The New Paranormal

by Jackson Tyler

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

  “I might have an idea. After you take him to the library, I’ll explain.”

  I obeyed. Hannibal caught up to us on our way, as plump and shiny as he had been when we dropped him off here. Elliot was good with animals.

  “Hey, Hanny,” murmured Isaac. “It’s good to see you too.”

  Hannibal mewed.

  Isaac leaned down to pet him and lost his balance. Once more, I caught him by the waist. He clung to my shoulders for support.

  Affection thwarted, Hannibal bit me hard on the ankle. I swore under my breath. That cat had daggers where his teeth should be.

  “Be nice, Hanny,” said Isaac. His voice was hoarse. It seemed to take a lot of effort for him to form words. “I’m sorry, Roman.”

  “Shhh,” I said. “Let’s get you to the library.”

  Elliot’s library, where he kept over a thousand reference books and scientific journals about everything from Bigfoot to JKF, was the most organized room in his whole house. Every week or so, he paid me a couple of hundred dollars to put everything back in its place. Elliot was generous like that. Every time there was a job to do, no matter how small, he offered me cash to do it for him. He always gave too much, but I wasn’t in a position to turn down help from my rich friend.

  I helped Isaac into the library and sat him down in a leather chair. Hannibal immediately leaped onto Isaac’s lap and headbutted him in the face, garnering a genuine smile. After Hannibal had rubbed himself all over Isaac, he curled up on his lap, started purring, and glared at me.

  Isaac swayed in his chair. It pained me to wait for Elliot to find out what was wrong with him, especially with Elliot so much slower than usual, but I had no choice. I trusted Elliot knew what he was doing.

  Elliot hobbled in about five minutes after we reached the library, although it felt like it had been longer. He was holding a jug in one hand and a full glass of water in the other, along with two empty glasses hooked between his fingers. That, plus the crutches, made an impressive sight. I leaped to my feet to help with the load.

  “There’s more color in your face,” Elliot said to Isaac. “That’s good.”

  Isaac was still pale, but there was a pink tint to his cheeks, and his expression was alert.

  “You need to hydrate,” Elliot said. He extended the full glass of water to Isaac.

  “I don’t know if I can keep anything down,” Isaac said. “I don’t want to throw up on your carpet again.”

  “Try.” Elliot was firm.

  Isaac took the glass with shaking hands. “Thank you.”

  “I have every type of supernatural protection money can buy in this house,” Elliot said. “This library is my panic room. It’s set up with about a dozen experimental machines that are supposed to keep ghosts, extraterrestrials, cryptids, and even lizard people at bay.” He rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Lizard people.”

  “You’re not a fan?” said Isaac. His smile wasn’t faltering so much anymore. Elliot had a knack for cheering people up.

  “No,” said Elliot.

  “If only there was a machine to keep flat earthers away,” I teased.

  Elliot looked severely at me. “Don’t get me started.”

  There were some things too ridiculous for Elliot to consider. I relaxed into the banter. If Elliot was acting like this, things couldn’t be too dire anymore.

  “Anyway,” said Elliot. “There are so many magnets in this place, I don’t think you have to worry anymore. You’re going to be okay, Isaac.”

  I let out a long sigh of relief. Tension evaporated from my shoulders. Isaac was going to be okay. I’d gotten him here in time. I was so relieved I was almost giddy. The tense muscles in my jaw relaxed into a smile.

  “Magnets?” said Isaac.

  I groaned. “Don’t get Elliot started on magnets.”

  “Actually, there’s a lot of research-” Elliot started.

  “No. Don’t start on magnets. What’s important right now?”

  “The most important thing is that Isaac is going to be fine.”

  I nodded.

  “Roman, did you remember to do an EMF reading on Isaac when you found him?

  I had been too worried about Isaac to think straight. I shook my head. “Sorry.”

  “No, I get it,” said Elliot. I could tell he was slightly frustrated I’d missed out on a good research opportunity, but he knew Isaac’s safety was more important.

  He reached for the EMF meter on the table next to him. “Isaac, Roman said you were using a spirit board when this happened to you.”

  I set my jaw. “Yes,” I said sharply. “He was.”

  “I- Uh-” said Isaac.

  Elliot pointed the EMF meter at him. It began to crackle. “Hmmm.”

  “Hmmm?” I said. “Hmmm doesn’t sound great.”

  “We’re getting medium readings off him. That’s higher than I’d like. I think one of us is going to have to tase you.”

  “Tase me?” Isaac’s eyes widened cartoonishly.

  “With the ghost taser,” I cut in. “It’s not strong enough to hurt you-”

  “Much,” said Elliot.

  I glared at him. “It’s not like a normal taser. It’s a magnetic-”

  “Alright,” interrupted Isaac. “Polarize me, baby.”

  I snorted. How could I think of laughing after today? I must have been delirious.

  Elliot picked up his trash can and shook out the papers and gum wrappers inside it. They fluttered onto the ground.

  “You may need to throw up again,” he said. He held the trash can to Isaac. “Getting rid of residue from a possession can be uncomfortable.”

  “You think I’m possessed?” said Isaac.

  “Were possessed,” I said. “Right, Elliot?”

  “Actually, I think you were nearly possessed.” Elliot turned his sympathetic frown on Isaac. “I think a ghost was in the process of possessing you, and Roman got you out of the Cressley in the nick of time.”

  “Oh,” said Isaac. All traces of amusement were gone from his face. “That sounds bad.”

  “It is bad,” said Elliot. He shot me a severe look. “Didn’t we tell you how dangerous spirit boards are?”

  “Multiple times,” said Isaac quickly. “I didn’t listen.”

  At least he admitted it.

  Elliot pulled out his taser. “Which of us do you want to do this?” he asked.

  “Roman,” said Isaac instantly. “No offense, Elliot. But I know Roman, and I- I trust Roman.” He didn’t meet my eyes.

  I didn’t like the idea of tasering Isaac, especially if it might make him throw up more blood. But I had to. Elliot handed me the taser. I turned it on and stared at Isaac.

  “Where should I do this?” I asked.

  “You should probably do it on his chest,” said Elliot. “You don’t use a pacemaker, do you, Isaac?”

  “No.”

  “Then yes, the chest.” Elliot nodded at me, then looked back at Isaac. “Can you unbutton your shirt?”

  “Does he have to?” I said.

  “Skin contact is best,” said Elliot.

  Isaac was wearing a loose, paisley shirt. He slowly undid the buttons until an expanse of pale skin was bare. I bit my lip, wishing that Elliot wasn’t here, and at the same time being glad he was. Now that my anxiety had lessened, I was overcome with the desire to look after Isaac. In every way.

  I turned on the taser and pressed it to Isaac. For a moment, nothing happened. Then he leaned over and retched violently. This was the sort of puking that happened the morning after a hard night’s partying. His head must have felt like it was on fire.

  His sickness seemed to last forever. He was shaking, and his eyes were streaming, when he lifted his head from the bucket, wiping his mouth.

  “More water,” instructed Elliot.

  Isaac obeyed and took a sip from his glass.

  “Now I’m going to check you for EMF again.”

  Elliot scanned Isaac with the
EMF meter. It seemed like he’d puked out whatever was hanging onto him. Another wave of relief surged through me, even stronger than the last.

  “Roman,” said Elliot. He pointed at the rubbish bin. “Can you please take that to my research lab? I’m going to give Isaac a physical.”

  “Aren’t you a dentist?” said Isaac.

  “Yes. Technically, I went to medical school.”

  “Well, at least you’re not charging me,” said Isaac with a weak smile.

  I picked up the trash can, wrinkling my nose. “Do you want me to clean this?”

  Elliot fixed me with a dark look. “I need to analyze it.”

  “Ew,” said Isaac.

  I took the bucket to Elliot’s research lab and put it in his mini-fridge. That was where he kept blood samples from abductees and soil samples from supposed UFO crash-landings. There was also a pack of Red Bull. I moved it away. I would have to have a talk with Elliot about keeping his energy drinks next to biohazards.

  At least I knew he’d listen. Unlike Isaac. The relief I’d felt at knowing Isaac would survive was fast turning into rage that he’d put himself in this situation. Now I knew he was okay, my fury rose to the surface. Isaac had ignored all my advice, and he’d nearly gotten himself possessed.

  When I got back to the library, Isaac looked properly like himself again.

  “You look like you’re feeling better,” I said.

  “I am.”

  “Good.” My throat tightened. “Now I can tell you how huge a risk you took, and how dangerous using that spirit board was-”

  “I know, Roman.”

  “Clearly you don’t know.” I looked to Elliot for backup, but he was pretending to rifle through a shelf of books. “I told you specifically to never use that spirit board in the Cressley. That doing so would put you in danger, and what did you do?”

  “I-”

  “You used the fucking spirit board.”

  “I won’t do it again.”

  “Do you have any idea how close to dead you were when I found you?” I said. “You were hardly breathing. You were ice cold. I thought-”

  “I’m sorry,” said Isaac.

  “I’m not sure that sorry is adequate,” I said. “You almost died. Why would you disobey me like that?”

  He bristled. “I don’t have to obey you.”

  “I know that. I used the wrong word.” I was frustrated. “But when you don’t listen to me, you put yourself in danger.”

  “Elliot, is Roman always this annoying?” said Isaac. “Or is that special for me?”

  Elliot shrugged. “Roman is serious about ghostbusting.”

  Isaac looked at me with an impish grin. “I thought you said the term ‘ghostbusting’ was offensive?”

  “It is.” I glared at Elliot.

  “I’ve known Roman for years,” said Elliot. “I’m allowed to offend him.”

  “Right,” said Isaac. He sunk back in his chair, suddenly silent.

  “Why did you do it?” I demanded Isaac. I needed to know. “Just tell me why.”

  “Because I thought it would get us information. It did, by the way.”

  I was torn. I wanted to keep yelling at Isaac for nearly killing himself. I wanted to let out my righteous rage. But now I knew he had information, I wanted to know what it was.

  If I had been there with him, he might have been safe. If I had been there with him, I would have been able to catch him when he collapsed. Should I have trusted him, helped him come up with a better plan, rather than dismissing him outright?

  When I closed my eyes, I saw Isaac’s body, pale against the stained Cressley carpet. I couldn’t stop wondering how long he had lain there while the evil spirit on the thirteenth floor sucked the life out of him. I knew he was okay now, but that didn’t stop my stomach churning. I couldn’t let him go back there. But he was Isaac. Making him stay away from the Cressley would be as hard as keeping me away from. Impossible.

  When I’d met Isaac, I thought the two of us couldn’t have been more different. He took nothing seriously, he believed in nothing, and he was a petty criminal. Now I realized that maybe we were alike after all.

  “What did you find out?” asked Elliot, saving me from having to say anything.

  “It spelled out the name Sandra.”

  “So you were talking to Sandra Keene. That’s nothing.” Nothing useful. “We already know she’s a ghost there.”

  “There was one other word before I passed out,” said Isaac.

  “What word?” I asked.

  “Under.”

  “Under what?”

  “All I got was ‘under’. Then all my candles went out and I, uh, collapsed.”

  “I know that part,” I said sharply.

  Isaac glanced away from me. “How’s Hannibal been doing?” he asked Elliot.

  Under. It was barely a clue, but I ruminated on it. Under what? Under the hotel? Maybe we should have looked harder in the basement. Or what if ‘under’ was only the first half of a word, and Sandra was trying to say ‘understand’ or ‘undercover’ or ‘underwear’?

  My brain wouldn’t work. No matter how hard I tried to think about the case, I circled back to Isaac. Never use a spirit board. How was that so hard to understand?

  I was dimly aware that Elliot and Isaac were carrying on a conversation about Hannibal, but I was distracted, withstanding a tornado of emotions. The second I thought I knew what I was feeling, that feeling was ripped away, and I felt completely different again. The only constant was my fear about what to do next. About Isaac, about the case, about my life.

  Things had gone more smoothly when it had been me and Elliot investigating the paranormal. Little progress was made, but no one nearly died.

  “You need to leave the Cressley,” I told Isaac, interrupting Elliot mid-sentence. “As soon as possible.”

  Isaac shook his head. “No way. If I leave, there’s no way into the hotel. We’ll never find out what happened.”

  “I don’t care if it’s harder to get access. It’s not safe for you there.”

  “Come on, Roman. Are you giving up that easy?”

  “I’m not giving up. I’m telling you to get out of my way.”

  He stiffened. “So it’s safe for you to keep investigating the Cressley, but not for me?”

  “Yes, Isaac, it is. And you know why? Because I’m not so egotistic as to think I know better than everyone else about everything. I’m not so full of pride I’ll go and do something I’ve been told is dangerous. And I’ve never almost died!”

  Isaac scoffed. “Are you hearing yourself right now? You don’t think you know better than everyone else? Please.”

  “Well, in this case, I do know better than you.” My mission was to protect people from dangerous spirits. With Isaac, I had done the opposite. I never should have let him worm his way into my investigation. “You can’t go back to the Cressley. Something might try to possess you again.”

  “If you catch a possession attempt soon enough, you should be able to tase it out straight away,” Elliot chimed in unhelpfully.

  I gave him my most scathing glare.

  “Not that I think you should go back,” Elliot followed up quickly. “Roman’s right. It’s dangerous.”

  “I know it’s dangerous,” said Isaac. “I’m the one who actually nearly died, so let’s get some perspective. I know the risks, and I want to investigate anyway. Just like Roman.”

  “But you-” I started.

  “You’ll cling to my side anyway, right? What can happen to me with my bodyguard right there?”

  I didn’t know. I was afraid of finding out. Some bodyguard I’d been so far. “I repeat: it’s too dangerous.”

  Isaac met my eyes with a fiery glare. A challenge. “I repeat: you don’t know better than me.”

  “I refuse to be responsible for getting you killed,” I said. I refused to let him die, period.

  “You wouldn’t be responsible,” said Isaac. “That’s what I’m saying. I’
m the one making the choice. I’m the one who’ll get myself killed.”

  “That’s not making me approve any more.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass if you approve, Roman.”

  “But I was right about the spirit board-”

  “I got information out of it, didn’t I? If I’d lasted longer, I could have-”

  “But you didn’t last longer. It got you.”

  Elliot, a middle child and ever a mediator, jumped into the conversation. “How about if Isaac stays here overnight, and tomorrow, after a good rest, we regroup to think about what next.”

  “I’m not leaving Isaac alone again,” I said. “What if he sneaks back to the Cressley tonight, and-”

  “I’m right here, and you can talk to my face,” Isaac snapped.

  “No offense, Elliot,” I said. “But you’re on crutches. If Isaac decides to run back to the Cressley-”

  “Are you seriously saying you need to babysit me?”

  “Are you seriously saying you wouldn’t try?”

  He sulked. “Well, not now that you’re all suspicious about it.

  “Then you can both stay tonight,” said Elliot. “Fight over who gets the spare room and who gets the couch, if you want. I need to go use the bathroom.” He waved a crutch in the air. “With these things, it takes a while.”

  He hobbled away, leaving Isaac and me alone for the first time since he’d become lucid again.

  “You’re being overprotective, you know,” said Isaac. “It didn’t work when my parents tried, and it won’t work coming from you.”

  “I’m not being overprotective, I’m trying to stop you getting killed.”

  “I can be on my own without dying.”

  “Can you?” I raised my eyebrows. “Do you have any idea how close you got to death, Isaac? I felt the life slipping away from you.”

  “But I didn’t die.”

  “How can you think like that?” I was bewildered. “How can you think ‘I didn’t die this time, so let’s try again’?”

  “What’s the alternative? Constantly being afraid of dying? We could have crashed on the highway on our way here, and that’s as deadly as being killed by ghosts.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I warned you, Isaac. I warned you about using the spirit board, and you promised you wouldn’t, and then you broke that promise!”