Page 34 of The Haunting of Lockton

“Please don’t worry about scaring us,” Julian said. “Feel free to come closer and talk to us. We’re here foryou. To hear your story if you want to share it.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered. More spots had appeared on the screen. I looked up from the camera and squinted at the area the spots were, trying to see them with my own eyes. It was too dark.

“I know talking to strangers can be nerve-racking,” Paxton said. “But if you want, step forward and tell us your name.” A pause. “I know some of your names already. Penelope, who loved to draw trees. George, who didn’t speak a word but who often sang. I’m not sure if you knew this, George, but your songs lifted the spirits of those around you. I’ve read about it in reports.”

The spots had changed slightly and were now a mixture of floating orbs and larger shapes, some of them humanlike. The air grew colder too. There had already been a chill in the asylum, but I could see my breath now. Temperature drops were a commonly known phenomenon for when ghosts were close.

Julian’s breathing quickened as he stared at the camera with disbelieving eyes. In the four years we’d been doing our show, we had never caught anything like this on the first night of investigation.

“Is Roy here?” I asked. “Or someone who knew him? What about the doctors?” I paused to give them time to respond—if they even did. We wouldn’t know until later. “Samuel Howard?”

All the spots vanished.

Julian peered closer at the camera before glancing up. “It’s like they all fled.”

“Of course they did,” Paxton said, returning the recorder to me. “You said the name of the man who tormented and killed them.”

Julian shot me a look, and I mouthed, “Sorry.”

Several minutes passed with no further activity,

“Let’s continue on,” Julian said.

We went into a large room that had been a sort of gathering area for the patients, where they’d played games and had a chance to be social. Paxton and I did more EVP work before moving on to one of the patient rooms.

An hour into the investigation and we hadn’t heard or seen anything other than the floating orbs on the thermal cam. No ghostly moans, heavy footsteps, or doors closing. The asylum was abandoned. Empty of everything, ghosts included, apparently.

Me and my big mouth had scared them all away.

“Should we go to a different area?” I asked.

“Probably.” Julian glanced behind us. “We can split up to cover more ground.”

“You know that’s what idiots say in horror movies. Right before one of them is horribly slaughtered by a crazed killer in a hockey mask.”

My brother rolled his eyes. A frequent occurrence when he was dealing with me. “I think I’ll be all right. You and Paxton continue down this corridor, and I’ll backtrack to one of the patient rooms.”

“Did you sense something back there?” I asked, serious now.

Julian nodded. “Still do. Things may be quiet so far, but we aren’t alone here. I sense… a lot.” He handed me a camera. “It’s like they’re hiding from us. They could be scared. Maybe splitting up will make them less nervous to come out. We’re less of a threat that way.”

He took off down the corridor, leaving me and Paxton alone. I aimed the camera in front of us. My mind wasn’t on the investigation though. It was on the auburn-haired hottie standing oh so close to me.

“Your brother can sense ghosts?” he asked. “Did I understand that right?”

“Y-Yeah. He can.” I quietly cleared my throat. Talking about Julian’s gift was hard. One, I didn’t want people mocking him for it. But also, the story behind him discovering that gift wasn’t an easy one to tell. “He wasn’t always able to. It started when we were younger. There was… an accident.”

“You don’t have to talk about it.”

I turned to Paxton.

A tender smile touched his lips. “Seems like it’s a less than pleasant memory for you.”

“Something like that.” My heart beat a little faster. He was observant. Not many people could see beneath my mask. “I like to say it’s me and Jules against the world. Because that’s how it’s always been with us. We grew up in foster care, often placed with families who only wanted a check and didn’t give two shits about us. I guess I took it upon myself to be the parent in their place.”

“That must’ve been hard,” Paxton said.

“I didn’t really think about it back then. I just wanted Jules to be safe and happy, you know?” I hadn’t meant to tell Paxton so much, but it all came spilling out. “He got scared at night, so I would read him stories before bed to help him sleep. When it was really bad, I’d sing to him. Don’t judge me.”