Jorden nodded as they started walking towards the grounds. “And the second case?”
“Two IR cameras for the third floor,” Matt said. “I want one placed in the surgical ward and the other at the opposite end of the floor in the pediatric ward.”
The threesome headed down the dirt path that wound behind the monastery grounds, cut through the overgrown gardens and headed straight for the hospital.
Like a dark storm cloud on the horizon the spire of the hospital’s clock tower pierced through the thick roof of trees and loomed over their approach, and eerily mimicked the bell tower at the monastery.
“This place is amazing,” Jorden said with a gasp. She had seen pictures but it wasn’t quite the same as seeing it in person for the first time, and of course she could feel the energy surrounding it.
“What’s wrong?” Jonas asked as he stepped up beside her.
Until that moment Jorden hadn’t realized that she had stopped walking. “Nothing,” she managed to choke out. “It’s an overwhelming place.”
Both Matt and Jonas looked up at the old, rotting building and clearly they could neither see nor feel what she did, but immediately she knew that this place was full of otherworldly energy and she both feared and anticipated entering. The face of the hospital was all stone, but for the areas that were fixed up when it was remodeled and the stone was replaced by brick. For all appearances, it looked like a very solid building, and then she thought of it from a patient’s perspective. For the mentally ill who were forced to endure here it must have been a living hell and she wondered if any of them continued to exist in that hell now.
“Well we can’t stand here all day admiring it,” Matt said and nudged her to move forward. “We need to get these cameras set up and conduct our search for any other devices that may have been planted.”
For the next four hours Jorden, Matt and Jonas searched each floor of the hospital and placed their cameras, all the while fielding questions over the radio about why none of the others were setting up. Matt put it simply that after what happened in the dormitories of the monastery he wanted to personally oversee each camera placement, and he explained it in such a way that none of the others seemed insulted, and none of them questioned the decision. When Matt put on his “cop face” the others didn’t argue.
Instead, to occupy their time, he told them on his trip back to the cottage to retrieve the rest of the equipment, that he wanted those who weren’t analyzing evidence to take recorders into the rice fields and the courtyard one more time and see if they could pick up any last minute EVPs, since both were reported to have activity, yet very little was found – Nigel’s scratchy EVP notwithstanding.
The task seemed to placate the others and for the rest of the afternoon Jorden, Matt and Jonas were allowed to go about their task in peace.
Just as Jonas had declared, there were no other devices found, though that did little to ease either Jorden or Matt’s minds. Just because they couldn’t find anything didn’t mean that they weren’t there. At least they could take some solace in the fact that they still had time to go over any evidence they might find and do a deeper search to debunk it.
By the time they were done with the hospital grounds it was seven o’clock and time for a dinner that would have all of the investigators sitting around the table having a nice meal and discussing the upcoming investigation, though unlike the first night they had arrived, a thick tension pressed down on the cottage and everyone seemed on edge. Only a few words were spoken and it had Jorden wondering just what was going on.
“We’re all just a bit concerned,” Isis said when Jorden finally got around to asking the question. “We always split the task of setting up the equipment and this time you insisted on handling it yourselves,” she said then looked uneasily at Jonas, “and please don’t take this the wrong way,” she said to him then looked back at Matt and Jorden, “but you took him with you. We all just find that a bit odd.”
Jorden knew that it was only a matter of time before the subject came up and she had warned Matt of that very matter, but he had wanted to keep it quiet and she had reluctantly agreed. But now it seemed that he was not going to be let off the hook so easily and all Jorden could do was turn to him and wait for him to answer their questions.
Of course, Matt being Matt, didn’t feel that he owed anyone an explanation; there were times when it seemed he forgot that the people around the table were friends and almost like family rather than one of his perps being detained for questioning.
“I think that I should explain,” Jonas said out of the blue and in the face of Matt’s irate glower, though Jonas did his level best to not look at Matt at all. “It seems that my partners wanted to make sure that you found this place to be haunted according to their terms.”
A low rumble filled the dining room and Jonas held his hands up to quiet the subtle commotion.
“Please, let me finish,” he insisted in a sharp tone, though not so sharp he made everyone jump. Instead their collective grumble died down and silence once again filled the dining room. “I found out that my partners had the caretaker plant several devices around the island that would generate your EVPs or give the impression of banging or shuffling feet, and in one instance would create an EMF.”
“Are you serious?” Jesse snapped. “Are you telling me that everything we’ve experienced out here is bullshit and that we’ve been wasting our time?”
“On the contrary,” Jonas said in a slightly raised voice so that he could speak over the low rumble that had started up once again. “I removed all of the devices and handed them over to Matt and Jorden. They took a listen and were only able to throw out the EVP evidence in the church and refectory. The picture they took today was taken when they felt the need to reinvestigate each building to make sure that I didn’t miss anything, and it was legitimate.”
“And we’re supposed to take your word for it?” Nigel questioned in a harsh tone.
“Nigel,” Jorden addressed firmly. “We spent a half hour searching for anything that could have generated that mist and came up empty, though tomorrow during the daylight hours if any one of you would like to examine the refectory’s dining hall you are completely welcome to do so. I would certainly like to know if we missed something.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this when you found out?” Tony asked, more hurt than angry.
There was no way in hell that Jorden was going to field that question and she looked at Matt, who slumped back in his chair. “I didn’t want you thinking that this was a pointless investigation…that it was a set up from the beginning, because I know that it wasn’t.”
All eyes turned to him and while the others were listening intently, fury was clear in every face.
“We searched every building, along with the courtyard and rice fields again today and found no further evidence of tampering. We took EMF detectors to weed out any kind of electronic device meant to playback audio or video and found nothing. We especially focused on the areas where activity was recorded and searched every corner and crack in every wall. We found nothing,” Matt explained as calmly as he could.
Isis shook her head. “It doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t bring this up to us sooner.”
Jorden felt her heart sink and could feel the disappointment directed at Matt and subconsciously she reached for his hand beneath the table. She wasn’t even aware that she’d done it until he squeezed it for support.
“I know,” he said. “But I guess that when you’re used to doing things a certain way it’s hard to change.”
“You need to stop treating us like outsiders in an investigation,” Tony said. “We’re all partners here and while you and Jorden are the ones who make the majority of the decisions, I think that we should be involved as well.”
Jorden gave Matt’s hand a squeeze when she felt him tense up. “I’ll try to remember that,” he said with a wry smile. “But no promises.”
Jorden wouldn’t have guessed that th
e small attempt at humor would have worked so readily, but the mood in the room seemed to lighten considerably. “So what do you guys think?” she asked. “Are we going to continue this investigation or are you going to call it quits and tell Jonas’s partners where they can stick their island?”
There was a collective murmur around the table then all eyes turned to Nigel, who had been hit the hardest by the deception. “We stay and investigate,” he said then offered a weak smile, “and then when it’s over we tell the bloody bastards where to stick their island.”
The others raised their glasses and toasted the idea but it was clear to both Isis and Jorden that Nigel was still hurting.
Suddenly her hand grew cold when Matt pulled his hand from hers and stood, quietly excusing himself in the process.
Not one to let Matt get away without telling her what was going on, Jorden followed him outside to the porch where she found him breathing in the crisp, clean air and looking up at a few planets and stars that were just starting to come out and a nearly full moon that had been hidden from them for days. “What’s up?” she asked.
He looked down into her face and smiled. “You were right, I should have listened to you,” he said. “I should have told them this morning about the devices.”
Jorden stood still and stared at him with a wide smile on her face.
“What?”
“That’s twice today that you admitted that I was right and you were wrong,” she pointed out. “I think that I might just drop dead here on the porch from the shock of it all.”
Matt rolled his eyes and blew out an exasperated breath. “Jesus, we’re not going to have this argument again…are we?”
She looked deep into his eyes and though he acted and spoke as though he was taking it all in stride, she could tell that he was deeply disturbed by the events of the last couple of days. “Hey, listen. You might not have been a cop in uniform over the last five years, but in your heart you’re still a cop and some of your habits are never going to change, nor do I or the others expect them to,” she comforted. “But you’re going to have to stop treating all of us like outsiders. Like Tony said, when it comes to this team we’re all partners. We’ll still rely on you to make certain decisions but when it comes to something like this you need to include us all.”
Jorden thought that Matt would have been put off by the warning but instead he smiled and nodded. And then he took her completely off guard when he pulled her into the fold of his arms and kissed her as though he’d never kissed her before. It was better than she remembered and she wanted to continue but she pulled away to his chagrin.
“We need to talk about this,” she said after she caught her breath.
Matt nodded, but didn’t seem thrilled by her tone. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he pulled his arms away from her.
“I’m not sure that we should start anything while we’re here. There’s too much going on for us to field a relationship of any kind right now,” she said steadily, though her heart was beating so wildly that she wasn’t sure that the words came out in anything other than an incoherent babble.
Given the way Matt pulled away from her, she knew that he had misunderstood and she wanted to assure him that while she was not sure that she was ready for a relationship with him, she was willing to explore the possibility once they got off the island. But she was stopped when the ghostly ringing of the missing bell cracked through the warm, night air.
“Are you hearing this?” Isis said as she stepped onto the porch with them.
“Come on!” Nigel hollered as he ran passed them with a camera in hand.
Immediately Jorden and the others followed Nigel as he ran to the bell tower. At least this time they were prepared with video and though it was limited and often distorted, the camera would record any audio within range.
In anticipation of something appearing the way it had the night before, Nigel held the camera up and filmed the arches. Wind blew in from the ocean and whipped around them, yet Nigel was diligent and continued to film.
After a couple of minutes the ghostly bell stopped ringing and the wind died down; and that was it. Nothing else happened.
“I’m beginning to think that the ghosts here are a figment of all of our imaginations…or Jonas’s playback devices,” Nigel said with clear disappointment.
All four of them turned to leave when an unearthly growl filled the air and a gust of wind from nowhere blew all of them down to the ground.
“What in the hell was that?” Matt cursed as he picked himself up off the ground then helped both Isis and Jorden to their feet. Nigel was already standing and looking back at the bell tower, the camera hanging limply from his hand at his side. “Nigel,” Matt addressed, “you with us?”
Nigel stood for a moment longer before he turned and faced the others. “Yeah, here,” he said though not too convincingly.
“I’d say that you pissed off whatever was in there,” Matt said as he dusted his legs and butt off. “And I wouldn’t suggest doing it again.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Nigel said with a bit more conviction. “I think that I’ve learned to keep my yap shut.”
Matt looked up at the sky, which was now cobalt blue and growing darker by the minute. “We’d better get back to the cottage and file away that footage to look at later. For now, we need to get the teams assigned and head out for the investigation.”
When they got back to the cottage, everyone was on their feet and inquiring about what they saw at the bell tower.
“Just wind,” was the only answer any of them would give until they had a chance to review that video and any audio they may have picked up.
“All right everyone gather ‘round,” Matt called from the dining room. He hunched over the back of one of the chairs and looked down at his legal pad that held a page full of chicken scratch that only he could decipher. “The investigating teams tonight are Sydney and Ana in the crematorium outside the hospital and the doctor’s offices which are at the end of the west wing of the hospital’s first floor. IR cameras are in both Doctor Klaus and Doctor Santini’s offices and there is a thermal camera in reception where there have been several reports of moving objects. Isis and I will also be investigating the first floor as well as the second so call us on the radio when you hit the offices so we make sure that we’re not in the area at the same time and don’t contaminate the investigation,” Matt warned crisply then turned his head, “Tony and Saph, you will be on the fourth floor. There are IR cameras in the atrium where Doctor Klaus hung himself and at the west end in the cluster of therapy rooms. There is also a thermal camera at the east end set with a wide angle to catch anything that moves up and down that corridor all the way to the nurses’ station.” He paused a moment and took a breath. “Jesse and Nigel will be on the third floor; IR cameras are in both the surgical and pediatric wards.
“Jonas and Jorden will be in the command center keeping an eye on things,” he added quickly without looking in her direction and she knew then that Matt was far more upset with her than she’d initially thought. The fact that he was sitting her behind a desk instead of putting her on the investigation because he was angry or hurt pissed her off, but she wasn’t sorry. More than anything she wanted to smooth things over, though this was hardly the time or the place to do it. And when it came right down to it, she wasn’t sure where to begin in the first place.
“All right everyone,” Matt said as he straightened and looked at everyone around him. “Let’s get this party started.”
Everyone headed to the living room and retrieved their handhelds, digital recorders and EMF detectors, and collectively they all filed out of the cottage leaving Jorden and Jonas alone.
“Want to talk about it?” Jonas asked as he stepped up beside her.
The door behind the others shut and Jorden wanted to scream. However, she knew that it would do no good and she instead turned and headed towards the desk in the den. “No,” she said steadily as she took he
r seat and immediately she got to work. She pulled up the seven views of the IR cameras; four boxes on the top and three on the bottom with one box on the screen black with no feed. On the smaller screen to her left were the three thermal views, with two boxes filled on the top and one on the bottom. Like the IR screen, one of the boxes was black with no feed.
Jonas stood beside the desk for a moment before he finally filled the chair next to hers. “This is going to be a long night.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Crematorium – 12:45am…
Drafts blew in from all directions and it was difficult to determine if some of the sounds Syd and Ana heard with their own ears were from the poor condition of the building or something supernatural. Syd suspected that it was the former, but with all of the activity, both paranormal and humanly deceptive, he knew that anything was possible so he refrained from jumping to any conclusions.
Ana, on the other hand, nearly jumped out of her skin every time something bumped or banged in the near blackness of the warehouse-sized structure. A couple of times the sounds were attributed to a couple of raccoons scurrying about and Syd wasn’t sure if Ana was relived or even more frightened.
“You need to try to relax,” Syd said in his soothing but fatherly tone. “You’re going to have an anxiety attack if you don’t start taking some deep breaths and calm down.”
“I can’t help it,” she said as she stifled a chill. “There’s just something about this place that gets to me.”
Syd understood. According to their research more than fifty thousand people had been cremated there, and during the years of the plague even more were cremated in massive pits; at least according to some stories. It was no wonder why the locals called this place “Death Island” or a variation thereof. “Maybe if we tried to get some EVPs it would help.”
“I doubt it,” Ana muttered, but then held out her recorder. “Is there anyone here who would like to talk to us?”
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 21
