Voices are carried on the breeze, floating through the quiet night air, and I can see flashlights bobbing around inside the vestibule that leads you inside the building.
“I’d say they’re loud enough to wake the dead, but I think they already have,” I mumble and Ethan chuckles. He’s holding my hand in his and lets go when we go up the steps to pull his own flashlight from his pocket. He told me he uses a real flashlight over the one built in on his phone in case he needs to drop it and either fight or run.
Through the dust, I can see that this place must have had a grand entrance. The original marble floor is beyond repair, and my shoes click softly against it as we walk in. A lot of the drywall has already been torn down, exposing lots of wires.
“Hey,” he says, deep voice echoing through the large, empty foyer once we’re inside. There are five people gathered inside. Two teenage boys who are no doubt brothers since they look so much alike, the older man Ethan told me about—who’s smoking inside, letting his nasty cigarette smoke waft in everyone’s face—and a twenty-something-year-old girl who beams as soon as she sees Ethan.
“Ethan fucking Bailey,” she starts, pushing off a wall. She’s pretty, with short brown hair that just barely touches her shoulders and is wearing torn-up black jeans, a black crop top, and an oversized red plaid shirt overtop, hanging off one shoulder. She has a butterfly tattoo covering a scar on that shoulder, with the letters OMR inked underneath.
“When they told me they’d send another hunter so I wouldn’t get stuck with the noobs, I never thought—” She cuts off when she sees me standing close to Ethan. “You brought someone?”
“Yeah. This is my girlfriend, Anora. We met when demons attacked her last F all. She’s here to help and get an introduction to the way the Order works.”
“Hi,” I say and hold up my hand in a small wave. “Nice to meet you all.”
The brunette forces a smile. “I wasn’t aware you were bringing a civilian in.”
“She’s not a civilian in that sense,” Ethan replies right away. “She’s accompanied me on hunts in the last few months and fares very well.”
I’m still smiling, ignoring how off this conversation feels. Why can’t Ethan tell the truth? His family warned him not to let the Order find out I’m a witch—but why?
“Does she have any experience with spirits?” Brunette girl asks and it takes everything inside of me not to laugh. Ethan did warn me that the other hunters wouldn’t be welcoming—it’s just the way of the hunter, apparently.
“I’ve come up across them a few times,” I say, fighting the urge to elaborate on my lie. I’m not a good liar and have a tendency to overdo it, coming up with some detailed story to try and convince others that I’m telling the truth.
“She’ll stay with me,” Ethan says and drops the bag on the ground. “Let’s get started. I’m Ethan—”
“We know,” one of the teen boys says. “Dude, you’re legendary.”
Ethan’s face remains stoic and just gives the boys a curt nod. I zip up my coat, trying to fight off a chill. “And you are?”
“Zach,” the kid who said Ethan was legendary says.
“And I’m Ben,” his brother tells us.
“Mike,” the older guy says, eyes shifting back and forth. He’s the one who learned about demons after his family was attacked, but that’s all I know. Are they still alive? Did he watch them die? Find their bodies on the floor? It’s a terrible way to learn about the things that go bump in the night.
“And this is Stephanie.” Ethan looks at the brunette girl.
“Call me Steph, please.”
“So, what’s your plan?”
The two teenage boys both raise their hands, eyes lighting up. God, this is weird.
“First thing would be to canvas the area and remove any vulnerable people,” Ben starts.
“We’d pull the fire alarm if necessary,” Zach continues.
“You don’t need to be that drastic if this is just a poltergeist,” Ethan tells them. “Though, we’d first have to figure out what and why.”
“The reports of being attacked started when the construction crew began renovations on the second floor,” Mike tells us. “And the few eyewitness accounts of seeing a tall man in a white lab coat point to the spirit belonging to Dr. Hanover. His old office was knocked down to expand on an old elevator shaft that was put in years ago. A few workers who were on that project got so spooked they left without telling anyone and wouldn’t even answer calls to come back. If anything, I say it’s the place to start.”
“Good,” Ethan says, and I step back, watching him work. His face is set and the others are looking at him with respect. The boys seem eager to get out and hunt something, not caring about any potential danger. Oh, to be young and naive again, right?
The EMF meter Stephanie is holding starts to light up and buzz. I turn, able to sense the spirit right away. The spirit belongs to a child—a girl who’s maybe seven years old. She has thick brown hair that comes past her shoulders, and straight cut bangs curtaining her face.
The girl is looking right at us, and if her spirit has any sort of intelligence, she’ll notice. I lift my hand and give her a tiny wave. But she keeps walking, and Stephanie’s EMF meter spikes.
“Hey,” I whisper softly, and the girl turns at the last second before disappearing.
“You’ll want to wait until you have a voice recorder out next time,” Stephanie tells me, thinking I’m trying to communicate with an unknown spirit.
“Yeah. Next time.” I blink rapidly, getting hit with the girl’s emotions. She was asleep when it happened and didn’t see it coming. There was a sharp jolt of pain and then nothing.
Mommy!
I wince when her pain hits me. The girl is terrified, desperately looking for her mother. That’s the reason why she’s here. Her clothes weren’t too descriptive. She had on a silk nightgown—I think? Maybe it was a dress? It was solid pink, with little ruffles along the sleeves where the elastic gathers and hung down to her calf. Her hair was down and messy from sleeping, not helping me gauge what decade she died in which, in turn, would help me figure out who she is.
If her mother is still alive, then contacting her would be the only way this girl will move on. Though, part of me is certain contacting the mom would only prolong the hurt. Whatever healing her mother did—if she even healed at all after losing a child—will be ripped open when I say I’m conversing with the spirit of your dead child.
“All right,” Ethan begins, eager to get this started so we can get done. “You two go with Steph and check out the third floor,” he tells the brothers. “And Mike, come with us to the second floor.”
“You sure you want two complete noobs?” Steph tries to joke. She’s meaning to insult me but is insulting Mike as well.
“Anora is a quick learner.” Ethan puts his arm around me. “You’d be surprised at the things she can do.”
A rush goes through me when I see the way Ethan is looking at me right now. God, I love him. “I’m sure I can manage,” I say and look in the hall behind where we’re standing. A bad feeling starts to grow deep inside of me. I can sense something…something dark.