The velvet darkness greeted Marie. Large, lush green eyes, flecked with gold, opened in this black sea. Weightless, she floated, and somewhere in the boundless night, the manic thunder beat like the drum of gods. Deep in this void, lights flashed inside inky clouds. Sweetness of gingerbread brushed against her. Slow, meager breaths were warm, eased the dampness. Bethany's patient tone appealed for her to see.

Gentle hands lifted her up onto her feet. They told her of the pride each felt, as the Hallowed Dream unveiled sights to see. The top of Van Lear rose out of the murk, born of the dark. Walls built high by slaves erupted from the earth; wards devised by Eleanor made into them. In the distant gloom, House Lance of the Van Lears was silent, watchful. Dim Cassilda opened, and the mountain shook in terror. Tremors ripped through the stones, rocks groaned as they shifted. Cracks opened. The wards were swallowed up. An army of Shades, pieces of the misery inflicted upon Hemlock Hurst, rushed through the breaks.

As they cavorted through the roses, colonnades, and statues, the storm reached its apex. Bolts crashed to the earth, as if the heavens sought to smite the plantation. Rain fell in a savage torrent, and each stroke of lightning was caught, for an instant, in the downpour. They hung like a galaxy of cut glass tears.

Men waited. They held their posts, though the storm had grown apocalyptic. Diana's wrath was swift and cruel. Out past the walls, the men descended from the Federals waited. Holes in the high walls formed, and Rutger smiled. It seemed to the Sheriff that fate and righteousness was on his side. This time, they would come with an army to end the Confederates. The charge through was led by him, and Diana's men fell back from the fury of their rush.

Marie lowered to the road, before the large, elaborate gate. The stone fell away, and it fell to the earth. Lightning struck, flash blinded, and left an after image that was slow to fade. It shook her bones, so violent was the boom. Again, the smell of gingerbread drifted up from her skin. Over the uneven ground, in the distance, the house stood before her. The way was open.

The old house opened, tendrils reached across the land before she could run. They gripped her hands and feet, lifted. It grew before Marie. Like a smile filled with shadow, the door was open to receive her. Once again, the shadows took away the world, and became a sea of blackness consumed by Shades.

She frowned. The world had flipped, and the smell of hardwood lingered. A kick, savage though controlled, struck her gut. Vomit rose. World was covered in a milky film, which she blinked away. Harsh oaths and curses were traded above her, yet Marie's mind could only catch pieces. Cigarette smoke slid over the still air. Soaked clothes clung to her body. A scarred hand appeared before her, hazy and indistinct.

"Sit her up," Diana said, and the icy tone cut through Marie's fog.

"Gladly," Barnett barked with a savage glee.

Rough hands pulled her up, and she blinked away the darkness.

"Rutger's daughter, as well," Diana added, "It is time I have answers."

Marie looked at the matriarch of the Van Lear family. Where last she was cool and remote, eyes held a manic rage, held in check by an iron will. Cracks in her composure opened, but were quickly leashed. A sudden coughing fit seized her, and the handkerchief drew away with crimson. The tremors wracked her too thin frame. One hand held a cigarette with ashes that clung on, and a small, pearl handle revolver was gripped in the other. Diana considered such direct acts vulgar, but she'd lost too much.

"I see you're awake, Miss La Voison," Diana said in an icy tone. "I also see you've failed." Her voice rose at the end, knuckles on the gun hand popped.

"I don't know what you expected," Marie gazed about, but Tim was gone. "I would never cover for your sick little secret."

An eyebrow rose, "I sent you to find evidence to exonerate Jacob! Instead, he is dead, and so is Alice!"

"Oh," Marie returned, "I found all the missing girls."

Diana looked at her, Carol, and then back, "I know women have been going missing in town, but my men have found nothing." She smiled without mirth, eyes like slabs of ice, "If you're saying Jacob killed them, you're a fool. He passes out or vomits at the very sight of blood, like his spineless father!" Henry jerked, but his snarl was framed by fresh tears.

"I saw him at the Veilstromme warehouse," she scowled, "the property you own."

"I don't know what you saw," her eyes flicked to Barnett, "or what you think you saw. He was gone, when some of them disappeared. Jacob ran away, because he lacked the stomach for rule. He wanted nothing of his legacy, denounced us, our history." Diana looked at Marie, "he once wept over a baby bird that fell out of a nest.

"It doesn't matter!" Barnett roared. "Alice is dead!" He bared his teeth.

"Who killed them?" Diana's voice smoothed, like a lioness ready to pounce.

"I know Rutger killed Jacob," he looked at Marie, "But I don't know what happened to Alice."

"You don't know what happened to Alice."

"She was just sitting with that book open in her lap," he looked at Marie's backpack.

Diana closed her eyes, "I told her to leave it alone. All she would talk about was Lance, the family legacy, and that accursed book." She looked at Marie, "Jacob and Alice are gone. You failed. You failed me," she leaned forward, "and you owe me a lot of money…with interest."

Barnett smiled, raised the gun, "Shall I?"

"Oh, no, Mister Barnett," she smiled at Marie, "I mean to see a return on my investment. Lance was wrong to let Eleanor go."

"Someone has to pay," Barnett's eyes darkened under the hat.

"My forbearance of the sons of the Federals is over," she drew on the cigarette, "and it is time to take back Hemlock Hurst. Rutger leads a band of men to kill us. You'll stay here, where you're protected. They'll come, and they'll die."

Carol opened her eyes, "My father will get you." Diana rose, and walked before her. "The Sheriff will kill you Slaver! You act so noble. Jacob hated you! My father may have pulled the trigger, but—"