Gladys collapsed to her knees.
Her pride shattered completely now, she clawed at the floor, tears streaking through layers of makeup.
"I'll do anything,"
She sobbed, voice breaking into something shrill and desperate.
"Anything. Gold, blood, souls—just let me be young again."
She turned sharply toward Inadu, crawling a step closer.
"You understand," Gladys pleaded.
"You've lived long. You know what it's like to watch your body rot while the world keeps moving. Help me. Make me young."
Inadu didn't even blink.
"...."
She let out a short, humorless snort, eyes cold and ancient.
-Snort
"You confuse power with mercy," she said flatly. "I have neither for you."
Gladys opened her mouth again.
"...."
She never got the chance.
Jojo tightened his grip.
The hellfire answered him instantly.
It crawled up from Gladys's wrist like a living thing, licking over her hands, racing up her arms, spilling across her chest.
The heat wasn't sudden—it was deliberate, merciless.
Gladys screamed.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
Not a clean scream, but a raw, animal sound as the flames wrapped her whole body.
She thrashed, cursed, spat venom at all of them—words sharp enough to cut, prayers twisted into insults—but nothing slowed the fire.
Her youth illusion burned away first.
Then her skin.
Then her bones.
The screams cut off mid-curse.
Within seconds, there was nothing left but drifting ash and the faint smell of burned rot.
Silence fell heavy over the house.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo released his hand.
The hellfire vanished as if it had never been there.
Caroline, still holding the cop by his collar, watched the ashes scatter with a grim expression.
The man's eyes were already clearing, confusion bleeding through as Gladys's control snapped.
Inadu lifted her hand slightly.
The house exhaled.
Upstairs, doors creaked open.
Somewhere below, chains clattered uselessly to the floor.
Jojo turned without ceremony and headed for the door.
Inadu followed. Then Caroline, dragging the dazed cop along.
Gayathri and Debbie exchanged a glance and moved after them.
Cecellia lingered for half a second longer, staring at the pile of ash—then stepped away.
They exited the house together.
Outside, Alex stood frozen on the porch, clutching his mother's sleeve.
His parents blinked like they'd just woken from a long, terrible dream.
Archer stood a few steps back, face pale, breathing unsteady.
Justine stared at the doorway, her hands shaking—not in fear anymore, but release.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Jojo stopped on the lawn and looked back once.
The house felt empty now. Truly empty.
He spoke calmly.
"It's over."
Alex's mother broke down first, pulling her son into a desperate hug.
Archer turned away, wiping his face roughly.
Justine let out a long breath she felt like she'd been holding for weeks.
Caroline finally let go of the cop, who staggered and dropped to his knees, dazed but alive.
Jojo turned to the group.
"We're done here."
No one argued.
Behind them, the house of Alex stood silent—powerless, forgotten—just another place where evil had thought it could hide.
Alex swallowed, then finally spoke.
-Gulp
"...."
His voice was small, but steady now. He told them everything. About the basement. About the false wall behind the furnace. About the locks, the ropes, the chanting at night.
The cop, fully back in himself now, exchanged a sharp look with Archer. Neither wasted a second.
"...."
"...."
They moved.
Sirens cut through Maybrook minutes later, slicing the night open.
Patrol cars flooded the street, lights painting the houses red and blue.
The basement door was forced open, and one by one the missing children were carried out.
Some were weak, some dazed, some crying without understanding why.
But they were alive.
When the cop came back upstairs, notebook already out, he looked around the ruined living room.
His eyes landed on the scorched floor where Gladys had been.
"Where's the old woman?" he asked carefully.
Jojo smiled. Open. Calm. Almost friendly.
"She escaped," he said. "Turned herself into ash and dispersed. Clean trick. Old-school witchcraft."
The cop studied his face.
"...."
There were doubts there, sure. A dozen questions. A thousand things that wouldn't fit neatly into a report.
But there were no cameras. No witnesses willing to speak.
And more importantly, every child was breathing again.
He closed his notebook with a quiet snap.
"Suspect fled the scene," he said finally. "Unknown method."
That was that.
By morning, Archer and the cop were heroes.
News vans lined the street.
Parents ran past barricades, crying, screaming names, pulling their children into their arms like they might disappear again if they loosened their grip.
The air was thick with relief, grief, and guilt all tangled together.
Alex stood between his parents, both of them holding him like he was glass.
"...."
Justine watched from the edge of the crowd.
For the first time in weeks, no one glared at her.
No one whispered. A few parents even nodded at her, awkward but sincere.
-Nods
"...."
"...."
"...."
She exhaled shakily.
Jojo and the others didn't stay.
They watched just long enough to be sure the children were safe, the spell truly broken.
Then, quietly, they stepped back.
As they walked away, Alex broke free from his mother's arms and ran after them.
He stopped a few feet away, unsure, then blurted,
"You're not coming back, are you?"
Jojo crouched slightly, meeting his eyes.
"No," he said honestly. "But you don't need us anymore."
Alex nodded, biting his lip.
-Nod
"Thank you," he whispered.
The rented car rolled away from Maybrook as dawn thinned the night, the town shrinking in the rearview mirror like a bad dream finally losing its grip.
No one spoke for a while.
Caroline rested her elbow against the window, watching the countryside blur past.
Debbie sat curled into herself, exhaustion finally catching up now that the danger was over.
Gayathri leaned back with her eyes closed, the faintest smile on her lips, as if she were filing away everything she had witnessed for a future that suddenly felt much larger.
Cecellia sat quietly, hands folded over her stomach, still processing the fact that she was alive, free.
"...."
Inadu broke the silence first.
"It's done," she said simply.
Jojo nodded, eyes on the road.
-Nod
"Gladys won't be pulling strings anymore. Whatever was feeding on that town lost its anchor."
They reached the lodge just as the sun climbed over the trees.
It looked almost ordinary now, the kind of place meant for tourists passing through, not hunters leaving behind burned curses and broken supernaturals.
Rooms were claimed. Bags were dropped. Shoes kicked off.
For the first time in days, there was no urgency.
Caroline flopped onto one of the beds and stared at the ceiling.
"So," she said lightly, "we just saved a town, stopped a witch, survived a possession outbreak, and now we're… on vacation? Totally normal to me whose bestfriend is Elena."
Jojo smirked.
-Smirk
"Exactly."
Debbie let out a tired laugh.
-Hehe
"That's… weirdly comforting."
Cecellia hesitated, then asked softly,
"...."
"Are you sure it's okay for me to just… stay? Sightsee?"
Jojo glanced at her little surprised.
"You've had enough destiny shoved down your throat for one lifetime. A few normal days won't hurt."
Inadu added, "Normal is relative," deadpan, which earned a small chuckle from Gayathri.
-Chuckle
They slept. Properly this time.
Next day...
Later that afternoon, they wandered through town like actual tourists.
Coffee shops. A small park.
Souvenir stalls selling things none of them needed.
Caroline insisted on taking photos "to prove this wasn't another apocalypse road trip."
Debbie tried local food and looked genuinely happy for the first time since Italy.
Gayathri lingered at old bookshops, fingers brushing spines as if listening for echoes.
Jojo watched them all with quiet satisfaction.
"...."
No demons. No psycho killers. No screaming souls.
Just borrowed time.
That evening, as the sky bled orange and purple, Jojo leaned against the lodge balcony railing, phone in hand.
A single message blinked on the screen from Forks. It was Jenny his P.A.
'Everything's quiet here. Cullens asking when you're back.'
He typed a reply.
'Soon.'
He looked out over the town one last time, then turned back inside where laughter drifted from one of the rooms.
Jojo stepped out onto the balcony, evening air cool against his skin, and tapped his phone.
Two days was apparently a crime punishable by emotional ambush.
The call barely rang once.
-RING-
"AHHH YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Alice's voice exploded through the speaker, bright enough to scare birds off trees.
Jojo winced, then laughed.
-Hehe
"Good evening to you too, future gremlin. I see you haven't changed."
"I knew you'd call today,"
Alice said smugly.
"You were standing somewhere with bad coffee and worse reception in my vision."
Before Jojo could reply, another voice cut in, sharp and dramatic.
"Oh, now he calls."
It was none other than Rosalie whose voice just came.
Jojo leaned against the railing, already smiling.
"Rosie. Love of my afterlife. Light of my undead existence."
"Hmph."
A very convincing tsundere huff came through.
"Your calls disappear for two days, no calls, no texts, no 'hey I'm not dead yet,' and now suddenly you remember we exist?"
Alice chimed in, stage-whispering,
"She counted. I saw her counting."
"I DID NOT COUNT!"
Rosalie snapped, then paused.
"…Okay maybe once."
Jojo laughed softly at their antics.
-Chuckle
"I was busy saving towns, stopping witches, and preventing children from being sacrificed to ancient nonsense. You know. Casual stuff."
Alice gasped even more excited while her eyes twinkled.
"You fought something spooky without me?"
"Without telling me?"
Rosalie added immediately, offended.
"Do you know how rude that is?"
Jojo raised his hands even though they couldn't see him.
"I'm sorry. My mistake. Next time I'll send a group text like: 'Hey babes, currently on fire, might summon hell, brb.'"
Alice clapped on the other end letting out a chuckle.
-Chuckle
"YES! I want that group chat!"
Rosalie snorted despite herself.
-Snort
"Idiot."
There was a brief silence, softer this time.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"So," Alice said gently, "are you okay?"
Jojo's tone eased hearing her voice.
"Yeah. I'm good. Everyone's safe. Heading back to Forks soon."
Rosalie cleared her throat.
"You better."
"I'll bring gifts," Jojo added quickly. "Real ones. Thoughtful ones. Possibly shiny."
Alice squealed. "I want something cute!"
Rosalie crossed her arms audibly. "I don't want cute."
Jojo smirked hearing her response.
-Smirk
"Too late. You're getting something cute and dangerous."
"…Don't test me,"
Rosalie warned, but her voice had lost its edge.
Alice giggled seeing her sister excited shiver besides her.
-Giggle
"See? She missed you."
"I did not—"
"You did,"
Alice sang. Jojo closed his eyes for a moment, warmth settling in his chest that had nothing to do with flames.
"I missed you both too."
Alice hummed happily. Rosalie muttered something suspiciously like "dummy."
"Come back soon," Alice said. "Forks is boring without chaos."
"And don't disappear again," Rosalie added. "Or I'll come find you myself."
Jojo chuckled shaking his head with helplessness.
-Chuckle
"Noted. Love you both."
The call ended with Alice's cheerful "Be safe!" and Rosalie's grudging,
"Don't be stupid."
Jojo lowered the phone, still smiling.