After being chosen as the winner of the SyFy channel reality show "ghost hunters academy" in 2009 and given a permanent role as a co-host on ghost hunters and then later ghost hunters international, Heathyr Hoffman couldn't possibly be happier with her life as a reality television celebrity.
Being on "Ghost Hunters International" was a blast. Heathyr Hoffman couldn't imagine a better career than globe-trotting while looking for paranormal activity wherever it might occur. This enhanced a life-long love of history as well as her personal fascination with ghosts and other things that go bump in the night.
After a few seasons as one of the lead investigators on SyFy's "Ghost Hunters", she was happy to accept the chance to join the spin-off as a co-lead investigator. It was tiring traveling all over the world but she wouldn't change a thing.
This time they were on the island of Lesbos investigating the rumors of ancient hauntings. The team's guide, Georges Papandreou, had explained that one of the old homes in an area ravaged during the German Occupation during the Second World War had originally been built over the site of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite.
Buildings erected over ancient sites was not at all unusual in that part of the world. It was practically impossible to dig any depth in the soil of most of the eastern Mediterranean countries without finding some trace of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Semitic, Peloponnesian or other long-gone civilization.
"This lost temple is believed by many to be where Sappho, the ancient lyric poet of our lovely island, prayed to the gods before she cast herself into the sea," Georges explained in surprisingly good English.
'Shouldn't have to subtitle his scenes,' Heathyr thought. She was well aware of the American television industry's habit of dumbing-down the airwaves for contemporary audiences. She had even seen someone from Australia who some genius at a network felt needed subtitles just because of an accent.
Her co-host and the official lead investigator, Barry Fitzgerald, asked, "She committed suicide?"
"Well, that is part of the legend. Other legends have her living until well into the 6th century BC." Georges replied. "Some of those legends also say she often worshiped Aphrodite."
"The Greek goddess of love?" Heathyr confirmed.
"Yes. From the fragments still available, Sappho's poetry was about love, for the most part."
"Wasn't she also a lesbian?" Barry asked.
"Possibly. Maybe even probably. Her poetry reflected the narrator's love of women and men. However, her male contemporaries also wrote similar poetry. Gender was not as important to the people of that period." Georges offered a sly smile, "And, technically, I am a Lesbian as well. Lesbian being the English name for people from my island."
"So what kinds of things happen in here?" Barry asked.
"People tell of phantom touching. They feel people touching them but there is no one there..."
* * *
To all appearances, Heathyr stood alone in the empty room, waiting for her partner to return. While the teams normally 'hunted' in pairs, they did occasionally go solo, hoping for more personal contact. As was often the case in an empty structure such as this, she kept hearing things around her. After hunting ghosts for almost six years with nothing worse than a phantom caress on her arm or her neck, she wasn't worried. She did want to make sure no one else was actually there - both to keep the session clean and for her own peace of mind.
The camera was pointed directly at her, the night vision apparatus making the petite bombshell blonde appear to have almost white hair. And her eyes appeared to have an inner glow in the night vision.
"Is there anyone here with me? Can you let me know?" Heathyr asked the apparently empty air. Then, to the camera, she added, "I'm not sure if talking will work. I don't think any ghosts here understand English..."
She tried again, "Can you give me a sign that you are here? Can you make this EM gauge light up?"
Suddenly, the EM gauge in her hand lit up - all five lights were steadily aglow. She looked around the room to see if there were any shapes or shadows. The EM gauge went dark. "Can you do that again please? Or make some other contact?"
Heathyr looked around again, her eyes glowing in the false light of the night vision lens on the camera. The room they were in was fairly well-lit. The Moon was nearly full and the remains of the roof let in a lot of ambient light. Compared to most places they had investigated, this place was brightly lit.
Addressing the camera person who had shadowed her - partnered with her in actuality since the young Arizonan came to the team - Heathyr said, "Did you hear that, Elise?"
Before Elise, a young woman from England, could respond, she squealed. Heathyr jumped and looked at her, "What happened?"
