Ivy’s legs felt like they were sinking into the ground with each step. Even breathing felt like she was inhaling shards of glass. Panic tightened in her chest, but her limbs refused to respond.
She darted a look at Dylan, then Ethan. The world around them wavered like a mirage, her vision twisting as if something was trying to pull her under.
“B-Brother? Dylan?” Her voice barely came out.
No answer.
The edges of her vision darkened, and the last thing she heard before she crumbled was the pounding of her own heart.
When she woke, the world was a blur of shadows and faces, unfamiliar. 
Slowly, her senses sharpened, and she realized they weren’t alone. Dark figures in long, black robes surrounded them, their presence oppressive.
Her gaze locked on Ethan and Dylan, both restrained, their struggles futile. And then, she saw Lila, eyes full of unshed tears.
“Damn you!” Dylan’s voice cut through the room, dripping with rage, but it didn’t change the hopelessness of their situation.
She tried to push herself up, her voice cracking. “W-Where is...?”
She was searching, her mind racing for Aria, for Saide. But as her eyes met Lila.
Lila slowly shook her head, the sadness in her eyes answering Ivy’s unspoken question.
The only light casting shadows in the room came from the flickering candles, their flames dancing around a circle marked with strange symbols.
In the center of it all lay a body, lifeless, pale, and cold. The sight made Ivy’s blood run colder than it already was.
“We need to wait until the day of the full moon to complete it,” one of the unknown figures spoke.
The full moon. Three days from now.
She glanced at Dylan, his jaw clenched in frustration, his eyes dark with fury. Ethan’s face was a mask of grim determination, but Ivy could sense the helplessness radiating off him.
Three days. In three days, they’d be out of time.
The unknown people, their black robes swaying, had something planned, something terrible.
Ivy’s fingers curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She wasn’t going to let it happen.
"The hell it is," Ethan spoke.
Unknown faces stared at him, then at each other, before silently making their exit from the room.
Dylan lunged at the door, rattling the handle in a desperate attempt. It didn’t budge.
“Damn it!” He slammed his foot against the door.
“That’s not going to help,” Lila’s voice broke through, disturbingly calm amidst the chaos.
Ethan whipped his head toward her, his eyes dark with suspicion. “How are you so calm? Weren’t you the one bawling like a baby a second ago? Traitor.”
Lila’s eyes sharpened into cold steel. “Traitor? You’ve got some nerve, asshole.”
Dylan and Ivy exchanged confused glances, the tension in the room rising like a storm about to break.
“Seriously? We’re doing this now?” Ivy finally broke the silence.
Before anyone could react, Ethan surged forward, grabbing Lila’s arm with a bruising grip. 
“You! This was all your idea, wasn’t it?” He pointed at the still body lying in the center of a bloody mark. “That’s your mother, right?”
Lila’s icy facade faltered for a split second, her gaze flicking to the body, then back.
Dylan’s voice trembled as he whispered, “Your… mother? So you knew? You knew what would happen to Sadie and Aria? And you just stood by and let it happen?”
Lila ripped her arm free, her fury blazing. “You think I wanted any of this? Moron!” Her eyes snapped to Dylan. “And don’t you dare pin this on me for trusting Aria. That’s on you.”
“What the hell are you even talking about?” Ivy demanded.
Lila’s face darkened, her words like venom. “Aria sacrificed Sadie to save herself. And now? She’s one of them.”
Dylan’s legs gave out beneath him, the weight of Lila’s words pulling him down like gravity. He crumpled to the floor, his mind spinning out of control.
Ivy instinctively stepped toward him, but as her foot crossed the circle of candles surrounding the bloody mark, her breath hitched.
She gasped, clutching at her throat as if invisible hands were choking the life out of her. She collapsed, eyes wide in terror.
Panic rippled through the room. Lila acted fast, shoving Ivy back out of the circle. “Shit. They rigged something.”
Ivy’s chest heaved as air returned to her lungs, but the room felt different now, colder, the shadows creeping closer.
“What something?” Ethan demanded, barely holding onto his rage.
Lila took a breath, her composure hanging by a thread. “Maybe if you stopped acting like a psycho for two seconds, you’d figure it out.”
Ethan’s jaw flexed, his eyes narrowing, momentarily thrown by her sharp retort.
“The journal,” Dylan mumbled from the floor, his voice firmer now. “They’ll pay for what they did to Sadie.”
“Where is it?”
Without a word, Ivy tossed a small leather bag across the room. “There. But a page is missing.”
Lila snatched the bag, pulling out an old, worn journal, but before she could open it, Ethan ripped it from her hands.
“I’ll read it first. Who knows what you’re planning to do—”
Lila rolled her eyes, the last of her patience unraveling. “Just read it, dumbass.”