Caleb returned home but he was all sweaty as usual due to his extracurricular activity so he went straight to the bathroom the moment he was done.
Caleb wondered what his father was doing or if he was even still alive because it had been ages since he heard his voice.
All modes of communication were through Eileen, which was strange enough but Caleb wasn't one to question his father.
"Father, where are you?" Caleb muttered under his breath as the water droplets beat against his back.
Caleb didn't have any parents in his life even though Eileen tried her best to fill in the role of a mother. He ultimately felt abandoned and wondered if there was something wrong with him which was why his father didn't want to stay home with him.
However, he understood the complexities of work and knew his father must be feeling this way or at least hoped so.
-
"HURRY UP! WE NEED TO LEAVE!" A voice barked but a white-haired man stood his ground against something that wasn't in sight.
"You can leave! I need to take care of this or it will harm more people!" The white-haired man responded.
The other person was conflicted because if he left, there was a high chance that his comrade would die.
"You bastard! You always put me in such tight spots, Luke!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs before standing back to back with his friend.
They didn't have any guns in hand and rather, held up swords, an archaic means of combat in a time and age where guns would be far more effective.
The doors suddenly slammed shut alongside the curtains with the flickering lights giving up as well, trapping them in darkness.
Luke was focused on completing this task because this ghost must have been trapped in this house for a long time. After all, it had no semblance of humanity.
This was the problem when souls refused to cross over, they began to lose what made them human until they ultimately became raging mindless monsters.
It was like the universe fed on anything that wasn't meant to be here.
"Luke, we should have left!" The man barked but Luke was the only one calm in the room.
This was because, unlike this man, he was a hunter with years of experience on his back.
A shockwave was sent their way but the only one it sent flying was Luke's colleague.
Luke buried his sword into the ground to ground himself before spinning and tossing that very sword in the direction of the shockwave.
The sword hit its mark because the air was instantly still the moment it hit the wall with the blacked-out bulbs suddenly regaining life.
They could see the silhouette of the ghost they were fighting but its features had been distorted.
But the ghost was still there, Luke looked at it and understood this thing wasn't here because it wanted to.
If it knew it would become this, would its decision have been different?
They searched the house for the body but they couldn't see it, but ultimately, his partner found the body trapped in a compartment in the house.
"Poor thing… She must have been scared and alone," The man beside Luke showed compassion but Luke just stared at the body.
"Burn it, Bryan," Luke said because just because the ghost had been incapacitated, didn't mean it had been defeated.
Bryan did as he was told and a scream was heard from the other compartment of the room, releasing this woman's trapped spirit.
"Do you think her soul went somewhere good?" Bryan asked but Luke kept quiet as both men exited the house.
Luke wasn't getting paid to do any of this but knew the church was tracking him and the further he was away from him.
The safer his son was because he left proof of his presence in every state he was in but what was worrying was how fast they were catching up to him in the past couple of months.
He was always two steps ahead but it felt like that had been cut down to a single step.
He couldn't afford any slip-ups because the last thing he needed was falling into the hands of the church.
-
Caleb was done showering and had a quick nap but had the same nightmare he had been having.
A feeling he couldn't escape, it always started with him bound in chains with multiple spikes driven through him but why did the pain feel so real?
The flames burning around melted his skin but never enough to put him out of his misery.
And there was a voice which didn't say anything. No, that wasn't accurate.
It spoke in a language he had never heard about despite knowing it was a dream.
Caleb could never seem to drag himself out of the dream until it played to completion.
He was trapped and each time he woke up, he recalled the dream a lot more vividly but of course, this was something he couldn't let Eileen know.
There was no point making her worry even more when there was nothing she could do about it either way.
It was something he had to accept, this was happening to him for a reason, it wasn't just a dream but what was that language?
Caleb knew understanding it was the first piece of deciphering this dream.