It was somehow surreal to show up to work at the bookstore the next morning after the events of the night before. Natalie had been surprised when she’d arrived home to realize it was only two o’clock in the morning, not much later than she usually stayed up on a Friday night. The bookstore didn’t open until eleven on Saturdays, so she got to sleep in a bit, but she was still exhausted.

Being tired didn’t keep her from thinking about what had happened though. And there was so much to think about. Phantom smells and strange glowing lights. Glowing eyes. Why hadn’t touching Hayato triggered visions? Or touching Jin, for that matter? Natalie only realized after she got home that Jin’s picking her up hadn’t sent her into a barrage of new images either. What was it about those two? The last time she’d been able to touch someone without falling into visions was back when her grandparents were still alive, and that was only because her grandmother had a “gift” too. Maybe…

Natalie stifled a yawn.

The bell above the door jangled. Natalie spun away from the shelf she’d been dusting with a bright smile.

“Hello, can I—“ she stopped mid-greeting and relaxed. “Hi, Patrick. Is it that time already?”

“Hey, Nat.” Patrick smiled and unslung his messenger bag, heading for the back room. Natalie finished dusting the shelf and walked over to the counter. She arrived just as Patrick popped out of the back room. He cocked his head, looking at her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Natalie, surprised. “Why?”

“No reason. You just look a little… different.”

Natalie laughed. “Is that the politically correct way to say ‘tired’?”

Patrick’s ears turned red, and he ducked his head. Natalie smiled and reassured him.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Good.” Patrick grinned. “I was worried the store spook might have gotten to you.”

“The store what?”

“Spook. Gremlin. Ghostie. Most of us have been hearing weird noises when we’re in here alone. I keep telling them it’s probably rats, but many remain unconvinced.”

Prior to last night, Natalie would have just laughed off the idea of a store spook, but now she wasn’t sure.

“Well,” she said, “I think I know some people who might be able to help.”

“Really?” asked Patrick. “Oh, yeah. Those guys from the other day. Paranormal investigations and pest control, right? Sounds perfect. You still have the guy’s card?”

“Better than that.” Natalie smiled. “I’m going to see them this afternoon.”

“Yeah? Say hi for me.” Patrick grinned.

・・・・・

Natalie arrived in front of the house at exactly five o’clock. Twilight lengthened the shadows and gilded everything in gold and purple. The house looked exactly as it had the day before — ordinary. It struck Natalie as odd considering what she had experienced there the night before.

The sweet tinkle of a bell made Natalie turn.

Jin smiled at her from a little ways down the sidewalk and slipped a silver bell into his coat pocket. Natalie laughed.

“I hope I didn’t startle you this time,” he called to her.

“You didn’t,” said Natalie. “Thank you.”

Jin closed the distance between them with a few long strides, trailing Hayato in his wake.

“I’m surprised you came.” Jin looked at her thoughtfully.

“I’m a little surprised myself.” Natalie smiled up at him.

“You’re sure about this?” asked Hayato.

“Sure enough,” she said. “What about you guys? It got pretty weird in there last night.”

Hayato smirked. “That was nothing.”

Natalie rolled her eyes at him, smiling in spite of herself.

“Well,” she said, “Do we have a plan tonight?”

Jin opened his mouth to answer, but Hayato jumped in.

“Capture the entity.”

“Capture it?” asked Natalie.

“Yes,” said Jin. “We’d like to capture it, if possible. It isn’t always.”

“And do we have any idea what the entity might be?” she asked.

Jin adjusted his glasses. “It’s likely one of two things.”

“One of two?” Natalie raised her eyebrows. Jin nodded.

“What are they?” she asked.

“The most obvious possibility is a ghost.”

Natalie frowned. “I said last night that I don’t think Mrs. Beckett was the kind of person who would do everything the… entity did last night. I still don’t think it’s her.”

“It wouldn’t necessarily be Mrs. Beckett’s ghost,” said Jin. “Another spirit might have been attracted by Mr. Beckett’s grief. Many spirits use the energy from the emotions of the living to grow stronger.”

Natalie thought about that a moment. She hadn’t considered the possibility of a different ghost, but she supposed it made sense.

“Do you have any idea why it seems to be targeting me?” she asked.

Jin hesitated.

“Not quite yet,” he answered slowly. “Things escalated too quickly.”

“So what are we doing tonight? Is there a way to keep things from going the way they did last night?”

“Not exactly.” Jin smiled apologetically. “But, Hayato and I are more ready for it this time. It won’t be able to get to you. Don’t worry.”

Natalie wasn’t sure she felt reassured at all. She knew that they would do what they could, but they couldn’t be everywhere all the time. And she’d never interacted with a ghost before. She shuddered to think what her ability might show her if a ghost touched her.

“We have this too, if you want.” Hayato pulled his hand out of his pocket and thrust it forward, opening it to reveal a simple chain with a small pendant that gleamed in the twilight.

“A necklace?” she asked, surprised. “How will that help?”

“The necklace has been charged with a protective energy, and the pendant itself is created in the shape of another protective object, a magatama,” explained Jin.

Natalie’s eyebrows went up. It wasn’t the sort of thing she usually believed in — energies and significant shapes — but she appreciated the fact that Jin and Hayato were trying to keep her safe. She took the necklace from Hayato’s hand. Natalie held it up in the fading light. The chain slipped lightly over her fingers as she spread them, leaving the pendant suspended in the air silhouetted against a flaming orange sky. It was a strange shape, the pendant, like an upside-down teardrop, or half a yin-yang symbol, and it was made of some kind of translucent stone that picked up the colors of everything around it.

“Thank you,” she said, fastening it around her neck. The pendant settled in the hollow between her collarbones and warmed to her skin almost immediately. It felt as if she’d always had it.

Natalie frowned, realizing the necklace didn’t speak to her at all. She’d been braced to reject the visions new objects sent her, but there hadn’t been any. Not when she took it from Hayato, and not when she put it on.

“Is everything all right?” asked Jin.

“Fine.” Natalie shook herself and smiled at Jin. “Sorry. Everything is fine.”

He nodded slowly, but Natalie was pretty sure he didn’t believe her.

“After going over the tapes from last night—“

“Wait,” Natalie interrupted him. “What tapes?”

“All of the recordings from our investigation. The video and the audio. Unfortunately, much of it was reduced to static. Probably interference from the entity. However, we did find a few interesting pieces.”

“How did you get them?” asked Natalie.

“We went in and retrieved them after you had left.”

“You… went back in? Without me?”

Jin’s demeanor softened. “It was actually safer that way. There wasn’t any activity while we were collecting the recordings and setting up for tonight.”

“Safer,” said Natalie flatly.

“Less of a risk?” Jin tried to shift the sense of the words, but it was no use. Natalie had already grabbed hold of the idea. Her presence put the others in danger. It should have been obvious to her, but it hadn’t been. She felt sick.

“Maybe I should just go home,” she said.

“Don’t be stupid,” said Hayato. “We need you.”

Jin and Natalie both looked at him, astonished.

“You what?” asked Natalie.

“How else are we going to get whatever’s in there to show itself again?”

“But… But what about the danger? To you, I mean. Not me. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Either of you.”

Hayato laughed. “We did all right last night. We’ll do okay tonight too. If things get crazy, you run out to the sidewalk and everything inside will die down. Easy.”

Jin adjusted his glasses. “I doubt it will be quite that simple, but Hayato is right. We need you here.”

“As bait,” said Natalie, humor creeping into her voice.

“If you insist on seeing it that way, then yes, as bait. But I assure you, we will let no harm befall you. I give you my word.”

Natalie half-smiled at his old-fashioned gallantry and his unusual way of talking. She looked at the two men standing side by side in the deepening twilight, so different in appearance and personality, but so alike in their willingness to put themselves at risk to make sure she was safe. They were like people from another age, a different world.

Lightning sauntered over to the group, his tail straight up in the air, and his head held high. He sat at her feet and looked up at her, chirping an inquisitive meow. Natalie smiled and knelt to pet him.

“Well, if you say so, Lightning, I suppose we’d better get to work.”