The streets were quiet—too quiet for a place that had recently pulsed with unease. The streetlights cast long shadows on the damp asphalt, and the air felt… heavier. Jeremy paused at an empty intersection and lifted his head. The sky was dark, starless — as if something was covering it.
Julie walked right beside him, nervously toying with the end of her hoodie sleeve.
"Do you feel that?" she whispered.
"Yes. Something's coming. Or someone's already here."
From behind, a shadow moved in one of the side alleys. But neither of them looked back. Jeremy knew he couldn't afford fear. Not now, when everything was finally starting to come together. When he knew his parents were getting closer. And that Rosalie wouldn't stop.
He slipped his hand into his pocket and curled his fingers around the amulet Henry had left him for the return journey. A faint energy pulsed within — the same kind his mother had. Jeremy felt like it was guiding him through the darkness.
Julie stopped and looked at him with concern.
"Do you think… we'll make it?"
Jeremy looked at her seriously.
"If they get here… yes. Because then we won't be alone anymore."
From afar came the first toll of a bell. The sound cut through the city like a signal.
Something had awakened.
And they had to be ready.
***
The old, forgotten room beneath the gym — once used for storing equipment — had become their refuge. Jeremy sat on the cold floor, leaning against the brick wall. Julie, wrapped in his hoodie, sat across from him with her hands on her knees.
"I don't like this silence," she said softly. "It reminds me of the moments before something bad happens."
"Silence is also a choice," he replied. "Before everything breaks loose again."
Julie narrowed her eyes, watching him. "Are you scared too?"
Jeremy hesitated but finally nodded.
"Yes. I'm scared it'll all end before I get to…" He trailed off.
"Get to what?" she asked.
"…before I get to tell you what you really mean to me," he finished, his voice trembling.
Julie leaned toward him. "You think I don't know?"
She took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his.
"I started dreaming about you before I even knew what lived inside you. I didn't choose you by accident. Something pulled me toward you… something old, familiar, strong."
Jeremy lifted his gaze, and for a split second, he saw that light in her eyes again — not human, not entirely of this world. It was like an echo of a shared past they had yet to uncover.
"Julie, if something bad ever happens… if anything changes me," he said seriously, "remind me who I was with you."
"You won't have to. I'll be with you even when you forget yourself."
She leaned even closer and gently rested her forehead against his.
"And don't forget — I'm changing too. You're not the only one who's part of something bigger."
Jeremy raised his hand and touched her cheek.
"I know. That's why I'm less afraid."
Their breaths aligned. Time slowed, as if the world above had stopped existing. Then Julie gently brushed her lips against his. There was no hesitation.
But there was everything else: tenderness, strength, hope. And a promise.
Suddenly, the light in the corner flickered. Jeremy sprang to his feet, instinctively positioning himself in front of Julie.
"It's not Rosalie," he said quietly, feeling the energy around them shift. "But something… is coming."
They heard a faint rustle from above, as if someone had just entered the building.
"We need to get ready."
Julie rose slowly. Her eyes were no longer afraid.
They were ready.
***
A dry wind carried the scent of scorched earth. In the distance, the outline of the city could be seen — dark, shimmering with energy, the barrier walls that had once kept demons at bay. Now Jack, Alison, and Martha walked toward them like shadows of the past.
Jack was silent. He hadn't spoken in hours. Alison kept glancing at him, as if she wanted to say something, but every sentence forming in her mind crumbled under the weight of emotion.
Martha was the one who spoke the most. But her words were never random.
"Rosalie can feel us. She'll try to stop you. Maybe even me."
"You?" Alison glanced at her sideways. "You're her mother. I thought… that meant something."
"To you, maybe," Martha said quietly. "But to her, I'm just a memory. In her eyes, I failed. And now I'm a threat to her plans."
Jack finally spoke.
"She's not just planning to take over the city, is she?"
Martha nodded.
"She wants to seal it. Cut it off completely. Make it her own world. And only Jeremy can stop her, but… if we don't find the entrance, he'll be alone."
Alison stopped.
"He's calling us. I can feel it. But are we ready?"
"No one's ever ready," Martha replied. "But if we don't do it now, we'll never get another chance. The border is starting to react to the presence of your blood. Jeremy is weakening it from the inside. And that means…"
"…we can enter," Jack finished. "Even if only for a moment."
Martha reached into the satchel slung over her shoulder and pulled out something that looked like a black stone etched with runes.
"This is the passage core. An artifact from the time when demons and angels could freely move between worlds. Only the combined blood of all three sides can activate it."
Alison looked first at Martha, then at Jack. Without a word, she held out her hand and cut her finger.
"Let's do it."
Jack nodded. Martha added her blood last. The stone trembled, then its surface began to throb with pulsing light.
A low sound came from the sky, like something had just held its breath.
"It begins," Martha said. "If this ritual works… we'll return to the city."
"And face Rosalie," Alison added.
Jack looked toward the energetic wall in the distance.
"And then… face ourselves."
***
The stone lit up like a miniature sun. The runes glowed with a pulsing light that resembled nothing earthly — more like a language no one had learned, but everyone instinctively understood.
Jack, Alison, and Martha stood together, hand in hand, and the stone vibrated deeper.
"Now." Martha spoke a single word in an ancient tongue — too old to understand, too powerful to ignore.
The ground beneath them trembled, and the air was sliced by tension, as if the world itself was about to split open.
The barrier, invisible just moments ago, appeared suddenly — like a sheet of water veined with golden cracks. For a moment, it shimmered like a mirror, showing not who they were… but who they could become. Jack saw Jeremy in the reflection. Alison — her own pure wings. Martha… saw her daughter, holding her hand.
The crack began to widen.
With a hiss and a snap, as if reality itself were being torn apart, the space opened. The air grew heavy, magical, filled with echoes of ancient voices. A gate appeared for a few seconds — that was all they had.
Jack looked at Alison.
"Ready?"
"Always."
They ran in together. Martha followed last.
For a moment, their bodies looked as if submerged in liquid light — as if time and space weren't sure whether to let them in.
And then… they vanished.
The barrier closed behind them with a dull thud.
And silence returned.
But in the heart of the city — something had changed.
At the highest level of one of the abandoned towers, Rosalie opened her eyes. Her pupils narrowed into thin slits.
"They're coming back…" she whispered. "They're coming back."
And the earth beneath the city shuddered — as if something ancient was waking.