" Alex, you are to call the volunteers for the investigation team. You will search for all the people that were missing and bring them back here, dead or alive. I've heard that there were many paranormal activities there, so I presume that the team will succeed in the investigation. Here are the names of the volunteers in this piece of paper " one of the government people told Alex as he laid down a piece of paper will all the names.

Alec Riley - Psychic
Rose Menova - Dreamer (ESP)
Meredith Gwynfor - Medium
Damien Redder - Exorcist
Alex Meyers - Researcher

" Okay, we will head for the ghost town tomorrow " Alex told him and then left. Once he arrived in his apartment, he started calling the volunteers with one message: " Be in the town square tomorrow at 8 am sharp. I will meet you there with the van and all the equipments "

Rose was drying her hair with a towel when she heard her phone ring. Looking up at the clock, she saw that it was 8 pm. She sighed as she picked up the phone. " Who is it? " she asked. " Be in the town square tomorrow at 8 am sharp. I will meet you there with the van and all the equipments " the voice of Alex told her and hung up quickly. ' The investigation starts tomorrow then. ' Rose thought as she opened her wardrobe and started packing her things. Who knew how long it would take for the investigation to finish?

As soon as she finished packing, she set her clock to alarm at 6 am so that she can prepare early. And with that, she immediately fell asleep.

Waking up early in the morning for a ghost hunt was not Alec's ideal start of the day. In fact, if it wasn't for his gift he probably wouldn't even care about the weird, strange, and paranormal. That's right, Alec had a gift for speaking with the dead and seeing what happened to them. All of his life he'd been pegged as a freak or "that weird kid who occasionally talks to himself." It wasn't until he was fourteen he figured out he wasn't crazy. But that didn't matter. Right now he had to pack his stuff (which he of course waited until last minute to do), and drive to town square. For what? A town that supposedly emptied of its people. At least this wasn't another kid - afraid - of - the - closet case. He couldn't handle anymore of those bogus calls.

When he arrived at the town square, he threw his back pack over his shoulder and waited rather impatiently for the others. It wasn't his fault he had managed to be early.

Damien was sleeping deeply when he realised that someone sent him a message, because he heard the ringtone of his phone.He got up from his bed and looked to see who sent him the message.He smiled when he saw that the message was for the ghost hunt.”Be in the town square tomorrow at 8 am sharp. I will meet you there with the van and all the equipments "So he looked at the clock with a scared face( alaways he was awaking lately), but calmed himself when he saw that it was just 7 am.He dressed, took his back pack and went in front of his house.When he wanted to close the door of his house, he remembered that he forgot something.He threw his back pack on the stairs and entered in house again. Damien ran until he found his library and took a red small book. He was an exorcist, he had to take that book with him everyday.
He was in front of the town square when he saw that another teenager was there.He got closer and said:

”You are here for the hunt, right? I am Damien Redder.” Before he could tell what he was , he looked in his eyes to see if he really was here for the hunt.When he was sure about that he continued.”An exorcist.”

When Rose woke up, she prepared herself and went to the town square. There were two teenagers who already arrived. They seem to be talking to each other, and because of that, Rose remained silent. But she admired one of them, he was handsome. She knew that she was blushing, so she turned around so that no one can see her. She placed her bag down on the ground because it was heavy to carry it all the time. ' When is Alex going to arrive? I feel awkward here ' Rose thought as she bit her tongue accidentally.

She really hated the fact that she was accident prone.

Meredith stood at the threshhold, gazing back at the apartment, bathed in the honey-coloured morning sun. She mentally bid farewell to her parents, who were asleep, and would never have let their daughter go on what seemed to be such a dangerous expedition. She knew they would worry for as long as she was away, and felt sorry that she would be the cause of much distress, yet she was almost sure that she was doing the right thing. After having seen and met many phonies who claimed to be true psychics, she could not trust anyone else's capabilities, and thus felt that at least one person who could contact the plane of spirits should go on this mission. She turned around to face the cold and grey corridor of the apartment building and closed her eyes. Please protect me..I might - no, I will need you the most.. she thought. Although her eyes were closed, and although her back was turned, she felt a smile coming from the presence behind her.

When she arrived at the square, she immediately noticed three people standing still, sticking out amidst the few people who were already on their way to work. She made her way to them, her strides wide and confident, although in reality she was somewhat anxious about what kinds of people they would be - would they be fakes, just like all the others whom she had seen, or would she finally be able to meet others like her? Upon arriving at her destination, she greeted them with a smooth "good morning", and then after a short pause, said "I'm Meredith. It's nice to meet you."

People were arriving now, and that was a good thing. It meant they could all leave soon. He ran a hand through his blond hair, and took a deep breath. He wondered what their area of expertise was. There must be someone who was technology savvy. Lord knows it wasn't him. All the recording and heat sensors...Alec had never been able to work those things. Only thing he had ever been good at was art and speaking to dead people. He looked over at the supposed teenage exorcist who had just introduced himself. He never trusted people automatically when they claimed to be able to do amazing things.

"Alec Riley - psychic. And yes, I am here for the hunt. If it really turns out to be anything." He said.

He caught a glimpse of a girl looking at the exorcist and himself, but before he could confirm it she had looked away. He shrugged it off.

Since more people were arriving, and it seemed that the person who called was just the person they were waiting for. "I'm Meredith. It's nice to meet you." a girl who had just arrived introduced herself to them. ' Guess its time to introduce myself ' Rose thought. "Alec Riley - psychic. And yes, I am here for the hunt. If it really turns out to be anything." the guy she was looking at a while ago said.

" Good morning! My name is Rose and I think I have some sort of ESP through dreaming " Rose told them with a smile. She had always been cheerful, but she had to admit that she was not a morning person.

When Alex arrived at the town square, everyone was already there. Which was a good start. " Good morning everyone! I hope that no one is afraid of ghosts here. Besides, it would be quite a long journey from here to the ghost town called 'The Abandoned City'. I think we all know what we'll be doing there. This mystery just has to be solved " Alex told them with a smile.

" Get inside the van now, we have a long way to go. And you guys can continue introducing yourselves inside. But be careful! The equipments are all there. " Alex said as he walked towards the van.

" Oh, Meredith and Damien, you can sit with me in the front since it already has a division in it, and it has enough space for the two of you. Rose and Alec, you can sit in the seats behind them, it also has a division separating all of us since this van was used for some experiments a long time ago. Have fun! " Alex added as he went inside the driver's seat.

So one could see things in her dreams, and the other one was a psychic. Meredith had the urge to ask what he had meant by "psychic", as the term was extremely broad, but as they were being ushered into the van, she did not get a chance to ask him. Alex, the one who had just arrived, the one who had called her the day before, seemed to be a very friendly person. She smiled; he seemed aware that the task ahead was dangerous, and appeared to be trying his best to get everyone to relax and to create something akin to a team spirit. And that person must be Damien? she thought, glancing at the guy who had been with the other two when she had arrived. Had he already introduced himself before her arrival, or was he just an extremely quiet person? Well, I'm sure we will all get to know eachother over time. she thought, seating herself next to the driver's seat and embracing her black backpack which she had placed on her lap. She would normally put on her earphones and listen to music as she watched the scenery pass, but in this case, it could even prove be a matter of life and death to know eachother, both in terms of personalities and capabilities.

"How far exactly is the Abandoned City? And if you happen to have any information..what kinds of experiments was this van used for?" she inquired, with an undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice.

As a lot of time passed Damien glanced at all the newcommers and got in the van.When Alex told him to go in the front of the van with a girl named Meredith.He looked at her while they were moving into their seats.Damien tried to catch her eyes and said with a grin on his face:

"So, you are a....medium.I guessed because of the specific smell.I am Damien Redde, exorcist.

And looking at Alex, who seemed to be very relaxed in this situation,he asked.

"Yeah, I want to learn more about this.Tell us.

He took his seat, he throw his back pack under it and stood up to see if everything is ok.Damien smiled to see this team complete and he was ready for everything could happen.In general, he would spoke much more with the others but he felt from his home and from here an weird thing, so he was trying to see if it was something serious or nothing.

Rose's eyes slightly widened when Alex told them that she will be sitting behind the division with Alec. She felt her blood rush to her face in an instant, and she immediately hoped that Alec would not notice it. She climbed up inside the van quickly, as if afraid to be left behind. She placed her bag in her lap and she placed her arms around it, acting as her pillow. She was nervous about the case, and about sitting next to Alec. Right at the moment, she also felt very sleepy, due to the fact that she did not get a wink of sleep last night, because her friends kept on calling her and giving her some advice on how to survive the investigation.

' I hope that I will get back to my friends in one piece ' Rose thought as she looked out the window.

Once Alec was in the van, he plopped down in his seat and put his arm around Rose. It didn't hold any particular meaning other than it was comfortable and he wanted mess with her. To further add to that he gave her a wink when she blushed. He set his bag down on the floor of the van and kicked his feet up on it. He looked over at Rose again. Poor girl looked so tired she could fall over. He put a head phone in his ear, but left the other one dangling around his neck. Some communication on this trip would be nice, even though it didn't seem likely that this girl was up for talking.

"Nice to meet you ESP Girl, Rosie doll." He smiled a dimpled grin. "Are you ready for this trip?" Alec leaned his head against the neck of the seat, obviously getting comfortable.

"Nice to meet you ESP Girl, Rosie doll." He smiled a dimpled grin. "Are you ready for this trip?" Alec asked her as he made himself comfortable. With his arm around her, Rose knows that he could feel her shaking from underneath. ' What is he doing? ' Rose thought as she stared at Alec. It was impossible. Was he messing with her? Well, it was working quite well.

Rose shook off Alec's arm around her and scooted father from him as possible, to the point that she was already leaning against the window. " Wh-what are you doing?! You're a pervert! " Rose told him as she pointed a finger at Alec.

Rose suddenly felt like she wanted to be with the equipments at the back of the van. It would be very uncomfortable there, but it was extremely better than having Alec sitting beside her. But to her dismay, of course she had to bear with Alec until they arrive in the Abandoned City.

"How far exactly is the Abandoned City? And if you happen to have any information..what kinds of experiments was this van used for?" Meredith asked him followed by Damien's agreement to the same question.

" Well, the experiments were about the children who had mental disabilities. They had to put some clear barriers, like this barrier behind me separating us from Rose and Alec. " Alex said as he glanced at Rose and Alec momentarily, and he chuckled.

" Look at them, having their moments together already. They do look cute " Alex continued as he lightly elbowed Meredith for them to look at the teens behind them.

" Damien, Meredith, have a nice chat with each other. Though you can all talk to me at anytime you want " he said.

" I think that was all. But its a bad thing we can't hear them " Alex continued as he tapped the glass barrier lightly with a chuckle.

Did she just call him a pervert? That was probably the funniest thing he'd ever heard. He chuckled and shook his head. This girl was so...prudish. It was obvious she was reading too far into things, and judging by the shaking he had felt before she all but threw his arm off, she was nervous. He just didn't know what for. They were just going to what was very probably another hoax. Even though the farther they drove the more something was very clearly telling him to stay away. Like a whisper in his ear. The hairs stood up on his neck and he did his best to shake the feeling.

"You just need to calm down." He said sticking his tongue out at her jokingly. "Relax a little. After all we might be on a ride to our imminent death. Might as well enjoy it."


Looking at Rose now, she reminded him of someone. He stared at her for a moment trying to grasp who it was.

Meredith listened to Alex's explanation, glancing back at Rose and Alec through the transparent barrier and immediately beginning to grin. It seemed both cute and childish to her that the girl was giving such exaggerated reactions to the boy's behaviour; it seemed almost certain that the boy, encouraged by the girl's cute and entertaining facial expressions, would keep repeating such actions in order to fluster her. She turned to the front side once more.

"Yes, they certainly are very cute. Though I do wonder if..not being professional while on such a task might actually have negative effects. Anyways, I won't bother you while you're driving, but I'd like to know more about you later on." she said, her voice growing more and more serious as she spoke.

There were still some questions lingering in her head regarding the experiments done in this van - she wanted to know specifically how the experiments were conducted, whether the sound barriers were for visual communication experiments, or..was it related to something paranormal? Well, she wasn't sure if Alex would know the answers to these questions, and quite certain that she would not forget about them, she thought it would be better to ask them when they reached that awkward moment when no one had anything common left to talk about. Right now, she felt that there was one question she had to know the answer to. She turned to Damien.

"It's nice to meet you, Damien." she said, and after a short pause, she continued. "About what you said earlier.. You can actually extract information about people by smelling them? What do mediums smell like?" she asked, both her voice and her expression filled with wonder and curiosity.

Damien stayed still listening to the others with a smile on his face.He laughed a bit and then he turned his atention to Meredith.He seemed to thought for a few moments then he said, looking at her:

"Well, yeah, I could know informations about people just by smelling them since I was little.It is a little weird and it takes a lot of energy but I am used to have all the times a headache..You..Mediums,sorry...Smell like death.But that is not creepy, it is a quite interesting smell. Even if you have used or not a parfume, the smell is there.But don't think that I am a freak."

He didn't know many things about this girl, but somehow, it was a pleasure to talk to her.Damien felt like she could understood him.It was a nice feeling but he wanted to hide it even if he didn't know why..He had nothing else to say, but it was weird not to say anything so he found something to talk about.It was painful for him to talk about these but he could resist..

"So, how did you find out that you are a medium? I was ten, I think, when my mother and father died.After their death,they kept haunteing me, so I had to do something.In one day, after school, I accidentaly focused on a spell from a book that I found in the library and my parents went away...From that moment, I knew that I am special, if I can say this..

"Relax a little. After all we might be on a ride to our imminent death. Might as well enjoy it." Alec told her, and she had to agree to what he had just said. Maybe they were about to die anyway. She noticed that Meredith, Damien and Alex glanced at them, and she immediately sat down like the good girl she is. When Rose was sure that they were no longer glancing at them, she turned to Alec and stuck her tongue out to him.

" I have to make sure that I make it out of this place alive. I just have to " Rose looked out the window and said it so soft she wasn't even sure if Alec heard her.

" And by the way, I think you're weird " Rose looked over at Alec and chuckled.

"It would be rather hypocritical if I were to find death to be creepy, when I am one of the very few to see death all around me." Meredith replied, smiling. This guy, Damien, did seem interesting - she still wasn't sure if he had abilities similar to hers, she couldn't be without definite proof, and yet...

"Is there anything else you've smelled before that reminds you of the smell of death? It can't be like the black soil one finds in graveyards or like the smell of decaying flesh... Is there any way you can describe it? I don't, and will not, think of you as a freak because of this; it's just really interesting." she said, leaning in towards Damien as an unconscious result of her curiosity. However, considering the next question that was asked, she returned to her usual position, leaning her back against the seat.

"It seems that I could contact the dead since I was very young. My mother tells me that I had talked, laughed or reacted to what appeared to be thin air..but that might be a typical behaviour for babies, I don't know. Anyways, I've been seeing my grandmother since about the time I've been aware of the things around me; I used to see a lot more people, but we've been practicing defense techniques and ways to consciously skim through the 'layers', so now I'm quite good at controlling and protecting myself. But..um..I'm a bit surprised that your parents would haunt you, at least in a negative way - are you sure that they didn't stay back here in order to protect you or something like that? And what do you think happens to spirits when you exorcise them?" For some reason, she didn't like the idea of exoricsing benign spirits. It seemed unfair to her that ones who still wanted to complete things, to help or watch those whom they had left behind, would be forcefully..well, she wasn't sure what came afterwards; she didn't exactly believe in something like a heaven. Sure, she had encountered rather dangerous or aggressive spirits, and that was where her techniques of defense came in, as she had been warned of the possibility of a possession, but his own parents...? There was a bitter taste spreading in her mouth; she covered her lips with her hand, looking down at her lap with a murky expression.

Damien looked at her and shifted himself in the seat for a comfortable position.It was relaxing to talk to someone who can understood him.Meredith seemed a really nice girl..He cought a little and started to listen what she had to say.

Is there anything else you've smelled before that reminds you of the smell of death?

"Well, yeah, when people have just a few ments left till they die, a strange smell is passing to them.A smell like flowers when they are dying, like the memorie wich are forgotten, if you understand me. And the smell least just a few seconds.When the people died, the smell dissapear with him."

Are you sure that they didn't stay back here in order to protect you or something like that?

The first time when I saw them they were trying to...kill me...I know it's sounds crazy but believe me, it's true..They wanted to move a knife in the kitchen when I was eating.I could see them, but not like you.I could not hear them..But..I saw it in their eyes.They wanted revenge because I made their lives like a hell...I could hide in the bathroom but since then, I'vesaw them every night with their scary look on their face.

What do you think happens to the spirits when you exorcise them?

"It is hard to make a spirit to want this.Yeah, because if they don't want this, you can't exorcise them..In the ritual the spirit has to involve himself.So, to make a spirit wanting this, I have to help them with what they want, unless they are not bad..If they are bad , the situation changes.Now, to your question I can just say this: I think they are catched in the silence.I don't think that you can understand me so I will stop here."

Damien smiled and turned to glance at the others.It seemed they didn't arrive yet..

A smell like flowers... Even though Meredith knew she could never know the exact smell, she was able to imagine it. When she heard the rest of Damien's story, she felt a heaviness settle in her stomach besides the unpleasant taste in her mouth. She wasn't sure as to what she should say. It must have been terrible to have such a relationship with one's parents, and to see them that way. But on the other hand, she was relieved that he did not forcefully exorcise all the spirits whom he saw - she rather enjoyed the company of some spirits, and from time to time communicated with or helped out the freshly dead. Regarding what happened when spirits were exorcised, neither Meredith nor any of the spirits she had met knew - it was for the spirits another layer of unknown, just as death appeared to be for normal humans. She knew that a great number of spirits lingered on, and yet unless they made efforts to remain on the surface, as her grandmother did, they slowly faded back towards deeper planes of existence which required more concentration to reach.

"I'm sorry, you know, about what happened to you." she said, snapping out of her own thoughts. Even though her voice and her words were dry and bare, there was an expression of sadness as she looked at Damien. However, not knowing what else to say to him, or how to steer the subject into something more cheerful, she checked her wrist watch - an hour had passed since they had entered the van. Turning to Alex, she asked when they would arrive at the abandoned town.

"That's the spirit Rosie-girl!"

Alec grinned when she stuck her tongue out. Thank God she had loosened up so quickly. He didn't want to sit next to someone so upright the whole ride. It would just make the entire experience bad. He watched her as she spoke quietly. He had barely heard what she had said, but he did hear it. He smiled again but this time it was to comfort her and not out of amusement. To be honest he had been getting a horrible feeling the closer they got to the damnable place. Something was definitely wrong there. He was already hearing the faint whispers of the dead. He couldn't understand what they were saying, it was almost like the faint wind. A very agonizing faint wind.

"I'm sure we'll be find. It's probably just another hoax." He lied. To change the subject he quickly asked about her abilities. "So, how does your dream thing work? Wanna talk about it? He smiled.

Rose looked up at Alec and said, " I suddenly collapse or fall asleep. Then whatever is in the place where I sleep, I dream about it. I know the history of the ghosts and stuff, because sometimes I happen to share their memories when they were still alive. It's also dangerous for me when they try to take over my body, but I can handle it "

Wait. Alec smiled? Leaning over, Rose pinched Alec's cheeks, as if not believing that he was actually smiling a true smile. " Is this true? You are actually smiling? Or am I already dreaming? " she said.

Rose felt a shiver down her spine, but disregarded it. She didn't want others to suddenly be burdened just because of her. She knew that the others couldn't hear them right now, and she suddenly wondered what they were thinking.

"Oh hey. That's cool. Ghosts like to talk to me, don't know why. Haven't had much experience with demons. Can't say I want to experience one anyway. Can't say I want to experience ghosts either, but you never really get the choice." He frowned before shrugging it off. "It's a gift though. Might as well help people with it. That's what Callie would have said." Alec didn't bother elaborating on who Callie was.

When she pinched his cheeks he drew back, surprised and taken off guard. He wrinkled his nose and raised an eyebrow at her. "Who's the weird one now?" Again, he was grinning as he lightly elbowed her side. "That would be you."

Suddenly his face grew serious as he looked at her. He knew that she could hear them. He could almost feel the shiver that went down her spine. "You hear them now." He stated. It wasn't a question. "Something isn't right."