I backed away from them all, their hollow, apathetic faces, their shadowy eyes, the sickness of dark magic radiating from each one of them.

That was the darkness about them, I realized. It was their magic.

"You're sick inside. You're wrong. I—I won't associate with you!" I stammered, then I turned and fled.

There had to be an exit. Some kind of escape—

"Resisting your true nature is futile, Twilight! You do not belong with humanity, and you never will!" Father Sein yelled as I stumbled away. "You know you're making a mistake! If We have to force you to accept reality, We will!"

Tears gathered in my eyes, hot, burning, vision–impairing tears.

I heard Sein yell, "Get her. She's had these dreams for two years, and she's frayed my final nerve. If she wants to play this hard, so be it. I don't give a damn."

I sprinted down a dim hallway in whatever facility I was in of theirs, the world a discombobulating mixture of colors, shapes, and shadows. Pumping my legs as quickly as I could drive them, I made it to the end of the hallway, and it looked promising.

I seized the knob on one of a pair of metal doors, prepared to make my escape.

I'd made it.

But my hopes died as soon as they'd been born when the knob refused to budge. A silent scream burned in the back of my throat.

Footsteps, coming down the hall.

I whipped around to confront my pursuer. A knot of unspeakable dread was tying itself within my chest, the anticipation of misery and disaster—

"There you are, Twilight."

No, no, no, I couldn't be caught, I wouldn't... wait…

"Father?"

The man at the other end of the hallway nodded, but it was a slow nod, strange and untrustworthy. Black eyes glinted in the hazy half–light. "I love you, Twilight. You know I do. And I always will. So, come. Come to me." Father opened his arms for an embrace I would rather die than give him.

There was no escape. He had me cornered.

"I know what you want," Father told me as he slowly stepped closer. "I understand your desires. You want bloodshed. You want power. You want to feel human flesh gnash between your teeth. You're violent inside; I know you are. Let your wants consume you, Twilight. Rise from mundane mortality and accept the Sharavak that is in you. Remember that barn fire? No way it could have put itself out. How do you think I did that?" He grinned. "Magic is useful, so accept it already."

I shook my head. "You're crazy, out of your mind. I will never be like you. I refuse. Hear me, Father? I refuse!"

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