The Wantland Files

by Lara Bernhardt

  “The closet,” she said. “Of course. I felt the presence originate from the closet.”

  TJ beamed. “There’s proof. I can’t wait to show this to Sterling. He can’t write this off as tampering with footage. He’ll have to admit this is proof.”

  She crossed her arms. “He won’t. He’ll say it was wind, or someone behind the door, or a wire we can’t see on the recording. He ruined what would have been a lovely breakfast by badgering me to tell him how we fake things.”

  TJ’s face fell. “But I’ve been here a year now. I’m not a moron. I’d know if it was fake. This stuff is legit. Surely he’ll see—”

  “There’s more, Kimmy. Go ahead, TJ. Show her the rest.”

  “Right. After the door swung open, I saw a shadow in front of the closet.” He returned his attention to the monitor, forwarded the footage, and paused to isolate the image of a human-shaped shadow. “After that, an elongated orb moves toward you on the bed.”

  He played the footage for her. Sure enough, something drifted across the room toward her on the bed. “If I’d seen this last night, I’m sure I would’ve yelled and ruined everything.”

  “You have no idea what moves around us while we go about our lives,” she said. “Probably best most people can’t see it. Too overwhelming and frightening.”

  “This next bit really got me,” TJ said. “You just sit there with your eyes closed. Almost looks like you can’t move. When the orb reaches the bed, something leaps from the floor. Took me a while to isolate this. I don’t see anything on the floor beforehand. And nothing is on the bed with you after. But watch this.”

  He hit “Play.” The figure remained beside the bed. A shadow streaked from the floor toward where she sat. TJ replayed it several times before he spoke. “That’s Felix, isn’t it? The cat. And it looks like the other entity lifts a hand right before the cat leaps. See? The shadow lifts its hand, the cat leaps, and then you open your eyes and respond.”

  Michael pressed forward, leaning close to the screen for a better look, finger and thumb curled around his chin and his brow furrowed. “Play that again?”

  TJ obliged, playing and replaying the footage. She watched the dark, grainy, cat-size shadow appear to jump from the floor toward her. Almost as if aiming for her lap. Or maybe . . .

  “I see it,” Michael said. “The entity does appear to be directing the cat to attack right before it leaps at you. Did you see the cat or feel threatened? You talked about seeing a dark shadow, but you didn’t mention Felix.”

  “I didn’t see the cat but thought I heard a meow. TJ, can you play it again, but slow it down?”

  He rewound yet again and played the same few seconds of footage, this time in slow motion.

  “Watch carefully,” she said. “Looks to me like Felix is jumping not toward me but in between the other entity and me. Do you see that?”

  Michael nodded. “I think you’re right. It appears to be attempting to get between you. What do you think? What happened from your perspective?”

  She thought back to that moment when she was unable to move. “I felt paralyzed. And then I thought I heard a cat meow. I felt like I was jolted from a dream. After I heard it, I could move again. Can you turn the sound on? So we can listen?”

  TJ pulled the headphones from the jack, adjusted the sound on the laptop, and pressed “Play.” She didn’t hear a meow. Michael and TJ glanced at her, questioning looks in their eyes. She shook her head. TJ turned up the volume, rewound, and tried again. Still nothing audible on the footage.

  “I’ll analyze the sound more closely later. If there’s anything there at all, I’ll be able to find it.”

  “Yes, move on,” Michael said. “You look like you can’t breathe in the next part.”

  She heard the concern in her director’s voice as TJ adjusted the footage and continued playing. The dark entity raised an arm, reaching for her, before the fingers seemed to elongate and drift closer. The tendrils wrapped around her neck, choking her. Just as she’d experienced the night before.

  The sound remained on, and she heard Sterling call her name in the background before he dashed into the room. He dropped his camera on the floor and caught her as she pitched forward off the bed. She felt slightly ill watching her limp body carried from the room. She’d never seen herself look so helpless. The entity had hurt her. No wonder Sterling looked so shaken.

  In the recording, TJ continued to follow Sterling as he carried her to the living room and settled her onto the couch, where Rosie took over. No mistaking the genuine concern on Sterling’s face as he hovered nearby, wringing his hands. TJ stopped the footage as the camera came to rest on her pale, still face. She looked dead.

  She shuddered. She couldn’t let the entity get its hands on her again. It was more powerful than any she’d dealt with before. She had to get it out of this house.

  23

  The front door opened and Sterling entered. Right away Kimberly noticed the change in his disposition. His shoulders slumped, his brow was creased, and he refused eye contact. She felt the shift in his chakras, as well. Where he’d been predominantly governed by yellow and green before, now his red and orange dominated.

  Something worried him. Amber? She couldn’t tell.

  Best not to ask in front of the entire crew. Distracting him with work would hopefully help him focus elsewhere. Maybe when Rosie finished dealing with Danielle’s crisis, her stylist could make some calming tea for him. With sage to ward off spirits. Amber wasn’t a spirit, but sage would interfere with her powers regardless.

  “Mr. Wakefield,” she called, “come join us. We just reached the part where you carried me to the couch.”

  He shook his head. “You just won’t call me Sterling, will you? Ready to admit you had a seizure yet?”

  Sharing personal information with this man went against her best judgment as well as her desire to guard her personal life. On the other hand, he’d shared his incredible abs. She wasn’t sure which made her more uncomfortable.

  “I’ve had these episodes before. They’re not seizures. Do you honestly think I don’t see a doctor regularly? I’m probably evaluated more often than you. I don’t suffer from any chronic condition.”

  He shrugged.

  “I was depleted by a charged spiritual entity. And you raced to help. Thank you.” She placed a hand over his and squeezed.

  He met her eyes, then quickly looked away. “Of course. That’s what partners do. Right?”

  She flushed at his use of the word partner. And for a moment she thought she might actually miss him in the future.

  “So did you find your ghosts?” He gestured to the table of equipment.

  TJ jumped to his feet. “Indisputable evidence.”

  Sterling cocked an eyebrow. “Indisputable, huh?”

  She rushed to TJ’s side. “Instead of going back, let’s move on. Sterling can see the footage later.” Pleased to see her cohost smirking again, she didn’t want TJ to jeopardize the improvement by antagonizing him.

  “You recorded in the hallway, Mr. Wakefield,” she said. “Let’s compare your footage to Stan’s and TJ’s. Sound good?”

  “Very. I’ll get my camera.” He started for the door but stopped. Holding up a fist with his little finger extended, he said, “Promise you’ll include my footage?”

  “What?”

  “I want your promise you’ll include my footage, even when you don’t find anything.”

  She hesitated, partly because his serious tone caught her off guard and partly because his dark eyes mesmerized her. “Yes, okay. Even if we don’t find anything. But we will.”

  He crooked his finger at her. “Promise.”

  “I just did.” Did the guy want it written in blood?

  “Pinkie promise.” He lifted her hand, capturing her little finger by curling his around hers and squeezing. “Do you pinkie promise?”

  The twinkle in his eyes prompted a giggle. “Yes, fine. I pinkie promise. You goof.”

&n
bsp; “That’s binding in a court of law.” He squeezed again before releasing her captive finger. His hand lingered on hers a moment. “I’ll get the camera.”

  Rosie returned with Danielle and Josh. The baby was now sound asleep. Danielle knelt beside Drew, who played with his train track. “You okay, little man?”

  The boy had been so quiet while he played, Kimberly had forgotten he was there.

  Drew, slurping on his two middle fingers, nodded and thrust a train engine in her direction. “Play train,” he said around his fingers.

  Kimberly went to Danielle. “Glad to see you got him settled down,” she said, because the wailing didn’t help anyone but also because she didn’t know what else to say.

  “I am so sorry,” Danielle answered. “I keep having one meltdown after another. I promise I’m normally much more stable.”

  “We all have rough patches. I’m glad to be here to help you through yours.”

  “Play train,” Drew said again, pressing a bright-green engine into the palm of Kimberly’s hand.

  She stared at it. Then she lined up the wheels with the grooves in the track and pushed the engine back and forth.

  Drew popped his fingers from his mouth and clapped his hands, giggling.

  “You’re very good with kids,” Danielle said.

  She laughed. Hard. “Not really. I have no experience. If that wasn’t completely obvious.”

  “You fooled me. You’re very relaxed. And you take Drew seriously. He responds to that. He told me you see The Dark, too. It’s important that someone believes us. Doesn’t think we’re crazy. Even a three-year-old can tell the difference.”

  “Believe me—I understand that. Completely.”

  “Could we stay here tonight?” Danielle asked. “The kids don’t do well at the hotel. They need to be home. In their familiar surroundings. We’re so tired and out of sorts. Steven told me this morning that he’s thinking about divorce.” The woman’s voice wavered. “Rosie says he can’t possibly mean it, and that it’s just stress and fatigue talking. I hope so. But he said he’s starting to think I really am crazy. And he said he must’ve been crazy to think you could actually do anything to help. Two nights in our house and nothing.”

  She bristled. “He sounds like Mr. Wakefield. I have made progress. I established contact with the cat. I’ve determined a second entity in the house.” She stopped, not wanting to alarm the woman with the other piece of information she’d discovered—that most likely the children were the target of the haunting. One or both of the kids, she couldn’t tell.

  That was another reason she wasn’t eager to allow the family in the house while they investigated. The children were safe at the hotel. In the house, they could be in danger. Still, maybe the woman’s idea wasn’t all bad. They might have more luck with the entity if the children were there.

  “I’ll think about that. I know it’s tough having your life disrupted.”

  “Come on, Drew. Let’s go to the park. And then we’ll get some lunch at BurgerLand.”

  Drew dropped his trains and jumped to his feet. “I tan swing?”

  “Yes, you can swing. Say bye-bye to Miss Wantland.”

  Drew threw his arms around her neck and squeezed hard. “Bye-bye. Make The Dark go away.”

  She clutched the little boy in return. “I will, buddy. I promise.”

  Danielle packed Josh in his baby carrier and ushered Drew from the house.

  Rosie stood beside her, arms crossed. “Keep playing with those kids, and pretty soon you’ll want one of your own.”

  She stood. “Not a chance. This show takes every bit of energy I have. Nothing left over. Besides, I think there’s supposed to be another person involved in the process. A guy, I’ve heard. Don’t have one.”

  Rosie smiled. “We should work on that. As I’ve said before.”

  She ignored the comment. “Where were you this morning? I missed you.”

  “I went shopping for a new outfit. That’s part of what I wanted to talk to you about. Have you seen the posts about you and Sterling today? Amber is pissed off. Posting about you stealing her man. Let me show you.”

  Rosie lifted her phone from her purse and tapped on the Twitter icon. “Whoa, girl. The hashtag wantlandfilesdrama is still at the top of the trending list.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Everyone is talking about you and Sterling. Have you checked your newsfeed this morning?”

  She shook her head. “You know I don’t pay attention to that.”

  “You’re the only one on the planet who doesn’t. Soooo, Amber hasn’t stopped tweeting since about eight o’clock this morning. Something happen at breakfast?”

  Kimberly squirmed and shifted from one foot to another. Shaking her head, she opted not to delve into the story. Not with Sterling about to return with his camera. “Nope. We had breakfast together but—”

  “Oh, stop. You couldn’t lie convincingly to save your life. Look.” Rosie navigated to Amber’s profile. “Look what she just tweeted.”

  Just heard my bf spent last night with another woman @sterlingspookbuster CHEATER #you’remine and @KWantland BITCH #you’llpay

  Her jaw dropped. Bitch? Her heart pounded. That damned succubus. She took the phone from Rosie and stared at the tweet. Amber had scores of comments, all of them supporting her, along the lines of “men aren’t worth it!” and “wow, just call her Kimberly Bitchland.” Tons of retweets, too. Everyone assumed Amber told the truth.

  Rosie’s eyes bored into her. “Nothing happened, huh?”

  “It’s not . . . we didn’t . . . she misunderstood.”

  Rosie held up a hand, eyes wide. “Amber misunderstood you two spending the night together?”

  “It’s not like that! Nothing happened. We didn’t—”

  “Oh. My. God. He did, didn’t he? Sterling Wakefield spent the night in your room.”

  The crew members at the table went silent.

  24

  There it was—the stunned look Kimberly knew would grace Rosie’s face if she heard. “Shhhhh!”

  Rosie laughed. “Oh, honey. Do you honestly believe any of them doesn’t know yet? What happened? Tell me everything!”

  “There’s nothing to tell. He showed up at my door terrified because Amber was in his room. He asked to sleep on my couch. I told him people would gossip. He never listens. He’s an arrogant ass. But I was exhausted, and I let him crash on my couch. And no good deed goes unpunished, so I’m the laughingstock of the Twitterverse.”

  “And Facebook. She’s really ranting there. Much longer posts.”

  She glared at her stylist. “Thanks.”

  “But you’re not a laughingstock. People are lapping this up. Every woman wants to be you. Every man wants to be him. Hoffmeier wanted a ratings boost. He’s gonna get it.”

  “Not like this. Not at the expense of me and my show.”

  “It’s not at your expense. It’s just publicity.”

  “Sordid publicity.”

  “Who cares? You’re three seasons in. You’ve had great success. But the viewers are starting to change the channel. They want something new. In a drama the writers would kill someone off at this point. Or introduce a new love interest. But you can’t do that. I think this is rather brilliant.”

  “You’re saying the show is stale? Are you tired of it?”

  “Girl, no. Never. I’m with you until the end. But I’d rather the end come another eight or ten years from now. Not next season.”

  She realized Rosie was right. True, she wasn’t in danger of being canceled yet. But ratings were slumping. She hadn’t wanted to admit it. She’d been upset with Sterling for using her show to boost his chances for renewal, but her boss was using him to boost her ratings, too.

  “How are you going to answer Amber?”

  “I’m not. I will not participate in mudslinging.”

  “You have to say something. Silence is an admission of guilt.”

  “Silence means I won’t
stoop to her level. What does she think this will accomplish?”

  Sterling hovered in the entryway, camera in one hand, phone in the other, and a scowl on his face. His thumb tapped rapidly on his phone. He looked up and offered her a smile.

  Rosie laughed. “Sterling just responded. Look.”

  OMG tantrum much? Some girls can’t handle being dumped #getoverit #notacheater @amberbaby @KWantland

  Rosie took the phone back. “That’s what you need to do. Let people know you didn’t steal anyone’s man.”

  “Why did he include me in that? I don’t want to be tagged on that.”

  Sterling joined them. “So it shows up on your profile and in your newsfeed, obviously. I see Rosie caught you up on this mess.”

  “I told you this would happen.”

  “Knew I wouldn’t escape without an ‘I told you so.’”

  “I did warn you. And now you’re answering her? You’ll only make it worse.”

  “Worse? Look at the comments on my profile. ‘Shame on you, Sterling.’ ‘Keep it in your pants.’ ‘Ur a manwhore.’ I’m not going to let this psycho lie about me without at least telling the truth. I did not cheat. I broke up with her. I can see someone else if I want.”

  “Though nothing happened between the two of us that could be considered cheating, technically, you didn’t break up with her until this morning over breakfast. It looked and sounded suspicious.”

  “I broke up with her yesterday. And the lunatic broke into my hotel room to ambush me. This is a Fatal Attraction thing going on here. I won’t be portrayed as the bad guy or accused of things I didn’t do.”

  “I don’t think a voice mail breakup counts.”

  “I do. You should say something in our defense. She’s attacking you, too.”

  “I won’t participate in this ugliness.”

  He looked at his phone when it buzzed. “Here’s a new one. ‘Sterling Slutfield.’ That may be my favorite yet. Took some real thought, that one.”