Beautiful days like this in New Jersey almost make me forget that my life is surrounded by death, the last few months have been really hard for me and my adorable little sister, but I must hold on tight to protect her from everything.

When I checked on my sister's condition and saw that her fever had almost completely disappeared and she was feeling much better when she woke up today, I thought I could finally relax a little. I know it's horrible to think that that tragic accident that killed and injured so many people could improve my life so much makes me feel sick about myself.

But without volunteering to help the injured after that train derailed, I wouldn't have been able to steal the necessary medicine for my sister. I did my best to help the nurses and doctors who were treating that exorbitant number of injured, there were more than hundreds of people injured in that horrible accident.

Not an exact number yet, but it is said that more than seventy people died when the train derailed in Woodbridge, and the first time I've seen something so horrible happen. Even though I've seen cruelty and many deaths before, nothing compares to seeing so many livings suffering because of a single person's mistake.

I already feel guilty about stealing medication in a tragic situation like this, I can't even think about how the engineer responsible for the accident should deal with his guilt.

After saying goodbye to my lovely sister Pamela, I got dressed and left the house to go to the nearest hospital to continue helping as much as possible the nurses who are overworked taking care of so many wounded, all hospitals are overwhelmed with the ridiculous number of wounded that It's only been increasing in the last few days.

Every day more injuries needing help and treatment, I understand when a person arrives with minor injuries like cuts and bruises in the first few days after the accident. It's natural for people to get hurt when trying to help accident victims, but after almost a week it's weird trying so many people with new injuries.

But as I open the door to my house the suspicions in my mind are shattered when I find two men standing in front of my house, I feel my heart racing and a huge urge to run away and not look back, but I can't do that.

I'm facing my biggest fear, and I can't run; I can't leave my sister in danger alone. As the two men approached my house, I was sure that neither one of them was an ordinary man, I can feel the death all around them and the scariest part is that the blue-eyed blond-haired man who is now close enough to capturing me doesn't have an aura around it like every living thing should.

“Good morning, we're sorry to disturb you so soon, my name is Lion and I wish I could have come at a more opportune time, but unfortunately, we have a serious matter to discuss with you, Miss Teresa. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience, but I think we'd better talk inside your lovely home.”

I would have asked who they were, but when the blond man, Lion, introduced himself I could clearly see that his friend was armed. As he approached, I could see under his brown coat the handle of a firearm.

"Of course, sorry for the mess, I wasn't expecting visitors."

Although the presence of these two men was quite disturbing, I couldn't see any clear hostility coming from them. Maybe they aren't religious fanatics, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.

“Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you, Miss Teresa, but I think it would be better if we spoke openly and more directly. It's pretty clear that our presence here is being misunderstood, unfortunately because of the tragedy a few days ago we didn't have the ability to make a more elaborate and less threatening introduction."

“We didn't come here today with negative intentions for you, Miss Teresa, or your little sister who must be recovering on the second floor. I am Lion Ward, and with me this companion of mine, Nelson Allen, we are members of a research institute that works in partnership with the government on sensitive issues, but I believe you know what kind of issues I mean.”

Shit! I'm going to become a lab rat.

“Relax Miss Teresa, we're not here for a research topic. We are here on a recruiting mission.”

Recruitment?"

It didn't calm me down, especially when a silent man walked calmly through my house as if he were surveying a battlefield.

“Sorry for my partner's behavior, he still has some habits he cultivated during the out-of-control war. Nelson, you are scared the mistress of the house.”

“Sorry, this region may be far from threats, but the city is not safe for people like you, Miss Teresa.”

Great, I'm being hunted now, but it looks like they're not the hunters but victims, no, are they targets, like me? Gunmen like them aren't victims, maybe they're not a bad thing for me, but I'd better avoid joining either side and get out of this town as quickly as possible with my sister.

I'm really going to miss my house and I doubt I'll make much money selling most of my poses.

“I am a simple and normal woman, gentlemen. I think you gentlemen must be in the wrong place.”

The gentle smile on the blond man's face disappeared as quickly as it had when he saw me leaving the house.

“Really no need to deny it, you may have already realized that we are not normal civilians and that is not because we are armed. A medium like you, Miss Teresa, is skilled enough to discover that the moment she saw us in front of her house, otherwise we wouldn't be here today to recruit her.”

"Recruit?"

“Yes, recruit. We've been watching you for quite some time and after Sofia delivered a detailed report on you, the decision to recruit her was not unexpected. I think you and Sofia will be great friends, she can teach you a lot about how to use her skills Miss Teresa.”

Does he already have someone like me working for them? So why did they want more?

“I'm going to be very straight with you now Miss Teresa, it would be unwise to say no to our invitation and that's not a threat, it's reality. I'm not going to lie to you saying that you will be safe because this is ridiculous, but I can assure you that your sister will be, unless she joins our organization in the same way as you, of course that would only happen after it awakens your natural gifts.”

“Joining us will put you at substantial risk, our line of work involves the supernatural and that is very dangerous, deadly dangerous, but this is not a surprise to you. Obviously, you will receive substantial benefits, money, housing, protection and education for your sister, a better life and for those who want to be good the opportunity to make the world a better place.”

“Our mission is not only to research the supernatural, it is to prevent it from fucking with civilians, innocent people dying and a reality of this world, but that doesn't mean we can't hunt down what has hunted humanity from the shadows since we were born into this world. People will be saved, but often at the cost of our comrades.”

“Interested in working with us, Miss Teresa?”

This day is getting weirder and weirder, I'm in danger, apparently, I'm not sure yet. I'm getting a job offer where I'm going to have to fight the supernatural, which is pretty suicidal, dealing with ghosts and hauntings is stressful enough and I've been injured a few times over the years, but I doubt this is close to what I will have to face if I join this institute run by madmen.

But learning how I can use my skills and money, a lot of money and protection for my sister is a very big advantage. I just went through my first crisis after Mom died, but it could have ended much worse had I not been able to get the meds to treat Pamela.

“Could you be more specific about my tasks or work? If I join this institute.”

“Of course, as a medium your main gift is your perception, but this is nothing new for you. Tracking supernatural entities and their strongest ability, but it is not the only one, for many mediums who study and train mystical and chemical arts, a mandatory knowledge is purification.”

“There are many ways and ingredients to create the purifying effect when the goal is to deal with supernatural beings, during your test you will see Nelson and I dealing with ghosts and perhaps some specters, the echoes of the dead are not part of our current mission.”

"Test?"

“Yeah, didn't you think we were just going to recruit you without doing some sort of audition? We have to see how you react to danger and fulfill basic tasks that are essential for a medium to have.”

“Don't be too worried, I'm obviously not going to ask you to face something dangerous alone. You will be in our eyes as we investigate our next case.”

“What is this case?”

“The derailment that happened a few days ago.”

“Was it caused by a ghost or supernatural creature?!”

“No, a team was sent to check this out after the accident happened, but there wasn't even a sign of the supernatural causing the accident. He is our case because such a large number of deaths and injuries can bring so many different problems.”

“What kind of problem would be most common?”

“Vengeful spirits, some of the deceased can quickly return as a vengeful spirit. It's a little unusual for them to appear in such a short amount of time, it usually took several weeks for a vengeful spirit to appear, usually an echo that was left behind has to accumulate resentment or have its grave disturbed for it to turn into a vengeful spirit."

“But in cases involving many deaths in a violent way, some echoes can quickly turn into aggressive spirits. There are several reasons an echo can transform.”

“Okay, but I don't want to sound ignorant and inexperienced, but what is an echo? Since waking up as a medium I've had to deal with some troublesome things, but I call them ghosts, apparitions and specters.”

“Naturally, I have full confidence that you've dealt with and seen it, but of a spirit type, Miss Teresa. The nomenclature compiled by the institute has many not-so-common terms, so it is natural that some names will be different.”

“An echo is what is generated after a person does not completely die, there are two types of echoes, but these definitions are purely theoretical, not how to prove them with the current capabilities of the institute. The first type which is my favorite is the echo which will remain an echo, it gets weaker over time until it disappears, but that takes a long time depending on many factors, like millennia.”

“The second and least favorite and the active echo, he is what transforms into other types of spirits. Depending on how the echo is stimulated it can become a big problem, the most common is the vengeful spirit that is generated after a very violent death, usually your target tends to be the one responsible for your death or someone similar.

“A vengeful spirit created by an accident like a derailed train can be very tricky, without a target for its hatred and rage the spirit can reach such a level of madness that it will attack any potential victim.”

“I see, if we find a vengeful spirit or vengeful ghost what can we do other than sprinkle salt on it for the scarecrow.”

“Salt is effective against spirits, but they can only ward it off for a short period of time, it's not permanent. We must purify your body with fire or acid, the point is to completely destroy the body or something that serves as an anchor for your mind.”

“Iron and silver tend to have a good effect on spirits too, but salt is the most effective.”

"Do you throw a person's dead body into acid?"

“It works, fire is easier to use as it is throwing oil and salt on the body and using a match to light it is much simpler and more convenient than using acid, but it's nice to have other alternatives.”

“Like acid? Have you tried using a sledgehammer to desecrate a corpse before?”

“Yes, but it didn't work out right, doing that turned out to be desecrating a corpse and not purifying it. We're trying to help the spirit go to the next stage of its existence by not desecrating it, desecrating a spirit's corpse and prescribing it and making it even more mad and violent."

“Okay, I understand what you want to do, and I accept to participate in the audition, even though the idea of doing this kind of thing makes me very uncomfortable.”

“Great, but before I start, I believe it's best to leave the excess etiquette and formality aside. It may not seem like it, but they get in the way on the field, having a leader on a mission can be important, but as the groups are small, it's easier for it to be a partnership between the members.”

“Is that when opinions differ?”

“Common sense wins or the protocol we all swear to follow, when you read the material, you will realize that the teacher took so much seriously when he wrote it, to so many variables covered in it that it becomes inconvenient to reread the manual after it is updated, which happens quite often.”

“You don't have to worry too much about that, if you pass the test, you'll have a good amount of time to train before being considered a field agent. We better go soon before the crash site gets too busy, officially not even an investigation team on the tracks today, but that doesn't stop people from visiting the crash site.”

"But before we go to a dangerous place, I'd like you to wear this amulet."

Lion pulls an amulet from his coat, a thin metal chain with a rectangular piece of dark wood carved into it. I don't recognize the designs on the wood, but the moment I saw the amulet I could feel that there was some kind of energy in it.

“It is a simple amulet of protection, it provides a very weak protection against the supernatural, but it is enough to prevent your senses from being easily manipulated by supernatural entities, the survival instinct is not always very strong in a monster or spirit, but a lot of them love to trick people.”

“Thanks, and just carry him with me?”

“Yes, carrying it in your pocket is enough for it to take effect, but the current is in it to help keep it attached to you at all times. During a mission it is normal to have to move around a lot, such as dodging supernatural creatures, having amulets and weapons attached by a chain to your clothes is always useful, especially when they have protective effects.”

"OK."

When I took the amulet, I felt like my world was covered by a thin and transparent membrane, it doesn't interfere much with my senses, but it's very different from normal. Impossible not to notice the protection of the amulet.

"You'll get used to the feeling, but it's much better to deal with this inconvenience than not having protection at all, Teresa."

“Hum, those amulets are the reason I don't feel you. Does it not interfere with your ability to sense the supernatural?”

“I am not a medium, Teresa, nor is Nelson one. Although we both have abilities to perceive the supernatural than a normal person, who are basically blind when it comes to non-corporeal supernatural creatures, we are still not close to the level required to be a medium like you.”

“And the fact that you don't feel me is a little more complicated than having a better-quality amulet, but let's not waste time on something unimportant. We better get down to business, and not the need to worry about your sister, we'll set an alarm at your house to make sure nothing threatening can sneak into your house.”

"Thank you."