“No, no,” they all said at once. “We’re all in. It’s just a lot to process,” Gavin finished.
“Why don’t we investigate together the first night. Or one location at least,” Sully suggested. “The ship and museum are both big enough. Hell, if you count the shoreline the lighthouse is too.”
“I like that plan,” Troy said, relieved now that we weren’t all spreading out. “Maybe we split up into smaller groups or pairs then end the night with a big EVP session?”
“That’d be perfect,” I agreed. “Why don’t you guys go get settled and we’ll handle the clean up?”
Troy tried to wave me off. “No, you guys did all this work. Let us.”
“Nope. Go rest, travel sucks,” I laughed. “Tomorrow we can trade off or something.”
“Or we can just eat at the diner,” Ethan said as he cleared plates. “There’s six of us, we’ll make quick work of it.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it,” Gavin said around a yawn. “I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Let’s go, you big baby,” Troy teased as he wrapped his arm around his boyfriend. The three of them were adorable and I couldn’t wait to spend more time with them. Especially since their home base was only an hour from ours.
“What do you think, Sully?” Lincoln asked as he washed and handed dishes to Sully to dry.
“They seem cool,” Sully said with a shrug. “I feel a bit less alone knowing someone else is out there hearing the dead. Together we can see and hear them, maybe we’ll find some answers.”
“You don’t need powers to see them here,” Ben said with a shudder. “That drowned lady haunts my nightmares.”
“I guess we’ll have to see what the ghosts think tomorrow.” Lincoln’s words had us all falling quiet. Because at the end of the day, that was the truth of it. No matter what we tried to do here, the ghosts were the ones running the show. We were just along for the ride.
ChapterNineteen
Brea
After giving the Polterguys the grand tour, a recap of our best stories here and a few clips they needed to see, we all decided to go back where most of the stories started. The lighthouse and shoreline where it stood. Ryker and Adam had brought their equipment out to the keeper’s house earlier in the day and had set up a small command center for Ryker. With an odd man out it made more sense to have someone watching our backs.
“Alright Darklings, we’re starting one of our biggest investigation nights yet here in Serenity Harbor, Maine. We have not only our friend Sully joining us, but Adam, Gavin, and Troy from the Polterguys as well!” I turned toward the three men who grinned back at us.
“We’re excited to be here,” Gavin spoke up. “We’ve seen a bit of what this place has to offer, and we’re interested to see just how crazy this night gets.”
“The chat is blowing up already,” Ryker laughed. “They’re freaking out. I’ve been teasing the viewers, but now the word is out.”
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Darklings,” Troy said with an adorable little wave. “We promise to share everything with you guys as well as our own viewers!”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Make sure to check out their channel, they’re linked on the page now. Maybe we’ll do a giveaway for a ghost hunting starter kit to a random commenter. The only rule is you have to be following us both!”
“Thanks,” Adam said with a grin. “This will help our channel a lot.”
“Of course,” I said. “We’ve got each other’s backs.”
“Alright, so we are splitting into teams of two before joining back up for a huge EVP session on the grounds outside,” Lincoln said to bring us back on track. “We’ve got Brea and Ben in the keeper’s house. Sully and Troy are heading for the beach. And Adam and Gavin are hitting the lighthouse upper floors, while Ethan and I are going back into the basement.”
“Which means you guys need to keep an eye out for exclusive investigation photos and sound clips, we’ll upload tomorrow afternoon or evening. I’d give an exact time but sorting evidence is a whole process, even at this place,” Ethan explained.
“Come on, Red. Let’s head upstairs first,” Ben said as he held out a hand. I let him lead me to the staircase as everyone else parted ways. The silence that fell over the keeper’s house felt heavy, even with Ryker set up in the bedroom downstairs.
“Let’s start with the attic. We found the stairs last time but didn’t get time to go in,” Ben said as he stopped in front of a narrow door. When he opened it I could smell the musty air and reached in my bag, taking a puff of my inhaler before heading up.
The attic wasn’t empty like I expected. Haunted Histories left the house how they found it, apparently. Boxes lined the floor along with old furniture and faded paintings. I stopped at the first box, shining my red flashlight in so I could make out what I found.
“Oh man, look at this,” I called out to Ben who had already wandered off. “Pictures.”
Ben stopped beside me, helping shuffle through the huge stacks of faded photographs.