“How are you alive?” I hissed into the phone. I mean, this was insane. We saw him in the fire. 

“Not important right now, Nandhipa.” 

Oh sweet baby Jesus, I nearly fainted. There was no mistaking that playful voice. It was David. 

Archie nudged me, confused as hell. 

“It’s David,” I whispered. 

“Nandhipa?” David called, his voice slightly static. “Listen to me. It’s important. I know how to kill Isipoki.” 

My eyes widened in the dark. 

“You can use Holy Water to destroy it,” he said. “According to Grandma’s Busi Book of JuJu, the cursed scarecrow can be killed by drowning it in Holy Water.” 

I remained silent, a bit taken off guard. Holy Water? Holy cow, how could we be so stupid not to figure it out? Supernatural also used Holy Water. 

“Nandhipa?” 

“Yeah,” I croaked.

Silence. 

I swallowed, clearing my throat. “Are you okay?” 

He did not reply.

“David?” 

“We screwed up, Nandhipa,” he said. “We screwed up so badly. Promise me we will never do something this stupid again. Regardless of how angry we are.” 

“Promise.”

“Promise me you will destroy that bag of straw.” 

“Promise.” 

“Tell those two idiots I love them, okay. Damn, we were epic while we lasted. You are three friends of chaos.”

“Four,” I growled. 

“Three,” he stated firmly. “Now, wipe those tears and make me proud. Be the hero that you are, Nandhipa and destroy it. You got this.”

“David, wait!” 

But it was too late. The line had gone dead. I sat there, phone in hand, my heart breaking into a million pieces as I felt David leave us for good.