Page 30 of Into the Dark

“Sorry,” Chris mumbled, shamefaced.

Oscar sighed internally and turned to Adrienne. “I agree with you and Dr. Lawson. It will be safer to share, especially with the nurse trying to drive us off.”

“Her attempts will likely escalate as she grows in strength by feeding off our energy,” Nigel put in. “We should all carry salt any time we enter the asylum, in case we need a deterrent.”

Zeek shifted uneasily at that, and Oscar didn’t blame him. He wasn’t thrilled about the prospect either.

“Well I, for one, am not getting an inch closer to the building than right here,” Tina declared.

“Good,” Zeek said, with uncharacteristic seriousness. “You should stay safe.”

Was she…blushing? Her brown cheeks certainly looked more ruddy than usual. “I try,” she said. “Especially after getting chased around a deserted distillery by a murderous ghost.”

His eyes widened, and he looked as though he was going to ask for details, so Oscar cleared his throat. “What do you have for us, Tina?”

Her demeanor shifted to businesslike. “Gather round, and I’ll show you.”

Oscar leaned over her shoulder as she pulled up the files. “The visible spectrum static cams on the first and fourth floors stayed quiet after you left for the night,” she said. “But the kids on the second floor had a party shortly before dawn. I’m going to fast-forward the footage, so let me know if you need me to stop or slow down.”

The thermal cam revealed the cool hues of the children’s ward common room. Dark blue blobs of cold slowly gathered, moving around the room in ways far more purposeful than would be caused by a mere draft. The flashlight they’d left behind switched on and off multiple times in a row—then the truck Oscar had touched started to roll back and forth, mimicking what he’d done with it.

“Will you be my friend?” the PolterPal shrieked. It then began to giggle, over and over again.

“Jesus, that thing is scarier than the ghosts,” Zeek said. Oscar felt Nigel bristle beside him.

The activity only stopped when the thermal cam picked up the growing warmth of dawn. “I knew I felt something in there,” Oscar said, relieved. “I think the kids were too shy to come out while we were there.”

“They probably didn’t have the best experience with adults in life,” Adrienne said. “Poor babies.”

Oscar nodded unhappily. “And now they’re stuck here.”

“At least they have each other, I guess.” Adrienne sighed, then straightened. “That’s some great footage. Better than anything we got. Good work.”

Was she thawing to them, after the initial shock of seeing her ex show up at the job she’d thought was for her team alone? “Thanks.”

“Here’s the EVP you did on the third floor, in the bathroom by the hydrotherapy tub,” Tina said. “I’ve enhanced the responses into the range of human hearing.”

Oscar’s own voice issued from the speakers. “What’s your n-name?”

And in answer, the flat, chilling voice of the dead:“Mariah.”

“Were you a patient here?”“Yes.”

“What happened to you?”“Cold.”

The crash of the wheelchair hitting the wall outside the room sounded, followed by their chatter as they investigated. Then Nigel asked, “Who’s here? Did you move the wheelchair? If you want to talk to us, speak into the device in my partner’s hand.”

“And that’s it,” Tina said. “She doesn’t answer.”

Nigel frowned slightly. “It seems likely the nurse scared her into silence, as with the laundry chute ghost.”

“Agreed.” Oscar straightened. “The nurse seems like the biggest problem here.”

Adrienne tapped her lips thoughtfully with one fingernail. “If we can remove her, we’ll get better results from the other ghosts.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, A?” Zeek asked, arching his brows comically.

They’d mentioned before—or rather, Zeek had let slip—that they wanted to trap a ghost. Oscar looked to Adrienne expectantly, but she only said, “Just pondering our options.”

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