Este peels off from the group immediately. Walking to the graveyard helped situate herself in town. Now, she knows the fastest route to the house that Jayce had forced her to live in. The scarf is wrapped tightly around her neck, but not because she is cold. Well, she is cold, but she keeps it wrapped tightly to remind herself that Jayce might have had his hand wrapped around her neck. She isn't sure how she died, but she bets Jayce strangled her. He was rough during sex.

Then again, he'd have to get close and personal to her, and Jayce was a coward.

"You're not coming?" Lydia blinks with her doe eyes at Este. She hasn't forgotten that Este took the better of the two scarves for no particular reason. If no one else is going to call out Este's suspicious behaviour then Lydia will. Especially since she does so sweetly.

Barry only pays attention because Lydia pays attention. He recognizes her subtle anger and smiles.

"What do they always say about ghosts?" Este asks. "Something about unfinished business?"

Lydia stares at Este, stopping walking for a second. Only Barry waits for her, with Eva, Fallon, and Kaia pushing on. Lydia pays them little mind since she is more focused on Este. Normally, it is Lydia who hides from others. It is her that is reserved and mysterious. Leaving people with something to guess keeps people talking, and when you are a star, you need people to talk about you. Maybe there is someone who can match her.

"Can I come?" Lydia asks.

Este forces themself to smirk because otherwise, their anger would consume them. They don't want anyone to know, for a plethora of reasons the least of which is that they don't want to go to jail if Lydia catches them throttling Jayce with their bare hands.

"Sure," Este says, knowing Lydia will say no. "Just as long as your creepy stalker doesn't come."

Then, Lydia does something which surprises Este. She turns to Barry and frowns softly, "I'll see you later?"

Playing it cool around Lydia is something Barry is growing accustomed to now. So, he nods curtly. She hurries after Este, who is trying to power walk away as quickly as she can. Now there are two of them to make the three-hour walk to Jayce's place. It'll be a six-hour round trip. Este takes a deep breath, which Lydia notices.

It's payback, Lydia thinks.

Barry considers turning back. Being stuck with Eva, Fallon, and Kaia is not his idea of fun. Really, being with most people from Chelster sounds miserable. Barry has already decided that they do not like Eva. Fallon seems miserable, even when compared to themselves. Perhaps they might enjoy talking to Kaia, who is not from Chelster and also finds Eva annoying, based on her snapping back in anger yesterday in the pews.

So, Barry hurries after the others. They suppose there might be some point in talking to people who aren't Lydia at some point. They don't want to seem too clingy, even if they know for certain that they are pretty attached.

~~~

Eva manages to bum a cigarette off of a guy at a bus stop after they've walked for an unknown, but certainly long, period of time. She didn't need to even offer him the toonie. With it, she takes the most relieving inhale of her life, and the best exhale as well. Fallon, Barry, and Kaia wait across the road.

Barry knows her breath is going to smell. He now has the right to complain, since he brushed his teeth after eating while the others were washing the dishes.

"How long has it been?" Kaia asks. She is used to backpacking. The others aren't as fast as she wants to be. "I want to be home before midnight?"

"Does it matter?" Fallon asks in earnest. "I mean, really, what is there to do tomorrow?"

Kaia supposes she is right. If possible, she'd like to go the library. Surely, they have archives of newspapers or a computer that the public can access. There must be an article or two that detail her fate. Rory's too. She hates it, but she needs to know what happened. She needs to know.

Fallon doesn't care what happened to her, and she doesn't care what happens next. Truly, she doesn't care about anything at all.

Finally, Eva returns with her lit cigarette. One won't be enough. She's going to have to find more once the toonie runs out. One of the last mayoral candidates wanted to reintroduce barter and trading, so maybe she can get cigarettes from him if she gives him some of the supplies from that pastor guy.

"Are we almost there?" Barry asks. They are content that people have been mostly keeping quiet for the journey. At least Eva has somehow picked up on his vibe, despite how little it seems that she thinks about anything at all.

"Just another ten minutes down that street," Eva says, and she points around the corner of the houses.

The four of them head down the road Eva pointed out. There are no sidewalks out here, but there aren't any cars on the road that they can see. They are so close. Once they round the corner, Kaia stiffens.

She can see the fluorescent lights of the truck stop. If there were missing posters for her, that would be her last known whereabouts. She was only there two days ago, but she also hasn't been there in Her stomach feels nauseous.

Fallon notices. She knows that look of panic well, and she also knows how much she hates being watched and how much she sometimes needs an out, so she does the first thing that occurs to her. Fallon forces herself to trip and she nearly faceplants on the road.

The others stop. Fallon pulls herself into a sitting position but holds her knee.

"Go on," she says. "Kaia and I will catch up."

Barry keeps walking. They are not interested in slowing down this trip, which is already taking far too long. He is not keen to be alone with Eva though. When Kaia gestures for Eva to keep going, she does, shrugging and walking. Eva knows how weird people are.

"You good?" Kaia asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Fallon winces, and unlike the fall, the wince is genuine. It's her hands that hurt more though, from the sting of the concrete that ripped open her palms. A little blood trickles out of her hand. Now she knows that she can die, at least. "Sit for a few minutes?"

Kaia nods, sitting on the grass. Fallon scooches over as well, because at least then they aren't sitting on a dim lit road where people whip around corners.

"Thanks," Kaia finally says.

Fallon furrows her brow, "what for?"

"Your fall wasn't very convincing," Kaia cannot help the small smile that spreads across her lips. Then, she gestures toward the diner and laughs. She hasn't felt this reprieve in quite some time, even if she is so close to that place. "Bad memories at that truck stop. Well, maybe bad memories. Problem is I don't remember."

Fallon makes almost the sound of a laugh, but it is almost the sound of an exhale.

"I already checked out mine," she says. "Couldn't talk to my girlfriend. She answered when I buzzed our apartment. I guess, ex-girlfriend? Ex-fiancée? Not sure if I proposed before I kicked the can."

Kaia starts to laugh, and Fallon turns bright red.

"Sorry," Fallon's words begin to rush. "Sometimes I don't know what to say, and I'm a bit awkward in social situations."

"I'm not familiar with any social rules that you need to follow when you die," Kaia says. "Although maybe it's an immigrant thing."

Fallon actually feels herself relax. Perhaps she isn't making it worse.

~~~

Eva and Barry continue walking without the others. They make it past the diner, and then they are at the edge of the highway. Barry keeps walking but Eva stops.

"Do you think someone would come running if I screamed?" Eva asks.

"The truck stop is open," Barry points out. "Someone's going to think I'm killing you."

Eva screams as loudly as she can. Barry covers his ears and ducks. She screams a second time before Barry actually snaps up and grabs her arm.

"Did every brain cell in your head die when your body did?" Barry asks. Eva is laughing hysterically, which only makes them raise their voice louder. "Fuck, Lydia had a stroke and those actually cause brain cell death, and she is so much smarter than you."

Eva screams loudly again, and Barry shoves her away.

While she continues to howl with laughter, he storms off towards the highway. She barely pays him any mind, shaking her head.

"You should've seen your face," Eva says, and then the breath hitches in her throat. She cocks her head to the side. "I mean, now you should actually see your face."

Barry ignores her.

"Looking at your hands, dummy," Eva calls, not stepping forward. Her foot taps impatiently underneath her. She wishes she hadn't burned through that cigarette.

Barry turns to look at her. They hate that they do it, but they look at their hands. They are translucent. Their coat is still as thick as it ever was, but their shoes, their hands, their pants, and presumably everything that was buried along with them, are translucent.

He hurries back to Eva. She watches him grow to exist more and more the closer he gets to the town line. Once he steps through it, he is back to normal.

Barry stares out at the nothing in front of them. Hopefully, it's a fluke. They cannot handle living in a town which doesn't even have a sushi restaurant. They don't even like sushi, but it is the principle of the issue.

"How far do you think we can go?" Eva asks, beginning to walk towards the line.

"Bad idea," Barry points out, but it's too late.

Eva crosses the line, staring down at her body. She jumps, and dances across the line with silly moves like the sprinkler and the shopping cart.

"Very bad idea," Barry doesn't care enough to really stop her.

She continues to move, heading further and further out, She sticks her arm in front of her and walks and walks, and then her fingers disappear completely. She tries to wiggle them, but they don't seem to exist anymore. There isn't even the sensation of a phantom limb. Nothing is there.

"You done?" Barry asks. He'd rather not explain to the others that Eva died under his watch alone.

Eva inches forward until the sleeve of her coat begins to droop. Thankfully she stuck out her right hand rather than her dominant left hand. Finally, she recoils and walks back towards the line. Her hand begins to rematerialize.

"Your lucky it wasn't gone forever," Barry rolls his eyes. "Let's head back."

"I couldn't feel it anymore," Eva says. "If I had kept going, I wouldn't have been able to come back."

Barry just continues on his journey back. It is already a long night.

~~~

Este and Lydia don't make any small talk on the way to the house. Lydia already knows that she's pissed off Este enough for the evening. Walks are supposed to be good for mental health, and Lydia can still feel the stress inside her shoulders from her confrontation with her appa, so the silence is actually helping.

Maybe Lydia did simply have a stroke on the spot from her appa's reaction to her album. At least, it wouldn't shock her if she died from the shock.

Este would be shocked if they weren't murdered.

The pair finally make it to the house. Este stops a bit of the way away. The curtains on the main floor are drawn, but the lights are on. Este cannot make out if there is anyone in the bedroom even though the lights are on.

"Can you act?" Este asks. They are going to make Lydia's appearance useful at least.

"I'm an opera singer," Lydia offers, "so yes?"

"Go pretend to be a Jehovah's Witness," Este points to the door.

Lydia leans back actually and furrows her brow, "they're going to know who I am."

"I can assure you that these people do not care that much about opera," Este rolls her eyes, but surely no one cares enough about opera to know Lydia. Other than Barry, Este supposes.

"Sorry, but do you know a lot of Korean Jehovah's Witnesses in the area?" Lydia asks.

"Say your mail got delivered here," Este pushes the point. "This is Cedar Park. There's a street on the other side of town called Cedarpark Road. The mail gets confused even with the different postal codes."

Lydia nods her head. Perhaps she could ask questions about this strange plan, but she doubts Este would offer an answer. So, she straightens her back and walks up to the front door. She rings the doorbell and waits several seconds. Though she wants to look back at Este, she doesn't just in case someone pops out the door.

Then, a blonde woman answers the door. Este peers in from around the corner.

"Sorry, but I live on Cedarpark Road, and I've been waiting for a letter from my oma but her English isn't good and I'm afraid something got lost in translation," Lydia says. "It should be for Rose Park."

Lydia is too focused on the role to examine the woman, but not Este. Her hair is clearly curled but it's messy. The strap of her white, lacy cami is falling off her shoulder. She's wearing a leather skirt as well. Her clothing is expensive, and Este cannot help but feel their blood boil. Jayce didn't even like it when they spent money on scarves.

"Jay, honey," the woman calls out. "Do we have any mail from Cedarpark Road? It looks like a new family has moved in."

Este scowls. Bingo.

There is no answer, then the woman smiles, "sorry, he's just on the phone. Businessmen, you know? Give me a minute. Do you want to come in?"

Este remembers those calls. They know he is on the phone with a woman.

"I'm fine out here," Lydia says. "You know, you can never be too sure about other houses. I tried to convince my husband to come with me, but you know men."

"Don't I," the woman smiles.

She closes the door. Lydia turns back to Este, who beckons Lydia over. Lydia moves down toward Este, who runs past her.

"What are you doing?" Lydia hisses.

Este ignores her. They run up the steps and take off the red scarf. Quickly, they tie it around the door handle. Bastard donated her favourite scarf to the church. The Anglican Church at that, and she was raised Catholic. It's sat there for seven damn years. Fuck him.

With the scarf tied, Este sprints off the church. She grabs Lydia, and the pair sprint off into the night.

~~~

In the basement of the church, Clare and Leo have taken it upon themselves to put away the food in the kitchen. In the privacy of the room, Leo finally feels confident enough to speak.

"Do the scars look off-putting?" he asks.

Clare looks up at him. They try no let their gaze linger, and so they shrug, "I mean, it's noticeable."

"Is it off-putting," Leo continues. "Who knew dying in a fire would suck now?"

"You remember your death?" Clare's grip on the package of ramen tightens so much it snaps in her hand.

"No," Leo corrects. "I mean, I assumed, given the whole face thing."

"Oh," Clare puts the ramen in the cupboard. They hope tomorrow the pastor brings at least cans of soup or even tuna. At least it isn't pumpkin pie filling, they suppose.

"People already think the RCMP are scary," Leo says.

"Well, most people think they are corrupt, racist, sexist, and homophobic," Clare says. She's seen the stats.

"Yeah," Leo sighs. He looks over at Clare and shakes his head. "I'm a queer Japanese man though."

"Queer fem nonbinary Filipina," Clare points out. "You can't deny it's a boys' club."

Leo doesn't disagree. He shoves another box of Kraft Dinner into the cupboard, "I died on the job as well. I'm glad at least the Chelster police seemed to remember me."

"They remembered me too," Clare points out. "I was still a rookie. Kind of weird that I'm not anymore. All of this is kind of weird. I don't even have a plan, other than to find newspaper archives."

"Maybe we should just take the second chance for what it is," Leo offers. He is trying to convince himself. Some people deserve second chances, but not Leo. Never Leo.

Clare too is not convinced. The justice system barely gives people a second chance, let alone the laws of nature. Answers are hard to find, but there is always a solution. There is an absolute truth to everything, and Clare is going to find it.

~~~

Just in the next room, Nico is beginning to recover. They have set up the television and put on one of the movies. Nico didn't grow up religious. Their family celebrated holidays in a secular way, and Nico doesn't even know under what conditions they watched a film where a cucumber sings about Jesus, but they remember the words. They hum along.

Audrey starts to pace. They need a plan. Perhaps they can go back to college if they ever get out of this basement. They'd have to get a fake identity, which probably limits access to colleges and universities in the US and Canada. The best they can probably hope for is to get under-the-table work. It's quite difficult to work legally with a SIN that belongs to a dead person.

"Ohhhhhhhh," Nico begins to sing.

Audrey storms over and unplugs the television.

Nico laughs, "what do you have against songs about hairbrushes?"

"I'm not in a silly goofy mood," Audrey says.

Nico rolls their eyes but sits upright. Their stomach hurts, "neither am I. I mean, I'm scared shitless, but what else can I do?"

"Make a plan," Audrey presses her fingers together like a tent.

"How well is planning going for you?" Nico laughs. "Was dying in your plan?"

Audrey hesitates. She sits down on the cot next to Nico, "obviously not."

"So, what's the plan?" Nico asks, gesturing forward. "I'm all ears."

"You're all laughs," Audrey crosses her arms over her chest. She looks back up at the television. If it weren't so grating, she might plug it back in. "You know, nobody is taking this seriously. Half of us are walking around town like we aren't dead. Doing things on a whim isn't going to work."

"Well, our deaths didn't even work," it stings to say, but Nico knows that it is true.

They wish they could be out there with the others, even in the cold. They wish they had thought to ask if anyone knows Kai's family. All Nico wants is to make it back to his house. Staying still is quite difficult for Nico in the best of circumstances.

"Well, I cheated death," Audrey shrugs, "I'd like to see the universe stop my plan."

~~~

Ajay emerges from the spot he hid in the storage room.

"Ready to go?" Ajay says.

There are two benefits to this trip for him. The first is that by exploring, they are going to be better able to assess their resources. You never know what tool might serve you well when your plane is going down, and Ajay has already crashed. Now, he needs to keep casualties as low as possible.

The second benefit to this trip, of course, is that he gets to spend time with Ambrose. He is the man who makes others the most uncomfortable and the one who seems to know the most. Where they were in the forest as well as where they could go for shelter. Perhaps he knows more than he lets on. Hopefully, his knowledge can just be an asset to the team.

"No," Ambrose says. "I won't be ready ever, and you don't care if I am. The question is rhetorical."

When Ambrose stands, Ajay shrugs with a smile, "at least you get the drill."

The pair moves out of the room together. They climb the stairs into the large main room. The stained-glass windows let in less light. Ajay tries to get his eyes to adjust, but Ambrose doesn't need to look around. If they are going to go rummaging through things, he'd rather do it efficiently. He moves towards the pews. It has been years since he has sat for a sermon but doing something every Sunday from the ages of twelve to eighteen makes it familiar. He knows the layout as well as he knows his way around his house in the dark. Bright lights bother Ambrose anyway.

Ajay follows him quickly. He has training in maneuvering in worse conditions. Together, they make it to the pulpit. There is a door behind it, which leads to the pastor's office. Ambrose has only been inside once when he was looking for the youth pastor. The altar boys were allowed back there, and despite Ambrose's mother's insistence, neither him nor his brother were permitted to be altar boys. Ajay tries the door while Ambrose waits. It's locked.

"What's behind here?" Ajay asks.

"An office," Ambrose says. "Some change rooms are down the hallway."

"Well, anywhere that isn't locked?" Ajay asks.

Ambrose turns and walks off. He makes his way to the stairs that go up, and Ajay hurries after him. On the upper floor, there are choir stalls, even though the Anglican church has never had enough people for a full choir. There is a large storage closet on the upper level as well. They return down to the main level and head behind a curtain next to the pulpit. There is a banquet hall and a private prayer room, but truly there is not much else.

Ajay comes to understand that Ambrose is not nefarious. He is stiff and mostly doesn't answer questions. He is weird, but he is just that and nothing more. Ambrose isn't all-knowing. It seems that he is simply observant.

Finally, the pair head up the bell tower. Ambrose is clumsier here, so Ajay assumes this is not a place that he has been.

"No one is allowed up here," Ambrose says. "Parts of the stone collapse pretty frequently."

The stone above Ajay's head is smooth, not crumbling, "right."

They get to the top of the tower. Other than a tarp in the corner, there isn't much. Ambrose looks up at the tower while Ajay walks around.

"Not much, I guess," Ajay kicks the tarp. He hits something hidden beneath

Ambrose continues to look out the city. He is sure he can see his house even in the dark.

Ajay leans down and grabs a red box from underneath. He knows better than to shake it, so instead, he checks the box. It has a pin keeping it locked with four numbers.

"Ambrose, you seem like you know a lot," Ajay continues to examine the box. "Who's important to the pastor and what's their birthday?"

Finally, Ambrose turns over. He notices what Ajay is holding and so he furrows his brow. "Wife is April 3rd. Children are December 16 and March 30. He's July 1st. Mom always bakes them cakes."

Ajay moves his fingers, checking each of the numbers but he has no luck, "nothing. Any other important dates? Don't suppose you know the code to his bank card."

"No," Ambrose moves closer to the box. He notices the four digits. "Proverbs 29:25. Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. He quotes it in most of his sermons."

Ajay tries it, and it unlocks.

There are earrings inside the box. Ajay and Ambrose can count four pairs of large, beaded earrings. The metal is rusting. Not rusting. It's dried blood. Ambrose goes to grab the box to get a better look, but before he can Ajay shuts the box. He relocks it and puts it back under the tarp.

"Let's go back," Ajay says. "Let me tell the others."

Ambrose nods. He knows better than to speak, but it occurs to him that the pastor was quite pale when asking if Ambrose knew the names of any of the dead that were to come. He supposes he knows why now.

Ajay lied. He does not intend to tell the others, including Clare and Leo. Even once they are physically together, he knows this information will keep them apart.

~~~~~

I actually updated when I said I would. Also, this is over 4K words. This was a lot. It was like, the last five hours of my life, here for you. Is it edited? Barely. I am not editing this. So, let me know what you think. Which twist was your favourite? So excited to hear from you!