Rise of the Night Witch

Interlude 2 (Robert)

Recap: Last time, Marissa went to her magic school. Now, we see what her Dad is doing.

A squat, grey building towered three stories high over an otherwise featureless landscape. Moonlight as faint and pale as a flickering light bulb shone over its rusty fence while the yellow tape read "DO NOT CROSS". Yet, it was Robert's job to do precisely that.

Built in Summer Hill's outskirts, the Paranormal Psychotic Encounter –PPE for short - Research Facility used to be the CIA's favorite storage bin for documents on supernatural encounters. Nobody knew why Summer Hill was such a haunted town. Those Salem mystics might possess answers, but Robert didn't care. He moved to this town because it provided better living conditions for him and his daughter. Now, it was his jurisdiction, his responsibility - no matter what the feds or the mystics said.

"Whatcha think?" Detective Phineas Devons asked. He was a small, heavy-set man with Donut food stains on his plainclothes who, despite his sweet tooth, had a strong enough physique that even Robert would not have liked his chances against him. "You think Brooks got overworked a lil'?"

"It's the only lead we have," Robert said, "The only speck of evidence moving us forward."

"You don't really believe in any of this, do you? That there's mystical mojo out there. When was the last time someone arrested a ghost or a demon? We're wasting our time!"

"Chief Brooks wants this case solved as quickly as possible! He gave us clear instructions. You will search this house for anything unusual and I will protect you from anything unusual."

"With all respect sir, I think you need to get over your ex-wife. I couldn't do my job with imbalanced hormones either. Y'know, I'm normally against gun control, but I know cuties that need gun licenses for their-"

"My private life is none of your business, Detective!" Robert snarled.

Detective Devons grinned and crossed the "DO NOT ENTER" line.

Chief Brooks had done basic research on ghost and demon myths. He observed that officers who carried crucifixes, salt shakers, as well as iron and silver items had longer lifespans. As such, Devons and Carter carried belts with all tools necessary. But for Robert, this wasn't enough. Alice gave him a rabbit foot that worked based on kinship and protected him even in the Otherworld. He carried it between his standard-issue semiautomatic pistol and a paintball gun that shot holy water balloons just in case. And he carried a chainsaw around his shoulder if anything with a weakness to cold iron showed up.

The crime scene specialists suffered no maladies, but Devons and Robert put on medical masks and gloves without question.

It was 10 PM. He was a terrible father. Marissa had changed since they moved. At first, she changed for the better. The people at her new school didn't bully her anymore and she finally found friends. But she also grew more distant. There were times when he tried to call her and she never answered, when he called her friends and they had no idea, and when he searched the whole house and he couldn't hear another soul besides him; not even that weird creature in their basement.

Most teenagers kept ugly secrets at some point, but he believed Marissa was better than that. He believed in giving her room and waiting until she told him what happened, but he was growing impatient.

While the facility was not used for research anymore, its library still attracted visitors and the building saw maintenance by Whateley University. Nonetheless, Devons opened its doors with utmost care. A good rule of thumb was to leave crime scenes as one found them.

Doors and corners. In any building, those two provided excellent hiding spots for criminals. But criminals weren't the biggest concern. His wife had already vaguely told him about the concept of Domains. The key point was that monsters could show up at any moment and if he and Devons walked into a Domain at once, it was over.