He'll be fine.
What curse was Ridley talking about?
Ridley was just telling stories to get your rage going, to lose control.
You mustn't let her.
Larkin, help me take him to my room.
Oh. He will. Heh.
Sitting there eating through a Caster combat like you're two sandwiches shy of a picnic.
Better be a sandwich when I get back. I'm still hungry.
Did you see the way she looks at the boy?
There's no getting in-between them now.
Then it has begun.
Hey, there.
How do you feel?
Like I was in a tornado inside a dining room. No big deal.
I'm so sorry about Ridley. I didn't know she was back.
Yeah. She's sort of a bitch, isn't she?
She's a siren.
She can make mortals see, think or do whatever she wants...
...especially men.
Isn't that, like, the working definition of a bitch?
She wasn't always like that.
We were like sisters. You know?
Traveled together so much we shared the same suitcase.
Did homework, watched Disney. We were just kids.
The night Ridley turned 16, she ran away.
She said she could feel herself turning Dark.
She said she had to get away before she hurt anybody she loved.
Before she hurt me.
I followed her.
Then it happened.
- That was better. - That's what I'm talking about!
Guys, hold up a second.
No, I gotta go. I gotta go. Hold on.
I saw it all.
She loved me.
I know it.
It's not fair what happened to her.
And the same thing could happen to me.
It won't.
Did you see me tonight?
I can't control myself.
Lena, I don't believe that we have one fate and no choice.
We make our own lives.
ETHAN; Two, please. Thank you. This is Lena. Lena.
- Hi, Lena. - Hi.
- Here, I gotta give you the money, heh. - Heh.
- Let me get your change. - Thanks.
There you go.
- You good? Your kids are good? - Oh, yeah.
Good.
You got the tickets?
Hi.
Get a load of this.
You know, maybe you have Ethan fooled, but not me.
Oh, shucks.
Ahem. Uh, chill, girl. Chill, chill.
- See the look on her face? - Ha, ha.
I see right through her.
Hi. Just, uh... Just one, please.
Alrighty.
There you go.
Do not let them bother you, okay?
Yeah, I've been up since 5. Feeling pretty good, though.
Heh. You want Milk Duds?
What do you put them in your pocket for?
I have to hide some for myself, because Link never shares.
All right. I mean, I've been doing better...
Oh. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I had that.
No, it's okay.
I wanna see.
Be right there.
Yeah, whatever you can find!
There's gold in there, and silver, get it all!
- Oh, my God! - Genevieve!
Ethan!
Ethan.
Don't you dare. Okay, don't you dare go anywhere.
Don't you dare, Ethan Carter Wate!
Come back. Wait, Ethan.
Body of my body, marrow and mind...
...soul of my soul, to our spirit bind...
blood of my heart, my tide, my moon...
...blood of my heart, my salvation, my doom!
Genevieve.
Was I shot?
What happened to your eyes?
Form up, company!
At the ready!
Fire!
Oh, my darling Lena, do you see now how you must be Claimed?
We are the descendants of Genevieve.
Her Dark power is in our blood.
Oh, how I've missed you, my daughter.
Your mother, Sarafine, has come home for you.
Guess Satan hates sequels too.
It's over.
There is no more.
It's served its purpose.
Lena?
The curse began with your great-great-great grandmother.
Genevieve Katherine Duchannes.
She had the temerity to fall in love with a mortal...
...your ancestor, Ethan Carter Wate.
In 1864, he deserted. Came home to his Genevieve.
But he was killed in front of her eyes, by Union soldiers...
...who were ransacking Greenbrier during the battle of Honey Hill.
And in her madness, in her grief, she used a spell that is forbidden to us.
To bring him back to life.
A spell that left a curse?
No Caster may reverse death.
So she lost her soul, consumed by darkness forever.
But the spell worked. If Genevieve loved him, why'd she kill him?
In that kind of darkness, there's not even a memory of love, only power.
Everything has a price.
You told me my mother was dead.
You lied to me. Why? Why?
Lena! Our words, our language...
...cannot explain all that there is. There are other ways someone can die to us.
No, I'll tell her.
Your mother, Sarafine, is the most powerful Dark Caster of all of us.
She lives in the darkness, in the shadows.
If she does appear, it's in the guise of someone else.
She has no love for you.
That's what I was trying to protect you from.
I'm gonna be claimed for the Dark, no matter what?
No, not necessarily.
I know your true nature, it's strong.
Sarafine recognizes it too. She knows that without the curse...
...your true nature would claim you for the Light.
No, I believe the curse can be broken.
But you need to have a will that's so strong you control your own nature.
- That's what I told her. - First thing you do, get rid of him.
- Wait, what? - Sarafine's using you.
- That's not true. - Listen to me, Lena.
- No, listen to me... - Ethan, Manson's right.
If you're to break this curse, you have to control your emotions.
And loving this boy puts you in terrible danger!
How could you know? You never loved anyone.
You despise mortals.
You never even had a friend, even in our world. How could you know?
I know that no good can come from us loving a mortal.
Lena, listen to me. There's gotta be a way, another way to break the curse.
Macon!
- Don't even think that, young man! - No!
You'll get the both of you killed. You have to get out of her life.
Do you hear me?
Lena, say your goodbyes.
Mason's keeping Lena at Ravenwood.
He won't let me see her.
He thinks keeping us apart is the best thing for her.
But he's wrong. I know Lena.
I know her like I know myself.
And I can feel her slipping away into some place where I can't reach her.
Go away, go away, go away, go away!
- Hi, clear. - Oh.
- Hello, Mrs. Lincoln. Just a minute. - Hi, dear.
Oh, dear.
This door seems to be stuck.
It's just these old houses. They're such a nuisance.
- Yes, ma'am. - They warp.
- Link's not here. - Oh, I know, I know.
He's at Savannah Snow's party, which is where all the kids are.
I had to make quite a number of phone calls...
...to get him an invitation on account of his...
Well, on account of his friendship with you.
Oh, I'm sorry you had to go to that trouble, ma'am.
Well, you should be at that party, Ethan...
...kicking up your heels with your real friends, with the children who belong in this town.
I'm not much up for a party tonight, ma'am.
Oh, well, that's a shame.
Well, see, I... I made you some brownies.
I thought maybe I could come in and we could talk.
My fight’s not with you, son.
It's not. Never has been.
It's just that girl with her seductive quirkiness...
...and you being motherless and all.
May I come in?
No, ma'am. I... I don't think so.
Did I hear you correctly just then, Ethan?
Do I have to ask you again? May I come in?
No, ma'am, you may not.
But I have made you brownies.
I've made you brownies from scratch.
Well, slap my ass and call me Sally!
Lena bound your house. Oh, that's so sweet.
As if.
I'm on your side, son.
What's a little curse when it comes to true love?
Anyone can see you and Lena are just meant for each other...
...till death do you part.
Lena?
Get out of this house.
Lena.
Keep her bound.
Lena.
Lena, can we please just go outside for one second and talk? I need...
- Get out! - No!
Please, son, for your own good.
You should really listen to them.
No!
I'm sick of listening to your family.
I have been chased, spun, hypnotized...
...paralyzed, and damn near killed by your family.
I've been going out of my mind for the last two weeks.
Now your mother shows up on my doorstep and damn near gives me a heart attack!
But you know what? I don't care about them, about the curse.
You are not going Dark and you are not losing me.
No matter what you do, no matter what they do to me, I'm still here.
Now what does that tell you?
How could the boy break our spell? He has no power.
It's not we who protect her now, it's the boy.
Amma, we need your help.
Why come to me?
The way you talked about the locket, about the curse.
Excuse me, Miss Amma, but I think you know more than you're saying.
Please, Amma.
This isn't the place you're gonna find anything you need.
Meet me in the back.
This must run under the whole town.
The whole country. Gatlin is like the capital of Caster America.
It used to be under Washington, D.C. until Nancy Reagan made them move.
She was the only mortal they were ever scared of.
They know a Caster's here.
Amma, why didn't you tell us about this?
A Keeper has to be asked.
A Keeper, as in you're a...?
The Caster Library has been the responsibility of Seers like me for generations.
Something I had no choice about either, by the way.
And these books hold the histories of the Casters from around the world...
...the laws that keep balance between Light and Dark.
Hey! Get away from that.
Macon comes here every day and reads every book he can for the Forbidden Spell.
- He found nothing? - Mm-mm.
But you can do it.
God gives us what we can handle, even if we don't believe it ourselves.
Close your eyes.
See with your mind what you're looking for as if you've already found it.
I knew it.
Book of Moons.
It's the most powerful book of the Otherworld.
It's as alive as you or me. Strongest of every spells, good and bad.
- Did Macon look through it? - No, he couldn't.
The Book chooses who reads it. Its Law is "Like attracts Like. "
There... There's no writing.
It won't reveal itself so easy.
A curse this dark takes its time showing itself. The Dark will test you.
Don't worry, you'll find it.
Just look under "How Not to Turn Into Your Mother. "
Come on. Come on.
I've been taking Lena to the Caster Library for weeks now.
But Lena's getting discouraged.
The longer this thing takes, the more I see a change in her.
We'll find a way, okay?
You're just a mortal, how would you know?
Hey, I can make wind. Maybe not a hurricane...
- Why don't we just admit it? - Admit what?
It's already started. I'm turning into a Dark bitch, I can feel it.
No, Lena, you're just stressed. It's not...
It doesn't matter what causes it.
I'm turning and you're just too stupid to see it.
Okay, now you're a bitch.
Really? Is this necessary?
I'm agreeing with you.
Okay, I'm just a dumb-ass mortal who can't make his own thunder.
But I know there's no way we're gonna figure this out...
...unless you stop feeling so sorry for yourself all the time!
Go ahead! Start an earthquake, see where it gets you.
Everybody has to deal with shit in their lives, Lena.
What are you yelling at me for?
You want to be a normal human? What do you think that is?
We don't have powers to just change things whenever we like.
Being human is feeling bad, it's feeling pissed off.
It's feeling scared and not being able to do anything about it...
...until you don't feel that way anymore, until you can see your way out of it.
And I yelled at you because I care about you!
That's what normal people do, who love each other...
...when one of them is acting like a brat.
Now, would you please stop raining on me?
I'm sorry.
You've got to get away from me.
I don't know what I do, it just happens.
You still don't get it, do you?
I don't want to be any further away from you than I am right now...
...one way or another.
I'm scared I'm gonna hurt you.
Well, love's a risk for anybody.
I mean, "kill you" hurt you.
Go ahead.
Kill me.
Oh! Ooh, ah.
What part of "You cannot touch it if you are not a Caster" don't you understand?
There were Casters in the Civil War?
Casters have been fighting alongside mortals for centuries, every war, every side.
Just because they're supernatural don't make them any smarter.
You know, What I can't figure...
- ... is you go to church every Sunday. - Mm-hm.
How do you believe in all this and still believe in God?
God created all things, didn't he?
It's only men who go and decide which ones are mistakes.
My mom came here, didn't she?
With Macon?
They met here many times.
Macon loved teaching her about his world.
Macon loved her, didn't he?
No one knows what Macon can and can't feel, but...
...Lila sure got close.
Ethan?
She loved your father.
You going somewhere?
Wherever Lena is. Even if that's in Gatlin.
- What are you doing here? - I don't know what...
...power you have over Lena, but, uh...
...I've come to ask you to...
...let her go.
I don't have any power, Macon.
I just love her.
Then just put an end to it.
I can't, heh.
Even if it means destroying the Lena you love, hmm?
It can't, because there's no way that what Lena and I feel for each other...
...is gonna turn into something wrong or evil.
There's no way.
As long as I live, I'll never understand you creatures.
You have no real power.
You live at the mercy of forces outside your control.
And yet, you believe that what you feel...
...will somehow make it all right.
Gotta have some faith, Macon.
Lena?
You okay?
Lena?
- Lena? - Yeah?
- Is something wrong? - No.
- I think I found something. - Yeah?
What? Let me see.
Well, it's a lot to read, and...
...a lotto take in, and I really got to concentrate.
Okay.
So I was wondering...
Well, I've gotta do it on my own, kind of.
You know, and if you're here, you're just gonna distract me.
And I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going home now.
And then, when I'm done, I'll call you later.
Is that okay?
Sure.
Whatever you want, okay?
Thanks.
I love you.
Okay, I'll talk to you later.
Lena? He's gone.
It's okay.
Come on.
Sit down. What is it?
Come on, now.
Talk to me.
Lena.
There's only one way to break the curse.
Genevieve used the Forbidden Spell...
...to give life to the one she loved.
To break the curse, the one that I love has to die.
Oh, God.
What are you gonna do?
I won't hurt Ethan.
Never.
They're only our words, Amma.
They can't explain everything.
There are all kinds of ways someone you love can die.
- That's all the book said? - Yeah.
All it said was to reverse the curse, I need to do these certain rituals...
...Caster stuff, every night and every day right up until the Claiming.
- And whatever happens, happens. - Hey.
We know what's gonna happen.
I want you to do something for me.
Between now and my birthday, I don't want to think about the Claiming.
See? No tattoo.
I just want to be with you and do normal boyfriend-girlfriend stuff.
- Great. - Heh.
Well, how about tonight is, uh, the Christmas dance and...
...you could be my date.
Is Ethan Wate asking me to the dance? Oh, my God.
I'm thinking about it.
No, they've got piss punch and the chaperones guarding the make-out stairs.
- Heh. - It is God-awful. Heh.
Sounds perfect.
- I still don't know what to get you. - Huh?
I mean, we don't celebrate Christmas.
Oh.
What do you wish for every year that you never get?
Oh, well, no.
No, it's not... You're gonna think I'm so not cool.
LENA; That's okay, I don't think you're cool now.
Um...
Snow.
- Really? - Ha, ha, yeah.
Well, you know what, I always wanted one of those white movie Christmases.
I mean, look at this. This is, like, pathetic. This ain't Christmas, heh.
- You know that set-up's too easy. - Yeah, I know.
That's what you really want?
How am I gonna survive a lifetime of you surprising me?
Hear how quiet it is?
Goodbye, Ethan.
Ethan?
Ethan!
Did you come home late from the dance last night?
Um...
Can you get this turkey out of the refrigerator?
Yeah.
I don't, uh... I don't remember. I must have been pretty tired.
But I slept real good for the first time in a long time.
Oh, that's good.
Lena coming over for Christmas? We got enough food.
Lena?
Lena Duchannes.
Lena Duchannes? Why would I invite Lena Duchannes over for dinner?
I barely know her.
She doesn't speak to anybody at school. Do you know her?
Emily's mom says she was in a mental institution.
I don't know whether I trust what Emily's mom says, but she's kind of a weird girl.
Except for that damn Civil War thing and meals...
...I'm staying in my bed the entire winter break.
I don't want to preach today.
Instead, I just want to talk to you.
About a word we don't hear much anymore:
Sacrifice.
It's not what I'd call a modern word.
People hear the word "sacrifice" and they become afraid...
...that something will be taken away from them.
Or they'll have to give up something they can't live without.
"Sacrifice," to them, means "loss"...
...in a world telling us we can have it all.
But I believe true sacrifice is a victory.
Because it requires our free will...
...to give up something or someone you love...
...for something or someone you love more than yourself.
I won't lie to you.
It's a gamble.
Sacrifice won't take away the pain of loss.
But it wins the battle against bitterness.
The bitterness that dims the light on all that is of true value in our lives.
What do we do now, Auntie Sarafine? She gave him up.
She loves that boy. The curse will still work.
But we'll need his friend.
Oh, my sugar darling? He's ready to go whenever I call.
Can I do it again?
You can't tell anyone. Promise me you won't tell a living soul?
I won't, I swear it.
Okay, one last time. Try it again.
That is so cool.
I'll let you know when to do it, sugar. You'll hear me loud and clear.
Just like you always do.
You have no idea how much I just love you to death right now.
Ready? Fire!
Fire!
Awesome.
Come in.
Are you ready to get dressed?
It's real pretty.
You've done the right thing.
How will I know if it worked?
When the curse has been paid, you'll feel it.
You'll know.
Oh, people are starting to arrive, sweetheart. It's time.
Mavis, you look very special.
Well, heh, it is a very special day.
- Mom? - Hi, sugar.
Careful with that. Just because there's no bullet don't mean it can't burn you.
You're both late. Take a rifle and load. You two are going to Greenbrier.
Urn, hello, everyone. And, uh...
Oh, thank you for coming. Um...
The moon will be out soon, so we should... Uh, we should start.
Urn, phew, heh.
Excuse me. As the Ancients have foretold...
...a Natural will be Claimed.
For it has been predetermined by the five elements...
...that upon this night...
...an old cycle shall end and a new cycle shall begin...
...wherein the powers of Light and Dark will merge...
...and that upon this child...
...who becomes a woman...
...Lena Duchannes...
...her true nature will reveal the true nature of all power...
...for the new cycle.
Hey, halt!
Or shoot me. I'm so goddamn itchy, I swear, I'd just rather be a casualty.
This is so stupid. I wish I was, ugh...
You want to just kill each other?
- Come over, watch a movie? - Aliens? Blu-ray?
All right. On the count of three.
Ready.
- One. - One.
- Two. - Two.
Three.
What's wrong?
I don't know.
Ethan? Ethan.
Ethan.
- Lena. - No.
Cease fire!
Ethan!
- Where is Ethan? - Greenbrier! Get the hell out of here, girl!
Ethan!
No! Ethan, no, no! No.
- No! - Lena, I didn't... Lena, I swear.
No, don't! Don't!
Sorry. I'm sorry.
You can't trust them, coz.
They'll turn on each other for no reason at all.
Lena, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.
Okay?
Welcome to the family, my darling, special girl.
Storm's coming, Mr. Lee. Should we stop?
Lena, stop.
Macon?
Stop this, please.
Macon. Macon, what have you done?
The curse had to be paid.
I don't understand.
Somebody you love has to die.
That was a sneaky trick, Macon. No fair.
Macon?
I promised his mother.
I can't lose you.
- It's all right, it's all right, Lena. - No.
Don't let them fool you.
Claim...
...yourself.
No.
Uh-oh.
What are you doing?
I think this is just between you and me, Mama.
Fine with me.
Ridley, don't be afraid. She's on our side.
She's our Lena. You listen to me.
You're my daughter. I always wanted you with me. They took you from me.
The moon appears, and it will claim you as you are destined to be claimed.
Accept it, sweetheart. There's nothing you can do.
No one can do that.
Let me go! She's more powerful than you.
Lena. Lena, listen to me.
It was her idea.
She told me you were going Dark anyway. I would never hurt you.
You remember when I left, so I wouldn't hurt you?
Lena?
Go.
Thanks, coz.
You know, you're a lot more like me than you care to admit.
Well, nobody's perfect.
Lena, you have great powers. I can teach you how to use them.
I can teach you how to become the most powerful Dark Caster who ever lived.
Oh, that's so sweet of you, Mama.
Oh, baby. This mortal you think you love? You can never be together.
I know.
Did you ever love me, Mama?
You know, I don't remember.
No mother does, really.
It's not easy, you know, pushing another female out of your body...
...a younger, more perfect version of yourself, with every option and no mistakes, heh.
Anyhow, love is a trick of the mind, you know?
It doesn't really exist. There's no such thing in nature.
Love's a spell, created by mortals...
...to give their females something to play with instead of power.
I want you to have power.
I want you to be who you truly are.
As long as I'm just like you.
There's Darkness in you. Don't you try and deny it.
I don't.
Well, then claim it. Claim it and come with me, be with me.
We can rule over a new world, our world.
What are you doing?
It is a new world, Mama.
But it ain't all Dark, and it ain't all Light.
And it ain't all ours.
I remember now. I remember now, I did love you.
I do love you. I love you, darling. I love you!
You really shouldn't use words you don't understand.
You still need me!
You've done enough, Mama.
You must be Claimed!
Macon?
You all right, coz?
Yeah.
Macon said this was the only way to protect you both.
I could hear the sound. The sound was me breaking.
I cried because he had lived.
Because he had died.
I was shattered, I was saved.
I only knew the girl I was, was gone.
He was right. No good can come from loving a mortal.
They can't survive our world.
Get out. Go, Ethan.
Claim yourself in defiance...
...in hope, in love, in fury, in gratitude.
Claim the Light. Claim the Dark.
Claim it all.
Nothing can stay.
- You all set? - Yeah.
Should be in New York by Thursday if we make good time.
We're gonna go stay with Link's cousin in Brooklyn.
Come here.
I'll call you as soon as I get in.
You call whenever you can.
Bye.
Hi, um...
- Lena, right? - Hi, yeah.
- Ethan Wate. - Yeah, I know.
Oh. Heh, um...
So I wanted, I... You know...
Um...
I'm sorry that we never got to hang, but I always wanted to tell you...
...I thought your, uh, poems in Creative Writing...
...just really good.
Thanks. That's really nice of you to say.
- You're leaving? - Yeah, uh...
College road trip, heh.
I'm going to check out NYU.
Great. It's good.
Oh, cool title.
Bukowski?
He any good?
Define "good. "
Keep it. A "Getting Outta Gatlin" present.
Really?
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Cool. Thank you.
All right. See you.
See you.
Ethan's coming. All right, bye.
- Hey, is it all right... - Ah.
...If we go see my morn at the sanatorium? It's on the way.
Sure.
"There is a place in the heart that wilt never be filled.
A space.
We will know it more than ever.
There is a place in the heart that will never be filled...
...and We will wait and wait in that space. "
Lena!