Leo dips into conscious, like plunging below the surface of a frozen lake. His muscles clench. The journey to the cab, his weight hulking on Fallon and Ambrose, was not easy. No more easy was it getting into the cab. At the very least, his stupor and moans proved more a distraction than Ambrose. The cab tried to get them to call an ambulance.

"I don't want an overdose in my car," the driver had said.

"He's already taken naloxone," Fallon had explained, her voice shaking. "He'll make it to the motel."

The driver had sped off, muttering something about junkies. Fallon stewed. At least the putrid smell of Ambrose could be attributed to Leo.

The three of them were the last to arrive. Getting a cab to come out to the factory had proven difficult, more so than the motel which was more central. It is close to midnight on Saturday, and Fallon knows there are more cabs out now as an effort by the region to combat DUIs. It's never enough cabs for the number of drinkers.

Getting Leo out of the cab is easier. He's semi-awake, able to brace himself on the ground to crawl. Walking is out of the question. Every part of him burns. Fallon runs ahead to the room for help. She comes back with Ajay, Clare, and Barry of all people.

When she said she needed strong hands to lift up Leo, Barry felt like they had to go. No one ever gives him credit for his strength. He wanders out the doors after them, trying his best to do the bare minimum. At least this way he gets to see Ambrose before the others, and clench up in private rather than in front of Lydia. Or Jamie. It's unclear right now.

Nico waits on the balcony, watching as the others help up Leo. They look at the man, with his hair slick to his skin with sweat, his face bright red. Leo's got blood on his face and arms, from where the old burns have ripened again. Nico steps back to allow the others to bring him inside.

They set Leo down on the bed. With what little supplies they have, Ajay works as best as he can. He tears open Leo's clothing around the burns with Audrey's pocketknife. Fallon dampens the towels and brings them over. With Leo reintroduced to the space, all the efforts of Lydia's potpourri are counteracted. His body alone increases the temperature of the room by enough that Eva strips off her sweater.

Fallon doesn't look at Nico as she assists Ajay. She couldn't bare it.

When Nico sits on the floor, Kaia takes their hand. Clare is on the other side of her, and so they offer Nico a soft nod, instead of physical touch.

The room falls quiet, if just for a second. Este cannot watch everyone. She cannot watch Ajay's precise hands, or Leo's smouldering skin, or anyone else but Ambrose. He stands with his back to the motel room, looking at the crows again. As he turns around, she flinches.

Now that is ugly.

He steps inside. A squeak slips out of Lydia. She clasps her hands over her mouth. Barry wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her in closer. Kaia's hands squeeze Nico's too tight. Drool begins to seep in Audrey's mouth. Ajay doesn't glance back at the doorway, but he feels the energy shift around him.

Only Eva stands up. She steps closer to him. His face twists towards her. He's got no eyes. The eyelids are open wide though, revealing black rotting flesh beneath them. He blinks. She steps backward, heart racing.

"You're dead, aren't you, Ambrose?" she asks, not even able to joke.

His head twists to the side, "I have been dead this entire time, Eva."

No one speaks.

Leo winces at the cold cloth from Ajay. The bed beath him feels more solid. The room more stationary. Maybe it's the whole world that has stopped spinning, just for them.

"But I'm not a ghost," Ambrose speaks.

The buzz of the sign outside seems to dim.

"We're omens."

The cooling of Leo's skin doesn't bring down the temperature of the room.

"Of what?"

Clare is the first person to ask, shocked the question even was able to come out of her mouth.

The notebook in Audrey's pocket feels heavy. Ashes and dirt and earth and bones and coffins fill it. They aren't dead. It was Audrey's body they dug up, so long ago. It wasn't Kaylee that came crawling out of the dirt. Something else, half-formed. Something that is moulded from dirt and ashes, from decomposing flesh dragged into the soil. Skin stretched and pulled over something. A thing with Audrey's consciousness, parts of it, but that is not made of Audrey in any tangible meaningful way.

"There's going to be a drought," Ambrose explains. "A forest fire."

Clare's breathing shakes. Kaia squeezes her hand.

It wasn't Hell. It wasn't damnation.

"We're warnings to leave."

"No," Lydia whispers.

She looks at Barry. It was supposed to be about her this time. Barry looks back. It was supposed to be about the two of them, together. Fighting for each other, on both sides of death, with no memories and nothing but memories. It was supposed to be their love story.

"How?" Ajay asks.

He knows he's breathing. He's counted Este's arteries. He's known every part of what it means to be alive. He is alive. And so is Leo, beneath him. This is their second chance.

"Does it matter?" Lydia's voice cracks.

"Of course it matters," Clare says. "It defines every part of us."

"Only if we let it," Lydia manages, not taking her eyes off Barry.

The entire time, he was wrong. Of course, this isn't his Lydia. But he's not his Barry either.

"So, we're supposed to save the town?" Nico swallows.

Kye's parents live here still, probably. After realizing what was going on, Nico never went looking for them. Clare has parents here though and Fallon has Corrin of course. Leo isn't a local, and neither are Barry or Kaia. Fallon and Clare and Este and Ajay and Eva and Lydia and Audrey all are. This is their town.

"Why us?" Audrey asks.

Ambrose doesn't answer.

"Why us?" Lydia wipes a tear from her face.

Maybe it's their unfinished business. Este might suspect that, if anything. Now, her business is finished and so Ambrose has awoken. She killed Jayce. Then again, this is Chelster. Este has a hard time imagining anyone without unfinished business here when they die. There is always one more door to slam. There is always another movie to watch, even if all the movies she likes were filmed in the seventies.

The only way Leo can make sense of it is to say it was random. He wasn't given a second chance. The universe does not care what people deserve.

"Does that matter?" Fallon whispers. "It had to be somebody."

"When?" Clare cuts in, staring Ambrose down. "How long do we have to evacuate the town?"

Kaia marvels at Clare. Even now, with the beginning of answers, something to finally wet her tongue and fill her, Clare is worried about protecting her community. It matters to Clare how this happened, more than it matters to Kaia. Maybe nothing matters to Kaia now that there is a bigger picture. Kaia doesn't like spoilers in movies, most people don't. Obviously, Clare needs to know how everything ticks. Stupid sweet dead cop.

Kaia rubs the back of Clare's knuckles.

"I don't know," Ambrose says. "The omens come in thirteens. The-"

"Thirteen lightning storms," Audrey realizes.

Then Kaia stiffens. Jane Doe number thirteen.

Ambrose nods, "yes. But there are twelve of us. There are twelve crows outside. The woman who came back didn't count. The pastor would have been enough. We needed to make keep him from coming back."

Este curls her fist.

"Why would the pastor count?" Clare cuts in before anyone else can jump on any number of other questions.

Ambrose blinks again.

"Because we would have taken him."

Audrey digs her hand into her pocket, curling her fist around the notebook.

Ajay spins around to look at Este. Leo groans, but not from pain.

"He didn't come back," Este says. "We checked."

Eva staggers out of the room, nearly tripping over the others. She is only careful to avoid touching Ambrose.

"He stayed dead," Ajay insists. "We promise."

Fallon pants. She looks up at the ceiling. There is still time to find Corrin. Maybe it was too late for Fallon, but it won't be for her.

"In the forest, Eva and I found an empty grave," Audrey says. "A fourteenth."

A thirteenth.

Ambrose hurries out of the room, stepping on to the balcony next to Eva. It isn't just the motel room that is too warm. It's Chelster. It's not just the motel room that smells of smoke. Ambrose watches Eva stare before turning his head just in time to see the thirteenth crow land.

~~~~~

Short and sweet but we are in the home stretch baby! I'm like, tearing up thinking about the ending urgh it's been so long. And the reveal! Anyone sort of saw it coming? I'd love to know, since I was trying to drop enough hints throughout the past many chapters. The idea of the ending changed as I worked on the book, and I'm curious as to what you think!