Paranormal Summer (Indigo Moon Rising) (12 page)

"11:00 on the dot. How do you do it?" Jillian asked as Ryan walked onto the front porch of the cabin. He shook his head, rolled his eyes and set down his backpack.

"Have paranormal equipment, will travel! Okay, I have one camera, one emf/temp gauge and one recorder. Who knows how to use what?" The girls both smiled politely at him. "Let's get started then. There are rules when you investigate. You need to make sure you are able to get the best evidence, and supportive evidence you can, and eliminate any possibility of contaminating the location. Now, number one, no perfume, if there is something for us to smell, it shouldn't be you. Number two, no shiny objects on your clothes or jewelry. Shiny things distract me. And, if you see something reflect light during the investigation, say it. Metals, mirrors and glass can make things look different in the camera's eyes. Number three, no whispering. Say everything at a normal volume and say it clearly. Number four, no screaming and running, unless we all do it together. Number five, we don't have any electricity to worry about here so what the emf meter picks up should be energies of any spirits. We will get a baseline for the rooms. The temperature gauge should be read aloud periodically. If there is a fluctuation it should be read out loud and photographed. Number six, the camera should be used if you think you see, feel or hear something. If the emf/temp gauge is spiking, you will need to get a picture of what is going on, but no random shooting. The camera time is also synced to the time on the digital recorder to help corroborate simultaneous evidence.

Number seven, if you notice any types of fog, orbs, shadows or a manifestation, mention it. Try to get as much evidence as possible. We can then look at the photos and listen to the audio recordings for secondary evidence. If someone has had any type of physical contact, mention it, tell us where, we will confirm emf/temperature, and photograph it. Number eight, if we are outside, we need to be aware of what kind of wildlife is awake and mobile at the time, bats, moths, bugs and coyotes. Number nine, never walk away from the group, or let anyone separate from the group. If that were to happen, our return point in this instance would be....the front porch. Number 10, if you encounter any strange feelings, tell the others. This may be what the spirit is feeling, translated through you. Could be anger or fear or anthing you weren’t previously feeling. Number 11, above all, we must be extremely respectful of who is here. They must have a reason to have stayed. Emmy and anyone else. Any questions?" The girls both shook their heads.

Ryan turned the camera on and, walking around the entire perimeter, shot pictures around the outside of the cabin. He showed Jillian where the shutter release and the viewfinder were and handed it to her. Turning on the audio recorder, he said the date, time, and location and the name of the three investigators. He then showed Sonya where the record and stop buttons were. Picking up the emf/temp gauge and holding it out in front of him, he looked at Sonya and said, "You can start recording now." He walked onto the front porch with the two girls closely behind him.

"63 degrees on the front porch. 61..........61..........62 degrees in the big room. 59......59...58 degrees in the small room" he said as he walked back into the big room. "Sonya, do you want to ask the questions?"

Sonya nodded, "Hi, it's us again. We have come back to talk to you. This thing I have in my hand will make a copy of your voice in case we can't hear you with our ears. Jillian has a camera to make a picture of what we can or can't see of you. What Ryan has in his hand can measure your energy and temperature. So we are here to help you. Sometimes I can make things move or disappear. Can you do that? Can you make noises that we can hear? Can you just talk to us and tell us what happened and what we can do?" Sonya stood dead still trying to listen to any sound Emmy might make.

Slowly the energy of the room began to change. "60, 59, 57,55,50,44. 44 degrees. The emf is starting to move. Thank you Emmy, is that you? You're doing it. Please stay close to me," Ryan said as he slowly walked around the room and stooped to where the hole in the wall was. Jillian was standing there, staring at the blackness outside. She started snapping pictures into what had been the gardens, and each time the flash illumined the overgrown brush Ryan saw Emmy standing in the sunlight amongst her plants.

Jillian stopped shooting.
"Everything was fine," a voice said from Jillian's lips. "The spring rains were over and the sun was warming the soil for the plants to grow. Elizabeth was playing."

Ryan was transfixed on her, again seeing Emmy. "And then you had a visitor," he said as he watched Jillian. "You took the woman into the house and made something for her. She paid you. When you came out you didn't see Elizabeth. You started looking around, thinking she was playing hide and go seek. But she was nowhere to be found. You saw something moving in the woods. It was a man. The woman saw him too and ran. You looked everywhere for your baby. She was gone. You kept looking and looking, everywhere. And darkness began to fall...a mob of townspeople came here asking where Elizabeth was. What did it matter to them? They did not want your kind in their town. They weren't there to help you find her, either. They said you killed her. They tried to take you back by force, but you ran and hid. No one knew the woods like you did. They chased after you. All but the husband that followed his wife here. He threw the lantern onto the roof to burn the house down. Emmy, he did not take Elizabeth. That's what you were thinking. He had just followed his wife here. He wanted to get rid of you. He told the people in town that he saw you murder her."

"But his wife was here to receive my help. They wanted a baby. They couldn't do it on their own. I gave her herbs to help them conceive. And he tried to kill me?" She started yelling, "Elizabeth.....Mommies here looking for you. Please, where are you?”
The sobbing became so severe that they could not understand what was said after that.

Ryan and Sonya both grabbed Jillian and held her until she stopped crying. "Thank you Emmy. I think that is all we can do tonight," Sonya said.

Ryan took the camera from Jillian and began snapping pictures towards the front door. "Did you hear that?" Ryan asked, eyes wide. The girls shook their head. "I heard laughing, a child's laugh from there." He pointed towards the front door. "Elizabeth, is that you?" He saw something move on the porch, was it Elizabeth? It moved out toward the pond. The camera showed something blurry, but it didn't look like a child.

As they walked back through the woods to the dirt road, they were all wondering the same thing. What were they getting themselves into? It felt like the three of them were connected. Really connected, like they had been together before and what they were doing somehow just 'felt right'. Jillian thought what had happened was incredible. But she couldn't tell anyone that she had channeled a distressed spirit who was looking for its missing child.

Again they went their own direction when they got to "Wicked Way" and the girls, deep in thought, in their own minds were wondering how this was going to play out. Were they going to be able to help Emmy, or would something get in their way and stop them? The girls said their goodbyes at the Bed and Breakfast; Jillian was on her own.

When she walked into the yard of her aunt's house, it was after midnight, and she wondered if she was going to get in trouble. They had never talked about curfew, and the cell phones never worked anyway, so she was apprehensive as to what she was facing. There was a strange car in the driveway, and when she got into the kitchen she could hear the television in the living room.

She quietly walked into the hallway that passed the living room and peeked in. A woman with long, curly, ginger-red hair, who wasn't Aunt Jana, turned around and smiled. Jillian smiled back. Aunt Jana turned and held up a bowl of popcorn and waved Jillian into the room. Jillian shook her head, yawned and waved goodnight. Aunt Jana blew her a kiss, and Jillian felt relieved. No cause and no effect.

Heading down the hall, she stopped for a second and was silent. She listened. She thought she heard the sound of a piano playing. As she approached the library, the door was ajar, so she knocked. No one answered, so she swung the door open slowly and looked inside. The room was dark except for the moonlight streaming through the window, across the room to the piano seat. Jillian swallowed hard and took a deep breath. It must have been the movie in the living room she told herself. As she walked the rest of the way down the hall to her bedroom door she studied the pictures on the walls. There was one she hadn't noticed before (of course) of a young girl in front of a waterfall. She looked Shirley Templ-ish. Its label said 'Amanda 13 Yrs. old.' Thinking there was something oddly familiar about it, she decided to look at it again tomorrow. Quietly she opened her bedroom door and snuck in. Just as she got her face near Tiffany's, she opened her eyes and said "Meow.” Jillian giggled and rushed to get ready for bed so she could tell Tiffany all about her day. That was something absolutely purr-fect about Tiffany. She never criticized Jillian or told her she was weird or crazy. She just wanted to be held and would purr whenever Jillian needed it.

As she was winding down, telling Tiffany about another crazy experience, she asked her how her day was as she laid down in bed and put Tiffany Marie on her chest. She replied with a yawn and stretched out as far as she could go, stretching all the way down to her toes. She closed her eyes and started to purr to Jillian.
How blessed I am,
Jillian thought.

Jillian opened her eyes. “Oh, how beautiful,” she said. To the left was a field filled with flowers. In the horizon above the flowers, there were butterflies and bees dancing in the gentle breeze. To the right was a sandy shoreline edged by an endless aqua ocean. The waves crashed on the beach and retreated, painting whimsical portraits in the sand.

Illianna was there, bobbing her head, like saying YES! YES! She reared up onto her hind legs and dashed off into the sand, running with her long white mane and tail flowing in the wind. Jillian started laughing and began to chase after her, unable to even get close! Finally Illianna stopped.

“Would you like to ride instead of run?”

“
I have never ridden a horse before,” Jillian said.

“
Please climb on,” Illianna said as she lowered her front half and powerful neck, close to Jillian. “Grab my mane, and pull yourself up.”

Jillian did just that. Illianna stood tall and proud. She started walking slowly to feel how Jillian responded to the movement of her body underneath. She started to gallop and when she felt that Jillian was ready, she broke into a run. Faster and faster she went, until it seemed like she was effortlessly soaring above the sand. Jillian couldn't imagine anything feeling better than this. It was as if her heart was wide open. She felt like she was one with Illianna and the sand and the wind. There were no limits, and no boundaries to her spirit.

They must have covered miles before Illianna slowed down to stop. She reared on her hind legs again, kicking her hooves in midair. The majestic white horse stepped forward and backward a few times and then landed gently on all fours.

“
Wow,” Jillian said, brushing the hair from her face. “That was awesome!"

Illianna snorted and then smiled, “That did feel good!”

The two sat on the beach, basking in the warm sun. They watched the fluffy white clouds floating overhead. “That one looks like a cupid, and that one looks like a tulip. I think that one over there looks like a rabbit and a baby hedgehog.” Jillian said.

“
Well, where are all of the kits hiding?” a voice said from the edge of the meadow. Jillian looked, and there was a rabbit looking up to the clouds. “That one looks like a heart,” the rabbit said, pointing to a cloud, and then realizing that Jillian was staring at her. Jillian didn't look at the clouds. She couldn't stop looking at the rabbit. What was it about her?