Lukas disappeared for only about an hour, and Emil and Matthew were studying silently in their room when he returned. Matthew jumped when the door creaked open and a DVD came floating in.
"That was annoyingly easy," Lukas said, placing the disc on Emil's desk. "They had it set aside with what I'm sure are other interesting tapes. I can't believe we didn't do this sooner."
"Did you see Gilbert?" Emil asked. "He should be here to watch this."
"I'm here!" yelled the ghost, rushing into the room.
"How many ghosts are in here right now?" Matthew asked in annoyance.
"Just two," answered his roommate. "We're going to watch the footage of a murder, wanna join?"
"That's gross, but yes, of course."
He rolled his chair over to Emil's desk while the other boy put the DVD into his laptop. The video loaded slowly, and they spent a long time skipping through frames of other people in the stairwell.
"Oh wait, that's me!" Gilbert said excitedly, reaching forward to pause the video.
Sure enough, there was Gilbert, alive for the moment, leaning on the railing and smoking a cigarette.
"I guess you were too drunk to go outside to do that," Lukas scoffed.
"It was better than smoking in my room and setting off the fire alarm," responded the other ghost, shrugging.
They watched as Gilbert in the video suddenly lurched forward and flipped over the railing.
"Jesus Christ," Matthew gasped. "But I didn't see anyone kill him."
"No," said Emil, pausing the video. "But didn't it look like he had been pushed from behind?" He replayed the video then replayed it again. "It just doesn't make any sense. There's no one there, but he was definitely pushed."
"I know I was pushed," Gilbert protested. "I felt it at the time, and I saw someone when I fell."
"But there's no one there to see."
"Emil, play it frame by frame," Lukas instructed softly. "I think I see something."
The boy rewound the video and played it frame by frame this time. Gilbert stood frozen in time. He slowly raised the cigarette to his lips. He lurched forward in small increments. As he tipped over the railing, a shadow could be seen behind him.
"What the hell is that?" Matthew asked.
Emil squinted at the shadow. It was shaped like a person. He went a frame further, and suddenly it had bright eyes glaring at the falling Gilbert. Emil turned up the brightness on his computer, rewound the video frame by frame, and watched the shadow push Gilbert and appear behind him in reverse order.
"I didn't notice it before, but that's definitely what pushed him," Matthew said. "Is that a person in a costume?"
Emil replayed the video one more time at normal speed. Gilbert went out onto the landing and lit up his cigarette. Suddenly, the shadow stepped out from the wall, its eyes flashing at the boy. Then it shoved him, and he flipped over the railing, falling to his death. The shadow watched him fall then disappeared back into the wall.
"Holy shit," he whispered. "Holy shit!" He reached over his roommate to grab one of his books and flipped to a page in the back. There was a crude drawing of a shadow that looked very similar to the one in the video. "That's a malevolent spirit!"
"What does that mean?" Matthew asked, backing away from the computer.
Emil dug through the drawers in his desk to pull out the protective amulets he kept in there. "Here, Mattie, keep this with you," he commanded, throwing one to his friend. "Put it on if you have to leave the room."
"Emil, what's going on?"
"What does this mean?" Lukas asked.
"So I was murdered by a ghost? And now I'm a ghost?" Gilbert added.
Emil ignored all three of them, setting to work warding the room. "The two ghosts don't get to leave here until I take care of this," he explained. "No spirits get in, and no spirits get out. You two will be protected in here. Mattie, you'll be protected as long as you keep that amulet on, but you should try not to leave the room either."
"What are you going to do?" Lukas asked.
"I'm calling for backup," Emil replied, already dialing his phone.
Aunt Paula picked up right away, and he barely needed to explain the situation before she was on her way over. Then he called Tino, who also promised to rush over immediately.
While they waited, Emil interrogated Gilbert about the malevolent spirit.
"I don't remember anything about another ghost here," he replied. "I never really paid attention to that kind of stuff, because I thought it was all bullshit."
"You must have done something to piss it off," Emil said.
"Knowing this one, I'm sure he didn't even have to piss it off on purpose," Lukas said.
"Hey, I'm dead because of that thing, could you lay off a bit, newbie?"
"So you really don't remember doing something anything that might offend a ghost?"
"I don't know, that was ten years ago. I was so sure a human had killed me that I've only focused on the living people I knew."
Emil left the room to let Tino and Aunt Paula into the building, putting an amulet on himself. He hesitated between taking the stairs and the elevator, but having watched Gilbert fall down the stairs several times, decided to risk the potential dangers of the elevator. He met them in the lobby of the dorm and brought them up to his room. Aunt Paula fixed one of the wards in the doorway as they went in, and they all removed their amulets for the sake of the ghosts inside.
"Hi, Matthew!" Tino greeted happily. "Nice to see you again. Well, maybe not so nice under these circumstances, but you know."
"Hi, Tino," Matthew replied, smiling nervously. "So, um what exactly is going on?"
"Let's see this video and find out," said Aunt Paula.
Emil opened his laptop and showed the newcomers the video, shivering this time when the spirit appeared and shoved Gilbert. Tino replayed it a few times and paused in several spots.
"You're right, Emil," his aunt finally declared. "That's a malevolent spirit."
"What does that mean?" Matthew asked.
"Most ghosts are too absorbed with themselves to really bother anyone," she explained. "No offense," she added to the spirits in the room. "But some ghosts are so filled with negative energy that they lash out at the humans around them, especially when provoked. We call those malevolent spirits."
"But it's not still around, is it? I mean, that video is from ten years ago."
"Ghosts very rarely move from their haunts. Most likely, this ghost is still somewhere around campus. We'll have to find it and exorcize it before it can hurt anyone else."
"But I'm not sure how we'll find it," Emil said. "I haven't sensed anything like that around."
"We have to ask Mathias," Tino replied.
"What?! But he doesn't want to be involved with ghosts!"
"He's been here longer than you, he might have an idea where the spirit is hiding."
"I..." Emil looked to Lukas for help, but his boyfriend just shrugged.
"Sorry, Emil, but unless you know any other mediums on campus, we don't really have a choice. This ghost has already killed, so we need to find it as soon as possible." Tino pulled out his phone. "I'll call him." Emil watched helplessly as Tino called his ex-boyfriend. His whole body tensed up, and he couldn't breathe. "Hi, Mathias, sorry to call out of the blue like this, but it's really important." It was strange to hear Tino, who was usually so friendly and happy-go-lucky, sounding so deadly serious. "I'm on campus with Emil and my aunt. Can we talk with you in person? Actually, it's probably better if we come to you. Okay, we'll be there soon." He hung up. "Let's go."
"They'll be safe in here, right?" Emil asked, gesturing to the other three occupants of the room, who were still confused about what was happening.
"Yes," answered Aunt Paula, "you did a good job warding, Emil."
Despite everything else, Emil felt a warm wave of pride wash over him. He started to follow the two of them out of the room, but Lukas grabbed his arm.
"Please don't go, Emil," his boyfriend whispered. "I've had a bad feeling about this whole thing, and now I know why."
"I have to go, Lukas," Emil responded softly. "It's my job."
"But that ghost is really dangerous."
"We won't let anything happen to him, Lukas," Tino said with a warm smile on his face. "I promise."
The spirit looked like he had more he wanted to say, but since there were so many people around, he just nodded. Emil nodded back, squeezing his hand, before following the Väinämöinens out of the dorm.
Mathias lived in a dorm on the other side of campus, so on the walk there, Aunt Paula quizzed Emil on exorcism procedures.
"Have you ever performed one?" he asked her nervously.
"Yes, I've exorcized plenty of angry ghosts in my day. Between the three of us, it should be easy."
"Sorry to pull you into this, Tino."
"You did the right thing calling both of us, Emil. Just because I don't want to do this as a career doesn't mean I'll refuse to help get rid of a dangerous spirit. Don't ever hesitate to call me when you need me."
That eased Emil's fears slightly, but he didn't relax. He would rather deal with multiple malevolent spirits than have to see his ex-boyfriend. He tried his best to put a neutral expression on his face, but his jaw tensed up, and he couldn't stop grinding his teeth.
Mathias met them at the entrance to his building, looking alarmed. He ran straight to Emil, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Something around his neck pressed into him. He was also wearing a protective amulet.
"Oh, thank god," he breathed. "When Tino called, I thought something terrible had happened to you." Emil's whole body stiffened, and the other boy released him quickly. "Are you alright?" he pressed, but Emil didn't know how to respond.
"We're all safe for now, but I think we should talk in your room," Tino interrupted. "Is that alright, Mathias?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Follow me."
Emil was shocked to see just how many amulets Mathias had put up around his room. He might as well have put up a neon sign that said "No entry for Lukas." Had he gotten all of those from his mom, or had he gotten some extra from the Väinämöinens directly? He didn't want to think about them, having become like a second family to him, having friendly interactions with someone who had broken his heart so badly.
"Something tells me we were right to come to you," Aunt Paula commented, inspecting an amulet on the door.
"What's this about?" Mathias asked.
"Where is the malevolent spirit?" she demanded softly.
Mathias sank onto his bed, looking down at his hands. "So you guys know about it?"
"Emil's been looking into the death of a spirit in his dorm," Tino explained. "He found footage of the kid being killed by it."
Mathias took a shaky breath. "I'm surprised it took you this long to find it; I managed to piss it off within my first month here."
"You have a knack for pissing off ghosts," Emil snapped, and his ex-boyfriend gave him a wry smile.
"We can't all be as…charming as you, Emil."
"What can you tell us about it, Mathias?" Aunt Paula prompted.
"Not much really. There's a bunch of different stories about how it died, but no one really knows what really happened. But there's this game a lot of freshmen play to provoke it. They say it'll attach itself to one person and follow them until it kills them. I thought I'd show off my ghost abilities, but it was nothing like any ghost I've ever seen. It was dark…and angry, so angry. It picked me to attach to, and even with the strongest amulet my mom has, I can still sense it following me from a distance." Mathias started shivering uncontrollably, and Emil began to truly understand the reality of the situation. He had never seen easy-going, strong, confident Mathias looking so scared and helpless.
"How long has this been going on?" he asked gently.
"Since last September."
Emil's stomach dropped. Mathias had been dealing with this for over a year. "But you didn't wear any amulets when you came back for visits," he said.
"Not at first, no. I didn't think that thing could follow me all the way home. But I had such horrible nightmares that I started wearing one to sleep, then whenever I wasn't with you and Lukas. But now I'm too scared to ever take it off."
"Is that the real reason you broke up with us?" Mathias didn't answer and refused to meet Emil's gaze. That made him angry. "You know I'm training as a spirit medium, right? With a whole family of professional spirit mediums? This is exactly the kind of thing you should have talked to me about. I could have helped you sooner."
"I…I didn't want to admit I had done something so stupid. Not to you. I'm sorry, Emil."
Emil glared down at him, but Tino put a hand on his shoulder.
"We're going to exorcize it as soon as possible," his aunt assured the boy on the bed. "But we need to know where it usually lurks."
"You haven't found it yet?" Mathias asked Emil. "It's right in the library."
Everyone looked at Emil expectantly, and he gulped nervously. He hadn't been anywhere near the library. "I, um, mostly study in my room."
"You haven't even heard any of the stories?"
"I, er, haven't made many friends yet…"
"Will you show us the way, Mathias?" Aunt Paula asked.
"Oh, I really…don't want to," he responded nervously.
"Just take us to where you summoned it, then you can leave. I'll charge up your amulet, so it won't be able to come near you."
"But…"
"The sooner we find it, the sooner we can get rid of it, and the sooner you'll be safe again."
"Everyone will be safer," Emil added. "Lukas and Mattie are both barricaded in my room until this is over."
Mathias looked sad at the mention of his other ex-boyfriend. "Fine, but we'll have to sneak in after the library closes. There's too many people around otherwise."
They waited until the library had been closed for an hour to make sure all the workers had already left. Mathias showed them a cellar door behind the building that didn't lock properly that led to a hallway that hadn't been outfitted with security cameras. It was amazing that, given the apparent popularity of this ghost-taunting game, the university hadn't fixed the holes in their security system yet. Emil wondered how many students had broken in in the dead of night and provoked the malevolent spirit. He almost felt sympathy for it; it was bad enough being trapped between life and death without hundreds of college students pissing you off to prove something to themselves. He wondered how many people it had killed and shuddered.
Mathias pointed out a door at the end of the hallway, and Aunt Paula, the bravest of them all, opened it slowly. It opened to a large room filled with empty shelves.
"They say it used to be a librarian," Mathias whispered. "It got trapped in this room during a fire. There were a ton of old books in here that caught fire quickly, and that's how it died. That's why it's empty now."
"Ghost stories are such tripe," Aunt Paula snapped, unpacking the backpack of supplies she had brought. "Thank you for guiding us, Mathias. Emil, make sure he gets out safely. Tino, help me set up." None of them wanted to argue with her, so Emil walked with Mathias back into the dark hallway.
"That aunt of Tino's," Mathias laughed nervously. "She's a formidable lady."
"Was this really the reason you broke up with us?" Emil asked quietly.
"Yes," responded the other boy even quieter. "Although after all of this I'm not sure I want to hang around normal ghosts much, either."
"So it really had nothing to do with either Lukas or me?"
"No, I'm really sorry, Emil. I didn't want to let you two go, but I didn't know what else to do." They exited the cellar door together and stood silently in the dark night. Mathias shuffled his feet. "I guess I should get going."
"What if I told you," Emil began then stopped himself. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to tell Mathias he was going to bring Lukas back. Not yet. But his ex-boyfriend was looking down at him expectantly, and as happy as he was with Lukas, he still missed Mathias every day. "I can protect you," he said instead, hoping his voice sounded sure enough. "I'm getting pretty good at this spirit medium thing. I'm going to exorcize this malevolent spirit, and in the future, I'll be able to do it by myself. I can protect you and Lukas from anything."
Mathias smiled sadly at him. "Please be safe, Emil. Call me when everything is done?"
"Okay." Emil watched him walk away, emotions swirling inside of him. Then he took a deep breath and went back into the library. He'd deal with his relationships later, right now he had a ghost to bust.