Charlie took a few steps back from the stranger and shook his head, bringing both hands up and waving them in front of him. He looked the stranger up and down, he didn't need to ask to know what he was, based on his presence alone he was standing in front of an investigator.
"Wait! Hold on a minute all I was doing was messing about, there's no need for you to take me in"
The man sighed and brought a hand up to his face before dragging it down. He moved that same hand and reached into his pocket, taking out a card that seemed to be some sort of identification which he showed to Charlie. The card contained some basic details, explaining how he was an investigator and giving some medical details, but most importantly it had the man's name.
'Lawrence Smith'
"Look kid, i'm just trying to do my job. I'm not here to get you in trouble, you could see that ghost which means i've gotta take you in"
Charlie's face shifted into a confused expression and he tilted his head slightly to the side. He let one of his arms drop down and brought the other to rub the back of his head while he processed that
"Yeah? Everyone can see ghosts? Right?"
Lawrence put the card back into his pocket and then put both of his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes, starting to walk towards the door he had entered from.
"No… I need you to come with me, it shouldn't take long but you need to take a test"
Charlie followed the man through the building and when they got to the front door he grabbed his bag which he had dropped and took his phone out from his pocket to check the time. He didn't need to be anywhere for a while so going along with this wouldn't hurt.
Lawrence walked to the sidewalk and turned left, starting to walk along. He looked around while he walked, his eyes seeming to never stay on one thing. The whole walk he spent analysing everything as he walked, everything seemed to grab his gaze.
Charlie didn't speak for a while, at first he was expecting the man to start but then he just felt awkward. Eventually a question that had been burning in the back of his head since he saw the ID managed to force its way out of his lips.
"How did you become an investigator?"
Lawrence for once stopped letting his eyes shoot around and he turned his head slightly to look at Charlie, thinking for a moment before he took a deep breath and nodded.
"The same way you're about to"
A slight sparkle seemed to light up in Charlie's eyes and a smile forced its way onto his lips, he blinked a couple of times while processing everything before he looked ahead and then back at the man.
"Are you serious?! All cause I can see ghosts?!"
Lawrence had a soft chuckle escape his lips before he nodded and brought a hand out of his pocket, moving it to give Charlie a thumbs up.
"That's all you need.. I take it you want the job then?"
Charlie nodded his head quickly, practically shaking in anticipation now. It was all he had wanted since he was young, he wanted to actually make a difference in the world. He kept nodding for several seconds before eventually he stopped.
"More than anything, it's my dream"
Lawrence just had a small smile break out on his face and for the rest of the walk the two didn't say another word.
About two hours of walking went by before they finally got to a large metal gate. Lawrence walked up to a small box on the right, it had a speaker and a small slot for a card to be inserted. He took out his investigators licence and inserted it into the slot, a loud buzz rung out before the large metal gate started to slowly open and he took out the card, walking through the gate and waving his hand to signal for Charlie to follow.
Charlie of course did, following the man to a very large building, it was very clearly the institute he was so excited to work for. He made his way towards the front door and once he was inside he simply followed along after Lawrence, walking with him through the meticulously taken care of hallways, not knowing where else to go.
Lawrence brought the boy to a room, it had one mirror and a table with a chair on either side. He sat down with his back to the mirror and pointed at the seat across from him.
Charlie looked at the chair and walked over to it, sitting down and leaning forwards. He put his hands on the desk and started to tap his fingers on it.
"Why does it feel like you're interrogating me?"
Lawrence brought his arms to cross them over his chest and looked the boy up and down. He took a deep breath and then let out a soft chuckle.
"It might feel like that, it's nothing so serious though. All you need to do is hold your arms out"
Charlie raised an eyebrow but did as told, lifting both arms up and holding them out towards Lawrence while he stared at him, waiting for whatever this test was to happen.
Lawrence closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, a cold mist starting to flow out from his body, it slowly creeped up Charlie's legs, and then up his torso, and then finally it crawled along his arms, once it made its way along to his fists the mist started to swirl quickly around them and creating a sphere around both hands.
Charlie looked at the spheres and his eyes widened a little, he felt cold. After a few seconds opened his mouth to speak, starting to get curious about what was happening.
"Is this telling you something?"
There was a nod from the other man before he opened his eyes and the mist seemed to dissipate. He stood up and put his hands into his pockets, a smile forming on his lips and he looked charlie up and down.
"That tells me you're able to become an investigator, you are able to control spiritual energy. That means you're able to do the one thing we need you to"
He took the polaroid he had previously taken out of his pocket and placed it onto the table, looking at Charlie and then crossing his arms over his chest.
"There's usually an official process, but i'd prefer if you showed me what you can do before all of that crap. So try and absorb that ghost that tried to attack you, show me your best"
Charlie looked at the polaroid that was out in front of him and then looked back at Lawrence before he picked up the polaroid. He didn't have a clue on what to do so he just tried to picture what he saw earlier, a thick mist leaving the polaroid and this time he tried to imagine it moving to himself. That was his best guess on how this process worked.
The polaroid seemed to respond to what he was trying as a mist started to slowly spill from it and the image of the ghost was starting to shift inside of the picture, moving as if it was walking out from the picture it was currently trapped in.