Derek was ecstatic about the evidence they had found on their walk through. Whatever discomfort both Chardi and Billy expressed was completely subsumed by Derek's energetic response to the recording that Billy provided. Everyone gathered around Derek's laptop and reviewed the footage over and over. Derek, Cooper, Elijah and Brad all pressed as close to the screen as they could. Imogen, Billy and Chardi hung back. Imogen occasionally shot Chardi and Billy looks that communicated pretty clearly she thought it was all bullshit, but neither Billy or Chardi bothered to explain it.

  Chardi wouldn't have been able to explain it even if he wanted to. Billy and Chardi had sat in that courtyard for a while, but they never successfully came to any explanation for what they saw.

  "This is an amazing start!" Derek announced after they watched the footage about a hundred times, backed it up to three different hosting websites and then watched the clip again. "We need to celebrate such an auspicious beginning. Let's eat!"

  Cooper and Brad were enthusiastic in their agreement and Elijah and Imogen at least smiled. Billy and Chardi looked at each other. Billy shrugged and Chardi mirrored the gesture. He wasn't going to protest leaving the school for a while and free food was another thing he could never turn down. So, dinner it was.

  They all piled into the two vans, something that Billy said was much easier now that much of the equipment had been unloaded and set up in the school. Chardi was surprised that they were okay leaving all that expensive equipment sitting in an empty building in the woods, but he guessed that the people who would normally care about that were high on the feeling of success. And, again, he was happy to get a break away from the school, so he wasn't about to point it out.

  Derek drove one van and Cooper drove the other. Billy seemed unhappy with that arrangement and tried to argue that he should drive the second van, but he was ignored. Elijah jumped in the front with Derek and Brad got into the back. Imogen wrinkled her nose at both vans, but eventually crawled into the back of Cooper's van. Billy hesitated between the two cars, but eventually frowned at Chardi and crawled in beside Cooper leaving Chardi to take a seat next to Imogen in the back.

  The ride into Furnace Valley would have been quiet if not for Cooper. Cooper obviously loved the sound of his own voice and talked the whole way there, with only occasional grunts from Billy in reply. Both Chardi and Imogen kept quiet and let the older man talk.

  God, did he talk. He talked about how this footage was going to put their show on the map. They would be bigger than Ghost Adventures, bigger than Ghost Hunters, they would be the only paranormal investigation show worth watching on TV. He talked about how much money he was going to make, only remembering occasionally that all of them worked on the show and including them in his thoughts on what it would be like to be a millionaire. He talked about his expertise when it came to the paranormal and how Derek owed him everything for all the guidance he'd given him over the years. That, if only Cooper was young and handsome with straight teeth and a full head of hair, he could have easily gotten a TV show too. But, once he was rich, it wouldn't matter what he looked like. And, of course, bringing Chardi in had been all Cooper's idea, which Derek owed him for completely, Cooper added with a smug grin tossed over his shoulder at Chardi.

  Chardi grimaced back, not bothering to hide his expression. Billy cut in before Cooper could react to it.

  "You told Derek about Chardi? Where did you hear about him and what did you tell Derek?" Billy asked sharply.

  "Oh wow jeez!" Cooper exclaimed in a sarcastic imitation of surprise. "Look we're here kids! Time to go eat and be merry," he laughed as he pulled into a nearby parking spot crookedly and threw the van into park.

  "Cooper!" Billy shouted after the older man, but he had already hopped out of the van and was striding toward the doors of a big unobtrusive looking steak house.

  Imogen sighed explosively and unbuckled her seat belt and let herself out of the van as well.

  Billy sat back down with a distinct slouch to his shoulders.

  "Well. He seemed charming," Chardi said deadpan.

  Billy tossed his head back against the headrest with a dull thunk. "He's an asshole," he sighed and looked out the windshield at where Derek was canoodling with Elijah near the other van. He had an arm around her waist and was leaning into her. She was leaning away from him, but looked distinctly pleased with the attention.

  "How does he know your brother?" Chardi asked, transparently putting off getting out of the van.

  Billy blew some hair off his forehead and rolled his eyes. "Hell if I know. It feels like Cooper has been hanging around Derek since Derek got out of high school. Maybe even before that. He's like a habitual con man and he's always trying to rope Derek into his dumb shit. But, he used to not listen to him..."

  "He got him into the, uh, paranormal investigation thing?" Chardi asked uncertainly, stumbling over the words. He thought most people probably called it 'ghost hunting' but he hadn't heard anyone on the crew say the words 'ghost' and 'hunter' together in a sentence yet, so he thought maybe they had something against it.

  Billy nodded wearily. "Yeah. It was a side gig at first. They would investigate people's houses for a small fee and give them copies of any 'evidence' they found. Then, Derek started documenting their investigations on YouTube and it kind of took off from there."

  "And, that's when you got involved?" Chardi asked.

  "Yep," Billy said, turning around to look between the two front seats at Chardi. He smiled, but it looked tired. "I've always been into photography and Derek had gotten me a high end camera for my birthday. I was a good fit, I guess."

  "Hm," Chardi hummed with a frown.

  He knew he shouldn't, but he felt bad for Billy. He didn't know what everyone's story was, but it seemed like Billy was just being pulled along in Derek's wake. He didn't strike Chardi as the kind of person who would have signed up for this on his own.

  "They're gonna start bothering us if we don't go in soon," Billy said, casting a glance to where Derek and Elijah had started to amble toward the front door. Imogen was waiting there, scowling while aggressively avoiding eye contact with Cooper who was still talking to her. "We should probably head in," Billy said like it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

  "Yeah. Hopefully the free food will make it bearable," Chardi grumbled as he pushed open the van door and got out himself. He heard Billy huff under his breath at the joke and tried not to feel too happy about it. Not many people found him funny.

  Once they all filed inside they found that Brad, the kind faced clean cut older guy, had already reserved a table for their group in the back of the restaurant. The steakhouse turned out to be more on the bar side of bar and grill and obviously a popular place with the locals. There were tables filled with people ordering and eating their dinners, but there were also plenty of people walking around with glass tumblers in their hands, laughing and chatting with each other and the people at the tables. There was an old jukebox set up in the corner that still took quarters and a long bar set against the left wall that was filled with old men and a few women nursing drinks.

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  "The menu looks great!" Brad enthused as they all sat down awkwardly around the big half moon bench seat and picked up laminated menus. Chardi scanned the menu. Burgers, steaks and beer seemed to be the primary menu items. He found the most expensive thing on the menu (a steak piled up with lump crab meat and three sides) and ordered that when the waitress came to take their orders. He didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt over it and it seemed like he wasn't the only one filling up on Derek's dime.

  Chardi had sat down between Imogen and Billy. The younger people on the crew already seemed to be shoved together and Chardi wondered if that was because they were just naturally gravitating toward each other or if it was because the older people were somehow giving off vibes that they'd rather not interact with them.

  "So," Imogen said, turning to Chardi with a mild expression while sucking down soda noisily through a straw. "You're an investigator like these guys?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "Uh, not really," Chardi grunted. He looked to Billy for a save and was lucky that he was looking in Chardi's direction.

  "He told Derek he had an imaginary friend once when he was a kid and Derek is convinced it was a ghost," Billy said around a mouthful of steak fries. "Ever since then, Derek's been convinced that he's psychic or something."

  "He knew you when you were a kid?" Imogen asked, both eyebrows going up.

  "Very briefly," Chardi said quickly, incredibly grateful for Billy's graceful lie. It would go a long way to explaining anything Imogen would overhear without actually tacking the 'medium' title onto Chardi.

  "But, he's paying, right?" Imogen said with a smirk that made her surly face look dashingly handsome for a second.

  Chardi snorted. "Yeah, in spades. Hard to say no to that," he mumbled.

  "I get you. When I saw his ad on Craigslist for a boom, I just applied because whatever. And, when he sent me the proposed pay I was like wow okay. I just need something to get me through film school, you know?" Imogen said with a shrug.

  Chardi nodded. He did in fact know exactly what she was talking about. After all, he wouldn't be there at all if it weren't for his own pressing expenses.

  Before he could say anything about his own school expenses, a pair of wait staff appeared with trays full of food. Everyone leaned back, making appreciative noises as plates piled high with still steaming food were placed in front of them.

  As soon as the food was handed out, a second waitress appeared with a tray full of sweating glasses full of colorful liquid which she distributed among the older people at the table. It was still lunch and Chardi had been under the impression that they still had a lot filming to do that night, so he was more than surprised to see how much liquor was accumulating around the table.

  Chardi turned to Billy with raised eyebrows, but Billy was staring at his brother with a nose wrinkled in distaste. Imogen snorted back a laugh and quickly dug into her humongous greasy burger.

  "A toast!" Derek shouted, standing up and holding his glass aloft. They all raised their glasses, though Chardi couldn't help but notice that himself and Billy were only holding their glasses a few inches off the table. The bar quieted somewhat, people at nearby tables stopping to listen in.

  "To making history! And reshaping the world!" Derek said with a wide grin.

  "Hear, hear!" Cooper shouted, banging the table with his meaty palm and slamming a tumbler of amber liquid back with enthusiasm.

  Elijah and Brad echoed Cooper, though with less enthusiasm, and took much more measured sips of their drinks. Chardi copied Billy and Imogen as they took quiet mouthfuls of their drinks. A few knots of people nearby clapped obligingly, a few laughing and obviously assuming the strangers to their town were not serious.

  Chardi stared down at his full plate of food, his stomach suddenly knotting.

  Something told him that Derek's toast hadn't held a bit of hyperbole.

  Dinner proceeded quickly after that. Despite the anxiety turning his stomach, once Chardi started eating he quickly demolished his meal. In fact, the rich food and the sheer amount of it turned out to be too big of a shock to his system after living off of noodles and dried nuts for the past few weeks. Chardi excused himself to the bathroom as soon as his plate was clean.

  He then spent an embarrassing amount of time crouched over a toilet in the last stall trying to decide if it was worth throwing up or not. The tile floor in the bathroom was sticky, the light harsh and bright compared to the softer light in the restaurant, the fluorescent bulb directly above him buzzing and flickering occasionally. The room smelled strongly of some kind of artificial scent, and after a few minutes of dry heaving over the toilet, it started to give Chardi a headache.

  To his horror, just as he decided that the food was going to stay down, he heard a rap of knuckles on the door of his stall.

  "Chardi? Are you in there?" Derek's voice asked from the far side.

  Char stood quickly and spun around. Derek's all black sneakers were just visible in the gap below the door.

  "Excuse me?" Char rasped incredulously.

  "I was hoping I could have a quick chat with you," Derek said. "We keep getting off to bad starts," he added, a laugh in his voice.

  "So you cornered me in the bathroom?" Char snapped, pulling open the metal stall door with a yank.

  Derek was lounging against the wall, looking easy and confident, his muscular arms crossed over his chest and a lopsided smile on his face as he looked down at Chardi. Chardi glared up at him for a moment before passing him to wash his hands at the sink.

  "Maybe if Billy hadn't decided to attach himself to you I wouldn't have had to," Derek said with a shrug, rolling to brace his other shoulder against the wall so he could look at Chardi's face through the mirror above the sink.

  "I guess seeing a ghost could be considered a traumatic experience. Is this trauma bonding?" Derek asked with a laugh.

  Chardi finished washing his hands and shook them too hard, spraying cold water all over himself, the mirror and hopefully Derek too.

  "Are you seriously upset that your little brother is being nice to me?" Chardi sneered.

  "Is he? Being nice to you?" Derek asked, sneering back himself. "How nice is he being exactly?" he asked with a look that Chardi thought could only be a leer, even if there was something mean and calculating behind his eyes.

  Anger was burning in Chardi's chest and he had barely been talking to Derek for a minute. His hands were shaking with it. It had been a long time since he'd felt like such a hair trigger.

  Spinning, Chardi put his back to the sink and snarled up into Derek's face. "What the fuck is your problem?"

  For a second, Chardi was sure that Derek was going to square up to him, get in his face, block him in against the sink counter and start a fight. But, the answering rage in Derek's face was there and gone in a blink. In it's place was a pleasant if contrite expression.

  He dropped his arms from where they had been crossed over his chest and took a deep breath, pushing off of the wall and standing up straight.

  "Sorry, sorry," he said, holding his hands up with the palms showing. "Like I said, I keep messing up. I just wanted to tell you, you're doing an amazing job already."

  Chardi scoffed. "I'm half convinced that you staged the whole thing," he said dismissively, watching Derek closely for some kind of tell.

  Derek's expression did change, but Chardi didn't get the impression it was an indication of guilt. A manic gleam came to Derek's eyes and this time he did lean into Chardi's space. Chardi tried to back away, but the edge of the counter pressed into the small of his back, stopping him.

  "It was no set up," Derek said, his voice low and soft despite the unyielding tone. "I knew there was something in that school and you found it without even trying."

  Chardi's hands were still shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline of expecting a fight with Derek or the primal fear that was thrumming in his throat at the look in Derek's eye. He'd never been looked at that way by anyone, but something in the back of his mind told him this might be what a rabbit sees before it's neck is snapped by a wolf.

  "I'm not psychic," Char croaked, his hands moving to grasp the edge of the counter.

  Derek blinked and shook off whatever manic energy had overtaken him. He smiled, though it looked strained, and stepped back out of Chardi's space.

  "Right. Of course," he said insincerely. "Still, I'm glad you agreed to join us. Just keep doing what you're doing."

  Then, he turned and left the bathroom without a backward glance. But, Chardi held onto the edge of the counter trying to get his pounding heartbeat under control for a while longer.