After leaving Vivian's residence, she was enveloped by a gust of cool air. It was already completely dark, and the lanterns by the house illuminated only a part of the courtyard. The surrounding forest merged into a dark spot, and only the treetops traced a jagged line against the backdrop of the navy-blue sky. Silence reigned around. She even looked around for the dog, trying not to make the same mistake again, but he was out of sight. Miles, without a word, headed towards the black BMW, which blinked its lights as the boy approached. Vivian cast one more glance at the facade of the building before following Oberlin to the car.

They drove in silence. The boy had forgotten, or perhaps intentionally did not turn on the radio, allowing Vivian to gather her thoughts in peace. After the evening at Ashwood Hall, she felt like all of this was too surreal, as if ripped from a strange dream. Her thoughts kept jumping between two figures: Michael and Edgar Hamilton. Both appeared in her mind during a single dinner, becoming almost tangible, yet she couldn't come face to face with either of them. Where the hell was her father? What happened to her half-brother? If Michael had his own company, it would probably be easy to find him on the internet. Maybe there would be some pictures...

She reached for her phone in her bag. There was a single notification from Sarah on the screen. "Have you already been sacrificed, or will we see each other tomorrow morning for class?" Vivian smiled softly to herself and opened the messaging app to reply to her friend. But her gaze drifted to her previous conversation with her mother. The last messages from Jocelyn were from a few days ago. She should call her. Point out all the lies and force her to confess the whole truth. But would she really get it?

She placed the phone on her lap and glanced at Miles for a moment, his gaze fixed on the road. Although they certainly hadn't told her everything, she still couldn't believe how easily she had received all the information today, information she had been trying to extract from her mother for most of her life. They promised her answers, but she wanted some assurance that she wasn't being fed another dose of lies. Maybe she should try to verify them first. But how?

As they approached the town, the car became slightly brighter from the warm lights of the old lanterns. Vivian looked out the window, realizing that their journey was slowly coming to an end, and she glanced back at Oberlin.

"Thank you for inviting me today and... for telling me everything."

"No problem. You probably still have a lot of questions, but give yourself time to digest tonight. Daisy will give you our numbers. Don't hesitate to reach out." He tried to sound polite, and his gaze remained fixed on the road. He didn't look at her throughout the entire journey. Maybe he was afraid she had heard too much? But had she really heard something important? They were in mourning, and they hadn't told her everything. That's all she could really deduce on her own. Maybe she had indeed been somewhat tactless, barging into the kitchen like that.

"Miles," she spoke up after a while when she noticed that the boy had started to drift towards the center of the road. "Miles!" She didn't wait for the car to collide with the parked vehicle on the street and reached for the steering wheel to straighten their course.

The boy raised his head as if awakened by a sudden jolt. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and blinked rapidly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, hesitantly letting go of the steering wheel as Miles seemed to regain full control of the car and his mind.

"Sorry..." he muttered quietly and ran his hand over his face. "I got lost in thought," he added quickly.

"You got lost in thought? You would have driven straight into that car!"

The boy didn't reply. He slowed down and calmly parked by the curb. He pondered for a moment and then, without a word, got out of the car, slammed the door behind him, and leaned against the car. Vivian watched his silhouette through the window for a moment and shook her head. What was he doing? It couldn't be that his pride was so fragile that he was bothered by such a comment.

She looked around at their surroundings and got out of the car. She circled it slowly to end up on Miles' side, who was covering his face with his hands.

"Are you okay?" she asked uncertainly, keeping her distance.

"Yes... I just need a moment; I'll drive you in a second," he sighed, gently massaging his forehead with his fingers.

"You don't have to. The dorms are right there; I can walk. Will you be okay getting home?"

"Yes, it's just a migraine. It'll pass," he assured her, still not lifting his head.

Her migraines didn't look like this, but she preferred not to push. Not to meddle in personal matters. Today evening had brought her enough emotions already.

"Alright," she said, taking a step back and glancing towards the park. Not all of the old lanterns worked as they should, but it was the shortest way to the dorm. The prospect of a warm bed made her realize how exhausted this day had left her. "Let me know when you get back."

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and walked down the path. She felt a slight pang of guilt in her stomach, but she didn't want to impose herself on a man she barely knew. She threw one more glance over her shoulder. It seemed that he finally raised his head and was slowly getting ready to get back into the car. She couldn't read any more details from his diminishing silhouette. She wrapped her jacket more tightly around herself, looking ahead. The completely empty park, shrouded in semi-darkness, was playing havoc with her imagination. The flickering shadows of the trees sometimes resembled the figures of angry wolves, waiting for her to come closer. She cursed in her thoughts, quickening her pace. Without stopping, she reached into her bag for her headphones. There was only a short section of the park left to pass, and she already saw the gap between the buildings, but those few glasses of wine seemed to be affecting her imagination too strongly. When she finally felt the shape of the headphones under her fingers, she looked back at the path, but suddenly froze in her tracks.

In the darkness of the malfunctioning streetlights, in the middle of the path, she saw a clear silhouette of a man. Her heart started pounding in her throat. She saw Abigail's murdered images in her mind's eye again. It couldn't be... Not in the heart of the town, surrounded by so many buildings. Maybe it was just a passerby.

She didn't even have time to think, as a gust of wind stirred the leaves again, and the silhouette dissolved, just like all the shadowy monsters she had passed by. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart was still racing. She moved on, pushing the headphones back into her bag, preferring to keep all her senses sharp in case the figure reappeared unexpectedly. She didn't even realize how quickly she tried to cross the park, already seeing the passage between the buildings. Behind it, there was only a well-lit street to cross to reach the dorms. She breathed a sigh of relief when she left the semi-darkness of the park behind, but she had to look back to make sure it was just a product of her tipsy imagination. She only managed to glance at the path before she suddenly collided with something with considerable force. Something that wasn't there a moment ago. For a second, her whole body was dazed from the impact, but someone grabbed her arm, preventing her from losing her balance.

"Are you alright?"

When the image cleared again, she lifted her head to examine the man who still held her arm. Dark coat and familiar stubble.

"Miles?" She shook her head as if trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "What are you doing here?"

The boy let go of her arm and reached into the inner pocket of his coat, pulling out a phone.

"You left it on the seat," he explained, handing her the lost item.

Vivian looked at her phone somewhat confused. She even touched her bag, wondering if she really hadn't taken her phone from the car. She looked back at the park.

"Are you okay?" The boy looked at her carefully. She still had a fast heartbeat after rushing to leave the park.

"Yes, just..." She glanced at the park again. "My imagination sometimes plays tricks on me." She smiled awkwardly. She was convinced that the boy would think it was silly. She had been scared by a few shadows and moving leaves.

However, Miles furrowed his brows slightly and walked a few steps towards the park. He paused for a moment, looking around carefully.

"I told you. It's just my imagination and... a few glasses of wine," she added, also observing the area.

"Come on, I'll walk you." The boy turned towards her and nodded in the direction of the street. She wouldn't mind if he assured her that there was really nothing there. She tucked her phone into her bag and walked with him at a calm pace.

"Nothing there, right...?" she asked at last, as his silence was starting to drive her crazy.

Miles sighed heavily and glanced back. Damn.

"You'll think I'm crazy," he said, reaching into his pocket as if looking for something.

"Um... I won't think that..." she lied, trying to tease him just a bit.

" Would you mind if I gave you something? Well... for luck." The words seemed to struggle to escape his throat.

"No...?" she replied, now genuinely intrigued. They stopped in front of the stairs leading to the building where her room was.

The boy took a necklace out of his pocket and handed it to her. Vivian turned it in her fingers, examining it more closely. It seemed quite old, made of steel, resembling a simple eye.

"What is this?"

"Something for luck," the boy smiled nervously at her. "You don't have to wear it; just keep it with you."

"Will it help me with exams?" she asked with a smile. Miles seemed to be so tense that she had to at least try to lighten the atmosphere. "Because I could definitely use that."

"Oh, yes. As long as you study at least a bit," he teased, his smile appearing a bit more genuine this time. "It will definitely help you. The beginning of college can be overwhelming."

"In that case, thank you," she said, tucking the necklace into her jacket pocket. "I didn't think... You don't strike me as someone superstitious, you know? As a lawyer, I thought you'd be looking for truth and logic everywhere."

"You'd be surprised how superstitious lawyers can be," the boy chuckled briefly, putting his hands in his pockets. "And... you still have a lot to learn about me."

"Definitely," Vivian said with a slightly intrigued smile. She was curious, and maybe she wouldn't mind getting to know him better. "But what about you? Will you be okay without your amulet?" she asked, slightly teasingly. She didn't believe the amulet would help her in any way, but she saw it as a kind gesture. Maybe it could at least calm her overactive imagination.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Miles nodded reassuringly. "But we'll talk about it another time. Tonight must have been quite eventful for you. You should rest," he said, stepping back a bit. "And take care of yourself," he added, sending her another encouraging smile before heading back to his car.

Vivian watched him for a moment and then turned to her dorm, twirling the necklace in her pocket. Sarah had a point. The residents of Ashwood Hall were certainly an unusual bunch.