Darius Kane had no intention of continuing the uncomfortable discussion about why helping Quinn also benefited him, so he picked up the remote and began flipping through channels.
After a few minutes, he stopped on a horror movie playing late at night, which immediately made Quinn laugh at the absurdity of their situation.
They were currently trapped inside an actual horror-movie world, preparing to fight a demon, yet somehow they were spending the evening watching another scary movie for entertainment.
Quinn disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two cans of Coke, cookies, and several bags of snacks, then settled onto the other sofa.
The two watched quietly, occasionally arguing about a character’s terrible decisions or predicting who would die next.
As the hours passed, the tension in the house temporarily faded.
Jordan stayed mostly in her room while Quinn and Darius remained in the living room, the salt-and-glue lines and scattered protective items surrounding them like bizarre decorations.
By around two in the morning, exhaustion finally caught up with both of them.
Darius fell asleep on one sofa while Quinn slept on the other, leaving only the shifting light and low dialogue from the television filling the otherwise silent room.
Not long afterward, Jordan’s bedroom door quietly opened.
She walked into the hallway half-asleep and headed toward the bathroom without paying much attention to Quinn and Darius sleeping in the living room.
Seeing the two sprawled on separate sofas made her smile faintly, still convinced there was something between them despite all their awkward denials.
She used the bathroom, stepped toward the sink, and casually looked into the mirror while washing her hands.
A black figure stood directly behind her.
Jordan’s sleepiness vanished instantly.
“Ah!” She spun around so quickly that she nearly hit the sink.
Nothing was there.
Only the bathroom wall and the partly open door greeted her.
Jordan looked back into the mirror.
The shadow had disappeared.
Her heart hammered for several seconds before she slowly convinced herself that she’d imagined it.
She had just woken up in the middle of the night, the lighting was poor, and Quinn had spent the evening covering the house in enough strange decorations to make anyone nervous.
Jordan took several deep breaths, dried her hands, and quietly returned to her bedroom.
She never realized that Ozhin had already noticed her.
The rest of the night passed without another incident.
At around ten the next morning, the three ate breakfast together before leaving the house and driving toward an amusement park Quinn had booked in advance.
Darius had suggested the trip because keeping Jordan inside the house all day would only make the teenager restless and suspicious.
As long as they remained outside the final critical window, Ozhin seemed more interested in frightening its targets than immediately finishing them, though Darius knew that assumption wasn’t an absolute guarantee.
More importantly, Jordan needed to remain where Quinn and Darius could watch her.
If she became bored at home and suddenly decided to meet friends or go somewhere alone, their entire plan could collapse before the real confrontation began.
An amusement park solved both problems at once.
Jordan was still a teenager, and regardless of how rebellious she acted around her sister, she wasn’t going to complain about spending a day riding roller coasters and eating junk food.
The atmosphere inside the car was surprisingly relaxed.
Music played through the speakers while Jordan occasionally teased Quinn, and Darius found himself enjoying the moment more than expected.
Quinn glanced toward him while waiting at a light and asked, “So, are all fortune tellers as good as you?” Darius smiled and replied, “Absolutely not.
You’re looking at the only one on Earth who can do what I do.” Quinn laughed.
“That’s a lot of confidence.” “I’ve earned it.” From the back seat, Jordan leaned forward slightly.
“Wait, you’re seriously a fortune teller?
People still do that?” “Jordan,” Quinn immediately warned.
“Be polite.” “All right, sorry.” Darius wasn’t offended.
“It’s fine.
And if calling me Mr.
Kane feels weird, just call me Darius.” Jordan shrugged.
“Works for me.” Quinn turned toward Darius to apologize again.
Then her expression froze.
For a split second, the man sitting beside her no longer had Darius’s face.
His features had transformed into something corpse-like and grotesque, skin peeled away until a bloody skull seemed to be staring back at her.
Dark fluid ran from the ruined sockets, and something black and serpentine suddenly pushed through one eye and lunged toward her.
Quinn screamed and jerked violently away.
The steering wheel twisted with her.
The car veered toward the side of the road.
“Quinn!” Darius instantly grabbed the wheel with one hand and fought to straighten the vehicle while reaching for the brake.
Quinn snapped out of the hallucination almost immediately and saw his normal face again, but panic had already taken control of her body.
She slammed on the brakes.
The tires shrieked across the pavement.
The car stopped only a few yards from a tree.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Jordan clutched the seat belt with both hands, her face pale.
“What the hell happened?” Quinn stared at Darius, sweat covering her forehead.
“Your face…
I saw something.
It changed.” Darius understood immediately.
“Another hallucination.” Quinn nodded, still breathing too quickly.
“I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to—” “I know.” Darius unbuckled his seat belt.
“Move over.
I’m driving from now on.” She didn’t argue.
Quinn moved into the passenger seat while Darius took her place behind the wheel.
Once she fastened her seat belt, she closed her eyes and leaned back, deciding that if Ozhin wanted to fill her vision with nightmares, refusing to look around unnecessarily might be the safest option.
Darius waited until everyone had calmed down, then carefully pulled back onto the road.
The rest of the trip passed without incident.
By the time they reached the amusement park, Jordan had mostly recovered from the near crash and quickly became distracted by the crowd, music, rides, and food stands.
Quinn remained noticeably subdued, guilt still weighing on her after nearly getting all three of them hurt.
Darius noticed and nudged her lightly.
“Stop thinking about it.
Ozhin did that, not you.” “I almost crashed the car.” “And nobody got hurt.” Quinn sighed.
Darius nodded toward Jordan, who was already staring excitedly at one of the rides.
“You’re here with your sister.
Enjoy the day while you still can.
Whether you’re miserable or happy, the clock keeps moving either way, so you might as well make the time count.” Quinn considered that for a moment before finally smiling.
“You’re right.” “Good.
Pirate ship first.” “You’ve never ridden one?” “Nope.” Quinn laughed.
“You’re going to regret saying that so confidently.” The hours passed faster than any of them expected.
They moved from ride to ride, ate too much amusement-park food, competed at several games, and gradually forgot that a demonic countdown was hanging over them.
Even Darius, who had originally viewed the trip purely as a way to control the situation, found himself having fun.
More importantly, Quinn and Jordan slowly began talking like actual sisters again instead of constantly snapping at each other.
Their mother’s death had created distance between them that neither had ever properly addressed.
The day didn’t magically erase years of resentment, but it softened something between them.
Quinn stopped trying to control every conversation, while Jordan gradually dropped the defensive attitude she normally used around her older sister.
By the time evening arrived, they were laughing together more often than arguing.
At around six, the three finally left the park.
After dinner, they returned to Quinn’s house.
It was already around 8:30 P.M.
Darius checked the time.
The relaxed atmosphere from earlier vanished immediately.
Quinn opened Countdown.
A little over twenty minutes remained.
The final stage had arrived.
Jordan, completely exhausted after spending the day running from ride to ride, took a shower and announced that she planned to sleep early.
Quinn and Darius exchanged a brief look as soon as she disappeared down the hallway.
They had spent hours wondering how they would persuade her to stay quiet during the critical period, yet the amusement park had solved the problem for them.
Quinn quietly prepared the sleep aid they’d discussed earlier, using the medically appropriate amount she had already verified, and mixed it into Jordan’s evening coffee.
Their goal wasn’t to harm her, only to keep her asleep and less vulnerable to Ozhin’s hallucinations during the final confrontation.
Once everything was ready, Quinn placed the cup where Jordan normally sat and acted as though nothing unusual was happening.
About twenty minutes later, Jordan returned to the living room while drying her damp hair with a towel.
She dropped onto the sofa, picked up the coffee, and casually took a few sips.
Quinn kept her expression completely normal while Darius focused on the television, neither giving the teenager any reason to become suspicious.
Quinn smiled.
“You must be exhausted after today.
Go to bed once your hair dries.” Jordan yawned.
“Yeah.
I probably will.” She took another drink.
Darius and Quinn exchanged the smallest glance.
Everything was finally in position.
Now all they had to do was survive the countdown.
(End of Chapter)