Why am I getting a feeling that this place is not as it seems, I thought. The trio all looked at me, they heard my thoughts. “Do you think this isn’t connected to the deity in a box?” Collin asked, I nodded. We decided to walk around to see if there’s anything that we can find unusual, then my stomach made a growl. I thought no one heard it, but even though he wasn’t talking that much to me, Collin led us into a diner. He walked straight inside and chose a booth that will fit the four of us. A woman wearing a pink checkered uniform with a white apron walked towards us and gave us some menus. She winks at Collin before leaving the table.                
“How are we gonna pay for this?” Azriel was scanning the menu before putting it down.
“Order anything you want,” Collin insisted, “I got this.”
We totally forgot that Collin and his family were loaded, and as the only “living” heir of his dad, he got everything. He probably has monsters at his disposal if he ever needed them. “Can I ask you something?” Merikh asked, looking at Collin.
“Yeah, sure.”
“How did you meet Bartholomew?”
“Well, when I was looking for Mia, I mentioned to you guys that I hunted too. In one of my hunts, there was an angel who got outnumbered.”
“So you helped?” Azriel asked.
“Yup, and he told me that if he needs me or I need him, we’ll just call each other up.”
“Which he did,” I continued.
“Yeah.”               
The woman in pink came back and our orders, then she handed Collin a piece of pie, “on the house,” she mentioned. Collin just smiled and nodded, and when she left, Collin slid the pie to Azriel. He was more than happy to eat it. Then Collin’s phone rang again, he was about to stand up and leave to answer the call but Merikh motioned for him to stay and just answer the damn phone. “Hello?” he answered while glaring at Merikh, “what? Are you sure? Yeah, we’re still here. We’re at the –“
“Diner,” Bartholomew continued, who was already standing outside the window looking right at us. Collin hang up the phone then Bart walked in. He grabbed a chair and sat at the end of the table, he raises his hand and asked for a coffee. His brothers are both looking at him, “what? Like you’ve never done that before? I mean, you two have been going down and up for years. Most of the time with Faith.”               
“It’s not that,” Azriel said, “it’s just that you hated anything human. I mean, you used to side with Uriel about how much you hated dad’s creation.”
“Well, that was before, you know, Faith.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.               
“When she fell in love with humanity, she used to tell us about the people she met, including your father. She even said she made friends with some witches, which I thought was crazy and against the laws of Heaven, but whenever she comes back up from her job on earth, she was happy. She and Michael would talk about it for hours. When I found out about her leaving Heaven for you and your father, I resented her. I stopped talking to her. I stopped answering her calls. But when she died, I regretted not being there for her. I regret everything. So I did what she used to do. I tried coming down here from time to time. Helped those in need, be friends with people who didn’t have one. It was,” he chuckled, “it was liberating. It felt good to, uh, to be there for them. In her own way, even when she was gone, she managed to show me that not everyone on earth is as bad as we thought.”
We were silent for a moment then the food arrived. We all started eating when we heard a loud scream. We looked outside and people were running away from something, or maybe, someone. Everyone in the diner stood up and looked outside to see what’s going on. Azriel, Bartholomew, and Merikh disappeared altogether, leaving me and Collin in the diner. The owner/manager of the diner went outside as well, Collin left a few bucks on the table before telling me to get out of there.               
When we arrived outside, we walked towards the commotion on the other side of the street. People were all gathering there, only to see a man laying on the sidewalk. Blood spilling out from his broken head, his bones are broken in different places. I looked up to see how high he fell, but there was a black shadow standing over the edge. I touched Collin’s arm while still looking up, he looked at me then up to where I was looking. The both of us excused ourselves out of the crowd and ran towards the back of the building. We were able to go inside and went up the rooftop, there, we found the three brothers looking around.               
“Did you see it?” I stated.
“See what?” Bartholomew said while looking at me puzzled.
“We saw a shadow over that edge,” Collin confirmed.
Merikh ran over to the edge and saw a bit of black ooze on it. He bent down and carefully touched the slimy, tar-looking liquid. He stood up and walked towards us, “do you know what this is?” he asked, then he smelled the ooze on his fingers then he quickly moved it away from him. “It’s plasma,” I said, “usually it’s due to a vengeful spirit. When they posses someone, they release plasma.”               
“Then I guess we better see who this man is and who the spirit is,” Bartholomew said.
When the cops and paramedics came, Collin, all of a sudden walked towards them, “Collin!” I yelled. He looked back at me and pressed his index finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. We walked towards him but he told us to stay where we are, “hi, excuse me, sir,” I heard him say to the police officer.
“How can I help you?”
“Hi, uhm, I’m Agent Cross. FBI,” Collin took his wallet out and showed them a badge. The cop looked at the badge then back to Collin, “what’s the FBI doing in a small town like this?”
“I am actually just passing through with my colleagues here,” he pointed at us, “when we saw what happened. I just wanted to know if you have an idea who the victim was?”
“Yeah. That young man is, or should I say, was Richard Cole. He’s one of the best attorneys in town. Why he jumped from the building? No one knows.”
“Does he have family here? A wife?”
“Uh, his wife died a few years ago. Some said he murdered her, but some said she died of food poisoning.”
“No other next of kin?”
“Nope. Not that I know of.”
“Alright. Thank you, sir.”
“Any time, agent.”
He walked back towards us and asked us to follow him. We were away from the scene when he stopped walking and faced us. “Okay, so we need to know who this Richard Cole is and what actually happened to his wife,” he started, “I think the shadow up there was her.”
“And you thought of that by impersonating a cop? An FBI agent no less,” I asked.
“Like you never tried that during a hunt?”
“Actually, no.”
“So what do you know about vengeful spirits?”
“That they stay here on earth because of an unfinished business or –“
“They’re seeking for justice,” Merikh continued.
“Exactly,” Collin smugly replied.               
We went back to the library, and Mrs. Durham was surprised to see Collin come in. “I thought you’re not staying?” she asked.
“Well, duty calls. So, uhm, can we use the restricted section? I need to find something.”
“Who’s it about?”
“Richard Cole. The cops said he was blamed for the death of his wife.”
The look on Mrs. Durham’s face was unreadable. She nodded and gave Collin a set of keys, she motioned for us to come closer, “I will let you use the restricted section but nothing, I repeat, nothing gets out except for the five of you. Got it?”
We all nodded and she let Collin lead the way. We arrived at a door that has a staircase leading down to a dark basement. I was a bit hesitant to go down due to the fact I was kept in one a few times. Azriel touched my shoulder, and went down the stairs with me, then Collin reached for a switch on his left. He lifted the switch up and the lights opened one by one, row by row. “Welcome to the restricted section,” he said softly as he walked towards the end of the hall where the old newspapers were kept. I found an old computer on the side and prayed a Hail Mary for it to work. Azriel, Merikh, and Bart walked around looking at books.
"Hey guys,” I said, “I think I found something,” they all walked towards me and checked out the computer screen.
July 15, 1996, HEADLINE: Nora Cole, 22, was found dead in their home in Warren, Ohio. Richard Cole, 30, was questioned by the police, making him their prime suspect. After the investigation, Richard Cole was released from county jail where he spent a few days during the initial investigation. The cause of death was ruled out as food poisoning.
Collin ran towards the aisles of books. We all waited for him, then he returned with a book. The cover was plain black with a gold lettering, N. Cole 1974 – 1996.
“Is that –“ I cut myself off.
“Nora’s book? Yeah,” Collin said casually like he’s done this before, “here it is. Read that,” he handed us the book.I read through it, “oh my God!” I exclaimed. Azriel took the book from my hands, Merikh and Bartholomew read with their brother. “Does that mean,” Bartholomew paused, “Richard Cole is really guilty?”
“She probably possessed his body and led him to jump off the building,” Merikh explained.
Collin took the book and placed it back to where he found it, “before we do anything,” I paused, “Collin, what is this place? I can feel that this is not just another town that was left in 1999 or whatever.”
“Dude, do you have a secret life?” Azriel was curious this time.               
He took a deep sigh, “this town is in a loop, alright? Bart and I, we, uh, we helped this town to become how it was before. Those people around, they’re all dead.”
“What?” I was shocked. I didn’t realize they’ve been doing this.
“They’re in their own time loop. Mrs. Durham, is one of the Fates.”
“Why did you lie to us?”
“Well, we needed to,” Bartholomew interjected, “we were given this task as confidential as it is. The people around here are on their own loops. Richard Cole there was an exception. His loop was supposedly the last time he saw his wife alive. If his wife came back as a vengeful spirit and killed her husband, like really killed him, the loop will disappear and they will all turn into lost souls.”
“And when they all turn into lost souls,” Collin continued, “they will go crazy.”
“They will all become vengeful spirits,” Merikh and Azriel said together.
“We, uh, we helped Mrs. Durham turn this into a place that all these souls knew. But right now, we need to know why Nora Cole is here,” Collin explained further.
We all went up the stairs, Mrs. Durham was typing on her computer when Collin walked closer. “Mrs. Durham, do you know where Nora Cole was buried?”
“No, dear, she’s not buried. She’s cremated,” she replied.
“Oh,” he sounded defeated, “alright. Well, thanks anyway.”
We went out of the library, Collin and Bartholomew talking to each other softly, like they have a secret until we heard Bart say “shit!”               
Bartholomew left us then Collin told us to ride the truck, we’ll look for a B&B in the town because we might stay here a little bit longer than we anticipated.
Night came and Collin was getting a little bit more agitated than before. I sat down beside him, “if you need to feed, you can go. I’ll take care of things here while you’re out.”
He looked at me, “are you sure?”
I nodded. He got up from his seat and went out. I looked over to Azriel and Merikh, who were both trying to figure out what to watch on the TV. I looked at what Collin was reading, it’s some kind of planner or journal. I slid it towards me and started reading. It contained all his hunts. The trips he went to when he was looking for me. There were entries of his meeting with Bart and how they helped Mrs. Durham. I smiled to myself, I didn’t hear someone walk towards me. “Hey,” Merikh suddenly said.
“Jesus Christ!” I jumped from my seat, surprised. I touched my chest, my heart is beating fast.
“Nope, not Jesus. It’s just me,” he took the other chair and sat beside me, “what’re you reading?”
“Uhm, Collin’s, uhm, Collin’s journal.”               
I scanned through it then I remembered what my dad used to tell me about vengeful spirits, or spirits in general, who are cremated – find their most prized possession and burn it.
I immediately stood up and turned around, Collin was standing there. His eyes scanned my face then looked down on my hands, clutching his journal. He looked back at me and grabbed the journal from me, “read anything good?” he asked as he place it back on the table. “Well, uhm, I didn’t know how much you’ve hunted while looking for me,” I replied.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know where to find you. Your phone goes straight to voicemail. I suspect the other monsters are also looking for a Nephilim, so I followed them. So, you were in a hurry to get out, where were you going?”
“I was going to look for you ‘cause my dad used to tell me that if a soul’s body is cremated –“
“Look for their prized possession and burn it. Yeah, I know that.”
“Were you able to hunt? Feed, I mean.”
“No, but I did find someone who just gave me this,” he lifts up a small cooler with a ‘hazard’ sign on it.
“Did you go to a blood bank?” Merikh commented.
“More like a vet clinic. The veterinarian who owns it is an old friend. I asked in for a favor.”
He was about to sit down when there was a knock on the door. I took a gun out of my duffel and placed it pointing behind the door before opening it. I slowly opened it, a man was standing in front, his back facing me. “Excuse me, sir?”
He turned around to face me, “Richard Cole?”
The three of them went closer to the door to see the man we thought was dead standing in front of us.