Matt says that Shelby totally lost it, and thought she and Lee were conspiring against her. He admits that he couldn't remember anything about being out in the woods.
Shelby complains that Matt and Lee went behind her back, and Matt insists that they made the deal to get demands to know who the woman he was having sex with in the woods. Matt breaks into tears and insists that he doesn't remember what happened. He insists that he's telling the truth, and Shelby accepts that she's telling the truth.
Later, Shelby goes to the bathroom and prepares to take a shower. She opens the curtain and Piggy Man is waiting with a knife. He swings at her and she runs, and Piggy Man chases her. Matt arrives and tackles Piggy Man, and Shelby grabs the knife. Husband and wife run downstairs, but Piggy Man gets ahead of them and advances on them... and Elias clubs him down. As Elias goes to the couple, Piggy Man gets up and Elias shouts "Croatoan!" The lights flicker and Piggy man disappears... and Elias warns that he'll be back.
The next morning, Elias pours himself a drink and explains that "Croatoan" is a word of dark power and blood magic. The settlers carved it on a tree so that when the others returned to the colony, they could find them. Elias explains that everyone who has taken possession of the house has died or disappeared. He became its guardian but couldn't live in it, so he stayed in the cellar. Elias ran short of money and the Millers bought it at auction. He insists that he's vital to their survival, and figures that Piggy Man has shown up before and will come back again.
Shelby asks what else Elias knows, and Elias takes them to the cellar. He takes out his stash of paranormal documentation and reviews the history of the house with the Millers.
The Chin family moved into the house in the 1970s and heard something upstairs. When they went upstairs, they found pigs wandering around. The strange events continued and Piggy Man shoved one of them down the stairs, breaking her arm. The Chins prayed to their ancestors, but the ancestors weren't powerful enough. Tomasyn and the others attacked and killed them.
Elias insists that the Millers still have a choice. The house was completed in 1792 and the builder was the first to disappear. The Jane sisters that Matt saw are in the records as well, and even they were terrified by the force in the house.
One sister is washing her hair, and Tomasyn appears and slams her head into the sink.
Elias says that the Jane sisters told him what happened. They found him when he was hiding in the woods and they told him their story before Tomasyn killed them and bound their souls to her. The ghosts ripped one apart and the Butch cut the other's head off. Elias' book is filled with more death and disappearances that always occurred during the Dying Grass Moon: six days in October. The ghosts can appear at any time, but only during that period can they take on solid form and kill. Elias points out that the first quarter moon rises that night and they have to leave.
Matt refuses to leave without Flora, and Shelby tells Elias that Priscilla has Flora. Elias says that he knows where Elias likes to play and leads the couple outside. He says that the other spirits with Priscilla are bound to the land, but she isn't. The Millers realize that Priscilla was the one who led them to the root cellar and Elias' tapes.
As they enter the woods, the trio hears something shrieking. Elias tells them not to listen, and the Woman--Scathach-- appears. Matt stares at her, entranced, and Shelby runs at her. Scathach runs off and Shelby chases her, but soon loses her. Three hunters that died in the house step out and advance on Shelby, who shouts "Croatoan." Elias arrives and warns that the word won't work, and leads Shelby back to Matt. Matt is staring at the spirits playing with Flora, including Piggy Man and the Jane sisters. Elias holds Matt back and says that he needs to do it because Priscilla knows him.
Elias walks over to the spirits and reminds Priscilla who he is, and says that Flora needs to come home. A horn sounds and arrows slam into Elias' chest. Priscilla runs off with Flora while Tomasyn and the settlers emerge from the woods, bows drawn. The Millers run back to the house and find Cricket waiting. He asks if they're ready to do things his way now.
Inside, the Millers tell Cricket what happened. The psychic insists that Flora is still alive and warns that they didn't do what he promised Tomasyn that they would do. Cricket admits that he sought out Tomasyn again and asks for her patience. She isn't interested and believed that all power now comes from the moon. Cricket goes into the woods outside to find the spirits' strengths and weaknesses.
The next morning, Cricket returns and says that he met Scathach.
Scathach steps out of the woods and blows powder in Cricket's face to blind him. She draws a knife and prepares to kill him, but Cricket says that he can tell Scathach is the power behind Tomasyn and the others. Her needs as a woman grow with each phase of the moon.
Cricket says that he gave Scathach the only thing she needed: Matt.
Scathach shows Cricket centuries past, when the settled moved to the area where the house once stood. The settlers lived in plenty, but they were forced to perform sacrifices to pay for it. Cricket watches as Tomasyn kills Priscilla. Ambrose and others of the settlers turn against Tomasyn, and Ambrose fears the wrath of God. He proposes going back to the first colony site so that his father can take them home and leaves with his followers. Scathach tells Tomasyn to shed their blood and release the power of the Blood Moon, making them her servants for eternity.
Before the settlers leave, Tomasyn prepares a faith and claims that she wishes to repent. Ambrose accepts her repentance and they eat the fruit that she has prepared. They all eat... and start gagging. Tomasyn kills Ambrose and then goes among the others, killing them all and vowing that they will follow her in the next life. Their blood will mingle with the soil, tethering them there forever. Afterward, Scathach comes and Tomasyn offers her the cleaver and bares her throat. Scathach kills her and Tomasyn's blood mingles with the others.
Cricket explains that every year on the anniversary of the slaughter, the ghost become solid... and lethal. He tells the Millers that Scathach showed him a spell that will let him put Tomasyn and her followers down for good. Cricket then heads back to his hotel room to get the components he needs to perform the ceremony that night.
As the Uber driver, Rhett Snow, takes Cricket back to his hotel, Flora runs out in front of them and Rhett slams the brakes. The girl runs off into the woods and Cricket goes after her.
Hours pass and Matt calls Cricket's hotel, but he's not there. As the sun starts to set, the Millers doze off. When Matt wakes up, it's dark. He sees something on the lawn and goes to investigate, leaving a sleeping Shelby behind. Matt hears voices calling to him and sees a light from the root cellar. He goes down, gun drawn, and finds Scathach waiting. She advances on Matt and says that debts must be aid, and he's unable to resist.
Shelby wakes up and looks for Matt.
Scathach undresses Matt and he shares her history and her past. He realizes that he was an English girl descended from the druids. She left England a stowaway and was discovered when the ship landed in the new world. The sailors found her and blamed her for the deaths on the voyage, and they burned her at the stake as a witch. When a man came to her in her cell, she killed him and sacrificed the blood of the man and then the other soldiers. The slaughter was blamed on the Indians, and Scathach went into the woods where she became something new.
Matt tells the interviewer that Scathach showed him her past so that he would join her.
Shelby leaves the house and sees Tomasyn and the others coming with Flora. When Shelby screams, Matt hears her and it breaks the spell. He runs to the house and Tomasyn tells the Millers that the time for bargaining is over. As she prepares to sacrifice Flora, Priscilla clubs her down from behind. Matt grabs Flora and the Millers run into the house.
The Millers check Lee, who says that there's a man. Shelby and Matt look outside and see Ambrose bring Cricket out.
Rhett tells the interviewer that he stopped and Cricket ran off after Flora and never came back.
Tomasyn stabs Cricket in the chest and then Ambrose pulls out his entrails with a baling hook. Once he is done, Tomasyn gestures at the Millers, making it clear that they're next.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 6, 2016