Jordan's back at Akarnae, now. He's struggling—I know he is—but even I am sometimes fooled by his acting. That's all it is, I have to remind myself, Jordan is ordered to act as normal as possible. It doesn't mean he is normal, just… just…

I don't know how to put it, Jordan is doing everything as he normally would, but he still feels… flat? Out of character?

It feels weird coming back to Akarnae, I keep expecting for Jordan to do something, like try to stab someone or kidnap a student. But there's been… nothing.

When Jordan fell asleep that night, I left him, pacing through the entire academy. What could I do? How could I stop this?

I end up in the Rec Room, staring at the smouldering fireplace. The fire was roaring away, someone having just piled more wood—far too many for an already-warm room. The kid who put them was he was sitting far too close, but he didn't seem to notice the heat. He was young, probably a first year, with acne smattered across his nose. He seemed… zoned out, staring at nothing.

Then, his eyes darted onto me—at me, not through me—before dropping to the floor.

"You can—you can see me?" I whisper, my voice wobbling.

The boy went still. "Me?"

"Yeah," I breathed, a nervous laugh bubbling up.

"I—um—yeah I can—I can see you." He said, "Just like—same as everyone else," he said, his voice tilting up at the end.

"No," I said. "Not like everyone else. Not at all like everyone else."

The boy's eyes widened, he looked terrified. "W-What do you mean?"

"Nobody else can see me," I said, "Nobody's supposed to see me. I'm not even alive anymore."

"A ghost?" the boy whispered.

"I guess you can call me that."

"And I can see you—now, while I'm awake."

"Well, I don't think you're asleep, so yes."

"Whoa—I mean, I know I'm a medium, I've only met ghosts in my dreams. Marmaduke told me my skills would develop from the exercises—that I'd be able to claim control but—"

The boy kept talking, my stomach dropped.

Jordan is still Claimed.

"Listen, I need your help."

"What?"

"Please, a lot of people's lives are in danger—the whole world is in danger. My brother's been Claimed and he—"

"Claimed? Claimed by what?"

I felt like pulling my hair out, but I sat down beside him, explaining the entire story, and answering all his questions.

"So you want me to—to talk to some fourth years so your brother—your enslaved brother—doesn't hurt them?"

"Please, I really need you to do this—Jordo's in so much pain and I don't want him to hurt—he was finally healing from—from—"

"From what?"

"Never mind, I just really, really need you to help."

The boy was pale, now, a thin sheen of sweat across his skin. With a wavering voice, he said, "I think I'll go to bed, now.

Luka took a deep breath, trying not to get angry. "You will tell them, right? Alex, DC or Bear?"

The boy pressed his lips together, before finally exhaling, and saying "…yeah, I will."

"Thank you," I said, meaning it. "It's such a relief to hear that. If you don't mind—what's your name?"

"Thomas," he replied almost too quiet to hear.

"Thank you, Thomas. Thank you so, so much."

Thomas opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Not knowing what else to say, I spun around, leaving the Rec Room behind.

I climbed the stairs back up to Jordan's dorm, relieved to find both him and Bear sleeping peacefully. Well, Jordan looked peaceful, but anything could be happening inside his mind.

I sat down on the edge of the bed. Finally—finally, I could do something to help. No longer sitting on the sidelines, watching Jordo suffer.

A new player has joined the game, Aven won't know what hit him.

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