Skylar slowly opened her eyes. She was not able to see anything as her focus was lost. She closed her eyes once more and rubbed hard over her eyelids. She opened her eyes again.

Slowly, everything started to come into focus, and Skylar sat up straight slowly. She looked around her, and saw that she was in a forest and she was confused because everything felt oddly familiar. The intense pain in her head was starting to kill her, and Skylar shut her eyes and hissed in pain.

"Hello Skylar"

Skylar looked up at once at the voice. She had thought that she was alone in the dark forest, but she was not. Skylar rubbed her arms up and down as coldness tried to numb her and she turned her head to the sides, wondering from where the voice had issued from. Her eyes darted past many trees, and Skylar glanced back once more, as she found a tree that was bringing up some memories in her mind. Skylar was surprised. She remembered something that was almost similar to someone coming out of a tree, and she scrunched up her eyes.

Was she dreaming?

Skylar rubbed her forehead as memory after memory formed inside her head. She remembered her conversation with the tree woman, and as the final memory came up her mind, she fell back in surprise.

"Am I dead?" Skylar asked loudly, asking no one in particular and she massaged her neck, over the slash the tree woman had made on her neck. Her neck looked almost normal except for the little dried up scabs from the gash, and she looked around her. She did not feel the cold anymore, because she had more pressing matters to worry about than the cold.

"What is happening here?" Skylar shouted, holding her head with her hands. She did not understand the head nor the tail of what was happening around her and she felt anger prick her eyes.

"No Skylar."

Skylar looked up in surprise, and she suddenly saw a light that was shining down on her.

"I am dead." Skylar mumbled, as she looked at the light. It was the light that was guiding her to heaven and she wondered how could she go to heaven when she had all the blood in her hands. She waited and scratched her eyebrows in worry. She pushed her glasses up along her nose. She was not in a hurry anymore.

The huge beam of light slowly came into focus, and Skylar saw a woman who was oddly familiar to her in the center of the light. She looked like an angel and her fair skin was only highlighted more due to her pearly white lace dress. When she smiled a radiance that was not there previously, shone around her head.

"Ethel," Skylar said slowly. The woman smiled.

"I am not my sister, Skylar." she said in a soft voice. Skylar scrunched up her eyebrows. She looked more closely, and this time she was able to recognize the differences between them, even though at the first glance, they were the exact same image. The woman in front of Skylar was not as old as her sister, and she was a little fatter than her lean sister. Skylar shook her head. There might not have been similarities in the size, but as for the face, it looked the same except for the missing wrinkles. The woman smiled once more.

"I am -" she started.

"Agatha," Skylar interrupted. "Yeah, I know." she nodded. The woman smiled again.

"You are an intelligent girl, Skylar," she said. "Just like her." she smiled. Skylar scrunched up her eyebrows. Intelligent like whom?

"Like whom?" Skylar asked. The woman looked up, and for the first time, the smile left her face. When her smile was missing, Skylar saw that she was actually older than her sister. The woman looked up at Skylar.

"It doesn't matter right now." she said. "You will know everything later." she smiled. Skylar nodded, even though she wanted to argue she knew that it was not the time and place for that.

"You have come so far Skylar." the woman said kindly. Skylar shrugged. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, and looked at the woman.

"I had some help." she said. The woman chuckled and shook her head to the sides.

"But none of that help, helped you Skylar." she said. Skylar looked up. She had received help from her friends and even though it had not helped her much in facing the sisters and fighting them, she had learnt a lot from the help, thanks to her friends. Skylar wanted to argue, but again, she gave up.

"Wasn't I dead?" she asked, changing the topic.

"Only those who have done bad, will reach a hard death, Skylar." the woman said. Skylar's lips pulled up to the side from the corner. She was starting to get annoyed and as the cold was starting to numb her once more, it was not helping her. She wondered why the woman cannot answer straight, and why she has to be sarcastic about everything.

Skylar looked up. "Were you the woman who gave life to me again?" she asked. The woman shook her head.

"You were never killed, Skylar." she answered. Skylar's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and she looked around her, holding her head, searching for words.

"But, but, but." she stumbled over words. "I died to be honest." she said at last, looking at the woman as though she was the reason for her death and her confusion. The woman still smiled, and leaned her head to the side.

"Are you sure, Skylar?" she asked back. Skylar bit her lips and thought. It was true that the tree woman had slain her. She had even felt her blood splatter on her face and clothes. Skylar looked down at her t-shirt to be sure, and she saw the dried blood marks, and she knew that it had not been a dream then. But she was dead. Then how can she be woken up once more?

"Look," Skylar said at last, looking straight at the woman's eyes. She pushed her glasses up along her nose. "I honestly don't have time for your jokes." she said, remembering that she had to retrieve the woman's heart out as well. She had important matters to attend, and beating around the bush was never Skylar's style.

"Yeah, maybe I didn't die." Skylar said. "But it doesn't matter anymore, right?" she asked, looking up at the woman. The woman shook her head to the sides.

"If answers are lame, you will always be in darkness." she recited, as though Skylar was a kindergartner. Skylar hissed in anger, and stared at the woman.

"Then give me answers." she demanded from the woman, and she nodded.

"What will you give me in return?" she asked, and that stopped Skylar's heartbeat. What did she have to give her? Skylar bit her tongue and she scratched her eyebrows. She glanced at the woman.

"Erm," she thought. "What do you need from me?" she asked, even though she had guessed the answer already.

The woman looked at Skylar, and her eyes were cold. "I am Agatha, the power of good is possessed in me." she said, puffing out her chest in pride and lifting her head up. Skylar looked up at her. "What can you give me in return for good?" she asked.

Skylar bit her bottom lip. "Look," she started once more, trying to sound intimidating, but with her teeth chattering in the cold, she sounded nowhere even near the level of her expectation. "I don't have anything to give you now, Agatha." she said. The woman looked at her, as she uttered her name. "I can't promise about the future as well." Skylar tried to reason.

The woman shook her head. "Let me answer some of your questions, Skylar." she said, and relief washed over Skylar, as she readied herself to listen to some much needed answers. The woman chuckled and she started.

"Our mother was the kindest woman that we have known. Yes, she was a Night Shadow, but marrying a human husband because she was in love, made her give birth to us, five daughters, who are half Night Shadow and half human. We did not know why odd things started to happen to us, but when I got older I knew." she stopped. Skylar listened, wishing her to go on.

"We were neither devils nor demons." she continued. "We were the supernatural children who had powers that were needed to run this world." she said. "All of us had different powers. And as we had promised our mother, we have used it only for good," she stopped, and Skylar knew that the next sentence would not be easy for her. "Until she left us that one day." She finished slowly. Skylar bit her lip as her eyebrows raised up by a fraction of an inch. The story was starting to make her feel uncomfortable.

The woman looked up at Skylar, and she saw that her eyes were moist. But she did not want to interrupt the woman, so she continued.

*

"Anyway, we brought up our sister, and we took good care of her. She was like the first child for all of us, and we knew that as we are to protect the promise we had given our mother, our last sister was the closest thing we would have for our own daughter." the woman said. Skylar realized a whole lot of emotions welled up in her voice, and questions started to come up her mind as well. But still she did not want to interrupt her.

"Falling in love with a human made our mother lose her life when she was very young." the woman continued. "So, to protect us from heartbreak and pain, she had prohibited us from falling in love with anyone, other than our own sisters." she said. With a shock of realization Skylar remembered about the youngest daughter who had fallen in love with someone.

"But our very own younger sister did not follow her." she said. "When she was barely sixteen years old, she found a man who was kind to her, and even after knowing that she had powers, the human agreed to marry her." Skylar bit her lips. She did not understand what was so wrong with that.

"We were not supposed to pass on our powers." the woman continued. Skylar turned back to her, listening. "Our powers were our own, and we were to die with it." she said. "But as our sister got married, within a few years she had a beautiful daughter, and that daughter had powers from her mother." She stopped and closed her eyes. A tear rooted down along her cheeks. "So, having another generation which had powers, did not make our powers die." she continued. "We reached the prime of our lives, and when we died, our souls left our bodies taking the power with it, and continuing to share it to the world even without its bodies." she said. "All three of us died, and sometime later, our youngest sister too passed away." she stopped, and a fire was dancing in her eyes.

"Except for one." she stopped. Skylar looked up. She knew who it was, but she did not want to voice her thoughts aloud.

"Our fourth sister was too greedy for power, and she started to increase it to a very high extent and that made her live for so long, even though it was a long time since all of us had died." she looked up at Skylar. "We know what she does is wrong. But there's only a limited amount of things that we can do to fight her as we are in the form of our souls now." she said. "And that is where you come in." she nodded towards Skylar and she looked up surprised. She knew that the story was interesting but she had never expected herself to come into the tale.

"You were the exact person we needed." she continued, looking adoringly at Skylar. "We knew you were the one, and that only you could make us leave the earth and make our powers die." she said.

Skylar's eyebrows scrunched up and she looked up at the woman. "But who am I?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. The woman smiled.

"Haven't you guessed it already, Skylar?" she asked. Skylar shrugged her shoulders.

"You are the only living descendant of our bloodline." the woman replied, and Skylar's eyes grew big. Slowly her eyebrows were raised up and she felt the world come to a halt around her.

Was she related to them?

The woman did not stop, even though Skylar looked as though she could not listen anymore. "Haven't you noticed how all the powers that were related to the other world, are between only women?" she asked. Skylar shrugged. Even though she had had the question rise up her mind, Skylar had guessed that no males were born in the other world.

"The answer to that question is the birthmark behind your neck." the woman said, and Skylar touched the back of her neck, over her tattoo, with her numb fingers. She looked up puzzled at the woman.

"Our powers," she continued. "Is not given to all the daughters in our sister's bloodline. Only those who are selected will receive it." Skylar scrunched up her eyebrows, and looked at the woman. She nodded.

"Yes, Skylar." she said. "Not all from our sister's blood, have the powers. Only those whom she likes the most, are given. And that transfer of power will only happen after the predecessor has died." she stopped. Skylar's eyes grew big as she remembered her grandmother's death.

"So, I have received my powers from my grandmother?" she asked. The woman nodded.

"Yes Skylar, you have." She looked at Skylar, up and down. "This power leaves a mark that is visible to us. And those of us who have it, will have the powers from our sister." Skylar's numb fingers touched her birthmark behind her neck once more.

"So," Skylar looked puzzled and she looked up at the woman once more. "What sort of powers are passed on?" she asked. The woman suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Well," the loose shawl of her dress blew softly in the chill wind. "It depends." she looked at Skylar, but did not meet her eyes. Her eyes were hovering an inch over Skylar's forehead.

"Why?" Skylar asked, raising her voice. She had a feeling that the woman was hiding something from her. "What sort of powers are passed on?" she repeated her previous question once more. Her eyebrows were getting dangerously close to each other and she looked as though she could not be in confusion anymore.

"Not many powers, Skylar." the woman said in a dreamy voice. "Even though the powers had been passed on, it had been passed based on a condition that it would die when the powers of a daughter exceeds the powers of -" she stopped. Skylar leaned forward and listened intently.

"Exceeds the powers of," Skylar prompted her to go on, but the woman shook her head.

"Anyway," the woman continued, as Skylar squinted her eyes and looked at her. "These powers come at a greater price to pay." she glanced at Skylar.

Skylar did not understand why, but suddenly she felt as though her breath was constricted on her throat.

"Wha – wha – what is it?" she asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arm as suddenly, the cold started to make her feel chilled. The woman licked her lips.

"You can't fall in love."

Skylar felt the world stop around her. She felt the blood that was gushing to her heart stop, and she lifted her head up to look at the woman, in slow motion.

"That's absurd!" she shouted, her arms flaring around her. "I don't care about the stupid powers I have." she looked up angrily at the woman. "I am in love with, with, with someone and I am not going to stop that." she said. The woman chuckled.

"I know Skylar. We know." she said. Skylar looked up at her.

"What do you know? What do you know about love? You were never in love, were you?" Skylar asked even though she knew that she sounded too rude. The woman looked uncomfortable and she chose to not answer Skylar.

"There is a reason why you were selected young, Skylar." she said. "All of your predecessors have died old, and they have even realized the hard reality behind their names, only after they had lived a happy life for a long time." she explained. Skylar was not able to understand anything as she was mad at the woman.

"But in your case, you, you were different." the woman stopped and her eyes lingered on Skylar's face.

Skylar looked up. She shook her head. She closed her eyes tight, and took a deep breath as she felt her breath constrict on her throat. She heard the woman talk, but it was mumbling to Skylar. Nothing fell on her ears which she was able to understand. She shook her head, trying to forget everything that had happened. Just after she had heard the words that had made her forget all about her surroundings, Skylar was lost. She looked up, but she did not see the woman. If she was not able to fall in love, how had she fallen in love with Ed? Skylar closed her eyes tight and shook her head. It was all too much for her to digest.

"Wait, wait, please hold on." Skylar said, gasping and holding her chest in pain. She did not feel the cold anymore, and the pain was not physical as well. She knew that it was just in her head, and Skylar looked up at the woman.

"Yes, Skylar." she said, listening to her. Skylar sighed.

"What did you say right now?" she asked. The woman shrugged, raising her eyebrows.

"I told you that I will only give you my heart, when you prove yourself to me." the woman nodded.

"Wait, what?" Skylar shouted. The woman shrugged.

"Were you not listening?" the woman asked.

Skylar bit the side of her cheek. She knew that she had been listening, but she was not able to concentrate on what the woman was saying. But now, what she had said after she drifted off from the conversation, had made Skylar take Ed out of her mind.

"Your what?" Skylar asked, shaking her head to the sides. She blinked hard, trying to grasp the meaning of her words. The woman turned her head to the side and looked at Skylar.

Skylar was growing uncomfortable under her intense glare. She remembered how she had retrieved two of the sister's hearts. So, it was only practical if she had this woman's heart too. With an angry grunt at her, Skylar remembered that that's what she had expected when she had recognized the woman at the first glance.

"Yeah, I am ready." Skylar said at once, and she relaxed her shoulder blades. Skylar looked up at the woman. A very light hint of a smile played on her lips, and Skylar closed her eyes, concentrating.

*

When Skylar opened her eyes once more, the old red flame was shining through her eyes, and was dancing, making her look fiery. The woman smirked and nodded.

Skylar was ready.

She outstretched her hands to the sides and swirled them through the air. At once, a white flame erupted and it lit over Skylar's palms, wavering through the dark forest. The white flame put Skylar's face into an odd glow and she looked up at the woman.

Skylar had fought so many battles, but not even one of it was as close to how she fought the woman. Unlike her sister's, she moved with grace, and to be honest, she did not even move. Being where she was, she made everything move around her, and Skylar was the only one jumping here and there, keeping up, matching with the woman's pace.

Skylar had not felt the need to attack first, because during the few minutes she had talked with the woman, she had found respect towards her. She had realized that this woman was different, and by the definition of her name, she was good. So, respecting her age and experience, Skylar had remained waiting, until the woman had moved.

However older or kinder she looked, when the woman moved, there was a warrior that shone through her eyes. She raised her chin up, and Skylar felt the ground below her start to roll under her feet. Afraid that she would lose her balance and fall back over her already damaged ankle, Skylar had risen herself up into the air. She had looked down and she saw that the woman was looking up at her. Without even an expression of surprise, she blinked once and Skylar heard the air around her change its velocity. The calm air turned ferocious and it blew loudly through the night. Skylar snapped her fingers as the air started to swirl her around and she stretched her arms to the sides, balancing herself. The snap of her fingers stabilized Skylar, and only the air swirled around her, and she was standing straight without losing her balance.

Skylar looked up. A giant hawk was flying towards her, and Skylar did not want to think how she was able to see the hawk in the night dark sky. It screeched loudly and opened its beak, relaxing its claws. With a hint, Skylar realized that the hawk was coming towards her, and she cut her hands through the air, bringing down the sword and the dagger which she had used earlier. Skylar looked up, and before she had readied herself, she felt the hawk push its claws over her shoulders. Skylar shook her head to the sides, as she felt herself raise up, without her actions. She snarled in anger, and clanged her dagger blade towards the sword's. The contact echoed through the forest, and Skylar knew what she had to do.

Turning her head to look at the hawk, Skylar closed her eyes as its wings blew cold wind towards her face. She stopped struggling in the hawk's hold, and with one giant sweeping motion, she took the dagger up, pushing it straight through the hawk's stomach. It's loud screech in pain echoed around Skylar, and she balled herself as she felt the hawk's claws release her shoulders. She looked down as she descended, and when she was just about ten feet above the ground, she raised her head up, and removed her balled up legs, pointing towards the ground. She decelerated and Skylar hovered over the ground once more.

"I hope the tests are now performed, Agatha." Skylar called her, pushing her chest proudly in front of her. She did not feel the cold that numbed her through her thin t-shirt anymore. She looked down at the woman, and she just smiled.

"Not so fast, Skylar." she said. Skylar's eyebrows formed a narrow line.

Without prior notice, Skylar was pushed back as a sudden force was blown over her face. She looked down and saw the dagger fall down, loosened from her fingertips. The woman still looked unmoved, and she was smiling up at Skylar. Anger started to pick her, and Skylar pushed the strands of hair that had fallen over her eyes. She looked down at the woman and her eyes turned small. A hissing sound was heard and Skylar turned her head to the sides, trying to see from where it was. She turned behind her in time, as she saw a very long and thick serpent hiss right at her face. Skylar's heart started to beat faster. She glanced up at the woman, and saw that she was still smiling. From the bottom of her heart, Skylar knew that the woman would not cause severe damage to her, but a huge question of 'what if' was formed in her mind. The giant serpent hissed again, and Skylar looked up at it, the fire dancing in her eyes.

Just as the giant serpent tried to attack Skylar, she swirled her hands through the air, and a large circle of fire formed around the serpent. The circle of fire was even bigger than the serpent, and Skylar did not break eye contact with it as it continued to hiss angrily at Skylar. She stared into its yellow slits, and Skylar saw herself reflected on its black shiny skin. Skylar snapped her fingers and the fire started to flame higher, drowning the snake. Its painful hissing reached Skylar and she smirked proudly. The snake was growing weak, and thanks to her everlasting powerful fire, it did not make it rise up back. Skylar listened intently, waiting for the snake to stop its hissing and as she had expected, just some minutes later, the hissing stopped. Skylar turned her head to the sides and she snapped her fingers once. The fire died down at once, and Skylar stared at the giant snake which was burned, and had wrinkled skin. Its dead form was hovering weightlessly through the air, and screaming in anger, Skylar lifted up the sword and slashed it over its long body. The cut went perfectly along its thick body, and the snake fell down, in two parts, separated.

Skylar breathed hard as the red blood spattered across her face. She stared unblinkingly at the snake as it fell down and landed hard with a loud thump. Skylar sighed. The snake was finished.

Skylar turned her head to the side and stared around, as she heard someone clapping. She looked around her, and her eyes moved down. She saw the woman, who was back on her feet, and she was clapping her hands, as though Skylar had received an award. She moved her lips to the side, and looked at her.

"Well done Skylar, well done." the woman said loudly. Skylar did not move down. She had a feeling that the snake would not be the last trap. "We are almost done now." the woman said, and Skylar smirked. She was right.

"You have done well so far, and you are very close to taking my heart." the woman explained. Skylar listened. "Take my heart from me." the woman said suddenly, her eyes turning an ugly shade of red.

Skylar knew that she was too good to be true. With one sudden ferocious force, Skylar bolted down towards the woman, and she raised her sword arm up. Her free hand pinned the woman to the ground, and Skylar landed, kneeling over the woman. She breathed hard down the woman's face, and Skylar felt her sweat root down the side of her face. She breathed loudly.

"I took the heart from your sisters too, Agatha." Skylar hissed through her gritted teeth. "I can do the same thing again and again and again." she said, and she raised the sword up into the air.

Snarling loudly, Skylar brought the sword down, her eyes bulging in anger, and she pushed the sword down through the woman's chest. For the first time ever since Skylar had met the woman, there was a hint of fear clouded in her eyes. Skylar smirked.

"Not so good now, are we?" she asked, and turned her hand to the side. There had been a secret mechanism on the sword which had vanished the blade as Skylar had pushed the button on the side of it. The button was covered, hidden under Skylar's thumb, and she smirked victoriously.

"Promise is a promise, Agatha." Skylar said loudly, as she stood up from over the woman's body. The woman looked down at her chest once more, and her eyes darted towards the long sword that was on Skylar's hand. The blade shone through the darkness, and the woman stood up straight. Skylar turned towards her.

"Your heart," Skylar said, and she opened her hand in front of her. The woman looked at her palm which was pointing upwards, ready to hold her heart.

"Promise is a promise, Skylar." The woman repeated Skylar's words back at her, and with hesitation she closed her eyes tight. Skylar took a step back in caution as the giant beam of light behind her, illuminated fiercely. The woman looked ghostly as she was centered through the light, and her concentration lifted her up through the air. Skylar raised her head up. The woman looked down at her, and she smiled once more. The coldness and the anger had left from her face, and she looked kind once more.

"You are a fighter, Skylar." the woman said, and she turned light, as she started to fade into the background.

"Hey," Skylar started to shout, but she stopped as she felt something heavy on her hand. She turned her head towards her hand and saw the woman's heart resting on the palm of her opened hands. Her blood was smeared across Skylar's hands, but she did not care. Skylar turned her head and looked up at the sky. The woman had disappeared, and only the shadow of the light was left behind her.

Skylar shook her head and she snapped her fingers. The heart on her hand disappeared once more, and she wiped her bloodied hands over her t-shirt. Skylar turned around her and stared. The forest was starting to go out of focus, and Skylar suddenly felt the floor turn below her feet. Once more, Skylar was hanging upside down in the thin air, and when she turned her head to look closely, she saw that it was a ceiling. Skylar turned her head down, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry, as she felt the grip on her ankle release her, and she fell down hard, face first onto her soft mattress. Skylar lifted up her bandaged foot at the last moment, and it was up in the air, not damaged once more. Skylar hissed in pain, and rubbed her forehead. She jerked her head up towards the door, as someone started to knock.