They sat outside the building, leaning tiredly against the wall. The place was now a hollow shell, stripped of sound and life. No soul lingered around The cool evening air pressed down on them, heavy with the smell of blood.
Horace and Allan were still bleeding, their clothes torn and sticky with crimson, Gwen, though battered, had managed to self-heal most of her wounds. Elaine who was still unconscious rested limply on Gwen's shoulder, her breathing shallow and uneven. No one spoke a word. Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating, as they reeled from what had just taken place inside those cursed mirrors.
Horace shifted uncomfortably, wanting to say something anything but one glance at the grave expressions of the others kept him quiet, All they could do was wait for Elaine to wake up.
Minutes dragged like hours until her lashes finally fluttered. Her eyes opened, dazed at first, then sharpening as she surveyed her surroundings. The memories hit her in fragments, but the last clear moment she remembered was the weakening sensation as the spirit had taken over.
Her gaze fell on them bloody, torn, exhausted. The sight made her let out a loud, horrified gasp.
"What… what happened to you?!" she demanded.
"Don't tell me you can't remember what you literally did to us," Horace snapped, his voice carrying both accusation and fatigue. He pulled his arm forward, showing the jagged gashes where shards of glass had torn through his skin, including his neck.
Elaine's face paled. "No… I—I did this?" she stammered. Her tone carried no guilt, only confusion, almost as if she couldn't connect herself to the act.
"Not exactly," Allan replied coldly. "It was the spirit inside you."
Her heart raced. "Then what happened?"
Horace's gaze hardened. "Nine days. That's what you have left."
Her breath hitched. "Nine days? What does that mean?"
Allan's voice was blunt, merciless. "You have nine days before you lose your sanity completely. After that, your body becomes a permanent host for the spirit. You won't come back."
Elaine's heart thudded violently in her chest. Nine days. Such a short, impossible span. Fear spread through her veins like poison. What if they couldn't get rid of the spirit in time? She didn't even know what the spirit truly wanted, or why it had chosen her. Worse, she could barely recall anything that happened when it took over. Even her dreams those brief windows into its presence faded the instant she awoke.
"How could you even consent to being its host?" Gwen demanded, her eyes narrowing into sharp steel.
"I don't remember!" Elaine protested, voice trembling. "I don't know how this happened!" Guilt crept into her features, mixed with bewilderment.
"I don't understand this damned spirit anymore," Gwen muttered, frustration flashing. "It won't say what it wants. It doesn't bargain, doesn't threaten. It just hides, waiting. What does it expect us to do?"
Silence followed her words. Silence, and the gnawing uncertainty that perhaps there was no winning against something that gave them nothing to work with.
Finally, Elaine broke the silence, her voice small and heavy with sadness. "What am I going to do?" She lowered her head, her tone carrying the weight of despair. "I don't remember choosing this. I don't remember what happens when it takes over. I don't even remember my own dreams anymore…" Her thoughts drifted toward her mother, and she clenched her fists, trying not to cry.
"Therw are two options to a step closer in getting rid of the Spirit", Allan said his tone lazy and tired looking up at them, Option one… and option two."
Before Allan could say further , Gwen quickly interjected, shaking her head. "We agree with option one. Two is forbidden."
Horace, however, only let out a low laugh. "I wonder why you feel so much hatred toward the Soul Leech." His smile was unnerving.
"Don't blame me, those creatures are just so vile." she retorted sharply.
Elaine blinked in confusion. "Soul Leech? What are you talking about?"
Horace glanced at Allan before answering. "What he's saying is, if we want to move closer to figuring out what the spirit wants, we'd have to dive into your memories. But here's the problem you lose them the moment you wake up. Erased. Gone. So the only way is to experience them as they're happening, while you're asleep."
Elaine frowned. "And how… exactly?"
"Two ways," Horace said grimly. "Option one is safer. Option two… well, Gwen hates it for no reason" he added knowing it would piss her off.
Her chest tightened. "What's option two?"
Allan's eyes remained closed as he leaned against the wall, but his silence permitted Horace to continue.
"Option two," Horace said, "is the Soul Leech. A vile creature that feeds on memories. If we were to bind it to you, it would devour your dreams as they happened, leaving nothing behind for you, but then it would be with the soul leech, by in doing so, the soul leech would be able to tell us what happened in your dream. That way, we'd know exactly what the spirit does when it comes to the surface."
Elaine recoiled slightly. "If it feeds on memories… how can you trust it to tell you the truth? If it's as vile as you say. Wouldn't it just take everything?"
"That's the problem," Gwen snapped, glaring at Horace for even entertaining the idea.
Elaine's gaze drifted back to Allan. "Then what's option one?"
"Option one is … Allan." Horace said
Her breath hitched. "Allan?" she repeated confusion lacing her words.
"Yes. He can manipulate memories, slip into your dream state and see what happens directly, even as it unfolds. He'll see what you cannot remember once you wake, it's just like he would be a part of your dream".
Elaine's eyes widened. "Is… is that even possible?"
"It is," Gwen said simply.
"And what will I have to do?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing," she replied. "You just have Just sleep. The rest would unfold naturally".
She swallowed hard, uncertainty swirling in her chest. "So… when do we start?"
"That depends on how often you dream," Gwen said, folding her arms.
"I dream every night," Elaine admitted, her voice trembling slightly. "Though when I wake, it feels more like I've been meditating for hours than sleeping."
Allan stood, dusting himself off. His shadow stretched long against the wall. Elaine's eyes followed him, nervous yet desperate for hope.
"Where are you going?" she asked quickly, her voice laced with desperation.
Allan paused, then glanced back at her. His words made her eyes widen.
"Tonight," he said calmly, "we sleep together."
And with that, his form dissolved into thin air, vanishing before her stunned gaze.
"uhh?".