Ghostly Evidence
I don't own Ghost Adventures. Story and original characters are copyright 2018 to myself all rights reserved.
It was a beautiful day in the mountainous region the large SUV was cruising through. There was a relaxed hush in the vehicle as Zak gazed out of the passenger window, idly watching the trees and mountains glide past.
"Beautiful" he thought, as the sun glinted off the SUV's paintwork giving it a glossy black sheen. He felt strangely calm despite knowing they must be nearing their latest haunted location, another abandoned sanatorium with its dark past, full of the tortured spirits of former patients.
"Not to mention even darker rumours of something else", the thought made him shudder, yet there was also the familiar tingling sensation of the kind of excitement these investigations brought.
Without warning the SUV swerved suddenly. Zak instinctively grabbed the door handle to steady himself, hearing Aaron & Jay do the same in the back seat.
He shot a questioning look across at Billy in the driving seat,
"What the hell happened there bro?"
There was a beat before Billy replied. Zak noticed a trace of fear melt from Billy's eyes before he spoke.
"Sorry guys, it was so weird. I swear a dark mist darted in front of the car heading for the trees. I blinked and it was gone".
"Stop the car" Zak leaned round and tried to focus back along the road, but everything looked normal. The car rolled to a halt. Zak turned back round in his seat.
"Do you remember where it happened?
" Yeah, I guess" Billy replied. Anticipating Zak's next response he shifted the gear into reverse. "Want to go take a look?"
Zak nodded, his racing mind almost keeping up with his pounding heart.
Billy slowly manoevered the large SUV back up the quiet mountain road, his eyes scanning for the spot. Eventually he pulled in to the side of the road.
"It was here, I'm sure of it"
Zak was first out of the car, his dark eyes sweeping the line of trees at the roadside. There was nothing to be seen, but his sixth sense was awakening, stirring his body with the familiar sensations that had been honed by his years of investigating the paranormal.
Glancing round he caught Aaron's eye.
"That camera rolling?" Aaron nodded, shifting it slightly on his shoulder.
"Jay, I'll need yours too"
"Sure" Jay replied, positioning it on his shoulder in the same fashion as Aaron.
Zak paused, his left hand resting thoughtfully on his hip.
"I don't suppose either of you were recording what happened?"
They shook their heads,
"Sorry bro" added Aaron seeing Zak's disappointed grimace.
"No matter" Zak squinted into the trees, trying to find a path of any sort, "follow me".
They moved cautiously through the tree line into the shade of the overhanging branches where Billy had seen the dark mist disappear. After around 15 minutes or so of nothing unusual happening they were about to head back to the SUV when Zak abruptly stopped, his gaze fixed intently to his left.
"Did you hear that?" he breathed. " I swear I heard a faint voice". Keeping his eyes trained on the spot the noise had come from, he reached into the pocket of his black jeans and drew out a small digital recorder. Holding it out carefully between his thumb and forefinger he asked loudly,
"Who are you?" followed by a brief silence, then "were you the dark mist that darted in front of our vehicle?"
They lingered a few more minutes as Zak continued asking questions before leaving the trees and climbing back into the SUV. Zak eagerly replayed his questions on the recorder as they all leant in close to listen. They heard Zak's voice and collectively held their breath, the air in the car thick with anticipation as several seconds of recorded silence passed. Finally they were rewarded with a creepy, raspy laugh.
"Oh my God, did you hear that?" Zak's voice was full of excitement.
" Wow man, that was awesome" Aaron's face was beaming as he and Jay high fived.
"I knew I didn't imagine it" Billy was grinning at Zak who was replaying the laugh over and over like a kid with his favourite toy.
"Man, we haven't even got to the location and already stuff's starting to happen!" Aaron was almost breathless with excitement.
Zak smiled to himself, feeling the electric energy surge through his veins. This was everything to him, his quest for answers. It fired him up like nothing else he knew.
He glanced round the glowing faces of his crew, sensing their pulsating energies reverberating round the car in waves, heightening his own even further.
"Ok, boys, let's go get this investigation started!"
Rolling to a halt outside the sprawling, derelict building, Zak surveyed their latest lockdown as he climbed out of the SUV. The photos he'd seen didn't do it justice. The immense three storey, batwing style building was in a state of total disrepair. Gaping holes where windows had once been now had trees and bushes peeking in and a mass of weeds covered the corridor floor through what had once been the main entrance. Nature was gradually reclaiming the area once again.
"Reminds me of San Haven Sanatorium" Aaron's voice at his right shoulder brought him back to the present.
"Yeah, similar layout. Most sanatoriums were built in this way"
They'd investigated many of these abandoned sanatoriums over the years and none had disappointed in terms of paranormal activity and evidence. Zak absently stroked his chin, his fingers lightly brushing the prickly stubble as he pondered something that had begun to bother him as soon as he had set foot out of the car.
"What's up bro?", Zak glanced across at Billy who was watching him curiously as he helped Jay unload their equipment.
"Dunno", Zak pushed his glasses onto the bridge of his nose before continuing, " something doesn't feel right here. I can't explain it yet but I've got a strong sense that there's more here than we've been led to believe"
The first day of filming went off without any problems. They did a walk through the building and the surrounding area, picking up on the various energies and working out where best to focus on for their lockdown the following evening. Witnesses were interviewed and Zak did his usual speeches to camera introducing the location and giving some background history for the viewers.
As the day was drawing to a close, Zak was about to suggest they wrap for the day and head back to town for some food and rest at their hotel when his senses suddenly fired up again. Inexplicably he found himself feeling drawn back to one of the downstairs rooms they had been in earlier during their walkthrough.
Grabbing his respirator mask, he called to Aaron,
"get a camera, Aaron and follow me."
Without waiting for a reply he strode off, fixing his mask in place as he walked.
"What's up with him?" Jay asked as he handed a camera to an equally puzzled Aaron, who shrugged, shouldered his camera and set off after Zak. On impulse Billy and Jay grabbed digital recorders and a spirit box and went to where Zak was cautiously moving through an open doorway into the dank and dusty interior of the building.
They followed him into a downstairs room that they all remembered being in earlier. Unsure what was going on, they quietly watched Zak as he moved cautiously round the room, pausing now and then as though he had sensed something unseen.
Finally Aaron broke the silence,
"Whats going on dude? You seem like you're looking for something".
"I've had this weird feeling since we got here." Zak's voice was muffled with the respirator mask. "It's a different kind of energy. I felt it strongly in this room earlier".
"This place is full of energy, man. So much has happened here to patients, not to mention the demonic rumours we've also heard about" Billy tried to re-assure Zak, sensing something had unsettled him in a way Billy had rarely seen before.
Zak shook his head, "no, there's something more. Something different to TB patient deaths and even the demonic energy I've picked up on." He folded his arms and stared into space, "It's been affecting me all day, I want to try to figure out what it is."
There was a few minutes of silence as Zak stood completely still, almost trancelike. There was an eerie hush all around, not even the birds were singing. Finally Zak snapped back into consciousness.
"I need to get out of here. Billy and Jay can you do a quick evp session and then come back to the car."
"Ok, no problem" Jay replied as Zak nodded and strode out of the room. Aaron paused filming as they watched Zak cross to the SUV & climb into the passenger seat.
" He's not been right all day" Jay commented as they prepared their digital recorders.
"I'm glad you noticed too" Billy replied, "this room really seems to be affecting him for some reason"
They spent a few minutes asking questions before calling it a day. As they all settled into the SUV for the drive back to town, Billy motioned to their digital recorders,
"Want to check and see if we captured anything, Zak?"
Zak shook his head, he had perked up a bit but was still looking tired. "I'll check later, let's go, I just need to get out of here now".
As the car sped back to civilisation, Zak rested his head against the headrest of his seat and allowed himself to doze slightly. He could hear Aaron and Jay joking in the back, with an occasional comment from Billy. Usually he'd join in the banter, but he just felt out of it. In a strange way it comforted him listening to them laughing and teasing each other, trying to cast off the heaviness of the energy they exposed themselves to at these haunted locations. He was glad to have them with him. As he relaxed and slipped towards sleep an image flashed into his mind. The vision was of a young woman with light brown hair. She had a look of fear in her eyes and seemed to be trying to speak, although he couldn't hear her voice. Suddenly she opened her mouth in a silent scream, her face contorting into terror. Zak gave a startled cry as he jerked forward in his seat, his eyes wide open.
"What the hell?" began Aaron leaning forward to look at Zak, "are you ok bro?"
Zak looked round the concerned faces of the others as he took a few deep breaths and relaxed back in his seat.
"Yeah, I've just had a weird vision though". He related what he'd seen in his mind. There was a stunned silence when he finished speaking.
"I think we need to do some more research on this place before our lockdown" suggested Billy. "There's something else going on here we haven't uncovered yet". The others all nodded their agreement. They were entering the town now and soon pulled up in the car park of their hotel. Wearily they unloaded their equipment and trudged inside. As they disappeared from view, the silent figure standing in the doorway across the street stared after them a moment longer before moving quietly away.
Zak unlocked the door to his room, dropped his cases of equipment on the floor and closed the door behind him. Throwing his black jacket across a chair he collapsed on the bed and closed his eyes, grateful for the warmth and quiet of the room as he tried to clear his mind.
Who was the woman in his vision? What did she want to tell him and what was it all about? The questions raced through his mind. He covered his face with his hands, allowing the blackness to engulf him.
He suddenly awoke to the sound of knocking on his room door. Aaron's voice came from the other side of the door,
"Zak, are you in there bro? We're going for something to eat"
"Uh, yeah, I'm coming", he pulled himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Glancing at his watch he realised he'd only been asleep around 20 minutes but somehow it felt longer.
He climbed to his feet and opened the door. Aaron was looking concerned but gave a big grin as Zak emerged from the room.
"You ready man? I'm starving !"
Zak smiled at Aaron's enthusiasm, before ducking back inside the room to grab his jacket.
"Let's go then".
A few hours later they entered the hotel on their way back from a local restaurant. They were chatting and laughing. Zak was feeling much better, although the vision still lingered in his mind like the trace of a nightmare upon waking.
As they walked through reception, the receptionist called to them,
"you've had a visitor. A man. He wouldn't give his name but asked you to meet him in the morning." She held out a piece of paper.
They all looked at each other as Zak took the paper and read it.
"Where's Harry's Diner?"
"Not far. If you go down to the end of the street, it's to your right, round the corner".
Thanking her they made their way to Zak's room and all crowded inside.
"What's that all about?" asked Jay as soon as Zak closed the door behind them.
Zak fidgited with the piece of paper in his hand.
"Dunno. It just asks us to be at Harry's Diner at 10am tomorrow. Whoever it is says he needs to speak to us before we investigate the sanatorium."
"This is weird man, I don't like it" Aaron shuffled uneasily, his eyes wary as he glanced round his friend's faces.
"Maybe another witness to something paranormal who wants to be interviewed?" suggested Billy, trying to give a sense of logic to the situation.
Zak shrugged, he had a strange feeling about this too, like the feeling he'd had all day. Not wanting to unsettle the others further, he simply said,
"There's only one way to find out. We'll go there for 10am tomorrow."
"Are you sure bro?" Aaron really didn't look comfortable with the suggestion at all. "I thought we'd made contact with all the credible witnesses and spoke to them today".
Zak understood his friend's concern but something was telling him this was important.
"I just have a feeling about this. If things look like they're going badly, we'll leave. Everyone ok with that?"
After a pause they all nodded, Aaron a little reluctantly.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine" Zak gave Aaron what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He was relieved when Aaron smiled back,
"Yeah, I hope so man. Goodnight".
Zak patted Aaron on the shoulder as he turned to follow Billy and Jay out of the room. As he closed the door behind them, he wondered what they were getting themselves into.
The following morning at 10am on the dot they walked into Harry's Diner giving nervous glances around the place. There were still a few customers seated in the booths that ran down both sides of the room, but the breakfast rush was almost over. A waitress came up to them,
"You guys ok, want a table for four?"
They all looked at each other, suddenly realising they had no idea what the man they were meeting looked like or even his name to ask if he was there.
"Um, no" Zak began uncertainly, " we're supposed to be meeting someone here and.." before he could finish, Jay grabbed his sleeve.
"Over there" he said in a low voice, nodding to the far end of the diner. Zak and the others all followed Jay's gaze and saw a man staring at them. He briefly nodded his head when he had their attention.
"It's ok, we've found him" Zak told the waitress who was looking at them strangely. She nodded and walked off. Letting Zak take the lead, they followed him to the end booth.
"I'm Zak, this is Aaron, Billy and Jay" Zak held out his hand. The man was about the same age as them with a stocky build and brown hair that poked out from under his baseball cap. He wore dark blue jeans and a black hooded top. After a pause he grasped Zak's hand and shook it briefly.
"I'm Mike. Sorry about the cloak and dagger stuff, but I need to talk to you guys."
They all sat down round the table. Aaron had brought one of their smaller cameras and he began getting ready to film.
"Are you ok if we film?" asked Zak. Mike shook his head.
"No, please. I don't want folk round here hearing this. That's why I asked to meet you here."
Zak nodded to Aaron who put the camera down.
"Do you want to be interviewed up at the sanatorium? It's quieter up there." suggested Zak, thinking that a diner was hardly a private location.
"No, no. I'm not going to that place!" Mike snatched up his coffee cup and gulped a couple of mouthfulls. His shaking hand as he placed it back on the table didn't go unnoticed and they all glanced at each other, their eyes betraying the same thought 'what the hell?'
"It's ok, we're fine here" Zak spoke calmly as Mike managed to regain his composure.
"Why don't you tell us your story?"
Mike took a deep breath.
"I'll just come out and say it guys. I think my sister was murdered up there."
There was a shocked silence as they took in Mike's words. He looked round at their stunned expressions. The noise of the diner seemed to amplify as they processed his statement. Finally Billy spoke,
"What do you mean 'think'. Don't you know?"
"She died up there but everyone said it was suicide, a kind of lover's pact".
"Lovers pact?" echoed Zak. "Was someone else there too?"
Mike nodded,"They think her boyfriend died there too, but they never found his body."
"How do they know he died then?" asked Aaron.
" He hasn't been seen round here since and that was 15 years ago."
Zak wasn't sure what to make of this or why Mike had insisted on talking to them. He could sense the others were uncomfortable too.
"I think you need to speak to the police, not us" Zak said softly to Mike as a waitress walked past.
Mike shook his head,"already tried many times. They don't want to know. They're convinced it was suicide and have closed their case. I need you guys to try and communicate with her spirit. See if she can give you some clue as to what happened. It's my only hope."
"Our researcher looked into this place before we came here and we did some research ourselves too. We never came across anything about a suicide or possible murder." Zak was still not totally convinced.
Mike gave a sardonic laugh," there's been that much death in that place over the years, my sister probably isn't considered that important. The police are more concerned with rounding up the groups of kids taking drugs and drinking up there or the weirdos who do black magic rituals or whatever." He shook his head. Glancing at their faces he seemed to sense he was losing their attention.
"Look I'm telling the truth. She was found in a ground floor room on the right side of the building." Zak snapped his head up at this comment. Suddenly his interest grew.
"I had a weird feeling in one of the ground floor rooms in that area yesterday."
Mike's face looked suddenly hopefull, "it was a room at the front of the building."
Zak couldn't believe his ears, "it's the same room, I'm sure of it. It makes some sense to me now. What was your sister's name?"
"Jodie. Hang on, I've a photo of her too" he fished his phone out of his pocket, his hands trembling.
"There, that's her" he held the phone out to Zak.
Taking the phone Zak stared at the screen then handed it to Aaron. He put his head in his hands,
"I can't believe it" he murmured.
"What?" asked Mike, puzzled by Zak's reaction.
Zak turned to the others who were all looking at him in shock too, "it's the woman from my vision yesterday."
Mike looked round their stunned faces as Jay handed him back his phone.
"Vision? What the hell does that mean?"
"I often get visions from the spirits we come into contact with" explained Zak. "I see them in my mind's eye and feel their pain and emotions when they pass. On the drive back here last night I had a vision of what I now believe was your sister."
Mike sat speechless, staring at Zak.
" So you guys believe me now?" he asked finally.
Zak exchanged glances with the others before fixing his intense dark eyes on Mike.
"Yeah. I think there's something there. We'll need to do a little more research, but your story explains a lot to me. Give me your number in case we need to contact you."
They spoke with Mike for a few minutes more, then he drained his coffee and got up to leave.
"Thanks for listening."
"No problem, we'll do what we can" Zak smiled as Mike shook each of their hands in turn. He straightened his baseball cap, nodded and hurried out.
"Phew, that was intense!" Aaron exhaled and leant back in his seat.
"Ok, now what?" asked Billy.
Zak placed his hands together as if praying, resting his fingertips lightly on his lips thoughtfully. Finally he spoke,
"Billy, can you and Jay check the evp session you did in that room just before we left yesterday, see if we captured anything. Aaron, you come with me to the library."
They all nodded and went their separate ways as they left the diner.
Later that day they gathered in Zak's hotel room to start preparing for the lockdown that night.
"Ok" began Zak, "we checked out the library, old newspapers going back 15 years. Eventually we found a small report of a woman's body being found up at the sanatorium. It didn't give much detail, just that she'd died from a gunshot and the police believed it was suicide."
"Not much to go on, but it checks out with Mike's story. Any mention of a possible boyfriend?" asked Billy.
Aaron picked up the story,"There was a mention a few weeks later in a missing person's report. A guy called Chris from this town. Police just asking if anyone had seen him or had any information. They didn't seem to be connecting it to the woman at the sanatorium though."
"Yeah, but we checked with Mike and he says his sister's boyfriend was called Chris. He says it's the same guy which makes it weirder" added Zak before turning to Billy and Jay,
"What about you two?, find anything on the recorders?"
Both nodded vigorously,
"Yeah, you gotta hear this" Jay's words almost tumbled over each other as Billy quickly set up his laptop.
"You ready?" Billy's eyes sparkled as Zak and Aaron huddled round the laptop. Without waiting for their reply he set the recording to play. Anticipation hung thick in the air as they listened intently to Billy's voice asking questions. During one of his pauses there was a faint, but audible sound of a woman's voice. She seemed to be saying "don't" in a pleading kind of way, then another pause and her voice came again, stronger and more fearful this time.
"Dude, I heard her say "no, help", I swear it" Aaron jumped back from the laptop, his eyes wide, mouth open in shock.
"That was nuts" Zak was grinning at Billy and Jay. He leant across and high fived both of them,
"Awesome, good capture guys. That's a class A evp if ever I heard one".
They replayed it several times checking to make sure and to see if they had missed anything else. Finally satisfied with what they had heard, Zak looked round his friend's faces,
"I think there's definitely more here than meets the eye, can't wait to get back up there tonight".
"Yeah, more than the police thought too, by the sound of it" added Aaron, still in awe of what he had just heard.
Zak checked his watch, "ok guys, we set off in an hour. Let's get this investigation started".
The sun was low on the horizon, casting long eerie shadows through the trees as they pulled up once again in front of the main building of the sanatorium. The failing light gave it a sinister atmosphere. The empty windows stared at them like black, dead eyes, the twisted branches of trees and bushes reached out their gnarled claws as if waiting to grab them.
Zak shuddered as he climbed out of the motor trailer they had decided to use as a base for nerve centre. The same feeling he had experienced the day before was settling over him like a black fog.
"Man this place looks so different in the dusk" Aaron glanced at Zak, sensing his friend's discomfort.
"You gonna be ok, Zak?" he asked with genuine concern, "I haven't seen you this affected in a long time".
Zak smiled at Aaron, touched by his words,
"yeah, I'll be fine. I've come across worse energy, we all have", he patted Aaron's shoulder, "come on, this investigation won't start itself".
Their cameras and equipment set up, they waited anxiously as the last traces of light were extinguished and darkness crept over them like a blanket.
"Ok, it's time boys". Zak stood with his back to the building as Aaron and Jay trained their cameras on him while he gave a spine tingling introduction to their lockdown.
They spent the first few hours following the plan they had decided on the day before. Billy and Jay went to investigate one of the other buildings on the site which was said to be rife with activity while Zak and Aaron investigated the rest of the main building. They weren't disappointed and were pleased with the array of evidence they collected, both audible and visual on their SLS camera.
Around 3am they were all sitting in the trailer that housed nerve centre having a well earned break and poring over some of the evidence they had collected. Jay was sitting quietly in front of their monitors, headphones over his ears as his eyes scanned the picture being shown by each of their X cameras around the building. At Zak's suggestion they had placed a static X camera in the downstairs room where the woman's body had been found, although they hadn't yet been into this room during their investigation. Zak had decided he wanted to leave this room until last and treat it almost like a separate investigation, given the situation and the different energy vibe in there.
Suddenly, Jay jumped,
"What the hell was that" he exclaimed, his hands clasped over the earpieces of his headphones.
As always, Zak was first to his side. He dropped into the chair next to Jay and scanned the monitors.
"What happened man?"
"I heard some loud bangs come from that downstairs room and now it sounds like someone walking around in there".
He pulled the headphones off and placed them over Zak's head. Zak listened intently, his heart pounding as his ears picked up distinct footsteps. They seemed to get louder and he deduced they were heading towards the camera. He swung round to the monitor just in time to see the picture rock a little, indicating someone or something had knocked the camera, although the room appeared empty. Pulling off the headphones he heard gasps from the others as they also witnessed the same thing.
In a split second Zak was on his feet, a respirator mask in his hand,
"Aaron, Billy come with me. Jay stay here and monitor that room", he was out the door as Aaron and Billy grabbed cameras, digital recorders and a spirit box and hurried after him.
They caught up with him at the entrance to the building. He was standing completely still, his eyes locked on the doorway.
"Zak, what's up man?" asked Aaron cautiously as Zak stood like a statue, seemingly unaware of their presence.
"It's here. I can feel it. I've got chills all over my body and I haven't even got into the building yet". He inhaled sharply,
"Would you two go first, see what you pick up on?"
Aaron and Billy exchanged glances before reluctantly nodding.
"After you" Aaron smiled at Billy who looked petrified at the thought of going first.
"I've got the camera, so you'll have to go first so I can film you" explained Aaron, relieved for once it wasn't him who had to brave the unknown first. Billy rolled his eyes and gave a huge sigh before facing the black hole that was the doorway. Luckily Aaron left the light on the camera so they could find their way in the dark.
Zak paused, watching them edge cautiously into the building as he fixed his mask in place. His senses were going crazy and visions of Mike's sister were flashing through his mind so fast he could hardly register them.
Seeing the light from Aaron's camera flickering around the room, he knew they were in and steeled himself to follow them.
"Oh man you were right, I can feel the heaviness in here" Aaron gasped as Zak entered the room. "I've got goosebumps all down my arms" he held one arm out in front of the camera to prove it.
"I can hardly breathe and it suddenly feels freezing in here" Billy's breathless voice came out of the darkness to Zak's right as Aaron illuminated his face with the light from his camera.
Zak nodded, "Told you" he said quietly, his muffled voice barely audible through his mask.
He lifted his walkie talkie to his mask,
"Jay can you see us on camera?"
"Yeah, got you all" Jay's voice crackled back, "it's working fine".
"Ok, get that light off and go to night vision".
Aaron switched the camera to night vision mode, plunging them into blackness.
"I'm gonna do spirit box" announced Zak, "Billy you roll on a digital recorder".
Zak took the spirit box from Billy and turned it on. Its loud, static white noise filled the room.
"Who are you?" asked Zak loudly over the crackling noise. No answer.
"We know you're here, we can feel you. You're gonna leave this place".
There was a pause and then the same eerie laugh they had captured the day before came through the spirit box. They all gasped. Zak continued,
"What happened in this room?"
"Possessed the man" the words almost came as a hiss.
"Man ?" asked Aaron, "what happened to the woman?"
There was another laugh, followed by a snarled word, "death"
"Oh my God!" Zak couldn't believe his ears. Aaron and Billy were excitedly talking over each other too.
They continued with the spirit box for a while longer, however nothing further came through.
Finally, in frustration Zak switched off the spirit box and a silence fell over the room.
"I think it's gone. I can't feel it anymore."
"The digital recorder's still on, maybe we can communicate with Jodie, Mike's sister " suggested Billy.
"Yeah, if her spirit's here she might come forward now" Aaron's voice was still excited.
Billy held the recorder at arms length as Zak began to speak.
"Jodie, are you here? Please come forward if you are." They held their breath, ears straining to pick up any sound, however faint.
Zak continued, "Don't be afraid. We spoke to your brother Mike, he asked us to contact you. Please tell us what happened."
The silence was intense as Zak paused to allow for any response. Suddenly he snapped his head to his left,
"Did you guys hear anything?"
" I thought I heard a faint sound, like a woman's voice, but couldn't make any words out" Billy replied and Aaron agreed.
"That's what I heard too," Zak lifted the walkie talkie again and spoke to Jay,
"Did you hear anything, Jay?"
"Yeah, sounded like a woman's voice."
"Billy, hand me that recorder. I want to listen". Billy placed the recorder in Zak's hand and they huddled round him as he played the evp session back.
After Zak's last question asking what had happened, there was a pause before a faint female voice could be heard. At first they couldn't make out what the voice said and played it several times as they all leaned in closely to the small recorder in Zak's hand. It was Aaron who finally managed to decipher it.
"Dude it says 'dark creature'. That's what I hear anyway".
Zak played it again, holding it right next to his ear.
"I think you're right. I heard that too". He moved over to the camera and played it into the camera's microphone then spoke into his walkie talkie.
"What do you hear Jay?"
Jay's voice crackled back,
"not sure, but could be 'dark creature'?"
"Awesome!" Billy exclaimed, "makes sense too".
They asked several more questions and also turned the spirit box back on but no other voices came through. After about half an hour Zak turned off the spirit box and shone his torch at the other two.
"I think we should call it a night. Whatever was here has gone. I can't feel any spirit presence now."
They both agreed. It was around 4am and they were all beginning to feel tired and cold.
"We've got some great evidence, man. It's been an amazing night" Aaron added as they began to take down the X camera they had positioned in the room.
Around 30 minutes later they were all packed and settled in the motor trailer ready to head back to their hotel to try and grab a few hours sleep before they began their journey home to Las Vegas. The sky was beginning to lighten as they pulled onto the empty main road and headed for the town.
"I'll call Mike before we leave and show him what we captured" Zak said as the trailer sped along the quiet road.
"Hopefully he can confirm if the female voice is his sister" Billy briefly took his eyes off the road and glanced at Zak, relieved to see he seemed more like his usual self.
Zak smiled faintly. The feeling that they may be able to help Mike made him feel warm inside. It was part of why he investigated the paranormal, to help people or spirits where possible.
"Yeah, I think the police's suicide conclusion may be wrong too. I think we should show them our findings."
Around lunchtime that day they all crowded into Zak's hotel room with Mike. Zak explained what they had done and motioned to Billy to play the footage of the spirit box session and then the female voice they captured on the digital recorder.
Mike sat in stunned silence as the evp played on Billy's laptop.
"That's her" he finally managed, his voice a hoarse whisper. He wiped his eyes,
"thanks guys, you don't know what this means to me". He glanced round their faces and paused as he met Zak's eyes.
"We're going to take it to the police, if that's ok with you" Zak said quietly.
Mike nodded, "thanks, they might listen to you guys."
"We'll do what we can, but can't promise anything" Zak sincerely hoped the police would listen to them, but he was well aware that not everyone was as open minded about these things as they were.
Mike smiled briefly and grasped each of their hands in turn, thanking them over and over before he headed out of the door.
They all stared at each other for a moment before Aaron broke the silence,
"Next stop the police station then?"
"No need, they're coming here" announced Zak, " I phoned them earlier and it seems they were kind of expecting a call from us". He paused, looking at the surprised expressions on his friend's faces.
"Apparently we were spotted talking to Mike yesterday. Guess word travels fast in a small town like this one!"
The two police officers watched the camera footage and heard the evps without betraying any emotion. There was a heavy silence as they looked at each other. Finally the older officer, a tough, weathered looking 'seen it all' type of cop, spoke,
"I don't know what Mike told you, but I still don't see how this makes a difference. I was one of the officers on this case and it was suicide, no other logical explanation" there was an edge to his voice emphasising the word 'logical' as he stared hard at Zak.
Zak held his ground. He was used to people like this cop, skeptics who only wanted to make fun of his beliefs or dismiss them without trying to see the other point of view.
"It shows that maybe something else did happen that night. That maybe you didn't find another body because her boyfriend Chris may not be dead." Zak chose his words carefully, aware they were balancing on a knife edge.
The officer gave a short laugh,
"based on what? A few crackly, hoarse sounding words that could be anything. You could have recorded them yourselves" he shook his head and turned to his colleague, "let's go."
The other officer didn't move.
"So what exactly are you saying this shows?" he asked Zak.
Surprised Zak glanced at the older officer who had paused by the door before answering his colleague.
"Well it seemed to indicate to us that a darker entity could have taken possession of Chris. He may not have been in total control at the time and could have fired the shot that killed the woman. I felt a strong demonic presence in that room, we all did, and her voice saying 'dark creature' in direct response to our question backs up our theory."
"You saying she was murdered by a ghost?" the older cop returned sarcastically. His colleague motioned for him to be quiet. He shook his head in disbelief and strode out of the room.
"Don't pay any attention to him" the younger officer said. "He's a good cop, but doesn't believe in any of this stuff."
The others all murmured their feelings.
"I do though" the officer replied quietly. They all turned to stare at him, taken aback by his words.
"I know a lot of dark stuff has gone on up there over the years. Most folk just want to ignore it, pretend it's just mumbo jumbo nonsense, but I'm with you guys on this. There's things up there we can't understand."
"So what now?" asked Jay.
"I'll take another look at what you guys captured and see if there's anything I can do. I can't promise anything though."
"Thanks, appreciate it. We'll e mail you the footage and recording" replied Zak, relieved that someone was prepared to listen to them.
The officer nodded and strode out of the room to find his colleague.
"I thought we'd had it there man!" gasped Aaron, "I hope for Mike's sake something comes of this"
A few months later Zak was hard at work reviewing footage of another investigation when his phone rang. It was a number he didn't automatically recognise, however he was glad of a chance to have a break so he answered it,
"Hi Zak, it's Mike here. Do you remember me, we met a few months ago."
"Yeah, course I do. How's it going Mike?"
"Fine thanks. I wasn't sure if you knew, but the police decided to look into my sister's case again. I just wanted to say thanks for everything. It wouldn't have happened without you guys believing me."
"I wasn't aware, but thanks for letting me know Mike. Hope you finally get some closure man."
"Thanks, if anything happens I'll let you know."
Zak tapped his phone thoughtfully on his chin. He was stunned and pleased for Mike that the young police officer had obviously taken them seriously enough to look into it further.
He scrolled through the numbers on his phone and called one. He waited, hardly daring to breathe as it rang several times before being answered.
"Hi, can I speak to Officer Myers please. It's Zak Bagans, we met a few months ago." Zak waited patiently while he was put on hold. Finally the young officer's voice came down the phone,
"Hi Zak, what can I do for you?"
"Hi, I've just had Mike on the phone, he tells me you're looking into his sister's case again. Hope you don't mind me asking" he added quickly, suddenly aware that maybe the police wouldn't want Mike telling anyone.
"Yeah, thats right. We've only just re-opened the case in the last couple of weeks. It was thanks to your evidence and some persistence on my part, but I finally managed to convince my superiors that you boys may have something."
Zak was grinning to himself,
"thats great news. Can you give me any details?"
It's a bit early in the day yet, but we may be on the trail of someone who fits the description of the boyfriend Chris. I think you guys may be right in that he is still alive. Whatever happened up there may have badly affected him. If it is him we'll need to speak with him. I can't say any more than that at present."
"Sure, I understand" replied Zak.
Officer Myers continued,
"We would have contacted you if we found anything, but I guess Mike beat us to it!"
They both laughed and Zak thanked him for his efforts. He ended the call and sat back in his chair, a contented, warm feeling filling his body. To know they had hopefully helped Mike and maybe the spirit of his sister too made it all worthwhile.
He smiled to himself as he resumed his work. He was due to meet up with Aaron, Billy & Jay in a couple of days to travel to their next filming and lockdown location. He'd keep this news a surprise until he saw them. It would set the next step in his quest for answers off on a positive note.
The End.