I'm hiding my nerves as I arrive for my ghost-hunting interview. Undead Coffee is full of people chatting and laughing, but I can't spot Grian. I scan the room. What if this is the first test? What if I've already lost the job?

'Howdy Scar! Are you looking for something?'

I almost scream at the sound of Joe's voice. I turn to see the Incorporai Inanimate ghost happily possessing his favourite inanimate object - a hand puppet Cleo made for him.

'Afternoon Joe! Did anyone come in here talking about ghost hunting? Or mention me?'

'I know Impulse and Gem at the back there are ghost hunters?' Joe offers.

'Yes, thanks! Bye Joe!'

I continue deeper into the café. And, to my relief, I recognise the pair in the corner table at the back - Gem with the red hair, and Impulse, who always has the best ghost-hunting ideas and technology.

'Hello, I am here to be interviewed about hunting ghosts.'

'Scar! Hello! Sit down, sit down. Grian and Skizz are just on their way... some ruckus at the theatre. Something about a missing canary or something.' Impulse immediately proves I'm in the right place by replying. I give a relieved smile, taking a seat next to Gem. 'How are you?'

'I'm good. You?'

'I'm doing really well, thanks for asking... ah! Grian! Skizz! Over here!' Impulse stands, waving over the final 2 GIGS members. Grian notices me, responding to my excited wave with a vague smile.

'Why hello there, Grian!'

'Hey, Scar... I see you moved on quickly from the zoo idea.'

'Well someone refused to accept my form...' I mutter back. 'And put me on hold for 20 minutes... but, but, but but... I am not going to dwell on that because we're here to talk about ghosts. And interview me about ghosts.'

'Hang on, before we get any further... should we do introductions?' Skizz - I assume that's the tall guy who arrived with Grian - suggests. The others nod. 'So... I'm Skizz, I'm a drumming instructor, I'm part of Ren's band Dogwarts and the RC. I make the GIGS videos and put myself in the most stupid and dangerous situations on our missions.'

'I'm Grian, you know who I am, but I work on the Hermit Council handling people's ideas for the town and selling people houses. And I work out what kind of ghost we're handling.'

'I'm Gem, I'm a primary school teacher at Hermit Primary, and I hide in the van watching all the footage the others send to me and tell people when to run away.'

'And I am Impulse. I own the van and most of the ghost hunting technology. Now, Scar, tell us a little about yourself.'

'Oh, so I'm Scar Goodtimes, I do all sorts of little odd jobs and live with my best friend Cub, who's amoyzing. And I know a lot about ghosts. Oh, and one of my pets is an adorable Were called Jellie, she's a cat Were, and she hangs around my house looking after my living cats, Mr Finnegan and Katy Bee. Oh, and I know some of the most delightful allays in the town and... oh, shoot, I'm rambling, aren't I? Cub says I get rambly when I'm excited...'

'Enthusiasm, we like that!' Skizz grins. I smile back. 'So, Scar. You say you know a lot about ghosts... tell me. If we were in a house, and we saw a lot of moving objects but-'

'Oh- oh! That's a poultry guy!' I exclaim. Grian screeches with laughter. My excitement fades to embarrassment. 'Wait, it's not a poultry guy?'

'Poltergeist?'

'Yeah, that one,' I'm bright red as Gem corrects me. 'Sorry.'

'No, man. You got the right ghost. We don't care about pronunciation if you've got the right one, and know what to do about it.'

'What if the ghost was a new inanimate?' offers Impulse. 'How would you tell which it was?'

'Well...' I try to remember my conversations with Joe. 'Well... that depends on how the object is moving. If it's defying physics and stuff, or if multiple things are moving, it's a poultry ghost, if it's just one thing at a time...'

'Do we give him that?'

'I don't know...'

'Well, Scar, there's 2 ways we find out. The Skizz way, or the Impulse way.' Grian explains. 'Impulse way involves using a DOTS projector that will show if the ghost has a physical form beyond the objects. And the Skizzly way involves screaming and smashing a good old chair over an already angry poltie's head.'

'Is that still our most watched clip?' Gem asks, stifling a giggle.

'Unfortunately, it is... anyway, you were still right Scar. The invented ghost was throwing a lot of stuff.'

'To be even more specific... if a poultry ghost is throwing a lot of stuff, then it's probably lonely and seeking attention. So you give the ghost clothes, so it can dress up and have a physical form like a living person. Or you find some way for it to communicate with you through written language,' I murmur. The others go quiet.

'That's... dang, man, that's really good advice.' Skizz mutters back. 'Wow?'

'How would you get a Vengeant to do what you want?' Impulse asks.

'Oh, no, Vengeant are terrifying...'

'Yep. Correct.' Skizz answers quickly before Impulse can speak.

'Come on... Vengeant aren't that bad...'

'Yes. Yes they are that bad. Remember when I was nearly murdered by that one on Sahara Street?'

The group goes silent.

'...Murdered?' I question, staring around at the silent ghost hunters. Gem's fiddling. Grian shifts in his chair. Skizz seems about to say something else.

'I've learnt from that mistake,' Impulse mutters before he can, sat staring at the table, unmoving. 'It won't happen again.'

'Mistake?' No one elaborates. 'Grian? Skizz?'

'If you want to know, I was luring it out of the house. And, you know how Vengeant take an object associated with them when they die? This one had an axe, and was chasing me with it when I tripped. Someone had left the spirit box on the ground. I couldn't get up fast enough.' A pause. 'If I hadn't rolled onto my front and moved across, exactly how and when I did, I would probably be dead right now. To be honest, I almost died anyway to what it did cause

Skizz unbuttons his jacket and shirt. My eyes widen further at the sight of the huge scar cutting across his chest.

'I'd left the spirit box there.' Impulse mumbles. Tears shine in his eyes. Gem puts a hand on his shoulder.

'We didn't know. But we do now.' Gem glances at me 'We don't leave anything on the ground unsupervised. We put it on tables, or in our pockets. No more trip hazards.'

'Besides, Scar, that was years ago. Don't let their horror stories scare you into not joining us. Nothing's really happened since,' Grian assures me with.

'Yeah, buddy. We wouldn't want to miss out on having you on our team.' 

'Wait, I'm confused. You... want me to...?'

'We want you to be part of GIGS. Yes.'

'Wait, really?!'

'But only if you understand that this is dangerous, we are handling ghosts, you could get attacked, or possessed, or even killed by one of the ghosts. Ok?' Impulse looks me dead in the eye. I nod back quickly.

'Ok.'

'And you can leave whenever you want. No judgement.'

'Yeah. yeah, alright.' My heart hammers with adrenaline at the thought of actually joining GIGS. 'I can do that.'

'So, Scar,' Grian asks, I turn to him. 'Do you want to join GIGS?'

I smile.

'I do.'