"Woah," Gadalik exclaimed, admiring the silver blade his father unsheathed as it shone in the ceiling light of the living room.

  "It's so shiny!" Glacia chimed. "Silver can make contact with ghosts, too, can't it?"

  "Sure can. That's why I asked my swordsmith about buying it from him when I saw it at his place; I was picking up a new sword when my last one broke during a recent bounty hunt. Maybe now I can help our son out with his spook's work," Gale explained.

  "I’d appreciate that,” Gadalik welcomed him. "But you've already been helping with it."

  "I have?" The dark-skinned man pushed the front of his flowy blue-violet mohawk up out of his face with a hint of embarrassment from that revelation, the two piercings now uncovered on his left eyebrow glinting.

  "Yeah. What you told me about getting over my crush on Gretel… it was the same advice Andrew needed to move on from the situation he was in with his parents. And it helped me, too; I… I'm over Gretel romantically. She's my best friend, but she'll never be more than that, and it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt myself pining over someone who doesn't like me back."

  "Well look at you, finally moving on!" Glacia congratulated her son. "I'm happy for you!"

  Gadalik laughed. "Thanks?"

  "Even so," Gale replied, becoming more serious, "aside from talking, I was useless against Harry. I figured, with this, I can actually fight back and protect you."

  "But your talk with him was what saved everyone," his son pointed out."

  Nevertheless, it never hurts to have the sword as backup if the next ghost doesn't listen."

  As if on cue, there was banging on the front door.

  Gadalik moved to answer it, but his mother stopped him. "Whoever knocks that hard must be trouble," she warned him.

  "Or in trouble," the spook pointed out.

  "I got it," Gale said, opening the door with one hand, the other cautiously resting on the hilt of his sword.

  A girl of maybe sixteen years old stood behind it. Her violet eyes widened with surprise to see who answered. "You're not Gadalik! Why are you in his house?” Then she covered her mouth. “Wait. Are you his father?"

  The bounty hunter, while suspicious of her at first, couldn't help laughing at her obvious contrition when she had realized who he was. "That's right. My name's Gale. Are you that spook Gadalik worked with a couple times before?"

  "I know that voice!" Glacia barked, barging past her boyfriend to confront their visitor. "You're that brat from the lake!"

  Gadalik restrained the light-purple-haired woman. "Don't forget: she helped save my life after I drowned…”

  "Yeah, but–"

  He shook his head at his mother in a silent plea for her to let it go, and when she begrudgingly did, he approached the girl. "Hey, Mira. What brings you here?"

  "You're not gonna believe this, but I got us a job!" his old companion announced pridefully.

  "Really? That's great! I knew you could do it!"

  "It pays really well, too," she added with a smug grin.

  Gadalik frowned. "Uhh, just what are we getting into here?"

  "Nothing we can't handle,” she assured him. “There's just a ghost haunting this old shop.”

  "How strong…?"

  "Huh?"

  "The ghost… The pay wouldn't be that good if it was your usual poltergeist. We can't do anything out of our league."

  "Pfft. We can take 'em!"

  "Now wait just a minute," Glacia butted in. "I will not let you throw my son's life into danger!"

  "I'll keep him safe," Gale offered, patting the hilt of his new sword to remind his girlfriend it was there.

  "You can't be serious," she groaned. "You don't know what Mira put us through. She pretty much bullied Gadalik the entire time we were at the lake, calling him a devil because of his witch heritage. And… she called me old!"

  Mira couldn't stifle a bout of laughter. "You're still upset about that?”

  The woman glared at her, as if hoping looks could kill in place of her balled hands since her family prevented her from attacking.

  “Geez. Chill out; I'm sorry. I'll have you know Gadalik and I are on good terms now, too. We went on a successful job just last month. We've even kept each other updated on our lives and job searches over the phone since."

  Glacia gaped at her son. "She's the companion you mentioned?!"

  Gadalik shrank. "This is why I didn't tell you her name…"

  "Everybody calm down. If she's one who helped save Gadalik's life, I think we owe her a bit of trust, don't you?" Gale intervened.

  Glacia scowled and sat on the couch. "Fine. There's no stopping you, is there? Go ahead, then–both of you–but count me out! See for yourself how bratty she is. You boys only learn the hard way, I guess."

  The bounty hunter sighed heavily, clearly wishing they’d all get along. "So you'll have me?" he eventually asked the spooks.

  Mira looked between him and her coworker. "Uh, would we have to split the pay three ways…?"

  The man laughed. "Don't worry about that; quality time is payment enough."

  "That's great! Then the more the merrier."

  Gale peered outside around her. "Is that your horse out there?"

  She followed his gaze to the silver stallion behind her. "Yep! His name's River. I have my supplies in his saddlebags. I recognize Punsiv, too–Gadalik rode him on our last job. So that mare must be yours?"

  "Sure is. Her name's Aristella."

  "What a pretty name! Does Glacia have a horse too?"

  "Punsiv is both of ours," Gadalik answered. "How about we take the carriage, and have Aristella and River pull it? That way my mom still has Punsiv if she wants to go somewhere while we're gone."

  Glacia snorted, clearly unhappy her family was leaving with Mira, but didn't protest.

  "Alright, then: it's settled,” Mira said. “Get ready, then let's head out!"

  Gale had taken the reins while Mira directed him. It was around dark when they arrived at their destination: a fairly run-down city. "I brought a map with us," she said, unfolding it and pointing. "There's an inn we can stay at around the corner here."

  They brought the carriage to a stop outside of it; the large building looked old, but seemed well-kept. The inside had navy-blue carpeting with a star pattern on it, and the walls were decorated with abstract artworks. There was a cafe in the lobby, the smell from which would have made Gadalik hungry if he hadn't eaten the supper his father had packed for their journey on the way.

  "It looks expensive," the older spook remarked.

  "It is expensive," Gale confirmed, looking over a pamphlet from a stand by the receptionist's desk. “But I can see why: even the cheapest rooms have two beds and a recliner chair, and they even have TVs.”

  "Wouldn't this negate the pay we'll be getting?" he asked his coworker.

  "I’ll cover it,” his father offered, “but if I want to budget for food and travel costs, it looks like I can only afford one room.” He turned to the younger spook. "Are you comfortable with that, Mira? I-I mean, you don't really know me, so I understand if–”

  "Of course I'm fine with it!” she interrupted. “Gadalik told me all about you on the way to our last mission, so I know you're trustworthy.”

  Gale was taken aback by that, once again somewhat embarrassed to learn his son thought so highly of him.

  “What I wouldn't be comfortable with is cheaping out in a bad area instead; it’s safer here. Come on."

  After paying and unpacking their things, Gale let the kids each have a bed while he moved to the TV, manually flipping through the channels in search of a program they could all enjoy.

  “Wait–go back!” Mira told him when recognized a movie he had skipped over. He did, then raised an eyebrow with intrigue to discover it was a horror film. “The ghost in this one is so-o-o cliche, it's funny,” she explained.

  That got Gadalik's attention. He wasn't too fond of scary movies even though he knew his father liked them, but the thought of one being unintentionally humorous made him wonder just how badly it misrepresented spirits. “I wanna see,” he admitted.

  “You sure?” his father asked. “I've seen this one. It can get gruesome.”

  He shrugged. It’s not like I haven't seen some gruesome things in real life… “You can let me know when to look away, then.”

  Gale chuckled. “Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you.” He turned out the lights, then increased the volume enough for the others to hear it, before settling into the recliner chair. More seriously, he added, “Really, though… if you get uncomfortable, just let me know and we can find something else to watch.”

  The movie was about a ghost who had lost its family in life, taking out its grief on innocents who still had theirs. Like Mira said, the ghost relied on jump scares and the pointless levitations of household items to antagonize the main characters… at least until they tried to fight back. True to his word, Gale have the heads up before the ghost violently killed each of them one by one. In the end, the surviving protagonist and the ghost turned out to be secret half-siblings. When the latter realized this, it apologized and promised to spend the rest of its time on earth meeting its new family and making amends.

  “See what I mean?” Mira laughed as credits rolled.

  “Yeah… if a ghost that’s strong enough to kill wants you dead, it wouldn't waste its time with jump scares and levitation tricks,” Gadalik said.

  “Huh? Oh–you're right, but that wasn't what I was talking about. I meant the ending.”

  “Um… What was cliche about the ending?” I kind of liked it…

  “It was happy,” she answered simply. “A ghost in real life who’s that consumed isn't going to pull a one-eighty like it did in the movie. If anything, it'd kill its new family, too. Besides, even in the off-chance that it would have a change of heart, it already killed like six people! And they actually forgave it? Like, come on! How unrealistic can it get?”

  Oh…

  “Hey, now… Everyone's different, whether they're humans or ghosts,” Gale pointed out partly in his son's defense when Gadalik hadn't replied. “While I agree that some things can make one unforgivable to others, I also believe that a change of heart is possible for everyone, regardless if others forgive them. And sometimes… self-redemption is enough to earn forgiveness.”

  Mira hummed in a tone that suggested she wasn't fully convinced. “If it were anyone else telling me this, I wouldn't care. But I get the feeling you're speaking from experience.”

  “That's because I am. I've made a career out of hunting down ‘irredeemable’ criminals, after all.”

  “Oh yeah,” she remembered, then leaned forward some. “Have you ever killed before?” Gadalik already knew the answer to that.

  “A few times, yeah. But I try not to unless I know for sure they’ve had no change of heart after their crimes.”

  Try not to? Does that mean he has?

  “It's late though,” Gale changed the subject. “We should get some sleep.” He shut the TV off, the room dark without its light, before reclining the chair all the way and folding his arms behind his head in a makeshift pillow. “Goodnight.”

  The next morning, Gale pulled the carriage into a parking space beside a shiny red car outside of an older building whose solid gray walls made the multi-colored notices on them stand out–signs stating it was closed, private property, and warnings not to trespass. There were also the remnants of signage that had been removed from the front of it, with an unweathered ghost outline reading Sam’s Butcher.

  Despite Gadalik’s ability to suppress his ghost sense, it activated on its own, almost as if to alert him to the danger of what was inside. He glanced at Mira to find her clutching the golden necklace she wore under her short red-violet cloak. She must feel it too…

  “Why, hello there!” a woman in a form-fitting crimson dress cheerfully greeted them after emerging from behind the former meat market. “My name's Samantha. You’re Mira, correct? And judging by your robe, boy, you must be her assistant Gadalik.”

  Assistant? The young man playfully scowled at his companion, who snickered.

  “I… don't recall you mentioning anyone else. Who's this?" Samantha asked, eyeing the bounty hunter with a frown.

  "I'm Gadalik's father,” Gale introduced himself carefully, wary of her expression. “While I'm here to help, you don't need to worry about paying me.”

  The two stood off, staring each other down a little too long for comfort. “Very well,” she finally said, forcing a smile before facing the spooks once more. “Now, this spirit is a powerful one, so I hope you've come prepared to deal with it.”

  "What's its story? Do you know who it was in life?" Gadalik asked.

  "Oh, his name is Nate. He was… you know… a customer–a regular at my father's old butcher shop here.”

  "Hm… Is that all?” There are only two reasons a ghost would be stuck in one location. Nate either died there, or he had a more personal connection to the place… or both. “If Nate came here often, perhaps your father would be able to tell us more–”

  “Sorry, kid, but my father's dead too,” Samantha cut him off. For some reason, Gale seemed caught off guard by that revelation. “That's why I shut his shop down. I've been wanting to turn it into a boutique, but I can't do anything with Nate’s spirit haunting it. That's why I reached out to young Mira here; someone's got to get rid of that no-good rat’s ghost.”

  No-good rat? That’s a bit harsh. “You speak of Nate like you did know him…”

  “I didn't; I just knew of him because my father…” The sentence trailed off.

  "Thank you. We'll take it from here,” Mira said, withdrawing her silver kusarigama and approaching the door.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: due to how violent Nate is, I haven't been in there to really clear the place out,” Samantha added. “The meat and such were removed before Nate’s ghost showed up, but all of the tools are still around, y'know? Be careful.”

  “We can handle it,” the black-haired girl insisted, reaching in her pocket to flash a myriad of spell tags at her client as if to prove it.

  "Hm. In that case, I'll check back on you guys here this time tomorrow, alright?"

  "Sure thing."

  They watched Samantha get into the red car and drive off, then faced the building. "Mira, do you have a plan?” Gadalik asked.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Of course I do!”

  “Rushing in there to fight him doesn't exactly count…”

  She tensed, obviously caught, then pursed her lips. “In that case, what do you think we should do?”

  “I get the feeling that nobody has even tried to figure out why Nate is there… so I want to ask him directly. If he cooperates, we can resolve this without the risk of fighting.”

  “Eh... Fine; you can try talking to him first. Gale and I will just hang back until the ghost inevitably tries to kill you,” she half-way joked.

  He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Thanks.” The presence of the spirit became overwhelming the closer he got to the shop. Gadalik stopped his hands from shaking by tightening his grip on the steel-clawed staff with one, and the vertical door handle with the other, glancing back hesitantly at the others to make sure they were still behind him.

  Gale drew the silver blade and flashed him an assuring smile, while Mira tapped her foot; the other spook couldn't tell if that fidgeting stemmed from impatience or anxiousness. Taking a breath to steady his nerves, Gadalik placed a shield tag on his staff to summon a protective bubble around him, then pulled the door–a bell dinging as it opened.

  Instantly they were greeted by a throaty roar that, for a heartbeat, the force of which kept him in place. The source was a towering translucent beast with a head that resembled a bull's, aside from the muzzle which was more akin to that of a rhino’s. Its body stood on large leonine paws.

  The spook opened his mouth to initiate conversation, but couldn't get a word out before the spirit batted at the spherical barrier that protected him, much like a cat would a yarn-ball. Gadalik planted his feet on the concrete ground and channeled his own magic into the shield to repair it from the impact, holding his ground.

  “Nate… I don't want to fight. And I'm sure that, deep down, you don't want to either,” he said calmly, in spite of flinching from each continuous strike aimed at himself. “You can tell me what's upsetting you.”

  The attacks didn't stop. He heard footsteps as Mira and Gale both came in through the left-open door to aid him, but Gadalik waved them back.

  “You visited this shop often, right…? Did you have a connection to its owner?” the older teen pressed. To his relief, the onslaught ceased. He gazed hopefully up at the spirit, only to find that it was now seething. “Nate…?”

  The wispy monster suddenly bellowed, redirecting its anger at the empty display case and charging it with its rhino-like horn. The glass shattered, shards glowing in the dim space as they reflected the sunlight from the windows while scattered across the floor.

  “I take it you knew him personally,” Gadalik interpreted that, though he didn't drop his guard. “Please, talk to me.”

  Nate didn't respond at first. Eventually he turned back to the spook… then lifted his paw and slammed it down directly from above in one swift motion.

  Gadalik gasped through his clenched teeth and leapt back in an attempt to dodge, but wasn't fast enough to completely avoid it; the paw hit the enhanced shield... which, this time, shattered the barrier from the sheer force of the beast’s rage. Its downward motion continued, shoving the spook backward head-first against the ground and pinning him there.

  Adrenaline let him endure the throbbing pain, more shocked than afraid. He broke my shield…? Gadalik didn't have time to think of a plan as he felt the weight on him increase. What can I do now?

  He had a flashback to being crushed against the basement wall of a beach resort. Instead of feeling fear however, guilt overcame him. His only option–both now, and back then–was to fight back, yet he was scared… not of the ghosts, but of himself. He refused to lose control of himself like he had when annihilating that spirit–even if it meant he'd die here.

  "Gadalik, run!" Gale demanded as he slashed clean through the ghost's forelimbs with his silver sword, causing the disembodied paw pinning his son to become intangible until it began to reform.

  That reformation was interrupted when a tag attached to Mira’s chained sickle stunned it. To her dismay, the spell only lasted a mere five seconds, as opposed to the thirty seconds it should have. “This is bad,” she called to the others. “Let's retreat for now. Hurry!”

  It took a second for Gadalik to process what just happened. Then he scrambled to his feet and let his father pull him toward the exit. With a ding, they made it out the door where they couldn't be followed. There was a moment of silence as they caught their breath and reflected on the encounter.

  Then Mira rounded on her companion. "What was that about?”

  “Huh? I don't know; Nate wouldn't speak–”

  “Not him–you! You just lied there letting him crush you. Did you want to die?!”

  The older spook tensed. “Of course not! I just…” He gritted his teeth and looked away, too ashamed of his reasons to explain himself.

  "Hey, now. It's normal to freeze when you're scared," Gale defended his son, "and who wouldn't be scared in that situation?"

  Mira scoffed. "That wasn't fear. That was acceptance of his fate."

  "I just… didn't want to annihilate him,” Gadalik mumbled.

  “Oh… I should've known,” she groaned. “You were the same way about Anna and Francine. What is it with you and annihilating spirits? You're a spook! It's part of the job!"

  "Not when it isn't warranted," he argued. "Denying a spirit their right to an afterlife… is a fate worse than death itself. It means the end of their existence. You shouldn't be so eager to… to…"

  “Gadalik?” She became worried when he never finished his sentence, then even more so when he fell over.

  Gale immediately caught him. "Gadalik! What's the matter?"

  "He–he's bleeding!" Mira noticed.

  A patch of crimson was forming through his striped green hair on the back of his head. His father inspected the injury. "Don't worry; it isn't too serious. I'll fix him up and he'll be fine after a bit of rest. Come on–let's go back to the inn."

  Gadalik awoke on the plush mattress with a wrap around his head, and an ache where it covered the back of it. After piecing together what happened, he hesitantly sat up.

  "Hey, bud," Gale greeted him from the bedside. "How are you feeling?"

  "My head hurts," he answered, "but it's tolerable... I don't think I'm concussed."

  "No, me neither."

  "Where's Mira…?"

  "She went outside to practice throwing her sickle. I've been keeping an eye on her from the window."

  He followed the man’s gaze, watching as the other spook expertly spun and tossed the weapon, pulling it back by the chain to catch it and repeat. He couldn't help but admire how fluid her motions were.

  "So, uh… About what she said…” Gale went on, “were you really prepared to die back there…?"

  Gadalik opened his mouth to answer, then shut it and averted his eyes. "Like I said, I don't want to die…! But…”

  The bounty hunter sat back in the chair, attentive and patiently waiting for him to continue.

  There's no reason to keep it from him, is there…? He sighed. “Do you remember what happened on our vacation, when I had involved myself with the spirit in the basement…? You were there–you came for me after I had annihilated it…”

  “Yeah, I remember that. But I also remember seeing Janna there, half-dead from the ghost’s attack. I know you don't like annihilating spirits, but if you hadn't back then, she–and you–would both be dead, as well as countless more people the ghost would continue to attack,” Gale said.

  “That isn't what I'm talking about…” he murmured. “I was so upset, you had to restrain me even after it was over…”

  “Oh… Yeah. That's true,” the man remembered. “But anyone in your situation would've been upset like that.”

  “N-No… not like that. In that moment, I was overcome by a rage I've never felt before,” Gadalik confessed. “I didn't just fight back against the ghost… I had beaten it into annihilation, and… and then some."

  Gale was silent for a moment. Then he leaned forward slightly with concern. "Can I ask what triggered it…?"

  "I… Well, at that point in time, I had blamed the ghost for my birth-parents' deaths. Not just that one, but all consumed spirits. I dehumanized them into monsters, to… justify taking out my grief on them."

  "Gadalik…"

  "It's… It's the worst thing I've ever done. When Nate had me pinned, I couldn't help but remember what I did, and… I'm sorry. Dad, I… I'm really sorry.” He bit back a sob.

  “That was a long time ago,” Gale murmured soothingly. “You've grown a lot since then.”

  “Yeah… I've come to terms with my traumas and I know they're nobody's fault. But that doesn't change what I've done in the past… And it doesn't change the fact that I'm still capable of acting that way. I just… don't want to make that mistake ever again…”

  "I understand your hesitation… And I know how you feel.”

  “You do…?”

  He gave a single, firm nod. “We’ve talked once before about how I've killed people in my career as a bounty hunter."

  Gadalik thought back to that conversation. “Yeah… But you told me you don't regret killing people who are truly evil.”

  “Yes, and I stand by that,” he confirmed. “But… not everyone that I've killed was truly evil.”

  “What…? Then why did you kill them…?”

  “For some, I had to in self-defense. For the rest, well… I admit that once or twice I've done it strictly because my emotions got the better of me. Even if they had a change of heart by the time I found them, the things they were wanted for enraged me, so I couldn't restrain myself…”

  Gadalik couldn't help remembering what he had told Mira the previous night. So that's what he meant…

  “I wish I could've handled myself better back then, just like you,” Gale continued. “But the fact is we can't change what happened. All we can do is better ourselves to prevent it from happening again.”

  The spook gave a hum to acknowledge that. Despite both of their experiences being negative, he couldn't help feeling comfort from the knowledge that he wasn't alone.

  “Preventing it from happening doesn't mean accepting your death, though,” he added, looking his son in the eye to emphasize his seriousness. “You've punished yourself enough for it. I can't stress how important it is to defend yourself–to fight back–when necessary."

  "Y-Yeah… But what if I…?"

  Gale shook his head. "Remembering what you did and regretting it is proof that you aren't going to do it again."

  The teen narrowed his eyes, taking this in. “I guess you're right…”

  Just then, Mira burst through the door. "I'm not sure how much longer I can take waiting around here," she complained. "Are you better yet, Gadalik?”

  “Y-Yes, but–”

  “Then let's go deal with that spirit once and for all!”

  "Hold on," Gadalik stopped her. "Last time, it broke my shield–even with my enhancements. And how quickly it recovered from your stun spell is concerning… If we fight it, it'll be very hard to win.”

  "So… what, then? You want to talk to it again? Because the last time worked out extremely well,” she muttered sarcastically.

  He exchanged a glance with his father, then remembered something else. “Dad, what was your deal with Samantha earlier?”

  “What?” the man asked, confused.

  “You looked like you recognized each other. And when she mentioned her father died, you seemed surprised by it. Have you met before?”

  “Oh–that. No… we haven't met–not exactly. But…”

  “But what?” Mira huffed impatiently.

  “If I'm right, her father’s Sam Harrington–the mastermind behind a criminal gang who spent his time scheming and profiting from his goons’ dirty work. The butcher shop must have been a front to keep from drawing suspicion to himself.”

  “You knew that, and didn't tell us?!”

  “Sorry… I didn't want to bring it up if I was wrong about it. And since he died, I didn't think it was relevant.”

  “Did you see how Nate reacted when Gadalik asked about him? There's obviously some kind of connection!”

  “Yeah; I can see that now.”

  “Samantha must have known, too,” Gadalik figured. “After all, she called Nate a rat. I wonder if Nate was killed for going against him.”

  “That's definitely a possibility.”

  “Then that's something I can lead with in our next conversation,” he decided. “But if he still doesn't listen, then… it'll take all of us working together to take him down. So I…”--he gathered his courage–“I won't hesitate again, if it comes to that.”

  It was late afternoon when they returned to the abandoned shop. Gadalik had put on the wooden bracelet that would boost his natural magic, hoping it would be enough to fend off the powerful spirit. He braced himself at the door’s ding as the three of them went inside, but by a stroke of serendipity, the ghost wasn't in the main area to be alerted by it.

  Gale looked around. “Is it here…?”

  “I can sense it coming from the back room,” Mira said. “Come on.”

  The two followed her, carefully treading the shards of glass while holding their weapons at the ready, until they reached a metal door with a sign that read ‘Employees Only’ under its window. It didn't have handles, but gave no resistance when Mira pushed it open, swinging between both sides of the doorway after they passed through.

  The room was bigger than the main area of the shop, but felt just as small given how much of its space was taken up; a large steel table topped with cutting boards was in the center, with various knives in racks lining the wall nearby. The stench of rotting meat emanated from a grinder on the counter next to it. To the left was a packaging area consisting of smaller tables adjacent to the central one, and the entrance to a walk-in cooler was just beyond it, explaining the chill in the air.

  “It's in the freezer,” Gadalik detected the ghost.

  His father shuddered. “Great… As if it's not cold enough out here.”

  The older teen blinked sympathetically as he realized the enchanted robes and cloaks that were spook’s attire provided warmth for himself and Mira, while the bounty hunter had none. Thinking back to when a pure-blooded witch had demonstrated the use of a fire spell, the hybrid witch-spook brought his hand up and copied the motion from his memory.

  Mira cried out when, to Gadalik's horror, the enchanted bracelet had condensed his power and resulted in a sudden wild flame momentarily scorching the ceiling from his palm.

  “...I take it back,” Gale lightheartedly recanted after it extinguished.

  The commotion must have drawn Nate's attention; the knives rattled and slowly levitated from the racks, their points angling at the intruders.

  Mira placed a shield tag on the chain in her left hand, a bubble encompassing her from it, while clutching the sickle on the other end of it in her right. Gadalik did the same with his staff, but handed it to his father for protection before using his witch’s magic to summon his own shield from his palm. Had they been any later preparing, the countless sharp tools suddenly shooting at them would've ended more than just their mission.

  As the deflected knives clacked on the floor around them one after another, the teens sensed that Nate was approaching. This time, the ghost had chosen to be invisible to the naked eye, but the spooks could still see him.

  “Dad, he's on your left! Look out,” Gadalik shouted, knowing from last time that the shield wouldn't hold against the ghost itself.

  Gale, unable to see or sense the spirit, slashed his sword blindly in the beast’s direction, unaware when it snorted and lowered its head to charge at him like it had the case in the main area, meanwhile the fallen knives continued to rise and strike again.

  Gadalik panicked and grabbed his father’s elbow, pulling him out of harm’s way. Since the hybrid’s shield stemmed from his hand, which he'd switched to his right side to keep from being stabbed, his front was briefly unguarded.

  That was all the time the monstrous spirit needed to redirect its charge at the vulnerable teen, ramming him at full speed in the abdomen with its blunt horn. He skidded back several feet, doubled over in pain; the impact had also knocked the wind out of him.

  Just as it raised its forelimb to finish him off, Mira attached a stun spell tag on her sickle and hurled it at the ghost. Unfortunately, since it was a head-on attack, it saw and easily floated out of the way. She cursed.

  “I can't tell where it's at,” Gale growled with frustration, “but since it obviously knows where I'm at, maybe I can distract it for you guys. Mira, tell me where to go.”

  “Run toward the cooler,” she instructed.

  "Alright. Come at me!" the bounty hunter challenged it, leading the spirit away from the kids through the knives that continued to strike the shield from Gadalik’s staff that the man still held.

  Gadalik, still stunned and unable to fully draw in a breath, saw the other spook reach for another tag. Then he frowned when he recognized it was for confinement. The next tag would be for exorcism, so she was planning on annihilating it. “Wait!” he tried to say, wanting the chance to speak with Nate about the possible ties to Harrington first. Instead of his voice, though, all that came from his mouth was blood.

  Mira’s kusarigama struck the spirit’s back, the tag attached binding the ghost so that it became tangible, visible, and couldn't shape-shift. The knives finally fell for good, and the enchanted sickle itself caused the ghost pain enough to interrupt its swipe at Gale. The beast turned around and roared at her, but she simply yanked her weapon back by its chain and added the exorcism tag to it.

  The bounty hunter, able to see the ghost thanks to its confinement, distracted it once more by slicing its back with his silver sword, so Mira threw her sickle at it once more.

  “No…!” Gadalik tried to say, but once again only managed to cough out blood.

  Just like with the stun spell tag in their first encounter, the one for confinement didn't last as long as it should have, wearing off before the exorcism tag could combine with it, which rendered the latter tag useless. The pain from the enchanted weapon on its own just made the ghost angrier, too.

  Nate took out his rage on the closest target, swatting at Gale so hard it shattered the shield. The man immediately leapt out of the way and sliced at its paw. While the two battled, Mira grabbed another confinement tag.

  “It's too strong to fight,” Gadalik finally managed to speak between shallow breaths. “I know we can quell it by talking… Please, just try…”

  She hesitated from his words. But they both froze when they heard a crash: the monster had levitated and thrown Gale head-first against a table in the packaging area, breaking it; the shieldless bounty hunter lay motionless in the wreckage.

  “Dad!” Gadalik cried out weakly. Nate turned toward the older spook from the sound and menacingly approached, looming over the kids and readying another attack.

  Since confinement spells didn't stop a ghost from moving, Mira replaced it with a stun tag and cast it at the ghost with her sickle. “Get out of here!” she told her companion while it was immobilized. “I'll handle this!”

  Gadalik tried to stand, but the pain overwhelmed him and his legs buckled; he fell to his knees and vomited blood.

  The ghost recovered all too quickly. Mira panicked and crouched beside him, the bubble of her shield encompassing them both even though the ghost could easily break it.

  "This is it," Mira despaired. "You're hurt and my tags are useless… Gale is out of commission… We can't win, can we…?"

  Gadalik refused to accept that. He grabbed hold of her weapon’s chain and channeled his own magic to enhance her shield; his enchanted bracelet boosted its durability. It held when the ghost rammed against it, but he could feel himself blacking out since his output of magic was draining him on top of his injury. It was only a matter of time before the beast overpowered them.

  “It won't last…” he mumbled.

  "If we die here, I just want to say I'm sorry for how I treated you and Glacia when we first met," Mira confessed. "I was jealous of your natural magic, but despite how mean I was to you, you never retaliated. You remained respectful to me through it all. So I…"

  The beast rammed into the shield a third time, and it was the last of his strength to keep the barrier from dispelling.

  "I think I like you, Gadalik," she blurted out.

  The older teen froze, staring at her in disbelief.

  The shield shattered, and they both braced themselves for the worst.

  With a strenuous shout, Gale slashed the ghost in half from behind it. “Mira, take Gadalik and run,” he commanded.

  “No–it has to be stopped,” she argued. “You take him… I'll finish it off.”

  “But our tags won't last long enough to annihilate it,” the other spook reminded her.

  "Then forget about tags," Mira shouted, throwing her sickle at the spirit before it fully reformed, then tearing it back out to cause further damage. “I'll kill it the old fashioned way: through brute force.”

  "Don't…!" Gadalik cried, once again having a flashback to the resort's ghost, more specifically the moment he had been beating on it. He reached up to stop her, but that's when the pain caused him to black out.

  "...Bud, are you awake?" Gale’s voice faded in.

  Gadalik opened his striped blue eyes to find he was shirtless in a hospital bed, his lower torso wrapped. He tried to sit up but grimaced and coughed out specks of blood.

  "Easy, now," his father soothed him. "Your intestine was ruptured. The doctor fixed you up, but don't overdo it."

  The spook looked away for a moment, thinking. "The ghost…"

  "Mira and I took care of it."

  "Brute force, huh…"

  "That was our only option."

  Gadalik hummed in acknowledgement. He couldn't help remembering how much he was impacted by using that method at the resort. "How's Mira…?"

  "She's sitting outside the room."

  The spook got out of bed, wincing with a hand on his gut, then lumbered through the doorway. Mira, seated in a chair with her back against the wall of the room, looked up at him–then quickly turned away when her face reddened slightly.

  ‘I think I like you, Gadalik,’ her words suddenly resounded in his mind.

  He shook his head. She couldn't have meant that… right? "Mira…" he began. "Are you okay?"

  "Why wouldn't I be?" she huffed, crossing her arms and still refusing eye contact.

  "When I annihilated my first spirit, it was also through brute force… it really weighed on me,” he murmured. “I don't know how you feel about it."

  "I told you, it's part of the job. Besides, you were dying; I couldn't just sit there and let it finish you off."

  Gadalik was shocked by how nonchalant she was about the whole ordeal.

  "Are you okay?” she asked, glancing toward his bandaged abdomen. “That was a bad injury. And judging from that scar on your chest, I doubt it was your first."

  He swallowed uncomfortably. "This'll be a new scar, won't it?" he laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "I'll be alright. But, uh… There's something else I want to talk to you about.” She froze. “About what you said back there–"

  "What I said? What did I say?! I didn't say anything!"

  He softened. So she doesn't want to talk about it… Even so, I feel like it should still be addressed. "I've told you before that it's hard for me to feel romantic love toward someone…"

  "Look: I thought we were goners, okay? I wasn't thinking straight! Just forget it!"

  "I wasn't finished," he informed her. "I… I'm willing to give you a chance–if you really do like me."

  There was a pause; her eyes bore into his, questioning his honesty. "What…?"

  "I can't say for sure that I'll fall for you… but I won't know if we don't spend any time together outside of work."

  "W-What are you saying…?"

  "I'm asking… if you'd want to hang out sometime…?"

  She narrowed her eyes skeptically, not answering despite the movements of her mouth suggesting that she wanted to.

  He shrank. "Sorry… I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I'm fine being alone, really. I just thought…"

  "No–don't apologize! I…" Her cheeks turned rosy. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to hang out sometime outside of work."

  "Glacia's not gonna like that," Gale sang from the doorway.

  "You were listening?!" Gadalik felt his face flush with embarrassment.

  "I overheard. There's a difference," he shrugged. "But it's not really my business as long as you're safe and happy."

  Mira seemed encouraged by his support.

  "But if you do him dirty, I'll hunt you down,” the bounty hunter said melodramatically. He laughed when Mira tensed and Gadalik rolled his eyes, adding, “Heh, I'm only kidding. Partly, anyway."