The night was quiet, but Anne's mind was anything but.
She sat cross-legged on her bed, the letter from the creature still clutched in her hand. Zahir paced the room, his human form flickering slightly at the edges, like he was holding himself together through sheer will.
"I don't understand," Anne said. "If Brittany's flu reversed, then… does that mean I still have one wish left?"
Zahir stopped pacing. "Technically, yes. If a wish was undone, the magic rebalances. But that's not supposed to happen."
Anne looked up. "So I can fix this?"
Zahir hesitated. "You can try."
Anne closed her eyes. "I wish… I wish everyone at the fair forgot what happened. The creature. The panic. Leo's disappearance. All of it."
The air shimmered. A pulse of golden light rippled through the room, soft and warm.
Zahir exhaled. "It's done."
Anne leaned back against her pillows, exhausted. "I just want things to go back to normal."
Zahir watched her quietly. "Rest. I'll keep watch."
Sunlight filtered through Anne's window. Birds chirped. The world felt… ordinary.
But Leo was still missing.
Mira sat on the edge of the school fountain, her fingers curled around her phone, her eyes scanning every face that passed.
"He's not answering," she whispered when Anne approached. "No texts. No calls. It's like he vanished."
Anne's stomach twisted. "It's the creature. It has to be."
Zahir, standing nearby, said nothing. But his eyes were dark, distant.
Brittany's niece, a ten-year-old tornado named Lila, was sprawled across the living room floor, surrounded by glitter markers and half-eaten cereal.
"You don't have any friends," Lila announced, chewing loudly. "You just yell at people and wear too much perfume."
Brittany blinked. "Excuse me?"
Lila shrugged. "Mom says you're dramatic."
Brittany opened her mouth to respond—but her phone buzzed.
A text from Mira.
Can we talk? It's about Leo.
Brittany stared at the screen, then slowly turned to Lila.
"Listen here, you tiny gremlin," she said sweetly. "I have more friends than you have teeth. And if you ever insult my perfume again, I'll donate all your toys to a haunted orphanage."
Lila blinked. "What's haunted mean?"
"Exactly," Brittany said, grabbing her keys.
The halls buzzed with activity. Students were printing posters for the upcoming fall dance, taping them to lockers and bulletin boards. But something was off.
The lights began to flicker.
First in the library. Then the gym. Then the main hallway.
"Ugh," Brittany groaned, striding past a group of students. "This school is allergic to electricity."
A teacher frowned. "It's probably just a delay in the bill payments."
Brittany rolled her eyes. "Or maybe the fluorescent lights are finally rebelling against the aesthetic crimes committed in this building."
Students laughed. Brittany flipped her hair and kept walking.
But Anne wasn't laughing.
She stood near the science wing, watching the lights blink in a rhythmic pattern—almost like Morse code.
Zahir appeared beside her. "It's starting."
Anne turned. "What is?"
Zahir looked toward the woods beyond the school. "The boundary between magic and memory. It's thinning."
Students began patrolling the school grounds, flashlights in hand, whispering about strange noises and shadows in the trees.
Anne sat in her room, staring at the letter again.
Mrs. Hodgins awaits you.
Outside, the wind howled.
And in the woods, something whispered her name.