There was something incredibly familiar about the deep darkness surrounding them and it was gnawing at Ellis. Being at the cabin late at night was nothing new to him but the itching déjà vu crept into the back of his mind, making itself a home. Ironically, he felt out of place. Maybe it was the fact he’d worn a white dress shirt to a spell casting. Perhaps it was faux pas but Ellis never did learn the fashion rules of magic. He tried not to let it bother him as he carried the heart out of his car.

“Where are we putting this?” Ellis called over to Helga who was sprinkling some sort of magic powder around the lawn. He didn’t care to hear her explanation.

“On the deck until we're ready.” She hollered back as she moved rhythmically around. He wondered if that was part of the magic.

In the middle of the lawn Roman stared up at the sky waiting for the clouds to clear. Ellis had read over his translation of the spell probably a hundred times. They needed the clouds to clear, then stand close to the water and perform the spell. Easy enough. Earlier on they had set out roles, Roman would start the incantation, Ellis would crack the pomegranates while Sam and Fletcher handled the rest. Everything was coming together.

Sam slammed the car door behind him finally arriving with Fletcher and the spell book. Roman waved at them as they hustled over. All four of them stood in a circle, much like when they were kids playing a game. Roman was the first to break the silence.

“This is it.”

“Yup.” was all Ellis could muster. Reflecting for a second, He was curious if this was the last time things would be like they are now, if they would be who they are now. He wasn’t sure exactly how to define their relationship but he liked it.

“Clouds are clearing. Places everyone.” Helga announced as she handed Roman a sheet with the spell on it.

In an unusual display of confidence, Fletcher led the way to the dock. The air was almost electric, as it was its own living breathing being. With the moon a crisp rusted red, they were ready. First, Sam twisted off the top of the jar and removed the heart. He grimaced as he set it down in the center of the dock. Fletcher placed the grad ring beside it. It was Ellis’s turn. He took a shallow breath and pulled out a pocket knife. Awkwardly, he cut the pomegranate apart too close to his chest. Juice splatter across him. Roman let out a dry laugh as Ellis set the pomegranate down, letting the juice run off him and onto the heart. It felt like he had seen this before but he couldn’t place where. Roman started the incantation, taking his lighter and lighting the page on fire as he chanted in Latin. Ellis’s tongue couldn’t quite pronounce all the words but he hoped it was close enough.

The heart started to rattle, then float. The grad ring and pomegranate followed suit. Even though he’d seen Helga do magic, it always amazed Ellis. In rapid fire succession, the items launched themselves into the lake.

It would end where it began.

As he mumbled along to the spell, Ellis couldn’t help but notice how striking Roman’s eyes are even in the dark. Shifting his focus, he looked at the red stain now promptly displayed on his shirt. All at once, the realization hit him that he had seen this all before; It was just like his visions.

“Wait!” Ellis cried out as Roman finished the incantation.

Nothing happened.

“Is it over?” Sam asked although it sounded more like a plea.

Softly, slowly, Aradia Lake started to stir. It grew and grew until it was roaring, large waves crashing around. Ellis grabbed Roman and pulled him off the dock as they all scrambled further back. The water started to boil before a geyser started to form and blast what looked to have been over twenty-five feet tall. The commotion only lasted a minute before everything settled again.

“Guess he needed to put a little show on” Fletcher laughed like a prerecorded track.

With intense focus, Ellis watched the end of the dock. He wasn’t sure what he was watching for but his vision still hadn’t come to fruition. Roman would have drowned if that was the case. Something was deeply wrong and they had caused it.

An arm slammed on the dock. Something, someone was crawling out. At first, it was an impossibly white skeleton then slowly, flesh started to grow across the bone. In the faint glow of the cabin light, Ellis saw Davis Astor for the first time in three years. Alive. He was larger than Ellis remembered, his ribcage must have been the width of Ellis’s shoulders. Davis smiled that wild grin he was known for but it didn’t reach his eyes. He seemed void of emotions. It was like he was putting on an act. Helga booked it back to the cabin while Ellis stayed stuck in place, watching with wide eyes. Davis stretched up in an awkward and unnatural way before the grin faded leaving a hollow expression in its place.

“Hiya, boys. Nice to see ya.” He extended his hand out. For reasons Ellis didn’t know, Roman approached Davis and accepted the hand shake. Davis pulled him in close almost like a hug before whispering something in his ear. All of the strength left Roman’s body, leaving him leaning on Davis for support. “Let’s talk.”

“What do you want?” Ellis said without thinking.

“Vengeance? Power? Who knows, I haven’t decided yet.” Davis adjusted Roman so that he was practically holding him. “I do have some unfinished business with you though. And a few favors I need to return for the Fae but that’s all in good time.”

“What did you do to Roman?” Ellis slowly started to walk towards the dock, desperate to pull Roman away.

“Just a quick little gift from the Fae. Temporary paralysis. Should make him easier to deal with.”

“Put him down.”

“Admit what you did.” Davis started to lower Roman and switched his grip to his shirt rather than his arm.

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” Ellis knew exactly what he was talking about but he couldn’t say it. Not with the other boys there.

“How well do you think Roman can swim?” Davis pushed Roman forward, letting his upper body hang off the dock. His grip on Roman’s shirt was the only thing stopping him from hitting the water. Roman started yelling and pleading with him. “Come on. You really aren’t going to make me hurt him, are you?”

“Ellis, please.” Roman’s voice trembled. “Please, just tell him what he wants to hear.”

Davis bent down, lowering Roman so that he was resting on his knees. With wide eyes and a sharp grin, he dunked Roman’s head under water for a few seconds then pulled him up.

“Leave him alone.” Ellis’s voice was thin and weak.

“Admit it.” Davis forced Roman under again before pulling him on to his feet.

Ellis could feel Fletcher and Sam's eyes burning into him. Davis’s twisted grin grew larger as he held Roman over the edge only by his arm. He laughed and laughed. Ellis always knew Davis was a sadist but he couldn’t imagine him going this far.

“Okay!” Ellis started to shake as he turned to the other boys. “That night Davis died. I kicked him down the hill on purpose. I killed him.”

He’d never expected to say the words out loud. Over the years he knew the saying ‘the truth will set you free’ but he didn’t feel any freer. Sam’s expression shifted through all five stages of guilt in a matter of seconds as if he was short circuiting while Fletcher’s face went pale, disgusted by what he learned.

“I had to after everything he did! He drove Prue to the brink. He killed her! And when I saw him lying there, I knew what I had to do.” Ellis tried to explain.

“Homicide isn’t justifiable, Ellis!” Sam snapped back, tears already forming in his eyes.

“Was that so hard, Holloway?”

“Just put him down.”

“Sure.”

Davis pulled Roman up as if he was going to take him off the dock before he dropped him. Letting out a guttural scream, Ellis fell to his knees as he watched Roman fall in slow motion. Just as he made contact with the water, ice formed around him and spread across the lake almost instantly. Davis scoffed looking down at him and said,

“Now, that’s a surprise.”

Struggling, Roman pushed off the ice and sat up. He crawled across, making his way back to land but still didn’t have full control of his limbs. Ellis ran over, trying his best to pull Roman as far from Davis as possible but Roman was much heavier than him.

“What the hell?” Roman said to no one.

“Huh. The Fae said that it would last longer though I suppose accuracy isn’t their strong suit.”

Around them, the clouds started to close in. A cold downpour started out of nowhere and thunder echoed through the air. Seemingly, the storm manifested out of nowhere. Davis started to walk off the dock and towards the cabin. He tilted his head looking at Roman.

“You really are something else, huh?” He paused for a second and reached out for Ellis’s arm. With a surprising show of strength, he twisted Ellis’s arm until it snapped. The pain shot through him making him nauseous almost instantly. He continued past them, heading directly for Helga.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ellis could see Sam running after him while Fletcher walked towards Roman. Ellis hugged his arm to his chest, just praying for it all to be over.

“Is Roman okay?” Fletcher asked.

“Freaking out.” Roman said wide eyed.

“We have to go.” Fletcher tried to get Roman to his feet.

“Where? The storm-”

“You’re the one making the storm.” Fletcher interrupted.

Davis waltzed back out of the cabin, spell book in one hand, Helga in the other. Shoving Helga to the ground, he started to chuckle. Fletcher slunk back, away from everyone. Davis flipped through the spell book like a giddy school boy.

“How do you want to die Miss. Merrick?”

“She didn’t do anything. Please, leave her out of this.” Roman begged.

“I don’t care.”

Even coming back from the dead couldn’t fix Davis’s cruelty. Ellis had come to know him as a vindictive and immature boy. He was a bully and Ellis didn’t regret for a moment what he’d done. He didn’t like how it affected his friends but he’d have done it all again except he’d leave Davis dead for good.

Davis started to read from the spell book when Sam appeared from the other side of the cabin. Sirens blared in the background, just barely audible above the rain. Shaking, Sam started to speak.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Confidence was building up in Sam's posture.

“I could kill you first. Run you down with your own vehicle, if you’d prefer.”

“Cops are coming. You think a missing man standing over teenagers' corpses is a good look for you?”

“Cute. Good try but what is stopping me from telling them you five were the ones who kidnapped me?” Davis chuckled as if he won but Sam wasn’t fazed.

“Logic? You think in the three years you’ve been dead that there’s always been one of us in Emmerson to keep an eye on you? Where did we keep you? The cabin that Roman’s family frequents? Your story won't make sense but mine will. Deranged man runs out of the woods to attack some kids he doesn’t know? Sounds pretty open and shut to me.”

The sirens echoed through the tree getting closer with each passing moment.

“Listen-”

“You don’t have time for that. What’s it going to be, Davis? Go home with the spell book as a survivor or leave the book and be forever known as the kid who ran off and went insane in the woods?”

Just as Sam finished, a police cruiser pulled up with more tailing behind them. As the cops got out of the vehicle, they drew their weapons. Everyone, including Davis, put their hands in the air. Ellis grimaced at the sensation in his broken arm. An older female officer stepped forward first and quickly assessed the situation.

“Anyone want to clue us in to what’s going on here?”

They all watched Davis for a response.

“I don’t remember. I was in the woods for a minute and now I’m here.” There was a trace of bitterness in his voice.

“What’s your name, son?” The officer asked, lowering her gun.

“Davis Astor.”

“You’ve been missing for some time.” The officer gestured for him to walk towards her. He complied. The moment he was beside her, she drew her weapon again, pointing it directly at the boys. “And why are you here?”

“My dad owns the cabin. We came out to go canoeing after school, and decided to stay the night when we saw a man running around out front.” Roman lied. Finally, all of the officers holstered their weapons and Ellis could put his arm down.

“I’ll need you boys to come into the station and make a statement.” The officer stepped forward and handed Roman and Ellis cards with her number on it.

“Can we come in the morning? My dad’s going to want to be there and it’s already so late.”

“Sure, but first thing, okay?”

It took a little while for all the cops to clear out but once they’d left, the storm left with them. Back in the cabin, they all sat in silence, still shaken up from what they’d done. Roman laid out on the couch tangled up with Fletcher while Sam sat on the back. Ellis stood further away, withdrawn from everyone. He wasn’t sure how they all felt about what he’d admitted.

“We brought a man back from the dead.” Fletcher stated.

“We did...The resurrected gain powers of necromancy.” Helga replied but kept her eyes focused on the floor. “We’ve fucked ourselves.”

“No. Ellis fucked us” Sam corrected, crawling off the back of the couch.

“I didn’t-”

“You did it on purpose. I spent years of my life hating myself and thinking I didn’t deserve to be alive because of something you chose to do. And you couldn’t even man up and tell us.” Sam shoved Ellis back and Ellis just let him. He was too tired to fight.

“You ruined our lives.” Fletcher sounded more surprised than angry. “You made us complicit.”

“We have bigger problems than Ellis murdering someone who's alive now.” Roman cut into the conversation. His expressionless face made it hard to tell where he stood on the issue but Ellis doubted he’d stick around after to be friends.

“Do we? Because the way I see it is anything from this point on is on him.” Sam hissed.

“The Wildes house is full of magic shit and supplies he needs to do some real damage and I’d bet that’s where he’s going after this. Plus, we need that book back.”

“He’s right. God knows what he’s planning.” Helga added.

The quietness crept back in. Ellis's arm ached, begging to be taken to the hospital but chose to ignore it. He ruined everything again. Zero friends, and nothing to lose, Ellis decided he’d fix their problem for them. He just couldn’t tell them how.