The screaming outside crescendoed into chaos—shattering glass, pounding footsteps, and a high-pitched wail that didn't sound human. Vinny's dorm room felt like the eye of a hurricane, the four of them frozen in terrified silence as the world unraveled beyond the door.
Lena was the first to move. She tore a strip from her already ruined shirt and tied it around her bleeding side with a hiss. "We have maybe five minutes before she finds us," she said, her voice low and urgent. "The Lady can only take one soul per night, but she'll mark the next."
Deborah's hands clenched into fists. "You're saying Sheila's... dead?"
"Worse." Lena's black eyes flicked to Vinny's glowing mark. "She's become part of the Roots now. And she'll help the Lady hunt."
Derrick made a strangled noise. "Okay, new plan: we torch that damn tree and—"
"It's not that simple." Lena dug into her pocket and tossed a small, twisted object onto Vinny's bed—a piece of bark carved with the same symbol now burning on his skin. "The tree's just a door. The Lady's been sleeping behind it for decades, feeding on students stupid enough to get close. But you—" She pointed at Vinny. "You're different. The mark chose you to open it wider."
Vinny's stomach dropped. "Why me?"
"Because you're a bridge," Deborah whispered, her eyes widening with realization. "Between worlds. Between... life and whatever that thing is."
A thunderous crash shook the building. Something heavy slammed against the hallway door, making the wood splinter. The temperature plummeted again, their breath fogging in the suddenly frigid air.
Lena swore and grabbed Vinny's marked arm. "We need to bind the pact. Now."
"What pact?" Derrick yelped.
"The one that'll keep us alive!" Lena's fingers were icy against Vinny's skin. "The mark connects you to the Roots. That means you can set rules—but only if you offer something in return."
Another crash. The door bowed inward, hinges screaming.
Deborah stepped closer, her shoulder brushing Vinny's. "What does it want?"
Lena's gaze locked onto Vinny's. "A piece of you. A memory. Something that matters."
The choice should have been impossible, but Vinny already knew. There was only one memory he couldn't bear to lose. He looked at Deborah—really looked at her—the girl who'd haunted his thoughts since the first day he'd seen her laughing across the cafeteria. The way her nose scrunched when she smiled. The exact blue of her eyes in sunlight.
"Take it," he said hoarsely.
Lena didn't hesitate. She pressed the carved bark against his mark, and the pain was instantaneous—white-hot and searing, like his bones were being remade. Vinny choked back a scream as the symbol on his arm flared blindingly bright, tendrils of silver light snaking across his skin.
The door exploded inward.
But instead of the hallway, the doorway now framed the dead oak tree, its branches thrashing in an unfelt wind. The Lady stood beneath it, Sheila's empty-eyed form at her side. Both smiled with too many teeth.
*"Little bridge,"* the Lady crooned, stepping forward. *"You've come to play after all."*
Vinny raised his marked arm, and the world *shifted*.
The room's walls melted away, replaced by the twisted reflection of campus he'd seen before—the bleeding sky, the screaming trees. But this time, the Roots didn't touch them. The Lady froze mid-step, her smile slipping into confusion.
*"What is this?"* she hissed.
"The rules," Vinny gasped, the mark burning like a brand. "You took Sheila. That's your one soul tonight. No more until next full moon."
The Lady's shriek of rage shook the ground. Sheila's form twitched, her mouth opening in a soundless scream as roots burst from her eyes and mouth, dragging her backward into the tree's shadow.
Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over.
Vinny collapsed to his knees, his head pounding. They were back in his dorm room, the door intact, the hallway silent. Dawn's first light filtered through the window.
Deborah dropped beside him, her hands fluttering over his face. "Vinny? Look at me. What do you remember?"
He searched her face, relief flooding him when he recognized her—the exact blue of her eyes, the way her nose scrunched when—
When...
Something tugged at the edges of his mind, a blank space where a memory should be. He knew Deborah mattered. Knew he'd given up something precious to protect her. But the details slipped through his fingers like smoke.
"I remember enough," he lied.
Across the room, Lena studied him with an unreadable expression. "The pact holds. For now." She nodded to the window, where the dead oak stood silhouetted against the rising sun. "But marks fade. And when yours does..."
She didn't need to finish. The Lady's final, furious scream still echoed in Vinny's bones.
She would be waiting.