In the abandoned garden behind the school, where magic and nature had intermingled for far too long, Jeremy sat beside Julie. The leaves stirred around them, as if not moved by the wind, but by something older. Something was coming.
Julie rested her head on his shoulder, but after a moment, she sat up straight, as if something had nudged her from within.
"Do you feel that?" she whispered.
Jeremy nodded, his eyes still fixed on the sky. It had grown heavier. Darker, though not a single cloud lingered.
"It's them," he said softly. "My mother. Father... And Martha."
He closed his eyes, and his hand tightened on Julie's shoulder.
Inside himself, he felt a wave — not of power, but of connection. As if a long-buried door within his soul had swung open again. Their return echoed through him like a voice from childhood, familiar and distant: We're back. We're here.
Julie leaned into him, unsure of what to say. But her body trembled — not from fear. From tension. From a sense that something momentous was about to unfold.
"Jeremy... does this mean you'll be together again?"
He looked at her, strength and fear mingling in his gaze.
"I don't know if together is the right word. But... they've returned. And that means something's changing. Something's beginning."
In that moment, the air vibrated. Not from terror. From destiny.
Jeremy felt his power expand — as though his blood recognized his parents' presence in this world. And Julie… heard a whisper.
Not Jeremy's.
Not her own.
But a woman's voice, soft, trembling with fear and love.
"Protect him. Before it's too late."
Julie went pale. Jeremy noticed.
"What is it?"
She looked into his eyes and answered in a voice barely audible:
"Someone's calling me... someone who knows our future."
***
The earth beneath the old monastery trembled faintly, as if sensing that something from the past was stirring back to life. Jeremy stood alone, his back to the archway. Behind him — darkness. Ahead — silence.
Then he felt them. His mother first. His heart stuttered with familiarity. Then his father. The weight of a gaze he hadn't seen in years but knew all too well. And one more — delicate yet strong. Martha.
They emerged from the shadows like ghosts of past battles. Jack led, Alison walked at his side, and Martha followed a few steps behind, her face as still as a statue.
Jeremy didn't move.
Jack was the first to speak, quietly:
"You've grown."
Jeremy turned slowly. His heart pounded, not from emotion. From pain. From love. From anger.
"Took you long enough, didn't it?"
Alison approached more slowly. In her eyes, Jeremy saw something he hadn't seen in years. Fear. Regret. And love.
"We couldn't return sooner. The barrier… the magic… it kept us away. But we felt you. Always."
Jeremy looked at her for a long moment.
"That doesn't change the fact that I was alone. Because of you."
"Henry watched over you," Martha said. "And you weren't alone. You had yourself. Your power. Julie."
"Julie wasn't your choice. She was mine. And Henry isn't my mother. Or my father."
Jack stepped closer. His face was solemn, but something in his eyes cracked.
"I didn't come to defend myself. I came to tell you that you're no longer the boy in the shadows. You're more than that."
"You're the heir," Alison added, her voice now steady. "And not just to darkness, Jeremy. You have a chance to be something neither of us ever fully understood. A bridge. A gateway."
Jeremy narrowed his eyes.
"A gateway to what?"
"To the future. To saving this city. From her," Alison said quietly, as Rosalie's shadow flickered behind her.
Jeremy didn't need to turn. He could feel her. She pierced through him from the inside. And suddenly... he was no longer just himself.
He was a link. The child of two monsters and a boy whose heart still beat only when Julie smiled.
He took a step forward. Then another. He stood before his mother.
"If you're here... maybe not everything's lost."
Alison exhaled, as if releasing something she'd held in for years. Jack looked down — he knew the journey was only beginning.
And Martha? She whispered under her breath, staring toward the city:
"Now everything depends on you."
***
Jeremy looked at each of them in turn. Alison's eyes shimmered with moisture, but she didn't cry. Jack, as always, appeared composed, though his clenched jaw betrayed how much this moment cost him. Martha stood at the back, quiet and alert, not wanting to intrude on the scene's intimacy.
"If you're really here," Jeremy began, "then something has changed. The barrier's broken. Rosalie is losing control."
Jack nodded.
"You weakened her. Your bond with Julie. Your dreams. Your power… it wasn't just magic. It was something deeper."
"Love, Jeremy," Alison added softly. "Something Rosalie can't understand, and that's why she fears it."
Jeremy turned slightly, as if searching for air.
"Don't talk to me about love. Not after you disappeared. After I became a pawn in someone else's game."
Alison lowered her head. But it was Martha who spoke first:
"Your mother fought. More than you know. She protected you, even when she couldn't be near you. If you had read the diary to the end—"
"I'm reading it," he cut in. "And I know what she feared. I know what she thought of me."
Alison stepped closer.
"But you don't know everything."
Jeremy stayed silent, waiting.
"When I gave birth to you... I didn't know if you'd be human. An angel. A demon. But from the first moment, I knew one thing: I wouldn't be able to hold you back. That you'd come into this world with something no one had seen before. That's why we ran. That's why Jack hid the sword."
"And me?" Jeremy looked at her with pain. "Where was I in all this?"
Jack finally spoke, his tone calm but firm:
"You were the point around which everything revolves. You are the answer. And if you'll let us now, we can finally support you. Not as the powerful. Not as rulers. But as parents. As allies."
Jeremy stared into their faces for a long moment. Finally, he nodded.
"Alright. But you need to understand one thing. Julie is part of this plan. And I won't let it destroy her. If I go forward, it's with her."
"We understand," Martha said. "And if I'm reading what's happening correctly... you don't have much time. Rosalie already senses that you're united. And with every passing day, she'll grow more unpredictable."
Alison looked to Jack.
"That means we have to act. Find the last artifact before Rosalie does."
Jack nodded.
"This time... the four of us."
Jeremy looked into the distance.
"And Julie?"
Alison smiled slightly.
"I don't think she'd let herself be left behind."