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The dinner table was crammed with pots, plates, and bowls of steaming, delicious-smelling foods. Mashed potatoes, turkey, ham, a selection of different vegetables, bread rolls, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes, and of course, gravy. Clementine had sworn Elliot had said he and his aunt weren't doing so great finance-wise, so he wondered how she'd been able to afford to fill this table. But he remembered what Elliot had said about his father—a rich businessman, and since that same man was also Ellis' father, Clementine suspected it was his money that had paid for this dinner. The hesitant look on Elliot's face made his suspect so, too.

          Elliot's aunt rushed around in the kitchen, and with each passing moment, Clementine could see he wasn't the only one eager to dig in. Mathew looked like he could go full-on berserker any moment, a look of desperation in his eyes. Mavis' eyes were almost bulging out of her head, and Sebastien's stomach could be heard rumbling over the sound of Elliot's aunt's clattering.

          "When's your dad getting here?" Sebastien asked Elliot.

          He glanced over at Sebastien and shrugged. "I don't know."

          "This all looks wonderful," Mavis said as she clapped her hands, looking over at Elliot's aunt as she finally returned to the table with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

          "Oh, thank you sweetie," she said, placing one glass at the head of the table where the only empty seat remained. Then, she sat in her seat beside Elliot and poured herself a glass. "Your father will be home any moment, dear," she said to Elliot. "Make sure you're ready to answer the door."

          With a nervous nod, Elliot slowly turned his head to look over at the window.

          "I could get the door," Clementine offered.

          "Oh, that's lovely of you, but Brendan would prefer if his son—"

          She abruptly silenced as a loud knock thumped at the front door. Clementine watched a look of utter dread smother her face, and a similar expression had claimed Elliot's, too.

          "Go on, dear," she said, nodding at Elliot.

          Elliot uncomfortably shuffled out of his seat. "I'll be right back, guys." Then, like a schoolchild heading off to receive a cane across his hands, he left the dining room, which sunk into a tense silence.

          Clementine listened, and as the front door unlocked, he started to feel anxious for Elliot. He heard his roommate greet his father, who replied with a deep, almost monotone voice. The door shut and locked, and then their footsteps echoed up the hall. As they grew louder, the silence of the dining room intensified, and Clementine could see Elliot's aunt practically sweating.

          "Good evening, dear," Elliot's aunt said the moment the tall, stocky man stepped into the room.

          The bearded man adorned a sceptical glare as he eyed each kid.

          "Brendan, honey, these are your son's friends. Um...introduce yourselves, loves," Elliot's aunt invited.

          "Mathew, sir."

          "Mavis, Mr Davis!"

          "Sebastien."

          "Clementine."

          The man huffed and nodded as he moved over to his seat and slumped down. "You're all from that academy, right?"

          "That's right," Elliot's aunt answered.

          "I wasn't asking you, Gina."

          She nodded, looking down at her empty plate.

          "What are all of you? I want to know what creatures my son has brought into my house."

          "Dad, they're just—"

          "Talk when you're spoken to!" his father snapped.

          Everyone flinched...even Sebastien, who slowly gripped Clementine's hand and held it tightly.

          Brendan set his eyes on Mathew. "You. What are you?"

          "I am a berserker, sir."

          "Hmm." He looked at Mavis.

          "I'm fae, and I must say—"

          "You?" he asked Clementine, cutting Mavis off.

          "Seer," he answered.

          Brendan scoffed and snorted. "Seer. More like human with a tiny little drop of ethos."

          Clementine felt Sebastien tighten his grip on his hand, and in the intensifying silence, he could have sworn he heard him growl, too.

          "You, white-hair."

          "Also a seer."

          That had to be a lie. Clementine had seen Sebastien do things no seer would be able to, even after years of training.

          Elliot's father grunted. "Why is my glass empty?" he questioned, glaring at Gina.

          With a panicked look on her face, Elliot's aunt frantically hurried out of her seat and rushed over to Brendan with the wine bottle.

          As she filled his glass, Brendan looked around the table. "We speakers don't allow just anyone into our homes."

          Clementine had no idea what a speaker was, but he didn't particularly care. This man's attitude was atrocious, and that—on top of knowing he had killed both Elliot and his mother, was currently making it hard for Clementine to resist the urge to lunge at him. Both Elliot and Gina were visibly terrified of this man, but now wasn't the time to intervene.

          Gina returned to her seat once she'd filled Brendan's glass. She nervously cleared her throat and smiled, holding out her hands. "Let's all share a moment of serenity."

          Elliot took Gina's left hand, and Mavis took her right. Mathew took Mavis' hand and held his out to Brendan, but the man turned his nose up at it. Sebastien reluctantly took Elliot's hand, and Clementine took Sebastien's. He didn't even bother offering his out to Brendan—he knew he wouldn't take it. Gina bowed her head, so did Elliot, and then everyone else did as they did.

          Silence.

          The only sound came from the passing vehicles outside.

          Clementine glanced over at Elliot, who was visibly shaking. Gina, despite the forced smile on her face, looked terrified, and Clementine could feel the dining room's atmosphere becoming more and more tense by the second.

          But then, Gina lifted her head and exhaled quietly, letting go of Elliot and Mavis' hands. "Help yourselves," she said, gesturing her hand towards the food.

          Everyone said their thankyous and began picking the foods they wanted, moving it to their plates.

          "So, how has that freaky school been for you, son?" Brendan asked.

          Elliot stopped reaching for the potato tongs and rested his hands on the table beside his plate. "It's been good," he answered cautiously.

          "I'm quite surprised to see you made it this far. I assume that's because of your friends here." He looked around the table again.

          Mavis smiled. "Oh, actually sir, El—"

          "I wasn't talking to you," Brendan snapped, interrupting her.

          With an embarrassed frown, Mavis lowered her head and started prodding her turkey with her fork.

          "They've all helped me a lot," Elliot answered. "Especially Clementine."

          Brendan shifted his grotesque gaze to Clementine. "Are you one of those kids sent back here from the New World to earn their right to return?"

          He shook his head. "No."

          "So then how does a lowly seer find themselves in a place like Aldergrove?"

          "I had a sister; she left her savings to me when she died and I used that to pay the tuition fees," he lied.

          Brendan scoffed as he shovelled a mixture of meat, potatoes, and gravy into his mouth. "And what are you all planning to do if you're lucky enough to win passage to the New World?"

          Everyone glanced around at each other. Clearly, they were all unsure whether or not telling Elliot's father was a bad idea.

          "We're all gonna get a place together," Sebastien said.

          Brendan's face contorted into a scowl.

          Gina's eyes widened, but it wasn't clear whether her reaction was to what Sebastien said, or because of Brendan's thickening scowl.

          Mathew nodded. "Somewhere in the country."

          "I-I'm sure you all have business plans too, right?" Gina asked.

          Elliot nodded. "That's right. Clementine suggested we start a medicine business."

          "Medicine?" Brendan scoffed. "A dying practice."

          "Not necessarily," Sebastien said. "The war bred a whole bunch of new illnesses, not to mention all the homeless people getting sick because they have to sleep on dirty streets."

          Elliot's father mustered a grin as he chewed on a piece of asparagus. "Let the sickness take them, I say. The fewer peasant mouths there are to feed, the better off we'll be."

          Mavis frowned and went to speak, but she held her words when Elliot shook his head at her.

          Brendan downed the rest of his wine and then glared across the table at Gina. She immediately got up and headed over to him with the wine bottle. She smiled nervously, refilling his glass, and once she was done, she returned to her seat.

          "What is it you do, Mrs Davis?" Mathew asked curiously.

          "Oh, I paint people's—"

          "Peasant's work, that's what," Brendan interjected. "When are you going to get a real job, Gina? Apply down at the bank; I already told you three times now that Larry will take you on as an assistant."

          She nodded slightly. "Thank you, dear, but I really enjoy what I—"

          He slammed his hand on the table. "It isn't up for debate anymore. I want to see you down at the bank tomorrow morning."

          Gina didn't put up a fight at all. "Of course, dear."

          The room went silent again as everyone continued eating.

          Clementine had been looking forward to trying his very first Serenity Week dinner, but now that he was sitting at the table—now that he'd met Elliot's father, the only desire he felt was one to leave. A very small part of him also still wanted to lunge at Brendan, but not only did he not want to risk causing this obviously abusive man to harm either Gina or Elliot, he also didn't want to step out of line. This wasn't really his business, and he didn't want to do something that would upset Elliot.

          He glanced at his roommate every so often, hoping he'd somehow remember what had happened the night Brendan had killed his mother, but Elliot was far too afraid to so much as look at his father.

          There were only a few hours left of the day, and if Elliot didn't recall the truth by later tonight, Clementine suspected he and Sebastien were going to have to take matters into their own hands.

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