Eliza's Aquarium was the size of a large factory building, two stories tall, and with a dark black exterior that gave it a slightly menacing appearance. One they had clearly tried to counteract by putting up large glass pictures of seals and cute fish and the like.

They were going to have to step up their game, though. The trees cast long shadows that danced as the wind blew through them, adding greatly to the slightly sinister atmosphere.

There was something else about the place. Something that I couldn't put my finger on. Something off. It brushed at the edge of my awareness in such a way that I couldn't tell if it was a magical feeling or my brain playing tricks on me.

"Giant crabs." I smacked Ben without turning. "Oh, would you shut up!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him flatten his lips into a line and give a single firm nod. "Giant crabs." He said again in the same tone. I started to smile, but the expression died on my lips as I caught sight of John's face.

He was crying. His too-tight skin drawn back into a rictus of pain that made him look like a grimacing skull. Two tracks of almost translucent tears were rolling down his hollow cheeks. I didn't need to ask whether or not this was the place. Whatever happened to him, it had happened here.

Ben and I exchanged grim looks, no longer finding any humor in the situation.

We both started walking towards the aquarium's front doors. John didn't follow. He didn't so much as move an inch closer to the building.

Ben spoke, breaking the tense silence that had formed. "You know, I've never actually been to one of these fish zoos. It's kinda sad, really. Somehow I don't think I'm going to come out of this with a good impression of them."

A part of me wanted to ask Ben how he'd never managed to float into an aquarium in his decades as a ghost; the rest of me was far too focused on the task ahead to care. Both of our eyes tracked over the building as we approached the doors, scanning for anything off. As we got closer, I could smell salt on the wind. It was mixed with something else, a foul smell I couldn't place.

The hairs at the back of my neck stood on end as we reached the double glass doors of the entrance. I still couldn't tell if I was picking up anything magical, but this place was giving me a bad feeling all the same.

We both noticed the sign at the same time. It was hung on both doors, impossible to miss. "Eliza's Aquarium is currently closed for maintenance. Were sorry for the inconvenience!" Strange. It wasn't tourist season, but it was still a surprise that the aquarium was down.

Though, what wasn't surprising was that I hadn't heard anything. I had gone into town yesterday, but I had ignored everything except for the hikers. And it had been at least a month before that since I had last headed into town.

The closed aquarium and John's sudden appearance might have been coincidences. Ben and I looked at each other, and I nodded. Possible, but not likely.

I wanted to get this done quickly. To just have Ben push open the door from the other side for me. We would have a quick look inside, figure out John's last request, then I could go to bed.

Instead of that, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was tired and in pain, which made me want to rush. I already had a bad tendency to get tunnel vision when focusing on a task. If I didn't rain that instinct in it could get me killed.

I opened my eyes and turned away from the aquarium. "First things first, we need more information." Ben nodded in agreement. "Layla?" He asked, his tone wary. I smiled, and Ben groaned. The nice thing about having so many undead friends was that even if you're an antisocial misanthrope, you're almost guaranteed to know at least one ghost who isn't.

Layla Vern was one such ghost. She died in her mid-thirties and had only been a ghost for a few years. She spent most of her time watching over her family and lurking in cafés and coffee shops to eavesdrop on conversations and gossip. Hers wasn't a last request that could be easily fulfilled. She didn't just want to hear her favorite song one last time or her child laugh.

She would move on when she was certain her family had. When she was sure her husband, whose life had boiled down to taking care of the kids and working, started acting like he hadn't died with her.

I had met them a few times, but I wasn't any good at fulfilling those types of requests. Despite her situation, Layla was quite a cheerful woman. And very few things made her as happy as having an excuse to talk about town gossip. Really, she didn't need an excuse. Just a chance to start, then you'd be lucky to get a word in edgewise. I walked past John; whose eyes were still fixed on the aquarium. Ben stopped next to him, and I could hear him trying to have a conversation with the man as I walked further away.

I didn't want to be anywhere within 100 yards of the aquarium when I called Layla. I didn't have a phone, a watch could tell the time just fine, and there was no one I would call anyway. Considering that none of my friends or family could hold a cell phone for any length of time without it falling through their hands. I did, however, have a way to call a ghost. To do it, I had to unveil my aura, and if there was anything in the aquarium that cared to notice, it would be like tying stakes to my back in the middle of the woods.

Once I was 100 yards or so from the aquarium, I stopped. This was probably far enough. I walked over to a tree and sat down against it, careful not to press too hard on the bruised sections of my back. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then I slowly, and carefully unveiled my aura.

It was a motion not un-similar to unwrapping bandages... But with my mind. Some people had theorized that the aura was a personification of one's soul. While others insisted that it represented the owner's life force, while others still disagreed and said it came entirely from the user's mind.

I wasn't huge on magical theory, it interested me, but I was a country hick in terms of magical education. Personally, I thought of my aura as a mixture of the three. A representation of body, mind, and soul. If that was true, then my soul felt rather sore as I unwrapped it.

Burning so much of my shroud in one go had left its mark. Even though the actual amount of my shroud I had parted with was minuscule when compared to its overall size, it still left me with magical pains. It was kind of like completely tearing some of your muscles to lift something you normally wouldn't be able to. You get the job done, but you suffered a permanent loss in order to do it.

Of course, the loss of my shroud wasn't technically permanent. I could build it back up. But, continuing on with the analogy, it would be like growing entirely new muscle, not healing the damaged ones.

Tentatively, I stretched my aura out around me as much as I dared. So about 2 feet. I was still compressing my aura, keeping it closer to my body that it would naturally be. But unlike with a full veil, I could use my aura like this.

Concentrating, I felt my way along my aura. It felt like a calm lake, smooth and gentle. It always felt like that, regardless of how the rest of me felt. But that was being a Telss for you. Once my mental grip landed on my shroud, I paused. As gently as I could, I willed a small piece of my shroud to separate but didn't do anything with it yet. The little nugget of power represented only a few hours of work.

With my eyes closed, I began to build a mental image of Layla. I started as I always did, with the eyes. They say that they are the windows to the soul. Personally, I've never needed to look in someone's eyes to see their soul, but they still had power, nonetheless.

Layla had striking eyes. Dark brown with streaks of Amber running through them like veins of gold. They weren't products of magic, just unique genes. However, for this to work, I needed to go deeper than appearances. I had to think of the person they belong to.

The eyes gained a warmth and enthusiasm that could be felt, like the heat given off by a fire--matched with an equally fierce curiosity.

With the eyes done, I moved to the rest of the head, moving much faster. High cheekbones that looked slightly out of place on her round face. Frizzy brown hair that went just past her shoulders. Then a small, somewhat chubby frame. She was dressed in a black sweater and khaki pants.

I went over every detail, ensuring that each one was correct. It was a process that used to take me hours to get done correctly. Now it took me a handful of minutes.

Once I was sure the image was correct, I maneuvered the nugget of power, invisible to the normal eye, till it floated in front of me. Then I pushed it out of my aura. At the same time, I pushed the image out of my head. The power rushed out of sight, with the image imprinted into it. It would go straight to Layla, assuming she was close enough that it could reach her before it ran out of steam.

Doing this wouldn't work to get a living person's attention; at least I didn't think it would. A Telss's aura did very specific things and couldn't be altered into a different type of aura. Mine affected ghosts, but the exact effect it had on them could change somewhat, depending on my intent. It could weigh them down, slowing them from moving. Eventually, doing this would form a mental connection between me and the ghost.

The steady calmness of my aura would settle their insanity. At the price of those memories being pushed onto me, permanently. In perfect detail. But it could also be used just to settle someone's mind, balancing out their emotions. That effect worked on living people as well as ghosts.

Burning my shroud, as well as empowering my auras normal uses, could also call–

"Alder! How are you doing?"

I opened my eyes to see Layla standing in front of me. Her arms open wide. I got up with a small groan of pain and gave her a hug. Layla was short, around 5'2, which meant she only had two inches on me. She hugged me back. She had noticed my groan of pain, so the hug was mercifully light.

Hugging a ghost was cold, like wrapping your arms around a bag of ice with a towel or two wrapped around it for insulation. Layla released me, then looked me over. Her expression told me that she wasn't happy with what she found. "Bruises, too many bruises! What did you do?" I chuckled. "Got ran over by a horse." She raised thin eyebrows. "Well, I suppose you're looking pretty good then. Though getting run over by a horse doesn't excuse the fact that you haven't come to see me in a month!" Still chuckling, I shook my head.

"I haven't been into town in a month, Layla, you know I visit you when I make my rounds."

Layla sighed but nodded in acknowledgment. "What is it that you need? I know that calling me like this isn't free for you." I nodded, thankful for her straightforwardness. She knew that if I called her with my aura, it meant I was doing something serious.

"The aquarium, have you heard anything about it recently?" The small woman's eyes lit up like a child waking up on Christmas morning. "So, you want to know some town gossip, do you?" She rubbed her hands together like that same kid finding the presents. "There is some talk going around. A few weeks ago, the place closed for maintenance. That's the official story, at least, but no one really believes it. No one is sure what actually happened. There have been quite a few rumors, though. One of which is particularly interesting." She paused, clearly waiting for me to ask about the rumor.

I humored her. "Go on." Smiling, she continued. "They say an octopus escaped its exhibit, and that one of the tanks collapsed." I furrowed my brow. Why on earth would something like that cause the aquarium to shut down for weeks?

Layla nodded as if she could read my mind and agreed with what I was thinking. "The official story is that one of the tanks cracked, and the aquarium has been closed until they're sure everything is safe." My gaze flicked towards the aquarium for a moment, then back to Layla. Whatever had happened, it could definitely have something to do with why John had only now shown up, despite obviously being linked to a place inside the town.

A thought struck me, and I said, "You know, now that I think about it, I haven't heard any ghost stories about the aquarium. That's pretty odd for this town." Layla bit her lip, something she often did when thinking. "You're right; I don't think I've heard any either. How odd..."

I turned my face to the aquarium, and to John, who was still standing there with Ben. I thought about the odd feeling I had gotten from the aquarium. What were the chances that this was related to John? With my luck? Pretty high. I turned and gave Layla another quick hug. "Thank you, Layla." She smiled. "Come visit me soon, Agatha threatened to strangle me if I visit her more than once a month and Rogers off on another of his trips. Being lonely is bad for the mind, you know." I nodded. "I'll visit you after I'm done here.

Layla smiled, then disappeared.

The pleasant feeling I had gotten while talking to Layla vanished as I walked back to the aquarium. One look at John stealing it away like a thief in the night.

Ben joined me as I walked up to the doors. "Well, what'd she say?" He asked impatiently. "Supposedly, the aquarium has been closed for a couple of weeks because of a cracked tank." Ben quirked a brow and snorted. "Yeah, I doubt that's the reason." I looked around the parking lot. It was empty. There might be some cars parked around back, but frankly, I was too tired to check.

"We could leave and come back when it's open. Or..." I said, well gesturing towards the doors. "I might find the place mysteriously unlocked." Ben rolled his eyes again and strolled forward, smirking. He went straight through the wall without a sound.

"You know, we are awfully quick to resort to breaking and entering. And were quite good at it too." Ben's voice carried through the wall without being muffled, and his words caused me to scowl. "Don't say it like that! It makes us sound like serial thieves!" Ben chuckled as he pushed on the door for a brief moment, unlocking it long enough for me to grab the handle and pull. "All I can think of is us stealing breakfast cereal, you know. Cereal thieves!"

Ben laughed as he slipped through the second set of doors.

I wasn't worried about alarm systems. Few buildings in Silver Spruce were that high-tech, the aquarium would have security cameras, and that would probably be it. I paused while reaching for the second door. I found the fact that I knew about the security systems in most of the town's buildings annoying. 'I am not a burglar,' I thought bitterly as I opened the second door.

The high amount of ambient magic and the large number of ghosts in town probably had something to do with the majority of the buildings' lackluster security. Highly complicated electronics didn't do well when combined with ghosts and their tendency to stir up magic.

I had been to Eliza's aquarium a few times before, and at first glance, everything seemed the same. Everything, except for the smell. I had barely taken two steps into the building when it hit me--cleaning detergent and bleach.

They were not the smells of a place trying to lure in more tourists. There were the smells I associated with cleaned crime scenes. Ones I had seen with my own eyes or remembered through someone else's.

The uneasy feeling that hung around me took root in my gut. Something was wrong with this place. I could feel it in the air, in the way it hung just a little too still. I could hear it in the muted sounds of distant ceiling fans. Everything was just a little bit... Off.

Ben shuddered next to me, his semi-translucent body shaking as if from the cold. Both of us exchanged uneasy glances, but we continued forward. Despite how creepy the place felt, I couldn't deny it was impressive.

Directly to our left was a long desk where you would get passes. And immediately in front of us was the main room of Eliza's aquarium. The tall ceilings were easily three stories high and dotted with large fans that turned lazily over metal catwalks.

Below them were two huge tanks stretching the length of the room. They were a dozen feet wide and two stories tall with a roughly 10-foot wide walkway in between them. Each one was filled with exhibit after exhibit.

Plenty of them had just fish, but some also had general sea life, which necessitated the ability to view the top paths of the tanks, considering that you wouldn't be able to see the top of any of them from the floor. So, every few dozen feet were viewing platforms, stretching up on a few metal pillars, the rest of the weight being held by steel cables connecting to the ceiling.

The viewing platforms were all basic things, only big enough for a few people to stand in at a time.

There were smaller rooms along one wall with more exhibits, and the rest of the room was dotted with smaller fish tanks. The place really was impressive, impressive enough that it pulled in a large number of tourists every year.

Slowly, Ben and I began to walk forward. We had no idea what we're looking for, but I was quite experienced in looking for something without knowing what it was. Which wasn't exactly the most prestigious thing to put on a resume, but then again, I was my own boss.

The smell bleach didn't grow any weaker as we walked forward; in fact, it grew stronger. "Just what the hell did they have to clean up?" I asked, my voice hushed. Ben shrugged, but despite his casual gesture, I could see the concern on his face.

A moment later, he disappeared, flying up to a camera in the corner of the room. He stuck his hand through it, and a red light on the top of the camera winked out a moment later.

Ben floated back down, his eyes searching for more cameras. "I shouldn't need to mess with any others till we get out from between these tanks." I nodded, then turned my focus to some of the exhibits.

Maybe John had an attachment to one of them? It wasn't likely, but it was possible. On both sides of me, exhibits were filled with fish of all kinds. To my immediate left a school of clownfish – did they travel in schools? –- Were swimming back and forth through their tank.

There were plenty of other fish as well, but I wasn't well-versed in fish names. My unease steadily grew stronger as I walked. Growing until it was like a fist clenched around my guts. I felt my hand instinctively drop to the nineteen eleven I kept in a side holster. It wouldn't do me any good against a rampaging ghost, but there were plenty of solid things that could kill me.

I had almost reached the end of the tanks when I noticed something that made me stop in my tracks.

The aquarium also held a family, a pod? A whatever it was called, of otters. They had been a big attraction when they were first added. Not surprising, cute fuzzy animals that played with toys and floated on their backs were bound to get some attention. The bottom half of their exhibit was a pool that they could swim in, the top half was stone and concrete, with toys scattered about it.

In front of the exhibit, like with most of the displays, was a plaque with details about its inhabitants. It had what type of otters they were, their names, age, and whatnot. All of that was pretty standard. What got my attention was that there were four otters inside the exhibit, and each one was huddling in a circle shaking in obvious terror. There were five names on the plaque.

The feeling in my gut took a nosedive towards my feet.

Had one of the otters gotten sick, maybe taken away to have a checkup? That wouldn't explain why the remaining otters were huddled in obvious fear.

Ben walked up next to me and saw the otters. "What got them so riled up?" He leaned forward slightly, squinting his eyes. "Is it just me, or are they all looking up?"

He was right, each otter was staring straight up, and they had positioned themselves so that some of the stone in their exhibit was above them. That didn't make sense; why were they staring up? There was nothing above their exhibit. Nothing except the cat – I threw myself backward, my instincts screaming a warning.

At the same time, something crashed down, crunching into the ground where I had been standing a moment before. I hit the thinly carpeted concrete on my back. Pain from my bruises made me grit my teeth, but I forced myself to roll. Getting myself under one of the viewing platforms.

Ben hadn't reacted as quickly; in fact, he hadn't reacted all. Being intangible made one rather dismissive of risks. Regardless, I still glanced at Ben to make sure he was all right. What I saw made me blink a few times and wonder if I'd hit my head when I jumped.

He was standing inside of a crab corpse. A corpse that was easily the size of a small car. It had been cut unevenly in half, the smaller of the two halves was splattered where I had been standing, or the larger of the two had fallen on Ben. I heard the catwalk above us groaned as something massive moved across it.

The first couple of times your life is put in mortal danger; it really gets to you. Everything is happening too quickly for you to get a grasp of it, and the fear is so thick that it chokes you.

Eventually, if you want to survive, those feelings get put into a little box at the back of your head for you to examine after you survive.

I had been in a lot of life-threatening situations. There was a reason I had learned to veil my aura, which, to my horror, I realized I had forgotten to re-veil before entering.

Things other than ghosts had been coming after me since I was a small child. So, over the years, I have learned to react in very specific ways when in danger.

I wrapped my aura around myself, tightening it with a vicious effort of will. Then I climbed to my feet and stepped out from under the viewing platform, gun in hand. I shot four times towards the ceiling, not caring if I hit anything.

Then I ran away as fast as I could.

I had absolutely nothing to prove, and this situation was more complicated than I was prepared to deal with. So my best option was to retreat and come back better prepared.

My feet slammed into the carpet, each step propelling me forward with speed born from desperation. A lifetime spent with the knowledge that something bigger, stronger, and meaner than me might show up at any time had made me extremely good at running. And not owning a car meant that I had plenty of chances to improve my cardio.

I flew back down the walkway while Been Floated around the catwalk, screaming and shouting. Doing everything he could to draw attention to himself and away from me.

I reached the front entrance, completely uncaring if any security cameras caught me. As I did, I slowed down before slamming into the doors. I had sprinted into push doors that didn't open in time before, and I wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Another thing I have learned over the years was to be thorough when running away. Once I was outside, I kept running. I passed John at Sprint, and didn't slow down, whatever had attacked me hadn't been able to hurt Ben, so John wasn't in any danger.

I ran for a solid mile down the road before I came to a heaving stop, sucking in air that didn't stink of bleach and detergent. Ben appeared next to me a couple of seconds later. I tensed, ready to keep running. "Were clear, nothing's chasing you." I sagged in relief, sitting down in the middle-of-the-road. With the all-clear given all of the emotions, I hadn't let myself feel well-running washed over me.

My hands shook, and my breaths came unsteadily. I had come seconds away from dying. If I had moved even a little slower if I had taken just a second longer to notice something was off than I would've been crushed to death under a giant crab corpse. For some reason, that thought struck me as incredibly funny.

I started to chuckle at first. Then, as Ben gave me an uncertain look, I began to laugh harder. Even for me, that was utterly absurd! Giant crabs? In an aquarium, no less. I laughed until my lungs ran out of air, which only took me a few seconds.

"Did you hit your head when you jumped?" Ben asked, worried. I shook my head, still out of breath, but managed to gasp out. "Giant crab!" Ben still looked worried, but he nodded. "Yeah, that was weird. Are there some magical species of giant crab?

And what the hell dropped it on us?" Those were all really good questions; one I had asked myself while running. I laid down, sprawling out on the road. Overhead the clouds twisted and rolled, practically darkening by the second. "Wha," I paused, still out of breath. "What do we know so far?" I closed my eyes as I finished speaking. Turning all of my focus to breathing.

I didn't need to see to know that Ben was stroking his chin. "What do we know..." Despite his footsteps not making any noise on the ground, I knew he was pacing back and forth. "A ghost came to us, to you. All the signs pointed to him being murdered. They obviously couldn't speak, so we followed him." Ben's voice sounded from behind me now as he stopped pacing.

"He led us to the aquarium and had obviously suffered trauma, if not his death, there. But why now?" I opened my eyes and slowly sat up; my pulse finally slowing down.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. His mind is damaged, but it's not gone altogether. Why has he not sought me out for this?" he floated above me, and I could see the dark gray clouds behind his semi-translucent form.

"Maybe he's regained some of his awareness. It's possible he was just a floater for a while." That was certainly possible, but it didn't feel right. "Somethings definitely off in the aquarium." "You mean other than falling crab corpses and monsters?" I snorted. "You know what I mean."

Ben nodded, his eyes growing serious. "Yeah... There was something wrong about that place."

I groaned as I slowly climbed to my feet. "Speaking of monsters, did you get a look at what through the crab?" Ben grimaced and shook his head. "I flew up only a few seconds after your shot, but whatever it was had already left. I considered going after it, but..." His voice slowly trailed off.

"No, you're right. I don't think it would've been a good idea to go any deeper into that building." Ben shuddered. "Well, what now?" He asked, changing the subject.

I thought about it for a moment, then checked my watch. 6:00 PM. "Well... We have a ghost that needs helping, a monster of some kind that almost definitely why the aquarium is closed, and something about the building gives us both the heebie-jeebies."

The look I gave Ben made the smirk that had slowly been working its way back onto his features vanish.

"I'd say it's about time we give Agatha a call."