Chapter 9: The First Mission
Jace and Juniper stepped out of the Hollow Mountain Tavern, their footsteps echoing eerily as they made their way through the misty landscape. Eleanora, the ghost they were supposed to help, floated silently beside them, her presence cold and filled with sadness.
“So, what exactly are we doing here?” Jace asked, his voice filled with uncertainty. He glanced over at Eleanora, whose ghostly form shimmered with an otherworldly light.
“How do we even start?”
Juniper looked equally confused, but she kept her voice steady.
“We need to help her find justice for her family. She died with unfinished business, and we need to figure out what that is.”
Eleanora’s voice was barely a whisper, but it carried with it an immense weight of sorrow.
“I... I was murdered. My family was wronged by someone... someone powerful. I couldn’t protect them, and now I’m stuck here.”
Juniper felt a pang of sympathy for the ghost, her heart softening at the thought of someone being trapped between life and death because of an injustice that hadn’t been set right.
“We’ll help you,” Juniper said firmly, her eyes shining with determination.
“But you need to tell us what happened.”
Eleanora floated before them, her translucent form flickering in the dim light.
“It was a wealthy man... Marcus Devlin. He framed my father for theft. Our family lost everything. My father was imprisoned, and I... I was killed when I tried to prove his innocence.”
Jace ran a hand through his ghostly hair, trying to piece it all together. “Okay, so we’re dealing with a wealthy, powerful guy who framed your dad and had you... killed. Great.” He glanced at Juniper.
“This sounds easy enough.”
Juniper rolled her eyes.
“Nothing about this is going to be easy, Jace.”
Jace chuckled, his usual charm and lightheartedness showing even in this serious situation.
“Come on, Juniper. How hard could it be? We’re basically detectives now.”
Eleanora’s sorrowful expression didn’t change.
“He still lives. Marcus Devlin. He walks free while my father rots in prison.”
Juniper frowned.
“Wait, this guy’s still alive?”
Eleanora nodded.
“Yes. He’s an old man now, but he’s still rich, still powerful. His influence hasn’t waned.”
Jace whistled, clearly impressed. “Alright, so we need to expose this guy and clear your dad’s name. Simple enough, right?”
“Not really,” Juniper muttered under her breath. “We’re teenagers. One of us is a ghost. The other... well, I can’t exactly go around breaking into mansions or exposing criminal masterminds.”
Jace shrugged, a grin creeping across his face. “Sure, you can. With a ghost on your side, you can do anything.”
Juniper shot him a skeptical look, but she couldn’t help the tiny smile that formed on her lips. “We’ll see about that.”
***
The trio made their way to the town where Marcus Devlin resided—a large, sprawling estate at the edge of town. The mansion loomed before them like a fortress, surrounded by tall iron gates and a thick forest of trees. It was the kind of place that screamed “I’m rich and I have skeletons in my closet.”
“Fancy,” Jace muttered, hovering next to Juniper as they stood at the entrance. “I bet this guy has more secrets than we can count.”
Juniper pressed her face to the bars of the gate, peering through. “We need to get inside somehow. But this place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
Jace grinned mischievously. “I’m a ghost, remember? I can just phase through stuff.” He waggled his eyebrows at Juniper. “Ghost perks.”
Juniper raised an eyebrow. “And how is that supposed to help me?”
Jace thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Uh, well... I could let you in through a window?”
Juniper sighed, clearly unimpressed with his plan. “I’ll figure something out.”
While Juniper scouted the area for an opening, Jace floated through the walls, appearing inside Marcus Devlin’s mansion. The place was just as grand on the inside as it was on the outside, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, expensive paintings lining the walls, and more rooms than anyone could possibly need.
Jace whistled softly to himself, impressed by the wealth on display. “Man, this guy’s loaded.”
As he wandered through the mansion, he stumbled upon a room that seemed... out of place. It was small and dimly lit, the walls lined with old newspaper clippings and photographs. Jace drifted closer to inspect them, his eyes narrowing as he saw familiar faces in the photos—Eleanora’s family.
“This must be the evidence,” Jace muttered to himself, his ghostly fingers tracing over a photograph of Eleanora’s father in handcuffs.
Meanwhile, outside, Juniper had found an opening—a small service entrance at the back of the mansion. She carefully slipped through the door, trying her best to remain unseen.
“Okay, I’m inside,” she whispered to herself, creeping down the hallway. “Now to find Jace.”
It didn’t take long for her to locate him, floating in a room filled with old, incriminating evidence. Juniper’s eyes widened as she entered the room. “Whoa, what is this place?”
Jace grinned. “It’s like his little guilt shrine. Look at all this—evidence of his crimes. Photos of Eleanora’s family, newspaper articles about her father’s trial... this is it, Juniper. This is what we need to clear her dad’s name.”
Juniper felt a surge of hope. “We can take this to the police, right? This will prove her father was framed!”
Jace nodded. “Yeah, but there’s just one problem.”
Juniper blinked. “What problem?”
Jace floated over to the wall, pointing at a small safe embedded in the corner. “The most important stuff is locked up in there. And, well... I can’t exactly pick locks.”
Juniper stared at the safe, frustration building in her chest. “Great. How are we supposed to open it?”
Jace grinned mischievously again. “This is where I come in handy. You distract Marcus Devlin, and I’ll phase through the safe and grab the evidence.”
Juniper’s jaw dropped. “Distract him? How am I supposed to distract a rich old man who probably has a thousand security guards?”
Jace shrugged. “You’re creative. You’ll think of something.”
Juniper sighed deeply but nodded. “Fine. I’ll figure it out.”
With a plan in place, Juniper snuck through the mansion, eventually finding Marcus Devlin sitting in his study, sipping a glass of expensive whiskey and reading an old, dusty book. She took a deep breath and knocked on the doorframe, pretending to be lost.
“Excuse me, sir?” she called out, her voice trembling slightly.
Marcus looked up, his cold, calculating eyes narrowing as he saw her. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”
Juniper stammered, trying to look innocent. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I must have taken a wrong turn. I was... delivering something for a friend, and I got lost. This mansion is like a maze!”
Marcus raised an eyebrow, clearly suspicious. “Lost? In my private estate?”
Juniper nodded frantically, putting on her best clueless act. “Yes! I didn’t mean to intrude. I just... I’ll be going now.”
Marcus stood up, his towering figure casting a long shadow across the room. “I don’t believe you. You’re trespassing.”
Juniper’s heart pounded in her chest, but she kept up the act. “No, I swear! I just—"
At that moment, Jace floated through the walls, passing into the safe and grabbing the hidden documents. He waved at Juniper from behind Marcus, a stack of papers in his hand.
“We’ve got what we need,” Jace whispered.
Juniper let out a nervous laugh. “Okay, I’ll just be leaving now.”
Before Marcus could respond, Juniper turned on her heel and bolted out of the room, sprinting down the hallway with Jace close behind.
"That was close!" Juniper gasped as they made their way out of the mansion.
Jace chuckled, clearly enjoying the thrill. "Yeah, but we did it. We've got the evidence."
Juniper shook her head, still catching her breath. "That was insane."
Jace grinned. "Insane, but effective. Now we can clear Eleanora's dad's name and give her peace."
They made their way back to the Hollow Mountain, where Eleanora waited anxiously. When they presented the evidence to her, tears filled her eyes.
"You... you did it," she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. "Thank you... thank you both so much."
As Eleanora began to fade, a soft glow surrounded Jace, and a small, bright orb floated toward him. It was the first aura orb—the reward for completing the ghost's unfinished business.
Juniper smiled, watching the orb hover between them.
"One down, Jace. Just a few more to go."
Jace grinned, holding the orb in his hand.
"Yeah, but at least we know we can do this."