“Thanks!” Madi said, holding her fist out for a bump.
I bumped mine against hers and was happy to see Madi didn’t seem as grief-stricken. Of course, the heartache remained, but Madi had perked up a little.
Chapter Two.
Sunny
Madi wanted fried chicken for dinner, where I’d been hoping for a proper meal, but her eyes filled with tears, and I agreed quickly. After what she and Levi had been through and with their latest loss, I wouldn’t deny her anything. I felt ten feet tall when Madi hugged me tightly, thanking me.
We sat and shot the shit until the early hours. Madi and Levi were naturally curious about why we stayed up even though we were all yawning.
“Setting up begins tomorrow, which means we need to rise late, and obviously, on Monday, we’ll start the investigation,” Callie had explained.
“Will we get a brief of what’s meant to haunt the Penitentiary?” Madi asked.
“Yeah, we prefer to be prepared in places like this,” I’d replied. For another hour, we dragged it out before hitting our beds at three a.m.
The next day, we had breakfast (at lunchtime) before Callie called the team together. Phil set up a camera to recordit. Sometimes we would show the pre-planning, gathering, or snippets of it.
“Okay, so we’ve got a lot to do. Let’s begin with the meeting and then roll through the typical checklist. For Levi and Madi, we’ll cover briefly what needs doing,” I said and turned to Callie, who grinned.
“Harry will give us an outline of the events that have been reported here. We may find we encounter some of it or none. We aren’t supposed to get names or backgrounds, because any information we then discover is genuine and not planned or plotted. If we see no activity, then we don’t, and we report that,” Callie stated.
“Okay.” Madi nodded her head enthusiastically. “Why make us informed of the alleged hauntings?”
“Because everybody needs to be aware of what’s potentially inside. Not all spirits are benign, and some have tried to injure us. With everyone forewarned, we know what to look for,” Jack explained.
Levi sat up straight. “People have been harmed?” he asked with a panicked glance at Madi, who didn’t seem bothered.
“Scratches, slaps, and bruises are frequent, depending on the property. Also, items can be thrown which could harm someone,” Callie stated, and Levi sent Madi a dark stare.
“Madi, I don’t think—”
“Levi.” Madi smiled sweetly.
“Fine.” Levi folded his arms across his chest and looked grumpily at the rest of us.
“Once we’ve had the heads-up from Harry, we’ll discuss what’s being investigated and when. When we assemble the gear, we’ll also follow the same plan.”
“So basically, you’ll plot the order of the wings to investigate, for example, A, B and C and then set the equipment in the same order?” Madi interrupted.
“Yeah. When that’s done, we’ll check that everything continues working. Sometimes a camera might go offline, and then it’s nap time before we get ready. As soon as the first camera is switched on, Freddie will be monitoring because things happen during set-up,” I continued, and Madi nodded.
“Okay,” she said and bounced a little on her seat.
I smiled indulgently. It was hard to reconcile the excited woman in front of me with the cool, calm lady I knew. Madi had been brought up in a top crime family and had arranged her own father’s death and framed her half-brother for several crimes. She later discovered that her father wasn’t her blood parent, which led her to Derek.
“Okay, Harry?” Callie asked, turning to him.
“Building began on it in the eighteen-twenties, and it took nearly a decade before it was opened for service. The original design was intended for seven one-level cell blocks, but overcrowding turned into an issue after the third cell block was constructed. The rest of the wings were built with two floors to ease the crush.
“This was the first of a design known as the Hub and Spoke plan. Several famous people were incarcerated there, and although The Penn had a death row, nobody was ever executed here. The death row inmates were moved to other facilities for their sentences to be carried out.”
“Well, that’s a surprise,” I stated. I’d been unaware of that fact.
“Yeah, weird thing to do. Okay, so onto the hauntings. People have claimed to have witnessed a male shape standing in a guard tower. However, there’s no workable way to reach the upper level, as there are no stairs; they crumbled years ago. We’ll need a zoom-in camera if you plan to record that,” Harry said, glancing at Callie and Freddie, who both nodded.
“A figure was recorded walking through cellblock twelve, and several shadow figures have been spotted. There are multiplereports, some confirmed, of echoing voices, cackling laughter and a feeling of being watched. Several investigators and visitors have reported an overwhelming sense of dread. A ghostly man whose identity is unknown has also been recorded. Although details about him are sketchy.”
