The Long Road Home

Part I of II

Episode: 4x11

Summary: The students return to the school after the events in La noche de las dos lunas.


The drive back to school was filled with fraught silence. Maria held tightly onto the steering wheel of Hector's car, which she had borrowed to rescue Ivan and Julia from Noiret's henchman. The passenger seat beside her was empty. Tony should have been sitting there, but he had given his life to save them. Even though he had caused this entire fiasco by toying with Noiret, Maria still felt anguish at his loss. She bit down to prevent tears from forming again. She had wanted Tony out of their lives, but not like this…

Maria looked in the rearview mirror at Ivan and Julia, who were sitting the backseat. She had to remember to be strong for them. Julia had a twisted ankle. Ivan was sporting a black eye with blood still staining his face. It was an unholy sight, but they were alive and seemed well enough. Ivan's gaze was distant as he stared out of the side window. Julia had managed to stop crying, and she had curled herself around him. Her focus was on how she entwined her hands with his.

They were just kids, damn it, thought Maria. Ivan was still wearing his suit for the party at school. She reflected how differently this night was supposed to go.

She and the staff had been anticipating the Night of Two Moons for days. It seemed like the perfect night for making memories of Ivan enjoying his school days. Maria didn't have a real childhood, and she wanted to see her son celebrate the party happily with his friends. His only concerns for the evening should have been how to steal wine with the boys and dancing with the girl he liked. He wasn't supposed to be sitting in the back of a stolen car, bruised and silent as a graveyard, after watching two men die fighting. The more Maria thought about it, the more she felt sick. This was not how things were supposed to go. Not this night of unthinkable horrors.

When she saw the school gates, a wave of relief washed over her. The distance from the lagoon wasn't very far, but time had lost meaning after they had barely escaped with their lives. Maria had to focus on their next steps. She needed Fermin. He would know what to do. She would swallow her pride and ask him for help one last time. She couldn't move Tony and the other man's bodies alone. The thought almost made her start sobbing again. She couldn't do this alone.

"We need to go in quietly to avoid Noiret, understand?" Maria said, finally breaking the silence. She parked the car and turned to face them, and remembered Ivan's appearance. She reached into the glove compartment and retrieved some tissues for him to wipe his face. "We'll go in through the back entrance. Go straight to your rooms and clean up, like nothing happened. I'll take care of the rest."

Ivan simply nodded and exited the car.

"Thanks," Julia said quietly and followed Ivan. As they walked into the school together, he put his arm around her.

Maria lingered in the car for a moment, contemplating her unfinished business. She had warned Tony not to mess with Noiret, and now they had all paid the price. She gathered her courage and went to back to the school, knowing everything had changed again.

When she entered the kitchen, there was no one inside. It was strange since the party wasn't scheduled to end for another hour. Where were Fermin and the other waiters? And Jacinta? Something wasn't right. The dining hall was still noisy. Maria went to the doorway to see what was going on at the party. The scene she found before her was unreal.

An emergency medical team had crashed through the crowd of students and faculty, and they were loading someone onto a stretcher. It was Hector. He was unconscious. Elsa was splitting her attention between him and giving orders to Arturo, the director's secretary.

"Where is Jacinta? Have someone find her and tell her what's happened. I'm going to the hospital with him," Elsa commanded. "Have the students return to their rooms for the rest of the evening like any other Friday night."

Arturo nodded and pushed aside several people to enact Elsa's orders. She followed the emergency team as they wheeled Hector out of the school. Maria saw one of the waiters and asked him what had happened, but all he knew was that Hector had collapsed after his toast. How could the evening have taken this worse turn? Hector had seemed in good spirits when she saw him earlier in the evening. She needed to find Fermin and Jacinta.

When she re-entered the kitchen, she found Jacinta in the pantry, searching frantically through the shelves.

"Maria!" said Jacinta in surprise. "Do you know where the first aid kit is?"

"Jacinta, the ambulance already took Hector away," said Maria quietly.

"What?" she asked, and stopped moving.

"They didn't say why he collapsed, but Elsa has gone with him," Maria told her. "All we can do is wait."

Jacinta's face became pale. "Did I die and end up in hell?"

"I know how you're feeling," Maria replied, unaware that Jacinta was trying to cover up her own tragedies.

There was a dead man in their room. Jacinta's long and disastrous history with Joaquin had finally come to an end that evening. She had barely escaped with her life thanks to Martin, who had stabbed Joaquin with the screwdriver when he tried to shoot at her and Lucas. She was focused on tending to Martin's gunshot wound. Then they had the task of hiding Joaquin's body before those he worked with discovered the truth and came after them. An old woman, a child and a wounded man were going to have to hide a body. The party was the least of her problems at that point. Now Hector was unwell. Jacinta kept her composure and focused on keeping Maria out of their room. It would keep her mind off Hector until news came in.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to have the room to myself tonight," Jacinta said. "Where is Fermin?"

Maria shrugged. "I was looking for him myself."

"Well, that proves we're not in hell if that scoundrel isn't to be found," said Jacinta. "I don't think this night can get any worse."

Maria hoped that Jacinta hadn't jinxed them further. She also hoped that Fermin had already not left the school early, as he had said he was going to leave soon permanently. She couldn't lose one more person tonight.

"I'm going to need you to help the staff clean up the dining area," Jacinta informed her. Maria simply nodded and stayed where she stood. "Now."

"Right," said Maria and she went back into the dining room.

Jacinta shook her head tearfully. She managed to find the first aid kit by the stove and went back up to her room to help Martin. While Maria helped the staff clean up, she focused on how much she needed to remain strong for everyone else and keep going. She would sneak off and check in on the kids as soon as she could. In preparation, she loaded into her cart aspirin, water, bandages and cups for tea. Finally, when the other servers had left, she heated water for tea.

Fermin was greeted by the load whistling from the tea kettle on the stove when he arrived. His head was still throbbing from the blow given by Don Joaquin. The old devil must have been drinking his milk all these years to hit that hard.

"What is going on here?" asked Fermin.

Maria turned around to see him standing in the doorway, looking like something the cat dragged in. She turned off the stove and rushed to him. "Fermin! Where the hell have you been?"

Her tone snapped him out of his daze. "Maria, is everything all right?"

She looked directly at him, her eyes full of tears. "Everything has gone to hell. Noiret had Ivan kidnapped by some man. Tony and I managed to get him back… but Tony didn't make it… Fermin, there are two dead men out in the woods and I don't know what to do!"

Fermin wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'm so sorry that I wasn't here… But Maria, this is the last time. I'm sorry."

Maria didn't like it, but she nodded complacently. "Fine."

"You'll cover for me with Jacinta?" Fermin asked.

"Oh, you don't know," Maria gasped. "The party is over. Hector got sick and had to be taken to the hospital."

"Fuck," hissed Fermin. "Is it the Night of Two Moons or is it the Night of the Living Dead?"

"I don't know, but I have to check on Ivan," Maria replied. She went over to the stove and took the kettle and placed it in her cart.

As she was walking out of the kitchen, Fermin called out to her, "You shouldn't be alone tonight. Stay with me?"

Maria thought about it for a moment. "Sure."

Fermin left shortly after she did. The pair was unaware that Jacinta had been waiting for them to leave, so she and Martin could move Joaquin. She had overheard their conversation, but decided to keep it to herself. She wasn't going to get involved with more crimes and dead men. One demon had been put to rest, but the knights of hell would be coming for them.

This whole night was going to warrant a new heart transplant. The first one was strong enough to help Martin move Joaquin's lifeless body into the woods, but Jacinta wasn't sure how it would survive if anything happened to Hector. She silently prayed that the three deaths this night had given the devil his due.