"What does he mean by leaving town, Lion?"

“He means it's safer if you left town, now the spirit might think you're dead, but that's not permanent. It is quite possible that she will find out you are alive and want to finish the job, spirits are very vengeful even if they are not named vengeful in your name.”

“So, should I leave town with my sister? Where?"

“For a safe house, we have some scattered around the country, we usually put it away from cities where if there is an attack on the house it is unlikely that there will be witnesses or involve civilians. We have one near the edge of town, simple house, but safe enough to keep the spirit from attacking you easily.”

"I'm not being used as bait, am I?"

"No! We would never use you and your sister as bait, that's not the way we do it. We try our best not to involve and preserve the lives of civilians.”

There is something wrong with all this, something is being hidden here.

"So, it's okay for me to stay hidden where it's safe while you guys take a risk trying to seal the spirit."

“Yes, you are under no obligation to participate, the threat level that this spirit is is completely above what is normal for a test like yours. Your next decision will in no way jeopardize your ability to enter the institute, Teresa.”

“You don't have to worry anymore Teresa, Nelson will be back soon, and we can go get your sister, we'll just stop for a bit to grab something to eat during lunch at the safe house, it will be a few hours before the other hunters arrive for us to go behind the spirit.”

“So, you two are going to participate in the spirit hunt?”

"Yes."

"But I'm staying in the safe house alone with my sister."

“The house has many protections; you will be safe inside.”

He's a stupid asshole.

“I almost fell for your theater, Lion, but I saw the trap. Well played, but not enough”

"I'm not doing anything like that, the spirit is very dangerous so let's get you to a safe place."

“There's no point in trying to keep the theater going, I realized. This is a test! To see if I have the courage to put my life on the line to help against that spiritual bitch.”

An evil smile appeared on Lion's serious face.

“Okay, you figured it out, but I didn't lie to you, directly. Stepping back now to be safe won't get in the way of your entry into the institute, Teresa, you're still a civilian, special, but still a civilian.”

“But if you really want to get into this line of work, having the courage to face danger like that spirit is indispensable. Our job is very risky, and we can't back down just because we're afraid, people will die if we run away from a strong enemy, innocent people will always suffer when we fail.”

"Let's say you just earned some extra points on your assessment."

“Is my sister in danger?”

“Yes and no, danger as she is being targeted directly by the spirit, no, but if the city falls into chaos what can happen when powerful supernatural creatures are involved, yes. But we're going to put some charms and amulets in her house before dark, just to make sure nothing bad happens to her.”

"Thanks."

“Not the need to thank, protect and help the family members of the hunters and researchers of the institute is something to be expected, when you are facing death, you don't have to worry about your family, they will have the support and protection of the institute.”

Silence dominated the car for a few minutes until it was broken when the driver's door opened for Nelson to get into the car.

“It will take a few hours for reinforcements to arrive, even if the equipment was already separated, it takes some time to pack everything for travel. How were things here in the car?”

“Great, Teresa will accompany us on the hunt.”

“So, it looks like someone here isn't afraid to die, even after almost dying earlier. Not bad."

"What are we going to do now? Go to more hospitals?”

“Not too risky, we have to wait, but it gives us the freedom to do some basic tasks.”

"Like what?"

“Eating, putting some protection in your house, preparing our wills. Just basic things, what do you want for lunch?”

As I relaxed in the back seat of the car and I finally got hit by what happened to me, I almost died but I acted normally after that, that's not normal. Am I going crazy? Maybe I should do something to control my impulsiveness.

During the last few hours my world has turned into a huge chaos, and I feel it will only get worse, I don't know if I'll end up dying sooner or later, but I'm sure I found something to do with my life, well I think I did. But I still feel like I'm going a little crazy, I've always been a little off and weird and it's only gotten worse since I awakened my gift, but I still thought I was a pretty sane person, but now I'm not so sure.

I'm in a car with two strangers, well I think I know them well enough now not to call them complete strangers, but I still met them today and I'm going through weirder and weirder situations in this crazy situation, but it's not this madness that's got me making me doubt my sanity but the fact that I've just agreed to be part of a pretty suicidal task.

I don't want to die, but for some reason I acted like a character in a heroic tale that has a happy ending, but that only happens within the story of these characters, in real life these kinds of heroes die, and I don't want to die. I have to take care of my sister, even though starting to work for the institute seems to give my sister security to have a good life, especially if she doesn't wake up nor a kind of gift like mine, she can just study and have a better life.

But I don't want to die, I don't want to leave her alone, I want to see her grow up like I promised my mom I would, my job and taking care of her and building a happy and safe life for both of us, but this has been hard.

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I feel like I almost lost her in the last few days, maybe that's what changed me, fear of losing her overcame my old fears. I was afraid of being labeled as crazy and being locked up like a lunatic in some mental hospital because I can see ghosts, but this seems pretty small now, having my head nearly blown off by a ghost does that.

I don't want to be a victim, yes, now I can see why I avoided the safe exit. I don't want to be a victim, I want to fight, and to do that I need to ignore my old fears and face the new ones. I'm not going to die, but to do that I have to learn more about this world of supernatural monsters.

Without realizing the hours were passing, I had lunch with Lion, Nelson and my sister. Nelson bought food at a restaurant and took it to my house so we could have a meal together. I was surprised at how kind he is and puts a fake smile on his face while talking to my sister, he seems like a very different person.

Lion also acted differently, he was still polite and seemed likeable, but he didn't actively interact with my sister, I think he doesn't like children very much or is not comfortable around them.

I don't think it's smart to try to analyze the two of them, they're far from what can be considered normal, and I feel like I'm going to stay the same. There's no way to do the work they do, no, do the work I'm going to do without being affected by it.

My adorable little sister found the presence of the two unfamiliar men strange, but as a good girl she didn't point that fact out directly, but I still felt their curious gaze. But after the meal I took mine to her room to talk a little with her, but obviously I didn't tell her about what really happened today, when I left the room, the house was already safe.

Even without focusing my attention too much on the two hunters, I could feel them both moving around the house creating some spiritual fluctuations. Are my senses stronger than they were before or am I just using them right now?

It doesn't matter, I've made up my mind. I'm going to be a hunter, I'm going to be part of the institute and I'm not going to die, well I'm going to try very hard not to die. I'm going to create a better life for both my sister and me, but for that I have to learn to defend myself before witnessing the hunters fighting that spiritual bitch.

Do I find my two new companions? Evaluators?

“All set, ready to face your first mortal battle?”

“Doesn’t getting hit by the spirit earlier count as a battle?”

"No, you weren't trying to fight her, you were her victim."

“Details, what are we going to do now.”

"Let's go find the others, it's going to be a while before they arrive, so in the meantime I'll teach you the basics so you can stay safe tonight."

"OK."

Getting into the car, Nelson began to drive it towards the city limits. It looks like the meeting will be held outside the city to draw less attention. Or is this to deceive the spirit?

“During the hunt tonight, the safest places are inside the cars, I'm not kidding, don't look at me like that, I wouldn't joke about something extremely important. The cars and trucks we use are modified, Teresa.”

“This car is basically a bunker that moves against the supernatural, and it's perfect, not even close, but its structure is already solid and reinforced and has several defenses against the supernatural, in addition to being made of metal which already helps a lot. You may have noticed that the glasses are not completely transparent, this is not because we do not clean them, these are special glasses.”

“But the most important part of this car for you is the weapons hidden here, most of them are in the trunk, but it's inconvenient to get into it when you're being attacked. Behind your bank is two pistols and a shotgun, do not try to use it, as you have no experience with weapons a light and small caliber weapon is the best option for you.”

Leon opened the glove compartment in front of him showing me a small gun, I don't know much about guns, but is a gun with such a thin barrel really useful against a spirit?

"This is the best weapon option in this car, I picked it up specifically for times like this, in this line of work it's always good to be extremely prepared even if it makes you seem very excessive and paranoid."

“She is not useful against the spirit we are going to face, but she is effective against corporeal creatures, her bullet is an alloy of silver, iron and copper making her very toxic to certain targets, light to carry and easy to handle, I brought it for you to use if necessary, and as you can see, I was right.”

“You just have to aim and pull the trigger; you don't have to worry about anything else. You will have firearms training after entering the institute, but for today this is your best option, the reason I am giving you this weapon in case things get out of hand.”

“But doesn't it work on spirits? Why would I wear it today?”

“In case something other than a spirit tries to kill you, if that spirit was attracted by the train deaths it's possible, we'll see other types of supernatural creatures today, but if that's your weapon, aim and shoot anything that isn't. be a hunter, understand?”

"Yea."

“To deal with the spirit is much simpler for you, you will not attack the spirit, but if she decides to attack you hiding inside one of the vehicles is a smart move, but if she approaches you the best tactic is to use the contents of the bags that we will give you later.”

“And just throw them in the direction of the spirit, they will explode in a cloud of dust. So, it's good that you don't look directly at the bag when it bursts, it looks dangerous because it's dangerous, not looking at your opponent is usually a big mistake, but you don't want the dust of that bag between us your eyes, it's an experience very unpleasant, it has a cure but it is better not to try it.”

“The last tool you're going to have been a very simple one, and a dagger. Nothing flashy or special about him, but if anything goes wrong, he could save your life. Having a silver and iron blade is very useful.”

"Any questions?"

“Apart from the fact that I don't know how to shoot, I've never stabbed anyone, and I don't have the arm of a baseball player, no, that's fine. I am very excited to put myself in danger.”.”

“Well, we are already arriving at the meeting point, before the others arrive you will have time to fire some shots to get used to your new weapon, don't worry, it's very simple to operate it, and just be careful so as not to fire at the wrong time.”

“You make it look really easy.”

“Because it's quite easy, Teresa, when you take your course on firearms you will learn that it was much more complicated to use them before, the amount of care you have to take with them today is much less than what you needed before.”

We stop on an empty side road near the city, on our way back not even a house, we are on mine out of nowhere.

“Is this the meeting point?”

“Yes, we chose him because there is a small chance of civilians seeing us while we make final preparations for the hunt. Let's go outside, I'll introduce you to your new partner Teresa."

Lion pulls out a dark pistol with a wooden handle, I have no idea what kind of weapon this is, I really should have learned more about weapons.

“This gun is a Mauser HSc pistol, I know, that name doesn't make any sense to you, but this is a pistol that is quite popular in war, it's not difficult to use, but when you shoot, I need you to use your two hands to hold the gun, you are not used to shooting, so it will be a little difficult for you to deal with the force generated by shooting it.”

“Your hand will be sore after using it, this is normal, as you can see on the side here there is a safety lock, it should stay locked while you carry the weapon, only before the operation starts you should unlock it. To aim is just point and shoot, your reach is not very big and for an inexperienced user you will only be able to hit a target that is a few meters away from you.”

“Preferably it would be nice if you used it from inside one of the cars, with the car protecting you will be safe when you fire the gun from inside the car, but to do that I have to remind you that the car window has that being down, don’t make that face Teresa, during a dangerous situation you will panic, and repeating silly instructions like this in your head will help you do things the right way in a situation where you won’t think normally.”

“Inside the car, roll down the window enough to be able to fire when you are in the center of the passenger seat. Don't put your gun out of the car to shoot, if you're being attacked by some kind of monster that's asking to have your gun taken away from you."

“But this only works if the enemy is big, if by chance the monster is small enough to get in easily, don't open the window, they're probably not strong enough to break into the car, but in case one of them manages and just shoots him, don't worry about damaging the car at a time like this, shoot the monster that's attacking you."

“To reload this pistol is very simple, after spending all the bullets that are eight, this tenth part of the pistol will be locked behind, that means the weapon is out of bullets. You don't have to mess with that tenth part at all, you have to pull the cartridge out of the gun and put a new one in place, the gun will arm itself, it's quite simple.”

"Do you want to try?"

"Yes!"

I took the gun from Lion's hands, it's very light. Over the next hour I fired this gun several times, Lion was right about my hand getting sore, but I didn't jam the gun or otherwise screw it up, so I think he learns well enough not to screw up the gun, I just have to be very careful with the trigger, it would be humiliating to fire the gun when it's holstered in hers.