Chapter 25
Zhen
Jo Jo was happy to help hunt down a ghost because he was always up for shenanigans, and with Charlotte at work, he was feeling a bit bored. He followed me out of the house to my detached workshop, where my armory lived.
“This could be a simple job tracking down a lost ghost,” Jo Jo mused as he walked alongside me.
“Uh-huh.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“My brother in spookems, when have our lives ever been that simple?”
“You raise a good point. I think when we chose our settings, we both decided hard mode sounded fun.”
“Yeah, why did we do that, again?”
“I dunno, man, I like a little chaos.”
My phone buzzed and I realized Kris had texted me Yan Yichen’s details.
Jo Jo looked about the tables and started picking up equipment.
I did the same, selecting a variety of everything from handguns to basic protections, because who knew what’d gone wrong this time? I hoped Yan Yichen hadn’t somehow crossed paths with Annabelle and that was why he was MIA. Because, yeah, whole different problem and not one in my skill set.
By the time we were suited up and ready to go, Kris had hit the driveway. I gestured for her to stay in the Volvo because it would be easiest if she drove while I did my trace spell.
She popped out of the car, just enough for one foot to be on the ground and another to remain inside. “I gassed up on the way here. You don’t think he’s far, right?”
“I hope he isn’t. The hunt’s going to take much longer otherwise.
And I’m done with chases after pursuing that damn demon doll around my city.
” I came up to her and kissed her. Just because I wanted to and I felt like in the rush of getting people out the door this morning, I hadn’t kissed her.
Which was a travesty. “Hey, pretty lady, after we find that ghost, you maybe want to go get coffee with me or something?”
Kris smacked a kiss on my lips. “Focus on finding Yan Yichen, you can flirt with me later.”
Awesome! That had not been a no. I liked my friends, don’t get me wrong, but a house full of people meant no alone time with my wife.
I was very much in the mood to spend time with her and let the world hang for a day.
Still, I had promised to help, so help I would.
“Priorities, huh? Right, you drive, I’ll start the spell. ”
We loaded in, Jo Jo hopping in the back, and I held up my thread, starting the tracing spell. It connected almost immediately, which was a great sign. Meant he was on our plane and we could do something to help him. Well, probably.
“Out and right,” Kris muttered, backing the car out of the driveway.
I regarded her curiously. “It used to be you couldn’t see the threads.”
“Yeah, I think my sight’s coming in better the longer I use it. It’s kind of like a muscle, I guess?”
“That’s a good thing. Easier to hit what you can see.”
“Truly. Explain to me, though, because I didn’t realize you were using threads at first. Why are so many of your protections—and Jo Jo’s—thread based?”
Jo Jo piped up from the back seat. “Actually, knot magic is the oldest magic, arguably. It doesn’t take any real skill or magic to use, just thread, intention, and breath. You can do a lot with that—protections, for instance.”
“Bindings,” I added, gesturing between the two of us and our red string bond. “But also tracking spells. Like I told you before, I’m not much of a mage. The only magic I can use is very basic stuff like this.”
“Huh. Learned something new today. All right, we are”—she glanced at which direction the thread pointed and turned right again—“heading east? He better not be in the Haunted Walmart.”
“There’s nothing of that left,” I grumbled. “The fight with Annabelle basically took out half the store.”
“They’re closed for renovations and all, but that wouldn’t stop a ghost from hanging out there. Not that I believe he’s just casually hanging out somewhere.”
Jo Jo leaned between the front seats to ask, “Why’s that?”
“Because I have three beautiful women to introduce him to.”
“Woooow, yeah, I’m convinced. Solid logic.”
“See?”
I pointed left. “Take the next turn.”
“Got it.” Kris took the turn, then asked, “Have you had to do this before? Track down a ghost?”
“Sure, it happens sometimes. Usually, they get caught in something they’re not supposed to.”
“Like what?”
Jo Jo threw out there, “Like they’ve entered a house they shouldn’t, much like yours. You have so many protections up, if a ghost tried to walk into your house, they’d be caught like a fly on sticky paper.”
“Ohhh snap, I didn’t think of that.”
I shrugged at the possibility. “Unless someone comes along to take him out, he’d be there for a while.
Another possibility is that he’s been summoned to another doll and stuck in there for some reason.
A shoddily made doll doesn’t release a ghost like it should.
It’s why we were so careful when training you. ”
“Ah, yup, I remember your cautionary tales when teaching me. Any other reason?”
“Sink holes of energy will trap a ghost because they’re too weak to get back out.
Think, like, quicksand. It’s not dangerous, you’re just stuck without help.
” I pointed down because we were crossing over one of the ley lines in the city.
“Like this ley line. We can feel it, but the ghosts have to be careful how they cross. It can draw them in and not let go easily.”
“Huh. All good things to know.”
I’d kept an eye on my thread and didn’t like the direction it took us.
There were, arguably, bad sections of any city.
Places with higher crime rates, more dilapidated buildings, et cetera.
Demonbreun had several such areas due to its age, and not everything was kept up shiny and repaired.
The far southwest side of the city was one such example, and we were heading straight into it.
Jo Jo rummaged through his bag and pulled out a gun. Smart precaution. The area we were in was, well, bad. I suddenly regretted having Kris drive the Volvo. My truck wasn’t a luxury vehicle, and we were a prime target in this nice of a car.
Kris glanced about uneasily, taking in the run-down buildings, the people sitting hopelessly about, eyeing us passing with hard expressions. She saw all the garbage sitting on the sides of the road, the graffiti, and I could tell she understood our caution.
“Um, Zhen. I was warned when I moved into Demonbreun by Jasha to never cross State Street. I just did that. How dangerous is this area?”
“Police hesitate to come out here,” I admitted, also reaching for a weapon with my free hand. “Never, ever, come this direction without me, even with the huodou.”
She gave a grim nod. “Got it.”
She turned again, going upward, which meant a slightly better section of city.
If you went up past Broadway, it became a safer area of town again.
It was partially why I’d been so alarmed Kris had shopped at the haunted Walmart back when we first met, because it wasn’t just the ghosts.
That Walmart sat on the very edge of this criminal hotbed.
A single woman as pretty as my wife absolutely should not be tempting fate by stepping foot over here.
We were actually closing in on the haunted Walmart when we took a right again, and this time I could feel the tug. “Were getting closer. Much closer. Oh, it’s that house.”
Kris slowed the car considerably. “The house with the black trim and door?”
“The very one.”
The street we were on was an old one filled with little Monopoly houses—all the same style bungalows with various different colors or sidings.
Some brick, some vinyl, but little to no variation.
The house in question looked quite well kept up, comparatively speaking, and a single black sedan sat in the driveway.
There was a very large dog in the front yard, some mix of mastiff, bulldog, and meanness.
He snarled, barking when Kris pulled into the driveway.
I didn’t blame the dog; he was on guard against strangers in his territory.
Kris, though, sighed. She rolled down her window and called, “Guo?”
Guo popped up out of the shade of the car, nose poking through the window for some scratches. “What is it?”
“Can you convince the dog to stand down?”
“Sure.”
Now, that was mean. I snickered. It was like pitting a five-hundred-pound gorilla against a Chihuahua.
Guo hopped the chain link fence, right into the front yard, and made a growly sound at the dog.
The poor dog yipped in fright, cornering himself in the yard, and went abruptly silent.
I didn’t know if that was standing down, per se, but hey, we had quiet and the ability to walk through the yard without worrying about the dog biting us. I’d take it.
With the dog in check, I was able to open the side gate, letting us in the front door.
Jo Jo caught my eye, gestured with two fingers toward the back, and I gave him a go-ahead nod.
I didn’t want to lose this person out the back door—that would lead to a chase, and no, thank you.
The weather was being an asshole today despite it being mid-October.
It was muggy out here, as in, the humidity was something I’d expect in a sauna. Not running weather.
“At my six,” I requested of Kris.
She stepped behind and a little to the side, with her hand on my shoulder. We’d trained for situations like this, where I didn’t know what was beyond a door and wanted to know where she was at all times.
I gave a solid knock on the door in case the tenant was somehow innocent. I mean, it didn’t smell that way, but I’d been wrong before.
I heard the cautious creeping of footsteps coming closer to the door and sensed someone at the peephole.
I looked right into it. “I’m here for Yan Yichen.”
“I, uh, don’t know what you mean, man,” a male voice called out. Only it shook and sounded hella nervous, a little high-pitched. Nerves?
“Really, dude? Really, we’re going to do this?” I lifted my hand, which still had the active tracer spell going. “If you’re any kind of practitioner, you can see the tracing spell.”
There came a weighty, taut silence, like he was thinking this over.
“Who are you to demand him?” the guy finally responded, the false bravado easy to see through.
“Zhen Barre.”
There was a very faint “Oh shit” and then those creaking floorboards sounded again. Only he was retreating, not coming to toward me.
So, at a guess, he recognized my name and had decided to run. Sighing, I called, “JO JO! INCOMING!”
Time to destroy a door~ Admittedly, breaking and entering was a favorite pasttime of mine. Bye, door, been nice knowing ya!