“I didn’t know you were having a sleepover,” Cami’s mother said, eyeing Helena from across the table. “I mean, most kids these days aren’t in a rush to be around where Abigail was found.”

“I can fend for myself,” Helena assured her.

Cami said nothing, staring at her bowl of cereal. It was pretty much all milk now, with sparse flakes floating here and there. She’d eaten it as an excuse not to talk.

“You’re from her club, right?” Cami’s mother asked. “Freakspotters?”

“Indeed I am,” Helena replied, beaming. “You know, your daughter’s strung together an impressive little group. It’s small, but we’re all great friends, and we get a lot done.”

“Do you, now?” Her mother raised a brow. “I mean, it’s about mythical creatures and all, isn’t it?”

Helena nodded. “It’s great for, y’know, themed excursions and work. We go to all the areas with rumoured hauntings in town, we study up on local folklore… it’s really cool.”

“Sure is,” Cami said. She shot Helena a look, drawing her hand across her throat as soon as her mother looked away: cut the shit, or we’re busted.

Thankfully, Helena got the message. She stood, offering Cami her hand. “Well, this has been delightful, but Cami and I have some studying to do for English class.”

“Oh, so you're classmates!” her mother beamed. “I was worried that without Jane here, nothing would get done.”

“Ha ha.” Cami stood and made a beeline for the stairs before her mother could say anything else. Only once she’d shut her bedroom door did she glare up at Helena and say, “We’re gonna have to tell the others that’s what we do, now.”

“Hey, it’s a good lie,” Helena said, shrugging. “We can’t exactly tell her the truth, but we’ll need a good excuse for all the running around we do. Let’s just keep everyone on the same page: these are club-mandated field trips. Or something. I don’t know student club jargon, that’s your job.”

Cami scoffed. “Right, because I’m gonna know the first thing about student club jargon. I barely got my papers in on time. Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t been shut down.”

“That can happen?” Helena’s eyes widened. “Shit, if we get shut down, we might be in trouble.”

Cami’s head spun just thinking about it. “I’m sure there’s a solution if we do.” She grabbed her guitar. It kept her grounded, in times like this. “Do you mind if I…?”

“Go off,” Helena assured her. “I’ll tell everyone about our new lie.” She pulled out her phone.

Cami took a reluctant strum at her guitar, but the noise that came out was more like she’d smashed it against the floor. Helena’s head shot up.

“Is it supposed to sound like that?” she asked.

Cami shook her head. “I should’ve replaced these strings ages ago,” she admitted. She’d even gotten a new set last month, while out on errands. With everything going on, though, she’d forgotten.

Then an idea struck.

Cami put the guitar down, nudging the neck forward. “Do you know anything about making jewelry, Helena?”

Helena, in fact, knew a thing or two about making jewelry. One of her roommates had a whole kit for it. They set off at once, hollering a quick excuse to Cami's mother about taking something out at the campus library.

“Rainbow said something about grounding items,” Cami said, fiddling with the strap of her bag. “I think if I can make something with, like, some of the strings from this instrument I’ve had so long…” She beamed. “It’s an idea, isn’t it?”

“Sure is.”

They’d settled down in Helena’s bedroom, which was as prim and tidy as Cami had remembered it. Still had the Flatwoods Monster cutout, too.

“We should tell the others,” Cami went on. “Y’know, so nobody’s powers ever go out of control. If that’s a problem.”

“It might be,” Helena allowed, “but is there a way to phrase that where it doesn’t sound condescending? Like, hey, you guys should get some magic items so you don’t go berserk.”

“Maybe we can say it’s just for emergencies?” Cami suggested. “You know, something that we’ll probably never use, but… better to have and not need than need and not have.”

“Bingo.” Helena shot her a finger-gun with her free hand. “I’m almost done here, by the way.”

Cami watched her work, nimble fingers braiding the guitar strings together. She opened a drawer at her desk, and peered into it quizzically. Cami snuck a glance over her shoulder: the thing was full of trinkets, from gemstones to pressed flowers to what looked like sea glass.

“You should pick one, Cami,” she said.

And one caught Cami’s eye right away: it wasn’t the biggest, or the brightest, or the shiniest, but it was immediately her favourite: a small, round stone with a jumble of greens and whites inside, like it held a whole forest.

Helena followed her gaze. “You like the moss agate? We can work with that. Anyways, if you wanna rope the others into this, you should text them now, before it gets too dark.”

Cami checked her phone. “Oh, yeah, sunset’s an hour away, tops.”

“I can’t wait for spring,” Helena muttered. “I hate when it gets dark so early.”

Cami nodded, thumbing in a quick text to the group: Hey, let’s meet at the bunker in half an hour. Magic stuff. Big deal.

“We really should use the bunker more,” Cami mused.

“Makes me feel like a supervillain, to be honest,” Helena remarked.

“Well, we just have to remember we’re doing the right thing.” Probably. Hopefully. I don’t know for sure, but probably and hopefully.

Helena scoffed. “I never said that was a bad thing. Being a supervillain is baller. Anyways!" She handed Cami the necklace.

It was beautiful: the guitar strings had been woven together as if made of mere thread, and held the moss agate secure in their caress.

“Thank you,” Cami breathed. She threw it over her head without thinking, and her hands were immediately drawn to the familiar texture of the strings, which complimented the smooth coolness of the stone. “It’s perfect.”

“And we kinda match,” Helena said with a laugh, holding up her rose quartz. “Now, I think it’s arts and crafts time with the rest of the gang.”

“You know,” Olivia said, “I was wondering how long it’d take for us to actually come here again. I mean, we have a whole magical bunker hidden in plain sight, and we kept insisting on dealing with supernatural matters on campus, where anyone could walk in.”

Rachel gave her a look, pouting. “And what, shirk all the hard work the fey did in glamouring our club room?”

“I preferred the classroom, too,” Jane admitted. “Mostly because I have a class there right before we meet, so it’s convenient.”

“Convenience be damned,” Olivia declared, “we have our own personal lair and we’ve neglected it.” She’d taken a seat at the centre table, and ran her hands along the old wooden surface. Dust stirred up like a tornado. Soon enough, all of them were coughing.

And by the time the dust had cleared, they were somewhere else entirely. Still the bunker, but the bunker in a parallel world where it hadn’t been left to rot.

No, this was the timeline where it’d been someone’s pride and joy. The walls, once dull red wood, had gained a light of their own, aglow with warmth. The floor was the same, and it’d also been complemented by fuzzy, moss-green rugs. Dried ivy and flowers crawled up and down the place, a gentle takeover of the unused space. The amenities remained the same--the fridge, the TV, the table and chairs--but now, Cami noticed, there was a door opposite the entrance. Same wood as the walls, but with a sparkling golden knob.

“It’s even bigger?” Jane murmured.

“It’s even bigger!” Rachel squealed. “Hell yeah!”

Cami pointed to the door. “And it’s got extra rooms.” She took a step forward, pushed on by curiosity. “I’m checking this out.”

“Is that safe?” Jane asked.

Cami shrugged. “If I’m not back in a minute, come after me.”

Before anyone could object, she strode on, threw the door open, and went headfirst into the unknown.

And then the door slammed shut behind her, and Cami was plunged into darkness.

“Typical,” she muttered. She should’ve known it would pull some haunted house shit like this. “Very funny.”

“I thought it was hilarious,” Trintio said.

Cami yelped, whirling around to see the fey perched on a dusty old bookshelf. He was folded almost in half so his head didn’t hit the ceiling.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” she asked.

Trintio shrugged, dropping to the floor with catlike grace. “Sure, but what am I going to do, just be standing in the middle of the room when you show up? That’d look silly.”

“You already looked silly, bent like that.” Cami poked him in the ribs. “How long did you even wait for us?”

“I’m somewhat bound to this place, so I only showed up when you came in,” Trintio assured her. “I’m--”

The door flew open. Olivia glared up at Trintio like he was in her way. Rachel stood at her heels, beaming like he was the guest of honour.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked. “And why’d you slam the door behind her all forebodingly?”

“Did you bring good news?” Rachel chimed in. “Or snacks, at least?”

Trintio rolled his eyes. “We can talk snacks later. Go make your jewelry, I have to have a private conversation with Cami.” He snapped his fingers, and the door slammed shut. “Anyways. Cami. Newsflash: we need to have a conversation.”