“Have you worked here before, Teresa?”

"No, I doubt I'll find anyone who knows me, but with the confusion the last few days have been I can't be sure."

Leon and Nelson enter the hospital, which is clearly overcrowded, is this a good or a bad thing I don't know, but I hope to get out of here soon. It would be quite unpleasant to have to meet acquaintances here, even if I have 'decided' to change my life, I would still like to have a career as a nurse.

I followed behind them as they lied and tricked the poor receptionist clearly, she is a volunteer who came to help the hospital in this difficult time, I hope she doesn't get in trouble because of these two lies, and they really lie well.

No unnecessary pauses, and I believe these fake credentials should be done well. Soon the three of them were walking freely through the hospital corridors.

“We've only got maybe an hour or two before someone thinks something's weird, Teresa, so we head straight to the ward where the killings took place. Try to analyze the echoes as quickly as possible, the faster we get out of the hospital the better our chances are of not drawing attention, discretion and extremely important in our line of work.”

“I got that part, Lion.”

“I'm not so sure, you've heard me, but you won't really understand until you see what happens when things get out of hand. As an example, you just called me by my real name, I used Davis when I introduced myself at the entrance to the hospital, Davis Mile is my name now, you almost blow my cover now.”

"Sorry, I'll be more careful."

“It's normal to make mistakes at the beginning, but it shouldn't be repeated on the pitch again. A mistake like this can make your mission a mess.”

"Okay, but I don't even feel an echo in this part of the hospital, well actually I think I feel an echo near here, but it's up there and not down here."

“Up there?”

"Roof."

"For real?"

“Yes, this is a problem.”

"Must be someone who jumped off the building, Davis."

“Yes Charles, it makes no sense for one of the derailment victims to die on the roof.”

“Do you want to go up on the roof? Just to be sure.”

"Since we're here, let's go upstairs and check this echo."

On our way up the stairs, we passed some hospital staff, but not one of them found our presence unusual. Upon reaching the roof I saw the echo that stood out easily on this empty roof.

It was the echo of a young woman, she must be only a few years older than I am, but she must still be well into her thirties. The color I feel of her is quite different from the echoes I saw at the crash site, not only is she an older echo, but I don't feel the same strong negative emotions in her.

If the gathering of the echoes on the tracks created a sea of sadness and pain, this echo in front of me and a flame of sadness and loneliness. I don't know if my senses are confused, but she doesn't give me the feeling of pain, but full of sadness and loneliness, when I approach her and try to focus on her presence, I feel her feelings are buried inside her.

“Something wrong with that echo, Teresa?”

“I think so, she is different from the other echoes, but she is also different from the echoes that I felt were changing earlier. She is denser and the feelings inside her body are different.”

“The denser part of it is an unusual signal for an echo, but if we're right this echo originated from a suicide and not an accident. That's probably a much calmer echo, that might be the reason for the difference in the feelings you're getting."

“I thought it was something like that, but for someone who died, she doesn't give off the feeling of pain. She is filled with sadness and loneliness, and as if she is looking at the horizon waiting for something to happen.”

"Interesting."

“I don't think, if this is an echo that shows abnormalities, we'll just find her identity and burn the body. It's not a good idea to keep thinking about other routes Lion, if something goes wrong it won't just be you harmed, Teresa is doing very well, don't be the reason why she fails the test."

“I wasn't going to do anything out of protocol, Nelson, I'm just going to make some extra notes on the report. If someone does something different, it will be someone else and with the doctor’s permission.”

I wonder what kind of person this doctor is, he's obviously in a leadership position, but it seems Nelson has a very different relationship to him than Lion.

“Teresa, could you give me the discretion of the echo, as he has some abnormalities and better purify his body to prevent something bad from happening in the future.”

“Okay Nelson, it's a young woman between twenty and twenty-five, black hair and white skin, I can't see her eyes because they're closed. A symmetrical face without a single mark, she was quite pretty with a snub nose, I can't see her ears because her black hair that goes a little past her shoulders covers them.”

“She's basically my height and she's thinner than I am, I think that's all. It shouldn't be hard to identify, how many people could have died up here."

“A good observation, but it's always good. As she is very likely a suicide case you should take a good look at her arms, even though she probably jumped off the roof and possible she shows marks from previous attempts on her arms.”

“I don't even see a mark on her hands and wrists, but I can't see any more because her dress covers her arms. I also don't see anything unusual about her feet, other than her being barefoot, but I think that's not unusual for patients who have had an ending like hers.”

"It's not, we're done here, we'd better go to the next hospital."

As we made our way to the stairs, I took one more look at the echo, I don't know why I did it, but when I looked at it was different. She was looking in my direction, her eyes were open but completely empty and, in that moment, I realized that this woman was not an echo.

Before I could speak a single word, I felt my world spin, falling to my knees on the floor I felt like every fiber in my body was dead, and I couldn't even feel cold, the sounds around me were muffled, the floor I was on looked it was dark.

But as fast as what hit me came, I left my body, I felt the black world disappearing and reality returning to normal. I felt the silence on my back, someone is lifting me.

“Teresa! What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

“The Woman.”

My throat is killing me.

“Here, drinks some water.”

Picking up Nelson's vial I stand up as I drink water, I look around for that damn woman, but she's completely disappeared. There's nothing on this roof but the three of us, and it's like she's never been here before.

“What happened, Teresa, you look extremely pale. You were already very fair, but now you have a very unhealthy color.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"The echo wasn't an echo."

Before I could explain further, Nelson took a bag out of his robes and started tossing his containing around us, is that salt and iron?

"She's already gone."

"He is sure?"

“I think so, I don’t feel anything around us.”

"Anything? In the entire hospital?”

"Yeah, unless the ghost screwed me over."

“One minute, and excuse me, Teresa.”

Without my consent and in a very rude and inappropriate manner, Lion put his hand in my coat pocket where I kept the amulet he'd given me earlier, when he opened his hand and the amulet crumbled into sand or whatever wood it had turned.

“It really wasn't an echo; the amulet was completely destroyed. Good thing I gave you one with great defensive capabilities, without it you would have received a direct hit from the ghost that would do much more permanent damage.”

Lion took out a silver chain full of different symbols that I don't recognize, and put it on my right wrist.

"Better be more careful, I didn't think such a strong ghost would appear."

“What was that, it looked like an echo a few seconds ago and then suddenly it turned into something completely different, it was scary looking at those empty black eye sockets.”

"She didn't have eyes?"

“No, do you know what she is?”

“No, but the fact that she has no eyes and was able to trick you quite easily tells me that she is no ordinary ghost or spirit. She is probably what we feared.”

“Teresa, you noticed something different, Lion, the spirit was too dense for an echo. We should have realized something was wrong, we better end this test early and ask for backup to try to locate the ghost.”

“What do you mean when you said she is what you feared?”

“Teresa, do you remember when we were talking about your test at your house, we said that maybe accidents like this that resulted in many deaths can attract supernatural beings?”

"Yes, but I thought you were talking about monsters I don't know, that one was a ghost, I think, she was just stronger."

“They're obviously on the list too, but that woman isn't a corporeal being so obviously she's a spirit type, when a ghost becomes powerful enough, they tend to develop complicated characteristics and some quite unique, so it's hard to identify and naming them as a correct species, and much easier to do that with corporeal creatures, monsters.”

“That woman must be some kind of death spirit or devourer. This kind of spirit is terrible and difficult to deal with, usually it is so difficult to deal with that it is impossible to kill it, usually in the end the spirit is imprisoned or banished from the city.”

“Why is it so hard to kill them?”

“As we explained before, to kill a spirit, ghost, echo and wraiths you have to completely purify or destroy what's left of their bodies, well this is the most efficient method, while some other ways tend to work against a specific type of creature. target."

“But in order to purify or destroy the remains of those spirits, we need to know who she is and that is ridiculously difficult. We have no name, place approaching death, year she died, nor physical description of her is of much help, some spirits may even modify their appearance to deceive their prey.”

"So, without being able to identify the spirit, how are we going to deal with it, exactly."

"Exactly, it's pretty complicated to explain, how about I do it when we have more time to talk."

"That's a really bad way of deflecting my question, I thought you guys were being pretty honest with me."

“I'm not trying to avoid answering your question, when I say I'll explain when we have more time, I mean when we have more time and an easier place to talk, like in the car heading towards a safe line to get in. contact with the institute, appearance of this powerful spirit is an urgent matter, Teresa, we've already lost enough time for you to recover enough to go downstairs, if you don't make it, I'll carry you."

"No need, I can go down alone."

It would be a little humiliating to have to be carried down the stairs, and I also don't feel comfortable being touched by a man I just met.

“Then let's start down the stairs, but in case you feel like you're not okay, please let me know. Falling down stairs is not a good experience, Teresa.”

“I know my limits.”

I soon regretted what I said, but I still managed to go down all the stairs, alone but at the bottom of the stairs my legs were shaking, without the support on the side I would have fallen on those damn stairs, damn spirit screwed my whole body.

Even my arms are getting stiff when I exert myself.

“You want my arm to support the car, normally I'd offer a little more supplementation, but you've already had your daily dose. In case you're wondering where the effect went, I can tell you it's working pretty well, without it you'd still be sitting recovering on the roof.”

"I feel like you're making fun of my difficulties Lion, that's a very ugly attitude for a knight like you should be."

“I'm offering you my arm, aren't I? And my happiness comes from the fact that you did what you did now, you showed great will and bodily endurance. Many mediums would not prove capable of having this level of perseverance.”

Leaning on Lion, I walked over to the car which again proved to be very comfortable, this car being my safe point today. But before Nelson started the car, I realized something.

“Why don't you use the hospital phone? If the call is so urgent, the sooner you make it the better.”

Ignoring me, the car starts and Nelson starts to lead us away from the hospital.

“Unfortunately, the hospital phone is unavailable, Teresa, you don't seem to have noticed, but on our way we passed several burned-out light bulbs, it had even been completely destroyed.”

“Did the spirit do this?”

“Yes, the energy emitted by incorporeal entities can influence electrical networks, but to burn the light bulbs to the point that some explode and damage the telephone line, it is necessary that the spirit is really strong, like the one that hit you lightly and ran away.”

“So, all the electronics in the hospital were damaged because that woman attacked me?”

Lion takes an ordinary flashlight out of his case and shines it in the car, illuminating the roof perfectly.

“Yes, but on different levels. As an example, my flashlight, it still works as you can see, but it's quite likely that its battery has been drained a bit, basically nothing else happens. Light bulbs on are the most affected by ghosts and spirits, that's a sign to watch out for Teresa, lights failing around you means you have company and she's usually not going to have good intentions for you.”

"I understand, but I'm still worried about the electrical equipment in the hospital, there's a lot there that could have been damaged."

“Your priorities are weird, but you don't have to worry about that, at most some equipment needs to be recalibrated.”

"Did you know that poorly calibrated equipment is used on patients they can end up being injured, doesn't that bother you?"

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about it, tell nurses or doctors that they need to be careful when using hospital electronics because a spirit has released a wave of energy that affects electronics, I think doing that will only give a one-way ticket to the crazy wing, Teresa.”

"I can see your point, but I still feel like there should be a way to alert them."

"They'll realize eventually, and they'll probably blame the hospital's electrical grid, with the light bulbs burned out it'll be pretty clear to them that there's an electrical problem in the hospital."

“I just hope no one gets hurt. Will you explain to me what the plan is for dealing with this spirit?”

“I don't have an exact plan yet, the decision of what will happen is not mine, I can only give my opinion as well as Nelson. But we'll probably assemble a team to seal the spirit, she'll probably spend the next few days devouring the echoes in the hospitals, she's probably the reason there isn't even an echo in this hospital."

“Why are you sure about that?”

“Although I am not a medium, I have a good guess at how many echoes there are on the tracks. When I compare that number to the death toll in those hospitals, which is eight, does it tell me that there should be at least three echoes in that hospital, probably more, Nelson?”

“I agree with your assessment.”

“That spirit must be feeding on the newly formed echoes, that kind of spirit is very tricky to deal with because they tend to be very intelligent. She is feeding herself in hospitals to avoid being exposed at the accident site where she would have a greater number of victims, this type of strategy shows that she is a very old spirit, and adding to the description that empty she seems to be a relatively young echo, shows that she has a great ability to blend in between echoes.”

"But because she didn't kill me on the roof of the building, silencing us would be smarter, wouldn't it?"

“Yes, but there are other factors that could explain why she didn't kill you, one she might have thought you were going to die or lose your mind with the attack she made, remember, if I fell straight to the ground and it was just fine for a while. Because of the amulet you wore, it might be weak, but the biggest part of its ability was its ability to protect you from a fatal blow.”

“Another justification was that you interrupted her when she finished absorbing the energy of the echoes she absorbed, this is the moment where that kind of spirit is most vulnerable. This weakness is the most likely path that the team assembled to take care of this spirit will use, we are going to use a well-trained medium who is capable of hiding to locate which hospital the spirit is in, and as long as it is completely focused on feeding itself. she will be sealed in a prison.”

"What happens if they can't exploit this weakness?"

“Well, then comes plan B, which usually means facing the spirit head on which ends up resulting in several injuries and maybe a few dead. I told you that our line of work is dangerous, but each mission accomplished equals saving several lives, dozens and maybe even hundreds of lives, depending on what you killed or sealed.”

"We're coming, I'll explain the situation to the doctor while you're done explaining what we're going to do next Lion, we have to get her and her sister out of town before reinforcements arrive."

"OK.

The spirit is not aiming for echoes, because my sister and I, who is not a medium, need to get out of town.