The PIB office was as busy as Alice imagined. The mages were always scrambling about since paranormal sightings were so common. But with so few people with mage qualifications, it was usually the same round of folks answering the calls. Alice ignored most of them.

“Ms. Alice, it’s you!” said the intern at the counter before she scrambled to get the door. “So sorry for the delay. Come on in.”

The door unlocked with a mechanical buzz, the teen ushering Alice and the agents forward. A few of the mages looked up from their computers, but most were quick to return to work. For the vast majority, she was only some politician’s daughter. Very few people knew about her ties to the wizard’s soul. Even her parents were forbidden from discussing it. She still did anyway.

“Ally,” the Chief Investigator greeted. “My god, you’ve gotten so big.”

He got up from his desk to hug her, his beefy frame nearly squishing her dead. She pulled away with a grin.

“Hey, Uncle Brown,” she said. “Still ghost hustin’?”

“Nah, I’m fighting the demons of paperwork now." He waved to his desk, where stacks of reports laid waiting to be signed off on. "Watch out, or they'll cut ya’.”

She snickered. Though they weren’t truly related by blood, she always saw the squishy blob of a man like the uncle she never had. Dad didn’t like to talk about her real one. And Mom being Mom…He might as well have been dead.

“So I take it you showing up means you're finally ready to join?"

"Not a chance." She stuck out her tongue as she moved over to the charm cabinets. "I'm just here to borrow one of these. Gonna need the strongest holy protection you got."

In front of her, there were several artifacts imbued with demon-warding capabilities. There was the typical stuff. Crosses, holy water, amulets with the Star of David. They were garden variety and tended to be mostly useless with anyone but the most devout mages. And she was neither mage nor devout. But on the lower row was the good stuff. The demon killers. Silver stakes. Holy bullets. Sacred ashes. The stuff that would even make Lucifer bleed. She eagerly pulled the glass open, grabbing a few ash pouches.

"Since when do you need charms, Ally?" Uncle Brown asked. Before she could respond, though, there was a voice tinged with music that immediately made her skin crawl.

"It's 'cause she got herself grooooundeeed."

She grimaced, already knowing who she'd find before the arm slung around her shoulder. The brunette always did have a knack for sticking her nose where it didn't belong. It was how she ended up with the mages in the first place.

"Oh. Felisa. You're here."

The brunette pressed her face closer. "Is that any way to say hi? Don't pretend like you're not happy to see me."

"Well, I'm not. Your face is annoying."

She laughed at that, finally pulling away. Of all the mages in the PIB, there were few who could get under her skin quite like that one. And it didn't help her guards were content to stand against the wall and watch. Oh, now you wanna gimme some space? Useless bouncers. Felisa brushed her hair aside, fixing a smile as she leaned against the desk of one of the other mages. Despite being the mayor's lapdog, she always had a knack for disturbing the people around her. But evidently, they'd learned to ignore her. If only she was that lucky.

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"So what's the story, Ally?" Felisa asked. "Going monster fighting? Is that Daddy's plan?"

"Screw off. These are for safety."

"Against what?" It was Uncle Brown who spoke up, his expression growing serious. "Is something after you? Are you in trouble?"

"No, it's nothing like that, don't worry. I just gotta be careful, y'know. You saw the news. There be demons afoot."

"There's always demons afoot," Felisa said. "Not a problem if you've got a few silver bullets on hand. Or, you know, you could always try not getting your holy powers striped."

"Bite me."

She flashed her teeth, going so far as to chomp at the air. Alice was debating how quickly she could cover the distance between them when one of the mages pulled Uncle Brown aside. Though she couldn't make out exactly what was said, the news made him stroke his rugged beard in thought.

"Shouldn't you be spit-shining the mayor's shoes?" Alice asked.

"Shouldn't you be hiding from Daddy's belt?" Felisa retorted.

"Big words from a holy knock-off."

"And how many spells can you do again? Three? Oh wait, Daddy took those anyway, didn't he?"

It was only a six-foot jump. She'd made better leaps of fate in training. And it wasn't like the other mages would try to stop her. The guards might, but she could get there faster. Just one quick smack was all it would take. She was ready to jump when Uncle Brown returned, stepping between the two of them.

"Don't mean to interrupt," he said, "but we've got an issue. Felisa."

"Hmm?"

"We gotta problem at the junkyard. It's your ghost."

Felisa's smile disappeared. Alice raised an eyebrow. A ghost? Really? From what she understood, ghosts were barely more than pests and pranksters. Come at them with a few holy drops, and they'd be flying for the hills. Nothing worth getting worked up over.

"Code 9?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Crap." Felisa got off the desk, making a B-line for the charm cabinet. "Rain check on the reunion, Ally."

"Huh? What the- Hey! What the hell is going on?"

Felisa was grabbing from the bottom shelf, pulling a sash around her waist and stuffing it full of assorted artifacts. And she wasn't the only one. Suddenly Alice was getting pushed aside as more and more mages lined up to acquire charms, raiding the cabinet clean and moving to the one next to it. There were six or so scattered around the building. Enough to fund an army. But why in the world would they need all that for one little ghost?

"Uncle Brown?" she asked. "What's happening?"

He scratched his head. "Ally, this is PIB business. We can't disclose information to the public."

"You're not. You're telling me. Now spill it."

He sighed. "Ally."

"Don't 'Ally' me. You know I'm just gonna keep asking until you spit it out."

He looked at her, Alice crossing her arms and rooting herself to the spot. Even if she knew it was a bluff, she also knew Uncle Brown had trouble telling her no. It was how she'd managed to avoid getting drafted into the PIB despite her holy prowess. And it helped she was friends with both his wife and kids. Mom had personally seen to that that, for better or worse.

"Fine," he said. "But you're not gonna like it."

"It's just a ghost, isn't it?"

"No. Not anymore."

Alice grew more confused. Uncle Brown held out his phone, the screen showing off a camera feed from some news broadcast. As she looked it over, realization finally dawned. Alice furrowed at the bundle of black fur.

"Oh. So that's it. Crap."

At the head of the junkyard, there was a giant demonic dog surrounded by police officers. It was chucking all the cop cars like tennis balls.