All it took was a few seconds for Jake to make up his mind. He knew in those bare moments what he had to do, where he had to go.

Get out. Get out, the voice repeated.

Find Alexa. Get out.

Richard East motioned for him to come closer, but he didn't. He didn't fancy going anywhere near the man. Not one who reeked of betrayal. Or one who reminded him of every cartoon villain from his childhood.

"Jake, you don't have to be afraid of me," said East kindly. The kindness was fake, of course. Constructed poorly and completely fake. He wasn't going to fall for that. He'd fallen for too much already.

"Tell me where Alexa is and maybe I'll corporate". East stepped back, his smile widening. Then he let his façade melt away.

"You know what these are, don't you Jake?" he asked, gesturing to the Vaskels. At first, he didn't want to answer, but the question had seemed innocent enough.

"Vaskels. At least that's what Alexa told me," he said. Not that he was inclined to believe her word anymore. Still, he had to find her. He had bigger things to worry about than how they both felt.

"Yes, well done. You're a very clever boy, Jake. These are Vaskels. I'm human, but you already know that. And what are you, Jake?" There was the fire.

"You're not human, but you're not inhuman either. So, what are you?" Jake spat at his feet and stood up. His muscles surged with pain, but his eyes glowed like acid set against the white room.

"Did you come here just to taunt me Mr. East or are you actually going to ask me questions?" he said darkly. East shrugged.

"I'm not supposed to be here at all really. James said not to hurt Alexa, but he didn't say anything about you". Alarm bells began to ring, but Jake held his ground. If he was a Half-life, he must be pretty unstable. The football match had been his first clue. The roof was his second. This time would be his third. Trying to quell, the rising adrenaline in his stomach, he gritted his teeth.

"Get on with it then". East might have looked impressed if he hadn't been smiling like that.

"You got some guts kid, I'll give you that," he said. Jake gave him the pleasure of seeing his serpent smile. One of the Vaskels stepped forward, but East pushed him back. Reluctantly, it remained silent.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Jake. I'm here to make you a deal," he explained. Jake's eyes narrowed. There was no way someone like East would want to make a deal with him. A sour-lipped guy like that wasn't worth negotiating with. But still... He was curious and he had nothing left to lose.

"I'm listening," was all he said. East smiled like he'd already won, rubbing a thumb over his clean-shaven face.

"Tell me everything you know about Alexa and in return, I'll save your life".

Alone in the room, Alexa endured the pain. Welcomed it. Bowed to it. She let it inhabit every part of her. The hurt in Jake's eyes had been enough to make her one of the damned. How could she have kept that from him? He was a footnote in time, while she was immortal. He'd had dreams, desires, plans. She'd ruined his life. More than her brother had ruined hers. That truly made her a monster. He was right. Her parents had been right. The room which the Vaskels had moved her into was just like the one before. White walls, white floor, white ceiling. No windows. A heavy metal door. Although it wasn't the door that kept her from leaving. It was the guilt. The guilt and the pain and the realisation of what she'd done. This, this was more painful than anything she could've imagined. Worse than death. Life was worse than death. Was this how her brother had felt? That night? The more she sat there, alone in the room, the more she thought about her brother. About her choices. All of that anger she'd harboured, all of that pain from the loss of parents, she could channel it into killing him. That had been her first thought. Her second was to swallow it, and live harbouring that dreadful pain forever. The third, the third was to let it go. She chose wrong. Shifting her gaze over to the door, she caught her reflection as it faded in and out...and in and out. Inhuman. Disgusting. Monster. So near, yet so far. Was that what Jake had thought of her? He'd called her a monster; the other names mustn't have been too far from his mind. Her own mind drifted again back to James, to that night on the bridge. The one she tried ever so hard to remember but couldn't.

Flames lick at her feet, chasing her down onto the bridge. He's here. He's here with her.

Her head snapped up, mind reaching out to grasp the memory. She had to remember. That way she could finally make her decision: to rot in here until James decided to end her or to end him herself. Alexa closed her eye and tried. Fought past the memories of Jake – as prominent as they were until... Until her mind was empty. A void. She couldn't discern one thought from another – they were all so tangled. So, so tangled.

"Forgive me" he screams and—

This time, her whole body jerked. Tears came as well. Sharp and cold against her skin, they bled onto the floor. The black spread easily over the white like ink on paper.

"Tell me! Let me remember. I have to know!" she screamed. "I have to choose! Kill or be killed". At this point, she was convinced Jake would only approve of the latter. Would he even want to rescue his mother? The memory closed around her, but it was muffled, and she couldn't quite make it out. Her parents and her brother, arguing in the entrance hall. Walking up the stairs and then, then nothing. Just blackness, with static sparking in her ears.

He Altered me, she realised. My own brother...

It was almost too much to bear, but she persisted. She had to know, now more than ever. Jake sunk to the back of her mind, right where she imagined she was in his. How he must hate her now. Yet she couldn't help wanting him to... What had she expected? Humans hated Halfbloods. They always had. And they always would.

Jake stared at East.

"What do you mean? You can't save my life. Alexa said the only way would be to turn me into a Halfblood and I'd rather die than be like her". The words pinched his tongue, but he couldn't hold them back. East nodded as if he completely understood his situation.

"I don't think you should trust everything that comes out of that girl's mouth, Jake. Especially when she's lied to you".

Is there another way? He wanted to ask but thought better of it. East wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person this side of the planet either. He decided to dig deeper.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" East shook his head and sighed.

"Because I know. I know what it's like. My sister," he said slowly. "Was a Half-life. She was going to die. I wanted to save her, but she wouldn't let me. Too headstrong. She died when she was fifteen, like you. She was so lovely. She wanted to be an artist". Jake bit his lip, uncertain. He didn't know what to say. A 'sorry' jumped up his throat, but he swallowed it. In the end, he found there was nothing else to say.

"Why would you want to save me?" he tried to dig even further. "You work for James, don't you?"

"'Freelance' is the term I prefer," East grinned.

"So basically, you'd risk your own neck to save me? No. Somehow, I don't believe you". He turned away, arms folded across his chest.

"You don't believe me? Or you don't want to believe me? You must have dreams, Jake. Aspirations. People who need you there for them. Don't be like my sister," East pleaded. Jake wanted to believe him, more than anything in the world. But it was too good, too soon. It wasn't right.

"Please, Jake. Tell me what you know about Alexa? You don't have to give me a lot of information. Just what I need". East pressed his hands together in a prayer. "Please let me save you, so you can save your mother". Jake's biceps bunched and contracted. He didn't know what to do. He needed to save his mum, but this didn't feel right. Even so, Alexa wasn't going to save him and he didn't want her to. Light burst in his mind and all of his dreams came into focus. His gap year before University, his GCSE'S. He could live again. No Alexa, no James. No Vaskels or Halfbloods or Half-lives. Just his mother and a normal life.

"Okay," he breathed at last. "What do you want to know about her?" East looked triumphant and reached out to shake his hand.

"You made the right choice," he kept saying, but Jake was too focussed on his new plan: save his mother, save Alexa, all without dying in the process. Definitely easier said than done.

"I've been studying Halfbloods for years, but there's barely anything in the history books that depicts their capacity for power or their psychology. They're like us – humans – but at the same time they're not. Alexa is a brilliant case. I wanted to know, because you both spent time together, everything about what you saw her do. Her behaviour, her power, everything. Or as much as you feel comfortable giving away". Jake studied him and suddenly realised he was about to make a terrible mistake. He didn't know much about Alexa's power at all, and more importantly, he didn't want to betray her. Even though she'd lied to him, he couldn't do this to her.

"Jake, please. I'll save you. I'll make you a Vaskel, you won't have to die"— East knew he'd said too much. Jake recoiled.

"A Vaskel? No. No, that's not saving me. Don't you understand, I don't want to be one of them! You lied to me, more than Alexa ever did. I won't tell you anything!" he snarled. East's face softened, but that seemed to unnerve him more.

"I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this Jake. I liked you," he said.

"What about your sister? Would you have turned her into a Vaskel?"

"Sister?" East's smile titled and he chuckled. "I wasn't expecting you to fall for that lie too. Oh, well. Volpek". The nearest Vaskel bobbed its head and moved forward.

"What are you doing?" Immediately, Jake's bravado vanished, and the fear began to overflow. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to sell his soul either. He wanted to be human. Human was safe, human was normal. He wanted to go back to school, to moan about homework. To play football and eat fish and chips. Human. Human. The Vaskel's claws dug into his throat, only drawing enough blood for it to sting. Human. He shut his eyes.

"Please," he croaked. The word was barely audible. A moment later he found he couldn't speak at all.

Please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I didn't choose this. I don't want to die as one of them.

What he wanted was for Alexa to show up. What he needed was for his mum to show up. What he got was a Demon. Or, more specifically, he got Wolfie. She must have slipped into the room while East had been gloating. The cuts and blood from the roof had completely vanished, and she was clad in a black dress that even risqué movie stars would've found indecent. She was also barefoot. What confused him the most however, was the clapping. Those short, sharp slaps.

"What are you doing in here?" The Vaskel clutching his throat loosened its grip as East began to speak. Wolfie kept on clapping.

"'Ello dearies".

"What?" She rolled her eye at Jake's surprised expression.

"Who were you expecting, the Sheik of Araby?"

It happened too fast. Jake thought it would've been more like Mission Impossible and happened in slow motion, but instead it passed by in brief flashes of colour, a drawn-out scuffle, and then a silence. A really long silence. He let himself finally breathe. East was lying at his feet, unconscious. He really couldn't find it in his heart to feel sorry for him, or the other unconscious Vaskels. Wolfie stood among them, licking dried blood off the back of her hand. Her fingernails were still immaculate as ever. The truth hit him.

"You saved me," he breathed, then, more disbelieving, "you saved me". She grunted.

"Trust me dearie, that was never my intention". She stepped over one of the fallen Vaskels, nudging it with her toe.

"Okay, seriously," he groaned. "Whose side are you on?" Wolfie gave him a lopsided grin.

"I like to keep people guessing". Just what he needed. An indecisive psychopath.

"Do you know where Alexa is?" he said hopefully.

"Nope. I don't care neither". She crossed her arms and harrumphed like a child.

"Well, clearly you do. You have the same face, aren't you curious? Or do you already know why you look the same"—

"I know enough not to care," she answered plainly and tried to leave it at that. Tried being the operative word. For some reason, nearly dying multiple times in the past few days had made him rather resilient.

"Then why did you save me?"

"Persistent little bugger aren't you dearie? Alright, I'll play," she said. "I'm bored and I want something fun to do to pass the time". That wasn't a valid reason, but he felt it was the only one he was going to get. For now, anyway. So, he attempted a different line of questioning.

"Why did East try to get information out of me? I don't know that much about Alexa at all," he pointed out.

"Why does East do anything? Money, power. The usual clap-trap. Me, I'm all about fun!"

"I can see that". He gestured to the horde of unconscious bodies on the floor.

"Speaking of those little devils, we should scoot. Don't want the puppies turning rabid now, do we?" She began to head towards the door, but he didn't follow. Even if East or the Vaskels woke up, he was certain Wolfie would just knock them out again. Another thought plagued him. Why hadn't she killed them? She didn't seem the type to leave unfinished business.

"You coming Jakey boy?"

"Don't call me that," he snapped.

"What would you prefer? Jakey girl?" She smirked and he pushed past her and opened the door. All of a sudden, one terrible idea popped into his head. In an instant, he'd slammed the door and snapped the locking mechanism, trapping Wolfie inside. There were no windows, so unfortunately he wasn't witness to the look of surprise on her—

"Hold up there Mr. Tall, Dark and Suicidal. What do you think you're doin'?" she said from behind. Heart in his mouth, he swerved around.

"How did you...?"

"Demon," was the only explanation she gave.

"I was going to try and find Alexa on my own. You got us into this in the first place!" She'd put their heads on the chopping block, so what was the point in trying to take them off again? She'd done the damage, now he had to fix it. Besides, he couldn't trust her. Not after what she'd done to Alexa or what she'd tried to do to him.

"Did you ever think for once to trust me? That maybe my words hold some truth?" Wolfie batted her single set of eyelashes.

"Hmm, let me think. How about no?" he said. Her face tightened and her fingers twirled like corkscrews until she just about managed to stand still.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We're in New York," she blurted out, and made of show of wiping the invisible sweat off her brow. "God that was torture. I've been holding that in for hours". For at least the third time, Jake felt his world deserting him and no safety net was big enough to catch him as he fell.

"We're where? New York? No, we can't be. Alexa said James had ended up in London. Wait, how long was I unconscious then?"

"You were technically Sleeping Beauty for two days at least. Maybe three. I don't know, time ain't my relative. And unlike Lexie who's spent the past three-hundred years of her life living in a box – quietly literally – I've done things. Seen things. I know things". He stared deep into her eye and saw glaciers there. He saw decade upon decade of history all laid out before him in an unforgiving sea of blue. Instead he just smiled playfully.

"What kind of things?" She winked. Well, that was the end of that. Realising he'd have a better chance drawing blood from a stone, he gave up trying to question her. Which must have been her cue to tell him everything.

"I saved you because I just wanted to get some things off my chest. You know, spend time with lil' Lexie. As well as you of course, Jakey. I've been waiting to meet you for fifteen years. Fortunately for me, Jamie gave me the job of keeping an eye on you, so"—

"Get to the point," he snapped.

"Not a chancy antsy. Unless you wanna re-join the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show". She jerked her head in the direction of the room they'd just left.

"You've watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show?" he said, amused. At first, she didn't answer. A small smile dashed her lips.

"I was bored. It was the 70's".

Jake swallowed his following chuckle. He couldn't trust her. Yet she'd saved him, whether intentionally or not. Why would she do that if she wasn't on his side? There was also the possibility that she was lying, but he had no other choice. It wasn't as if he'd find a map telling him exactly where Alexa was. Being in New York was making things even harder to cope with. James was here. That meant... That meant his mum was here too. Without Wolfie, they would've ended up in London. Without her, they never would've found James. They would have been on the run, for months. If he was honest, it already felt as if he'd been running for years.

"So, Jakey boy, got a plan?"

"No," he admitted. "You?"

"Not at all".

"Brilliant. How about, we split up? You can go really far away over there," he pointed down the nearest corridor.

"Whereas I can go over there". He pointed to a set of stairs that bled downwards from a coffee machine.

"Why don't you trust me?" Wolfie swooned. "I'm a good little girl". He doubted that. Jake felt that if they kept talking any longer she'd break into a rendition of 'Trust in Me' from The Jungle Book.

"I don't know what or who you are. You put us in this place to begin with, you're the enemy," he started, but she shook her head.

"It's because I look like her, isn't it? The monster that broke your fragile human heart".

"It's not like that"—

"Nice try Jakey boy. I'm three-hundred, not stupid. I've seen my fair share of people like you". She leaned closer. "You don't deserve to know her".

"She lied to me," he hissed. "She betrayed me. I've gone past caring about what she thinks or what you think. I'm dying, and I've got nothing left to lose".

"No. You have everything, and you don't even see it". She must have been referring to Alexa.

"She's a monster!" he shouted, despite how much he regretted the words.

"Being a monster doesn't keep you safe from monstrous things". Her eye caught his again and they stared at each other. She seemed to be defending Alexa, for some reason. She seemed to be doing a lot of things lately that he wouldn't have ever imagined her doing before. Again, without much logic or reason. However, in the end, it all came down to one question:

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can't," she said. "But I'm all you've got". That was good enough for him.