The time was right around the corner and Ezra hoped maybe Althea would keep pushing and not give up on what she believed in. He understood she had an entire world to save especially the campus, the place where she loved and learned. While they weren't certain which demon the Servants of Evil were going to summon, they still had the chance to head to the library in the local town ten to twenty minutes outside of the school.

"So, what's our first step?" Althea sked, as the two were heading back to the dormitory.

Althea paused and glanced over at the open field. She stopped speaking. Ezra noticed and glanced over at his charge before looking at the field. Sure enough, he saw a woman in white. She had black hair and Asian features. Her lips were firetruck red, and the woman stood and stared. "Ezra? Am I crazy or do I see a woman in white?"

"This isn't good," Ezra said to himself. Althea glanced away and toward him. "Althea, we need to get back to your dorm now."

"Why? What's wrong with her? She will not attack us. Come on, maybe she's lost," Althea said, urging Ezra to follow her. Ezra watched as Althea climbed down the hill and made her way over.

"Wait!" Ezra exclaimed but groaned. One thing he mentally noted about Althea was that she was always curious and would investigate practically anything that was in front of her. Ezra was happy about that; it wasn't the time to stray away from the path. "Althea! You don't even know who she is!"

"It doesn't matter!" Althea said. "Come on! Or are you scared?"

"No, but I'm worried that you're running into a trap!" Ezra called back, but it fell on deaf ears.

Althea raced toward the clearing. Ezra grumbled to himself, knowing how stubborn his charge was going to be, and followed her down to the clearing.

*~*~*

Althea kept going until she got down to the clearing and walked over to where she saw the figure. Maybe she was going mad, or maybe it was real, but she swore she saw what looked like a lady in white. She'd heard stories about that urban legend, how they could be omens or lost souls searching for a way out of the mortal world and into the afterlife.

Althea approached a small pond of water, and looked around for the woman she'd seen earlier. She was about to give up and go back to the top when, out of her peripheral vision, she saw something move. Turning, Althea followed it until she got to the bench, shadowed by the massive amounts of trees. Sitting on the bench was the same woman. A white light glowed around her entire body, lighting up the thicket. She stared out at the road. It took all of Althea's strength not to run. Somehow, the woman didn't move an inch.

"Ma'am?" Althea asked, but the woman stared at her. Unmoving. "Are you hurt? Can I help you?" the woman turned and glanced at Althea. Althea's heartbeat sped up. There was a sudden coldness that swept the small area despite it being a warm fall evening. "What's wrong/ Are you lost? Is there anything you want to tell me?" the woman remained still, not making a single move. It didn't even look like her chest was moving. "Hello?"

Her mouth opened and a raspy voice escaped from the young woman. "You cannot win. This fight will happen, and it must." Her voice sounded like nails scraping on a chalkboard. "To defeat evil, one must find it in themselves to stand up and be strong."

"Wait! What do you mean?!" Althea exclaimed, but a thick fog rolled in, engulfing the woman in thick smoke.

"Althea?!" Ezra called out and arrived in time to see that the fog and the girl were gone. "What are you thinking? You could have gotten into trouble."

"Ezra, she warned me about something. It's something about this summons," Althea said. "But it makes little sense at all."

"What did she say?" Ezra asked.

"To defeat evil, one must find it in themselves to stand up and be strong," Althea answered. "But that is so cryptic, and I don't know what to make of it."

"Come on, let's get back to your dorm room, and this time don't do any detours," Ezra said.

Althea and Ezra walked out of the small grove and made their way back to Althea's dorm room where her best friend was worried sick about her.

*~*~*

Peter got away from the campsite and continued traveling through the forest following a strange voice whispering in the trees. Unsure of where he was heading, he continued, hoping that maybe his ex-friends hadn't found out about his escape.

Peter. The voice called. Come find me where darkness meets light.

"Seriously?" Peter said to no one in particular. "What is that supposed to mean? Darkness meets light?"

He wasn't expecting and answer and thought that maybe someone would have answered him. However, when no one did, he was thankful for that because it would have meant that someone else was around and determined to get his attention. Of course, wherever that meeting place was supposed to be, he would have a hard time finding it without a map. Although, there was only one other place he believed would be a cave. But there were no caves around, at least not to his knowledge.

You know where it is. Picking up the pace, Peter sped up, putting the campsite behind him. So far nothing had gone wrong—at least not yet. It took a good thirty minutes and a lot of twisting and turning even going the wrong way for him to find what he was looking for. Before him stood a cave, and the entrance was exactly like the voice said: "where darkness meets light." Darkness and light met at the cave entrance. Ever so slowly, Peter walked over to the entrance and peeked inside.

"Hello?" a sudden light appeared at the end of the cave. "Hey! Wait!" Peter called out and entered the cave. On the walls, torches stood in metal iron holders. He reached over and grabbed a torch, pulling it from the wall. He needed something to light the way, he didn't exactly bring a flashlight. Searching the ground, Peter found what he was looking for: a set of rocks. Placing the torch on the cave floor, he picked up two smooth rocks and started baning them together until the flames ignited in the torch. Now with light, he grabbed it and started walking deeper into the cave.