Out of the Darkness

46

 "We couldn't get room B340. It was booked but I got the room that we had talked about before..you know the one," Sam said, looking through the notes section of his phone. "I figure we can just explore a little, maybe play a couple of games for both of our channels, then get on with the ghost stuff. You want to look over this?" He tried to pass me his phone but I shook my head and nodded towards the road. "I'm driving, remember?" "Oh yeah," he said, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. "Hey, I do have a suggestion though," I said, glancing at him, then back to the road. "What's that?" "The doll," I replied. "The doll? Your doll?" I nodded, and took the next exit. "Yeah. It's supposed to be haunted, right? So, let's use it to our advantage. Might make the video even more interesting. Think of the views." I knew that I was playing on the business side of his brain, but whatever worked...and I wasn't lying. It would be great for views. Sam and Colby with KnJ at the haunted Queen Mary with a haunted doll, near Halloween? It was perfect. I had a gut feeling that we might be getting in over our heads but I was always nervous before we went to do haunted things, in general. The ride was entertaining, with Sam and I laughing at Kian and JC, who were switching between fighting and being scared of what we were doing. Eventually, they tired themselves out and we all sat quietly, listening to my playlist. When we finally made it to the parking lot of the Queen Mary, I parked and killed the engine. "Okay, it's time to do the intro," I said. Sam already had his camera out because he had been filming the scenery and some of the ride. He set it up on my dashboard, and we both fixed our hair before beginning. "Ready?" he asked. I nodded and took a breath. "What's up guys, it's Sam and Colby!" I said loudly. "And todaaaayy, we've decided to revisit the past. We're sitting in the parking lot of the Queen Mary. This isn't your typical haunted Sam and Colby trip, however. We've brought a few guests that we think you'll really enjoy." He turned to look in the back seat after Kian and JC didn't say anything. "They're hiding," he whispered to me, and shook his head with a grin. "The second best duo on YouTube, Kian and JC!" I yelled, motioning towards the backseat with my hand. They popped up and started yelling incomprehensible things. I only caught the words "crack dads" and "Ham and Crosby." "Well okay," Sam said laughing. "That was a great introduction. Are you guys ready to face the ghosts aboard the Queen Mary again?" "No. I was tricked. I did not consent to this. And we're the first bestest duo on YouTube. Sand and Crockpot are no comparison," Kian said, huffing out a breath in fake irritation. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," I replied, grinning at him. "Come on, time to go." We cut the camera, and climbed out of my car. After popping the trunk and grabbing our things, me, making sure that I grabbed Anna, we headed towards the entrance of the ship. I turned the camera back in front of the entrance, under the extremely long awning and pointed it at Sam. "So, I'm sure most of you guys know about the Queen Mary, but if you don't, let's do a little history recap. The RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner who was initially in the express service. Her maiden voyage was taken in 1936. She was turned into a passenger transport ship eventually, then was officially retired. On Halloween, October 31st of 1967, the Queen Mary took her last trip from South Hampton to Long Beach California, where she remains docked today. Obviously, she was turned into a hotel, but also serves as a historical museum." "Damn, for real? This ship is olllld," JC said, looking around at the massive ship. "I think that it's probably unsafe, and that we should just go home so that we don't fall through the floors or anything." "Oh yeah? Who's scared now?" Kian taunted him, poking him in the ribs. "Sttoooopp it!" JC yelled, snatching away from him. "What I meant to say was yes. It's too dangerous and old. Let's go home," Kian said, getting in front of the camera. "Sorry, no haunted video. See ya next time kids." He waved, then started to walk off. "Kian!" I yelled, laughing at him. He turned back to us. "Why are you guys still over there? It's too dangerous. The car is this way. Shumone!" Sam and I cracked up and shook our heads. "Nope, it's safe. They keep regular maintenance performed on it," Sam yelled, motioning with his hand for Kian to come back. JC was just leaning against the side rail laughing his ass off. Kian stomped all the way back over to us, a mean look on his face. "Fine. Let's get this over with," he said. I laughed again, and kept the camera rolling while we walked inside to check in. Afterwards, Sam took the camera to let me talk about some of the strange deaths that had taken place in the ship. I pulled out my phone to make sure that I didn't fuck it up. "There are 288 deaths linked to the Queen Mary. 239 of those deaths occurred when it collided with the escorting vessel HMS Curacao. The Queen Mary literally cut that ship in half. Only 99 of the 338 troops survived this horrendous accident." "Oh my God," JC whispered. I kept reading. "It's no wonder that some of the souls attached to the ship that took their lives. The other 49 deaths happened on the Queen Mary itself. The "Engine room" or more famously "door #13" which sits 50 feet below water level. The Queen Mary claimed 2 lives by crushing two men in the door, on 2 separate occasions. A young man ghost wearing blue work overalls and with a beard is often seen wandering the shaft alley before disappearing near door #13." I paused for dramatic effect. "That's crazy," Sam replied. "I think we mentioned that story one of the times we were here before but it's so crazy to think about." "Fucking terrifying, you mean," Kian said, his eyes wide. "There are a lot of these stories so I'm only going to read a couple more," I stated. "You get the point though. This ship is really haunted." I moved on to the next story. The "Second Class Pool Area" is the home to another little girl ghost. It's thought her name is Jackie. Sadly, Jackie drowned in the pool, and it appears that she never moved on. The little ghost is frequently seen here and her sweet giggles are always heard."