“Up to you then,” her boss said turning away.

As soon as he left Selina opened the manila folder Jiro had handed her. Selina read through the handwritten notes that the officers had written themselves. The family had moved out a year after the death of the father and many people had purchased the house.  Everything seemed to be alright at first, but strange events kept happening in the basement. Not soon after every family that had moved in moved out a month after. Selina frowned to herself. She did not believe in such things as ghosts although she certainly believed that anything could be possible. She turned back to the files.

Last year an officer had noted in his messy handwriting that the family that had been staying there heard dishes that weren’t there clattering in the basement. However, when they went to check it out nothing and no one seemed to be down there, and during the nights talking could be heard in the basement. When they woke up the next morning half the chickens had been killed and the kitchen looked like it had been burglarized.

The note might have seemed freaky and would scare some people, but Selina found it cheesy. There were gaps Selina found from the report. How many voices had been heard? Why would there be a conversation between two or more people when only the father had been killed? And how would a ghost be able to kill more than a dozen chickens? Unless that certain ghost was a mystified one, Selina laughed to herself. It sounded like someone or some people were trying to make it seem like a ghost was haunting the farm.

Before the night darkened Selina hurried back to Hebe’s place to pack up the little stuff she had with her. Hebe watched from the side as Selina stuffed her two pictures into the little bag she had bought.

“I’ve left your clothes in the laundry. I’m sure you can take care of that right?” Selina said without turning to look at her friend.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok alone?” Hebe asked worried.

“I’ll be alright,” Selina told, “I’ve taken care of myself for 6 long years.”

“But you never know. Anything can happen,” Hebe told. “And you’re a girl…living alone.”

“A woman,” Selina corrected, “don’t worry dear, I’ll survive, and whatever happens I’ll be sure to call you. See you later.”

With that Selina closed the door after her. She had to be strong; she wouldn’t let herself get scared over any matters. If she was too soft hearted she wouldn’t survive in the real world.

After moving into her new apartment Selina heated a cup of noodles, ate them, and went to sleep. Early in the morning as planned Selina made a call to the real estate that was in charge of selling the farm. When Selina got there a woman in a skirt and matching jacket was waiting for her by a car. Selina hurried over and introduced herself. It was always a pride to tell someone that she was an investigative reporter. Selina couldn’t help, but feel so full of herself.

“I’ve unlocked the door for you,” she told.

Selina stared at the large blue circle earrings she was wearing. Her hair was short and the way she’d curled it kept her hair up at the back of her head. It seemed like Selina had gone back in time to meet an old fashioned estates retailer.

“Aren’t you going to show me around?” Selina asked.

“I’ve got a few houses to visit before people start browsing through them,” she told nervously while glancing around, “I’ll get going now. Have a safe trip.”

Selina turned around to watch as the woman got in her car and drove off without looking back. As expected no one wanted to go in the house. Selina turned around to stare at the farm house and puffed out her cheeks preparing herself for the small adventure that awaited her.

The house was mahogany with baskets of live flowers hanging out from the windowsills. Bees and flies kept themselves busy over it. It was a two storied building with two large windows on the first floor and two oval ones at the top. It didn’t look too worn out; it looked exactly like a new warm home welcoming a big happy family.    

Selina walked toward the fancy white door and pushed it open. The medium sized kitchen invited her with shiny white tiles that gleamed up at her as she stepped in. The white door gently closed behind her with a soft thud. She supposed eating didn’t take place in the kitchen as it did not have a table. The counters were white with a double silver sink somewhere in the middle. Wooden cabinets stood on top of the counter and there was a closet for materials and an oven built into the wall.

Selina didn’t go further than the kitchen as she found the door that led to the basement. The wooden stairs seemed weak and old from just the look of it. It was dark down there and Selina turned to see a switch by her side. Selina turned the light on to see that the ground wasn’t carpeted or tiled, but plain flat surfaced gray ground.

===

Jiro hurried into Prescon with a manila folder in his hand anxiously. He headed into the journalism office to look for Selina, but he didn’t see her anywhere.

“Are you looking for Selina?” a round man that had walked toward him asked.

“Yes,” Jiro replied.

“I’m her boss. She told me you’d be coming today,” he told, “and specially asked me to take it for her.”

Jiro looked around one more time as if not trusting him, “Where’s Selina?”

“She went to look at that farm house that she’s been working on,” her boss explained, “you’re the cop that accompanied her to Taoyuan, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Jiro replied.

Her boss smiled at him, “You’re a lucky fella able to witness her work. Isn’t she cool?”

“Different and nice,” Jiro agreed.  

===

Selina slowly made her way down as if anticipating someone to stop her. She could hear the silent cracks of the stairs underneath her as she took another step and then another. However, as she took her third step her right feet fell through the wooden stairs and her ankle got caught in the hole at first then she ended up tumbling down the rest of the way down. Selina landed on the ground face first. It hurt for a moment, but she was able to pull herself back up.

When she finally did look up she looked around to see it looked as normal as any other basement she'd seen before. It was cool down there and empty except for a large tank that heated water that stood in the middle of the room with two large white poles standing on either side of the basement. The walls were made from dry cement and that was pretty much it that was down there.

As Selina stepped forward she heard someone breathing lightly, turning immediately turned around she found herself staring at the large tank that stood in the middle of the room. It was big and tall enough for someone 6 ft to hide behind it. Selina frowned at it and took a step forward, but before she could make it out anything a black shaped something ran out at her pushing her to the ground.

When Selina looked up she could see someone looking down at her with fierce brown eyes. His eyebrows furrowed down as if he was irritated. He wore a black jeans jacket and black jeans. His hair fell over his face lightly. Selina was certain of one thing then, he was no ghost.

Selina could feel his hands digging into . She tried to grab his hand to take him off her, but his heavy weight sitting on her kept her down. After a long struggle Selina finally managed to throw him off to the ground beside her. Getting up quickly Selina set her foot on his chest to stop him from getting up.

“Who are you?” Selina asked.

He stared up at her silently.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said quickly searching around the room with his eyes, “you scared me that’s all”

“You didn’t answer me!” Selina said loudly and roughly as she pressed her feet harder into his chest.

He gave a grunt.

“I was seeking shelter from the thunderstorm that took place a few days ago,” he told.

“A few days ago?” Selina repeated. “Are you a homeless?”

She could already sense that he was lying. Before she could go on he pushed her feet off him and got up pushing her against the wall.

“You’re a cop aren’t you?” he questioned.

Selina stared back at him to decide what to do next. She thought to herself how lucky she was that she’d taken self defense classes that had been offered at her university during the summer a few years back.

“Answer!” he forced as he pushed his arm against .

Selina tried to push him back, but only managed to move him an inch. He smiled back at her amused.

“I have something else in mind for you,” he told running his finger over her cheek.

Finding the strength within her Selina pushed him off grabbing his right arm and twisting it behind his back as she pushed him against the wall. She twisted his arm a bit more to hear him shout, which satisfied her.

“Stronger than you think, eh?” Selina said.

He pushed against her, but didn’t manage to move.

“Let me give you a warning,” Selina cautioned, “don’t mess with me.”