Now I realized that I forgot a child when writing them. Poor Susie was forgotten. So she's added back in. This is more a filler than anything else. I needed something before the boom. So do enjoy more interaction with the children. I might have tapped into my inner child too while writing this chapter. Lol

Now comes my question: would you want one more chapter between Kenzie and Chris and the children or would you want the story to move on? Drop a comment and let me know.

...

Chapter Eleven: Calm Before The Storm

There was a calmness in the room after Doogie talked to the children. Kenzie looked at the children, they felt as ease. She was amazed by it.

Susie was the first to move from their inner circle and walked towards him and stopped. She looked him in the eyes.

Doogie felt the chill in front of him. Something about it he knew one of the children was standing in front of him. His eyes moved up and locked with hers. It was a strange feeling. He brought his hand with palm side up. "What is your name?" He asked.

Susie turned her head and looked over her shoulder to Kenzie. And turned back to Doogie, placing her hand inside his. "My name is Susie."

"She said, my name is Susie." Kenzie told him, a tear falling from her eye. She was so proud as a mother was to her child. The outcome of the children meeting the Ghost Hunters was far from what she expected. She thought they would be shy and untrusting of the strangers who invaded their home. Never had she expected them to be so forth coming and interact with them so willingly.

She was happy.

Doogie smiled as he felt the cool air resting on his palm. It touched him deeply and it moved him to tears. But they did not fall. In all his years chasing ghosts nothing prepared him for this moment. A moment that changed him, reminded him of his own children back home. "It's nice to meet you Susie. Do you like Peter Pan too?"

She giggled and nodded her head. Just like the others, the story of Peter Pan was her favorite. "Kenzie, can he read Peter Pan to us?"

"Yes! Can he read Peter Pan?" Denny asked.

"Peter Pan!" Mikey exclaimed. "We lobe Peter Pan."

Kenzie chuckled at their excitement. "If it's alright with him. I see why not." She moved from the other children and went to her back pack that was next to the make shift table. She opened it and reached inside and grabbed the book. She held it up for Doogie to see. "Susie wants to know if you will read Peter Pan to them."

Doogie got up from the floor and walked over to Kenzie and took the book from her hand. "It would be an honor." He said, a smile appearing as he turned with his back to the light and sat down on the floor.

"Yay!" Mikey rushed to the man and sat down in front of him.

Doogie felt the blast of cold air hit him, sending chills down his spine. This chill was different from Susies. He laughed. "And what is your name?" He asked.

"Mikey. I'm Mikey."

"That is Mikey." Kenzie spoke for him.

His energy was strong, Doogie could tell. "Hi Mikey."

Kenzie nodded to the other children to join if they wished. And when another child joined she told Doogie who it was.

Josh stayed back wanting to play with the noise machine some more. He looked at Kenzie in hopes that she would let Brannon know.

"I'll ask him." She told him mentally and his eyes lit up. She walked over to Brannon. "It seems you have made a friend. Josh would like to continue your guys conversation from before. I told him I would ask you."

"I would like that." Brannon said, taking the EMF reader out again.

"Oh before I forget." She held the recorder out to him to take. She couldn't help but to smile. "You may also like this. They left you something on it."

"Thank you." He said, taking it from her and placed it back into his vest pocket. "I'll listen to it later."

Josh was to his side in no time and touched the device he had in his hand.

"If it's alright with you Kenzie, I'd like to take a look around." Porter asked. Though they may have free range of the place he still felt the need to ask her.

"Fine with me. Just, please don't go to the basement." She whispered so the children couldn't hear. They were in a good mood, their energy was good. She didn't want to ruin this special moment by mentioning the witch.

"I will stay clear of the basement as you wish." He told her, keeping his own voice low. He got the hint not to speak who was down there. "Chasey, why don't you come with me we can find a place to set up the box."

"Aright." Chasey said, pulling out his flashlight and clicked it on and followed Porter out of the room.

Kenzie looked at Chris when they were alone. Her insides tingled and fluttered. She quickly ignored it. He was by himself, left alone while his friends either explored the orphanage or interacted with the children. She couldn't just leave him standing there all by himself. How rude would that be? She welcomed them in and now would be the perfect time to talk to him. There were questions burning holes in her head.

So she did what any other person would do she asked him if he wanted to join her.

Chris nodded his acceptance and followed her to the side of the room with the window. She grabbed the blanket she had attached to her back pack and spread it out for them to sit down on.

"I can't thank you guys enough for helping me with this." She said, propping herself up against the wall. It was the first time today that she got to relax with no worries lingering inside her body. "I wouldn't know what to do come Monday when Mike shows up with the construction crew ready to tear down the place."

Chris sat beside her, inches away from his body touching hers. "We should be thanking you for allowing us to stay." He told her, his arms folding over his chest and turned his head to look at her. Their eyes met for a moment before she looked away.

Chris smirked. "I've known Doogie for a really long time, I've never seen him like this before."

Kenzie watched as Doogie read from Pete Pan. He was right, his Wendy impersonation was far from perfect. She couldn't help it and laughed.

If only they could see their faces. The way Denny and Mikey listened intently to the sound of his voice. Or how Carol and Leo leaped up to repeat the words. Susie sat beside him, cheek resting upon her knuckles. Kenzie never saw her sit so still before. Abby smiled for the first time in a long time as she watched him try to reach his feminine side with Wendy.

"Not many people have come to the orphanage over the years so the children don't get to interact with anyone other than themselves. If I could show you what this means to them I would in a heartbeat." She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "This is a milestone for them. I've never seen them so open to interact with anyone before."

Chris looked around the room. His best friend was reading a book to a group of children he could not see but he knew he could feel them. His brother was on the other side of the room with one of the children, talking and smiling each time his EMF reader went off. It brought his own joy that this was an opportunity neither of them would forget.

He turned his attention back to Kenzie. "Doogie is a sensitive. He's always been able to feel things that no one else could. Spirits have always been drawn to him first. I'm not surprised the children like him."

It was the opening she has been waiting for to ask the question that's been on her mind since she saw that split second of Chris seeing Leo. "What about you?" She looked at him. "Are you sensitive? Mildly psychic? Doorway partially open?"

He knew. He knew where she was going with this. His encounter earlier when he stepped into the child's energy. The faded outline he saw. The strange occurrences of being pulled towards her. He felt the warmth in his body whenever he touched her. High levels of emotions he knew that didn't belong to him. The need to protect Kenzie and the children suddenly invaded his heart when he touched her outside to see if she was okay. He kept those thoughts and feelings to himself. He didn't understand why all of a sudden he was having strange reactions to a place he has never been too or to a woman he did not know.

He sighed softly. "If you asked me twenty-four hours ago I would have told you no." He was honest with her. "I've seen shadows before and witnessed manipulations of objects and sound but..." He looked to the floor. "But nothing like what I saw when I walked into one of their energies."

Her heart jumped in her chest. "So you did see Leo than?"

He nodded. "But only a faint outline before he faded."

"And nothing like this has ever happened before?" Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She didn't understand why but it was intriguing to say the least.

"We've been doing this for years and I can't recall there ever being a time that I've seen a spirit up close before. Maybe from a distance or out of the corner of my eye." He explained, "But this is all new to me."

"Do you think it's because of this place? Or the children? They do have extreme high energy levels." Kenzie tried to come to her own conclusion as to why. What could it be that allows a person's second sight to just open for a moment? Could it be the atmosphere or the energy that is heavy when you walk into the room? Does it take an experience to open the doorway? Or was it just a freak of nature? One time deal? Kenzie was gonna have to ask Casper the Friendly Ghost or Charlie when she saw one of them next.

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. There is something different about this place from all our other investigations, that's for sure."

Kenzie frowned. That he was right. The few haunted places she has been too in the past, drawn to a location or whatever the reason may have been: a lost soul who couldn't find their loved one. A female ghost who was desperately waiting for her lover to come for her but never did. Or the young man who was angry because his life was cut short. Sunnyside Orphanage was different.

She tried her hardest to keep the yawn at bay but failed miserably. She was content, having a nice conversation about the spiritual world without having to worry whether he was going to think she was some nut job. It felt good to open up and talk freely.

But she also knew the cause of her tiredness. It never bothered her before. She welcomed it with open arms, accepted the children's feed and their energies.

"Tired?" Chris asked, catching the yawn she covered with her hand.

She leaned her head back against the wall and looked up to the ceiling. "Honestly, I haven't slept well in years. Not since the first time." She told him. "Being around the children so much today, my energy is spent. I'll be fine once I leave."

Chris looked at her. It was the first time that he actually looked at her. She was beautiful. There were no other words to describe it.

Kenzie felt his gaze on her. It sent a warm chill down her spine. It made her stomach flutter and her heart skip a beat. A new tingling sensation traveling the course of her body. Instantly her cheeks flushed. She dared not to meet his gaze because she was shy to see what it was he was feeling. No other has ever looked at her in a different light. No past boyfriends to compare it too. She closed her eyes and smiled. "You're staring."

Caught in the act, Chris felt his own cheeks flush. She wasn't suppose to know. "Sorry." Was all he could say.

"He thinks you're pretty." Abby shouted from her spot on the floor. "He likes you, Kenzie." The mushy, gushy feelings lifted in the air and swirled around the room and was picked up by the children.

"Kenzie has a crush." Josh called out from the other side of the room. He laughed.

"Cooties." Denny giggled.

Her eyes snapped opened and looked at them. The older kids who understood laughed and though Denny was only six, she remembered the conversation about boys having cooties she had with them last year. "Children." She was shocked by the sudden outbursts. "There are no cooties over here."

"We felt that over here." Carol laughed. "He likes you."

"Kenzie has a boyfriend." Leo sang at the top of his lungs. They erupted into laugher again.

She gasped. "Leo."

Levels of energy sky rocketed through the room. Giggles and laughter rumbled the atmosphere. It was contagious because now all the children were laughing, even Mikey who didn't have a clue on what was going on or why they were laughing.

Their laughter broke through the sound barrier and everyone froze.

All eyes turned to Kenzie. She threw her hands up and shook her head. "Don't look at me. They're the ones that did it."

"Do you think Kenzie and Chris will kiss?" Susie broke the silence.

"Susie! Not you too."

"Kissy, kissy." They all chimed in together. And to make it even more embarrassing, Leo and Josh added the kissing sounds before they all laughed again.

Kenzie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. The guys were confused on what was going on. "You don't want to know." She told them.