Darkness and Demon Song

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Darkness and Demon Song by M.R. Fournet

Marius Grey is finding out first hand that chupacabras are tough to trap in his Monster Book. After traveling by grave to a cemetery in Texas to hunt the creature, Marius and his back-from-the-dead mom (see book 1), Kelly Stone, are lying in wait behind some gravestones while the chupacabra herds its tasty treat of goats between the stones. One is trailing its leash, stopping its escape. Suddenly, Kelly jumps out, throwing brick dust in the creature's eyes, blinding it so she can make a salt circle. Marius moves from his hiding spot, frees the leashed goat and tries to trap the chupacabra in his Monster Book, but it doesn’t work. Marius dives for the salt circle with his mom and the very miffed chupacabra starts beating at the circle. Marius tries to hurt the chupacabra with his raven necklace, but it only gives it a mild burn. In a last ditch attempt at something, Marius grabs the fallen goat leash, lashes the chupacabra, then dives into the open grave he and his mother traveled through, pulling the creature with him. 

Marius lands back in his home cemetery, the remnants of the leash in his hand. The chupacabra still came through and it’s not a happy chappy, at all! Marius books it to the docks, screaming for his bestie Rhiannon, a flesh-eating mermaid. Marius dives in the bayou, sinking into the water with the weight of his many-pocketed coat, but the chupacabra doesn’t follow. Rhiannon used a barb that extends from her wrist to pin the chupacabra by the back foot to the dock. Marius grabs his book but hesitates to trap it, worried that his book will trap Rhia too, because she is also a monster… Thankfully, as Rhia also realizes this, Kelly appears and snaps Rhia’s barb, leaving the chupacabra still pinned but freeing our favorite mermaid and giving Marius the chance to trap the monster in his book. 

As Marius, Rhia, and Kelly are discussing whether Rhia would be sucked into the monster book by accident, Madame Millet arrives. Madame Millet wants Kelly to go out into the world again because she’s been back from Hell for a couple of months now, but Kelly is reluctant. She is also protective of Marius who would be hounded and questioned though Madame Millet promises that while Marius is in her care, he would be safe from reporters. Her words her care reverberates. As Madame Millet makes to go home, leaving some of Mama Roux’s redfish courtbouillon, she asks Kelly to think about her proposal or to at least consider helping at the school. Once the fringe priestess / school teacher is gone, Kelly turns to Marius. It’s time to cash in the chupacabra.

They head to the Habada-Chérie, it's unusually busy, meaning there are two other customers there and they’re as curious about Marius as they’re wrinkly and worn looking. Madame Boudreaux intercepts Marius and Kelly before they can head to the back room to see Papa Harold. She is surprised to see Kelly and invites her for tea. While his mom and Madame Boudreaux are busy, Marius heads to Papa Harold. 

Papa Harold is a little grumpy that Marius went to someone else to cash in the rougarou from book one, but because he’s made a good commission on Marius over the years, it’s forgiven. Marius cashes in the chupacabra for two hundred mystic coins, but Papa Harold is curious where Marius found out about it. He’s reluctant to tell the truth about the anonymous Mail he received the night he brought his mother back from Hell, so he evades Papa Harold, saying he followed a rumor to find the chupacabra in Texas. 

Papa Harold tries to get Marius to take a job for the Honey Island Swamp monster which Marius laughs about because that’s clearly a mythical creature, and instead he takes a low level boogeyman and leaves. Before he exits the Habada-Chérie, Kelly comes out having had tea with Madame Boudreaux. She’s shocked to see Marius dealing with Papa Harold… her brother. Papa Harold’s voice changes and becomes sinister as he greets his sister, he then starts to hum a strange tune.

Kelly takes Marius to get ice cream. She explains that Papa Harold is not her actual brother, but they were hunters at the same time. Papa Harold got greedy and started stealing from the people he was helping and one day, he got too greedy and tried to steal from a witch who set her Hellcat on him. The witch trapped the Hellcat demon in Papa Harold and bound his monster book in wax and a demon seal. Because Papa Harold is now half demon, he can no longer hunt and trap monsters. Marius says he is his friend, he gave him the jobs that helped pay for Kelly’s return… but would a friend send a twelve year old to hunt a rougarou? Marius doesn’t mention the Honey Island Monster but confesses he got a boogeyman from Papa Harold. Suddenly Kelly says she doesn’t feel well, her color is muted and she’s freezing. They return to their cemetery. 

Surprising everyone, the next day Marius is not only on time for school, he’s early! It was a pretty good day on the whole. Marius got a B+ on a math test, they talked about the semester field trip and managed to dissuade Madame Millet from going to the Cabildo (the ghost of Napoleon Bonaparte is tiresome and repetitive), and Lynna Trudeau talked to him. Lynna is interesting. She was playing with a rosary when the math tests were being given back and green sparks seemed to flicker as she spun the pearls until it broke. Marius gave her a rosewood rosary from his many-pocketed coat to play with in its place.

After school, Marius and his mom go to Papa Renard’s to get a copy of Magical Diagnosis and Treatment because Kelly still isn’t feeling well, and their copy was destroyed in her resurrection. Kelly is unable to go inside the store, though, because something is stopping her, and she looks pointedly at a skull with three Xs which is standard in the fringe world to mark a safe space. Before Marius can pay for the book, Antoine, his classmate and Papa Renard’s son, stops him and at first tries to get him to come with him to talk to some girls, but when Marius says no, he gets Marius to sign a postcard of a rougarou instead. As Marius is walking out, he sees Antoine surrounded by the girls, showing off his autograph. Marius is a reluctant celebrity.

When Marius comes out of the shop, Lynna is standing with his mom. She wants to buy a new rosary but it’s far too busy inside for her. Understandable. Kelly and Marius start to walk her home to the Hotel Monteleone across the quarter but are side-tracked by a haunting gone crazy at the Old Coffee Pot. Outside is the van of the Ghost Badgers, a TV ghost hunting group. Inside, the Old Coffee Pot’s manager explains their resident ghosts, a mad dentist and one of his victims, who are normally fine, have gone crazy. Kelly anoints everyone’s head with holy oil and orders them to wear their rosary. Inside the kitchen, the Ghost Badgers are being attacked by the ghosts. Kelly tries to help one but suddenly feels sick, fleeing and vomiting in the corner. Marius steps up in his mom's absence, asking the manager for the ghost's minder. The manager says it’s Maudie the Void, a black cat, but her totem in the front hallway has been broken. That explains so much. 

Before they fix the totem, Marius checks on his mom who is outside, bent over crying. The next second, though, she’s right in front of him with a ghoulish smile he’s never seen before on her face, but then the smile drops and Kelly walks back inside the Old Coffee Pot. When Marius looks at the spot where his mom was standing in the street, he sees a cloaked creature, almost a whisper of a person, standing there. It vanishes before he can check that Lynna saw it too. They return to the kitchen, broken totem in hand, but Lynna takes it and fuses the two pieces together in her closed hand, perfectly putting it back together. Lynna’s eyes plead for Marius to say nothing. Maudie the Void appears and calms the situation with the chaotic ghosts with a glance only a cat can give. Unfortunately for the Ghost Badgers, their camera suffered from an “accident,” if accident is defined by Kelly throwing it in a sink of dish water. She tells them this isn’t their world and they need to leave and stop bothering ghosts, and warning received, they skedaddle.  

Back home, Marius and Rhia are trying to find out what is wrong with Kelly with help from the Magical Diagnosis and Treatment book but nothing is going right. The measles check makes her sneeze bugs, the allergy check makes her break into hives, and the stomach check makes her choke out a frog, but Rhia got a nice snack from that one. Giving up for the night, they head to Mama Roux’s with the ghosts. As soon as they enter, a tall blonde with huge green eyes and a massive smile greets Kelly as if they’re besties. This is the appropriately named Barbie and she’s a Crossroads Demon. Since Mama Roux has just cussed her out, Kelly doesn’t speak to her, and Marius threatens her with his monster book, she gets the idea that she is unwanted and leaves after dropping her business card. Kelly can’t remember if Barbie was her Crossroads Demon, but she can’t remember a lot of things. 

Dinner wasn’t the success Marius had hoped it would be so he suggests he and his mom go monster hunting because he has a lead on some boogeymen. Kelly agrees and it seems to energize her somewhat. Back at the cemetery as Kelly is getting ready, Marius delivers fried shrimp to Rhia and tells her about Barbie and they both think Barbie was Kelly’s Crossroads Demon. Rhia isn’t sure monster hunting is a good idea right now, and suggests Marius tell Kelly jokes instead, like "What do you get when you cross a shellfish with a bunny? … An oyster bunny!” It's a horrible dad joke, but Rhia tried and we all love her for it. 

Marius and Kelly arrive at the Boogeyman address that turns out to be a camp for troubled kids. They head to the boys’ dorms because Marius rightly points out that boys don’t ask for help. Using himself as bait, Marius hands his monster book and many-pocketed coat to his mom and sits in the center of the room. It doesn’t take long for the boogeyman to come for the monster hunter tasty treat. The boys who were asleep in their beds panic at the sight of the monster, and one of the older ones tries to keep it distracted, allowing the others to escape. As the boogeyman sucks the soul from the older kid, Marius charges, breaking the connection and freeing the boy while at the same time shouting for his mom to use his book. Kelly, however, is standing like a statue. She snaps out of her trance and starts the spell to suck the boogeyman into the book but stops. The huge creepy smile spreads across her face again and the boogeyman gets freaked out and runs for it. What?!

On the way back home, Marius and Kelly ponder the boogeyman’s weird reaction - they never run scared from a hunter. Kelly hasn't felt right since coming back from Hell. She's felt fragile and has few memories. Before leaving the cemetery where they'll grave hop back home, as Kelly is comforting a ghost, Marius spots a sign to Honey Island Swamp. Back at home, Kelly goes to bed and Marius sleeps on his boat in the bayou with Rhia singing him to sleep. The next morning, Marius skips school and together the best friends steal the lunch and catch from a couple of gruff fishermen, the ones who Rhia learned her dad joke from. 

Their fun only lasts until the afternoon when they return to the cemetery dock where a big two engine tour boat is moored. Madame Millet and the rest of Marius’s class are with his mom. It seems today is field trip day and they're taking a tour of the bayou. Rhia hides and Marius climbs aboard, sitting next to Lynna, followed by his mom who is going along as a chaperone. The tour goes well until the guide wants to lure out some of his gator friends. Despite using chicken wings as bait, the gators aren’t going to come out with an apex predator, Rhia the mermaid, snooping under the tour boat. Marius can hear the clicking of Rhia’s claws on the hull. With that ghoulish smile on her face, Kelly tells the class there is a mermaid in the bayou and everyone laughs at her imagination, but when she points at the water then leans over with supernatural speed to grab and pull at Rhia, the class believes her - she’s holding on to a freaking mermaid! 

To escape, Marius gestures for Rhia to sing, which she does. Everyone goes into a daze and forgets that Rhia was there. Well, almost everyone. Lynna is staring at the back of Mildred’s head, one hand resting on Marius’ many-pocketed coat he placed on the bench between them. Back at the cemetery, Marius begs his mom to go back to how she was, and they both have a frustrated cry. That night they both sleep in the boat after telling stories. To Rhia’s disappointment, the next day Marius does not play hooky and goes to school. It’s a human thing…

Marius arrives early and runs straight into Mildred who is her usual brattish, bullish self. Marius is choosing to ignore her, remembering they once had a truce and she helped him get the much needed virgin water to bring his mom back. As Mildred is saying something ridiculous and mean, she starts to choke. With a few hard pats to her back, Marius helps her cough up a wad of cork or straw. Behind them Lynna watches and puts Mildred in her place with unusual confidence. Marius realizes Lynna is a witch. 

Later, as Marius is tidying the cemetery and talking to himself about his discovery that Lynna is a witch, which he was always warned to stay clear of, Hugo floats over looking worried. Kelly has been wailing for hours in their mausoleum home and it’s disturbing the ghosts. Marius heads over, throws the door open and sees his mom sitting next to the mist-like creature from outside the Old Coffee Pot, and he’s grasping her wrist. Marius pulls out his monster book but before he can finish the trapping spell the creature runs. Kelly has no recollection of it. 

While there are a few people Marius can turn to for help about his mom, he decides Lynna is his best option. The Hotel Monteleone is Fancy, and thankfully he runs into Lynna in the foyer. They take a walk to Jackson Square which is empty. Marius explains what he saw and Lynna calls them wraiths. She explains that she was adopted and needs to keep her witch identity quiet, and Marius promises to do so. She shows him how her magic works by drawing energy to create something. She draws the energy from the flowers in the square and makes a dog rabbit which snuffles off. Not being able to help anymore, Lynna gives Marius a postcard with an address to a cemetery in Texas on it and an apology. Lynna considers them friends but was asked by Creecher to keep an eye on him. That’s mysterious, creepy, and annoying. The next day, Marius and Kelly head by grave to Abilene, Texas. 

They emerge into a dry, dusty cemetery in Texas in the middle of nowhere. After a few minutes, the roar of a 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible can be heard. A woman with interesting scars hops out with a shit-eating grin. This is Coleen Marigold Creecher, known as Creecher, retired monster hunter. Kelly recognizes her and they both thought the other was dead: only one wasn’t and the other got better. Retirement doesn’t suit Creecher so she meddles. It turns out that she was the one who sent the Chupacabra information to Marius, and she wrangled Lynna into watching him, and now she wants to mentor Marius. Marius is conflicted, he wants to hear all Creecher’s stories, but wants to respect his mom and find help with the wraiths. Creecher tells them to get into the 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible because they’re going to the movies. 

The movie theater feels off. There is no one around except a clerk in the ticket booth and he does not look well. When Marius asks for a ticket, the clerk is shocked and tells him to get away before they come, but it’s too late. Two black-eyed children are on the street asking to be let in. Marius pulls out his monster book but the children rush him and throw the book aside. As they’re crowding him, Marius can smell sulfur and realizes they’re demons. Kelly approaches but she's got that ghoulish grin on her face and she begins to hum the same song as Papa Harold. This entrances the black-eyed children and Marius is able to get his holy water from his pocket and liberally pours it over the girl black-eyed child, melting her face and revealing a demon skull. Marius then does it to the boy black-eyed child before opening his monster book and using the trapping spell. The oppressive vibe of the theater is gone; the theater clerk is so grateful he gives Marius a lifetime membership which he passes to Creecher. 

While Kelly, who doesn’t remember anything, sleeps in the back seat of the 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible, Marius and Creecher talk. First, Marius asks about the raven necklace which seems to be losing power. Creecher tells him there is something wrong with the charm attached to it. Then Creecher gives Marius some homemade taffy and tells him when he chews it they’ll be able to talk telepathically. They test it out and Creecher tells Marius his mom is possessed by a demon and it’s tearing her apart. 

Back at their cemetery, Kelly heads straight to their family mausoleum while Marius stays outside. After about an hour he heads back in, oil on his forehead, rosary around his neck, holy water, salt, brick dust and an exorcism incantation at the ready. There are six wraiths floating around the room and one holding on to Kelly’s head. As Marius approaches, possessed-Kelly stands up, the demon’s ghoulish grin plastered on her face. The demon tells Marius it will rip Kelly apart if he tries anything. Marius flees. 

Marius goes to the Habada-Chérie to speak to Papa Harold. First he cashes in on the black-eyed children, 150 mystic coins, not revealing where his intel came from, but then says he wants to speak to the demon, Belhor, inside Papa Harold. A strange three person conversation happens, only two-voices are coming out one body. Papa Harold is willing to help Marius get the demon out of his mom, for a price: The Honey Island Swamp monster, and Marius agrees. The hellcat inside Papa Harold is not happy with the agreement. That night, Marius sleeps on his boat without Rhia. 

The next day, Sunday, Marius finds a note from his mom, she’s helping Madame Millet for the day. Phew! Rhia is also back. She was angry with Marius but then saw the confrontation with possessed-Kelly and wants to help. Marius explains what has been happening and Rhia wants to help catch the Honey Island Swamp monster and is willing to travel by grave to get to the swamp. They’ve got about a twenty minute window where Rhia can be out of the water. Marius has an idea, and they plan to meet in a couple of hours. 

No shade, but Rhia is too big and heavy for Marius to carry from the bayou to the ancient, forgotten grave hidden away behind the mausoleum. Plan B is to use a shrinking spell that in theory will work. Rhia chews chicory flowers while Marius casts the spell and you know what, it does work! Rhia shrinks so far she fits into a mason jar. Unfortunately it’s not for long, and she starts getting bigger moments after travelling by grave to the cemetery with the sign pointing to Honey Island Swamp. Marius only just gets her into the swamp in time. Rhia will not be traveling by Mason jar again and take the long way home through the swamps. 

Heading to a dock, the friends pick out an older boat that had the keys in it, Rhia pulling it until they’re out of sight before Marius starts the motor. When they’re close to Honey Island, Marius goes silent again. It’s not long before they smell something really bad and see a huge mammalian in the trees carrying a bundle wrapped in a blue cloth. It’s the Honey Island monster, also known as the skunk ape. They watch the monster move quickly and quietly, at one point stopping and sitting with the fifolets. Rhia points out, if the monster was truly monstrous, the fifolets wouldn't rest on it. Soon the monster moves, the blue package still in hand. It goes to a tree and opens the package containing a pile of dead mice. 

The dead mice are swarmed by baby owls and their parents. They look like barn owls but slightly different. Marius realizes these are golden barred owls, the true source of the golden goose myth, and the monster is protecting them. Marius realizes that, like Rhia, not all monsters are bad and that Papa Harold sent Marius to trap the Honey Island Swamp monster so he could steal the owls and their eggs. He can’t let him do that. Marius takes the biggest jar of brick dust from his many-pocketed coat and slowly approaches the monster and owls. Marius explains that he needs to leave this place with the owls as they aren’t safe and to sprinkle the brick dust on the owls’ tree to hide them from hunters. The monster understands and gives Marius some already hatched golden egg shells as a thank you. 

Marius returns by grave on his home while Rhia will take about half a day to travel back. After a shower, he heads inside the family mausoleum and finds his mom crying and surrounded by the wraiths, so he threatens the wraiths with his book to make them disperse. Marius spends the night sleeping next to his mom and she holds onto him the entire night. It’s not Kelly’s hand holding him in the morning though, it’s a wraith. This is not a pleasant wake up and the last straw for Marius. He gets ready and goes to school to speak to Madame Millet. 

Marius tells Madame Millet everything except Lynna and Creecher’s parts. Madame Millet is concerned Marius would wait so long before coming to her for help, but he thought she would take his mom away and he only just got her back. Madame Millet’s office gets a bit busy with Lynna coming in to defend Marius and admitting he told her about the wraiths and then terrible Mildred comes in to tell her mom that Lynna is a literal witch. Yes, everyone in the room already knows that, now go away Mildred. Your bullying will be addressed later. Before any further discussion can take place, Madame Millet receives a phone call from Mama Roux. She needs to get her butt to the restaurant and bring Marius. Lynna tags along too. 

At Mama Roux’s, they find pandemonium, and in the middle, Rex the Crossroads Demon is dancing with possessed-Kelly. Both are humming that tune Papa Harold was singing. Secretly, Marius is able to hand Madame Millet his bottle of holy water and while she throws it on Kelly, Marius blinds his mom with brick dust. Madame Millet casts a spell which knocks Kelly out. They all turn to Rex, who condescendingly says, “You got what you paid for, baby hunter.” 

Nah, dog. Madame Millet isn’t taking that. She demands Rex explain what is going on but Rex isn’t scared of her. He is of Mama Roux though who tells him she will bar him from her establishment and invite Barbie back if he doesn’t spill the beans. This works. Rex tells them that part of Kelly’s soul is still in Hell within her Hell house, and a possession demon latched on to the hole in her soul when she was brought back to life. You can exorcise the demon but the hole is still there ready to be filled by another demon, and the only way to plug the hole is to get the missing piece back from Hell. Someone needs to go to the underworld and retrieve it. Marius does not want to die, but Rex says that isn’t necessary, he just needs to find an entrance which exist in the hottest places in the world, one, of course, is in Texas. 

With some effort and the help of two of Mama Roux’s cooks and Madame Millet’s car, they get Kelly back to the mausoleum and tie her to the bed with holy water soaked ropes. There are a couple of times when Kelly wakes up but the liberal application of oil and Lynna’s witchy power to put her back to sleep help. Madame Millet isn’t happy about Marius going to literal Hell by himself, but no one else can realistically go because she and Lynna will need to stay to keep Kelly asleep. Marius uses a piece of Creecher’s taffy to contact her and see if she knows the underworld's location. She does, the Devil’s Sinkhole in Rocksprings, and she’s pretty close to it. Hugo waves at Marius from the window telling him Rhia is back. 

Marius updates Rhia on what has happened and where he needs to go. Without hesitation, Rhia insists on going with him, but he can’t bring her even though she begs, even offering to be shrunk again. He wants Rhia to stay behind and use their connection from the Rougarou fight to make sure he’s okay. One squeeze for yes, two for no, but if nothing comes back, he’s dead… 

Hackberry Cemetery in Texas is unusual compared to Marius's home cemetery, it’s so spaced out, but thankfully Creecher is waiting for him with her 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. They drive to the Devil’s Sinkhole which turns out to be a tourist trap, though it's thankfully empty. Sneaking in, Creecher gives Marius instructions: take the right-hand passage after the water, then hands him a flashlight. After the grueling gauntlet of being lowered into the sinkhole, dropped part way, and being investigated by bats, Marius reaches the bottom. The path gets progressively claustrophobic, and Marius has to squeeze and haul and bend himself through the space. Once out the other side, Marius encounters water, and leaving his flashlight switched on and pointing into the depths, Marius steps in and toward the right passage, but he needs to go under the water. With a deep breath, Marius plunges down into the dark. 

The water is cold and disorienting. Everything in Marius’s body wants to scream, and when the panic kicks in and he loses some of his air and cracks his skull against the rock, all rational thought leaves him. Thankfully, he finds a tiny air pocket big enough for his mouth and nose. As he gulps in what air he can, Marius hears his mom’s voice. She tells him to close his eyes, to calm himself, to take back control and think about what he needs to do. Follow the ceiling. Taking a last breath, Marius continues on keeping the ceiling under his fingers. He feels Rhia’s connection checking on him and he squeezes back once to say he’s okay though he feels far from it. 

Eventually Marius comes out into a chamber with a bright red light in the distance. As he draws closer, Marius sees it is a door. Guarding it is an enormous owl with four eyes and its bottom half a tree trunk with great banyan roots where the legs should be. The owl introduces itself as Katabasis, one of many, each guarding the door to the underworld. It can’t let Marius into Hell because he doesn’t belong there. Marius tries to bargain with Katabasis. He offers the raven skull necklace, but Katabasis says it is a love token linked to a mother's love and its power is fading. He then offers rosaries, mystic coins and holy water, but they are also of no use. However, Katabasis accepts the golden egg shells. Katabasis will give Marius twenty minutes in Hell before anyone will notice, though after twenty minutes, the door will close and Marius will be trapped in Hell. 

Marius sees nothing, hears nothing and feels nothing but then the unmistakable smell of home fills his nose. He’s inside the family mausoleum, his mom’s Hell House, and gravity is all over the place! Up and down shift and suddenly doors appear with plaques on them, one with a very ornately decorated, if on the nose, hourglass on it. Acutely aware that he doesn't have long, Marius begins to look for the piece of his mom's soul. The first door he goes through is marked FRIENDS and when he touches the mystic scales inside he gets a flash of his mom and Madame Millet at fourteen while the shadow of his mom in the Hell House watches on crying. Moving to the next door marked MARIUS, he sees the same upset shadow of his mom while he holds his old baby blanket. Marius realizes these are flashes of his mom’s regrets, and her biggest regret will be in the next room and likely where her soul is. Marius goes through the door marked RAYMOND, his father. 

The shadow of his mom is standing in front of a broken window. As he looks around the room at the knickknacks, Marius hears his mom sobbing and sees her shadow looking at a picture from her wedding day. Shadow-Kelly picks up the picture, screaming at it, accusing her husband of leaving them and causing so much pain before she throws it through the window. In the memory, Shadow-Kelly looks terrified, something has slithered through the broken window. Back in the room, Marius looks out the Hell House and sees the broken picture on the ground in actual Hell. He needs it, sure that’s the missing piece of his mom's soul. Carefully he climbs out and is able to snag it, but prowling Hellhound demons spot him and give chase. The messed up gravity of the Hell House and very liberal use of the holy water from his many-pocketed coat help Marius to escape, with only one grain of sand to go in the hourglass.

Outside Hell, the door closes and Katabasis is waiting for him. As Marius tries to stop shaking, Katabasis checks the picture and confirms it is the missing piece of Kelly’s soul and transforms it into a perfect pomegranate. Katabasis instructs Marius to feed every last seed to Kelly once the demon has been exorcised. Also, because the payment of the golden egg shells exceeded the required payment for him to get into Hell, Katabasis will send Marius home so he can skip the black water, tight spaces and the bats. Marius emerges from his favorite travel grave in his home cemetery. 

Screams and cries are coming from the mausoleum and Marius spots Rhia in the water as he runs to his mom. Madame Millet and Lynna are holding possessed-Kelly down, she’s broken one wrist from the bonds, and Madame Millet is having to syphon power from Lynna to make possessed-Kelly sleep again. With Marius’s return, Madame Millet tells them the plan. She will exorcise the demon through Kelly’s feet, Lynna will feed Kelly the pomegranate seeds once Kelly is free, Marius will wait next to an incomplete salt circle where Madame Millet will throw the demon, Marius will complete it, throw a glass vial demon bomb at the creature then trap it in his monster book. It goes mostly to plan. The demon is strong and refuses to be exorcised, but Madame Millet is able to draw it out. The demon bomb explodes, but outside the salt circle as the demon batted it away, which causes the salt circle surrounding it to be interrupted and it escapes. Instead of biting at Marius, it starts to lick him only to get a mouth full of holy oil. The demon runs out of the mausoleum and toward Rhia, grabbing the mermaid as a hostage.

Rhia barbs the demon and screams for Marius to trap it as the creature snaps her barb. She’s not concerned that the demon has her by the throat and the trap may also draw her into the monster book. With promises he will find a way to get her out, Marius recites the spell, "Grab the arm, grab the crook. Stomp the ground until it's shook. Invisible line, invisible hook. Get the monster inside this book!" Once Marius feels the creature pulsating in the book, he closes the cover. There is absolute silence. Looking around, Marius sees Rhia holding on to the dock. They hug each other, so happy they’re together and the demon is trapped. Rhia isn’t a monster to be sucked into his monster book. Rhia is a hero. 

Lynna finds the friends together. She’s very good at keeping secrets and won’t tell anyone about the mermaid. Lynna came out to fetch Marius because there is something inside he’ll want to see. In the family mausoleum, Kelly is back, soul and memories whole. She feels guilt and shame for leaving Marius in pursuit of his father, and promises never to leave him again. She holds him so tight, Marius is sure she’ll squeeze the life out of him, her love recharging his raven necklace. 

A few days later, Marius meets Lynna in the French Quarter for beignets. They've quickly become good friends. Before Lynna heads back home, she gives Marius a two-foot tall chocolate Easter bunny he requested, which was hard to come by as it is not currently springtime. Back at his home cemetery, Marius is getting advanced swimming lessons from a professional, Rhia, while Kelly tends the graves. He and his mom are going to take a little time off from monster hunting, but he still needs to find someone to weigh his book with the possession demon, Evander, in it, no longer trusting greedy Papa Harold. After their lesson, Marius gives Rhia the chocolate “oyster” bunny and he and Kelly watch in stunned admiration as Rhia eats it whole, wrapped in its painted foil. Delicious! As Marius goes to help his mom, the sounds of a familiar hum fill the bayou, only a few can hear it though.