Editing Blake Thorburn (section)

===Malfeasance===
Still trapped in the mirror, eight hours pass and Blake is left with no one to talk to except for the spirits that lurk inside him (he names the one that's responsive Lefty) before Ty and Evan come in to play poker with him because they felt guilty about his imprisonment. During this time Blake asks that Evan at least take an escort to see Green Eyes and tell her he's fine when he gets a chance. Rose shows up later, and they leave with her not willing to free him until at least after the contest is over and she leaves a bogeyman to watch him. Once she's gone Blake starts experimenting with the mirror world and realizing the control he has over it, confident he would find a way out.

He manages to look over the books in the reflections and becomes more informed about bogeymen from the catalog book when [[Tiffany]] arrives to speak with Blake. When he tries to get her to turn on Rose by citing it was her fault they were in their current mess, she tells him to stop it because she's loyal to her since she helped his other friends after he was gone and there was nothing she could do. Blake apologized and settled down, not less angry but out of shame.

The conversation the drifted to Tiffany's upbringing, where she reveals she made a lot of mistakes because she was free-falling before Alexis found her and that her greatest fear is that she'd end up being backed into a corner and falling again. Once she leaves he begins experimenting with the spirits inside of him, physically pulling them out in the shape of birds, until he had Lefty leave the mirror and shift it. The spirit, however, shifted it incorrectly and thus alerted the [[Bogeyman]] guarding him, who called for [[Rose]].

Rose tells him he has no idea what's going on and to just sit still and then she'd come back for him with a mirror. While waiting he browsed through another book that was in his view on sympathetic magic and used two other spirit-birds to power the playing cards he had. With them he moved the cards to cut the circle just as the bogeyman broke the mirror and stepped into the living room where the others were. Evan then explains they're under attack by the [[Behaim Circle]] and the two leave to deal with it.

Evan and Blake go out and see [[Changelings]] walking the street before deciding to go towards the nearest house of the Behaims, belonging to the elders of the council and Ben Behaim. Evan gets the window open and Blake listens into their conversation, when they get caught by two [[familiars]] in the form of cats, [[Cranaus]] and [[Hylas]], who inform them of the fact that the elders are trying to decide between giving a weapon to attack their enemies to either [[Timothy Behaim|Timothy]] or [[Alister Behaim]], leaning towards Alister, who is planning on attacking the Hillglades House, with their reasoning being that if they succeed and stop him their actions will earn them power by influencing events, and if they fail then they have indirectly disposed of spies.

Blake and Evan go to the school where Mags is with the junior council after writing a message to Rose, where Alister has been expecting him to challenge him with a formal declaration of war to stop him from attacking the [[Hillglades House]], having already foreseen this using [[Tarot Cards]] and accepts the challenge. He chooses a challenge because the cards show him that while Blake has killed before he would prefer it done peacefully an address [[Evan]] and Blake as a pair.

The two agree to the terms and Alister predicts based on the cards that [[Rose]] would send backup and even if he won things wouldn't work out as he hoped. Evan and Blake challenge him on his predictions, with Evan striking him once to challenge him on his statement about watching out for his eyes, but Alister reverses the damage by manipulating time and then summons [[Tick]] to hold off Evan. Blake jumps through the mirrors and cuts down Tick, before using the Hyena as the means to challenge his words about the challenge leaving no permenant damage and scaring him. This empowers Blake by his nature and he sends Evan off to try and stall Rose's reinforcements while he explains that while Alister was born with the right talent and into the right family, he was a Behaim and Blake had already beaten [[Laird]] and [[Duncan]] using the [[Rule of Three]], meaning if he did the same by drawing his cards that let him forsee the future and the warning that came with the blade a third time he would lose.

Blake uses sympathetic magic to manipulate the Hyena after tossing it through the mirror to attack him, intent on causing a minor wound that, if he couldn't heal, would render his statement false and offend the spirits for lying or force him to use his implement and foresee the same card as before to result in the same. But the challenge eventually comes to a draw due to the intervention of [[Sandra Duchamp]] and Eblis, a guest of [[Johannes]], due to her sensing the [[bogeymen]] that Rose sensed moving before night fell.

Alister goes off to class while Blake and Evan depart back to the Hillglades House. There Rose states while she didn't appreciate him stalling her minions, they are on better terms than before and she won't try to seal him again unless he provokes her. Inside Rose provokes him by trying to order him around in an attempt to see where he stands because from her memories that she managed to piece together he was created to fight her enemies and continue to do so until he burned out, but that backfired when he fell into "The Drains" because the shift wasn't as clean as it should have been and he's still looking for a fight.

Tiffany quells the pair before anymore hostilities could be resumed and Evan returned to tell them that the [[Thorburn Family]] was coming. They send Rose off to go take a shower and get cleaned up while Alexis finally talks to Blake about how conflicting everything is, seeing her work turning him into something less than human, but he was grateful for her since he didn't have the ability to create while his friends did and she made him feel alive. Alexis has to go out for a smoke afterwards and Evan returns to talk with him about how they need a theme song and they need to focus on surviving, although the two of them needed to work on that given one was a ghost and the other was sent into limbo.

The family arrived in order to present the information they plan on exposing to the lawyers if they get involved, but Blake realizes it's too simple and conjures the reflection of the paperwork and learns that they plan on getting her sent to a mental asylum with Duncan and Sandra's help long enough to get her out of the way while they take care of her allies. Rose tells him she'll let them take her and then let them deal with the consequences.

Blake states that [[Laird]] knew how to counter [[demons]] and they had someone who could read the [[Augury|future]], so it was a gamble, but Rose states she has little choice and to be patient before he makes a mistake. She then goes back and calls her family out on trying to send her to a mental hospital, stating a member of the family informed her to spread distrust, before warning them that the house had been attacked before and if they left it empty then it was likely that the people who want her gone would burn it down and the property would likely go to the [[Mann, Levinn, and Lewis Firm|Lawyers]].

Blake takes it as a cue to break glass in order to strengthen himself, scaring [[Ivy Thorburn|Ivy]] and [[James Thorburn|James]], both of whom could see him despite being normal. He accidentally hurts James the second time before using [[Sympathetic Magic|sympathy magic]] to hide the contract. When Rose leaves out, after warning them not to try and force her friends out, Blake them loiters around and talks to Alexis before [[Peter Thorburn|Peter]] tries to confront her on the symbols on the floor. He tries to help out during the conversation and advise Alexis, but eventually she leaves to get away from Peter and he instead spies on the family as Peter lays out a plan with [[Ellie Thorburn|Ellie]] and [[Roxanne Thorburn|Roxanne]], intending to use whatever occurs at night to destabilize Rose's position for their own benefit.

Blake then goes to look over the contract, noticing that the work put into it was extensive and that his family only came together to screw over someone else, before he spies Ellie heading upstairs. When she started stealing his friends belongings he scared her from the mirrors and used his magic to take the bag of belongings and hide it. When Ellie went back downstairs he found they were under attack and couldn't do anything to stop it as they came prepared for him, only able to alert his friends as [[Eva]] and [[Andy]] subdued the rest of the [[Thorburn Family]].

The others start thinking of countermeasures, including sending out the bogeymen and [[goblins]] they have at the ready and summoning a wind [[Elemental|elemental]], Sylph Elatus, and a minor [[incarnation]] of Choleric, but the witch hunters bounce [[Diary Girl]] back and she begins to attack them instead. Blake tries to reason with her, but she was too far gone and his friends began to tell him their goodbyes and to support Rose and take care of Evan. Blake leapt out of the mirror and used the Hyena to subdue Diary Girl, but the process shunted him out of the house.

Because of all the emotional damage more and more of his human appearance was lost and he called for Evan. The two then ventured to see if they could stop the attack by going after the council, but with no luck they decided to head towards the school and then asked [[Briar Girl]] to assemble the junior council. Only five arrived besides [[Mags]]: [[Penelope Duchamp|Penelope]] and [[Lola Duchamp]], as well as [[Gavin Behaim|Gavin]], [[Ainsley Behaim|Ainsley]], and [[Craig Behaim]].

Blake greets the ones he's met, although they don't remember him, and doesn't deny responsiblity for killing Laird, maiming Duncan, and trying to unseat Alister. When asked by Lola what place he's standing in all of this, he states he's not explicitly in Rose's camp as he doesn't agree with her decisions, and that he didn't want to be a part of their world but was dragged into it. He also tells Craig he didn't want to kill Laird, but its mere words since he can still lie, which is why Lola and Gavin proposition he binds himself to the Seal of Solomon, though he doesn't want to, which he explains after Mags arrives and notes the other adult members of the council knows he's there but won't interfere as they know he's looking for them.

Blake explains that he wants the to try and reason with them because they aren't as tightly bound by history as their seniors are and that the system itself is corrupt. When asked what makes them think he can be convinced, he points out that while Laird used the power he had been given responsibly and Duncan the same, although less, Alister would squander all the power he had gained and how he spied on their family meeting while they were in school. He points out they're like cows being milked for power but only the chosen ones get to use it, and while he's not trying to be their friends he does want them to come to the agreement that the status quo sucks and do something to change it.

Lola counters this by stating if they just play along this time then for this generation things will get better, but Blake counters by saying why would they stop when its working if it means they'll get more power and asks them to fight it, but it falls on deaf because all of them were either on the cusps of adulthood or had a voice so they were too deeply indoctrinated.

When Briar Girl asks what she would gain, he points out that when the Thorburn fall then the marshes will be drained and the Others in it would be gone and she's similar to him in that she's simply being swept up in it. When she calls him on this because of the fact that a demon will be let loose due to Rose's actions, he states that if things keep going the way they are everyone loses.

Afterwards they try to get him bound by the seal or call the discussion to a close, but he asks Penelope what's her stake in it and why Lola was willing to tolerate a marriage she hates to help them but she doesn't try to save her from the marriage. She doesn't want to weaken her family because she cares about them and while she's not always stating their parents are right, they do care and he's just a stranger with words.

He then tells them that he'd given them proof that he's willing to act rather than with just words and, when it comes up, to remember that he would have given up everything to go back to normalcy. He then leaves with Evan to go back to his home and help his family, against every instinct he had.

Blake instructs them as Evan unlocks them from the handcuffs, with Callan being unconscious while the others are awake and aware. He's basically gives them a small introduction and warning before Eva comes back down and Ellie baits her into kicking her before telling them to behave and they'll probably never see them again. Once she leaves Blake explains they can't run since the witch hunters see them as their mission and will come after them and warns against trying.

He then explains he knows them fairly well and that he won't try to appeal to their sense of goodness, but rather if the others win then they can't sell the house. Peter makes references to fairy tales, leading to others thinking he's suffering from mild hypothermia from his fever, but Blake can tell he put the pieces together from the diagrams and had an idea. He then tells them that Evan will guide them to a cellar to hide in, but the witch hunters would likely find them. Peter wants to repurpose a bomb, but stops when he sees the rig and realizes it would go off while tampered with and Ellie, Kathryn, and Callan, settle for hiding with Peter, Christoff, and Roxanne deciding to help him by making traps around the house.

Peter then questions him on the circumstances and Blake tells him he can explain later when Eva finds out they've escaped and sees Evan, realizing Blake is there. Andy tells her to simply let them hide so they can keep the plan simple, but she intends to use tear gas on them instead. Blake and Peter run interference as he notices Peter had begun flooding the house from the second floor, making more surfaces for him to travel through.

Eva tries to scare him with the threat of telling him how they dispose of [[Others]], namely sealing them up and burying them out in the permafrost where no one will find them, but he figures she's making sure he stays there where she can keep him in check as she cuts off the lights to deny him reflections, eventually reaching her brother where he stresses that they keep it simple and they only needed to stay put for thirty-minutes when the sun goes down. Blake has the other family members in the basement cut the power before Andy could and held him down long enough for Peter to come out and hit him with a toilet lid, knocking him out.

Eva sees her brother injured and threatens to kill them all with an incendiary grenade before charging Peter, breaking Blake's arm in the process. She managed to mount and knock Peter around until Blake grabs her and then she threatened to let the grenade fall with the pin out. Blake grabs it and she slips from his grasp and breaks the surface of the water, leaving him with the grenade in the mirror world. He tosses it into the darkness and the goes back to find Eva holding her brother, willing to negotiate for getting him to a hospital.

Blake tells her she's staying put so they can try to survive the night with the others, intent on using her since he knows she won't go anywhere without Andy as long as he can reach them. He then has them prepare by summoning [[Midge]], [[James Corvidae|James]], and [[Green Eyes]].