When they got back to Headquarters, a small raised ranch house in an old suburban neighborhood, Gabriella, Amelia, and Bradley were split up and told to write down everything they’d seen on site. James explained to Gabriella that it wasn’t a procedure they had to use often, so that was why it had somehow slipped through the cracks with her training. He’d then handed her a half-filled composition notebook and a pen, then left without a word.

After about fifteen minutes, she had written everything about the orbs in rushed handwriting, trying to get it all down before any of it faded away. Finally, she set her pen down, then sat back and glanced around the room as she shook out her cramping hand.

Despite being part of an elaborate society based out of Boston, the branch organizations were usually located in unassuming houses in ordinary communities. The North Worcester County branch was no different. It was based in Leominster, an old mill city in Northern Massachusetts, dull on the outside but teeming with paranormal activity. Gabriella had grown up in the area. She’d known about the supernatural phenomena because of her family’s connections with it, but not the extent to which it was here. No, she had been introduced to all that when she joined the team back in the spring.

Gabriella was sitting in the dining room, which had been somewhat converted into a workspace when the team took over the house a decade or so ago. A large dining room table took up most of the space and the walls were covered in a mix of important charts and old, dusty landscape paintings. Across from where she was sitting was James’s office. Though even now, it was still weird to think of it as his. Up until a few months ago, it had been Robin’s. Then, after Robin’s death, it had stayed closed for a little while. Even the thought of going in there had made everybody feel sick until James had finally taken an afternoon and cleared it out. Now it was officially James’s office, whenever he remembered to actually use it. Right now, the thick wooden door was closed as Amelia sat inside, working on her own account of the evening.

Gabriella stood up and walked through the dining room into the living room area. Again, this was a blend of secret organization and grandparent’s home. A worn couch and an equally tired recliner were situated around a wooden coffee table, which was scattered with James’s paperwork. Beside it was a small bank of computers pushed up against an unused fireplace. The combination was surprisingly cozy, which was nice because they all spent a ridiculous amount of time at work these days.

Graham walked into the living room and smiled at her. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“Good,” she replied. “I just finished my account. How was your night over here?”

Graham shrugged. “Good too,” he said. “I liked seeing how Madelyn handles the communication portion over here. It’s such an interesting part of this whole thing.”

Looking at Graham, Gabriella could tell he was being sincere. He was a little shorter than her, and stocky, with short hair, dark skin, and a kind smile. He’d been an adjunct professor at his last job and was approaching his new position with a mix of academic curiosity and wide-eyed excitement. Gabriella was actually a little jealous of how easily he’d taken to working here, especially compared to her nightmare of a first month.

Gabriella had been hired to be killed. As much as it hurt to think of it that way, it was true. Robin, the team’s captain, had given James permission to bring her on under the pretext of filling an empty role. But he’d actually done it so that he could orchestrate an elaborate plan to show the Foundation that this under-served branch needed more resources to keep themselves and their community safe. It had culminated in him manipulating Gabriella into isolating herself from the rest of the team and eventually attempting to murder her in the woods.

But she was fine. She was over it, it had been nearly six months after all. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself when the nightmares continued to wake her up at night. There had been a lot of tension in the aftermath, but by now the team had thawed to her as much as they probably would. Madelyn was always kind, Amelia had her moments of hesitancy that Gabriella hoped would someday fade, and Bradley…well, he treated her with the same level of contempt he treated the rest of them with. So she’d take it.

She still remembered how the two of them had to go get James after he went to the Jarvis School on his own that morning back in August. It was a day after she and Bradley had a yelling match in a meeting that almost led to both of their resignations and she’d been dreading working with him again. She’d been alone in the headquarters early in the morning, staying on comms with James as he did a quick investigation at an abandoned school building. Then there’d been a burst of static and she’d heard James say, “Gabs, it’s alright.”

Then the line had gone dead. His camera, which had shown the dim hallway of the abandoned school, had cut out at exactly the same time. Gabriella had tried desperately to get it going again, only to get dead screen every time.

After about five minutes of panicked calls to James’s cell phone, the front door had opened and Bradley had walked in for his shift. After their fight the day before, Gabriella had been dreading working with him. But at that moment, she was so relieved to see him that she could have cried.

“There’s a problem,” she’d said immediately as he came in, still trying to reach James.

“Well, fucking deal with it then,” Bradley had snapped.

“James is missing,” she’d lobbed right back.

She’d expected something nasty about James, but instead, Bradley had gone even paler than usual. “What do you mean, missing?” he’d demanded.

After her hurried explanation, he’d tried James’s phone too. When he got nothing, Gabriella was already grabbing the van keys.

She liked to think maybe they’d bonded just a little over that experience. The terror of going into the school and finding James motionless on the dusty floor of one of the classrooms. Maybe they had and Bradley was just going to eternally be a dick.

As she stood in the living room and wondered what to do next, James’s office door opened and Amelia walked out, holding her own small composition notebook. She smiled at Gabriella when she saw her. “That’s all there is to it,” she said as she came into the living room. “We’ll hand in our reports and the originals will go into the Foundation’s records. It’s not as good evidence as photos would be. But it helps support everything else.”

A few minutes later, everyone was back in the living room. Gabriella looked around at the exhausted faces around her and knew that hers looked exactly the same right now. Thankfully, she had tomorrow off and she planned to savor that time.

“Good work tonight,” James said as he sat down at one of the computers and turned the chair to face them. “Seriously. I’m going to send them all of your reports, plus the raw data and my own wrap-up. That should be it for this case.”

“Just in time for another,” Amelia said with a grim laugh.

James laughed, but it was a little ragged. “Me and Amelia are on tonight for the overnight shift, so I’ll get that in. Does anyone have anything to add before we wrap it up?”

Gabriella glanced around, but nobody else said anything. James nodded. “Great. Oh, before you guys go, there’s one more thing I wanted to put out there.”

Did he look a little nervous? Now Gabriella was curious. “So I’ve been thinking of ideas to kind of, you know, boost our moods. And I’ve been trying to figure it out for a little bit. I know it’s coming up quick, but I was thinking we could have a small Halloween party.”

That was not at all what she’d expected him to say. And based on Amelia’s amused smile and Graham’s patiently raised eyebrows, clearly no one else had either.

“A party?” Amelia said.

James shrugged a little sheepishly. “Yeah. You know, just a small party. We could do it here or go to a bar or something. Just us. Some time to relax without, you know, all this.”

He made a wide gesture with his hand. “I know it’s only a few weeks away, so we can keep it simple. I’ll buy some beer, maybe we can light a fire out back.”

“You want to throw a Halloween party,” Bradley started, voice heavy with skepticism. “When we deal with these things every day.”

“It doesn’t have to be on Halloween,” James said quickly. “If you want to go trick or treating, we can do it the night before.”

Amelia laughed, and Bradley’s mouth narrowed in a tight frown. But before he could say anything else, Madelyn spoke up.

“I like it,” she said. “Though I think we should do it here so that whoever is on overnight can join in.”

She glanced over at Graham, who shrugged and smiled. “I’m in,” he said. “I can pitch in for snacks and drinks.”

“We can all wear our Halloween costumes,” Amelia teased gently.

Bradley shook his head. “You all have fun,” he said. “I won’t be there.”

“What, too cool for Halloween?” Amelia asked.

“No, I just don’t want to spend what little free time I have at work.”

Gabriella could see James’s smile falter, just a little. “I’ll be there,” she said quickly. “That sounds great. My mom’s got an old iron fire pit. Let me see if she’s still got it at the new house.”

“Alright, great,” James said, nodding at them as he smiled. “Let’s do it.”

He looked so happy that even through her fatigue, Gabriella couldn’t help feeling excited for the party.

Finally, Madelyn slowly stood up. “I need to go home,” she said with a slight laugh.

“Are you okay?” James asked.

She nodded. “I’m fine, probably just sitting too long. I’m good to drive home.”

Gabriella stood up as well. “I’m out too,” she said. “I’ll be in New Hampshire helping my mom out with a few things tomorrow, but I’ll only be over the border so I’m available if there’s an emergency.”

James shook his head. “No, Gabs, we’ll be fine,” he said. “Send your mom my love.”

A few minutes later, Gabriella was walking out of the building toward her car. It was even colder now, and she thought of her coat, hanging uselessly in her apartment. But her car would be warm and it was a short drive home. And then she had a whole day off.

Yes, a day of helping her mother with repairs at her new home. But a whole day nonetheless.

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CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 3