At that moment, Carissa...passed the point of no return, flying beyond the ground of the patio and into the valley, with nothing concrete under her, besides the forest floor dozens of miles below, to halt her fall.

In just a few seconds, she would plummet to the ground and instantly die.

Even if Carissa regained consciousness after the diary's deletion...it would be too late.

"GET UP! DO IT!"

Looking behind me, at Serena screaming as Leo scrambled to regain control over his body, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

She had placed her trust in me; I couldn't let her down.

I passed the no point of no return as well, staying right below Carissa's body.

Before I knew it, I found myself leaping over the broken railing, destroyed by the very person flying over it, and into the valley.

Instantly, fear overtook my body.

There was nothing below me...for miles.

I was skydiving without a parachute.

What am I doing!? Why did I jump...I've just killed myself.

Gravity immediatly took effect, dragging my body, which was only slightly below Carissa's, down at an exponential rate.

Looking up, all I could see was Carissa's two motionless, blood-red wings, completely blocking my view of the pitch-black sky.

Wind rushed against my face, snapping me back to reality, as I gazed downward at the rapidly approaching ground, marking my death.

The trees that seemed smaller than ants from atop the patio were now right below me...so overwhelmingly huge.

Perhaps, because of the extra weight of her wings, Carissa was falling faster and had now caught up to me, the two of us now at the same height, side by side, as we descended.

Her eyes were sealed shut, as her limp and motionless body simply fell through the air.

I had two objectives.

Save Carissa's body from dying, and do not allow Anna to escape with Carissa's body.

Unfortunately, the two events were not mutually exclusive.

If one were to happen, it would affect the chance of the other.

To save Carissa, I needed Anna to control the body and flap those two wings, saving us both from death.

Carissa also didn't have the time or experience to use the wings to save the two of us.

Yet, if Anna regained control, she would undoubtedly try to escape.

I needed Anna to save me and Carissa.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and counted.

1...

2...

3...

Reopening my eyes, I gazed at the body, seemingly frozen in time, falling just a bit beneath me now, as we both plummeted toward the ground.

Serena...should have destroyed the diary by now, right?

Everything depended on her destroying the diary.

However...if the diary is destroyed, then isn't Anna also?

How was I going to awaken Anna if she no longer existed?

With wind constantly bombarding every part of my body, literally trying to tear me apart, I gritted my teeth and pushed my hand slightly downward.

Slinking my hand into the rich pocket of Carissa's jeans, I felt a rough and familiar texture rub against my face.

...

...

...

As the dorm door slammed shut, Serena immediatly dropped her bags to the floor and approached Carissa, who was sitting on her bed with a sorrowful expression, her eyes red from crying and eyebrows drooped.

"We have to destroy it."

Instantly, Carissa's head tilted upward, like a bobblehead, as she struggled to make eye contact with Serena, her lips quivering uncontrollably as she muttered.

"y-yea."

Not bothering to take a seat beside Carrissa on the bed, Serena simply rubbed her head and muttered.

"If losing control for an hour wasn't enough, I don't know what it is. She's going to take over your body."

Keeping her head down, hiding her expression, Carissa silently nodded.

However, Serena didn't stop there.

"How long. How long have you known? It's happened before, hasn't it?"

"..."

No response came.

Carissa remained motionless with her head down.

Clicking her tongue, Serena walked to the edge of the bedside where a familiar book bag lay.

Yet, before she could even lean down to open it, Carissa's frantic voice sounded as she jumped off the bedside, standing between the bookbag and Serena.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!"

Seeing Serena's eyebrows instantly raise to the top of her forehead, Carissa coughed and immediatly clarified.

"Anyone who touches the diary...or part of it will have my mom's soul partially in their body."

Shrugging her shoulders, Serena simply lengthened the sleeves of her black leather jacket to cover her palms.

"No?"

Shaking her head, Carissa kicked away the book bag, watching it slide away from the two of them on the wooden floor, and answered.

"It's about the mana, which can pass through any material besides obsidian."

Still seeing Serena's doubtful expression, Carissa continued.

"I won't go near it. I won't. I won't ask any more questions. I'm done."

Sighing, Serena simply shook her head and said as she walked away.

"Whatever, I'll go find a way to destroy whatever that thing is. You can do anything; I only got involved because of him, anyway."

"Who's 'him?' Leo?"

Confused, turning around, her hand on the doorknob, Serena paused, purposely not mentioning Athen's name as if it were a slur.

"You mean you don't know him? The rank 1900 we rode here with?"

Narrowing her eyes, Carissa paused, faintly recalling an image of him, but with everything going on with her mom, the past few weeks had been a blur.

"I mean...I saw him at dance auditions two weeks ago...around?"

Rubbing her forehead, Serena groaned as if she had a stomachache and simply said before exiting.

"Don't touch the diary, alright? I've taken on this task; my name is on it."

*BANG*

As the dorm door slammed shut, Carissa stood still for a moment, waiting to see if the door would suddenly swing back open...yet nothing happened.

Yet, as she got off the bed,...

*BANG*

"AHA!"

Swinging the door back open with her finger already, Serena stood in the doorway, staring at Carissa.

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