Once the cruiser was out of sight, Manfred and Gretel walked home and stood in front of the house that was glowing red and clearly filled with more ghosts than had been there before.

Gretel crossed her arms at the sight of this and took a deep breath. "We're gonna need more holy water."

Manfred looked to his sister with a look on his face that said they were going to need a lot more than that. It was because of this that he chose to ignore the glowing and growling inside the house and went right into the RV.

"Hey!" Gretel exclaimed as she followed him. "We're not even going to try to get them out of there? That's our home, Freddie."

"This is our home," Manfred replied, waving his hand around the RV as he sat. He took one of his own pills before looking at Gretel with a raised brow as a reminder to take her own.

Gretel scoffed because Manfred was clearly not going to discuss this any further and pulled her pill bottle from her bag, took one, and looked at him with a 'happy now?' expression before sitting as well.

Their grandmother appeared at the back of the RV. "Bad night?" she asked.

"'Go to Midnight', you said," Manfred took a deep yet shaky breath. "'Small, out of the way place. Nice folks. Just lay low, work, make money.'" He scoffed then took the beer Gretel held out for him and all but downed it.

"So, that's a yes," Xylda replied with a mild sardonic tone.

Gretel shot daggers at her grandmother. "What do you think?"

Manfred picked up from there. "That house is infested. Ghosts and whatever the hell's growling in there. Oh, and we just promised the town that we'd help with…" He was cut off when his phone buzzed on the table.

Gretel looked at it before handing it to her brother. "It's Hightower."

"Hightower's been calling all night," Xylda informed them.

Manfred took the phone with a sigh. Directed towards Xylda, he asked, "Remember what you used to say? When the going gets tough…"

Xylda picked up from there with a grin, "We live in a house with wheels." The three of them got a chuckle out of that before Xylda went on. "I know, but that was before I died. You two don't have me anymore and one day, when you each take your own paths in life, you won't have each other either."

"Not gonna happen," Gretel replied defiantly. "Manfred's stuck with me."

He smiled at his sister. "Whether I want to be or not," he teased. "Who else is going to be responsible for you?"

Gretel lightly kicked him for that, making him dodge and laughed in a 'oh ho, you missed me' way.

Xylda hated to break up their moment, but it had to be done. She had to get it through those thick heads of theirs. "You believe that now, but one day that will change. You should be prepared for that day – both of you. You need people – other people. Midnighters protect each other. Whatever the two of you think about the people in this town doesn't matter because you know that. You've seen it. "

Gretel leaned forward in her seat and grabbed hold of Manfred's hands because she knew Xylda was right. "Freddie, this town, these people…this is our home now." She sighed deeply because those words meant so much to her but didn't realize it until now. "This is our home."

Manfred looked between his grandmother and his sister before he admitted, "I don't know if I can handle going back there."

"It's Midnight," Xylda pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You don't need to pretend you're normal – either of you. Let your freak flags fly." She got serious with her next words, "Listen to your sister, Manny. She knows more than you give her credit for."

Manfred exhaled deeply and looked at Gretel. He's spent so much time trying to protect her from what they were that he never let himself see how capable she was. He shielded her as much as he could because he couldn't imagine his life without her in it. The time to protect her was over, he was starting to see that now. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Let me Exorcise the house?" Gretel asked with a hopeful grin but with one 'hell no' look from her brother, she rolled her eyes. "Plan B it is. Let the others know what's going on. And for once in our lives…ask for help."

Xylda smiled proudly at her granddaughter before saying to Manfred. "See? I told you she was smarter than you have her credit for. Maybe next time you'll listen to me…and her."

Marcus stood leaning against the wall in the backroom of the Pawn Shop while Lemuel, Joe, Fiji, Olivia, and the Rev discussed what had to be done. It was simple enough in his eyes; Get Bobo out of jail then get the hell back off the radar where they belonged. He agreed with all that, so he didn't feel the need to chime in. It wasn't until Olivia snapped at him that he started to become more active in the conversation.

"Are you gonna be any help here?" Olivia shot his way, "Or are you too busy thinking about your flame?"

Marcus turned a glaring face to her but Joe – Chuy's boyfriend from the tattoo parlor with a retractable pair of white wings – came to his defense. "You know what that means to his kind, Olivia. Don't talk to him like that about it."

"Only half his kind," Olivia retorted. "Who's to say his flame doesn't mean something bad for the other half?"

"Why don't you ask me instead of speaking of me like I'm not here?" Marcus asked, speaking more than usual in that moment.

Lemuel didn't want this to get out of hand when they so many other troubles in their midst, but Olivia wasn't going to let this go.

"Fine." Olivia walked over to Marcus and demanded to know, "What does this flame mean for this hybrid ass of yours?"

This topic and the previous one was cut off due to the entrance of Manfred and Gretel. "Speak of the devil," Olivia muttered to herself as she crossed her arms, returning back to her spot beside Lemuel away from Marcus.

"That's actually kinda why we're here," Gretel replied, referring to the devil part and not paying any mind to the rest of it.

Marcus thought Gretel meant that she could sense them talking about her, but that wasn't the case when Manfred explained what Gretel was talking about.

Manfred all but sighed at his sister's choice of words. "What Gretel means is – Here's the thing. Our place is overrun with ghosts and all sorts of evil crap."

"Crap?" Fiji asked, not liking the lack of description there. "Could you be a bit more specific?"

"Poltergeist," Manfred began but Gretel chimed in, "Or a demonic entity…maybe…probably."

Lemuel didn't like the sound of that one bit. "Well, that should be taken care of."

Joe was interested in this. "What makes you think it's demonic?"

"Because it's growling and not in a good way," Gretel replied. "It feels all sorts of evil."

Before either of them could say another word, Olivia asked, "Are you sure you're both not trying to weasel your way out of your promise."

Manfred answered for them both because he knew they felt the same way about this. "No, we want to get answers from Aubrey. The chaos back at our place will make it hard."

Gretel picked up from there. "We need backup."

Marcus was the first to answer. "I'll help."

Lemuel shot him a warning glance and tone to match, "Marcus…"

Marcus cut him off there. "I'll be fine."

Gretel wondered what this little exchange was about and her hand touched her bandaged hand in thought, wondering if Lemuel was referring to this somehow. When she realized that Marcus was staring at her and how she was holding that hand, she quickly moved her hands and looked away.

Lemuel sighed because there wasn't anything he could do. "The sun will be up shortly. I'm out."

Fiji was willing to offer assistance. "Whatever you need. I know my way around haunts."

Joe was the next to offer. "I'll go. I'm curious." He then turned to Marcus with a finger pointed at him because he knew the joke Marcus was about to make. "Don't say it."

Marcus simply crossed his arms with an amused expression instead.

Gretel wondered what that was about but was pulled from her thoughts when Manfred asked, "Any of you know CPR?"

At the questioning looks given to them by the group, Gretel explained. "In case it doesn't go well." She then looked at her brother and said quite seriously, "But that is not an option." There was no way in hell that she was going to let anything bad happen to her brother. "Death likes me, remember? Let's keep it that way."

With that comment, Marcus' posture straightened and an understanding look from Joe followed because it was starting to make sense now.

It was morning by the time Manfred and Gretel brought the others to their home. Flies were buzzing all over the place and it was so cold in the house that one could see their breath as they spoke.

Fiji shivered as she rubbed her hands together. "You were right."

Even Joe could feel it. "Some seriously bad mojo."

Marcus was the last to enter and his hand instantly started twitching. He could feel the presence of all the souls there but that's where the line was drawn. Unlike Manfred and Gretel, he couldn't see them. But even with the lack of sight that half of him wanted to ship them all off where they belonged…permanently.

Joe noticed his twitching hand and said quietly, "Maybe you should wait outside. This has got to be a lot for you, man."

"I can handle it," Marcus answered firmly.

Joe didn't want to contradict him but he had to say something, "There are two sides of you. You're not the whole of either but a blend of both. Remember that before you try being a hero for your flame." He left it at that and walked further into the house to join the others.

Marcus clenched his twitching fist and followed.

"Do you see any ghosts now?" Fiji asked the siblings as she looked around the living room, feeling as cold as ever.

Manfred and Gretel looked around the room and nodded in unison. "Yeah," the answered in the same way. Ghosts were fogging up the ceiling so much that they could hardly even tell that a ceiling was there.

The possible demonic entity that they were so worried about made an appearance then. A red glow with burning embers appeared beneath the floorboard and a horrid growling followed.

The sight and sound of this made Fiji gasp, "My Goddess."

Joe could see it too. "Whoa."

Manfred wasn't expecting them to be able to see it. "You can see that?"

"That's demonic," Marcus stated, his unclenched hand igniting he quickly became aware of this and was finally able to put it out – hopefully before anyone noticed.

Gretel noticed and it made her wonder all the more what he was exactly. Seemed like whenever an idea popped into her head about it, he showed off something else that changed her line of thought.

Fiji agreed with what Marcus said. "Yeah, that definitely feels like some sort of demonic spirit."

Gretel heard gurgling water and patted Manfred's arm to get his attention because of it. "Aubrey's here."

"Time for you to go," Manfred replied, walking towards the kitchen to Aubrey.

"Like hell I am," Gretel shot back because she was finally getting what Manfred was going to do – he was going to let Aubrey possess him and show him how she died. That's the only thing that made sense for him to try and make her leave. "I'm not going to let you do this yourself, Freddie."

"You see a dead body and you experience that death as your own," Manfred retorted. "What do you think is going to happen when a spirit has you relive their death? You could actually die, Gretel, and I'm not risking you. Now go."

Gretel could see how serious her brother was and how there was no point in fighting him on this. They needed answers and their bickering would just be wasting time. "If you die, I'll never forgive you." With that said, she walked out of the house to wait on the porch.

Marcus didn't say explain why he chose to leave as well, but followed Gretel outside and leaned against the porch railing.

Gretel sat in one of the plastic chairs, leaning forward with her hands laced together and her leg bouncing nervously up and down. "Death is my department," she said out of nowhere. "Not his."

"You're both mediums," Marcus simply pointed out. "I'm sure that makes it both your departments."

"It's different for me. I can't explain it, but it is." Gretel put her hands on her face and groaned loudly before asking, "What am I even telling you this for? You won't even tell me what you are."

"A hybrid," Marcus replied, feeling he owed her at least that much. "It's hard for me to explain. I am not the whole of either but am parts of both."

Gretel chuckled a bit as she looked at Marcus because he told her so much and yet nothing at all. She was about to comment on that when Joe and Fiji rushed out of the house pulling Manfred with them. Manfred was coughing and spurting out water, much like Gretel had when she saw Aubrey's body.

Gretel quickly got to her feet. "Freddie!" She rushed over to him but Marcus beat her to it.

"Lay him down," Marcus all but demanded of them and when Manfred was on the porch, still drowning from the inside out, Marcus put his hands on Manfred's chest and pushed down. As he pushed, all the water shot out of him like a cannonball in a pool.

When that was done, she pressed her ear against Manfred's chest to make sure that his heart was beating. It was, but he was unconscious.

"Let's get him to my place," Fiji said to them and Joe picked up Manfred, put him over his shoulder, and carried him off.

Gretel was about to thank Marcus for what he had done, but he walked away before she had the chance to.

Fiji could read the expression on her face but didn't say anything about it. Instead she said, "Come along," and led Gretel to her home.

Meanwhile, Marcus walked around the house out of sight and leaned against the wall breathing heavily as he gathered up his strength before continuing on, leaving sopping footprints in his wake.

Gretel sat on the floor next to Manfred who was asleep on the couch. She was sound asleep as well, her head resting against his arm. As soon as he was settled there and she sat beside him, exhaustion took over. Gretel didn't wake up until she felt Manfred's arm stir.

"Stop moving," she grumbled. "Your arm is comfy."

"It's also asleep," he replied, moving her head off him with his free arm. "You okay?"

"I should be asking you that," was Gretel's retort as she sat on the sofa beside him since he was sitting up now. "You scared the hell out of me, Manfred."

Manfred sighed, "I know." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Bright side? I got the answers."

Fiji came into the room then and presented glass mugs to them both. "Drink this. You'll feel better."

They accepted the mugs and Manfred said, "I haven't slept that deep in a long time."

Gretel felt the same. "Your place is so quiet."

Fiji was putting some things into a bag as she answered that. "It's more than quiet. Inhospitable to the dead. I gave it a deep cleanse before I moved in." She paused a moment before pointing out, "Mediums don't usually stay long in Midnight. I imagine it's gotta be hard for you both."

"Pawn shop's not my favorite place," Gretel replied, taking a sip of the drink.

"I second that." Manfred clicked his mug with hers before drinking as well.

Now that Fiji could completely understand. "Yeah."

Manfred got to the point now. "I saw the murder. A biker killed Aubrey."

Fiji had a good idea what kind of biker. "Sons of Lucifer?"

"You know them?" Manfred asked.

Fiji continued to gather up items she could need. "I see them around. White power jerks. Aubrey was married to one."

Hearing that almost gave Gretel a spit-take moment. "What?"

Manfred looked just as confused as Gretel sounded.

Fiji chuckled at that. "Confused? Join the club. Poor Bobo looked like he got punched in the gut when he found out. Manfred, you need to tell the police what you saw."

Manfred got to his feet. "I didn't see who killed her."

"Did you see enough to point them away from Bobo?" Gretel asked from where she sat.

"Yeah, but…" he looked between Gretel and Fiji. "You really think they'll believe me?"

"They might," Fiji replied. "You led them to the gun. It's a long shot, yeah, but we're neighbors now. It's what Midnighters do."

"Plus," Gretel added in, raising her glass in cheers, "we promised."

Manfred was about to pull on his jacket but found it to be damp so he decided against it. "Fine. I'll be neighborly."

"Excellent. While you're doing that, I'll get started on your house." Fiji replied as she left the room and came back with what looked to Gretel like several dreamcatchers woven together…on crack.

Gretel stood up because she wanted to see it better. "With…whatever that is?"

Fiji laughed at her reaction. "It's a devil's net. It captures evil and allows me to measure malevolent energies. We have got to take care of your house ASAP. That thing under the floor? It's worrisome."

Gretel set her drink aside, actually feeling better like Fiji said she would. "Do you think…by conjuring Aubrey did we invite it in?"

Fiji looked to her shelves of ingredients as she answered. "You know, it's like I said, Midnight's on a veil between worlds. Maybe you did. Regardless, we have got to get it back on its side of the veil."

"How?" Manfred asked, worried that he might not like the answer to that.

"An Exorcism?" Gretel asked hopefully. She's always wanted to be a part of one of those.

Fiji smiled at her. "Exactly. But I will need to prepare. So, Manfred, while that's happening, you go talk to the police about what you saw and you, Gretel, go talk to Marcus."

Manfred was fine with going to talk to the cops, but he didn't understand why Gretel had to go talk to that Marcus guy. "Why should she go talk to him? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Gretel didn't get a chance to say thank you," Fiji replied with a knowing little smile. "He did help save your life and all."

Manfred looked at Gretel in question, so she answered him. "He pretty much did to you what he did to me when I saw Aubrey."

Manfred scoffed, "Who is this guy?" And with that said, he and Gretel left Fiji's house to each deal with their own things.

Gretel did as Fiji suggested and went to find Marcus and thank him. It was what she wanted to do anyway, but now she had Fiji as an excuse to blame it on. Gretel wasn't about to hint that she actually wanted to see him. Even though she did…but that's not the point.

Gretel knew Marcus was a mechanic at the Gas & Go, so that's where she headed. Creek was working the counter when she entered the convenience store part of it.

Creek smiled at the sight of her. "Hey, Gretel. Manfred with you?"

"He's busy," Gretel replied and asked a question of her own. "Marcus working?"

Creek was wondering how long it would take for Gretel to come around asking for Marcus. All the ladies that passed through took an interest in him but this was the first time that Marcus had seemed to take an interest back. "Yeah, he's working on a motorcycle around back. Want me to get him? Or would you rather go around?"

"I'll go," Gretel answered as she looked at the kiosk of Hostess cakes. After plucking off a package of Twinkies, she went to the counter. "I'll take these."

Creek smiled knowingly at her. "He prefers the CupCakes."

Gretel narrowed her eyes a bit in annoyance then swapped out her purchases. Before Creek rang her up, she went to the milk cooler and pulled out a couple bottles. "On the house," Creek said to her then just charged for the Twinkies.

"Thanks," Gretel muttered and swiped the things off the counter as fast as possible before leaving the store. She walked around back and just as Creek said, Marcus was working on a motorcycle.

The sight of him made her stop dead in her tracks. He was wearing a white muscle shirt with a pair of coveralls but the sleeves were tied around his waist. The sun was shining right on him, making him shimmer in the heat. Hell, even the grease that was smeared on his face and arms was enough to make Gretel weak at the knees – not that she'd ever admit to it…aloud anyway.

Gretel had to blink a few times before saying to herself, "And I'm back."

Marcus didn't even have to look at her to know that she was there. He'd felt her presence as soon as she walked into the store. A little smirk moved across his face when out of the corner of his eye he caught her staring at him, but presently he made it known that he knew she was there.

Marcus got to his feet and grabbed a cloth off the seat of the motorcycle to wipe of his hands. He said nothing to Gretel and let her start it off.

Gretel walked over to Marcus and held out the milk and CupCakes without a word. It wasn't until he set the cloth aside and took them that she spoke. "Thank you for helping my brother. You saved his life."

"Fiji would have figured it out," Marcus replied. "That would have been safer. My gifts are a bit unpredictable lately, but I don't need to tell you that."

Gretel looked down at her bandaged hand for a moment then turned her eyes back to him. "Doesn't matter…thank you."

"It's what Midnighters do," was his simple reply, but really, he did it because it was for her.

Gretel felt a pang when he said that. It was almost like she was disappointed that there wasn't more to it than that. Finally she said, "Right."

Marcus opened up the CupCakes and offered one to her with a 'you know you want it' smile.

Gretel smiled and accepted it. "Thanks…again."

"My pleasure," he replied, and meant every word of it.

Gretel wanted to say something else but her mind was a blank so she said awkwardly, "Okay…well…see you around." She gave him a salute and then hurried around the corner.

Marcus bit into his CupCake with a shake to his head and a chuckle.

Once Gretel was out of sight, she literally had a facepalm-moment. "I saluted him? What the…Ugh!" Gretel exhaled deeply and took a bite of her CupCake and walked around to the front of Gas & Go. Once she turned the corner, she spotted Manfred putting some gas in Joe's truck.

"Hey stranger," she greeted, handing him the last half of her CupCake.

Manfred accepted it, finished it off, and took the milk she offered after she drank some of it. "You gonna be alright while I'm in Davy?"

"Don't worry about me, big brother, I'll be fine and I promise not to stumble upon any dead bodies while you're gone." She meant it as a joke but it was something that worried her brother.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise." Manfred held his pinky with a 'you know what you gotta do' expression on his face.

Gretel laughed because they hadn't made a pinky promise in ages. She wrapped her pinky around his and squeezed before giving him an assuring peck on the cheek. "Take care, big brother."

"You too, little sister." Manfred stood and watched as Gretel went back towards the main part of town and once she turned the corner out of sight, he went back to what he was doing. It wasn't long until he felt like he was being watched so he turned around and saw Marcus standing in the doorway of the garage. Manfred was still trying to figure him out and wasn't any closer.

Marcus stood there for a moment longer before finishing off the bottle of milk Gretel had given her and walked away as Creek went out towards Manfred.

While Manfred was with Joe in Davy talking to the police about Aubrey's death, Gretel was helping Fiji get things together for the Exorcism. They'd been working on this at Fiji's house for a bit and presently Gretel was using a mortar and pestle on some herbs while Fiji was working on something else. Fiji casually asked, "Back at your house when Manfred said what happens when you see a dead body…what happens exactly?"

Gretel took a deep breath before answering. "When I was a kid I saw my first dead body. They'd been shot and as soon as I laid my eyes on them I felt as if I had been shot and blood started pouring from the wound like I had been. My grandmother did something to make the psychic link or whatever it was stop. I'd been pretty careful since then and hadn't seen another until Aubrey."

"What happened when you saw Aubrey?" Fiji took the ground herbs from Gretel and added them to her own mix.

"I started throwing up water. Pretty much what happened to Manfred earlier. Marcus helped me just like he helped my brother." Since Fiji was asking so many questions, Gretel asked one of her own. "What is Marcus?"

Fiji paused mid motion for a moment and when she resumed motion, she answered. "What did he tell you?"

Gretel was starting to get the feeling that she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Fiji. "He said he was a hybrid and no, he didn't specify."

"Then it is not my place." Fiji put the mixture in a couple of drawstring leather pouches and tied them off. "Marcus has things he keeps close to the chest, just like pretty much everyone else here in Midnight. No matter how close we may be with one another…I don't think we will ever learn everything about one another. It's sad when you think about it, but it's just the way things are and it doesn't change the fact that we always have each other's backs."

Manfred, having just returned from Davy, walked in at that moment. He felt as if he'd just interrupted something between them. "Should I come back?"

"Of course not," Fiji smiled. "You're right on time." She tossed the pouches into her bag and led them out of the house, "Ready?"

"Yeah." Gretel grinned as she followed, "I ain't afraid of no ghosts."

Manfred couldn't believe she just said that. "Seriously?"

Gretel wasn't going to stop there. "Who you gonna call?"

Fiji looked at her like she was nuts. "Is this an inside joke between you?"

Gretel laughed at that. "No, it's Ghostbusters…the movie."

Fiji understood now even though she'd never seen it. "I don't watch many movies."

"How have you survived?" Gretel teased but cut it out when they reached the house. She rubbed her hands together saying, "I hope this doesn't end up like the movie."

Before Fiji could question about that, Manfred said, "Don't ask," and headed inside.

Once in the house, Manfred and Gretel set things up per Fiji's instruction. It wasn't until Manfred brought the wheeled mirror closer that he had a worry. "Are you sure about this? Mirrors in seances can get messy."

Fiji chuckled at that. "You don't need them because you can see the dead. I can't. The mirrors help me see the spirit realm. You know, glimpse other dimensions."

Fiji noticed the pendant that was hanging from the doorknob leading to the room where Manfred and Gretel first made contact with Aubrey. "Ooh. This feels powerful."

"It belonged to our grandma," Manfred explained and Gretel picked up from there, "Our ancestors fought demons and demonic possession back in Europe."

Manfred was more skeptical than Gretel was when it came to their history. "Supposedly. Either way, Grandma, packrat that she was, kept a whole bunch of stuff."

"Like this, for example, and we know for a fact that it works." Gretel pulled the locket from under her shirt and showed Fiji.

"I was going to ask about that," Fiji replied as she hung the devil's net on the doorframe above the pendant, remembering it from when Gretel burst into Olivia's apartment all possessed. "How many spirits do you keep in there?"

"Just Millie," Gretel answered, returning the locket back beneath her shirt. "This one is linked to Gina," Gretel held up the leather bracelet with a single coin attached that she was wearing and then showed her the ring on her thumb, "And this is for Henry."

Fiji almost couldn't believe this. "They let you…carry them around?"

"They're her tea party friends," Manfred explained. "Been with Gretel since she was a kid."

"They're my guardian ghosts," Gretel beamed a bit with pride at that.

Fiji thought for a moment before saying, "In that case maybe you should leave them outside. Enchanted objects or not, this process might exorcise them as well."

"I'm out of here." Gretel headed for the door and waited for Manfred there. "You should probably come, too, Freddie. The ghosts will probably try and hijack you to keep from getting exorcised."

"She's right," Fiji interjected. "The spirits need to have no other choice but the leave with the way I present. It won't work with you both here."

"Why didn't you say that before?" Manfred asked with a mild scoff.

Fiji grinned. "I needed help setting up."

Gretel laughed in amusement as she and Manfred walked out of the house, calling out over her shoulder to Fiji, "Ohhh, I like you."

Once outside, Gretel leaned against the railing and looked up at the full moon in the night sky before turning back to the house to join Manfred in peeking in through the window. "Damn…there's more in there than before."

"Yeah," Manfred agreed then he had to ask, "Do you even know how to do an Exorcism?"

Gretel pressed her finger against the window glass. "Not like that, but I read about them in a book I found in Grandma's trunk."

"And how would you have intended on doing it when you can get hijacked?" Manfred asked, trying to figure out what his sister's thought process was when she first suggested it.

"Let one of my tea party friends in first. They'd already be in me, so I wouldn't be able to get hijacked, but I'd be the one in control." It seemed easy enough from her point of view. "According to the journal, one of our ancestors would carry around the ghost of their brother and use them whenever they had to perform an Exorcism. They were as powerful together in death as they were in life."

"You're talking about our namesakes, aren't you?" Manfred asked as she moved to the porch railing to take a seat.

"You gotta admit that we were names after some kickass ancestors." Gretel beamed in pride at that and in a way, Manfred did too. Only for him, it wasn't pride in his name – it was pride in Gretel being his sister.

Their moment was soon interrupted when Gretel sat up straighter. "Something's happened."

Manfred moved from the railing to the window to look into the house but stopped when he heard a faint scream coming from the outside. Pointing firmly at his sister he said, "Stay here," then walked off the porch to go and see what it was.

Manfred walked down the driveway out onto the street and after walking a little ways he found a freshly killed Deputy up in the tree. He turned around to head back to Gretel and tell her to get somewhere indoors but found that she was approaching him. "Get out of here, Gretel!"

"What's going on?" Gretel asked and then gasped at the sight of the body in the tree. A moment later she felt as if deep claw marks had slashed into her back. Gretel screamed and then dropped to the ground with Manfred rushing to her.

Meanwhile, Marcus was working at the Gas & Go with Creek when he felt something was wrong. "Cover for me?" he asked of Creek but didn't wait around for an answer.

"Yeah, sure," she replied even though she was confused and watched him as he ran out of the store. Creek went to the window and watched him run off but that wasn't what she was focused on – It was the flaming footprints he left in his wake that caught her attention.

When Marcus ran around the corner he heard Gretel's scream and saw her drop to the ground. He ran even faster now and skidded to a stop beside them. He only needed to see the body in the tree to figure out what was going on. Marcus held onto Gretel's hand as another set of claw marks appeared on her torso, making her cry out in pain once again.

"It's the Rev," Marcus informed Manfred as he scooped Gretel up in his arms before he could be stopped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Manfred asked, trying to get his sister away from him.

"I have Gretel, you get to Creek," Marcus replied and as if reading Manfred's thoughts, he quickly said, "You won't be choosing Creek over your sister. Go." Marcus carried Gretel to the RV as a distraught Manfred took off to find Creek.

Marcus laid the wounded and bleeding Gretel on the sofa and spoke to her urgently. "Don't fight it, Gretel. Let it in. Feel their death…make it a part of you. It's the only way you will survive this."

Xylda appeared at that moment to concur. "He's right, kiddo. You've done it before. It wasn't me who saved you the first time, it was you."

Gretel was so weak that she could barely hear what was being said to her but even so…she understood. She closed her eyes and felt every gash that the Deputy endured and after screaming out louder than she had before, she passed out.

Marcus watched as her body absorbed the wounds and healed herself. A moment or two later, she jolted awake in an upright position with a heavy gasp. "You're okay," he assured her. "You're okay."

Gretel looked between Marcus and Xylda, feeling very confused. "What the hell just happened?"

"You let your freak flag fly," Xylda answered, smiling at her granddaughter.

Marcus, unable to hear what Xylda said, answered with "You took their death into you. It's yours now."

Gretel had no idea what either of them were saying or meaning and she felt like her head was going to explode. She slowly responded with, "I don't understand."

Xylda knew she should have told Gretel this sooner but it would have opened up such a can of worms that she never wanted to spill. There was nothing she could do to prevent that any longer – Gretel needed to know if she was going to survive. Xylda didn't beat around the bush and came right out with it. "You're a Mancer, Gretel."

Gretel got to her feet with a 'you're insane' laugh, pointing at her grandmother's ghost. "A Mancer? That's ridiculous and impossible. I can't be a Mancer, Grandma, because Manfred isn't one and he is my brother." She stepped closer to her grandmother and said firmly as a wave of worry moved over her, "Right?"

"Of course, he is," Xylda answered in a tone that made it clear it'd be preposterous to think otherwise, but then…she hesitated. "But…"

"But? What do you mean 'but'?!" Gretel shouted back but Xylda's ghost disappeared before she could elaborate because Manfred and Creek ran into the RV.

"How bad is it?" Creek asked, lifting Manfred's shirt.

"How bad is what?" Gretel asked, pushing past the looming Marcus to see because this was now the priority. "Freddie!" she exclaimed in worry because of the deep claw marks on his side.

"You look better," Manfred smiled, but knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with that.

"You're starting to look like how I did, now shut up," Gretel shot back and looked at her brother's wound but he didn't keep quiet. Instead he said, "It just needs a little pressure."

"It needs a lot more than that," Creek interjected.

"I swear, Freddie, if you turn into some Were-creature I'll never forgive you." Gretel looked away from his wound and punched him in the arm.

"What was that for?" Manfred asked in a tone that matched the question.

"For leaving me to get to her," Gretel all but seethed as she looked at Creek's way.

Creek took offense to that. "Hey!"

Marcus cut in there before anything else could be said. "Where is the Rev now?"

"The Rev is that Were-thing?" Gretel's blue eyes went wide at that. "How much did I miss when I was dying!"

Gretel's question didn't get an answer because something impacted the RV making it rock and knocking the people within with it. When it settled, Manfred moved to the kitchen area and handed Creek a knife before looking for something else to use if needed.

Creek took the knife with a worried 'huh!' shriek. "Nothing with bullets?"

"We're new to Texas," Manfred asked and looked right at Marcus to say something firmly, "You'll protect her?"

Marcus nodded because he knew Manfred was talking about Gretel.

Gretel felt like she missed out on something big and asked her brother. "When did I suddenly stop being your responsibility!" her voice was pretty elevated for a number of reasons.

"You'll always be my responsibility," Manfred assured her, and hated the additional answer but had to say it nonetheless, "But you also became his when I realized I couldn't protect you on my own anymore."

Their discussion was cut short when the roof of the RV was clawed through, making Creek and Gretel shriek a bit because of it before Gretel shouted, "We are so talking about this later, Freddie!"

"Noted," Manfred replied then asked, "Any suggestions?"

Gretel said the first thing that came to her mind because she just knew that's what their grandmother would say. "Shut up and run for it."

At the sound of gunfire coming from outside, Gretel all but hit the deck. When it stopped, Manfred looked out to see Olivia and Lemuel standing outside. "It's safe, come on," he told the others and led the way out of the RV.

Olivia pointed her gun at the Bernardo siblings. "One of you let him out, didn't you?"

"No, we didn't," Manfred answered, then gestured to the tree. "She did." He knew that if Gretel saw the body this time that she'd be fine. The effects only got to her once.

Now as the group stood beneath the tree, Manfred had to ask. "So…if it bites you do…"

Olivia cut him off. "You're born a Were, dimwit."

Lemuel added onto that, "Not exactly common knowledge. Weretigers are rare nowadays."

Creek looked up the tree. "So the Rev did that?"

Lemuel sighed. "Such a waste." In that moment, he realized that the Deputy's blood wasn't the only kind he smelled. Turning his attention to Manfred, he said, "You're bleeding, aren't you." It was definitely not worded as a question.

"A little," Manfred replied, like it was nothing.

"More than a little," Lemuel countered then inhaled deeply. "It smells fresh."

Creek took Manfred's arm saying, "I got it, Uncle Lem," and led Manfred towards the restaurant. "Let's have Madonna take a look at it for you."

Gretel wanted to go with them but didn't. Instead she pointed at Marcus, saying, "Answers, now." She waved her hand for him to follow her as she walked away.

"Are you going to tell her?" Olivia asked, doubting that he would.

"What she needs to know," Marcus honestly answered. "I want it to be her choice."

"Smart man." Lemuel sounded proud of him.

"Learned from the best," Marcus replied then went to catch up with Gretel.

Once they were far enough away, Gretel turned around in the middle of the street and faced him. "What do you know about me, Marcus? And how the hell do you know it?"

"I know you are a Mancer," Marcus admitted, "I knew it the moment I saw you. How I knew it was because…a part of me sensed it – was drawn to it."

Gretel crossed her arms and rolled her shoulders a bit. "What part of you? And if you crack a joke about what's below your belt I will deck you across town."

Marcus didn't acknowledge the last part of what she said because this was hardly the time to joke, so he answered her question. "Reaper."

Gretel wasn't sure she heard him correctly. "Say what now?"

"Reaper," Marcus repeated and then elaborated. "I am half Reaper. Those are the parts of me that sensed what you are."

Gretel rubbed her forehead as she tried to process what he had just told her. "You're telling me that half of your hybridness is scythe-wielding?"

"If you're referring to the Grim Reaper, then…something like without the scythe." Marcus wasn't trying to be funny with the last bit, he was being serious.

Gretel couldn't take any more of this. "I – I can't talk to you right now." When he opened his mouth to speak she said loudly, "I mean it, Marcus! I don't want to talk to you. I – I don't want to see you. Just leave me alone." She turned away from him and ran back to her house, unable to deal with everything that was going on at once.

Marcus believed he could have handled all that better, but he wasn't going to tell her anything to sway her decision. So if Gretel wanted him to stay away then he would and would only return to her life if she so wished it.

When Gretel arrived at her house it looked like it was going nuts. There was a flashing glow inside, windows were opening and shutting and that was just what she could see from the outside. Gretel could easily imagine what more was happening within.

Gretel ran up to the porch, pulled off the ring, bracelet, and locket to be on the safe side and went into the house. Fiji was sitting the center of all the commotion. "Fiji!" she called out, only be shushed by her and then scared half to death when Manfred came in behind her.

Manfred held onto his sister's hand to let her know that he had her and they looked around as the fog from the ghosts started disappearing and finally they vanished completely and the house returned to normal.

Fiji opened her eyes and let out a slow exhale. Looking at the siblings she smiled. "Exorcism complete. Your home is now inhospitable to the dead. Thank you very much."

Manfred was so relieved and offered Fiji a hand up from the floor.

Gretel was glad to hear it as well, but they weren't out of the woods yet. "I hate to rain on the parade but…" she pointed at the devil's net that was completely coated in dripping black goo, "but I don't think we're completely alone."

Fiji looked at the trap and was starting to worry. "Something very evil is still in here. Can either of you see anything?"

Manfred and Gretel both looked around but it was Manfred who answered, "No. All the spirits are gone."

Gretel grabbed onto Manfred's arm and held tight. "It's still here."

All eyes went to the glowing beneath the floorboards and the embers wafting up from the cracks. Fiji heard a deep voice call out her name, making her ask, "What do you want?"

Manfred grabbed hold of Fiji's wrist. "We should go."

"Do you hear that?" Fiji asked then called out, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I want you!" the dark voice called out to her and opened the door, flinging Manfred right out of it then closing and locking it behind him.

Gretel felt like something was trying to push her but she was able to stand her ground and was still in the house with Fiji. Gretel moved closer to her. "What's going on?"

"I – I don't know," Fiji stammered in reply before something seemed to take control of her movements and arched her back.

"Let her go!" Gretel shouted but it was no use, whatever had control over Fiji now pulled her to the floor, slid her across the floor and up the wall.

Gretel tried to pull her away but she wasn't strong enough. She whipped around when a loud bang came from the door and saw Manfred enter. "I don't know what's doing this, Freddie."

Fiji could feel something slid up her leg and she cried out, "What's it doing! I can't stop it! Please help me."

Manfred and Gretel both looked in the mirror and saw a hellish sight within the glass. Along with the fire, and lava, there was a charred clawed hand sliding up Fiji's leg. "Oh, hell no." Gretel seethed and pushed up her sleeves. "I'm not going to let it hurt you."

"We're not," Manfred corrected and held his sister's hand tight. Looking to Gretel he said, "You're the one who wanted to perform and Exorcism. Go for it."

Gretel, feeling stronger because of Manfred's belief in her, pulled off the amulet from around her neck that Xylda gave to her a long time ago, saying that it belonged to their great-great-great-lost track of how many greats-grandmother and was very powerful. To be on the safe side, Gretel wanted all the help she could get.

Holding the amulet out in front of her, she said, "Demonic entity. Satanic power. Heed my words – let her go." When nothing happened, Gretel continued on with more force behind her voice than before. "We call to you, our ancestors, hear our call!" She looked behind her at the hell dimension in the mirror, then back to Fiji and continued, "Help us condemn this demon back to hell!"

Gretel and Manfred's clasped hands and the amulet started to glow – a bright light radiating from them. The light from the amulet and their hands moved out towards Fiji, helping her.

The light was so bright that Manfred and Gretel had to look away until it ceased and the amulet was no more than ash falling from the leather twine that once held it.

Fiji was released from the demon's grasp and dropped to the floor. While Gretel went to check on her, Manfred went over to the mirror and shattered it. He picked up a shard and didn't see the hell dimension anymore. "Nothing."

"You're safe," Gretel assured Fiji as she wrapped her arms around her as comfortingly as she could. "It's gonna be okay."

Fiji sniffled to hold back her tears and hugged Gretel back before turning to look at the devil's net. It was completely clear now. "It's gone," she informed them. "Your home is cleansed now."

Manfred helped Fiji to her feet. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so," she replied but was having a hard time keeping herself together. "That – that was not good. I need to go home and take a bath.

"I can imagine, but I wouldn't leave," Gretel said to her as she stood as well. "The Rev escaped."

Everything Fiji was feeling was pushed aside as soon as she heard those words. "What?"

Fiji called Olivia to tell her that she, Manfred, and Gretel would search the ranches for the Rev. The three of them were in Fiji's car presently driving to yet another ranch after the first couple were no-goes. After filling in Fiji on all that had happened that night, Manfred asked, "What do we do if we find him?"

"Bring him home," Fiji replied, not wanting there to be any other option than that.

Manfred thought he saw something out the window then. "Wait, stop."

Fiji did as he asked and pulled over.

Gretel leaned forward from the backseat to ask, "You see him?"

Manfred didn't take his eyes off the sights through the window. "No, but I think he's been here."

As soon as Manfred unbuckled is seat-belt to investigate, Gretel said, "Don't even think about telling me to stay here," and got right out with him.

Fiji followed suite, calling Olivia to tell her that they thought they found the Rev as she did so.

Manfred knew that they didn't have time to argue about Gretel coming along so he stayed quiet and led the way since he was the one with the flashlight.

Gretel finally saw what Manfred had on the ground – a trail of blood that led to the carcass of a dead animal. "Should we wait until Olivia and Lemuel get here?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Manfred sighed, not liking the situation they were in.

"They'll be here any second," Fiji assured them.

They didn't walk much further before the sound of a deep growl reached their ears and the Weretiger slowly stalked out of the bushes with a snarl.

Manfred quickly lowered the light in an attempt to not draw attention to themselves and Gretel latched onto Manfred's arm, whispering in a high pitch, "That's a tiger!"

He wasn't expecting her to sound so shocked about that since it's been discussed. "Did you miss the whole 'Weretiger' revelation?" he whispered back.

Gretel explained herself instantly. "It's one thing to hear about it and another thing to see it!"

Fiji shushed them before saying, "You two need to work on your conversational timing."

Manfred couldn't argue with that and knew Gretel would agree. "Don't we know it."

The Weretiger was getting closer but stopped when a red light like from a laser pointed appeared in front of it. The Weretiger stopped and tried catching it like a typical housecat would have.

Gretel and the others heard a gun cock and turned to see Olivia standing there with her rifle aimed at the Weretiger. Lemuel appeared seconds later, speeding over to them. He looked to the group asking, "Are you alright?"

They were all a bit shaky but felt a hell of a lot better now. "We're good," Fiji replied, glad that Olivia and Lemuel were there now."

Lemuel moved towards the Weretiger and started circling it as it started to do the same to him. He spoke to the Weretiger like he was speaking to the Rev himself, trying to get through to him. "Emilio, we've been friends for a long time."

Olivia's voice was breaking as she said, "That's not the Rev," while keeping her aim on the Tiger.

Manfred didn't understand why she was holding back. "Why isn't she shooting him?" he asked Fiji.

Gretel was the one who answered, "Were-whatever or not, he's their friend. If we didn't make that pact would you be so quick to kill me if I got possessed by something dangerous?" When Manfred's face dropped a bit, she added, "Didn't think so."

The Tiger lunged at Lemuel and bit into his shoulder, making him cry out in pain before throwing them off as far as he could. He turned to the siblings who came to check on him, "No, I'm okay. I'm okay."

Olivia with her aim on the Tiger, silver bullets loaded, all but cried, "This needs to end."

"Olivia, you can't!" Fiji shouted back.

"Don't!" Olivia was firm with her words then her heart started to break all over again. "He would want this."

Lemuel sped into the line of fire, shielding the Tiger. "Stop. No."

Olivia's hands were starting to shake a bit now, finding it hard to keep her emotions out of this. "The Rev didn't want to hurt anyone."

"Like you said…" Lemuel turned around to face the Tiger "…he's not the Rev." Lemuel drew the Tiger his way, knowing what he had to do. When the Tiger lunged for him, Lemuel did something similar to grab hold of the Tiger. After a bit of a struggle he pulled the Tiger to the ground and leeched off its energy until they were rendered unconscious.

Gretel finally let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, quietly saying to herself, "Home Sweet Midnight," before joining the others on the trek back home.

The following evening, Gretel had music playing on as she set up the house to feel like an actual home. This was like a childhood dream coming true. So as 'Honey, I'm Good' blasted from the radio, she danced around while putting the place to rights.

Manfred stood in his bedroom doorway watching her. He couldn't remember the last time she looked so happy and it made him smile to see the sight.

When Gretel finally realized that Manfred was standing there, she laughed and pulled her brother over to dance with her.

Manfred gave in reluctantly with a groan but started dancing with his sister, matching her silly moves with ones of his own.

Gretel laughed almost uncontrollably when Manfred started waving his arms and moving around like a chicken. Her laughter was cut off when she heard a knock at the door. She quickly turned off the radio and went to answer it.

Bobo stood there with an old psychic's sign. "Hey, Gretel, Manfred here?"

Manfred came to the door and opened it further. "You're out," stating the obvious that Bobo was released from jail.

"That's right," Bobo answered as he walked into the house. "And this is my combo housewarming and 'thanks for saving my ass' gift." He took the liberty to put it on the fireplace mantle.

Manfred loved it. "That's awesome, thanks."

"It does suit us nicely," Gretel beamed then plucked her bag form the couch. "I'm going to get some paint down at the hardware store before they close. Later!"

Gretel jumped off the porch steps in a childlike nature and headed down the street, passing Creek as she did, only to not get very far. Marcus was walking down the street in her direction. She was about to say something to him but he turned around and went off in the opposite way before she had the chance.

Gretel knew why he did that – because of what she told him – but that didn't stop her from feeling bad about it. In fact, it was the strangest thing for her. It was almost as if she…missed him. She pushed those thoughts from her mind and focused on the good ones. Mainly the fact that after all these years…she finally had a place to call home.

Joe stood in the apartment above the tattoo parlor with Chuy to have a talk about his worries. "Evil is being drawn here. Human evil, supernatural evil. And it's just beginning. The more that evil takes hold, the more the veils frays…until it breaks all together." Joe pulled a tarp from over the painting he was working on to show his boyfriend what he meant exactly. It was a painting he did of literal hell on earth.

Chuy walked around the work table, asking, "How do you know all this?"

Joe explained, "A millennia ago, the last time it tore, I was here."

"So that's it?" Chuy asked incredulously. "We wait for this to happen?"

"Maybe not," Joe countered. "There's a prophecy. An army will rise to battle the evil and seal the veil forever. That army will be led by a man with the gift of vision, who can bridge the living, and the dead and a girl who holds both life and death in her hands."

It took Chuy only a second to put that together. "The Bernardos?"

Joe nodded because it was the only explanation he could come up with. Especially given what he suspected about Gretel…that she was a Mancer.

Chuy looked at the painting of hellfire, demons, and other horrible things taking of the earth. "Manfred and Gretel are the only things that stand between us and that?" He was a bit worried, he had to admit.

Joe, however, had faith. "I think so, yeah."

Chuy crossed his arms and took a deep breath, saying the very first thing that came into his mind; an 'oh wow' sounding, "Damn."

End Season 1 Episode 2

A/N: Hey, Readers! I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing Hello, Midnight. I honestly didn't think it would get received so well and seeing that it has is bloody awesome! I hope y'all continue to enjoy the Episodes to come Thanks again!