We arrived at the decrepit old house. It loomed over us like a bad dream. "Wait. . . this is it?" asked Zoe, confused and irked, I thought. "The way you made this place sound, I expected something scarier. . . This isn't scary."

     The sun shined down upon us. It was in the middle of the day, school had let out an hour ago and we then made our way here. The heat was getting to me already as sweat dripped from my forehead.

     Just wait until you get inside, I thought to myself. I didn't say it though, as I just smirked. She had no idea what she was in for. Visions of the last time we were here flashed through my mind like a nightmare. I couldn't believe that we were about to go back inside, even after everything that had happened the last time. I really didn't want to. But we had to. There was clearly a lot that we missed the last time, a lot that would probably go towards explaining a large amount of the case.

     I turned to David. "Did you bring the case file?" I asked him. I wanted to make sure that this time we were ready. The last time, we glossed over a lot, like the specifics of the crime. I knew it was a Dusgelvan woman who was murdered, possibly the woman from my dream the previous night. But what I didn't know was what precisely happened. Knowing how was paramount. The why came later, usually.

     He nodded. "You're going to owe me for this one. . ." he said, shaking his head. "You would not believe what I had to go through to get this. . ."

     "Did they make you dance for it?" asked Zoe. I glared at her. Was she trying to start something already?

     "Hun', how about we leave some things to the imagination?" said Fleur, as she wrapped an arm around her love. I smiled. Thank you, Fleur. I knew there was a reason we brought her along. She seemed to be the calm and rational voice in the group.

     I shook my head as I stared back at the house. I couldn't tell you why I brought all of them along. . . I just felt as though Zoe needed to see this, to be here for this. After all, she was arrested for something she didn't even do for this. So whether we liked it or not, she was a part of this case now.

     Oh, she complained about it, for sure. The whole way here, she complained about me dragging her into another case yet again, one that she really didn't want any involvement in after what had happened. But Fleur backed me up in saying that she was already involved and she needed to be here, if only to clear her name.

     I started for the door first, followed by David, then Fleur and Zoe. My hands shook with trepidation as the wood of the porch creaked and almost gave way beneath my weight. I turned to the others. "We'll need to be careful in here. . . this place should really be condemned and torn down," I said, as I turned back to the door. "It may have been fine the last time, but I'm worried. . . That it could come down at any moment."

     David nodded in agreement. "Certainly wouldn't want to be in there when it does. . ." he said, looking around at the siding. The paint had long ago peeled away, replaced by the wood beneath, which was moulding and falling apart. Even in a dry desert such as this, there is still the rainy season to consider, and I was sure that years of being pounded by the elements had taken its toll on the entire structure.

     "Just open the door already!" cried Zoe impatiently. I sighed.

     I looked back at the doorknob, my palm sweating. I didn't know if it was from the heat, it hovered around thirty-five Celsius the entire day  — or if it was from the fear that coursed through my veins. Going in there was the last thing I wanted to do. But I knew I had to. We all had to. We had left too much undone here, too much unseen. Now it was time to figure out what we had all missed the last time.

     Slowly, I reached for the knob and swung the door open. I turned to David. "Is there any mention in there why the house has just sat unlocked and open like that?" I asked him. That was one thing that bugged me. If the house had been abandoned for as long as it seemed, why was the door unlocked?

     He pulled out a notebook and cracked it open, thumbing through its pages. "Not that I can see. . ." he said as he looked back up at me. "It's possible that in this part of town, some vagrants have been camping here. . . You know, just looking for some place to get away from the elements. Sometimes, anything is better than nothing. . ."

     I frowned. He was right, of course. This was the poorest part of town, so it was likely that someone else had broken the lock to get in a long time ago, and that the building served as a refuge for homeless folk. Though it was clear now that no one went in there at all anymore. Probably because it was falling apart.

     Just then, Zoe pushed right past me as she barged into the house, with Fleur soon following her. "Zoe!" she called after her. That was my sister, as impatient as always.

     I turned to David. It seemed it was now or never, and someone had to help Fleur save my sister from herself. He motioned for me to lead the way. I sighed, rolling my eyes, as I looked forward and timidly took a step forth over the threshold.

     The mildewy laden air smacked me in the face like one of Zoe's sweaty socks. I almost gagged as I choked on air. David set a hand on the small of my back as he looked down at me, his light blue oval eyes glinting in the dim light. For a moment, I felt my heart throb at his very touch, at how he looked me in the eye. I got lost in those eyes for what felt like an eternity before I shook my head and cleared my throat. I didn't really know how deep my feelings for him truly went. But right now, we had a job to do.

     "Is this all?" asked Zoe as David and I entered the living area, pointing to the bloodstain in the middle of the floor. "How do we even know this is from the murder?"

     "Because it was only hours old when we were last here," said Fleur in a calm tone. "Which was only a day or so ago."

     I looked at David, who was already thumbing through the case file in his hands. "The woman's name was. . . Anita Bronson. . . Not a very Dusgelvish name, is it?" he looked up at Fleur, who shrugged. She was supposed to be the expert on the Dusgelvan; that's the other reason she was here. "She was killed. . . It says here by a Darkness spell, but that could mean anything. . ."

     I shrugged as I leaned down to examine the bloodstain myself. "Could also mean Black Mystia. . . The Maji Guard often mix the two up. . ." I said as rubbed my fingers softly along the rusty brown bloodstain. "I'm not sure if it's prejudice or what, but it's something that I noticed last year with the Sechi Legion case."

     Fleur nodded. "There has long been a prejudice against Darkness Mystia, even though it's White Mystia Arts. . ." she said, as she looked around the room more. "Even in Olympus."

     I shook my head. "But there are obvious differences. . . At least to me," I replied. This conversation was getting too far off track. "So that narrows it down, it has to have been a spell caster of some kind, either White or Black Mystia arts. Doesn't narrow it down a lot, though. . . What else?"

     Looking around the bloodstain, which was itself around a meter wide, quite large now that I thought about it, I could see small scratch marks and scuffs in the wood. I rubbed my fingers over them. . . Images of the fight I saw in my dream flashed through my mind. But this time, the assailant was shrouded in shadow. . . I could barely make out the features on their face. What could it mean? I wondered if my powers were indeed proving entirely unreliable here.

     "They don't seem to have any information on file for the woman. . ." said David as he looked up from the file with a frown. "But that's probably not unusual. . . Since the Dusgelvan Empire are a secluded people, I would be surprised if the Maji Guard have any information for any of them at all."

     I ran through the facts in my mind. So we knew nothing about the woman other than her name, which in itself might have been an alias, since, as David noted, the Dusgelvan Empire are an extremely secluded people. That might have just been a name she gave people to blend in. So that told us nothing. Other than that, we knew she was killed either via a Darkness or Black Mystia spell, so magic was involved. Judging by the size of the bloodstain on the floor, it appeared she bled out here. So whoever struck her with the spell left her here to die, most likely.

     The scuff marks and scratches on the wood floor told me that there was a struggle here, so she put up a fight. That was good; she didn't go quietly. "Well. . ." I said finally, as I looked up at everyone. "We know for certain it could not have been Zoe. . ." I continued as I smiled. "And not just because of her alibi. . . Whoever killed this woman used Darkness or Black Mystia; Zoe only knows spells for Element. For once, Zoe, your trouble with learning Mystia Casting is to your benefit. Whoever did this was a master."

     Zoe rolled her eyes at me. Fleur looked at me confused, though. "How do you figure? What about it tells you the killer is a master spellcaster?"

     I pointed to the scratches and scuff marks. "Because. . . The woman put up a fight. It takes Zoe a good second or three before she can get a spell off, because she has to remember the incantation and the proper hand gestures. But a master spellcaster, such as David here. . . They can get off a spell much faster than that, because they've memorised it all, right?"

     Fleur nods. "Right. . . It becomes second nature when you've practiced a spell enough times. . ." she said, following where I was going with this. "So what you're saying is that if it were Zoe, she would not have had enough time to get off the killing shot?"

     "Sorry, Zoe. . . But that's exactly what I mean," I replied, nodding as I stood facing everyone. "Plus, there's size to consider. . ." I continued as I walked around Zoe and Fleur, eyeing them up. "Fleur, you, being a Gelvaran, are a good stand-in for the victim. . . You are a good half a meter taller than Zoe. . . David?"

     David thumbed through the file and came up with an answer right away. "Anita was 2.2 meters tall, so Fleur is around the same. . ."

     "Alright. . . Based on size alone, Anita would have easily been able to fight Zoe off, most likely, I think. So that makes it statistically unlikely she could have possibly been the killer," I said, putting a cap on my case. I didn't know who the killer was just yet, but I knew for certain who it wasn't. And that was enough for me for now. Even if it pissed Zoe off. I smirked as she gave me an angry look.

     "You could have made your case a little less joyfully, you know. . ." Zoe told me pointedly. That was fair, but I was just excited I blew up the Maji Guard's entire theory. Though something about all of that still felt wrong to me. I felt like there was more at play here than we were seeing.

     As I went off to bed that night, I lay there still, staring off into space. Thoughts raced through my mind. Just what was this 'Haunter in the Dark'? And where had Zoe heard that phrase before? How could she have known about it? As I thought it over and over in my mind, I kept arriving right back at the original question: What was the 'Ancient Ones'? I thought for sure the two had to be related. Then I remembered what Fleur had said, that the Dusgelvan worshipped something by the same name. . . Could that have been where Zoe heard the phrase 'Haunter in the Dark'? If that was it, then perhaps Fleur could provide more information.

     Then my mind drifted back to the case. Could the two things be connected somehow, I wondered? I knew the victim was a Dusgelvan, so considering what Fleur had said, it was possible, but I couldn't really be sure. I couldn't even tell you yet who had killed her. I only knew that it couldn't have been Zoe. The Maji Guard had that all wrong.

     But then I remembered what they said. They told us they had a witness who placed her near the scene of the crime. That was obviously wrong, given her alibi; I knew for a fact that she was at home with me at the time of the murder. There was also the fact that the victim was killed by a Darkness colour or Black Mystia spell, neither of which Zoe knew at all. . . No matter where you looked, their case against her fell apart. So then why were they so focused on her? What led them to her in the first place? None of this made sense.

     Then there was the victim's name, or alias. Anita Bronson. . . The moment David said it, something about it rang familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place my finger on how or where I could have heard the name before.

     I turned over in bed. So the Dusgelvan worship something that could be the 'Ancient Ones'. Zoe had heard of the phrase 'Haunter in the Dark' somewhere before, but she couldn't tell me where; my guess was that maybe it was from her circle of friends. . . There had to be a connection in there somewhere.

     Now I was more certain than ever. . . This murder case was connected to the 'Ancient Ones', whatever that was. These separate things that seemed at first to be disconnected were, in fact, related. I only had to figure out exactly how these things were related now.

     I lay there all night, my eyes wide open, staring off into the darkness. There was no getting to sleep now; my mind was working overtime on these questions I had before me. Eventually, I sighed in frustration as I threw myself out of bed and went for the door; the sweet and earthy taste of tea was beckoning me. Maybe that would help me get to sleep. Or at the very least, I could get my brain to quiet down.

     I strolled out into the hallway, my eyes glancing to the left at the soft, luminous white and blue glow of the moons poking through the cloud cover outside. The stars danced around in the pitch-black sky. It was a beautiful night. One of the few saving graces of this desert land.

     Reaching the kitchen, my hand immediately went for the kettle. . . only to find it wasn't in its usual spot. . . Odd. It was usually hanging from a hook above the stovetop. But it wasn't there now. Where could it be? I searched around, looking for any sign of where it could have been moved to. I knew that Seth often used it for coffee in the mornings, and perhaps in the hustle of the previous morning he had forgotten to put it back up on the hook. It was an honest mistake, and one I would have completely understood, given everything that had happened. But yet, everywhere I looked, I could find not a single sign of it anywhere. I exhaled in frustration and utter confusion. Where could it have gone?

     I glanced up toward the living area for just a moment, and just then, as I did, my eyes fell upon a most peculiar sight. . . It couldn't be. . . It was the kettle, sitting on the coffee table by the sofa. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes in confusion. Was I seeing things? But as I looked, sure enough, there it was. I could hardly understand what was going on. . . How in the world could it have ended up all the way over there? It didn't seem possible.

     Slowly, I exited the kitchen and cautiously stepped toward it, taking timid steps along the way. I looked around as fear coursed through me. . . I knew this feeling. All too well. It was the same feeling I had in that house. It was the same as the other night. That same heaviness in the air, the weight on my chest. It was back! My hand went to my pocket as I pulled my comm stone out, fumbling with it as it flew from my hand and landed on the floor several centimetres away from me. My breath caught in my throat as I slowed my pace. Slowly, I reached down to pick it up. But suddenly, a shadowy mass emerged from the darkness and came flying straight for me. Instinctively, I jumped back as I focused my energy. Sparks and electricity flew out, and the crackling sound rang through the still night as it collided with my psychic barrier. . . And then, for but a moment. . . it looked as though I could just make out a face. . . Before suddenly, it was gone.

     I looked up and around as I lay there on the floor, confused. Was it gone? What in the world was that I just saw? I shook my head in utter disbelief as Zoe and Seth came running out, looking at me and asking what had just happened, what that noise was. . . but I couldn't answer them. For I had no answers for them. All I had was even more questions. . .