Crimson Shadows - 8. Chapter 8

Title: Crimson Shadows

Chapter: 8

Series: The Shadows Playground

Word Count: 1,648

AN: Oooh, lookie. Chapter 8. Enjoy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Welcome to the first day of your lives as ghost hunters and investigators. We are known as Windfall Paranormal Investigations and during this training you will be updated on equipment, techniques, classes of ghosts and various other information that you will need.” Kyle smiled brightly and pulled out a box, putting it down on the table, watching the four others eyes widen as he took out a thick packet of paper from the box.

“This holds all the basic information including pictures and notes. It also has web sites, books and places to go to learn more about places, people and everything that is connected to us in some way or another,” Markus jumped in, sounding a bit to happy to be healthy, making their newest people groan and slump down in their chairs around the kitchen table. “We would have given you chips but we didn’t have enough to put all this shit on so you get printed versions. I suggest you guys stick it somewhere safe and go back to it when you need to. Either that, or write down little notes on a chip and keep it with you at all time.”

“Now, I’m sure you all are wondering why Windfall is called Windfall right?” Lien asked from his perch on the bar stool, a glass of something clear and bubbly in his hand. “Well that particular story starts about 8 months ago when Markus lost his father, Kyle his grandfather.”

“When he had died, he had left everything to the family members who had shown up when he called after his first heart attack. Uncle Markus and Lien were the only ones who came. I would have joined them but at the time I was finishing off a crash course in England for a history degree,” Kyle said, taking his own seat on a bar stool and shoving a bit of hair back out of his face. “So, when grandfather died everything was left to Uncle Markus to separate out, starting with the stuff in the house. The deed had been switched over to his name after the first attack.”

“It took me a day to figure out how much was going to be left after the bills were paid, at least with the accounts and liquidations of stocks, bonds and the such,” Markus said, flopping into a dinning room chair. “Lien popped up that same night to offer his help with getting the house in order, which was a God send. The next day, I found a beautiful porcelain doll, which kicked everything into going down hill, which set us off on getting into the paranormal world even more so then before.”

“Our family is known to be mediums, seers and various other things that include us being looked at oddly, even in this day and age. The doll was possessed and tried to kill the family and those who were close to the family, or at least those in the house,” Kyle stated, playing with a pen as he smirked at the four staring at them with wide eyes. “Once that little problem was solved with a shovel and a wall, Uncle Markus was able to finish cleaning things out and figuring out who would get what. My chunk of the money ended up much more then anticipated since my brother didn’t want the money and the furniture so he gave it to me.”

“So he went and sold the furniture, paid the taxes on the money and then invested in some stuff to make a bit more money off it,” Markus huffed, rolling his eyes and smirking at his nephew who just smiled smugly. “The last few months he’s been talking to companies who supply the stuff that ghost hunters and investigators use. We’re on the testing list, meaning we get the newest stuff, including the older things that are well known to work. In return, we tell them how they compare, if they do and share information on how easy they were used.”

“To move on, since I ended up getting a windfall of a lot of money, I named this group after it,” Kyle said, rolling his eyes at his uncle who just smirked at the younger male. “We sent out information packets to various groups that we know the people of and…well, here we are.”

“So, you started all of this and got it set up in a matter of months?” Richard asked, surprise coloring his voice.

“No. I was thinking of doing it once I got my Bachelors in history but it didn’t quite work out the way I wanted. The attack pushed me to do this sooner, especially since I think it works just right in timing. I don’t think that we would have met if I had waited the next year to start this,” Kyle answered, kicking one foot up and tipping back slightly as he smirked at their guests. “So I set the plans into motion and got this group together. So, after training is done, we have our first investigation to get to. The local natural and city history museum has called us to investigate their secondary building that was just bought.”

“Apparently they’re finding quite a few of their things being moved around. Mind you, they have some clothes from the fifteen hundreds and after, so they are seriously rare and delicate. So we’re going to have some fun in learning how to work around delicate artifacts,” Markus said, standing up before opening one of the packets with a smile. “For now, open up to the first page and listen well as to what rules you will have to follow otherwise I will personally hand you your ass. If any of these rules are broken at any time, me or Kyle will happily write you up.”

“Oh, let me tell them!” Lien yelled, waving a hand while smirking from his spot. Markus laughed and nodded his head, indulging his lover in his need to make the newbies lives living hell. “The first time that you’re written up, you get a warning and a one time pay dock of fifty dollars. The second time you’re written up, you get benched and lose in the pay from a hunt along with the fifty dollars. The third time you fuck up, you get benched until Markus and Kyle have had time to talk over what to do with you and what your punishment should be. If you’re lucky, you’ll be benched for a couple of hunts and made to clean up the house and work evidence without being paid for it. If you’re not, you’ll be fired and told to get lost.”

“Now, before you complain about the cleaning the house, as part of your contract with us, we’re offering you a place to live, your own refrigerator, which is located in the garage to the side and a chance to live here for only your share of the utilities being paid,” Markus butted in, wiggling his finger. “I would be your landlord and would be the one who could kick your ass any time I wanted if you bring in anything that is illegal.”

“We don’t do drugs and if you’re drunk, find a couch to crash on before coming back. I’m not fond of drunks and neither is Uncle Markus due to personal experiences,” Kyle said, nodding his head towards the forms packets. “All of the house rules are there, including the bills that you will have to pay while living here, along with what things are offered insurance wise.”

“Now, how about we go through all of that information before you,” Lien hummed, making Richard, Orian, Kyender and Marana look at him with a bit of horror. They had a feeling that their fellow investigator, part time or not, was the scarier of the three. Marana wondered how she had missed it since she knew the family for most of her life, and she had met the man when he had first started to date Markus. Shaking her head, she turned to look towards Markus, the other three following her example.

“So, let’s start,” Kyle smirked, eyes glittering. Marana corrected her first opinion on who the scariest of the top three were, quickly followed by Richard, Kyender and then Orian. Kyle was scary when it came to information. Lien was just scary outright. Markus they would have to wait to see what kind of scary he was.

For three hours, they went over the rules, regulations, what was expected of them during investigations and what they were expected to know about each sight. When they finally filed out they knew that they were to be polite to the people who called them, to be knowledgeable about where they’re going and that they were to be respectful for the places that they were to go to.

Marana had a headache, Richard was looking a bit dazed and was being led out of the house by Orian as Kyender teetered in his seat. Kyle offered him a guest room, the man jumping all over the chance to not have to drive home after such a cramming of information. Once the man was set up in the guest bedroom that would become Kyenders, Kyle found his uncle and his lover in Markus’ study, flopping onto the couch with a smile.

“Think they’re gonna call us crazy after our first investigation?” he asked the couple who were perched in Markus’ desk chair.

“I think they already think that of us. We’ll do fine as time goes by,” Lien hummed, nuzzling the back of Marku’s neck, arms wrapped around the younger males waist, holding him close with a smirk of delight.

“Right, ‘cause we are nuts,” Markus sighed as they kicked back, knowing that their future would be rather interesting for a very long time to come.