"So lets get this straight. Chase isn't dead?"
"I'm afraid so." Maddie said nervously.
Tyler, Maddie and Pogue were sitting in Caleb's living room, each with a cup of strong, black, coffee. Caleb had reacted very badly at the news of Chase's survival, his face losing all its colour and his eyes widening. His hand started shaking and he spilt half his coffee. He hadn't even asked how and why Maddie was so sure of it, he just assimilated the news.
"How is that possible?" he blurted out.
"We don't know." Pogue said. "But..." He glanced meaningfully at Maddie. "We know its true."
"How?"
And with a sigh Pogue explained the situation, occasionally punctuated with Maddie's corrections. After a long silence, Caleb spoke up again, in a tired, broken voice.
"So what do we do?"
"We find him. And kill him for good." Pogue said firmly. Tyler nodded in fierce agreement. Maddie didn't react. Tyler noticed.
"You ok?"
"Fine." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"No, not really."
"And why is this?" Caleb asked.
"Because I'm sitting here listening to three guys I barely know discuss and plan the murder of another guy I barely know. And they don't seem fazed at all."
"Should we be?" Pogue said.
"Yeah, you should. You have no reason to trust me." She finished blatantly.
Caleb leaned in closer, rested his forearms on his knees while he gave her a particularly adorable serious pleading look.
"We trust you because you can't see us dying. That's something that defines you, and it links you to us whether we want it or not. And you helped us by taking away Chase's element of surprise. Its only fair we include you in our plans."
"Or is it just the idea of causing someone's death making you nervous?" Pogue asked, leaning into a similar position as Caleb. Maddie laughed bitterly.
"Technically everything I do causes someone's death. Or my lack of doing. People die either way, whether I help or not."
"You believe in fate then?" Tyler asked.
"I'm fate incarnated." She said bitterly, taking a long draught from her coffee mug. "What worries me is that you guys are going to get killed in the process."
"Well, why should this girl we barely know worry about us being killed?" Pogue mused mockingly. Maddie glared at him.
"Look. I've been seeing death since I've been eight years old. I'm pretty much dead myself. So when I meet, for the first time ever, a foursome who's deaths are unknown to me, I get a little attached." She took another sip of her coffee. "In a sense, you four are the only live people I have ever met. Everyone else is dead already."
"Whoa, that's deep." Pogue said. "That makes sense. But don't worry, we can take care of ourselves."
"Believe us, Madeline." Caleb said slowly. "We should be the least of your worries."
He stood up and stretched.
"Well. I think that we all need a good night's sleep to think this over. Tomorrow morning our minds will be healthy, or thoughts renewed. We'll meet to discuss. With Reid. Why could'nt he come again?"
"He was busy." Maddie said. Caleb raised an eyebrow but shrugged.
"Whatever. So get some sleep, and we'll talk about this tomorrow."
The four stood, left their mugs on a coffee table and shuffled towards the door. Pogue head for the garage while Tyler went towards his truck.
"You don't want a lift, Pogue?"
"Nah, I left my bike here last week, I've been meaning to take it back to my place."
"Suit yourself." Tyler shrugged. He turned to Maddie, who was standing on the front steps looking at the full moon. "Need a ride? I'm going back to the dorms anyways?"
Maddie smiled.
"Sure."