Gengar

Chapter 3

You were hunched over your backpack, somewhere on the second floor of the house. The tripod you set up moments before was right behind you, standing tall, ready for the temperature camera to sit on top. It's been about half an hour since you stepped foot inside the house, and you were pleased that those large, sinister red eyes were nowhere to be seen.

When you finished turning on the temperature gauge, you set the camera on the tripod. As soon as it clicked, the screen lit up and showed various light blue waves, reflecting the cool temperatures of the surrounding areas. You moved the tripod around a bit just to make sure everything was working normally, and it seemed to be working just fine. When you turned the camera around to face you, the screen read your warmth—a bright red-orange silhouette the shape of you, standing out loudly among all the blue and white light. Perfect.

As soon as you began setting the tripod back down, you saw something on the screen from the corner of your eye. You moved your eyes to lock in on what it could be—and immediately froze in place.

What you saw on the screen shot a jolt of fear shooting down your spine, causing all the hairs on your body to stand straight up.

Directly behind you stood a dark, massive void at least three times your size. It was the darkest purple you've ever seen, indicating the lowest temperature the camera could gauge.

You twisted your head behind you with lightning speed, but saw nothing. However, you suddenly felt a cold sensation wash over you, causing a sharp gasp to escape from your mouth. You could see your cloud of breath in front of you. The temperature around you suddenly dropped what felt like fifteen degrees.

"Hello?" You blurted out, your pitch three times higher than usual.

You didn't hear anything, but the ice-cold sensation remained. You quickly looked back at the temperature screen, horrified to see that the large, dark shape was still there. You whipped out the Spirit Box as fast as you could with shaking hands, trying to keep your breath under control.

"Who's there?" You demanded, the device screeching with white noise.

After about three seconds, the static noise started wavering—as if it was being dipped in water. You turned the device over to check the battery, just in case the wavering sound was indicating that the Spirit Box was running out of power. To your dismay, the battery light was a beaming bright green color; not even close to low.

The dipping static sound suddenly grew silent. The Spirit Box, usually loud with blaring white noise, was now a low rumble, something you never expected to happen nor have ever heard happen. Before you had time to do anything or come to any conclusions, a piercing sound suddenly came through the speaker. It was the same snickering you heard earlier in your car. However, this time, the cackling was louder—as if it was coming from right next to you.

You immediately checked the temperature screen again. The dark void was gone. Only the bright orange silhouette that was your reflection remained. You immediately took your phone out of your pocket, holding it up to your mouth.

"Okay, I don't know if y'all just heard that laughing sound, but something was literally cackling through the Spirit Box. You didn't see it, but a huge dark shadow showed up on my temperature screen too."

Your eyes hastily darted across the room while speaking into your phone. You received a few message notifications since recording, but didn't open your inbox. Instead, you put your phone back in your pocket and grabbed your flashlight to scan the area.

The temperature still lower than usual, you pointed your flashlight at the area where your camera picked up the shadow. The only thing on the other side of the light was the wooden wall ahead of you, cracked and layered with dust. With nothing out of place, you started to grow a little frustrated; until you heard the footsteps.

Distinct, heavy footsteps started approaching you, coming from the bottom of the staircase. You whipped your flashlight towards the stairs, your heartbeat rapidly increasing. Before you had time to fully panic, a disheveled, dirty man suddenly appeared in your vision. A man in his mid-forties, standing directly ahead of you, locked his eyes with yours. His expression was furious, rabid.

Oh my God, it's a squatter!

Your worst fear—far worse than a ghost—suddenly came to life. An actual person was staying in this house. You were now face-to-face with a potentially dangerous man, who saw you as an intruder.

"Um, hey, I'm sorry if I—"

Before you could finish, he suddenly broke into a sprint—heading towards you.

You screamed at the top of your lungs and cowered into a ball, waiting for contact and possibly the last moment of your life. Once the scream fully escaped your chest, you tensed your entire body and braced for impact.

But none came.

You looked up. The man was frozen in place, right where he was when he started running towards you, like an unmoving statue. It was like someone suddenly hit pause while he was running—he had one arm in front of him and was perfectly still on one leg. His eyes were wide, still staring right at you, in a frozen state of... blankness. You noticed something else about his eyes... they were now blood red.

You stumbled backwards, unable to break your gaze from the paralyzed man. Before you could even begin to speculate, his head suddenly jolted up, facing the ceiling. A dark, swirling cloud started escaping from his mouth, like smoke, slowly forming into a large shadow above his head. This continued on until a massive, dark shape fully formed above the man, growing darker and larger the more that snaked out of his mouth.

He suddenly slumped over and hit the floor like a rag doll. Your eyes broke contact with the man as you slowly began to look up.

An enormous black shadow was floating in the air, hovering above the lifeless squatter. Your breath stopped. Piercing through the black shadow was a pair of large, sinister, ominous red eyes, making direct eye contact with you.

It was the same pair of red eyes from your photo.