Author's Notes: Again strapped for time so not only is this late but I haven't had time to proof read it. Sorry for the errors.

Ghost Slayers

Chapter Twenty-Seven

By Relm

It was hard to say what was going through the mind of Xellos the university professor as he stalked the halls of Ghost Slayers HQ following Filia. For one thing he didn't seem too upset about his ghostly state. No the purple haired man wore a large smile on his face as he followed the blond Ghost Slayer. He'd go through walls watching her from afar with that mischievously evil grin of his.

Every so often Filia would get this strange feeling of being watched and would turn around just to find no one there. Each time she turned around Xellos hid himself in the walls. It was very doubtful that even Xellos himself knew what he was doing. The ghostly Xellos just followed Filia around silently watching her.

Filia and Amelia paid and retrieved the next round of pizzas. The next round of pizzas was going to be the last one as they only ordered from three places.

"I wonder how long it's going to be till the next delivery person gets here." Amelia wondered out loud while juggling boxes.

"Amelia! Don't say things like that if you can't knock on wood! Or we're going to get stuck with the guy showing up now." Filia grumbled. She too was juggling too many boxes to deal with another load of pizza.

BUZZ BUZZ!

If Filia could have done it she would have kicked Amelia.

"I'm sorry Miss Filia!" Amelia apologized looking rather panicked. She didn't know what to do.

Down the hall they heard footsteps, one set heavy one set light.

"Miss Filia! Amelia!" Sylphiel yelled out as she and Zelgadis came running. "We heard the buzzer so we're here to get the rest of the pizzas."

"Good. Because we can't deal with more." Filia commented glaring at Amelia.

"I said I was sorry!" Amelia whined.

Filia rolled her eyes.

Both Sylphiel and Zelgadis frowned in confusion but didn't comment. Instead the two of them just continued towards the door.

As Filia and Amelia headed back to where Lina was Filia kept getting that feeling of being followed. Every so often Filia would look behind her to see if there was anyone there. Ordinarily this wouldn't be too strange, but when you were juggling a load of pizza boxes this wasn't a strange thing to do.

"Miss Filia what are you looking at? Is there something behind us?" Amelia too looked back but she like Filia saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"I just keep getting this feeling of being watched. Like something is following us." Filia mused with a frown.

"What if there's another ghost who hitched a ride here?" Amelia shrieked looking around.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Probably wouldn't be the last. It's nothing forget it. If it's a ghost we'll just deal with it later." Fila shrugged while continuing on. It didn't really concern her that there could be another ghost. When you worked at Ghost Slayers having a ghost or two follow you around wasn't something completely out of the norm. Plus if it was high level threat ghost they would have already realized it was there and following them. Those sorts of ghosts like to make a scene and calmly following wasn't some of their usual actions. So while Filia wasn't concerned about a potential ghost tailing them it did annoy her. She felt the pair of eyes on her but she couldn't find anyone. Not knowing if there was really someone there or just your imagination running wild was frustrating.

Xellos popped out of the wall and continued following Filia.

...

Just a few minutes after Filia and Amelia got the pizzas back to the room Lina was resting in Sylphiel and Zelgadis came in with the rest.

"I'm feeling a little weird..." Zelgadis mumbled as he got into the room. Suddenly he felt faint like all his energy was leaving his body.

One second Zelgadis looked like a normal living human being, the next he was flashing like a flickering light bulb.

"Save the pizza!" Lina exclaimed.

Filia and Amelia ran to grab the boxes from Zelgadis right as lost all physical solidity.

Zelgadis looked at his hands both relieved and disappointed that he could see through them again. "I guess I'm back to normal again." He said bitterly.

"Well we knew it wasn't going to last." Sylphiel stated as she put the last of the pizzas down.

"We could go shock Mister Zelgadis again and make him solid. Maybe if we hit him with the energy from four guns it would completely cure him!" Amelia suggested optimistically.

"Doubtful." Filia mused. "If it did anything it would just make him stay in a physical form a little longer. It's not a cure it just gives him a temporary physical state. We don't know what sort of long term effect this is having on him. It could be shortening his life each time he gets hit."

"It didn't feel right." Zelgadis admitted. "Yes I can touch things but they don't feel like they should."

"But it made the pizza taste really good." Lina commented with a smile.

Zelgadis had to smile back even if it was a weak one.

"Miss Lina you're not supposed to talk!" Sylphiel scolded Lina.

"Sylphiel I think she's okay. She doesn't sound that bad." Zelgadis observed while sitting himself back down next to Lina's bed. Lina was still eating, in fact she had been eating the whole time since the first pizza had been put down in front of her. If Zelgadis hadn't seen Lina's mammoth sized previously he might have been shocked by the amount the petite redhead could pack away.

"Still I'd prefer her to wait at least a day before she starts acting like she's completely fine."

Lina just grinned as she stuffed another slice of pizza into her mouth.

"So who is going to take first watch?" Amelia wondered as she went to eat more pizza.

"I'll take first watch." Filia offered. "Sylphiel you take second and Amelia you can take the last one."

"What about me?" Zelgadis asked frowning. "Shouldn't I take a watch?"

Filia shook her head. "If you lose your voice during the watch then you can warn anyone if there's anything wrong with Lina."

Lina glared at Filia. "I'm fine." She insisted.

"I don't care. You may be a freak a nature but you're no super hero. If we can't take you to the doctor then at least we can stand watch while you sleep." Filia insisted. "Zelgadis if you want to stay up then you can. But there will be someone up with you too."

"You shouldn't stay up at all." Lina advised Zelgadis. "Given your strange condition depriving yourself of sleep may not be a good idea."

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. In his head he was thinking about that argument he'd had before with Lina about it not mattering because he's 'dead'. He wanted to make a similar comment but he knew she would just get mad at him so he refrained.

Lina however could see by the grimness of his face that he was thinking about his ghostly state. So even though she couldn't hit him she went to 'hit' him with the pillow. She did it not to cause him pain but to give him a shock.

Zelgadis shook his head trying to look annoyed but he couldn't help but smile a little.

...

While Lina slept as did everyone else with exception to Filia. She was taking first watch after all. Since it was going to boring for Filia to be up by herself she decided to read a book to pass the time. The book she chose was a very large one filled with an exciting fantasy adventure tale. It was one of those books that once you started reading it was hard to put it down.

Or at least that's what the book claimed to like on its' cover. But as Filia soon discovered it wasn't exciting enough to hold her complete interests. That could have been because she periodically had to check on Lina. How could one fully engross themselves into a book when they had pressing matters to deal with? It was quite possible that if Filia didn't have anything to worry about on the side she might have been completely engrossed in the book. But Lina wasn't what was really preventing Filia from getting into her book.

No Filia was having that feeling again. That feeling of being watched. As she tried to read her book she couldn't help but look up from time to time. It was really annoying when you were trying to enjoy something and you just couldn't get that nagging feeling out your gut. So look Filia did and every time she did she saw nothing. Her eyes told her that the only people in the room were the ones that were sleeping.

Of course ghosts often weren't creatures that you could see so it could stand to reason that there was a ghost staring at her but it just wasn't a visible one. Thinking that may be the case Filia even went as far as using her scanner to see if she could detect any ghosts. But according to her scanner the only ghost in the room was the one sleeping in the yellow bucket cradling a mop.

So back to her book she went for the hundredth time. 'Filia get a grip there isn't anyone there, stop looking!' Filia mentally commanded herself. She was quite forceful and determined not to look but it was hard fighting that urge to look.

While Filia tried in vain to read her book Xellos watched her. Just like in the halls Xellos hid himself every time Filia looked in his direction. This was quite fun for the ghostly professor. He was very aware of how much it was annoying her and he enjoyed that fact immensely. In the back of his foggy brain he didn't know why he enjoyed the idea of irritating the pretty blond woman. Out of all the women in the building one could argue that Filia wasn't the prettiest or one he could get the most reaction from. Filia didn't seem to scare easy either. So what was this obsession he had with her? It was a question that he just couldn't answer, nor did he want to.

Of course the reason was that they the two of them had a past, that this rivalry went back many years. But truthfully those memories were far gone from the purple haired professor's head. Everything was a fog in his mind nor was he capable of proper thought. Perhaps that might alarm some people to be in such a strange state. Xellos however was too preoccupied to care. Watching those bright blue eyes of hers darting back and forth was far too entertaining than thinking. And what pretty blue eyes they were.

...

The most eventful thing that happened during Sylphiel's watch was that in his sleep Slimer moved and knocked over the bucket he was sleeping in. It was so loud and unexpected that it startled Sylphiel and woke Zelgadis. Slimer however just slept on even though he was now laying on his side half in the bucket.

Zelgadis shook his head. "That's what startled me the last night and made me end up at Lina's." Zelgadis whispered.

"Well why don't you go back to sleep?" Sylphiel whispered back as she turned the page on the book she was reading.

Zelgadis let out a yawn. Yes he definitely was still tired. "What are you reading?"

"It's a book that Miss Filia was trying to read earlier. She wasn't enjoying it so much and I can't see why, it's a very engaging book." Sylphiel held up the book for Zelgadis to see.

Zelgadis readjusted his glasses and looked at the cover. Upon seeing the title a story description came to mind. It was summary of the book and as Zelgadis guessed what was written on the back of the cover. He had no memory of reading the actual book but he guessed he'd seen it from time to time at the library.

"Have you read it?"

Zelgadis frowned. "I don't think so, but I think maybe it was a popular one."

"The author is very famous." Sylphiel insisted.

"If you say so. Well enjoy your book." Zelgadis stretched before trying to get back into a comfortable position in the chair he had been sleeping in. His muscles protested this action as they didn't care for where he was sleeping. 'Great so ghosts can get stiff muscles too?' He thought bitterly. As he closed his eyes he could have sworn he saw something purple in the corner of his eye.

...

The Sailune police station was bustling with activity even at the night hours. Crime doesn't go to bed at night, it just gets uglier. Many officers came and went ground about their work.

The desks of Gourry and Zangulus were unattended as the two officers were off for the day. No one paid the two desks much attention. To any ordinary person the desks appeared normal. Zangulus' was neat and tidy while Gourry's was a mess. Zangulus' computer was in standby mode with the monitor off, while Gourry's had warning messages flashing on the screen. Yes it all seemed very normal for the odd couple partners. Except for one thing that was there and shouldn't be.

On top of the desk laying dangerously close to edge was an old book with a strange symbol gracing its cover. To anyone walking by they might assume it was just a book Gourry was reading and had forgotten to take with him. To someone who knew Gourry well they would realize that this wasn't normal. Gourry wasn't a bookworm. And even if he was he wouldn't have been able to read this particular book.

Upon further inspection the book seemed odder. The writing was in some old unknown language and the ink was red. And if you just happened to be one of those sensitive perceptive type people you just might be able to feel the evil emanating from its' red stained pages.

Yes there was something not right about Gourry's desk but one was aware of the danger waiting.

And that's just the way the book liked it.