In the evening, sitting at home with Lucina and Alice, Alex understood perfectly well: after Edward saved Bella, she would inevitably switch into detective mode. She would rack her brain trying to figure out how exactly Edward managed to pull off the impossible. Alex, being himself, had absolutely no intention of helping her. The whole fun was in watching Bella's awkward attempts to uncover the truth and her flustered conversations with Edward. What's more, a plan was already brewing in his head on how to pour more fuel on the fire.

The movie playing on the tablet served only as background noise—Alex listened with half an ear while his thoughts were elsewhere. He knew clearly that he hadn't ended up in this world just to entertain himself, tease Bella and Edward, and watch someone else's romantic drama unfold. It was time to adjust his plans and get down to serious work—finding clues. He needed to understand how unique this universe was, the very one he was supposed to save.

So far, he had stumbled across only crumbs: oddities in the police reports. Naturally, no one wrote the truth about "beasts attacking people in their sleep" or other supernatural incidents. Everything was covered up as mundane cases. But one thing repeated too often—grave desecrations, written off as "acts of vandalism and theft." Alex suspected something else lay behind them, but he lacked one piece to complete the picture.

He set aside the movie, grabbed his phone, and began searching the names of places that surfaced in his memory. Lucina and Alice exchanged a glance. Alice raised a questioning brow, but Lucina just shook her head, as if to say, "That's normal for Alex—sometimes he goes on these research binges."

The first place Alex checked was a camp with a very telling name—Crystal Lake. The screen flashed with notes about a massacre that had taken place there. Smirking, he typed in the next query: Springwood. Again—a perfect hit. The more he checked, the wider his smile grew. It seemed he was right: in this universe, the timelines of iconic horror films overlapped.

But the graveyard mystery still gnawed at him. These cases were mentioned far too often across the country.

"Did you find something? Or is this just another one of your guesses?" Lucina asked, poking Alex softly in the cheek.

"Not sure yet," he drawled, glancing at Alice. "Hey, have you ever come across mentions of hunters? Or… Keepers of Knowledge. Men of Letters?" His gaze sharpened, almost testing.

Alice thoughtfully touched her chin.

"Let me think…"

Alex waited patiently, though inside he was boiling with anticipation. If Alice confirmed even part of it, everything would become both easier and far more interesting.

At these words, Lucina stared at him, eyes wide. Their family knew who hunters and the Keepers of Knowledge were, and now she had even more questions. The girls back in Orario, listening absentmindedly to the broadcast, immediately perked up and glued themselves to their screens, waiting for Alice's answer.

"We've seen hunters," Alice finally said, "but we never got involved with them. You know we don't drink human blood and we try to keep our distance. As for the Keepers of Knowledge… that does sound familiar, but I can't say for sure. Maybe Carlisle knows. After all, he was once part of the Volturi."

Alex and Lucina exchanged a look, equally stunned by the revelation.

"Then one more question," Lucina said, now staring intently at Alice. "Have you seen other creatures? Werewolves, shapeshifters? Maybe another kind of vampire—ones with fangs over normal teeth, who don't sparkle in the sun?"

Alice nodded.

"We try not to get involved with them and not let them on our territory. We have a treaty with the Quileute clan: they protect the lands, we keep the balance. If a hostile outsider shows up, usually they deal with it—sometimes we help. As long as we keep our word and don't harm humans, we have a truce and mutual support."

"And you kept this quiet until now?" Lucina's voice carried a note of tired reproach.

Alice shrugged innocently.

"I thought you already knew. You two bury yourselves in reports every night. I figured Alex had pieced it together long ago. So I didn't see the point in repeating it."

Lucina sighed tiredly, looking at Alice, who was putting on her best innocent face. Then both of them turned to Alex—he sat there in total shock, as if he had just been hit by a jolt of electricity. A few seconds of silence—and suddenly Alex burst into loud laughter, clutching his stomach. His smile spread so wide across his face that it looked like he had just realized something both insane and unbelievably hilarious.

He had always puzzled over why this universe was so strange and why avatar Nyan-Nyan had chosen to "set up headquarters" here of all places. But the answer turned out to be much simpler than he could have expected. If the timelines of iconic horror films intersected in this world, then there also had to be those who fought the monsters. And that narrowed the choice down to just two figures.

Alice looked at Lucina in confusion, not understanding why Alex was laughing like a madman. Lucina, however, only sighed—she knew perfectly well why he was acting this way.

"Oh, Alice… my dear Alice," Alex exhaled, pulling her close and settling her on his lap. "You have no idea how much easier you've just made my job. With just a couple of words, you helped me cut through an entire mountain of work. Now I don't need to guess who the main villain is or who's pulling the strings. The answer's already clear."

"And who is it?" Alice asked with a pleased smile, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Him," Alex said, squinting slightly with a predatory grin on his face.

"Or rather, the one who imitates his father," Lucina added, raising her finger.

Alice froze, then whispered, "You mean…"

"Exactly," Alex confirmed, gently setting her off his lap. "Enough wasting time on movies. We need to figure out where in the story we are right now. Time is working against us."

Lucina nodded in agreement, while Alice, on the contrary, seemed to light up with anticipation. The trio headed downstairs.

"GIR, bring me my board! We've got a ton of work to do," Alex commanded.

At the word "work," GIR, MIMI, and Stitch immediately set aside their controllers and snapped to attention with salutes. Soon GIR dragged over a large drafting board, and Lucina spread out a laptop on the table.

Meanwhile, back in Orario, chaos erupted in the house: the girls, who had gotten used to half-listening to Alex's broadcasts, finally realized that he had really ended up in the Supernatural universe. The shock was absolute.

Alex had already pinned a large map of the country to the board.

"I'll call out names and places, and you dig up everything you can. The faster we figure out how far things have gone, the easier it'll be to act," he said, addressing the girls and his assistants.

"Yes, sir!" Alice saluted with a smile, looking every bit the soldier.

"First up… Sam and Dean Winchester. Everything you can find."

"Already got it," Lucina replied at once, handing Alex a printed dossier.

Alex pinned the dossier on the Winchester brothers to the board and paused for a moment, his gaze lingering. He needed to understand how much their path had deviated from "canon." Memories of events surfaced in his mind, and he began calling out the places where they were supposed to happen one after another. He understood that because of the overlap of other universes' timelines, events could shift, but the overall flow would remain recognizable.

The further he went, the more crowded the board became. GIR, MIMI, and Stitch were already searching on their own, pinning fresh reports to the board. Lucina and Alice typed nonstop, cross-checking the data.

Gradually, the picture was coming together: the gates of Hell had already been opened—which meant the events of the first two seasons were behind them. The details were a little off, but nothing major.

"Alice, look up a man named Dick Roman," Alex said without taking his eyes off the board.

"One sec… Got him. Millionaire, listed among the fifty most influential people in America, owner of a corporation. Planned to run for president but suddenly disappeared," Alice reported, pulling up the file on the screen.

"So the doors to Purgatory have already been opened and closed…" Alex muttered. "Lucina, check for a massive meteor shower. There should've been dozens in a single night."

"Found it," she answered quickly. "A few years back: meteor shower, strange deaths reported. All the victims had their internal organs burned out."

"I remember that," Alice said dreamily. "We were in Alaska at the time, and the sky was just burning. Beautiful… But what was it really?"

"The fall of angels," Alex replied flatly. "But until I see them myself, I can't be sure they're really angels. In this universe, that's what they're called, and that's enough. But if the fall has already happened… that means Dean's death too." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "And I really don't like that."

"Why?" Alice asked in surprise.

Lucina spoke before he could."Because there's a fifty-fifty chance that the Darkness has already been released. But it's unknown if it really is the Darkness. Alex, do you have a theory?"

Alex nodded, choosing his words carefully."I suspect that Amara—or as they call her here, the Darkness—is the original god of this universe. The one who existed before Nyan-Nyan's Avatar took her place and sealed her away. But to be sure… Burkittsville, Indiana. Check it."

Alice nodded and a couple of minutes later showed the screen."Official version: gas leak after an earthquake. The town was evacuated and is still closed to the public."

Alex smirked."So the Mark of Cain has been broken, and Amara really is free. The only question left is what state she's in—grown or not. We'll have to check it out ourselves." He swept his gaze across the board again. "Too much is tangled together. Looks like the Avatar Nyan-Nyan decided to throw a real carnival."

Lucina nodded in understanding. Alice, however, couldn't quite grasp why Alex looked displeased when they had so many leads.

Noticing her stare, Alex let out a heavy sigh."From the start, I was bothered that the horror timelines were woven together here. As if someone deliberately stitched them into this universe's fabric for fun. But the main thing—Chuck. Why didn't he destroy Amara outright? Why only seal her away?" Alex paced back and forth in front of the board as his thoughts solidified into a whole. "The answer's simple: he needed her to embrace the role of Darkness."

He stopped and looked at his companions."Amara was meant to be both Light and Darkness, a single balance. But Chuck—Avatar Nyan-Nyan—split it. He kept the positive side for himself and forced her to believe she was nothing but shadow. And once she fully accepts that role and willingly surrenders, he'll be able to absorb her without resistance."

The corners of his lips curved in a cold smile."Then this universe will lose its core, and Chuck will calmly claim the entire World Tree for himself. And maybe all the others too—the ones that intersect with this one."

Alex, Lucina, and Alice stayed at the board until dawn. All night they searched for proof of which timelines had become entangled in this universe. Even GIR, MIMI, and Stitch worked tirelessly, turning into real detectives, finding clues in places no one else would even think to look.

When the first rays of sunlight lit up the room, Alex was standing with a cup of coffee in his hand—the drink carefully prepared by Alice. He didn't touch the breakfast Saeko had made; his gaze remained fixed on the board, covered with clippings, notes, and diagrams.

He wasn't planning to go to school today. The city in Maine awaited him. Moreover, it was time to start searching for Amara. It was crucial to find her first—before anyone else could get to her. The problem was that he didn't know whether Amara had already taken her adult form or was still a child. If it was the latter, then Crowley was somewhere nearby. And Alex had no desire to meet the self-proclaimed King of Hell. It was better to intercept the goddess first and sway her to his side while there was still a chance.

"Alex, it's time for school," Lucina reminded him, gently taking his hand. "You'll still have time to return to the board."

"I'm not going today. I'm heading to Maine. There's something I need to check," he replied without looking away.

"You can make the trip anytime; that mining town isn't going anywhere. Or are you planning to have fun without us?" Alice squinted and shook her tiny fist at him.

Alex gently moved her hand aside."This isn't entertainment. I want to start removing pieces from Chuck's board before he notices. I'll start with those who aren't important to anyone and are stuck in one place."

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Saeko asked, giving him her calm smile.

"I kind of need to go there," he nodded. "Maybe there's a child I can help. Why do you ask?"

They responded with meaningful smiles. Lucina walked over to the folder of newspaper clippings carefully compiled by GIR, MIMI, and Stitch. After flipping through the pages for a few seconds, she selected the right one and pinned it to the board.

Alex frowned. Before he could even realize what exactly the girls had found, he noticed that Alice and Lucina looked noticeably amused. But when his gaze fell on the city name, his face went pale and his eyes widened.

"…You're kidding, right?" he asked wearily, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"We were waiting for this moment," Lucina replied with a smile. "So… are you still going to Maine?"

"You didn't understand why I asked," Alex's voice hardened. "There's more than just a clown living in Derry. Think, Lucina… Where else have you seen eyes like that?"

Lucina froze, and realization passed over her face.

"You mean… This clown is from that place?"

"Bingo," Alex nodded. "And now it's not just Chuck on the chessboard. There's that damn clown too."

"You'll manage, my dear husband," Saeko said softly. "You defeated the Monolith and Davoth; you'll handle this too. I'm heading home—we have a mission with my father. Take care of yourselves."

She hugged him around the neck and quickly kissed him on the lips before stepping into a portal, disappearing in a flash of light.

Alex ran a hand over his face. The thought that It and Chuck might be the same being didn't sit well with him. But he preferred to believe they were acting together—that was already enough to make the situation critical.

Noticing him slipping back into dark thoughts, Lucina and Alice exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously. Grabbing his hands, they literally dragged him out of the house and settled him into the Impala.

Lucina sat behind the wheel, Alice beside her, and Alex settled in the back seat, staring at a single point. A plan was forming in his mind: how to remove Pennywise from the chessboard without letting Chuck suspect that someone was interfering. In the worst-case scenario, he could call Doomguy—but that "call a friend" option was better saved for when the situation became clearer.

Thoughts shifted rapidly. One clown wasn't enough—he would need to gradually take out the "minor pawns" too: monsters, cursed places, demons, and angels, all ready to obey any whim of Chuck or Lucifer at a single word. The opponent had too many pieces. Allies? Almost none.

Alex wasn't even sure whether he should negotiate with Crowley, since that crossroads demon had far too many ambitions. In the end, Alex realized that at this point he had only three potential allies: Dean, Sam, and Castiel, and that was it.

Alex didn't even notice when they arrived at school. His gaze still drifted into the void, his thoughts consumed with plans and strategies. Lucina and Alice had already gotten out of the Impala and watched him with smiles, as if observing a child just dropped off at kindergarten.

At that moment, Bella drove into the parking lot. She immediately noticed something unusual: Alex usually stayed close to Lucina and Alice, and now he wasn't anywhere near them.

"Good morning. Where's Alex?" she asked, approaching the girls.

"In the car," Lucina replied calmly, nodding toward the Impala.

Bella followed her gaze and saw Alex: he was sitting in the back seat with a blank expression. At her questioning look, Lucina and Alice just shrugged.

"Don't worry. He'll snap out of it soon," Alice said, as if he were merely dozing off.

When the teacher gathered the students for the greenhouse field trip, Lucina practically dragged Alex out of the car and led him toward the bus. Alice helped him settle into an empty seat and sat down beside him. A few minutes later, Alex blinked and finally realized where he was.

"Uh… What did I miss? And where are we going?" he mumbled, shifting his gaze between Lucina and Alice.

"Awake at last, Sleeping Beauty," Lucina said, setting her book aside. "We're going to the greenhouse. If you'd looked up from your plans for even a second, you'd have figured it out ages ago."

"And how did I even end up here? Didn't I say I wanted to skip school?" Alex frowned.

"First we shoved you in the car, then drove you to school, and finally—onto the bus," Alice said cheerfully, hugging his arm and nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder.

Alex smirked."Well, that's unexpected. You could have just left me at home."

"Uh-huh, sure," Lucina scoffed. "And what, you'd vanish for a few weeks after that? Don't even think about it, my love. I won't take my eyes off you. I know how your solo trips end. You say you'll just go there and back. Next thing you know, you're in one problem, then another. Eventually, you disappear for days—or maybe a whole week. I don't want to see the news later about some weird masked guy causing chaos in multiple cities."

Alex spread his hands.

"Hey, I'm not that irresponsible. I just wanted to check on Alesa first, in a small foggy town, then I'd start looking for Amara and—"

"Remind you how your 'just' trips end?" Lucina interrupted calmly. "Do you want me to remind you how all your there-and-back trips end? Or all of your trips, I'll just see. Your work with Kiwi after you reconciled, when you said you just wanted to watch the gang deal. Ended up surrounded by cops. Your infiltration of Arasaka, where you were supposed to just grab some data and leave—what happened? For weeks, news reports were covering your Pasta Monster cult. Your joint work with Becca, where you only wanted to check a warehouse for a few thousand Eddy for gathering intel? You cleared out the whole contraband warehouse and sold everything through Wakako. And there are so many cases, not just in Night City. All your 'just watch' trips ended with things getting worse or a bounty on your head," Lucina said calmly, listing part of what he had done.

Alice giggled quietly, recalling images from her visions, while Alex just let out a heavy sigh. Behind them, the Cullens listened with obvious interest—Emmett was barely holding back laughter.

To top it off, the girls who stayed in Orario and were watching the livestream started posting everything in the family chat: every one of Alex's adventures, every ridiculous situation, and what it led to. There was no denying it—everything happened exactly as it did.

In the end, Alex gave in. His plans for the trip to Maine had to be postponed. All he could do now was pray for the vampire trio to show up soon while simultaneously mapping out a route to remove the pieces from Chuck's board as carefully as possible. He understood perfectly well: Chuck wouldn't tolerate anyone spoiling the show he had orchestrated.

The school bus stopped at the greenhouse. One by one, the students climbed out, chatting and excitedly discussing the upcoming field trip. Alex stepped out with Lucina and Alice. His face remained unreadable as the teacher monotonously spoke about the plants and rare species growing inside.

Alex listened to his droning with the expression of someone who would rather be anywhere but here."If I'm going to look at pretty plants," he thought, "I'd rather go to a world where every tree glows and every flower is more unique than anything in this universe."

Sighing, he pulled a red apple from his pocket, twirled it in his hand, and took a bite.

"Ugh, so sour," Alex grimaced, barely chewing the piece.

"If the apple doesn't taste good, just throw it away," Lucina said indifferently, shooting him a sidelong glance.

But Alex bit into the apple again.

"Terrible. Like eating a lemon, only twice as bad," he said, wincing.

Alice raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really that bad?"

"Here, try it yourself," Alex said calmly, holding out the apple to her.

Alice stared at him as if he'd just offered her a rock. Her eyes silently asked: Are you serious? But Alex only nodded, clearly nudging her toward the decision.

Even the Cullens, standing nearby, took notice. Their expressions were full of confusion: Alex knew perfectly well that normal food wasn't an option for them. Even Edward, usually trying to remain calm, looked suspicious.

Alice looked down at the apple in her hand again. She shrugged—after all, what could happen from a tiny bite? At worst, she could just pretend it was sour and spit it out.

She carefully pressed her lips to the bright skin and bit off a small piece. Her face immediately contorted.

"Ugh! Sour!" Alice exclaimed, tasting the sharp tang on her tongue.

Alex grabbed the apple back with satisfaction.

"I told you so," he smirked.

Lucina froze and stared intently at Alice.

"Wait… You actually tasted the apple?"

Alice was about to brush it off but suddenly realized: yes, she really did taste it. Not an illusion, not a trick—but the real flavor.

"Well… the apple is sour. But…" Her voice wavered as it sank in that this was impossible.

Alice stared at Alex in shock, then at the red apple in his hand. The Cullens also couldn't take their eyes off him—their astonishment was too obvious. No one understood how this could be possible. Alex, meanwhile, looked as if everything were going according to plan: he took another bite, grimaced at the sourness, and completely ignored the intense gazes of Lucina, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Jane, and even Edward.

"My dear…" Lucina said softly, carefully snatching the apple from his hand. "May I ask… what kind of fruit is this?"

Alex shrugged indifferently and immediately took the apple back. They were walking at the back of the group through the greenhouse, and he continued taking small bites, wincing each time as if eating a lemon.

"So, what do you think? And this question has only one correct answer," Alex said with a lazy smile.

Lucina squinted.

"Don't tell me it's the one apple… I'm thinking of right now."

"Exactly," he nodded nonchalantly. "The Apple of Eden. And I didn't steal it. It just grew on the tree, as it should. Fruits are meant to be eaten, after all."

"Wait," Emmett interjected, scratching the back of his head. "How did Alice even manage to taste it?"

Alex smirked.

"Think about it. Which apple does humanity mention most often throughout its history?"

Alice turned pale, her voice trembling.

"Are you saying… I just ate it? The forbidden fruit? The very apple?"

"Yep," Alex replied easily, tossing the remnants of the fruit in his hand. "So, how's the taste of the forbidden? Not what you expected, huh?"

Alice shook her head.

"Honestly? I thought the apple would… I don't know, be sweet, special. But it's just sour."

Alex grinned.

"Exactly. Sweet lies are always more pleasant than sour truths. And now you understand—it's literal."

Rosalie frowned.

"Wait, wasn't there supposed to be… a miracle? Something great. It's the Apple of Eden, after all!"

Alex shrugged.

"The miracle already happened. No thunder and lightning. It's much simpler: the miracle is freedom. The ability to choose, to think for yourself, to decide what is good and what is evil. That's the real 'enlightenment.'"

He gave a thumbs-up.

"Yay."

Emmett sighed in disappointment.

"I thought it would be something grand. Turns out—it's just a sour apple. Lame."

Alex rolled his eyes and didn't respond. To him, it was obvious: no miracles were hidden in this fruit. The apple was merely a symbol. And freedom of choice—the simplest and most important "miracle"—was what mattered.

He handed the fruit to Lucina. Without a word, she took a bite and immediately grimaced.

"Brr, disgusting and sour," she muttered, handing the apple back to Alex.

The group continued walking through the greenhouse. But now the Cullens weren't so much listening to the guide as they were watching Edward and Bella. Their interaction was more like a comedy: Edward clearly didn't know what to say, and Bella kept thinking she'd offended him, retreating even further each time.

Alex, chewing the sour fruit, just smirked.

"Now that's a real show."

To be continued…

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