It was early but the full, bloated moon still shown down upon us as I pulled up to the house. It was one of those stereotypical Victorian style mansions. The windows, or what ones that were still there, reflected the moonlight back at us. I shivered at the sight a little as the reflected light seemed to give the house multiple eyes. Eyes that were staring at us, unblinking in their gaze. Beth squealed like a little girl who'd just gotten a pony for her birthday. "Oh God, Chrissie! I can't believe that were actually doing this."
"Yeah, that makes two of us." I replied as I opened the door. Beth hopped out of the car and pushed forward the seat so she could grab her backpack that was filled with all sorts of electronic "ghost detecting" equipment. Powerful flashlights, EMF detector, infrared camera, a couple of mini tape recorders and a couple of something's Beth called REM pods. "You know your dad's gonna freak when he finds out you blew your inheritance on all of this shit." I said as I locked up the car. It's not like I had anything of real value in it but I didn't want to come out to find that some asshole teenagers had decided to "trick" me as a "treat."
"Yeah, when I have my own ghost hunting show, then I'll tell him." she said as she shouldered the bag and began to walk to the house. I sighed, hoping that this phase wouldn't last too long. Beth was like a forest fire. Burning with intensity at the latest thing that caught her fancy but, just as quickly, dying out when the next thing came along. Ever since she'd gone on that ghost tour and snapped a picture of a "genuine" phantom, Beth had the idea that we would be the next famous pair of paranormal investigators. I thought the picture just looked like a bad photograph. But hell, who was I to judge. I'd been tagging along with her crazy ideas ever since we were kids. It was actually kind of fun in a lot of ways. Beth was always more popular than me with her gorgeous body, outgoing personality and willingness to spend a lot of money on her newest fancy. All I had to do was to keep up.
The KEEP OUT sign failed miserably at it's job as Beth and I walked up the cracked walkway to the porch. There was a slight breeze that blew through the chilled air at that moment, causing me to wrap my arms around myself and shiver. Our footsteps echoed loudly as we climbed the wooden stairs onto the porch. The door, it's paint flaking off and weathered with age, provided a greater deterrent than the sign as Beth, when she tried the doorknob, found out that it was locked tight. Stamping her foot in frustration, she began to look around, trying to find a broken window to climb through, I guess. Like a smartass that I was, I reached around her and, grasping the old fashioned iron wrought knocker, clanked it on the door. She shot me a look as I shrugged, giving her a slightly sardonic smile. "It's polite to knock first." I said, pulling back.
"Oh yeah, and now the door will magically open." Beth replied sarcastically as she turned the knob again. The door creakingly swung open. I turned to go to the car. "Come on, Chris." Beth said, grabbing my shoulder. "The lock must be ancient. That's all" Another breeze blew through at that moment, causing my ponytail to sway and land on my shoulder. Brushing back my hair, I gave her my most baleful gaze as she crossed the threshold and stepped into the old house.
The house must have been truly magnificent in it's day. A large, spiraling staircase dominated the entrance hall. Off to the right was what appeared to be a dining room and off to the left looked to be a sitting room. Furniture, covered in white sheets and years of dust and cobwebs, were still there, waiting to be used again. I imagined what it would be like, sitting at the table, servants bringing out the food for the party that was happening. The fireplace would be roaring tonight, heating up the home as I flitted about, making sure my guests were comfortable, asking for more tea as I sat and listened to the latest gossip...Beth's touch startled me awake. "Huh?" I asked, looking dumbfounded.
"I said are you ready to get started?"
"Oh, um, yeah. Let's get this over with." I said as she walked over to the dining table and laid her bag down, opening it up and pulling out the various pieces of equipment. I looked around, trying to take in as much as I could. The moonlight illuminated the front rooms with a pale whiteness enough to make out most details but the rest of the first floor was bathed in an impenetrable dark. Beth handed me a flashlight, a recorder, and some extra tapes as she took the EMF detector and began a baseline sweep. For the next half hour or so, I followed her around, asking questions out loud to an empty house with the record button on as nothing exciting happened at all. "Okay Beth, this is stupid. Can't we go? I know of at least three parties that we can still make it to."
"Come on, Chrissie." she said, exasperatedly. "Just give me another hour, okay?" I gave her a sour look but nodded my head in acquiesce. "Hey, let me go back and get the camera, okay?" Beth took off before I could even respond. We'd been walking the first floor, slowly checking the rooms. Every so often, the EMF detector would ping a little and Beth would get all excited, pressing record and asking "who is here with us" or "please tell us your name" but, aside from that, nothing. I heard her footsteps echoing in the dark as she ran back. I was alone in a hallway. There was one more room down here that we hadn't checked yet. Having nothing better to do, I opened the door and walked inside. Hot damn! I thought to myself. I discovered the study! If there was one thing that I went all crazy for was books. There was a whole case of them, dominating the back wall. A writing desk was in the corner along with a couple of lounging chairs. On the opposite wall of the bookcase was a portrait of a young woman. A look of wistful longing was on her face as her eyes forever gazed lovingly at the volumes of knowledge, just sitting there, collecting dust.
