[ 31 ] 2013 

"I want you to help me kill Calum, then get Harley to send me into the afterlife with him. With the two of us gone, you can get Harley. Unless you want to get back with me. Then you and I can get sent off together. What do you say?"

Ashton watched her in horror. The extent she would go to have things go her way was something he didn't expect when it came to Calum. She had known all along that he wasn't her grandson. But even so, all those years of him believing it must have been worth for something. That didn't seem to be the case though. 

"I can't." Ashton shook his head, rejecting her offer. There was nothing to think about, as much as he loved Harley, he could not kill another person just to get her. He was not that kind of man and that was not the way he wanted to get her love. "You talk about people's lives like they're nothing more than rag dolls. They're people. Calum and I don't get along in the slightest, but that would never be enough for me to wish him dead. And killing him wouldn't assure Harley's love anyway. She would hate me if I did that to Calum, they're friends."

Claire snorted in amusement. "Do you really not see there's something there? Calum and Harley like each other."

"She likes me too." Ashton argued. He was sure of it. 

"If given the choice, do you think she'll pick you? Calum is alive. You aren't." She reminded him. Though she didn't need to. He always thought about it. How could he forget that Harley could never really be his because he was not actually alive?

His hand balled up into a fist in annoyance at her. The energy in his anger made the objects in Harley's room shake softly at first, and then more violently. "Do you think I don't know that?" His hazel eyes darkened in anger. It was one of the few times that she had seen him so angry. The Ashton she knew when he was alive was always smiling. But it seemed that ever since he died, there was a permanent look of sadness on his face, a sadness that only when away when he was around Harley.

"Relax." She raised her arms up in defense. "Think about it, and then get back to me."

She didn't even give him time to speak once more because she had disappeared from Harley's room.

-

Calum and Harley ended up going to one of the old factories on the outskirts of town. It was the abandoned furniture district and Harley wondered why they didn't just tear the old buildings down and put up schools or stores, or anything that could be of use to people. At the moment, she was glad they were still around because it seemed to her this was the only place where she could find peace and quiet.

Since they had been locked decades ago, they had to break into one of them. The ones that were without lock were probably inhabited by homeless people or hunters, who Harley knew they always hid where no one ever thought to go.

They broke into a factory that used to make office chairs, like the ones lawyers used. And Harley saw that near the back were some covered in plastic to keep the dust off. When the factory closed, maybe no one wanted to take the last chairs they produced. She went over to the chairs, tore the plastic off one and sat down. "So, this is your idea of fun?" She asked Calum, her blue eyes searching for his brown ones in the dim moonlight that came in through the window.

But he was nowhere to be found.

"Calum?" She called.

A scream escaped her lips when she felt two hands fall on her shoulders.

In the next second, she shot out from her seat and got her Diamond Rose out, pointing it at her agressor. Harley heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Calum who had apparently been trying to scare her. 

"Don't shoot." He told her, his hands up in defense, but in his face was an amused grin.

"You scared me." She whined, putting her gun down.

Now Calum walked around the office chair and sat on it. His eyes trained on the silver gun in Harley's hands. "You actually carry that around?" He asker her.

Harley shrugged. "You never know when we might need it."

"I don't need a gun to defend myself." Calum stated. He was very sure of his abilities.

The chain of her Diamond Rose was clipped to the loop on her belt, and as she stuffed it into her pocket, she said, "Well, I can't just leave it at home where my parents can find it. Then they'll be wondering where I got a gun from. I can't just tell them Arthur gave it to me."

"Actually, you took it from that box under his aunt's house." Calum reminded.

"It had my name on it." Harley argued. "It was meant for me."

Suddenly, a phone beeped loudly, echoing in the large factory. For a moment, Harley thought it was her phone, but it was Calum's. He got it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Groaning, he said, "Its Andrea," He said to Harley, clicking on the screen to read the message, he continued, "It looks like we're going to need to head back. She wants me to give her the key to the house, the one across the street from yours. She and Niall want to rent it from me."

Harley placed a hand on his shoulder. "Its good that you won't be going back there. I know it brings back bad memories." 

He nodded, "Yeah. But I'll be fine." With a half-smile, he joked, "Now I know how Mirror Boy feels. We both have no family."

"But you both have me." Harley offered. 

"There will come a day when you'll have to chose one of us and let the other down." Calum said.

Harley bit her lip nervously. How could she choose between Calum and Ashton?

-

Calum dropped Harley off at her house. Already waiting across the street were Andrea and Niall, who were ready to move into their temporary home. Calum handed them the key and helped Harley climb up her balcony to get back in her bedroom. 

Ashton was there waiting for her, and he had news.

"Doll," His hazel eyes brightened at the sight of her.

She cut the distance between them and pulled him into her embrace, immediately apologizing, "Sorry for leaving you alone with her. I just needed to leave before she could say anything to make me mad." Calum climbed up the balcony behind Harley and saw them embracing each other. 

"Its fine." He assured her. When they pulled away, he added, "I have something important to tell you. Both of you need to know." He then looked from Harley's blue eyes to Calum's brown ones. 

"What is it?" Harley asked, worried.

"Claire wants me to go with her to the afterlife." He began, and immediately noticed Harley's eyes widen in shock. Harley didn't want Ashton to go, even though she knew there would come a time in which he would eventually have to leave her. It was the natural order of life. The fact that his spirit was still roaming the earth was unnatural. 

Harley shook her head and took Ashton's hands in hers, "We can't let that happen."

"She wants either that, or for me to help her kill Calum so that he can go to the afterlife with her." Ashton finished.

"She's fucking crazy." Harley gasped.

"I'm not going with her." Calum shook his head.

"I told her I wouldn't help her kill you." Ashton said.

As an idea came to his mind, Calum explained to Ashton, "Go find her, and tell her you'll help her kill me."

"What?" Harley shouted in horror. "No!"

Neither she nor Ashton knew what the raven haired boy was up to.

"We're just going to make her believe this is true." Calum stated rather calmly, as though his life weren't in mortal danger. "But we'll actually be luring her into a trap so we can send her all alone to the afterlife. She has caused too much trouble when she was alive and right now."

Harley released a sigh of relief. "In that case, I guess I can help."

"I'll help too." Ashton offered. "Claire doesn't deserve to be around anymore."

"So, this is the plan..." Calum began to explain what he had in mind. But first, they needed to know what Claire's own plans were. It was only a matter of time before she would strike and they needed to be quicker.

-

update! so it looks like calum has a plan :o 

i hope you all like the update. it means a lot when you vote, comment, and read. i have a really bad cold, and i feel like crap. and all because i went swimming at the university pool in the afternoon and it was windy. and i still wont learn my lesson bc i plan to go swimming again tomorrow. haha.

anyway, here is the question of the day: would you enter a contest to win a printed copy of MITM? i found a good website where they charge like $6 to print a paperback copy and about $12 to print a hard cover one. so im in the process of doing it. i have to do a lot of editing before i submit it to be printed and stuff. so yeah, im very excited. and then, if you all want, they offer a link where you can order your own copy if you want. but you don't have to pay anything to participate in the contest. i want to do it bc im grateful for all of you. you WILL have to pay if you don't win if you want a copy bc unfortunately, as much as i'd like to, i can't give everyone a free copy. 

but yeah, i might do the same with phantasm if it reaches 1M and maybe even the ripper is it reaches 500K.

so stay tuned for more details on the contest!

-clary xx