Faint voices drift around me, slow and muffled, like I'm hearing them through water.
"…this isn't normal, Cam."
Damian's voice. Low and tense. Beneath it, worry.
"She'll be fine," Cam whispers. "Just give her time."
My head feels heavy. My eyes won't open. The sheets are warm. My bed.
How did I get here?
The faint scent of vanilla candles and old books tells me I'm home.
Damian exhales sharply. "Fine? She wasn't breathing. Her pulse was gone for almost a minute. That's not fine. We should've taken her to a hospital."
"She's not going anywhere." Cam's tone is calm, but there's an edge to it.
"You don't understand..."
"Oh, I understand plenty," Damian cuts in. "She passed out after touching that thing, that glowing bundle. It stopped shining the second she hit the ground. And you're telling me it's nothing?"
The word glowing stirs something inside me.
Cam sighs. "You shouldn't have seen that."
Damian scoffs. "You think I imagined it? You think I'm blind?"
He lowers his voice. "Tell me the truth, Camila. What was that? Because you didn't look surprised."
There was silence.
Then softly, "It's complicated," Cam says. "And it's not mine to tell."
"Is she human?" Damian asks, half joking, half serious. "Because whatever that was, it wasn't normal."
Cam hesitates. "She's…"
She stops. Breathes out slowly. "She's just different, sir. And you don't want to know more than that."
Her tone chills me.
My throat is dry. I try to move, but my body feels heavy, disconnected.
Footsteps. A chair scrapes.
"I'm not sitting here doing nothing," Damian mutters. "If something happens again..."
"She'll wake up."
I blink. My eyes flutter open to a blur of light and shadow.
"Cam?" My voice cracks.
They're both at the doorway.
Cam rushes to me, sits beside me. Damian stays by the door, arms folded, watching.
There's something in his eyes. Confusion. Fear.
"What happened?" I whisper.
"You fainted," Cam says quickly. "You're okay now."
"I should've listened and taken my iron supplement before leaving," I say, forcing a laugh, trying to cut the tension in the room.
My gaze drifts to my nightstand, the bundle is there. The blue cloth torn, the talisman no longer glowing.
But I can feel it.
Like it's watching me. Cam stays beside me, her hand hovering close but not touching.
Damian hasn't moved. He stands at the doorway like he doesn't belong here but can't make himself leave.
"You should rest," he says finally. "And you should still see a doctor."
Cam looks up at him, firmly. "She just needs sleep. She's fine."
He frowns. "Fine? She blacked out. That's not fine."
They stare at each other for a moment. Then he sighs; not in relief, but like he's giving up. "You'll keep an eye on her?"
"I always do."
He looks at me then, and something shifts in his eyes, maybe worry. "Text me when you're..." He stops himself, shakes his head. "Never mind. Just don't do anything reckless, Elle."
A small smile tugs at my lips. "No promises. You're still coming for the volunteering thing the day after tomorrow?"
His brows lift a little. "You were serious about that? I thought we'd drop it… especially now you don't feel too..."
"I'm fine," I cut in. "A deal's a deal. You got your dinner, now you keep your end."
That almost gets a smile out of him. "Fine. See you Friday."
He turns, opens the door, and steps out. The sound of his footsteps fades down the hall, leaving the air heavier than before.
Cam moves first. She stands, exhales slowly, then sits again at the edge of the bed.
"You scared me," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I scared myself," I murmur.
Silence stretches between us. The room feels smaller now. Every sound; the ticking clock, the night insects outside, even our breathing, feels too loud.
Then I ask, "What did he see, Cam?"
Her shoulders stiffen. "Nothing important."
"Cam."
She still doesn't look at me. Her fingers twist in her lap. "Relax. I'm sure he bought the iron story you came up with. But how long do you think you'll keep this from him?"
Silence.
"That… thing. It wasn't just a fainting spell, was it?" Cam asks quietly. "Damian said it stopped glowing when you fell. Why would it glow at all?"
I stare at the bundle on the nightstand. "That talisman shouldn't even exist anymore."
She blinks. "What do you mean?"
"My grandmother destroyed all her relics before she died," I whisper. "Every single one. I saw her do it in my vision. I never got to ask why, but…"
Cam frowns. "Then how was that one on our porch?"
"I don't know," I whisper. "And that's what scares me."
I pull the blanket closer around me, but the chill crawls through anyway.
"Cam, I saw something," I say. "When I touched it. It wasn't just darkness, it was her. I heard her voice."
Cam's head lifts sharply. "What did she say?"
"She called me her little moon."
Cam freezes. Her eyes go distant, like she's somewhere else entirely.
"What?" I ask. "Cam?"
She doesn't answer at first, just breathes. "That was your mother's name. Your grandmother only called her that. Never you."
I gasped, the air leaving my chest. "She calls me Firefly." The word sinks deep, while my stomach twists. "She always calls me Firefly. How did I miss that?"
"If she's using your mother's name…" She trails off, glancing toward the nightstand.
The fear breaks through me all at once.
"You keep saying things!" My voice cracks, louder than I mean it to. "You act like you know everything, like there's some secret code I'm too stupid to read! Just tell me the Cam! What's happening to me?"
She flinches. "Elle..."
"I saw her," I say, breath trembling. "She destroyed all her relics before she died. I saw it!. So why is this here? Who put it back?"
My heart's pounding. I'm breathing too fast. The blanket slips off my shoulders.
"You need to calm down," Cam says softly, but her eyes betray her. There's fear there, real and quiet.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" I snap, then stop myself, pressing a shaking hand to my chest. I grab at the blanket, fingers trembling. "I'm sorry," I whisper, softer. "I just… I can't keep pretending this is normal."
Then a sound. Soft.
A click.
The kind of sound you feel more than hear.
Both of us freeze.
Slowly, we turn.
The talisman shifts, slowly. The blue cloth trembles like something inside is breathing.
A thread of cold slides down my spine. "Cam..."
"Don't move," Cam says, barely above a whisper.
We don't. The room holds its breath with us. The talisman stays still.
Cam exhales, slow and shaky. "We'll deal with it in the morning," she mutters. "Right now, you rest. Whatever this is, it's not done with you yet."
Her gaze meets mine. "Are you sure it's not time to reach out to your mom?"
"Never!" The word bursts out before I can stop it.
Cam doesn't argue." Then pray you're ready when she reaches back."
Then she leaves.
The door clicks shut.
I stare at the nightstand.
The cloth shifts again. Barely, like a sigh.
And for one breath, I swear I hear it.
Little moon…
But she's dead. So who's calling me now?