Aidan left the base area to speak to Will. When he did, Kal suddenly felt a warm breeze. That didn’t make sense. They’d set up inside a windowless room, a former office from the looks of it.
Despite the heat, she rubbed her arms as gooseflesh prickled her skin. She felt…watched.
Stalked.
It was creepy, a feeling she hadn’t had on any of the other investigations. Not even the incident in the elevator in Miami felt like this. Tonight it grew progressively worse. In fact, it creeped her out so much she was about to go in search of the others when one of the sound guys walked in. As quickly as it arrived, the feeling disappeared. She chided herself on her nerves.
Probably PWS—putting up with Will’s shinola.
* * * *
Will was sorting through equipment in the van when Aidan walked up. Fortunately, Kal was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she?” Will growled.
“Chill out. I left her at base.”
Will fought the urge to grab Aidan and sniff his clothes. Will could even smell Kal on him from being in close proximity to her.
Dammit, this is not good.
“You going up to that third floor room with me?” Will asked. “Cab’s about to pop a vein over it. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something.”
Aidan didn’t want to mention his suspicions to Will when he didn’t have proof. “Yeah. Ready?”
Will finally located the other EMF meter. “Let’s do it.”
They joined the camera crew in the lobby and briefly conferred. They followed Will and Aidan up the three flights of stairs to the room. After thirty minutes, neither man felt anything and didn’t catch any data on the meters or with the FLIR thermal camera. They eventually returned to the lobby.
Cabrio eagerly waited for them. “Well? Did you find anything?”
Will shook his head. “Nothing”
“I’m telling you, Will, I saw a shadow in there. You know me, dude. You know damn well I don’t cry ghost. There’s something there.”
“Well, it’s not there now, Cab. I don’t know what to tell you.”
Cabrio ran a hand through his scruffy blond hair. “Look, send someone else up, one more person. Just to make sure, someone who hasn’t been up there. We’ve got plenty of time.”
Aidan looked at Will and shrugged, mindful of the cameras filming. “Send Kal up. Everyone else is still busy.”
Will was also well aware of the cameras. He fought the urge to scowl. “Sure, send her up.”
Aidan went off to the base camp to get her while Will stepped outside for a moment.
* * * *
“Hey, sweetie, we’ve got a job for you.” Aidan had left the film crew waiting in the lobby.
She looked up from the banks of monitors. “What?”
“Go up to that room on the third floor where Cab saw the shadow, where Will and I just were. Take the FLIR and a digital voice recorder, spend some time up there and see if you find anything.”
“I’m a producer, not an investigator. I don’t have any experience doing that.”
“Look”—Aidan pointed to the feed on the monitor—“we’ll be watching. You don’t have to have a crew there, just some B-roll shots on the way up. Humor me, please? It’ll shut Cab up and keep you away from Will, which will make him happy. Please?” He grinned. “It’ll earn you brownie points with him.” He hoped she didn’t spot that lie.
* * * *
Kal rolled her eyes, not bothering to call Aidan on his blatant bullpucky. “Fine, whatever. Show me what to do.” Aidan knew she was a skeptic despite her elevator experience in Miami, but she’d been tactful enough not to disparage what they did since her name graced the credits as producer. Likewise, Aidan was tactful enough not to tease her about her beliefs.
At least they look for proof about stuff and don’t just settle for accepting things on blind faith, she thought before quickly banishing it. Geez, I’m not only a horrible daughter for wanting to escape my parents, now I’m a lousy Baptist, too.
Aidan set her up with a two-way, a digital voice recorder, and the FLIR thermal camera. The camera crew escorted her upstairs, returning once she settled alone in the room. Will returned to sit at the monitor banks with Aidan. Aidan handed him a two-way and Will set his jaw, glowering but not lambasting Aidan because of the cameras filming them.
“Kal, you copy?” Will asked.
On the monitor her eyes looked ghostly in the black and white IR feed. She replied, “Yeah, what do I do?”
“Work the whole room. Slowly sweep the FLIR from side to side, look for any thermal anomalies, keep an eye on it for anything. It’s recording, so it’ll pick it up and we can review it later. When you finish looping the room, sit down for a few minutes, listen, see if you hear anything. Keep running the digital voice recorder.”
“Okay.”
They watched Kal on the IR feed as she slowly circled the large room, eventually coming to the folding chair in the center where she sat and made herself comfortable. “Nothing yet, Will,” she said.
“That’s fine. You can ask questions if you want, see if you pick up any EVPs while you’re there.”
“Got it.”
On the monitor they watched as her head suddenly jerked, looking to the left.
Will’s stomach took a dangerous roll, his intuition on high alert. “What is it?” Will asked Kal.
Kal finally shook her head. “Nothing,” she replied. “I thought I saw something, but it had to be a trick of the light.”
Will glanced at the other monitors and did a quick head count. “There’s no one up there but you.”
* * * *
She settled again and they didn’t disturb her with the radio. On the monitor they watched as she cocked her head like she listened for something. Will fought a suddenly bad feeling that congealed in his gut and worked its way up his body. On the monitors he located the other investigators on the first floor, and Purs and Gery, both on the second floor and at the far end of the building from Kal’s location.
Aidan apparently noticed Will’s discomfort. “What’s up?” he whispered.
Will shook his head, now intently focused on Kal’s video feed.
Kal’s head jerked to the right, her eyes narrowing in concentration. She slowly swiveled in the chair and looked behind her. Then her gaze dropped to the FLIR camera monitor in her lap and her eyes widened in horror as her mouth dropped open.
As her lips parted, Will knew she screamed even though the feed was silent. When her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell from her chair, Will bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time with Aidan and the film crew close on his heels.
He found her sprawled on the floor, unconscious, the FLIR camera and monitor dark beside her. Will scooped her into his arms and pushed past Aidan and the others.
“Secure the equipment,” Will barked to Aidan as he rushed past him, carrying her downstairs and outside.
She’d fainted, he felt that. And something else, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. Her whole body was bathed in sweat, her shirt soaked through. It wasn’t that hot up there, either. She felt like she’d just come out of a sauna.
Will sat on the front stoop and cradled her against him, brushed the hair out of her face. “Kal, come on, honey. Wake up.” He’d never forgive himself if she was hurt.
A moment later she struggled from unconsciousness, swinging, combative, screaming. He wrapped his arms around her despite the pleasant, throbbing ache in his groin that action triggered. He held her tightly against him as she finally settled, sobbing, clutching Will’s body as she realized she was safe in his arms.
“Shh, you’re safe. It’s okay. Talk to me. What happened?”
Aidan had made it to the front door, and the film crew struggled to get past him. Kal wasn’t miked, neither was Will. The sound guy was especially desperate to get the boom near them. Will shot Aidan a look and a thought, hoping his cousin could still read him.
Aidan touched his amulet and the film crew h
appily took his suggestion that nothing was going on and they needed to convene in the base area to check their batteries and equipment.
Will focused on Kal. She still cried but didn’t sound as frantic.
“What happened?” he asked.
* * * *
Kal took a deep breath and sat up. “I don’t know. I started hearing something, sort of like… I don’t know. Like when a bat flies past you in the dark, like that. That’s what I thought it was. Then I thought I saw this dark shadow coming right at me. I looked at the FLIR… I suddenly felt this really… Some sort of hot spot just swept through me. Like I’d stepped into a furnace, then…”
Kal shuddered. What had happened? It didn’t make any sense. She’d never felt such evilly dark terror as she did in the second before she passed out, like a huge malevolence had swept over her. Nerves, it had to be.
She realized she still leaned against Will and reluctantly scooched away from him. “I probably just passed out,” she mumbled. “I’ll be okay. I’m sorry. I should have eaten at our dinner break and I didn’t, just had some coffee and a Danish. My blood sugar probably went wacky or something.”
Will’s slate gray eyes were, for once, filled with concern. It touched her to her very core. They sat there for a long moment and she felt helpless to pull her gaze from his.
“You want me to take you to the hospital to get you checked out?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay. I’ll take a bottle of cold water if we still have any.”
He nodded and immediately stood. His long legs quickly carried him across the parking lot to one of the vans. She tried not to watch the way his firm butt moved inside his jeans. She bet he looked real good without—
Kal closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No. She twisted the ring on her left hand, something she frequently did in times like this, times of temptation.
Will was unquestionably a good-looking man—also strictly off limits. They worked together. He didn’t even like her that much. He’d probably like her even less now that she’d passed out on an investigation.
He returned a moment later with two cold bottles of water from the cooler and a package of crackers with peanut butter.
“Here.”
She gratefully took them. He sat on the stoop again, not as close this time, watching her.
“I’m sorry,” Kal apologized. She took a long swallow from one of the bottles and ripped into the crackers.
* * * *
Purson appeared in the doorway behind them. “Aidan said Kal fainted.”
Will nodded, not taking his eyes off her as he watched her eat. “She’s okay now.”
He was aware of Purs approaching. He walked down the steps and touched her shoulder, then jerked his hand back like he’d been shocked.
Will’s heart skipped, not sure if he wanted to know what Purson had sensed. For once Will cursed that his own powers were so weakened he couldn’t figure out the strange, telltale staccato rhythm coursing through Kal’s soul, one he knew hadn’t been there before. He should know this, dammit.
Purson’s wide eyes shifted from Kal back to him, chilling Will.
“Will, can I talk to you for a minute?” he finally choked out. “I need to ask you a question.” Before Will could answer, Purs bolted up the stairs and into the building.
Will glanced at Kal and she nodded. “I’m okay. I want to sit out here for a few minutes and cool off. I feel like I’m burning up.” She grabbed the front of her sodden shirt and fanned it, trying to cool off, each flap sending more of her tantalizing scent into the center of Will’s very core.
“I’ll be right back.”
He followed Purson inside and found him talking with Gery. “What was that about?” Will whispered.
Purson looked rattled, something else that scared Will. Purson shook his head. “Man, she is twelve kinds of seriously fucked up, boss. Something’s really wrong with her.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Will growled.
“Will,” Gery said, “something bad happened. We need to get this shoot closed down, right now, and review that footage. I don’t know what it was, but I felt a major shift around here about the same time she went down.”
Will looked at Purson. “You can’t tell what it is?”
“I don’t know what’s got her. I can’t tell yet. It’s not like I can sit there and feel her up. It was like sticking my hand on a hot stove when I touched her. All I can tell you is it’s not something warm and fuzzy with a liking for kittens and tea parties.”
Dammit, if Purs couldn’t figure it out, they were screwed. Uncovering hidden secrets was one of his specialties. None of the others could manage it if Purson couldn’t. “All right,” Will said. “Shut it down, pack up, let’s get back to the motel. We were close to done anyway.”
He returned to Kal’s side. She looked a little better but still paler than he’d like despite the bright patches of color high on her cheeks. “We’re done here tonight.”
“No, Will. Please, don’t shut it down because of me.”
“It’s okay,” he gently reassured her. “We’ve got enough. Either there is or isn’t something, and we’ve got a ton of footage to go through. I was going to call it in another hour anyway, it’s after two. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” He left her on the stoop again and found Aidan. “I’ll drive her back to the motel. Do you need me here?”
“No, but get her backpack from base.”
“Thanks.” Will found it under the table and resisted the urge to hold it to his nose and deeply inhale. He returned to Kal. She’d finished the crackers and her skin tone looked a little better. “Ready?” he asked.
She nodded. He offered her his hand to help her to her feet. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it.
It took every ounce of willpower in his body not to pull her into his arms and kiss her.
* * * *
Kal wordlessly followed Will to his Lexus and tried not to watch his jeans as she did. He held the passenger door open for her, and she buckled up after getting in. He didn’t say anything. For once she didn’t get a chilly vibe from him. Just…worry?
“I’m sorry, Will,” she said. “I’m sorry I ruined tonight.”
He shook his head. “Kal, you didn’t ruin it. It’s okay, seriously.”
Studying his tone, she realized he spoke the truth, wasn’t simply trying to comfort her. She didn’t know how she knew, she just felt…
Changed.
He was acting different. Warmer. Concerned.
There was also an unfamiliar creeping feeling inside her, something she couldn’t put her finger on.
Something dark.
Chapter Seven
Aidan, Purs, and Gery set up the equipment in Will’s room and started reviewing footage. The IR camera showed a black shape darting in and out of the field when Cab entered the room, but it wasn’t there when Will and Aidan checked it out.
When Kal arrived it returned, circling.
Stalking.
Will’s jar clenched. “Play the FLIR footage.”
Aidan silently nodded and the four gathered around the monitor to watch. Kal carefully swept the room as instructed, and nothing appeared. When she sat, something darted into and out of the field again, a bright orange streak that couldn’t be accounted for. Then it appeared dead center of the screen, expanding and taking form, rapidly advancing and growing in size and heat signature, finally enveloping her until it disappeared and the screen looked normal again.
“Sync them,” Will said. “I want to see the IR and FLIR footage side by side.”
Aidan set them up and they watched on the IR as the shadow stalked Kal, staying out of the FLIR field until she sat down. Once she’d settled into the chair the shadow attacked, taking her.
Will closed his eyes and swore. “Where’s the digital voice recorder she had running? Cue and sync it, too.”
Aidan checked the logs and found the one she’d used, dumped it into his
laptop, and put on headphones.
When Aidan’s face went white, Will knew he’d found it. Aidan’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit,” he whispered.
He reset the two video feeds and synced the audio. Clearly distinct, a whooshing noise, closer, a deep, dark hum that chilled all four men.
As the form attacked Kal it spoke, its inhuman voice clearly audible. “You’re perfect. Remind me to thank him.” Followed by Kal’s terrified scream.
Will sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What is it?”
Purs, his eyes wide, stared at the frozen image on the FLIR. “I don’t know. I was right though. She’s possessed. Something’s got her.”
“Yeah, thanks for the memo. What has her, and how do we get rid of it?”
Purson shook his head. “I told you, I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s deep, totally embedded in her soul. It’s not your garden-variety jackass looking for a few hours of jollies. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
They checked the other feeds, keeping a watchful eye for every time Kal appeared in the picture. Several times early in the evening, when she left base to adjust camera placements or consult with crew, a flickering shadow could be seen in the picture.
“Whatever it is, it wanted Kal.” Purs pointed to one frozen frame. “It could have had Cabrio or the other guys or any of us during the evening when we were alone. It specifically stalked Kal and waited until it got her alone long enough it could take her over.”
Will couldn’t pull his eyes from the screen. “Why? Why her?”
Gery cleared his throat. “She was the only woman on the shoot.”
Will shook his head. There was more to it. It really pissed him off that he couldn’t figure it out. “I don’t think that’s why it singled her out. It’s like it tracked her all night until it got her alone in that room. It wanted her specifically. What the hell did it mean, ‘Remind me to thank him’? Thank who? Like someone tipped it off.” He looked at Gery. “Who was on the crew last night?”
Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 7
