'Here.' Ash passed the Deputy his third steaming mug of coffee.

They'd moved to her RV, after reassuring Tabitha that Ash would deal with the mess in her conservatory in the morning.

Ash rolled a cigarette between her fingers, staring at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the RV.

'Are you going to light that thing?' The Deputy inclined his head to the cigarette.

'Nope. I don't smoke.'

'Then why do you have it?'

Ash's fingers paused. 'It's a promise I made to myself,' she said finally.

'You don't have to talk about it,' he said, sensing her reluctance.

'It's not something that I'm proud of,' she admitted. She chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out what else to say.

'I went through a rough patch when I got my gift,' she started. 'I did a lot of things to try to block out the visions.'

'Smoking? Drink?'

'All of the above. And some of it wasn't exactly legal.'

'What happened?'

This was the part that she hated. The reason that she kept the cigarette to hand. A reminder of how far she could slip if she let herself, and the damage it could do to others.

'I was like Jesse. My gift started to make itself known before my 21st birthday. But I knew what was happening. I'd been dreading it. For a while Nana stayed to help me manage, but we needed her winnings to survive. I thought I could handle it,' Ash scoffed, feeling disgusted with herself.

'I'd been having visions for about six months and one day it got too much. I came home from a night shift, got Jesse's lunch ready for school, and after she left, I got high. Anything to drown out the constant waves of emotions and intense visions.' She paused to watch Jess asleep on her bed, but she didn't see the woman she was, but rather the teenager she had been. The one that she had failed so miserably.

'I didn't notice the time passing until Jesse was at the door, her clothes soaking wet. She walked three miles home from school because I hadn't been there to pick her up. I told her I'd overslept. And even when she caught the flu and was bed bound, she didn't blame me. Not once.'

'But you did,' the Deputy stated.

'How could I not? She got sick because of me. It was my fault. I couldn't deal with my gift, and Jesse paid the price. And look at what happened tonight. I promised I would take care of her and I'm doing such a bang-up job.'

'How was tonight your fault?'

Ash jumped at the sound of Jess' voice. She looked up into her sister's sleepy eyes, feeling a mixture of relief and trepidation.

'I put you in danger tonight.'

Jess stood, but stopped as her sister advanced on her in a panic.

'Stay inside the circle,' Ash shouted.

'What circle?'

Ash pointed to the ceiling and Jess looked up. 'Is that blood?'

'Lipstick,' Ash corrected her.'Your energy mixed with the ghost. It needs to be cleansed.'

'Ash, how do you know about all of this?' Jess used her finger to trace the patterns on the ceiling. The markings meant little to her, but she didn't doubt Ash.

'This isn't my first exorcism,' Ash admitted.

'Who?' Jess asked, though in the deepest part of her soul, she already knew the answer.

'Mom.'

Jess closed her eyes. 'She had the same gift as me?'

'She could see ghosts as you do, but you're not like her.'

'And what makes us different?' demanded Jess.

'Mom was always unstable. She was sixteen when she fell pregnant with me, far too young. She was obsessed with Dad, and the political power his family had.'

The Deputy did a double take but Ash ignored him. It wasn't her fault that their father's name had been omitted from both of their birth records, as per their grandfather's demand.

'She grew up being told about our family's gifts. And she was desperate for one. She was pregnant with you when she turned 21 and was disappointed by her gift. Like you, she could see ghosts, but she had to seek them out. We spent hours at cemeteries, haunted houses and hospitals in the hope she could strengthen her gift.'

'And did it work?'

Ash took a sip of her tea and grimaced as she realised it had gone cold whilst she'd been talking. She stood and flicked the kettle on, drawing another mug from the cupboard.

'Honestly? I don't know if it worked or if she just finally understood what her gift was.' She picked up the mug and passed it to Jess. 'The reason she couldn't see ghosts all the time was because she could only engage with ghosts that wanted to engage with her.'

'What ghosts want to engage with people?' The Deputy asked aloud.

'Sick bastards,' Ash growled, only looking at her sister. 'You were about one when things got really bad. She would draw these ghosts to her and allow them to possess her. She was addicted to the power, and the ghosts got to live again through her.'

'What happened?' Jess swallowed. She could hear the concealed pain in her sister's voice.

Throughout her life, no one had ever spoken about her mother for such a long period. As a child, she'd secretly hoped that one day her mother would come back and rescue her, and they would live together like one big family. She should have known that was just the stupid wish of a lonely child.

'Not all the ghosts had been good people. But mom didn't care. Eventually her behaviour freaked dad out. I don't think he ever believed that she was getting possessed, but her mood swings were enough for him to file for a divorce. But with dad gone, she got worse. The ghosts became more brazen. Eventually Nana realised what was happening and tried to get her to stop. But it was too late. Her gift had consumed her.'

'That's how she ended up in the asylum,' Jess said with sudden understanding. 'She's the reason you kept our gifts secret from me,' Jess guessed.

'You were so young. I knew you didn't remember. And I wanted it to stay that way.'

Ash's white lips stopped Jess from asking about the memories she didn't have. Whatever they were, they were clearly painful for her sister.

'What happened to your mother?' The Deputy asked.

'According to the police. She died in a fire during a riot in the asylum.'

'But you don't believe that?' He could hear it in her voice.

'They never found a body.'

Jess looked down at her hands. That much she knew about her mother.

Black slashes of colour covered her arms, and thoughts of her mother disappeared from her mind. They had certainly not been there when she'd entered the old science building.

'What are these?'

'Binding symbols. The strongest that I know, since your necklace was clearly useless.'

Jess shivered as she remembered the feeling of hate that had consumed her. It had been alien and yet at the time; she had found it hard to distinguish her emotions from the ghost's.

'These will keep me from getting possessed again?'

'I hope that they will, but you're strong. I don't know how long they'll last,' Ash said honestly.

'Do you remember much?' he asked, leaning forward.

Ash pressed her lips together, swallowing her objections.

Jess continued to run her fingers over the symbols on her arm. It felt like she was looking at someone else's skin.

'I only remember flashes. When you grabbed me. When you threw the salt.'

'Do you know where you were going?'

She shook her head and saw the disappointment cross his face. 'I only know she was angry. She kept thinking that she had to put a stop to it. That it must not happen again.'

'I wonder what she meant by that?' The Deputy mused, sharing a look with Ash, who only shrugged.

'You really think there's a connection between her and Charity?' she asked him.

'Well, they look the same,' Jess interjected.

Two pairs of eyes turned to look at her. 'Why do you say that?'

Jess shifted on the bed, feeling put on the spot by his question. 'She had the same bruises around her hips and wrists as Charity. And her eyes were bloodshot.'

'Was her throat cut?' the Deputy rushed.

'No. Her neck was black. Bruised. But she was only wearing a bra and panties, exactly like Charity. Didn't you see that?'

'I just saw a slightly glowing figure. It looked like a woman, but I couldn't be sure,' Ash said, the Deputy agreeing with her.

'Could you describe her? Features? Hair colour?' The Deputy pulled his phone out ready to take notes.

'She was five foot eight, or five foot nine. Slim. Long blonde hair. Narrow face. She had a birthmark just below her eye.'

The Deputy paused in his tapping. 'Do you know who that sounds like?'

'Charity,' Ash answered him.

'What does that mean?'

'It means this could be bigger than we originally thought,' he said, his face growing serious.