After hearing Talon’s report on what had transpired at the Regional Nation Mall, it seemed like his investment into the Nexus Foundation had been the right move. As soon as he got off the phone, he had his driver take him to the airport where his private Lear jet was fueled and ready for takeoff. An hour later, he was in the air on his way to Ohio, fielding a series of calls with Dr. Mason. The Nexus Foundation and their Spirit Breaker program were about to get a chance to prove themselves in the field.
***
Casca was planning on joining him in person, a development that caught Talon off guard. As a Special Operator, he was used to a lot of autonomy and didn’t like the idea of the billionaire looking over his shoulder during a mission. Talon had no problem operating within a team, but Casca was a civilian ill prepared for what he might encounter on the front of his occult war. He was still pondering Casca’s impending arrival when sleep overtook him.
The next morning, his chirping cell phone awoke him. Casca was already outside in a car. A quick shower later, Talon slipped into the back of the billionaire’s limo and they merged into morning traffic. He could feel Casca’s eyes on him, and he shot his benefactor a dark grin.
“I know, I look like shit. Seeing dead people doesn’t agree with me.”
He took a deep sip of the coffee he’d grabbed on the way out of the hotel and wished he’d spiked it with something stronger. He pointed to two small white streaks on his sideburns that hadn’t been there the day before.
“A souvenir from last night.”
“The shock of a spectral entity passing through you can disrupt melanin levels,” Casca said.
Talon shook his head with disbelief. “How would you know something like that? Wait, don’t tell me.”
Rain pelted the windshield but the gray weather wasn’t impacting the billionaire’s buoyant mood. It was impossible not to pick up on the man’s excited energy. Casca reminded him of a gung-ho new recruit eager to take on the enemy. Once the bullets started flying and blood began to flow, he might change his tune.
“So what’s the plan?” Talon asked.
“Are you familiar with the Nexus Foundation?”
“Should I be?”
“They are the world’s leading experts on anomalous phenomena. A fancy term to describe ghosts.”
“You live for this shit, don’t you?”
Casca shrugged sheepishly. “We all have our interests.”
More like an obsession, Talon though. An obsession he was beginning to share.
He pondered the billionaire’s words. They’d often discussed the two universal forces coursing the universe, the light and the darkness. Both of these power sources could be accessed through occult ritual, and he’d both confronted the darkness and tapped into the light. Despite numerous conversations, ghosts and spirits were a subject they’d barely touched upon. He remembered the apparition of Michelle he thought he’d seen during his life-and-death battle with Zagan. At the time, he’d been convinced she’d returned to give him strength. Later on, he wasn’t so sure and seriously wondered if he might’ve imagined the whole thing.
As a professional soldier, death cast a large shadow over him, now more so than ever. Nevertheless, he never had dwelled too much on the possibility of life after death. Figuring out life was hard enough; part of his pragmatic character was to avoid wasting time on questions for which there were no definitive answers.
“Where are we going, by the way?”
“The Nexus Foundation is sending out some of their people to help us with our current problem. Dr. Adira Austen is their top parapsychologist, and I have a feeling she’ll have some helpful advice as we prepare to face the Reaper.”
Talon nodded, but the idea of setting foot in the abandoned mall again filled him with dread. “You know this stuff is insane.”
“It’s a hell of a thing to wrap your mind around. But it also illustrates how little we know about the world beyond. The Foundation’s philosophy is to use the scientific approach when it comes to the supernatural.” Casca’s face lit up with passion as he continued. “Nexus holds some of the best equipped para-psychological labs in the country. Their scientists are investigating what mystics have been talking about for centuries. Quantum physics, string theory, dark matter. New models of the nature of reality. Cutting edge, ground breaking stuff.”
“How much do they know about us? About what we do in the front line of this battle?”
“They know you work for me and that I have an interest in stopping occult threats, the Reaper being one of them. Beyond that, Dr. Mason and his team know not to ask too many questions.”
“I see.”
Talon still felt uncomfortable about turning this mission into a group effort. The Foundation and Casca were unknown variables that made the ultimate outcome of the mission harder to predict. But he could use some help. The Reaper and his followers weren’t like any enemy he’d ever faced before.
The limo pulled up to an office building and drove into its underground parking structure.
It was time to learn about ghosts.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ADIRA WAS SURPRISED to discover that Casca had rented the entire top floor of a downtown Ampton office building for the upcoming meeting. How much money did the man have to throw around? Her surprise deepened when she met the handsome, boyishly good-looking man. She had expected someone older, more serious looking. Casca clearly was a jet setter, but there was an intensity and sense of focus to his demeanor that caught her off guard.
She was even more taken aback by the intense man that accompanied him. Apparently he’d survived an encounter with a malicious entity. Casca had jokingly introduced him as “Talon, the most dangerous man alive,” but something about the man’s bearing convinced her that it wasn’t an empty jest. The man radiated danger, projecting a palpable edge. Something in his gaze felt familiar too. She’d spotted the same haunted expression on her own face in the wake of the traumatic events that had set her on her current quest to investigate the mysteries of the paranormal.
Adira asked to take a quick look at the wounds from the ghostly attack. Laying eyes on Talon’s scarred torso confirmed her first impression of the man. This wasn’t one of Casca’s golfing buddies who’d tagged along for the ride. Besides the numerous scars, which suggested a long, dangerous career that involved getting stabbed and shot, the man also boasted a fresh knife wound. Most disturbing of all was the inverted pentagram that someone had carved into his chest. Who was this man? And how did he know Casca? She suppressed the questions and focused on the task at hand.
“The burn marks are the result of a spirit’s electrical field reacting to organic tissue,” she explained as Chan snapped a series of photographs of the burn marks. “It should heal up pretty quickly with proper treatment.”
“Sounds like I’m ready for round two.”
The comment made her smile and Talon joined in, suddenly not looking quite so intimidating.
Afterwards, they headed for the conference room, where Casca quickly brought her up to speed on the Reaper case. The story felt fantastical, but the man’s scars were real. She wondered what Talon had been doing at to the Regional National Mall in the first place. Dr. Mason hoped to use the Spirit Breaker program to hunt and help ghosts, but what was Talon hunting?
Whatever the explanation might be, both Casca and Talon were deadly serious about this business and it immediately set the tone of their meeting. After Talon finished his story, there was a sense of expectation in the air. The two men were waiting for answers, and the ball was now in her court. It was time for her to show them what the Nexus Foundation had to offer—and that Casca’s trust and confidence in them was warranted.
“Most spectral entities pose no threat to the living,” she explained. “Even if ghosts wanted to attack a person, they are unable to generate enough energy to affect human tissue. That’s why the majority of people never actually see ghosts but only report hearing strange noises or experiencing moving o
bjects. Spectral apparitions have a tough time manipulating material reality. It’s far more common for them to possess a human host and use them to harm others.” There was a steely conviction in her voice. She was talking from personal experience.
“I guess the one I ran to is the exception to the rule. Lucky me.”
Casca cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Is there anything that could boost the power level of a spirit?”
Adira considered the question for a beat before she spoke. “Ghosts give off electro-magnetic energy, which is pretty much why any ghost hunter on reality TV worth his money has an EMF reader. Dr. Mason has speculated that entities may not merely emit EMFs but also draw on them. In other words, an electro-magnet could make a spirit more powerful.”
Casca’s face lit up with interest. “What are you saying? There’s an electro-magnet inside the Regional National Mall?”
“Possible. But we’ve also observed that specters have the ability to draw on certain humans in a similar fashion. Psychics, in particular.”
“The Lightwalker,” Talon said.
“He sounds like he may have the gift and is acting as the Reaper’s psychic battery.”
“So if we take out the Lightwalker, we won’t have to worry about the Reaper,” Talon said.
Adira regarded Talon for a moment. The way he said take out sounded suspiciously like he was talking about terminating the cult leader. Once again, she wondered who this man was and what his connection to Casca might be.
“In theory it would weaken the entity. Reports of the hauntings at the National Regional Mall preceded the arrival of the Lightwalker, but his presence appears to have taken the entity’s abilities to a whole other level.”
Talon considered this and said, “How do I get past the Reaper? Casca said you guys could help.”
Adira took a deep breath and said, ”Let me show you.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ADIRA STARTED THE next part of her presentation with a detailed rundown of the necro-helmet. Talon was used to amazing military kit. From “Fusion” Spiral Enhanced Night Vision Goggles that allowed operators to pick up heat signatures to the use of drones in combat, he’d handled some cutting edge gear in his day. Despite these experiences, the tech that Dr. Adira was demonstrating seemed to have come straight out of a Marvel movie.
If she was to be believed, the helmet would allow him to keep track of the Reaper at all times as if the ghost were a real person. Suddenly Casca’s investment in Nexus was beginning to make sense, and Talon wondered how much this had set back the billionaire. Some rich guys bought diamond rings for the Eastern European supermodels they were wooing; Casca clearly had other priorities.
Talon donned the necro-helmet and activated the system. The conference room was bathed in a red tint. He tilted his head at Casca and said, “Should I take a selfie?”
“Cut it out,” Caca said jokingly.
Talon turned toward Adira. “So what else have you got?”
He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the parapsychologist. Why would a young, attractive woman devote her life to the study of the supernatural? Had some past trauma pushed her toward this world? Was she too a victim of the occult? He promised himself to inquire further about the enigmatic doctor when he and Casca were alone again.
His focus shifted back to Adira’s presentation. She was pointing at a mannequin decked out in a futuristic body suit. It reminded him of a green wetsuit covered with a second layer of protection consisting of armored plates along the chest, calves, thighs, arms, and back.
“Necro-armor. All part of the Spirit Breaker system,” Adira explained.
“Spirit Breaker? Who came up with that one?” Talon asked.
“I believe that was the brainchild of the gentleman to your left.”
Talon flashed the billionaire an appreciative look. “Nice one, Casca.”
“The Spirit Breaker generates a magnetic field that wards off spectral energy sources,” Adira said.
Talon remembered how the Reaper had reached into his chest. Such a suit would’ve come in handy during his last confrontation.
“Cool idea, but does it work?”
“We’re about to find out, aren’t we?” Adira said. “This will be the suit’s first test run. But I assure you the science behind is quite sound.”
“I guess I’ll have your word for it.” Talon shot Casca a curious glance. “So how much did these toys set you back?”
Casca pouted and said, “You don’t want to know.”
Adira nodded at a pair of gloves that had been laid out on the conference table. “The gloves are made of the same material. If you make contact with a spectral energy field, an electro-magnetic charge powers up the gloves. Allows you to attack a ghost as if it were solid.”
Adira turned toward a futuristic looking rifle. “And finally, this is our Ecto-pulse rifle.”
“Personally I was hoping we could just call it the ghost gun, but I was overruled,” Casca commented.
Ignoring the comment, Adira continued. “The pulse rifle emits a concentrated magnetic distortion field. It disrupts the coherence of ghosts.”
“What happens if I cross the streams?” The joke earned Talon a long look from everyone. “Whoa, tough crowd,” he said.
“The rifle won’t destroy a ghost but will slow it down,” Adira said.
“So how do I kill the Reaper?”
“You can’t. At least we don’t have any technology that can permanently disintegrate a spectral presence.”
Talon eyed Casca. “Do you have anything else useful in your magical arsenal? The Reaper sure didn’t like your amulet.”
“Most entities aren’t powered by the darkness directly, and the amulets and talismans tend to be useless against them. The Reaper’s violent reaction to the pentacle suggests that his continued presence on this plane is the direct result of his black magic dealings.”
“Meaning what?”
“I studied some of the tattoos on his body. They are…interesting.”
Casca punched up a few photos on his smart phone and showed them to Talon and Adira. The image revealed a circle filled with triangles and exotic symbols that vaguely recalled the sigils the apocalypse soldier had left behind in Father Cabrera’s church in Arizona.
“What am I looking at?”
“The symbol is used in forms of necromancy. You know what that is?”
“The magical ability to summon the dead,” Talon said without hesitation. Casca paused, an eyebrow raised, and Talon grinned. “I’m a fast learner.” It was beginning to all make sense. The Reaper had used dark magic to remain in this world even after Detective Benson’s bullets had struck him down. His powers remained weak, though, until the Lightwalker showed up and psychically weaponized the ghost.
Talon turned to Adira. “So the Spirit Breaker will slow down the Reaper but won’t destroy him.”
“Hopefully it will buy you enough time to get to the Lightwalker. He is the psychic power source. Once he’s dealt with, the Reaper will be less of a problem.
“Is there a way to send this monster to hell for good?” Talon asked.
There was a beat of hesitation before Adira spoke again. “If the Reaper’s spirit took possession of a living person and if that person were killed, both souls would phase over into the afterlife.”
“Good to know.” Talon paused for a beat before he said, “There’s something else. What do you think the Reaper is after? What’s the endgame here?”
“The dead don’t have an endgame,” Adira explained. “All that’s left for them is to repeat the patterns that prevented them from moving on in the first place. They’re trapped in an eternal loop. The Reaper’s life was defined by murder and death, and this still holds true today.”
Talon stepped up to the ecto-rifle and powered up the experimental ghost-hunting weapon. He regarded Casca with a deeper understanding. “You and Dr. Mason hope to turn the Spirit Breaker program into another unit of this war we’re fighting, aren’t
you?”
“That’s the vision we share,” Casca said. “Some souls cannot accept their passing and become lost. They just need help. The kind of help Dr. Austen and her team can provide. Others are evil like the Reaper. Unwilling to face the afterlife, determined to remain on this world, their sole comfort the misery and pain of the living.”
“You’ll need soldiers to hunt these specters.”
“If we can find some recruits. Know anyone who might be crazy enough to sign up?”
“Only one person. And you’re looking at him.”
A red light ignited inside the ecto-rifle’s main chamber, and his hands trembled with its surging power. Talon’s lips stretched into a dark grin. The occult assassin was ready for his rematch.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CASCA HAD PROVIDED the Nexus team with a top-of-the line mobile command center housed within a black bus. Adira, Chan, and the billionaire were hunched behind a series of monitors and computers in the main command area. The system would allow them to interface with the necro-helmet and follow the action inside the haunted mall beat by beat in real time.
Talon emerged from the bus’s restroom, now fully suited up in the necro-armor. The material perfectly conformed to his body almost as if it had been custom-made to his measurements. He’d initially worried the suit might be too bulky and constrain his mobility, but the opposite was true. The armor clung to him like a second skin, and he felt empowered and ready to go to war.
Casca was the first to look up from one of the monitors. “How does it feel?”
“Where’s the cape and cowl?”
There was a twinkle in Casca’s eyes, but otherwise he maintained his poker face. “We should be reaching the mall in fifteen minutes.”
Talon nodded and turned toward the small arsenal mounted on the far wall of the comm center not covered by terminals. He snatched his machine pistol and ran it through some quick checks, an old ritual that helped him calm his nerves and prepare for combat.
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