“I just figure we’re not doing anything and we both have a lot of work to catch up on this week. But I totally get if you’re too tired. That was a long drive.”
He blinks and then shakes his head. “No. Not too tired. I’ll text Atlas and see if it’s okay. Think he’d lose his shit if we showed up unannounced.” He gives me a funny look before shoveling rice into his mouth.
“What?” I ask.
He swallows, gives me a bit of a wicked smile, and I already know what the funny look is for. “Just to hear you taking charge, wanting to go back in that house and scare yourself shitless. It’s a turn-on.”
“I often take charge,” I remind him.
“You keep telling yourself that, kiddo.” He pauses. “When are you getting that damn IUD thing out?”
“Calling the doctor first thing in the morning,” I tell him, getting to my feet. “Hopefully I can get an appointment sooner rather than later.”
He reaches out and grabs my wrist, staring up at me. “You’re really going to do this? You haven’t changed your mind? I keep thinking back and getting scared that…” He trails off, averting his eyes.
He almost looks hurt. I sit back down beside him and put my hands over his. “Hey,” I say softly, imploring him to look at me. “I haven’t changed my mind. I’m not going to change my mind. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
He finally meets my gaze. There’s so much hope and uncertainty swimming in his eyes that it’s hard not to feel it physically manifest inside me.
“What changed?”
I manage a small smile. “I don’t know. But something did.”
“You used to be so afraid…”
“I’m still a little afraid, Dex. For so many reasons, not just the ones we’ve already been warned about. It just took me longer to get past them than you.”
He gives his head a shake. “No. I still think about that, too. What they said. But I don’t want that to dictate what we can do. Or what we want. There was never anything concrete anyway, it was so fucking vague. Just horseshit mumbo jumbo that Max passed on to us. What the hell did that sequoia even know anyway?”
“Sequoia?”
“Tall, dumb redwood tree. Look, I know it’s not the best but I ran out of insults for him a long time ago.”
I can’t help but smirk, hoping Dex pulls that one out later. Max probably hasn’t been insulted properly in a long time.
“You’ve got a point,” I tell him. “About what he told us. I’m sorry it took this long for me to come to terms with it.” I get back up, picking up my plate. “Now come on, give Atlas a text before I lose my nerve about tonight.”
* * *
Atlas took his sweet fucking time getting back to us and giving us permission, which meant the both of us were all prepped and ready, sitting around for about an hour before we hit the road. At least it gave us plenty of time to come up with a game plan for tonight. Last time was totally by the seat of our pants, which worked back in the EIT days, but not if we’re going to be taken seriously by any networks.
We decided the best course of action this time would be to go to the dining room at the end of the hall first, hoping that perhaps spending time there would draw Samantha Poe out of the bathroom. She obviously wants to communicate with us, and there’s something to be said about how needy the residents of the afterlife can be. Once they can connect with you, they seem hellbent on keeping that connection going.
Whether you like it or not.
Besides, we don’t want her playing games with the EMF meter, we want to actually see her. Hear her words. Know what she has to say.
Okay, so the idea of those things freaks the hell out of me, but it is what it is. Go big and get the footage of a ghost or go home.
Anyway, if we start on the first floor and linger around there for a while, she might show herself. At the very least, by the time we get to the bathroom, she’ll be ready and waiting for us.
Then of course, there’s the whole Max thing. I’m just going to play it by ear and hope that he shows up at some point so I don’t have to keep this news to myself a minute longer. Hell, I know that even if he doesn’t, I’m going to have to tell Dex anyway. I owe it to him, more than I owe anything to Max.
Well, I do owe Max for both Dex’s life and mine.
We park outside the house around nine, and despite being in the middle of a city and so close to the I-5, it’s still and dead quiet. A light drizzle is falling, clouds hanging low, and there’s a definite nip in the air.
Dex locks the car, and we give each other a steady look, the kind that tells me to pull up my big girl panties and do this thing. I’m nervous, as per usual, the house looking darker and more foreboding than before. But I’m excited at the same time, and that’s what I try to focus on, for my sanity’s sake if nothing else.
Atlas didn’t meet us this time, which I think was a relief to both me and Dex since he creeps me out and rubs Dex the wrong way, and the key was under the mat like we were a couple of friends dropping by to water the houseplants.
“You ready?” Dex asks, his camera already out, the key in his hand.
I have my flashlight in one hand and the EMF in the other. I nod, giving him a shaky smile as my stomach fizzles with nerves.
He puts the key in the door and the handle turns, opening with a loud, steady groan.
The darkness calls to me again, a magnetic pull that’s so much stronger this time than the last. I glance up at Dex to see if he’s noticed the difference, but he just walks right on through, flicking on his light as he goes.
I swallow down my fear and step inside.
I swear it feels different this time. Maybe even looks different, like the gold in the wallpaper has flaked away, the floors dull, laced with deep scratches in the wood.
Familiar looking scratches.
My mind rewinds to last night at the bonfire, the scratches in the log.
Yeah…they remind me of that.
The door slams shut behind me, making me jump.
“It’s okay,” Dex says in a calm voice, thankfully not pointing the camera in my direction. “It’s just extra vibey tonight.”
“You feel that too?”
He nods. “Come on, let’s not spend any more time in here than we have to. You want to walk ahead of me?”
I cock my brow, warily walking around him. “Just like old times.”
“I’ve got your back,” he says with a quick wink.
Right. But who has my front?
I take in a deep breath, turn both my flashlight and EMF meter on, and start walking down the hall toward the room at the very back. I try to focus on Max when I can, hoping he’s watching, hoping he’ll make an appearance soon. There’s no way he can’t know we’re here. I assume every time that door opens in this house, every dead thing inside turns its head.
The thought makes me shiver. I need to knock it off.
Dex keeps the camera focused on my back, and every now and then I look over my shoulder and give it a haunting look, knowing he loves it when I get all dramatic like that. It definitely helps me believe I’m in a role and not reality.
But the closer we get to the cavernous room at the back, the more scared I get. It’s hard to ignore how things change with each step, like the pressure is getting heavier, my ears feeling like they want to pop. It’s not too dissimilar from stepping into the Veil, which isn’t a good thing.
“There are obviously more spirits in this house than just Samantha Poe,” Dex says for the camera’s sake. “We’re going to see if we can make contact with them.”
We are? I ask in my head.
Sorry, he apologizes.
But I guess it makes sense. If we’re going to be investigators, mediums, then we have to be open to many possibilities, not just one. Many voices, many beings, many opportunities.
I keep walking, ignoring the pressure building in my ears, the feeling that the air is getting drier, thinner, my breath becoming shallow.
Before us is the black dining room, up a couple of steps at a higher level.
It’s cold as hell and the beams from my flashlight and his camera seem to disintegrate in the air, like the light is being choked from them. There’s a strange wind too, blowing back strands of my hair. It smells damp, reminding me of the winds that whirl around inside a cave.
“What is it?” Dex asks. He’s right behind me now, his presence only mildly comforting.
“I don’t know. I don’t like it.”
“We don’t have to go in,” he says.
And just as he says that, I hear a scaping sound from the black depths, like a chair being pushed back somewhere in the room.
Oh my god, that’s terrifying. Maybe I’m not as ready for this as I thought.
“Who’s there?” Dex asks, projecting his voice into the room where it falls flatly. “Tell us your name.”
The EMF meter which has been steadily beeping at a low volume, locked on green, is now slowly rising to yellow, the beeps increasing.
“Want to go inside?” he asks.
I shake my head.
He presses his lips together into a hard line, then nods. “I’ll go.”
“No, Dex,” I say, making a move to grab his arm, but he just saunters past me like he’s walking into a Panda Express.
“Okay, ghosties,” he says, aiming the camera around him, even though the light only carries a few feet, like he’s surrounded by ebony fog. “You want to talk? Here I am.”
Oh my god. So much for wanting to be taken seriously.
I take in a deep breath, ignoring how my lungs burn, and then walk up the two steps so that I’m level with him and inside the room.
We both stare at each other, our faces heavily shadowed, listening for a response.
Another chair scrapes along the floor from behind Dex.
He whirls around, shining the light.
There’s nothing. Nothing that we can see anyway.
Meanwhile, my heart is beating faster than hummingbird wings.
“Maybe we should head toward the walls,” Dex whispers to me.
“Why?” I don’t feel like going a single step further.
His voice goes even quieter. “Just to know that there are walls.”
I gulp. How did his mind even go to that place? Like we’re not even in the room, not even in the house anymore?
I think back to what Jacob said to me.
This house exists on another plane.
Of what? The universe? Of existence itself?
Dex starts walking away from me, the black of his hair and his jacket blending into the void. Even his light disappears.
“Dex?” I cry out, but my voice is so fucking quiet.
“I’m here,” he answers. He sounds far away, so my relief is short-lived.
“How about you come back here?” I ask, shining the light around. I can see where the steps start to lead into the rest of the hall but I can’t see beyond that.
Silence.
“Dex?”
I hear him make a strangled noise, like he’s trying to respond and failing.
Then an ear-splitting scream fills the air.
His scream.
“Dex!” I yell, horror overtaking me, and I start running in his direction, my fight or flight instinct poised to fight for him.
A light shines right in my eyes and suddenly he’s nearly bowling me over, his hands desperately clawing at my arms, holding me in place.
“What was that, what happened?” I ask, trying to shine the light on him.
His eyes look like onyx, the whites wide and shining. He’s breathing so hard I think he might be having a panic attack. Then he looks down at his hands as they shake and tremble.
My fucking god. It’s rare to see him this scared. All bravado is gone.
“What did you see?” I whisper harshly, wanting to get the fuck out of this room.
“It’s not…” His eyes pinch shut and he tries to breathe in through his nose, his nostrils flaring. His eyes whip open and he stares at me wildly. “It’s not what I saw. It’s what I felt.”
“What did you feel?”
He lets out a long exhale, shaking his head. “A leg. I felt a leg.”
“A leg!?” I repeat, practically shrieking.
“Yes. On the wall. The wall was like…slimy, like membranes or…tissue.” We both make a disgusted face in unison. “I moved my hand over, at about this high.” He gestures straight out in front of him. “And then I…I touch a leg. An ankle, a calf. A man’s leg, I think. About five, six feet off the ground.” He swallows. “It was stuck to the wall.”
My hands go to my mouth, the EMF meter clattering to the floor, though I manage to keep hold of the flashlight. I think I’m going to throw up.
He quickly crouches down and picks up the meter, aiming it at the darkness he just came out of. “I have no doubt that this thing will go red if we go over there.”
“We are not going over there,” I hiss at him, grabbing his arm hard. “We are leaving this fucking place. I did not sign up to be talking to ghosts where there are people’s legs on the fucking walls.”
I motion my head toward the steps, so terrified that if I don’t do something, I’m going to freeze in fear. I need to walk away from this place, but I can’t leave him behind.
Thankfully he just nods quickly, and we both hurry out of the darkness and down the steps, into the hallway. Here it’s still dark of course, but nothing like it was in there, like it was a black hole that swallowed all light.
We walk fast until we’re back near the stairs. I stop, hesitating, remembering Max.
“You really want to go up there?” Dex asks, following my eyes up the staircase. “I just touched a fucking leg stuck to a gelatinous wall.”
“Samantha is up there. Maybe she can tell us what that room is about.”
He gives me a crazy look. “I mean, if you want to, let’s do this.”
“I don’t want to go back in there,” I say, gesturing down the hall. “But upstairs is familiar to us.”
“You are full of surprises,” he mutters under his breath. He sighs and then aims the camera at me. It’s interesting to see him on the other side of things, him being cautious, me wanting to keep going into the unknown.
I climb up the stairs, past the second floor, and onto the third, Dex close behind the whole time. I hear his breath growing steadier, though I can feel how chaotic his energy is. He’s scared shitless and I don’t blame him. I’m scared too but not as scared as I should be, considering.
We stop outside the bathroom door, the stream of bloody water flowing out from under it, heavier and thicker than before.
That’s not the only thing that’s different this time.
The door is open a crack.
Darkness lies behind it.
I try to swallow, my heart feeling caught. I look at Dex, not sure what we should do.
He lifts up the EMF, showing me that it’s back to green.
As in, this should be harmless, safe.
But what the fuck is considered safe with us?
He gives me a barely perceptible nod, his eyes coaxing me.
He wants us to go inside.
I steady myself, straighten my shoulders, trying to calm my nerves which have turned into pins and needles up and down my limbs.
Okay, I tell him.
He studies me for a moment, I guess to make sure, then aims the camera at the door and slowly pushes it open.
The door is heavy, as if it’s stuck.
As if something is holding it in place.
But Dex keeps pushing until it opens, inch by inch.
And then it’s open wide.
“Jesus,” Dex whispers, the light shining straight ahead.
I have to walk through the blood to be by his side, but there’s a reason I wore boots tonight.
I stop beside him and look forward into the bathroom.
As it seems to be with so m
any rooms in this house, the bathroom is huge, longer than seems possible. It stretches on and on, black and white tiles on the floor like a chessboard, the stream of blood cutting through the middle of them like a gushing wound.
At the very end is a large frosted window, a faint orange glow from the streetlights outside coming through, giving everything a sense of normality. It reminds me that there is a world outside this place, the normal world, and that this place isn’t forever.
Beneath the window is a large claw-foot bathtub.
Filled to the brim with bloody water.
The source of the stream.
“Samantha?” Dex asks, his voice echoing off the bathroom tiles.
He steps inside.
I follow.
We walk slowly, carefully, our feet splashing through the blood. Our end goal is the bathtub, and somehow it seems to get further and further away. I shine my flashlight on the walls, at the mosaic of tiny tiles which at first glance seem abstract and artistic.
On closer look, they resemble things.
A black goat.
A raven.
A bat.
A fur-covered baby with red eyes.
Horns.
Oh my fucking god.
“Dex,” I whisper harshly, unable to process the utter fear I have running through me, the fear that these images are bringing me, like they’re striking me right in my lizard brain. “Look.”
My flashlight is shaking, scattering the beam as Dex brings the camera closer, the lens focusing on the tiles. “What the fuck is this shit?” he breathes.
A splash from the bathtub echoes in the room.
We gasp and turn to face the tub, both beams focused on it.
The water is moving, sloshing over the sides in red waves, flowing toward us.
But we don’t move.
We can’t.
We’re unable to look away from the tub where a hand is slowly rising out of the bloody water. Then an arm. Pale and tinged with black streaks, the arm of a dead woman.
The arm reaches over the side of the tub, long bony fingers pressed against the porcelain.
And then the head rises, like a nightmare moon.
White face, black hair, black eyes, black teeth.
The woman in the ocean.
Came Back Haunted: An Experiment in Terror Novel #10 Page 14