Chapter Six: The Dead are Not Quiet

"Estellise."

The urgency in Flynn's whisper caught her attention. She glanced up and saw him staring at something behind her and then turned her eyes back to Lucy. "Lucy… shh, it's ok." She rubbed the sobbing girl's shoulders and then gently pried her away. Estelle moved slowly, as if there were a rabid dog that would strike if she made any sudden movements. Lucy stopped crying as Estelle rose to her feet and turned around. She was not at all surprised to see Bram Caverly glaring at them, and instantly shifted her stance to put herself between him and Lucy.

Bram had dark hair and lines creased his weathered face. His chin was peppered with stubble and he wore the rough, loose clothes of a working man. He'd clearly spent most of his life lifting heavy weights and doing hard labour on a ship at sea, giving him a barrel chest and arms thicker than Estelle's legs. He held the knife loosely, like he was quite familiar with wielding it. "I told you," his voice boomed, "to stay away from my daughter. Lucy, come here."

"Uh - um - b-but…"

"Don't move, Lucy." Estelle held out her arm and stood protectively in front of her.

"You think you have the right?!" Fury consumed Bram's face. "She's my daughter! Mine! I won't let you hurt her!"

"If you love her so much," Flynn said coldly, "then why is your daughter so frightened of you?"

"Stay out of this! You people think you can trespass in my house and steal my daughter away from me?!"

He vanished, and Estelle had a split second to grab Lucy and throw herself to the side. Less then a second after she and Flynn scrambled out of the way of the hearth, Bram reappeared and his knife screeched against brick as he slashed empty air. Lucy's scream pierced the room a Estelle got to her feet again as quickly as possible. Fighting an intangible teleporting spirit was going to be tough. Across from her, Flynn snatched the iron fire poker off the hearth. It whipped through the air as he struck Bram, but he might as well have tried to stab smoke.

"How dare you?!" Bram bellowed and flew at Flynn. The poker, at least, could deflect the very real carving knife but Flynn wasn't used to fighting a weapon with no way to harm the wielder.

"Daddy!" Lucy screamed, tears still streaming down her face. "Daddy, stop!"

Physical attacks couldn't harm him, but Estelle might be the only person in the world who still had access to attacks that could. Light blossomed around her feet and she prayed Flynn could hold him off long enough. Casting only took a few seconds, but in the midst of a battle every second felt like a minute. On top of that, mana was less powerful than aer so it took longer to charge up enough to make a strong attack. Steel blade screeched against iron rod with Lucy's wailing making up the backdrop, until finally Estelle had enough energy.

"Photon!" Light burst around Bram, causing the knife to drop from his startled hand. Flynn snatched it off the ground and Bram shouted in surprise before popping out of existence. The entire fight had lasted only a little over a minute. Estelle ran to Flynn and before he could even assure her he was fine, she healed the superficial cuts he hadn't been able to deflect.

"W-w-where did he go?" Lucy cried. "Did you k-kill him?"

"I don't think so," Flynn said. "I doubt it's that easy to kill a ghost. He probably thought we were helpless against him and ran away when he realized we actually had a way to fight back." Flynn couldn't keep the fury out of his voice as his gaze snapped to Lucy and added, "He's not used to fighting victims that can defend themselves." Flynn was not a hateful person, and Estelle rarely saw such loathing on his face. It almost frightened her to think that her kind, sweet friend was capable of such malice, but if anything could draw that out of Flynn, a man who murdered his own daughter would be it.

"S-so he's ok?" Lucy rubbed tears from her eyes.

"Yes, I think so," Estelle said. "Are you worried about him?"

She bobbed her head.

Estelle frowned. "But… why?"

"B-because… because he's my daddy."

Estelle shared a look with Flynn. The poor girl needed a long talk about abuse, why none of it was her fault, and why Bram shouldn't be forgiven for what he had done to her, but Estelle didn't feel qualified to give it and they were too worried about other topics like Yuri and how they were going to get out of here safely to give it the care it deserved.

"I don't think he's going to come back," Flynn said. "Now that he knows we can fight back, I don't believe he'll strike again. We should maintain care, but I think it's safe for you and Lucy to be together inside the house."

"I'm going to take Lucy outside until she calms down," Estelle said. "Are you all right in here?"

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"Ok. Come on, Lucy, let's go sit on the bench again. Won't that be fun?"

Lucy sullenly nodded and let Estelle lead her away. Back outside, they sat on the bench where Lucy kicked her legs and stared at her fiddling hands. "I… I'm sorry my daddy tried to hurt you," she mumbled. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"It's not your fault," Estelle said soothingly. "He made his own decisions. Does he scare you often?"

"N… well… I dunno." She chewed on her lip for a moment before continuing. "He used to show up a lot but whenever he did, i-it reminded me of that night and I got scared and ran away. I think it made him really mad when I hid from him… or really sad. I dunno. He stopped showing up after a little bit. He mostly leaves me alone now."

That, at least, was a relief. She'd hate to think that Lucy had spent four years constantly terrorized by her father. "Did your daddy ever hurt you before?"

"Nuh-uh!" She shook her head vigorously. "Daddy was always nice. He never hurt me. H-he loves me. "

"I'm sure he did." She wasn't at all sure, though. No wonder Lucy had so much trouble processing what happened. Estelle was an adult and she had trouble understanding how a father could come to the decision to kill his daughter, and presumably his wife, too. Not having parents of her own, it was hard for her to understand such a complicated parent-child relationship.

"And - and I miss my mommy. She was really nice, too, even though she… she…" Lucy rubbed her eyes. "I want her to be here, but since she's not then I'm glad I have you instead." Lucy leaned over to wrap her arms around Estelle's waist.

Estelle frowned while Lucy's face was down. "Lucy… you know I can't stay here forever."

"Why not?"

"Because I have my own friends back home. If I don't go home, they'll miss me a lot just like you miss your mommy."

"But I'll be so lonely if you leave."

Estelle sighed. She didn't want to leave Lucy to be lonely forever, but she couldn't stay here and babysit a ghost for the rest of her life. "Lucy, do you think you can tell me where Yuri is now?"

Lucy's grip around Estelle's waist tightened. "No."

"Pretty please? I'm really worried that he's hurt."

"If I give him back, then you'll go away and I'll be alone."

"Have you ever tried… you know, moving on? You wouldn't be lonely if you didn't stay in this house."

Lucy peered up at her. "Well… I - I dunno. But Mommy hasn't come back yet. What if she comes back and I'm gone and she gets mad? I'm scared to make Mommy mad."

Estelle brushed the back of Lucy's head. "Lucy… I don't think your mommy is coming back. She's probably already moved on, and is waiting for you. I bet she's sad that you haven't come yet."

"You don't know that. How can you be sure?"

"Well… I suppose I can't. Sometimes we have to take risks sometimes."

"I don't wanna. I just wanna stay here with you until Mommy comes home."

"Ok… I'll stay with you until then."

"Really? Yay!"

She had the beginning of a plan now. Lucy would agree to move on if she got to see her mother. As long as she didn't feel compelled to keep Estelle around, she would let Yuri go. Karina would guide Lucy into eternal peace, and Estelle, Flynn, and Yuri could leave. All they had to do now was find Karina, which might be a problem. Bram and Lucy had remained as ghosts, but if Karina was dead and her spirit had already moved on, what were they supposed to do?

Flynn had just as much free time as he did their first day here, but now he was unable to relax. Yuri was being held hostage by a murdered child and an angry spirit wanted to kill Estelle for associating with his daughter. All in all, Flynn had had better birthdays. He tried to read to pass the time, but got distracted every few lines. He felt so fidgety from how helpless he was. As a knight, it was his duty to protect people, especially the princess, but now all he could do was sit and hope Estelle talked Lucy into releasing Yuri.

He had barely read five pages when Estelle came inside around noon. "How are you?" she asked.

"Perfectly fine."

Her smile didn't reach her eyes, telling him she saw right through his lie. "I feel the same way. Are you hungry?"

"Marginally. Where's Lucy?"

"I talked her into playing by herself long enough for me to get lunch."

"How kind of her." He set the book on the coffee table, not even bothering to mark his place. "Let's make some sandwiches."

Joint sandwich making had been a much happier affair the night they arrived. Neither of them were particularly excited about the ham and cheese creations they brought to the table.

"I've been thinking," Estelle said as they began to eat. "If we find Karina, I think Lucy would willingly go with her to… wherever ghosts go when they move on."

Flynn nodded slowly. "Do you have any idea how to find her?"

Estelle shook her head with a frown. "If she's dead, she might have already moved on. In which case, finding her might be impossible."

"Darn, that's a problem." Flynn chewed thoughtfully and his eyes drifted to the fireplace. A chill darted down his spine at the memory of what he'd found in there. "Lucy's remains are still in the house. Some of them, at least. Is it possible Bram is buried nearby as well? Perhaps ghosts are linked to their physical remains and can't travel too far away from them."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! That would make sense. So assuming Karina is dead, perhaps her body is simply too far away."

"What do you mean, 'assuming'? I thought we had concluded Bram had murdered her?"

"That's what we thought, but something occurred to me. All we know is that she left the house and didn't come back. It's possible that Lucy didn't reappear as a ghost right away. Karina may very well have returned to the house after Lucy died but left again before Lucy became conscious as a ghost. I was thinking about that when I wondered about who took Bram down after he hanged himself."

Flynn slowly lowered the sandwich. "That's a good point. Yates said the house was found empty after the Adephagos, but if Bram killed his family and then himself, the people coming up to check it out should have found bodies."

"So what if Karina didn't die? She came back and found her husband dead, and took care of disposing of the bodies. Then she left, and maybe we can find her somewhere."

"Alternatively, someone else was involved. In which case, that person would know where Karina's body ended up. If we find her body, her spirit might be nearby."

"I think we need more information." Estelle swallowed the final piece of her sandwich. "You should go to Capua Nor and try to find out exactly who came up to the house first after the Adephagos. Find that person, and maybe we can find Karina."

Flynn frowned and dusted crumbs from his fingers. "Lucy won't let you leave."

"I know. That's why you'll have to go by yourself."

"And leave you here alone?" Preposterous. Flynn couldn't leave Estelle alone in a house with a psychotic knife-wielding ghost out for her blood.

She reached across the table and rested her hand on his arm. "Flynn, I'll be fine. I'm the only one who can fight him, anyway."

He hated to admit she was right. "Well… let's wait. We don't know for certain if our theory is correct. We have no evidence that Bram's body wasn't taken back to a cemetery in town, which would mean finding Karina's body may do nothing to help us locate her. I don't want to leave you alone here unless I absolutely have to."

"Lucy originally promised to let Yuri go tomorrow. I doubt she plans to live up to that, though."

"Probably not." Flynn was pretty sure Lucy wasn't actively planning on betraying them, it was just that she was six and not mature enough to properly understand deals and the passage of time. "We can give it a shot, though."

"Spend today trying to find Bram's body to confirm our theory. Tomorrow, you go into town and try to find more information, assuming Yuri isn't released."

"That sounds like an acceptable plan."

Flynn had already searched the house for any sign of Yuri and found nothing, so he didn't have much hope of finding Bram. Having already searched the house, he went outside. There were a few places where the wooden sides under the front porch were loose, and he pried those open to shine the light into the darkness. Under the front porch was nothing but dirt. Flynn continued going around the house, checking under the back porch and then in the crawlspace under the house itself. He even crawled a little ways in to make sure nothing was hidden beyond his range of sight, but all he got for his efforts was a spider in his hair and dirt on his clothes. Bram was obviously nowhere in or under the house. Perhaps, then, his body was somewhere on the grounds nearby?

Flynn leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to imagine he was the person who first found Bram's bod. What would he do? In his mind, he stepped onto the back porch and found Bram's body hanging from the ceiling beam. He carefully pulled him down, and then what? Take the body back to Capua Nor? Maybe, but they were operating under the assumption he was still around. His body hadn't been hidden under the house, so he must be buried somewhere nearby.

From the corner of the closet, Flynn fetched a shovel. If a body had been buried out here, there might be some indication in the grass. Perhaps the ground would have a bit of a rise, or the grass would be slightly different from growing more recently. Flynn walked in rings around the house, head down and scanning for clues. The ground was frustratingly uniform. Digging at random wouldn't get him anywhere, but he couldn't find any indication in the gross that a body had been buried. Maybe they were wrong and Bram wasn't buried her after all. If that was the case, how in the world were they going to find Karina?

Flynn came to a stop facing the cliff. He had to be here somewhere…. His eyes landed on the broken fence board Yuri had found their first day here. It was odd, because with a fence, the thin flat boards usually didn't go into the ground. Flynn poked the tip of the shovel into the earth in front of the broken board. If it hadn't been the beginning of a fence, what else could it be? Well, he didn't have any other indication of a grave, so he might as well try his luck at the only spot with any kind of feature.

The ground was hard and he had to stamp on the shovel to get a good scoop. Insects crawled away as he exposed more and more earth, and even though it wasn't too hot, eventually sweat dripped down the back of his neck. A pile of dirt and grass built up to the side, and he kept digging until his shovel came down on something hard. At first he thought it was a rock, and he tossed the shovel aside and crouched to take a closer look.

His hole was about two feet wide and about as deep. He reached into the bottom and used his fingers to brush away dry dirt covering what he thought was a rock. If it was a rock, it was the smoothest, whited rock he'd ever seen. Flynn swallowed a lump when he brushed enough dirt away to confirm what he'd found was the top of a skull. It was a hasty burial, without so much as a coffin, but whoever had done the burying couldn't have been trying to cover up a murder. His hand rested on the sharp surface of the broken board and wondered where the rest of the grave marker had gone.

A quick breath drawn was the only warning Flynn had before a fist smashed into the back of his skull. Flynn hit the ground and rolled. Looming over him was a furious Bram already drawing his arm back for another blow. Flynn jumped to his feet just in time to avoid another punch, but staggered as the throb in his head threw off his balance. Bram rushed forward and slammed into him. Getting checked by a ghost was like slamming into an electrified fence. Flynn grunted and stumbled back as the ghost's energy radiated across him. Fingers clutched the front of his shirt and shoved. Bram didn't have a knife this time, but a quick glance over his shoulder showed how close to the cliff he was. Bram was going to push him off.

Flynn threw a punch, but Bram didn't even flinch when his fist slammed into his side. Bram smirked at him and kept pushing while Flynn scrambled to keep his feet on grass. He grasped at the hands gripping him, but couldn't get a good grip on the not-quite-tangible flesh. The crashing waves far below sounded too close for comfort.

Movement over Bram's shoulder caught his attention. Estelle sprinted across the grass, light glowing all around her. Seconds later she shouted, "Photon!"

Light exploded so close to Flynn's face he stumbled back and closed his eyes. His heel dipped over the side of the cliff and in a panic he threw himself forward. He was still lying on his chest, catching his breath, when Estelle ran up to him.

"Flynn! Flynn, are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"I'm quite fine." He got to his knees and brushed dirt from his chest. "Thank you, Estellise. I believe you saved my life."

"I looked up from the porch and saw him trying to push you over the cliff. What happened?"

Flynn gestured to the hole. "I believe I've found his body."

Estelle gave him a hand as he got to his feet. "That confirms it then, doesn't it? Bram and Lucy's bodies are both here, and so are their ghosts. Either Karina is still alive, or her body must be somewhere else."

Flynn nodded. "So it would seem. Tomorrow, I'll go into town and try to find out more."

They decided to dig up the rest of the body. The fact that Bram appeared just as Flynn unearthed the body strongly hinted it was his, but they had to know for sure. Estelle felt bad about making Flynn do all the work, but Lucy insisted on playing and Estelle didn't want her around while her father's skeleton was dug up.

Instead, she and Lucy sat inside and covered page after page in crayon drawings. Every few minutes, Estelle checked on Flynn through the window as he exhumed the body. She hoped Bram wouldn't come back after she fended him off for a second time, but she had no way to be certain. She was petrified that the next time she checked out the window, Flynn would have vanished over the cliff.

"Estelle." Lucy tugged on her sleeve. "Estelle, lookit."

She pulled her eyes from the window and looked down at Lucy. The girl was holding up a drawing with four crudely drawn stick figures. "Oh, that's very pretty. Is this one you?" Estelle pointed at the shortest one.

"Uh-huh. And this is Mommy and this is Daddy and this is you." She beamed as she pointed out the figures. Estelle was the one with pink scribbles on the head and a triangle around the waist to form a skirt.

"You made me look so pretty."

"Yeah!"

"Were you drawing your family?"

She bobbed her head. "Uh-huh. Plus you, 'cause you're like my new family."

Estelle struggled to maintain her smile. She could not be Lucy's new family. She had a life to get back to, and a family of her own. "Hm… do you want to see my family?"

"Huh?"

"Hand me a paper. I want to draw my family too."

"'Kay."

Estelle took a blank sheet of paper and lay on her chest on the living room floor. She had an array of crayons to choose from and carefully drew her friends as clearly as she could. In the middle she drew herself using the black crayon to draw a big smile. Her stick-like arms stretched to the sides and held hands with two taller stick figures. One had big grey blobs on the shoulders and scribbly yellow hair, and the other wore down the tip of the dark grey crayon from filling in his shirt, pants, and hair. She kept going, using the red crayon next to draw a short figure and then trying to get white to show up over the brown hair to draw goggles. She used more blue than necessary on the next one, because she didn't need six-year-old Lucy asking why that stick figure was showing so much skin. One of the taller ones used the bright purple crayon and then she used the black to draw a huge goofy grin on him. The green crayon was already almost worn down by how much grass Lucy had colours in earlier, but Estelle manage to make it work for the pants on the next figure and then did her best to draw a dog with the blue one. To make it clear, she drew a little speech bubble that said "woof!"

"Here they are," Estelle said, holding it out to show Lucy.

Lucy sat on her knees and looked at it curiously. "That's your family?"

Estelle nodded. "I don't have parents, but I made all these friends. They're like my family. This is Repede and he's a big dog. He's kinda scary at first but once you get to know him, he's really loyal and he loves little kids like you." She moved her finger to the next one. "And this is Raven. He's really goofy and kind of weird, but he's actually really nice. Karol is the boss of a guild in Dahngrest. He's very brave and kind."

Lucy stuck her finger at the paper. "How come her ears are triangles?"

"That's Judith. She's a Krityan. She flies around on a giant whale."

Lucy's eyes widened. "A giant flying whale?"

"Yes! His name is Ba'ul but I didn't draw him. Judith is kind of hard to get to know at first, but she's great. I know she'll always have my back. And this one is Rita. She was my first ever friend my own age. She's super smart and amazing. And you know these two." She pointed with two hands at the figures on either side of herself. "This one is Flynn. He's a knight who's worked super hard to protect people. And this is Yuri, who's been Flynn's best friend since they were younger than you. Yuri is pretty funny sometimes, but he's also really brave and he'll fight hard to protect anyone. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but I know he'll always pull through. When I was in a lot of danger one time, he led the others in rescuing me. Yuri is like a big brother to me and I love him - and all the others - very much."

Lucy dragged her hand across the paper as she analyzed the picture. "They're like your mommy and daddy?"

"Um, sort of. They're the closest thing I have to family. So, they're my family just like your mom and dad are your family, and I love them just as much."

"Huh…" Lucy was staring at the drawing of Yuri. Estelle couldn't tell what she was thinking, but hopefully demonstrating to Lucy that Estelle had loved ones too and explaining that Yuri was a good person and not just a barrier to their play time might convince her to let him go. Then Lucy looked up with a smile. "You drew a cute puppy. I wanna draw a puppy, too." She grabbed a crayon and set to work.

Estelle sighed. It had been a small hope that this would work, but she should have known better. Still, Lucy had looked genuinely thoughtful as she analyzed Estelle's drawing. Maybe it had some effect, however small.

About an hour later, Flynn came inside. Before saying anything, he stomped over to the kitchen sink and washed his hands for a good five minutes. Estelle left Lucy colouring and hurried over to talk to him. "Well?"

"I'm ninety percent positive it's Bram, based on how tall the skeleton is. I've heard the main way to tell sex on a skeleton is by the pelvis, but I'm not qualified enough to figure that out. I put the bones in a box and left it outside. I'll arrange for a proper burial for him when I go into town."

"Ok. Thank you for doing this, Flynn. I know it can't have been pleasant."

"It's fine. Let's get something together for dinner."

Dinner was another subdued affair. Lucy finally agreed to let Estelle go to sleep afterwards and they retired upstairs. Estelle couldn't bring herself to shower again after what happened last night, but Flynn was sweaty and still felt grimy from handling a skeleton, so he risked it. Thankfully, Bram was nowhere to be seen.

Estelle slept in her own room that night, though she and Flynn both kept their doors open so they could hear anything going on, just in case. As she was falling asleep, she realized that though she could hear the waves as always, the creaking she'd come to expect at night was absent. Maybe this was a good sign if it meant Bram wasn't spending the night hanging on the back porch. Perhaps her attack on the cliff this afternoon had scared him off, although that did make her wonder. If Bram wasn't here anymore, where did he go?

Flynn ate breakfast before heading out. He and Estelle sat at the table eating sunny-side-up eggs and toast. They didn't talk much, because Flynn was still worried sick about leaving her hear alone. Lucy hadn't appeared yet this morning, but Flynn didn't want to risk suggesting Estelle come with them. If Lucy thought Estelle had abandoned her, there was no telling what she might do to Yuri.

After breakfast, he grabbed his sword, gave Estelle a hug, and set off for Capua Nor. It was a long walk, and he had to fight off a few monsters on the way, but after about an hour he arrived in town. Estelle had given him Mr. Yates' address, so that's where he headed first.

Yates had a mug of coffee in hand when he answered the door. "Hm? Good morning, Commandant. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes. I'd like to talk to you about the house."

"Very well, please come in. Can I get you a drink or something?"

"No, thank you." He followed Yates to the sitting room and took a seat on the couch.

"So, what can I do for you? Is there are problem at the house I can take care of?"

"I'm going to get straight to the point." The longer he stayed here, the longer Estelle was home alone with a homicidal ghost. "Are you aware that the house is haunted?"

Yates paused before answering and his grip on the coffee mug tightened. "Haunted? Now, don't be silly. Commandant, I didn't know you believed in such things."

"You own the house and presumably spent time there renovating it. How much contact have you had with the spirits that reside there?"

"I'm not sure what you're accusing me of."

It was too early for this. He was tired from his walk and sore from a bruise a grasshopper had left. "I have spoken face to face with Bram Caverly and his daughter. Their ghosts undeniably haunt the house. What I'm asking is, how much do you know about their circumstances?"

"Y-you saw them?" His mug shook as he took a sip. "You men, actually saw them?"

"Yes! Now how much do you know?"

Yates frowned into his coffee. "Look, Commandant… If you think I knowingly rented a haunted house to you…"

"It has occurred to me, yes."

Yates fixed his eyes on Flynn. "Ok. I knew there was something odd about the house and I thought it had… I don't know, some spiritual stuff going on, but I swear I didn't know actual ghosts would show up!"

"Tell me everything you know."

"It was a buddy of mine who first went up there after the Adephagos. He was one of Bram's drinking buddies and when Bram didn't show up for a few days he got worried. My friend came running back and reported what he found to the local knights. The knights went up there and dealt with it, and then the city auctioned off the house. I bought it, just as I told you."

"Did your friend tell you what he found?"

Yates nodded. "Yes… but not 'til after I bought it. He didn't want to talk about it at first but after I bought it he screamed at me and told me I was an idiot. That was when he told me the family hadn't merely disappeared. Just as well my wife left me - I wouldn't have wanted to move up there anyway."

But apparently it was good enough to rent out to other unsuspecting people. "Precisely what did your friend tell you?"

"The worst was in the front room. There was blood all over the wall and floor. The living room reeked of burned meat, and then he found Bram hanging on the back porch. There was no sign of Karina or the kid. The knights went up later and I'm told they took Bram down and gave him a quick burial nearby. They searched the grounds and the beach for Karina or their daughter but all they found was a strip of ribbon that was probably from Karina's dress. It was lying in the grass out back. Bram didn't have any wounds, though, so all that blood must've come from somebody." Yates shifted his weight, clutching and unclutching the mug. "It wasn't 'til after I got up there and started renovating that I figured there was something going on. The weirdest thing was in the front room. I did my best to clean up the blood, but no matter how many times I tried to wash it off, it just kept coming back. I must've painted over it a dozen times and it kept bleeding right through the paint."

"So you put up a tapestry to cover it."

"I was desperate! I got the rest of the house looking pretty nice, but that one patch of the wall just refused to stay clean. If I didn't get any tenants I'd really be in the hole for what I paid for it!"

"I see." The story wasn't too surprising. "Do you think there's any way Karina Caverly is still alive?"

"Doubt it. Where'd she go? There was no sign that she'd packed her things in the house, and she was hardly a fighter. They only came to town in a carriage because of the monsters. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering what happened to her body."

Yates shrugged. "I have no idea. Look, I'm really sorry I didn't mention this stuff, but I honestly thought it wasn't a big deal. It sounds pretty insane, don't it? Telling the princess and the commandant the house might be haunted? I figured, at worse you'd hear a few bumps in the night or something like that."

"I believe you." It would have been nice to get a heads up, but at this point it was too late and getting mad at the guy wouldn't help Yuri. "Do you perhaps know which knights were sent to the house?"

Yates shook his head. "Nah, but if you check at the local headquarters, I'm sure they'd have records."

"Thank you. That will be all, Mr. Yates. I don't recommend renting this house out to anyone else."

Yates stared at his shoes. "Yeah…"

Flynn left the house more frustrated than before. They still didn't know where Karina was. If her ribbon was found out back, Flynn might have assumed Bram pushed her off the cliff, but Yates said the knights searched the beach as well and still didn't find a body. He couldn't head back right away, either. Now he needed to make a stop at the Knight headquarters and get as much information from the first responders as he could, arrange a proper burial with the local mortician, and find a repairman who could fix their electricity.

He glanced at the sun; it wasn't even midday yet. He still had plenty of time to get back before dark. Estelle would be fine.