A rusty grey-ish van pulled into an empty spot in front of the seedy motel. The engine stopped, given some of the sounds the vehicle had made, possibly for good. The motel itself had clearly seen better days, and wasn't as close to civilization as the website had implied. The whole trip was looking like a bit of a bust. Three young women exited the hunk of junk, just happy to stretch their legs after the long, boring trip.
Cassandra Coen, who came up with the totally original idea of a ghost hunting channel, was the leader (by default.) 22 years old, her shoulder length, naturally red hair was pinned into a professional bun, keeping it out of her face and letting people appreciate her striking, blue eyes. She wore a simple jeans and tee combo, nothing special, with a pair sensible sneakers on her feet. As she stepped out, she looked up frowned at the darkening sky.
Second out of the van stepped Serena Jennings, a short but shapely black woman who dressed (and lived) a lot more stylishly. For the moment she was wearing a figure hugging white sundress that held to every curve tightly and left a lot of leg exposed, but she was always careful to keep a few different outfits nearby. Her white heels were far from sensible but a lot of experience in them let her keep. Most of the time, anyway. The same age as her best friend Cassandra, but in some ways a lot more youthful.
The two were ready and willing to put in the effort and support their channel, but technologically they had no idea. Luckily Serena had hooked them up with the gothy 20 year old Lily Blake, who had a passion for the underappreciated behind-the-scenes work. Physically she was less blessed than her sort-of-friend Serena, but her short skirts and black thigh high silk stockings had a tendency to catch some eyes, both male and female. Her piercing green eyes complimented by a pair of thick framed glasses, and shoulder length black hair that stood out from her pale skin.
"The story is that room thirteen is, you know, haunted," Serena explained to the others as they stretched, "At least that's what the reviews say."
"Uh-huh," Cassandra was more cynical about the location, but stopped short of eye rolling, "Is that what you've been so excited about? Internet reviews? Maybe you could have shared this with us a little sooner."
"I know it doesn't sound like much to go on, but just think of it! We could be the first team to get this place on camera!"
"Unless the reviews are just a big shared joke." Lily said, darkly.
"It's worth a look, trust me, I know my stuff." Serena said, flashing her pearly whites.
Inside the dirty office sat a thin, unshaven man who was clearly uninterested in the job. "How many rooms?" He asked, not even looking up from his tattered book.
"Three, including room thirteen," Cassandra began, "And -"
Lily whispered something to Serena, who grabbed Cassandra by the shoulder and pointed back to the door. Confused, Cassandra followed the pair back out of the office.
Serena stayed silent for a moment as the team stood out in the quickly approaching night.
Finally, slightly embarrassed, she let it out, "We kinda kind of spent a lot just getting out here," She said quietly, "If you want a room each you'll have to chip in a little more."
Cassandra could feel her flimsy wad of cash crying out from her hip pocket. She considered cursing, but her level headedness won out. Getting a separate room for everyone would have been a waste anyway. Besides, as the leader she should have been keeping track of finances. "All right, all right. So... we get two rooms then."
"Yeah, so which of you two is going to be sleeping in the room with all the action?" Lily piped in.
Cassandra and Serena shared a glance. "Serena." blurted out Cassandra. "I know how you feel about this kind of thing.
Serena grinned, "You're damn right, C."
Cassandra was a tiny bit disappointed that it wouldn't be her in there, but it was probably nothing anyway. Plus, she knew she could always do the voiceover work for the video.
As the selfless leader made her way back into the office to make arrangements and pay up, Lily grabbed Serena's hand and dragged her over to the van. "You. Help me carry all this junk!" She ordered, sounding serious.
"Junk...?" Serena questioned, "This stuff cost us a small fortune!"
"It's all relative," Lily explained as she unpacked, "If you want proper image quality, the real deal stuff, you pay big. This stuff will do, but - Hey! Don't think getting me talking gets you outta this, get to work."
Serena couldn't help admiring the goth's tight little ass as she bent over to pick up a pile of cables. Not that she was into that sort of thing, of course.
When Cassandra returned, holding a pair of well-abused keys, she carefully avoided doing any work herself. Instead she made a big deal of unlocking the so-called cursed room. Lily did most of the setup, making sure the three cameras covered most of the actual room. She left the bathroom empty for the sake of privacy.
"It's recorded on those and the signal is carried over these wires," She explained, clearly getting used to having to run them through her actions, "Can't always rely on a wireless signal, at least not when I have the option. We do have a live wireless feed from the laptop using my app though. Smartphones are actually pretty useful occasionally."
Cassandra simply smiled and nodded.
The supposedly haunted room was larger than the others and clearly a lot less frequented. The only window was small and located behind the bed, which provided privacy but not much light. Not that there was a lot of that left. The walls were bare, with lighter patches on the cheap paint that revealed past decorations. There was was a smell to the room, an odd tangy thing that was strangely familiar.
Serena examined the clean (but not that clean) bed and tossed her oversized travel bag on top of the covers. "We have night vision, right? We paid for that?" She asked as she pulled the cheap, thin blue blanket into a ball, "Those cameras, will they see through a sheet?"
Lily grinned, "Hey, you never know."
Serena looked back at her with a blank expression.
