"So this is how it works," Holly says as she hands the pieces of paper to us all around the fire. It's one of the many bonding exercises that she or Christian often try after there's tension in the village. "You write down something that you miss from the old world, you say it, and then you burn it. But you can't put anything like parents or family because we've already done that exercise and it was depressing."

She hands me a piece of paper with a small pencil. I miss a lot of things from the old world, I miss never feeling like I was alone. I miss how simple it was. I miss hearing the conflict on the street, I miss seeing people walk the elderly across the road. I miss the busy sounds of outside, the rush of people going to work and the sounds of engines from cars as they skimmed past me when I was walking to school.

"What if we can't remember the old world?" Miles asks.

"Then something from the new world is fine."

"Is this some lame attempt to distract us from the fact that we might have to leave at any moment?" Sarah complains, prompting a few eyerolls. "How about we just write about what we're going to miss the most about freedom?"

Holly continues around the circle, ignoring Sarah's outburst. "It can be a person if you can't think of anything else."

Holly takes her seat beside Christian and they both stare down at the paper in thought. Marina is having one of her private discussions with the wolves and lions again, she hasn't come back from the trees in over an hour. We spent the whole day devising a plan, a real plan, and neither of us are sure that it will work. She finally walks back over to us and sits on the other side of Jackson.

Jackson takes a deep breath from beside me. I glance down to his paper to see him almost write something but then he changes his mind. For the kids his age, it's harder for them to remember the old world. Jackson was only five when the creatures came, when they killed his family. He remembers some things but the trauma blocked most of it out.

"Having trouble?" I say.

"What do you think I'd miss?" he asks me quietly. "I don't remember anything from the old world."

"What do you dream about?"

He twists his lips as he thinks. "I guess I see a man and woman sometimes and this girl but she's always angry about something. And there's this party where we exchange gifts. I think I'm happy but I don't know what it is. I wish I could know."

Marina suddenly extends her hand to him. "May I?"

Jackson stares down at her hand and I shoot her a warning look. "Marina."

"It'll be over in a few seconds," she says. "Would you rather that he spends the rest of his life not knowing?"

I look down at him and he's pleading with his eyes. I nod my head, taking the hand closest to me so I can pull him away from her if I have to. Jackson takes Marina's hand and she looks into his eyes, she's right it does only last seconds but Jackson doesn't even flinch. He remains still until she pulls her hand back.

"I didn't feel anything," he says.

Marina stares down at my hand that is still wrapped around his. "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make a soul purer," she says in amazement. "You masked his pain."

"I did it to Samson once," I say. "I didn't really think much of it."

"Incredible."

"Did you see my parents?" Jackson asks her desperately.

"I did," she says, smiling down at him. "They loved you a lot. Your older siblings too. Your father was a police officer, you looked up to him like he was a superhero. And your mother would sing you these strange songs until you fell asleep. That really happy memory that you keep seeing, it was Christmas day. Your older brother was a soldier in the US army and you thought he wasn't coming, but he made it that day. He was your best friend."

"My brother," Jackson says, closing his eyes. "I remember. I remember him, Aurora."

I smile at him, wiping the tears from my cheeks. When I first met Jackson at the nannery seven years ago, he would often talk about missing his best friend, but I just assumed he was talking about another kid in his preschool or something. He stopped talking about it after a while, like most of the kids did. I always thought it would be too traumatic to try and recall their memories but now I wish I had tried. The old world is just as important as this one.

"I think your sister deserves some credit too," Marina says, bumping his shoulder. "She was pretty bad ass at making you feel better when he left."

"I remember," he whispers, ducking his head down to write down on the paper.

I meet Marina's eyes over his head and we smile at each other. I mouth 'thank you' at her and she keeps her smile as she turns away. I'm not sure what to write on mine because there's so many so I write the one thing that ties them all together. I fold the piece of paper as Holly stands up.

"Time's up," she says. "I'll go first." She walks towards the fire. "McDonald's," she says, throwing the paper into the fire.

A few of us laugh and smile at the memory, that was a good one.

"Really?" Christian says, eyeing her as he walks past. Holly shrugs. "I miss watching my favourite television shows on a weekend. They were the best."

Sarah is next and she mutters 'this is stupid' before charging towards the fire and throwing her paper onto it. "Vacations. I miss travelling and learning about other cultures."

"You were nine," Danielle says. "Didn't you just want to play in the pool?"

"Nope. I was a curious nine-year-old."

Others have their turn around the circle and there are a lot of materialistic things thrown in, such as cell phones and television. While Natalie chose garden centres, most of the other girls picked make up. Shane is the last to go before Jackson and he grins as he tells us that the thing he misses the most in the whole world is his immaturity. I don't even know what that means. It makes no sense.

Jackson stands up and walks towards the fire. "I miss Christmas," he says. "Because it was fun and mysterious and I got to see my brother."

"Dammit. Christmas!" someone mutters from across the circle. "I change my answer."

"I change mine too."

"You can't change it," Holly laughs.

Jackson drops back down next to me and I fold my arm around him for a moment. It's my turn. I take a deep breath as I carry the piece of paper towards the fire.

"Noise," I say. I curl the paper into a ball and I throw it into the flames, watching the paper disappear into nothing. "I miss noise."

"Noise?" Sarah says.

"Yeah, like hearing drunk people sing outside your window at two in the morning. Or your neighbours arguing on the lawn. I miss just hearing people be alive."

There is silence, trust me to be the one that brings the depression. I sit back down awkwardly.

"Okay," Holly says. "Some imaginative answers in there."

"And bizarre ones," Christian says, looking across at Shane.

"This might be our last night here so let's make it count," she says. "We are-"

Holly stops abruptly and we all stare at the trees as a swarm of birds leave them simultaneously. Marina is on her feet, her eyes scanning every direction with caution. The wolves start howling from somewhere close by and Marina listens for a few moments before her entire body tenses.

"He's here," she says. "You all know the drill, get to your cabins, now!"

I rise to my feet along with the rest of them but I hold Jackson's shoulders as I look into his terrified eyes. "Be brave, okay? I love you."

"Don't do this," he cries. "Please, Aurora. Don't leave me."

"Christian, take him."

I tremble backwards as Christian attempts to drag Jackson away. He struggles and tries to run back to me so Christian picks him up and holds him over his shoulder as Natalie waits for them.

"I'll take care of him. I promise."

"Take care of them all," I say.

He nods, his eyes almost tearing as well. "I hope we will meet again someday."

"Goodbye, Christian."

"Aurora!" Jackson screams. "No!"

I almost fall to my knees crying as Christian jogs away with him but Marina snaps me out of it with a tight pull on my arm.

"Now is not the time to be distracted," she says. "Focus!"

I hear a loud crash from the forest and I gasp. It sounds like he's tearing the trees apart. Ripping through them to unleash his rage because even though he's this close he still won't come closer.

"He loves you," she says. "You know that to be true and you know he won't harm you. Just resist, Aurora, please. This is your only chance."

"Just give me some time," I say. "I just need some time alone with him."

"Good luck. We'll be waiting."

My hands are trembling as I walk towards the gate. Finding Cain isn't hard and he isn't making it hard, I merely have to follow the sound of crashing tree stumps. It isn't completely dark yet so I can see him clearly through the passage of destroyed trees. He has his back to me, he senses me straight away, calming himself instantly. I climb over a stump to get to him, sliding down to the ground anxiously.

My boots crush into many twigs and branches from the broken trees, he hears it but he doesn't turn around.

He places his hand out. "Stop," he says. "Don't come any closer."

"Turn around," I say.

"No." He bends down and picks up an enormous log-shaped branch, he soars it through the air and it spins endlessly before crashing into something in the far distance. "Run, Aurora. Get as far from me as possible."

"You'll hunt me."

He grips his hands around his head and hisses, falling to his knees. I give him a wide berth but I ultimately end up in front of him. I fall to my knees too, several feet from him, and I cannot fight the tears when I look upon his exhausted and pained face. He pants towards the ground, his cheeks flushed red, his eyes are cold and hollow.

"I don't even remember coming here," he says. "It was out of my control."

"The hunger brought you here," I say. "You can beat it."

He shakes his head violently, his eyes twitching at the ground. "I can't fight it. I will kill you. I know I will. I won't stop."

I take a deep breath. "Then you have to give it back to me."

"Don't you get it?" he shouts at me. "I can't fight it! This connection is the only thing stopping me, without it I'll still kill you. You need to run. Go!"

His eyes snap up and finally meet mine, they are crazed. I have never been afraid of him; it doesn't make any sense that I am. I back up quickly and I start running. I have no idea where to go, this wasn't a part of the plan. I can't see any of the animal-eaters anywhere and Marina is still at the village. The last thing I will ever do is take him there.

I start running towards the cliff edge but I hear the sound of flapping wings grazing through the forest behind me. Cain collides with me, his hands knocking me over the edge of the cliff as he clings to my body. He dives us down to the beach and releases me against the wall of a cave, his hand grips my throat and he studies my eyes for several seconds as he inhales my scent.

He concentrates heavily but he can't feed from me. His lips snarl and he bares his teeth at me before letting me go. He backs up several paces, his breathing is getting heavier as he becomes frustrated.

"You can't feed from me until I let you," I say. "The only way you can stop that hunger now is to kill me. My death will set my soul free and you'll be free too."

He considers it for a moment before shaking his head and looking away. "No."

"I'm food, right?" I cry at him. "Why can't you do it!"

"Stop it."

"You left me here for six months!" I scream at him. "You walked away from our relationship like I was nothing to you so the choice should be easy." I push my hands against his chest aggressively and he moves backwards slightly. "How could you do that to me? To us!" I carry on pushing him but he doesn't react. "I loved you. I loved you. And you tossed me away with some bullshit excuse that it'll make me safer? But you want to know something, Cain? The only creature that I ever needed protecting from was you."

I spin around and pace away from him. He doesn't say anything which pisses me off more, I turn back around, trying the only thing that has ever worked.

"I'm done with this," I say. "I give you permission to feed from me so go ahead. Do it."

He moves then, walking back to me and intimidating me back against the wall. I swallow as he places his hand to my cheek. My eyes stay locked on his, and I am still as sure as I've ever been that he loves me. I reach up and touch his jaw. I've imagined this moment a million times in my dreams. Touching him, feeling him, having him stand before me with that very same look of adoration. He hesitates, his eyes becoming softer and calmer.

"I offer you the choice once more," I say, frustrated with my uncertain fate and his reluctance to go through with it. "Either kill me. . . or kiss me." I feel so helpless, everything is slipping out of my control. My emotions are high and clouding all of my conscious thinking.

I might have just condemned my species to extinction but I trust this feeling enough to gamble with it. I trust Cain enough to risk my life. He keeps hesitating, fighting with the hunger inside of him. I force him into a decision and I push my lips to his. It is too strong for him to ignore, our tongues collide and it is suddenly six months ago all over again.

How could everything in the world suddenly feel okay? It's impossible. I grab the back of his neck and I pull him into the dark cave entrance. The heat between us is electrifying, it could set this entire cave on fire. We bump into walls as we remove each other's clothes, his hot lips press against my throat and I tremble as his hand moves up my leg. I squeeze my fingers into his shoulders as our bodies lay still on the ground. I kiss every part of his skin that is within my reach before moaning into his ear. I roll on top of him and the pressure from below is the best feeling in the entire world. We both shake and gasp and our bodies writhe against each other like animals.

We are tangled in each other. I am completely chained to him, a prisoner at will and I will remain that way forever.

The end is nearing! Only a few more chapters to go! What do you think Aurora will choose to do? Will she sacrifice her love for Cain to set the world free or do you think there could be a way to stay with him and make the world better?

I already have the ending firm in my mind and I have from the beginning but I'd love to know your thoughts! Thanks for reading x