Page 3 of Possessed By Shadows

“Do you see anything?” Lukas asked, leading us back toward the front of the house. Every step made the floor creak and moan, and I clung to Micah’s arm, worried more that we’d fall through, than run face-to-face with a ghost.

“No,” I said.

“No,” agreed Micah.

The last room on the left was a wide space with a hole where the window once had been and a rocking chair in the corner. There were pieces of a broken bed, but not enough to call it much more than that. Lukas opened the backpack he was carrying and pulled out a teddy bear.

“Um?”

“It’s a psychic bear,” Lukas said. “Gives them an outlet. It will tell us if it senses vibrations, records an EVP, or high EMF levels. It’s pretty handy.”

“I thought that was what we were for,” I joked.

“Nope. That’s why you’re all warded,” Lukas corrected me. He set the bear on the rocking chair. There was a camera set up in the room to face the chair. “I want anything here to be attracted to the bear, not you. You two stay up here for a bit. Let us know if the bear starts talking.”

“The whole house is shaking with our movement. I think if it senses vibration it’s going to start talking soon.” It didn’t sound all that scientific to me. Who decided a teddy bear was a good outlet for spiritual voices?

“Find a spot and don’t move. I’m going to have folks do multiple EVP sessions in different spaces.” Lukas headed out of the room, leaving us with the creepy toy.

I sighed. Micah was quiet. “Do you feel anything?” I whispered.

“Ants, lots of ants,” Micah muttered. “Nothing for you?”

“Cold? Uneasy?” I looked around the room, searching out all the shadows with my gaze, finding no movement. “Let’s sit there.” I pointed to a spot mostly clear of debris, and still somewhat in sight of the tripod camera. Close to the wall, it would give us something at our backs and a view of the window, the door, and that spooky bear.

Micah let out a long breath. We both sat down, side by side, him holding tight to my arm. I focused the thermal on the bear. It was slightly warmer than the room around us, but I attributed that to Lukas having it in his backpack.

“Should we ask questions?” I wondered. Lukas hadn’t really given us any instructions other than to stay here. On the rare occasion Micah did a ghost hunt, he led and there was always a very set game plan before we began the night. But those hunts were tourists and keeping them safe was priority. I wasn’t sure what my brother’s priorities were.

“I don’t know the history of this place, but sure. Questions. No provoking,” Micah said. He had a very firm rule about irritating spirits. Respect was key. I wholeheartedly agreed. Pissing off supernatural things didn’t sound healthy for anyone.

I pulled out the digital recorder and flipped it on. “Micah and Alex, upstairs bedroom with spirit bear?” I noted the time on my phone. Maybe we’d be lucky and it would be an uneventful night. “Is anyone here?” We listened for a minute, but if anyone spoke, we didn’t hear it.

“If someone is here, can you tell us your name?” Micah asked.

We paused between each question as though we expected to hear something. The room and the house around us remained quiet. If anyone else was upstairs, I couldn’t hear any movement. We asked a few more questions before turning it off and sitting to wait since nothing seemed to change.

Time passed, and we sat huddled together for so long that I started to doze. This late-night stuff messed with my sleep schedule. And since it was almost three in the morning, I figured no one would begrudge me a catnap.

The bear tittered. A bit of a maniacal laugh like a possessed child. I jolted awake. Was it supposed to do that? Some light on the bear’s belly flickered. I blinked. “Did you see that?” I asked Micah.

“Yeah. Got it on camera. I think it’s supposed to do that? Hands and belly light up? I looked them up a while back when I saw another YouTuber use one. They’re expensive.”

“The giggle?” I was going to hear that in my nightmares. “It’s supposed to do that?”

“I didn’t hear a giggle. You heard something?”

That didn’t bode well. Fuck. I hated the idea that I was hearing some disturbing kid laugh that wasn’t attributed to that terrifying bear. “Creepy as hell.” I kept my gaze on the psycho bear. It didn’t do anything for a while, and I began to relax. The sound of the floor creaking out in the hallway nearly made me jump out of my skin. Was Lukas coming back?

No one came through the door. Maybe they were exploring the other rooms? Odd, as I didn’t hear any voices, only the wood groaning.

“Do you smell perfume?” Micah whispered. He had the digital recorder set in front of us on the floor, on again. The small red light on the top indicating it was rolling.

“All I smell is garlic,” I said. “Making me crave spaghetti and garlic bread.” I couldn’t imagine any scents in this place other than swamp and rot, so was kind of grateful for the garlic. “My phone battery is getting really low.”

“Mine too,” Micah agreed. He looked at the tripod camera set up not far away. “Light is still on. I think that’s still recording.”

Another rush of footsteps sent the hallway creaking, like someone running toward us. I tensed, waiting for one of the other guys to burst through the door. Nothing. Micah’s gaze was intent on the door too. He gripped my arm tightly.