Case #3-Zach Reaper vs the Haunted House

"So what do we do first, Zach? Evelyn asks as she jogs over to me.

"Huh? Um…oh yeah," I stammer.

Currently, it's the next day after I officially hired Evelyn to work at Reaper's Paranormal, and someone's a little eager for their first day on the job.

"What, is Evelyn going to watch your gig, Zach?" Some dude calls to me.

"Uh…yeah, of course!" I call back, before turning back to Evelyn. "Could you not be so clingy?" I hiss, "People are going to think we're dating!"

"And what's so wrong with that?!" Evelyn smirks as she flips her hair.

"Well you're a bit of a nerd, Evelyn," I plainly answer, "A guy as cool as me doesn't want to be seen with a nerd like you."

"Asshole!"

"Either way, first, we start by heading to my favorite cafe," I explain as I lead Evelyn to El Coffee Cafe.

***

"Hey, Zach!" One of the baristas calls to me as I lead Evelyn into the cafe.

"Yo," I reply as I take my usual seat.

"Ah, there's only one chair," Evelyn comments as she pulls up a second chair and takes a seat as well.

"Well usually I'm the only one sitting here," I explain as I pull out my laptop.

"I'm gonna get a drink, want anything?" Evelyn asks as her eyes wander over to the counter.

"Don't bother, we won't be here long," I reply as I log onto the Reaper's Paranormal website. "So secondly, I hop onto my website and check the cases," I begin to say as Evelyn drags her chair over to me and watches over my shoulder. "Alright, we're taking this case: a cursed doll investigation."

"How do you decide which case to take?" Evelyn asks as she wanders over to me, two drinks in hand, despite my protests. Evelyn places one hot cup before me, and sips from the other one.

"Good question, intern," I smirk as I aim a finger gun at Evelyn, "I just accept the earliest uploaded case that doesn't seem bogus. I'm pretty backlogged, so this case is from last week already."

 "Hmm, this is why you need a receptionist," Evelyn sighs.

"Yeah, I'll give you the Reaper's Paranormal website password later so you can sort through the cases," I reply. "For now, let's move out."

***

"Alright, so the third step, I, uh, change into my work clothes," I continue as I lead Evelyn out of El Coffee Cafe and into my usual back alley way.

"Oh, you mean that tacky black and purple outfit?" Evelyn asks.

"Er…yeah," I answer as I set my guitar case down and begin undressing.

"You're going to get changed here?!" Evelyn shrieks as she takes a step back. "In front of me?!"

"What, this is how I normally do things!" I snap. "You working with me now, ain't gonna change that! And besides, no one ever comes down this way!"

And so, Evelyn sheepishly turns around so that I can get changed into my usual black jacket, purple scarf, white cloth belt, purple joggers, and equip myself with my sickle-sword holster and messenger bag.

***

"And now, after all that, we head to our destination and begin the job," I finish as Evelyn and I stop outside of room thirteen on floor thirteen in the Nestant Town apartment complex.

"Jeez, shady number, huh?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to take this room."

"So, what now?" Evelyn asks.

"We greet our customers," I answer as I knock on room thirteen's door.

I hear some stumbling and rustling behind the door followed by a small thud and an "OOF," as if someone had just fallen over. Until finally, the door opens a crack.

"H-hello…?" A tired voice squeaks as a pair of eyes peek at me from the crack in the door.

"Paranormal problems? We'll solve-" I begin to say.

"Oh, so you're from Reaper's Paranormal, please, please come in!" The tired voice hastily asks. I hear numerous clicking sounds, as our friend here seems to be unlocking a few dozen locks from their door, and finally, the door opens, revealing our client to be a tired, greasy looking young man with an unshaved face, bags under his eyes, and long hair. "Come in."

"Didn't let me finish…" I grumble as I sulk into my client's apartment, causing Evelyn to let out a small giggle from behind me.

The client leads Evelyn and I into his apartment, which is littered with empty cups, and fast food wrappers, and books scattered all across the floor. Both the man and this apartment look (and smell) like they haven't been cleaned in a while. I hear Evelyn audibly gag behind me.

"So, uh, Mr Green, right?" I ask, "Are you suuure you meant to call paranormal services? We're not the cleaners, you know."

"Recently, I came into the collection of a doll," Mr Green begins to say as he strolls through the apartment. Evelyn and I look at one another, shrug, then follow after him. "Well, I come into collection of many dolls, I'm a collector. But then, ever since I bought this one particular doll from a yard sale…strange things have been happening," Mr Green finishes as he stops in front of a stained, creepy ass looking doll of a little girl entombed in a glass cage.

"Strange things?" I ask as I brandish my usual notepad, "How so?"

"I first put the doll in the closet where I keep the others, but the doll keeps unexplainably moving! I live alone. I kept putting the doll back in the closet, but every time I do, it moves again! On top of that, I keep hearing this weird singing at night, and the eyes of my other dolls keep going missing too! I've been too afraid to sleep, and I've been too busy researching how to get rid of the doll to clean or shower."

"Yeah, I can tell," Evelyn cringes as she pinches the bridge of her nose shut in response to Mr Green's breath.

"Interesting, interesting," I mutter under my breath as I jot down some notes on my notepad. "So you think that…?"

"THE DOLL IS POSSESSED!" Mr Green exclaims, finishing my line.

"Have you tried throwing the doll out?" Evelyn chimes in.

"Of course I have, but then I somehow find it in my house the next day!" Mr Green exclaims.

"Nice work, detective," I sarcastically say.

"Thanks!" Evelyn quips.

"Who are you, anyway?" Mr Green glares at Evelyn.

"The receptionist."

"And why are you dressed like that?" Mr Green asks as he turns to me.

"This is my work outfit."

"So what do you plan to do about my doll…?" Mr Green nervously asks.

"That's simple," I smirk, "I'll exercise it for you!"

***

"Exercise the doll?" Evelyn asks. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Eh, I'll just reap the soul of whatever ghost is attached to this doll," I answer.

"What if…it's like Raymond…?" Evelyn sadly asks.

"Then we'll do whatever we have to do to wring money out of our client."

"So what's this salt have to do with anything?"

"I thought you were a huge horror movie fan? Ghosts are weak to salt, duh!"

"I love old-school horror movies, like Dracula, and The Wolf Man, not Paranormal Activity!"

Currently, Evelyn is on her hands and knees spreading salt in a perfect circle around the glass cage around the assumed-to-be-possessed doll. I had Mr Green flee his apartment, so that we can do our work in peace.

"This purifying salt will keep the ghost possessing this doll trapped within this circle so that it can't flee or use its powers," I explain.

"Why didn't we do this for Raymond?" Evelyn asks as she stands up and claps the salt off her hands.

"Raymond could have been anywhere in the locker room. I guess we could have salted the exit, but due to what we knew about Raymond, he didn't seem to be going anywhere," I explain as I draw my sickle-sword. "Unlike this poltergeist here, which is clearly in the doll and since we know where it is, we can exercise it with ease!"

"Wh-what are you going to do…?" Evelyn nervously asks as she leers my sickle- sword.

"It's Reaping Time!"

Without a warning, I charge the doll and its glass cage. Once in front of the doll, I raise my sickle-sword above my head and swing it downwards, but before I can slice the doll in half, the glass from the cage explodes outwards and shatters in my face.

"GAHHH!" I cry as I drop to the ground and clutch my bleeding face.

"Zach!" Evelyn cries.

"Guess I should have left my mask on…" I wince as I push myself back to my feet.

"I thought you said that the poltergeist can't use its powers outside of the salt circle?" Evelyn asks.

"Yeah, outside of the circle," I explain, "Inside of the salt circle is fair game."

"Speaking of which-" Evelyn begins to say as she points to the ground. I look to where Evelyn is pointing, and see that she's motioning to the salt circle. But then when I realize what Evelyn is pointing to, my eyes widen.

Evelyn and I face each another. "Oh crap," we say in unison.

The salt circle has been broken!

I then turn back to face the creepy doll, who's button eyes blink, lace mouth giggles, and cotton legs stand up and hop off of the table that the glass cage rested on.

"Holy crap, it moved!" Evelyn shrieks, "Is it supposed to do that?!"

"No, it's…not…" I answer with confusion in my voice. "A poltergeist can control the doll or possess the doll to move around, but it can't manipulate it in unnatural ways, such as the mouth moving or the eyes blinking, unless-" my voice trails off. "Soul Sight!" Using my soul sight, I peer into the "soul" of this doll, and when I do, my eyes widen in surprise.

"Unless what?!" Evelyn exclaims.

"Unless this thing really isn't a doll after all!"

"Then what is this thing?!" Evelyn asks. But before I can answer Evelyn's question, the doll charges towards her and begins circling around her.

"EEP! Stay away!" Evelyn shrieks. Evelyn then attempts to kick the doll off of her but misses, and the doll then begins climbing up her legs. "Ahh, Zach, get it off of me!"

"Alright, I'll try!" I reply as I swing my sickle-sword towards the doll, who ducks out of the way, causing the blade of my sickle-sword to miss and pierce the flimsy wooden floor beside Evelyn, shattering it to bits.

Evelyn shrieks again.

There goes my pay," I sigh.

"Zach, what's happening?!" Evelyn cries as the doll continues crawling up Evelyn's body, who flails frantically in an attempt to get it off. Once the doll reaches Evelyn's neck, it transforms, shifting shapes into the form of a yo-yo, then wrapping its way around Evelyn's throat.

"Shit, Evelyn!"

"Zach…help…" Evelyn croaks as she scratches at her neck frantically in an attempt to free herself from the yo-yo string.

"Shit, it's choking her out!" I exclaim as I rush over to Evelyn and begin yanking at the thread tied around her throat, but it's of no avail.

"Help…" Evelyn croaks as her eyes begin fluttering shut.

"Shit, this case is way more tricky than a typical poltergeist!" I exclaim as I continue tugging at the yo-yo string. "We're faced with an Elf here. Elves disguise themselves as children's toys in a hope that a kid will take them home. And then, when the kid's asleep, they suck out every last droplet of their soul's life-force to feast. They prefer kids because they naturally have more life-force due to their soul's youth. Though of course this doll ended up with some greasy dude."

Eventually, I manage to rip the yo-yo string free from Evelyn's neck, who in response drops to the ground on her knees, clutching her red throat and gasping frantically for breath.

But then, something unexpected happens, and the yo-yo string ignites on fire.

"Is that…supposed to happen?!" Evelyn asks.

"N-no!" I answer as I dodge the flaming strings. "This shouldn't be something an elf can do!"

The elf manages to strike me with the flaming strings, but that gives me the opportunity to slash them to bits. In response to the string getting ripped apart, the Elf lets out a hideous shriek as it transforms back into its usual form, a small dwarf the size of a fat squirrel with pointy ears and teeth with bulgy bug eyes and a long nose.

"Ugh, that thing's gross!" Evelyn spits.

"Yeah, and its soul is as gross as its face!" I answer as I aim the blade of my sickle-sword at the elf. "Finally…now it's really Reaping Time!"

Upon seeing my sickle-sword, the elf lets out a hideous shriek then begins scurrying away.

"Evelyn, grab it!" I order as I run after the elf.

"Right!" Evelyn replies as she dives on top of the elf, hugging it tightly in her arms. "Got it!"

"Send it my way!" I order as I bring my sickle-sword into the air above my head.

"Batter's up!" Evelyn exclaims as she tosses the elf my way, who shrieks in response as it soars through the air towards me.

"Good shit, Evelyn!" I exclaim as the blade of my sickle-sword begins glowing pale blue, the color of souls. "And now…"

"SOUL HUNTER!"

Once the elf is in front of me, I swing my sickle-sword downwards with all of my might and slash it straight across the chest in a rush of blood.

"SOUL HARVEST!"

My entire body begins to glow a dim blue color as I plunge my hand into the elf's chest. "Your soul is mine, bitch!" I roar as I rip my hand out of the elf, yanking its soul out in the process. 

"Ohhh…gruesome," Evelyn cringes.

The elf lets out one final shriek before its eyes flutter closed and it limply falls to the ground in a pool of blood.

"Case closed!" I exclaim as I open up my messenger back and slip the elf soul inside. "This'll be handy for later."

"What…did you do at the end there?" Evelyn asks as she jogs over to me.

"Ah…that? What you saw there was my Soul Harvest technique, where I pull out my target's soul and harvest it for later," I explain. "When I need to, I can pull the soul out of my messenger bag and consume it to temporarily get the abilities of said soul."

Evelyn cringes.

"I have a lot of abilities, you know," I continue. "Working at Reaper's Paranormal, you're going to get used to all of the creepy shit that I do, like my Soul Sight as well."

"Why didn't you just use your Soul Harvest at the beginning to rip the thing's soul out right off the bat?" Evelyn asks.

"Imagine if I did that for Raymond? How would you feel?"

"True…"

"Also, I can't," I explain. "It's easy to rip out the soul of a weakened or near-dead creature, but nigh impossible for one's brimming with energy. That's why old people die, their souls expire and by that time, it's easy for Reapers to yank 'em out."

"Uh-huh…"

"Either way, how are you doing?" I ask.

"Oh…I'm fine…" Evelyn answers as she gingerly touches her hands to her throat. Evelyn then pauses, and a moment later she drops to the ground on her hands and knees.

"I thought I was gonna die!" Evelyn sobs, "You saved my life, Zach! Thank you!"

"Aw shucks," I smirk as I rub the back of my neck. "That's why I told you to be careful, this isn't some children's game, my job is serious business."

 "I know that now…" Evelyn sniffles.

"Come on," I say as I turn back to Evelyn and extend a hand out to her. Evelyn takes my hand with a shy smile and I help her to her feet. "Let's call our client back."

***

"Did ya' see that, that was hilarious!" Evelyn cackles. "Green through a fit when he saw the hole in his floor! Oh my gosh his face had me dying! Like his apartment wasn't shitty enough already!"

"Put my payment…" I groan as I sulk down the moonlit street after Evelyn.

"Is that all you care about?!"

"Yessss…"

"You should just be happy that he didn't press charges!" Evelyn continues. "I mean…you destroyed his apartment, Zach! I'd say that forfeiting your reward and helping clean up the entire place is a fine trade for going to jail!"

"Easy for you to say, it wasn't your money…"

"Speaking of cleaning up, what did you do with the body?"

"Oh, the elf? I just tossed it in the dumber with the rest of Mr Green's fast food wrappers."

"House cleaning, huh?" Evelyn asks as she stares up at the sky, the moonlight illuminating her pretty face. "I never thought that this would make my life worthwhile."

"Yeah, well Reaper's Paranormal doesn't half ass things," I reply as I turn towards the sky as well. "We make messes, and we clean up messes. But most importantly, we save lives."

But that flaming string still bothers me. It's like…someone or something gave that elf an ability that it shouldn't have…