Mac teetered on the edge of a smile just as she teetered on the edge of the hill overlooking the town of Neptune.
Below she could see the familiar form of Wallace Fennel. She suspected that the oafish form next to him was Vinnie Van Lowe. But none of this concerned her.
"Just you and the animals, hunh?" She smiled at Curly.
Curly blushed slightly. "Was that a little too obvious? I can never tell."
But Mac didn't answer. She took in the deepest breath a ghost can imagine and bellowed.
"BACK-UP! HERE BOY!" And she began whistling and jumping around, waving her arms.
""Whoa. Whoa! Heel boy!" Wallace told the dog. "What the…"
"Let him go." Vinnie said, stepping up with interest.
"What? We don't have time to be chasing this dog while Veronicas still…"
"He's a trained attack dog." Vinnie told him. "He's not going to go pounding off after a squirrel. He's on to something. Let him go."
And so, Wallace dropped the leash.
"Yes!" Mac cheered. "Come on boy! Good boy! Come on!"
Back-Up barked over and over in reply as he ran towards Mac. She could see Wallace about 30 feet behind the dog, fighting to keep up. Vinnie was another ten feet behind him and losing ground as they ran.
Mac whirled on the would-be killers and The Strangler. "You are all so busted!" She told them.
Back-Up continued barking as he ran.
"Hey, little bro… You hear a dog?"
"Yeah. I'll go check it out." He slipped over to the edge of the embankment and peered down. "Hey… We've got a couple of guys chasing a runaway dog over here… The dog is coming this way."
"So, we'll help them catch it. Nothing wrong with being neighborly this close to Christmas." The Strangler laughed.
"Ummm… Bro? I think that guy chasing the dog is Wallace Fennel. He plays b-ball at school… And he's good friends with Veronica Mars."
The Strangler approaced the edge himself. "Yeah… This looks like trouble. Let's get out of sight." He smiled. "But first…"
He lifted his zippo lighter and popped open the lid. With a snap of his fingers it was lit. He smiled slyly and he tossed the lighter in to the pool.
The pool exploded with a 'Whoosh".
The three punks stared down in to the flames.
"See how the gas sits on top of the water?" The Strangler asked. "She's either going to drown… or boil."
They couldn't even see through the fire at this point to the water below or the refrigerator within.
Leo, Eli and Logan saw the flash of light in the distance.
"What the hell was that?" Eli asked.
Logan shushed him. "There. You hear that dog?"
"Yeah." Logan shrugged.
"It's real familiar." And Logan took off on a run, bringing Leo and Eli in tow.
Mac stepped up to a new height and looked down.
Veronica's friends were flying at the mountain of earth, seemingly from all sides.
"You see?" Curly asked. "See how they're trying to save her?"
"Come on! Back-UP!" She called out. "Of course I do."
"It's funny, isn't it?" He pressed.
"What is?" She snapped at him, obviously wrapped up in the unfolding events.
"Life." He smiled. "When you get right down to it… We all chose life. For ourselves, for others… Even for the people who've hurt us."
She met his eyes and he continued. "Look at them. They're all here for one reason alone… Because the alternative… Is simply unthinkable."
"I think I get it." Mac said. "Lesson learned."
But Curly was shaking his head. "No. Not yet it's not." He swallowed. "You're thinking in the right direction… But they have one thing you don't have…"
"What?" She said softly, the pool burning behind her as the refrigerator filled with water through it's broken seal.
"Intensity of motivation." He said sadly.
"How… How do I get that?" She wondered.
He looked at her sadly. "By seeing things get worse… before they get better."
Mac blinked twice staring in to the fire.
"She is … going to be okay… Isn't she? Curly?" Mac looked over towards Curly.
But Curly couldn't hear her. He was bathed in a bright silver light and he only smiled sadly, and waved a small 'good-bye' wave with one hand as he faded in to the astral.
"CURLY!" Mac cried out. "Back-Up! Wallace! Somebody!!!"