AN:
Hello everyone,
I'm back already with the second story of the series. This is a work in progress, so the posting schedule may vary. I'd try to post a chapter or two every week. (Or more if the creative side of the brain cooperates. lol). The story also shows signs of continuing well past 45k words, so there's that.
You will find some answers and explanations to Joe's and Frank's abilities as this story continues, along with more puzzling questions. You'll also meet some questionable characters with weird personalities, who shall hopefully contribute to the thrill and suspense of the mystery.

NursingSchoolGrad: Thank you so much for taking the time to beta-read through the story, even when you're busy with studies and work. Your comments and knowledge helped a lot to get the story to make sense at points. You're a star!

I hope you'll enjoy the ride.

Chapter 1 - The Dream

Temperance Eliana Saunders went to bed well before her usual time that night. The rhythm of the heavy rain pelting against the window had a soothing quality, lulling her to a sleepy state rather early. She was however grateful that the thunder and the lightning seemed to have faded into the distance as she got under the warm blankets. Although she loved the rain, the thunder and lightning had a way of agitating her innate affinities to the point she would stay alert and on edge until the storm completely passed.

She could see her twin sister, Constance Eliana Saunders, typing something on her laptop in the far corner of their shared room. She only had the light of her screen to do her work, since she had turned off all the lights in the room to let Temperance sleep without disturbance.

"What are you doing?" she mumbled drowsily.

"Finishing up my essay," Constance said without looking away from her rapid typing.

"Don't we have like three days to hand it over?"

"We do," her sister agreed. "I just wanted to finish it while I had the idea fresh in my mind."

Temperance fell silent, letting her carry on. Even though she very much wanted to close her eyes and chase that relaxing darkness and peaceful dreams, there was a lot on her mind. She and Constance shared the same burdens and it brought her immense relief that she wasn't in this situation by herself.

Willow hadn't come by in weeks, sixteen days to be exact. Their visit to the Hope Memorial the day before revealed that their sister's condition remained unchanged. Which meant that their sister may have either encountered a different sort of trouble or she may be out pursuing a lead that could actually help her.

To say that their other sister was in a bad place was an understatement. She felt a shudder run down her spine as her mind inevitably recalled Willow's unimaginable existence. She honestly didn't know how Willow managed to cling to her sanity for this long.

She was brought back to the present from her bleak thoughts by the sound of Constance shutting down her computer. She got inside the blankets of her own bed with a tired sigh and turned towards Temperance.

"All done?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think we'll see her tonight?" Temperance asked. "We haven't seen her for over two weeks now."

"It feels like a night for it, don't you think?"

Constance had a point. Willow always had a thing for rain, among other things. It was where her gifts had aligned after she had come of age as well.

"I hope so,' she muttered. "I'm worried about her."

"Me too," Constance said, dragging her blankets up to her chin. The continued rain had brought along a chill that seemed to seep into their bones despite the efforts of the heating system in their room. "Let's go to sleep and see what the dreams shall bring."

"Good night, sis," Temperance said, closing her eyes. "Fair Travels in the land of the Dark."

"Goodnight," her sister replied. "I'll find you by the Lake."

The dream dawned as gentle as a floating feather.

Willow was waiting for them by the time they both found their way towards the Lake, deep in sleep. The stream of obsidian water flowed merrily along in the permanent twilight, curving and twisting around the rocky barriers sprinkled about its path, leaving white foamy bubbles dancing in its wake.

"Willow, how are you?" Constance asked.

Her voice travelled over the Lake's surface to the opposite bank in an echo as it always did. Constance and Temperance would always be on this side of the Lake while Willow would be visible from the other side - a painful reminder that the three of them now existed in two different worlds.

"I'm okay," their sister's words blended with the soft breeze. "Sorry I've been gone so long."

"Where have you been?"

"I've been watching someone," Willow's voice rose in excitement. "Someone who's got enough power I couldn't stay away from their light–"

"Can you share with us?"

As trapped as they were on opposite sides, 'sharing' was something they could still do. Willow closed her eyes at the same time Temperance and Constance did. Their minds connected in a way only three humans who had shared a single womb at the same time could. Temperance gasped at the bright white light that engulfed her mind, powerful and pure. There were no faces, voices or anything discernible such as that. Instead, what she felt were their auras.

There were two of them… Brothers, she could tell. They were bound to each other in a way not even shared blood could, which was perplexing to her because she knew no other connection that was stronger than a shared bloodline. Then there was the complex and intricate mix of very powerful senses - virtues - pouring off those intertwined auras; loyalty, integrity, justice, love and an unshakable foundation of faith in each other.

It was one of the most beautiful spiritual presences she had ever felt in her entire life.

"Wow!" Constance let out a soft gasp beside her, just as awed. "Who are they?"

"I don't know," Willow admitted. "I can't see past the Veil. Their faces aren't clear, all I have are these impressions."

"With this much power at their disposal, I'm sure they can help with your situation," Constance said, already excited.

"I hope so."

"So how do we find them?" Temperance wanted to know. The sooner they can locate this duo the better. Willow had suffered long enough. "Can you give us a clue?"

Even from this side, the bright grin that spread over Willow's lips was unmistakable. "You don't have to."

"What?"

"You don't have to because they are coming to you."

They both cried out again at the same time. "What?"

"When?"

"I do not know when," Willow said, but her joy was radiant. "But soon. You'll know when you see them."

Then her form wavered as if she was getting ready to depart, but they had more questions.

"Willow, wait!" Temperance urged.

"I can't," she whispered, already fading.

"Willow…"

"All of this can end soon," her words were barely recognizable against the sound of the wind. "I can feel it…Watch out for them."

...oOo...

Seventeen-year-old Joe Hardy haphazardly threw his backpack in the back of the van and slumped on the passenger seat as his brother settled behind the wheel in a much more sedate manner.

"Finally a break," he sighed, running a hand through his short blond hair. "I'm done."

It was Friday and Joe was looking forward to the weekend. Most of their teachers had a conference to attend in New York in the coming week, so they had a nine-day holiday period that would end with Halloween celebrations.

"Why?" Frank, his eighteen-year-old brother, smirked. "Were you getting tired of all the exams?"

Joe turned his head and glared. Frank usually had no trouble when it came to tests of physics, chemistry, calculus or any other complicated subjects that most of the time completely defied Joe's abilities of comprehension. He had to study hard, and often beg for his older brother's help to understand the subject matter on those ones.

"It's no fun having to study for six subjects when all I wanted to do was sleep," he whined, turning his head to stare out of the window.

"That's why you study your material every day for a few hours. That way, you don't have to cram all of it in at the last minute," Frank lectured. Joe could just about imagine the teasing grin on his face as he said it. He was right, of course, Joe knew that. But he wasn't going to admit to it just yet. Instead, he kept his gaze on the passing buildings and huffed.

There was a moment of companionable silence before Frank spoke again. "I'm glad you're sleeping better."

There was no humour in his brother's soft words, only heartfelt relief. Saying the past few days have been rough was an understatement. It had only been three days since they witnessed the swift departure of the vengeful presence of the dead terrorist, Al-Rousasa, through an unnatural opening in the sky. Iola Morton's lost and scared spirit had been there too, caught in the vile grip of the malevolent ghost, and it had broken him to say goodbye to her for a second time.

He had done it, nevertheless. She was dead and the dead had no place in the world of the living. She would continue as one of the most precious memories in his heart as long as he lived. But, if he had let her stay, she would have turned into a twisted entity just like her ghostly captor had. That was something he had not been prepared to do, no matter how much it hurt.

His intense nightmares had also stopped in the wake of the spirits' disappearance, along with the insistent voice that had been telling him to do his job. He had no idea if he was ever going to hear that otherworldly voice in his mind again. He dearly hoped not.

"Me too," he said after a moment. "It's been a crazy few days. I really could use the rest."

"I agree," Frank said. "Besides, I need to finish the third book."

He was referring to the old, leather-bound book they had received from the enigmatic old lady at the antique shop, Galina's Emporium. They had actually found their first clue to their last unusual case in one of those books.

"You're done with the other two?"

"Yeah."

"Anything interesting?"

"I know a bit more about Callie, I think," Frank said thoughtfully, tapping a rhythm on the wheel as he waited for the light to change.

"Your girlfriend or the mystery lady?" Joe grinned, fully knowing what Frank meant, but choosing to tease his brother anyway.

"The mystery lady," Frank said patiently, as he drove. "Cailleach apparently means 'old woman' in Irish. She is supposedly the Guardian of the Spirit World. She goes by many titles - Caretaker of the Veil, and Collector of the Escaped Souls to name a few. She's the lady in charge of the In-between, or Purgatory, where all the lost souls go, according to the text I found."

Joe hadn't really had the time to read the old books since he had been busy, as his wise brother said, cramming. But Frank's explanation rang true to him, and he felt the same strange sense of familiarity wrapping around his mind whenever he heard the ancient name.

He closed his eyes and chased the memory that had floated to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't have been more than three or four when he had seen her. He had no clear recollection of her features, only impressions. But everything he remembered and felt told him that Cailleach had appeared as a young woman to him - someone who was probably in her twenties with long, black hair and eyes as dark as shining obsidians.

"She didn't look old," he mumbled.

"How'd you know?"

"I'm not sure," he said, opening his eyes and turning his head in time to see Frank's exasperated eye roll. "Either it was a dream or a childhood memory. But I have a feeling I saw her once. I have no clue when or where. But I'm pretty sure she looked more like a young woman than an old lady."

"If it was a childhood memory, I should remember something too," Frank muttered, puzzled. "We were hardly apart growing up. We did everything together."

Frank had a point. Joe was sure Frank had been nearby when he had seen Cailleach too. But something stopped him from sharing that little detail with his brother. He felt strangely reluctant to talk about that time period of their lives. His memories were kind of hazy during the early years for some reason and he only had clear memories from the day he had turned eight and had an awesome birthday party in their backyard.

"Probably another strange dream then," he deflected and hoped Frank would drop the matter.

"Have you had any nightmares lately?" Frank asked instead. "Since that day at Morton's farm?"

"No, I haven't actually. I've been sleeping like a log."

"That's good to know."

"Did you find any references to the weird healing thing that happens to the wounds from the ghosts?"

"Nothing at all," Frank shrugged. "The two books I finished had about three references to Cailleach in total, that's all. There was nothing remotely close to what happened to us."

"Once we're done with all three, we'll visit the Emporium again, then."

"That's what I was thinking too," Frank said, turning into their driveway. There was another car already in the garage and they exchanged a grin as Frank parked the van next to it. "Looks like dad's home."

"And he brought a client," Joe said, pointing at another car that was parked in front of their house.

"Maybe he'll let us help since we have the days free," Frank said hopefully. "I'd take a run-in-the-mill criminal case over the supernatural any day."

"You can say that again," Joe agreed with a laugh. He'd already had enough dealings with ghosts to last a lifetime.