The annual "Youth in the Wilderness" camping trip was supposed to be a week of soul-winning and campfire hymns. Instead, it became a battleground for Mina's soul.The estate's buses dropped us off at a remote forest clearing where the trees grew so thick they seemed to swallow the sunlight. My father was in his element, wearing a "Soldier of Christ" cargo vest and directing tent setups like a drill sergeant."Deji! Ensure the perimeter is clear," he barked. "We don't want any worldly distractions—or serpents—creeping into the camp." He glanced pointedly at Mina, who was currently trying to pitch a tent while wearing designer hiking boots and oversized sunglasses. "Though some distractions are harder to clear than others."Mina was unusually quiet. Every time I tried to joke with her, she seemed a thousand miles away. What I didn't know was that while I was gathering firewood, Mina was being cornered by her mother behind the supply shed.Mina's mother—usually the picture of a sweet, catering neighbor—looked different in the shadows of the woods. Her eyes weren't warm anymore; they were sharp, cold, and demanding."The moon is reaching its zenith, Mina," her mother hissed, her voice sounding like dry leaves skittering on pavement. "You were supposed to have the boy fully 'aligned' by the baptism. The Harvest doesn't wait for teenage crushes.""He's not a 'crush', Mom," Mina whispered, her voice trembling. "He's... he's Deji. And I'm not doing it. Not yet. The energy here is too pure; it'll trigger a spiritual alarm in his father.""You are being selfish," her mother sneered, a word that hit Mina harder than any physical blow. "We didn't move into this stifling, prayer-obsessed estate for you to play house. You have a role to play in the Agenda. If you don't move faster, the Coven will ensure the Pastor's son is the first sacrifice of the season."Mina winced, but her jaw set in that stubborn line I had grown to love. "I said no. I'll find another way."I walked around the corner just as her mother pulled away, her face instantly melting back into a sweet, motherly smile. "Oh, Deji! You startled us. I was just telling Mina how important it is to stay close to the group.""Of course, ma'am," I said, though my gut felt uneasy.That night, the "glitches" returned with a vengeance. As we sat by the fire, my father started a deep, resonant prayer. The more he prayed, the more the forest seemed to react. The wind began to howl in a way that sounded like screaming. Suddenly, the campfire flared up, turning a brilliant, impossible shade of emerald green for three seconds before snapping back to orange."A sign!" a girl screamed. "A manifestation!"My father stood up, his face grim. "That was no manifestation of the Spirit. That was a disruption." He turned his gaze slowly around the circle, his "pastor's intuition" humming like a high-tension wire.Mina sat perfectly still, her hands buried in her lap, hiding the fact that her fingernails were glowing. I reached over and squeezed her hand. She was freezing cold."Are you okay?" I whispered."I'm fine," she lied, looking at me with so much love and terror that it made my heart ache. "I just... I don't think the woods like me very much."I believed her. I believed everything she said because I wanted to. But as the shadows of the trees danced on the tents, I couldn't shake the feeling that the "problem" I'd noticed at fourteen was about to become a catastrophe.