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His responding smirk was filled with promises of blood and death.

‘Gladly,’ he said, repeating my own response from when he’d asked me to fuck him deeper.

A fire roared throughout my body at the reminder, which must gave been his goal because he looked remarkably pleased with himself as he reached out with his shadows towards Blake.

‘Where to?’ he asked.

‘I think the murder basement is a pretty good place,’ I mused, looking to Chance for confirmation, which he readily gave.

‘Poetic justice,’ he said, violence shining through in his stance. He looked ready to pounce on Blake himself when he turned back to face the man in question, but I figured he might enjoy watching this part over participating.

When we were all focused on Blake, Morty finally struck. Blake yelped as his arms were suddenly bound by what to him would have been an invisible force, his face twisting in both confusion and outrage.

‘What the fu-’

His words cut off as Morty dragged him through the shadows, his sudden disappearance grabbing the attention of both Dakota and Mikey. They were the only three left in the house after Rhodes’ body was removed, and now they were down to two.

‘Holy shit.’ Mikey staggered back, wild eyes scanning the room for any sign of another attack.

Dakota, however, was smart enough to figure it out. ‘K-Kali?’ she stammered. I moved so she could see my reflection in the mirror hanging by the coat rack. Her gaze went straight there, already anticipating where to find me.

Only, I wasn’t the only one she saw.

Tears sprang to her eyes as all three of us lined up for her to see. ‘Chance? Rhodes?’

Mikey let out a shaky breath, tentatively moving to stand beside her and peer into the mirror, but it was obvious straight away that he couldn’t see what she saw. Another mystery that begged to be solved, but would have to wait for another time.

‘Stay there,’ Mikey directed the order to the mirror. ‘Let me go get my spirit box.’

He hurried away, and while I was eager to get back to the murder basement – we were all antsy, if our fidgeting was any indication – we stayed put.

Meanwhile, I tried to smooth out my expression for Dakota’s sake. Her eyes were darting between the three of us with increasing velocity, and I worried she would make herself dizzy.

‘Breathe,’ I said, hoping she could read my lips. She could. She took a deep breath, then another, until she had calmed herself down.

‘What did you do with Blake?’ she asked, but Mikey wasn’t back yet, so we couldn’t answer. Chance held up a finger as if to say Hang on a minute, then we stood around awkwardly while we waited on Mikey.

Chance scooted in closer, resting his chin on my head, then Rhodes took that as his cue to wrap an arm around my waist and press a kiss to my temple. Dakota’s eyebrows disappeared beneath her hairline as she took in our dynamic, but then a sweet smile ticked up her lips.

‘You’re happy?’ she asked, and the three of us nodded, our own smiles splitting our faces. The only one missing was Morty, but we would meet up with him as soon as we could.

Mikey finally turned up then, quickly noting how relaxed Dakota was compared to when he left, and it gave him the space to relax as well. Still, his movements were hasty and jerky as he set up the spirit box.

We let Chance speak first, since we knew he was who Mikey needed to hear the most.

‘Hey, Mikey. Kota.’

Mikey’s inhale was sharp and stilted, like he couldn’t quite gasp in enough air, and his airways kept closing up when he tried. ‘Chance,’ he choked out, tears already spilling over his cheeks.

‘Don’t be sad for me, Mikey. I’m exactly where I need to be.’

Our friend released a sob that he tried to stifle behind his hand, and Dakota was quick to wrap him in a comforting hug. ‘You’re w-with K-Kali?’ he asked, struggling to push past the urge to keep sobbing.

Chance grinned, even though Mikey couldn’t see it. ‘In more ways than one, my friend.’

That brought out a watery laugh, and then Dakota told him the rest.

‘Rhodes is with them, too. They’re all together.’

Rhodes let out a noise of protest from the back of his throat. ‘We’re not all together. We’re just all with Kali.’

‘Oh,’ he said, taken aback, then let out a bark of laughter that bordered on hysterical. ‘Oh, man. That’s… kind of epic. Go Kali.’

I couldn’t help it. I giggled. ‘Thanks, Mikey.’

‘Where’s Blake?’ Dakota finally asked, glancing anxiously over her shoulder like he might appear out of nowhere, just like he’d disappeared.

‘Her other boyfriend took him back to the murder basement,’ Chance explained, and Mikey stammered at the news.

‘Another one? Sheesh, Kali. I think you’re my fucking hero.’

He blushed bright red when Dakota cast him a sidelong look, but he didn’t run away.

That was a good sign, right? He needed someone in his corner, especially after losing Chance.

He and Ashe were only close because of their connection through Chance, and without him there, I feared they might drift apart.

Already, she was nowhere to be seen. Not that I blamed her.

She and Gloria had booked it out of her as soon as they caught the first whiff of danger. Good for them.

‘What are you going to do with him?’ Dakota asked, dragging the conversation back on track.

‘Make him pay,’ I said simply. They didn’t need to know that details. That would only haunt them. At least this way, they knew that he would suffer, and that we would ensure he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.

‘We should really be getting on,’ Chance said, and I agreed. Mikey and Dakota were alive, and they needed to let us go now. They knew we were okay. Happy, even. They knew we were about to get justice from the man who had wronged us all. Except maybe Rhodes. Lucky bastard.

And it was time for us to let them go, too.

‘I miss you guys,’ Mikey blurted. ‘And I love you. You, too, Kali. It’s not been the same without you.’

‘Live your life, Mikey,’ Chance said, his own voice cracking with emotion.

‘And you go live your afterlife.’

We stepped away from the mirror, breaking the connection, and kept our words to ourselves until we were out of range of the spirit box.

We made the journey back to Blake’s cabin slowly, keeping the pace like we were taking a leisurely stroll.

This was it. This was what I had been waiting for, for seven long years.

It was almost over.