Kaleth hunched awkwardly in the back of the SUV. There had been utter silence the entire drive to this factory and it was obvious that he made the two boys uncomfortable. He watched the route they took so that he could scout out this factory alone at a later date if he needed to.
Finally they pulled up to a broken down old building. Half the windows were smashed or missing and the ones that were not were coated in grime and filth. The place hadn't actually been used in a decade or more. They walked slowly up to the heavy doors that were chained shut. Logan frowned and headed to the nearest busted out window. Kaleth shook his head and went up to the door. He held the lock in his hand for a moment, cursed under his breath for dramatic effect and slowly melted the lock and chain until he could snap it off. Nik grinned in awe as Logan returned to the door. Kaleth pulled it open and a cloud of stale dusty air billowed forth. Kaleth stepped in ahead of the two boys and listened carefully. Something crashed to the floor somewhere in the massive space. He grinned. There was definitely something here, whether it was vermin or a ghost he wasn't sure.
He stepped further in and looked around. The space was largely empty except a few pieces of old broken machinery. The room was not well lit, but just enough to make out the far wall and what looked like a few offices. That would be where the spirit would hide. They seemed to avoid wide open spaces. He picked his way over the debris littering the floor of the massive warehouse. There were papers, and fabric, and even an old shoe. As he neared the offices a cold draft came blowing at him and he could smell something in the air. Logan and Nik caught up to him and the breeze grew into a howling wind. They both looked scared and Kaleth couldn't blame them. Even he couldn't really do anything to defend against a ghost. The smell grew stronger and he started to cough. His vision started to blur and her looked to see Nik and Logan falling to the floor. Glancing up he could see not one but two ghostly forms headed in their direction. He leaned down to grab both the boys and began dragging them away from the two spirits. He was relieved that his vision returned to normal and he was able to breath properly.
As he neared the exit he looked back towards the glowing balls. They hadn't followed him as he feared they would. Instead of two there were now ten or more orbs of light floating, and watching. As he pulled them out of the door Nik was starting to come to and scrambling along to help. Logan seemed to have gained consciousness but was just staring at the spirits. As they cleared the building Kaleth let go of the two boys to go back and close the door. Nik had shakily risen to his feet and Logan was holding his head in his hands.
"I've never seen anything like that." he said. Kaleth rolled his eyes and coughed a few times, making sure his lungs were clear of whatever he'd inhaled in there.
"That is what Ramona looked like in the beginning, before she festered and became a poltergeist. Except there are a lot more spirits in there." Nik couldn't seem to stop shaking.
"What did they do to us. I thought if they actually had any power it would be ice or fire or something. What was that?" Nik asked. Kaleth shrugged as they all headed to the car together.
"It felt like suffocating. Not sure how but that obviously wasn't a pleasant death. We'll have to make sure we have good shield spell cast during the summoning." he said. Logan blinked at him in concern.
"Do you know of anyone who has a shield spell strong enough to hold THAT back?" he asked. Kaleth had to smirk, and then he couldn't help but actually laugh.
"You two have no idea how powerful Alexa is, do you?" Logan and Nik glanced at each other first before back at him.
"Are you serious? Most of the guild can put up a shield, but none that would survive more than a few hits." Logan said. Kaleth smiled even wider.
"It was strong enough to hold off Alistar's familiar." he said with a grin. Logan's raised an eyebrow.
"I thought Pitch was on her side of that fight." he said. Kaleth frowned.
"Most of it." he said quietly, not wanting to elaborate further and dig himself any deeper into the lie. They slowly gathered back into the SUV and started their trip back the the mansion. It wasn't quite as quiet and awkward on the way back. Maybe they'd bonded over being attacked and defending each other. They discussed possible death and how they would research them to find out what souls were haunting the building. Kaleth shared a theory that the iron rebar in the walls had somehow kept the spirits from moving on. As they pulled up the the mansion Alexa and Patrick were nowhere in sight. He hopped out of the vehicle and waved for the two of them to follow him.
He skipped up the steps and in the front door. He figured they were probably in the study where Alexa had started keeping a lot of her books. They entered the entryway and headed down the hall.
"How often are you here? Logan asked as he looked around. Kaleth grinned to himself a little.
"I live here." he said and Nik smirked at his friend. Logan scowled at that as they entered the study. Alexa looked up from her book with a grin.
"Did you find anything?" she asked. Kaleth nodded and made himself comfortable the one free chair.
"Lots." he said shortly. Patrick's eyes widened in excitement. He was like a kid on Christmas.
"Were they like Ramona? How many? Did you find out who they were? What kind of powers did they have?" he asked. Kaleth chuckled as Logan and Nik stepped awkwardly up to the table where there wasn't a chair available for them. Alexa held up the paper they had been working on then slid it to Kaleth, Logan and Nik's side of the table. Kaleth let Nik and Logan pick it up and read it first. If Alexa had read it over he was pretty sure that everything was covered. She had done his binding really well considering she had no idea what she was doing. The two boys both nodded as they read it over before offering it to him. He shook his head at the offer and turned back to Alexa and Patrick.
"There were a lot of spirits there. We will have to have a shield spell for the duration of the summoning. Some were fairly powerful." he said quietly. Nik grinned.
"Where there are so many spirits we can do lots of summoning there." he said. Obviously it had just occurred to him that he could summon a real familiar at the old factory too. Patrick read through the page again.
"So now all we need is the ingredients and I have to practise saying the words right?" he asked. Alexa nodded to her brother a little sad. He'd already summoned a familiar but was so out of it and under Alistar's control he couldn't even remember it. She wondered how much of that time was just a blank for him. Patrick's scrutiny was on Kaleth who just grinned and slowly climbed to his feet.
"I'll see what I can get together now, but we aren't summoning tonight. Maybe tomorrow." He said before leaving the room and heading for the lair.
The lair was dark and dank as usual. The awful smell had mostly dissipated but just enough lingered to remind you how gross it was and what had happened. He was pretty sure he could find almost all the ingredients there. What he couldn't find in the lair he knew where to find it elsewhere. He moved a few jars of pickled eyes, and grabbed the powdered snakeskin, and the dried eye of newt. There were a few other things he had to rummage through the pickled toes to find. The only ingredient they didn't have on hand was volcanic ash, but that was just a quick trip to an active volcano. That was something easy for him to pick up. He smiled a little to himself and debated on whether he should make the detour now or wait until they needed it. He opted to wait, and get back to see what Alexa and the boys were discussing. Entering the library it occurred to him that he hadn't seen Pitch since his return. He wondered where Alexa could have sent him, but didn't want to ask in front of their company. Logan and Alexa were discussing some of what she'd learned from Alistar's journal. Logan had taken his chair, so he sat the ingredients on the table then sat beside them. Nik was leaning awkwardly against one of the shelves as they chatted. Kaleth reasoned they would have to bring more chairs into this room if they were going to have guests often. It seemed like they chatted about trivial things forever before the two boys took their leave. Kaleth joined Alexa and Patrick in seeing them out. As they watched the suv pull out of the driveway Kaleth leaned down to Alexa.
"Where is the feline?" he asked curiously. Alexa glanced up at him and smirked.
"I sent him on a little spy mission." she said.
