The deep orange light of the setting sun bathed classroom in its warm light. It had only been twelve hours since they last saw each other, but the pain of being away from her was nigh unbearable.

  "Oh you're awake, Al," Jane said with a big smile on her face as she walked up to stand in front of his desk.

  This wasn't real, but he dearly wished that it was. It had been an entire year since they had dropped out, which meant finding himself sitting in his old classroom was outright nonsensical. The fact it wasn't real was what hurt the most because that meant he had to return to a lonely world without her at some point.

  Her expression twisted in an instant and her voice came out with a strange static quality like a malfunctioning radio, "It's real enough isn't it?."

  The very next moment she was smiling again. Was she somehow aware of the fact he was questioning the reality he found himself in? He wanted it to be real, but knowing that it wasn't made it hard for him to truly enjoy it. Once he woke up he would be all alone again.

  She moved in closer and sat down on his lap. Her lips met his and his worries faded for a short moment. It felt more real than life itself, but that just made the fear inside of him grow all the more intense. Would he even be able to deal with his loneliness when she disappeared once more?

  "I love you, Al," she whispered to him as she wrapped her arms around him.

  "I love you too..."

  The sun never seemed to fully set within that strange world. Almost like it was caught within a singular moment after some long school day he had all but forgotten. An unending snapshot from his memories that had become the blueprint for some alternate world that he yearned for constantly.

  "Isn't it weird how we're the only people here?" he asked her as they walked the empty halls of the building side by side.

  "You know how empty this place gets at the end of the day," she giggled, "It's like this place belongs to us when everyone else has gone home for the day."

  "I don't remember this place ever being so empty..."

  There were never that many people to be seen within the school at the end of the day, but for it to be completely void of people was an anomaly. There should have been some signs of life at least, yet there was nothing to be found. Not even any distant sounds.

  "Do you want to watch the sunset from the roof? I know it's your favorite spot," she said gently.

  "That would be nice," he said with all the strength he could muster.

  Tears were forming at the edges of his eyes by the time they reached the roof. Why couldn't their time together have been eternal? Was this dreamworld all that would remain of their love? To be with her was all he had wanted so why had the world denied him that?

  "It's beautiful isn't it?" she asked him as they watched the setting sun on the horizon.

  "It's so beautiful it hurts..."

  "I'll always be here for you, Al."

  He turned to look at her. She had been there waiting for the moment he woke up at his desk every day, but it made him fear the possibility he would one day wake up within that dream only to realize she was nowhere to be found.

  "Don't worry, Al, I'm not going anywhere."

  "Please don't leave me again!" he cried out as he wrapped his arms around her.

  "Al, you're crushing me!" she wheezed as his grip tightened around her.

  The scene warped around them and the very next moment they were back in the classroom. Once more he was sitting at his desk shaking off the drowsiness brought on by a far too short nap. Her smile was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes.

  "Oh! You're awake, Al."

  Everything had returned to the way it was at the beginning of the memory. The school was empty and everything was bathed in the deep orange light of the setting sun. His heart jumped the moment she started moving towards his desk.

  It was repeating endlessly. The world always brought him back to that moment almost like a broken record. He rushed towards her and grabbed her hand as he ran.

  "Where are you taking me, Al?" she giggled as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

  "We're almost there I promise!" he shouted as he ran through the open gates of the school.

  The world twisted around him violently and the next moment he was sitting at his desk once more. She was already walking towards him as he stood up and moved away from her until he was stopped by his back hitting the wall.

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  Her expression was twisting strangely and her voice had that strange buzzing quality again, "Al, this is as real as it gets."

  She was standing in front of him, but as he looked over her shoulder he could see another Jane sprinting down the corridors.

  "Al, you're crushing me!" he heard echoing from somewhere above him.

  "Al, it's almost time..." the Jane in front of him said.

  "Time for what!" he shouted only for her to push a finger against his lip while shushing him.

  "There's no one around and you do seem kind of stressed out," she said to herself as she sat down on his desk.

  "What the hell do you..."

  His thoughts came to a stop when she hiked up her skirt and beckoned him. As soon as his hands touched her skin all reason faded from his mind. It felt too real. Not a single detail was out of place.

  "I'm waiting," she whispered in his ears as he put his arms around her.

  Everything felt real. There was no dreamlike quality to the pleasure. It felt exactly like the real thing. His lust had made him weak, but he had wanted it too much to even think of stopping himself.

  "Are those the sounds I make?" another Jane said as she moved up next to him and looked at the Jane crying out in pleasure in front of him.

  "Harder!"

  "We'll always be here waiting for you, Al," said another Jane as she walked into the classroom.

  The Jane standing next to him kissed him on the cheek before raising her voice, "Even if it means watching myself get fucked stupid."

  "I'll always be here for you to play with to your heart's content," the Jane before him stammered before crying out in pleasure once more.

  Was he going mad? Why couldn't he stop himself? He didn't want this. All he wanted was a long boring life together with Jane, but that had been taken from him. This sickening fascimile was driving him mad.

  "Touch me more, Al..."

  "Nihilate!"

  Her head exploded like blood filled balloon as the spell struck her. His hand closed around the throat of the Jane next to him and with a quick motion he snapped her neck.

  "Nihilate, nihilate, nihilate!"

  The Jane at the other end of the room had one limb blown off after the other as he kept firing spell after spell at her. His ears were ringing and his vision grew blurry as he looked at the carnage around him. The blood of countless Janes stained the walls, ceiling, windows, and the floor.

  No longer was the world cast in that deep orange light. Instead he found himself in a strange colorless twilight. The smell of blood hit him as he saw the countless ruined bodies of Jane all around him. Each had been killed in a different way, but they had all been mutilated to some extent.

  The only sign of life around him was one last Jane sitting at a desk at the opposite end of the classroom. Her expression was cold and empty. He slipped on the slick blood stained floor as he tried to take a step back from her and slammed into one of the countless bodies littering the floor as he fell.

  She took calm and measured steps towards him. Her eyes were a cold icy blue that seemed to glow with some strange internal light as she studied his every movement.

  "It seems those weren't quite what you wanted," she muttered as she pushed him down before he could even try to stand up.

  She sat herself down on his lap and stared into his eyes. There was an uncanny quality to the Jane before him. Not a single true emotion could be found within her expression. It was something cold and calculating, but there was no maliciousness either.

  "I tried so many times to make one you would like, but none of them seem to satisfy..."

  "What are you saying?!"

  "Every time you break them because they fail to satisfy your expectations," she said as she pulled down his zipper.

  "Will it help if I moan like she does? Should I tell you how much I love you every time you push it deeper?" she said coldly as she moved her body up and down slowly.

  "I just want it to be real..."

  He winced as he felt her ice cold flesh mingling with his. There was no warmth to her. Her body was just as cold as her demeanor, but the pleasure was still there. That inescapable desire remained even when she showed him no love.

  "Every time I make a new one and I start to think that it will be the one that finally satisfies you," she muttered, "It still ends with you breaking it."

  "You're not Jane!" he exclaimed.

  She pinned his arms to the ground with unbelievable strength before he could even make an attempt to escape her embrace. Her cold eyes studied him as her body moved up and down almost robotically.

  "In some sense you're right, but I miss her just as much as you do..."

  He reached for the bond and all it told him was that Jane was right there. That it was Jane making love to him like a cold emotionless machine simply going through the motions of it all. That it was Jane even if only by some twisted technicality.

  "I was always indifferent to you, but she loved you with all her heart and begged me to stay by your side."

  "You're her soul, aren't you?"

  "Honestly I'd rather you just kill yourself so we can both be rid of this life, but she wouldn't have wanted that so I'll be here every night to keep you company until the day you die."

  She continued moving her hips until he finally reached his limit. With a low sigh she leaned her head against his chest and looked over at the countless bodies on the ground around them. She had every memory of Jane and the copies she made could mimic her down to the tiniest detail, but he always saw through them in the end. In some sick twisted way he preferred the presence of her soul to the duplicates even if she showed him no love.

  "Just hurry up and avenge her so you can finally die," she said slowly, "That way you can be together in the next life and I won't have to keep you company anymore."

  "I'm trying..."

  "Then try harder and stop killing her every time I make a new one! Are you killing all of them just so you can hear me scold you?"

  "Then stop trying to make me believe this is real!" he exclaimed.

  "It is real, but you don't seem to be able to get it through your thick head."

  Darkness descended upon the dream. His body was cold as he got up and his eyes scanned the empty bedroom he had found himself in. The dream had ended and now he dwelled in the waking world once more.

  He was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing last night, which meant he had probably fallen asleep in them. As he made his way to the door he looked back at the bed one final time.

  "I'll be back when I'm done for today, but for now I've got work to do..."

  There were countless witches left on the list and only when every one of them were dead would he take Morgan's life from her. Once their matriarch lay dead at his feet he could finally be with Jane again, but that day still felt so far away.

  "The last witch of clan Winters has awoken once more and none that get in their way shall be spared their wrath," he muttered to himself as he left the mansion and stepped back out into the world.