"Oh, you're here!" Sharpe dashed down the driveway where Norman parked SPIRIT's van, arms waving wildly. "Thank you, thank you…" He stepped in front of the drivers side door and shook Norman's hand rather forcefully. Norman tried not to grimace at the clammy texture.

"Hello, Mr. Sharpe." Dipper stood next to Norman, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Dipper smiled as charmingly as he could at the nervous man and reached to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Dipper Pines. We spoke on the phone."

"Yes, yes, yes…" Sharpe dropped Dipper's hand and ran his fingers through his comb over. His thick glasses were knocked askew and his beige jacket only zipped halfway. For some reason, he didn't have a southern accent even though he appeared to live in Georgia.

"I'm Coraline." Coraline took her place next to Dipper, her hip cocked to the side and arms crossed over her ample chest.

"Mabel here," Mabel chirped from Coraline's side, flashing a 'I-had-braces-for-years' smile. Her long, brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she wore a thick, homemade sweater, seemingly unaffected by the heat.

Dipper loved seeing their customers' expressions when they first showed up. A tattooed and pierced psychic guy with hair that literally stood straight up. Another male with shaggy brown hair and scraped knees, who still had a baby face (Grr…). An identical looking girl wearing an oversized sweater that almost reached her knees. Then there was Coraline, with her uneven blue hair, multiple piercings and tattoos, and a stance that said she could take on the world.

Yeah. The reactions were great.

"So…" Dipper clapped his hands, trying to smile reassuringly at Sharpe. "Why don't we take a little look at your ghost problem?"

"Here." The man tossed Dipper a set of keys. Dipper scrambled to catch them, grumbling at his friends' laughter. He glared at them all quickly before turning back to Mr. Sharpe.

"Are you not coming with us?"

Mr. Sharpe shook his head so fast Dipper worried about whiplash. He wiped at his forehead, even though it was at most seventy degrees. "I won't go into that house again. Sorry, but I'm sure you can figure everything out."

"Course we can!" Mabel beamed at the man and gave a mock-salute. "We'll take care of everything!" Her hands rested on her hips in a superhero pose, unaware of her fellow team members' eye rolls.

"Right…" Mr. Sharpe chuckled nervously and threw his thumb over his shoulder. "Then I'll just leave you to it. Call me when you're finished." His lips pulled away from his teeth in a parody of a smile, cast one odd look at the house behind him, and scooted past them down the street. Dipper, Mabel, and Coraline watched him leave, each with different reactions. Dipper was intrigued at Sharpe's avoidance. Mabel thought he was nice. Coraline sensed danger on the horizon and seemed to enjoy it.

Norman, however, kept his stare on the house. It was painted white, but had faded over time to a weird brown-gray. Thin vines snuck up the walls like snakes, and appeared to be the only vegetation on the property. The windows were dark.

"You okay?"

Norman glanced down at Dipper, who was gazing at him in obvious concern. Norman tried to smile and tapped the bill of Dipper's pine tree hat. "Yeah, I'm good. Just hoping to see something."

"Well, we're not gettin' any younger." Coraline straightened and smirked at her friends. "I say we take a look."

Gripping the keys tighter, Dipper shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, alright. I mean, that's what we came here for." He turned back to Norman, smiling slightly. "You want to use the equipment immediately or see what you can without it?"

Norman's blue eyes swept over the house again, but he still didn't see anything. This meant two things: either the ghost wasn't near any of the windows or it was powerful enough to stay invisible even to Norman. His teeth tugged at his lip ring. "...Let's leave the equipment for now. If it's Benjamin like you think it is, Dipper, it might scare him."

"Okay." Dipper glanced back at the girls. "Since we're just taking a look, do you guys want to come in to? Or ya want to wait?"

Mabel looped her arm through Coraline's, grinning, while Coraline glared as if Dipper had just personally offended her. "Of course we're coming," They chorused.

Dipper rolled his eyes, while Norman snickered. "Fine, then. Just making sure." He leaned more into Norman's side and gestured forward with the keys. "Let's go ghost hunting."

Norman laid his tattooed arm across Dipper's shoulders as they headed up the barren lawn to the porch. Mabel and Coraline followed closely. When they climbed the creaking steps Norman suddenly froze.

"What?" Dipper whispered, eyes automatically sweeping over the area, even though he knew he wouldn't see anything. He reached for Norman's hand and squeezed. "What do you see?" Coraline and Mabel stayed silent, both watching the boys carefully.

"Nothing," Norman murmured, squeezing Dipper's hand back. "It's just...I don't know. There's pressure here. I feel like a hand is pushing me into the ground."

"Do you want to stop…?"

"No." Norman took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stared at the house's front door. "Let's just do this."

Dipper simply nodded and stepped forward to unlock the door with the keys Mr. Sharpe had given. He turned the handle and pushed, hinges screaming in protest. The SPIRIT team exchanged looks before Dipper shuffled into the entrance, Norman behind him.

The staircase greeted Dipper first. It curved slightly, and appeared to be sturdy enough to use, if not a little rickety. To his left laid what he guessed to be a sitting room. To his right, a dusty, open space that held a long, wooden table. A dining room, maybe?

"Whoa, we could play hide-and-seek in here all day!" Mabel gaped, brown eyes wide with childish delight. She clapped her hands together, unknowingly sending pieces of glitter to the floor from her painted nails.

"Just avoid any small doors, okay?" Coraline smirked at her friend, an odd gleam in her eyes.

The other team members mumbled their agreements, each lost in the manor. Norman continued to search for the entity they were looking for, but couldn't see even a flicker in the corner of his eye. The pressure was still there, though. It buzzed just over his skin, raising the hairs on his arms and ringing in his ears. He could tell there was something here, he just couldn't see it.

"Maybe we should split up?" Dipper suggested, his voice echoing slightly. He still hadn't let go of Norman's hand.

"Sure." Coraline nodded and looped her arm through Mabel's. "We'll take the downstairs and see where we can set up our base."

Mabel beamed and winked at the boys. "Don't get to occupied upstairs. If we hear thumping we'll know what's goin' on." She swung her hips saucily, snickering at both their blushes.

Coraline snorted. "Right. Anyway, go see if you can find our ghost while we set up." Her and Mabel headed to the right, soon disappearing down a hall Dipper hadn't noticed.

Dipper turned to Norman, eyes narrowed with obvious concern. "You sure you're okay? You're awfully quiet."

"Mh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just listening." His lips quirked in a lopsided grin as he tugged on Dipper's hand. "Come on, let's go upstairs." They both treaded lightly, but their footsteps still creaked and moaned. Dipper tried not to let it get to him.

Luckily, it was the afternoon and the windows weren't boarded shut, so they had enough light to see by without flashlights. Norman lead the way upstairs (as he was the one who could actually see these things), while Dipper followed closely, one hand on the dusty banister. If Norman were to be pushed (it's happened before; damn poltergeists) then he'd crash into Dipper and Dipper would hopefully have enough grip to keep them on the stairs.

They didn't speak, even when they reached the landing. They knew each other's routine by now: both needed quiet to work. Norman would look and listen for any actual ghosts, and Dipper would search for any other evidence. Just in case it wasn't a spirit, or even if it was then he could learn more information about said spirit.

Wordless, Norman turned to the left and stopped. Dipper did so as well. Norman frowned and called out, "Hello?"

Silence.

They both waited for a few moments for whatever Norman had called out to. Unsurprisingly, no one said anything back or popped into existence. Dipper was about to ask Norman if they should move on when Norman abruptly strode down the hall and entered one of the rooms. Dipper went to follow, but froze when something caught his eye. He stopped outside one of the open doorways and gazed inside what seemed to be a bedroom. Propped against the wall facing the door where Dipper stood was a painting. A boy sat in an ornate chair with a man looming behind him. When Dipper looked closer he noticed who they were - Benjamin and his father, Eric.

"Huh." Dipper stepped inside the room to examine the painting better and crouched in front of it. From what he could tell, it was an oil painting and wasn't done by a known artist. Benjamin was ten at the oldest, and wore a suit with a necktie. Eric himself had something very similar, but instead had a cravat rather than a black ribbon.

There was something else Dipper couldn't put his finger on. It appeared to be a normal 19th century painting, though Dipper had a feeling he was missing something important. His brown eyes trailed over the two male forms again, his mind almost itching.

Eric stared back at him stoically. His hands rested on his son's shoulders. Benjamin...Benjamin was...terrified. Like a missing puzzle piece, Benjamin's expression suddenly slammed into Dipper. At first, he appeared almost as unemotional as his father, but when Dipper looked closer he could see the barely hidden terror in his oddly shaped eyes. Eyes like Norman's.

Thud!

Dipper shot to his feet and dashed out of the room to where he'd seen Norman go. He stumbled into a similar room and yelped, "Norman!"

Norman had his back to him, gazing out a window that showed the front lawn. He didn't speak, even when Dipper called his name again.

Dipper shuffled into the room more, eyes locked on Norman's back. "Norm? Dude, something's going on." He maneuvered around the bed and reached out to grab Norman's shoulder hesitantly.

And with sudden, intense clarity Dipper knew this wasn't Norman.

Norman looked at Dipper with green eyes, not his own baby blue, and smirked at Dipper's stricken expression. "Hello." HIs voice was deeper and had a southern accent - definitely not his Norman.

"Who are you?" Dipper stumbled backwards, back of his knees hitting the bed. Almost like his Norman would, Not-Norman grabbed Dipper's arm before he could fall.

"I'm sure you know by now. Can you not guess?" Not-Norman chuckled lowly, grip on Dipper's arm tightening.

Dipper swallowed. "You-you're Eric Johnson." He recognized those cold, green eyes. But he hadn't known Norman could get possessed, it hadn't happened before.

"Such a clever boy," Johnson cooed mockingly, and trailed a cold finger over Dipper's cheek. "And so...pretty…" He stepped forward, his knees brushing Dipper's lower thighs due to Norman's height.

Dipper swallowed, unable to look away from those green eyes, so wrong on Norman's face. The back of his legs hit the antique bed and caused him to stumble, but once again Not-Norman stopped his fall.

Johnson leaned into Dipper, close enough that his dry breath fluttered Dipper's eyelashes. Dipper stood frozen, completely unsure on how to proceed. Normanly, he'd whip out the few self-defense lessons he'd had, but this thing was in Norman's body. He couldn't hurt him. He wouldn't. There had to be another way.

Johnson abruptly shoved Dipper, effectively knocking him off balance. He landed on the bed and within less than a second Johnson had straddled Dipper's chest, pushing him into the mattress. Dipper forced himself to breathe with Not-Norman's weight on his lungs and the smirk aimed his way. "I have not experienced human touch in years…" Johnson dragged a hand over Dipper's neck; Dipper forced himself to remain still.

"This isn't you, Norman." Dipper spoke as evenly as he could and stared into Not-Norman's eyes. "Fight him. Push him out."

Johnson's smirk widened, and his hand on Dipper's chest curled into a claw that dug into Dipper's skin. "Will it be his name you call out, boy? Will that be the name on your pretty lips…" Johnson's hand moved to Dipper's mouth. Dipper swallowed. "You almost remind me of my boy. He was a stringbean like yourself." Johnson bit the side of Dipper's neck. On instinct, Dipper flinched and drove his elbow into Not-Norman's side.

Johnson grunted. He tried to grab Dipper's hands, but Dipper twisted his hips and managed to roll Johnson off of him. He sprang to his feet and ran out of the room, Johnson on his heels.

"Mabel! Coraline!" Dipper screamed as he raced down the hallway. What to do, what to do? He didn't carry weapons and if he did he still couldn't hurt Norman. Coraline yelled his name. Dipper heard her and Mabel's pounding footsteps coming up the stairs.

"You think you can run from me, boy?" Johnson laughed harshly. Using Norman's long legs, he jumped on Dipper's back and they both went crashing to the floor. Once again, Johnson was on top of him. "Nobody runs from me." The sound of a belt being undone. A bite on the back of Dipper's neck.

Dipper struggled underneath Not-Norman's weight. The dusty carpet watered his eyes. His arms were trapped beneath him. "Please, Norman, stop. Listen to me. Please…"

Another laugh.

"Please, Norman…"

"HEY!" Coraline's voice. And then, the body holding Dipper spasmed and the sound of crackling electricity filled the air. Dipper jerked away from the thrashing body. Not-Norman writhed on the floor, almost choking, while Coraline glared from near the stairs and holding a taser. Mabel rushed to Dipper and crouched in front of him. She ran her hands along his arms, worried eyes scanning for injuries.

"Stop," Dipper whispered. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Stop!" He shuffled forward and landed next to Norman, who was still shaking from leftover electricity. Coraline tucked her taser gun into the back of her jeans and watched from a distance, cautious.

Dipper placed Norman's head in his lap and tried to keep him still. "Easy...hey, Norman, you back with me…"

Norman groaned. But to Dipper's relief, when Norman's eyes opened they were his own blue.

"You alright, buddy?" Mabel asked from Dipper's side.

Norman groaned again. "I feel like I've just been tasered."

Coraline coughed.