Thanks so much for your patience with the slower updates! My last exam is on the 23rd, so I'm almost free again! :)

- Sian

"Tom," Molly said, sensing her ex hovering by the door to her studio. "What do you want?"

"Just to see you paint."

Molly tucked her dark hair behind her ear, peering at him from the side of her canvas. "Why do I feel like you're having a hard time remembering that you left me?"

Tom stiffened and his eyes tried to divert, but they were lost in the woman he still loved with all his heart. "We both know you don't feel the same anymore."

"We both know that's not true." Molly's voice was small and frail, like she couldn't bear for the words to echo because her heart might shatter from the vibrations. "You got distant, and I got tired of holding onto you."

Tom swallowed and frowned like it caused him pain. He wanted to explain, but it was impossible to get the words out in an order that would make even the least bit of sense. "What are you painting?" Tom asked. His stomach tightened at her sigh of disappointment.

"Nothing. Please leave, we'll manage dinner without you tonight."

Tom wanted to say that he was allowed to stay and be with his son, but their situation wasn't yet comfortable, and he had important things to do. "Right, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Molly turned away, acting like she was getting more paint. She listened to his footsteps fading and the misery stuck to her face quicker than a tear escaping her eye. Tom showed little concern about what had happened to Alfie, and she knew Alfie had noticed his mild interest in such a serious matter. Molly was angry. She didn't understand why Tom was acting that way. He loved Alfie, and he had always proudly shown it.

Molly stayed in her art studio until the sadness had moved on and an eagerness to see her son smile started eating away at her. She had seen how spooked he looked and how skittish Morlen had acted when they discussed what had happened at the college. Someone was after their children, and it was time Morlen and Molly worked together to keep them safe, just like Enya, though Enya was the only warrior in her battle.

Her son was in his bedroom when she peeked in through the open door. Koda sat behind him on the bed, massaging Alfie's shoulders with a force that made Alfie scrunch his eyes shut and hiss at him to stop pressing so hard.

"It works best this way, trust me," Koda smiled, massaging up her son's neck until Alfie swatted his hands away, falling back against his chest.

Molly's eyes glinted with more than just emotional tears. The endearment willingly oozed from her son who usually expressed very little emotion, other than irritation smothered in a generous dollop of sarcasm.

"Wanna draw something on your chalkboard?" Koda questioned. He thought it was time to rub off the 'RONNIE BIRCH' that spread across the wall. All they could do was wait and hope that their parents or Connor came up with a plan. It felt like too much weight on eighteen-year-old shoulders.

"Yes, but first I want Ma to stop spying on me." The boys turned towards the door and Molly didn't look surprised that she was spotted. Alfie always knew.

"I'm just checking on you both. Let me know when you're hungry and I'll make some food."

Alfie nodded, not questioning where his father was.

Molly left them to their drawing competition and found herself moving towards the kitchen. Morlen and Connor sat in silence that felt more comfortable with each passing hour.

"Have you talked more about what we are going to do about this?" she asked, referring to the principal and his unwanted attention for her son.

"Connor here thinks we should pretend like nothing's happening and send our kids to college tomorrow," Morlen said in a tone that was so blunt, it sounded computer generated.

Molly almost dropped her mug, spluttering, "Are you out of your mind, Connor?"

"Sometimes, but not today." Connor, who was sitting at the head of the dining table, opposite Morlen, looked pale and deep in troubled thoughts. "Of course, we need a plan because if the boys are taken, we need to keep them safe until we get them out again. Whatever is going on has to be stopped and I have a horrible feeling that going to authority figures will get us into more trouble. They know something about our world that they shouldn't know. If the Grim Reaper's sidekick is in trouble, the Grim Reaper will act on it."

"Act on it, how?" Morlen asked, and Connor could hear his teeth grinding together.

"Ghosts are on our side, and the reaper of souls is on our side. Koda needs Alfie, so if Alfie is taken and in trouble, the reaper will help, I'm sure of it."

"What are you suggesting?" Molly snapped. "That Alfie gets taken and rescued by the- the Grim Reaper? But won't the principal keep coming after the boys until he gets what he wants?"

"What does he want?" Morlen asked anyone who would answer.

"Koda's gift. Humans of power have been trying to get into the world of the paranormal for years now. You might ask why but that's simple. With power comes greed, and greed lacks morals, and people with no morals will do whatever they want to get whatever they want. They don't care about the job that Koda has to do for the Grim Reaper, they only care about having the upper hand. In their eyes, nobody else can be special."

"They?" Molly asked as Morlen was busy observing the medium. Connor's words were like he spoke directly from experience. Morlen forgot that Connor had gone through exactly what Koda was going through.

"People of power like Ronnie Birch. They want what nobody else has, to keep the dominance in a world where life is a game. Dangerous people." Connor shifted awkwardly. He felt the energy of people around him all the time. Morlen's energy was always very tense, especially when pointed in his direction.

Molly stared into her half-empty cup of coffee. Her head hurt and her bones felt brittle and old. "Who told the principal that Alfie had Koda's gift?"

"We don't know." Connor's mind kept drifting to Nikki Pecan, the boys' art teacher. Who else could have told the principal? But if it was her, why would she give false information?

"If it was Chris, I'll smash his skull in," Morlen muttered darkly, and nobody knew how to reply, hearing undertones of truth.

After a while, Connor decided to ask if sending the boys to school and letting Ronnie Birch take Alfie was a plan that they were willing to take. He stressed the fact that Alfie could summon ghosts to keep around him, and ghosts that would report back to Connor.

"But what if we can't get him back? What if they hurt him, or worse? What if the Grim Reaper can't get him out?" Molly asked. Her face felt numb and hard to move. Her lips trembled; she couldn't force herself to keep the worry away.

"If Death faces complications, Death will take the souls of those who are inconvenient."

"Ronnie Birch?" Morlen asked and Connor nodded.

"People will die, and it won't be the boys."

* * * * *

"No, absolutely not," Koda said harshly and Alfie jumped. It was 7 am and the boys stood among the tired parents in the kitchen. Connor explained the plan they had talked about the previous evening. Koda, quite obviously, was not a fan. "Are you crazy? Letting Alfie get kidnapped is your big idea? No. We'll think of something else."

"What else is there?" Connor asked. He hadn't slept a wink. Not because the couch in the Willow's household was uncomfortable, or that Morlen's snoring was like a drill spinning right next to his ear, but his mind wouldn't switch off. He had taught Alfie about mediumship for a long time and he was a dear friend. Connor didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The thought attacked his spine with shivers.

"Anything other than putting Alfie in danger like that!" Koda watched his father, doubting that he would agree, but hopeful enough to try and pry it out of him. "If that was me, dad, would you still think of it as a good idea?"

Morlen cleared his throat and turned his features into stone to ensure no emotion leaked. "Yes." He glanced away when Koda looked hurt, almost as if Morlen had slapped him for no reason.

"Molly." Koda turned to Alfie's mother. "This-"

"I know," Molly interrupted. "Ridiculous? Yes. Do we have another idea? No. Do I like this idea? Not in the slightest, but Connor said that the Grim Reaper will help."

"And you're willing to put all of your trust into a stupid paranormal thing we haven't seen?" Koda's eyes fell on Alfie who was too quiet. "It's too risky."

The eyes in the room zoned in on the young medium as Alfie studied the marble patterns in the white kitchen tiles. "I'll do it," he said, and Molly's shoulders rolled forwards with defeat. "But only if Connor can definitely confirm that the Grim Reaper will help me, or that there's more than a ten per cent chance of me coming back."

"Ten per cent?" Koda scoffed dryly. He shook his head and removed himself from the conversation.

Morlen sighed when his son stormed out and down the corridor. "I'll talk to him," he muttered and followed. His head throbbed from the lack of sleep, and his mood was as solid as ever. The crisp morning air didn't soften his mood as Morlen hovered by his son who glared angrily into the dim driveway.

After a moment of listening to Koda's heavy breathing, Morlen tried to place a hand on his son's shoulder and Koda shrugged it off. "I know it's not ideal, but this plan could work. If Alfie's in trouble, the Grim Reaper will hopefully take the souls of the ones who are a threat, then you don't have to keep running from this." Morlen nearly said it would be closure, but they didn't know if Ronnie Birch linked to the death of his wife.

Koda remained silent. Morlen could almost see the cogs circulating in his head until Koda turned and Morlen was distracted by the sorrow weighing down his son's eyes. Koda looked tired. Tired physically, tired mentally, tired of grief.

"If something happened to Alfie and I went along with the plan that put him in danger, I would never forgive myself," Koda said and if it wasn't so silent in the open air, Morlen would have struggled to hear him.

"Nothing will happen to him."

"You don't know that!" Koda snapped, raising his hands and linking them at the back of his head. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, finding it hard to keep down his composure.

"No, we don't, but-"

"I think I'm falling in love with him." Koda shocked himself and Morlen noticed. But he had shocked Morlen too. Love was a powerful word and Koda never used it carelessly, which meant that his words must be true, especially for them to be said when he was emotional. "No, I am falling in love with him, and you're all idiots if you think I'll let him do this alone." Morlen didn't like the dark shimmer glowing in Koda's stare. "If they take him, then they'll have to take me too."

Koda stormed off again and Morlen was left to stare into the dimly lit street with his arm hairs standing on end. He lied when he said that he would still like the plan, even if Koda was the one getting kidnapped. The thought terrified him; it was any parents worst nightmare.