Crimson Shadows - 15. Chapter 15

That night found them separated into groups, Markus watching Marana with an eagles’ eye, not trusting her to try and sneak off to stalk after Kyender again on him. Kyle and Kyender were working the monitors while Richard and Orian were doing a session down on the cellar, Markus and Marana working the upstairs bedroom.

Looking around, Markus frowned as the hairs on the back of his neck rose. Something was off and he just couldn’t pin down what it was, making him shake his head with a sigh as he put down the audio recorder. “Hello, my name is Markus and I was asked to come in to investigate the problems that have been going on around the house. My companion is named Marana. Don’t mind her glare, she’s just unhappy because she fucked up rather spectacularly today,” he said, walking around the room before sitting down on the window seat. “So I’ve been told that there have been some attacks and we were wondering who did that.”

Stopping, he looked at Marana who was jotting down temperature spikes around the room and the EMP readings on several pieces of paper. They looked up when the audio recorders light started to blink, alerting them that it was recording something that they couldn’t hear. Waiting for it to finish, Markus smirked and settled back, starting to talk once more.

“So, what’s your name? What year were you born in?” he asked, letting the silence fall, Marana quickly writing things down to keep proper notes. No reason to piss of the others any more then she already had. Once more the light started to blink madly, drawing their eyes before she looked down at the EMP meter to write down the readings that kept bouncing around like a ping pong ball.

“They just won’t settle down on one number,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the thought. She really hated it when the numbers kept jumping around; it always annoyed her, which wasn’t very surprising all things considered. Writing down the numbers that kept flashing, she looked to Markus who just returned her look with a long one of his own. “I’ll shut up,” she said, getting a nod from Markus who returned to the questioning.

“Do you know what year it is now?” he asked, opening his camera and scanning it around the room slowly, wondering if he would be able to catch anything on it. Shifting, he listened to his radio crackle before Kyles voice came over the line.

“Something touched the damn camera again and shifted it. I can see you and Marana right now, so I know it wasn’t you two,” he said quietly. Lifting the radio up to his lips, Markus answered.

“Right. We’ll go fix it in a few moments. Is there a particular place that it keeps pointing to or is it just randomly pointing?” he asked, letting the button go and watch the little light on the audio recorder continue to go off as Marana took her notes.

“It keeps pointing towards the wall with the cross hanging from it, near the area where the fireplace chimney would disappear up,” was the answer before the radios died once more.

“Come on. We’re going to have to go check out that camera and maybe watch it for a while. If you want, you can come with us to that room,” Markus offered the being, scanning around it slowly as Marana pulled out her thermal imager, frowning as she watched a cold spot move through the wall.

“I just had a cold spot, Markus. Should I note the time?” she asked, getting a nod from him.

“Yeah. Mark it and let’s go,” Markus hummed, leading the way towards the other room. Following after, Marana continued to watch the cold spot move along the walls, frowning lightly.

“Are there anything like hidden compartments or anything like that?” she asked, pointing to the blue spot on her screen. Markus nodded his head and tapped on the wall getting a hollow echo back.

“They are for the electricians to get at the wiring. That’s why the house is so big outside compared to the inside of the house,” Markus explained getting a nod.

“Well, I think the spirits are using the spaces in the wall as a highway or somewhere to hide,” she said as they walked into the room. Markus put the audio recorder down again and checked the camera before leaving it there and moving to the wall. Checking it by pushing against it, he frowned lightly as he felt it give a bit.

“Marana, use your normal camera and record what’s happening would you?” he asked, turning to her. Watching her pull out the little camera, he turned back to the wall and asked “Do you want me to open this latched door? Do you want me to find something back here?” Shivering lightly at the icy touch to his neck, he shook his head and pushed on the wall before stepping back as it gave way and opened up. Licking his lips, he pulled his flashlight out of his belt loop and shined the light in on the rather small room that had quite a few things inside of it.

“What is this room?” Marana asked, eyes wide at the sight of it all. “I don’t think it was on the original plans or on any of the additions to it,” she continued, coming up behind Markus who waved a hand at her, making sure she didn’t get close enough.

“Yeah, it wasn’t on the plans. But it could be one of those rooms that are called blind rooms. They’re not on any physical plans, at least nothing that is accessible to the general public. Some owners do that so that thieves can’t find out about safe rooms or rooms that were turned into a safe like area,” Markus replied, dancing the light over the toys and nick knacks of a child.

“So what do we do?” Marana asked, squatting down to get a good shot of the things, zooming in and focusing on each toy and object that filled the room on the shelves and small child’s table.

“Call Kyle and tell them about this. Then grab the extra cord and plug your camera into the monitor when he tells you to,” Markus said, stepping into the room as he grabbed his own camera. Turning it on, he started to step around the room dictating where he was. “This is Markus in the guest bedroom at the end of the hall way. I have found a blind room that is not on any plans that we have access to. It was probably built by an owner who was paranoid or who wished to build a shrine to a lost child. I’m thinking shrine but I won’t have the information until I go through the notes that Kyle hasn’t been able to get to yet.”

Putting down a new audio recorder on the small table next to a box of what looked to be old fashioned crayons, he knelt down next to a dusty teddy bear that looked rather ancient. It almost looked like it had stepped out of time and all that was on it was a thin layer of dust. Shifting on his feet, he smiled at the light that started to blink at him.

“If you don’t know, my name is Markus and the woman standing outside of the door way is Marana. We’re here to find out why you’re here still and want to help you in any way that we can if you’re willing. Can you tell us your name?” he asked, looking around the room after flipping off his flashlight. Turning back to the recorder, the two shared a look as it blinked rapidly some more. Watching it stop again, he shifted once more. “Can you tell me what year it is if you’re a new person?”

Once more the light flashed and blinked, amazing them at the amount of answers they were getting. Marana shifted and plugged her camera into a monitor after a soft beep from their radios. Turning the camera to the toys once more, she ran the camera lens over them, one by one, knowing that the others down stairs were taking notes on what were in the rooms.

“Are you a child that lost their life too soon? Or are you an adult mourning someone that was close to you? Or possibly just an adult who wants to remember your childhood?” he asked, once more the light flashing at them quickly. Smiling and standing up, he brushed off the bear, finding it ice cold to the touch, before frowning. “Marana, point your digital thermometer to the bear and tell me how warm or cold it is.”

“What?” Marana hissed, feeling a little pissed that Markus was once more ordering her around. [How dare he! I’m not some...some child that needs to be told what to do, her thoughts seethed, glaring at the man as he turned to her with a look.

“Just do it. I don’t have mine since I left it with Kyle and Kyender just in case,” he said, raising an eyebrow, eyes curious as to what had ticked her off this time.

“Oh, right,” Marana replied, blushing lightly and pulling hers out, pointing it to the bear before blinking. “Damn, that’s cold. It’s like...thirty degrees colder then the air around us,” she continued, looking at Markus with a curious look on her face.

“That’s what I thought. Is this bear your favorite?” he asked, looking to the recorder as he once more brushed off the dust off the bear. The light flashed a few times before going back to being steady and relaxed. “Is it ancient? That is, is it older then the year 2000?” he continued, watching the light flash and blink some more before stopping. “I’ll get your answers later since I have to use some special equipment to hear it but I’m glad we were able to talk with each other,” he finished, watching the light blink two more times before stopping. Reaching out, he picked it up and turned it off. “We’re done for now. We’ll continue this later.”

Nodding her head, Marana stood up and shoved a bit of her hair back before she unconnected from the cord and wrapped it up, putting it next to the other camera. The two headed downstairs to talk with Kyle and Kyender, finding the twins already there and talking about their rather interesting time down stairs.

“What happened with who now?” Markus asked as they walked in, having heard something about a little girl that had skipped rope right through a wall down in the cellar.

“A little girl appeared, giggled at us and called us silly before using a piece of rope to skip out of the cellar and right through a wall,” Richard replied, shaking his head as he switched out data cards on his camera. Blinking and tilting his head to the side, Kyle took the chip and marked its case with a printed out sticky note.

“Well, damn that’s odd. Markus actually just found a blind room with a bunch of children’s toys and collectables,” Kynder hummed, tilting his head towards him, who shrugged.

“So, what do you want us to do now?” Orian asked, handing over his own data chips in their own cases as he looked at the others.

“We continue our investigation. Check out the walls to see if there might be some more hidden rooms. How about the Twins take over here in front of the monitors while they write up their reports on what happened down in the cellar. Me and Kyender will probably head downstairs to check out the wall the little girl went through, if that works?” Kyle suggested, standing up with his own camera. Shoving a thermometer into a hip pouch, he grabbed a flashlight and tucked it away into a belt loop as Kyender followed his example, grabbing his own tools.

“Yeah, that’ll be fine,” Richard replied, nodding his head as he took over Kyenders stop, Orian taking over Kyles chair with a smile.

“What about us?” Marana asked, raising an eyebrow as Markus looked at her and Kyle shrugged one shoulder, almost as if they were mocking here. Why were they brushing her off!?

“We don’t know what you guys can do. For now, we’re done with the question and answer in the main rooms at the moment. How about you guys make some snacks while we check out the wall? Uncle Markus can help you make them,” Kyle hummed after looking over various items before turning to her. The answer seemed to act like a pin taken to a balloon, popping the heat and deflating it easily.

“Okay,” she replied in a rather soft voice, moving to the kitchen with Markus, blinking a few times to herself. Markus patted her arm with a small smile and pulled out some fruits for the snacks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Why couldn’t he entice the bitches’ anger?!

It was like the moment she got the least bit angry the others in the house would easily deflate it with a few simple words. Almost as if they were being guided by something outside of their own minds and souls. Pacing back and forth his hidden room, he thought about how the brat child’s room had been found by the slut and the bastards spawn. None of the damnable spirits could have moved the camera the first time, or the second time that happened soon after it had been moved back after all. It really couldn’t have been them since they were playing about the house, answering questions and feeling free and happy and oh so willing to babble, but there was something more that was happening around them.

Even the Blood couldn’t figure out what was going on with the land, making him shake his head and try to sort through his own thoughts on what was happening. It was starting to piss him off, more so then his loss against the bastards spawn. Licking his lips, he snarled and slammed his hand against one wall, feeling as if he was punching a thick jelly instead of a wall, but the loud bang that reverberated through the house made him purr happily at it.

Feeling his emotions once more balance out, he started to walk around the room, nearly slinking about as he stroked over various items as he started to think about every thing again and how it was going ‘ass up’ as he had heard a few of the 21st century spirits say. There was more going on then what the Blood and the Earth bound spirits knew about, making him twitchy and unhappy about it. Humming softly, milky brown eyes started to glow with an unholy delight as he started to giggle. Picking up a toy, he stroked the head of the creature and wondered for a moment what it was and where the Blood had found it.

Putting the toy aside, he tilted his head to the side, eyes once more glowing lightly before heading for one of the walls, feeling the brat and his crush about to find another room, this one much different then the others around the house.

Stepping into the room, he paused before smiling softly as he tapped his fingers on his hip and walked around the room, stroking over dusty frames that ranged in age, from so very old all the way to rather new ones, no older then a year or so old. All of them contained pictures of various families and always with one picture of a person from those family pictures sitting next to it. They all looked so happy and content, but most of the faces held hints of such sadness, or perhaps…despair.

Laughing softly, he nearly bounced in his anticipation as he turned to a wall with three long shelves bolted tightly to the wall. Reaching out, he gently stroked a dark hand over the spines of journals that no one but the writers had known about, or had been touched and selected by the Blood. They had found the rooms, had come to fall from Gods path and had spilled blood at their new masters’ command.

He idly wondered how his dear bastard descendent would react, and how the brat child would jerk and feel at the history found within the bits of history before him.

Laughing softly, he turned to the entry wall to the room at the sound of rather muffled voices and quickly left, going to inform his master that it was nearly time it was nearly time to make their move. That the idiots would find the room so soon and then…

Then the real fun could start once more. They only had two more days after all to do what they needed to do.