An ominous silence fell over the town. One by one, the streetlights began to dim, as if someone were dragging their fingers along the veins of the city, shutting down its pulse. The sky turned a bloody gray, the clouds thickened and began to swirl—but it wasn't a storm.
It was her.
Rosalie.
She appeared suddenly in the center of the abandoned square, like a phantom emerging from the darkness. Her eyes glowed with a faint violet light, and her hair floated, though there was no wind. Dressed in black, with bare shoulders and the symbol of Lucifer burned into her hand—she looked like a royal blade of hell.
She raised her hand.
"If you didn't want to leave peacefully… I'll show you what war means," she whispered.
Black threads flowed from her fingers—like a spiderweb, they stretched across the streets, fusing the world into a new reality. Crows howled in the trees. The ground trembled beneath their feet, and shapes began to emerge from the shadows—creatures from beyond this world, with deformed faces and pupil-less eyes, walking toward the school.
They were coming for Julie. For Jeremy. For their bond.
At the same time, Jeremy burst through the classroom door, where he sensed the first fracture in space.
"She's already here," he told Julie, grabbing her wrist. "We don't have time. We need to move to the chapel. That's the only place we can block her. We still have a chance."
In the distance, a child's laughter echoed—distorted and hollow.
Julie shivered.
"Do you hear that?"
Jeremy nodded, his jaw clenched.
"Yes. She's not just looking for us. She's playing."
And she had just started a game where she alone wrote the rules.
***
They gathered in the ruins of the old sanctuary on the hill, overlooking the town. Jeremy held Julie's hand, as if finding certainty in her touch. Alison stood nearby, eyes fixed on her son. Her gaze was hard, but inside, she trembled. Jack paced nervously, unable to sit still, while Martha leaned against a stone pillar, watching the sky.
"She's coming," she said quietly. "Rosalie knows we're together. And she'll try to separate us before we grow too strong."
"I already felt it," Jeremy looked toward the town. "Her shadow is in everything. People are restless. Birds fly too low. Sometimes I hear her voice, even in my sleep."
Julie turned to him.
"What if she tries to take control of me?"
"I won't let her," he replied firmly. "But if she tries… we'll fight together."
Henry unrolled a scroll covered in symbols of the old language.
"This is a map. Not geographical—magical. It points to three remaining artifacts which together can create a bond stronger than Rosalie's power. But there's a catch."
Jack growled.
"There's always a catch."
"They're protected. By something that was awakened when Rosalie began her rituals. Shadows that linger on the edge of dream and reality. They can take shape. Use your fears. Only those who are fully united can pass the trial."
Martha lifted her head.
"That means Jeremy and Julie have to go first. They're the only ones with that bond. If they succeed… we follow."
Alison sighed heavily.
"And if they fail?"
"Then there's nothing left to save," Martha answered without hesitation.
A silence fell, broken only by the wind stirring dry branches above their heads.
Jeremy looked at Julie.
"Are you ready?"
"Since the moment I met you."
Their hands tightened. The light shining from their connection was delicate but clear—just like in that dream.
Henry raised his staff and touched the stone circle before them. The earth trembled. A path opened, covered in ancient symbols—a bridge between worlds Rosalie wanted to seal for herself.
Julie and Jeremy stepped forward.
Behind them—hope.
***
The path beneath their feet was unreal—a bridge woven from mist and memories, suspended above black void. Each step echoed with a sound that didn't belong to this world. Time didn't flow normally here. Jeremy and Julie were no longer just themselves—they were part of something greater, a piece of a prophecy they had never fully known.
"Do you feel that?" Julie asked, looking around. "Nothing breathes here. It's like… we entered a dream that was never supposed to end."
Jeremy nodded. His eyes shimmered red as his demonic heritage awakened.
"They're illusions. But powered by our energy. Our fears."
The ground trembled beneath them. From the mist, a figure emerged—a woman with hair like shadows and eyes filled with pain. Alison.
"No…" Jeremy stepped back. "That's not her."
"Jeremy…" the illusion spoke with his mother's voice. "Why did you leave me? Why did you let me disappear?"
Julie reacted immediately. "It's not true! That's not her!"
But the figure was already dissolving. In its place stood Jack—with a shattered chest, blood on his lips. "You failed us."
Jeremy felt a weight on his shoulders. His heart pounded like a wild animal.
Julie didn't let go of his hand.
"Listen to me. These are just echoes. Images from your deepest fears. They can't hurt you if you hold on to me. If we're together."
He tightened his grip on her fingers.
And then the mist quivered.
Something began to fracture the space ahead of them—from the other side of the path, Rosalie emerged. Not the real one. An echo. A shadow. But her power was nearly tangible here.
"You thought you could escape me?" she said, her voice like the hiss of glass. "Your souls are intertwined, true. And that's exactly why I'll destroy you together."
Julie raised her hand. Light flowed from within her—not pure, not angelic, but something else. Raw, wild. A connection she hadn't understood before.
Jeremy joined her, his power pulsing in the air. The shadows began to retreat.
"You don't understand one thing, Rosalie," he growled. "We're not who we used to be. And we're not your pawns."
They joined hands, and the light that burst between them cut through the path.
The mist vanished.
They had passed the trial.
Behind them, something cracked—as if the world had acknowledged they were ready.
And ahead… the road now led toward the first of the artifacts.