Rob''s gaze darted across his cluttered room, resting on his Star Wars movie poster. The letters squirmed and shifted, twisting into the familiar symbols from the sacred stones. He rubbed at his eyes, hoping to get it to stop, but when he looked again, the symbols only glowed brighter.
"It''s been three days, Zack. Has Paulina gotten back to you yet?" he asked, looking over to Zack, who was sitting at Rob''s desk. "Because it''s getting harder and harder for me to tell if I''m awake."
Zack turned from the laptop, just finishing up his history quiz. "She said she''d look into it, we just have to trust her," he offered a half smile.
"Fantastic" Rob gestured wildly at the posters and books. "I mean can''t read anything. But hey, at least she is looking into it."
"I Know it''s not ideal," Zack looked over at his phone, "We just have to be patient."
---
Elsewhere, under the dense canopy of the woods, Ahmed pressed a paper target against a tree, securing it with a piece of tape. Deb stood a few feet back, knives glinting in her firm grip, she swayed nervously with the breeze.
"Is this really going to help?" she asked, eyeing the target.
"You''ve done this a million times before, it''s all about confidence," Ahmed responded with a firm nod, giving her a thumbs up for encouragement.
With a sigh, Deb aligned herself with the makeshift target, she hurled two knives in quick succession. They both zoomed past the tree, thudding into the bark of trees next to the target.
"Try closing your eyes," Ahmed suggested. "Visualize hitting the target in your mind before you throw."
Deb hesitated but complied, letting the wind whispering through the woods fill her ears as she envisioned the target in her mind. She aimed and threw once more. Yet again, the knife sailed wide, harmless to anything but the empty air it sliced through.
"Are you sure you''re really visualizing yourself hitting the target?" Ahmed asked, freeing a knife from a nearby tree.
Deb opened her eyes to respond, but movement in the woods caught her attention first. Her dead mentor, Father Bill darted between the trees as if beckoning her. Without a word, she snatched up her remaining knives and chased after the man. "Be right back," she called over her shoulder, leaving Ahmed standing confused in the woods.
"Deb!" Father Bill''s whisper seemed to come from everywhere, and then, there he was—running full tilt toward her, a zombified version of the man. Instinct took over. Deb drew back her arm and sent the knife flying. This time it was right on target.
And then she was blinking in the sunlight, watching in horror as the blade spun toward Ahmed. John leapt from his hiding place, snatching the knife out of the air mere inches from Ahmed''s head.
"Holy shit John!" Deb was relieved he saved Ahmed''s life, but then she had another thought. "What are you doing here?" Deb''s voice was tinged with suspicion as she stared down at John, who held the knife between his fingers, offering it back to her.
"Look, I wasn''t following you or anything, just..." John trailed off, he caught Deb''s glare, both Ahmed and Deb crossed their arms waiting for an answer. "Look I saved Ahmed''s life, do you really need to know why I was here?"
"Thanks, John," Ahmed admitted, "that was a good catch." He grabbed his coat, pulling it tighter. "I think we should head back to campus, that was more than enough training for me, for one day."
Deb nodded but she still shot John a look, she knew he wasn''t there by accident. A part of her wondered if this was Zack''s way of keeping an eye on her.
---
Later that afternoon across town, Rob entered Lindsey''s office, with a bright arrangement of flowers in his arms, he noticed Lindsey wasn''t her usual self. "Hey I got these for you, I noticed the ones on your desk died," he said, placing them gently into the empty vase.
Lindsey didn''t look up from the sea of folders that surrounded her, each representing a case from the past—a past that now demanded reevaluation through the lens of knowing about the supernatural.
"I''m sorry Rob, I''ve just been so busy I didn''t even notice they withered," Lindsey said, finally looking up to greet him. "Given what I''ve seen, what I''ve learned, I have to consider that some of these unsolved cases might be... supernatural." She picked up a file, the edges worn from handling, and opened it. Inside, was all the evidence from a recent missing persons case.
Lindsey''s office was filled with boxes of case files, each banker''s box older than the last. Rob''s gaze wandered to the edge of the room where stacks of these boxes seemed to huddle, each stamped with "Deliver to RCMP Field Office| Special Agent Spencer Polier" in bold, foreboding letters.
"Why are you sending those to Spencer?" Rob asked, pointing toward the file boxes in the corner.
Lindsey sighed, following his gaze over to the boxes. "Oh, those? They are just reviewing some of my old cases. Don''t worry about those, I have something else we need to talk about," she said, taking a seat in her office chair and motioning for Rob to do the same. Her eyes met his and he already knew it was serious. "It''s about one of my first cases—the Winters family."
Rob leaned forward, his own curiosity piqued. He remembered the case vaguely; it had been grim, and the entire family had been missing for days before their bodies were found.
"Car accident, wasn’t it? That’s what everyone said." Rob tried to keep his voice steady, as he tried to remember all the details.
"Exactly," she confirmed, opening the file on her desk. "But now..." Lindsey hesitated, her fingers tracing the faded photographs clipped to the folder. "The bite marks on the parents—they don’t match any known animal. And the children... they just vanished."
"So you''re thinking it could have been a vessel or something?"
"Or something is right. I''m going to get some of their things out of lock-up, do you think Zack could use the aura to find the bodies of those kids," Lindsey asked, turning the file over to him.
Rob nodded as he tried to read it over. Before he could even get started, his phone buzzed with a reminder, basketball practice. "I''ve got to go but I''m sure Zack can do it." He assured her, before slipping out the door.
---
At the gym, the squeak of sneakers and thump of dribbling balls should have greeted Rob, but instead, the court was completely silent. He noticed John standing in the center, not moving.
"Hey, where is everybody?"
John looked up, his expression blank, and responded not with words, instead he started to sign. Rob stepped back only to bump into the rest of the team, each one signing the same thing over and over again.
"Coach Reynolds?" Rob ventured, starting to feel genuinely afraid.
The coach turned, his hands working over time, the same message looping without sound. Panic gripped Rob''s heart as the silent mantra intensified around him, a sea of hands moving faster and faster, until—
"Mr. Harris!"
Rob jolted upright, his breath ragged, the stern face of Professor Harlow looming over him. He was in his Friday morning class, and his peers all seemed to be staring at him.
"Are you with us?" Harlow asked, eyebrow arched.
"Y-yeah," Rob stammered, straightening up in his chair, he realized he didn''t remember anything that happened after he visited with Lindsey the night before. Beside him, Zack was eyeing the notebook open on Rob''s desk. The words "Wake Up" were scribbled over and over again on it.
"Were you asleep?" Zack murmured as Prof. Harlow made his way back to the front. Rob nodded and Zack looked scared. "It didn''t look like you were sleeping, you just started saying wake up over and over again," both boys were horrified as their lecture continued.
---
Zack''s covenant gathered outside, the rest of campus unaware of what was happening under their noses. Ahmed, Deb, John, and Zack formed a loose circle around Rob.
"This is getting serious, I''m losing time now," Rob explained, clearly panicked.
"I am still being haunted by Father Bill," Deb admitted, wrapping her arms around herself.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Well, we better figure out how to stop this soon or..." a smirk playing on John''s lips. "Next stop, London Asylum,"
"Hey, John," Rob snapped, feeling exhausted. "Why don''t you try being useful for once?"
"Hey," John retorted, the lightness disappearing from his voice. "I spent four months locked in a basement thanks to Gluttony. Being helpful is still new to me."
"Are you still milking that?" Rob scoffed, regretting the words as soon as they escaped.
John raised an eyebrow, but before he could lay into Rob, the girl from Zack''s history class approached them, her black hair flowing behind her like a shadow. The group fell silent as they waited to see what she wanted.
"Sorry um, I''m Angela, I think I''ve seen a few of you around," she said flashing a smile at each of them, "but I couldn''t help overhear. The nightmares and not being able to sleep or know if you''re awake. It sounds like astral projection, a state where you can walk the line between the living and the dead."
She looked awkwardly at the group, unsure if they wanted her to continue or not. As the silence continued her face turned red, she took a breath and just pushed on.
"Ultimately," Angela continued, "those who traverse this plane of existence are led to rebirth, or in some beliefs, death." Her eyes met Zack''s, she turned away quickly.
"Thanks, Angela," Zack said with a nod. "I didn''t know that."
"Well, I''m kinda into the weird occult stuff too, maybe we could hang out sometime and talk about it?" She asked hopefully.
"That would be.." Zack''s phone buzzed and Paulina''s name scrolled across it. "Great. I''m sorry I have to take this, chat later?" He smiled at her and then hurried off, followed but Rob, Deb, John and Ahmed.
Once they were around the corner, Zack answered the phone, everyone waited for Paulina to speak, hoping for some answers. Paulina wasted no time getting to the point, her voice echoing over the speaker.
"These dreams you are having are warnings," she stated pausing only for a moment before continuing. "What the three of you must have done is left the door open. Now your minds are desperately trying to tell you to close it."
"Door? What door?" Rob asked.
"The one you used to come back after you died," Paulina explained gravely. "I''m sure you''ve noticed in your dreams a door often opens on its own, you must close it the next time you see it."
"So we have to find these doors and close them, ok. What happens if we don''t?" Rob asked.
"If the door is left open then anything in the spirit world could slip out, and there are some dark things kept inside of it,"
Rob gulped as Zack thanked Paulina for her help before hanging up. They had a new mission now, close the doors and save themselves.
---
Later, Lindsey paced the dingy confines of the evidence lockup, her frustration mounting. She was able to sneak Zack into lock up so he could try to find the aura of the missing kids. Everything was going to plan until the clerk came back from dinner early.
"Terry, just the person I was looking for, have heard about these budget cuts," she started, but Terry was preoccupied with setting up another ineffective rat trap.
"I''ve heard," the woman grumbled, clearly not interested in the conversation.
"Can you believe we''re still using these old boxes?" Lindsey tapped the box under her arm. As she did, Zack and Rob slipped out of the room and snaked their way back to Lindsey''s office.
"Anything?" Lindsey asked when she finally joined them.
"Nothing. All we have here is the overpowering aura of an angry woman," Zack said, looking apologetically at Lindsay. "Whoever worked this case was too emotionally invested in it,"
"That tracks," Lindsey said, realizing her gamble had failed. "You two should head home, it''s getting late." Lindsey gave them a warm smile as she guided them out.
Rob pushed through the doors and out into the bitter cold of winter, with Zack following close behind. "She''s on her way out," Rob said, as they walked down the steps. "She did tell me, but I know. They''re boxing up all her cases for review. I''m guessing she wants to solve one last case before it''s all over."
Zack didn''t know what to say, he knew the lack of closed cases was partially his fault. He also knew who would be the one investigating her, and that man was walking up the steps toward them.
"Spencer!" Zack growled as he stepped in front of the RCMP agent. Spencer, with his smug aura of indifference, seemed almost annoyed to see Zack.
"Zack, listen—"
"No! You listen! Going after Lindsey is a huge mistake. She''s one of the best!" Zack''s hands clenched into fists, his claws slowly extending.
"Zack!" Kenzie''s voice echoed from behind him. With practiced ease, she wedged herself between Zack and Spencer, her green eyes locking onto Zack''s hands. "Just who I was looking for," She threw her arm around him and led him away from Spencer. "Sorry agent I need to borrow him." she called before she turned to Zack, "You need to calm down now, you''re shifting,"
"I''m sorry it is just so hard to control it now," Zack growled, trying to will the claws away. "I can''t do it, I used to think of Deb to calm myself down but we are kind of done now."
"Oh Zack, you can''t rely on others to control your emotions," Kenzie''s words were soft but firm, insistent. "You need to rely on yourself."
Zack thought about it, about being his own anchor. He thought about his covenant, and everything he had accomplished. And then, slowly, the pink glow receded from his eyes, his breathing steadied, and his claws retracted. "I''m sorry I almost lost it back there,"
"Zack, we all lose control sometimes," Kenzie said once the danger had passed, her hand resting reassuringly on his arm. "You have every right to get angry like the rest of us, but you have to be mindful that you aren''t like the rest of us."
"I know." He nodded, taking a deep breath as Rob came up behind them.
"Rob, grab your flashlight. We''re going to solve that case and save Lindsey''s job," Zack declared as Rob finally caught up to them, he thanked Kenzie one last time and then the pair headed out into the night.
---
Meanwhile, the massive IMAX screen lit up the theatre as Deb and John shared a stolen kiss in the back row. Deb pulled away ever so slightly, her eyes searching John''s for certainty.
"Is Zack really okay with... us?" she whispered, tracing the line of John''s jaw.
John grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Yeah, he''s moved on," he assured her, silently hoping Zack never found out about this. "Trust me."
Deb leaned back in to resume their embrace, the outside world fading away as they lost themselves in each other.
Deb felt relaxed, a rare feeling for her, but John made her feel understood. Her fingertips grazed John''s collarbone, drawing her attention to a thin, silver chain around his neck. It was new, or at least she hadn''t noticed it before. But before she could ask, she heard the sound of a door creak.
"Deb, help me," a gravelly voice whispered over John''s shoulder.
She looked past him, her heart pounding against her ribcage as the corpse of Father Bill stared back at her, his hands pulling a garrote tight around John''s neck. "You have to kill them all," the spectre commanded his eyes hollow.
A surge of panic welled up within Deb, and her hand instinctively reached down, fingers closing around the cold hilt of a dagger tucked in her jacket pocket. With trembling hands, she raised the blade—
And woke with a gasp.
Her bedroom was dark, except for the sliver of moonlight filtering through the blinds. Her clothes clung to her from sweat. A weight in her hand drew her attention, and to her horror, she found the very same dagger from her nightmare gripped tightly in her hand. She looked over to see someone sitting at her desk.
"Ahmed?" she whispered, moving to get a better look.
Lying across the room, amidst a sea of textbooks and scattered notes, he slept peacefully, oblivious to Deb''s latest nightmare. We must have dozed off while studying, Deb reasoned.
Pushing aside the blanket, Deb rose, cursing herself for not closing the door. She placed the dagger on the nightstand with a soft clink, wanting it as far away from her as possible.
---
Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Zack and Rob stumbled upon the remnants of the Winters Family''s car. The wreckage of the vehicle was entangled in underbrush, a rusted skeleton claimed by nature after eight years of neglect.
"Looks like they didn''t bother pulling it out," Rob muttered, his flashlight beam tracing over the twisted metal. "Must''ve been too much trouble."
Zack nodded silently, but something was calling to him from the car. Within the hollow shell, he spotted a broken doll, the same one clutched by the little girl in the faded photograph they had seen.
"Hey, look at this." He reached in carefully, extracting the toy from the debris. Traces of aura were still connected to it.
As he did, the doll''s voice box sputtered to life, issuing a tinny plea for a hug. Zack dropped the doll breaking its arm and Rob flinched, cursing under his breath as he shone his light on Zack. There was a crack of a branch from the woods behind them.
"Did you hear that?" Zack asked, turning toward the tree line. He could feel something watching them, but he couldn''t see it.
"Something''s out there," Rob moved closer to Zack, keeping his flashlight on the forest. "I can feel it, too."
More rustling let them know it was coming closer, Zack''s eyes ignited with a bright, otherworldly pink hue as he felt the supernatural aura approaching them. With predator-like grace, he bolted into the darkness, chasing the elusive aura deeper into the woods.
"Wait up!" Rob called, sprinting after him, their footsteps muffled by the thick carpet of fallen snow.
Zack''s pursuit brought him closer to the creature, but somehow it remained just out of sight. All he could see were a pair of luminescent white eyes, their glow reflecting anger and spite toward him.
"Stop! What are you?" Zack shouted, his voice echoing through the trees.
But the creature didn''t slow down for a second, it dissolved into the night as if it were made of mist. Zack skidded to a halt, his chest heaving, the aura of the creature had faded completely.
"Lost it," he panted, turning back to Rob who still shuffling through the snow, panting as well.
"Whatever it was," Rob said between breaths, "it''s fast. I''m beginning to think Lindsey was right about the supernatural being involved. But don''t worry I got a piece of that doll, we have the aura we need."
Zack glanced back into the void where the creature had vanished, this wasn''t over yet. He was going to figure out what they were dealing with here.
---
The harsh fluorescent light flickered above an assortment of knives that would not be out of place in an old-world butcher''s shop. Among the chilling array of bloodied knives and wire cutters, the distinct vibration of a cell phone shook the small steel table. Two messages flashed in quick succession: “Zack: Ethel Call me” followed by “Zack: Ethel, need help. Call back ASAP!”
Suspended from a lattice of electrified chain link, Kyle and Ethel. Twitched involuntarily as the current surged through their bodies. The scent of lavender mingled with the coppery tang of blood in the air, doing little to cover it.
"See? Your shenanigans always land us in predicaments like this," Ethel spat, her voice strained as the current passed through her. Her eyes locked onto Kyle''s, searching for some semblance of regret.
"Come on, Ethel," Kyle retorted with a wry, painful chuckle. "We both know I’m not the mastermind here. Though, I do admire your consistent ability to point fingers even when you''re dangling from a fence."
A woman loomed over them, she was cloaked in darkness, and only her sinister smirk was visible. She reached out with deliberate slowness, fingers grazing the control dial as she watched them. With the slightest twist, the current intensified, eliciting a guttural cry from Kyle, while Ethel clenched her teeth, refusing to give their captor the satisfaction.
"Your bickering is music to my ears," the woman murmured. "But I need one of you to start talking." her French accent was thick.
Ethel''s emotion slipped through for a moment, a flicker of fear flashing across her face. Kyle struggled to breathe, and despite their dire situation, he couldn''t help but feel a twisted sense of joy in watching Ethel struggle. This was after all her plan, she was the one who decided to find out what her mother had left her after she died.
"Don''t worry, I''ll get us out of this," Ethel whispered through gritted teeth, glaring at the woman.
"Oh, I can''t wait to hear your master plan," Kyle replied as sarcastic as ever.
As another wave of electricity threatened to overwhelm their senses, they clung to the hope they could figure a way out of this.