Fires burned in what was left of the buildings. The forest was all but gone. Nothing was left of my hometown; it had all been burned away. But the most important thing I noticed was that there were no people.

Monsters walked through the streets - or what was left of streets. Monsters like that troll thing we had seen in the woods but others too. I was sure I spotted a giant dog, its eyes blood red. Looking out the window of the palace into what I could only describe as darkness and death, my heart threatened to beat out of my chest.

"What - what is this?"

The god beside me sighed; the smile that had been on his face was gone. His eyes, that had been so kind, looked like a storm crossing the ocean. "It is what I have been seeing for the last few days, every time I look out this window. Whether it is my nephew who is showing me these things or someone else, I haven't been able to determine. What I know is that this is the future if you fail to stop Hades."

The darkness was such a contrast to the light and warmth of the palace; it was hard for me to concentrate on only one. So much pain and death awaited me and my friends - the entire world! - if I didn't stop Mr. Brenner and whoever else was behind this. Hades would take over the mortal realm and nothing living would stay alive for long.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Poseidon tipped his head from one side to the other. His lips pressed together in a thin line. "Because sometimes knowledge is power, little witch. Now you know what is at stake if you fail, what are you going to do?"

As I looked out the window, the decay and blackness seemed to tunnel in, capturing me in its depths. Maybe he was right, maybe knowing what will happen was power in itself. Because all I knew was that failure wasn't an option.

My head emerged from the water into the darkness of night, the sun long since set. My eyes found the beach immediately, Sage and Phoenix waving their arms to get my attention. I wondered how long we had been gone. It had felt like hours but something told me it would have been minutes to them.

Kallais floated beside him, back in the form I knew well. He looked better with a tail. When he smiled, I realized that I must have said it out loud.

"I don't hate having legs but I agree, I prefer having a tail, too."

I was glad it was dark out, because then maybe he couldn't see the blush on my cheeks. I didn't know why I was blushing - he was a Nereid, probably a few hundred years older than me, if not more than that. Maybe it was something left over from being in Poseidon's domain. Yeah, that was it.

"Thank you, Kallais. For everything."

He smiled gently, laying his hand over his heart before he bowed his head. "It was my pleasure. Now go put the lord of the Underworld back in his place."

I chuckled, bowing my head in return. I was about to swim towards shore when a wave emerged from underneath me and picked me up. I felt like I flew straight to the beach where the wave deposited me gently. It took me a moment to realize that my clothes weren't wet.

"Holy - where did you go? How did you do that? Why aren't you wet?"

Phoenix's questions came so quickly, all I could do was laugh. It felt good to laugh, after everything I had just seen. "It's a long story."

After staying up half the night telling Sage and Phoenix everything I had seen after I disappeared in the bay, school the next day was asking a little much. I couldn't focus on my classes, and it was more than just being a Friday. My brain was too busy trying to figure out how to save the world. Algebra just wasn't that important.

We had two more days to stop Mr. Brenner from raising the dead and stop Hades from destroying everything we held dear. Sure, no problem. If only we weren't stuck in school all day.

To top it off, like a cherry on top of some dark and twisted ice cream cone, the ghosts had invaded the school. We had almost run into a Confederate soldier when we walked into the building. It was obvious that no one else could see them. The rest of the student body went about their days like nothing was weird. Every time I saw a kid about to walk through a spirit, I had to curb the urge to yell out. They couldn't see them; they didn't know that they just walked through some over-weight old man.

What was even weirder occurred in the cafeteria at lunch. Just as Sage and I sat down, trays of food in our hands, Melanie came over to our table and she looked, well, like she had just seen a ghost.

She laid her hands on the table but I still saw how badly they were shaking. Her hair was a mess, which was a huge red flag - Melanie's hair was always perfect. But it was her eyes that got me a little spooked. They were wide with fear, frantically looking around us as if she was afraid something would jump out at her.

"I - need your help. Or your mom's help...something, anything. Something from that store of yours."

I glanced at Sage across from me, her brows were sitting high on her forehead. I cleared my throat, setting down the apple I was about to bite into. "Help with what, Melanie? You gotta give me more than that."

Her eyes moved erratically, taking in the entire cafeteria with every sweep. Her hands resting on the table turned into claws, her perfectly manicured nails trying to dig into the table. "I...I can see...I know you can see them too..."

Now my own eyebrows lifted high on my head. Could Melanie really see the ghosts? Why hadn't she been able to see them the day before, when they had been all around town? It was possible she could be sensitive to the spirit world, people like that existed. But why had it never seemed to bother her until now?

I pursed my lips, glancing at Sage again. All Hallows Eve was getting closer, maybe the thinning of the veil was causing Melanie to see the ghosts easier than she could other times. With a sigh, I reached into my backpack, sitting on the bench beside me. I pulled out one of the talismans that Phoenix had made the other night. I had taken a few and kept them in my bag, just in case. I sure didn't expect to need one for this. "Here, take this. It should keep the spirits from bothering you...and you might want to stop at the shop after school. Ask for some Rosemary and Basil; they're both used to ward off spirits."

I could feel Sage staring at me from across the table but it was Melanie's eyes I was worried about. She looked at me like I was her last option - which I probably was. After a moment she looked down at the talisman, I offered her and took it slowly in her hand. She closed her hand around it before standing up from her crouched position. She was quiet for a moment longer before she stuffed the talisman into her pocket. She muttered thanks before disappearing back into the crowd of students getting their lunch.

Finally, I looked over at Sage. Her mouth was hanging open, and she held her spoon in midair. "What?"

Her hand dropped to the table, the spoon along with it. "What do you mean 'what'? What was that?"

I shrugged, going back to my cucumber sandwich and french fries. "I was thinking that we couldn't just let her suffer."

"Yes, we could."

I gave Sage a look before shaking my head. "Hey, I'm not saying I will suddenly jump at her every plea for help. But I couldn't do nothing. She looked really freaked."

Sage shrugged a shoulder, hunching over her own lunch and picking up her spoon again. "I guess you're right...but it was kind of nice to see her so undone for once."

I couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of my lips. "Sage, be nice."

My best friend shrugged, tossing a french fry into her mouth.

I couldn't blame her, though, not really. Melanie had been our own personal bully for so long, seeing her freaked out over some ghosts was oddly satisfying. Maybe if I wasn't trying to stop the dead from taking over, I'd find it more funny. Under the circumstances, I was tired of seeing ghosts around when all I wanted to do was eat my lunch.

Looking up, I saw multiple spirits walking in and around the oblivious students. Some ghosts were old, maybe had died of old age, but others were young - not much older than me. But it was the spirits who had met a nasty end that bothered me the most. Like the one walking down the main path, with his left arm hanging on by just a thread of muscle. Suddenly my french fries didn't look so appetizing.

I pushed my tray away, not feeling hungry anymore when there was a loud commotion down the hallway. It sounded like a giant boulder was rolling down towards us. Students throughout the cafeteria were standing up, trying to get a look at what was causing the noise. It was no use though, we couldn't see anything in the hallway.

The rumbling got louder and louder. I grabbed Sage's arm, tugging her away from the group of students that had congregated. Something didn't feel right, there was a warning humming under my skin. We needed to get away from here. She turned to look at me, a question on her lips, but I never got to hear it.

An explosion rocked the school, filling the cafeteria in inky smoke.

A/N

Well. That was a crazy-all-over-the-place chapter. I'm still feeling a little hung-up on it - I like it but I'm not sure it fits...thoughts? I do quite like that cliff hanger though. One of my better ones, if I do say so myself ;)

Thanks for reading my loves.

Xx