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Lyss felt anything but relief by the time Madison dropped her by the car. The house was on fire. Thankfully her important possessions were back in her apartment, but there went the Coven’s home within seconds. She thought that killing Annabelle had been too easy, but she at least believed that they could get to a safe distance until Meifeng and Maximillian were nearby.

Then the house exploded. Lyss ducked and covered her head and neck with her arms as she cowered against the car. [color=D3D3D3] “Fuck,”[/color] she cursed. Of course Annabelle couldn’t have stayed down for another minute. Lyss felt her arms drop by her sides as she looked up at the towering beast. [i]We really should have left her the way she was.[/i]

Lyss was stuck in place staring at the horror that towered over their burning home. She saw the spike of a tail swing downwards, but she couldn’t react until it struck the car beside her. Lyss dove away from the car and landed roughly on the pavement. Shattered bits of glass sprinkled themselves around her and she was careful not to cut herself as she scrambled back to her feet. 

[b] “K-Kayla…”[/b] Lyss looked at Madison and saw the horror on her face. When she followed her eyes back to the monster before them, she found what Madison was calling Kayla. Except, it couldn’t really have been her, right? And Agatha too? How?

Lyss had heard of Annabelle’s curse before. It was just a brief lesson her grandmother gave her long ago, when she honestly was too young to be hearing of something so terrifying. Every soul the Hunger’s curse claimed was trapped within the host like some vacuum. She never believed that it could physically form itself, but she had the proof standing right before her.

Lyss’s heart was pounding. It felt like her chest would burst at any second. She couldn’t move, frozen again by the shock. Her eyes moved from Annabelle and turned towards the dark shadows that began to surround the property. The Hunger’s minions. Annabelle’s cursed victims were all gathered together. They were trapped.

Meifeng and Trevor showed, but Annabelle’s guttoral laughs only twisted Lyss’s stomach into knots. The mass of undead around them stopped, but she knew Trevor could only hold his abstraction for so long against something like [i]her[/i]. If Maximillian didn’t show soon… Nothing she could do could-


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[i][b]”Alyssa…”[/b][/i]

Lyss blinked. The chaos before her had stopped. The color of the fire and stars above was muted, as if a filter was cast against her vision. She turned in circles, looking at each of her friends, sisters, and the evil beings that waited for Annabelle’s release to swarm. She didn’t understand. Time had stopped, and she could have sworn that was her father’s-

[i][b]”Alyssa Burns, listen to me.”[/b][/i]

Lyss turned back around, and suddenly she was at her childhood home. Her dad stood before her, as tall and dark as she remembered him. It was quiet, except for the static in the back of her head. [color=D3D3D3] “Dad, I…”[/color]

[b] “I know this is strange. I’ve been gone from your life for so long, and for that I’m sorry.”[/b]

Lyss stared at him. She was in shock, and yet she felt more at peace now that she ever had before. She wasn’t sure what to do, what to say, or even what to think. Her dad looked remorseful, but his eyes were warm and kind. He really loved her, she finally thought. Even if he’d left her, he had loved her.

[b] “I cannot give you much in this form, my dear… but I can pass this along to you.”[/b]

[b]”[i]We[/i] can give you this.”[/b]

From behind her father, her grandfather suddenly emerged beside him. The two stood side to side. They looked so alike when they stood that way.

[b] “The Burns legacy is passed from eldest child to eldest child only when they are deemed worthy of it.”[/color] Lyss’s grandfather began before her dad continued.

[b] “We have been watching for you quite some time, Alyssa. We are both extremely proud-”[/b]

Her grandfather chimed in, [b]”-but also unsure of your actions since we joined The Hound’s ranks.”[/b]

Lyss felt her cheeks burn. This was a recollection. Of course. She understood completely what her grandfather had implied.

[b] “But…”[/b] Her grandfather said as he nodded towards his son.

[b] “You are ready for the Burns power now.”[/b] Her dad finished with a smile.

Lyss looked between them. She was unsure of receiving this power, herself. This was the power that broke her family apart. This power was the reason her grandfather, her father, and then her mother left. Each of the men before her were so obsessed with living up to the Burns legacy it killed them. Could she handle the power? Could she refrain from it’s temptations and continue her life in peace?

On the other hand, she thought back to her current reality. Annabelle was unstoppable. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of her victims just waiting to tear each of her sisters apart. She needed this power if she was to defeat the Hunger.

[color=D3D3D3] “I will accept the Burns legacy,”[/color] Lyss finally said as she looked her grandfather and father in the eyes. [color=D3D3D3] “ I promise that I will not abuse it like so many have before me. I will not pursue the art of necromancy for my own benefit, but for the benefit of those I love.”[/color] She looked her father in the eyes. For so long she thought he was doing what he thought right for the family, but when she grew older she realized that he had done it for himself. She would be different.

[b] “Then it is done. Take the ring I have given to my son, your father, and defeat those who threaten your loved one’s lives.”[/b]

[b] “I only wish I could have been there to help you today,”[/b] Her father said to her with a melancholy smile. He held out a fist and opened his palm facing upwards. [b] “Alyssa Burns, I give you this gift. This [i]recollection[/i] so that you can do what my father and what I could not.”[/b]

Lyss slowly took the ring from his hand, her eyes wet with tears. [color=D3D3D3] “Thank you, father.[/color]” She nodded to her grandfather. [color=D3D3D3] “Go in peace.”[/b]

Her grandfather gave her a smile, nodded towards his son, and faded into the darkness in the nearest doorway. Lyss faced her father and smiled sadly. She couldn’t believe that this was how she would see him after all this time. She didn’t even have time to ask him why he’d left all those years ago. Instead, she choked out, [b]”Go in peace.”[/b] Her father was hesitant, but in the end he smiled, nodded, and followed in her grandfather’s footsteps.

Lyss took a deep breath as he left, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She cleared her throat and looked at the ring in her hands. This was it. The power of the Burns all in one tiny object. She held up her right hand and slid the Burns ring onto the same finger as her own channeler. The two began to glow with black energy, and then they merged together. Lyss traced the new ring with her fingers and blinked.

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She was back in Tampa, back in front of the remains of the beach house, and Annabelle was still making those awful sounds. It didn’t sound like laughing anymore. Just a bunch of shrieks and grunts. Trever wasn’t going to last until Maximillian came.

It was time.

Lyss looked at the ring on her finger. It looked almost the same, except the band was thicker and the jewels had fused together. It was half her father’s ring, and half of her own ring. She held her arm out, palm facing downwards, and inhaled deeply. Then exhaled slowly, her arm lifting towards the sky as she closed her eyes. 

In one fluid motion, Lyss swung her arm downwards and knelt on one knee. Her palm hit the ground with a sudden force that shook the pavement. As she opened her eyes, her ring and her irises glowed with the black lux. She was performing a summoning ritual. It would take almost all of her energy to succeed, but she could feel the power of her father’s ring fueling her own. Her father and grandfather were both here with her, even if they couldn’t be seen. The power of three strong Burns, their own power passed down to them from the Burns before them, were shaking the ground of Tampa’s coast.

Even Annabelle would feel the charge in the air. Any bird that remained in the area suddenly flew off into the night. The ground trembled, softly at first, and then violently. One by one, Lyss’s own army of the undead broke through the dirt, concrete, and sand around them. They sprung up behind Annabelle, in front of her, and all throughout Annabelle’s horde. A large amount of them emerged between the DENs, any remaining Coven members, and the bloodlusting victims that surrounded them. Lyss stood as she finished, panting softly to herself. She wasn’t sure how many she summoned, but she knew it was enough to make this work.

[color=D3D3D3] “Alright. My men will take care of Annabelle’s zombies. Just focus on keeping her here until Max brings the cure.”[/color] She shouted, her head turning to Meifeng and nodding.

That said, Lyss faced Annabelle once more and threw her fist into the air. Her undead suddenly attacked. A small group began to climb up Annabelle’s body, tearing flesh as they went, while the rest began to rip her undead soldiers apart.

Alyssa Burns was unafraid.