The most logical explanation was that the camera feed had frozen on a single frame, so Todd grabbed the toaster from off the counter and held it like a weapon as he went to check and see who was really behind the door. Yet, the banging continued until he flung it open to find that there was in fact no one there. After that, the banging stopped for the rest of the night. 

Everyone was officially freaked out at that point. By morning, Trevor had packed up his essentials and decided to stay at his sister's place for a bit. Elijah found it thrilling though and started talking about documenting the anomaly. 

Aaron on the other hand was glad he hadn't completely gone mental over what was happening. Now that the others saw that something strange was happening, they wouldn't consider him insane when he told them the rest. 

Todd was acting as the house, making sure no one jumped to conclusions. He theorized that the camera feed was playing back older footage or had gotten frozen on a single frame with the audio stuck on a recording of the knocking just before the culprit ran off. It was newly installed after all, so anything was possible, and he pushed that theory so hard, that most of the others began to believe it. 

This time, Aaron chose to sleep in his room, finding it less scary than whatever was happening downstairs. Firstly, Caleb may have been a ghost, but he still acted like a person that he could talk and reason with. But that door... Whatever it was, it didn't seem to respond to words. It was something creepier, something unknown... 

Aaron completely forgot about his video editing for the day. He kind of liked Trevor's idea to move back in with his parents, then remembered why he moved out in the first place and dropped that thought like a hot potato. 

Not that his parents were bad people. They were just a bit old-fashioned...

As everyone scrambled to figure out what to do, he was left alone with Cliff, the skeptic, who had grown overly attached to Todd's explanation and took every chance to roll his eyes at the other whenever they started talking about it. 

"I'm telling you; it's just someone playing pranks." He snorted, sitting at the dining room table for once and sipping at his glass of sweet tea. "Y'all just want to be special." 

"But what if that's not the case?" Aaron dared to argue. 

It was just him, Cliff, and Justin now. Justin was the strong silent type who preferred listening instead of talking. 

"You saying ghosts are real?" Cliff asked. 

"Dude, I told you about Caleb. He was in my room, sleeping in a spare bed that was never there!"

"Are you still on that?"

"Yes!" Aaron huffed. "I was never OFF that. After what Elijah said, I went to confront him, and he just vanished." 

"Sounds like my dad." Cliff chuckled and Aaron his full attention. "Alright, fine. So, what happened then? Did you and Mr. Ghost have a fight or something?"

"No? Why would you think that?" 

"Well, you're saying we're being haunted by that Caleb guy, and since that's the only ghost any of us have seen, that means he's gotta be the one banging on the door at night, right?"

Aaron shook his head. "No, I don't think it's him. Last night he didn't seem to hear it at all." 

"Bitch what?" Cliff eyed him. "Why are you talking like that ghost was standing there with you?" 

"Because he was?"

It was at that point that Cliff stood, hands raised, and head bowed. "I'm out man. Justin, you're on your own."

Aaron watched him head back upstairs, then waited to see if Justin had any input. The man just rubbed the back of his neck, averted his gaze, and walked out as well. 

Even after what happened, they still didn't believe him. 

He thought he was at least a little close to Cliff and was disappointed that his roommate was so adamant about there being no ghosts. It was upsetting, but it looked like Aaron would have to find another source of information. He'd already tried a google search on Caleb, but that didn't come up with much. He'd like to call their landlord and see what he knew about the property, but the guy was out of town currently. That meant that Aaron would have to find another way to gather information about the guy's disappearance. 

He remembered that Caleb mentioned working the late shift at a local grocery store, stocking the shelves. If memory served, there was only one place in the immediate area that was open 24 hours. So he quickly went back to the guys' abandoned Facebook page and sure enough, that same store was listed as his last job.

Dressing up in normal clothes for once, Aaron trotted off, hoping to find one or two workers who may recognize the name, Caleb Morris. Then again, he should have known right from the start that no one would know who he was talking about since it was noon, and this was the day shift. 

The first woman he spoke to had only just started working there two years ago, another one was a part-timer. The third just said they had never heard the name before. 

His first idea was shot down immediately. All he wanted was to know where Caleb went the night he disappeared. Did he say he was going home? Did he leave with someone else? 

He wondered if there was any way to get information from the police, if any. Or perhaps he could reach out to Caleb's family? 

No, that was the worst idea. Aaron was a stranger, and he was fairly sure the guy's parents would not appreciate some random person popping in to tell them that their missing son was, in fact, dead. 

It'd be convenient if he could just ask Caleb's ghost the next time he saw him, but of course, things weren't as simple as that anymore. 

On his way out, Aaron made sure to buy a pack of gum so he wouldn't look suspicious or be accused of shoplifting. 

Popping a stick of gum in his mouth, he passed by a local Wicca shop. He paused, wondering if they'd know anything about ghosts, then shook his head violently as he realized how ridiculous it was for him to even consider resorting to 'witchcraft.' Ghosts were one thing, but he wasn't quite willing to accept all forms of the supernatural just yet. 

He decided he'd give the internet one last shot. There had to be something on there, and he couldn't imagine Caleb's parents had just let the case go cold without putting up some effort to expand the search. 

Arriving home, he bumped into Elijah who was sitting at the dining table, giddy with excitement as he set up a selfie stand next to an unboxed circle lamp. 

"What are you doing?" Aaron decided to ask. 

Elijah tossed him a wide smile. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I'm getting ready to start my supernatural career!"

"You're really into this, aren't you?"

"Aw hell yeah! Do you know how much money there is in ghost hunting? No one ever gets the real deal on camera, but baby, we sure will!" He pounded his chest excitedly. "I ordered me some of those ghost detectors. Plus, I did a ton of research online and you won't believe all the crazy shit I found!" 

"Oh yeah?" Aaron took a slight interest as he hovered closer to the table. 

Elijah continued to grin ear to ear. "Hell yeah! Like, did you know that when something knocks at your door, it might not be a ghost, but a demon trying to get in?" 

"Freaky shit, right?" Elijah looked far too excited at the prospect of having a demon knocking down their front door. 

Then again, Aaron was also trying to find answers as to what was going on, and so far, Elijah was the only one really into this creepy shit. In fact, he was the first one to suggest that Caleb was a ghost. 

"Now the question is, who is it after?"

"It's after someone?" Aaron scoffed. "Why?"

"That's what they do. They find someone with the right energy, then feed off them." 

"Buy why here? Wait... what if it's after a ghost that's already in the house?"

Elijah slapped the table. "Dude that's right! You were talking about that Caleb guy being a ghost before, which, let's be honest, I called." 

"Yeah, you did. And you know what? I've got a lot of other crazy stuff going on that no one believes me about." 

"Like what?"

"Like..." He realized he couldn't just nosedive into this. As eager as Elijah was to find the underlying cause of this supernatural mystery, he didn't want to overload the guy. "Okay, so Caleb sort of vanished into thin air when I suggested that he was dead, and he looked terrified when he heard the knocking." 

'Like... Poof?" The man gestured with his hands questioningly, and Aaron nodded. "Bro, that must have been so cool! Can you get him to do it again?"

Aaron sat down. "I... I don't know how to contact him. He sort of appears when he wants to. But you know, I think I have an idea." He scratched his chin. "What if I set up cameras in my room where he usually appears? And in the hall?"

"I ain't got the money for that. I already broke the bank getting all the other junk." 

"I do though," Aaron grinned. "What do you say to an alliance?" 

END OF CHAPTER 5.