He went to get water. She was 16, she said she would be fine.

Malcolm found her body when he arrived, and the rabid bear that tore it apart.

The grey world he woke up to was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Endless, devoid of life, silent. Something stalked him through the trees as he ran, trying to find a way out - trying to find an escape.

With a lunge it drove itself into his back, their bodies rolling on the ground as Malcolm fought for freedom. He rolled away and scrambled to stand before it. A rotting wolf stood before him, jaws gaping. The hundred eyes that coated its body flicked forward, drilling Malcolm with fear. Tendons and muscles flexed around exposed bone as it stalked close, rising on its back legs. A tongue lashed against sharklike teeth, blood dripping from the long tongue that tasted the air. It moved in an almost human way, and Malcom thought he was going to be sick.

"I can't bring your child back.. but I offer you another chance at life." "The bear was guided to you, don't you want to know by who?" "You can make sure this never happens to anyone else.."

He woke for a second time, this time brandy and copper coating his tongue. Hospital lights burned at his eyes, and his wife cried out as she threw herself against his chest. That was the last time they touched each other. The loss of their child separated them, and Malcolm's drive to figure out what his Geist knew pushed her away. She couldn't see this horrible creature that stalked the length of their bed, that whispered to him whenever he was awake, that drove him to hunt down ghosts..

So that's what he's doing. He joined the police department and advanced quickly thanks to the otherworldly powers provided by his 'dog'. Found out what his Geist meant when the bear hadn't acted on its own, and put an end to the other Geist-user's life.

Malcolm is now a P.I that takes 'special requests'.