“Ah. Excellent work, Minion Karla.”

The ghost in question popped her head out from the crib, her pale face glowing in the darkness.

“Really? The whole ‘daddy die’ thing wasn’t too much?” she asked.

“No, I thought it was a nice touch. Those movies really inspired the creative in you.”

She beamed, floating out of the crib completely to spin in the air. He’d been a bit skeptical on letting her take the lead, but clearly his doubts were misplaced. The scare-crazy phantom really did have a knack for illusion crafting. And thanks to those horror movie marathons, she’d gotten plenty of ammunition to utilize.

Luiztine looked upon their handiwork. The frozen specimen that encased the Mayor of Angelas. To think after all that work, he’d go down so easily. Had he really underestimated them that much? The thought was a bit amusing. And comforting. Prey was easier to catch once it thought it had the upperhand. He stroked the ice with a smile.

“Master Lui, we found the goods!”

Jeffrey’s shout drew both their attention, Karla grinning wider.

“Pay dirt,” she said.

Luizitine nodded. “Karla, keep the body safe.”

“On it, boss.”

She quickly transformed into her monster form, which he’d since learned was called a werewolf. Another strange creature from the human legends. Though it was mostly a scare tactic, he’d seen enough of the phantom’s abilities to know she could drive off anyone brave enough to come snooping around. Especially with the power she’d been cultivating.

I leave the rest in your hands.

Moving through the halls, he found his way to the basement level of the Tupwell residence, where both Jeffrey and Gingee stood waiting. The bipedal reptile was scratching on the doors of what looked to be an emergency safe room, Luizitine spotting a wide assortment of supplies scattered within.

More than enough for them to study.

“Excellent work, Jeffrey and Gingee,” he said.

Looking over the shelves of stockpiled weaponry, he found a wide assortment crafts. Human-made charms. Projectile shooters. It even had a wall phone with several numbers scrawled down a piece of paper. One of which he recognized.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Felissa T. Green. Last Resort Only.

Though he had the number saved already, he took a moment to jot down the rest. It would make the process of finding them much easier.

“Bark. Did we really do good, Master?” Gingee asked.

“Yes, you did excellent, Gingee.” He scratched the devildog’s fur, their tail wagging while Jeffrey went to examine the charms more closely. Being that he was a creature of holy, only the reptile could touch the blessed weapons without taking damage.

Even Luzitine had to wear special protective gloves to handle charmed equipment, of which he’d learned through several worlds of trial and error. But Jeffrey was fine so long as they weren’t used against him. In his hands, the holy weapons were no more dangerous than garden variety swords or pitchforks. In theory.

“But is it really safe to take all this?” Jeffrey asked. “For you guys, I mean.”

“So long as they’re handled with care we can study them.” He looked over the collection of crosses and holy vials. “If we can’t even deal with these, how will we survive that wizard’s magic. His is much more…”

He tried to push the image from his head, something which Gingee was quick to notice.

“Master?”

The devildog looked at him with concern. But he offered a smile, giving his minion a reassuring pat on the head. Even if he worried for the future, it was far too late to turn back now. Their course had long since been set. And that meant they had to prepare the best they could.

Jeffrey pulled out his carrying sack, stuffing as many charms within as he could fit. The rest, Luizitine took great care in personally destroying, using the most powerful spell at his disposal to ensure complete destruction.

“Soul of Greater Decay.”

The minute he said the words, the entire shelf became nothing but a pile of ashes, the magic working in seconds to rend it to dust.

That should do the trick.

He stepped away, Jeffrey slinging the sack over his shoulder while Gingee moved towards the exit tunnel. Now that their primary mission was complete, all that was left was to clear up their tracks. Something Karla was waiting and eager for when Luizitine returned to the baby room.

“Any changes?” he asked.

Karla returned to ghost form.

“Nope. Probably overdid it a bit with the wife, to be honest.”

She scratched her head with a nervous laugh. While he had passed the woman on the way up, she still looked too traumatized to form a coherent sentence. To the point where he wondered if their plan would still work, but opted to trust the powers at be. At the very least the child would come in handy.

“It’s an acceptable oversight.” He gestured to the hall. “Ready?”

Karla transformed once again, becoming a human male this time around.

“Whenever you are, Lui,” she said with a much gruffer voice.

With her new form at the ready, all that was left was to make one last phone call.