Six

I put my hand to my mouth in horror, not knowing what to say to Mel. She was devastated. Having only just been reunited with the brother she never knew she had, the Pearl Eds authorities had come during the night to kill him. Jamie sprung into action, guiding Mel gently to the sofa.

"You need to tell us exactly what happened Mel. I know it's hard, but you need to show us the note."

Her eyes stared ahead, unblinking. Still in shock. I came and sat on the other side of her, popping my arm around her. I rubbed her shoulder sympathetically, feeling utterly useless to be able to do any good.

"We...we spoke for hours. We played pool. I beat him nine games to his one. We laughed and bickered. We bonded. I...I decided to explore the house, but he...he said he would stay in that room while I had a look around. His face....he knew. I think he knew they had come for him." She shuddered. "Before I left, he told me that meeting me had been the best the best thing that had ever happened to him. He said that during his time at Pearl Eds, he had longed for family and that going to the afterlife had been a dream, even if it didn't last all that long. I...I didn't question what he meant. I just thought he was referring to the fact that we were on the run and would have to leave soon. I should have stayed. I should have been with him."

Her shaking hand held up a note. It was on the same cream paper we had all used at school. The top was stamped with Pearl Education. In black ink, the words glared out from the pale page. I read aloud, so Jamie could hear.

"For helping three criminals. we have had no choice but to erase Drews presence from the afterlife. We have been given our orders not to touch the three of you. There are higher powers in charge now. Drew has gone, so why don't you make it easier and hand yourselves in. Do it for him. You can't run forever."

Mel sobbed. The sound was gut wrenching. I looked at Jamie, making a mental note to ask him later how Mel had the ability to cry. I always knew she wasn't just an emotionless vampire, she was something more. Maybe the universe was wrong. Maybe we were all forced to feel a certain way just because we were pushed in to a generation. Maybe, deep down....the whole universe was capable of more than what was expected of us. But that was a matter for another day. Right now, we had to focus on this huge mess.

"Jamie, what does it mean by 'erasing his presence'? Can they do that? I've never heard of it before."

Jamie nodded glumly. I had my arms around Mel, squeezing her as she cried.

"Unfortunately, they can essentially kill anyone. Just because the afterlife are already dead, it doesn't make them immune to being banished forever. And just because vampires are immortal, doesn't mean they can't be killed. In fact, the only generation that are safe from the ruthless authorities are The Emeralds. The Witches and Wizards will die eventually anyway, so unless they do something really terrible which hasn't happened yet, they are left alone."

Mel wiped the falling tears from her cheeks and stared ahead of her. She was clutching where her heart was and I wanted to take the pain away from her so much.

"I've told you guys before that I found out stuff at Pearl Eds that us students weren't supposed to know. I knew that they could erase a presence in the afterlife. But....but before now, they have only ever done it once. From what I read, there is no way of ever bringing Drew back is there?"

Her voice cracked at the end, fresh grief engulfing her. Jamie shook his head sadly.

"No. Once they erase a Diamond, that's it. They are as dead as someone who dies from the old human life. There is no way of seeing them again. I'm so sorry Mel."

She nodded, before bursting in to tears again. I felt sick to my stomach, my mouth felt dry. I stood up, pacing the room.

"This is my fault. This is all my fault. Because of my selfish need to see the Sapphire Generation, Drew has been erased. I'm so sorry Mel."

A tear fell silently down my cheek now. I shook my head, not believing that it had already turned so nasty.

"I will never forgive myself for dragging you two along with me. Look at the pain I've caused. You have to go back. You have to hand yourselves in. They might forgive you."

Mel dabbed at her eyes, a frown on her face now as if I were being crazy. But for the first time in ages, I could see things clearly. Jamie stood up, the expression on his face making it clear that they both thought I was talking nonsense.

"We both agreed to help you Cassie. You can't blame yourself."

I felt fear, sadness, anxiety. But most of all, I felt angry. Angry that I had let them come with me. Angry that Drew was gone. Angry that I wasn't like everyone else.

"I can blame myself." I knew that my voice was almost at a shouting level, but I couldn't help it. "It's my fault. Don't make it better. Don't try and make it OK because it's not. People are dying and you two will be next. I'm not going to let it happen."

I marched over to the wardrobe and pulled my red t-shirt and jeans on from the day before, sheltering myself from view with the wardrobe door. I flung the old, ghostly night gown I had worn inside, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. Jamie had resumed my position of pacing now, waiting for me to speak to them. Mel had risen from the couch, her face still twisted with grief.

I started for the door, not wanting to say goodbye. Not wanting to look at them. As I expected, as soon as I reached for the handle, Jamie was at my side. He grabbed my hand to stop me.

"What are you doing? We need to figure out what to do from here. Come and sit down."

I looked into his light brown eyes. They were pleading with me. I felt a pang inside at the thought of never seeing him again, but I had to go. If only I had seen this much sense before we left the Rubies, then all of us would be safe right now. Drew would still be here.

"Let go of me."

He shook his head, his jaw set in a stubborn line. I sighed. My head was beginning to ache with everything that was happening. As he looked at me, it felt like he was looking in to my soul. He released his grip slightly, but still held my hand, softly now. He was definitely weakening my resolve, but I had to go. I had to.

"She's right Jamie. Let her go." We both jumped as Mel spoke. She was standing behind us now. We turned to face her. She looked angry. She was glaring at me. "She should blame herself. My brother has been erased because of her. If she wants to run away to make herself feel better, let her."

I closed my eyes, letting the sting of her words hit me. She was right.

"I know you are hurting Mel, but you don't mean that. You were the one that stood there in The Rubies and convinced me to help her, you don't mean what you are saying."

I opened my eyes, Mel was still eyeing me angrily. Jamie was furious with Mel now.

"I do mean it. I will never see my brother again because of you Cassie. I hate you."

All I could do was nod. It was only fair. I didn't think she was being unreasonable. I gently peeled Jamies hand from my own and managed a weak smile.

"She's right. Let me go."

I opened the door, not wanting to look at him anymore. I shivered as I stepped outside into the Diamond world. As much of a mess I was in right now, I knew that I had made the right choice in not picking this generation when I graduated. This place gave me the creeps, it was full of sadness. I turned back to the doorway, taking one last look even though I had told myself not to. Jamie was running a hand through his dark hair, looking helpless, his eyes still pleading. Mels mood had turned back to grief. I felt a pang of guilt as a tear slid down her cheek once more.

"I'm sorry. Just.....stay safe."

I crumbled as I turned away, breaking into a run. I could hear Mel and Jamie arguing as I fled, I shook my head trying to block out the noise. Because everything was so strange and slow in this world, I knew I wasn't getting very far as I could still faintly hear the two of them arguing. But I didn't know if it was because I had super sonic hearing because of my Sapphire abilities. In fact, I didn't really know myself or what I was capable of at all. As I ran, I had to think of a plan in my head.

Even though Mel was furious at me, I knew in my heart that Jamie would try and follow me. I couldn't let him. I had to throw him off the scent. I was careful not to run in to any ghosts as I made my way through the generation, I never wanted to feel that low again. I realised that I had been running for ages. I obviously didn't tire, it must be another ability of mine. I dodged in and out of the see through floating ghosts, wincing if I got too close to one. Up ahead, I could see the eerie forest of ghosts that we had walked through when we first entered the world. Even though I was running, I calculated it would still take me around an hour to even reach the forest. I still couldn't get my head around the fact that time just lagged here. It was an eerie place to be in every single way.

I kept focused on getting to the forest, remembering that Jamies blood cart was just outside this generation. If I could reach that cart, I could transport myself to The Emeralds world. Jamie would expect me to head straight for The Sapphire generation, or maybe he even expected me to go back to The Rubies to hand myself in. He wouldn't expect me to go to The Emeralds. And once I was at The Emeralds, I could convince a witch or wizard to help cast some spells. The Emeralds were known for their kindness and I was sure someone would want to help me. If Jamie was still following me, maybe a spell could make me traceless so he would have to stop the chase. Or maybe a spell could be cast to force the two of them to hand themselves in and at least be in with a chance of forgiveness. I truly believed in my heart that if they gave up, they would be saved. After-all, I was the newly discovered Sapphire. It was me they were after, not them. I didn't really believe in my mind that Mels own father would be capable of killing her. And the authorities had tortured Jamie for two years only to let him live. What would be the point in killing him now?

I came to a screeching halt just before entering the creepy forest as a little girl ghost blocked my path. I didn't want to run in to her after my awful experience yesterday of colliding with a ghost, I had to be careful. She stared at me with her haunted face.

"They are catching up you know."

Her voice was sing-song and high. It gave me the shivers. Her hair was dusky blonde but full of cobwebs. Her eyes so light they were almost white. She hovered in front of me. I tried not to smirk, knowing that this wasn't funny.

"Who? The people that want to kill me or the other two?"

She shrugged and twirled.

"All of them I guess. Have you thought your plan through? Do you know if the Sapphire boy left his keys in the blood cart?"

I frowned, folding my arms across my chest.

"I don't know. But I need to get going, I don't have time for this."

She giggled, sending shivers through me again.

"But I know stuff. Follow me, I'll lead you to the cart."

She floated off in front of me. I was going that way anyway, so even though I didn't exactly trust her, I had no choice.

I dodged the ghosts who were whizzing around before me, not wanting to walk through any. They weren't being still and creepy today. They were annoying and coming way to close.

"They sense you are scared. They are trying to get you to collide with them."

I growled under my breath, hating this generation more than ever.

"How do you know anyway? And how did you know about my plan? Can you read minds or something?"

She shrugged. I watched her back as she glided in front of me.

"Something like that. I've been here for years, it gets pretty boring just hovering around, so I taught myself some tricks."

I gasped as an old man ghost came to close for comfort.

"You are telling me that you taught yourself to read minds?"

She shrugged again.

"Maybe."

I followed her along for what felt like hours. It was silent despite the ghosts attempts to go through me. The little girl ghost didn't speak anymore. Eventually , I saw Jamies cart through the entrance up ahead. She turned to me.

"This is where I leave you. He didn't leave his keys, but he left his wand. That will start the cart up for you. It will take you about twenty minutes from here. Good luck finding the Sapphire world Cassie."

She started to glide away.

"Wait." She floated back to me, staring with those haunting eyes. "What's your name?"

"Does it matter?"

I shrugged.

"I suppose not. But why did you help me?"

"Because young sapphire, things aren't always as they seem. Maybe none of us really belong in these worlds. You have the courage to do what so many of us wanted to. I wish you nothing but luck. Now go. Before they catch up."

I thought about her words, not really sure what any of it meant and definitely not certain of who she meant was catching up, but I smiled and held my hand up. She held her hand up too, perfectly still, our way of saying goodbye.

"Thank you."

She nodded and floated high up, until I couldn't see her anymore.

I hurried away, determined to get to the cart. It took little time considering that everything else had taken an eternity in this world. I practically dived out of the door, relieved to be out of the diamond generation. I leant against the cart, trying to steady myself. I felt awful about stealing from Jamie, but I also knew that it meant he had to hand himself in. I opened the door to the creaky cart and just as I was about to step inside, I heard my name being called. I didn't have to look to know it was Jamie. He had caught up with me surprisingly quick. Just as I had known he would. When I did turn to look, I saw that Mel wasn't with him. I felt a pang that my best friend wasn't there, that she hated me. Then quickly buried the hurt, I deserved it. I shut the door without getting in and stepped closer to the entrance, full of guilt as I looked at him.

"I'm sorry. I have to do this."

He shook his head.

"No, no you don't. You think you are being a hero Cassie, but you aren't. You are being selfish."

I gulped as a crowd of ghosts had circled Jamie, just above his head. It spooked me out just watching, I hated to think what he must feel.

"Do you really think they are going to forgive us?"

I nodded, not entirely sure but at least hopeful. I had to believe they would or I couldn't live with myself. I stepped towards the entrance with Jamie just on the other side of the doorway. He looked more handsome than ever. It made my heart hurt.

"Then you are crazy. There is no such thing as forgiveness in these gens. When they get hold of me, they are going to torture me again because they know that it is worse than dying. They will chain me up and pierce me with needles. They will lay me down on a rusty bed of nails. They will make me drink human bleach so my throat burns. They will drown me so my lungs fill up with water, letting me up at the last minute to take a breath of air before doing it again. They will burn flesh from my body with naked flames. Torture Cassie. They will torture me."

Bile rose up in my throat as he spoke. I couldn't believe that a person could be treated that way. The thought that Jamie had been through that was so horrific, I couldn't breathe properly. I dug my nails into my palms to stop me from puking.

"And it won't be two years this time, it will be forever. They won't let me get away with this. I will be tortured for eternity. And Mel will be taken with me. I don't believe that her own father will kill her on the spot. He will be so humiliated and angry that his own daughter would skip generations to help a Sapphire that he will torture her too. And when they get you, you will be killed. So what's the point Cassie?"

"Exactly Jamie, what's the point? If you come with me, we will all be killed anyway. There is no way out."

The ghosts that surrounded Jamie were dipping lower. Their feet were nearly level with his head. He shoved his hands in his jeans pocket, he had obviously changed out of diamond clothes after I had left. I could see his dark sapphire necklace glinting under his shirt.

"I would rather die with you than be tortured again. Death is the easy way out. Please, don't leave us here at the hands of these monsters."

I couldn't stop the tears falling as Mel stepped out behind Jamie. She held up her hands in surrender.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. You didn't kill Drew, the authorities did. So let's fight or die together. There are no other options."

I stepped back in to the entrance of the diamonds and engulfed Mel in a huge hug. We both cried as we clutched each other, everything was emotional in this generation. The fact that I had nearly left them to be tortured caused me so much pain that I couldn't bear it. I turned to Jamie, knowing that if I hugged him, I would probably end up kissing him. So instead, I put my arms to my side and looked in to those big brown eyes of his.

"Let's go and fight them. Together."

He rewarded me with a huge, heart melting grin and went to take a step towards me. but as he did, the ghosts that were circling him blocked his way.

"What's happening?"

My voice was a whisper as I watched the ghosts getting closer and closer to Jamie, his face full of fear.

Mel gasped and clutched my arm.

"Oh no. Cassie, look."

She pointed to the entrance where I had just been. Three people in Pearl Eds authorities uniforms were signalling to the ghosts.

I lurched forward, wanting to pull him to safety before it was too late, but Mel pulled me back.

Jamie closed his eyes as one by one, the ghosts went through him. I tried to fight against Mel, but her strength as a Ruby vampire was stronger than mine. I watched, horrified as Jamie twisted and writhed in agony. His eyes were still closed and he was biting his bottom lip hard, to fight through it.

I struggled to reach him.

"What are they doing to him?"

The panic I felt inside was worse than any panic I had ever known. I knew what he was going through right now, but he was having it over and over again. I heard Mel counting beside me. Then she let out a little cry, as if just realising something. I screamed as the last ghost walked through Jamie and he fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

"Thirteen ghosts just walked through him Cassie. He isn't going to survive. They've killed him."

I pushed her away and ran over, crouching on the floor beside him. His skin was as white as a sheet. His hands were ice cold.

"No. You are wrong. He's...he's not dead."

All Mel could do was watch in disbelief as I shook him, saying his name over and over again, trying to get him to wake.

"It takes thirteen ghosts to kill a Sapphire. I read it once. Each time a ghost walks through you, you die a little. You experienced it yesterday. The Pearl Eds came for Drew, they erased him. Now they have ghosted Jamie. We will be next."

As if on cue, a letter on the familiar Pearl Eds paper floated down, falling just beside Jamies head.

"You're next."

Just two words, in black ink. Threatening as ever. But I didn't care. All I cared about was Jamie waking up. I clutched his hand, willing him to open his eyes. I practically threw myself over his body as I saw another ghost floating down. Nobody else would be hurting him.

"I won't harm him. I'm here to help."

I shivered at the sing song voice, then looked up to see the little girl ghost from earlier hovering above us. I held Jamie to me, not wanting anyone near him.

"How can I trust you?"

I sounded hostile, angry. It was no wonder really, after everything we had been through in the Diamonds Generation.

The ghost held out her hand, clutching a broken sapphire.

"Because he's my brother. When they started killing all of us Sapphires one by one, I made myself invisible with the help of an Emerald to any other relations of mine to spare them from the hurt in case I didn't make it. He doesn't know about me. I fled here, but the transition didn't quite work as I still have other powers. I can change my appearance at will and throw the authorities off the scent. I can do certain things other ghosts can't. So let me help."

It was a lot to take in, but I couldn't think of the ins and outs right now. I just needed Jamie to wake up. I sat up, still clutching his hand, not daring to take my eyes off him. The ghost swooped down and blew on her broken Sapphire, then leant in close to Jamie.

"Hi. It's Maisie here. I'm the sister you never knew about. Your older sister actually, so don't be too confused by my appearance." She giggled slightly, as if to confirm she wasn't a Diamond. If you were an afterlife, you couldn't show any other emotion other than sadness. "It's going to take more than a few ghosts to end my little brother, so here, this is for you."

She placed the half a sapphire onto his chest, muttered some words under her breath and gave it a tap with her finger. Because Jamie was so pale, we could see the blue stone sinking into his body. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. As I held his hand, warmth started to spread through him. Where there had been silence before, a heartbeat. I looked at Maisie in shock. She smiled at me gently.

"You have to get him to the blood cart and take him to The Emeralds. He's alive, but only just. if he stays here any longer, the sapphire won't work. There's a wizard who will help you. His name is Wizard Popkins. Find him. Get Jamie better."

"But...but what ....what about you?"

She took another look at Jamie, then gently kissed him on the cheek before floating up in to the air.

"They won't find me Cassie. It's OK. But if the three of you survive all this, if you make it through and somehow win....please come back for me."

Before I could say anything, she had drifted away in the distance.

Mel and I carried Jamie to the cart. We laid him in the back, he was still unconscious but definitely alive. The sound of his beating heart was unmistakable.

We got in to the front of the cart and looked at each other anxiously as I started the engine.

"Take us to The Emeralds."

We held on as the cart roared to life and began hurtling along at high speed, taking us to the magic generation.