--------------------------

"I’m always getting junk mail," Ralph commented, tearing up an envelope. He leaned forward, elbows resting on the dining room table, and looked into the kitchen the best he could. "Pam? How’s dinner coming?"

"Few more minutes, hon," came her reply.

Ralph nodded and opened the next envelope. He pulled a card out and read it. "The Green Thumb Club cordially invites you to the unveiling of its hedge maze, daring people of any age to make it from start to finish." He paused, then said loudly, "Honey, have you heard of the Green Thumb Club?"

Pam stopped in the kitchen doorway. "No, I haven’t. It must be new."

"I wonder how they got my name..."

Pam grinned. "I told you, Ralph, you need to stop subscribing to comic books." She winked at him.

"Funny, Pamela. I’m serious. It’s... odd."

Pam shrugged. "In that case, they did probably get it from something else. Probably the newspaper. They seem to be notorious for giving out information." She disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Makes sense..." Ralph turned the card over and found the back blank. Turning it back over, he read it again. "I guess it couldn’t hurt. It’s coming up quickly, though. I’m surprised they waited so long to get the invitations out, since it’s next weekend. Atleast it doesn’t require an R.S.V.P."

--------------------------

A week from that Saturday, Ralph fixed his bow tie in the mirror in the bathroom, while Bill stood in the doorway, munching on Milkbone treats.

"Must be a real swank affair, since you’re doing an impression of a penguin and all. Why ain’t I going?" Bill said.

Because you just answered your own question, Ralph thought. "It’s one guest only, Bill, and I’m not going to invite you over Pam. Jammies or no, I’d be seeing next Tuesday before everyone else."

"Ehhh, I didn’t wanna be around a buncha snobs anyway. Too much drivel," Bill commented.

The bedroom door opened and Pam came out, dressed in a red gown. Bill, still standing in the bathroom doorway, gawked. "Wow, Counselor, you sure do clean up real nice."

"Thank you, Bill... I think," Pam said, smirking a little.

Ralph tugged at his tie again, frowning at it slightly. "Bill, stop hitting on my wife." He quirked an eyebrow into the mirror and met Bill’s gaze. "I am wearing the suit, by the way."

"Oh, um, right." Bill cleared his throat as Ralph chuckled and turned away from the mirror. Bill moved to let him out of the bathroom. "Well, you know, I was just, uh..."

"Geez, Bill, I was only teasing you. What’s the matter with you, anyway? You’ve been a bit...irritable lately," Ralph said, buttoning his tux coat.

"It’s been too quiet, Ralph. It’s been quiet ever since robbery and the building was blown up," Bill answered.

Ralph winced subconsciously recalling what’d happened almost three weeks prior. "After that, I’m glad it’s been quiet."

"Something’s brewing, kid, something big," Bill continued.

"Well, let it percolate tomorrow. Tonight, Pamela and I are going out for a nice evening," Ralph said, handing Pam her purse, which was sitting on the desk.

"Any and all scenarios will have to wait until we get home, Bill. Got it?" Pam said.

"I got it," Bill grumbled. He went for the door, followed by Ralph and Pam, and muttered, "Doesn’t mean I gotta like it."

--------------------------

Ralph parked the station wagon, got out, and went around to open the door for Pam. She got out and the two stopped, looking at the gate in front of them, which had a sign on it.

"’The Green Thumb Club’s Hedge Maze. Enter if you dare.’ That sounds inviting," Ralph said, making a face.

"They really seem to be trying to push the maze. They must be very proud of it," Pam commented.

They entered through the gate and continued on the path... not noticing the gate swinging closed quietly behind them. They reached the reception area and found it empty.

"Ralph, are we in the right place?" Pam asked.

Ralph nodded. "Yes. I’m positive."

Suddenly, a woman’s voice echoed out of seemingly nowhere. "Welcome, Ralph, Pamela."

"Who’s there?" Pam asked.

Ralph thought a moment, thinking he recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it because of the echo altering it...

"I am your hostess. Allow me one moment."

"Pam...?" Ralph began, unsure of what was going on.

"This is very strange. There’s no one else here yet," Pam said.

Ralph continued to try to place the voice. A few moments passed, and realization crossed his face, causing his eyes to widen. "Oh no... Pam! We need to leave now!"

"What? Why?" Pam asked.

In front of them, a sudden cloud of black smoke appeared. When it dissipated, a familiar woman, wearing a long black gown, with short red hair and dark make-up, stood there. "And so we meet again, dear Ralph."

Pam turned to him. "Ralph... what is she talking about? And who is she? How does she know you?"

"Well, Pamela--" Ralph began.

The woman snapped her fingers and Pam disappeared.

"Pam!" Ralph exclaimed. He glared at the woman. "Mona..."

The devil woman smiled demurely. "You remember me."

"What did you do to Pam? Where is she?"

"I am sorry, Ralph, but she asks too many questions," Mona said.

Ralph’s eyes narrowed. "Where is she?"

"In the center of the maze."

"What?!"

"And you must find your way through the maze to get to her," Mona said, simply.

"Or else what? I know there has to be something else to this," Ralph prompted.

"You will have three hours. If you do not find her... you will be mine to do with as I wish."

Ralph blinked. "Excuse me?"

"If you find her, you will then have another three hours to exit the maze. However, throughout the maze, many surprises will be unleashed and you will have to get past any you encounter."

"Now, hold on, here..."

Mona walked up to him and ran one hand down the side of his face. "I do hope that you do not find her. How I would like you for my own." She smiled again. "Your time begins now."

Ralph pushed past her, entering the maze. Already he had a choice of three paths. He sighed. "Great. Wish I had something of Pam’s to get a vibe off." He opted for the path on the left and began walking.

Ralph was about halfway down the path when an idea hit him. He stripped down to the jammies, leaving the tux behind. He took three running steps and went air born... only to hit something unseen at the top of the hedges and crashed hard into the ground.

Ralph pushed himself up, shaking his head. "What the...?"

"Did I forget to mention the invisible ceiling?" Mona’s voice taunted him, again coming from nowhere.

Ralph’s hands clenched into fists and he pounded the ground, before getting up. Despite being unable to fly, he still decided to leave the tux behind. It’d be worth the hundred dollars for it just to get Pam back.

He turned a corner and stopped. In front of him stood a jet black panther, staring right at him.

Ralph gulped visibly. "Heh... nice kitty..." He watched the panther move a step closer. "I hope the suit works against big, angry cats that aren’t house broken."

The large cat bared its teeth at him, then leapt at him. Ralph quickly flipped the cape over his head just before the panther knocked into him, sending both tumbling to the ground. He’d landed on his stomach and felt slightly dazed, but otherwise unharmed. He waited a moment, and hearing nothing from the animal, he lifted the the cape off his head and looked up. The panther was sprawled on its side, eyes closed, breathing a bit heavily.

Ralph got up slowly, just in case, and began to move on down the path. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. "Wonder how many more surprises like that one are waiting for me..." he said aloud.

"As many as I wish," Mona’s disembodied voice taunted.

Ralph growled, growing more than just a little tired of the voice. He continued moving along in the maze and made a turn. He found he’d reached a dead end and sighed. Turning around, he paused, realizing he’d have to go past the panther again to get to the other path.

Ralph bowed his head and blinked invisible. He walked back toward the panther. Nearing it, he saw it just beginning to get up. He started past slowly, but saw the panther sniffing the air. He paused and saw that the panther seemed to be looking right at him. The large cat lunged again, but Ralph moved quickly in the direction he was headed in and began running. He rounded a corner and ran into the other path. When he thought he was far enough, he paused, leaning against a wall of greenery.

Ralph glanced back the way he came and listened. Hearing nothing, he sighed, and stood another moment to compose himself. Then he thought he felt something tickle his side. He looked down and saw that a vine had wrapped around his stomach. His eyes widened and he pulled at the vine. However, the vine wouldn’t snap and he watched as another wrapped around and up his left leg.

"No!" Ralph cried out, trying to hack away at the vines. Another wrapped itself around his right arm, pulling it back flush against the rest of the greenery. He tried moving the arm and pulled away a few inches... only to have a second vine wrap around the same arm and pull it back again.

Now, he was beginning to panic. The suit wasn’t providing him enough strength over the vines, which gave him an idea of just how strong the vines were. Another vine snaked its way around his stomach, then traveled up, wrapping around his chest. He watched as it continued to work its way higher as another wrapped itself over his right leg.

Ralph’s left arm was the only limb still free and he used it the best he could to keep hacking away at the vines. He hadn’t even noticed the one that’d gone around his chest was now making its way around his neck. Yet another vine started to wrap itself around his left arm at the shoulder. It pulled him back against the wall and snaked up his arm.

He tugged both arms, finding no give, and looked down slightly. The vine was now around his neck and still moving. Ralph froze, hoping the one around his neck wouldn’t tighten.

As soon as he thought it, the vine started to tighten. Ralph began coughing, trying to get air. After several seconds, everything started fading to black.

--------------------------

Somewhere in the maze, Pam sat on the ground, trapped in a vine cage.

"What is going on here?" Pam asked, not expecting an answer. "Ralph!?" she called out. "Ralph!"

She heard a rustling, got up, and turned. She caught a glimpse of red, but it vanished quickly. "Ralph?"

The rustling came again and Pam turned in another direction. Again, she caught a glimpse of red. "Ralph!"

"Pamela?"

She spun around and found Ralph standing outside of the cage. Pam moved to the cage wall. "Ralph, get me out of here!"

Ralph just tilted his head and stayed where he stood, then his image seemed to flicker.

"Ralph?" Pam said, unsure of what she was seeing. She got no response. Instead, she watched Ralph’s image fade out. "This is no time to practice being invisible, Ralph!" She waited for him to pop back in, but he didn’t.

"I guess he did not feel chivalrous enough to rescue you."

Pam spun around again and crossed to the other side of the cage. She found Mona standing just out of arm’s reach from the cage, smirking, with her arms folded. "Who are you? How do you know Ralph? And what am I doing in here?"

"You would not believe me if I told you who I am. For that reason, I cannot tell you how I know him, nor can I tell you what you are doing here," Mona replied.

Pam gritted her teeth. "Then what is going on? Where is Ralph?"

"Ralph is on his way. Currently, he is making his way through the maze. Maybe," Mona said.

"Maybe?" Pam questioned.

"There are some interesting surprises that Ralph may encounter on his way here."

Pam frowned. "This was a set up." She paused. "What do you want?"

"Not what. Whom," Mona corrected.

"Whom..." Pam repeated, then her eyes widened. "No..."

Mona smirked as she began to fade out.

"No!" Pam yelled out.

--------------------------

"Ralph?"

The voice sounded a million miles away, but he felt the soft touch on his cheek, then felt warm breath on his cheek, also. It seemed as though it took every ounce of effort, but he managed to open his eyes. He winced at the effort, then fixed his gaze on Pam, who was seated beside him on the ground.

"The vines...?" he managed to get out, still sore from being choked.

"What vines?" Pam asked. "I found you here on the ground, unconscious. I was so worried."

She helped him sit up and he sagged forward, propping himself up with his forearms across his legs. Ralph sucked in a breath, still trying to shake the feeling of the vine around his throat. "The wall... vines... attacking me."

Pam shook her head. "There’s nothing but leaves and branches here. No vines."

Ralph did his best to turn and look behind him. Sure enough, the vines were gone. He turned back again and covered his face with both hands. "This is so strange." He swallowed, uncovering his face, then continued, "There were vines coming out, wrapping around my arms, legs... one started choking me..." He coughed as if on cue and turned to Pam. "Pam?"

Pam’s gaze was fixed on the finger tracing up and down Ralph’s thigh.

"Pamela?" he tried again, but she just kept staring. "Pam?" He waved a hand in front of her face. Receiving still no response, he reached over and turned her head so she’d look at him.

The finger stopped its tracing and moved. As they stared at each other, Pam undid the suit’s belt and slid her hand up under the tunic. Her fingers moved lightly over his skin as they met in a kiss.

Lost in the sensation, Ralph didn’t noticed the slight trickle of blood from underneath the tunic, where Pam’s hand was. They separated and she purposely scratched him hard.

"Ow!" Ralph cried out, looking down. He pulled up the tunic and found several bleeding scratches on his stomach. He turned to face Pam again and found her gone. "Pa--" he began, then realized, "that couldn’t have been her..."

He pushed the tunic back down, over the scratches and grabbed the belt. He rested one hand flat on his stomach and noticed that the suit was repelling the still trickling blood. Ralph sighed and made an attempt at standing. He stood, but winced trying to straighten out. He wrapped the belt back around his waist, but buckled it loosely as the scratches were right where the belt sat.

Ralph turned a glare on the wall that had grabbed at him earlier, then started making his way slowly down the path. The whole situation was angering him and he was get tired of dealing with this devil woman who seemed to have an unhealthy affection for him. His mouth twitched into a grimace, disgusted.

Subconsciously, his left hand rubbed over his stomach where the scratches were. Fortunately, since the belt sat in the same place, it kept him from scratching the cuts and making them worse. Ralph paused, looking around and listening. The silence was broken by a grumble. He blushed slightly realizing that he was hungry, since he and Pam had been duped into thinking this was a legitimate affair and hadn’t eaten before they left.

Ralph continued walking again, wondering if he’d be able to find anything to eat in this maze. He rounded a corner and found a wall full of blackberries. "Now, that’s service." He walked right up to the wall and reached out to pick some of the berries. He paused, wondering if there might be something wrong with them, but that was when his stomach decided to argue its case by grumbling again. Ralph sighed and picked a handful of some of the best looking blackberries he’d ever seen. Now, he was almost positive there had to be something wrong with them, but hoped the suit would protect him from whatever it was.

Ralph started eating the berries while glancing around. This portion of the maze seemed harmless enough, especially with no vines or animals ready to pounce on him. He’d almost finished the berries he picked when he paused, feeling a little strange. He shook his head and finished the berries, then rubbed his hands on the sides of his legs, brushing away the berry juice. He glanced down and saw the dark streaks left on the leggings of the suit.

Ralph bit his lower lip, trying not to burst out laughing. His brain was wondering what was so funny, but he couldn’t help but try to laugh. He managed a chuckle and hearing this, just caused him to laugh outright. Still thinking there was nothing funny, he said out loud, still laughing, "Shut up!"

He doubled over from laughing so hard. Ralph couldn’t stop laughing. He fell to his hands and knees, shaking from laughing so hard. He heard the belt slip off and fall to the ground with a light thud, since he hadn’t fastened it snugly and laughed again. He pushed himself onto his knees and tugged at the hem of the tunic. Ralph pulled it up and saw the scratches again, which had stopped bleeding, but were still red. He laughed again.

He tugged the cape off, then pulled the tunic off altogether and dropped them onto the belt next to him. Ralph laughed again as he pulled the shoes off, then tugged at the leggings. He fell over onto his back and pulled the leggings off, adding them to the pile. Lying practically spread eagle in just his shorts, Ralph laughed again, even seeming to convulse a little from all the effort needed.

--------------------------

Pam was seated on the ground in the cage again when she thought she heard a sound. It was low at first, then became louder. She recognized it as laughter and it wasn’t stopping. She frowned. "I’m glad someone’s finding something here so hilarious." She paused, listening to the laugh. Pam’s eyes widened, recognizing it. "Ralph!" She made a face. "Why is he laughing?"

Mona appeared once again in her black smoke, this time right in front of Pam. She wore a satisfied smile. "It would seem that dear Ralph has found something funny. Perhaps he ate some berries that did not agree with him."

Pam growled, standing up. "You...!" She made an aggravated sound, her fists clenching at her sides.

"It was quite a sight, really, but the poor dear tired himself out."

"What are you talking about?" Pam asked.

"He is currently taking a little nap, minus his rather interesting choice in clothes." Mona smirked again, then disappeared in her black smoke.

Pam thought for a moment, then frowned. "Oh, Ralph..."

--------------------------

Ralph blinked his eyes open and found himself staring up at the sky. He groaned, moving to run a hand over his face. With his arm raised, he stopped, seeing that his arm was bare. He looked down at the rest of himself and his eyes widened. He found the cape draped over his lower half. Not remembering much after stripping to his shorts, Ralph looked at the pile of clothes next to him... and found the shorts. He blushed and scrambled to grab the discarded clothes next to him. He still felt sore from the vines, but hurried to put everything back on the best he could.

Once back in the suit, he checked his watch. "Less than an hour left?! How long was I out?" Ralph made a face and decided there was only one thing left to do. He started running through the maze at top speed, occasionally dodging an animal, pit, or greenery with a mind of its own.

In front of him, Ralph finally saw a clearing. He kept running as fast as the suit allowed, but right before the entrance to the clearing, he tripped over something unseen and did an unwanted flight and tumble past a cage-like structure made of vines. In the entrance, a large log came into view suddenly.

Ralph pushed himself up, shaking his head, clearing the cobwebs. He only had about fifteen minutes left now and...

"Ralph!"

He looked up and saw Pam reaching an arm out of the vine cage. "Pam!" He stumbled getting up and finally made his way over. "Pamela, are you okay?"

"I’m fine." Pam glanced him over, noting he looked a little ragged. "Are you okay, Ralph?"

He ran a hand through his hair and gave a half smile. "I’ve had better days, frankly." He tugged at the vines. "Now, how to get you out of there..."

"I am afraid it will not be so easy." Mona reappeared in her black smoke.

"You’re really getting on my nerves, Mona. Why won’t you leave me alone?!" Ralph said.

"Hon, what’s going on? Who is she?" Pam asked.

"Go ahead, dear Ralph, tell her," Mona said.

Ralph turned to Pam and sighed. "She’s the devil."

"Excuse me?" Pam said, not believing what she just heard.

"Allow me to give you some proof," Mona said. She motioned to Ralph. "Watch the tunic." She snapped her fingers and the black spot suddenly appeared on his chest.

Pam blinked. "What did you just do to him?"

"That’s a good question. What is this thing supposed to be, anyway?" Ralph said.

"That is my mark. Those whom I choose to help me receive it. Once it is there, it remains forever and that person is completely under my control. As I said before, Ralph, you interest me and that is the reason why. I cannot control you. Why is that? It would not have anything to do with that interesting red suit you wear, would it?" Mona said, starting to move toward him.

"Get away from him!" Pam called out.

Ralph stood his ground, an angry look on his face. "I’ve had enough of you and your tortures. I know you were behind my injury three weeks ago."

"The explosion and the robbery. Yes, I set up the entire situation. I wanted to see how you react to certain situations. You showed incredible powers that I would love to have helping me in my quest."

"Quest?"

Mona stepped right up to Ralph and touched his chest around where the spot was. "My quest for souls."

Ralph glanced down at her hand, then back up at her again. "This spot is to mark those who you’ve already tainted."

"Very good, dear Ralph," Mona said.

Pam made a strangled sound, not believing what she’s been hearing.

"Except that I have this suit and, even though it didn’t work before when you showed me what Hell looks like, it will work now," Ralph said, then reached out and grabbed Mona’s right wrist.

"Perhaps that suit can protect you, but I still have my powers, also," Mona countered. She disappeared in the black smoke, leaving Ralph looking for her.

Ralph gave up and turned to the cage. He paused, seeing the look on Pam’s face. "It wasn’t a nightmare."

"Not in the usual meaning of the word, atleast," Pam added.

Ralph nodded. "Yeah." He paused, looking at the vine cage. "Well, here goes nothing." He grabbed two vine bars and pulled on them until he made a hole large enough for him to help Pam through. "Now, lets get out of here."

They made their way back to the entrance Ralph came through and he bounced right off it. Ralph remained standing, but shook his head. "Oh, great."

Pam pressed her hands to the invisible wall. "This is incredible..."

"And very annoying," Ralph grumbled. He pressed both hands flat on the invisible wall and pushed. The amount of effort was clear on his face as he strained against it.

"Come on, Ralph, you can do it..."

Ralph was now pushing so hard he had beads of sweat forming on his forehead and his face was flushed. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the invisible wall turned visible, in the form of a brick wall, just before it broke down. Bricks tumbled everywhere, on both sides of the entrance way.

Ralph fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily from exertion. He looked up when he felt Pam’s hand on his back. "I’m okay. Come on," he stood, if a little shakily. He helped Pam through the rubble and started down the path.

"Ralph, what took you so long to find me?" Pam asked.

"Well... I ran into a few problems on my way," Ralph answered shortly.

"I could hear you laughing."

"Uh, yeah... I’ll explain later," he said.

They rounded a corner and stopped. Ralph pushed Pam behind him as she covered her mouth. In the pathway ahead of them, there had to be, easily, a hundred or more snakes.

"Ralph... what do we do?" Pam whispered.

Ralph gulped. "Pray."

--------------------------

Outside the entrance for the "Green Thumb Club," a tan Dodge Diplomat pulled up next to the station wagon. Bill got out, glancing at the green vehicle next to his. He glanced at his watch, made an irritated noise, and headed through the gate. "Almost four hours later and those two are still in there."

Bill stopped outside the hedge maze and looked around. Finding nothing, he sighed, glancing at the sign, "Probably got lost and decided to make it a night." He started into the maze. "Might as well rename it the "Lovers’ Maze." Just hope the two lovebirds aren’t hurt, to boot."

--------------------------

"Ralph, are you sure this is going to work?" Pam asked.

"Do you want the truth?" Ralph returned, frowning. "We don’t have any choice. Unless there’s another exit, we have to get past the snakes somehow." He sighed. "Pamela, just stay back around the corner, out of sight until I come back, okay?"

Pam gave him a kiss on the lips. "Be careful, Ralph."

He nodded and Pam moved to stand around the corner. Ralph turned and glared at the numerous snakes. He really hoped his trick would work, atleast long enough to go back and get Pam and get her out of there.

Ralph sucked in a breath and started running along one wall. And the end of where the snakes were, he did a u-turn and ran back along the other wall, essentially beginning to run laps around that portion of the path. Each time around, he moved a little more towards the center of the hall on one side, rounding the snakes up toward the other wall. Ralph noticed that every once in a while, one of the snakes would shoot up and try to bite him, but he’d already be past before it even got close.

Ralph was getting really close to the other wall and actually saw some of the snakes starting to make contact with the suit, but would fall back down. This is it, he thought and ran to get Pam. He pulled the cape off and handed it to her. She climbed on his back wordlessly, holding the cape over the back of her, and he ran again to run past the pile of snakes that were just starting to spread out again.

As they had just gotten past, one of the snakes shot out again and wrapped around Ralph’s left leg, tripping him up. Both he and Pam tumbled to the ground. Pam kept ahold of the cape, covering her while Ralph kicked at the snake.

"Pam, gimme the cape, quick!" Ralph yelled out. Pam tossed him the cape and held it up as the snake shot up again. Ralph caught and wrapped up the snake in the cape. He held onto the edges and started whirling the cape. After the fifth revolution, he let two edges go, and the snake was flung back with the others. Ralph turned back to Pam. "Go!"

The couple ran down the rest of the hall until they rounded the next corner. Pam doubled over to catch her breath and heard a thud. She glanced up and found Ralph on the ground, panting and even shaking a little.

He looked up and met her gaze. "I hate snakes," Ralph said, simply.

--------------------------

Bill had his service revolver drawn as he slowly moved down one hall. He didn’t want to get lost in the maze, but if Ralph and Pam were in trouble, he wanted to help them. The whole thing was eerily quiet. Too quiet.

--------------------------

Ralph and Pam continued back through the maze, an arm wrapped around the other... holding each other up.

Pam noticed how quiet it had gotten, even from Ralph. He hadn’t said a word since the snakes. She was really starting to worry about him. She stole a glance at him and almost thought he looked defeated. Granted, he was worn out from everything he’d been through in the maze, but he was too positive of a person to have that look on his face.

"Ralph, hon, are you okay?"

Ralph shook his head and stopped, while Pam kept going a few steps before stopping. "If she’s the devil, how can I stop her?" he said.

Pam blinked. There’s definitely something wrong, she thought. "Ralph, you’re already doing that. Look at how far you’ve come. You saved me!"

"After I almost ran out of time because I was too busy laughing my ass off from those stupid berries and stripping naked because it was funny!" Ralph exclaimed.

"Hon, snap out of it. She’s getting to you. That wasn’t your fault! You can’t blame yourself!" Pam said.

"If I hadn’t fallen for her little trick, we wouldn’t have been in this situation to begin with!"

Pam winced as Ralph got louder. "We both thought it was legitimate, Ralph."

"It was my fault, Pamela! Mine!"

Pam’s eyes narrowed. She told herself, This is for his own good. She pulled back and sent her right hand across his cheek, in a resounding slap.

With no protection from the suit for his head, the force of the slap spun him around and sent him to the ground, on his knees.

"Ralph, I’m sorry..." Pam began.

Ralph shuddered, then looked up, his blue eyes looking watery. "You were right," he began quietly, "she is getting to me. I... I can’t even think straight. I don’t know if I can get us out of here--"

"Tracker co-cheese, we have a really interesting scene in front of us."

Both turned to see Bill rounding the corner, holstering his revolver. "Could you two make anymore noise? I could hear you good enough to just follow the voices. Or Ralph’s loud self-blaming, to be exact. By the way, Ralph, you look like death warmed over."

Ralph’s eyes rolled upward, then he turned a look to Bill. "Thanks, Bill. How long have you been here?"

Bill checked his watch, then shrugged. "Long enough to know that I can still track with the best of ‘em. Only took me about ten minutes."

"I don’t believe it," Ralph grumbled as he stood. "Didn’t you encounter anything strange on your way here?"

"The only thing strange besides you almost howling at the moon was the otherwise eerie silence I noticed when I first got into this overgrown garden," Bill replied.

Ralph turned to Pam. "I wonder if she’s gone...?" He looked down at himself and found the spot was gone again. He glanced at Pam again.

"It’s possible..." she replied, with a nod.

"Who’s "she"?" Bill asked.

"We’ll explain when we get out of here, Bill," Pam replied.

"Tracker Bill," Ralph began, "show us the way out."

--------------------------

Mona watched the trio leave the maze and split up into the two cars. Once the cars were gone, the maze suddenly hazed over with black smoke. When the smoke cleared, a large greenhouse sat in its place. She turned off the monitor and sat back in her throne.

"My dear Ralph... you will be mine," she said, a slight evil smile appearing.

--------------------------

Back at the Hinkleys’ home, Ralph rested on the couch, a face cloth over his forehead. He stared up at the ceiling and drummed his fingers on his stomach.

Pam came in, another face cloth in hand. "Here you go, hon."

They traded face clothes, but Ralph didn’t make eye contact. "Pam..." he trailed off.

"Ralph, you’re doing it again. We were explaining everything to Bill, but
you became quiet again when Bill starting asking questions," she said. "Granted, Bill didn’t do it in an overly tactful way, but you can’t keep what you’re feeling bottled up. What exactly is bothering you?"

"I can survive the tortures, I already have. It’s... it’s what she said about her quest for souls and what that black mark means. What if she ever shows up and I don’t have the suit. I’ll be gone," he snapped his fingers, "like that. I’m scared, Pamela. This is nothing like all those scenarios we’ve had before. You catch the bad guy, lock them up, and you’re done. Okay, there were a few exceptions who came back for seconds, but they were taken care of again." He paused, finally meeting Pam’s eyes. "I don’t know how to defeat the devil. Put her in jail, she’ll disappear in a cloud of smoke and literally be right back on my tail again."

"I wish I could say I have an answer for that, Ralph, but I don’t. We’ll just have to do our best--"

"What if our best isn’t good enough?"

Pam glared at him, then her looked softened. She ran a hand through his curls, her eyes searching his. "It will be good enough."

"How do you know?" Ralph asked, quietly.

"We have something that she doesn’t," Pam said, then smiled. "Compassion. And love... although that’s debatable with Bill sometimes." She winked.

Ralph gave a slight smile. "You’re right." He paused and sighed. "Outside of generally feeling more positive now, I feel terrible. I ache all over, I’m tired, those scratches won’t stop itching...!"

Pam grabbed at the fingers that had been drumming on his stomach, coincidentally right where the scratches were. "They might stop itching if you stop touching them."

"Right again, Pamela."

Pam leaned down and kissed his lips. As she pulled away, she grinned. "And if you ever act the way you did in the maze ever again, I will slap you just as hard, if not harder."

"Got it."