Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
- After that brief brush with the paranormal underworld, it's time to get back to the main story, specifically the Woodland Park Zoo, where Sam has just arrived to meet Douglas.
- As he walks around the zoo, Sam reminisces about his dead stepfather, Haden, and a trip they took there when he was little. Sam was disturbed about how the tigers were kept in small cages and asked to donate his money to the zoo to build bigger facilities rather than buy ice cream. (Side note: Haden still bought him ice cream).
- Sam's present visit to the zoo bears no resemblance to that outing. Douglas and Brooke's decapitation have him terrified. And as if that's not bad enough, he left his medicine pouch at home. Ugh.
- Douglas and Sam meet at the panda exhibit. They get in a fight because Douglas doesn't believe at first that Sam really doesn't know about his necromancing powers. Eventually, though, he realizes that Sam seriously has no clue what's going on.
- To prove his powers to him, Douglas tells Sam to close his eyes and look around. This makes no sense, but his mind somehow opens up a window where he can see a weird, tie-dyed version of the world. The people and animals all have different colored auras—except for one of the pandas and Sam, who are a dark blue color.
- Douglas explains that the blue represents Sam's connection to the world of the dead. The panda sitting in the corner of the exhibit is blue because he's actually a zombie panda. The zoo brought Douglas in to raise him from the dead to avoid a diplomatic disaster with China.
- Having proven that Sam is no ordinary guy, Douglas proposes for Sam to join him as his protégé. Power, prestige, and wealth come with being part of the necromancing world, which sounds like a pretty good deal.
- Except in Sam's eyes, it's not. Power or no power, Douglas still killed Brooke, and Sam can't betray his friend like that. Douglas makes one last ultimatum in response: join or die. Either Sam accepts the deal, or his family and friends will be murdered one by one—and he has a week to make the choice.