Mina and the Slayers by Amy McCaw
It’s Mina’s favorite time of year and she cannot wait. Halloween is only a few days away and school has officially finished for fall break. She’ll be spending her week off with her new best friend Nat, her sister Libby and her girlfriend Della, her vampire boyfriend Jared, and Detective Cafferty while gaining work experience. Mina met the detective and his partner, Boudreaux, at the beginning of summer during Fang Fest when they arrested Libby for a series of murders. Spoiler alert for book one… Libby wasn’t responsible and was being framed by evil vampire John Carter who thought his murderous plot would draw Mina and Libby’s mum, his ex-girlfriend, out of hiding. It did not work. John was killed by his brother Wayne (also a vampire and now known as Armand) who he had been mind-controlling during this whole thing but not before turning Mina’s boyfriend Jared into a vampire. John’s cohort Veronica sadly escaped but not before killing Thandie (a very nice vampire and owner of Mansion of the Macabre where the girls work). Now, where were we? Ah yes, back to the start of fall break…
At the school entrance is Nat’s older brother Will who is home from college. He is super-hot and rides a motorcycle and is waiting for Nat outside the school. Nat, however, has shopping with Mina to do so and she sends him over to harass their younger brother Sam. The BFFs walk to Fanged Friends, a fangtastic little boutique, and Nat tells Mina about the recent the murder of Laurel Jenkins. She was stabbed multiple times and the police haven’t caught the guy who did it yet. In Fanged Friends, Mina and Nat shop for Halloween themed sweets and goth goodies. While Nat burns through her money on a cute Wednesday Addams dress, Mina chats with the shop owner, Emmeline. They had a mutual friend, Thandie, so Emmeline knows about vampires. When Thandie died, Libby inherited the Mansion but is struggling to make it the success it was with Thandie. Emmeline has some letters from Thandie which may help Libby and put their minds at ease. In them, Mina reads about Thandie’s vampiric power which was the ability to control emotions.
After leaving Nat to go to work, Mina meets up with Libby and Della to go on Jared’s first ghost tour. The girls loiter at the back and Mina watches a man furiously scribbling in a book the whole tour. Jared is a natural storyteller and the group hangs on his every word about the ghosts and legends of New Orleans, including Lalaurie and Count Saint Germain. As they walk to the final location of the tour, the scribbling man hands four thick envelopes to Jared before leaving. The man works for Claude Sejour, and for the price of telling a few ghost stories, Jared has secured them invitations to the Orchard Estate ball, the most exclusive Halloween event in New Orleans.
The excitement of the ball invitations is cut short at the last location, the apartment of John and Wayne Carter whose legend isn’t fiction for Jared, Mina, Libby and Della. As Jared is wrapping up the story, a real vampire approaches the group with her fangs out and blood around her mouth. She pounces Mina but Mina fights back thanks to a few maneuvers Della taught her before fleeing with her friends. The tour group thinks it’s an exciting staged ending to the evening, even Jared’s anguished yell.
Della runs toward Jared with Mina and Libby staying back. Soon Della and Jared join them and notice the arm of his shirt is torn and bloody from where the rabid vampire tried to bite him. Deciding that attempting to find the vampire’s first victim is fruitless, they decide to head to the movies, stopping at Jared’s apartment on the way so he can change. Waiting outside is Armand who needs Jared for something, so off they go, Jared still in his bloody ripped shirt. Meanwhile, Mina, Libby and Della hit Blockbuster Video before heading home, no longer in the mood for the movie theater.
Tessa, the roommate who has been visiting parents all summer and missed all the vampire shenanigans around Fang Fest, is home again. She’s heading out to a study group so doesn’t stay to watch Kalifornia. Once the credits roll, Mina heads back to her room and, unable to sleep, sorts through a box of Thandie’s things. Amongst the junk is a dictaphone dated the day of her death, but unfortunately the buttons are stuck so Mina can’t listen to it. Still wired, she heads into the kitchen for some water and bumps into Della who is fully dressed for work, apparently Armand called her in. Strange, the bar should be closed at this hour.
The next morning at breakfast, Mina reads the newspaper and finds that vicious and sometimes fatal animal attacks are on the rise. Mina knows what they really are, vampire attacks, and wonders if Detective Cafferty is assigned to those cases. She’ll find out soon as today is her first day of work experience. At the station, Cafferty hands Mina a pile of paperwork to fill out including non-disclosure agreements and liability information. Cafferty isn’t working the animal attacks, but he is assigned to the murder of Laurel Jenkins and there has been a second victim, Carl Landry. Both victims were stabbed nine times. As they are en route to interview a witness, Cafferty receives a call about a potential third victim in the park.
Heading over, Cafferty orders Mina to stay in the car while he examines the active crime scene, but of course Mina disregards his order. Moving around to get a better view inside the police tent, Mina sees the body and notices a lot of flies buzzing around it. When Cafferty quizzes her in the car about her thoughts, Mina points out that the body has been decomposing. Cafferty confirms this not a complete impossibility in the New Orleans climate, but certainly a strange and noteworthy observation. He also tells her that the victim was stabbed once through the heart so is likely not linked to the other murders. Mina doesn’t let Cafferty know that the victim is a vampire. Mina then spots Della in a car with an unfamiliar girl speeding from the scene.
The afternoon is full of paperwork for the vampire victim and while doing some photocopying, Mina finds a stack of cinema tickets from the victim’s pocket. Wanting to investigate further, Mina suggests to Libby and the gang they go to the Crescent Screens theater. Before Mina leaves, Cafferty shows Mina the birthday present he got his little sister Carly, a signed and dedicated first edition Interview with a Vampire. Major brother points!
Heading to the mall, Mina runs into Sam at the bookstore and then Will in Radio Shack. Will works there and she leaves Thandie’s dictaphone with him to be fixed before heading to Crescent Screens. The theater is amazing, nothing like the chain cinemas. They get tickets for Mallrats and head to the concession stand where they are served by a vampire. In the auditorium, Mina updates Jared in a quiet whisper about the dead vampire and why she picked this cinema. Jared tells her there is a vampire feeding on someone in the back row.
Jared goes to have a word with the couple and learns that the biting is consensual but he tells them to leave. Speaking to the concession vampire, it turns out he has a deal with some local vampires. It’s all above board but that doesn’t stop Della from rolling her eyes and tutting. Mina then tells them the real reason for picking that cinema. Ugggh, Mina! Can’t they have one night without investigating a murder?! When they get home, Mina asks Della if it was her she saw in the car at the park. With an abrupt “nope” Della walks off. Later, Mina sees Della sneaking out and decides to follow.
Mina isn’t particularly stealthy and Della calls her out. Della has been sneaking out to a vampire slayer club where the first rule about vampire slayer club is you don't talk about vampire slayer club. Inside, Mina meets the head slayer Rosario, who is nice, Taz, the girl in Della’s car, who is lovely, and Paige who is a bitch. Tonight they have special visitors, veteran slayers from the vampire surge in the 70s, Monique and Jacklean, who is Della’s Aunt! Jacklean confirms Della’s mom was killed by a vampire, and by the fang wound it was a female. Della asks if Mina would like to join them, and she says she’ll think about it as it’s a lot to process and it feels like a morally gray area. Della loves it. Armand had a vision of her with the slayers in St. Louis Cemetery Number 1 and she staked out (no pun) the place until the vampires turned up. Slaying is in her blood.
The next day, Nat and Will come to put up Halloween decorations at Mina’s house. Will and Mina talk about movies and it’s really nice. Mina yearns for this comfortable togetherness with Jared that stopped after his turning. Later, Nat and Mina head to the Mansion to help with the last walk through of the new Candyman room before full opening. When they get there, they see Libby surrounded by open bear traps! It’s actually a bear trap chandelier which takes shape as Libby hoists it up. The Candyman experience is amazing and Jason as Candyman is spot on. Mina lets Nat out before the Mansion opens and spots Cafferty with his sister Carly waiting to come in.
Mina changes into her Claudia costume and heads to the Interview with the Vampire room where Jared as Lestat is waiting. Mina tries to address the fanged elephant in the room: Jared’s feeding. She wants to help him out of curiosity, intimacy and jealousy, but Jared doesn’t want to cross that line with her. The first tour group comes in with Cafferty and Carly ending their conversation. At the end of the night, Mina changes out of her costume and finds a note in her bag - HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN FANG FEST? I HAVEN’T. Has it been left as a cruel joke or was it meant for someone else? Mina hides the note in her bag before Jared walks her home to find her mum waiting on the doorstep.
Mina doesn’t have much time for the woman who abandoned her children in favor of her vampire obsession and though she and Libby do try to build some kind of relationship with her, their mum is flaky and unreliable. Mina points out that right now isn’t the best time and they agree to meet later. Alone, Mina can’t relax about the blood drinking issue with Jared and calls Armand who comes over instead of answering questions over the phone. Just after his arrival, Armand has a vision of Mina in a red and green jumper but the image is unclear, perhaps Libby will let Mina star in the Nightmare on Elm Street scene at the mansion?
To answer Mina’s questions about feeding, Armand takes her to The Underground, a vampire blood bar. Together they watch a feeding in the observation booth. It is between two men and is consensual, though it is more transactionary for the vampire whereas the human seemed equal parts pained and pleasured by the experience. Armand asks if Mina understands and she says she does, but does she really? As they leave, Mina runs into Carly. Carly is visiting a lifestyler not an actual vampire at the bar as she doesn’t know the undead are real. Mina tries to warn Carly about going to The Underground and says that it’s a slippery slope and she could get hurt, but Carly isn’t interested in her warnings. On the walk home, and at Mina’s request, Armand tells her the part he played in John’s scheme. Thankfully he did nothing violent. That all seemed to be Veronica.
Back home, Tessa is there and making cookies. Tessa used to date Jared so Mina has always felt a little uncomfortable around her but they have a civil conversation which helps Mina relax around her. On her way back to her room, Mina spots a note that has been slid through the flap at the front door. This one says TICK TOCK. READY TO COME CLEAN? Outside the door there is a shadow, but before Mina gets the courage to open the door, the shadow disappears. As Mina is getting ready for bed, Della pops in and asks if Mina wants to go patrolling with her and Rosario. She agrees.
They head to a crypt in an old cemetery from the veteran slayers’ list of hot spots in the 70s. The crypt smells of death which doesn’t put off vampires from living there as they find four sleeping bags. They are attacked by three vampires and manage to slay them. Mina nearly killed one but she missed the heart and Rosario had to finish it off. As they run through the graveyard, the fourth vampire approaches. Della and Rosario go on the attack but the female vampire is visibly upset at the death of her friends. As she hasn’t moved to fight them, Della keeps her restrained as Rosario questions her about the surge in vampires. Mina can see the vampire is distressed and tells her to go to the Empire of the Dead where she will find Armand who will help her. To repay Mina’s kindness, the vampire tells them a man is building his ranks, but she didn’t stick around to find out more about his plans. She also reveals that though she doesn’t know her sire’s name, he was a short guy with a really bad haircut. Rosario congratulates Mina on handling herself well and getting the vampire to talk and asks her to become a member of the slayers. Mina will think about it.
Later, reading another of Thandie’s letters, Mina sees that Thandie not only felt trapped by John Carter, but the Slayers patrolling New Orleans. The next morning, Mina tells Libby and Della about the notes before heading to the police station. Cafferty tells her there has been another murder and they need to go and speak to the victim’s mom. After the interview, they search his bedroom and find a red token for The Underground. As they are leaving, a neighbor approaches with information. He said he saw someone sneaking around the property wearing a mask and agrees to speak to a sketch artist.
At the end of the day, Cafferty offers to drop Mina off to get ready for the ball, but before they leave, he gets a call from Carly who is on a bad date and needs a pickup ASAP. They head to the pool hall which is closed up but can see Carly inside being attacked by a vampire. Cafferty heads through the back door, gun drawn, and Mina follows. Seeing it’s a vampire and knowing the bullets will do nothing, Mina shouts to kill them like in the movies, so Cafferty breaks a pool cue and uses it to stake the vampire. Mina calls Della to get the slayers to deal with the body of the vampire before they take Carly, who is badly bitten, to the hospital. While they will say it was an animal attack, Mina tells Cafferty everything. Everything.
While another officer, Officer Dupres, drives Mina home, she reads another of Thandie’s letters which mentions a vampire prying into her business and her power and mentions she doesn’t want to be caged any more than she already is. At home, Della asks about the attack, but Libby interrupts and wants to know why they are talking about vampire slayers. Libby is not pleased with the fact that her girlfriend and her sister are slaying vampires and points out that Jared won’t be happy either, however it is time to get ready for the ball. Tessa, who will be joining them, is Catwoman, Libby and Della will be Jareth and Sarah from Labyrinth, and Mina and Jared will be Mina Harker and Dracula from the Gary Oldman version. Mina tries to talk to Jared about the slayers, but she doesn’t explain well and he’s disgusted and angry.
The mansion hosting the ball is impressive. While Jared goes to tell his ghost stories to the attendees, Mina, Libby, Della and Tessa party. After a while, Jared rejoins them and the dancing begins. Their host, Claude Sejour, takes to the stage to give a short speech before singing the final song, People Are Strange. After a short break with people coming and going, the DJ set kicks in and the group tear up the dance floor. Eventually needing to pee, Mina ducks out but is sent in the wrong direction to a private suite where Veronica is waiting to tease and taunt her. For now, Veronica will let her go, but she will kill Mina soon. Back in the main room, the crowd has swollen with new attendees of the fanged variety. Fighting through the crowd, Mina joins her friends and they hurry to leave. Tessa doesn’t want to stop partying so she hops out of their taxi early. Della and Mina will go on patrol and head straight to Della’s house to change. Mina, looking at Della’s family photos, spots Emmeline in one and offers to introduce Della to her. For now, it’s time to head out.
They meet with Taz at the most creepy AF clown museum ever. To make it even more unpleasant, it was hit by a flood so it’s dangerous and unstable and the water has affected the wax statues in gruesome and unpleasant ways. Picking their way through, the slayers find a group of people higher in the building, and spying on them, see a business-looking female vampire address bro-vampires, one of whom works at Crescent Screens. Boss-vampire mentions the attack on Halloween which is in two days and how they need to keep out of it because they have a good thing going at the cinema with willing donors. Unfortunately she hears the clown honk Taz accidentally makes and sends the bro-vampires after them but the slayers get away. At home, Mina tells Jared it was an information-gathering trip and no vampires were harmed. Things are still tense between them.
The next day Della offers to take Mina to the police station, but on their way, they stop by Fanged Friends to meet Emmeline. Emmeline knew Della’s mom, and that she was a slayer. She also knows which vampire killed her: Veronica. Cafferty is waiting for Mina at the station with the evidence from a fourth victim to look at. Inside a coin purse, Mina finds a red token for The Underground, so it looks like it’s time to pay the club a visit, but Mina must stay in the car otherwise she is compromising the investigation. Fine. They drive over and find the club on fire. Cafferty talks to the fire chief who says it looks like arson. Dejected at losing a prime lead, they head back to the station for an afternoon of paperwork. Shortly before Mina leaves, the sketch artist sends a fax with the picture of the person the neighbor saw. It’s obviously a mask but no horror movie mask Mina is familiar with, so it’s something they’ll have to investigate the next day.
No one is home when Mina gets there, but as soon as the sun goes down, Jared arrives. He’s obviously hungry and Mina makes the decision to feed him her blood. With some reluctance, Jared agrees and bites her in a discreet location on her arm. The feeding goes well and they both feel better for it. They have regained a level of intimacy they haven’t had since Jared’s turning but agree to keep it between themselves for now. Eventually the others arrive home and they get ready to go out to dinner at Armand’s restaurant, Nine Steps to Hell, based on Dante’s Inferno, before heading to the carnival.
Their server at the restaurant is the vampire Mina “saved” from the other night at the crypt. She seems happy with her situation and grateful to Mina. When Mina explores the Dante exhibit Armand has set up, she sees a figure looking at her and backs away in fear. It’s the killer! Well… it’s actually a statue wearing Dante’s death mask, so Mina uses Armand’s phone to let Cafferty know she’s solved that mystery. Afterward, she bumps into Will and extends an invitation to the siblings to join them at the carnival. During their meal, Claude Sejour enters with his entourage, and after a moment, beckons Jared over and Mina goes with him. Armand describes Claude Sejour as the New Orleans king of the vampires whose real name is Saint Germain. He wants answers about the surge in vampires and has Veronica investigating but finding nothing while Armand is too busy dealing with his inherited business to help. Turning to Jared, Saint Germain asks what his powers are, and answering honestly, Jared tells him he has none. Mina thinks this is the man who collects powers from Thandie’s letters.
After dinner they head to the carnival and meet up with Nat and her brothers and Jason. They have a great time until the girls go on the carousel and a group of vampires follows them. One tries to bite Mina which Della promptly puts a stop to. While Will and Jason head for a beer and Tessa goes in search of junk food, the others head to the haunted house but get separated in the mirror maze. Some of the mirrors are two way and Mina can see one of the vampires from the carousel stalking Libby and Della.
In Mina's panic to get to her sister and her girlfriend, she is separated from Jared and eventually the vampire finds Mina and attacks. He manages to graze Mina’s arm before Jared comes in and pries his jaw loose and they run for it. Outside, Mina and Jared find Libby and Della who patch up Mina’s arm. Suddenly, Nat comes out of the maze holding Sam who is bleeding heavily from his neck. Nat tells them some guy with fake vampire teeth tore at his throat. The on-site medics arrive quickly and Sam is taken to the hospital with Nat in the ambulance and Will following in his car. Libby and Tessa call it quits for the night while Jared, Mina and Della meet up with Rosario and Taz to go hunting.
Jared has their attacker's scent and is able to find him. They fight and Jared is able to rip the throat out of one vampire and tear the jaw off another with Della driving a stake through its chest. The last vampire is kept restrained because they need answers, like who turned him. That would be John Carter. Damnit. He did it a few months ago for Veronica who is planning something the following night. He says her recruits are to meet at the French Quarter docks at 7pm. Then the vampire taunts Rosario, saying she might as well stake him as he’s good as dead anyway, so she does just that. Turning to Jared, she thanks him for his help noting she always knew they could use a VAMPIRE VAMPIRE HUNTER. She also orders Della and Mina to rest up for the following night.
After dropping Jared back at his apartment, Mina is surprisingly able to sleep but wakes early. After some exercise and a quick call to Nat to check on Sam, Mina notices Tessa’s keys on the doormat. Tessa’s room is quiet, so she enters slowly to put her keys in her room, but then Mina sees Tessa on the bed, not moving, and a large pool of blood on the floor. Her shout brings Della and Libby running.
Libby calls an ambulance and the police, and soon after the house is a hive of activity. Cafferty comes with Boudreaux and they question Mina, Della and Libby separately. Tessa was stabbed nine times but unlike the other murders, Tessa was killed in her bed not on the doorstep. Mina shows Cafferty and Boudreaux the notes she received and finds out Tessa received one too. Also, Tessa has a client book for The Underground. Unbeknown to her housemates, Tessa was a vampire lifestyler. Cafferty arranges for a patrolman to take them to Thandie’s apartment at the Mansion because they can’t stay in the house.
Later, sitting in the Mansion apartment’s spare room, Mina is restless and calls Cafferty asking if he will accompany her and Della to Empire of the Dead to speak to Armand. At the bar, Armand confirms that Veronica was sired by Saint Germain. Vampires typically develop powers if their sire had power, but Saint Germain has none, so he collects them, though with Veronica, he collected her as she reminded him of his dead daughter. They search through Veronica’s locker in the back room for any clue as to her location, but unfortunately there isn’t a convenient note. Armand uses her jacket to help force a vision in which he sees fire and water and Veronica on a steamboat called The Belle of New Orleans. After a call to the coast guard, Cafferty is able to find out that there is only one steamboat large enough to meet Veronica’s needs in the city. It has been decommissioned following a hurricane and it's called… The Belle of New Orleans.
Cafferty wants to help because New Orleans is his city to protect plus he has a crossbow. Yeah, he can come. They separate so Cafferty can suit up while Mina and Della gather the slayers because they want to strike while the sun is still up. Soon they are on a hired boat traveling the river looking for The Belle of New Orleans which doesn’t take long. The slayers work their way through the steamboat, staking the vampires as they move down through the boat. Finding the boiler room access, Rosario changes the plan to work upwards. As the slayers file down, Mina notes that Paige hangs back to plant explosives.
Rosario didn’t know about the explosives Paige planted and is wary of using them because they need to confirm Veronica’s death, so she confiscates the remote. Heading deeper into the boat, the slayers encounter resistance and a massive and bloody fight starts. Veronica is leading her minions and taunting the slayers and in her hand is her trademark mallet which she uses relentlessly, even taking down Taz.
Suddenly reinforcements come in the form of the veteran slayers, including Della’s aunt Jacklean and Monique. Monique tries to stake Veronica but the vampire turns the stake on her and kills the older slayer. While Mina makes her first kill, Paige grabs a fire axe and starts rampaging with it eventually severing Veronica’s head, taking her mallet as a trophy which she promptly drops and Della picks up. Mina, Della, Cafferty, Rosario, Paige, Jacklean and a handful of other slayers make it out into the sunshine and as they make their getaway, Paige blows the boat. Goddamnit Paige! In the truck, Della has her wounds bandaged and admits she consumed some vampire blood while she was trapped under their body. It’s now a waiting game to see if she will turn.
Cafferty has to head to work and Rosario is going to scope out the docks for any of Veronica’s stragglers while Mina, Della and Jacklean head back to the Mansion to wait to see if Della will turn. Libby is obviously worried but confident Della will remain human. During their vigil, Nat comes by. She has Thandie’s fixed dictaphone and needs to talk to Mina about Sam’s bite wound and how similar it looks to the scar on Mina’s wrist. Mina accepts the dictaphone but pushes Nat away telling her it’s not a good time. Hours later they check on Della’s wound for supernaturally quick healing and find it the same bloody mess as earlier. Phew! Della is clear.
As they are celebrating, Jared comes in with Cafferty. Cafferty has caught Jared up on the events of the day; however, he has one more piece of news: they’ve arrested Jason for the murders. What?! Is everyone they know a serial killer? Cafferty admits that The Underground is the connection between the victims as Tessa was the new Elvira at the club. Jason disapproved and they got into a fight and they assume he still resents it and is why he killed her and her clients. They decide to continue the celebrations and head to the Mask Parade and drag Cafferty along with them. As they are getting ready, Jared grabs a quick snack from Mina, and in their post-bite snuggle, they confess their love for each other.
Despite being surrounded by strangers in masks which is disconcerting to Mina, the Mask Parade is fun, that is until Mina is kidnapped by two vampires in fake police costumes. Mina has her hands tied behind her back and her head bagged before being thrown into the back of a van which also holds Libby, Della, Jared, Cafferty and Rosario. When the bags are removed they see they are in a cathedral with Armand standing to the side of the altar. Saint Germain walks in and stands front and center.
Saint Germain has a grievance against them: they killed his lieutenant Veronica so he must exact a price; however, he concedes that she was also trying to overthrow him which is not ideal, but really, her punishment should have been left up to him. Luckily he has a contingency plan, and in walks Paige. Saint Germain declares that the slayers will be brought onto his payroll. Rosario of course protests which results in her being dragged off and killed outside. Paige is then promoted to leader and directed to get the slayers on board with Saint Germain’s plans.
If that weren't bad enough, Saint Germain is not done yet. He has a job for Cafferty and Armand in New Mexico, and when they start to protest, a few threats to their health and happiness bring them in line and they will set off immediately. Meanwhile, the others are free to go. Before Armand leaves, he tells Jared that John did not sire him, he did. John made him “donate” his blood into bottles and it was that blood which turned Jared. This relieves Jared as he was worried he would become a murderous lunatic like his sire.
Mina, Libby, Della and Jared head back to the mansion and rest for the night. Mina finally tells Libby and Della that Jared has been feeding from her, which they figured since The Underground was burned down, and they are begrudgingly fine with it. Waking early the next day, Mina goes into the living room to listen to Thandie’s dictaphone, and realizing there will be Great Revelations, she grabs the others. Mina isn’t wrong, Thandie confesses to being the one who killed Della’s mother. So why did Emmeline lie to them?
The Mansion hosts an end of Halloween movie murder mystery night and it goes off without a hitch even without Candyman. Afterwards, Mina and Libby have the mansion to themselves and try to relax. Unfortunately as Libby is in the shower, the power goes out. Mina heads to the breaker to switch it back on when the phone in the foyer rings. Mina answers it in the dark and hears Detective Boudreaux on the other line. She tells Mina that Jason has been released and she will be sending a patrolman to watch over them just to be safe. It’s not long before Officer Dupres arrives, but he is promptly murdered by the masked killer on the doorstep behind him. As the killer gives a jaunty wave with the knife, Mina runs toward the exhibit rooms.
The killer gives chase and Mina dives into the Candyman bathroom. As she is closing the door, the killer sticks his knife into the gap and slices her arm, but thankfully she manages to shut and lock the door. As Mina is figuring out what to do next, the cruel voice of the killer encouraging her to open the door sounds familiar. It’s Sam…?! His knife has had a taste of her and wants more. Sam tells Mina that his late older sister Louisa was the original Elvira at The Underground and that he blames the club and her clients for her death. Now he is exacting his revenge by killing the people on Louisa’s client list as well as Tessa who took her role which made everyone forget his sister.
Mina makes her way through the scene, grabbing the Candyman's very real and very sharp hook as she heads into the Nightmare on Elm Street scene. Behind her, Sam has broken through the door. Hiding in the darkness and fog, Mina is able to use the hook to rip open Sam’s leg, hobbling him so she can make a run for it. Dashing into the Mansion foyer, she grabs the phone, calls 9-1-1, screams there is a killer after her and runs toward the New Orleans exhibits room. Looking around, Mina spots an item not yet put in a case, Veronica’s mallet. As Sam walks toward her, Libby steps out of the apartment and without stopping, Sam stabs her in the stomach. Mina watches in horror as her sister crumples, covered in blood. Sam comes closer and as he reaches the perfect spot, Mina swings the mallet and breaks the ropes that hold up the bear trap chandelier, causing it to fall and kill Sam. Murder chandelier!
As Mina is crying and holding a dying Libby, Jared comes in. He offers to turn Libby as the wound is fatal but she doesn’t want that. He tries his best to stop the bleeding, his supernatural nature never dulling his desire to help people. Libby starts convulsing then suddenly sits up, indignant that she was bleeding from her mouth and Mina never said! All at once, she’s okay and her wound is closing. But how? Turns out, Jared has a power after all! He can heal. Well, they can’t let Saint Germain know about that! Healing Libby has weakened Jared, but he’s happy he can still help people. Detective Boudreaux and the police arrive shortly thereafter, but Mina is worried about Nat and Will, after all, she killed their little brother, never mind that it was in self-defense. Boudreaux tells Mina that Nat has been arrested as an accessory to murder and she’s refusing to talk unless it’s to Mina.
The next day before Mina heads to the police station, she goes to Fanged Friends. Emmeline has already spoken to Della and she reiterates that she knew Thandie was Della’s mother's real killer, but she needed Veronica dead for killing her best friend. Emmeline wants to rebuild trust and gives Mina a lookalike leather Buffy the Vampire Slayer jacket she was lusting after on a previous visit.
At the police station Mina has her backpack searched, Thandie’s papers and her dictaphone are inside and thankfully the officer gives them only a cursory look. Nat is in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed to the interview table. Nat explains she needed to find Louisa’s killer since the police gave up. She found Elvira’s client list in her sister's diary and tried to get into The Underground but was turned away. She was the one who sent the notes, too, trying to get some sort of reaction from Elvira’s clients. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but Sam found out what she was doing and wanted vengeance, so he killed everyone. At this point of the interview, Mina turns off the recorder ready to be candid with Nat; however, this is the opportunity Nat needed to give Mina the truth. Sam was in the hospital when Tessa was murdered. She tells Mina the first stab did the trick but the remaining eight got easier with each strike. Smugly, Nat calls an end to the interview, waggling her fingers in goodbye.
In Boudreaux’s office, Mina realizes that Nat’s confession to murdering Tessa means nothing as the recorder had been shut off. In the silence between Mina and the detective, Boudreaux asks what the clicking noise is she can hear. Inside Mina’s backpack, Thandie’s dictaphone has been recording. It must have been set to record during the bag search and she’s had her bag with her the whole time which means that Nat’s confession is on that tape! Mina hands the dictaphone over and Boudreaux who takes it to their tech guys. While the detective is out of her office, Mina looks at a picture on her desk. It’s of Boudreaux and her sister Monique, the veteran slayer who was killed during the steamboat raid. Boudreaux comes back and confirms that she knows all about the supernatural side to New Orleans, so Mina tells her Cafferty does too.
Back at the mansion, Will is waiting outside, looking broken, what with two of his siblings being murderers and the other being murdered. Mina invites him in for John Hughes movies and they sit in companionable silence until Libby and Della come home. Libby grabs snacks and they watch movies as a foursome. As Will is leaving, Jared arrives. Extending a vein of trust, Della volunteers to feed Jared since Mina has lost so much blood lately. Eventually Jared goes back to his apartment to clear his things out, he’s going to move into the mansion's attic while Libby and Mina will be permanent residents of the mansion apartment and Della will split her time between them and her dad.
The next morning, a postcard arrives from New Mexico, but it can’t be Cafferty and Armand because it isn’t their style. The girls think that their paternal grandparents live somewhere near Roswell, but they have no connection with them. Turning over the card, in their mother’s handwriting the note reads, I’ve found your dad and figured out how to make us one big, happy family again. Come to visit us? Mum x
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