The instant the amorphous gray form disappeared into the lantern, the cave erupted with movement. Jenny passed the lantern to Jake Wells, and dashed over to where Faith still lay silently on the ground, while Crane and Diana made their way toward Gregory Horton, followed by Yanni, Jesse, and Blasko. She dropped to her knees next to Hawley, casting a searching look at Ashley. Reaching up, she untied the bandanna that held back her hair and passed it to him. "Here, you can clean up the blood with this. Other than your nose, are you all right?"

      The bassist held the cloth to his face with one hand, while the other rested gently against Faith's cheek. "I feel like I just lost an MMA match, and I think I may have a mosh pit going in my skull, but other than that, I'm perfect."

      A faint smile flashed across his face as he heard CC say, in a relieved tone "Yeah, that's definitely Ash!" But it almost immediately faded as he looked down at the unconscious girl whose head rested on his thigh, her left cheekbone rapidly purpling.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        "I'm not sure about her, though," he murmured, his fingers lightly tracing the bruise. "We can't get her to wake up."

      "Her pulse is good, and she's not having any trouble breathing, so she should be okay," Hawley informed him. "As soon as they finish up with him, we'll get both of you out of here and to the hospital."

      Jenny turned toward the rest of the group, saying "Somebody needs to head back up, out of the cave, and call Chief Potter, so she can hopefully have help waiting when we get out of here."

      "I'll go, if somebody will give me a light," Andy responded. Jenny reached into her pocket, and tossed a small flashlight to the singer, who caught it and quickly dashed back into the darkness.

      They all then turned their attention to the group gathered around Crane, looking down at the gaunt, trembling form of what remained of Gregory Horton. The characteristics of the demon were beginning to fade away, so Crane reached out and carefully removed the brush from his mouth, before it started to shrink back to normal. As he did, almost everyone gasped as they observed how what remained of the necklace had begun to melt into the bristles, rendered nearly unrecognizable.

      A small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of the older man's mouth, as he struggled to focus on the people surrounding him, his eyes finally settling on the bearded, blue-eyed man who knelt next to him. "Thank ... you," he croaked, his voice barely audible. "I was ... so ... wrong. Wanted ... to punish. Not to hurt ... the others."

      In spite of the damage his actions had caused, Crane felt a twinge of pity for the dying, broken figure in front of him. "And thank you as well, Master Horton, for giving us the opportunity to dismiss the creature. Your resistance prevented it from commanding its minions, and gave us valuable time to complete the ritual."

      "Couldn't ... let it ... do that ... again," he gurgled. "Made a mistake. But I ... chose. He didn't... not right," He coughed, more blood dribbling down his chin. "But ... I'm free now... finally..."

      And as they watched, he drew a final, bubbling breath, and went limp, his eyes staring sightlessly into space. Crane reached out his hand and closed them, then stood upright and moved toward Jenny and the others. As he did they all heard a faint voice say "Where is it?"

      Ashley glanced down at Faith, and saw that she was looking back at him, appearing to be slightly disoriented.

      "It's gone now, hon," he informed her. "You did good, that hurt it bad enough to keep it from fighting Crane and the others while they did their thing. How do you feel?"

      "Cold. And my head hurts. Is that really you?"

      Offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile, Ashley replied "Yeah, I'm still here. You're all still stuck with me. Hope you're okay with that."

      She attempted to return the smile, but winced at the pain in her injured cheek. "Yeah, definitely okay."

      Carefully brushing her hair from her face, he hesitated momentarily, then took a deep breath and said "I know this is hardly the best place, and my timing probably sucks, but when we get all this wrapped up, would you maybe like to go out to dinner or something sometime?"

      She stared up at him silently for several seconds, then put her hand over his. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot, actually. If you really said it. Ask me again when I can be sure I'm not hallucinating."

      This response caused him to chuckle, and clasp her hand. "I think that can definitely be arranged."

      At that moment, Andy dashed back into the cavern, breathing heavily. "Got ahold of Potter, she's sending help. They'll meet us at the big outside door, so we need to get them back up there."

      Hawley stood up, then carefully lifted Faith from Ashley's lap into his arms. "Okay, kiddo, away we go," he said.

      Ashley rose to his feet, and promptly staggered, almost falling, before CC and Joe rushed forward to support him, helping him walk toward the tunnels. Meanwhile, Crane, Diana, and Jake Wells managed to put together a makeshift litter, and they, along with Blasko, used it to transport Greg Horton's remains toward the exit, as the others walked alongside them, using their phones, and Jenny's flashlight, to illuminate the path.

      After several minutes of walking, and carefully watching for any demons that might remain, they finally reached the actual cellar of the house, and saw the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles pulling into the yard. Chief Potter and Sergeant Gibbs leapt out of her vehicle almost before bringing it to a full stop, and dashed toward the house, closely followed by several paramedics. The medical personnel quickly placed Faith and Ashley onto stretchers, loaded them into an ambulance, and sped off toward town, while the others led Jesse, Jon, and Jake Wells to another vehicle to be checked out, closely followed by Alex, who refused to let Jake out of her sight.

      As Gibbs put in a call for the medical examiner, Potter stood with the others, gazing down at Horton's body, which now looked like nothing more than a frightfully thin, stooped, elderly man, his disfigurements obvious, not even remotely threatening. Shaking her head, Potter blew out a deep sigh. "If I didn't know what really happened here, you'd have a hard time convincing me that this was our killer. He doesn't look like he could win a fight against my daughter's Yorkie. Greg Horton is only about fifty-seven years old, this guy looks at least twenty years older than that."

      "Agreed, but this is indeed the purveyor of the foul deeds, without question," Crane informed her. "Playing host to a demon, and the extended entrapment, would seem highly likely to age one."

      "Oh, I believe you, I'm just not sure how I'm going to get everyone else to believe it. The ones back in the '70's, maybe, but it's gonna be a hard sell on Frank Soames and all the damn livestock, let alone being able to kidnap a big guy like Vance Logan. At least I don't have to worry about him blabbing about what he saw, he doesn't want people to think he's nuts."

      The ME arrived shortly afterward, and took custody of the body, transporting it to his office, once Gibbs had finished photographing the remains. Then, when the paramedics decreed that their patients were fit to go, Potter called for several of her officers to distribute the group amongst their patrol cars and take them home, arranging to stop by after finishing at the scene for a detailed report.

      When they arrived at the house, everyone was pleased to find that the power had been restored. They changed out of their damp, muddy clothes, and then Diana and Crane went to the kitchen to make coffee, while Jenny refitted the sling on Hawley's injured shoulder, which he had aggravated by carrying Faith out of the cave. Andy spent several minutes on his phone, a good portion of the time engaged in creative cursing over the fact that the hospital wouldn't give him any information about Ashley and Faith, as he wasn't a relative.

      After several hours of waiting, Chief Potter's car pulled into the driveway, and they watched from the window as she and Gibbs emerged, and walked toward the porch. Joe, who was closest to the door, opened it before they could even knock, allowing them to enter. As she shrugged out of her coat, Potter said, "I heard that someone with a rather..., imaginative vocabulary had a talk with Norma Bodine at the hospital a little while ago, so I decided to take pity on y'all and get a report. Mr. Purdy seems to have some sort of minor chemical burns, a ruptured blood vessel in his nose, which they've cauterized, and a strained muscle in his back, and Ms. Scanlon has a fractured cheekbone, along with a mild concussion. Doctor Owens wants to keep them both overnight for observation, but you should be able to pick them up in the morning."

      As they all relaxed with relief at the news, Jesse dashed to the kitchen, returning with a mug of coffee for each of the officers. They thanked him, and sat down on the sofa, Gibbs removing a notepad from his coat pocket as Potter's gaze moved around the room, glancing at each of them in turn, until her eyes stopped on Crane. She leaned forward, placing her phone on the coffee table as she looked him in the eye. 

      Turning on the phone, she scrolled through the screen until she found what she wanted, then pushed it across the table toward him. As he picked it up to inspect the display, she inquired "All right, Mr. Crane, you and your friends have managed to solve our murders. Now, what do you suggest we do about this?"