The door burst open and in came running a very scared looking Zoe and angry Adam.
Clara and Toby Spring apart from where they had been standing, even though all they had been doing was talking.
Toby looked mildly annoyed that Zoe and Adam interrupted them. "What is it?"
Adam barred his teeth as he spoke. "It's Nathaniel." Toby's eyes widened at the name. "He's keeping everyone in the great hall under lock down. He's even killed David."
Clara turned to Toby who had gone pale. "Who's Nathaniel?"
"Only the most powerful being in all four universes." Zoe snapped, despite looking scared as hell. "Toby, Tina is in there."
Clara knew how serious this was, how powerful this Nathaniel was by the expressions on all three of their faces. Hearing that the lovely Tina was trapped in a room with him made Clara feel a wave a nausea.
"Well we have to save them all." Clara said, thinking it was the only solution.
Toby bit his lip and looked directly at Adam. "Why is he here? What does he want?"
Adam shrugged, looking irritated with himself. "He said something about a Saviour? Apparently she is among us? Some bull like that."
Clara felt her jaw drop in shock. Her hands begun to shake and she suddenly felt cold all over. Those people were trapped because of her, Tina in danger because of her.
"Wait, do you both know something?" Zoe said suspiciously.
Clara turned to Toby who looked just as shocked and frightened as her. "Toby?" She said slowly.
Toby suddenly looked extremely guilty. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but things happened and...well I guess I didn't really have a chance to."
Clara felt her cheeks flame red at the memory of how close they had been, and the three words they had shared.
"Vanessa told me some things," he continued. "I went to her that night, demanding answers. I knew she would just play games with you, therefore thought I'd save you the pain. I went to her in secret and got the answers out of her by striking a deal."
Adam was looking at his friend with hardly concealed distaste. "You made a deal with the devil? Jeez man, bad move."
"Shut up," Zoe and Clara snapped at the same time. "Let him speak." Zoe finished.
"The original deal was that I made her believe we..you know..."
Adam snorted and Zoe punched him in the arm, clearly unimpressed.
"Anyway, I agreed and she answered my question. At first what she told me didn't make sense, well half of it didn't anyway. Now however..."
"I hate to remind you, but my sister and every other chosen one is currently being held captive by the most powerful man to exist, if you could please make this quick?" Zoe said impatiently.
Toby nodded. "Right, of course. She said 'A deal with the devil was made, an agreement with the Lord was created, a risk with the Leader was committed. The Saviour walks amongst us, but the Saviour is unlike us.' I'd heard stories of the Saviour before, however had forgotten all about it until then. That's when I realised the Saviour was you Clara."
All eyes slowly turned to Clara who hid her face behind her hair on an attempt to become invisible.
"Well," Adam said, breaking the tension abruptly. "Isn't this awkward."
"You?" Zoe whispered in disbelief. "You are the reason my sister is currently being held captive?!"
"Zoe I-"
"We're taking her to Nathaniel." She said, suddenly tugging Clara's arm. Clara opened her mouth to protest, but then saw the fear and pain in Zoe's eyes of not knowing whether Tina was okay or not. It quite literally snapped her heart in two. Zoe was right, she was the reason. It was only fair that she gave herself up.
"No!" Toby shouted and they all turned to him, Zoe's grip still firm and unyielding on Clara's upper arm.
"No?" Zoe yelled. "Toby, giving her over could save them all! Save Tina!"
"What?" Toby spat. "You think Nathaniel will just hand them all over? You know the stories as well as I do, Zoe. Knowing that David helped keep Clara a secret, he will punish every Chosen one. He has the power to make more, what's stopping him?"
Zoe pressed her lips together and suddenly broke down in a sob. Clara wanted to comfort her, but Adam was already there, gently peeling her hand from Clara's burning arm.
"I'm sorry," Zoe whispered into Adams chest. "I just want Tina."
Adam stroked her hair and whispered soothing things in her ear before turning to Toby and nodding for him to continue.
"When Vanessa told me this, she gave me the option of whether to tell you or not. At the time the only thing I understood was that you were the Saviour, none of the other stuff she told me. I knew that you would be put at risk if you knew and others were to discover who you were. The Saviour is extremely powerful. Where Nathaniel has the power to create the Afterworlds, you have the power to destroy them."
Clara's head spun but she managed to say, "'It is said that there will come a day when the saviour is brought between our two afterworlds to free the trapped souls. Her eyes will burn magenta, her hair like fire. She will rain down hell and rise up heaven.
Clara the destroyer. Clara the changer. Clara the saviour of the souls that are neither Angels nor demons.'"
Toby nodded at her reciting. "I know that tale, although not the last few lines with your name. I agreed to Vanessa's terms and decided not to tell you. That is, until Vanessa stabbed you."
Clara was jolted back to the that memory. To that pain. It had been so agonising that words couldn't even describe.
"Once the blade stuck through your heart, your body went into a protective stance. Golden light flowed from your body as a type of shield. It was neither heavenly nor hellish fire. It was nothing that had ever existed before. It had a strange effect on Vanessa and she blacked out, giving Ralph and I the opportunity to get out of there safely and back here. At first I blamed it on you being the Saviour, but then your body began to dangerously heat up so I took you to the bath..." He trailed off and Clara felt her heart beating rapidly in her heart. Her heart. Clara put a hand to her chest, her eyes widening. Surely not...
"That's when I felt it." Toby continued, brining his fiery eyes to hers.
Clara felt tears well to her eyes. "What does this mean?" She whispered.
Toby slowly walked towards her, taking her hand away from her own chest and placing it on his. "It means your alive."
Clara's eyes widened even further and her legs threatened to crumble beneath her. The room spun and she felt as though she was about to be sick.
She was alive. But how was that even possible? How was she even here?
Toby smiled faintly. "The first part of Vanessa's riddle, it all makes sense now."
Clara nodded for him to explain.
"You're the Saviour, Clara. You were made by the devil, created by the Lord and committed as a crime against Nathaniel by David, the Leader, who took you in and pretended you were a Chosen one, when really your the Saviour. You never died in that car crash, your heart still beats and your lungs still expand."
"So why am I here?" She whispered, even though she knew the answer.
Toby smiles wider. "Your here to set us all free."

*Wow, long chapter. Sorry if that felt like a bit of an information dump. I might do another writers note to do a little summary again for those who are confused. Almost the end guys! Thanks for reading, it means a lot!*