by K.L. Bauman
Chapter Twenty Seven
Evidence
Ryan jumped into action, digging furiously through the bag he’d previously been packing. Wires flew through the air as he pulled them out and tossed them aside until he found what he was looking for. Shaking, he held up a digital sound recorder with both hands. “I-Is there someone here with us tonight?” he asked as he slowly moved the device back and forth in front of him as he stepped carefully through the room. “Don’t be afraid, this device won’t hurt you. It can record your voice, even if I can’t hear you now. Please, speak clearly. Let us know you’re here.” Ryan tripped over some wires he’d thrown on the floor, but quickly righted himself, holding the recorder at arm’s length in front of him.
Kayde stood with his mouth gaping. Was he serious? More lightning flashed and Kayde took the moment to say, “It’s me, Kayde Harper!”
Ryan froze, and then turned to Toby. “You heard something, right?”
“Yeah,” Toby answered shakily.
“Get the video going, quick! Make sure the thermal is on!” Ryan commanded.
Toby fumbled with the camera case, pulling out a digital camera attached to a thermal imaging device. He mimicked Ryan’s movements, slowly moving the camera back and forth as he followed Ryan through the room.
“Please,” Ryan said louder than necessary, “Let us know somehow that you are here. Tap on a table, move an object if you can.”
Eager to get their attention, Kayde attempted to tap the table top with his knuckles. But his hand fell through without making a sound. Ryan continued to speak. “Did you used to live here? Why are you still here? Are you a man or a woman?”
Kayde was getting frustrated now. These stupid questions were getting him nowhere. He had to find a way to communicate. He tried speaking again, as that seemed to have had the best success so far. “Hello? I’m a man, my name is Kayde Harper. I’m alive, sort of, and I’m in Toby’s basement! Help me!”
Neither Toby nor Ryan seemed to have heard him this time. They both turned their backs to him, continuing to sweep the wrong part of the room with their equipment. Kayde rushed past them, attempting to get in front of Toby’s camera. “Whoa! Did you feel that?” Toby said and shivered. “It was like a rush of frozen air! You don’t have any major drafts down here, do you?”
“No,” Ryan stated bluntly.
Although Kayde was amazed at what he’d made Toby feel, he was more focused on showing himself on camera. He set himself in front of the device, walking backwards as Toby stepped forwards. “Please, let us know of your presence again. We may have heard you speak earlier. If you could try to move something, tap something, anything that would tell us you’re here.”
They continued after this pattern for what seemed hours, Ryan asking the spirit to do something to alert them to its presence. Kayde tried focusing on one object--an empty vegetable can stuffed with pens and pencils--concentrating as he mimicked pushing it off of the table. As before, his hand slipped through the object.
“Can you move something, maybe something on my desk?” Ryan asked for the thousandth time.
“I’m trying!” Kayde shouted as another flash of light and instant crack of thunder jolted through the room.
Ryan and Toby both screamed, and they didn’t stop. They were staring straight at Kayde! Kayde, not sure what to do, screamed back at them. Toby and Ryan took a quick breath before they screamed again, looked at each other screaming, and then turned back to Kayde. Their screams fizzled away like the winding down of a siren. They stood still for several seconds, their breath coming out in rapid huffs. Finally, Ryan spoke, “Where did he go?”
“I-I don’t know,” Toby said, his voice shaking. They both swiveled their heads around, trying to catch sight of an invisible form.
“Did you get that on camera?” Ryan asked in a frantically excited tone.
Toby fumbled with the rewind button and then replayed the last minute of the tape. Their screaming voices sounded, and in the background, Kayde could hear a third muffled voice, as if someone were shouting from behind a thick wall. It’s me, Kayde thought. A blurred, shadowy form appeared on the video.
Ryan took the equipment and quickly attached them to computers. “You listen, I’ll look,” he told Toby. They spent the next couple hours listening and re-listening to Kayde’s warped voice through the computer. They watched his form appear and fade over and over, trying to see any details. They finally agreed the form and the voice were male, and he’d said, “Hello, man…it may be harder…I jive…in basement. Help!”
Kayde slapped his hand over his face and slowly pulled downward until he squeezed his chin with frustration. This had been a complete waste of time. Ryan and Toby had confused him with some seventies disco ghost who’d lost his groove.
“This is so awesome!” Ryan said as he rubbed his hands together. He moved the digital recorder aside so he and Toby could study the video again. Had they completely forgotten about Becca?
Angry, Kayde pounded his fists against the table, which, of course, made no sound, and growled, “Go help Becca, you idiots!”
Kayde stood and pulled at his hair for a moment. Then, defeated, he let his arms fall to his sides. The storm was moving away now, the stronger energy leaving with it. Kayde could feel himself weakening with its departure. Maybe it wasn’t just the storm that was leaving him drained. He had only one day before Toby’s mother planned to suck the life out of him--and use Becca in ways that would torment her for the rest of her life. He had to make her remember, or neither of them would make it through the next twenty-four hours.
Floating through the misty rain that followed the storm clouds, Kayde made his way back to Becca’s house. The distant rumble of thunder sounded in the direction of a gray sky. The sun would be up soon.
Kayde found Becca asleep, looking like the angel he’d always thought her to be. Overwhelmed with all that was happening, he allowed himself a moment to cry, though no tears touched his cheeks. After he composed himself, he knelt next to her bed, wanting more than ever just to be near her. He lifted a hand toward her peaceful face.
Kayde’s eyes followed the pale, pre-dawn light as it brushed across Becca’s porcelain cheek. He traced her pink rose-petal eyelids with his ghostly fingers, though his touch was nothing but air against her skin. His eyes followed the path of his fingers as they trailed the side of her face, over her cheek, along her jaw line, and to her mouth. Her lips were parted in a pout, allowing her soft breath to escape. Gentle wisps of strawberry blond hair caressed her cheek and neck. Music played in his mind. Becca’s song--that sweet, haunting melody Kayde heard any time he was with her or even thought of her. That music void of words, but filled with a supernatural intensity that drew him to her. Her gift.
Kayde traced her mouth, wishing desperately he could kiss her, feel her warmth, hold her. Sadness stabbed him, piercing his transparent skin and cutting his heart like shards of glass. How could this be happening?
Becca sighed and smiled, causing Kayde to pull away. After a moment, he leaned close to her ear and, brushing his mouth against her hair, spoke her name; his voice flowed past his lips in a caressing whisper, “Rabecca.”
Kayde gasped as he watched Becca’s eyes snap open. Their ice blue color leapt out at him before she lurched upright, passing through his form. He jolted to his feet in shock. Had she actually heard him? Maybe the energy from the storm was still strong enough… His ghostly heart nearly beat its way out of his transparent chest. (Was his real heart doing the same?) Its speed increased even more as he watched her cock her head and hold her breath. She was waiting, listening.
Daring to hope, Kayde whispered her name again. A sigh of wind, heavy with the scent of freshly fallen rain, whispered through the screen of Becca’s open bedroom window, accompanied by a distant flash of light from the receding storm. Her head jerked toward the sound before she released her breath and flo
pped back to her pillow. Kayde held his breath in anticipation. Mumbling something about whispering dreams, Becca closed her eyes and breathed evenly.
Kayde slowly released the air from his lungs as hope fled the room. The first rays of sun broke through the clouds and streamed through the window as he felt himself fading. He tightened his hands in frustrated fists. Somehow, he had to make her remember. She had to remember him before it was too late…