Kathleen's eyes were glued to her personal computer screen as she scrolled through various local news articles about the deaths of her former coworkers. Due to suspicions and rumors from the grieving families, the police were conducting an investigation of Kress Beyond, suspecting some kind of foul play. They had checked computers, files, pulled out all kinds of records, and now wanted her to make a statement.

She quickly clicked off the news sites and deleted her internet history, rubbing at her temples. There was no way this was necessary. None of this. She took some deep breaths and tried to calm herself down, as well as halt the shaking of her hands. It wasn't just the deaths that bothered her.

It was the fact that Dustin's sudden interest in pursuing a relationship with her again suddenly seemed a bit too convenient, now that she knew the man she had allied herself with would gladly stoop to any level to ensure their family name be restored to some former glory she didn't even care about.

If she was being honest with herself, she had entertained Desmond's words for a moment. Who wouldn't? Power and influence? A respected family name? It had all sounded like a good deal, up until the heavy price to be paid was thrown into her face. And now she was in too deep. She supposed this was what a deal with the devil felt like.

From the moment Desmond has looked at her with such rage in his eyes, she realized she wasn't safe. Not at all. And even though a part of her reviled the idea, she knew there was only one person who could help her right now. The only question was, how would she make it to her with that ghoul always seeming so close?

She looked at the time and sighed. It was time to go.

Dean gently shut the door of Katherine's room as he heard the beginnings of her weeping. It was almost silent, borne from years of trying to hide her tears from Dean, but he could always hear it. She'd been miserable all of the previous Tuesday and today, but Dean knew she'd bounce back soon enough.

He turned around to see the sisters watching sadly, not sure what to do. Lena gave his shoulder a squeeze as he passed, and he gave her a small smile and walked down the stairs, where Vera was waiting for him.

"Is it just me..." Dean said, slouching on the sofa. "...or does Mom keep suffering heartbreaks every single time we make some massive new discovery?"

"I'm sure it's only happened twice now," Vera said, sitting down beside him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"You know, I have this theory that if something happens twice, your brain is programmed to tell you it happens all the time. I keep catching myself doing that."

"Well, when she feels better, and she will... you'll have to test that out."

He chuckled before his face fell again. "Well, hopefully she feels better sooner than later."

"My sisters want to go and give him a piece of their minds," Vera said with a small giggle. "But Katherine told them to leave him alone."

"That's too bad," Dean muttered, shaking his head. "He's lost all of his Dean Approval points with me, that's for sure."

"I'm sure he's going through something we just don't understand yet," Vera said, squeezing his hand. "It's the only explanation. Well, besides him just being a colossal dickhead."

"You can never rule that one out," Dean said, smirking and holding Vera close. "It's strange when you swear. It just clashes with your wholesome, innocent girl persona."

Vera rolled her eyes and gave him a playful push, moving her head from his shoulder. "I've never tried to seem like an innocent, wholesome, sweet girly girl, damn it."

Dean laughed out loud, patting her hand. "I know. It just comes naturally to you."

"Hmph!"

He laughed some more. "It's not an insult. I love that about you, you know."

Vera turned to look at him as his laughter died down. Their eyes met for a moment, like before, and a silence settled around them. "You do?"

"Absolutely."

The lights in the house suddenly flickered, and then went dark, breaking the awkward moment. Then they turned back on. "Hard at work, I see," Dean said, tearing his eyes away. "How's it been going with the machine?"

"Father's making good progress on it. Everything's in place. He's just testing the power right now before he actually puts the potions into it."

"Ah, the good old 'turn it off, turn it back on again' trick," Dean said with a laugh. "Never fails, even for miracle resurrection machines."

"I'm guessing that's a human thing as well?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. That, and 'give it a good smack'. You'll never need a repairman as long as I'm around."

Vera chuckled and turned to look at him again. "I'm just hoping we get it done before the dance. I really want to go. And it'd be nice not to have to do it as a ghost."

"I'm sure he will. And hell, I'm hosting this thing. I'll stop them from starting the music until you're ready if I have to."

Vera giggled. "Thank you, Dean. Hope Amy won't mind if I steal you away for a few dances."

Dean blushed. "I'm sure she won't. And if she was like that, I wouldn't be her date for much longer."

"Really?"

"Of course. Last thing I'll ever do is push you away."

She smiled and leaned over, pecking him on the cheek. "That's sweet of you."

Dean touched his cheek with a smile. "Happy to do it..."

"Hey, lovebirds," Lena said, startling them both. "I'm going out. If father asks where I am, tell him I needed some air."

"The... air you don't need?" Dean asked as Vera cracked up.

Lena smirked and blasted him with a powerful breath, knocking him back onto the sofa. "Cute. I'll be back soon." She turned and floated through the wall.

"She's definitely going to see Dustin, isn't she?" Vera asked.

"Yup, that was my thought." Dean sat back up.

"Should I stop her?"

"Nope," Dean replied, smirking.

The two laughed.

"Have there been any disagreements or altercations of any kind in the last few weeks on the premises?"

Kathleen shook her head. "None that I have heard of or been told about by any of our employees," she responded to the detective, her face calm but with an appropriate amount of worry. "I'm confused... do you think it wasn't a suicide?"

"We're simply not ruling out any possibilities."

She nodded. "The closest I can think of is the three of them quitting. It was right after I was made CEO of the company. Those who quit afterwards certainly disagreed with that decision, but I never heard anything about any of them until this morning when I saw the news. I never even saw them at any point afterwards."

The detective seemed to read her expression for a moment, and then nodded. "And do you think that might have played a role in their decision?"

"I couldn't possibly say. I really only found out this morning over the news, and it was as much a shock to me as it was to anyone else."

"I see." He scribbled something down. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Kress. You're free to go. We are going to search through the company records over the last few weeks, just in case, and we'll contact you soon enough if we find anything we need to discuss further."

"Of course, please do," Kathleen nodded. "Anything that might help."

He nodded and Kathleen stood up and turned to walk out of the office.

"Oh, by the way..." he spoke up, and she turned back. "My condolences for your recent loss. Your father was a very good man. We'll all miss him."

Kress nodded, a slight sign of pain on her face before disappearing. "He was..." She left the office.

It was the late afternoon and starting to get quite cool, a nice breeze on her skin as she exited the police department and made her way to her car. As she sat inside and closed the door, she immediately felt a cold presence leave her body and she gasped, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"What a waste of time," she heard Desmond say. "Waste of a day having to answer to these morons. They'll be working for us one day. Believe it or not, I do have work to do. Preparations to be made. I don't need you ruining everything. I was actually having a hard time keeping my control over you. Your anxiety literally almost broke through. If you had gone in there alone, I can only imagine where you'd be right now. You'd probably have ratted yourself out, and I'd have had to proceed on my own."

Kathleen shivered. The feeling of being possessed by such a dark presence had not been a pleasant one. "I'm sorry... I can't help it..."

"You'd better learn, and quick," he growled, making Kathleen whimper from the freezing cold filling up the car and even fogging the windows. "Next time, I may just leave you to your own devices."

Kathleen nodded. "I'm sorry. I'll get better..."

"Good." The car became warm again and she tried not to flinch as she felt his cold hand stroke her cheek. "That's the Kress blood in you talking, angel. Keep it up, and you'll make me proud."

Kathleen tried not to burst into tears as the pet name reminded her of what her departed father used to say to her. "I will."

"Good. Go on, then. I have business to attend to." She felt him leave, and the tears began to fall. She started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. She drove as if on auto-pilot, knowing exactly where she wanted to go.

When she arrived, she knocked on the door. Dustin opened it up, immediate concern on his face at her appearance. "Kathleen? Are you...?"

She quickly entered, closing the door behind her. "Hold me," she whimpered, falling into his arms.

Dustin gently guided her to his sofa, still holding her tightly as they sat down. Despite everything, he still cared for her, especially when she was in obvious distress.

Lena wasn't sure what she was gonna do when she got there. She didn't want to hurt Dustin, she just wanted to understand why he'd done what he'd done. She may not have always been the best reader of people, but she had learned much about him during their first discussion and she knew he was far too good of a person to just callously hurt Katherine the way that he did. Not to mention completely and clearly smitten with her.

Still, if it turned out she was wrong all along about him, she wouldn't mind turning his house upside down. And probably him a few times.

As his house came into view, she looked down at the vehicle that was there besides his own, recognizing it immediately. Kathleen Kress.

Fury filled her soul, and she tried to keep it under control. "Give him a chance. Just give him a chance." She prepared to float down into the house while invisible.

But she never had the chance. Something was freezing her in place suddenly. "W-what the?"

"Well, well, well... Lena Eckland. Been a long time."

Lena somehow felt a freezing chill run through her very core. "No... no, no, no..."

"Oh, yes, I'm afraid. It is me." Desmond appeared before her, an evil smile on his face. "Just as beautiful as I remember."

"P-please... please don't..." Lena sobbed, shivering violently and shaking her head rapidly. "Please no..."

"Ah, you do remember me," he said with a laugh, clapping his hands sarcastically. "Trauma is so powerful, isn't it? Good. Maybe you'll remember my good friends, too."

Hands suddenly grabbed her arms from behind, and she turned to see familiar faces. Ghosts. Two men and one woman. Three of the many ghosts that she and her sisters had visited before returning home. Now with glowing red eyes, a sign of the cruel hatred within them that gave them power.

"W-what are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Looks like our revolution is beginning," one of the ghosts said grimly. "We're rising up. Just like you wanted."

"No! Not like this... not with him! Are you insane?!"

"We're sick of this," the woman said, on the verge of tears. "We don't want to be dead. We want to live again. He can give that to us."

"What?!"

"You never told them about your father's machine?" Desmond asked with mock shock. "What a horrible thing to hold out on them."

"Don't listen to him!" Lena cried. "It could destroy you! It could..."

"And you're still using it," a voice said. "We'll take the risk."

Lena froze in absolute shock as a fourth ghost appeared beside Desmond.

One of the men that had kidnapped her and her sisters that fateful night. The man that killed her.

"No! No! No!" Lena screamed and thrashed around helplessly in complete distress as the men laughed at her, unable to focus enough to use any of her abilities as Desmond's powerful gaze was upon her. The ghosts restraining her didn't laugh and wore masks of guilt, but held onto her nonetheless.

"I paid a visit to that house where you all spent your final moments. The rest of our mutual friends apparently moved on, but as luck would have it, this rotten son of a bitch was still lurking there. You always were loyal, Bill."

"Just needed the good ol' boss to pay a visit," Bill said to Lena. "And I broke out of that prison."

"Take her back to the house and keep her there," Desmond ordered. "And keep an eye on her. I doubt you'll have to restrain her with your powers. Trust me... I doubt she'll be able to fight."

Lena whimpered at the thought of returning to that house and desperately tried to pull away. "Help!" She screamed deliriously as dark memories returned to her. "Please! Heeelp!"

The ghosts carried her away as Desmond watched with a grin.

"I saw the news."

"I don't know what to do..." she said, wiping tears away. "It's like everything's spiraling out of control..."

"Look, we both know you're innocent. You just have to-"

"Am I?" Kathleen asked with a dry laugh. "Tell me why I'm innocent, Dustin."

"Because... because I know you'd never do anything to cause those deaths."

She nodded. "That's true. Now tell me why I'm actually innocent."

"I... I don't understand."

"You know about him. Don't you?"

Dustin felt a pang of fear in his chest. "I... yes. I know about him. We've met."

"And do you mean it? You think I'd never have a hand in those deaths?"

"I... I did mean it. But if we're being honest, you're really kinda scaring me right now, Kathie..."

"I was just making sure, stupid," she said good-naturedly, hugging him tightly. "He does what he wants. I have no control over him. I thought he was just going to get me a better position at work. And he did. I had no idea he'd gone this far until this morning. He's... he's evil, Dustin. Cold and... harsh. He's in control."

"Yeah... I figured that was the case."

She chuckled without amusement. "Let me guess... that's why you came back to me."

"I..."

"Don't worry. I figured as much not too long after I saw the news. If he could do something like that and just... laugh about it... he'd definitely force you into some kind of arrangement with me."

"He wants an heir... or multiple heirs... for when he comes back to life."

"Back to life?"

"It's a... long story."

"Nothing surprises me anymore." Kathleen shivered. "He just needs me to bring children into this world. He's insane."

"I'm sorry, Kathie."

"I am too. I really do adore you, you know." Kathleen held back a sob. "But I know I've lost you. I lost you a long time ago, and I deserve to be alone. That's just how it is."

Dustin kissed her on the head, making her shut her eyes. "It wasn't all bad. We had some good times."

"Not good enough."

"No, not good enough... but good times. You'll find someone. No one deserves to be alone."

"Sometimes they do. He definitely deserves to be alone. Unable to hurt people."

"Yeah, that may be true," Dustin agreed, holding her tightly. "But you're not him, Kathie. You're not him. You've done a lot of wrong, I won't lie to you. But you can get better. I know you can."

"I hope so..."

"So... now that the truth is out... what now?"

Kathleen sighed. "We need help. And there's only one place we're gonna get that." She immediately reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Ah, damn it. I deleted her number."

"You mean Katherine's? I have her number."

"You do?"

He chuckled. "Well, he took my phone from me to make sure I didn't notify her of anything. But I still remember her number." He told her the number immediately.

Kress typed it into her phone. "How do you even...? Oh." Understanding flooded Kathleen's face. She smiled, but it was a sad one. "You had my number for years and never memorized it. How long have you known her?"

"Like a few days," he admitted, blushing. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I had my issues with her, but... recent events have kind of made me realize a few things. And now, she's... probably my only hope left." She squeezed his hand. "Still... a few days? You must really like her."

"I do. Very much." Pain filled his face. "When he came to me, he forced me to break it off with her." Dustin looked away sadly. "I really hurt her."

"I'm sorry," Kathleen said, and she meant it. "She's a good woman. Far better than me. Don't worry. She'll understand once we explain everything."

Just before she clicked the button, the phone was whisked out of her hands. They both stood up from the couch, terror filling their hearts. "Wha?!"

It seemed to float in the air for a moment before Desmond appeared with a smile, shaking his head. A frightening wind seemed to constantly blow through the house suddenly, making Dustin and Kathleen shield their faces and squint through it at the terrifying apparition. "Kids today... no respect for their elders. No respect at all."

"Granddad... I..." Kathleen stammered.

"Silence." It wasn't a roar, but a whisper that somehow shook the entire house as his eyes glowed blood red. "Nobody breaks a deal with Desmond Kress."

Kathleen cowered as Dustin wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"I never had much faith in you, angel," Desmond rasped. "But I was willing to give you one last chance after today. But of course, you failed me. As I figured you would. So now it's time for some more... direct measures."