to Jamie when he asked why you wanted to help me? You said that just because something dictates you should be a certain way, it doesn't mean you have to be. I know you aren't a Sapphire, but I truly think that you are unique. You aren't like all the other vampires Mel. You are my best friend. Which is silly as I have only known you for a day."

Mel smiled at this.

"I never knew I wanted friends and family. Until now." She studied Drew, who was still talking with Jamie in front.

"When we get to his house, make sure you go and spend time with him. I will go off with Jamie and leave you two alone. He's your brother. We don't know how much longer we have left. In this generation or any generation. Make the most of it."

She nodded, glumly. We carried on walking for a while. Drew told us that the house was only around the corner, but that it would take twenty minutes because of how slow everything was in the afterlife. I let go of Mel's arm, wanting to run my hand through my hair which I was sure looked terrible after a day of travelling and bombshell news.

Before I could do anything about it, an elderly female ghost appeared right in front of me, her eyes as wide as saucers. Her hair was grey and frazzled, her skin wrinkled. Her eyes were grey like her hair and her teeth were decaying and yellow. She had on an old white night gown which showed off her wrinkled arms. I couldn't stop in time. It all happened in slow motion.

As we collided, my body temperature plunged to such a low level, I thought I had fallen into an iced over lake. My whole body trembled with cold and everything went dark. I could see a far off, dim light in the blackness so I started heading for that, my teeth chattering. I wrapped my arms around me to try and keep warm, but nothing helped. As I approached the dim light, my ears filled with the noise of people screaming. I could hear children and adults crying and wailing for help. But I couldn't see anything, just the dark and the tiny, dull light which seemed to be getting further away. I shook my head and covered my ears with my hands, trying to drown out the noise. Nothing was working. Everything was black and cold. The light had disappeared. I yelled as I tripped over, falling to the ground with a thud. Suddenly, I could see everything. All around me were thousands of skeletons piled up. I had fallen over a bone. I desperately tried to scramble up, realising with horror that the skeletons had started to rise too.

Tears fell down my cheeks as I realised that I couldn't stand up. I couldn't move. I closed my eyes as one of the skeletons lunged for me. As I was yanked upright by a cold, bony hand, I started to scream.

"Cassie. Come on, it's over, I promise. You are back with us."

The haunting wails and screaming had stopped. All I could hear was Jamie's reassuring voice.

I opened my eyes to see him looking at me in concern. Mel and Drew were behind him, not knowing what to do. I pulled Jamie to me and grabbed him in a hug. I just needed something, or someone, to hold on to. He seemed surprised at first, but wrapped his strong arms around me, rubbing my back soothingly. I held on to his shirt sleeves, still trembling. I needed to get myself together. Everything was OK.

"So...so tha-that is why y-you warned me about the-the ghost th-thing."

I felt him nod, he still had a tight hold on me, trying to reassure me.

"I've been through it before, it's the most awful feeling I have ever known. Even after being tortured for two years, walking through a ghost feels like a little piece of you dies every time."

I shuddered and pulled away from him, realising with a start that I was making too much of a fuss. Him casually throwing in about when he was tortured made me wake up. My whole body and resolve strengthened as I vowed inside to fight whatever was coming next. If Jamie could live through what he had been through, then we could live through anything if we all stuck together.

Drew's echoey voice sounded, I could still feel Jamie's eyes on me.

"Come on guys, my house is just here."

I took in the grey, mis-shapen house. Some of the windows were filled with broken shards of glass, others were barricaded off with wood. There were bricks falling out at odd angles and a weird, grey vine crawling up the side of the house. I jumped as a huge silver like bird flew out from the roof, flapping it's bat like wings with menace. Drew shook his head as we watched it fly away.

"Don't worry, it's not real. We don't have animals in The Diamonds. It's just a hologram. If I could laugh at all your faces, I would."

We walked in after Drew, I tried to close the rusty brown front door that was nearly off it's hinges, but it wouldn't shut.

"Don't worry about the door Cassie. It never closes completely."

The house was just like any haunted house I had ever imagined. Scary paintings of old fashioned humans with twisted expressions hung on the walls, most at an angle. The stair case was creaky and wooden, a few floor boards missing here and there. Drew directed us to the living room. Dusty furniture lay underneath white sheets, the wood floor groaning under our weight. Cobwebs hung from every corner and I could hear an insistent but quiet banging from somewhere in the house.

Jamie sat down on what I assumed was a sofa underneath the sheet. I joined him, while Mel and Drew stood.

"Nice place you've got here Drew."

I tried not to laugh at Jamie's words. Drew had been so good to us. I didn't want to offend him.

"Thanks, I only got it this morning. Obviously, my graduation was the same time as Mel's. I've been watching Mel and our uh....Dad... ever since. I can see him right now. There are some urgent problems in The Rubies world which means he can't leave tonight. The Pearl Eds authorities have said that they want to come and search for the three of you, but Matthew has insisted he wants to find you himself. He's leaving first thing tomorrow and he hasn't made up his mind which world he's going to first, but I think he is leaning towards the Sapphire Generation."

We took this information in, it at least gave us some time.

"If we are staying here tonight, I need to change my clothes. I can't stay in a dress and heels."

Mel was pouting as she looked down at her clothes. Drew walked over to the far corner of the living room and pulled down a white sheet. An old dark brown wardrobe stood proud and tall but covered in dust.

"I have access to clothes, what sort of thing do you want?"

Mel wasn't the only one to eye Drew suspiciously. He was barefoot and his grey trousers were all torn at the ankles. His white t-shirt was rather too large for him and it had rips and tears all the way through.

"No offence, I know you are my brother, but it doesn't seem like your generation has the best fashion taste."

I so wished that Drew had the ability to laugh or smile, because I knew he would be right now. Instead, I read the amusement in his blue eyes as he looked at his sister.

"Well I like the fashion sense here, it's very fitting. Besides, all that red stuff you lot wear hurts my eyes. Look, come and have a rummage through, at least find something to stay the night in and then you can change again tomorrow."

Mel and I walked over to the wardrobe, trying not to giggle when we saw what was inside. In the end, I managed to find a long white nightgown with sleeves, it was very ghost like. Mel opted for a grey t-shirt and torn soft fabric shorts. We got changed behind the massive white sheet. After we were done, Jamie picked out a similar outfit to what Drew was wearing. We all looked like Diamonds now, minus the see through quality.

"So twinny, you want to come check out the rest of the house and stuff? I have a really old human pool table in the basement. It's falling to bits but we can bond when I beat you at it. Besides, I never sleep and you vampires can go days without sleeping, but Cassie and Jamie being Sapphires need to rest. What do you think?"

Mel's eyes lit up.

"I know all about human pool. Let's go play and I will absolutely beat you. You'll see."

Jamie and I laughed as they left the room arguing about who was going to win. And then, for the first time since we had met each other, we were completely alone. He smiled nervously, then stood up and pulled a sheet off a grand piano in the corner of the room. He laid it down on the floor. I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

He flashed me a cheeky grin, making my heart thud wildly.

"I'm being a gentleman and making a bed on the floor. You can have the sofa. Drew was right, we should rest. Especially as we know we have a night to be safe. We aren't like the other generations, we really do need sleep. We get it from The Emeralds probably, they sleep too. I think we are a mix of all three with other bits thrown in."

I nodded, knowing it was the most sensible thing to do. He laid a few more sheets down on the floor, then flapped the dust off another and handed it to me as a cover. Then he laid down on the hard floor. I could tell he was struggling to get comfortable.

"Are you sure you're OK down there Jamie?"

He chuckled slightly, a comforting sound in the face of what was going on.

"I'm fine. I've slept in way worse places than this."

I laid back against the couch, staring at the cobweb covered ceiling.

"So if we are Sapphires, how come I don't know who my family are yet? I got told we have that ability. It's just got me thinking with Mel and Drew finding each other like that. It's sweet seeing them together."

"You do have the ability, but only when we go into the Sapphire world. A lot of our powers don't work in the other generations."

That made sense. I wondered what it would feel like, knowing that I had family out there somewhere.

"All my family are dead. They were Sapphires. The Pearl Eds authorities killed them."

His voice sounded so sad, it made my heart ache. I twisted my body round on the sofa so I could face him. He was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes watery.

"I am so sorry Jamie. I had no idea."

He let out a long sigh, his eyes unblinking as he thought about it.

"It's OK. I never knew them. I never had the chance. I had a Mum, a Dad and two brothers. I think they were good people."

I nodded and smiled as he turned to look at me.

"They would have been."

We lay there in silence for a few minutes, looking at each other.

"How did you survive Jamie? How did you make it through two years of torture to be here today?"

He flinched with pain and past horrors at my question. He composed himself quickly, but not before I had seen the trauma written all over him.

"I'll tell you what, if we make it through a few more days, I'll tell you about it. You've been through a lot today and if you hated walking through the ghost as much as I have always hated it, then you have enough fresh horrors in your mind. Let's get some rest."

I nodded, figuring he was right.

"Deal. Thanks for everything you have done today. I know we put you in an impossible situation."

He smiled gently, his eyes twinkling in the dusky light.

"It was the right thing to do. Goodnight beautiful."

I couldn't stop the grin on my face at his words. He called me beautiful! After a day of travelling and agony, lying here in a ghostly torn night gown, he thought I was beautiful. I had never known a boost like that in all my days. A warmth spread through my body.

"Goodnight Jamie."

I couldn't say how long we had been asleep. The light never seemed to change in the Diamonds Generation. I guessed that we had been asleep for quite a few hours when Mel came hurtling into the room, shouting at us in a high pitched voice to wake up. I sat up groggily on the sofa, rubbing my eyes. Seeing the anguish on Mels face, I realised that it must mean people were after us now. Now the fight really began.

"He's dead. They've killed him. He's dead. Please, we need to bring him back. He's dead."

I stood up from the sofa and walked over to Mel, touching her shoulder gently, trying to get her to calm down. Jamie had stood up and was putting the sheets away. He yawned and clumsily walked into a covered up table.

"Mel, who is dead, what's going on?"

Her eyes were wide and frightened. Her bottom lip was trembling.

"Drew. He's dead. They killed my brother."

I rubbed her arm sympathetically.

"Oh honey, we are in the afterlife. Drew is supposed to be dead."

She pushed me away and let out a gut wrenching cry.

"No. They've killed him. The Pearl Eds came here in the night and erased his presence away. They left a note. He's gone. Drew is dead. And they are coming for us next."