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It was strange to not see Elliot waiting in the dorm lounge. Clementine stood there in his black turtleneck sweater, fiddling with the new bandages he'd just wrapped around his greying hands. The decay had spread up to his elbows in just a week, and as he pulled his sleeves down to hide it, he scowled in dismay. But there was no time to wallow—he'd had to remind himself of that every day. Now that he was back at Aldergrove, all his attention had to be focused on the remaining Ravenblood.

          He didn't know where the rest of the Ravenblood were. He hadn't seen a single one of them since getting back from winter break; he hadn't seen them in history or biology all week, but Sebastien had insisted they were still at the academy, so Clementine was going to have to continue being as patient as he could manage. His time was ticking away, though. If he didn't spot the last seven Ravenblood soon, he feared his time would come to its end.

          The knock he'd been waiting for finally came at his door. He headed over there, pulled it open, and set his eyes on Sebastien.

          "Hey babe," he said, wrapping his arms around Clementine.

          "Hey," he replied, and then, Sebastien kissed his lips.

          Uncomfortable murmurs came from the trio of students passing by outside.

          Sebastien scowled and looked over his shoulder at them. "You all react to two guys kissing like the kings of the New World aren't literally married and gay," he uttered, an aggravated glare on his face.

          Nobody said anything. The three kids hurried over to the stairs and disappeared down them.

          "I think they just find it weird to see two people together in a school where everyone's meant to be killing each other," Clementine mumbled, stepping out into the hall. As he pulled the door shut, he saw Mathew and Mavis making their way over from the corner of his eye. "Hey guys," he greeted, turning to face them once he'd locked the door.

          "It still feels so strange to not see Elliot," Mathew said as they all headed towards the stairs.

          "I'm happy that he got to pass on," Mavis said quietly. "Wherever he is, I'm sure it's a much better place than this."

          "Do you believe in heaven, Mavis?" Mathew asked.

          "I think that there is something after you die—something up in the sky."

          "Do you think he's watching over us?"

          Mavis nodded as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I think he is." Then, she sighed sadly and looked over at Clementine. "What do we have after lunch?"

          "Uh...double history," he answered, glancing at his timetable, leading the way through the corridor and towards the lunch hall.

          "What have you got this morning?" Mathew asked Sebastien.

          "Forensic science," he said with what sounded like excitement in his voice.

          "Ah, yes. I didn't have as much fun studying that area as much as I did with the court of law."

          "I guess the investigation side of things isn't for everyone," Sebastien said.

          They all stopped by the door when they reached the lunch hall. Clementine looked around cautiously, but he couldn't see any Ravenblood waiting in line or lurking in the corners. He didn't even see them sitting at their usual table at the back of the room. He could see Sebastien looking, too, and when he seemed sure that the coast was clear, he looked at Clementine.

          The four of them headed over to the canteen line and picked out what they wanted. Then, they headed over to one of the tables along the hall's edge.

          Clementine took his seat, glancing around the hall as he did. At the beginning of the semester, near enough every seat in the hall was filled, but now, more than half were empty.

          "Things are gonna get messier," Sebastien uttered, making himself comfortable beside Clementine.

          "We are going to have to be much more careful, especially since we are down a man," Mathew said with a nod.

          "I haven't seen any groups bigger than five, so if someone did come after us, I think we'd stand a pretty good chance," Clementine said confidently.

          "Do we know how many students are left exactly?" Mathew asked.

          "Hux said fifty-five percent of you were left before the winter break. I imagine that some kids stayed here that week. With less people around, it would've been easier to kill more of the competition. I'd be surprised if Hux didn't call an assembly today to let you all know," Sebastien said.

          "Everyone is going to be planning murder," Mathew said quietly. "What about us? Will we continue to ride the sidelines?"

          Clementine nodded. "I don't want us to have to kill anyone unless we really have to. It would be an insult to Elliot if we just started killing other groups now that he's gone." Part of him wanted to honour Elliot's memory, but he also didn't want to risk Mathew and Mavis getting caught or killed. He wanted them to go to the New World, and he was going to do whatever he could to ensure they made it.

          They all nodded as they ate their lunch.

          But Clementine didn't feel like eating. He glanced down at the pasta on his plate, and every time he thought about eating it, he felt sick. Instead, he glanced around the hall again, but there was still no sign of any of the remaining Ravenblood. Were they laying low? Were they all hanging out together and coming up with some sort of survival plan? Were they plotting to kill him, Sebastien, Mathew, and Mavis? Or were they just hiding because their numbers were dwindling? Clementine didn't know, but a week had already passed since winter break, and at the rate the rot on his arms was spreading, he wasn't sure he could keep waiting.

          He prodded his food with his fork, glancing at the door every time he saw someone walk in or out. His throat began to feel dry, so he took a sip of his water. But as he swallowed it, his throat began to tingle and ache; it felt as though he was swallowing sand. He tried to stifle a cough, but that only made it worse. He coughed painfully, holding his hand over his mouth. His allies looked at him in concern when he coughed again...and again, each more painful than the last.

          Sebastien frowned in dismay and moved his hand to Clementine's back. "Are you okay?"

          Clementine nodded, his eyes starting to water. But after just two more coughs...his throat stopped scratching and his breaths became easier to take. "I just inhaled my water," he said with a quiet laugh. However, as he pulled his hand away from his face, he set his eyes on the splotches of black and crimson smothering his hand.

          Panic enthralled him—this was the first time he'd coughed blood and black bile. It was yet another sign he was getting worse. But he couldn't let it get to him. He snatched a napkin with his clean hand and used it to wipe away the red and black under the table where his allies couldn't see.

          "Hey, are you okay?" Sebastien whispered.

          He nodded, stuffing the tissue into his pocket. "Yeah, I'm fine." He shuffled around in his seat. "I think I wanna go sit somewhere a little quieter," he mumbled, his head starting to throb.

          "We could go to one of the lounges," Mathew suggested.

          Sebastien nodded. "You wanna do that?"

          A lounge sounded much more comfortable than the noisy lunch hall. So, he nodded. "Yeah—but if you guys wanna finish your lunch first, that's fine," he told them.

          Mavis quickly slurped the rest of her vegetable soup. "Finished!"

          Mathew nodded as he pushed his plate away. "I'm full."

          Sebastien took Clementine's hand and stood up. "Come on."

           The four of them took their plates over to the canteen and placed them on the side. Then, Sebastien led them out of the lunch hall and through the corridor.

          "Are you okay, Clemytine?" Mavis asked, looking up at him. "Do you think you caught a cold from when we were on winter break time?"

          He shrugged as they navigated the academy hallways. "Maybe. I'll be fine, though."

          "I think you should get checked out in the infirmary," Mathew said.

          "I'm not gonna go anywhere near that place now."

          Sebastien nodded. "Yeah, kids are probably gonna be hanging around there waiting to see who's weaker and take them out when the nurses aren't looking."

          "Don't worry about me," Clementine said, glancing over at Mathew and Mavis. "I just need to sit somewhere quiet for a bit."

          "Okay, well we will stay with you," Mavis said, patting his arm. "And if you need anything, let us know, too."

          He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

          They made their way through the halls and eventually reached one of the smaller lounges close to the library. Once they'd all filed inside, Sebastien closed the door and joined Clementine on the couch while Mathew and Mavis started looking through a shelf of art books on the other side of the room.

          Clementine exhaled deeply, and as Sebastien pulled him closer, he rested his head on his shoulder. "I'm getting a little nervous with how long it's taking for them to show themselves," he mumbled.

          "Don't worry. They'll come out eventually. I've seen Lucinda around the Law Institute with her two cronies, and I've seen the other four outside twice this week. They suspect someone's out to get them, so they're playing it safe. We'll get them, though. I promise."

          "Yeah, but when? I don't know how long I've got left, and the longer we sit around waiting, the closer I get to...well, you know."

          Sebastien sighed as he nodded, and then nuzzled Clementine's head.

          "We should try drawing them out. They suspect I had something to do with all their allies' murders, right? So why I don't I just...act as the bait again."

          "And risk another set-up? No, Clem. You said it yourself. You're getting worse. This time, you might not make it into the forest or to a public space. I'm not gonna risk losing you."

          "But what else can we do? They're hiding away like cowards. We gotta get them to come out somehow."

          Sebastien shuffled around uncomfortably. "Yeah, I know. I just...can't we just...enjoy a little more peace together first?"

          Clementine lifted his head so that he could see Sebastien's face. "I said I wanted to kill them first. Once they're gone, we can do whatever we want with the time I have left. I can't risk leaving it to last minute and dying before I kill them."

          With a sullen frown on his face, Sebastien looked down at his lap.

          "Hey," Clementine mumbled, moving his hand to the side of Sebastien's face. "We will have time to spend together after the Ravenblood are dead. Besides, I'm not going anywhere until we have that date," he said, smirking.

          Sebastien responded with a smile.

          "So what do we do? How do we draw them out? Or...where are they hiding? Maybe we can go to them—they wouldn't be expecting that, would they?"

          "It's risky," Sebastien mumbled. "It's better to get them to a place that's familiar to us. Somewhere they couldn't have had time to set up an ambush or plan escape routes."

          "Do you have any ideas?"

          Sebastien adorned a look of pondering as he leaned back and exhaled deeply. "Well, there's any of the classrooms. They only have one way in and out. Theatre class has no windows, its dark, and is just a huge open space with nowhere to hide. It's soundproof, too."

          "That's perfect. If they're watching me, then...you could act like you're heading back to the Law Institute and leave me not too far from the theatre classroom. Then, I can lead them there without having to break a sweat."

          The hesitant look didn't leave Sebastien's face.

          "I'll be fine, I promise. I'll get them in there and you can kill them. I won't push myself."

          Sebastien sighed, dragging his hand over his face. But to Clementine's relief, he nodded. "All right. But the second you feel even the tiniest bit sick or dizzy or whatever, we're aborting," he said firmly.

          Clementine nodded. "Okay."

          "We'll have to shake Mathew and Mavis first, though. You don't want them getting dragged into it still, right?"

          "Yeah. Maybe we can leave them here—I could tell them I need to go grab something and we'll be right back."

          He shook his head. "They'll probably insist on coming. Instead, we should tell them we're gonna go make out somewhere," he said, smirking.

          Clementine sighed but couldn't say it was a bad idea. "Yeah, that'll work."

          "Great." He looked over at Mathew and Mavis—

          Suddenly, the air turned cold. The haunting, crying whispers followed, and as Clementine looked at Sebastien, he watched the boy's face slowly adorn a conflicted frown. He went to speak, but the harrowing growl of a creature cut through the tormented whispers.

          Sebastien stood up. "I gotta go."

          Clementine stood up, too. "What?"

          Ignoring Mathew and Mavis' concerned questions, Sebastien headed for the door.

          "Can't you just sit this one out?" Clementine insisted, following him over to the door.

          "No." He gripped the door handle—

          Clementine placed his hand against the door so that he wouldn't be able to open it. "Please?"

          Sebastien stared at him. At first, an anguished stare clung to his face, but it swiftly contorted into a frustrated frown. "I won't be long." He yanked the door open, making Clementine stumble back.

          "Sebastien!" he exclaimed, trying to grab his arm, but Sebastien was faster—he'd always been faster. He stormed out of the lounge before Clementine could stop him, and as Clementine watched him hurry down the corridor, he scowled irritably.

          "Where is he going?" Mathew questioned, standing beside him.

          Clementine didn't have time for this. The last time Sebastien had disappeared, he'd been gone for days. For all he knew, he might not have days left. They needed to take out the next few Ravenblood now.

          "Come on," he said, hurrying out of the lounge.

          Without question, his allies followed him. And with not a single hint of hesitation, Clementine began his pursuit. He couldn't afford to let Sebastien disappear on him this time.

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