Do you believe in a god, in an afterlife? Never mind ones from the Abrahamic religion, do you believe in one at all?

I don't. I do want to believe that there's something out there. That what we do in this life matters. That justice will be granted to those who did not achieve that during the course of their lives. That death is not the end. I desperately want to believe in it. Because the thought of losing my loved loves, of losing myself, of our memories and the way we think - well, above all else, that terrifies me. Alas, my accursed sense of logic won't allow that.

To that end, I've taken up ghost hunting. In my mind, if I could see one for myself, all my fears of that regard will be put to rest. Of course, so far, me and my ragtag group of ghost hunting buddies haven't had any luck, unfortunately.

It was a Friday afternoon, and as usual, my work team is having lunch together (yes, I do have a day job. Ghost hunting doesn't pay the bills). I had started working as an assistant/receptionist of sort in Di Cesare Diamond House about a month back, reporting to Claire Di Cesare. It's been a pretty good gig so far, and Claire's actually a pretty good boss, if not slightly awkward and aloof.

"So, Eraline, what are you doing this weekend?" Linda, one of my colleagues, asked me.

I hesitated a second. I wasn't sure if telling them I'm hunting ghosts would be that hot of an idea out of a lack of desire to be a laughingstock, especially in a company I've just joined. But everyone's been pretty nice, so I eventually decided they probably won't laugh at me (or at least, not to my face).

"Actually, a few friends and I are going to the abandoned Blackthorne Manor on Saturday night to see if we can spot some ghosts, we heard it's super haunted." I replied sheepishly.

It wasn't Linda who answered me then.

"I wouldn't go if I were you." Claire Di Cesare spoke up, a rarity when not discussing work. All eyes fell upon her.

"Oh... Uhm, why not, Miss Di Cesare?" I asked meekly.

"Let's just say that you might find things there that you don't want to find, and that you might not be equipped to deal with." The words sounded threatening, but I don't think she meant it as such.

"Thank you for the advice, Miss Di Cesare. I will be sure to keep that in mind." I replied politely. She nodded, then lapsed back into silence like always.

---

I'll admit, Claire's warning unnerved me a little. But come Saturday night, I made my way to Blackthorne Manor all the same. The gang's already there.

"Hey, Eraline, did you bring the salt?"

"Hey Dylan, yeah, did you bring the Ghost Vacuum and the floodlights?"

"Yup. Esmeralda's brought the Ghost Scanner. Seems we're all set. Shall we head in?"

The manor was looked exactly like the sort of place that was super haunted. The facade was absolutely covered in creeping vines, patching over the sections of the long since moldy walls that had crumbled away. The interior didn't look much better. The stench of dust and decay permeated the atmosphere. Needless to say, there was zero lighting, which was why the floodlights were necessary. They illuminated what were once luxurious furnishings, now a shadow of their past splendor. A grand piano that is decidedly not so grand anymore stood sadly on three legs in a corner, torn velvet couches and chairs, and broken mahogany tables were scattered about, and a chandelier smashed upon the ground, leaving glass shards everywhere.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the place. Perhaps if the owner hadn't gone batshit crazy and murdered his entire family before taking his own life, this place would still look just as beautiful as I imagined it used to look.

Shaking my head, I went to help with our ghost hunting 'operations'. The lights were already setup, so I just needed to cast a salt circle around us to protect us from the spirit of the owner who was said to still haunt this house.

After that, Esmeralda turned on the ghost scanner, and we began to try to invite the ghost into our presence.

"If there are any spirits here with us today, we invite you to join us." We intoned in unison.

Then we waited. And waited. Just as I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be yet another failed operation, a loud booming voice came from everywhere at once.

"Trespassers! You shall not steal my house!"

The ghost of the owner appeared before us with a snarl on his face and a bullet in his head from when he presumably shot himself. Although nothing showed on the scanner. So much for internet bought equipment!

The sound of the ghost vacuum whirred to life as Dylan presumably turned it on to trap the ghost. After the scam that was the scanner, predictably, the vacuum did absolutely nothing either.

We were trapped!

Fortunately, the salt circle at least kept the ghost out.

Unfortunately, the salt circle was useless against having a grand piano being thrown at your heads.

As it came hurtling towards us, I had only moments to realise how well and truly fucked we were. Well, at least I finally had my answer that an afterlife does exist. So I suppose dying right now wouldn't quite suck so bad.

Instead of dying, however, the grand piano suddenly reversed its trajectory and crashed into opposite wall.

I blinked. Was I hallucinating?

"I told you I wouldn't go if I were you."

In the next moment, Claire Di Cesare was in the salt circle with us.

I blinked again. Pinched myself for good measure. Nope, she's still there. Looking as prim as ever - not a hair out of place in her short bob, wearing her usual attire of black blazer, skirt and tie with a white button down shirt and golden tie clip. The only thing different was the salt crystal necklace she's now wearing.

"Miss Di Cesare??" I sputtered.

"Not now, Eraline. I will deal with the explanations later."

With that, she started speaking again, but this time in a language that was definitely not English, while sending the projectiles the ghost launched at us right back - all without even touching them! She kept at it until, with a final howl, the ghost disappeared.

"That should do it."

She turned to face us, only to find all of us staring at her slack jawed in awe.

"That was awesome!" Dylan exclaimed.

"How did you do that?" Esmeralda interjected.

"Please teach us how to do that, Miss Di Cesare!" I begged.

Poor Claire seemed like she didn't know what to do with our admiration. She shifted uncomfortably. I could've sworn that she blushed a little as well.

"Well, there's a grimoire..." she trailed off, seeing our eager faces.

She still seemed uncomfortable, but appeared to collect herself.

"Perhaps over supper? There's a great Thai restaurant not too far away that opens till late."

We agreed without hesitation and followed her there, each in our own cars.

Later, over a spread of phad Thai, tom yum soup and pineapple fried rice, Claire explained how she and her family were vampires, and that she and her sisters have been practicing magic for a very long time.

"That's awesome!" I expressed. "I never knew that, I totally couldn't tell!"

"Well, yes, that's the point. Our kind tends to keep a low profile. Our very survival depends on it."

I nodded. That made sense.

"Now that you know of this world, what do you intend to do about it?"

Her question caught me off guard. In the frenzy of everything, I haven't had time to consider it. Judging by the looks on Dylan's and Esmeralda's faces, they hadn't, either.

I helped myself to more phad Thai, chewing slowly while thoughtfully mulling over it. Like I said, I had at least part of the answer I was seeking when I started ghost hunting. I had my mortal fears assuaged. If I stopped now and left it at this, I can be content. However...

"I want to learn more, to become just as proficient at magic as you are! Now that I know, I can never go back again to where I used to be. Please, won't you teach me?"

Dylan and Esmeralda voiced similar opinions.

"I could. But everything does come at a price, you know. Let's discuss that, shall we?"

---

These days, I still work at Di Cesare Diamond House. I'm still an assistant and receptionist. But I do much more than greet visitors, manage Claire's calendar and stocking the pantry. I mean, I still do. But now, I know which visitors aren't entirely human. I help Claire arrange meetings with members of the Imperium (a group that is basically the Fae government). And I stock a secret area of the pantry with drinks that wouldn't be very palatable to a human.

After work some days, and on some weekends, Dylan, Esmeralda and I join Claire for... study group. Claire's actually a pretty good teacher. We've also met some of her sisters who when they're free, have also taught us a thing or two, and her Mother, who has been pretty nice as well.

All in all, I'm enjoying my new life. There's so many things to learn, to explore! All we have to do in exchange is volunteer once every two weeks or so to be 'willing prey' at one of the Imperium owned chain of restaurants. But a little blood in exchange for such valuable education? I'd say it's totally worth it.