Son. That one word opened up his life, and as soon as he looked at Alexa, he could tell she felt the same. Son. Not pawn or expendable Half-life. Not bait or trap. But son. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. He and Alexa had just started to... She was his Aunt.

"You're lying". The words were like spitting snakes in his throat, but he didn't take them back. Alexa was his friend – his best friend. She was his age – in a way. She couldn't be his Aunt.

"Son, I've waited so long to see you," James - he refused to call him his father – said.

"Can't say I feel the same," he snapped back. A lie of his own. He'd been wondering when he'd get to have a go at hiding the truth. He'd spent so long looking for his real father that now he'd found him, he prayed for things to go back to way they were. He tried one last time.

"My mother would never have even looked at you. Trust me, you're not her type. Her Match.com profile said 'cycling, gardening and cooking', not 'murder, kidnaping and world-destroying'".

"You have a sense of humour. It appears you get that from me". James began to walk forward, but Jake held his arms up.

"If you really are my Dad, you made me a Half-life. I'm unstable. My power could let go at any minute. Just keep that in mind". He dropped his arms and Alexa stared at him. Her face had upturned into a smile. A sad one, but a smile none the less. Aunt Alexa. That sure wasn't going to look weird on a Christmas card. James sensibly backed off but continued to speak.

"I met your mother in a forest, when she was out running. She was so beautiful". His eyes trailed over to the chair in which his mum sat, still in a trance.

"Then you ruined her life, got it".

"I impregnated her to fulfil a purpose: you. You, my son, are special. Very special". Alexa must have realised what he was talking about, because her eye went wide.

"You had this planned from the beginning. Jake woke me up because he is my nephew. He could use the link because he is my blood-kin. You knew somehow, we'd find each other. How?"

"Why, I engineered it. I left instructions in the human, Emma's, mind that once my son was near sixteen, she would take him to the place of your incarceration and set you free". Something in Jake's mind began to whirl.

"The nosebleeds. It wasn't because she was a Half-life, was it? She was trying to tell me about you. That means...she's only human. I should have known. She kept trying to tell me something, but because of you, she never managed to tell me the truth. So that means I'm..."

"It means he's going to die, doesn't it?" Alexa broke in. "Oh, James. How could you? You know Half-lives barely live to twenty. How could you?"

"It was for a cause greater than him," he said.

"There is no cause greater than him".

"I wish you wouldn't always get so attached, sister. He'll be the one killing you, after all". Jake eyes flew wide and his lower lip quivered. What did he mean?

"Alexa, I would never," he began, but she cut him off.

"It is not your fault, Jake. I know you'd never hurt me". He clasped his hands tightly behind his back and stared his father down. He couldn't make him do anything. He'd survived the first year of high school, he'd survived Wolfie and most importantly, he'd survived himself. So far. He didn't fancy putting up with being his father's lackey that was for sure.

"He's a Half-life, Alexa. It's in his best interests to do whatever I tell him. Well, it's his only interest really"—

"You can't make me hurt her," Jake said slowly. Even as he spoke, he could feel all of his muscles disagreeing.

"Son, I can make you do anything I want". Who was he to argue? All of his initiative had vanished in a single moment and his hands had unclasped. Shooting one last desperate look at Alexa, he said,

"Run". She nodded, taking off like a swan. Her hands flew up, grabbing the ashen curtains before using them to pull herself up. James grinned and without even moving, his ashes wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to the ground. Alexa thrashed in his grip, growing weaker by the minute. Jake could tell she barely had any energy left to fight. The pain in her eye echoed his own.

I wish we could be something more.

The ashes sunk into her skin, binding her to the spot. Jake's hands shook, but however much he willed his body to stay put, it disobeyed.

"You're a Half-life, Jake. It's not your fault. I know that," she whispered. He stepped forward.

"It's not your fault". Somehow, he wasn't convinced. If he truly didn't want to do this, he would've stopped by now. Wouldn't he?

"And descend," James ordered. The paradigm of the building shifted, metamorphizing, roiling inside out until the all too familiar surroundings of Halfirr sunk into view. The ground squelched as his shoes hit, and he could smell sulphur in the air. Alexa, still struggling in the ashes, cried out.

"You knew this would happen! You knew flooding the Rye would cause this". Jake knew he was missing something, a letter so crucial that it made the word incomprehensible. He searched as much as his frozen body allowed, but there was nothing there. As Alexa screamed again, he figured it must be something he couldn't see. Why couldn't he see them? Or it?

"Aren't they beautiful, sister? These Chainlinks have been lying dormant in the Rye since that incident with our father. Do you remember? In the old woods that chilly night in October? All I had to do was wake them up," he said. Chainlinks? He'd heard Alexa mentioning them before, but he'd never seen them. Not that he wanted to or anything. His feet were still rooted to the spot, but something was changing. In his mind, in his heart and his body. It was painful – very painful – but it felt as if a weight was being lifted from his shoulders.

"Son. Bring me her heart".

He could no longer stop himself.

The Magik in Halfirr reared up as he walked. Step by step. Towards Alexa. Dirt packed against his feet, but he pushed on. He had no other choice.

"Brother, please. Think about what you're doing. Setting Halfirr and those Chains upon the world would be disastrous. You will die!" Alexa kicked back against the ash.

"Oh, sister. We both will". James motioned for him to keep walking. Biting back a comment, Jake carried on. Alexa barely looked at him and even the voice in his head was absent. In fact, it had been absent for quite a long time. Calming himself, he tried to stop moving. At first, nothing happened, but then...

"Hurry son!" James was beginning to get impatient. The blackness in his eyes had begun to seep down over his cheeks and into his mouth. The Ashdon Sword shook.

"Hurry. Bring me her heart". Slowly, Jake found himself walking again. Each step however, was more reluctant, more independent and—

"Bring me her heart!" Silence. In his heart, in his mind. In his body. A silence that made him feel like the robot he truly was, the pawn. Alexa finally met his gaze.

"You are my greatest, greatest friend, Jake. I know this isn't you. I am not afraid of death. I do not fear it". He tried to slow down even more.

"Stop talking like that. I'm sure James will surrender any minute now".

"Always with the jokes".

"I'm really not joking," he choked. She smiled.

"I know". His feet dragged across the soil, puddles of the Rye littering the space around him. Something brushed his shoulder – a Chainlink? He couldn't tell either way.

"I am glad it is you," Alexa said softly. "I would hate it for it to be anyone else". How badly he wanted to tell her to shut up. For once in her life. He was in touching distance now. She reached for his hand and he took it and held her close.

"Son" James pressed. The Ashdon was still clutched tightly in his hand. Alexa wiped her finger over his cheek – he hadn't realised he'd been crying. A tear clutched onto her nail even after she let go. Then he knew. He knew what he to do.

"I'm sorry," he said and plunged his hand into her chest. And yanked it straight out again. Her blood was on his hand – black and smeared – but his tears also glistered on his skin. Normal tears. Clear, human tears. He'd chosen. He wasn't a Halfblood – and he never would be. He wanted to be human and unfortunately for his Dad being human didn't involve starting the apocalypse. James's ashes immediately dissipated, mostly in surprise.

"Son, what are you doing? Take her heart. I gave you the order!" Jake swerved.

"You gave a Half-life the order. I'm human". His father's eyes narrowed.

"You will die a lot sooner if you fight those genes. You'd be forever at war with a part of yourself. You will die".

"Maybe. Maybe not, right?" Brave face. No one else was going to make one for him.

"You're my son, you have to obey me!" James dropped his sword.

"Clearly you do not have any experience of raising teenage boys," Alexa put in. Jake turned to her and swung her around.

"You're okay," he grinned, and she hugged him back. The whole in her chest was already beginning to heal. James's body began to shake and Halfirr merged back into the smouldering building. He shook again, making Halfirr re-appear. Jake glanced around—Mum! He rushed towards her in the human world, only to slip back into Halfirr, then back to the human world until he slammed his body into the closest surface he could find. Halfirr vanished with a crack of light and he could see his mother again. She hadn't stirred. Alexa ran up and grabbed his arm.

"Take her to a safer area. I"— She never finished. James pounded across the room and grabbed him by the collar. Smashing him to the floor, he began to beat him with the hilt of his sword.

"Take her heart! Defect, you defect! Take it!" Jake had felt pain before – as a Half-life - but nothing like this. Not the burning in his lungs, and the cold blood on his cheeks. Not the aching in his ribcage. Throughout the pain, he remained silent. He wasn't going to give his Daddy Issues the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

"Brother, stop it! He's human, please stop!"

"He's an abomination. He chose wrong!" The beating came down even harder.

"James! James, please!" A pause. "I will let you have me. Have my bloody heart big brother. If you hurt Jake, you hurt me too. Take my heart but leave him alone".

No, Alexa. What are you doing? He made an attempt to grab her, but his arms were like led. Being human in this situation really wasn't ideal. He was already a human punching bag, he really wasn't in the mood to be a human pin cushion. Though his lips were swollen, and he could barely see, he called out.

"What the heck are you doing? Alexa? I chose to defy him, you can too. Don't do this".

"I make my own choices, Jake. Nobody else's interest me".

"Listen to me," he coughed. Blood pooled around his purpling lips. "Don't do this". Her outline was a little hazy, but he could feel her shaking her head. Then she faced her brother.

"Finally come to your senses? This was where it all started after all: you and me. Together at the very end".

"At the very end," he heard her reply. His vision began to adjust, and he could see James poised and readying his sword. The blade drove forward. All at once, the tips of Alexa's hair turned white and her eye flashed blue.

Like Wolfie, he thought, but kept his mouth shut. Not that he had much of a choice. His jaw was probably broken. Alexa batted the blade away and grabbed the hilt. She yanked, and James tripped closer. The Ashdon fell from his grasp and clattered onto the floor. He stepped back, his fingers pointed at her hair, her eye.

"Hello bro," said Alexa and smiled Wolfie's smile.