Aah! Aah!
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I am centered.
I am at peace.
I create my own path, and I walk in it fearlessly.
Hunting has a way of changing a person.
After a while, right, wrong, good, evil,
they all start to look the same.
And then it makes you start to wonder,
"Who's really the monster here... them or me?"
I am centered.
I am at peace.
I am deeply annoyed.
I only need the van for an hour, okay?
Just to check the woods behind the quarry
just to see if there's any sign of Rockin' Roxy or the Akrida.
Hard no, amigo.
And not just because you already searched those woods
but because you almost cracked my front axle in the process.
- Oh, yeah... - And you do not want
to see my face if that actually happens.
Kind of looks like that.
Could the two of you please keep it down?
I am trying to meditate.
Well, that all depends on Jonathan
and whether he's willing to let go of his obsession
with searching the quarry.
I-I am not obsessed. I'm thorough.
- Okay, what if we missed something? - We didn't miss anything.
My guy down at city hall should be getting back to me
any moment now with new land acquisitions made this month, all right?
The radio tower has to be on one of those properties.
So mellow out, amor.
"Mellow out"?
Carlos, the fate of the world is literally at stake.
We know.
And we all want the same thing, John.
Perhaps you'd like to join me. Finding your center might help.
Yeah, or come with me to a session of Dr. Z's.
He's really been helping me.
Is everything okay in here?
Everything's fine.
No, it's not.
Yeah.
Is that my robe?
I like to think of it as our robe.
Hello?
- Your dad has a Batphone? - Hunter line only.
Hello?
Who's Tracy Gellar?
Tracy and my mom used to hunt together back in the day.
I've known her my entire life.
She's practically an aunt to me.
- Gellar. Is she the one who... - Retired? Yeah.
So you can imagine how surprised she was
when she woke up this morning to find Darla,
one of her old hunting partners,
mutilated in her barn.
I take it from all the silver weapons
and lore books we packed, you're thinking it's werewolf?
Tracy found Darla's hunting journal.
Last entry indicated that she was tracking one.
Tracy wants us to track down this werewolf and kill it.
I'm sorry, can we just back it up a little bit
to the part where you said that s-she retired,
as in she actually got out of hunting?
Yeah. About ten years ago.
Well, you kind of buried the lede there, Campbell.
I thought getting out of hunting was next to impossible.
I mean, what was that whole thing that you said about the...
"The only thing worse than how it starts
for hunters is how it ends"?
Okay, so I embellished for dramatic effect.
Are we really gonna act surprised by that now?
It's rare, but Tracy did it somehow.
The truth is, hearing about her starting over
and creating this amazing life
made me realize maybe I could do it too.
Wow.
It's beautiful.
You can grow so much weed out here.
- Dude. - Well, I'm sorry.
I'm just trying to say this place has charm.
- Cricket. - Cricket?
- What a sweet pet name. - Don't.
Hey, Aunt Tracy.
I was expecting your old man.
Last I heard, you were gettin' out.
Yeah.
So where is he?
That's a long story.
But, um, we're all really sorry about Darla.
Me too. She was one of the good ones.
But that's the life of the hunter, right?
Kill or be killed.
So who do we have here?
Tracy, this is John, Carlos, and Lata.
Nice to meet y'all.
Thanks for coming out on such short notice.
Course. So Darla, is she...
She's still in the barn.
It's been a while since I've been around a scene like that.
Can't say I missed it.
I have some arrangements to finish up.
- So what do you think? - These claw marks
are consistent with a werewolf attack.
I'll need to take measurements to make sure.
Okay. Well, we'll see what else we can find.
Tracy seemed pretty shaken up.
Yeah. Well, can you blame her?
I mean, she thought all of this was in the past,
and now it's splattered over her walls.
I can't wait for the day
when the sight of a dead body shakes me up like that.
Where's Carlos?
Right here.
I found a needle in a haystack up there.
Is that a claw?
Found it lodged in the ceiling of the barn.
I don't know many werewolves that make it a habit
of perching in the rafters.
That's because I actually don't think
we're dealing with a werewolf.
The curvature of this claw is all wrong.
Okay, so what did attack Darla?
Sorry to interrupt.
Everything's ready.
What's ready?
A hunter's funeral.
? The flames, they followed Joan of Arc ?
? As she came riding through the dark ?
? No moon to keep her armor bright ?
? No man to get her through the smoky night ?
? She said, "I'm tired of the war ?
? "I want the work I had before ?
? "A wedding dress or something white
? To wear upon my swollen appetite" ?
Hunt's over now, doll.
You get to rest.
Here you go.
Back in the day, a cold drink helped keep me focused.
- Thanks, Tracy. - Thank you, Cricket.
You kids need anything else, let me know.
Actually, could I look at your lore books?
Someone took out
my "Wilmont's Guide to Monster Anatomy"
to make room for their machetes.
I still stand by that decision.
Sorry, sweetie, I tossed out all that stuff years ago.
Unless you think my Encyclopedia Britannica
or pile of Harlequin romances
holds the key to unlocking your mystery.
Unfortunately, no.
I wouldn't mind taking a gander at those Harlequins.
This one's not shy.
They're in the study, sweetie. Knock yourself out.
I can't find a description
of this claw anywhere.
What if that's because it's not here?
Okay, hear me out. Listen.
What if this is another one of those unicorn-like monsters
that the Akrida baited to Lawrence?
Look, Tracy's farm isn't that far, okay?
What if one of the monsters
strayed off the path and killed Darla?
We have been looking for the radio tower
to find the Akrida, right?
What if there was a way to bring the Akrida to us?
Look, we capture this thing,
we can use its essence to lure in the Akrida.
Maybe.
But we still don't have a way to take the Akrida out
- even if we do find them. - She's right.
The Men of Letters' box is the only way to harm them.
And despite all of our research, it still doesn't work.
Okay, well, look, there's got to be some other way to ID this thing.
I actually might know someone nearby who can help.
He specializes in monster identification.
Great. I'll drive.
Does this little friend of yours live near a bar?
All this clean living is starting to make me feel dirty.
Hmm.
Is it the funeral?
It hit kind of close to home for me too.
It's not just the funeral.
Do you think I am a liability
as a hunter?
What are you talking about?
I know I'm good at the science stuff,
the lore stuff, but it's not what you guys do.
- You mean the fighting part? - I mean the hunting part.
It's right there in the title.
Being a pacifist and a hunter,
it's like I'm torn between two different worlds.
And seeing Darla on the pyre back there
reminded me of what happens when you can't punch back.
- Seriously? - Just trust me.
Okay, I thought you said we were looking
for a monster expert, not Norman Bates.
This is just the front-facing part.
He actually took over the whole operation
- from his father. - Yeah, no, sure.
I-I get that, but what kind of weirdo
- likes to stuff dead things? - Latika?
Hey.
Hey. So good to see you again.
How's that, uh... how's that 20 blade working out for you?
Uh, you were right... so much better
for cutting through thick tissue.
Anton, this is my friend Carlos.
- Nice to meet you. - Pleasure's all mine.
I loved "Psycho."
Interesting. I'm... I'm more
of a "Rear Window" kind of guy myself, so...
So what brings you two in today?
We were hoping you could help us identify
what type of monster this came from.
Ah, monster mystery... my favorite.
So you said it's a long story.
We got nothing but time right now, so dish.
Where's your pops?
We had one of our ongoing disagreements
about me leaving hunting.
And then the next day, he took off
to track down these monsters called the Akrida.
I haven't seen him since.
What about your mom?
Uh, Minnesota, last I heard.
But she's not exactly in the picture either.
They separated again?
Oh, yeah, when you were little.
Remember that time you came to stay with me in Kalamazoo?
They were on a break.
Your daddy went off to make things right.
Parents are idiots.
They'll work it out eventually.
In the meantime,
if they're off saving the world, what are you still doing here hunting?
Once I find Dad and track down these Akrida,
then I'm out.
You sure that's not the only reason you're sticking around?
Pretty sure... yeah.
Samuel's been fending for himself for quite a while now.
And there is always gonna be some monster
needs taking down.
You need to start looking out for number one.
What do you want to do, anyway, when you get out?
Um...
finish school, college, maybe.
Did you have any regrets about it...
leaving?
In the ten years since...
I've read hundreds of books,
stepped foot on almost every continent.
I went to college, cultivated the land...
broke nearly a dozen hearts.
Okay.
Made a prizewinning lemon meringue.
Mm-hmm.
My only regret is that I didn't get out sooner.
So, Carlos, how do you know Lata?
Your friend's the silent type, I see.
Actually, no.
- What's wrong with you? - I don't know.
Then speak.
- Excuse me. - I-I... oh, sorry.
Um, I...
- I, um... - You...
- Me, I just... - I think I found it.
- Oh, thank God. - Thank God.
See?
I knew the burn pattern on the claw looked familiar.
This is your mystery monster.
Right. Okay.
Thanks, Lata.
So the monster that killed Darla is a soucouyant.
It's a rare vampire witch from the Caribbean.
No, that's...
- that's impossible. - Actually, it's not.
You see, these... these unicorn-type monsters,
they're being lured to Lawrence by the Akr...
No, you don't understand. I've hunted soucouyant before.
- You have? When? - My last hunt.
Me and the team... Darla, Rob, and Mac...
were in Barbados.
A small town was being terrorized by a band of soucouyant.
First night, we killed three of the four,
but the last one put up a fight.
But it got away. Holed up in its cave.
Mac got impatient, went in after it.
But then there was a cave-in.
Mac and the soucouyant were both killed.
At least, that's what I thought.
So you really think this is the same monster
and it came all this way for what, revenge?
Darla's already dead, and who knows about Rob?
Did Lata say whether or not sigils and hex bags
work against these things?
No.
- John, wait! - Go. I'm okay.
John, stop!
- Ow. - Sorry.
I was thinking about Anton.
Yeah, well, maybe he should sew me up, then.
Thank you for bringing me here.
I put you in danger, and...
No, it's not your fault.
Besides, some of us don't need any help
putting ourselves in danger.
Look, I still don't understand.
I mean, how did the soucouyant get out of the cave?
I may have a theory.
Mac didn't get a hunter's funeral
because of the cave-in.
And that never sat right with Rob.
He called me about a month ago.
The ten-year anniversary of Mac's death was coming up,
and he wanted to go back
and finally put Mac to rest the right way.
So when he went into the cave to collect Mac's remains,
the soucouyant was still alive after all these years?
I guess so.
Darla never heard back from Rob,
so she probably figured he got killed.
And when the soucouyant went after her,
she came to the farm to try and warn me.
I'm sorry I didn't tell y'all this sooner,
but in a million years, I never thought it all connected.
You said you killed three of these things in the past, yeah?
- What's the secret? - Beheading.
Or a stake in the heart will do it.
Well, since Tracy's here safe,
I say we load up as many weapons as we can,
we go back to the farm, and we take this thing out
before it can hurt anyone else.
Whoa. Pump the brakes, soldier boy.
I want to play this safe.
This thing already killed two veteran hunters
and nearly killed you too.
Taking off its arm didn't even make it flinch,
and there was no blood left behind,
so Lata thinks something else is going on with this thing,
which is why she invited Anton to take a look at it.
He's here?
Oh, my... I need to change this... this shirt,
these pants, this everything.
- Oh, my God. - Where are you going?
I'm gonna keep my shoulder loose.
Call me back when it's safe.
Why can't I say anything when I'm around him?
I-I-I flirt with everyone.
I-I literally do flirt with everyone.
- I don't know why I can't... - Hey.
What is going on with him?
Its epidermis is badly burned,
but the fact that any skin remains at all
is absolutely fascinating.
It must secrete some sort of self-generating heat retardant.
Shall we crack her open, give that 20 blade a spin?
Your... your friend Carlos isn't interested in joining us?
Frankly speaking, he's a bit scared
to be anywhere near here right now.
Ah.
He's squeamish.
And a monster hunter... fascinating.
- It must be hard for him. - Mm-hmm.
Hmm. Rigor mortis?
I've never seen rigor mortis set in so quickly.
Um, let's try the bone saw.
Is that what I think it is?
Hey. Can we talk?
So you can lecture me about putting myself in danger?
I'm good. Thanks.
You've been off for the past couple of weeks.
I should have noticed before.
I'm not the only one who is worried about you, John.
Everyone is, especially Carlos.
He told me what happened...
what you did to Mars Neto.
I did what I had to do.
And I would... I'd do it again.
John.
We've been hunting nonstop since New Orleans.
Maybe you need a break.
- You gonna bench me, Coach? - No, John.
Because this isn't the big game. It's life or death.
You think I don't know that?
I don't know what you think.
So just talk to me, please.
I let you walk around inside my head,
see everything.
Now I need you to let me into yours just a little bit
- so I can help. - Okay, you want to help?
Want in my head? Fine.
This morning, we cremated a woman
who used to be a hunter just like you.
I mean, don't you get it, Mary?
Every moment that you're out there hunting a monster
is another moment that you could die.
And I will not be the person to wrap you in a white cloth,
put a knife in your hand,
and send you to the afterlife in a blaze of glory.
So yes...
if getting you out of hunting alive
means pushing myself,
that's exactly what I'll do.
So you're doing all of this for me?
That's the only reason?
Well, there is the whole "saving the world" part.
That's not what I meant.
Your mom told me about you and danger
and how you've run towards it
every single time since you were a kid.
I don't need you or my mom psychoanalyzing me.
And I don't need you using me as an excuse
to avoid your issues.
Uh, sorry to interrupt,
but there's something the two of you need to see.
I'll be done in a minute. I just need to cool down.
You and your new friend really went to town on that thing.
Did Anton say anything about me?
I mean, did you tell him I was...
Losi, take a breath.
What do you have for us, Lata?
The reason the soucouyant didn't die
when you sliced off its arm is because it's already dead.
How is that possible?
Let me guess: zombie soucouyant?
Not a zombie but a ghost...
a vengeful spirit, most likely.
The substance here is ectoplasm.
Okay, so a vengeful spirit possessed the soucouyant
and went after Tracy and her hunting crew.
Why?
That, I'm afraid, I can't tell you.
What is it?
What haven't you told us?
The cave-in that killed Mac...
it wasn't an accident.
Me and the rest of the team...
We killed him.
- You lied to us. - No.
Everything I told you was true.
I just didn't... tell you everything.
Looks like we've been hunting
the wrong monster this whole time.
Darla and me were like the Lennon and McCartney
of the group, you know?
We brought everybody else in.
We knew Mac was a dark soul from the get-go,
but he was a damn good hunter.
He'd had a rough childhood...
abused by his dad, bullied by the other kids,
and he thought if he became a hunter
and killed real monsters, that would help with the pain
that the other kind had caused him.
But when that didn't work, he turned to dark magic.
He thought a little taste of power might be the fix.
Course, that didn't pan out either.
But he did become more violent, more aggressive,
and an even more effective hunter.
So you had a friend stuck in a cycle of violence,
and instead of helping him,
you... you wielded him like some kind of weapon?
No, honey, we tried to help him.
We really did, but Mac, he just...
he... he wouldn't listen.
Things came to a head with those soucouyant...
hardest hunt we ever had.
- What happened? - All that black magic
just caught up with him.
Mac snapped.
He started acting paranoid,
saying the rest of the team was out to get him.
He even attacked Darla.
At that point, we knew he was too far gone,
and we were afraid of what he was gonna do next.
So you decided the best solution was to kill him.
Think what you want,
but you didn't see the look in his eye.
He was stronger and more powerful
than all of us combined.
And on top of that, he knew all our tricks.
It was clear as day.
If he turned on us,
we didn't stand a chance.
So we waited for the right time.
And when Mac went into the cave after the last soucouyant...
We set off some C-4.
And buried them alive.
I wish there'd been another way, but...
we didn't have a choice.
Violence is always a choice.
So you leaving hunting...
I knew I couldn't hunt after that.
I was done.
So you started a farm and just played make-believe,
like none of this ever happened?
- Cricket... - Stop with the stupid name, okay?
There's not a night goes by
I'm not haunted by what I did.
Now my past has come back to get me.
I'm sorry.
Wait.
I know, John and Mac, it's a little
too Ghost of Christmas Future for me too.
No, John said he'd only be a minute.
So where is he?
Thanks for seeing this through.
I'm not out here for you.
The barn. There he is!
John?
Are you...
- John? - I'm sorry.
Tall, dark, and angry can't come to the phone right now.
Mac.
Hi, Trace.
You got old.
Carlos, get her out of here right now.
I wouldn't.
Carlos!
Don't. For John.
John...
I know you're in there.
And I know you can hear me. You have to fight, okay?
- Don't let Mac... - I hate to break it to you, sweetheart,
but old Johnny boy,
well, he's along for the ride.
See, that's why I chose to possess him.
Well, that, and I wanted two hands to kill Trace.
All right.
Oh, don't worry.
No, you see,
I won't be a coward like you were.
Unlike some people I know,
I have the decency to look a friend in the face
before I take their last breath.
Aah!
This is between her and me.
You have to go through me first.
Have it your way.
You can't hurt me.
All I've ever known are clenched fists.
Learned that from my old man.
There's nothing that you can do to me...
That I haven't already survived.
Tracy, please, don't.
I don't have a choice.
Do it.
Yes, you do.
- Lata, what are you doing? - Lata, get back.
More violence isn't the answer,
not when you've spent a lifetime with it,
when it's touched everything you've ever had.
Your father wasn't the only one with clenched fists, Mac.
- You think you know me? - No, but I know myself.
When I was 13, my country was attacked,
and my father went to war.
When he returned, he was different.
He was angry all the time.
He had these violent outbursts.
It was like the war infected him.
I tried to make myself smaller
so the violence wouldn't find me, but it did.
For the longest time, it made me feel powerless,
until one day, it made me feel angry.
And that anger kept growing inside of me,
just like it did for my father.
And I acted on that anger for years
until I hurt someone,
and that's when I knew I had to make the change.
You can keep hurting those that have wronged you,
keep living in that anger and violence,
but it won't bring you peace.
Peace has to be chosen.
It's what I chose.
I chose my team.
But when I needed them,
they turned their backs on me because it was easier.
Why did you give up on me?
I didn't know how to help you.
- I was scared. - I was scared too.
I needed my family by my side.
I know it's about ten years too late...
but I'm here now,
and I am so sorry.
It's not too late, Mac.
You can still break the cycle.
He's alive.
You did it.
Big feet.
I can't believe he's still out.
Yeah.
He's gonna have a nasty hangover when he wakes up.
Well, hopefully it knocks some sense into him.
John? Sense?
Doubtful.
Thank you for your help.
Yeah. It's what family's for.
I get it now.
How it must have felt when Mac turned on you.
Hunting sure knows how to make a gal
question her morals.
But that doesn't justify what we did to him.
I've got some making up to do for that.
How?
Well, I'm gonna start by taking on the werewolf case
Darla was on when she came to warn me about Mac.
Might be a good way to right some of my wrongs.
We'll see where we take it from there.
So back to hunting, then? Is that the lesson here?
Is there really no escape?
It's not that you can't escape the life, Cricket.
You just can't escape
the decisions you make in that life,
not when you compromise what you believe in.
But you're better than me,
better than your folks too, for what it's worth.
So when you finally do decide to get out,
you're gonna do it the right way.
Come here.
Are you crying?
Anton touched this dissected arm.
Are you sure we have to destroy it?
Carlos, there is absolutely no reason to keep it.
The soucouyant has been dead for far too long
for there to be any remaining essence.
Fine.
Uh, that story about your father...
I didn't know he was why you became a pacifist.
It's not really something I like to talk about.
For what it's worth,
what you did yesterday was amazing,
because you're right.
You're not a hunter like Mary, John, or me.
If it was any of us, we would have killed Mac.
But you...
you helped him.
- Thanks. - Let's go.
- Hmm. - What's that?
It's in Anton's handwriting,
and it's addressed to a Carlos?
- Give me, Lata. - Say please.
No. No, no, please, give me.
So... what does it say?
That I still got it.
I guess sometimes not flirting is flirting.
_
You need to help me find something to wear.
Oh, my God. Let's go, come on.
- Oh, my God. - Faster. Come on.
Morning, sunshine.
Thanks.
Do you remember anything that happened?
No.
Most of it's still pretty fuzzy.
- The fight that we had... - It's all right.
I know it wasn't you.
No, I don't mean the one when I was possessed.
The one before, about Neto.
You were right, Mary.
I have wrestled with anger my whole life.
And...
I thought that I'd put it to bed.
The fight with Neto, it woke it up...
in a way I wasn't expecting.
I have been using you and hunting as an excuse...
To avoid my problems. I just...
I don't know how to fix it.
I can't... I can't end up like Mac.
That's not gonna happen, John.
I promise.
Because I still want to get out of hunting.
I really do.
But it's not gonna be at your expense.
You mean too much to me.
What now?
Sorry to interrupt.
That's okay.
- How are you feeling? - Better, yeah.
Um, I just...
wanted to thank you...
for talking Mac down like you did.
I, uh...
I remember some of the things that you told him about...
you know, not living in the anger and the violence.
And I was just wondering...
how do you do that?
I started with meditation,
looking inward,
focusing on positive things
instead of getting caught in a loop of negativity.
Can you show me how to do that?
Of course.
Sit.
- Cross your legs. - Yeah.
That's hot.
- There. - Okay.
Take a deep breath.
Eyes closed.
I am centered.
- Just repeat. - Okay, okay.
Uh, I'm centered.
- I am at peace. - I am at peace.
- I create my own path. - I create my own path.
And I walk in it fearlessly.
A-and I walk in it fearlessly.
Hunting's not for everyone.
You have to be strong, stay sharp,
make tough decisions, and it's not easy,
But then again, the righteous things never are.
- I am centered. - I am centered.
- I am at peace. - I'm at peace.
I create my own path...
Can a girl get any Zen around here?
Meditate later.
My guy from city hall just got back to me.
We found the Akrida.
That's where their radio tower is.
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