The museum wasmy favorite place at this location. Other investigators always counted out the newer buildings for activity. Yet in my experience they had a tendency to hold more activity than some of the older locations. Breaking new ground always pissed off a few ghosts, and changes to the status quo brought them out in droves.
Our footsteps echoed on the polished floors as we entered and a heaviness hung in the air.
“It’s going to be a big night,” Ethan predicted. “It feels like they knew we were coming or something.”
“Holy fucking ghosts,” Sully breathed out as he pushed himself into Lincoln’s side. It would have been funny to see the big, muscled man seeking comfort from Lincoln if not for the true fear on his face. “I’m talking everywhere I look.” His head swiveled back and forth as he scanned the place.
“Are we safe?” Brea asked. She’d woken up feeling a lot better and was back to her usual hyper energy, which was a relief. Ryker made a joke about diner lobster rolls but she refused to believe the worst in the diner and blamed it on the added stress of the hunt.
“I’m not feeling anything dark,” Ethan said with a shrug. “But I’ll keep vigilant.”
“Good, because I haven’t gotten the chance to come in here yet,” she said as she forged ahead. But the moment she was a few feet away from us Sully lunged for her to pull her back, seeing something we couldn’t.
“No,” he growled, but she literally floated in the air before our eyes, zipping up fast enough she was out of reach before he could even react.
“Um, what the fuck?!” She gasped, arms and legs flailing uselessly as she hung suspended over us. Lincoln was below her, arms out, ready to catch her.
“Holy shit,” I said as I gazed up at Brea hovering a solid ten feet above us at this point. There was nothing we could do to get her down. Feeling helpless was not fun, but it seemed the ghosts were toying with our instincts as much as her fear.
“Put. Her. Down.” Sully’s demands were clearly ignored as she was dragged even higher. Her shock turned into fear as she let out a scream and closed her eyes tight, refusing to look down and I couldn’t blame her. Brea’s hands flew out as she searched for something to ground herself on, yet was met with air.
We were like some crazy cartoon, running around under her as the ghost floated her from one side of the huge lobby to the other.
Ethan stopped running and glared around him. “We come here not to intrude, but to give you a voice. Toying with us does not help you to be heard; in fact, it hurts your case.”
“Ethan!” Brea warned as she went higher yet. He tried his best to focus on communicating with the ghosts but his face paled even more.
“I don’t like what I’m feeling in here. If you hurt her, we leave. And this town keeps declining to the point no one will be left. No jobs. No saving Serenity Harbor, and likely the end of all this energy you are coveting,” Ethan continued. He glared around, looking almost feral and unlike the man I’d known for years. But that was the thing about love. It changed you in small and big ways. We’d all die for her, and in this case, fight the unseen.
A shrill screech tore into the quiet as she plummeted to the ground. We all dove under her, ready to brace her fall, when she stopped just above our outstretched arms. Lincoln stood and snatched her from the air, and with her safe in his grasp, he refused to let her go as he stormed outside with her clinging to him. “You guys do what you want, but she and I are done for tonight,” he called over his shoulder. Ryker, Ethan, Sully, and I all glared around the room.
“That was bullshit,” Ryker said. His voice echoed in the room, catching on the deep undertones and echoing it back to us.
The brochures stacked on the circulation desk flew onto the floor and around the room, anything not bolted down followed suit. The brooms, the chairs, everything skidded around in a display of power that was fairly impressive.
Ethan pulled out the spirit box from his pocket and put it on the ground in front of him, flipping it on and attaching the white noise reducer.
“Alright. Floor is yours. Speak to us instead of all this fanfare,” he challenged.
“They’re closing in,” Sully hissed, pushing himself closer to us. I couldn’t imagine watching ghostly forms converge on us, the thought alone had cold chills shocking through my system. We’d seen a lot since joining forces with Brea, but this felt so much stronger than the others, more oppressive, like they were batteries filling up with power and charging the air around us.
“Go home.” The first words came through.
“You want us to leave or you want to go?” I clarified.
“Stuck.” It sent back the response within seconds.
“We will try to find a way to free those of you who can’t cross over on your own. That’s not our specialty but we might be able to find someone who can help,” I promised. “Just give us time.”
“They’re gone,” Sully said as he blew out a relieved breath. “Fuck, that was intense.” He paused and turned to leave before suddenly freezing mid-step. “Wait.”
“Stay. Strong.”
“You want to stay?” Ethan asked this time.
“Never leave. Stay.”
“Then you can stay, but this extra energy can’t be good for you,” I said solemnly. “And if you cause harm, the owners will evict you spiritually into the afterlife.”