Back in the meat locker, the cold seeped into Julia's bones as she and Marina rifled through stacks of old papers and tattered notes. Their breath fogged the icy air.
"There's gotta be something here…" Marina muttered, flipping a page, her voice edged with panic. She scanned a sheet covered in strange scribbles. "These… these numbers
could be a code, maybe phone numbers or something?"
Julia shot her a glance, rubbing her chilled hands together. "That's too easy."
Before Marina could reply, a shadow appeared by the door. Pete leaned in, looking bored and cold, groaning to himself. "Come on… chop chop."
He made a quick series of gestures with his fingers sharp flicks and a circle traced in the air and stepped back.
Behind Julia, in a body bag she hadn't noticed before, the corpse inside jolted upright.
Marina turned, and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god!"
The dead man's head swiveled towards them, and with stiff, jerky motions, he lunged reaching for Julia's head but instead grabbing her knit cap as she ducked and bolted.
"Julia!" Marina cried, scrambling back as the naked corpse gave chase.
Julia darted around a shelf, heart hammering, cold forgotten in the rush of adrenaline. Without thinking, she turned, drawing on the gestures she'd memorized all night: one hand swept sharply upwards, fingers splayed; the other thrust forward like pushing open a door.
The dead man was lifted off his feet and slammed backward. His chest collided with a jutting steel beam impaling him clean through.
Crates and metal supplies clattered to the ground around him.
Julia stared at her hands, breathless. "It… it worked."
Marina came stumbling over, pale as the frost on the walls. "Oh my god, oh my god what *was* that sound? What the hell happened?!"
She caught sight of the impaled body and recoiled, pointing. "Is it—?"
"Dead?" Julia nodded, swallowing hard. "Mhm. Yeah. But it was already dead… so I don't know."
The corpse's head twitched.
Marina shrieked and clutched at Julia.
"Calm down, Jesus," the corpse muttered. "It's me."
Marina froze. "Pete? Is that you?!"
The dead man's lips curled into a smirk. "Howdy."
Julia arched a brow, regaining her composure. "Wow, Pete. That's definitely a good look for you. Big improvement. Why don't you join us in here I think Marina misses you."
"Ah, Julia," Pete's corpse said with mock admiration. "Didn't expect that from you. That was a very impressive shove."
Julia didn't bother replying. Marina was already snapping, tugging down her sweatshirt sleeves. "Just let us out!"
Pete chuckled. "Don't be stupid. Find your way out."
Marina's voice rose in disbelief. "This is a test? Another test?!"
"If you can't get through this, you don't have what it takes to do what we do." Pete's dead eyes locked on Julia's. "Do you want magic or not, Julia? Did you look everywhere?"
Julia bit her lip, turning back toward the body bag. She knelt, hands trembling more from cold than fear now. Inside, tucked beneath the corpse's arm, was a folded piece of paper.
Marina hovered. "What is it?"
Julia squinted at the faded words. "'Une chaleur temporaire.'" She looked up at Marina. "Temporary warmth."
The Physical Kids' Cottage was its usual haze of lazy chaos. Music drifted through the air, some upbeat indie track barely masking the clink of bottles and the soft hum of spells keeping snacks levitating and bobbing gently over the table.
Kai lounged on the couch, legs stretched out, his eyes half-lidded, head tilted as if focused on the beat but in truth, his thoughts were miles away.
'Season one…'he mused, recalling the madness that had unfolded in that future he technically wasn't supposed to know about. The Beast, gods, monsters… much drama, so little time.
Then his mind wandered further 'Julia should be in a meat locker somewhere right about now. With a dead guy chasing her.'He smirked. 'Probably not my scene. Let's not get involved in that one. Could ruin the surprise.'
A rustling noise snapped him back. Across the room, Kady was rummaging through a drawer, clearly searching for something with growing irritation.
At the same time, kady was making her move, sliding past with a book tucked under her arm and a drink in hand. Kai's eyes flicked to what Penny held a rabbit's foot charm dangling from his fingers.
OUTSIDE
"It's bunk," Penny muttered, eyeing it like it had personally offended him.
"It's not!" Kady shot back, glancing up from the drawer. "It's Emerson alloy. It's… it's alloy rusting!"
Kai snorted inwardly. 'Oh good, they're arguing about rust. This is my cue.'
He rolled off the wall he was standing against
one fluid motion, already half turned toward the door back to the cottage, his head filling with another smart-ass remark he didn't bother to voice.
But before he could escape, a voice called out, crisp and clear.
"Kai."
Professor Sunderland stood there, arms crossed, that look on her face that said 'you're not getting out of this.'
Kai put a hand to his chest. "Ah, Professor. And here I thought I was blending into the scenery."
She gave him a look and beckoned him over.
As Kai sauntered up, Sunderland raised her voice. "There you are, Quentin. Alice. Penny. Kady."
Kai raised both brows and chimed in with a grin, "And the deliciously handsome Kai."
He added with mock modesty, "Yeah, that's me."
All four groaned simultaneously.
Kai leaned closer to Sunderland and lowered his voice. "Tight crowd, huh?"
Sunderland shook her head, but the corner of her mouth twitched as if she wanted to laugh.
"I found the most interesting thing buried in our woods," she announced, her tone suddenly all business again.
The group exchanged glances, Quentin looking nervous, Alice intrigued, Penny annoyed, and Kady skeptical.
Kai crossed his arms and smirked. "Unless it's a treasure chest filled with magical whiskey, I'm not sure you'll hold my attention."
Sunderland just smiled, that cryptic teacher smile that promised trouble. "Follow me."
Without waiting, she turned and started toward the door.
Kai sighed and muttered, "Oh great. A nature hike. My day is made." But he followed, as did the others, curiosity getting the better of them all.
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