Naomie was ecstatic, laughing and jumping around like some sort of cliché villain whose end of the world plan was starting to come into play. [Well, am I wrong?] As the tear widened, her joy was almost visible as a glow of yellow around her. Spirits of white shot from the tear, buzzing around the forest clearing, cackling, laughing, and screaming as they flew around. No zombies this time. These were proper spirits.

That was when Naomie made her mistake. She stepped close to the tear, reaching out as though to touch it. The wind picked up. She cried out, being dragged into the tear. The force swept her from her feet, dragging her inside, beyond the world of the living. The three of us watched with wide eyes. That wasn't supposed to happen.

I pulled Arthur behind a boulder, shoving a bag of salt in his hands. "Go."

"You really think I'm gonna let you go through with that plan of yours?"

Gods, he was so stubborn! I grabbed my cousin's face. "If you don't make a salt circle they will get so far away that we will never get them beyond the Veil which, I might add, is only getting wider and could possibly suck in the entire forest."

His head dropped, defeated. "Just make sure you come back."

I smiled. "When don't I." I turned to Lydia. "Ready to close this thing?"

"Of course," she said.

We split up.

* * * * * * * *

As Arthur created a salt circle around the edge of the clearing, I placed stones in a swirling pattern closer to the ever-expanding tear. The closer I got, I could feel some force trying to pull me in. Spirits buzzed around my hair, whispering in my ears though I couldn't understand what they were saying. Lydia flew overhead. They lost interest in me and begun following her.

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I moved closer to the tear to place the final stones. It felt like someone was trying to pull me in with a large vacuum cleaner. My hair whipped around my head making it hard to see. Cautiously, I stepped closer to place the final stone--

I lost my footing immediately.

The force of the tear pulled me feet-first into the portal. I clawed at the grass, trying to hold my grip. Unfortunately, strength has never been my thing. I managed mere seconds before losing my grip, screaming as I was dragged in.

Arthur grabbed my wrist, pulling me back with both hands. Away from the pull of the tear, we fell as a heap onto the grass.

I rolled off him, panting. "Thanks."

"Welcome."

"Ready to get this over with?"

"Not even slightly. You?"

"Well, no."

We jumped to our feet.

I took Arthur's hand, stepping in range of the pull of the tear again. He kept a firm hold, grounding me. I took a deep breath, giving him an unconvincing smile, and turned to the tear. I closed my eyes, feeling energy all around me. Releasing the breath, I channeled the energy of the world around me into the stone in my free hand. Opening my eyes, I saw the stone glowing with a faint gold light. That time, I really did smile.

I pulled back, launching the stone forward with all my strength. It went flying into the tear. The result was instantaneous.

The pull of the tear became stronger. The spirits who had escaped - now trapped within the clearing thanks to the salt circle made by Arthur - found themselves being pulled in. Slowly, very slowly, the tear began to close.

Lydia, who floated on the other side of the salt circle, waved to get our attention. She yelled over the wind, "RUN!"

Arthur and I exchanged glances. We ran for our lives.

Now, there's something you should know. Running has never been my forte. I've never really had the skill for it. And, naturally, this was the time that decided to come back to bite my arse.

As Arthur crossed the salt circle, I tripped over my own feet like the idiot I am. Before I could get back up, before Arthur could come back to help me, ghostly hands grabbed my ankles. I yelped, trying to kick them off. They only held me tighter.

"Get the fuck off!" I yelled, fighting against them. Since when had ghosts been so strong! I later discovered this was to do with the energy coming from the moon but, at the time, I was very confused and, quite honestly, scared out of my mind.

Arthur was almost close enough to grab me now. We reached for each other--

The pull of the tear was too much.

It pulled the last of the spirits inside, including the ones holding onto me. They were strong enough to not lose their grip, meaning I was dragged through the tear along with them.