Beckoning Rebecca was, unfortunately, a necessary task, and at her suggestion, they agreed to meet at the library. Knowing better, Thanatos leaves fifteen minutes early, and after wandering the campus with a copy of the campus map in his hands, he finally finds the damn place just in time for their meeting. Rebecca is tapping her foot impatiently, standing in front of the door.

“What took you so long?” she asks with bite, and Thanatos raises a brow.

“I’m on time,” he replies.

Rebecca harrumphs and puts her hands on her hips, foot tapping faster. “On time is late .”

Thanatos rolls his eyes and walks past her into the building. “Not according to the dictionary.”

She scoffs but follows suit, and they find a secluded table towards the back shelves. In all honesty, Thanatos is a little surprised that no one is making out like he’s seen in television and movies before, but the students sitting at tables they pass stare Rebecca (and by proxy, himself) down until they’re out of her vision, then which they return to their chatting and goofing off.

“Delinquents,” she grumbles.

“That’s mighty rude of you,” Thanatos quips, examining his gloved fingers. “But I’m not surprised in the slightest, the way you speak.”

“What do you-?”

“Nothing. Take a seat.” He does so himself, but Rebecca waits in front of the seat across from him, arms folded and staring expectantly. “What?” he asks, audibly disinterested.

“My seat,” she says. “It’s a gentleman’s responsibility, or have your parents not taught you manners yet?”

Thanatos grinds his teeth. Ignore it . “Just sit down and pull out the files you took. I assume you have them?” She huffs and plants her rear in the chair, crosses her legs, and retrieves the manila files from beautifully embroidered messenger bag. The way her name is lavishly fixed in place reminds him of decorative hand towels.

“Of course I do!”

“Have you looked at them?”

Rebecca huffs. “Yes, I did, thank you very much . They’re student files, both girls, and both transferred out early this semester about a month apart.” She opens them and slides them forward. “Here.”

Thanatos nods. “What I’m going to say from here on out is never to leave your mouth without my consent, understand?”

“Then this needs to be more private,” Rebecca hesitantly agrees. With a snap of her fingers and muttering of words, a bubble forms around them before fading into invisibility.

He raises a brow and twirls his pen in his hand. “So, you’re an abjuritionist.”

Rebecca laughs pompously, hand in front of her face. “And an excellent one at that!” And his brow drops. She continues, “Learning both abjuration and conjuration is a Hawthorne family tradition and requirement.”

“Uh-huh, sure,” he dismisses. Thanatos completely shifts his attention to the student files and the other half that he took from Mrs. Waurelt’s desk. “These students are our victims.”

Rebecca stops laughing. “…what?”

“These girls, they’re our victims. Pay attention, Ms. Hawthorne,” he scolds coolly. “Dottie James, in the fall semester of her eleventh year, found deceased in August on the 25 th . The other was Kelcey Freeman, a twelfth year this year who was found deceased almost a month later on September 29 th .”

Thanatos pulls out the photos of the two former students and sets them apart from the files. Rebecca takes them both into her hands. “They look so similar… especially now that I see them like this.”

“Then it’s possible our culprit has a type,” Thanatos says, and Rebecca glares at him for it.

“Watch it,” she warns, but he shrugs in response.

“I’m merely stating a likely possibility. It’s common for serial murderers to have a type of target. This has been especially true for men.” He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“So it’s probably a man?”

“Well, it’s hard to say so soon,” he admits. His grimace grows deeper. “Mrs. Warelt had the bodies removed before anyone could take photos of them in their time-of-crime placement, and on top of that, she refuses autopsies of both girls.”

Rebecca’s brows scrunch, and she sets the photos down. “Shouldn’t that be their parents’ decisions?” Her breath catches. “No… Wait… Neither of them have living relatives. Regardless, I’m sure Mrs. Waurelt has a reason; she always does.”

Thanatos clicks his pen and scribbles into his notebook. “It’s called saving face, Ms. Hawthorne, something you and your family should know well about.” He carries on before she can do it for him. “Both girls have ginger hair, blue-green eyes, and rather slim figures, and such specifics point towards purpose rather than coincidence, but there’s no certainty without a third test.”

“You can’t possibly mean-“

“We need to find similar candidates, keep an eye on them, and wait for results. If our next victim isn’t among them, we change our focus.” Thanatos stands and puts his notebook back into his bag. “Look into it for me, Ms. Hawthorne.”

Rebecca slams the desk with her hands, and she visibly restrains herself from launching across the table to strangle him. Thanatos pauses only out of courtesy, but his gaze is nowhere near interested.

“Next victim ?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” she exclaims, face going red. “No one else can die; you’re here to stop that!”

“Ms. Hawthorne,” he starts. She only glares harder. “Take a seat. Even with the silencing bubble spell, you’re still causing quite the scene.”

Blushing harder, she slowly sinks into her chair. “This is the worst . I’m only a student; why am I subjected to all of this? I don’t need this .”

“Unfortunately, neither of us have a choice in the matter.” He adjusts his sleeves. “But what would your poor, dearest headmaster think of you if she heard you whining like a wee little baby after all the promises you made to her face?”

Rebecca shoots back up, grabs her things, and grits her teeth. She looks him right in the eye, but the tears that prick in hers don’t hurt him at all.

“ Fuck you .” She slams the chair back into place and runs away, dismissing the bubble as she goes.

Thanatos watches her go with a glint in his eye. With a sigh, he too leaves the quiet confines of the large library. Well , he thinks, perhaps that will finally put some fuel in her motor.

By the time Jonny comes back from doing whatever Jonny does, Thanatos has cleaned their dorm near spotless. Jonny’s laundry is in the previously unused, incredibly sad hamper, and trash now knows it’s home is in the garbage bin. Pausing to take a sip of his coffee, Thanatos sets aside the broom in his hand.

“Holy shit, you didn’t have to do all this, dude,” Jonny says in awe, shutting the door. “I was gonna do it tonight.”

Thanatos shakes his head and gets back to sweeping. “Cleaning helps me think; pay it no mind.”

“Thinkin’ about the case?”

He sighs. “Everyone’s beloved headmaster is hiding more than I’d care for her to. It’s infuriating.”

Jonny kicks off his shoes and crawls up onto his bed. He lays on his stomach and rests his chin on his arms while his feet kick the air lightly behind him. “Did people really die here?”

“Two girls, both minors, both similar in appearance and personality.” He pauses, and he hastens to give Jonny the files. “Do you recognize either of them?”

Jonny shifts into criss-cross with the files in his lap. At the first, he shakes his head, but his expression is all the more concerned. “I dunno about Dottie, but…” He drags a hand down his face. “Kelcey and I were in some of the same classes—her being an honours student and all—and we’d hang out sometimes. It wasn’t enough to call us, like, close , so I wasn’t surprised when I got told she transferred, and she didn’t tell me about it first.”

Thanatos puts the broom away after dumping the remnants of his work into the bin. He sits at his own desk, furiously typing away Jonny’s every word. “Continue, if you would.”

“Uh, right… her transferring though was a shocker since she had been so excited to run for student council and join all these junior and senior exclusive clubs.” Jonny holds up the picture, and his face grows so sullen. “She had a smile like the brightest stars in the sky; I wanted to ask her out so bad .” He laughs a little. “She was acting super weird towards the end of August, though, and she started ditching us to go to tutoring sessions.”

Thanatos pauses, frowning. “Interesting… Do you know with whom?”

Jonny shakes his head, and he puts the picture back into Kelcey’s file. Thanatos takes the files when offered. This roommate problem might not be such a problem after all, so giving it a pause of thought, Thanatos presses his luck.

“Jonny, would you like to assist on the case? The more help, the better,” he asks, putting on his subtle smile. Jonny blinks at him, looking down from his bed with interest. “It’d be useful to have a man like you on the inside; socializing isn’t precisely my strong suit.”

He grins in return and gives a thumbs up. “Yeah, I’d love to help! Just tell me what to do and where to go, and I’ll give it all I’ve got.”

Thanatos’ smile becomes a little wider, a little more genuine, and he turns back to his computer screen. “Thank you. For now, asking around about those two students is enough. If you can find out who was giving those tutoring sessions, that’d be incredible.”

“Leave it to me, partner!” Jonny slams his hand on his fist, and even if it’s just from the corner of his eye, Thanatos can almost see the wires in Jonny’s brain change outlets. “Oh, speaking of, do you have one?”

His smile morphs into a pressed line, and he huffs. “Why, pray tell, is this relevant? Could it be you have a fetish for digging into peoples’ personal lives.” With the utmost sarcasm, he finally looks at Jonny. “Or maybe you’re interested in me, hm?” As if.

It’s Jonny’s turn, for once, to blush rose red, and he shakes his head. “No way, dude, nothing like that!” He waves his hands quickly. “It’s just… you’re here for a while right, so you’ve gotta have people that miss you, yeah? If you have a special someone, I just wanted to say they’re free to say hi so you’re not as lonely…”

“Well… that’s awfully kind of you.”

Jonny perks up. “So you do?”

“No, not at all.” Thanatos doesn’t hesitate to answer with his usual bluntness.

It’s not only that he doesn’t have one now; he’s never had a real date in his life. To be fair, he’s only nineteen, and he knows that he has plenty of time. If anything, he prefers it this way! His sister comes first, as does his work, and he doesn’t have time for real dating.

Jonny boos and falls onto his back, stretching. “I’ll keep my eye out for you then! Cos, y’know, that’s what friends are for.”

“Do you know what friends are also for?” Thanatos asks, determined to change the subject.

“What?”

“Doing their laundry so I can no longer smell their disgusting gym socks.”

Jonny groans and crawls down from his bed, and he pulls himself to his hamper. “Yeah, yeah, yes sir. ” He drags it out of their room and closes the door quietly.

As this happens, Thanatos looks back at his notes. Why, pray tell, would an honours student need tutoring? Sure, there’s the safety net of having help, but judging by Kelcey Freeman’s grades, attendance, and personal evaluations, it doesn’t particularly click.

The worst part about this is how it ties to necromancy! If innocent girls getting killed off by some gross, horny teacher or whatever all this is, they don’t need him to solve it. If Waurelt didn’t have that damn contract, he’d tell her so straight to her face… again. He’ll have to get it out of her the hard way.

Picking up his phone, he swallows down his pride, and calls Rebecca. It takes two tries, but she finally picks up with a begrudging, “ What? ”

“I need to tell you something important.”

“An apology as is so rightly deserved?” she asks, cocky.

“No.”

The end of call tone rings in his ear, and his sister would call it karma. He calls back, and Rebecca picks up again.

“Do you want your school to be safe or not?” he opens. “Because, as much as it pains me, I can’t get any further without you.”

“Not an ‘I’m sorry’, but I’ll take it. What is it you need so desperately from me?” Rebecca’s words pull at his stomach in all the wrong ways. “I thought I was too incompetent!”

Thanatos pulls at his hair. “Your incompetency has nothing to do with the benefits of your position. Clearly, as Mrs. Waurelt’s prized student, you have ways with her, yes? Use that to get what we need.”

Rebecca hums, and he can hear her exhale heavily through her nose. “If you’re implying I can abuse my favour as student council president, then I’ll hang up again and report you to Mrs. Waurelt-“

“No!” he exclaims much too loudly, much too quickly for his own comfort. He swallows the vicious lump in his throat. “No, nevermind it. I’ll just get it myself.”

There’s a small pause as Thanatos goes to hang up, but Rebecca halts him. “Wait,” she says. “This’ll help all of this go faster?”

“It should.”

“And that means you’ll leave sooner?”

“Hopefully so.”

Rebecca laughs haughtily, muffled only slightly by the turning of her head. “Fine then! It’s the crime scene photos, right? The ones you mentioned this morning.”

“I’m shocked you recall,” he says sarcastically, and she scoffs.

“Watch me, Mr. Briar; I’ll have more information than you could ever hope to find, and you’ll be on your knees thanking me for my service. Maybe now you’ll learn not to be so difficult .” She hangs up for the final time, and Thanatos breathes a heavy sigh of relief. His head thumps onto the surface of his desk.

“Fuck me, indeed.”