The journal was a trap.

Marina realized it the moment she opened to the first page and saw her own handwriting staring back at her.

Not current handwriting. Future handwriting. Slightly different slant, more confident strokes, but undeniably hers.

If you're reading this, I've already made the mistake you're about to make. Don't trust him. Don't stay. RUN.

Her blood turned to ice.

"Impossible," she whispered, fingers trembling as she turned the page. More of her handwriting filled the margins, desperate and hurried:

The journal is cursed. Shadow magic that shows you what you'll become if you choose wrong. I stayed. I learned everything. And I lost everything that mattered....