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    Consciousness returned with ringing in my ears, pain in my head, and the image of some creepy gray figure against a dark background blocking most of my view. I was lying on something cool. Strange sounds could be heard.


    I had no sense of self. I stayed in this disoriented state for about fifteen to twenty seconds before my sense of reality partially returned.


    The gray figure turned out to be a broken desk looming over me, and the background was the night sky. Even from this angle, I could see an abundance of stars.


    I had no desire to get up since I felt tingling and burning in several parts of my body. Movement would clearly bring flashes of pain.


    I couldn''t relax and enjoy the view for long—soon my memory and ability to think fully returned. The first gust of wind from an unknown source made me start.


    Through the pain, I turn my head to the side—I get a view from below of the school grounds surrounded by fence.


    What the hell?!


    I gather my strength, lift my bruised arms and push the desk off me. As expected, a wave of pain courses through my body—I suppress my cries through sheer willpower. Right after this action my head starts splitting even worse.


    My whole body is covered in dust, dirt and slightly bloody, with a sharply throbbing bruised temple. I really am lying on the ground not far from the school building, and the building itself—


    —Holy fucking shit, I thought, looking at the gigantic hole where the third and fourth floors of the abandoned wing used to be. The edges are black, as if burned, with debris. Half of the second floor is also demolished, with objects like that desk scattered around me. Well, definitely can''t hang out there anymore.


    This turn of events was hardly part of Jane''s plan. I need to do something. The question is—what actually happened? Did she mess up drawing the runes, or... And where is she anyway?


    Intuition screams that some wild shit went down, and even worse is coming. After several days in the magical world I''ve learned that anything is possible, so I urgently decide to take precautions.


    Fortunately, my backpack landed not far from me—judging by its appearance, only the food that spilled out was damaged. I need to take a pill and find Jane... but first I have to stand up.


    I grit my teeth, brace my hands against the ground and try to sit up. Besides the piercing pain, it comes fairly easily. On the second attempt I make it to my feet and carefully maintain balance.


    Worth noting that for someone who flew out of a fourth floor window and got hit by a desk, I''m in pretty good shape. At least, nothing seems broken or dislocated on the outside, just bruises, contusions and a migraine.


    I head toward my backpack. Along the way I take out my cell phone, which has a cracked screen protector, to check how long I was out. The time is 12:09, meaning about seven minutes passed. Whether that''s a lot or a little in the current situation is unclear.


    I also notice another strange detail: closer to the other, front side of the school there are large black marks of different shapes on the ground. They resemble remnants from Deagle explosions, but logically they must be of the same nature as the burned edges of the hole in the wing. Magic is definitely involved here. I haven''t seen "patterns" like this before, which significantly worsens my premonition.


    Approaching, I reach into the secret compartment of my backpack, take out the pills and immediately swallow one. I stuff the ziploc with the Glock deep in my pocket. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection the backpack is torn and no longer usable. Already the second one this week, damn it.


    Hoping for the best I run toward those marks. On the other side there are even more, all different shapes from circles to lines, some literally burned into the ground. Compared to this the Deagle seems like a kid''s water pistol.


    The new view reveals new oddities: despite all the school items scattered around here too, this side wasn''t damaged by burns or anything else. The second suspicious thing is blood, or rather its absence. The carnage at Caroline''s mansion is very well imprinted in my memory, but here there''s not a drop of anything red. Besides the burns there aren''t even any scratches from the scythe, bullet holes or body parts like with the undead. And I don''t know whether to be happy about that or worried.


    I walk through broken desks and shelves along the school entrance and end up on the central path in the middle of the chaos epicenter. Looking around carefully, my heart stops as I notice a familiar figure lying behind a small bush.


    No-no-no-no, fuck, not this.


    My legs carry me forward on their own. With each step I feel reality breaking into pieces.


    I really wanted to be wrong, but it really is Jane. She''s lying on her side with closed eyes, wearing the same dusty clothes, no scythe nearby, expression blank.


    "Fuck, no-no-no. Jane!" I call loudly, but there''s no response. Horrified, I bend over her and bring my fingers to her nose, ready for the worst moment of my life—


    —but she''s breathing. Bringing my head closer I realize she''s actually snoring softly.


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    My heart unclenches while simultaneously being gripped by new worries and uncertainty. To be absolutely certain she''s alive, I check her pulse and heartbeat. Both are there.


    I''m visited by a faint hope that the presumed explosion and everything else was just a ritual mistake and she somehow flew all the way over here and lost consciousness. Her physical intactness supports this, but the burns...


    "Hey, Jane, wake up!" I start roughly shaking her and yelling right in her ear, testing my theory. Nothing else to do anyway.


    The result is painfully predictable: half a minute of effort goes nowhere. At the end I gather courage and do what I was afraid to even think about earlier—give her a solid slap. But Jane just continues snoring with a serene face. She looked about the same when she''d come home in the middle of the night after her shift at... not just the cafe and fallen asleep right on the kitchen couch.


    I shake her again, but she doesn''t even roll to her other side. The situation once again takes on a creepy-idiotic appearance.


    Maybe she''s coming down from some pill...? I thought. But when would she have taken it? And that doesn''t explain the destruction around us.


    "Jane, come on—"


    "She won''t wake up," suddenly interrupted a familiar voice that sounded different.


    I cautiously turn around—Lily is standing by a nearby tree, holding a long sharp spear with a dark gold tip, her gaze piercing. I should have gone into shock, but instead I finally start grasping the essence.


    "What the fuck are you doing here? Noooo, this can''t be—"


    "That''s right, John, I''m also a participant. And your sister won''t wake up."


    There was no trace of that sweet and playful girl from the courtyard. She looks and speaks with maximum coldness. Like back then, ordering me to give her my number and swear I''d keep my promise.


    2+2 add up on their own. The whole time Lily''s motivation was absurdly simple—get closer to Jane.


    "What shit went down here? Did you put her to sleep?" I pull out the Glock but don''t manage to aim before Lily whispers something, waves her hand and it becomes hellishly hot—my fingers uncurl on their own and the gun falls to the ground. "Aaah, why''s it so burning hot, fuck!"


    "Who knows, who knows..." Lily purred sarcastically. "But the fact is she won''t wake up and is taken out. And you''re coming with me."


    "Yeah right, already running," I snapped. "Answer the questions. Did you do this to her? Is this why you tried to get close to me?"


    "You''re not in a position to talk to me like that," she sharply returned to her cold intonation. "Right now you have a simple choice: you come with me voluntarily or I force you. Come on, demonstrate some intelligence."


    What a bitch, obviously getting revenge for all the ignoring and groveling, I thought. Why isn''t the damn pill kicking in? It''s been like four minutes already.


    "Fine, we''ll skip the sudden movements," I pretend to surrender and demonstratively raise my hands. "But why do you even need me after, as I understand it, eliminating Jane? Wouldn''t it be simpler to kill—"


    "My goals don''t concern you," she cuts off harshly. "Let''s go, we need to get out of sight quickly."


    I wait until she starts turning, quickly grab the gun and squeeze the trigger while raising it toward Lily—


    —after which it becomes even hotter than the first time and I drop it back with a cry. The two bullets I managed to fire only hit near my own feet.


    "Aaaah! Fuck, why does your magic hurt so bad?!" I howl.


    The next second the Glock flies into Lily''s hand, she clips it to her belt, lightning-fast runs up to me and lands several punches to my stomach. I instantly double over and cough up blood. They turn out to be so brutally powerful that it feels like I was beaten by a professional heavyweight boxer, not a fragile classmate.


    Lily delivers a final strike to my face, causing me to organically fall not far from Jane. However, I''m not given time to rest—with the same power she lifts me up by the shoulders and puts the spear to my neck.


    "Pull one more bullshit move, and it''ll be cuts instead of punches," she says with either sarcasm or threat.


    "Relax babe, I get it now," this time I genuinely surrender. The thought crosses my mind that besides spells she can somehow massively enhance her body.


    "Excellent," apparently for certainty, she grabs my arm and starts walking quickly, "let''s go."


    "You''re just going to leave Jane lying here?"


    "An ambulance will pick her up and take her to the hospital any minute now. And we definitely shouldn''t be seen here, so don''t slow down."


    "A regular hospital?! What nonsense? And who called it?"


    "Shut up. I said I won''t reveal my plans."


    I can only obey and silently maintain her pace, which isn''t so easy after the beating. After a few seconds I notice that the Glock is hanging on the same side where she''s holding my arm. With proper agility I should be able to grab it and shoot—it would be an almost guaranteed hit that would strike her magical structure—


    ~ THUMP.


    All thoughts abruptly stop and clear—the pill''s effect finally hits me. The physical pain goes away, I feel an unreal surge of energy and strength. Emotions dull, leaving pure reason and analysis. I reassess the situation.


    No, I clearly understand. The shooting plan is doomed to fail. Even if I succeed, her physical injury would be insignificant—she''d probably just knock me out.


    For now it''s better to obey Lily and wait for a more suitable moment. Seems she''s clueless about magical drugs and hasn''t realized I''m on the stimulant, which will give me a huge advantage. Main thing is not to reveal myself.


    Showing no sign of change, I continue limping and breathing heavily. The only problem is that I''m severely time-constrained—I''ll have to seize an opportunity soon. And I''ll need to somehow make it to a safe place before the comedown.


    Meanwhile we leave school grounds through another exit and head to the parking lot. Obviously the rest of the journey will be by car. I''ll need to orient by the landscape.


    In parallel, other strategically more important thoughts fill my mind—what happened while I was out? Everything is extremely strange and inexplicable.


    Most likely, someone attacked right as the ritual started. After all, it''s hard to believe Jane could mess up such an important process—this isn''t overlooking undead which she had no experience with. But who was it and what did they do to her?


    Analyzing it dispassionately, while I''m uncertain of Lily''s actual capabilities, her involvement seems dubious. Jane definitely knew she was a participant but chose not to inform me or move to eliminate her afterward. Most likely, she didn''t perceive Lily as a genuine threat—though the possibility of miscalculation remains.


    In that case—it''s completely unclear what Lily is doing here. And if she did attack, why not finish Jane off and why "take me prisoner" when I''m totally harmless? What''s the nature of this "sleep" and can it be reversed? Will Jane really just go to a regular hospital?


    After thinking along these lines I come to the only conclusion—I won''t be able to figure anything out on my own, but Lily has this information or some part of it, since she apparently saw everything firsthand. This means that after escaping I''ll have to face her again and somehow force explanations out of her. The chance of everything resolving itself is close to 0%.


    Damn, no sleep for me tonight. Oh well, first priority—escape.