by Rick Suttle
“Keep going,” said Sarah. She walked through another doorway, which was propped open by an iron block. We passed through another doorway and entered a back room, where two windows soon appeared before us on the right. Someone had painted the glass black, as I couldn’t see outside. Along the walls, desks, tables and chairs were piled six feet high in some spots.
“He’s not here,” said Sarah. “There’s another hallway.”
“This is the back room,” I said. “There are no other hallways.”
I scanned the right side of the room and spotted a closet door. Farther to the right, a narrower door loomed in sight. It was near the wall.
“He’s hiding down there,” said Sarah. “I can’t make it out, but it looks like some kind of . . .”
“Children,” shouted Mike, through the walkie-talkie.
“What?”
“There are children in the basement. A couple are staring into the camera. Oh, my God.” Mike’s walkie-talkie cut off. It came back on with a burst of static. “We should’ve never stayed. Oh, God.”
“We better get back to the office,” I said. “Mike’s in trouble.”
“No, he’s fine. Get your Ovilus out.”
The Ovilus was the device Sarah had fiddled with in my room that day. It was a small rectangular instrument with Word software and a built-in dictionary to detect spirit voices.
“Can you see the man?”
Sarah glanced over with her goggles. She looked like fish when she opened her mouth, but I was too tense to be amused. Things were starting to happen which usually meant danger was lurking ahead.
“Yes,” said Sarah. “That door leads to another hallway. I thinks there’s a small office down there . . . and he’s hiding in it.”
I heard something fall in the room. We both stopped and listened without looking back. I didn’t want to look. Suddenly desks and chairs started rattling. One desk fell and crashed on the tile floor. I jumped. An entire stack fell seconds later, creating a loud rumbling sound. I gasped. My heart shot to my throat.
“We’ve got to get out of here. Let’s go.”
“No,” said Sarah. “He’s coming.” She walked toward the door. “Who are you?” she shouted. “Why are you still here . . . you’re dead!”
Just then, a chair flew across the room and crashed through one of the windows, shattering a large pane of glass. I grabbed Sarah’s hand.
“Let’s go. Now!”
We ran through all the passageways as objects flew around us. When we got to the first classroom, something sharp struck me in the thigh. I pulled it out and glanced at it. It was an old fountain pen. Another jabbed me in the rear end.
“Ouch,” I shouted, as we made our way to the exit, papers swirling around our heads. I grabbed the handle of the fountain pen, yanked it out of my butt and threw it on the ground. I then shoved the door open and stormed into the hallway.
We ran down the annex hallway, through the last door and past the camera. We hustled to the back hallway. Just as we made a quick left, we heard footsteps coming around the far corner. The REM-Pods started beeping.
CHAPTER 9
“Come on,” I said. “To the side hallway.”
We switched directions and sprinted toward the side hallway . . . and rounded the corner. We stopped in the same spot where we had ended up the last time we’d run from the spirit.
“Who is that, Sarah? Can you tell?”
“No. But it’s not the man we saw earlier.” Sarah walked back toward the hallway. “It is a male. He’s coming through in a haze. I can’t tell yet. Sorry.”
“That’s okay. “What are you doing?”
“Getting a closer look,” said Sarah. She placed her hands on the wall and craned her neck around the corner.
“Who is it?”
“Nobody’s there,” said Sarah. “But I don’t think it’s an evil spirit.”
“It’s not.”
“No,” said Sarah. “Whoever it is may be trying to warn us.”
“Where do we need to go? I’ll leave it up to you, since you’re the psychic.”
“The basement,” said Sarah. “I think we can lure the other man down there, because it’s too dangerous in the annex.” Sarah was right. We’d probably be crushed to death back there. “I’m sensing many spirits in this school, but most of them are staying hidden. I can see some of them in my mind, but everything’s so muddled. I can’t focus in this place. I need more time with them to figure out who they are.”
“That’s okay. We’ll get there. What about the man who was hiding? The first one who chased us. Do you think he’s evil?”
“I couldn’t get a good read,” said Sarah. “He seemed very nervous—and angry. Something bad happened here years ago, and we have to figure out what it was. Then maybe I can help some of these people move on.”
“Let’s check on Mike,” I said. “Something really freaked him out.”
“Isn’t that always the case?”
We headed back to the office, ambling around the front hallway and then down the main one. Mike wasn’t at the computer table when we walked in.
“Mike!” I checked several other offices within the main one. He was nowhere around.
“His walkie-talkie’s here,” said Sarah, pointing at it in front of the far laptop.
We heard a thump on the office door, then laughter roared in the hallway. Sarah and I stood there breathless as the lights flickered off and on. Particles spilled from one of the light fixtures and dropped to the floor.
Suddenly Mike barged into the office—hair askew. Sarah and I jumped.
“Where have you been?” I said. “You’re supposed to man the station at all times.”
“Duty calls, chief. I’d been holding it for hours—and I just downed some Diet Dews.”
“What about the children you saw? We lost contact back there and I thought something happened to you.”
“I dropped the walkie-talkie,” said Mike. “Those spirits were full-bodied apparitions. They looked like ghouls, which really freaked me out.”
“Ghouls?”
“Whitish gray with dark blue and black streaks on their faces.” I shook my head and sighed.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” I said. “We’re going to eat a little snack and head down to the basement. Sarah thinks she can lure that first spirit down there, especially if we can communicate with some of the other ghosts.”
“How’s that gonna help?”
“He’ll come if he’s guilty of something,” said Sarah, “which I think he might be. He’ll try to keep the kids or other spirits from talking.”
“Oh,” said Mike. He then pointed at the laptops. “Four cameras are now out.”
“Where?” I inched closer and saw that three were from the far right camera. Only the annex camera was working, leaving blackouts in the cafeteria, girl’s locker room and basement. The basement camera was cracked and probably on the floor. I’d have to set up another one.
I grabbed a Diet Dew and one of the sandwiches mom had made. I sat down in Joyce’s office chair and munched on the turkey, cheese and rye. Sarah ate half a sandwich with another Coke.
“I have to pee,” she said.
“Seriously.”
“Yeah, it is a normal bodily function.”
“Okay,” I said, spitting specks of bread on Joyce’s desk. I wiped the crumbs up with my hand and tossed them in the garbage can. “I’ll head down with you because I have to go, too.”
“Uh-huh.”
We walked down the main hallway to the restrooms. Urinating in the dark with goggles and a mounted camera was more challenging than I thought. I was the first one finished, and waited for Sarah outside the girl’s restroom door. No sooner had Sarah exited the restroom and taken a couple steps, she said, “I’m sensing a man around that corner—along with a couple adult females.” She pointed.
“You mean toward the back hallway.”
“Yes. The women seem very timid, but the guy may be
willing to talk.”
“Say something,” I said. “Use your recorder.”
We made a right in the main corridor and walked toward the back hallway. Sarah pulled out her recorder. I stood behind her with my own digital recorder on.
“I know you’re there,” she said. “Can you tell me who you are?” Of course, Sarah could communicate without the recorder, but she was now using it for evidence of any EVPs. The spirits were more likely to talk to her than me. And some recorders picked up voices while others didn’t.
“Why are you here? Please talk into my recorder.” She paused, holding the recorder up near her chin. “We’re not here to hurt you.” Sarah inched closer to the back hallway. “He’s retreating—and the women are already gone.”
“Did he say anything—to you, that is?”
Sarah shook her head. “I was wrong. He doesn’t want to talk yet. He seems timid.”
“Is it the man who chased us?” Sarah shook her head.
“The second one. I don’t think he’s ever met anyone with psychic abilities. That’s what I’m sensing. It’s freaking him out, which is why he’s not communicating.”
“Okay. Then let’s head back to the office. I want to check all of our recordings to this point. Then we’ll head to the basement.”
I connected both recorders to my smaller laptop and downloaded the recordings. I then amped up the volume on Joyce’s desk and listened. Silence ensued for several seconds before I heard my voice from our first EVP session.
“Is there anyone here?” More silence, then some static. The digital recordings were usually clear, but my computer speakers were blown from turning them up so much. I needed to buy a new laptop when I could afford one. I listened.
“I heard someone talk to me the other day when I was here.” The static hissed for several seconds. “Are you here now?” . . . “If so, who are you?” I clicked the volume button and listened to the recording again. No one had answered me.
“Here’s your recording,” I told Sarah. Mike had just walked over to listen.
“I know you’re there.” More static. “Can you tell me who you are?”
“Why are you here?” . . . “Please talk into my recorder. We’re not here to hurt you.”
“Did you hear that?,” said Mike, as he stood above my right shoulder breathing on me. His breath smelled like potato salad.
“Take a seat, Mike.” I motioned to a chair at the edge of the desk. Sarah was still standing. “You’re making me nervous. Besides, your breath stinks.”
“Whatever, dude.” Mike pulled the chair up next to mine and plopped down in it.
“Can you make that out, Sarah?” I said.
“Turn it up,” she said. She now stood where Mike had earlier. She leaned in toward the computer as I amped it up.
“Play it again.”
“Ge . . . ta . . . owl . . .”
“Get out!” I shouted, a bit too excitedly. Sarah jumped. “That’s similar to what someone said to me when I first met with Joyce. But it said, ‘Leave now’ that day.”
Just then, something thumped on the office door. I gripped the side of the secretary’s desk—my nails digging into the ancient wood.
“It’s the man,” said Sarah. “The last one who tried to talk to us.”
“Do you think he’s the one who told us to get out?” said Mike.
“I don’t know yet,” said Sarah. She grabbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger. “My head really aches. I think a third entity is interfering—something more sinister.”
“A demon?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Let’s see what the second ghost wants.” I said, as I stared at the door.
“I don’t know if the evil entity will let him talk. He’s pissed off that the guy’s talking to me.”
“You can see him?”
“Not clearly. No.”
There was another knock on the door. Then the lights in the office started buzzing and flashing. One long fluorescent bulb burst. Glass rained down on my laptops. REM-Pods chirped continuously in the distance—lots of them.
CHAPTER 10
“Go to the hallway,” I said, grabbling my goggles and mounted camera. Sarah pulled her goggles from her pocket.
I led the other two to the door. I grabbed the knob and twisted it . . . then pushed the door open. I shoved the door so hard the outside doorknob bounced off the rubber stopper. Sarah took a couples steps and stuck her head out the doorway. She pushed the open door back as it started to close. A half dozen REM-Pods beeped with such high pitches, they pierced my eardrums.
“Do you see anything?” I said, cupping my hand over my right ear to hear her response. She looked in both directions, took a couple steps forward then headed to the right—toward the back hallway.
“Well.” The REM-Pods stopped beeping.
“Shhhhhhh.”
She held her hand out, waving us back. “Let me go by myself.”
“No,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.” She took several steps forward, stopped and turned around.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, thrusting both hands forward for emphasis. “He wants to talk to me.”
“Who?”
“The second man. The one who appeared with the two women when we exited the restrooms.
“Okay,” I said. “But don’t go too far.”
Footsteps clattered in the distance, and a mist was starting to form. It grew hazier. The air grew thicker. I didn’t know if my eyes were playing tricks on me but I saw a few faint figures move through the fog. But something seemed amiss.
Sarah walked down the hallway and disappeared into the cloudy haze. Mike and I stared into the distance—frozen, too scared to move. I had a bad feeling about this. I shouldn’t have agreed to let her go.
“Sarah.” No answer. “Sarah!”
I felt a cool breeze waft down the hallway. It brushed past my arms, giving me goosebumps.
“Did you feel that?” said Mike. I nodded, still looking into the haze which had consumed Sarah.
“It’s probably multiple spirits. Dozens of them.” Goose bumps as large as BBs ran from my upper arms to my forearms. My arm hairs bristled.
I pulled out the EMF detector. It registered 60 milligauss. It then spiked up to 80.
“I’m getting all kinds of spirit activity here,” I said. “It’s the highest reading I’ve ever gotten on this device.”
Mike suddenly started shouting, “All right, you stupid ghost. If you’ve got something to say to us, say it. But quit sneaking around trying to scare us. You’re nothing but a coward.”
“Stop it,” I said. “You know better than to challenge these things. If it’s a demon, it could really harm us.” Mike stopped agitating the spirit. He held out his recorder.
“Ouch,” said Mike, as he reached back with his left hand and grabbed his lower back. “Something just struck me.”
“Was it thrown or did someone hit you?” I watched as Mike grimaced and rubbed his back. He dropped his digital recorder. It bounced off the floor and skittered toward one of the lockers. I walked over and picked it up.
“It feels like I got jabbed in the lower ribs. It really hurts.” I handed the recorder back to Mike.
“Okay. Suck it up and let’s find Sarah.” I grabbed my walkie-talkie and called her. She didn’t respond.
“Easy for you to say. You weren’t just stabbed by ghost fingers.”
“It serves you right for mouthing off to it,” I said. “Now, get a grip on yourself and let’s go find Sarah.” Mike mumbled something but I didn’t hear what he said.
We entered the office and grabbed some additional equipment. I picked up another camera—a spectrometer for measuring light frequencies—and then belted the Ovilus. I grabbed another tripod and placed it in a carrying case.
Mike and I made our way through the haze, which was thinning out, and turned left down the back hallway. We crept toward the corridor leading to the annex.
“Tell
me she didn’t go down there again,” said Mike.
“I’m not sure. But knowing Sarah, she did.”
The camera and tripod were now on the ground, meaning we’d lost all the cameras except the ones in the hallways. I handed the spectrometer camera to Mike. I then picked the static camera and tripod off the floor. I set the spectrometer next to other camera but faced it in the opposite direction. That way I could detect spirits that entered the annex hallway from the back of the school.
I grabbed the door latch. It unhitched from the jamb plate and echoed through the front annex classroom. Mike and I walked in. Papers were scattered at our feet, and desks and chairs were strewn all over the place—some broken.
“Sarah,” I said, through the walkie-talkie. “Come in. I need to hear from you.”
I heard a flash of sound as if she’d pushed the button on her device. “. . . On . . . ba . . . caaa . . .”
“Sarah.”
“She could get killed in here with all these flying objects,” said Mike, who stood to my right.
“I know. But she did say someone wanted to talk to her. Besides, things seem to have settled down.”
“Dad’s really going to kick our butts if something happens to her.”
“I’ll get her. I think she’s in the back corridor. But we need to split up.”
“Why?” said Mike—eyes widened and mouth open.
“Because one of us needs to go to the basement with the Ovilus.”
I could see the color drain from Mike’s face, even through the goggles, as I pulled the Ovilus off my belt and handed it to him. He looked at me and then gazed through the glass door behind us.
“I do know the basement better,” said Mike. “But stay in touch with the walkie-talkie.”