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𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 : 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐊 & 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐒

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I stumbled backwards with a gasp, my hand going up to cradle my throbbing cheek. Monroe grinned and looked at Blondie and Winker. "You must always be alert."

I didn't want to agree with him but he was right. I had my guard down, I hadn't even thought for a second he would try to hit me. Even friends can betray you.

"When fighting hand to hand combat, you must take into account that the person you're fighting might be stronger than you, even if he doesn't look it," he explained to us, folding his hands behind his back as he spoke. "They could be faster than you, bigger than you, so how do you get out of it if they have you restrained?" He glanced at Blondie. "Take Cassandra for instance, alright? Compared to me, she is smaller, might even be weaker." He motioned for her to walk forward and she did so with an uneasy look back at Winker. "If I were to overpower her, how would she be able to get away from me?"

"Could she use her legs?" asked Winker.

"Maybe," he said, "but what if they were restrained, too?"

I frowned. "Can we have a visual–"

He grabbed me by the arm in a flash, yanking me forward and swiping my feet out from underneath me to send me to the floor. "Ow," I groaned as my back hit the ground and Monroe got on top of me to completely restrain me. He trapped my legs underneath him so I couldn't even move my knees up and then he took me by the wrists to keep them against the floor.

"Better?" he asked and I nodded even though I hadn't exactly meant me as the visual. He glanced next to him and at his audience as he said, "Now, how do you suppose you get out of this?"

"I mean, Blaire you've been in this situation before, right?" asked Blondie and I nodded. "How did you get away?"

"Well," I sighed, thinking of how I did anything without my knife and how did I tell these demons I know longer had the one thing to protect me against them? "Um, well, I can't exactly give up my secrets–"

"We're on the same side," said Eva from beside Blondie. "We're going to figure out your tricks of the trade eventually."

I gnawed on the inside of my cheek before I finally spoke. "It's actually just a lot of improvisation. I never know what I'm going to do until I'm in the moment."

"I've heard through the channel that flirting is usually a go-to for you," murmured Macabre from across the room and my eyes narrowed into a glare as Eva added happily, "And by channel, he means Archer."

"Oh?" mused Monroe. "I thought those were merely rumors, but they're true?"

"No–" I was interrupted by Eva, "–yes."

I narrowed my eyes even more and pursed my lips into a scowl. "It's not like that, okay? Whatever we have is–is a friendship!"

"She's lying, you know," muttered Blondie.

"Flirting won't get you out of everything," said Monroe. "It certainly won't work on me. Crow, maybe, but me? Not a chance."

"You could at least try," said Eva and it suddenly felt like all their voices were clouding my head, causing a static-like burning. "Flirt a little, we'd love a good show."

"I do not flirt with him!" I shouted and felt an ache spread through my chest. Well, I shouldn't say an ache because it wasn't exactly like that. It was a surge of something I was familiar with whenever I'd hold Spiorad. Words spilled past my lips like liquid and Monroe was knocked off of me with a burst of pressure. "Permittite ventos pestem hanc removere."

(Allow these winds to remove this pest.)

He rolled off onto the floor and he touched his chest gently with a gasping laugh as I sat up. "What the hell was that?" He shook his head with another little laugh. "It was like a cold hand just reached into me to knock me off."

"Ah," cooed Eva as she bent down to look me in the eyes closely, "seems like the little necromancer is also a little witch."

"Louise Lake was descended from witches," explained Macabre as he walked over. "Did I forget to mention that?"

Monroe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it seems like you did." He glanced at me and said, "Now, come on, help me up."

I nodded and got to my feet to help him. He stuck out a hand and I gripped it tightly and began to tug gently but he yanked his arm back and I was sent toppling to the ground and in an instant he had me pinned to the ground against his side and he chuckled and glanced back at our audience.

"Never let your guard down."

~

After a long morning of going over more basics, we were finally allowed to leave. We'd agreed to meet up tomorrow and for the rest of the week, all times depending on school but we'd gather here in the morgue. As we left, I found that my shoulders and ass were slightly sore from how many times I was knocked to the ground but it was going to be all worth it when I go up against John and am able to hold up my own.

I was looking forward to more of our sessions, mostly because I didn't realize how much I actually liked Macabre. He was nice, when he wasn't trying to kill me and vice versa. Being on the same side had its major perks.

Winker opened the church doors for us and we were hit with a gentle gust of wind. It was cold enough to chill me through my jacket and I stuffed my hands into my pockets to save my fingers from the trouble as we walked across the street to our cars. The sky was a soft gray but I could see the sun behind some of the clouds and I had a horrible sense of hope that maybe it wouldn't rain later.

"Where to next?" asked Winker as I unlocked my car.

"We need to find the rest of the ingredients for the summoning," said Blondie, pulling her coat tightly over herself as she dug a hand into her pocket for her phone. She looked at it for a moment, scrolling, and over her shoulder Winker made a face.

"Frog liver? Bone of a black cat? Blood of an innocent?" He looked up slowly from the phone to meet my gaze and when I didn't offer any rejection, he let out a small sigh and rubbed his forehead. "When do we do this?" he asked in a defeated tone.

"Tonight," said Blondie with an affirmative nod. "One of these places doesn't open till just around eleven later but ours is open until midnight, so we should probably head out around eleven then."

"Why the hell does one open up so late?" I asked with a frown, moving to look over Blondie's shoulder and at the names of the shops. I hadn't done much else with them when she'd given them to me last night so this was news to me.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "You're the necromancer, you tell us. Why is the creepy occult store open so late at night, hmm?"

I rolled my eyes and nudged her gently with my elbow as I walked back over to Crow's car. My face was slightly sore and I was in need of a good ice pack nap. "Meet later or come by now?"

"Now," said Winker, "might as well start on the fun now, right?"

"Fun?" laughed Blondie. "What part of looking for a frog liver is 'fun?'"

They continued their soft banter as they got into their car and I did the same. I let the car rumble to life and I sat there for a few minutes to let the heater begin to slowly spread its warmth through the car.

I left first, taking note that as I pulled out of the parking lot, Macabre was propping one of the church's front doors open. We made eye contact and he nodded just subtly enough for me to catch as I drove past. There was a feeling of relief in my stomach when I looked in my rearview mirror and saw him turn and go back into the church, but it wasn't relief from fear or anxiety but from a general feeling from the day. There wasn't a single day before that I would've guessed we'd be working together, that I'd be living in Crow's cabin, and I'd be friends with Blondie.

I wouldn't have even allowed the thought to cross my mind, actually. Crow had set out to kill me at the start of this and now...well, now we're linked in a way that I can't even explain. I didn't know what made him and this new life so appealing but I couldn't see myself walking away or changing a thing.

Well, I'd change a few things. I would've found a way to save Pandora and maybe not have involved Ace in everything, and this and that and that and this...

There was nothing to change it now, but the good things that came from it were one's I was pleased about. Victor Macabre was on my side and that was a powerful ally to have, along with his husband and sister-in-law. I knew that having Blondie and Winker involved was dangerous but I knew if I tried to push them out, they'd come running back stronger and angrier and I didn't need Blondie mad at me.

I pulled into the small driveway off the road, hidden between the trees. As I drove up to the cabin, I knew instantly something wasn't right. It was like I could sense something that had been here, a presence that wasn't welcomed. I parked Crow's car and got out, freezing with my hand on the car door as I looked up the front porch.

The front door was slightly ajar and there was a strange smell in the air, one that I recognized deeply in my gut. I saw out of the corner of my eye as Winker and Blondie drove up the driveway and I held out a hand and let out a careful breath as they slowed to a stop. I had nothing to protect myself and I knew that if they came inside with me, I would be able to defend myself easier with numbers but there was no way I was going to risk their lives with the smell that clung to the air.

I crept up the front porch and when I got to the door, I pushed it out and kept myself as far away as I could. The smell hit me all at once and I brought a hand to my nose and mouth.

The cabin smelled of death. Of a thick rot, of something burned.

I silently entered the cabin and made sure to step carefully as I made it to the kitchen. I pulled one of the knives from the drawers and the blade shone in the strange sunlight tracing through the windows. I investigated all the rooms in the cabin before searching for the source of the rot. The deadly smell wasn't bad inside the cabin but as I got closer to the living room and noticed one of the back porch doors was open, the smell got worse.

I saw it before I came upon it.

It was crumbled at the base of the porch stairs. It was in a curled fetal position that had been done after death. My stomach churned unsettlingly but I swallowed my nausea and kept moving forward. The body's skin was charred to a thick black but the cracks where it's arms and legs had been bent were red and raw. Its clothes were burned to its body but you could still tell what it had been wearing, somewhat. The body had been horrifically burned as if to mask identification but not ruined enough to hide the fact that this was once a person. A living, breathing, alive person.

Curling around the body's head was a ring of purposely placed flowers. My heart sunk in my chest, the red roses stood out against the dull grass and the disfigured body. Was this a sign? A secret meaning just for me?

My mind raced to a time when Crow had handed me a flower, a rose to be exact, at my mother's funeral. But no, John couldn't know this, neither could Ace. They hadn't gone to the cemetery with me, there was no way they could've known–

This can't be Crow. This can't be.

I stepped around the body from the steps, easing myself into a crouch to inspect the body more closely. It made my mouth run dry and a sickly feeling crawled over my skin but it was something that needed to be done. There wasn't anyone here who could do it for me.

A horrible sense of relief spilled out from me when I noticed something lying amongst the bundles of roses. I reached forward, careful not to let my fingers even brush against the body as I lifted the little thing into my hands.

Lying in the palm of my hand was a small, metal name tag. It felt horrible for me to feel such a great relief at the death of this man, knowing it wasn't Crow, but I was relieved. I was terribly and completely relieved to a dangerous amount.

The body in front of me didn't belong to Crow, but to Dr. Hex.

I instantly sprung into action. I slipped the name tag into my pocket and went racing back through the house as Blondie and Winker got out of their car in the driveway. Blondie was the first to speak.

"Everything okay?" she asked, crossing her arms as she approached me.

I nodded, quickly. I hoped they didn't notice the sweat dripping down the sides of my face or that way I knew there was a slight tremor in my hands from the initial fear. "Listen, I think we should just meet here late tonight, okay? I totally forgot I have, like, massive loads of homework to do."

Blondie narrowed her eyes but Winker let out a small breath with a grin. "Was hoping you'd say something like that," he nudged Blondie, "there's a new video game dropping at the mall in an hour, we've got to go!"

I didn't think it was going to be that easy but as Winker nearly jumped back to his car, Blondie took a step closer to me. She eyed me suspiciously before murmuring, "Whatever you're hiding from us...thanks."

I gave her a small smile and watched her head to Winker's car as I slowly backed up towards the front porch. The moment the car was disappearing down the driveway, I was turning and sprinting back through the house to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do with a body I couldn't dispose of as easily as a cut with my knife, which I didn't even have.

After debating for a good thirty minutes and trying to make very inconspicuous searches online, I ended up starting a bonfire in the backyard. Moving the body was the most difficult part of the whole procedure. Crow, being a skilled killer, didn't have rubber gloves in the cabin which shocked me, so I ended up using one of his old pairs of oven mitts stuffed in one of the drawers near the stove.

It was difficult to ignore the way the bones bristled underneath my hands, not even the thickness of the mitts could hide the way it felt like burned chicken on bone. The bonfire was easy to create, thanks to the fire pit already located in the back. In all the time I'd been here, I'd never really gone out here to look around. It was beautiful, save for the dead body I was piling loose sticks and newspapers around. There was a small shed near the back where I found a tank of gasoline and gardening tools which I knew had other meanings besides just for gardening and planting. The shovels were definitely ones we'd used to dig up Cage's body to find the list.

It'd been so long since I'd thought about it all. Things were happening all around me, a constant flurry of new events that sent my mind spinning like a rollercoaster at a county fair. Knowing I was the last necromancer still made an uncomfortable pit open up in my stomach but I didn't have time to process it anymore than I already have.

Not even now as I stepped back once dousing the body and kindling in gasoline. I struck a match and flicked it out and away from me. In seconds the body was ignited and the heat was soaring up into the sky in thick clouds of smoke. I stood close, feeling the way the wind shifted the flames and I wondered how the body had gotten here. The cabin wasn't as safe as I had once thought if it meant that John's little demons could break inside and throw a body in the backyard. Of course, John knew exactly where Crow lived as he was a Morticianer before all this hell broke loose. This was no surprise they knew where to find me either, news spread fast amongst demons and ghosts. It only meant I needed to be more cautious being here alone and unprotected. It just meant I needed to figure out a new way to defend myself and I don't think I can just rely on what I'm learning with Macabre.

I stepped back and watched the body burn the rest of the way for the next few hours until it was only ash as I sat on the back porch with my homework as if this was just a normal day, just a normal activity.

This was my new, horrific, normal.

~

Blondie and Winker arrived at the cabin close to ten and they brought pizza. We ate in the kitchen and not once did either of them ask me about earlier and the way I'd basically forced them off the property. They also didn't ask about the smokey smell around the house, which I was thankful for. I didn't need to dwell on the discovery. Not now, at least.

"You've thought more about what we're gonna do if we can't find the lat of the ingredients tonight?" asked Blondie as she picked a pepperoni off her pizza and thumbed it into her mouth. "I mean, the fact that there's a place where we can even get a bone of a black cat is surprising enough, but if they're, like, what? Out of stock? What do we do then?"

"Find a black cat–"

"Luke, god, that's evil!"

Winker held his hands up. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Besides, there's no chance in hell any of us could even go through with that." He reached for another slice of pizza, this one covered in mushrooms and banana peppers. "I think the question we should be asking is what do we do for the blood of an innocent?"

"What did Crow use when we summoned John?" asked Blondie.

I shrugged. "He...well...he didn't tell me."

Winker frowned. "How the hell did he just have it, then? He got some secret stock?"

"Knowing him," laughed Blondie, "probably. The guy has everything you can imagine up his sleeves." Her eyes met mine across the table and a small smile came to her lips. "I bet he has a few things hidden in his pants, too–"

"I swear to god–"

She giggled, her cheeks pink. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, but it's just so easy with you, Blaire!"

I checked the time on my phone with a slight scowl even though I chuckled back in response. "Finish off what you want on the pizza but it's just about time to go."

"Okay, but seriously, what do we do if these places don't have what we need?"

"I don't wanna say let's do what Luke suggested but..." I gave Blondie a long look and she sighed. "We might not have much of a choice if we really want to summon Crow."

Do I dare corrupt more of my soul just to get him back? Do I take the life of an innocent?

No, no, no–

"Meet here after we're done?" asked Blondie as Winker took the leftover slices and put them all in the same box.

I nodded, finishing off the crust on my plate as I grabbed my jacket from the island, along with my keys. "If we get all that we need, we meet here and complete the summoning."

She grinned. "And Crow will finally be back in your loving arms."

"Yeah," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "That, too."

~

I drove alone.

Blondie and Winker went together, although Blondie had made a point of wishing she was going with me as I was the 'expert' in the field but resulted in going with her boyfriend instead. There was no way Winker would've been able to find a frog liver on his own. I decided on driving my own car tonight, substituting smooth seats for my old and worn down leather.

Driving by myself allowed me the chance to think, which was something I was beginning to hate more and more. I was letting my thoughts control me but I couldn't help it, like most things. I just couldn't help but feel like I was dragging everyone I loved into this pit with me and it was getting harder and harder to reassure myself of the simple fact that they were doing this because they wanted to and not because they had to.

Most of these thoughts were centered around Pandora, as most always were.

People who were close to me, died. First Cage, then my mother, Pandora, and now, probably, Crow. None of them deserved to be pulled down with me and I hated myself for constantly thinking of things I would've changed if it had been different. Maybe if I hadn't befriended Pandora on that first day, maybe if mom didn't get that new job, maybe, maybe, and so on and so forth.

I pulled up to the little store, hidden in between a long alley next to a convenient store and an old Chinese restaurant. I got out of my car and made sure I locked the doors carefully, this wasn't a part of town I was used to and didn't necessarily truth my surroundings much. Even as I made sure the door was locked and I glanced behind myself to make sure I wasn't being followed down the alley and towards the little door with the wind chimes attached, I couldn't help but laugh. No one would ever think twice that I'd be the most dangerous thing in this alley, no one would ever look at me and say let's go the other way, and somehow, that was a comforting thought.

When I opened the door, the dim lights above me flickered. The door chimed and rang with the movement as it closed and I paused as I looked around. There were a few tall rows of shelves with a narrow space in between for you to glide through. There were jars of unknown liquids and things I didn't think I wanted to ever really know about. The place smelled musty, and from the fact that there were no windows, it seemed this place had never truly seen the sun.

I made a move to walk towards the shelves when a croaking voice to my right stopped me.

"What can I do for you today?"

I turned, surprised to find a little old woman sitting at the only cash register. She was propped up on a high chair, her frail hands in her lap where she was crocheting a long blue scarf. Her cheeks were sagging from age and her eyes were narrowed as she studied me through the glasses that rested on the tip of her nose.

"Oh," I said, startled as I forced a smile, "I'm actually looking for, uh, something pretty specific."

"What is it?" she asked in a gruff voice and I cleared my throat with an awkward laugh.

"Uh," I laughed again, feeling as if I needed to fill the void between us with noise, "it's kind of weird, but I'm, uh, looking for the bone of a black cat?"

She smiled and I wished she hadn't. "We have everything here," she said, scooting off her chair. "Ingredients & Inquiries has almost every obscure need the average human could possibly need." She motioned for me to follow her and I reluctantly did. "We have bat wings, scarab eggs, those fruity chapsticks that singer put out a year ago. We've got it all."

Even though I probably shouldn't have followed her through the dark and very empty store, I did so anyway. I kept my eyes on her, avoiding the way I passed a shelf holding jars of eyes and I could only hope they weren't human. She paused near the last row of shelves, pulling out a small stepping stool from under the bottom shelf. She climbed on top and her fingers searched the mysterious jars and bags on the top.

"What's a sweet young thing like yourself going to do with a black cat bone?" the woman asked and I caught a glimpse of the name tag hidden behind the folds of her shirt.

Castor.

I swallowed thickly, forcing out an uncomfortable laugh because I recognized that name. Hell, anyone would recognize it. "It's a bet, with some of my friends," I settled on saying as the woman continued to look. "Whoever can bring back the craziest thing wins the–"

"If I didn't know better," Miriam Castor interrupted me, "I would've thought you were preparing yourself a little summoning with this bone." She made a small noise of triumph and picked up a small black bag and began to climb down from her stool. She presented it before me and I took it hesitantly.

It felt like a bone and when I opened the bag, I was right.

"Black cat's bone," said Miriam. "Still intact." She opened her mouth to say something but the world around me fell into a horrible gray haze, chills twirling down my back and over the exposed skin of my neck.

I glanced around myself in the aisle, searching for whatever had brought me to this astral when I heard little footsteps. They were soft, like the pitter patter of rain on windows. There was a soft ringing of laughter, filling the silent air around me and in a blur of somber colors, I caught sight of my ghosts as they began to chant and sing.

"Mama, mama, take us to the sea. Mama, mama, take us to the trees. Mama, mama, give us a sip. Mama, mama, let us have a dip. Mama, mama, poisoned us with lead. Mama, mama, killed us dead."

They appeared around me in a small huddle, just three of them with dirt covering their cheeks. They were so small and the eldest barely reached my chest in height. They had plump little cheeks and eyes that seemed to be swallowed up by their eyes and the darkness residing in them. They began to sing again, pointing to the frozen woman.

"Mama, mama, poisoned us with lead! Mama, mama, killed us dead!"

It made sense. Miriam Castor had tried suing the city, blaming the water supply but hadn't it been so obvious when it was only her children affected? She had been searching for a quick payday that never arrived.

"I can help you," I whispered to the children, the young boys who never got the chance to break double digits. I took to one knee, kneeling before them so I could meet their eyes. "I can take you away from this place, away from her."

"Take us to the sea," they whispered in unison, "take us to the trees."

I didn't know why this was so different from the other ghosts I'd met, but there was a horrible feeling creeping up my throat. It felt like it was closing, tightening with this building emotion I wished I could've swallowed down as I choked out, "I–I can take you somewhere better."

Finally speaking out of song, the youngest of the three looked up at me and said, "Promise?"

I nodded, a smile coming to my lips. "There are other little kids like you there," I told them. "There's a whole other world up there."

The eldest frowned. "Up there?"

I nodded again and held out my hand to him. "I can show you?"

"And–and–" The eldest frowned. "And it won't hurt?"

"No," I whispered, feeling a hot tear slip from my eye and go rolling down my cheek. I wiped at it quickly, forcing out a laugh. "It'll be like getting a warm hug. It'll be like blinking or–or going to sleep."

"Will our dad be there?" asked the middle child and a small smile came to his lips. "Our family dog?"

"Yes," I breathed as another tear fell down my cheek. I wasn't used to children so young, so curious and alone. "All the people who've ever loved you will be there. Do you–" I cleared my closing throat. "Do you want to see them?"

All together, they nodded.

"Who–" I cleared my throat again. "Who wants to go first?"

The two youngest nudged the eldest boy and he glanced back at them and nodded, silently. When he looked at me, our eyes met, and it wasn't an adult meeting the eyes of a boy, but it were the eyes of a boy who no longer belonged in childhood. I held out my hand to him and he took it hesitantly.

"It'll be okay," I whispered to him, nodding with a smile. "You won't have to stay here anymore, okay?"

His face broke out in a little toothy smile. "Thank you," he said to me as I reached out and took his other hand in mine. In an instant, the dark store lit up in golden lights. His head tilted back with a euphoric grin, his lips parted as those golden rays shot out from all over. His body left the ground in shimmering light and the light expanded in the room until there was nothing left but a gentle breeze in the unmoving realm.

"He's–he's gone?" asked the middle boy. "And he's safe?"

I nodded. "He's crossed over."

The middle boy looked at his frozen mother and then back at me. He gave himself a firm nod of assurance before meeting my eyes. "I want to go, too." He let out a shuddering breath not from a boy but from a boy who'd had to grow up too early. "I want to go with him." He held out his hands and I took them.

The ghost's were warm against me, like they were still linked to life. What a horrible life they must've had.

It didn't take long after I took his hands that the gold grew around him. He went out in the same beautiful lights as his oldest brother and then he was gone, leaving just me and the youngest of the three looking up at me with big swollen eyes filled with tears.

"Sacred," he whispered to me, his voice so light and soft it felt like someone was dragging flower petals across my hands. "Scared," he repeated in the same terrified voice.

"It's okay to be," I whispered to him, reaching out and brushing the tears that escaped from his big eyes. It felt wet against my finger and I wonder how much of this would cross over with me or disappear here with them. "But everything will be okay."

"How?"

"You'll be with your brothers," I told him, "and you won't ever have to see your mama again. She's not going to come with you."

"Promise?"

I nodded. He was so small, maybe just four years old but still just so tiny before me. He held his arms up and I lifted him against me, resting him on my hip. He didn't weigh as much as he should've and something about that made it even harder for me to speak. "Everything will be okay."

He played with the ends of my hair as he whispered, "You come, too?"

"I–" I swallowed deeply. "I can't."

His thick brows furrowed. "Why?"

My lips trembled and I found it hard to even open my mouth to speak but I did so anyway. "It's–it's not my time." More tears fell down his cheeks as they did mine and he reached out, catching one of my tears on his little fingers. He felt so real in my arms that it was hard to even believe he wasn't truly here. Just a phantom image trapped and lost in a loop. "I've got a lot of work left here to do."

"Like a superhero?"

I chuckled and it sounded wet in my throat.

"Tell me where I'm going?" he asked, nuzzled my neck with his little head and I could feel his tears smear against my skin like liquid fire.

"It's going to be everything you've ever wanted," I whispered, going off what I believe could be in a perfect heaven for a young boy. "There will be fields big enough for you to have your own playground."

"With swings? And places to hide and seek?"

I nodded, rocking him gently in my arms. "You'll be able to go to the ocean, play on the beach with your brothers. You'll get to go swimming, jump the waves, you'll–" I let out a broken laugh as more tears fell from both of us. "–you'll be free."

He pulled away from my neck, grabbing my face with his small hands. "Come," he said and I shook my head.

"I can't."

"Come," he begged. "Come, please."

"I–" It was getting so hard to speak but I had to put on a good face for him. He was just a little kid, he didn't know anything outside of what I was showing him now. "I can't, not–not right now. I'll see you again, though," I said and a small smile broke out on his face as I wiped his tears with my free hand. "One day, I promise."

"Promise?" he asked, holding out his pinky and I laughed.

I interlocked our two fingers, shaking on it as I said, "Promise."

With my free hand, I touched the boy gently on the back of the head, holding him against me in a warm embrace. He felt so real against me, more real than Beatrice had when we'd brush against one another. I soothed him gently before the warmth began.

It started in his chest and spread all over his little body. I closed my eyes and could still see the lights burning behind my eyelids as he erupted in glorious golden light that would carry him to a better place. A better time.

I only opened my eyes once I knew all the light was gone and when I felt the world slowly start to shift and fade. I wiped at my eyes as the gray spilled away and Miriam was talking again with her awful fake voice.

"That'll be seven dollars," she said, moving past me and back towards the register. I followed the murderer as I got out the money she needed. As she took my cash, she said, "You remind me of the girl who used to babysit my boys. Such a kind girl, naive, but kind. You naive, too?"

"Huh?" I breathed, brows furrowing.

"Three dollars in change," she said instead, holding out the ones for me to take. When I did, her ugly hand brushed against my own and she smiled up at me. "Stay aware," she breathed and I jolted when her claw-like hand gripped my wrist to keep me there longer, "not all people are good, Blaire."

"Wh–" She let go of her grip on me and I stumbled back and away from her quickly.

I didn't allow myself to think of how and why she knew my name until I was safely back inside my car, driving as quick as I could to keep distance between us. She was a murderer, an awful, evil woman, and she somehow knew my name. I hadn't told her, I hadn't given her anything. She'd somehow looked me in the eyes and knew my name.

They all know your name.

Somehow, I didn't doubt the fact that she probably did know about me and my insanely complicated legacy. With a shop and mind like hers, I wouldn't doubt it one bit.

You could run your car through her shop, a little voice murmured in my head. You could stop her once and for all.

I frowned, ignoring my little voice and my silly thoughts as I slowed at a stop light. A small pain throbbed in the back of my head and I ignored that, too.

It was easier to ignore things than to face them head on. And besides, I didn't have the capacity to think harder than I was right now. My eyes were still damp, along with my cheeks, and I couldn't help but allow my mind to be swallowed up by the faces of those damn children. They were betrayed by their own flesh and blood, used as a scheme that never even worked. It made my heart break, seeing someone so young wander the astral with me.

I understood the hardships of this job, more than ever. I couldn't imagine how Cage could've done it for as long as he did. How did he look in the eyes of children, just barely above the ages of four? Had he ever faced any younger?

I didn't know I had wanted to have kids of my own until I'd held that young boy in my arms and a vessel had broken inside my eyes and my own personal dam had flown freely. I never wanted kids, period, before this. I didn't like how they were sticky and wet and always sick, and giving birth was a nightmare scenario for me altogether but...but that boy deserved so much more than what he got. And if I could protect a child like that, to make up for the world's punishments, I would.

Well, maybe I would, if the circumstances brought me to a moment like that. If the universe brought me a child, I don't think I'd be able to say no except for right now. The whole business with John, my peace would have to come after that was all said and done. Once he was dead, once we'd stopped the devil for good, then maybe I'd settle down.

After college. But do necromancers even need college?

I had this awful scenario in my head of me going off after high school, skipping college and going straight to this life of impulsion. I'd help people with their hauntings, I'd reap the occasional demon, I'd get my money there. Then, when things finally settled down, I'd have a family with a cute house and a garden in the backyard and flowers in all the windows. They would be purple and yellow and pink and so bright, it'd be like I was stuck in a television show because everything would be so perfect and light. There would be no death in my perfect future, not until I was old and gray.

My headache brought me back from my thoughts as I turned onto the gravel road towards the cabin. It was close to eleven thirty, I'd made surprisingly good time. The pounding in my head began to beat with my heart and I rubbed at the base of my skull to try to ease the pain but it only followed with more discomfort.

I dug my nails into the leather of the steering wheel with my free hand and suddenly pressed down on the brakes, the car skidding across the gravel just enough to throw a rush of adrenalin through me as the pain became blinding. My eyesight was blurring and not in the sense that I knew a ghost was coming but in the way that it felt like I was having a stroke, or maybe a heart attack, or some type of attack from the inside.

I felt something drip from my nose and I brought a weak hand up to wipe it away, my fingers coming off red. I tried to lift my hand a second time to stop the gush but my hand could no longer move from my lap and I tried to move my legs, to get myself away, to get help, but my body was like clay. It wasn't mine to mold and use.

My head fell back against the seat and I felt something brush against my cheek as my eye sight blurred to the point of darkness but I could still hear just enough. I could still feel when the hand clamped down on my shoulder and I could hear when the voice whispered to me, velvety soft with a laugh on the air that carried it.

"Don't worry, Red, we're just going to go on a little ride. Just you and I."

~

When I opened my eyes, I was on the ground.

My body was sore in all the wrong places, my neck was tight, my arms and thighs throbbed with every movement. I looked around, curiously, once I got my bearings. I definitely wasn't near the cabin anymore or my car for that matter. I was in the middle of nowhere, tall trees surrounding me in the darkness.

It took me a moment to stand but when I did, I had to use a tree to help me. There was a strange scent in the air, one of blood but also of something just slightly wrong. It wasn't something I had ever smelled so strongly before and it took me a few moments to realize it was coming from me.

It clung to every inch of me in a thin coating of something wet.

I brought the collar of my shirt to my nose to sniff and I caught the whiff. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it but it was beginning to seem familiar. I took a step back and my heel hooked in a root of one of the trees and suddenly I was going backwards but I didn't hit the ground right away. I fell a few feet and landed roughly on my side with a strangled yelp of surprise.

From what I could tell, as I caught my breath and allowed the jutting pain in my side slowly ease away, that I had fallen into a grave or a really deep hole. I hoped for the latter.

Something hard was pressing into my back and I had to maneuver myself onto my knees to get a good look at what I had landed on. Only a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, did I see the bloodied face looking back up at me.

Evil sees evil.

I gasped, clutching at my mouth to stop the building scream. I was looking face to face with Miriam Castor, the woman I had just left at the store. Her eyes were open, as was her mouth, but there wasn't a lick of life still in her. There was blood seeping from a head wound and I had to carefully dust some of the heavy dirt from her chest to notice the bloodied wounds there too. It was as if someone had taken a knife and just kept stabbing, her clothes and skin were in ribbons. Her blood made the dirt thick like mud around my knees and I flung myself away from her and towards one of the walls of the deep grave.

You fell into her grave.

It was a fresh grave too, it still smelled strongly of earth and blood. There was no dead smell, yet.

I turned away, jumping up to cling to the edge of the grave. I kicked my feet into the dirt and weakly pulled myself up and out, rolling onto the grass to get away from the opening. I dug my hands into my pockets and found my phone. I pulled it free and turned the flashlight on, shining the light around me and a pit opened up in my stomach because there was no car in sight, nor was there a road. I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a body I didn't know if I had killed.

I couldn't let myself stop and think about that more because my heart beat was in my throat and if I allowed myself to think of anything outside of a way out of here, I would double over in panic because there was blood caked under my fingernails and there was blood splattered across my shirt and I had this awful sinking feeling I had brought a knife down upon that woman's chest so many times that the knife couldn't cut through bone–

I held my light closer to my face so I could get a better view of the things around me. I was in the woods, I knew that. What woods, I didn't know. I had a feeling I was somewhere near the old clearing and Wrath's trailer, just because how ironic would that be, but I couldn't see much around me besides a little thing that caught my eyes.

I stalked forward, ignoring the open grave and the old killer inside her final resting place, as I happened upon what made my clothes sticky and smelly. I bent down and a laugh escaped me for the first time since I'd woken.

It was an empty gallon jug of milk.

And why I was covered in it made me only chuckle again. I tossed the jug back towards the grave, because anything could be evidence, and then turned my phone to face me. I dialed a number quickly and waited for the girl to answer, which she did on the first ring.

"Thank god you're okay," said Blondie, breathless. "Is everything alright?! You were supposed to meet us back at the cabin and it's been like two hours, Blaire, like, what the hell–"

"You need to come pick me up," I rushed out, running a hand over my forehead. "Look, I'm really sorry but I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere and-and–" I cleared my throat to try to hide the panic. "And there's a dead body and I don't know if I killed her or if someone else did but I'm covered in milk and I need to get out of here–"

"Okay, okay, slow down!" said Blondie before pausing. "Wait...did you just say milk?"

"Yes! But that's not the most important point I've made so far–"

"Yeah, yeah, dead body, I got it," she rushed out. "Send me your location, we can come get you, okay?" I quickly sent her my location and she sighed softly. "Got it, we'll be there in...fifteen to twenty minutes." There was another pause on her end before she asked, "Do you, like, recognize the body? The dead one?"

"Yeah, uh, I recognize her."

"God, fuck," she breathed.

"We'll–" I swallowed thickly. "We'll deal with the body later but maybe...maybe bring the shovels in the shed by the cabin and...and a change of clothes."

"Will you be alright out there by yourself?" she asked and I opened my mouth to respond but the soft pounding in my head returned and I felt as if I was no longer alone, even though the world hadn't yet shifted to gray.

"I'll be fine," I mumbled back. "I'll see you–I'll see you when you get here." I didn't wait for her to respond before I ended the call and my phone slipped from my hands and to the grass.

The world finally shifted to its gray and I was met with familiar eyes. They were exactly as they'd always been, her face was the same, as were her clothes, though bloodied, she was the same.

"You can see me?" she asked, her brows furrowing as I nodded. "I've been calling out for so long, I...I didn't know if you'd ever finally see me."

God, even her voice was the same. I swallowed thickly again, my throat tightening as I watched her step around the grave to approach me. "How–" My voice broke and I cleared my throat. "How are you here?"

She smiled, softly, and it felt like a punch to the gut. It was like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs just watching her. "Let's just say...you weren't wrong about the whole 'I'm in your body' thing."

My brows furrowed and I felt lightheaded. Don't pass out, not when you finally got her back. "Did you...did you have anything to do with–with–" I couldn't even say it so I just motioned to the grave.

"Yeah, "she said with a shrug, nonchalantly. "Sorry 'bout the mess, by the way. It's just...she was crazy, y'know? She totally murdered her kids and you saw them yourself, they were so young and it was so not fair for her to just get off free." She shrugged again, running a hand over the tree she walked past. "So, I took control and killed her for us, no biggie."

"No–no biggie?!" I cried, the sound escaping me before I could stop myself as anger took over. "You–you just killed some helpless lady–"

"She was hardly helpless, Blaire. She deliberately killed her kids for money, who's to say she wouldn't do it again? Besides, I did this for us."

"For us?!"

She nodded, with a burst of laughter, "Come on! She deserved it and you'd lie if you said it wasn't fun–"

"You can't just kill people for fun and because you can!"

Pandora smiled and the sight alone sent a horrible chill down my back. Grinning, she said with narrowed eyes, "But you've been doing it for months, so what's the harm in having a little fun?"

our baby returns!!!!!!!!!! pandora, my beloved angel, hello again <333

ok so.....blaire finally meets miriam castor who we learned about just a little in act 2 thanks to Amy (bless his deranged soul) and now we meet her fr....and her beautiful children....maybe.....blaire will see them again....who knows

also....pandora's a little blood thirsty?? out for a little revenge??? shes hot.

blaire when pandora is speaking:

blondie when blaire called her:

let me know what u guys think as always <333

and don't forget to vote/comment!!!! dont b a ghost reader !!