The walk back to the house felt nothing like the walk there.
Everything looked dimmer. Heavier. Even the evening air felt thick.
Elaine kept her expression neutral, though it was becoming harder by the second. Helena walked beside her, talking endlessly suggestions, ideas, invitations as if nothing had shifted between them earlier.
Elaine heard every word.
She just didn't respond to most of them.
"You never really said where you live exactly," Helena said lightly, her tone friendlier than before. Too friendly. "Somewhere around here, right?"
Elaine nodded once.
"Oh, then we should come over ," Helena added, glancing briefly at Leonard before looking back at Elaine. "If you don't mind."
Elaine almost said no.
The excuse formed immediately my mom doesn't like guests.
But Allan was already staying over often. And her mother had never complained.
So the lie died before it left her mouth.
From where she stood, she could feel Allan's silence. It wasn't loud, but it was sharp. His eyes were fixed ahead, jaw tight. He didn't say anything when she quietly agreed.
"Sure."
The word felt wrong as soon as she said it.
Helena smiled, stepping slightly closer to Allan, almost testing something. He didn't react.
When they finally reached the house, Elaine thought the worst part was over.
She was wrong.
Two figures stood at the front porch.
Horace.
Gwen.
Her steps faltered.
What are they doing here?
Then she remembered.
The spirit.
The updates.
The tension that had been building for weeks.
Gwen noticed them first. Her gaze sharpened instantly. Horace followed her line of sight, and unlike Gwen, he smiled easy, unreadable.
"Well," Helena said loudly, clearly noticing the charged atmosphere. "This is… cozy."
Allan didn't wait. He brushed past everyone and disappeared into the house without a word.
Elaine felt the crack widen.
She forced a polite smile and ushered them all inside.
Leonard looked visibly uncomfortable, hands tucked awkwardly into his pockets. He clearly hadn't expected Horace and Gwen to be here. He knew them fairly at school, they were Allan's friends, everyone did but familiarity didn't mean comfort.
Gwen leaned back in her seat like she owned the room.
Helena's eyes kept drifting toward the hallway Allan had disappeared into.
Elaine noticed.
Because she was doing the exact same thing.
The silence stretched.
It was Horace who broke it.
"So," he said smoothly, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "This is awkward."
No one disagreed.
He grinned slightly. "Which means we should fix it."
Gwen rolled her eyes but didn't object.
"How?" Leonard asked cautiously.
Horace glanced around the table, measuring everyone. "We play something."
Elaine stiffened.
"A game?" Helena asked.
"Why not?" Horace shrugged. "We're all here. No one's leaving anytime soon, I assume."
Gwen straightened slightly at that. Competition flickered in her eyes. "Depends on the game."
Horace's smile widened.
"Truth and Dare is too childish," Gwen said immediately.
"Agreed," Leonard muttered.
"Cards?" Helena suggested absently, though her attention was clearly elsewhere.
Horace snapped his fingers lightly. "No. Something better."
He stood up and walked toward the small cabinet near the wall, pulling out a deck of black cards Elaine didn't recognize.
"High Stakes," he said, placing it on the table.
Elaine's stomach tightened.
"It's simple. We draw. Each card has a task. Some harmless. Some… not."
Gwen's lips curved slightly. "And the stakes?"
"If you refuse," Horace said lightly, "you answer a question chosen by the group."
Silence.
That was worse.
Leonard shifted uncomfortably. "What kind of questions?"
Horace only smiled.
Helena finally tore her gaze from the hallway. "That sounds dramatic."
"It's only dramatic if you have something to hide," Gwen said coolly.
The air thickened again.
Elaine forced herself to sit.
"Fine," she said quietly. "Let's play."
Helena glanced at her sharply.
Gwen smiled.
Horace shuffled the deck slowly, deliberately, enjoying the sound of the cards snapping against each other.
"All five of us," he said. "No backing out halfway."
Leonard hesitated.
Gwen leaned forward, eyes sharp with competitive fire. "Scared?"
That did it.
He exhaled. "I'm in."
Horace placed the deck in the center of the table.
"Clockwise," he said. "Elaine starts."
Elaine's fingers hovered over the top card.
Helena's gaze flicked to the hallway again.
Gwen watched like a predator.
Leonard looked like he regretted every decision that led him here.
Horace leaned back, flexible, relaxed but observant.
Elaine pulled a card.
And for a second
No one breathed.
They had gone halfway into the game when the tension finally began to thin.
Not disappear.
Just soften around the edges.
Laughter came easier now. Leonard had completed a harmless challenge involving a ridiculous imitation of a teacher. Helena had drawn a card that forced her to admit her worst habit jealousy though she laughed it off quickly. Gwen was leading in points, of course. She kept track mentally and made sure everyone knew.
Horace leaned back comfortably, flexible as always, adjusting to the room's temperature like water.
Elaine tried to relax.
Tried.
The rules of High Stakes were simple:
Each player drew one card per round.
A card either contained a Task or a Trigger.
A Task had to be completed immediately.
A Trigger allowed the group to ask one question the player had to answer truthfully.
Refusal meant losing two points.
The person with the highest points at the end chose a final dare for anyone in the room.
And Gwen had no intention of losing.
Elaine had just finished her second task holding eye contact with someone of the group's choosing for a full thirty seconds. They had chosen Leonard. It had been awkward, but harmless.
At least on the surface.
Then Allan walked past the living room.
He didn't look in.
He didn't speak.
But the air shifted instantly.
Conversation stalled.
The laughter died mid-breath.
Helena's eyes followed him automatically.
So did Elaine's.
The front door opened.
Closed.
A beat later, Horace stood.
"Excuse me," he said casually, though his tone carried something quieter beneath it.
Gwen followed without asking.
For a split second, Elaine considered going after them.
She knew Allan was going to say something about her.
About the spirits.
About Friday.
But she looked at Leonard and Helena confusion written across their faces and forced a smile.
"They probably just needed to catch up," she said lightly. "Why don't we take a short break? I'll get refreshments."
She stood before anyone could question her further.
Outside, the evening air was cooler.
Allan sat down on the stairs, jaw tight.
"Why are you both here?" he asked without turning. His voice was low, threaded with restrained irritation.
He had been having a calm day.
A rare one.
Now it felt invaded.
"I wouldn't be," Gwen said coolly, leaning against a column. "It was Horace's idea."
Horace ignored the accusation.
"We needed to ask about the Soul leech," he said. "About what happened last night."
Allan exhaled sharply and dropped onto the steps.
He could still hear faint laughter from inside.
It grated.
"What did she see?" Horace pressed.
Gwen's gaze sharpened.
Allan rubbed his temples.
"She completed it," he said at last. "But it wasn't clean."
Horace frowned. "Explain."
"She saw fragments. Not everything. And not clearly."
"Did she perform it freely?" Gwen asked. "Or did you push her into it?". She knew the kind of person Dana was.
Allan's eyes flicked toward her.
"It doesn't matter how," he said flatly. "What matters is she did it."
Gwen held his stare.
It mattered to her.
Horace crossed his arms. "And the outcome?"
Silence.
Then
"We won't know until Friday night."
Both of them stiffened.
"Five days," Allan clarified. "Either everything aligns… or it collapses."
Gwen's expression darkened.
Horace processed quickly. "So the ritual either stabilizes the breach or widens it."
Allan didn't answer.
His silence was enough.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Inside, faint voices rose again.
Laughter.
Competition.
Normalcy.
Horace straightened first.
"Well," he said lightly, dusting off his trousers. "No point brooding."
Gwen glanced at him sharply.
"What?"
He grinned. "I'm going back to the game, I was winning."
"You were not," Gwen snapped immediately. "I have the highest points."
"That's debatable."
Allan watched them with mild disbelief.
The argument had already begun.
"Come inside," Gwen said abruptly, turning back to him. "You don't have to play. Just sit there."
Allan raised an eyebrow.
"It feels," she added carefully, "like certain people in there would react to your presence."
Helena.
Elaine.
Both.
Allan didn't move.