Colin MacGregor

The seven members of the crucible filed downstairs to visit Benjamin Savoy, the photographer who had gone into a psychological shock after seeing what had happened to his teammates. Liz, CJ, and Sean led the way, hoping that living agents would be less disconcerting to him than the ghostly forms of Max, Colin, Ryan, and Scooter.

After further efforts failed to get Savoy to say anything more, they left the white walls and antiseptic smells of the hospital wing behind and headed for the parking garage. There the crucible found a large, black van waiting for them and loaded, as promised, with the requisitioned gear, including the last minute addition of thermal undergear for the three living agents.

A short visit to the Tanners' also proved mostly fruitless. Although Liz was able to get the bereaved husband to agree to give an interview about his late wife's work in the Arts community, she learned nothing that was not already in the casefiles. A quick search of the rest of the house by Colin and Ryan also failed to turn up anything of interest.

"She liked pink, is all I can tell from her boxes in the attic", Colin informed everyone as they got back in the van.

"Well", CJ smirked. "I always thought Mr. White would be the best place to get information, anyway, so let's try him."

"Och, she sounds like ye do." Colin smirked at Ryan. "Always makin' wi' the obvious af'er the fac'."

The skimmer and the banshee glanced at each other, and then flipped the young ghost off in unison.

"Settle down, kids", came Sean's voice from the driver's seat. "We're here. White's apartment. CJ, you and Liz going in with the P.I. angle?"

The wisp turned around to look at the ex-law agents in the middle row and cocked an eyebrow.

The four agents made their way up the step and rang the bell, where an older gentleman, well into his fifties and walking with a cane answered the door.

"Mr. White? My name is CJ Inzmann and I'm a private investigator. This is my partner, Liz Vance." She extended her hand and softened her voice. "I know it may be difficult, but we're looking into some occurrences at the theater, and I wondered if I might have a few words with you about your daughter."

White's eyes filled with sorrow as he shook first CJ's, then Liz's hand. "I...I suppose. You'd better come in, though, or we'll all catch a chill."

Ryan and Colin quickly shot through the door opening, unnoticed by the home's owner, and made a quick scan of the area. "Seems safe and clear", Ryan told the other two agents as they walked in.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can tell you that I haven't already told the police, the papers, anyone I thought might be able to tell me what happened to Regina."

CJ nodded. "You don't know of anyone who might have wanted to harm her? Who was upset with her?"

He sighed. "Well, I know that she broke up with her boyfriend right before she went missing. Seemed she had an attraction for one of the new actors in the company, the young man playing Macbeth during that last run. And I know Mitchell couldn't have been happy about it, but he was a sweet boy. Still lives in the area, and I can't imagine him hurting anyone. Completely devastated when she went missing, he was. Almost as much as I, he came over and we sort of helped each other through it."

Liz spoke up then. "And this new attraction of Regina's? Do you happen to recall his name?"

Mr. White rubbed his chin in thought. "Mike something. Started with an 'S', but I'm afraid I don't recall more than that."

"We also have a report that says two neighborhood boys saw something in the woods near the center. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

Snorting, White answered derisively, "Oh, sure, a couple of kids claimed they saw a ghost. Hogwash. The police rightly decided it was hogwash, and you will too if you've any sense. Ghosts indeed."

Colin smirked and Ryan made a face at the old man. Surreptitiously shooting them an angry look, Liz stood. "Thank you for your time, sir."

Also standing, CJ extended her hand again. "Yes, thank you. And we'll be sure and let you know if we find anything new."

"I appreciate it, both of you." He shook CJ's hand, then quickly turned away and wiped his eyes before opening the door. "Thank you."

Colin and Ryan quickly hurried through the doorway while CJ and Liz followed at a slower pace.

"I hope we can help him." Liz was frowning, and her tone was distracted. "The fact that the boys' story was dismissed so handily shouldn't surprise us, though."

CJ nodded. "Yeah, APD doesn't usually go in for psychics or ghosts, or anything like that."

"Is that why you're with Orpheus now?" Liz cocked an eyebrow at her teammate. "Because you do go in for it?"

Shrugging, CJ said nothing as she reached the van and climbed in. Liz watched her settle into her seat with a thoughtful expression, then joined the rest of her crucible.

"Allright, folks, looks like the Center is the next stop, unless someone has a better idea?" Sean looked back at everyone from the driver's seat, but noone offered up an alternative. "Allright, here we go. You guys learn anything from White?"

CJ nodded. "Regina broke up with her boyfriend just before the show, but he was apparently not considered a suspect in any sort of foul play. And a couple of kids claimed to see a ghost in the woods near the center."

"Seems to me," Ryan spoke up, "we should check out the woods then. I've got a foreboding..."

Colin groaned and Ryan shot him a dirty look. "As I was saying, I've got a foreboding that there's a clue in the woods."

"Hey, if you don't want my advice, we can go charging in and get killed. Or killed again. Or something."

"No, Ryan, I think you've the right of it." Max leaned forward from his seat in the back. "It can't hurt to take a look, anyway."

The team rode along in silence for several minutes while Sean drove towards the Center. At last, he pulled into the weed-overgrown parking lot. "We're here. Time to gear up."

Max, Colin, and Scooter quickly got out of the van and began looking around. The Center was a massive stone building, its architectural grandeur now crumbling and cracking. Several of the gothic gargoyles had lost hold of the roof and smashed to the ground, and the facade was stained by rain. The parking lot was overgrown with weeds, the ancient asphalt cracked and pebbly grey. To one side they could see the woods that separated the Center from the Brown River, a tributary of the Chattahoochee.

Inside the van they could hear an argument between Sean and Ryan. "I'm not changing into the thermal underwear with you standing there!"

"Oh, all right", Ryan said with a mock sigh as he joined the other spooks in the parking lot.

Max frowned at him while Colin snickered. Scooter seemed oblivious to the goings on.

"Have you noticed how cold it is?", the youngest spirit asked worriedly. "I mean, especially given the fact that I can't normally feel the cold?"

Colin looked over at him thoughtfully. "The lad's go' a point. Ye can sor' o' feel the waves o' cold pulsing out o' the building. Kind o' makes me wish we could ha'e gotten some gear as well."

Looking crestfallen, Scooter replied "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant..."

"We know, lad, and tis a good idea, jus' a bit amusing in the presentation." Colin smiled at the younger ghost and clapped him on the shoulder. Not that much younger than me, really. Almost the same age when we died, I've just had a year to get used to it, whereas he's only had a couple months.

Frowning in concentration, the blond haired teenager glowed with a sickly green light for the briefest moment before fading. "There, that should do it."

As he finished, the three living agents stepped down out of the van. "All set", Liz said.

"The woods, then?" Max looked around at them all. "Let's see what Ryan can find."

With the group in agreement, Ryan led the way into the stand of trees and closed his eyes. Humming a soft tune he began walking a deliberate path through the undergrowth, blazing a trail for the rest to follow. The kudzu had grown thick, covering the trees and ground, swallowing the other vegetation, but the trees remained, as yet, their leaves shedding in trickles of red and gold in the cool October evening.

"Here", Ryan said, stopping suddenly. The ground looked no different than anywhere else in the woods, a scattering of fallen leaves and vines, but his voice was certain. "We need to look here."

Shrugging, CJ and Liz dropped down on their knees and began clearing away the brush while Sean shined a flashlight over their hands. A few startled birds took flight at the sudden rustling of the fallen leaves, but only that and the sound of two people breathing with exertion disturbed the stillness of the night.

"What is it?" CJ asked, quickly pulling her own hands out of the vegetation and looking around quickly. She gasped as her eyes fell on the skull now grinning up at them from amongst the disturbed leaves. "Ah, I see."

More gingerly now, the two living agents moved away more of the leaves and slowly uncovered the rest of the body - a decomposed body of a woman in what had once been a beautiful white gown, but now was stained and torn.

"Regina, I presume." Liz started to reach for her cell phone. "We need to call the authorities."

Max coughed to interrupt. "It would be best if we wait until after we complete our investigation and then give them an anonymous tip. It's easier not to explain a lot of what we do."

Ryan stepped forward then. "Let me see if I can find out if this truly is Regina." He scowled, and his soft Southern twang grew more serious. "It happened awfully long ago, so this will probably tire me out.

"We'll keep an eye on ye." Colin smiled reassuringly at his friend and Ryan nodded his thanks before closing his eyes.

Slowly, the hue began to sway gently back and forth, then he began to speak, barely above a whisper. "She left the theatre to have a cigarette...someone...a man...followed her. Mitchell, I think, they're arguing. He wants to know why she left him, he must be the ex-boyfriend. She turned away from him...oh God, he's got a knife..."

Ryan sucked in air that he didn't need in an effort to calm himself, and managed to go on. "He covered her mouth and slit her throat...dragged her out into the woods and...oh, God no...he raped her...he killed her then raped her. And then he took the knife and started carving into her forehead...'harlot'. He carved the word 'harlot' into her skin and left her here." Ryan was shaking now, almost in a panic, the emotional anchors of the past event weighing him down.

Colin started to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder, but pulled it back, remembering Ryan's dislike of being touched. "Tis allright, Ryan. Come back tae us now, ye ha'e seen wha' we need tae know." The young spirit's voice was quiet, but strong, and Ryan opened his eyes to look around at them all.

"But does this help us?" Scooter asked. "I mean, if ghosts only stick around three years, then the ghost can't be her. We know she died six years ago, now. It's great that we found her body and all, but shouldn't we go to the Center now?"

The other agents looked at each other, but it was Liz that spoke up. "I'm not convinced on this three year thing. I think we'll find that Regina is responsible for the haunting here."

"Well, I hope yuir right, lass", Colin said with a wry grin. "For more reasons than one."

Ryan and Scooter both nodded, and the group of agents began walking back towards the parking lot. As they crossed the sidewalk that ran in front of the building they all shuddered as the air around them suddenly grew deathly cold and Ryan nearly collapsed.

"Saints preserve us, wha' was tha'?" Colin looked around as another shiver wracked his gauze. "I cannae remember the las' time I was cold."

"Yeah, just hit me harder than I expected, and I'm already tired." He managed a weak grin. "Just be best not to stay in there too long."

Max nodded. "I can feel it, too, like the cold is shredding me at the edges. If it gets too bad, I can wend us out though."

Colin flipped him two fingers before turning to Liz. "Hold still a second, lass, this will nay hur' a bi'." A slow smile spread across his lips as he reached out and took a gentle hold of the silver strands running the length of her arm. Liz gasped as Colin's form dissolved into a spiderweb like mass of ghostly cords and wrapped around her before disappearing entirely.

"Oh! I...that..." Liz groped for words to express the sensation, but could find none.

<Relax, lass. I'm nay takin' control, jus' takin' advantage o' yuir thermal gear.>

Liz twitched as Colin's voice echoed within her mind. "You could have warned me."

<Aye, but then ye'd have resisted more. Easier tae go in wi'out warnin'. Somethin' we can work on, bu' i' takes practice.>

The door to the Center swung open at CJ's touch, and another wave of cold washed over them. "What the hell is that, anyway?" Sean began to sound a touch concerned.

"Well, whoever the entity is, it must be drawing energy from the environment, somehow", Liz began to explain. "Perhaps the cold is a side effect, or maybe a defensive mechanism."

"Oh, Colin says he would expect some spectres to have been drawn to that much vitality pulsing out." Liz smiled at the older man. "This takes some getting used to."

The other agents broke out laughing, and Max grinned at her. "Part of working together, Agent Inzmann."

"Bah. Come on, let's find this thing and get out of here." The former detective turned and headed for the stairs.

"Remember, we want a ghost out front." The youngest agent smiled at CJ as he headed down the stairs.

Ryan, Liz, and Max brought up the rear, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of trouble.

They could see Scooter at the bottom looking at the supports. "This whole thing'll give way if you put any real weight on it."

"I said, this whole thing'll give way!" Scooter shouted up to them, but Liz waved her hand.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding." Liz groaned, but put out a hand and gave the banister a shake. It held, and felt solid. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Sean grinned. "Great idea!" With less than a glance, he hopped up on the rail and slid quickly to the bottom.

With a shrug Liz got on and slid down herself, followed by CJ. Ryan and Max were able to descend the stairs, their weightless forms causing nary a creak from the antique supports.

Once downstairs, they could see a faint glow coming from the actual theatre portion of the Center. The rest of the area was thrown into dancing shadows by Max's flickering aura, it's pale violet light illuminating years of cobwebs, dust, and neglect.

Scooter again took the lead going into the theatre, where the agents saw row after row of spooks seated and staring transfixed at the stage.

"Dinnae look up at the stage!" Liz was startled by the sound of her voice as her head was snapped away from where she had begun to look and see what drew the ghosts' attention. "Okay, stop that."

<Sorry, lass, dinnae wan' ye tae ge' trapped as well. Somethin' up there is very wrong.>

"I have to agree", Max said, looking over the spirits in the rows. "Try not to look."

Liz and Ryan turned to look at the other wisp who had dropped his arms to his side and now stood with a vacant look in his eyes, staring towards the stage. As they watched, the meter he'd been holding dropped from his hands.

"Dammit, someone see to him. I see our other agents, and I'm going to get them." Max turned from the group and hurried down one of the rows to take hold of two men.

"Sean, snap out of it!" CJ hurried over to him and waved her hand in front of his face, but he ignored her and took a seat in one of the rows.

"Just one?" Scooter's sarcasm cut through the stillness of the theatre just as a loud moan issued forth from the stage.

Meanwhile Max had gathered the spirits of the missing agents into his arms and now closed his eyes in concentration. With a hazy flicker, all three forms disappeared.

A woman they all recognized as Regina White was streaming down the aisle towards them, her moan growing in intensity. "You're stealing my audience!"

Ryan turned to her and held his hands out plaintively. "Ah, they didn't buy a ticket..."

<I think now is a good time tae try ou' those gauze shredding bullets lass, I'm gwan tae try and help Sean.>

Without warning, a coiling mass of silver erupted from around Liz and settled over Sean's inert form, slowly fading into him.

The ex-cop nodded and drew her own gun as the apparition in front of them darkened totally to black, Regina's skin cracking and hardening into a shell-like form as tentacles sprouted forth from her back.

"Holy shit!" CJ raised her gun and fired, the shot taking a chunk off of the ghost, who shrieked again and began charging at them.

Ryan dove to the floor as Liz and CJ's shots hurtled past him, and he stared at the approaching ghost. "Damn, and I'm already so tired." Closing his eyes he drew upon his reserves to strengthen himself.

Scooter extended his hand towards her and his gauze shaped and twisted to form a pistol. He quickly added a few shots of his own to CJ and Liz's efforts.

Colin found himself in total control of Sean - the agent had no conscious thought to his mind as the skinrider settled in. Damn, come on Sean. With a focused effort, the young spirit managed to get the Wisp up and moving, headed back for the exit as the others fought Regina. Concentrating on calling out to his partner, Colin felt Sean's mind begin to stir and respond and he sighed with relief.

Without warning, Ryan propped himself up and focused a wail upon the approaching ghost, just as she did the same. Another wave of cold washed over all of the agents, and Liz dropped to her knees in shock while CJ staggered and grabbed hold of one of the theater seats for support.

Ryan's wail struck Regina full on, however, and the ghost howled in agony one last time before collapsing to the floor and beginning to dissipate with a soft hissing noise. Almost immediately, the temperature of the room returned to normal, brisk and chill, but not unexpectedly so given the late October weather.

As the gauze of Regina's form finally melted away completely, the other ghosts seated in the rows began to stand up and drift away, some releasing their hold on the material, others returning to their own routines.

Feeling Sean re-awaken as well, Colin unmeshed himself and stood behind him once more. "Ye all righ' now, lad?"

Liz, CJ, and Scooter nodded, and Ryan stood up from the floor, looking spent and paler than usual.

Max reappeared then, in another flicker of eerie violet light. "Things under control?"

"I was completing our mission, if case you hadn't noticed. Things seem to have sorted themselves out nicely, so I don't quite see your gripe." Max shrugged.

"What about the other agent? Ulrich?" Sean looked around. "Did anyone see his spirit?"

"Ryan, are ye up tae another foreboding look intae the past?" Colin asked the hue quietly.

With drooping shoulders, he nodded. "I don't have much choice, do I? At least this is a recent one." Once again, the banshee closed his eyes into an expression of concentration. Only a few moments passed before he opened them again.

"She killed him", he said flatly. "Just tore him apart. He put up a good fight, and resisted her attempts to enthrall him, but she was just too powerful for one person to take alone."

"Damn." Max sighed. "He was a damn fine agent, but at least we can let his family know what happened. I suppose closure has its advantages.

"Allright, let's pack it up and get back. Kate's going to want debriefings from everyone." With that, Max led the way to a side exit just off of the stage, so they would not have to find a way back up the treacherous stairs.

"Oh, I've got plenty to put in my debriefing", CJ muttered as she trailed after the others.

Liz looked back and nodded. "Indeed, we got lucky here. It could have been much worse. We could have had several more families being notified."

"Tha's the line o' work yuir in, now. Nay so different from police work, I should think." Colin walked between the two women, looking from one to the other.

"There's one big difference." CJ scowled. "A lead detective on the force would never leave an inexperienced team on its own in a dangerous situation."

Colin sighed. "I'm nay overfond o' Max, CJ, bu tae be fair, we're nay all inexperienced. I've been doin' this for awhile, meself, and I think we handled things pretty well."

"As I said, I think a lot of that was luck." Liz shrugged. "We learned a lot this time, and hopefully we'll shape up into a better team with practice."

And there may just be hope tha' this team will be around for awhile. If Regina's spirit lasted for six years, and was goin' strong, then there's hope for me as well.

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Last Updated: January 2, 2004 by Blake Sorensen

St. Genesius Center

October 27, 2003