──────── Chapter five, the veil is thin between our two planes.
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"(lover, you should've come over (live) - jeff buckley)"

Taissa took a breath, unstable for the first time in months. The door of the house she was at, made of brick and in the middle of Nashua, New Hampshire, stared back her uncertain gaze.

She could smell a perfume she hadn't inhaled in decades, and a rug decorated with sunflowers. She dragged her hand through wind chimes and took one final breath before slamming her fist against the door.

Steps came close, then the unlocking of multiple locks clicked, the turn of the knob. Her face hadn't changed much, not one bit.

A few beats of silence passed before Taissa said something, her voice making the person, now aged from teenage-hood, real. "Seraphina."

♱ - ♱ - ♱

Seraphina sat grudgingly in the dark as her teammates danced, throwing every limb in different directions. Like rag dolls. Seraphina would push pins in them if they were dolls. Her hatred for them flared a little bit more when she showed the hint of failure, that most of them didn't even remember.

The music sputtered as Seraphina's face formed a satisfied smile. Van knelt over where the sound had just been blasting out of, looking up after hitting it didn't work.

"Did you do this?" Van accused, Jackie letting out a groan of annoyance, arms slapping against her sides.

"How could she have done it, she's, like, eight feet away." Jackie defended, flicking Van's forehead. "Let's use that head."

"Well, now we can't dance." Van huffed, slamming the CD player onto the table. The girls groaned, though a creak in the attic made them go pale.

"It was probably just a branch." Taissa reasoned, though Mari gave her a look of uncertainty.

"Inside, on the floor?" Mari countered, eyebrows pinched together and high on her forehead.

"Maybe it was the dead guy's missing fingers trying to find his body." Nat suggested in an eerie voice. Van gave her shoulder a nudge.

"Shhh. Listen." Lottie shushed, looking up at the wood ceiling and deflating when no sound came.

"Maybe it was the ghost saying we should all shut up and go to bed." Seraphina shrugged, her bedding already pulled out and over her legs.

♱ - ♱ - ♱

"Jackie." Seraphina kicked Jackie's limp side. "Jackie wake. the. hell. up." Seraphina gave one final blow to the brunettes ribcage, effectively waking her up.

"Ow, watch it. Cramps." Jackie groaned, straightening her posture as she opened her eyes to Seraphina. "Oh. Hey, Sera."

"Right. Mari set a few chores aside for you." Seraphina told, unamused at Jackie's lopsided smile that she was flashing up at her.

Seraphina walked out of the cabin, the area surrounding it quiet as people were busy with chores or conversation.

Jackie walked out a few minutes later, smoothing her collar down and draping her walkman over her ears. When, of course, it didn't work, she slammed it against the trunk of a tree.

"Ugh, these batteries. Fucking cocksucker." Jackie sighed, gaining a few glares from Mari and Akilah.

Shauna peeked over her shoulder as Mari walked past her, water sloshing in the bucket she held. She sprang up, gripping Jackie's arm and tugging her away. During that moment Seraphina had thought cross her mind on how different being out in the buttfuck of nowhere would be if she had a best friend to face it with her.

♱ - ♱ - ♱

"It's been awhile, Tai. I'll give you one thing, showing up on my doorstep after, what, a decade? That takes some serious guts." Seraphina told through a small laugh, though it was cut short. "You're not here to say hello." Seraphina added after studying Taissa's expression.

"I'm not—"

"I know you're not."

Taissa stiffened. "I don't know how to tell you exactly. I didn't know until—"

"Spit it out, Tai." Seraphina interupted, hands spread across the counter with her eyebrows low on her face.

"Travis is dead."

Seraphina laughed, not believing whatever Taissa was getting at. "Funny. I saw him, like, a few months ago." Lie. Taissa's expression didn't change to one of amusement, and Seraphina's body went tense. "Tell me you're lying."

"Why would I lie about something like that?" Taissa's voice was sharp, though it cracked at the very end.

It felt like Seraphina's world was ending. She had nobody now, left alone to live in her dreary apartment until she rotted of old age. Her chest tightened and she felt like lead in concrete, unmoving. Seraphina stopped breathing as if to make time to stop, maybe if she held it long enough she could back to the wilderness where she could see her siblings, her friends, her very best friend.

"Seraphina—"

"—How? When?"

"Three days ago. Natalie found him with Misty. Seraphina, he killed himself." Taissa told with a nod.

"I saw him four days ago he was fine, he was here." Seraphina shook her head. Travis had spent his possible last night on earth in Seraphina's apartment.

If it had been just like any other time he abruptly knocked on her door. He stayed the night, he wouldn't leave the entire week, one morning they would argue, and Travis would be gone by night. A cycle that started the third week they got back, the abandonment being expected from Seraphina, and the disappointment no longer lasting into the next day.

Taissa reached across the counter, aiming for the still shoulders of Seraphina. She had made it real for everyone just by telling Seraphina.

"Taissa, please. Leave."

And so Taissa left, not offering comfort or answers or any sort of closure.

♱ - ♱ - ♱

Mari threw herself out of the cabin, clawing at her clothing and swatting at her skin. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

People gathered searching Mari for whatever she was freaking out about. Seraphina squinted as she finally calmed down. "Maybe it was the ghost."

"Don't— Don't say that." Mari shivered, not enjoying the continuous petty comments of the dead cabin guy.

"Wh— you guys. Okay, you guys, I just had a brainstorm. What if, and hear me out. We hold a seance." Jackie suggested, a big smile on her face at her idea.

Taissa chuckled. "That's a terrible idea. Also, we're not in middle school."

"But remember now fun this shit used to be?" Jackie asked, eyes skipping over Seraphina as she looked at each girls reaction. "Besides, maybe if we can laugh about this, then it would help."

"The occult is no laughing matter." Laura Lee crossed her arms.

"It's not the occult, Laura Lee. It's a game. Come on, Shauna, tell them. It'll be fun." Jackie shook her head.

"Well, I mean, it's not like we have anything better to do. And maybe this dead guy can give us some life advice." Shauna reasoned with a slight hint of uncertainty in her tone.

"Perfect. Tonight, the attic. We make contact." Jackie confirmed in a sinister voice.

♱ - ♱ - ♱

Jackie made sure Seraphina went to the seance after noticing the slight confusion she had at the mention of candles and witchy-dirt blood.

"O keeper of this wild and hidden place... we anoint ourselves with blood and earth." Jackie announced, passing the cup of deer blood down to Seraphina who looked at it, disgusted, though dipped her thumb in and pressed it against her forehead.

Travis snatched it out of her hands, earning himself a middle finger and a scrunched face that he returned.

Jackie sighed at the encounter, though continued her sayings. "O spirit, we offer our sister as your instrument. Come to us and speak your peace."

"It is I, Jacques." Shauna told, a small smile threatening to peak through. "Jacques." She cleared her throat, a few girls failing to stifle laughter.

"Ask your questions. The pendulum will answer them."

Van went first. "Dear dead hunter guy... did O.J. do it?" She asked, face scrunched with her eyes shut for dramatic effect.

Shauna lifted her mask, looking for Jackie's disappointed face. "Come on, guys. Real questions."

"The veil is thin between our two planes. Ask what is in your heart." Shauna clarified, voice still eerily deep.

"I'll go." Mari offered herself. "Is Principal Berzonsky screwing Ms. DeWine?"

The blade swung around in the air in wide circles. "It is certain." The reveal, though expected, led to laughter.

"Hunter guy, if we hadn't crashed, would we have won nationals?" Akilah shouted out, leaning forward as if he could hear her better if she did so.

The blade spun. No. The girls eerupted in annoyed and angry boos, Van the loudest of any of the other girls.

Javi plopped down into the circle, not sparing Travis a glance. "Misty, how about you."

Misty took a breath for good luck, "Desr Spirit, I need to know the truth. Does the person I like, like me back?"

Everyone giggled because, no, coach did not like her back. But they weren't going to spoil her fun for her.

The blade danced along. Yes, guess coach was a pedophile, says dead hunter guy.

"Next question." Jackie pointed as Javi raised his hand expectantly. "Mm-hmm."

"Is Devon dead?"

And they waited to see how Seraphina felt, if she was going to ignore it, sock him in the nose, or storm off. And storm off she did. Straight out of the cabin and as far into the trees she could go until the water of the lake lapped at her ankles.

It was quiet except for the chirping of insects. She thought of how she was planning on being kinder, the news she wanted to tell Devon and Akilah the second they landed that now no longer mattered, though it had been so important to her only a few weeks ago. She wanted to apologize for every terrible thing she had gone out of her way to do, the broken bones and slammed doors.

"Seraphina?"

She spun around, fists still balled by her sides. "What do you want?" She asked in the most conniving voice she could make.

"I don't know." Travis dug his hands into his jean pockets. Seraphina could barely tell it was him because of how dark it was, the moon not helping in any way. "He shouldn't have asked that."

"Did you tell him that Devon is dead?" Seraphina asked bitterly, angrily. And he wasn't even who she should be mad at.

"No— why would I?"

"Then why are you here?"

"I don't know." Travis repeated, voice almost a whisper.

"Do you know anything? Do you think?"

Silence dragged on forever, and they didn't move the entire time. The two remained still, a safe eight feet distance apart where Travis could still see her scowl and she could still see that his expression held something behind it she couldn't place.

"I used to be so jealous of you." Travis told through a dry throat. "My dad was proud of you more than he was of me, people weren't cruel to you, well, maybe not to your face. Even if you were a psychopath."

"If you followed me so you could express your opinion of me, you can leave. I couldn't care less about your insight." Seraphina crossed her arms, not going to hurl this time.

"Just go back. It's freaking Akilah and Jackie out." Travis sighed, averting his gaze to the water.

"I can't."

"Why?."

"I stormed out of that place." Seraphina retold. That was the most embarrassing thing she had done was show that she cared.

"We all saw. What's the issue with that?" Travis squinted and waited. The silence answered his question for her.

"Are they still awake?"

"Yeah, everyone but Akilah and Jackie."

"Then I don't want to go back."

"Ok."

Seraphina spun around and looked back at the lake, darkness swallowing the water hole and leaving her with a scenic view of nothing. She waited for the crunch of rocks and the relief of being alone. Unfortunately for her the steps got closer and stopped just beside her.

Seraphina shot him a glare from her peripheral vision, though his gaze was captured by whatever he saw in the darkness of the lake.

At the acceptance that he was not leaving, Seraphina evened her tone. "I got scouted for UNC Chapel Hill. For soccer, it was going to be a full-ride scholarship."

"My dad was talking about it one night at dinner."

"I wanted to tell Devon and Akilah when we landed. Devon thinks that school is really pretty, so i knew he would be excited." Seraphina told as if the next part was something to be impressed about. "Then they saw the red card situation."

"And they took it away?"

"Yeah." Seraphina nodded. "I don't like being this way. Like, when I'm actively saying or doing things it feels natural, normal. And then after I just want to rip my skin off and pick at my muscles like little guitar strings. I feel guilty after. I don't like blood, or bones, or hurting people. It just happens and I can't stop it until it's already done."

Travis didn't answer her, just watched as every word came out of her mouth and how uncertain her expression was. His dad had done this. Bill had orchestrated every violent attack Seraphina committed on the field, and with that violence came perceptions and a new persona shaped for her to take over. Seraphina hadn't always been violent.

seraphina wasn't always mean but i was listening to IFHY by tyler and the ending where the girl is like "he isn't such a badass after all, he's only here cause he ran away 'cause some shit happened back at home. he's actually a dweeb" and yeah first non-bitchy interaction between Sera and Trav // also both of them unknowingly staring out to where their *SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWOO OF THIS BOOK* siblings die and i finally made a signing off gif so yayyy also my chapters are suddenly very long recently (ATLBO effect I SWEAR the lavender prose rubs off even if my take is shitty)

DTS ———— wehugnow gracibia -cherrywaves-