Everyone was in the abandoned house after what happened at Hudson Fields.

Diana and Cassie said that they had seen Nick.

"There's no way you saw Nick," Melissa told them. "He's dead. We went to his wake. Tricia tried to kill herself at her best friend's wake."

Jake looked toward me in surprise.

I had never told him that.

No one had told anyone that.

The only one who had known was Melissa because she had talked me out of it. 

I put a hand to my head, turning away. 

"It was Nick," Jake told them. "He even had a picture of him, Tricia and me." 

"No, this is impossible, even by our insane standards," Adam told us. 

Blackwell walked closer. "Maybe not. It's possible that when Nick drowned, the demon didn't. And it kept his body alive."

"Looks like our insane standards just got a lot insaner," Faye told us. 

Melissa stood. "The point is Nick is alive."

"But he's not the same Nick we know," Cassie told us. "I saw him."

"He definitely seems more into massacring people than he used to," Faye told us. 

"He's killing witch hunters," Melissa told us. "Isn't that what we're trying to do?" 

"They were mauled like by an animal," Jake told her. 

"Since when do animals want crystals?" Melissa asked. "Guys, Nick is stuck in a nightmare. He is probably lost and scared and disoriented. We need to help him."

Jake stood angrily, on edge. "Whatever it is, whoever he is, it's not Nick!"

"It's not that black and white, Jake," Melissa told him. 

"Death?" Jake asked. "Yeah, it is." 

Melissa walked out of the room, leaving.

I looked at Jake. "She loved him." 

"She needs to move on," Jake told me. 

"Is that a message to me or to you?" I asked.

Jake didn't answer, turning away, walking out of the room, leaving. 

Adam walked out of the room, following Melissa. 

"Guys . . . " Blackwell trailed off, standing. 

I walked out of the room, leaving, following Jake.

At Jake's house, Jake opened the door to his room, walking inside.

I followed him. "What you said to Melissa was worse than your usual insensitivity."

"I don't want her to get hurt," Jake told me. "Getting emotional over this only makes her distractible." 

"And by 'this', you mean Nick, right?" I asked. "Look, I know that talking things out isn't really our style, but I think this is affecting you more than you realize." I slowly sat down. Jake was pacing around. "You've got that look." 

"What look?" Jake asked.

"That look like you're about to invade a small country with nothing but your tortured soul," I answered.

"You're right, Tricia, I don't want to talk about it," Jake told me.

Jake opened his trunk, taking out a box, sitting next to me, opening the box, taking out a knife.

"Whoa," I said. "What have you got there, Rambo?" 

"It's not so that I can kill myself," Jake told me, looking from the blade to me. "Like you did when?" 

"Let it go," I told him. "I was messed up and depressed and angry." 

"And you never told me about it," Jake told me.

"Just like you never answered my question," I replied.

Jake gave me a look but answered anyway. "Protection. If Nick comes back looking for the crystal, I don't want us to end up like those guys at the carnival." He looked at me. I sat back, looking away. "I think it's affecting you more than it's affecting me." 

I looked at him expressionlessly. "It's affecting all of us." 

The next day, at school, in the hallway, Melissa, Faye and I walked up to Cassie and Adam.

"Hey, do you want a ride tonight?" Adam asked.

"A ride to prom?" Cassie asked.

"Oh, no, you don't, curse crusaders," I told them. "First it's a ride. Next thing you know, you're slow dancing, and my date is dead in my arms." 

"Shut up, Tricia," Melissa told me.

"Wait, you're bringing Jake?" Cassie asked.

"Well, he needs a date to get in," I told them. "Should I have asked your permission?" 

Cassie tilted her head at me sarcastically.

"They were going to go together two years ago--" Faye started.

"Ah," I cut her off. "Shh. Ancient history. Leave it at that." 

"Let's all meet at the abandoned house, and we can drive here together," Adam told us.

"Okay," Faye said. "For a bunch of witches, the magic of prom is obviously lost on you. I mean, if we're going, we might as well do it right. A limo? Champagne?" Melissa, Cassie, Adam and I exchanged looks. "Well, that's what normal people do on the big social event of the year. And I thought that we're trying to blend in." 

"We're not normal," Melissa told her. 

"No, we're definitely not," Adam agreed. 

"We're not losers, either," Faye told us. "There will be dancing." 

Faye, Melissa, Adam, Cassie and I parted ways.

At the abandoned house, everyone met there, in their prom attire. 

And the only trouble was that Melissa had been here alone and had seen Nick. Adam had walked in. Nick had pushed Melissa forcefully into a table and taken off.

The only thing that he had wanted was the crystal.

Jake had gone after him to see if he could find him.

But Faye acted as if nothing happened as she smiled, popping the cork off a wine bottle. "Whoo!" 

"Ah, champagne," Adam said. "Really?" 

"This is still prom night, damn it," Faye told us, taking a drink.

"Jake's been out there a long time," I told them. "Do you think he found Nick?" 

No one answered.

Faye held the wine bottle toward Melissa and e. "The bubbles will help, I promise." 

Jake walked in.

"Did you see him?" Melissa asked instantly.

"No," Jake answered. "He must have taken off. What did he say to you?" 

"Well, he remembered me," Melissa told us. "And he recognized this place--"

"And then, he attacked you," Adam told her.

"You scared him," Melissa told him. 

"Melissa . . ." Adam trailed off. "I saw his eyes. He looked like some kind of wild animal. All he cared about was the crystal." 

"He said he was going to die," Melissa told us. "Doesn't that matter to you? To any of you?" 

"If he hurt you, the Nick we knew is completely gone," I told them, trying to stay expressionless. "He loved you, Melissa, he would have never hurt you." 

"He was in there somewhere," Melissa told me. "I saw it, Tricia. I swear."

"You wanted to see it," Jake told her. "Adam might have saved your life." 

"Come on," Faye told us. "Let's go to prom." 

No one was in the party mood, but everyone knew she wasn't going to give up, walking toward the door, leaving.

At prom, there were tables set up elegantly around. There were stringed-lights hanging from the ceiling, music playing, every one in formal attire. 

Adam, Diana, Cassie, Melissa, Faye, Jake and I stood together at the entrance. 

"After all we've been through this year, I never though we'd all go to prom together," Diana told us. 

"I never thought prom would have a tree in the middle of it," Cassie told us.

"Well, otherwise, how would it be any different than any other school event we've been to this year?" Faye asked. "Especially with a psycho on the loose."

"Nick's not a psycho," Melissa told her.

"Okay, well, demon challenged," Faye said. 

"Okay, let's just find the crystal so that we can be alive for next year's prom," I told them.

"Way to bring the room down, Patricia Hartley," Faye told me. 

"She's right," Jake told her. "Let's get on with it." 

Jake led me further into the room.

While Cassie and Diana were traveling through time to find out where the crystal was, and Adam and Melissa were standing guard at the door so no one walked in on them, and Faye was dancing with some random stranger, I walked toward Jake, who stood alone in the hall.

"Keep playing with that knife in your pocket, people might get the wrong idea," I told him.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Being here with you is a lot more boring than I'd imagined and I imagined prom to be pretty boring, so that's saying something," I told him.  Jake raised his eyebrows at me. "We were supposed to go together two years ago, and you never showed up. I waited for three hours."

"You did?" Jake asked.

 "Well, Nick was my ride and he made me wait three hours so he could laugh at me," I told him. Jake chuckled. I looked at him. "It was my fault in the first place for caring. I made a habit of never doing that again." 

But, with everything going on tonight, with Nick, we both could use a distraction.

I grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked.

"Breaking my habit," I answered. 

Jake tried to pull back, smiling. "Tricia--"

I tried to pull him back. "Jake. Jake . . ." Jake smiled, walking closer, dancing with me to the slow song. "Look, I usually like the strong, silent, totally-messed-up-under-the-surface types. Because that's exactly what I am. But if you keep this up, it's not going to end well. For any of us." 

"What are you talking about?" Jake asked. 

"Nick," I answered. "I'm talking about your feeling for your brother. I know that's why you've been so hard on Melissa, because she's saying everything that you don't want to think about."

"How would you know that?" Jake asked.

"Because I think about it, too," I answered.

"I walked out on my brother, and he was taken over by a demon and died," Jake told me. "Now he's back as this thing, and it's my fault." 

I shook my head. "Cassie and I did the spell that let the demon out of Heather Barnes. That's why Nick got infected--"

"Tricia--" Jake started.

"And that's why I tried to kill myself after he died," I told him. "Because I felt guilty. I was guilty. I got my best friend killed." 

"You thought you were doing the right thing," Jake told me.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I did. So I say, we can both be as sad as we want, but I think we should agree to let go of the self-hatred." 

Jake didn't answer, but he knew I was right.

In the hall later Jake, Faye and I walked into the dark hallway when we heard running footsteps.

Adam was running around a corner.

Casie and Melissa were following him.

"Cassie!" Faye said. "Melissa!" 

Cassie and Melissa turned to face us. 

"We know where the crystal is," Melissa told us.

"And so does Nick," Cassie told us. "He's here." 

They turned around, running down the hall.

Jake, Faye and I followed them.

We heard glass shatter, running around a corner.

Adam was on the floor laying on a pile of glass.

Nick had the crystal, running toward the exit.

We followed him outside of the school.

"He ran down there," Jake told us. 

Cassie, Melissa, Faye and I were pulling on our jackets as we ran.

"I knew I should've brought demon-chasing shoes," Faye complained.

We continued to run.

Nick had ran into a wrecking yard, the gate broken.

"That lock's broken," Cassie told us. "Nick must've gone in here." 

Cassie started to open the door.

"Why is it always spooky, old, dirty places with him?" Faye complained. "Why couldn't he hide in a mall or a nice hotel?" 

All of us walked in, looking around.

"Let's find him," Jake told us. "Be careful. Nick almost killed Adam for the crystal. He'll turn on any of us." 

Jake and I walked one way. Cassie and Adam walked the another way. Melissa and Faye walked another.

"Look, Jake is right," Adam told us. "We don't know what else Nick is capable of." 

"Look, we just need to find the crystal and keep it away from my father," Cassie told us. 

"This place is disgusting," Faye complained. 

"Shut up, Faye," Melissa told her. "Let's just find them." 

I sighed, looking around.

Jake looked at me. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I told him. "It's not your junkyard." 

"I mean about prom," Jake told me. I looked at him. "Sorry I never showed up. You didn't deserve that." I didn't know how to react to that. We heard metal clang, looking toward it. Jake pulled out the knife from his jacket pocket, nodding to the right. "Over there."

We walked toward the noise. 

Cassie, Adam, Melissa and Faye were making their ways toward it from separate angles too.

"I think it came from this way," Cassie told us. "What is it?" Nick stood alone with the hood pulled over his head. Eben walked toward him. "Eben." 

Nick pulled back his hood, holding the crystal up for Eben to see. "I have the crystal. I want to trade. "

"A demon doesn't travel as easily as a crystal, Nick," Eben told him. 

"He wants the demon back," Melissa said.

"It's keeping him alive," Faye said. "He needs it to survive." 

"That's not a life," Melissa told her. "No one wants that evil inside them." 

"No one human," Faye agreed.

Cassie and Adam were watching from a few feet away.

"Got to get that crystal," Cassie told him, walking forward.

"Be careful," Adam told her.

Cassie walked toward Nick and Eben determindedly, alarms blaring and horns honking loudly. 

Faye, Melissa, Adam, Jake and I ran to stand in a line behind her. 

Cassie used her magic to make Nick throw the crystal toward us, the crystal landing on the ground. Cassie knelt to pick it up, standing. 

Eben barely moved his hand, his magic throwing Cassie over a car, rolling down the windshield, falling to the ground, unconscious, the crystal on the ground above her head.

Nick ran toward the crystal.

"Nick!" I yelled.

Jake ran forward. 

Eben raised a hand toward us.

Melissa and Faye followed Jake and Nick.

"I'm going to kill all of you," Eben told us.

A car engine started behind Adam and me, the headlights turning on, making us turn toward it.

Another car drove into the one driving toward us to make it stop. 

Adam and I gasped.

Blackwell walked toward us. "Help Cassie. I'll deal with Eben." 

Adam grabbed my arm. "Come on." 

I shook my head. "Eben could kill him. I'll stay." 

"What?" Adam asked. "Tricia, you've never trusted him."

"But I never wanted him to die, either," I told him, pushing him in the direction the others had gone. "Go." 

Blackwell and Eben stalked toward each other. 

Eben raised his arm, magically throwing a car toward Blackwell. Blackwell ducked to the ground, burrowing so he wouldn't get hit. 

I walked forward nervously, wanting to see if he was okay.

I heard Jake choking for air, looking toward the direction the sound came from. "Nick! Nick! Nick! No!" 

I had been too distracted.

I didn't see what happened, but I fell unconscious.