That evening the group gathered at the school just before seven. They walked down to Miss Waters’s house which was in an older portion of town. As they approached her front door, Sarah turned to the group, “Are we really doing this? It seems so strange to be meeting with a teacher outside of school.”
Matthew:”I know. The only time I usually see a teacher after school is in detention.”
The group laughs, and continues up to her door. William knocks on the door and within a few moments Brenda answers it, “Good you all made it. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable.”
As they enter the house, they are all looking around at the antique furnishings and are in awe of the décor. It strikes them as a little strange that a new teacher in town would have such a well furnished home, like she had been there for a while. Jessica remarked, “You have a beautiful home. I’m scared to touch anything in case I break it.”
Brenda: “Thank you. And don’t worry about breaking anything, it’s all insured.”
William: “Your home looks like you’ve been here for longer than a week?”
Brenda: “Actually I have. I’ve been living in town for about three months. I just happened to land the teaching job at your school this week.”
Sarah: “Guess this town isn’t so small after all. I’ve never seen you before this week.”
Brenda: “I keep to myself for the most part. I spend a lot of time reading and doing some research. Why don’t you head into the study while I grab some refreshments?”
As they follow her down the hall, Brenda points to the study and the group enters it. They are amazed at the amount of books on the walls. Jessica notices that they are in order of the books topics. There are groups of physiology books, psychology books, sociology books and a very large section of parapsychology ones. She points out the parapsychology books to the group. They are all rather stunned at the large collection. Brenda had the collection set up in different topics. There were ghost stories, legends, monsters, psychic lesson books, near death experiences, astral travel; basically anything paranormal you could think of.
As Brenda entered the study with a tray of drinks and snacks, she noticed the group staring at the different topics. “You can see where my passion lies”, said Brenda. “Why don’t you all grab a seat and we can get to know each other a little.”
The students all take a seat on the sofas that were set up around a table. As they grab a drink and some snacks, Brenda starts the conversation: “So you guys are a group of ghost hunters? Rather strange hobby for such a young group. Why don’t we start with introductions and then perhaps you can tell me what got you all interested in the field of parapsychology? I know Jessica Davis and William Rogers, and you are?”
“I’m Matthew Brown.” Matthew looked over at Alexis, “I’m Alexis Taylor.” The group continued until everyone was done; “I’m Sarah Wilson”, “I’m Samantha Moore”, “I’m Jacob Jones”.
“I’m Brenda Waters. Please just call me Brenda. So what would get such a large group of young people interested in such a strange field?”
William: “I guess we all had some type of experience that was out of the ordinary.”
Matthew: “Not all of us. I just joined because William and I became friends a few years ago and he got into it so I figured it’d be good for a laugh.”
Brenda: “So you’re the sceptic of the group? Good, all groups need one to keep them honest.”
Matthew: “I guess, but every time they experience something, I miss it.”
Brenda: “Being a sceptic is one thing, but you still need to keep an open mind. A sceptic that refuses to believe anything is paranormal is just as bad as someone who believes every little thing is paranormal.”
Matthew: “Guess I’ll need to try to keep a bit more of an open mind. I have heard things I can’t explain, but I just chalk it up to a coincidence.”
Brenda: “Perhaps if you start being less sceptical, you may start experiencing some of these things for yourself?”
Matthew: “Guess I could give it a try, I can’t see what harm it would do.”
Brenda: “Exactly. And who knows, it might open up a whole new world to you.’
William: “You said you would teach us your meditation technique you use to help tune in your own psychic abilities.”
Brenda: “Yes I did, and I will. First I want to get to know you all a little better. So who wants to tell me their experience first?”
An uneasy silence filled the room. Everyone was a little insecure about sharing their story with a complete stranger. Brenda looked around the room. “William, why don’t you go first?”
As Jessica walked along, thinking about the journal, she stopped and looked behind her. She was sure she felt someone staring at her. She looked all around but could not find anything out of the ordinary. There was no one anywhere that she could see, other than some people walking their dog about half a block away. “Snap out of it, it just your imagination” she thought to herself. The same sensation came over her a few more times before she arrived back at William’s, yet she could never notice anyone actually watching her.
The pizza driver was just pulling away when she arrived at William’s house. She knocked on the door and opened it, remembering that William’s dad always said “If it’s open, come in. If I don’t want visitors, I’ll lock the door.”
“They’re all out back,” said William’s dad. Jessica replied, “Thanks Mr. Rogers,” and she walked out the back door. She heard Matthew yell “You better hurry, before Jacob eats it all.”
As Jessica was walking towards the table where William was sitting, she was looking down, deep in thought.
William: “You look troubled Jess, what’s bothering you?”
Jessica: “Nothing, I just have this strange feeling that I’m being watched everywhere I go. I’ve had it all day, ever since we left the house.”
William: “Maybe one of your neighbours was checking you out. You do look pretty hot today.”
Jessica: “Grow up William. And not since I left my house, since we left the Anderson house after seeing the ghost.”
William: “You gotta learn to be more specific. Sit down and eat before it gets cold.”
Jessica: “Alright. I am quite hungry.”
The younger group members seemed to be enjoying the break more than the analysis. After they were done eating they all left the table and were playing around in the back yard. William and Jessica were the only ones left at the table.
William: “Hey are you sure you’re alright?”
Jessica: “Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t understand what could have happened to that journal.”
William: “Well you did manage to get quite a bit of information from the pages you did read.”
Jessica: “True, but it seems like someone was waiting for me to leave the book alone so they could grab it. I even felt eyes on me while I was at city hall. So did you guys come up with anything?”
William: “Well at the start every little thing was being viewed as a ghost. So I gave them a crash course on Analysis.”
Jessica: “How did that go?”
William: “Quite good. We went a good hour without anyone asking me if something was a ghost. They would ask each other to look at stuff and decide amongst themselves what something rationally was.”
Jessica: “Sounds like they are learning quickly. But did you come up with anything?”
William: “Other than some mumbled voices. (Pause) Oh, and I did come up with something on my video camera.”
Jessica slaps Williams arm, “And you were going to tell me about this when?”
William: “Well that’s just it. You see, I don’t know what it actually is. It’s a bright area that moved through a section of the video. Problem is that I need to do more analysis before I can be sure. I know it wasn’t the sun because it came out after we saw the apparition. I found some software on the internet for free that will allow me to extract still images from a video. Once I do that, I’ll be able to analyse the image better. I’ve also been searching for an audio editor that will allow me to amplify the voices we can hear.”
Jessica: “That would be great. Let me know how that goes. So did anything show up on my video?”
William: “Yeah about that. Matthew was a little pissed that it looks like your camera was on before you saw the apparition, and you actually switched it off when you turned to capture it on tape instead of turning it on.”
Jessica: “That is really depressing. I was so sure I’d finally caught something on tape that I could show to other people. Something that would make them stop saying I’m crazy or wasting my time.”
William: “I hear you. But I’m sure we’ll get another chance.”
Jessica: “I sure hope I do. So should we get back at it?”
William: “Sounds good. Come on guys, let’s go back inside.”
Everyone went back to where they were prior to the break. While sitting at the table, Sarah called to Jessica, “You should hear this. It was caught in the sitting room.” Jessica picked up the head phones and listened. She could hear what sounded like a man’s voice saying “Its mine don’t take” or “It’s wise to shake.”
Jessica asked Sarah what she thought it said. It sounds to me like he’s saying, “its mine don’t break.” Then Sarah mentioned that Alexis also listened to it. She asked Alexis what she heard, “There’s whine in the case,” is what it sounded like to me, said Alexis. Jessica thought to herself “I sure hope William finds some software that will help us distinguish what the voice is saying.”
Jacob and Samantha were whispering to one another when Samantha asked, “Did you find out anything about the old house?” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Jessica waiting for her answer.
Jessica, feeling a bit on the spot as an uneasy silence fell over the room, began to tell the other kids about the how all the documents were already together when she got there. She then explained how she found the newspaper article about Mr. Anderson and how he died over seas while saving a bunch of people from a bus that had gone into the river. She then explained to them about the Journal, and what she was able to read in it before it disappeared.
Once she was done, Matthew just scratched his head and said, “That’s just too weird. What are the odds of someone researching the same property at the same time as us, and no one seeing who took the notebook?”
William: “Well guys, it’s getting late. Maybe we should continue this tomorrow?
Sarah: “Sounds great. If I don’t get home soon my parents will flip.”
Everyone else agreed it was a great idea. William walked them to the door, said goodnight and shut the door behind them. Jessica was on the sidewalk looking around when Jacob asked,” What’s wrong?”
Jessica:”Nothing, I’ve just been feeling like someone is watching me all day, strange huh?”
Jessica just lived a few streets over so she walked home with a few of the group who lived in the same direction. As they passed her house, she said goodnight and went inside.
Her mother asked sarcastically, “Did you find any proof yet, or are the ghosts still hiding from you?”
Her father chuckled.
Jessica: “Very funny Mom”.
Her parents believed in an afterlife, as they were religious, they just weren’t too sure about actual ghost that roamed the earth.
“Do you have any homework?” her mother asked.
Jessica:”Finished it all at school on Friday. They gave us last class as a study period.”
Jessica went upstairs to lie on her bed. As she passed her window, she could see someone standing outside through the curtain. She pulled it open to look, but they were gone. She lay down on her bed and was going through the events of the day through her head. First was their decision to go to the old Anderson house. Then what happened in the house, going from room to room until they saw the apparition, to what happened at the archive building. She kept thinking she was missing something. As she lay there, still thinking of the day’s events, she nodded off to sleep.
Matthew walked Alexis to her house, even though it was past his place.
Alexis: “Thanks for walking me home.”
Matthew looked at her and thought he’d tell her how he felt, “My pleasure. I was wondering”.
Alexis Mother suddenly yells out the door, “Time to come inside Lexis.”
Alexis: “I’m coming mom.” She smiles at Matthew, “I’ll see you tomorrow Matt.”
Matthew just smiled and said “goodnight” as he started to walk home. As he turned to watch her walk up the side walk to her door, he said quietly to himself, “she called me Matt, maybe it’s a sign she’s starting to feel more comfortable around me.” Matthew smiled and he headed home with a bit of a spring in his step.
By this time everyone else had made it home safely. As they were lying in their beds, everyone was wondering what it was they actually saw, except for Jacob who was wondering what he had missed. “Next time I am not going with Matthew on the investigation, he always misses everything”, he thought in an angry tone to himself.
Back at Williams house, he told his dad he was heading to the basement and his father replied, “don’t stay up to late it’s a school night and I will need to wake you up a little earlier because I have a job out of town.”
“I won’t pops” replied William as he headed for his rec-room.
William hooked his MP3 player to a computer and started selecting songs to add to a playlist. He chose a few from the Harlots, Mindstorm, Iron Maiden and a few other groups. He put his MP3 player into the dock of the stereo and selected random play. He sits down at his video camera just as “I’m afraid of Mice” starts playing by the Harlots. Williams taste in music was greatly influenced by his brother who was away at college. Because of this, William’s taste in music was different then most kids his age.
William started to convert the section of his video that showed the glowing mass moving across the floor to photo’s. While the conversion software was running he was surfing the web for audio editing software. After searching through multiple sites that allow you to make MP3’s out of anything, he finally located some free software that allows you to clean up and enhance audio files. William downloaded the software and went to look at the video conversion software to see what he could see in the photos. He opened the folder that the images were placed in and the first few photo’s showed nothing unusual. After checking a few different photos he noticed a light start to move across the image. He went back to the first photo that showed the light and tried to enhance the area that the light was in. He tried playing with the brightness and the contrast and was able to make out what looked like the outline of a hand or foot in some of the images, but nothing was real clear. He decided to try to view the negative of the image to see what it would show. As soon as he did, he saw a clear outline of a man with a handlebar style moustache. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He saved the image and tried to view the negative of others, however none came out as clear. He transferred the image to his smart phone and sent it to Jessica. The audio software was downloaded so he installed it on the other computer and decided to try the audio analysis the next day. He turned out the lights and headed to bed.