Sterling scrambled back behind the couch, hands up to fight. 

Echo’s expression was shockingly mild for what had just occurred. “Well, at least I know who the murderer is now,” she said softly, laughing a little. And with that, she died. 

“Just you and me now,” Pangolin said cheerfully, standing up and smoothing out the fabric of her shirt. “How exciting.”

Sterling didn’t respond; fae was going through every possible scenario and outcome and escape route. There was one way fae could make it out: if fae managed to alert Storm, then she could use her magic to subdue Pangolin. 

As if summoned by faer thoughts, Storm rushed down the stairs, eyes widening when she caught sight of Echo slumped over on one of the seats. 

But instead of going after Pangolin, Storm just sighed deeply and pulled a disappointed face. “Come on, all I asked was to wait until nighttime so it could be done without all this fuss,” she said, sounding rather annoyed. 

Sterling blinked. “What?” they asked, voice coming out noticeably more high pitched than usual. “You?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Storm confirmed, looking on her part at least a little guilty. “Sorry, I never wanted any of you to find out.”

“I trusted you!” Sterling shouted, anger bursting through. “We all did!”

“I know,” Storm said. She sighed again. “Pangolin, take care of Sterling please. We might as well wrap this up.”

Pangolin nodded once and took a step forward, but Sterling had been preparing for this moment since Echo took her last breath. Fae turned and slid under a table, springing to faer feet after and sprinting to the door. Pangolin began to chase in earnest, and Sterling barely managed to slip outside before her. 

The chase was on. Sterling was fast, thankfully a little faster than Pangolin, but the island’s ground was rocky and broken and one misstep at this speed could effectively trip either one of them. Problem number two was the fact that fae was running out of island to run on. Fae could feel their energy running out, and also could see the edge of the cliff approaching rapidly. 

Sterling gritted their teeth and made a decision. A bad decision, maybe. But a decision nonetheless. 

On the last few feet of island they had left, Sterling bent their knees and jumped, launching themself off of the edge of the cliff. Fae locked their legs together, hands reaching out and meeting above their head, pointing down in diving position. Their eyes screwed shut and braced for impact. Rocks or water, rocks or water? They hadn’t had time to check before jumping. 

Whatever higher powers were out there must have been looking out for them, because Sterling dove headfirst into the gray ocean, slicing into the water. The impact hit fae first, followed directly by the temperature. It was freezing, more so than the lowest winter temperatures, cold in a way that pierces through your skin like needles. 

Sterling surfaced, gasping for air and already losing feeling in their limbs. Fae looked up and saw Pangolin at the top of the cliff, silhouetted against a bright gray sky. She was not following. Sterling knew it was because fae couldn’t survive for any long amount of time in this water. Fae didn’t care. They’d rather die down here than at the murderer’s hand. 

So, with determination burning in faer heart, Sterling began to swim. Away from the island, the murderer, the backstabbing host, and a myriad of dead friends. The horizon seemed so, so far away, but they pushed on. 

Fae only made it another few minutes before joining the others in depths of the ocean, but for once it was on faer own volition. 

Pangolin watched it all from the island, the final guest. 

~~~

Dead: 10 (Reuby Moonnight, Darkvine, Hawkstar, Writing_in_the_dark, Amarillis, Periwinkle, Tenebrous, Wildsong, Echo, Sterling)

Alive: 1 (Pangolin)

Ok, so... what now?

Hmmm. what now I wonder.

Pangolin’s copper hair whipped across her face in the salt-scented wind. She let out a breath, feeling relief wash over her in waves. 

Finally, it was over. No more sneaking around and lying and, most importantly, no more killing. But they also knew that it wasn’t yet over. She turned, gaze climbing the lighthouse until it rested on the light level. Storm was standing at the edge, lit up from behind every few seconds. Pangolin set their jaw and started to walk towards the lighthouse entrance. She had a plan, and there was nothing else for her to lose. 

It was strange, walking up each level of the lighthouse with no voices echoing around, no footsteps or opening of doors. ‘Your fault’ a little voice in the back of their mind spoke. They knew it was right.

When she reached the light level, Storm turned from where she was looking outside to face her. 

“It’s over,” Pangolin said. “Send me home.”

Storm tilted her head to the side, a lock of brown hair falling out of her usually tight braid. “You know I can’t do that,” she replied calmly.

“Yeah.” Pangolin walked a bit closer. The sun was starting to set. “I do.” 

“Good,” Storm said, voice cold. “Now, where’s the necklace? It was a clever little trick, getting Wildsong to snatch it for you.”

Pangolin could feel the weight of the necklace in her back right pocket, sitting there since yesterday. Instead of reaching for that, her hand went to her right pocket and slipped something out, darting forwards as fast as she could. In a few blurred seconds of motion, they had a knife pressed against Storm’s neck, the point hovering less than a centimeter away from skin. Storm froze, eyes snapping up in quiet fury. 

“You’re going to regret this,” she hissed through clenched teeth. 

“No, I don’t think I will,” Pangolin replied. “I told you before, I’m never letting you finish that spell.”

~~~

{During Day 4, Part 3}

“Isn’t it cool?” Peri said, grinning down at the open book with the skull on the cover. “I have no idea where this stuff all comes from, but we can definitely do something with it.”

“Maybe we can see if it has something that can help us get in contact with dead people,” Tenney suggested excitedly. “Like, with ghosts?”

“Ooh, good idea!”

“Yeah,” Pangolin said, an idea forming in their mind. “Hey, why don’t you two go down and get some dinner for us? Don’t want to think on an empty stomach. I’m going to keep looking through the book.”

“Sure!” Peri said and bounced down the stairs to the common room, Tenney following behind. Pangolin shuffled so she was sitting in front of the book, flipping through the pages rapidly. A memory flashed at the forefront of her mind, during one of the first days on the island when Storm hadn’t realized that Pangolin had poked their head up into the top room and had caught a glance of Storm staring intently at a specific page of this very book. A page with a distinct snake pattern in black ink across the top. 

“Where are you?” Pangolin muttered, eyes scanning page after page. There- the snake across the top of the page. She drew a sharp breath when she read what it said across the top in bold letters: Resurrection Spell. 

She read the single page once, twice, three times, committing it to memory, before hearing footsteps returning. Pangolin quickly flipped to the page on ghosts.

“Hey guys! Look what I found!” she said as Peri and Tenney returned. “This might just work.”

{During Day 7, Part 1}

Based on what she read in the book, Pangolin gathered the following information; the resurrection spell needed three things: the souls of no less than ten people to trade for the soul in the afterlife, an object to keep the souls tied to until all of them have been collected, and an incantation. 

Basically, Storm had to keep the ghosts from escaping into the afterlife by tethering them to a single object with her magic until all of the guests were killed by Pangolin, which was taking a significant toll on the host. For some reason, Storm didn’t want to kill the guests herself and had Pangolin do it, which must be why she invited eleven people. 

The one thing that Pangolin wasn’t so sure about was: what exactly was the artifact that the souls were tethered to?

It was only when she saw Storm looking at that gold-and-black necklace when she thought no one would notice that Pangolin realized that the souls of the CBers that they murdered must be tied to it. 

So, one goal manifested itself in Pangolin’s mind: get that necklace, break it, and free the souls of the people that she killed (technically, the people that Storm made her kill).

But since Storm was always trying to keep an eye on her ever since Peri died, Pangolin couldn’t exactly swipe the thing herself. Instead, she would have to get creative with it. They scribbled down a note on a piece of paper and folded it into a paper airplane. Tiptoeing a little bit down the staircase, she closed one eye, aimed the tip at the side of Wildsong’s head, and threw it. 

~~~

{Present, The Final Day, Part 4}

With one hand keeping the knife against Storm’s neck, Pangolin grabbed the necklace and held it up in the air. 

“I’m un-doing every bad thing you’ve made me do,” Pangolin said gleefully. “Say good-bye to your little scheme.”

And with that, she let the necklace fall and shatter on the ground.

~~~

Dead: 10 (Reuby Moonnight, Darkvine, Hawkstar, Writing_in_the_dark, Amarillis, Periwinkle, Tenebrous, Wildsong, Echo, Sterling)

Alive: 1 (Pangolin)

~~~

Could Pangolin have done that earlier in the day if she wanted to? Yes, but I’m having her do it now for the ~dramatics~

RIP Echo! 

RIP Sterling! Next part out tomorrow!