Tino and Aunt Paula had made a circle of salt on the floor when Emil returned to the dusty old library room. Tino was lighting candles around the circle while his aunt drew symbols in chalk inside of it. She directed Emil to set up protections for the three mediums, so he made three smaller circles of salt around the larger circle and drew wards inside of them with chalk. Aunt Paula checked them over when he was finished, giving him a curt nod by way of approval. She quickly explained the symbols she had drawn, how they would help contain and weaken the malevolent spirit, so that they could send it to the other side more easily. Then she handed him an old notebook containing several chants and showed him which one they would use to summon it and which one they would use to exorcize it. After answering all of Emil's questions, she directed him and Tino to each stand in one of the smaller circles, being especially careful not to disturb the salt or chalk. She took their amulets and tossed them out of the room.

Emil took several calming breaths, trying to focus on the words on the page. At least he could think of pushing Gil out of his room to boost his confidence. He might be inexperienced, but he had natural talent.

On Aunt Paula's cue, they began chanting in unison. The candles flickered and danced as if a breeze were blowing through the room. The temperature slowly decreased. Emil looked at the other two, but they were staring into the middle of the big circle. He couldn't see anything at first, but the longer he concentrated, the more a dark form started to take shape. It thrashed around, trying to escape the bonds of the wards. The wind picked up, and Emil could just barely hear Aunt Paula shout "Now!" They switched to the next chant, the one to send the malevolent spirit to the other side, and it began to thrash more violently.

Emil tried to focus on his intent, but it was more terrifying than he had expected. Any semblance of humanity was long gone, and it only had a loose form with two outstretched arms and two glowing, red eyes. Emil stuttered over a word, and it turned its burning gaze towards him. He raised his voice and continued chanting, but the spirit raised its arms towards him. He was hit by a gush of wind, forcing him to take a step back so as not to fall.

"Emil!" screamed Tino, and too late Emil realized he had broken his circle of salt.

The wind knocked over one of the candles, breaking the larger circle as well. The malevolent spirit rushed at him, and he instinctively put his hands out to block it. His hands felt like ice, then it suddenly felt like his whole body had been plunged into ice water. He tensed up as dark images flooded his mind. Memories of a death so painful as to twist the soul. Memories of students participating in a game they never thought would be so deadly, being followed, and being murdered.

Emil fought to regain control, but his body wouldn't move a muscle. His lungs were aching for oxygen, but he couldn't even breathe. He had been possessed once before, two years ago, but this was completely different. He couldn't tell if the malevolent spirit was trying to use him or kill him, and he was on the verge of panicking.

He tried to remember something, anything about possessions, but all intelligent thoughts were escaping him. His vision was being overtaken by purple and green spots, and it felt like he had cotton in his ears. He needed to take a breath!

Anger and darkness drowned out any other thoughts. Images of Mathias appeared in his mind, over-confident and smug at first, then in an instant terrified. Mathias looking over his shoulder worriedly, his pace quickening. Thoughts of how best to kill him.

No!

Emil pictured the dark aura consuming him and pushed it as hard as he could. It came out of his mouth with a whoosh, and he fell backwards, gasping for air. Everything went black.

As he came to, he heard Tino and his aunt finishing the chants, and by the time he sat up, the malevolent spirit was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my god, Emil!" they both gasped as they rushed over to him.

"Is…it…gone?" he croaked out.

"Yes, yes, it's gone," said Aunt Paula, plopping down on the floor next to him and pulling his head into her lap. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"You weakened it so much, we barely had to do anything more," Tino said, taking Emil's wrist and feeling his pulse. "He's freezing."

"We have to get him back to the house. Grandfather will know what to do."

Tino helped Emil up and out of the room while Aunt Paula quickly cleaned everything up. When they got outside, and the cold night air hit him, Emil fell onto his knees and retched, shivering uncontrollably.

"Emil! What happened?" he heard somewhere above him.

"Mathias, you're still here?"

"I couldn't sit in my room waiting like that…"

"Help me get him up."

Suddenly, Emil was hoisted off the ground and held in Mathias's arms.

"What happened to him?"

"It possessed him, but he fought it off brilliantly." There was unconcealed pride in Tino's voice.

"Is it gone?"

"It's gone, you're free!"

Aunt Paula emerged from the cellar door and stepped carefully around Emil's mess. "I'll bring my car around, and we'll take him directly to the house."

"Lukas…" Emil croaked weakly.

"Right, Tino, go to Emil's room and undo the wards, then meet us at the house."

"Alright, where are your keys, Emil?"

He lethargically dug them out of his pocket and handed them to the older man. He was too tired to explain which one was which, so he hoped Tino would figure it out. He closed his eyes and leaned into Mathias's chest. He felt so weak and heavy…

The next thing he knew, he was in the back of Aunt Paula's car, wrapped tightly in a blanket, with his head in Mathias's lap. This wasn't good if Mathias was coming, too, because Lukas would surely be at the house as soon as Tino took down the wards in the room. But Mathias was absentmindedly running his fingers through Emil's hair, and that soothed him back to sleep.

Emil awoke again as he was being carried through the Väinämöinens' house and laid on a bed in a guest room. One of Tino's cousins rushed in with a bucket, and Emil realized with despair that he had thrown up all over the blanket covering him.

"It was far stronger than I could have ever imagined," Aunt Paula was explaining to Grandfather quickly. "The three of us weren't enough to take it out, and it managed to break the wards I set."

"Strange," Grandfather mused, "it must have been around for hundreds of years."

That sparked the memories of all those dead students, and Emil reached for the bucket to heave.

"It's been collecting souls this whole time," he groaned. "All those people it killed…"

Someone carefully pulled the soiled blanket off him, and everyone in the room gasped.

"Emil, you're glowing," Mathias breathed.

Emil looked down at himself. It was as if his aura had been multiplied by a hundred watts. Grandfather appeared at his side, running his hands over the aura.

"Tell me exactly what happened," he commanded.

"It possessed me," Emil began.

"No, that's not true," Aunt Paula interrupted. "I don't think so. It ran at you like it was going to attack you, but when you put your arms out, it looked like you absorbed it."

"It felt like a possession, though," Emil continued. "It took control of my body, and I couldn't move or even breathe. But I could see its thoughts, too. That didn't happen when Lukas possessed me."

"You saw its thoughts?"

"I think they were thoughts, or memories, or something. Then it showed me…"

"What did it show you?" He didn't want to say it, but Grandfather's stern gaze bored into him.

"It showed me Mathias," he said with a small sob. "It showed me what it wanted to do to him. So I pushed it out."

"You pushed it out? Just like that?" Now Grandfather was staring at him incredulously, and Emil felt strangely embarrassed.

"I pushed the ghost in my dorm earlier today, and I kind of had the same thought, I guess."

"How do you mean you pushed the ghost?"

"He pushed me with his freaking mind!" yelled Gilbert as he burst into the room. He was shoved over by Lukas, who went through everything and everyone in his path to Emil.

"Are you alright?" he asked frantically, and Emil smiled at him goofily. He had never seen the spirit so anxious, and he was starting to feel giddy from the adrenaline.

"I'm fine, Lukas, I feel great."

"Move over," said Grandfather, shooing Lukas off the bed, "I need to examine him."

"Why is he glowing like that?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Tino and Matthew stepped into the room, both craning their necks to see how Emil was.

"I called your parents," Tino said. "They're on their way here."

"Enough! If you can't all be quiet, you'll have to leave!" That got everyone to shut up. "You haven't even been able to sense auras, how were you able to push this ghost earlier today?"

"Er, well," Emil stuttered, "he really pissed me off, so I just imagined shoving him out of my room, and out he went."

"It was totally awesome!" Gil exclaimed, and someone shushed him.

Grandfather shook his head, a small smile gracing his ancient face. "I suppose that's plausible if you're emotions are that strong. And then you had the same sensation when the malevolent spirit showed you Mathias?"

"Yes, well kind of. I tried to picture its aura and push it out that way, and I guess it worked."

"But it was incredibly weakened when it came back out of him," Tino added. "Aunt Paula and I completed the exorcism almost instantly after that."

"That's it then," Grandfather said, pulling his hands away from Emil's aura. "You absorbed all of the malevolent spirit's power."

"How?" Emil asked. "I only thought about getting it out of me, not stealing its power."

"You said it was collecting the souls of its victims. That must be how it became so strong, by absorbing them. But when it possessed you, all that energy would have mingled with yours. You pushed out the malevolent spirit, but the rest of the power remained inside you."

"What if I didn't get all of the malevolence out? Could there still be some inside of me?"

"Well, I could examine you more, but I think we can all tell by your aura that there's nothing dark inside you."

Emil looked down at himself again, examining his aura. He couldn't see anything dark in it. He looked at Lukas and found that with a little concentration, he could see the ghost's aura. In fact, he could see everyone's auras shining faintly.

"Can you take the power?" he asked Grandfather. "It's not mine, and it's not right."

"I can take it from you, or you can extract it from yourself," he answered. "However, with this amount of strength, you're not far from your goal."

Emil's eyes widened, and he turned back to look at Lukas, but his boyfriend only looked concerned for him.

"You don't have to decide either way right now," Grandfather added. "I think for now, you should get some rest before your parents arrive." He began to shoo everyone out of the room, leaving Emil and Lukas alone.

"Wait, Mathias," Emil called. "We need to talk."

"You need to rest," Lukas asserted.

"Fine, I'll rest while you two talk. You owe Lukas a few explanations, Mathias."

The boy sighed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. "I do."

They sat at the end of the bed while Emil dozed. In between moments of sleep, he caught bits of hushed argument, never rising above a sharp whisper. Mathias was gone by the time Emil's parents arrived. He wasn't sure at what point his ex-boyfriend had left, but Lukas had never left his side. He was even loath to allow Emil's parents past, but he finally settled at the end of the bed again, so they could snuggle in on either side of their son, to his mortification.

"Emil, you're glowing," his mom gasped.

"What? I can't see it!" whined his dad.

"How can you not see it? Our son is shining!"

"No, you're confusing your movies. Our son is Haley Joel Osment, not Danny Lloyd."

"Stop it, Erik." His mom hit his dad playfully on the arm.

"Emil, Paula told us what happened," his dad said excitedly. "I can't believe you single-handedly took down a superpowered evil spirit! I've literally never been proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad," Emil said, shifting uncomfortably. Lukas, watching the scene with amusement, winked at him.

"No, I'm serious. You could drop out of college, sell your body for drugs, and live under a bridge, and I would still never stop feeling proud of you! Wait until I tell Christian! My kid is infinitely cooler than his kid!"

"Dad, stop…"

"Should we tell him you saved that douche's ass tonight, too?" Lukas quipped coolly, and Emil suppressed a snort.

"Did Aunt Paula tell you why I'm glowing?"

"Yes," answered his mom, "but I still don't quite understand it."

"What's not to understand, Lilly? He killed a monster and leveled up, and now his stats went through the roof!"

"Oh, Erik…"

"He didn't share any of the loot with his party members, though. Not the best etiquette."

"We've started playing Dungeons and Dragons with the Køhlers, and I think it's gone to his head a bit."

"I see they're dealing with the empty nest well," Lukas commented. Emil waved for everyone to be quiet.

"The spirit had absorbed all this energy from the people it killed, and I accidentally absorbed the power myself."

"Why do you say it like that, kiddo?" asked his dad. "It's amazing!"

"Because the energy comes from the souls of dead college students?"

"Even more badass. You should put that on your business card when you become a full-fledged medium. Emil Steilsson: fighting ghosts with the power of a thousand dead coeds."

"Dad, this isn't a joke, those people were murdered! I've been haunted by one of them for the past few months, and it was super annoying!"

"Well, kiddo, you're going to have to get used to dead people, because that's the business you're going into."

"Honey, knock it off," Emil's mom chided.

"I don't want this power, because it doesn't belong to me," Emil continued. "But on the other hand…"

"You want to stay Super Saiyan?"

"No!" Emil glared at his dad, who simply beamed at him with his best shit-eating grin. "But there's something I've been working towards, and Grandfather thinks I have the strength to accomplish it now. But I don't know if it's right."

"Who cares? Those people are already dead, and you can't bring them back." Emil choked, and his mom hit her husband on the arm again, this time harder.

"It's your decision, sweetie," she said. "We'll support you, whatever you decide. But it's really late now, and I think we should sleep."

"Your mother is right, son," agreed Emil's dad, snuggling in closer. "Good night!"

"You guys are not sleeping in the same bed as me," Emil protested, struggling to shrug his dad's head off his shoulder.

"Aww, why not?"

"Because I'm an adult! Get off!"

"But you're still our baby boy, and you could've died tonight!"

"You're still not sleeping in here with me, get out!"

"Alright, Erik, let's go," said his mom, laughing. She walked around to the other side of the bed, pulled her husband off her son, and guided him out the door. Before she left, she put a hand on Lukas's shoulder. "Watch over him, please."

Lukas nodded, and after they left, he cuddled up to Emil. Emil rolled onto his side and allowed the ghost to hug him from behind.

"What did Grandfather mean that you're not far from your goal?" asked the ghost.

"I'm so much stronger with this power that I don't think I need any more training to perform the ritual," Emil answered. "I would just need to study the theories and work on my intentions. Without this power, who knows how long it would take me to build up the strength to perform it?"

"So you could do it eventually without this extra energy?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know where my own power will hit its limit."

Lukas didn't say anything for a while, and sleep was tempting Emil again. He closed his eyes and was about to drift off, when his boyfriend spoke again.

"I told Mathias that you want to try to bring me back."

"Oh?"

"I figured it was time to put all our cards on the table."

"Mm."

"He says he misses us."

"He told me he didn't really want to dump us."

"He told me the same."

They let that hang in the air for a while.

"What did you tell him?" Emil asked, turning over to look at his boyfriend.

"I said we'd both have to think it over. There's a lot of shit to work through there."

"Mm."

"You want him back?"

"I think so," Emil admitted. "I love you, but I really miss him. I miss the three of us together."

"Me too."

"And I was so scared when I found out the malevolent spirit was after him. I wanted to protect him."

"I understand. I would have felt the same way."

"But I don't know if things can ever go back to the way they were."

"I don't suppose they can. That doesn't mean we can't build something new."

"Right now, I'm more concerned about bringing you back."

"Really?"

"Yes, I think I'm going to use the power. Say that destiny gave it to me, or some bullshit like that."

Lukas grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers. "I thought I might lose you tonight."

"I was afraid for you, too." Emil ran his fingers through the spectral hair, admiring the way it shimmered even in the darkness.

"That's why you locked me in your room."

"I didn't think of it that way."

"I did."

"It was the only way to protect you."

"Don't ever do that again. If you have to deal with any more evil ghosts, especially ones that kill people, I want to be next to you."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"I love you, Emil."

"I love you, too, Lukas."

Emil woke up starving, and luckily the Väinämöinens had plenty of breakfast to go around. He, his parents, Matthew, Tino, and Aunt Paula all ate together. Lukas sat next to him, still unwilling to leave his side. Aunt Paula told them how she and Grandfather had helped Gilbert move on while everyone was sleeping.

"He didn't want to say goodbye to me?" Emil asked, irked. "I'm the one who solved his murder."

"I think he was just excited to be at peace," Aunt Paula responded. "Oh, but he did tell me to say goodbye for him. And to tell you that he's not sorry that he upset you so much yesterday, because he believes he helped you unlock your hidden potential." She smirked, and Emil rolled his eyes.

"He's lucky I wasn't the one to send him to the other side. I would've done it wrong on purpose."

"I told you it wasn't worth getting tangled up in his drama," Lukas said coolly.

"Oh, and he wanted me to tell you something, too, Lukas," Aunt Paula continued, her smile growing. "He said now that he's gone, he supposes you're good enough for Emil."

Emil spat his orange juice into his pancakes, his dad choked on his coffee, and his mom dropped her bowl of fruit.

"Pardon me?" coughed out his dad. "Since when are you in a relationship with your bedroom ghost, Emil?"

"Oh, you didn't know…?" Aunt Paula stuttered out, trying to hold back her laughter. Tino and Matthew smiled nervously.

"You mean all of you knew?" demanded Emil's dad. "How long has this been going on? Didn't you just break up with Mathias?"

Emil coughed weakly, looking towards Lukas for help, but his boyfriend was shrinking under his mother's stare.

This was going to be a long drive back to campus.