Mr. Pepper stood in the doorway of the kitchen, trembling with the effort to leave. She hadn't said he couldn't leave the room, he reasoned, trying to make his feet move. She just said he couldn't leave. That could mean the house. That could mean the city. That could mean the state, she hadn't been very specific.

But he knew. He was meant to stay in sight, as was Dulcie. Dulcie sat at the dining table, staring at the same two pages she'd started reading an hour ago. Her eyes kept lifting over the tops of the pages for a couple seconds at a time, glancing at her mother or himself.

Teles gripped the hard plastic of their house phone, punching the same ten buttons she'd been pressing since he returned home without Kay. She would ring the number, pause for fifteen seconds, then hang up the phone. Exactly thirty seconds would pass, with Teles staring at the phone, before she scooped up the receiver and dialed again.

He had to take Dulcie and go. Something was wrong with Teles, and the safety of his youngest was first priority now. He had to find some loophole and an opportunity to take Dulcie and run. He hadn't seen Teles this bad since she'd told him she was pregnant with their third daughter, and there was no telling what she would do.

Her fingertips trembled with every redial. Her head jerked whenever Kay's voice chirped through the receiver, her eyes lighting up for a split second until the voice carried on without pause through Kay's voicemail.

Finally, Mr. Pepper shuffled forward, removing the receiver from her hand. "Teles, please. She's not picking up. She doesn't want to."

"You should have made her come." She stared at her empty hand. "You should have found some way."

"I can't make Kay do anything she doesn't want to." He eased into the chair next to her. "You know that. She told me to leave without her."

"We have to get Aji." Mrs. Pepper reached for the empty phone cradle, grabbing for what was no longer there. "We have to bring her here. We can take out a loan, make bail. Have they set bail?"

"It's only the first day, Teles. There hasn't been a court date yet."

"We'll sell the restaurant. Pay them whatever they want. We have to get them all together and leave, now. Maybe we can have a few more years."

"Teles."

"I'm not crazy. I know what I'm talking about. You bring Aji home, and I'll get Kay myself." She rose to her feet. "We'll take the next flight out of the state. Country. Let's move. Russia is large, right? Or India. She can't find them there."

"Teles."

Her knees gave out, sending her collapsing back into the chair. "No. No, it's no good. It never is. Nothing stops it. Nothing will ever… oh gods, Timothy… Timothy!"

He leaned forward, grabbing at her wrist as she clawed at her arms. "What is it? Teles, what's the matter?"

"It's blooming," she sobbed. "Another one's blooming, oh gods, Kay!"

He had to get Dulcie out and somewhere safe. Then, he promised himself, he would come back for Teles. He just needed an opportunity.

…...

Arthur wobbled across the threshold, grabbing the wall for support. The door slammed shut with a gunshot-like report, and Arthur leaped forward, shivering.

Keep it together. Lewis isn't going to roast you. He promised Vivi. This time's different.

Lewis strode to the center of the foyer, standing at the foot of the staircase. Stretching his arms out like a conductor, he snapped his wrists around, swiveling them in a series of short, simple motions Arthur didn't recognize.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he crept around into Lewis' field of vision, signing, What's that you're doing?

"Moving the mansion," Lewis responded.

Don't feel anything moving.

"You won't. It doesn't work like that."

When will we get there?

"Any second."

Arthur bit his lip. Lewis if I don't make it and you do, you have to ask Vivi about the curse.

"Whatever, Arthur."

I mean it. Maybe you can figure out a way to help where I can't.

"If anyone's making it out of this, it's you." Lewis' eyesockets narrowed. "You're remarkably good at saving your own skin."

Old frustration simmered in Arthur's gut, but he pushed it down. There wasn't time. Lewis' hands dropped to his sides and his head bowed. "We're here."

He stood there for a moment, his skull sinking slowly into his neck. Arthur reached toward him, but Lewis snapped around, marching toward the door.

The simmer deepened, but Arthur swallowed it down. This was no place for anger, he would not make the same mistake twice. He followed Lewis out the door, faceplanting into his back for the second time that night.

Lewis shifted, his shoulders rising. "I specifically aimed to land inside, not outside. Something's not right."

Glancing to the side, Arthur spotted the van parked at the mouth of a familiar looking rock formation. The cave opening yawned tall and wide, opening into a greenish passageway Arthur was all too familiar with.

"Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly."

Arthur's eyes rolled as fear flashed through him. He'd heard this before. Moments before, in fact. It wasn't a memory. The Shiker had spoken directly to his mind.

And with that, it clicked into place. He'd gone about the memory fragments all wrong. They weren't fragments that the Shiker had left behind. He was connected to the Shiker, whether intentional or not, and had been digging straight into the Shiker's mind. No, it had to be an unintentional link; the Shiker hadn't attempted to possess Arthur until he actively went digging for more memories, alerting the demon to his presence. It made sense, the Shiker hadn't needed to be present for possession when there was already a link established to flow through.

Arthur grabbed Lewis' arm for his attention, signing, He knows, he's in my head!

Lewis rounded on him, his eyes smoldering. "He can see me? Can hear what I'm saying?"

Arthur took a step back, swallowing. I think so.

"Then tell him… tell him…" Lewis' eyes dimmed. "It doesn't matter, does it?" He turned aside. "He knows we're here, he blocked out my mansion. He's waiting for me."

Shutting his eyes on Lewis' despair, Arthur signed, articulating the words in his mind. We're coming for you.

Derisive laughter echoed off the inside of his head, and he gritted his teeth, storming past Lewis, past the wooden warning sign, and into the gaping jaws of the cave.

You can't use me. I know what you are, I know how you work, Arthur flung his thoughts at the demon. My name is Arthur Kingsmen. I am a mechanic. I'm a friend. I'm in love with a siren. I'm a paranormal investigator.

The laughter stopped, but the sense of smug glee only grew. "The walking dead displays such hubris. You are fascinating, Arthur Kingsmen. I may have to keep you for a time."

Arthur shuddered, gripping his left shoulder.

"What did he say?" Lewis demanded from behind.

I prefer your fate, Arthur signed shortly. He wants a new toy. Images of Lewis' childhood swam through his mind. He was no child to be drained, but he'd already been used to carry out the Shiker's twisted plot once. He could be used to break others.

He turned to Lewis, stopping the ghost in his tracks. You make sure I'm good and dead before he takes me away. I don't care how. Or I really will be the next Harvey.

Lewis prickled at the mention of Harvey, jerking his head once. "That won't be a problem."

Arthur's stomach soured further at Lewis' instant response. It doesn't matter, he reminded himself. I don't have to convince Lewis of anything anymore. I just have to get Vivi and Kay a window to escape. That's it.

If Vivi will even bother to take it. This whole thing is a disaster. He came to a stop at the fork in the tunnel, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. Tilting his head, he strained to catch any sounds. He prayed they would be coming from the lower tunnel.

Up. His body was moving before his brain registered the sound that drove him along the same path he'd taken only a couple months before. He surrendered control as a fierce melody pulled him up the incline. He was going to find her. Kay was calling. Singing.

Screaming in rage.

He crumpled to the ground, limbs like jelly. Was she angry with him? Why was she singing like that? Swords were slicing through his brain. He couldn't think.

Something large clapped over his ears, and blissful silence smoothed out his thoughts.

Kay. Song. Weapon song. Shiker!

He staggered to his feet, the tips of Lewis' fingers at the edge of his vision. He didn't stop to ask, he just ran.

Up ahead, he could just make out the dingy green glow at the end of the tunnel, with a speck of blue in the middle. As he got closer, he could see Vivi standing dead-center on the ledge, fists clenched, facing squarely into the grinning maw of-

Arthur's knees shook as he came to a standstill behind Vivi. He had never seen the Shiker in his visions, but of course he wouldn't have. The Shiker couldn't see himself, could he? A leering bat-like skull the size of a Volkswagen Beetle hung just beyond the ledge, a single green orb rolling back and forth between its empty eye-sockets. Torn wings stretched across the cavern, balancing a lengthy skeletal body crouched among the stalagmites. A flash of gold plummeted from the ceiling, crashing into tire-sized vertebrate with all the effect of a housefly beating itself against a windowpane. The orb shifted into the right socket, staring past Vivi and straight at Arthur.

"Welcome to my parlor, Puppet. So good to see you face to face."

…...

"Hey, Lew? What do you think of Vivi's idea?"

"Which one, the one where we start an electro-symphonic band and become rockstars, or the one where she drinks coffee until she can walk up walls?"

"Very funny. The serious one."

"Ghost hunting? I mean, it's kinda out there, but we've seen some weird stuff at the edge of town so it's real. Vivi's pretty set on doing something about it, and I'm not gonna sit on the sidelines. Someone has to watch out for her."

"Yeah, and someone has to watch out for you. I'm game for this whole thing, but I gotta ask, Lew, what happens if we get in over our heads? I mean, we're just beginners. What if we screw with something nobody banked on?"

"Arthur, you really think we're gonna run into anything that big in this place? We're not even a major city, c'mon. Besides, between Vivi's casting and your brains, I can't think of anything we couldn't take down together."

"But Lewis-"

"If we get in over our heads, we just pull together and ride it out."

"No, Lew, you're not hearing me. There's crazy stuff out there. Demons, ghouls, all kinds of monsters. What if-"

"Arthur, would you quit worrying? Any one of us would take a bullet for the other, and that's the key, because we won't ever let it get to that point. I don't know about you, but I feel pretty safe with you and Vee watching out for me. What about you?"

"Yeah… I guess."

"Wow, Arthur. Your excitement is underwhelming. What gives? You don't think we could pull it off?"

"There's just too many variables to say for sure. I mean, how am I supposed to know? How do you know we'd make it?"

"I just do. I trust you two. I know you'll never let me down."