You are a killer!

Ezen winced as he felt the serpentine coils tightening around him, restraining his movements. His eyes remained closed, though he could sense the presence of his mother, Lilith, the Empress of Hell, nearby.

"Who do you like to torment me, Mom?" he finally spoke, his voice laced with pain and frustration.

Lilith's melodious voice cut through the air, filled with genuine affection as a beautiful dark figure appeared. "Oh, my dear Ezen, how l've missed you. I'm here to guide you, to lead you onto the right path." Lilith's features softened. "You've erred by aiding Anastasia repeatedly. But I'm willing to forgive you."

Ezen's gaze hardened, his voice tinged with bitterness. "Forgive me? Where were you when I was trapped in the Forbidden Forest for centuries? Not once did you come to my aid or allow others to help me. Why should I heed your words now? I don't need your forgiveness." Ezen's gaze hardened, his voice tinged with bitterness.

Lilith's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she confessed, "Even if I had tried, I couldn't have freed you. Only Anastasia possessed the power to release you from that accursed place. I know she freed you but because of her only you were trapped there." Lilith seized the opportunity to manipulate him. "She's the reason you suffered. You should seek vengeance against her."

Ezen shook his head in denial. "Why should I harm her? She's done me no wrong."

Lilith's voice grew sharp with anger, her eyes blazing crimson. "She's a descendant of the heavens, the last of her kind. She's a threat to us all. You must eliminate her before she destroys you."

"But why Mom? I know you have enmity with god and the heavens. But why are you trying to kill an innocent person who did no wrong to you?"

"When I was cast out of the Garden of Eden, abandoned by God, I had nowhere to turn. Why should I show mercy to his creations when he showed none to mine?" Her voice carried pain and anger. "I was cursed even though I did nothing wrong then why should i care about others when no one else cared for me?"

"I know you were not wrong but.. Anastasia is not responsible for the sins of heaven. We will find another way to bring you to earth but please don't kill her." Ezen pledged first time for someone's life. "I beg you please."

"From when you became so soft huh? In just a few days you started having feelings for her?"

Her voice had anger in it. "Don't forget you are a demon! A demon is supposed to be selfish and greedy. We are made that way only so don't shy away from yourself." Lilith handed him a dagger. "This thing can kill any powerful entity and creatures. Don't worry she won't feel hurt. Just one stab and she will be back to her heaven. After this, no one can harm you or our hell. I hope you will do your work completely. If you can't do it then I'll do it myself and let me warn you, I won't let her die peacefully. Things will get worse so don't you dare betray me again. If you did then I'll forget that you are my son." Lilith threatened.

Ezen's hands trembled as he accepted the dagger, the weight of his decision heavy upon him. In that moment, torn between what to do. But he knows he can't just keep sitting. Only 10 minutes are left for the ritual to bring back Lilith on earth, to start.

***

Equinox follows Victor and reaches the cave where the ceremony is held. He knew she was following him to save Anastasia that's why he didn't mind her coming with him.

Staring at the cave, Equinox's demon instincts warned her about something. "Victor stop!" she says, her voice low and urgent. "The cave is protected by powerful dark magic. Your powers won't be enough to shield you from fire"

Victor looks at her, concern etched on his face. "Then what should we do? Anastasia is in there. We can't stay here for long."

Equinox nods, her expression grave. "I know. That's why we need to find another way to get to her," she says, her mind racing with possibilities.

Suddenly, Equinox reaches into her cloak and pulls out a shimmering crystal, its surface pulsing with energy. "This crystal can neutralize the magic of the cave," she explains, holding it out to Victor. "It can protect and keep the cave doors open for at least 15 minutes." Saying that she threw it into the cave, breaking the barrier.

"Thank you, Equinox," he says softly, a flicker of emotion crossing his features. It was nice to see that she still hadn't changed after all these years. Just like before she knew what to do in a crucial time like this.

Together, they step cautiously into the cave, their senses on high alert for any sign of danger. As they move deeper into the darkness, the air grows thick with tension, each step fraught with uncertainty.

When they got inside they saw many cult people coming to attack them. They dodged many attacks with their power but the number of people kept increasing, making them suspicious as to why they were not dying even after they attacked them many times.

Equinox glances behind the cave and notices Julian pulling the strings from there. She saw a box in his hand which she knew belonged to Lilith. She then finally realised that all the cult people coming to attack were not real. That box showed them hallucinations. Make sense why none of them were dying.

Equinox walked towards Julian and started to snatch the box from his hand but before she could catch him, Julian threw holy water on her face.

Equinox stumbles and cries with pain as holy water made contact with her skin and she fell to the ground.

"Equinox, are you okay?" Victor asks, his voice trembling with worry as he quickly starts to wipe the holy water off her face.

Equinox grits his teeth against the pain, her demonic powers flickering weakly as she struggles to stand. "I'll be fine,"

Victor helps Equinox get up on her feet, forgetting his own injuries as he focuses on getting them out of danger. But as they reach for the exit, they suddenly find themselves trapped in a small, enclosed room

which they knew was a small mage and only way to get out is if they find they find the key. The place they were trapped at was the box Julian threw before he ran away. And now only a key can help them come out from it which might be hidden somewhere in the room.

***

Julian came running towards the sacrificial ceremony and started panting heavily as he couldn't believe his luck that he was successful in tricking Equinox and Victor.

Larissa looked at his scared expression and understood what might have happened. "Love birds are here, aren't they? I hope you trapped them in that box. If they came here we both would be screwed like last time."

"I know. That's why I took them with me." He taps the box which is in his hand. "They won't find the key. Don't worry." He glanced at Anastasia who was unconscious lying on the ground. "I hope you didn't kill her. She has things to do. Don't forget that. After she erases our names from the Book of Destiny, we will sacrifice her to Lilith."

"You don't teach me what to do! Because of you, I had to stop the ceremony." She grabbed the box from his hand and kept it on the table. "Go make that book ready for use! Till that time I'll wake this bitch up!" Saying that she walked towards Anastasia and threw water on her face to wake her up. "Wakey wakey sleeping beauty."

Anastasia woke up with a migraine. "Where am I? Last time she was near fire but due to the heat, she again fell unconscious.

"Who cares where you are?" Larissa smirked. "All you should be worried about is that soon you will be gone from the world. After all, you were never supposed to be born. Your existence is a nuisance to us. Because of you, me and Julian are stressed, Lilith is mad, and also poor Ezen had to be trapped in the forbidden forest for so many years."

"How does Ezen being trapped in the forbidden forest my fault? I was not there that time, right?" She asked confused.

"Are you sure you were not there?" Larissa smirked. "Use logic babe! The moment Ezen was thrown into the forbidden forest, Victor was not human at that time so who's blood do you think he used to trap him there? Of course, it's yours! Anastasia Dalton Reynolds, illegitimate daughter of my sister Amara Dalton and her lover Elijah Reynolds."

"Amara? You mean Princess Amara is my birth mother?" Anastasia gets shocked by all those revelations. Tears rolled down her eyes as she realised why Mimi had come to save her. She couldn't even meet her properly.

Larissa scorned. "Because of your stupid destiny, no one is happy in this world. All humans hate you because they know you are unfair! Because of you, we can't be immortals. Who are you to even judge us!? A killer like you is gonna judge our karma huh?"

Anastasia glared at her. "Watch your tongue, Larissa!"

"When you were 5 years old you got into an accident with your adoptive father. But that was not an accident at all, it all happened because you couldn't control your power that time. Because of you, the car crashed. Your grandmother Isabelle took out your memory so you won't remember the incident but it won't change the fact that you are a killer."

Anastasia cried as she realised it was the truth. All those years she thought the truck caused the accident but in reality, she accidentally turned the steering wheel to the left and hit the truck.

Julian came back with the book and sighed. "Why are you making her cry? She is gonna die only so why bother?" He rolled his eyes. "Anyway... Take off our name from the list." He kept Dahlia's book near her and pages started to turn on their own.

Anastasia wiped her tears and glanced at the page with Julian and Larissa's name on it and saw near their death day a date appeared on its own. "Why does it say you are gonna die today?"

Larissa was shocked as she snatched the book. "No way! It was blank before! You might have done something! I told you to erase our names! Not write our death day!" She starts to get frustrated and yells at Julian. "Just screw this! Let's just sacrifice her and end our job. At least Lilith will protect us."

They both start to drag her to sacrifice her. She resisted and slowly started to lose hope. That's when Ezen entered, it brought a glimmer of hope, but it quickly faded when she saw the dagger in his hand.

"You want to kill me too?" She wiped her tears. "Fair enough. If that's what you want then I won't mind dying today."

Unlike before she didn't struggle now. She left everything to her fate. With a sense of resignation, she closed her eyes, ready to face whatever fate awaited her.