Chapter Four.
Pyro
“Not a single body?” I exclaimed.
“No. Not a hide nor hair of one. Some reckon they were burned in the morgue’s furnace,” Harry said.
“The morgue had an incinerator?” Jack mused. “The deaths here could be much higher than we imagined.”
“We heard about burials, not cremations,” Phil added, frowning.
“This asshole had hundreds of victims at his fingertips. Shit,” Magic growled out, and I glanced at him. This was affecting the big man, who believed women should be worshipped and treated with respect and kindness.
“Okay, let’s get this done. I really hate this place,” I complained. Sunny and Magic both nodded.
“This is an Ovilus Spirit Box. It captures sounds we might not hear, and a spirit can talk to us through it. The Ovilus contains over two thousand words, and spirits can pick them to communicate,” Jack informed us as he showed us the small box he carried.
“I’ve got this EMF thing,” Magic declared, waving it about.
“EMF meter. It detects spikes in the electromagnetic field. Together, the two of them work well,” Phil explained.
“I have the infrared camera,” I said, and we all looked at Sunny, who shrugged.
“I’ve got my eyes and ears,” he stated, and we laughed. The laughter felt wrong here, and it quickly subsided.
I watched as Jack began asking questions. When he didn’t get a reply, Sunny assumed control only to receive identical results.
“Maybe this place isn’t haunted,” Magic boomed, and I almost cringed at how loud his voice was.
“Nah, there’s something here,” Jack replied, frowning. “Pyro, you try.”
“Is anyone here?” I asked, feeling stupid.
We jumped as the Ovilus spat a yes.
“What the hell?” Magic demanded, peering over Jack’s shoulders.
“You got a reaction; keep going,” Jack urged.
“Wonder why?” Sunny mused, and I caught his gaze. His eyes held an awareness that made me uncomfortable. I knew Chance and Bear had guessed about Justice, but had Sunny too? Sunny nodded and somehow conveyed that my secret would go to the grave with him.
Justice surged, feeling murderous and threatened.
But Sunny hadn’t committed a heinous crime, and Justice couldn’t justify killing him.
My alter ego wouldn’t kill an innocent man.
No, Justice hunted the foulest sinners going and punished them ruthlessly.
Chance had once asked if I had split personalities.
Who the fuck knew? Though residing in the same body, Justice and I were completely different. Justice loved fire; I feared it.
Justice sought revenge for victims whom the legal system failed.
What was ironic was that Hellfire hadn’t been clean, and yet Justice ignored our crimes.
I wasn’t fully aware of what he did, and vice versa.
The only thing we agreed upon was Bunny.
Even Justice adored her, and he’d kill for her in the blink of an eye.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Law and son just popped up,” Jack announced. “Lawson.”
“Are you Edwin Lawson? Did you murder those girls?” I pressed.
Yes appeared twice, and I guessed it meant yes to both questions.
“Why are you back?” Jack inquired.
“Purgatory.”
“Damn, that’s harsh,” Magic boomed.
“Only he deserves it if what he did to those women is true,” I snapped, and Magic held his hands up.
I recognised Justice was attempting to control me, his need and thirst for vengeance taking over. With effort, I reined him in.
“Calm down,” Sunny murmured, giving me a sharp look.
I nodded, understanding his concern, and turned my attention back to Jack, who was ignoring us.
“Are you trapped in a hell of your own making?” Magic asked, and Justice approved.
“Yes,” the Ovilus said.
“Sounds fair to me,” I replied.
“No judgements,” Jack warned, and I raised an eyebrow. Bit hard not to judge a serial rapist. If Lawson had been alive today, Justice would have rampaged.
“Do your victims haunt you?” Magic questioned.
“Yes. Torture. Torment. No rest. Hell. Haunted.” The Ovilus spat words quicker than we could see them, but they’d been recorded, anyway.
“Do you harm women who visit?” I demanded suddenly. I’d no idea where the question came from, but it was valid.
The Ovilus went quiet for several long moments. “Touch. Unpermitted. Rough. Slap. Force. Grope.”
“Is this his victims talking?” Jack inquired gently.
“Yes. Certain. Murdered. Hurt. Lost. Forgotten. List.”
“List?” Jack pounded on the word.
“Names. Diary. Secret. Names. Names. Names.”
“Are you saying he kept a journal of who he harmed?” Sunny demanded.
“Yes. Yes. Hidden. Silenced. Names. Journal. Exposed. Harmed. Slaughtered. Raped.”
“Shit. What’s with this damn place and people making lists for evidence?” Sunny murmured.
I shrugged. I’d have no idea.
“Where can we find it?” Magic boomed.
“Concealed. Here.”
“It’s stashed in a secret spot here?” I clarified.
“Yes.”
I turned to the others. “We must discover that list and give the victims justice.”
Callie
At six a.m., we were all on the tour bus instead of heading to bed. “The theme appears to be that we need to discover the lost graves. If they exist, I don’t understand how nobody knows about them.”
“Would it be possible to bury that many bodies and keep it a secret?” Freddie asked.
“Back in those days? Yes. Silence was golden. People knew victims were going missing, but as it didn’t affect them, it was of no concern. That’s twice we’ve been told to find the graveyard,” Jack said.
“The cadaver dog comes in tomorrow. I’ll go with it,” I offered, and Sunny nodded.
“This is shaping into a disturbing investigation. I wonder how many ignored those in pain,” he mused.
“Too many. I’m betting half of the activity here is from those locked in the past, frightened and trapped,” I replied.
“Do you think the owner knows?” Magic boomed, and we all looked at him.
“What?” Bunny hissed, surprised.
“The owner’s got to know. We’ve had too many requests, and other investigators would have too. What’s the bet the owner stopped them from spilling the beans?” Magic continued.
“But…”
“It makes sense. The guy who owns this was adamant we stick to the buildings,” Phil drawled.
“Yeah, he seemed very cagey about us exploring,” Michelle agreed.
“So, we keep everything on the down low. Michelle, do you think you’ll be able to open a portal to let those pass through who wish to?” Connor asked.
“Probably. I can certainly bless the place once we’re done. What if news of the cadaver dogs spread? The owner might try to silence us,” Freddie added.
“Then we check our contract. If there’s nothing forbidding us from looking for the cemetery, then we continue,” I said. “They deserve rest and peace after everything they’ve suffered. Everyone should get to bed. Tonight’s going to be long,” I ordered, and people moved.
Sunny and I walked back to our RV in silence, his arm around my shoulders.
“Will you be okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I hate this. This isn’t the first time a tormented spirit hasn’t been given rest. It’s so wrong,” I murmured as I stared at the rising sun. When it set tonight, I’d get answers. That was a promise.
Sunny – Wednesday
“You’re being taken to the isolation cells. The serial killer Don Jacobs was alleged to have used them to kill the homeless,” Callie said to Connor, Magic, Freddie, and me.
“Okay,” Jack replied.
“Jack, Phil, Bunny, and Pyro, you’ve got the infirmary.”
“Nice,” Magic murmured, rubbing his hands together. “I bet some shit went down there.”
“No doubt. I’ll be walking the grounds with the cadaver dogs and their guides.
There are two coming tonight to confirm each other’s findings.
The good news is Harry found nothing in our contract barring us from searching for the cemetery.
The bad news is that Harry reached out to some contacts.
A paranormal investigator, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirms he was shut down.
He tried to bring in a priest and was threatened,” Callie said.
“Did he say by whom?” I asked, rearing up. Nobody would threaten my woman.
“No. He did say it never sat right with him, and he also debunked a lot of legends around the place, too, which was suppressed,” Harry elaborated.
“Ain’t no money to be made if things are disproved,” Magic ground out.
“The owner does know who we are? That we can’t be silenced?” I asked, somewhat surprised.
“No idea. Considering how long we had to wait to investigate here, I reckon he has a lot of paranormal bookings. What are the odds he got complacent?” Michelle wondered.
“Possibly. Why don’t you take Phil? Freddie can replace him, and I can film my team?” I said to Callie.
Callie turned to look at me. “Why?”
“Because if something is found, it’s on camera and Phil knows how to turn it live and I don’t,” I replied.
We had our own dedicated website. If someone tried to shut Callie down, Phil could stream it live to our website.
Callie followed my train of thought before nodding. “Okay. I can hear cars. You lot get going,” she said, and I nodded. I hoped we’d find some answers because Callie hadn’t slept well last night at all.
Four hours later
“I’m gonna kill you!” I threatened Magic as we raced away from the isolation cells, which were slamming their doors shut.
I could see the gate at the far end beginning to close, which would trap us.
Magic flipped me his middle finger. How the hell had he snuck in a flamethrower?
He’d burn the damn building down around us.
I hit the ground hard as Magic tackled me from behind, and my face bounced off the floor. Jack was holding the camera as I’d grabbed the flamethrower from Magic.
“Give me my weapon back!” Magic growled, sitting on my back and banging my head into the concrete floor.
“Magic! We don’t have time for this!” I yelled.
Magic continued to wrestle me as my eyes latched onto the door.