Snow tried to look disapproving, but Cade could see the smile he was trying to hide. The breathers in the meantime had finished setting up their camera, which was now rotating slowly as it recorded. Liam had pulled out his audio recorder and was getting ready to try to see if he could capture any ghostly voices or sounds.
“They just threw stones at you, dude, are you sure you want to do that?” Aiden had his doubts about Liam’s methods, and the results they would get.
“Well the stones are a good indication someone is here and wanting to communicate, even if they just want to tell me to shut up,” Liam said.
Aiden could understand why they would want to tell him to shut up. In fact, he was shocked that a small rain of stones was all they had gotten from Liam’s shouting. Aiden also knew that any skeptic worth their salt would look at that footage and say it was possible that the echo reverberations had knocked some loose stones down, given the disrepair the building was in. So, all in all, he was certain either Snow or Cadence had done it to mess with Liam.
Liam hit record on the handheld device and held it out as if he was trying to hand it to someone. “If any spirit in this prison wishes to communicate with us, please, come over and talk into this machine in my hand. It will pick up your voice. Draw on our energy and talk to us.” He was silent for a few moments before speaking up again. “Why did you throw stones at us?”
“Because you’re a pain in my ass,” Cadence said under her breath.
The breathers were all straining their ears, trying to catch any errant sound, but it was quiet. After asking a couple more generic questions, Liam rolled the recording back as Teeny trained her video camera on him. As the audio played back, Liam was clearly heard, but his voice was the only one heard. Even when the machine was turned up as loud as it could possibly go, there was nothing to be heard between Liam’s questions.
“Come on,” Teeny said. “No pun intended but it seems like this cell block is dead. Let’s head to the cafeteria. Isn’t that where the kid said the riot took place in the ’70s?”
“The kid’s name is Derrick,” Aiden said, finding himself irritated by their continued use of the word kid when referring to Derrick.
“Yeah, let’s give it a try. Hopefully, it’s got a little more to it than this cell block,” Liam said.
Leaving the swivel camera to record whatever activity it might be lucky enough to catch, the three breathers left for the prison’s cafeteria. Roy teleported ahead to make sure the spirits there would behave. Snow and Cadence drifted along with the breathers, hoping that the rest of the night went this smoothly. The group retraced their steps down the long cell block and to the atrium and turned to make their way down the shorter hall.
“What’s that?” Liam pointed to a doorway that was covered halfway with stones and boards and debris.
“That would be the rec room where Ripley’s show guys were hurt,” Aiden said.
“I wonder if we could dig the door out and get in there,” Liam said, musing as he stopped to look at the door.
“Are you insane?” It was Teeny who replied, Aiden hadn’t had the chance to even open his mouth. Teeny hit Liam on the arm for good measure. “I may not think this place is as dangerous as Aiden is worried it is, but I am not going to go in there. That’s asking for trouble.”
“Looks like both the young lady and Aiden have better heads on their shoulders than this Liam fellow,” Snow said.
“Thank God,” Cadence agreed.
“Yeah,” Roy added. “None of us go in there, an’ I ain’t so sure anyone alive would walk out in the same shape they went in.”
“Come on,” Aiden said. “The cafeteria’s right here.”
The swinging double doors of the cafeteria were still intact and located across the hall from the doors to the rec room. The cafeteria doors opened when Liam pushed on them, but their hinges squeaked, shrill and loud, as they opened. Teeny and Aiden followed Liam in, with Snow and Cadence right behind them. The barred windows, most of them missing their glass, let a little bit of moonlight in when it peaked through the overhead clouds. Graffiti covered the long wall to the left and to the right the metallic serving station, dented and rusty, was still bolted to the floor. Dust, dirt, and cobwebs were all over, and many of the ceiling tiles had fallen, exposing the ducts and disconnected wiring above.
Cadence and Snow could see Roy over in one corner with about eight inmates’ spirits with him. So far, the inmates seemed content to just watch the breathers and see what they did, but there was an air of tension in the room that was underlined with a feeling of malice. Both Cadence and Snow felt it immediately and exchanged a worried look.
“Aiden, you and Dan were in here before, right?” Liam was looking a little on edge, sensing the same aggressive tension that the ghosts were aware of.
“Yeah, but we didn’t stay too long,” Aiden said.
“Why?” Teeny asked.
“Because it felt like this.” Aiden was panning his handheld camera around the room as he answered.
“If there are any spirits in this room, can you make a noise for us? Maybe knock on the wall or swing the doors?” Teeny’s voice echoed in the room with an unmistakable nervous tone to it.
Roy made his way over to Cadence and Snow, and once he had done so, the spirits began to fan out around the room. They walked around the breathers, watching them like predators hunting prey. One of the inmates kicked the serving station, a metallic thump echoing out into the large room. The three breathers all turned toward the station, and Teeny began to advance towards it.
“Be careful,” Aiden said.
“We know what we’re doing,” Liam said, snapping at Aiden. He followed Teeny towards the old piece of cafeteria equipment.
“Thank you, can you do it again? Give us two thumps, nice and loud please,” Teeny said.
“That girl is gonna be trouble,” Roy said in his southern accent. “She’s eggin’ ‘em on.”
Two more kicks were given from the serving station, this time louder. The inmate doing the kicking was grinning, having fun leading the woman towards him. There was nothing nice in his grin. Two other inmates were circling Liam, keeping pace with him as he moved towards Teeny. Another one hung back next to Aiden while others were content to watch from various places in the room.
“Thank you,” Teeny said in response to the kicks. “Can you do something else? Can you yell or whistle?”
The spirit that had been doing the kicking looked over to Roy. “She’s cute an’ all, but does she think we’re some circus animals doin’ tricks or some shit?”
Roy shrugged. “No idea what she thinks, Billy. You know what to do.”
“Mr. Pruitt,” Snow said, “I do hope that you are not up to something. As the location monitor—“
“Location monitor,” Roy spat the words out of his mouth as if they were venomous. “Let me tell you just how much I love bein’ stuck in this hell hole I was killed in, with half the bastards responsible for what led to my death. But don’t you worry that pretty little head missy, I know my job.” He then turned and made his way over to Billy at the serving station.
“I don’t like where this is going,” Cadence said.
“Nor I,” Snow said. “But until a line is crossed there is little we can do.”
“And if he plans to cross that line tonight? Aiden we were able to rationalize with. I don’t think some Hollywood production company is going to be quite so willing to hide evidence,” Cadence said. “Not to mention, with the bad things Whitfield said were here, how do we keep the living safe if he does decide to go bad?”
“Calm down,” Snow said. “He could just be doing and saying half of this to get a rise out us. For now, just wait and see. But be ready in case.”
Chapter 17
Ava stayed close by Lauren and Derrick as her parents picked up the pots and pans that had crashed to the floor when the ghost of Emma had dropped the mounted ceiling unit in the kitchen. Emma stared at Ava, fury in her eye
s as she walked unseen past Ava’s parents and towards the little girl.
“So much anger,” Lauren said, her voice quiet as she reacted to the anger radiating off of the small spirit.
“Keep Ava between you and Derrick,” Sam said to Lauren. He then moved to put himself in between Emma and Lauren.
“Why are you here?” Emma asked in a demanding tone.
“You’re scaring the little girl and her family. That’s why,” Sam said.
“You aren’t wanted here,” Emma said her southern accent thick.
“Neither are you,” Sam said in reply. He hated to be so blunt or mean to a child, spirit, or breather, but there was no way he was going to let her harm anyone.
“This is my property,” Emma said, stamping her foot for emphasis. “Therefore the people here belong to me. Daddy said so.”
“Your Father is here?” Sam couldn’t believe if her Father were a ghost, he would be letting her get away with this. But then some parents weren’t good at discipline and not spoiling their children.
“Daddy’s gone. So’s Mama. Daddy said that when they were gone all the land, and everyone on it would be mine. So you have no right to be here. My land, my people. Stop trying to interfere.”
Sam shook his head and followed a hunch as he asked another question. “What was this land used for?”
“This side of the plantation was mostly housing,” Emma said as she gave a shrug of her small shoulders. “The other side was where the slaves worked in the fields. Except for those worthy enough to work in the house, of course.”
Emma was indeed the daughter of a plantation owner. It seemed to Sam that she had been brought up to believe she was better than everybody else, as would have been normal for the time and her station. Sam had known from Derrick’s research that the family had long been in the area and had once been quite rich and influential, but he hadn’t known why.
“Things aren’t like that anymore,” Sam said. “They haven’t been for a long time now. You need to leave this family. They don’t want you here, Emma.”
“What do you know?” she said, her face red with anger. She then disappeared from sight.
“Sorry,” Robin said as she and Doug rejoined Lauren and Derrick.
“Why are you apologizing?” Lauren asked. “You didn’t do that. You aren’t responsible for what is going on here. None of you are. This is a spirit that’s been attached to the land, and she got attached to your family likely because she misses her own.”
“It’s because of me,” Ava said, as tears fell from her eyes. “Because I saw her and talked to her. Because I thought we were friends.”
Robin and Doug knelt down in front of their daughter and pulled her into a hug in between them. “It’s not your fault, honey,” Doug said. “You had no way of knowing.”
“No one blames you,” Robin said, assuring her daughter. “This is not your fault.”
Lauren and Derrick stepped back a little to let the family have their space. Derrick looked over his shoulder to the equipment still recording in the living room and was relieved to see it still intact. After what Emma had done to the camera when the three of them had been there to talk to Robin initially, he had been afraid that while their attention was on the kitchen and the family, the ghost would have done something to the setup. What he didn’t see was that Sarah had been in the family room, guarding the things they had left behind when they went to investigate Emma’s tantrum.
Sam saw Sarah and walked over to the pretty little African-American girl. “Why are you stuck with her?”
“I was her friend,” Sarah said.
“Her friend or her slave?” Sam was dubious that the gentle girl in front of him was a genuine friend of the spoiled brat that Emma was.
“Does it matter?” Sarah looked down as she replied, her fingers fidgeting together.
“It matters to me,” Sam said. “Slavery was abolished a long time ago. You don’t belong to her anymore. You don’t have to stay loyal to her because you think it is your place to anymore.”
Sarah looked up at Sam as the breathers filtered back into the family room to take up their positions for the investigation once more. She looked doubtful but also hopeful, torn between the two emotions.
“Sarah,” a young female voice screeched. Emma appeared beside the startled ghost girl, grabbed her arm, and the two of them disappeared as Emma teleported them off someplace.
Ava settled back down on the couch with her Mother as Doug sat down in a recliner nearby. Lauren retook her spot on the sofa as Derrick began manning the camera again. Sam stayed near Lauren and couldn’t help but notice Ava’s eyes darting back and forth, from Lauren to him.
“So, who is he?” Ava asked. “You never told me.”
“Who, baby?” Robin asked.
“The man there,” Ava said, her voice calm as she pointed in the general direction of Lauren but off to one side. Derrick swung the camera to where she pointed, but he saw nothing there. He moved the camera back towards the couch and found Lauren looking quite serious.
“He is one of the good guys, he helps protect me,” Lauren said.
“From people like Emma?” the little girl asked.
“Yes, from people like Emma and others like her or worse,” Lauren said.
Robin looked lost and confused. “What are you guys talking about?”
“I have a spirit guardian. He is kind of like a guardian angel. He helps keep me safe when I need protection from more dangerous spirits.” Lauren glanced over to Derrick and then back to Robin and Ava.
“Ava, did Emma give you anything to keep her tied to this house? Or did she say there was something here that she was attached to?” Lauren wondered if there was some kind of tether keeping the girl’s spirit here. The land her family had owned had once comprised almost the whole county. While she knew that the parcel of land that Emma’s family’s home had been on had since been developed into this entire neighborhood, she had no idea why Emma had honed in on this house, this family.
“No,” Ava said, shaking her head.
“Are there other children on this block?” Lauren asked this, moving her gaze from the child to her parents.
“Next door, the Lewis’ have twins about a year older than Ava. Across the street is a little girl Ava’s age. Two doors down on the left they have three kids, twelve, ten, and eight,” Robin answered.
“Plenty of kids around here,” Doug said. “It’s a very family-centric neighborhood. That’s one reason we chose it.”
Lauren nodded, thinking. With the choice of children around, there had to be a reason Emma stayed locked into this house, this family. Was it simply because Ava was an untrained medium, or could there be something else holding Emma here?
“Well, one thing you need to know is that Ava has the same ability I do,” Lauren said, being careful to keep her voice calm as she didn’t want to alarm Robin or Doug. “Her gift might be stronger than mine in fact. She is going to need help to learn how to protect herself from spirits, and I will be happy to help if you want me to. It’s a gift, but it can be quite a double-edged sword.”
“Are they going to come after her like this one did?” Robin asked, concern for her daughter covering her face.
“To be fair, this one initially didn’t come after her. It sounds like Emma approached Ava as a friend at first. It was only when Emma couldn’t get her way that she started throwing temper tantrums. I think Emma was just not brought up with discipline. She was the spoiled daughter of a rich family, and she just doesn’t fathom not getting her way.”
“But with all the kids and families here is that why she latched on to Ava?” Doug asked.
“It’s possible,” Lauren said with a nod. “I would say at this point that it is either that or there is something in, under, or around this house that ties her here. A favorite toy, her bones, I don’t know.”
“So how do we proceed? It’s not like we can just move,” Doug said.
“No, and you shouldn’t
have to,” Lauren said. She turned to Derrick and said, “You can stop the recording for now.”
Ava yawned, and Robin hugged her. “I think it’s time to start getting you ready for bed, sweetheart.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Ava said, uttering the usual protest of bedtime given by sleepy children.
“Sure, sure,” Doug said with a chuckle. “Go on up with Mom for your bath, okay kiddo? I’ll be up in a bit to say goodnight.”
Robin got up and took Ava’s hand, leading her out of the room and up the stairs. Lauren waited until she heard the water running upstairs before beginning to outline her plan with Derrick and Doug.
“Doug, could we set up a camera or two in Ava’s room? I would like to monitor that room while she tries to sleep,” Lauren said.”
“Sure,” Doug said with a nod.
“Thanks,” Lauren said. “Derrick, can you set up the cameras and have a live feed going to your laptop? Set yourself up at the kitchen table. Then I want you to dig a little more into the family history of Emma. See what details you can dig up on this tragedy that befell her family.”
“On it,” Derrick nodded. He grabbed one of the large plastic cases he had hauled in and went upstairs. Derrick was enjoying the fact that he was getting to play Aiden’s part tonight and be the tech guy. He had been learning so much from Aiden that he was glad he could display all he had learned.
“I would suggest putting Ava to bed as normal and watching. I have a feeling that as riled up as Emma is, she isn’t going to let Ava fall asleep,” Lauren said.
“Do you think Emma will try to hurt her?” Doug leaned forward in his chair, worried.
“I doubt it. Emma seems to see you and Robin as more of her enemies. Not Ava. I think she will likely try to talk to her. But we will be watching over her just to make sure,” Lauren said, giving Doug a comforting smile.
Chapter 18
The animosity and anger in the cafeteria of the dilapidated prison was palpable, even to the breathers. They moved at a snail’s pace, every motion deliberate as if they were walking through a swamp and trying to not disturb alligators. The investigators’ cameras were rolling, and their other handheld instruments were all going as they swept them from side to side.
The Dead Show Page 11