Aggie stood in the heart of the desolate darkness, with the ominous echo of a malevolent voice ringing in her ears, muttering in a tongue foreign to her. Pain, like cold iron bands, constricted her, siphoning her remaining vitality into the abyss.

Stricken with terror yet resolute, Aggie scanned the vast void, searching for her tormentor. Finding nothing, she closed her eyes, concentrating on her dwindling power, willing it to cocoon her. Upon reopening them, they sparkled with the luminescence of a thousand violets as she began a chant of her own. "North, west, south, east. Evil forces must now cease!"

Aggie's voice, clear and steadfast, rippled across the void. The darkness snarled and hissed, yet her chant remained undeterred, and gradually, the void receded, relinquishing its grasp on Aggie's powers.

She sighed in relief, reclaiming the reins of her mind and body. Harper's hand, quivering slightly, rested on Aggie's shoulder, which Aggie responded to with a reassuring pat.

“I’m alright, dear,” Aggie assured her, peering into Harper’s watery eyes. She glanced at Acacia and Jace, who shared a fleeting look of concern until they caught her gaze. As Aggie bent down to collect the broken shards, she wobbled slightly; luckily, Harper was quick to steady her.

“You should sit,” she suggested, guiding her toward the others. “I’ll clean this up.”

“The broom’s in—”

“The laundry room,” Harper finished her sentence, her steps already steering her toward the adjacent room. "I remember from last night."

Harper came back with broom and dustpan in hand and began clearing the mess. Silence filled the room until the scrape of bristles against the tile became the only sound.

“What was that?” Acacia asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Just a dizzy spell,” Aggie replied with a grin, but Acacia didn’t seem eased by the gesture.

Her expression remained sober as she stared past Aggie. “No. North, south, west…. Those words—” Acacia's voice broke off. “I heard them before. M-my mom before she….” She turned away, clearing her throat before her gaze locked on Aggie. “What do they mean?”

“Oh, it’s a sort of… blessing,” Aggie explained. “To banish evil forces.”

“Like a prayer?” Harper asked, returning to the table.

“Precisely,” Aggie replied.

Jace scoffed, his disbelief apparent. "So, now an old lady dropping a cup means evil forces are at work?" He reached for another cookie, but Aggie snatched it from his grasp.

“An apple should suffice your sweet tooth,” she said, sliding a bowl of fresh fruit towards him. “Too much of a good thing, and it ceases to be good.”

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“Whatever,” Jace muttered, leaning back in his chair and tossing the apple in the air.

“How does it go?” Acacia asked, trying to guide Aggie back to her topic.

“You’re all familiar with the four basic elements. Earth,” Aggie began, lifting a green apple from the fruit bowl. “Air.” She set a yellow apple next to the green one on the table. “Fire,” she continued, choosing a red apple. “And water.” She finished, placing a saltshaker beside the apples.

Jace, intrigued, raised an eyebrow. "Why is water salt?"

"It symbolizes salt water," Harper replied, her grin revealing her pleasure in providing the obvious answer.

“Hmm? Sure,” Aggie laughed. “I just figured there aren’t any blue apples.”

Acacia, visibly impatient with the detour in conversation, let out a low growl.

“Right,” Aggie said, acknowledging Acacia’s irritation. “Each element corresponds to a direction. Earth is north, water is west, fire is south, and air is east.” She arranged the apples and salt to outline a plus sign on the table. “So, when you speak each direction, you’re actually calling the elements to aid you in destroying—”

“Frankenstein and his minions?” Jace cut in, a smirk on his lips.

“Yes, but also any evil presence present,” Aggie replied, offering a playful wink.

Jace stopped tossing his apple and inspected Aggie’s serious demeanor.

“What?” Aggie asked.

“Just checking for signs of stroke damage,” Jace answered.

“See anything wrong?” Aggie asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Just that you're crazy," Jace retorted. His gaze shifted from Acacia, who was fixated on the apples, then to Harper, who nervously fidgeted with a cross pendant dangling from her neck. "You're all nuts."

“No one’s forcing you to stay,” Acacia spat. “Door’s that way.”

“I can’t wait till my social worker pulls me from this looney bin,” Jace groaned but remained seated, slouching deeper into his chair and taking a bite of his apple.

“Where were we?” Aggie resumed. “Oh, yes. Invoking the four elements have been used for centuries to keep evil at bay.”

Acacia's patience was wearing thin. "But how do the words go?" she pressed, her hands gripping the table so hard her knuckles whitened.

Aggie lifted the green apple. “First is north, to have the earth ground your intentions; then west, to have the water help mold your request. Next, south, so the fire can amplify the power behind your words; and finally, east, so the air can direct your desire toward the focused location. Then you just say, ‘Evil forces must now cease.’”

“So… North, west, south, east. Evil forces must now cease,” Harper repeated softly, clutching her cross so fiercely that her nails dug into her palm. To her, the words themselves felt evil.

Aggie nodded.

"This is idiotic," Jace muttered under his breath.

“She just had to finish?” Acacia whispered to herself, turning away to hide her teary eyes from the others, “The asshole’s right. This is stupid.”

“Perhaps,” Aggie conceded, placing a comforting hand on Acacia’s shoulder and slipping another cookie into her clenched hand while Harper returned the apples to their bowl and placed the salt back next to the pepper shaker.

"Hey!" Jace protested through a mouthful of apple when Aggie gave Acacia a cookie.

Aggie ignored the boy’s gripes and began putting the dishes away again.

“Aggie, you should rest. We’ll finish,” Harper said, looking for support from the others, but neither acknowledged her existence. Her cheeks warmed, but after taking a deep breath, she offered Aggie a smile. “I’ll finish.”

“Thank you, dear,” Aggie said, patting Harper’s cheek before leaving the kitchen.

As soon as the door swung close, Jace reached for another cookie.

Without returning, Aggie called out, “Jason, finish your apple.”

Jace grumbled as he took another bite of his apple. He crossed his arms and leaned back too far in his chair, which sent him crashing to the floor with a resounding thud. His face reddened as the girls burst into laughter. "I hate creepy old ladies.”