The Ghoul Next Door

chapter Twenty-Nine

After finishing the interview, we grabbed our equipment and started our investigation. When we moved into the hallway, I pulled Cooper and Matt to the side. Of course the camera was in my face, so it wasn’t exactly private.

“I can’t deny what I’m seeing in this house.” I pointed down the hall. “The man is very upset. He likes to push people around. He needs to leave.”

The man in the overalls was back. This time he wasn’t confined to the bedroom. He stood defiantly in the middle of the hall.

“Do you feel the electricity? It’s a weird feeling,” Cooper said.

“He can push electricity through people,” I said, as a tingle raced down my spine.

Static crackled in the air. Matt looked as if he wanted to run and Mindy wasn’t far behind him.

“These creatures that she drew in the picture are living on her roof. They’ve been up there for months.” I pointed over our heads. “At least that’s what the man in the overalls said.”

Cooper and Matt stared at me wide-eyed. The energy coming from Mindy let me know she wanted out of there. I prayed she didn’t have a panic attack before we finished filming for the day.

“They live on the roof?” Matt asked.

“Yep. They are almost alien-looking and they scuttle around on the roof. They want to be attached to Jennie.”

Cooper cast a glance my way. I knew what he was thinking. These evil things didn’t just want Jennie. I was pretty sure they wanted me too.

I continued without acknowledging the look Cooper had given me. “They’re drawn to certain areas and people. Jennie just so happens to be one of the unlucky ones. And someone sent them here.”

Was I one of the unlucky ones too?

“I’ve never heard of these monsters before now and I’ve researched a lot of dark spirits,” Cooper said.

And Cooper thought he knew everything about demons. I had showed him. I had the 411 on these creatures. Okay, it was thanks to Heath, the man in the overalls, who didn’t want to leave his former residence. It wasn’t my fault if he wouldn’t talk to Cooper.

“They’re very dark energy.” My voice was almost a whisper now. The more I spoke about them the more I knew they were after me too. Not just Jennie.

Mindy swallowed hard and Matt didn’t move an inch as he stared at me wide-eyed. Cooper had moved a couple steps forward. He probably wanted to get Heath to speak with him. But the male ghost wasn’t going to… he’d told me I was the only one he would communicate with. He wasn’t even talking the way the other ghosts did. Instead, he was just placing the thoughts in my head.

“Jennie is different,” I said. “I think she’s a sensitive. This thing is stealing parts of her energy.”

“I want both of you to be okay. I’m worried about you,” Cooper said.

Mindy’s expression turned even more dire with Cooper’s words.

“The evil spirit wants in the house. It’s not good for Jennie. It’s a bad presence and if it gets a hold of her it will make her do bad things. It can’t get in.” I looked from Matt to Cooper. “This would be awful. It will hurt people any chance it gets.”

“The male spirit became hostile when we arrived, but I don’t think he’ll harm anyone. He’s nothing to really be concerned with. He died several years ago in this house,” Cooper said.

Matt inched down the hall. He looked as if he wanted nothing more than to get away from the action. From over his shoulder, he said, “Okay, let’s see if you all can get one more round of evidence.”

Cooper and I made our way from room to room. As we moved through the house, the feeling only intensified. I began snapping photos one right after the other. With any luck, I’d catch something in the photo. I always liked truth to back up the things I saw. As I made a step forward, a voice sounded. Everyone froze, so I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d heard it. With any luck, we’d caught it on the recorder.

The evil spirit had seeped in and was crawling through the walls, following every move we made. The spirit might be able to take on a human form, but it was in no way human.

Cooper and I made our way up the stairs to one of the back rooms. Mindy bravely followed close behind. When I inched the door open, I spotted the thing right away. The creature was in the corner of the bedroom when I stepped through the door, snarling and growling at me.

The floor shook as the creature crawled across the old hardwood floor.

“The thing is making me sick,” I said.

“What do you mean, sick?” Mindy asked as she neared the door.

When she saw the thing she backed up, then froze as she stared at it. We were all frozen on the spot.

“I mean like I may barf on your shoes in a second.”

“We need to get out of here.” Mindy pulled my arm.

“We can’t leave yet. The cameras are rolling.” I pointed.

As the cameraman stepped forward to video the black figure we’d seen, the evil spirit disappeared. Part of me wished that he’d gotten it on tape because, like I said, I loved evidence to back of the claims of the paranormal, but the other part of me was relieved that the evil was gone.

“Larue, maybe you should leave. It’s not good if you’re getting sick.” Cooper stood beside me.

“You can leave if you want, but there is no way I’m giving up that easily.”

“You need not to try to be the hero here. You can’t put this above your health.” Cooper touched my arm.

That wasn’t what Matt would say. He’d want us to stay no matter what. Undoubtedly, the scarier the outcome, the bigger the ratings. And why did Cooper care if I stayed? So that he could be the hero? No way. I wasn’t falling for that.

We moved back down stairs and handed over any evidence that we may have captured to the tech guy. We swapped out equipment and continued our tour through the downstairs part of the house. After another hour and no additional activity, we met Matt, Jennie and Ben back at the dining room table to review the evidence.

Matt played back the recorder. “There are voices on the recorders. Did you hear the whistling?”

The angry male voice over the recorder said, “Danger, Larue.”

Ben said, “Now I have something to back up what I’m hearing.”

“That was the angry man,” I said when I heard the voice say my name across the recorder. “Did you hear the deep husky voice? It is very creepy.”

Matt played the next recording. “Get out of my house,” the male voice said again.

As we sat around the table, Cooper’s EMF detector began beeping wildly. “It’s trying to communicate with us through that.”

The heavy feeling had returned.

Mindy had been quiet for the whole investigation and rightfully so. “I am freaked out. I can’t believe something was standing there in that room. It kind of looked like a man, but I couldn’t see its face clearly. The rest of the thing was pitch-black.”

Ben shook his head. “This explains so much. We’ve heard footsteps and seen doors open and close. We’ve had people get scratched.”

While he talked, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye in the living room. The creature growled, so I knew it was in there, but I wouldn’t give it the attention that it so dearly desired.

“We saw something dark in the bedroom upstairs,” I said.

Cooper stood and hurried out of the room as if he’d sensed something, but he didn’t give us an explanation. I focused my attention on Jennie again.

Jennie nodded as she stared at us. “I stopped sleeping in that bedroom because the activity was too strong. I always feel uneasy when I go in there. One time, the dresser was pulled away from the wall, blocking the door. I refused to stay in that room ever again. When the lights are out, it is darker than dark.”

Cooper returned. “There is a vortex here. It’s an opening to the other world and we need to close it.” He pointed toward the door.

Wow. Had he found it while outside? Everyone stared at him but didn’t say a word. What could they say to an announcement like that?

“This doorway is allowing in the spirits,” he continued.

Ben shook his head. “I used to think that spirits moved on, now I know they’d don’t. Can you get them to leave and get out of our house?” He looked at me with a pleading stare.

Jennie offered more information. “You can hear people talking but never quite make out what they’re saying. A chill runs down your spine every time you walk into the basement, too.”

“Well, basements can be very spooky places so I’m not surprised that that happens,” I said.

“No, this is different. I know it’s a creepy space, but you feel it down there. It’s a heaviness in the air. It’s difficult to even breathe.”

Another day in the life of me. Seeing and speaking to the dead wasn’t so glamorous when they spoke back.

As we stood waiting for the producer to announce that we were wrapping for a break, a plate flew off the wall and zinged by Mindy’s head. The homeowner had removed most everything off the walls by this point, but apparently she had missed a few things. I should have insisted because I knew things would get bad with us there.

Mindy had ducked and missed the dish, but what would happen next? Maybe next time we wouldn’t be able to avoid the flying demonic weapons. This thing certainly was nasty.

Matt’s eyes widened. “I guess that’s a wrap for now.”

“You think? Mindy almost lost an eye. I think that deserved a break,” I snapped. Wow, was I testy.

“We’ve got some food coming,” Matt announced. “If you’d like to recharge.”

I wasn’t sure I felt like eating, but I knew I needed to keep my strength up. I needed all the energy I could find. Everyone moved about the room and I stared, kind of in a daze. It was as if I was outside looking in the window at them. The whole situation was surreal. The spirit was talking in my ear, but I couldn’t see him. He was hiding. Just like a coward.

“Why don’t you show yourself?” I called out.

He didn’t answer. He liked to play games, but I was determined to win this one. I felt a stare on me and glanced over to find Mindy watching me.

She moved closer. “You okay?” she asked.

My hands shook from the adrenaline rush. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“It’s been a long morning, huh?”

“You can say that again.”