Jeremy woke in the middle of the night—though technically, he had never fallen asleep.
His body lay still, but his mind—since the moment it touched Alison's diary—had known no rest.
This time, he wasn't dreaming. He didn't hear voices. He felt.
Julie.
She was... different. Not dangerous. Not unfamiliar. But something inside her had cracked.
And the shards of that change struck straight into him.
He bolted from bed, his hands trembling. His eyes—darker than usual—caught more than just moonlight.
Resonance.
A bond.
Something that shouldn't exist between a human girl and the son of demons.
And yet it did. And something else. Jeremy felt it, vividly.
Something had pierced the edge of the city.
Not physically. But as if an invisible layer—the one that had long separated this world from everything beyond—had shuddered.
Tensed.
A crack, faint and almost imperceptible, but… it was there.
He blinked as the air in the room began to hum.
For a second, he saw Jack's face in the mirror behind him.
Not a reflection. Not an illusion. His father's face. Looking straight at him.
"Son…" the voice whispered—soft as breath—and then it vanished.
Jeremy stumbled back. He stepped toward the window, peering into the darkness as if he could see more than just the night.
A connection.
It was clearer than ever.
His bond with Julie—the way her power was awakening, the way their dreams intertwined—had disturbed the barrier's structure.
Rosalie wasn't the only one touching the edges of this world.
"Mother… Father…" he whispered. "Can you come back?"
His heart pounded. Not from fear. From instinct.
From hope.
No one in this town had spoken of Jack and Alison in years.
They were legend.
Myth.
The unspoken consequence of everything that had happened.
But now—their blood, their legacy, their love—danced in Jeremy's veins.
And as Julie began to change, as he felt her presence more vividly than ever, something outside the world responded.
Maybe Rosalie wasn't the only one trying to cross the line.
Maybe she wasn't the only one who felt that this was just the beginning.
Jeremy closed his eyes and reached for the power he still didn't fully understand.
But one thing he knew for sure:
Julie was the key.
And his parents… were getting closer.
*
Alison wasn't sleeping. She rarely did these days.
Even though their powers had been cut off the moment they crossed the boundary, their instincts remained.
The will to survive. The unease. That quiet whisper—louder tonight than ever before.
She sat at the edge of the broken porch and stared into the woods.
There was nothing magical here. No portals, no paths back.
Only silence—and the punishment she had crafted for herself.
And Jack—who had fallen asleep with a knife in hand, as if still dreaming of war.
But now... Something gripped her chest. Her heart sped up.
It wasn't a hallucination.
"Jeremy..." she whispered before her thoughts could catch up.
Jack lifted his head instantly. He wasn't stupid. He knew when something shifted.
"You feel it?" he asked, already by her side.
Alison nodded slowly.
"Something's changed. Like… like our child just called for us."
Jack didn't answer right away.
He placed his hand on one of the porch beams, fingers digging into the wood.
If only he could go back to him. If only he could fix it all.
But one thing he knew—this feeling didn't appear by chance. Not by accident.
"It's Julie," Alison added. "She… I don't know how, but something inside her is growing.
Something that resonates with Jeremy. And through them… through that connection… something in this reality bent."
"A rift." Jack grimaced. "You're saying they might open a breach?"
"No. Not yet. But this is only the beginning.
And I know he'll try to bring us back."
Jack looked up at the sky—dark and starless.
"My son…" he murmured. "He doesn't even know what it'll cost him. But if he really manages to open something... if the barrier truly begins to crack…"
"…then we need to be ready."
Alison stood up. Her eyes shimmered with a strange light—one that shouldn't exist in her anymore.
"Jack, if this is happening… maybe it's not over. Maybe we can return."
Silence, broken only by their breath.
For the first time in years, Jack felt something other than anger.
He felt purpose.
"Jeremy. Hold on, boy. We're starting to fight too."
*
Jack's eyes snapped open as if someone had shouted next to his ear. But there was only silence.
His hand still gripped the knife handle, but this time, he didn't feel ready to fight.
He felt… summoned. He looked to the side.
Alison wasn't sleeping—but she wasn't sitting like usual either.
She was trembling. Slightly. Invisible to ordinary eyes. But for him, it was as loud as a scream.
"What is it?" he asked softly.
"He's calling us."
Her voice was hollow, yet full of everything.
"Jeremy. He… he saw something. Felt something. And I feel it too."
Jack knelt in front of her and cupped her face in his hands.
"What did you see?"
"A sea of fire. And a shadow… His shadow. But there was also cold. Julie. She was keeping him alive. Her presence, her soul... Jack, they're connected. Their dreams, their souls. And that connection is pulling us back."
Jack closed his eyes.
And then he felt it—truly. A voice. Not spoken, but real. Calling. It wasn't the language of humans. Not the language of angels. It was… something more. A pulsing thread running through time and space. From their son—to them.
"He's not a child anymore," Jack said with both bitterness and pride. "He's awakening. And when this ends..."
"…he will find us," Alison finished.
Before Jack could speak again, something yanked at his chest.
Not physically— Jeremy. Not a thought. Not an image. Pure emotion. Longing. Fear. Love. He was crying.
"Jeremy…" Jack whispered his name like a spell.
Alison leaned forward too, pressing her hand to her chest.
"He… he needs us. Not just as a myth. As parents. As someone who can help him finish what we began."
Jack stood and looked at the sky.
And the sky began to tremble—subtly, but unmistakably.
As if the lines of reality were no longer quite so stable.
"This is only the beginning," he whispered.