Marie tosses and turns in her sleep as she sees flashes of memories from her life as Zarathos. Marie sees Broom, herself, and three European men trek up a mountain in the forest with the moon behind them. It was not good. Then, it changes to the group in a seemingly abandoned castle. They are in a torture room. Marie sees flashes from the past of women being tortured.
The group then enters a hidden room. They find a young woman wearing a wedding dress and lying dead on the floor. The next thing she sees is one of the men having his blood drunk by a female vampire: Erzsebet Ondrushko.
The two other men run away in fear while Broom and herself chase after the men. After Broom and Zarathos catch up with the men in the throne room, the sudden howling of wolves causes more panic in the two men, and they run into separate tunnels. Broom and Zarathos are unable to stop them. The pair hear the men's screams as they are torn to shreds by the wolves.
Blue flames illuminate the room before the female vampire appears from the shadows and approaches Broom and Zarathos. Broom splashes holy water onto the vampire's face. Erzsebet smacks Broom before clutching her face in pain. The man flies toward the thrones by the force of the smack before hitting the stone wall. Zarathos punches the vampire before rushing to her friend and helping him up.
Erzsebet angrily roars at the pair before flying at them. Broom was pushed out of the way by Zarathos before the vampire collided with her. The two women fly out of a window hidden behind a tapestry. The tapestry moves away from the women, and the sunlight burns Erzsebet. The vampire lets go of Zarathos, allowing her to grab onto the ledge before Broom helps her onto it.
Broom and Zarathos watch Erzsebet burn until she is nothing but dust. The dust flies past the two and into the castle before disappearing. Suddenly, wolves with blue glowing eyes appear in the room, growling at the man and woman. Then, the creatures back into the shadows from where they came.
Marie jolts up in a cold sweat after waking from her dreams. She feels that the dream means something evil is coming. After all, the last time Marie had a dream about her past was when Rasputin returned and tried to get Hellboy to bring the apocalypse. And the dreams couldn't have come at a worse time. Marie hopes that whatever is coming will come next week.
"You alright, Poppins?" Hellboy asked, semi-asleep and his eyes still closed. He had felt his girlfriend suddenly leave the spooning position and escape his stone hand around her waist.
Marie looks down at her boyfriend, "Yeah. Just a bad dream."
"Hmm, maybe it's a sign. An omen that we should cancel this weekend," The half-demon man said.
"Nice try, Clifford," Marie chuckled. She lays back down and faces her boyfriend. "But we're not skipping dinner and the weekend with my family. We finally have some free time. And I want you to meet them. We've been dating for over five months. My mom and sister have been begging to meet you since Christmas."
"Are you sure it's a good idea for them to meet me? I am, after all, me," Hellboy said, his eyes now open.
"Yes. I told my family about your appearance. And they're fine with it. I mean, they know about me and what I do. You have nothing to worry about," Marie told the half-demon.
"I still think it's a bad idea."
"You're only saying that in hopes of getting out of it."
"Maybe," The half-demon man admitted.
"Well, we're going whether you like it or not."
Hellboy groaned in displeasure. He hadn't been looking forward to meeting Marie's family for weeks. The half-demon man wasn't sure how his girlfriend's family would feel about her dating the antichrist. He had a strong feeling that they would disapprove of him.
Marie knew that Hellboy had nothing to worry about since she told her family that he had been a gentleman toward her. When the two first began their relationship, Marie confessed to Hellboy that she had never had sex before and was saving herself for her wedding night. The half-demon man respected her choice. During their relationship, the two kiss and sleep in the same bed together, but haven't been more intimate than that.
"We'll take a car around noon to my family's house Upstate. The town is eight miles from the house, meaning no nosy neighbors who stick their noses into other people's business. So, you don't have to worry about being spotted," Marie told Hellboy, trying to make him feel better.
The woman smiles at the half-demon man and stares into his golden eyes before kissing him. The kiss was short, much to Hellboy's dismay. The half-demon man watches as his girlfriend leaves the bed to change and begins to think how lucky he is to have her. He worried that one day, his luck would run out.
Throughout the day, Hellboy prayed that a mission would come up and prevent him from meeting Marie's family. But no such luck. The half-demon man is currently in the backseat of a black B.P.R.D. SUV with tinted windows beside his girlfriend. They had a couple of hours of driving between them in New Jersey and the house in Upstate New York. And Hellboy spent every second dreading the arrival.
Hellboy glances toward Marie as she watches the scenery pass through the window. He also listens to her silently singing along to the songs on the radio.
"Well, it happened that the PTA was gonna meet that very afternoon. And they were sure surprised when Mrs. Johnson wore her miniskirt into the room. And as she walked up to the blackboard, I can still recall the words she had to say. She said, "I'd like to address this meeting of the Harper Valley PTA."
Hellboy loved it when Marie sang. It was heaven to his ears. It always reminded him of when he went to apologize to her before making him fall in love with her. Subconsciously, Hellboy's left hand reaches toward Marie's and holds it.
Marie stops singing and turns to her boyfriend with a smile. She could tell by the look in his eyes that Hellboy was terrified. Marie found it somewhat amusing. Hellboy had faced the things that nightmares originated from but was scared shitless of meeting and spending the weekend with her family. The woman places a comforting hand atop the half-demon's.
"Relax, Clifford. Everything is going to be fine," Marie told Hellboy in a soothing voice. "My family is going to love you. They're good, churchgoing, Catholic people. They love everybody."
Hellboy rests his head against the headrest of his seat before closing his eyes and sighing. He hoped that Marie was right.
