I sat in the trailer with Susan and watched as Jeff, Chad, and Rich walked through my house with different gadgets, checking readings and asking questions. I was surprised that nothing happened. Once they did a walk-through of the entire house, they each separated, going to different spots in the house. Rich stayed in the main bathroom, Chad in the living room, and Jeff in my room. They took turns asking questions and playing back their recorders for about twenty minutes before Jeff pulled out what he called a voice box, which just sounded like a static-filled radio, and sat it in the middle of my bed. He asked a few more random questions while Chad and Rich sat silently.
After the third question, Jeff asked, "What do you want?" After a few seconds of static, his voice box said its first word. When I heard it, my skin turned cold and I wanted to cry. The word it had said was my name.
After the voice box session, the guys came out to regroup and see what they needed to do next. "Yeah, it's not like Jacynda is a common name," Rich boasted as they walked out the door. "How friggin' cool is that?" I didn't think it was friggin' cool at all. "Did y'all hear that?" he asked Susan and me as he stepped into the trailer.
"Yeah, I heard it," I said dreadfully.
"Jacynda, would you feel comfortable going in? Chad can go in with you so you're not totally alone."
I knew it would come to this, I just didn't think it would be this soon, and right after the thing had said my name through their radio. I nodded and looked at Chad, who smiled encouragingly back at me. The way my stomach felt, I was glad I hadn't eaten supper yet.
I let him go in first, like it wasn't even my home. He led me to my bedroom and told me to sit on the bed, which made my mind go into overdrive.
Chad interrupted my dirty thoughts. "Just act normal, like you do when you go to bed," he instructed.
"In that case, I need drugs and my wine bottle," I admitted truthfully. He laughed, probably thinking I was kidding. "Where will you be?" Hopefully close.
"I'll be right across the hall in the bathroom."
"Okay, just leave my door open."
"Will do," he said as he backed out of my room and sat down at the bathroom door. Just being able to see his outline at the edge of the door made me feel better.
It was pitch black in my room and I couldn't see anything except for the blue light of my clock that said it was twenty after nine and the red lights on their voice recorder, which Chad had sat on the end of my bed, and the IR camera that was sitting on the dresser across my room. It reminded me that even though it was dark they could still see me as plain as day. I scooted back against my pillows but didn't lie down, wanting to sit up so I could look around.
Chad startled me when he interrupted the silence. "You said you wanted Jacynda. Here she is." What is he doing? He sounds like he's serving me up to this thing. "What do you want with her?"
"There's movement on the nightstand," Jeff's voice blasted through Chad's walkie-talkie. I looked over at my nightstand, but it was too dark to see anything moving on it. I tried to think of what I even had laying on it.
The next thing I know, something starts hitting me on my arm and leg with enough force for it to actually sting a bit. Feeling braver with Chad being right across the hall, I didn't scream. Instead, I reached down to see what had hit me.
"It's money. Money just got thrown at me."
"Do you need me to come in there with you?" Chad asked.
"No. Not yet, anyway." The change that had hit me felt like it had been in a freezer. "The money feels really cold," I said out loud, knowing they could hear me through their cameras.
We sat quietly for a few minutes when I thought I heard whispering. Chad must've heard it, too. "Did you say something?" he asked.
"No, but I heard it, too. It sounded like a woman's voice."
"We heard it out here, too," Susan said through the walkie.
The air became thick, making it hard to breathe, just like it had the other night when I ended up sleeping in my car. Before I could open my mouth to call for Chad, my bedroom door slammed shut. It was starting. This was what I wanted them to see. I was frozen to my bed, unable to move or speak.
I heard Chad on the other side of the door, but all he could do was jiggle the handle. "It's locked." He sounded much calmer than I felt. "Jacynda, are you okay?"
Was I okay? "Yes," I answered so softly that I doubt he heard me.
"Jacynda, can you unlock the door?"
I started to get up, but was pushed back onto the bed, which caused the scream I'd been holding in to escape. I heard commotion on the other side of my door and assumed that Jeff and Rich had joined Chad. They were trying their best to get in, but the door was still locked and I couldn't get up to unlock it. It felt like someone—a big someone—was sitting on top of me. I could barely breathe, let alone move; I couldn't even scream anymore.
My chest suddenly felt like someone was holding a lighter to it. At this point, I had had enough. "Get off me you son of a—" With everything I had in me, both mentally and physically, I shoved against the force that was holding me down, which must've been enough. The next thing I knew I was falling to the floor and my door was flying open. Chad was the first one to me, asking me if I was all right.
"No… no, I don't think I am." I wanted to cry but was too scared and angry to even form any tears. Chad held me tight, rocking me like I was a little girl, and I let him. The fact that he was he was easy on the eyes and that his solid chest was pressed against my face, strong arms wrapped around me, didn’t even abate the fact that I had never been so scared in my entire life.
"We got it, guys," Susan said over someone's walkie. "We caught the whole thing on camera."
Jeff and Rich seemed elated, rushing out to watch the footage that had just been captured, while Chad still sat by my side, holding and rocking me. "Are you okay?" he asked softly into my hair, probably hoping he would get a different answer this time.
I turned and looked at him as he stared back at me through the darkness. "What's here?"
"I don't know, but we're gonna find out."
He stood up and reached down for my hand, which I took, letting him help me up. "Sorry about your door. I'll fix it tomorrow." I looked at my door and saw it hanging off its hinges. They must've busted it when they were trying to get in.
"No, that's okay. I think I like it like it is." At least no one could lock me in if it wouldn't even shut.
My legs felt weak as we walked down the hall. I knew right then that if this investigation didn't give me answers that it didn't really matter. I was calling Jenn first thing in the morning and putting this house up for sale.
"You gotta see this," Rich said as we entered the trailer.
As I watched the monitor, my legs got weaker and weaker. I saw the change fly across the room and hit me. Then I saw the door slam shut. But what I saw next made me walk out of the trailer, not wanting to see anymore. I wanted them to pack and leave. I wanted to pack up and leave.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I saw myself sitting on the bed, my door still shut, supposedly all alone in the room, yet a shadow crossed the screen and collided with me, pushing me back onto the bed. Part of my body was completely blocked out by the black mass that was on top of me. Seeing the terror on my face made me feel it all over again—the fear, the helplessness, the fire. I reached up and rubbed my hand across my chest, which still burnt. I felt tears running down my cheeks and tried to wipe them away before anyone saw just how terrified I really was; I hate for people to see my weakness.
As I wiped the last tear, I looked up to see Chad looking at me with concern on his face. "I'm gonna take Jacynda out back so she can calm down for a bit."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. We're gonna review the audio and see if we captured any EVPs."
I didn't stay long enough to see what an EVP was. I walked back into the house, making sure Chad was behind me, and headed straight for my fridge. I grabbed the wine and two glasses out of the cabinet before heading out the back door. When we sat down, I filled both glasses, not asking if he even drank. If he didn't, I'm sure I'd be able to finish his glass, too.
"Are you okay?" How many times was he going to ask me that? I nodded but didn't say anything, taking a few gulps of wine instead. He smiled. "I guess that answers my question."
We sat in silence while I finished my glass of wine and started on his. As the warmth of the wine spread through me, I felt myself start to relax. "So, what now?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. I've been investigating for several years and I've never seen anything like that in my life." I took another sip of wine. "You live here by yourself, right?" I nodded. "You can't stay here. Not until we get something figured out, get rid of whatever's here. It's just not safe."
"I don't have anywhere else to go. And I'm not spending money on a hotel." I laughed nervously. "It's like I'm living a scene straight out of Poltergeist."
"You can stay with me." I started to protest, but he interrupted me. "I work nights and won't even be there. I live in a condo with twenty-four-hour security, so you'd be safe. A lot safer than you are here," he added. "At least for the next few nights until we can get this… this… whatever this is cleared out." His face fell ever so slightly. "I forgot about it being the weekend; I will be home, but just tonight. I go back in tomorrow night. But I'll be asleep all day tomorrow, so you'll have the place to yourself. I just can't—" he shook his head "—I can't leave you here. Not after what happened."
I don't know if it was me talking or the wine, but I agreed to stay with him. "And I can't stay here after what happened."
I had barely talked to a guy since Billy, and here I was going to spend the night, maybe a few, with one who I barely knew. I laughed quietly to myself, at the craziness of it all, causing Chad to move my wine to the other side of the table, out of my reach. Yes, Chad, I completely agree—I really need to quit drinking.
They continued to investigate on into the wee hours of the morning while I sat in the trailer and talked to Chad, watching the monitors nervously. I told them that I wasn't going back in the house, which they were totally fine with, so they decided to replace me with Susan. Nothing had happened for the past couple of hours and I thought the activity was through… until Susan went into my room.
As she laid down on my bed, I leaned forward, worried that something might happen to her. After what had happened to me, I couldn't believe she was even doing this. She laid back and folded her arms behind her head, crossing her legs like she was actually comfortable. I knew right then that Susan was either really brave or just plain crazy.
Chad leaned forward, too, resting his arm, which was now lightly touching mine, on the table next to the monitors. I had thought Chad was cute when I'd first seen him but hadn't felt attracted to him until now. Maybe it was because I was finally calm, knowing I didn't have to sleep here tonight. I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach, remembering where I would be sleeping.
"We know you're here," Rich said from the foot of my bed. I was glad that they hadn't left her in there by herself. "And we know what you think about Jacynda."
"What? What do they think about me?" I asked, clueless to what he was talking about.
Chad took a deep breath. "We caught a man's voice," he admitted, even though I could tell he didn't want to tell me what it had said.
"And?"
"When I asked what they wanted with you and the change started hitting you, we caught a man's voice saying ‘whore’."
"Really?" I felt sick. "So, this thing, this man, not only said my name through the voice box thing, but it also called me a whore?" I swallowed hard. "Nice," I added uneasily.
"Who are you?" Rich's voice came from the monitor again as he got up and walked into the hallway, standing just outside my bedroom door. "What do you want? Why are you here?"
"It's gonna be okay," Chad tried to reassure me, but what happened next totally blew his reassurance right out of the water.
I heard a loud scream and saw Susan get thrown from the bed. She was face down on the floor as something started pulling at her shirt. By the time Rich got to her, her shirt was completely torn off of her.
She jumped up, not even trying to cover herself. "Is that all you've got, you bas—" Her head shot back like she had been hit as she fell into my dresser.
"Get her out of here," Jeff yelled as he ran into the room to help.
I didn't know what to say, so I just stood out of the way as they helped her into the trailer, looking around to see if any neighbors were still awake. Luckily, most of the lights were out, so I assumed they were all in bed.
She seemed to still be in shock, but I knew she'd be embarrassed when she realized she wasn't wearing a shirt, so I motioned for Chad. "Can you go in and get her a shirt? I would, but…." There was no way I was going into that house.
"Sure. Which one do you want me to get her?"
She was bigger than me, so she'd have to wear one of my sleep shirts. "They are in the top drawer of my dresser." As soon as he walked into the house, I remembered that my sleep shirts were in the same drawer as my panties. Great. It was still dark, so maybe he wouldn't notice.
I walked over to see how Susan was and was shocked to see her eye swelling up. Whatever was in my house had done this to her. I was flooded with anger, which was futile. No matter how mad I got, you can't fight what you can't see.
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