Another day, another plan that had her nerves in an absolute wreck.

Lara had been preparing in her hotel room for the ‘date’. Not an idea that she was thrilled with but she knew that it would be the best course of action.

She had approached Joseph this morning and mentioned that she was getting quite nervous, intending to ask him out to a few drinks with the next breath.

Of course he didn’t give her the chance to and before she could utter another word his response was “Well I know a great place for some food, if you want to unwind.”

Standing in her hotel room she had gotten on her nicest jacket and a pair of pants, not one for long frilly dresses. With her hair dried and makeup done she was finally ready to face this challenge. At least she hoped she was. She wasn’t the best actor but it’s not like she could say Joseph was all that bad a guy.

Her conflicted feelings aside, she sent the text.

She had opted to meet him at the bar of his choice where they planned to have dinner and a few drinks together to ‘calm the nerves’. It was a place that she had passed many times while staying here but she never entered. Not really being a bar kind of person.

She had no trouble finding him inside as he had already gotten them a table and waved her over once she entered. A friendly smile was exchanged between the two as she took her seat across from him. “Nice to see you.” She said with her voice elevated due to the noise of chatting of the other patrons. “So, what would you recommend?”

“Oh that is a tough question.” He responded. He had clearly taken time to do himself up for this little excursion with a nice suit shirt and black trousers. One of the few times his hair wasn’t a scruffy mess. He scanned the menu for a moment and said “How about the prime beef burger, It is a personal favourite.”

While food didn’t sound bad at the moment, her job was to get him drunk so she added “Sounds good. I’d say I want to get a beer too. This time it is my treat.” She had been given an allowance by Jasper that was dictated as work expenses to pay for the drinks. People were always far more willing to get black out drunk when someone else was paying.

“I never pegged you for a beer kinda’ person.” Joseph responded with a hint of shock in his face “Not that there is a problem with it.” Perusing the menu he showed that he had a much different taste. “A glass of the recommended red would be lovely.”

Once the waitress had taken their orders, Joseph started the conversation before she had the chance to. “It is pretty crazy, right?” He began, tapping his finger against the table before he pulled up a coaster to toy with between his fingers. “I have spent my whole life searching for this kind of thing, and now we have a whole group of like minded people dedicated to it.”

Lara still felt bad for what was to come. He looked at peace, like he had finally found his place in life, and here they were to steal it away from him. “Yeah, but it really makes me tense up thinking about being on TV.”

“If you want to stay out of the camera that is also fine.” Joseph added, slapping the coaster down atop the table once their drinks arrived. “Just having you there is good enough to help calm my nerves.”

She tensed up again at such a genuine comment, almost letting her smile slip but luckily Joseph continued talking before he noticed her change in expression. “Where to go from here is the hard part. I think I would need to get some more money together and then we can go together as a group somewhere where we could continue the practice in peace that isn't a dilapidated old manor or a hotel.”

At the manor itself, plans had changed slightly as the man on the inside, known as Tom, had made an even better plan to keep the rest of the guards distracted with him.

The tall and rather imposing man walked in through the front door as it was time for his shift to begin “A proposition!” he called out once a few of his co workers greeted him “And one I think no one could refuse.”

It certainly got their attention and once he pulled out two bottles of top of the line, and quite expensive whiskeys, they had a feeling they knew what was going down.

Mitch waited at a distance while Jasper monitored the situation from inside the building within his spirit form. They worked as a group together to move a nice large table to the second floor and right down the hall from the runes room.

A poker set was revealed once all the chairs were placed around and Tom said “Since it’ll be our last night together, I say we have a bit of fun.”

“Who’s going to keep an eye on the job?” One of the other guards asked as plastic cups were handed around. Not the fanciest way to drink expensive whiskey but it would get the job done.

“I will.” Tom assured, having been the head of the guards since near the beginning he had already built up a trust with them. Taking his seat as the only one directly facing the room with the rune inside at the end of the hallway. “So drink up, get some cards dealt.”

“Where did you even get this?” Another asked, reading the label while he sat down with his back to the room. It was a brand that none of the guards were making enough to afford not once, but two whole bottles to just casually drink with co-workers on their final paycheck.

“A job I worked a long time ago. It was a bar, and when they went under they couldn’t afford to pay me. So a few bottles of the good stuff equal to what they owed me was passed on instead.” He lied, but in this line of work he was quite a good liar.

It was as good enough an excuse as any for the others to begin a night of festivities. The radio they used to keep sane while patrolling the halls was moved in and some music was played while the cards were being dealt.

All it took was a slight nod of approval from Tom when the first drinks were poured to let Jasper know at the end of the hall that he could signal for Mitch to make his way inside.

Jasper could easily walk back to the main entrance and from there signal to Mitch that the guards were thoroughly distracted which was his que to slowly begin making his way towards the main entrance.

Luckily, Tom had set it up in such a way that they didn’t have a full view of the main entrance from the room they were playing in, but instead a view from the side of the manor which had a partial view of the back.

Within his pockets he carried a small chisel so he could create imperfections in the rune without creating any more magical signatures which his knife would certainly do. He also carried the bag of what could only be described as ‘runic micro LED’s’ and while they had a bit of a debate on if it would be safe to even use another runic device to disprove this one they were given the explanation that the runes themselves were designed to burn out after a few moments of use. So a one and done device that they had a short window to make use of.

With everything being empty and the flood lights having been shut down by the guards, the home felt quite… empty. Not in the sense of there was no one here as he knew there were, but in the sense that every time he had been here there was something loud happening. The spirit, the party, the showing of the rune.

Now it was unceremonious silence. He was here to put an end to this once and for all and it was not with a bang, not even with a whimper, but with an underhanded tactic that was akin to espionage.

Lara had been on to her third beer by now and lucky she had goaded Joseph into his second glass of wine. “So, I came here to study and wound up breaking my arm on a night out!” She exclaimed over the loud music of the dance floor that they had transitioned to. The setting was perfect to get someone in the mood to dance and drink. People all having fun around them was quite infectious.

He nodded while he listened and said “I had broken an arm myself once!” Turning the conversation once again to himself, but at this point that was good enough for Lara. The more she kept him talking the more she kept him distracted.

During the conversation about his sixth excursion to the other side of the world on his fathers money she hailed down a bartender and decided to up the dosage. Getting them both a cocktail in hopes he wouldn’t notice how much they were drinking after long enough.

Mitch spent most of his time on the first floor quietly sneaking towards the stairs. These boards were old and could most likely creak under his weight. Jasper stood at the top of the stairs and kept his attention between where they needed to go and what Mitch was doing. Giving him the thumbs up to begin ascending the stairs.

Holding onto the rail he treaded carefully and one step at a time he got closer to the top where he could hear the group of guards laughing over shared stories of work stories from the past.

“Take it easy, take it slow.” Jasper said, confident none of them could hear him after all. “They are having drinks at the moment which will make it easier.”

Mitch wanted to make some snappy and sassy remark but he couldn’t afford to say anything. The look on his face said it all and Jasper had to stifle his laughter out of fear of making him angrier and more likely to make a mistake.

“You are just a rat bastard is what you are!” One of the voices down the hall hollered, though it was followed by an eruption of laughter from the table. The sound of cards being slammed against the table before they were called out who won the bet.

Mitch slipped around the corner and slowly into the bedroom which contained the rune, finally what he had come here for was within arms reach. He looked down the hall to see Tom staring directly at him for a brief moment, but his gaze shifted back to the table and he began speaking his own work horror stories, within the realm of what he was allowed to say of course. None of these men would be able to handle the actual horror stories he had working as a security guard.

It had caused Mitch to tense up far more than he had hoped, holding his breath as if that would have helped him not be seen. Once he realised it was Tom and his mind stopped panicking he quietly exhaled and took the chisel out of his pocket.

A few simple slides of it across the wood slowly dislodged tiny splinters of the rune and the music from down the hall luckily overshadowed what he was doing. Each chip leading to the rune becoming far more unstable and eventually, hopefully, unusable from what he had learned.

“H..hold on!” Joseph shouted so Lara could hear him over the music, stumbling back to reach into his pocket and try to take out his phone. Struggling to unlock his screen as they had been a few drinks deep at this point. “I need to check on the guards…”

Lara stepped in at that and tugged on his arm “Oh come on, you know they are capable people! Let's relax a bit before tomorrow!”

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Her smile was infectious, as was her enthusiasm for the night but Joseph said “I just need to be sure!” as he dialled the number and held the phone to his ear.

Tom was the one who’s phone rang and for a few moments he hushed the others and got them to lower the radio. “Hello?” He asked aloud as he answered. “Sure thing, boss.” He replied.

The guards sat in silence so as not to alert their boss that they were all slacking off. Tom raised from his seat and said “I can assure you, all is fine here.”

Jasper leaned into the room to give Mitch a thumbs up to let him know the walking down the hall was safe, which resulted in Tom entering the room and looking around “Yep, I am in the room now. Everything is as it was when you left.” He assured, clearly Joseph was rather paranoid about all of this. Good thing Jasper mentioned that paranoia so they could get him drunk enough that he couldn’t do the checks.

Tom looked at Mitch for a few moments while he held the phone to his ear. Despite being on their side it was still quite unnerving as he was towering over him while he was hunched down over the rune, chiselling away at the form. He had all the power to tell Joseph what he was doing but it ended with Tom giving him a wide smile before returning his expression to normal and turning around to walk back towards the room they were playing poker in “You have no need to worry, I have an eye on it at all times on my route.”

It was easy to tell when the call ended as the music increased and the chatter began again which allowed Mitch to continue chipping out pieces.

He placed a hand on it to begin pooling magic to test if it would work, and to his dismay it was still whole enough to hold some. So he changed it up and began to carve away slight chips from the middle of the rune.

It took nearly 30 minutes of trial and error before he could place his hand on the rune and no mana would begin to pool within the crevices of the carvings. The perfect time to begin planting the LED’s.

Though this was when a startling sound came from down the hall, a loud and boisterous man that Mitch had gathered called Peter from the chattering said “Ah here now, I need to take a leak. Out of the way!”

Tom gave a look down the hall towards Jasper before the large man was seen stumbling out of the room. From that look, Jasper could discern that the bathroom was past the room that they were in and that it was time to hide.

He turned quickly to try and grab Mitch’s attention, just in case Peter decided to give a look into the room as he passed. Mitch was so engrossed in his work that Jasper had to walk up and place a hand down directly in front of his face which caused him to almost silently jump out of his skin.

Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching and his heart sank. Quickly grabbing up the LED’s he had laid on the floor and stuffed them into his pockets before backing up in hopes of getting to the bed where he could hide under it.

It was too late though and he had to settle to hiding beside the bookshelf that he was doing his best to avoid ever since his first encounter here. The creaking of the old floorboards from Peters walking caused his heart to race, the thought that this could be it. He could be found out here if Peter was to thoroughly check the room.

Moments later, he entered. Looking at the rune he hummed and said “Was that there before..?” Though in this case, they hadn’t moved it from its original position. It was simply the musings of a man who had a few too many shots.

Mitch had to hold in his breath at this point as anything that could give him away could be dangerous. Sucking in his gut on the other side of the bookshelf he kept an eye on Jasper who was simply watching the situation unfold.

He looked about the room as something felt off but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He walked over to the window on the other side of the room which had a view of the yard to the side of the manor.

Where he was standing was a problem as if he turned the wrong way he would be able to see Mitch where he was hiding. They had to think of something, and fast.

Mitch slowly slid against the wall as quietly as he could towards the other door that led out into the hall from when they pulled the wall down. Taking extra care to tread lightly.

The man cracked open the window to let a cool breeze in and leaned down to let it wash over his face. Jasper stood inches behind him and seemed prepared to do something drastic before he backed up and watched Mitch.

The slight creaks of the wood below him luckily ignored as the sound of the window opening and the wind rushing over his face covered them.

Once he was out in the hall Jasper signalled to Tom down the hall who shouted “We are waiting to do the next round, hurry up!”

The man gasped as if he had been suddenly pulled back into reality and called back “Sorry! One minute!”

Mitch was left waiting in the hall for Jasper's signal to enter again. His heart racing due to the fact that if he enters too early the man would see him and if he enters too late he would be seen in the hall. It required the right timing.

Jasper kept tabs on him and as he approached the entrance he entered through he moved to the hall so Mitch could see him. Holding a hand up to get ready to move.

Mitch backed up close to the frame of the door and once Jasper lowered his hand he quickly wrapped himself around the doorframe to place his back against the wall inside the room.

As the man passed through Jasper he felt a sudden chill run down his spine and simply sneezed at the sensation.

Shuddering he made his way down the hall and Mitch could finally let out his breath. “This job has taken years off my life…” He thought before returning to the rune.

Once again he removed the LED’s from his pocket and continued to line them around the rune in a way that they wouldn’t be immediately noticeable. Set to destroy themselves once they activated the shells would stay but no signs of any runes within them would.

“Come on, show me those moves!” Lara shouted over the music as she was up on the dance floor with Joseph. Having gotten some cocktails into him now he was far more energetic and they shared a wide grin as he showed her the silliest dance moves she had ever seen.

She couldn’t stifle her laughter and he shouted in return “Oh? Show me what you can do if you are better!” In a jovial tone.

“Only after another!” She shouted, walking to the bar and ordering another pair of Long island Iced teas. Paying with her card she waited by the bar with him. Everything was getting blurry at this point and she knew she was doing her job well as Joseph seemed to be struggling to even check his phone at the moment. “I'm glad we came out together. Feel so much better now!” She added.

Joseph looked up from his phone after and after the moment he needed to process what she said he grinned at her “I’m glad!”

Mitch finally finished placing all the micro LED’s about the rune and wiped off the sweat from his brow. Placing the last of what was needed in his pockets he gave an acknowledging nod to Jasper.

“Ah you guys are cheating!” A voice called out from the room down the hall with a roar of laughter from the group. Once again the sound of a seat sliding away from the table was followed by the same voice saying “I need a smoke!”

“A smoke sounds great.” Another voice added as another chair pulled away from the table.

“Make it quick. We got the rest of the second bottle to finish before home time.” Tom added in an equally jovial manner.

Mitch had no choice this time but to move into a position where they couldn’t see him if they planned to check the room and this time the old closet was in reach and within a moment he moved towards it as he had enough time.

Silently but swiftly opening it he was at least relieved to know what Tom said was correct and it was empty. It gave him the space he needed to slip inside and have Jasper ensure it was fully closed from the other side with his ability to lightly manipulate the world around him even in spirit form.

The footsteps grew louder now as the two men laughed together, most likely arm in arm from how much they all seemed to be enjoying each other's company. “I told you, that's exactly how it happened!” Mitch heard one shout as they passed the room, sounding like they were continuing down the hall as the voice that slowly moved away shouted “Not a chance! He would never do that!” in response.

The inside of the closet was quite stuffy and the light only sneaking in through the cracks caused him to feel quite claustrophobic, but that was the least of his concerns as he heard more footsteps leave the poker room.

Holding his breath once more he covered his mouth with a hand. The uncertainty was killing him as he had no idea what was happening outside visually. He could only hear the footsteps getting closer as they entered the room.

He knew Jasper would be able to give him the go ahead when it was safe but it didn’t make the current situation any better. The footsteps pacing about the room and closer to the closet caused his heart to race.

What would happen if he was found here raced through his mind, how many of these men would lose their lives for simply taking a job they needed to sustain themselves. That Joseph would die for mere curiosity and a hope that the world was more than him… A belief a friend of his held dearly.

As much as he feared the worst, he had to hold out and he heard the footsteps lead up to almost just outside the closet. Keeping his mouth covered he was reaching the limits of holding his breath. The feeling welling up in his lungs that was begging for air, making it painful to continue this course.

Finally, some form of information came his way as the voice on the other side shouted “Hey, you left the window open. It’s already cold enough here!” followed by the sound of the window aggressively being shut next to him. The steps soon followed, back to the door and down into the hall.

Mitch let out a sigh of relief as he could finally exhale and take in a breath that he desperately craved. Perhaps a bit too loud as the steps outside stopped mid way through the hall.

Moments later the sounds of the steps continued, though they started back towards the rune once more they were cut shot by Tom walking down the hall and asking “Something wrong?” His footsteps were quite heavy compared to the others.

“Thought I heard something back there.” The man replied.

“You also look like you are ready to black out.” He jested in response. A light laugh shared before he asked “Want me to check it out for you?”

The footsteps slowly came back towards the room but this time it was easy to tell it was Tom by how heavy they were. He took a brief moment to check around the room before he directly grabbed the doors to the closet and swung them open. Staring down at the rather shocked Mitch who went wide eyed that he thought to.

After a moment of staring directly at him and easily causing him to have a heart attack he closed the closet doors and walked out into the hall “You gotta be hearing things, man.”

Eventually, Jasper placed a hand gently through the closet door with a thumbs up to let Mitch know he could leave. Doing so he found that the room was empty again and the window next to him was closed. The problem was that he could hear them below and Jasper confirmed “They are at the front entrance. Either we wait, or we find a new way out. I suggest the back entrance.”

Mitch simply nodded to his suggestion and made sure to double check that he had picked up everything to not repeat the incident. Once satisfied he slipped out the back door and slowly began to make his way down the halls.

He could hear the men outside at the front exit chatting about their wives and what plans they had when they got home. At the top of the stairs he would have been able to be seen sneaking down so he waved Jasper down and pointed to the front door.

“Got it.” He said as he quickly ran down and out. He heard moments later one asked “What's that?” which was his que to descend.

Soft steps, bated breath, and a heart that was pounding he moved down into the main entranceway where the door was left ajar, seeing the two men outside walk towards the darkened shrubbery nearby where Jasper had caused a distraction.

He then moved back towards the side hall that moved towards the kitchen. Downstairs was mostly intact compared to upstairs since the shade had rarely bothered to come down there. It made traversing along the carpet easier until he came to the door that led to the kitchen and one step closer to freedom.

Cracking open the door the first thing he could notice was the odour. A sickening smell of rotting food that had been here for god knows how long. The Halloween party? Before Kevin passed? Gods knew and Mitch didn’t care to find out.

Pushing his way inside he gently closed the door behind him and saw that the back door was within reach across the room. Only a countertop that sat in the middle of the room in his way.

There were some machines here from the groups set up, another few lights that were off at the moment and a generator to keep this side of the house running. It was almost impressive how much money Joseph put into all of this.

“Almost a shame to do this to him…” He thought as he walked to the back door. As he went to undo the latch he found there wasn’t one. It seemed to have broken off the door a long time ago.

This was it, the exit, and an end to this stressful plan. Wiping his forehead clean of sweat with how cold it was going to be outside he soon took the knob and gently turned it, pulling the door towards himself and letting the cold air rush in and wash over him.

It was calming, reassuring, and with a step outside he was at the easy part of the escape, slipping into the forest.

The wind felt somehow different today.

It felt like success.