[color=6ecff6][i]"There's no point pursuing it any further, Mike."[/i][/color] Joseph's apathetic voice rang out from his phone. [color=6ecff6][i]"This case is basically cold. Forget about it."[/i][/color]

[color=fdc68a]"You know I don't work that way."[/color] Michael told him flatly. They'd been on the force together enough years to know how the other operated.

[color=6ecff6][i]"Yeah. Maybe I just hope one day you'll see sense."[/i][/color] Joseph replied. [color=6ecff6][i]"Letting all the cases that get away from you eat you up inside won't help them get solved. All you can do is get on with your life and hope a miracle occurs."[/i][/color]

[color=fdc68a]"I guess so."[/color] Michael said nonchalantly. He was far from convinced. He hadn't joined the police force to became a tired, jaded old stooge before he had even turned 30. Even if there was nothing he could really do about it, he felt like he owed it to the victims to try and do something, even if the force had already just about given up. Besides, with this weird and wacky "ghost girl" thing gnawing at the edges of his mind, he definitely felt like the wrong thing to do here would be to just turn away. [color=fdc68a]"I'll quit bugging you for now, anyway. See you some other time, bro."[/color]

[color=6ecff6][i]"See ya."[/i][/color] Joseph said before Michael ended the call. With little delay, he got up from the chair he was in and headed out the door of his apartment. It was about time for him to poke around the subway some more. He had no doubt that much like the last few times he wasn't about to find anything that would help him, and yet he felt compelled to do it. As long as he felt like he was doing something to figure it all out he felt he could rest easy.

On the way over, he found a familiar face, though not one that gave him any measure of comfort. [color=708090]"Hello, Micheal Keahi. Off to the subway yet again?"[/color] The "ghost girl" asked him. 

[color=fdc68a]"You know it."[/color] Micheal responded casually. By this point, he had grown to accept the presence of the ghost girl in his life. At first, he had thought he was flipping out, but now...he was certain he had at least partially flipped out. The way he had worked it out in his head, the girl was some kind of subconscious message to him from his own brain, spurring him on to keep looking into those men's deaths. After all, the ghost girl story was related to what had happened, so it made sense he would hallucinate something akin to the descriptions he had heard. It was like some garbage from back in high school level English classes. 

[color=708090]"Perhaps this time you might enjoy a change of pace?"[/color] She handed him something as she spoke. [color=708090]"It is a gift."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"Gee, thanks."[/color] Michael answered sarcastically. Was he now deluding himself into imagining presents from ghosts? [color=fdc68a]"So what the fuck is this supposed to be for?"[/color]

[color=708090]"You will learn of it's true purpose soon enough. I only ask that you do not wear it until you reach the appropriate area."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"And where might that be?"[/color] Michael asked, though he didn't really care what the answer was.

[color=708090]"You're already headed there."[/color] She told him. This made him pause. It was ominous that his delusions seemed to have some kindof plan here. He didn't know what to make of it, but he didn't like the sound of it.

[color=708090]"Tonight, you will receive answers to your questions."[/color] She continued, seemingly paying no heed to his confusion. [color=708090]"Whether those answers will satisfy you is up to you alone. But you will have answers. All that is needed from you is to go to the exact place you always intended."[/color] 

[color=fdc68a]"Ooookaaaay..."[/color] Michael replied reflexively. He was sorely tempted to ask more questions. He wanted to know why he would get answers tonight, why he needed to be in a specific place, and why this was all coming out now. But he had already made up his mind that this was just something going on in his head. There was no ghost girl, it was just his bleeding heart causing him to dream up some weird fantasy about a case he couldn't let go of. [color=fdc68a]"Alright, well, mission accomplish, ghosty. I'm going to the exact same place I meant to already. Now how about you let me get on with it and go become somebody else's delusion, huh?"[/color] With that, he turned away from her and left, not even stopping to see if she was either still there or following him. He'd had enough of this psychological mumbo jumbo and wanted to get on with things. If he really was going to get answers tonight, that was great. Maybe he would stop seeing ghost girls around too. At the very least, "she" seemed to have decided to respect his desire to be left alone.

He managed to go a fair distance before he realised he was holding onto something. Taking a look, it was the mask that the girl had given him. He hadn't looked at it too closely before, but it was definitely the same thing. It was some kindof metal mask. Now Michael was worried. Could he have picked something up in a mentally deluded haze? He really had to have lost it if his brain was inventing stories around things he had done. As creepy and unsettling as this all was, Michael wasn't about to turn around and go home. He was still going to the subway, and there he was going to poke around until he had had enough. If his unconscious mind was really giving him a hint, he would take it.