That evening Sarah couldn't sleep. She focused on the problem of her friend. Angelo had to kill all of them or else something bad might have happened to his family. Maybe even death. Angelo of course wanted to do something that would let everyone save their lives. And Sarah really wanted to help him.

  "Okay, Sarah, take it easy. It'll be fine. Just try to think of something that you might use."

  The inspiration came from a strangely usual occurrence. Sarah noticed that she left her cy on her desk.

  "Of course!"

  Sarah immediately got to making tags. What Sarah would do was set. Now the question was what words she could use.

  Angelo was not very confident about the photos he took. Sure, they were pretty gory and to an untrained eye it could seem that Angelo actually killed his friends. And if he saw it without context he could have been worried. But would the photos fool Mr. Ovid? That's what Angelo was worried about at that moment.

  "I don't know. Do you think it looks good?" said Angelo.

  "It does, honey. Trust me," said Giovanna while washing the artificial blood from herself. "It looks really bloody and amazing. I can't even imagine what my parents would say about it."

  "But doesn't it look fake?"

  "Sometimes stories seem predictable to their authors," said Ursu and unstuck a blunt quarrel off her dress. "But it's only because they created them and know what happens."

  "Yeah, it could be the same in your case," said Lily.

  "Yeah, maybe. I'm just really worried of what might happen if the pn fails."

  "Don't worry. We've got your back," said Sarah. "That's what friends do, right?"

  "Sounds cool. But are you sure you can help me?"

  Suddenly Sarah had an idea. An idea that might just work. Or at least was worth the risk. At least if Sarah was given enough time.

  "Wait, when do you have to give him the photos?" asked Sarah. "Could you wait for tomorrow?"

  "Tomorrow? Yeah, I could arrange it like that," said Angelo.

  "Then I think I have just the thing."

  "Hold up, what do you have?"

  "A pn. One that I'm not quite sure if it will work, but a pn. And thanks a lot for that additional day. It gives me some time to prepare."

  Angelo was gd that there was somebody else that had some kind of strategy.

  "Thank you. I just hope you know what you're doing," said Angelo.

  "I think I do," said Sarah.

  Mr. Ovid requested that Angelo meet him under the bridge stretching above the remains of the Nevill Channel. Angelo did not catch precisely what he wanted from that pce. Maybe privacy, maybe a pce out of the eyes of public. It did not really matter and Angelo did not really care. All that mattered is that everyone was safe.

  Angelo was clutching the photos in his hand. Mr. Ovid was already waiting. He smiled.

  "Why couldn't you just send me the photos, my boy?" asked Mr. Ovid. "I thought you are really attached to that phone of yours."

  "I wanted to hear those words from you directly," said Angelo.

  "What words?"

  "Oh, you know exactly what words."

  "What? That I allow you to leave? That you're done? That you can see your family?"

  "Precisely."

  "Interesting of you to state your own conditions." Mr. Ovid extended his hand. "First the photos."

  Angelo gave the prints to Mr. Ovid. The genie looked at them with curiosity. He studied every gory detail of the bodies of the girls.

  "I couldn't be more surprised," said Mr. Ovid.

  "Hey, we had a deal," said Angelo. "You have the photos and I have my freedom. I fulfilled my part of the deal, so now it's your damn turn."

  "Just a second. Let me appreciate the moment a little bit more," said Mr. Ovid. "You know, I didn't expect you to do this job, my boy."

  "Then I'm happy I surprised you."

  "What are you talking about? Do you really think I can not see that these photos are fake?"

  Angelo froze at what Mr. Ovid said. He recognised the photos weren't real. How? Was it something that Angelo did wrong?

  "You think I would do something like that? So close to the end of the road?" Angelo tried to fix the situation.

  "Come on, I'd recognise such a fake wound," said Mr. Ovid. "What did you use, my boy? Silicone? Corn syrup? No, they used corn syrup back when film was bck and white."

  Angelo was overcome with fear. Mr. Ovid saw through his trick. There was no way of hiding it now. Mr. Ovid has won.

  "You should know what happens now, right, my boy?" Mr. Ovid said and chuckled.

  The entire life with his family flew in front of Angelo's eyes. No, he was not ready to lose them.

  "Tell me just one thing, Angelo my boy. Why did you want to cheat me like that?" asked Mr. Ovid.

  "I didn't want to lose anybody," said Angelo. "I thought I could do something to prevent any losses."

  Mr. Ovid simply ughed. "Oh, you're one interesting person. Anyway, you can say goodbye now."

  Angelo held his breath as Mr. Ovid was about to snap his fingers. This was the end.

  Just then Sarah appeared from behind the corner. She held a cy tag with a long word. She shouted from the bottom of her lungs "Unconsciousness!"

  Fifteen letters shouted out as loud as Sarah could. Angelo and Mr. Ovid didn't even notice the moment when the world went bck.

  When Angelo came to he was in a completely different pce. He felt lost and tried to assess his surroundings. He soon found out that he was in the underground parking lot of the Oftenhides Mall. He could not understand however how he found himself there. He couldn't have come there himself, that was for sure.

  Angelo noticed Sarah standing over him. She had shards of cy in her hand.

  "Oh, thank goodness I crushed the right tag," said Sarah.

  "What happened? Where are we?" asked Angelo.

  "I thought I should move you to a pce where that genie won't see you. Just to be sure."

  "Wait, Mr. Ovid. What's with him?"

  "Don't worry, I made sure he'd leave you."

  "What? What did you do?"

  Sarah took out a cy tag out of her pocket. It had a long word written in an alphabet that Angelo couldn't recognise.

  "Misremembering. Fourteen letters. I thought that it would have a long sting effect that you needed."

  "And what did you use it for?"

  "I maniputed his memory so that he'd think he only gave you twelve jobs. You know, those that you've done."

  Angelo couldn't believe what he heard.

  "So that means…"

  "Yes, you're finally free," said Sarah.

  For Angelo it sounded like a dream come true. This was all that he wanted. His family could keep their health and his friends could keep their lives. It was the greatest ending he could imagine. And he didn't care that he did not complete the st job. He couldn't care less. All that mattered was that it was over.

  Angelo took out his phone. He believed Sarah, but he needed to hear his family with his own ears. He dialled a number. He needed to reach his mother.

  First signal. Second signal. Third signal.

  "Angelo?"

  Angelo could not believe his ears. He really heard his mother's voice.

  "Angelo, is that you?"

  Angelo started to cry. He couldn't stop the happiness from hearing his mother.

  "Yes. Yes, that's me."

  "Son, why are you crying? Where are you?"

  "I'm coming home, mum. I'm coming hope."

  For one st time the friends have gathered in a restaurant. This time in the Oftenhides Mall food court. Sure, the occasion prompted for a more special pce, but some say that Oftenhides doesn't really have a more special pce to celebrate. Either way the friends were simply happy that they could celebrate a thing worthy of celebration.That they could celebrate a happy ending.

  "I have to say that you had a clever idea, Sarah," said Ursu.

  "Thanks. It just came to me to be honest," said Sarah.

  "But you really went hard with that," said Lily. "How long have you searched for those words?"

  "Not really that long. Today you have websites dedicated to showing you synonyms."

  "Right, I haven't thought about that."

  "However it has been, it shows how much you've learned," said Giovanna.

  "Thank you," said Sarah. "Do you think I can be a decent witch?"

  "What are you talking about? You already are."

  For Sarah there was no compliment from her friends that could have been greater. "Thank you."

  "And hey, I have to thank you," said Angelo. "After all you saved us all in the end."

  "Thank you. Well, I think there's just one more thing we should do."

  At the riverbank Sarah took the misremembering tag from her pocket. She knew what she had to do. One st look at the tag and Sarah threw it into the river.

  "So this is the end," said Sarah. "What happens now?"

  "I'm going to go back to my family," said Angelo. "I can't believe it's finally possible."

  "And I'm going back to Anpesin Popom," said Lily. "I've waited a long time for the city to get recimed."

  "I'm thinking of moving to Angelo, but first I'd like to get to college," said Giovanna.

  "So am I the only one who is staying?" asked Ursu.

  "No, I don't think so," said Sarah.

  Reflecting on her time in Oftenhides Sarah saw multiple sides. She saw friends that shared adventures with her. She saw dangerous challenges to overcome. She saw new experiences that empowered her.

  One thing Sarah knew for sure. Oftenhides is a strange city.