“That’s a lot to put on your plate, baby. Do you think it’ll go smoothly?” he asked gently. I could tell he was teetering between being supportive and being skeptical.
“I do,” I said firmly. Maybe I was crazy for not giving it enough thought but I really did think this would be good for him. We were a strong group, and I believed nothing would break us apart.
“Good luck telling Lincoln,” he finally said as he squeezed me one last time and let go. “But you know we’re always behind you.”
Let’s hope they all think that after I ask him to come.
It was strange but I was really excited. We barely knew each other these days and had grown worlds apart. But he was like the big brother I never had and I couldn’t just leave him to suffer alone. Especially not stuck in his parents basement of all places. That thought alone had me grabbing a poker and a marshmallow before finding my own seat between Ben and Lincoln.
“So where’s the next hunt?” Sully asked. Ben’s eyes lit up and he was off, explaining the company in a rush.
“We actually got an offer from Haunted Histories. They buy haunted locations, make them safe enough to hunt, then turn them into super successful tourist locations. We got a free train ride over Christmas and got to know the company a bit. They pay well and are also preserving history. Half of the things they’ve saved or salvaged would have been knocked down forever by now.”
Olivia frowned. “I’ve never even heard of them.”
“I hadn’t either, but they’re big on staying behind the scenes. They don’t change the names of the locations, but they bought Mcree Sanitorium for instance. It’s open to the public now,” I explained.
“How do they preserve it? Aren’t they hazards to be in? I can’t imagine breathing in all that air is good for you,” June asked. She was back in her mother hen mode and I smiled. It was always nice when she mothered me, something I never really got from my own.
“They renovate almost everything they can to make it safe, and they spend insane money to do it, but they earn it back because people eat that stuff up. Which is also why they’re involving us,” Lincoln explained.
“Not just us,” I corrected. “During that train ride we met this all guy group of ghost hunters; they were pretty new, but rising quick.”
“Wait,” Sully said. “The Polterguys? I remember seeing them pop up in one of your videos.”
“Yes,” I grinned. “We did a bit of hunting on that train with them. I’m hoping we can collaborate soon, because they were awesome. It’s hard to find genuine hunters in the community who aren’t making shit up for views.”
“Yeah, like Finley,” Ben grumbled. “Half the teams got disqualified for that.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“So where’s the first location?” Stephen asked. “I’m still waiting for you to explore one of those old pioneer villages. I guarantee that every damn one of those is fucking haunted.”
“Stephen, language,” June chastised, making us laugh.
“We’re going to Serenity Harbor, Maine,” I answered. “Tiny fishing town.”
“If you can call it a town,” Ryker added.
“This place is supposed to be really cool. It’s not just one building like we’ve done recently,” Ben explained. “There’s the museum, the compound, the naval ship, and the boat graveyard.”
“That’s badass,” Sully said. “I’ve heard of that place. Isn’t that where the lighthouse keeper and his family disappeared?”
We all froze at that. We’d done research for weeks and hadn’t come across that story.
“That’s news to me,” Ben said as he pulled his phone out. He was quiet for a few minutes before letting out a laugh. “Damn, Sully. You’re good.”
“What is it?” I asked when he didn’t continue right away. Ben and his research were sometimes hard to come between.
“Travis England, his wife, and two sons went missing from the lighthouse one day. The fact that no one was there to tend to the light ended in several crashes and near misses before they sent someone out. No trace left of them and the table was still set from dinner, food half-eaten.”
A shiver ran down my spine at the story.
“Fuck, now I’m even more excited,” Ethan said. They were all itching to get back to our longer ghost hunts as much as I was.
“I’m so jealous,” Sully joked.There’s my window.
“Come with us,” I said. I felt all eyes go to me as everyone went quiet. “It’s a big place, so we could use an extra person on board. Plus, you know about it already.”