“Someone,” Mena cried weakly, raising her arm from the bed. “Someone. Help, it’s gone.”

The Lollypop Infirmary’s doctor waddled in and exclaimed, “What’s wrong, Mena?”

“The Jar of Despair,” Mena shouted pointing over at the table. “It’s vanished.”

“What?” the doctor dropped his clipboard and rushed to the table. “That’s not possible. We had the Lollypop Security Task Force stationed outside your room all night. I’ll have to get Gemini.”

An enormous tarot card appeared out of thin air, spinning and knocking the doctor to the floor. “Did somebody call for moi?” Gemini asked, looking around for the short doctor he whomped with his card.

“Mena?” Gemini asked, his bushy hair swinging back and forth as he leaned his hands on his knees. “Did you call me? I thought that voice was a lot…higher.”

“Down here,” the doctor growled with grimace. “Watch where you’re swinging those magic cards of yours."

“Oh no,” Gemini extended a gloved hand gallantly and pulled the doctor to his feet. “Sorry that I clubbed you, doc. I didn’t mean to deck you either. What seems to be the matter?”

The doctor dusted off his pants and pointed to the table in utmost horror. “Other than your horrible puns, your magical Jar of Despair is completely gone.”

Gemini put his hand on his chin, scratching his stubble. “And so it is,” he said, looking at the ink spot where his jar once was. “But…how is it possible? No…”

“WHAT?” Mena and the doctor exclaimed, their eyes wide like white dishes.

“Could it be, and this is but a theory, that Mena’s malevolent emotions have a sentience of their own?”

“Oh drat rats,” Mena muttered as she covered her face with her hands. “Even when I’m not doing the evil myself, my evil is still being evil elsewhere."

“That’s a mouthful,” Gemini laughed, turning around towards the wall. “I will send the Lollypop Task Force to search for it.”

Gemini spun on his heels and turned to Mena and the doctor. “I’ll go scramble the guards and arm them with the finest nets from my butterfly catching collection. We will nip this malevolence in the bud. Until then, we will place the school on lockdown.”

Before Mena could ask any more questions, Gemini was gone. He had disappeared behind a tarot card, knocking the doctor over again. “My apologies,” Gemini’s voice cried out. “We’ll use some of our school fund raising to expand this room for maximum card twirling capacity.”

Mena sighed. She pressed her hands together in prayer. “Please find those bad emotions,” she whispered.

Stress weighed itself heavily on Mena’s head, so she rested the whole afternoon. Some of the events that had transpired when she was under the Marisou’s control were fuzzy to her, while others popped up like unwanted weeds in her imagicnation, reminding her of her greatest follies so far. It only made her want to rest her eyes and remain in a deep sleep until the end of time itself. As the afternoon ended and evening began, Gemini’s loud voice rang in Mena’s ears.

“Oh witchy-poo. I totally forgot. Caligari and I have prepared a lesson for you.”

Shaking herself from beneath the covers, Mena looked around the shadowy infirmary.

“But how will I get there,” she asked. Especially when my evil essence is on the loose?”

“No worries,” Gemini’s voice laughed. “You don’t even have to leave your bed.”

A circular shadow stretched itself from around the bed and Mena screamed as she was pulled into the two-dimensional world of darkness. She quickly traveled along the floor, emerging out of the infirmary, and sliding along the hallway, dodging guard’s footsteps left and right until she appeared in the pitch-black dungeon of Caligari’s. The shadow on the floor spit her whole bed out, and once she got over the dizziness from having her lungs compressed in the shadow world, she noticed that Caligari was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh yoo hoo,” Mena called out. “Caigari?”

The room was silent.

“Er… is she here?” Mena asked, hoping Gemini would answer.

“She is indeedy-doo,” Gemini responded, but his voice faded out quickly. “I’ll leave you ladies to your top-secret training. When you finish, hopefully you’ll be able to see things ‘heart-to-heart.’”

Mena hopped out of bed and winced. The floor was like black ice on the soles of her feet. As she haplessly hopped up and down, Mena called out the name of her professor again. But the room was as silent as the shadows that covered it. “Aw come on, professor” Mena complained, her feet finally getting used to the flooring. “When I was possessed by that evil book demon, I still mentioned I had a mildly hairy lip too.”

A bright blue ember burst by Mena’s feet, causing her to leap up and down to avoid it.

“It wasn’t that,” Caligari’s stern but jilted voice echoed around the room. “You told me it was why Gemini didn’t like me.”

More colorful embers burned brightly in the dark, attempting to sizzle Mena’s feet until Mena cried out, “That’s not true.”

Suddenly, the barrage of ghost fire stopped.

Mena responded again, suddenly feeling sure of herself. “Gemini told her he likes women with mustaches…like his mother”

The room was dead silent, so Mena, no longer feeling intimidated tried to play it cool. “Uh,” Mena said, grinning sheepishly. “Well, he’s already got a mother, so how about you be his hot mustache mama.”

Mena put a hand on her hip, winked and put a finger between her nose and her mouth. ‘How’s Gemini gonna resist this: Bow-chicka bow-wow.”

After another silence, there was a sign and the phantom teacher emerged from the shadows with an exasperated look. “Willow,” she said, her glowing green eyes downcast. “Let’s get this over with so you can get out of my face.”

Caligari paced back and forth, so sharp and hard, Mena was afraid she’d wear a hole in the floor. She seemed to be doing it to avoid Mena’s direct gaze. Caligari seemed to have returned to cold-hearted teacher Mena knew at the start of her career when she spoke. “Willow, it seems that you didn’t remember anything I taught you over the last two semesters: Those who hope to gain control of you, and their pet night creepers, can attack your mind at any given time. That Marisou was a special kind of night creeper.”

“But Professor,” Mena asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. “Can’t night creepers only attack in my dreams?”

Caligari’s thin, tiny nostrils flared up as she walked. She did not seem to appreciate Mena trying to get on top of her with her knowledge. “Yes,” Caligari said, her cold green eyes finally looking to harrow Mena. “But a Marisou is special. It captured your very dreams while you were awake. After all, being adored by everyone was one of your fondest dreams at the time and that one you had in the waking hour.”

Mena reached up and touched her cheek. It was cold. “You’re right.”

“Of course, I am,” Caligari responded. “And I was informed you experienced a trauma recently. If you remember, I was there…” Caligari looked away jilted. “Not that you care.”

“I did, teacher,” Mena chimed in. “Thank you.”

Caligari ignored her. She continued. “Trauma opens a link between your heart—where your deepest emotions lie—and your mind, the logic that controls your very body. Whoever gave you that Marisou sensed that you were vulnerable and used your heart to get to your mind.”

Mena took a step back. “That hooded figure.”

Caligari didn’t look impressed at all. “You fell for an elementary scam.”

Mena winced at Caligari’s cold word, but realized she deserved it. Instead, she listened to her professor had to tell her.

“But we’re going to prevent that from happening again,” Caligari said, and formed a heart with index fingers and thumbs. “With a Heart Barrier that will protect you from further intrusions.”

“Wowie zowie,” Mena exclaimed. “That sounds really cool, but how will we create one?”

Caligari snapped her fingers and an image illuminated in the darkness. It was Janus and May standing with Mena.

“These friends of yours are essential,” Caligari said, and she snapped her fingers again. “But better yet. How about I bring them here?”

As soon as her fingers snapped, May and Janus along with their beds appeared beside Mena’s.

“Oh no,” May cried, covering up her Fabias faced pajamas. “This is a nightmare. I’m in Caligari’s classroom in nothing but my jammies.”

“For shame,” Janus remarked in her black hooded onesie. ‘I thought for a second I was back in daddy’s morgue.”

“These idiot friends of yours,” Caligari said, causing both May and Janus to frown. “Will form the fortress around your heart. But first, we shall make the pact. I want you three to put your arms on each other’s shoulders and form a triangle.”

Caligari pointed her index finger over May, Janus and Mena’s head as they huddled together.

“For friends who know each other’s heart, this power within will make sure that you are never apart.”

A white flame rose from Mena’s chest directly over her head, a purple flame followed from Janus’ and a pink flame for May. They circled around and around.

Mena smiled at her friends with her imperfect teeth. The braces had fallen off and she would need to have them repaired, but Mena knew they didn’t care one iota. She looked into the fondness that glowed in her eyes, and she knew, that if she summoned their power, it would be a lot harder to give in to the darkness again. Her eyes suddenly darted over to Caligari and she realized something. “Professor,” Mena shouted. “Get over here.”

“What?” Caligari responded, her small eyes growing wider.

“Professor,” Mena said, “You are the first teacher I made friends with. And I want you in my Heart Barrier too.”

It was like the ice freezing Caligari’s features had frozen. She no longer glared at Mena but slowly walked over to her, placing her arms on their shoulders. A blue flame rose from her heart and she joined the circle.

“Now the heart is sealed,” Caligari said, finishing the chant. “Behind a powerful pink force field.”

The flames had circled and formed one giant rosy heart that returned into Mena. Mena beamed with her uneven teeth. “Wow,” Mena said, “That ceremony was a like a steaming bowl of fondue. Extremely cheesy but made me feel warm on the inside.”

Caligari raised a finger to lecture Mena. “Whenever something threatens your heart. I want you to chant those words I said.”

“Will do, teach,” Mena said with a thumbs up.

“But I want you to know this,” Caligari said, crossing her arms. “The Heart Barrier is not infallible. It is possible for someone with powerful dark magic to shatter it. That is why you must forge further friendships to fortify it.”

“I wish Deidre was here,” Mena said with a sigh. “She’d be exactly who I’d want to fortify my heart.”

May and Janus embraced Mena again, giving her both a warm and chilly hug from their body heat and lack thereof in Janus’ case.

“Oh, and Willow,” Caligari said, her voice slightly perky. “Apology accepted.”

Mena beamed back at her teacher, “You got it, Mustache Mama.”

Caligari’s face turned bright red and she growled, “Don’t push your luck.”

The antics were interrupted by a member of the Lollypop security taskforce. Dressed in his purple guard uniform with his lollypop truncheon, the man called Caligari’s name.

“Professor Caligari, we have located the malevolent energies inside the Unicornea stable. But you’re not going to believe this. You’re needed immediately.”