Let's assess, shall we?

Ember was sat, head in bag, tied to a chair.

Bag over my head for optimal disorientation, wrists tied tight enough to cut off circulation. And no idea of whether I'm going to live or die.

The bag was whipped off Ember's head, whacking one of her plaits into her face. The round library she was in was exactly the same, except now, about ten people stood around the watermark, purple cloaks on, and the same mask she had seen under Rowan's floorboard adorning their faces.

It's definitely my kind of party.

A voice came from behind one of the masks. "Who dares breach our inner sanctum?"

"You can take the mask off, Bianca," Ember said, recognising the voice immediately.

There was a big sigh, and Bianca, along with all the others, took off their masks.

And just like that, my hopes were dashed against the rocks of butter disappointment. My foe was no psychotic killer. More like a bunch of high school clowns.

Around the room stood Bianca, Xavier, Ajax, Yoko, Kent and Davina (two more sirens) and at least ten more people.

"Wait, you look much better with it on," Ember said to Bianca. She got a cruel smirk in return.

"How did you get down here?" Xavier asked.

"Rowan showed me," Ember told him. He eyes went to her hoodie. "Left pocket."

Slowly, Xavier walked across the room and dug into Ember's pocket to find the picture.

"I tracked the watermark to the Poe statue. Then I solved the riddle," Ember looked up.

"Wait, there's a riddle?" One of Bianca's siren friends asked. "I thought we just snapped twice."

"Well, out of dumb or dumber, you're dumbest," Ember said sarcastically to him, Xavier still beside her.

"The Nightshades are an elite social club," Bianca spoke. "Emphasis on elite."

The Nightshades had obviously reformed since they had disbanded, as Ms Thornhill had told Ember.

"We have roof parties, campouts, the occasional midnight skinny dip," Yoko said.

"And Yoko's an amateur mixologist," another siren said.

"She makes a killer virgin mojito. It can get pretty wild!" Ajax was talking as though Ember should be jealous.

But all she felt was pity.

But the good thing about all this talking was, it gave Ember a chance to untie the ropes on her wrists. Uncle Fester had taught her how to undo just about any knot, and not give any sign she was doing it.

"Wow, do you guys even have a bedtime?" Ember asked sarcastically. "Last I heard, the Nightshades had been disbanded."

"Yeah, the group lost its charted thirty years ago after a normie kid died," Xavier answered.

"But we have a lot of wealthy alumni," Yoke said. "So Weems looks the other way as long as nobody makes any waves."

"Someone like Rowan?" Ember asked, for the mask she had found signified he had been a part of this group.

"We booted that loser last semester," Bianca told her. She looked around at her fellow Nightshades. "Question is, what are we gonna do with her? Only members are allowed in this library."

A pause. Then Xavier looked down at Ember. "I say we invite her to the pledge."

An uproar.

"What?"

"No-"

"That's ridiculous!"

"She is a legacy," Xavier shrugged, pointing to Ember's mother's portrait.

"After the crap she pulled in the Poe Cup, there is no way in hell!" Bianca exclaimed. "We talk about not making waves? She's a tsunami?"

"I prefer a hurricane," Ember shot back. "All this just because I gave you a dose of your own medicine? Let me save you the trouble. I'm not interested in joining."

Xavier raised his eyebrows at her and Yoko asked. "You're seriously turning us down?"

"Can you believe it?" Ember asked, mocking her. Yoko looked among the group, throwing shade.

"Untie her," Bianca demanded of Xavier.

"I freed myself five minutes ago," Ember told the siren, holding up the ropes as proof.

She got up, Xavier holding up the picture for her to take. She snatched it from his hands, heading out the door.

The siren that Ember guessed had been the mermaid in the water (mainly because of his black eye she guessed Thing had given him) stepped in her way.

"That was just a hand that gave you that. Imagine what a whole body can do," Ember told him.

"Hey, Ember-" Xavier also stepped in the way. All Ember did was slam the ropes that had bound her into his chest and proceeded to walk up the stairs.

Once she was halfway up, she looked back at the group, all watching her go.

"Shame, I was actually excited to be kidnapped. Disappointing that it was just amateurs like you," she said, before walking off.

She left a hurt Yoko, confused Ajax, angry Bianca and disappointed Xavier behind.

But it didn't matter, because she still had her prize. The purple book.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

Later that night, Ember sat at her desk, flipping through said book.

There were so many threads to my investigation, I could weave a burial shroud.

The opened it to the half torn picture of the black silhouetted guy.

I still have no idea how Rowan mysteriously rose from the dead, or why that monster is prowling the woods.

She took the other half of the picture out her pocket, placing it on the book with the part with the man. It was perfect fit.

Clearly, she was going to face this man in the burning quad sometime soon.

But right now, nothing intrigues me more than this book. If I'm going to be responsible for Nevermore's demise, the question is, why am I sharing this apocalypse with a pilgrim?

She worked this out later, seeing the shape of the hat... the staff... the outfit...

It wasn't hard to figure out.

❣︎❣︎❣︎

The next day, she looked carefully at the quad as Weems talked. Today was 'Outreach Day' which was when Nevermore's outcasts went out to Jericho to mingle with the normies that lived there. They also all got volunteer jobs wherein they all got randomly assigned somewhere to work for the day.

"All students will report for their volunteer jobs at ten am sharp, followed by a community lunch at one. As you know, this year Outreach Day culminates in a very special event, the dedication of a new memorial statue in the down square, which will also include performances by Nevermore students."

Enid giggled beside Ember as Weems continued. "As representatives of our school, I trust you will all put your best face forward."

And then it was off to giving everyone their volunteer assignments. Basically, they were blue cards that had somewhere in Jericho to work.

"Yes! I got Pilgrim World!" Enid said, jumpin up and down beside Ember as she got her assignment. "I do have natural people skills and a love of performing, so it's kinda the obvi choice."

"What did you get, cousin?" Wednesday asked as she came up beside Ember.

The girl then opened her assignment in front of Enid and Wednesday. "Uriah's Heal, whatever that is?"

Wednesday shrugged. "It could be worse. I got the Weathervane."

Meanwhile, Enid said. "Ew. It's this weird, creepy antique store. You'll love it, through."

Ember and Wednesday raised their eyebrows in unison.

"I'm crossing my claws Ajax and I will be outreaching together," Enid changed the subject.

As Ember and Enid both looked over to Ajax and Xavier, who were a few metres away from them, they heard the latter say. "Oh my god, I got the Weathervane! Come on, dude, trade with me, seriously, come on!"

Ajax, meanwhile, wasn't budging. However, this puzzled Ember. You can trade volunteer assignments?

"Hello girls!" She was ripped out of her thoughts as Weems came round to say hello. "Ember, don't worry about your violin. I'll have it brought to the town square this afternoon."

"My violin?" Ember questioned.

"Oh, I caught your rooftop serenade the other night," Weems explained. "Impressive. I've volunteered to accompany the Jericho High School marching band at the ceremony. I'm sure it won't be too challenging to play an uplifting Fleetwood Mac melody."

Ember considered. "As long as you promise to kill me afterwards so my death will be put down to homicide, not shame."

Weems just gave an uncomfortable smile.

The bus ride to Jericho wasn't the most comfortable of experiences. Ember and Enid sat across from Xavier and Ajax, which meant that Enid was doing a lot of eyelash batting.

"How long do you intend on objectifying yourself for the male gaze?" Ember finally asked, bored.

Enid claimed to have no idea what she was talking about.

Anyway, after Ember had gotten off the bus, she noticed Xavier, staring at a brick wall, some of which had been painted. A white square adorned it.

"Why are you staring at a blank wall?" Ember asked, drawing in beside him, curious.

"Wasn't blank last Outreach Day," Xavier replied shortly.

"Are you still irritated because I rejected your invitation?" Ember asked.

"I dunno, I did go out on a limb for you," he shrugged.

"Oh please," Ember rolled her eyes. "You gestured to a picture of my mother whose legacy ended long ago. I'm just cannon fodder in whatever cold war you're waging with Bianca. I have more pressing issues on my mind."

"Yeah, like what?" Xavier looked down at her.

"Tracking down the monster no one believes killed your roommate," Ember replied smoothly.

"Oh my god, for the last time, Rowan was expelled!" Xavier said, almost mocking her. "Everyone saw him leave."

"And have you heard from him since?" Ember asked. If Xavier said yes... she didn't know what she'd do.

Luckily, he didn't. "I texted him a couple times, but I never heard back. I just figured he wanted to put Nevermore in his rear view mirror."

"I figured he was dead. One of us has to be wrong," Ember said.

"You know, I don't know why you care so much! It's not like you knew the guy!" Xavier said angrily as he walked away.

Ember followed. "I don't know why you care so little. People, including you, can try and get in my way and make a million other excuses but I'm not going to stop."

She took the purple bag out of her bag. Xavier looked at it with wide eyes. "Oh, great, I guess you can add 'thief' to your resume."

"I guess we can add 'in denial' to yours," Ember retorted.

"I don't know what the big deal is about an old Nightshade's journal anyways," Xavier rolled his eyes, stopping walking and letting her face him.

Ember held up the picture portraying her and the pilgrim in the burning quad. "You didn't seem surprised when you saw this last night. You've seen it before, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Xavier sighed. "A couple days before the Harvest Festival. It was open on Rowan's desk, so I just assumed he stole it after we kicked him out of the Nightshades. Then I confronted him about it and he kinda went ballistic on me."

Ember looked at him, eyes wide. She remembered the argument between Rowan and Xavier in the vision...

"He threw you against the wall with his telekinesis."

Xavier stared blankly at her. "Yeah. How do you know that?"

Ember looked down at the book, then back at him. "Just lucky." She wasn't about to admit to him that she had psychic visions, even if he did catch her having one in the Poe Cup yesterday.

After looking down at the journal for a second, Xavier told her. "It's weird that you're in this. This journal is like, what, thirty years old? And what the hell's Crackstone doing in it with you?"

Ember jumped on his comment. "You know this pilgrim?" She asked, gesturing to the picture.

"Yeah, it's Joseph Crackstone," Xavier said plainly. "He's, like, Jericho's founding father. He's kinda a big deal around here, look, there he is."

He gestured to two Pilgrim World flyers on the side of a lamppost, Joseph Crackstone right there on them.

Ember turned, looking up at them. "Pilgrim World?"

"Yeah, he's, like, the main reason for that place," Xavier shrugged. "Come on, let's go, Weems is about to do her speech."

As they walked to where everyone was waiting, Ember noticed a statue of Joseph Crackstone in the square of Jericho. He looked every bit as malicious as Ember expected.

"Hey," Xavier smiled as they came to a stop. "If you ever get a break and feel like stopping off at the Weathervane, I'd be happy to see you there."

Ember studied him. "These feeble attempts at bonding are beneath you."

And with that, she walked off to go stand beside Wednesday as the mayor of Jericho got up. "Welcome! Welcome! Now, on behalf of the entire Jericho community, we are so, so pleased to have you all here today! Your generosity and hard work are truly... outreachous!" He laughed as Weems got up.

"Okay, everyone, we'll see you back here at one o'clock for lunch. Enjoy!"

And at that, all the outcasts got up and left for their assignments.

I need to get to Pilgrim World, was the only thought Ember had as she went off. Then I can learn more about Crackstone.

And who was the only person she could get to switch with her?

"Enid!" Ember said, as she caught up with her roommate, who was skipping along the street. She held out her assignment. "Switch volunteer assignments."

She knew she would say no, but she had some persuasion up her sleeve.

"What? No, Uriah's Heap is definitely not my bag!" She said in disgust, scrunching her nose up.

"It's an emergency. I need to investigate Pilgrim World," Ember said.

"But, Ember, this is not a fair trade!" Enid pointed out. "Why would I agree to spend the entire day at some dumpy emporium of crapola?"

Ember didn't know what most of this meant, but she just handed her volunteer assignments out and said. "Because Ajax is volunteering there. Thing sneaked a peek at his assignment. But if you're not interested-"

"No!" Enid's face changed in a split second as she grabbed the assignment out of Ember's hand. "Oh my god, thank you, you're the best!" She said enthusiastically, almost shaking the girl in red. Ember just gave her a weird look of disgust and watched as she swapped her assignment and ran off, giggling excitedly.

Ember shrugged, walking off to Pilgrim World, satisfied.

She was going to find out more about Joseph Crackstone.

And about why he was pictured with her, even though he was dead, she was alive.

And that picture was drawn thirty years ago.