Nobody says a word for a few seconds after Jillian finishes telling her version of events, well, minus the part where the priest was possessed and I pushed him to his death.
My heart skips a beat as I study Jillian's face, looking for a any sign on her face that screams, "We're lying!" But find nothing. She just blinks up at her son with large, innocent eyes. Mason studies her for a while, making me extremely nervous.
Surely he knows his mother well enough to sense she isn't telling the whole truth? His a thoughtful expression says as much. Oh God, we're going to jail, he knows. He must! He starts nibbling at his lower lip, looking at Jillian with suspicion as he says,
“If all you heard was a knock at the door, how do you know that it was the cops? Couldn’t it have been some kids looking for a good scare? We know that the local kids used to break in there, attempt their own paranormal investigations and play with ouija boards.”
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Finding mh own voice again I open my speak, but the look I get from Jillianthe second Mason looks away from her, tells me to shut it straight away.
She clears her throat, drawing Masons attention back to her. “Because they announced themselves after we didn’t answer. It was most definitely not the neighbourhood kids, Love." Jillian is an extremely good liar, something I'm quite shit at myself. But if she's lying to her own son about what happened, there must be a reason.
Mason takes a few moments to think about this before looking between Jillian and I. In a second his face changes and he focuses on his mom. "Mom, when you said you took her to your house, did you go in her car, or yours?”
The way he said her makes it abundantly clear that he can’t stand me. I suppose I can't blame him, if someone took my Mom on a wild run from the cops after exposing her to what they refer to as a demon, I’d also be a little pissed at that person.
Jillian’s face pales as she starts to sway on her feet. I'm not even sure if she's faking or not! Mason obviosuly believes it. He rushes to her and helps her into the chair Danny was sitting in moments ago. She takes a deep breath and looks up at her son.
"We went home in my car, and back to her house in my car as well.” Everyone groans and looks at Mason. He turns his back to his mother and addresses everyone in the room, carefully making sure to meet the eyes of everyone in the room, well, everyone but me.
“Okay guys, gear up. We’ve got to go to the house and get the car back, if there are any cops around, leave the talking to me. While we’re there, we might as well investigate and see if there’s any way we can get rid of whatever is in this house, quick and easy. Hey, Chuck, you and Felicia head out to the van and prepare the surveillance. If we manage to make contact with whatever’s there, I want evidence. Danny, go grab the EMF Detector, infrared thermometer, flashlight and the geoport.”
She squeals excitedly, clapping her hands together like a child who’s just received the best gift ever. “Yay! Another case, I’m so happy. I really thought we’d have to wait a while longer before we eventually got another assignment.”
Mason glares at her with a look so intense, if it were directed at me I'd probably shit my pants! Danny, however, remains unaffected as she catches his stare and puts one hand over her mouth and giggles.“Oops! Said to much? I’ll just go get the stuff and meet Felicia and Chuck at the van, see ya now now!”
With that, she scampers away. Mason sighs and bends over to ruffle through a brown leather backpack on the ground. He pulls out a flashlight, switches it on and off before removing the batteries and replacing them. I walk up behind him and clear my throat. He turns around and I give him my brightest smile, trying to mimic Danny's cheerful voice I say, “So...what about me, huh? Should I just go out and meet them at the..” “No.” He says without looking up.
“No?” I say, shocked by his rudeness even though that’s basically the only thing I’ve experienced from him the moment we set foot on the patio. He carries on fiddling with the flashlight as he speaks again this time his voice even harsher than before.
"Are you deaf? I said no. You aren’t going with.” his words make my jaw drop. I can feel the familiar waves of heat creeping up my neck and spread along my shoulders and up to my cheeks as my anger intensifies. Who the hell does he think he is?
"Excuse me, but you are going to my house. I don’t even know what you think you’re going to achieve. Many people have tried getting rid of whatever creature is there and obviously, people have died. What makes you think you’ll do any better?”
“We will get rid of this entity one way or another, like you said, many people have died in your house, trying to give you a better living environment so that you can live in peace. People have died that house, it's no joke.We need to stop all of the demonic hauntings going on there. Not just for you, but for the safety of the locals who think that playing with the dead is fun." He stands up and spins around to face me. "This isn’t some game for silly, inexperienced little girls to try out, this is real, and it's dangerous."
Just as he finished, Felicia popped her head into the room, in a deeper voice that I'm used to hearing from her sister she says, “Alright, Boss, we're all set, you ready for this?” He watches me for a few seconds more before bending over and shoving his hand back inside the backpack before pulling out a cell phone and shoving it in his pocket.
“Yup, let's get going.” He zips up the backpack and swings it on his back before walking towards the back door. I follow closely behind him, determined not to let him get his way. Obviously I know it's dangerous, I lived there alone for months! I know what lives there more than anyone alive and here to tell the tale.
Just as we reach the yard he stops and looks back. “What did I say?” This whole macho man shit is really getting old, but if he wants to play, I can play. “You said ‘we will get rid of this entity and since it was only you, Jillian and I in the room, I assumed you meant me too.”
I say sweetly as I step past him by make my way towards the small group gathered around the back of the van. I hear a grunt behind me, which reminds me immediately of Jillian’s husband. Maybe that’s where he gets his manners from, couldn’t be from Jillian, that’s for sure.
Oh shit, Jillian! “What about your mom? Will she be okay here alone?” “No, probably not. You should stay to keep her company. This isn’t a job for amateurs." Just then Jillian appears at one of the large windows, pointing a finger at us. “Mason, stop speaking nonsense, I’ll be fine! Go ahead, Dearie, I'm just going to make some tea and relax."
Jillian shouts. Danny walks over and grabs my arm gently. “Come on, we have to leave now before the sun comes up. If the cops are there they’ve probably already taken down Jillian’s registration number or even worse, busted the door down and found the body. Let’s kick it!” She says cheerily as she leads me to the back of the van, where does this girl get all of her energy? I think to myself as she leads me around to the back of the van.
As we all crowd in through the back door, Mason jumps into the drivers side and Felicia takes the passenger seat. He looks over at her and gives her a smile. What the hell? Are those two together? Oh well, crush defeated. I should give myself some more time anyway before letting some gorgeous asshole sweep me off my feet.
Well, point a gun at me, sweep me off my feet, same thing. I don’t usually like the bad boy type, it’s just frustrating. Why does he hate me so much? I’m not ugly, I usually have no problem getting the attention of a man, sometimes unwanted attention but still!
I tear my eyes away from the couple and look around the van. The back seats have been taken out and replaced with one long bench running down the left side of the van. Connected to the right part of the windowless van are three large screens, all split into different frames that show nothing but darkness at the moment.
Everyone is keeping themselves busy with all sorts of different gadgets I've never seen before. I lean over to Chuck, making sure to keep my voice soft as I ask. “What exactly do you guys do? What is all this stuff?” He looks towards the drivers seat before clearing his throat and whispering.
"The screens over here will monitor any movement and activity in the house. We set up cameras in the most haunted parts of the house and one of us will sit here in the van and watch to see if anything paranormal happens. If we see anything, we communicate through microphones attached to our shirts, if the person in the van spots anything out of the ordinary in another room, they communicate through this walkie talkie, so that the team inside know where to go next in order to make contact with the spirits.”
“But how do you make contact?” I ask, suddenly even more curious. This time Danny leans closer too, and in a not so soft voice says, “So basically we use this EMF reader right here.” She holds up a small rectangular shaped box with little lights on it.
"If there’s a ghost present, they disturb the electromagnetic field which in turn, makes this thing right here light up." She taps the top of the device, just above the little lights. "Some choose to communicate through electronics. You see, they’re able to easily interfere with energy because obviously, that’s what they are. So usually they’ll use a flashlight to answer questions. On for yes, off for no.”
She clicks a flashlight on and off, holding it under her face. I take the opportunity to whisper the question I've been dying to ask. “So you’re ghost hunters?” "Basically, yes.” She says with a proud smile. “How did you all get into this?” I ask, before any of them can answer, the car comes to a stop and Mason announces,
“Alright guys, we’re here. Doesn’t seem to be any cops around but we’re going to set up ‘round back just in case. Danny, you and Macaela stay here and watch the cameras. Felicia, Chuck and I will go in and set up. Let us know if you see any activity. Macaela, you say you went out through the back, do we need keys or is the door still open?”
“It should still be open, but take these just in case.” I fish the keys out of my pocket and throw them to him. They jingle in the air before he lifts his hand up and catches them. He looks down at the keys and then back up at me. Suddenly his features soften for a moment, I can’t read the expression on his face, but I’m sure I just saw a look of pity?
Before I can analyse it any further he turns around and leaves. As soon as I’m sure they’re out of earshot I turn to Danny. “What’s his deal? Is he always so rude?” She giggles a little, “Nah, he’s a really good guy. He’s just closed off when it comes to new people. He doesn’t like letting strangers in on what we do and who we are, you can imagine the type of judgement we all faced growing up different.”
“What do you mean by different? What are you?” she shifts uncomfortably before peaking out the back of the van and closing its doors. “Okay, so don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, Mason will be super pissed if he finds out I told you.”
This is going to be interesting. I nod, encouraging her to carry on. “Mason is an empath, he is extremely sensitive to the energy around him, as well as energies of people and spirits. Chuck is really good with equipment and analysing data after we’ve recorded it, he also has like, zero fear of the dead, which trust me, comes in handy!
Felicia has the gift of communication. Although she can’t see them, she hears them as clearly as one would when talking to someone else on a cell phone. Me, I’m basically a combination of Masom and Felicia. I also hear them, not as clearly, but then again I do get a little frightened at times so they believe it’s my subconscious blocking it off.
It gets a bit much you know? When you can feel the sadness or anger of a spirit as well as hear their voices. So most of the time, I sit in the van and keep a look out from here.” “Wow, so you guys have been doing this for a long time?” “Not as long as other investigators, I’d say it’s been about three years.” “How many hauntings have you investigated?"
“Since we all got together, we’ve been to thirty different locations. Some here in SA, some in England where Chuck has family." Just then one of the blank screens buzz to life. Danny turns her attention to it, immediately forgetting our conversation. "Ooh, there we go, the cameras are up.”515Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoJ2ym5i4Q
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