Quietly following Mrs. Lang down into the basement, Alan was trying his best to contain his nervousness. Daniel wasn't there to shield him from his mother's intense presence, and the fact that he was able to actually get her help was still something he was trying to maintain as much as he could. Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, he was amazed to see what appeared to be a library designed in a modern aesthetic. Paintings and pictures of buildings and landscapes were planted between built-in shelves that held many books on both sides of the large room. The floor a dark wooden color that extended back to the other end of the room, where a large white desk rested in front of a paned window that showed the woodlands behind their home, an iMac resting on the right side of the desk.

"Tell me, has Daniel explained the curse to you in detail?" Mrs. Lang asked as he walked towards the desk, grabbing 2 books along the way.

"He's told me the gist of it. Men in the family are cursed, turn into a frog, have to be kissed to break the curse, and apparently awake for the kiss..." Alan recalled that moment in the back of Daniel's car. "He can have a potion take him out of it, but it may not work all the time."

"Did he tell you who this woman is?" Mrs. Lang asked, taking a seat at the desk, motioning for him to come over and have a seat with her left hand.

"Um, the only thing he explained to me is how the curse came about, and he let me look at some of your documents in your database. I remember seeing a butterfly and some quote..." Alan answered as he took a seat in front of her.

"'The remedy you seek to the curse on your head will appear when you no longer yearn to create in your own image.' That quote, correct?" she asked as he flipped through a few pages in a book.

"Y-yes... that one..." Alan replied, his hands fidgeting slightly.

"Ok... and you've seen the butterfly image. Húdié, correct?" She questioned, looking up at him over her glasses.

"Yes... actually... now that I think about it..." Alan trailed off, recalling that brief moment when Mika touched him and nearly killed him, he saw a storm of butterflies around him. "I saw them... when she tried to kill me..."

"She did what?" Mrs. Lang asked, surprised.

"Long story, but I confronted her and she tried to kill me. Instead, it just put me in the hospital for a day and made it seem like I had a seizure." Alan spoke with a shrug.

"No... that was a warning." Mrs. Lang rebutted, serious. "She didn't leave any markings on you, did she?"

Alan shook his head quickly, not recalling anything on his body after their encounter.

"That's good. There are documents showing that many other individuals chosen to break the curse have been badly injured or killed, and they have always been left with a marking of a black butterfly." Mrs. Lang spoke, turning a book in his direction for him to see sketches and images of markings of the symbol.

Alan looked over the images in fascination, before becoming puzzled. "Why didn't she mark me, then?"

"She probably didn't see you as a threat. However... I find that to be a mistake, when she should be very afraid of you." Mrs. Lang proclaimed, a smirk coming to her face.

Alan, not expecting such a reaction or statement, felt his anxiety skyrocket. "Why... do you say that?"

"Well, you came to me, didn't you?" Mrs. Lang replied, leaning back into her seat as she turned the book back in her direction. "That, and you obviously have strong emotions towards Daniel. Otherwise, you would've given up by now and you easily could've."

"What do you mean, Mrs. Lang?" Alan asked, perplexed.

"You easily could've used your 1 request to back out of all of this. But... you didn't." she mentioned, smiling.

Alan sat there, eyes wide and his lips tightly shut.

"You're very expressive, you know that?" Mrs. Lang teased with a chuckle. "It's ok... we'll talk about that later. What I need you to do, Alan, is help me get rid of this witch once and for all."

"Ok, what do you want me to do?" Alan asked, pushing his embarrassment aside and listening attentively.

"Oh, I only need you to do one thing, Alan." Mrs. Lang replied, before turning to the back of another book and presenting a gold dagger, with a black hilt. She also reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a small black box. "It's just finding the opportunity to do it in this entire fiasco."

-

Alan sat quietly on the couch in the living room, Mrs. Lang having gone to the kitchen to make tea for them. He stared off into space, lost in thought as he recalled their discussion previously, about 2 hours having passed entirely. At this point, all they could do was wait, as Mika would soon be over in a matter of 2 hours as previously planned.

I honestly didn't think she would believe and plan with me. All of this was just something I came up with last night after that phone call with Mika and Thomas. It's like... something just snapped in my head that there was a way for me to make this all stop. I just hope I don't screw it up somehow...

"Have you two... finished speaking?"

Alan looked up at the sound of Daniel's voice, not helping but to stare as he saw him dressed in a fitted dark grey designer suit, with a white dress shirt slightly undone around the collar underneath the blazer. His black hair was combed into a stylish side part and, to Alan's surprise, Daniel was actually wearing thin framed black circle glasses.

"Glass... you're wearing glasses?" Alan forced out, unable to contain his surprise.

"I wear glasses when I'm not wearing contacts." Daniel stated with an amused smile. "My eyesight isn't as bad as yours, but I have to wear them for driving. Sometimes I put them on when I don't want to wear my contacts and just let my eyes rest. But most of the time, I'm wearing contacts."

FUCK ME... he looks hot as hell WITH GLASSES. Did I just... develop a fetish? I mean, I would take him without glasses, but I would absolutely just give him whatever he wanted WITH GLASSES.

".... you look good in everything." Alan muttered, unable to stop staring in awe.

"What did you say?" Daniel asked, curious.

"N-nothing." Alan quickly spit out, looking away just as fast.

"Where is your tie for your suit?" Mrs. Lang asked, bringing a tray with 3 tea cups over to the living room area and placing it on a glass coffee table.

"In my room. I'll put it on when she's closer to arriving." Daniel replied, his hands resting in the pockets of his trousers. "That is... if that's still the plan."

"Shì de (*Translation: Yes, it is). That is a very important part of this plan, actually." Mrs. Lang stated, taking a seat and grabbing a tea cup.

"What is my role in this plan?" Daniel asked, taking a seat next to Alan calmly, who was too busy trying to not shake the tea cup in his hands from pure excitement that Daniel was sitting next to him dressed in such an attractive fashion.

"You're the bait, my dear. When she arrives, act normal. However, do not let her touch your skin."

"My skin?" Daniel asked, confused.

"You'll immediately turn into a frog." Alan added, sipping from his tea cup to distract himself. "It's a side effect of the curse. The only way that she'll be able to claim you and not have that happen, is to kiss you while you're in human form."

"Huh... I wonder... if that explains my blackout with her..." Daniel pondered, only to see both Alan and his mother nod. "How did you-"

"She spoke with me on your phone. Long story." Alan stated with a shrug.

"What matters now is that you just make sure none of that happens. I'll take control of her from that point on." Mrs. Lang spoke, confidently.

"And... how am I supposed to do that?" Daniel asked, concerned. "She'll be in our house with me."

"That's... where I come in." Alan interjected, bashfully. "You'll know... when I do."

"That tells me nothing." Daniel stated, frustrated.

"Trust him, Daniel. Just do that and you'll be fine." Mrs. Lang spoke, a smile on her lips as she watched them both through her glasses. "But for now, we wait for the witch to arrive."

-

Within those 2 hours, Daniel went and prepared himself for meeting Mika at the agreed time, having given her his address through text message. He offered to drive to the school for homecoming later that evening, but he also mentioned that he would offer her dinner as well, giving her plenty of incentive to come to his place while Alan and Mrs. Lang discussed the plan.

When the doorbell rang, Daniel was quietly sitting on the couch, having gathered his tie and placed his glasses away in exchange for contacts. His mother was quietly waiting in the kitchen, having made herself another cup of tea, a digital camera on the island. Alan, however, was nowhere to be found.

Daniel unlocked and opened the weighted door, seeing Mika standing there, her face lighting up once she caught sight of him. She was wearing a dark red spaghetti strapped maxi dress, with a slit that came up right above her knee. Her hair was up in a tight bun, a diamond hair piece wrapped around it to hold it in place. Her face was covered in elegant makeup, with her eyelids covered in a light red eyeshadow and a red lipstick to match her dress. Her feet were resting in open-toed red heels as she stood at the entrance.

"Hi Daniel! You look... amazing." she spoke softly, a warm smile on her face.

"Hey Mika... you look... nice as well." Daniel spoke calmly, moving aside to allow her into the house. He watched her step into the foyer, closing the door behind her as he did so. "It wasn't hard to find, was it?"

"Not at all. This house is... beautiful." Mika stated, gazing about in wonder as she stood there.

"I'll take that as a compliment." They both looked over to see Mrs. Lang, coming from the kitchen, a polite smile on her face. "Mika, correct?" she asked, extending her hand towards her.

"Yes! Hello, Mrs. Lang. Your home is... spectacular." Mika answered quickly, reaching out and shaking her hand gently.

"I appreciate it. It shows that my hard work was worth it." Mrs. Lang stated with a bright smile of her own.

"She designed our house." Daniel spoke with a grin, only to see Mika's face shift to shock.

"Please, come into the living area. I would love to take a picture of you two before you head to dinner." Mrs. Lang encouraged, motioning for them to follow her into the living room.

Daniel followed along behind them both, yet he couldn't help but to glance over towards the stairs that led to the second floor before doing so.

"Ok, let me grab my camera." Mrs. Lang stated, heading back to the kitchen.

"Oh, a DSLR?" Mika asked, impressed.

"I'm old fashioned, I guess." Mrs. Lang stated with a laugh, showing a Nikon D3500. "I think you two should stand in front of that bookcase. It would be a lovely backdrop for this photo." she spoke as she pointed them in that direction.

As they moved over, Daniel tried his best to keep his distance, attempting to not have any skin to skin contact. However, Mika was making that slightly difficult as she moved closer towards him.

"I'm... not sure how to pose..." Mika stated bashfully as she looked up towards him.

"It's fine... I'll just put my hand on your waist." Daniel offered, carefully doing so.

"Very pretty. Just stand there and I'll take a few photos. Make sure to smile!" Mrs. Lang stated, placing the viewfinder to her eye as she took a few pictures. "Wonderful! Thank you for indulging in my habit of capturing everything my son does on camera."

"It's fine! I don't mind at all." Mika replied with a light laugh.

Daniel shifted away as calmly as he could, his hands going into his pockets immediately. "So... do you have a preference for dinner? We have time to get some before we head to the school."

"Not really. Do you have any suggestions?" Mika asked, curious as she looked between Daniel and his mother.

"Are you ok with seafood?" Mrs. Lang asked, placing her camera down. "There is a lovely restaurant along the way. Quite classy and I think it would be a nice dinner for you two to have before homecoming. Daniel is familiar with it, as we've been several times. However, you may want to head out soon, as it can get busy."

"That sounds nice to me." Mika stated, seeing Daniel nod, and slowly make his way towards the entrance.

"Thanks for the tip, mom. We'll head out then." Daniel stated, looking back over his shoulder as he did so.

"Oh, Mika, wait just a second. I see that you are not wearing any jewelry." Mrs. Lang proclaimed, walking over towards a bookcase and opening a black box. "Would you like to wear these?"

Mika stopped her walk to turn back and see what Mrs. Lang was getting. They stood in front of each other and she was shown a wonderful set of diamond drop earrings and a diamond pendant necklace.

"Oh my... are you sure?" Mika asked, shocked. "I-I would hate to damage them."

"Nonsense. These old things are just sitting here collecting dust. Here, let me put the necklace on you." Mrs. Lang offered, motioning for Mika to turn around.

Mika quickly did so, a bright smile on her face as she waited for Mrs. Lang to prepare the necklace. She looked over at Daniel calmly, not helping but to show a smile in his direction as she saw him waiting there by the entryway. However, a frown slowly came to her face as she saw a hand slowly appear to reach out and grab his left arm tightly. Not too long after, she felt her own arms being pinned behind her back.

"Not surprised that a witch would be distracted by something bright and shiny." Mrs. Lang spoke harshly, binding Mika's arms with her own.

"W-What the hell?" Mika stammered, looking back over to Daniel to see that Alan was standing there, catching Daniel's attention completely. "Alan?!"

"Daniel, remember when your mom asked you to trust me?" Alan stated quickly, staring back at him with a strong intensity.

"Yeah... but why?" Daniel asked, glancing over to his mother and Mika, who was struggling to get her arms free.

"Because I'm about to do something totally random." Alan spoke with a nervous and quick tone, before turning Daniel towards him fully. "Hopefully you'll enjoy it." Without much warning, Alan gently grabbed hold of Daniel's face, pulling his tall frame downwards to place a simple, but deep kiss on his lips.

"No! NO! You little shit! You tricked me!" Mika shouted angrily, before quickly forcing her entire weight back into Mrs. Lang, pushing her into the bookcase behind them roughly, which allowed her arms to be free. In the blink of an eye, Mika let her full force of power in the direction of Alan, the swarm of black butterflies from before heading straight towards him and thrusting him into a wall so hard that a crack appeared from where his back had crashed against it.

"Alan!" Daniel shouted, as he saw him lying on the ground, barely conscious. However, he didn't get very far before Mika had quickly made her way over to him, grabbing his right hand before he could run over. A flash of light went across the room, before Daniel's clothes collapsed to the floor in a pile, a frog resting there, unconscious.

"So, this was a game to you guys, then? That's fine." Mika stated, an evil smirk on her face. "If I can't have Daniel, then I'll just kill him."

Out of nowhere, a book came flying in Mika's direction, only for her to stop it midair with her hand. She looked back over her shoulder at Mrs. Lang, who was quite visibly shaken and angry. "Don't you dare, you demon." she threatened, her tone cold.

"I could kill you in an instant if you take another step towards me." Mika stated harshly, that smirk still on her face.

"You're slow in your old age." A voice stated behind her, before she felt a sharp pain in her chest, paralyzing her completely.

With the strength that he had left, Alan had found his way to his feet just in time to grab the dagger that was hidden in his back pocket and stab Mika in with it. He pressed it in as far as he could, before letting go and collapsing to the ground in pain and exhaustion.

"How... how did you...?" Mika stated in shock, her body slowly writhing in pain.

"We've had that dagger in our family's possession for centuries. It was the one thing you left behind when you disappeared. And considering that you were going to use it to kill the wife of our original ancestor you cursed, I felt it appropriate to use on you." Mrs. Lang proclaimed with a smirk of her own, walking over towards Mika as she did so.

Not able to withstand the pain, Mika fell on her knees to the floor, looking over at Alan as she did so with a look of pure hatred. "I should've... killed you... when I had the chance..." she spat out harshly as she struggled to speak. Cracks were beginning to show across her face and body, as if she was falling apart.

"Well... you didn't... bitch." Alan forced out with a cheeky grin as he lay on the floor, holding his arm in pain.

Within seconds, Mika's body slowly crumbled into a pile of black dust before their eyes, her entire being having faded from existence.

Mrs. Lang walked over quickly to Daniel, who was still an unconscious frog, as he laid on his pile of clothing. "Goodness... we need to wake him up..."

"Just... wave some food in front of him... that woke him up last time..." Alan stated in-between grunts of pain as he tried to sit up.

"Show me your arm, Alan." Mrs. Lang stated earnestly, a worried expression on her face.

Alan rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie for her to see, surprised to see the mark she had warned him about earlier. "Did she... mark me...?" he asked in fear, seeing a black butterfly on his arm. Very slowly, he began to feel his vision blurring before his eyes, as well as a chill wash over his body.

"Alan. Alan. Stay awake." Mrs. Lang spoke quickly, reaching over and grabbing his shoulder to shake him as she could see his eyes slowly rolling back. "You have to stay awake. Otherwise, we cannot change Daniel back."

"You... need... to wake him up..." Alan forced out with a shaky voice as he struggled to keep himself conscious.

At that, Mrs. Lang ran over and grabbed a piece of bread from the kitchen pantry, before rushing back and waving it over her frog of a son's limp body. "Daniel... Lái ba..." (*Translation: Come on).

After a few seconds, a frog leg twitched, before a groaning noise is heard from the small creature, its eyes opening slowly. "Mom?" Daniel spoke groggily, looking up at her in a dazed fashion.

"Daniel... goodness... you're up..." Mrs. Lang spoke with a sigh, before she looked over towards Alan, who was beginning to look incredibly pale. She then picked up Daniel, moving over with him in her hands and holding him up towards Alan.

Daniel blinked in confusion as he stared back at Alan, seeing his eyes appear rather lifeless and dull in front of him. "Alan... what's wrong?"

Alan just smiled weakly, before leaning over and kissing Daniel without hesitation, a slight grimace appearing on his face afterwards. "That will always... be... gross..." he muttered, before his eyes closed completely and he collapsed onto the floor, motionless.