Stupid Question 101

Help, I just tried to reattach my Ebrake cables. There is no way on god's earth they seem long enough, I changed the two rear cables when I swapped the rear end out but that shouldn't matter because the rear brackets for the cables obviously hold them in the same spot in relation to the main cable so WTF. Do I need longer clips (join the rears to the main) does someone make them? Anybody ever run into this?