The back room of the Flick-and-Go held a small table and scant few lockers. It was kept tidy thanks to the efforts of Dave. The three friends were currently sitting around the small table a short amount of time before their shifts started. Dave was still manning the till.

  “So let me get this straight, you saw what you think is a whole bunch of spirits passing on to the afterlife. Add to that you're doing this work for Jeb? I think we really do need to take you somewhere.”

  Kent’s voice was exasperated having heard Nate’s rundown on the day's events. Mandy, who had been restrained before, was now sitting practically on Nate’s lap. She’d demanded it as compensation for hurting her wrists.

  “Wait, you can see ghosts.”

  Mandy hadn’t been told about his ability to see ghosts. Nate had even wanted not to tell Kent. He figured that weird Paladin guy was more of a worry than looking crazy. Oddly enough he hadn’t tried anything since that time. So he was hoping it might turn out alright. The knight was quickly falling in priority if he stayed quiet.

  “Yeah, for a while now. Look you don’t have to believe me, but it's the truth. It's not like any of this is going to impact our normal lives.”

  With a thoughtful look Mandy placed a gentle hand on Nate's shoulder. It was a comforting gesture that Nate could only make a puzzled face about. Kent was fuming there was no way that spirits existed. Meaning his friend was mentally scrambled. He determined the brainwashing must run deep if he’d say stuff like this.

  “Wait, you knew about the dead guy!”

  With a sudden shout Mandy clasped her hands together. Nate made a confused face for a moment before it dawned on him. She had been talking about William Wells. The same ghost that had let Paladin Wood know his identity.

  “Yeah, I guess they found the poor guy?”

  “Found him. They found him alright. He was another mouse.” Kent said.

  “Another what?”

  Kent looked at Nate with a disbelieving face when he asked his question.

  “Dude, the Cheshire Cat Cases.”

  “They call the victims mice because of the whole Cat thing. It's not really related beyond that. They found his body yesterday. You couldn’t have known unless you saw his ghost.”

  Mandy seemed to buy that he could see ghosts. Eyes of wonderment pierced his body as he was regretting telling her. Kent was still unconvinced. He’d seen the ghost hand but still wouldn’t believe it.

  “So you saw something that night? Is that what happened? That's why you asked me if I'd seen something. You knew he died and were trying to give us a subtle hint. Why not just tell us.”

  “Look, my shift is going to start. I can't go over this fifty times.”

  “Yes, you can. I hate the cops but a murderer is on the loose. If you know something you have to tell them. Did you see the killer?”

  Kent was oddly persistent and Nate would usually jump head first into a murder investigation. That was if he wasn’t trying to keep out of the public eye. He couldn’t keep Teddy safe that way. to keep. A small bundle of annoyance formed in his chest, the spirit started to swim.

  Nate stood bringing both of them to their feet at the suddenness of the move. That's right, the spirit in his chest, what happened with Teddy. That girl had been weird. Why had he just taken it at face value and moved on?

  “Nate.”

  Kent asked cautiously. Nate was acting erratically. He had been working so much and pushing himself so hard. If Jeb had fired him yesterday would that have been enough to make him crack. He eyed Nate. He loved the man but he was still a teenager. Could he be going through some sort of middle school syndrome?

  “Sorry, I think Teddy’s Play-mate might have hypnotized me.”

  It was Mandy’s turn to give him an odd look. Staring into his eyes, his big beautiful eyes. She was a lost cause, losing her train of thought as she stared deeply into his soul. Like a hammer the memory of what happened snapped into focus.

  “Do you have a younger cousin? Renee Baker.”

  “Uh, I think I do. Why do you ask?”

  “Because I’m pretty sure she was Teddy’s play-mate.”

  “Are you being serious right now!?”

  Kent cut off their conversation. He had a stern face which was unlike his normal just go with the flow attitude. He even looked downright hostile.

  “Have I ever been one to lie?”

  Nate became serious leaving any joviality aside. The two knew that Nate had outclassed Kent in a fight a long time ago. It still wouldn’t be without getting injured. Kent hesitated. Clearly what Nate was saying was asylum talk, at the same time he wouldn’t lie to them. There was also that skeletal hand.

  “Say that I believe you. Which I don’t currently. What does any of this mean? You can see the dead. Fine, I could buy that. But ghosts, knights, and cousins.”

  “Kent I don’t know what it means. That's why I need your help.”

  Mandy was already on board; she would do anything to be with Nate. Kent had to be the voice of reason, of reality. Yet, he found himself giving in all the same. Something at his core whispered at the back of his head.

  [He isn’t lying.]

  “Fine.”

  “See the shorty takes a while to join those with the bigger brain capacity to understand these things.”

  Mandy unhelpfully chimed in.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “If anyone has a small brain it's you. Stalker. Who says you aren’t the killer. You’ve got the weird murder vibe.”

  “I prefer Yandere. And I only have eyes for one man. You don’t see a whole bunch of pretty women being murdered. Just old people settling in for retirement.”

  Seeing the two return to their admittedly elementary insults Nate calmed down. Taking Mandy’s hollow-phone, a state of the art model that was worth more than a car. He called up the house. It was the only number that they’d kept when he had the phones shut off.

  The two of them bickered as he confirmed that Teddy was now alone and safe. He didn’t want to rely on the call if she could manipulate people's minds. He thought it best to appear as if he didn’t notice till he was home, just in case.

  With the disbelief out of the way they agreed to meet up at the end of the shift. They would come up with a plan for what to do at that time.

  For the rest of their shift Mandy was extra flirty. There were several instances where she “accidentally” spilled something and had to bend over to clean it up. Nate thought she was doing too much, but he didn’t know his own feelings. He just knew that she was better than an orphan with no prospect like him. At one point they could have worked out but that was back before everything.

  ***

  Thick clouds plumed into the sky like thousands of smoke rings blown from the old north wind’s pipe. They clung to the sky, thick inky drippings of white in the black moonlit night. That well worn howl of wind stirred around a home. A parade of misshapen and oddly formed spirits slammed down into its roof.

  Like mold spores they popped on the ground spreading their miasma. That thick blood curdling yellow smog, which carried the scent of rotten eggs. Even a person without any abilities would be able to see this transgression against the natural order.

  That is what worried Wayne. The odd transcendence from earlier in the day and now another Parade. This was not a good sign of what was to come. He quickened his pace to finish his golem. The grandmaster would not move a muscle. However, his experiment being disturbed would be cause for alarm. The grandmaster was not one to take these things well.

  His spectacled face, long, narrow and pale from the lack of light, sweat under the heavy pieces of metal he assembled. Every hour he would take a break casting a shared sight spell to view his target. A Paladin had come to town just as the incidents started, this was in no way a coincidence.

  He had to stop the Paladins. There was no other way to keep their secrets in this town. Those parades were worsening. Their targets were sporadic and unpredictable; it was nearly impossible to counter the incidents.

  Spiritually speaking none of those killed had been anything special. The power usage seemed disproportionate. The blatant and flagrant misuse of Necromancy worried him more. Thus, it would not stand.

  If there was one Paladin then there were more. Only one branch of theirs would be using Necromancy. The Cups.

  ***

  “I asked the MOM network. It seems I have a little information on a few things.”

  “The Mom Network?”

  Mandy questioned Kent with derision. Did he really call his conglomeration of booty calls and lovers the MOM network? Had he no shame whatsoever?

  “It's a neighborhood watch group. They are all mothers and wives who live across the city. It's a good way to stay connected to the community.”

  Kent seemed to conveniently leave out of his explanation that it was also a good place to find lonely and neglected women. Nate wasn’t going to point that out. He would prefer Mandy’s outrage focused on the matter at hand.

  “The network is a buzz with theories and conspiracies. The major one is that they were all semi-retired and that Cheshire killed them for being a drain on society. As for your knight, someone actually took a photo.”

  The phone showed an image of the knight walking the street in broad daylight. How this picture ended up showing him was anyone's guess. Under the photo the description was some mundane ramblings about a perfect Tuesday. Scrolling the comments no one pointed out the Paladin.

  “Why is no one talking about it?”

  Mandy voiced their collective question. Kent didn’t have even a clue. The only one with a bit of a theory was Nate. His experience with the Haunted house and Teddy’s friend come to mind.

  “Well, if we’re being honest you guys were mind controlled the first time he was here. Could it just be something similar. I can see ghosts ya’ll can’t. But once you're aware of something it's harder not to notice. Just as my ability has grown over time, maybe it's a psychological effect?”

  “Uh, Nate love. Does that mean we’ll start seeing ghosts?”

  She asked with a bit of trepidation. All she got back was a shrug. He didn’t know what would come of it.

  “That's fine enough, Mind control, add it to the list. But we can’t do anything. We confirmed the weird Knight thing. I don’t think that has anything to do with the murders. Could you ask the ghosts?”

  Kent questioned hopefully. They were all out of their element. They’d gotten into trouble plenty but not this kind of stuff.

  “If I had thought of it. Yeah, I could ask one. But that would require finding the soul and they seem oddly decayed. We can try but it might not work.”

  “What do you mean by decayed?” Kent asked.

  “Some spirits seem to keep their forms. When they die they are no different than a person just, see through. Others, though, start to look like they're rotting. Closet I can guess is it's something to do with being forgotten. It doesn’t really track with the media attention.”

  “I’ll reach out to the gang.”

  Cutting in Mandy made a statement. There was no question in her voice. Nate had learned long ago that she would do whatever she said. Like it or not. A silence fell over the table. Each trying to provide more than they had.

  “Then we can all try to gather information on what is happening. We’ll meet back here tomorrow.”

  Nate commanded just as he once had. If there was something that they could do then they would do it. They all considered it the least they could do. His earlier hesitation was still present but he liked this feeling. Like things were as they once were.

  Kent left first. He'd taken a nap during their shift, but wanted to get a bit more sleep before work in the morning. Mandy and Nate were left alone. A comfortable air settled in as they stood outside the store. She leaned into him as she once had.

  “Do you think it could work?”

  She spoke with trepidation. A feeling had been building up. It was like old times, they were doing it again not just surviving. They were fighting the world again.

  “It's us. If we all work together then I’m sure we can solve it. You were always the one gung ho about helping people. Where’d all the lectures go about fighting for a cause?”

  “Don’t remind me it was cringy. But that's not what I meant.”

  “What did you mean?”

  He stared into her eyes and she wanted to lose herself in them. She bit her lip, that itch at the back of her mind wanting to embrace him and never let go. Speaking with a deep hope, she continued.

  “Do you think we could work?”

  Nate gazed back into her. There was still a connection between them. If he wanted he could pick the lead back up. Would that be fair to her? Everything that's happening, would it even be right to be with her. Not to mention they’d had a bad break up.

  “Mandy, I don’t know if that will happen. I like you, but I don’t know if we can go back to what we were. Don’t you remember why we broke up? It wasn’t just on a whim. We were toxic.”

  “I know but we were good sometimes. When it was good it was great.”

  “If. If we can solve some of these problems, we can talk about it. Maybe this Paladin will lead us to the killer. Maybe we’ll all live happily ever after.”

  “I can accept that for now. It would just be nice if we knew what he looked like. If he takes the armor off we don’t even know what he looks like?”

  “Oh, do you want me to show you my face?”

  Above their heads two legs dangled metal clashing sounds came off softly. Paladin Wood sat atop the Flick-and-Go. His half frowning, half smiling helm peering hopefully down at them.