"No, tonight," Allan said,
Elaine handed the bloodied necklace to Gwen,the weight of it felt heavier than before, as though it resisted being moved, like it knew where it belonged.
"Where exactly are we going?" Elaine asked as they walked, her voice low.
They moved closer together as they approached the ritual grounds, their steps careful, reverent.
"Probably the Hall of mirrors," Horace replied.
Elaine nodded almost reverently. "The influence there is strongest. The Hall of mirrors admire relics like this."
They had been there once before she could never forget.
Before they reached the hall of mirrors, Gwen slipped away.
She moved quietly through the corridors to the room where June slept peacefully, her breathing steady and unaware of the weight the night carried. Gwen gathered everything she might need, hidden bottles of potions June had never seen, old books, parchment papers, and worn texts filled with dangerous margins. She stopped briefly at the playroom, selecting a few vintage objects known to draw spirits out when properly suspended.
By the time Gwen returned to the Hall of mirrors, the others had already prepared the space.
Red candles were placed in a wide circle. The mirrors loomed around them, dark and silent. Gwen set the bloodied necklace carefully on the floor at the center, positioning it so every mirror reflected it. From every direction, the necklace appeared again and again, dozens of versions bleeding into one another.
Then it began.
The reflections shifted. The images started to merge, pressing into one another, moving as though they were alive, dancing lightly in an ethereal, unnatural way.
Gwen's breath caught.
Her hair began to glow, a soft but unmistakable light, even though the hall of mirrors were swallowed in darkness. Panic flared instantly as elaine thought,the last time this had happened, she had lost control, she rememberd how battered they looked, with blood and glass cuts all over their skin.
What if it happened again?,
Her thoughts spiraled. What if the spirit took over? What if her body couldn't hold it this time? She was still weak, she could feel it in her bones, in the slight tremor in her hands.
She didn't want that again. She couldn't survive it again.
Lost in fear, she barely noticed when two more hands clasped hers.
She looked up sharply.
Allan.
He was holding her hand, squeezing gently, grounding her. His expression was calm, steady, as if silently promising she wouldn't face this alone.
"It's okay," he murmured.
Nothing happened.
Suddenly, everything stopped.
The glow vanished. The mirrors went dark. Thin cracks spread across their surfaces, visible fractures that hadn't been there before, though none shattered completely.
Silence fell.
No one spoke. No one breathed.
They waited, watching Gwen, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
But Gwen saw nothing.
No vision. No memory. No trace of the past linked to the Flooded Bride's necklace.
She exhaled shakily and shook her head.
"Nothing?" Allan asked quietly, though he already knew the answer.
Gwen turned away in frustration. Allan recognized it instantly, he always reacted like this when missions failed, when hope slipped just out of reach.
"So what's next?" Elaine asked, her voice unusually shallow. She didn't know why, but unease crept closer and closer, wrapping around her thoughts until fear settled fully in her chest.
For a long moment, none of them spoke.
Then Alan straightened.
"There's one more way."
All of them looked at him.
"The second option," he continued. "The one we all agreed we'd avoid."
A single word followed.
"Soul leech"
Disgust rippled through the group. Faces twisted with distaste at the thought of Soul leech, dangerous, unstable, unpredictable.
Gwen to be precise.
Even she knew it.
At this moment… they needed her, that was why she didn't voice her disapproval.
Pain lingered in Allan's chest as he left HERBERT WILBUR behind.
Not just him, the entire team felt it. Gwen and Horace had already departed, and one by one, everyone returned to their separate paths as the search continued elsewhere. Nothing had been resolved. If anything, the weight of failure followed them more closely now.
When Elaine and Allan apparated back to the house, to the corridor that separated their rooms, silence fell between them. It wasn't awkward, just warm, heavy, thoughtful. The kind of quiet that settled after a long night of fear.
"It's going to be alright," Allan said gently.
Elaine nodded, though she wasn't entirely convinced. Allan himself wasn't feeling too good, Leaving HERBERT WILBUR didn't feel right. He had grown used to this place far too quickly, so much that returning there had felt strange, like he had never truly left, like a piece of her still lingered there.
"Yeah," she replied, forcing a small, tired smile.
------
Morning arrived bright and unsuspecting, as though the night before had never existed. Sunlight filled the halls without carrying even a trace of what had transpired, no fear, no rituals, no broken mirrors.
Back at HERBERT WILBUR, Dana wasted no time.
She hurried out of bed to the book she had found in Mr. Hance's office, her fingers trembling slightly as she opened it. She flipped through the pages quickly, desperate to feel something, any emotion the book might hold.
But it was difficult.
The pages were blank.
Not empty, just silent.
The object itself was dark, cold to the touch, as though it stored emotions rather than displayed them. The most secretive thoughts, the most painful memories, the ones forgotten on purpose, those were what it carried. And it guarded them fiercely.
Dana leaned closer, determined to uncover what the book had witnessed in its long existence.
A knock interrupted her.
She lifted her head sharply, breaking concentration, and the door opened.
Vanessa.
Dana was hunched over the book, tears still clinging to her lashes from the sudden intrusion. Vanessa, however, only rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed.
"What exactly do you see in that book?" Vanessa asked, sitting casually on Elainee's vacated chair.
"None of your business," Dana muttered, turning back to the pages.
Vanessa scoffed. "It's going to take you a long time to figure that thing out. And even then, remember, it's not part of why we're here."
Dana paused.
"Then how do we move forward with the plan?" Vanessa continued. "How do we reach the end?"
A slow smirk spread across Dana's lips.
"You'll do your part," she said calmly. "You just have to hold on a little longer."
But the weight of it pressed heavily on her. That book wasn't the only thing they had stolen.
Frustration boiled over.
Vanessa slammed the book shut and stormed out of the room, muttering under her breath, unwilling to waste another moment.
Meanwhile...
The morning after passed peacefully at Elaine's mother's house.
They ate breakfast together , but the quiet was unsettling, too calm, too careful. It felt as though everyone was avoiding something unspoken.
After excusing herself, Elaine stepped outside, welcoming the cool air as she walked away from the front porch and around the side of the house. She stopped and waited, knowing Allan would follow.
He did.
They were going to apparate back to HERBERT WILBUR, to meet the soul leech, but sure she would want something in return If they could reach her, she might help uncover the important memories trapped within the necklace.
Allan walked beside her, the morning air warm on the skin, Elaine suddenly stopped walking, watching Allan walk father away, before he himself stopped walking, turning to watch her.
"what?" he asked
"why are you still walking?, let's apparate from here" Elaine said.
"let's take a walk, then we'd go to HERBERT WILBUR". Allan said.