"Damn it Pamela, why did you leave her alone?" Sebastian said in frustration. After the terrible battle and the tiresome chat with Thanos, he was in no mood for a worried search of the most important person of his life.

"Chill. As you can see, this puddle covers a vast area and Laura is no inanimate object or a bound pet so that she'd stay exactly where she was last seen." Pamela said as she climbed on a boulder.

"God, these boulders are so slippery." She sighed while crawling on yet another boulder twice as massive as the previous one. She then tried to extend her feet so that she could see more.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian said as he followed her.

"Well, I haven't done any stretching exercise in a long while." Pamela said.

"Don't try my patience, Pam. You've already crossed the lines today." He said trying hard not to push her in the puddle which extended beside them

"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to take a clearer view of the surroundings, you dumb ass." She said and stepped onto another boulder.

"Wow, the best way Ms Smarty Pants finds to search a lost person is hopping on the boulders like a monkey." Sebastian said.

"Can you think of a better way, Mr Dead Brains?" Pamela said as she climbed down the boulder and confronted him.

"I don't know. If you hadn't had left her alone in the first place, we wouldn't be dealing with this situation." He said.

"I did ask her whether she wanted to join me when I was off to see you. But she said no word. So I took her silence as a no. Besides I thought the cold water and the gentle winds here might refresh her brain. So don't say it's my fault. Instead, think of a way to find her quickly. I just hope she is in her right mind." Pamela said.

"What do you mean?" Sebastian asked. Color of worry filled his grim eyes again.

"Well, the last time I saw her, she wasn't crying or anything." Pamela said.

"Well, that's good." He said.

"Is it?" Pamela asked.

Sebastian looked at her wondering whether Pamela's battery was running low.

"Seb, we're talking about Laura here. And what does she do when things spiral out of control? She cries. But today she didn't. She won't even talk to me when I asked what was going on in her mind. What if she isn't Laura anymore? What if that Anahita freak has gotten total control over her?" Pamela said.

"No, Anahita wouldn't do it. We don't know much about her but she seems to support Laura." Sebastian said.

"Even if she is Team Laura, her existence does put a lot of tension on her psyche. A thing as delicate as a psychic plane can break easily and, believe me, this tension is humongous." She said.

"Can she be destroyed? Good or bad, if she disturbs the psychic balance, we can't let her live." Sebastian said.

"Killing a good being? You know what, I was thinking that you were somehow converted into a warm fuzzy cherub but you are still heartless, aren't you? Or is it that this can kill Laura so you're taking extreme measures. How cute, Aww! Eew! God, I need a break." Pamela sighed.

"And are you out of your mind? Destroy an angel?" Pamela laughed.

"Few days ago we didn't even know whether angels existed. We know nothing of them. Besides, we're talking about angels here, not some lower demons. I don't know if Thanos let you enjoy the show, but if you saw how Kasstiel zapped Delroy..." Pamela stopped.

"That was scarier than any horror film I've watched till date. So much power and such intensity." Pamela's eyes went distant as if she was reliving the moment.

"The angel? Who exactly is Kasstiel, Pam?" Sebastian asked.

"Told you. If you hide things from me then I'll do the same. And enough on this; it bores me to death to repeat myself." Pamela said.

"Pam--" Sebastian said but she silenced him.

"Stop. I know no matter what I do, you won't tell me anything about him. But someday you will have to. Until then, just promise me that you don't promise anything to Thanos. You do that and it's done. You'll lose yourself and risk all of us. Again. And about Kasstiel, fine, here's the deal."

"I was researching on Diana Williams and the other deaths and that's when something zapped before me. It was this angel guy who said I shouldn't be worried about him and he touched my forehead. The next thing I remember is landing in this cavern! I don't know Kasstiel but his involvement in all this and also Alzaknos'...it's clear that the thing with Laura is big, it's huge." Pamela almost shouted.

"I know." Sebastian said. "And we know nothing of it."

^^^

"Sebastian!" Laura shouted when she saw him approaching her. She was sprawled along a rock near the puddle whose gentle waves played with her legs. The winds were calm and cold here but neither the divine touch of the waters or that of the soothing winds could calm her soul. It was only when her saddened eyes fell on the man she loved more than anything that she felt alive.

"Sebastian." She whispered as he sat beside her and engulfed her in a tight hug. She embraced him with the same excitement while he ruffled through her hair.

"What happened? I thought you were...you were." Laura stuttered.

"He was dead? Nah, a Deathstar doesn't die easy." Pamela smiled and joined them.

"Laura, are you okay? Pam said you were dead silent all this time." Sebastian asked worriedly.

"I was worried, Sebastian. I was scared. I'd never seen you covered in such fatal wounds and the darkness...I thought I'd lost you. I can't lose you Sebastian. You are all I've got and if you died it'd be the end for me too." Laura said.

"Right. I leave all my work, all my important research and waste my time thinking about how can we save you from demons and angels and what not and this is what I get. Forget about gratefulness, Laura, you don't even seem to care about me. Is Seb all you've got? What am I to you?" Pamela said.

"Pam, I didn't—" Laura began but Pamela interrupted and laughed.

"Relax, kiddo. I was just messing with you. I'm used to this kind of behavior. God helps everyone but no one seems to give Him any credit." Pamela smiled.

"Don't say that Laura. You have to go on either with me or without me. I'm not ashamed of what I did tonight. I'd gladly accept even the cruelest deal if it means you live." Sebastian said. Pamela's interrupt was simply non-existent to him and all he could think about was Laura.

"Okay, lovebirds, stop right there. I know where this conversation is going and if I stay here another minute I'm either going to die out of boredom or lose all my sanity or both." Pamela said while rising.

"I'll be in the cavern and check how Aunt Jane is doing." She continued.

"Wait, I'll come." Sebastian said and was about to rise when Pamela stepped on his hand.

"Oww!" He muttered.

"Be here with Laura. She's not okay and she needs you more than your snoring aunt does." Pamela whispered in his ears and left.

Before leaving, she looked at them both and muttered in what seemed like little affection and more of a frustration,

"God, love is so blind and boring and dull and meaningless and pathetic! I feel like vomiting."

Once Pamela had taken her leave, Sebastian felt more at ease. He never thought a hunter like him would ever become a romantic. But things had changed. He couldn't help but notice his surroundings. The breeze was gentle and calm. The soothing water that played with his feet was most relaxing. And the radiance of the moon that danced on the lake and the rocks alike made the moment simply divine.

But while his heart was aching to take their relationship to another level, even if the time wasn't right, Laura seemed to have other thoughts. Her eyes were worried and distant. The calm wind and the soothing water seemed to have no effect on her.

"Is something wrong?" Sebastian asked as he intertwined his fingers with hers.

"No." Laura smiled but the smile was hesitant and forced. She was never a good liar.

"Laura, Pamela nagged me for what felt like an eternity when I refused to tell her how I came back. And you didn't even ask me once. Clearly there's something even bigger that's bothering you." He asked.

"Nothing, Sebastian, I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine. I didn't ask you because..." She paused.

"Because?" He asked.

"I'm tired, Sebastian, I'm tired of all this. I'm tired of demons chasing me; I'm tired of saying goodbye to anything normal and running and just running; I'm tired of Delroy and Anahita; I'm tired of everything. I can't go on, Sebastian. I just want this to end." Laura said.

With streams of tears along both cheeks, and puffed eyes, Laura didn't look too different from when he'd first seen her fighting the demons. Broken she was and scared as hell, but a faint fading glimmer of hope struggling against all darkness did linger somewhere in her heart then.

But today something had changed. She no longer seemed to possess that spark of hope; it had finally faded. The dying fire of expectations had finally extinguished and all that was left in her was diffidence and despair.

"I'm done, Sebastian. I just can't take it anymore." She said.

"Laura, you are not going to go through any of this ever again. Don't you realize that Delroy is dead? It's over Laura. And now everything will change back to how it once was. Think about Silverton. You can now go back, live the life you had always wanted. You can finally become a doctor and build your own hospital. And with Delroy dead, no one can stop you from living your dream!" Sebastian said.

"True. If Delroy was the only one. Sebastian, you don't need to give me any hope when there is none. I know the path of hunters is ugly and this is going to end ugly. Delroy wasn't the only demon who was after me. If he is dead, Alzaknos will just summon another demon, perhaps more terrifying and stronger than Delroy. Or he might come himself." Laura looked in his eyes and Sebastian realized how frightened she was.

"Then all we need to do is erase him off the map of earth." Sebastian said even if he had no clue how he could do it.

"And how exactly, Sebastian? How do you plan to kill the all-powerful King of West Tethriss? Killing Delroy almost cost us all our lives, your soul, Thanos' power and still it wasn't enough. It was Kasstiel who destroyed Delroy and I don't think he is in any friendly terms with us." Laura said.

"And even if we find a way to destroy him, there's still Anahita." She said

"What do you mean?" Sebastian asked.

"Demons might fail to capture me, angels might fail to kill me but when time comes Anahita won't step back from ending me." Laura said.

Sorry for the abrupt pause. This chapter was longer but at the end I decided to delete one fourth of it since the quality of the writing disheartened me. The end of the book is approaching and it is very crucial that I sequence the revealings in a proper order. The next update will be soon and it'd (finally!) reveal why Laura's life had been such a mess.