“You know what we didn’t discover? Is the demon corralled in one place or does it have free rein?” I murmured.
“We haven’t proved there is one,” Phil said.
“No, but whatever is coming is big and bad, and we need to leave now,” I reported.
“The gates are shut,” Sunny snapped.
“But are they locked? We have a key, Sunny,” I replied, and he smacked himself on the forehead.
“I’m stressed,” he muttered and headed for the gate.
It opened instantly, and I glared at him for panicking before marching through it. Madi followed as Phil let out a shout and his boots pounded the floor. Sunny was right behind, and I saw why. Madi screamed as I gaped at the spirit heading towards us.
It was a black, indistinct shape, with frayed edges. In the middle, though, was the pale face of a man. His expression was sheer evil, and his eyes burned red.
Sunny yelped and grabbed Madi and me and began running again. So we wouldn’t fall over, we had to run to keep up with him.
“Mine!”a voice roared from behind us, but we didn’t stop. We skidded to a halt once we got outside and swapped glances.
“That was so intense. We need to go back,” I stated as I gasped for breath.
“Yeah!” Madi breathed.
“You’re fucking insane, we’re taking a break.” Sunny glowered at Madi and me.
Levi
I wondered how my wife was getting on. So far, this had been a bust. Jack had asked questions, and we’d also sat on the floor and listened for a bit. He placed the Rem Pod between us and two more at each end of the ground-floor walkway.
“Is it usually like this?”
“Yes and no. Sometimes activity takes a while to start; other times it won’t, but the next day it will change up. That’s why we ensure we hit the target area several times and with different lead investigators. A spirit might respond to me and not Callie or vice versa.”
“Seems a lot of waiting about for nothing to happen,” I replied. Freddie made a noise that suggested she was amused.
Her gaze widened, and she swung the camera in the direction of some cells halfway down.
“Freddie?”
“I swear, something moved back there. It was the shape of a man,” Freddie replied.
“A shadow man has been seen here. Which cell was it, Freddie?” Jack inquired as he got to his feet. He reached out a hand to me and hauled me up.
“Is it game time?” I asked, and Jack snorted.
“Maybe. Just keep your… um… opinions from yesterday to yourself!” Jack teased, and I laughed as we headed down the walkway.
“My name is Jack, and these are Levi and Freddie. We don’t mean you any harm, and we’d like to talk to you. Freddie thinks she saw a shadow figure come in here,” Jack said, standing outside the cell Freddie had pointed to.
Jack held out his voice recorder as we waited patiently. “That round box on the floor with the antennas? That’s called a REM-Pod. If you touch it, it will let us know you’re here.”
Jack paused for several moments and opened his mouth, but a high-pitched squeal interrupted him. We turned as the REM-Pod lit up.
My jaw dropped open. There was nothing close to set it off, but it was squealing loudly.
“Thanks! I want to ask you some questions. I’ll count to ten after asking one, and if you touch the REM Pod before I reach ten, that indicates yes. If you don’t touch it, it means no. Is that okay?” Jack asked and started counting. The REM Pod wailed a yes answer.
“Were you an inmate here?”
