by Rick Kueber
We packed up and loaded Theo's car and with hugs and handshakes, said our farewells. The ride home was quieter than I had expected, but even after a few hours of sleep, we were still spent. The hours in the car dragged on, as I watched the fields and trees zipping past the passenger window. Well over half way home, Theo pulled into a rest stop.
“Are you okay to drive?” He asked. “Staring down the highway is making me a zombie.” “I'm fine to drive the rest of the way. I dozed for a while already.” I wasn't being perfectly honest. I had closed my eyes for an hour or more though I hadn't actually fallen asleep.
Soon we were entering the Evansville city limits, and I was looking forward to being home. I pulled Theo's little silver-blue Subaru into a parking space in front of my apartment. I gave Theo a nudge, quietly waking him before I opened the trunk. I unlocked my apartment door and closing the door behind me, exited through the sliding glass door, leaving it open. Theo was already pulling the silver trimmed, black equipment cases from the trunk and helped carry them into the apartment.
“Where do you want them?” He asked, his voice still groggy. “Right here.” I answered, pointing to the floor just inside of the sliding door. Theo gave an unsure look. “Later... I'll put 'em away later. I'm just glad to be home.” I looked around at the familiar surroundings. “You'd better get on the road and get yourself home... and thanks for everything.”
Theo's eyes squinted nearly closed and he smiled through his exhaustion. “Welcome... Thanks for inviting me along.”
“Anytime.” I said, as I waved good-bye. I still found it refreshing that he openly appreciated being part of the team. So many (not that there had been that many) of our temporary team members felt like they were 'god's gift to the paranormal' and we were lucky to have them on our team. I quickly put an end to those, and kept only the most humble and brilliant, open minds. I never made it past the living room. My shoes came off, and my butt hit the comfy cushions of the couch. I sat there for most of the rest of the day, contemplating everything from the cave-in that nearly cost me everything, to the curious, nightmarish dream.
My son Daniel came home, just as the sun began to sink into the horizon, and the sky became faded from blue to purple and then countless shades of orange and red. He, too, was worn-out after a weekend staying up late playing video games and getting up early to play football with his friends. After a short father and son talk about our weekends, he disappeared into his room and never even turned on the light. While I was motivated enough to stand, I decided to take a long, hot shower and wash away the weight of the investigation. As I disrobed, the sound of sand and debris fell to the tile floor of the bathroom, reminding me how badly I needed this shower. The scent of my body wash was more refreshing than expected. As I lathered up my scrubby and began to scour away the dust that I didn't even realize I had acquired, the warmth of the cascading water began to work its magic and loosen up the tension of my shoulders, back, and literally every muscle of my body. When my shower ended, I stepped onto the bath mat, wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the door, letting the steam pour out. I toweled off, slipped into a pair of comfy boxers, and melted into my bed... with hopes of dreamless sleep.
Photo by Rick Kueber
Chapter 9 The Sounds of Silence
The week progressed as most do, with days filled with work and school, and evenings of dinner, homework, and a little veg time in front of the television. When Thursday rolled around, I decided to contact the team to try to set up a time to review the audio and photos from the Infirmary investigation. I directed a text to Theo, Katie, and Jenn.
'We need to get together. We have some audio and lots of photos to review. Any free time this weekend?' -EVPRick 'afternoons are best for me' -EVP Theo
'I'm off this weekend, so just let me know when. WOO HOO!' -EVP Jenn 'I work saturday til noon. :( ' -EVP Kate
'How about saturday at 2?' -EVPRick
'Actually, how about 1? I already have a sitter, so I can come straight from work.' -EVP Kate All agreed and the time was set. I went about the rest of my evening doing the mundane chores of everyday life; cooking, doing dishes, laundry... but I was also able to spend time with my son, which was a blessing. The following day flew by and soon I was home for the weekend. Daniel and I went out to eat at his favorite buffet and then stopped by the corner video box to rent the latest scary DVD release. We stopped for candy... Twizzlers Pull-n-Peel for him, and Good-n-Plentys for me. It was a man's night at home. The lights were off, the surround sound was on, and we munched our way through the creepy movie. Daniel and I would look at each other and smile or laugh every chance we got. I knew it made watching the DVD less frightening, even though he loved scary movies, he didn't care much for sleeping after watching one. Ah, the joys of parenthood... nothing was more fulfilling that being there for my son, through all of the fun, the frights, and even the sad times. We had a bond that I prayed would never weaken, but I knew he would soon be entering high school, and those years would be difficult. How difficult, I could not even imagine. So for now, I relished in the good times... the times when he still needed and wanted his dad around.
Midday was approaching on Saturday, and my son was still sleeping, a sure sign he was a teenager. I opened up the make-shift office and fired up the computers. While I waited, I was intently focused on loading the photos into two of the computers, and putting the audio files on the other computer and my laptop. My phone buzzed in my pocket, startling me. It was Jenn and my first fear was that she was going to have to cancel.
“Hey Jenn, what's up?” I answered cheerily. “Weeell...” Her stretched out word immediately had me concerned. “...I'm actually running a bit early. Is it okay if I go ahead and come over?”
“Yeah, that'd be fine.” The relief was probably obvious to her, but I didn't care. She already knew how much I valued her as a friend and teammate.
“Good.” She half groaned and exhaled loudly. “...'cause I'm pulling in now.” I jumped to attention, rushing to pull Daniel's door shut quietly, and then threw a dish towel over the dishes in the sink. I methodically moved on to the living room to snatch up the empty soda cans and candy packages and rush them to the already full trash can... such is the life of this single parent/bachelor. There was a tap at the sliding glass door, and I gave the apartment a once-over glance before I opened the vertical blinds and opened the door, welcoming one of my best friends into my home.
“Hey girl!” I joked. “Hey there E-V-Prick. How ya been?” Her tone was surprisingly up, as she stepped up into the bachelor pad, and without hesitation gave me a big hug, and a pat on the shoulder.
“Not been too bad... livin' the dream.. ya know.” I was good at always putting on a good front to hide my true feelings. If I were going to be perfectly honest, I would have said, 'This case is so strange, it has me freaked the hell out, and I'm scared to death that I am going to fail as a parent... oh, and I think I'm falling in love with the most beautiful woman I have ever met, who has clearly placed me into the permanent friend zone.', but I just smiled instead. “You want something to drink?”
“Got it.” She said, sitting her bag on the couch and pulling out a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper. “Okay... I'm gonna grab a Dew. You want to go ahead and start looking through the photos?” I asked as I headed into the small apartment sized kitchen, intentionally leaving the light off to hide the disarray.
“Duh! I'm dying to see the Infirmary!” She poked her head around the corner, into the kitchen. “No pun intended.” “I kinda thought you'd say that, but maybe we should wait for Katie and Theo.” I said, knowing exactly how she would react. She poked her head around the corner again, and stuck her tongue out at me making a sour face at me. “Jenn, you never disappoint.”
I followed her into the office and sat down at one of the computers that I had loaded the photos into. Motioning to her, she pulled a chair up next to mine. I wiggled the mouse on the desktop and the screen saver disappeared, revealing the first fu
ll screen photo of the exterior of the Infirmary. It had a blueish cast from the metal-halide light in the parking lot, but was eerily beautiful. Jenn gasped.
“Shut up! I missed that?” She said wide eyed and open mouthed.
“You had good reason.” I quickly became uncomfortable. “I'm sorry. I should have asked... how are you?” “Ugh...” She rolled her eyes and my heart sank, anticipating the worst. “I got called in early in for a follow up visit yesterday.”
In my mind I was saying 'AND?!?!?!' but on the outside, I just sat there quietly and waited for her to be ready to tell me. I expected the worst, but prayed for the best.
“Well, my dumb ass doctor thought my lymphoma was back, but I just had a few inflamed lymph nodes. I'm fighting off an infection, a cold or something, and I'm on antibiotics, but I'm fine.” I could hear the mixed emotions of frustration and relief in her words. Personally, I felt like every muscle in my body relaxed all at once.
“That's fantastic news!” My voice nearly failed me, as the words trembled. I almost teared up, and to keep her from seeing, I was the one who jumped up and gave her a big hug.
“Now, back to these pictures.” She quickly changed the subject, which was perfectly fine with me. “I am so pissed that I missed out because of a misdiagnosis... you think I could sue for malpractice or something? I mean, I am definitely experiencing some pain and suffering right now.”
“I kinda doubt it, but hey, call an ambulance chaser and see what they think.” I almost laughed, which was refreshing. I clicked on the arrow button and moved it to the next photo just as a “Bang-bang-bang” came at the door. Jenn and I both jumped and I stood up.
“Well, check this one out while I get the door.” I instructed her and disappeared into the other room. Jenn scanned over the second photo of the Infirmary, taken from the rear corner of the building. After a minute of looking it over carefully, she zoomed in and started scanning it meticulously, bit by bit. As I appeared in the doorway, she quickly zoomed back out and turned to see Theo and Katie following close behind. Jenn popped up to pass out her usual hugs and hellos. She went through the story of the misdiagnosis again and they were as thrilled at the news as I had been. Eventually we had all taken seats and the topic turned to the Infirmary investigation.
“Check this crap out Katie.” Jenn said snidely, clicking the back arrow to show the first photo of the entire front of the building. “No flippin' way! You aren't serious, are you?” Kate exasperated.
“Dead serious.” Theo chuckled with a grin.
“I can't believe I couldn't go.” Katie expressed her displeasure. “Are we going back?” “Yeah, I'm sure we will have to go back. That place is seriously messed up.. and by messed up, I mean it's freakin' crawling with ghosts.” I certainly had every intention of returning as soon as possible.
“That place is haunted as hell!” Theo wasn't really trying to be funny, or ironic. He was being honest. There seemed to be countless tormented souls within the walls of the old structure, and at least one evil force that could easily be labeled as demonic.
“Take a look at this one.” Jenn said as she moved to the second photo and we all looked at the rear of the building. I was studying it pretty closely, but didn't see anything spectacular about it. I thought, perhaps, she was just showing the other view to Katie.
“Yep... I'm jealous.” Katie said. “That place looks amazing.”
“Look closer.” Jenn coaxed us, and we stared at it in depth. The four of us leaning closer and closer to the screen until our heads almost bumped into each other. “Well, hell, I have to point it out to you, I guess.” She pointed to a fourth story window and then with a click of the mouse, zoomed in close.
“A face!” I blurted out.
“It's a woman!” Katie added all aflutter.
“Hmmm...” Theo thought out loud. “You think it's her? Maddie?” “Hard to say, with all of the spirits we encountered there, but whoever it is, it looks like they were waiting for us.” I was being as honest as I could be. Aside from a dream-vision that I could not entirely trust, I had no real idea of what Madison looked like.
“Well, here is how I have it set up... those two computers have the photos on them, and this one and my laptop have the audio files on them. So, who wants what?” I was excited to get started, but the girls were more interested in hearing about the investigation before beginning the review. Theo and I told our stories, from our sighting of the bald eagle to our return trip home, adding details to each other’s tales and filling in bits that the other had left out. Jenn and Katie were nearly speechless when we had finished, and other than asking questions throughout our narratives, the only thing really said at the end of our recants was from Katie and obviously seconded by Jenn.
“So, when do we go back? I'll hire a visiting nurse if the boys get sick next time. I'm not missing out on this place again.”
“Soon, I hope.” I answered. “Let me know when you all have another open weekend... of course, it’s going to be unbearably cold soon.” “True.” Theo agreed. “This is Bangs... Northern Ohio. The winters are brutal.” “Right... and with all of the holiday stuff coming up, it's gonna be hard to get all four of us free on the same weekend.” Jenn added.
“Five.” I corrected her and got a few sideways looks. “Hilary makes five, and we can't very well go without her.” The nods let me know they all understood what I was getting at. It looked like late winter, early spring was our best bet for a return to the Infirmary.
“Okay then, let’s get to it. I'll take this one.” Katie said tilting her head towards the computer nearest her and sliding on a pair of headphones. She used the mouse to click the play button and leaned her chin on her hands. I took the laptop and the other audio review, while Theo and Jenn began searching through the photos, talking back and forth and pointing to one another's screen. At first it was distracting, because I wanted to know what they were looking at, what they were seeing, but when I looked over to Katie, she had her back completely turned to them and was intently listening, staring at the screen, and occasionally stopping to replay a section a few times before moving on. I followed her lead and turned my back to them.
I did my best to ignore Jenn and Theo feverishly scanning the photos, jotting down notes and numbers in a note pad and chattering about their findings, but I caught myself periodically glancing over my shoulder. It seemed apparent to me that they were on to something, and the anticipation was almost more than I could bear.
The endless static, and eardrum shattering scuffling noises were interspersed with typical e.v.p. questions and bits of conversations between Theo, Hilary, Mike and I. I was about to give my ears and my sanity a break from the noise when something grabbed my attention. My head snapped back to the screen as I paused the recording. I slid the playbar back about a minute and listened again, watching the screen intently. I noted the time marker where the anomaly occurred and paused it again. I wrote down the precise moment of the recording as e.v.p. #1 on my notebook and selected a few seconds before to a few seconds after. I looped the selected audio and pressed the play button, listening over and over again. The anomaly was actually a disembodied voice which occurred just as Hilary and I were discussing the incredible drop in temperature on the fourth floor of the Infirmary. I scratched down my first assumption of what it said.
- Kill him... something I stopped the loop and slid my headphones off slowly and indiscreetly looked to Katie out of the corner of my eye, but it was all for naught. She had already stopped her recording and was turned toward me, staring blankly, and waiting.
“What?” She said bluntly, which caught everyone's attention. “Pretty sure I have something here.” I said as my eyes passed from one teammate to another.
“Let me check it out.” Katie said reaching out her hand. “Okay. I have an idea of what it's saying, but I can't make it all out.” These words pulled groans and whines from Theo and Jenn, disappointed that Katie was given first listen. She put the headphones in place,
cupped her hands over them, holding them in place and nodded for me to play the clip.
“Whaaa?” She said loudly, forgetting that we could hear her. She looked at me with wide eyes and spun her hand and pointer finger in a circular motion, which was EVP code for: 'Play it again'. She repeated this several times before jotting a note on her paper and removing the headphones.
“Okay... what the hell? We wanna hear too.” Jenn pouted, voicing her evident impatience. “I was just about the same place, but I didn't hear that at all. What did you think it said?” Katie asked, while I unwrapped the p.c. speaker cord and swapped it for the headphones.
“I couldn't make it all out, but it sounded like three words...” I began to doubt my own ears. “I though it said 'Kill him...something' but I'm not sure.” I slid my notebook over to show what I had written down.
“That's a little creepy.” Theo said, flashing back to the collapse that could have easily killed me. “That's not exactly what I heard.” Katie said sheepishly. I felt overly paranoid that maybe I was imagining things. “It sounds more like 'Kill them all' to me.”
“Aw hell, I gotta hear this!” Jenn couldn't hide her excitement, which sort of bothered me. “Really Jenn? I mean, I know you weren't there, but this is a voice that was talking about killing us... don't you find that a little grim?” I couldn't contain my displeasure at her bubbly exhilaration.
“I'm not thrilled about that... It's just that there seems to be an intelligent, although malevolent, haunting.” She backpedaled well. “Besides... you know how much I love hearing any voice phenomenon.”
With the speaker hooked up, I raised the volume and pushed the play button several times so everyone could hear. It now seemed much clearer than before... Katie was right. “Kill them all.” The voice was male, deep and raspy. It was also painfully forceful. It seemed to be giving instruction, and that thought sent my mind whirling in a thousand different terrifying directions.