Ghost Hunt: The Inbetween

"Hello Erik, I'm Ava, a business associate of Cheyenne, she is getting ready right now. Seems she woke up late. Anyway, she would like you to be at the office within an hour...Can you be here around 11 am?"

Ava could tell by the boy's voice that he was young. Had Cheyenne really hired a young boy to help us? Ava shrugged to herself as she waited for Erik's reply.
 
"Yeah I'm all ready, been sitting here waiting for this call," Erik stated. "I'll right over," Erik said goodbye to Ava and after a few minutes he stepped out of the internet cafe heading towards the office on his bike.
 
Cheyenne took this time to get ready for Erik's arrival. She got dressed and brushed her teeth. Putting her hair into a ponytail, she cleaned up the office a bit and then went to put on makeup. She then walked over to Ava and her brother, sitting down and taking a cup of tea.

"He should be here any time now. Be nice to him and please do not attack him with questions right off the bat! Let him get used to you and then ask questions"

She didn't want Erik to feel overwhelmed. She just wanted him to meet the friends who worked with her on cases, that way he could know everyone on the team.
 
Arriving about 40 minutes later at the office Erik proceeded to check himself over. He wasn't dressed for success, he was wear some casual clothes. But he did put some cologne on and combed his hair. He had the notepad with him just in case.

Placing his bike by the side of the building he knocked on the door. Erik was nervous and excited he felt like he had yesterday at the interview. He hoped that if Cheyenne's friend didn't approve they'd at least give him a chance.
 
Cheyenne heard the knock at the door. She turned to Ava and her brother.

"Now, let me sit him down and introduce him before you start bombarding the boy with questions...ok?"

Ava and her brother nodded. Cheyenne walked to the door and opened it, inviting Erik inside. She ushered the boy inside and to an open chair, offering him tea. Whether he wanted any or not was up to him, but it was sitting in front of him if he wanted any. Cheyenne sat in the sit overlooking everyone. She smiled as she looked to Erik.

"Erik, this is Ava and her brother. Ava is like me, she can see and talk to spirits, but there is one thing Ava can do that I cannot and that is physically touch the spirits...Ava's brother Vincent is a spiritualist. One of the many required to help me do my job. These two do voluntary work and I pay them part of the sum of what the client was saying they would pay. We generally make an average of 20,000 to 40,000 yen per job, depending on the size of the job. If it is a small job, we can go as low as 3500 yen. The biggest job me, Ava and vincent have ever had was 85,000 yen. We mostly used that to update equipment. But we did get our paychecks too so it evened out perfectly. It may be overwhelming Erik, but you will get used to it. It's a great first time job because the pay is fantastic!"

Ava looked over at Erik, holding out her hand and smiling softly.

"Hi, I'm Ava. Nice to meet you. Welcome to the team!"
 
Erik poured himself a glass of tea, and listened. He really didn't care about the pay. He was more interested in the work. I really hoped they wasn't delusional about their abilities.

Some part of him wanted to be special to, like them. "Nice to meet you as well Ava," Erik said politely. She was nice enough but he was still nervous, his knee was shaking. He shook Ava's hand and looking over at her brother. Erik didn't know what to expect from him.
 
Vincent looked over at Erik, smiling.

"Hey kid, The name's Vincent....Nice to meet you" he put out his hand too. Cheyenne watched as Ava and Vincent introduced themselves to Erik. She then cleared her throat.

"Now that we are aquainted, let us get down to business. Here is the case file for our next case. It is at a school. A private academy so naturally there will be no media allowed. We are going there because we have had strange sightings over there. The principal has seen apparitions at night when locking up the school and the students are always being pushed and no one is around to push them. But it seems that that is the only thing happening to the students. Most of the sightings of apparitions and physical activity is happening to the staff. They have had 2 teachers quit already because of the activity that goes on there. They've reported books being thrown at the teachers and the principal was attacked after school hours. We have to be careful in this case. It seems that the spirits that dwell here do not like adults. That is why Erik will be an essential part of the team. He won't get attacked and therefore will be safe to go on this. What is your take on it Vincent? Do you want to risk it or should I get John to come instead?"

Vincent shrugged.

" I'd rather avoid getting attacked. John is still a teenager. Take him with you...He will be safe there as well..."

Cheyenne nodded.

"Good point! I'll get John in on this. Now Ava, you have no choice. You have to come with...Got it?" Ava sighed.

"Ok, Got it..."

"Now Erik, what you'll be doing is setting up equipment in all classrooms with reports of strange activity in them. You will also be in charge of monitoring us while we are there. I will stay at base with Erik and Ava and John will go around the school, checking temps, doing EVP's and so forth. Got it? This case isn't for another 3 days so prepare mentally for it. You'll need it..."

Cheyenne looked over at Erik. She wondered what he thought about it all.
 
Erik took Vincent's hand shaking it firmly. "Likewise Vincent nice to meet you," he replied. Erik was quiet even after Cheyenne finished talking, he didn't want to sound stupid if he asked a question. He also didnt know what to think. Erik felt a small chill crawl down his back. It was like they all were setting by a camp fire telling creepy stories. "Say you encounter it, what do you do? It doesn't sound friendly." Erik asked, hoping they wouldn't think he was dumb.
 
Ava turned to the scared boy.

"Well that's obvious! You shake it's hand and introduce yourself!" She started to giggle. Cheyenne sighed, smiling and trying to not giggle herself.

"Ava, that's not very nice. You need to be nice to my new employee" she looked over at Erik.

"There is no need to worry yourself over that. I will be with you and I know how to drive off malevolent spirits. I can't exorcise them, but I can drive them off for a time with my ability. Just remember Erik, you have to be with me at all times...Ok? You shouldn't worry. You'll be just fine"

Cheyenne tried her best to console the boy. She had driven away spirits that had tried to get their hands on her friend Vincent, but she drove them away before they even had the chance.

"Erik, I've driven away many spirits by just word of mouth. You can trust me that I would let no harm befall you, alright?"
 
Erik kept a straight face, "I'm am a big boy Cheyenne, like its not you have to hold my hand while we go into a spooked house. I need to learn how do deal with a ghost alone if I'm confronted. Though I might not even know I'm being messed with at all," He paused briefly. "I guess a better question to ask is, what are the signs that a ghost is around and or getting irritated.

Erik wasn't really scared, but he had just realized what he would be doing and where he would be going. Naturally there would be times he would get spooked. He just hoped his teammates didn't try to creep him out, it would probably work.
 
Cheyenne looked over at Erik, crossing her legs .

"Erik, We need to be together here. I do not want anything going on between the spirits and my team members. That is why we have 4 people on this case so we each have someone to keep us safe...Safety in numbers!"

She listened again as he asked another question. She laughed.

"Erik, you don't need to be so tense around us! Your one of the team now! Try to relax! Not all cases will be this dangerous. Also, You'll know when a spirit is near. The temperature usually drops, if it is an angry spirit, sometimes objects will move without an explination. You may also hear noises, so loud and some so soft you can hardly tell if a ghost is there or not. Also, in some cases, the ghost will mess with you by pulling your hair, or yanking on your clothes or if it is demonic, it will scratch you. Erik, this case isn't dealing with demons, but just be glad you weren't on the team till now. My case a few times ago was a demonic case and I hesitated on taking it, but i did anyway because Vincent would be there to exorcise it...It was harder than I thought and I got attacked by it..." She lifted up her sleeve to reveal 3 huge scratch marks starting from what seemed to be her shoulder and ending just before the sleeve cut off.

"The demon hated me. It entered my body and told me so. Vincent had to drive him out and exorcise him before he could hurt anyone else. But the fact that the scratches are scabbed over mean he cut deep, deep enough to make me bleed. Some cases will be dangerous, but you have to be willing to go into the line of fire for your client so they don't get hurt...Do you understand?"
 
Erik nodded, as he thought about demons, and the scratches Cheyenne showed him. He took a drink from his glass. "I'm not having second thoughts if you worried about that." He spoke putting his glass down. "I just want to be ready and able to do what needs to be done."

He looked over at Cheyenne wondering if she needed things done today. He wasn't wanting to go home just yet and he got the feeling the meeting was drawing to a close. He would be bored back home and he was very eager to go on this hunt. Erik didn't know how he'd pass by the time the next few days
 
Cheyenne stood up and clapped her hands.

"This meeting is concluded! Hey Erik, would you like to stay and help me with some paperwork? I need to finalize the case and finish up the paperwork and payment paperwork. I will show you how to do it...Also, if you could help me gather up the materials I'll need for the case, that would be awesome!"

(Sorry it is so short. Got an early work shift and gotta go to bed)
 
Erik nodded as he tried to pretend like he wasn't hoping to stay after. "Yeah I have nothing else going on. I can stay after for as long as you need me," He replied. As he thought about it, he still didn't know he was gonna pass the next few days. He stood up and to bid Vincent and Ava farewell.

(oh its ok, I am actually replying from a computer and not my phone. I was worried that my posst were always too small and seeing the posts on a computer i feel bad. But my replies were always thought through. Sorry for the long wait btw. This post is still small grrr.)
 
Cheyenne lead him to the room with all the equipment as the door shut behind them. Inside were all the equipment that would be needed for the case in boxes and ready to be packed into Cheyenne's car.

"I decided to put all the equipment we'll need in these 5 boxes. The other stuff is already in my car downstairs...If you could take these boxes down, I'll follow and unlock the car for you. After that, come back up and I'll teach you how to file the paperwork. It's pretty simple really! If you show me your good at it, I might make you in charge of it!"

She sauntered out to the kitchen, grabbing her keys and opening the door for Erik.

"You ready?"
 
All the boxes expect the two in his hands were sitting by the front door. "Yeah....ready," Erik replied a little winded, carrying two boxes one on top of the other. They were heavy but he could manage. He sat the first two boxes on the floor board in the back.

Going back Erik retrieved the another two boxes placing them in the back set. He picked up the final box and as he came out asked. "So where we taking all this?" Sitting the final box in the middle along side the other two in the back seat he closed the door turning to Cheyenne.
 
"This is for the job we have in 4 days? 3? Can't remember. It's close...It's to gather scientific evidence." She ushered him back upstairs, locking her car door. On the desk sat a few stacks of paperwork. She pointed to each one, explaining it.

"This first pile of only a few papers is the payment agreement. It needs to be signed by the client when we arrive. So don't worry about that for now. This second stack is the room arrangements and were we will be able to put our equipment without it being taken or used by anyone on the premises except for members of the team. This third stack, which is the biggest of all is the stack of papers containing witness reports and every single siting of spirits that have been seen on campus since the school was built. That doesn't need to be sorted. Just the middle pile needs to be sorted. There is a certain order. I wrote the order the papers need to go in. If you could do that, then you are more than welcome to go, unless you'd like to see me demonstrate my powers..." she picked up the other 2 piles of papers and set them in a filing cabnet and gave Erik the paper with the order for the papers. She also set a stapler in front of him.

"You'll need this too. When you are done...come and see me!"
 
Erik nodded, saying nothing and grabbed the stapler beginning to staple the paper according to the order Cheyenne requested. While he worked Erik began to wonder just how Cheyenne planned to show him her ability, she talks to ghosts right?

For all he knew she could be talking to thin air. Erik didn't wish to doubt her but on the other hand how was he suppose to believe he can't see ghosts that he knew of. So he wouldn't really be able to tell if she had one around, did she plan to take him to a haunted building close by. Surely there wasn't a ghost hanging out around Cheyenne or here in the building. Nah Erik expected she'd take him somewhere.

As his mind continue ponder, Erik left his hands on autopilot. "Ouch!" He bit back a cuss word as he held up his thumb. He had stapled it to one of the papers. His eyes began to water as he pulled out the staple.

He began to suck on his thumb. Erik paused and momentarily began to pace about the room, trying to get rid of the pain.
 
Cheyenne walked in when she heard the yelp come from the other room. She brought her first aid kit and helped Erik take care of his thumb.

"Now remember to pay attention when you are doing that! No spacing off..." she laughed a little. She put away the first aid kit and stood facing Erik. She began to feel something around Erik. A feeling of sadness yet a feeling of him being watched over by some entity. She didn't look familiar at all. The entity. If it was a she. It felt more feminine than masculine, but sometimes spirits tried to throw her off.

"So, Erik, I hope you don't mind me saying, but you seem to have an entity around you. One that is very warm and welcoming. One that is very protective. Did you have a loved one or someone you know die?"

She couldn't feel any negativity coming from it at all. It felt warm to her. Warm and inviting. Only friendly spirits, familiar spirits to the person would appear. This must be a spirit of someone whom he had known. He couldn't figure anything else from the way the spirit felt to her.
 
Erik's face went blank, he slowly turned his eyes studing Cheyenne's. "There was no way she could possibly know" he thought. Not unless it was true about who she claimed to be and what she could do. This sudden realization was put behind him as he quickly looked around for his mother.

Seeing nothing his lowered his eyes. "That would be my mother." Erik stated, his voice barely above a whisper. The thought of his mother around him didn't make him feel good at all. He couldn't see her, hug her or even talk to her.

If his mother was indeed around in spirit it pained him to be so close yet so far away.
He began to shed tears, and Erik bit lip but it didn't stop them from coming.

(sorry for the long wait I got a job last week and have been going to sleep after. *hugs*)