Winston walked around the kitchen, looking for clues to figure out what caused the haunting. Long gashes across the walls and prep table were new from what Isaac said when he peeked back. Isaac had refused to go into the kitchen after seeing the gashes, and that possibly saved him from the anguish of seeing that the motor to his mixer was broken apart.

The mixer was fixable, and Isaac could fix it, thanks to one of his foster parent, Mortimer. Picking up the pieces of the motor, Winston organized the pieces just like Mort taught him. Mort always “keep it organized, keep it simple stupid.” He would fix the motor after he performed the exorcism and protected this place from further hauntings.

He then walked into the old office to check the hole in the ground but found nothing. There was no hole, or evidence of any hole ever being in there. The cement ground was old stained chipped and all in one piece. Running his hand across the floor he didn’t feel any invisible cracks and his hand came up clean. Not even a speck of dust.

The box and weird knot lay on the table next to the rusty iron pipe. The pipe was what made this haunting extra confusing. The pipe was mostly iron and would have banished any spiritual being back to the realm called Grimmlands. The Grimmlands went by many names in many stories, and because of that the intelligent denizens of that realm named it the Grimmlands after the brothers Grimm.

He explained to Isaac about the pipe, and how nothing strange should have happened after the pipe struck the apparition. Issac was sure that the pipe struck the poltergeist and then everything went crazy happened. Winston thought that maybe Isaac took to many “Safety Walks” last night and was imagining some things.

Picking up the wood box he turned it around in his hands unsure what it was for. He set it down then reached into his workbag and pulled out a large magnifying, then fished out a battery from his pocket and said “peek-a-boo.” That same sound electric popping sound happened, and he tossed the dead battery back into his pocket.

He had to shake the hand he used to channel the energy from the batteries. To many spells in a single day made his hand tingle with pins and needles. The more or stronger spells he casted the longer and more powerful the effects would be.

Looking through the magnifying glass at the box, showed that it was just a simple wood box. When he looked at the pipe, he saw that it was covered is weird black slime. Running his finger through the slime he knew what it was, it was ectoplasm. Isaac was telling the truth and he did hit the ghost with the pipe and banished it. That didn’t explain what Isaac said happened afterward unless there were multiple weaker ghosts in the building. And the one that Isaac struck was the oldest and strongest one of them if he could appear to someone without any eldritch powers.

Looking at the knot through the magnifying glass showed that it was imbued with tiny strands of power that were slowly unraveling. Focusing more on one of the strands of power, the magnifying glass zoomed in on it like the zoom function of a cell phone. The silver strands were actually little chains formed from pure magical energy. The chains led up to the knot and the knot actually worked as a magical lock. He had heard of this type of spell and it was an entrapment spell, and the box even though unmagical was the jail.

Walking back to the old office, he scanned the floor with his magically charged magnifying glass. He managed to look at every inch of the floor for any magic that might be hiding the hole in the ground before the magic ran out.

Winston stood back the table where he placed everything. He now knew what the box and knot were for, but he didn’t know what the ash was for or what happened to the hole. Drumming his fingers on the table, he started repeating the word ash out loud to no one but himself.

“What are you asking about back there” Isaac yelled from the front.

Winston sighed and grabbed the box and knot and walked to the front room.

“I figured out what the knot and box were for. When combined they worked as a jail for a spirit and when opened it you guys released the ghost” Winston stated to Isaac.

“Oh shit, for reals?” Isaac said looking extremely perplexed.

“Yeah but I can’t figure out what the ash was for, or what happened to the hole your cousin found the box in. But I think I can use this box and knot to bind the spirit back into it before I exorcise it” Winston said.

“I think Jace said he was going to fill in the hole. I would call him, but I think the storm knocked out cell service” Isaac said.

Winston reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out “I don’t have any service.” Placing his phone back into his pocket, Winston was feeling a little pensive about something but he couldn’t figure out what.

“I’m going to go back in there and start a séance and no matter what you hear or see DO NOT enter that kitchen” Winston exclaimed with such fervor that Isaac took a step back. “And if your cousin shows up, you better not let him back here either!”

Winston didn’t know why he was so adamant on Isaac staying away. He pondered on that for a second and just took it as the storm making him a bit jittery.

Heading back into the kitchen, Winston started off by pushing the island prep table against the wall and clearing the ground of debris. Grabbing a box of salt off of the spice rack, he set it on the ground next to his bag. No use using his own supplies when he could use his employers.

Opening his bag, he started gathering everything he needed to perform the séance and binding spell. The séance he planned on performing would be a cake walk but using the box and knot as the binding spell would be difficult, but the glimmer of an idea came to him when he was studying it.

The first item he pulled out was a black rotary phone from the 1970s. It was a gift from his other foster parent and Mort’s wife Dolores. She was the one who taught Winston all about the being that came from the Grimmlands and how to use his gift. Dolores made her living as psychic and worked for a psychic hotline and used this rotary phone. All the years of communing with spirits and customers had imbued this particular phone with the ability to make calls to any spirits in the same room as it. It also was a lot easier to use than a Ouija board, and copying every letter from the other side.

The second item was a syringe to draw blood from his arm. He never saw the need to cut his palm to draw blood like most movies showed, simply drawing some blood would suffice. He tried using blood he stored in a freezer to trap a summoned creature. It had failed miserably; he was attacked by a very angry summoned creature that wanted its pound of flesh. Winston had learned the hard way, the wound from that fiasco took months to heal.

The third a hardhat, he immediately put on. Items tended to fly around when spirits were angered. And lastly, he pulled a rechargeable battery pack that he wired the pads of a tens unit to.

Before starting the séance, he poured salt across all the doorways, trapping all of the spirits in the room with him. This would also keep any wandering creatures from entering when he offered the blood to the spirit. No one ever truly knew where a random apparition could be when not actively looking for it.

He set the phone on the ground next to the box, and then tied his arm off to draw blood from his arm. The syringe full of his blood, he would need a small vessel to put it in, to lure the ghost into the box. Grabbing a black ramekin from a sleeve, he was ready to start the séance.

Setting the ramekin in the middle of the box, he put the blood-filled syringe right in front of the box. He made sure to remind Isaac to not come into the kitchen for any reason. Winston even took it a step further by explaining how he had salted the entranceway and it must not be crossed to keep the spirits in. He was secretly glad that there was no window allowing Issac to look in and see what came next.

Winston proceeded to take his shirt off and looked down at his stomach. Three long, very angry looking, keloidal scars ran horizontally across his stomach. He ran his fingers gently along them remembering an important lesson. The lesson he took from trying to use his old frozen blood during a summoning. But the scar across his stomach were nothing compared to his back.

His back covered in a myriad of long thin scars crisscrossing his back. Some of those scars old and faded, looking as if they were decades old. To old to be on someone so young, unless they were received at a very young age, almost infantile. Most disturbing though were the five individual brands on his back. Each brand individual in form and cruelly burnt into Winston’s flesh when he 13 years old as part of a ritual that was left unfinished and forgotten.

Winston sat cross legged on the ground, the phone, box, knot, and syringe within arms reach of him. The portable battery rested between his legs as he place the pads connected to it on to his chest.

Taking a long steady breath, he put his hand on the phone. Making the conscious effort to pull the power into him he turned on the battery pack. The energy from the battery coursed into chest causing his pecs to twitch crazedly and his stomach muscles to tighten causing him to grunt. Gasping out his magic phrase “Call me right now” he couldn’t help but use a horribly fake Jamaican accent when casting this spell. The spell cracked into existence leaving a slight smell of ozone and the phone began ringing.

Winston picked up the phone after the third ring and held it to his ear, “Good afternoon sir or ma’am, my name is Winston Shady and I’m here to set you free.” Politeness cost him nothing and he hoped one day a spirit would be taken off guard and come quietly. This wasn’t going to be that time.