Pitch moved next to another ghost, as he approached he could see its form solidify and recognize a human shape. This one was male, with short hair. He turned to watch Pitch who warily backed up a bit. The ghost didn't move towards him, just stared curiously. He was young, probably not over twenty-five. He turned his head to the side.
"Why are you here? The boss doesn't let outsiders in without a visitors pass." He said slowly. Pitch nodded seriously as he backed away.
"I'd better go get that." He said and vanished. He could see the spirit return to whatever it had been doing before he poked at it. He moved closer to one of the more confused ones. This one was a female, long brown hair hung down past her shoulders.
"What happened? Why did we all have to die? I have so much more I want to do with my life." she said, without even looking at Pitch. He didn't bother using the shadows to move to the next.
"It hurt so bad, now there is nothing." said the one he had picked at. He moved through the crowd and slowly got to know each spirit, making a point to avoid the mean two. None of them attacked him so when he was done he slipped closer to the two "boss" ghosts. He clung to the shadows wary should they notice him. As he approached he could see their forms solidify. Both were older gentlemen and they were looking across the factory and speaking quietly to each other. They were sizing Kaleth up it appeared.
"This one's stubborn, we should block the doors so he can't leave this time. Wonder where his friend went. " The one on the right said. They were obviously not factory workers like the rest. They were both wearing suit and tie. The one on the left glanced around.
"They aren't humans, I'm not sure they can be killed." He said, he continued to look too, "The workers haven't really noticed but the dark one vanishes into thin air. Pitch moved further away, intending to return to Kaleth. These two were not to be messed with. The one on the left turned to look at him as he faded out of sight.
"There's the other one." He heard it say before he was grabbing Kaleth and heading for the doors. They were out with plenty of time before the ghosts could catch up.
"They were sizing you up." Pitch explained as they walked further from the building, "I can probably help Alexa ID most of them now. We will have to find out more about and be careful of those two." he said. They stopped and looked at each other. He didn't want to assume the dragon would want him to teleport them home but he was definitely faster. Kaleth stared back obviously not used to asking for anything and they were they a few minutes in awkward silence before Kaleth snarled.
"Let's get home then." He said holding out his arm for Pitch. Pitch smirked to himself as he moved them back to Alexa's study. Alexa looked up as they appeared. Usually, she didn't hear him when he was alone but the dragon must breathe loudly or something. He stepped away from the dragon to see what Alexa was doing. She was still going over the spell so he pulled her laptop closer and typed in a few details. He pulled up a news article about the factory and turned the computer so Alexa could look at it. She read it out loud.
"Machinery malfunction leads to leaking gases and deaths at a local factory." There was only the one clipping that had been scanned. Over fifty people had lost their lives. Several workers and the partners who owned the plant. They pulled up the obituaries and Pitch was able to identify eleven of the thirteen ghosts. The two partners were easily identified as the two more dangerous ghosts. the other nine were some of the workers. They had to assume the other two were more workers that he didn't recognize right off and the rest of the workers had moved on. Pitch wrote down each of the names and left a little blurb beside each of them. The owners, Darius Thorton and Hector Newman were both workaholics that cheeped out on the machinery repairs and were responsible for the machinery breaking and the fire that caused. The fire was burning toxic materials so the workers that weren't injured by the equipment or the fire, died inhaling toxic fumes. This explained Kaleth, Nik and Logan's reaction when they had visited. That gave them an idea of what that ghost would have as powers as well. Once they had a list of names Alexa tried to find the coroner's report for each. She was fighting with the password system and trying to hack in when Patrick returned. Pitch grinned and handed him the list of names and two mystery people. Patrick read through it eyes wide.
"This is the spirits in the factory? There are thirteen holy that's a lot. The partners sound a bit mean but look at all these other ones. Who figured out who they were?" He asked. Kaleth nodded in Pitch's direction.
"So you got to see all of them. Which ones seemed strong but easy to capture? Would you avoid the two owners? Which one do you think would work best? Did they attack you or were they peaceful? Which one seemed to have the coolest powers?" he asked all in one breath. Pitch took a step back and laughed a little.
"I don't know, I'd avoid this one, these guys and her." He said pointing to a few. The guy had been angry, at what he wasn't sure but seemed unstable. The girl was so confused she seemed unpredictable and made him uncomfortable. The two owners were definitely ones he'd avoid. The two unknown worried him slightly but they had seemed stable. Patrick looked over the list slowly and circled one. Pitch pulled the paper over and looked closer at who he was thinking. It was one of the younger ghosts. A female, but not the one that had stunned him when he tried to teleport her. She had been angry but not so much that she seemed dangerous. Just mad about the unfairness of being dead so early in her life. Pitch nodded, she was riskier than some of the other ones but not so much that he'd say to avoid her.
Her name had been Kitana Wile. She was only 18, working in the factory for the summer between high school and college where she never got to go. Alexa was still fighting with the death records and Patrick moved to look at the screen. Alexa hesitated before pushing the laptop into his reach. He had a knack for computer things. As long as he didn't blow it up things would be fine. He hacked it open and they pulled up the girl's coroner's report. Her body had been badly burned so they assumed it was a combination of fire and smoke that had killed her. Alexa seemed satisfied with that and slowly slid her computer away from her brother. They both reviewed everything and nodded. Alexa dug her cell phone out and texted Logan. They planned to give the summoning a try the next day.
With the ghost decided on Kaleth moved away from the table to lounge in his favorite chair. He stretched his legs over the edge and put his hands behind his head. He relaxed and allowed his tail and wings to return. He didn't do it often but it felt nice to relax and just be himself. He never realized maintaining his human appearance was tiring until he actually had to do it for long periods of time.
"Alexa will have to use her shield spell. If we work near the entrance there can be a quick escape. Pitch can move the ghost Patrick picked into the shield and while Patrick is casting Pitch I can defend him if she decides to attack." he said. Alexa nodded figuring this would work. Patrick was almost vibrating with happiness and excitement.
"So tomorrow? Did you tell him what time? Do we have all the ingredients? I have to practice the spell work some more don't I?" he said, more to himself than anyone else. He picked up the papers with the wording and headed to his bedroom. Pitch gathered up the rest of the papers. Stacking them neatly next to Alexa's computer. He looked to see what she was going to do. She sighed and got up to go to bed. She wasn't sure she could sleep thinking about tomorrow but she'd definitely need the rest.
