Indigo Shadow - Hemlock

Chapter 7

"Okay, guys. Are you ready for the lockdown?" Brigid asked and smiled at the three guys as they stood outside of the manor. It was way past sunset, and the three men had cameras in one hand and recorders in the other. On their belts they had electromagnetic field detectors, flashlights, and batteries strapped on. Jacoby had slugged on his forest green parka and Ange had on his dark beige ranch coat. Low hanging mists swirled through the mountains, possibly signaling snow.

"Ready," Hemlock said, his voice strong despite the other two who answered with chattering teeth, their breath coming in clouds.

"Good! If you need anything, I will be up the road at my home. I live in the old chapel by the barn. Here's my number," Brigid declared quickly, as if she was building up the courage to continue her sentence and slipped a little piece of paper into Ange's coat pocket, making his eyes grow wide. She smiled and went around back of the Lodge, soon reappearing with Opal in tow. She waved, and the two of them walked up the ridge towards the golden lights of her chapel. Ange smiled and waved after her, leaving the three in the dark. He looked up at the Lodge then back down at Hemlock and Jacoby.

"Okay... Here's the plan. We all take turns investigating separate parts of the ghost town. Hemlock, you will take the Lodge. Jacoby, you can walk through the saloon and I will take the mines. Every three hours, we'll switch it up. HQ is in the atrium of the Lodge, and all infrared cameras should be set up in their correct locations. Do you all have extra batteries? How about transceivers?" Ange asked, holding up his orange walkie-talkie. "Can you handle the Lodge all by yourself, Hem?" He gestured towards the darkly lit manor. Hemlock nodded sharply.

"'K, guys. Let's do this. Report back here at midnight," Hemlock said and looked at his wristwatch, the time was 8:30pm. It had taken them almost two hours to set everything up across Howling. Ange and Jacoby walked off the porch and headed in opposite directions, each of them turning on their cameras.

Hemlock turned and faced the Lodge. The tall windows seemed to have shadows dancing behind their curtains and the groaning sound of old wood creaked from its depths, as if the house was breathing. Hemlock opened the front door and entered, the smell of pine sap and dying fire, with a hint of the evening's dinner, hung in the air. With each step, the floors creaked loudly. Hemlock tried to be quiet, but nothing worked in a Lodge this old. Once Hemlock turned all the lights off, he turned on his handheld and switched its setting to 'infrared', letting the screen on his camera turn everything a white-green color. This way, the viewer could see in the dark through the camera screen. Hemlock waved at the tripod camera that was set up in the entryway as he passed a foldout table that had recording devices, a computer, and a monitor that displayed four screens of video. He walked to his right towards the dining room, and he announced his presence into the darkness.

"Hello, my name is Hemlock. Don't be afraid to approach me. I'm going to be here awhile, so get comfortable," he called out and sat down in a dining room chair. He did a sweep of the room around him, slowly making sure his camera was able to get every corner. "Please, come out and talk with me. I won't hurt you." Hemlock reached over onto his belt and lifted a voice recorder. "See this little red light? If you speak into that I will be able to hear you better. Come and talk with me."

Hemlock placed the recorder on top of the table, hoping something would happen. He got up and walked around the room, his vision switching from camera screen to the pitch-blackness around him. He went to the dining room's doorway and peered out of it, and then pivoted back to his seat. He closed his eyes, trying to get used to the sounds of the Lodge around him: creaking wood, the windows whistling slightly in the wind, the clock in the parlor, and the random clicks from the fireplace. Nothing was happening; but this was something Hemlock wasn't surprised by. More than half of the haunts he encountered took forever to surface; either because they were shy, or just didn't care to interact on your schedule. The energy of the Lodge felt sleepy, like everything was done for the day... but Hemlock knew in the pit of his stomach that the energy could shift almost instantly; like a chain reaction. The silence went on for almost 45 minutes; and Hemlock continued to talk to the darkness, occasionally asking questions, and introducing himself... waiting and then listening to the stillness for anything at all. He then decided to make a room change, and try this tactic in the atrium. Standing up, he made his way to the dining room doorway.