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Chapter 7

 

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Author: Rhonnie Fordham

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Tony and Bridget weren’t quite done yet. Now holding the infrared camcorder, Bridget led the pair down the long downstairs hallway, past Amanda’s cherished plants. Bridget brushed past a flower’s dangling vine, its rough touch scaring her like a cold hand snatching her from the dark.

She looked over and realized it was just a plant. But somehow they looked bigger, Bridget thought. Like they’d grown more during her and Tony’s trip down into the basement.

Nervous, Bridget glanced up at the security camera. As if on cue, it was pointed right at her. Bridget felt like there was something else behind the lens, as if someone else within the machine was surveying and stalking them. She felt someone grab her arm with a gentle touch, not like a rugged plant.

“You okay?” the concerned Tony asked her.

Bridget nodded. “Yeah.” She pointed toward the doorway that led into the living room. “Let’s check out the living room then go outside.”

“Great,” Tony said unenthusiastically as he clinched the infrared thermometer in his grasp.

“You know the drill.”

“And then we’re done?” Tony asked, unable to hide his pleading tone.

Bridget was about to tell him the ‘yes’ he wanted to hear when a frenzied voice erupted from the back of the hall. “Wait!”

Bridget and Tony whirled around to see Amanda stop right behind them. She was wearing different clothes from earlier: just a t-shirt and jeans. Much less formal. Make-up now covered up all her vicious scars and bruises.

Amanda’s beaming smile captured what Bridget would consider a kind of uncontainable excitement. The creepy kind.

“Y’all mind if I tag along?” Amanda asked with the enthusiasm of a younger sibling.

Hesitant, Bridget and Tony looked at one another. “Uh, sure, I guess,” Bridget relented.

“Oh, thank you so much! I’ve always wanted to see how this stuff works.”

“Right,” Bridget replied.

Chuckling, Amanda pointed at Bridget. “I know what you’re thinking. The paranormal shows!”

In awkward silence, Tony gave Bridget a weird look as Bridget didn’t say anything. Amanda’s emphatic chuckles echoed through the hallway.

“Oh boy,” Amanda said. She clapped her hands together, replacing the burgeoning void left by her faded laughter. “But for real, I’m so excited about this.”

Bridget couldn’t tell if Amanda was on drugs, off her meds, or just extremely social awkward. Hell, maybe all three. “No, I understand,” Bridget said, keeping her lethargic coolness in check. “Feel free to join.”

Surprised by Bridget’s response, Tony leaned in closer toward her. “You sure about that?” he whispered.

Bridget noticed how the intrigued Amanda kept staring at the infrared camera and thermometer with awe.

“It’s fine,” Bridget muttered to Tony. “Come on,” she told Amanda. Bridget held up the camera and turned toward the front of the hallway.

Tony was left in dismal dismay as Amanda stepped past him.

“Boy, I can tell y’all take this serious!” Amanda said with a grin.

Through the infrared camcorder, Bridget looked around the hallway but saw nothing unusual. “And why wouldn’t we,” she replied with the dry wit of an (over)confident professor. She lowered the camera and faced the others. “After all, this is only the preliminary stuff.”

Dissatisfied, Tony looked away. His genuine grumble wasn’t very discreet.

“We’re just getting started,” Bridget continued.

“Oh, I believe you,” Amanda commented. “Take all the time you need.”

“Well, thank you-“ Bridget started.

Amanda grabbed Bridget’s wrist in a soft yet tight grip. “This is important for all of us, Bridget.”

Bridget smiled awkwardly. Were we really on a first-name basis now, she wondered.

Tony looked up toward the security camera. “Yeah, well, I hope we can bust this stupid shit by tomorrow.”

Annoyed by his disrespect, Bridget flashed him a glare.

Like an oft-scolded child or oft-berated husband, Tony recognized her look immediately. “What?”

“Oh, that ain’t happening,” Amanda said with a grin. “We might get an answer by tomorrow, but it’ll be the truth.”

“Which truth?” Bridget asked, her confrontational side sneaking out again. “Your version?”

“No,” Amanda said, her never leaving her lips even as her toe shifted to sternness rather than friendliness. “The secrets of this house are the only truth.”

The off-setting of Amanda’s wide grin with her cryptic words unnerved both Bridget and Tony. “Well, we’ll certainly work on finding the truth,” Bridget stated. “Whatever that may be.” She looked over at Tony. “Just expect to hear us staggering around all night,” she said to Amanda.

“All night?” Tony asked incredulously.

Bridget wasn’t even gonna respond to that one.

“Oh, that’s fine,” Amanda said with a chuckle. “Do whatever’s necessary.”

Eager to move on from their chat, Bridget pulled Tony toward the living room. “Come on, tough guy.”

“The house is yours for the weekend, Bridget,” Amanda said as she followed them.

Trying to stay focused, Bridget motioned toward Tony’s thermometer. “You got anything yet?” she asked him.

Moving calm and slow, Amanda’s methodical footsteps trailed behind the pair.

Tony checked his thermometer. Just room temperature. Nothing had changed so far. “Nope.”

“Not even in the basement?” Bridget asked.

“Naw, I don’t think so,” responded Tony.

“Shit…” They got closer to the living room. Out of the corner of her eye, Bridget saw the all-too-friendly Amanda just mere inches behind her. Amanda had snuck up closer to them with such extreme stealth and ease.

Right before Amanda could grab Bridget’s arm, Bridget stopped and confronted her. “Hey,” Bridget said awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t trying to interrupt,” Amanda said. She glanced over at Tony who stood a few feet away.

He was back in bodyguard mode, watching Bridget and Amanda like a hawk.

“It’s fine,” Bridget began. “Just stay with us, it’s cool.”

Amanda faced her. “No. It’s just something kept bothering me.”

Belying Amanda’s friendly expression, Bridget thought Amanda’s eyes were wired and restless. They looked to be the one failed aspect on an otherwise convincing portrait of normality. “Well, what is it?” Bridget asked, confused.

“I’ve just been meaning to ask,” Amanda started. She hesitated on how to ask her question. “But why didn’t the Christys leave?”

Curious for the answer as well, Tony looked over at Bridget. Bridget stayed quiet, not sure why Amanda was asking such a question at this particular time.

“It’s something I keep wondering about,” Amanda went on.

Bridget eyed Amanda suspiciously. Amanda had a morbid curiosity, but why wouldn’t she, Bridget thought. This woman lost her entire family in this house for Christ’s sakes. “What do you mean exactly?” Bridget asked.

Amanda struggled to explain. “Well, you mentioned that all the others left as soon as they started hearing the noises and all.”

“Right…” Bridget said.

“Well, I was just wondering why they didn’t do the same thing. It just doesn’t make sense if you ask me.”

“She’s got a good point,” Tony interjected.

Bridget just stared at Amanda. What role was Amanda playing now, Bridget wondered. The victim, the saleswoman, or now the detective? “From what I understand, Mr. Christy got a real good deal,” Bridget finally gave in. “I don’t think he could really afford to just up and leave the same house he’d emptied his life savings on.”

Tony gave her a look of disbelief. “That’s the reason? His ass shouldn’t have bought a haunted house in the first place.”

“Well, that was what they suspected,” Bridget responded. Soft footsteps drew Bridget’s attention. Quick and effortless footsteps coming from the living room. Bridget turned and looked toward the doorway that led into the living room.

“Well, that’s one Hell of an excuse,” Tony said.

“The house has one Hell of a history,” Bridget replied. Raising her camcorder, she ventured toward the living room, tracking down where she heard the footsteps.

“Yeah, no shit,” Tony scoffed.

Bridget stopped right outside the living room. Doing her best to stay quiet, she peered inside through the camcorder, searching for a sign of life in the unoccupied room.

“They were probably just scared,” Amanda told Tony. “I can understand.”

In the living room, Bridget didn’t see anything. Nothing out of the ordinary through the camera’s lens. Despite the infrared’s trippier aesthetic, the living room was just as bland and uninhabited as always. Where’d the footsteps come from, she wondered.

Just realizing Bridget was gone and he was all alone with Amanda, Tony looked toward the living room. “Hey, Bridget!” he yelled toward her.

He got nothing back. Bridget was too busy searching the living room to reply.

Amanda grinned at Tony, her unsettling smile seeming to challenge him. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “You scared?”

Defensive, Tony took a step back. “No!” he said emphatically. “I just got a weird feeling, it doesn’t mean it’s haunted.”

Amanda groaned. “Come on,” she said in disapproval. “Seriously?”

Trying to tune them out, Bridget put the camera back to her eye as she continued gazing around the living room, listening intently for anything. Something had to be in here, she thought. She was eccentric, but not crazy. She heard something!

And then there it was again. Bridget heard a scurry of footsteps, this time accompanied by a child-like voice. Startled, Bridget pressed the camera closer to her eye and scanned the room, hoping for a quick glimpse or sighting of anything. Any form of phenomena.

In the hallway, Tony and Amanda continued bickering. “You’ve seen the videos!” Amanda pleaded. “How could I be lying?”

Tony didn’t respond. He didn’t have a real solid answer, but there wasn’t much point arguing with Amanda anyway.

Taking a few more restless steps through the living room, Bridget continued searching for the source of the footsteps. The noises had stopped, and Bridget had seen nothing. “Come on,” she muttered to herself.

A little girl’s innocent voice drifted toward Bridget’s alert ears. “In here,” the voice said.

Excited, Bridget stopped dead in her tracks and looked at every corner of the room. But she stood alone.

“Closer,” the whisper said.

Haunted by the voice’s pretty incantation, Bridget lowered the camera. Through her natural vision, she evaluated the room, but it looked the same. There was just the furniture, the mirror, and the flatscreen. Bridget stared on at her reflection in the mirror. She had the fear of a scientist who just made a shocking yet mysterious discovery. “Where are you?” Bridget said softly.

“Come closer,” the little girl whispered, just a little louder this time.

Bridget tracked the voice to a certain corner of the room. Even though Bridget saw no one there, there was no mistake the voice was coming from here. Right near the corner wall.

“Please,” the voice beckoned, sounding more intimate than ever. “Bridget…”

The voice sounded distressed. Like the little girl was trying to keep her voice quiet for a reason, Bridget thought.

“Bridget, I’m here…”

Panicking, Bridget put the camera back to her eye and looked right at the corner wall. She gasped in fright. “Oh God…”

Through the lens, Bridget saw her: a little girl. Much like the mysterious boy, the girl stood in front of the wall, her innocent beauty reduced to a morbid cadaver. Deep cuts ran along her face, forever marring the child’s radiant face. Blood stains scattered throughout her school clothes.

The little girl stared right at Bridget, her wounded eyes captivating Bridget’s soul. The girl’s harsh glare offered no solace. All the while, her mouth never once moved. Rather, her mind seemed to communicate with Bridget. “Come here,” the girl’s haunting voice said to Bridget without her busted lips ever moving.

Frozen in fear, Bridget remained stuck in place. Her eye glued to the camera like an obsessive filmmaker. Even though Bridget had experienced her share of paranormal encounters, nothing could compare to this unsettling sight. A blasphemous sight of a desecrated dead child.

With a hand full of chipped and grimy fingernails, the little girl waved Bridget over. Her voice ran through Bridget’s head, repeating Bridget’s name over and over again in a hushed chant.

Bridget lowered the camera. The girl’s voice stopped. Bridget no longer even saw the little girl there. “No…”

Uneasy, Bridget looked back toward the downstairs hallway. Neither Tony or Amanda paid her or the little girl any attention.

Instead, Tony endured a melodramatic soliloquy from Amanda. Emotional, she wrapped her arms around Tony, desperate for reassurance.

“He said we were demons,” Amanda stated. “He thought our own children were just monsters!”

Trying to reassure Amanda, Tony patted her on the back. He made for a better bodyguard than therapist. “Shit, that’s crazy,” he said.

“That’s all he kept saying,” Amanda went on. “He said they were demons.” She looked right into Tony’s uneasy eyes. “And they needed to be punished!”

Horror conquered Tony’s face as Amanda lunged into his arms for an ambush of a hug.

“He said we all needed to,” Amanda said, horrified by the memories.

In the living room, Bridget watched Tony struggle to comfort Amanda. Good luck with that trainwreck, Bridget thought.

“Bridget, come here,” the little girl’s voice pleaded.

The voice drew Bridget’s attention back toward the corner wall. But no one was there. “Shit,” Bridget said.

“It’s here,” the little girl’s voice drifted toward Bridget.

Anxious, Bridget glanced down at her camera before looking back at the wall.

“I can show you,” the girl’s voice continued.

It took Bridget a moment to gather up her internal strength. She finally looked through the camera, fully expecting what was in store.

There the little girl was in all her undead glory. She stood in the same spot, looking on at Bridget with detached eyes.

“Come here,” her voice beckoned Bridget. “Bridget, please…” The words were drawn out weakly like they were entering from another realm or from a dream. Or from a nightmare. Again, the little girl’s mouth never moved.

Concerned, Bridget rushed toward the little girl. “I’m coming!” she screamed.

Just as Bridget got a few feet away from her, the little girl turned and pointed at the wall behind her. “Look,” the girl’s voice whispered.

Bridget came to a confused stop and looked toward the wall. “What?” she muttered.

“Look, Bridget,” the girl stated.

Horror washed over Bridget’s face. Through the infrared camera, she looked on at a horrifying sight.

The wall’s blandness had been replaced by a grotesque smorgasbord of blood. Like red paint consuming a bland canvas, gallons of blood oozed down the wall’s surface. The blood was thick and voluminous. It was fresh.

While the crimson was overwhelming, parts of the wall’s white paint job could still be seen. Splotches that hadn’t been tainted by the blood.

Scared, Bridget lowered her camera and staggered back. “Oh God!” she shouted aloud.

Her voice alarmed Tony and Amanda. “Shit!” Tony exclaimed as he took off for the room. Amanda struggled to keep up with him.

“Wait,” Amanda said.

“Bridget!” Tony yelled.

Unresponsive to them, Bridget just stared at the wall in a state of shock. The now-plain white wall confronted her with the blankness of an evaporated mirage. Nothing and no one was there. No little girl. No blood.

Where’d it all go, Bridget wondered. Was she losing her mind after all? Had her notions of Amanda being full of shit been this far off? Maybe the Christy house really could affect the mind.

“No,” Bridget muttered as Tony and Amanda stopped next to her. “I saw her, I just saw her!”

Supportive, Tony grabbed her by the shoulders. “Bridget, who?” he asked.

Panicking, Bridget pointed her camera toward the wall. “She was right there!”

Amanda and Tony looked toward the plain white wall.

“It was a little girl!” the defensive Bridget pleaded. “I saw her. She was standing right there.”

Bridget could feel their awkward, questioning looks. Now Amanda was the one skeptical of Bridget’s claims, Bridget thought in disgust..

“I’m serious!” Bridget said, doing her best to stay calm as she realized how hysterical she must sound. She held up the camera. “I saw her through this! And the wall, it was covered in blood!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tony said. His tone reminded Bridget of a therapist comforting a gun-waving inmate.

“But I did…” Bridget said.

“I know,” Amanda commented sternly.

Ready to go off, Bridget looked over at Amanda. But Amanda’s expression wasn’t one of “I-told-you-so” bemusement. Instead, she seemed sympathetic toward Bridget’s current panic.

“I’ve seen her too,” Amanda said.

Stepping away from Bridget, Tony held his hands out as he gave both women a weird look. “Yo, what the Hell are y’all talking about?” he asked.

Bridget saw the thermometer in his hand. Excitement surging through her, she pointed toward the thermostat. “Look!”

At her demand, Amanda and Tony looked at the thermometer. “Oh shit!” Tony exclaimed.

In a slow and steady fall, the temperature dropped a full ten degrees lower than where it was.

Amanda stared at the thermostat, stunned by the sight. Like her “welcome to reality” moment when it came to the outright scariness of those paranormal shows.

“It’s a chill spot,” Bridget said, undeterred. She turned and stepped toward the wall, hope and excitement replacing her defensive anger. “I think she’s still with us.”

Simultaneously fascinated but nervous, Amanda watched Bridget trace her hand along the wall.

“I saw her right here,” Bridget went on. “Right in front of the wall.”

“Look, you don’t know-” Tony began.

Confronting Tony and Amanda, Bridget held up the camera. “I saw her and the blood on camera! That’s why it’s a chill spot!”

Not wanting any part of this, Tony handed her the thermometer. “Look, here,” he started.

Bridget awkwardly took the thermostat. Now holding both the camera and thermometer, Bridget really did look the part of professional paranormal investigator.

“You take it,” Tony finished.

Bridget turned her attention back to the wall. She got ready to put the thermostat right up to it. The thermometer remained stuck at a steady sixty-five degrees.

“Well, what happened there?” Amanda asked with trepidation. “Why that one spot?”

With the incessant drive of a mad scientist, Bridget activated the thermometer’s laser and pointed it right at the wall. “Something must’ve happened here,” Bridget said. She moved the thermostat in closer, mere inches away from the white surface.

The numbers on the thermometer rapidly changed right before Bridget’s amazed eyes. It shot all the way down to fifty-five degrees. “Holy shit!” Bridget said.

“Why’s it dropping like that?” Amanda asked. “It’s so fast!”

Turning, Bridget faced them. “I thin it’s coming from inside the wall,” she said in excitement. “She’s close!”

“The girl?” Amanda asked.

“Yes!” Bridget exclaimed, showing more emotion now than she had in the previous months combined. “Her presence is right here.” She waved the thermostat in front of Tony and Amanda. “It has something to do with this wall. This room.”

“This house,” Amanda noted.

Before Bridget could answer, a harsh voice swept through the room, giving her chills.

“She did it,” the voice whispered into Bridget’s ear. “It’s her…”

Terrified, Bridget looked around, expecting to see a ghostly adult standing nearby. But there was nothing. Just Amanda, Tony, and that fucking boring room in this bland fucking house. That wasn’t the little girl’s voice she heard. In fact, Bridget thought it couldn’t have come from any child at all. This was the voice of a man. An unsettled man with a voice of anguish. Bridget didn’t like it. Unease settled under her skin.

Tony reached toward Bridget. “Hey, you okay?”

“She did this,” the man’s cries continued, his voice now louder and more intense. Unlike the children, he wasn’t keeping to a whisper.

Avoiding Tony’s touch, Bridget took a step back. The voice haunted her and ravaged her mind. Why was she the only one to hear this, Bridget wondered.

“She did this!” the man’s voice yelled.

Bridget confronted Tony and Amanda. “Don’t you hear him!”

“No,” Tony replied as Amanda gave Bridget an uncertain look.

“It’s her!” the man’s voice seemed to scream right into Bridget’s skull. “Don’t believe her!”

“Bridget-” Tony began.

Stepping away from Tony and Amanda, Bridget put the camera to her eye.

Before she could search the room, a concerned yet familiar voice pierced through the room: “What happened?”

Startled, Bridget and the others turned to see Linda and Kevin rushing down the stairs. “What’s wrong?” Linda continued.

“We heard some screaming,” Kevin chimed in as they stopped near the others.

The man’s voice targeted Bridget once more: “It’s inside her!”

Bridget turned and looked behind her. Right toward the wall. Still, no one was there.

Linda noticed Bridget’s increasing unease. “Bridget,” she said.

Her ears still ringing, Bridget stepped right up to the wall. Tuning everyone else out, Bridget strained to listen for more. When would the frightening voice strike again?

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Tony said to Linda. “We got a cool spot or some shit.”

“Oh my God, really!” Linda exclaimed with wide-eyed excitement.

Amanda walked over toward Bridget, approaching her with curiosity rather than concern.

“That’s unbelievable!” Linda continued.

“See, I told you,” the smug Kevin said to her.

“Yeah, shit dropped like twenty degrees,” Tony told them.

Linda’s eyes beamed in a way that belied her age. “My goodness! That’s unbelievable.”

Still trying to hear the man, Bridget felt someone grab her shoulder, scaring the shit out of her.

“Bridget,” Amanda said.

Bridget whirled around to see Amanda standing right behind her. “Hey-” Bridget awkwardly began.

Then the man’s voice shattered through Bridget’s mind, stopping her mid-speak. “It’s all evil!” he yelled with the shrill tenacity of a powerful buzzsaw.

Cringing, Bridget grabbed at her temple.

“What’s wrong-” Amanda started to ask.

Matching the voice’s intensity, the living room mirror shattered on its own, busting into a million pieces.

Horrified, everyone jumped back as shards and clouds of dust flew out everywhere. It was as if a glass mummy had exploded.

“Oh God!” Kevin yelled.

“It’s in her!” the voice screamed onto Bridget.

Covering her ears, Bridget turned away.

Like a mini missile, a long glass shard shot out from the mirror’s jagged edges and went hurtling straight toward the crowd.

Concerned, Amanda leaned in toward Bridget. “Bridget!” she said.

Bridget looked up real quick and saw the shard heading straight toward Amanda! It was a fragile yet sharp bullet.

“Look out!” Bridget yelled.

With fractions of a second to spare, Bridget tackled Amanda to the ground, saving both of them from a grisly death.

They both turned around to see the glass shatter against the corner wall. Pieces of it stuck right into the wall, piercing through the blandness. Like the blood Bridget saw earlier, grimy dust off the glass smeared against the wall.

Bridget breathed heavy, adrenaline still surging through her veins. Amanda was too stunned to say anything.

Aside from the intermittent fall of the mirror’s straggler remnants in a pitter-patter manner, The room was now deathly quiet. No screaming, no eerie voices. This is a  nice break, Bridget thought to herself. Must be halftime.

The worried Linda and Tony ran up to them.

“Are you alright?” Linda asked.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Bridget sputtered out in a weak voice.

“Oh Jesus,” Kevin said with over-the-top concern as he approached them. He stole a glance back at the broken mirror. “Please, Lord, no liabilities,” he muttered.

Tony helped Bridget and Amanda up on their feet. Bridget dusted herself off.

Loud sobbing distracted Bridget. She turned and saw Amanda shedding more tears than a bullied schoolchild.

“Oh God!” Amanda said through the tears and snot. “It’s my fault…” Tears formed parallel rivers down her nervous face. “I shouldn’t have bought anyone here. I shouldn’t have ever invited y’all…” Avoiding eye contact, she broke down in her tumultuous emotions.

“It’s okay, dear,” Linda told her as she rubbed Amanda’s back.

Kevin wrapped his arm around Amanda, replacing his cheesy salesman act with the sympathetic salesman routine. “It’s alright, Amanda” he said in an emotional voice that would make even the worst soap actors cringe.

Seeing through Kevin’s melodramatic theatrics, Tony made eye contact with Linda. She smirked at Tony’s disapproving facial expression.

Bridget stared at Amanda. The emotional roller coaster that was Amanda Baker greatly fascinated Bridget almost as much as the paranormal occurrences  that kept happening in this house. One minute, Amanda was a charismatic Southern belle, the next a weeping weakling.

“We’re here,” Kevin said to Amanda in a soothing tone. “You’re safe.” He broke his white knight act to flash Linda a I-told-you-this-place-was-haunted look.

Unamused, Linda just shook her head.

Tony saw Bridget stepping up toward the corner wall. She was still holding her camera and thermometer.

Intrigued, Bridget inspected the wall, staring at all the glass embedded into it. It almost looked like the mirror shards were for decoration, like an arrangement of crystals.

Leaning down, Bridget picked up a large shard off the ground. Though the piece felt old and light, the edges were just as sharp as any vicious blade.

While Amanda’s loud sobs blared through the room, Bridget stared at her reflection in the shard’s glass. She looked at it long and hard. She was waiting to see the children she saw in the camera or to hear one of the voices that had been haunting her during this whole trip. But nothing came. Instead, it was just her and her weary expression. Her hair a mess from the fall, her eyes wide and restless, her face stressed beyond belief.

She looked up and saw Tony looking right at her. Tony’s fear-riddled face practically begged Bridget to call this investigation off now.

Not giving in, Bridget tossed the glass to the ground and walked back toward the hallway.

Tony groaned in dismay.

*

An hour later, the group convened in Amanda’s home office. The cramped and messy room reflected Amanda’s 9-to-5 work-from-home grind. Compared to the rest of the house, at least the office had some character with the countless stacks of folders and scribbled notes.

Amanda sat at her impressive desktop computer, everyone else crowded around her. It was claustrophobic with this many people and this much disarray in such a tight space.

On the computer, Amanda re-played the security footage from the living room.

Everyone in the group stared at the screen, disturbed by the mirror shattering on its own and the flying glass shard hunting for Amanda.

As they watched the clip, Bridget listened intently for the man’s voice. But she head neither the man nor the little girl on the video’s audio.

Right before the mirror exploded, Amanda could make out a small figure’s reflection in the glass. It was quick and blurry, but unmistakable to Amanda: the little girl her and Bridget kept seeing. Just as unmistakable was the little girl’s glare zeroed right in on Amanda in the video. No one else seemed to catch the image, and Amanda didn’t wanna bring it up. She just let the video play on.

Amanda then watched herself being saved at the last minute by Bridget. A heroic tackle that resulted in no deaths and just mere broken glass. “God…” Amanda said to herself with the frightening realization of just how close she came to her demise.

“You said you heard a voice?” Linda asked Bridget.

“Yeah, I guess,” Bridget answered.

“I’ve heard it to,” Amanda confessed. Anxious nerves getting the better of her, she faced Bridget. “The voice you heard. Was it a man?”

“Yeah,” Bridget replied.

“God… he’s still here,” Amanda said, terrified. “He won’t leave me.” She looked toward the computer screen, both her body and mind full of unhealed wounds. “He never will…”

“Who?” Bridget asked, already fearing the answer.

Amanda never took her eyes off the screen. “John,” she said quietly.

“But it could be the Christys,” Linda stated.

“No,” Amanda said as she moved a trembling hand against her face. “It’s John, I know it is. I know his voice. I know he’s still here in this house.”

“But he could still be alive,” Tony commented, hoping to comfort Amanda.

Amanda glared at him. “No, it’s his spirit! He’s in this house!” she yelled.

Intimidated, Tony leaned back away from the group. “Okay, my bad…”

“Don’t you think I know my own husband’s voice!” Amanda continued. “The way he yelled at us before… God, before he killed them!” She looked away and buried her face in her hands, distraught. “God…”

Everyone went quiet. The office felt more like a funeral home than a work station. Unlike the others, Bridget kept her emotions in check. She watched Amanda run her hands through her hair, still not sure what to make of Amanda’s constant instability.

Like a showman crashing the final few seconds of a bravura performance, Kevin interrupted the silence by flashing a sneer at Bridget. “You still think she’s a phony, huh? Just look at her.”

“I never said that,” Bridget responded.

“Bullshit!”

Upset, Bridget looked over at the computer screen, avoiding Kevin’s confrontational eyes.

“You think she’s trying to get herself killed over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars!”

“It’s possible,” Tony interjected.

“Tony…” Linda said in disapproval.

“What?” Tony responded.

Quiet, Amanda faced the computer and clicked back to a main menu full of her many camera screens. Each box showed what each security camera was filming. It was like a puzzle of square screens.

Bridget noticed all the screens. She saw how Amanda scoured through each of them.

Kevin faced Linda. “Look, Linda, this place’s certified haunted at this point. It’s guaranteed!” He pointed toward the computer. “I’ll even throw in the footage for free!”

Tony looked over at the computer, surprised by all the screens. “Damn, how many cameras you got?” he asked aloud.

Amanda never took her eyes off the screen. “Enough,” she stated bluntly.

“If I throw in the home security system,” Kevin said to Linda, back in bullshitter mode. “Well, now that might drive up the price a little.”

Bridget glared at him. “Ugh, will you shut the fuck up!”

The offended Kevin just looked at her, pretending to be upset by her vulgarity. “Excuse me, Ms. Buechler.”

At her desk, Amanda paused the living room video on when the  the mirror was about to burst.

Looking at the video, Tony noticed Bridget facing the corner wall.

“Just stop fucking with us about the house, alright,” the annoyed Bridget told Kevin. “We’ve got all weekend to find more proof.”

“Like you need more…” Kevin said snidely.

Tony grabbed Bridget’s shoulder, calming her down. “Hey, you said you saw something else, right? Like a little girl or something.”

“Yeah,” Bridget replied. “But it was more than that.”

The intrigued Linda stepped toward them. “What was it?”

Both Kevin and Amanda watched Bridget confront everyone. “I thought I saw blood,” she said. “Fresh blood all over the wall.”

Not needing theatrics like Amanda, Bridget was visibly scared and uneasy even as she tried to hide it. Her combination of restrained professionalism and subtle fear made her all the more credible in the eyes of everyone else.

“I swear it was there,” Bridget continued. She pointed toward the video, right toward the corner wall. “It was just blood all over that wall. It was everywhere.”

The account sent the others into a hushed silence.

“It’s where he attacked me,” Amanda confessed, breaking teh silence.

“What?” Bridget asked.

Everyone else looked at Amanda, shocked by her statement.

“It’s where John attacked me,” Amanda said with bitter rage. She looked at the others. “He grabbed me there and stabbed me and beat me. The bastard, he… he wouldn’t stop….”

Struggling to go on, she turned and looked back at the video. Her eyes particularly focused on the corner wall. “It was right up against that wall.”

She traced her finger along the screen, right over the wall. “The sick bitch threw me against it.” She fought back tears. “And then he found the kids. He left me there to die while I heard them screaming and running away… he was gonna kill them… he went to go kill them….” She looked at everyone else once more. “They were trapped with that monster.”

Sympathetic, Bridget maintained eye contact with Amanda. Through their differences, Bridget did realize they were now sharing a bond because of this house and its strange occurrences.

“And I couldn’t do anything,” Amanda continued, her voice trembling. “I couldn’t save them…” With the pent-up anger of regret, she slammed her fist against the desk. “They didn’t have a chance! Michael and Amy didn’t have a chance with him… I left them alone!” She looked down at the keyboard, her body quiet and still like a melancholy statue.

No one tried to intervene. No one until Kevin that is.

“Amanda,” Kevin said as he cautiously reached toward her.

Amanda looked up at them all with abrupt sharpness. “The blood on that wall,” she started. Her eyes locked in on the disturbed Bridget. “That was my blood you saw on there, Bridget.”

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