Adventures of a C.P.A. (Episode 2, Pt. 2)

Cody and Kent were men of few needs. That is why they decided to stay on the boat. There were strange things to discover, like old photos of the father, a younger him, next to a woman that looked extremely similar to Cathryn Applegate. They were definitely taken many years ago, and she should have been a baby back then, but the similarities were uncanny. The different open bottles of wine were something that intrigued Cody and he picked one up. Just as he did, he got a strong whiff of sulfur, they both did, that lasted briefly but was very powerful. They were below deck when that happened, but continued their investigation. Cody went above deck to notice they were out at sea, and the marina was just a cluster of lights in the distant night horizon.

He went to the upper deck to see if he could turn on the motor and steer it back, but he suddenly felt a heavy sharp smack at the back of his head that knocked him down. Cody was a big man, so it would take a lot more to knock him out, so he caught a look at a shadowy figure holding an oar standing above him. Kent came to the upper deck to check it out, and he saw it too. In fact, they saw many shadowy figures.

Ghosts, or something like that, of all different types of people began materializing around them. They could immediately tell that they were in the exact same conditions of their deaths, and gruesome deaths at that. The one with the oar looked familiar, and they recognized him from a picture Cathryn Applegate gave us; of her father. Cody is not a patient man, so he immediately pulled his willpower to summon gauntlets of shadow around his hands and met the ghost with a powerful hit, it flew back and dematerialized. He stood imposing asking if anyone else wanted to take him on, when a visage of a little girl stepped forward: "Will you help us?"

Just then, the boat began to warp. The whole thing twisted its shape and bent at the middle like it was made of rubber. Cody and Kent barely held on to prevent themselves from falling in the ice cold lake. Below them they saw a great maw of blackness form, and the ghosts began chanting for help. But the normals arrived. They were spotlighted by a coast guard boat, and everything instantly returned to normality as though it didn't happen.

Flint, John, and Hank were wondering what to do when the boat, the Revelry was its name, was being escorted back to the marina, and Kent and Cody recounted their experience.

The group got back to the office when Cathryn came back to ask for an update. There was something strange about the woman, and they got the sense that she was awakened. It is likely however that not even she knew she was. When they grilled her about her father, and the photos of him and the woman, she seemed to get frightened. They may have come on a little strong. "I hired you to find out what was going on, not be ghostbuters." she said, and hurried off. Flint went after her, quickly writing his number on one side of a sticky note, and a locator spell on the other, but he wasn't fast enough. He just wanted to comfort her and let her know he would be available to talk anytime.

Kent knew what to do, and knew how to shadow people, so he followed her in his vehicle. The rest of Nightfall LLC wanted to investigate some more, despite the fact that they were fired from the job. This was just too serious to put down. The rest went to the shipwright. The ones who made the boat for Cathryn's father. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They said the father was very specific about how he wanted the boat built and paid a lot of money for it. When asked if there were any unusual specifications, they did mention he had a window put in at the bottom at the exact center of the boat.

They got a call from Kent that Cathryn had gone to work and did some errands and eventually ended up back at the marina. The group all piled in a car ad headed there immediately. They found her car parked and searched it. The only thing they found was a business card of a security company, but it did have a tracking spell on it. Similar to the one Flint tried to make and give to her. Someone else was watching her. The group proceeded to the Revelry quietly. The boat was in its slip, but no sign of her, except photos laid out allover the captain's cabin, and her Franklin Covey planner. Flint felt the urge to take it. They also had Flint prepare something in case the ghost events would happen again..

Flint had never worked with ghosts, but wanted to try something that he thought might work. John had bought a can of salt earlier because he knew it could ward or trap ghosts. Flint ran a line of it around the outer edge of the boat, and prepared a spell circle with his magic pen on the deck. It was supposed to trap and anchor any spiritual being that stepped through it, hoping they could get some answers.

Then they noticed Cathryn standing at the dock in front of them, completely pale-faced, and holding a bouquet of roses in one arm, and a pistol in the other. Without saying a word, she brought the gun up to her chest and shot herself. Her figure topped over into the dark lake. John immediately dove after her, having good dark vision, and fighting off the effects of the cold water. He brought her back up to the surface. She was bleeding an unusual amount of blood from her chest wound, and coughed awake. Kent immediately recognized what she was, she was a homunculus, like him. The homunculi are a form of magic creature that were created for a purpose. Kent's purpose and past is something he has been searching for his whole life. They never age, are extremely resilient, but they can still die. When they die, they wake again, memory completely erased, and can start a new life. She woke, but had no memory of anything, or who she was. They called the ambulance while the others decided to check the dock house of the security company the business card mentioned. But they instead found a dead man, holding a wooden rod in his hands that had that triangle symbol on it from the day before. His ribcage was torn wide open.

The police and ambulance got there and the group was questioned of the events. Needless to say they were left with many more questions than were answered.

So Cathryn was a homunculus, but what for? Her father seemed to know. What was he doing with the boat? Why was it enchanted and what was with the spirits asking for help, or the events that happened on it in the lake? Who was the man of the security company that was watching Cathryn, and why did he get killed? Everything now was a crime scene, so it would be a while before they got any questions answered. Cathryn had rebooted. She started a new life, but Nightfalls LLC was determined to keep an eye on her.

As for Flint, he had her day planner, and he will search it, see if it can bring about any clues to this mystery.