Soul smiles. 'Well, of course it's not so lovely to be lying here on the floor but I have been looking forward to meeting you again.' He raises his head and body further, saying, 'Are you alone, Nathan? I don't hear shooting. I don't hear screams. Is this an attack?'

'Where's Jessica?'

'Your sister? Half-sister, I should say. She really doesn't like to be called your sister.'

'Where is she?'

'I'm really not sure.'

'Is she here in the building?'

'She comes and goes ...'

I kick him again. 'Let's try something else then. Where's Annalise?'

Soul looks at me and smiles, then raises himself further to rest on his elbows. He looks at the guards then back to me.

'It seems that you have more than one Gift. You can become invisible. And throw lightning. Gifts that you have obtained from your father. You ate his heart. That must have been difficult. Annalise told me what happened.'

'Where is she?'

'Are you here to rescue her or kill her?'

'None of your business. Where is she?'

'Somewhere safe. But it won't be so safe if I tell you, will it?' Soul shuffles up a little further to rest on his hands rather than his elbows.

I put my boot on his chest and push him back down. 'If you're not going to answer my questions, there's no point in you being alive.'

'If I tell you, what will you do?'

'Talk to her.'

'I meant what will you do to me?'

'I'm thinking about that.' But I'm not. I realize now I'm not thinking about much at all. There's a smell in the room that reminds me of something. The scent of the forest maybe, but more than that. And then I know: it's the smell of Annalise when we were together, her jumper, and I see her and we're sitting together on the outcrop and she's catching the leaf and I want to stop her leaning over the edge.

I step back from Soul and look towards his desk and the bowl of blue liquid sitting on it. 'What is that?' I ask, and move round to look at it a little closer.

Soul doesn't answer and I sense that the blue liquid is giving off fumes that are affecting my concentration, but surely they'll affect Soul as well.

'What does it do?' I ask, and I look around the room for something to cover the bowl with.

'Ah, my new potion. It's rather special and been a long time in production Mr Wallend does take his time over things but, then again, perfection can't be rushed. It's rather beautiful to look at, don't you think?' And Soul's now sitting up, I realize, but still he can't harm me. 'It's called blue, for obvious reasons.'

'What does it do?'

'It has several uses. It can ... change your mood, bring memories, things like that.'

'How?'

'How? Well, how does any potion work? But I think what you're really asking is how is it affecting you now?'

And is it? Affecting me? I remember I was looking for something to cover the bowl with. I walk around the room and from the bookshelf take a large thin book and approach the bowl. The blue liquid seems alive, swirling round and round and drawing me down. I shake my head and look away. Walk around the room again. I need to do something but I'm not sure what. I stop at the door and listen but hear nothing. I've got a book in my hand but I don't know why.

Soul says, 'Do you remember that I wanted to give you three gifts on your seventeenth birthday?'

'Yes.' I never really understood why.

'I wanted to do that very much. I saw great potential in you, Nathan, and I still do. You are the son of a powerful Black Witch but you are also the son of a powerful White Witch. I know many people ignore that and only see the Black half, but I see both, and I see that the White part of you is good and can be brought to dominate the Black. As it should. If a White Witch became a powerful and significant part of your life, perhaps the White part might rise further in your soul.'

'My father gave me three gifts. It didn't make me any Blacker.'

'No? Are you being completely honest with me, Nathan? Are you sure it didn't change you?'

And even though a huge part of my brain is saying it's a trick question and I shouldn't even enter into this conversation, another part of me feels I have to answer.

'Maybe it did.'

'Maybe it did. But I can see that there's still a lot of White Witch in you. You are battling with yourself even now. Your father would have killed me in a second. But you have not. Even with his influence on you, your White side is strong, fighting back. It's good to see, Nathan. You are, or at least you can be, a good person. You do want to be good, don't you, Nathan?'

'I don't know what I want.' And I don't know why I'm saying that. I ask, 'The blue ... is it in the air?'

'Why, yes it is. Quite strong I should think now; though, of course, I'm immune to it. Or perhaps I should say that I control it and those who breathe it in. Look how it's swirling around, giving off its fumes. Step closer, Nathan, and look.'

And I know that's a bad idea but I find I'm moving towards the desk and looking into the potion and watching how it swirls.

'You really are a good person, Nathan. And you could become a truly great witch. I have always seen you as someone with great power. Someone who could help me. And I'd like to help you. The Alliance doesn't care about you, Nathan, but I do. I want very much to see you realize your full potential. Working for me you could do that.'

'I don't want to work for you.'

'In time you'll come round to my way of thinking. Already you are, Nathan. Already you see how easy it is. How good it feels.'

And he's so right. It feels good.

the beginning of the end.

I feel relaxed. I've been too tense for too long my whole life it seems. It's good to feel the tension ebbing away. I roll my head and loosen my shoulders. Soul is watching me. I know I shouldn't trust him, can't trust him, but I can relax; I'm invulnerable after all. He can't hurt me.

We're standing in front of Soul's desk. I realize he's taken my arm and I think he's guided me here.

'Give me the book, Nathan.'

I look at the book in my hand. I was going to put that over the bowl to stop the fumes. I remember that.

'Give me the book,' Soul says again.

I shouldn't do as he says. I look to the bowl and watch the liquid move slowly around.

'Thank you,' Soul says, and I see that he's holding the book.

Soul puts the book on the table and reaches for a glass tumbler. He passes it to me, saying, 'Fill this with the blue.'

My hand reaches for the tumbler but I don't think I should do it. I don't want to do it. It's confusing how it's happening. I'm confused. But doing what Soul tells me feels good.

The tumbler is in my hand now and dipping into the blue. The blue laps over my fingers. It's not cold like I was expecting but warm.

'Now drink it, Nathan.'

I lift the glass and sip it. It tastes sweet: sweet, warm water. And I expect it to be hard to drink but it's easy. I'm surprised I've swallowed it all down. And the warm feeling spreads down my chest into my stomach and then down my legs and arms and up to my neck and my head. I roll my head again. I'm so relaxed. So warm. Not dizzy, not ill, not out of control, just very relaxed, and yet now I look around the room everything seems very sharp. Colours are brighter and sounds clearer.

'I must say, Nathan, you are cooperating so well.'

I look at Soul. He's evil and my enemy but ... I know I can deal with him later, when I need to.

'Nathan, shall we have a little test? I'd like you to give me the Fairborn.'

I look at the knife. My knife. It's still in my right hand. There's no way that I'm giving it to Soul. And I have a strange feeling that I should kill Soul with the Fairborn, but that doesn't seem right any more. The Fairborn feels odd in my hand now. I don't want it.

'Thank you, Nathan.' And Soul is holding the Fairborn. He puts it on the desk. 'Now, I'd like you to tell me why you're here.'

'To kill you.'

'Are you alone?'

And now I think of Gabriel and I know I mustn't tell Soul about him. I must keep quiet. Not tell him anything. But it almost hurts not to answer his questions.

Soul says, 'Answer me, Nathan. Tell me what the Alliance is planning.'

'An attack.' I know I shouldn't tell him that but thoughts become words and I hear myself say, 'They're going to come when ...' When Gabriel gives the signal but I will not tell him about Gabriel. But it hurts not to say.

Soul asks, 'When are they coming, Nathan?'

I shake my head.

'Nathan, I know it's difficult for you. This is a big change for you to deal with. But it's the right thing to do. Tell me what you know.'

I look at the Fairborn and I know I should kill Soul with it. I say to Soul, 'I'm here to kill you.'

'I think you're fighting the blue, Nathan. But I assure you that you'll feel so much better when you surrender to it. We're on the same side now, you and I. I'd like to show you that. Let's go into the next room. Let me show you what's in there.'

He walks to the first dead guard and takes his gun, then with his other hand he takes my arm and guides me to the door behind his desk, which he unlocks.

The door swings open and somehow I'm not surprised to see who's in here.

She stands, looking scared, which is good. She's in a cage, which is better. She's wearing a prisoner's yellow overalls and she's chained by her wrists and ankles to the bars on the far side of the cage.

Annalise looks from me to Soul and to the gun in Soul's hand, which sort of makes me want to laugh. The gun is the least of her worries. I send a bolt of lightning to her feet and she screams and jumps back to the far side of the cage, shouting, 'Nathan! Please! I never meant '

I send another bolt of lightning to her feet and again she screams. I send another.

'Nathan, enough,' Soul says, and I do as he says and that feels better. Doing what he tells me feels so good and I feel the warmth inside myself. But then I end up looking at Annalise again. She looks terrified.

I tell her, 'It's good to see you, Annalise. Good to see you chained up in a cage. Not so good to see you alive but maybe I can do something about that.'

And again Soul's voice is in my head, saying, 'No, Nathan, not yet. Do as I say.'

Annalise tries again. 'Nathan, I know I hurt you. I shouldn't have done what I did. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I did to you and to Marcus. I wasn't thinking straight.'

'Well, of course she would say that, wouldn't she?' Soul mutters to me, 'You can't trust anything Annalise says. But I'll let you decide her fate. She's yours to deal with when you prove your loyalty to me, Nathan.'

'Nathan,' Annalise shouts. 'Soul used the potion, the blue, on me. I know how it feels '

'I don't care what he's done to you.'

'But he'll use it against you, Nathan. You have to fight it.'

I send lightning at her and she screams and jumps back again. 'Don't tell me what to do!'

'But that's what Soul is doing, Nathan. Don't let him tell you what to do either.'

Soul is telling me what to do but it feels good.

Soul touches my arm and says, 'Annalise is full of lies and deception as ever, Nathan. And she is too distracting, I think. I know you'd love to catch up on old times and I promise you can do that later. I'll keep her safe here for you.' He takes my arm and guides me to the door, saying, 'Come with me, Nathan.'

Annalise shouts, 'He's telling you what to do, Nathan. Don't take orders from him!'

And I stop. Soul is pulling at my arm. I don't know what to do. Annalise is standing close to the bars, as close as her chains will allow. 'Nathan. You don't have to do as I say or as anyone says. Don't do what the blue says is right. Do what you know is right. Deep down.'

'Come with me, Nathan.' And Soul has me by the arm and is guiding me away. And resisting him hurts my head. I look back to Annalise and she's shouting at me, 'Nathan, please! Fight the blue! Hate it! Hate it as much as you hate me!'

I hate her, but I remember I hate Soul too. It's all too complicated.

Annalise shouts. 'If you betray the Alliance, you betray all your friends. They'll all die. Gabriel will die too.'

I turn back to her again.

'Don't even say his name!'

Soul touches my arm but I brush him off and growl at him. 'No!'

Annalise shouts again. 'If you do as Soul says, Gabriel will die. They'll torture him and kill him. Soul wants that. He wants to kill Gabriel.'