We arrived on Conrad's doorstep at about 11p.m. to find the vampire disgruntled and unhappy as was usual these days.

"Veser, what the hell did I say? I told you not to…" He threw opened the door, obviously expecting to find the half-selkie. "…knock so loudly."

Conrad visibly grimaced.

"Hanna. Zombie."

"Hey, Con-my-man! How's it going?"

"Fine," Conrad ground out. "Just fine. Why are you here, Hanna?"

Straight to the point, then.

"Weeeeell, I was hoping to get your help! We've got this box here, and —"

Conrad realized where this was going and immediately cut Hanna off.

"No, no, no. Hanna, I have been on enough misadventures for the rest of my life - unlife - whatever. I'm not helping you with anything. And why is he carrying…is that a cabinet?"

"Yeah, it's a haunted wine cabinet," dismissed Hanna. "But what's important is that we need your help."

"No. Ask Worth or Toni or anyone else, but stop asking me," Conrad begged.

"Cooonrad," Hanna whined, looking up at the vampire with the biggest puppy eyes he could muster as I watched in faint amusement. "We can't take care of this ourselves, and Worth would kill me if he knew I was taking this on."

"Good! Maybe I should spare him the work," Conrad threatened, though both Hanna and I knew it was half-hearted. The graphic designer was starting to lose his resolve.

"Aw, you don't mean it, Connie! Come on, just let us in."

Conrad held out for another few seconds, looking between Hanna, me, and the box currently in my hands. He sighed, but I suspect it was mostly for effect.

"Fine. Come in."

Conrad stalked back into the apartment, going to his desk and shutting the computer off as Hanna and I settled on the couch. I placed the wine cabinet on the coffee table.

"So what the hell do you need me for anyway? And what is this box?" Conrad finally asked, sitting down to adjust his glasses. "It has quite the intricate design. Quite arabesque."

"Well, I think it's a dybbuk box."

"A dib-what?"

Obviously, I was not the only person here unaware of what a dybbuk box was.

"A dybbuk box," Hanna repeated. "I read about one of these a few years ago… I thought it was the only one in existence, but I think this must be a second one, perhaps one of lesser power. The box I read about, was a Jewish wine cabinet which was used to contain a dybbuk me-ru'aḥ ra'ah, or a malicious spirit. They're… like ghosts, but higher on the evil-power scale. They've got to be removed or locked back into where they came from."

Conrad's face was a mixture between fear and resisting the urge to toss us out.

"So, we could use an extra hand doing that."

"And if I don't agree to this?"

"I tell Worth you let me fight a ghost by myself."

Conrad narrowed his eyes.

"And what makes you think that would bother me in the slightest?"

"It won't," Hanna replied smugly. "But Worth would."

"…fine."

"Great! So, Algernon," Hanna returned his attention to me. "You're ok with this, too, right?"

I looked the box over once more.

"I suppose, but Hanna, the last time we faced a ghost…"

"Don't worry! We've got Connie again, and this time, I'm prepared! Conrad, do you have any salt?"

"Um, yes, I think so. I bought you a tub when I first started buying your groceries, though."

The vampire went to rummage through his kitchen, and Hanna smiled at me.

"Don't worry, Algernon. I know we can do this together."

He took my hand, and I felt that faint warm feeling again. That and apprehensive fear.

"I trust you, Hanna."

"Hey, will this work?"

Conrad had returned carrying a tub of kosher salt, handing the item off to Hanna.

"Perfect!" Hanna exclaimed, holding the salt out for admiration like a prized jewel or a new teddy bear. "Now, before we begin, I'll have to explain the rules here. Conrad, you're not going to be able to enter the salt circle, so you're going to be our outer guard, like, in case this thing gets free."

"Circle? You mean you're dumping that on my floor? No way, Hanna. I just vacuumed and I don't want you dumping random table condiments on my clean floors!"

"And Horatio," Hanna turned towards me, pulling out his trusty marker and scribbling a long pattern on the top of the box. "You and I are going to force this thing back in the box. Currently, it's probably observing us, so we all need to be on alert as soon as I open it. If my suspicious are correct, we need to get it's name as quickly as possible and ignore any and all promises or threats it might make towards us. Dybbuks are like demons in the sense that they take power from their names and can make pacts with creatures in exchange for your energy, soul, whatever. You can't believe their lies. No matter what they say to you, they're lying in one way or another. You guys understand?"

I nodded, and Conrad bit at his lip.

"And what if you can't put this thing back in? What if it possesses one of us?"

"Well….we'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

I had the feeling that if was more of a when.

"Oh God, Hanna… This is a bad idea."

"You worry too much, Connie! Just trust me."

Hanna said these words to Conrad, but he looked back at me, and I realized this was his confirmation that yes, he trusted me too. I felt that warm feeling increase, right near where my heart must once have been and perhaps still remained. I couldn't place what was causing these feelings, but they'd been increasing in frequency the longer I'd been with Hanna. Perhaps this was that big, mysterious feeling people spoke of in novels when they were near the ones that truly mattered most to them. Certainly over the past year, I'd come to the conclusion that I was happy if not more to be in Hanna's welcoming company. It occurred to me to wonder whether or not I'd felt this feeling before, perhaps in a life I could no longer recollect, but I had little time to ponder the idea. Hanna had shoved a hand into the pocket of his long coat he'd tossed over the top of the couch and was pulling out his hammer. He scribbled another rune onto the weapon, which in turn began glowing as well. He handed the hammer to me, then turned and dumped a large trail of salt in a near-perfect circle around the table and subsequently around the box.

Conrad watched in barely contained horror, but stayed quiet. Come to think of it, the entire apartment was eerily quiet now, only Hanna's breathing disrupting the stillness. He swallowed and began.

"I know you're watching us, and I know what you are," Hanna began, sounding much more sure of himself than he'd perviously been. "You've been haunting a man, and I don't know why you're trapped in this box, but I'm here to either get you out and into the next world or to shove you back in."

Nothing.

We waited.

A minute or two passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Then, Hanna finally opened the box. The same gust of wind came surging out, but as it blew and wailed, I was shocked to see it trapped within the confines of the double circles. Each time a strike of air would come wafting from within the box, it would be stopped by the invisible barrier, like a bug tossing itself roughly against the side of the jar that contained it. Finally, a dark shape began forming from the box's open doors. It slid up, humanoid in shape but far more ugly. Its skin was made of rolling sludge, and its long hair was tangled and matted to the point one could not see beyond to its eyes. Apparently, you could see its eyes, though, for the creature opened two shining red orbs and gazed down at Hanna condescendingly.

"What do you seek, boy?" It growled out, voice feminine and high-pitched despite its appearance. Conrad and I watched in amazement as this creature slid down the invisible walls of it's prison, blackness ever-morphing and surrounding the box. Hanna looked into its eyes and didn't falter.

"I want your name," he replied dryly.

"My name?" the creature laughed. "Well isn't that boring. What about you, vampire? What is it that you seek?"

It turned its piercing gaze toward Conrad, who visibly shrank back into his seat.

"Aha, I see," It drawled. "You want your humanity back… Why, I can give it to you, you know."

The dybbuk twirled around, black skin folding and falling as it spoke. It brought two hands up to level with Conrad's face.

"No more fang, no more red eyes… I can easily give it back, Conrad."

Hanna glared at the spirit.

"He doesn't believe your lies."

The dybbuk turned to Hanna again.

"Oh, but I think he does believe me. And why shouldn't he? I don't lie… I know what he wants. I know what you want, too, Mr. Cross."

"You don't," Hanna insisted.

"And I know what your friend wants, too," the creature tittered, unfazed by Hanna's insistance. "Isn't that right, Algernon? You want your memories back. I can give you those, too. All you need to do is set me free. What do you say, boys?"

It floated to the towards the ceiling, looking down at us all. Conrad was gazing up at the dybbuk, seemingly spellbound by an invisible force, likely one of the spirit's mind games. Perhaps it was exerting more influence than it showed. Hanna was furiously scribbling up his arm, glancing back between the dybbuk and Conrad and I.

"Don't listen to it," he snapped. "Don't agree to anything it tells you. Demand it's name only."

"Please, Mr. Cross, you give me no credit," the creature laughed. I fixed my stare on it once more. "I can give you everything back. All of you. I can give humanity, memories, and make sure you're not an unlovable husk of a boy, isn't that what you want?"

"Yes," Conrad whispered, and Hanna stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief. "No, Conrad, don't listen, remember? Lies!"

"You listen, boy," the dybbuk screeched, pressing its face close to the salt-barrier as possible. "Keep trying me, I dare you. Watch, and I'll show you what I can do! Your pathetic circles won't hold me forever. This box can't even hold me. Just watch, and I'll ruin your entire worthless life."

"Conrad, Algernon," the dybbuk crossed its two black, molten arms. "Shake a poor sinner's hand to make your wishes come true?"

"No!" Hanna was shouting by now, arms a glow with the unused runes as he jumped to try and hold Conrad back.

"Enough!" The dybbuk screamed, finally returning its gaze to me as Hanna held Conrad's arms down. "Fine. You, Algernon. You want your memories, right? I can give you them now. Just shake my hand." It extended the limb once more, pouring like black gossamer strands down and up and everywhere I looked.

"And if I agree, what is it you seek?" I questioned. Hanna stared at me in horror. And the dybbuk seemed to grin.

"Allow me to use your body, only momentarily, of course, in order to free myself of my prison. In exchange, I offer you my services."

"You will give me whatever I say I desire, then?"

"Certainly. Just shake my hand, dear Algernon. I'll take that body just for a bit in exchange for doing whatever it is you tell me, once, immediately after."

"Then we have a deal."

Hanna was visibly sobbing now, but I only gave him one last apologizing glance before I slipped my hand past the salt circle and grabbed hold of the dybbuk's. Immediately, everything I could see was consumed in black.