Reign of Silence

by Tony Martin

  “I remember,” said Joshua, “but the Reformation laid all that to rest for Protestants.”

  “Exactly,” said Precious. “Now, King James himself suggested that neither angels nor spirits of the dead appeared as ghosts. James believed that Satan was the source of all apparitions. He believed the devil could assume the form of a dead person or even reanimate a corpse.”

  “I sure didn’t know that,” Al said, suddenly paying attention.

  “Reginald Scot wrote a book called The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584,” Precious continued. “His contention was that there was no purgatory, and the dead do not return from there or any other place. Demons might appear in the form of a dead person, but dead spirits don’t return.”

  “What would Scot make of Saul and the witch of Endor?” asked Joshua.

  “I have no idea,” said Precious. “The more I study, the more controversy I see. Even relying on traditional mainline Christian thought, I conclude that no one really knows what a ghost, or a haunting, is all about. So I’ve resolved to retain a sense of wonder – I don’t try to explain it, I just document it.”

  “And,” said Joshua carefully, “do you try to get rid of it?”

  “I wondered when we’d get around to that,” Precious said. “I’m not a ghostbuster, in the Hollywood sense. Unbelievably, there are guys out there who claim to be able to rid a location of ghosts. Utter fraud. Same with mediums – I’ve yet to see one who convinced me.”

  “So, what do you propose to do?” asked Joshua.

  “We’ll find out if the Dubose mansion fits the criteria of a haunted house,” said Precious. “And if we determine that to be true, then we’ll take the next step.”

  “Which is?”

  “We pray,” said Precious. “And go from there.”

  No one spoke until Precious turned onto the drive to the Dubose mansion. In the approaching twilight, the house seemed tranquil and quiet. A brisk breeze stirred the Spanish moss in the oaks.

  “This looks like home,” said Precious. “This house would not be out of place anywhere around New Orleans or up the Mississippi. This place is magnificent.”

  “I think I’ll wait in the car,” said Al.

  “No, you won’t,” said Joshua.

  “I don’t think I’m kidding,” said Al, standing uncomfortably at the front door.

  “It’ll be fine,” said Precious. “We’ll be in and out in no time. I just want to do a walk through, try to determine where to place equipment, decide where we’ll all sleep.”

  “Sleep?” Al was shocked.

  “Sleep,” said Precious. “Didn’t you know this was to be an overnighter?”

  “I guess not,” said Al, crestfallen.

  Joshua unlocked the front door and the three entered the great hall. Joshua found the light switch. “I intend to turn on every light in the house while we’re here,” he said.

  “That’s fine,” said Precious. “Now, let’s look around.” His face was plastered with a Gilbert Gottfried grin. Precious was relishing every moment of this.

  Joshua had been in the house enough times now to feel familiar enough to take Precious around with confidence. Precious pulled out a notepad, scribbling something indecipherable as they walked, singing a tuneless “who-dee-doodle-dee-doo” as he did. Al looked more miserable than ever.

  Precious took a bit more time in Meredith’s room than in other areas of the house. “It seems as though most of the events took place here,” he said. “This is where voices were heard, where she saw the apparition of a man, where Christine saw something that seemed like a moment of possession…” He walked out of the room, down the hall to the landing, and back again. “But it seems perfectly normal to me.”

  “How do you mean?” asked Joshua.

  “Josh, all of us have had the experience of walking into a ‘cheerful room’ or a ‘sad house.’ I think it’s just a simple discernment of the atmosphere of a place. But here – well, I don’t have a sense of anything. We might as well be walking through a brand-new, recently built home.”

  “You’re right,” said Al, whose nerves seemed to have settled. “I don’t have the ‘creeps’ at all, and I was ready to be scared witless.”

  Back downstairs, Precious asked Joshua to walk the area where he’d seen the wet footprints. Joshua dutifully obliged, walking from the center of the great hall to the back door and back again.

  “This does intrigue me,” Precious said. “In the tradition of ghosts, you’ll hear sounds, recognize smells, and see apparitions. But seldom do you see any physical manifestations. With poltergeists, you’ll have objects moving, rocks dropping from nowhere, things like that. Wet footprints, though. Interesting.”

  “Three of us saw them, even touched them,” said Joshua, frowning at the memory.

  “I understand,” said Precious. “And another thing – much of what has happened has been during the day as well as at night. As I understand, when apparitions were seen, they seemed solid – no transparency, no ‘mist,’ nothing of the sort.”

  “That’s true,” said Joshua.

  “Joshua, are you willing to consider that this may all be a hoax?” asked Precious.

  “Wow,” said Joshua. “If it is, it sure is elaborate – and convincing.”

  “I know of one case in which a family faked a poltergeist manifestation,” said Precious. “They had electromagnets imbedded in walls, circuits that could be switched on and off by remote control from a car or the neighbor’s house. It was very convincing. Turns out, they were just publicity seekers, trying for an Amityville Horror-type book or movie deal. Needless to say, they were completely scorned when the truth came out.”

  “Is Meredith capable of such a thing?” asked Al.

  “I don’t know her that well,” said Joshua, “but we both know the Tracys. If Meredith is faking all this, she sure has Christine convinced."

  “Unless Christine is somehow involved,” said Precious.

  “No, no. I can’t fathom that,” said Joshua. Al nodded.

  “Let’s sit for a minute in the breakfast room,” said Precious, “and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”

  The group took seats around the breakfast table. Joshua rummaged in the refrigerator and found bottled water for each of them. “I’ll replace these tomorrow,” he said guiltily.

  Precious took out his notepad, taking on a clinical air. It was as though he were about to explain a medical procedure to a patient.

  “We want to determine if there is indeed paranormal activity in this house,” said Precious. “Ghosts don’t perform on command. It might be possible – even probable – that we don’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary.”

  “It sure has been ordinary tonight,” said Al.

  “Exactly. Other than the fact this is an old, creaky house, I’ve seen nothing unusual. But we’ll divide into two groups, men and women. I want the women to stay in the downstairs bedroom – I think it might’ve been Meredith’s grandparents. There are grab rails in the bathroom. We’ll bring in mattresses from other rooms, and I’ll encourage everyone to get some sleep.”

  “Unlikely,” said Joshua.

  “I agree, but we’ll try anyway. We men will take two upstairs bedrooms – Al and I will take one, you and Jimmy can have the other. Bring sleeping bags if you don’t want to share a bed.”

  “I’m definitely bringing one,” said Al. “You’ll crowd me.”

  Precious chuckled, sounding like a heavy truck. “Fine. Now, each of you will have a journal, with time noted in thirty-minute increments. While you’re awake, I’ll ask that you make entries – and I want everything. Sounds, sights, smells, any impressions at all.

  “And I’ll get our equipment distributed. I think I’ll just wait until tomorrow to brief you and the rest of the group on what I have and how to use it. And everyone will need a good flashlight. I have a couple of electric lanterns, too.”

  “Excuse me, cousin,” said Al, “but why do we need lanterns?”
>
  “Because I’m going to turn off the power to the house.”

  Joshua almost choked. “What? Why?”

  Precious laughed again. “Believe me, it’s not just for atmosphere or special effects. I have a very sensitive EMF – electromagnetic field - detector I’d like to use. One fairly constant thing we’ve learned is that an apparition does cause fluxes in an area’s ambient EMF. I want to make sure that none of the house wiring affects our readings. That, and if Meredith has rigged some gadget as a hoax that runs on electricity, I want it disabled.

  “And that’s just one component of my equipment,” Precious concluded, “but I’ll show you all my gadgets tomorrow night.”

  With that, the three men left the Dubose house for the evening. Precious drove his car down the oak-lined drive and onto the gravel road leading to the highway. Joshua was secretly disappointed that nothing had happened – in a way, he felt foolish again, even wondering if Meredith could somehow be pulling of the hoax of the millennium.

  Had any of the men taken the time to look back at the house as they drove away, they would have seen a faint bluish light glowing from a window adjacent to the second floor balcony. The light, which pulsed rhythmically from bright to dim, remained visible until the car pulled out of sight, then slowly faded from view.

  Chapter Thirteen - Plans

  “Hey, Preacher,” said Gretchen as Joshua arrived at the church Tuesday morning. “Did you forget something yesterday?”

  “Oh, shoot,” said Joshua, feeling his stomach churn. “Carlisle Banks had surgery yesterday.”

  “Yessir,” said Gretchen with mock cheer. Joshua could’ve strangled her. “They’ve already called this morning.”

  “Gretchen, you’re gonna have to invest a little more time in looking after me,” Joshua said.

  “I didn’t want to nag. You want me to kick into mamma mode?”

  “If that’s what it takes, yeah. That’s twice in less than a week I’ve forgotten something important. I can’t use up all my good will around here.”

  Gretchen, suddenly serious, said, “Brother Josh, I’m going to mind your business for you on something.”

  Joshua knew, as he’d known with Bud Michaels, that Gretchen loved her pastor and wanted to do the right thing. “Go ahead – I can take it,” he said.

  “Something has really been on your mind the last week or so, and it’s eating away at you,” she said. “Honestly, you look exhausted. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”

  “Oh, really?” Joshua seldom put much stock in what “they” were saying.

  “No, I’m not. Sara has noticed. Louise is in the kitchen most of the time, but she’s noticed, and is worried about you. These aren’t troublemakers – they have real concern.”

  Joshua sank into a chair. “Is it that obvious?” he asked wearily.

  “It is to me,” said Gretchen. “Now, Sara and Louise and I see more of you than most church folks. But I’ve never seen anyone go through such a change in personality. You’re walking around like there’s a cloud over your head, and it’s all happened so quick.”

  “Gretchen,” Joshua said, “I just don’t think I’m at a point that I can tell you what’s going on. Let me just say that it’s all very stressful and confusing these days, but I believe things are about to get better.”

  Gretchen considered this. “Isn’t Al’s cousin some kind of detective or something?” she asked. “Does his coming here have anything to do with what’s happening?”

  “He’s an investigator, yeah,” said Joshua, thankful that he didn’t have to explain any further. He knew, though, that Gretchen could be quite the investigator herself if she wanted more information. “And he is here to help us. But rest assured there’s nothing illegal or immoral happening. He’s just here to help us, uh, try to figure out a problem.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Meredith Duboses’ parents disappearing?”

  Joshua felt like sighing aloud – whew. Gretchen thought she was on to something; instead, she was taking the wrong track altogether. “I really can’t say any more about it,” Joshua said, truthfully – and knowing that Gretchen would think his comment was a verification of her belief.

  “Fair enough,” said Gretchen, a self-satisfied smile on her face. Joshua knew he’d thrown her off track for a while – and he hoped she would learn nothing else.

  The entire group met at Joshua’s house at five p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Bethany packed a bag full of snacks, in addition to two sleeping bags and flashlights for both of them. The Tracy family and Meredith arrived first – they were uncharacteristically silent. Lydia Tracy, in particular, seemed overwhelmed with the whole exercise. Jimmy hovered close to her.

  The group was about to go inside when Al and Precious drove up. Precious had changed from his earlier outfit and was wearing black jeans – starched and creased – and a black mock turtleneck. He now looked like a rotund college professor.

  “Well,” he announced, “Let’s get on with it, shall we? Joshua, suppose you and Bethany ride with us, and the Tracys can take their car.”

  Joshua and Bethany stowed their belongings in Precious’ Suburban. Joshua called to the group.

  “Folks,” he said, “I would be less than honest with you if I denied I was apprehensive about this. Yet tonight I trust Precious’ experience, but mostly, I trust in God to give us direction.”

  “Amen,” said Al.

  Joshua led the group in a brief prayer, and said to Precious, “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “I will say,” said Precious, sliding in his SUV, “that it is very refreshing to work with Christian believers. Let’s go, everyone.”

  The two cars left the Nix home and made their way out of town toward the Dubose mansion. As they traveled, Joshua said, “Precious, you know Jimmy’s probably the skeptic of the bunch.”

  “That’s healthy,” said Precious. “I’m actually more of a skeptic than you’d think. So … do you think he has an open mind?”

  “Let’s just say he may need some convincing – in spite of what we’ve seen and heard,” said Joshua. “But he won’t cause any trouble.”

  The group continued, driving under an overarching blue sky. High cirrus clouds wafted far overhead; the sun, making its way toward the horizon, was a spectacular golden yellow. A definite non-spooky day, thought Joshua. He’d assumed Precious would’ve ordered up a thunderstorm for effect, to go along with his “no electricity” rule.

  Christine drove the other car. Her mother and Bethany were in the back seat. “Mom,” said Christine, “how are you feeling about all this?”

  “I’ve only heard what all of you have had to say,” said Lydia. “And, like your dad, this all sounds far-fetched to me. But if we can get some peace for this one --” she reached forward and brushed Meredith’s cheek with the back of her hand – “then that’s what I want to do. But it is odd.”

  Presently Precious turned at the drive to the Dubose mansion, with Christine following. They parked in front of the house. As on the previous day, the house seemed at peace with itself, with a faint breeze stirring the trees and shrubbery.

  “I’d appreciate a hand with all this equipment,” said Precious.

  The group obliged. While Meredith unlocked the front door – and purposely held back until someone else could enter first – the men unloaded the equipment cases, setting them against a wall in the great hall. “We’ll uncrate my toys and I’ll explain their use later. Al, do you have our food?”

  Al dutifully picked up a large cooler and waddled it to the kitchen. Precious brought several grocery bags. The rest of the group followed, and Al unpacked bread, sandwich meats, chips, fruit, and soft drinks. “Katie fixed this for us,” Al explained.

  Over supper, the group shared small talk – about the weather, sports, basically anything but the upcoming evening. Joshua was pleased to see that some of the apprehension – especially from Lydia Tracy – seemed to diminish. Something about food, he thought. In our
culture, it’s like a magic potion.

  Afterwards, Bethany and Lydia cleaned the table with some halfhearted help from the men. Meredith and Christine were over in one corner, chatting and giggling. Joshua thought this was a good sign, and would’ve been content for the rest of the evening to continue in this vein. Then Precious called the group to attention.

  “Folks, it’s time for us to get started, and I want to get you all briefed before it gets dark,” Precious said. “Join me in the great hall, if you please.”

  The group fell silent, as though someone had flipped a switch. In the great hall, Precious began unloading his equipment, explaining each piece as he went.

  “I’m going to distribute this equipment,” said Precious, “and afterwards, we’ll go to the parlor and I’ll explain protocol. First, here’s something you all should recognize.”

  Precious pulled out two 35mm cameras. “Each of these is loaded with 400 speed film and a fully charged battery. I do have extra batteries and film, but we shouldn’t have any trouble making it through the night. Who’d like these? I’d like one male and one female volunteer.”

  Jimmy and Lydia took the cameras. “I may be able to manage this,” said Lydia. Jimmy simply shrugged.

  “Fine. Now, I’ve also got two digital cameras,” Precious said, offering their cases. “There is actually some debate among investigators if digital cameras are trustworthy – it’s much easier, with photo editing software, to tamper with a photo, and there’s no negative. Still, it will give us instant feedback if we see anything.”

  “I’ll take one,” said Bethany, and Al took the other.

  “Now next, I have two digital recorders, and two backup microcassette recorders,” said Precious, branding the two paperback book-sized units with tiny external microphones. “The digital recorders use little disks, and the other ones use a magnetic tape, of course. I will tell you,” and he smiled broadly, “that I think these are the most reliable tools in our arsenal when it comes to actually identifying the presence of paranormal activity.”

  “How so?” asked Joshua.