Chapter 14
“Okay, I think that’s a wrap!” Joey called out, as he switched off his camera and hoist it off his shoulder. “Finally. Can’t wait to get out of this craphole. My neck is killin’ me.”
“Well, we’ve still gotta collect all the EVP recorders and check to see if we left anything else lyin’ around,” Alex said. “Let’s split into two groups and sweep each wing inwards to the middle.”
Ben grasped Sam’s hand. “I’m with Iris,” he said quickly.
“No duh,” Alex teased. “Now, let’s get a move on.”
The two pairs went in opposite directions down the long corridors.
“I’ll follow the others, check for suspicious activity,” said Addison, before looking down at her handlink. “Oh, great. Thanks a lot, Magic.” She rolled her eyes. “I guess you’ll have someone to keep you guys company. Janis is coming in.”
At this, Ben and Sam spun around.
“Janis?” Sam murmured. “In your Imaging Chamber?”
Addison nodded, but didn’t look pleased about the development.
Ben took a step towards her, hand extended. “Listen, Addison. I know you guys didn’t get off on the right foot,” he said, “but she helped me save your life. I don’t remember that much about her as a person, but I do remember she was committed to our goal, and I trusted her. Give her a chance.”
Ben became aware that Sam was watching him intently.
“Well, I’m sure we can hug it out later,” Addison said flatly. “For now, I’ve gotta go do my job. Have fun with her.” With that, she tapped her handlink and vanished.
A moment later, Janis materialised in her place, facing the other way and holding a secondary handlink. She turned, taking in the spooky surrounds, and finally her eyes landed on the pair of leapers.
For a moment, she stood speechless. She raised a hand to her mouth, blinking back tears.
“You look so much older,” she squeaked, stepping towards Sam.
“I’m not the only one,” Sam said, looking her up and down with wonder. “Look at you… what are you—” he squinted, “—2023… thirty-six? Thirty-seven?”
“Thirty-six for now,” she said quietly.
“I’ve checked in on you occasionally,” Sam continued. “You’re brilliant, you know. Your Dad must have been so proud.”
Janis looked down. “Yeah. He told me all the time.” Brushing off her grief, she turned to Ben. “Hey, Ben. Nice to finally talk without you leaping away immediately.”
Ben chuckled. “And yet, you still managed to show up while I’m scared out of my wits.”
“Speaking of which,” Sam interjected, “We have a little work to do before we can leave this godawful place behind for good. Let’s get a move on.”
The three continued down the corridor to the room at the end, which was a padded room. The door had a little viewing window, like the occupant was some kind of zoo animal. It gave Ben the creeps.
He and Sam entered the room, shining their headlamps around, as Janis passed through the wall behind them.
“Uncle Sam?” Janis said in a quiet, restrained voice. “My Dad… he really missed you. I know he would have died satisfied, if only he’d got to talk to you one last time.”
Sam paused, and turned to her with red-rimmed eyes. “I’m sorry, Janis.”
“But you still could…” Ben said slowly. “It’s 2010. He’s alive. You could call him, Sam.”
“It’s not safe,” Sam said, shaking his head, bending down to collect the audio recorder positioned in the centre of the floor.
“Wait…” Janis said. “With me here… I can walk you through making a fully untraceable VoIP call through my secure servers. We can do this, Sam. You just need to get to an internet-connected computer.”
Ben stepped inside the room, grinning. “Maybe that’s why we’re here, together like this.”
The dawning hope on Sam’s face was interrupted by the door of the padded room slamming shut without warning, making all three present flinch.
Ben turned to Sam, mouth open, trying to find his way to forming words.
Sam’s brow crinkled. “Bernoulli effect… right?”
“Yeah. Just what I was thinking,” Ben said, trying to banish the worry from his voice.
He reached for the door handle—there wasn’t one. The door wasn’t made to open from the inside.
“Oh boy,” Sam said.
Ben pushed at the door. Nothing. He kicked at the door. It wouldn’t budge.
“Dammit,” he grunted. “The place is falling apart and we happen to get locked in the one part of it that’s structurally sound.”
Sam reached for his belt, and detached his walkie-talkie. He flicked the on/off switch a few times, before smacking it on the side.
“It’s dead…” he said, alarmed. “Is yours—?”
Ben was already fiddling with his, and the same thing was happening. No response.
He became aware that the needle of his EMF meter, also attached to his belt, was moving wildly.
“This isn’t happening…”
“What the hell?” Janis said, eyes wide. She looked down at the handlink she was holding and began swiping on it. “I’m gonna go tell Addison what’s happening. Sit tight.”
She dematerialised from the room, leaving Ben and Sam alone in silence.
“You, uh, think it’s Uncle Walter?” Ben attempted to joke, but it didn’t make Sam laugh.
Sam sat himself on the filthy padded floor. “I’ve never seen this room before, but it’s giving me a bad feeling. A lot like I felt in the electroshock room.”
He wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his head in them as he attempted to calm his breathing. It wasn’t working.
Ben sat beside him, placing a hand gently on the man’s upper back. “Do you… do you think there is something unexplainable going on?”
“I don’t know,” Sam admitted. “It wouldn’t be the first time something happened that I couldn’t explain. But why did it have to be here?”
“Sam… what happened to you here, exactly?”
“I don’t want to relive that,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t…”
“Alright, I won’t force it. Just… deep breaths, okay?”
In Ben’s periphery, he saw the EMF meter spike again, and a moment later, he felt something vibrating under him. He placed a hand on the cushioned flooring and felt a distinct buzzing coming from somewhere under the surface.
“Do you feel that?” he asked Sam, but it was clear by the look on his face that he did. He joined Ben in feeling the floor, and their hands converged on the strongest point, where there was a tiny, frayed rip in the surface.
They looked at one another, silently asking the other if they dared tear up the padding to see what lay beneath.
Finally, it was Ben that made the move. He plunged his fingers into the opening and pulled, ripping up foam and rubber.
And there, in a place it should—could never have been, was Iris’s phone again, vibrating among the stuffing.
“Oh, hell no…” Ben said, jumping back from the unbelievable discovery.
Sam was shaking his head, scrambling back against the wall. “No… why won’t it leave me alone…”
Ben shoved a hand in his pocket, fingers closing around a fistful of McDonald’s salt packages.
“Ghosts—um—hate salt, right?” he asked Sam, who just looked at him without comprehension of the question. “Well, I guess we’re about to find out.”