"Forget this place ever existed."

The sentence repeated in Jessamine's mind, an echo that wouldn't relent. Five words stringed together that made no sense to her, as much as she wanted them to.

How was she supposed to forget about the house, the ghost portal, the demon door, the secret realms opening? The chasm of chaos spewing all sorts of monsters out into multiple worlds? How was she supposed to forget when this place, those places, were her existence, the reason she lived, breathed, nearly died? The reason she'd met Avery, gotten lost in a world beyond her world, encircled by creatures she hadn't imagined in her wildest nightmares?

Oh, of course, she wanted to forget, but she never would. The Guides' request was an impossible one; but they didn't need to be aware of that.

She bobbed her head once in farewell as Avery ushered her out the door, out into the wilderness. The non-sepia-tinted sky smiled at her; vast and bright and blue, speckled with pinks and oranges. Dawn was rising, the mortal realm awakening, the air was soft with a slight, chilly breeze that caressed Jessamine's skin.

She hadn't thought about seeing any of this again. The lengthy pines stretching towards the sky, their greenness not an illusion. Nor had she envisioned being able to touch those trees; in the demon realm, forests ran away from her. And the air—the oxygen was pure, unfiltered, sliding into her nostrils and filling her being with calm, hope, peace.

Though for how long she'd maintain that peace, she wasn't sure.

Don't bring yourself down, not now. Not when you're finally liberated.

She spun on her heels, lifting her arms, tilting her head to admire the sky. Avery and Faz approached her from either side, but giving her ample space to continue taking in the atmosphere, regaling in her second chance at life. Her second chance at being demon-free, in a world that was demon-free. Finally. Alive.

"I'm sorry about them," said Faz, his voice choked, muffled; as if he were trying to lower it, to keep it hidden from the others. They were inside the house, behind a closed door, and wanted nothing more to do with Avery and Jessamine—why would they eavesdrop?

"It's probably for the best," said Avery, grazing Jessamine's arm as he headed towards his car.

Jessamine stopped twirling, her head spinning. She glanced at the car—the beat-up thing that had transported her here, that she'd been stuck in while he and Jamie investigated. The thing that had protected her as long as she was inside it. And she'd fallen out, cast Faz out of her, and made herself vulnerable. Made herself bait. Made herself a demon.

She turned to the house, squinting at it. Faz was right—it had been rebuilt. Its facade was different, more modern, less worn down by age. Yet the vibe she got from it, the spooky, bone-chilling sensation that something was off, here, remained. White orbs poked out from corners, peeked over from within the forest, and blue lights ignited in the upper floor windows; the attic. The biggest difference was the nothingness from the boarded basement windows. No blinking red eyes staring out hungrily. No voices whisking into her head, yanking her forward, clawing at her soul.

Nothing but silence.

Avery tugged the car door open and reached inside, grabbing his phone. "Let's see what the world has to say now." He unlocked it, and as Jessamine walked up to him, his eyebrows raised. "Damn, well... this dimension won't recover easily."

He tipped the phone to show Jessamine what he'd been reading. A headline from a popular news app said, "Blue beings blowing up the sky: aliens? Or magic?"

Jessamine scoffed. "Wow, they're bold."

Avery scrolled to the next headline and read it out loud for Faz, who'd remained in his spot a few feet away. "The apocalypse is over, but at what cost? Sheesh," he clicked on the link to the article, "they're not very accepting of our help, are they? Granted, many people died, but we stopped it all before more could."

Jessamine shook her head, but didn't reply out loud. No, humans weren't usually accepting of much. She'd learned this during her experience as a demon. Other humans wouldn't thank Avery for all he'd done, and they'd never hear of the Guides who'd raised hell to save them. They'd never acknowledge that there were other realms out there, other dangers beyond their corrupt politicians and disrupted religious affiliations. And Jessamine didn't think they needed to. If they were informed of all that was out there, war would ensue, of that she had no doubt.

And as much as she had no doubt that Avery itched to reveal the truth to everyone—that was his motto, after all—it was obvious he wouldn't. He'd been scarred as much as she had, in different ways. He'd lost too much, he'd fought too much, and deserved to rest. His paranormal investigation days were, for the most part, over.

"We have our work cut out for us," said Faz, coming closer, crossing his arms. "Our kind will be responsible for fixing all those headlines, and it'll take time. A few memory spells here and there, some protective charms... I'm already exhausted thinking about it."

"Will we forget all of it, too?" Jessamine bit her lower lip. "I mean, we're humans. If you cast a spell on all humans, it'll include us. Will it all disappear from our memories? Everything we went through, everything we witnessed?"

A small, yearning side of her hoped against hope that Faz would say yes; that with the snap of the Guides' fingers, she and Avery would never be bothered by the reminiscence of this place, just as that female Guide had implied. A memory long lost and forgotten.

How great would that be?

Then again, without the house, the ghost portal, and all the other nonsense... she and Avery never would have met. So would erasing their memories of the chaos erase their memories of one another? She peeked at Avery, who was focused on Faz, waiting for his reply. Avery's face was lightly flushed, his eyes bright but wet.

Faz, ever so intuitively, read her mind. "I know you're worried about your... relationship, and how it would fare through all our spells, yes?"

Avery flinched, then flipped to Jessamine, who was still staring at him. "Huh? Relationship? What?"

Jessamine's cheeks heated as she looked down at her feet.

"She's fearing that if your memories are erased, you'll forget about each other," said Faz, his tone light. "But you two are soulmates, evidently. Ada had perceived that, and I'm sure she told you. Soulmates are a real thing, believe it or not." His eyes creased. "So regardless of our attempts to erase everything from human's minds, you'll find each other again if for some reason you get lost. But unfortunately, our memory spell won't work on you. You're both deeply tethered to this house and its portal."

Jessamine's chin lifted, and she frowned, though she'd already expected a negative reply.

"I do apologize for my fellow Guides," continued Faz, his nose twitching as he peered at the house, then back at Jessamine and Avery. "Their attitude is warranted; they didn't know all that Ada kept from them, and that's for our benefit. But they're truly irritated at me, because I knew more than they all did. We were supposed to be on an equal level, working under Ada's leadership. Her confidences in me put me in a coveted, favorite spot, and... well, Guides tend to be jealous. They tend to strive for perfection. Though we're not human, we don't have regular human emotions... we do succumb to envy, from time to time."

"We're not human."

Some part of Jessamine had wondered if perhaps Guides were the ghosts of mortals, elevated spirits that had deserved a sort of promotion. But Faz's confirmation of the contrary pinched something in her stomach.

"They didn't need to take it out on us," said Avery, wrapping his arm around Jessamine. She almost shifted away from him, unsure how to interpret his touch; but his presence reassured her, warmed her, comforted her more than anything else did. She still couldn't forgive herself for how she'd taken his best friend from him, nor could she believe he'd forgiven her, for real. "We had no control over our fates. We didn't influence all of this."

"I agree." Faz joined his hands, his arms stiffening. "And so would Ada, were she here. But the others... they're not as exposed to living humans as Ada and I were. To the world outside of this house. I was inside a human for years," he inclined his head towards Jessamine, "so my interpretation is quite different."

"So we're banished?" Jessamine's legs were heavy, her knees buckling. A wave of intense fatigue came over her, and she stifled one yawn, two, and slightly slumped in Avery's arms. Traveling between realms was more exhausting than one would think, and readjusting to the mortal realm's oxygen was harder than she'd expected. The clean, woodsy air was so sharp, so crisp, it hurt her lungs to breathe in.

Avery detected her discomfort and pulled her closer.

"Banished is a harsh word, but... yes." Faz's fingers tightened. "And to be frank, I think they're right to ask you to leave, permanently. This place isn't for the living; it isn't meant for those whose souls are intact, whose bodies aren't wounded, damaged. It's for the dead, the lost, the confused. If you come here again... it might trigger events we have no control over."

Jessamine gritted her teeth, pressing her lips firmly shut.

Prophecies, he means. If we were to return here, we might enact another one with our presence.

"And you've both been through your fair share of troubles." Faz offered a weak smile. "You deserve a long, peaceful break away from all this. If destiny wants us to meet again, then we will; but in the meantime, I suggest you take off, and go be happy together. All is well in the world."

For now, Jessamine almost added.

Avery nudged her, drawing her to look at him. His eyes were wide, pure, wells of blue lakes and lagoons that she knew she'd never drown in; only swim, never letting water engulf her. He wouldn't overwhelm her, wouldn't be her demise. He was here, he was right, and they'd gone through so much together that it made sense. They were soulmates, and she wouldn't let a potential prophecy sometime in the future break them apart again.

They had the present, and that was enough.

"Thank you, Faz," she said, dipping her head forward, bowing at the creature that had possessed her for years, shielding her from her looming fate. From herself. "For all you've done, for all you will do. I regret my involvement, I regret—"

"—you weren't voluntarily involved," Faz reminded, a stern look on his youthful face. "And though my fellow Guides were cruel about this, they know, deep down. You have nothing to atone for, either of you."

"Thanks," said Avery, stiffer than Jessamine, less intention in his tone. He was fidgety, eager to get moving; Jessamine could tell by how he squeezed her, turning her slowly towards the car. "And if you ever see Ada again... tell her I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Faz quirked an eyebrow. "For what?"

Avery bunched his lips and twisted away from Faz. "She'll understand; no need to explain it to you."

As they got into the car, Jessamine buckled her seat-belt and watched as Faz gave them a wave before zooming into the house, slamming the door behind him.

"Will you explain it to me?" She narrowed her gaze on Avery as he fiddled with the car keys and the ignition. "The reason you want Ada to know you're sorry?"

He slid the keys in the hole, turned them, and the engine turned on. "Because I misjudged her. She was a liar, she did some shady stuff while she and I were allies, but ultimately... everything she did, she did it for the good of the living. She was selfless, though I'd called her selfish. Bold when I accused her of doing nothing. She was doing something, but my anger towards her, towards everything that was happening to us, was blinding me. And if somehow she gets out of that realm, I want her to know that."

Jessamine set her hand atop his. "I feel like she knew before she jumped in." She understood, to a point; Ada was a secretive being, her intent so set in stone that she got aggressive while defending it. Jessamine settled into the cushions, gaping at the small gap where the trees parted, and where the car would pass through to get out of the area. "So, are we done here? Are we going home?"

Avery turned his hand, palm facing up, to hold hers. "Home, yeah; that's a nice idea." He set his other hand on the wheel and pressed down on the pedal. "But we have one stop to make first. A good friend of ours must be desperately waiting for news from us, and she doesn't know everything that happened. She needs an update."

Jessamine grew restless, remembering the woman who lived in a cabin in the woods; the one who'd told her she was hot, scalding, that her soul was overheated and dangerous.

Would Louise detect a difference now that Jessamine was free? Would she accept Jessamine as she was, allow her to be in Avery's life? She was a godmother of sorts, and if she disapproved... what would that mean for Jessamine and Avery's budding relationship?

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