"You know, it's okay to sulk a little bit," Christine said.

"I—" Claire blushed.

"Because I know that you want to be back, pouring over those tomes, or maybe practicing in the mirror dimension with Wong and the other masters. Wong says that you're one of the better students he's had."

"You—"

"I date Dr. Strange. You pick up some things, especially when an unchained demon interrupts lunch."

"Oh, well, it's just that…"

"That you think you could do better than the good doctor?"

"I—" Claire looked back out the window.

Christine shook her head. "Or that you and your friends are so used to not telling anyone else what you're doing, that you have to do it on your own."

"The trolls know!" Claire protested. She'd eventually told Christine and Doctor Strange everything.

"But they're not your parents, and they're not in a position to do something when you miss school… Or get arrested. In fact, because you can't tell them the truth, I bet they're assuming the worst."

"I—" Claire blinked. How did the conversation get here? "Sort of."

"So take advantage with this. You're a student, taking advanced courses you can't talk about, but nobody'll bat an eye at that—this is New York, home of the first confirmed alien invasion, where vulture men and spidermen duke it out in the streets. Down in Harlem there's a man who can bounce bullets off of his skin and we hav—had, the Avengers downtown."

"And a wizard."

"And a wizard. But right now, until Stephen can send you back, you don't have to worry about that. You don't have to be the only one standing between your homes and the darkness. Take this opportunity to relax, recharge…" Suddenly Christine's voice was serious. "Because take it from someone who works in a very high-tension field, the people who can't take those opportunities burn out. They start to resent the people around them. And that takes them to a very bad place."

"I'll try." But I wish he could just have sent me back right away…

"Good. Now quick check. Where are you from?"

"I was living in Manhattan, but the Chitauri blew up the apartment and hurt my parents, so we moved to California. But now, I'm coming back here for a year, staying with you, because this is my home town."

"Right." Christine nodded. "And we have the documentation to back it up."

"You know," Claire said. "If he could teach me to do that with tardy excuses, it would make life really easy back home…"

"Or you could tell your parents…" Christine smiled. "Maybe declare yourself a super team, like the Avengers?"

"I think that works better if you have a billionaire, legendary super soldier, secret agents, demigod, and a unstoppable hulk, instead of needing to ask permission to go out after curfew…"

"Well," the doctor replied."Never know until you try—and here we are. Midtown High School, home of the best STEM program in the borough."

"Hail! Hail! The Walker of Darkness! Hail, he of the Shining Trapezoid! We call upon you, the Haunter of the Dark!" Tim raised his hands up, the bloody symbols drawn on the floor. "Avatar of the Crawling Chaos!"

The air suddenly seemed to twist, even as darkness grew in the room, the lights and candles dimming. Mike stepped back. So did the others.

Christa didn't look bored anymore, as she glanced down at the way the blood was gleaming. "Tim… Tim, this isn't what…"

"Not rabbits out of hats, right!" Tim laughed. "I call thee! I call thee! I call thee!"

I AM HERE… Something… rose in the circle. It was darkness and indistinct save for a burning, three-lobed eye.

And it was wrong. Christa sobbed in terror, before she turned and threw up. Mike stared in horror, while others cried out. Tim stared at it, shivering.

"Yo-you're here, so now you have to serve me, right!"

THERE IS NO SACRIFICE. NO TOKEN.

"What? Look at all the cow's blood!" Tim said.

BUT DESIRE IS HERE. AND SO ARE THE SACRIFICES. Suddenly, the light vanished completely. Screams filled the room, and then the lights came back up, the stink of burning blood in the air, the symbols of the circle seared into the floor.

"Wait!" Tim shouted. "Come back!"

"Are you fucking insane!" Mike shouted. He lunged forward and grabbed the book. "It's gone and we're going to get rid of this book!"

"Wha-no! Remember what we got the book for!"

"You got the book to do magic!" Christa said, hyperventilating. "Fireballs, stuff out of an MMO…That… That…" She gagged. "That thing was evil. No wonder your dad never tried to get it. He wasn't yellow, he was smart!"

"Guys?" The three turned towards another member of their group. Hank was short, pudgy and looked like he wanted to faint. "Didn't you hear what it said?"

"What!" Mike snapped.

"'Desire is here. And so are the sacrifices.' What did it mean?"

Suddenly, Christa wasn't looking at Tim. She was looking at the walls, and beyond them, the teeming city surrounding them. "Oh no…"