The entire night I was subjected to a storm of questions from both Zoe and Seth as we all surveyed the damage that had been done to the living area. But I had no answers as I looked over the scorch marks on the sofa and the gashes cut straight through the leather cushions. The kettle sat in the middle of the shattered glass tabletop that once was the coffee table. Several times Seth asked me how the kettle ended up there. I didn't know myself. I barely had enough time to process everything. There was just no way I could give them the answers they sought from me. I had none to give.

     The only way I could think of for the kettle to have got all the way to the coffee table was if the spirit had moved it. . . but that seemed impossible to me. Spirits couldn't move objects; they simply didn't have enough energy or strength. Unless. . . This was no ordinary spirit. It was clear this was a Necro Spirit. It was also obvious that it was focused on me. . . Almost as though I were a threat to it.

     So Necro Spirits could move objects? If they were capable of that, just what else could they be capable of? Aquarius was the only one I could think of who would have the answers, but I doubted he would speak to me. He made it very clear last time that he didn't want to discuss this matter with me. But why would that be? Why wouldn't he speak to me about this? Was he trying to protect me?

     I exhaled in frustration as I marched for the door, not even bothering with my jacket this time, and flung the door open. "Where are you off to, Kairine?" protested Seth. But I didn't answer him as I stepped out into the night air. There was no way I could think in there. Seth and Zoe seemed to just suck the oxygen from the entire room. That heaviness was still there, still pervasive. The Necro Spirit wasn't gone; that much was obvious. But I didn't know how to even deal with it, and as long as those two kept pestering me with questions, I wouldn't even be able to make a plan.

     I took a deep breath, sucking in the cool night air as I looked up at the starry sky. I could make out the Dragon Lord constellation. . . then right next to it, was the Phoenix constellation. I smiled as I recognised them, remembering back to when my dad and I would sit for hours under the night sky and he would rattle all of them off to me, telling me of myths far and wide from all over the world. I remembered he would tell me how the ancient people once used the stars to navigate the oceans. A tear fell from the corner of my eye as I thought of him. I suddenly realised that in all of this. . . I never once mourned him. Just so much had happened over the last several days since the funeral that I never even had time to mourn him. To grieve his loss.

     More tears welled up in my eyes the more I thought of him. I missed him so much that I could hardly put it into words. I wished that he hadn't already crossed over. . . that he would have stuck around just a little while longer. . . The thought of going through life without him in it seemed impossible to me now. I didn't know if I could even do it. I didn't know how. I felt like he was the only person who ever truly got me and understood me.

     The memories of him flooded through my mind as more tears streamed forth. I slumped back against the wall as I sobbed. I didn't want to believe that he was gone. I didn't want to accept it. But he was really gone, and he had crossed over. His unfinished business, whatever that was, was done, and I had to accept that. As much as I didn't want to.

     I sat there in the fetal position as I cried. I wished so much that I could just see Dad one more time. . . though I knew that wasn't possible.

     Just then, a soft breeze blew past, gently pushing through a few strands of my hair. I looked up, glancing around. For a second there, I could have sworn I heard him. . . But that couldn't be possible. My hand went to my hair. . . I remembered that Dad used to play with my hair all the time when I was younger. He was a gentle soul. Could that have been him trying to send me a message? Was he trying to tell me something? No, that was impossible. . . He had crossed over; I saw it. I felt it. He was gone, and I just needed to accept that.

     Breathing a sigh, I stood up and glanced up at the sky. I didn't know if that was just the wind or if it was Dad trying to tell me something. I hoped it was the latter, but I knew that just wasn't possible. "I miss you, Dad. . . wherever you are. . ." I whispered to myself. Then I turned back toward the door, resigning myself to being subjected to a million questions I had no answers for. I didn't know what Seth expected me to tell him. I couldn't confide in him about the Necro Spirit because, to be honest, I didn't fully understand it myself. And my elemental spirit guides weren't telling me anything. I'd been trying to contact them. . . but to no avail. They wouldn't answer a single one of my calls. I was on my own for this one. Somehow I had to figure a way out of this myself. I couldn't tell why my guides weren't responding. But that was a mystery for another day. My concern right now was on the Necro Spirit I was now certain had infested our home, and how I was going to get it out before something terrible happened.

     The night surprisingly went relatively smoothly after that. Zoe had already gone back to bed; I guessed she was irked at being woken at all, and I'd be hearing about it in the morning. 

     Seth asked me about it. I said, "I really don't know what it was."

     He looked around at the mess I had made and left it at that as he went back to his own room. That seemed almost too easy. Should I have told him about the Necro Spirit that was infesting our home and lives? Maybe. But what good would that do? He didn't know how to deal with it any more than I did.

     I made my tea and attempted to go back to bed myself. . . But there was no getting back to sleep after everything that had happened. I was terrified that another attack could come at any moment. I stayed up the rest of the night as a million questions ran through my mind. How was it that my powers failed to work back at the house, yet here at home they worked just fine, even near that demon? Who was it truly after, anyway? Was its attention focused on me or Zoe? I wondered if my presence was preventing it from getting to Zoe, and that was why it was lashing out at me.

     I couldn't quite explain it, but something about the situation made it feel as though its true aim was my sister, not me, and that I was a hindrance, probably because of my powers. Therefore, it made sense that it would block my powers if it indeed had that ability.

     My mind then went to a question I didn't expect. . . Was I really sure that the presence at the house was this Necro Spirit? Could it have been something else entirely? I ran through the facts. Clearly, this demon had infested our home. But would it have followed me to that house in the first place?

     I thought over everything I knew about Necro Spirits. I knew, based on the book I had read, that they fed on negative emotions and feelings. They may also intentionally try to stoke conflict and chaos in the home to create more negative energy. I also knew that in some cases the result was possession. That was about all I knew about them. Realising I really didn't know enough about them, I resolved myself to head back to the library at a later time to conduct more research, and to ask Fleur if she had been able to learn anything from her contacts. I firmly believed that knowledge is power, and I needed more knowledge to be able to fight this.

     Once I considered the facts, it seemed unlikely that the Necro Spirit followed me to the crime scene. Which left me with only one possibility: there was something else in that house. It was a unique thing altogether. And whatever it was, it was incredibly powerful. It could block my powers and put me out of commission entirely. Which meant I would have to approach it differently.

     I sighed. It sure would have been a lot easier if my guides would just respond. . .

     Dragging myself out of bed, I stood in the middle of the room and closed my eyes, focusing with all my might on my guides. I forced my mind to show me where they were. . . Thousands of images flooded through my mind. . . I shook my head. I couldn't make sense of them. But there were some that stood out to me as my eyes shot open wide, looking around the room. They were here! My guides were here all along! "Aquarius? Pyrus? Anyone?" I called out to the empty room. Moments passed, and once more there was no response. "Why won't you answer me?!" I collapsed on the bed, dejected.

     More images flooded through my mind. They were all of me. A few where I was outside just a while ago. Others when I was at the house with Fleur and David. I couldn't understand what they were trying to tell me. None of it made sense to me. If they've been here, watching over me this entire time, then why wouldn't they respond to my calls? Why wouldn't they react when I was being attacked? Why weren't they helping me?

     Just then, a single phrase echoed over and over in my mind. I looked around the room once more, trying to see if I could make them out, wherever they were. But there was nothing. "The Haunter in the Dark. . ." The voice, which I assumed to belong to Aquarius, said. I couldn't believe it. That was the same phrase I heard in my dream just the other night!

     Zoe thought that my dream was a psychic dream, but now I wondered if she was wrong and it was perhaps my guides trying to communicate with me all along!

     I shook my head. "What are you trying to tell me?" I called out, hoping for some kind of response, instead of just more images in my head. "What is the 'Haunter in the Dark'? I don't understand. . ."

     Then came the voice in my head again. This time I was sure it was Aquarius, and he was responding to me! "The Ancient Ones. . . They are coming. . . Dark days ahead. . ." it said, though this time there was something different about it. It was certainly Aquarius. But it was different. It seemed. . . almost weaker.

     I shot up. "Are you okay?!" I said, worried for those who had helped me so much. "Could I help? What's wrong? Tell me?!"

     Just then, for but a moment, a fishlike face appeared in the darkness, translucent and faint, but it was him. "There's nothing you can do for us. . ." he said, his voice weak. "You are on your own. . . Be careful. . . Nyar. . ." And then he was gone, as the face faded to nothing.

     I looked around the room as tears welled up in my eyes. Memories flashed through my mind. . . Memories of all the good times I had had with Aquarius and the fire bear spirit, Pyrus. . . How much I would laugh at Pyrus. I couldn't believe it. They were gone now, too. They couldn't help me.

     I turned and collapsed on the bed as I cried into the sheets, all of my emotions pouring forth. I feared any moment I could lose control of my powers again. . . But I didn't care. I couldn't believe it. I was completely alone this time. My guides weren't going to be there for me this time around.

     I had no one. . .