Useless, clueless boy. In a moment of naivety, Delphine had trusted Cordelia's dumb husband to carry out her plan and expose Misty for the hellish creature she was. And she had a feeling that whatever was happening between the two women, that Hank was afraid of – she could very well guess the nature – was out of the bag now. His whole face shone with it, when she saw him enter the forest. He didn't see her; he was too preoccupied. She had hoped the rage in his eyes had been enough. But nothing happened.

She sat by the road he had disappeared down, hidden and hoping he would return with an expression of victory. A little blood on his face wouldn't have been too bad either. But no, he came rushing out right past her, running away like a frightened little boy. He would do no good anymore. She would have killed him for his for incompetence, if she had had the time.

Time was not an unlimited resource now, if she wanted to get her revenge. He might not know her real name, but Fiona Goode was no idiot. Narrow minded, ignorant, blissfully so during Delphine's servitude, but not a moron. And she had her ways of manipulating. She would see through this boy and she would be onto Delphine. There was no time to waste anymore. Delphine would have to act herself.

She went back to the little motel room to make sure everything was packed. She couldn't stay here once she had made sure Fiona Goode and her bastard witch had gotten what they deserved. She paid for the week out and stashed her few belongings away. She would start a new life once this was dealt with. Get Borquita back. The girl couldn't be far. She would change her mind. She always did, when she went out on a limb with her rebellion. Delphine would call up her daughters until one of them caved in. She couldn't be gone forever, she couldn't keep punishing Delphine this way. Borquita would learn and she would come back.

With that in mind, Delphine put the worry aside and little by little, the knot in her stomach loosened. It was the anticipation that made it unravel. She had a quest to carry out. It wasn't murder in Delphine's mind, rather it was cleansing and it was settling a debt. One kill would leave the world a little cleaner and the other would leave her soul a little lighter.

Delphine thought she would start with the cleansing. It could serve as a part of her revenge even. She knew that killing Misty would hurt Fiona, however indirect, but Misty wouldn't shed a tear for Fiona. They never liked each other much. Misty also seemed like the easiest one to get rid of, because she was only ever in one place. The swamp. Delphine almost had her once and she failed to split her in half then. Tonight she would not fail.

A smile drew on her face. She could almost taste the long lost feeling of balance and joy at the thought of finally putting down that savage creature. Oh how she had longed to do so. Delphine gripped tight around the knife, which she had stolen from the Goode kitchen. She remembered there was a time, where she hated the sight of these, because they mocked her for being a servant. The day she was arrested, she relieved herself with the thought that at least she would never have to use these utensils again. Now she turned it in her hand and took a moment to appreciate the irony.

Then she headed for the swamp.

O0O

Fiona wasn't sure who were the most pathetic, herself or her daughter.

She had found a clinic in New Orleans to give her the next round of chemotherapy and she could feel the poison eating away at her from the inside out. There was no pain like it. She was a sad case, bending over the toilet and emptying her insides every other morning. The curious thing was, so was Cordelia.

The first morning, she heard her, she figured it was bad food. Hank had cooked the night before, it really shouldn't come as a surprised. It almost made her miss their psychotic old maid. Much could and should be said about the delusional toad, but she could cook a meal.

When it happened again two days after, Fiona grew worried. She didn't ask directly. If she brought it up, Cordelia might start digging into why she was so pale herself all of a sudden and Fiona couldn't have that. Then rather they both stay quiet and mind their own business.

The next morning they sat together, eating and pretending not to notice each other. Hank had left in the dark of the early morning to get his breakfast somewhere else. They changed like pendulum swings, him and Cordelia. One day they talked as if nothing had happened and the next they fought like war had reached their doorstep. Fiona refrained from commenting. She had promised Cordelia, she would live with whatever she did and she intended to keep at least one goddamn promise, she made her daughter.

She just hoped to God, Cordelia wouldn't settle for this one. What kind of imbecile believes a war is won by sneaking out early instead of having breakfast with your wife?

But she didn't comment. She sat there, drinking her tea – which made her think of Myrtle and how she would actually know what to say on a morning like this – when Cordelia threw her fork and ran for the bathroom. The sound was unmistakable. And this time, there was no ignoring it.

Fiona waited a few minutes, to give her time to clean up, before she went for her.

"I suppose I'll have to stop blaming this on the food. What's wrong with you?"

Cordelia eyed her in the mirror before looking down again. "I'm fine, mother", she said while staring at the sink. Fiona continued to look at her bowed head and thought to herself that she had never seen Cordelia react physically to her problems like this. Her mind snapped, when it got bad, sure, but never her body. She had inherited Fiona's way of keeping it all on the inside.

"Do you expect me to believe that? I have ears."

Cordelia sighed and treated Fiona to a loaded silence. She kept the water running for another minute, as if it would drown out Fiona's questions.

"Is it because of Misty? Or Hank, whichever poses the real problem?"

Finally, she turned around. She looked so tired. Fiona knew that look and she secretly started to dread, if this strange love triangle was taking a much bigger toll on Cordelia, than she could handle. Fiona knew what the hole looked like, if Cordelia tumbled and fell, and she prayed she would never have to see her daughter fall down there again.

"Would you just leave me alone, please? I have to get ready for work."

The exhaustion in her voice was what stopped Fiona from insisting. She was afraid to push her. Instead, she watched Cordelia leave not fifteen minutes later and hated herself for being so afraid of her own daughter's demons.

Fiona didn't stay long in the house either. Instead, she wandered around the city. In the daylight, the shadows in the corners were less likely to take shapes, the way she felt they did in Boston. She ate a meal out, she failed to keep it in and when the dark started to creep in over the sky, she made her way to the usual meeting spot.

"Good evening, pretty lady." She found him leaning against the wall in the usual manner and he tipped his hat, when she approached him. The boyish smirk on his face told her that she visited him too often.

"Hello Cometh."

"Are we on first names now? I like that."

"Don't make me regret it. Now fish out a gram, will you?"

He tsk'ed at her and bend down, mumbling about her rush as usual. These visits were becoming a routine for her, yet somehow he always managed to stand a little closer every time he handed her the bag.

"There you go, Fiona. Enjoy." She tried to ignore that the way his hands brushed over hers and the way his eyes lingered on her face had her blood warming to a simmer. She would have to leave, before he learned to read her face.

She handed him the money, before he had another chance to talk, and bid him goodnight. There was no room in her life for something as foolish as romance. If her daughter wasn't a textbook example of just what came out of letting your emotions rule you, she didn't know what was. She hurried out of the alley and strode towards her safe place, when turmoil behind her caught her attention. Then someone called for her.

"Fiona!" It was Cometh's voice and it has lost its airy charm for once. She turned to find him struggling with a thin shape of a person. The shape uttered no word, but fought against Cometh's grip on the scruff of his grubby shirt. His resistance was fruitless. Cometh crossed the street and as he walked closer, Fiona realized who he had caught. The blood turned to ice in her crumbled veins.

"This fellow was following you." His words didn't come quite so easy, even though he had the upper hand. Spalding finally stopped fighting him and stood still in his grasp. He stared at Fiona with adoration. Cometh, on the other hand, looked worried and angry. "Do you know him?"

She gave a stiff nod and looked at Spalding. In all the years he had been the shadow at her heels, she had never gotten a look at him. Now that he was here, caught in the light of a street lamp, she could see what the years had done to him. He was even thinner, his hair more white than grey and his face sunken. She didn't dare guess, what he had lived off all those years. Now she looked straight at him, all her boiled up anxiety turning to anger.

"What is the matter with you, Spalding? Will you stop following me? Christ, why are all my servants insane?"

He looked apologetic, but he didn't stop staring.

"Why can't you just leave me alone, you insane man? And why show up now? The shadows got too crowded for you? What do you want?"

Suddenly he started gesticulating. He pointed everywhere and his scrawny face spoke of urgency. It was absurd to see him fling his arms around like that, but with no noise to accompany it. He looked like an amateur mime. How she hated these guessing games.

"The only one who ever liked your stupid games was Misty, will you-"

Fiona stopped, when the mention of Misty's name threw him into a whole new level of frantic miming.

"This has to do with Misty?" He nodded violently. "Well what about her? Cometh, you can let go."

"Are you sure?"

Fiona nodded. "He's harmless. He's just weird. You could probably snap him like a toothpick, if he tries something. But you won't, will you?" Spalding shook his head. Cometh sighed and let go of his scruff. Spalding took a quick step away from him and rubbed his neck in an almost cartoonish way.

"Now what is it about Misty?" Fiona asked him and Spalding started gesticulating again. Fiona felt like an idiot, standing there, side by side with her cocaine dealer, trying to play along to this toddler's game. Spalding shaped his arms into a large person, he dragged his frail, grey hair up and formed breasts in the air.

"I think we're trying to guess an overweight woman", Cometh offered. Fiona rolled her eyes.

Spalding nodded and went into acting a scenario in which he was tied to something, and cutting into his own skin. Suddenly Fiona understood.

"Are you talking about Delphine?"

"Who?" Cometh asked, but Fiona ignored him, because Spalding now nodded so hard, she thought his head might tip off. His face shone and he started pointing down the street.

"What does Delphine has to do with Misty?"

Spalding stood still and very slowly, he dragged a finger over his throat. Fiona froze.

"Show me the way. Cometh, I have to go."

"Wait", he held on to her wrist, but she pulled her hand out of his grasp. His eyes turned sad, but she ignored it, because Spalding was already starting down the street.

"This is a family matter."

"I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone with this man. Or chasing what sounds like a homicidal woman."

"If he wanted to slice me up and stuff me into a fridge, he has had years to do so. And this is none of your business. Keep your concern to yourself." At that she left him to follow Spalding, hoping he would respect her word. She couldn't have more people entangled in this apparently never-ending scandal. And she couldn't let Delphine get to Misty. Too much depended on her. She ran as fast as her weakened body allowed and kept her eyes on Spalding's huddled figure up ahead.

O0O

Her shack felt too big. It was a small place and it had always fitted her perfectly, but now she only saw what was missing. The hum in the air had gone silent, always hibernating now until Cordelia returned. It felt like her own heart did the same. Misty hated that the even the solitude, which she had learned to take comfort in, turned against her now.

She felt like going crazy. She had refused to heal an injury, which she might be able to conquer. She had fought against the urge, ignored the call of the siren, only because it was Fiona. Doing so she had ignored what she thought was the very core of her being, all out of spite. She had even threatened to murder Hank. Twice. This wasn't her.

She had sent Nick away down to the swamp. She didn't want to lash out on him, when he had done nothing but be her friend and protect her. Now she found herself curled up in bed with a cup of her own tea, trying to get her mind back on a track of sense. She would lose the battle, she never wanted, if she continued down this path.

It made her think of the last time she felt this suffocated. She was only fourteen then and her mother had showed up to relieve her. And she had made the biggest mistake of her life, going with her. She didn't regret having a real mother for a year and a half, but it tore her apart that she might just have ruined the only home, she had ever had. Someone else had taken her place and Cordelia might never stray from the safety of her marriage. If only it was just a sham, but it was real, Misty knew that. It wasn't just that one horrible moment, she had witnessed, it was Cordelia's voice when she spoke of him. Maybe he had already won.

She tried to suppress the anger at this thought. She couldn't harm him. Cordelia would never forgive her. But she couldn't lose either.

A knock on the door. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this wasn't Cordelia's knock, but she was too preoccupied to take notice.

Outside stood a long lost enemy. Her face shone with sinister excitement and Misty stared at her, dumbfounded, for a little too long.

"Hello freak", said Delphine and then she jammed a knife into Misty's side.

The pain was so sharp and so sudden it took her breath away. It froze her and she didn't move until Delphine yanked the knife out again and the warm, red liquid started spilling out over her clothes. Then Misty bent over with a strained whimper, hand clutched to her side. She tried to back away, but lost her footing and fell down on the hard wooden floor. The impact sent a jolt of pain through her and she screamed out. She heard steps and her dizzy, panicked mind tried to locate Delphine somewhere above her. She was no doubt ready to attack again.

"Did you think I'd be foolish enough to hesitate this time? I've been waiting to do this for a long time."

Misty's eyes slowly came back to focus and she tried to crawl away. Her whole body pulsated with adrenaline and she snarled at the woman. It didn't have as big an impact as it used to. Delphine bent down to her, hand lifting to aim.

Right then Misty heard a loud, nasty crack and felt drops of something warm hit her face, before Delphine fell down towards her. Misty screamed out and kicked her away, which earned her another painful jolt from her side. The body beside her didn't move. Misty scrambled to her feet, but lost her balance again and tumbled backwards into her kitchen counter. She sat there, gasping and staring at the unconscious Delphine.

"Are you okay, Misty?" It was Fiona's voice. Misty looked up to find her standing in the doorway, holding the frame for support with one hand and grasping the spade from the garden in the other. Behind her, Spalding of all people stood tripping, tiptoeing to catch a glimpse of the scene. His eyes found Delphine and he smiled a grim smile.

"Misty?" Fiona stepped over the body and went to her, but Misty didn't look at her. She continued to stare at Delphine and all the blood on the floor.

"No more. Damn. Intruders!"

"Hey, focus. Look at me." Misty looked up with reluctance. Fiona's eyes were wide and alert. "Are you hurt? You're bleeding." She had momentarily forgotten the pain, but now it throbbed under her skin again. She lifted the dress to assess the wound. It was hard to see anything but a dark hole a few inches below her ribs and a lot of blood. It hurt, but she could breathe again now. She was no doctor, yet she didn't feel like she was dying. Her body already worked to put her back together, only this was deeper than the last two times a knife had touched her. This would take longer.

"I'm fine", she snarled.

"Don't bullshit me, kid. She got in pretty deep, looks like. We need to stop this bleeding." She found a shawl hanging over the chair and tied it around Misty's stomach, before Misty could protest. She hissed as the cloth tightened around her injury. "You should thank your mom's crazy god, we got here in time."

It dawned her then. How Fiona always acted like she despised Misty, but once again, when her aid was needed…

"You saved me?" It came out as more of a question than a statement. Fiona's expression didn't turn soft for more than a second, but it was there.

"Don't go weak in the knees, rainbow. Now you owe me double for saving your life. Where has your ferocity gone today? Where is your sense of self-preservation? You used to attack kids for less."

Misty scowled at her. "I was surprised. And I'm not actually an animal, you know."

"Could have fooled me."

Misty bared her teeth at her, but Fiona ignored it. Instead she got up to take a closer look at Delphine.

"Is she dead?" Misty asked. She looked at Spalding first, who sat by Delphine. He shook his head and Misty thought he looked a little disappointed.

"No, my swing is not that good I'm afraid", Fiona said. She scoffed and cursed under her breath. "Letting her out of Laveau's debt and this is how she repays me? Trying to kill off everyone, who stands still long enough? Where do we dispose of this ungrateful lump?"

"Maybe Nick can help."

"Who in the name of Christ is Nick?"

"He's my gator friend."

Fiona gaped and then tsk'ed with a look of exasperation. "If you have an alligator, why the hell do I need to come save you?"

Misty didn't answer that, but worked her way into an upright position. With help from the kitchen counter, she managed. It hurt and her legs trembled a little, but she stayed up. The room went quiet as the two others watched her struggle.

"Anyway, I'm sure he'll do", Fiona then said. "Let's get her out of the way and get back to the house. I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible. It reminds me of Myrtle's old apartment and the blood doesn't help."

"I don't wanna come", Misty said. She spoke through her teeth to keep the pain under control.

"Now is not the time to pout over your complicated love life. You can't expect me to leave you in this condition. You're a little smarter than that, I remember paying to make sure of it. Why would you even want to live in this awful place to begin with?"

Misty snarled at her. It was all the hostility she could manage at the moment. Fiona chuckled with condescending laughter.

"The years back in the swamp really have done wonders for your vocabulary, huh? Now will you please come back to the house? If I don't bring you along as proof you're not dead, my daughter will march out here and this", she gestured to the blood on the floor, "Is not something she should see."

Misty couldn't argue with that. And she longed for that warm embrace. It had healing powers of its own.

On the floor, Delphine's left hand twitched.

"Spalding, can you drag her?" Misty asked and he nodded, before going around to pick up the maid's chubby feet. He might have lost strength over the years, but his eagerness made up for it and he dragged Delphine to the spot Misty pointed out. He looked at her for a while, as if to check if she would move, and then came back to the shack. He put an arm around Misty and supported her, as the three of them left the forest.

O0O

Delphine spent her last minutes trying to figure out where she had woken up. She had been so close to slicing up that little witch, but something had knocked her out. The pain made her dizzy and she realized she couldn't walk. The pain had reached that state, where it made parts of her body go numb. She could barely feel her legs. She had looked down just before to find that they were so torn, it made her own hobby look like tiny scratches on a surface. But she was too confused to acknowledge it yet. Instead, she looked around.

Darkness was the dominant color around her. The waters lay ahead and her background was thick with trees. The ground was mushy. She must still be in the forest. Only closer to the river.

When she turned again, she noticed a shape of a person to her right. It bend in weird ways. The shape looked oddly distorted, but it must be a person. Delphine inched closer and as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she saw it. It definitely used to be a person. A young man. Only he was half eaten and it had been quite a while since he was last breathing. Dread crept in, flooded Delphine's numb body. Alarm began to crawl under her skin like ants and prickling the wave of panic brought something else with it too. Small figures rose from the murky waters, and these weren't human at all. These were low, long scaly figures and they closed in on her in silence. They came for her.

Delphine started to scream and it only agitated the alligators further. But the first attack didn't come from the swamp. It came from behind. From a smaller alligator, who for once was allowed to join the feast.