[zapdragon555]

This job was more dangerous than most, and Mob was sure Reigen knew it, but that didn't change the fact that he couldn't stop jiggling his leg up and down on the train ride there. They were meant to investigate some strange happenings at a cathedral in Lya Pointa. Mob wasn't sure when there weren't strange happenings at Lya Pointa, but it seemed this one was a bit more of a serious case.

The cathedral in question loomed dark and ominous above them. In all honesty, Mob wasn't sure what he'd expected for this area's color; it was true that the blacks of the bricks and shadows had a deeper, warmer, redder quality to them, but it was hardly noticeable. Just as black-and-white as everything else.

[zapdragon555]

"Okay," Reigen mused, tapping his foot incessantly on the stone, and Mob could only think about how loud his own foot must have been on the train on the way there. Had he bothered anyone? He hoped not. Reigen was bothering him a bit, right now. "Do you think we have everything we need?"

This job had required a few more tools than usual. Mob didn't carry much with him other than a phone, but the difference here was that they were meeting with a client, one that was deeply afraid and distrustful of psychics. How Reigen had managed to get a hold of this client, Mob would never know.

[zapdragon555]

Still, it was worth a check. Mob unshouldered the duffle bag he'd been lugging and plopped it on the ground, crouching down to open it. A corbine cawed overhead, and Reigen's eyes narrowed, looking around with a wary look on his face.

"Okay... EVP meter, flashlights, ouigia board--are you sure this is really okay to have?" Mob frowned as he pulled out the toy, tapping it lightly with a fingernail. Reigen sputtered and forced it back down into the bag, scowling.

"Well don't pull it out out here in the open. This place is crawling with vengeful spirits!"

"Yes, I know. And I don't think a piece of plastic colored like wood is going to do much about that."

[zapdragon555]

Bag shouldered, the two walked up to the front door and stared at the heavy, metal knocker. Mob raised a hand, and quickly had it (gently) slapped away. "Let me. You keep your hands at the ready in case anything rushes out at us."

Mob fought the urge to roll his eyes, but he took on a careful, ready stance. Whatever that meant. He just ended up sort of holding his hands out at chest-height, staring seriously at the door.

Three knocks later, there was the sound of creaking, and Mob felt a chill run down his spine as the heavy doors opened.

[zapdragon555]

The rush of heavy perfume filled Mob's nose, making him sneeze right as the door opened to reveal a very gaudily-dressed woman. Her face contorted into a scowl as Mob sneezed on her, and she stepped back, making Reigen bristle. "SO sorry for my, uh, protege here, he's... ah..."

"I could not care less," the woman sighed, and once Mob had cleared his eyes of sneeze-tears, he spotted some strange, protective sigils on the large beads around her neck. "All I care for is that you two are here. You don't look much like proper ghost hunters, but I suppose you will do."

She turned her back and made a vague gesture for them to follow. The two exchanged a glance, suddenly quite unwilling to go through with this.

[zapdragon555]

The central room of the cathedral was beautiful, even if it was dilapidated. Even in black and white, lacking any sort of definition for the shattered stained glass on the walls, it had a strange beauty to it. The two walked inside, their footsteps echoing off the spacious walls. Mob tried not to look into the eyes of any statues for too long. It gave him the creeps.

Reigen's eyes were drawn to a place near the pews, where a temporary placemat had been laid down, a few protective items laying on it that were quite familiar to Reigen's trained eye. The woman sauntered towards it, a calm air about her.

[zapdragon555]

"Wait a second," he muttered, scurrying over to the blanket and picking up one of the items. It was a box, and inside it was filled with rather hastily-done ofuda. To its right, a box of incense with a brand that Reigen knew specialized in spirit attraction (or so they advertised). Resting on the edge of the blanket was... well, rather blatant. It was some sort of manual about spirits. Written by...

"What just a second!" Reigen whirled around and jammed a finger in the woman's direction. "Are you a psychic?! I thought you said you hated psychics!"

[zapdragon555]

The woman regarded Reigen and his outburst with a lidded, unimpressed expression. "Of course I don't hate psychics. I simply cannot trust any psychic other than myself. Utter quacks, the lot of them. I'm sure you understand, Mr. Saburo."

Oh, he gave a fake name. Mob felt another chill, and he spun around quickly, staring at the front of the cathedral with a cautious tension to his shoulders. The adults continued bickering back and forth.

"And yet you trust ghost hunters?" Reigen snapped, but recovered himself quickly, adjusting the lapels of his jacket and clearing his throat. "I mean--how right you are, to trust ghost hunters! Because we're dealing with a ghost, are we not?"

[zapdragon555]

Mob started walking, drawn towards the front of the cathedral, where a religious statue stood half-crumbling on its pedestal. Its half-moon face stared down at him, and Mob felt a great cold wash over him as he gazed into its one eye.

"Well... more or less," the woman mused, snatching the box of ofuda from where Reigen had moved it. "I have my suspicions, though. But all I know is that I need backup if I am to address it. If my intuition is correct... it's not quite a ghost. But rather..."

[zapdragon555]

The statue's eye moved. Mob blinked, and it was back to normal. And as he turned to go back to the adults, he felt a cold fire lick up his back, freezing him in his tracks and glueing his eyes to the floor. His shadow stretched out in front of him, longer, longer, until Mob felt it would swallow up the whole floor. Reigen talked calmly with the woman, neither of them noticing, neither of them even able to see the great shadow rising up behind Mob. He could tell right when they walked in that this woman wasn't a real psychic.

He didn't dare turn around. But he had to. If he didn't turn around, there was no hope of defending himself. But something in his head screamed not to look. Something... something was telling him...

He forced himself to turn around, and froze when all he saw was the statue.

"...a demon."

[Color Harvested]