"It's c-cold in here, T-Taylor," Adon stuttered as shivers wracked his body. 

Taylor tried to stand up after removing Adon's arm from around his shoulders, but his own damaged body refused to move. Panting, he held himself up on shaky arms and carefully started backing away from Adon. 

The man had fallen over and was taking quick, shallow breaths, seemingly staring at nothing. 

"T-too c-cold." 

Shaking the shock from his mind, Taylor looked around the room for Caleb. Surprisingly, he was standing at the chalkboard, his back to them as his fingers moved over the dark green surface. When he vanished suddenly, Taylor narrowed his eyes and read the message. 

TAKKE O TSIDDE

Looking back toward Adon, he felt himself hesitate. The guy was clearly freezing, his lips already turning blue, but the reason why kept him back several feet. 

"He can't go outside. There was a barrier."

Looking around for Caleb again, Taylor continued; "You need to tell your brother to leave his body. He's making him too cold. He could die."

Caleb reappeared a moment later by the chalkboard, his attention on the letters he'd previously written. When he simply remained there without giving any actual response to what he'd said, Taylor inched his way back toward Adon.

By the time he got close to him again, the man had already passed out. 

"Shit. Okay, he's too cold, so maybe I can warm him up." 

He thought about grabbing the blankets from his bed, but those required body heat, and even if he added his own, he doubted that it would be enough. 

The sound of the bathtub spigot turning on drew his attention toward the bathroom connected to his bedroom. 

Ah, hot water. 

Using the front doorjamb to force himself back to his feet, Taylor tried to lift Adon's body, but his injured foot dropped them both back to the floor before he could even more then an inch. Hissing from the pain, he rolled over and wiped a few tears from his left eye. As he was blinking away the blurriness afterward, he heard something beside him and looked just in time to see Caleb slowly standing with Adon's body in his arms. 

Adon was definitely bigger than the wraith, but Caleb didn't seem to be putting much effort into his weight. 

He's clearly having to focus on something, though. He looks so tired, like just picking up Adon is draining his energy quickly. 

It was an odd thought once he considered it. He'd never really seen an emotion on the young man's face. Of course, he'd communicated through the chalkboard and text messages, but to be able to see his facial expression actually change to the point of showing some sort of emotion? It had never happened. 

Until now. 

He tried his best to get back up and follow Caleb's extremely slow steps, but he eventually gave up and simply pulled himself along the floor, dragging his bad foot on the tile. thankfully, he got into the bathroom right as the water started getting a bit too high. 

Caleb had just finished setting Adon in the tub so Taylor dragged himself past him and reached over to turn off the water. With that taken care of, he gave out an exhausted sigh and leaned back against the wall, needed to rest. 

The room was beginning to steam up a bit, making him wonder just how hot Caleb had set it, but since Adon didn't look distressed and had finally stopped shivering for the most part, he figured that it was okay. Of course, he was still going to watch him. With Nicolai somehow partially possessing him, he was on edge to the point of being hyper aware. 

The adrenalin actually had his own body shivering a little, but just seeing Adon relaxing in the hot water was relief enough to keep himself focused. Since the crisis was at least momentarily averted, he turned his attention to Caleb. The young man had dropped to his knees beside the tub and was rocking slowly from side to side, as if he was having trouble staying upright, himself. 

"Hey, Caleb?" 

When he got no response Taylor looked closer. 

He seems out of it. His expression is back to being blank. 

When the wraith's head began to bob, Taylor realized what was about to happen and reached forward. The action made him wince, but he was just in time to catch Caleb as he fell, his form fading into nothingness. 

He wasn't sure how, but even without a visible body, he felt the young man fall into his arms. His weight definitely wasn't what it would have been if he were alive, but there was definitely a couple pounds pressing against his arms. 

Not sure how this is actually working. I can't see him, but I can feel him. 

 "Tay..."

Adon's tired voice drew Taylor's attention upward. 

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, hesitantly sneaking a glance at the man's left eye. 

It's back to normal. Did Nikolai leave? 

He doubted it. There was no way he had seen incorrectly, and Caleb wouldn't have put so much effort into helping Adon unless his brother was at risk, too. 

Wait. He helped Adon...

Pulling out his phone carefully as to not jostle Caleb, he quickly typed in a search for information on banshees possessing people. There weren't many articles, unsurprisingly, but the few that came up gave him at least a tiny bit of hope. 

If Adoni dies while Nikolai is possessing him, then Nikolai will cease to exist... for good. 

"Still a little cold, but it's definitely better. I thought I was going to freeze to death," Adon replied quietly, clearly exhausted from his ordeal. 

Taylor returned his attention to the man for a moment before typing something else into his phone, hoping to find information on wraiths fading away, but still leaving their bodies. Of course, he found absolutely nothing, drawing a sigh from his lips. 

"I've never felt so much desperate relief," Adoni said, drawing Taylor's confused eyes up to him again. 

"You were freezing," he said, hesitant to tell the man that he'd been possessed. 

Adon gave a slight nod and closed his eyes. 

"I think that he's been feeling that way for years. Ever since he'd been murdered and resurrected as a banshee." 

Blinking, Taylor shifted Caleb in his arms a tiny bit as he replied; 

"You know." 

Adon nodded again but didn't bother opening his eyes or moving his head from where it rested against the back tile wall. 

"I thought that he'd try to take over my body more, and at first, it was definitely terrifying. I don't think he even thought that he'd be able to have a human body ever again. His mind is simple as a banshee, and it quickly got overwhelmed and made me horribly disoriented when he actually managed to possess me." 

I can't believe he's not freaking out about this. 

"Believe me, I'm terrified, but feeling all of his uneasiness and confusion has me oddly sympathetic. Not that I want him to stay, I definitely don't like not having complete control over my body, and I don't think I'd be able to stay sane with two different minds in my head... one is more than enough, but right this second, I think we shouldn't panic about this. He's much less dangerous right now. He can barely even more my arm for more than a few seconds before getting exhausted." 

You are now officially insane. 

"He can also feel warm for the first time in years, Tay. He was so cold for so many years that this hot water actually has him so comfortable that his consciousness is just barely in the back of my mind." 

Taylor tilted his head slightly as he shifted Caleb a little bit more. 

"He's... unconscious? Is that even possible? The articles on banshees said that they become immobile if they overexert themselves, but an exorcist is the only thing that can knock a banshee unconscious. Even Sasha's friend said that."

Adon shrugged, then winced as he looked down at the faint mist of blood emanating from his chest. 

"I honestly looked up a ton of stuff on banshees, too, but I couldn't find anything that would explain this situation."

Seeing that Adon was going to need help soon, Taylor carefully got to his feet, being extra careful to favor his bad one as he limped over to his bed. Once he got Caleb settled in, he hopped back to the bathroom, grabbing a towel along the way. 

Adon had already leaned forward and drained the tub, but that had clearly taken most of his remaining energy. He panted quietly as he waited for the water to disappear. Once it was mostly gone, Taylor leaned over and began helping him remove his clothing. It took a while because of their injuries, but they finally managed it. After another ten or so minutes, Adon was mostly dry and the towel was tossed aside. Laundry could wait a day or five. 

"Alright. Let's get you out and into bed?" 

Adon nodded and reached over the edge of the tub. Taylor gently grabbed him under both of his arms, then carefully guided him over the ledge until they were both splayed out on the floor. Adon was settled atop his own body but the weight didn't bother him too much. He was just relieved that the guy hadn't passed out again, yet. 

"Alright, let's get you to the bed and I'll rebandage and treat your chest," he said as he got to his knees, then slowly helped Adon up to his own before starting their long journey. They both needed several breaks, but after about fifteen minutes Taylor managed to get Adon up onto the bed. 

Glad I put Caleb on the side by the wall. 

Hopping back to the bathroom, he got down some medication, bandages, and filled a cup with water before limping back to set it all on the windowsill by his bed. 

"Alright, one thing at a time." 

He handed Adon the cup of water and a pain pill, knowing that the guy might pass out at any second. Thankfully, he was able to take it, then drink the rest of the water before dropping his head back down to the pillow with a long sigh. 

Next, Taylor got busy dealing with his wound. It was pretty easy to clean with a small cloth, and once it looked good enough, he added a decent amount of medication and made sure to wrap it properly. 

"There. Much better." 

Smiling sleepily, he covered the guy with a heavy blanket, then limped into the kitchen and got himself a drink, then ate a granola bar. When he was ready, he returned to the room with an extra bar in his hand. Unsurprisingly, Adon was out cold, but that wasn't why his feet stopped him right at the entrance to the room.  

Adoni had definitely passed out, lying on his back with his lips slightly parted. He was breathing steadily, his chest rising and falling... perfectly in sync with the translucent young man sleeping on his side up against him. Part of Nikolai's back and right leg were still within Adon's body, but the rest of him was surprisingly visible. He almost looked as normal as Caleb did, except he was much more see-through. He was clothed, too, but his body was too faded to really tell much detail besides that he was wearing some sort of faded cargo pants and a dark colored shirt. 

Curious, Taylor quietly moved closer, keeping his eyes on the sleeping banshee as he moved to the windowsill and set down the extra granola bar he'd brought with him. Once that was done, he took a few calming breaths and simply observed the two. 

Their breathing was still perfectly in sync, making him realize that this was probably the first time in years that the banshee needed to go through that motion of living. His head rested on Adon's right shoulder as his right arm lay beneath it and under the pillow. His left arm draped over Adon's right one and his slightly bent left leg was close to being off the bed. 

He's almost cute. 

He couldn't get the true image of the banshee out of his mind, though. They were dangerous and scary as hell. 

Speaking of dangerous. 

Looking up, he noticed the faint indent in his other pillow by the wall. 

Still there. 

He doubted that Caleb was actually sleeping, figuring that he probably just ran out of energy and was immobile unless disturbed. 

Yeah, let's not. I've had enough excitement for forever. 

Grabbing his spare blanket from a box near the closet, he trudged toward the couch in the other bedroom, but gave up halfway as his foot finally decided to stop supporting his weight. Too tired to even hop anymore, he curled up on the floor and did his best to tug the blanket around himself enough to keep warm. 

At some point during the evening he found himself blinking his eyes open a couple times, though they didn't really focus enough to see anything. Having no interest in waking up yet, he stretched and rolled over onto his other side to get more comfortable, then snuggled in close against the back of the couch. Something faintly settled against his back during that time, but the pressure wasn't enough to make him want to wake up. When nothing else happened for a few more moments, he gratefully let his mind return to the calming darkness of sleep.