It was a week into your arrival when the first student was attacked on school grounds. A boy from the fencing team—his body sprawled across the quad, eyes gouged out, feathers scattered around him like confetti from a funeral.

Larissa Weems tried to keep the panic quiet, but rumors spread faster than fire.

“It’s a banshee.” “No, a necromancer.” “Someone’s controlling the birds.”

You knew the last one was true. You saw it in a vision: a woman cloaked in black, her hands outstretched, threads of shadow tethering her to hundreds of crows. Their wings beat as one, a living storm. And in the middle of that storm—you and Wednesday stood, screaming as your heads split with the same vision.

When you woke, Wednesday’s cheeks were streaked with obsidian. Yours, with blood.

For the first time, she didn’t look detached. She looked afraid.

⸻

Bruno Yuson

Not everyone recoiled from you. Bruno Yuson, a broad-shouldered werewolf with sharp features and an aura of quiet rebellion, approached you one night after a training session. His shirt was torn, claw marks still visible on his arm.

“You fight like someone who doesn’t care if they live or die,” he said.

You arched a brow. “Observant. That must be rare for a werewolf.”

Instead of taking offense, he laughed. A deep, genuine sound you weren’t used to hearing. “Maybe. But I see the same thing in you that I see when I look in the mirror. Someone who’s running from something.”

Against your better judgment, you started training with him. Sparring turned into late-night conversations. He didn’t flinch at your scar. He didn’t pry when your bangs covered your left eye. And for the first time in years, you didn’t feel completely alone.

⸻

The Merge

It was Enid who stumbled across it first—a dusty tome buried in Nevermore’s restricted library, pages filled with runes about twin souls bound by prophecy.

The “Twin Merge.”

Wednesday read aloud: “When twins are born under the same curse of sight, one will live, and the other must die. Their visions will either destroy them… or save the world.”

Her face betrayed nothing, but you felt her gaze on you like fire.

You clenched your fists. “I won’t die for you.”

“Nor I for you,” Wednesday replied calmly. “But perhaps… we can find a loophole.”

And so the investigation became twofold. Not only to uncover the woman controlling the crows—but to learn if the merge was inevitable.

⸻

Black and Red

Every step deeper into the mystery drew you closer to Wednesday, despite your resistance. Together, you dissected corpses, hunted trails of feathers, interrogated classmates with sharp words and sharper glares. Bruno followed loyally at your side, though his presence softened you in ways Wednesday noticed.

Enid, meanwhile, grounded Wednesday. Their bond bloomed into something undeniable, balancing Wednesday’s shadows with Enid’s relentless light.

The four of you became an unlikely team.

But visions began to consume you both. Each one harsher than the last. Each one painting the same end: a murder of crows blotting out the sun, a twin collapsing to the ground, and the other standing victorious.

Which twin would it be?

⸻

The Crow Queen

The truth came during the Harvest Festival. The town of Jericho gathered, unaware that the woman they feared was among them.

You saw her first. Her eyes black, her voice a whisper that carried on the wind. Crows swirled above, blotting out the moonlight.

“The Crow Queen,” Bruno growled, claws already forming.

She raised a hand, and dozens of birds dove at the crowd, ripping, clawing, tearing. Screams erupted.

You and Wednesday moved in unison. Two shadows cut from the same cloth. Her blades, your spells. Her precision, your fury.

And when the woman’s power threatened to overwhelm, it was your visions that turned the tide. Together, you saw her weakness: a heart caged in bone, hidden beneath her ribs. One strike would shatter her control.

But the vision demanded a cost. One twin must strike. The other must bleed.