The car rolled up a couple hours later and Emerson got out of the driver's seat, frowning as he closed the door behind him. Lucy looked out the window with Jaz, frowning slightly before going down to meet up with him. Ellis was already waiting outside the building patiently for Emerson's return with Blaise, talking to her idly. Aisling had been walking back to the building, her hands in her pockets, ignoring the sick feeling her stomach.
Rory was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables. She was unaware Emerson was back. Jaz frowned slightly. "Do you want me to come with?" Blaise stood close to him, her arms folded thoughtfully as they spoke. Dion had stayed where he was, clearly upset about what happened.
Lucy looked at him, reaching for his hand. "I always want you near me," she replied quietly, giving him a smile. Aisling approached the scene, her arms folded and her brows furrowed. Ellis looked at her, noticing her expression and opened his mouth to speak to her before Emerson joined their group. The expression on Emerson's face gave everyone pause. Heavy with sadness and worry. After a moment, he spoke. The passenger door of the car opened. "I am resigning as leader of the Clan," he said after a moment, his voice soft. "Paul Emerson will be taking over my duties." Paul stepped out of the car, approaching the group.
He took her hand, keeping with her. Blaise raised an eyebrow, evidently surprised and a bit confused. "I'm sorry, what? Why?"
He looked hesitant, running his fingers through his hair. "He created the Clan," he replied after a moment. "It's his right to reclaim it. Besides... with this situation with Ellis, he knows exactly what happened. He was the only adult who's still alive who was there. Ellis and I both have our biased accounts of what happened. Well..." He paused, looking at Ellis. "I have an account of what I understood at the time. He's the only one who knows for sure."
Paul looked at Ellis, folding his hands primly. "Hello, Ellis," he said, not unkindly. Ellis, for his part, was watching Paul with wide eyes, looking absolutely stricken. He didn't say anything, but his grip had slackened on Blaise's hand. When Ellis didn't respond, Paul sighed. "I'm sorry, El," he said, scratching his head. "I've heard that you've been nothing short of an upstanding member of the clan since everything happened. But since I've returned, I can no longer have you around my son. Not after everything I've witnessed. I am issuing a permanent exile." Emerson jerked his head up suddenly, looking up at Paul. "That wasn't... that wasn't what we discussed," he said icily. "We said we would talk about it." "There's nothing left to talk about, Aidan," Paul replied, looking over at him. "He killed your mother and your sister. What else do you need to know?"
Blaise tensed, letting go of his hand and watching Paul carefully. "How do you even know he did that?"
"Chloe confessed before she died," he replied quietly, raising one eyebrow. "She told me everything before she sacrificed herself against the Pillagers." "That's not what happened," Ellis said sharply, his voice low and harsh. He had been silent for the duration of the conversation, eyeing Paul with a degree of awe. He looked down at Blaise and she would see that there were tears in his eyes. "That's not what happened to her."
She looked back at Ellis, her expression turning concerned and curious. She said nothing, though, figuring it was better if she didn't.
Paul raised an eyebrow, eyeing Ellis. "Oh, really? Then what did happen, Ellis? Because I can remember it. You can't." "She..." He looked over at Emerson, trembling. "Emerson, she did kill your mother. She did. She didn't mean to kill Charlotte too. She just wanted your mother gone. She..." He hesitated, looking down at the ground for a moment as he struggled to try to remember. He remembered a dark room and crying out, feeling the blood on his arms. "She poisoned your mother. That's true," he said. "She... she loved Paul." Paul raised his hands in defeat. "As I've said already. She was obsessed with me." "No," Ellis shot back sharply. "She wasn't obsessed. She loved you because you had been together for years without Maya knowing. Through Charlotte's birth, you two were... you two were having an affair." Paul fell silent, watching Ellis with wide eyes.
Emerson took a deep breath, obviously upset by this news but shook his head. "So you did help her poison my mother?" "No," he replied immediately. "No, I didn't know about any of it until the night of the Invasion. I think... I think she might have been sick or something. For her last few months, she would start talking as if I wasn't in the room with her... things that didn't really make any sense." Emerson hesitated, looking over at Paul. "You and Mom had a conversation with me," he remembered slowly, his brow furrowed, "telling me to only have Ellis come stay with us, not the other way around. You said that I wasn't to trust Chloe." Paul bristled, looking at the group. "Chloe was obviously insane," he replied sharply. "As I've said. But this new information seems highly convenient. I never cheated on your mother, Aidan." "You did," Ellis replied sharply. "And then you cut my mother off." "If you weren't involved in the planning, Ellis, then how do you know all this?" Emerson asked, sounding tired. Ellis hesitated, looking conflicted. "She... she had a moment of clarity towards the end, I think. She realized that she had killed Maya and accidentally killed Charlotte too and.... she felt overwhelmed by the guilt. My mother wasn't a bad person, Emerson. She was just... something was wrong in her head. She knew that she had done something really, really bad. She... she took my arm and brought me back to the house and sat down and pulled me into her lap. She was crying and hugging me and talking to me, telling me all this stuff. She wouldn't stop apologizing and she kept petting my head as she told me everything. I think she needed comfort before she..." He paused, his lower lip trembling, his eyes staring off into space as he remembered.
Blaise frowned, coming over to him and rubbing his back gently. She didn't say anything yet, just trying to soothe.
He looked at Blaise for a moment before looking up at Emerson. "She killed herself," he said quietly, trying his best to remain stoic. "She slit her throat with the kitchen knife and she wouldn't let go of me while she did it."
She paused, not quite expecting what he said. It made her sad knowing he had to go through that, a bit angrier at the situation that was presented. A frown crossed her face and she looked up at Paul with cold eyes, waiting for what he had to say.
Paul was glaring at Ellis before turning to Emerson. "Well, Aidan? Who are you going to believe?" he asked sharply. "Your own father? Or a boy who has only now begun to remember a possible backstory?" "If Ellis had wanted to lie," Aisling interjected angrily, "he would have done so yesterday when he was being temporarily exiled." "How did you get back to the emergency shelter first, Ellis?" Emerson asked. He hesitated. "When Mom... when she killed herself, I screamed," he said, looking up at him. Emerson paused. "You were the one that screamed? That brought the Plaguers to the village. You triggered the Invasion?" "I didn't... I didn't mean to," he replied, frowning. "I just... It just happened, you know? Paul came in and got me out from my mother's arms and told me to run to the shelter. So I did." Emerson frowned, looking over at Paul. "I remember the scream, Paul," he said quietly. "I remember the screaming."
