WARNING! All of my writing is intended for adults over the age of 18 ONLY. Stories may contain strong or even extreme sexual content. All people and events depicted are fictional and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Actions, situations, and responses are fictional ONLY and should not be attempted in real life.
If you are under the age or 18 or do not understand the difference between fantasy and reality or if you reside in any state, province, nation, or tribal territory that prohibits the reading of acts depicted in these stories, please stop reading immediately and move to somewhere that exists in the twenty-first century.
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Edwina Barrington looked directly into the camera as the theme music slowly faded away and intoned, "Tonight's episode of
Paranormal Investigators
is very special to me for several reasons. First of all, it is Halloween night, and that makes any paranormal investigation special. But secondly and much more importantly for me, this is the site and the phenomenon that began it all for me. This is where I first became interested in the paranormal. We are in my home town, and tonight we shall investigate '
The Guide
.'"
The camera pulled back to show her standing in a small grotto-like park. She was on a stone path that led to a small cave cut into the dark limestone hillside. "This park in the center of town has been here since the city was first founded," she said. "The cave itself has been here much longer than that. And The Guide has been here since... well, according to the local legends, since the beginning of time."
She walked slowly up the path and stopped at a large stone set in the hillside where the path turned toward the cave. "As near as we can tell," she said pointing down at the stone, "this stone is over 3000 years old. The glyphs that are deeply carved into it are a warning. We can't be sure of the exact translation, but it says something like 'Beware the Touch of the Siren. Her Song Will Seize Your Mind.'"
The scene switched to a second camera that showed the entrance to the cave at the end of the short path from where Edwina stood. "The stone calls her 'The Siren,'" she said, "but the local legends which are at least as old as the stone, call her 'The Guide.'"
"The Guide has been described both as extremely beautiful and as horrific. She is said to release inner urges in people that are so overwhelming that no one who has been touched by The Guide is left unscathed. Some are dead. Most are completely insane. The few survivors who have any shred of sanity left are completely changed. They refuse to say exactly what happened or describe The Guide or what she did to them, but they are changed forever."
She chuckled, "A nun once became a stripper after meeting The Guide." The camera focused on her face as she raised her eyebrows and gave the exaggerated frown that was her trademark. "But on the other hand," she continued with a laugh, "there are at least two recorded cases where prostitutes became nuns."
She pointed to the ground just outside the cave's entrance. "The grass here grows very lush and soft and no weeds seem to ever sprout in this small bed. ... and it is a bed. Two paranormal investigators say that the power of this cave stems from ancient pagan fertility rites which were performed here, and that is what keeps the grass so green and weed free. Scientists who studied this phenomenon recently said it is merely the pH of the soil being so exactly what grass needs. They took some of the soil back to their lab with them, however, and weeds grew easily in their test patch. The same weed seeds, planted here, died.
"My personal belief is that
The Guide
is a poor soul who has been trapped here perhaps since mankind first walked upon these shores." She turned to the camera and stepped to the side to allow a graphic to appear on the screen beside her. It was a book with her face on the front cover.
"As I explain in my latest book," she said, "To release a trapped soul, the first step is to learn his or her name." She pointed to the air where the word "Name" would be inserted in post-production.
"The next step is to establish communication." Another point to where the word "Communication" would appear on the screen.
"And the third step is getting the trapped soul to understand what has happened to it." In post-production, the word "Understanding" would appear on the screen as the third step of the process.
"Often times," she said, looking very serious, "just explaining to the trapped soul that they are a trapped soul is sufficient. Once they realize that they are dead and are trapped between the levels of existence, they will know that they need to move on.
"However, there is often some unresolved issue that is holding them back. So, the final step," she said as she pointed toward the bottom of the screen, "is resolution and direction." The words "Resolution" and "Direction" would complete the list.
"I help them," she said as she appeared to look over the list, "resolve whatever it is that has trapped them between the levels of existence and then help them find their way to the next level."
Edwina returned to the center of the scene and faced the camera. "How we will be able to discover The Guide's name or what is trapping her here, I do not know. I also do not know whether or not she will be able to understand me since she seems to be from such an ancient time, but I am hoping that she will be able to understand my intent even if she does not recognize my language."
She walked to the entrance to the cave and then looked back at the camera and whispered. "All of this depends, however, on The Guide appearing for us here on this Halloween night."
She walked back up the path as she continued her explanation in a more normal tone of voice. "There is no specific time that The Guide appears, but the most powerful appearances have always been on Halloween. That nun who became a stripper was here as part of an exorcism team that was going to purify the place and drive the demons from the park. They took up positions on the outside of the cave on Halloween night, armed with their Bibles and their holy water and their special oils and their faith. In the morning, however, all of that was gone along with their clothing when they stumbled out of the cave. Their bodies bore all the signs of an orgy, and their minds were destroyed.
"Tonight, I am going to attempt to meet The Guide in safety. What little we know from survivors is that The Guide reaches out to them and they are unable to control themselves, but are drawn into her arms and into the cave itself."
She held out her arms as if she were pulling the viewers to her bosom. "My crew," she said as she pointed into the foliage, "is setting up remote cameras in the cave and all around this path."
She then laughed. "They will be safely in the control truck parked outside the park. I will be tied securely to that tree." She pointed to a stout Oak near the entrance to the cave.
"Like Odysseus tied to the mast, I will be able to hear the Siren's song, but will not be pulled into her clutches. Hopefully, I will be able to describe what I see and maybe get to the bottom of this phenomenon."
She had reached the tree and now stood next to it. "Tonight," she said, "The Guide will be shown to the world. There are no accurate descriptions of The Guide, but everyone with enough mind left to describe her has said that she was a naked woman." She smiled at the camera, "So, if we find a naked female spirit wandering around, it's probably her."
The camera then panned back for a very wide shot as two men in bluejeans approached Edwina carrying large coils of dark-colored rope. The rope looked relatively soft, but it was thick and obviously very strong. She stood with her back against the tree and they began winding the rope around her body and the tree trunk. When they were finished, she was wrapped securely from her ankles to her neck. "This is actually rather comfortable," she said to the camera which was once again trained on her face. "If The Guide appears, there is no way that I can go to her or reach out to her."
She dropped her voice to a slow whisper. "Now all we have to do is wait."
And wait they did. Edwina's assistants tied her to the tree just before dark, several hours later it was approaching midnight and nothing had happened except several bugs had landed on her face and a small something stung her on the neck. Other than the nuisance bugs, it was so uneventful, that she found herself fighting sleep.
Despite her best efforts she found her head dropping forward. A buzzing in her earpiece brought her back to full wakefulness. "What time is it?" she asked her crew. After repeating herself several times and getting no response, she said, "It looks like my earpiece has crapped out. One of you is going to have to come out and replace it for me."
Several minutes later, when noone had come to replace her defective equipment she said, "I hope you aren't asleep in there! If something happens tonight and you don't get it on tape, I am going to be extremely pissed." There was still no response and no one came to change the defective equipment.