The kid freaked. Mo’Lock lost his grip and the teen got loose. He did a beeline straight for his parents. The ghoul reached for him, but it was up to me. I threw myself into the air and tackled Ellis about an inch before he bore down on his folks.

I pinned him on his back, holding him down by the wrists, keeping my head away from his gnashing teeth.

“Calm down, you little shit!” I barked.

And like that, he did what I said. He calmed down and just lay there. Another beat and he started to sob.

Jesus.

I kept him pinned as his parents started to kneel down and grab for their son. Mo’Lock came to my rescue and pulled the Griffins away. The stink of the garlic and flash of the crosses made the kid scream loud, and then he cried even harder.

“Keep them back,” I said, then, to the crying kid, “What’s wrong with you?”

The kid coughed and sputtered and sniffed. He finally sucked it up and spoke.

“They keep sending me back. I don’t want to do it. They make me,” he said and cried some more.

I looked at Mo’Lock. What the fuck?

After a few minutes, Ellis ran out of tears. I eased up slightly and leaned in.

“I’m going to let you go,” I said sternly. “And you are going to stay calm, right?”

The kid nodded.

I slowly let go of his wrists and then slowly stood up. Instinctively I had my hand halfway to my holster.

I saw the parents with the crap around their necks. “Better take those off.”

They did what I said. They tossed the rosaries and wreath back into the house. By now the kid was sitting up and they went to him. I didn’t like it. If that kid got a whiff of blood he could go nuts again. He didn’t though. He allowed his parents to hold him and the three of them had a good cry.

I glanced at the ghoul. This was a long way from over and we both knew it. Obviously someone did this to the kid. I needed to track that someone down. If you let these fuckers multiply you’ll have a full-blown infestation on your hands. I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

I let the family reunion go on for a few minutes and got impatient. I told them to cut it out and they all separated. Everybody stood and then there was this awkward moment where everybody looked at me like I had all the fucking answers.

“Okay, kid. You need to tell me what happened. Start with getting killed.”