Seeking Shapeshifters

by Rebekah L. Purdy

  Once we were done with the tour, Keava double-checked our waiver forms then proceeded out the gate. Matt and I went back to the van, unloading our tech equipment and chords while Dad briefed everyone else on the paranormal activity surrounding the house.

  “Okay, so where do we want base camp?” With a tug, I pulled out the large tent.

  “Keep it back here, closer to the fence.” Dad took the other end of a table from me.

  Two more of our tech guys came over to finish setting up the monitors, while I tagged along with Matt to run wires and cameras up to the house. I flicked on a flashlight, making my way to the stairs, the light cast eerie images on the crumbling walls and interior.

  “Watch your step,” Matt called over his shoulder.

  I looked down to see the hole. One wrong move could send me into the nether regions of the house. The stairs whined and moaned beneath every footfall as we ascended the staircase to the second level. The hallways went on forever, each room blending in with the others.

  My light shined on the ancient, sagging beams of the ceiling and the wind howled through the broken windows like someone pleading for help.

  I moved closer to Matt.

  “You’re not getting scared are you?” Matt teased.

  I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

  While Matt set up the tripods and cameras, I taped down the wires.

  “Does this angle look right to you?” he asked, adjusting the camera to face down the never-ending hallway.

  “Yeah that should capture anyone coming up the stairs or going in and out of rooms.”

  Roaming away from Matt, I headed toward the bathroom and old dormitories. I unwound some more cords, taping them along the wall. The darkness seemed to swallow me as I got further away from Matt.

  I grinned, stepping into one of the dorm rooms, waiting for Matt to come around. He and I had been known to play tricks on each other during investigations. For instance, we’d lure one another into rooms we knew had bats in them, or roll objects at each other in the dark. It was even more fun when Brady was around, too, because he’d help to gang up on Matt.

  My breathing steadied as I waited in anticipation.

  “Hey, Ima, are you okay?” he called. “Come on this isn’t funny.”

  I placed a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing then pressed myself closer against the wall. I heard his footsteps then all of a sudden, they stopped. My heart thudded in my chest as I stood in silence. Where was he?

  I backed up, running into something solid, and warm. Hands grabbed hold of my arms and I screeched, trying to run away.

  Then I heard a familiar laugh in the gloom. “You weren’t waiting to scare me were you?” Matt said.

  “Dang it! You about gave me a heart attack.” I clutched my chest. “How the hell did you get in here with me?”

  “There’s a hole in the wall back there.”

  I tried discerning where he pointed but the inky color of night made it impossible to see.

  “Man, that was funnier than hell,” he said. His hands caught my shoulders, pushing me back out into the winding hallway.

  “Glad I amuse you,” I said with a groan. “But don’t worry one of these days I’m going to get you back when you least expect it.”

  “Ohhhh, I’m scared.”

  I rolled my eyes but allowed Matt to guide me back the way we’d come.

  “I think we ought to set up a camera in the bathroom too,” Matt said.

  We stumbled into the remnants of the bathroom, a sink the only thing left.

  “You’re a pervert,” I said, giggling. “What are you trying to do, catch a ghost peeing?”

  “Ha-ha, what’d you do, break out the joke book from first grade?”

  “Yeah, I found it in your bag, but don’t worry I’ll give it back before we leave.”

  Our flashlights bounced off the walls as we bantered back and forth, attempting to put up our last video recorder. Once it was in place, Matt put me in a headlock and pulled my hat over my eyes again. I swear he acted like such a kid!

  “Is everything set?” Dad said as we emerged from the Jesse Lee home.

  “Yep, we’ve got a camera set up in the hallway on the second floor, as well as in the bathroom and two of the rooms,” Matt said, reaching over to get the rest of his gear on.

  He pulled a video camera up onto his shoulder, while his soundman got ready, too. Dad went to talk to the rest of the tech crew to check on their setup as well. We had six more cameras set up on the first floor, and four others in the basement.

  “Okay guys, this is how we’re going to break things down tonight. I want to have two teams in the house at a time. Ima, why don’t you take Matt, and Conrad up to the second floor and start investigating there,” Dad said.

  I peeked at Matt and grinned. It was my lucky night I didn’t have to be around Jefferson. He gave me a wink then went back to grabbing extra battery packs to put in his gear.

  “I want another group to stay out here and go to where some of the old buildings used to be. They’ve had a lot of claims of hearing kids running through there. I’ll head up the last team with Jefferson, Dave, and Tim and we’ll check out the basement.”

  Dad briefed the guys staying back at base camp then made sure everyone had their walkie-talkies on the same channel, before dismissing us.

  I slid a voice recorder into my pocket then picked up a mini DVD camera along with the thermal imaging camera. Keetah looked at me with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

  “You stay here at base camp.” I patted the top of his head.

  “We’ll take care of him,” Jim one of the techs said.

  My team maneuvered back toward the ruined house, and I took a deep breath before moving inside. The bleakness encompassed me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to dance.

  Boards groaned with our every step, while our small flashlights did nothing to penetrate the ebony backdrop. We moved to the stairs, the wood soft with age beneath our feet.

  “This is Ima, Matt, and Conrad, second floor, Jesse Lee home, on October 29th,” I said, clicking on my voice recorder.

  “Why don’t we go sit in one of the rooms and see if we can get something to communicate with us,” Matt said.

  I led the way, heading for the rooms farthest from the stairwell. Pat, pat, pat.

  “Shh. Did you hear that?” I spun around to see behind us.

  The camera angled in on my face then panned down the hall. We stood in silence, no one moving as we listened to our surroundings.

  Pat, pitter, pat.

  “It sounds like little footsteps,” I whispered. “Maybe we should go back and see if we can catch whatever it is.”

  We walked slowly, peeking into each room as we went by.

  “Hello, if there’s somebody here with us, can you give us a sign of your presence?” I said coming to a halt once more.

  He-he-he, came the chime like giggle from the opposite end of the hall.

  “I think it’s toying with us,” Matt said.

  “Maybe I should sit down at the other end of the hall and have you stay here. I can turn on the thermal and leave my voice recorder running.” My eyes darted back and forth.

  I started back the way we’d come, scanning the area with the thermal, when a shadow darted from one room to another.

  “Matt,” I yelled. “I think something’s down here.”

  Matt hurried as fast as he could, carrying his equipment on his shoulder and aiming his light where I pointed.

  “Okay, we know you’re here,” I said. “Can you tell us your name?”

  We came to the room where I saw the figure disappear then went inside. Finding a spot next to the wall, I sat down on the grimy floor.

  “Do you like to play in here?” I said.

  A loud knock sounded on the wall next to me, and I flinched, my heart charging like a stampede.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Matt laughed. “Does it bother you we’re in this room?”

&nb
sp; He-he-he.

  The air around me became frostier but it had nothing to do with the wind. In fact, I didn’t feel any breeze at all from my place on the floor.

  “Matt, there’s a major cold spot right by my face.” My teeth chattered as I pushed the thermal camera toward him and Conrad.

  “Not to freak you out, Ima, but I swear I just saw a shadow leaning over you,” Conrad said, moving his sound gear closer to me.

  “Do you like us?” I asked.

  I closed my eyes for a minute, unsure if I should be asking questions like that. A crash sounded from the room next to us and I leapt to my feet, clutching the voice recorder in hand.

  My flashlight dimmed, an indication that an entity might be trying to manifest. A moment later, my light blinked out.

  “Oh my gosh,” I whispered.

  “Yeah, tell me about it, my camera’s drained too and I put new batteries in before we came up,” Matt said.

  “You’ve got our attention, is there anything you’d like to say to me or my friends?”

  Thunk-thunk.

  I shifted back a few steps needing to determine where the noise came from. This time it seemed to move away from us and into the bathroom.

  “Holy crap, it sounds like kids running in the hall,” Matt said, fishing for fresh batteries.

  I spun the top off my flashlight, changing out my batteries before running toward the bathroom.

  My walkie-talkie beeped on. “Ima, what’s going on up on the second floor?” Dad said.

  “We’ve been hearing footsteps and giggles. I think we might’ve caught a figure on tape too.”

  “Are you all accounted for?”

  “Yeah, Conrad and Matt are standing right next to me.”

  “Then I think there might be something on the first floor moving around. Jefferson and I thought we heard kids jumping rope. We’re going to go have a look so try to make as little noise as possible upstairs.”

  “Gotcha, we’ll have a seat and do some sessions with the voice recorders.”

  My team and I sat down in the bathroom, setting the voice recorder on the floor in front of me.

  “There’s a black toy on the floor and if you want to communicate with me all you have to do is talk into it,” I said, attempting to lure whatever was up here out into the open.

  Click.

  “What was that?” Conrad said.

  Blinking my eyes in the darkness, I tried to watch for any movements. I turned in time to spot Matt’s camera light going on and off by itself.

  “Do you like my friend, Matt?” I asked.

  Yessssss.

  It was communicating, which meant it was an intelligent haunt. Dad was so gonna flip when he reviewed the evidence tomorrow.

  “Okay, that’s kind of freaky,” Matt said with a laugh.

  “Looks like someone has a crush.”

  “We are in the bathroom.”

  I snickered. “If I hear tinkling I’m going to have to leave.”

  “Either that or offer them some toilet paper,” Matt said.

  “If you’re still here with us can you make some kind of noise?” I asked.

  Clink!

  “It came from by the sink,” Conrad said.

  Sweeping over the room with the thermal imager, I saw a cold spot materialize on the other side of the sink.

  “Something’s there, its hiding.” Swallowing hard, I approached the sink. I put my hand out then jumped back as the icy tendrils touched my fingers making me numb.

  “Ima, get back,” Matt said, jerking me toward him.

  He-he-he.

  Every one of our lights went out, blanketing us into a black oblivion.

  “Oh God!” I screeched as Matt and I fell to the floor, while footsteps raced past us, stirring up a frigid breeze in its wake.

  “I can’t see anything,” Conrad said.

  Matt cursed, fumbling to find some more batteries. “Call your dad and see if he can come up with some lights.” Matt’s breath was warm against my cheek.

  I grabbed my walkie-talkie. “Dad, do read me?”

  But it was dead too. All the batteries had been drained. So instead, I felt my way down the hall and to the main staircase and hollered for him.

  “Dad, you need to send someone up here with some light. All our batteries are dead and we can’t see a thing.”

  “I’ll be right up.”

  I made my way back to Matt. Within a couple of minutes, I heard voices coming from the stairs. I stumbled to the doorway, poking my head out so my dad could find us.

  “Man, Lou, there’s been some crazy stuff going on up here,” Matt said with excitement. “They really seem to like Ima.”

  “Once we get these batteries replaced maybe Jefferson and I will hang out up here with you for a bit. That way one of the other teams can investigate the basement,” Dad said.

  I pulled my hat down over my ears then put my gloved hands over my nose in an effort to warm up.

  “Cold?” Matt leaned over and gave me a sideways hug.

  “A little, but it’s worth it.”

  I went over and retrieved my recorder from the floor then trailed after Dad, and Jefferson. We decided that Dad would take Conrad and sit at one end of the hall, leaving Matt and I with Jefferson at the other end of the building. This way there wouldn’t be any way for something to get past us without one of us seeing it.

  Jefferson leaned against the wall, staring at me from behind his camera. He wore a strange expression, which sent shivers striking like lightning bolts across my body.

  “If you’re still here with us can you say something or move something?” I asked. “My—er, friend Jefferson would like to hear you.”

  No! A high-pitched hiss sounded next to my ear.

  “What?” I spun around.

  Bad.

  What did that mean? Bad? My stomach churned, and I searched the area to determine where the voice came from.

  “Ima, we didn’t say anything,” Matt said in concern.

  Things didn’t usually creep me out. I mean, I chased Bigfoot through the woods in the dark, and spent the night in the Lizzie Borden house. But whatever was here in the room with us was trying to tell me something. And it made sure I knew it was present.

  Run!

  I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, my knees trembled, and knocked, the need to get out of the house, consumed me.

  “Matt, I—I have to get some air.”

  His worried expression glowed eerily in the blue light of the cameras, and he gripped my arm to steady me.

  “Lou, I’m going to get Ima out of here for awhile, she’s not feeling well.”

  “All right, Jefferson and I will stay up here. Why don’t you two trade out with base camp for a couple of hours.”

  Matt and I staggered down the stairs, neither one of us said anything until we burst out into the star cluttered night.

  “What’s going on?” He demanded as we made our way to the tent.

  “I don’t know it’s insane. I caught Jefferson watching me then the next thing I know I heard a voice clear as day whispering the word ‘bad’ right in my ear. I don’t think whatever’s up there likes Jefferson.”

  “Smart ghosts.” Matt laughed.

  I grinned in spite of the fear plaguing me, but I couldn’t shake the discomfort or the words from my mind.

  Keetah met us at the flap going into the tent, nudging my leg as he rubbed his head against me. I curled my fingers in his long, warm fur.

  “Lou wants you two to trade off with me and Ima,” Matt said, to some of the other crew members.

  We handed off our equipment then sat down to watch the monitors. I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest in an effort to warm up and Matt glanced at me before shaking out of his coat and covering me up.

  “Here, use this for a while.”

  “Are you trying to get pneumonia?” I asked refusing his jacket.

  “No, I’ll be fine, besides I’ve got several layers of cl
othing on, and I’m going to pull the heater closer to us.”

  “This isn’t exactly California, you know. As in, it’s way cold out,” I said.

  Matt scooted his chair next to mine so our shoulders touched. “If I get cold, I’ll tie Keetah on as a scarf.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, he’d look great with your Berry S.I. sweatshirt.”

  We kept track of the different teams for about an hour before Dad came in.

  “We aren’t getting any hits upstairs now,” Dad said.

  “It’s probably because the ghosts don’t like Jefferson,” I said, chuckling.

  Dad peered down his nose at me. “Don’t be rude, Ima.”

  “Well, it’s the truth.”

  Matt crossed his eyes, making a pig nose with his fingers when Dad wasn’t looking so I kicked him in the shin.

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry I didn’t mean to do it so hard.” A smile tugged at my lips.

  “I think you two are ready to go back in and do some more investigating,” Dad said.

  This was his way of telling us to quit goofing around on set. But I didn’t mind too much. Matt and I got our equipment ready once more, before heading back into the house, this time dedicating our time to the first floor.

  Carrying a rubber ball, we headed toward the gym, which was in surprisingly good shape compared to the rest of the building. We staked out a spot, marking an area off to put the ball. The theory here was that we were dealing with kids and kids like toys. If we provided them, something to play with, sometimes it helped get them to communicate.

  I turned on the voice recorder and set it on the floor next to me.

  “Is there anyone here tonight who might want to talk to me and my friend, Matt?”

  Matt tilted the camera toward the ball then panned around the rest of the gym.

  “We brought a ball here for you to play with. Can you try and move it for us?” I said.

  Bounce—bounce.

  “Look at that.” I motioned to the ball, which moved.

  “There’s a shadow just to the left of the ball,” Matt whispered.

  Sure enough, I saw it and aimed the thermal imager on the ball, catching the heat signature of something standing there.

  “Thank-you,” I said. “Can you tell us your name?”