Author's note:

Alright, readers, here it is. The last chapter! I really hope you like this ending and are not disappointed. We have suspense and action and romance. I am so happy to have finished this story. I will admit, I first started this story as more of a short story or one-shot. But it has become this 19 chapter long story that I am so proud of. It took so many twists and turns as I was writing. I would have my outline, then start typing and the story would flow in its own direction.

Please review to tell me how you like the ending! If anything is confusing or poorly written let me know :) I like constructive criticism.

Thank you so much for seeing this story out to the end! I really appreciate your reviews, follows, favorites, and time you took reading this!

With out further ado...

The men in the white tuxedos bowed deeply, smiling ear to ear, and prepped their instruments again. I slowly joined in the applause, which roared around me deafening my ears and glanced over at Shadow Man. To my astonishment, he was ready to meet my gaze with a smirk I had grown to love. Maybe tonight was not as dreadful as I thought it would be?

The applause abruptly seized when the grand clock by the mansion chimed, both of the gold trimmed hands pointing up to twelve. After the third chime, a slow clap was heard behind us. Everyone in the courtyard turned to see Sam climbing down the stairs and walking to us with a boastful strut. The only noise heard with the awkwardly slow clap Sam was making as he stalked toward us. It only took him pushing over one stout woman dressed in white to send the message for everyone to get out of his way. Like Moses, the sea of people parted for him to walk down. By the time he made his way to the center of the dance floor to stand in front of us, every eye was trained on him.

"So, it is time." Sam said dramatically. His arms were spread wide and his smile spoke the arrogance he must have been feeling. My heart began to pound. Here it is…all night has been building up to this.

***Same Time***

Shadow Man's POV

"So it seems." I spoke carefully. Sam seemed way to mesmerized by his own self-glory that I knew saying the wrong thing would be very dangerous.

"Well, do you have my payment? I have been very lenient with you; however you have abused my kindness for too long." He announced, more to the crowd than to me. I silently reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the bag full of the money I have collected. With a quick toss, Sam caught it with one hand and opened the bag with his greedy fingers.

"Now, see how easy things work out if you just follow through with the promises you make instead of…" He slowly trailed off. A disbelieving smile grew on his face and he quirked an eyebrow. "Is this…are you serious?" He looked up at me like I told him the sky was green. He shoved his hands into the bag and pulled out a few bills and coins. "Do you really think this is it?" He dramatically dropped the money, the coins clicked off of the stone ground and the dollars scattered around in the light breeze. I swallowed to control my anger. He just dropped months of work.

"Problem?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow of my own.

"Problem?!" He repeated with a laugh. "Hell yes!" He made a show of turning the bag upside down and watching the rest of my payment fall out. "What is this? You can't possibly think this will even put a dent into your debt."

"Half of your payment is in there." I lied. "I have the other half hidden in my emporium. If you allow me to go home safely then I will give you the rest of it there." I spoke stone-faced and diplomatically. This was my last chance: my final chance to think my way out of here. This was all I had left. However, I could tell Sam was finished with me.

"I told you," Sam stalked over to me until he was uncomfortably close, "no more games, no more tricks. You are finished." He hissed. This is when all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, two overly large men appeared out of nowhere and twisted my arms painfully behind my back. I bit back a grunt as they kicked my legs in so I was kneeling before Sam. My knees slammed down onto the stone and the lackeys gave my arms another twist to ensure I stayed down. Sam, with a casual flick of his hand, knocked my hat off and gripped the short hair near my neck.

"Where's the rest of my money?" He growled inches away from my face. I blinked hard against the feel of the hair slowly being pulled out by him. However, not one to show weakness, I gave him my trademark smirk.

"Did I not just tell you where it is?" I asked, trying to keep up with my story. Sam simply shook his head.

"Wrong answer." And with that, he let go and snapped his fingers. As he stepped back, another large henchman appeared from behind. With a well placed punch to the gut, I doubled over as best I could with the men still twisting my arms. Punch after punch landed in the same stop making me grunt and gag by the force of it. This man could really pack a punch. I vaguely heard a feminine scream, but I paid no mind until the punches stopped and I saw a flash of blond dart from my right.

"STOP!" I saw Lottie grabbing onto the arm of the man in front of me. She struggled to pull him away until she finally slapped him across the face. The large man took a step back and shook his head. "Please, just stop!" Lottie looked like a wild animal as she began trying to push or kick anything close by. It took two men to finally hold her back, both sporting long nail marks on their skin and hand-sized red spots on their faces.

"Wow, quite a girl you got there. She never fails to surprise me." Sam commented. Lottie gave him an award winning glare.

"I am not just going to stand around like EVERYONE else here and watch as some man gets hurt! You have no right to do this!" She began to shout. A renewed strength suddenly appeared as she tried to wrestle her arms free.

"Hmm, ok," Sam seemed to think about what Lottie said, nodding his head and pausing. "How about this?" He reaches into the back of his pants and pulled out a silver handgun. The crowd finally makes a reaction as gasps are heard all around. His thumb cocked the gun and he trained it directly on Lottie. "How is this for my right? You don't feel very powerful now, hmm?" He moved the gun under her chin and tilted her head up with it. Lottie's breath began to come in short gasps. Her blue eyes never wavered from his face, but the deep lines between her knitted eyebrows made me worried for her.

"Hey!" A strong voice rang out. "How dare you threaten her?! Put that away!" I looked over to see Ed, who was holding his broad close to his side, pointing at Sam. He looked absolutely furious. Maybe he wasn't as heartless as I thought? The other officials looked scared out of their minds as well. They didn't look Sam though; this fear was for Ed. Sam clicked his tongue and shook his head as if scolding a child.

"My dear Senator," Sam said to the squirmy man to the left of Ed, "please control your guest of honor." The wrinkled man nodded at Sam and trembled slightly as he spoke softly to Ed.

Finally, Sam focused his attention back to me. He gave me a deadly stare and removed his gun from under Lottie's chin. He stalked back over to me and raised his gun. My eyes focused on the barrel of the gun less than a foot from my eyes. The gun was cocked; his finger was playing on the trigger.

"This is such a pity. You were so close." Sam almost whispered.

"I thought this wasn't personal…just business." I reminded him with my voice as even as I could make it with my certain death dangling in front of me. As much as I have looked forward in my life to the speedy end of death, I didn't want it to come at the hands of Sam. I didn't want it to be because of some stupid scheme. I wanted my death to come on my own terms, when I wanted it.

However, I don't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Touché." Sam nodded his head and straightened his arm so the gun was impossibly closer to my head. I looked down and drew in several deep breaths trying to calm my fraying nerves. Overwhelming feelings of disappointment and regret flooded me. Here I was with a hundred of New Orleans most powerful, and no one really is batting an eye….well…

I paused and chanced a glance at Lottie. Her eyes never left me. She had a permanent scowl of pain from her arms being twisted behind her back, but more than that was actual concern. When my eyes made contact with hers she shook her head apologetically. Several strands of hair had come undone for the second time tonight and wisped around her worried face. She tried to push forward again, only to be pulled back by the gorilla-like man holding her in her place.

All of a sudden a great tremor rippled throughout the courtyard. It shook the ground violently causing many to lose balance. Screams grew louder around me as people began to knock over chairs and drop glasses trying to regain balance. A pyramid of crystal goblets shattered onto the ground, causing Sam to momentarily look away in surprise by the sudden earthquake happening.

Another large tremor shook the courtyard, this one aggressive enough to knock the man holding me down to lose balance. I slipped my thin hands out of his confused grip easy enough and tried to distance myself as much as I could while trying to keep balance myself. A sudden gunshot caused me to still in my movements and tense my shoulders in alarm. I turned to find Sam cocking his gun again, pointed as me. This caused people to panic even more than they were before and they began to flood into the house to escape whatever madness was happening out here.

Luckily, the tremors caused Sam's normally impeccable aim to dwindle to terrible levels as he grunted in frustration and shot again, missing me more than the last time. I could hear Lottie's scream above the crashing of falling decorations and the panic of the crowd. I located her, panic running wild in her blue eyes, although her watchdog did not look much better. He still held an iron grip on her, but looked like a cornered mouse as the sudden change in environment.

Without a second glance at the exit, I tried to make my way over to her. However, my path was cut awfully short when a thick fog began to creep around us. Everything in the courtyard stilled in eerily utter quiet. The thick fog swirled around my ankles and blanketed the ground seemingly coming out of nowhere. The party guests who were still left froze in shock. The trembling ground ceased as well. I did not like this, not one bit.

All of this seemed so familiar. The hair on the back of my neck prickled as I tried to get a grip on what was happening…I did not need to wait long.

From the depths of the shallow, thick fog, a dull purple light began to color the fog. The color morphed from the dull purple to an electric green as dark shadows began to swirl in its pits. I felt a cold sweat instantly break out over me. Oh no, oh no, no, no, it can't be! But it was.

The swimming shadows suddenly popped out of the fog. Tiny rag dolls of different colors sprung up all around the courtyard. A new wave a screams broke out as the dolls danced around the guests ankles, their sinister smiles sending panic threw the small crowd once more. They bounced their way over to me, and I began to back away. They found me, oh no, my time is up?! This can't be happening!

A deep, steady drumbeat grew louder as the dolls crept closer. They circled me and continued their horrific dance keeping me trapped. I could not help the startled cry that broke my lips. This scene brought back memories, horrible memories that could not repeat! I was so close to finishing my plan! My breathing deepened as I began to seriously panic.

"Shadow Man!" A cavernous voice yelled, effectively shushing the courtyard. I dreadfully turned around and found myself suddenly facing a mask with bright green eyes towering over me. "We have been waiting four long months for those 600 souls you promised us in return for your release." He chuckled which sent me trembling in fear. "You have failed. Are you ready?" With one last crooked smile he floated backward and left room for the twenty or so smaller masks which popped up from the fog and joined their leader. The fog then receded as fast as it had appeared.

"God, Shadow Man!" A slightly trembled voice grabbed my attention. I saw Sam, gun dropped long ago and forgotten, now staring at the faces in fear. "What deep shit have you gotten yourself into?" I took in another shaky breath as the weight of his words sunk into me. Even the terrible Silver Dollar Sam, the man who single handedly manipulated the government and had gotten away with murder, was shocked by the terrible crimes I had tried and failed to do for my freedom. Now my punishment swiftly came before me. Was I really worse than Sam? He was right though, I was in very deep shit.

My friends from the other side failed to grant me more time to think upon my actions, however, as the dolls bounced closer to me to trap me. I had no more time to think about the evils I had done, or why I suddenly felt guilt for it now when I had been fine all these years.

"STOP!" I yelled and waved my hands in front of me. I was surprised when my friends actually ceased their movements. I looked up at the leader, who even from his distance towered over the courtyard. "I'm done! Yes, you heard me right; I am DONE!" The mask sent me a leery grin at my statement. "This is not me anymore. You, my friends, have provided me with so much power and magic, but I will not continue to attain it at the cost of my personal freedom and the lives of others. There really is no end to these games, is there? No point in time will I be done robbing lives to feed you in order to keep my powers. I didn't mind before, but I do now. I will do what I can to pay my debt, as long as finding souls is off the table. If that can't be done, well," I shrugged my shoulders, "then I will fight for my freedom on my own terms, not yours." I announced.

There it was; I had laid out everything on the table. For once, no tricks were up my sleeve. I had no string to pull or trap door to escape from. I stood before my friends with my back ramrod straight and defiance written across my face. The great Shadow Man was done taking orders from others, done being a man like Sam. The leader simply grinned again, much to my worry.

"That lovely speech failed to work on that human." He glanced at Sam. "So why would it work on me?" So that was it.

Like the tremor that sprung out of nowhere, a great wind swept over the courtyard. It first blew over everyone, sweeping away anything not secure like my hat that was knocked off by Sam. My eyes followed it as it was blown into the leader's now gaping mouth. An electric light grew from the depths of his open mouth and I knew instantly what was to become of me. Regardless of my desires, this was my fate.

The wind seemed to withdrawal to the middle of the once dance floor and concentrate itself. It wiped around itself until it became a mini tornado and flung itself at me. I was suddenly blown off my feet and toppled to the ground. The wind was relentless. I began to slip closer and closer to the large mask's open mouth, a one way ticket to Hell. I tried to claw at the ground in a scurry to grasp something sturdy. Waving my hands around the ground in a blind panic, I found nothing to grab onto. As I began slipping more and more, I looked over my shoulder and watched in fear as the mask opened his mouth even wider and the fire deep in his throat began to burn hotter.

Suddenly, and scaring the daylights out of me, something warm grips my outstretched hand and I am abruptly held still. I looked up ahead of me and my mouth opened in pure shock. Lottie had actually escaped from her captor and was now holding onto me. It took my breath away; for once it was I who was shocked speechless. What the hell is this woman doing trying to save a damned soul when she should be getting out of here?!

But those innocent eyes, something about her spoke volumes here of what pure kindness is.

*** Same Time***

Lottie's POV

I was gasping for breath, not only from fear but also the strain of holding the Shadow Man still against the hurricane-like winds suddenly ripping around us. I looked at my left hand. It was in an iron grip on a table leg that was holding a buffet long forgotten. Not the most study item to hang onto, but it was the only thing in range of him. I could see the leg wobble slightly as the wind picked up. 'Bout as sturdy as sturdy as a house of straw.

Forgetting about the table, I turned my attention to the Shadow Man. Everything about him scared my inner soul, the devil dolls that surrounded this place, the eerie masks, the fires from Hell threatening to suck him in. This was crazy! Unreal!...well, I guess about as unreal as a human being turned into a frog.

His face held back none of his emotion, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. He was always one to cover his emotions and rely on wit and sarcasm. Not now. His eyes were wide as the Mississippi, mouth agape and catching flies, his eyebrows were drawn up like curtains and his face held pure, unadulterated fear. This isn't right, rang out in my head like a repeated prayer. He's just a man, like anyone else.

A stronger gust of wind hit us by surprise and I screamed out as I felt the table slip. It skidded closer to the scary mask before stopping a good foot or two from where we were before. I looked back at the table leg, and then behind Shadow Man at the inferno. I felt nothing but panic. Was this seriously the end? I felt a droplet of sweat run down the side of my face and my breath came in short, uncontrollable gasps.

"Lottie!" I heard Shadow Man's deep voice and it captured my attention. I stared those unnatural violet eyes down, unable to hide my fear as much as he could. "You can't," his breath caught as the wind hit us again, "The table can't hold both of us. Lottie, you have to let me go!" He pleaded with big eyes. I was shocked! Shadow Man telling me to let go, saving me, instead of him barking at me why I am not pulling him up?

"I don't care!" I shook my head. He looked at me confused, and suddenly he bowed his head and released his grasp on my hand. Luckily, maybe if it was from working with my hands all day at the sewing shop, but my grip held onto his hand firmly. Again, those innocently confused (never thought I would describe anything about him as 'innocent') eyes picked apart mine searching for my intentions.

"Why are you still holding on? I am just going to pull you down. The table can't hold us, and I have nothing left to give you in return." And, as if to prove a point, the table suddenly wobbled dangerously close to breaking entirely and slid a few inches closer to the gateway to Hell before stopping.

"Stop, just stop talking!" I could not help but yell in anger. Why did he not see this as I do? "If you think I am going to let a person get dragged kicking and screaming and just stand by and watch, then you are crazy. Regardless of whom you are. God, you did the same for me, so stop staring at me like I grew another head! You could have left…" I took in a deep breath. Don't fall apart now, just prove a point to him. "left me in the alley. But instead you risked your skin to rescue me from those awful men."

"Yeah, I saved you only to risk your skin when Sam kidnapped you because of me." He retorted.

"But the point is, regardless of what happened you always stopped to right your wrong. You saved me, again I might add. You are not as horrible as you build yourself to be. Would an evil man offer to let go to save someone else? You don't deserve this! Even though you may not be the model citizen, you still deserve a second chance to live your life without this ball and chain. You still deserve your own fairy tale happy ending."

"Umm," He paused and looked away. When he looked back up at me I could finally read his reaction to my speech. I was even shocked; I did not know where that came from. His face was still sad, however he had a quirk to his lips that shown he took my words to heart. "I just - I wish it was true; I wish that life was that easy. But, this is the real world. There are no storybook happy endings for the villain. Everyone is given what they are due in this life. This is what I am due for my crimes."

He then pulled on my hand and shimmied his long body closer to mine, which took quite some effort against the winds. Both of our arms were taunt as I held him up firmly and he finally closed the distance. He placed his large, callused hand on my cheek, promptly erasing my mind of all thoughts from the pure shock of Shadow Man touching me like this. His thumb made two comforting circles on my jaw line and his eyes traveled around my face, as if memorizing it.

"I wish it was different." And with that he suddenly let go again. The wind pushed him away from me, and that momentum was too much for my hand to bear when both our arms were outstretched. His fingers slipped thru mine, and he began sliding on the ground towards the fire.

"NO!" I couldn't help but scream. With his body weight gone, I pulled myself closer to the chair leg and held on as I watched him make is decent to the fire. This man who saved my life, who tried to set me up with my dream man, who comforted me after that Prince Charming found his real princess, was now tumbling away. His last words were not of malice or spite, like I would expect, but ones of selflessness….and dare I might say some level of love?

I could not bear to watch as this man be tossed into the fire. I ducked my head into the crook of my arm and looked away. Tears streamed hot down my face and I wrapped myself closer to the table leg.

***Same Time***

Shadow Man's POV

It was getting warmer. I could almost feel the first lashes of the fire as I slid closer and closer to the giant mask. He leered down and grinned at me as I could do nothing but allow myself to be thrown into his depths. Even though I felt some closure at knowing at least one person would mourn for me, hopefully I had pictured Lottie right, that could not stop my panic. My heartbeat was pounding in my chest, my hands were sweaty; I gulped down my lasts breaths of sweat air. I was now mere feet away. I held up my hands to block the blinding light of the fire.

Suddenly, I stopped sliding and I heard a low moan. I slowly took my hands down and saw a large chunk had been blow out of the mask's cheek. It was smoldering around the edges and the large mask had closed his mouth in pain. I turned around to see what had happened.

Luckily, I did check because I was a big ball of blinding, white light hurling towards me. I rolled to the side as the ball of light flew by where I had been lying and hit the mask on his chin. The mask groaned again. In his distraction, the wind had died down around me and he had his eyes closed, in what I am guessing is pain.

Using this distraction, I stood up and ran away from the mask. I found Lottie still wrapped around the table leg and grabbed her elbow pulling her behind me without stopping. I'll be damned if I make getting caught by my friends again easy. Well, I guess I am already damned but…

I halted from our run, ignoring Lottie's questions and protests behind me and watched in awe. A stout woman dressed in white, standing in the middle of the courtyard, slowly turned to face me. She ripped off her mask, with was an odd scaly green that did not seem to match the dress she…oh ,God, Lottie is not getting to me.

The green boa wrapped around her neck that matched her mask suddenly began to move. With a long hiss the boa, with a mind of its own, lifted and looked at me. The boa, before my eyes, morphed into a snake! I felt Lottie take a step backward behind me and her elbow was gone from my grasp. The boa, now a real snake, began to hiss at me menacingly.

"Oh, Juju, you bad boy." The ancient looking woman patted the snake's head and laughed. I stood shocked.

"Mama…Odie?" I could not believe it. What was this woman doing here? It wasn't exactly a secret that this old woman did not approve of me, however she had a funny way of showing it to you.

"Yea, you look surprised to see me. I gotta hand it to you, you sure do know how to make a mess outta everything." She cackled and began to pet her snake lovingly. A loud roar rang out behind us; my friend trying to remind us he was still there. To my astonishment, Mama Odie held out her hand and another ball of light appeared. She threw it like pitching a baseball and hit the mask once again. "Now, hush you." She replied to the mask.

"What…why are you here? Helping me?" I could not believe it. Both of us knew and could control the power of voodoo, however she garnered hers for different purposes than I. Whereas I strived for power, she strived to help. I pushed others aside to move ahead; while she let others step on her. We were such polar opposites, that it is no surprise that we did not see eye-to-eye. Therefore, this caused a tension and neither one of us approved of the other.

Why Mama Odie would risk coming here to help me was beyond me. It was obvious she was not here to enjoy the refreshments. She wore a wide, wise smile and looked at me as if she was looking beyond my body and into my soul. It was strange to feel that pass her black sunglasses that hid her eyes from view. It was almost as if she was proud in a way, although I have no idea why.

"Sugah," she resumed caressing her snake and I tried hard to hide my disapproving face at her term of endearment, "I have been keeping an eye on you, yeah I have. See, it all started when you started to see my brother. You sure did help him threw a tough time."

"Who? I do not know you even had a brother. And I am certainly not one to help others, so you might be mistaken in your old age." I retorted with a sneer. She shook her head; her gaudy gold hoops seemed to drag on her shoulders with the movement.

"Ooooh, but you do; you do. My brother is a doctor…well, listen now, doctor may be too high of a word to speak about what he does." She laughed genuinely. "But he is a good healer, for cheap. But he has been threw a dry spell, no one wants to see a man like him to heal them 'cept for crooks. His ways are about as unconventional as ours. But they treat him awfully bad. You are the only one who actually paid him decent when he healed you."

A light bulb went off in my head. So the man I saw after I was shot, after a certain blond so graciously patched it up as best as she could, was the brother of Mama Odie. I guess that explains the little voodoo he could do to heal. I did see him as often as I get too injured to heal myself. No normal hospitals will see a man like me.

"More importantly than that," She interrupted my thoughts, "you have finally done it. You have finally dug a little deeper, no longer blind to what you need. You now see what is important in life, and realize the error of your thinking. You are a tough case, and don't get me wrong it will be tough for you, but life is not only about money and power. They have no heart, no soul. They are about as empty as you were before…you met someone who creates a little meaning for you." She cracked a knowing grin. I rolled my eyes. "While your speech before about no fairytale endings is true, real life ain't all about doom and gloom. You gotta realize what that special something is that makes a drop of water into a vast ocean."

"And you, girly." She suddenly shifted her mystical focus away from me and looked over my shoulder at the girl who, I could easily tell, was still trying to reign in her emotions. "Aww, come here, child, we are not going to just pick on the Shadow Man. You have certainly changes as well since your 'Daddy's little girl' phase." She gestured her arms opened and Lottie slowly stepped closer, now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me. Her eyes were big with a mix of fear and awe.

"Umm, thank you, ma'am?" She almost whispered unsure of herself.

"All that hot air up there must have deflated, because now a confident, self-sufficient, and most importantly selfless woman has bloomed like a lily in spring. No longer are you chained by status and materials, but you too have dug deeper to see that caring for others is the key to life's happiness. I can't stand here and watch what would have happened carry out. Not with the two of you finally seeing what you need, not what you want. Neither of you deserve this."

Mama Odie was cut off by whatever else she was going to add when she noticed the wind picking up speed. Suddenly, her white dress began to billow around her and I looked over my shoulder to see my friends regrouping. That sickly drum beat began again and the leader once again gave me a crooked smile. Like he did before, he opened his great mouth; but instead of unnatural green fire spilling out, shadows swam into our world.

They were quick and agile. Slithering on the ground like serpents, the shadows on the floor approached me. My instincts took over and I took a few steps back in a feeble attempt to retreat.

"Look out!" I heard Lottie scream next to me. When I looked at her I saw her staring in horror behind me. Before I could blink, I found myself on my back on the hard ground. I tried to breath, though the air seems to have left my lungs, and I was dragged by my shadow. The demon silhouette hauled me closer to the mask.

"Duck!" Screamed the same feminine voice. Fighting past my panic, I did as I was told. I covered my head with my arms and lay on the ground as flat as possible. The rough floor was biting into the bare skin of my back; my nice shirt was far from tucked in by now. Surprisingly, I felt myself be hastily released. I sat up and saw the shadow struggling away from a ball of light that had been thrown at it.

The leader closed his mouth in anger and scowled. Wasting no time, I leapt onto my feet and ran back to Mama Odie.

"Umm…th-thanks." I mumbled slightly out of breath.

"Now, sugah, don't be giving up just yet. If you want to get out of here you're gonna need to help me." Mama Odie commanded.

"What can I do?" I asked. It felt strange to me to be taking orders instead of giving them; however, my precious time was spent doing better things than considering my emotions.

"The shadows, as well as those demons, are simple creations of darkness. Now, honey, what is darkness."

I paused for a moment confused. "The absence of light?"

"There you go!" She rewarded me. "So, I'm going to need all the light you got in you."

"I don't think it works like that. Your voodoo may be of the light, but my source is the darkness. These demons gave me my power; there is no light in my magic."

"Now, now, you listen to me. No matter who or what you are, there will always be a light. When you are up in the darkest hours of the night, you find a candle to see, yes?" I nodded in reply. "But, just because that candle can produce light, doesn't mean it is right now. It is just another thing in the darkness. But, once you light the candle, suddenly the darkness vanishes. No amount of night can extinguish the candle. You must blow it out." She gave me another of her wise grins. "Now, if you and Lottie want a new life you need to work with me and find your spark."

I stood there dumbfounded. Was it really that simple? Could I repel my darkness just be turning on the light? Not that I have anything else to lose. Next to me, the ancient woman summoned an orb of light; its color pure white and almost blinding. I squared my shoulders and stood solid facing the wall of demons which separated me from chains to freedom.

***Same Time***

Lottie's POV

To be honest, it was…beautiful.

I had never seen such determination from the Shadow Man. He never seized to amaze me.

He held is long arms in front of him, like a gesture for communion, and closed his eyes. At first, nothing happened. There was a long silence that stretched on as Shadow Man concentrated and the demons seemed to wait.

A couple deep breaths later, they attacked. It was a full on assault. The morbid rag dolls sprinted forward towards us, the slinking shadows crawled their way forward, and even the largest mask of them all began his way to him. I guess he knew the Shadow Man would do anything to stay away. My heart rate spiked. I could hear myself yelling and mumbling but there was nothing I could do. I looked wide eyed at Mama Odie. Please do something!

Then he did it. Sure it was small and did very little damage, however he did it. Mama Odie cackled at him approvingly and he quickly went to making another one. There was a satisfied smirk on his face that would have made me doubt myself if I were those demons. His violet eyes lit up in the bright light of the orb in his hands. His wide smirk created happy wrinkles on his dark face that lifted the heavy burden he looks to be carrying all the time. It made me happy for him.

Together, he and Mama Odie unleashed more and more balls of light at the monsters from Hell. I felt so proud of him. He had dispersed his own darkness. I stood off to the side of them, giving them space and watching the scene unfold in front of me. After a few more minutes of hurling the light, Shadow Man looked over at me. I smiled at him and nodded my head, and you know what?! He actually returned it! A genuine smile! Well, God Almighty, I didn't know he had one of those! That smile was disappointingly short lived. As if this night was not going terrible already, I had failed to remember the one evil man who started this all.

"No!" I saw the brave man scream, but it was too late. I felt large hands grip my shoulders and toss me to the side. I hit the ground with a loud thump and screamed so deadly milk could curdle. I felt something slimy grab my leg and give me a hard pull. I found myself on my stomach sliding away from his safety and towards the masks. When I looked up, there he was. Silver Dollar Sam, face pale and eyes wide, towering over me and breathing a sigh of relief!?

I screamed louder as it tugged on my again. I tried to claw at the ground. I could feel my long fingernails bending, or even breaking off, on the rough floor. It was a shadow and it was pulling me away.

"Hold on, Lottie!" I heard his deep voice. I saw him running to my side. God, I hope he has a plan somehow! His face was wild as he searched for something.

"Hurry!" I didn't mean to yell and make it worse, but I couldn't help it! He was panicked enough as is. I saw the light bulb finally go off. He was looking at me, then his eyes found Sam, then he looked at me again. He smirked and nodded, a reassuring look in his eyes.

"Hey, Sam!" He yelled out from my left, catching Sam's attention to my right. "This is just business, right?" Then he turned his attention to the masks. "A life for a life, equal in status and influence, one sick soul for another. Or I will keep fighting, and you will lose" After that, he conjured up more light. It reached the size of a baseball, then grew to a watermelon, then continued to grow. My eyes grew wide. It was so bright, so beautiful, and completely made by him. He didn't stop there. He let it keep growing until I saw his breath beginning to come out in short gasps. His eyes were screwed tight in concentration; a couple beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Be careful!" I called out, ignoring how motherly it sounded. His face looked at if it border lined on pain and exhaustion. He cracked one eye and then the other opened. Still holding the ball, now the size of a large beach ball, in his hand, he smiled again. His face spoke of the relief he must be feeling, the confidence, the newly found self-worth. I returned his grin. Without notice, he yelled. The orb quickly brightened, like light from the sun, and he flung it to the shadow pulling me away.

I gasped in pain as I felt the shadow dig his fingers into my leg trying to hold on. It proved fruitless though. The light was too powerful. The shadow let me go and was catapulted away from me by the force of the light.

I felt strong, protective arms wrapping themselves around me and gently pulling me up to a sitting position. I found myself mere inches away from his face, our heavy breathing the only sound either one of us dares to make. Then we heard a scream.

For such a strong, manly man, Sam actually had a blood chilling scream of his own. The same shadow that was grabbing me rebounded to Sam. He frantically tried running, but the shadow took purchase anyway. Like I had been before, Sam collapsed on his stomach and was pulled to the large mask by the shadow. He was scratching at the floor and screaming for help. My eyes began to overflow with hot tears as I saw him transform from classy mobster to wild animal. When the shadow dragged him closer to his destination, the dolls decided to join in. The grabbed at him, tore his cloths, and pulled him along with the shadow.

My breathing became more rugged as I could do nothing but watch, and I was not the only one. The henchmen that hadn't run off were simply gawking as well. Not a single move was made to save him. That thought there made me almost feel sorry for him. His face was contorted in fear and pain, his fingers became bloody from clawing at the rough ground, his voice began to crack from all the screaming.

When the dolls reach the mask they freeze before him. The mask looked down at Sam, still attempting to wiggle out of the demons grasp. I felt the Shadow Man go unbelievably still by me. He did not even breathe, solely wrapped up in the mask looking down at Sam. It stayed this way for a few seconds. The mask looked down and judged Sam's soul.

"We conceder this even, but we take back our power granted to you." The mask bellowed to the courtyard. I felt the Shadow Man actually huff out his pent up air. Suddenly, the large mask opened his mouth wide and a whole burst of green flame poured out.

"Wait, now listen, this ain't got nothing to do with me! It's him you want. Get off of me!" Sam screamed frantically. The dissention picked up again at the dolls and shadow pulled him into the flame. The first lick of fire lashed out against his calf and he screamed in pain. I gasped at the scene before me and determined I had enough!

I held my breath and turned to borrow my face in the cheap jacket belonging to the Shadow Man. I had hoped the sounds of my sobs would drown out Sam's yells, but they still came. I cried louder, harder, and my breathing became rugged as Sam's cried for help became increasingly more desperate. My hands clutched his lapel in an attempted to hold myself closer to something. It was then I felt his hands encase my shoulders and his cheek rest against the top of my head. We stay like that for an eternity listening to Sam's cries until it was all over.

He voice was cut off abruptly when the mask shut his mouth and vanished, along with the other masks and dolls and shadows. A thick silence blanketed the courtyard. It took a good minute for either of us to move.

It was Shadow Man who untangled himself first. He let go of me and sat back on his knees. With wide eyes he looked at his hands, stretched them a few times, before looking once more where the masks has disappeared. He held out his hands once more and looked at them expectantly. I felt confused, nothing was happening. He, however, grinned from ear to ear and looked at the ground breathing deeply.

"Shadow Man?" I asked him. I was completely confused by his reaction.

"Not anymore." He replied in pleasant disbelief. Oh, I smiled at him, he must not feel his voodoo anymore. He looked up from the ground and made eye contact with me. At this point, the remaining guest, who were out of their minds and decided to stay and watch, slowly crept out of their hiding places under tables and behind pillars. They all stared at the Shadow Man, not sure what to expect. I could not blame them. Was this actually over?

Shadow Man stood up stiffly then held out his hand to me. I smiled at the kind gesture from the normally hard man and accepted his help as he pulled me to my feet. We stood close in an awkward silence for a few moments. Both of our minds were buzzing trying to process everything. However, being who I am, my adrenaline fueled emotions won and I embraced him. More tears escaped my eyes, silently this time, as I buried my face in his jacket again. Quicker to return my gesture than when I first did it, he held onto me again. We both simply stood there, just being.

"Consider this a second chance, both of you." Mama Odie grabbed our attention. Refusing to let go, we both just turned our heads to face her. "Don't go after what you want, but what you need. Come on, Juju!" She suddenly shouted. The green snake found its way to her shoulders again and she turned, hobbling out of the courtyard.

After her words, I looked up at him. I smiled to see him looking down at me, his face no longer marred by the pain and ego.

"Listen, Lottie, I am so sorry for everything and dragging you-" but I cut him off before he could let his whole tangent out.

"No, Shadow Man, for the first time in a long time, I feel at peace." I couldn't describe it more than that. I felt happy and satisfied. I found myself not worrying anymore about Prince Edward, or my status, or making money. I was currently holding onto the man who saved me more than once and he was looking at me with a fondness I could not describe. He nodded like he knew just what I meant.

"It's Alexander." I smiled again.

To this day, neither one of us will admit who started it. I will blame him until the day I die, and he insists that my emotions took over me. But, whoever started it, all I know is that at that very moment, still high on the adrenaline and knowledge I would not be dying today, his lips met mine. Cracked and chapped, but full of tenderness I did not know he had, he pressed his lips to mine. At that moment, I had never been happier. I had all I needed.

***THE END***

Author's note:

I'm Back! :) I hope you liked it! Please review!

Yes, I have an idea of a sequel floating around because there are some unanswered questions that follow this ending. How will Tiana, Naveen, Eudora, and Prince Edward react to the budding romance. Will Shadow Man and Lottie actually try for something long term. Will Shadow Man stay in New Orleans now that he's free. How will Lottie react to everyone's hesitation toward Shadow Man. So plenty of questions to think about. Let me know if you would be interested in a sequel.

Thanks again! I love you all and appreciate every thing. I hope this was as enjoyable for you as it was for me :D