spooky time off the clock
“Is this necessary?”
“Absolutely.“ Melanie was bundled much better than Jon as they trekked across snowscape to an unlit house.
“I get you were ready to venture into a building that hasn’t seen heat since winter, but you could’ve let me know…” Jon was in a jacket and scarf. Ready for a walk from the tube to a bar where they planned to meet up, not ready to venture out of London to explore an abandoned building.
“I thought you Knew everything?”
“I-it doesn’t work like that. I’ve told you I can’t see the future or how a chain of events is going to play out.” He blew into his hands to prepare to jump a gated fence. Melanie was prepped to jump it, having pulled some stretches while Jon complained.
“Pity. you didn’t have to come.”
“You wouldn’t have let me live it down.”
“Never said there wouldn’t have been repercussions if you didn’t come, just said you didn’t have to.”
Jon scoffed at her.
“You ready to jump Mr.Sims?”
“No. but I don’t have much choice I’d say at this point. Being in there would at least be a break from the wind.”
“There’s the spirit.” Melanie took a bit of a run, before she jumped over the gate. Jon was impressed she was as nimble as she was, even pre-bullet. Jon however, was much less grateful. If cops could profile him by the imprint he left of his face in the snow, he deserved any fine for trespassing.
“Hm. Good thing I didn’t give you the camera. Come-on.” She offered Jon a hand up. He muttered a ‘thanks’ as he got to his feet.
“So, this ghost of yours, you think it only shows on new moons because...?”
“Well, as the story goes, she was sensitive to light, and the only nights that she could bare to even leave her darkened room was on the nights of the new moon when the nights were the darkest. After she passed away, no one even noticed for a month when she didn’t come out for her once a month night stroll.”
“That sounds like a campfire tale from children…”
“Please, I’ve got more credit than that. I looked into the last owner of this estate, and things did line up pretty nicely, but it wasn’t that she was sensitive to light, so much as she was an astrology nut and would get the best views while the moon wasn’t filling the sky with light. She was a real eccentric one from what I read. Used your spooky library for that information.” Melanie waved for Jon to hurry up, a recorder was in her hand and it was on.
“Are you, when did you get that?”
“Oh, picked it up when I helped you up. It was already on so thought might be able to use anything we talk about in the show. Put some nice night shots of it snowing to go with the audio. You really got quite the habit of carrying these around.”
“I told you. I don’t carry them. They sort of follow me. Show up when I need them.”
“Yeah, I know. They show up when something abnormal is about to happen. Which is a good sign for me. Shame my camera team was busy. Think you can use it without corrupting it?”
“The camera?”
“Yeah. Can you or just touching it make static?”
Jon paused. He’d never tried recording. Theoretically, it would be the same as him watching, so might work? He knew looking into the lens would mess with it, like how he had messed with the institute's cameras. Jon Knew after a moment that if he was the one holding the camera it would not only record, but have his sight.
“I can. There will be interference, but the footage will be useful.”
“Good. Here ya go.” She reached into her bag and tossed him a small handheld video recorder. “Keep it steady. Nothing worse than a shaky cam.”
---
“Bloody hell. Did you get that?”
“Yeah. probably more clearly than your eyes even saw it…”
“Unless it’s recorded those colors you teased about.”
“Look, one, to my eyes, the pants did not match. Two. I don’t think cameras can record some of the colors I see.”
“Brag.”
Jon made a tsk noise.
“Now move over and show me the footage.” Melanie was looking over Jon’s shoulders, while he hit play.
The video followed Melanie while she talked only to get responses in static in return. Then when they turned a corner, there were reflections from a pair of eyes, like a cat or what Jon’s does when he is caught sitting in the dark.
The footage focuses on a woman in an old 50’s styled looked, staring right back at the camera, her eyes void black.
Melanie’s scream is heard in the footage, then all the sound is replaced by static as the woman says something then fades into the darkness.
“Think the tape recorder caught that? Whatever she said?”
“Probably? It’s never had a hard time before with any of the other encounters.”
“Hmm, she looked to solid to be a ghost in the film, but I could barely make her out from the shadows…” Melanie started to fiddle with the tape recorder to rewind it.
She hit play and their conversation played back.
“Next time please let me know to dress for colder places.”
“If you got to be such a wimp about it, can’t you do that ‘watching everywhere’ thing through the place and see if there is anyone here?
“It’s not that simple. They aren’t like drones or anything. If there isn’t anything interesting to look at, it’s harder to see whats going on”
“Pity, coulda been helpful.”
“Trust me, I know. Right now the only thing that my eyes are doing is making me colder. You know that sting in your eyes when it’s cold?”
“Yeah. Where when the wind blows it makes my eyes water so they don’t freeze?”
“Now picture that on every surface of your body.” Jon’s voice was very flat.
“Oh. OH. I never- fuck that sucks. Okay, I take back the-” Melanie lets out a gasp.
“Melanie, Stop.”
“͕͇̱̆͒̎L͇͓̏̄e͕̫̋̓ą̧̳̿̓͝v̫͎̻̩̒̈́̊̚e n̨̜̍̆o̻͊w̡̡̲̥̋̒̌͗ o̙͚̝͐̔͘r̛͙ t̛̻͉͚̘̣͊͆̎h̯̖̪̐͋̆͞ͅȩ̜͓̘͐̆́͠ ḑ̥͂̕ḁ̔r͇̩̞͗͛́́͜k̰͝n͙͓̚e̡͖̟͊͛̍s͖̬͔̈̕͞s͈̏̿͜ ŵ̨̘̦̞͛̕i̢̭̎̓́͢l̻̈l̺͕̚ ç̱̣̹̣̏͋̊̿̇o͉̾ḿ̮̺͇̑ę̞͚̒̋̕.”̧̄
“Shit Jon are you getting this???”
“That's what you are concerned with?!”
Then that is when the audio continues their conversation.
“Christ, this is brilliant. I can make it out. Now to figure out how to get it to stick digitally. Or maybe I can try to recreate it? Since got real usable footage to go with it.”
“You don’t think it’ll look too fake?”
“Hmm that's not much a problem, gunna get some people who will think so. I’d expect you would be among them if you weren’t an eyeball horror. The quality you got, my editors are good, but not that good. So gunna be hard to get the skeptics fuel.” She laughed when Jon made a face at being called an eyeball horror. Melanie made a point to not call Jon monster if she could avoid it.
“You should quit your job and join me in a Youtube career. You’re a natural at keeping it still, skin condition aside.”
“I can’t quit. I literally get my meals from the people that come in.”
“Youtube comments can be full of horror stories?”
Jon let out a laugh. “Not the kind I eat.”
Melanie shrugged. “Onward?”
“Ominous figure warning and freezing horror not enough to stop you, so I guess lead the way.” Jon’s groan had a bit of static in it from frustration.