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the-conversation-pod · 2 months ago

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Summer 2024 Lagniappe (A Minisode)

AND WE'RE BACK!

Summer didn’t give us a lot to say, but we ALWAYS got something to say. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk a highlight of the season, Twig reports from the field, and we award summer’s Girl Who Tried.

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:15 - Introduction 00:02:21 - Twig’s Dispatch 00:14:24 - Spotlight: Tadaima, Okaeri 00:20:34 - Girl, You Tried 00:27:08 - Celebrating 50 Episodes

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

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00:00:00 - Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re you’re drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

00:01:15 Introduction and Summer Season Recap

Ben

And we're back. We have reached the end of the summer season. It is hot as hell and hurricane season is active, but we at least still have our shows to watch.

Shan

Wow, what a way to set the mood.

NiNi

That is [laughs] one way to start, for sure. [NiNi and Shan laugh]

Ben

Girl, I’m stressed! [laughs]

NiNi

I feel you. I feel you. I feel you. We are here. The summer has been… it's been a lot.

Let's just dive right into what we came here to discuss. Shan is here. Say hi, Shan.

Shan

Hi!

NiNi

We're going to talk a few things that we didn't talk through this season. Twig’s gonna come in and leave us her dispatch, and then we're gonna round it up and award the Girl, You Tried. There are a lot of girls who tried this season. [laughs]

00:02:20 Twig’s Dispatch

DISPATCH! Thank you for having me back. [music]

While folks were lamenting having nothing to watch this quarter, I was as busy as ever!

In the skip section: Sadly, Korea really dominated this category last season, starting with Blossom Campus. Honestly, this was the biggest disappointment this season for me. This was my–the Korean independent team Strongberry, who I normally love—they released a full length Kdrama that, I don’t understand how it went so wrong. The story is about a university transfer student who works at the library and ends up in a few interactions with a taekwondo major and they fall for each other. It was boring, the story didn’t really flow, the chemistry was flat.The only good thing I can say for it is that when they do kiss, they kiss well. But it was not worth watching to get there.This was the least queer Strongberry has ever felt, and to add insult to injury it ends on a cliffhanger. This is a pass from me, friends.

Love is Like a Cat. Mew of the newly public MewTul relationship stars in this hybrid Thai/Korean production that did not manage to retain the good qualities of either country. It is bad. And not even in a fun way. The premise is a famous Thai actor is blackmailed into doing a Korean reality series in which he has to work in a dog cafe, despite being afraid of dogs. That sounds like it would be cute and fun, and somehow it was neither. Poor acting, cinematography, chemistry, story, everything was mid. Also, content warning for animal death—way to alienate your target audience.

Gray Shelter was a Korean short series that barely felt like BL? Honestly, it was trying to walk a trauma narrative and BL line and I don’t think it did that successfully. The romance felt rushed and the trauma part felt like it was being sad for the sake of sad rather than having anything to actually say about trauma. Also had another cliffhanger ending. Not my fav.

Moving away from Korea, Lady Boy Friends is a show that has a high barrier to enjoyment, so judge for yourself. It’s a remake from 2015 and the premise is an ensemble show in an all boys high school in which a good percentage of the cast are actually trans girls in an all boys school. There is a lot of infighting amongst the trans women, they are extremely catty and mean and clique-y to each other. That part I honestly found kind of fun, and I did enjoy them banding together against a common enemy. Unfortunately that common enemy is another trans girl who is looked down on for transitioning “late” which calls her authenticity into question. This show also has sexual assault played as comedy which is honestly the main reason why it’s in this section; there was also a gay couple who got the bulk of the focus in the last few episodes, and while that storyline will likely be the most appealing to this audience, I didn’t particularly like that the trans characters got short shrift in their own show, so. I didn’t fully love it.

Kiseki Chapter 2. This was a production by 9NAA. They have a history of not paying and exploiting their actors, and they’ve done it too many times, so I didn’t watch this one. Pay your actors and hire intimacy coaches and then I’ll talk about your shows.

The last one in this section is actually a GL Thai channel that I wanted to shout out. It’s just not to my taste, but I don’t like gatekeeping GL ‘cause there’s so little of it and it’s so hard to find. So, if you’re a fan of the melodrama and older, toxic relationship type tropes, give these guys a try. Last quarter they put out “Friend with Benefits the series” and “Sea [as in S-E-A] you soon”, and my favorite of the three was “You Are My Star the series” which I enjoyed because it retread a lot of BL tropes so I watched it and played, sort of, spot the BL parallels. JPC Media Channel on YouTube.

Now onto the shows that you might actually want to consider. There were a few genre BLs this season that were varying degrees of hit or miss so I’ve grouped them together. I love genre stories, so I don’t want to be too harsh on shows that push the boundaries of the BL genre, but all of these had at least one fatal flaw that makes me not able to recommend them without caveats.

Memory in the Letter is a Thai BL sci-fi/fantasy in which a student falls in love with a stranger in the mirror. This is a short series that had real high highs and low lows for me, including some of the best chemistry across a pane of glass I’ve ever seen. But also, the ending was so poorly handled that I had to call poor Ben to watch with me just so that I’d have someone to share my psychic damage with. Without spoiling anything, this show involves an age gap with actors not age-appropriately cast to hide the fact that the age gap is so large? It also doesn’t treat the age gap seriously or engage with the very serious problems that it raises in its own plot, and I found that very frustrating. So. Make your own choices on that one.

1000 Years Old the series. This show is a Thai vampire show that spends the first three quarters being an extremely low stakes series in which a vampire owns a pork blood soup stand and a glorious umbrella collection, and is in love with a man obsessed with searching for alien life. It is exactly as silly as it sounds. But then the last few episodes everything turns into intense melodrama, and I’m going to spoil this because I don’t know how not to: We find out that the vampire stays friendly with another vampire who murdered his human lover across multiple lifetimes. I was vibing and then I was really not.

Two Worlds is another Thai series, and a MaxNat vehicle. The premise of this one is as it says on the tin: There are two parallel universes connected by a glowing body of water. Our protagonist loses his love interest and travels to the parallel universe accidentally while grieving, to realize he has the chance to save his boyfriend’s doppelganger in this new world. While he does that, he finds himself falling for someone else instead. This series is a relatively slow burn show. Whoever made this show, they did the most bewilderingly good job of undercutting every dramatic moment so that it had no stakes or impact that I’ve ever seen. This show was almost impressively boring considering how much was happening at any given moment. I liked that it seemed to be saying people weren’t interchangeable, but then in the end the show undermined its own message. Watching this show was informative for learning about pacing and how narrative tension works or doesn’t in shows.

Last in this section is The Spirealm. This is a chinese danmei adaptation that we almost didn’t get because of censorship; it was heavily adapted so that rather than magic, the core of the unnatural happenings are a Virtual Reality video game in which our leads have to puzzle through dangerous mysteries to figure out the secrets of each level. It’s fun in an “oh this does feel like a video game” kinda way, and I enjoyed puzzling through the mysteries alongside the leads. But the mysteries drag on too long and they’re repetitive, and the ending of the book is actually really undermined from the adaptation choices. Also, if you’re watching for romance subtext, this is a VERY tame story even for censored cdrama. They barely touch, the shipping moments are few and far between in a long series. So, be forewarned.

Moving away from the supernatural and back to more standard QL fare, A Secretly Love. This felt like a very old-school Thai series, a feeling that was helped by the horrifically bad subtitles; about an engineering student who has been in love with this senior for years and watched him fail miserably at romance over and over. This heavily relies on the viewer enjoying the lead pining over someone who treats him badly for most of the series. So, in order to enjoy this, you have to find someone showing affection by being grumpy, rude, jealous, and demanding cute. No judgment, just giving you the information you need to no. Worth watching if you’re nostalgic for 2020s Thai BL.

Please Teach Me This is a vertical-format microseries from Korea about an aspiring idol trying to attend college that you have to grind through ads in order to watch. Honestly the series was fine, very middle-of-the-road KBL, but the microseries format and the barriers to watching make it not worth sitting through, in my opinion.

Blank the Series is a Thai GL is in the same universe as GAP, so if you miss Sam and Mon the characters, they do appear, though portrayed by different actresses. The main couple in this story have a 16-year age gap and the romance starts when the younger one is in high school, though due to plot reasons she’s of age. I know that’s a barrier for some, so I wanted to mention it off the jump, especially because she acts young. That’s the part that I actually struggled with most. This story is very lakorn-like in terms of it being very high melodrama; it also, especially in part two, gets quite sexy. The height difference is also really something. It’s in two parts and both are complete, it does have a happy ending with a cute timeskip. So, you know, manage yourselves on that one.

Jazz For Two. High school Korean music BL in which the main couple really fell flat for me and the side couple were a bully-turned-love-interest that I also really did not enjoy. This show tried to incorporate internalized homophobia as part of its main storyline but didn’t engage with characters overcoming it, so everyone feels kind of like they suddenly switch from being in a drama to a romance and it was both jarring and honestly, a little offensive. Trigger warnings are also important for this one, so take care of yourselves if you’re deciding to watch it.

Boys Be Brave. Another KBL in which a man who can’t say no tries to get the person with a crush on him to ask him out, to no avail. This felt like it was trying to be a manic pixie dream boy meets an autistic-coded grump, but they didn’t quite calibrate either of those characters right. The side couple also ended up landing kind of badly in terms of class politics. But it was pretty, and they were cute. I actually had fun with this one despite everything I just said.

Deep Night is a Thai BL in which the son of a club owner is against the host/club business model until he falls for one of his mother’s hosts. He decides to start working there to get closer to him. You might imagine that a setup like that would involve class and power politics, but you would be wrong! That being said, this show has a lot to recommend it: The main couple has great chemistry and the side couple is a canonical throuple, and there is another side couple of older sapphics to enjoy, as well. It is also very prettily shot.

Lastly, Close Friend 3: Soju Bomb is a beautifully shot and cute friendship drama, another Thai/Korean joint series this time about Thai boys in a Korean band who go on a bender in Korea after their contract is canceled. Honestly, my only caveat about this show is that it is absolutely not a BL. There isn’t a romance subplot at all in this show. I spent the entire time it aired so confused waiting for the romance to appear! It does not. If it hadn’t been advertised as Close Friend 3–a series which was previously all BL shorts–I would have enjoyed this for what it was. As it stands, I hold a grudge for being misled. Go in knowing what you’re getting and you’ll be fine.

Finally, let’s get to the shows that you might have missed that I actually recommend. To Be Continued, a Thai second chance romance of a famous person and a doctor who were friends when they were in high school. This one tells a lot of the story in flashbacks that are poorly paced at the beginning, so the start of the show really drags. But the reveal for why they broke up was satisfying. The pacing is the barrier in this one–if you can power through the first few episodes it ends up being a good little show. They have great chemistry, the story holds together, and I had fun.

Gym Affairs is an absolutely bonkers but cute mainland China BL in which a guy gets a personal trainer and sparks fly. This show is a silly comedy that is also surprisingly earnest. It goes by extremely fast and I really enjoyed the ride. That one’s on YouTube.

Blue Boys/Lonely Girl. SUKFilm is a Korean YouTube channel putting out short series. Blue Boys was a little disappointing, the couple had too many issues that they cycled through so fast. The GL though, Lonely Girl, was much more focused with a single main problem between the couple and so it worked much better. And both are really beautifully shot and have some great kisses.

Fake Buddies is another YouTube miniseries. It’s a 7 episode Korean series about a girl and guy who are dating, ostensibly, but really both using the other as a beard because they’re both in a gay relationship. The first few episodes are very funny comedy as the two of them try to make the other realize what’s happening; and then we get prequel episodes for how the gay couple and the lesbian couple both came to be. It’s a fun use of 45 minutes on the guynextdoor YouTube channel if you’re bored.

To the X Who Hated Me is a Korean GL produced by Red Q. It’s a series of microseries, there’s two out so far with 2-3 episodes each. They’re both GL and solid short second chance romances that are very fun.

City of Stars is the last one I’ll be talking about. It’s, in my opinion, the best hidden gem QL from this quarter. A charming celebrity/regular guy romance that tackles shipping, toxic fans, and the unreasonable expectations on people in the spotlight. Acting is a little rough, and it’s not perfect, but it had some really good things to say and it very smartly sandwiches those things among some pretty good sex scenes. The two leads are my communication kings. And there’s some decent trans side rep as well. This show really uses BL as a vehicle for having something to say and I appreciate it. And the story really holds together in a way that’s a little refreshing in Thai BL, too, so I really liked it.

And that’s the dispatch for this quarter! Thanks again for having me.

00:14:25 Spotlight: Tadaima Okaeri

Ben

It's time to talk about my favorite show of the season that no one else watched except for Twig. [NiNi laughs] We're going to talk about an animated BL from Japan called Tadaima, Okaeri. It is the best show of the season and I'm begging you, please, to go watch this show.

Tadaima, Okaeri is a 12 episode BL from Studio Deen that aired on Crunchyroll. Studio Deen is actually fairly important in the BL space. Pretty much all of the BL anime that we're probably going to recommend to you offhand was produced by the studio. In this particular one, they're adapting a manga series about a gay couple in the omegaverse that is trying to raise their kid in the suburbs. Our protagonist's name Fujiyoshi Masaki, that is actually his name, and his husband, Hiromu. Masaki is an omega, his husband is an alpha, and they have a son named Hikari together. He is a little baby and they are living in the burbs away from everybody else because they had a very difficult time getting together.

The show was not so much about the difficulties these two had getting together, it's about them building a life that they love and are happy with after going through what they did. So, like, this is your favorite leads, married and trying to raise their family now and working on healing some of the relationships that were damaged over the course of them getting together. There's a great deal of healing and growth in this. There's healing between Hiromu and his dad, who was not keen on their romance in the first place. There's the fact that these two guys love each other and love being parents. I am very often amused by how much my dad is still obsessed with my mom. And I really liked seeing that in a gay couple here. It was really restorative in a lot of ways, ‘cause we don't ever really see dads in BL.

This show was so healing. This was such a peaceful experience of a show to watch. What I like the most out of fluffy shows like this is for there to be a nice arc about what life we’re building for our family and a strong thematic thrust of, we're not trying to get back at anybody who hurt us. We just want our kid to grow up in a world where he—and eventually their daughter too—are loved by the people around them. Each episode was about a specific sort of challenge that the family was facing, and some of them were really huge. Like, how are we going to reconcile with the kids’ grandfather who wants to be part of his grandson's life? Even if it's something as small as, Hikaru is getting older and he wants to run an errand. Okay, we're going to let him deliver a letter to his grandfather to the mailbox, and getting a two year old to deliver something [laughs] successfully to a mailbox was a production unto itself, because he kept getting distracted.

It was genuinely one of the most delightful and wholesome experiences I have ever had in the genre. I have said for a long time that I've wanted a married gay dads show. I was not expecting it to come from the omegaverse of all places, but this was everything I ever hoped it could be and honestly, so much more. If you can handle omegaverse nonsense, including mpreg and the alpha omega pheromone shit, and rutting behavior. This is one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Shan

Oof. [Ben laughs] You just said so many words that upset me.

Ben

I know. I know!

[all laugh]

NiNi

I was like, “if you can handle” I can handle none of those things. I'm sorry.

Ben

If you're gonna be in genre, you gotta take your shit seriously, and I think that's why it worked. This show was not embarrassed about being an omegaverse show. It's not like [funny voice] we're going to do this in omegaverse because we know the girls will fucking show up for it. It took the conceits of its own genre seriously and incorporated it into the emotional context of their characters.

And so like I totally get it, mpreg is not easy for a lot of people. The rutting behavior stuff, it's not easy for some people. The way that omegaverse is used to perpetuate some of the heteronormative kinds of misogyny that women face is not for everyone, truly and sincerely. When I say that these are caveats to watching this, I am not being funny. These are real things that are being dealt with in this show, but they're not half-assing it. These are not normally things I enjoy. Tell a good story and take your shit seriously and we can show up for it. And that's what happened for me here.

So, I wholeheartedly recommend this show, but I do think it's important to not downplay that this is very legitimately an omegaverse story.

Shan

I appreciate that.

Ben

It's a 10, baby! Perfect execution of its own premise, and genuinely, it's the kinda show that was so fun to watch with other people.

Shan

I have been so intrigued by the conversation around this show and I really regret that it has so many of my hard lines in it [laughs[ because I would like to see it. I don't think I'll be able to, but I have heard nothing but praise and love from the people who've watched it.

Ben

I love the show with my whole heart. I do not recommend it at all. [Ben and NiNi laugh] This show had really strong ideas and it wore its whole heart on its sleeves the whole time. Mm mm mm. What an experience. Great show.

00:20:32 Girl, You Tried

Ben

Let's hand out our favorite award on the show: Girl, You Tried.

NiNi

Our nominees this season for a Girl, You Tried are Unknown the series from Taiwan, Love is Better the Second Time Around from Japan, and Living With Him from Japan. Does anybody wanna do propaganda here?

Ben

Ooh…

Shan

Let's start with reminding folks how we think about Girl, You Tried.

Ben

The Girl, You Tried for me is meant to reflect on a production that missed the mark, but we felt like the core work and the intent was there to actually do something good, and for whatever reason stumbled.

Shan

There's different ways that shows can stumble. There are shows that can be very well told and very confident up to a point, and then a mistake is made that is hard to recover from. There are shows that never quite nailed what they were trying to do, but did clearly have aspirations. There are shows that have a solid idea of at least the beginning and endpoints and something in the middle just got messy. So, those are different categories of ways that shows can go sideways. And all of these different ways came up in this season.

For me, a show like Unknown is not a Girl, You Tried because they actually did succeed at what they were doing for the vast majority of their run. So I wouldn't call that a Girl, You Tried. They made a mistake right at the end—and it was a big mistake—but their level of execution was so good through most of the show that I can't really consider that a Girl, You Tried.

For our two Japanese BLs here, Love is Better was really solid through about the first four episodes, and then it kind of veered off in a very strange direction that I still don't really understand why that happened. Versus Living With Him had a solid start, had a pretty decent end point that it was trying to get towards, and then got kind of messed up along the way trying to stretch out the story.

So for me I think I would want to give the Girl, You Tried to Living With Him out of these three, because I do think they had the bones of a good story. They executed parts of it really well. But in their effort to stretch it out into a longer format than the story really supported, they kind of lost track of some of their threads and got a little confused in the way that they landed at the end. So for me that one makes more sense as a Girl, You Tried because I see what they were trying to do. And I think that they just made some execution errors that got in the way.

Ben

An interesting analysis; one I will be pondering. It feels mean to say that Unknown is a Girl, You Tried because they rushed to their sex scene. It ignores how good the family story was around all of that, but I am also torn now if I'm going to choose between Love is Better and Living With Him because I feel like my angst for Living With Him is it doesn't release the implied sexual tension that really irritated me more than anything else, which Love is Better absolutely did.

Man, this is hard.

Shan

Have we ever had a Girl, You Tried tie?

Ben

We have not.

NiNi

There's usually a fairly clear cut winner once we talk about it, but I think part of the problem is that Love is Better and Living With Him sort of failed in similar ways, so it's hard to choose.

Ben

If I have to choose between the two of them, Love is Better the Second Time Around knew exactly what it was doing and it made very bad choices, and there's a difference between making stupid choices and struggling against something you couldn't do, in my opinion. I will give it to Living With Him because there's so much hang time, it's overly reliant on actor charm to hold itself together, and I do like how well the cast was able to hold this flimsy project together.

I think weaker actors would have made this a more irritating experience than it was, as opposed to just being kind of disappointing. So if I'm backed into a corner and have to choose [Shan laughs], it's going to be Living With Him.

Shan

[laughs] You do. Good job.

NiNi

Oh no, I'm about to throw a spanner in the works because I'm going to go for Love Is Better. [laughs]

Shan

This is very exciting! This is Conversation pod history!

Ben

Go ahead, give us your reasoning.

NiNi

For me, the original premise of Girl, You Tried was always ‘a strong idea that failed in the execution,’ and I feel like the ideas from Love is Better were stronger to me than the ideas in Living With Him, just in terms of, A, what I was interested in seeing and, B, what they wanted to do. I feel like those ideas were stronger in Love is Better. So the failure of the execution part is not the part that I'm looking at in terms of comparing the two, but the strength of the premise part.

Ben

Because both of these shows had really strong gay themes in them that I was really compelled by, I am going to allow them to tie and both get a Girl, You Tried, because I think both these shows were trying to do something really cool. I think by episode 3 and 4 both of these shows, I was like, “This show's got something in it. This is a real contender!” And then it was like, “Oh no, what happened, girl? Come on.” [laughs]

NiNi

So our first ever Girl, You Tried tie! Girls, you both tried.

Ben

Congratulations to Japan for getting your first Girl, You Tried awards.

NiNi

Is it?

Shan

And the double at that! Japan, always overachieving.

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

00:27:02 Celebrating 50 Episodes

NiNi

I think we have exorcized the demon of the summer, so let's wrap this up. We are wrapping our summer lagniappe and wrapping our summer season. See you in dot-dot-dot weeks for our fall season beginning as soon as I can get my shit together and edit.

Shan

NiNi, should we shout out that this is the 50th episode of the podcast?

Ben

Oh shit!

NiNi

[gasp] Oh my God, we didn't even talk about that! Yes, congratulate us, guys. This is episode number 50 for The Conversation!

Ben

Oh my God. [air horn sound]

Shan

There ya go.

Ben

If you are one of our listeners who has listened to us talk for all 50 episodes, please—

Shan

Wow.

Ben

—shout us out on Tumblr. I would love to talk to you and see how you're feeling about what we're doing after all this time.

Shan

You're a trooper if you actually did that.

NiNi

[laughs] Please, please, please. If you love us and you're hearing this, we are 50 episodes old today. Send us a note. Either send us a note on Tumblr if you know how to do that, or send us something in the Spotify down below—whatever…answer the thing thing.

Ben

[laughs] In the doobly-doo.

NiNi

Listen, okay? Auntie's old, okay? She don't remember what things are called.

We out! Say bye to the people, Shan.

Shan

Bye, people!

NiNi

Ben, say bye to the people.

Ben

Peace.

21 notes · View notes

jrob64 · 4 months ago

Text

Ghosted

Chapter 2 - All-Nighter

Thank you for the great response to this story! I'm very happy to be able to post chapter 2 somewhat quickly. Chapter 3 is more than halfway written, so you shouldn't have to wait long for it either. I still don't know if it will be the final chapter, or if there will be one more after that.

A big thank you and long-distance hugs to my wonderful beta @hookedmom; the people responsible for the fantastic pic set @kmomof4 & @motherkatereloyshipper; and my fellow mods of the CSSNS24 @ultraluckycatnd, @stahlop, @winterbaby89 & @kmomof4. You're all very special to me!

DISCLAIMER: All I know about ghost hunting is what I've watched on Ghost Adventures and a bit of research I did. I also know next to nothing about how YouTube works, so please excuse all errors. Keep in mind that this is fanfic and isn't meant to be completely accurate!

SUMMARY: When Emma Swan’s ex-boyfriend dies, she’s haunted by his ghost. Her neighbor, Killian Jones, a ghost hunter who has a YouTube channel, realizes what’s happening and offers to help. However, there’s more at stake than simply helping the apparition move on. There’s also the matter of Killian telling Emma he’s in love with her.

Rating: T (subject to change)

Words (chapter 2): 7238

Also posted to ffn and Ao3

*********

Killian didn’t see Emma for the next two days, and since she hadn’t called him, he assumed she didn’t have any more encounters with Neal Cassidy’s ghost. When he finally ran into her in the hallway, he was immediately concerned.

She looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn’t been getting enough sleep. It was understandable, of course. Anyone who witnessed a paranormal apparition firsthand was almost guaranteed to have trouble sleeping.

He called out a greeting to her and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Swan, are you okay?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I…I’m just tired, I guess,” she answered listlessly.

“Have you…has he been…”

“No sign of Neal,” she quickly interrupted. “And I haven’t had that feeling of being followed. But every time I try to sleep, I have nightmares that seem to go on and on. I can’t wake up, no matter how hard I try.”

He stepped closer. “What sort of nightmares? Are you able to remember them when you finally do wake up?”

She shook her head. “Not really. I just hear…whispers I guess, for lack of a better word. It’s like I’m weighed down by something and these voices are mumbling all around me. I can’t see any faces or bodies. I want to move or open my mouth to scream, but it’s like I’m…a hostage or something. I feel like I’m tied up and gagged, completely helpless.”

Killian pressed his lips into a thin line and eyed her warily. He knew what was probably going on, but he was a bit unsure of her reaction. “Emma, would you be willing to let me use my equipment to monitor your apartment at night?”

“Why? I told you I haven’t had any sense of Neal being around.”

“Spirits haunt people in a variety of ways. You experienced Cassidy actually appearing to you, then I could sense he was surrounding you with his aura,” he explained carefully. “I suspect he’s coming to you in your dreams, now. If you’ll allow me to set up my equipment in your apartment, I’d be able to determine if he’s doing that.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You mean you want to sit and watch me sleep all night? That’s a little creepy.”

“And being haunted by a ghost isn’t?” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.

She scoffed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“We wouldn’t need to be in the same room with you. We can set up the equipment and monitor it from somewhere else in your apartment, which is a better way to do it anyhow. If he is coming to you in your sleep, having us in the same room might be a deterrent.”

“Wait a minute,” she said. “What do you mean by ‘we’ and ‘us’? I thought your channel was called ‘Killian Jones: Ghost Hunter’. No one else is mentioned.”

“Ah, so you have heard of my channel,” he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard of it, I just don’t watch it.”

“Point taken. Anyway, to answer your question, my assistant, Will Scarlett, will be there, too. We do all-nighters together. That way, the equipment can be monitored more closely…and we can keep each other awake.”

“Oh, okay,” Emma sighed. “But I wanna meet this Scarlett guy first. I’m not exactly comfortable having a complete stranger in my home, while I’m sleeping.”

“I understand. You don’t have to worry about Will, though. He’s madly in love with Belle, my technical director, although he hasn’t worked up the courage to tell her yet.” He felt slightly guilty ratting out his friend like that, when he himself couldn’t admit his feelings to the woman of his dreams, either.

“Will she be involved in this…what did you call it?”

“An all-nighter. Belle won’t be there that night. Her job is to edit and post the videos.”

“I might have to meet her, too. If you record me with severe bedhead and drool dripping all over my pillow, I’d like to have an ally who would edit it out.”

He chuckled. “No worries, Swan. We do our best not to show the people who are experiencing the hauntings, unless they give us written permission.”

“That’s a relief. When do you want to do this ‘all-nighter’?”

“I just have to make a phone call. It could be as soon as tonight, if that’s convenient for you.”

“My apartment is a bit of a mess,” she admitted. “Maybe we should do it after I’ve had a chance to clean it up.”

“Actually, in our experience, spirits are more likely to visit when the place they hang around is in its natural state. We’re not sure why, but I suspect that altering it in any way makes them uncomfortable and suspicious.”

“In that case, maybe if I keep it spotless, Neal will never come back.” She paused and thought about it for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes. “Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no way I’d be able to do that. You’ve seen my place. I’m a slob.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re a slob, Love. Your apartment simply looks…lived in,” he cheeked, a smirk on his face.

He was happy he was able to make her laugh. “Okay, Killian. If your assistant is available, let’s do it tonight.”

For a moment, he imagined her saying those exact words under very different circumstances…and without mentioning his assistant. Shaking his head slightly to dislodge those thoughts, he replied, “Sounds good. I’ll call Will and see if he’s available. When will you be home?’

“I’m just going out to buy a new coffee maker, so I should be back in about an hour. I work until ten tonight. Will that be too late?”

“Not at all. Text me when you get back, then Will and I will bring over the equipment, so we can get everything set up. Will that work?”

“Sure.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I…I don’t know if it’s Neal causing my nightmares, but I can tell you I’m ready for them to stop. What will you do if you discover it’s because of paranormal activity?”

“We’ll try to pick up on clues to figure out why he’s still hanging around - and, if possible, his motivation and intentions. Then all of us, including you, can work together to come up with a plan for getting him to move on.”

“I would really appreciate that. It gives me the heebie-jeebies thinking he’s in my home and hovering around me while I sleep.” She shivered involuntarily at the thought.

He reached out and took hold of both of her shoulders. “It’s going to be alright, Love. We have a pretty good track record. It’s not going to happen overnight, but with a little time, I have confidence we’ll rid you of his spirit once and for all.”

She gave him a tired smile. “Thanks, Killian.” With a wave, she turned and walked toward the stairwell.

Killian watched her until she disappeared, then went into his apartment, where he pulled out his phone to call his assistant.

“What’s up, boss?” Will answered.

“I hope you don’t have any plans tonight, because we’ve got an all-nighter lined up.”

“That’s a bit last minute, don’t ya think, Mate? I could have meself a hot date.”

“No, you couldn’t.”

“What makes you so sure?” Will huffed.

“Because you would never ask anyone out besides Belle, and when it comes to her, you’re a fucking coward.”

“Says the bloke who won’t ask blondie out. Speakin’ of which, might this all-nighter be for her?”

Killian closed his eyes with a groan. He shouldn’t have goaded his friend about Belle, because now he would have to worry about Will embarrassing him in front of Emma. If he did, chances of the all-nighter happening might go down the drain, along with any chance of Emma going out with him.

“Aye, it is,” Killian admitted. “But listen Will, please don’t mention anything to her about…”

“How yer madly in love with her?”

“Will…”

“Don’t worry, boss. My lips are sealed.”

“If only that were true,” Killian muttered.

“What time should I be there tonight?”

“Actually, I need you to come over as soon as you can. Emma stepped out for about an hour, but she wants to meet you when she gets back.”

“Why’s that?”

“You’re a stranger who is going to be staying in her apartment all night, so she wants to at least make your acquaintance beforehand.”

“Makes sense. Be warned though, she might take one look at me and swoon at my feet.”

“I’m willing to take my chances,” Killian deadpanned. “Just be over here as soon as you can.”

“Fine,” Will sighed theatrically. “Give me time to pack my jammies and toothbrush.”

“Don’t forget your teddy bear,” Killian chuckled. Will was a goofball, but he was a great assistant and a very good friend, and he couldn’t imagine ghost hunting without him.

*********

A little over an hour later, Killian’s phone buzzed with a text from Emma telling him she was home. He stood and nudged Will’s feet off of the coffee table. “Grab the camera and computer bags. I’ll get the rest of the equipment.”

“Blondie’s home, I take it?” Will said, pushing himself up from the couch.

Killian turned to give him a disgruntled look. “Please be respectful. She’s not really sold on this all-nighter idea and I don’t want her to change her mind.”

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” Will assured him, adjusting the straps of the bags on his shoulder. “I’m looking forward to meeting this lass, after everything you’ve told me about her.”

Killian led the way out of the apartment to Emma’s place next door. Will stood slightly behind him as he knocked.

“Hey,” Emma greeted, her eyes bouncing between her neighbor and his friend.

“Emma, this is my assistant, Will Scarlett. Will, Emma Swan,” Killian introduced.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Swan,” Will said, reaching around Killian to offer her his hand.

“You, too,” she replied, firmly shaking it. “Come on in.”

After she turned around, Will bumped his shoulder into Killian. When he turned around, Will cast his eyes toward Emma, then gave him an exaggerated wink. Killian shot him a quick warning look before following Emma into her apartment.

“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing toward her sofa, as she settled herself in the recliner. “So, Will, how long have you known Killian?”

“Oh, we’ve been mates since secondary school in Brighton. Ain’t that right, Kil?”

“Aye,” Killian agreed. “We’ve known each other for a dozen years or so.”

“Lost touch for a coupla years when he moved across the pond, but then he called me in desperation when he started his ghost hunting career.”

“I wasn’t desperate,” Killian corrected. “I just needed an assistant and, since you weren’t doing anything else…”

“I wasn’t doin’ nothin’,” Will protested. “I was a lorry driver.”

“Lorry?” Emma questioned.

“It’s a large truck,” Killian explained. “And Will was never a great driver.”

“Oi! I resent that remark!”

“Is that what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?” Killian challenged.

“No,” Will admitted, “but I wasn’t a bad driver, I’ll have you know.” Turning his attention back to Emma, who was listening to the exchange with an amused look on her face, he said, “Anyway, he explained his idea for a paranormal investigation channel, and since that’s somethin’ that’s always interested me, I was onboard.”

“Killian tells me you also have a technical director as part of the team.”

“Aye, that would be the lovely Belle French,” Will said, his eyes lighting up and a wide, goofy grin stretching across his face. “Killian met her at the library where he was always doing research. She doesn’t travel with us, just does the editing and posting.”

Emma exchanged a knowing look with Killian, clearly able to see and hear Will’s admiration of Belle. Glancing at the bag at Killian’s feet, she asked, “What kind of equipment will you be using tonight?”

“Will has a video camera, digital camera and two laptops,” Killian said, pointing to the bags Will had sitting beside him. “And in here, I have a digital voice recorder, infrared thermometer, spirit box, geophone, which is a vibration sensor, and the EMF detector you saw the other day.”

“All that stuff will detect ghosts?”

“And hopefully record any visual or audio anomalies,” Killian explained.

“You forgot to mention the flux response device,” Will threw in. “That allows us to ask spirits yes or no questions. If they answer yes, the green light comes on; if it’s no, it’ll be the red light. Provided they answer at all, that is.”

“Wow, the whole process seems pretty complicated,” Emma commented.

“All you have to do is fall asleep, Swan,” Killian said. “We’ll handle the rest.”

“So, uh, where do you need to set things up, then?”

Killian rubbed his finger behind his ear. “Some of the equipment will need to go in your bedroom.”

“Okay. Mi casa es su casa,” she said, standing up to lead the way to her bedroom.

As the guys figured out where to set everything up, Emma straightened her bedding and picked up a stray sock to toss it into a hamper. “So, how does this work exactly? Will you wake me up if I start having a nightmare?”

“That would defeat the purpose,” Killian replied. “If Cassidy is coming to you while you’re asleep, we want to capture that activity and hopefully be able to communicate with him. Once the sun peaks over the horizon, we’ll pack everything up and leave your apartment. It will take us a while to watch and listen to our devices and decipher all the data, but once we do, we’ll contact you to go over the results.”

“How long will that take?” Emma asked.

Killian pursed his lips in thought. “Anywhere from a few hours to a day or two, depending on how much we’re able to collect.”

“Belle helps us with all of that decipherin’ and analyzin’ stuff, too,” Will said.

“Do you, um, would I be allowed to see and hear everything?”

“Absolutely,” Killian assured her. “If you are being haunted, you have every right to know what’s going on.”

“I hate to admit it, but I’m pretty interested in what you’re doing, now that you’ve explained it.”

“Does that mean you’ll start watching my channel?” Killian cheeked.

“Depends on whether you’re successful in getting Neal to move on…if it’s actually him.”

“Ah, so no pressure then.”

Emma shrugged, a coy smile on her lips. “You said you guys were good at what you do.”

“We are, but we can’t guarantee results. Every case we’ve worked has been different,” Killian explained. “We have been able to make contact with spirits in the majority of them, but in a few others, we didn’t find any proof of paranormal activity. If we are able to establish a connection, the person being haunted has to help encourage the spirit to move on. Do you think you would be able to do that, if and when the time comes?”

She shrugged again, the smile from earlier gone. “I’d like to say I will, but I guess I won’t really know until then.”

“Fair point. Let’s just hope we get some results.”

“What happens if he doesn’t show up tonight?” she asked.

“If there’s no paranormal activity tonight, we’ll leave the equipment set up to try again another night. It may take several all-nighters to capture activity, or it may happen right away - you just never know. Plus, that way we’ll be ready if you get the feeling he’s here. In any case, we’ll keep trying until we collect something, or until you feel like he’s moved on.”

“Would you mind laying down?” Will asked. “I want to focus this in the general vicinity.” He had the video camera mounted on a tripod aimed at her bed.

Emma hesitated a moment before moving to the bed to sit down. “I still say it’s gonna be really weird trying to sleep with you guys watching me.”

“We’ll be in the living room, using the laptops to monitor what the equipment is recording. If nothing is going on, we’ll stay in there,” Killian assured her. “If we detect something, we’ll bring the flux response device in here and try to communicate with him.”

She lay down on the right side of the bed, closest to the door. “This is where I start out, but I can’t promise that’s where I’ll stay. I’ve always been a bit of a restless sleeper.”

Will fiddled with the camera while Killian set the voice recorder on the nightstand beside Emma’s bed. “We’ll turn these on when you go to bed. They have enough battery and storage to run all night.”

“Although,” Will stated, “sometimes the spirits have been known to drain batteries very quickly.”

“We’ll be able to see if that’s happening, too. The laptops have readouts from all of the equipment.”

They finished setting everything up as Emma sat on the edge of the bed watching them. Every now and then, Killian made eye contact with her, noticing her trepidation. Each time, he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

When things were arranged to their satisfaction, Will grabbed the empty bags off the floor and they all left the bedroom.

“So, uh, I guess I’ll text you when I get home from work?” Emma asked.

“Aye. As soon as you let us know, we’ll come over,” Killian said.

“In that case, I’ll make sure I’m ready for bed before I send the text. What will you guys do until I get back?”

“We generally sleep the day away when we’ve got an all-nighter, ain’t that right, Kil?” Will said.

Killian nodded. “It doesn’t pay to be tired while we’re working, and the following day, we’re usually very excited to go through everything we collected.”

“That makes sense,” Emma said. “I’ll plan on seeing you tonight around ten-thirty, then.”

They bid her goodbye and returned to Killian’s apartment. As soon as the door was closed, Will clapped his friend on the back. “I can see why yer in love with her, Mate. She’s lovely.”

“I never said I was in love with her,” Killian corrected, moving into the living room to plop down on the couch. “I just…fancy her.”

Will scoffed. “Semantics. I saw how you was lookin’ at her.”

“Was it similar to the way you look at Belle?” Killian smirked.

“Do ya always have to bring that up?” Will grumbled.

Killian sighed. “Let’s face it. We’re both besotted fools who are too spineless to do anything about it.”

“Let’s make a pact. When this is all over with Emma’s ghost problem, we’ll both work up the courage to ask our fair ladies out.”

Killian got up and went into the kitchen, returning with two bottles of water. Handing one to Will, he said, “I need to wait and see how things turn out for Emma. If this is too traumatizing for her, I’m not going to complicate things further by asking her out. That doesn’t mean you can’t date Belle, though. I think you two would be great together.”

Will unscrewed the cap and took a quick drink. “I’ll think about it. Now, let’s order some pizza so we can eat and then get some sleep.”

*********

Killian could tell Emma was nervous when she answered the door that evening, clad in a tank top and shorts, her hair up in a loose bun.

“Sorry it took me so long to text you,” she apologized. “It was really busy at work tonight, so I wanted to take a quick shower.”

“No problem, Swan. We’re not in a hurry and we want you to be relaxed.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible, knowing that I might have a starring role in the next ‘Poltergeist’ movie.”

Killian moved closer to squeeze her hand. “What do you usually do to unwind when you get home from work?”

“Watch an episode or two of a show. Sometimes I have a cup of hot chocolate.”

“Doesn’t that have caffeine in it?” Will asked.

“Yeah, but I find that it relaxes me before I go to bed.”

“Just go about your routine and try to forget about us being here,” Killian advised.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like I would be able to do that.” She rubbed the back of her neck with both hands, rolling her head from side to side.

“Would a massage help?” Killian asked.

“That would actually be really nice,” she affirmed.

Killian stepped behind her and began to massage her shoulders. Dropping her head forward, she groaned, “God, that feels good. Can you keep doing that for about an hour?”

Inhaling her fresh scent and feeling her skin under his hands was making him struggle internally. Her skin was so soft, he just wanted to lean down and kiss her lovely neck. Instead, he cleared his throat and chuckled. “I’d be happy to, Love.” He glanced up and frowned at Will, who was giving him a shit-eating grin.

After a few more minutes of kneading Emma’s back and shoulders, he felt her begin to relax. “Do you want Will to make the hot chocolate for you?” he asked.

“No, thanks. I don’t make it from those packets. I do it the old-fashioned way with milk, cocoa and sugar, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.”

“What makes you think I don’t know how to make it like that?” Will asked, sounding offended.

“Do you?” Emma asked.

“No,” he admitted, “but that don’t mean I can’t try.”

“I’ve seen his attempts at cooking,” Killian said. “I’d keep him away from your kitchen if I were you.”

“It’s always ‘pick on Will day’, innit?” he groused.

Emma laughed. “Do you guys want a cup, too?”

“Yes, please,” Killian said. “How about you, Scarlett?”

“No, thanks. I brought a coupla bottles of Mountain Dew with me.”

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the living room, sipping their beverages and watching a show of Emma’s choosing. Halfway through the second episode, Killian looked over to see her dozing off in the recliner.

“Swan,” he said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“I think it’s time you went to bed.” He stood up and took the empty cocoa mug from her lax hand.

She looked up at him, blinking slowly. “Yeah,” she yawned. “I guess it is.”

“G’night, Emma,” Will called as she began stumbling toward her bedroom.

“Night, Will. Good luck with your ghost hunting,” she said, pulling the band from her hair to let it fall loosely down her back.

Killian handed Will the mug, asking him to put it in the kitchen sink, then followed Emma into her bedroom. She settled under the covers as he switched on all of the equipment. When he was finished, he couldn’t resist pulling the sheet up over her bare shoulder. “Sweet dreams, Emma.”

“I thought the purpose of this was for me to have a nightmare,” she murmured, her eyes already closed.

He gently brushed some strands of hair away from her face. “I would be much happier if you never had another one.”

Her lips turned up in a small smile. “Thanks, Killian. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Love.”

Will had the laptops set up by the time Killian got back out to the living room. He picked one up and took it with him to the recliner Emma had vacated, while Will hunched over the other one on the coffee table.

Two hours of silence passed before they saw the temperature begin to drop on the thermometer readout. They both sat up straighter, eyes scanning the data from the other equipment. The grainy image from the video recorder showed Emma making small, jerky movements. As they watched and listened, their instruments indicated paranormal activity going on in her bedroom.

After another ten minutes, they met each other’s eyes across the dimly lit room. “This is a fucking goldmine,” Will commented.

Killian nodded grimly. He hadn’t taken into consideration how much it would affect him to see Emma in the throes of a nightmare. As he sat in this room, watching her thrash about and listening to her whimpers through the video camera, all he wanted to do was go to her, take her in his arms and comfort her.

Grabbing the flux response device, he told Will, “I’m going to go see if I can get him to answer any questions.”

Will continued to watch his laptop screen intently, his mind nearly blown at everything he saw and heard. This was definitely one of the most successful all-nighters they had ever conducted.

*********

By the time Emma awoke the next morning, she felt like she had been in a boxing match all night, and noticed the guys and all of their equipment were gone. She assumed it meant they had documented paranormal activity, which was confirmed when she found a note on her coffee table from Killian telling her that they were able to gather some good information, and that he would be in touch with her later that day.

As she sat at her kitchen table drinking a large mug of coffee, she was a bit surprised when her phone lit up with a call from Ruby. Her friend usually didn’t contact her until her workday was over at the police station, and it was almost always via text.

“Hey, Ruby. What’s up?” Emma asked, her voice sounding exhausted, even to her own ears.

“I’ve got news I thought you’d be interested in hearing.”

“Has another ex of mine been arrested?”

Ruby ignored the question. “They began an investigation into Neal’s death because during the autopsy, they discovered marks around his throat that weren’t made by the bedsheet.”

Emma sat up straighter in her chair. “What kind of marks?”

“Handprints.”

Emma gasped. “They think someone killed him?”

“It’s been ruled a homicide. They suspect the crime lords he was selling drugs for may be involved somehow. Probably wanted to shut him up before he started blabbing about them in jail.”

“Oh, wow. I tried to tell him he was an idiot for being in cahoots with those people. He was convinced he would work his way up the ladder in the organization to be one of the top guys. I knew nothing good would come of it.”

“You were smart to break it off with him. Otherwise, they might have come after you.”

A chill ran down Emma’s spine. “You don’t think they will, do you?”

“Nah, it had been over a year since you guys were together when he was arrested. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Nothing to worry about, except that the ghost of my dead ex is haunting me, Emma thought. “Thanks for the info, Ruby. If you find out anything else, please let me know.”

“Will do. I better get back to work. My break is almost over. Talk to you later.”

They ended the call and Emma sat looking at her phone. Was Neal’s unfinished business proving that he was killed? If so, why was he hanging around her instead of somebody who could actually do something about it?

She yawned widely, wondering again what Killian and Will were able to capture.

*********

As soon as they got back to Killian’s apartment, he and Will went into his office and began going through the audio and video recordings, along with other data they collected. Will uploaded the photos taken at regular increments in Emma’s bedroom so they could study them more closely on the larger computer screen.

Belle arrived mid-morning to help. They listened to the white noise collected by the spirit box, trying to decipher voices or words that may have been recorded.

“There’s so much information here,” she commented. “This apparition is clearly trying to communicate with…what’s her name again?”

“Emma Swan,” Killian answered quickly.

“How long have you been neighbors?”

“Five years or so.” He could feel the redness creeping up his neck and into his face, as Belle scrutinized him.

“And this is the woman you’ve um, how did Will put it? Been crushing on for years?”

“She’s just a friend,” Killian said, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Pfft,” Will scoffed. Killian glared at him.

“Sounds like you hope to be much more than friends, Killian,” Belle commented.

He rubbed the back of his neck, refusing to meet her eyes. “Can we just get back to business, please? I would like to share our findings with Emma today, if possible.”

Belle studied him for a few moments, a smug smile on her face, but she let the matter drop.

They continued analyzing the data, replaying the recordings over and over as they discussed what they heard and saw.

“Did you get any useful information from the flux?” Belle asked.

Killian shook his head. “I only got one response, and that was to my first question - are you Neal Cassidy? The answer was ‘yes’.”

“Well, at least you got confirmation of that,” Belle commented. “It’s better than nothing.”

His phone buzzed on the table and he picked it up to see a text notification from Emma.

E: I know I’m supposed to wait for your call, but I’m a bit anxious. Are you awake? I’m really curious about what went on last night.

Killian glanced up from his screen to see Will and Belle looking at him. “She wants to know what we found.”

“We can share what we’ve deciphered so far,” Will said. “I don’t think I can stay awake to do much more. I’m knackered.”

“Agreed,” Killian said, tapping on his phone to respond to Emma.

Within five minutes, there was a knock on his door and he left the room to answer it. Emma stood on the other side, her lower lip pulled between her teeth, clearly on edge.

Without stopping to think, Killian reached out to take her hand, pulling her to him. To his surprise and relief, she went into his arms willingly, where she fit against him perfectly.

“Are you alright, Love?” he murmured into her hair.

“Did you find any reason for me not to be?”

He hesitated a moment, unsure quite how to tell her. “He…Neal…it seems he is coming to you at night, invading your dreams.”

She pulled back and looked at him. Seeing the utter helplessness and shock on her face, his heart sank. “How am I ever gonna be rid of him?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Tucking her back against his chest, he said, “We’ll figure it out. I won’t give up until we do.”

“Hey, boss. Me and Belle just found…oh, sorry!” Will’s voice came from behind them, causing them to pull away from each other.

Before turning to look at his friend, he studied Emma for a few more seconds. The look on her face was one of weariness and fright, and he knew he would do whatever it took to make that look disappear for good.

Not caring that he would probably get a good ribbing about it later from Will, Killian leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to Emma’s forehead. “Are you sure you’re up to seeing and hearing what we collected last night?” he whispered.

“Is it going to traumatize me?” she asked, trepidation clear in her tone.

He brushed a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Love - it’s not going to be easy. But if we can figure out Neal’s unfinished business, we have a good chance of getting him to move on. Since you knew him well and we didn’t, your input could be invaluable in making that happen.”

“I know,” she sighed. Then, lifting her chin, a determined look came over her face and she set her jaw. “I can do it.”

“That’s my tough lass,” Killian said, hoping she took it as a compliment and didn’t question the sentiment behind it.

He stepped out of the doorway, allowing her to pass by him into the apartment. With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the office, Will following behind.

When they entered the room, Belle swiveled in her seat and stood with a smile on her face. “You must be Emma,” she said, her hand outstretched in greeting. “I’m Belle, the technical director.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Belle,” Emma replied, shaking her offered hand. “Killian and Will have told me a lot about you.”

“All good, I hope.”

“O’ course,” Will said. “There’s nothin’ bad to say about ya.”

Emma and Killian shared an amused look, as Belle resumed her seat.

Will sat in the chair beside Belle, while Killian rolled the last one over for Emma, then stood behind her. “Bring up the photos first, please.”

Belle hit some keys on the computer keyboard and they all focused on the oversized monitor. A gallery of pictures popped up and with a click of the mouse, Belle selected one which filled the screen.

“You remember how we covered the mirror on the back of your door and everything else that would reflect light?” Killian asked. Emma nodded, and he continued, “We wanted to be able to debunk any light anomalies that could have been caused by reflections. The door was closed and your bedroom was completely dark, yet you can see these orbs of light in several photos.”

He leaned over Emma’s shoulder to point out the bright spots on the screen, as Belle brought up one picture after another. “We can also rule out dust specks because these aren’t consistent with the characteristics of dust…”

“And there isn’t any dust in my super clean apartment,” Emma remarked, tongue-in-cheek.

“Right. That, too,” Killian grinned.

“So, what do these…anemones mean?”

“Anomalies, Swan,” Killian corrected automatically. “They usually signify paranormal activity. We went through the pictures carefully and have counted at least five different light anomalies, which is the most we’ve seen in one space during a single night of investigation.”

“Wow. Does that mean I’ll get into the paranormal record books?”

The three investigators laughed. Belle minimized the gallery of photos and hit a few more keys. “This is from the video camera,” she explained, hovering the cursor over the little dot on the left side of the screen. “I’m going to fast forward quite a ways because nothing happened for the first two hours of the session.”

She slowly dragged the cursor several inches to the right, stopping when the time read an hour and fifty-seven minutes. Emma strained to see anything in the grainy image and was finally able to discern the outline of her sleeping form in the bed.

As she continued to watch, one corner of the screen began to lighten slightly. Will pointed to the spot. “See that there? Keep watchin’.”

The mist drifted down toward where Emma lay and seemed to settle beside her.

Emma leaned in closer, then sat back with a gasp. “Is that…?”

“It appears we captured an apparition,” Killian confirmed.

It was a strange sensation to watch herself beginning to react on screen, and Killian’s reassuring hand on her shoulder was very welcome as she felt herself filling with tension.

“This is where it seems your nightmare begins,” Belle remarked softly.

“Do you remember anything about it?” Killian asked.

Emma slowly shook her head. “Not really. Just that feeling of being held down and unable to move or speak.”

“Did you hear the voices again?”

“I heard those whispers, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying.”

They watched for several minutes, uncomfortably observing Emma’s jerky movements in the video. Then they saw the bedroom door open and Killian enter the room. He dropped to his knees beside the bed and placed the flux response device on the nightstand. After he turned it on, they heard him ask, “Are you Neal Cassidy?” and saw the green light illuminate.

Emma whipped around to look at Killian. “He gave you confirmation?”

“Aye, but he didn’t answer any of my other questions.”

Belle let the video run for a few more minutes, allowing them to hear more of Killian’s questions such as, “Do you know you’re dead?” and “Do you know how you died?”

“We haven’t had a chance to watch the entire video,” Belle explained, “but the guys noted the times when there was more activity.” After checking the paper in front of her, she moved the video forward to the 3:25 mark. Killian was no longer in the bedroom, but Emma still appeared to be having a restless sleep. The translucent figure beside her began to drift until it was a few feet away from the camera, where it appeared to stretch a limb toward it.

“We were wonderin’ if he was tryin’ to turn off the camera,” Will said. “Like he didn’t want us recordin’ him or somethin’.”

“Why can’t we see him clearly like I could when he was outside the coffee shop?” Emma asked, as she continued to watch the video.

“That’s a good question,” Killian responded. “We really don’t know why spirits are recognizable at times, and other times, they have no form at all.”

“You can see the apparition settle back down beside you…now,” Belle said, stopping the video at that spot. “It doesn’t move until…” consulting the paper again, she moved ahead to just past the five hour mark, “right here. Now, watch it disappear.” She clicked on the play arrow to show the spirit move up toward the ceiling. Then it was gone.

“Maybe he went through to the fourth floor and he’s their problem now,” Emma said bitterly.

“I wish it was that easy,” Killian replied.

Belle switched off the monitor in front of her. “We got some audio recordings on the spirit box and voice recorder. We can listen to those next.”

Will placed the voice recorder in front of Emma. “So far, we only listened to a section of this corresponding to the appearance of the apparition.” He turned it on and sat back in his chair. At first, all they could hear was complete silence. It was broken by a whooshing sound, followed by the soft, unnerving sounds of Emma letting out little whimpers.

“What was that noise?” she asked.

“We assume that was his ghost coming into the room,” Killian said.

“That’s the sound ghosts make?”

“We’ve heard lotsa different noises through the voice recorder,” Will said. “Bangs, crashes, whooshes, clinks, clanks, moans, groans…”

“I think she has the idea,” Killian cut in.

“The data gathered from the EMF detector, geophone and infrared thermometer verified the fact that paranormal activity was present in your bedroom,” Belle said.

“Oh, yay,” Emma said sarcastically, spinning her index finger in the air in a mock celebration.

Killian chuckled as he scooted the spirit box closer and plugged it into the computer. “After using the flux and getting just that one response, I turned off the voice recorder and replaced it with this. The nice thing about this new device is, it records the sounds. The old one we had didn’t, so we had to rely on the video recording to hear it. We’ve spent quite a bit of time listening to several sections of this, trying to decipher them. Perhaps you can help us, Swan.”

“I can try,” she said, leaning forward in her chair. “What am I listening for?”

“When I switch it on, you’re going to hear ‘white noise’ and the readout on the computer will look something like a Richter Scale graph. When there’s an unexplained sound and a spike on the graph, it’s possible the apparition is trying to speak. That happens several times in the section we’re about to listen to, but we have differing ideas of what’s being said. We’re hoping you can figure it out.”

“Okay. Ready when you are.”

He switched on the box and instantly, loud static filled the room. Emma flinched at the sudden noise and once again felt Killian’s steadying hand on her shoulder. With his other hand, he pointed to the readout on the laptop screen. “Watch for the spike. We’ll run it back as many times as you need.”

She watched and listened intently. About a minute in, there was a change in the graph as they heard a guttural sound. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Can you run it back?”

Belle rewound it a few seconds. When the sound came through again, Emma whispered, “Ems.”

Killian reached forward and hit pause himself. “What did you say, Love?”

“Ems,” she murmured again. “Neal always called me Ems. At first, I thought it was a cute nickname, but it annoyed me after a while because he overused it.”

“Play it back again, please,” Killian told Belle.

She did as he asked, all of them leaning forward involuntarily. After they heard the word again, she stopped it. “I think she’s right.”

“What did you guys think it said?” Emma asked.

“It’s so quick, I didn’t even have a guess,” Killian said.

“I thought it sounded like he was clearing his throat or something,” Belle added.

“I thought he belched,” Will grinned.

“Because ghosts obviously build up gas and have to let it out somehow,” Killian said, rolling his eyes. Then he turned his attention to Emma, who had paled considerably. “Swan, are you okay?”

“I, uh…could I get a drink of water, please?” she asked, her voice tremulous.

Will jumped to his feet. “I’ll get it.”

Killian swiveled her chair and knelt down in front of her. “Is this too much for you, Emma? We can stop, if it is.”

“It’s just…hearing his voice and knowing he’s…dead is pretty freaky. Seeing him was a horrible experience, but hearing him…”

Will came back with a bottle of water and handed it to her. She thanked him and took a long drink.

“That’s enough for today,” Killian said, standing up.

“No,” she protested. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a shock, you know?”

“Of course it is,” he agreed, “but if you’re sure, we’ll keep going.”

She nodded and turned her chair to face the desk again.

“Ready?” Belle asked.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Belle hit play and the room filled with the pulsating white noise again. This time when there was a vocalization, she had to rewind it four times before Emma said, “I think he’s saying ‘mine’.”

“That was our guess,” Killian said.

“That gives me chills,” Belle said, with a little shiver. Will stepped behind her to put his hands on her shoulders and she looked up at him appreciatively.

“There were a few other places where we heard his voice,” Killian explained, giving Belle a nod to start the recording again.

It took them nearly fifteen minutes to decipher the last phrase. They finally came to a consensus that the first two words were ‘taking’ and ‘you’, but the final utterance stymied them, until Emma suddenly slumped in her chair. “I think I know what it is. He…he’s saying ‘taking you…with me’.”

Belle put her hand over her mouth, eyes wide, while a grim-faced Killian rubbed his hands up and down Emma’s biceps in an attempt to soothe her. Will said bluntly what they were all thinking. “The bloody bastard thinks you’re his and wants to drag you to hell with him?”

*********

Thank you all very much for reading!

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