Chapter Three. #2
“Yeah,” I picked up my radio and then stared at it disbelievingly. The case had a large crack, and water was leaking out. I held it up and showed Dive, who shook his head.
“That wasn’t the room’s ghost,” he stated. I wasn’t arguing.
Gizmo
Comfortable on the bed, Suga relaxed, not a care in the world.
He was the most relaxed of all of us over this stuff.
Although that’s probably because if anything’s going to happen, it will happen to him.
Suga was resigned now to whatever happened.
He reminded us of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.
We kept threatening to get him a Great Dane.
“I’m going to nap,” Suga muttered, and I sighed. That was also his superpower: his ability to sleep absolutely anywhere.
“Yeah, man,” I muttered.
Within seconds, he was snoring lightly, and I shook my head.
I leaned back in the shadows. I didn’t mind the investigation part, but I had issues with being on camera.
While Suga snored, I opened my voice app and asked some questions.
Pure silence greeted me in return. We’d never had much activity in this room despite the reports.
Minutes became hours, and Suga kept snoring.
I began playing a game on my phone when I heard a shuffle. I glanced over at Suga and saw he was still out for the count. The noise happened again, and sitting up straight, I looked around, confused. Nothing was moving, but it felt like someone was here with me—other than Sleeping Beauty.
Alert, I shrank back into the shadows and blinked as a white figure appeared in the bathroom doorway. Slowly, regally, she began walking towards the bed. I hoped the camera was getting all of this because I daredn’t move. She paused at the end of the bed and crunched over a little to stare at Suga.
Suga kept snoring, and I shook my head in disbelief. He’d kick himself for this later. Then, creepily, she turned her head, not her body, and stared at me. Shivers ran down my spine as she smiled, focused back on the doorway, and moved towards it. She passed through, and I exhaled loudly.
“Suga!” My voice came out a squeak.
“Not now,” Suga complained.
“Wake the hell up! The white lady showed up,” I was up out of my chair and heading for the camera. Hopefully, it had caught it all.
“Recorded that here,” Reaver called over the radio. I fumbled my camera and nearly dropped it, but I caught it and hit the playback button. My jaw hit the floor as the ghost appeared and drifted across the room. Suga sat up with a curse as his eyes widened.
“She stared at me! You didn’t wake me up, you fuck!” he shouted.
“She might have disappeared if I woke you,” I replied calmly.
Suga’s jaw dropped open as he stared at me. “Are you kidding me? You sacrificed me for footage?”
“Yeah, like you wouldn’t do the same,” I retorted. Reaver and Lich’s laughter was booming over the radio as I grinned at Suga. He knew damn well he’d have done the same.
“Time to eat. Come on down and bring your equipment,” Haunt called over the radio.
“Roger,” I replied as Suga got to his feet, looking betrayed.
Haunt
I suppressed a chuckle as we observed Suga helplessly snoring, with Gizmo looking on.
The camera recorded the woman. Her white hair was coiffed in a tidy chignon, and she wore a necklace.
The ghost wore a Regency-style day dress, and I placed her in her sixties.
Her expression was kind as she gazed upon Suga, but what startled me was her interaction with Gizmo. She’d looked straight at him.
“That’s reactive. She was aware Gizmo was there, but didn’t regard him as a threat,” I said. The ghost regally carried on and disappeared through the doorway.
“Replay that,” Reaver ordered. We slowed the recording and observed it in detail.
“What will you do with it?” Callie inquired, eating a sandwich.
“Nothing. If we come across things like that, we keep them away from public scrutiny. If this footage got out, the Inn would be booked solid and the ghosts here harassed. She’s not hurting someone. In fact, there’s almost a motherly kindness in her expression,” I said.
Callie held my gaze. “That footage would make your club’s name. You’d be world famous.”
“More to life than fame, Callie. That’s not what we’re about. We took the TV deal for several reasons. We wanted to reach more people and to show them how to investigate correctly, and that agitating and insulting spirits is wrong. They may be dead, but they’ve still got feelings,” I stated.
“You’re preaching to the choir. It’s nice to meet someone who thinks the same as us. That footage is something special, though. It’s so clear it’s almost frightening,” Callie admitted.
“That was the closest we’ve been to a physical ghost. I was terrified but excited at the same time, and I’ve done this for fifteen years,” Gizmo said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up,” Suga complained.
“Serves you right for falling to sleep on the job,” I scolded, and Suga shrugged.
“Are we swapping around?” Jack asked, and I nodded.
“We’ll stay in our teams but move the rooms. Suga’ll probably find that room boring too.
Suga flipped me the bird, and I ignored him. As I began to list who was going where, an unholy scream raced through the Inn. We all froze where we sat or stood.
“What the hell was that?” Michelle finally gasped.
“Good question,” Reaver replied, looking around.
“We better investigate,” Lucky stated grimly.
“Do we have to?” Dive whined.
“Yeah. Ain’t got a lot of choice in that,” I replied and rose to my feet.
What had this entity done now?