Page 26 of The Haunting of Lockton

“Nope. It’s just us,” Skyler answered. “We’ve collaborated with other ghost-hunting teams in the past, and they had their crew, which was awesome, but when we do solo investigations, we set up cameras and record on our phones and stuff as we go. We manage well enough. Reviewing the footage with just two people is a bitch though. Days upon days of staring at night-vision footage or listening to staticky recordings.”

“I’m sure your viewers appreciate the hard work.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Skyler shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and exhaled. “I think a majority of our viewers watch us with little expectations of reality. They like the scares of the places we visit and don’t really take it too seriously.”

“They like to see you eye-fuck the camera at any given opportunity too,” Julian mumbled.

“Hey, this is my moneymaker.” Skyler pointed to his face. “My eye-fucking puts food on our table. Show some respect.”

Julian sighed.

Earlier at lunch, Skyler said Julian had been the first one interested in the paranormal. I got the impression he mostly did this for his brother. If given the choice to do something different with his life, to followhispassion, what would he choose?

“So, Ichabod,” Skyler said with a smirk pulling up the edge of his lips. “What story will you regale us with first?”

I crinkled my nose at the nickname, not sure what I thought of it. He didn’t say it in a mocking way. It was almost… cutesy.

“See that window on the second floor?” I pointed to the fifth one from the right. “There are several accounts of people seeing a man standing there.”

“The angry doctor?” Julian asked. “Taylor, a local we interviewed yesterday, said he saw him once. We came across several names when we were at the library yesterday but couldn’t pinpoint which one might’ve been him. Samuel Howard, of course, but there were dozens of others throughout the years.”

“The more well-known doctors are Samuel Howard and Victor Hale,” I said. “Hale worked side by side with Arthur Warren and is mentioned in his journal several times.”

“Which I totally plan to read,” Skyler told me.

Julian rolled his eyes. “Says the one who whines when I ask him to read anything. The same one whose eyes glaze over when I talk about books.” He looked at me. “He only likes books with pictures.”

I suppressed a laugh, which became even harder when Skyler scowled at his brother. He even madethatlook good. He was so sexy it should’ve been illegal.

I refocused on the window. “The man who’s been seen there isn’t one of the doctors. He was a patient named Roy Daniels.”

“Did he commit suicide?” Skyler asked, eyeing the window. “A leap from that high could certainly snap someone’s neck.”

“No,” I said, doing my best not to freeze up since Julian had moved the phone to record me. “His story is sad though, as most are who were unfortunate enough to stay here. Roy was only twenty years old and sent to the asylum because of his… unnatural lifestyle.”

“Meaning, he was homosexual?” Julian asked.

“That’s what I believe, yes,” I answered. “Samuel Howard was in charge at the time. The family took the payout from him and left Roy here. He died in 1911, a year later.”

“How did he die?” Skyler asked.

“Lobotomy complications.” I put my hands in my coat pockets and stared up at the window. “He died from a massive seizure directly following it. The story only gets darker from there. The very next day, there was a riot that led to a brutal massacre. Some speculate it was related to Roy’s death somehow. Others say it was a coincidence.”

“Um. Massacre?” Skyler blinked at me before turning to Julian. “Did you know about that?”

His brother sighed. “Yes. I read about it when we went to the library.”

“Ah, the library. How could I forget?”

“Obviously, youdidforget,” Julian said. “Because I told you about it.”

“Oh.” He scratched the back of his head. “Can you, uh, refresh my memory?”

Julian narrowed his eyes. “I’m deleting that game off your phone. It’s rotting your brain.”

“Please don’t. Do you know how long it took me to reach my current level? All the blood, sweat, and tears?” Skyler clappedhis hands together and bowed his head. “I’m at your mercy, oh dear brother. My handsome, super-smart brother whom I love so much.”

“Now, this is what I call quality entertainment.” Julian kept the phone aimed at his twin. “Keep begging and telling me how amazing I am. Maybe start singing while you’re at it.”