A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Pushed up against the wall, there was a cheap, chipped wooden desk. An old coffee maker with off-brand coffee and coffee filters was shoved into the corner of the wall and television stand, which was just as beaten up. A lamp, with holes in the lampshade, stood on the other back corner of the desk, and it had a metal chain that one had to pull on to turn it on. In the center of it all was a laptop and papers with notes on them. Two rickety chairs supported two individuals. One was hunched over the papers and had his knuckles pressed into his left cheek while the other was sitting back and had her fingers holding onto one of the papers delicately.

"Do you really think that we're dealing with a ghost, Nick?" Deidre questioned as she swept her long black braid back so that it would rest over her back and the chair's backing. Her brown optics scanned over paper in her hands more, which were details on the abandoned road and subway. They all had visited the town archives when they first had arrived yesterday early evening. Apparently, the road was built before the subway and was the main road when Delain had been frequented more back in the nineteen-thirties. The subway system had been installed around nineteen-thirty-five and had connected Delain to major cities in the surrounding area. In the nineteen-eighties, though, few had traveled on the subway to Delain, and it had been considered not profitable enough, so it had been shut down. With time, people had stopped using the old road and a new smaller one, which also was more convenient for the town, had been built.

"I'm not sure. If it is, it's a powerful one. I've never encountered a ghost that can place people into a trance, and I'm glad that I haven't. They're already tricky enough. And if it's putting people into trances, we need to try and guess the motive too. If we're lucky, we can have the spirit move on, but it also depends on how cooperative and violent it is." He sat up and leaned back on the chair, it creaking in the process. His left fingers combed through his dyed pitched black locks. "Or, it could be something else entirely."

"So, you really think that the writer was telling the truth, then?"

"I do." Nick crossed his arms over his chest. "I wanted to come out here and speak to him in person to be sure, and after our meeting last night, I'm sure that he wasn't lying. Even if it wasn't a ghost, he saw something." He leaned his head back a little and stretched his neck. "Now, it's a matter of how dangerous it is." When he positioned his head back to the way it had been, his right index finger tapped the blueprint of the subway system. "This place is massive, and we have a lot of territory to cover if we decided to enter."

"Will you be alright?" she questioned, setting down the paper in her hands and turning more towards him. "It's only one level, but those blueprints might be inaccurate given the time that's past since the subway has been abandoned. It ..." She trailed off as a chill traveled up her spine.

"I know. It's similar, but I don't think that it's him. The subway entrance is covered by trees, and we don't even know if it's accessible to us yet. I doubt that (f/n) would travel into such a place if it only has one entry and exit point." His fingers tapped the various spots where the train would lead to other stations. "After the subway's shutdown, large gates were erected in those spots and were locked tight. Unless she has a pair of chain cutters, she won't be getting through."

"But, the metal could be rusted and break easily. Or, those gates might not even be standing." Deidre faced him fully. "It's not like she would have a map of the place either."

"Those are all good points, but I just don't see (f/n) putting herself into that kind of position again." Deidre raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I know that we might enter into that position, but the creature isn't in there. I'm certain of it. She told me about their game; she doesn't want to be tagged. She'll want to head to a place where it's open and where she'll know that she has multiple exit points. To her, the entrance will just look like a dark hole in the ground if the entrance is accessible." Nick sat up a little straighter. "She wouldn't jump into such a place."

"And, you think that they're still playing the game? That she hasn't killed him?"

"They're either playing, or ... he won." His face fell a little at the end, and he sighed before he rubbed his temples. "Otherwise, she would've called me somehow or emailed me after looking me up."

Deidre didn't say anything, but she reached over and squeezed his right shoulder. "You always could call her parents. They could tell you more."

Shaking his head, he answered, "I don't want to worry them. I know that they know about the game, but they don't know the details of everything that's happened. And, I don't want to imply that she's in anymore danger than she already is. They have no idea that she had contact with me again, and they might think that the creature's on a war path now because of my involvement." He shook his head more and sighed in frustration. "It just wouldn't feel right. She has to contact me unless we meet face-to-face." A slight smile hit his lips. "Maybe, she's trying to track me down right now."

Sighing lightly and moving her hand back, she intertwined her fingers on her lap and gave him a small smile. "Nick, you don't have to give her up for us."

Averting his brown eyes to her, he shook his head. "And, you don't have to smile when you're clearly scared of encountering the creature. If I go after her, I'm not only putting my life in jeopardy; I'm placing all three of you into unnecessary harm's way." He sat up straight. "I'm not doing that. The three of you are family to me; (f/n) ..." Again, he combed his fingers through his hair. "I just can't face him again; I don't have her strength to fight him." Nick reached over and placed his right hand over hers. "But, I do have the strength to keep you three safe and away from the creature. That's what I decided."

By a little bit, she genuinely smiled. "Thank you." She broke their eye contact and stared down at her lap. "I'm sorry that I'm so frightened by him. I just ..."

"Deidre, you don't have to apologize. You have every reason to fear him. He's not someone you want to mess with or even meet." He squeezed her hands a bit before he let go. Nick gave her a reassuring smile before his attention switched to the door.

"We got food!" Chris cheered, coming into the room, before she noted how Deidre and Nick were. She chuckled a bit. "Looks like you two got to the serious chat before us, but ..." More laughs left her. "You two haven't even changed out of your pajamas yet."

As Ren closed the door behind him, he smirked in amusement and asked, "Did you two go back to sleep while we were out, and you're just making it look like you were working?" Nick and Deidre proceeded to glance down at their attire. Deidre still was in red pajama pants and a blue plush pullover while Nick was wearing grey and black plaid pajama pants with a black v-neck.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Nick chuckled. "No, we really were working. We were going over the plans of the old road and subway. Both haven't been in use for quite awhile."

"Maybe, the ghost is one of the people who used to travel on the road and subway," Chris mentioned, setting the bags on top of the television stand. "And, something bad happened to them, or it simply wants company, so it's leading people down there." She pulled out the food and started handing everyone their orders while Ren passed around the coffee, creams and sugar packets.

"That could be the case," Nick responded, dropping his hand. "There were deaths on the subway." He fished out the proper piece of paper and set his waffle breakfast sandwich aside for the moment. "I saw your sticky notes on the document, Chris. Nice work on researching the victims too." She beamed a bit before she bit into her burrito since she wanted to save the pie for last. "Some of the victims were from suicides, and one of them might be staying behind to find comfort where they couldn't in life."

"But, you still seem hesitant about that," Ren pointed out as he unwrapped his breakfast burrito. "Do you think that it's one of the other victims? There had been a murderer who had been hit by a train down there while chasing her victim. I think that the murderer's name had been Tonya Aspin." He seated himself on the end of the bed closest to the desk while he placed his coffee on the floor. "She might be seeking revenge for losing her kill all because her shoe got caught in the tracks."

"Again, possible. I'm hesitant on both accounts, though. Both have possibilities for strong negative energy around them." Nick faced all of them and took a sip of his coffee before he set it beside his sandwich. "The odd thing is why they would go out of their way to bring three random people to the subway. Ms. Aspin did target at random as you found out, Ren, but she died in the subway." A thoughtful frown appeared on his lips. "Like I've mentioned, I've never encountered a ghost that can place people into trances, and I've never run into one that haunts such a large space."

"We might be dealing with multiple ghosts that are working together, then," Deidre suggested before she bit into her breakfast sandwich. After she swallowed, she answered, "Or, something could be controlling various ghosts."

"That might be the case, and if it is, it's worrying about what that thing is." Nick sipped at his coffee a bit more before he set it down and continued, "Whatever the case, we need to be cautious during our first examinations. We don't know exactly what we're dealing with, and we'll be exposing ourselves and our intent as soon as we get to the road and subway entrance." He met all of their gazes. "Be Careful."