Vera followed her father as they floated back up to the library. William opened up the secret shelf, leading Vera inside and approaching one of the other book shelves hidden inside. He pulled a green book forward, and then pushed it away from him, causing a clicking sound. Then the wall began to shift to the side, revealing a small room inside.

Something suddenly fell out, making Vera gasp out loud. It was a skeleton in raggedy clothes worn down with time. It had been leaning against the door when it opened.

"Hello, Desmond," William said with no remorse in his voice. "You've never looked better."

He floated inside the room as Vera looked at the skeletal remains of Desmond Kress. She silently watched them until her father finally emerged, holding a bottle full of red liquid. "Is that...?" She asked.

"Yes," William said, looking at the potion he had created with some apprehension. "The very last bottle, as luck would have it. Just enough for one ghost... to give the machine enough power."

"It doesn't... expire, does it?"

William chuckled. "It's magic, love. I don't think it reacts the same way as ordinary chemicals. But I'll be studying it to make sure, anyway. In fact... now that I don't have to worry about breathing, I could probably go down into the water and see if I can find those old ones as well. It's unlikely, but possible. Some of them might have landed on the seafloor without breaking."

"Are you thinking of bringing back the others?"

He nodded. "Well, if they desire it anyway. There's sure to be some more of those plants still down there. Even if the old potions are gone, I might be able to make more. It'll take a while, but I could do it."

His face turned serious suddenly. "Speaking of which, you know you'll also have to wait a while before we do this, right? I'm going to be triple and quadruple checking every single piece of the machine to make sure nothing goes wrong this time. It's going to take a while."

"I understand, dad," Vera said softly, nodding her head. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"One week," he replied, looking intensely at the potion inside. "By next Friday, we'll try it out."

"Okay," Vera agreed. That'll be the night of the dance. Maybe... maybe I can actually go now without a problem. Maybe I'll be able to dance with Dean... maybe I shouldn't get my hopes too high...

"Now then," William said, getting her attention. "Before I do that, there's one more theory I want to test out. And you're a very important part of it." He smiled at old memories of a very young Vera coming down to his laboratory, eager to help him out. "Just like old times."

He floated out of the library, setting the potion down on a table on the way and flying towards the front door as Vera quizzically followed him.

As they left the library, a white fog suddenly billowed out of the small secret room they had left open, dispersing almost immediately. Two blood-red eyes appeared in the darkness before the redness faded away into normal looking human eyes. A ghostly hand reached out of the shadows, grabbing the edge of the wall as if for support. A cold, deathly breath filled the secret corridor, soon followed by a whisper of murderous rage.

"Eckland..."

Dean approached his group of friends at the small local cinema shortly after leaving the manor. "Hey, Dean!" Rory yelled out, waving excitedly, and Dean blushed as everyone looked at him, including the people who weren't his friends thanks to how loud he was."

"Hey, buddy. Not so loud next time, okay?" Rory pouted, and Dean chuckled, pulling him into a quick, one-armed hug. That always cheered Rory up. He liked greeting all of his friends with hugs.

"Look who finally decided to hang out," Jennie said, her hands on her hips as Dean pulled back from Rory to turn and look at her. "I'm amazed."

"I'm just amazed your idea of a fun day out isn't finding a nice, quiet spot to do homework," Dean replied with a smirk as she raised an eyebrow.

Jennie glared at him as the others laughed, and then her face broke into a smile as she giggled. "Honestly, you're not even wrong. But seriously, I am glad you're here with us finally."

"Thanks. I am too." Dean smiled at her and turned to greet Dylan with a handshake and shoulder bump. "Hey, man."

"Good to see you," Dylan said, clapping him on the back. "Alright, looks like we've got our tie-breaker!"

"I'm the what now?" Dean asked in cute confusion.

Amy giggled. "We're all debating on which of two movies to see." She pointed up at the movie showings. Dean looked up to see a very limited number of showings, unlike the theaters he was used to seeing in larger cities. "We've narrowed it down to two. The Journal, or The Screaming Mirror?"

"Romance or horror," Dean said with a smirk. "Quite the selection. Any reason you guys wouldn't just split up and watch separate movies?"

"We all like having the same thing to discuss afterwards," Amy said with a shrug. "More fun that way. Plus, nobody spoils each other if we haven't seen the other one."

"And let me guess..." He looked at Amy and then Jennie. "You both are pulling for The Journal?"

"What?" Jennie asked in mock outrage. "Your boyfriend is sexist, Amy."

Amy paled as Dean choked on air. "He's not my..."

Dylan immediately saved Amy and Dean from further embarrassment by giving Jennie a small slap on her butt. "Yeah, but you don't mind it when I am, sweet cheeks," he joked, grinning as Jennie gave him a withering glare. Then he saved himself by changing the subject. "If you must know, my amazing, intelligent, and totally independent girlfriend and I picked Screaming Mirror."

Rory put an arm around Amy with a grin. "And the cool people voted for the one that almost certainly won't have gore in it."

"So what's it gonna be, Dean?" Jennie asked. "You're the swing vote."

"Come on, Dean, you know what the right choice is," Dylan prodded.

Dean thought for a second and then grinned. "I'm going with The Journal."

"Daaaamn it..." Dylan groaned. "I was counting on you, man!"

Dean chuckled, shrugging. "I like cheesy romance, bro."

Dylan sighed. "Fine, whatever. Fair's fair. I'll take care of the tickets."

"Are you sure? I have some money," Dean said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Amy paid for lunch, I'm paying for the movie." He walked over to the line at the ticket booth as Jennie followed after him while Dean and the others walked inside into the small lobby.

"Gotta admit, that was a surprising pick," Amy said.

"But a welcome one," Rory added with a grin.

Dean smirked. "Well, that's because I've already seen the other one. Didn't want to sit through it again."

Rory giggled, leaning close to whisper to Dean. "We've seen it too, actually. All of us have... except Dylan."

He snorted. "Whoops. Now I feel bad."

"Dylan once made me sit through the Saw movies when I lost a bet, even though he knows gore makes me nauseous," Rory said with an evil smile. "I don't."

"Also, Jennie really wanted to see this movie anyway," Amy whispered. "She just went along with Dylan's pick because she loves him. But she doesn't mind watching him squirm through a romance. She's evil like that."

Dean smiled, nodding as he took a look at posters of the movie showings on the walls. "Honestly, I'm glad I got to choose. Screaming Mirror kind of made me uncomfortable when I saw it. Glad I don't have to see it again."

"Why's that?" Amy asked curiously.

"Because the mom character looked a LOT like my mom."

"Ohh..." Amy and Rory both thought back to the movie. "Huh... you're right," Amy said.

Dean nodded grimly. "Yeah. So you probably recall how she got easily the worst death in that whole movie, right? I know it's stupid, but... watching a character who only has his really sweet mom but not his dad, and watches her die in such a horrible way... I don't know. It just disturbed me. I worry about her enough as it is."

"Worry about her?" Amy repeated, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We were usually together when we traveled, but you know, I still had school, so not all the time. And every time I leave her behind, I can't help but remember the day I came home from school, and a cop told me that my dad had just died in an accident."

"Oh, shit," Rory said softly. He grabbed Dean's shoulder. "Dean..."

"It's okay, man," Dean said, shaking his head and patting Rory's hand. "I just don't ever want to get bad news like that about my mom. I don't know how I'd handle it." He let out a breath, trying to calm his anxiety. "I'm sorry, guys... I'm not looking to be pitied. It's just... my mom and I just got done really talking about my dad for the first time in a while, so I'm a little emotional right now. Sorry."

Amy shook her head, putting her arms around him. "There's nothing wrong with being emotional, you know."

"No, but I shouldn't be bringing the mood down either."

Amy immediately launched into her own story. "I still cry sometimes about not knowing my birth parents. I was abandoned somewhere for someone else to take me in and put me into the foster system. I'm so lucky to be with the family I have, and I love them so much. Even Amber... sometimes. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But it's impossible to not notice that they're not my biological family, and that makes me feel lonely sometimes. It's like there's... a hole inside of me somewhere, and I can never fill it."

"I'm sorry," Dean whispered, feeling guilty for bringing up his own family drama.

"Don't be," Amy whispered, resting her head on his shoulder in comfort. Dean rested his head on hers as well.

"I only live with my dad right now," Rory said, now bringing Dean's attention to him. "Because we had to get away from my mom two years ago. When I told her I was gay, she got very quiet. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor and she was screaming and hitting me over and over. My dad pushed her away and told me to run to my room. They screamed at each other the entire night." He sniffled. "Funny thing is, I came out to her first because I thought my dad was going to be the one to scream at me. But he was the one who never stopped loving me."

Dean remembered how close Rory had gotten to Katherine so quickly, and he immediately felt bad about being so mocking of it before.

Amy maneuvered around to pull Rory close to her as well. "We love you too, sweetie," she said to him with watery eyes.

"I know." He smiled at her and then at Dean. "You don't have to worry about closing off your feelings around us," he said.

"Yeah," Amy agreed, hugging him close. "We're here for you. And you're always safe with us."

"I know," Dean said softly, just enjoying their closeness. "Thank you, guys."

"Come on," William beckoned Vera, taking her hand as he offered his to her. He gently pulled her out of the house and into the front yard. "Let's go a little further."

"I... I don't think I can."

"I know you can. Come on."

Vera sighed and allowed her father to pull her further away from the manor, waiting for the usual sickly feeling to fill her chest, forcing her back to her ancient home. But it never came, and she saw she was able to keep going beyond what she could usually do alone.

"See? Told you." William grinned.

"Yeah, but only because of our bond," Vera said. "I'm not sure how it works, but I did that with Dean a few times. I could leave the house by sticking by him."

"Are you sure that's why?" William asked with a smile, letting her hand go and floating away from her suddenly.

Vera gasped and floated rigidly in place, waiting for that old strange feeling of sadness to come rushing up again. But still, it never did. She looked at her father with a surprised expression as he chuckled, and Vera floated a bit further away from the house on her own. Still nothing. She floated even further. Still nothing.

"Powerful bonds keep ghosts in certain places," William explained as he floated closer to her. "Especially the unbreakable bonds of family. I learned that as I studied Jacob and other paranormal activity. In his case, Jacob could not leave his home until his existence was discovered by his family, because he felt so guilty deep down for failing them. His guilt at failing you eventually overpowered those feelings, and he was able to set out to our home to find you. So... if I'm correct, I think the reason you could never leave the house was because of me."

"But... why?"

"I think you saw me die," William said sadly. "Or at least get hurt. It only makes sense. You were already in the house, remember? It's only logical that you witnessed it happen. But you couldn't be there to help me fight off Desmond. I think that memory eventually disappeared while you were still trapped, but it still remained deep within your soul. And that's what kept you from going too far away. Too far away from me."

"But... Lena and the others..."

William smiled sadly. "They were always so independent. It pains me to say it, but when their memories faded away, they likely didn't have the same connection to me that you did. I wasn't a perfect father, and my relationship to your older sisters was... strained sometimes."

He smiled at Vera, caressing her cheek. "Despite our problems, I loved your sisters dearly. I felt like a dead man when they died. Your mother's heart shattered as well. In fact, the girls were definitely much closer to your mother than they were to me. I loved you all equally, but there was no doubt you and I always had a special bond. You might not remember, but I do. You spent so much time down in that lab with me when you were growing up. I'd drop important experiments all the time just to play with you. Then you got too old to play, but you were still just as enthusiastic about science, experiments, and most of all, helping me with my work. Our bond never broke. When you passed away... I never left your side. I held you like I did on the day you were born, crying for an hour after you'd closed your eyes."

Vera floated closer to her dad, silently hugging him. He returned the hug, comfortingly rubbing the back of her head. They pulled back from each other, and he grinned at her with a twinkle in his eye. "Your bond with Dean must be surprisingly strong if you were able to break free of the force binding you to this house. Do you remember what gave you the idea to try and leave the house with him?"

"I don't know," Vera admitted. "I think I just wanted to see how far I could get with him. I didn't want us to be separated a whole day, over and over again throughout the week. And before I knew it, it was like I had a new mission to stay with him the whole time. I was so excited and so eager to see what the world was like that I didn't even tell him at first. I just silently stayed by his side. Maybe I was afraid I'd ruin it somehow if I did."

William smiled. "Well... now you've found me. And now I'm free from that terrible limbo. Which may just mean... I can't hold you back anymore. You're free."

Vera looked at him excitedly, and then looked all around herself. So many directions to go. So many things to see.

"Go on," he urged her, kissing her hair. "Be free of this house for once. Without relying on handsome boys, anyway."

She snapped out of her daze to push him away playfully. "Daddy..." She gave him a worried look. "But... are you going to be okay? Just... staying her by yourself?"

"I'll be waiting for you," he said with a smile. "Waiting for you to come home. Just like I always did. Now go on. Enjoy yourself."

Vera nodded happily, giving him one more hug before she immediately took off flying. She sped through the air and over the ocean, running her hands through it and causing large splashes. She laughed in relief and joy as she flew up to the sky as high as she could before flying back down at a diagonal. Wherever she was going, it was not going to be the town of Friendship. Nothing was holding her back now.

But of course, in the end, she knew she'd eventually return to her hometown. Somehow, she knew the way back, even in this unfamiliar territory. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

As William floated back inside, he looked forward at the main staircase to see Lena slowly descending down the right side, followed by Stella and Bertha, who had come home a while ago and had been sleeping as well, taking a cue from their older sister.

They stared at each other for a very long and very silent moment. "Father..." Lena whispered. "I knew I sensed something different in this house."

"I've finally escaped limbo thanks to Vera and her friend," William said, floating up to them with a hopeful smile.

"Daddy..." Stella let out a gasp and flew at him, throwing her arms around him. Bertha came up to him next, silently putting her arms around him more calmly as she cried into his shoulder.

William laughed in relief, holding his two daughters close as he kissed both of them on the head. He looked up at Lena as Bertha and Stella parted for him to pass. He floated up to her, arms open to give her a hug. "Sweetie..."

Lena floated back, away from him. William frowned, putting his arms down.

"Lena!" Stella scolded, glaring at her.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Lena spoke. "It's good to see you, dad." She turned around and floated back up the stairs and out of sight.

Katherine brought the car to a stop in front of the manor, looking over at Penny who had been very silent. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just need to figure out what to do now." Penny closed her eyes, rubbing at them with one hand, looking exhausted.

"You did the right thing, Penny."

"I know I did. Doing the right thing is just difficult and painful sometimes." She scoffed at herself. "I can't believe I feel bad for her. I've never seen her let down her guard like that. It was like she was a little girl again. Scared and alone."

Katherine nodded in understanding. "Sometimes, people like her need to hit the absolute bottom. They need a good shock like that to wake them up and start making amends."

"And sometimes people are just too far gone and don't deserve help."

"That too," Katherine agreed grimly. "No telling which way Kathleen will go. It's all up to her. Regardless, I want you to know how grateful I am to you." She reached over, squeezing Penny's shoulder. "Because of you, I don't have to worry about my son struggling financially, at least not while he's still dealing with high school."

Penny finally smiled. "Dean's a good boy. If I managed to spare him the kind of life I had when I was his age, I'll have done something right in this life. Of course, he has a strong mother who loves him. So that was already impossible.

"Aww, come here, you," Katherine gushed, pulling Penny into a hug. Penny giggled, patting her back awkwardly. "Do you need any help getting things set up financially? I can help you. Heck, I owe you for what you've done."

The young woman shook her head in amusement. "No, Ms. Robison. Unlike Kathleen, I know how to budget properly. I have enough money to get me by while I search for work. More importantly, I'm not the same person I was when I was sitting on that bench that day. I'm ready to take control of my life. The last thing I want to do is take advantage of your kindness like that."

"Alright. But remember, if anything ever goes wrong, if you run into problems, you always have somewhere to come back to. We'll welcome you. We certainly have enough rooms."

Penny laughed. "Thank you so much. I'll keep that in mind."

They both exited Katherine's car. As Penny made her way around it to get to her own car, she turned back to Katherine. "Although, speaking of enough room, I think there's a certain someone you ought to be considering for that position than me. I'm guessing it'll require some apologies on your part, though."

Katherine looked confused for a moment, then realization dawned on her face. "Oh... Dustin."

"First, I have to ask, and you can avoid the details. Did Dustin deserve whatever happened to make him storm out like he did today?"

"No..." Katherine said after a moment of struggle. "No, he really didn't. It was all to do with me. Nothing to do with him."

"Okay. I needed to know, because while I don't know him too well, and I don't know what happened between you two, he's always seemed like the kindest, most thoughtful person. I met him several times, since Kathleen would often drag me along as she went to his home to try and convince him that she had changed her ways."

Katherine couldn't help but smirk. "That must have been uncomfortable."

"Oh, tremendously so. The poor man never lost his kindness and patience no matter how many times we disturbed his life. Then I apologized to him once after Kathleen had stormed out, and he stopped me as I was leaving. I still remember what he said... 'Listen to me, you're too good at what you do to be treated like this by her. The only reason she can stay afloat these days is because you're keeping her there. You could do so much better than her, but she can't do much better than you.'" She let out a sad sigh. "I waited way too long to take his words to heart, but I'll always appreciate them. He barely knew me, but there was so much warmth in his eyes when he told me that. Like he knew I needed help. That I needed to get away from her."

"Sounds like him," Katherine said tenderly. "He made quite the impression on me that first night we met. It was like he always knew what I needed to hear."

"Anyway, my point is, you're a good woman, you deserve a good man. And I can't imagine you could find someone better than him around here. Kind. Trusting. Hardworking. And good-looking... I suppose."

"You suppose?" Katherine asked in amusement. How do you just suppose that? The man is gorgeous!

"Well, I'm not exactly interested in men," Penny said with a smile and a casual shrug. "I'm gay."

"Ahh," Katherine said with a nod. Okay, that makes total sense. Thank goodness I didn't voice my thoughts before!

"Anyway, just something to think about. It would make me happy to know that the two people who really believed in me to do the right thing were happy together." She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself. "I sound like I'm still a romance-obsessed teenager."

Katherine chuckled, giving her a hug. "You are so much more mature than I was when I was your age, and honestly, more mature than I am today in some ways. Besides, being romance-obsessed is a positive trait as far as I'm concerned."

Penny giggled. "Thank you. I'd better get going." She turned around to enter her car.

"Thank you for everything." Katherine watched as her car faded into the distance, wishing the young woman all the best in life. She turned around and entered the house- her house, she thought with a smile- stopping in her tracks at the sight of Stella and Bertha sitting on the steps of the stairs, quietly chatting with William.

The three ghosts looked up at her, and William floated up immediately, hurrying to her and gently taking her hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Robison. While you did not intend it, it is thanks to you that I am free of my prison and am able to be with my daughters again. Thank you so much for that." He brought his hand to her lips and kissed it.

Katherine could only stare in wordless shock. "I... you..." She looked at Stella and Bertha. "HUH?!"

Stella sighed. "It's a long story, doc. Come on, let's go sit down. I think you both have a lot to say."

As they led her away, the only coherent thought in Katherine's mind was: Figures. The sexiest men are always either too good for me, unavailable, or dead.

The talking and explanations carried on for a long time after that, both from William recounting his reunion with Vera, as well as from Katherine explaining the events of the past hour or so with Kress.

Unknown to the small group, they were not alone. There was a fifth listener in attendance. Watching. Waiting. Planning. Red eyes glowed in anticipation.

The sound of the front door suddenly opening with a violent crash made Katherine jump. She stood up and hurried to the entrance hall. "Dean? Is that you?" The ghosts followed behind her.

When she got there, she found the front door wide open. Nobody was there. She walked to the front door and looked all around, trying to find anybody. But there was no sign anyone had been there. She quickly closed the door and locked it. "Nobody..." she said softly.

"Well, that was creepy," Stella said, rubbing her arms. "I literally got ghost chills. I didn't even know we could get those!"

William looked around the room, his eyes stopping on a specific table. His eyes widened. "Where is it?!"

Everyone turned to look at him. "Where's what?" Katherine asked.

He turned to look at them in shock. "The potion! I left it here. Where has it...?" He turned to the front door and immediately flew through it, followed by Stella.

"Someone stole it!" Bertha declared. "Come on, Kat! Let's go!" She took Katherine's hand, flying through the door.

"Omf!" Katherine smacked into the door, and dizzily fell to the floor. "Ow..."

Kathleen was still at her desk long after many of the other workers had gone home. She sobbed loudly into her hands, unable to stop her tears.

She was completely alone now. Nobody left who cared at all. Alone with only her thoughts, and nothing could be more painful. And now she didn't even have the excessive amounts of money she'd clung to for so long to offer any comfort. Not even the promise of it, because it was all going to be taken from her anyway.

Not my fault... it's not my fault. They ruined me. They ruined my life. She ruined everything. Her and that traitor.

Every time she repeated that to herself, it was less and less convincing.

It was still my house. I deserve to be compensated for it. Logically, she knew that was true. She had basically been cheated. But... that had also been her fault. If she had just read the stupid contract she'd had all that time.

"Fuck," she whispered, picking herself up from her desk. She hated this. She despised feeling weak. She paced around her office for a while, not knowing what to do or where to go. There was nowhere to go.

Kathleen looked at the large window overlooking the small town with red, puffy eyes. The ocean was in the distance. Cars passed by with no knowledge of her existence. The stars were bright tonight. She staggered over to it, pressing her head against the glass, enjoying the coolness of it on her sweaty forehead, and looking down at the ground far below. There had been certain times in her life when the ground had looked very welcoming. A chance to be free of the harshness of real life. Real work. Not having all the money in the world to throw around.

This was another one of those times.

Kathleen gasped softly, pulling away from the window. "No," she said, shaking her head at herself. "Not again."

She pulled out her phone and clicked on one of her very few contacts. She needed to hear someone else. Someone other than herself.

The person answered with an annoyed, exhausted tone. "What is it, Kathleen?"

Even after all this time, he still answered her. "Dustin..." she whimpered. "I..."

A moment's silence as she sniffled. "Kathie... are you crying?"

She smiled at his old affectionate name for her, thinking back on old memories. Times when she could truly call herself happy.

For a moment, a dark idea came to her mind and told her to cry loudly for him, play on his emotions and force him to come back to her. To care about her. To give her another chance. It would be so easy. She knew exactly the kind of man Dustin was like, how easy he would be to manipulate.

She hung up instead. She squeezed the phone so tightly it hurt.

She wanted to blame Katherine and Penny for losing Dustin as well, but her mind went back to the last talk she had with him, and she knew that wasn't true either. Her phone started to buzz, and she looked at the screen, seeing Dustin's name on the screen.

With a scream of rage, she flung the phone hard against the far wall with a loud crack as it fell to the floor. She soon joined it, falling on her knees and weeping uncontrollably once again.

"Well, well... isn't this a sorry sight."

Kathleen looked up and screamed at the ghost of a man floating in front of her, looking down at her with cold eyes. He had short, straight jet black hair that looked rather disheveled. His eyes were a dark brown. His clothing looked like the kind of relaxed wear she'd seen in old photographs from the 1920s, a pair of brown pants and a white dressy shirt beneath a black wool vest.

Kathleen crawled backwards until her back hit her desk. "What... who are...?"

"Enough blubbering," he said, reaching down for her hand. When she didn't take it, he sighed, grabbing the front of her shirt and violently yanking her to her feet.

Kathleen wobbled a bit as she straightened herself up. "Sit down," he commanded. She immediately obeyed as he took a seat himself across from her on the other side of her desk.

"I saw the name on your office window, but more than that, I can feel it. I can sense our connection somehow. I always was a family man." He chuckled darkly.

"I... I don't understand..." Kathleen whimpered, smoothing out her wrinkled shirt.

"I didn't have to look very far in this backwater town to find the only Kress Beyond building around these parts. Pbft! Times truly have changed." He looked around himself in disgust. "From what I heard from that gossiping bitch- Robison, I believe her name was- you had a father who died recently. My grandson, then. Oh, I would have had some words with him if he were still alive. What a mockery of what our name once stood for."

The ghost looked at Kathleen now. "He would have to be the son of my daughter, as she was my only remaining child. Which would make you... my darling great granddaughter. Hello, Kathleen." He smiled at her, but it was incredibly unsettling. There was no warmth in his smile at all. No love in his eyes.

The love her father always had for her, no matter how many times she disappointed him.

Kathleen couldn't respond, too terrified to answer.

"Desmond Kress is my name," he announced with a chuckle. "Thank you for asking. And I'm here to help you."

"Help me?"

"Do you have any idea how powerful you can be with a ghost by your side?" He asked. "So much that I can do that you never could on your own. I can give back to you all the wealth you've lost in your foolishness. I can put you back on top of the company. You can get revenge on everybody who wronged you." His eyes flickered to the phone she had thrown. "You can win back that man. You could have any man." His eyes glowed red suddenly, making her gasp in fright, shrinking in her seat. "I have great power, Kathleen. And I intend to use it to ensure my great granddaughter experiences what it truly means to be a Kress. What do you say, dear?"

Kathleen looked at the floor for a few seconds. Then she looked back up with a cruel smile and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Excellent." Desmond Kress grinned as his eyes glowed red once more. The bottle he had brought with him and set down on another table floated over to him and he took it in his hands with a cold smile. "Great things are about to happen."

As soon as his attention was off her, Kathleen's smile faded. She was definitely intrigued by his offer. But at the same time... she had never felt less safe than she did right now.

The true villain finally makes his appearance! If anyone out there (i'm sure there's at least 5 of you in total, lol) wondered why I didn't genderswap my version of Carrigan... the answer is I just preferred to keep her a woman and has nothing to do with Desmond lol. But now we at last have genderswapped Ghost-Carrigan. So that's kinda fun. =P

Big thank you to everyone reading this story. Hope it's keeping some level of interest at least. Please drop a review and let me know what you think whenever you can, or I'll cry. Well, not really, but I'd really appreciate it. :)