Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters

Last chapter T^T Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Gold pulled his sketchbook out from his desk. He rationalized that he had found her passion so he could paint her as much as he wanted. He looked over at Crystal's sleeping body and smiled to himself. She looked so trusting when she was sleeping. He pulled the blanket over her to provide her the modesty he knew she would want. He needed to capture the image before him. She was buried in white sheets so that she looked like an angel. Her dark blue hair fanned over his pillow that was a subtle contrast to all the white surrounding her. It would make a perfect focus point if he had colours. Her hand tucked under her chin and how her chest raised with every breath.

He pondered over what medium he should use. Charcoal would be best to portray the light playing over her soft skin but then water colour would be best to capture the soft colours that surrounded her. He remembered that all his paint were missing and sighed. But he could always use colour gradation to capture the colours as well. He would rather paint her rather than just a simple sketch but there was nothing he could do.

He tried not to think of his ruin studio and instead of the image before him. At least he painted over the red that marred his walls and the bodies were removed. He shook himself and began sketching her again. She shifted again and muttered something. He only smiled and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. He went through ten pages of sketches before the phone rang.

He cursed and ran to answer the phone before it woke Crystal. This was the longest he saw her sleep and wanted her to rest. It was a miracle he even woke before her. He placed the sketchbook on the pillow and stretched to get the phone.

"Hello?" He answered the phone.

"Gold?" Gold jumped at Ellie's voice. "Please come. I need your help. Katie is angry again and I'm scared. She destroyed my painting, can you come. I just want to paint."

"Don't worry Ellie, just lock your door and I'll be there in a minute." Gold rushed to put on a clean shirt as he continued to reassure her. He knew Katie's temper and the power she held over Ellie. He didn't want Crystal to worry about him so scribed down a quick note for her.

"I gotta' go, sweetie," Gold quickly kissed Crystal's temple before running out the door.

Crystal stretched and pulled the covers over her to block out the afternoon sun. Afternoon sun? Crystal shot up and looked at the clock. It was half past eleven and she was in still in bed? She groaned and lay back down, reaching out to Gold but he wasn't there. Instead, on the pillow was a sketchbook. Curious, she flipped through the pages.

She blinked and recognized herself. He had sketched her while she was sleeping? She should feel angry but it was beautiful. Though she knew that she wasn't as beautiful as Gold drawn her. Her legs couldn't be that slim. There was no way she looked exactly like the person Gold drew. Was this how Gold saw her? Or how he wanted her? She decided that it was better not to think of it.

She flipped through the pages and saw other sketches of her. Even though she didn't find any other sketches of another woman, she wasn't naïve enough to think that they weren't woman before her. She placed the sketchbook back on Gold's desk. She grabbed one of Gold's discarded shirts to wear. It draped to her knees.

She thought that Gold would be there eating his heart away so went down to the kitchen. She pulled the blanket around her when she saw that the house was empty.

He was gone already? She sighed as she took things from the fridge. As she sat at the table, she noticed a folded piece of paper on the table. She unfolded it and saw that it wasn't signed but recognized Gold's handwriting immediately.

Gone to help Ellie. Be back soon. Don't miss me too much SuperSerious Gal. The note had a silly little face doodled on the corner that made her laugh. Last night was beautiful. For the first time in weeks, she thought about something besides the killer. She hummed as she made some breakfast for herself. For a few more moments, she'll pretend that everything was okay. She'll think about the killer later.

After some time, she began to worry. It had almost been two hours and Gold still hadn't come back yet. She tried to call him but he never answered. By the time it was almost dinner, she was frantic. She grabbed a coat and went out to find him. She quickly ran across the street to Ellie's house. Silver said that she hasn't been there but Gold said that he was helping Ellie so she must be back now.

"Ellie?" Crystal knocked on the door a little too forcibly. She knew Gold was rash and hope that he wasn't in any danger. There was no telling what he would do. There was no doubt that he wouldn't think about his actions before he went off blindly.

When no one answered, she moved to the window so she could peak into the house. It was pitch black and her view was obscured by the curtains. She didn't know why but she felt as if something was very wrong. In the back of her mind, she could hear humming but she tried to block it out. She tried to call Ellie's home phone number but again, no picked up. Crystal was about ready to smash through the window when someone called out to her.

Crystal turned to see a beautiful woman staring at her. She couldn't blame the woman either. She must've looked like an insane woman trying to break into the house. To her surprise though the woman only laughed.

"You must be Crystal, the woman that's spending time with Gold. Ellie has told me a lot about you. Here I'll open the door we can sit while we talk."

"Thank you," Crystal said a little embarrassed. How can anyone just calmly invite a person that was raging at a door a moment ago into their home? She awkwardly moved away so that the woman could unlock the door. As soon as they walked in, Crystal noticed the broken shards of glass on the ground. The woman didn't even acknowledge it, instead walked past it into the kitchen but motion for Crystal to stay in the living room. Crystal looked at the paints scattered around the room.

"I'm sorry about the mess," The woman apologized as she came back into the room with some tea. Crystal thanked her under her breath as she took the cup the woman offered her. "Ellie must have been in one of her moods again. Art is a great outlet for her but I still worry that it won't be enough. The woman adores Gold and I might even say she's in love with him. That's a little awkward for me since I used to date him. But since I love my sister more than I can love any man, we broke up so he can keep teaching Ellie how to paint."

"I'm sorry," Crystal almost chocked on her tea. "You've dated Gold?"

"I'm sorry Katie, Ellie's sister," The woman put out her hand and Crystal was hesitant to shake it. The woman seemed nice enough but a little green monster wouldn't let her see her as that.

"Gold mentioned you too," It came out colder then Crystal intended and she even flinched at herself.

"This is awkward. I didn't realize you were dating though now that I look at you, I can see you wearing Gold's shirt. It's very… fitting. I'm sorry if I made this more difficult then it has to be but Ellie told me that there was nothing between the two of you. She must be put out that there is. Poor girl. And she just finished that painting for him. It's beautiful."

"I didn't know Ellie felt that way."

"No one did. I felt it was for her to tell so I've kept my pretty mouth shut for her sake. Now you finish that tea while I make a phone call. Ellie has missed a few of her appointment at the hospital though I don't know why they have to do all of these tests on her. It's just a learning disability. I think was adjusting to the world just fine until people started looking down on her for it."

Katie didn't wait for Crystal to nod before running off to the kitchen. Crystal looked to make sure that Katie wasn't watching before she went to explore the house. Just in case Katie came back, Crystal called back an excuse: "I need to go to the bathroom."

Crystal found the stairs easily since it was parallel to the door and the living room was an open concept. She made her way up the stairs and saw that the hall was in a bigger dismay than the living room. She was glad that she hadn't taken off her shoes or her feet would've been cut into ribbons. The first room was obviously Katie's. There were awards and diplomas with her name covering the walls that she wondered why they even bother with wall paper. The next room she looked into was Ellie's. Her heart stopped when she saw one of Gold's painting sitting in the middle of the room. It was tinted in red.

Crystal regained enough of her wits to call Gold. Like before he wouldn't pick up so she called Silver who didn't answer either. Feeling as if everything was crashing down on her, she called Jim. As soon as he answered, she began to talk frantically. "It think it's Ellie. I found Gold's painting in her room. It would make sense too since she looked up to Gold for so long and she would never so much as talk to me when I'm around."

"Calm down Crystal. Where's Gold?"

"That's what I'm worried about. He said Ellie needed his help and I haven't seen him since. That was hours ago!"

"We'll find him. Now get out of that house and come to the station. Silver is at Aqua's science fair so he's no help. Don't worry, we'll find the killer and Gold. I'll call Lyra so she knows everything."

"Alright," Crystal shut off the phone so she could call Lyra. She would rather call Lyra and tell her everything herself. She waited for Lyra to pick up as she spun around to escape the house she came face to face with Katie. Crystal almost jumped out of her skin but what shock her more was the sudden sensation of her insides burning. Her body jerked in rebellion to the pain before it gave in and slumped to the ground. With the little energy she had to resist the pain overtaking her, she looked up to see Katie standing over her with a teaser.

"Look what I have here," Her smile was sinister. "One half of Ellie's next painting. But you can't have a painting like The Twins without the other bitch. At least you'll have your sister with you when I slit your throat. Everything is going as planned."

Lyra quickly lit the various candles around the room. The fresh smell of roast turkey engulfed the kitchen and she ran back to the kitchen to take it out of the oven. She was glad that the living room of Silver's apartment was small and that everything was connected. Though it was small, it was very roomie. That was because there was barely any furniture.

Tonight was the night she would ask Silver if he loved her. Crystal's words made her realized that she shouldn't give up on Silver so easily. It wasn't only Crystal's words that made her want to leap. That morning, she found her book on her counter. Not a plain transcript but as a full fledge hardcover book. Now that she looked back on her novel she realized that after she met Silver, her hero had taken on more and more of his traits. There was a little note in the inside cover. She read it over so much that she could recite it from heart.

I sent your book to a friend and now your novel is going to be sold in stores everywhere. I was annoyed with waiting for you to send it so did it myself. I didn't edit this whole thing for you not to send it. You don't have to thank me. Silver.

She had left a note in Silver's car so all she had to do was to wait for him to come, if he came at all. She didn't want to think about that possibility though. It would break her if he didn't come. She sat on his hard couch and pulled the sneasel doll to her chest. It was warn from years of love yet the couch was hard as if someone hadn't sat in it for years. She looked out the window and saw that it was night. She checked her phone again but it was silent.

She leaned her head against the back of the couch and let herself cry. She always knew that she loved Silver. She just didn't know how much until she tried to run from him. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she should hate him, she just couldn't find it in her heart to. The feeling of love is so strong that it changed her forever and no matter how much she tried, the feelings would never go away.

The candles burned lower until the door opened. She didn't notice because she was still half asleep. A loud thump woke her and made her jump. She stood as if it was dream. He was there. She wanted to run into his arms but her legs wouldn't obey her. In fact she felt as if they were about to give from under her.

The thump was caused by the bag Silver dropped. Silver stared at Lyra bathed in candle light. She was there in his apartment, if this was even his apartment at all. His apartment was cold. This place was warm and welcoming. He looked around the room until his gaze landed on Lyra again. He drove back from Aqua's science fair feeling lonely and now here she was. She was shaking slightly and she held his sneasel against her chest as if to protect herself.

Silver walk toward her and touched her check, "You're shaking."

"I didn't thought you'll come," She said shakily. "The chicken's cold now."

"How did you get into my apartment?" Silver asked a little annoyed as she held up his key hanging from a ribbon. He recognized the ribbon as one of his sister's. So this was her doing?

"I'm sorry my sister put you up to this," Silver apologized.

"What?" She seemed to flinch at his words. "You're sister only gave me a key. It was my decision to come here tonight. I wanted to say that I… that I…I found sneasel. I always wondered why you would need a stuff animal. Normally kids would have something like this to hold when they're afraid. I can't imagine you being afraid ever."

Silver was silent for a moment and she saw his fist shake. She touched his shoulder to reassure him but she only felt him stiffen more. She just wished that he would talk to her and told him just that.

"It must be lonely having no one to talk to," She said softly. "You've been carrying this for a long time. I hope that one day you might trust someone enough to let them in. Sure there's Gold and your sister but I don't think that you've ever showed them the person you are inside. Why won't you let someone in? Someone that can help hold that burden inside of you. Aren't you tired of going to that cold bed alone?"

Months before Silver would say that his cold life was everything he needed but then he met her. He felt her sunlight on his skin. He tasted the sweet wine of her lips. Now his empty life wasn't enough for him anymore. Not after she showed him how bright life can be. He knew that sunlight like that would have to turn to night eventually. But now she stood in front of him saying that there was a chance for it to last forever. If he just let her in completely.

"My sister and I never had a normal life," He began huskily. "We were never given a chance to just be us. We had to change to survive. Blue tried to protect me by taking all of the burden but then I grew up. I couldn't let her so that for me. So I hardened myself so that we could survive."

Lyra bit back the questions she had. His eyes were glossed over, trapped in the past. He paused before he went on, "We were given away by our own parents, sold into our own death by the person that should've protected me. I was so little I don't even know my birthday. The person my parents sold me to was cold and evil. He was training kids to rob things and become evil. Everyone was too scared to do anything. Everyone, except Blue. She was the only one that stood up to him. No matter how many times he knocked her down, she always got back up. I thought she was the strongest person alive.

"But then I saw her cry. It was the day that she killed the mask man. Her hands and face were covered in blood. She just looked at me as she cried. She said, 'I killed him. I couldn't let him hurt anyone else. But now we have to go back. We're so broken that we can't fit in it anymore. I'm sorry but life is only going to be harder for us now.' It was. Everyone knew she had bloods on her hand even if the police said it was self defense. For a time she was happy and we had a normal life. But happiness can't last forever. He broke Blue's heart. He left her standing there with tears flowing down her cheeks. That was the only other time I ever saw her cry.

"If something like love was enough to break my sister, one of the strongest woman I know, I didn't want to risk it. That makes me a coward doesn't it? But it's too late for me to run. You're in my blood worse than Airalam."

Lyra shook her head because she couldn't find the voice to answer him. She didn't realize she was crying until he wiped the tears from her cheek. "I can't promise that it's going to be perfect. There's no doubt that there will be fights but nothing that we can't get through. I won't break you. I'll love you with all of your scars. You don't need to be fixed because you're not broken. You're my silver knight: hard, unyielding and strong."

"I don't want perfect, I want you. You belong with because despite everything I did to try to block you out, I just couldn't. I couldn't help but fall in love with you."

"Is the masked man why you became a policeman? So you can bring men like him to justice?"

"It was a big part," He agreed. "It was also to protect my sister. I'll tell you about her job later. Let's not cry anymore. You're beautiful but you look like an angel when you smile. I'll heat up that turkey for you. You just go sit down."

Lyra laughed as she shook her head. "I'm not taking a chance of you accidentally burring down the building. I'll cook you just sit."

Silver smiled as he sat at the table she set up. He could imagine them setting up in a routine like this. She closed the oven with her hip as she answered her phone. She smile faltered for a second. It was so quick a person wouldn't notice it if they weren't watching her closely enough.

"I'll kill him," the voice on the phone warned her evenly. What scared her was the fact that it was the same voice as the person who first called her. "If you don't believe me, just go to the window you'll see a red blinking light on the terrace across from you. That's one of my friends aiming his sniper at him. If you so much as tell him or make him move, I'll kill him. I can hear every word you're saying. Silver's not faster than a moving bullet. And don't think about shutting the window, these are buck shots I'm carrying. They're strong enough to go through drywall."

"What do you want," She whispered shakily. "Please, just don't kill Silver."

"I knew you'll see it my way. Now leave and make sure he doesn't move or follow you. I'll give you more instruction as soon as you're out of the building." The chilling beeping that followed was drowned out the pounding of her heart.

"Lyra, what's wrong?" Silver began to get up but she jump up screaming no. She moved so her back was facing the wall. She would rather the bullet hit her than for him to be hurt.

"Nothing's wrong," She whispered against his lips. "But I need to go. My boss just called me."

He knew it was a lie the moment he saw the tears she desperately try to hold back. "I'll go with you."

"NO, please Silver no!" She pushed against his shoulder until she forced him to sit back against the chair more. "Please don't follow me. I can't stand it if something… Oh I don't know if I can do this. But please just trust me and stay. I need to leave and you need to stay. Please, I love you and I can't bear to think about what's going to happen next."

She pressed her hand against her lips as if to keep in her emotions and ran out the door, a stream of tears trailing behind her. Silver could only sit there, her confession of love ringing through his head,

Crystal woke with a headache. The cold ground she lay on made her insides shiver. She groaned in protest to the bright light that engulfed her vision despite the fact that her eyes were closed. Her mind overcame the numbness of her body and she forced herself to sit up. She barely had any strength so she had to brace herself with her hands.

The blood slowly began to flow to her body again. She forced her eyes opened and saw a painting hanging on the wall before her. It was a copy of Gold's painting. The Twins. There were two women in the painting. They had the exact same face but were as different as night and day, and that what they were. One was sunny with red hill was while the other was cold with dark hair. They stood back to back.

"Looks who finally woke up," Crystal turned to see Katie walk in. She was dragging Lyra behind and Crystal rushed to her side. She caught Lyra but her weak body wasn't able to hold her so they fell to the ground. Lyra eyes were glazed but they tried to focus on Crystal.

"What have you done to her?"

"I gave her some mendicant. She's conscious of everything around her but she has no control over her body. It's a very pitting state but it wears off eventually." Katie explained. "Now it's time for some fun. Gold should be here soon and I can't wait for him to come. He's going to be the one that complete this master piece."

"Why are you doing this?" Crystal demanded.

"It wasn't my idea," Katie admitted. "I'm working under a higher power. I don't know what he wants but I intend to make this more fun for all of us. I'll give you two options: stay and I'll shot Gold as he walks in, but not before I kill you before his eyes. Or you can go through those doors and escape. But if you do go through those doors, I'll tell him that you're dead. You decide."

"Where are we?" She would rather gather as much information as possible before she was had to decide. If she could draw this out long enough, maybe Gold would come before she was forced to make a choice. But how can she choose between the two? She can't put Gold through the pain of making him think she was dead. But would it be worst if he saw her die? She had to think of her sister as well. Good God she couldn't live with herself if Gold died.

"We're in an abandoned warehouse that supplies paint. We're on the top floor but the elevator is broken so there's no telling what I left for you."

"I'll…" Crystal almost chocked on her tears. "I choose the second option."

"I knew you would choose just as I planned. I'm not completely evil. Here's a present for you. A flashlight! Since this is the only room with power, it's pretty dark. But I don't remember how much power this thing have left." She made a show of turning the flashlight on and off in quick sessions. "Better not waste it. Now take off your shoes and to make sure that you don't try to call for help, give me your phones as well."

Crystal nodded and took off her shoes as well as Lyra's. She struggled to put Lyra's arm around her shoulder so she was able to half carry her. She jerked the flashlight from Katie's hand but she only laughed in reply. Crystal tried to keep a straight face as she walked through the door.

Gold took a board between his hands and smashed it over the man's head as hard as he could. He fell to the ground with a thump which made Ellie jump. Gold put a reassuring hand on her arm to calm her before he turned back to the task of tying the man up. As soon as he was finished, he ran into Silver's apartment. Silver sat in the middle, staring at the gun in his hand.

"They're in danger!" Gold burst out, "Katie has them."

Silver was out of seat in a second. He knew Lyra was in lying. He could feel it in his heart that she was in danger but her eyes told him that they would be in even more danger if he moved. So he sat staring at his gun. Much use it was when the person he love was in danger.

"Where is she?" Silver demanded. He was already out the door, grabbing his car keys. Gold closely followed him while Ellie straggled behind. Gold saw this and grabbed her hand. They all jumped into the car and Gold began to explain.

"Ellie called this morning. When I met her at her house, she attacked me but when I restrained her, she began to cry and told me everything."

"Sister only wanted Ellie to teach at first but then there was so much blood. Ellie helped sister but Ellie didn't want to! Katie volunteers at Hospital, Katie Bloody Killer. But Ellie also killer. Now Miss. Crystal is in danger. Katie is going to kill them. Ellie so sorry Gold."

"Who's the man?" Silver asked though his voice was rough.

"He is there. Ellie don't know bad man's name. But Ellie know that they are in building," Ellie pointed in the direction and Silver slammed his foot on the accelerator. When they reached the building, Silver reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a gun.

"Take it Gold."

"Okay. Ellie, you stay here." Gold didn't to see if she nodded before running into the building. It was pitch black but the light blinked on simultaneously. It created a path that Gold was hesitant to follow. But if they wanted to save Crystal, he'll have to play Katie's game and follow her rules. He didn't like it but there was no other choice.

At the end of the path, there was an elevator. He was hesitant to enter at first. They could easily kill them if they were to step into that elevator but something caught his eyes. On the ground was a pair of gold star earrings. He had seen Crystal wear them doubtless times and his heart dropped. He scoped them into his hand. He clutched them to his heart before he placed them into his pocket.

He needed to save her.

All of the numbers were scratched out except for the button for the top floor. It was circled in angry red paint but Gold didn't hesitant to push it. There was mute silence as the elevator moved toward the top floor. When they reached the top floor, Gold saw a dead body on the ground and for a moment his heart stopped. Blood pooled out of the body from a knife wound in her stomach.

Then he realized it wasn't Crystal's and felt guilty of the relief that flooded over him. Then he recognized the woman bleeding before him. It was Katie. He heard Silver call for an ambulance past the ringing in his ear.

Soft clapping startled Gold and Silver. Jim stepped out from behind a door and stood over Katie.

"I'm surprise you made it this far. But I must say that the only reason you did is because I let that kid live. And the only reason I did was for my own amusement. Welcome to the last stage of my mystery. Isn't this a fun little gam-"

"I'm not playing a game!" Gold snapped and punched Jim's jaw, sending him to the ground. There was angry bruise forming already but when Jim moved his jaw, he saw that it wasn't broken though it was damn close. Gold didn't give him another moment before he pressed his knee against his chest and raised his fist to hit him again.

"You don't want to kill me. She's still alive," Jim's word made Gold stop. His heart stop and he jumped off Jim though he patted his pocket to make sure his gun was still there.

"Where is she?" Gold demanded.

"Let me continue first," Jim motioned leisurely as if he had all the time in the world. "You are only a means to a cause. If you're going to be angry at someone, be angry at your best friend there. No matter what I do I can never be anything in his eyes and therefore can never move up in rank. So when I met Katie that day, I knew what I must do. I will create a mystery that not even you can solve. Creating a mystery is much harder than solving one. Katie was easy enough to manipulate. All I had to do was tell her that he could be with Gold again and she became my puppet, though she did disobey me by sending those girls off so I had to kill her. I wanted to be holding a knife to one of their throat when you walk in."

"What do you want?" Silver asked trying to contain his rage, "I'm here now. I'll acknowledge you, what more do you want? I resign, I'll help you move up, just tell me where Lyra is."

"I don't want any of that. I want you on your knees and begging me to tell you where they are because you're not smart enough to save them. I want both of you to beg."

After some time, Lyra regain control over her limbs again. Crystal muscled sighed their relief when Lyra began walking on her own. They had walked down one floor but beside walking around blindly, running into beams, picking a few locks and braving some snakes, it wasn't everything Katie built it up to be. That was until she felt stabbing pain in her feet. She screamed in pain and pushed Lyra away when she would've rushed to help her. Crystal stumbled backwards, wincing as the pain intensified.

"What is it Crystal?" Lyra knelt next to her.

"My feet," Crystal answered. She took the flashlight from her pocket and turned it on. The light reflected over the thousands of glass shards. They covered the ground without leaving a single opening. Crystal couldn't think of a way to get past.

"Let me look," Lyra took the flashlight from Crystal and shined it at her feet. She hissed at the sight but set at the task of removing the glass as best as she could. She began to panic when the flashlight began to flicker.

"Just get out the big ones," Crystal told her evenly in hopes of calming her. "We need to save the batteries."

Lyra nodded and ripped several strips of fabric from her skirt to wrap Crystal leg. Crystal also took a strip and wrapped it around a large piece of glass. If anything were to happen, at least she had a weapon now. The sound of someone hitting the ground on the upper levels echoed through the building. In her heart, Crystal knew that it was Gold. Who else could it be?

Lyra heard it too and without a word they made their way back toward the stairs. They had to help them and they knew that they couldn't go on. When they reached the door the escaped through, they hid in the shadows of the door. To their shock, they saw Silver fall to his knees. Lyra wanted to cry out and run to him thinking that he was hurt but Crystal held her back.

"Please, just tell me where Lyra is," He began to beg though it seemed like he was in pain. He continued to beg but she saw that Gold only seemed to get angrier. He clutched the gun in his hand tighter with every word. He turned away and his eyes met Crystal's. For a moment, the light came back into his eyes with something that edged on relief.

"It won't work," Gold snarled. He wanted to keep Jim's attention as much as possible so Crystal could escape. "No matter what you say, he won't tell us. He only likes watching you at your weakest."

"I know," Silver voice was harsh. "But I have to keep him happy or I'll never see Lyra again."

Lyra heart cried out to him and Crystal couldn't hold her back anymore. She grabbed a rock and scream as she chucked it at Jim's head. He turned to shot at them but they quickly jumped away, landing hard on the ground. Gold moved then, he tackled Jim to the ground and wrestle to take away his gun. Silver also took out his gun but didn't shot fearful that he would hurt his best friend.

The gun discharged and everyone jumped. Gold managed to overcome Jim in his shock, knocking the gun out of his hand and across the room. Though Jim was more trained at fighting that Gold and knocked him aside, his head banging on the wall painfully.

"Gold!" Crystal ran to his side. He had a bump on his head and was groaning but beside that, he seemed fine. A shadow stood over her and she turned to see Jim stand over her. He wasn't holding his gun but the rage in his eyes was enough to cause murder. Quickly taking the glass out of her back pocket, she waited until he came closer. When he was almost over her, she jumped forward and thrust the glass into his gut. Then she kicked the side of his head so that he fell to the ground unconscious.

"That's my gal," Gold chucked huskily as he struggled to his feet. When he struggle, Crystal caught him against her body so she could support him. She looked around the room and saw the lives that were destroyed by one man's insanity.

"Are you okay?" Gold asked as they sat in the cold hospital room. He took Crystal there to heal her feet and know they sat in silence.

"Just waiting for the shock to wear off," She paused. She wanted to ask him what their relationship would be like now that everything was over. She didn't even know what she wanted and if she even wanted to hear an answer. In the past month, she had fallen head first in love with him. She was so deep she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. She couldn't imagine her life without him despite she wanted to knock some sense into him half the time.

She looked up when Gold took her hand into his as he knelt in front of her. She met his eyes and got lost in them for a moment. He stroked her hand for a moment longer before he began to talk.

"I should've given you something sooner," He slipped a ring onto her finger.

"Our engagement was a fake though," Crystal said softly though she wanted to deny that it was all fake and now that it was over, they were over.

"Our engagement might have been a fake but we aren't, and I'm not going to let you go" She was too shock to react and she was thankful that Gold went on. "You're everything that I would usually avoid in a woman. You're much too smart for me and can see through me. You're also immune from my great charm, which I thought was impossible. But I fell in love with you despite everything that says we shouldn't be together. Please tell me I'm not a fool. Please say that you'll marry me. This ring was my mother's and I had been in our family for centuries."

Crystal stared at the gold and blue crystals set into the gold ring. It was warned and it was a shock that I survived that long. Though she could see everything fighting against their love, and themselves included. She was afraid that she it could all fall apart and have her heart broken. But then, she knew that if she were to leave now, her heart will be broken with no chance of healing.

She saw the hope and love in Gold's eyes and that was enough to push Crystal into the unknown. She threw herself into his arms, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Yes, I'll marry you! I love you Gold."

He grinned relieved and pulled her down for a deep kiss. This was his sacred summer and he wouldn't change one day of it.

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this. Yes the mastermind behind everything was Jim though I think everyone guessed that. Though I was surprised people actually said it could be the secretary since I never even gave her a name but then I can also see it when she urged Lyra to pick up the phone.

At first I was going to have Crystal be captured after she heard about Gold and Silver's bet from the first chapter and run out heartbroken but then I canceled that since I thought it was a little cliché and overdone. I was going to have Jack and Ellie as suspects as well but didn't think that I can put them in as well.

As well, since this is my first romantic suspense, and the first in the series, I want your opinion on A Sacred Summer. I want to know what I did well and more importantly what I can improve on. Before you say it yes I will work on my grammar and spelling. Well aware of that but what about the mystery? The shipping moments? I had a part where we got to see into the killer's mind in one chapter, did you like that and want me to do something like that again in my next book? Did you not like who the killer is? You can say anything except for one major rule: Don't touch my shippings! Here they are again:

A Winter Wedding: oldrivalshipping

An Autumn Affair: specialshipping

A Spring Scandal: franticshipping, agancyshipping, and commonershipping