Digesting Landon's regrets took time. Jessamine didn't push him, didn't ask questions, didn't demand to know why Avery shouldn't have been saved. Landon had a right to his own opinion; and in his mind, Avery should have fought harder to save Jessamine to save the world.

But Jessamine knew better. Avery knew better. There was no other way, and she had no doubt Avery had battled with all his might to delay the inevitable. It wasn't in his character to give in, not after how he'd battled Jamie to keep her alive, to allow her to enter the house and swallow up all the demons.

She didn't hate Avery for pushing her in; she was grateful. His sacrifice, her sacrifice, had likely saved the world.

But she knew Avery loathed her for what she'd done while possessed. The carnage, the cruelty, and most of all, the death of his best friend. He'd never forgive her for that, and for that reason, she preferred being away from him, locked in her new life, her new world. Away from confrontation and confusion.

She just wanted to tell that to him herself, before severing contact with him forever. Face-to-face, somehow; one last time, before never seeing each other again.

Landon thought he could get her out, but she felt, deep in her weary bones, that there was no way. And she'd grown to accept it the longer they walked through the wasteland that was the demonic dimension.

"We're almost there," said Landon, lifting his chin, sniffing the air.

"How can you tell?" Jessamine saw no difference in the scenery, though she did feel the atmosphere changing, growing heavier, muggier. Clouds choked up overhead, becoming thicker, as if to announce a storm; but Landon had already told her there was no weather in this realm. Only a vacant sky with a few clusters of clouds, and warmth from an eerie, otherworldly sun. No rain, no wind, nothing.

"I've had time to explore this place," said Landon, gesturing in front of him. "The California area has denser forests in the distance. You can't reach them, but they're more prominent. See?" He kept his arm outstretched, his pointer finger indicating a larger mass of trees up ahead. "And the air changes, too. It's hard to explain."

Jessamine stared at the tree-line, desperate for some shade. The sun had been battering onto her skin, and though it wasn't oppressive as some California summers had been, it was bothersome. The rays were rich, thick, causing her flesh to almost melt beneath her clothes.

"It's OK," she said, with a quick look at Landon, who seemed to be having no perspiration issues, himself. "I sense it, too. It's a bit more humid, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and the smell," Landon sniffed again, "it's not as intense."

Jessamine opened her nostrils wide, but coughed as the odor swarmed in. The sulfur and blood stenches were lesser, sure, but they were still pungent, and her nose wasn't quite used to it all yet.

"If the door is active, I'm positive it'll be around here somewhere." Landon paused, setting his hands on his knees as he scanned the area from one side to the other. "I don't think I can see it or summon it, but you're fully human, so it might appear to you."

As Jessamine opened her mouth to answer, an invisible, dark energy jammed into her, knocking her sideways. She gasped, her lungs losing oxygen, as she noticed Landon also being thrown off-balance, landing on his knees.

"What the fuck?" Her breaths were wild and ragged as she attempted to right herself, but more shifts of power jolted into her, jabbing at her legs and arms. Like pinpricks, tiny fish bites on her skin—but so many of them at the same time, it was painful and disturbing.

Landon grimaced, brushing himself off as he got to his feet. He was wobbly, and kept swiping at the air as if to ward off flies. "This is new."

The sky grew ominously obscure overhead. So suddenly it switched from sepia to a looming gray, and Jessamine wondered if they were about to be rained on. But Landon said it never rained down here.

Not that she'd complain about a bit of rain—the drops of liquid might wash off all her sweat and soothe her achy bones from all the walking.

Landon peered up, shaking his head. "Something's not right. I've been here for three years and I've never seen this."

Jessamine had managed to stabilize herself when something shot into her chest, starting a stabbing sensation in her heart. She gritted her teeth, groaning through the pain as it sent her to her knees, hard.

Landon hurried to her side, but even he began to suffer from a similar affliction, for he collapsed next to her, writhing about in agony.

Two red blobs zoomed over to them, coming from one of the crowds of trees. Through blurry eyes, Jessamine barely saw them, but they stopped near her, their black gazes zeroing in on her crumbled form.

"What are you doing out here?" Its voice was feminine, which shocked through Jessamine; the voices she'd been forced to listen to while possessed were male.

"I'm..." Jessamine choked for air, begging it to filter into her system—gross-smelling or not. "I'm locked in here, with you," she managed, as oxygen flowed ever-so-slowly into her bloodstream.

Landon hacked beside her, but was regaining himself, pulling up to his knees.

"Obviously," said the second orb, its eyes narrowed on Jessamine. "But what are you doing out here? You were safe, we saw you. In that circle of trees. Why'd you leave?"

"Why do you care," Jessamine inhaled, exhaled, "if I'm safe?"

The first demon snorted; it was still so strange to discern their voices though they only had eyes, and no real mouths to speak with. "Because despite everything, you're our destined vessel, and we don't want you harmed."

"Just in case," added the second, its timbre neutral, no clear gender attached to it.

"So why'd you leave?" The first was stern, not once removing its black gaze from Jessamine. The other peeped left and right, surveilling the area.

"I'm trying to—" she paused, and swallowed. She wondered if she should be revealing so much to the creatures that had tormented her and turned her into a monster.

"You're headed towards the California portal, aren't you?" Demon two chuckled. "Sly little thing, you."

Jessamine growled. "It's not like I can get out, so why does it matter?"

Landon grumbled something under his breath, but his head was bent and his lips shut, so it was impossible to understand him.

"It matters because you humans are in definite danger right now," said demon one, finally detaching its eyes from Jessamine as it glanced in the direction Jessamine and Landon had been walking towards. "Not that I care about him," it vaguely motioned at the shriveled Landon, "but I wouldn't get close to any doors, at this moment. It's perilous."

"Does it," Landon moaned as he straightened up, clutching his stomach, "have to do with all this?" He swirled a finger in the air, indicating the sudden changes. "And," he pointed at his belly, "this shit?"

"I don't know what his problem is." Demon one slitted it eyes as it viewed Landon. "But yes, the peril is the way everything is changing so brutally. There are other portals opening within our world, and it's not safe to be out and about. Creatures beyond our wildest nightmares are pouring out, so... steer clear of any doors, OK? Until we figure out what we're supposed to do."

"Creatures? Nightmares?" Jessamine scrunched her eyebrows. "Wait, you guys have nightmares? You are the nightmares!"

The demons both scoffed as they sauntered off in another direction.

Landon's face morphed from a sickly green back to its regular tanned shade. "Whoa, that was messed up."

Jessamine gripped his arm and helped him stand. "What happened to you?"

"The demons," he snickered, "I can't get super close to them, or else I'm affected. I think it's because I was supposed to be one of them, and my soul is trying to murder me on the inside so I can transform. But... well, as you know, I'm not dead, so it only makes me suffer instead."

"And what they said?" She rubbed the back of her neck as a chill slid down into her shirt. "Portals opening?"

Landon cracked his knuckles. "It would make sense." He glanced about the area, not unlike how demon two had moments before. "I thought something was off since you dropped in here, but I couldn't figure out what. The environment is... different. Shifty. Testy. There are never this many clouds, and it's never gotten this dark."

The heat from earlier had drifted off, replaced by a cool, summer evening breeze. It was as if someone was slowly dimming the lights; every time Jessamine blinked, there was less illumination, and more chunks of vapor high above them.

"Portals within this realm? As in, portals that don't open out to my world, but to... other worlds?" She shivered, but wasn't sure if it was due to the abrupt drop in temperature.

"I guess so, and whatever's inside those portals is freaking the demons out." Landon blew out a shaky breath. "This can't be good."

"Something that scares demons?" Jessamine shook her head. "No, no, thank you."

She thought about turning tail and revisiting the circle of trees the demons had mentioned as a safe space. Landon appeared to be doing the same; but a frail screech echoed in her ears, causing her to wince and stop moving.

"Huh?" She squinted, tipping her head forward, listening closely. When Landon opened his mouth to speak, she clapped a palm against his lips. "Shhh, I'm hearing something."

"What?" Landon's voice was muffled behind Jessamine's hand.

"Jessamine!" the sound grew louder, though indistinct. She couldn't tell if it was masculine, feminine, or in between. "Jessamine!"

"Someone's... calling my name?"

Wherever the call came from, she couldn't seem to pinpoint it at first, as it was too faint to locate.

"Jessamine!" it yelled this time, sharper, piercing her ears.

She jolted, detecting it was coming from her right; the direction she and Landon had been headed towards before the demon's interruption. "Is that where the door is?" She nudged him. "Don't you hear it?"

Landon grimaced at her, taking a step back. "I don't hear anything, Jess."

She pressed a hand to her forehead. "I swear, someone is calling me. It keeps saying my name, drawing me to it. It's the door, right? I know it can reach out, it can speak into my mind; it's done that before."

"That, or," Landon peeked at the spot she'd been fixing on, "someone's on the other side of the door, and that's who is calling you. And that might be why I can't pick up on anything you are."

Jessamine placed her hand over her throat, sensing her nerves pulsating. Adrenaline, fear, anticipation—so many sensations swam through her at once that she became dizzy, struggling to stay upright.

"Go," said Landon, gently shoving her towards the voice. "This is what we came here for. The door."

Jessamine's eyes widened as she saw the seriousness in Landon's expression. "But the demons—"

"—fuck the demons." He pushed her again. "Their fault for being too cryptic. For all we know, there's a way out for you, and they're lying to make sure you don't escape them. Go. Walk towards the voice, determine what it is, what it wants."

She tightened her fists and spun on her heels. One step, two steps, three—the air was thick with tension, icy as it nipped at her cheeks. The sky continued to darken, leaving the wasteland blanketed in gloom.

She tiptoed, worried she'd scare the voice away if she ran at it. But five minutes passed, and she felt as if she'd made no progress. The voice still resonated, calling her, and it appeared closer, morphing into a masculine intonation. She saw nothing, and when she twisted to check on Landon, he stood at a distance, arms crossed, shifting his weight from side to side.

When she swirled back around, it was there—a chipped, old, battered wooden door, dozens of feet away. Nothing behind it, below it only the ground; and it wasn't attached to anything, just floating there.

"Yes," she said, triumph in her whisper as she allowed a slight spring to her step.

Three paces in, her feet stopped working. They secured into the sandy dirt beneath her, as if quick sand were taking hold of her, about to slip up to her ankles.

"No, no, let me get to that damned door!" She ground her teeth and pulled, pulled, but the soles of her shoes were super-glued to the ground.

Something wrapped around her lower limbs. Initially she froze, thinking a snake had come out of nowhere and bitten her, thus immobilizing her with its poison. But as she looked down, she noticed slimy vines weaving around her instead. Vines covered in thorns that stabbed into her skin, like needles pricking into her legs and arms. Like barbed wire whisking around her, digging into her flesh, keeping her from moving, from breathing.

A rash wind blew into her face, smacking hard into her cheeks as if slapping them. "Hey, what the hell? I'm not even trying to leave!"

"Jessamine? Is that you?"

"Huh?" Though she couldn't move much anyway, with the barbed vine snaking up to her waist, Jessamine stilled at the sound. The voice was one she'd been desperate to decipher again, but terrified of responding to. "Avery?" She hissed as the vine squeezed around her hips, tight into her skin. "Is that you? Can you hear me?"

The door was still a dozen feet away, but Avery's voice was much clearer now; as if she stood right in front of him. Still, it was disembodied, surreal. "Yes, yes, I can! Are you alive? Are you... you?"

Jessamine struggled against the vines as they pushed higher up, curling around her gut. "I'm alive!" She craned her neck towards Landon, who hadn't budged from his earlier position. Either he wasn't seeing what happened to her, or he didn't care to interfere and help her. "And I'm me, yes; the demons are out. But," she seethed, "I'm not sure for how long. They're in here, they're still hungry, I can tell! This place is nuts! I can't believe you were in here and got out!"

She yelled, her throat hoarse, lined with knives. The vines whirled their way up to her rib cage, and she prepared for losing her breath, for her lungs to be compressed.

"Portals are opening in here! Weird, ancient gates that held creatures locked up for centuries." Avery's timbre was washed out, loaded with concern; he hadn't spoken like that since the night he'd told Jessamine she was possessed. "They're opening in Limbo, too. Are you experiencing this in your dimension, with the demons?"

"In your dimension," he says. Like it's mine, like I belong here...

Fighting her restraints by wiggling about, Jessamine peered up at the sky. Lightning cracked across the clouds, as if searing them in half to let out some winged monster that would swoop down and eat her. She spotted red blobs far behind the door, gathering at the tree-line; and more swooping in from other areas, all meeting to form one giant glob of crimson.

The demon dimension was ominous from the moment she'd arrived, but Landon was right—something had shifted, and it had gone from dreary to downright chaotic. The aura was dangerous, slicked with death, and instead of sepia, everything was turning gray, navy, and black.

"Yes," she said, straining to get her voice out as the vines coiled around her breasts. "The demons mentioned portals opening. Something is up here."

"Jessamine," Avery's presence was so far, yet he reverberated in her ears as if he were there with her, "thank you. I have to go, I have to warn the Guides—be careful, please. Hide. Protect yourself, if you can. And better, if you can figure out how to stop your doors from opening... do it. I'll be back, I'll contact you again as soon as I can."

The vines were swirling around her upper chest now, and she heaved, desperate for release.

"Let... me... go!" She tried to turn away from the door, and the moment her body obeyed, the vines dropped, disappearing into dust, mixing with the dirt below her feet. As if they'd never existed; as if she'd imagined it all.

Landon waved her over, but she needed a minute to compose herself, to come to terms with what had occurred.

Avery said portals were opening. Demons said portals were opening. The world looked ready to cave in on itself, the air was impossible to breathe, and barbed wires prevented her from getting close to her only means to leave this place behind.

"Landon!" She marched towards him. "We have a lot to talk about!"

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