Page 7 of The Haunting of Lockton

“I wonder where that corridor leads.” I nodded toward a narrow hall on the second floor.

“Unpacking first. Snooping later.” Julian pushed on my back to make me keep walking.

“You’re such a killjoy, Jules. I got all the personality in the womb.”

He snorted and unlocked the door. The room was bigger than I expected. Two queen-sized beds, a large dresser, a TV mounted on the wall, and our own bathroom.

“Hey, look.” Julian grabbed a piece of paper off the nightstand between our beds. “A map of the mansion. It really is like a maze.”

I neared his side and looked it over. “Arthur Warren was a damn madman. Didn’t you say he was also connected to Lockton?”

“Yes. He funded the asylum and was the man in charge. You’d remember this if you’d been paying attention to me instead of matching candies.”

I ignored the jab at my favorite mobile game. “If we do an episode for Redwood in our Ivy Grove Special, we should talk about Warren. Like a little prelude to the Lockton investigation since he’s tied to both. And we can tell the history of everyone who died here too. Viewers love that fucked-up shit.”

“Ivy Grove Special?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a good promotional tool to give it a catchy title, like…” I put my hands up and wiggled my fingers. “The Knox Brothers’ Ivy Grove Special.”

“Huh. Imagine that.” Julian’s brow arched. “You actually do use that brain for more than video games and thirst traps.”

“Asshole.” I lightly shoved him before stepping into the bathroom to check my hair. “I’m gonna record a short video for our followers. Wanna be in it?”

“Not really.” Julian sighed. “But I guess I should.”

I grabbed my phone from where I’d tossed it on the bed and turned the camera to selfie mode, hitting Record once we were ready. “Hey, guys! Skyler and Julian here. Big announcement incoming. We’re in Ivy Grove, Connecticut, and just checked into the notoriously haunted Redwood Manor. Have any of you visited before? This place has a rich history with all sorts of haunted places. Can’t say yet where we’ll be investigating for our next episode. Gotta keep you on your toes.” I winked. “But just know our next few episodes will be wild. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on the exclusive content. I hope you’re ready. I know we are.”

We kept it short and sweet, and I was sure to eye-fuck the camera as much as possible. Julian didn’t say much, as usual, but the viewers ate it up. They thought his shyness was cute.

“I’ll do a quick edit and upload,” I said.

“Okay. Let me know if you need help.” Julian unzipped his bag and set up his laptop at the table.

I added a filter to the video for better lighting, did some minor tweaking, and posted to our social media accounts before unpacking my suitcase. “Do they have food here?”

“How can you be thinking of food when you just stuffed your face with like three donuts and an ice cream cone?”

“Dessert isn’t food. It’s… well, dessert. Goes into a totally different stomach, so it doesn’t count.”

“Breakfast buffet is included,” he said without looking up from his laptop. “Lunch and dinner are available upon request. I looked over the menu, and they have steak, burgers, chicken, soup, and sandwiches.”

“Steak sounds good.”

A short while later, we grabbed some of our handheld equipment and walked around the second floor, map in hand so we didn’t get lost, and recorded a little. We couldn’t do a full investigation, but the place was too damn awesome to pass up the chance to at least do a small one. Another staircase led to the third floor, and we went up. There were no guest rooms up there, so it was quiet and less likely for outside noise to interfere.

“Is anyone here with us?” I asked, moving the camera around what appeared to be an attic. “If so, could you pinch my brother?”

“Be serious, Sky.”

“I am.” I grinned. “It’d be incredible evidence of the paranormal. You with a little ghostly pinch mark.”

He sighed. “I’m not sensing anything up here. Maybe the mansion full of people is making them nervous.”

“Them? As in the ghosts? Can they even get nervous?”

“They were people once too,” he said. “People with hopes, dreams, and emotions. Being dead doesn’t always take that away.” He turned off his handheld cam. “Let’s head downstairs for dinner.”

Yeah, he had always been the more sensitive of us. He considered the ghost’s feelings, whereas I rarely did. I was more concerned with getting them on camera to boost our views.