Matt and Jess were setting up chairs around Emily's dining room table. Emily had nearly forgotten that back when she was furnishing her then-new house she'd purchased a full dining room chair and table set. She'd stupidly assumed she was going to entertain company, or hold business-related dinners at her house. That people would actually want to be around her in their free time.

She had exactly eight chairs. Matt and Jess managed to cram them all in around her table.

Emily remained by the front door, waiting for her "guests" to arrive. Her head was still swimming with thoughts that were not her own. She hadn't been sure how to explain to Jess and Matt that she was currently two people in one body, so she'd kept it to herself (selves?) and hoped nobody would notice. Thankfully she and Beth seemed to have similar responses to most situations, so it wasn't exceptionally noticeable when Beth's reaction trumped Emily's as the one to be visibly expressed.

Why hadn't they been better friends way back when? …Right. Because they were both stubborn as fuck, and repelled each other like the north poles of two magnets.

It was kind of a shame. They could have made great bitching partners.

When the doorbell rang the first time it practically startled Emily out of her skin. Likewise, her yanking open the door apparently scared Ashley on the other side. Everybody was on edge.

"Thanks for coming," Emily murmured as she let Chris and Ashley inside. "Will your boys be okay without you for a while? I don't know how long this is going to take."

"They're with my mother," Ashley replied.

"Okay, good."

Chris and Ashley talked quietly with Jess and Matt as they settled down at the table. Emily remained posted at the door.

Fifteen minutes passed before another person showed up. She could tell by the black Corvette Stingray that it was him. Emily made him wait several long seconds after ringing the doorbell before she opened the door for him.

"Hey, Em." Mike's tone was as casual and unfazed as ever. "How are you?"

Emily felt a wave of anger course through her. A different kind of anger than what she was used to when looking at Mike. Her own anger at him was comprised mostly of hurt, humiliation, and confused remnants of love and jealousy. This anger was vengeful, and there was not a hint of love or adoration muddling it. Beth's anger at Mike was fueled purely by resentment of his character.

Emily was a little impressed.

"I'm fine. Sit." She nodded at the table. Mike strode over to it, but stopped when he noticed Jess staring him down.

"J-Jessica…hi…" He sat down opposite her. Matt leveled him with an unimpressed stare. "Wow, you look…different…"

Jess frowned. "Gee, thanks."

"I don't mean it in a bad way! I mean, like, I don't know, you look…older…?" Quickly realizing that wasn't a compliment, Mike backpedaled. "I mean like, more mature. Um. Wiser?"

Jess sighed. "Michael, shut up. We're not here because of us."

"I know. I know." He adjusted his stupid tie – why was he dressed up, anyway? He wasn't at a fucking House meeting – and cleared his throat. "So, uh, where's the guest of honor?" He laughed a little too loudly at his own joke.

Nobody answered Mike's question, which left an awkward silence hanging in the air. Emily assumed most of them were wondering the same thing. Beth sure was. They had told Sam three o'clock. It was 3:07. Sam had always been punctual in the past, so it wasn't hard to guess that she was probably stalling.

"So when she gets here," Chris finally spoke up, "what are we gonna do? Tie her down or something?"

"That's the plan, I guess," Matt replied. "Apparently Sam suggested it herself."

"She did." Jess did not look up from her place at the table. Emily could tell she was avoiding looking at Mike.

"God, this is so fucked up." Ashley rested her chin on her palms and shook her head. "I thought…I thought it was over."

Chris slipped an arm around her and said something Emily couldn't make out from her post by the door. Ashley sniffed and then sat up a little straighter, probably trying to act brave.

Finally, they heard a quiet hum outside. Sam's red Chevy Volt pulled slowly into Emily's driveway and parked at the very end of it.

"She's here," Emily called, barely able to contain the excitement in her voice. My Sam…my sweet, beautiful, perfect…

Okay Beth, can we maybe cool it a little?

Sorry.

Emily never had a clue Beth felt so strongly about Sam. How had she missed it? Was she that self-centered as a teen?

The doorbell rang.

Emily drew in a deep breath. Her body pulled toward the doorknob without her willing it to do so.

She opened the door and was greeted by Sarah. Sam stood behind her, looking off to the side.

Emily felt a churning in the pit of her stomach. Sam's wife, she explained to Beth. Her skin prickled. They're happy together. Try to be civil, okay?

The sickness in her stomach calmed, but only slightly. It's not like you could exactly satisfy her anyway Beth, unless she's into tipping boxes over.

Her right hand reached over and pinched her left arm. "Ow!" Noticing Sam and Sarah staring at her, Emily quickly composed herself. "Um, hi. Come in."

It was obvious everybody was trying not to stare at Sam. She didn't say a word to anyone, and so no one spoke. Sarah a pulled out a chair for her at the table. Sam sat down and kept her eyes low. Sarah took the seat beside her and patted her hand lightly.

Sarah knew nothing of this whole mess, and yet there she was, with Sam all the way. Normally Em would find herself baffled by that. But now that she had Jess in her life again, and in such a prominent way, she understood.

"Hi, Sam." Jess was the first to verbally acknowledge her at the table.

Sam lifted her eyes to the woman opposite her. "Hi, Jess."

That seemed to break the ice for the others. "We're gonna help you, Sam," Chris said, his confident words betrayed by an obvious lack of confidence in his voice. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Thanks, Chris." She didn't look at him.

It's time for me to take over, Beth piped up. Okay?

Sure. I'm just dying to surrender control of my mortal vessel. Let's do it.

A strange sensation coursed through her then, as if her entire body was falling asleep on her. Then it took on a life of its own.

She shut the front door and hurried over to the table, where she slipped into the last free seat, next to Jessica.

She took a minute to just look Sam over. Her hair was short now, but it suited her. It was still the same shining, beautiful blonde it had always been. Her face, however, had aged, and she looked tired. Beth was reminded of when she and Hannah used to stay over her house sometimes, when Sam's mother was still alive. Her mother's face had held a similar tiredness, though like Sam her eyes had always kindled warmth and love.

There was a presence beneath Sam's outer layer of harmlessness. It stalked like a captive tiger, back and forth, searching for a way out. Beth had coexisted with the wendigos of Blackwood Mountain for over a decade now. She'd found them to resent humans, but take no issue with human spirits. They had even embraced Hannah as a sort of honorary wendigo, since her time joined with one left her with strong memories of their wordless language. It was strange.

This one would most likely be weak after ten years away from the mountain's spiritual energy source. Hopefully it would not be difficult to restrain, should it come to that.

"Em," Jess leaned over and whispered to her. Beth pulled her thoughts back to the present situation. "Should we start?"

"You have to tie me down first," Sam said. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Beth exhaled. That would be the safest strategy. She picked over Emily's memories, trying to see if Emily had any rope or anything in her house.

"We…brought some stuff," Sarah said. She reached in her bag and dropped a tall coil of rope onto the table. It was still wrapped. They must have went out and bought some just for the occasion.

"We had a hell of a time picking it out," Sam muttered. "I had to test them all and see which ones I couldn't break."

"Pretty sure everyone around us got some interesting ideas of what we were going to use it for." Sarah laughed a little. Sam let out a single chuckle, but it didn't sound very genuine.

"So." Sam lifted her eyes and cast a glance about the table. "Who's going to do the honors?"

They all exchanged looks.

"I'll do it," Matt eventually said.

"Thank you." Sam slid him the rope coil. He tore off the plastic wrap covering it and approached her with it.

Beth bit her tongue as she watched Sam offer her arms and legs for binding. She doesn't deserve this. Sam had been through so much in her young life, and yet she remained kind and loving always. Beth still vividly recalled an image of Sam at her and Hannah's funeral. Stoic, her spine straight, her chin up, watching the ceremony with rapt attention. Probably to avoid thinking back to the horrors that had occurred only a week before. It wasn't until all was said and done that she broke down, in the parking lot of the massive church where the ceremony had been held. Beth had watched from a distance as Sam's father held her and she wept. Hannah had patted her on the arm and reassured her that they were okay, that they were well. It didn't do anything, of course, but they both hated seeing her in so much pain. Especially because of them.

That was when Hannah had felt the dark presence in Sam's body lunge and snap at her like a rabid dog. She told Beth, but there was nothing they could do. They could only watch as Sam eventually departed and went home, likely with no idea she was no longer alone in her body.

Beth and Hannah had known for all these years that Sam had a dark entity trapped within her. But there was nothing they could do without being summoned to the mortal plane, as Jess and Emily had finally done. Now that everything was in place, Hannah keeping an eye on Josh and Beth here to look out for Sam, maybe some well-deserved good could finally happen in poor Sam's life.

"Could you make them a little tighter? Please?" Sam tugged on the loose ropes. It was obvious they would come free with a few good pulls.

With a look of obvious reluctance, Matt undid the knots and re-tied them right against Sam's wrists and ankles. He pulled the ends of the rope as tight as he could, until the rope began chewing into her flesh.

"Okay. That's good, thank you."

"You sure? It's really tight–"

"That's good." Sam nodded at him. "Thank you."

Beth looked around the table. Ashley seemingly couldn't bear to look at Sam, and was choosing instead to focus anywhere and everywhere else in the room. Chris watched Sam with sagged shoulders. Mike observed the situation with a distant coolness that, Beth hoped at least, masked internal concern. Jess was staring at Sam's restraints, her expression unreadable. Sarah was trying, and largely failing, to act casual about her wife being bound to a chair.

Once Matt sat back down, Beth cleared her throat. "Okay. Is everyone ready to start?"

They all nodded, some more reluctantly than others.

The thought occurred to Beth that absolutely no one at the table knew who she really was. They all believed Emily was leading the séance. They had no idea that Emily's soul was slumbering deep inside her body while another was leading it around.

She could remember a time when no one liked or respected Emily. They would never have followed her lead like this. Somewhere along the line, things must have changed.

Putting her mulling aside, Beth held out a hand to Jessica and a hand to Mike on her other side. Jess took it immediately, offering Beth the tiniest of smiles as she squeezed her hand.

Mike was quite a bit more hesitant. "Joining hands will help create a stronger field of spiritual energy," Beth explained, still holding her hand out to him. "It'll make it easier for the spirit to take hold of Sam's body. Everyone here should do it. Er, everyone who can."

Thus Mike hesitantly took what he believed to be, and on any other day would be, Emily's hand. His skin was a little rough, but not as rough as Beth had expected. She felt a twinge inside as Emily's confused emotions seeped outward into hers.

Sarah clearly didn't want to take Mike's hand. Emily's few memories of Sarah told Beth that she didn't seem to care much for Mike at all. Likewise, Mike was reluctant to offer his left hand, which Beth noticed was missing its last two fingers. But eventually he did, and they joined together as everyone else at the table, save for Sam, did.

The presence inside Sam stirred. It must have been able to sense something was going on, and it seemed curious to find out what. Please be willing to talk. Beth inhaled a deep breath, ready to hopefully initiate a conversation with the spirit.

"Wait."

Everyone turned to Jess.

"Sam said she doesn't remember when the…the spirit takes over. Maybe we should record it." She was holding her phone, apparently ready to do so.

"That's a good idea." Sam nodded in her direction. "Do it. Record the whole thing."

Jess propped her phone up against Sarah's bag, making sure the camera captured Sam. Sam didn't look at her or it.

"Okay, now is everyone ready to start?" Beth asked as Jess returned to her seat and rejoined hands with her and Matt.

"Yes," Sam replied. The others all nodded once again.

Beth read through some more of Emily's memories. "So you said you know how to go into trance, right Sam? You can do it yourself?"

Sam nodded.

"Okay. Do it now, then."

Sam closed her eyes. Beth watched her curiously. She had no idea how long it would take. At a few points Sam murmured things to herself, and then she went quiet. Eventually her tense limbs slackened, and her eyes, previously squeezed shut, relaxed to look more like she was sleeping.

"Sam?" Beth whispered.

Sam did not respond.

"Okay, I think we can try to coax the spirit out to talk to us now." Beth sat up tall in her chair. The others, apparently unsure what else to do, all followed suit.

"Spirit of the mountain," she began, "the soul you share a body with is resting. You can come forward and communicate with us while she sleeps. We aren't going to hurt you."

For some time nothing happened. Beth was considering what to say next when Sam's eyes slowly reopened. She blinked a few times. Beth noticed her pupils were clouded over.

"Is this Sam?" she asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Sam glanced down at her restraints. "This is…unnecessary." Her voice had a strange rasp to it. She had not sounded like that before.

"Who are we speaking to?" Beth pressed.

Sam looked up at her. "I have no name. That is the answer you're looking for, correct?"

"It's the wendigo," Ashley squeaked. "Oh my God."

"You're a wendigo." Beth folded her hands on the table in front of her. At that everyone else released their hold on each other's hands. "Right?"

Sam's eyes flicked over everyone at the table in turn. "That is what you call us, yes."

"What do you want with Sam?"

"How can you speak English?" Ashley spoke up, her curiosity apparently winning out over her fear.

"I utilize Sam's knowledge of her native human language. And I don't want anything with her. I have been coexisting peacefully with her for years now."

There was a murmur among the others at the table. Beth shushed them. "Why don't you tell us your story, so we're all on the same page?"

Sam tilted her head. "My story?"

"Tell us your experiences. As much as you want." Beth knew from experience that most wendigos had no real concept of self, so asking it to talk about itself would be pointless.

The wendigo cast another glance about the group. Its eyes did not appear predatory – moreso curious. "If you are truly interested then I will tell you. Perhaps then we will be able to understand one another a bit better."

The spirit paused, seeming to search for a beginning point. Beth used the opportunity to rouse Emily from her dormant state. Emily grumbled internally as Beth "woke" her.

You might want to hear this, was all Beth had to say before Emily was at total attention.

When the wendigo again spoke, all around it cautiously listened.

"Humans wounded the earth. The earth cried out, and we were created from its pain. Protecting it is our sole purpose for existence." It paused to study Beth's…Emily's face. Beth wondered if it could sense her excess spiritual energy.

"We knew nothing of the world save that humans were the enemy. Our prey. And so we hunted them. For centuries it was our single resolve. We would possess their bodies for our own use, and drive them to kill and devour their fellow creatures. We feel no emotion of our own, and thus derived neither guilt nor satisfaction from the slaughter.

"But as time passed, as we inhabited the minds of more and more humans, we began to maintain traces of their remnant feelings. Most of the time it was sorrow, hopelessness...and hunger. We began to feed a constant, unending hunger, attempting to sate the ghost of a feeling from the human spirit that had long since been squelched. We became consumed by human misery. Tormented by it. We took this confused suffering out on our prey."

Beth raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. Most wendigos she and Hannah had interacted with were not so self-aware. Remaining silent, she let the spirit continue its story.

"That was when they came." Its tone changed slightly. "The humans who wielded great fire. We were trapped by one, and left to rot in the very bodies we had clamored to possess. What had once been an opening to a new world for us then became…a prison." It glanced down at its restraints again.

Beth could understand the feeling – as nice as it was to have a physical body, she had to constantly remind herself that she could not faze through material objects or transport her energy to different places at will while occupying it. Interaction with the physical world came at a price.

"The only spirit that managed to remain free was the most powerful among us. The one the humans call the Makkapitew."

Beth noticed a flash of recognition in the eyes of some at the table. They all knew the Makkapitew well.

"The Makkapitew has strayed from our noble purpose," the spirit elaborated. "Twisted by human anger, it has become a sadistic hunter with no desire to protect the earth it was born from. When it possessed the body of your friend, it absorbed her rage and shame and used them to transform itself into a being more powerful than we had ever seen before. And it did not differentiate between friend and foe when indulging its savagery.

"When we were freed by this one"–it nodded at Mike, who shrank down in his seat a little–"it was decided among us that the Makkapitew could finally be stopped. We plotted to steal its prey, and then to overwhelm it with many of us at once. But it was more powerful even than we had anticipated. It tore several of us apart. Sam's memories tell me most of you were there."

"So you're one of the wendigos that Hannah attacked," Chris murmured.

"Not Hannah," Beth snapped. "The Makkapitew. Hannah had no say in that." Noticing the strange looks from the rest of the group, she added, "…I mean, probably."

"I sought the Makkapitew's prey," the wendigo continued. "I was so close to Sam. A mere breath away. As I reached for her I felt the Makkapitew latch its claws onto me - and then I felt nothing but fire. My spirit was thrust from its ruined vessel and pushed into young Sam's body as we were thrown from the explosion. I had no choice in the matter, and I have remained here ever since."

"So you possessed her by accident?" Matt spoke for the first time. Beth had noticed he and Jess had been listening intently, and hadn't said a word even when the others were murmuring amongst themselves. Emily's memories told her they were not present for the scene the wendigo was describing. She wondered how little they knew of it.

"Yes. After realizing what had happened I initially planned to conquer Sam's body and squelch her spirit, like all the others. But away from the mountain and its power I was weak, and Sam consumes no meat, which I had come to survive upon. There was little for me to do but to lie in dormancy within her." The expression on Sam's face changed. It almost resembled the beginnings of a smile. "And as I did so, I learned. I unwound the tight, protective coils of Sam's thoughts, memories, and emotions, and I read them. All of them. In the process, I discovered that Sam's passions – protection of nature, preservation of the earth – were not unlike my own. But while we, the wendigo, had approached our goal with violence and aggression, Sam did quite the opposite. Her heart overflowed with love and compassion for all her fellow creatures. Over time I suppose I…began to take on some of those emotions."

"Some time after our joining," it continued, "Sam made an attempt upon her own life. I interfered and put a stop to it. She does not remember this."

"Sam tried to kill herself?" It was Sarah who then spoke. She had thus far been as silent as Matt and Jess, but the wendigo's casual revelation of something none of them seemed to know had her pale of face and visibly concerned.

"Yes. And I had no reason to prevent her from doing so – had she succeeded in destroying her body I would have been freed from my imprisonment within it. So ask me why I intervened and I will tell you truthfully...I do not know."

The room was completely silent when the wendigo stopped talking. Nobody seemed to have any idea what to say. Sam had always been the strong one, the reliable one, the one they all laid their burdens upon. The wendigo most likely didn't understand the implications of suicide, which was why it brought it up so casually. But the others sure as hell did.

For a brief, selfish moment a thought crossed Beth's mind. I could have been with her again.

She dismissed that thought as quickly as it had come to her. Sam deserved to live. And the world needed people like her alive in it.

"Why did you make her eat raw meat a few months ago?" Jess finally spoke up.

The wendigo lowered its eyes, almost shamefully. "...A moment of weakness."

"So how does a wendigo spirit remove itself from a host body?" Beth asked.

"I do not know. We have never been able to accomplish such a feat, which led to our imprisonment by the fire humans for many decades."

"Do you think we could have Sam exorcised or something?" Ashley said.

The wendigo glanced from Ashley to Beth. "What does that mean?"

"We might be able to separate you from Sam's body. It's a sort of ritual where they 'purify' the body and–"

The wendigo made a small noise in its throat. "Oh. I see."

"I, uh, didn't finish explaining."

"No need. I understand." It lowered its head a bit, avoiding eye contact with any human.

"You're not, like, opposed to that or something?" Beth asked.

The spirit did not respond.

A sinking feeling manifested in Beth's stomach as she interpreted the spirit's very obvious reluctance. "You can't stay with Sam forever."

"Why not?" The creature's tone sharpened. "I have been by her side for years now. I kept her alive. I gave her an appetite when she lacked one for weeks after our joining. I protect her mind on nights when she is haunted by nightmares, and I give her energy to greet the day when she wakes with none. Am I not worthy of her?"

Beth raised her eyebrows. She hadn't been expecting that. "Don't you want to return to the mountain?" The question was weak. She knew what it was like up there. Nothing human or wendigo would want to return to it.

The wendigo's fierce expression softened again. It shook its head. "I am of no use there anymore. My time with Sam has weakened me, both physically and emotionally. I am no longer fit to defend the mountain. Nor would I belong with any of the other wendigo there anymore."

Sarah had a look on her face. If Beth knew her better she might have known what it meant, but as it was she could only guess. It was certainly a look meaning something.

Chris and Ashley murmured amongst themselves. Beth sighed, unsure what to do in the situation. She'd expected this wendigo to be just like the ones on the mountain. She'd expected it to snarl and spit and tell them it was going to kill them all. She had never dreamed of the wendigo fighting to stay in Sam's body so it could take care of her, because it had absorbed Sam's own benevolence.

"Maybe we should see what Sam thinks," Mike suggested.

Beth glanced about the table. The others nodded in general agreement. Sarah kept her eyes low, not participating in the informal vote.

"Okay. Let's wake Sam up and see what she wants to do." Beth watched the wendigo expectantly. There was no way to contact Sam unless it surrendered control of the body to her. That would make for a good test of its supposed loyalty to Sam.

The spirit studied her with Sam's cloudy eyes. "I will return control to her. I believe Sam will make a wise decision." The spirit then closed Sam's eyes. They sat in silence for a few minutes, during which time Beth made sure Emily had been paying attention and was caught up.

Obviously. How could I not be paying attention? This whole thing is so weird.

I know. Beth glanced down at her– at Emily's hands, observing her perfectly-manicured fingernails. Once I make sure Sam's okay I'll give you your body back. Um, thanks again for letting me use it.

Yeah, whatever. I didn't want to do this séance anyway.

Well I still appreciate it.

Let's not get all sentimental, okay? Finish up with Sam first.

Beth concealed a tiny smile as she shook her head almost imperceptibly. She remembered now why she and Emily had always butted heads. They were too damn similar.

Gradually Sam returned to them, her eyes clear, her voice soft and devoid of that otherworldly rasp it had held before. She looked around at the group.

"…Hi, everyone."

"Do you know what happened?" Beth immediately asked her.

Sam nodded. "This was different than the other times. I still felt like I was aware of everything this time." Then with a heavy breath, she added, "And I do remember…what it said I didn't remember. It was about a month after everything happened. That night I was – I was going to do it. I was planning it out. Then all of a sudden I just felt so…tired? I ended up crawling into bed and passing out, and when I woke up the next morning things didn't seem quite so dire."

"Why didn't you reach out to any of us?" Matt said.

Sam shrugged. "You were all fighting your own battles. You didn't need me to add to them."

"You could've come to us," Ashley piped up. "You always can."

Sam shrugged again.

"So you're going to let us get that thing out of you, right?" Sarah abruptly said.

Sam's jaw tensed a bit. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know, okay? I need – I need time to think." She turned to Sarah as best she could. "Would you mind untying me?"

Sarah looked to Beth. Beth nodded. The wendigo was dormant again. She could feel Sam's presence, and only Sam's presence, radiating outward.

Sarah gently untied her, running her fingers soothingly over Sam's chafed wrists. Beth swallowed her envy and tried her hardest to stay neutral.

As soon as she was freed Sam got up and stretched. Then she wandered over to one of Emily's windows and gazed out of it. Sarah followed her. "Sam, I know you said it helped you, and it probably did, but isn't it…I mean, it's some sort of demon, isn't it? They don't help people without wanting something in return. Isn't that true?"

"It's not a demon," Sam mumbled. "It's just a spirit."

"Still…"

"I just need some time to think, okay?" Sam wandered then over to the front door. Before any of them could realize what she was doing, she yanked it open and rushed outside.

"Sam!" Sarah bolted after her, followed by almost everyone else. Sam was already gone, dashing down the driveway to their car. She jumped in the driver's side and shut and locked the doors as Sarah ran for the car. "Sam, open the door!"

Sarah was almost at the car when Sam started it and then abruptly backed up. She sped off down the street without a single glance back. Sarah ran after her, screaming her name until Sam disappeared on the horizon.

"Fuck…Sam!" Sarah stared down the now-empty road, toward where Sam had vanished. "God, why does she always have to be like this? Why can't we just talk about it?"

Sam would rather be tortured than talk about her feelings, her vulnerabilities or her fears. In fact, even torturing Sam probably wouldn't get her to admit to many of them. Beth knew that all too well, but it seemed her wife was still learning.

"She'll be okay." Beth nodded at Sarah. "She's always been this way. Trust me."

"Well…fuck. I wish she wouldn't be." Sarah folded her arms and made a noise of disgust. "Besides, we fucking drove here together. How am I supposed to get home?"

"I'll take you home," Beth offered.

Sarah was silent for a moment. "Wait a minute. She didn't even go the direction we came here from. …What if she's not going home?"

"I can take you around and we can look for her." Emily, are you ready to take over again? It's been so many years, my driving's probably really rusty…

Yeah, I don't want you smashing up my car. I'll do it.

"I'll come with you," Matt offered.

Chris and Ashley said something to each other. Then Chris said, "We can drive around and look for her in our car, too. The more the better, right?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Beth said.

"I'll take a ride around, too." Mike was already heading for his car. "If anybody sees her, let the others know."

Sarah looked at all of them in turn. "Thank you all. I really appreciate it..."

Beth nodded. Okay Emily, you ready?

Yes, please God give me my body back. I'm going crazy in here.

Trying not to feel too reluctant about it, Beth surrendered Emily's body back to her. She remained inside Em for the time being – she did want to know what was going to happen with Sam, after all – but she was soon at the mercy of Emily again, as the other girl dictated their bodily movements.

Ah, it's good to be back. Emily cracked her back and rotated her shoulders. Remind me never to give my body up to someone else again. Not being able to control anything is agonizing. She could only imagine how that wendigo must have felt, trapped inside Sam all the time. Its life before must have been pretty shitty for it to want to stay in that position.

"Emily?"

A voice pulled her out of her mulling. She turned to find Jess lingering in the doorway, away from everyone else.

Shit. Right.

Emily hurried to her side. Jess looked at her with great sadness in her eyes. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to.

"It's okay Jess, you can stay here. Sam would understand."

Jess' gaze went glassy as she stared more through Emily than directly at her. "I don't want Sam to disappear…I don't want to lose anyone else…"

Emily took her hand, in what had become their go-to act for grounding one another when they were on the precipice of spiraling, and squeezed it tight. "Someone should be here in case she comes back."

That seemed to cut through Jess' haze of upset. "Yeah," she murmured, "I – I guess that's true."

"We'll find her. She's just confused right now. She needs someone to help talk her through it all. And whether it's you, me, or anyone else who finds her, she'll get that. We've all got her back."

Jess nodded, though Emily couldn't tell if she was genuinely convinced by Em's words or just surrendering the debate. In any case, Emily leaned in and kissed her softly, not caring that everyone was staring at her, or that Mike's eyebrows shot up at the action.

"I'll be back soon."

After speaking with Jess Emily returned to Matt and Sarah. They waited for Mike, Ashley and Chris to leave so that Emily's car was no longer blocked from exiting her own driveway. Once they were able to go, Sarah hopped in the passenger side and Matt slid into the backseat. As Emily opened the driver side door she cast one last look back at her housebound lover, trying not to think about the last time she and Matt had left a sorrowful Jess behind.