"For Vivi's sake," Mystery's voice carried undertones of an ongoing snarl, "I am restraining myself, Lewis. But I warn you. If you have caused her any damage, any harm at all, the remainder your afterlife will be short and painful."

Her hand dropped away from her face, the warmth shrinking down to a quivering pinprick of heat by her collarbone.

She opened her mouth to reassure Mystery, but nothing came out. Her words had vanished, swept away by Lewis' rising fear.

"That is not helping your case, Pepper."

Swallowing, she tried again, forcing every syllable out. "Nnnnnot…. huuurting… mmmmmeMystery you can't think I'd ever lay a hand on her, I didn't even mean to, I was trying to catch her-it was an accident!"

An accident? Yes, she could see herself falling. Diving over the edge to catch her, save her. Then…

"Accidental possession is possible with your level of inexperience as a fresh ghost," Mystery allowed, his eyes narrowing over gleaming spectacles. "That begs the question, however, why were you trying to catch her? What happened?"

Lewis' thoughts clicked through Vivi's mind, suddenly full of the question where was Mystery when we were in the cave? And the answer came to him, soaked in Vivi's guilt. She had left him unconscious by the side of the road.

Her mouth moved without her. "After she left you, she and Kay went to the cave. The Shiker was waiting… Arthur and I weren't far behind. None of her spells worked. He had me, then Arthur… Arthur started shouting at me. And at Vivi too."

"That doesn't make sense," Vivi blurted past Lewis as his fear gave way to confusion. "He knew it was anger that drew the Shiker to him the night Lewis died. He knew better than to…" Her eyes widened, and Lewis' grief drew a groan from her. "He did it on purpose. He baited the Shiker."

He saved us.

Mystery exhaled sharply through his teeth. "That explains why Arthur is not here, hovering. It does not, however, explain why you had to catch Vivi."

What happened to Kay? Again, Lewis' question wound through Vivi's mind before coming on the answer. The curse. Mr. Pepper's confession. The firstborn's mind to come undone.

Vivi clutched her stomach, gasping for air. Lewis' despair was sweeping her with it, dragging her down.

Mystery kept one arm wrapped around her, pressing the flat of his free hand to her forehead. "Not today, Vivi. Lewis, if you truly mean what you say about not hurting Vivi, you will find a way to contain yourself. Now."

Warmth spread from her forehead, washing over her mind and spreading down to fill her chest, bracing her against Lewis' whirling emotions.

Kay was losing her mind and I did nothing. I pushed her to the edge and the Shiker took her the rest of the way. I broke my sister. I used her deepest fear against her.

With Lewis' thoughts filtering through hers, Vivi grasped for the words to tell Mystery. "Kay… Arthur-no, he was possessed. The Shiker kissed her, and when he pulled away, his voice was different. Lewis thinks he stole Kay's voice somehow. Kay ran, and I tried to stop her. She…" she lifted her arms. From wrists to shoulders her arms were wrapped in bandages. "Burns and slices on my arms don't help my case here, do they?"

"No. You've made this entire situation decidedly more difficult than it had to be," Mystery growled. "It will be at least two more days before I can release you without suspicion."

"Two more days? How long have I been here?"

"You were here one and a half days before I arrived. I would have come sooner, but I was asleep." His words were clipped. "So sorry I couldn't make it on time."

This time it was Vivi who shrank from his words.

"Of all the idiotic, bull-headed clueless things you could have done, I didn't believe you had it in you, Vivi. You have the ability to recognize your actions are out of line, I have seen you do it time and time again, and yet in a situation where the most people are in danger you decide to ignore it? We've lost Arthur. We've lost Kay, it seems. We've certainly cut off any immediate rescue of Chloe, who could be completely relocated by the time you are released. The Shiker has full access to any plan or conversation we've made with Arthur, and we have none of the knowledge Arthur was probably piecing together for us. Oh, and you are currently being possessed by a ghost who has no idea what he's doing and probably can't even disengage himself."

Mystery's hand slipped into her pants pocket, withdrawing a cracked locket. "Damaged. Badly damaged. Probably wouldn't last an hour without you at this point, even if he could disengage. Gods alone know what the Shiker is doing to Arthur right now."

"Stop," Lewis pleaded. "Mystery, she's-"

"No, Lewis, you stop. Neither of you have any idea of the seriousness of this situation and the losses we have incurred. We may never get Kay or Arthur back as they were, and Arthur may already be dead. Not to mention, now we have a precedent for the curse being linear."

"Linear?" Lewis echoed.

"Yes. If Lewis fulfilled the first line of the curse, and Kay the second, who is next?"

The second one to kill and rage.

"According to Arthur, Aji was incarcerated for setting fire to his house. If he isn't already dead, Aji may well-" Mystery sucked in a breath. "In fact that may even be preferable to the Shiker. If he's already elbows deep in your family, Lewis, he may want to watch the rest of the curse unfold-damn you, Vivi! Why?"

Vivi pulled away from Mystery, wrapping her arms around herself and withdrawing to the far corners of her mind. He was right. It was her fault, all of it. Arthur was right. Mystery was right. She'd messed everything up.

You're not the only one, Lewis whispered through her thoughts. I see what you saw. I see Arthur. Vivi… Her whole body shuddered as they recalled the fiery night in the graveyard, this time through Vivi's eyes. Then again, the sight of Lewis looming like the grim reaper over an exhausted Kay and Arthur, wielding a violin as a weapon. Saw Kay's face wet with tears, Arthur's stony with rage. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, wasn't he? He will never forgive me.

"He's going to die," she said quietly. "Or worse. And there's nothing we can do. I can't tell him I'm sorry either. We can't save Chloe."

What about Kay?

"Even if we find her, she's lost her mind. How do you take care of a mad siren?"

Mom… A wave of bitterness rose in her, quickly quashed by Lewis' determination. Mom will know. We have to bring her in on the situation.

Vivi closed her mouth, realizing she'd begun talking to herself, shutting Mystery out. She couldn't bear to look at him, but he deserved an apology.

She took a breath. "Mystery, listen. I-"

"You are confined to this room for the next two days." Mystery's voice was flat. "I will recommend you be allowed free use of your limbs. I suggest you act with care so you keep that privilege. Due to the severity of your reactions to the paramedics who attended you, medication is a requirement, not a suggestion, in order for you to leave. Is that understood?"

Stung, Vivi nodded slowly. "Yes, but Mystery-"

"That's Dr. M, if you please. I will return for our session tomorrow." He rose, crossing to the door. "I suggest you sit and consider the effect of your actions on others while I work to get you out of here. Then maybe, just maybe, we can avoid any more disasters."

…..

Mr. Pepper glanced up from his notebook, his gaze lingering briefly on his youngest daughter-still staring intently at the first page of her book-before assessing his wife. Slumped over onto the table, Teles had keeled over ten minutes ago, but not before ordering him and Dulcie to stay at the table. And telling Dulcie to drink her apple juice.

Carefully, he tore out a page from the notebook, holding his breath all the while. Teles didn't stir.

Dulcie was looking at him now. He gestured for her to come closer, and carefully scooted toward her. He took her book as she approached, sliding the notebook paper inside and handing it back to her. He took her hands, wishing with all his might that he had it in him to smile for her sake. But there was no joy in what he had to do, only fear.

"Dulcie," he whispered, "You know where I keep my wallet? It's in my pants pocket, the ones hanging on the back of the bedroom door."

She gave a tiny nod, and he squeezed her hands.

"I need you to do something for me, Dulcie. I need you to go get my wallet. And then I need you to do one more thing, and I need you to be very brave for me. Can you do that?"

Another tiny nod.

"I need you to go to Kingsmen Mechanics. I need you to go to Lance and give him the letter I put in your book, and all the money in my wallet. He's going to look after you for a little while, maybe with Arthur."

Her fingers tightened around his, her eyes widening.

"I know you don't want to, but it's important. Mommy isn't well right now. I need to make sure you're okay." He brought his hand up to her cheek, cupping her face. "What would I do without my sweet girl, huh?"

She gripped his hand harder, pointing to him, then her mother.

"I'll be okay, sweetie. I promise. Maybe I can even help Mommy get better. But I need you to go for now. I'd come with you, but you know I can't leave right now."

Dulcie wound her arms around his neck, clinging tightly for a moment, before tiptoeing out of the kitchen and down the hall. A few minutes later, the front door creaked, signaling his daughter's escape.

A glass of apple juice sat in front of Dulcie's empty chair. Mrs. Pepper had put it there for Dulcie, taking a cup of tea for herself. Thankfully, Dulcie was a sharp little observer. She'd nodded when her Mother told her to drink it, and kept staring at her book, ignoring the glass. Five minutes later, Mrs. Pepper slumped over, and Mr. Pepper began writing to Lance.

He waited another five minutes before scooting his chair around, next to Teles. She was breathing, but barely. If he called an ambulance, there was no telling if she would wake up like this or with feathers and talons. She was immortal, he had to hope whatever she'd tried to poison herself with would work itself out of her system.

After all, he was increasingly certain this was not the first time she had tried. Perhaps not even the first time she'd tried with Dulcie.

…..

Note: It's been awhile since I mentioned credits, ya? Thanks to the admin of The Rise and Fall of Nickelodian facebook page for beta reading chapters at 2am when I'm freaking out about whether or not it makes sense. Thanks to Pixelw0lf, Wanderer and R5h for near constant tagging along in stream, catching my errors and brainstorming stuff with me, as well as jogging my brain about a few of these plot points. Reminder that mute Arthur headcanon attributed to Dontfeeddaelves, zeroroheichou and darkfire-kai.