I fell to the floor in my attempt to scramble backwards from the diary. I had heard a lot about Bella through Alyssa, and I had come up with a couple of theories myself on what her importance was. However, I hadn't ever guessed it would be something as terrible as this. There was more in the diary than what I had read, but the first few sentences had been so shocking that I was suddenly unable to continue.

"What was in the diary?" I heard Alyssa scream. Too stunned to do anything, I fell backwards, and a thick black fog filled the room. It must have looked like I was dying. I heard the diary fall somewhere next to me, but I couldn't see where it had landed through the smoke-like gas. I was about to tell Alyssa what I had read when the smoke began to speak.

"It's about time, little girl. I thought you would never come." The voice was incredibly loud, and seemed to be an echo of a voice.

"Who are you?" I heard her shriek back. Snapping out of my stunned state, I started to feel around in the darkness for Alyssa, but I was held back by the smoke.

"I don't think so, Jeriah. Stay still. You were merely accompanying Alyssa. This battle is hers to fight," the voice replied, sounded lazy.

"Jeriah? Are you alive? Are you okay? JERIAH!" I desperately tried to call back, to get closer to her, to do something, but I couldn't. I was unable to speak, or to move, or to see. All I could do was listen, and remember what the diary had said.

"So, Alyssa. Back to you. Do you know who I am?"

"I... I don't think so," she whimpered. Oh, please don't start crying, I thought. Please, Alyssa. Be strong. I know you're strong.

The figure cackled. "They've never told you? I should have known. Mianite and Ianite were wimps. Ever since they were children."

"You knew them when they were children?" her voice was shaking, but that didn't stop her from continuing.

"There's a lot you need to learn, clearly." He sounded amused. "Firstly, I am the father of all three gods. That's not important, however. It certainly has nothing to do with what's going on now. Secondly, you have seen me before. I'm everywhere."

"What does that mean?" Alyssa snapped. Hope started to rise in me. She wasn't going to cower. She was going to fight.

"I follow you everywhere you go, child. I am always beneath your feet when there is light out, and I am all around you when there is no light. I am the shadows that lurk in every corner, and I am the darkness that fills you with fear."

"Wait a second..." she muttered. "The shadows? I... I've heard of you, now that you mention it. But I thought you were just a trick that Dianite made up to scare his followers into loyalty?"

The fog roared with laughter. "Far from it. It was simply my way of repaying Dianite for his... help." He let out a small sigh. "Dianite was always my favorite child. He took after me. Mianite and Ianite took after their absolutely despicable mother."

"What?" Alyssa cried out in alarm. "Who was their mother?"

"A mortal." Anger was rising in his voice. "A weak mortal. She's long dead now. She didn't deserve to have my children. But, no matter."

"What does this have to do with Bella?" she asked. "And what was in that diary?"

"She was the first... well, I'll get to that later. The diary, too. To begin, let me explain something. I was once a respected figure, long, long ago. Nobody that's alive today was alive then. But, you see, people started to see the other side of me. Mortals are selfish, and only want a ruler that works to benefit them. Now, I could have easily killed all of them right then and there. But I liked these mortal beings, and I didn't want to stop ruling them."

Alyssa let out a humorless laugh. "And they're the selfish ones? Immortality is getting to your head, I'm afraid."

He ignored her. "So, I suggested to the humans that they could choose another human as a ruler, and that I would have no more say in their lives. As I predicted, they were thrilled. Finally, they would get a ruler that works in their favor. Except, of course, they didn't know the extent of my powers. Every time a ruler was selected, I possessed them. I filled their happy heart with darkness and their clear minds with black clouds."

"You sound so happy," Alyssa interrupted. "I had a wonderful day! I turned some innocent soul evil, and made everyone's lives miserable! What a great person I am. Why don't more people love me?"

"Shut it, you, and let me finish." He didn't sound very upset, and I had the feeling that he liked having the opportunity to tell this story to someone. "As I was saying, every ruler would start supporting me once they got to a position of power. The mortals were freaking out, blah blah blah. Many suspected that I was interfering, but could do nothing about it. Then... things happened in between. I don't like to talk about it. Basically, I met a mortal, and we had three god children. No more on that topic. Anyway, it was a perfect opportunity for me. I could have three more powerful people on my side!"

"You just assumed that they would be on your side, because they were your children?" Alyssa sounded mad now. "They're kids, not clones. Get over yourself."

"ANYWAY," the shadows yelled over her. "Mianite ruled the mainland where you live, although it was much smaller back then. Ianite ruled this small town that we're in now, and Dianite ruled another far-off land. That place got destroyed almost a hundred years ago, but that's another story. Everything was going fine... until Ianite betrayed me."

"Wow, I wonder why she would do that?" The sarcasm was so clear that it would've made me laugh, had I been able to laugh.

"She leaked my secret. She wanted me dead. She wanted to see my fall, and the rise of peace and balance. She transferred some of her powers to three mortals, the only three she told, and attacked me. It worked, unfortunately. I was weakened badly, and couldn't fight back enough to kill her. I did, on the other hand, kill the two mortals who had helped her."

"I thought there were three mortals?" Alyssa sounded intrigued now. To be honest, I was too. Why hadn't we heard the full story from the gods before?

"The third mortal escaped. He knew he was as good as dead, so he wanted to spread the word to as many people as he could before he passed as well. But he only got to one person. With his last remaining strength, he transferred the godly powers he possessed onto the first person he saw- his daughter. It wouldn't grant her immortality, but it would grant her godly strength. He told her what I was doing. I caught up with him as he was telling her, and I managed to slay him as he was saying it. But the daughter... she killed me before I could kill her."

"Bella..?" Alyssa's voice was no louder than a whisper.

"Yes, Bella. I was dead, and all I had was my voice. I was like the spirit Dianite you met a few years back. Anyway, Ianite was dead to me. I knew Mianite would never help me, so I spoke to my other son. He had a special hatred for his sister, and a special love for me. It was a perfect combination. Also, his area of ruling was long gone, so he was in need of work to do. He attacked the already weak Ianite. He destroyed the town she loved, making sure that Bella was the first to die. Later on, he captured her and held her hostage, and then the great war came with your alternates, blah blah blah. You've heard that already."

"That's... not the story Bella told me in my dream."

He laughed. Your dream was a trick, to scare you. It worked for quite a while, too. But don't fear, it meant absolutely nothing. Anyway, there was one thing I didn't realize when I asked Dianite to kill Bella. I thought having her house collapse on her would be the end to that epidemic. Unfortunately, after she killed me, she ran inside and did something incredibly intelligent. She transferred her powers to the diary. She became the diary. When I killed her, her spirit lived on. I couldn't kill the diary. But I could haunt it. That little girl thought she could fool me, and destroy me entirely. Well, far from that, I took her soul and used it."

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Alyssa sounded like she was about to faint.

"All the times you saw Bella in your dreams, Bella was actually there. It was me controlling her, but she was thinking. She may have wanted to do something else, but she couldn't. Because she put her soul into the diary, I can now control it whenever I want. She will have to eternally suffer like this. It will never end! It's a beautiful plan, really. I was going to have her watch everything happening under Dianite's rule, and suffer because she could do nothing about it. Except that Dianite was killed once, and then again by you awful people. Now he can never come back, and I need someone else to take my place. So who will take my place? I need two mortals who show exceptional mental strength. I will fuse them using my powers, and they will live as a superhuman under my control."

"Don't tell me... no!" Her voice broke halfway through, and I couldn't blame her.

"You're going to be that other human. You and Bella will suffer for what you've done, forever. Plus, seeing as you already know each other, it would be easier for you to combine into one person. All I needed you to do to get your soul was to have someone touch that diary, where I was being held along with Bella. I was hoping you would be the one to do it, but this scenario works out fine too. And, you may be thinking, why did I keep Jeriah here all this time?"

My eyes flew wide, but I was unable to speak. What purpose did I serve in this terrible plan?

"He's going to warn the others for me. Give them a chance to bow down to me before I attack. If they refuse, it's not exactly my problem. I can give them the same fate as poor Bella. No extra effort required from me. And, he'll know not to trust the gods on this one. Now, Alyssa, you must fuse. Jeriah, be on your way. Go tell your little friends. Everything's over now."

The smoke receded, holding Alyssa back but allowing me to exit the house. I stood up and looked into the poor girl's terrified eyes. What else could I do? I did what I was told. I ran.

I ran as fast as I could, tears welling up inside my eyes for the first time in as long as I could remember. I jumped inside my boat and sped away, a panic attack rising inside me. The longer I processed what the shadows had said, the less I was able to breathe.

When I arrived back, all I could do was scream. The others had gathered another meeting while we were away, and came rushing over to help me. I collapsed onto the ground, hugging my stomach, tears rushing from my eyes.

"WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE'S ALYSSA?" Mianite hollered. Everyone's face was deathly pale. I'm sure they were suspecting that she was dead, somehow, but nobody was going to see this coming.

I didn't have enough breath to tell them, and I was about to pass out. All I could do was look into Mianite's shocked gaze and tell him the words on the first page of the diary.

"The Shadows have returned. No, I take that back. They never left. They are, as they always were, everywhere around us. I... I am the Shadows."

The last thing I heard was Ianite's scream before I hit the ground completely and blacked out.