by K. C. Hunter
“And he blames me for it.” Alice kept her gaze fixed on Melody.
Mark leaned against the wall, staring up at the ceiling where the opening to the attic loomed overhead. “He got over it when we had Melody. Ironic, isn’t it? If he were alive, he would have been the first one I’d have called.”
“I wish we could call him. This really is a nightmare.”
Mark massaged her shoulders. “I’m right there with you. I hoped, deep down inside, that these people would come in here and tell us it’s all in her imagination. Making up stuff I can deal with—ghosts and demons are beyond me.”
“And we have to rely on two teenagers to save our daughter.”
Mark scratched the side of his unshaven face. “I know they’re young. I also know they’re the only one who’ve had any answers. We spent thousands on doctors and psychologists who just shrugged and prescribed drugs.”
Alice pushed his hand off her shoulder. “I’m not doubting that, Mark. They’ve been great at the research. They’ve given us answers. I’m not so sure they can give us a solution. AJ is great with Melody at least. I can’t say the same for his partner. That girl has a resting bitch face if I’ve ever seen it. You see it too. They’re out of their league on this.”
“We have to trust they can find an answer.” He tried to put his hands back on her shoulders, but she shrugged him away. “It’s hard. Trust me, if there were someone else I knew to contact I would. We have to be patient.”
“Patient?” Alice pushed back against her husband, her face twisted. “This is our daughter, Mark! Our only child. We’re chasing paintings in the attic and fingerprints on the wall. Meanwhile, that thing could come back and attack her at any moment. Next time it might be more than a broken arm.”
Mark huffed, staring now at the carpet between his feet. “I don’t know what else you want me to do.” He tapped his foot against the baseboard before going back to join his daughter and her doll’s wedding plans.
Back in the bedroom, Melody had laid out several outfits for the doll-groom. “Since you’re married, pick the one you like,” she said.
Mark put his finger to his lower lip as he reviewed wardrobe options for the toy. Alice joined her family on the floor, keeping Melody between her and Mark as she played along.
What they didn’t know is that Kana was in the attic above them and heard every single word of their conversation. So, Alice didn’t believe in them, she thought. It would be fine, as long as Mrs. McNeil kept her opinions to herself.
***
By mid-morning, AJ returned lugging several crates of equipment through the front door. Mark helped him with the heavier items and set them down in the living room. AJ panted as he collapsed on the couch, sweating. A few minutes later, Kana tiptoed through the menagerie of tech equipment sprawled out on the living room floor.
“What’s all this?” she asked AJ, tapping one of the crates with the toe of her boot.
“It’s equipment for an experiment. I thought you would have been here to help me with this.”
“I was busy. Did you get the bag from my locker?”
AJ nodded to the middle of the pile and a small leather bag sitting on one of the crates. Kana snatched it from the pile and opened it, grinning as she viewed the contents, and then pushed it into the corner of the living room, away from the rest of AJ’s equipment.
Alice entered the room from the stairs. “I see you’re back. “You disappeared earlier. Where were you?”
Kana shrugged. “I needed a break, so I took a walk.”
“Well, while you’re out taking a break, that thing could have attacked my daughter.”
Kana sighed, trying her hardest to keep her words pleasant and professional. “Mrs. McNeil, believe me we’re doing our best.”
“I’m sure you are.” Alice scrunched her nose. “You smell like booze by the way. You might want to wash up before you go anywhere near my daughter smelling like that.”
Kana balled her fist. Before she could respond, Alice walked away. Mark stepped between the two, his hands raised in the air. “There’s a lot going on with her right now. Trust me, you’re not the only one she’s mad at today.”
His words only made Kana recoil, crossing her arms as her dark eyes narrowed. “I fail to see how that’s my problem or fault. Whatever. Did you find out anything about that friend of hers?”
AJ huffed and pulled himself off the couch to join the conversation. “That’s a good place to start. Did Mrs. McNeil find out anything?”
“Alice talked to Russell’s father. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation from what I overheard. She had a falling out with him a while ago,” Mark said.
Kana smirked. “Imagine that.”
“Kana!” AJ said, nudging her arm.
“Okay. Sorry. Go on, Mark.”
“He hasn’t heard from his son in nearly two years. Said he was involved in some nasty stuff but wouldn’t get into it. From the way he made it sound, Russell’s either dead or locked away in some foreign prison.”
“So, unless we can contact him, that’s a dead end.” AJ turned to Kana. “Did you learn anything else about the painting?”
“She didn’t bother to look,” Alice chimed in from the kitchen.
Kana flicked her tongue against her front teeth. “I did actually. I was up in the attic earlier and tried to study those symbols.”
Mark raised his eyebrows. “You were up there earlier?”
Kana nodded once. “Yes, the same time you and your wife were having your little chat.” She wanted to hold back, but that time had passed. “I didn’t want to hear it, but I did. I could go on about what I heard…”
“Do tell.” Alice walked back into the living room. “What else did you hear while spying on me and my husband?”
“I wasn’t spying. I was actually doing my job. The job your husband hired me to do that you think I’m so incapable at. The job of saving your daughter.”
Alice scoffed. “That’s not why you’re here and I know it. This is for glory or some weird interest in ghosts and goblins for you. You just want something that you can get on tape. If Melody dies in the process well so be it. That’ll get more headlines.”
“Alice!” Mark tried to grab Alice’s arm, but she brushed him off. “You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother. If you did you’d be moving heaven and earth to do something, not hiding in the attic to get drunk all morning. Are you even old enough to drink?”
Kana took a step toward her. “I don’t know what your problem is. That’s not what I’m here for. If you don’t believe it, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
Alice stepped nose to nose with Kana. “I know what I see. I’ve seen girls like you my whole life, thinking they were better than me because I’m a housewife. You’ve been judging me ever since you walked into this house. You barely even look at Melody besides studying her to see if that thing attacks again, and you even got bored with that.”
Kana blinked a few times as Mark stepped between the two women again, “You’re tired, honey. You didn’t sleep all night. I know you’re upset, we all are. Kana and AJ are trying to help us. Nothing good comes from attacking them.” He turned to Kana now. “Are we okay here?”
“Far from it,” Kana said, pushing past the couple to the front door.
“Where are you going?” AJ asked as she snatched her car keys from him.
Kana marched to the door and never looked back. “I think it’s better for me to be out there instead of in here, if you know what I mean.”
AJ followed her to the door, asking a dozen times for Kana to talk. She ignored him. He finally caught up with her as she reached for door of her car.
“What is going on?” he asked. “Why did you blow up in there like that?”
Kana spun on her heel. “That woman is a bitch, AJ. She’s acting like we’re the problem. Why are you taking her side?”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side.”
“You should be.” Kana crossed her
arms.
“You know better than anyone that this kind of energy is what that thing wants.” AJ scratched at his forehead. “Your family had a similar problem when you were a kid. You’ve lived through this before and you know demons play games like this. It wants us arguing with each other. We can’t let that happen.”
Kana winced as the memories from her childhood flooded back. She forced them out just as fast, not wanting the nightmares of her past experiences influencing her in the present. She wasn’t going to argue with AJ about this.
Seeing her relent, AJ’s shoulders relaxed. “For the record, yes, Alice is being a bitch. She’s not too happy with anyone right now except Melody.”
Kana shook her head. “It’s beyond that, AJ. They have no confidence in us. They think we’re just two stupid kids. If they could hire someone else, we’d be out of here by nightfall.”
“She wasn’t wrong about one thing. You do smell of alcohol. I don’t say much about your drinking—”
“AJ, you bring it up every other day,” Kana said, sliding her hands down her face.
“Okay, well yeah, but it hasn’t been an actual problem before. You’re underage and driving. How do you think that looks to them? Like you said, they think we’re teenagers playing at being paranormal investigators. We don’t need to add substance abuse to the list.”
Kana smirked at him with her head slanted. “Really, AJ? I had one shot in a flask. And you know better than anyone it takes way more than that to get me drunk.”
“I know. I’ve seen you wasted. More importantly, I know why.”
She put her hand up to his face as if she was about to push him away. “Don’t psychoanalyze me right now, AJ. I’m not in the mood.”
“Okay, we won’t talk about it.” He sighed, his attention drawn back to the house and away from Kana’s stone-cold grimace. “I’m going back inside. That little girl needs our help. If you need to, go clear your head—however you decide to do that—just keep in mind that this is about Melody. Not you. Not Alice.”
AJ left her by the car, not waiting for a reply. She rarely saw him so forceful. He had always worked support while she made all the decisions and called all the shots. But he was putting her on the bench this time.
She called out to him. “What is this experiment you’re running?”
AJ stopped halfway to the house and looked back at Kana. “The one you hate the most.”
After AJ entered the house Kana realized they weren’t alone. Melody was playing on the side of the house, gathering sticks and branches that had fallen from the Japanese maple shadowing the right side of the yard. Kana’s thoughts went back to her own childhood, back to a time when she was Melody’s age and asked nothing from the world but for playtime. The world asked for far more in return. She recalled how she ran around in a dress she didn’t want to wear while playing in dirt with her dolls, at the crossroads between a princess and tomboy. She also recalled the hauntings, the disembodied voices, her parents’ screams when confronted with the spirits that plagued her childhood. Here was another little girl, much like herself, going through something even worse.
“Hi,” Melody said in a frail and barely audible voice.
She waved at Kana, who didn’t return the gesture. The two locked eyes. Melody waved for a few more moments and then returned to arranging her dolls for their wedding. Kana exhaled, got into her car, and sped away from the house. She had no destination in mind. She didn’t need one. At this moment, the last place she wanted to be was here.
Ganzfeld Plus
AJ spent two hours rigging together his experiment, turning the upstairs bathroom into a lab. Once he completed his tests, Mark and Alice were invited to hear how the contraption worked. Alice had no interest, choosing to watch over Melody and leaving the matter to Mark.
“Have you ever heard of the Ganzfeld Experiment?” AJ asked.
“No. I told you, I’m not into this stuff.” Mark leaned against the inside of the bathroom door with his arms crossed, scratching at his three-day-old beard stubble, trying to make sense of the equipment AJ was tinkering with: a red plastic helmet covered with white dots, waterproof headphones, and a network of cables strewn around the vanity and bathtub.
“Well, the Ganzfeld Experiment is a sensory test. Researchers used it to determine whether someone has ESP. Some have used it for other purposes.” AJ stopped typing on his keyboard and moved to the side of the bathtub.
Mark raised his hand. “ESP? We’re trying to get rid of this thing that’s haunting my daughter, not running experiments for some college paper.”
AJ turned the hot water faucet on before answering Mark. “I’ve adjusted the Ganzfeld to do more than just test for sensory perception. I’m using a software I developed to run it. Call it Ganzfeld Plus for lack of a better term. If we do this right, we might be able to communicate with that thing.”
“You want to communicate with it?” Mark raised his eyebrows.
“Most spirits have to obey you if you command them by name.”
“Ah, so you want to find out its name and tell it to leave?”
“Exactly. I’ve used this before in college and it worked. Better than expected. I figured it could help us with this case.”
Mark uncrossed his arms and sat on the edge of the bathtub next to AJ. The room was big enough to fit five people, serving as the only bathroom on the top floor. This gave AJ ample space to set up his laptop and run cables over the showerhead, down into the tub, connecting to the plastic cap.
“Why are you using the bathroom? Couldn’t we do this in the bedroom?” Mark ran his finger across the cables coming from the cap.
“Water. The best results come from submerging someone in water while wearing the cap. It blocks out most of your other senses.”
“You’ve done this without electrocuting anyone, right?”
AJ handed Mark one of the white connection nodes used on the cap. “It’s waterproof. I’ve run about six tests in the past hour. It’s safe. There’s no way I’d do this if it wasn’t. And yes, I’ve done this before, with Kana.”
Mark grinned. “How did that work out?”
AJ took a beat before answering. “Let’s just say she wasn’t too fond of the experience.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kana’s been around paranormal stuff like this her whole life. She’s seen all kinds of things since she was Melody’s age. It took years for her family to find a solution. They didn’t have the same problem you have, you could say it was worse in some ways and better in others. That stuff marked her for life. I’ve been there to.” AJ took a breath, thinking back on his own experiences. “So, don’t think that either of us doesn’t have Melody in mind. We were Melody at that age.”
“Yeah, I—”
“Kana and I know you don’t have complete faith in us. Your wife thinks we’re going to make things worse than better.”
To that, Mark nodded in agreement. “That’s an understatement.”
“Well, we’re not. I take this seriously. So does Kana. Don’t ever doubt that we’re dedicated to helping your daughter.”
Mark chewed on AJ’s words then he patted AJ on the shoulder. AJ hoped what he said was enough for Mark to stop worrying. He didn’t dare tell him he feared using the Ganzfeld, or that it could be dangerous for reasons far more harmful than electric shock. For now, he saw reassurance in Mark, and that would have to do until the experiment was ready.
***
AJ poured several bags of salt into the tub and took readings from the bath, making sure he had the right ratio of salt to water. He was so focused on his work that he didn’t notice he had an audience.
“Are you going to take a bath?” Melody asked, a giggle bubbling just behind the question.
He turned on the hot water and let it run. “Yes. In a way. This is a special bath, though. I’m hoping it can help.”
“He’s not going to take a bath. I think he’s very mad at us,” Melody said, peering down at the cas
t on her arm as she rocked back and forth.
It took AJ a second to realize she was referring to the spirit. “Let him be mad,” he said. “It’s time he left you alone.”
The girl’s head perked up. “Okay. I hope your bath works Mr. AJ.”
Alice appeared behind Melody, placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. AJ waved politely, hoping she had softened in the hours since Kana walked out, but Alice wrinkled her nose at him and escorted her daughter downstairs.
Mark entered the bathroom after they left. AJ turned off the faucet and let the salt settle in the warm water, dragging his fingers across the surface. The tub had a jacuzzi feature which kept the salt churning through the bath.
“Are you sure about this?” Mark asked, closing the bathroom door behind him.
“I’m sure it’ll work.” AJ shook the water from his hand back into the tub. “Whether I’m sure I want to do it, that is another question.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t.” Mark waved his hand over the laptop, the screen filled with moving bars and flashing numbers. “To be honest, I don’t know what any of these charts and graphics mean. I’m useless with this computer stuff.”
AJ stopped taking his shoes off, glanced at the computer screen, then back to Mark. “So, what do you want to do? Wait until Kana comes back?”
“That would be an option. We don’t know when she’s coming back. That’s why I was asking if you were sure this would work.”
AJ knew where he was going with this. “You want to go under yourself?”
Mark rubbed his chin. “That’s a possibility.”
“Not a good one. You’ve never done this before. I’m telling you it’s intense. You could lose yourself in there.”
“So could you. You’re better off monitoring things from here. If it gets hairy, you can pull me out, can’t you?”
AJ shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we should wait for Kana.”
“AJ, I’m Melody’s father. I have to help protect her. I’ve felt so inept this entire time. My wife stares at me like I’m a failure, you and Kana are doing all the heavy lifting, and my daughter fears sleeping, even though she won’t show it.” He put his hands on his knees, leaning forward as he took a breath. “This is something I can do. It’s something I must do. I’d rather face this thing head on. If this contraption of yours can allow me to talk to it—to force it out of our lives—then I’m willing to take that risk.”
