The night was already different—Rowan could feel it in the air long before the clock struck midnight. The forest wasn’t silent the way it normally was this time of year. The wind moved like something alive, the branches leaned in as if waiting. Even the house seemed alert, every floorboard holding its breath. He stood outside near the old well, the same place they had first met. A lantern burned beside him, its light soft and trembling, but his heartbeat was louder than the wind. He had been waiting for this moment for an entire year—twelve months of replaying that night, of wondering if she’d remember him, or if last Halloween had simply been a fragile dream. Then the air shifted. A ripple—like a pulse through reality itself—bent the shadows. The flame of the lantern flickered violently, almost bowing, as if something ancient had stepped through it. And then she was there. The same woman he had spoken to under last year’s moon—only this time, she looked even more otherworldly, as if the world had spent the past year carving her sharper. Midnight-black hair braided with metal chains and delicate talismans, falling over a dress so dark it seemed to drink the light around her. Her skin was porcelain pale, her eyes—those impossible, piercing golden eyes—glowed like embers caught between life and spellwork. The jewelry she wore wasn’t decorative—every chain, every symbol looked like it had meaning, history, and weight attached to it. Even the air around her felt colder, but not unwelcome—just powerful. Rowan exhaled shakily. “You… you came back.” Her lips curved—not quite a smile, but something warmer than anything she had shown him last year. “I told you,” she said, voice smooth and low, “I always return. Whether I want to or not.” She stepped closer, studying him with a gaze that was sharp but not unkind, as if confirming that he was real, that he had truly waited. “You look older,” she murmured. “One year shouldn’t change a human so noticeably… unless they spent every day hoping for something.” He almost laughed, but it cracked in his throat. “I wasn’t sure you would remember me.” Her expression softened—not with gentleness, but with truth. “I remembered you every single day,” she said. “You were the first person in decades who didn’t run, or hide, or try to banish me. You sat with me. You listened.” A breath. “I don’t forget kindness. Not in this lifetime or any other.” Rowan swallowed, heart pounding hard enough he swore she could hear it. “So… you said you were trying to break the curse. Have you—” “Yes.” Her tone sharpened with purpose, eyes glinting like a spell being cast. “I’ve spent the last year gathering the last pieces I need. And now—this Halloween—I finally know how you can help me stay.” Rowan blinked. “Me?”