The Veil screamed.
Not metaphorically.
Not symbolically.
Actually screamed.
The sound tore through reality like metal grinding against bone as the entire world around Nancy shattered into fractures of black glass and silver light.
Kai's grip on her wrist tightened painfully.
"I've got you!"
The shadows disagreed.
Dozens of black tendrils snapped upward from the water, wrapping around Nancy's legs, waist, arms—trying to rip her back down into the abyss.
Kai nearly got dragged in with her.
"NANCY!"
She clung to him desperately.
Above them, the fracture in reality pulsed violently, unstable and collapsing by the second.
Outside the Veil—
she could barely make out Leo and Evan helping hold Kai back.
All three of them were kneeling around a massive crack of silver energy spreading through the forest floor.
The real world.
So close.
And yet impossibly far.
The Veil hissed around her mind.
If she leaves—
he enters.
Nancy froze instantly.
The shadows tightened around Kai's arm.
His expression twisted in sudden pain.
"Kai?!"
Black veins crawled beneath his skin where the darkness touched him.
Nyra's voice cut through sharply.
The Veil requires balance.
Nancy's stomach dropped.
"No."
One soul for another.
"No."
The shadows pulled harder.
Kai's body jerked forward violently, half falling into the fracture.
Leo grabbed his jacket immediately.
"OH ABSOLUTELY NOT—"
Evan locked both arms around Kai's waist.
"We are NOT doing a sacrifice scene today!"
Even now—
still idiots.
Nancy almost laughed.
Almost.
But fear crushed it instantly.
Because the Veil was serious.
It wanted payment.
And it had chosen Kai.
The ancient voice echoed again:
He would give himself for you willingly.
Nancy looked at him.
And the worst part?
The Veil was right.
Kai met her eyes through the chaos.
And she knew immediately—
he had already decided.
If it meant getting her out?
He would stay here without hesitation.
Something inside her cracked painfully.
"No."
Kai's voice came rough from strain.
"Nancy listen to me—"
"No!"
The shadows surged higher around him.
Silver light and darkness collided violently across his skin.
Nancy's breathing became uneven.
Not again.
Not another person disappearing in front of her.
Not because of her.
The fear hit so hard it nearly paralyzed her.
And the Veil sensed it immediately.
Good.
Nancy's head snapped upward.
The darkness around her shifted—
forming shapes.
Her mother.
Her father.
Every person she'd ever lost.
All staring silently.
Waiting.
The Veil whispered:
This is what you are.
Nancy trembled.
A destroyer.
A burden.
Something people sacrifice themselves for until there's nothing left.
Kai shouted her name again, but his voice sounded distant now beneath the pounding in her head.
The shadows dragged him closer to the fracture.
Leo was losing his grip.
Evan was yelling something panicked.
And suddenly—
Nancy remembered something small.
Something stupid.
A moment from days ago.
Smoke filling the cabin.
Evan yelling about killer eggs.
Kai laughing softly beside her.
Leo complaining dramatically while still protecting everyone anyway.
Messy.
Chaotic.
Alive.
Not sacrifice.
Not tragedy.
Family.
The realization hit like a blade through fog.
The Veil wanted isolation.
Because isolated people broke easier.
Nancy lifted her head slowly.
Tears burned in her eyes.
"You don't get to decide what I am."
The Veil darkened instantly.
Inside—
Nyra surged awake fully for the first time.
YES.
Power erupted through Nancy's body.
Not cold this time.
Warm.
Blindingly alive.
The silver light exploded outward so violently the shadows recoiled in terror.
The memory-figures shattered instantly.
The black water beneath her feet cracked apart.
And for one impossible moment—
the Veil itself seemed afraid of her.
Nancy grabbed the shadows around Kai's arm with both hands.
They burned.
Agony tore through her nerves.
But she held on anyway.
"You want payment?" she shouted into the darkness. "Take me then."
Kai's expression broke instantly.
"No!"
"But you don't touch them."
The Veil paused.
Thinking.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Interested.
Nyra's voice sharpened dangerously.
Nancy. Be careful.
Too late.
Because the Veil answered.
Agreed.
And suddenly—
the shadows released Kai completely.
Only to wrap around Nancy instead.