Set before Venn met Reed.

Shale dragged a soggy, coughing Venn out of the river before he too collapsed. "Venn, you came from a city that was eighty percent water. How are you this bad at swimming?"

Venn rolled onto his belly and pushed himself to his hands and knees. He coughed up another lungful of water. "Nobody in their right mind swam in the canals on purpose, you moron. Eighty percent is more water than I've got in me."

"Because people swim there by accident all the time? Seems accurate. Sure."

"Oh shut up. At least we destroyed the source. Nice throw with that flare by the way."

Zip ran down the dock to Venn and Shale. He was panting as he glared at the two. "The window?! Seriously?!"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Shale said defensively, sitting up.

"Okay let's be honest, the door was just as valid of a choice," Venn pointed out, sitting back on his heels. "Look at Zip. He's fine and you can bet he didn't jump out any windows."

"It was a great learning experience. Just think, you know how to break through a window now. That's going to save your life some day," Shale pushed himself to his feet and wrung out his hair.

Zip rolled his eyes and helped Venn up. Venn's silver blazer shimmered more than usual in the light from the ghost lamps. He was soaked completely and shivering slightly.

Shale put an arm around Venn and pulled him close. Somehow, Shale wasn't cold. Venn huddled into him as his shivers grew stronger.

"Let's get you warmed up," Shale said softly. "I have another case for us. Something easy. Just a lurker. The woman has an idea where the source might be as well."

Venn nodded and the trio started heading back to their rooms at Fittes. Shale and Venn needed to change into dry clothes. Venn stayed pressed to Shale's side the whole way.

The woman had left the trio in the large dining room. Venn dropped a chain just inside the door and started kicking it into a circle as Shale looked around.

A large rectangle table took up most of the space. A fireplace was built into the wall behind the head of the table. There were about twenty chairs. The ceiling stretched at least twenty feet above their heads.

"What do you see Venn?" Shale asked. "Hear anything, Zip?"

Venn finished the circle and gazed around. He squinted and shielded his eyes. "There's a really bright death glow just on the other side of the table. Can't you see it? Looks like there might be something in the fireplace too."

Zip listened for a moment, then shook his head. "I hear a little whispering but I can't pick out anything. I can see the death glow too. Not brightly."

Shale looked to the place Venn had indicated. He didn't see anything. He didn't mention it though. They all knew his talents were fading, though his hearing was still just as good. Not as sharp as Zip's but still good.

The room seemed to grow suddenly darker and Venn froze. "W-what time is it?"

Shale pulled out his ornate silver pocket watch. "Uh... just after midnight."

Venn pointed toward the fireplace. "I just wanted to say that I'm pretty sure he's not a shade or a lurker."

Shale looked in the direction Venn pointed. The ghost of a portly man in old style finery was shockingly clear. Venn was right. This was no simple type one. Shale started to mentally classify it as a type two specter when it spoke.

"And what could the three of you possibly want here?" It said. The voice was hollow and deep. "Here to destroy an innocent spirit? I've done no harm!"

Venn turned his eyes to the other two for a translation. He seemed confused by the shock on Shale's face and the curiosity on Zip's. "What is it?"

Shale turned to Venn, pushing his precious pocket watch into Venn's hands. "Take care of that for me and run, got it? Don't come back inside. I'll meet you out front in a minute."

Venn slid the pocket watch into his pocket. "The source is in the fireplace. We can be done in less than ten minutes."

The ghost laughed. "Oohh the poor little devil is scared. Adorable."

The ghost waved a hand and a chair flew at them. It hit the wall, breaking through the sheetrock before falling to the floor. Zip jumped, tearing his gaze away.

"It's a type three," Zip said quietly.

Shale's blood ran cold at the words. He had hoped neither boy would make the connection. Fortunately, Zip seemed to take Shale's side. He took Venn's arm and pulled him toward the door.

Venn resisted the pulling of the younger boy. His black eyes were locked desperately on Shale. "I'm not leaving you here to fight that thing alone!"

The ghost laughed cruelly. A butter knife narrowly missed Venn's head. He flinched away from it, but didn't relent as Zip pulled harder.

Shale growled. He stepped right up to Venn. "I won't have a ghost be the one to kill you. Go."

Wind started to spin around them. Venn looked over Shale's shoulder at the specter, still standing in the same place. His eyes went to the fireplace next. The glittering, faintly glowing object was still there.

Shale took advantage of Venn's distraction. He grabbed the front of Venn's blazer. Venn yelped and tried to twist away without success. "Shale! What are you doing?!"

Shale forced the door open despite the unnatural wind. Zip darted out right away. Shale threw Venn out the door before slamming it. He flipped the silver bolt and stepped away. He heard Venn hit the door, rattling it. Curses in Italian and English barely made it through the solid oak.

Shale drew his rapier and turned toward the fireplace. The ghost was directly behind him. He leaped back, tripping over his own feet. His grip on the rapier loosened and the ghost smirked.

Shale's rapier was ripped free of his hand by the wind the ghost had kicked up. He gasped as the wall of wind flung him against a wall like an unwanted toy.

"You think to contain me?" The specter shouted. Its rage was evident.

Shale moved to push himself to his feet, but was shoved back down again by the wind. The rushing wind whipping around him made it hard to breathe. "That was the original idea," he gasped.

The specter strode over to Shale and touched one hand to the side of his face. Shale jerked away with a cry of pain. Ice cold burning pain spiked through his skull. The area started to swell a bit.

The specter laughed and stepped away. Shale's rapier sliced through the air, stabbing itself through Shale's belly before speeding away again.

Shale grit his teeth hard and focused on breathing evenly as the new wound sent more pain arcing through him. "What do you want, specter?" He demanded, his voice tight with pain.

"I want your death!" The specter screamed. "You came here trying to make me leave! But I won't go!"

Shale was flung across the room even harder than before. He felt several of his ribs crack, but was too numb to register the added pain. He collapsed, coughing up blood. He turned a weak glare to the specter. "Just kill me then," he choked out. "If you want it so badly."

Shale barely acknowledged that he was being lifted until the wind pinned him to the wall. He gave a start when he realized the specter was right in his face.

The portly man grinned cruelly. "You'll die eventually. There's no surviving this for you."

Shale's rapier flew through the air. It went straight through his left hand and into the wall. The wind died and Shale fell limp. The specter stepped back, admiring it's handiwork as Shale hung from the sword through his hand.

Blood soaked Shale's white shirt and blazer, more ran down his arm in thin streams, and a bit fell from his mouth as a coughing fit shook his body. He knew he was dying.

This hadn't been part of the plan. This was supposed to be an easy case. Shale could have made his move on Venn afterwards, when all the other agents would be catching up on sleep. Venn could have been dead by sunrise.

But no, Shale had to make Venn run. To save Zip. He had stayed back to keep the ghost at bay, with the intention of following. Yet here he was. Hanging by his hand on the wall. Dying.

The ghost touch had spread to cover half his face and part of his neck when he finally started to feel something pulling in his chest. He shuddered as darkness started to creep into his vision. Another weak cough sent pain flashing through him again. He could taste the blood in his mouth. His thoughts grew ever more sluggish.

His head dropped, eyes staring sightlessly at the floor. Whatever had been pulling inside his chest snapped free. Black hair fell before his face. His last breath left his lungs and he was met with darkness.

The specter's laugh was the last thing he heard as the life left his body.

Venn shoved past the officer who had tried to block his way to the dining room. The officer grabbed his arm. "Hey kid, you're not supposed to go in there."

Venn twisted his arm free and snapped his teeth in a way that made the officer step back. "The man who died here was my mentor. I need to see him."

"It's not pretty," the officer warned, but Venn wasn't listening.

Venn slipped into the room and looked around at the carnage. Drops of blood were everywhere. Smears of it marked almost every wall. There was a dark puddle at the feet of Shale's body.

Venn walked slowly to stand in front of his mentor. Shale was almost completely covered in blood. Half of his face was completely black and blue from ghost touch. His eyes, normally such an unnaturally bright blue, seemed normal in death.

Venn looked over to the fireplace. The spoon he had seen the previous night still glittered in all it's blackened, tarnished glory. It still gave off a surprising psychic glow. He returned his gaze to Shale's body, fighting tears.

"You didn't need to die," Venn whispered. He slowly knelt just beyond the puddle of dried blood. "You could have thrown a flare into the fireplace. I could have thrown a flare into the fireplace."

The officers were busy with something on the other side of the room. Venn ignored them. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the silver pocket watch Shale had pressed into his hands.

A shiver ran down Venn's spine. "Why did you need to leave me?" his voice cracked. He closed his eyes. "Why couldn't you have just taken care of the source?"

Venn's head drooped, his shoulders slumped. "I'd give anything to get you back..." A couple tears finally worked their way free of Venn's careful control.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Venn jerked around, his hand reaching for a rapier he wasn't carrying. His black eyes snapped up to see one of the officers standing behind him. She had a sympathetic smile. "Friend of yours?"

Venn wiped his eyes with his sleeve and got up. "Mentor. He made me leave before..." his gaze flicked to the body.

The officer made no move to get closer to Venn. "You shouldn't have come back here this morning."

Venn looked up into the officer's face. His eyes flashed with an icy glare. His fingers tightened around the pocket watch. "I told him where the source was before he forced me to leave. He could have neutralized it or destroyed it. He could have lived!"

Venn whipped around and strode toward the fireplace before the officer could respond. He pulled a small silverglass box from his pocket as he walked. He didn't care what it looked like he was doing as he reached into the fireplace. He heard a dull thrumming, like the specter might be trying to say something, but his hearing talent wasn't good enough.

He wrenched the spoon out of the fireplace and put it in the box. He turned to face the room as he slammed the box shut. All of the officers were staring at him as he flung the box onto the table.

"There's your source," he growled. "Now if you'll excuse me. I need coffee."

Before anyone could stop him, Venn left. He bolted down the street the moment he was outside. He didnt know where he was going, just running. Running away from the vivid memory of Shale's bloody, lifeless corpse hanging from the wall.