James rested his head against the passenger's seat window of Annabelle's car. They had just been driving around for awhile now, not actually heading into any place particular. They couldn't go to their houses since there would be people there that would raise hell until James was taken back to the hospital or they would call Caroline and have her drag James back to the hospital herself. So around and around they drove, with him trying to rest and ignore the anxious glances Annabelle was giving him every few seconds. She was clearly second guessing her decision to help him get out of the hospital. He just hoped that she didn't take him back. He knew the situation was bad. He had caught a glimpse at his reflection. His face was completely pale and he was sweating profusely. Every breath he took was getting harder and harder to take. It was really just a matter of time now. How long did he have? A few minutes? A few hours? He certainly didn't have any more days left. He'd be genuinely shocked if he even made it through this night. The only chance he had to do it was because of his sheer size. He was a big dog and his body was putting up the best fight it possibly could. He couldn't hold on forever though. Sooner rather than later, he was going to give out.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back?" Annabelle asked. "You look awful."

"And I'm going to look better back there?"

"Maybe they can do something-"

"They can't. They've been trying but they can't. There's nothing anyone can do."

"You don't know that."

"Oh I do."

"How?"

"I know my own body Belle. I'm fucking dying here. And I'm not fucking exaggerating. I'm fucking dying."

That sentence was followed by a very long, uncomfortable silence. Annabelle opened her mouth several times to say something but no words came out. What could even be said to that? That wasn't exactly a thing most would know how to respond to. Finally Annabelle just pulled over to the side of the road and looked at him in disbelief. "No," she managed to say. "You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?" she asked again, much angrier this time. "How do you fucking know?"

"I just do, okay? Now can you please-"

"No! I'm not gonna just do anything James! Not until I get a straight answer from you."

"I-" What he had to say got lost in a coughing fit that was so violent he couldn't shake it for several minutes. In the midst of it a mouthful of blood was coughed into his hand. He didn't dare to look at it because he didn't want to draw Annabelle's attention to it. This was it though. He knew with an overwhelming certainty that this was it.

Annabelle shook her head and went to start driving again. "I'm taking you back to the hospital. You can't-"

"It's too late. They can't save me."

"Please put a little more faith in them than-"

"I made a deal," James said quickly, taking huge gasps of air and swallowing heavily. "Mr. D…demon or something I don't know. I made a deal though. Made her love me."

"Made who love you?"

"Mom."

"Mom?" Annabelle looked completely confused now. "What are you even talking about James? Mom loves you. You're her favorite. You're always were her favorite."

"Not always. She hated me. Up until she died she hated me. But I got it changed. Mr. D fixed it. He fixed all of it."

"James stop. Please just stop. You're talking crazy."

James reached over and grabbed the wheel so she couldn't turn back on to the road. "This is just the consequence of him changing it. My life for all of this."

"Wha-James this is insane. You have lost it. Now let go of the wheel." She tried to remove his hand so he grabbed her and turned her to face him. "James!"

"Mom lives, you live, Joie lives…Cooper and Connor are happy…it's worth it right? It's gotta be worth it. It's gotta be…" James started to cough again, only this time his throat closed up on him. He tried to gasp for air but got absolutely none of it. He faintly heard Annabelle crying out his name but he couldn't do anything to respond to it. He made a wheezing sound as he tried once again to breathe and then his heart suddenly stopped…and then there was nothing. His body slumped over and his glassy, dead eyes stared out the window, where Mr. D was standing just several feet away, watching with a grim sense of satisfaction.

…

"Are you sure this going to work?" Caroline asked sharply as she watched Bearer draw the symbol on the dining room floor. They had moved the table and chairs to the other room so they would have more room to work with. His suggestion to locating Mr. D was a summoning spell, which would make him come to them instead of them having to try and track him down. Under normal circumstances Caroline wouldn't have gone for anything magic related. She didn't believe in all the supernatural stuff Bearer always spewed out but given that these weren't normal circumstances, exceptions were being made at the moment.

"It should," Bearer replied curtly. He was still not at all happy with her and was letting it show with the way he talked and the glares he kept shooting her. "I've never had it not work when I've tried it." He finished drawing the symbol and stood back up. "Hand me my book." He held out his hands and waited, rolling his eyes when Caroline just glared at him. "Please."

"That's better." Caroline handed the book over to him and shook her head. "Now get on with it."

Bearer gave her an irritated look so she gave him the nastiest look she possibly could, which made him re-think what snarky little comment he was going to give her. "Fine. Stay back and be quiet until I'm done. I can't have any interruptions." He waited until Caroline nodded and took a step back before beginning. "Demon, we summon thee. Come to us-"

"Demon? Mr. Bearer, I'm insulted you would even say such a thing to bring me here."

Caroline and Bearer both spun around and looked at the doorway. Mr. D was standing there, his hands behind his back, looking at them passively. "Well that worked fast," she muttered under her breath.

Bearer shook his head. "This isn't a good thing," he hissed. "He's not supposed to show up until I'm done with the spell."

"And I'm supposed to show up in that symbol because otherwise, anything could happen," Mr. D piped in. "Like I could do this-" Faster than Caroline could even blink Mr. D came forward and snapped Bearer's neck like it was a twig. "-and you wouldn't be able to stop me."

Caroline watched as Bearer's body fell to the ground and then stared back at Mr. D. She didn't even show the slightest bit of intimidation. Whatever he was going to do, she wasn't going to cower in fear as he did it. That wasn't the game she played.

Mr. D chuckled a bit at the look she was giving him. "I could feel your need to summon me Mrs. Lawson. I should have told you that you were wasting your time. Your son made a deal with me and I've already collected."

"Collected?"

"Yes. He died just-"

She didn't let him finish that sentence. Her fist shot out and nailed him right in the chin. His head rocked a bit with the blow but it didn't faze him for long. He backhanded her and she went flying, hitting the wall hard enough to make her see stars for a few seconds.

"Mrs. Lawson, I don't like dealing in fisticuffs," he said in that same calm, monotone voice. "That's not how I do business."

"What about another deal then?" She wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. "My life for his."

Mr. D chuckled again. "I hate to break this to you, but I'm not into that sort of simple trade. Don't get me wrong, I admire that you offered but killing you now and bringing him back is not a deal I will make. I need something more."

"Well what do you want then?" Caroline asked. She walked back over to him and folded her arms over her chest. "Name it."

"I don't particularly want anything. Not anything you can give me anyway." He saw how much she clearly didn't like that so he shook his head. "I won't bring him back with a simple trade. However…for your soul and having you being one of my demon soldiers-"

"Demon soldiers? What are you then?"

"Devil Mrs. Lawson. I think deep down you knew that already. Now, as I was saying, for your soul and you working for me for all of eternity, I will reverse everything I changed for his deal, which will bring him back. I should warn you though, you will automatically die when I do this-as will Jacob, Annabelle and Joie. I should also tell you that Gunner and Chasey will not be your grandchildren and Cooper and Connor will be the only other ones that exist. Now, tell me, is condemning the whole lot to them to their original fates worth your son's life?"

Caroline thought about it for a moment. Big picture wise she knew she should say no. The lives of the many should always be more important than one. But in this case, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Yes," she answered.

Mr. D's lips twitched in amusement. "You'll feel differently afterwards. But oh well." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. "You've got yourself a deal Mrs. Lawson."