The dimmed light of the hallway cast weird shadows all around us, and I watched the walls, hoping they were not the freaks we saw back at the car. I observed our silhouettes morphing along the lights' angle, confirming that they were indeed normal shadows. It was nothing, but at least I knew it was just us three in these long, dimly lit halls.

I hoped that I was correct.

That answer did not make this sinking feeling any better. Mr. Ross and Ms. Meyer were taking me somewhere and hadn't said a thing to me as to where. To be fair, I didn't ask them. All I could think about were the creatures inside this facility, with their colorful and scaly skin, sharp claws, pointy teeth, and fluffy ears and tails. They could quickly kill me if they wanted to and throw away my mangle body like trash. However, I shouldn't fret about that yet. There were worse things than death.

Many things.

I shivered at the thought. Curiosity could make you do stupid things. That was how people died, but sometimes sacrifices must be made to learn the truth. Even though I was afraid to die, I wanted to know, even if the result was death. This plague of not knowing was killing me. If I knew, then maybe I would be okay with dying. 

Maybe.

Not really.

We stopped at a white elevator, the only thing that wasn't dark and bleak. I stared at it with awe as it gazed at me with its heavenly shine. For something that was supposed to entice wonder left me with horror. No good will come to me when I enter its judgment gates, but like a sheep, I followed the shepherd and stepped inside the light. The doors closed as swiftly as we crammed inside the small room. I hated being crushed, but it couldn't be helped. Let's hope that it won't malfunction and trap us. 

"So where are we going?" I asked, surprised by the lack of stutter.

Mr. Ross glanced at me, holding on tightly to the wooden board, "You will learn soon enough."

He pulled out a card similar to what Ms. Meyer gave to the forest ranger. I looked closely at it. The card was silver with three crescent moons on it. 

That was it, a plain silver card with markings. 

He rubbed it against a metal plate near the number selection. All of the floors appeared to be going down. I observed the panels, and a small beep ran through my ears, revealing more sections, all going further down. All of them were labeled in red with the letter B beside the number. I wiped my palms on my jeans. What could be hiding on all these floors?

Mr. Ross pressed the B19, and the elevator dropped faster than I could scream. I held my breath from shock, grabbing onto the metal bars on each side of the tiny box, avoiding bumping Ms. Meyer. This thing was accelerating faster than any elevator I'd known. My hair flew wildly across my face as it descended. I stared at the two agents beside me, immobile like marble statues. 

So it was just me panicking? That was great, really it was. It wasn't that they could tell me beforehand unless they wanted me to panic, like when they drove into the river. Some people died from terror. Their hair was all white while having a heart attack! I kept my mouth shut, knowing it won't make that much of a difference. 

It only took a millisecond for it to reach our destination. The doors slid open to a clean lab filled with chemicals and equipment behind a glass wall. The smell of sulfur and bleach rushed inside the cramped elevator, causing me to cover my nose with the sleeves of my hoodie. Ms. Meyer was the first one out. A broad smile plastered on her face as she headed to a desk on the far left, where a bronze skin man with dark brown hair was working. He didn't seem to notice that she was getting closer. Mr. Ross followed her. His face gave no evidence of pleasure. What exactly did I expect? 

A little cinnamon-colored rat climbed up Mr. Ross's shoulder and watched me with its black buttoned eyes. Was the rat always there? The rat stared at me as if waiting for me to move. This wasn't any ordinary animal. It was cold and unfeeling, like the bastard it was sitting on, yet oddly childlike. Almost as if this rat wanted to play with me. Or maybe it wanted to play me like a doll. I shook my head and watched the animal crawl inside Mr. Ross's hoodie. I don't dislike rats, but I don't like them either.

I quickly caught up to them after I regained my composure. The lights in the room did not help me at all. It twisted and turned as I slithered my way to them. Again, the man did not sense his new spectators. Mr. Ross cleared his throat, but the man remained focused on the colorful liquids in front of him. Mr. Ross threw the board on the desk, causing the man to jump. A tiny amount of yellow liquid spilled on the desk. 

I saw the letters carved into it in fancy writing and the words "yes" or "no." A cold chill ran down my spine as a slight grin curled on my lips. I covered it as usual. 

The man sprang up from his seat, pulling out a golden crucifix from his front coat pocket. The small devilish smile faded as soon as I saw that rosemary. A small yet roaring rage overwhelmed me, almost as much as meeting the emotionless bastard of a teacher. But this time, I kept my mouth shut. Soon the anger would exhaust itself, and maybe I would get to ask him something. 

That was why we were here, right? To ask questions and get some answers. Hopefully, it was not to experiment on me. Right?

Please.

"Why did you bring an ouija here?" The man hissed.

"It's what we found in the hospital," Ms. Meyer said.

So that building was a hospital? A creepy, rundown hospital where the sick and dying go? It was no wonder I had an ominous feeling about that place. 

"We need to find out who cast this hex," Ross added, flipping the toy over, revealing the dark pink symbol on the back.

It looked identical to the one on my golden ash tree pin but a little off. Besides the noticeable color differences, this one has triangles instead of circles. It almost looked like a pentagram. 

"Couldn't you have given that to Agent Laghari? She loves these things."

"She's not authorized to use the equipment," Mr. Ross smiled gently, "You're the only one who can do this for us, Soto. Please, I don't trust anyone else."

His voice was hypnotic, like a siren song. Was this a spell, or was he good at persuading others? Either way, it worked.

"Alright," Soto groaned.

He quickly grabbed the ouija board and threw it inside his desk drawer along with his rosemary, making a cross sign while muttering under his breath before turning his attention to me. Soto smiled and introduced himself as Dr. Soto, one of the agency's scientists researching strange phenomena. I could taste the sweetness on my tongue. It was too much, too much for me to enjoy.

But the good news was that the unknown anger had subsided, minus the minor irritation from that annoying prayer. I don't understand why I hate it so much. I just do. However, Soto seemed to be a nice guy. A little jumpy, but who wouldn't be?

I did the same as calmly and nicely as possible with trembling lips. Dr. Soto's fear was delicious. I shook my head, trying to ignore that strong, hungry voice inside my head. The man in the lab coat nodded.

He said as he let go, "I'll take he's the recruit?" 

"Yes," Ross answered, "he joined a few days ago after the wraith incident."

Dr. Soto raised an eyebrow," I see… Well, did he approve of this?"

"As long as he's helpful. Mr. Ranger had done well with finding the ouija board."

I raised an eyebrow. What the heck did he say? I didn't do anything. I stared at him blankly, thinking why he would lie. What was he up to? Mr. Ross glared at me as if to warn me to keep my mouth shut, and that unknown rage returned. I couldn't contain it anymore! My mouth flung open.

"I di-"

Something landed on my head. In a panic, I patted my head and then my shoulders. My eyes moved to the creature as it began clawing away my skin with its tiny claws. It was the rat from earlier. Did it know what I was going to say and stop me? I didn't even know what I would say, but I knew it wasn't good. It would draw more attention to me.

"Gesundheit," Dr. Soto said, staring at the rat tearing away my flesh.

"Uh, thank you," I grinned, pushing the rat away from my face, "So that shadow monster is called a Wraith? What was it doing at the school?"

Mr. Ross took the rat and placed it back on his shoulder like a parrot. For a moment, I waited for the animal to answer me. It was dumb, but anything was possible at this point. However, all it did was glare at me with its cold, black eyes. It didn't want to talk to me, even if it could speak.

"Yes, it's called a Wraith," Mr. Ross answered, stroking the rat's head, "It's a type of ghost born out of magic. As for it being at the academy, it was after Mariel."

"Why? Is it because of the pull?"

I covered my mouth when the words left my lips. Damn. Were they going to think I was a monster, like that Wraith? My mind wandered off to everything they were going to do to me. This place was an excellent place to get information, but it was also a good place to get rid of someone. To keep them quiet or stick needles in them. My body trembled as I imagined the shape syringe digging into my skin. 

But they would have done it already, right? The fact that I was still alive proves they meant no harm, right? Please, don't let them change their minds.

Mr. Ross nodded, "Mariel has a pure soul. They are rare, so any supernatural or abnormal are attracted to them. I put you and her together to cancel the force, and it seemed to have worked."

"You… wanted it to get me?"

Anger swelled within me. I should be mad. It was in my very right to be so, but surprisingly I'm not, at least not as much as someone should be when they found out they were bait. I don't want anything to happen to Mariel or anyone. But how did I cancel out what she has? What do I have that she doesn't? Questions stirred in my mind like maggots on a corpse as Mr. Ross answered my unspoken queries.

"You're unusual. You already knew that, didn't you?"

I nodded but quickly shook my head and stared at Ms. Meyer. She was off in the distance looking at the strange purple liquids on a table. I then turned my gaze to Dr. Soto quietly listening to us. His dark eyes glued to me. I shivered and looked back at Mr. Ross. My lips quivered from the attention I was getting. 

"You still wanted it to harm me," I shuddered, breathing heavily from speaking too fast.

"You weren't in danger. Ms. Meyer was there to protect you."

That was right. Ms. Meyer was there to save me from that thing, but Mr. Ross also put a sigil on this ash tree pin to protect me. Why wouldn't he admit it?

"You could at least not let me see it…." I mumbled, touching the golden pin in my pocket.

He ignored me. His cold blue eyes glanced off into the distance. I hate the fact that he was tasteless. It would be easy to understand him if he wasn't, but was that true? Emotions were complicated to understand, even behind the taste. I was at a loss.

"We're leaving," Mr. Ross called to Ms. Meyer.

"Wait. I need to talk to you in private," Dr. Soto said as Ms. Meyer walked up to them and tilted her head, "It's a boring conversation, Agent Meyer. Why don't you show Ellis around?"

She looked at Mr. Ross and then at me, "Alright, I guess there are a few things I can show you."

She gestured me out of the room. The smell of chemicals seemed to follow us. I started back at Mr. Ross, wondering what was so important that they needed us to leave.