Author's Notes: Due to inventory craziness at work I had to rush writing this part. I didn't have any time to go over it for errors so please ignore any grammar issues or typing errors.

Ghost Slayers

Chapter Forty-two

By Relm

"So what's this Gourry guy like anyway?" Zelgadis asked as he watched Lina load some equipment into the Ghost Slayermobile.

"Well he's a cop... An honest guy though not too bright. Like he always says what's on his mind even if it's not a smart thing to do." Lina grumbled thinking about the many times Gourry has commented on her chest and 'boyish' behaviour. If he hadn't been a cop Lina would have surly hurt and/or killed the blond man.

"You don't like him...?" Zelgadis prompted her noting her demeanour when she said that last comment.

"He's annoying but a good guy. So he's not exactly an easy one to stay mad at. Especially when he doesn't even realize he's done something wrong when he does mess up." Lina admitted feeling a tad guilty thinking about all the times she had snapped at him. Gourry always looked like a kicked puppy afterwards.

"And he's in love with Sylphiel?"

Lina nodded. "So much so that it's pathetic. Sylphiel either doesn't see it or she's in complete denial. It's kinda hard not see it, he practically follows her around like a lost puppy."

"Sylphiel's not in love with him though." Zelgadis more stated rather than asked.

Lina scrunched her face into a frown. "Sylphiel's very secretive. She always turns things around whenever you try to ask her a private question." Lina thought about it some more before coming to a conclusion. "I feel like we've had this conversation before."

Zelgadis was frowning too. "This does seem familiar... Not that my memory is too great as it is." He muttered.

"Still gaps in that noggin of yours?"

Zelgadis nodded. "I can remember things I've seen and read but not special events or personal things. I don't remember what my childhood was like or holidays. Or the name of first pet or if I ever had a pet."

"I'll bet you had a pet rock." Lina mused.

Zelgadis raised a curious eyebrow. "And why would you think that?"

"You just seem like the pet rock type."

"Is that some sort of a jab at me? That my parents didn't think I could handle the responsibility of looking after a pet?"

Lina chuckled. "Nah, you just don't look like a dog or a cat person. You're bookish and smart, can't image you doting on something fluffy. You would have been too busy studying to deal with a clingy pet. Thus a rock. It sits with you obediently and you don't have to deal with its poop."

Zelgadis eyed Lina suspiciously. "You had a pet rock didn't you?"

Lina stuck her tongue out at him. "I had a pet tarantula thank you very much. His name was Frank."

Zelgadis let out an unconscious shudder. He didn't remember it, but clearly he had a fear of spiders.

Lina shot Zelgadis a questioning look. "Don't like spiders?"

"I don't know... Maybe... It's the just the idea of having a tarantula as a pet seems well..." Zelgadis shuddered again. "Yeah I think I don't like spiders."

"Which is why a pet rock is what you had as a child." Lina concluded.

Now it was Zelgadis' turn to stick his tongue out at Lina. "So what exactly are you planning on doing when you get to Sylphiel's?"

"Shock Gourry and hope that he follows Sylphiel around like you followed me and Xellos did Filia." Lina explained while closing the trunk the door.

"If you shock him twice it should get him to start talking. But he'll probably disappear once you shoot him the first time... Does Sylphiel live in a house?"

Lina shook her head. "No she lives in an apartment."

"Well then that's might be problematic." Zelgadis concluded while pondering the situation.

Lina tightened her lips in a grimace as she followed Zelgadis' train of thought. Even if Gourry were to eventually follow Sylphiel he was bound to show up in another part of the building first. This meant that the ghostly police detective might scare the pants off one of the other tenants in the building. Sylphiel's neighbours were already annoyed with Sylphiel occasionally bringing her work home with her. "Great... That's just what I need, one of my employees getting evicted due to work." Lina muttered.

"So I guess it would be a good idea for me to stay here and wait for you all to come back." Zelgadis surmised feeling just a tad disappointed at the realization. Partly it was because of the reality of what he current was but mostly because he wanted to watch Lina work.

"You could still come." Lina mumbled. "Having someone around that can go through walls could be helpful in finding Gourry quickly."

"Maybe but I'm sure that would get Sylphiel's neighbours more agitated if there were two ghosts rather than just one." Zelgadis argued.

Lina frowned. "How many times are we going to go through this? You're not a ghost!"

Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "You know the general public would disagree."

"I don't care! I don't want you saying that crap!"

"Still my point still stands. It's better off I'm not there so I don't scare anyone anymore than they need to be. Plus it might make the car ride back here a little awkward."

"The car can seat five." Lina reminded him.

"Yeah still it's bond to make things uncomfortable. Gourry is probably going to be confused with what's going on so it's probably better if he didn't have to deal with a stranger on top of things."

"He's probably not going to remember anything as it is." Lina countered.

"Just go Lina. I'll be fine here waiting." Zelgadis insisted.

"Are you sure?"

Zelgadis nodded. "This place is sure going to be full of transparent people if you guys can't figure out what to do about that book soon." He darkly joked as Lina got into the Ghost Slayersmobile.

"Yeah tell me about it." Lina exclaimed while shaking her head. "I'll see you later. Be good and make sure Slimer doesn't cause any trouble."

"Bye Lina."

...

Sylphiel and Amelia had just finished breakfast when Lina buzzed at the apartment front door.

"Come in Miss Lina." Sylphiel said into the intercom as she buzzed Lina in. She held her door open waiting for Lina to come down the hall. The Ghost Slayer boss looked to be quite awake which surprised Sylphiel. She had expected Lina to be half asleep. "Have you been up a while?"

Lina nodded. "The thai food wasn't enough yesterday. So my stomach woke me earlier. What about you did you even sleep?" She wondered looking at Sylphiel's appearance.

Sylphiel had gotten dressed and ready for the day but her eyes looked red and puffy. She kinda looked like either she hadn't gotten any sleep or she had been crying. But in this case it had been both. "I couldn't sleep." Sylphiel admitted as she let Lina into her apartment.

"Did Amelia come over?"

"Yes Miss Lina I'm right here!" Amelia announced from the kitchen table.

Lina walked into Sylphiel's living room and observed the transparent police officer working on paperwork at Sylphiel's table. "Has he been doing that the whole time?"

Sylphiel nodded. "Gourry's last day had been a pretty boring one. His boss had him doing paperwork all day. And he most likely was attacked in the case file room in the basement."

"How do you know that?"

"Officer Zoanna called me earlier asking about Gourry. I'm sorry Miss Lina but I told him the truth." Sylphiel apologized.

Lina just shrugged. "Best thing to do giving the circumstances. At least Zangulus knows what sort of things we deal with. So it's not like he wouldn't believe it at all. Plus he can lie for us to his boss about why Gourry isn't showing up for work."

"That's true I suppose." Sylphiel frowned as she looked at Gourry again. "Officer Zoanna said that the last anyone saw of Gourry he was going down to the case file room but he never came back up. All the files had had been filing were left out on the table and not put away."

"Is there anyway he could have gotten out of the room without being seen?"

Sylphiel shook her head. "There's only one way in and out of that room. And that's through the door that leads down the stairs. However they do have a security camera in the room and Officer Zoanna is going to try and see if he can let us see it."

"It would be helpful... but at the same time it wouldn't. More likely we'll either just seen a hand reaching out from a book to grab Gourry or the camera feed would have been disrupted during the attack." Lina mused as she charged up her gun.

"Why is it attacking people we know?" Sylphiel let out a whine.

"We didn't know Zel." Lina reminded her. "It's got to be a coincidence. We'll have to discuss it when we all get back to HQ." She aimed her gun and fired at Gourry. The blond transparent police detective convulsed from the shook and then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Amelia wondered looking around.

A scream from a couple suits down answered that question as Lina, Sylphiel and Amelia all ran to the source of the noise.

Sure enough Gourry was standing confused in one of Sylphiel's neighbour's living rooms while the said neighbour was screaming.

"I'm going to complain the manager for this!" The neighbour screamed as Lina and company rushed to the woman's aid. "You can't keep brining ghosts home with you! This isn't right!"

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Hendle!" Sylphiel apologized as she motioned for Gourry to follow her.

"You'll be even sorrier when I have the manager evict you! My heart is too old for this scary stuff." Mrs. Hendle exclaimed while shaking her head.

"I'm very very sorry." Sylphiel apologized as she and the team left the suit with Gourry following.

Gourry had clearly been upset himself by the screaming and seemed relieved to be away from it and near Sylphiel.

Lina shot Gourry one more time and this time the blond man didn't shift off.

Gourry looked around in confusion having no clear idea where he was or what was going on. "Why am I here? And why can I see through me?" Though a normal man might have been terribly upset about being able to see through themselves this itself just made Gourry too confused to be upset.

"Gourry you were attacked by some entity that is trapped in a book. How much do you remember?" Sylphiel asked him gently as she searched his blue eyes.

Whatever trouble that had been clouding Gourry's eyes left him as he looked into Sylphiel's emerald green ones. "Nothing at all!" He beamed as though he should be proud of this fact.

Lina and Amelia both groaned.

"Well I guess we should have expected that Mister Gourry wouldn't have his memory." Amelia mused.

"Given that Gourry's memory is so bad as it is I figured he probably would have been able to remember just by dumb luck." Lina muttered. "Okay Gourry here's the story. You're a police detective and you were attacked. Your body was taken by a demonic book and you are now the third victim that we know of. My name is Lina and I'm the leader of the company 'Ghost Slayers'. We deal with ghosts that haunt buildings and people. These are my two associates, Amelia and Sylphiel." Lina introduced them. "And now you're going to come back with us to Ghost Slayer HQ so we can try and figure out this mess."

"Okay." Gourry exclaimed with a big bright smile as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Lina just shook her head. 'Zel could have came. Gourry doesn't look the least bit upset. Go figure he's dumb to be upset.' She quickly brushed off that thought as it didn't seem right to be making jabs a victim. In reality Lina should have just been relieved that Gourry wasn't freaking out and causing a scene. Lest not get Sylphiel into more hot water with her neighbours. "Alright let's go back to HQ."