Will hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, not with the memories of monsters, magic, and portals flying through her head, reminding her of what had happened. What had just happened. She tried, of course, to convince herself that none of it had been real, that it was only a really bad dream, but in the end she couldn't deny the things she remembered seeing, smelling, feeling.

And when she got out of bed, a dread had firmly nestled itself in her stomach. Today she was going to have to tell the other girls what had happened, and even if they did believe her, Will was afraid of what their reactions would be. They'd blame her, she was sure of it. It had all been her fault, after all. She'd closed the portal. She'd closed it too soon.

Will slowly stumbled through her morning routine and placated her mother's worries with a few brief sentences about nightmares and how she wasn't going to watch another horror movie for a while.

"Make sure the zombies don't get you!" her mother called after her jokingly as she left for work. Will weakly smiled in response, and the second she heard her mother's car drive away the tears started to fall down her face. The monsters hadn't gotten her; but she'd let them get her friends.

She finished her breakfast and went back to bed.

The doorbell rang around four in the afternoon, and by then Will had recovered enough to leave her bed. That all went out the window, though, when she opened the door and saw Cornelia.

Cornelia's smile was quickly replaced by a look of concern. "You really do look sick," she said and it was all Will could do to nod. Cornelia held out some paper for her. "I brought you your homework. Thought that'd cheer you up."

"Thanks," Will mumbled and took the papers.

"You know…" Cornelia began, but let her voice trail as she appeared to rethink what to say. Since she wasn't about to leave and Will didn't want to look her in the eye, Will started to look through the sheets of homework. Math problems, a short story to read, an assignment about medieval-

"How are you feeling?" Cornelia had decided to go on easy on her, and Will felt a little relieved.

"Awful."

"What time did you get home last night?" Or maybe she hadn't.

"... Irma and Hay Lin didn't go to school today, did they?" Will asked, cutting to the point as she imagined Cornelia wanted to. And, indeed, when her eyes met Cornelia's there was a bit of approval in those blue eyes.

There was also worry, and a kind of harshness Will was afraid of. She'd seen how those jerks yesterday had run when Cornelia arrived on the scene, and where she was from guys rarely ever ran away from girls.

"You you three were going to meet Elyon at the gym, but she said none of you showed up."

The papers nearly slipped out of Will's hand. "What? She said that?"

"Yes, she did. You were the last ones to see them, weren't you, Will?" Cornelia asked, and the calmness of her voice made Will even more fearful of her eventual reaction to the story she had to tell.

Will stepped back so Cornelia could come in, and Cornelia's eyebrows raised with surprise. "It's a long story," she explained meekly. "And you might want to sit down."

For an uncertain moment, Cornelia looked between Will and the open door but in the end she entered the building. She made to take off her jacket, but changed her mind at the last minute.

"It's cold in here," she commented as she briefly surveyed the room, then turned back to Will. "Are you running a fever?"

Will's face twisted a little at having to admit a lie. "I'm not sick Cornelia. I'm just… I needed time alone to think."

Cornelia stared at Will for a second, and Will swore she could almost see her piecing things together behind her blue eyes. Cornelia nodded slowly, then turned around and returned to surveying the room.

"This way to the living room, right?" Cornelia said, already opening the correct door before she'd even gotten a reply. That said, there was only one door to really choose from. Will didn't live in a big place; with just her and her mother there was no need.

"Yeah…" Will followed Cornelia. She wondered if she'd be feeling so small and docile in her own house if it had been Taranee who'd come instead of Cornelia. While Will didn't have any reason to dislike Cornelia, she did feel a better, friendlier connection with Taranee.

There was only one couch, so Will sat down next to Cornelia who was already picking something off her skirt. And just as soon as she'd sat down, Will stood up again and made some excuse about making tea; an excuse that Cornelia saw right through.

"I'm not thirsty," Cornelia said, her voice still frighteningly calm. "And if you're not sick, then I don't mind keeping you from your tea." She turned to Will. "I just want to know what happened."

Will wasn't sure what had done it but the second Cornelia looked at her like that the words tumbled inelegantly out of her mouth. "It was this monster - two of them! - And they, they - They attacked us and-" Seeing some obvious confusion break through Cornelia's calm composure, Will added desperately, "Hay Lin's grandmother was right, Cornelia! It isn't just a some story, or a prank, or - the, the story about the Heart of - the Heart of Candrawhatsit and the monsters and the… veil…" Will let her words die off, not only because she suddenly felt exhausted from finally vocalising what had happened, but also because Cornelia had stiffened and was leaning away from her, a very skeptical and very distasteful look having overtaken her previous poker face.

And before she could stop herself, tears started to gather in Will's eyes, threatening to fall down her face. She buried her face in the palms of her hands, trying to hide from feeling like a right idiot. Cornelia didn't believe her. She should have known. Cornelia didn't believe her and now she thought she was crazy.

Taking opportunity of the silence, Cornelia cleared her throat and said, surprisingly diplomatically (Will had been expecting a scolding), "Your face looks really red. You should get some more sleep."

Not trusting herself to speak again, Will nodded. For extra measure, she quickly wiped her eyes and looked at Cornelia, intending to make sure the other girl saw her response, but Cornelia wasn't looking at Will anymore. She was staring at something across the room with a frown on her face.

"Why is your phone unplugged?" she asked, a tone of accusation finally surfacing in her voice.

"Oh…" Will stared at the landline too, having a little trouble recalling something that wasn't related to her friends' disappearance. She honestly couldn't remember unplugging the phone. "I don't know. I was asleep all day… I… I think I remember it ringing, though…"

"Hmm…" Cornelia hummed to herself thoughtfully in a way that brought the nervousness right back to Will's bones. Cornelia heightened the feeling by adding. "Irma's father rang my house this morning. He's ringing everyone."

Will didn't say anything in response. She just shrank further into herself.

Cornelia suddenly gasped, "I'm going to be late," and stood up. Will didn't look at her, or see her out of the house, but she heard it loud and clear when Cornelia added, "You know Irma's father is a cop, right? You're going to want a better story than monsters and magic when he comes to visit you."

The warning echoed long after the sound of Cornelia shutting the door behind her.