Chapter 1

It was late into the night, a young raven-haired man stood outside of a house on the front sidewalk. He held a cigarette in one hand and a voice recorder in the other, "I feel we're getting close to the end of this case... We're just missing one piece of the puzzle... Tonight we're going to hold a seance on the property to communicate with the spirits that supposedly haunt the grounds."

The man paused taking a drag from his cigarette before letting out a bit of a sigh, "I suppose now is as good a time as any for the intro. Uhh, I'm kind of new to this... My name is Chase Stevens. Umm. I'm 24 and I'm a paranormal investigator... Well, I'm a computer programmer in M.I.T but I study the occult in my free time.", He explained being sure to speak clearly into the small silver recorder. Taking another drag from his cigarette he proceeded to sit on the house's front porch pulling his long black coat tighter around himself as a chilled breeze swept over the homestead. "This is the first case I've taken outside the city...", He went on staring up at the starry night sky, something he was not accustomed to seeing, he paused a moment seeming to take it in. "Anyways, a woman named Sasha had gotten in contact with me and told me of her situation. She lives in a small ranch house in the far suburbs of my home city Ame Shigai.."

As he spoke of his home his pale blue eyes shifted moving across the landscape, watching as the starry clear skies overhead grew rapidly darker and cloudier until he could see a funnel of rain in the distance which seemed to envelop the city every night for reasons science failed to explain. Shaking his head, as if out of a daze, he took another drag from his cigarette, "Sasha lives with her husband Michael, and their four-year-old daughter Amelia. She came to me with some. Unsettling goings on in their home. She spoke of temperature changes, and things being moved around the house and she claims to of even been physically attacked by some entity. What interests me, however, is that upon receiving her request and hearing her out, I informed my team of the case and we ran some investigative footwork on both the family and the house. There wasn't a spot of dark history on either... The house was newly developed and had little to no time for anything major to happen inside it. Same with Sasha and her family. Speaking to their neighbors and friends we found they seemed like functioning adjusted members of society... For those who don't know the reason, this matters because entities, especially darker ones, often feed off of negative residual emotions... The fact that there is nothing dark in the family or home history suggests this entity is new to the world and trying to either reach out or is planting its seeds for survival... That's what we aim to find out tonight with the seance. I should stop using the term seance so loosely... It's more of a communication ritual I've developed. It only targets pre-existing spirits and doesn't summon new ones as a true seance would."

Finishing his cigarette, Chase proceeded to die it out on the cement sidewalk at his feet ending his recording as the doorway to the house behind him opened and a short blonde came out. "Chase, the preparations are ready.", She spoke causing the dark-haired man to look back over his shoulder with a nod. "Thanks, Rose. I'll be in shortly." With that, the blonde stepped back into the house and Chase rose to his feet following suit shortly after.

As he stepped in he was greeted by the blonde from before along with a tall burly fellow and a short tanned dark haired woman. "Sasha. And Michael I assume?", Chase asked with a nod to Sasha before extending a hand to the man who reached back shaking it firmly. "I'm Chase Stevens the psychic of the group though. I use that term loosely. You've met Rose and Paul already obviously...", He trailed off scolding himself in the back of his mind for loosely describing things again. The three were led to the living room where there was a table set up with five chairs around it. "Is Amelia somewhere safe?", Chase asked inquisitively.

Sasha nodded in response, "Ya, we sent her to my mom's place for the night...", She explained pulling out one of the chairs so she could sit. Chase shifted his gaze to Michael sensing a disinterest emanating from the man. "Before we get started, can you tell me more about what's been happening Sasha?", he asked curiously.

Sasha looked off as Michael approached behind placing a hand upon her shoulder reassuringly, "Well. Between things being moved around the house. Violent outbursts of things being thrown around the kitchen and living room. The most terrifying thing though. It was late one night, I think around three thirty in the morning we woke up to hear Amelia shrieking." Where Sasha trailed off Michael picked up, "Naturally I jumped up and out of bed first sprinting to her room but when I got there... Amelia was floating! Like something was holding her in the air like a rag doll. When Sasha caught up we grabbed her to pull her down but it felt like we were playing tug of war with 10 men.."

Upon hearing the story of what happened to their daughter Chase raised an eyebrow. "Sasha. Before we begin this ritual might I take a look around your daughter's room?", Chase asked curiously to which Sasha obliged showing him upstairs to a closed white door with pink and purple flowers painted on it. The door creaked as Chase opened it stepping through the thresh hold into Amelia's room. His eyes narrowed a bit as though picking up on something right away. He proceeded to look around the room before noticing the edge of a pink book cover sticking out from beneath the white pillow on Amelia's otherwise pink bedspread.

Picking it up Chase saw that it was a locked diary, to which he shifted his gaze back towards Sasha and Michael, "May I?", He asked politely. Sasha was about to say something only to be interrupted by her husband, "You want to go through a little girl's diary?", he spoke quickly, questioning Chase's integrity. Chase let out a sigh, "Please Michael there might be vital information in this.", He pleaded as Sasha placed a hand reassuringly on her husband's arm before nodding to Chase, "Honey it's for Amelia's safety. Do it Chase.."

Chase nodded pulling what looked like a little black book from his pocket. Except when he opened it, it revealed a lock-picking kit. To which he proceeded to quickly unlock the diary. Opening the book his eyes grew somewhat wide at its content. It was bad news bears all over as he looked over a collection of grotesque drawings and scribbled phrases like "She belongs to us now." Without saying a word, Chase closed the diary managing to hold his stoic expression to not freak the parents out before looking at them. "Sasha, Michael, I have an important question. Has your family come into possession of any antiques or heirlooms recently?"

Michael raised a brow, "How could you possibly know that?", He spoke surprised as Sasha nodded stepping forward, "Yeah we bought our furniture set for the whole house at an estate sale. We got it for a nice price... It came with a jewelry box we let Amelia have..." Chase looked around at the mention of the jewelry box before looking at Sasha. "Where is it may I see it?"

Sasha was about to point at Amelia's nightstand by her bed before realizing there wasn't anything. "That's weird it's usually on her nightstand...", and at that Chase turned, "Sasha where does your mother live?", he asked quickly, a growing sense of urgency to his voice. Sasha gave him the address before Chase walked passed her, "It's probably nothing but I need to speak to my crew in private for a moment excuse me."

Proceeding back down to the living room where Rose and Paul were still setting things up, "Guys outside now.", he spoke walking past the archway to the living room and out the front door. Hearing the tone in Chase's voice caused Rose and Paul to look worriedly at one another before following him. "Chase, what's going on?", Rose asked curiously as Paul came to a stop next to her.

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They watched as Chase lit another cigarette leaning against the side of his car, an old black muscle car of some sort. "I suspect we're dealing with an entity with the ability to attach itself to objects. And I believe little Melia who is with Sasha's mother has said item." He explained, Paul looked like he was about to say something as Chase paused but the psychic cut him off, "I want both of you to stay here with Sasha and Michael to do the ritual. If we seal the house now there's no chance of the entity escaping back to it when I find the jewelry box it's trapped in... Long story. Don't ask.", Chase finished unlocking the door to his car as he looked over his shoulder to Rose and Paul, "Guys. I don't know what's going to happen. Please be careful and follow the ritual exactly as we've practiced.", he went on causing the two to nod assuringly, "Also, don't mention the threat to the parents. The last thing we need is..", He was cut off as the front door swung open and Sasha came running out with the phone in her hand, "Guys something's wrong!", she exclaimed frantically rushing up to them, "My mother just called screaming that shes locked herself and Amelia in the bathroom!"

Chase looked to Rose and Paul who nodded before tending to the distraught woman as Chase quickly hopped into his vehicle, starting it before taking off in a violent hurry leaving nothing behind but the scent of burning rubber and the sound of heavy metal blasting from his speakers faded off into the distance. A few moments after leaving, Chase turned his radio down so that he could think of a plan while he drove, "I'll require at least 15 minutes to perform any sort of ritual.. If this entity is strong I might not have that much time...", he thought to himself before his radio cut to static. This caught his attention right away, breaking his concentration before, "Look out idiot!", a ghostly voice sounded over the static. Quickly Chase looked up at the road to see headlights in front of him and quickly cut the wheel to his right spinning out into his lane. Though he turned backward he avoided the collision coming to a halt, staring at his radio as he frantically caught his breath narrowly avoiding a head-on wreck. "What the fuck?", he muttered quietly to himself before realizing the lane of people who had come to a stop behind were now in front of him and growing agitated.

Shaking out of the ensuing daze, he decided to just pull out into the opposite lane when an appropriate spot opened. He didn't have time to deal with cops then and thought it'd be best to just keep moving. After about another 20 minutes of driving and wondering whether he was going crazy or not, Chase arrived at Sasha's mother's house. Closer to the city but still not quite in the city. Looking at the structure, Chase felt an uneasiness sweep over him. Something he had never encountered before. Letting out a sigh, he reached over to the passenger side popping open his glove box, and pulling out a small caliber pistol he had bought from a small gun store only a few weeks earlier. "I've never had to use you...", he thought as he made sure it was loaded, "I hope I don't tonight...", that he got out of the car holstering his weapon on the side of his chest beneath his long black coat.

Proceeding up the stoop he could feel that something was not right. Cautiously he reached out first knocking on the door only to stop abruptly after hearing something crash to the ground inside. At this point, instinct took over as he lifted a leg planting a foot hard next to the doorknob to kick it inwards but to no avail. He then heard a scream from inside, "Amelia!!!", he shouted worriedly drawing his pistol, and firing into the door knob a few times before kicking it again and finally breaking it open. As he entered the house he saw nearly everything overturned and in disarray. He paused, listening for a moment and hearing nothing as his body grew tense before the door behind him violently slammed shut. Though he ignored it, "You're wasting your time trying to scare me...", he spoke holstering his pistol once more, "I know what you are..."

As he spoke Chase reached into his pockets coyly before suddenly ducking, and avoiding a lamp that was thrown through the air by an unseen force. The lamp crashed into the wall behind him shattering before its fragments fell to the ground. Chase looked down at the broken glass now glinting around his feet as a light flickered on in the kitchen, making the living room he was standing in seem even darker now than before. The blue-eyed man cautiously made his way to the kitchen passing through the archway as he scanned the room spotting a trail of blood leading from the kitchen sink towards him and back the way he came. Chase lifted a brow turning back to the dark living room as he pulled out his zippo flicking it open and igniting its flame. He stepped back the way they came, following the blood trail back to the now closed door where it seemed to of paused a moment as a few drops pooled together before the trail moved up the stairs next to the door.

Investigating further took him up to the second floor into a hallway. Making an immediate right at the top of the stairs, there were two doors on the wall to his right and a third door at the very end of the hall which was cracked open with the interior light flickering as the kitchen had. It was as dark in that hallway as it was in the rest of the house, though chase could still see that the trail of blood led right to that forboding cracked door. His mind raced as he walked towards it extending a hand to push the door the rest of the way open. To his horror, there lay an elderly woman on the floor, blood pooled around her as she lay motionless, numerous stab wounds scattered about her abdomen. Chase raised a hand over his mouth looking away, "Jesus...", he thought to himself, "But where's Amelia?"

At that realization, he looked around seeing no sign of her before there was a sharp pain in the back of his thigh. Turning quickly he saw the four-year-old wielding a kitchen knife and displaying glowing golden eyes in place of the natural blues Chase had seen in photos. Immediately he pulled the hand he had in his coat pocket and pulled out a container of salt, dumping it across the floor at the base of the doorway as he stumbled back into the bathroom clutching his leg in pain.

Amelia let out a shriek of a cackle as Chase watched the line of salt begin to disintegrate. He looked surprised at the line and then back to the little girl as he pulled out a vial of holy water flicking it at her. Though nothing happened, "The mortal thinks were a demon...", her voice sounded deeper almost animalistic as she stepped across the salt line causing Chase to stumble back again now almost climbing on top of the sink to get away from her. "What are you then huh!?", he shouted now in retort trying to hide his fear as best he could by pulling out the pistol and taking aim. "We. Are Zarious...", she murmured before he shouted again, "Where is the jewelry box!?"

The next few moments were still a blur to the psychic as Amelia charged at him with her knife. There were gunshots and some dry heaving as Chase dealt with the psychological side of what he had just done. He sat now in his car, covered in blood hands shaking as he smoked a cigarette staring off. Not long after getting into his car, his phone rang. It was Rose, he answered it falling silent as he heard a panicked voice on the other end, "Ch.. Chase...", Rose sobbed, "The jewelry box.. It was still here...", she cried in a hushed voice as though she was hiding, "He killed Sasha and Pa.. Oh god no!!", she finished before the sound of bone crushing could be heard in the background as the phone on the other end clattered being dropped. Then there was silence before footsteps could be heard. Chase listened intently hearing Roses's attacker now breathing on the other end before Michael's gruff voice came across the line, "We.. Are Zarious...", he spoke before the phone disconnected with a click followed by a long pronounced beep.