The late afternoon sun cast long shadows through Kevin's bedroom window as Jessica paced back and forth, her sneakers wearing a path in the beige carpet. Her fingers drummed against Seren's journal, its pages marked with dozens of sticky notes in Kevin's precise handwriting. The familiar scent of Kevin's room—old books, computer equipment, and the faintest hint of his mom's chocolate chip cookies—should have been comforting. Instead, it only heightened her anxiety.

  "Would you sit down?" Kevin asked from his desk chair. "You're making me dizzy."

  "Sorry." Jessica dropped onto his bed, then immediately bounced back up. "I just can't believe your mom thought we broke up.”

  "Yeah, well..." Kevin adjusted his glasses, a nervous habit she'd known since third grade. "She thought I was with Salina now when… The whole brainwashing thing.”

  Jessica's stomach churned. The idea of Kevin and Salina together—even if it was just Seren's manipulation—made her want to throw up. Or punch something. Maybe both.

  "At least your mom seemed happy to see me," she said, trying to focus on the positive. The way Mrs. Lebowski had beamed when she opened the door, pulling Jessica into a warm hug despite the awkwardness, had nearly brought tears to her eyes.

  "Mom always liked you better than Salina, anyway." Kevin swiveled his chair toward his computer, fingers flying across the keyboard. "She said Salina gave her the creeps lately. Called her 'that goth girl who's been corrupting my sweet boy.'"

  Jessica snorted. "Sweet boy? Has she met you?"

  "Hey, I'm delightful." Kevin's attempt at humor fell flat as his expression darkened. "But she's right about Salina. The way she's been acting... that's not our friend anymore."

  The truth of his words hit Jessica like a physical blow. She sank onto the bed again, this time staying put. The journal's weight felt heavier in her hands.

  "We have to get her back, Kevin." Jessica's voice came out smaller than she intended. "The real Salina. Our Salina. Not… Dark Salina."

  "We will." Kevin's tone held the same quiet determination she remembered from their monster-hunting days. Before everything went wrong. Before she'd abandoned them for pompoms and popularity. Before Salina had touched that cursed mirror.

  Jessica opened the journal, careful not to disturb Kevin's meticulous notes. Elaborate diagrams and cramped handwriting in faded ink filled the pages. Seren Winter's legacy, preserved in leather and parchment.

  "Okay, walk me through this again," she said. "The ritual has to happen in front of the mirror?"

  "Yeah. That's where Seren's power is strongest." Kevin pulled up a diagram on his computer. "But it's also where we have the best chance of trapping her. The mirror acts like... think of it like a supernatural lightning rod. If we can draw her spirit out of Salina, the mirror should pull her back in."

  "Should?"

  Kevin's silence spoke volumes.

  "Great." Jessica flopped back on the bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars they'd stuck on Kevin's ceiling in middle school. "So we're betting our best friend's soul on a, maybe."

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  "You got a better plan?"

  She didn't. That was the worst part.

  Jessica sat up, squaring her shoulders. "Fine. So we get her inside the house, into the circle, you do your magic mumbo-jumbo—"

  “Exorcism."

  "Whatever. Then Seren gets sucked back into the mirror, and we get our friend back." Jessica tried to ignore the way her voice cracked on the word 'friend.' "Simple."

  "When has anything involving us ever been simple?"

  "Fair point." Jessica stood up again, but this time with purpose. She pulled out her phone, fingers hovering over the keyboard. "But I know how to get her there."

  Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

  "Probably not." Jessica started typing. "But Salina—the thing wearing Salina—she can't resist a chance to mess with me. To prove she's better than me."

  "Jessica..." Kevin's warning tone made her look up. "What are you doing?"

  "Sending her a challenge she can't refuse." Jessica's thumbs flew across the screen. "Telling her to meet me at the house tonight. Just the two of us."

  "That's..." Kevin blinked. "Actually kind of brilliant."

  "Don't sound so surprised."

  "But also incredibly dangerous." He rolled his chair closer, peering at her phone. "What if she figures out it's a trap?"

  "She won't." Jessica hit send before she could second-guess herself. "She's too arrogant. Too convinced she's got us beaten. Dark Salina will show up just to prove she can destroy me."

  "Dark Salina, huh? You sound pretty confident for someone who's been avoiding her for weeks."

  Jessica's phone buzzed. One new message from Salina. Three words that made her blood run cold:

  *See you there.*

  "I'm not confident," Jessica admitted, showing Kevin the message. "I'm terrified. But she's still our friend in there somewhere. And I'm done running away from the people I care about."

  The words hung in the air between them, heavy with meaning. Kevin studied her face for a long moment before nodding.

  "Okay." He turned back to his computer, pulling up more diagrams. "Then we better make sure we get this ritual exactly right. We only get one shot at this."

  Jessica settled into her familiar spot on Kevin's bed, the journal open in her lap. As they pored over the ancient text, mapping out every detail of their plan, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something crucial. Some vital piece of the puzzle that could mean the difference between saving their friend and losing her forever.

  But when Kevin looked up from his notes, his face etched with determination, Jessica pushed her doubts aside. They had to try. For Salina.

  "The circle needs to be perfect," Kevin said, sketching out the intricate pattern of symbols. "If there's even one line out of place—"

  "I know." Jessica traced the diagram with her finger. "No pressure or anything."

  "And once we start the ritual, we can't stop. No matter what happens." Kevin's voice grew serious. "No matter what she says or does. Even if she begs."

  Jessica's throat tightened. "You really think she'll beg?"

  "I think Seren will do anything to stay in control." Kevin wouldn't meet her eyes. "Including using our feelings against us."

  The silence that followed was deafening. Jessica stared at the journal, at the carefully documented horrors Seren had inflicted on her previous victims. The thought of their friend—brilliant, sarcastic, fiercely loyal Salina—being used as a vessel for such evil made her sick.

  "What if..." Jessica swallowed hard. "What if we're too late? What if the real Salina is already gone?"

  Kevin finally looked up, his expression fierce. "She's not. You know how I know?"

  Jessica shook her head.

  "Because the Salina we know would never give up without a fight." He tapped the journal. "And neither will we."

  A weak smile tugged at Jessica's lips. "When did you get so wise?"

  "Probably around the time you started doing backflips in a sparkly uniform."

  "Hey!" Jessica threw a pillow at his head. "I'll have you know those uniforms are very totally aerodynamic."

  Kevin ducked, laughing, and for a moment it felt like old times. Before cheerleading and werewolves and ancient curses had complicated everything. Before Jessica had pushed away, the two people who'd always had her back.

  The moment shattered as her phone buzzed again. Another message from Salina:

  *Bring your pompoms, captain. You're going to need something to cry into.*

  Jessica's hands shook as she showed Kevin the text. His expression hardened.

  "We're getting her back," he said, voice tight with determination. "Whatever it takes."

  Jessica nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting Kevin's room in deepening shadows, they returned to their preparations. The journal's pages whispered with dark promises as they worked, mapping out every detail of the ritual that would either save their friend or lose her forever.

  Outside, dark clouds covered the horizon, a fitting backdrop for the battle to come. Jessica tried not to think about what would happen if they failed. About whether the real Salina was watching from behind those cold, dark eyes, screaming to be set free.

  They had to succeed. There was no other option.

  Because if they didn't, they wouldn't just lose Salina—they'd be leaving her trapped inside her own body, a prisoner of the ancient evil they'd accidentally unleashed. And that was something Jessica couldn't live with.

  As night fell, Jessica and Kevin made their final preparations. They carefully packed away the ritual components, the journal's instructions committed to memory. But as Jessica stared at her reflection in Kevin's bedroom window, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were about to face something far more dangerous than they'd imagined.

  In the glass, her own eyes looked haunted, desperate. Behind her, Kevin's determination was etched in every line of his face. They were just two teenagers, way out of their depth, about to take on an ancient evil that had destroyed countless lives before them.

  But they were also something else: friends. And sometimes, Jessica thought as she turned away from the window, that had to be enough.

  It had to be enough to save Salina. Because if it wasn't, they might lose her forever.