Hello Beasties, I'm back with a new chapter of this little story!(Seems like ages doesn't it?) Anyway, I think it's about time that the Shadowman entered into this story, don't you? (besides, I've been waiting forever to put him in, so why not?)

(Oh, one more thing, play this song during the first part of the chapter, but only when I cue you to. Just do it, trust me.) Anyway, enjoy the chapter beasties......

https://youtu.be/yt_mBgpcojw

"Okay, how's this?" Cecily modeled her third outfit choice of the past thirty minutes in front of the full length mirror in her new apartment( black frame, with a bunch of curious symbols scratched across the faded wood of the mirror. Just another one of the extremely weird personal touches that this place seemed to have(from whoever had previously inhabited this place), other than the collection of voodoo masks downstairs that seemed to be watching her.....), more than a little impatient to get going already.  If only her shadow could just be happy with whatever outfit Cecily chose, they'd be out the door already(this was definitely the LAST time she asked her shadow for any input on what she wore.....), because if anything had come to her attention over the past three days,  Cecily really needed to make some cash, and soon....

Her recent lack of funds(she was already down to her last fifty bucks)  may have been the result of her just a teeny bit frivolous with her money. First, there had been some things she ended up buying, mainly because the apartment seemed to be stuck in the freaking 1920's(like the minifridge she ended up purchasing because the other fridge in the apartment lacked a freezer inside(seriously, was everything in here from the 1920's?), and a couple more frivolous things(mainly some new stuff for her place, and a better power cord for her laptop(no tv, but at least she'd be able to watch obscure horror films and Wander Over Yonder on Netflix) ) even if it was amazing, it still had some issues (the weird masks on the walls that seemed to be watching her, the fact that this place seemed eerily preserved from the ravages of time, and the fact that there was evidence that there'd been someone living here before she'd found this place(clothes still in the single bedroom's , the weird symbols carved into the mirrors) but due to the fact she'd been so busy with transforming the abandoned, if somewhat creepy apartment into something more livable, she'd barely given any of those things a second though....)

Her shadow seemed deep in thought, winding its insubstansual body around hers(Cecily was used to the tickly, slightly itchy feeling that happened when she felt her shadow moving by now, so it wasn't that much of a surprise anymore when it happened) looking over her dress and cream-colored jacket, making Cecily mentally sigh. Couldn't her shadow just be happy with what she chose already? It was really beginning to get on her nerves, especially after she'd already had to change her outfit three times...... (Cecily had already mentally decided that this was the LAST time that she let her shadow have any say in her outfits. Definetly the last.)

Very faintly, Cecily felt the clasp of her pearl necklace come undone, and the weight of the necklace ease off her neck. Looking up quizzically, she caught a flash of a silver chain, before it was slipped over her head. It was her magnifying glass necklace, the one she thought she left on the bathroom counter in the morning, but apparently, he shadow had gotten to it. (Where it had been hiding her necklace, she had no clue. There were quite a few abilities that her shadow seemed to have, and even Cecily wasn't entirely sure of what it could completely do)  Cecily rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Really? You kept me this long because you wanted me to wear a different necklace? You're quite the fashionista for a shadow, considering you're not solid and all...." She joked. Her shadow pretened to look offended  at that making Cecily smile a little at its antics.

"Okay let's get goin', we're burning daylight here." Cecily threw open the door to the lower part of the building, but not before pressing the "shuffle" button on one of her phone's playlists. Hey, she had a big day ahead of her after all, and why shouldn't she start it off with some of her favorite tunes?

Cecily smiled to herself at that as she headed down the stairs, and put in her earbuds as the first notes of the song began to play....  A/N okay, play the song! : )  (Also, please just imagine a music montage of Cecily exploring modern-day New Orleans, because I just realized that I can write a musical number scene, but not a music montage one really well....)

https://youtu.be/yt_mBgpcojw

Time skip brought to you by author-chan's laziness because she really doesn't want to write a 500-600 word music montage scene

Dear god, it smelled like hipsters in here(and overpoweringly so), a scent Cecily could only describe as patchouli, old flannel, and origanic coffee, making her nose wrinkle as she took a sip from her bubble tea(She'd ordered before she sat down at the counter to wait for anyone who'd come to look at her resume, it was Honeydew Milk, one of her favorites, despite Siobhan comparing the drink to drinking "vaguely honeydew-tasting water with little pearls inside", it still tasted pretty good, Cecily thought, Siobhan didn't know what she was talking about.), wondering aloud not for the first time why she was here in the first place. Her shadow moved around the order area a little, but Cecily paid it no mind, just as long as it didn't steal anything she would leave it to it's own devices(she'd learned that the hard way after one unfortunate incident in a vintage store when she was thirteen, involving her shadow lifting a pair of chandelier earrings. Cecily didn't like to think about that particular incident. Escpechailly after the  completely and utterly disappointed look she'd received from her parents when she had eventually come home.), because her shadow wasn't going to harm anyone, she figured, so why the heck not?

Sure, she'd applied to several places throughout the day, and yes, she'd been desperate enough to apply at this hellhole of overly pretentious jerk-holes(even the cashier looked as if he'd rather be anywhere than working a shift here form the completely deadpan look he had given her when he'd taken her resume, which was definitely a bad sign.) who listened to vinyl records and bought 27 dollar organic carrots or whatever(there hadn't been that many places hiring, so this was one of the few places that was actually hiring), but mainly because of this one reason:

If she ran out of money, she'd either have to do one of two things, neither which appealed to Cecily in the slightest way whatsoever.

1. Beg her parents to let her take her back or give her a bit more cash until she did have something lined up(Yeah right, like that'd happen, she though sarcastically, it's more likely I'd find a shirtless Michael B. Jordan on my doorstep with a bouquet of roses than my mom doing anything for me....)

2. Call up Uncle Ray for some money, and get some more pity(He was a sweet guy after all, lived out of state with his partner, James in New York where he was an executive chef there(owned a thriving resturaunt, and had actually been on one of those FoodNetwork tv shows once as a guest judge), and was pretty cool as uncles go, but she really didn't want to hear: "Why don't you come and live with me if you're having problems? I'll send you a plane ticket, and I'm sure me and James won't mind you here...."  The last thing she wanted to do was call him and get more pity. She could take care of herself, she didn't need anyone's pity....)

"Wow.  And I thought I was the only one who liked terrible bubble tea flavors." The voice startled Cecily out of her reverie, making her sit up straighter at the sudden sound.

Okay, was whoever was speaking being sarcastic? If they were, she was going to give them a piece of-

A very, very cute blue-haired barista girl leaned against the wall across from where Cecily sat, a small smile on her face. She wore an open with button down shirt and black lleggins(probably the uniform for there), but her shirt sleeves were rolled up just past her pale elbows, showing off a rather impressive tatoo of a rose near her elbow(and some other ones too on her arm, even if the fabric of her shirt was currently covering them up), and Cecily thought the girl looked too cool to be working at a "hipster hell". She looked as if she should be saving the universe from demons or solving mysteries or something, not working at a crummy coffee joint....Now,  Cecily considered herself an expert on cute(just judging when someone was desirable to someone or not, but as for the rest, like picking the right person? .... well, she wasn't such an expert in that area.....), but damn..... something about that small, self assured smile the blue-haired girl was giving her  made her heart speed up something fierce. (Also, Cecily wasn't exactly sure if she was gay or straight or bi or whatever, but she knew one thing for certain, she liked kissing 'em both.)

Cecily responded back a little disbelieving of what the blue-haired girl said. "So there's actually another human being that shares my terrible taste in beverages?"

The girl laughed(a sound that made Cecily's traitorous heart skip a beat). "You'd better believe it, mystery girl. But my terrible taste doesn't just reach into beverages, I can tell you that-"

Whatever the blue-haired girl had been about to say was cut off by the cashier from earlier(still looking like he'd prefer it if he was dead than working here), who'd abandoned his post and was currently pouring himself some sort of fancy coffee drink. "Zo, don't you have tables to wait or something? You can chat up with your girlfriend on your break." Somehow, he managed to still look completely bored and at the same time sound incredibly offended, probably a first for him.

Cecily felt herself immedietly flush red at that-did he think they were actually dating?-, but the girl-Zo, apparently- remained calm, flicking an unimpressed glance over his way. "Really Than? (She actually read his nametag while he said this, clearly noting "Than's" annoyed expresion at what was clearly an unwanted nickname.)There's about..." She actually made the moitions of counting the people in the coffee shop. "Six people here, not counting you 'n me. So I'm sure nobody will mind if I talk to one person for five minutes." Her attention then drifted over to one of the coffee machines. "Oh and Than? Your drink's overflowing."

The cashier looked over at his cup, which in fact was overflowing, and deftly switched off the machine. "Yeah, yeah. But you do realize Zo, if you keep this up, you're never going to open your own nightclub."

"A nightclub?" Okay, that caught Cecily's attention. (And this whole scene between the two of them sounded.... a little familiar somehow. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember why...)

The blue haired girl-Zo- rolled her eyes. "Come on Than, I'm getting close."

He looked over at her. "And how close exactly?"

Zo seemed to struggle with what to say for a moment, then her blue eyes quickly became downcast and she turned her gaze away.

Than smirked. "That's what I thought." Then he turned back to the coffee machine, snickering and muttering under his breath as he did so.

That callous action already had made Cecily's blood begin to boil, but the completely hurt expression on Zo's face had cinched it. A quiet rage settled over her like a fog. Out of the corner of her eye, Cecily noticed her shadow, just hanging around on the wall behind her. Unnoticed, Cecily managed to point to Than and mouth the words that she knew  her shadow had been waiting to hear all day. "Mess him up."

Her shadow zipped over, and Cecily tried to look like: "Oh just a normal girl here, definitely wasn't talking to my shadow who is in no way sentient in any way, jus enjoying this pale green bubble tea, yes sir."

Eventually, Cecily heard a loud spritz coming from the coffee machine and then an overly girlish yelp which made her struggle to keep her expression neutral. She felt her shadow slip something into her jacket pocket, something small and metallic.(Whatever her shadow had pulled off the machine to get it to drench "Than" in coffee foam.) Whelp, time to put on Cecily's best "compeletly and totally innocent look".(Something she'd been perfecting the art of for years with varying degrees of sucess.)

With no small amount of cursing and muttering about "stupid cheap piece of junk" the now foam soaked "Than" stomped off towards the back of the shop, seemingly making sure to slam the double doors to the kitchen as he did so.

"Zo" was silent for a moment, giving Cecily a hint of worry as wether to she'd done the wrong thing, but then after a moment, She heard the girl stifling her own laughter, bringing a small smile to Cecily's face.

Well, at least she'd managed to do her "good deed" for the day, even if the guy whom she'd cover with foam wouldn't agree-

A small sound of someone clearing their throat made Cecily snap out of her reverie. The girl was now right in front of her, looking at her intently.

"I honestly have no idea what happened back there, but-" She gave another little laugh. "It was pretty great to see that pompous jerk-off get covered in foam like that."

Cecily gave a little smile herself and pretended to look surprised. "Is that what happened?  I didn't see that, sad to say."(She felt her shadow roll its non-existent eyes behind her back)

The girl smiled, then seemingly remembered something. "I'm Zoey Harvester. Zo for short. I'm into terrible bubble tea flavors, obscure musical films, and goth rock. What about you mystery girl?" She touched her small, fine-boned hand to Cecily's own, sending a delicious shiver running down Cecily's spine.

"Cecily..... Brown." Cecily didn't know why, but she felt compelled to lie about her last name. Was it because of the norteriety that came from the name, even if she wasn't as famous as her great-grandmother ? Or was it because of something else? "Not short for anything, I'm afraid. I'm into terrible bubble tea, weird horror films, and fake bands."

"Fake bands?"

"You know, like ones you just make up on the spot just so you can seem "cooler". Works wonders on hipsters."

Another little smile. "Really? Tell me one."

"Ok, there's  Crashing Bloody and the Motor, Happy and the Birthdays, The living club, Fuck Cage....."

Zo actually burst out laughing at that one. " Oh my god- Fuck Cage? I'm gonna have to use that one!"

"Maybe you could use it as a headliner for your club when it opens...." Cecily trailed off uncertainty when she noticed that Zo suddenly looked down.

"It's.... nothing. Forget it. It's just stupid anyway....."

Cecily felt her blood boil. "It's not stupid. Don't let anyone tell you your dreams are stupid. You need to do whatever it takes to make your dreams a reality." Cecily's great-grandma's mantra was "dig a little deeper", but Cecily disagreed with that. Sometimes hard work wasn't enough. In this world, you needed to be prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve your dreams.

Zo seemed to be thinking it over. "Whatever it takes....." She gave a small smile. "Hm, I like that."

"Hey, it's no problem. And when you do open it, I'll be your first costumer!"

Zo's eyes lit up at that and she was just about to say something, when someone called out from the kitchen in the back.

Zo rolled her eyes. "Speak of the devil, wonder what he's going to get after me for this time." She then looked to Cecily, touching her hand as and slipping something inside it. "See you later?"

Cecily nodded, trying to not show all of the excitement that was welling up in her. "Yes, sure that'd be-"

But she was gone. Giving a somewhat disappointed sigh, she took a look at the paper she'd been given.....

Written on it in green ink was a phone number, and a little green smiley face with x'd out eyes.....

And a note.

Hey mystery girl, if you wanna hang, call just call me.

Lotsa luv,

Zo

Whelp, Cecily knew her shadow would be teasing her more than usual for her completely flustered look(espechially at the last bit of the note, however friendly it actually was) , but t that moment, she didn't care......

Time skip, brought to you by: *sings* friends on the other side!!!!

Why hadn't she taken her car? Surely that'd have been easier than walking ALL the way back to her place, and in Mary Janes no less(Curse her and her poor shoe choices!)......

If she'd just taken her car as she orrignally planned to, she'd already be back at her place, watching 80's horror films and drinking tea, not walking through the dusky twilight, all alone.....(Cecily still had a fear of the dark. Not dark places, just being alone in the dark. That was the difference.)

And at the rate Cecily was going, she'd never get back before three am.

But hey, at least it was a  beautiful night in New Orleans.

Lost in thought (mostly about a certain blue-haired girl) Cecily walked the mostly empty streets, her shadow following behind in the light provided by the various lamps adorning the cobblestone streets, Cecily barely paid attention to her surroundings.

At least until Something assaulted her senses suddenly.....

Whispering, seemingly from everywhere and nowhere assaulted her senses making her wince in pain. Voices, whispering in some sort of language she couldn't understand, but the general tone of it sounded.... excited, like the people-no, not people, things. What human could make such horrible noises-knew something was going to happen....

Something black zipped by Cecily, startling her shadow, but Cecily paid no mind to that in her pain. Eventually the headache faded, and Cecily straightened, breathing an audible sigh of relief.

"Well, at least that's-" Suddenly, her feet were swept out from under her. Cecily fell flat on her back, gasping in pain when her head connected with one of the cobblestones.

What had happened? She didn't trip over anything, at least anything she could see, so why-

Then, something's cold hand grabbed her foot and began to pull. Confused, and a little weirded out, Cecily sat up......

And what she saw nearly stopped her breath. It was a shadow- no, there were at least three more, so multiple shadows. But.....

They had no owners from what she could see, and Cecily knew for a fact that even her own shadow couldn't venture out more than a few feet away from her before it had to return back to her. And with the shapes on these things, all horns, and bones,  and sharp teeth.......

Cecily wasn't sure she'd want to meet the owners of these shadows, if they did happen to have any.....

And they seemed to be intent on dragging her away(due to the fact that two of them had already grabbed onto her shadow itself-so that's why there was nobody there in front of her- causing Cecily's own body to follow even if nobody seemed to be touching it directly), but where to, Cecily had no idea, and neither did she wish to find out....

Panicked, Cecily despirately wracked her brain for a plan to get out of the situation.....

Then an idea occurred.

Snickering in triumph, the shadow beasts moved their prize closer to them.....

Only to find that their prey wasn't in their grasp anymore, and they were left holding a second-hand pair of black velvet Mary Janes in their hands. Growling in anger, they tossed the shoes away, and began their chase.

This quarry would be harder to catch  than most.....

Cecily was already booking it down the street, her stockinged feet slapping against the wet cobblestones. Behind her, she could hear the angry bray of the shadow beasts, as they realized she'd gotten away, and the swish of them following close behind.....

She made the mistake of looking behind her as she ran, and what she saw......

Well, lets just say that it was just clear she wouldn't be able to escape from THAT many shadows the second time around.

And it seemed losing her shadowy persuers would be much harder than she'd originally though, for they showed no sign of slowing, and only seemed to gain more ground on her, even managing to tear at her clothes or worse, her visible skin when she was near enough to them.(Even drawing a little blood from her skin as she did so.....)

She could feel herself tiring, beginning to slow, and a thought came to her terrified mind before she could wave it away.

She would die if she slowed down. But she couldn't keep running forever, she'd need to lose the shadowy beasts somewhere........

But where could she lose them, throw them off her trail long enough for her to escape for good this time?

The old cemetery!  She'd just climb the old  stone wall, and then figure out a way to lose the shadows once she was safely inside.....

Rushing over, Cecily somehow managed to reach the wall, and begin to climb, all the while she heard the shadows, closing in on her.....

Somehow, she managed to make it, landing on the other side of the mossy wall none too gracefully when she stumbled on the way down.

Dusting herself off, Cecily fearfully looked around the graveyard, a small part of her expecting the shadows to come rushing after her from behind the various crypts and gravestones.....

Nothing.

Had they given up on finding her? No, she could hear their wails of rage from just beyond the wall, so they clearly had not.  But why didn't they just slip over the wall just like her shadow-who was still trembling- had done?

Well, she wouldn't stick around here to find out, that was for sure! But Cecily hadn't counted for one thing.....

"Son of a witch......" If those shadows were out there, she might have to spend the night here, all alone, in the graveyard.

Mentally beating herself up, Cecily almost didn't hear the faint sound of someone..... singing? But who'd be in the graveyard at this hour, other than, you know, Cecily herself?

Please come back to me there's so much we could be.....

Cecily looked at her shadow, her curiosity getting the better of her and throwing any of the "knowledge" she'd picked up from watching horror films to the wind. "I'm gonna go check that out....."

Cecily could feel her shadow do a facepalm behind her as she moved through the winding maze of crypts, but her mind was focused on one thing. Finding out who was there.....

Please come back from bowels of black

From silent shores to me once more.....

The voice was getting louder now, as they neared what must be the center of the graveyard, the spaces between the tombs widening, until they were near what appeared to be the very center of the graveyard, the stones crumbling and moss covered from time and neglect. It looked like nobody had been to this part of the graveyard in at least eighty or more years.......

From veils and gates and seas of slate.....

And right in front of one of the crumbling tombs stood a figure, covered in a long, flowing black cloak. Instinctively, Cecily ducked behind one of the tombs to avoid detection from the strange figure. Hidden from view, among the crumbling stone and long dead flowers in their metal vases, she watched, and she wondered.

What was going on? It didn't look to be like this person was mourning whoever laid in that crumbling tomb, because Cecily got a chill that ran down her very spine as she noted the symbols scrawled on the sides of the crumbling ruin, which looked all too like ones she'd read about in the voodoo tomes she had back at her place.....

And the figure, what were they doing exactly?  Their gloved arms were raised over their head, and Cecily could see something clutched tightly in one of their hands, a charm- no, a necklace- on a fine, ropy chain.......

To blood-red moors where I await-

Curious, Cecily moved closer, but then......

Her foot kicked into one of the metal bowls of flowers, and she cursed aloud at the sudden pain. The figure's head snapped up suddenly at the sound, and quick as a wink, it turned and vanished into the graveyard with a swish of its cloak.

Still stifling more curses, Cecily limped over to where the figure had been. Great, now she'd never figure out why-

What was laid out in front of the tomb took her breath away. The symbols, she recognized them from one of the books she'd read back at her apartment, even if she couldn't remember what exactly they meant..... And what was this? These seemed to be strange things to offer a spirit, so long passed into the afterlife.....

And such strange items they were, too....

A cane, long and black, topped with what appeared to be a violet-colored glass orb.

A pack of Tarot cards, still in their packaging.

What worryingly appeared to be a bowl full of blood.(No, not blood.... the smell was too much like red wine for that, so definitely wine.)

Something about the first two items sent a shiver of worry down her spine. She'd seen.... no heard about something akin to those items before.....

"And that, my petits tetards, is when your great-granddaddy ran into the Shadowman himself, and how he got the two of us into a real fine mess."

"Oh that little part. You aren't ever going to let me live it down are you?"

"We'll see."

"In my defense, he was a very charming individual, so who could blame me....."

That was just part of great-grandma Tia's story. And besides, didn't she say she defeated the Shadowman?(Or at least Cecily thought that's what her great-grandmother said. Great-grandma Tia hadn't exactly provided that many details to that part, for some reason  .....) But even if these items belonged to the infamous "Shadowman", he'd been dead and gone for about eighty years.....

But  there was one item that gave her the most pause(and proving her worries true)......

A necklace, or what appeared to be the fragments of one. The shape was at least somewhat familiar to Cecily, but what was it exactly called again?  A loa mask.  Yeas, that's what it was called. But why was it broken? And more importantly, why did it remind her of something, something that she'd vaguely remembered from so long ago, the very something that was now worming its way  through her mind....

Nevertheless, something managed to catch the young woman's attention.

A necklace, like the fragmented one on the tomb, lying less than a few feet away from where Cecily stood. Picking up the ropy material in her hand, she marveled at the piece of jewelry in her hand. A loa mask, much like the one lying in pieces on the tomb, only with a glossier onyx finish, and more ornate than the plain wood of the shattered medallion.

Transfixed by the pendant, Cecily turned it over in her hands. "What's something this nice doing in a place like this?"

Then a sharp prick in her hand. What had happened? Had the necklace..... bitten her somehow? But that didn't make any sense, did it? Cecily winced in pain as the cut on her hand welled up with bright red blood, a few drops making their way down to the waiting ground......

Silence.

Then, a new sound.

Drums. Multiple sets of them, the sound seemingly coming from everywhere, and nowhere at once. What was happening?

Cecily immedietly dropped the pendant, leaving it to roll to the hard earth.....

As Cecily looked around in shock, she was then greeted with a new sight. Masks, much like the ones she'd seen on the walls back at her place, bursting out from the crumbling stone faces of the crypts, some sort of unholy energy keeping them floating in the air as they moved closer to the now very terrified Cecily.

With Cecily's attention now focused on the masks, she paid no mind to the fact that it had somehow gotten darker in the graveyard, the place bathed with a sickly colored green light, or the various symbols-most of which she'd have somewhat recognized- whizzing around her head, or the fact that her shadow was having trouble of its own, as it was currently surrounded by other, less friendly looking shadowy beings....

Upon the crypt, the shattered amulet's pieces reformed with a audible snap, but Cecily was more concerned with other matters at the time......

Are you ready?

"Ready? Ready for what?" Cecily asked, the quaver in her voice all too apparent. But the masks didn't answer, they merely continued with their chant.

Backing away, Cecily was so caught up in her terror that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the dolls burst out of the ground.

Yes, dolls. Actual voodoo dolls, complete with pins and everything. But these dolls weren't like the silly tourist baubles that were sold among maps of New Orleans and commemorative keychains, these were living, moving..... and had the most horrifying looks of pure glee on their faces.....

Confused, and most of all, terrified, Cecily backed up against the crypt.....

Only for it to change from a smooth face of stone to one of the most enormous loa masks she'd ever seen in her entire life. It leered at the trembling girl.

Are you ready?

Cecily vaguely heard the sound of someone, whispering over and over as she tried desperately to back away: "No, no, no, no......" All too late, she realized it was herself that was so desperately whispering those words.....

Then, it's mouth opened, emitting a foul green light that bathed the area in its unholy luminescence. Frozen in place, Cecily had no time to run before she was lifted up off the ground, stocking feet dangling in midair as whatever unseen force lifted her into the air.

Struggling in the being's invisible grasp, Cecily barely even had time to blink before the cold weight of something fastened itself around her neck. The amulet from before, but now the gray places on it were glowing with a strange blue light......

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed..... the silhouette of someone, tall, and with a very distinct top hat.......

With a growing sense of fear, Cecily barely noticed when she was so unceremoniously dropped to the awaiting ground by the shadows, the fact that everything vanished; leaving her gasping for breath on the ground , or the figure that stepped out of the portal which closed so unceremoniously, leaving a blank face of stone behind it.....

Dr. Facilier's P.O.V  (A.N: First one! Yay!)

So, his "friends" had finally let him go after seemingly an eternity of torture at their hands for his failure(tortures he still couldn't stand to think about....) . Of course, it was that little waitress's fault he'd wound up in their realm in the first place, due to her dirty trick.......(It still made his blood boil at the very thought of that....)

But never mind that now, what was past was past, and he was a man who looked toward the future. Where he finally repaid his debt to the beings on the other side......

His friends couldn't have kept him that long surely, maybe a year or two at the most if they'd been feeling particularly malicious, but surely, he hadn't been gone all that long......

After all, what would New Orleans be without the Shadowman? He chuckled at that thought, his own shadow echoing in a particularly ghoulish laugh.

And the amulet that signified his "attachment" to the beings beyond this plane of existence was intact once more, no sign of the damage that the girl had inflicted on it.... Well this time, he'd make damn sure that nothing would ever happen again to the little talisman.....(And this time, he wasn't going to let it leave his sight ever again......)

As he surveyed the cemetery where the whole "frog fiasco" had gone down, a girl in a tattered blue dress, long dark hair obscuring her features as she lay kneeling on the ground.

Of course. That little waitress had somehow managed to bring him back, reversing the incantation that had brought him into the shadow realm in the first place...... Well, he'd have to "thank" the little waitress, because after all, he was a gentleman......

Striding over to where the girl kneeled, he slid a hand under her chin, forcing her head to rise up.

"I suppose I should be thanking you Miss Frog, for bringin' me back-"

No. She wasn't the waitress after all. Sure, she was about the same size as the young woman, but her skin was a shade paler than Tiana's had been, her features were a little sharper, and most notably.... the shadow behind her, moving of its own accord, cowering behind her, and the talisman, still faintly glowing, around her slim neck.( Was she a daughter? A distant relation?)

Her shadow cowered meekly in the background, trying to escape the hungry leer of his own shadow, jumping when it snarled. Quite the timid lil thing for a practitioner of his brand of magic to have, if he didn't say so himself. And the girl herself didn't look exactly like a typical practitioner of voodoo either.

Before he could react, the girl scrambled backward, looking around frantically before she spied his cane, lying less than a foot away from her. Grabbing it and scrambling to her feet, she pointed at him, like a weapon.

Facilier mentally sighed. Great, so he was dealing with one of THOSE girls, one of the "angry" ones, as he called it. The ones that'd see through his tricks almost instantly, and were annoyingly stubborn to boot......

"Now doll, there ain't no need for that. Why don't we-"He pushed the cane down with one hand, hoping to get the girl to be less..... aggressive. But the girl cut him off.

"Who the hell are you? What the fuck just happened? Why'd you just-" She then looked down at the talisman around her neck, as if seeing it for the first time.

"WHY IS THIS AROUND MY NECK?" She immediately began to struggle with the necklace, then her eyes lit up.

"Oh no. Why can't I get this off?" The girl began tugging on the thing, her panic visibly rising.

Facilier rolled his eyes. Dear god, didn't this girl have any sense in her head whatsoever? You simply just didn't get rid of a talisman, especially THAT easily. "Ya know, I wouldn't keep doing that if I were you, doll."

"Why? And if you're so concerned with this dumb thing, then you take it!"

"First of all, I can't take your little necklace, however generously you're offering. It's yours and yours alone doll, because it's your little symbol of your debt now- AND  WOULD YA CUT THAT OUT!" He was referring to the fact that she had began to frantically claw at the talisman, her panic reaching new heights.

"Well," He gestured to the blank face of marble from whence he came. "If ya want to take my place back in there, go on right a head with that." Of course, he was curious to see if she really was as stupid as to do that.....

She immediately released her hands from the talisman after a moment of consideration(he was only slightly disappointed that she hadn't tested what would happen), then looking at him incredulously.

"Where are my manners?" He pulled into his best elegant bow, tipping his hat. "Enchante. A tip of the hat, from Dr. Facilier." The girl thankfully said nothing, which he took to be a good sign. Probably bowled over by his charms and good looks.

"How ya'll doin'?"

The girl looked flabbergasted for a moment, before she spoke. "Um, Who?"

Was this girl really that dense?

A twinge of worry wormed its way inside his mind, but he ignored it. "Oh come on doll, surely you're jestin'. The famous New Orleans Shadowman? Ringin' any bells in that pretty little head of yours?" Surely the girl was only kidding, wasn't she? He couldn't have been gone so long that New Orleans had forgotten his existence, right?

The girl stood silent for a moment, before she burst out laughing. Facilier raised an eyebrow at that. He certainty didn't see what was so funny.....

The girl laughed for another moment. "Pfft.... I'm sorry, I musta hear you wrong because I thought you said you were....." She trailed off when she noticed his expression. "Y-you're serious....."

Her eyes widened. "Great, just great. I've somehow resurrected the villain of my great-grandmother's story, and not to mention that-"

Her words gave him pause. No, it couldn't be, the friends would have been so low as to do that, wouldn't they?

He cut her off. "What year is it?" The girl immedietly stiffened under his gaze.

The girl paused uncertainty, and her could tell she was thinking it over, her hazel eyes darting around nervously.

After a moment, she responded. "2018.  So you've been gone for...... about ninety-two years...."

No. No. No. No.....

This time it was Facilier's turn to curse. "Sonnnuva F-"

Boy, was he going t

???? P.O.V

Her amber eyes narrowed in anger as she assessed the whole scene from a safe distance.

That little tart ruined everything! SHE was supposed to have been the one to bring him back, not some little slut from the projects! And the little whore stole her talisman to boot!

The friends wouldn't be pleased, no sir.

Why she ought to-

She inhaled, taking a shaky breath.

No matter, she'd just have to change the plan slightly, after all, she'd worked in more difficult situations than this, and she wouldn't let one little dark-skinned skank stop her.

After all, she was anything if flexible.....

Well beasties, I'm finally done this chapter! (And it took me an eternity of watching princess and the frog clips to get everything in this chapter right!)Hope you enjoyed this one, and let me know if I got Dr.Facilier's  P.O.V right! Anyway, I think we have a lot to build off here beasties, with the Shadowman himself now back in New Orleans and all, but I'll leave it here for the time being.

After all, don't want to give too much away now, do we?