Madame L'Angelle moved her rickety wheelchair to a nearby table, pulling out a tattered piece of cloth and placing it on the surface before lifting a large, ornate looking knife from the drawer at her side.

Jesse approached the other side of the table, standing in front of their grandmother as he looked to his sister, waving a hand to encourage her to come to his side.

Their grandmother's voice was enough to send chills through Lily as she spoke, "I trust you'd do anything for this girl as well." She stated. With a simple nod, Lily stood still. Lily's compliance was an important piece for the exchange to work. Jesse would have been surprised at Lily's complete submissiveness, but given the situation, he also wasn't shocked Lily would give into anything just to be able to give Tulip another chance - even if Lily didn't understand anything that was going on.

Madame L'Angelle's lips curled into a small smile at Lily, before her glance moved to Jesse, "Well." She sat back, expecting Jesse to take the lead. Lily stared in equal amounts of confusion and worry as she stared at the knife - was one of them going to have to die to bring Tulip back? She felt her heart in her throat as Jesse reached his hand out.

Jesse grabbed the knife, holding it to his right hand first and slicing a deep enough cut in his palm. His sister watched as his face scrunched in discomfort, keeping his cut hand palm facing up. Lily watched the dark crimson blood begin to pool in her brothers hand while he held the knife in his other hand and passed it to Lily.

With Jesse's blood coating the blade, she scrunched her brow in a bit of disgust. Her brother leaned closer to her, speaking as quiet as she'd ever heard, "Our blood has to mix." He explained.

Unable to hide the disturbance in her face, she slowly grabbed the knife and held it in her hand. She wasn't capable of doing what Jesse just had. Her eyes looked up to his and he understood immediately, "Here." He whispered, taking the knife back as she held her palm upward.

Jesse placed the blade against it, pushing hard enough to get the job done. Lily winced, the slice hurting a lot more than expected. "Sorry." Jesse whispered, placing the knife down as he took his bloody hand and clasped it with hers. There was a chilling shock that went through them as their hands entwined with one another's.

Lily could feel the wound gush at the same rate her heart was pulsing. Lily felt sick at the thought of their open wounds touching, but did her best to try and keep her mind on the fact that everything that was happening was for Tulip. At this point, her skeptics of Tulip coming back to life were far out the window, otherwise this entire situation would send her into a panic.

Jesse moved their joint hands further in front of them over top the fabric handkerchief laying on the table and let several drops of their combined blood fall onto it.

It was a sight that made Madame L'Angelle the most content she'd felt in what felt like a lifetime.

Jesse kept his hand locked with Lily's as he pulled their hands between them at their sides. The two of them stood hand in hand, watching their grandmother reach her bony hands outward, pulling back the blood spattered cloth as her fingers crinkled it in, grasping onto it with intensity as her eyes glowed a devious red.

With her eyes glued to the handkerchief, Lily watched her grandmother grasp it harder. She was talking to Jesse, but Lily couldn't make out the words. She felt incredibly lightheaded until eventually Jesse snapped her out of it, "C'mon, we gotta go." He pulled on her hand he held tight to.

When they left the room, Cassidy was sitting in the same place he was before, however now he had a gun being held up to his head.

Jesse and Lily stood hand in hand still, their eyes adjusting to see who it was holding a gun to Cassidy.

The man was smaller, about half the size of Cassidy, hunched over with torn up overalls and a stained wife beater. He had little to no hair on his head, but the hair that was there was there was long and wiry. He had bulgy eyes and a pointed chin, with teeth that looked that they'd never seen any form of dental hygiene. He barred his teeth and it almost sounded like was growling - he looked like a rapid animal.

"TC." Jesse stated lowly.

TC looked at Jesse, his brow low and his eyes glaring, before finally recognizing him, "Jesse?..." He asked. Suddenly, there was a spark of excitement in his tone, "Little Jesse?!" He lowered the gun from Cassidy's head as he grinned, showing off his brown teeth, "Ha! I never would'a thought!"

Cassidy had smelt both Jesse and Lily's blood as soon as it was drawn from them. He had been worried and extremely antsy to find out what was going on, and couldn't be patient any longer. As he moved from his spot, TC raised the gun again suspiciously, a motion to which Cassidy wasn't phased by.

"Lower the gun, TC." Jesse groaned, "He's with us."

TC listened to Jesse, lowering the gun again, "He was gettin' a bit unruly earlier." He justified his action of holding a gun to Jesse's friend.

Lily was surprised Cassidy had kept his composure the past several minutes, especially with blood involved.

Approaching Lily's side, Cassidy's eyes caught her hand holding her brothers and he noticed where the blood was coming from. "You alright?" He asked, his eyes scanning the rest of her. She wasn't sure, but she nodded anyway. She looked up to him for only a moment as her eyes caught Tulip laid out not far behind him.

She turned to Jesse, "What now?"

"Who's this?" TC asked curiously. Jesse shifted his eyes, "It's Lily, TC." He stated lowly. TC's eyes lit up, "No shit! Ha!" He laughed loudly, "Wow." He exhaled. Jesse felt Lily's grasp get tighter to his hand as he shook his head at TC, "We don't have time right now, TC." Jesse hissed, "We gotta go."

Lily remembered their grandmother had told Jesse a list of things needed in order to bring Tulip back, not that Lily knew what any of it meant. Jesse felt Lily's grasp get even tighter, almost hurting him. He stared down at their hands, "I think that's good." He said under his breath, "We can let go now, Lily." Lily snapped out of her trance and notice her hand clenching as hard as it was onto his. "Oh." She whispered, clearing her throat.

"This is gonna be uncomfortable." He warned, and he was right, but not the way she thought. She'd thought it would be painful to move dried blood from the fresh wound, but instead it was her entire insides that hurt when they began releasing their grasps.

As they pulled their hands apart, the blood followed between their palms in thick, stringy strands. Jesse stepped back, proving just how far the strands were stretching. In complete awe, Cassidy watched as Lily was just as equally in shock.

Lily felt like the core of her was being pulled on through her body. Using her free hand, she leaped forward to close the distance Jesse had created and grabbed his hand, pushing it back into hers, "No, stop!" She gasped.

"Lily." Jesse shook his head, "We have to. Now."

"No, no, no." Lily said in sudden panic, feeling her insides flipping upside down. Cassidy felt helpless watching Lily struggling. It was clear by the way Jesse was reacting that he knew what to expect, but she hadn't. "Wot are y'doin' to her?" Cassidy yelled.

Lily shook her head faster, "Jesse, no- this doesn't feel right." She begged.

"Lily!" Jesse yelled, trying to stop his sister from her near panic attack, "We need to save Tulip." Jesse said sternly, "We can't do that until we separate."

TC stood just feet away, entirely entertained by the unexpected and exciting company.

Jesse took a quick breath and lowered his voice, "We need to save Tulip, Lily." He said, "She's only got so much time." He stared into her eyes and she finally found it inside her to control herself.

She hated not knowing anything about what was going on, but she had to keep her head level and her natural stubbornness needed to stay suppressed.

It only took a couple seconds for her to calm back down.

Finally she pulled away the same time as Jesse, proving to put Jesse into equal amounts of discomfort. The strands of blood between them got less stringy as they merged together in more of a single rope-like structure, stretching out more and more. Cassidy couldn't believe his eyes. On the other side of the spectacle, TC cackled in pure amusement.

Eventually, the thick strand snapped in the middle and the two of them fell backwards to the ground in opposite directions. Cassidy was already close enough to Lily to break her fall. Jesse hit the ground with a thud.

He lifted his head up and they all watched as one side of the broken strand slithered it's way back into Jesse's wound on his hand all while the same happened on the other half towards Lily.

Staring at her hand, Lily watched the mysterious blood rope slink into the wound before the wound shut completely. It was still marked, but it was closed. She laid in Cassidy's arms a moment as he watched the whole ordeal from behind her, his face as disturbed as hers. Lily exhaled, "What the fuck."


Jesse had moved Tulip from the main entrance area of the house into the room he and Lily were just in. Madame L'Angelle had set up a bed area for Tulip to lay on and she'd already begun taking out the things needed to begin the process of bringing her back.

Taking his hand, Jesse gently touched the side of Tulip's face. It was cold, and all of her muscles had relaxed entirely. She looked nothing like herself. Jesse felt his heart wrench as he imagined her never making it back for one moment. He was quick to shake that feeling and focus again, clearing his throat and blinking away the tears that had began welling up in his eyes as he rushed back out to the entrance area of the house.

"Let's go." Jesse urged to Cassidy, "Where's Lily?" He asked. Cassidy stood with his arms crossed against a wall, beside a door as he leaned his head slightly towards it, "Washroom." He said shortly. He had hardly glanced at Jesse when he spoke to him. His brows were low and his lips were in a flat line. Jesse knew he wasn't Cassidy's favorite person at this moment, but there was no time to get into all the things to fix that now.

Jesse nodded, his hands on his hips, "Alright. We're going to have to separate to get more done."

Cassidy looked back at Jesse, "I'm not goin' anywhere without her, I hope you know that." He warned.

Holding his immediate response on the tip of his tongue, Jesse thought about it. Arguing wasn't getting anywhere and Lily was in a state of shock that wasn't exactly ideal for her to out alone. Jesse exhaled, "Alright." He said lowly.

Cassidy shifted on spot and turned his head as he heard Lily opening the bathroom door at his side, when she opened it both her brother and Cassidy were staring at her. "You alright?" Cassidy asked. Lily nodded, pressing her lips into a smile that clearly wasn't genuine, "Ya," She cleared her throat, "Where do we need to go?"

Jesse shifted on spot, "I need you two to go out and grab all of Tulip's favorite things."

Both of them scrunched their brows. It was strange to both of them how well rehearsed Jesse seemed to be with everything that had happened so far. "Her favorite things?" Cassidy asked skeptically.

"That's easy enough." Lily said quietly. Cassidy nodded, "We'll take Tulip's car, then?" He suggested.

They all flinched on spot when a voice echoed from the other side of the room. Madame L'Angelle spoke, none of them noticing her in a dark corner. Lily wondered with her chair as loud and creaky as it was how no one heard her, "She should stay here." Marie commanded, looking at Lily, "Her energy is gonna help."

Lily and Cassidy's eyes shifted to Jesse, who wanted to argue, but knew better. He swallowed, "Fine."

He worried what their grandmothers intentions were, whether she was lying just to get Lily alone or if she was telling the truth and her energy really was going to help the process of bringing Tulip back, but it didn't matter either way. They were wrapped around her finger, and she had control, which made Jesse the most upset.

If time wasn't running out for Tulip, Jesse would've been able to find a way around it, but that wasn't the case.

"Then I'm stayin' 'ere too, then." Cassidy demanded. Jesse turned his head to Cassidy and sighed in frustration, "Cass."

Cassidy shook his head, his eyes reminding Jesse of the warning he'd just given him. Jesse turned towards him, getting closer as he struggled to keep Cassidy's eyes locked onto his, "We need to get these things, Cass." Jesse said impatiently, "If you stay here it's going to take me twice the time to get all of this done and Tulip can't afford the extra time right now." Cassidy's eyes shifted to the ground as the conflict hit him like a brick wall.

Lily nodded at her brother before looking to Cassidy, "He's right. You should go."

Cassidy lifted his eyes from the ground to Lily at his side, not taking much to finally listen as he exhaled deeply, "Fine, then." He said reluctantly. Lily grabbed his arm, knowing how hard it was for him to comply with Jesse after all the mixed emotions going on.

Cassidy made a point to prove how supportive he was as he turned to Lily, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tight, "I'll get this all done n'get back right away, alright?"

"Hurry." Lily urged, squeezing him harder.

As Cassidy grabbed the umbrella he'd brought in, Jesse's eyes caught Lily's. She nodded, letting him know she was fine and that she was eager for his return as well.

"Both of you call me if anything goes wrong." Lily ordered, a tone in her voice that was more her familiar self, making both Cassidy and Jesse happy to hear. Both of them nodded caught her eyes once more before leaving, and Lily couldn't help but feel the entire temperature of the room change entirely as she was left alone with her grandmother and Tulip's corpse.