The Dead Show

by Amanda Fasciano

  “It’s not like they don’t have our numbers, they could have called if they were going to be late,” Aiden was grumbling as the ghosts approached.

  As he reached towards Lauren but didn’t quite touch her; it was as if he were feeling her aura. Sam said, “Snow and Cadence are here,”

  “Snow and Cadence are here,” Lauren said, repeating what Sam had told her to Derrick and Aiden.

  “Well at least the dead are on time,” Aiden said with a sigh of notable relief. “I’m not entirely thrilled with these TV folks.”

  “Really? We couldn’t tell,” Lauren said, the sarcasm dripping from her tone.

  Derrick laughed. “No kidding.”

  Aiden sighed and took a moment to push his knit cap down a little on his forehead. “Look, that party boy attitude of his last night was worrisome. This place is not going to tolerate someone like that. This place is dangerous and you have to be on your toes here, or you could get hurt.”

  “We know what to watch for, and where to avoid,” Cadence said. “We’ll help you as much as we can.”

  “I’m sure Cadence and Snow know what to watch out for and can help us avoid some of the nastier places,” Lauren said.

  Aiden narrowed his eyes for a moment as he looked at Lauren. “Okay, where’s the pod?”

  “What do you mean?” Lauren countered.

  “I mean six weeks ago we had to cajole you into helping out on the Woods case,” Aiden said. “In the last month though, it seems like you have not only come to terms with your powers, they are growing. You realize you just told us that Cadence and Snow were here without the use of a crystal or the ghost box or my little felt cut outs. In all the time I’ve known you, you have always been uncomfortable with your gifts. Now you’re relaxed as hell about them. What gives?”

  Lauren pressed her lips together for a moment as she thought. “Well, you are right, my gifts have been growing. But I also have a spirit guide now, who can help interpret things for me that before I could only feel and have to try to figure out on my own. I think my gifts have been able to grow because I have been able to relax about them. I’m safe, I know I’m safe, even if there are other spirits around.”

  “A spirit guide?” It was Derrick who asked, still hopping up and down to try to stay warm in late January cold.

  “When did you pick up a spirit guide?” Aiden asked.

  “Like you said, about a month ago,” Lauren said.

  “What, right after the whole college fiasco?” Derrick stopped hopping up and down for a moment.

  “Yes,” Lauren said with a nod. “And before the interrogation goes any further, it’s Sam. Cadence’s younger brother who helped us out during that.”

  “Really?” Aiden was surprised, but it also made sense, since they were all so interconnected at this point.

  “I’m glad Sam is with us,” Lauren said as she looked over at the prison. “I’ve already got a bad feeling about this place.”

  Whatever anyone else had been about to say was cut off when a full-sized van blasting loud music came revving up into the parking area. The van was black with an electric blue design of a ghost on its side. Monster wheels held the carriage of the vehicle far above the ground as the enormous tread plowed through the gravel before coming to a stop. Shortly after the vehicle stopped, the roaring engine stopped as well, cutting off the music. Liam could be seen in the driver’s seat, with Teeny in the passenger seat.

  “That is a professional ghost hunting team?” Snow asked, aghast at what he saw.

  “That’s who they met at the restaurant last night,” Sam said with a nod.

  “Here we go,” Cadence said in a mutter.

  Chapter 9

  The group of ghost hunters, both of the regular and celebrity variety, made their way up the crumbling path to the front door. Liam was carrying a couple of cases, and Teeny had a couple of tripods under her left arm. Aiden and Derrick were helping them carry gear as well. They stopped near the front of the prison and set the cases down, prompting Aiden and Derrick to do the same.

  “Okay,” Teeny said, “What we’re going to do now is interview your researcher. Derrick, right?”

  Derrick nodded and stepped forward. “Yes.”

  “You’ve got all your info down, right?” Teeny asked as she guided Derrick to the right of the large and still locked doors.

  “Yes, I do,” he said with a nod. Neither Lauren nor Aiden had any doubt in their younger partner. He was great with the information and research side of things.

  “Okay, you stand here,” Teeny said. “Give us a few minutes to set up a couple of cameras.”

  Liam enlisted Aiden’s help in setting up two cameras. One was on Derrick’s side, angled to record Teeny, and the other was on Teeny’s side, angled to record Derrick. Liam then set about rigging up the lighting.

  “So I’ll stand here, ask you questions about the history of the prison, any interesting facts or encounters people have had, that kind of thing. We record from both sides at once, so we’ll be able to edit it together when we get back to the studio,” Teeny said, explaining things to Derrick who nodded.

  “Oh, what’s the name of your group, anyway?” Liam asked as he worked on getting everything set up.

  We’ve never really named it,” Aiden answered, looking at Lauren with a shrug.

  “We’ll need a name to call you guys,” Teeny said. “Might want to huddle up and figure it out pretty quick.”

  “I’d like to avoid being called ghost hunters,” Lauren said, crinkling her nose a little. “I’ve always disliked that term.”

  “Hmmm…” Aiden looked to the ground for a minute, thinking. “How about Southern Paranormal Investigations? Could go with S.P.I. for short?”

  Lauren thought about for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  “Cool, there’s the name then,” Liam said with a grin.

  Liam double checked the angles on both cameras, and that they both were recording as Teeny helped Derrick clip a mic pack on to him before doing her own. Liam gave her a thumbs up, and she nodded.

  “We’re here with Derrick Getty, the youngest member of Southern Paranormal Investigations and their team researcher. Derrick, we’re standing here outside of Barrington Prison. What can you tell us about it?”

  Derrick took a breath to steady his nerves and began. “Barrington Prison was built in 1940 and only remained in operation for less than half a century, closing its doors for good in 1985. This is where the area sent the worst of its criminals. The death sentence was enforced here, and rather than upgrading to the electric chair or lethal injection, Barrington Prison kept it old fashioned. There is a dedicated gallows building in the same yard that the prisoners would have their exercise time in. So every day when they went outside, they were faced with death.

  “In the early days, the first few wardens of Barrington used to have the prisoners line up outside, rain or shine, to watch a soon to be executed inmates last walk from the prison to the gallows building. That practice stopped when a riot occurred that killed not only prisoners and ironically, the man that was to be hung, but also the medical examiner and some attendees of the execution. That was in 1954.

  “This was a prison; it doesn’t have a quiet history. There were murders, rapes, attacks, but other than the riot I just mentioned there were two other major incidents. The first was in 1968. A prisoner overpowered a guard in the rec room, and some prisoners barricaded themselves in there, demanding more humane conditions. Apparently, some of the guards were notorious for their treatment of the inmates. It took about nine hours, but the warden and other officers diffused the situation. Or so they thought. When they entered the rec room, the errant guards and some of the less than popular inmates were found stripped, hanging from the overhead pipes by their bound wrists, and they had been mostly skinned. There were seven deaths in total at that time. Two were guards, and five were other inmates.”

  Teeny couldn’t hide the look of shock and disgust on h
er face at that. “Oh my God,” she murmured.

  “As I said, these inmates were the worst this area had to offer.” Derrick gave Teeny a bit of an apologetic shrug before continuing on. “The second riot happened less than a decade later in 1975. This one occurred in the cafeteria and was stamped out by the guards pretty quickly, but not before there were deaths. No one seems to know really how or why but a fight started in the cafeteria. It only took about 45 minutes for the warden and his guards to regain control, but that was plenty of time for blood to be shed. Three guards and eight inmates died that day.

  “As newer prisons with better security measures opened, Barrington became less used. When the state did away with the death penalty, Barrington’s doors were closed for good.”

  Aiden was impressed. He’d heard Derrick give information and results of research before. But the way Derrick had effectively crafted it into a story to tell for the cameras was fantastic, and he hadn’t missed a beat. No stammering, no skipping, no nervousness. As excited as Derrick could get in the moment with evidence, he was as cool as a cucumber with history.

  “Derrick, thank you,” Teeny said, coming out from under the spell Derrick had cast with his storytelling. “That is an incredible history. So not only do we have the state-mandated deaths from the gallows but also three riots that caused many deaths, on top of the usual attacks, assaults, murders, and illnesses that would normally occur in a place like this.”

  “Yes,” Derrick said, nodding in agreement. “I’ve never been inside myself, but I’ve heard it’s not a great place to go exploring or investigating.”

  “Why do you say that?” Teeny asked.

  “Because you aren’t the first team to investigate here,” Derrick answered. “In my research, I found that there was a team that tried to investigate this place in 1985, not long after it closed down. They were working for the Ripley’s Believe It or Not television show. A crew of four went into the prison to shoot a segment of the show to be aired in a later episode. There was one sound guy, a cameraman, and two investigators. Rumor has it they were investigating the rec room. The only thing for certain is that two of them walked out unharmed, one was carried out after his back was broken, and the other walked out but died a few days later from an aneurysm which was likely due to the concussion he received here. The sound guy went crazy and was committed to an asylum less than a week afterward. The television show never ran the segment.”

  Teeny paused, stunned by what she had just heard. “Well, maybe we’ll skip the rec room tonight then,” she said at length with a nervous smile.

  “Cut,” Liam said in a loud voice, which made Teeny jump a bit.

  “Is all that true?” Teeny asked as she leaned into Derrick. “Or was it just for the cameras?”

  “No, it’s all true. I can get my laptop and show you the sites I went to for research if you want,” Derrick said.

  “No. No, that’s fine. It just…It makes this investigation a bit creepier,” she said.

  “Which is why it’s going to be awesome,” Liam said, giving a high five to Derrick. “Dude, I couldn’t have asked for a better story. You were phenomenal.”

  “Thanks,” Derrick said, looking a bit uncertain. “It wasn’t a story though. That all really happened.”

  “Well here’s hoping a few decades have chilled the ghosts out then, right?” Liam smiled.

  Snow turned to Roy as all the spirits were gathered around the breathers as the interview was taking place. “How was that incident with the breathers in the rec room allowed to happen? Were you the monitor then?”

  “No, sir, I wasn’t,” Roy said. “In fact, that there mess is what got the old monitor yanked from his position and got me my promotion.”

  “Who was the old monitor?” Cadence asked.

  “One of them guards killed in the ’54 riot,” Roy said. “He’d been the boss here fer a while. I ain’t sure what happened, I tended to keep to the cafeteria myself. But I do recall when all that happened. It riled up everyone inside.”

  “I don’t suppose you would know if the inmates left here have anything planned for these folks, do you?” It was Snow who asked this, concern creasing his brow. The last thing he wanted was for there to be trouble during this investigation, especially trouble that caused as much harm as the rec room incident.

  “Hell most of ‘em prolly don’t even know this is comin’,” Roy said. “They can be quick on their toes when they wanna be, of course, but I doubt most of ‘em are gonna have much to do aside from maybe some pranks. Nothin’ hurtful just touches an’ whispers an’ the like. We ain’t gotten much in the way of visitors since that incident, maybe once or twice a year we’ll get a ghost hunter or a couple of teenagers lookin’ fer a place to canoodle. I can usually get rid of ‘em pretty quick, though.”

  “What about the rec room?” Cadence asked.

  “After what happened, we done our best to make sure that room is inaccessible. No one in or out,” Roy said. “Course if they are determined, the breathers could try to get in, ain’t like we could brick up the doorway. We done our best to block it off like I said, and we’ve managed to keep folk out.”

  “What about the darkness that’s in there?” Whitfield had been fairly quiet up until he asked that question.

  Roy shrugged. “It don’t come out of that room. Same for the one in the gallows. Not sure why, but they keep to the rooms they’re in. That’s why we stay away from ‘em and why we try to keep any breathers that come around out of ‘em.”

  “Well hopefully, these people will be easily swayed away from the dangerous places,” Snow said.

  “I’m not so sure Liam thinks this place is dangerous,” Sam said.

  “Oh,” Snow said. “What makes you say that?”

  “Maybe I’m wrong,” Sam said with a shrug. “But Aiden seemed to get the same feeling that I had. Like Liam was just in this for the TV show and the party. Teeny seems more into the actual reason that they’re here. She says she has some big experiment going tomorrow night, that if it works will supposedly rock the scientific world in regards to paranormal research.”

  “Sam, honey,” Cadence said, shaking her head, “I know you are new to all of this, but that is definitely something you should have led with.”

  Sam made a sour face and shook his head. “Cade―” Snow cut him off before he could say any retort he had in mind.

  “Both of you cut it out,” Snow said. “There’s been a lot going on this morning. The point is we know now. Did she say what the experiment was?”

  “No, she said she wanted to keep it a surprise,” Sam said with a sigh.

  “Well,” Whitfield said, “Here’s hoping whatever she has up her sleeve isn’t too problematic.”

  “Okay,” Teeny said as she unclipped Derrick’s mic from him. “Let’s move this inside for the rest of the interviews.”

  Chapter 10

  As they neared the door Teeny produced the keys from her pocket and flashed a grin to her partner and to Lauren, Derrick, and Aiden. She was obviously excited to begin, as was her partner. The other three, especially Aiden, had their reservations. The key took a little coaxing as the lock was not in the best condition. With a deafening screech of protest, the mechanism gave way, and the door opened.

  “Ha! I win,” Teeny crowed to the laughter of her partner as she got the door unlocked. It swung open, inwards on its hinges with the usual creaks and squeaks of disused doors.

  Roy appeared next to Teeny, not that she saw him, and frowned. “Did my damnedest to keep that thing from openin’ up,” he said to Snow and Cadence.

  “Well that racket had to have woken the dead,” Liam said with a bit of a smirk.

  “That may not be the reaction you want,” Aiden said, looking into the lobby area of the prison, trepidation obvious on his face.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Roy said with a shake of his head. “These folks are a special breed of stupid, ain’t they?”

  “Once we get in we will get cameras
rolling, and you can tell us what has you so damn spooked about this place,” Liam said, then gestured for everyone to enter the building.

  They filed in through the door into the long, rectangular lobby. There were some plastic orange chairs, some with holes in them, strewn about the small area, none of them in the upright position. Dirt and dust were covering the floor as well as on the security counter in front of them. Across the room from the front doors was a hallway that went through the thick-barred security door and into the prison proper. The wall to the left of them had two doors, both closed. The single door on the wall to their right was open, and a wall of old metal lockers were visible. Natural light came in from the barred windows on either side of the double front doors and from a large dome-like skylight in the ceiling. Frost and a light dusting of snow still clung to the glass on the roof, diffusing the light and making it softer.

  “How on earth did that thing stay intact?” Lauren wondered aloud as she looked up at the skylight.

  “Maybe the ghosts kept it together,” Liam said with a laugh.

  “Oh, Mr. Pruitt,” Snow said as he walked alongside the prison guard, “Do you know any spirit by the name of Joe?”

  Roy stopped and looked at Snow, then pursed his lips as he thought. Cadence thought the expression made him look ridiculous with his lips drawn in so tight beneath that huge mustache of his.

  “That’s an awfully common name,” the monitor said after a few moments of thinking. “There are a couple of Joe’s in here.”

  “No, this would have been an independent spirit,” Snow said.

  “Independent?” Roy was confused by the term.

  “He wasn’t from here, but he wasn’t tied to where I met him either,” Sam said. “He said he knew you and was delivering a message for you?”

  “Oh yeah? What was the message?”

  “That I needed to try to get these guys to find someplace else to investigate,” Sam said.