The next morning after hearing about the horror her son and his friends went through, Maria decided to cook them all a big breakfast to lift their spirits. She got out all the works: eggs, bacon, fresh juice, and her corn cakes. She remembered how when Manny was little, he get so happy to wake up in the morning and find her making her special corn cakes for him. Now that they were together again she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she served to him this morning.

"T.J and Andrea said that they would be over in an hour." Frida told her. "It's very sweet of you to make breakfast for us like this. But you really didn't have to."

"I know but I wanted to." She said. "Did you tell Manny to go pick up something from the market?"

"He just left."

"And you didn't tell him that I was making corn cakes did you?"

"No."

"Good because I want him to be surprised."

"Can I help with you anything?"

"I have most of it handled dear but if you'd like you can start juicing the mangoes."

"Okay."

She grabbed a mango, cut it in half with a knife, and started to juice each half. It was very lovely morning. The sun was out and shinning bright, everything was calm, and there didn't seem to be any loud city noises. After awhile Frida decided to go upstairs and wake her grandmother for breakfast. Just before she could enter the old woman's room the hallway window opened and there stood Manny on the ledge in his spirit form clutching some pigeons in his clawed hands.

"Hey Frida I'm back." He said.

"What the- What's with the pigeons?!"

"You wanted me to get something for breakfast."

"The market sold pigeons?!"

"No but the market didn't have anything really appetizing so I went hunting."

"For pigeons?! You expect us to eat pigeons for breakfast?!"

"Why not? I ate them for breakfast a lot when I was on my own. They're very delicious. Taste like small chickens."

"We are not eating pigeons. Get rid of them!"

"No way! Do you have any idea how hard they were to catch?"

"Take them back now! Normal people do not eat pigeons for breakfast. That's weird."

"Says you."

"Just take them back."

"Oh alright but can I keep their eggs?"

"Manny!"

"Fine." He huffed before jumping out the window.

She rolled her eyes at how ridiculous Manny's cat like urges could be. He would literally try to eat any bird, fish, or rodent he saw regardless if it was meant for eating or not. Red lights drove him crazy and he had a slight fear of dogs, ti was just crazy. She only hoped that he would never get into catnip.

She closed the window to the hallway and proceeded to wake her grandmother. After that she went downstairs to continue helping Maria. But suddenly she heard the sound of glass breaking and saw that Maria had dropped a dish she was holding and collapsed to the floor. Frida quickly went to her side.

"Maria what is it?" She asked.

At first the woman didn't answer. She was just on her knees with her arms around her waist and chest, a look on her face that made it appear as if she were feeling a great pain. She made a gasping noise and threw her head back as her body began to shake uncontrollably.

"Grandmami call 911!" Frida shouted.

"No!" Maria protested. "No it's not me!"

"What? What are you talking about? What's the matter?"

"Rodolfo. Something is wrong with Rodolfo. I can feel it."

"I don't understand."

"When Rodolfo and I fell in love, our feelings were so strong that it bonded our souls. I can feel everything he feels and he can feel everything I feel. Physically. mentally, and emotionally. Right now he's in great pain and is trying to escape." Her arms moved around herself. "Chains. There are chains all around him. He's breaking them but they hurt so much. And his mind...Something is happening to his mind."

"What do you mean?"

"His mind is becoming more animal like. His senses are fading and...And..."

"And what? What is it?"

"He's coming." She said. "He's coming. Oh Lord please help us."

...

Manny complained to himself as he returned from the park.

"The nerve of that woman." He said. "I go through all the trouble of hunting for something decent to eat and she demands that I get rid of it. How's that for gratitude. I bet Mom would have appreciated my efforts."

But just when he thought that his day couldn't get anymore difficult he heard the sound of screaming and panic coming from downtown. He quickly went to check it out and the next thing he knew he was getting run over by crowds of people fleeing in terror. He tried to get up three times but failed on the first two due to getting trampled again by another crowd.

"This is so not how I wanted to start off my morning."

He stood up and walked toward what it was the civilians were running from. The police had the source surrounded with guns ready to open fire on their target. Said target was an unusually large panther with red eyes full of rage, bared teeth ready to tear through skin, and blood stains on it's white fur. A few policemen started shooting at it but the bullets did no harm and it sent the beast into attack mode it. It pounced and clawed at anything that came near, tossing officers aside violently.

"Well obviously that panther is not average." Manny said. "Which means I have to be the one to fix this."

He changed back into his spirit form and moved closer to the supernatural animal while catching the cops who were being thrown.

"Funny." He thought. "I can't tell by his scent if he's a demon or spirit. Even more weird though his scent his familiar but I can't recognize where I've smelled it before."

If anyone went near the creature they were either as good as dead or injured with possible physiological damage. No mercy, no hesitation, it just attacked like a savage wild animal. However Manny noticed that it only attacked people if they went near it. Once they were away from it, it just ignored them and tried to leave. He then noticed the deep cuts and lashes on it's body, some of those wounds were bleeding. It was hurt and apparently something had hurt it to such a degree that it pushed him off the deep end. But what really puzzled him was as soon as the panther caught hold of his scent it just stopped and looked at him. Now being this close made Manny's courage decrease a little because now he could see just how much bigger the beast was than him but he didn't back down.

"Um...Hi." He said. "Listen um...I can tell just by your size and the way your eyes are you're not just some overgrown wild animal. You're a paranormal being right? A spirit or a demon?"

The panther didn't respond. It just kept looking at him.

"Can you talk? I'm pretty sure you can because all spirits and demons are capable of speech."

Still nothing.

"Okay you don't feel like talking right now so maybe you could hear me out a little bit? I'm not going to fight you if you just listen to me." He suggested. "I can tell that you're hurt. Do you need help? I'm half spirit so I think I can help you. Maybe. I can't say for sure but I can't let you keep rampaging like this so why don't we all just calm down and try to reach some sort of understanding?"

Again it refused to speak but it did take another whiff at him. As if it was trying to figure out who and what Manny really was. Then it suddenly recoiled and looked as if a little sanity had come back into it's mind. It tore it's gaze from the young man and ran away as fast as it could.

"Well I tried to use reason now I have no choice but to use force or a great number of people will end up getting massacred."

He chased after the panther and even though it was much more faster than Manny, it wouldn't be able to shake him because the animal's wounds were leaving a trail of blood which the halfing could easily follow. The panther seemed to have changed it's intentions now. At first it appeared that the creature only wanted to escape from something but now it give off the impression that it was looking for something.

Manny launched himself at the feline that attempted to grab it in a choke hold but his strength was almost nothing compared to his opponent. It threw him off his throat and pinned him to the ground with a great force. At first Manny was certain that he was either going to be eaten or killed by the panther but to his surprise it appeared to be hesitating. Fighting the urge to do him any harm. Just what was wrong with this thing?

"Rodolfo no!"

At the sound of her pleading cry, they both turned to see Maria standing at a distance with Frida at her side. Maria had tears in her eyes and she looked beyond horrified but not for the reasons one would expect in this situation.

"Mom! Frida! Get away!" Manny called. "This thing is dangerous! It's like a rabid dog! It could kill you on sight!"

"Rodolfo stop!" She screamed desperately. "You don't know what you're doing!"

Wait, what did she just call him? Manny looked back up at the panther, it's gaze was still directed at his mother but instead of looking vicious or hesitant it now looked utterly ashamed and disgraced. As if it loved the woman above all things in this world and in that moment just betrayed her in the most unforgivable way imaginable. It got off of Manny and Maria slowly walked toward it.

"Oh Rodolfo my dearest." She sobbed with tears of fright and hope streaming down her cheeks. "Is it really you? Have you finally come back to me?"

He finally spoke and it was in a voice that was so weak that very few could understand it. But Manny and his mother could. He could only speak one word but it all but confirmed to Manny who this being was.

"Maria...Maria...Maria."

"No." Manny said quietly, unable to process what his mind was putting together based on what he was seeing and hearing. "No way...Not possible...No."

But there was no denying it. It was evident in the way the two of them looked at each other. It was evident in the way she had called out his name. It was evident in the way he spoke her name. It was evident in the way they were both finding it hard to contain the long awaited joy they hoped to feel should they ever be reunited. It was evident in the way Manny was familiar with his scent and the way he recognized the young man's scent immediately then did everything in his power not to hurt him during his primal rampage. That creature was Rodolfo Rivera, the white panther spirit, and Manny's father.