“There are a lot of explanations for the spike in activity last night. I think, for now, we should not focus on that event itself and instead see if we can figure out what exactly Tracy and Ted are doing. The whys can come later,” Ethan said.

“Of course,” Riley agreed. “I guess it’s just that I hope they aren’t trying to hurt Dorothy.” She saw Ethan about to interrupt. “I know I know, we have to stay objective, but sometimes it’s easier said than done.”

Ethan nodded a little to acknowledge the point. “Tonight, I want us all to be awake and stationed at various points both inside and outside the house. We also need to get some outdoor cameras set up. They might try to do something again, and I want to make sure we have the best chance to catch them in the act.”

The group agreed and set up a schedule for resting since they knew it would be such a long night. They also helped Mike set up cameras outdoors and extras in any shared areas.

That night they all took their positions. Ethan was in the base with Emily and Mike watching the monitors. Daniel was in the living room, hidden in a corner with the help of a shield from Josh, who was in another corner. Gabrielle and Riley were both outside, hidden on either side of the yard. It wasn’t the best coverage, but they hoped they had everything in their sights.

It took a few hours, and the group was going a bit crazy at that point, but they finally saw Ted creeping into the yard. Riley and Mary both perked up a bit, but tried to remain as hidden as possible. It apparently worked because they saw him motion, and a young woman his age joined. They could tell it was Tracy from the pictures inside.

Riley was close enough that she could hear the two talking.

“Are you sure you want to try again? Whatever happened last night seemed bad,” Ted asked worriedly.

“Yes. I can’t give up now. I love her, but I need to get away from this place,” Tracy answered.

That confirmed in Riley’s mind that while their actions had been malicious, the intent might not always have been. She tried to creep closer to watch and saw Tracy concentrating. Riley started to perk up as she could feel something moving against her. She could hear from inside that stuff was moving in the house again. Gabrielle was making her way closer to Tracy and Ted when Riley thought she felt something behind her.

Riley turned and looked out into the darkness and could feel something, something moving. It was slow but angry, and felt like it was coming towards them.

“Help!” Riley vaguely heard Ted call out.

Gabrielle ran forward at that moment, and she could hear the rest of the group moving in the house. Everybody was converging on Tracy except Riley, who was staring off at seemingly nothing. Still, Gabrielle did not have time to consider that, something was wrong with Tracy, and she needed to focus.

“She was trying to move something in the house, and suddenly she started to freak out,” Ted cried out as Gabrielle noticed the young woman convulsing on the ground.

“She’s overused her powers!” Gabrielle yelled. She quickly began to chant over the woman but then paused. “Go inside, and the first person you see tell them I need my healing talisman.”

“I don’t – ” Ted began.

“Now!” Gabrielle yelled. She was impressed that the boy seemed to get it and moved quickly. She resumed her chanting and was happy when Josh joined her, and the two worked together to calm Tracy’s powers. The powers were moving through her and reacting poorly with her body.

Ethan and Daniel joined them, and Ethan was torn between being there to assist helping Tracy, and whatever was happening with Riley. Daniel moved closer to Riley, but stopped when he saw her stiffen.

“Everybody watch out!” Riley yelled before she was suddenly pushed and flew a bit across the yard.

“What the hell?!” Ted called out.

“Damn!” Ethan said as a spirit seemingly glowing red appeared in front of them. “Exactly what I feared. Tracy called to spirits using her powers.”

“Riley?” Gabrielle called out.

Riley coughed a little from the ground. “I’m fine, help them,” she groaned and rolled over. She turned back to the spirit and tried to see if she could get a read or anything. “All I am getting is anger Ethan, and a lot of it.”

Daniel was quickly setting up protection around both Riley and the group trying to help Tracy.

“I can’t even try to connect with it; all I am getting is negative emotion,” Riley coughed out.

“Who called me?!” The spirit screeched. “You are mine!” It darted forward for Riley and was thrown back by the shield Daniel had made. It started screaming and attacking it.

While it did this, Tracy’s convulsions got worse, and blood started to come from her nose. “Ethan, it’s forcing her to use her powers it’s going to kill her!” Gabrielle called out while she and Josh began to chant more.

Riley screamed as the shield around her dropped, and the spirit darted forward and began to attack. Daniel chanted again, and another shield went up, and then he pulled out his rosary and started to pray in Latin.

“No!” Ethan yelled, believing that Daniel was starting to exorcise the spirit, but the prayer was not one that Ethan recognized being used for exorcism. Instead, it was a prayer for calming in peace, and some Korean was sprinkled in with the Latin.

When Daniel finished, the spirit shifted blue, then gold, then disappeared. Tracy stopped shaking, and Riley collapsed on the ground while Daniel dropped to his knees, panting.

“What the hell just happened?” Ted asked, out of breath and clearly scared.

Ethan just glanced at the young man and shook his head while Gabrielle and Josh finished their own prayers. The team attempted to calm themselves on the yard for just a moment before they knew they would need to get help.

Several hours later, they were sitting outside Tracy’s room in the hospital. Riley had gotten a check-up and only had a few bumps and bruises.

“This is becoming enough of a regular occurrence that I’ll just be permanently bruised for the rest of my life,” Riley said with a small smile. Everybody glared at her a little, and Riley raised her hands in surrender. “Right, don’t joke about being hurt. My bad.”

When the doctors gave the all clear, Riley and Ethan went in with recording equipment to do an interview. Daniel joined them as well since he seemed to be the one that Dorothy trusted the most. Dorothy, Ted, and Tracy were all sitting together, waiting for them, and there was a heavy tension in the room.

“Everybody knows what happened, and everybody also knows that everybody else knows, so if we can skip over any attempts at denial and jump straight to the truth, it will save us all some time,” Ethan said sharply.

Tracy flinched, and Riley was tempted to chastise Ethan, but she knew he was not reacting how he normally would. Maybe it was still him feeling poorly, maybe he needed to get some of his anger with Tracy off his chest, or some combination. Either way, Riley decided to let him proceed his way, for now.

“It started when the B&B was doing bad. I felt so guilty like I couldn’t leave my grandmother to handle it alone, but I hate it here in this damn town. There is nobody to help me with my,” Tracy paused, “Weirdness. Ted is the only one who ever accepted me. Other people would for a time, but soon the being able to move things with my mind thing becomes less amusing and more scary.”

Ethan could feel Riley shift a little next to him, and he leaned a little more her way. It would be unprofessional to do more and most likely unwelcome with how she had been responding to his touch. Still, he wanted to offer some silent support considering a few of the details of the case were similar to her own experiences.

“I thought maybe if people thought the place was haunted, they would come. I would move little things around and give the guests a startle. I would eventually stop, though, and the B&B would go right back to suffering. I realized I couldn’t do it this way anymore. I would have to stay and keep haunting the place, so I pushed it a little further. I thought if my grandmother realized the place was the bad sort of haunted, she would give up.”

“Why didn’t you ever talk to me?” Dorothy asked.

“I don’t know,” Tracy admitted with more than a little shame in her voice.

“What happened last night?” Riley asked.

“I don’t know,” Tracy admitted. “I just meant to move the furniture a little, but I lost control. I don’t even remember doing anything.”

“Has anything like that ever happened in the past?” Ethan asked.

“Not really, some nose bleeds, or I’ll lose a little control but nothing that big.”

“What happened with the ghost?” Ted asked.

“Spirits are attracted to supernatural power,” Ethan answered. “The ghost that showed up likely never had an anchor location and was a wandering spirit. When Tracy began using her powers more, especially with the overloads, it likely called to it.”

“Will it happen again?” Tracy asked. “Either the ghost or the whatever?”

“It could. Your powers are dangerous and unstable, and now that you have triggered such a strong reaction in them, they will only get worse. You will need help to get them under control again. You are lucky though, your wish will come true. There is nowhere in this town for you to get trained,” Ethan answered harshly.

“Ethan,” Riley said under her breath.

“No, he’s mad that I hurt my grandmother, and he’s right to be. I should have talked to her instead of causing all this.”

“You did not just hurt your grandmother, you also put my team at risk.”

Daniel quickly jumped in before Ethan could make the young woman feel any worse. “I will stay with the family for a few days. We need to make sure the house is protected since wandering spirits might still be able to pick up on the energy. It should dissipate in a matter of days, but I wouldn’t want you alone until then.”

“Thank you for that,” Ethan said, glad that the team could avoid babysitting Dorothy and her granddaughter. He then handed a card to Dorothy. “If you call that number, they will help you set up everything you need to get your granddaughter trained and in control of her powers.”

“How much is that going to cost?” Tracy asked nervously,

“Do not worry about that,” Ethan said. “I will leave you.”

Riley waited until Ethan was out of the room before turning to Tracy. “I was in a situation a bit similar to yours. You are going to need support while you are doing this, Tracy. You need to talk to your grandmother and give people a chance. Powers are difficult, they are worse when you are alone.”

“Thank you,” Both Dorothy and Tracy said softly.

Riley nodded and left as well.

“We are ready to wrap up,” Ethan said when Riley joined the rest of the team. They could also sense how tense and angry he still was. The next case was going to be rough.

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