Chapter 17: New Jersey, New problem

"Come on, man," The teen laughed, he and his friend all scampered through the large, old home with grins on their faces and phones held out. The tour guide at the front rolled his eyes, he hated this job. In the middle of nowhere New Jersey, just a few short hours from New York. His dream! New York! If only he wasn't trapped guiding idiot kids through an old, broken down home that had been refurbished as a tourist attraction. With overly flickering lights, fake stories about army men dying inside or around the building, an old cemetery with no real graves. It was all fake! Yet people came daily to be taken around the building for a half hour, see some stuff 'move' around, hear some prerecorded footsteps and go home with a video full of 'evidence' for the dead.

Spirits? Now that was silly. He had worked here for years and not once did the man see a single thing, as he moved the group towards the end with his usual rehearsed garbage about buying from a small gift shop all he could think about was getting away from here. Yet, he felt trapped.

"Morris,"

The tour guide paused what he had been saying about the last old 'bedroom', blinking behind the frames of his glasses with a frown.

"Yes?" He asked the teenager, who grinned at him with such a look he knew what was coming.

"Has anyone died here recently?"

It was a question he heard often, as if it was a good thing if a person died on the attraction. Rolling his eyes, the tall man cleaned his glasses in an attempt to keep the irritation from falling over his face.

"Yep, Dominic Toretto, died a few years back. Ghost gave him a heart attack," the sentence came through gritted teeth, speaking the story he was trained to say with half a heart, he didn't believe it for a second. Nothing about the home was scary, not only that, but Dominic Toretto sounded like a fake name, yet, people believed it.

The man took the group to the end where a single cashier worked, selling old nick knacks and trinkets with the attraction's name on it. An old bedroom that had been transformed to give the appearance of a gift shop. Morris leaned against the desk beside the woman with his eyes narrowed, watching the teens for a few heartbeats before glancing down at the woman's phone.

"Think that's them?" She asked, pointing to the video of Chamuel turning a woman to pure bone.

"Some cool effects," She continued, popping the gum that was between her teeth. She dressed as if she walked out of an old eighties movie, with bright colors and crimped hair; she was the owner's daughter and the object of the man's affection.

"Probably, I don't know why they didn't upload it to their twitter," Morris responded, turning his phone on and flipping over to the Hashtag that'd been trending. He had even placed it in his twitter bio in a show of support,

"Probably all those transphobic comments," She mused, letting her chin rest on the palm of her hand, bright orange lipstick smudging against her skin.

"Yeah, probably, but I've heard people talking about them in the trans community recently." Morris replied, "So he'd got our support, kinda cool to see another trans guy blowing up like this online,"

The woman glanced at the teenagers who snickered at the topic they were talking about,

"You gonna buy something?" She snapped her gum at them, "Or are you going to just continue to look stupid?"

"Aw come on, Mavis." Morris piped up, not looking towards the men as he actively adjusted the tight vest under his shirt.

"That's just how their faces look,"

Mavis let out a snorting, nudging Morris with an elbow. The teenagers muttered among themselves before leaving the gift shop,

"This place sucks!" One of them shouted over his shoulder.

"We know" Mavis called back, "Assholes stole a keychain," she grunted

"God is the only one keeping this place alive at this point," Morris mused, eyes down on the phone in his hand.

"God's also trying to shut us down, did you see that?" She nodded her head to the gravesite on the opposite side of them. It was small, mostly for show, with a few old tombstones that someone had stolen and placed there at some point.

"What?" he arched an eyebrow at her,

She rolled her eyes, getting up and walking her way towards the gravesite. He followed behind his friend, she rubbed her hands together. Long fingernails clacking lightly together, "Looks like someones been digging for ghosts," She chuckled, in the middle of the grave site was a hole. Nothing inside, but it went down deep.

"What the hell?"

"Yep, was here when I opened this morning," She shrugged, "Dad doesn't know who did it either."

"That's weird," He murmured, kicking a bit of dirt into the hole. It was a perfect coffin shape, squinting his eyes he picked up a rock and dropped it into the hole. It fell for a long time, he didn't even hear it land. He looked at Mavis with a puzzled expression, no one could be buried here, right?

"I didn't hear it fall," He murmured, looking back down in the darkness. He swore, as he looked down, that he could hear rushing water.

***

"Bring those in here," Mavis called, she was standing in front of a mirror with her eyes narrowed. Tongue out as she inspected her most recent piercing,

"Morris," She called again, rich brown eyes glowed in the yellow light above. She loved how her skin looked in the lights of the old home, reminded her of a milky chocolate and brought a jolt of euphoria into her veins.

"I'm coming," Morris shouted back at her from the other room, she rolled her eyes, planting her hands on her hips as the skinny man struggled to carry in a box that her father ordered. A few handfuls of fake photographs that had been made to look as if they belonged in the old home.

"Why do we need an entire box of these?" He growled, placing the box down on the old wooden floor. He brushed his fingers through his short, dark hair. He reminded her of a librarian, with his turtle neck shirt, big glasses and small eyes. She liked that about him though, it made him seem smart which was probably why he was hired by her father.

"Don't ask me, ask my dad," She laughed, "He left it for us to put in whatever rooms we wanted," turning back to the mirror to inspect her tongue ring once more. Morris walked up beside her, sticking his tongue out as well as if he also had a tongue ring. She giggled, shoving at him, "Stop"

The sudden sound of a crash caused the two to whip around in surprise, a vase laid in ruins on the floor. It's water seeping out towards them,

'Hello?" Morris said, confusion in his voice. The vase had been in the middle of a shelf with a few old pictures surrounding it. It used to hold flowers but they had recently died and neither employee had cared enough to replace them.

"That's weird," She whispered, walking towards the broken vase and leaning down to pick up the larger of the pieces. A loud, blood curdling scream suddenly exploded around the two, causing Mavis to gasp in surprise and stumble backwards.

"Mavis!"

She didn't have time to react, feeling Morris grab her from behind and pull her back quickly as the bookcase that sat on the same wall suddenly came tumbling down. Falling quickly, pain ripped into her body as the wooden mass landed on her ankle. Morris had just barely saved her from being completely crushed, she yelped out in pain as she attempted to pull her leg free.

The shelves along the walls slowly started to shake, the two watching in horror as one shelf shot from the wall towards Morris. He ducked, it smashed against the wall with such force it shattered the wood.

"We gotta go," He grabbed at the bookcase, she helped him push it up just enough for her to get her leg free. Another shelf exploded beside them, she screamed in surprise. He covered her as a book smashed into his spine, letting out gasp of pain he helped get her to her feet. More books exploded from the bookshelf on the opposite end of the room, pelting him over and over as he attempted to get her to safety. The two made it to the door, it was locked.

"What the fuck" Morris shouted, another book colliding with his spine causing him to holler in agony.

She turned her attention to the door, "Stop" She shouted into the air out of pure frustration and suddenly it all went still. Mavis and Morris both looked at each other in horror, she turned to the door, grabbed the knob and it clicked open. Neither made another sound as they scrambled out of the room, closing and locking it behind them.

"We gotta call my dad," She whispered,

"And he's gotta call some kind of exterminator,"

***

Mishka groaned, rolling over and sitting up. The sunlight was falling into the guest room now, she was tired but it was time to start getting up. Glancing down at Abel she smiled but it vanished a few heartbeats later, placing a hand on his head and pulling it away, a small bit of bright red blood.

"Hey, Abe," She whispered, she noticed his jaw clenched, his body jerking lightly. Was he having a nightmare? She shook him lightly, when he didn't wake a small spark of worried flash over her.

"Abel," She said, louder this time, she eyed a bruise that was forming on the man's chest. Letting her fingers dance over it, it was recent. Almost as if someone punched him a little too hard, but that couldn't have been her, right?

"Abel, hey, wake up man." She said, shaking him a bit harder. His eyes blinked open, he took in a deep breath as if he hadn't been able to breathe which caused her to jump back slightly in surprise. He sat up, quickly, blinking against the harsh sunlight. His pupils were wide, the blood on his head raced down to his chin. He took in a few more breaths, groaning painfully and placing a hand on his head.

"Abel, you're bleeding," She held up her finger towards him, he looked confused for a few rapid heart beats before glancing at the blood on his hand.

"Oh shit, I am," He said, "What'd you do to me last night, huh?" His voice was smooth, joking but there was a slight worry in his tone.

She could see he was trying to make light of it, but his pupils just didn't seem right. She couldn't place it, but it looked familiar.

"Are you okay, Abe?"

He groaned, shaking his head as if attempting to wake himself more. Just as she opened her mouth to speak he scrambled out of the bed, making for the small bathroom in the guest room.

"Dude!" She called after him, jumping out of bed and pulling on pants over her underwear. She was already wearing one of his shirts as she leaned beside him, he was vomiting into the toilet. Letting out soft groans of pain,

"Ew, okay," She took a step back.

A knock at the door caught her attention, Donnies voice called out to them,

"Hey we're going black friday shopping! I have to pick up some stuff for the Ink gun, you guys want to come?"

"Oh hell yeah," Mishka hesitated, glancing at her sick friend and back to the door. She opened it up and stepped out,

"Let's do this! Abel's not feeling good, so I don't think he'll want to go,"

"No thanks," Abel shouted from the bathroom.

"What?" Chamuel looked at Mishka perplexed, "He's sick?" The blonde felt a knot in his chest. Was this because of the energy he had felt that night?

Mishka nodded at him, she said something but Chamuel stopped listening. Making his way into the guest room and kneeling beside Abel. He placed a hand on the mans back,

"Hey, you okay? I was going to see if you wanted to start heading to New York," Chamuel murmured. "But if you're sick--"

"You okay, Abel?" Israfil asked, Donnie following behind him, cutting Chamuel's words off. Chamuel pulled out a small bit of toilet paper, dabbing lightly at the small amount of blood that rolled from a tiny hole in his skin.

"Yeah guys, I'm good," He looked up at everyone, their faces distorted in his mind. Colored shapes moving before his gaze, it made the nausea return once again. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear the odd visions that danced before his eyes.

Chamuel looked over Abel's face in slight horror, his pupils large, much like the other night at the strip club. A sickness grew in the angel's stomach, was something happening to his friend? Was he so blinded by his feelings that he hadn't noticed? After a short chat everyone decided to go their own ways for now and meet up at Mishka's uncles home,

"Oh he'll hate it, but his wife might like it," She laughed.

Chamuel smiled at her, but he felt a jealousy burning in his chest that he fought back. He couldn't be mad at her, after all, he knew Mishka wasn't interested in Abel in that way. They're just having fun, right?

"Alright, sounds good," Chamuel finally said, sitting back down beside Abel who was now seated on the floor of the bathroom. His hair in his face, wearing a robe, he leaned against Chamuel which made the angel's heart skip lightly, silently cursing himself.

"Think you can walk?" Chamuel asked his friend as the rest of the group moved out of the room, chatting and laughing.

"Yeah, I think so," He said with a smile towards the man, his pupils still large but he could see them returning to normal.

"What..." His voice trailed off as he noticed the bruise forming on the other's chest.

"What's that?" He poked at the skin, it was very recent from what the angel could tell.

"Oh this? Just-- little rough last night," He lied, Abel thought back to Arphaxat who'd been a tad...jealous of Mishka. The demon lashed out at Abel who quickly got mad right back only to be apologized to a few times, stopping the hunter in his tracks.

"I'm still a demon, sometimes I just get overwhelmed," He had said, putting up his hands with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Abel, I'd...never want to hurt you on purpose,"

The man was right, he was a demon. He'd been nothing but nice and helpful up until that point. It had happened right before Abel was told to wake up, when the 'gift' that Arphaxat had given him was starting to wear off.

"I just had too much weed," He groaned as he staggered to his feet, holding a hand out to Chamuel who accepted it and allowed Abel to pull him to his feet. Abel wasn't sure what was happening honestly, it seemed as if whenever he was with Arphaxat he felt amazing but coming out of it he always felt awful.

The two made their way outside, Abel grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of his jacket and placed them over his nose. Glancing around for the Impala, feeling more bile rising in his throat he turned away from Chamuel and heaved a few times attempting to keep it in. He felt the others touch on his back, rubbing it lightly.

"You...need me to drive?" Chamuel offered, holding out his hand. Abel nodded slowly, as much as he loved driving he felt awful. Dropped the keys into the others' opened palm.

***

Chamuel was worried about Abel, something wasn't right. He'd been sleeping a lot more, yet, the man always seemed tired. His pupils being the size of dinner plates didn't help either, was he taking something and not telling Chamuel? The angel thought through the medication Abel took regularly, none of which would have any of the symptoms he was showing.

Making a mental note to check the man's medication when he had a few extra minutes as they stepped into the hallway of the motel six they'd been staying in. Standing behind a few people who were also checking out of their rooms, Chamuel fiddled with the keycard in his hand. His eyes following a man who was sitting on the small couch beside a water cooler, he seemed to be talking quickly into his phone with a terrified look on his face. Chamuel attempted to hear what the man was saying but he was just a little too far,

"Next"

He felt Abel nudge him, Chamuel clear his throat as he came up to the man. Giving a smile, "Under Jedidiah,"

The man nodded, looking through his computer with a small sigh. The angel pulled out his vessel's ID, though Donnie warned them about using their personal things for checking in and out of motels; they hadn't had a chance to make fake ID's so they decided using Chamuel's vessel's cards would work for a short time.

"I can't leave right now," The man sitting by the cooler said, Chamuel glanced back toward him as the clerk checked them out of the computer.

"It's not like I can just call the ghost busters, are you sure, Mavie?....No I don't think you're a liar it's just......Yes I know....I'll find someone..."

"Sir?" Chamuel glanced back at the man who was handing him back his ID, Chamuel took it and thanked him before walking over to the dark skinned man on the phone. Abel followed behind, he felt the hunter brush past him.

"Excuse me!" Abel said as the man hung up his phone, looking to the two as they walked up. Tilting his head,

"Yes?"

"You say something about ghosts?"

Abel must have been listening more intently, Chamuel thought,

"Why yes," The man glanced at the two, puzzled, "Who...are you?"

Abel gave the man one of his famous shit eating grins, "Names Abel, this is Chamuel. We're what you'd call-- modern day ghost busters,"

Abel popped his collar out, causing Chamuel to scoff and shake his head with a smile.

***

The three sat down, Abel seemed to be feeling better as he explained who they were and what they did. Though his leg bounced lightly as if he had too much anxious energy flowing in his veins.

"So you...pretend that you're ghost hunters online but you're actually ghost hunters?"

The two exchanged a glance, "Yeah, basically," Abel said, puffing out his lip lightly as he nodded.

"And you...sure you can help me?"

Abel pointed to their twitter followers, "Numbers don't lie,"

The man was desperate, his daughter and her friend were stuck alone with the home and now she was not only hurt but also scared. If he could just have these two clowns go in, maybe that'd be enough for her not to worry so much.

"Look, my daughter got hurt there last week. And my tour guide took a tour there after and said they got attacked by a ghost." He groaned, rubbing his bald head, "I don't have time to go take care of...whatever this is,"

"Well maybe it's one of the ghosts in the place?" Abel offered, the man gave him a deadpan stare.

"There aren't any ghosts, man, I made that up. People pay well for stuff like that!"

"So you're a liar?" Chamuel asked,

The man frowned at him, "Yes, a rich one. That'll pay you if you go do this for me,"

"Oh really?" Abel's eyes lit up, "We were just gonna do it,"

"For your followers right? You kids," The man shook his head, he glanced at his watch and sighed. He was already late to the airport and he had to leave, pulling out his wallet. The man handed them a handful of twenties which shocked Abel who took them happily.

"That's for your services, just make my daughter feel safe. I don't care if you have to bring in fake equipment," He snorted, standing up and handing Abel his business card.

"The address for the house and my cell is on my card, and this," He pulled out another twenty, handing it to Abel.

"And this is so you can get a damn haircut," The man turned on his heels and made for the door. Abel ran his fingers through his hair. It was getting a little longer, grinning at Chamuel, "Oh now I'm gonna grow it down to my ass,"

Chamuel chuckled.

***

The two pulled up to the home, it was a few hour drive but they finally made it. Abel slammed the door to the Impala and narrowed his gaze against the sunlight. A woman stood outside of the house with another man beside her, both not paying much attention as the two hunters walked up to them.

"Excuse me?" Abel said, waving at them, the two looked up only for their faces to twist into shock.

"This the haunted...Miller place?" Abel asked, holding up the business card.

Both of the two stared at Abel and Chamuel with their jaws practically on the floor. The woman shoved at the man who stumbled forward towards the hunters. Adjusting his collar on his shirt as he attempted to find his words,

"Yes it is," He croaked out, staring at Abel with wide, glowing eyes.

"Erm," Abel glanced to Chamuel who shrugged, "Are you okay, man?"

"Yes, sorry," Morris said quickly, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt.

"You're Singersalt!" Mavis shouted out, getting to her feet, "How did my dad hire you guys? I mean, your special effects are pretty cool but you're not real ghost hunters!"

"Mavis, Come on? This is Abel Winchester!" Abel felt a rush of embarrassment at the man's words, feeling his face turn red. Chamuel nudged him, grinning at the other causing the man to turn a darker shade of red. He punched Chamuel in the arm as Morris continued.

"He's total goals," Morris laughed, turning a shade of red as well, "You know, as a fellow trans guy,"

Abel blinked at the other, grinning big now, "Whoa, no way? That's awesome," Abel laughed, his face lighting up at the other's words. It warmed Chamuel's heart seeing the expression on Abel's features.

"Yeah man, I'm in your facebook support group, I follow your hashtag,"

"Support group?" Abel blinked at the other in awe and confusion.

"Do you not google yourself?" Mavis asked, Abel shrugged; he hadn't really thought about it honestly as Mavis pulled out her phone to show him. Limping towards them, a boot covered her foot that was crushed not too long ago.

"We do have a job," Chamuel reminded.

"Oh, yeah!" Mavis laughed, "Your...'job'" she made air quotes. Chamuel shot Abel a look, the hunter returned it and nodded as if an unspoken sentence was said between them.

"Right, let me get my camera," Chamuel chuckled, the two men made their way back to the Impala.

***

"And here is where...Brian O'Connor passed away," Morris said with a half hearted voice, Abel watched the man with a puzzled expression as Chamuel held the large camera over his shoulder. He felt like a movie star with the large camera following behind him and an obvious fake act coming from Morris who was doing his best not to look to Chamuel.

"Stop the camera," Abel said, waving at Cham who frowned, they were filming the tour and had made their way halfway through the home. Mavis and Morris looked at the two in confusion, they were standing in one of the many rooms that had a few generic items in it. Bed, book shelf, the works.

"Sorry am I...not great for the camera?"

"No no, you're great," he chuckled, "uh-- why are all the dead people...named after the Fast and the Furious movies?"

Mavis and Morris looked at each other in confusion, pulling out their phones in a hasty manner. Chamuel continued to film regardless,

"Well, damn," Morris whispered "no one uh...noticed that,"

Abel beamed at them, "I'm a bit of a film buff,"

"A bit?" Cham arched an eyebrow at his friend,

"I can not believe my dad did that," Mavis groaned, her face turning a shade of red in embarrassment.

"No one else noticed?" Chamuel asked,

"We change the names up all the time," Morris waved a hand dismissively, "I mean, we have some names set in stone but the unimportant ones change."

Abel chuckled at this, about to ask what other names they used only for a cold chill to roll up his spine

"Duck" Arphaxat murmured into his ear. Without a second thought Abel went to the floor, a picture frame was torn from the wall and flew towards them just hardly missing Abel's head.

"Good reflexes," Morris murmured as everyone stared at the busted picture frame, Abel stood fully now and kicked at the glass. It was an old picture of a man and woman, black and white, narrowing his eyes at the Shutterstock lettering on the bottom. A sudden scream tore through the peaceful air, filling the men with dread.

"Is that part of the attraction?" Chamuel asked quickly, turning to look at Mavis and Morris.

"We gotta get outta here," Mavis hollered, already turning to limp her away towards the door and down the staircase.

"Wait!" Morris shouted after his friend followed her down, leaving the door to the room cracked open.

Chamuel went to follow only to be blown back, the camera collided with the floor loudly.

"Cham!" Abel went towards his friend who looked dazed but not hurt, helping the angel to his feet who blinked a few times in surprise. His hands glowing lightly as his grace burned through his body,

"Where are you?" Abel shouted, anger flaring in his voice, getting himself in a ready position though he felt useless without his bat.

"Behind you" Arphaxat whispered, Abel turned his attention to an old fireplace poker that was settled beside the bed. A small fireplace was seated on a few paces away, "Who put a fireplace in here," Abel grumbled

Abel snagged the weapon, getting into his usual stance. Both men looked around, waiting.

"Are you guys alive?" Morris called into the room, pushing open the door lightly. Chamuels hands returned to normal, though he could still feel the power flicking between his fingers.

"I died when they tried to remake the Lion king," Abel called back, causing Morris to shove his way in.

"Did...you guys kill it?" He asked with wide eyes, Chamuel's hands dropped to his sides. Adjusting his sweater before making for the camera, plucking it from the ground.

It didn't look broken, in fact, he couldn't find a scratch on it.

"I gotta make a phone call," Abel finally said, breaking the awkward silence.

***

"So it threw a picture at you? And screamed?" Sam's voice rang through the earpiece in Abel's ear. The angel watched Abel for a few heartbeats before taking the man's left headphone out and placing it in his own ear without hesitation.

"It wasn't just that," Abel replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. They sat on the back of the Impala, Abel racing his fingers over the cold metal while Chamuel sat beside him fiddling with the video camera.

"I know I know, the spirit sounds aggressive. They just noticed it? Usually ghosts tend to be around awhile before getting aggressive," Sam continued "are you sure the ghost was just found? Maybe he's been hanging out for awhile? Or maybe some kind of construction woke him up?"

"Oh yeah, let me go ask him," Abel replied sarcastically, causing Sam to huff.

"Well," Abel could tell Sam was glaring at the phone, probably making some sort of over dramatic face, "salt and burn the body, do you know where the body is? Or whatever the ghosts attached too?"

"Why would I be calling you if I knew that?" Abel asked

"We might," Chamuel interrupted as he played back the footage on the camera.

"Well, I think we have gasoline in the trunk with the weapons, maybe some lighters too." Sam continued, Abel groaned in frustration. He had hoped Sam could give them more than 'burn the body' but maybe there wasn't much else that could be done.

"Yeah, there was a grave dug up," Cham continued, watching as Abel hopped down from the trunk of the car. Following the brunette, the two opening the trunk together.

Abel pulled out a few of their bags, placing them.on the ground. Mavis and Morris watched the two now with curious eyes,

"Great! Just burn what's in the grave,"

"It's not that easy, it goes down really deep,"

There was a pause from Sam, Abel could hear Baal in the background muttering to Sam. Abel pulled the hidden part of the trunk up to show the rows of weapons, from guns to more baseball bats the entire hidden trunk was covered in whatever weapon the hunter could ask for.

"Holy shit," he heard Mavis whisper but ignored this, grabbing the red gas canister and a shovel,

"You might have to dig," Sam finally said,

"Way ahead of you, Sammy," he tossed the shovel to Cham who caught it with ease. Abel recalled a time he'd throw something to the blonde only to have the man recoil from it, now? It was as if they didn't even need to speak to know what the other was thinking.

"Just keep me updated, if it's destroying the place room by room that might be a clue,"

Abel hadn't considered that, it made sense. The ghost only seemed to be attacking people in the rooms.

"Yeah, okay. Did you hear from Butch?" He pulled out a second shovel, closing the back of the car going into the backseat to snag his weapon of choice. His baseball bat he silently named "Broomstick".

"Nope, just keep an eye out. Don't trust him," Sam said, Abel couldn't make heads or tails as to why Sam said not to trust the man. Butch had helped them from the start and suddenly he wasn't to be trusted? Yet Sam trusted a demon King?

"Yeah, about that, why can't I trust him?"

There was a pause on Sam's side before the gruff voice of Baal came out.

"Just don't, kid, we'll explain later," he could hear Sam and Baal start to argue, shuffling with the phone.

"Hey! Sam!" Abel yelled into the phone,

"Don't just grab my phone," Sam hissed at Baal, "sorry, yeah we'll tell you later,"

"Aww, you guys sound like an old married couple,"

There was a long sigh from Sam, which caused Abel to grin as he imagined the man rolling his eyes.

"I'll call you later, Abe, just-- if you need help I'm only a few hours away,"

"I think we can handle a ghost,"

With that Abel hung up the phone, Chamuel pulled the earbud out and handed it back to the hunter who snapped it into its case.

"So this...is real?" Morris whispered, the hunters turned to look at the two.

"It's as real as you want it to be," he replied smoothly, not wanting to fully admit to it all as the sun died out behind the trees.

"You two head home, we got this," Abel pulled a small handgun from the car, hesitating before clipping it to his belt in it's holster.

"So you can dig up imaginary bodies?" Mavis asked, arching an eyebrow

Her eyes danced to the gun, a flash of fear could be seen in their depths.

"Mav, this is real, didn't you see all the weapons?"

"Weapons don't make shit real," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Abel and Chamuel glanced at one another, "suit yourself, you can hang out while we figure this out."

"Are there any other parts of the home we didn't see?" Chamuel asked, shivering lightly in the cold air. His breath was starting to come out in a puff as twilight kissed the earth, stars dotted the skies above but we're rapidly being covered by an angry set of clouds.

"No...well," she hesitated, "there is a basement,"

Morris looked at her in surprise, "there is? I've never seen it?"

She nodded to the three, shivering lightly.

"Yeah, my dad locked it up when we first got here I...don't know what's in it,"

"How long have you been doing this?" Cham asked, setting his shovel down and pulling out his cell phone.

"Erm...since I was ten? So...nine years," she fiddled with her hair as she spoke, eyes moving from one person to the other.

Chamuel clicked on the text message from Sam,

"Send me whatever you got on camera, I'll post it for you idiots. Keep me updated if you see Butch,"

"Can you show us?" Abel asked, "after all, if it's not real, no worries right?" Mavis hesitated, glancing to Morris and back to Abel.

"Right," she huffed, turning and making towards the home. Morris glanced at the two men before following behind his friend, Chamuel and Abel started after him.

"Should we really bring the shovels?" Cham whispered,

"Guess not, but be on guard," Abel stabbed the shovel into the ground outside of the home. Climbing up the few steps to the front door and pushing his way inside, Chamuel did the same but froze as his shovel knocked into something hard.

A rock maybe? Shrugging towards himself and following his friend into the poorly lit home, he could feel his grace prickling at the bottom of his palms as adrenaline kicked forward through his veins. The dusty smell of the old home reminded the angel of when he first came to Earth and was introduced to his vessel, silently wondering if Jedidah missed his skin.

"It's over here," she brought them to the large staircase. A small door was settled in the wood, with a large lock that looked as if it hadn't been touched for years. Chamuel hadn't even noticed the door when they first walked through the home, racing his hand over the lock.

"How do we get in?" Abel asked,

"I don't know," she admitted quietly,

"You don't have a key?" Morris asked.

Chamuel continued to stare at the lock, his palms turned to pink than white as his grace burned through his veins.

"Stand back,"

He said, Abel had already taken a step back but the other two stared at Chamuel's hand with wide, round eyes. He took in a breath, his eyes glowed softly as he crushed the lock in his hand with ease sending a spark of light into the air around it.

"Damn," Mavis whispered as Chamuel grabbed the door knob and pulled it open. His grace shone into the darkness, casting it's bright pink light down a set of old stairs. Abel came up from behind the other, glancing into the darkness.

"Above you,"

Abel glanced upwards as he heard Arphaxats voice, noticing a small string that hung down from the darkness. Reaching up to grab it, his hand just hardly brushing the string. Chamuel reached up, grabbing it and pulling it down. Causing Abel to shoot him a grateful glance,

"I gotcha, Maverick," he whispered as lights flickered on in the small hallway. Bulbs hanging down from the ceiling, their light a deep yellow, long cobwebs danced around them.

"Thanks Goose,"

Abel took a step onto the stairs, it let out a whine under his weight but held it. Taking a few more steps, Chamuel close behind him his grace lighting up what the bulbs didn't. Chasing the shadows down the steps, he glanced up towards Mavis and Morris who had huddled together on the first step.

"Stay up there," Abel ordered, pointing at them with eyebrows raised. They both nodded, stumbling back upwards to the hallway of the house.

The hunters made their way down to the bottom step, Abel's shoe hitting a wood floor. A rancid smell that started in the middle of the stairs hit them hard as they came into the open room. He could hear the soft buzz of flies shouting in his ears.

"Lights stop here," Abel said, looking back at the bulbs that dangled just above the wooden stairs.

"Hang on, maybe there's a light switch?" Chamuel held his hand up, chasing the shadows away as his grace glowed up to his elbow, reminding Abel of a glow stick.

Narrowing his eyes against the shadows the hunter brushed his hand against the wall, the wood felt as if it were caked in dust. He could only see a few steps ahead of him despite the others bright light, feeling a rush as his fingers danced over a switch. Flipping it up the lights buzzed above them, snapping on slowly one right after the other.

Abel's heart stopped, they were in an old attic that looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. long, straight marks covered the old, rotted wooden floors and kissed the walls. He spotted a few bookshelves whose books had been thrown all over, dried blood spotted the floors around it. A few shelves, a bed and boxes of old food sat against the walls. The boxes of food had been torn open, old, rotten food stank up the room but there was another smell that Abel couldn't put his finger on. The soft sound of rushing water could be heard as if there was a hidden waterfall in the room.

That's when he spotted it, sitting in just the middle of the floor was a human head. It's mouth opened in a permanent scream. Eyes having been picked out delicately, its head had been crushed with brain matter surrounding it. It looked decently fresh as flies gathered around the skull. A body that looked as though it were torn apart by a bear sat lying awkwardly a few feet away.

Chamuel gagged lightly at the sight, Abel simply stared at it with a shocked look in his eyes.

"Well...we found the body,"