Phantom Lens

Chapter 6

"So is there a reason you slept down here last night?" Noah asked, Caleb in his arms.

"Wha- what happened? Where am I?" Gwen groaned as she opened her eyes, feeling for any broken bones. She looked up at her husband's disgruntled face, "Noah? Are you okay? Where's Harmony?"

He sighed in response to the panic in her voice, "Gwen, what's going on with you?"

"Noah...where's Harmony?" Gwen pushed herself up from the ground and started shouting her daughter's name, "Harmony! Harmony get down here!"

"Stop it," Noah turned Caleb away from his mother. He made soothing noises to calm his son down. "She's asleep in her room. What's the matter with you?"

Gwen's hands tangled themselves in her hair as she fought back tears, "We're not safe here, Noah. We're not safe."

"Is this about last night? Pull yourself together. We are safe, remember? The police came and checked the house. I'm even having them install a security system."

"He's coming for us...he's a murderer," she mumbled, her lips quivering.

"Gwen, what are you talking about? Who's a murderer?" Noah's brows furled in confusion. "Are you talking about the man from last night? You didn't even see his face. How would you possibly know if he's a murderer or not?"

"He killed Maria," Gwen grabbed her phone which was still on the ground. "I read it on the Internet. They called him the Boogeyman! Don't you see what's happening here? That wasn't a burglar last night. It was a ghost. Some kind of...of spirit or phantom...and I can see him with my phone!"

Noah silently stared at his wife for a few moments before answering, disappointment laced in his voice, "I see exactly what's happening here."

"You do?"

He nodded, "You're doing all of this to try and make me be okay with you writing your scary stories again, aren't you? You finally have a good idea for a story and now you want to write about it."

"What?"

"Gwen, I told you already. This needs to stop."

"I'm telling you the truth. Spirit photography is a real thing. That medium said a spirit has to have a high level of energy to be captured on film. Look!" She turned on her phone, "I recorded it last night...look!" She shoved the phone into her husband's free hand.

He gave a bitter laugh, "What am I looking at exactly?"

"Don't you see it? It looks like a dark fog or something and it's coming at me," Gwen insisted.

"This just looks like a dark room to me with you talking to yourself in the darkness. Honestly Gwen...you're starting to worry me."

Gwen felt an emptiness fill her as she slowly turned away from her husband. Her eyes latched on to her laptop and she pulled up the article about the man nicknamed the Boogeyman.

"I know you think I'm crazy Noah but it's true that there's something in this house. Something evil. This article explains it all. This man...this Felix...he used to suffocate children. Maria, Harmony's imaginary friend, was one of his victims. They were Mexican-Americans. They spoke Spanish! How else can you explain Harmony knowing a foreign language? And don't tell me it's from some damned cartoon because they don't teach you creepy lullabies! Why won't you believe me?"

She was breathing heavily as her hysteria was rising.

"Alright," he said softly. "Alright, I believe you."