Rosalie stood in the middle of the empty garden, which in her mind resembled a dead heart — empty, icy, silent. The branches of the surrounding trees were black, twisted, as if burnt. The ground beneath her feet trembled in rhythm with her thoughts. And every one of them was about them.
Jeremy.
Julie.
She clenched her fists so tightly that blood ran down her fingers, though the wound didn't matter. Pain didn't exist. Not for her. Not anymore.
— It was supposed to be mine — she whispered. — He was supposed to be mine.
Before her, a vision appeared — like a screen woven from mist and magic. She saw them, together. Their hands entwined. The promise in his voice. The tenderness in Julie's gaze.
Rosalie stepped back, as if struck by some invisible impulse. Something unsettling gleamed in her eyes. She wasn't just jealous. She felt betrayed. Betrayal — that was the language she was raised in.
— You don't understand yet, Jeremy… that she doesn't belong to this world. And she will never be safe in it.
Her voice changed — lower, filled with darkness, as if she was no longer just a girl but something more. Something… ancient. The legacy of Lucifer, who had worn the mask of innocence for too long.
She stretched out her fingers. Magic gathered in them like a pulsating web of shadow and light. She uttered a single word in a language no human knew — and the mist before her shuddered.
— If Jeremy wants to play hero… let's see how loud Julie can scream his name before she truly loses him.
From her hands flowed a shadow, which fell to the ground and spread like liquid. It took the shape of something alien, vile, soaked in decay. Rosalie only smiled.
— Time for a visit — she whispered, and the shadow vanished, leaving only coldness behind.
Julie might not know she was asleep. But the nightmare had just begun to approach her.
*
Julie opened her eyes. But this was not her bedroom.
She lay on something cool and soft, like velvet earth, dark as a moonless night. The sky above her was scarlet, cut through by shadows of birds without wings — only smoke. The trees grew upwards with roots, their branches reaching down like hands begging for mercy.
She knew this place. Or at least, she knew its taste. She had felt it in dreams for weeks, like an echo that could not be silenced.
— Julie… — a voice sounded. Melodic. Charming. Poisonous.
She turned slowly and froze. Rosalie stood only a few steps away, in a dress that moved though there was no wind. Wild satisfaction shone in her eyes.
— I knew I would find you.
Julie took a step back.
— This… is a dream — she whispered. — It's impossible.
— Impossible things happen just when you fall asleep. — Rosalie moved closer, flowing like a shadow. — And you, Julie… you are the key I should never have allowed to Jeremy's door.
Julie lifted her chin, though her heart hammered like a hammer.
— He chooses who he wants to be with.
— He doesn't even know who he is — Rosalie snarled, and the air around her thickened, taking on a dark purple hue. — But I will show him. You will both see. I won't let someone like you… someone ordinary… take from me what was mine from the start.
Julie felt something grab her ankles — roots? Shadows? A weight pulling her down into the earth, as if the world itself tried to swallow her.
— Jeremy… — she whispered, before darkness engulfed everything.
*
Jeremy jerked awake on the bench where he had dozed off in the abandoned garden behind the monastery. The air was heavy, damp, and the ground beneath his feet seemed to breathe — trembling gently, in rhythm with something he didn't understand.
But he felt it.
Julie.
As if her name had just been written in fire inside his chest. As if the veil between them was torn — and what had been happening in dreams began to cross into the waking world.
— Something's happening — he muttered to himself, glancing at the sky that had darkened ominously.
He clenched his fists, and a brief pulse of energy ran through his skin — raw and wild, unknown before. Something inside him had awakened. Something dormant since birth. Something Rosalie had disturbed by meddling with Julie's fate.
In an instant, he was on his feet. He had only one direction: her home.
He didn't hesitate — he just knew he had to go.
Running through the main street of the town, he didn't notice passersby, lights, or trees. Everything faded, becoming a backdrop for one purpose.
Julie.
When he reached her window, he didn't need to knock. He felt something was wrong. The light inside dimmed, as if the whole building was breathing a dense sleep. Jeremy looked up, and then…
He saw her.
Julie stood in the room, but her eyes… her eyes were elsewhere. Her body moved slightly, gently, as if dreaming awake. Or maybe trapped?
Jeremy placed his hand on the glass. He shuddered.
— Julie — he whispered. — Come back to me.
And then her head slowly turned toward him.
But those were not her eyes.
It was someone else.
Rosalie looked through her.
Smiling.
*
Jeremy's hand still rested on the glass, his heart pounding wildly. He knew Julie was there. He also knew her soul had been clouded by something powerful. Rosalie. Again, her.
But now Jeremy refused to be a passive witness.
He closed his eyes. Searched within himself for that impulse that appeared earlier — that raw energy, neither from heaven nor hell. It was something in between. The legacy of his mother and father. Shadow and light intertwined as one.
He sighed deeply.
A flame spread inside his body.
Time stopped flowing.
When he opened his eyes again — he was no longer on the street.
He was inside her dream.
*
Fog surrounded him. Thick, heavy, vibrating with emotions that did not belong to him. He felt fear. Confusion. And something else… something wild.
Jeremy started walking forward. In the distance, shapes shimmered — stairs, a clock without hands, doors leading nowhere. The dream had no logical structure; it was like a broken memory trying to piece itself together before his eyes.
And then he saw her.
Julie stood in the middle of a space resembling an old gym — but instead of windows there were black gaps, and the floor pulsed with the rhythm of her breath.
She was barefoot. Her shoulders trembled. Her hair fell around her face as if floating in water.
— Julie… — he whispered, stepping toward her.
But at the same moment, Rosalie emerged behind her. Her shadow grew until it occupied half the dream. Her gaze was full of amused contempt.
— Jeremy. Even here, you follow me? You're as stubborn as your father.
Julie looked at him, but her face was blurred. As if she didn't fully see him.
— I'm not here for you — he said coldly. — I'm here for her.
Rosalie tilted her head.
— And she doesn't want to be saved. Not yet.
Jeremy raised his hand. The fog began to recede.
— Julie — he whispered. — If you can hear me, take one step toward me. Just one.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly…
Her feet moved.
One step. And another.
Rosalie screamed — a sound that did not belong to a human throat.
The world began to crack. The walls of the dream tore apart.
Julie grabbed his hand. And then — together they fell out of the dream.
Jeremy woke up, breathing heavily. Julie was there too. Lying beside him, in the bed where he had brought her. Her hand still clasped his.
Their eyes met in silence.
— You were there — she whispered.
— And I always will be.
*
Julie sat, leaning against the headboard, knees drawn to her chest. Her eyes were red — not from crying, but from tension. She felt as if her heart still beat to the rhythm of the nightmare.
Jeremy sat beside her, not touching her, though his presence was like the warmth of a blazing fire — close but unobtrusive.
For a long moment, silence reigned. Julie stared at her fingers intertwined on her knees, as if searching for courage there.
Finally, she spoke:
— This wasn't the first dream like that.
Jeremy slowly turned his head toward her but said nothing. He let her continue.
— Since I met you… something changed. At first, I thought they were just ordinary dreams. But they were… different. Too intense. Too… real. — She swallowed. — You're always in them. Or… something that reminds me of you. You always try to warn me. Sometimes you scream, but I can't hear the words. Other times you just look… like you're waiting for me to recognize you.
Jeremy was silent. A flash of understanding in his eyes.
Julie looked straight at him.
— Then she appeared. Rosalie. I immediately knew something was wrong with her. That she wasn't just a girl who wanted to be close. She… sometimes shows me things. Sometimes I take control of the dream. And then I see… things I don't understand.
— What do you see? — Jeremy asked quietly.
Julie hesitated but answered:
— Circles of fire. Old symbols. Hands full of light. And then… you. Bleeding. And me. Burning. But I'm not afraid. I feel like something inside me is waking up.
Jeremy clenched his jaw. These images matched the memories he saw in his mother's journal. And the visions that had haunted him lately.
— Julie — he said gravely — you are more connected to all this than you realize. Not only through dreams. Your presence… activates something inside me. Something that has long been asleep.
The girl looked at him, fear shadowing her eyes. But also determination.
— So what now?
Jeremy took her hand, gently but firmly.
— Now… now we'll walk together. I don't yet know what all this means. But I promise you one thing: I won't let anyone hurt you. Neither Rosalie. Nor yourself. Nor… myself. Because I feel like I might be dangerous.
Julie leaned back slightly to see him better.
— And what if I can be dangerous too?
Jeremy smiled faintly.
— Then I guess we're the perfect pair.