“What’s going on?” Graham asks, trailing behind me.
Belatedly, I remember the camera but leave it on. If there is someone out there, the video might catch something we don’t. “Jess says there’s someone out there. I’m going after her.”
His face pales. “Me too.”
I probably shouldn’t feel relieved, but I do. Bear seems to feel the urgency too, because he pulls on the leash, yipping, and we hurry out the back door.
Chapter 9
“Jess?” I call out, forcing my way through scratchy branches and thorny brambles. “Russ? Where are you?” I shine my flashlight in a wide arc, but all it illuminates are the eerie fingers of the trees.
Bear darts around a trunk, his body a white blur in the darkness, and I trip. “Shit.”
Graham grabs my elbow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, heat rushing up to my cheeks. “I’m fine. We’ve got to get to Jess.”
He searches my eyes for a split second before a shriek breaks the connection between us. Jess.
Breaking away from him, I rush through the trees, shoving branches out of my way even as they pierce my skin. To my right, another pair of headlights bobs toward my sister’s scream.
“Jess!” No, no, no. This can’t be happening. She has to be okay.
I burst through the trees into a clearing next to a small shack. My sister stands with her back against a tall tree, brandishing the flashlight in her arms like a club. Russ and Shelley are hot on our heels. I wrap my arms around her, all of the air whooshing out of my lungs.
“Are you okay?” I let her go just enough to scan her up and down, but aside from the wild look in her eyes and how much she’s shaking, she looks unhurt.
“Th-Th-There’s someone here.” She points away from us with one long, ghostly pale finger illuminated by the moonlight.
“What?” Russ asks. He sounds as shaken as my sister. Shelley rushes to her brother’s side. Graham pulls her away from us to murmur quietly, but I push them out of my mind. The MacIvers are not my concern right now.
“He was right there.” Jess’s voice gets stronger as she shines her flashlight into the forest. I follow her beam with mine. There’s nothing there. Anyone who was after my sister is gone.
“It’s okay,” he says. “We’re here.”
I squint through the darkness. “I don’t see anyone. Are you sure you saw a person? Maybe it was an animal.”
“N-N-No,” Jess stammers. “It was human.” She fumbles in her pocket and pulls out her camera. “Look.”
Jess pulls up her recent pictures, and there among a thousand other pictures of the forest is a two-legged shadow standing about twenty yards away, hidden among the trees as we are now. Shit. She was right. Someone was watching her.
Bear emits a low, guttural growl incongruent with his tiny frame.
“Let’s get back to the house,” I say. “We can go over the pictures better there.” Really, I just want to get out of these woods, where we have four walls to protect us from whatever bogeyman is waiting amongst the trees.
“All those in favor?” Russ asks.
“Aye,” Jess and Shelley say in unison.
We hurry back to the house with Graham and Russ bringing up the rear in some macho protection routine. I’m not going to complain too much, though. In horror movies, the people at the end of the line always get killed first.
The house’s darkened windows look like the vacant, eerie eyes in one of those old vampire movies and the front door is wide open like the maw to a cave. We all skid to a stop.
“Uh, guys? Just a quick check. Did anyone shut the door?” I know the answer already, though. We would never leave the door open during an investigation, especially since that one time when a raccoon snuck in and ate all of Russ’s snacks. Given the pictures Jess took, this could be much, much worse.
“I did,” Russ says, his voice flat.
Graham wraps an arm around Shelley’s waist, squeezing her to his side. “It’ll be okay,” he says. His gaze meets mine. “Do you want to call the cops?”
I bite my lip. It’s the smart thing to do, but I don’t think it’ll help us. We don’t have any actual proof that there’s someone in the house. I don’t know if they’d even come out. “Technically”—I draw the word out—“the door might have popped open after we left. We were in such a hurry.” Don’t be mad at me, Russ. I don’t want to call the cops if the wind or something else blew the door open.
Russ stares at me for a few seconds. “Fine. But if I get killed, I will make it my goal as a ghost to haunt the hell out of you.”
“I’m in, too,” Jess say. “Not with the getting killed and haunting part, but you’re not leaving me alone.”
“Hey, what about us?” Graham asks. He looks as if he wants to come with us, but his feet are firmly planted next to his sister.
I wave at him dismissively. “You just... wait out here or something. If you hear a scream, call the cops.” I guess I can’t really blame the guy for staying put—he does have his sister to worry about. Shelley sniffles and buries her face in her brother’s shoulder. This must all be a really big shock to her. Poor girl. I grip my flashlight and nod at Jess and Russ. “Ready?”
Jess nods.
“Then let’s go and not get killed.”
Russ snorts, and my sister rolls her eyes. Gotta love them. I’m sure they feel the same way about me.
Russ insists on taking the lead once we enter the house, even though it was my idea. Whatever. I still have my flashlight and a tripod for defense. My sister brandishes her flashlight as a weapon and points at the GoPro still strapped to my chest. “Is it on?”
I fumble for the camera’s power button. “It is now.”
“Good.”
The part of me that’s used to doing investigations wants to do an intro or explain what’s going on so anybody who’s watching knows exactly what it is that they’re seeing, but there’s no time. I also don’t want to give our position away.
Russ stops, freezing in place, and I almost run into him. The hairs on the back of Bear’s neck stand up, as do mine. A light shines from inside the kitchen. It’s not the yellow glow of the electric lantern we brought with us in case there wasn’t any electricity—the overhead light is on. What the hell is going on?
“I thought Graham said this place didn’t have any power?” Jess whispers behind me.
“That’s exactly what he said,” Russ says.
“So why are the lights on?” she asks.
“I have no idea,” he says.
Ahead of us, Russ reaches the entry to the kitchen and a litany of curses bursts from his lips. Hard on his heels, I see why. All of our gear has been strewn across the floor. Cameras are smashed, batteries litter the ground like confetti, cords are sliced, and straps are shredded. Russ picks one of the video cameras up from the floor and inspects the lens.
“Broken,” he says, anger lacing his voice. The plastic body is cracked, which could only have been caused by a heavy-heeled boot. These devices are made to withstand a lot of abuse. Russ drops the camera to the ground amid the rubble.
Fury rises within me in a tidal wave so fast and furious that I can barely keep it in. I stomp over to another camera and pick it up. It’s also broken. “What the fuck? Who the hell does something like this?” In my head, I see the shadowy picture from Jess’s video. Maybe he was trying to lure us out so that he could come inside and destroy our stuff.
Despair follows, descending as quickly as the rage. These were our backup cameras. I don’t have to look upstairs to know I’ll find the same destruction. Whoever did this would have been thorough, and there are thousands of dollars in equipment here. We can’t afford to replace everything. We just can’t.
My shoulders slump, and I collapse into one of the chairs that’s butted up against the old kitchen table and sink my face into my hands. I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a backup plan. Sure, we could go back to Michigan, and my sister could go live
with our aunt, but I can’t. She can barely afford to feed her own kids and adding Jess would be a stretch. I can’t be separated from her. I won’t let that happen again. I watch my sister inspecting the damage. No, there has to be a way to get through this.
“Hey, Meredith,” Russ says. He holds the last remaining camera, the one from the tripod by the sink where we caught the other activities earlier today. “Come take a look at this.” He waves me over. I groan but stand up anyway. Unless he caught another ghost, I don’t really care right now.
I join him and Jess, and Russ rewinds the video. For a few seconds, the video shows the empty kitchen. Then, from the same doorway we use, a man appears, wearing blue jeans and a dark-gray hoodie pulled up over his head. It’s not a ghost. This figure is very, very human. The stranger approaches the camera, but the hood is pulled so low that I can’t see his face. He reaches one gloved finger over his throat and makes a slicing motion, as if slitting his own throat. The threat is clear. Icy fingers run down my spine.
“What do we do now?” Jess asks, her voice sounding young and scared.
“We leave,” I say with a shrug. “Whoever it was destroyed our equipment and is threatening to kill us if we don’t stop. I think, investigation or not, it’s time to go.”
“Thank God,” Jess exclaims, blowing a thick lock of purple hair out of her face. “This case is really starting to give me the heebie-jeebies.”
Chapter 10
I can’t sleep. I just feel so defeated, like I’m such a failure. I grab Bear’s leash and snap it onto his collar. “I’m taking him for a walk.”
“Now?” Russ glances at me over the top of the laptop screen.
“Bear has to go outside. I don’t want him peeing in here.”
He pushes himself to his feet, weariness etching lines far too deeply in his twenty-year-old face. “Fine, let me get my shoes on, and I’ll go with you.”
I hold up a hand to stop him. “I’m just going outside.” That’s not where I want to go at all. “Around the parking lot and back. I swear.” Behind my back, I cross my fingers, reminding myself to text him once I’m on my way, away from his wrath.
His eyes narrow shrewdly, and he glances at my sleeping sister on the bed next to us, as if debating whether or not he should wake her. From the look in his eyes, I don’t think he buys my story. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” It’s not a question, but it is. Damn it. Russ knows me too well.
My eyes burn. I hate the sound in his voice, the disappointment. “I have to get out of here, even if it’s just for a few minutes. I’m just going to the cemetery you found.”
“Jesus. You’re going to get yourself hurt one of these days.” He scrubs a hand over his head. “I can’t believe this. You almost died.” He gestures at Jess and himself, encompassing all of us. “And now you want to waltz around some stupid Civil War cemetery in the middle of the night by yourself?”
My hand tightens around the leash. “I’m not alone.”
“I’m not talking about the damn dog,” Russ snaps. “One punt, and he’s out of there. Something really bad could have happened to us back at that house.”
“But it didn’t.”
He strides to the window and peeks out of the curtains before turning back around. “And what do you think would happen to Jess if something happened to you, huh?”
My spine stiffens. “Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I murmur. On the bed, Jess rolls over, but she doesn’t wake up. “I’ll be fine. I’ve visited a ton of cemeteries before. And whoever trashed our stuff doesn’t know where I’m going. He probably thinks he got his wish. We left the house, and we’re leaving Oak Cliff in the morning. There’d be no reason to come after me now.”
Russ throws his hands up in the air. “Whatever. Do what you want. You always do. At least take your phone so we can ping the location of your body when you don’t come back.”
“Jerk.” I tug on Bear’s leash and stalk out of the door, no longer caring if I wake my sister. She’s Russ’s problem now.
I park the van outside the small cemetery’s metal archway. Oak Cliff Cemetery, established 1824 is carved in the wrought iron bars. A light wind whistles through the barren trees that line the outside. Inside the low stone walls, there are only about fifty headstones, interspersed with tall monuments shining dully in the moonlight. Not a hint of moss or lichen dares take over these sacred spaces. They must have a good groundskeeper or people in town who take care of things.
With the moonlight and the stars above to guide me, I weave my way through the gravestones until I reach a trio of stone benches in the middle. Ever attuned to my feelings, Bear sticks to my heels and perches like a sentinel by my side when I sit down.
I take a deep breath then let it out slowly, feeling some of my nervousness and anxiety leave me. Then I do it again and again until a sense of calm fills the spaces between the cracks in my soul where there once were only slivers, chips in my veneer, on my surface. Now, there are chasms. I lean back on the bench, resting my head against the cold, hard stone. This whole investigation has sucked, right from the beginning. But then again, so does the prospect of going back to Michigan. Leaving feels wrong too because, like the ghosts we search for, we’re leaving things unfinished. Mentally, I catalog our remaining equipment: two cameras, two EVP recorders, and a shit ton of batteries, some of which are probably still under the fridge in the MacIver house. I’m certainly not going to go back and dig around for those. I’m not that desperate. But all of the cameras in the world are worthless if the cords have been sliced. We’ll have to order more of those before we can start back up, too. All of this equals money we don’t have. Crap. I might have to get a real job. Fuck that.
The brush crackles beside me, and my eyes shoot open. I leap to my feet as Bear’s sharp bark breaks the silence.
Graham shuffles from the shadows, hanging his head apologetically. “Hi.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I glare at him, hoping the moon reflects the anger in my eyes.
“Russ told me you were here. I... I wanted to apologize for earlier.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and scuffs his shoes.
I cross my arms in front of my chest and briefly consider dropping Bear’s leash. “You seem to be doing a lot of that lately.”
One of the corners of his mouth twitches. “Only to you. Believe it or not, I’m usually on top of my game.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Uh huh.” But then I relent. The poor guy looks so nervous that I slide over and pat the bench next to me.
He eyes Bear warily before sitting down. “Thanks for not siccing your dog on me this time.”
I decided to ignore that. “Yeah, well, I still have time.”
“At least give me a chance to apologize first, please?”
I sigh and stare out over the peaceful cemetery, the illusion of quiet destroyed. “Whatever.”
Graham stares at his hands folded together in his lap. “I know things went really badly, but I don’t want you to leave just yet.”
A harsh laugh escapes my lips. “‘Really badly’ is putting it lightly. Almost all of our equipment was destroyed, and we were threatened. What the hell do you expect us to do? No, we’re getting the hell out of Dodge in the morning, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
Graham grimaces. “What if I offer to buy you all new equipment to make up for what was lost?”
Wait, what? I blink. “What did you say?”
Graham repeats his offer.
“We stay one more night and finish this godforsaken investigation, then you’ll buy us all new equipment that we can take with us?”
He nods. “I feel like we’re close to the end,” he says. “And I know it’s a lot to ask, given everything that’s happened, but I’m asking you—no, I’m begging you to give us one more chance.”
“Why now?”
He chuckles. “Maybe you’re making a believer out of me.”
I laugh. “Or maybe you’re finally realizing that there’s m
ore out there than meets the eye.”
Graham stands up and brushes off his pants as if brushing off dust from the cemetery, even though there isn’t any that I can see. “Do we have a deal?”
“Where will you get all of the equipment? Oak Cliff doesn’t exactly have a hub that specializes in these things.”
Graham cracks a smile. “Leave that to me and Russ. We’ll find a way.”
I swear softly under my breath. “You asked him?”
“Before I came here.” He pats his pocket. “He gave me quite the list. I don’t remember some of the things from the first time you showed me your equipment, but I’m sure they’ll be worth it.”
“So, do we have a deal?” he asks, holding out his hand.
I stare at it for a long second before shaking it. “I’m probably going to regret this, but yeah, I guess so.”
With that, he shakes my hand then saunters back to his truck with a lightness to his step that wasn’t there a moment before.
Chapter 11
“This is so awesome.” Jess bounces on the bed, scrolling through the list of equipment Russ told Graham to pick up.
I roll my eyes and then glance at the clock: 6:00. He should be calling soon. “Yeah, but don’t you think we’re kinda taking advantage of the poor guy’s generosity here?”
Jess rolls her eyes. “Like he hasn’t been a jerk to us. He deserves it.”
I can’t really argue with her there. Maybe he does deserve it, just a little bit.
“I guess so.” God, I wish I could be as excited as she is, but I can’t shake this feeling of dread. It feels as if this is all going to go to hell, and we’d be idiots to go back.
Oblivious to my concern, Jess bounces off of the bed. “I’ll post a new message on the site and send out notifications to our subscribers about the investigation,” she says. “I promise I won’t give them too much information, but Russ said we’ve gotten a lot of messages online.”
Like a Bad Penny Page 7
