Ghosts of Philadelphia

Twelve

Not even three hours after Rob's attempt at calling his mother, the team'd at least managed to get in touch with a local priest who was more than willing to help them. He was still waiting to hear back from his mother since she hadn't answered, which'd forced him to leave her a message, but at least he could say he'd tried. The thing that mattered was that they were able to focus on other avenues that needed to be covered in the meantime, considering they were equally important.

        All the menfolk that were in the team's headquarters–including the priest, Bishop Augustine Achenbach–were startled by a sudden commotion in the hallway. It sounded like a group of people were heading their way, the most prominent voice being distinctly female. From the sounds of things, there was a male trying to Calm the woman down, another female who was clearly worried, but trying to help him as much as she could.

        The thing that caught the oldest brunette's attention was the language the person was speaking, 'cuz there were only three other people he knew who could speak it. For that reason, he all but launched himself up outta his seat and headed for the door, completely ignoring even the Bishop questioning what he was doing. As soon as he got the door to their conference room open, he could hear the commotion far more clearly, and his suspicion was confirmed. It certainly brought a smile to his face as he turned in the Direction of the commotion and raised his fingersta his mouth to let out an ear-piercing whistle.

        "Oh, my baby boy!" Lynda cried, breaking free of the hands holding her back and running to him.

        "Settle down, Mama," he chuckled, even as he wrapped his arms around the woman who was practically a midget compared to him. "Am I to assume ya got the message I leftcha?"

        "Message–what message?" his mother asked, confusion marring her features as she pulled back from his hug to look at him. "I dragged Don and Patty out here, 'cuz I got the bad feeling thatcha were in trouble."

        "Ah, fuck me," Rob groaned, his smile never fading. "Well, might as well get in here so I can bring everybody up to speed."

        Even his older siblings nodded as they followed him into the room he'd appeared from.

        "Before I do that, though, I gotta ask where Zak's at," the oldest brunette said.

        "Don't worry about him, lil brother," Patty chuckled. "He and all his cousins're with Chris and Molly."

        "Thank the Gods, 'cuz he definitely doesn't need to be in the middle of all this," he sighed, slumping against the door after he'd closed it.

        "So, what on Earth ruffled Mom's Feathers so bad?" Butch asked, crossing his arms.

        "First things first, introductions," Rob chuckled. "Ya already know who Bret and Rikki are, and vice versa."

        Nodding, his family listened as he introduced the team's historian, followed by his young apprentice, and finally the Bishop they were working with. Lynda almost immediately made a beeline for the younger Medium, fussing over him almost like a mother Hen as she checked him over as if he were one of her sons. Richie couldn't help a chuckle, even though he winced when she brushed his throat since it was sore and bore several bruises from his earlier incident. He was a bit surprised to see just how similar his psychic teacher's siblings looked to him, but he decided to file that away for later.

        After everybody'd been introduced to each other, the oldest brunette took the reins once again so he could fill in his family. Starting at the very Beginning when he'd first arrived in Philadelphia, he walked them through everything that'd happened in the last month or so. Naturally, they were all disturbed to hear that he'd sensed some kinda negative presence right from the get-go, but kept their mouths shut for the Time being.