Apparitious

[B]

Two men stood, looking through a chain link fence out into a high school. "He's perfect." The older of the two men said. His hair was grayed and he had quite the Chuck Norris mustache across his wrinkled face. "He's too young..." Said the other man, this one maybe in his mid-thirties, full head of black glossy hair and a formal suit. Both their eyes were fixed on a student leaning against a wall smiling along with his mouth moving, probably talking to the two other people beside him. He had a light copper color hair and light brown eyes, though, the men would never be able to tell from their distance. "Maybe so... But it's gotten worse since the Federal Headquarters had a complete system meltdown." "Yeah, I was in the area. The entire place blew up and the best that investigators could come up with is a system overload. You can't seriously think some supernatural force could have done that. It had to be terrorists." The elder man shook his head. "We've had the best investigators search the site, hell even when they gave their assessment we had the second best come in for a second opinion. If there is a pissed off apparition then this boy would know."

"You're getting senile in your old age." The man stated and the other laughed. "No, no, no. I know this boy and I know his mother. He's the real deal. I've been watching him for some time ever since I got news of his... Gift." "Sounds like you're obsessed with him." The younger man eyed the older. "Maybe... Maybe... But all I know is that we don't have time to start interviewing psychics." The other man sighed. "Well.. What's so special about him, then." The older man's face beamed, as if someone was asking him about his beloved science project. "The kid claims to see floating orbs every now and then, and when he walks into them or they run into him he claims one of three things may happen he may feel whatever emotion the orb, or ghost in my opinion, is feeling or he'll have a pre or postcognitive vision." "So he's clairvoyant?... I dunno... It seems sketchy, anyone who sees the dead would be troubled kids, he looks like every other little bastard in this school." The old man chuckled. "Actually he's telepathic, clairvoyants deal with physical object besides, you wanted a psychic for your squad and you came to me because I'm trusted not to lead you in a wrong direction. You have to keep that trust, if you want to liberate Tralis Research Center from it's unknown invaders." The younger man stood quiet for a few but nodded in the end. "Fine. I'll stop by his house and test the boy." He took out his phone and sent pages to his last remaining squad. The previous squad disappeared three months ago investigating a strange breakout of an old genetic research lab, a month later the FBI headquarters exploded without so much as a warning to those inside. This middle-aged man was the head director of an underfunded organization that deals with neutralizing paranormal threats, they call themselves Netvouz (Nayvoo).

Netvouz is a small military organization that is composed of a few people who believe or want to believe in the paranormal. They get paid as much as an average cop but is susceptible to wielding more advanced weaponry and technology. They are called out by tips from reliable sources, sometimes there's something out of the ordinary and most of the time they're false calls. The organization had two squads, the bigger of the two went out and disappeared some months back. The last group is probably expecting a page so they are to go to their rather small headquarters and get their assignment.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The copper-haired boy smiled at the brunette beside him, they both were walking on the side walk, the latino boy that was with them at school had long parted from them at school. "Whatever, Seth, I'm not the one who failed English. How do you even do that!? We SPEAK English!" "Que?" The 15 year old male replied smugly. "Oh shut it." She gave him a soft punch in the arm and he chuckled and pulled her into a one-arm embrace. "Come on, Beth, at least I'm good at math, right?" She laughed. "Amazingly." Suddenly she was yanked to a stop and Seth was staring at something in front of them. "Oh... Another one?" Beth asked with a worried expression and he nodded. "Just go around it..." Seth nodded and his smile returned as he turned. Suddenly the hazy orb moved with him and he ran into it. His eyes went blank and his arm went limp around her shoulder. He wasn't seeing what she saw. Beth braced herself for some kind of random emotion but it was blank, he was seeing, not feeling. Within seconds Seth let out a sigh. "It's never done that before..." "What?" "Moved... There's someone waiting for me at home. He looks like some government FBI agent. The way he sat concludes that, too." His expression was worried and she laughed. "Ooh, the governments out to get you!" Seth sighed, not taking any humor in her joke. "What if they know about me?" "Oh stop being a pansy. It'll be fine." She stopped him and turned his head around to lean forward for a kiss, he didn't resist and their lips connected, when they finished his expression was back to happy-go-lucky.

The two finally stopped in front of Seth's house. "Oh, hey. Could you come by later?" Seth asked. Beth smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. That is if you're not dragged away by the FBI agent." Finally getting over the worry Seth smiled and leaned in for a goodbye kiss. "Bye!" Seth waved and she mimicked. Seth walked up the porch steps and into the house, his mother was in the kitchen. "Mom, who's that guy in my room?" She didn't seem shocked to realize he had guessed it. The orbs didn't come all the time but some days he'll come home knowing things only she or her husband would know. "Some government dickhead." She looked over to Seth's face, which had been a warning look at her cuss then it turned worried, and shook her head. "Sorry. No, he's not FBI. Some organization I never heard of..." Seth turned but she stopped him. "Seth, look at me. Don't do anything you don't want to... Okay?" "Okay, mom." Seth walked to his door and took a deep breath and entered.

"Wow." Someone's voice came to Seth's right, Seth didn't look surprised to see the man sitting on his bed. "I heard you, you knew I was here. Amazing!" The man was astonished, he hadn't believed the old timer but this kid may be the real deal, unless the old man hinted the kid before he got here. Seth laughed. "It's hard not to, the whole neighborhood saw you go into my house." He lied. "But how did you know I was in your room?" "..." The man gave a soft laugh. He had gone to the kid's room for a reason, not to search it but to be unexpected. He had asked the boy's mother if he could use the restroom so that she wouldn't know, he didn't tell the old man either. He also knew if Seth were to have seen this he would be appalled to know someone was in his room. The man stood and held out his hand to shake. "My name is Herbert Pittman." Seth fought a smile at the name Herbert and shook the man's hand tightly. "Good handshake there." Pittman said, the man looked rather nervous and there was a silence between them until Seth broke it. "So... what do you need?" He asked enthusiastically and flashed a smile. Herbert smiled. "Ah, so you know what I'm about to ask?" Seth's eyebrow twitched in a confused expression. "You can stop the charade kid, I know you have a gift." Seth held it. "Uh, I do but I'm not a mind reader..." Herbert's smile faded as he suddenly felt stupid. "Oh..." Again, Seth fought a smile, not trying to be rude.

"Well... America need you, son." He said and took out a piece of paper. "I'm offering you a job to join a paranormal extermination squad and track down a paranormal entity causing trouble with important government facilities." The man said flatly. Seth stared at him with eyes that obvious were those of amusement, he thought this all was a joke. "You're kidding right?" "Nope." "Extermination force? What is that? the Ghost Busters?" Herbert's eye twitched, he was offended. "No. Nothing quite so... Fantasy." Seth suddenly felt that this wasn't a joke. "What? Look at me. I'm 15 years old I don't play sports and I don't know how to shoot a gun." He said quickly in a half laugh. The other man shook his head. "I'm not happy about this but we do need you, and we need you now. The FBI headquarters exploded. We believe... An.. Apparition was the cause." Seth stared blankly. "The FBI building exploded?" "Haven't you been watching the news?" "No..." "Listen, I'll tell you what. You take a ride with me down to my headquarters and if you're not convinced I'll take you back home." Seth folded his arms. For all he knew this guy could be a kidnapper but something told him that he should go with this man. He sighed, once in a lifetime chance, besides he'll be able to gloat about this for years. "Fine."

After a dealing with his heartbroken mother, Seth found himself in front of a small building. Seth expected a sky scraper or some large facility but there was no training grounds that he could see and it looked like any average office building. "Netvooz?" Seth cocked an eyebrow at the name. "Netvouz" Herbert corrected with the right pronunciation. "Lets enter. The team should be here by now and you'll get to meet them." Both walked up the stone steps toward double glass doors. Whatever squad was awaiting inside, they were going to think this was a joke as much as Seth.

[Turn 360 and walk away]

"Red nineteen! Red Nineteen! Set, Hike!"
At the call, the ball was snapped and a pimple-faced kid in a royal blue jersey bean running his heart out, towards the end of the grassy field, where the grass's paint read "Go Lancers!" and the bleachers were lined with screaming fans and lamenting mothers, all dressed in matching sweaters. It was a cold day, even for mid-august, in the desert. The camcorder pans from the pimple-faced receiver to the defensive line, still struggling to hold the other team, dressed up in amethyst violet, back. Some of the kids were shouting "throw it!" or "get rid of it!" but most were grunting and snorting. the scene zoomed in to a single defensive lineman, number 59. He had a grotesquely thin, sharp jaw, a prominent, proud nose and if he were smiling, he'd be missing his eye tooth on his lower-left jaw.
The tape cut abruptly to the end of the game, where the pimple-faced receiver and a few others were holding up a trophy that proudly claimed "State Champions".
Another abrupt cut, followed by the camera trained exclusively to the same kid in the defensive line, but this time he was in red and silver, the color of the Washington State Cougars. After the call, the screen cut to black. The man in control of the video was sitting on a ratty couch, smiling at the memories of games long past. Spencer Hyatt stood up from the sunken couch and hobbled over to the light switch, kicking his legs to get anything amounting to feeling back into them. He was Italian through his Grandmother, but you would never have guessed it by looking at him, or hearing him talk. He slowly scratched his head, covered fully with tight curls of fiery orange hair, and went off to bed. Inside the covers slept a woman of 40. Though she was older than Spence by no more than 3 years, She looked good for her age; He didn't.
They'd been married for ten years, and Spence had regretted dropping football off his priority list for her for about six years. That night he slept lightly, dreading the quickly-coming Monday. Him and Sara had made an exodus to Maryland from Washington shortly after they met in college, with both of them intending to finish their student careers, and only Spence following through. Somehow, his work had sent him right to Netvouz's front revolving door. He didn't have any sort of "gift", per se, but he had a sharp eye, a wit that hasn't dulled since his budding football career, and was mighty handy with thermal cameras and voice recorders.

On this particular Monday, he had kissed Sara good-bye, scrambled into his car -- a black Beamer -- and took off for work. On the way, he stopped at a McDonald's to pick up some breakfast, fattening, deadly, and satisfying. Though he surrendered another ten minutes, he parked on the side of the road and ate. The guy in the window cubical of the FCC could probably look out and stare Spence right in the face from where he was. Then, as he was contemplating calling sick and going home, his windshield was engulfed with a white light, and a big, black building was more of less gone.
Spencer just mumbled a "Jeezus Christ!" and hit the accelerator. Turns out, he won't be coming home tonight. the government always involves EVERYONE... even some hack band of losers like Netvouz... when something goes wrong.

The offices were going insane. Paper was flying from desk to desk, everyone was calling everyone from every phone anyone could get to, and Spence was one of them. It was FBI, it was unprovoked, and his bowling team wouldn't make it to the next game. that's all he could find out. No one saw anyone come in, go out, or ever come a little close to the building. And if anyone did, they were strewn across most of the eastern coast. That's when a memo found it's way into his hands:

"MEMO

"TO: SPENCER HYATT

"FROM: TOBIAS HUNT

"SUBJECT: FBI BUILDING EXPLOSION

"Urgent: Netvouz is to report to the defense office at 0700 to discuss the terrorist threat."

"... Which is why we believe the treat is not a terrorist organization, rather, a paranormal source. We have found another member of you're team. He is telepathic, sees ghosts senses what they feel, and whatnot, and will be a valuable addition to this assignment."
"Who is he?"
"He will be arriving shortly. Start by inspecting the scene, and report back to me ANY findings."
"Yessir."

Spencer stood in parade rest at the far end of the line. nearer to the door stood a few others. recently, there was an influx of new members, so he didn't know most of anyone he was standing next to. Who he did know was Tony, a more-than-healthy (as his mother once eloquently put it) man with a balding head and the rest of it tied back in a short ponytail. He was the techie, and was the best at what he did -- use really big words to describe a camera. There was also Olivia Haught and Samantha Brown, the former having high, Nordic cheek bones, a thin nose and pale blue eyes framed by dishwater blonde hair pulled up into a bun, and the latter being nearly the exact opposite -- dark, straight hair, dark, work-worn eyes, a drooping, wide nose and a rounded, near formless cheek and chin. They each were investigators, like himself, even if Spence had a pretty badge. Sam fancied herself a medium, and though Spence couldn't prove yay nor nay, he'd seen her work enough times to believe near anything she says. they were all waiting for the new arrival, and each stared wide-eyed at the kid sliding out of the car and approaching the doors.
"Hey, Kid. What.. are you looking for? the museum's one street down, if that's what you're looking for. "
"No, Sam... this kid's the guy.. I guess. Smith drove him up." Spencer corrected before interrogating, "So, who are you? Why are you here? Furthermore, What do you think you're doing?"

[V]

"Now, Presenting...." The loudspeakers of the circus themed casino blared, the small stage in the center of their little game area midway. The young Chinese woman, named Lena Lang, had to pull at her leotard a few times in order to make herself comfortable.She and five other woman had been preparing for this for months. Several tricks involving teamwork, coordination and finesse. "...the Imperial Chinese acrobats!" Imperial Chinese...despite all it's members being of Chinese origin, its headquarters was actually staged in the central United States. She and two other women rode out on bikes, being one of the outriders on this trick. The idea was to show off their feats of balance. The outriders would ride around the stage a couple times, and then one of the other women would hop onto the back of the trailing bike. She'd make her way to the handle bars, by going over the rider's shoulders, which required exceptional balance from both the migrant and the rider. Lena was leading the bikes, and it came here turn for the migrant to reach her. She was about ready to make the catch...when her foot suddenly lost it's place, and left the pedal, and she stumbled over. During this, the migrant was in mid jump. There was no one to catch her, and she hit the solid ground hard, getting her leg run over by the second bike. Lena wasn't sure at all about what happened. But, no matter the excuse, she was immediately fired afterward. The now unemployed Chinese woman wanted to know what went wrong. A photo was sent to her by her ex-employer...to bring her shame of her action. It was the photo of her foot losing position...but in the picture, there appeared to be a floating orb under the foot that lost it's place. She was never superstitious, but this certainly startled her.
Eight years later, she found herself working within a lowly known sect of the military known as Netvouz. Her time with the acrobats meant she had great flexibility and impressive dexterity, giving her position on the team as the one who placed the more fragile equipment, and also as the one who placed the surveillance gear in places most people could not navigate without becoming a permanent pretzel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The buzzer of the radio clock in the studio apartment started at a slow beep...but grew louder consecutively. Lena struggled from the covers, and hit the clock on the off button. She looked at the calendar; Monday. The last three weeks have been a nightmare. The disappearance of the larger Netvouz squad...then the explosion of the FBI building. The tabloids all claimed it was terrorism. But those and the inside suspected another thing. Lena herself was still not convinced of the supernatural...which is why she took up this job. She wanted to be proved otherwise. And besides, the free salary was always nice. There was to be an important meeting of the few remaining of the Netvouz today, and Lena couldn't be late. She checked herself in the mirror, before tying her long black hair into a bun, and applying some foundation to cover blemishes, which took about ten minutes in total. She couldn't spend much time dallying about. After gussying up, she chose a quick outfit to throw on; a lime green blouse, tan pants, and a pair of zip up heeled boots. She put her glasses on, and soon enough, she was out the door, with keys to her car in hand. The black sedan pulled from the curb quickly, and set itself down the main road. Lena arrived maybe fifteen minutes later. But the whole building was a mess. People were frantically throwing and shelving papers around, getting facts on the phone. The Chinese woman was able to identify the rest of her squad standing at ease by the door. She too changed them, made a passing salute to the team leader, and joined them. The new recruit would be arriving soon. The car pulled up...and from behind the rear door, a kid stepped out. Lena looked surprised and in disbelief. He probably wasn't even out of high school yet. Maybe this is a perk of the job. This is an agency that deals with strange things. Maybe stranger thing would help. Samantha gave a comment to the boy, but Spencer stifled her, and replaced the comment with his own questions. "I'm sure the recruiter had a great reason to bring him here..." Lena let out, out of turn. "uhh...sir."

[B]

Seth walked slowly up the steps. He could feel the people's eyes on him and suddenly his gut retracted and nervousness kicked in and he paused for a second. 'Good first impression... Good first impression.' He thought to himself and forced his lips up into a smile. Herbert opened the door and held it open for Seth. The boy walked in with his smile in place until suddenly... "Hey, Kid. What.. are you looking for? the museum's one street down, if that's what you're looking for." Seth sucked in a breath to speak but the other man was quicker. "No, Sam... this kid's the guy.. I guess. Smith drove him up." 'Smith?' Seth thought. Then suddenly a barrage of questions, the man was so quick with the wording, Seth's smile fell and he had to think where to start first but someone saved him. "I'm sure the recruiter had a great reason to bring him here... Uh... Sir." Seth looked at the Asian woman and his smile half-returned.

Herbert stepped forward. "This is Seth Cohen, your team's new psychic." Herbert immediately saw the expressions of the squad and raised his hand. "I know, I know. The last two psychics I hired were a waste, but I have a good feeling about this boy and I was tipped off by a VERY reliable source." Seth stood quietly. At the corner of his eye he noticed an orb in the corner of the room. Normally when he saw an orb, they just stood still until today. One had turned into him when he walking home with his girlfriend, and now this orb was moving as well, aimlessly. His hands came together and he fiddled with his fingers nervously, hoping the orb doesn't come after him like the previous one, the last thing he needed was to take over the orb's emotions and throw a fit right in front of them, though, it's always against his will.

[Turn 360 and walk away]

"I'm sure the recruiter had a great reason to bring him here... Uh... Sir."
"...I know, I know. The last two psychics I hired were a waste, but I have a good feeling about this boy and I was tipped off by a VERY reliable source."
"Seth... well. I guess it's a 'welcome to the team' moment. Except we don't have time for that. Smith," Spencer looked towards the driver, "You're dismissed. Thank you. Seth," he turned back to the boy, "i's time you get briefed on the situation. Please follow Olivia and myself." With that, he briskly spun on his heals and hurriedly walked towards the conference room, him in front of the group and Olivia behind the boy.

"As you know," there was a slight hum as a video projector warmed to life, and displayed what was, really a fancy Powerpoint, "the F.B.I. Headquarters seemingly exploded. Press likes to think that it was a terrorist action. And we like them to think that. We, however, have reason to believe it was of a supernatural origin." the screen shifted to a grainy video camera shot from a security camera not too far from the site. Spencer pointed to various points of interest, like the people on the street, virtually without panic, the lack of cars or other vehicle passer-bys, and finally, small specs of white that looked like little more than dust.
"...And this is where you come in. We need to find out what happened, and you're the lucky guy to do it." After the presentation, the boy was led out the same way he was led in, and Spencer instructed everyone to get in a car and follow him.

Once at the scene of the devastation, it was apparent what, exactly, had happened. parts and pieces were scattered about, along with a desk, a chair, and other various cubicle decorations. All the bodily remains had been taken away by now, but nonetheless, Spence was careful where he laid down his spit-shined shoes.
"Okay, kid. Do work. Lena, you're with me. Olivia, Sam, sweep the southern area." Spencer began snapping pictures of the area around him and making small talk, like "did you watch the game", or "nice weather", being careful to not move to the new member, and his thoughts about having a kid do this job.

[V]

Lena stood aside quietly, as Seth, Spencer, and Smith began exchanging words....well, not so much Seth. She did her best to not eye their new member, as she was sure most of the others were doing. As long as Spencer didn't get at her for speaking out of line, she was content. They had finished introductions, and were now being lead elsewhere, into the conference room. Lena took her padded seat at one end of the table, and watched as the projection display started. From the given facts, she chose to look to more logical facts than supernatural ones; maybe there was a gas leak that had gone unnoticed, and someone decided to light a smoke, and an electrical short set off the gas. Despite how unlikely that was, she would convince herself that it was a hundred times more likely than some specter. She watched the slide show, taking careful looks at the floating orbs in the slide. True, they did seem like something more than dust. Not much more. Maybe baby spiders descending in front of the lens. Ultimately, her skepticism got the better of her. She never really thought her squad would ever a get a case. And now that it had, she's doubting everything the squad was supposed to be looking for. The conference ended, and she left without uttering much of a sound. Spencer split them off into teams. She got to go with Mr. Sir himself. He'd started asking her random things, like about the weather, and if she caught the game. He was either trying to make small talk, or trying to keep her mind off something. "The weather has been fine...and you know I don't like football." She replied coolly, before scanning the walls. The outer part of the walls were gone, revealing the insulation. She examined the skeleton walls as best she could, looking for possible pipelines that would contain gas. There were only some air ducts, and destroyed electrical wiring. She turned back to the squad leader. "I'm guessing the maintenance teams would plug a gas leak at one moment's notice." She said. "I'm looking for more radical reasons to this incident, before trying to resort to the..ghost catchers." She said and chuckled.

[B]

Seth found himself towing along with the others. He looked at Herbert with annoyed eyes. 'He said he'd bring me down here and let me decide. I've decided nothing and am already moving with them.' He thought to himself and his mouth was straight. He didn't want to frown and look like a retard. The leader gave the mission directives but Seth could already assume what the mission is. FBI building blew up, this organization is against ghosts so obviously a ghost did it. Soon enough he was heading towards the car and he wanted to stop and tell Herbert that maybe he should go back home but the man wasn't in sight. Seth shook his head as he entered the vehicle. He looked at others who didn't bother at all to look at him though they had no problem looking at each other. Seth can take it though, A large part of his life he was isolated because of what he could do, he'd talk about it and he'd automatically be the crazy creepy kid that no mother wants their children near, except Beth. He'd known her for nearly 6 years and been with her for 2. She doesn't care about his gift only that he's him. These people, they're like everyone else. They chase after ghosts with false psychics never getting anywhere but still they hold the job, and they think HIM crazy? Seth folded his arms and looked out the window. 2 orbs... No 3... Seconds later the car halted, Seth looked out the other window past the asian woman. The remains of the building stood there, no orbs that he could see.

They exited the vehicle and he followed out. He looked at the building then went to look at the people around him but he was alone. They had completely ditched him, even the leader told him to "do work". Seth extended his arms then let them drop and slap against his legs. "Do work, sure." Seth withdrew a silver cell phone from his pocket and dialed his home number. A few rings later and his mother answered. "Seth?" "Hi, mom. Could you come get me?" There was a small pause then she answered. "Sorry, Beth just knocked. I'll take her with me, where are you?" Seth looked around. "I'm at the J. Edgar Hoover Building..." "What? I heard it was destroyed." "Yeah, mom. They wanted me to use my gift to find out if-..........." "Seth?" The phone fell from his hand and his arms went to his sides. His eyelids half-closed and he wasn't seeing the street anymore.

"I'm sorry, Detective Odonnell. There's nothing more I can do. Perhaps I can ring up Mr. Riley for you?" The detective stood before a well dressed man behind a desk, on the desk was a nameplate that read 'Leonel Borris'. "Thank you, Agent Borris, but I don't think-" "Borris!" A female called from the hall and pushed past the NYPD detective. "Yes, Angela?" "The computers are going haywire." The agent nearly jumped out of his chair and ran past the detective and Angela lead the way. The detective seemed to follow. The main building was going ballistic, people were yelling and calling out codes that Seth couldn't hope to remember. There were many screens mounted on top of the walls and they were snowy with a loud ringing noise, almost like an engine was starting up. Suddenly the screen flashed and a girl with blond hair stained with blood was there. It was just her face. The room went quiet. The engine sound got louder and louder as the machines in the room obviously seemed to stress to an extreme length. Seth could see it all, the machines exploded then the wiring in the walls began to explode. It seemed to go throughout the hole building and every single machine exploded with a dramatic bang, destroying portions of wall and soon enough some of the ceilings began caving in. Then the vision lead to the front door. Agents tried to open it but it wouldnt budge no matter what and soon the flames reached them and they died rather quickly. The flames were odd though, as if something was intentionally pushing it.

Seth's muscles tensed and his eyes went wide. An orb must've ran into him while he was talking on the phone. Forgetting the phone almost instantly, Seth ran for where the commander, leader dude was. "Hey uh... Leader guy!.. Uh.. Sir!" He called from a distance. He knows he saw the man look at him but he just turned away. Seth shook his head. "Come on, don't ignore me!" Seth demanded. "Your boss wanted me to help, so let me! Nobody even spoke about payment so I'm obviously not here to recieve something for doing this so might as well let me humor you!" Seth said, he wasn't aware but his voice was almost pleading.


Whether he was given permission or not, Seth started speaking. As far as Seth was concerned he wasn't a part of the group until they actually accepted him as a part, instead they tossed him aside and told him to do something. Seth isn't one of those people who make a habit of wasting his time. "This isn't terrorism... Well... It might be. But not by any human. There were four names in my vision." He popped up one finger. "Agent Leonel Borris." He popped a second finger. "Detective Odonnell or Odello, Borris had an eastern accent, it was hard to make out. The guy had an NYPD badge attached to his left lapel and was asking about something I didn't catch, Agent Borris suggested calling some guy... Oh god... What was the name... Mr... Riley?" That name brough up a third finger, the fourth finger went up right after. "The last person is some secretary woman, maybe she was an agent too, but her name was Angela, I don't know the last name." He saw them staring at him, either they thought he was crazy by the speed of his speech or that they didn't believe him about the vision. "Look, call the morgue, if I had a million dollars I would slap it on the table that all those names will turn up on the list of dead... If they were able to identify everyone yet... They all burned... The doors were locked, they couldn't get out." What Seth wasn't aware of, but Spencer might be, is that the J. Edgar Hoover building was never locked for the building was never empty. Also the videos showed no one locking the doors. Seth stood quietly, waiting for someone either to rebuke him and question his sanity, or to check to see if what Seth said was true. Seth felt, that if the NYPD officer could be confirmed, he had a good chance they'd believe him since it was strange that an NYPD officer was in a federal building. When the leader opened his mouth to speak Seth remembered one of the most crucial factors and slapped his head. "Oh! And the computers and electric circuits are what caused the exposions. There was a woman with bloody hair that appeared on the screen, she didn't say anything and it wasn't long that she was up, then everything went boom..." He took a breath, excited that he could make himself useful had made him speak much too fast for his own good.

[Turn 360 and walk away]

When the kid first called out, Spencer tried to ignore him; by the sound of his voice, he probably picked up a finger or something that the paramedics missed, but when he called out again, Spence turned around, poised to ask why his newest charge wasn't working. Sam never just walked, she actually did something. There was no way this kid could just know anything.
"This isn't terrorism... Well... It might be. But not by any human. There were four names in my vision." was blurted out before Spence could draw in a breath. "What vi--"
"...Look, call the morgue, if I had a million dollars I would slap it on the table that all those names will turn up on the list of dead..."
After a short pause to digest what just got told to him at fifty miles per hour, Spencer called the nearest morgue, and asked someone else, in a non-targeted order, to call the garden room, mortuary, or anywhere else a dead body might go.
"Pennview State--" the voice on the other end of the phone droned, no different than what Spence expected a zombie to sound like.
"Yeah. Spencer Hyatt, Netvouz."
"Never heard--"
"The federal government is looking to I.D. a body from the Hoover building explosion."
"We have most of the bodies here, and they all have names, if you'd like--"
"I'm looking for a couple in particular. One from NYPD, Odonnell. Two - Leonel Borris."
"If you'd like to come by, I can show you."
"You can't just-- fine. I'll be right there." Spencer slapped his breast pocket to verify his badge was there, and told the kid to come with him, while the team searched for more... logical... answers to the apparent electrical-fire-gone-horribly-wrong.
"So, Seth, is it?" Spencer had said once he was in the car, and started the engine. "You had better be right about this."

---------------------------------------------------------

Olivia walked the perimeter of the area she was assigned, checking each step to make sure she wouldn't fall through to any basement.
"So, what do you think of Seth?"
Sam looked back, and shrugged one shoulder. "Could be nice having someone else who feels what I can see. On the other hand, if our 'reliable tip' is as on-the-money as it usually is, this is just going to be some babysitting."
"I don't know, either. I kind of like him, though, I gu--"
"...The doors were locked, they couldn't get out..."
Sam twisted her face in puzzlement, "the doors don't ever get locked."
"Maybe he means 'they got jammed[/i'?"
"I doubt it. if it goes like Seth tells it, there was a whole department shoving on them... I'm honestly surprised the doors didn't just break off the hinges."
"Do, you, you know, feel anything?"
"No... there's not a spirit here. The whole place is dormant."
When Spencer asked someone to get on the phone, Olivia reached for her belt-clipped cell, but Sam beat her to it. While she was talking to the morgue, Olivia made a bee-line to the opposite side of the rubble, where a small scrap of purple fabric blew lazily in a breeze.

-------------------------------------------------------

The morgue was bleach white, under the hospital. Along the walls was a single stripe of powder blue wallpaper, amidst a sea of bathroom tile. The floor was slippery -- every square inch of a place like this is made waterproof and easy to clean -- but Spence managed through a pair of double doors into what was, essentially, a meat locker.
"Who was it you were looking for?" the zombie had said earlier, but he just now replied, "Odonnell and Leonel Borris."
"There are two bodies by the name of 'Odonnell' here."
"We don't have a first name."
"What about Leonel?"
"He is there, in the back corner." Spence just looked at Seth in amazement, and maybe a little amusement. The kid was right.

[V]

Lena remained silent as Seth and Spencer debated. Seemed great Squad leader had forgotten about her, and she shrugged. Leaving that particular room she lead followed the skeleton walls, trying to find where it started...or ended. The lead her down the adjacent hall, which was relatively dark now, without their being the aid of lights or windows. She could hear chattering from her small plastic portable, Olivia and Samantha were rambling on about something. She rolled her eyes. She didn't really think Samantha had any spiritual powers. She'd watched the one show called "Medium" on television. Samantha didn't seem to do much like that. Currently, her mission to prove her skeptics wrong, was hovering over "Abort", but still, she decided to trudge along still. As she passed a door door down the hall, she could see smoke creep out from under it, and seep into the hall. That was certainly something strange. She held the knob of the door. It didn't feel hot at all...not even warm. "Something inside must be burning then..." Without a second thought, she turned the knob and opened. There was a loud sound, and powerful force knocked her back, onto her butt. The room was certainly ablaze, but why was the knob not hot then?! She frantically grabbed her radio, and put in a call. "Holy shit...didn't...didn't fire teams check out the entire building?!" She had nearly soiled herself during the event. Still in the obviously frightened manner, she spoke into the channel once more. "Spencer, sir...there has been another explosion in the building. Please advise. Should we evacuate...or...or keep searching?" She let the button go and waited for the response, as she watched the flames burn. She looked around for a fire extinguisher...no sense letting the blaze stay alive.

[B]

Seth had followed Spencer. He had forgotten all about his mother in the process of telling. Soon enough he was in the car with Spencer, his lips were curved into a smile. Step one was complete, he had actually gotten him to follow through to see if he was right. Step 2 would be the win. The passed the police barrier and the car began moving a little faster until they hit the hospital not too far from the scene of the explosion. Through Spencer's radio, Seth could hear women talking about him, one said something peculiar. "So.. Another one of the team is psychic?" He asked anxiously though Spencer didn't seem to comment. He must be focused on finding out whether Seth was real or not.

They entered the metal double doors and Seth's nose twitched. He'd never been a morgue and never smelt burnt flesh before, it actually literally smelt like average meat and that made him feel sick, he paused. Spence seemed to turn back but Seth waved him forward. "You.. Go ahead. I'll wait here... In front of this door.. Away from the... Burnt guys.." His lips twitched a humorless smirk for a second then went back to it's normal look. He listened as Spencer asked about the names. One was confirmed, Seth was already smiling broadly when he saw Spencer's amazed expression. Wanting to explain his gift he waved the squad leader forward. If he did so Seth began speaking. "I can see orbs. They're ghosts.. I guess. Whenever I pass through them..." His voice fell to a whisper. "Or they pass through me" his voice picked back up. "then I could see some kind of vision, sometimes it's of the future, or past. And... The other thing..." He sighed. "Sometimes I'll take on the ghosts emotions... When I first noticed an orb at school and passed through it I started freaking out as if I was getting hanged." His eyes trailed off for a second before flashing back to Spencer. "I don't know if I should work with you. The orbs scare me enough and I know if I go with you I'm going to have pass through them it's just that.. well... My mom took me a psychiatrist and she said-" "Spencer, sir...there has been another explosion in the building. Please advise. Should we evacuate...or...or keep searching?" The radio started. Seth nodded and held his hand out for a second towards Spencer's radio, letting him respond to the woman. Why Seth telling this man this stuff? Whether he believed or not it wouldn't make a difference, he would always be that kid to ignore in the squad and that wasn't worth running into the orbs.

[Turn 360 and walk away]

"Spencer, sir...there has been another explosion in the building. Please advise. Should we evacuate...or...or keep searching?"
"Evac and tell the fire team to make another sweep. I'm on my way." Spencer turned away from the radio for a few seconds and spoke to Seth, "We gotta get going," before turning back to the radio and shouting at the fire chief.

"Wait in the car, kid. This's a fight for adults." Spencer weightlessly ordered as he himself left the car and ran over to a corner of the rubble still billowing smoke. "I thought you said it was Goddamn safe! Jesus!"
"It was. Something, or somebody," at this, the fire chief's black eyes slid over the Netvouz team, "reignited the damn thing!"
"I ask you to do one thing! Do your Goddamn job! And you fail, then accuse my team?! Who the hell do you think you are!?"
"A man trying to do his job, with some asshole standing in his way!"
At this, Spence just walked towards the amoebic blob that was his team and the equipment, and lobbed "Find a new job, then."

After the shouting match, waved at the car, for Seth to come over, without checking to make sure he was even in the car, and began to ask Lena about what had happened, and what that asshat fire chief told her she did.

---------------------------------------------

It had been a long day.... and it wasn't even noon. Olivia not only felt the heat and tension in the air, which made her shift her feet and shiver out of nervousness, but she felt the sting of the building... those inside of it... and of the team. It really felt like they all felt bad. She knelt down and pucked up the swath of purple cloth -- a scarf, at one point -- and put it in a zip-loc bag. She sighed and looked around, from Sam at one end of the site, to Lena, at the other. Spencer had left without so much as a word as to what the orders were, what to look for, or even where he was going.
"Guys..." another sigh. "Are we supposed to live with them?" She looked to Sam, who was walking in, essentially, a big circle, and Lena, who at least headed towards nowhere with a purpose, and chose to join the Asian woman on this Scavenger Hunt. Before she could reach her, though, she opened a door and was thrown backwards by licking flame.
"...should we evacuate...or...or keep searching?"
Olivia's radio crackled with an evacuation order, so she jogged over to Lena as fast as her 1-inch heels would allow and asked if she was hurt, before leaving the area.

[V]

Lena crawled low to avoid the smoke, and until she was only a foot away from her, did she notice Olivia had followed her. She grabbed the woman's wrist, and pulled her along a couple inches. "Come on. It's just fire. You see it all the time on the news. Not good if you come in contact with it. Come on!" She crawled past the woman, hoping she had followed. She arrived at the door that left that hall and back into the room she had started from. The smoke was not heavy in this room yet, so she was able to stand and run. She exited the building, noticing that Samantha had already gotten out, however, she was unsure about Olivia. The fire chief and her Captain were shouting things at each other, before Spencer came and asked her what had happened. Lena went to recap. "I'd left the assigned room to follow the burnt out walls. Maybe I could find the source of the explosion, cause the Fire Department of Morons here didn't give us one. Anyway, it lead me into a hall. And a room, maybe four doors down. There was smoke coming out from the crack beneath. I didn't just open it right away, I do have some common sense. I felt the knob. It was about as cold as a bone compared to how hot my hand was. When I opened it...it just, exploded. Everything inside was on fire. I have no idea how the knob was not heated." She faced around, seeing Olivia had finally emerged. "She had followed me. Can ask her on her insight, too." She then looked at Seth...then back to Spencer. "So, why did you decide to leave us anyway? Did he have a little seizure or something?"

[B]

Seth nodded and stayed in the car. He watched Spencer out the window silently until it hit him, his cell phone. "OOPS!" He called to himself and left the car, even though Spencer had told him to stay put. He ran to the place he remembered he held it and there it was, open with "6 missed calls" flashing. He picked it up and looked at the numbers. "Mom. Mom. Mom. Beth. Mom. Beth." Seth immediately went to his contacts list and hit his mom's number. The phone auto-dialed and he prepared himself to wait about 4 or 5 rings before she picked up, she picked up on the first. "Seth!" She shouted into the phone. "Where are you!?" She sounded as if he'd been kidnapped for up to three weeks. "Mom, calm down. My battery died and I needed to.. charge it." He lied and she calmed. "Don't do that.." She said miserably. "Sorry, mom. I tried calling you back but I couldn't get the phone on." "I'm on my way to get you." "No, mom. Even if you did come you wont have access to where I am." Seth turned to where Spencer and the asian woman were speaking, at the corner of his eye he noticed smoke, it was seeping out of the building. "Mom.. I'll call you later." He didn't wait for a response and flipped his phone closed. He started walking towards Spence and it seemed that Spence gave him a sign to continue, and he did so. He looked at the three standing there. "The building's on fire again!" Seth gasped. "What happened?" If he had been there a minute earlier he would've heard their conversation, but he missed all of it.

(I'll get it moving a little further my next post. )

[Turn 360 and walk away]

"So, why did you decide to leave us anyway? Did he have a little seizure or something?"
"Went on a walk." Spencer nonchalantly answered Lena. He didn't care; he was old, he was jaded, and this job was taking far too long with far too little leads. He always knew he was too abrasive to make friends. Oh well.
"What happened?" Seth jogged up to join the party.
"Captain Dumb-Shit over their can't even put down a fire, and it nearly killed Lena," He didn't even think this was near correct, but the fact the building was burning infuriated him,"and he blamed US for it. MY team. At least WE don't get millions in a taxpayer's money, and I bet that WE would actually use it." At this, Spence cocked his head towards the fire chief, "We'd buy your whole department a fleet of short buses!"
Sam's body stiffened up, and her eyes glazed over, mid way through scolding Spence. Her voice sounded far away... as if she was just watching this whole thing like a story book. "It was me... heeheehee! so fun!" came out of her mouth in the voice of a child, and Sam dropped to the ground.
"Sam! Sam! Are you okay?"
"Samantha?"
"Oh.... I'm... okay. Yee-haw." Samantha half-joked. Olivia grabbed her arm and got her back to her feet. "What happened?"
"Beats me. Someone just admitted that it was their blame, and they had fun. What as it you said about a little girl, Seth?" His phone buzzed in the belt clip he had at his waist, and He picked it up, listening to two conversations at once. "Yeah? Hi Sara. Lasagna sounds fine. Yeah. And, uh, soap. Dish soap. Why don't you come over here and say that, Chiefie? Uh-huh! oh, I'm sorry... Yeah, that's it. The car have gas? alright. See you tonight." the phone beeped back into paperweight mode, and Spencer sighed. "I got a dinner date... Kid's bringing her boyfriend's parents over." Spence lowly told Olivia, "wanna help me tie today up soon?"
"Sure, Spencer." she breathed back.
"Alright folks. This kid.... Seth... knows what he's talking about. What he says, goes, for now. Seth, d'you want a team? Or want to work alone? Your choice. Take whoever."

[V]

"Way to stay true to the stripes sir." Lena mocked with sarcasm. "You're going to leave us to baby-sit?" She looked over at Seth, then back at Sam. Not minutes ago, Sam had seemed to have a touch of insanity, but unfortunately, Lena missed the change in her voice. "So you leave me here with the Psychic and the Witch Doctor. I swear, if my head gets shrunken, I'll make sure you're the one cursed." She watched the fire team rush in, and shook her head. Looks like this was going to be put on hold again. She might as well get to know her companion a little. Not wanting to be a possible victim of the Witch Doctor, she decided to confide in Seth first. She eyed the boy, before speaking. "So...do you really see ghosts? Or are you going to be like the last fifteen or so assigned to us." The Chinese woman took a seat next to him. "You know, I noticed you don't seem to want to be here. Nor do you really seem to like us. So why are you still here?"