LSS: Dungeons and Detectives

It was nearing noon when Noah's phone rang. A quick peek at the screen revealed it was their mother.

"Hellllllo." They fiddled with the brightness on the photo of Alfie they were editing.

"Noah! Great to hear your voice," Julie Valstad said. "I've got Kade here with me and he—"

"Mom won't let me dye my hair green." Noah grinned, recognizing the whiny tone of their younger brother. "Can you tell her that it'll look cool?"

"How much are you trying to do? Streaks, or...?"

"His whole head," their mom said. "No child of mine will walk around looking like the Green Giant."

"It's just my hair, not my skin," Kade countered. "Noah dyed their hair when they were my age!"

Noah laughed. "Wrong. I was fifteen, not fourteen, and red tips barely count."

"And they also looked tacky," Julie muttered.

They laughed, faking a gasp. "You said you liked it!" Through the crackly phone audio, they could hear their mom and brother chuckling as well.

"So," Julie asked after they had all composed themselves. "What have you been up to? Are you planning on visiting anytime soon?"

"Nothing much, really." Noah adjusted the saturation, bringing out more of the colors in Alfie's brown and white fur. "Classes are fine. Work is fine."

"Work? You didn't mention a job last time we talked."

"Yeah. I'm at the local paper now. Figured it'd be a good resume booster or whatever. They're having me take photos for them—mostly just local events. It's nice, though. Gets me out of the apartment." They shifted in their desk chair.

"What've you visited so far?" Julie asked.

"I'm currently editing pictures from the dog park opening." Laughing, they added, "Alfie really enjoyed that one." At his name, Alfie bounded into the room, collar tinkling as he put his paws in Noah's lap.

"Is that him I hear now?" Noah could picture their mom's grin, the gray in her hair and eyes sparkling.

"Yup." Noah gave Alfie a few gratuitous pats on the head. "I think he misses his grandma."

"I miss both of you," Julie said. "You can't be so busy you can't spare a week up in Vermont?"

"You'd be surprised." After a few more minute edits, Noah was finally satisfied with the image. They opened up their inbox and queued up an email draft to send them off to Helene, their boss and editor of the newspaper.

"At least tell me you'll be back for the holidays."

"I'll try." They attached the image and got ready to press send, but commotion on the other end of the line distracted them.

"Hold on, Noah—I'm going to have to cut this call short. Apparently another bird got stuck on our screened-in porch, somehow." In the background Noah could barely hear Kade's groaned excuses of I swear Mom, it wasn't me, they're just getting smarter and can open doors now, I promise!

They chuckled. "Okay. Let me know if the bird makes it out alright. Love you."

They could hear their mom's smile in her "love you too" before the telltale click of the end call button sounded. They turned their attention back to the email at hand.

No sooner had they pressed send than another email from Helene popped up, completely unrelated to the pictures they had just sent off. Clicking into it, they realized it was actually forwarded from someone else; Helene simply tacked on a little Thought you might be interested! to the end before her usual, overly self-important email signature.

Scanning the actual body, Noah discovered that it was likely something they would be interested in. Sent from a concerned citizen, it described their experiences with a house on their block as of late; apparently, ever since its elderly resident had died within the past month, neighbors had been seeing eerie occurrences. According to the email, they had reached out to law enforcement and they had checked it out, but found no evidence of anyone squatting there, so they left it alone.

Could make for an interesting seasonal piece, Noah thought. At the very least it wouldn't hurt to grab some photos. They weren't planning on doing anything else for the rest of the day; why not go over this evening? Alfie could use a walk, anyhow.

They grinned and started searching for a fresh SD card. This could prove to be very intriguing indeed.

The long stretch of empty road was dark as the sun continuously faded from the sky, leaving only a pattern of amber, blush, and deep purple between the horizon and the looming dun abyss overhead. The open country was pretty, but it was getting way too repetitive for one impatient driver.

V was annoyed by the shuddering of the old Pontiac Trans-Am. Even though it was said to be a nice car in the ‘80s, a slick black muscle car with gold trim, it was now just a hand-me-down beater constantly at risk of falling apart. Alas, her line of duty wasn’t a paying one, so she didn’t have a much better option.

A paranormal investigator, a ghost hunter. Someone who could confront the creatures that authorities would never even glance at. In reality, there were no Ghostbusters or X-Files to handle these things. They went uncontained and unseen by nearly everyone but their victims, and the rare few who escaped would be labeled freaks, kooks, etcetera. Right alongside those who dared to believe them.

Even so, if it meant finding evidence and stopping a dangerous entity, any paranormal investigator worth their salt would take the labels and the risks, and keep going. That was how V saw it.

‘Click-clank!’

After hitting a small pothole, the bag of equipment in the back seat clinked together to create an obnoxious noise. They reminded her of her current goal.

It was just two days ago when she picked up the rumor. Most people in her position relied on multiple forms of media, and she would pick them up from time to time, but she had her own tool to use.

It started in the bathroom of her dingy hotel room. She would see herself in the mirror, and nothing more.

The ritual began when she turned out the lights.

She lit one candle; a special one, formed from animal fat and carved with runes.

Finally, she spoke the infamous phrase in a serious tone.

Bloody Mary.
Bloody Mary.
Bloody Mary.

Just a few moments later, watching things warp and shift in the mirror, her tool appeared. V’s reflection would vanish, and someone ran into view on the other side. A terrible old woman covered in blood, with sharp, bloody teeth, ragged white hair, and wild crimson eyes. She let out an inhuman screech and she rammed into the glass.

However, instead of fear, V looked annoyed. “Cut it out, Liz. We’re in a hotel.”

The ghost growled with irritation. As she leaned out of the mirror, her form changed.

She turned into a younger woman, perhaps in her twenties. Her skin was deathly pale, and her hair was white, but it wasn’t ragged anymore. It seemed natural and fell in neat layers. She wore clothes straight out of the ‘90s, including a red flannel coat. However, her eyes remained crimson, she had abnormally claw-like nails, and there was still blood splattered on her clothes, smeared across her skin, and stained in her teeth and lips like makeup.

Bloody Mary sneered, “You’re the one who reduced me to a parlor game, and now I can’t even play?”

V clenched her fists as she remembered why she forced Mary -or Liz, as she knew her- into a contract. The same contract that stopped her ability to harm any humans who found the “true” method of summoning the ghost. Though she was the one who established the deal, supposedly others had caught on to the ghost’s restrained nature and started using her in ways similar to how V would. At least, that’s what Liz told her, so its validity could be questioned.

“The case was a bust," V started. "No skinwalkers in sight.”

Liz smirked. “That’s what you get for trusting blog kids instead of me. Serves you right.”

“Quiet, you old hag,” V muttered. “This place took hours to reach, and it’s said to be a paranormal hotspot. I don’t want to leave with nothing, so tell me. What entities are lingering around here, if any?”

Liz paused to think. “None exactly close. If you’re willing to do some more driving, head about seven hours north-of-northwest. In a humble town…” She wriggled her fingers and spoke sarcastically, “From what my ghostly senses tell me, there’s a house over there. I don’t know about its living residents, if there are any, but there’s something paranormal inside. It’s no Hookman or La Llorona, but it’s giving off some decent energy. I’m sure it will be a fair challenge for the likes of you, oh lady huntress.”

V sighed, “It’s times like this I wish you’d go back to 1590 and stay there.”

“What can I say?” Liz smirked and teased, “I am a ‘90s girl. Go on, hothead, bite off more than you can chew again. I'll be waiting.”

V didn't dignify a response and flicked the light switch.As soon as the lights came on, the infamous Blood Mary disappeared, as if she had simply popped out of existence.

Unable to stand Liz’s attitude long enough to hear out the specific location, V scoured local news in the region and pinpointed a small-time interview with a group of startled teenagers, about how an experience in a seemingly vacant house left them terrified. There were more contentious interviews with residents on the block. Many of them claimed to see odd phenomena from the one building, while others denied it and blamed it on ‘pranks.’

In the car, V checked the map app on her phone. She was in the final stretch and could already see a town on the horizon, prompting her to turn off the freeway and start driving through. The Trans-Am shuddered as it downshifted.

Damn junkyard piece of sh-

A notification caught her attention, and she narrowly made the correct turn in time.

V followed the highlighted blue line on her phone, bypassing the business part of town, then a local school, and finally making it into a residential area. Block by block, she followed the line, until she could finally see her target.

Amid a row of typical-looking suburb houses, one stood idly across a neglected lawn. It was probably the largest on the block, two stories and decently wide. It looked old, both in terms of the weathered surfaces, and the touches of Queen Anne styling. There was not a trace of life in the area; no pets, no lights, and no cars in the driveway.

V’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “A ‘decent amount of paranormal energy,’ huh?”

V drove ahead, finding a small park to leave her car in. She preferred to lay low in case anyone got suspicious and threw off the investigation. Once parked, she opened her back seat and checked her supplies. Just enough for tracking, trapping, and possible destruction.

One flashlight.
One UV flashlight.
One small Polaroid camera.
One old-fashioned .22 revolver.
One jar of bone dust, and one of pure salt.
One crucifix, Bible, and a vial of holy water.
And finally, ten ritual candles, sealed in a wooden box.

V equipped the flashlight and crucifix to her belt, while the revolver went on a shoulder holster under her coat, and the holy water hung from a chain at her neck. The rest was stuffed into her small black backpack. She was ready to move.

The light was fading more and more, but that was good. Investigating a potential haunted house at night may have been a cheesy trope, but this way, there was less chance of interference or being spotted. Especially when there were neighbors.

As V snuck over to the old house and started up its driveway, she heard a faint breeze whipping the overgrown grass. Groans came from the cracked garage door. The smell of dust and mothballs hung in the air, even though she wasn’t inside yet. Every dust-frosted window had no light or movement behind it.

Wait…

Sensing something off, V backtracked and looked up.

In one of the narrow windows toward the side of the house, she noticed two piercing white dots.

V held her breath and watched with an unbroken, critical gaze. The two tiny dots started to seem inconspicuous. Two very convenient glints from a set of glasses, perhaps?

Until she saw them blink.

V whipped out her flashlight and aimed it up.

Immediately, the eyes were gone, and all she could make out through the reflection was a room with dated wallpaper.

“Hmph…” V clicked off her flashlight. “Have it your way.”

V hopped the fence and headed toward the back of the house.


[Final word count = 1444]

Fernando stands menacingly. He makes sure the man knows his prescence and feels it. He stares deep into the man's soul, drawing out the weakness from within. He imagines the ground shaking in fear and the counter cowering away from him. His mere existence calls for attention, for nobody will treat him like he's worthless ever again.

"Fernando. He just got the order wrong. Relax," Liliana says, then says to the cashier, "You scanned the Doritos twice, sir."

The poor man nods, glancing back at Fernando every few seconds, probably wondering if he'll try to rob the store. I would never rob an place as shabby as this, he thinks, If I were to rob somewhere, it'd have to be a bank.

As the two of them make their way out of the convenience store, Fernando can't help but think that America is a very depressing place.

"Liliana. Haven't you noticed that Ohio is such a depressing province to live in?"

"State. Not province."

"Right. But it's so depressing here. Take that convenience store worker for example. He looked like he was about to cry."

Liliana gives Fernando a stern look then says, "First of all, he was about to cry because of you. Second, you're saying this like we don't have depressed convenience store workers in Spain."

"I guess you're right."

Fernando admires his sister for her logical reasoning. She's such an intelligent young woman, and it pains him every time he thinks of the opportunities taken away from her. Mother. I will never forgive you. With her smarts, she would have surely become a very successful businesswoman, and with her beauty, she could have easily been a model. But it was all taken away, just because their mother couldn't handle the truth. A pathetic mother who would never exit the state of denial. Sometimes, Fernando wonders if their mother is even still alive, and he wonders if he'd feel sad if she wasn't. He knows it's wrong to think such thoughts, but for such a horrible person as her, perhaps it'd be okay.

The two siblings head toward the car, but on the way, can't help but overhear a conversation. A group of women are talking loud enough for the siblings to hear without trying.

". . . and that house on Brandenburg Street. Yeah, the one that looks so broken and dirty. I heard there is a ghost or something that's haunting it."

The moment they hear the word 'ghost', the two siblings look at each other.

"Don't say it," Liliana says, "Because I know exactly what you're about to say."

"Technically, Comte Arnau is a ghost."

"So you want to investigate this haunted house because you think it's going to be an old burning Spanish nobleman . . . in Ohio."

"Technically, the burning part is only speculation,"

"Well, technically, you're an idiot. Give me one good reason why we should head to this 'haunted house on Brandenburg Street'."

"Mom might be there."

With that, Liliana goes silent. It's very rare that she doesn't have a response to what Fernando says, but he knows it's just the gears in her brain turning. She's just such a smart girl like that. She's smart enough to know that if their mother is searching for Comte Arnau beacuse it supposedly killed their father, then wherever the ghost is, their mother will surely follow.

"If we find Comte Arnau, we will find our mother."

This is the mantra that has been subconsciously running through the two siblings heads every day since that the day their mother ran away. Even if they didn't want to admit it, a small part of them just wanted to find a parental figure in life, no matter how cowardly and broken.

Perhaps because they had to grow up so fast, they were still genuine children within.

"Well, if you're so persistent, I guess we have no choice. Brandenburg Street it is!" says Liliana, taking big, confident strides toward the car. However, she then realizes that Fernando has the keys and sheepishly turns back around to ask him to unlock it.

"I promise we'll find that ghost," Fernando says as he walks toward the car, "I have a feeling something is going to happen at the house. I just know it."

I'll chase you to the ends of the earth, mother. And you will apologize. For the agony you've given us, and the mother you've never been.

[735 words]

Ohio.
It had to be by far the most boring place in existence.
There was absolutely nothing of interest as far as the eye could see. It seems as if this whole state is made entirely of corn fields! Raine thought to herself as she drove. Why do American's love their corn so much? No matter how much she wanted to know, some things simply could never be answered, and that just so happened to be one of them.

She was about to make a turn down a road that looked identical to the one she was on, corn fields, a hill, maybe a tree if she was lucky, when she slammed on the brakes of the small rental car. Another one of those unanswerable questions was way that cursed black dog kept following her around. The creature's glowing red eyes stared at her from down the road, just past the distance her headlights reached. Although, it didn't really matter if her headlights reached it or not; the inky, lank, fur on its huge arched body seemed to soak up any shred of light that came near it.

"Nope, nope, nope, not today, thank you."

Raine quickly whipped the car back around and onto the main road again, she would have to find a different way to get to her destination. Surely there was another road that lead to the same place, right? If not she would just have to tell her boss the road was closed, but there was no way she was going down that road now. Fortunately enough her navigation swiftly redirected her and she continued driving through one corn field after another. Once, she even got lucky and saw some cows while she was driving, albeit a little confused as to why they were out at night. It was of her best interests not to stop though; especially when she needed to restock her gear. Who knew what could be out there, lurking in the dark.

Over the last few days she had been working not one, but two jobs.
One was what she had actually worked towards, and was the reason she was driving through Ohio now. A company had hired her as a historian to scope out potential towns for urbanization, ones that would make for interesting cities and had plenty of history and stories to draw people in as well as information as to where they could or couldn't develop. Although with that she was severely underpaid and the best thing she got out of it was traveling and gas money.
On the other hand, was her newfound passion, ghost hunting. Sure, she had to eat ramen for a couple weeks to afford all of the equipment needed but it was fun, exhilarating even! Something she simply didn't feel with being a historian anymore since she always had to be bouncing from one place to another and didn't get to delve deep into anything. This at least was a way to enjoy herself while bouncing around.

Speaking of bouncing around, the mildly run down town was starting to some into sight, street lights welcoming against the eerie uniform darkness of the surrounding land. After doing some research on the town for historian purposes she did gain knowledge of an old house that she wanted to check out. Maybe she could make a bit of money while she was here, help clear out any paranormal activity for the inheritants.

It was late when she finally got to the house. Part of her just wanted to find a place to rest for the night but her curiousity simply couldn't wait any longer and so she followed her navigation until she reached the address. Well I'm certainly at the right place. She pulled up in front of the house and parked. After all she was only going to take a quick look around since she still had to get more supplies. Unless...

Quickly getting out of her car and pulling the keys out of the ignition, Raine began rummaging in the trunk, taking inventory of the things she had. It seemed like enough for one run, if only she could find her spare batteries.
"Where in the world are they?" She mumbled to herself as she searched, strapping things she would need to her belt. "I know I put them in here somewhere... Aha!" she gave a self satisfactory smile and pulled the pack of batteries out from between two of the back seat. Without another moment's hesitation she popped two batteries into the back of her EMF reader and clipped that to her belt as well.
She was just about to close the trunk when she remembered the knife she had bought not long ago. It was quite long, clearly made for hunting. There was even a serrated edge to it.
Ah yes, America. The place where you can get a hunting knife at your local Tesco. Wait, no, not Tesco, Walmart. She shrugged a bit as she strapped the sheath to her belt. At least I can actually own something to protect myself here, just the simple reassurance of that does wonders for a woman on her own.

Soon enough she was ready and clicked on her flashlight, headed towards the Victorian style home. Her EMF reader was already sitting at low grade EMFs when she reached the door and reached to try the handle. Although, before she could, she notice something odd; there was light from around the other side of the house.
Hastily, she turned off her flashlight and found a secluded spot hidden by a bush to watch. Is there already someone else here? Best not to blow her cover too quickly, she decided to stay silent and just watch for now. Just in case. Who knew? Maybe they'd leave soon.

[Words = 970]

'Creaaak...'

The back door creaked as V picked the lock and forced it open, many days' worth of rust making it stiff. They were French doors, the glass tainted by dust from the inside and pollen from the outside.

The house itself didn't seem very out-of-the-ordinary as V stepped inside. She only saw a long-neglected kitchen. Some of the floor tiles were cracked, and the walls were peeling. More dust stained the countertops, and the wooden cabinets were in desperate need of a fresh staining. The old fridge reeked, either from whatever was rotting inside, or from the possible leaks of ungodly chemicals caused by time and wear. Another set of French doors to the left seemed to lead into a living room, while a hallway straight across led deeper into the house, with some closed doors visible on either side.

V checked the lightswitch. The house seemed to have power, but the lights were dim and flickering. She opted to keep them off and use her flashlight. It was better to keep a low profile anyway.

Before turning on the light, V stood absolutely still and steadied her breaths. Something definitely felt amiss in this house. Something about it was dark, and not just because of the poor lighting. Whether it was the result of superstition or a presence beyond this plane, however, was yet to be seen.

V turned on her flashlight and started by doing a basic visual sweep of the kitchen, before proceeding into the living room. The smell of moth balls and dust was especially strong, as was the rotting fabric of knitted pillows and throws. Accompanied with the severely outdated TV and radio, and the cane next to a worn-out rocking chair, she easily came to one conclusion.

"House was inhabited by an elderly person," V murmured. "Things are already adding up, as to who's haunting this place."

V aimed her flashlight toward a cluster of old photos on the wall. She didn't normally bother looking through the more personal items, at least not in-depth. Her only concern was in tracking and expulsion of the entity, not fretting about where it came from. Sometimes her curiosity would be piqued, but it wasn't often.

'crack!'

Hearing something behind her, V whipped around and looked closer. It seemed that the cane had fallen over, and the chair had rocked the slightest bit. It could've easily been a coincidence, but in her mind, coincidences didn't happen in a haunted house.

Eyes narrowed with suspicion, she reached into her backpack and pulled out the UV light. As she turned off the primary light and started shining the violet-hued light around, she started to see something encouraging.

There were footprints on the ground. They glowed bright greenish-blue, and led in a trail to the other side of the living room. Presumably, it led back to the front of the house.

"UV evidence..." V arched one brow. "But, these prints seem kinda small..."

Dismissing the thought, she approached the trail and squatted next to one of the prints.

"And now, to experiment..."

V took the vial of holy water, still hanging from her neck. She popped the tiny cork out, then let one drop slip out.

As it touched the print, it emitted the faintest trail of smoke.

"Minor reaction," V muttered. "Potentially sensitive to holy presence."

She looked around and sighed.

"Neither of these narrow the list by much, but I can make this work."

V gathered her things and swapped back to the normal flashlight. She slowly made her way to the front of the house, keeping an eye out for anomalies. Thus far, it still seemed like a normal house. A tall foyer with a curved staircase, leading to the second floor, the hallway of which overlooked the foyer.

Although, for a brief moment, she could've sworn she heard voices from outside, and a faint light that passed through the window.

That better not be a cop, after last time. You try to tell an officer that there's a wraith behind them, and they look at you like you're crazy.

Then, V heard something terrible.

"You're not supposed to be here..."

It was the faintest whisper, almost completely inaudible, but it immediately put her on edge. She searched behind her, then aimed her light at the stairs, but saw nothing.

Then, she looked up.

She saw the same set of white eyes against a very faint black silhouette, staring down at her from the upstairs hallway.

V slowly reached into her backpack, as if she was standing before a wild animal ready to charge. The entity was still, but it wouldn't break its gaze. V felt the opening in her pack, then made her move.

She whipped out a small sealed jar, just as the entity hopped the banister.

As she took out a handful of grayish-white dust and threw it up at the descending creature, the entity vanished.

V stepped back, putting the jar away. Bone dust was only a very temporary solution to make a spirit vanish, after all. She checked the area with her UV, but apart from a very faint handprint on the banister, there was no more evidence.

When she turned off the light, however, a series of creaks and groans came from the upstairs, while she heard more faint noises outside. Two paths, two options to confront.

V sighed, "Alright, fine. Living first..."

Bracing to see a police car in the road and an interrogative officer, and for the usual round of questions and unbelieved answers, V reluctantly unlocked and opened the front door.

However, to her surprise, there was only a plain civilian car. Very plain, without any personal modifications or bumper stickers, implying it might be a rental. However, there was no one in sight.

V walked over and checked around the car, but still found no one. Even the streets were empty at this hour.

"What the hell?" V muttered.

From near the side of the front yard, close to the fence, there was a faint rustle. It was too big to be a small creature such as a rabbit or squirrel yet still quiet enough not to alert the entire neighborhood.

Baffled, V followed the sound to the patch of bushes, with leaves browned and withered from lack of maintenance.

With a blunt expression, V kicked the bush, making it rustle even louder.

As the bush shuddered, one of the dying branches just so happened to scratch Raine's cheek from where she was hiding behind it, causing her to softly but sharply inhale from the pain, just loud enough to be heard. She had really been expecting whoever this person was to leave, not come out and investigate. This turn of events had foiled any previous plans she had had before and so she now had to formulate a new one, on the spot.

"So..." V arched one brow. "What's with the bush?"

Raine frowned and slowly came out from behind the bush, dead leaves tangled in her hair. "Um, I was waiting my turn to explore the house?" She knew it was a terrible half lie but it was the best she could come up with at the moment.

"'Your turn,' huh?" V casually crossed her arms, withholding any mention of ghosts for now. "So, what brought you here?"

"I believe I would like to ask who you are first if you don't mind." Raine replied, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand where the scratch was.

V sneered, pausing for a long moment. She reluctantly answered, "Name's Visellia Angelus. You can call me V. I'm here on account of reports of strange phenomena in this house, to put it lightly."

At the mention of strange phenomena, Raine visibly perked up. "A pleasure to meet you, V. I'm Raine Jameson and I'm actually here to do the same. Except on more of a hobbyist scale I suppose."

"Huh..." V smirked. "So, Raine, do you believe in ghosts?"

Raine gave V a polite smile. "I do actually."

"Alright, that's good..." V's eyes narrowed as she studied Raine, as if searching for honesty. "And in your hobbyist work, are you an actual hunter, or are you one of those types that likes to 'communicate' with these things?"

It was hard to tell if Raine was being honest or not with how politely she responded to everything but on first impression she seemed nice. "Well, I enjoy writing down their stories then helping them find peace. Would that count as both?"

V huffed, crossing her arms and looking away. Though she always tried to be understanding of the 'hunters' that took a more empathetic approach, a lot of the rhetoric flew right over her head. She preferred working to the tune of 'if it's dead, we'll kill it.'

"'Helping them find peace'..." V shrugged her shoulders. "Not the way I like phrasing it, but that's one way to do it I guess." She aimed her flashlight back toward the house. "Come on, how about you come give me a hand? Even though the house is haunted, I promise it's cozier than a bush."

Raine laughed a little, "I would imagine so, thank you very much."

Without another word, V headed back toward the front door.

"So, you said you're a hobby hunter. What do you do normally? Is it related?"

"In a way I guess," Raine hummed thoughtfully. "I work as a historian and at the moment look for towns with interesting history for development. After all, an interesting town attracts more people since they'll have something to be proud of."

"Hm, that's the first 'normal' job that actually sounds interesting," V murmured.

As she and Raine both stepped inside, it was eerily quiet compared to the ruckus V had just escaped. She pointed to the banister of the upstairs hallway.

"Before I went outside, there was a manifestation there. It was ready to attack, so I hit it with bone dust to buy some time..." She turned to Raine. "Which reminds me, what kind of equipment do you have on you?"

Raine blinked in surprise. "Really?" She had seen plenty of ghosts and some had been especially aggressive but she never stayed long enough for one to actually attack. "Oh- um- as regarding to gear I happen to be running low at the moment but I have an EMF detector, my journal, a spare notebook and pencil, a spirit box, and one last smudge stick. There's a bit more in the car but not much."

"Not bad," V replied. "EMF is good for tracking, even if it's a ghost that doesn't send out much of a signal. Let's head upstairs and see if we can pinpoint the dead jerk."

"Brilliant idea," Raine replied with a smile, "I did actually start to get a rather low signal as soon as I approached the house."

"From outside?" V muttered. "Huh, low signal or not, this thing has a lot of energy..."

"It does indeed." Raine nodded then motioned to the stairs. "After you, Miss V."

V just shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to the curved stairway, Raine following her with the EMF device in hand. The long hallway was eerily quiet, with a few rooms behind a series of closed doors. Most were presumably bedrooms, maybe an office or a closet behind some.

"Alright, so what kind of readings are you getting?" Asked V.

"They've been steadily increasing as we walk this way." Raine hummed, the EMF device in her hand creating a low mechanical whining. "Although it gets higher when I approach the doors to the right."

V shined her flashlight in that direction. Nothing stood out on the surface, so she quickly swapped to the UV light. There was a smudge along the wall, but she couldn't even tell if it was a full print. She passed the first door with Raine right behind her, but as they reached the second, a mechanical beep caught her off guard.

V looked back with a surprised expression. "Uh, what level was that at?"

Raine's eyes had widened quite a bit, staring at the device for a moment before looking up at V. "Five... that was a five..."

Biting her lip out of anticipation, V reached for the knob, then very slowly opened the door. A long-abandoned room was on the other side, in even worse condition than the rest of the house. V recognized the dated wallpaper and series of windows on the other side, though.

"That's where I first saw it," V muttered. "With the signal too, I think this is its room, and quite possibly..." She softened her words a bit. "Its place of death."

Raine nodded solemnly, glancing around the room as her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think you're right..."

Noah's first thought while standing outside of the house was that it didn't look too haunted. In disrepair, sure, but nearly every old Ohio suburb had that has-been feel of a town once new, then quaint, then just plain run-down. Upon closer inspection, they noticed certain telltale signs that no one had lived there for a bit; the yard was messy, the windows foggy with dust, and from their vantage point on the sidewalk, a small pile of mail had amassed on the front stoop.

Clutching their camera, they walked across the street to get a wide shot of the house. Satisfied with the few they took, they walked the way up the driveway to get some closer shots. Helene had been fairly vauge with what she wanted them to do; they weren't even sure if Helene wanted them to do anything besides read the email and have a moment of passing curiosity before archiving the whole message chain. Still, while they were here, they might as well take as many as they liked; in their experience, it was always better to have too many than too few.

After snapping a couple from the ground up to make the house more spooky and imposing, Noah stood with their camera dangling around their neck, wondering what to do next. They couldn't help but feel a little let down. From what eerie happenings the neighbors had described, they had hoped to get at least some kind of chill being there, but so far, they had nothing. What a letdown.

They stood on their tiptoes in the front yard to see if they could catch a glimpse of whatever was inside through the window, half-hoping to be met with scary eyes or a hand reaching out, but unfortunately, anything that might be lurking in the abandoned family home was obscurbed by the volume of dirt caked on the panes. Maybe if they got closer...?

Fighting their way through the bushes, Noah finally reached the window and used the sleeve of their flannel to wipe away the pollen and grime on the outside, though much of it refused to budge. Squinting, they tried to make out any indication of what was inside, but nothing stood out. Between the lack of electric lighting and the quickly falling dusk outside, it was nearing close to hopeless. Then they remembered the camera around their neck.

Grinning excitedly, they turned it on once more and fiddled with the settings. They grimaced as they pressed the lens against the still-filthy window, reminding themselves of the lens cloth they had in the case for some solace. While they couldn't see anythign clear through the viewfinder, they had faith that their flash would at least illuminate some of the room. Hoping for as little glare as possible, they snapped several photos before taking the camera away from the window, plopping down in the mulch, and checking what they'd actually captured.

To their surprise, the picture had more than they'd expected. While much of the room was obscured by the dirt still left on both sides of the window, they could tell that it was a living room. A rocking chair stood in the corner with a cane by it, and a ratty sofa adorned with kitschy cushions was in the center. The police had a point, however--- it didn't look like anyone had been living there for a while, either the ex-resident or a squatter.

They were about to put away their camera when something in the upper corner caught their eye. Initially, they had thought it was just dust on the window or a smudge on the lens, but upon closer examination, it didn't really look like either. In fact, it almost looked like the vague shape of... a child?

They were so engrossed with figuring out the photo that they were startled when they heard voices surprisingly close. Whipping their head around, they looked to see who had approached.

Two strangers of presumably hispanic origin were starting up the driveway. They were so focused on ther conversation that they didn't seem to even notice Noah crouching in front of the window.

"I told you there would be nothing here! I mean, look at this place. It's a dump!"

"It could be hiding dark mysteries."

"Never say that again, Fernando . . ."

Noah decided they must be siblings, with the way they conversed. In fact, their playful banter reminded them of their own younger brother. They decided it would probably be best to introduce themself before the two stumbled upon them to avoid any suspicions or scares.

They straightened, hanging their camera from their neck once again. As friendly as they could muster, they cleared their throat to give the two a slight warning before speaking. "Hey, there! What, uh...brings you guys out here?"

The one who was called Fernando stepped forward as his entire demeanor changed. His face contorted into a scowl, and he stepped up to Noah threateningly.

"None of your business," he said, leaning in very close, almost whispering in Noah's ear.

"O-kay," said the girl behind him with a tone suggesting that this had happened before. She pushed the boy to the side and smiled at Noah.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm Liliana, and that's my brother, Fernando. He kind of overreacts sometimes," she said, giving her brother a nasty side eye.

"Stranger danger," Fernando said quietly, almost like an afterthought.

Noah chuckled, unfazed. "Well, we don't have to be strangers for long. I'm Noah. Nice to meet you both."

"Same here," Liliana said, "And by the way, we're here because we're looking for a relative. Nothing serious. What about you?"

"I work for the local newspaper. Well, kind of. I take pictures and do photo stories, mostly. My boss forwarded me an email..." They realized they were giving a lot more information than necessary, as they tended to do, so clearing their throat, they finished. "Basically, people on this block have been complaining about spooky stuff happening at this house. I thought I might do a small piece on it and tie it into local ghosts and stuff, not as a serious article, but just for the season, you know? I'm kind of a thriller nerd." They gave a lopsided smile.

"Nobody ca--"

Before Fernando could finish his comment, Liliana interrupted him, "That sounds really interesting! Do you mind if we join you? Since we're all kind of investigating the same thing?"

"Investigating? Well..." Noah trailed off. They hadn't really come to investigate, just to take photos. But Liliana seemed nice, even if her brother was a bit standoffish. The two seemed like they were from out of town, too, and something about them wasn't sitting quite right with Noah. Many people were open books, and Noah liked to joke that they had quite a high reading level when it came to personalities and emotions, but these two were harder to crack.

"Sure." They gave another grin, pairing it with a decisive nod. "That sounds great."

"Please tell me I can break the window," Fernando asked, and his sister gave him a stern look.

"I think it would be a better idea to sneak in through the back, instead of breaking in through the front," said Liliana. She turned to Noah for their opinion.

They shrugged. "This is a pretty safe town. Most of the time people barely lock their doors. Back door seems like a good bet!"

"Sounds like you're pretty experienced at this," said Fernando with a smirk, "Been sneaking through your friends' back doors or what?"

Noah flushed. "Sometimes I lose my keys and have to let myself into my neighbor's to get the spares I lent them. That's it, though, I swear! If you want to break a window, knock yourself out, but don't use me as your one phone call from the county jail."

Fernando looked at Noah, perhaps examining them for a moment before turning arond, walking briskly to the fence, and hopping over it quickly.

"Aw. He's shy," Liliana said with a grin, then told Noah, "I hope he's not bothering you too much. He's just weird."

Noah laughed, holding up both hands as if in mock surrender. "I'm a psych major and therapist hopeful. It's not my job to judge, and certainly not my job to be bothered." They walked over to the gate and gave it a good tug. It swung open. They bowed slightly to Liliana, gesturing into the backyard. "After you."

"That’s amazing, Lia! You made a perfect score!"

Liliana grinned from ear to ear. No matter how many times she aced her tests and outperformed her classmates, her mother always complimented her, and she had learned how earn these compliments frequently. She would do chores while no one was watching, but then reveal it to her mother. She would pick a few flowers and wrap them up nicely as a gift, although the flowers in question usually originated from their neighbor's yard. When her mom found out, Liliana got in trouble, but it never changed the fact that Liliana surely brought joy to her mother's life.

Liliana knew she was the favorite child. Fernando was always goofing off with his friends, so he had no chance at that title. She never questioned why she wanted to be the favorite so bad, but she liked to think that it was to see her mother's smile.

She sometimes imagined that she was sufficiently making up for the enormous hole left by her father, who was never home.

"I'll ace the next test, too! I'll make you proud, mom!"

"Ok, Lia. Just don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Hey, are you alright?" Noah was peering at her through their glasses, eyebrows raised. "You kind of zoned out."

"Oh", Liliana said, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

The grass in the backyard was very sickly, and there were just two lonely trees at opposite corners. Liliana assumed they were probably dead, as they had no leaves. Just like the front of the house, the back was in complete disrepair, probably even more so. She didn't want to call it haunted, but the entire property just seemed like a textbook haunted house.

Fernando shouted from up ahead, "Guys! Why is the back door open?"

Liliana ran up over to her brother, and noticed that the door was, in fact, wide open. It wasn't just unlocked or open slightly, it was all the way open. The interior was quite disshevelled and dilapidated, and Liliana could almost make out a set of footprints, maybe even two, that tracked dirt and scattered the thin film of dust on the floor.

"Someone might be in here already," said Liliana, suddenly feeling slightly reluctant about their decision to sneak into the house.

"The police did check for any squatters," Noah said. "They didn't find any evidence that anyone had broken in, but maybe someone came in after they left? These do look pretty fresh."

"How long ago was this, Noah?" Liliana asked, "These might just be left by the police."

Noah let out a breath. "I'm not sure exactly. The email didn't say. From the way it was phrased, though, I'd say it was probably at least two or three days ago."

"Well, only one way to find out," said Fernando, fearlessly stepping through the back door, and Liliana followed him closely, keeping as little distance between them as possible. She didn't want to admit it, but she was very scared.

Liliana noticed a light switch on the wall and flicked it on. The light, while still working, didn't stop flickering.

She turned to Noah because she knew Fernando for sure didn't have one.

"Do you, by any chance, have a flashlight with you?" she asked, "I'm not too sure about these lights.

"Uh, just on my phone."

Liliana replied sheepishly, "Oh crap, I forgot about that . . ."

By the time Liliana turned off the flickering lights, Fernando had already opened up his phone and was looking around the house. Liliana couldn't help but giggle, noticing how much he looked like a burglar.

"Actually," Liliana said to Noah, "What exactly are you looking for for your photos? Maybe we can help? I doubt this old, dusty kitchen is very photogenic."

Noah laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Actually---" They took their camera out and turned it on, screen lighting up their face. "This is one I got outside. I was trying to get a peek inside one of the rooms, but, well..." They turned the camera so it faced Liliana, pointing to the upper corner. "What does that look like to you?"

Liliana leaned in to get a closer look at the image. It was a little blurry, but she could make out the common features of what looked like a living room, including a couch and a rocking chair, but in the upper right corner, where Noah was pointing at, there was a small figure, perhaps that of a child. Examining it even closer, she could almost see the little eyes and mouth of whoever it was.

"That's . . . really creepy. If it's not a doll, it could be whatever is haunting this house," Liliana said, trying to hide the twinge of disappointment in her voice. Fernando and her were looking for Comte Arnau, who definitely wasn't a child. If that child was the ghost, then there was no reason for her and Fernando to be there.

"Good to know I'm not going crazy," Noah said, turning the camera back to themself. "Whatever it is, it sure is eerie."

"I'm still leaning towards doll, though . . ."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Guys . . ." said Fernando, "I heard something upstairs."

Everyone went quiet, and sure enough there seemed to be the sound of footsteps and conversation.

"Could that be the ghost?" said Liliana, inching toward the stairs. She even noticed lights from the upper floor. Either they had finally found what they were looking for, or someone else was here, too.

"Only one way to find out."

Liliana is too nervous to tell him that he said that already at the door, so by repeating himself, he looks stupid.

Fernando starts up the stairs first, but even he looks a little frightened. Who wouldn't be, in the presence of the paranormal? But anyone investigating the paranormal wouldn't exactly be "normal". Liliana isn't quite too sure whether she hopes it's a ghost or not.

As Noah and the Lopezes roamed through the house, Noah found their sense of trepidation growing. While they considered themself a usually unflappable person, something about being inside rubbed them the wrong way. The outside was fine, it just looked abandoned; the inside, though, still carried eerie traces of the once-living (and the potential still-living; Noah couldn't shake the idea that they weren't alone). They wished that they had brought Alfie, that he hadn't resisted so much when they tried to leash him earlier that evening; they could've used his comforting, familiar presence at their side.

Noah kept snapping pictures, too; at this point it wasn't even for the potential photo story they probably would never publish. It just felt like the right thing to do, like maybe every time the camera flashed in the dark, dusty house it created a ward against whatever mysterious thing was lurking around. The Lopezes, if they were annoyed by the incessant flashing and click of the shutter, made no mention of it as the three wandered, anticipation building with every creak in the floorboards.

"Oh. Interesting." Their phone flashlight glinted off the wall of the stairwell. They walked closer and discovered what had reflected their light was in fact the glass of a picture frame; while most of the other walls of the house had been void of personal effects, the one in front of them overcompensated by piling on picture after picture after picture. Noah let their gaze wander over each one, dragging their light across the rows. Most of them were home to a fine sheen of dust across the front, but a quick exhale sent most of it floating back in the air.

What laid under the dust were photographs, several of them, all of what seemed to be a family. Noah could vaguely sus out their age based on the quality of the photo and the appearences of the people within them. There was what looked like a wedding portrait, the man in some old, fancy military uniform, the woman in a calf-length, floaty dress. Noah watched them age in the various pictures. Through birthday and graduation pictures, Noah could trace their family through the years; the couple had given birth to one son, who then went and had his own family. At a point on the wall, it transitioned to the son and his wife and two kids.

Wait, no. Noah caught sight of a photo at some park, and there were three toddlers gathered around their grandfather. Maybe it was a cousin? A friend? But no, there was another, this time around a dinner table during the holidays, and the third child's resemblance to his siblings was unmistakeable. At the very end, school pictures hung, and sure enough, there were three.

It was strange, though; while in the family photos, all three kids looked as though they were all within two years of one another, the school pictures told a different story. Two of the kids looked to be smack dab in the middle of their teenage years, while the other looked like he couldn't have been more than seven or eight, right down to the gaps in his smile. Now that they looked back, the youngest boy was only in around half of the family shots, all of them from when the kids were younger. He was easy enough to miss, but now that Noah realized, they noticed his absence in almost every photo he wasn't in.

So... what had happened? Fearing the worst, Noah turned to bounce it off the Lopezes, but before they could get a word out, they realized the two had gone up the stairs without them realizing it. Taking a deep breath, they walked the rest of the way up, eager to be with others again.

EMF 5. Raine remembered, clear as day, what had happened last time she had seen the EMF reader go to 5.

The ghost had been nearly twice as active, almost as if there were two. It certainly kept her busy. Too busy. Between bouncing from room to room with interactions popping up all over the place, she had ended up losing track of time and staying much longer then she had initially wanted to. Long enough that instead of her trying to track down the ghost, it had started trying to track down her.

Never before had she felt genuine dread inside a house, fear tingling down her spine. She had been inside plenty of haunted houses but always got out quickly and never felt as scared as she did now when she heard the thumps of footsteps. She had no clue what the ghost wanted with her but whatever it was, wasn't good and so she chose to hide and wait until it went away.

Once it did, she was headed to the door when her flashlight went out and she heard another set of steps from another room so she hid again, and waited, the same fear prickling down her spine.

Clomp... clump... clomp... clump...

She could hear the heavy footsteps wander from room to room, looking for her. At one point, they came into the room she was in and she could feel the undead being almost breathing down the back of her neck.

Though soon enough, it was over and Raine did the most simple, all purpose cleansing she could and got out before it started trying to find her again.

That case had gone unsolved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the drab old bedroom, on the second level of the old house, V felt a spark of encouragement as she heard Raine's EMF going wild in the area. Though she was typically a lone worker, she was starting to appreciate the help, since this particular tool was one that eluded her. Usually, it was hard to find a half-decent one at a good price, and she preferred to divert her strained funds toward the more offensive tools.

Raine's pen scratched across the paper, ink half running out as she jotted down the evidence she had collected so far. It narrowed the search by quite a bit but not nearly enough. However, this simple action of writing gave her an idea.

It's worked before, might be worth a shot. If I don't I could just be ignoring perfectly good evidece.

She set her journal down along with the pen in the middle of the room, the page opened to a fresh one beside her notes which were always on the left paper. It was sort of an act of courtesy in her opinion to allow the ghosts, if they wished, to write on the right page. She used her personal journal for this since she found it fastinating to keep the writings, and so the courtesy also prevented them from writing on her notes. Most of the time anyway. There had been a few times where the ghosts had been particularly problematic and wrote on her notes just to spite her.

She watched the notebook closely, not taking her eyes off it for a second as she waited. Time slowly ticked by until finally the pen moved, metal tip scratching this way and that across the paper, forming barely legible words.

At the finished message in the journal, V stared with wide eyes. "Raine, I'm starting to think this thing is more than a typical spirit."

"I'm not sure," Raine replied, picking up her journal once more. She attempted to read the message on the paper which proved difficult as the writing was sparatic and sprawling but luckily stayed on the one page even though there was no more room there for Raine to write anything else. "Surprisingly enough, it still could be a spirit from the evidence I have."

"Weird..." V crouched down to watch. "I don't really look for this kind of stuff in my hunts."

"Really? How do you figure out the best way to get rid of it then?" Raine asked out of curiosity. She found different methods of hunting quite interesting, especially since different methods tended to work better for different ghosts.

"I see how they react to different forms of cleansing, and go with whatever hurts the most. Sometimes even a smudge stick can be enough, but more often than not, I go with holy intervention. My family's from Rome with close ties to the church, so you can imagine the kind of artifacts I have access to. And, you see..." V hesitated to elaborate, but finding Raine easy to talk to, the words slipped out. "I'm more the type of hunter that hunts. These things aren't people anymore, they're a threat. If you can't use them, get 'em the heck out."

Raine blinked in surprise at the mention of V's family being from Rome, clearly impressed. "Wow, I never would have guessed. I would have said that's quite expensive to simply try different forms of cleansing but now that you mention that, it makes sense."

"Yup," V replied. "That's why I don't have things like the EMF and that 'spirit box' or whatever they call it now. I focus on the things that're gonna sting. Speaking of which, let's see if we can catch a glimpse of what we're dealing with..."

V reached into her backpack, pulling out a wooden box. She looked through the ten candles, all in their designated slots. She pulled out a deep reddish-brown one with runes carved out, struck a match against the side of the box, and lit the wick. It burned bright enough to create a small radius of light around them.

V stepped forward. "Listen up, whatever creature is lurking in this room. If you can understand me, step into the light."

They waited. Seconds seemed to stretch on forever when they were counted with such anticipation. V had numbed herself to fear in this regard, so much that she was more irritated than afraid.

"You lousy sack of maggots," V grumbled.

"Could you possibly refrain from antagonizing the deceased?" Raine requested, frowning the slightest bit. "It's not the wisest idea and I would like to just so happen make it out of here not being one of them if you don't mind."

V shot her an unfazed glance. "I do it all the time, that's how I get responses."

Raine did not seem anymore pleased at this response then she did the insult but held back any bitter comments and instead settled for a suggestion. "You may get more positive responses from using a slightly different-"

Before Raine could finish her sentence, she spotted a growing shadow near the edge of the room, causing her to frown. It certainly wasn't one of their shadows as it was on the other side of the candle. For a moment she thought It might've been a thrown or moved object but once again, there was nothing between them and the other wall besides the candle. After these mental deductions though, she quickly realized what it actually was.

The shadowy figure began to take a humanesque form and ran towards them and the candle.

"It's going to blow out the candle!"

V whipped around to look, but by then, the candle had been blown out. Even without its aid, however, they could both see the thing spring and jump onto V, grappling and aiming for her face with cold hands and filthy nails. The candle shot aside, breaking in half on the ground, which produced a small burst of ash.

The creature didn't appear to be simply a shadow anymore. Instead it was much more solid and much more dangerous. In the dim light coming in through the dirty window, Raine could almost make out the tattered rags hanging off its small form.

Raine hurriedly fumbled for the lighter in her pocket as the creature continued its attempt to try and claw at V's face. Once it was in her hands, she quickly sparked a flame and lit the smudge stick before shoving it at the ghost with steely determination to save her new-found friend.

Could she call V that yet? They had barely just met and she still wasn't quite sure what to think about Americans just yet but V didn't seem terrible. She wasn't entirely sure about anything but either way was determined to get the ghost off her.

As soon as the smudge stick was burning and near the creature, it faded back to its shadowed form once more before disappearing all together. However, Raine knew it wouldn't be gone for long; a smudge stick was only a temporary way to calm the spirit and keep it off their backs.

Meanwhile, as soon as the entity was gone, V stopped fumbling for her pack and dropped to her knees, trying to catch her breath. She was used to spirits lashing out, especially after she started taunting them, but this one had come uncomfortably close. While it was easy to see that Raine had just helped her greatly, coming between her and the spirit, her stubborn mind couldn't help simultaneously insisting that she was just as much of a distraction.

Should I be mad at this girl, indifferent, or glad she helped me? I don't know, jury's out on that one, but...

V reluctantly stood up and faced Raine. "Nice move. While it's calm, let's double down and excorsize this son-of-a-"

"Thanks." Raine smiled in relief then frowned a little again at the beginning of the curse. "Let's try and make that smudge stick last as long as we can, shall we? I don't know how long it'll last being as it was my first homemade one. We're lucky it worked at all. For now though, let's head back and look at what we have and what it could be. I don't feel like being attacked from behind as I look through my notes if you don't mind."

V let out a heavy sigh, like an angsty teen being asked to take out the garbage. A very anticlimactic response, given the situation.

"Fine," V muttered. "I guess it is 'ready, aim, fire,' not 'ready, fire, aim.'"

Raine nodded a little and in a slight more upbeat tone, commented, "exactly."

Double-checking that Raine was following, V hurried out of the room. She couldn't help constantly glancing back toward the room, eager to do more, before they finally stopped much further down the hallway, in range of the stairs.

"Alright, move close."

Raine did as V suggested and stepped a closer. She didn't particularly want to be far away anyway just in case since she had run out of defensive options.

V took out another small jar, grabbing onto a handful of the pure, tiny salt crystals that were inside. She immediately started forming a circle around them. Though a trope to many, this stuff worked well as a defensive tool.

"Between this and the smudging, it should buy us enough time to coordinate..." V stored her salt jar again. "So, what are you thinking? A standard cleansing usually does the job, but I know this thing had a minor reaction to holy presence. Maybe an exorcism would be the better option, but that's a little more intensive."

"Hmmm, holy presence?" Raine inquired. "An exorcism would work rather well then if you have the supplies. It's been quite some time since I've done one."

Raine flipped through her journal a bit, looking at the notes and the ghost writing. "By the way, did you happen to get any evidence before I came in? There's a few things it could be and narrowing it down to one might help..." She was about to continue when she paused, brow furrowing slightly.

She glanced around a moment before looking at V. "Is it just me, or do you hear voices too?"

V paused to listen, and sure enough, she was able to confirm another set of voices in the house. They were accompanied by creaking from the bottom of the stairs. But instead of fretting, she snapped,

"HOW MANY GHOSTS DOES THIS DAMN HOUSE HAVE?!"

A collab with @RangerofIthilien and @RavenAkuma

Growing up, Noah had spent long hours in the woods behind their Vermont house. On weekends, hot or cold, rain or shine, they would leap out of bed and (barely having eaten breakfast) throw on their shoes, running through trees and over bushes to get to the forest. They loved the way their hair caught on the branches, the ambient chorus of birds, squirrels, and the occasional deer playing on loop, the crunch of leaves and pinecones beneath their feet... the scent of mulch meant home to them, and they were captivated by it until their mother called them in for dinner.

Besides, they needed a happy distraction; they spent every night tossing and turning, afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmares that awaited them. Despite visiting every child psychologist in the area, nothing had helped, so they instead spent their waking hours filling their head with sun rays through leaves, lines of marching ants, and other good memories in the hopes that one might help combat the awful things in their mind at night.

The woods were also where they met Hanna. Hanna was older than them, a headstrong sixteen to their curious nine. She wore old-fashioned clothes and called the woods her home, and she loved playing.

She taught Noah all sorts of games; in hindsight, ones they probably shouldn't have done. They climbed trees, jumped rivers, crawled along chasms, their adventurer's heart relishing its skipped beats every time branches broke, dirt crumbled, and their feet flew out on slippery rocks. Hanna enjoyed those moments, too--- Noah still remembered her cackle every time they scraped a palm or bruised a tailbone.

When they played with Hanna, the nightmares had stopped, too; before they left for dinner, she would kiss their forehead, and wish them sweet dreams before retreating behind a pine.

They hadn't thought about her in a while; there came a point when they went to the woods less and less, and Hanna was harder and harder to find. Eventually, they just assumed she had moved away, even though their mother insisted that no house existed behind theirs in the woods, and that Hanna was just an imaginary friend.

Something about the house they were in now reminded them of her, though; the stagnant eerieness, the overwhelming sense of being left in the dark... they shook their head, took a deep breath, and finished climbing the staircase.

Noah rejoined the Lopezes at the top of the stairs. Before they could get a word out about the suspicious missing child in the family photos, however, they paused, pressing a finger to their lips. Were those... footsteps? After a little, they made out slight murmurs as well. Voices too?

They locked eyes with Liliana, whose face clearly demonstrated that she had heard them too. Taking a small step closer to the Lopezes, Noah tried to squint into the darkness to see if they could make out who was causing them. If anything, they felt reassured that there was someone else in the house; despite its spooky vibes, those footsteps could only be made by something corporeal, and human beings could almost always be charmed and reasoned with.

The group wandered closer and closer to the noises, and upon entering another room, Noah and the Lopezes were met with not one, but two (decidedly corporeal) other people.

They looked between the newcomers and the Lopezes. It was clear that everyone was a little trepidatious, given that all of them had, in some way, discovered that the uninhabited house they had been exploring was actually not so uninhabited after all.

Noah shrugged. The new people seemed decent enough, and at least they weren't ghosts.

"Hi," they said, waving. "I'm Noah."

Raine blinked from where she was standing in the circle of salt crystals. "Oh, um- hello." She seemed quite surprised by the appearance of the three as well as Noah's friendliness as compared to Fernando's burglar like appearance which put her most on edge. She stepped forward a little as if to properly engage in conversation before hesitating and staying put, not particularly wanting to be jumped by a ghost particularly but also the three that stood before her.

Without warning, V picked up a handful of the salt crystals along the ground and hucked them at the newcomers. Expectedly, they bounced right back and had no effect, which was what she was looking for. As they scattered across the floor, she calmed down a bit.

Raine gasped softly "V! Oh my goodness! You don't just throw salt at strangers!"

"What?" V argued. "You'd rather wait to see if they're ghosts?"

Noah pushed their glasses up from where they had slipped down their nose, brushing a lone salt crystal off their flannel. "Definitely not ghosts, and I assume you two aren't either. Do you have names? Or anything I can call you by, really. Whatever you feel like telling me, someone you just met in a creepy suburban house in Ohio twenty seconds ago." They smiled, hoping their joke landed.

The joke apparently did land as it coaxed a small smile from Raine. "Oh yes, I'm Raine and this-" she motioned to the girl beside her- "is V. Mind if I ask who the others with you are?"

Noah turned to the Lopezes, letting them introduce themselves. After they'd exchanged names and niceties (the latter more Liliana's doing), Noah turned back to Raine and V. "So what brings you two to this house?"

"Creepy stuff," V said flatly, focusing on a room further down the hallway. She didn't mind Raine as a temporary partner, but wasn't quite as keen on joining a whole team. It seemed too spirited for her taste.

Raine sighed at the vague answer from V and chose to explain a bit better. "We're looking for ghosts and have reason to believe there's one here in this house; hence the salt V threw at you."

"A ghost?" Noah glanced back at the Lopezes, the three exchanging glances. "And have you found anything yet?"

As if to answer their question, a terrible noise interrupred the group from down the hall -a long croaking sound, that ended on an oddly hummed note.

Then, from the room down the hall, something shot out like a black flash. It halted and slowly turned around, revealing a very short entity, its white eyes piercing through the dark and thin crooked limbs resembling branches. Whether a trick of the darkness or its own manifestations, it was like its skin was shrouded by shadows, obscuring most of the details of its figure.

Its size surprised Noah; this was their first time seeing anything paranormal in person, but from the movies they loved watching, they expected ghosts to be large and imposing, not borderline sprite-like. Holding their camera up like a shield, they snapped a few photos, wincing at the shutter sound, which suddenly sounded accusatory and aggressive.

Though its initial appearance was otherworldly, as Noah squinted, they could make out certain features; large eyes, a gap tooth, a swoop of hair---

Noah's heart dropped into their stomach. There was something decidedly familiar about the apparition at the end of the hallway. They struggled to picture the family photos hanging in the stairwell in their mind's eye. Could it be? Could this be the missing boy?

Not only that--- as they continued to examine the creature at the end of the hallway, all its intial behaviors that seemed frightening now read to Noah as simply frightened, something they would absolutely expect to see from a confused, terrified seven year old.

"I think..." Noah gulped. "I think that it might be a child."

"Really?" Raine inquired. "I mean, it's small but I didn't really think about it being a child..."

"No, there's..." Noah trailed off, trying to think of how best to phrase it. "Family photos. On the stairwell. All the older ones have three kids, but the later ones just have two. There are school pictures, too. The two older kids are in their teens now, but the most recent one of the youngest can't be more than the second or third grade." Noah continued staring at the spirit, heart hurting as they watched it flinch.

They took a deep breath, trying to steady themself. "It's just got big feelings. Look at it. It's scared. We should try, you know... talking it out first."

Unfortunately, V wasn't nearly as eager to wait and think things through.

"Alright, while you think about how to 'talk things out' with a monster, I'll be busy saving ourselves."

Much to Noah's protests, V whipped out her crucifix and shot down the hallway, confronting the beast. It was immediately aggravated and lashed out, swiping at her as she narrowly dodged by stepping back. However, at the same time, it vanished -and by the time she was able to refocus, it was already lunging down as if it had jumped.

"What is it with this thing and jumping on people?!" V snapped as she again dodged the attack.

That clue made Raine seemed more contemplative, reaching for her journal.

Still focused on causing some level of damage, V held up her crucufix. The entity let out a pathetic whimper and stepped back. Then, as she uncorked her vial of holy water and cast some drops forward, she started reciting a prayer.

"Lord, I beg you to visit this house and banish from it all the deadly power of the enemy. May your holy angels come down and offer protection as we..."

V trailed off; at first, the entity recoiled from the touch of holy water -just like its prints, it caused a reaction, but it wasn't strong. Not enough to stop it. It had started recovering and staring back at her with resentful eyes.

"Dammit..." V stepped back. "Get back now!"

She kicked several salt crystals from the ring at the entity, causing it to briefly vanish and stagger backward. Using that diversion, the group of five fled down the stairs, V stayed in the back to ensure everyone had caught up. She wasn't about to be on the hook for anybody's injury or poessession, and callous as she may have beem, she wasn't about to let anybody face a grisly demise. She was braced to use another hit of bone dust to buy them time.

Noah's camera bounced against their stomach as they were rushed downstairs. They barely registered who was in front, who was behind... all they kept doing was craning their neck backwards, hoping to catch another sight of the creature. They had tried to stop V from going after it, but they knew what's done was done; any hope of trying to communicate in this moment had vanished when the salt and holy water had appeared. Maybe if they gave it time to cool off, it would calm, but Noah's hopes weren't high.

They wound up back in the living area, where V stood in the doorway, crucifix raised defensively as she thought of other methods to try. She could hear everyone in the room, most of them panting to catch their breath as the adrenaline died down. Even though V felt her face go pale, she stiffened her lip to avoid looking intimidated.

V sighed, "Basic prayer and holy water were almost completely ineffective, and warding tools are only going to keep losing efficiency the more we use them. So we go harder. I'll excorcize this creep if I have to."

Noah frowned. "And what does that do, exactly?"

"Two words," V responded. "Purge and destroy -hopefully..."

At that same moment, faint humming trailed into the room from deeper in the house. Its cryptic melody may have been soothing in life, but now it was purely chilling. V took it as a taunt, which wasn't helping her mood.

As much as she wanted to go charging right back to it, she took a page from Raine's book and slowed down. She turned to Noah, expecting the usual 'exorcism is dangerous and only for priests' line that she had heard before, the one time she tried it before. In fairness, things could have gone better as the spirit gave her a nasty scar, but that was beside the point.

However, she realized that Noah didn't seem critical. They seemed worried, and it wasn't purely aimed at her.

"You're concerned..." V jabbed a finger toward the exit. "For that thing? What the hell would lead you do that? They're just monsters."

Noah blanched at the word destroy. "How can you---" They broke off, thinking of the creature at the end of the hallway, how it cowered and hid. Shaking their head to clear the painful image, they continued. "I don't think anything is a monster. There's only the conditions they're put in that makes them that way." They turned to V, a new coolness in their gaze. "If you were a kid in a new situation, somewhere between life and death, and someone kept trying to destroy you, you'd probably lash out, wouldn't you?"

"How do we even know this thing is a kid?" V argued. "It's already lashed out several times. For god's sake, there are demons that can hide in childrens' skin. How do you know any of this?"

Noah swallowed, gut twisting. "I... I don't know any of it. But the size, the way it was moving, the missing kid from the photos on the wall... just humor me. Please. I don't know much about ghost hunting. Is there any reason a kid might become something like"---they gestured vaguely to the direction they'd run from---"that?"

Their words taunted V's conscious -on the surface, her stubborn self insisted that she was right. She had seen to many of these things lash out to give them the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes she was the one taking the hit, and sometimes it was just random people who were hardly deserving of it. Even the entity she begrudgingly used as a tool, she resented the memory of.

Charging past the reach of officers and police tape. Passing the sobbing parents. Seeing a bathroom with a heavily cracked mirror, every tile covered in blood. That awful stench, that chilling red, forever stuck to her conscious and unconscious mind. When she was finally able to catch the same ghost by the throat, it took all her will to not crush its life in her palms, opting to use it to find others. These things craved the blood of humans so badly, like feral beasts running rampant with no natural competition. How could it be wrong to hunt them the same way?

Summon a ghost as an innocent child just playing a game. Doesn't matter how much you beg them, how much you respect them, how much you 'communicate' with them. They'll still attack. Just to satisfy their own ungodly bloodlust...

Yet at the same time, hearing Noah's words, the same image of the innocent child killed at the hands of an entity, or the traumatized child seeing their friend die, also clashed to make her think of one sitting alone in a dark house. Their only family passing on, one by one, while they remain alone. Confused, cold, with no escape.

V shook her head, trying to get rid of the irksome thoughts. They were stirring up ideas and feelings that she desperately did not want to consider. Mainly, the one she hated the most.

Doubt.

"Rrrgh...Raine!" V said with mild aggression. "You have that book thing! For the sake of my own sanity, can't you prove me right?!"

Things had gone incredibly sideways and not at all how Raine had expected or planned for them to go. They had gone even worse when V had gone after the ghost, and as much as she wanted to find out the history of this particular ghost, it was quickly becoming less and less of a possibility from how aggravated both it and V were becoming.

After practically darting down the stairs with the other four, she turned and counted everyone to make sure they were all there, ignoring the arguing for the most part until she heard V say her name which caused her to recoil slightly from the mild aggression and frown.

"I'm sorry but from what we have collected and what I have in my journal," she purposely corrected without outright doing so, "it cannot be a demon." She held onto the journal tightly and flipped through a couple pages until she found the one she sought. "What it can be though is a shade, spirit, or myling. However I very highly doubt it's a shade since they typically don't do too much and this one's done a whole lot. That leaves myling and spirit."

"So... what's the difference?" Noah asked.

"Well..." Raine began to explain after flipping through a few pages, "Spirits are pretty common and essentially guard their place of death. They don't like people staying too long and will attack if you do. Typically they're considered pretty passive unless you overstay your welcome and don't try to get too much attention."

She flipped through another few pages until she presumably reached the one on mylings. "Mylings on the other hand are typically incredibly active and vocal with their singing until they're trying to find you in which they're said to be dead silent." She smiled a bit at the accidental joke before continuing. "They're a type of Scandinavian ghost that was abandoned by their parents as a child and left to die. What they typically want the most is a proper burial and if not given that by whoever they meet, will attack. It is also said that they were typically never baptized and taken in by a church which would explain the minor reaction to a holy presence."

Snapping the journal closed and tucking it into the holster at her side, she voiced her own opinion as well, however mildly off topic. "I could see them being very common in the forests of Scandinavia from hard times and cold winters."

After hearing Raine's description, Fernando sneered, "'A child ghost, abandoned by their parents and left for dead.' Heh. Is this just a common trait for the paranormal, sis?"

Lilliana gained a glum look, but had no words to respond with. The mere idea of such an already difficult story, full of struggles and hardship for a life so innocent and in need of guidance, was one that wounded her on a level beneath the skin. To the point that in remembering the small entity they saw in the hallway, she started to see glimpses of her and her poor brother's own crying selves, just waiting for mother to come back and accept them. But knowing that never happened, and this story had a lethal outcome, it was like a sordid, cruel warning of where this path could lead.

It left her paralyzed.

Noah looked between them, noting the soured mood. "Are you two alright? What's wrong?"

Like she had just been snapped from a trance, Lilliana blinked hard and exhaled a heavy, rigid breath. Fernando's expression turned more wary and angry, like he was eager to get rid of whatever upset his sister but so no clear target.

Before he could say any of his typical blunt remarks, Lilliana suddenly stepped forward and spoke, "We can't kill it -or destroy it, whatever the right term is. We have to help him! He doesn't understand what's going on, he's just scared! He needs someone to help him, not someone to make him even more terrified!"

Noah nodded emphatically in agreement. "That's exactly what I was saying. He's not a... a monster." They turned to V. "I think you've been outvoted."

V shot them a bitter glare. "Then what are we supposed to do to help them?"

"A blessing could probably work if we are certain it's a myling." Raine hummed thoughtfully, calm despite the tension of the debate. "I don't have the last piece of evidence to set it in stone but from what we've seen, I'm pretty sure that's what it is."

"A blessing?" V repeated, as if the concept was foreign.

Raine nodded. "Surely if you can conduct an exorsim, you can do a blessing. You did say you had Roman roots and ties to the church after all. If we do something more along the lines of blessing and repairing, we can get it to go away better then something meant to destroy or purge."

"That sounds like something for the living, not the dead..."

V looked around one more time, noting the four sets of eager eyes, none of them looking at her with agreeance. They were all clearly ready to get in the way if she ignored them.

She finally sighed, "Fine. You'll get your blessing session, but only because this could be an interesting experiment. Any new way to get rid of a ghost works for me. Even if one so chummy makes me uncomfortable..." She muttered, "You've all already done a good enough job at that though."

"Likewise," Fernando said back under his breath. Liliana shot her brother a look.

Noah pursed their lips. "Look, I'm... sorry you feel that way." They swallowed. "Thank you, though. For being willing to try."

"Yes, thank you." Raine agreed. "I really appreciate it. If you want, while you're preforming the blessing, I can watch your back with something in case it decides to try and attack again." She offered. "Unless you think it would work better conducted alone, it's up to you."

"Fine," V muttered, still feeling bitter.

With a teary-eyed nod from Lilliana, V reluctantly sheathed her crucifix and opted for the Bible. She stepped back into the foyer, keeping a close eye on the railing of the hallway above them. It was still dark, the light of their flashlights barely cutting through from this angle, and it was quiet. However, for a brief moment when the whole group stood still and their breaths fell in sync, the faintest humming trickled down.

Noah, watching V bring out her Bible, cleared their throat. "I could try to talk to the spirit. To calm it down at first so you"---they looked at V---"can focus on the blessing." After a couple blank looks, they continued. "I'm studying to be a therapist. I just thought it could be helpful."

V nodded. "Fine. It's not exactly friendly---shocker---so a distraction would help."

"I like to think of it less of a distraction and more as a kindness," Noah said. They straightened out their flannel, tugging on the ends, before starting back up the stairs. A few deep breaths worked to calm most of their nerves, but once the anxiety was gone, they were left with sadness for the spirit. They kept going back to its jerky movements, lashing out, the noises... Shaking their head to clear it, they planted both feet on the landing, and, allowing themself a brief moment of comfort in the murmurs from V, Raine, and the Lopezes down below, called out. "Hello?"

From down the hallway, the humming grew just barely louder, and more mournful. Like an elegy sung for someone who'd already passed, in an ironic sense. Judging by the distance and echo, it was coming from the ghost's room; the place of its death, no doubt, however that may have happened.

Noah walked down the hallway, closer and closer to the humming noise until they were standing face to face with a door towards the end of the hallway. Looking back a final time, they took a deep breath and knocked before slowly creaking the door open.

Standing near the window, its back facing the door, the entity was standing motionless. Its shadowy manifestation was faint, seeming to fade completely out of view every other second. Almost as if it had already spent a lot of energy.

Noah bit their lip and walked further into the room. They winced as they stepped on a noisy floorboard, causing a reverberating creak that made the being whip around. Noah held up both their hands, crouching and leaning back away from the spirit in their best attempt at a nonthreatening posture. "Hey. Hi. I'm just here to talk. Are you..." they swallowed. "Are you alright?"

The spirit didn't respond, keeping its head low. It had stopped humming, as if nervous or confused.

Noah knelt slowly, before sitting all the way down. "I'll just wait here, okay? And you can come to me. Or you can stay there. I won't get any closer, though."

The spirit stayed where it was, silent and still.

Before, to their surprise, it finally spoke. Its tone was distorted, quiet, and raspy.

"Where's grandpa?"

Noah felt their face crumple before forcing it back into a neutral expression. Judging by the spirit's question, it didn't know that its grandpa had recently passed. It was probably best to not break the news; it had already proved to have a volatile mood, and there was no telling how it would react. "He's... out. And he asked me to stay with you for a bit. I'm Noah. Do you have a name?"

The spirit paused for a very long moment, fading out of view before coming back. It quietly spoke, "Ben."

Noah smiled. "Hi, Ben. It's nice to meet you. Is it okay if I ask you some questions?"

They could barely see him nod in the dark.

"How long have you been staying with your grandpa, Ben?"

"Don't remember how long..." He paused again. "Mama left us...Brothers grew up and moved out, but I didn't. Grandpa was the only one. For so long..."

Noah frowned, thinking back to the family photos. Now that they thought about it, they didn't remember seeing a mother in a lot of the later photos. Raine's description of the myling echoed in their head, too. It seemed like her prediction had come true.

"Why didn't you move out when your brothers did?" Noah asked.

"I'm stuck. In this house. In this age..."

"Do you remember how you got stuck?"

"I was sick. I think it was the sickness..." He looked down. "Nothing changed since I got sick..."

Before Noah could ask another question, Ben suddenly let out a croaky groan of fear, stepping back defensively. His eyes were locked on the doorway. He wasn't disappearing or attacking -a good sign- but it was backwards progress nonetheless.

V's voice muttered from the area, "Of course it does this now."

Noah turned, looking over their shoulder at V. "This is Ben. He's been living here with his grandpa."

V's blue eyes gained a glint of understanding. "The one who just..."

Noah's eyes widened as they started surreptitiously shaking their head. "I was just about to tell him that we're going to try taking him to his grandpa."

V sighed heavily. "Right..."

She turned slowly to the entity. She wasn't good with either kids or spirits, so in trying to find something to say, she felt an incredible sense of awardness. She barely managed to form some words, and a (barely) less blunt tone, and choke them out.

"So, uh, kid -I mean, Ben, uh..." V held up her Bible. "Would you be okay if we did something that would-"

Ben stepped back with a wary glare. It was a discouraging sign, but not surprising after V had used several hostile methods already.

V sighed, "Figures. You're gonna have to keep him calm."

Noah smiled at Ben once more. "This is V. She wants to help you. I know she was a bit scary earlier, but she didn't mean to frighten you."

V muttered, "I mean technically, I was-"

Noah shot her a silencing glare.

V corrected herself, "But, I won't do it again. This book is a powerful tool, not like the other stuff I was using. It will not only help you, but it will bring you to your grandfather. Is that what you want?"

Ben stayed still for a moment. He didn't get any closer, but he very reluctantly nodded.

"See?" Noah said. "She just wants to help."

Ben calmed down slightly, but stayed stiff -still guarded- when V stepped closer. She opened the book to a certain page and started speaking calmly.

"Heavenly Father, we lift up this precious child to You. Surround them with Your love, guide their steps, and fill their heart with Your Spirit..."

As V recited the prayer, the words seeming to calm Ben down, she very slowly brought out the vial of holy water, but only to wet her fingetip and draw a cross onto the ground with it. In response to the prayer and symbol, Ben's figure seemed less shadowy and his eyes less glazed, as if he was slowly starting to look like his normal self. The dense, haunted air of the room started to lighten.

V finished the blessing; "Amen."

As soon as it was over, Ben stood with a faint yet almost glowing figure, like he was a normal healthy child again.

He was even able to smile. "I feel better now..."

Then, to the surprise of both Noah and V, his figure completely faded from view. Not like a spirit that had been defeated by the wrath of a hunter, but a spirit finally unburdened by a curse, able to move on.

Noah sniffed softly, a bit teary-eyed. "I hope he gets to his grandpa." They turned to V. "Thank you, really. I know this wasn't what you normally do."

"Yeah..." V hesitated for a moment. "You know, you have a way with ghosts. A lot of people who try to communicate with them, even on good terms, don't get answers that genuine -and they usually walk away with some level of injury or terror."

Noah shrugged. "It's really just like talking to anyone else with trauma. You just have to care."

Though the words made V stop and think for a moment, she quickly sneered, "Sure. Let's get out of here."

Noah nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

V stormed back down the hallway, where Lilliana, Fernando, and Raine were waiting eagerly. As if the impact of the blessing -and lack of a haunting- was felt by more than just them.

Lilliana confronted her. "How did it go? Did you actually use a blessing?"

"Yes, I did actually," V said flatly. "The house is cleared, spirit's gone. So, Raine..." She turned to her temporary partner. "It turns out you were right -but I swear, if you say 'I told you so'..."

"Don't worry, I won't." Raine said quickly. "It was simply an idea, I'm grateful it actually worked. By the way, did you or Noah happen to get anymore information on why it was here?" She asked, pulling out her journal eagerly to write things down.

"His mom left him and his brothers with their grandpa," Noah explained. "He got ill and then passed away, and I guess no one ever made sure he was finally at peace."

Raine's pen scratched across the fresh sheet of paper as she quickly jotted the information down. "I see... poor thing.." After a moment or two, she looked up again. "How about his name?"

"Ben, he said."

Nodding, Raine wrote that down as well before looking at the pretty much complete entry she had now with satisfaction. "Thank you."

Noah gave her a small smile. "Of course." Then, hearing whispers from behind, turned around to find the Lopezes engrossed in a discussion with each other. Fernando's eyes flicked towards them, and when he caught them staring, stepped towards the other three.

"We've got to get going," he spat out.

Liliana looked more apologetic when she stepped forward, but she nodded at what Fernando had said. "Though I wouldn't have said it so bluntly, he's right. We really should be leaving soon."

V just grunted. "Well, with the house clear, there's no point in me staying either..."

"I agree," Raine added, "if we stay here too much longer, there's a chance of someone noticing us as well. We've all already been in here for quite some time now."

Noah nodded. "Smart thinking." They paused. "Well. It was nice doing paranormal investigation with you all."

V sneered, "'Investigation.' Yeah, because that definitely wasn't hunting..." She looked away and mumbled, "But I guess it still worked, so..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Keep it up, I guess."

Raine smiled a little, "Either way, it was wonderful doing this with you all as well and meeting you. Even if we did randomly meet in a haunted house in the middle of the night."

Noah chuckled. "Yeah." There was a strange silence for a bit, as if no one wanted to be the first to leave.

"You know..." V reluctantly aimed her flashlight at Raine. "I've run into some cases where a journal like that would come in handy. The more information on how to slay, the better. And while it's stilll..." She hesitated, aiming her flashlight at Noah. "Weird, maybe I could use someone who can talk to these--" She bit her tongue and changed the word, "Ghosts. So, you know. We should exchange numbers, maybe?"

Lilliana looked unamused. "Is that the closest she can get to saying something nice?"

V shot her a glare, refusing to dignify a response.

"I would love to." Raine replied in a more upbeat tone. "I would appreciate being able to share my findings and maybe go on more hunts or investigations, whichever you fancy, with people who don't think I'm crazy."

"Me too," Noah said. "You can also never have too many friends." They grinned.

V remained silent for a moment, before -finally- cracking a small smirk, with a tone probably meant to be joking but still sounded blunt. "You guys are so friendly, it almost makes me sick. But whatever." She took a small card from her pocket. "If you need a hunter, you know who to call."

Noah seemed a little less enthused by that. "I would hope we don't need a hunter specifically, but noted."

"Mama, don't cry."

No matter how many times Liliana repeated herself, her mother didn't stop. For days and days, all she did was cry. It was like her mother was reduced to an infant. In those days following the fire, Liliana had to learn to care for her mother and Fernando at once, almost replacing her as the parental figure in the family. Thankfully, she had spent much of her childhood watching her mom do housework, so it was not very too hard to learn.

"Mama, don't cry."

Still, the tears never ceased. It got to a point where Liliana began to grow annoyed.

"Mama, don't cry. Papa may be gone, but you still have us, don't you? Isn't that enough?"

And suddenly, her mother stopped crying. But on her face was not a warm smile, but a wild glare. It was a face that Liliana had never seen her mother make.

Her mother stood up, looking down at Liliana with angry eyes. It made Liliana realize just how small she was compared to the world of adults, a world that she could only pretend to be a part of.

Liliana's mother said with a low, seething tone, "How dare you say that about your father? The father who raised you? Don't you have any remorse?"

"Mama, it was just an accident!"

"No! I thought you and your brother, of all people would support me, but you're all the same. You all think he died in an accident! It wasn't an accident! It was a murder! A murder! You're a horrible daughter!"

After that, her mother kept bashing on Liliana with violent words, but Liliana couldn't hear anything else. All she could hear was the words "horrible daughter" echoing in her head.

I thought I was a good girl. I'm not a bad girl. I'm a good girl, right? Mama's just making a joke, right?

But even if it was a joke, there was no punchline; on the following day, her mother disappeared, and was never seen again.

Recalling that horrible memory, Lilliana felt her stomach ache. She kept her expression as stiff as possible to avoid letting someone see her with watery eyes and a quivering lip. Instead, she took in the night air, standing outside her car -which was parked just down the street from Ben's house.

She felt her brother's eyes on her though, and heard him stop next to her. She should've figured that it'd be harder to stay neutral in front of him.

"Ben was just like us, wasn't he?" Lilliana murmured.

Fernando furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? He was a ghost."

"Think," Lilliana said with a tone firmer than she intended. "His mother abandoned him -a sick little child, to someone who couldn't even care for him. like he meant nothing -him and his brothers. What if one of us was the one who was sick? With no one to help us, no one to reassure us. What if one of us wound up stuck in a decaying old house? What if one of us had to watch the other..."

She finally brought her eyes up to Fernando. Even though his face was as stern as ever, she could see genuine, troubled thoughts boiling behind his eyes.

Lilliana quickly looked away. "Fernando...I want to know the truth about Comte Arnau. I want to understand the paranormal and what about it turned mom the way she is. But these are people just like us; they suffer, they die, and you saw what V was saying. Even if she exaggerated, she had to find some nasty ghosts to be that way."

"So?"

"I don't know, I think..." Lilliana sighed, "I think we need some time to ourselves. I don't want to give up, but I need to do some serious thinking."

Struggling to make a sympathetic expression, Fernando awkwardly patted her shoulder. "I'll stick with you. You know, like usual."

Lilliana cracked a grin. "Thanks, Fernando. Come on, let's head out of here and get some sleep."

As they hopped in the car, Fernando asked, "Do you think we can grab something to eat at the convenience store?"

"Again?" Lilliana murmured. "Alright, fine..."