Page 16 of The Penitentiary
“You like folks being scared of you?” Jack demanded, screwing his face up. He batted his hand at something and glowered.
Freddie turned the camera on Jack. “What’s up?”
“Something is touching my cheek. Like a finger running down it.”
“That is some freaky shit.” I gasped and moved away from Jack. After last night, I wouldn’t say I was a true believer, but neither was I as sceptical as before.
“Is it hurting you?” Freddie asked.
“No. But it’s uncomfortable, and it’s aimed at making me so,” Jack replied.
A faint ghostly chuckle sounded, and my eyes grew wide.
“I don’t sense this man is a danger; more, he likes to scare and play tricks on people,” Jack stated.
“Even so, I believe that a disembodied voice is not great fun,” I mentioned.
“Nah, and that’s why this guy does it. Let’s take a break before returning,” Jack said.
“Do we have to?” I almost whined. Jack sent me an evil grin.
“We’ll be halfway through the night by now, Callie and I will swap cellblocks. You’ll be glad to hear that at about three a.m., we’ll be heading to cellblock eight.” Jack laughed. We both stiffened as a cackle joined in.
“It’s a good job I love my wife,” I bitched as we walked out. The hell I was setting foot back in cellblock eight.
Chapter Four.
Sunny
Callie was on a roll. We’d all had a hot drink while we reviewed the footage, and then she’d headed straight back to cellblock eight. Jesus, I swear to God she was trying to turn me completely grey—or send me to an early grave. My woman, my precious, beautiful wife, was pregnant, and she was off tramping after ghosts. Sure, I could protect Callie from physical threats, but not from invisible ones.
Right now, she and Madi were calling out to Dutch while Phil recorded them.
“Dutch, this is called a spirit box. This makes lots of static sounds, but you can use it to speak through and possibly save some energy. You must expel a lot, talking,” Callie said, showing the item in her hands.
I hated that thing. It made a shitload of noise, and I could barely understand what it was saying. Callie was fluent in understanding spirit box speech. The damn thing often left me with a headache, and I was ready to strangle Callie, but I grinned and ground my teeth. Well, okay, maybe I wasn’t grinning, but I was definitely grinding my teeth.
“Ask some questions, Madi,” Callie said. I wanted to gag Madi, but I didn’t think Levi would take kindly to that. A guy could only dream.
“Dutch, are you here? Who was the man you’re frightened of?” Madi paused and waited.
“Demon.”The spirit box moaned.
Of course it would be a fuckin’ demon. Callie had encountered one before that had been totally terrifying.
“Was the demon brought in, or did he already live here when the prison was built?” Madi questioned.
“… Board.”
“Ouija board?” Madi wondered, looking to me for confirmation.
How the hell would I know? I don’t speak spirit box!
“Yes.”
“Did some other paranormal investigators use an Ouija and leave it open for a demon to come through?” Callie asked.
She didn’t get a reply. Dutch really disliked her. Madi repeated the question.
