Mira stood frozen at the edge of the pit.
Zahir's eyes glowed red.
Mrs. Hodgins smirked.
And Egry trembled.
Mira's thoughts raced.
Anne. Brittany. Lily.
They were walking straight into it.
Into the Eden trap.
Into the portal's birth.
She turned and ran.
Anne and Brittany trudged through the misty forest, the Eden Tree's glow nowhere in sight.
Anne glanced sideways. "Why did you help me?"
Brittany shrugged. "Because we're friends now."
Anne blinked.
"I mean," Brittany continued, "I used to despise you. Your outfits are tragic. Your satire is worse."
Anne laughed.
Brittany smirked. "But you're kind. And stubborn. And I guess… I trust you."
They both laughed.
The fog parted.
And they reached—
A dead end.
Brittany frowned. "This is the spot. Hodgins said this was it."
Anne stepped forward.
The ground was soft.
She adjusted her grip on the lamp—
And it slipped.
It hit the earth with a soft thud.
Anne gasped, picked it up, and brushed off the dirt.
It was clean.
Too clean.
She tilted it.
No sound.
No familiar dangling.
Her heart dropped.
She opened the lid.
Empty.
Fake.
Suddenly, the air shifted.
A surge of energy drained from their bodies.
Anne staggered.
Brittany clutched her chest.
The forest pulsed.
The fake lamp shimmered—and then cracked.
At the edge of Forevermore, the military had arrived.
Gas masks. Flamethrowers. Shotguns.
They stood at the mansion's front doors.
The grass was blue.
The treehouse loomed.
And the mansion… was breathing.
To be continued…