The drive to the Baker Estate felt relentless, Clancy could feel his soul leaving his body. Andre and Pete continued to bitch and moan adding to his increasing boredom. They kept fighting over the most meaningless shit that Clancy had ever seen like the title of the episode, who gets the last soda? Clancy knew this gig was too good to be true, be a cameraman, get some fame, maybe see some sights and go travel channel on this job. But no Andre and Pete had to drag things down, Clancy was on his first episode and the show was turning into a dumpster fire, hopefully, this would be the finale.
"Hey Andre, I can see the house, park in that clearing, we can go through the back and film the guest house first," Pete said, pointing at a blank spot near the entrance of the old Baker Estate. The trio known as the Sewer Gators, quickly exited the vehicle after parking, grabbing film, notebooks, a sad backpack of supplies, and to Clancy the greatest thing known to man, a single cigarette. The sky was pitch black, and a literature sign that shit would go down tonight. Clancy would admit the others at least picked a creepy ass spot this time, much better than that haunted amusement park the previous episode took place in.
"I can't believe it, the actual Baker's Estate, you know this place has a lot of history!" Clancy whispered, looking at the giant house in the distance, as Pete's hand continued to press against his shoulder. Clancy was the one to lead them through the wilderness, since his camera had night vision, and they agreed to save flashlights for filming or till some spooky shit happened.
"Save it for the show, Clancy! Besides your Aaron, just film and look pretty when the shot calls for you." Pete said, bitterly as the trio ducked under the hole in the metal fence, making Clancy dread this journey a little more. He didn't wanna be like Aaron from Ghost Adventures, he was part of the team, so he should have as much value to the show, and not the Cameraman made to suffer for entertainment. Sadly he knew his plea would fall on deaf ears till the episode was over, Andre seemed to be focused on the show, while Pete bitched and complained about everything.
—--
Clancy realized something really quick as the Sewer Gators made their way through the sinister trail to the guest house. The forest was spooky as shit, and honestly, the swamp life and bugs didn't make it feel any better. For fucks sake, they could have and would probably use this trail in the episode. At least the camera was rolling and the guest house was coming up. That was until Clancy stopped to check his camera, feeling Pete, and Andre bump into him.
"Hey Clancy, what gives?" Andre yelled, grabbing at Clancy's shoulder, knowing he probably got scared, Andre was right as Clancy quickly rolled the footage back until a figure was shown in the distance. The figure looked like a boy with spiky hair, and tattered clothes, but the frame was choppy and static like the camera couldn't handle the image or something was messing with the footage.
"I found a boy, I think we've got company tonight!" Clancy whispered to the others, Andre, and Pete went silent for a moment, then started to laugh, and walked ahead of Clancy, pulling out their flashlights.
"Probably just a passerby, or homeless kid hiding in the guest house or estate. We'll tell them to move so it doesn't ruin the shots if they get involved. Come on Clancy, Andre, I can see the guest house now." Pete yelled, jogging lightly to a small hill next to the guest house. Clancy looked at the back of the guest house, it was spooky, and being here at night only added to the creep factor. Nevertheless, the Sewer Gators pressed onwards to the guest house. Pete decided to set up the first shot of the episode with a boo scare.
Clancy knew it was up in the edits, but after hearing the host diss him again claiming to work with professionals. Clancy knew this job wasn't gonna last long, maybe he could get his stoner buddy who lived around the area for some LSD and fuck Pete, over. Clancy just continued to keep quiet as Pete boasted about being some big guy in the news, only for Andre to bring him down to earth. Clancy would admit as much as he didn't like Pete and Andre. The banter they made was gold and would make the show a killing if they kept the scumbag, drama stuff.
The night was becoming uneventful in Clancy's opinion, maybe Pete and Andre were as scared as him. The old house was worked down, moss and vines littered the other walls, and a wooden swing barely moved adding to the creepiness of the place. But after a couple of minutes and some deep breaths, the team entered the guest house. Clancy was last to give the two hosts a more glorious entrance, while he stayed in the back to film shots.
—--
The inside of the guest house was a trainwreck, the walls had multiple holes in them, meaning the number of bugs inside was insane. The rotten corpses of dead horses littering the ground made the hallway smell like death and made Clancy wanna vomit, but the gators pressed onto the kitchen.
"Well, I got a title for the episode finally, Tonight on Sewer Gators, another worthless fucking shithole?" Pete declared, and Clancy would admit the title did fit, as the guest house was a shithole. Someone must have been living here, with that kid. It was the only way to explain the dead horse meat unless that was added recently.
"Looks like we're in hell this time! Shitty house, dead animals, looks like you dragged us into the evil dead, Pete." Andre said mockingly, walking in front of Pete, as he headed into the kitchen, Pete wanted to say something but kept quiet, but Clancy could see his first shaking in anger. This was the last episode of the Sewer Gators if things proceeded the way they were going.
—--
The kitchen was just as bad as the hallway, granted there weren't any dead animals outside of dinner in the microwave being a dead fucking crow, and the piles of garbage covering the kitchen, shit even piles of dirty dishes littered the sink. It was a germaphobe nightmare, Pete opened up a pot of stew, only for cockroaches to crawl out, and the most ungodly smell to flow into the already foul-smelling kitchen. Andre checked the fridge, but instead of it being empty, or full of beer. The fucking thing was caked in mold, filth, and food that happen been growing for what must have been years. Andre quickly slammed the door closed in disgust doing his best to hold back some vomit. The only other thing of note that Clancy found in the kitchen was an antique coin in a drawer. Remembering something in a guidebook about the coins being used to open cages that held prizes at carnivals and shit.
—--
Thankfully the group went into the next set of hallways, Andre sat on the stairs to the attic. Pete went over some of the notes the group would mention like Jack Baker and his family. They would talk about how the family had gone missing three years ago, as well as the over twenty missing person reports over the last three years. So the episode would have a strong hook even if it might piss off the residents of Dulvey.
Clancy was curious how the big episode was gonna impact his life, after all, Baker's estate from what he researched showed a mine that was connected somewhere to the property. The main grounds held a greenhouse, a barn that connected to a boat house, and the giant house itself that was built by the dude who did the Spencer mansion. So that meant the house even the guest house had secret passages and puzzles.
—--
After a few moments of planning, the Sewer Gators decided to venture deeper into the guest house, finding trash, broken furniture, and what looked like black mold on the ceiling. One of the two doors next to them was locked, and the other led to a room with a piano, TV, and countless newspapers littering the ground, the room looked ransacked. Andre decided to play with the chimney, thinking he'd find a secret passageway, Pete was looking through books, hoping to find more dirt on the Bakers. Clancy meanwhile just kept filming, spotting a breaker box in the wall with a fuse missing. But before Clancy could venture to find the fuse and give the group some extra light, Andre found a handle in the fireplace, opening up a hidden spot in the wall.
"Holy shit, guess those rumors about the freak who made that mansion were true!" Andre yelled, quietly looking through the hole to find a ladder that led down to the basement of the guest house. Clancy quickly ran over to the hole, he was excited to find out more about the basement, and how it connected to the house, plus it made some good footage for the show. Clancy strapped the camera to his back, as he climbed down the old ladder, Pete, and Andre followed a second later till they hit the ground.
—--
Clancy quickly undid the strap to the camera and began filming things, broken pipes, a creepy door, and then he saw what looked like the silhouette of the kid from earlier, making Clancy run deeper into the basement.
"Hey Clancy, get back here, hey wait for us!" Pete yelled, calling out for Clancy, as Andre, and Pete quickly ran trying to catch up to Clancy, running through a floored room in the basement till they saw Clancy he was standing in a room, his camera was focused on what looked like a kid, he had spiky brown hair, goofy yellow shoes, a red shirt and shorts, and a white jacket with a red hood. His eyes were blue, his skin was pale, and he looked sad.
"Hey kid, why are you down here, are you okay? What's your name?" Clancy whispered, as the kid shook, as the sounds of a cell could be open in the background the kid started to cry, and black tears rolled down his face.
"You're probably gonna die tonight!" Sora said, running away deeper into the basement and tossing something at Clancy, the cameraman looked down revealing a silver crown necklace. Before Clancy could react after picking the necklace up, the battery of his camera went dead, and a sinister laugh could be heard above them. The door to safety had been closed, and the residents of evil were ready to give the Sewer Gators some family hostility.