Better Off Dead (Kellic) ✔️

31: Kellin

**Kellin's POV**

Part of me was relieved with what Jaime had found. But I had to admit that the other part of me hated it, because it meant that Vic would move on and get out of this place. He had to. And this wasn't the time to become selfish, not after everything.

Vic deserved a long, happy life with his friends and family. He deserved a chance at growing old and exploring the world- I know he wanted to.

I couldn't let whatever I was feeling for him rob him of this.

A few hours of awkward silence remained as both Vic and I sat silently in the living room, thinking. I wondered what he was thinking about, though.

Eventually, Jaime arrived, carrying all kinds of stuff with him. He started unpacking right away, pulling out things such as candles, chalk, a bottle of strange liquid, odd stones with symbols on it, a few other things that I'd once or twice read about in the past, and finally a really old looking book.

The book held the same symbol on the cover as the machine did.

Jaime began explaining the steps of the ritual, which sounded pretty tricky.

"Where the hell did you find all of this?" Vic asked, an impressed yet shocked tone to his voice.

Jaime shrugged lightly. "Like I said, I contacted that gypsy woman. She has a whole store and everything, with all kinds of sketchy witchy stuff."

Even I was impressed by that. If only I had known the woman when I was still alive, that would've been something great to write about in one of my books. Surely that would've been good enough to be made into a movie... I could've made a fortune with that!

Little late now though, isn't it?

Don't get sidetracked, Kellin. That life is in the past.

I sighed deeply as I watched Jaime set everything up. Vic didn't do much but watch him in the same way. He seemed reluctant somehow.

"Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention." Jaime then said, abandoning what he was doing and turning towards Vic, who immediately looked up at him. "Is Kellin here?"

Finally, he got my name right.

"Yeah, I think so." Vic murmured quietly. "Why?"

"Well, this ritual won't just remove your mark." He pointed out, looking like he was deep in thought. "It will remove every mark that death has ever left on whoever used that machine."

I frowned questioningly and glanced at Vic, who pretty much looked just as confused. "And what does that mean exactly?" He asked.

"It means that Kellin, and whoever else decided to be a cheater, won't be stuck here anymore."

For the first time since Jaime had told Vic about the ritual, he smiled. He actually genuinely smiled. "You'll be able to move on, Kell." He spoke quietly, smiling down at the floor.

"Yeah, basically." Jaime confirmed.

It seemed to make Vic happy, but honestly it meant very little to me. I guess we both just wanted what we thought was best for the other.

I wanted Vic to live, and he wanted me to move on. Even if it meant that we'd be miserable about that for a while. I never expected that I'd be able to 'move on' though; I always thought that this was it. This newfound information was strange to me. I didn't really know what to think of it.

"Well, I'm ready if you are." Jaime said as he finished setting everything up. This stuff really did look sketchy, even sketchier than what I was used to.