Juliette rushed forward as Alex fell from his spot several feet in the air. "Is he okay?"

"I—" Justin started. "I think he's not evil anymore, if that's what you mean, but I don't know if the fall would have hurt him. Um—"

"We need to get both him and Penny out of the woods," Juliette said. "They both might have concussions, and Alex might have broken a bone."

"If you come with me—" Mrs. Proditor interrupted, but both Juliette and Justin whirled on her, Justin beating Juliette to the punch.

"No. Leave us alone. We're not going to join you."

"Justin, you can't escape your family. You're bound to end up like me." The friendly teacher facade was gone, replaced with the true evil beneath.

But Justin didn't back down. "No. I choose not to join you, and I choose my friends over you. So don't even try to get me to come with you, or any of us. Because we never will."

Mrs. Proditor's eyes blazed, and for a moment Juliette thought she might attack them. Juliette closed her eyes and braced herself.

But when she opened them, Mrs. Proditor was gone.

And good riddance, Juliette thought. Penny seemed to feel the same, murmuring in a barely audible voice, "She really pulled a Mrs. Dodds on us, huh?"

"Yeah," Juliette agreed. To Justin, she asked, "How are we going to get out of here? We're really deep in the trees, and with probably having to carry Alex and Penny, I don't know how we'll manage."

"Could you teleport us?" Justin asked.

"I— I don't know.  I don't want to mess anything up." Juliette hesitated.

"This may be our only way out, Juliette." Justin's face was deadly serious.

"Okay." What else could she do? "Everyone needs to get closer together."

Together Justin and Juliette picked up Penny, who was limp and laughed feebly as they did so, and moved her near Alex.

Juliette took a deep breath and grabbed Alex's hand in her own, Penny's in her other. "Justin, grab my arm and don't let go. Squeeze as tight as you can."

Face pale and set,—He may be regretting making me do this— Justin nodded and gripped her tightly.

Closing her eyes, Juliette focused hard on the other side of the trees, on the fire and their friends. Justin's grip tightened, and she winced in pain, but didn't let go of Alex and Penny.

Juliette knew it had worked before she opened her eyes. She could feel heat and the breeze now that they were out of the shade and stillness of the forest.

But had everyone made it in one piece? Juliette opened her eyes and was relieved to see that yes, the complete bodies of Alex and Penny, Justin standing nearby looking queasy.

And Ms. Asper marching angrily towards them.

"What were you thinking, wandering off into the forest like that? It's off limits! And now—" She noticed the prone figures of Alex and Penny. "What happened?"

"Um, they..." For once, Juliette's mouth and brain had failed her. Come on brain, think!

Fortunately, Justin's hadn't. "They— well, Penny— tripped on a rock and hit her head. Then Alex tripped over her and hit his head."

"This is why you weren't allowed in the forest!" Ms. Asper all but screeched. "You're all going back to the school. You've lost your privilege of this trip, and these two need medical care."

Juliette tried to muster up some disappointment, but all she felt was exhaustion.

***

The return ride to the school was much more subdued than the chatty, energetic trip there. Juliette drifted in and out of sleep, and by the time they arrived it was dark outside.

Justin and Juliette made sure Penny and Alex made it to the hospital wing, and then were instructed to go to bed.

But there was something that needed to happen first. They had to tell Mr. Magister the truth about Mrs. Proditor.

Juliette led the way to the office, the school quiet at night. That changed, however, as they neared the large wooden door that had once given Juliette so much trouble, hearing a voice raised in argument.

"What's next? First was have four kids— three of them the Fabulosa, for goodness sakes— and two of them are injured. What was I thinking, letting the first years go on a field trip? They clearly aren't ready for the responsibility." Juliette had never heard Mr. Magister sound so harried before.

Mrs. Justus's voice was quieter coming through the door. "Maybe there's an explanation for what happened."

"I'm sure there is, but frankly, I'm not in the mood to hear it. And—"

Justin knocked on the door, and the voice stopped mid-sentence. "Who is it?"

Together they pushed the door open to see Mr. Magister behind his desk and Mrs. Justus sitting in a chair on the other side. "What are you two doing? You need to go to bed." The anger had drained from his voice, leaving just a weary tone.

"We will, but, um, we needed to tell you something important. About Mrs. Proditor. She's part of the Malum and tried to—" Justin stopped talking at the bemused look both teachers were giving them.

Juliette's heart plummeted as Mr. Magister said, "Who is Mrs. Proditor?"

"Oh, um, nevermind. We were— why we came up here—" Justin had lost his flow.

"We were wondering what our punishment would be," Juliette stepped in smoothly, head bowed. The picture of a humble and penitent student, regretting her mistakes. "We feel really bad about ruining the trip."

"Well, for the remainder of this weekend you two will be cleaning the library, dusting and reorganizing under the librarian's instruction," Mrs. Justus told them. "Penny and Alex will receive their punishment after their recovery."

Juliette nodded. "We're sorry to bother you."

Mr . Magister waved a tired hand, and both kids backed out of the office. "Go to bed."

As the heavy doors clacked shut behind them, Justin let out a groan that seemed part scream. "Not again! This is ridiculous!"

"She really pulled a Ms. Dodds on us," Juliette said, echoing Penny's statement from earlier. Juliette had ended up reading The Lightning Thief, at the insisting of Penny and Geneva.

Justin nodded. "I guess it doesn't matter since she's not teaching her anymore."

But his tone told Juliette that to Justin, it mattered very, very much.

"I guess we should go ahead to bed. Hopefully by tomorrow Alex and Penny will be doing better by then," Juliette said.

"Yeah."

They continued down the steps in silence, amd Juliette stumbled.

Oh no. Not again. "Justin, catch me."

"What?!"

She fell.

***

Juliette, Alex, and Penny were in the room she and Justin had just left— Mr. Magister's office.

They turned to leave when black flames erupted and raced through the room, consuming the desk and the door, racing down the stairs. It encircled the room, trapping the Fabulosa inside.

And Mrs. Proditor appeared, laughing as they struggled in vain to put out the flames.

***

Juliette gasped for air. Justin had managed to catch her in time— Saved by his magic reflexes— and he now awkwardly propped her again the wall. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I— I'm fine. I'm not feeling very well. Let's just get some sleep, okay?"

Justin nodded. "Okay. Hopefully we won't see Mrs. Proditor again, and it won't matter that Mr. Magister forgot."

Juliette didn't say anything in reply.

We are almost done. I only have two chapters left to write, and five left in the story. I may or may not have written the ending months ago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What do you think? Will Juliette's second premonition come true like the first did? Will Alex and Penny be okay?

Also, for you Aliette shippers (looking at you GhostWriterGirl-1) did you like that little moment 😏😉?

Please vote or comment if you enjoyed!