DARKNESS OF HEAVEN: CURSED OF THE WHITE LADY

CHARLOTTE'S MANSION

TheCharlotte Mansion looms in the distance, shrouded in thick fog,resembling a haunted house from a horror movie. The Mansion itselfsits on an acre of land with its own cemetery. A transparent misthovers over the warm, wet grounds, and its iron gates appeardecrepit, resembling a toothless woman. Gibbins and Maya arriveon-site.

They park the Cargo Van, climb out, unpack theirgear, and set up shop. Their construction lights shine in thedarkness. Maya can feel a sense of unease creeping up on her as shetakes in the decrepit iron gates and the mist hovering over thecemetery. The bright lights they brought to illuminate the area onlyserve to cast eerie shadows on the mansion's facade.

As they finish setting up their gear, the tensionin the air is palpable. Maya can't shake the feeling that they'rebeing watched by something or someone lurking in the shadows."Everything's a go," says Gibbins as he fires up hiscomputers.

"This is one creepy old place, Professor,"says Maya, with a hint of fear in her voice as he gawks at theManson.

A police vehicle pulls up, and a policewoman eyesGibbins suspiciously. "Excuse me, sir, do you have a permitfor this residence?" she asks.

Gibbins produces the necessary documents,identifying himself as the City Deputy Mayor of Areth. The officerchecks the papers. "Everything seems to be in order, DeputyMayor Silverstone."

Gibbins takes back his paperwork and stuffs itinside his coat pocket. "Thank you, officer. You have a niceevening," he responds coldly.

The woman's face momentarily transforms into askull, glistening off the moonlight. "Do be careful, Mr.Silverstone. Men who venture into these parts often wind up missing,"she warns. Then, she drives off into the misty night, vanishing fromsight like an apparition.

Goosebumps crawl up Gibbins' spine as he tries toshake off the uneasy feeling. "Nice try, spooky, but thatwill not scare me off that easily," he says to himself as hesits at his computer.

Unaware of the tension, Maya continues to gaze atthe dilapidated mansion, noticing the ivy vines and broken windows. "Is everything okay, Professor?" Maya asks.

Gibbins forces a smile, his nervousness showing."Yes, everything's fine. We've got work to do, so let'sfocus," he says.

Maya turns to him, sensing his apprehension."What's our game plan, Professor?" she asks.

Gibbins explains that they must investigate thehistory of the Mansion, looking for clues that might lead them totheir target. Gibbins runs his fingers over his keyboard, trying togather information about the mansion. He says, "First, wehave to investigate the history, which I am doing at this moment as Ipursue some articles."

"Okay, what do you want me to do?"Maya inquires, feeling redundant.

"You see that phone-like device in the van?That's an Electromagnetic Fields device or what we call an EMF,"he explains.

She grabs the ghost instrument, "So, withthis EMF, what am I looking for?" she asks. Maya fiddleswith the device, trying to figure out how it works.

Gibbins sees Maya struggling to operate the device,so he pulls away from his computer, approaches her, and shows her howto work the EMF device. "Maya, a popular theory is thatghosts are pure energy. The EMF is designed to detect fields emittedby moving electrically charged objects. Be sure there are no livewires or power boxes around because it will also pick up those energysignals. That's why this device works great in places like this;there is no power source to interfere," he explains.

"In other words, it measures fieldsproduced by alternating current," Maya says, trying to showshe understands.

"Yes, you nailed it," Gibbinscompliments.

"Thank you," Maya replies, feelingrelieved.

She walks away and begins to scan the area. Mayapicks up a humming whistle from her device, which now has lightsturning red and the meter bar active. "Professor, I'm notsure what I'm looking at, but I hear this humming whistle from thedevice, and the bar shows the temperature dropping quickly,"Maya says.

Maya stops with disbelief as she sees the WhiteLady on the balcony; she appears transparent, and Maya thinks she isdreaming.

Gibbins steps up next to Maya, and he also sees thefloating apparition. The White Lady locks her eyes on Gibbins, then agust of wind blows off his hat. "I am not falling for thisone," he says.

He picks up his hat, Maya moves up next to him, whois staring at the ghost with disbelief. "I think I amdreaming," she says.

Gibbins pinches her to show her she is notdreaming. "Ouch, why did you do that?" she asks,holding her arm.

Gibbins smiles, "You're not dreaming, Maya.I see it too," he says as he stares at the transparent womanfloating on the balcony.

Maya couldn't believe her eyes as she stood theredumbfounded, rubbing her arm. "What do we do now, Professor?"Maya asks.

The White Lady disappears just as Azrael pulls in.He dismounts from his motorcycle and joins Gibbins and Maya. "DidI miss anything?" Azrael asks.

"No, your just in time for the show,"Gibbins reports with a quip.

Azrael moves to the Dragonslayer, opens the reardoors of the vehicle, and opens some weapon crates. He waves at Maya getting her attention. She moves over to him as he opens the crates,revealing neatly arranged bullets, magazines, along with two ninemillimeter handguns with laser sights. "Here's what we havein our armory.

He pointsto each of the weapon crates with the bullets, "Maya,these are armor-piercing bullets; they're fantastic against creatureswith plates and thick hides. We also have these witch-huntingbullets, capable of killing any witches no matter how powerful theymay seem. And here we have iron ghost bullets.

"Bullets for ghost?" she questioned witha sense of humor.

"Yes, while ghosts cannot die, these bulletswill keep them at bay anything with iron is a good weapon,"he explains.

Azrael picks up a shotgun from one of the crates,loads homemade salt shells into it, and cocks the gun. "Theseare salt rounds. They will leave a mark on anything living, but theyare lethal to evil spirits. When you encounter them, do not hesitateto shoot. Malevolent spirits can throw you across rooms, and they cankill you if you're not protected by Y'shua," he explains.

Maya stands there, listening attentively. She giveshim a look of arrogance, and Azrael interprets it as her not fullyunderstanding. "I understand you can handle a gun as a cop,but as a hunter its a total different ball game?" Azraelinforms her, concerned for her safety.

Maya smiles smugly, takes one of the handguns,loads the iron magazine, cocks the weapon, and gets ready to use it."This gun feels like the real deal," she sayscoldly.

Azrael smiles and hands her the holster for hergun. "Good. Now gear up," he commands.

He looks at Gibbins as Maya gears up. "Areyou coming?" Azrael asks.

Gibbins laughs, hiding his fear. "You knowthis creature does not like us men, right? I want you to know that Iwould love to participate in this hunt, but this apparition hasalready appeared to me twice—first as a policewoman, believe it ornot, and then as a floating, torso-like apparition."

"Azrael, I'm not like you, and I believe Mayawould get along with her just fine. As such, I will stay behind to dothe research, to find a weakness so you can put this ghost to rest,"Gibbins says, feeling a shiver run through him.

Azrael laughs and turns to Maya, who is listeningintently. She gives off a look of disbelief and fear as she finishesstrapping her gear on. "Are you ready for this?"Azrael asks Maya.

Maya remains silent with a stoic look ofdetermination. Gibbins hands his teammates ear radio transceivers,which they insert into their ears. "We'll stay incommunication with these," Gibbins says as he turns back tohis computers. Azrael glances at Maya, "You're on my six;let's move out," he commands.