Koda stepped out of the lift and the scientists were quiet as they examined the Reaper's sidekick. He was just an ordinary boy, an eighteen-year-old boy who liked art, sport, and food. There was nothing odd about him on the surface, which made him more intriguing. Koda was like an Oleander plant; beautiful on the outside but held a deadly secret.

Koda was about to burst and Morlen understood that he couldn't stop any of it from happening. His son was going to make those who hurt Alfie pay in the way he knew how; with their souls. When did he grow up? Morlen thought to himself, watching his eighteen-year-old stick up for love and what was morally right. More recently, Morlen caught himself thinking how thankful he was that Enya was partially in Koda's life to raise him. Morlen had a poisonous mind for most of Koda's childhood and the poison turned sour over the last few years. Morlen was reaching the edge of his guilt where he would do anything to go back in time. Morlen liked to think that he'd pat his son on the back if his son told him that he was gay, and Koda would smile, and they would talk about it.

"Step away from him," Koda demanded, staring at Alfie who couldn't lift his head to stare back. Every fibre screamed to reach him and never let go. "You'll regret it if you don't."

Fran scoffed and stood in front of Alfie. "We've waited for you, Koda, for far too long." Her icicles for eyes looked the teen up and down. "Grab him."

When a big guy in a white lab coat moved towards Koda, Morlen prepared himself to storm past Ronnie until Koda turned and punched the guy in the face, hard enough to send him flying to his back. A circle quickly formed around Koda. Nobody wanted to be next, but they didn't want to let the sidekick escape.

"I'm here for Alfie, then I'm leaving, and nobody here can stop me." Koda rolled his sleeves up and stepped closer to Alfie. Fran was still standing in front of his boyfriend, looking a little less smug than before. She had tensed from Koda's violence which was very out of character.

"We have worked too damn hard to let you walk away, but if you do, we will find you and your father's next," she spat, desperate to say anything to cover her fear.

Fran had stepped over the mark, and the ungodly silence drilled into Morlen's head when he realised that her threat had happened before. "You killed my wife," Morlen said, pointing in the general direction of the scientists. They were all to blame. "You killed my wife!"

"Well," Fran said with a hint of a smile, "Killed? I'm not too sure of that." She grinned wider when Koda and Morlen shared the same raised brows of surprise.

Ronnie's heart dropped. He thought Alfie's guardian ghost would have told Connor. Ronnie turned and eyed Connor who stood in the doorway of the lift with Molly. Ronnie sighed. Connor didn't tell them about Enya's body in room 18.

Koda stalked forwards until he was right in front of Fran. "Move out of my way, or I'll move you myself."

Alfie listened to his boyfriend's deep voice. He wanted to collapse into Koda's chest and pass out, but he forced himself to stay alert. He was scared that if he let the pain consume him, he'd wake up and someone he cared about would be gone.

"What are you gonna do? Punch me too?" Fran was as short as Alfie. Her head only reached Koda's chest. She was armoured with confidence and had hurt Alfie with such ease. Koda didn't doubt that she would hurt him too.

"No. I'll kill you." The words were like strange food in Koda's mouth. Unfamiliar, but he liked the taste.

"Will you let us chain you up like him?" Fran taunted, not hearing the truth in his words.

The mention of Alfie in chains kick-started Koda's protectiveness and he grabbed Fran. He shoved her out of the way and aimed for Ursula who threw the keys at him. She didn't want to get hurt.

Koda's heart sped up when he knelt in front of Alfie and cupped his cheeks. Alfie's face was covered in dry blood from his popped nose. His cheek was bruising. He looked in pain, though Alfie was good at disguising it as tiredness.

Koda rested Alfie's forehead on his shoulder and leaned behind him to unlock the chains. He heard the relief in Alfie's throat when he slotted the key into the lock, but Koda didn't get the chance to turn the key. Someone grabbed him and pulled him onto his back. A stir rose among the people and they suddenly worked together to keep their subjects confined.

Morlen ran through the crowd when the scientists began yelling about their research, and how years of planning wasn't going to go to waste when they were so close to the truth. The guy who Koda had punched climbed on top of him and hit Koda back. His fist slammed painfully into the teen's cheek.

Less than five seconds after the hit, Morlen clutched his son's hoodie and dragged Koda back to safety. Unfortunately, it was further away from Alfie.

Now, it was Molly and Tom's turn. They hurried to their son's side, Tom reaching Alfie first. The scientists were more focused on Koda because he was their prize possession. Tom turned the key and Alfie's arms fell by his side and he crumbled into his dad. Tom was prepared to catch him.

Molly and Tom made eye contact that spoke 'we'll talk about this later'. Now was not a good time to argue about the lies and the secrecy.

Tom turned with his son in his arms and Molly by his side to face the scientists. They were ganging up on Koda and Morlen, and of course, Morlen was doing everything in his power to keep his child safe.

"Come on then," Morlen growled with an arm across Koda's chest. "I dare you." Morlen was a big guy. He had spent a life indulged within a contact sport. He lived at the gym, and he took pride in physical strength. Morlen was the type of guy to make old people cross the road if he was marching in their direction.

The scientists closed in on their subject and his father. "I'm sorry," a guy said with no remorse, "but your son isn't a normal person. He can't be among normal people. We need him for our research."

"Oh yeah? Just like you needed my wife?" Morlen seethed.

"Your wife got in the way. She knew too much about Koda and she noticed us following him. Lucky for us, those pills were feeding on her brain cells and her own family thought she was crazy. Maybe she is, but that made what she wrote in her journal even less believable."

Morlen's head roared with flames of anger. "You mean was. You killed her because Enya knew you would take our son for being different!"

"Different? Well, that's the understatement of the year," Ursula said from the corner of the room. The lights were so bright, not even the shadows could help her blend in. "Your son carries the souls of the dead until his medium takes them and helps them cross over. He's gifted, and we need to know where they go when they cross over. Koda will summon the Reaper and we will get answers. We've worked too hard to give up now because of your precious feelings."

"These are lives you're messing with," Tom said with his son in his arms. "Innocent lives."

"Nothing's fair. It's funny how we still act surprised when bad things happen in a world so cruel," Fran muttered.

"Because the world has been cruel to you, you get to be cruel to everyone else? Do us a favour and crash your victim train." Morlen couldn't listen to the scientists as they attempted to justify their actions.

"Alright, we can't do this with the dad here. Get rid of him," Fran ordered, looking around to guess who would move first. When everyone hesitated, she rolled her eyes in a childish manner. "Get rid of him!"

"No!" Ronnie roared, lifting his gun once again. He wasn't sure if he should still be in character or if he should reveal himself. Help would barge in at any moment. He had to stall the scientists until then. "Nobody else is getting hurt. Enya was the final straw, and you stepped too far when you covered up her murder with suicide."

"You ordered us to kill her!" The quieter woman yelled; the one who had outed Alfie to the others.

Ronnie had tripped on his words, but he didn't let them see him fall. "You hurt nobody else. Got that?"

Fran slowly walked around the scientists who circled Koda and his father. Koda tried to take a protective stance in front of Morlen, but his dad wouldn't let him. Morlen had to protect him too.

"Why change your orders all of a sudden? Are you getting soft?" Fran challenged. "Or are you not who you say you are? See, we never met you until a few days ago, and your voice sounded different on the radio. Are you working with him?" Fran pointed at Tom. "Where's the real Ronnie?"

"How dare you talk to me like that. I'm the leader of this organisation. You'd still be unemployed if it wasn't for me."

Good, Tom thought. If Ronnie kept up his character for long enough, they could escape with only minor injuries. He hoped Alfie's injuries were minor, but Alfie's head hadn't moved from his shoulder since he picked him up.

"Yeah, and if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess with murder to our names. I said I'd do anything to find out what happens to us after we die. None of us thought you'd make us kill for the answers."

"But you still did it. I gave you the option of walking away."

"Anyway," Ursula said with no shame. "I don't care about that. We're in too deep now. I say we target the subjects until the reaper is forced to step in. Even if Death kills me, at least the rest of the world will know that the Grim Reaper is not a myth."

"You touch Alfie, you die," Koda growled, flexing his fingers like he was itching to punch. The sidekick within him was spilling from his controlled container. "I'll kill you myself."

Not a single soul moved until a voice came from the door, a very familiar voice. "No, I'll be the one to kill you. We can't have one of my sidekicks in prison for murder now, can we?"

Everyone turned and Alfie tilted his head to catch the sight of boots that stood out among the rest. They were covered in gems and anything that sparkled.