Twenty-Three

Dianne raised her hands and the authorities came running at us, guns still pointed at our heads. I screamed and tried desperately to hold on to Jamie, but it was no use.

"Cassie!" He yelled for me as we were dragged apart, both of us struggling against the hands that now held us. I could see the others being taken as well. Instead of the authorities pointing guns at Maisies head, they held wands. Whatever spell they were casting was working, as Maisie struggled against an invisible tether.

I glanced at Jamie again, hating the panic on his face. Suddenly, the room started spinning and we were being transported through the air at seventy miles per hour. We were going too quick to actually see anything. I couldn't tell if people still had hold of me or not. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to be over.

When we landed, I managed to stay upright, mainly due to the fact that the authorities still had hold of me. I looked about, fear striking me when I couldn't see Jamie. He landed next to me just a minute later, as did the others one by one.

We were in a large, white room. The carpet and walls were bright white. There was no furniture inside, no windows to look out of. I had no idea where we were. I knew that I didn't have much to be thankful for right now, but I was relieved we hadn't been taken to The Coal Jailhouse.

"Are you OK baby? Are you hurt?"

Jamie was struggling once more against the people that held him. My heart sunk as I remembered it was all real. This was actually happening.

"No, I'm fine. Are you OK? Have they hurt you?"

He shook his head and grunted, still trying to get away.

"No, and I won't give them the chance to. We are getting out of here."

The authorities laughed at his words. It was menacing and freaky, all of their laughter sounded the same. I quickly scanned everyone else, my head hurting when I saw Miles who was in his wheelchair. The authorities were holding his wheels instead of him. He couldn't escape even if they gave him a head start. 'Are you OK?' I mouthed at him.

He gave a slight nod, but his eyes were teary as he glared at his legs. I knew he was willing them to move.

Popkins and Mel were looking at each other, while Maisie who was still frozen by the wands in front of her was looking from Mel to Jamie, helplessly. I was just about to tell them all that we would find a way out, but not quite convinced myself of that, when Dianne Cash appeared in front of us again.

Her orange hair glowed fire like. Her eyes were purple today. I wondered why she chose that colour. It was obvious they were contacts, but I didn't understand the look she was going for. They weren't dark enough to be menacing and evil, yet they weren't soft enough to forge a nice persona. Her eyes were at odds with her bushy orange hair. She was wearing a cream skirt suit, looking every inch the head of the Pearl Eds authorities.

She walked around each of us in turn, laughing at Jamie and Popkins who were still struggling against the people that had them. She circled me for a minute, making my anxiety sky high as I couldn't tell what she was going to do. I puffed out some air as she walked away, heading instead, towards Popkins.

We watched as she got her wand out and held it in front of his face. My heart thudded, I couldn't witness this. I just couldn't. If she was about to kill us one by one, I wanted to go first.

Mel screamed and I cried out as Dianne flicked her wand with a fast muttered spell and Popkins eyes rolled in the back of his head, his whole body jerking as the authorities that held him struggled to keep a grip. After what seemed like an age, the convulsing stopped and Dianne took Popkins hand in hers. She stretched out his arm and began to make dashes in his skin with the wand. Nausea hit me as I realised she was cutting his flesh, the smell of burning filled the room. Blood poured from Popkins arm, but he didn't react. He bit his lip against the pain, determined to look her in the eye as she hurt him.

Eventually, she stepped back, grinning with satisfaction.

"I believe you are the one that killed our Mayor of the Rubies? Matthew Perkins was a highly respected man you know. As an Emerald, you shouldn't have had the power to kill him. You shouldn't have known that spell. There is only one way to kill a vampire without a wand. It involves fire and daggers through the vital organs, something that Mel is about to find out for herself soon. Explain yourself wizard, explain why you killed him?"

My throat burned at her comment about Mel. I couldn't look at her. I didn't want to see how frightened she was.

"I killed him because he deserved it. And I would do it again. If you even think about touching Mel I swear I will..."

He was silenced by the flick of a wand once more, his whole body jerking painfully.

"Stop it. Please. He was only protecting us."

Dianne laughed at Maisies words. She moved her wand away from Popkins, pointing it at the floor. Popkins took a bit longer to stay still this time, his arm was still bleeding profusely.

"He killed one of our Mayors ghost girl." She glared at Maisie, her whole face hard with anger. "You are all about to meet your nasty ends, but the wizard is first. Our Mayors should have been untouchable."

She held up her wand again, but I stepped forward. I had been still for so long that it startled my capturers when I moved. They jumped in shock, grabbing me tighter and pulling me back.

"Wait, before you kill him, before you kill all of us, there's something you should know."

She shrugged lazily, a little grin on her face as she walked over to me.

"Ah. The girl who started it all. We have waited a long time to kill your group, and now we have that chance, it makes it all the more exciting to drag it out a bit more. You have my permission to speak, this should be good."

I looked at Popkins once more, worried that he was going to bleed to death. I would rather him be killed out right than have to suffer for long. I took a deep breath and turned back to Dianne.

"Your beloved Mayor was working against you. You should be thankful Matthew was killed."

I saw her face change in an instant.

"Nonsense." She almost growled.

"It's true. He came to us with a proposition, he wanted us to help him. He wanted a world where everyone was a Ruby. He promised that if we helped him form a plan on how to get everyone at graduation to pick the Ruby Generation and over take the authorities, he would let us live."

Dianne looked at the authorities closest to her, a worried look on her face.

"I told you this a while back Ma'am, we knew he was plotting. We told you but you wouldn't listen. He's wanted things his way for years now."

It was a guard that held Jamie who spoke. Dianne frowned, then looked back at me.

"Continue."

She barked her order at me.

"He gave us a night to think about it. We said no. People have the right to belong in their proper generation. Nobody should be forced to be something they're not. It would be wrong to turn everyone into a Ruby, just as it's wrong to keep me and others from being a Sapphire. We all just want to belong. It shouldn't be so hard to do that."

She raised an eyebrow, scanning all of us.

"Interesting. So you all would rather have died than lived a life where Mayor Perkins was in charge?"

We nodded. She walked over to Miles and clicked her fingers.

"And you boy? What happened to you?"

He sighed, then looked up at her. He was almost as tall as her even sitting in his chair.

"The Mayor was trying to kill Cassie. I stepped in."

She nodded and put her hand on her chin.

"So you risked death and have ended up with severe injuries just to save a friend."

Miles nodded and Dianne walked away. I gulped as she took her wand out and walked over to Mel.

"And you, how do you feel about your Father being killed by the eccentric wizard?"

Mels icy eyes turned cooler than I had ever seen them.

"He wasn't my Father. Popkins did the right thing. It was him or us. These people in this room are my family. They are the only ones that matter to me."

Dianne pondered for a while as she walked up and down the room. She flicked her wand and a stool appeared in front of her. She climbed on it, facing all of us.

"So Mayor Perkins wanted a world of Ruby Generation Vampires only, and you as a group, said no to him, realising that it would mean death?"

We nodded, glancing at each other, wondering what on earth was going on. Popkins wand suddenly flew out of his pocket and into Dianne's hand.

"Thanks for all of your help today guards, but you are relieved of duty for now. Go into the next room for refreshments, I will summon you back if things get difficult."

They saluted her and to my surprise, let us all go, marching out one by one as if they were soldiers. My arms tingled as the pressure was eased. I knew I would have bruises but that was really the least of my worries.

Dianne cleared her throat and put her hands together. She reminded me of a bird or something similar, sitting up on a perch.

"It seems that all of you are the spirited type. What would you say if I told you that you could walk away from here today, still living?"

Miles and Mel scoffed at the same time. Maisie was the one to speak, her tinkling voice floating through the air.

"We would say that you are lying and that there has to be a catch."

Dianne nodded, smiling at Maisie. I couldn't be sure if the smile was genuine. It didn't seem as untrustworthy as a Mayor Perkins smile, but there was something off about it all the same.

"Yes. I can see why you would think that. It's been a long chase after all, why would we suddenly let you go?"

The room was silent. Now that there was nobody holding us back, I stepped close to Jamie. He put his arm around my waist and kissed me on the cheek, the movement catching Dianne's attention. She turned her smile on the two of us now, making my insides feel funny. I didn't know if it were possible to throw up the entire contents of your body, but it was something that I thought was going to happen.

"Ah, you two. Loves young dream. Wouldn't you like the chance to walk away from all of this horror and just be together? Without all the fighting and chasing and stress? Cassie, you got to experience a bit of The Sapphire Generation, wouldn't you love to go back there with your man and live peacefully?"

I swallowed. Of course I wanted it. I wanted that scenario so bad that it hurt. But there was a catch. There had to be. Jamie spoke before I could.

"You know we want that. But you tortured me for two years and then made me work for the generations just so I could live. I was basically a slave. Why would you be willing to let us skip back to The Sapphires with no fuss when you have been trying to destroy that gen for years? The whole reason we are standing here now is because Cassie is a Sapphire. You don't want Sapphires to exist. So forgive me for being confused."

I hugged Jamie to me, not wanting to get my hopes up. I knew there was something big happening. We just had to wait for the punchline. Dianne stood up now and walked straight to us. I huddled in close to Jamie, pushing myself against him so hard that I was almost hurting him.

"I will let you and Cassie go back to The Sapphires. Miles too. You get to be in your world without interruption or fear. You don't have to work for us anymore. The only thing I ask is that you let us, the authorities, know immediately if you hear of anything again like what Perkins was trying to suggest. Turning every graduate into just one sort of generation is horrifying to us and defeats the whole purpose of us, any of us,  existing. You have impressed me by refusing his offer. That's it. That is all I ask in return for letting you live a happy and long life in the world to which you belong."

I looked at Jamie, not knowing if we should believe her. He shrugged, he was obviously confused as well. Miles wheeled close to where Jamie and I were, looking at us with hope. I was just about to ask what he thought when Popkins stepped forward, dragging Mel with him. Maisie hovered by them at shoulder height.

"Wait. You just said that Cassie, Jamie and Miles could go back to The Sapphires. What about us?"

I looked at Popkins, my mouth open. He was right. She hadn't said anything about the others getting to live. How had I missed that? I was so wrapped up in wanting a perfect world for us Sapphires that I hadn't even thought about the rest.

Dianne laughed, an easy sound at odds with the atmosphere in the room. She grabbed Popkins bloodied arm, making him flinch and step back. But to our surprise, she flicked her wand and wrapped his arm up in bandages. Popkins stared at his arm, then looked at Dianne as if she had gone mad.

"Popkins. My dear wizard friend. I shall let you live as well of course. All of you."

Mel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? And again we ask, what's the catch you lunatic?"

I winced at Mel's insult. I didn't want Dianne to get nasty and start hurting us again. But to my surprise, she just laughed.

"Oh Mel. You have always had such a way with words. And that is why I'm so relieved that The Rubies will be in such capable hands now Matthew is deceased."

My mouth fell open once more.

"Wha... what?"

Mel's voice was shaky and weak.

"You are Matthews daughter. His son Drew is deceased and was a Diamond anyway, so the leadership duties fall to you. Congratulations Mayor Mel. I trust that you will look after the generation to my satisfaction."

"But wait a minute..." Maisie interrupted now, as stunned as the rest of us. "I'm confused. Why are you helping us?"

Dianne looked up to where Maisie was floating, the unconvincing smile still plastered on her face.

"Maisie. You are truly unique. Since being in The Diamonds for so many years, you really almost are one. You have luckily held on to a couple of Sapphire abilities, but you are mostly an afterlife diamond now, would you agree?"

Maisie nodded. Dianne turned to Popkins.

"And you get to go back to The Emeralds and live. Of course, your criminal activities such as helping people escape their generations will have to stop. But yes, all of you get to go back to your generations and be safe. So what do you say?"

I could see a few of the group smiling at each other now, hopeful and positive. I could see that they thought it was the perfect result, except.....

"Wait." I stepped forward, close to Dianne, wanting to see her face when I spoke. "We all get to live and go back to our generations. And that is the catch isn't it?"

Dianne smirked and gave me a solitary round of applause.

Mel scratched her head, confused at the exchange.

"Cassie, what do you....?"

I sighed, turning to Mel with tears in my eyes.

"Don't you see? We get to go back to our gens Mel. Our own generations."

I watched her as the realisation hit. Mel frowned and shook her head.

"No, but wait... I'm going to be the Mayor, surely that means I can...."

"No." Dianne's voice was firm as she cut her off. "Cassie is right. That is the catch. If I let you go today, you have my word that you will be safe. But that means that you go back to your own generations. You will never see each other again. Cassie, Jamie and Miles back to the Sapphires. Mel returns to The Rubies to be Mayor. Popkins gets his wand back to go and live in The Emeralds and Maisie gets sent back to The Diamonds. It's a small price to pay for your lives. Come on gang, don't look so down. It's an easy decision."

I sniffed and looked around the group. Miles was staring at his legs, lost in his own thoughts. Jamie was looking at me, those eyes searching my soul. I glanced up at Maisie. She was staring at Jamie, a tear running down her cheek. She obviously hadn't lost her Sapphire ability to cry. Then I looked at Popkins and Mel, my heart breaking. Selfishly for me, I would have to loose my two best friends. The people who had kept me going time and time again. But my heart broke even more for the pained look they were giving each other. They had only just admitted their feelings and now, if they wanted to live, they had to be torn apart.

It was unbearable and yet, if we didn't agree, we would all be dead anyway. We all stepped together in a circle, Miles wheeling his way in. We hugged in silence, tears running down all of our faces. We didn't say a word to each other, but we all knew. We knew we had to accept Dianne's offer. We didn't need to say goodbye. It was too hard.

We reluctantly pulled away from each other and Popkins stepped forward, holding his hand out for his wand.

Dianne smiled again as she placed it in his hand.

"We accept. Send us back to our Generations."

I let out a huge sob as once more, the room started spinning before me.