LSS: Dungeons and Detectives

Raine hummed softly as she dipped the tip of a quill pen into a jar of ink. Usually, she wrote with a regular ball point but on certain occassions, she felt as though it were right to write with the quill one.

The air smelled like ink and the comforting scent of earl grey tea steeping in the cup beside her while soft piano music played in the background as the dark sienna brown ink flowed in swirling cursive across the paper, springing from the delicate metal tip of the quill as soon as it touched.

It was times like this that Raine felt most calm and at peace.

She was excited for the job later but to the point that the anticipation was making her imaptient so she decided to slow down a little and take some time to herself where she wasn't worried about the bustle of life and work.

Reflecting on what had happened as of late, the cursive continued to flow nice and neat across the page in a letter addressed to her grandmother who didn't quite understand texting. She however, had taught Raine her amazing penmanship though and would be proud to see she had kept up with it. Raine also simply enjoyed writing letters the old fashioned way. It seemed like a forgotten art or dead language to write a letter to home when one could simply call, text, or send an email but that's what she liked about it.

Soon enough, the page was halfway full with a lighthearted summary of her week as she knew her mother would be reading it too. However, she hadn't even started going in depth yet about the curious happenings and events that she wanted to retell when she realized she would more then likely need another page for that. There was no way it would all fit on one, even if she were to write on the backside despite how much she despised doing so.

Grabbing a few more pieces of paper, Raine set them beside her tea before continuing to write.

I've learned a few more things about America this week. One of which happened to be that here, they call torches, flashlights. I'm not entirely sure as to why as I was provided with no explination but it's rather interesting. I will certainly have to look it up later. Also, earlier today actually, while looking at a menu at a restaurant, I discovered that here, what we call chips at home, they call french fries here. These french fries are also quite a bit oilier and thinner cut then chips back home, at least where I went anyway. Each restaurant's french fries appear to be different in some way or another.
The food there was delicious though and I even went with some knew friends I've made. V and Noah are very nice and I hope to stay friends with them even after my time here has expired. However, a new job opportunity has opened up to me, one that looks very promising, so I may not be moving from Ohio after all. It depends on where it leads me...

Raine paused for a moment, staring at the paper. How was she going to explain the job was about ghost hunting without making it sound like she had thrown everything away to chase something "nonexistant" as her mother would say? She could imagine the disappointment in her mother and grandmother's eyes if she explained further or even mentioned ghosts.

Raine knew her skills were important to the team and valued but she knew her mother would never approve. She had tried so hard to keep Raine away from ghost stories and darker paths but when you study history there really was no way around it. Raine's curiousity didn't help in the slightest, practically drawn to abandoned places after having visited the church grave yard for the first time. Maybe there was something that Raine didn't know as to her reasoning behind it. There was no way she would get her mother to tell her though, or her grandmother for that fact.

Tapping her pen against the rim of the ink jar in thought, Raine glanced over at her wrist where a beautiful slim antique wristwatch sat. It was a bright silver, matching her eyes and complimenting her skin tone with a mother of pearl watch face, dark numbers inlaid in it. Having been a gift for her sixteeth birthday, it was very special to her and no other watch by far could replace it. There was no need to replace it either; the delicate device had been loyally running for many years and hadn't steered her wrong. At least not yet.

The time on the watch read approximately 4:30, leaving her with plenty of time to finish or at the very least, partially her letter and trying her best to elpain her new potential job as a ghost hunter and inestigator without flat out saying so.

Raine continued to think, quietly sipping her tea as long minutes passed. She grabbed another piece of paper and began trying her bes to form an explination for her new job, deciding to label it as "historic investigation" in an attempt to make it sound high paying, important, and at least somewhat worth the time she had spent in college.

Once she was happy with the draft, she refreshed the ink on the nib of the quill and after another sip of her tea, ensuring not to let it cold before she drank it, began writing once more.

Not far off from my current job, with this one I will be doing a type of historical investigation work on active cases in the area. Don't worry, it's not in the criminal world; I was never much interested in going in that direction. It's a more narrowed down and specific job of what I was doing. So instead of looking at a brief overview of an entire town and its history, I get to dig deeper with this and look at the history of individual homes and their previous residents and how it all fits together. There are plent of growth opportunities with this as well if I am in fact hired. Speaking of which, I have an interview or sorts today that I am ecstatic for and an very much looking forward to. My friends are going to be there, interested as well but with slightly different aspects. With all of our different aspects though, we make a rather good team! I look forward to hopefully working as a team with them if this all ends up working out well and to our expectations...

Now that the part she was worried about was done with, Raine allowed herself to relax and continue leisurely writing. She explained the town and its shops, the history she had learned about it, and even began explaining her motel room and how she could hear the birds in the morning. On that topic and knowing her grandmother loved birds, she began explaining how they were different here in America as compared to England.

After quite a while, Raine realized she already had about three pages worth of writing.

"I suppose I got a little carried away, didn't I?" She smiled softly. "Oh well, she'll enjoy having something to do for a little while."

She glanced over at her watch again and blinked in surprise. Apparently, even though it had felt like quite some time for sitting there writing, it appeared to had only been about ten minutes as the watch now read 4:31.

She shrugged it off however, thinking nothing of it. That just meant she had more time to finish the letter and maybe even send it off when she went to go to the bookstore. If the post office as still open at that time anyway. She wasn't entirely sure how early things closed in such a small, quaint little town.

Dipping the nib in ink yet again, Raine began writing once more, finishing off the letter on a happy note with a couple more little things she was enjoying about her time here and her new friends. As soon as that was done she then signed it off with a cheery:

Best wishes from Ohio!
With love, Raine.

Raine happily looked it over, making sure everything was perfect. Okay, maybe the ending was a little bit cheesy and sounded touristy but it was alright. This was her first time in Ohio after all and even though it wasn't the most exciting state, there were still aspects of it she enjoyed discovering.

With a smile, she carefully folded the stack of papers in thirds and slipped them into a single envelope along with a small bunch of dried sunflower petals she had pressed. She then carefully sealed it and wrote the address on the front. She pulled out a small book of stamps now that that was finished and chose one she knew her grandmother would enjoy, a stamp with a little goldfinch on it. Admiring the finished work, she got up from her seat at the table then put the letter in her bag to drop it off at the post office later.

Though, according to her watch, she still had plenty of time before she went to do that and in the time remaining, sat down once more to relax and finish her tea, enjoying the calming piano melodies playing off her phone and humming along with them.

She happily sipped her tea until it was gone, luckily it not having gone cold in the time it took her to write the letter and finally get around to finishing drinking it. She gently set her cup down and looked at her watch again. Even though it felt like it had been fifteen minutes, her watch only read 4:41 still. Either her sense of time was incredibly off today or...

Raine hastily picked up her phone, stopping the music and checking the time to find it was much past 4:41. In fact, it was 5:23 already and she was incredibly late.

The echo of Sebastian's advising rang through her mind and she hastily sprang to her feet, hurrying around the room to grab everything she needed. Most of it was in her rental car still but she couldn't afford to forget anything. Once she thought she was good though, she headed towards the door, patting her pockets for the keys until she found them and scurried out to the car.

She unlocked it and tossed her bag in the backseat before getting in and buckling up. Though, when she went to put the keys in the ignition, there was none there, and no steering wheel either. Momentarily confused, she glanced over and saw the wheel on the other side and gave a frustrated sigh, unbuckling and getting out before getting in on the correct side. Apparently old habits where exceptionally hard to break.

Once she was finally on the road, one inconvenience after another decided to test her patience. First, she hit almost every red light there was. Then, she was stuck behind a tractor (what a tractor was doing in the middle of town, she had no answers for). And finally, for the cherry on top, she got stuck behind a train.

The day had been going so smoothly until all of this. All because her silly little watch had decided to stop working. Although, she couldn't entirely blame it. It had been years since she last took it in to be rewound.

She stared at it miserably, waiting for the flashing lights of the railroad crossing to go away anf for the bars to raise. Now, she would be not only stopping by the post office tomorrow but a watch or jewelry store as well, to spend the money she really didn't have.

Hopefully, this job would help change that though. Working two jobs would certainly give her a bit more income and a more comfortable life style as long as her first didn't want to move her somewhere else soon. Then, there might be a few problems. For right now though, everything would be okay despite the multitude of inconveniences she was stck in the middle of at the time being.

As long as she got to the bookstore and they hadn't solved the case already, maybe Sebastian would understand. She had been the one in contact with him most, relaying messages back and forth. That had to count for something, right?

The train finally left after a few minutes and the bars raised, admitting Raine through to continue on her way. The drive was a little smoother now and she soon made it to the bookstore, finding a parking spot comfortably close by. Getting out, she gathered her things and hastily put them in her bag, attaching what she could to her belt then hurrying into the bookstore.

The bell gave a cheerful ring as she entered into the cozy place, lifting her spirits a little as she glanced around, looking for the others. "Hi, I'm finally here! I hope I haven't missed too much of the excitement-"

A collab with @RangerofIthilien and @RavenAkuma

Hearing Raine announce her arrival, Noah and V's attention was redirected. It wasn't hard to figure out why she was so surprised. Even if she missed the shocking sign from the ghost, they were still deathly pale from the shock of the encounter, and V was still clutching the crucifix -something she only did when trouble was brewing. Even Sebastian, the supposedly more experienced, relaxed supervisor seemed surprised.

V pocketed the crucifix. "Hey Raine. If my math checks out, you are exactly on time for the excitement."

Noah laughed apprehensively. "Yeah. Excitement."

Raine followed V's voice before noticing how pale both her and Noah were along with Sebastian's slight tenseness and surprise. It wasn't often she saw V look like this and she knew V had seen a lot over the years.

"At least I didn't miss it I suppose." Raine replied. "Is everything alright? Anything I can help with?"

"We got some clues," V explained. "First of all, no traces of any fingerprints or footprints in UV, even when it was very well touching things and messing around. Knowing how inconsistent of a clue that is, that may tell us something, maybe rule out some ghost types. Secondly..." She pointed forward. "Well, show her your camera, Noah."

Noah clicked on the camera and navigated to the photo with the most spiritual presence, then turned it towards Raine so she could see. "Here you go. Take a look at that."

Raine peered at the pictures on their camera before giving a definite nod. "Those are ghost orbs for sure, let me see what that brings us down to."

Taking a moment to consult the other parts of her journal, she made a list of ghosts kinds, or "species" as she occasionally called them for fun, and began crossing out the ones with UV evidence as well as the ones that didn't produce ghost orbs. Once she was finished, she took a look at what was left and her shoulders seemed to fall a little, a slight frown appearing on her lips.

Raine glanced up and looked over at Sebastian. "Didn't you say the researchers had a mild idea of what the ghost could be and that this one wasn't as intensive."

Sebastian shrugged nonchalantly. "First part yes. Second part no, I think you assumed that. Also, somethings don't quite go as expected in this business. You can't expect us to know everything, we're learning just like you are. Just on a higher level."

Sighing, Raine turned back to her journal. "I really don't like some of the options on here..."

"It was laughing at the crucifix and didn't even slow down around it," V explained. "Not the typical reaction you would get, to say the least. I was afraid that may be a sign of something demonic..." She murmured, "Unless a demon would be more angry about it than cocky."

Raine shook her head. "It's not a demon. Demons would give at least something under UV and if there hasn't been any of that yet then I very highly doubt you will find any at all." She explained before going through the list. "What we do have left though is, yurei, raiju, revenant one of the most dangerous compared to the level of a demon, thaye, onryo, yokai, dark fae although I know next to nothing about them even though I'm certain they exist, and-" she gave a deep sigh at the last thing on her list- "mare."

V shuddered. "Greaaaat...." Taking a deep breath, she paused to think. "Alright. We need more evidence. Let's try getting a read on the EMF. Even if it doesn't go wild and count toward evidence, we may be able to track it that way."

Raine pulled the EMF reader off her belt as V suggested. "Very good idea. Do you have any leads as to where it could be so far? Any areas of-"

She was suddenly cut off as a book when flying off a shelf and landed on the floor, followed soon by another more directed at the group.

Raine skipped aside slightly as the book landed at her feet. "Well, I suppose that answers my question, doesn't it?"

Noah ducked as a book came dangerously close to their nose. Their glasses askew, they moved slightly away from the shelves, eyeing them suspiciously.

V nodded. "Is it just me, or is this ghost very unsubtle?"

Raine nodded a little. "I wholeheartedly agree."

Noah fixed their glasses. "Yeah. Seems pretty clear in its message to me."

"Just let me know if it decides to start throwing jars, knives, or bags of flour, alright?" Sebastian called over from the armchair. "I've had enough of that to last me at least a month."

V sneered, "Whatever."

"Thanks." Sebastian went back to writing on a clipboard he had pulled out.

While Raine booted up the EMF, V couldn't help inspecting the book that had been thrown at them. It seemed like an artbook telling a likely fictional story about a samurai, and on the page, it depicted the armored warrior cutting through the head of a dragon-like beast.

"Interesting selection, huh?" V muttered, picking the book up.

Noah's eyed the cover. "I'll say. I would have thought a reference book would do more damage. Though I guess they don't print much of those anymore." They looked over V's shoulder at the book. "Neat illustrations though."

The longer V stared at the sword slicing through the beast's neck, the more she took it as a threat and tried to brush it off.

Raine hummed softly as she walked over to the other book that had been thrown, kneeling beside it. As she held the EMF reader beside it, it started softly beeping, alerting of low yet still higher then normal EMF levels.

However, Raine appeared unimpressed and tried to take a reading again. "There's not much here but certainly something."

She got up again and began following the EMF levels around the small shop, waving the small handheld device around as she tried to get something more then a level two from the interaction. "So, has anything else happened while I was stuck behind a train?"

V leaned casually against one of the shelves. "Well, the owner of the bookshop told us a little more about what's going on. Nothing too intense or dangerous -yet. Just some mischief, throwing books around, especially in this study corner and that storage closet there. Oh, and she says she ruled out the possibility that a human would be behind it, but my rational mind tells me that's always a possibility. Especially with the mention of a girl she lets stay after hours."

"I think with what we just saw it certainly lessens the possibilities of that though." Raine smiled a little. "It clearly does like to throw books."

"Yeah, good point," V replied. "Just like to keep myself from sounding completely crazy. Well, to the outside eye anyway."

Suddenly, the EMF reader began squealing as it jumped all the way up to level four EMFs, right as the sound of the bell on the door could be heard. Raine glanced up to see what was making it go off when a young woman appeared in front of her, causing Raine to jump back slightly in surprise.

The woman had long dark hair that fell past her hips, fair porcelain skin, and deep dark brown eyes that almost looked entirely black. She seemed to be of Japanese decent at the least, shown in both the almond shape of her eyes to the way she dressed, wearing a more modern style dress with a black skirt that fell a little past her knees and a white kimono style top graced with pink cherry blossoms.

She tilted her head thoughtfully as she looked up at Raine, quite a bit shorter then she was by several inches. "Oh, I'm sorry for startling you, I thought you had seen me come it." She quickly noticed Sebastian, V, and Noah as well. "There aren't usually people here this late besides me. What are you doing here?"

"Huh..." V's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "So you're the one the owner was talking about. The regular who closes up after hours?"

The young woman nodded, smiling softly. "Yes, that's me. I also help out around here sometimes. She said kind things about me I hope?"

"Pretty much," V replied. "Let's just say you're not the only one she's been keeping an eye on, which is why we're here. I don't suppose you've seen anything sus-"

Noah cut in front of V, giving her a slight side eye. "Nice to meet you. I'm Noah, and this is V and Raine." Turning to V, they added, "I figure we should all be properly acquainted before any interrogating begins."

The woman smiled. "Of course. Lovely to meet you all as well. My name is Haru. Haru Kaname. Now, what were you saying about... whatever you were saying?" She looked at V inquisitively.

With the niceties out of the way, V continued her original point; "Anyway, I don't suppose you've seen anything suspicious around after the lady goes upstairs. Anything like unusual noises, objects moving on their own, maybe strange mist, shadows, or shapes? also, any cold spots or unusually glitchy technology?"

Haru shook her head, dark hair rippling as she did so. "No, I have never seen any of that." She paused for a moment. "Well, sometimes there's noises but I always thought it was Miss Amanda doing things upstairs. Usually though, it's nice and quiet." There was an odd way about how she said the word quiet, a slight hiss as if she were hinting that it wasn't right now despite it being just them conversing in the shop.

V chuckled, "That's about to change. We're in the middle of an investigation into said suspicious activities, since Miss Amanda keeps finding the place wrecked with no explanation and seemingly no human interference. In other words, the possibility of a paranormal entity. You can think of that however you may, but we'll have to stay for a while to figure things out."

A slight frown crossed Haru's face. "She's told me about that. I'm not sure what's going on. I always make sure the doors are locked up tight when I leave. Are you sure it's something paranormal though?"

"Thus far, almost definitely," V replied. "Which reminds me, we got a clue..."

Without any further explanation, V started looking around the direction the EMF had been aimed, around the front door.

Noah turned back to Haru. "Feel free to stay here--- I understand you use this to study. Don't let us get in your way." They grinned. "If you need us to quiet down, just say the word, and we will. As much as we can, anyways," they added, thinking about all of V and Raine's noisy paranormal investigation instruments.

She gave a good natured chuckle. "I will. Thank you for your accommodation."

Noah shrugged. "It's no problem. We're only here to help."

"Help," Haru echoed, staring off at nowhere in particular.

Noah cleared their throat, trying to dispel the awkwardness. They looked around for V and Raine and found them otherwise occupied, huddled around some ghost hunting contraption.

"So, Haru," they said, trying to reinvigorate their exchange. "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to the bookshop so regularly?"

"Oh, a bit of this and that," she answered. "Mostly studying. I enjoy local history."

"You'd get along with Raine," Noah interrupted. "She's got some job as a historian. Currently she's researching the town. Maybe you could compare notes, or something."

"Yes," Haru said simply. "Perhaps."

Noah felt the conversation turn awkward again. There was something odd about Haru; there was something distinctly cool, distinctly sad about the way she spoke. When V had been there, it had been less obvious, the two of them familiar enough to carry the conversation (though that, too, had been a short one). After some more thought, though, they realized they should have expected it. The kind of person to want to stay in a bookshop after hours was likely the kind of person to also hate conversation, especially with strangers.

Noah looked to V and Raine again. They were deep at work. Rather than disturb them from what was very likely important investigation work, Noah continued digging themselves deeper into the awkward conversation hole.

"Are you a voracious reader, then?" they asked. "I imagine there's a lot of it to do here."

She gave them a polite smile. "Yes. You could say that."

"I've been looking to get more into reading lately. I'm more of a visual arts person, but I think books are cool too. Are there any here you'd recommend?"

Noah watched as her eyes dragged over the shelves. Somehow, it gave the impression that she was reading all their spines, visually remembering which ones she'd had the pleasure of perusing.

"I like the fiction ones. The romances. Ones with happier endings." She was staring off into space again.

Noah tried following where her eyes landed, but they couldn't quite match the intensity of her stare. "Happier...? Happier than what?"

Haru blinked, suddenly surprised. "Happier? What do you mean?"

They frowned. "You said you liked books with happier endings. Happier than what?"

She gave a small, breathy laugh. "I misspoke. Happy endings. I like books with happy endings."

"Ah. I see." Noah nodded. "Don't we all?"

Haru laughed once more, higher pitched than the last. "I suppose. I don't know. I should be going, but I want to say goodnight to Miss Amanda first. What with all the eerie goings-on, it'll be comforting for her to have a friend, don't you think?"

Noah blinked slightly at the odd phrasing, but ended up nodding along. "Yeah. Yeah. Makes total sense. Thanks for the chat."

Haru simply nodded. "It was a joy to meet you and your acquaintances." With that, she vanished up the stairs, moving so softly it was almost otherworldly.

While Noah had been conversing with the woman who had so randomly joined them, Raine was near the door, looking as to where the EMF had actually come from and if she could pin point it. Though, as with the rest of getting to the bookstore, she seemed to be having the hardest luck.

"You just had a signal," V murmured. "What happened to it?"

Raine sighed and simply offered V the EMF reader. "I don't know, ever since lunch I have been having the worst luck with everything. Would you like to try?"

"Sure," V murmured, taking the EMF.

However, aiming it around the same area, focusing on anything the ghost may have brushed past, the needle barely ticked past one. A bit unnatural, but nothing major whatsoever. A microwave could do more damage. In the meantime, Noah was conversing with the woman, but V ignored it and figured they would catch up on anything important later.

V grunted with irritation, handing the device back. "Nothing. Maybe the signal spiked when whats-her-face came in because the ghost charged her, or something. Hopefully it didn't go upstairs to pester the owner..."

"Maybe, although she didn't seem started like it did." Raine replied, attaching the EMF reader to her belt again although keeping it on to continue looking for signals. "I sure hope it didn't move upstairs. That certainly wouldn't be good for any of us."

"Right..." V's looked around. "Nothing critical on the EMF thus far, nothing in UV, and the odd ghost orb..."

"Would it be safe to say we don't have five on the EMF?" Raine asked V, looking for her opinion as the more experienced of the two.

"Right now, probably not, but maybe it'll change as we go. In the meantime, what else is there to look for? This is usually where I start trying to get rid of it, period, but we don't even know what it is. And usually that's not a huge deal, but it's not intimidated by my tools, which could present a huge problem with containment..."

"Have you tried ghost writing or checking the temperature around here yet?" Raine asked. "Those could help us narrow it down." She hummed softly in thought. "As for your tools, that either means it's powerful or from a different culture. We do have quite a few from other cultures on the list."

V blinked hard, surprised. "Oh, yeah! Huh..." She paused to think, then pulled a very old-school thermometer from her pack. "I can check for temperatures now, but I left my-" She bit her tongue, not wanting to embarrass herself with her pathetic journal. "I mean, I don't have a journal."

Raine smiled and pulled out a pencil, having learned her lesson about giving the ghost a pen. "That's fine, we can put out mine. Hopefully it doesn't decide to write in every page."

V narrowly restrained a laugh. "Not gonna lie, if I turned into a ghost and didn't know any better, I would probably just completely scribble out every page just to tick somebody off. IF I didn't know any better!"

Raine smiled and shook her head, amused. "Of course you would." She laughed softly, setting the journal out beside where the books were thrown with the pencil. "Let's hope this ghost heard us and knows better now."

To help things along, V rushed to retrieve her runic candle, lighting the eerie reddish flame before setting it near the journal.

She stepped back. "Hopefully that helps things out..." She raised both hands. "Oh, spirits beyond the grave, come hither and...Whatever, just write in the book please."

Raine smiled and watched the journal from a short distance away. "That works, as long as they don't speak entirely in old english." She commented, trying her hand at a small jest.

"Something tells me it's not Shakespeare haunting the place, but you never know..." V bit her lip. "Okay, still working out the kinks in communicating with the spirits, but it could be worse."

V stepped back to give the book a bit of room, focusing on her thermometer in the meantime. It was a cheap thing she picked up from a drugstore, and took several minutes for the red fluid inside to adjust to the actual temperature. By the time it did, it was perfectly average. The same applied when she took it into the study corner, only to watch it drop very slightly. She could feel the chill for herself, and while a bit out-of-place, it was by no means enough to be considered unnatural, much less paranormal.

Pocketing the thermometer, V sighed and returned to the journal, where their group was able to rendevous. Raine seemed to be watching the journal with fading anticipation, while Noah had finished up their conversation with the newcomer.

"Anything?" Asked V.

Raine shook her head, still watching the journal as she leaned against the bookcase. "Nothing at all. Not even the pages have moved. Typically by now if it wanted to write it would have at least shown interest in it."

"Dammit..." V looked around, arching one brow. "Wait, where's the lady?"

Noah approached the two. "She left a bit ago. She went upstairs. Said she wanted to check in on the owner, just to make sure she's doing alright what with all the spooky happenings here."

Noticing they were having trouble, Sebastian got up from his armchair and set the clipboard down on the seat before walking over to the group. "Hit a dead end?" He asked with a raised brow and something between a smile and a smirk playing into his expression.

V's eyes narrowed. "We're doing just fine, thank you. We'll figure it out without any handouts."

Raine frowned a little, looking at her list in the open page of the journal. "We don't have some of the equipment that might be really helpful though." She reasoned with V before looking at Sebastian. "Last time, I noticed you used spirit box. Even though we don't have it now, you said we would be getting basic gear including this. Borrowing one for now may be incredibly helpful if you don't mind."

V grunted, crossing her arms in discontent.

Sebastian grinned. "Sure. I've got something else that might help too." He went over to the case and opened it, revealing a plethora of high end ghost hunting equipment, many of which the group likely had never seen. Out from the neatly tetrised equipment, he pulled what looked like a small radio. "Okay, who is best at talking to the ghost and in charge of most communication with it?"

Noah tentatively raised their hand, looking between V and Raine. "I'm a psych major and extrovert. I like to think I'm somewhat qualified."

"Definitely," V agreed. "The ease with which you talked down a myling? You've got a knack for communication."

"Alright, here you are." Sebastian handed them the spirit box before returning to the case once more. Next, he pulled out what looked like a small projector, almost like a children's night light.

With a grin, he walked over to V and offered her the device, both because she had been so against it and because of her skill. But mainly because she had been against it. "You look like you could find a good place for this with how you set up your candles. All you have to do is turn it on and set it in a spot with a large radius, just like the candles."

"Hmph..." V snatched the device with a challenging stare. "Fine."

Sebastian smiled back although there was a bit of challenge in his own eyes as well. "Perfect. I'll be here if you have questions on it. I assume you know how to turn it on?"

"Oh..." V blinked dramatically, feigning nervousness. "Oh jeez, um, I'm not sure mister. Is it the big clicky-thing on the side that's on every other piece of equipment too?"

Sebastian's voice took on a gentler tone as he sarcastically played along. "Oh no, no, sweetheart. That's the self destruct button."

"Oops!" V yelped. "Well, I'll save that for later then. Maybe in the back of your car would be a better place for something like that -but what do I know? I'm just a trainee."

Sebastian snorted softly. "Well I would like it returned back there once you're done with it if you don't mind. Wouldn't want to have to explain why I'm missing a near hundred dollar piece of equipment." He reached over and turned it on for her then turned away and returned to looking through the equipment in his case.

Ignoring the device as it projected hundreds of dots from a green light, V turned away, teeth gritting, and whispered quickly to her friends, "Guys, I have no idea what this is, but I don't want to give him the satisfaction of asking."

Noah winked. "Don't worry." They wandered over to Sebastian. "What exactly is that thing? I am actually new to this."

Sebastian looked up at them and grinned. "I would explain but I think it would explain itself better once it does its thing. So, you'll see."

Noah nodded, wandering back to V. "Sorry. I tried."

"Thanks anyway..." V groaned quietly under her breath. "Whatever, I'll get back at him later. In the meantime, I guess we'll let this do its thing. I'll set it down in the study corner since that seems like the most active area."

Taking the device over to the study corner, V paused to do a brief inspection. The door to the storage space was closed, and though some books had been moved around, that wasn't anything new for this ghost. V set the device on the ground; it seemed like the best spot, as it projected the green dots onto the ground, the walls, and even the furniture. A strange mesh of light that highlighted anything that passed through it. She knew it couldn't be that simple, but she wasn't concerned.

V stepped back. "Well, that's down. Noah, you want to try the spirit box?"

They looked down at it, tentatively grasped in their hands, then back up to V. "Do I just... turn it on? How does it work?"

Sebastian glanced over from rummaging in the case. "Need help? I use it all the time, it's not too hard."

Noah frowned, getting a wave of the arrogance from Sebastian that so-annoyed V. "Yeah, sure. It's just my first time using one of these, so."

Sebastian smiled and got up, heading over to Noah. "Of course. so you're going to want to turn it on with the switch on the side then use the dial on top to adjust the volume to a comfortable level for you. It will switch through channels and frequencies on its own and it will sound staticy but once it works, you'll know. All you have to do is start asking questions."

With him distracted, V stepped closer to Raine and whispered, "Would it be 'uncivil' of me to break something in that case? Just a lil' thing they'll find him liable for?"

"Maybe just a little." Raine whispered back. "I don't think he would decide to blame you for it as he seems to want us in on this but it would be best to keep on his good side if you know what I mean..."

V sighed, "Alright...I'll just have Liz jumpscare him later."

Raine struggled to suppress a laugh, remembering how much Liz had frightened her the first time she saw her. "That would do nicely."

Noah chose that moment to flick the switch on the side of the spirit box, filling the room with eardrum-rattling static. They cringed, fumbling with the top knob until it was at a more manageable level.

They grinned sheepishly at their companions. "Sorry about that."

V shrugged her shoulders. "I've heard worse. Don't worry about it."

Raine smiled kindly. "It's perfectly fine."

Noah, bolstered by their words of encouragement, faced upwards. Over the static of rapidly changing frequencies, they cleared their throat.

"Hi," they started. "I'm Noah. I'm here with some friends and we're just curious to know more about you."

Nothing but static, while the device on the ground was unchanged. Just the same series of dots against the same backdrop. V was trying not to acknowledge it, lest she signal to Sebastian that she didn't know what it was after all.

Noah turned to the others, self-conscious now that their first attempt didn't work. "Should I try asking a more specific question?"

"Well..." V paused to think. "What would you say to the ghost without the device? You did it before, I'm sure it's the same idea in this medium."

They nodded. "Right. Right. Got it." They cleared their throat once more and looked vaguely upwards, making sure their tone was even, calm, and inoffensive. "Not sure if you heard me the first time, but just in case you didn't, my name is Noah, and I'm here with some friends. We're just trying to help you. What can we do to help you? What's wrong?"

The static seemed to crackle that time -as if it was almost a response, but not quite. The room was unchanged too.

While the second failure was almost more disheartening than the first, Noah took a deep breath, settling into their new tool. They cleared their throat a final time. "I am here for you. We are here for you. Who are you? What do you need?"

The static crackled once more.

'POP!

Everyone jolted at the sudden pop, followed immediately by the lights failing. The entire building was darkened, even the streetlights mostly blocked out by the many looming shelves between them and the front windows. Now their only light source was the faint red light on the spirit box, and the series of green dots still outlining the area.

Noah gulped, wanting to relinquish the spirit box but acknowledging it was one of their only light sources. "I'm not sure the ghost liked that."

Raine blinked, eyes adjusting to the darkness as her EMF reader at her hip started whining. "Did it shut off the breaker?" She squinted at the needle on the reader then the little lights below it. "I have level three EMFs from that."

V slowly nodded. "I personally do not know how to interpret that response..." She stepped into the projection of dots. "And I thought this would be a lot more interesting than it has been."

There was a sharp gasp from Raine when she glanced up from her EMF again and back towards the group. "V! V look out!"

Suddenly, the dots outlined the invisible figure of a ragged, gangly ghost -taller than any of them, with frightening long limbs and wiry hair that snaked unnaturally. She wore a tattered robe or dress that barely covered her crooked legs. Even the folds of her menacing face, like a stereotypical witch, were outlined in the dots.

The figure staggered toward V, who jerked back and slammed into the shelf before managing to scurry away.

The figure staggered away, and at the edge of the projection of dots, it vanished once more.

V shuddered. "God..."

Sebastian's cheerful voice came from the side of the dark room where he himself was outlined in the eerie green light. "Good job! You just got DOTS for the first time! I'm proud of you!"

Staring wide-eyed at her friends, V whispered, "I don't know who I want to kill more, but how about we find a light first?"

Raine nodded, wide-eyed in alarm as well. "y.. yes, I'll go get one."

Scurrying out of the dark bookstore, Raine took a moment to steady herself. She leaned against the cold brick wall on her way to her car to get lanterns and flashlights and pulled her jacket slightly tighter around herself. She didn't want to leave her companions in there too long without her, but they seemed to have been doing okay before so a moment could be afforded.

Calm down, Raine, you're being silly. She internally scolded herself. It was just like Liz, a scary figure that couldn't actually harm you.

However, she didn't quite believe herself. V had seemed just as firghtened as herself, if not more, and that in and of itself scared her since she knew V wasn't scared easily. She even had a ghost as her personal servant practically! If that didn't say something about her, Raine didn't know what did.

Another frightening thought that crossed her mind was that she hadn't seen the ghostly hound in a cool minute and the longer she didn't see it and it didn't make its regular appearances, the more nervous she got as that increased its chances of ambushing her.

She was beginning to wonder if this how those with fatal illnesses felt, never knowing what day would be their last, always wondering and waiting for death, or in her case, the embodiment of it, to ambush and whisk them away.

So far, the hound seemed to have kept away for the most part when she was with others. It only liked to go after her when she was alone, if it proved to be after her at all. She had yet to decide if it was a companion or a danger. She hated having to go out alone at night though. Driving wasn't too bad, knowing she was safe in the car and it couldn't get in, but walking was a different story. There were plent of places for it to hide in the dark and jump out when she least expected it.

At this point, with how much she had been in her own mind, she wasn't sure what was more terrifying; the thought of something potentially ambushing her out of the dark or directly seeing something that she at least knew didn't like her.

Determining both were equally terrible, she pushed herself away form the wall and headed to her car. There she pulled out her keys and popped the trunk, fishing out a lantern and flashlight. Hopefully just those would be enough. She would have retrived the others for Noah and V but found that more then likely would have been incredibly rude to do so as it involved going to their vehicles without a specific request to do so from them. That was something she was not willing to do, so she settled with the two light sources she had and turning on the flashlight, headed back to the bookstore.

Raine was very careful to keep her eyes on the dark alleys around though as she made her way down the street, watching for any sign of movement, any dark shadows or figures. Yet, there was nothing, leading to a feeling of deep seated unease somewhere between relief and anxiety.

The small bell at the top of the door rung, much too optimistically considering the current situation, as she entered. Her EMF reader was already whining softly at her side and seeing how pale Noah and V's faces still were in the bright light of the flashlight, she wondered if hers appeared the same. Sebastian didn't count in the group as he still looked absolutely thrilled by the fright the three had all just experienced.

Carefully, she set the lantern on a table and turned it on, watching as it lit up the room so the green light from the device seemed a little less ominous.

Having gathered her wits about her once more for the most part, the light providing a source of mild comfort and reassurance, Raine carefully went over and picked up her journal. As she suspected, there was no writing in there from the ghost. It seemed stubbornly against communicating this way. Luckily, the journal would help in other ways.

Glancing over at Sebastian, Raine decided to give in and ask him a few questions. "You said what you gave us to use... was DOTS, correct?" She inquired after looking at her lists of evidence.

Sebastian grinned. "Mhm! Does that help determining what it is at all?" By the way he smiled, he clearly knew the answer to the question already but wanted Raine to answer him in, as Raine assumed to be, a sort of test.

"Well..." Raine began. "It does eliminate some of the dangerous ones we were worried about, which makes me feel a little better. There are still a few on the table though, namely yurei, raiju, thaye, and yokai."

Sebastian happily nodded. "Good, good. See? The researchers know what they're doing. And even if they didn't I wouldn't send you guys after a demon or something on your first job." He gently patted Raine's back in what was meant to be a comforting or encouraging gesture.

Raine shifted uncomfortably away, not being too inclined on physical gestures at least until she knew the person well. She liked her space and even though she knew he was just trying to be friendly and encouraging, she didn't like it all that much.

Frowning a little, she began to explain the rest of what was on her mind. "You see, some of them can still be incredibly dangerous under the right conditions. We still have to be careful and not get ahead of ourselves. A young thaye for example, is strong and fast and almost as dangerous as a revenant for a short time because of this."

"Considering how slowly it was moving in the DOTS I very highly doubt it's a young thaye." Sebastian countered.

Raine sighed. "Still."

Hearing Sebastian's patronizing attitude, V slowly raised her fists in preparation to do something, before Noah quickly gestured for her to tone it down. At this point, it felt like even if Sebastian had something useful to say, she just wouldn't take kindly to it.

With that, Raine walked back over to Noah and V. "Did you learn anything else while I was gone?"

"Nothing yet," V muttered. "It didn't appear again, so maybe it's lurking around somewhere."

Raine nodded slowly. "Maybe... Hopefully it's tired out after all it's done and it will give us a little time to find out more."

As if in spite of her response, a book from one of the shelves was thrown at Raine.

Her eyes widened and she narrowly managed to dodge it as it flew past her head. "Nevermind then."

V grunted. "Not gonna lie, I kinda appreciate the energy, but that's going to get annoying real fast."

Noah nodded. "For sure. Though who knows? Maybe we'll get a good reading recommendation out of it." They scanned the covers. Once more they appeared an odd mix of books to throw; the large picture books meant for accent tables in living rooms were noticeably absent, though one would expect them to do the most damage. They noticed a couple romance books in there, through the typically cheesy covers; it seemed a strange choice if the intent was to scare the group.

V adjusted one of the lanterns, illuminating more of the space. "Hey Raine, I'm gonna grab another lantern and flashlight from the Trans-Am. Could you try another sweep with the EMF? A lot of things are being moved around, so we may just get a signal."

"Of course." Raine unclipped the device from her belt, glancing at the needle as it was still on. "I'm still only getting low readings but I'll try to see if I can track it down again."

V nodded. "If we can corner it, I can try something else -I think."

Raine nodded. "It's worth a shot."

V hurried back to the front door, spinning her keys on one finger, leaving her two friends in the mostly-illuminated shop. The bookshelves still cast many eerie shadows that restricted the reach of the lanterns.

Raine waved the EMF reader around in a full circle, watching to see when she got a spike. Once she found a direction, she began following it, stopping and doing a 360 whenever she lost the signal. Luckily with everything happening, there was at least a readable trace which she managed to follow.

After a while, she found herself going in circles around a bookcase, books randomly flying off at her every now and then. It appeared that the ghost was toying with her and by the faint eerie laugh the could be heard, was enjoying it greatly.

Raine sighed and was just about to stop following it when her EMF reader surged up to level four. Excitement coursing through her, Raine quickly followed the signal until it led her towards the back of the shop and into the back closet, well more like room with how big it was, and kept going off.

She waved the flashlight around, using it and the EMF reader to examine the room and find exactly what was causing the signal. However, she only saw boxes of books, some unopened, some not, as well as tall stacks of books from already opened boxes. Her brow furrowed in mild confusion and she continued to search until the EMF reader suddenly went dead.

"Really? I thought I just replaced your batteries not long ago." She mumbled, tapping it with a frown.

Then, suddenly the reader went wild, beeping in a variety of tones. Raine only had a moment to glance up, staring in horror at the ragged figure that had appeared in front of her. It was an old woman with a face that looked similar to Haru's but much, much older. Her hair was long, white and tangled, a tattered grey kimono hanging off her near skeletal, hunched form. Her hands, nails long and claw like, reached for Raine who didn't have a chance to scream before her flashlight and EMF reader both fell dead.

In the darkness, Raine felt the ghost's cold hands grip her as she tried to get free, one over her mounth, keeping her from making any noise. She struggled but no matter how much she did, the ghost was stronger, claw like nails digging into her skin. A wave of tiredness soon came over her, so strong that she was forced to stop fighting, her equipment falling to the ground beside her as she heard a voice whisper softly in her ear, sounding like Haru yet also not, a mix of a language she did not understand and yet one she did.

"ごめんなさい。あなたは行くべきでなかった場所に迷い込んでしまいました."

"I'm sorry. You have wandered where you shouldn't."

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

Outside, in the rest of the bookstore, things had gotten wild. The DOTs projector was flickering, creating almost seizure inducing conditions before Sebastian finally managed to turn it off, cursing quietly. No books flew off the shelf in the disorienting conditions luckily but the lantern was flashing and the spirit box was cutting in and out with static, a jumbled mess of words barely coming through.

Sebastian hurried for his case and pulled out a box like device, just in case, and began looking around, shielding his eyes from the light of the lantern with one hand. "Do we have everyone? Where is V and Raine?"

Noah raised their arm tentatively, rooting in their messenger bag with the other in search of the small flashlight they'd brought with them. "I'm here. V was getting more lights. Raine was... doing some investigating, I'm pretty sure."

In the meantime, the front door's bell jingled anticlimactically as V popped back in, and immediately flinched. She had to squint as the DOTS' already obnoxious light was now made worse by the intense flickering.

"What the hell happened?" V muttered. "Is this ghost trying to make us seize to death or something?"

"There you are." Sebastian replied with a hint of relief. "As far as I know, yes. Now has anyone seen Raine? We're missing her and now's not a good time to be missing people."

V flicked on the spare lantern and flashlight she brought in. "Do I look like I know? I told her to do another sweep with the EMF, then went outside. Noah, I don't suppose you saw where she went?"

Noah shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I'd say she's somewhere in... there." They gestured widely to the rest of the bookstore.

"Well this place is tiny, it can't be that hard," V muttered.

Without a hint of hesitation, she stormed deeper into the store, aiming for the ever-active study corner. An initial glance revealed nothing, but the door to the back closet had been left suspiciously ajar. A minor yet noticeable flaw in comparison to the state they left this area in. With a subtle gesture to Noah, V crept toward it.

Unsure whether to follow, Noah wavered. Perhaps their services would be better appreciated picking up the books the ghost had been hurling all around the store. They weren't scared, exactly-- just worried they'd simply be a burden to V. Even though they didn't want to, they kept thinking back to how useless they'd been with the mare. They didn't want that to happen again, V having to pick up their slack once again. They chewed on their lip, deliberating.

After a moment's pause, they followed her further towards the closet, their desire to make sure she was safe overcoming whatever trepidation that had halted them before.

The entire way, a dark aura was pulsing from the pitch-black crevice left between the door and the frame, like the frigid, foreboding essence of the ghost was pouring through. Despite her years of experience and stubborn mind driving her forward, V couldn't help shuddering a bit, goosebumps breaking out along her limbs.

Taking a deep breath, V forced the door open and shone her flashlight inside.

Just as quickly, they froze. V's attempt to call Raine's name was stopped, the word lodged in her throat to the point she choked.

A horrible creature resembling a crooked old woman, previously focused solely on the restrained Raine who was now on her knees, paralyzed them both with one foul look. Her bleak eyes were like a void of pure death, spelling their impending doom.

At the same time, a baffling sound crossed their ears, like two voiced overlapping. One an old crone speaking a language she didn't recognize, and one was a suspiciously familiar young woman speaking English.

"あなたは私の意図した饗宴ではなかったが、十分に役立つでしょう."

"You were not my intended feast, but you will work just as well."

When the creature spoke, Noah, who had been slightly behind V, struggled to see what was happening. All they knew was that the dark and cold around them suddenly felt oppressive. V seemed affected somehow, struggling in the doorframe.

The voice had startled them. The spirit box, which they'd barely registered they'd still been holding, had echoed the voice perfectly. Too disoriented to fully grasp what it meant, Noah focued on V.

"V?" they hissed. "V, are you alright?"

V heard them, but failed to get words out. She fought to move, but invisible restraints seemed to hold her down. She could feel invisible claws digging into her skin, pinning her arms to her side, and like there was a ball and chain on either foot. Her thoughts slowed down as the mysterious force began working its way into her mind.

'BZZZZZ!'

Suddenly, everything began to dissipate as her phone buzzed in her pocket, starting to play a the metal riff and screechy lyrics she had as her ringtone. The ghost hissed sharply in confusion and flinched, taking one of its claws off of Raine.

V quickly cranked the volume and threw her phone on the opposite side of the room.

The ghost charged and stomped it with one foot, shattering the screen and sending technologic bits everywhere. But with a split second opening, V ran in and pulled Raine up by the arm.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" She repeated rapidly in a panicked voice.

Raine gasped as soon as she was out of the ghost's clutches, her skin icy cold and pale. She stumbled to her feet, barely managing not to trip as V pulled her along.

Seeing the ghost ready to come after them again, but knowing everyone was accounted for, V hurried back toward the front of the store, passing a very surprised Sebastian.

"Noah, do you still have that salt?" V panted. "Can you form a circle real quick?"

Noah rooted through their bag, letting out a breath when they felt their hand close around the jar. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

They shakily screwed off the lid before taking a generous handful and haphazardly shaping a boundary around the group.

"Alright, that'll buy us a minute or two..." V exhaled heavily. "Are you two alright? Raine, what about you?"

Noah, though their heartbeat was in their ears, nodded. "I'm fine. Just trying to figure out what happened." They cast a worried glance in Raine's direction. "V's right. How are you, Raine?"

Raine was still leaning heavily on V for support, trying her best to catch her breath, although more in a way as if she had been drowning then running. She shuddered and clung to V's arm slightly. "That... that was... was horrible..."

V searched her pack to see if she had something that may help her, like perhaps a water bottle, but then she noticed Raine's journal half falling out of the holster at her side.

"Sorry," V said awkwardly, snatching out the journal and flipping through the pages. "You just, calm down, alright? I mean, you said it can't be that bad of an entity left, so..." Her eyes narrowed. "Which one is it..."

Seeing how organized and full the journal was, V tried not to get envious, internally cringing at the thought of her own terrible pocketbook.

She took a deep breath, but still looked frazzled, struggling to recall everything on the spot. "Noah, what do we have? Oh -wait, Raine, did the EMF ever tick past five?"

Raine shook her head, a little color starting to return to her face now so that she looked less like a ghost herself. "No, it only went to four..."

V struggled not to cringe as the words slipped out. "What did you see? Wait, I mean -if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well... I was following the EMF and it started to flick all over the place.. then it went out and when it started again, whatever that was was in front of me..." Raine shuddered again. "Then it went dark..."

V looked down. "Sorry, we shouldn't have split up like that. I've watched enough horror movies to know better, but I'm still not completely used to having a team..."

Noah gave a weak chuckle. "I get it. We'll stick together from now on."

Raine nodded a little. "I like that plan.."

Once Sebastian got over his surprise, he shot the ghost an incredibly annoyed look, flipping a switch on the box-like device in his hand. "I had a feeling. You know, I really don't take kindly to someone trying to kill my new recruits." He frowned and flipped another leaver down, the low hum of energy emmiting from it as he spoke commandingly. "Get back before I trap you in here like a cuckoo bird in an acorn."

Hissing in confusion from the odd phrase, the undead hag stumbled back away from the group and Sebastian who stood between the them. When he tried to lunge with the device though, the ghost quickly retreated to the closet once more and disappeared, the active devices in the shop returning back to normal instead of trying to give them all seizures.

Sebastian grumbled and turned the device off before glancing back at the three within the ring of salt. "Everyone alive?"

"Yeah..." V said bluntly, "And before you ask, find your own salt."

Sebastian snorted, a hint of haughtiness in his attitude now. "I don't need it. We already know where this ghost is at."

V's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What are you saying? What is that thing?"

"This is a fancy tool we use to contain spirits." Sebastian grinned at her, a bit of his ego shining through once more. "You trap them inside then you can figure out how to deal with them later. Makes your work a lot easier if you ask me. Then you don't have to make a ring of salt every time it decides to go boo and jump out at you."

"Big deal," V said flatly, even though she was impressed. "And it's not every time, I was just making sure Raine was okay."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"I confront the ghosts head-on, guns blazing," V said in a challenging manner. "You rely on all the fancy stuff and taking the spirit out of hunting. What is it..." She smirked. "Are you scared of ghosts, Simon?"

Sebastian laughed, grinning again. "Oh no, you've got it all wrong, Angel." He chuckled, taking a play on her last name in counterance. "You have to get the ghost to hunt you before you can catch it."

V clenched her fists. "Babe, I'll make you rethink calling me angel real quick."

Noah cleared their throat. "As entertaining as you two are, I feel like we should probably return to the main thing at hand, right?" They gestured towards the closet door.

"You're right..." V turned away. "The adults have work to do."

Sebastian smiled. "Mhm, we sure do."

V whispered, "I won that, if anyone asks. Now..." She looked back down at the journal, slowly flipping through the pages. "That ghost had some unique clothes, and when it spoke, there was a second voice behind it. Almost like the ghost itself was possessed by something, but I don't think we can do anything about that right now, given my methods were ineffective. Still..." She glanced back at her friends. "Would you say that was Japanese you heard?"

Raine, who had been quiet up until now just sort of getting a bearing on the land of the living again, nodded slowly. "Yes? Or some other asian language if not that."

Noah nodded. "I took an intro Japanese course once. I wasn't very good, but it definitely sounded like it." They turned to Raine. "Does that help with any identification?"

V handed her journal back. "There are a few in there, and the yokai lines up with some of what we have, right?"

Raine carefully took it. "Yes it does." She then paused. "Wait, you heard it too? How did you hear it? It only sounded like a whisper in my ear."

"I don't know, and hopefully we don't have to worry about finding out," V muttered. "The only problem is that we only got ghost orbs and DOTS evdience to prove it. We never heard anything on the spirit box, did we?"

Noah blinked. "Oh wait. I meant to tell you. There was... back there. When everything got all screwy and dark and cold. When we heard the Japanese, I'm pretty sure it came out of the spirit box, too."

V perked up. "Really? Then that would confirm it."

Raine took out her pen and made a few notes in the journal before looking up with a smile. "It's a yokai then!"

"As a matter of fact..."

V stepped outside the ring of salt, pushing past Sebastian toward one of the shelves where several books had fallen out. They seemed a bit random, but there was a theme to some, including the one that had made her uneasy earlier. Then, as she returned to the study area, she found something much more interesting. It didn't take long, flipping through its pages, to find what she wanted and rushed back to her friends.

She held up the book, reciting the description, "'A translated book based on Toriyama Sekien's collection of yokai literature.' And check this out."

She held the book open on a specific page, revealing the illustration of a hideous old crone in a tattered kimono, with the term 'Yamauba' in prominent writing.

Noah looked over the creepy picture, chewing on a lip. "What's it say?"

V paused to look through the pages again. "The mountain witch. Yamauba is a dangerous yokai typically only found deep in uninhabited terrain. She subdues her victims after luring them far astray, then..." She went a bit pale. "Devours them...."

Noah's mouth fell open. "Devours? That, um... doesn't sound too pleasant." They blanched. "Is that what was happening to you and Raine back there?"

"Seems likely..." V shrugged her shoulders, trying to spin the grim mood a bit. "Joke's on her, I live on cheap junk. My arm alone would give her a heart attack."

Noah gave a small laugh, still hung up on the possible horrific fate that potentially awaited them should they fail the mission.

Raine gave a weak and faint smile but still looked horrified, her eyes wide. "That's probably why she went after me then."

Sebastian had been keeping a close eye on the closet while they spoke and finally turned to the group again. He shook his head a litte, seeing the state of the three before checking his watch. "It's getting pretty late. We should probably clean up and let Miss Amanda have a little bit of peace and quiet for the night. We'll resume the job tomorrow now that we know what it is but that gives us a bit of time to come up with a plan. I would offer dinner but it looks like you all could use some rest so why don't we all meet for coffee or something in the morning?" Sebastian suggested.

Raine nodded a bit. "I think that's a good idea. I don't know if I can really even eat right now honestly..."

Noah murmured in agreement as well. "Coffee sounds perfect. Really perfect."

"Yeah I barely stopped from puking up what I have," V muttered.

Sebastian nodded. "I figured. Now, I'm going to let her know that we're going to be leaving and we'll be back in the morning. You all decide where we're going to discuss the plan tomorrow and I'll be back."

He left the group and began to head towards the stairs. Climbing up, he knocking on the door at the top and began speaking to Miss Amanda about their plan.

Raine glanced at the others. "Anyone have ideas on a location? I went to a cafe not long ago that was really nice, we could meet there."

V nodded. "Could always talk over coffee."

Raine nodded. "I think it should work well. So, meet there at whatever time Sebastian decides I suppose?"

"Sounds wonderful." Noah looked around their bag, sensing that everyone was leaving soon. They checked to make sure they still had hold of everything they had come with. They realized they still had V's jar of salt, so they handed it to her. "I believe this belongs to you."

"Thanks," V replied. "I do need this for ghosts, and the occassional chicken breast."

Raine smiled. "Makes sense."

Sebastian came back down the stairs after a moment, taking them two at a time. "Alright, she knows we're coming back tomorrow. Where are we going for coffee?"

Raine pulled up a location on her phone. "I think here would do nicely." She showed the group a picture of the coffee shop with sunny yellow walls that she had visited.

Sebastian seemed to look at it critically for a moment before smiling. "Looks nice."

Noah looked over it. "I love that place! Definitely in favor of meeting to debrief there."

"I like it," V agreed. "Looks like a good place to talk things out."

Raine happily nodded. "Alright! What time?"

"How about nine if that works for everyone?" Sebastian suggested. "We don't want to keep Miss Amanda waiting too long with a yokai lurking in the store room."

"That should work for me." Raine agreed before glancing at her watch. "As long as I'm not late again."

"Actually, Sebastian, I think noon would be a good bet for you," V remarked, before subtly shaking her head to her friends, clearly not being serious about changing the time.

Noah, foreseeing the clashing that was likely to follow V's dig, gave an exaggerated yawn. "Well, I'd best be going. Big day and all that. It was a pleasure to see you all again. See you tomorrow at nine!" They turned on a heel, showing themself out the door.

"Goodbye," V almost mumbled, still focused on her new rival.

Raine smiled. "Good to see you as well!"

Sebastian waved. "Yep, see you there!" He then turned to V again, brow raised. "Noon? I would enjoy some extra sleep but I think something more like six would do better for you. You seem to get places early.

V shot him a taunting glare. "Whatever you say, almighty Simon. Just a warning for next time though, I can only be bossed around by weirdos for so long."

"Almighty? I sort of like the sound of that." Sebastian chuckled. "But please, call me Sebastian, Angel."

V's teeth gritted at the name. Someone found the only thing more annoying than being called her full name constantly by Liz, and she was not enjoying it.

You're getting jumpscared by a ghost in your bathroom later anyway... V took a deep breath and turned away, speaking with a sassy edge, "Whatever. Goodnight."

Raine smiled politely and stepped between the two. "I'll be headed out as well. Goodnight, Sebastian and we'll see you tomorrow. Thank you again for giving us this opportunity."

Sebastian smiled. "Of course, I'll see you both in the morning." He then looked directly at V however. "And sleep well, Angel. Try not to let visions of the yokai keep you up. I saw how scared you looked earlier."

Raine quietly gave an exasperated sigh and gently set a hand on V's back, trying to usher her out before she did something since Noah wasn't there anymore. V had the nastiest glare and clearly wanted to retort, but narrowly managed to bite her tongue for once.

As soon as they were out of the bookstore, Raine glanced over at her. "You handled that well, I know he can be rather... what's the word?"

V let out a loud snort, as if she choked on the amount of words ready to come out. "Oh gods, so many options to answer that with. But the point is, yes, I get it. And don't worry..." She smirked with a malicious expression that made one thing clear -mischief was brewing. "I'm fine."

The implication of that led to a small smile appear on Raine's face. "I assume you have a plan for vengence?"

"Don't worry, it won't kill him," V replied. "And..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, that's the only guideline I can really offer, but still."

"As long as it can't be led back to us then I have no bearing on it." Raine hummed, still smiling softly. "By the way, thank you again for earlier. I don't know what I would have done without you there."

"No problem," V replied. "If it weren't for you and Noah, I'd still be going into these things totally blind, only the motto 'shoot first, think never.' It's nice to actually learn about what we're doing for once."

"Of course. It's always better to know what you're up against, but even with that, skill is equally important." Raine said happily before being cut off by a yawn.

With that sign, V remarked, "I think you've been through enough today, Raine. You should find somewhere to park and get some sleep."

Raine nodded a little. "Hopefully I can manage to drive home.." Her voice turned to quiet mumbles, mainly to herself on the second part. "As long as that dog doesn't appear, I should be fine though..."

"Oh, you never mentioned you had a dog," V murmured.

Raine blinked, realizing V had picked up on the dog part. She gave her a slightly awkward smile. "Um- I don't exactly... It's kind of hard to explain..."

"Ah." V nodded. "I get what you mean, I think. Well, either way, I'll let you go now." She started back toward the Pontiac, holding back a sigh as she noticed something leaking from its front. "Goodnight..."

Raine nodded a little, giving a small smile in return. "Goodnight, and drive safe!" She wished before heading back to her car. One though prevailed in her mind though as she walked back to the silver rental. Does V actually know about it? How did she find out?

Though it wasn't entirely an unreasonable hour by the time Noah arrived back at home, they still felt exhausted. Alfie came padding up as they stepped in, and they knelt after stowing their key back in their bag to give him pats and scritches.

"What a night, Alfie," they murmured while scratching behind his ears. "I wonder if you can see ghosts, too. Wonder if I should bring you along to one of these gigs."

They had a brief vision of Alfie barking at a stray ghost orb, blinking it away before giving him a tiny grin. "That probably wouldn't be too good of an idea, would it be?"

Alfie only gave a brief pant in response, tongue lolling.

Rising back up off the floor, they went to the kitchen and poured themself a glass of water before fetching their laptop and settling at the table. They quickly looked over their emails before checking their school's platform, groaning as they realized they had an assignment to finish.

These past few weeks, it had been easy to forget they were still a student. Getting caught up in ghost hunting had just been so much more exciting; much more exciting than psych studies, at any rate. But regardless, they were paying to learn, and while it was much more affordable than other schools, it still meant they should put effort into it.

Thankfully, they'd taken this semester part time just as a break, and now they were glad. Had they had a full schedule on top of this? They weren't sure how they would have managed both classes and ghost investigation. Though, they supposed, it would have made for an interesting extracurricular.

They quickly scanned the study they had to read, answering most of the response questions before calling it a night, figuring they could finish it up in the morning. They also started a small draft of an email to Helene. Now that they were getting paid (much more than at the paper) they figured they should officially quit their job at the paper, though they'd been having a good time. It just seemed like the right decision; they hardly had time for both school and work as it was. They waited to send it, though, figuring they were better leaving it to the morning as well, tired eyes a poor editor especially for important messages such as the one they had written.

They leaned back in their kitchen chair, weak plastic back bending under the pressure. For some reason, their conversation with Haru was still rattling around their mind. The chaos with the yokai had pushed it out for a bit, but now that their surroundings were safe and altogether calmer, it returned to the forefront. Something about it just didn't mesh right with Noah, and they couldn't quite put their finger on it. They wondered if they could find anything about her, to try and put a name to whatever had rubbed them the wrong way.

The owner had mentioned her studying; Noah wondered if she went to the same university as them. There weren't too many in the area, and it couldn't hurt to check. They opened their laptop again, navigating to the student directory. Typing "Haru" into the search bar, they held their breath as it processed, combing through the entries. After it was done loading, they were faced with one result. They struggled to remember the last name, knowing Haru had mentioned it when she first introduced herself. They could swear it started with a K, though, and the Haru listed didn't have a 'K' last name. From the profile picture they could see too, that this Haru looked to be a man.

Interesting. It was possible she was still in high school, but she carried herself with grace and a sense of centeredness that felt uncharacteristic of a teenager. Perhaps it was part of her job, just like Raine did. Maybe she meant research over studying. Miss Amanda could have gotten confused.

They sipped their water, contemplating. It was too bad. While not exactly the most social, Haru had seemed like a smart individual, if a little melancholy. Given her name, too, she might have been a help translating whatever Japanese the yokai had uttered.

Closing their laptop once more, they polished off the glass of water, put the cup in the sink, and went to get ready for bed, anticipating the somewhat early morning they had the next day.

As soon as Sebastian got back, he set the case of ghost hunting gear beside the closet and flopped back on the bed, blowing a little bit of his hair out of his eyes.

"Wow, what a day."

The hotel room was a suite with a balcony, overlooking the nicer parts of the town and a large, nicely take care of park. It was the best and highest end room he could find in such an out of the way town in the middle of the midwest.

The bed was soft beneath his tired back and he practically sunk into the fluffy comforter. The room was an excellent temperature as well, being slightly cool but not cold. The lights shone cozily with a warm hue, accenting the dark green walls which made the room seem absolutely huge, the room already being rather large. Gold geometric wall hangings adorned the walls of the suite, giving it a luxorious yet lived in feel as well as the comfortable if slightly more modern looking furniture. The entire room was comfortable yet dramatic, dark and light at the same time.

In a way, he liked to think of himself the same way. Wearing anything other then black didn't seem to suit him quite right with the brilliance of his gleaming green eyes and bold ginger hair, it made him almost blinding and at the same time, allowed him to blend in with anyone else. Wearing black however, was the perfect balance. It allowed him to be mysterious and intriguing, capturing just about anyone's attention in an every day place, while also getting their attention on himself instead of simply what he wore.

The dark clothes had another purpose too though: they helped him blend in with the darkness when he needed to ambush or hide from a ghost. And he had to say, that alone had helped him out in quite a few situations.

Sebastian ran his fingers through his hair, sort of glad he didn't have to take another shower, he was much too tired for that. Two ghost cases in one day was a lot for anyone, himself included as much as he wouldn't admit it to anyone. At least he had taken a shower to get the flour off earlier though and luckily this time, no one threw salt at him.

Kicking off his shoes, he got comfortable and reached for the TV remote then began flipping through the channels. He found one that looked interesting enough and turned it on, seeing that Game of Thrones happened to be up next.

While ads played, he reached over to the room's telephone and dialed the number to order food. Eyeing the menu, he decided to go with a steak and a couple other things before hanging up and deciding to get changed into somthing a little more comfy and not ghost hunting equipment.

Rumaging in the dresser, he pulled out some sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt before heading to the bathroom. Quickly changing, he yawned then reached for his comb to untangle any knots in his hair, gazing into the mirror as he did so.

As the lights began to flicker behind him, leaving the room in long periods of darkness, Sebastian's brow furrowed. Certainly the best hotel in town wasn't supposed to have electricla problems. Something was amiss, especially as he looked back into the mirror, and found his reflection slowly warping, forming eerie uncanny sights.

Then, in the reflection, a set of bloody talons began to hover over his head, as if they were bracing to tear out his very eyeballs. He whipped back to look, but there was nothing.

However, as he looked into the mirror again, his reflection had been replaced by a mortifying old woman covered in blood, from her scraggly white hair to her very old-timey nightdress, bloody talong scraping the glass from the opposite side.

She screeched at him and slammed her fists against the glass, showing off her blood-stained teeth.

Sebastian reeled back in shock, practically tripping over the rug on the floor but managed to catch himself. However, he didn't run or even leave the bathroom for that fact. Instead, he lunged for the neat pile of ghost hunting equipment that had been in his pockets before and pulled out what looked like a decorative metal tear drop shaped object on a chain and a lighter.

"What do you want and what are you doing here?" He demanded almost breathlessly, chest heaving from the sudden adrenaline.

He snatched a spirit box from the small pile and set it up to see if the crone would speak.

The crone just snickered like a demented child. "Drop your toys, little boy. Didn't you ever hear the story about Bloody Mary? You repeat her name three times, Blood Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, and then your own blood..." She screeched as she lurched out of the mirror. "WILL PAINT THE GROUND YOU STAND ON!"

Sebastian ducked and quickly lit the inscence inside of its metal holder then swung it at her. "GET BACK."

The crone recoiled back into the mirror, coughing and waving her hand. "Ack -that little wench is going to owe me big time for this..." She leaned against the mirror. "Yeah, your blood won't be mine today, kid. But in the meantime..." She slowly stepped back. "Enjoy that little bonus round of your hunt, why don't you?"

In the mirror, she phased into the wall. At the same time, the lights were restored and the reflection went back to normal. Sebastian could've sworn she changed forms slightly when she had left the mirror to lunge at him, but at this point he was so done with ghosts that he didn't entirely care if she actually did or not. After all, many ghosts were shapeshifters and the researchers hadn't narrowed Bloody Mary in particular out very well. It was like they couldn't even find her. He was going to have to give them an earful about it tomorrow.

For now though, he simply grumbled and set the inscence down, trying to recover from the adrenaline and shock. This is why he never did two hunts in one day. Weird things happened afterward.

There soon was a knock on the door and he went to go answer it once he calmed down a little more. Once he answered though, he retrieved his food and sat down to eat, looking over the clipboard from earlier. Every field necessary was checked out in it. The group new how to track, how to identify, AND keep everyone alive. Granted barely, but they had still checked out.

That's when his phone rang.

Seeing as it was from Dutchman Paranormal, he picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello, do you have a report on the recruits for your team?" A cool sounding female voice asked.

Sebastian recogniced it immediately as the head of the researchers division, Isolde Bishop, responsible for finding potential recruits and scoping them out for the company as well as deciding if those higher up would make good researchers or not. She was typically very picky and had a habit of being able to see into someone's soul even if she couldn't even see them.

"Yes I do, Ma'am. If you'll log them into the system and send the gear that would be great."

"You know I need to see their resumes first. Preferably the report as well."

"Mrs Isolde, you've given me enough time to get back to my hotel and change, I don't have it written up yet but I can give you the information now. As for resumes, they haven't filled them out yet, give them time."

"A week at most is what they get to fill those out or else I'm opening the spots to others. And for the report, that's fine but I want a written one later for documenttion."

"I can work with that."

"Great, lets go over what you have then. Can they track paranormal activity?"

"Easily, They know how to use EMF readers, follow activity, notice cold spots, and probably more then they displayed. I did have fun showing them a DOTS projector though." He snickered.

"Simon." Isolde snapped slightly.

"Right, back on topic." He sighed.

"Can they identify it?" She asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Yes, they know how to put together evidence and come to a conclusion. even when they don't have all of the evidence they are able to figure out noticable traits like not being intimidated by a crucifix and items the ghost seems to be attracted to." he explained.

"Did they fully come to a conclusion as to what the ghost was this time?"

"Mhm, it was a yokai." he hummed, taking a bite of his steak.

"Did you let any of them die?"

Sebastian laughed. "Of course not! You don't have any faith in me, do you? Let one of them die, pffff. Why would I let one of them die? I don't want to fill out the paperwork!"

"One almost died, didn't they?"

"Yes... but they know how to take defensive measures in the field to counter that. They work well as a team and are able to ensure the survival of the others. No mater what."

"Good, that's important. Now what about offensive measures?" she inquired.

"I have yet to show them how to use our technology but with how easily they picked up on the spirit box I'm sure it'll be no problem. Angelus would be perfect at using them as she is capable of looking a ghost in the face and countering it. I assume she has her own methods as well, at least one of which involves a crucifix."

"Are you done with gushing over how amazing this one girl is and get back on the group as a whole?" She asked tiredly.

"I wasn't gushing, I was stating facts." He bit back.

"You were. Back on topic, Simon."

"Fine, what's next?" he sighed.

"Defensive measures."

"Excellent like I said. they are capable of defending each other from it and finding shelter when needed. Angelus' trick seems to be a ring of salt that she's taught the others."

"Back on the group as a whole. Stop getting distracted."

"You con't blame me, she sticks out the most. Even you would see her and that's what would stick in your mind. She's a girl with an attitude and a tailcoat, there's no way you wouldn't be able to notice her!" he exclaimed.

"I don't care. Get back on topic. Are they open to learning, adjust skills accordingly, and so forth?"

"Very."

"I think they'll be good for the job then."

"Really? I couldn't imagine you'd say that."

Isolde abruptly hung up on him, clearly very done with his attitude. Although, he himself was ready for bead as well and began finishing up his steak before heading to bed. As long as Bloody Mary didn't decide to come back and throw a fit in the bathroom, maybe he could still get a bit of sleep. Hopefully.

It was about nine-ten, and V was pulling up to the cafe, fashionably late. There was still a bit of a morning lull in the streets, which was nice as it made it easier to park the car in one of the tight spots. On a nostalgia binge, she felt tempted to hear the rest of Alice Cooper's Feed My Frankenstine, but reluctantly turned off her speaker. Even so she couldn't help mumbling the words under her breath.

In the seat next to her, there was a stack of papers, including some books from the same bookstore last night. She double-checked with Miss Amanda and managed to buy them off her at a good price.

Though it had been a long and aggravating hunt last night, and not just because of the yokai's antics, she wasn't tired enough to crash last night and did some research instead. The main thing that got to her was how a rare entity typically only found secluded deep in the forests of Japan made it to a town in Ohio. And for that, of course, she also needed to look into the pattern behind the human it came from, this 'Haru' person she didnt even catch the last name of.

PIcking up the papers and books, V stepped out of the car. She barely winced at the rush of cold air, finding it nice as it got stuffy in a tailcoat.

She made it to the front door of the quaint cafe, which was styled with white framed and light colors that made it more reminiscent of an English teahouse. As soon as she opened the front door, she was hit hard by the aromatic blend of coffee, tea, and fresh pastries and other delicacies. The walls were the same sunny yellow she remembered from the pictures Raine showed them, and most of the tables were a dark, rich wood that contrasted nicely against them. Before she searched for her friends, she went up to the counter. Though she typically didn't do anything fancy with her coffee, she was feeling perky enough to splurge on a white chocolate mocha and a matcha pound cake.

With her goods, she looked aorund more.

Noah was seated at a table with Raine further in, facing the doorway, and they were the first to see V just after a large bite of their ham and swiss croissant. They waved her over, smiling through stuffed cheeks in greeting.

Spotting her companions, V went over to them, snatching a seat and keeping her supplies in her lap.

"Hey guys," she remarked. "What's up?"

She had asked again, right as Noah had taken a big bite of croissant. They waited until most of it was masticated before replying. "Not much, other than, you know. The task at hand." They paused. "Also, the pastries here are amazing. Would highly recommend getting one."

V held up a small bag. "Got a matcha pound cake -sounds weird, tastes great, trust me."

"No, it sounds amazing," Noah said. "Let me know how it is. I'll bet great, just like everything else in that case up front."

Raine happily nodded. "Their chocolate criossants are amazing as well!" She was clearly in a very chipper mood today, having gotten a good night's rest and recovered well form last night. V managed a small smile, surprised by how much it relieved her to know her friends were feeling better.

The mood didn't last long though, as a thought crossed her mind. She sighed heavily, "Alright, I'll ask. Where's Sebastian?"

"Genuinely, I'm not sure." Raine replied. "He hasn't called or messaged."

Noah shrugged. "Beats me. Probably running a little late, is all." They gave a grin to V. "I bet you're pleased you can hold that over him."

V snickered to herself. "Yup. I bet he had a rough night..."

She kept snickering until her head was almost against the table, as she was taken over with mocking laughter.

Noah looked at her, confused at her outburst of hilarity. "What's going on? What's so funny?"

"I..." V took a deep breath and lowered her voice, trying to look innocent. "I may or may not have sent a terrifying ghost to jumpscare him in the middle of the night?"

Noah sighed, trying to look disappointed but failing miserably. Between attempts to conceal their laughter, they wheezed, "V, I can't believe you would do something like that."

"Hey, I've done worse!" V remarked. "I once replaced my brother's McNuggets with celery and carrot sticks..." She shook her head. "I've never seen a man look so broken to this day."

Raine quietly hid a smile behind her hand, trying her hardest not to laugh in case Sebastian walked in, which he did.

Sebastian walked in and spotted them over at the table, ordering a couple things before walking over. He looked mildly dishelved and even though he looked tired, he carried himself with his usual confidence.

"There you three are." He said with a bit of a smirk. "What's so funny?"

V nodded to him with an empty smile. "A discussion about torturing others. Perfect timing for you to join in." Noah tried hard to bite back another laugh at that comment.

"Perfect." Sebastian sat down and took a sip of his coffee since he certainly looked like he needed it.

V sighed, "So, we should probably talk about what we saw last night, huh? I'm guessing I'm not the only one who did a little bit of research?"

Raine nodded. "I managed to do some research this morning before coming here."

Noah tilted their head, thinking back to their brief searches last night. "Not sure if it'll end up being helpful, but yeah, I looked into some stuff."

Sebastian chuckled. "Good, because I was up securing job positions should you accept them. All they need now is resumes with basic information. Great job looking into it though. What do you all have so far?"

"I mean, we have more information on the yamauba, since I bought that book," said V, placing said book on the table. "I was mainly trying to figure out how a ghost typically only seen rarely, secluded deep in the forests and mountains of Japan, would be in a very urban part of Ohio. So I did some reading, and it doesn't give us an exact answer, but it says here that the yamauba manifests through women who are exiled, abandoned, living away from society usually with some form of grudge or level of spite toward someone, usually their family. It's like the isolation corrupts them, so they turn into..." She hesitated. "You know, what we saw last night."

Noah blinked, taking in what V was saying. Their mood chilled, turning more somber. "That's so sad. It reminds me of Ben. No one there for him." They stared down at the croissant crumbs on their plate, the taste of ham and cheese souring on their palate.

"Yeah," V mumbled. "But this does at least tell us that there is a human element involved. A pre-existing yamauba probably wouldn't pop up here, but if someone of the right elements in the right circumstances did, then maybe it's possible one would show up here..." She looked around. "Am I making sense?"

Raine nodded "That makes perfect sense. From other research as well, I've found that many of the people who lived here came from other places. for example the scandinavian influence from previous settlers. Believe it or not, I've found a bit of Japanese history as well. Including a sushi restaurant that looks amazing. But that's off topic."

Noah laughed. "Yeah. This is the US. Most of us come from other places. It doesn't surprise me at all that there are so many cultures here." They paused. "I am interested in that sushi restaurant, though. Maybe as a celebratory dinner? After we've successfully helped the owner?"

V gained a taunting smirk. "I'm buying though."

Sebastian grinned. "I really think I should be the one to pay for it."

V looked unamused. "I'll reiterate. I'll buy for my friends, take a wild guess who that includes. But that aside..."

"We'll see who the bill gets put in front of then." Sebastian smirked at her.

Before their banter could get completely out of hand, Noah spoke. "I also did some research. Mostly on Haru, the young woman we talked to, who Miss Amanda lets use the shop after closing. We had a kind of chat yesterday, and... I don't know. There was something a bit off about her, and I couldn't put my finger on it." They used a finger to pick up some more croissant crumbs, letting them dissolve on their tongue. "I'm still not exactly sure what it was, but I did look into her. Miss Amanda said she uses the place for studying, and she looked to be about my age, so I wondered if she was maybe a student at the university I go to. I looked her up and didn't find anything, though." They shrugged. "Not sure how helpful that would be, but it might be worth tracking her down. She mentioned in our convo that she enjoyed local history. She might know something about the yokai. Maybe she'll be there again today."

V's eyes narrowed. "It's interesting you mention all of that. I know something's off about that lady too, and I have my suspicions. As a matter of fact, I tried doing some research too..." She pulled up some papers, one of which was a printed screenshot from her laptop. "All I found was this, which looks like a social media account. And it's local. Would you say that's her, in the photo?"

The photo on the table depicted a couple, clearly from some time ago, including one woman and one man both in hiking gear, out in the middle of the woods. Sure enough, the woman had a striking resemblance to Haru.

Noah looked at the photo, eyes widening as they took it in. "Whoa. That's uncanny. That looks almost exactly like her, from what I remember seeing yesterday. How old is this photo?"

"Kind of old by now, maybe three months ago?" V replied. "This was just one of the most popular posts, I might be able to find a more recent one..."

"That might be helpful," Noah commented. "Maybe we can get confirmation if she has a post in the bookshop, or something."

V sighed, "Unless one of you wants to check on your phones, I'll have to get my laptop, because my phone is still in a dozen pieces in the back closet of said store..." She held up an extremely dated flip-phone. "Now all I have is this thing I found in the glovebox. When was the last time anyone saw a Blackberry, eh?"

Noah eyed V's replacement phone warily. "I can do it. What was the handle?"

As Noah typed, V recited, "Looks like an InstaChat account, and the handle is 'WanderingHaru0773.'"

Noah mouthed what V said to them as they searched in their phone. "Here it is!" They scrolled through the posts, trying to angle their phone screen so V could see it as well. Most of the photos were generic shots of nature, some of urban scenes, and occasionally the cameo from Haru and what they assumed to be her friends. "I'm not seeing anything useful... wait!"

One post caught their eye. It showed Haru in front of a storefront, one that was quite familiar. The caption read my new favorite place. "Isn't this the bookshop?"

V squinted as if trying to analyze every pixel, then nodded. "Definitely. She's even holding on of the books that got thrown!"

"Weird," Noah said. "I'll see if there are any from more recently. This one was from"--- they checked the date ---"nearly two years ago." They scrolled back to the top, a bit more slowly so that they could catch a glimpse of the bookstore if it made another appearance. Unfortunately, they made it to the top withoout seeing it anymore. "I'm not sure there are any, actually. The most recent post is from... that's interesting. It's the photo you showed me. The one from three months ago. There's not been a post since."

Raine frowned in confusion at that fact. "That's.. odd for sure.." she trailed off, now deep in thought.

V recoiled in confusion. "Really? We just saw her. Maybe studying took priority or something."

"Yeah, maybe..." Noah trailed off, still clicking around on the profile. "Though it's a little strange. She was a pretty consistent poster up until that point. Like, sharing photos every day or two." They clicked back to the most recent post. "Maybe the comments will say something?"

They clicked on the comments button, expecting the comments section to be filled with compliments and well wishes from friends. Instead, it was full of interesting replies. Miss you Haru one read. Others were simply heart emojis. "This is crazy. The comments section is super depressing. Do you think something happened?" They looked to V. "She seemed alright yesterday when we talked to her, if not a little sad."

V blinked hard, biting her lip. "I don't know...She was 'off' like you said. Maybe an accident?"

Noah nodded, looking back to their phone. "Oh wait, here's something weird. It's a comment just with a link." They clicked it, waiting for it to load and open. "Hopefully this will shed some light on the situatio---" Their jaw dropped when their eyes took in the headline, scrolling frantically to read the rest of the article. "No way."

"What is it?" Asked V.

Noah turned the phone so she could read it too. The headline read Local Woman Found Dead After Hike Proved Fatal. Directly beneath it was the same photo as the post. "What does this mean?" They gulped, fearing the worst.

"Ah..." V cringed. "Raine? Thoughts?"

Raine's eyes widened. "I.. I'm not sure."

"She's the ghost." Sebastian said simply as if certain of it. "There's no way she can't be. If someone is found dead, then they randomly appear, they're obviously a ghost."

V shot him a blunt look. "As much as I hate giving him credit, that is the most obvious conclusion to draw. And thinking about it...She only came at night. She was the only one around when the owner closed up. Even Raine's EMF went wild randomly around her..." She shook her head. "She had one foolproof disguise going on -the book did not lie."

Noah blinked, still trying to process everything. "So... Haru is the entity we were going after last night?"

"I'll put it to you guys this way." Sebastian began. "Did anyone see Haru leave the shop? or hear the door open?"

Raine shook her head. "No, but then again I was also almost devoured by a ghost, so there's that."

V sneered, "Yeah. And one more thing, when it spoke. The voice sounded like it could pass as hers."

"With that, it was definately her. When I went up to speak with Miss Amanda, Haru wasn't up there." Sebastian stated.

"And you only share this now?" V spat.

"Well you certainly didn't ask." Sebastian shrugged.

Noah was still in shock. "That doesn't seem right. Haru? But she seemed so... I felt like there was something off. But never something like that. She just seemed... sad, is all." They turned back to the article, trying to find more details. Unfortuantely, it just looked like basic information about the discovery of her body off the trail and where to donate flowers in her honor.

"Yeah, I would've pinned her for a ghost but not a people-eater," V muttered. "Which begs the question, you technically still have the ghost, Sebastian. What happens to her now?"

"Depends on if we send her to the research center or not. Do you guys want to try and get rid of her on your own? If not, I'll run you through sending her in and she'll be off your hands." He hummed simply.

V looked baffled. "'Get rid of her'? When she's already contained?"

"Would you want to be stuck in a box forever?" Sebastian asked, raising a brow.

V flicked a crumb at him. "Touche...But my only current method of freeing spirits does not work on yokai, as was proven already. So, that being said, I don't know if there's anything we can do in that regard."

"What if we treat her like Ben?" Noah blurted.

"You can sure as well try." Sebastian replied. "I'm not sure who Ben is though or what that entails. I'm assuming Ben was another ghost?"

Noah nodded. "Ben was a myling. He had been attacking us until we realized he was just confused." They turned to V. "Given what you've told us about yokai and what we've found out about Haru, it seems like potentially a similar situation. She seems like she's gone through a lot of trauma, and maybe just needs some help processing it so she can be at peace." They paused. "Then again, Ben wasn't trying to eat us. So there's that."

"No, but mylings have been known to harm, even kill," said V. "So I'd say the risk factor is about equal. And not just from what we've learned, but from what we saw, the way I think this works is a sort of Jekyll and Hyde situation, like Haru is just a vessel for the yamauba. Again, I can't say a blessing to fix this, but maybe if you can talk her back into a stronger state of mind, she could fight it on her own..." She glanced over at Sebastian. "Hey, Simon. Would your higher-ups have a problem just holding the ghost in a safe space, and letting Noah talk to it?"

"Is the back of my car safe enough in your opinion?" Sebastian asked, chuckling.

V looked unamused. "This may take time. Do you want to carry a ghost in the back of your car indefinitely, or put it somewhere more accessible?"

"Well, there is a place we could put it for the time being. Technically you need clearance to get in but you know, you're close enough to getting your cards." Sebastian replied.

"Simple enough..." V looked around. "What do you guys think? Make our next step getting 'officialized' and whatnot, then maybe we can help the ghosts out more. With much less risk while we're at it."

Noah nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"I like that plan." Raine agreed.

"Alright." Sebastian grinned. "It's not really on the map so you'll have to follow me when we leave or remember directions really well. Or carpool. Any of those work."

"Good enough," V mumbled, wrapping her pastry to eat on the way. "Let's head out now."