THE DEATH OF LACIE BELLHART PART 1

November 4, 1996

Aiden always had some kind of music playing in the background of his car whenever there was a long period of travel between state to state. They weren't necessarily listening to it, but the noise was soothing enough against anxious and jittery nerves. Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven had always been his and Alice's favorite song, so that was the one playing as white-noise during most of the long hours. The old cassette has been used religiously over the years and was starting to show wear and tear around the sides, often causing Aiden to worry that it might actually break on them sometime in the future. Knowing their track record of luck though…Alice wouldn't be surprised if that did happen.

Today was no different as Aiden's 68' teal Mustang sat in a corner of an empty 7-Eleven parking lot. Stairway to Heaven played on the cassette radio as usual with the passenger's door open. Alice's legs stuck out and moved back and forth against the beat of the guitar solo, her favorite part just before Robert Plant's voice picked up one last time. Alice's heart started to speed up into an excited frenzy while she mumbled the lyrics under her breath as the song finished and faded out, only then did she finally hear Aiden's distant voice.

Alice sat up and saw her brother pacing back and forth in the parking lot with his phone pressed against his ear. He was smiling while talking but it was obviously very forced. She could tell by his pacing alone that he was irritated. Abruptly though, Aiden's mellow blue eyes flared up with shock and disgust before jerking his head away from the phone and aggressively hanging up. He just stood there afterward, staring down at his phone in complete astonishment.

Alice scoffed and slipped on her red, battle-worn converse. She got out of the car and lumbered her way over to him. "You have gotta be the stupidest son of a bitch I have ever known," she said dryly.

Aiden's irritation settled pretty quickly and was replaced with a mild frown. "Ally, I don't need your smart mouth this early in the morning, and don't forget, you share the same blood," he said while dramatically pointing his phone at her. "You're just as freaking weird as I am. I heard you singing."

Alice's face burned red when she realized he heard her. She ran her hands over her face while snatching away his phone. "Don't get pissy with me all because you got another prank call. I warned you about putting your damn phone number on bathroom walls," she shot back.

"The well's been dry for months. What do you want me to do?" He leaned his head back and announced his problem like he was filing a complaint to God himself. "I want to sleep in a bed and not a car for once in my life!"

Alice didn't like his bathroom wall plan to find another case, but she can understand why he would go this far. After Jenna's death last year, there hasn't been much going wrong in the world that they could look into. Just last week alone, they combed through over a hundred newspaper articles in a desperate attempt to find something that was even remotely unnatural. No such luck though. It was like every supernatural thing in the world decided to take a leave and go on vacation for a couple months.

Aiden walked back over to the car and seemed to deflate with hopelessness and defeat. "Ugh…would someone hurry up and drop-dead unnaturally already," he grumbled and dropped his head into his hands.

Alice reached around and patted his sturdy back. "God help you if the world ever became normal."

"We all know that's never gonna happen, so I ain't worried."

Not too soon did Aiden get off the phone, it began to ring again and instantly made his face cringe into an ugly sneer. Sinking down into himself, he took back his phone and walked off to answer it. Alice sat down in the car and watched her brother began his pacing once more. He stopped pretty quickly though and the disgust he had on his face gave away to a serious glare. He stood still in the lot for at least another five minutes before hanging up and heading back over.

"What's up? Got a case?" she asked eagerly but did take note of his perplexed demeanor.

"Sounds like one. A poltergeist case."

Alice turned up a brow and looked skeptical. "You sure it's not another prank? Your track record hasn't been the greatest recently.

He nodded his head and appeared pretty sure of himself. "Yeah, I'm sure. Dude sounds pretty shaken up, but we won't know for sure until we actually meet him," he said and tossed his phone back to Alice, in which she skillfully caught with one hand.

"Yeah, I guess. We're meeting up with him, right? Where?"

Rangeley, Maine

Rangeley was the last place Alice thought would have a case in it. It was one of those small towns up north that seemed to be cold all year around and was surrounded by dense woodland that went on for miles. There were even old logging roads that went nowhere and were forgot about most of the time since no one ever used them anymore. Aside from that, the town was quiet and had a very tranquil appeal. The smell of pine in the air was so strong that it quickly began to seep its way into the car and cling to their clothes.

"When did you get the time to put your name and number on a Bojangles bathroom wall all the way in Rangeley?" she asked while staring out the window, watching over a hundred trees fly past them and blurring together in a colorful arrange of orange, red, green, and brown.

"A year ago, actually," Aiden answered quickly. He looked over the steering wheel and peered ahead of the road to find the Bojangles they were supposed to meet up at. "Remember. We were up in Franklin County hunting down a Rugaru."

Alice frowned a little while rummaging through her memories to find any case that involved such a creature. She sat pondering in her seat for a while and continued to stare outside at the millions of identical pine trees that the Mustang drove past. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Was this the same Bojangles we ate at before we left town?"

"Same place." Aiden nodded his head. "Always liked it up in Maine, you know. It's peaceful and quiet," he said with his lips turning up into a delighted smile. He was the same as his sister and didn't really like crowded spaces either, so places like Rangeley was a small paradise to him.

"Isolating, too." She tore her eyes away from the dense woods and looked towards her brother. "You looking for a place to retire when you get old enough?"

Aiden scoffed and mumbled under his breath. "Ain't that a dream. It can be a good place for you to retire though."

Alice mimicked him and scoffed too. She leaned her head against the window and could feel the chill through the glass. "I doubt I'll reach that age where retirement is a thought."

Aiden noticeably flinched at the words that should never be spoken from a 15 year old's mouth. Alice probably wasn't thinking when she said it, but it's not like it's an uncommon mentality to have as a hunter. Aiden was never liked that though and tried to keep his mind away from such thoughts. He liked planning ahead a couple of years, having motivation to keep going, something exciting to look forwards to. And though Alice had always been the way she is now…he truly believed she gotten worse after Jenna died.

Aiden reached over and started to nudge her against the cheek to try and get a reaction. He wanted her to fight back, smile, laugh, get annoyed, something. But as expected, Alice did all three of them at the same time and pushed his arm away.

"Stop it, you moron," she groaned while trying to stifle her giggles against clenched teeth.

Finally seeing her act her age gave Aiden's heart at little bit of reprieve. "You're gonna make it to retirement if it's the last dang thing I do, I swear," he promised, though Alice probably didn't believe him.

"I don't know if I want to retire," she said and looked ahead, spotting the yellow Bojangles building coming up. "This job…it's fulfilling enough. I feel like I'll die from boredom if I don't have something to do."

"Me and you both."

Aiden drove into the parking lot and the two got out and headed inside. The place was pretty empty by the looks of it and only had about three people sitting down, all scattered around the building and minding their own business.

"Who do you think it is?" Alice asked.

"If I have to guess. I'd say it's that pale guy over in the corner who looks minutes away from puking his damn guts out," Aiden said with a monotone voice and pointed his finger ahead.

Alice followed Aiden's line of sight over to a booth tucked away in the corner. There sitting by his lonesome was a single man, biting down on his nails and shaking like it was cold inside, even though it wasn't. He looked to be in his mid to late '30's but could easily be mistaken as older. He was quite disheveled looking and obviously wasn't taking care of himself anymore. He had jet black hair, but it was beyond greasy and sticking to the sides of his pale and scruffy face. His eyes were brown too but bloodshot and sunken in from what looked to be a terrible case of insomnia. He wasn't eating or drinking anything either, so they just assumed he was waiting for someone.

Alice turned slightly disheartened after seeing the state the man was in. He looked like he was only being held together by pins, duct tape, and super glue. "Oh, damn," she muttered.

The man kept his head down and only looked up when he heard approaching footsteps. He jumped slightly when he saw Aiden and Alice standing beside his table. "Um, uh… Are you…the guy I talked to on the phone?" he asked in a hoarsely voice, still uncertain if they were the ones he was supposed to be waiting for.

Aiden smirked and nodded his head. "Yeah, that was me. I'm Aiden Cromwell and this is my sister, Alice."

"Philip Long." He looked between the two siblings and seemed unsure and even a little hesitant. Still, he offered his hand out and Aiden shook it firmly. "You guys, um, seem a little young."

"Thanks for the compliment. You're too kind." Aiden said with a cheeky smile and sat down across the table with Alice.

Philip turned a bit more nervus than ever before, now that he had an audience to talk about his…problems with. He couldn't look them in the eyes just yet and stared down at his hands while picking at the skin at his fingernails. "Look. I don't know if you guys are telling the truth or not…that you can help me with my problem, but I'm desperate at this point. I haven't slept in months and I'm too scared to even turn off the lights. I…I just don't know what to do anymore. I just...I just want it to stop already," he began explaining in a single breath.

Alice cocked a brow and stared down at the skin on his arms. They were red and it looked as if he had scratched them raw and close to bleeding. "Yeah. We can tell you're at your wit's end, and I hate to bring this up now, but we really need the money."

"I-I can pay if you're worried about that," he said and finally looked up at them, clearly showing every kind of desperation across his face. "Look." He dug through the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a couple of crumbled up dollars. "I can pay for your meal and the gas you took to get here. Money ain't a problem for me." He sat them down on the table and pushed them over in front of Alice. "Please…I really need help."

Alice shared an uneasy look with Aiden while quickly counting the crumbled bills in her hands. "Fine. My brother here will get the details from you. I'll get some food in the meantime," she said and got up.

"Gimme a chicken biscuit combo with a large dr. pepper!" Aiden called back before she could walk away.

"Yeah, yeah."

Alice continued to go through the cash in her hands while making her way to the counter. She stopped mid-way though when she felt her finger's glide against a very chalky substance. Alice looked down at her hand that was now coated in a strange white powder that came from one of the dollars. She thought it was playground chalk for a moment when a dark thought swept across her mind that just made more sense. Alice looked back over to Philip and finally took extra notice of his appearance and habits. All the signs were there and pointing to one thing.

"You gotta be…are you serious?" She looked over to her brother that seemed to be staring at a picture Philip gave him. "Aiden, can you come over here for a moment?" she called.

Aiden looked back at her before giving a motion to Philip that he'll be right back. He got up from the booth and met up with Alice, keeping his voice low just in case. "What's up?"

"I hate to be the bringer of bad news…but I don't think this is freaking chalk on my hands. Aiden, I think he might be an addict. Look." She lifted her hand with the white money in it to prove her point. "What do you think this is?" she said sarcastically.

Aiden grabbed one of the dollars carefully and sniffed it, immediately getting a strong and earthy smell that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He quickly yanked his head away and his usually carefree gaze sharpened to a calm certainty. He grabbed Alice by her upper arm and led her over to the bathrooms in the back of the Bojangles. "Alice, go wash your hands really quick."

Alice didn't question him and headed inside towards the sink. Aiden kept the door open and leaned against the frame like he was guarding it. "So you believe me?" she asked.

Aiden laughed slightly but his expression didn't waver. "Doesn't take much to see the signs on Twitchy-Mcgee out there." He had picked up on the red flags the moment he saw the man but didn't care to bring it up at the time. Normally, it didn't really matter to him if people took drugs for the purpose of pleasure, but if it hinders a possible case then it becomes a problem very quickly.

Alice sat the money down and began to scrub her hands clean of the…white powder. "So what does that mean for us? He's as high as a hot air balloon right now, yeah?"

"I'm not sure about that." Aiden shook his head and looked back at Philip who was waiting patiently for their return, still unnerved as always though. "Yeah, he's an addict…but I think he's been off the drugs for a couple of months now."

"You really think so?" Alice turned the water off and dried her hands on her jacket.

"Yeah. See the way he's biting his nails? I think whatever he's dealing with right now…is scaring him enough to the point he doesn't want to take them."

"How do you know he's even telling the truth?"

"Because of this." Aiden pulled out the picture he was looking at before and placed it right before Alice's sharp blue eyes that soon morphed into unease.

The picture was hard to understand at first since it was such low quality, but there seemed to be a figure of some sort within the frozen frame. A dark-looking specter with disfigured proportions that caused Alice to stiffen. The ghost may have been a woman, but it was hard to tell. What she could see though was the outline of an unhinged jaw, screaming silently, and pitch-black eyes that looked sinister and glassy.

Alice felt chills crawling up her arms like a thousand fire ants. "Jesus…" she whispered and ran her hand up her arm.

"Same thing I said. He figured he needed all the evidence he could to make us believe him, which is why I'm sure his story checks out," Aiden said and handed the unnerving picture over to Alice so she could have a closer look.

"Does he have anything else?" she asked.

"Yeah. He said he managed to get a voice recording too." Aiden stopped there and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't mind going through with the case but he also didn't like the thought of his sister having doubts. "You wanna keep going? If you're even the slightest bit unsure and uncomfortable…I'll say no to the case and we'll move on," he said firmly, showing that his priorities truly only lie with Alice's safety and peace of mind.

"I don't know, man." She frowned deeply and groaned. "What do you think? Think this is an actual case?"

"Could be. Worked on less. Worked on hunches before too and they turned out to be right most of the time. We really won't know for sure until we dive headfirst into this and start taking this dude seriously." Aiden held the rest of his words back and gave Alice the full decision whether they stay or not. It didn't really matter to him.

Alice looked to struggle with the choice for a while as her face contorted into a sneer before mellowing out to just a frown. "Damnit…I don't really want to leave here, knowing that someone could die if this gets dragged out. I don't like having that on my conscience." She ultimately looked like she gave up and sighed.

"So we're staying, right?" he asked, just needing to confirm it.

She shook her head. "Yeah. We're staying. Let's just hurry up and get back to Phil before he starts twitching out on us."

They eventually headed back over to the table they left Phillip at and sat down. The man looked back up at them and was confused to see that Alice didn't get anything.

"Are you not hungry?" he asked, scratching the irritated skin on his arm.

"We'll get something once we hear about the rest," Alice said while displaying the picture of the specter on the table. She pointed her finger at it as her voice dropped a few notches, now taking him a bit more seriously. "Aiden said that you had more evidence, right? Mind if we take a look while you explain a couple of things to us?"

"Yeah, uh, sure." He turned down to his bag he brought in with him and started to rummage through it.

Aiden began the questions and started off with something easy to answer. "Can you pin how long this haunting been going on?"

Philip momentarily looked up and made eye contact with him before going back to search through his bag. "Ah, yeah. I think it started up near the end of February," he said.

"Any reason why this is happening? Spirits don't normally attach themselves to people they don't know. You wouldn't happen to know her by any chance, yeah?" Aiden watched carefully as Philip's eyes wavered with many emotions under the simple question, purposely avoiding eye contact this time around.

"No," Philip answered softly. "I've…I've been disconnected from my family for over 20 years now. I don't know what they're doing with their lives and I'm sure they don't care what I'm doing with mine."

"Apparently." Alice proceeded to mutter rudely under her breath.

Philip found his audio recorder buried at the bottom of his bag and pulled it out. "You guys know EVP, right?" he asked, soon getting a look from the Cromwell siblings as if he had just insulted them. "Well…uh. I managed to snag her voice, but I can't tell what she's saying."

Aiden took the recorder and held it up for both him and Alice to hear. He clicked play, and at first, all they heard was a soft and muffled voice that was barely audible against the heavy static. They both then suddenly jerked their heads away though when a high-pitched shriek pierced through the speaker, nearly stopping their hearts dead still in their chests. It was clearly a woman's voice, but they were screaming so loudly that whatever they were trying to say was incohesive.

After the audio stopped, Alice took in a deep breath and leaned back in her seat. She patted her hand against her chest to try and get it to jump start. "Damn…that was a little intense."

"Yeah, you're right." Aiden cocked a brow and played the odd recording once again, just to see if he could make out what is being said. No dice though. "She's definitely saying something. Four words, but I can't really make it out. I'm gonna have to find a way to clear up the audio later. You mind if I keep this?" he asked.

"Go ahead." Philip insisted, looking a bit hopeful.

"You got anything else to show us?"

"Yeah, un, one more thing," Philip said and started to take off his coat. "She's pretty quiet most of the time and doesn't make much noise, and I usually see her at the corner of my eyes too. But I've noticed as things drag out…she's starting to become, uh, bold…and pretty recently…violent." He reached up to the collar of his shirt, took a single deep breath, and pulled it down. Underneath were deep dark red claw marks that started at his neck and ran down to his collarbone. Alice cringed at the sight and Aiden's face turned stern. "At this rate…I think she's gonna kill me."