Perception (Apparition Investigations #1)

Case #2: Hell's Gate: Part 10

We spent the interim time formulating a plan at Rose's apartment. At least, that's technically what we were supposed to be doing. Somehow, during those formulations, Netflix came on and we ended up binging Disney movies.

Probably to calm us down. Try as she might to appear unfazed, I could tell our fearless leader was worried. We were going after ghosts here. Ghosts, we believed, might have been involved in the disappearance of one person already.

Our plan, if it could be called that, was essentially sticking close to Noah and recording everything we could. Then we'd take the data and analyze it tomorrow. Hopefully, something we picked up at Hell's Gate would give us an indication as to where Esperanza was. Or who had taken her.

Noah showed up a little after seven with a pizza and a request to put on Hercules. For the next hour, we silently munched on the pizza and watched the Disney movie. And the ticking of the clock on Rose's mantle counted down our time.

"It's time," Rose whispered at nine.

We climbed into my car. We'd moved the equipment into it when we'd taken it down from our testing at my apartment. My car was still the most professional-looking out of the bunch. If something happened, and we needed to call in the police for some reason, Rose figured they'd take us more seriously in my car instead of hers.

Even though music drifted from the radio, the silence in the car felt heavy. And full. Expectant.

No one had any idea what we were walking in to.

For my part, I didn't think it would be as terrible as it'd been at my apartment, when Nathan Elgin had tried to kill us all. But that was the only experience I could draw from in thinking about this hunt. And even though I didn't think it would be like that, part of me wondered if maybe it would be exactly like that. All over again.

Finally, the silence felt too thick, too pregnant, and I couldn't take it anymore. I cleared my throat before I spoke, testing out the waters. The sound felt intrusive, but I couldn't sit in silence anymore. "I noticed Bronte wasn't there tonight. Hot date?"

Rose snorted out what might have been a laugh, if our present destination were different. "No. Parent's house."

"How come?"

"I told her what we were planning for tonight."

"Ah."

Rose let out a shuddering sigh. "Anyone else feel jittery?"

"It's the adrenaline," Noah said softly from the backseat.

"It sucks."

"We could always turn back."

She shook her head. "No. We're doing this. But I'm not going to force you—if you don't want to come, you don't have to."

"I'm not letting you go in there alone," Noah said with more conviction than I'd expected.

"Ditto," I added.

Out of my periphery, I could see her shoulders visibly relax. "Thanks."

I pulled up to the curb and parked. It felt too soon to be there. Like I'd blinked and we'd arrived.

For a minute, no one moved. No on undid their seatbelts or reached for the doors. Our eyes were all focused on the darkness where the bridge would be. We couldn't see it—not with the moonless night and the broken streetlamps dotting the road. But we knew where it was in the dark. And we all watched it.