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Claudette wasn't moving.
She was sat on the car hood at the Blood Lodge, side by said with the Wraith. No, she was side by side with Philip. Their arms touched, and she could feel her anger start to boil over.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!"
Philip looked at her, confused. "Is there a problem?"
"This is unfair! This isn't justice! You're telling me you're here for defending yourself against a genocidal death squad and your boss who was trying to kill you???"
Philip looked taken aback, but he nodded slowly. "That is about the measure of it, yes. I thought I was fairly clear. Was my english bad again?"
And that takes the wind out of Claudette's sails. "No, Philip. Your english was perfect. Although I do wish you'd start teaching me Hasau."
Philip shook his head. "I am proud of my new language. I am proud to be Canadian! I will speak the english language, and when I am more fluent, the french as well. But," he said, leveling a sad gaze at the huffy girl, "you are deflecting."
"We've been hanging out for weeks, Philip. Only weeks out of the years we've been here. Because I thought you were like these other monsters."
"They are not all so bad."
"You're telling me the Ghostface got off wrong?"
Philip shook his head emphatically. "No, no. But Rin (that's the ghost girl) only killed for the first time in this realm. Evan, the man with the traps for bears, fought hard to leave this place. Not all of us are innocent, but we are at least not monsters."
"Philip..." Claudette trailed off.
How long had she thought of the man beside her as a monster? How long had she though him her enemy? Just because she was so sure that he was enjoying this.
And then he had ruined all that hatred and fear. He had grabbed her in a trial, and as he carried her to a hook, he kept whispering small words, words she could barely hear.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
It was enough to break the ice. And once the ice had been broken Claudette found that she enjoyed spending time with Philip. Philip seemed to think much the same. Claudette reminded him of his grandmother. She always did the right thing, even when it cost her. And she was so smart and focused on learning, even here. It was like his grandmother's second coming.
They found family in each other, and so Philip had risked everything. He'd decided Claudette deserved to know how horrible he'd been in life.
Claudette though? She didn't think Philip had been horrible at all.
He'd been put into such a bad situation. But he still tried to save everyone he could. He tried to save, not to kill.
With that thought, Claudette's fists balled up in resolve. "That's it," she grit out. "I've had enough of this place. It was bad enough when the Entity was sending the monsters after me and my friends. But Philip, you're like the brother I never had. I am not going to let you go through this anymore, and I am not going to let the Entity make you believe that you're a monster. We're getting out. Tonight."
Philip smiled a genuine smile, and hope built in his heart. When Claudette said it, when she sounded so self assured, he could almost believe that it would happen.
"Right. We'll need blight serum and Haddie to start with. She knows her way around this place better than anyone. Oh, and gather any of the killers you don't think are monsters. No one gets left behind. We're taking everything away from this bitch."
And so they separated, sure. But when they met up, less than an hour later, a large group of survivors and killers formed together, they knew this would be it. They knew they would win.
The Entity sent her fog, but it wasn't enough. Not against the powers of the boon totems Mikaela and Jonah and Yoichi had set up around the perimeter. Not against the combine scientific genius of Talbot and Claudette, working together. They punched a hole right through the entity's digestive tract, back into the real world. They wouldn't be sure which world it was until they left, unable to return, Haddie had warned. It could be one already destroyed by the Entity.
Claudette didn't care. It was a risk she would have to take. She refused to allow Philip even one more night of this treatment.
And so their group, the fifty-five strong group, banded together and walked through the tear in reality. They escaped.
All for the love of a woman's brother. All for the love of a man who should never have been cast as a monster.
Claudette smiled at the breach, and she held out her hand.
"Are you ready Philip?"
"I believe we will see Allah's light soon. It has been too long."
He took her hand.
"You're teaching me Hasau when we get back."
"You are not even of Nigerian descent!"
"I don't care. You are my brother, Philip, and I am your sister. You're with me when the world is too much and I need a minute to find myself. Let me be with you when you yearn for a home that no longer exists. Let us help each other. Together."
Philip smiled and nodded, stepping forwards.
"Together."