When Ivy opened her eyes, she noticed that she can\'t still move her body! The only thing she can move is her eyeballs. She glanced at her arm where Granny had cut with the knife. Huh? Her brows furrowed.

Where is the cut? It\'s gone!

Did the wound heal right away?

Impossible! She just saw her blood trickled into the ceramic bowl. She also feels the sting of the pain the moment the knife\'s blade cuts through her skin and flesh.

Everything that took place earlier was real!

But why is it that there was no fresh cut on her arm? And there are no traces of blood either!

What the heck is going on?

Where is Granny? Did she left and go back to the house? Oh God, she needs to return to the house quickly and warned her sister that Granny is a serial killer! A murderer!

Wait...where is she...what place is this?

She noticed that she was no longer in the stream. She was standing in the clearing surrounded by towering trees with thick branches and leaves sprouting from all directions.

Where am I?

\'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?\' she screamed in her mind.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching behind her. Damn! She can\'t even turn around and see who\'s behind her! This is frustrating and horrifying! She thinks she will faint again if a wild animal is going to attack her from behind.

Oh, God! She wanted to run for her dear life!

But she can\'t.

A lone tear of hopelessness fell from her left eye.

Suddenly, the person who\'s behind her was now in front of her. She doesn\'t know if she will feel relief or feel scared after seeing that it\'s only Granny Esmeralda holding a ceramic bowl filled with her blood in her left hand.

She blinked her eyes many times.

Esmeralda patted the younger woman\'s shoulder as if comforting her. "Relax, Ivy. Since you are doubting me when I told you that you are that special girl I\'m talking about. I have no other choice but to perform this experiment with your blood so that you will believe me. To see is to believe, right?"

Ivy blinked her eyes twice.

Esmeralda waved her right hand in front of them. Suddenly, the invisible flaming barrier appeared. She looked at the frozen girl. "Okay, it\'s showtime! Don\'t blink your eyes, Ivy! See for yourself what your blood can do...!"

This time, Ivy\'s eyes were no longer blinking. She was curious if Granny was indeed telling her the truth or just fabricating lies.

Without wasting her time, Esmeralda throws the ceramic bowl into the blazing barrier... the ceramic bowl burned immediately and turned into ashes.

Then a few seconds later... a tiny sound of cracking can be heard...

Ivy saw the barrier cracking up slowly and a gap was created, the size of a fist! Her blood created a hole!

Holy Guacamole!

Ivy was thoroughly stunned.

She was startled and lost for words!

After a few minutes, the fractured area of the barrier shut off again as if the fissure never happened at all.

Esmeralda waved her hand and the invisible barrier disappeared from their view.

Ivy was beyond astounded.

The things that Granny told her earlier in the stream are all true. She is that special girl they were talking about! She holds the key to her sister\'s successful escape from this forsaken place. Sad to say she needs to sacrifice her blood and her life to save her sister.

Esmeralda went to Ivy\'s side and waved her hand all over the frozen woman\'s body.

Suddenly, Ivy can finally move her body! She felt huge relief washed over her.

"I\'m sorry I have to freeze you awhile ago, it\'s the only way to convince you that everything I told you is true. Now you had seen it for yourself. How do you feel? Do you have a decision now?" Esmeralda asked eagerly.

Ivy released a deep sigh. Tears were shimmering in her eyes. She wanted to cry badly. She was feeling happy that there is a way to escape the castle but she also has to sacrifice her life. She doesn\'t know what to feel right now, she was confused and very saddened by the revelation.

She wasn\'t expecting all these to happen to her even in her wildest dream!

It\'s hard to digest everything at the same time. She looked at the old woman teary-eyed. "Granny, please take me out of here!" she requested.

"Okay, where do you want to go? Back in the house or back in the stream?" asked Esmeralda.

"Back in the stream, Granny. I need to do a lot of thinking regarding this important discovery. It\'s complicated. It\'s killing me inside and at the same time it\'s giving me hope," said Ivy sadly, she was on the verge of crying.

Esmeralda watched as a myriad of emotion appeared on the younger woman\'s face. Right now she pitied Ivy, it must be very hard digesting everything. She patted Ivy\'s shoulder in sympathy and compassion.

She summoned the silver box and it appeared in front of them, they went inside. Their transportation takes off from the ground and hovers in the air going back to the direction of the stream.

A few minutes went by, they finally landed in the clearing, the box opened up and the women exited.

Ivy walked towards the picnic blanket in a daze, then she lowered herself on it, she stared blankly at the sparkling water of the stream.

Everything is beautiful yet she was dying inside.

She still wants to live longer, fall in love, and raised a family with the man she\'s going to marry someday.

But now she was destined to die too early just to save her sister.

Can she save both her sister and herself without sacrificing her life?

This is such a cruel joke by destiny, asking too much from her. On the other hand, she always longed for a chance to get out of the castle alive. This is it! Her wishes finally come true. It was given to her easily but it doesn\'t come freely, there\'s a heavy price attached to it!

She looked at her companion. "Granny, if I\'m willing to sacrifice my life for my sister\'s freedom, how are you going to do it?" she asked bravely.

"Child, don\'t worry about it, I will give you a painless death. I promise you by the time we drained your blood you are already dead and you won\'t be able to feel anything, not even an ounce of pain," Esmeralda assured her gently.

"H-how about my sister?" asked the misty-eyed Ivy.

"You don\'t have to worry about her, I will accompany her back to your Aunt Margie\'s house in the village. I swear, I will deliver her there, safely," replied Esmeralda.

After hearing Granny\'s words, Ivy broke down. Fat tears rolled down her face, she cried hysterically, her body trembled in sorrow and misery, the sound of her crying was pitiful that all the butterflies paused and looked in her direction.

Esmeralda gathered the crying woman in her arms, she was deeply moved by her sad flight.

Ivy continues crying in Granny\'s arms. She needs to flush it all out from her system so that she has the energy to face her death and never back out. She was hoping that after crying a river she will be okay and she will be able to feel stronger to face her toughest challenge ever.

Esmeralda rubbed Ivy\'s back wanting to share a little bit of her warmth to the grieving woman. She can only console and sympathize with her broken spirit at this point, it\'s the least she can do for her.

One sister\'s life needs to be a sacrifice in exchange for another sister\'s freedom.

Poor girl!

What a pity, it\'s such a heavy price to pay!

Ivy\'s weeping continues for a few minutes. The sound of her whimpering was squeezing Esmeralda\'s heart, she can only hold her and offer her support as long as she wants. This is the only thing she can do for the girl who is willing to sacrifice her life for her sister.

A few minutes later.

Ivy\'s tears finally subsided. She left the comfort of Granny\'s warmth and sat up straight, she stared at the stream with her puffy red eyes fresh from crying.

She looked at her companion. "Granny, c-can you leave me alone for a few minutes? I want to be alone?" she said.

Esmeralda sighed, she was hesitating for a moment if she will leave the distraught woman or not. But it\'s the girl\'s wish, it would be rude on her part to deny her request. Besides, Ivy would never hurt herself now that she knows that her blood is valuable for her sister\'s freedom. "Alright, I\'ll return after a few minutes..." she said.

She was about to leave.

"Wait...Granny... I have something to ask you. Will my sacrifice worth it?" Ivy asked.

Esmeralda looked at Ivy in the eyes. "If you sacrifice your life, you will be hitting two birds with one stone," she replied.

Ivy\'s brows furrowed. "Huh? W-what do you mean?"

"Ella will come to this castle at some point in time to look for her sisters. You don\'t want her to come here. If Kate can return to the village safely she can warn your sister not to come here, right?"

Ivy breathed deeply. The old woman has a valid point, she failed to think of that possibility due to her jumbled thoughts.

"Not only you are saving Kate you are also preventing Ella to come here. That\'s what I\'m saying...with your sacrifice you are hitting two birds with one stone," Esmeralda concluded. She knows that whatever hesitation and doubts Ivy has in her mind, she would ultimately be going to surrender herself to the sacrifice since her beloved sisters will benefit from it.

"Thank you, Granny. I\'m grateful to you for making me see things in a different light, for reminding me that my sacrifice will save my two sisters from falling into this madness," Ivy said, still sporting a dispirited look in her eyes.

Esmeralda nods her head then walked away from the place. Before she left, she waved her hand and erected an invisible dome around the area protecting Ivy and the garden inside.

She will go back to the blazing barrier and try her blood on it.

Can her blood open the invisible barrier or not?

She will find out soon enough!