Shinigami-cat: Well… here is how things are going down… I OWN NOTHING!

Exorcism

It had been a week since they had found out the truth and Matthew had locked himself away in his room. It was honestly worrying for Gilbert. He didn't want Matthew to do something crazy or stupid, but he knew that Matthew was trying to figure out ways to free Rosalind's spirit.

He sighed a little as he looked out the window. It was the middle of biology, so he didn't really care. 'I can see the bloody forest from every damn window… Shit I feel like she's watching me all the time…' He started to drum his pen against the table. 'So her husband hung himself after drinking a bottle of god knows what… Is that why I tried to drink that acid but I don't remember it? People that are possessed don't remember it, right?'

"Are you okay Gil?" Whispered Francis. "You seem off."

"Ja…" Muttered Gilbert, not moving his gaze from the window. "Things have just gotten really weird lately…"

"Things with Matthew?" Asked the blond.

Gilbert nodded. "Ja. I haven't seen him all week. We still text and stuff, but I guess he's sick or something."

The Frenchman nodded in understanding. "Ah… Do you know if this is a physical thing or a mental thing?"

"Physical." Growled Gilbert.

Francis rolled his eyes. "I was just asking. No need to bite off my head. I was just wondering, considering his history of mental health."

Gilbert glared at his friend. "Shut the fuck up about that or the next time we go a prac I will stab you in the eye was a probe." He sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry… this past week's just been so stressful lately. I just… I just want the weekend to come."

"Oui… fine, I forgive you." Said Francis. He leaned back in his chair a little and yawned. "You're just worried about Matthew… By the way, what's with the gloves?"

Gilbert looked down at his hands and shrugged. "I just like wearing them. Got a problem?"

"Damn, you really are crabby." Muttered Francis. "What's wrong? You want to move your relationship to a more physical one and Matthew's not having any of it?"

"Of course you would think this was all sex related." Said Gilbert. He looked back out the window and sighed. He wanted to see Matthew soon. "I just want to see him again…"

"Fair enough." Said Francis. He sighed a little. "I cannot for the life of me remember chemical bonds… That's the whole reason I took biology!"

Gilbert chuckled a little. Francis was an odd one at the best of times. He was about to zone out again when his phone vibrated. He quickly took it out and checked the text he just received.

FROM: Birdie
Meet me outside my bedroom window at 11pm.

SENT: Gilbert
So you figured out a way to get rid of her for good?

FROM: Birdie
Yes.

SENT: Gilbert
Well, what is it?

FROM: Birdie
You'll find out soon enough.

SENT: Gilbert
Don't be like that. I haven't seen you in ages! Just tell me what it is already!

FROM: Birdie
Meet me outside my bedroom window at 11pm. I suggest taking a nap beforehand. This is going to be draining.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

The time was 10:45. Fifteen minutes before Gilbert needed to meet Matthew, but he was already there. He needed to see him again. He would have gone through the window, but it was locked and the curtains were closed. He ended up just sitting under the window and waiting for Matthew.

It gave him time to have a look around and think about what they were going to do. The sky was nothing more than an inky black, lightly from the moon illuminated the forest slightly and fine flakes of snow started to fall from the scattered clouds. It was creepy.

After a few minutes he heard the window unlock and open. He looked up to see Matthew. In all honesty the blond looked exhausted. "Hey… Are you okay Birdie? You look really tired."

Matthew nodded and quickly jumped out of the window. "Yeah… It's just been a really intense week… She just kept invading my dreams and I just felt like she was watching me all the time."

"I know the feeling…" Muttered Gilbert. "I've felt like she's been watching me forever… It makes me sick."

"I know how you feel." Said Matthew. He turned on his flashlight and smiled a little. "Well… I guess this is it. Would you mind leading the way? I don't know where she is buried."

Gilbert nodded and stood up, taking Matthew's hand. "Are you sure you want to do this tonight? We could wait for some other time if you like. You look way too tired to do this."

Matthew shrugged. "I'm fine. Let's go please. The sooner we can free her the better, right?"

Gilbert couldn't really argue with that. The two of them started their long walk through the forest to the place where Rosalind's bones were buried. When they were deep within the trees where the branches and leaves became dense and the moon offered almost no light, Gilbert decided to speak again.

"What's your method?"

"My method?" Asked Matthew.

"How do you plan on doing this?" Asked Gilbert. "She wants us to die so it's not as if we can just talk to her."

Matthew sighed a little. "Gil… I have to try and reason with her first. I'll talk to her and try to persuade her to leave peacefully. I've read that if a spirit realizes what they have done they can find the strength to leave and pass on… If she can't do that I'll use another way."

"Do you even have another way?" Asked Gilbert. This idea was sounding less and less like a good thing and more like something that would turn them into a mention in the obituaries. That thought made him ill.

The blond laughed lightly at Gilbert's worries. "Of course I do. The talking is simply a last ditch attempt at asking her nicely to leave. If not I have other ways…"

"Care to explain your other ways?"

"Later." Said Matthew. "… Hey, if this doesn't work and we end up getting killed… I just want to say I'm sorry and I love you."

"You don't need to say that Birdie." Said Gilbert. "We're not going to die… I trust that you know what you're doing… I love you too." The blond gently squeezed Gilbert's hand and they continued to walk.

Gilbert frowned a little as he walked. He could remember where she ran and where they found her and where they dragged her corpse. 'Past these trees and over the stream… To the foot of a hill surrounded by jiggered rocks… That's the place where she was murdered.' As they passed those rock formations he felt a shiver run down his spine. 'Those bastards… Past the rocks and past the cave… Into a small clearing where a lone maple tree stands… Beneath the maple tree lays the bodies of the dead…'

The old maple tree was very different from that of his visions. Back then it looked alive and beautiful, unable to hold such dark secrets. Now it was dead and its branches were thick and twisted, reminding him of clawing hands. This place was where she was buried and forgotten.

"Is this the place?" Asked Matthew.

Gilbert nodded. "Ja… She was buried at the base of this maple tree… Didn't you say she would be here?"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah… She's here. I can't see her at the moment, but she knows we're here and she's getting angry about it. She's not happy at all… Oh god… look at the ground!" He pointed the flashlight at the base of the tree. Blood was oozing out of the dirt.

Gilbert gulped and tried to take a step back, but found he was unable. His legs were frozen in place. "Birdie, I can't move!"

"N-neither can I!" Squeaked Matthew. He was starting to hyperventilate a little. "S-she's here… she's going to kill us…" He gulped a little. "Stick with the plan… just stick with the plan." He seemed to be repeating this more for his own benefit than for Gilbert's.

A thick fog started to slowly swirl out from the ground from spot where the blood. Through the fog Rosalind appeared. Her appearance was as bleak and dark as ever with her long black dress, messy matted hair, gleaming bladed fingers and paper white face with those shining black pools known as sockets. Black ooze ran down her face like mascara.

She tilted her head slightly to look over at Gilbert, making her neck crack in the process. It was a disgusting noise that made the albino's skin crawl. It was like listening to bones braking. With her gaze on Gilbert she smiled wide. So wide in fact that it almost looked like her face split in half. Rosalind slowly raised her hand and flicked her fingers towards him, forcing Gilbert to slide back a few metres. It felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

"Fuck!" He hissed. "Matthew! Whatever you're doing, do it now!"

Matthew nodded and took a deep breath. "Rosalind! We understand your pain! We know that you just want someone to understand what you went through and you want people to suffer, but killing innocent people is not the way!"

Rosalind didn't move. She just tilted her head and made some kind of strange growling noise deep in the back of her throat. A gust of wind blew past Matthew's face, making him flinch. A thin cut formed on his face and blood started to ooze out of it at an unnaturally fast rate.

"Matthew! This isn't working! We need to do something else, quick!" Snapped Gilbert. He was starting to freak out. He didn't know how to deal with something like this. If Matthew couldn't appease her spirit she would murder them both.

Matthew shook his head. "N-no! I can do this!" He dug his hands into his pockets, frantically searching for something. "Rosalind! I-I know it hurts to lose a loved one, someone close to you. I've lost my whole family, the only one I have left is my uncle!" Another gust of wind blew past Matthew, cutting through his shirt and chest.

'Fuck… how the hell can I get him out of here?' Thought Gilbert desperately. 'I just… I have to get him out of here, but I can't even move!'

Rosalind, obviously unsatisfied with Matthew's lack of panic started to move towards him. Her dirty, knotted hair twisted and curled around creating a frightening image and her eye sockets seemed to be pulled unnaturally wide and her mouth was pulled into a grimace. This time, instead of black gunk pouring out of her mouth it was thick, crimson blood.

Matthew gulped a little, but stood his ground. "It hurts to lose people close to you… So I'm going to give you back the person you love the most." He took a think wooden carving out of his pocket and held it up to her. Rosalind stopped dead in her tracks and looked at it. "Take your husband and leave this town forever!"

Gilbert looked at the cutting and frowned. 'What? Isn't that a hitogata? '

Matthew tossed the wooden carving into the air. Almost instantly a strange blue aura surrounded the carving and it changed into a strange featureless shape. It hovered in the air for an unnatural amount of time before its features changed to look more human. The ghostly human shape looked down at Rosalind and stretched out its hand towards her.

Rosalind hesitated for a second, but took his hand anyway. The effect was almost immediate, Rosalind's dark and disturbing formed changed from one of a monster into a blue spirit like the other. They looked at each other for a moment before slowly fading away completely. Leaving Gilbert and Matthew alone in the darkness.

Gilbert stumbled forwards slightly, he was no longer stuck to the spot at all. He rushed over to Matthew. The blond hadn't moved from his spot since the spirits had disappeared. "M-Matthew? Birdie? Are you okay?"

Matthew smiled a little and nodded. He genuinely looked happy. "Yeah… I know you probably can't see this now… but there are bright spirit lights everywhere… They are giving off a happy and positive energy… It's beautiful."

The albino smiled a little and hugged Matthew tightly. "Awesome… What the heck did you do anyway?"

The blond giggled a little. "I used a hitogata to free her spirit. I told you a while ago that they could stand in as someone's replacement didn't I? I was able to use the hitogata to make a replacement for Edmund Pond. There was no way to bring the real Edmund Pond to her so I had to do that. All I needed was Edmund's name and birth, which I got from the photograph… I honestly didn't think it would work…"

"… So you were bluffing when you said you had a way that would work?" Asked Gilbert in shock. "We could have died! Why would you do that?"

"Would you have let me do this if I said I had no idea if this would work?" Asked Matthew.

Gilbert frowned a little. "I guess you're right…"

"It's all over now." Said Matthew happily. "I guess things can go back to normal now eh?"

"Ja, normal…" Muttered Gilbert. "Whatever normal is for us anyway."

TBC

Shinigami-cat: One more chapter! That's all I have to say! Just one more! Please review!