Twenty

I could hear everyone talking about me as I laid on the huge four poster bed in the first bedroom I found. I didn't know if anyone else had picked this room. I didn't care. I wanted to be alone.

I just couldn't believe that most of the group were considering Matthews proposal. I wanted to live. I wanted to have all of my friends around me and live in peace without the fear of the authorities killing us at any moment. But to do that at the expense of others was wrong.

I could hear Miles getting angry, his voice echoing up through the wooden floor. He had really impressed me tonight, standing his ground. He believed the same as I did, that going to The Rubies with Matthew to begin to transform all of the generations to vampires was wrong.

Coming to The Sapphire world was better than my wildest dreams. As soon as I stepped through the door of that murky tunnel and saw the golden sands and mountains all in one view, I felt complete. I had found my place. Before Matthew Perkins disturbed us, I was happier and calmer than I had ever felt in my life.

I stared at the ceiling and cupped my stone, relishing the smooth feel of it in my hand. I sighed heavily, so many thoughts in my head.

"I wish they could all see how wrong it is. They have to remember what we are fighting for."

I muttered the words, surprised that my mood was so low I had resorted to talking to myself. Suddenly, the room started spinning. I gripped on to the sides of the bed as it span round and round, but to no avail. I cried out as I hit the ground, my eyes dazzled by the startling white brick of the pathway. I looked to the right, then to the left of me. Gem stones sparkled, a deep, glowing red surrounded me. I was in The Rubies.

I stood up shakily, trying to get my bearings. I gasped as I saw a group of people in front of me, their backs to me, realising they were my friends. I ran over to them, tapping Jamie on the shoulder. He didn't flinch. He didn't even acknowledge me.

"Jamie?" I tapped him again, this time harder. My nose crinkled in confusion as I got a better look at him. He was wearing a dark red button up shirt, and black jeans with a red belt. He definitely hadn't been wearing those when we were in The Sapphires. I looked around at the rest of the group, realising they were all in red as well. Mel and Maisie were in red dresses with black trim, looking glam and sultry. Popkins wore a white shirt with a shiny red waistcoat over the top. I looked for Miles, only to realise with a start that he wasn't here.

I shook Jamie now, trying to get his attention. I swallowed hard as I realised he was different. His golden, gentle eyes were so dark they were almost black and his usually kind face had an insincere smirk across it. I gave a little cry of horror as I saw the huge Ruby hanging from his neck, replacing the Sapphire that was once there. It didn't look right. Everything was wrong.

When I realised that he wasn't paying attention to me, I focused on what he was looking at, what they were all looking at. There, on the ground, in the middle of my circle of friends, lay Miles. His face was black and blue, covered in bruises. His hands tied behind his back, he was so weak he could only whimper. My hands flew to my mouth as I realised he still had his Sapphire around his neck. He was barely conscious. I could hear him muttering over and over again, managing to catch the words "it's wrong."

I noted that it wasn't only Jamie who was smirking. It was all of them. What was going on? Why were they doing this. I stepped closer to Miles as Matthew entered the circle, a malicious grin on his face.

"Good work everyone. You have proved yourselves as Rubies. You've made him weak and pathetic. I love seeing that hopelessness on their poor little faces when I kill them. Now, while I take this disgusting Sapphire away so I can personally torture him to death, why don't you go and fetch the other one, Cassie."

I cried out, not knowing how to stop what was happening. Everyone started walking away, presumably to where they thought I was. Everyone but Jamie. I sighed in relief, hoping that he had seen sense. I knew he looked and seemed different, but it didn't mean he was capable of hurting me. Or of hurting Miles. I refused to believe it.

All I could do was watch as Matthew stepped over Miles, kicking him as if he were nothing more than an obstacle. I felt sick as he reached out, patting Jamie on the shoulder good naturedly, as if they were the best of friends.

"You did a good job with Miles, make sure you do the same with Cassie as well. She chose to keep fighting. Don't let your feelings get in the way of our perfect generation."

Jamie still had that smirk on his face, the one that I didn't recognise. His jaw was set in a hard line. He shrugged, his now dark eyes gleaming with evil.

"I've told you before, she means nothing to me. She's a Sapphire. The minute she chose to keep up the fight, she was already dead. Now she's just an inconvenience we must get rid of."

Matthew grinned with delight at Jamie's words. Hot tears burned my eyes. My vision went blurry and everything started spinning again. I wanted to throw up. I was nauseous and confused. My heart was racing as I landed back on the bed at the log cabin with a thud.

I cried out and scrambled up to the headboard, my knees against my chest and my arms wrapped around them as the door flew open with a loud bang.

"Cassie, what... "

Jamie took one look at me, before rushing over to the bed, crouching down beside me.

"What's the matter baby? We heard a bang and then you screamed out, are you ok?"

I tried to stop my body from trembling as I took deep breaths. He was my Jamie again. He had golden eyes and concern written all over his face. He was in the same t-shirt and jeans as before, the dark blue Sapphire necklace resting on his chest.

"I... I don't know what... what just happened. I don't know if I...if I just had a dream or if it...if it really happened."

I could see that he was confused. I couldn't explain it to him, I didn't know what had happened myself.

"You've only been up here for a minute, it couldn't have been a dream. Try to tell me, everything's OK sweetheart."

He went to take my hand, but I kept it firmly pressed against my leg, shaking my head.

"We...we were all in The Rubies. But you...you couldn't see me. You were in red and you had Miles. You were hurting him."

He shook his head, moving from his crouching position to sit beside me on the bed.

"Cassie, Miles is downstairs. He's fine. I wouldn't hurt him."

I couldn't look at him. I stared at the door, trying to figure out if what I saw was real.

"You were all there, standing around him. Then Matthew came to take him away and kill him. He called him a disgusting Sapphire."

It couldn't have been real, Jamie was here by my side, as lovely as ever. But I couldn't shake the bad feeling. I met his eyes now, wanting to see his reaction at my next words.

"Then he sent you to fetch me. You called me an inconvenience. Said I was...that I was already dead to you. You were going to hurt me."

I took a big gulp of air, struggling to get the words out. It actually hurt me to say it, to know that it felt so real. He gasped, then forcibly but gently pulled my arms away from my legs. He wrapped me in an enormous hug and stroked my back soothingly. He kissed me on the top of my head, burying his face in my hair and sighing deeply.

"I would never hurt you Cassie. You're my everything. I love you."

I relaxed my stance a bit, hugging him back. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but I felt so scared all at the same time.

"Some Sapphires have visions. Some of us can see what's happening in different gens, some can see what will happen in the future."

I shuddered in his arms, gripping on to him tighter.

"So I saw a future vision? I saw what will happen because most of you want to take Matthews offer. Is that what it was?"

He shook his head firmly, then swivelled me around to look at him, tilting my chin gently.

"No. You didn't see a future vision because I would never hurt you. You have to believe me."

Looking into his eyes, the eyes that made my heart skip a beat and my insides turn to jelly, I knew he was right. I kissed him on the lips, then took his hands in mine, shrugging my shoulders.

"I know. But what was it?"

"Maybe it was a vision of your worst fears? Maybe it WAS a future vision if we were to choose that option. But Cassie, I was going to come and find you before I heard you cry out anyway, I wanted to tell you that you were right. What you saw will never happen because we have decided as a group that we don't want to accept Matthews offer. You, and as much as I hate to admit it...Miles.. you were both right. If we want to carry on living, then we have to live the right kind of life. This fight that we started is worth carrying on."

I couldn't help the smile at his words.

"Really?"

My voice was almost a whisper.

He nodded, before leaning in for another kiss. There was no better feeling than his lips on mine, his arms around me. Everything in the world felt right when we were together. He pulled away reluctantly.

"Come on beautiful, we should go down and talk to the others."

I took his hand as he pulled me up and we made our way downstairs. Everyone had settled down by the fire now, Miles was even laughing about something. Popkins and Mel were sitting close together, their arms casually touching. I wondered if they would ever admit their feelings for each other. But the thought hit me that us turning down Matthews offer meant that they might never get that chance.

The group confirmed that everyone had decided to reject the bizarre and horrifying proposal of turning all the generations into Rubies. Mel decided she would be the one to break the news to Matthew and we agreed. We knew he wasn't exactly a compassionate man but there was always the hope that if his own daughter told him how wrong it all was, he would maybe start to believe it.

Now we were all set on what to do, we stayed up for hours just talking and laughing together. Although sleep was a good idea for us Sapphires and Popkins, it never came. There was too much to think about. Too much to fight for. As a group, we made a conscious effort not to mention the upcoming battle we faced. Instead, we focused on Mel and Popkins bickering, the affection in their eyes as they pretended to glare at each other. The spark between them was so visible it was almost fire.

Miles was beginning to open up to the group. He spoke about Rosie and the day he refused to graduate. He was quiet and thoughtful when he spoke and I could tell he found it hard to socialize. It was amazing to me that we could all sit here and talk so easily when we had grown up so isolated.

Popkins made us giggle and left us awestruck with tales of spells gone wrong and helping people escape certain worlds. He told us all about Kitty Harris and how everyone in The Emeralds loved her.

Maisie joined in with her own thoughts. She said that if there were a spell that could reverse her fully back to a Sapphire, she wouldn't take it. She liked being half Diamond/half Sapphire and couldn't imagine being anything else.

Jamie told us about the different parts of The Sapphire world and the places he hoped we would get to visit if we ever get out of this mess we were in. His face lit up when he spoke of all the magical places within the generation and I couldn't help but feel it was sad that he had spent most of his time since graduating either being tortured or working for the authorities. He had never really had the chance to explore the way he wanted to.

I shared a bean bag with Jamie, sitting on his lap while he softly played with my hair. Every so often he would kiss me on the shoulder or cheek, showing affection like he was so used to doing. I felt safe and secure in his arms, but couldn't fail to notice the looks Miles would shoot us through out the night. I knew it must be hard for him, but I didn't want to be away from Jamie. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I finally told the group about my meeting with Drew at the in-between world. Mel cried as I detailed our conversation and how he wanted us to win the fight. As I watched the tears fall down her face, I knew that we had to discover what was going on with her. She wasn't supposed to cry or feel emotion. She was a vampire. A Ruby. But from the minute I met her, I knew she was different. Who else would have escaped their chosen generation to help someone they barely knew?

Sooner than we would have liked, the sun began to rise. The mood in the log cabin went from happy to tense. Mel kept rehearsing what she was going to say, and the rest of us speculated how Matthew would react. Would he really wait for the authorities to kill us or would he do it himself?

We decided to go and wait on the balcony, where the steps led up to the cabin. It was a better alternative than waiting for Matthew to knock on the door, at least this way we could see him coming.

It wasn't long before we saw him marching purposefully towards Jamie's house, grinning when he saw us waiting outside. His icy blonde hair glistened in the morning light. He was a man on a mission.

Jamie stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist protectively, holding me close to him.

Mel and Popkins stood to our left. I smiled slightly as I noticed the lovely wizard put an arm around her shoulder, tentatively. She looked shocked by the unexpected show of support, but I could tell she was pleased as she huddled her body closer to his.

Maisie hovered in the middle of us, her gaze drifting from Jamie to Mel, no doubt wanting to protect them both but not being able to do anything about it.

Miles stood awkwardly to the side, his hair flopping over his forehead as it often did. He was biting his lip, nervously. His hands were balling up by his sides as we watched Matthew walk up the stairs.

I reached out for Mile's hand, knowing that Jamie wouldn't mind. Nobody should be stood alone. We all had to be there for each other. Jamie quickly patted Miles on the shoulder in a friendly way, before holding me once more. I squeezed Miles hand and held on tight to Jamie's arm with my other, my head nestling under his chin.

I could feel his heart beating fast as Matthew reached us. I gulped trying to keep my breathing steady.

I didn't know what was about to happen to us, but I knew that it wasn't going to be good.