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Clementine felt nauseous all week. At first, he thought it was just a symptom of his decline, but the feeling worsened every time he thought about the fact his mission was almost complete. That made him suspect he felt sick because he was anxious—anxious that he was just four people away from wiping out the Ravenblood; anxious that he and Sebastien would be fleeing the academy to spend the rest of his days together, and anxious that he might bump into one of the professors and they'd notice that he was the kid who had seen them for what they really were.

          He'd been doing his best to keep up with his classes and maintain his cover. Sebastien was always waiting for him when he finished and knowing he was outside art class right now kept Clementine from feeling intimidated by the fact he was one of only four students in the classroom.

          Professor McMillan was sitting behind his desk, resting his feet up on the table as he took a very loud bite out of his apple every five minutes. He'd been taking so long to eat it that it had already started to brown. And every time the clock ticked to indicate another minute had passed, the professor took his eyes off the book he was reading and glanced around the class to make sure everyone was working.

          The cold, empty stare in that man's eyes sent a cold shiver down Clementine's spine. Ever since finding out the truth—ever since Sebastien had told him the professors were soul-sucking demons feeding a hungry spirit living in the academy's walls, he felt a little unnerved every time he saw one of them. When they caught his stare, he couldn't help but fear they knew he'd seen...he would get a strange, ominous feeling that they knew he knew what they were and what they did. But if that were true, surely they would have killed him by now.

          It didn't matter, though. He needed to stop thinking about it. Sebastien had promised he wouldn't let him die here; he wasn't going to become one of those anguished, pleading whispers that seethed through the woodwork every time the professors fed the spirit. And he wasn't here to expose that horror, either. Someone else would inevitably do that long after he was gone. The only thing he should be focusing on was taking out the last four Ravenblood.

          Once the class came to its eventual end, Clementine followed the others out into the hall and was instantly met by Sebastien's concerned gaze.

          "Are you okay?" he asked, taking Clementine's hand.

          He nodded as they headed through the corridor. "Yeah, just tired, as always. How was forensic science?"

          "We were looking into fingerprints today. It wasn't as fun as blood analysis, but oh well."

          "Two more kids were missing from the class. People are dropping like flies now."

          "Yeah, I told you so. It won't be long until the last ten are left."

          Clementine sighed as they headed up the stairs to the dormitory floor. "Mathew and Mavis have been safe hiding out in his room so far; thinking about asking them to come out makes me feel a little anxious."

          "Don't worry, babe. They'll be fine—I'll make sure of it."

          He smiled over at him, but as they reached the top of the stairs, he began to feel a little winded. He gripped the bannister and stopped for a moment, taking deep, long breaths.

          "Are you okay?" Sebastien asked in worry, rubbing his back.

          With a deep exhale, he stood up straight and nodded. "Yeah. Come on." He led the way over to Mathew's room and knocked on the door four times, waited, and then knocked twice more.

          "We can wait another day if you wanna get a little more rest," Sebastien suggested.

          Clementine shook his head. "I don't wanna wait anymore. The sooner we get this done, the better."

          The door unlocked and creaked open.

          Mavis stared up at them both as she pulled the door open all the way. "Are you two okay? We heard those scary whispers today."

          "Yeah. We heard them too, but we didn't see who died," Clementine said, stepping into the room with Sebastien.

          "How's Mathew?" Sebastien asked.

          Mavis closed the door, locked it, and then led the way over to Mathew's bedroom. "I think he's doing much better. He finally took off that blood-covered sweater."

          "Have his wounds healed?" Clementine asked as they headed into Mathew's bedroom. But when he set his eyes on Mathew, who was sitting on his bed in nothing but a pair of shorts, his question was answered.

          "Hi guys," Mathew said with a wonky smile. "How have classes been, Clementine? We've heard those whispers a lot since Sunday."

          "Pretty empty, to be honest. I don't know how many kids are left, but there were only four of us in art out of the original seventeen."

          "Hux is bound to make an announcement any day now," Sebastien said. "But if I had to guess, I'd say there's probably only about twenty percent of you lot left."

          Mavis' face turned a green similar to her hair. "That many students have died since winter break? That has to be a mistake."

          "Like I said, you'll probably find out soon."

          Clementine looked at Mathew. "You feeling better?"

          He nodded. "I was just talking to Mavis about heading back to classes tomorrow. The cold you told the professors I have would be clearing up around now, too."

          "We're glad you're feeling better," Sebastien said. "Clem and I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

          Mathew frowned. "What is it?"

          Sebastien glanced over at Clementine.

          Clementine sighed quietly. "Those kids that came after us on Sunday...well, they were some of Ian's guys. They're still coming after me because they think I had something to do with Ian's death. Sebastien's looked into them, and there's four of them left. We were gonna try to deal with them ourselves—"

          "Like...kill?" Mavis asked.

          He nodded. "We wanted to get them before they got us, but their leader is really tough."

          "She's one of the strongest students that attended this year," Sebastien explained.

          "And...I know you don't wanna have to kill for someone else, and I really hate asking, but...we need your help, Mathew," Clementine continued, his guilt starting to burn in his chest. He felt awful for asking, but they weren't going to be able to deal with Lucinda and her remaining three goons without him.

          Mathew adorned a hesitant frown as he looked down at his lap.

          "You don't even really have to kill anyone," Sebastien said with a shrug. "You can just hold off one or two of the goons while Clem and I deal with the leader and the other goon."

          "It was this leader that sent the people on Sunday?" Mathew asked.

          Clementine nodded. "Yeah. They're all a part of some group that came over from the New World. Ian was the second in command, I guess you'd call it, and since he died, the rest of them have been pointing their fingers at me."

          "And you didn't kill Ian, did you?" he asked.

          "No. I didn't kill any of them," he lied. "But I don't think they care about that. They're not gonna stop coming for me."

          Mathew frowned again as he looked down at the floor.

          "We've got a whole plan figured out," Sebastien said. "All we need is you."

          "What about me?" Mavis asked.

          "Well, we figured you didn't wanna get tied up in another fight," Clementine said. "Which is totally okay. Mathew doesn't even have to say yes, either. We just thought we'd ask."

          "But it would be much easier with your help," Sebastien said, looking down at Mathew.

          Slowly, Mathew lifted his head to look at them. "There are only four of them?"

          They nodded.

          "What are they? Are they wolf walkers?"

          "They're those things with weird bird hands," Sebastien said.

          "They were scary," Mavis uttered.

          "We wouldn't ask you if we didn't desperately need your help. But with how many students have died in the past few days, I'm starting to feel like they're gonna make another move any moment," Clementine insisted.

          Mathew glanced over at Mavis and then nodded. "You are my friend, Clementine. We have all made it this far together because of you and Sebastien, and now that it is my turn to help, I will do it. What is the plan?" he asked as Mavis sat beside him.

          Clementine looked over at Sebastien.

          "Their leader's name is Lucinda," Sebastien started. "She's a law student, so you wouldn't have seen her around before. But I've been watching her for a while, and I know that she always has two cronies with her wherever she goes. She'll probably have the third with her too now that they're all that's left."

          "We were gonna see about taking out one or two more of the goons before going for her, but they don't separate," Clementine explained. "They're gonna stick together all the time now."

          "They're not gonna be expecting us to go to them," Sebastien continued, "so we'll get the drop on them. There's a specific sunroom Lucinda always hangs out in between classes, so that's where she's gonna be." He pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it, revealing a very badly drawn layout of the sunroom. "There are two ways in and out: the hallway entrance, and the yard door. Clem and I will come from the hallway entrance, and Mathew, you'll come in from behind them through the yard door."

          "I want to help you, too," Mavis said.

          Sebastien and Clementine glanced at one another with the same hesitant frown. Mavis had already proved she wasn't the fighting type and the last thing they needed was for her to get in the way.

          "I think you should sit this one out, Mavis," Mathew said to her. "I don't want you to get hurt."

          "I don't want you to get hurt, Mathew! Last time, they really got you!"

          "We were not prepared then, but we will be this time."

          Clementine nodded. "Don't worry, Mavis. We won't let Mathew get hurt."

          "But I want to be helpful!" she insisted.

          "You can make yourself small, right?" Sebastien asked.

          She nodded.

          "Maybe you can keep watch, then. If you go small and hide somewhere close by, you can keep an eye out for professors or other kids."

          "I can do that," she agreed. "But...what if the professors turn into those monsters again?"

          "They won't unless someone dies," Sebastien assured her.

          She nodded nervously.

          "It is awful to think that the professors are those...things. And to have chased us like that, too."

          "They didn't see our faces, so we don't have to worry about them coming after us," Clementine said. Then, he looked over at Sebastien. "Tell them the plan."

          "Okay, so...Clem and I come from the hall, Mathew comes from the yard. We're just gonna go right for it, no stalling or hanging about to have a conversation. We can't give them the opportunity to strategize."

          Mathew nodded. "You want me to deal with her guards while you two face her?"

          Sebastien nodded. "That's if she sends all three of them to deal with you, though. We're hoping when she sees you in your bear form, she'll panic and set her goons on you."

          "And if she doesn't?" Mavis asked worriedly.

          "Then I'll help Mathew with the goons," Clementine answered.

          "And I'll keep Lucinda busy until Clem can back me up," Sebastien continued. "I don't know too much about this Lucinda, so I don't know if she's likely to run or not when her goons are dead. But if she does run, we're gonna have to chase her—we can't let her get away."

          Mathew nodded. "Okay. When are we doing this?"

          "We were hoping either today or tomorrow," Clementine said.

          "During the day or after dark?"

          "During the day. She heads to her dorm after classes end and I don't know that room's layout," Sebastien answered.

          As he glanced over at the clock, Mathew seemed to ponder. "It will be lunch after next period. Does she go to the sunroom at lunch?"

          Sebastien nodded. "Yeah."

          "Then we should go at lunch."

          "You good with that?" Sebastien asked Clementine.

          "Yeah."

          "Then lunch it is."

          Clementine felt his angst spike. It was happening so soon. In less than an hour, they'd be facing Lucinda and the last three Ravenblood...and then, it would be over.

          He glanced over at Sebastien as he reassured Mavis of the effectiveness of their plan. Once they were done, he and Sebastien were going to run away from this minacious place and spend what time he had left together. Knowing he had that to look forward to made him smile a little. He had convinced himself he'd die somewhere alone—somewhere cold and empty. But no. He was going to spend his last days with someone he deeply cared for, and that sounded like a much better way to go out.

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