1:45 PM
"We want to stop this thing," Thorn said as she, Luna, and Dusk returned to the security room. "Do you you know how to do that?"
Brian paused the footage and swiveled around in the chair to face them. He looked surprised, yet he sighed, seemingly with relief. "No idea," he replied, scratching his head. "I'm not exactly sure what we're dealing with, so that makes coming up with a plan difficult."
Thorn gave a subtle frown but quickly regained her composure. "True," she sighed before her eyes widened in excitement. "Wait," she gasped as she removed one of the question sheets and a pen. "Let's write down everything we know about the killer and the ghost so we can figure something out."
As she placed the sheet on the table, she happened to catch a glimpse of Luna smiling. She smiled back, expecting both of them to start giggling.
"Oh, so now you're willing to do this," Luna instead teased. Despite her smile, Thorn sensed a hint of hostility behind her joke.
Thorn laughed, more so to hide her worries than finding it funny, as she turned her attention back to the task at hand. She drew a horizontal line across the page, separating it into two rows she labeled 'Ghost' and 'Killer.'
"Let's start with the killer since he's more dangerous," Brian said.
Thorn nodded and wrote 'more dangerous' in the killer's row. She also added 'killed Mr. Kurtz' and 'attacked Luna and Dusk' before turning to her friends. "You two know the most about it. What else can we add?"
"I stabbed that fucker, and Luna maced it, but it's still alive," Dusk grunted as she thrust her dagger in the air, mimicking the incident. Thorn jotted down 'Injured?' in the killer's row.
"I...I don't know if it's even human," Luna stammered. Thorn sighed upon noticing Luna's almost imperceivable trembling.
"What makes you say that over it being some guy in a costume?" Brian asked.
Luna swallowed. She rubbed her neck, her hand shaking as she lifted it. "It...it grabbed me…" Even her voice was shaky. "And its face. Its teeth. Its mouth…" She paused, sniffling as she recounted the details. "Those...eyes. The way it looked at me like I was some helpless animal. And then when it caught me..." She shook her head, taking a step away from them. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Thorn consoled. "You went through a terrible situation; if you don't want to talk about it now, you don't have to."
Luna nodded as she returned to the group circle, and Dusk wrapped her arm around Luna's shoulder. "I'll be alright," Luna said after a few moments of silence. "Let's get back to work."
Thorn nodded. Despite arguing with her minutes ago, all she wanted to do was hug Luna. But Luna was right, they had work to do. Underneath the killer's box, she wrote 'Not-human?'
"What else do we know about it?" Brian asked.
"It has this centipede-looking thing that it sends to attack people," Dusk added.
"What?" Thorn said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, it was this cat-sized centipede with huge fangs," Dusk replied, gesturing with her hands to show the creature's size.
"Okay, um, not what I expected to hear," Brian said, leaning back in the chair.
Thorn couldn't agree more. It was another monster and problem to deal with, and she wished Dusk made it up. She sighed and then added 'centipede monster' to the growing list of information on the killer.
"You never told me how you escaped that thing," Luna said.
"Oh, right," Dusk said, scratching the back of her head. "I managed to hit it into a closet with a broom when it lunged at me. I trapped it in there, and then I went to find you."
"Did you kill it?" Brian asked, leaning forward in the chair, his eyes wide with excitement.
"No," Dusk replied with a sigh.
"Oh," he said, leaning back into the chair, frowning. He shook his head and he regained his composure. "Anyway, um, looks like we have some good information on this killer. Is there anything else we're missing?"
That was weird. Thorn couldn't help but replay in her mind the scene that just transpired before her. The amount of interest Brian displayed in whether Dusk had killed the centipede monster followed by his disappointment in hearing that she didn't kill it was more than what she expected from him. Thorn shook her head. Maybe she was overthinking it as neither Dusk nor Luna seemed to notice. Perhaps he was just disappointed that there were still three monsters in the hotel.
"It's also looking for someone," Luna sighed, breaking Thorn from her thoughts. "When it…got me, it said I was the wrong one."
Thorn winced when she heard that.
"Do you know who it might be looking for?" Brian asked.
Luna glanced at Thorn for a brief moment before shaking her head. "No idea."
Thorn sighed as she jotted down that unsettling detail. She knew Luna was lying about not knowing who it was after. She wanted her to be wrong, but she knew better.
"Is there anything else?" Thorn asked, trying to change the subject.
"I don't think so," Dusk said, and Luna nodded in agreement.
"Alright then," Brian said, "so this ghost, it stays in the basement?"
"For the most part," Luna replied, "though it did chase us upstairs."
"Yeah, and it obviously doesn't want anyone down there," Thorn added, writing down their observations.
"If we can figure out why it doesn't want people in the basement, we might be able to stop it," Brian explained.
"It's guarding the treasure!" Dusk exclaimed.
Thorn covered her face with her hand, cringing from her friend's remarks. Shit. Why'd you had to say that? What if he thinks we're looking for it? She glanced at Brian. He still sat in the chair, his expression rather neutral. But moments later, he cracked a smile and burst into laughter.
"You actually believe that old urban legend!" Brian laughed. "I was joking about it when I suggested it in the basement, and I didn't think you three really believed it."
"Um, no, we don't believe it," Thorn stammered. Maybe he knows more about it than we do. "But...can you explain it to us? We heard it in passing from one of the workers and couldn't find much about it online."
Brian calmed himself down and cleared his throat. "As I said before, legend says a secret cult built the hotel, and at some point, they hid a mystical treasure on the property."
"Do you think there could be some truth to that?" Thorn asked as she already knew that tale.
"Possibly," Brian said with a shrug. "My father mentioned the hotel several times in his notes, and I know that the occultist Alexander Levre made frequent visits to the hotel back in the day. That said, I haven't seen any evidence that the place is actively used by any cult."
Thorn shivered when he mentioned the occultist, and she was certain Luna and Dusk did as well. The memories of what happened at the Occult Museum flooded her mind, much to her dismay. But those memories receded as she came to a dreaded realization: if Alexander Levre had ties to the hotel, then so did the cult, and it was possible that they were still here. It also supported Luna's idea that the ghost and killer were cultists, which made things more dangerous.
"I haven't found any documentation, but there are rumors that he partially financed the hotel's construction," Brian continued, regaining Thorn's focus. "I was hoping to find something that would confirm it, but I guess that isn't happening."
"If there was a cult here, do you think they could've left something behind?" Thorn asked.
"For someone who doesn't believe in the treasure, you sure have an interest in it," Brian chuckled. "Anyway, I suppose they could've left behind records or other documents, maybe even something of spiritual or religious purposes. But anything of monetary value if that's what you're getting at? Probably not."
"I see," Thorn said. But why would the Broken send us here if there's nothing important? There has to be something else.
"But who knows, maybe I'm wrong," Brian chuckled.
"The treasure's real," Dusk rebuked. "And the ghost is guarding it."
"There might be something to that," Brian said.
Luna scoffed. "You really think that ghost is real?"
Brian shook his head. "I doubt it, though I think there might be a connection between the ghost and the treasure."
"Could there be a connection between them and the killer?" Thorn asked.
"I don't know," Brian replied. "Why do you say that?"
Thorn winced. Answering that question truthfully and explaining how they thought a group of cultists was protecting the treasure could expose their true motivations for being here. And after all, she promised Luna she wouldn't tell him that on the infinitesimally small chance he was a cultist.
"Oh, it's just a hunch," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, acting as nonchalant as possible.
Brian raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Thorn's eyes darted between Brian and her friends, the latter of which were gawking at her. Did he notice my bluff? Is he gonna call me out on it? She did her best to remain calm, brushing her bangs forward to hide the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Oh, okay," Brian said with a shrug.
Thorn remained calm, though on the inside she was sighing with relief.
"Anyway, the ghost," Luna said, steering the conversation to safer grounds.
"Right," Brian said, turning to Thorn. "Add 'probable hoax' and 'connected to treasure' to the list."
Thorn did and read both lists out loud so she could catch everyone up with what they knew, as well as ensure the conversation stayed away from any potentially revealing subjects. "Anything we're missing?" she asked.
"Um, I couldn't touch the ghost," Dusk recalled.
"That's interesting," Brian said. Thorn was a bit surprised that he didn't say anything else on the topic as she added "intangible?' to the list.
"Oh, and those yellow 'X's' near where the ghost appeared," Dusk added. "Could have something to do with it."
Thorn nodded and wrote it down. With nothing else coming to mind, Thorn glanced over the sheet, trying to find what connected them all. While she subscribed to Luna's hypothesis that the ghost and killer were cultists trying to stop them from finding the treasure, looking over the sheet revealed that there was little evidence to support it and that there were so many things that made no sense. Who was the man that appeared in the early morning and what was his connection, if any, to the monsters? Why was the foreman killed? What was the blue orb of light Thorn saw on the second floor? There were probably more that she couldn't think of, which only worried her as they were somehow going to stop both the ghost and killer while somehow also finding the treasure, all within a couple of hours.
Thorn felt exhausted as she realized how herculean this task was. It was daunting, terrifying even; one could say it was scarier than the ghost or the killer. Thorn lowered her head. I'm going to fail this. And what did failure entail? The Broken's words echoed in her head. If you want to survive the unpleasant fate coming for you, find what is hidden at the Regal Hotel. If there was a fate worse than what the Fallen did to her, she didn't want to know. Her heart sank when she looked at Dusk and Luna. I failed them.
"So how do we kick their asses?" Dusk exclaimed, tearing Thorn from her sorrowful thoughts.
"I have no idea what we're going to do about the killer considering we're not sure if it's human," Brian explained, "but I think we can deal with the ghost."
"How so?" Luna said, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms.
"First, we confirm that the ghost is fake," he said.
"And how do we do that?" Dusk asked.
"Easy," Brian said with a grin. He stood up and left the room, returning after a few moments with one of his briefcases.
Thorn watched in curiosity as he placed the case on the table and opened it. There were several fancy gadgets, the most notable being a large camera that looked like the ones used when shooting their music video in Transylvania. But instead of grabbing any of the equipment, Brian grabbed what Thorn quickly realized were bundles of sage.
"According to various folklore, you can drive ghosts away with sage," he explained.
Thorn smiled. "Right, sage is often used to cleanse places and drive evil spirits away."
Brian nodded. "That's the idea."
Luna rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.
"Does that really work?" Dusk asked.
"Not sure," he said. "My teammates say it does, and we've used it on a few cases where we believed there were actual spirits. Clients reported no activity after its use, so there's that. "
"You've seen real ghosts?" Luna questioned, though Thorn thought it sounded more like she was interrogating him.
"Seen is a strong word," Brian confessed. "More like detected some unexplained phenomena on video and audio."
Thorn frowned a bit, a little let down by that as he did briefly mention seeing actual ghosts. But now she assumed his experience was with something one would expect on a TV show rather than the ghosts she and her friends encountered, which were only defeated with magic. Though after some thought, her frown changed into a small smile. Maybe that was a good thing. No confirmed supernatural encounters could mean he wasn't a cultist.
"Anyway, if the ghost doesn't react to the sage, we can confirm it's not real," Brian stated.
"Makes sense," Thorn said. "But what happens if the ghost isn't real or the sage doesn't work?"
"I sincerely doubt we'll have to worry about a real spirit," Brian replied, "so we'll have to catch the ghost."
Thorn's eyes widened in disbelief. Did he just say…
"…you want us to trap it?" Luna said, shaking her head.
"Well, we have to do something since we can't call the police," Brian stated. "So catching it is our only option."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Thorn asked. Outside of "helping" the Scooby gang catching her father and reading about the gang's adventures, neither she nor her friends had any idea how to catch a monster.
"Um, well," Brian stammered, his face reddening. "That's a good question."
"Have you ever even trapped a ghost?" Luna stated, glaring at Brian.
"Not... deliberately," he responded, causing Thorn to sigh. "My team and I have had various crooks trip over our equipment, and the 'ghost' turned out to be a homeless guy wearing a sheet that we accidentally locked in the basement of a vacant house."
Luna frowned. "So you have no experience."
"Oh, and I did catch a rather vicious raccoon that was living in this old lady's attic," Brian added. "Needed a rabies shot after that."
"So no experience," Luna repeated.
Thorn sighed. "So...what happens when you realize the ghost is fake?"
"Once we identify a hoax, we either contact the authorities or one of those professional mystery solvers, and then they take care of the crook," Brian admitted, lowering his head.
"And the real ghosts?" Thorn asked, hoping that Brian wasn't exaggerating this claim. "How many have you actually encountered?"
Brian hesitated. "Cases that remain unexplained account for less than one percent of our total workload. Natural and mundane explanations, such as that raccoon I mentioned, explain about ninety percent of sightings. About nine percent of cases are hoaxes and people in costumes." He paused, his face reddening. "As I said before when we're convinced there's a ghost, we burn sage and say some prayers. That seems to work."
Thorn frowned as Brian finished explaining his lack of experience with the paranormal. She expected more from him given how he held and spoke of himself when they were getting his equipment.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit around and let these creeps get away with murder," Brian exclaimed, getting up from the chair. "We'll figure out something."
"How? We know shit about trapping," Dusk stated.
The room became silent, as each person thought about the ramifications of Dusk's statement. Thorn's mind raced with scenarios, most of which ended in failure. But in that bleak darkness, she saw a glimmer of light. Thorn smiled.
"We may not know anything about trapping monsters, but we know people that do!" Thorn exclaimed as she took out her phone.
"Wait. Do you mean…" Luna began.
"Yup!" Thorn replied without looking up from her phone. She scrolled through her contact list, stopping at Mystery Inc. She called the number, and the phone rang. And rang. And rang.
Thorn's frown grew larger with each ring. It had been several years since she'd spoken with anyone from the gang, and the number she saved was from their website, so she was a tad nervous they wouldn't answer.
"Rello!"
"Scooby!" Thorn cheered, her frown now a smile. "It's Thorn. It's so nice to hear you! I was wondering if-"
"Reeheeheehee! Rorry, Rystery Rincorporated ris rot ravaibale right row. Rease reave ror rame rand rumber, rand rell ret rack to roo roon."
Thorn frowned as the message repeated, but this time with a generic human voice.
"No answer?" Dusk asked.
Thorn nodded. "Ugh, voicemail." She heard the dial tone and began her message. "Hey, Mystery Gang! It's Thorn. I know it's been a while since you guys helped us out with those wannabe vampire twins at our music shoot, but we have another monster problem, and we need your help. We're at the Regal Hotel in New York. Please hurry! Thanks."
She left her number and gave them the hotel's address before hanging up. Thorn sighed as she returned her phone to her purse. "Looks like we're on our own for the foreseeable future."
"Great," Luna groaned.
"This sucks!" Dusk shouted. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Thorn knew they had only one option, even if she didn't like it.
"We catch these fuckers ourselves!" she exclaimed.
"Hell yeah!" Dusk cried, fist-pumping the air.
"But none of us know anything about trapping," Luna said.
"Then we'll wing it," Thorn said with a smirk. "We've solved plenty of problems that way. And besides, isn't that what the gang does half the time?"
"I guess," Luna sighed. "And I suppose all we have to do if the ghost is fake is knock something over the guy and he's caught."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Brian said with a nod. "Let's see, the ghost is in the basement that's filled with furniture that we can use to pin him.
Luna rubbed her chin. "We may not even have to send everyone downstairs."
"What do you mean?" Thorn asked.
For the first time in the group conversation, Luna smirked. "We could use the hole in the storage room that Dusk fell through to catch him. All we have to do is lure the ghost underneath it and then drop that heavy rug on him."
"That might actually work," Thorn beamed. For the first time today, she felt hopeful, and they could complete their task. And she had Luna to thank for that, as without her, they wouldn't have come up with a plan to trap the ghost.
"We'll have to send someone down there to act as bait and have them lead the ghost underneath the hole," Brian said.
Luna nodded. "And we'll need another person to secure the ghost once he's trapped."
"So...we need two people in the basement?" Thorn asked.
"Yeah, one person goes down the stairs and distracts the ghost while the other climbs down the hole. Once the second person is in position, the person the ghost is chasing will bring it to the hole, and the other two people will drop the rug on it. The second person in the basement will then secure the ghost, " Luna explained.
"Uh, are you forgetting that we can't touch the ghost?" Dusk pointed out.
And there goes the plan Thorn thought with a groan.
"Hmm. Not that I think you're lying, but are sure you didn't miss when you tried stabbing the ghost?" Luna asked.
Thorn found it a bit odd that Luna was questioning Dusk on this right now, but after some thought, it made a bit of sense. As far as she could tell, they never actually saw the ghost hit or touch anyone or anything when they were down there, so there was no definitive way to prove the ghost was intangible. And besides, Sarah and Alexander showed that ghosts were tangible, so Dusk could've been mistaken.
"Yes! My entire fucking arm went through it!" Dusk shouted.
It was a damning claim, but Dusk did tend to exaggerate. "It's dark down there, and you were scared," Thorn began.
"Oh come fucking on..." Dusk groaned, cutting Thorn off. "I know what I saw. That ghost is untouchable."
"To be fair, I have read about folks using trick mirrors to create images of ghosts," Brian said. "You can't touch an illusion."
"Wow, I can't believe the only person who believes me is the guy I chased with a knife," Dusk groaned, crossing her arms.
"We believe you Dusk it's just that..." Thorn began.
"We can't discount the possibility that you were mistaken or tricked," Luna interjected. "And if it was a trick, then there's still a person down there who we can catch."
Dusk grabbed the sheet of paper from the desk. "You wrote down 'intangible,'" she said, pointing at the word. "But now you don't believe me."
"Dusk, this is our only plan. If you have a better one, then tell us," Luna stated, raising her voice.
"Well," Dusk said, her eyes darting to Thorn.
Thorn felt her body get tense. "Don't say it. It's not happening."
"Fine," Dusk muttered, tossing the paper onto the desk. "Have fun with your stupid plan."
"We're gonna need your help with it," Thorn said, bracing herself for Dusk's response.
"She's right," Brian said, "we need to work together if we want to stop these monsters."
Dusk rolled her eyes. "Fine. As long I get the easy part.
"Are you fucking kidding me!" Dusk shouted, clenching her fists and ready to throw the bundle of sage Thorn had given her back at her. "Why do I have to go down!?"
"You're the fastest and most physically fit of us three," Luna explained with a sigh as she and Thorn entered the storage room behind the front desk. "You can handle yourself in a scuffle better than us."
Dusk kicked the door and refused to enter the room. "Thorn has actual fucking magic and a spell that can literally destroy ghosts! Why the fuck am I going down!?"
Dusk noticed Thorn lower her head and sigh, not that she was sympathetic to her Wiccan friend's problem. She'd made it clear that Thorn's refusal to use magic would cause unnecessary problems. Sure, she knew Thorn would likely use her magic when push came to shove, but it'd be accidental, brought on by her emotions. Dusk saw it happen with the ghost and the jar of honey, and both times, she could have hurt someone. Thorn needed to grow up and accept her magical side so she could control it and make all their lives safer and easier.
"And that's why Thorn can't go down," Luna stated. "She might run off again."
Dusk glanced at Thorn. She took a step back, turning her face away from them. Dusk scoffed. You don't have to make yourself suffer, but if you're going to do so then fine. "Then why can't you go, Luna?"
"Cause I'm organizing this plan, and I need to make sure it goes smoothly," Luna stated. "And besides, you're not going down alone."
"Yeah, I'm going down with the guy you think is a cultist," Dusk muttered.
Brian had, albeit somewhat reluctantly, volunteered to be the bait. This convinced Dusk that he was either involved with the ghost or was trying to impress them (or more accurately Thorn). Why else would anyone willingly get chased by a dangerous and potentially real ghost? Dusk chuckled. Maybe the guy was insane.
"He's not a cultist," Thorn said, breaking her silence and Dusk's thoughts.
Dusk rolled her eyes. "Of course you think that." She was about to say something rather unpleasant when Luna stepped between her and Thorn.
"Which is why you're going down through the hole," Luna explained. "We can pull you out if something goes wrong."
"You mean when something goes wrong," Dusk muttered.
Luna grunted before pulling Dusk aside. Luna's uncharacteristic aggressiveness surprised Dusk, startled her even. But instead of yelling, Luna took a deep breath, claiming herself down, before slowly exhaling. Luna looked Dusk in the eyes. "I know how frustrated you are with us, and dumping this plan on you so abruptly was wrong of me, and I'm sorry for that."
Luna paused and glanced at Thorn, who was checking her phone, though Dusk suspected she was listening to them. "Hey, Thorn, can you get the rug ready?" Luna asked. Thorn sighed but gave them a nod as she started unfolding the rug.
"You were saying," Dusk said.
Luna nodded. "I didn't want to say this in front of Thorn and Brian, but I want to talk to Thorn alone."
"About what? How ridiculous she's being by not using her magic!" Dusk snapped.
Luna sighed. "Yes, it's about her magic. I didn't want to bring up in front of Brian cause I don't trust him but…" She looked Dusk in the eye. "I didn't want to talk to her about it with you since, well... you know how you get when you're angry and how you've both fought..."
It was Dusk's turn to sigh. "I know..."
"I want Thorn to use her magic. No, I need her to use her magic." Luna paused and glanced at Thorn before turning back to Dusk. "I believe my plan can work, I really do, but if something goes wrong, then Thorn's our only hope. But she needs to accept her magic first, and you yelling at her isn't helping her."
"Oh," Dusk managed to mutter.
Luna placed her hands on Dusk's shoulders. "I'm sorry I withheld this from you. It's the only way I can talk to Thorn about her magic in a safe way without raising any more suspicion from Brian. So can you please do your part and go downstairs."
Dusk gritted her teeth as she tugged on her skirt in an attempt to end the discomfort she felt wash over her like a wave, yet no amount of adjustments to her clothes brought her relief. Her body ached as if the guilt she felt was consuming her. She knew Thorn had a lot on her mind, and she could only imagine the emotional torment Thorn was going through. While she still believed her friend would eventually come around to using her magic, her method, if one could even call it that, of getting Thorn to do so wasn't working. As Luna pointed out, it caused harm.
Dusk sighed and took a step away from Luna. She didn't want to hurt her friend anymore. Perhaps it'd be better if she gave Thorn and Luna some space and allowed cooler heads to prevail.
"Alright, I'll go down," Dusk said.
Luna gave a heartfelt smile. "Thank you, Dusk."
"I'm in position by the basement door, over."
Due to their arguing, Dusk forgot Brian had a few two-way radios in one of his suitcases. She, Luna, and Brian each had one.
"Copy that," Luna said into the radio. "Dusk is getting into position, over."
Dusk and Luna returned to the storage room, where Thorn had prepared the rug. "You're going down Dusk?"
Dusk nodded.
"Please be careful," Thorn pleaded.
"I will," Dusk replied.
Dusk walked to the edge of the hole and looked down. Someone had moved the table a bit so that only about a fourth of it was directly beneath the hole, and they didn't bother putting the boxes back. That meant getting down was even riskier, and if she missed the table, she'd fall onto the concrete floor.
Dusk stuffed the sage into her pocket, groaning as she considered her limited options. She sat down, dangling her legs over the ledge. She gripped the floor, her nails digging into the wooden floorboards, as she rotated herself. She left the ground, and her arms ached as they supported her body. Gritting her teeth, she lowered herself into the darkness, careful not to draw attention. Her arms wobbled, and the pain worsened as she fought against gravity pulling her to the concrete floor below.
Hanging off the ledge, Dusk eyed the table. It couldn't have been more than a foot away. She stretched her right leg out, tapping the edge of the table with the bottom of her boot. I can swing to it. Grunting, Dusk swung her legs, building up momentum. Almost. Her arms shook. Almost. She heard her boots scrape against the surface of the table.
Whoosh! Thud!
Dusk flailed her arms, struggling to keep her balance as she landed on the table. She leaned forward and avoided falling over. She sighed. Her landing wasn't as loud as she thought it would be, which was good. She climbed off the table and crouched, hoping she wasn't seen. If she was, nobody moved or went after her.
Alright, looks like I'm going- She sniffed the air and winced. She smelled the very faint but noticeable scent of rotten eggs. Without hesitation, she reached for her dagger and darted behind a stack of boxes, her heart racing as she hid in the darkness expecting the cloaked figure to appear. She sat in silence, hearing only the pounding of her heart against her chest and her rapid breaths as she gripped the dagger tighter.
But as seconds ticked by, the smell grew fainter before disappearing entirely. It was as if it had been in the basement recently, but had left. Dusk sighed. It didn't matter where it went as long as it wasn't near her. She sheathed her dagger and reached for the radio.
"I'm in position, over," she whispered.
On cue, she heard the basement door open in the distance, followed by a beam light in the far end of the basement.
Damn, this basement is huge! While she knew it was a large basement, seeing Brian's flashlight as a dim beam of light showed how sprawling the place really was. The light grew a bit brighter, and Dusk could just make out Brian's figure as he reached the basement floor. He shined the light around, stomping the ground and making noise.
Yet the ghost didn't show.
Brian walked around, poking at boxes and miscellaneous pieces of furniture, but the ghost remained elusive. Dusk shook her head and groaned. This plan is already off to a bad start.
"The ghost isn't appearing," Dusk whispered into the radio. "Um, over."
"Keep waiting, over," Luna replied, though Dusk could hardly hear her due to the volume being so low.
Brian continued, but with the ghost not showing up, Dusk found her attention drifting off. She looked around the immediate vicinity, trying to find something interesting in the dark. But there was nothing. She sighed and was about to check her phone when she spotted a tiny, green light in the corner of her eye. It was no more than fifteen feet from it, so she crept over to it.
"The hell is this?" she mumbled to herself.
The light was coming from a screen attached to what looked like an oversized push lawnmower. She reached under the device to see if it was a lawnmower but didn't find any blades. Scratching her head, Dusk examined the screen. There was a button underneath the green light, which she pressed. There was a loud beep followed by the screen lighting up, and the machine making a light hum.
"Uh," Dusk mumbled while looking at the screen. She saw an image consisting of a bunch of gray, horizontal squiggles of varying heights and a bunch of numbers in a ruler-like pattern. She backed away from the device, thinking she broke it or something.
"GET OUT!"
She heard running and shuffling, and Dusk spun around, expecting to see the ghost's ghastly face staring down at her. To her surprise, the ghost was in front of Brian, swiping at him as he ran around it. He avoided the attack and ran toward Dusk with the phantom following.
"Shit!' Dusk muttered as she pulled out the sage and a lighter, fumbling with the lighter as the flame wouldn't light. She grunted, and after a couple more clicks, she smiled as the small flame took the sage.
"Alright, time to get this bas-agh!" Dusk gasped as a hand covered her mouth, scaring her enough that she dropped the sage and the radio. She felt her feet leave the ground as someone wrapped their arm around her, pinning her left arm to her side. Whoever had her pulled her away from the device. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! She kicked and swung with her arm, hitting the person.
The person grunted, revealing that it was a man. "Argh, quit squirming." He continued to pull her away from the hole and more importantly, her friends.
With her heart racing and adrenaline coursing through her, Dusk swung and kicked harder. The man staggered, and he adjusted his grip on Dusk. Sensing weakness, Dusk did the only thing she could think of: bite the man's hand.
"AHHH!" he screamed, stumbling back a bit. Yet he still held her. Dusk continued to bite down on the man's palm until she tasted blood.
"Fuck!" the man shouted, throwing Dusk to the ground. She grunted as she scrambled to her feet. She spotted the radio and grabbed it. She spun around and threw it at her attacker. The radio hit its target, and the man shouted. He then grabbed a nearby box and threw it a Dusk. Dusk raised her arm to protect her face as the box collided with her. She grunted from the brunt force of impact and staggered a bit, but was otherwise fine.
Firmly on her feet, Dusk drew her dagger. "Fuck you!" she shouted as she charged her attacker. He threw another box at her, which she again blocked with her arm. But as she recovered from the impact, the man took off into the darkness.
"Get back here!" Dusk shouted into the darkness as she pursued her assailant. She had no intention of letting her would-be kidnapper getaway. And when she caught him…
"AHHHHH!"
Dusk came to an abrupt halt as she heard a familiar scream.
"Luna!"
