Scott's P.O.V

"Here, take this orb," Rebecca handed me an orb. "If you ever need anything, the hands of at least two people will reach through to us."

"And this book," James gave us a book. "Extra info, you may need it."

"We have faith you'll pull through," Jaiden smiled.

"It was nice meeting you!" Adam waved.

They watched us leave the cave. Callum shushed us after only five minutes of walking. I looked at him in confusion until I hear the soft sound of paws on the leaves blanketing the ground. A purple tiger stepped through, two children on its back, one child beside it. And then she popped through the bushes.

Yammy grabbed the orb from me and put it in her bag. Shelby's eyes widened when she saw Jess. "You... how are you alive?!" she exclaimed.

"I died in Life's chamber. My spirit can still roam the Earth," Jess replied. "What's this I hear about you being the new leader of the EAPE?"

"It's my greatest accomplishment."

"Is it though?"

"Yes. And you feel it, deep down. Can you guess why?"

"I would never think such things."

"You died in my chamber, by my hands. You and I are tied together now. Liam, go try and touch Jess."

Liam stepped forward. Jess was going to move back, but she remained still as Liam's hand phased through her arm. Shelby then stepped forward and was able to grab Jess by the shoulders. "H-how?!" Jess tried to wriggle out of Shelby's grip.

"Like I said, you and I are tied together. Now, I'll be taking you, and they can try to come get you, but the EAPE is stronger now. I am their leader. I am their source of power. I was your source of power. We're nothing to each other anymore. What I felt for you was a lie. What you felt for me? It was foolish."

Jess was whisked away in a ribbon of light. "Oh, and one more thing before we go," Shelby said. She grabbed me. I felt a burn in my skin. "You can't escape from fate, Scott. Things were just meant to be this way," she whispered before pushing me away. Lauren managed to catch me.

With that, Shelby lead her little crew away. "Okay, what even was the point for the five of them to be here?" Max asked.

"Really?" Cory asked. 

"Yes, it's an important question!"

"Maybe they thought they looked more intimidating."

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. I felt an immense pain in my shoulder. My head started thumping. Then I blacked out.

"Wow, you are so weak," Shelby chuckled.

I looked up to see her, but her eyes were solid black, ribbons of grey dancing around her, wrapping around her neck, her arms, flowing in and out of her fingers. I single streak of black liquid trickled down her cheek. "What do you want with me? Where are we?" I looked around the light grey area.

"We're in your head! I never expected you to fall so quickly, Mr Scott Major. But here we are. Now, I need only one thing from you."

"What?"

She pulled me off the ground. "I need the sweet, sweet taste of your blood."

"U-um... no you don't..."  Wake up, wake up!

"You can't get out of this."

I was rooted to the spot. Shelby grabbed a small blade from her pocket and dug it deep into my forearm. I shouted in pain as she pulled it down towards my hand. She took out the blade and waved her hand above my arm. The blood came out, raising into the air, and my arm slowly got more pale, and it went more numb. My blood disappeared. Shelby got some blood off the blade using her finger and popped her finger into her mouth. She quickly pulled it out again, it only being slightly stained red. Shelby threw the blade behind her, and a felt a sharp pain in my head for a split second as it hit the ground. "You won't remember any of this, you'll be fine. But you will be far from normal when you awake, and I will be your biggest nightmare," Shelby said.

She started laughing before she faded away.

"Scott, are you okay?!" Yammy was shaking me.

I sat up on the forest floor. I glanced at my friends surrounding me. "Ugh... what... w-what happened?" I asked. My memory was fuzzy.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"U-um... a tiger appeared from the bushes. After that... it was all hazy."

Yammy frowned. "Shelby. She came."

"Sh-Shelby?!" Something at the sound of her name made me tremble. I didn't know why, but I was petrified. Yammy sighed, pulling me off the ground. My head hurt horribly. She supported me as we walked back home.

Ross's P.O.V

I finally see Shelby again and she's taken by evil. Just my luck, hey? 

I never would've imagined that Shelby would rule over an evil organisation, but then again, no-one here would.

I pulled up my sleeves that night. My door was locked shut, the blade was on my bedside table. The scars were still small. I was too scared to go big. To go deep. Staring at the blade really made me think. I was engaged, and I had a cousin to save. Cutting wouldn't do anything, would it? Eventually, I stood, grabbing the blade as I walked to my door. I unlocked it and waddled down the dark hallway to Max's room, pulling my sleeves down along the way to try and block out the cold. I knocked. "What?" came a low, tired voice.

"Can I come in?" I squeaked.

"Yeah, the door's open."

I opened the door, went in and closed the door behind me. Max was sitting up on his bed. His lamp was on. I went and sat next to him. "I... I wanna show you something," I said.

"What?" Max asked.

Shaking, I pulled up my sleeves again. Max gasped at what he saw. "I-I'm sorry..." I whimpered, tears trickling down my cheeks. Max wrapped me in a hug. 

"You don't need to apologise. But... I do have to ask... why?" he replied as he pulled away.

"It hurts... I-I just f-found her..." I choked out in reply. "And sh-she's gone."

"We'll get her back. Even if it's the last thing we do."