Leon rubbed his chin as he looked down on the grim face of a Polynesian mask, its teeth bared in rage, a large flared nose, and a long folded mask over its own eyes then curved to fall behind the wearer's shoulders. If the threat was capable of mind control or at the very least mental alternation, everyone would be at high risk. Leon gritted his teeth as he lifted the mask to put it on. It seemed to pull itself onto his face. At first, there was just a whisper in his ear as the wood pressed against him, but it grew louder. It was a foreign dead language, but the meaning was known to Leon.

“Back again? And so soon. You may as well keep my mask on.”

“Ku, we both know that’s not happening. We have our bargain. I just need a ward.”

“And what are we trading for that?”

“Blood, and by my guess lots of it.”

“You have my attention.”

“There’s a murderer using mind-altering magics, and as usual I’m sure there’s more to it. You guard my mind. I’ll trade them for the service. If nothing happens you’ll never have to of fulfilled your side so neither will I.”

Leon could feel the mask’s grimace turn into a vile grin.

“I accept. The odds of bloodshed around you always are high. You are free to go now.”

The mask returned to normal and removed its grip on Leon. Pulling it off Leon set it on his desk. The mask began to morph again turning into a pair of aviator’s. Leon put them back on and could again hear Ku.

“Your people have a very limited idea of design. My previous harbingers would be proud to don the mask.” Ku growled in disgust.

“Your previous harbingers were on a desert island with nothing else to do.” Leon reminded the spirit.

“Just wake me when the killing starts.” Ku laughed before his voice went entirely silent.

Leon sorted through the rest of his equipment making sure he had the totems he wanted. As useful as they were they tended to be a better defensive tool. After being set down they could provide their abilities in a decent range. If they kept being moved the spirits would get angry and rest instead of aiding the user. With that, all sorted Leon grabbed the phone and punched in a number far longer than normal. After a bit, the phone connected and the call went through.

“Howls in the night…” Said a voice.

“Call for silver bullets,” Leon replied.

“Hey, if it isn’t Tiki McGee. How’s it going, Leon?” The voice on the other end laughed.

“Hi, Jaklo. Could be better. This isn’t a social call. We’ve become involved with a case in Maine.” Leon sighed

“Would be possible. My group just headed out to Las Vegas. Magic artifact at a big auction. Lots of nonsense in the way. Sorry that I can’t give you any help on the ground.” Jaklo sounded almost disappointed at the prospect of missing out.

“It’s fine. I was wondering if there was anything you knew about going on around the Portland area.” Leon continued

“There’s always things going on in Portland. Big port means plenty of space for things to come in and go out. Ya gotta be more specific.” Jaklo said.

“How about cults? Mental augmentation?” Leon added.

“Hmmm, I mean Maine has a pretty high population of occult users, whether they know it or not, so covens and such pop up all the time. The mental cases… well, there was one a while ago. Guy, forget the description, went raving mad was spewing absolute gibberish. The guy runs up to a cop, steals his gun, and blows his own brains out. Now there’s suicide, and there’s extremely bizarre suicide, but this we’re almost certain was murder. We have no clue on who yet, but a single case wasn’t priority when this artifact showed up in Vegas.” Jaklo explained.

“Okay, I’ll see if I can dig in on that one. Maybe get our psychic to find the guy if she can.” Leon considered as he finished jotting down a shorthand of what Jaklo had explained.

“If ya find anything out you’re more than welcome to call again. Also if ya get a chance to swing by Belfast in a few days you’re more than welcome to stop by.”

“We’ll see how this plays out. Don’t wanna be away from home longer than I have to.” Leon said with a certain finality.

“Mhmm, well talk to ya later.” Jaklo excused himself.

“Yeah, bye,” Leon said before hanging up.