Tim returned home the very next night to find Traci had fallen asleep on the couch. He tried his best not to wake her. Carefully he placed a blanket on top of her then made his way to the kitchen. But along the way he stumbled on the rug causing Traci to wake.
"Dad." She jumped up and hugged him. "When did you get in?"
"A few minutes ago. I was going to let you sleep."
"No I want to know what happened."
"It can wait until the morning." Traci put her hand on her hips and stared at her father. There was no way he was going to make her wait any longer. "Oh alright. Just let me get some coffee." The two walked into the small kitchenette and Tim went to the cupboard and pulled out two mugs. Traci sat down at the small two person table and waited for her father. After taking a few sips of the coffee, he began.
"I met with him at a small local bar on the outskirts of the town. I told him of our past and he believed it. Then he told me about his wife. It was the same thing Traci. She was on the ceiling then it burst into flames."
"Does he know what did it?" Traci was ecstatic. Finally they had found something. It may not have been much but it was more than what they were working with.
"He doesn't know exactly what it was. Just that it cut into her stomach. He believes that it can change shapes or forms."
"A shape shifter?"
"Not exactly."
"So where do we go from here? I mean are we going to join forces or what?"
"We're just going to have to go on doing what we can. John and I thought it best to spilt up and if we find anything we'll notify the other. Honey I'm sorry."
"Dad its okay. I've stopped getting my hopes up."
"Don't hope is always there."
"I know." The room fell silent. Traci sipped at her drink finding that it had turned cold while her father told his story. Tim looked up at her. He always had wanted to give her a better life than what she grew up with. Several times he tried to persuade her to go live with a relative while he searched. But she wouldn't hear of it.
"So how was that ghost Axe?"
"It was nothing really. It was just pissed the family wanted to remodel the attic or something. I didn't let it stick around long enough to tell me."
"Geez Axe. Your only fourteen."
"Oh come on Dad you know your proud. At least I know how to defend myself. And I'm not like one of those stuck up girls that can't even use pepper spray."
"Yea you carry around daggers, swords, guns, etcetera."
"Hey it gets the job done." They laughed.
For the next three years the two traveled around the east coast looking for clues and killing the evils they came across. Traci was now seventeen. She had given up on school. Her friends forgot about her or considered her a freak. She had put streaks of red in her nice blonde hair. Michelle was the only one she still spoke too. She understood what Traci and her father were doing.
Tim was driving to a small town in southern PA. A series of disappearances had caught their attention. Members of the police force from 30 years ago had been vanishing. Beth Laker had contacted them when suspected her husband would be in danger. That very night Kyle Laker was taken. Once Tim and Traci arrived in the town they started asking around to find out what was causing the police to go missing. An older gentleman told them the story of the Malone's.
The Malone's were a young couple that bought the old mansion in 1969 that sat at the edge of the town. Many people suspected the couple of having large amounts of money and being snobbish. Rumors were circulating that the couple planned to change the town So the townspeople stayed away. One night burglars broke into the house and sole all that they could. When the Malone's went to file a report the police did nothing. Several days later the burglars returned, this time wanting more. When the burglars could to find anything they crept to the bed room and killed the Malone's. The police made no attempts to find the killers. And now the spirits were back to have their revenge.
"Dad are you ready?"
"Yea." Traci and her father set out for the old mansion. When they first entered the manor nothing seemed changed. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere which was typical of an old house. But there were no bodies lying about. Using flashlights they searched the lower living quarters. And then they heard a loud thud coming from the attic. Tim cast a glance at his daughter.
"Let's go." She said and began climbing the stairs. Tim carrying the weaponry while Traci held onto the incantation book they would need to vanquish the spirits. The two hunters burst through the attic door hoping to catch the spirits off guard. A man, Mr. Laker, was crouching in a corner while the two spirits surrounded him. As Traci and Tim came into the room, the Malone's attacked.
Tim fought them off as Traci began to search for the incantation. Her father was thrown across the room when she finally found it. She began reading when the spirits turned their attention to her. They advanced slowly. Traci wanted o stop reading and grab her dagger but it would accomplish nothing. The Malone's were inches away when Tim attacked them. Tim went flying across the room for a second time. The spirits turned their attention back to Traci but it didn't matter. The incantation was complete and the two spirits disappeared. Traci then looked around for her father. She found him up against the wall and Mr. Laker by his side.
"Dad." She ran over to find him cut badly and blood all around. "Dad. Go get help?" She told the Mr. Laker. He left quickly leaving Traci and Tim alone.
"Dad you'll be okay. Stay with me."
"Listen sweetheart."
"Be quiet. You're alright."
"Honey I have to tell you something." Traci started crying knowing that this was the end. "Baby I love you more than anything in this world. And keeping this from you has killed me everyday." He paused to cough up blood.
"Dad whatever it is I don't care."
"Alex is alive."
"What?"
"He wasn't in your room when I found your mother. I'm so sorry." He said between coughs.
"It's okay Dad. I love you." Tim's eyes began to fade.
"Daddy?" Traci said holding her father's hand. But he was gone.
Twenty minutes later EMT's came into the attic to find her still beside her father. The EMT's did their procedures but Tim was dead. Traci sat crying as the medics checked her over.
"Do you have a place you can stay?" Mr. Laker asked.
"Yea."
"I am sorry for your loss. His sacrifice will not be forgotten."
"Thanks." Traci drove home with the body of her father following her from the medics van. They took his body to the morgue while Traci returned to the empty home awaiting her.
Traci sat on her couch taking everything in. Her father was gone but Alex was alive. Why did he keep that from her? What else did she not know about her father?
After the funeral, Traci packed her things and got into her bronco and left her home town. She asked a neighbor to take care of the house. A disturbance had occurred down in Maryland. Disappearances and another fire. There was no reason for her to stay. All that she could think about now was finding answers.