Auckland, New Zealand
March 20th, 2021

The doctors thought he was around the age of nineteen or twenty, but no one knew for sure. Jake was a nice kid, but he was a mystery to everyone... including himself.

Arriving at work as early as his bosses allowed, he was warmly greeted by the night staff just finishing up their shifts. He smiled and waved at everyone, his bright blue eyes always shining and his uncut dark brown curls falling into his face. Day in and day out he wore the same pair of long black pants, a thin black hoodie, and interchangeable band t-shirts underneath his smock.

"Jake! Right on time, mate. Everything's been restocked unless we're completely out. Have a good day." Luke was always really nice to him, no matter how much he screwed up. A lot of his other coworkers weren't nearly as understanding. When he'd first started, Luke had even let him sleep on his couch until he made enough money to find his own place.

"Thanks. Later, man." Luke waved him off and grunted in return before leaving the store right as two customers entered. They meandered around until they found whatever they were looking for, and they too left.

The day was unusually slow for a Saturday, but Jake didn't actually mind. It gave him time to doodle in the little notebook he'd purchased downtown when he'd had a day off the previous week. He drew objects he saw throughout the day, he drew his favorite tree in the park near his apartment, he drew anything that came to mind. It felt so natural, like he'd stumbled into a piece of his true self.

He had no memories of his life before waking up in the hospital a few miles up the road a little over ten months earlier. Doctors and nurses didn't know much about how he'd ended up there, except that he was brought in by a team of paramedics.

The nurses had started calling him John Doe at first, but he'd hated it, so they went through a few names before settling on Jacob, and the name just stuck. Almost everyone he knew called him, Jake, though. Jake McGee. It still didn't seem right, but he stopped fighting it. They had to call him something, didn't they?

Halfway through his shift, a woman walked into the store while he was chatting with one of his coworkers, Matt, who'd become a good friend during their time working together.

"Hey, check it out, Jake. That girl who's been staring at you for the last two weeks just walked in." Matt elbowed him lightly, nudging him in the woman's direction. "Go talk to her, mate."

Jake shook his head, feeling his heart skipping a beat the second he caught sight of her. She was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. Or remembered seeing. She had golden blonde hair wrapped up on the top of her head, with loose strands falling into her face. Her eyes were a deep dark chocolate that seemed to melt as soon as their gazes met. She was about six inches shorter than him, but there was something fierce about her. Scary, even.

"She's walking over here!" he hissed at his friend, suddenly terrified. Matt laughed, but instead of sticking around to help him out, he sauntered off, getting back to work.

"Excuse me? Can you help me find something...?" She looked at his name tag and frowned. "Uh... Jake?"

He grinned at her, feeling star-struck, almost. "Oh, uhm... yes. Yes, of course. What - uhm... what can I help you find?"

The woman smiled and her whole face lit up in a way that sent his quick beating heart into overdrive while his palms began to sweat. "I need the best dog food this place has."

"Sure. Follow me." He wanted to ask her what kind of dog she had or what the name was, but his words kept getting stuck in his throat, and he couldn't force them out. "Here you go, Miss...?"

The woman held her hand out to shake his. "Isabella Swift. I just moved here for work." She seemed disappointed when all he did was smile and shake her hand.

"Oh. You're American too?" He blurted out the question before he could stop himself.

"I am. Where are you from?"

Jake's face flushed bright red. "Oh, uhm... I'm not sure. All over, I guess?"

Isabella shot him a confused look, and he instantly regretted ever opening his mouth. "We should go out sometime. Talk about home. It'd be nice to make a friend. Ya know?" She dug a pen out of the backpack slung over one shoulder and motioned for his hand, which he hesitantly gave to her. In neat, perfect penmanship, she wrote down her name and phone number.

After thanking him and grabbing a large bag of dog food, she walked away, disappearing around the corner, while he stared after her in awe. Had she not noticed his total lack of social skills and the fact that he was a freak? A maniac. She must have.

"You good, mate?" Matt clapped him on the shoulder and he nearly jumped right out of his skin.

"She gave me her number..." He still felt like he was in a daze. A girl had made the first move.

Matt grabbed his arm roughly, his eyes wide. "Right on! Good for you!"

Jake shrugged, unable to get her face out of his mind. The next time they spoke he was determined to actually have a real conversation with her, instead of just nodding along mindlessly.

When he got off work that night, he spent hours debating whether or not he should call her, before finally deciding against it. He had enough complicated shit in his life without adding a girl into the mix. He didn't even know who he was for fuck's sake, and he wasn't any closer to finding answers than he was when he woke up.

"What are you brooding about?" His roommate, Richard, appeared in the kitchen doorway casting a sour glare over him.

Jake shrugged, rummaging through his fridge for something to make for dinner. He ended up just settling on a bowl of cereal. "Girl gave me her number. Not sure if I should call her." He just decided to tell the truth, 'cause somehow Richard always knew when he was lying anyway.

"Call her, you moron. What's the worst that could happen? It's not like she's gonna try to steal all your money." He looked around their apartment pointedly.

"Yeah, I guess. But maybe I'll just call her tomorrow. You want to watch some TV?"

Richard shrugged absently. "Yeah. I guess so." It had taken weeks for them to learn to live together, but they finally managed to come to some sort of agreement.

Jake lived in the apartment with him for almost a month before he realized that Richard was actually dead. He couldn't tell a soul about their strange living arrangements, though. Not if he never wanted to see the inside of an institution ever again.

The next afternoon, when he was out in the alley on his break, sneaking hits off a joint and trying to ignore the ghost of a drug overdose victim, Isabella showed up. She wore a pair of black shorts, hiking boots, a lightweight dark green jacket, and her backpack hanging off one shoulder. A beautiful black dog trotted along at her side with no leash.

As soon as the dog spotted him, she started sprinting at him, barking loudly and tackling him. She slobbered all over his face, while her tail whipped dangerously from side to side. She hardly let him up, but there was something familiar about her.

"This is my dog," he blurted, not quite sure where the words came from, but he refused to take them back.

Isabella scoffed, sounding irritated. Her eyes told a different story, though, melting into molten chocolate. "What's her name then?"

The dog barked, finally stepping back so he could stand up and dust off his clothes. "I'm not sure..." he answered honestly. "But she's mine." The words leaving his mouth made him sound absolutely ridiculous, he couldn't find it in himself to care, though.

"You never called me." She changed the subject and he felt his face ignite with embarrassment.

"I wasn't sure if I should... I'm uh... Things are complicated..." Bending down, he picked up the joint he'd dropped and lit it up again after making sure there was no one else around.

Isabella was quiet for a long time before she started shaking her head, a sour expression on her face. "No. I'm sorry, but no. I wanted to ease you into it all, but I guess I'm just gonna dive in." He had no idea what she was rambling on about, but he was sure it would end up with her leaving, never to speak to him ever again.

He was wrong.

She took a step back, looked around for half a second before she sauntered up to him, her every movement taking his breath away. Lifting her hands up, she gently caressed his face before stepping up on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to his. It took him a few moments to react, but once the shock wore off, he kissed her back passionately, until neither of them could breathe.

When they finally broke apart, breathing heavily, she snaked her arms around his waist and buried her face into his shirt. He was tempted to pull away and demand an explanation, but instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. A few minutes passed before he realized she was crying.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked softly, moving to break their embrace, but Isabella tightened her hold, and he relished in the feeling of her body flush against his.

She chuckled a little at his question and finally dropped her arms, taking a large step away from him. "No. I'm sorry. I just... I really-"

"Jake? Break's over, mate. Oops. Didn't mean to interrupt anything." Matt stood on the top of the cement steps, propping the back door open with his foot.

"No, no. It's fine." Isabella stooped down and picked up the half-smoked joint he'd dropped for the second time. "I was just leaving. I'll stop by later. Wait for me here when your shift is over?"

Jake could only nod absently, watching her as she whistled for his dog and together they continued on down the alley until they disappeared out of sight. Matt let the door slam shut, moving to stand next to him, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"Is it just me, or is there something really off about that girl?" Matt muttered, completely serious, as he dragged Jake back inside.

"No. She's perfect..." He meant it too.

"Huh. Not sure about perfect, but-"

"No. She is. Trust me."

Matt shook his head. "I would, man. But your head's been scrambled a few too many times."

Jake shrugged, dismissing his friend's comments. Apparently, he was stubborn. He threw himself into his work for the rest of his shift, trying to push the strange girl into the back of his mind as much as he possibly could. He managed to do a decent job, until he finally clocked out and tiredly walked out the back door, letting it slam closed behind him.

"How long have you been out here?" he asked, concern bleeding through his voice. Isabella sat on the bottom step, with the beautiful black dog laying at her feet.

She jumped when she heard his voice, even though he'd closed the door pretty hard. There was a scowl on her face, but her eyes were warm, like she was happy to see him. "Finally. You were in there all day. I thought you might've forgot."

He smiled, making his way down the steps, leaning down to scratch his dog behind her ears. "Busy day. Sorry. Are you hungry? I know a really good Chinese restaurant."

Isabella stood up after he was finished petting the sweetest dog he'd ever encountered and followed him down the alley. Shrugging, she said, "We went to a coffee shop a few blocks away, but I had to leave Keala all tied up, and I hate doing that, so we didn't stay long."

"Keala..." he repeated, and a small smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "That sounds right."

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Of course it is. That's her name."

They were both silent for a few moments, as Jake stared off into space. "I wonder what my name is...?" When she didn't say anything back, not even to question why he didn't know, he glanced at her probingly, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "You know, don't you?"

"Huh? Know what?"

He chuckled loudly, which seemed to startle her a lot more than his proclamation. "You're such a bad liar."

Her scowl darkened. "I'm a great liar." She sounded genuinely offended, which made him laugh even more.

"No. I promise. You're not. It's okay, though. You're cute when you try." He grinned, refusing to take back the words that just seemed to fall right out of his mouth.

Isabella flushed crimson, and Jake instantly wanted to make that happen again. "I'll have you know, I've lied to you a lot since I've known you."

"I'm starting to realize that." A comfortable silence fell between them as they made it to the restaurant. The waitress sat them outside on the patio, at his request, so Keala could lay at their feet without annoying other customers.

After they ordered their food, Isabella started fiddling with the napkin in her lap, refusing to meet his eyes. The tension coming from her was almost palpable. He wanted to break the silence that stretched between them, but it seemed like she had something she wanted to say, so he just sat and waited.

"I met you for the first time in December 2019." Isabella still refused to look at him. She barely even took her eyes off the clean, white, tablecloth. "I was working a job, and you and your annoying siblings showed up. I was cold and mean to you. I put a gun to your head and threatened to kill you. But you just smiled and said it was nice to meet me." For just a second, tears filled her soft dark eyes. "I haven't stopped thinking about you ever since."

Jake smiled, reaching across the table and squeezing her hand quickly. "Now you're telling the truth."

Isabella blinked at him, looking a little surprised, but she covered it up quickly. "My name's not actually Isabella. That was my mother. Mine is Sophia Knight. I was trying to test how much you remember."

"Did I fail?" She shrugged her shoulders in answer to his question, as the server came by with all their food.

"Wow. This is really good!"

Jake beamed. "I'm glad you think so. I love this place." They were both quiet for a few minutes while they focused on the food set in front of them. "So... I have siblings? Was I close to them? Do they live nearby?"

She grimaced, and the expression tickled him a little bit. "You have two older brothers. One's an asshole, one's a geek. You have a little sister too. She's scary, but you're really close. You like your brothers too. But they all live in the States. They think you're dead."

Confusion crossed his face. "They think I'm dead? Why? What happened? And how the hell did I get here? How the hell did you find me? The more you say the more questions I have. For instance, what's my name?"

"It's Jack Wesley Slayer." Sophia smiled wistfully. "I never believed you were really gone. I spent almost a year and practically all the money I've ever saved looking for you. Everyone called me crazy, but I knew I wasn't. I tracked you here, and I've been in the city a few weeks building up the courage to start a conversation. Honestly, last night was the first time I slept in months. Since I left your brother's house."

"My brother..." he repeated slowly. He tried to think back, to remember having brothers, having a family. But nothing came to him.

"Yesterday was your birthday. You just turned twenty. You grew up in a small town in Colorado." The tears she'd worked so hard to hold back spilled down her rosy cheeks.

"Hey... what's wrong?" He leaned over the table and brushed loose strands of hair out of her face, wiping away a few teardrops with the pad of his thumb. "There's no need to cry. You just gave me back a whole piece of my identity. We should be happy about that." He smiled warmly as the tears tapered off a bit.

"Sorry," she mumbled, sourly. "I'm normally... Your brother calls me Ice Princess. I don't usually..."

"It's okay. You want to go to my apartment?" He paused. "I'm not trying to be creepy or anything. I just figured we could talk in private." The waitress stopped by their table then, and he asked her for the check.

Sophia laughed, wiping away the last traces of her tears. "That sounds great. Really."

"You can wait for me out here with Keala, if you want. I'll pay and be right out. Don't go anywhere. If you're still hungry, I know of a great ice cream spot."

"I'm okay. I'll be right over there." She pointed toward the side of the building. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she clamped her mouth shut and got up, while he took the check inside. He spent about five minutes paying, before he was able to go meet the weird girl outside.

By all accounts, they were practically strangers, yet he felt like they had an instant connection. Making his way over to where she was looking at her phone while she waited for him, he was once again captivated by her beauty. Her expression was almost always a scowl, but he liked it, 'cause he felt accomplished or proud when he got to see her smile.

"You ready to head to my place? It's not far, so we can walk if you want."

Sophia shrugged. "Whatever. I'm fine walking."

Jack smirked. "Great! 'Cause I've only ever walked. Not sure if I'd even know the way driving. My friends think I shouldn't get behind the wheel without my memories."

"Your friends are morons." She spoke like she knew them personally.

He shrugged. "I don't know... They've helped me out a lot since I got outta the-" He stopped talking abruptly, but Sophia's scowl darkened, and he figured she'd pester him until he told her the truth.

"Since you got outta...?" she prompted slowly. Jack's face turned bright red.

He was quiet for a long time, trying to decide whether or not to tell her the truth. He was denied three or four jobs once they found out his last known address. He'd learned to just keep it to himself. Except that Sophia Knight wasn't having any of that.

"Tell me, you little shit. We never kept secrets from each other before."

Jack sighed loudly. "I was stuck in the hospital psych ward for a while. The looney bin." He expected a horrified or pitying reaction, but instead, Sophia laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd heard in months.

"Of course you were. You have no memories!" She continued laughing, even as Jack just stared at her. "I'm just guessing here, but you're seeing ghosts, aren't you?"

"You know about that?" He stopped short and Sophia nearly ran straight into him.

"Everyone close to you knows about that. You've been seeing them your whole life." Sophia threaded her arm through Jack's and the contact made his heart race against his chest.

"Are they always such dicks?"

Sophia shrugged. "You said they were. How'd you get out of the psych ward?"

"I lied. I said the medicine worked, and I wasn't seeing anyone anymore. But really, I used to spit it all out in the toilet, 'cause it made me feel weird."

"Well done!" Pride danced in her dark eyes.

"How did I stay out of those places before?" He grimaced, remembering his time in the horrible hospital.

"You kept your mouth shut about it. Unless you were around your siblings. It wasn't as weird or strange to them."

They both were stuck in their own thoughts for a few minutes, while they made it to Jack's apartment in the rougher part of the city. His building was rundown and falling apart, but the rent was cheap as hell and his neighbors were nice enough.

"Wow. This place is a shithole." But instead of looking around in disgust like Luke and his sister had, she plopped down on the couch he'd rescued from the garbage and acted completely comfortable. It was a medium-sized two-bedroom apartment, with a small kitchen and a living room that doubled as the dining area. There was only one small bathroom, but Jack had everything he needed. "I like it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really?" Disbelief coated the single word that left his mouth.

"Really. It's cozy."

He scoffed, making her laugh. "Most people say it's rundown and kinda dirty. Also, my roommate's name is Richard. He's an asshole. Especially when something makes him angry."

Sophia glanced around, a frown appearing on her forehead. "Honestly, it barely looks like one person lives here. Let alone two people."

"He spends most of his time in his room. Except when he's annoying the crap out of me."

"Stop telling her bad things about me. Hello, beautiful woman." Richard appeared on the couch next to Sophia, reaching over to touch her hair, but his fingers went right through her.

Jack scowled when Sophia shivered a little and shot him a dirty look. "Your roommate's here. Isn't he?"

"How'd you know?" Nobody else had ever even sensed anything was going on.

Sophia grinned, leaning back in her seat casually. "It's part of my job to recognize the signs. Did I not tell you what we do for a living?"

"No..." Jack responded slowly. "But I work at a grocery store..."

"That's only your day job. Not your real one." There was a shit-eating grin on her face. "We're Exterminators."

"Like, we go in and kill bugs and spiders and shit?"

Sophia shrugged. "Among others. Witches, zombies, and werewolves, to name a few. Oh, and ghosts."

Jack stared at her thoughtfully for a long time, trying to process her words. "I'm trying to wrap my head around all this. But it's... a lot."

Sophia's smile grew even wider and the sight sent chills up and down his spine. "Maybe we should go on a job together. I've been working with some friends of your dad's."

She looked so excited, Jack didn't have the heart to say no. "Tonight?"

"Yes." Sophia glanced at her phone and cursed under her breath. "But first, we need to call your brother or I'm sure he'll kill me."

"I can talk to him?" Jack's heart sped into overdrive as anxiety clawed at his insides. Keala moved from her spot on the floor to lay her head in his lap, which calmed him down immediately.

Sophia shrugged, scrolling through her phone and finding the right contact. Lifting the device to her ear, she waited an excruciatingly long time before she finally started talking.

"Ash," she said, speaking sharply. "He's alive. I was right. Say hi."

"Hi," Jack muttered quietly, which made her roll her eyes.

"No, into the phone, idiot." Despite her name-calling, she was grinning at him.

"Uhm... hi?"

"See? I was right. I'm not crazy." She hung up the phone after that and shrugged. "Hopefully he gets it soon. For now, I'm supposed to meet up with Marcus Bleaker and help him with a little ghost problem."

Richard moved across the room in the blink of an eye, glaring rigidly at Jack. "You're an Exterminator?" he demanded angrily, causing the temperature in the room to drop about twenty degrees.

"I guess so, don't worry, though. I wouldn't kill you. I don't even know how."

Sophia glanced up from her phone like it was normal for him to talk to his furniture like that. "Maybe it'll be like riding a bike. You never know. It might jog a memory or two. But whatever happens, just chill out. You're making me anxious."

"Sorry," Jack mumbled back, doing his best to ease his own anxiety about the situation.

"Don't be. Let's go wrangle up some spirits. I'll show ya." A grin lit up her entire face. "Again."

"Long as you're not coming after me, I don't care." Richard disappeared into his room after that, leaving Sophia and Jack alone in his small living room.

"Let's go. I have a whole duffel bag full of your gear in my car. I've been saving it for you." She nudged him lightly as she stood up and stretched. "I've lugged it around with me all over the goddamn world." She sounded a tad bitter about it, but the light never dimmed from her chocolate-colored eyes.

"Thank you." He slung an arm around her shoulders as Keala followed close behind, and the three of them left his crappy apartment, walking back to where Sophia had parked her car.

Marcus Bleaker was a tall man with a scowl etched into his face and a scar running through his left eye, which was cloudy and unseeing. He leaned against his car outside a large, gray, house at the end of a poorly paved road. Some of the windows had been boarded up and the front yard was overrun with weeds and tall plants. He wore a tick jean jacket with a red and black checkered flannel underneath, and black jeans with rips in them.

Sophia had just pulled to a stop in front of the large, empty, structure, when her phone started ringing loudly. Glancing at it, she sighed and held it out to Jack. "Here. It's your brother. Answer it."

"Uh... You're not going to?" he asked slowly, his anxiety returning twice as bad at the idea of talking to a person he had no memory of, his own brother.

"No. Answer it. I'm gonna go talk to Marcus." She dropped the noisy phone in his lap and hopped out of the car.

Jack answered it at the very last second. "Uhm... Hello?"

"Jacky?" The voice in his ear was familiar somehow, yet he couldn't piece together in his brain when he'd heard it before. Even though he knew, logically, it was his brother.

"Yeah, I guess that's me." He cleared his throat a few times, not really sure how he was supposed to sound, or how he used to talk.

"Where the hell are you?" In the background, he heard a bunch of different voices all asking questions he couldn't understand.

"Auckland, New Zealand," Jack rattled off quickly. It was the one question he actually did know the answer to. "But Sophia and I are about to go on a job. She says it's a ghost thing." He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he should've expected from his brother, but it certainly wasn't the reaction he got.

"Hell no! Don't do that! You stay wherever you are right fucking now. I'm coming for you. I'm jumping on a plane. I'll be there in less than a day." He sounded so urgent, Jack didn't even try to talk him out of it.

"Okay. I'll text you my address. I think your number's in Sophia's phone. Your name is Ash... right?" The question just spilled out of his mouth. He didn't even think about pretending that he remembered who they were until he'd already blown his cover.

"Yes, idiot. My name is Ash. You... do remember, right...?"

All the noise and talking in the background on the other end of the line silenced, while Jack considered the best way to answer.

"I don't remember anything," he finally decided on saying, and he could practically feel the disappointment, even over the phone. The silence that followed was heavy.

"But, then how...?"

"I don't know. Sophia found me. She's been telling me things about myself. Things I didn't know. Like, well, everything. I woke up in a hospital here more than ten months ago, with no memories. I still don't even know who I am!" His anxiety started to kick in tenfold, while his voice rose with every word.

"Alright, dude, calm down. Just calm down, man. Will's already booked my flight, so I'll be there in just a couple days. Do not go on that job with Sophia. Don't do anything stupid, man. Just sit tight. You hearing me, Jacky?"

Jack nodded his head for a second before he remembered they couldn't see each other. "Uhm... yeah, sure. Look, I gotta go. But I'll send you my address in a sec." He heard Ash start to protest, but he hit the off button on Sophia's phone, and quickly sent the text he'd promised.

When he finally jumped out of the car, with Keala following closely at his side, he made his way over to where Marcus Bleaker and Sophia were talking, looking very serious.

"Okay, so this is the rookie?" Marcus nodded his head at Jack, a scowl on his face.

Sophia glared at the man coldly. "He's not a rookie. He's the best Exterminator I've ever met." Her confidence in him was astounding, especially when he couldn't remember a single thing about his life.

Marcus sighed. "Yeah, alright. Let's get going then. Heard this ghost's already taken ten or twelve people." Slinging a duffel bag over his shoulder, just like the ones Sophia and Jack had, he started to head up the sidewalk toward the house.

Sophia took a step to follow, but Jack put a heavy hand on her shoulder and stopped her. Lowering his voice, so only she could hear him, he said, "Wait. Ash warned me not to go with you. He seemed really worried..."

"He's a weeny. Ignore him." She completely dismissed Ash's caution and grinned at him. "Let's go. This is gonna be fun."

Jack trailed after the two experienced Exterminators into the old boarded up house. The second they walked through the front door, he felt something weird. Something bad. Sophia and Marcus decided, since it was such a large house, it was worth splitting up.

It immediately sounded like a terrible idea, but he was easily outvoted.

"Come on, Jack, we'll take the first floor, while Marcus looks upstairs. Everything's gonna be fine."

Marcus slowly started making his way up to the second floor, while Jack and Sophia quietly tiptoed into each room they had could access. As they walked around, Jack started to think he saw something, but then the ghosts would disappear super quick. Sophia seemed to notice too.

"What the hell? Where are they all?" They heard Marcus' voice from upstairs.

"Come on," Sophia nudged him gently, and they went back to the bottom of the stairs where Marcus was waiting, looking perplexed.

"Kid, what's going on?" he asked Sophia, throwing his hands up and jostling the duffel bag hanging off his shoulders.

Sophia shook her head, miffed. "I have no idea. Jack, you know what's up?"

He was about to respond, when a little boy appeared at the top of the stairs. The clothes that he wore made him look like he was originally born at the turn of the last century.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded, glaring at him with unsettling jet black eyes. "You're scaring everyone."

Jack shrugged, unsure if he should respond or not until the ghost disappeared and reappeared right in front of him. "Oh, uhm, my name's Jack."

Marcus frowned, glancing back and forth between Sophia and Jack. "What the hell is he talking about? We know your name, man."

Sophia smiled brightly, like it was no big deal. "He's talking to one of them."

The entire time Sophia and Marcus were whispering, Jack was being mean-mugged by the little ghost boy. "My friends are scared of you. We've heard a lot of stories... Any of them true?" His dark eyes bored straight into Jack.

He shrugged in response, ignoring the whispered conversation happening between the others. "I don't actually remember."

The boy's pale lips pulled back into a smile that sent chills up and down Jack's spine. "I can fix that for you, if you want."

Before he could even open his mouth in protest, the boy reached out and laid freezing cold hands on the side of his face. At first, all he felt was cold as his vision started to blur and shift until he was no longer standing in the middle of a haunted house in Auckland. Instead, he stood in a place that instantly felt familiar, even though he had no idea why.

"Jacky, Jacky, Jacky... I wasn't looking forward to seeing you back here so soon." The voice was loud and booming, it startled Jack enough to make him jump.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Jack glanced around frantically, looking for a way to escape, but not finding anything obvious.

"You warned me that wiping your memory would be a bad idea. But we couldn't have you running amok out in the world, now could we? So..." The man stood regally in front of him with a scowl on his face. "What are we going to do about this dilemma?"

"Give me back my memories," Jack proposed boldly, "and I'll never bother you again."

The man dressed in a long black robe, laughed loudly. Maniacally. "We both know that's not true. I just can't seem to get away from you. When you were dead, you did nothing but cause more problems for me than you did walking among the living."

Jack smiled, feeling more like himself than he had since he'd woken up in that hospital. The longer he stood in front of Death, the more he started remembering snippets and fragments from his life. "So send me back whole this time. I'll do my best to leave you alone."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between the two of them for a long, long time, before Death finally broke it. A look of aggravation crossed his features, his dark eyes glowing red. It took him a second, but Jack spotted a scythe tattoo on Death's pasty, papery neck that glowed the same crimson color as his eyes. It was almost identical to the birthmark on the back of his neck.

"Fine. I will agree to return your memories and send you back. However, I will be keeping a close eye on you. The Council has discussed it in depth, and they have decided that you shouldn't be punished for being pushed into losing control. But... if it happens again, we will be forced to take drastic and permanent action."

Jack smiled brightly. "Deal!"

Death moved toward him slowly, intimidatingly. He reached out and laid his bony fingers on either side of Jack's face. "This is going to hurt. A lot."

Agony exploded in Jack's brain as information flooded his mind. Dizziness blurred his sight and nausea settled in his stomach. He blacked out completely, still writhing in pain. When his eyes fluttered open again, the pain had subsided, leaving him feeling calm and entirely himself.

As he started to adjust to the bright lights, he took in his confusing and disorienting surroundings. He was laying on the floor with his head resting in Sophia's lap while she stroked his long dark curls and talked to him in a low voice, telling him a story.

"And then, I stabbed him in the heart with your dagger. I had no other choice, though. The host probably would've just died anyway, with the way the ghost was acting." Glancing down at him, their eyes met and Sophia's entire face lit up, before her whole demeanor changed from calm to suspicious and distrustful in about ten seconds flat.

"Hey, Soph. What's wrong?" Slowly, he sat up, and she carefully scooted back away from him. His head was pounding, and when he looked around, he realized he was back in his own apartment. They were no longer in the ghost-filled house where they'd been when he was last concious.

"You saw Death again, didn't you?" she asked, glaring at him like she was waiting for him to lie to her.

Jack barely heard the question. His gaze was focused solely on her. Without saying a word, he leaned toward her, grabbing her face with both hands and capturing her lips with his. Their kiss was almost needy, neither of them wanting to separate, or take a breath. They finally pulled apart when someone startled them both.

"Ever heard of putting a sock on the door?"

As soon as he registered who the voice belonged to, Jack jumped to his feet, and dragged Sophia up with him.

"Ash." He grinned broadly, his eyes switching back and forth between Sophia and his brother. "I remember everything."

Sophia punched him lightly in the shoulder. "And you didn't tell me?"

He shot her a mischievous smirk in return. "I thought I just did." Sophia blushed and it caused Jack's heart to speed up at just the sight.

Ash's happiness instantly soured. "So... how'd that happen?" He dropped two heavy duffel bags on the ground and closed the door behind him. "You went on that job didn't you?" He was talking to Jack, but his gaze was fixed on Sophia.

She shrugged, unaffected by Ash's glare. "It worked, didn't it? His memory's been jogged."

"Not the point."

Smiling smugly, she sat down carefully on one of the couches, and gently pulled Jack down beside her. "It's my point." Their gazes met and she shot him an earnest look. "I needed to get you back. I don't care if you're a monster."

Jack didn't flinch at the word like he once would've. He sat back and watched his oldest brother pace around his small apartment. "You have every right to be skeptical. I have been a monster. I remember it all. I kinda wish I didn't. Not remembering was easier. But I can control it now. I promise I'm not gonna go around doing what I did. It's going to be different from here on out."

Ash stopped in his tracks. "How do we know that? I watched you become not you. And you've been gone for a year. Who knows what you've done?"

Sophia rolled her eyes. "He was gone for maybe two or three months. At most. After that, he was locked in the psych hospital."

Ash barely took his eyes off Jack. "Still... Maybe we should stick around here for a month or two, until we're sure you're not gonna go full dark side again."

"Until you're sure you won't have to kill me this time?" Jack asked curiously, no malice in his voice.

"Obviously, that option doesn't always take. So, I've been thinking of a good alternative. We could lock you up. Make damn sure you don't hurt anyone."

Jack shrugged, thinking it was a perfectly fine idea, but before he could respond, Sophia jumped up, glaring at his older brother, the same way he'd always remembered her doing. "What the hell is wrong with you? We're not gonna just lock him up! That's ridiculous. He's not evil!"

Standing up, he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I think it's a great idea. Just in case." The second he touched her, she visibly calmed down.

"Are you sure?" Her voice was cold and her eyes still murderous.

"I'm sure." Jack pulled her back onto the couch beside him, and motioned for Ash to sit down on the loveseat to the right.

He hesitated for a few seconds before he finally sat down, letting out a long, loud, sigh. "So, this is where you've been livin', huh? Cozy..."

Jack shrugged. "It's fine. My roommate, Richard, makes things interesting. But I'm ready to head home. Lee had her baby, right?"

"Oh, Richard's dead, by the way," Sophia interjected as Ash was about to respond.

He ignored her.

His eyes sparkled at the mention of his child. "The baby's seven-months-old now. We named him Kit Grayson. I can't wait for you to meet him."

"Me neither. Can we head home sooner then? I want to go back to my normal life."

Ash threw his head back and laughed loudly. "You have a normal life? Tell me, kid, what does that even look like?"

"You know exactly what it looks like, idiot," Sophia snarled, as surly as ever. "Jack and I'll be working together and doing our job. I have one last thing to do here. But then, in a few days, I can meet you both back at the Lockwood compound, or your place, Ash."

"No," Jack responded immediately. "I'm not going without you. Plus, I should probably give notice at the grocery store and say goodbye to a few friends."

Ash sat back, looking like he was finally starting to make himself comfortable. "Well, I guess we're hanging out here for a week or two. Jacky, what do ya say about goin' on a little road trip?"

Jack grinned. "Hell yeah."

Sophia groaned.