Leaving the conference room under the watchful eyes of several Vaskels gave James a level of bravado he'd never experienced before. He was their Lord and Master, not their dog to boss around. Not His dog either. He'd kill Alexa when he saw fit and right now, all he wanted to do was visit Hope. She'd been avoiding him since that night on the balcony, when they'd almost kissed, and left him giddy like a little boy. He hadn't felt like a little boy in a while. His childhood had been running from one makeshift shelter to another. The mansion hadn't been built until his mother announced she was pregnant with Alexa. Sweeping through the door which breathed into living room, James sensed the air stiffening. Dark Matter crackled at his feet, but he shook it off. He could deal with Alexa later. His mind kept repeating the order – kill her, kill your sister – over and over again. He tried not to listen. Part of him was convinced he could resist killing her forever. But he knew there'd be a price and he certainly wasn't willing to let Hope pay it. A flash of movement drew him back out towards the entrance hall. Three Vaskels were standing there, all regarding him with blank looks. He grinned. Speeding past, he rushed up the stairs and headed out onto the balcony. Hope wasn't there either. His eyes blew wide. Above, a foot floated down in front of his face. James chuckled, jumping onto the railing and launched himself onto the roof where she was sitting.

"Hey," she whispered. Her arms were wrapped around her chest and her eyes were downcast.

"Hey". He shuffled closer. She moved away. "What's wrong? Is this about last night? Don't worry. It's going to be okay".

"That's what you said last time". She rested her chin on her knees, sighing. He didn't need her to remind him. He could remember every detail of that terrible day; he had it mapped out in his mind. Each second tortured him constantly. He thought of it every day and every night. She was here now though. That was what mattered.

"Hope, it'll be okay. Come on," he said. "You're supposed to be the optimist here". She smiled, but it didn't last long. Tracing her fingers over the New York skyline, she said,

"I realised something yesterday. I'm not supposed to be here. I lived three-hundred years ago, James. I shouldn't be here. And I'm not, really here. Am I?" She let out a bitter laugh.

"Yes, you are. We're going to France soon, remember? You'll be here for good, then". His hand moved towards her shoulder.

"I'm a shell. I'm an echo of what's been. The Hope you knew died in the woods".

"Stop talking like that. He said He'd bring you back, and He has. All I need to do is kill Alexa. A life for a life".

"He made you kill your family. Have you even considered that he might have had an agenda? A motive?" He slapped his hand on the roof tiles.

"Of course, I have, but it's what I had to do for you".

"No," she hissed. "It's what you had to do for you".

"Hope, please. Accept this. Otherwise he'll take you away forever and I'll never see you again. It was my fault. You died that day because of me. I'm not going to let that happen again," he said softly. That day in the woods, he'd lost more than his soul. He'd lost his Hope.

They're walking in the woods. Their parents don't know they've left, and they hadn't planned to tell them anyway. He's dressed plainly, in a blue shirt and cotton breeches. His hands shake behind his back. The dress she's wearing is white like the snow that crunches under their feet. Pure. Beautiful. Untouched. She's his. Somehow, he knows he won't be able to get away with anything. She may be human, but she has a determination that more than matches his mother's.

"I cannot believe I managed to sneak out without Papa seeing me," she whispers, dancing in-between the trees. Her feet are red from the cold. He follows her.

"Hope, we should not be here. There are wolves," he teases. She slaps him on the arm.

"Do not talk so! It brings bad luck". If he only knew how true that would turn out to be. An icy blast of wind echoes through the woods.

"Looks as if a storm is coming," remarks Hope. He nods and holds her close. It is then that he feels strange. Like there's a fire inside of him, waiting to get out. Blackness skims the tips of the fingers.

"James? What is the matter?" He beats the darkness away, smiling.

"Nothing". But it isn't nothing. It's the truth. The lies his parents had fed him being turned on their heads. Dark Matter. Particles. Energy. His energy, one he can't control. He'd first experienced it as a child, and it had resulted in the destruction of their first makeshift family home. Over the years, as they'd fled from town to town, city to city, he'd tried to keep his power hidden. He hoped he'd manage to keep it that way. She stills in front of him and swings around.

"Has your sister followed us?"

"Gratefully, not. She was fast asleep when I left the house". Hope nods, seemingly unconvinced. He doesn't blame her. Alexa is as curious as anything; she would never pass up the opportunity to explore new things. Even if that meant ruining his night of freedom. Hope treads further into the woods. Unlike him, she's never left the village before. He knows how much she wants to. Another gust of wind strikes up, taking them by surprise.

"Perhaps I should have brought my shawl," she mutters.

"Now, I am never one to say I told you..." he says. She laughs and shakes her head.

"Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because we know both I'm never wrong". She laughs even harder.

"Now that I am certain is a lie". Pretending to act offended, he turns away. Shards of ash whisper between his fingers, but he forces them back down again. Not here. Not now. By the time he turns back to her, his power has vanished. Hope leaps over a fallen log, and rushes towards the edge of the woods. They must be near Weston Town by now.

"Follow me, I can hear something!" she cries. Her voice fades into the snow. Warily, he follows. He hasn't left the village in months, not since they'd met. He hasn't needed to. Each twig he steps over feels like drowning.

"Hurry up!" Hopes calls back to him. He shakes away the fear. The sounds of branches snapping echoes a little way off.

"What was that?" he asks the cold. It doesn't answer. Taking another step, he rounds the corner and—

"Boo!" She jumps out from behind a tree.

"Hope! Don't do that!" She laughs at him and scoops up a handful of snow.

"And don't even think about that either," he starts to say, but by then it is too late. The snowball hits him in the face. Rubbing the residue from his eyes, he bends down and picks up his own ammunition. Hope's smile goes slack, and she squeals, heading further towards the edge of the woods.

"You cannot escape me!" He lunges after her, the snowball un-melting in his hand. That was one positive of being dead, he supposes. Eternal snowball fights. Her laughter echoes in the breeze. A storm is coming. James vaults over a rabbit hole, nearly dropping his ammo. It is then that he sees her. She's standing between two large oak trees, staring out at the orange candlelight coming from the nearby town.

"When we marry," she starts. It's so sudden he crushes his snowball and yelps.

"Marry? You...you want to marry me?" He chokes on his tongue. Hope turns and blushes.

"Why wouldn't I? I love you".

"I love you too". He doesn't think he's ever loved her more. She moves closer and a rustle shakes the bushes nearest to them. Jumping, Hope cocoons herself in his arms.

"It's alright," he promises. And it is. And then it isn't. The rustling in the bushes stops, only to be replaced by growling. Wolves. Immediately, James pushes Hope away from their jaws. She lands with a delicate thud in the snow. Black ashes spring out from his hands and he levitates off the ground. These wolves are different, he can feel it. Their eyes are wrong, and their Energies are grey, like a dull artic sky.

"Stay back!" he calls to her.

"I wasn't planning to do anything else". She shoots him one of her cheeky grins, but he barely manages to return it. These wolves shouldn't be here. He wishes he has a musket or an axe like the normal village boys. Instead he's forced to use the power of an abomination. Two of the wolves lunge at once, while the third lurches for his Hope. Darkness sparks in his mind and he flings a string of electrons out of his fingers. One wolf down, two to go. His body jerks; he can't control it. The release of the energy is painful – more than anything he's felt before. If only his parents had given him lessons when he'd asked.

"It is better to ignore it. Your energy will fade eventually," his mother had said. It hadn't. It had lingered under the surface of his skin. Screaming to be let out. Until now. He shoots forwards, and a moment later, the head of second wolf lands in a gooseberry bush. Hope makes a face.

"Sorry my love," he smiles. He's starting to enjoy the flow of energy running through his veins. The final wolf. It dodges his fist attack. The scars which litter its back give testimony to its many battles. This would be its last. He could feel it. He launches his second spark of power and it catches the wolf on the nose. Nothing happens. Just a spark and a whine. Nothing else.

"James," Hopes warns. He doesn't listen. He can't listen. He doesn't even notice it is happening. Dark Matter pours out of him like a river, and electric energy scorches the nearby trees.

"James!" Again, he doesn't listen. He traps the wolf in a circle of black, and he relishes in its whines. He is sick of holding back. Sick of it. He needs to be who he is. The wolf looks at him pleadingly, but he doesn't have the heart to care. He's tired of being hunted. He's spent his life running away. Not just from those who could harm him, but from himself as well. It was time to stop. He lifts his arms and— The wolf explodes. Satisfied, James tries to bring the power back into himself. It doesn't move. He tries again, more desperately this time. He yanks on the particles and the strings of energy. Nothing. His fingers start to burn.

"James! James!"

No. No. Please don't. Don't.

The world seems to move in slow motion. Hope. One minute she's there. The next... The darkness recedes, but by then he knows it's too late.

"Hope?" he calls out pleadingly. He doesn't know why he expected her to answer. She's lying a few feet away from him, arms splayed wide like she's making a snow angel. Her eyes stare glassily into the sky.

"Hope!" He drops to his knees and cradles her in his arms. Black tears run down his cheeks.

"HOPE!"

It was my fault. James leant on the roof, his head lowered. He'd killed her; he wasn't going to let her die now.

"If I could go back to that moment," she said from next to him. "I'd tell you not to do it. I'd tell you to let me die".

"Hope"—

"What's done is done, James. I should've remained dead, in my time. I don't belong here". He shook his head.

"Don't talk like that. It was a bargain made between the three of us, you know. You, me and Him. You have to accept this too". Hope smiled, wiping her eyes on the train of her dress. She stared up into the sky, then out across New York. The lights blinked happily in her eyes.

"I accept," she whispered. James nearly whooped with joy. They were going to do so many things. Visit France, go to concerts. Live in New Zealand for a while - he'd always wanted to live there. He moved to hug her, but his body fell right through. She stood and stepped through his shoulders.

"I accept!" Her voice was carried tenfold on the wind. Accept what? If she'd accepted the deal, she would have become fully human by now. He could finally hold her once again. So why wasn't she changing?

"Hope? What are you doing?" She faced him and light shone at the bottom of her feet.

"I'm accepting my death, James. I'm sorry". His mind cracked a little. It had been close to shattering for far too long. 

Scrambling to the edge of the roof, he clasped his hands together.

"What? No. No, you can't be! We had a deal. I, I love you Hope. You can't do this, please don't do this! Please!" She bent down, as if to touch him, but only smiled.

"I want you to know," she carried on. Light spilled up her legs and towards her collarbone. "That the hardest thing hasn't been accepting my fate. It's been letting you go. I love you James. Now and forevermore. I love you". Tears ran down her face and she fiercely bit them back.

"No. No. No. You can't," James croaked. He pressed his hands even tighter, praying. His own tear stains dyed his shirt black. Praying for Him to stop this, he screamed into the sky. Hope only kept on smiling, even when the light blinded him from her outline and took her away. Leaving only silence. Silence and the subdued skyline. Those tall buildings, ones that she'd never get to see. Killing Alexa wouldn't even fill the whole she'd left. No. Killing Alexa was only the beginning. James remained on the roof for a while, still kneeling. The empty air where Hope had once been grew stale. The smell of pollution stung his nose. This world was rotten. Expired. Humans had had their time. Hope had been above all of them. She'd been above all of them and now she was... He rose up, easily. His power bent to his will when he asked. He walked, carefree, down the driveway of the house and stopped.

I killed my first love.

I betrayed my parents.

I hurt my sister.

I created a Demon.

I am a monster.

I will never be anything else.

He let go.