Chapter Two. #2
“You might be correct,” he murmured, and I puffed up.
Of course, I was right. I’m Magic.
Bunny
I was on edge and nervous. Jack had explained how things might happen as we entered the men’s wing. The upper floor was where shadow figures were seen, and I was both excited and wary about what we might possibly find.
Jack had what he called a spirit box with him, and I was carrying a voice recorder. Pyro hadn’t wanted anything, but my pout had made him pick up an EMF hybrid crossed with a temperature monitor. Phil was following on our heels, and we all had personal cameras strapped to us.
“Harry, we’re on the second floor of the men’s wing. Starting our investigation now,” Jack called in.
“Michelle is monitoring you,” Harry replied.
“Any further information we need?” Jack inquired.
“I’ve discovered eight recorded deaths on that floor. A patient went nuts and slaughtered three male nurses and four patients. A doctor shot and killed him,” Harry responded.
“Whoa, a doctor was armed?” Pyro asked, sounding incredulous.
“Yeah, disturbing thought, isn’t it? The account states the gun was locked in a cabinet until Tom Cain lost control. The doc pulled it out and fired twice, but Tom kept rushing at him. It took three more bullets to put Tom down,” Harry elaborated.
“That makes fourteen deaths we know of here?” Jack confirmed.
“Yes.”
“Thanks, Harry. Okay, let’s start. Hello, I’m Jack, and this is my cameraman, Phil, and my friends, Bunny and Pyro. We’ve come to talk to you tonight, and we mean you no harm, nor any disrespect. Is anyone here?”
Jack placed the spirit box down as I waved my voice recorder around.
“Could you state your name?” Jack asked. The static from the spirit box peaked, and Jack looked at it.
“Pyro, watch your gauges,” he said. Pyro nodded.
“Can you tell us your name?” Jack repeated, and the spirit box crackled and hissed.
“Edward.”
Pyro and I swapped wide-eyed glances.
“Thanks, Edward. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jack stated politely.
“Bullshit,” the spirit box squealed, and I jumped.
I grabbed Pyro as I stared in disbelief at the spirit box on the floor. “Did that just cuss us out?” I gasped, unsure whether to be amused or insulted.
“Yeah,” Pyro growled out, offering a glare at it.
“That was new,” Jack added with a cheerful smile.
“Don’t you like company, Edward?” he asked.
“Fuck off!”
I choked on a gasp, trying not to laugh. This was serious, but something about the spirit box swearing at us was funny.
“Edward, you don’t have to speak to us if you don’t want to,” Jack said calmly.
The spirit box shrieked, and I covered my ears. But I couldn’t discern a word.
“Does anyone, besides Edward, wish to talk?” I asked, and everything fell silent.
“Woman,” the box announced clearly.
“Yes, I’m a woman. Are you Edward?”
“No.”
“What is your name?” I didn’t get an answer.
Pyro’s EMF let out a ding, and he looked down. “The temperature is falling.”
“Okay, are the lights at the top lighting up?” Jack asked.
“Yes. Three out of the five,” Pyro replied. “What does that mean?”
“It’s showing the level of paranormal activity. Three is medium. Let me know if it gets any higher.”
“Hey, is that a silhouette?” I inquired, staring at a presence at the end of the corridor.
“Where?” Jack demanded, turning to look.
“There.” I pointed. I could swear it was a male figure, but you couldn’t make out any features. It was human-shaped, and that’s all I could tell.
“Phil,” Jack said.
“I’ve got it. There’s also something behind it. A shapeless mist, light grey, almost white in colour, to the left of it,” Phil replied.
Pyro crowded me, and I knew he was ready to grab me and run if need be.
We watched for several more minutes and spotted a third shape.
This one made me shiver. It scurried up a wall and crawled around the ceiling.
Then it rushed towards us and darted back, repeating the action several times.
The shape reminded me of a contorted human spider.
“I don’t like this,” I muttered, and Pyro wrapped an arm around me. I didn’t know what I thought would happen, but this was scary.
“There’s another,” Jack murmured and pointed to a doorway. A small figure stood there; again, it was hard to distinguish a shape. If it was a grown man, he was a very short one. This was beyond disturbing.
“Are you getting them?” Jack asked.
“Yes, and this can’t be debunked. There are too many, and they’re not our shadows because look, ours are there,” Phil said and pointed. He turned the camera toward our shadows and filmed them.
The spirit box cackled and spat a word out. “Watching.”
“Yes, you are, aren’t you?” Jack agreed.
“Did you die here?” Phil called out.
“Shut up. Death. Killed. Murder. Blood. Insane.” The words floated out of the spirit box as we all gaped.
“Do you mean us harm?” Jack asked.
“Yes. No. Maybe. Woman. Smell. Drink. Blood. Talk. Fuck off! Kill you,” the static hissed.
“More than one person is haunting here,” Jack figured out.
“There are several at least,” Pyro agreed, on edge and alert as his head kept darting from one area of the room to another.
“Do you think they’re evil?” I asked.
“Good question. Something feels off here, but evil? I can’t honestly say,” Jack replied.
Somehow, that didn’t reassure me like Jack thought it would.
I had a newfound respect for what Callie and Sunny did, and they did this weekly!
I don’t know what I’d expected, but it hadn’t been this.
This situation was frightening, edgy, and worrying.
I’d not really considered the paranormal, but I certainly was now.
Ghosts had been things like Casper on TV, not real spirits with thoughts and emotions.
I was getting a rude awakening into the supernatural, and it was a whole new learning curve.
Deep down, I’d guessed that Callie faked a lot of the footage, but now I was up front and personal, and it was certainly opening my eyes.
“You okay?” Pyro asked.
“Yes, reconsidering my outlook on a few things… did that move?” My voice ended up high-pitched as Pyro’s silhouette moved of its own accord.
“What?” he asked, spinning around.
“Damn!” Jack exclaimed as Pyro’s shadow stayed still and didn’t move with him. “Phil, are you getting this?”
“Yeah. Pyro, how are you feeling?” Phil asked.
“A bit light-headed but okay,” Pyro replied.
Jack sent him a concerned look. “Do you feel tired?”
“Yeah.” Pyro yawned.
“They’re draining him, using his energy to materialise. We need to get out of here. None of us has enough protection to beat this back,” Jack said.
“I’ve a cross,” I said, showing Jack it.
“Is it blessed? No? Then it’s no good. Michelle can bless it for you, but Pyro has no defence. Come on, let’s go,” Jack insisted.
“Stay! Feed! Come!” Voices floated in the air, barely audible but loud enough that we could hear them.
“Go!” Jack nearly yelled, and we hurried away. Once outside, I noticed Pyro seemed to wake up and regain his strength.
“He needs a drink and to sit down for a few minutes,” Jack stated. “I’ll report in to Callie while he recuperates.”
“Callie shouldn’t go anywhere near that,” I snapped, worried.
“Callie will level up her protection. She’s not stupid and extremely experienced, Bunny. Don’t be concerned about her.”
“No, we should worry about them,” Pyro said and pointed.
Jack, Phil, and I turned around, and my jaw dropped. Faintly glowing in the darkness of the night, several men, women, and children moved away from us in white gowns and old-fashioned clothing.
My hand went to cover my mouth. I was actually witnessing my first ghost. Holy crap!