S: Ooh, an exclusive! Do tell!
O: Starting next week, I’ll be hosting a web series on Kat’s blog called the Graveyard Slot. Every Sunday at midnight, we’ll post a new video with even more behind-the-scenes footage!
S: How exciting! So we can expect one this Sunday?
O: Yup! There’ll be one for each episode. Maybe even more. We’re heading to China for the next episode, but I think we’ll be in New York for a few days before that . . . seems like a good place for a bonus video!
S: Fantastic! You and Kat have been such a great addition to the show. Although I have to tell you, not everyone seems to be on board. I don’t know if you saw Rick Wallace’s recent review of the Brazil episode over on Mixed Bag, but he thinks this is just Fright TV’s desperate attempt to draw in a younger audience, and it’ll alienate the adult viewers they already have. To quote Rick: “If I wanted a scary tween experience, I’d just talk to my daughter and her friends about whatever boy band they’re currently obsessed with. Stop dumbing down your shows just for ratings, Fright TV.”
O: Oookay . . . Well, I didn’t see that review, but some of the other cast members were worried about that, too, so I’m not surprised.
S: Really? Like who?
O: Um . . . it doesn’t matter, because after the last episode, I don’t think they’re worried anymore. And it’s kind of funny that Rick Whatshisname takes ghosts seriously, but not kids. If an adult is embarrassed about being into something kids are into, that’s their problem. Besides, just because a show—or a band, or whatever—is popular with kids, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s dumb.
S: Ha! Great point. Maybe Rick should give his daughter’s music a shot, too.
O: He should. Oh, I think my flight’s about to start boarding.
S: Aw, too bad. Maybe we can schedule a longer interview later? I’m sure our Rumorz readers have tons more questions for you!
O: Definitely!
S: Great! Thanks again, Oscar! Looking forward to seeing more of you and Kat on P2P.
I’D been sitting on the sofa in the hotel lobby for over an hour, running down the battery on my phone. Jamie and Hailey were supposed to arrive any minute, and I was just a little bit excited to see them. But the new comments on my last blog post were doing a nice job of distracting me, because there were over twenty of them. Each and every one from kbold04. The first one said:
kbold04: i know u wont publish my comments but that doesnt mean u wont read them so let me tell u sumthings
The comments that followed were . . . mean. Really mean. Vile, even.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop reading them. After a few minutes, without allowing myself to think too hard about why I was doing it, I’d taken a screenshot of every single comment before deleting them from my blog. Then I’d spent the next hour going over the screenshots one by one, letting each ugly word burn into my brain.
The elevator doors slid open, and Dad and Jess stepped out. I stuffed my phone in my pocket, hands shaking. If Dad saw those comments, he would totally lose it.
“Wild jungles of Brazil?” Dad was saying, staring down at Jess’s phone. “Well, that’s inaccurate. Not to mention ignorant.”
Jess gave a humorless laugh. “Keep reading.”
“Hey, Dad,” I called, hoping I sounded normal. “Have you seen Oscar? He’s supposed to meet me down here.”
Dad and Jess exchanged a glance. “Yeah, he’s upstairs talking with Lidia. He might be a little late.”
I frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“He’s fine. Kat, did you know about this interview?”
“What interview?”
Before Dad could respond, someone squealed behind me.
“Kat!”
I spun around as Hailey Cooper came barreling through the doors, curly brown ponytail flying behind her. Grinning, I braced myself as she tackle-hugged me, squeezing my ribs so hard I could barely breathe. “Hi!” I managed to squeak.
“I saw you on TV!” Hailey cried, bouncing up and down on her toes. “Mom actually let me have a viewing party on a school night! A bunch of my friends came—it was seriously, like, half the sixth grade at my school, and some seventh- and eighth-graders, too. Even Natalie Blackwell came, which was just, oh my God—anyway, most of them had never seen a single episode of P2P but they totally loved it and—”
I tried to keep up with Hailey’s excited chatter while glancing at the entrance every other second. When Jamie finally came in, dragging two suitcases, I felt a huge smile stretch my cheeks.
“Hey, Kat!” he exclaimed, hauling both bags over. “Forget something, Hailey?”
“Oh yeah,” Hailey said sheepishly as she took her suitcase from her brother. Jamie hesitated, then gave me a quick hug. I pictured my last e-mail to him and suddenly felt embarrassed about the heart eyes. Flirting online was a lot easier than it was in real life.
I helped Jamie and Hailey move their luggage over to the couches. Soon Dad and Jess were busy talking to Thomas Cooper, who looked just as stuffy and disinterested in everyone and everything around him as ever. Meanwhile, Hailey filled me in on what she thought of Oscar and me being cast members (“SO JEALOUS”), what she thought of the waterfall episode (“loved it, except what was the deal with Roland being all weird at the end?”), and what her friends from school thought (“most of them loved it, too, although a few said ghost hunting wasn’t their ‘thing,’ which is their loss, obviously”). When she finally paused for breath, Jamie jumped in so skillfully, I had to stifle a laugh.
“So where’s Oscar?”
“Up in his room,” I said, glancing at the elevator. “He was going to meet me down here, but Dad said Lidia needed to talk to him. Want to see if they’re done?”
“Sure!”
After Jamie got their room key from Mr. Cooper, who was now deep in conversation with Dad and Jess, the three of us headed up to drop off their suitcases. Lidia passed us in the hall, and—after returning Hailey’s bone-crunching hug—turned and called: “Oscar, the Coopers are here! We were just on the way down,” she added, ruffling Hailey’s hair fondly. “Is Jess with your dad already?”
“Yup! They’re still in the lobby.” Hailey peered around Lidia, her eyes widening. “Oscaaaar!” she bellowed, taking off down the corridor with her arms outspread. Oscar, who had just stepped out of his room, put his arms up like a shield and staggered back inside with a look of mock terror. Hailey followed, and a moment later there was a shriek and a series of thumps that sounded like bowling balls being dropped onto the floor, followed by a very emphatic expletive Oscar probably wouldn’t have said if he’d known his aunt could hear him, along with Hailey’s wild laughter. Lidia gazed at the door to her room for a few seconds, then turned to me.
“I don’t want to know what that was,” she said decisively. “And I’d like it to be cleaned up before I can find out.”
I grinned. “No problem.”
Lidia headed to the elevators while Jamie and I ventured into her room to find Hailey in hysterics on the bathroom floor. Oscar stood in the tub, wearing a bemused expression. He was aiming the removable showerhead at Hailey as if he’d meant to use it as weapon, but instead the water was gushing straight from the pipe and drenching him head to toe. The rack that hung from the showerhead had tilted when Oscar yanked it out, causing the bottles it held to fall and spilling soapy goo all over the tub and floor. Bubbles were quickly rising around his legs.
“Most people take their clothes off before they shower,” I told him, which just made Hailey laugh even harder. Oscar responded by whipping a soaking-wet loofah at my face.
It was a few minutes before we managed to pull ourselves together and clean up the mess. After drying off and changing his clothes, Oscar joined the rest of us in his room.
“We were just telling Kat about the viewing party we had for your first episode,” Jamie
told him.
Oscar’s face brightened. “Viewing party?”
Jamie nodded. “A bunch of people from school came over. I think some of them might even start watching regularly now!”
“Well, Natalie Blackwell definitely will,” Hailey added knowingly. “She has a massive crush on you.” She gave Oscar a look that seemed to mean he was supposed to be flattered or impressed. Probably both.
His brow furrowed. “Who?”
“Natalie. Blackwell.” Hailey stared at him, her blue eyes wide. “She’s so cool. Her family owns the Blackwell Building, which is super haunted. She’s practically famous. I told her I could set you guys up when you come to New York. Like on a date.”
“It’s a big deal, Oscar,” Jamie added solemnly. “First, Natalie Blackwell. Next thing you know, you’re dating Taylor Swift.”
Hailey glowered at us, arms crossed, as we started snickering uncontrollably. “It is a big deal, but whatever.”
Before she could pick up her breathless ramble again, I turned to Oscar. “Hey, why didn’t you come down earlier?”
“Oh!” Oscar leaned across me to grab his iPad off the table. “Aunt Lidia was chewing me out about something.” He swiped the screen a few times, pressing his lips together like he was trying not to smile.
“You seem pretty happy about getting yelled at,” Jamie observed, and now Oscar was grinning for real.
“Because it was worth it. Check it out!”
He turned the iPad around so we could see the screen, and I groaned.
“Oh my God. You actually did that Rumorz interview?”
“Whoa, awesome!” Hailey exclaimed, and she and Jamie started to read. I gave Oscar a look.
“You didn’t ask Lidia first, did you?”
He wrinkled his nose. “I was going to, seriously. I e-mailed Shelly back, but I figured I’d have time to ask Aunt Lidia about actually doing the interview on the flight. But Shelly responded really fast and asked me to call while we were stuck at the airport, and I . . . well, I did.” He smiled nonchalantly, but I saw a flash of guilt in his eyes before I leaned in to read.
“If an adult is embarrassed about being into something kids are into, that’s their problem,” Hailey murmured under her breath. “Seriously, though.”
Jamie started laughing. “Wow, I can see why Lidia might be upset,” he said when he finished reading. “Rick Wallace is kind of a big deal as far as critics go—I’ve heard Dad griping about him before. And you just straight-up insulted him on a rival website. Which is awesome, by the way,” he added, and Oscar beamed.
“Thanks.”
“That was great,” Hailey said fervently, pushing the iPad closer to me. “I didn’t know you guys were starting a web series! Graveyard Slot, that’s so cool!”
I bit my lip hard, still staring at the screen even though I’d finished reading. My good mood was quickly vanishing, replaced by anger. Still, I tried to keep my voice light as I looked up at Oscar.
“Yeah, I didn’t know that, either! When did we decide that?”
He met my gaze steadily. “Well, Jess and I talked about it, and she—”
“You suggested it to Jess?” My voice wasn’t so light anymore, but I didn’t care. “Even though . . .” I stopped myself before saying the rest. Even though I didn’t want to. I didn’t want Jamie and Hailey to know I’d rejected Oscar’s idea because of my stupid camera aversion.
“Look,” Oscar said quickly. “Jess mentioned the network liked the first video, and all I said was it’d be a cool regular feature, and then she said she’d talk to you about it.”
“Which she hasn’t.” I pointed at his screen. “And yet?”
“Right.” Oscar was starting to look more exasperated than guilty. “Okay, I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned it to Shelly without talking to you. But this will be good promotion for the show, and I’ll do all the on-camera stuff, and . . . and Jamie and Hailey can help with the research! Do you guys want to maybe be in the next one?” he asked them, turning away from the evil eye I was giving him.
Hailey gasped. “Are you kidding me?” She grabbed her brother’s arm and shook it frantically. “Do you think Dad would let us? We could convince him, right?”
“Um . . . possibly. If Kat wants.” Jamie looked at me for an answer, but I was still too busy glaring at Oscar. He was doing his best to look contrite, but I could tell he was equally annoyed with me. If the Coopers weren’t sitting right there, I knew exactly what he’d say.
Get over it already.
“Can we, Kat? Please, please, please?” Hailey begged, bouncing up and down on the bed. I tried to smile at her, but inside I was seething. I didn’t want to do a web series. But now Hailey was all excited about the idea of being a part of the show.
Jamie, however, obviously knew something was up. “It’s a lot of extra work for Kat,” he told his sister. “She already writes all those posts, and it takes a lot of time—”
“But we can help, like Oscar said!” Hailey cried. “I’ll find a place to hold a séance and do all the research, I swear! Oh come on, it’ll be so much fun!” She clasped her hands together, giving me her best puppy-dog eyes. Exhaling, I smiled at her.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Yes!” Hailey pumped her fist in the air, then snatched Oscar’s iPad out of his hands. “Okay, I’m gonna start looking up places right now.” As she began swiping away, I got up and headed over to the laptop set up at the desk. I was too angry to look at Oscar. Seriously, what was the deal with his weird new attention-seeking thing? He was obsessed with reading about himself on the P2P forums. All it took was this Rumorz reporter telling him she’d love to see more videos of him, and he’d gone and committed me to doing a web series on my blog. He’d obviously planned this out before his interview—he’d even come up with a name for the series, the Graveyard Slot. He must have known I’d be furious, but he just did it anyway. For what? More fan comments gushing about how cute and funny he was? Ugh.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Jamie asked quietly, startling me. He’d moved over to sit on the edge of the bed right behind me. I turned in my chair.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Just caught me off guard.”
“Okay.” He smiled at me, and as always, I couldn’t help but smile back. Part of me wanted to tell him the real reason I was so upset. That a web series just meant more camera time, which meant more nausea and stress. And, undoubtedly, more horrible comments from kbold04.
But I wasn’t sure he’d understand, because nothing ever seemed to bother Jamie. His parents were often too busy to spend any real time with him and his sister, but Jamie just shrugged it off and got on with stuff. It did seem like the smart thing to do. Self-absorbed mom wants you to be in her wedding even though the idea clearly makes you miserable? Who cares! Being on television makes you want to jump out of your own skin and hide under your bed forever? Whatever! Get over it.
I wanted to get over it. All of it. But it just wasn’t that easy for me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
. . . BUT WORDS CAN ALWAYS HURT ME
Post: Brunilda Cano, el fantasma de la Catedral de Nuestra
Señora de la Encarnación
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Over the next few days, we’re going to be filming in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Incarnation in Nueva Pompeya, a neighborhood in south Buenos Aires. The church, built in 1756, isn’t anywhere near the largest one in the city, but it does have something that makes it pretty unique: catacombs. Yesterday, we took a tour of the underground tombs. I don’t want to spoil too much of the episode, but:
1) the walls are made from thousands of human bones and skulls, and
2) yes, it was hands down the coolest and creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Of course, plenty of people believe the catacombs are haunted. Because—HUMAN BONES. But over the last year, someo
ne has actually been trying to prove it. With SCIENCE. Hunting ghosts: It’s not just for nutjobs anymore! (If anyone is offended by that, please know I officially consider myself a nutjob.)
Professor Emilio Guzmán teaches psychology at the University of Boedo, and he’s especially interested in parapsychology. Last year, he started bringing a group of students down to the catacombs once a month to hold a séance and record the results. They’ve been focusing on one spirit in particular—Brunilda Cano, who was a nun at the cathedral in the nineteenth century. She’s an ancestor of Professor Guzmán. AND . . . wait for it . . . she was POSSESSED. He says he has records of an attempted exorcism, but it wasn’t successful, and she died November 28, 1891. That’s all I’ve managed to find out so far.
We’re meeting Professor Guzmán at the church tomorrow to learn more, but he claims his séances have been really successful. Some of his students have been so frightened by Brunilda’s ghost that they’ve stopped participating entirely. Personally, I can’t wait to meet her. Friday night, the whole P2P cast is joining Professor Guzmán in the catacombs to contact Brunilda. But Oscar and I don’t want to wait that long, which is why we’re taking Mi Jin’s Ouija board to the church tomorrow. Stay tuned for another episode of our new web series, Graveyard Slot, on Sunday at midnight!
THE cathedral was gorgeous: jewel-colored stained glass windows; tall, castle-like towers; pointed arches with intricate carvings; dark gray stone that glittered slightly in the sun; and wicked-looking gargoyles with gaping mouths. “Very Gothic,” I observed, much to Dad’s delight. (I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t mean “Gothic Revival” in the architecture sense and more just, well, “goth.”)
The inside was just as beautiful, although not as peaceful as it had been when we first visited yesterday, thanks to a large tour group. Most of the P2P crew had decided to wait for Professor Guzmán outside, but I was taking pictures of the vaulted ceiling and the images in the stained glass windows (some were impressively gory) while Oscar, Jamie, and Hailey sat in the back pew. They fell silent when the group entered, the tour guide talking loudly in thickly accented English.
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