Window of Opportunity (Olivia and Cassie)

Episode: Window of Opportunity
Summary: When one door closes...
Character Sheet: http://pastebin.com/pFMktA4n

There were skulls. That were on fire. And trying to divebomb her.

Cassie wasn't sure when her life had turned into a Legend of Zelda game, but she really wished it'd stop. She ducked as another screaming skull flew by, skirt swirling around her. Up ahead, the church windows were back-lit by flickering, unnatural light. Unquiet spirits swirled around the grounds and through the air like wisps of smoke, thrown into turmoil by the commotion around their resting place. The summoner had been busy.

There was a loud screech, a sharp crack of bone and another skull spiraled out of the sky and exploded into shards on the ground. It looked like Olivia was blowing off some steam.

Cassie left her to it and took off down the path towards the church at a dead run. The ground cracked and headstones fell over as things started to pull themselves out of the ground. Cassie let a silver bell drop out of her sleeve into her hand, and started ringing. The movement and rumbling promptly stopped, and the handful of zombies that were rising to their feet dropped dead. Deader.

She ran the last few steps up to the church's reinforced wooden doors, and pushed. Then tugged. They still wouldn't budge.

Of COURSE he'd barred the doors. Cassie let out a frustrated sigh, rummaging through the satchel slung over her shoulder. She hated having to fumble for things in the dark. A few moments later, she fished out a piece of chalk, then a test tube filled with fine grey powder. Letting go of her bag, the spirit detective knelt near the door, chalk in hand.

"Olivia?" She called out. "I'm heading in!"

The owl didn't reply, but she got a sudden sense of exasperation mixed with acknowledgement and felt her partner moving towards her. There was a sudden smell of burnt feathers in the air, and the former magical girl fluttered onto her shoulder a moment later. Cassie wrinkled her nose at the smell, but didn't say anything. If Olivia wanted to take it easy for once and dogfight with flaming skulls...Well, everyone had to blow off steam somehow.

"Um... Did you get a good look inside? He's in there?"

A single hoot.

"No luck getting in?"

Two hoots, and a cuff from Olivia's wing. Cassie winced. That HAD been a bit of a stupid question.

"Right. So...the usual plan once we're in?"

Another, vaguely exasperated hoot.

"Right..." Cassie muttered, reaching out to finish her chalk circle on the stones, the size of a hula hoop. A few more carefully drawn shapes and symbols later, she stepped back, bell held out in front of her. She sprinkled some of the dust onto the circles, and the symbols glowed in the darkness.

"Spirit, I beseech thee for thy aid and call upo- Actually, you know what? Forget it. Malo, just get over here already."

The rune circle glowed a bright, strobe-light white for a moment, then faded. There was a cackle, and a suggestion of a vaguely humanoid shape appeared in front of Cassie. It was all but invisible, especially in the dark, but Cassie could sense where it was anyway. She'd originally found Malo in someone's living room. He was harmless enough for a poltergeist...but he did like breaking things. She wasn't complaining- especially since she'd actually gotten paid to uproot him and he'd been surprisingly helpful since...in his own way.

"Hey, Malo, can you do something about that door?"

A crackling noise like a fireplace, and she sensed the spirit zoom towards the door, trying to phase right through it...only to falter, slow down, then bounce off like a rubber ball. There was an annoyed howl from thin air. Cassie winced.

"Oh. Right. Sanctified building. Oops...Forgot about that."

Olivia hooted urgently, taking off and landing on one of the gargoyles above the stained glass windows. Cassie knew what that kind of hoot meant by now, and followed the owl's flight with her eyes. She groaned, but nodded. Olivia was right. It was the best way in.

"The window? Yeah...Sounds good. Malo? New plan. I need you to throw something at that window."

That was definitely another cackle. The trick to dealing with spirits was to let them do what they wanted to do anyway. And if there was one thing Malo liked to do more than breaking things, it was throwing things around.

A large boulder picked itself up off the ground, then soared through the air and through the window. There was a tinkle of shattering glass followed by muffled crashes and thumps as it hit something inside. Cassie took a deep breath. Here was the fun part.

"Okay...Malo? Now...throw me in too. Gently, please." She ordered, keeping her voice level. She consciously closed her mouth. Wouldn't be much fun if she bit her tongue off after all.

She felt something grab her by the waist, her feet dangling just off the ground a second later. She swallowed as Malo lifted her higher and higher, and then the world was suddenly a blur as she found herself bodily tossed through the air, in through the shattered window and towards what looked like a row of pews. She pulled her arms and legs under her and tucked her head in as she dropped. She landed on her back, and she felt the breath leave her lungs in one long gasp. That hadn't been fun...but she was inside, even if she was sprawled in a heap.

Olivia fluttered in a moment later, perching on an intact pew and glancing around. An urgent hoot as she looked down at Cassie.

"I'm fine..." Cassie groaned, struggling to her feet and pushing her hairband out of her eyes. Outside, there was a decidedly cheerful whistle, followed by a whoosh of displaced air. Without a proper binding and with her out of sight, Malo was apparently giving her the slip. Cassie cringed at the thought of tracking the spirit down again after this...and how much property damage it'd have have caused in the meantime...But that was a problem for later. Right now, she had a summoning to stop.

Just another night for a phantom investigator.