“Caleb, see anything?”

“For the fifth damn time, no.” An annoyed voice came through the earpiece sitting in Astin’s ear.

“Are we sure this is the right place?”

“Unless what’s in the reports was wrong,” Caleb replied tightly. “Because I know you’re not questioning my research. You’re too lazy to do this stuff on your own, so of course I’m stuck doing it all, and then you try to insinuate that what I’m doing isn’t good enough, well you…”

The man shifted his crouched weight from one leg to the other, while watching the burnt out building across the street from his place on the roof. The entire area had been roped off with “Do Not Enter” tape, but cleanup had not yet begun.

“…wasting my whole damn night sitting in this drafty building without…” he trailed off. The sudden silence brought Astin’s attention back. “Someone’s coming.”

“Someone…?” Astin’s eyes traced over the shadowy sidewalk between streetlights, looking for the “someone” Caleb had heard. A young woman stepped out of the alley between two buildings. She walked down the street slowly, pausing in the glow of a streetlight in front of the condemned building. She then stepped forward, pushed the yellow tape over her head and made her way inside.

“She’s going in.” Astin said.

“Want me to chase her out?” Caleb asked.

“Not yet. Stay with her. Toril?”

“Yes, sir?” a female voice responded immediately.

“Watch Caleb’s back.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I can watch my own damn back,” Caleb hissed.

Astin stood up, looking back and forth for signs of anyone else out on the dark streets. Then he stepped off the building, and floated down to land just outside where the front door once stood.

“She’s just digging through the rubble. Probably lost something in the fire.” Caleb sounded bored. “Oh wait…something’s happening.”

“I’m coming.” Astin stepped forward and the darkness immediately surrounded him. His eyes began adjusting to the shadows as he moved forward.

The woman was crouched, a flashlight in one hand, her other hand sooty as she sifted through the debris covering the floor. In front of her, a swirl of myst was gathering.

“Carrie?” a voice whispered.

The woman paused, frozen for a moment, before looking around slowly. Astin remained hidden in the shadows.

“Carrie…how could you?” the myst gathered more swiftly, and took on the shape of a young man, floating just inches off the ground. The woman screamed, dropping her flashlight and scrambling back. The ghost lunged for her.

There was a flash of movement, and Caleb stood next to Astin, setting the woman gently back on her feet. The ghost remained where it had been, a large cat holding the spectral arm firmly in his mouth. The ghost screamed, struggling to get away.

Astin moved forward, eyes tracing over the ghost. “You have lingered where you should not.”

The ghost turned to the man, eyes filled with rage. “What the hell do you know?”

“James?” the woman seemed to have gathered herself.

The ghost’s attention was back on the woman. “You said you loved me Carrie! And then you abandoned me!”

“I do love you. Just the fire…and I fell…”

Astin could see the memory swirling on the top of her consciousness. He took hold of it gently, pulling the myst from her mind, and let it flow toward the ghost, still in the cat’s jaws. The memory then began to play in Astin’s mind, the same as it was for James.

.

.

.

James and Carrie were in their apartment, sleeping peacefully in each other’s arms. Dark smoke floated into the room, followed by a sudden piercing alarm. Carrie bolted awake, followed quickly by James. She was disoriented, and began coughing on the smoke in the room.

“What the hell…” James jumped up, going out into the living room. “The apartment’s on fire!”

“What?” Carrie jumped out of bed, the last bits of slumber pushed back by the sudden panic.

“It’s already spread to the living room. Why didn’t the fucking alarm go off sooner?”

Carrie rushed to the window, and tried to pull it open. “It’s stuck.”

“Unlock it!”

“I did!”

James pulled on the window several times, and then reached for the alarm clock, and smashed it through the window. Carrie screamed as the glass fell. He knocked the larger pieces away. “Get out now.”

Carrie climbed over the glass, feeling it cut into her feet, and hands as she got out onto the fire escape. She coughed, and in the distance she could hear the sirens. “Are you coming?”

“I’m right behind you. Start down without me.”

Carrie reached over the side, and began slowly moving down the ladder, when she stepped on a piece of glass, wedging it deeply into her foot. She screamed in pain, losing her balance and fell backward, everything going blank.

“Miss. Miss, wake up.”

Carrie opened her eyes to see a fireman standing over her. “What?”

“Don’t move. I need paramedics over here.”

“Where’s James?”

“James? Someone is still in there?”

“I don’t know. He was coming after me. I don’t know.”

The fireman moved back toward the building, when there was a loud crash, and it fell in on itself.

“James!” She screamed as the memory faced, the myst returning to her mind.

.

.

.

“No!” the ghost of James screamed. “It’s a lie. You just left me!”

“James…” Tears filled Carrie’s eyes.

“If you will not pass on, we will have to force you.” Astin glanced at Caleb.

“Release, Jester,” the boy commanded.

The huge cat opened his mouth and jumped back away from the ghost.

“Just leave me alone!” James screamed. The ghost flew at them, his features blurring as he screamed in rage. A woman appeared from the shadows next to Caleb, a sword held in front of her. With a slash the ghost was gone, the myst swirling around them for a moment before dissipating.

“Thank you, Toril,” Astin said.

“Of course, sir.”

Carrie was shaking, tears in her eyes. “What…was…?”

“I’m sorry for this.” Myst swirled around Carrie, and she crumpled into Astin’s arms.

“About fucking time,” Caleb sighed.

“Go home. I’ll make sure she wakes up safely,” Astin told him.

Toril nodded, the sword in her hand swirling into nothingness before turning to follow Caleb down the street. Astin moved out of the building, the young woman in his arms. He set her on a bus bench just down from the burnt out building and then moved back into the shadows.

A few minutes later she blinked and sat up as a bus pulled up to the stop. The door opened.

“Ya getting on?” the driver asked after a moment.

She glanced down the street toward the abandoned building, and then climbed onto the bus. He took the memory of what had happened to her in the building, and released it to the wind, which swiftly blew it apart.

Another mission complete with no real closure. Was he losing his touch, or were the Drifters just that much more stubborn? It was not uncommon for his team to be assigned difficult missions. They had succeeded where many others had failed after all. With a sigh, he turned and walked the other way.