I didn't feel cold down in the basement. The burns hurt nonstop, no matter how many painkillers I swallowed, so Kujo soon was able to keep me warm alright. I slept in the next morning, waking up only when Amy came down to bring me my meds, something to eat and check on us both. I took the pills, wolfed down the food, gulped up the water and went back to sleep. Trisha woke me up in the afternoon with another tray of meds/food/water. I noticed somebody had been down there cleaning while I was sleeping. Whatever. Just like before, I polished the tray and went back to sleep.

I only left the corner to go up to the restroom by the kitchen. And on my way in and out of the basement, I would go up to the camera and give the finger to whoever was watching. Hopefully that Price son of a bitch.

That night, Amy brought my phone along with dinner.

"They're worried about you," she said softly. "Poor Joseph's been here all day, unable to get through to you."

That cunning woman knew my soft spots alright.

"Oh, okay," I muttered. "How is he, Amy?" I asked, nodding to the other half of the corner.

"Worried about you, like all of us."

I shrugged. "As long as he doesn't feel guilty."

"How much longer are you gonna keep this shit up, Fran?"

"As long as I fucking feel like it." I handed her the empty tray and got back into the sleeping bag, turning my back on her.

In the morning, she threatened to drag me out of the basement if I didn't come out of my own will, at least to go to the hospital and have my bandages changed. So I had no choice but to do it. On the way out of the Manor, I saw Trisha in the east parlor, with the magnetic boards and one of the tablets on the coffee table.

It was a beautiful morning out there, and I actually enjoyed the cold air in my lungs as I approached Amy's car. My phone rang the moment I opened the passenger's door. I saw it was Price, rejected the call and got in the car.

He ran out of the guesthouse as Amy started the engine.

"Fran! Wait!" he called out, hurrying across the garden toward us.

"Drive," I growled, turning to look ahead.

"Okay," she murmured, gearing in.

My phone kept ringing, until I got so mad, I blocked his number.

"Aren't you overreacting?" Amy said in her wise grownup way.

I opened my jacket and pulled up my flannel, exposing the bandage that covered my belly from my bra to my navel. "You think?"

She didn't insist over the next hour, until we were on our way back to the Manor.

"And what're we gonna do, Fran? If we resume the cleansings now, Isaac can be clean with only one more. The one we were planning to do in the basement, for Kujo to snack on his cousins."

"Then we should do it right today."

"And what about Price?"

"He can go fuck himself a thousand times over, for all I care." I anticipated her foreseeable reply. "You said whoever starts the cleansings has to see it through to the last one, right? You expect me to go anywhere near that crazy psycho? You wouldn't even suggest it, had you seen how he came at me when I found him in the basement. Or why d'you think Kujo reacted? And I was enough of a fool not to step out of the way and let him knock the son of a bitch down and eat him alive if he felt like it." I shook my head, pissed off. "No, Amy. The last two cleansings made me sick. I ain't putting myself through that shit again for his sake."

"It isn't for his sake."

"Fuck you. It is, in the end. You, Kujo, the Blotters, you guys were right about him. He's dangerous and we cannot trust him. If the parasites made him break in the other night, what would they make him do if I keep cleansing him? Kill me? I'm sorry, but we need a new plan B."

Amy let me vent out in silence and sighed, shaking her head slightly. I kept my eyes on the road, boiling inside with an anger I'd never felt before. Because I knew she was right: I wasn't doing any of this for the Haunter supreme. I was doing it because I needed him. He was a tool. The key to unlock Kujo's chain and set him free. I owed Kujo that. And the Blotters.

"Fuck!" I snarled when I spotted the Manor gates up ahead.

Amy glanced at me, raising her eyebrows.

I snorted. "Fine! But not so fast. Bring Isaac over later. Let's start with that."

"And what about Haunter charming?"

"Let him sit on his hands and boil."

She nodded with an amused smirk.

I wouldn't be able to take a shower or a bath until further notice, so I went upstairs to my room to wash myself and get clean clothes. Trisha insisted on helping me, which turned out to come in handy, because I couldn't bend forward to wash my legs and I couldn't reach my back, let alone wash my hair.

It was already noon and Susan had made lunch for us. I had to hide a smile when I saw there was absolutely nothing in it I didn't like. So I thanked her, told her to go home and we sat to eat. And while at it, Trisha secured Isaac's attendance for his last cleansing at the Manor after two.

Amy went to the basement right after lunch, to get everything ready for the cleansing right in front of the corner, so I spent a little while in the east parlor with the Blotters. Something I'd been missing over the last eventful days. Trisha showed up there shortly after.

"Isaac's coming," she said.

"Can you stay up here to take him to the basement?"

"Sure."

So I headed downstairs to let Amy know the Haunter minor was on the way.

"Heard that, Kujo?" I said, going to sit on my sleeping bag against the wall. "Fat snacks coming."

"Fran forgive?"

Amy chuckled when my eyes welled at the speed of light.

"Nothing to forgive, my boy," I said. "The other way around! This was all on me, I've already told you so."

"Protect Fran."

"I know, I know. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't protected me."

"Brandon mad."

"Tell me about it."

"Okay, if you guys can slip in a commercial break in the drama, I'd like to tell Kujo what we're about to do."

"You can be a real bitch, y'know?"

"Look who's talking."

"Fran good. Love Fran."

"Yeah, yeah. Now try to let go of your momma for five whole minutes and listen to me."

Trisha brought Isaac down to the basement soon after. He saw everything set by the boiler and stopped with a suspicious frown.

"What're we doing here?" he asked, glancing at the camera across the basement.

"Something useful with the things I'm gonna rid you of today," Amy replied.

"What d'you mean?"

I stood up and he took a step back, startled when he saw me come out of the shadows.

"Kujo almost died defending me from your friend, so we're gonna feed him your parasites."

He frowned, pursing his face in a way that would've made me laugh my butt off had I seen it in any other situation. His eyes jumped from me to the corner and widened like grapefruits.

"Isaac. Hi."

"How can it know my name?" Isaac whispered, right about to spin around and run for the hills.

"It was attached to your friend for two years," Amy replied. "Of course he knows you."

"Oh," he muttered. I did have to swallow a giggle when Isaac did his best to smile and raise his hand a little. "Hi? Long time no see?"

Amy wasn't able to keep from chuckling and motioned for the man to come closer to us.

"Wait," he said, handing Trisha the duffel bag he carried. "You can film this, right?"

"I got this, boss," she replied with a smile.

While Amy explained to Isaac in detail what was about to happen over the cleansing, Trisha requested my help to set up the camera he'd brought.

"We need another cam," she said to Isaac. "And the SLS."

All his attention on Amy's words, he gave Trisha his phone. "Call Bran and tell him to bring..." Our faces made him trail off. "Oh, right. I'll call him and you can go get what we need."

"She should also get you whatever you need to stay here for a couple of days," said Amy.

Isaac tilted his head. "Come again?"

"If I let you go back with your friend, you're gonna end up as filthy as you still are now. You're staying here at the Manor for the next couple of days, where you can be clean and safe until we deal with him."

"Safe? I don't like how that sounds."

"Didn't you see your friend the other night? The housekeeper and you together could hardly push him out of the house."

"You think—?"

"You don't?" I anticipated Amy.

"Okay," he muttered, unlocking his phone. "I better don't tell him about it for now."

"Mike should be working in the garden," I said to Trisha while Isaac whispered on the phone. "Let him know you're going to the guesthouse."

"Jeez, Fran, he isn't a serial killer."

"No, but better safe than sorry."

Isaac disconnected and turned to Trisha, nodding. "My bag is on my bed. We were about to leave when you called me over, so I'd already packed."

When she left, Isaac checked the camera she'd just set on a tripod near the left wall, six feet away from the corner. "Why did she say we need another? We still have that one rolling," he said, pointing at the camera across the basement.

"That won't show you anything useful," I replied. "You're gonna have your back to the corner, so I can film from here. And if we set the SLS halfway against the wall, it should show Kujo here with me in the corner."

"Oh, that's smart. So you guys okay with having me over for two or three days?"

"Yeah, I'm not using my room, so you can sleep there."

Trisha was back soon.

"He's going bonkers," she said, leaving the second duffel bag on the floor to unzip it.

"He's more than welcome to leave," I replied.

"Oh, shut up and come help me."

After we set the extra equipment, Trisha checked the SLS screen.

"Hey, Kujo, can you wave hi at me?" she said, and clapped with a merry giggle. "Oh, boy, you're big! And you look great on screen."

Isaac couldn't keep himself from taking a peek. His face went over a dozen frowns, grimaces and twists of surprise, fear and disbelief when he felt sure it wasn't a camera glitch and the sticks were lining out what was actually there.

"Holy shit! It's huge!"

"Yeah, he's big. And he needs to eat."

Isaac tiptoed into the shadows of the corner to check the second camera and approved the setting, patting Trisha's shoulder with one of his nice smiles.

"You're hired for eternity."

We were finally ready to proceed with the cleansing.

Amy had instructed Trisha to be alert when she finally severed the attachments. The moment came when she started washing the back of his neck for the third time. I was still in the corner, behind him, and saw her keep the wet white cloth against his skin with one hand. She moved her other hand slowly away, like she was grabbing something thick as my wrist and pulling carefully from it. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard a soft crack. Isaac let out a grunt of pain and staggered. Trisha hurried to crouch down in front of him, resting her hands on his shoulders to help him stay straight. Amy moved her hand palm up behind him, like letting something drop to the floor. She even smiled and winked at Kujo, and I felt lucky I couldn't see any of it, because I did hear a faint noise that reminded me of Gollum eating fish.

She did the same two more times, signaling me to be ready to help Trisha hold Isaac up. And she was right, because when she removed the last parasite, he bent over with a muffled moan, taking both hands to the back of his neck.

"It's almost over," Amy said to him softly.

We helped him straighten up, holding his hands and elbows, while Amy brought the ritual to an end.

"Well done, Isaac," she whispered in his ear, rubbing his back.

He needed a few minutes to be able to speak or even open his eyes, and a good while longer to stand up.

"Man, I feel like high or drunk," he mumbled, a hand pressing his temple.

"The best high you've ever had," Amy replied, smiling.

He turned around and nodded to the corner. "Did it really eat the parasites?"

"Worms tasty."

"C'mon, that's disgusting!" Amy complained while we chuckled.

I felt the warmth wrapping around my hand was hotter and steady, and looked up at her grinning.

"He's fine again!"

"You can feel it?" cried Isaac, back to his regular loud self in the blink of an eye. "Can I?"

"Can he, Kujo?"

"Isaac touch."

"Wow! It's really intelligent!" Isaac crouched down carefully, resting a hand on the boiler to keep his frail balance, and hesitated. "You ain't eating me, right?"

"Eat worms. Not Isaac."

The man was flabbergasted, and he dared to reach out into the shadows of the corner. I covered my ears when Kujo touched him, because he cried out so loud, his voice thundered all over the basement.

"Man, this house," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Enough thrills for the day, mister," said Amy. "Go take a shower and get a shut-eye. We'll wake you up for dinner."

Before leaving the basement, he faced me with a quick grimace.

"Call Bran. He's really sorry and he wants to apologize to you for what he did."

"Yeah, later," I grunted.

No point in telling him I wasn't about to call him, or talk to him, ever again.