The third time Ellis’s phone rang was the final straw. Ripping the blankets off of himself, he stormed across the room to see who decided to incessantly call him at nearly four in the morning. Sam, Ellis read silently through his recent calls squinting through his blurred vision. He wasn’t sure why Sam would have been calling that late but he hoped that he’d changed his mind about seeing Alden. Although Ellis was only half way through his plan to break down Sam’s stubbornness and there hadn’t been any signs of a change of heart, not even so much as a ‘maybe’ left Sam’s mouth. His obstinate attitude was one of his least attractive traits.

Fumbling around in the dark, Ellis felt around his nightstand for his glasses. He felt the thin wire frame beneath his fingers. Slowly, he put the glasses on and redialed Sam’s number. While he listened to the dial tone, he flicked on his lamp.

“You called?” Ellis said the moment he heard Sam pick up.

“Yeah-” He coughed directly into the phone.

“Finally change your mind?”

“No, I got t-boned and I’m sitting in the ER.” His voice was dry and steady.

“Are you joking? Why are you calling me?”

“Not joking. Truck hit some black ice and uh.... I think the accelerator got stuck.” Sam paused to cough again. Ellis didn’t know much about vehicles but he felt like accelerators getting stuck was rare. “I’m in the waiting room. No one else is answering and I’d rather not sit alone. Plus, once I get checked over, I’ll need a ride.”

“So, you just thought I’d drop everything to help you?” Ellis used his shoulder to press the phone to his ear as he switched out of his pajama pants.

“Trust me you weren’t my first pick.”

“Fine. I’ll be there. Give me fifteen minutes.” He muttered as he hung up

Quickly, Ellis switched into a clean outfit and tip toed out to his car. He was certain his parents would have understood but he still didn’t want to risk waking them up. As he started his car, he was reminded of how blessed he was compared to the other boys. He could live his life as he so pleased while the haunting loomed over the others.

Without fail, it took Ellis almost exactly fifteen minutes to get to the hospital waiting room. The room was filled with people all residing in old beat-up chairs, some were clearly injured while others seemingly fine. Two drunk men prattled on about a brawl they’d bother partook in. An overwhelming odor of cleaning supplies, stale beer and coffee fermented in the air making Ellis’s stomach twist. He walked past a woman sobbing with her head resting on her knees to reach Sam.

For the most part, Sam looked alright. A hair paler than usual and in a blood-soaked t-shirt but overall, he seemed calm. Carefully taking the seat next to him, he eyed Sam’s injuries a little closer. Ellis tried to recall the wording on the phone. He was certain Sam said t-boned but he looked hardly scratched at all. The only marks on him were faint white scars along his arm. Where did the blood come from?

“Haunted.” Sam muttered resting his head on the back of the old metal chair. “So so haunted.”

“Where are you bleeding?” Ellis blurted out unexpectedly. Normally he’d have more poise than to ask outright but the circumstance made him curious.

“My nose mostly. Stopped when I got in.” Sam shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I think I got some broken ribs.”

“Did you come by ambulance?”

“Nah, the dude that hit me brought me. If I’d waited for an ambulance, it would have been like an hour.” Sam paused “I was way outta town when I got hit.” Ellis did not want to know why Sam would have been so far out when it was so late at night.

Ellis noticed Sam was covered in speckles of glass fragments. Mostly small inconsequential pieces but some larger, deeper. He wondered how Sam didn’t notice or seemed bothered by it all. He started to say something when he met Ellis’s eyes which were transfixed on a shard of glass nestled in the back of his hand.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Ellis hated how whiny he seemed but the shard looked painful.

“I got t-boned; everything hurts.” Sam grumbled as he dug the piece out of his hand leaving a nasty cut. Curiously Ellis leaned in to look but the wound started to close on its own almost instantly, leaving a faint white mark in its place. “That’s new.”

Over the past few months, Ellis had seen a lot. Visions, magic, ghosts; it was all becoming too normal. He’d expected at some point to see the other boys develop their own powers and still be shocked but seeing Sam’s instant healing was just another fact of life he’d have to come to terms with. Although it did raise questions. How far could his healing go? At least Sam’s power seemed to be less obvious.

If Sam cared, he made no effort to show it. He made no effort to show that he cared for Ellis’s presence at all. Slumped in silence, he would look at Ellis then back to his phone. Why did I even bother coming, Ellis thought to himself. To entertain himself, he watched the nurses as they talked. A tall red headed nurse would whisper something to the petite blonde and then they would giggle. The laughter only ceased when they’d heard some shouting from outside the waiting room

“Do you remember the summer I broke my leg?” Sam asked, scrunching up his face.

“Yeah.”

“My parents weren’t home.” Ellis didn’t understand where Sam was going with his story. “And your mom showed up instead. God that woman is scary but I’d never been happier to see her. She reamed out a doctor for taking so long to treat me.”

“Do you want me to call your parents? Or I could call mine.” Ellis hesitated, trying to figure out what Sam was saying.

“Nah, I just...” Sam stopped and palmed his eye for a second. “I guess I’d just wish I had someone around like that, ya know? Absentee parents are fun till you get hurt.”

Awkwardly, Ellis started to rub Sam’s shoulder in a vain attempt to show sympathy. Sam peeked his head over at his hand and started to giggle childishly. Ellis drew his hand back as Sam patted Ellis's knee and said,

“Don’t try comforting people, dude. It’s not your strong suit.”

The two shifted back to small talk but nothing more than what was going on at school. It occurred to Ellis that although Sam was a loner by nature, he really didn’t like to be alone; he just liked the silence. Shifting to the quiet, Ellis could hear a lot of smaller noises; sniffling noses, whining, automatic doors but what stuck out was a distorted voice in the distance.

“Does that sound like Roman?” Sam asked and Ellis nodded.

As the distorted voice got closer, it became more apparent that it was Roman and he wasn’t happy. Turning to face the door, Ellis watched as Roman and Warren came in. Warren was acting as a crutch for Roman who was holding his right leg up just enough to keep it off the ground. His jeans were torn apart leaving his skin pink almost as if it had been rubbed raw. He kept his head back as he let out a string of curse words. Once he was finished, his head snapped up.

“Oh. Hi, Ellis.” His voice was shocking, although hoarse. “Oh Sam. Why are you guys here?”

“Got T-boned, you?” Sam replied.

“Well!” Warren started as he dumped Roman in the seat beside Ellis. “We decided to go for a little late night dirt biking-”

“It’s winter.” Sam said slowly.

“Yeah? So, we’re out on the highway cruising along, having a great time. Roman starts having one of his episodes. Arms shaking, hyperventilating, the whole nine yards.” Warren recounted with enthusiasm. “Sends the bike into a spin, he goes flying down the road. Thus, this nasty road rash.”

Warren was right about one thing. Roman’s leg was nasty. The slide must have taken a decent chunk of his skin off. Ellis averted his eyes as Roman began to groan in discomfort. Some part of Ellis thought it was funny how differently the two reacted to pain. Sam took the silent route while Roman made a show of himself.

“Hey Warren. Could you grab me a coffee?” Sam said, leaning himself forward trying to highlight the sheer amount of blood on his shirt.

“Why don’t you ask Ellie?” Ellis twitched at the name but decided it wasn’t worth correcting.

“He’s my emotional support person.” Sam lied. “Besides, I’m sure Roman could go for some coffee, right?”

“Nah, I’m....” Roman trailed off as he saw Sam’s wide-eyed glare. “Yeah, coffee sounds great.”

Warren ruffled Roman’s hair before walking off. Ellis didn’t get Roman and Warren’s dynamic at all but he didn’t care enough to investigate it further. The moment he was out of earshot, Sam hastily lifted himself out of his seat and switched to the one on the other side of Roman.

“Ghost?” Sam asked, staring directly into Roman’s massive scrap. He gave a halfhearted nod in reply. “Why were dirt biking at night? And in the winter? And on the highway?”

“It sounded like fun and my mom finally let me leave the house.” Roman said then turned his head towards Ellis. “Also, if you see my mom, I stayed the night at your house.”

“I’m not lying for you.” Ellis said although his voice lacked his usual venom.

“Please?” Roman pouted.

Sam grabbed Roman’s wrist and twisted it around to see his watch. The face was cracked and the band scuffed. Ellis would guess it was fixable although Roman would likely just throw it out. It was stuck at 3:33. Sam let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled up his own watch. His watch was shattered but the time still read 3:33.

“Do you believe in coincidence?” Sam questioned.

“Not for us.” Ellis answered without hesitation.

Ellis didn’t dare voice it but the circumstance had changed. He was fairly certain that Davis was trying to kill them or at the very least injure them. Although he didn’t quite understand the motive, he could tell Davis moved past the previous scare tactics. Helga was right; It was only going to get worse. Part of Ellis wasn’t too concerned about seeing as it didn’t affect him directly but he did feel a small bit of worry for his friends.

As Sam looked down at the tiles beneath his feet, lost in his own thoughts, Warren returned carrying a drink tray in one hand with four coffees and a bag of creamers and sugar in the other. Ellis was surprised Warren brought them all coffee rather than just Roman.

“Cream?” Warren offered the bag to Ellis

“No thank you. I drink my coffee black.” He sipped on the drink.

Roman did not drink his coffee black. It wasn’t until the third creamer that Ellis started to watch in horror. By the time he’d reached the fifth creamer, Ellis was beginning to wonder if Roman even liked coffee. Once he added the sugar, Ellis came to the conclusion Roman wanted to drink sugary milk. The red headed nurse walked over to Roman and started to chat with him. Ellis nudged Sam and gestured to Roman’s drink.

“I don’t know how he’s drinking that.” Ellis whispered.

“He used to drink straight sugar in water. Are you actually surprised?” Sam laughed but quickly shifted into a groan of pain. “Something is bothering me.”

“What? Is it...” Ellis pointed at Warren who’d become enamored by the nurse.

“Well yes, but can’t change that right now.” Sam looked over his shoulder as if he was trying to see if anyone else was listening. “My dad used to say this dumb quote, I never really understood it but it goes something like ‘once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern’.”

“Kay it is...” Ellis checked the time. “4:20 in the morning, I’m not about to try and figure out what you mean.”

“Think about it. Odds me and Roman get in an accident at the same time? I think we should call Fletcher.” Sam shifted in his chair.

“How would he drown in his sleep?” Ellis asked, barely audible.

“Who says he’s asleep?” Sam pointed out.

Ellis nodded, getting up from his seat. He gave a quick wave to Roman then stepped out into the hallway. He dialed Fletcher’s phone. Odds were that he would be awake, he always woke up ridiculously early to swim. No answer, Ellis thought as he listened to the dial tone. It shouldn’t have concerned him; Fletcher very well could have been sleeping but something Sam said was gnawing at him. He called again and again until someone picked up.

“What do you want?” Beck’s voice crackled through the phone.

“To talk to Fletcher.” Ellis hesitated.

“He’s in the hospital.” He shouldn’t have been surprised. “I don’t have time for this, Ellis.” She snapped.

Hanging up, Ellis swung around to the front desk and inquired where Fletcher was. The receptionist didn’t even ask for his name, simply telling him to go to room 333. Weird, Ellis thought to himself. Heading the elevator, he shot Sam and Roman a text saying he’d be back soon.

Compared to the waiting room, the rest of the hospital was empty save for the occasional employee running about. He made his way to Fletcher’s room half expecting someone to stop him but no one tried. Ellis guessed everyone was far too busy with the influx of patients.

“I’m fine!” Ellis heard Fletcher yell from the end of the hall.

Speeding up, Ellis considered what could have happened to Fletcher. Drowning without water didn’t seem plausible. He reached Fletcher’s room; the door was left wide open. Fletcher sat on the hospital bed with his legs dangling and his hair half damp. Beck stood beside him drawing a circle on his back with her hand. Fletcher’s shoulders slumped down as he barely noticed Ellis come in.

“Why are you here?” Beck interrogated Ellis. “You got here awfully quick.”

“Sam got t-boned. I was already here.” Ellis justified as he leaned against the door frame. “What happened to you?”

“Ellis, I’m sorry but you need to go. We’re waiting-”

“It’s fine, Beck.” Fletcher cut her off as he ran his fingers through his hair trying to comb it out. “I already said I’m fine.”

“Hey, why don’t you grab Fletcher some coffee?” Ellis suggested.

“You have coffee in your hand.”

“Yes, my coffee. You should get your boyfriend coffee.”

“He doesn’t drink coffee.”

“Yes, he does.” Ellis rolled his eyes. “One cream, two sugar.”

Fletcher nodded. With a huff, Beck went off presumably to get Fletcher coffee but she could have been just storming off. Ellis wasn’t sure but he didn’t particularly care. He quickly took a seat beside Fletcher and looked him over. For the most part he looked fine, a little wet and maybe tired but fine.

“Sam got t-boned?” Fletcher asked.

“Yeah, he’s probably fine. Roman got in a dirt biking accident too- That doesn’t matter, what happened to you?”

“Well, I went swimming-”

“At this hour?”

“Well coach gave me the keys to the pool so I could open it for swim practice. Couldn’t sleep so I decided to go swimming. Beck came with me” Fletcher waved his hand around to brush off his exposition to his story but it didn’t change that Ellis had the feeling there was a lot more than swimming going on. “Beck got out and got changed while I swam a couple more laps and the automatic cover started closing again. I didn’t notice right away. It shouldn’t have closed as fast as it did. I got trapped under it but Beck got it back open.”

“So, you almost drowned.”

“Well not exactly, I breathed in a little water but I’m fine.” Fletcher said confidently. “Beck’s the one that insisted I come here. She’s scared I’ll dry drown or something- Give me that.”

Fletcher reached over and grabbed his coffee. He downed about half of it before his face recoiled in disgust. Handing it back, he leaned closer to Ellis as he mumbled a thank you. Staring into his eyes, Ellis was taken again by just how pretty Fletcher was. His eyes were green like lily pads with little flecks of gold scattered around.

“Dude, what are you looking at?” Fletcher laughed a little.

“Uh, nothing.” Ellis shrugged, backing a little. “I think this is related to our usual problem.” He hated how being haunted was a usual problem for them now. “I think we veto Sam and talk to Alden. With or without him.”

He wouldn’t admit it but if Alden didn’t have what they needed to know, he had a backup plan. He didn’t need to know much about witchcraft to know their problem had gone too far. Inconveniencing hauntings were one thing, death was another. His mind flickered through the last hour of his life with each groan and hiss from Roman and Sam echoing.