Haunted Love {Colby Brock}

Thirty

Everyone decided to set up in a different spot since there was so many areas we wanted to be covered up here.

Angelina sat behind the nurses station so she didn't have to move around too much, and Sam set a wide angle camera up there with her.

Ryan stayed to the far right towards Charlotte and Tucker's room.

Kat sat in a chair with a camera pointed down the hall where we previously saw the shadow figures. Sam stayed beside her with a XLS camera to further prove what we would see.

I felt drawn to John's room, so Colby and I started in there.

I walked into the room and went straight over to the window, looking down. It honestly pains me to think of someone falling out from here... what their final moments of life were like... the thoughts before it all came to a sudden end.

"You're back."

I heard a voice say, which caused me to turn around.

Standing in the doorway of the room was a man.

"Who are you?" I asked, causing Colby to point the camera towards the door. "Is someone here?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I'm John, you felt me last time but now you have the ability to finally see me."

"So you can get your truth out." I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You're my chance to be able to finally rest."

"You don't want to be here anymore?" I asked.

"Hill View was not the life that any of us deserved, to be dropped off and forgotten about. Something dark latched onto this building, something not human... it tormented us and here they treated us like we were insane. We just wanted to be heard. But they never took us seriously, it was more of a reason to be drugged so they had less to deal with."

"Times back then we're different, I agree. It's absolutely not fair how things were back then, so it makes me happier that places like these got shut down. So many things about life were not understood back then. I'm surprised the stories of people seeing Jeffery and passing away within 24 hours didn't cause more heads to turn." I said.

"There wasn't enough time, you'd be dead before anything could come of it. But that's not Jeffery."

"Let me guess, it's the shapeshifter?" I asked, and he nodded.

I looked over at Colby, "that honestly makes a lot of sense."

"What does?" He asked.

"It's not Jeffery that people would see before they died, it's the shapeshifter. I couldn't imagine how seeing a little boy would do this."

"What does that mean for you though? You saw it tonight." Colby asked, taking his bottom lip between his teeth.

"You're fine."

"John says I'm okay." I looked between him and Colby.

"I don't want to come off rude in any way, but how do we know that she will be okay?" Colby asked. "She's kinda prone to stuff happening to her during investigations."

"It's different because she can see us. She's gifted. The people who do see the shapeshifter don't have her abilities. She's immune to him."

"That's interesting." I paused for a moment. "I'm immune to it because of my abilities."

"That's a relief." Colby said.

He propped the camera up on a table and pulled out a small handheld thermal camera and panned it across the room.

"Is that him over there?" He asked, glancing over at me.

"Wave to him." I said to John, and watched as he did what I said.

"Dude, what the hell?! That's so crazy to see in real time." Colby exclaimed.

"Welcome to my world." I said with a smirk.

I turned my attention back to John.

"So you want to rest, you want to be free of this building. Frankly I don't blame you for how you were treated and your death. That's haunting in itself. How can I help you?" I asked. "I have helped a spirit cross over before."

"I just want my truth to be told. My story needs to be heard, it's the only thing holding me here."

"I was told that you jumped, but I heard that you've told people through EVP's that you were pushed. What really happened?"

"I didn't do this to myself. I saw it... I saw... him. I didn't jump out of that window. It might've been hard to have been a live in patient here, but I didn't want to kill myself. He pushed me out, he did this to me. On a daily he taunts his victims that are here. I don't want to be apart of this anymore, I want to be free. Please help me, Sophia..."

My heart broke as I felt a sudden burst of the most intense sadness.

John was using me to channel his emotions, his hurt, his pain. It felt like my heart was being ripped into pieces.

Nobody deserves to have their life end so suddenly and tragically, he deserved for people to know the truth that this wasn't it.

"I'll tell your story." I said, placing my hand over my heart. I looked at Colby who still had the thermal in his hand. "Keep both of those pointed in his direction, we're going to help him cross over."

I walked closer towards John and stood beside him.

"One thing I like to use my ability for is to help the restless spirits that are trapped. John wants to be free, and you are going to witness us help him get what he's been waiting for." I glanced over at John and flashed him a soft smile.

"Everyone deserves to rest peacefully once they pass. Well, as long as you're a good person. But John here, his story hasn't been told right after all of these years. John did not jump from this window over here as end his life." I paused for a moment.

"As the story is told, and which you heard Danielle say earlier that they had reports of people seeing the spirit of Jeffery and dying within 24 hours. The truth is that they are seeing the shapeshifter. The same one I saw earlier, the same one Danielle even confirmed that I saw. John was a victim of seeing the shapeshifter, and he was also a victim of this dark force pushing him out of the window. John didn't want to end his life, but this dark force wasn't going to let him live through seeing him. Even in the afterlife he is still tainted by this force. Tonight, we tell your story and surround you with peace. Is there any last things that you would like to say?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Tell the workers that I will miss talking to them, but I am happy to be free. Thank you Sophia for issuing your gift for good, you helped me achieve what I wanted since the day I came here... to be free."

I smiled softly as I watched him slowly dissipated until he was gone.