With the thought of having to give the two ‘visitors’ “The Speech,” came the sudden realization that it might put the group gathered there at ‘critical mass.’ Three Envoys didn’t generally draw enough attention from the Universe for trouble to start. But five? Somehow, Leigh, Justin and Karen figured that might tip the scales enough to bring Trouble...with a capitol T and that rhymes with E and that stands for Envoys.

“Think maybe we should head over to the ‘clubhouse?’” Justin asked. His latest project had been renovating an old abandoned firehouse into a new clubhouse for the team. He figured that a ‘safe house’ couldn’t really be safe if people were streaming in and out all the time. But if they ‘hid’ in plain sight, then they could keep the safe house for emergencies. And maybe everyone would get in the habit of gathering at a clubhouse rather than at their house, too.

So he’d bought a couple old buildings for use by the team. One was a warehouse in the ‘burbs, that they could use for training purposes. It was large enough for Justin and Angie to set up attack and defense simulations for the team to run through; reinforced for Tony, Justin and Angie to try out new weapons; and sound-proofed so that no one outside could hear the gunfire during target practice. And it had an office that had been converted to sleeping space, with bunk beds, in case a training session ran late.

The other was the firehouse. It was perfectly designed for a team hang-out. There was a large ‘dorm’ space with beds and bathrooms; a garage large enough for everyone’s vehicles to fit at once; a kitchen; an office, for doing research or making phone calls; a ‘living room’ with a couple TVs, multiple video game units with their own monitors over in a corner, and a large table for eating and meetings; and even a gym, with weight machines and other training equipment, an area with mats for sparring, and space for stretching, yoga, tai chi and other types of exercise.

Karen and Leigh agreed with Justin’s suggestion. “OK. This ‘team’ we’re on has a ‘clubhouse’ of sorts. We’re gonna take you there before we go any further,” Karen told Nakatomi and Red Elk.

“Sounds like I’m joining a frat,” David said.

“Sort of, but more dangerous,” Karen told him.

“Yeah. The hazing comes after you join,” Justin warned him.

They drove over without saying much to the two, and pulled into the parking bay, lowering the door behind them. Aiden’s truck was already in there. “Other members of the ‘club,’” Karen told Nakatomi and Red Elk.

Though the surprise wasn’t as apparent on David’s face this time, it was clear that he wasn’t really expecting the place to look like a frat house inside. But that is how it looked. Aiden and Angie had obviously been making out on the couch, though they stopped the minute they heard someone coming in. There were a couple empty beer cans on the table, and one of the TVs was on with the DVD menu screen showing.

“Don’t you two have a home where you could do that?” Justin teased them.

“Not with a big screen TV for watching movies and kicking your ass at Halo,” Angie shot back with a grin.

Leigh and Dr. Nakatomi sat down at the table and began chatting quietly.

“Could I...could we talk, privately?” David asked Karen in Ojibwah.

“Sure. Let’s go to the office,” she replied in English. She figured he was testing her, to see just how much she knew of the language, how much she deserved to be considered a tribal ‘shaman.’ But she wasn’t going to get into the game of speaking a language in front of other people that they didn’t understand. Karen led him to a door at the back of the room. There was a large window in the door, so that someone inside the office could still see what was going on outside it, and a curtain, in case privacy was needed.

“Are you sure this isn’t a frat?” David asked, still speaking Ojibwah, as Karen shut the door behind them, leaving the curtain open.

Now that they were in the office, she slipped into fluent Ojibwah as well. She would never sound like a native speaker. But then, even most Ojibwa didn’t. It was rarely taught as a first language these days, though more and more tribal members were trying to get their language into common use within the tribe.

“I guess, in a way, it is, kind of. But when you do a job like this, you get pretty close to your companions, pretty fast.”

“And that is...?”

“We...deal with the things that go bump in the night. Some of us have special...abilities that help us...like, I see ghosts. Weeping Sparrow calls it ‘Spirit Talking.’”

David stared at Karen like she’d grown a second head. “Riiight....”

“Other people in the group can Heal or restore energy or clear the minds of those around them when they’re afraid.... But not everyone does stuff like that. Some rely on their brains and weapons training and street smarts to do it.”

“So, what DO you do?”

“Well, we fight.... Let’s start at the beginning. How much do you know about the things that Weeping Sparrow does? I mean...” Karen asked him.

“She gives lots of advice to lots of people in the tribe, who regard her as akin to the...somewhere between a priest and a psychiatrist. Helps make people feel better about things that are going on in their life...using metaphor and allegory that people understand.”

There was a pregnant pause, as Karen thought about David’s answer. It was quite apparent that he wasn’t a ‘believer.’ It wasn’t just that he didn’t believe in the Unknown. He didn’t believe in tribal legends and lore, either. She couldn’t fault him for that. Many people who’d been raised in Christian households didn’t believe in the Bible as being anything more than metaphors and allegories. And the ones who did believe it was the actual word of God were generally fanatic nut-jobs.

“I don’t do any of that shit,” Karen told David bluntly.

“OK.”

“I am nowhere near...as wise as she is. Which is the only reason that I am...not just, you know, putting you in a cab and sending you back up to Mt. Pleasant right now. Because I suspect that she...knows that there are things that we both need to learn and I’m willing to trust her wisdom. But...”

“Personally, I think she’s just testing to make sure that I’m not quite the, uh, flaming racist that my father is. But....”

Karen burst out laughing. “Oh! Well! That may be true too!”

“But, well, in order to get along with him I’ve learned to put on quite an act...and you wouldn’t believe at U of M how much they eat up the poor, oppressed Indian routine.”

Karen laughed again. “Yes, I would. They eat it up at MSU, too.”

“I’m sure.”

“They’ve got an entire program there dedicated to Native law and such. So...”

“I’m sure that must be interesting.”

“Yeah....”

“But, well, now that we’ve got kind of the...basics out of the way...” David said.

“Unh hunh...”

Through the window, Karen saw Tony come in and plop down in a chair beside Justin’s. “So...who’s dat guy?” he asked Justin, nodding toward Dr. Nakatomi.

“New guy. Fr. Colin sent him,” Justin replied quietly. “Karen’s in the office with another one, that Weeping Sparrow sent.”

“My father is the Senior Vice President of Outside Relations for Soaring Eagle Casino...” David continued.

“Oh! Wow!”

“And...has, through money, gotten a position in the tribe that we probably couldn’t have gotten any other way. And is now seeking to buy respectability in the tribe by having a son...”

“Who’s a shaman,” Karen finished the thought for him.

“Yes...who’s a shaman.”

“A lawyer isn’t good enough, apparently, right?”

“Oh, no. It’s a ‘white man’s title.’ But he did want me to....”

“OK. And THAT is why the white man took away all the Indian’s land,” Karen said, with a disgusted snort.

“And, well, having folks that are familiar with the outside laws and capable of prosecuting the cases that still haven’t had statutes of limitations run out, for getting back whatever we can, I’m definitely in favor of...”

“Yeah.”

“And I have passed both my Michigan State and US bar exams, so...”

“Wow, nice.”

“I am, actually, a lawyer.”

“Oh, I didn’t doubt that,” Karen told him. “Actually, it’s kind of nice...ya know, the thought of having a lawyer right here, considering what we’ve just been going through, and...”

“Um...my area of expertise is Corporate and Business law...”

“Yeah, but...you understand some things...”

“I did have to go through all the basics, so....” David shrugged. “And from what I understand from what I’ve gathered from the folks that Weeping Sparrow has affiliated with down here, I was also considering that perhaps my legal skills might be of use to you and your associates.”

“Occasionally. We had another lawyer that was here for a while, but there were problems with his wife being abducted and he had, in the wake of that, returned to New York.”

“Oh, my.”

“There is...no metaphors here...there’s a lot of things going on in this world that you don’t see.”

“OK.... Yes, they call them politics.”

“Politics is not far off,” Karen told him, quite seriously. “The way the religious right has taken over the current state of the US government...um...”

“Well, religions and government are always in an interesting relationship...”

“Well, it’s not strictly the religious leaders and the government leaders who are pulling all the strings. We think there are things beyond that, outside of that...”

“Ah! The Rockefellers!”

Out in the living room, Tony kept glancing over at the office. “Ya t’ink it’s time ta send Aiden in wit’ da card yet?” he asked Justin.

“Unh uh.” Justin shook his head. “Besides, him and Angie are still playing on the pole.” He nodded towards the pole that came down from the bunk room to the locker room. He was joking, of course, since Aiden and Angie were still on the couch.

“Yeah...speakin’a dat...I wuz t’inkin’ dat we should put a stage around it,” Tony told Justin. “Ya know, fer dancin’.”

“No,” Justin said.

“I’ve heard that is a new exercise fad,” Leigh commented. Not that she was in favor of Tony’s plan, but just something she’d seen online.

“Yeah! See? When we have women over fer parties....”

“Maybe we should make YOU dance around it, Tony,” Angie suggested.

Aiden looked slightly green at the thought.

“Absolutely not. Nobody’s dancing around it,” Justin said immediately.

“But...we could use it fer parties...and da showers, too....”

There was a deafening silence.

“We are not inviting civilians in here, for parties or anything else.” Justin’s tone was slow and measured and serious.

“But...I t’ought dis wuz a clubhouse, not a safe house.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest, slumped down in the chair and pouted.

“And...Evil, in this world, is not strictly a metaphor,” Karen continued, “for people doing bad things. There...we deal with...me and my friends...and Weeping Sparrow as well...with trying to fight the Evil that’s in this world with capabilities that not everyone is granted by God...or Whoever...or Whatever.” Karen laughed and shrugged.

“Uh, quick question... Am I gonna have to run naked through the streets or get paddled to join this club?” David asked.

“No. No...no naked....” Karen raised her hands and waved them in front of her, chuckling, but also definitely turning a little pink. “Tony was just talking about that a few days ago, naked people dancing on the fire pole or something....”

“I wasn’t sure, so....”

“No. Actually any nakedness you want to do is entirely up to you...or non-nakedness.... No paddling. No nakedness....”

“I don’t have to drink any Kool-Aid, right?”

“Nope. No Kool-Aid.”

“Alright.”

“Well, I mean, you CAN drink Kool-Aid, if you like, if that’s what you like to drink....”

Karen was interrupted by Justin knocking on the office door. “Honey? Is there anything going on just yet, or can we turn just on the big screen?”

“You can turn on the big screen....”

“Good. I’m gonna go whup Angie’s ass at Halo.”

“You and what army?!” Angie hollered from the couch.

“Me and whatever the name of the Halo army is. I don’t care,” Justin replied, shutting the office door.

“Puh! Hah!”

“What? You wanna go online? Let’s make it big!” Justin challenged her.

“Let’s make it big,” she growled back. She grabbed the game controller from the coffee table and got comfortable. Aiden got up and moved to the table, with Leigh and Dr. Nakatomi. He wasn’t getting in the middle of this.

“You’ll excuse me, but...this really does sound like a lot of college fraternities,” David said, as the door shut. They could still hear Justin and Angie talking trash.

“I don’t know. I haven’t been in that many college.... In fact, I’ve been in NO college fraternities,” Karen told him.

“Really? I’d have thought that someone like you would’ve gotten asked to quite a few of them,” David told her.

Karen blushed a little again. “No...no.... In college I was...pretty studious.... Let’s just put it that way. Um....” There was a long pause as David waited for Karen to continue. “You’ll see for yourself eventually. Feel free to set up a practice for yourself here. I mean, I dunno if you were planning on supporting yourself, or if Weeping Sparrow gave you to understand that you were gonna be living at our house with me and Justin.”

“Um, I got a letter, was told ‘Pack a suitcase’....”

“Well, ya see, most of us have day jobs. We do this thing on the side, this other thing... Justin has a....”

“It DOES sound like a fraternity,” David said.

“Or you can commute back and forth to Mt. Pleasant, if you really want.”

“But then I’d have to explain to my father why I’m...”

“Why you’re commuting?” Karen asked.

“Yes, and not studying with the shaman full time.”

“Well, if you’d prefer to just camp out at our place for a while until you get your feet under you here....”

“I don’t really wanna tap my dad for too much money right now, to set myself up, because he’ll start poking around and....”

“We can help you with that,” Karen explained. “While it’s not always this lucrative, jobs we’ve done in the past have afforded most of the team some money that has, for the most part, I think, been wisely invested.... So, none of us really HAS to have a second job at the moment. So, you’re welcome to stay at our place right now.... Or, Tony camps out here when he’s in town....”

“I’m probably going to make use of some of my tribal contacts and see about getting some work with the casinos. They always need lawyers.”

“Oh, yeah. There’s the three casinos here, plus there are several more new ones being set up around the state, too....”

“Not to mention, I’m pretty good at poker, too.”

“Oh! Well, there you go! I have not a bad ‘poker face,’ except that I can never remember all the stuff that makes hands good or bad, so....”

Out in the living room, Tony, Justin and Aiden just all, subconsciously, cocked their heads and thought, “Hmm, poker...” even without having heard David’s comment.

Angie, on the other hand, took the opportunity presented by Justin’s split-second of inattention, and totally gutted his Halo army.

“Hunh?! Wha?! You gacked me! Camper!” Karen and David could hear Justin with the door still shut.

“Am not!” Angie objected, laughing. “You walked right into it!”

“You camped on me!”

“Bozo!”

“Put on the headset,” Justin commanded Angie. “I wanna talk some smack.”

Instead, Angie got up and laughed out loud, and began strutting around. Justin started to chase her, and Karen and David could see the two circling the couch and then the room, trying to ‘kill’ each other with the cordless handsets.

“As you can see, we’re not all work, though,” Karen told David, laughing.

Then they saw Tony’s head pop up near the fire pole, as Justin and Angie ran by, with a measuring tape in his hand.

“Sooner or later,” Karen told David, “some work will present itself for us and you will get to see what we do. But, I have a job at the university, and Justin runs an auto shop doing customizing; Tony works for CDI, Controlled Demolitions...he blows things up for a living.” She grinned. “Actually, he mostly does consulting for them now. Leigh is also an academic, and has been teaching some classes here at the university on occasion. Aiden is Senior Resident at Receiving, in the ER; and Angie works for the Detroit Police Department now, doing mostly bomb disposal training.”

“Interesting conglomeration.”

“A number of people in the group are former military. But that’s certainly not any kind of requirement. They just happen to be.”

“So you have kind of started your own ‘urban tribe’ here,” David said. “You’ve got your scholars, your warriors, your mechanics...with your own mysticism and everything.”

“Uh...sort of, yeah. I guess we do have our own mysticism. Beyond that, see what you think when you....”

“I am SO gonna kick your ass, Jarhead!” Justin hollered in the living room.

“Anyway, I know absolutely nothing about Dr. Nakatomi,” Karen told David. “Apparently he has some insight into the things we do already, given his comment about the house being ‘infested by demons.’”

“Right.” David raised his hand to his mouth and coughed.

But Karen heard the snicker he was trying to cover. “Maybe you’ll feel something if we take you there, maybe you won’t. We pretty much avoid it. So, hang around with us, see what you think. I’m not sure beyond that exactly what it is I’m supposed to teach you; but until you actually believe in things that we’ve seen and had to deal with, anything I say won’t help.”

She stood and opened the office door. Out in the living room, Dr. Nakatomi was watching Justin and Angie hammer each other on Halo. They were playing on two screens, so neither could see what the other one was doing. Dr. Nakatomi would stand behind one for a minute, then move to stand behind the other.

“That’s my Rhino,” Justin called to Angie from behind his monitor.

“No...that’s MY Rhino!” Angie hollered back.

Leigh tapped Dr. Nakatomi on the shoulder, and pointed out that Karen and David were coming out of the office. He joined Leigh and Karen at the table. David took his place watching Justin and Angie.

“So, what has Fr. Colin talked to you about, so far?” Leigh asked Dr. Nakatomi.

“That Dr. Riley and Mr. Kazotchek own a problematic piece of property.”

“True,” Leigh responded.

“Something of their background,” Dr. Nakatomi continued, “and a very little bit about what your group does when you are working as a group.”

“So...what’s his name again?” Tony whispered to Justin, nodding toward Dr. Nakatomi. He was getting up to join the group at the table since watching Justin and Angie was getting boring. Aiden was in a chair nearby, listening for his cue to get out ‘the Card.’

“Nakatomi,” Justin told Tony, pausing the game. “Fr. Colin sent him. I think he’s some kind of an exorcist.”

“That is one way to describe it,” Dr. Nakatomi said, overhearing Justin’s comment to Tony.

“You Catholic?” Tony asked him.

“No.”

“Den how can you exorcise? ‘Cause you can only channel da holy spirit of our Heavenly Father in order ta exorcise a demon.”

“That is appropriate for Western demons. You are unfamiliar with Buddhist traditions,” Dr. Nakatomi told him. “There are other kinds of demons.”

“Dude, the Asians were doing exorcisms before Jesus walked,” Justin said, elbowing Tony to remind him to be polite.

“Crudely put, but accurate,” Dr. Nakatomi agreed.

“What? So you got Kwai Chang Kane haunting your Hell hole?” Tony asked Justin, elbowing him back.

“Dude! Show some respect!” Justin admonished him. “You stupid Wop.” He grinned as he punched Tony in the shoulder. The two were acting like 12-year-olds, but with obvious good humor.

Karen couldn’t help but laugh out loud. They were a couple of idiots sometimes.

“He’s a doctor, he’s an older guy. Show him a little respect. He’s an Elder,” Justin said. “Not to mention, I think he might know more about this shit than you do.”

Tony shrugged. “OK.”

“Pardon my intrusion,” Leigh interrupted the ‘conversation,’ “but it may matter whether or not you are married or ‘attached’ to someone, as far as....”

“I appreciate you concern, but no.”

“In this case, that is a good thing.”

“Yeah. It’s less stuff for the house to get its hooks into ya,” Justin added. “Angie, stay on your side....”

Angie had gotten up and was creeping around to look at Justin’s monitor and see where his guys were. Justin spotted her from the corner of his eye, though he’d been leaning over the back of the couch talking to the others.

“What!?” Angie objected, acting offended.

“Hey, just ‘cause I’m holding a conversation while I’m gaming don’t mean you can sneak over and see where I’m at. I’m on a different part of the map. You stay on your side.”

Unfortunately, Justin caught her too late. A second later...WHAM!! Justin saw his character drop. Not only had Angie snuck over and figured out where he was; she’d un-paused the game so that she could attack him. He actually caught her sneaking back to her controller to do that.

“Sniper Bitch!!” Justin yelled. Everyone else started laughing. “Stupid Jarhead! Marksman 1st! Stupid.... I hate you.” Justin was sitting with his arms crossed, pouting and staring at the monitor.

“I’d say best two out of three,” Angie said. “But I won the last two.” She grinned evilly.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.... OK. City of Heroes...in a while.”

Angie cackled, unmistakably strutting. She went over to Aiden and sat down on his lap. But she didn’t just sit. She straddled his lap, facing him, and leaning her body close to his.

“Ya know, Angie, it’s sometimes surprising you don’t have peacock feathers,” Leigh told her.

“Hey, I’m that good,” Angie replied, practically preening.

“Did you know that female hawks are larger than the males?” Leigh asked her. “And more aggressive?” The others laughed.

Justin got up and headed out to the kitchen. As he was passing the table, he paused. “So, you are Buddhist?” he asked Dr. Nakatomi.

“Yes.”

“So, what were ya doing before ya was here?” Tony asked him.

“Teaching.”

“Where?”

“Japan. University of Kyoto,” Dr. Nakatomi answered.

“So...you ARE an exorcist? Or you just teach about it?” Justin asked, coming back in with a beer.

“I teach psychology and sociology.”

“OK...so how’d you get into the exorcism game?” Justin asked.

“Sideline,” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“Same way the rest of us did,” Karen laughed.

“So you DO know about the things that go bump in the night?” Justin asked.

“I am familiar with legends of same.”

“So you’ve never...actually...?”

“Compared to what Fr. Colin has implied about your experiences...I would not count myself as intimately familiar.”

“Well, I can tell you for a fact that Weendigos have bad breath,” Justin told him.

Aiden sighed. He kissed Angie...removed her from his lap...stood...and fished his wallet out of his back pocket.

“Ah, the Native American mythos of cannabalistic demons.”

“Yeah, they don’t like it so much when you call it mythos,” Justin said. Then he noticed Aiden getting out his wallet. “OK, Tony! Here it comes! He’s gonna get ‘the Card!’” Justin clapped like a kid getting a present.

“Did you do something to the Card?” Karen asked Justin. He seemed a little too eager for Aiden to get it out, and she suspected that he and Tony had done something to it, maybe changed the words or substituted something else for it.

“Hunh? No!” Justin told her, understanding right away her suspicions.

Aiden pulled the Card out of his wallet and tucked the wallet back in his pocket. The card was about the size of a business card, but no longer clean or crisp around the edges.

“Remember, Aiden, you have to give them both versions,” Justin said. “He’s so cute when he does this.” He said that more to himself than to any of the others.

“Gentlemen,” Aiden started.

“Since you’re here, and you’re going to be involved....” Karen muttered.

Aiden paused. “So, you’ve never actually had any actual experience with anything supernatural, correct?” he asked, looking at both men.

“Not that could be validated by others,” Dr. Nakatomi answered.

“And you?” Aiden looked at David.

He shrugged, rolling his eyes. He’d put up with this for a little while to make his father happy. But if these people were really as nutty as they’d been talking so far....

“OK, I thought not,” Aiden said, looking back down at the card.

“They make pretty stories...” David replied. “Morality tales. Ways of modifying behaviors....”

“Especially when told by a good storyteller,” Karen agreed. And she did. He was right; they were good stories and morality tales. But they were most certainly more than that, too, based on real creatures that did exist in the here and now.

“Alrighty. It’s perfectly understandable that you will not believe this,” Aiden continued. “I’m OK with that.”

“And you said this wasn’t like joining a...” David teased Karen. “Well, OK, you said it is kind of like joining a fraternity....”

“Actually, it is,” Angie agreed.

“Well...in its own little way it’s like joining a cult,” Aiden admitted.

“Ohhh...this is not the hazing,” Justin warned.

“The hazing comes much later,” Karen added.

“No, this is the release of liability phase,” Tony told them.

Karen laughed.

“Yes, yes, this IS the release of liability phase,” Aiden agreed.

“The disclaimer,” Justin added.

“I’m not signing anything,” David said.

“Ya know...this is an anomalous circumstance,” Aiden mused.

“How so?” Justin asked.

“They’ve never had...” Aiden started.

Karen understood immediately. That’s why she hadn’t just given David ‘the Speech’ already herself. “I’ve warned him already,” Karen nodded at David, “that he could wait and see, and withhold judgement until he goes with us on a job.”

“Well....” Aiden thought about it.

“Yeah, but at that point something could eat his head,” Justin disagreed, seeing what they were thinking.

“Yeah, and that’s different from regularly how?” Angie asked him.

“OK, here’s the deal,” Aiden said. “If I give the Speech...”

“There’s no going back,” Karen finished. “I’m OK with you withholding the Speech for now.”

“OK, because I’d like for him to have the opportunity to back out, if he....”

“Yeah, yes,” Karen nodded. “Precisely. I’m good with that.”

“OK, later.” Aiden pulled out his wallet and slid the card back, and David and Dr. Nakatomi could tell that the Card was something he’d been carrying around for years.

“Oh well,” Justin sighed.

“Well, if he’s an exorcist,” Tony said, nodding at Dr. Nakatomi, “then he already...”

“No, it seems to me like Dr. Nakatomi is a scholar,” Aiden argued. “Is that correct?” He looked over at their guest.

“And he knows the theory of....” Justin added.

“That would be correct. I have never had cause to perform the Buddhist exorcism ceremonies,” Dr. Nakatomi confirmed.

“Boy, are you guys in for a treat,” Angie said. “Treat? Wrong word. Surprise.”

“For all intents and purposes, guys, we....” Justin was at a temporary loss for words.

“Welcome to the Ghostbusters,” Aiden said, with a lot less joy than it might have sounded like.

“Yeah. We’re sort of ghost-buster vigilantes,” Justin said.

“Only we don’t get paid,” Aiden clarified.

“Well, actually, sometimes we do,” Karen reminded him.

“If they’re on the Most Wanted list,” Leigh added.

“Yeah, except when we do. Except that we were not paid for being ghostbusters, we were paid for bringing wanted terrorists to justice,” Aiden said.

“Sometimes it’s just a happy happenstance,” Justin agreed.

“Fascinating,” David grunted. These people weren’t just talking about spirits and stories, now; they were making up stories about being secret agents....

“The fact that they were werewolves,” Aiden continued, “is entirely beside the point.”

“We didn’t get paid for that part,” Karen told David.

David chuckled, hoping he could play along long enough to get out alive.

“Oh, he chuckles...” Justin said, knowingly. “Wait. There’s pictures.”

“Lycanthropes?” Dr. Nakatomi asked.

“Yes. Lycanthropes. They...ya know, I don’t even want to talk about this,” Aiden groaned.

“Um, Aiden? Do you wanna see the videos? If not, go in the other room,” Justin told him.

“Ya know, I really don’t.”

“You can’t show ‘em da videos if dey ain’t sworn in,” Tony warned.

“I...think...I’m gonna go check on my patients,” Aiden said, going to the closet to get his coat.

“No, no, no...” Justin tried to redirect him. “Angie was getting busy earlier. Why don’t you two go in the other room?” He didn’t want to drive Aiden away or hurt his feelings.

Aiden hesitated.

“He’s suggesting you take the other package out of your wallet and take Angie in the other room, I think,” David re-interpreted.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Justin said.

“Do we really need to know about this, if he is?” Karen objected. Aiden was bright red, and Angie had that evil grin, and Karen was starting to blush, too.

“There are rooms upstairs,” Justin prodded.

“I know....” Aiden tried to deflect the attention. “Just because I have a hot girlfriend, does not mean we’re always in the mood.”

“Ya know, we wouldn’t be doing it here either, if there was a whole crowd downstairs,” Karen warned Justin, hoping to get him to drop the subject.

Justin looks at Angie.

She shrugged. “Well, I’m always in the mood, but....”

“Well, I thought you were in the mood earlier, and we interrupted it with the whole Card thing,” Justin asked, confused.

“Nah. I was just teasing him,” Angie replied.

“Oh, OK...women’s prerogative,” Justin nodded.

“Ya know, that’s it. OK. I’m goin’ to the hospital,” Aiden grunted. He grabbed his coat from the closet and headed for the garage.

“Take care, Aiden,” Leigh said to his back.

Aiden waved over his shoulder. “Trauma center...much more relaxing....” he mumbled on his way out.

Justin went over to the biggest of the TVs, and squatted down in front of the cabinet under it. He paused for a couple seconds, then got up and checked the security panel to make sure the place was locked down. When he noticed David and Dr. Nakatomi watching him carefully, he said, “Maybe now would be a good time for the nickel tour.”

Angie, Tony, Leigh and Karen stood, and David and Dr. Nakatomi followed suit. Then Justin, Tony and Angie took the lead. Leigh and Karen waved their guests ahead, while Justin pointed out not only some of the amenities, but also some of the built-in security features. “If you push this button,” he said, indicating one of the buttons on the main security panel.... SHINK SHINK SHINK SHINK

They could all hear the grate and clink of metal shutters dropping into place inside the windows, and David and Dr. Nakatomi turned to stare at the shutters, their eyebrows raised. Justin pushed a reset button and the shutters rolled back up.

“And down here...this is where the guns are, where the heavy artillery is....” Justin simply pointed down the stairs to the basement. He wasn’t actually going to take them down and show them where the weapons were yet. There’d be time enough for that if and when they were officially team members.

“Tony doesn’t actually let anyone else in there,” Karen clarified. “He doesn’t let anyone except Angie touch the C4....”

“Yeah, the ‘Red Room’ is down there, too,” Justin said. “Only Angie and Tony go in there. Only. And when you get certified in Chemistry and Explosives, you’ll be allowed in there, too.”

“Do you have any idea how many Federal laws we’re breaking?” David asked.

“Um, some idea...” Leigh said.

“Uh, yeah, pretty much,” the others agreed, heads nodding.

“Actually, that bunker is set up under the proper rules,” Justin told him.

“And I am licensed,” Tony said. “I just maybe ain’t s’pposed ta have ‘em here.... But I do have a full Federal explosives handlin’ license and certification, and I teach classes.”

“I would believe that,” David admitted, not willing to piss off these nut-cases just yet.

“And I’m a bomb disposal expert,” Angie added. “If you see me running, try to keep up.”

“Yeah, and she’s a cop,” Tony warned him.

“And I’m a lawyer ” David said. “It still doesn’t mean it’s not illegal!”

“Sometimes we need...” Angie paused. “I teach cops how to identify improvised explosive devices, and I’m head of one of the tactical bomb disposal units for the DPD....”

“So it’s safe to say you have a very delicate touch,” David said.

“Yes...yes...my boyfriend would say so.... Um...my nickname is BoomBoom.”

“I bet it is,” David agreed.

“And that was before the explosives training,” Justin teased her. Angie cracked up.

“So, how serious is this boyfriend thing, anyhow?” David asked her.

Now it was Justin’s turn to laugh. Angie looked at David thoughtfully for a second.

“Only if you want to survive,” Leigh laughed.

“Well, no...Aiden’s not violent at all,” Angie said.

“I wasn’t talking about Aiden,” Leigh told her.

“Um...?” Angie went back to the question, and was dumbfounded by it. There was a split second before the Marine-face shuttered down, and the others could see a lightbulb go on in that brief moment. This guy was actually hitting on her, but.... Her relationship with Aiden was something she hadn’t actually considered for quite a while now. She hadn’t even noticed it getting serious; but obviously it had happened just the same.

“You think about it. We can get back to it,” David told her.

The other thing the Envoys noticed, but that had just registered for all of them, was that, as they chatted and joked around, Dr. Nakatomi would look at one or another of them while the person was speaking, then turn away and nod his head sagely, as if he were making mental notes about the person. But they were OK with that. He was checking them out, in the same way they were him.

When they finally ended up back in the living room, Justin went back to the entertainment center, opened it, took out a couple trays of DVDs that hadn’t actually looked removable, and dug way to the back, pushing things around. He knelt there for a minute, and what David and Dr. Nakatomi couldn’t see was that he was punching the combination into the keypad of a small safe built into the floor below the cabinet. A moment later he brought out a plain, unlabeled DVD and dropped it into the player’s tray.

“Dude, dey ain’t sworn in. You can’t show dose,” Tony warned again.

“If they think it’s a movie, then they think it’s a movie,” Justin countered.

“You can’t jus’ go aroun’ tellin’ helpless civilians an’ ruinin’ ‘em for da rest of dere lives,” Tony argued.

“Well, after he sees it, he can decide whether he wants to know more,” Karen told Tony, referring to David, “if he’d like to continue studying with ‘the Shaman.’” She laughed. It was still strange to think of herself that way, even if it did kinda make sense.

But this recording was nothing compared to encountering the real thing in the flesh, so to speak. And she got the feeling that David was going to stick it out at least until he had encountered the real thing, if only to try to fulfill his father’s wishes.

And once he’d had that encounter, she would know whether he was ready and able to go beyond that or not. If his brain wasn’t going to accept this stuff as real, forcing him to stay would only get him killed. So whether the recording made a believer of him or not, it probably wouldn’t hurt him to see it.

“What?” Justin asked her, his eyebrows raising at the mention of the word Shaman.

“Yeah, his dad thinks he’s studying with a ‘Shaman’ right now,” she explained. “And Weeping Sparrow thinks I need to learn something as well, I’m sure.”

“OK,” Tony shrugged. “Show ‘em da good parts den.”

“Well I’m sorry, we don’t have video of you coming back from the dead,” Justin told him.

“I wuzn’ dead.”

“Nothing quite gets your attention like watching your boyfriend turn into a werewolf,” Angie admitted.

“And that’s what’s creepy...we have full-on video of...” Justin said.

“That’s what you’re gonna show ‘em?” Angie asked.

“Yeah. Aiden turning into a werewolf, and the attack...”

“He got better,” Angie said, clarifying for Dr. Nakatomi and David.

“...by the werewolf crew,” Justin continued. “Because we had multiple cameras set up at that point.” He grabbed the remote. “And I wanna say the quality’s not that good, but by then it was Frank’s stuff, so it is.”

“But the thing is, if you don’t want to believe it’s true,” Angie told David, “there are a lot of perfectly good reasons to believe that it’s not true. I mean...there’s special effects, and you’ve seen Ghost Hunters and stuff like that on TV.... You are free to rationalize it.”

She turned to Karen. “The fact that Weeping Sparrow sent him to you doesn’t give him a whole lot of choice in the matter.” She turned back to David. “Because I suspect that if you go back to her and say ‘Naw, they’re too crazy,’ I don’t even wanna think about what she’d do next. That woman scares ME. Nothing scares me. I’m a Marine.”

Karen laughed.

“OK. Sit back. Relax. Don’t bother with popcorn; this might make you sick.” Justin got cups of water for both men, then sat next to Karen on the couch and started the video. It was a combination of regular video, IR, and night vision, since every time Aiden got close to the full change, he took out the light in the meat locker.

David watched without comment. These people evidently got a really good CGI guy to help them with their little movie, because the effects were really good. Kinda like in “The Howling,” but without the ‘model’ look. It was a little grainy, obviously done with a personal camera and not the high-quality digital cameras used for filming movies. The footage was of the young man who’d just left, Aiden, a little bit younger, transforming into a big, shaggy, bipedal...wolf. There was also footage of the guy repeatedly slamming himself against the metal wall until he knocked himself unconscious...more than once.

“OK. That was the first night. Frank brought the better cameras the next night,” Justin told the men.

As Justin flipped back to the menu, to bring up the next night’s footage, David snickered, “A little gratuitous, but cool effects....”

“It’s not an effect,” Justin muttered, selecting the first of that second night’s ‘highlights.’ “This is when Frank brought in his cameras.”

“Those are pretty good cameras,” David acknowledged. The quality of this footage was definitely better than the stuff they were showing before.

“Homeland Security,” Angie told him.

“Yeah. Fell off the truck,” Justin joked. “Actually, you can see that it’s a real night-vision camera, one built for the purpose.”

“Yeah, with computer optic correcting...that’s really nice,” David says admiringly. They’d done a really good job making the film look like it was real footage, not just staged. In fact, they’d done such a good job that, had his brain not been telling him the whole time that it wasn’t real, David might have almost believed that it WAS real.

There were none of the tell-tale signs that give away that a movie was filmed cinematically, that filming was done with a professional ‘eye’ or paused between shots to fix make-up or set-dressing. This had the more the feel of “Blair Witch Project” than of “Cloverfield.”

On top of that, Aiden must be one hell of an actor, because the pain on his face during the transformations looked extremely genuine. And when he bounced off the walls or collapsed unconscious, it looked like the walls really were solid metal and he really was unconscious. The guy was wasted as a doctor, if he really was a doctor at all. Even Justin, Karen and Leigh winced and cringed when they watched it happening. David wondered how long it took for the bruises to heal after they’d filmed this....

“Anybody feel like some popcorn?” Tony asked.

“No,” Justin said bluntly. Leigh gave Tony a dirty look when he started to get up to go make some, so he sat back down, frowning.

When the video was paused while Justin switched between segments, they could all hear the water running in the kitchen. Angie was out there washing dishes...and rearranging cupboards after that...to avoid watching the video.

“Hey, watch this part!” Tony said a little too enthusiastically.

Justin gave Tony a dirty look. “This is where Karen hit the ‘reset button.’” He paused while he watched it. It wasn’t perfectly framed because the night vision camera’s lens didn’t have as wide an angle. And at one point, when Aiden stumbled into the wall, all they could see was the lower half of his body as he bent double. But when he’d moved under the camera he’d been almost fully transformed; and a split-second later, when he stumbled back out to the center of the room and collapsed, he was completely Aiden again. “That’s gotta hurt,” Justin groaned.

That would have seemed obvious from the screaming, David thought to himself, except that it was just acting anyway.

“Actually, he told us it did hurt,” Justin said.

“We had to use a flame-thrower on that job,” Tony said. He tried hard to sound grim; but the adrenalin rush he felt pulling the trigger and shooting flames at the ghul made him sound almost gleeful as he said it.

“We don’t have that on video, either,” Justin clarified. “That was on the roof.”

“We don’t have the flame-thrower anymore, either,” Karen laughed. “Frank had to take that back.”

“OK, now, here’s the next night,” Justin said, going back to the menu.

“If I did not trust Fr. Colin implicitly,” Dr. Nakatomi said, “I would say you are a most impressive group of amateur film-makers.”

Karen chuckled.

“Nope. Our guy that was doin’ films left a long time ago,” Justin told him.

“Well, I could say that you were good students of his, but that would just mean that you’re going to make me have to watch more of this, and...this is somewhat disturbing. So...Oh, God. Oh, God. Werewolves are real.”

Karen started laughing. He was going to be a hard nut to crack.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Justin told him.

“Can we not watch the person beating himself up a little more?” David requested.

“Let’s not use him,” Karen said, pointing at David, “in our next film, because he’s a terrible actor ”

“Actually, that’s somebody we saved, because that’s Aiden, and we were able to reverse it,” Justin explained, as if maybe David didn’t get it. “Here’s the next night.” He skipped forward to the part when the ghul and his crew invaded the fortified shop.

Karen could tell that it was irritating Justin that David refused to believe what he was seeing. She understood his frustration. It WAS hard not having people believe in something you know is real. But she could also understand why David didn’t feel compelled to believe yet. This was no different than watching any other horror movie to him. When the Unknown finally slapped him up-side the head, he’d have to decide to fish or cut bait.

Of course, it wasn’t going to help their cause that the ghul didn’t film well. It turned out that he only showed up as a dark blur, more or less humanoid in shape, kind of like when the editors for TV news programs and reality cop shows blur the faces of victims and witnesses.

“I still don’t know how that happened,” Justin complained, “because we’re in focus.... And according to Frank, I think this guy might be holed up in some cave in Afghanistan or something.”

“No. He’s talking to his followers that are holed up there,” Karen clarified.

“Well, yeah, but he’s not supposed to come back for, like, a hundred and somethin’ years, right?” Justin asked.

“Five hundred, at the soonest,” Karen said. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have followers out there who can do his work for him on this side.”

David glanced over at Dr. Nakatomi with an ‘Are you buyin’ this? Do we need to get out’a here? Should we run for it?’ look. “Yep. It’s gory and disturbing,” he finally said. “Did I mention Oh, God; Oh, God; Werewolves are real; I believe you now?”

“OK. I think I’ve got a copy of the Card around here somewhere....” Justin mumbled, shutting off the DVD player.

“No, don’t bother yet,” Karen stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Until he actually experiences it for himself, he’s an unbeliever.” She turned to David. “And that’s perfectly fine, I swear to God. Most of the world does not believe in this shit and everybody lives very happy lives without knowing about it. In fact, they’re probably better off than we are.”

“Yeah, but hangin’ out wid dat sarcastic disbelief can get ya dead,” Tony warned.

“I dunno. Sarcasm seems to serve you guys fairly well,” David retorted.

“Actually, it does,” Karen agreed.

“Dat’s how we deal wid da deep emotional scars we’ve earned through our lives,” Tony intoned a little too seriously.

“And here I thought it was only two girls,” David teased.

“No, the rest of us have to deal with real scars sometimes,” Justin told him.

“It’s OK. Most people don’t believe it. I’ve lived with this all my life,” Karen told David. “And I’ve had to find ways to hide it, because nobody else in my family understands.”

Angie came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“We’re done,” Justin told her.

“Kitchen clean?” Karen asked.

“Yeah,” Angie answered.

“Good! Good. Ya know, if there weren’t women in this group, it’d be a pigsty in here all the time,” Karen opined.

“I clean!” Justin objected.

“No, ‘cause Aiden’d do the dishes,” Angie disagreed.

“Yeah, I guess he does, doesn’t he?” Karen said.

“But he does each one individually, then holds it up to the light...” Justin argued.

“No he doesn’t,” Angie told him.

“It’s my fantasy,” Justin complained.

“Wait...you have fantasies about Aiden doing the dishes?” Karen asked.

“Yeah. I don’t know why,” Justin told them.

“Ya know, I’m just not going there,” Angie said. She paused a minute, thinking. “Ya know, I was gonna say something, but now I’ve forgotten what.... Oh! Yeah!” Angie brightened up a bit, remembering what it was. “Whether or not you believe us...”

Dr. Nakatomi nodded sagely.

“...it’s cool. Not believing us, it’s cool. However...” Angie continued.

“...if one of us says ‘run’...” Karen picked up the thought.

“Yeah, if one of us tells you to ‘run’ or ‘duck’ or ‘hit the ground,’ do so and ask questions later,” Angie finished.

“Fair enough,” David agreed.

“And if one of us says something as odd as ‘spread a lot of salt in front of a doorway’? Do it,” Justin warned him.

“Oh, we’ll teach you that part,” Karen told him.

“Yeah. I’m just sayin’ in moments of crisis, rather than question, just do what we tell ya, because then you can argue all you want but you’ll be alive,” Angie said.

“Got a weapon?” Tony asked the two men.

“Do you know how to use one?” Karen asked them.

David stared at Tony.

“Yes,” Dr. Nakatomi answered.

“Do I have a weapon? What sort of weapon do I need to be carrying?” David asked back suspiciously.

“Dr. Nakatomi, which question did you answer ‘yes’ to?” Tony asked.

“A weapon.”

“You have one. Good,” Tony said.

“Well...some of us rely on weapons more than others,” Karen told David. “I’m not very good with any of them.”

“Some things can be shot,” Justin said grimly.

“That’s alright, Karen.” Angie patted her on the shoulder with a grin.

“I’m not very good with firearms,” David said.

“Bow and arrow?” Justin asked him.

Karen nearly fell off the couch laughing.

“I’m NOT being racist!” Justin objected.

“Well, maybe a little,” Angie told him.

“No! It’s the other thing I use!” Justin retorted.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know how to use a bow and arrow,” David replied. “I know how to use a knife, too.”

“It is a very effective weapon,” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“Hunh? What?” Angie asked. Dr. Nakatomi tended to speak quietly, and Angie couldn’t hear him over Karen’s laughter.

“The bow...” he told her.

“Oh, I’m not mocking the bow,” Karen said, catching her breath. “It’s just...he asked an Indian if he knows how to use a bow and arrow. It just seems kinda...you know...funny.”

“Whether or not he does, I do,” Dr. Nakatomi told them.

“Good,” Karen said, feeling kind of chastened.

“There you go,” David told them.

“Compound? Recurve? What?” Justin asked Dr. Nakatomi.

“Yes.”

“Good. There’s a good supplier here, and there’s another guy a little ways up north who’ll make almost anything you want,” Justin assured him.

“I brought mine,” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“How ‘bout a tomahawk, David?” Karen asked, trying to keep a straight face. “Do you know how to use a tomahawk?” She started laughing again and Angie joined in.

“No.”

“Oh, come on ” Justin whined. “Do not mock my whiteness!”

“Not a lot of call for practicing that skill,” David said, grinning.

“Do not mock my whiteness!” Justin told them again.

“I’m sorry, Hon,” Karen said, giving Justin a quick hug.

“Especially not in law school,” Angie agreed, laughing.

“I dunno. Taking scalps is pretty big in law school,” David told her.

Angie nearly fell off the chair this time.

“Yeah, in law school I think they do count coup,” Karen laughed.

“I’m more likely to have learned it in law school than on the reservation,” David said.

“Well, the Indians didn’t do it. It was brought over by the frickin’ German mercenaries...er, no...well...Hessians,” Justin told them.

“Hessians are kind of German, but...you have to remember that,” Leigh said, “it wasn’t the Hessians who started paying bounty on scalps.”

“Who was it?” Angie asked.

“My understanding is the English,” Leigh told her.

“As a way of proving that they’d actually killed somebody,” David added. “Because the Indians found it too distasteful to bring back a whole head every time. They said ‘Fine. Just bring the top of the head.’”

“I can sorta see that,” Angie said, “but...ewww.”

“I wasn’t mocking your whiteness, Hon,” Karen whispered to Justin.

“Well...I mean...it’s another kind of ranged weapon,” Justin complained.

“I know. It is, it is....” She tried to smooth his ruffled feathers. “I understand what you guys were asking.”

“How ‘bout a blowgun?” Tony asked. “Know how ta use a blowgun?”

Karen started laughing again.

“Nnnooo....” David answered.

“No! And neither do you!” Justin said, throwing a pillow at Tony.

“Boomerang?” Tony asked.

“Nnnno. The reservation wasn’t down in Australia.”

“Bolos?”

“Again...” David started slowly.

“Nope. They don’t use those on the reservation either,” Karen told Tony.

“No, Argentina,” Angie said. “Tony’s a pig. Just get used to it. He’s that way to everybody. And none of us have killed him yet. I think it’s ‘cause he’s kinda cute.”

“He is charming...in his own unique way,” Karen agreed.

“And here I thought it’s because he talks about having explosives everywhere and you don’t know what’s gonna blow up if you take him out,” David said.

“Actually, he’s pretty safe,” Karen told him.

“Oh, anything he can build, I can disable.” Angie puffed up slightly.

“And, like I said...either one of you two tells me to duck, I’m probably gonna duck,” David told her. “‘Cause whether or not you’re all insane, people with explosives...if they tell you to duck, you usually wanna listen.”

“Yeah, it’s a good plan...” Angie agreed. The others all nodded agreement, too.

“I don’t think we have any more videos to freak out our new guests,” Justin mused.

“You can show ‘em all the videos in the world and I don’t think it’s gonna...it won’t make them believe or not,” Leigh told him. Karen nodded.

“We haven’t actually had a metaphysical crisis in a little while,” Angie told them. “I suppose we’re due.” She looked over at the others.

“And we are at kinda critical mass right now,” Karen agreed, “so I expect something’s gonna happen.”

“There’s always zombies,” Angie said.

“There are.” Karen didn’t sound too thrilled at the thought.

“On the plus side, if there’s ever a full scale...” Justin started.

“Zombie apocalypse?” Angie offered.

“‘World War Z’?” Karen offered.

“No. Not that big. Good book, though, by the way,” Justin said. “But this place should hold out pretty darned well. Large water storage tank. Multiple survival kits.”

“Plenty of food,” Leigh added.

“Not to mention a five-story observation tower,” Justin said.

“A good vantage point for shooting down on....” Karen added.

“Yeah. We’re only paranoid because they really are out to get us,” Angie told the newbies.

“Well, not us in particular...necessarily,” Karen clarified.

“Just humanity in general,” Justin finished.

“Ya know? I’m gonna beg to differ,” Angie told him. “I think they are actually out to get YOU.”

“They do seem to be...yeah...some of them do seem to be out to get us in particular,” Justin said.

“Only because we see them first,” Karen said.

“Oh, just in case...because it’s come up before, and I don’t mean to poke fun at anybody, but...if by chance you DO come across a ghost? Don’t make any promises. And don’t feed them,” Justin told the two men. “Although I’m thinking Dr. Nakatomi’s teaching might already have told him that part.”

“I believe the expression is... ‘Well, DUH!’” He smiled slyly.

“Yeah, well...OK...but I didn’t know that!” Karen said.

“I just couldn’t remember if Hungry Ghost was from Japan or not,” Justin told him.

“Hungry Ghosts are Chinese,” Dr. Nakatomi said. “Hopping Vampires are Chinese. We have only....”

“Hopping Vampires!?” Justin asked. “That’s just WEIRD!”

“Yes,” Leigh confirmed. She’d studied some of the legends as well.

“Very interesting legends about Hopping Vampires,” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“Why do they hop?” Justin asked. “Is it because they only have one leg?”

“Because their knees are broken,” Dr. Nakatomi told him, “and they are locked in place.”

“Interesting. And weird,” Justin said.

“Hopefully we won’t be encountering any of them in the near future,” Leigh agreed.

“I wasn’t real pleased with our last vampire encounter,” Karen added.

“Not so much,” Leigh said. Angie just got up and went back into the kitchen. She was still dealing with the emotional after-effects of that one. And there were banging sounds....
“Sorry!” Justin hollered out to her.

Then the clattering sounds moved out of the kitchen and into the gym. Followed by the sounds of the bag getting the crap beaten out of it. It didn’t sound like a good day to be the bag.

“Guess I’ll be staying out of there for a while,” Justin muttered. “Actually, she...and Leigh...are pretty good sparring partners. Basically, if I want a long workout, I’ll spar with Leigh. But if I want a short...an in-close, ‘all my ribs hurt deep down inside’ workout I fight with Angie.”

“Why would you go looking for that?” Karen asked, mystified. She preferred doing drills. She got just as sweaty, but there was little chance of getting hurt unless one of them really screwed up. The point of drills wasn’t to pummel the other person; it was to build the muscle memory so that the moves came naturally.

“Sometimes you need to. Angie doesn’t pull punches as much.”

“Well...the point of Aikido isn’t punching,” Leigh said. “It’s using your energy....”

“I think that’s probably his point,” Karen told her, hoping that Justin hadn’t just insulted Leigh. “Your styles are different, and....”

“Yes. I don’t think it’s a matter of pulling punches,” Leigh went on. “I don’t go for as....”

“Well, no. Aikido’s all about making the other guy beat himself up,” Justin finished the thought. “Usually using the floor.”

“Those work,” Leigh agreed. “Dressers.” She grinned.

“If that is your idea of a sparring match,” Dr. Nakatomi said, “you have much to learn.”

Neither Justin nor Leigh said anything.

“The true student of a martial art understands that they do not have to hurt their opponent to demonstrate their skill.”

“Depends upon the student,” Leigh said.

“Unless you enjoy pain, you are doing it wrong,” Dr. Nakatomi finished.

That got a sage nod from Leigh.

“I don’t enjoy pain,” Justin said. “Pain hurts. But once in a while you’ve just gotta get in deep, dark and scrappy.”

“Well...different styles...” Karen said.

“Yeah. Mine’s from Israel.”

“And well, you don’t get much scrappier than a small country surrounded by other countries that wish it weren’t there,” Leigh agreed.

“Yeah, _____ is all about whop, whapping the crap out of each other. I think the only one I’ve seen that’s more violent is Sambo. And that’s because the Russians put in guns and knives.”

“Well, and you also box, and that is kinda the point of boxing,” Karen said. “You can dance around the ring forever, but if you don’t land punches you don’t get points.”

“Right. Knock the other guy’s brain loose until he falls down. Technically, most martial arts are less violent than boxing.”

The room was quiet for a minute or two, while each of them sat with their own thoughts. Finally Karen spoke up. “I’m trying to think of some other way.... I mean, I’m sure something is gonna come knocking on our door any minute now anyway.... But I’d rather not anybody have to go past the Hell Mouth....” She was looking for some way to convince David without risking people’s lives.

“That is what you call it?” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“Not until Weeping Sparrow’s well enough to tell us what to do,” Justin told her.

“Yeah. We’re already forbidden to,” she acknowledged.

“If I may examine this location, I may be able to reinforce any barriers you might have,” Dr. Nakatomi offered.

“Well...there aren’t any. I mean...other than fences,” Karen told him.

“Ah! I understand now why Fr. Colin recommended me.”

“It’s a house,” Justin said, not totally getting his point.

“It needs something to lower the risk...” Leigh agreed.

“So...you are brave and foolish for tackling this object naked,” Dr. Nakatomi told them.

“Oh yeah,” Karen agreed. But finding the necessary clothing or armor, she thought to herself, wasn’t as easy a task as he seemed to think.

“We got no idea what it is,” Justin said.

“Justin got his head kicked in by going in there,” Karen told him.

“That was the point of Fr. Colin’s comment. Ah!”

“Hey, to save my sister from getting raped, I’ll take another kick,” Justin said, defending his decision.

“Yeah, but we’ve had.., up ‘til now...up ‘til we encountered the house...none of us had any experience with this sort of thing,” Karen told Dr. Nakatomi, “so we weren’t even sure what we were dealing with at first. And then Weeping Sparrow encountered it, and she understood what level of evil we were dealing with. But even she had no idea how to deal with it. And she’s been around a long time. She’s a very wise woman, so....”

“She sounds like it. It would be good for me to speak to her at some point,” Dr. Nakatomi requested.

“Yeah. I think you’d enjoy talking with her,” Karen agreed.

“Wait a minute,” Justin said. “Fr. Colin sent Dr. Nakatomi to us...”

“Yes,” Karen told him.

“...not Weeping Sparrow....”

“No.”

“OK. Your expertise might not be so good with the house....”

“I don’t think it would hurt necessarily,” Leigh argued.

“Yeah. It couldn’t hurt at this point,” Karen agreed, “‘cause Weeping Sparrow keeps hitting dead ends with the information she gets. It’s one thing to know the legend, and another thing to encounter it in real life. The legends are, as David pointed out when we were talking earlier, mostly metaphorical, so they don’t always give you a clear guideline of what to do to deal with the things they’re describing.”

“Well, if nothing else, Dr. Nakatomi and...” Justin paused as he looked over where David had been sitting and didn’t see him there. “...and David are fresh pairs of eyes to look at the problem,” Justin conceded. “I’ll get a copy of the info we were able to dig up on the house,” he told Dr. Nakatomi. “It’s got a very interesting history.”

David had stepped outside for some fresh air...and to make sure he still could. The only person who had appeared to leave the building, since he’d been there, was Aiden. David wanted to make sure he was still free to come and go as he pleased. He took the opportunity to walk all the way around it, to stretch his legs while he was out.

“It will be interesting reading then,” Dr. Nakatomi said.

“How many deaths were there? Eight?” Justin asked Karen and Leigh. They’d done most of the research on the house’s history, and he never could remember all the details.

“Something like that,” Karen answered. “I’m not sure. I’d have to look it up.” Leigh said basically the same thing, too.

The three filled the professor in on some of the highlights of the whole saga...the different houses built over the years; the deaths, most some form of murder/suicide of married people; the higher incidence of domestic problems in the area around the property; and the legend of Gentle Spring Rain and the Evil Shaman/Chief.

“So...Nakatomi...t’ink dere’s sump’in ya can do about da Hell house?” Tony asked.

“I must investigate,” Dr. Nakatomi replied.

“Well, the evil is much, much older than the house,” Leigh informed him.

“We can take you to a point fairly close to it, and give you directions to get the rest of the way there,” Karen told him, trying to think of some way to allow him to ‘encounter’ the evil without risking injury to anyone else.

“I’m not sendin’ ‘im in dere alone!” Tony objected. “Not when he’s a ‘virgin!’”

“I don’t think you should go in there,” Justin said.

“Great. Are you gonna kick his head in, too, if you go with him?” Karen asked. If someone else had a better idea, she’d be glad to hear it.

“I didn’ do dat on purpose!” Tony objected. “He zigged when he should’a zagged!”

“Unh huh,” Justin and Karen said in unison.

“Be that as it may,” Karen said, “you’d gone in there to rescue Marie, and Justin ended up coming out with a crushed-in skull. And I’d prefer you not do the same thing, unknowingly, to Dr. Nakatomi, should he zig rather than zag.”

“Yeah, but I’m still not sendin’ him in dere alone,” Tony insisted.

“First things first,” Justin told them both. “We’ll get him the research material, and he can go from there.”

“I’m still not sendin’ him in dere alone.”

“Fine,” Justin agreed wearily.

“We’ll let him see all the material we’ve collected about it first,” Karen started.

“It’s worth taking your time on,” Leigh added thoughtfully.

“Yeah. And then figure out how to get him in there without him going alone, and without endangering any of us unnecessarily. Several of us can do Spheres and Mental Shields...so...maybe Leigh or I....” Karen finished.

“I think we should drag Fr. Colin in here and see exactly what he was....” Justin thought out loud.

“I’m not sure I would recommend me,” Leigh said, “because I’m not....”

“You’ve still got issues,” Justin agreed. “I don’t wanna sent anybody that’s got any emotional attachments goin’ on into that place.”

“That’s everybody,” Leigh and Karen said together.

“True. But some people got more detachment than others,” Justin said.

“In which case, the only person qualified to approach would be me,” Dr. Nakatomi told them.

“Yeah. See and that’s what I’m saying. But you can’t just go in there alone,” Karen said, agreeing with Tony’s point.

“Frank is no longer on that list,” Leigh agreed. “Not that he isn’t busy right now, anyway.”

“But perhaps once we’ve gone through all the research and stuff..” Karen continued.

“We can have better ideas on how to gird ourselves,” Leigh said, seeing where Karen was going with this.

“Right. Doing a Mental Shield first, and then going in and removing ourselves quickly, and having somebody who can do a Sphere, should we need it.... And not going too close. Obviously noone’s allowed INTO the house, under Weeping Sparrow’s orders, at the moment. So until we have more information about how to deal with what we’re dealing with, nobody goes in there...with or without someone else along.”

The others nodded agreement, and everyone was quiet for a couple minutes while they pondered the problem.

“So...Dr. Nakatomi? I assume you have a first name?” Karen asked hesitantly. She didn’t know much about Japanese culture, but it seemed awfully cumbersome to have to say ‘Dr. Nakatomi’ to get his attention in an emergency.... “Would it be acceptable if we used that rather than calling you ‘Dr. Nakatomi’ for the rest of your time with us?”

“I have a first name, yes. However, in my culture that would be exceedingly informal.”

“Ah. Alright,” Karen replied, not really sure what else to say.

“However, you may call me by my monastic title for short. Master Naka.”

“Alright.”

“Naka is acceptable.”

“No problem, Doc,” Tony said. It was Tony’s brand of humor, and the others hoped that the professor, their guest at the moment, wouldn’t be too offended by it.

Master Naka simply nodded. “‘Doc’ is also acceptable,” he said, a glint of humor in his eyes. “Although, if you wish to get technical, it is ‘Doctor, Doctor.’”

“Doctor, Doctor?” Leigh, Justin and Karen all asked at once.

“History and sociology...dual degrees.”

“Ah! OK!”

“Some of...many of us only have one ‘doctor,’” Leigh told him.

“Don’t encourage Tony,” Justin warned Master Naka. “He will call you ‘Doc Doc.’”

“That is his choice.”

“No I wouldn’, ‘cause den I’d sound like a rapper wit’ a stutter.”

“That would be unfortunate,” Leigh admitted.

“We could shorten it ta ‘Doc Oc,’ but he just don’t seem da type,” Tony said.

“Well, he’s also not pudgy and European,” Justin told him.

“And he doesn’t have eight arms, either,” Karen added.

“Doc, just outta curiosity...you said...was it sociology and psychiatry?” Justin asked.

“History.”

“History. OK. Any skills along the lines of carpentry...electronics...? Sometimes we gotta put together stuff...we gotta figure stuff out....”

“What do you do for hobbies?” Karen asked, understanding Justin’s line of thought and hoping to ask the question more succinctly.

“Make tea.”

“That can be very meditative,” Leigh agreed.

“I’m just trying to get a feel for what skill sets you bring to the table,” Justin clarified.

Everyone had been getting up and moving around as they talked, going to get snacks or beverages from the kitchen, going to the bathroom, or just stretching their legs. Dr. Nakatomi had been on his way to the couch to take a seat, and passed behind Justin, who was standing and stretching. Before sitting down he turned and said to Justin, “You should be more careful with your toys.”

And he held out Justin’s .45 lying across his open palms, with a bow, as if he were offering Justin a gift. He had actually removed it from the holster without Justin or anyone else noticing

“Definitely an interesting set of skills,” Justin told him with a combination of admiration and irritation, as he took the gun and stuffed it back into its concealed-carry holster.

“Everybody has a misspent youth.”

Karen laughed.

“Speak for yourself!” Angie was just coming in from the gym, and she was just soaked with sweat. She was wearing her camo cargo pants and a tight black tank top, had a towel hanging around her neck, and was using one end to towel off her hair. “I’m still misspending mine.”

Tony was looking her up and down appreciatively.

“Unfortunately the dark black ones don’t show off anything,” Justin said to Tony.

“Not as much, no,” Leigh and Angie both said, knowing, before either man said a word, exactly what they’d be looking at.

“You shouldn’t be looking!” Karen told Justin with mock jealousy, punching him lightly in the shoulder.

“I was just translating for Tony,” Justin chuckled.

Angie went into the kitchen, then stuck her head around the corner. “Leigh, can I borrow you for a minute?” They could all see a dribble of red rolling down the back of her one hand as she gripped the wall she was leaning around. Leigh got up and went to the kitchen to do first-aid on the other woman’s bruised and bloodied knuckles.