Page 53 of Wraith

But why?

Why had I ever thought I could run from this? From her?

My fear had been dramatic. Misplaced. I had been stupid.

Lilith hadn’t been tormenting me.

She had been showing me.

Showing me how pointless it was to fight. Showing me how alone I was without her.

And maybe…

Maybe I deserved this.

Maybe the pain, the exhaustion, the fear—maybe it was supposed to be mine.

Because I had killed her.

We had all killed her.

And so far? I was the only one who understood that.

Thorne and Aeron? They were still pretending. Still deluding themselves into thinking they could move on. That they could forget her, that they could escape this.

But they were wrong.

Lilith was patient.

She had waited for me to understand.

And now?

Maybe it was time to show them too.

Thirty-Four

The dim candlelightflickered against the dorm walls, casting restless shadows that refused to stay still.

I had spent hours setting this up—researching, gathering supplies, making sure every line of salt was unbroken, every candle positioned just right. My desk was covered in hastily scrawled notes, my laptop screen still open to a sketchy occult forum where a user named ShadowSeeker69 had posted step-by-step instructions on “Effective Spirit Banishing: Proven Methods.”

I didn’t know if it would work. I didn’t know if anything would work.

But I had to try.

Thorne had laughed when I told him about it. Laughed.

“You sound fucking insane,” he’d said, his arms crossed as he leaned against his dorm wall, watching me pace. “Aeron, you need sleep. You need—fuck, I don’t know—a therapist, not whatever this is.”

I had tried to explain it, tried to make him understand. But he just gave me that look, the one that said he was humoring me, the same one he’d given Kael when he started spiraling.

“It’s real,” I had insisted. “You know it is. You’ve felt her.”

Thorne shook his head, rubbing his temples. “I’ve felt grief, Aeron. I’ve felt guilt. Maybe you have too, and that’s what this is. Just… your mind trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense.”

I had wanted to hit him then. Shake him. Make him see.

Instead, I had just left. Because if Thorne wouldn’t help me, I would do it alone.

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