"Margot, are you seeing this?" Joe asked, still filming on his phone.

       "Uh-huh. My God." She whispered.

       Joe’s arm was shaking, not moving from his spot. A mixture of fear and fascination kept him in his spot. Part of him was screaming to run away but the rest of his brain knew there was nowhere to run.

       "Aria are you ok?" Margot asked. When she didn't answer her she turned to look at her. "Aria?" With her eyes off the creature, with unnatural speed, it moved right in front of her. Margot knew she was in trouble. She felt herself be lifted up, twirled around like a doll and thrown to the floor. Joe stopped filming and ran to help Margot. In the blink of an eye, the Shadow knocked into him so hard he was lifted off the ground before landing hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

       Margot crawled up to help him but was forced back down. The Shadow made it clear what it wanted to do.

       This is my fault.

       Taya watched with mounting horror as the Shadow attacked Margot and Joe. She was helpless to do anything. She looked at Aria. "Is there something we can use to get rid of it?"

       Aria forced herself up. She felt nauseous and dizzy. Not once had she been this badly affected by a ghost.

       “I’m...not sure.”

       It came here with Taya but it wasn't attached to her, she would have seen its aura poison hers. But somehow she brought it here without realizing it. If it wasn't attached to her then it was attached to something else.

       "Did you bring anything with you?" She asked.

        A sudden realization hit Taya. The brooch. She had brought it with her from the StarLab and here with her. She searched her pockets. It wasn't there.

       "The brooch!"

       "The what?"

       "I found a piece of jewelry when I was in the basement, I brought it home without realizing it. I had it here with me just a moment ago."

        "What does it look like?" Aria asked.

       "Gold with a big red gem in the middle, like an egg in a nest." Taya explained.; Margot let out a Yelp of pain and saw the shadow hovering above her. Taya suddenly recalled the vision she had when she first encountered the creature. Every terrible thing it wanted to do to her, it was going to do Margot. In a burst of rage, Taya stood up, grabbed the nearest object and flung it at the shadow. It wouldn't do any harm to it but she'd gotten its attention.

       "Leave her the hell alone!" She shouted.

       "Don't challenge it!" Aria warned.

       "Too late," Taya said, glaring at the creature. "Find that broch."

       She was so sick of this damn thing. She wasn't going to let this thing make a victim of her again and she sure as hell wasn't going to let it hurt anyone else. It trespassed into her house, threatened her and trying to hurt her friends. She had its full attention now. She remembered how she fought back the first time it attacked her. Its hollow white eyes stared unblinkingly at her. She glared back at it. Grabbing the opal around her neck, remembering her mother, reciting a quick prayer for courage.

       "Taya, I found it!" Aria shouted.

       Aria searched underneath Mrs. Martinez’s desk, looking for anything that looked like jewelry. If she was right then this thing might be there only chance to get rid of it. Taya was challenging this thing like she could fight it one on one. Oh God in Heaven, please save us! She prayed. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Something gleamed and, could it be? Yes! It was the brooch!

       Oh, thank you, God! Aria grabbed it and held it up. "Taya I found it!"

       The Shadow's attention turned to Aria. Oh, that was a bad idea, she thought. Without hesitation, she threw it to Taya who caught it easily.

       "Now what?"

       Aria paused. "I...I don't know."

       "What? How is that supposed to help me?" Taya shouted. The Shadow moved toward Aria, looming over her menacingly. Taya held out her hand. "Stop!" She shouted.

       It stopped.

       Joe groaned and pushed himself up by his elbows. He felt like he had just been run over by a truck. His glasses were gone but he could see Margot on the floor a few inches from him, Taya standing to the side of Aria. A giant shadow in the form of a man looming over her. Forcing himself up he crawled on all fours to help Margot.

       "Margot. Margot get up!" He pleaded.

       She got up, quicker than Joe did, sitting on her knees as if in prayer. "Joe? What--"

       "No time! Aria needs help!" He said.

       "Stop!"

       They both turned their heads to Taya, her fist clenched around something while the other was held out toward the shadow. Margot and Joe got to their feet, watching in awe. The Shadow had turned around to face Taya, moved slowly toward her until it was only a few inches away. Taya had no idea what it was doing either, she was terrified but stood her ground.

       "Why—why are you attacking us? What do you want?" She asked.

       The Shadow let out a growl, making the whole room shake. It disappeared then reappeared beside Margot and Joe. It hovered over Margot’s bag and peeking out was Trisha's diary. Knocking it to the ground, its pages opened to them.

       "The diary? You want us to read her diary?" Taya asked. The Shadow hissed at her. Taya shook her head, "What are you trying to tell me? I can’t freaking understand you!"

       "I have an idea." Margot said. She moved along the floor and grabbed the REM pod. She cautiously put the device between them and the Shadow. Margot and Joe moved away, standing behind Taya with Aria. She looked over Margot then Joe.

       "We can use the REM pod to speak with it. Yes or no, like before." She explained.

       Taya doubted they’d get much information, but it was better than fighting this thing. She took a deep breath then exhaled. "OK. Is there something in the book you want us to read?"

       It buzzed once. A yes. "Um....OK. Can you show us what page?"

        The Shadow shuddered, the REM pod buzzing yes. The pages in the open book flipped and stopped. Margot inched closer, Aria holding her hand. It was on the second to last page. "I haven't translated this page yet."

       "Well get to translating." Taya said. But that just made the Shadow angry. It growled at them knocking the diary against the wall. Margot and Aria moved away from the Shadow but it advanced on them.

        "Don't touch them!" Taya growled. The Shadow stopped. They were at a standoff.

        "Why is it listening to you?" Joe asked.

        "It’s the brooch. I think it's somehow connected to the brooch." Aria said.

        "But what's in the diary that it wants us to read?" Asked Joe.

         Margot looked at the brooch and back at the Shadow. An idea took root. "If this thing controls it, maybe we can use it to get rid of him."

         "Maybe that's what it wants?" Joe guessed.

       Taya made an angry noise in the back of her throat. "No. I'm not about to give this thing what it wants. Let's just lock it away somewhere."

       The Shadow hissed at them. Convulsing again it turned into a black mass and moved around the room like an angry bee. It circled around them like a predator in a cage. The four of them huddled together. The Shadow threw objects and equipment at them, one hitting Joe in the shoulder and another hitting Taya's side. Margot stepped forward "Stop! I can translate the pages you want!"

        The Shadow stopped its tantrum and objects hovered mid-air before falling to the ground. Margot ran to the dairy and to her backpack, taking out the codex.

        "Margot.." Taya began but she cut her off. She found the page that he had shown them and Margot set to work on it. For ten terrifying minutes, they watched Margot work. Meanwhile, the Shadow lingered, watching them from corners in the ceiling and rafters. When she had finished translating she held up the paper.

       "What is it?" Taya asked.

        "The brooch. Aria was right, it is attached to it, but not by choice. It wants to be set free."

        "Set free? How?" Joe asked.

        "Still working on that," Margot said, writing down furiously on the notebook paper.

        Taya looked at the brooch and at the REM pod. An idea formed in her head. "I want to make a deal with you." She told the Shadow. "If you promise to keep your word, we'll set you free."

         "What are you doing?" Joe asked. Taya ignored him. She kneeled in front of the REM pod. The Shadow hovered by her on the floor, its dark mass still and listening.

        "First, you have to swear on, I don't know, your freedom, that you will never hurt another person ever again. No more tormenting innocent people.”

        It said nothing so she continued. “Second, you leave Heatherton and you don't come back. Finally, you tell us everything you know about Trisha. You agree to that, we let you go. One for yes, two for no.”

        It didn't answer immediately. Then the REM buzzed once. So, it was an agreement. When Margot had finished decoding the page she passed it to Taya. She was surprised. Aria and Joe watched them from the side, unsure of what to do. Taya seemed to have a good handle on things though neither was sure if her idea would work.

        "This, is it?" Taya asked. "That's all?"

        Margot nodded and turned to the REM pod. "You’re going to answer my questions. Once I get my answers you get your freedom." She told him. The Shadow made a purring sound, slowly moving away. It morphed into a human shape again. Margot asked her first question. "Is Trisha still alive?"

         One buzz, a yes.

       Taya smiled, Margot nearly cried in relief, Joe, and Aria growing excited. "Next question: do you know where she is?"

        One buzz, then another. A no.

       Margot's swore under her breath. "Did you have something to do with Trisha’s disappearance?"

       It answered no.

         "Do you know why Trisha went missing?" Margot asked.

        The Shadow tilted its head back, an eerily human-sounding laugh erupting from it. One buzz. "How?" She asked.

        The diary was pushed forward at Taya’s feet. “What does that mean?” She demanded.

         That was all the answers it was going to give them. Its part of the deal was done, now it wanted its freedom. Wanting this to be over with Taya read the paper. She held out the brooch and in a loud, clear voice, said, "I release you."

         The brooch in her hand felt hot like an ember. Taya dropped it and when she did something changed. The air no longer felt heavy and the attic became lighter. All except for one spot, where once was the Shadow now stood a man. Or what used to be one. He wore a dark suit, with red-gold hair and yellow eyes. His appearance was ethereal and old like he had stepped out of an old black and white picture. He then turned to face them, looking at each and every one of them.

       When his hollow eyes landed on hers, a terrible sensation gripped her. It felt like a migraine, steadily growing more painful, more intense. Images flashed in her mind, that same nightmare she had a week before.

       “Stop it!” Taya screamed. “Stop it!”

        Everything you need to know is in your memory. That’s what I was trying to show you.

        She felt like she was going to pass out. Those same horrible images kept flashing in her mind while her skull felt like someone was pounding it with the backside of a hammer. The ringing in her ears was so loud it drowned out her friend's voices. Distantly she thought she smelled smoke which made her remember her nightmare. Memory? Taya felt like she knew this as if she’d forgotten something, the answer in the palm of her hand but it was like holding water in cupped hands. It was right there but it kept slipping through her fingers. The pain in her head was too much, feeling like she was going to pass out.

       When she opened her eyes she was lying on the floor, her friends hovering over her.

        “I will take my leave.”

        The voice sounded so normal, so matter-of-fact, Taya thought someone else was here. Sitting up she saw him, the shadow, standing there. Then with a nod, he floated, backward into the darkness of the corner attic. They watched until they could no longer see him, just his eyes. Those eyes would haunt their nightmares for some time to come, Taya realized. He was gone within seconds, the corner attic no longer dark but just a corner. It left the team huddled together in stunned silence. The Shadow was gone as quickly as it had arrived. The nightmare, it seemed, was over.

       For the moment.

       When they briefed Taya about what happened when she passed out. The Shadow didn’t harm them but he did something to Trisha’s journal. Steam rose up from the book. Every one of the pages was pitch white. Any answers they might have discovered were gone.

        Margot picked up the diary and hugged it to her chest. Finally, after all these months, she was going to find the answers she wanted and had it ripped from her. The only consolation was they finally had recorded proof. Joe moved to pick up the camera to check if it was damaged. He frowned and after a minute of playing with it he paled.

       “Um...Margot? The camera’s battery died. We didn’t record anything.”

         “...Are you kidding me?!”