"That was disgusting." Greg moaned.

"Yeah." Kim laughed. "It was."

Hanna scratched her head.

"Ths town....Sunny Mills....are you saying that this story is about THE Sunny Mills? The town that just disappeared one day?"

"What a clever little girl." Angel hummed. "I suppose I could be. Or maybe it's another, entirely unrelated Sunny Mills. Who knows?"

Jeannie reached out and shifted the left lens of the broken glasses to the side. The word "Kittum" was emblazoned on the black plastic.

"You can try them out if you want." Those were the first words the Guide had spoken in a while. She looked up at him, seeking a second confirmation. The older man gave her a nod and she picked the lens up. With some excitement, she took a deep breath, and held it in front of her face.

To both her great disappointment and elation, nothing had changed. It was a weird mix of emotions.

"And?" Lindsay asked, elbowing her. Jeannie shook her head.

"Nothing."

Her friend sighed.

"Guess it was a load of bull after all."

"Or..." Kim interjected. "...these things do work, but no one here has anything to hide. If I understood the story correctly, then as long as everything is on the up-and-up, these are just regular shades."

"I guess you're right." Jeannie said and set the half-glasses down again.

"Amazonia, why don't you choose the next story? You've certainly been the most....enthusiastic of our guests so far."

Kim gave the Guide a thumbs-up.

"About time, old man."

She looked down at the table.

"Marbles are for babies and cards are boring. Gimme the pen, please. Not that it's that much more exciting, but whatever..."

The Guide chuckled.

"We'll, I'll do my best to make it as riveting as possible for you. This is a story about family. And it begins how many such stories begin. With the love of a mother."

------------------ Love, Immortal ------------------

Gabriella smiled. This was a rarity for her nowadays. In fact, this had been the first time in 5 years she had been in anything close to a good mood. And what a mood it was. She was downright ecstatic. Because today was the day. Today was finally the day.

She went over to her nightstand, humming a merry little tune. It had been a favorite of her daughter's when she was little. It never failed to lull her to sleep, no matter how much she had exerted herself that day. With as soft a touch as she could muster she picked up the prominently displayed framed picture and gazed down at the young woman within with both love and anguish.

It was five years ago when she got the call. She still remembered what she was doing at that moment—just unpacking her groceries without a care in the world. Then her phone rang. When she grabbed it to answer, she did not know that this would be the last peaceful moment of her life. The police were on the other side. Something had happened—to her daughter—her cute, naive, innocent daughter, Kimberly.

She had just turned 16 and was celebrating with her friends. Gabriella had initially forbidden her to go out, but after a few sad looks and lots of pleading, she finally relented.

A Villain had attacked. Not her daughter directly, but the jewelry store she and her friends were at. They hadn't even intended to buy anything, just look.

The monster was not alone. He had come with a bunch of his misbegotten comrades. They could've escaped. Her friends did. But Kimmy....Kimmy wanted to be a Hero.

Unlike her mother, Kimberly had been born with a Power. A highly sought-after one at that. Whenever she made eye contact with someone she could lock them in place. They were unable to move a muscle, as long as her eyes stayed open. Blinking would make it go away, but reestablishing it took less than a second.

She had caused her mother a lot of grief with it as a child. Like most kids, she would throw tantrums now and then, and she found it very fitting to put her mom in a "Time-Out" whenever she felt especially slighted. But they would only last a minute or two at most, and she'd apologize right away. That was another thing Gabriella loved about her daughter. Her kind heart.

When her darling first told her she wanted to become a hero, she had laughed it off and told her to go for it. Every 10-year-old with a Power wanted to be a Hero. Even many without did. When her darling entered her school's "High School Heroics" club at 14, the worried mother still thought it was just a phase, if a persistent one. But when she became club president and laid out all her plans for after graduation, that was when it finally set in.

.

She had praised her daughter for her thorough research and encouraged her like always, but deep inside Gabriella was split. Of course, she was proud of her princess. Going out and saving others was a noble profession, a respectable one. But it was so dangerous too. She agonized over it for days until one sleepless night she finally decided to take a step back and let Kimmy make her own decisions.

And she was so committed. She talked her mother's ear off for days after she was allowed to shadow a local hero for a week. She had never seen her daughter prouder than the day she caught a purse snatcher who had run by her on his escape. Heroism was her passion.

That's why she stayed back when that wicked creature attacked the store. She waited until he looked in her direction and locked him in place. It was a brave act. But if that's what ultimately resulted from bravery, then Gabriella would have much rather had a coward for a daughter.

A Hero showed up quickly, of course. It was New York, after all, you couldn't cross two streets without tripping over three Heroes.

She hated that Hero just as much as the Villain. He had left her there. Taken advantage of her Power to focus on the other bad guys while that one was paralyzed. He had later told Gabriella that her wonderful darling angel told him to do it. She assured him she had the situation under control. That others needed his help right now more than she did.

And sure, she believed him. Kimmy would say something like that. It was just in her nature. But what kind of adult takes a 16-year-old at her word when it comes to stopping criminals by herself? What kind of Hero would let a child fight his battles alone? It was clear how that would end. So in her mind, he was just as much to blame.

Eventually, Kimberly had had to blink. She was just human, after all. And the Villain had figured out exactly how her Power worked as soon as she affixed him in place. Once he was free again, he ducked down, kept his head low, and ran up to her. She had tried to run away but, of course, him being an adult, he managed to catch up and roughly grabbed her from behind, his palm covering her face. Then he said just one word.

"Stop."

And he was gone. He just fled. The cameras showed him slipping out the door, a handful of loot in his greedy fist. But to Kimberly, he may as well have vanished.

When the other lowlives were dealt with, that "Hero" found the teen crying on the floor, unable to see. She was blind. Fully. Irreversibly. Gabriella had rushed to the hospital as soon as she got the call and held her daughter as she cried her broken eyes out. The doctors said there was nothing they could do. The nerves had simply stopped sending signals to the brain. There was no biological cause.

She refused to believe it. She had saved up a significant amount of money for Kimmy's college education, but these funds were needed elsewhere now.

In the end, she shouldn't have bothered. She should've spent the time they wasted going from specialist to specialist caring for her daughter. Making her happy. Because this had only been the beginning.

The next sense to leave her was smell. It happened about a month after the attack. It seemed like a minor loss at first, but Gabriella's heart broke every time her daughter would come to her at night, afraid that this wasn't going to stop. She so badly wanted to reassure her again. To tell her everything would be okay. But she couldn't. Because deep down she feared the same.

When she lost her sense of taste, Gabriella pulled out all the stops. She started a fundraiser, she begged the rest of her family for money, and she even made a public appeal to the Villain who had done this to her baby. To please reverse this terrible affliction. But nothing came of it.

The money she accumulated, and she managed to raise quite a bit, ended up spent to the last penny with no perceivable progress to show for it. When the best doctors couldn't help her she went to specialists in Power Research and even the Arcane University. But neither researchers nor Mages were of any help either. When all was said and done the only thing she had achieved was putting Kimberly under much more stress than necessary.

During that time she lost her ability to speak. Gabriella almost broke down when she found out because some part of her knew she would never hear her baby's voice again. And at the tail end, when the University told her there was nothing they could do, she could no longer hear as well.

At this point, the desperate mother had resigned herself to care for her Kimmy for the rest of her life. Despite being blind, deaf, and mute she was still her precious little bunny. Her treasure. Her hero.

She took a job that allowed her to work from home and dedicated herself entirely to caring for her daughter. At first, it was easier than she thought. The steadfast girl could still do most things by herself, and would let her mother know through gestures that she didn't want any help except for what was strictly necessary.

But one month into that and she had lost her ability to move as well. Not fully. Her arms legs and head could still budge, but there was no strength behind it. She could curl her hand but was unable to grip anything.

Gabriella didn't despair. She wanted to. Especially now, when tears leaked from her still angel's face, the only way she could convey anything now. But she couldn't. Because if she despaired, then Kimberly would have nothing left.

Whenever it happened, when the tears fell, she would stop everything she was doing and hug her close to her chest. She would whisper into her ear how much she loved her, even though she knew her fragile little sunshine couldn't hear it. And her heart would simultaneously warm up and grow cold when she felt the thin, stiff appendages try to wrap around her, to hug her back.

But some time later, even that stopped. At first, she thought that her muscles had completely given out, but a checkup confirmed that she had finally lost the sense of touch.

Gabriella felt numb. Why had this happened? Why did her daughter have to endure this? What did she ever do that justified this much suffering? When she looked at her now, she mostly just felt hopeless. That beautiful face that would never smile again. That wonderful mind, trapped in a useless body.

But part of her was relieved too. At least she was alive. At least it was finally over. All of her senses were gone. There was nothing left to take.

Even that illusion shattered eventually. She sat in the hospital, tears in her eyes, waiting for the doctors to tell her what was wrong this time. What wicked card fate had dealt her sweet Kimmy now. And the answer finally broke her.

It was not enough to take her senses from her. Everything had to go. This time it was her kidneys. They simply stopped working. And transplants were unlikely to take. Anything introduced into the affected areas immediately ceased function as well. For now, she would need daily dialysis to survive. But if her kidneys were affected, it was only a matter of time before the rest of her organs went out too.

They told her they were sorry. They told her to be strong. They told her to prepare.

And so she did.

With a sigh, Gabriella put the picture back down. Then it came. The knock at her door. Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she hurried over and opened it.

The outside was heavy with rain, with the occasional bolt of lightning illuminating the stormy sky. In front of her stood three figures. Two were about her height, but one stood a good three heads taller. She quickly stepped aside and welcomed them in. One by one they entered the small home, the tall one having to duck down to fit through.

The nervous, yet excited woman used the opportunity to take a good look at her guests. All three of them wore hooded cloaks that concealed their entire body, two grey and one black. The hoods blocked the view to their eyes, and bandages wrapped tightly around the mouth hid the lower half of their faces. As she closed the door behind them she noticed the symbol on the back of their cloaks.

A waning moon, shedding light on what she assumed to be a burial mound. On top of it sat an object that seemed familiar to her. She was sure it was Egyptian in origin but try as she might the name escaped her.

She shook her head and refocused on the three figures she had just invited in. They were finally here.

When it was certain Kimberly was going to die her mother had looked to Heroes to help her. A specific team, that is. Reviving was a common enough Power that it was categorized as its own type, but the vast majority of Revivers could only bring themselves back to life. The number of registered people capable of resurrecting others could be counted on two hands, and most of them were Villains. But there was a prominent Hero who was blessed with just that ability. Kimmy had swarmed about her a lot. Martyr, of Rescue-Hero team "Medical Action".

She had called their offices daily for weeks, begging to be heard out, and though she was rebuked many times her persistence eventually paid off. They had verified her identity, made sure that what she was saying was the truth, and finally connected her to someone on the team. And not just someone, but Martyr herself. Gabriella was ecstatic. Hope had filled her heart for the first time in forever. But that hope was swiftly done away with.

She couldn't believe what she heard.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Reviving someone comes at a great personal cost to me."

Yes! And as a Hero, wasn't it her job to make sacrifices for the sake of others?

"It only works on someone who has just died. Any longer than a minute and there is nothing I can do."

Sure. But she could take a few days off and stay at Kimmy's bedside until....until it happened, couldn't she?

"There is a hard limit on how many times I can use this Power."

And? Giving up a single use wouldn't be the end of the world. That's what it was there for, wasn't it?

"I am sorry, but even if I personally wanted to, the decision to make use of me is not mine alone. We have to think practically. As much as it hurts. I promise you that the New Yorker Heroes and police will do everything in their power to catch the scumbag who did this. But that is...."

She hung up at this point. There was no point in listening any more. These selfish, evil monsters had no right to call themselves Heroes.

She stayed with her until the end. Held Kimberly as she died. When she felt the heat slowly leave her daughter's body it felt like all the joy in her life went with it. She sat in the bed for hours, softly stroking her dead angel's hair, before she finally called 911.

The funeral was crowded. Her fundraiser and the news coverage of both the initial attack and her fight to save her daughter had made Kimberly a local celebrity. Gabriella found it disgusting, but she couldn't bring herself to forbid people to pay their respects to her Kimmy. She deserved it. She deserved everything. Everything but what happened to her.

The person she was most sickened by was not one of the unrelated gawkers though. It was that "Hero". He had stood in the back during the entire service and she had to clench her fists as tightly as she could whenever her eyes fell on him to keep her composure.

He had come to her after it was over, head hung low. Acted convincingly ashamed too. The letter he gave her contained a check that covered the funeral costs and then some, together with his private number. She thought about burning them at first, but she also knew she was not in a state to think rationally now.

After she had a nice, long soak at home she had eventually decided to keep both. Just because she didn't forgive him didn't mean she couldn't make use of him.

It was clear to her that Heroes wouldn't ever be able or willing to help her. So she had to explore the other side of the coin. That, as it turned out, was easier said than done though. A month of thorough research left her at one dead end after another. All the Villains with the ability to Revive others were either too far out of her reach or had Powers that couldn't be used on her baby anymore. She stewed in her frustration until she read a comment she found most interesting.

That same night she pulled out the letter with the number and called. The useless vermin confirmed what she had read. There were a number of high-profile Villains whose files were locked behind security clearance. The official media was also prohibited from making videos, podcasts, or articles about them. Maybe that was where she would find her answer.

Convincing him to give her access had been surprisingly easy. At first, he had vehemently declined, but a few tears and reminders of his culpability in Kimberly's slow, torturous death were enough to tip the scale. She got half an hour..

Undeterred, she arrived at his office bright and early the next morning. Her pretense was that she wanted to search for any and all possible clues that could lead to the man responsible for her and her daughter's suffering herself. It worked well enough, especially after she mentioned her call with Martyr. The fool was even generous enough to leave her alone while she combed the database. It took her less than 15 minutes to finally find the file that contained the words she was looking for.

"No apparent limit on ability."

Not wanting to risk anything she quickly snapped a picture on the relevant section of the dossier and excused herself. She couldn't believe how lucky she was. Things were finally looking up. Finally.

Once she was safe and sound at home she poured herself some tea and took a first thorough look at her lead.

"The Resurrectionists."

She had read about them in her initial research. But that had made them seen more like an urban legend than an actual group. Rumors, hearsay, and plenty of skeptics who called bullshit. These things had made her disregard them entirely, yet here she was, reading through their official file. Well, some of it.

That site had paragraphs over paragraphs of useless, irrelevant info, and she was under a time crunch. The segment she had chosen to focus on was "Possible Whereabouts/Clues". It was light on concrete information, but it did include a few names that were suspected of knowing more. A start. A chance. And if there was any chance left, no matter how small, she would pursue it. To the ends of the earth if she had to.

It took her two years. They were hard, but not nearly as difficult as the last two. Not even close. The check she got had been put to good use here.

It was shockingly easy to buy at least a small degree of trust in these more shady areas. But she still had to earn the rest. As a regular, un-powered woman in her early forties, there wasn't a lot she could do. So it mostly took time. No one was very forthcoming, so she had to chase one minuscule tiny lead after the other. Many of them led to dead ends, many others to fraud.

The summary of various testimonies in the Villain file helped her separate most of the false trails from the genuine ones. Without it, the whole thing would've probably been impossible. She was beyond grateful that she had captured that specific section of the file and not any of the others. There was no doubt in her mind that her angel had guided her from above. She wanted to return to her mommy too. That thought helped her through her darkest days. She persisted.

And it paid off.

When she first got a hold of the little red box she patiently waited until she got home before she ripped it open. Before her laid the fruit of her labors. The black fountain pen looked exactly like it was described in the file. Even the unusually pointy nib.

Despite being so close to her goal, she had hesitated to take the final step. Not out of any moral obligation, no. Simply because she wouldn't have been able to bear it if the whole thing had turned out to be a hoax after all. But she didn't hold back for long. She needed her baby to return to her as soon as possible.

It didn't take long to set everything up. All she needed was something to write on. With a deep breath, she set the pen to paper and began like she was instructed to.

I

Gabriella yelped at the sudden bout of pain. That single stroke had felt like someone taking a knife to her hand. But a quick check confirmed that there were no wounds to speak of. She looked at the pen, a red liquid softly dripping down from its tip. Her face stretched into a smile. So it was real. Her heart pounding with excitement, she brought her hand down to finish what she started.

FEMALE

Just as she was told, the text disappeared immediately after she finished the last letter. Her hand was shaking with pain, but she did not care.

17

Next was the state of the body. That was easy.

INTACT

She had made sure of that. Finally, the second to last section. Power. This was going to be agonizing. But she had to endure it.

PARALYSIS ON EYE CONTACT. STOPS WHEN EYES CLOSE.

A mixture of tears and sweat dropped down onto the bottom edge of the paper. The agony was almost unbearable. But for it to work, for the Resurrectionists to consider you worthy, you had to prove your resolve. So she had no choice.

The last piece of information needed would be the hardest. Her full address. Hurriedly, she got up, grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen, and placed it in her mouth. It may be bad for her teeth, but right now she needed something, anything to lessen the impact, to help her endure.

With a determined grunt, she started her final ordeal and did not stop until it was finally done. Her hand was burning up. The pen slipped out of her grip and landed on the floor with a light clank. She tried to move her fingers but every small little nudge sent new waves of fire through her nervous system. With heavy, uncontrolled breaths she leaned back in her chair and smiled. For the first time in forever, she was hopeful.

Three weeks later, it arrived. She was walking to the kitchen groggily with the intent to make breakfast when she noticed something had been slipped under her door. It was a card. Her tiredness vanished in an instant and she raced to pick it up.

She both anticipated and dreaded what was written on it. The woman who had given her the pen had told her that the Resurrectionists decided themselves which job to accept. No one knew their criteria. But if they rejected you once, there was no second chance. As she lifted the card up she suddenly felt a coppery taste enter her mouth. She had been biting her lip without noticing.

"Calm down, Gabriella. Don't panic."

She took a deep breath. Her angel was looking out for her. There was nothing to worry about.

The front of the card was blank white. An empty business card. With hope burning in her heart, she turned it over. The flipside was pitch black. Only two things were written on the back in white print. The word "Resurrection", and a date.

Her knees grew weak and the tired, exhausted mother collapsed to the floor laughing. A laugh of genuine joy. She laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. She laughed as the card in her hand slowly brittled away into dust. She laughed as her arms and legs grew numb, forcing her to finally get up just in time for lunch.

That was two months ago. And today was the day. The day her beloved Kimberly would finally return to her.

As she regarded the three cloaked figures in her home she felt offended. Offended for them, that society would label them "Villains". As far as she was concerned, these were the most heroic people in the world. They were not out for fame, concealing themselves from the world as much as possible. They did not take payment, offering their services freely to any who were worthy. Calling them "Villains" was nothing more than an absurd, cosmic joke.

The Resurrectionists stared at her silently, waiting for her to make the next move. She knew exactly what to do next. Everything had been explained to her when she recieved the fountain pen, and she had drilled these instructions as deep into her mind as they could go. With her head high she strode past her guests and up the stairs. To Kimberly's room. Heavy footsteps echoed through the house as her three saviors followed behind her. Once she arrived at the top she did not hesitate to open the door.

The room had barely changed at all. All of the posters, toys, and school supplies were still just where they belonged. Kimmy would need them again, after all.

She slowly approached the girl sleeping in her daughter's bed and shook her awake. The teen groggily opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Gabriella. Then screamed when she spotted the cloaked figures behind her.

"Ssssssh. It's okay." Gabriella whispered softly. "Get up. It's time."

The girl had been living here a little over a month. Finding her had been the most stressful part of the instructions Gabriella had recieved. She had not been surprised when she was told that returning her daughter to her would require a life. It made sense. A soul for a soul. But there was a problem. The sacrifice had to be as similar to Kimberly as possible. Her first thought had been one of her nieces. But then it was clarified that the resemblance had to be physical. Not genetic. That had made things a lot more difficult.

She could've tried finding a fitting offering right after receiving the pen, but she wanted to be sure first. Sure that the Resurrectionists had chosen her. So she began her search the day after confirmation.

The reason it took her a month was not the lack of suitable vessels. There were a lot of blonde 15 to 18 year old girls running about in New York. The issue was gaining access to one. She needed one that would be with her at home on the day of rebirth, preferably one that wouldn't be missed. But as she looked for suitable subjects she found that she didn't care that much about the last part.

There was no one who would miss any of these worthless harlots as much as she missed her angel. Even if she had been told to personally smother all the 17 year olds in the state, it would be akin to trading a city built from sand for a cottage made of diamond.

A few weeks in she stumbled upon a winning strategy. During one of the many nights she spent in her daughter's room, she reread parts of her baby's Hero Notes. Good deeds she would do to better the lives of others. And one entry in particular excited her when she spotted it. A description of various volunteer work she did to aid the homeless youth of their great city. How beautiful a soul Kimberly was. And now her selflessness would help bring her back to her mother.

It took little more than a minute of research to find a small list of locations where homeless teens liked to gather. She had first thought about visiting shelters, but she didn't want to risk raising any suspicion. As luck would have it, she came across the girl at the first place she visited.

Blond, young, thin, beautiful if cleaned up a bit. Perfection. But she was still. Barely breathing. A closer look confirmed her fears. There was a bottle of pills clutched in the dumb brat's palm. Probably stolen.

How dare she? How dare she try to throw her life away like that, when it could be used for something much greater? Gabriella felt lucky that the offering didn't have to be similar in spirit, or her task would've been impossible. There was no soul as pure as her angel's.

She had no time to waste. She knelt down and softly laid her palm on the girl's cheek. Still warm. Good. The sound of the slap echoed off the barren walls and her hand left a deep red mark on the girl's face. But it did the trick. The eyes fluttered open and a groan escaped her chapped lips. Without hesitation, Gabriella pried the mouth open and stuck her finger in as deep as she could. The girl doubled over and emptied her stomach on the street as soon as the hand was removed from her throat.

So far so good. But this was not a guarantee that she would survive. The teen was clearly out of it, barely comprehending what was going on, so the older woman knelt down beside her and put a soft hand on her back.

"Hey. It's alright. I'm here to help." This was the first time in years that she had put on a motherly tone. She hated it. This brat didn't deserve it. But she had to swallow her disgust and soldier on. It was for a good cause, after all. "You poor thing. You look terrible. Come here." She stood up carefully, guiding the girl along as she did. She was barely able to stand but Gabriella pulled her close to give her some stability. "I'll bring you somewhere safe and warm."

The homeless girl stumbled to the car with Gabriella's help and collapsed inside. Worried, she made sure that the stranger was still breathing before heading home.

On the way to the front door, she still pretended to care for the limp body just in case someone was watching, but once inside she carelessly tossed her onto the couch. It was nerve-wracking waiting for her to wake up. If she died there and now things would get complicated real fast. But a few hours later she came to, confused as to where she was.

Getting the girl to stay was probably the simplest task she had to manage yet. She gave her more or less the real story of how she ended up there. Gabriella had seen her passed out in the alley, saved her life, and then brought her home to make sure she recovered.

Next was pretending to care. She asked her name. Lana. Then what she was doing there, alone on the streets. Of course, she merely pretended to listen. A nod here, a "You poor thing" there, topped off with a hug. It was too easy.

Then came the final act. She told her who she was. Told her about Kimberly. About how much she missed her. All the while leading her up to the room. Then, once they were there, she opened the door and asked.

"Would you like to stay here? Just for a while, to keep an old lady company? I would understand if you don't. You barely know me. But.."

She didn't even have to finish her speech. The girl interrupted her with a hug and said yes. Yes of course. She cried too, so many tears.

Gabriella said nothing, just holding her close and stroking her hair. She took a deep breath. All she had to do was wait and endure. Just wait and endure. She just had to tolerate the parasite for a little while. And if she did, it would transform into a beautiful butterfly. What she needed the most right now was patience. And of that, she had more than enough.

It wasn't easy. She had to make sure Lana stayed, so the girl had recieved the royal treatment. Anything she wanted, she got. She even made her breakfast in bed, though she never asked for it. She asked for precious little, actually.

A certain conditioner once, an order of disgusting, greasy fast food a couple of times, but what she wanted most was Gabriella's time.

"Let me help you cook.", "Can I watch that with you?", "Let's do something together."

It was miserable.

She'd much rather Lana be an entitled spoiled bitch that demanded expensive food and presents every day. At least that'd only grate on her wallet, not her soul. But, she assumed, even that was sure to be a test from her baby. Her little angel wanted to make sure that Mommy really did want her back. So she endured. And now it was time to reap her reward.

Lana stared at her for almost a minute, her gaze occasionally flickering over to the Resurrectionists, before settling back on the woman that rescued her. Without saying a word she got up and nervously took the older woman's outstretched hand. It was plain to see that the girl was uncomfortable, maybe even scared right now, but that didn't matter.

Gabriella led the hesitant girl out of the room and down the stairs, gently tugging her along whenever she failed to keep up. The three great Heroes followed behind with every step. Once she reached the door to the basement she let go of her tribute for a moment to unlock it.

The underground room was barren, devoid of nearly anything but an old rickety chair and a simple white chest freezer at the back end of the wall. The group came to a stop in front of it.

"Wh-what are we doing here?" Lana asked but she was ignored. With practiced ease, Gabriella opened the lid and gestured for the girl to look inside. She stood still for a moment, before slowly creeping forward until she could get a full view. Her scream was stopped by Gabriella's hand clamping down over her mouth. The girl was breathing heavily, but to the mother's surprise, she didn't fight back or attempt to flee. She looked back inside too.

"This is my daughter, Lana. This is Kimberly. Isn't she beautiful?" The girl just stared at the frozen corpse, unmoving.

Getting the funeral director to bury an empty coffin took more of her than she ever thought she'd be willing to pay. But when push came to shove the decision was simple. She never regretted it either.

Sometimes she would come down just to talk to her. Tell her about all the progress she had made. Other times she would open the lid and look at her ethereal beauty. And every night before going to bed she would come down and give her a kiss on the forehead, like she did back when her skin was flush with blood, her arms and legs chock full of energy and her eyes radiating life.

"I can get her back. The nice people behind us can bring her back to me. But to do that....to restore a life, they need to offer one in exchange. That's where you come in. I beg you not to make a fuss when I let go of you. Think about it. When I found you, you wanted to end it all anyway. But who would've gained anything from that? No one. A waste of a young life. But this way....this way your death can mean something. It can bring light back into the world. Please....can you do that for me?"

Halfway through her speech, she could feel tears run down the hand that was still covering the girl's mouth. Once she was done she slid it off slowly, ready to grab her again should she scream or try to flee. But she didn't. Instead, she turned around, and slowly pulled the older woman into a tight hug.

"I understand." Her quavering voice was was almost unintelligible. "Thank you. For letting me stay with you." Gabriella gently rubbed the shaking teen's back. Even now she couldn't find it in herself to summon up an ounce of care for the girl. But there was no need to make her last moments unnecessarily cruel.

As soon as they separated the black cloaked figure stepped forward. It raised its bandaged hand and held something out to the willing sacrifice. A dagger. Its blade was curved and uneven, but despite its apparent age, it retained a brilliant sheen. She hesitantly took it, not knowing what to do. One of the grey cloaks approached her, carrying with it a small goblet of some kind. A clear liquid was already held inside. The black cloak mimicked drawing a blade across its palm and Lana understood.

She carefully placed her hand over the mouth of the goblet, positioned the dagger, closed her eyes, and cut. Despite her best efforts, a whimper escaped her lips as her blood tainted the water with red blots. The grey figure eagerly reclaimed the weapon while the black one took the cup. It reached its free hand up to the bandages covering its mouth and pried them open. A thick glob of saliva was spit through the gap and intermingled with the bloody water. Within seconds the fluid turned a deep, engulfing black.

Once it was satisfied, it strode toward the freezer. Gabriella watched with bated breath as it softly opened her angel's mouth, much softer than should be possible with a body this frozen, and poured the black liquid inside.

Nothing happened.

The deed was not yet done.

It turned to the sacrifice and gestured into the freezer. Lana just stared at the figure for a minute before it clicked.

"You.....you want me to go in there?"

It nodded.

She looked at the dead girl, then her mother. "G...goodbye., G-G-Gabriella. I...." But she did not finish.

The smiling woman cupped the teenager's cheek and gave her a last farewell gift. A kiss on the forehead. The girl had been insufferable, but she fulfilled her purpose well.

The group looked on as the scared child clumsily climbed onto the freezer and laid on top of the body. They really did look alike, she thought, before the lid closed on top of them.

Gabriella took a deep breath. It was finally done. One of the grey cloaks grabbed the chair and placed it in front of the cold coffin. She thanked it, and thanked them all for their great service, before sitting down. Now all she had to do was wait.

She didn't even notice the Resurrectionists turning to leave. Didn't notice one of them hang a pristine white cloak on the handle of the door. All she cared about was that box. And as she waited, tired and exhausted from everything that had happened, she fell into her first peaceful sleep in years.

--------------

A soft sound ripped her from her dreams. They were sweet dreams. Happy ones. She awoke with a smile on her face. One that grew even wider when she saw the lid of the freezer slowly open.

She didn't dare move, in case this turned out to just be another phase of her dream. But with every inch the gap widened she couldn't help but feel the overwhelming surge of hope well up inside her and put a strain on the dam of her caution.

And it was when the lid was fully open that the dam broke down completely. There she was. Her Kimberly. Her beautiful angel, in all her glory. Her skin still had a blueish tone, but it was clear that life was returning to it slowly. Her eyes were no longer dull and empty, but bright and brilliant like before. Her face, neck, and part of her chest were smeared with blood, small trails of which were running down the rest of her body, but that was nothing a hot bath couldn't fix.

"Mom...." Her voice was hoarse, but it was unmistakably hers.

Gabriella sprung up out of her chair and tenderly helped her baby out of the prison she had been in for so long. She had trouble making her out through the tears, but no matter. There would be plenty of time to look at her later. Now, they had all the time in the world.

Once both of her feet were on solid ground she pulled her daughter close. Her body was so cold, the poor thing. As soon as they were back upstairs she would draw that bath.

"Mom....I missed you..."

She held on tighter.

"Me too, baby! Mommy missed you too! So much! So, so much!"

This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for all these years. Now her life could finally begin again. Both of their lives. Everything she had done, all the hardships she had to endure, it had all been worth it.

"Mom....?"

She felt her daughter's arms wrap around her. She was hugging back.

"Yes, baby? Is there anything you want? Anything you need? I'm here for you. Mommy is here for you."

A puff of cold breath hit her ear as Kimberly leaned in.

"I'm still hungry."