I stood a few feet away, watching Tyler. He was still out cold, lying on a spare bed someone had thrown together at the makeshift campsite the others had built. Set up camp for these guys essentially meant build a wooden shacks, which was what I was standing in.

I crossed my arms over my chest, thinking about the fight right after Tyler had been knocked out. 

**

"Tyler!" 

I turned when I heard someone scream. I don't remember who it was, I didn't recognize the voice amidst all the chaos. 

I turned to see Tyler fall to the ground, his eyes closed and his entire body limp, like a ragdoll. 

Emily standing right in front of him explained it enough. 

Stupid kid, going straight for the biggest and the baddest, I thought, and ran towards the both of them. 

"Hey! Donaldson!" I yelled. 

She looked up. "So the traitor is fighting? Cute. Don't worry, I'm just getting rid of a stupid little human. Won't take more than a few seconds."

I moved, standing over Tyler. "Over my dead body."

She tilted her head, giving me a smile that was far too sweet to be genuine. "Oh, sweetie. You and I both know there won't be a body left."

And with that, she lunged for me.

I may not be a Crystal, but I've worked with them. I know exactly how they operate. 

I moved, darting out of the way so she just missed me. She turned back around, the smirk on her face replaced with a frown. 

I searched my memory for anything about her. Emily Donaldson was a girl that was dead way before I was created, but some of the others had some knowledge about her. Apparently, she was one of the first Darklox killed in this dimension, and he'd been saving her soul to turn into a Crystal for a while. She was said to have been through a lot of crap when she was alive, which made her a very angry and effective Crystal. That was all I knew, and not much of that could help me kill her for good. 

I decided to go with Old Reliable when it comes to Crystals- aim for the crystal until you get a lucky hit. 

I summoned a few dark energy blasts, aiming for the chain around her neck, but I wasn't the only quick one. She dodged, catching on pretty quick as to what I was trying to do. She suddenly came at me, and landed a punch right on my nose. I fell backwards, feeling a crackle of white-hot pain before it disappeared. The disadvantages of needing a vessel. 

I tried to stand back up, but she stood over me, a sword materializing in her hand. 

"Don't worry -- I'll keep the boy alive. Darklox wants his father, anyway, and bait is bait." She said. 

I refused to give her the satisfaction of killing me. 

I moved, sitting up as fast as I could and reaching for the crystal around her neck. She sliced the sword at me, but I held up my arm, letting it take the hit. An intense burning pain felt like it rippled across the skin of my arm, and this time, it stayed there. 

Of course the damn sword was enchanted. 

I gritted my teeth, pushing through the pain and grabbed the crystal around her neck, enclosing it in my fist. 

"Jess!" 

I looked over to see Jenna running towards me, and that's when I knew how I'd win. I yanked the chain as hard as I could, snapping it in two. 

"Catch!" I yelled, throwing the crystal to Jenna, and thankfully, she got the message. 

"No!" Donaldson yelled, getting off of me and running towards Jenna. 

In one quick swing, Jenna smashed the crystal with her ax. 

**

I snapped out of my thoughts when Jenna  poked her head into the room. 

"He still out?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied, grateful that it was her instead of anyone else. Besides Tyler, she seems to be the only one who doesn't look at me like I'll go rogue and kill all of them at any second. "It's kind of boring to watch."

"I'm surprised Sky let you in here at all." She said, walking into the room and leaning against the wall.

"I think I got brownie points, since you and I are the ones who got him out of there."

"True." She said, sliding down the wall and sitting down on the floor.

"I'm guessing someone sent you in here to watch me?"

"Well, yeah...but I promise I'm not gonna do that thing."

"What thing?"

"That thing where everyone glares at you like you're the most evil thing in existence."

"Well, why wouldn't you?" I asked. "You don't know anything about me. I could sic some evil stuff on you in an instant."

She laughed a little. "I seriously doubt you could take me. I've got an ax!"

With those words, she pulled her ax from behind her back. The blade did look sharp.

"Fair enough." I said. "But seriously, why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She said, putting the ax back behind her. "You've saved Tyler's life, twice now if he's telling the truth about when you first ran into each other. You've had plenty of opportunities to kill all of us, and you haven't, so..."

She grinned. "Call me crazy, but I think there's at least something to be trusted there."

"I appreciate it." I said, turning back to look at Tyler.

Saved his life. Twice.

If only she had known how badly I screwed up.

***

Thirty more minutes went by before his eyes opened. This time, just about everyone was in the shack for the night, and of course, everyone immediately freaked out.

Ugh. I may have liked the kid, but he wasn't Notch's gift to the world. 

"What happened?" He asked, sitting up and looking around.

"You were epic for a split second." Shane grinned. "Running straight for the worst enemy. And then, she totally kicked your-"

"Shane." His dad warned.

"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Sky said. "You may have that sword, but going up against the biggest enemy we were facing by yourself is still incredibly stupid."

"He gets it from you." The Jason guy said, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"What?"

"He does." The bacca -- I was pretty sure he was called Jerome -- said. "Running into the heat of battle by yourself?"

"I never did it that recklessly." Sky protested.

"Don't make me bring up that one time when we faced the Drug King." Ty said.

Sky gave him a look. "You were the Drug King. You dressed up in a cape and yelled stuff at me."

"Yes, but you didn't know that and you charged at me while screaming your head off." Ty pointed out.

Sky considered it for a moment. "Fair enough."

The group laughed, and Tyler looked around until he spotted me. I knew from the way his expression instantly changed that he had questions.

Meet me outside if you want. I said to him through my thoughts. I'll explain.

I left the room, and no one but Tyler watched me go.

***

An hour later, I stood outside, leaning against a tree when Tyler left the small wooden building.

The sky was dark, and from the quiet, I could assume that everyone else was asleep. I was stood just far enough away so that if he lost it and started yelling at me, it hopefully wouldn't instantly wake everyone up.

Hopefully.

Tyler walked towards me, and I didn't even get to say hey, nice to see you up and about, glad you're not hurt, etc., etc., before he started up.

"What the Nether was that?" He exclaimed, keeping his voice low enough so that he didn't wake anyone up but loud enough so I knew how mad he was. "You just sat there and let me get pummeled!"

"Tyler-"

"That Shadow could have actually killed me! I was counting on you!" He continued. "You said I needed that power! You said I could kill Darklox with it if I got strong enough! Why didn't you help me today?"

"If you'd quit losing your head and let me talk, I'd explain!" I said, and thankfully, he shut up.

"Tyler," I started. "I don't think this is a good idea anymore."

"What's not a good idea anymore?"

"This." I said. "Training you to work with Shadow power...it's not good for you."

"What do you mean it's not good for me?" He asked. "I'm stronger, I can help more!"

"That's not what I mean." I explained. "Tyler, there's a setback about this whole thing, something I didn't realize until yesterday. There's a reason you can't handle too much the first day and then be powerful enough to take out a demon a month later is because this is a virus. It needs time to set. It needs time to change you."

"Change me how?"

"It changes you into a Shadow, Tyler. You keep doing this, you're going to end up like me." I said, and looked away. "I'm sorry."

There was a painful minute of silence.

"So?"

I looked up in surprise, staring at him to see if he was serious. "What?"

"So? Who cares what I become?" Tyler said. "If I can help..."

"Did you not hear what I just told you?" I asked.

"I did, but does it matter?"

"Dammit, Tyler, look at what I'm doing to you!" I exclaimed, reaching out the grab the chain around his neck. I pulled the amulet out from underneath his hoodie, and pointed towards the center. What had started out as a bright, shimmering purple was now dull, with traces of dark smoke. "I'm destroying your amulet! I'm destroying your humanity!" 

"I don't care!" 

"I do!" 

"Why?" He asked. "Why do you care? You're a Shadow, and you're just fine!" 

"I didn't have a choice to be this!" I said. "Tyler, if your dad found out, what do you think would happen? Would he be happy, or proud, or grateful that you were stronger?"

"My dad isn't some otherworldly guy who can do no wrong. He'd learn to deal with it. Don't you get it?" He asked. "Skylar's in serious trouble! She could be dead for all we know! And if you help me, I can destroy Darklox and free Skylar and make everything okay!"

"I'll be more than happy to help destroy Darklox," I said. "But not like this. I'm not going to destroy your soul." 

He stood there for a minute, as if he couldn't believe it, and I took the opportunity to turn around and leave. 

I wasn't stupid. I knew Tyler, and I knew how stubborn he was. If he wanted to keep training with Shadow power, he'd find a way. That left one option. 

***

I waited until the next morning, and found Sky alone in one of the shacks, packing up a few things. I cleared my throat. 

He turned around to see me, and his expression immediately changed. 

"Oh. It's you." His tone was flat. "What do you want."

"I know you don't like me." I started. "And I know that after I tell you this, you're probably going to want to kill me. So before I say it, I'm going to ask for ten minutes to thoroughly explain everything."

He tilted his head, considering it for a second. "Fine. You've got ten minutes."

I took a deep breath. 

"Tyler's in serious trouble. And it's my fault."

**********

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME FOR HOW LATE THIS IS 

So, it was the end of the marking period, and as a result, the last three weeks have been an absolute terror. Add in the PSATs on top of it all, and I was essentially a walking pile of homework and stress, but I'm really sorry I haven't been updating as often as I usually do :(. Does the super long chapter make up for it? 

I'm going to try my best to go back to regular updates now that the new marking period is starting in school, and I should be a little less stressed out!