Day 18: The Witch’s Eyes

Said took a breath before he began.

“...I have good news and bad news.”

“What happened?” Sally asked from within her mind.

“The good news is that your body is showing small improvements. What you told me yesterday—about sensing a specific part of your head—that’s important. And you recovered a large portion of your memories.”
He paused.
“To heal you, the energy needs to flow through your body and be released.”

He looked down for a moment.

“The bad news is that, for you to recover, you need to be overloaded with energy… and that’s dangerous. Your body struggles to release it. I tried distributing it to different areas, but it always finds a way to concentrate.”

Sally thought quietly.

“What if I try to assimilate it?”

Said shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know what could happen. If it concentrates in your brain, it could be extremely dangerous… and I don’t want to even imagine what would happen if it spreads through your whole body.”

“That’s why I wanted to propose using astral separation,” he added.

“We can try,” Sally replied. “But I’ll need to focus more.
Because the day before yesterday, when you left, I tried… and I couldn’t do it. Before, I could feel the environment, every part of me. Now I can’t.”

“You need to try becoming one with your mind,” Said said.

“That’s why I have to focus even more,” she replied. “This time… try it. Transfer a large amount of energy. I see you’re trying to make it release, but… why not let me assimilate it?”

“If something goes wrong, I’ll try to use astral separation to handle it. Even though… I don’t really know how.”

Said let out a short laugh.

“That’s a big gamble.”

“Life itself is a gamble,” Sally said.

Said let out a small chuckle.

“Hahaha… all right. I’ll begin.”

The transfer started.

Energy flooded the room, wrapping around everything.

Sally’s body reacted immediately: the energy shifted into different shapes across her skin, lighting up the scars.

They looked almost like runes.

Her body had found a way to assimilate the energy.

Said watched closely.

A new mark began to form—slowly drawing itself: a distorted pentacle.

Meanwhile, inside Sally’s mind, memories began replaying without control.

She tried not to go deeper… but this time, the memories didn’t ask for permission.

They repeated in a loop.

Pain.
Strikes.
Indifference.
Loneliness.

Sally started to panic.

A version of herself—a young Sally—appeared before her.

“I don’t judge you,” the little one said. “But I judge myself… for feeling so insignificant and miserable.”

The mind hides what the heart cannot say… and the soul suffers for what the mind keeps silent.

Those words shattered her completely.

The mask Sally had worn for years—the cheerful, brave, strong girl—collapsed.

Her true self emerged: her shyness, her immense imagination, her deep desire for peace… and also her lack of love, her fears, her wounds.

Sally cried from the deepest part of her soul.

The energy began to spiral out of control.

Sally entered astral separation.

Her soul detached from her body, releasing even more energy—now glowing purple.

Said tried to absorb it.

But just when her soul seemed about to transform—

A voice spoke:

“Interesting.”

Sally and Said were dragged into an indescribable place.

There, a woman awaited them.

She sat atop a gigantic key, the end shaped like an ornate lock. She wore a wide hat with a lock dangling from its tip, and held a lantern decorated in the same style. Her dress floated slightly, as if it didn’t belong to this world.

She was beautiful.
Imposing.
And dangerous.

A chill ran down Said’s spine.

The woman smiled.

“I told you you were doing well… but it seems you went a bit too far.”

“This time I’ll lend a hand.
Next time… I’ll only watch.”

She embraced Sally’s soul with impossible ease.

With a single gesture, she drew a spell that stabilized the girl’s soul.

A blink.

And both Sally and Said returned to reality.

The witch vanished without leaving a trace.

Said released Sally’s hand, trembling.

He saw her fingers move—just for an instant.

He tried to communicate with her… but she didn’t answer.

A second later, he also collapsed unconscious.

Or rather—

Struck down by the presence of that witch.