Their destination was an old Colonial-style house about fifteen minutes away from headquarters. The owners were gone when they arrived, so they stepped through the old screen door and into the mudroom, where they were greeted with stale stillness.

Had James said the family lived here? If it weren’t for the hockey gear spread across the hallway and what looked like school books on the stairs, she might have thought it was empty. While there was plenty of stuff scattered around the house, the air just smelled and felt abandoned.

Gabriella glanced over at Amelia to see if she noticed anything odd about the air. Amelia was frowning, sniffing slightly. Then she turned to Gabriella and nodded in unspoken confirmation.

“Alright, so we’re heading down to the cellar from here,” James said. “And remember, we’re not here looking for proof. That’s already done, the Foundation’s teams were in here twice and found all the evidence we saw back at the headquarters. So we’re going to be going in here to cleanse it of what they found. So stay sharp and follow my lead.”

Gabriella was slightly shaky with nerves and anticipation as she picked her way among the hockey gear. But James looked so calm and so in control that it helped to ground her. This was just another night at work for these guys. And eventually it would be the same way for her. So until then, she’d just have to fake it until she made it.

They made their way through the mudroom and James opened the front door. It led into a wide foyer that was littered with coats and shoes that had been tossed around, either by the owners or by the entity inside. Gabriella didn’t like to think that something could be this aggressive, but she also couldn’t see some parents picking up a kid’s parka and tossing it on the staircase on their way out. Then she noticed that the air didn’t smell quite so still in here.

“James,” she whispered.

“What’s up, Gabs?”

“This might sound kind of dramatic, but the mudroom. Did it smell-”

“Like a grave,” James finished. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s part of it.”

“Wonderful.”

Amelia huffed a laugh and James clapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said. “The report Robin left us said it’s shadow people. Possibly some poltergeist activity. Shouldn’t be anything more intense than that.”

The foyer stretched forward into the kitchen. Again, the room was trashed. Something had tipped two garbage bins over and food scraps spilled over the linoleum. Gabriella pressed a hand to her nose. For such fresh-looking scraps, there was a really nasty odor in the room. The scent of rot made her eyes water, and underneath it, there was something else. Something that almost seemed malicious.

Amelia surveyed the kitchen with an even glance. “I’m going to assume that they didn’t do this,” she said, eyes on a stack of broken dishes still somehow evenly piled beside the sink.

As she spoke, a fragment of glass fell off the counter and shattered. “Nope,” James said, shaking his head. “Nope, I’m inclined to agree with you on that. So much for it being contained to the mudroom and basement.”

He turned to Gabriella, who was standing a couple feet back. “How are you doing?” he asked.

How was she doing? She was standing in a haunted house with her oldest cousin, about to go all Ghostbusters on the place. She was terrified, exhilarated, more excited than she’d been in years. And that didn’t even begin to sum it all up.

“Fine,” she said instead.

James gave her a long look and she smiled to convince him. “I mean it,” she said. “I’m fine. I’m just going to hang back like you said to.”

“Good.”

He pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and waited with the phone held out in front of him. It rang for a second, then there was a click.

“How’s it going?” Madelyn’s voice said.

“Good,” James said. “So far, at least. We’re at the house and there are signs of activity all throughout the first floor as well.”

“Yeah, the family said there were some in a later update that just arrived. I was about to call you,” Madelyn said. “Hang on.”

There was the sound of clicking and typing over James’s speakerphone. “Dishes moving, weird smells. Sound familiar?” Madelyn asked.

“That’s exactly what we’re seeing here.”

“I left a message with Robin to update him, but I haven’t heard back yet,” Madelyn said.

“It’s his day off, don’t worry about it,” James said. “I’ve got it under control over here.”

“Tell that to Bradley,” Madelyn said. “I think he’s called Robin three times in the past ten minutes.”

“Am I on speaker?” James asked.

“Sure are.”

“Bradley, give it a rest.”

There was silence on the other end. Then Gabriella heard Bradley say something that was too far from the speaker to hear.

“Repeat that?” James asked.

“He says go do your job for once,” Madelyn said.

“Roger that.”

Amelia snickered, and Gabriella laughed a little too. “Alright, we’re heading into the basement from here,” James said. “Give me a minute to get my camera on.”

He set down his backpack and unzipped it, rifling around inside for a second before pulling out a small camera on a strap. He untangled the strap, then took a second to get it connected to his chest.

“Alright, camera’s on. Bradley, you got visual?”

There was a second of silence on the phone, then Bradley came back on. “What the hell happened to that trash?”

“It’s just scraps,” James started standing back up. “Our kitchen’s been wor-oh.”

The trash, which had been recognizable seconds before, was now covered in a layer of black flies. Gabriella’s lunch started making its way back up her throat, but she swallowed it back down.

“That’s disgusting,” Amelia said. “Okay, that has to mean something else is in the house. I’ve seen plenty of poltergeists and that’s not their M.O.”

“Gabs,” James said, his voice suddenly more serious. “Do you want to go wait out front? We might have to change the plan a little.”

“No,” she said quickly, despite her queasiness. “No, I should stay.”

“Okay,” James said. “But I need you to stay on guard. And if I tell you to get out, get out. We’ve done this before, there are rules in place for it. So we’re not going into unknown territory. But we do need to be careful.”

Gabriella tried to tamp down the spark of irritation at his words. She wasn’t a kid, but he was right, she was still in training. So she just nodded. “Got it.”

James smiled. “Good.”

He picked his phone back up. “Alright, I’m going to stay on the line, but keep my phone on my belt. So if you need me, just talk to me.”

“Got it,” Madelyn said over the speaker.

James clipped his phone onto his belt, then turned to Amelia and Gabriella. “Alright, you ready to do this?” he asked.

Gabriella nodded. “Yeah.”

Amelia grinned. “Let’s do it.”

James opened the basement door and Amelia saw the yawning darkness that swallowed the stairs just a few steps down. Were they going to go down in the dark? She knew that those ghost hunter shows always had them investigating in darkness, but maybe that was for added drama.

Then James flipped on the light, which should have made her feel relieved. But instead, she was just more queasy. A thick layer of spiderwebs coated the rough stone wall beside the stairs and the breeze coming from the dusty darkness below them felt heavy with something that she couldn’t express, but knew she hated.

After a few seconds, James turned on his flashlight and shined it quickly over the space. It was a pretty ordinary-looking basement, aside from the heavy darkness that seemed to permeate it despite the sickly yellow light coming from the naked overhead bulb. A furnace in the corner, a hot water boiler beside it. A few boxes stacked up with Christmas lights spilling out. In the far corner, she could see what looked like it might have been a bar.

Had this basement been finished once? She couldn’t even imagine it.

“Alright,” James said, his voice a little lower now. “So this should be straightforward herbs, ritual chanting, and candles. Amelia, you’ve got the sage?”

She nodded. “Got the whole herb bundle right here.”

“Excellent. You do your part. Gabriella, you take this.”

He handed her a small bell. She took it in her hand, then looked at it for a moment without saying a word.

“I’m not messing with you,” he said, as though he’d read her thoughts. “I know it looks weird, but bells are a potent magic when it comes to hauntings. Energy meets energy. So I want you to take this bell into the corners of the basement after Amelia goes through them with the herb bundle. And get the windows open as best you can so that whatever is in the house can get out. I think between those that and me saying the necessary prayers, we should be able to get the house back from whatever it claiming it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll call Father McEnerney in for a blessing.”

“We’re sure the Father isn’t on his Vegas trip?” Amelia asked.

Gabriella heard Madelyn snort with laughter over James’s phone. “Pretty sure that’s next week,” James said, a smile coming over his face. “Alright, come on. Bradley, you still got visuals?”

“Confirmed.”

“Amelia, Gab, let’s go.”

Feeling ridiculous, Gabriella gripped her little bell and followed Amelia as she lit the sage bundle and headed for the nearest corner. She flicked on a flashlight, and Amelia gave her a grateful smile.

“You good?” Amelia asked as she reached up to pop open a small, dirty window.

Was her nervousness that obvious? “I’m good.”

Amelia nodded and raised the sage, wafting the smoke into the dim corner of the basement. It smelled good, cleansing in a way that reminded Gabriella of the incense her grandmother always had burning in her home. As Amelia headed toward the next corner, smoke trailing behind her, Gabriella held up the little bell and began ringing it. The first peal was almost hesitant. James looked at her and before he could say a word, she swung it harder, letting out a much louder volley of chimes than she expected the tiny bell to be capable of.

James followed behind, chanting in Latin in a fluid, practiced tongue. Gabriella could pick out enough to tell that it was possibly a prayer. Not the Lord’s prayer, but something similar enough.

Gabriella turned to face James and her heart dropped as she saw something moving in another corner of the basement. It looked human, but only just. It was shadowy and the limbs she could see were just a little too long as it slipped between the hot water heater and a shelf.

“J-James-” she started.

He didn’t stop chanting, but she could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what she was talking about. He turned around as the figure appeared again, just for a second, then melted into the darkness.

“Keep going,” Amelia said, her voice low under his loud stream of Latin. “I see it too, that’s what we’re here for. It’ll leave as long as we stay calm and cast it out of the entire house.”

Gabriella nodded, but couldn’t help her gaze from darting around the basement, looking for any more signs of it. Even in the dim light, there were far too many shadows. But Amelia and James seemed to know what they were doing and she didn’t want to get sent outside to wait. So she took a deep breath and rang the bell even harder.

Between the three of them, they brought this procession to each corner of the basement, gradually filling it with fragrant smoke that trailed out of the few open windows. The shadow figure didn’t appear again, no matter how many times Gabriela accidentally looked into the darkness.

They stopped in the middle of the basement a little while later, and James paused his chanting. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s give that a little time. I’ve got a tincture to go on all the entrances, so give me a second to do that down here. Stay by the light.”

He took a flashlight and disappeared into the far reach of the basement. Gabriella stayed silent and still as she and Amelia waited for him by the stairs. It smelled less like a grave down here than it had before, but she still didn’t want to attract the attention of anything while James was finishing up. She could hear him moving around the corner, behind the furnace. Then, a moment later he came back out.

“Done,” he said. “Let’s head up and repeat the whole thing upstairs.”

The kitchen still stunk like decay when they got up there and the scent was possibly a little stronger. Gabriella tried to ignore it. James looked confident, and she was just going to follow his lead. So a little while later, when they’d finally cleansed the last room in the house, she was relieved when he nodded, satisfied.

“I think it’s good,” he said. “I want to do a quick walk-through with an infrared camera to see if there’re any signs of anything right now. And I’ve got some EVPs to check over when we get back. But other than that, I think we’re good. Still open and shut despite the change in plans. Gab, want to come with me?”

Amelia was gathering things up to bring out to the car. Gabriella nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I’ll come too.”

Her earlier fear had melted away when nothing bad had happened. So while she still felt a little nervous following James through the house, she no longer looked at every dark corner with apprehension.

Once James was done with his inspection, they walked outside and met with Amelia, who was standing on the porch, talking on the phone. “Just updated Bradley,” she said. “He wants to meet with you to debrief, since Robin apparently never picked up his phone.”

“Can’t wait,” James said. “Tell him I’m dropping you and Gab off at home first.”

Gabriella started to protest, but he shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’ve got the debrief. Nothing tops off a night of unholy spirits like a chat with Bradley. So go home and take a break, you earned it.”

She knew there was no arguing with him, so rather than try, she got in the van and they pulled out of the driveway. The ride to her house was quick and peaceful, music playing over the radio as the three of them sat quietly.

A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of Gabriella’s building. “See you tomorrow,” James said as she opened the passenger door. “You did awesome tonight.”

Gabriella smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I really liked it.”

“Good, because you did great, and we’re going to be doing a lot of them. Good night!”

She called goodnight to him and Amelia, then closed the door. He waited until she was walking in the front door, then she heard him pull away as the door swung shut.

Now that the adrenaline was fading away, Gabriella was exhausted. Shower first, then straight to bed. She had no idea what time it was, but it was dark outside, so that meant it was close enough to bedtime. The sun had gone down while they were at the house and she’d lost track of the time even before they’d gone down into the basement. The haunted basement where some kind of entity was lurking.

She ran back over the entire case as she scrubbed herself in the shower. It had been so simple. How could something so mysterious be handled by something so simple? She knew there had to be physics in there somewhere, some kind of order to the spirit world. But still, it was unreal to think that this was her new job.

The studio apartment was silent as she got out of the shower fifteen minutes later. Screw dinner, she’d just eat a big breakfast tomorrow. She was too tired to cook anything right now, and even her usual lazy dinner of Nutella from the jar sounded like too much work. Gabriella slid into bed, sighing with relief as she settled in beneath the sheets. She was exhausted, but satisfied. And excited for what tomorrow would bring.

With one last look around the room, she shut off the bedside lamp, plunging the apartment into a slightly pink-tinged darkness. She sighed again, then closed her eyes.

And that was when something reached up from under the bed and latched onto her arm.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 9