“Probably depending on energy levels like mine,” I said. “But if we’re getting this fucking much on night one…” I trailed off and they all nodded in agreement at my unspoken worry of how bad this place would get.
“This place is going to be nuts,” Lincoln added. “I’ll be honest. For the first time since working in this field, I’m a bit intimidated.” I wouldn't call him on the fact I’d seen him shaken before.
Ryker popped the last piece of bacon in his mouth and grabbed his laptop. He was only a few seconds into the first audio when it started dinging with alert after alert to the point the computer sounded broken.
He blinked up at us with wide eyes. “This is way bigger than we’re used to. I’ve got motion sensors, audios, pretty much every type of sensor going off. Do you think every night will be like this? We’ll be buried in stuff to sort through.”
“We’re two for two,” I said with a wince. “Our odds aren’t good for quiet nights here.”
“After last night, no,” Ethan admitted. “I woke up to my blanket across the room.”
“Maybe you kicked it off?” Sully offered but there was no conviction in his tone.
“It was folded, on a chair,” Ethan countered with a snort. “I’d say I wasn’t sleepwalking. Plus, it smelled like the sea when I woke up.”
“So, the inn in town?” I mused. “We can’t go every day and night like this.”
“I’ll call,” Ben said. “Do I book for just us? Or the Polterguys too? I don’t know if we’ll be able to do this job without them.”
“If we cut it down to two groups going out each night, then audio won’t be so bad?” Ethan offered. “But the idea of spending every day scouring ten hours of fucking audio sounds like hell. We gave that up too long ago to go back now.”
“Let’s hold off at least until we’re a week in. See how things go,” I said. Not that I minded them coming, but it felt like giving up when we’re only talking about one night’s worth of audio.
“I agree. And we can each take half the night of our own feed. That way we know what to skip over. We can handle it,” Lincoln agreed.
“How did the night go for you and Ry?” I asked. The rest of us had shared our encounters but those two were inside of the museum.
“Quiet,” Ryker admitted. “But it was our audio I put in so apparently that was a false assumption.”
“Let’s get started. If anything we can cap it out at a certain number of audios and archive the rest for another night. But let’s get through the end before we decide to share unless it’s huge,” I said as I grabbed my own laptop from the pile and slipped on the attached headphones. The only time one of us moved was to grab fresh drinks or snacks. By the time I was two hours in I had an entire list of audio times and what they said. Thankfully Ryker had a spreadsheet for everything so it was easy to log. The ghosts here were chatty, the audio filled with disembodied chatter and whispers, but a lot of it I couldn’t make out.
“Holy shit,” Lincoln cursed as he pulled his headphones off. “This counts as something huge, I’d say.” We all took off our own headphones and paused our audio to listen. Lincoln’s face was full of excitement and tension. Whatever it was, this shook him. “This is Ryker and I at the museum. Which by the way, was far creepier than I anticipated since it was such a modern building.” The shudder that went through him wasn’t fake, which had my excitement rising. “And the audio? Crystal clear.”
The audio started with echoing footsteps as they walk across the marbled floor. I expect the guys to talk but it’s silent outside of movement until a large door slams.
“Guess we aren’t alone,”Ryker joked but was cut off by something rolling across the floor.
“I don’t even remember hearing that,” Lincoln admits as he fast forwards a bit. “But here it is.”
“Are you angry they are doing so much work on this beach?”Ryker asked.
“Yes, Ryker.”The ghostly voice called out my boyfriend by name and we all audibly gasped.
“Jesus,” Ryker complained as he rubbed his arms from the goosebumps forming. “That’s not terrifying at all.”
“Oh just wait,” Lincoln snorts and continues. The audio goes through a bit of white noise and more falling objects. “Also don’t remember that. It was quiet.”
“It was,” Ryker confirmed.
“We are here to give you a voice. Is there anything we should know?”Lincoln tacked on.
“This town is cursed. Leave.”
A chill ran down my spine at the new voice that speaks. It was crazy how many different encounters we managed to capture in one single night. Generally a haunting wasn’t this broad or packed with ghosts. Maybe a few, a family, or even a few random ones picked up over decades. But this place was like a magnet for activity.
“Is it strange to anyone else how much we’re getting?” I asked out loud instead of just musing over it in my head. “Do you think something happened to cause it other than the construction? Think about the amusement park, that was someone messing with the dark side of the occult.”
“It’s still so early but it doesn’t feel as dark here,” Ethan added. He glanced around the room like it might hold some answers.