Page 11 of The Penitentiary (Ghost Seekers Inc. #1)

“I think Harry might be right. Ever since he’s been talking, I’ve been filming things.

Not faces, but a shadow man is creeping this way.

And I’ve seen several flashes of light coming from a cell.

Harry will have to check if it was Jackson, but I think we need to get out of here,” Phil said calmly, his camera firmly focused on something.

“A shadow man?” Madi asked, peering into the darkness.

“Yeah, and he’s too close. Move,” Phil ordered.

I flinched as something barged into my shoulder and knocked me sideways. Madi screamed, and then Phil was there, grabbing her hand and dragging her away. I raced after them, flanking Madi as a howl of laughter reverberated off the walls. Everett Jackson could have cellblock four.

Madi - Wednesday

I didn’t know what I’d seen last night, but it had left a scratch on my arm.

When Jack was knocked sideways, something rushed past him.

I felt it and sensed it, but all I saw was a black mist. It’d grabbed my arm and held on, and I felt a burning on my skin, which made me scream.

Phil had acted fast. When we got outside, we’d been horrified to see a scratch from my elbow to my wrist.

As Phil recorded it, five fingerprints appeared out of nowhere, making us all gasp.

Levi had gone crazy when he saw the marks, but I was dead excited.

This was proof of what we’d experienced.

Who on earth would believe what had happened?

Except Phil had caught it all on camera which would deter any naysayers!

Tonight, we were heading into cellblock seven.

It was rumoured to be the place where the Ouija board was held.

This time, because of what we expected to discover, we were sticking together.

Levi, Sunny, Jack, Callie, Phil and me. Callie was more than wary of what we’d find because she claimed she’d had some unpleasant experiences with people using the boards.

She outright called them idiots, which amused me as she stated it on camera.

“You okay?” Levi asked, taking my arm and checking it. The scratches and bruises looked bad, but I nodded. They stung a little, but not as badly as last night.

“I can’t believe I got war wounds,” I exclaimed.

“Only you’d get excited over being attacked by a ghost.” Levi sighed.

“Callie and Jack probably would as well,” I said, and Levi nodded.

“True.”

“But it has been exciting, right?” I asked, suddenly unsure as I looked at Levi. Did he hate this? Had I forced him to come when he hadn’t wanted to?

“Yeah, and it’s nice seeing Sunny and Callie in action. This has been fun, baby; don’t worry about me,” Levi said, drawing me into his embrace and dropping a kiss on me.

“It’s helped… being here,” I murmured, and Levi concurred.

“Yeah, they’re not walking on hot bricks around us,” Levi agreed.

“Do we have to return straight back? Could we get Derek to bring the kids here. We could head off elsewhere?” I asked, and Levi nodded.

“Anywhere you wish to go?”

“I hear New Orleans is pretty haunted,” I said, and Levi laughed.

“If that’s what you want, then that will be where we’ll go. How about we throw in Savannah, too?”

I perked up at that. Two of our country’s most haunted cities? Yeah, I was up for that!

“That would be amazing,” I murmured as I buried my head in his chest. As long as I had Levi, nothing in the world could harm me; he wouldn’t let it.

He’d fight the devil himself for me, and I knew it.

Levi was my soulmate and the love of my life.

We’d suffered a devastating loss, but we’d recovered from it because we were strong. That’s what counted.

Callie

“Holy water,” Hack said, throwing a couple of vials at me.

“Is everyone wearing crosses?” I asked.

Affirmatives came again, and I picked up a Bible that Callum had blessed.

“I’ve got salt,” Jack confirmed, and I nodded.

“Then I think we’re set to depart. Let me go over the rules for tonight.

If this is a demon that the Ouija board has released, he’ll be on the offensive.

He won’t want to go back, which means that what we have seen is child’s play so far.

He’ll toy with your emotions, making the atmosphere difficult.

A demon can manipulate everything around them, and he will do just that so he gets to stay. ”

“What about possession?” Madi asked.

“That can happen, but our defences are in place. Denying a demon access means he can’t forcefully overtake your body for a long time.”

“But demon possessions?” Levi said and frowned.

“For a demon to possess you, you have to be willing. If you’re only a tiny bit open, it can sneak in.

Assuming you are against it, it cannot force you.

A demon will use tricks to worm its way in as well as threats.

We have our crosses, which are blessed, and we all know the Lord’s Prayer.

We have items like Holy Water, a blessed Bible, salt, incense.

And those little pouches I gave you all?

They contain protective spells, which I get renewed every few months by a very dedicated white magic practitioner. ”

“White magic?” Levi snorted, and I glowered at him. He blanched and nodded.

“White magic isn’t all mumbo jumbo; their herbology is legendary. Some of the latest medicines on the market have been around for years in their herbal forms. Pharmaceutical companies are looking to old-style healing for new ideas,” I stated.

“That’s true,” Madi said, nodding.

“Okay, it just seemed weird. The paranormal is hard enough to deal with, now magic?” Levi replied.

“Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean you ridicule it. Would you mess with a Manbo, a voodoo priestess?”

“No!” Levi exclaimed, and I nodded.

“My point is proven. Come on, time’s ticking on,” I said and led the way to cellblock seven.

◆◆◆

I frowned after several hours of nothing. We’d all taken turns trying to reach out, but the cellblock was unresponsive. There wasn’t a whisper of a haunting at all.

“Well, this one’s a dud,” Jack said from where he sat with his REM Pod close by.

“Yeah, the intel about the Ouija board being done here is wrong. Even if one were executed. There’s no activity on this block whatsoever,” I replied.

“What’s the plan?” Sunny asked as his fingers made lazy circles on my back.

“I think we should go eat, leave some cameras running, just in case, and maybe head to the haunted guard tower?”

“Sounds like a plan. I want to take a walk on the grounds, especially near where the unmarked graves are rumoured to be,” Jack said.

“Did we get the go-ahead on cadaver dogs being allowed in?” I asked, and Jack shrugged.

“We had a team lined up, but Penn said no, which makes me wonder how false those rumours are,” Jack replied.

“Interesting,” I murmured, and it was. Why hide bodies that had been there for ages? It wasn’t as if they were recent ones. Strange.

“Okay, you check that out, and I’ll take a group to the tower. We’ve had cameras on it, which haven’t picked anything up yet, so maybe something will happen if people are there,” I said.

“Possibly. What did we get for dinner?” Jack asked, rubbing his stomach.

I rolled my eyes; Sunny chuckled. “Freddie’s cooked tacos. She’s taken the easy route again,” I complained, and Sunny laughed.

Freddie stuck to only a few dishes: stew, tacos, chilli, and casserole. In all honesty, they were delicious, but she couldn’t be bothered to cook anything else. We all took turns cooking. Even the security team, and once we’d gone through a rotation, we’d order takeout and then start again.

“Let’s fill our bellies and find some ghosts!” Madi said and clapped her hands. I grinned; Madi had taken the words right out of my mouth.

◆◆◆

I sighed as the sun broke and I climbed into bed with Sunny. He was already there, and I curled into his big body. We had blackout curtains in the RV, so it was nice and dark in there.

“Sorry your evening was a bust,” Sunny murmured as I snuggled in against him. His hand cupped my little baby belly, and I smiled. I adored how Sunny constantly touched the baby; it showed me how much he loved us.

“It happens; we can’t have activity every night. That would be too far-fetched,” I replied.

“Yeah, but I hate you feeling let down.”

A yawn escaped me, and I shook my head. “No, I’m not disappointed. Regardless of what we’ve got up to now, we’ve plenty for a two-hour special.”

“Maybe even a three-hour one,” Sunny said as his eyes closed.

Peace reigned in the RV as we both fell into a sound sleep. It was such a shame we never saw the shadow figure watching us.