Chapter Two

"Are you sure about this, Zeke? As creepy as this place is, I'm not so sure it's actually haunted."

"All the signs are here," I say, pulling out my notebook and sitting down on the floor. "Strange noises at night, things moving on their own, cold spots, and the EMF monitor going off."

Page nods her head as I speak, looking around the living room. "It all tracks. I'm not questioning you, for the record. Just curious why the ghost hasn't shown its face for us yet."

"Maybe he's shy."

Page hums as she looks around, squatting to pick up one of the fallen picture frames, careful not to step on any of the broken glass. She lets out a long sigh before putting it back onto the mantle.

All of the signs point to a haunting, that much is certain, but what I don't voice out loud is that I can feel a presence here. Someone's been stuck in this world instead of crossing the veil into the afterlife. They're stuck, holding onto something so tightly that it's caused them to twist themselves into something they're not. They've made themselves into something that allows them to stay for whatever reason.

I've been best friends with Page and Ray since we were all awkward teenagers but recently, something happened to Page that made her realize the world as we all know it isn't exactly all there is. Her eyes were opened to the very real fact that the supernatural exists. Though the circumstances of that were incredibly unfortunate, it did have its upsides.

I can finally show her who I really am; a banshee. And in turn, she can trust me with her secret of being a vampire.

I've been a ghost hunter for many years now but once Page entered the supernatural world, I offered to show her what I really do on the weekends. It was her idea to record these sessions and edit them into silly videos we can put online. Throw a few ads onto the videos and bam, the funding for these excursions were finally entering our pockets.

Putting ghosts to rest isn't the most lucrative profession but our videos make up for that. Plus, I'd still be doing this even if I never got paid. It's what I feel like I was born to do. These ghosts used to be people. They deserve rest.

"Pete? Are you here? Can you hear me?"

The air begins to dip in temperature as I speak, my breath making little white clouds around my mouth.

"We're here to help," Page adds on, coming to squat near me. "Let's help you find some rest, old man."

"Don't insult the ghosts," I say under my breath, smiling over at Page. "Hopefully we can leave this one without a single bruise on me this time."

"You threaten a ghost one time and you never get to live it down."

I can feel the moment Pete steps foot into the room. He's still in that weird limbo between this plane of existence and the afterlife, holding onto something here with both hands. I nod my head in his direction and Page looks up. She might not be able to see ghosts the same way that I can, but she's always done her best to make them feel seen.

"Hey there, Pete. Thanks for stopping by. How can we help?"

We always start our hunts like this, offering help, hoping that the ghosts we're hunting have enough humanity left not to lash out without reason. It doesn't always go smoothly but there's something about Pete that makes me feel like this will be one of our easier hunts.

"Where's my Anna-Beth?"

I look over at Page. "He's asking about someone named Anna-Beth."

"Your daughter? That's Anna-Beth?"

"Yes. Do you know her? Is she alright? I worry about her. Is anyone looking after her now that I'm gone?"

"He said he's worried about Anna-Beth. Can you look her up, Page? See how she's doing?"

Page is quick as she pulls out her phone, looking through social media for Pete's daughter. I can tell the moment she finds her, Page's face lighting up with glee. "I've found her, Pete. Oh my goodness, your daughter is beautiful."

I watch as Pete's form becomes less like that of a phantom. His features solidify as he steps closer to Page, hanging on her every word. The closer he gets and the more Page speaks, the more his form becomes human until he's standing over her shoulder, staring down at the phone. His last step sounds throughout the room.

"Looks like she's settled down in a bigger city. She has a husband and a daughter of her own. Oh, look at that, she's pregnant right now. Announced that she'll be having PJ before the end of the year. Pete Junior. That's so sweet."

Pete's face is serene as he smiles down at Page's phone, looking at pictures of his daughter. He looks over at me and whispers, "thank you." I nod my head as his form changes once more, fizzling out of existence as he moves from this place to the afterlife.

"Nice job," I say to my partner in crime. "Pete's no longer here. He's found peace."

Page puts her phone away. "Well, that was a bit anticlimactic."

I can"t help but chuckle, shaking my head. "They can't all be exciting. They've gotta keep us on our toes! Sometimes they're easy as pie and other times we have to drag them into finding peace kicking and screaming."

Sometimes when the ghosts show no sign of calming down or start doing things like tossing Page and I around the room, we have to call in Page's girlfriend, Ray. She doesn't believe in the supernatural which is really awkward as her best friend and girlfriend happen to be supernatural creatures.

I've never been able to pinpoint why exactly but there's something about Ray that puts spirits at ease without doing anything more than being in the room with them. Or at least calms them down enough for them to go back into limbo and give us a moment to catch our breath.

"Shall we?"

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps," Page says with a smirk. "It's almost like it could be haunted, Zeke."

"Gods, you're such a dork. Why do I put up with you again?"

"Because I'm super hot. And hilarious. And when ghosts want to throw one of us like a rag doll you might as well have a vampire there as bait since I have supernatural healing?"

"Right, we'll go with that."

Just as I'm packing up the last of our things, my phone starts to ring. I pick it up right away. "Hey, Ray! We're just finishing up here."

"You need to get your asses out here right now. I don't care how close you are to doing your dumbass ghost bullshit. There's some weirdos out here bothering me and I need some back up. Now."

Shit. I look over at Page who has heard the whole thing, both of us moving without having to say anything.

"We'll be out there in one second, Ray."

"They're saying weird shit, Zeke. Get out here. Now."

We throw everything into our bags, strap them to our backs, and head outside. I can see Page is holding herself back from going at full supernatural speed, running beside me instead of sprinting. I have to take a steadying breath, keeping myself under control so my glamor doesn't slip. I have no idea who these people are but I'd rather not terrify them with my true face, especially if they're just a bunch of clueless humans.

There's three guys standing beside the car, looking between us and Ray. First impressions I'm getting are they're harmless but I don't let my guard down. Even if they seem innocent there's still the matter of them being weird towards my best friend. Plus, it's close to midnight, why the fuck are they out here in the middle of nowhere?

Ray gets out of the car. As she rushes over towards us, she stumbles. A few things happen all at once. Time seems to slow down to a crawl. Ray trips and to keep her from completely tumbling forward, one of the guys holds out a hand, catching her.

Something passes between them. Ray's eyes widen and she lets out a noise of surprise. The random guy's eyes close, like something is being rearranged inside of him, like he's experiencing something indescribable.

"What the actual fuck was that?" Ray asks, pulling herself away from him and closing the distance to her girlfriend. Page pulls her into her arms, looking between Ray and the random dude.

I take a deep breath through my mouth and my knees go weak. There's a scent in the air that pulls at my baser instincts, filling me with peace. I'm filled with an ache in my chest, pushing me towards this beautiful man, because yes, he's incredibly beautiful now that I'm close enough to take him in. Dark eyes, shaggy hair, strong shoulders. Gods, I want to get closer. I want to chase that smell.

Mate.

Holy fucking shit. There's no fucking way.

This man is my true mate.

How is that possible? How did he find me here of all places? And what the hell was that with Ray?

"I'm really sorry," the guy says, holding up his hands in surrender. "This is incredibly awkward. I thought this was going to go differently. Fuck."

I take a step towards him. "What's going on here?"

"Hi," someone says, pushing their way between both of our groups. My eyes snap over to him, realizing I was staring at my mate. "I'm Harbor! It's really lovely to meet you all. Would you like a fry?"

"We don't want any fries!" Ray says, her voice morphing from sounding upset to sounding confused.

"Suit yourself. These are my cousins, Bently and Casper."

Casper. My mate's name is Casper. I can't stop looking at him, taking him in. I want to memorize every detail of this man. I want to smell him until I can pick out every tiny note of his scent. I want to touch him and explore him and use my phantom form to crawl under his skin until I can't tell where he ends and I begin.

I take another step forward, like my feet are moving without my permission and I'm powerless to stop them. Casper's face is filled with wonder as he stares over at Ray. As I move forward, he finally looks over at me.

I watch as a variety of emotions play across his face. He sucks in a sharp breath and I watch as it clicks into place. He can scent me just the same way I'm scenting him. We're true mates.

Harbor hums, looking between Casper and I. "Something just happened," he says, pointing a finger between the two of us. "Something's going on here. I can tell."

Casper covers his face with his hands, letting out a long groan. "Harbor," he says with a long sigh. "Please stop talking. I'm not sure it's helping."

Page grabs my shoulder, pulling me back towards her as my feet seem to continue slowly but surely move me towards Casper. "Zeke? What the hell is going on?"

I look at her then down at Ray then over at Casper. I open my mouth a few times, trying to find the right words before finally settling on a sigh. "Ray," I say slowly, "there's some shit that Page and I have to explain to you."

Page looks panicked. "What? No. There's nothing weird going on here. Nothing we need to explain. Absolutely normal day with nothing unusual happening. Nope."

"What the hell are you talking about? Do you know these guys?"

"No," Page says right away, "we've never met them before."

"Then why is everyone acting so weird?"

"Page, we've gotta tell her. She deserves to know," I say, looking at her for a long moment, trying to convey how much this needs to happen. We can't just keep her in the dark forever, especially now that I've met my true mate who's still giving Ray puppy eyes.

"Deserves to know what? You're freaking me out." Ray takes a step away from Page in order to look between the two of us. "Are you guys fucking or something?"

There's a growl that I'm pretty certain comes from my mate. The sound makes a shiver go down my spine.

"Absolutely not," Page says. "It's nothing like that, baby. I love you, you know that."

"Then just tell me whatever's going on!"

"You know how we ghost hunt and you always sit in the car because you think it's horseshit?" Ray raises her brow, nodding. "And how you think the supernatural as a whole is fake?"

"Yeah," she says slowly. "Because it is. There's no such thing as ghosts and demons and magic. It's all fake."

"Oh my gods," Casper murmurs. "You don't know? Really?"

She looks over at him with a glare. "Don't know what? Somebody better start fucking talking."

"All of it is real," he says softly. "The supernatural. It's real, Ray. And you're part of it."