Helga held Fletcher’s eye open with one hand and shined a flashlight in it with the other. The way she inspected him sent shivers through Ellis. The situation was unnerving. A ghost child wanted him dead for a reason beyond his control. Helga started to poke more and more at Fletcher while Ellis could barely stomach the sight of him. He shifted his focus to the now propped open door. Silently, he was thankful Helga was able to reopen the door although her actions concerned him more than he’d like to admit. While they all waited in anticipation, Roman kept running his fingers over the hole where the ice pick was. Ellis wondered what the damage would have been without the gear.

Helga straightened up and looked at the boys. She was hard to read with her crossed arms and aloof expression. She let out a sigh and said,

“Your boy is occupied by a ghost. Shame, considering he’s the most likeable of the lot.”

“Can you kick the ghost out?” Roman asked, pulling down on his chest pads.

“Technically speaking, Fletcher could if you didn’t use the Ouija board and give the kid free rein.” Helga paused and looked down at Fletcher. “I gave him a necklace. He’s not wearing it. Do you guys know where it is?”

“What does a necklace have to do with any of this?” Ellis snapped.

“The way possession works is the host has to allow him in, or in our case has an open invitation from dumbass kids not following the rules. The necklace protects him from this and lets him be in front.” Helga waved her hands around. “Possession is sort of like having someone else in your consciousness. So, Fletcher can hear us but ghost boy can too. This is how the kid knows things about Fletcher that he shouldn’t.”

She was beyond fascinated with Fletcher’s current state. Pulling up his eye lid again, she bent down to get a closer look as she murmured something about it being the first possession she had even seen in person. Jerking forward, Fletcher let out a shrill static noise that Ellis didn’t think humans were capable of making. Helga jumped back, almost hitting the other workbench.

“Most ghosts use their own voice, not the vessels.” She noted as a sinking feeling of regret ran through Ellis. “The necklace won’t be a permanent solution but it will give us time to train Fletcher with how to deal with the spirit world- Someone should get you a band aid.”

The shock wore off leaving Ellis with a sharp ache. The wound was still oozing blood. He pulled down the collar of his shirt to see the damage. With the adrenaline gone, Ellis felt afraid, unsure of where they should go from here.

“I’ll get the necklace.” Ellis decided.

“I’ll come with you.” Roman offered. “We can get your shoulder patched up while we are at it.”

“Nope, he stays. Sam goes. No offense, I’d prefer Roman stay here until we can tie him up with something besides an extension cord.” Helga chimed in.

Ellis gave a quick nod understanding that between Roman and Sam, Roman was visibly stronger. Sam was built thin and narrow, like a sprinter while Roman was muscular. The football gear certainly helped with the strong appearance. The two boys left the dorm and walked back to the main building. Ellis had a general idea of where Fletcher might keep something like a necklace, either his locker in the school or his locker in the locker room. About half way back, Sam agreed to split up and go to the locker room while Ellis went into the school.

The main hall that most of the lockers reside in was empty, although Ellis wasn’t sure what he expected. It was far past the end of the school day. He traced his hand along the lockers as he walked down the hall, the ache in his shoulder still ever present. Fletcher’s locker was easy to find due to the stars Sam had doodled on each corner years before. It was nostalgic considering how they’d met there every morning since they were just little kids. Turning the dial, Ellis gave the combination lock a shot. He knew the combo at some point, he just needed to jog his memory. By the fourth try, he unlocked it.

Opening the locker, Ellis was welcomed to cute couple photos of Fletcher and Beck, a tiny white board with the homework due dates on it and a taped up swim schedule. As anticipated, it was organized which made it fast to go through. No necklace. Ellis made his way towards the gym as Sam was making his way back. Shaking his head, Sam shrugged hopelessly.

“Not in his locker I take it?” Sam sounded half hopeful and half annoyed.

“Nope. The only other place it could be is his house.” Ellis replied as the two turned towards the parking lot, not needed to prompt what they were doing next.

“Let’s hope his parents aren't home”

Ellis sped most of the way to Fletcher’s house, only slowing down for the common spots that the cops hung out. Sam didn’t say much on the way over, instead he stared at the cupholder and picked at the dirt. Ellis wondered what he was thinking about although it was a fruitless endeavor. Sam rarely cared to show his emotions. As they pulled into the driveway, Sam pulled off his sweater.

“Hot?” Ellis asked half confused.

“Your shoulder, dipshit.” He tossed the sweater into his lap.

“Oh.”

Pulling on Sam’s sweater, Ellis started preparing a lie for Mrs. Yates. Luckily, she rarely questioned people’s intentions. Sam swung his legs out of the car and waited for Ellis to follow suit. Closing his eyes, Ellis took a deep breath, pushing his pain away and stepped out of the car. The two walked side by side towards the front door. Sam kept peeking over at Ellis but desperately seemed to avoid eye contact. Ellis rang the doorbell.

“Maybe, you should wait in the car. You are super pale-” Sam started

“Hello boys! Fletcher isn’t home right now” Mrs. Yates said in an overly perky tone.

“Oh, we know. We actually came to pick up his textbook for him. He’s got a study date with Beck but didn’t want to leave her alone. You know how she can be.” Ellis gave a quick fake smile and Mrs. Yates stepped back from the door, gesturing to come in.

“You boys are such good friends.” I doubt that, Ellis thought to himself.

Sam and Ellis quickly walked to his room, closing the door behind them. Fletcher’s bedroom remained unchanged for the most part. Adorably, it was space themed with the bedspread and consolations painted on the wall. The large cork board on the wall was tacked full of old photos of Fletcher and Beck, a few random family photos and one of the boys at the lake. Ellis stepped closer taking a look while Sam started going through Fletcher’s desk drawers. It smells like chocolate, Ellis thought.

“Weird how he didn’t redecorate.” Sam noted. “Where would you keep a necklace?”

“In a jewelry box.” Ellis replied, noticing the cork board held newer photos. Spattered across the board were candid photos of the boys over the past few months. There was one of Roman cooking pancakes at the cabin and another of Ellis and Sam in the library laughing. Looking at them, it would have been hard to tell what was really going on but they all seemed so happy. “You see this?”

“As much as I am sure you’d love to snoop through all of Fletcher’s stuff, we are in a bit of a time crunch.”

Thankfully, the room was fairly clean but it didn’t help them find the necklace. Sam started going through the laundry in a last-ditch attempt while Ellis flipped open his laptop, unsure of what exactly he hoped to find. With a long-drawn sigh, Sam mumbled some complaint about the time as he reached the bottom of the basket.

“It’s not here.” Sam said, ignoring the fact that during his frenzy of clothes throwing a t-shirt landed on his head.

“What do you think his password is?” Ellis said trying to unlock the laptop

“Hell no, that’s an invasion of privacy. It’s not going to help us find the necklace.” Sam put his hand on the top of the laptop. “Whatever you think you will find on here, I guarantee you, you don’t want to see it.”

“I want to check his messages. We don’t know how long Fletcher's been like this and I’m willing to bet his messages can help us figure that out.” Ellis replied pointedly although he wasn’t sure if that was actually why he wanted to look.

“Fine.” Sam reached over Ellis, typing in the password. “It’s ‘Beck’”

“Good guess.”

“Roman figured that out actually. He went through Fletcher’s phone.”

“And you judge me?”

“I have higher expectations for you. If Roman is sober for two weeks, he will surpass my expectations.”

Once the laptop was unlocked, Ellis immediately noticed a word document left open. The first few lines felt like a diary entry before the language flipped to French. It wasn’t normal for people to switch languages mid-sentence. Ellis took a guess to say Fletcher didn’t want people to read what he was writing. Ellis noticed his name laced throughout the entry. Despite his desire to translate it, he closed the document. Pulling up his messages, there was little there. He really only seemed to talk to Beck and the boys with the occasional swim teammate.

“Did you find the textbook?” Mrs. Yates yelled over.

“Yup.” Hearing her walking towards them, Ellis closed out of the messages.

Sam grabbed a random textbook off Fletcher's shelf. Just as Ellis was about to close the laptop, he noticed the background was set to a photo of Fletcher and Beck kissing. It was tacky and gross but what struck him was the small wooden charm necklace that Beck wore. Fletcher must have given it to her.

“That’s not good.” Sam shut the laptop. “Let’s go.”

On their way out, they thanked Mrs. Yates. As they got back into the car, Ellis's hands started to shake a little. Sam scanned him up and down, and got out of the car. Watching Sam walk around the car, Ellis couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Yanking the door open, Sam said,

“I’m driving.”

“I’m fine.”

“You should be going to hospital.” Sam bent into the car and unbuckled Ellis. “Up and out, or I will call an ambulance.”

“You can drive as long as you take me back to the school.”

***

When they returned to the basement, Roman had half stripped down, his jersey and football pads set on the ground. He and Helga seemed to be having a conversation about the magic world but didn’t care to continue once the boys got back. Fletcher was still tied up, ranting and raving about the Holloways.

“They used student as ingredients for their stupid magic. I was a child! No regard for human life here.” Fletcher’s voice seemed to switch between his own and a child's. “What kind of man would suffocate a child?”

There was evidence to support what he had said, but it didn’t change their current circumstance. Ellis decided although Henry’s fate was sad, it didn’t matter. They couldn’t change it now. In a sick way, the body farm his family created would become very convenient for their Davis situation.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s been going on like that since you left. Did you get the necklace?” Helga hopped off the other workbench.

“I think Fletcher gave it to his girlfriend.” Ellis answered with a soft sigh.

“Ex-girlfriend.” Fletcher corrected. “And no way Barbie is going to just hand it back to you because you asked. Not after that break up.”

“Can you use her actual name? Or do you not really know?” Ellis snapped back and gave a halfcocked grin, convinced he’d won.

“Oh, I know a lot about all of you. Pretty ruthless what you did to Davis. Surprised you didn’t suggest cutting him up. Guess murder runs in the family. Now untie me before Fletcher's parents start wondering where he’s gone.”

A twisted and eerie grin grew on Fletcher’s face, stretching to the point it looked painful but it still didn’t reach his eyes. His leer was unbreaking. Ellis shifted his eyes to Roman who looked like gears were turning his head. Ellis knew the look well, confidence and dread pulled into one small resigned smile. Roman tapped on the workbench and pulled his jersey on.

“Don’t bother, Roe. There isn’t a thing on earth that is going to get you that necklace.”

“Try me.” Roman announced brazenly.