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After dinner, Clementine and his allies headed up to Elliot's room. He'd never seen Elliot so desperate to leave a place before, but he understood why. Brendan seemed like the kind of man who hit his wife and child and convinced them it was their fault he'd done it.

          He sighed, looking down at the two cards in his hand. "Hit me."

          Mathew handed him another card.

          "Damn it," he mumbled, placing down his ace, five, and nine.

          "I'm sorry about my dad, guys," Elliot mumbled as he placed down his queen of hearts and ace.

          Everyone placed their losing cards down and let Mavis shuffle them all back into the deck.

          "Don't be sorry," Clementine said.

          "Yeah. It's not your fault he's an asshole," Sebastien added.

          Mavis handed them all a new pair of cards. "He's a very rude man," she grumbled. "His face needs to be hit with a pan."

          "He needs more than a pan to the face," Clementine mumbled.

          Elliot didn't say anything. He just nodded and took his cards.

          "What's a speaker?" Sebastien asked, breaking the silence.

          "Uh...well, that's an old term for what my family are," Elliot answered. "They used to communicate with deities and trapped souls and stuff like that. I don't know why he acts so proud, though. He never even harnessed the ability."

          Sebastien scoffed as he held his hand out for another card. "And he had the audacity the belittle Clem."

          "I don't really care," Clementine said with a shrug.

          "Well, I'm sorry again," Elliot said. "I wanted today to be fun for everyone, but he ruined it, didn't he?"

          Mavis shook her head. "It was still a really nice dinner, Elly. I liked trying all of those foods—it's put me in a happy mood!"

          "We should all go and thank her properly," Mathew suggested.

          Elliot nodded slightly. "Well, we should wait until my dad leaves. I don't think he's too happy that I brought all of you home. My aunt was fine, but...well, he's never really liked anything we did."

          "I'm out," Sebastien mumbled, placing his cards down.

          "Same," Clementine said.

          Mathew placed down a ten, a six, and a five. "I win."

          They handed their cards to Mavis, who shuffled them back into the deck. But as the sound of smashing glass echoed from downstairs, the deck fell out of her hands, spilling cards all over the floor.

          "What was that?" Mathew asked as they all stared at the bedroom door.

          Clementine, however, shifted his gaze to Elliot, who looked utterly horrified.

          "My aunt probably just dropped a glass while doing the dishes. Come on, let's play another round."

          Mavis started handing out cards, but another glass broke, and Gina's voice followed not long after along with Brendan's.

          "Are they fighting?" Mathew asked.

          "No, it's fine," Elliot insisted, taking his cards. "Let's just play—"

          Brendan's voice grew louder and much more aggressive, and when Gina screamed, Clementine decided it was time to do something.

          He stood up without hesitation and headed for the door.

          "Where are you going?" Elliot questioned, jumping to his feet when everyone else did.

          "I'm gonna go see if Gina's okay," he answered, pulling the door open.

          "Y-you really don't have to do—"

          "Wait for us," Mathew said, cutting Elliot off.

          "Come on, Elly," Mavis said, taking Elliot's hand as everyone filed out of the room. "She might be hurt—"

          "This is a bad idea, guys!" Elliot insisted as Mavis pulled him down the stairs, following Clementine and Sebastien.

          Clementine ignored Elliot's hushed protesting as he and Sebastien led the way down to the hallway. Gina's shaking, terrified voice came from the kitchen, followed by Brendan's. Clementine wasn't sure what they were about to walk in on, but he was heading towards the kitchen with every intention to do whatever he had to to help Gina.

          He stepped into the kitchen with Sebastien at his side and his allies behind him. Brendan, who was standing over by the sink with Gina as she cowered behind her hands, sharply turned his head to glare at them all. In his right, raised hand, he held a wooden ladle with what could only be Gina's blood splattered on its end. Gina had a ghastly cut on her right cheek, tears were streaming down her face, and when she noticed Clementine and his allies, her eyes widened in mortification.

          "What the fuck are all you looking at?" Brendan snarled.

          "I-it's okay, dears. Just go back—"

          Brendan smacked Gina across the face with the ladle. Everyone flinched, and as Gina hit the floor with a pained groan, Elliot whimpered and pushed through the crowd to run to her.

          "I suggest you nosey little rats pack up and leave," Brendan warned, waving the ladle around. Then, as Clementine scowled at him, he glanced down at Elliot. "And you can say goodbye to my son, too. He won't be returning to that crock of a school."

          "W-what?" Elliot uttered, looking up at him.

          "You can't do that!" Mavis called.

          Clementine didn't know what to do or say. Now that he was right in front of Brendan, he seemed to freeze. Elliot was bawling beside Gina and trying to help her clean her wound; he could almost feel Sebastien's eagerness to attack. But they couldn't just throw themselves at Elliot's evil father. They had to work out how to use this situation to help Elliot remember.

          "We're not going anywhere," he said, glaring at Brendan.

          "We won't let you hurt Mrs Gina!" Mavis called angrily, clenching her fists.

          Brendan scoffed and abruptly snatched Gina's arm, pulling her to her feet. "I can do whatever the hell I want to my wife."

          "Let her go!" Elliot pleaded, jumping to his feet.

          "Please don't hurt him!" Gina cried as Brendan sharply turned his head to glare at Elliot.

          "We have to do something," Mathew uttered.

          Brendan gripped Gina's hair, making her wince fearfully. "Do you think I don't know what you're trying to do?" he growled. "Shipping our son off to that school with my money, letting him associate with these freaks!"

          "I'm not trying to do—"

          He tightened his grip, silencing her. "You're trying to run away from me, aren't you?"

           "We're not!" Elliot insisted.

          "Just like your whore sister!"

          "Let her go!" Clementine snapped.

          As everyone looked at Clementine, Brendan laughed. "What are you going to do, kid? Tickle me with your pathetic seer magic?"

          "E-El, take your friends and—"

          "I told you to shut up, bitch!" Brendan snapped, throwing Gina forward.

          Everyone backed off as Gina rolled over the island and hit the floor with a pained grunt. Then, they looked over at Brendan, who immediately charged toward Elliot—

          Clementine wasn't going to let him grab Elliot. Without hesitation, he held out his hand. The floor beneath Brendan cracked and splintered, and as several tree roots broke through the floor tiles and wrapped around Brendan's ankles, Elliot stumbled back in horror and hit the wall.

          Brendan grunted in confusion when he wasn't able to pull his feet from the ground. He looked down, seeing the roots, and then glared over at Clementine, who kept his arm extended to keep the roots in place.

          "You dare attack me in my own home?!" Brendan yelled.

          As Sebastien told Mavis and Mathew to see if Gina was okay, Clementine held his other hand out towards Elliot gesturing for him to move away from the wall and join them. Brendan growled furiously, trying to tug his feet free, but Clementine wasn't going to let him go anywhere.

          "What are you doing?" Elliot panicked, gripping Clementine's other arm.

          "We're not gonna let him do this again," Clementine uttered as Elliot cowered behind him.

          Brendan stopped struggling and scoffed, glowering over at them all. "So the little brat couldn't keep his mouth shut, huh?"

          "We know what you did," Sebastien said.

          "Y-you...you told him?" Elliot asked Clementine.

          "And what are you going to do about it?" Brendan asked cruelly. "No one gave a damn about them; what makes you think anyone's going to give a damn about these two?"

          "We give a damn," Clementine said. "Elliot's our friend and we're gonna do whatever we have to to keep you away from him and Gina."

         A look of confusion struck the man's face. "Elliot? The hell are you on about? I caught his cheating, lying mother years ago! I dumped her and that kid in the canal, and that's exactly where I'll be putting the lot of you!"

          "What...what's he talking about?" Elliot uttered.

          "Just try it," Sebastien tested.

          "Take Gina out of here," Clementine said, glancing over at Mathew and Mavis, still holding out his hand to keep Brendan in place.

          Mathew and Mavis nodded, helping Gina to her feet.

          "Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Brendan yelled.

          "Tell him what you did," Sebastien then demanded.

          Clementine looked over at him with a frown. "Isn't he supposed to work it out for—"

          "Tell him!" Sebastien yelled.

          "Tell me what?!" Elliot cried.

          Scowling, Clementine commanded the roots around Brendan's ankles to travel up his legs. Brendan grunted and struggled, trying to pull free, but it was pointless. As the roots wrapped around his throat, he choked and scowled, trying to pry them away, but Clementine held on, keeping him immobilized.

          "Let's just get out of here!" Elliot pleaded.

          "Tell us what you did to Elliot!" Clementine demanded. Sebastien seemed to think this would work, and he trusted him.

          "What are you talking about?" Elliot asked, staring at them both in utter confusion.

          Brendan gritted his teeth, grunted, and struggled. And with one final, suffocating yell, he shouted, "I drowned the little fuck after he tried running off to the police!"

          Clementine scowled and glanced over at Elliot to see if Brendan's words had any effect, but the spotty-faced kid just stood there with that same look of confoundment on his face.

          "I wasn't going to let him and his whore mother ruin my life! If he blabbered to the cops, my reputation would be in the ground!"

          "You killed Elliot and his mom, and you were just about to do the same thing to Gina!" Clementine growled. "People like you don't deserve to live."

          "W-what's going on?" Elliot uttered. "I-I...I'm not dead, I'm right here."

          Sebastien looked over at him. "You're not who you think you are," he told him.

          Elliot shook his head as he glanced at Sebastien, and then looked back over at Brendan. "N-no...I'm Elliot."

          Ignoring Brendan's yells, Clementine looked back at Elliot. "Think about it," he said. "That friend you said you had that just disappeared one day, the spare rooms upstairs. Elliot was that friend that disappeared...and he killed him," he said, glaring back over at Brendan.

          "Come on, dude," Sebastien uttered. "You know it's true."

          As Brendan continued yelling, Clementine commanded the roots to wrap around his face, silencing him.

          "N-no, it...I'm Elliot. He killed my mom and I left to come and live with my aunt. That's...that's what happened."

          "That's what you think happened," Sebastien said.

          "You have to remember," Clementine insisted.

          Elliot stared at them, a look of both confusion and distress on his teary face. His eyes shifted to Brendan, whose muffled grunts and yells were growing weaker. For what felt like the longest moment in history, Elliot stared at his struggling father. Clementine watched as his face hopped between expressions: sadness, fear, confusion, anger, dismay...and finally a stare of realization. Had Elliot remembered? Was it working?

          "I..." Elliot's jaw chattered. "I'm not...Elliot?"

          Sebastien and Clementine shook their heads.

          Elliot gulped, his eyes shifting from them to Brendan. "I'm...this is Ellis' body, isn't it?"

          Clementine felt relief wash over him.

          "I...I'm a ghost?"

          "More like a possessive spirit," Sebastien said. "You latched on to Ellis because you know you'd have to help him one day."

          Still staring at Brendan, who now looked just as confused as Elliot had a few moments ago, Elliot scowled. "He...killed my mom. He killed me. And now...he's going to try and kill Ellis and his mom."

          "You can stop him," Clementine told him. "That's why you're still here. You can help your brother and Gina."

          Elliot's expression swiftly settled into a vacant stare. It was as if realizing he was dead had stolen everything alive about him. His eyes looked empty, his face was pale—even his voice became something of a corpse.

          "He...killed me."

          Brendan grunted and struggled.

          "I shouldn't be here."

          "But you are," Clementine said.

          "And for a reason," Sebastien added.

          Elliot seemed to have already worked out what he had to do, though. He moved past Clementine, approaching the kitchen island.

          Clementine's spell was starting to wane. He could feel himself getting weaker, and it was getting hard to keep the roots in place. But he did his best to hold his ground, watching as Elliot dragged his hand along the island and gripped the handle of the cleaver.

          "You killed my mom," Elliot growled, stopping in front of Brendan, who continued to struggle against Clementine's roots. "All she ever wanted to do was help people—"

          Brendan yelled something, but the roots around his mouth muffled it.

          "I won't let you hurt Ellis or Aunt Gina," he said firmly.

          His father struggled, his furious look quickly fading into something anxious.

          "You're never going to hurt anyone else."

          Whatever Brendan was saying now was panicked—he was probably begging, but Clementine had no plans to let his words be heard.

          "I should have done this the first time you hit my mom," Elliot growled, raising the cleaver above his head. And then, without any hesitation that might usually be expected from Elliot, the kid pulled the cleaver down, lodging its blade in Brendan's head.

          The man flinched violently, the sound of metal cutting through flesh and bone sending a cold shiver down Clementine's back. Blood spewed onto the floor, and in a matter of moments, Brendan stopped writhing and fell silent.

          Elliot's unfinished business concluded.

          But it wasn't over yet.

          Clementine relaxed, letting his roots sink back into the ground. Sebastien grabbed his arms, asking him if he was okay, but Clementine's main concern was with Elliot.

          Standing over his dad's dead body, Elliot possessed a look of hopelessness. Clementine pulled away from Sebastien and moved closer, keeping a close eye on the cleaver in his hand.

          "Elliot?" he asked quietly.

          Slowly, Elliot lifted his head and set his sights on Clementine. "This whole time...I wasn't even me, and I didn't realize it. How...how could I have not known?" he questioned in dismay, looking back down at Brendan.

          Sebastien stood beside Clementine. "It's a part of the process," he said. "When you possess someone, your memories can sometimes get a little jumbled up together. But you worked it out...and now your brother and aunt are safe, thanks to you."

          Elliot scoffed. "More like thanks to you," he said, looking at them both. "I probably would have never worked it out." Then, he looked down at Brendan. "I...I killed him."

          "He got what he deserved, Elliot," Clementine said. "He killed you and your mom. A guy like that doesn't deserve to live."

          Staring down at him, Elliot nodded. "What happens now?"

          Clementine didn't know the answer to that. He looked over at Sebastien.

          "I'm not supposed to be here, am I? Do I just...disappear?"

          "I don't know," Sebastien said. "With most possessions, the spirit just...leaves."

          Angst started to consume Clementine. What if killing his dad and saving his aunt and brother from the same fate wasn't his unfinished business? But if that were the case, what else was there? He didn't know enough about Elliot to start guessing.

          He looked over at Sebastien again. "I don't think it worked," he said sullenly.

          "Clementine," Elliot suddenly said.

          Looking over at him, Clementine frowned. A white aura began to emanate off Elliot's pale skin, and as he stared over at them both, his eyes faded to a deep, empty black. Despite feeling cautious, Clementine moved a little closer to him.

          "How did you know?" he asked, his voice something of an echo.

          Clementine felt no reason to lie to him—well, at least in regard to how he knew that he was a dybbuk, anyway. "I found out through the academy's student files. I was reading through them to try and find out what Ian was in case he grabbed us again, and I saw your file...and I was curious. I looked and it said you were a dybbuk."

          "Neither of us knew what that was, so we did a little research. It said you were a lingering spirit with unfinished business, but a certain type that only lingers around to take care of something that benefits you and the person you possess," Sebastien explained.

          "Like killing the guy that killed me to keep him from killing my only remaining family."

          "Yeah," Clementine confirmed.

          "Why?" Elliot asked. "Why did you help me?"

          "Because I owed you, Elliot. You were my first ally and you stuck by me even when I was an ass to you."

          Elliot smiled, the aura around him thickening. "Thank you," he said. "Will you tell Mathew and Mavis thank you, too?"

          He nodded. "Yeah."

          "And Ellis; tell him...tell him to take care of Gina. They're going to need each other now more than ever."

          Clementine nodded again. "I will."

          "And...don't let Ellis go back to the academy in my place. He's not cut out for it—I mean, I wasn't really cut out for it either, but...I couldn't let my mom have died for nothing."

          "I know. I understand better than you think."

          The sound of Gina's sobbing started echoing through the hall outside, along with Mathew and Mavis' disapproving voices.

          "Go," Clementine said to Elliot. "Your aunt's been through enough. She might lose it if she sees a spirit leaving her son's body."

          "She would," Elliot said with a smile. Then, he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "I'll miss you guys."

          "We'll miss you too," Clementine says. "But don't worry. Everyone's gonna be fine."

          Elliot uttered something of a half goodbye, but a blinding wisp of white left Ellis' body before he could finish. Sebastien pulled Clementine back as Ellis' body fell to the floor beside Brendan; the wisp raced around the kitchen, and as a gust of freezing wind burst the window by the sink open, the wisp raced outside and disappeared into the blizzard.

          "It actually worked..." Clementine mumbled, both relieved and somewhat surprised.

          Sebastien smirked. "I told you so."

          Clementine didn't have time to argue that it was both their idea, though. Gina stumbled into the kitchen with Mathew and Mavis behind her, and the moment she set her eyes on Brendan's corpse, she dug her nails into the sides of her face and screamed hysterically.

          "Brendan!" she cried, barging past Clementine and Sebastien, but her gaze quickly shifted to Ellis—she screamed again and dropped to her knees, "Ellis, my baby!" she panicked, cradling him in her arms. "What did you do?!" she accused, glaring at Clementine and Sebastien.

          "We didn't do anything," Sebastien uttered.

          "What happened?!" Mavis asked, standing beside them.

          Mathew frowned in worry. "Is Elliot okay?"

          "You murderers!" Gina cried.

          "He's not dead," Sebastien told her, an irritated glare on his face. "But he might be if Clem and I didn't stop his pig of a dad!"

          "Brendan...did this?"

          "Like that's a surprise," Sebastien said with a scoff. "Dude smacks you with a ladle and the first person you think to blame for your kid being on the floor is us?"

          "Leave her alone," Clementine mumbled, taking Sebastien's hand. "Come on, we should leave."

          "What about Elliot?" Mathew asked.

          "He's not Elliot anymore. We'll explain everything when we get to a hotel or something," Sebastien muttered, ushering them towards the door.

          "Shouldn't we tell Gina?" Clementine mumbled.

          Sebastien stopped and sighed. He looked back over his shoulder at Ellis' bawling mother. "Your son was possessed by Elliot's vengeful spirit, which couldn't pass on until he saved you and Ellis from the same fate. Ellis is Ellis again and he probably won't remember any of what happened since Elliot died, so you might wanna work out how you're gonna explain all of this to him—oh, and don't send him back to the academy. He's not cut out for it." Then, he turned around and pulled Clementine out of the kitchen.

          "Come on," Clementine said, looking at Mathew and Mavis, who looked just as astonished as Gina.

          "But...Elliot," Mavis squeaked.

          "It's not Elliot anymore," Clementine repeated as they started heading upstairs. "He was a spirit in that kid's body."

          Mathew nodded slowly. "That probably explains his sage smell."

          "Yeah, I noticed that too," Clementine said.

          "So...Elliot is...dead?" Mavis asked despondently.

          "He died a long time ago," Sebastien said. "But Clem and I freed him."

          "He told me to tell you guys thank you," Clementine said, leaning into Elliot's bedroom to fetch his bag. "He passed on; we should be happy for him."

          The others swiftly fetched their bags, and as Clementine led the way downstairs, they followed.

          "We'll find a hotel near the station and head straight back to Aldergrove in the morning," Sebastien said.

          "Are Gina and Elliot—well...are Gina and that boy going to be okay?" Mathew asked.

          "The boy is Ellis—he's Elliot's half-brother. But yeah, they'll be fine now Brendan's dead," Clementine confirmed.

          "I can't believe this," Mavis said sadly as they all filed out the front door and onto the street. "I would have never thought Elliot would be a ghost...and to use his brother as a host...."

          "He didn't even know he was a spirit until Clem and I helped him understand what happened," Sebastien said. "Come on," he urged as the snow started falling harder.

          Clementine followed at Sebastien's side, staring ahead. A smile had found its way to his face as he revelled in his relief. Elliot was free—their plan had worked, and now all he had to do was take out the remaining seven Ravenblood.... He'd like to tell himself he would die happy after that, but he'd be lying. Now, when he thought about his inevitable death, he felt a deep, gut-churning sadness, because he knew he'd not get to spend as much time as he'd like with Sebastien. There wasn't anything he could do about it, though. Nothing would save him, but he could make the most of the time he did have left. Whether it be a single month, weeks, or even days...at least he'd be spending them in Sebastien's company.

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