Crimson Shadows - 9. Chapter 9

The call had come in at around two in the afternoon when the now safe, ghost free house they called base and home was empty. Most of the group had jobs that took up much of their days that they refused to leave unless they were pushed to. Which meant that the dark blond was left alone most of the day going over case files, various bits of information from their latest hunt and making sure that their equipment was working and up to date.

Then again, it had been like that since Kyle had been allowed to start Windfall Paranormal Group nearly 2 years ago, so he didn’t really mind.

With dark blue eyes, Kyle eyed the vibrating phone for a moment before picking it up as he stopped the footage that he had been going over from their latest investigation. Checking the display, he pressed the speaker button and grabbed a ‘pad, opening a new file easily.

“Thank you for calling Windfall Paranormal Group. This is Kyle and I’m here to help you in any way possible, including answering your questions. What is your reason for calling this day?” he asked, smoothly giving the well known greeting as he named the file. It took up room and was annoying but you just never knew when a file or a talk with a potential hunt would come in handy in the future.

Setting up the recorder on the ‘pad just in case he missed something, Kyle looked up as one of his fellow hunters walked in and dropped into a chair near him. The pretty female raised an eyebrow, getting a waved hand.

“I’ve always wondered why you were called that,” a male said, his voice nervous but rather upbeat. Kyle noted that down as he answered.

“I named it that after I got lucky in a contest and soon after, my uncle handed over the trust fund that came from my grandparents,” the blond drawled, a twitch of lips the only show of his amusement. “So, how can Marana and I help you today?”

“Well, I’m hoping your group will come out to my house that I share with my wife and either figure out what is going on or put our minds at ease,” Reams replied, clearing his throat. “We seem to be in the middle of what feels like a haunting. There’s the usual things; sounds, voices, things going missing or moving, but there’s more to that. And we’ve had everyone who could give us a mundane explanation in and they’ve all said that the house is sound.”

“I see,” Kyle hummed, writing everything down that he needed. “Okay, so I’m going to ask some basic questions about the house, do some research on it and tell the team. If we can’t do anything about it, we’ll send the case to a fellow group. Either way, you’ll hear from us in a few days.”

“That’s fine,” Reams sighed, sounding relieved that he believed him.

Kyle started by asking, “How old is the land? How old is the deed to be precise.”

“The deed was first written up for 6 acres in 1792,” was the prompt reply. Making a quick calculation, Kyle muttered to himself, writing down his math down to make sure that the 1102 years was correct. Nodding his head, he noticed the sound of papers shuffling that came from over the phone.

“When was the current house build?” Tapping his ‘pad pen, he dragged his net ‘pad closer to use in a bit.

“2010 if I remember correctly. Or at least opened up for the first time.” More sounds of shuffling came after, followed by a quiet curse. “I have the history and actual items from the first house if you ever want them. It has a lot of history going on.”

“The house is 884 years old,” he muttered to himself, writing that down. “And I’ll have someone come by for that if we do take the case along with outside pictures,” Kyle promised.

“That’s fine,” Reams breathed.

“I need your address, you and your wife’s’ full names and when you brought the house,” the hunter said, looking up to see his Uncle Markus step into the living room. The man had a slight world worn look about him, mostly from having to clean out the house they currently lived in on his own.

That had been a dark, dark time for his uncle and for most of the family. They were still feeling the pain of it.

Shaking his head, he turned back to his ‘pad as Reams started to list off the information.

“We live at 238 County Road, out in the middle of nowhere. You come off highway 73 and go down the dirt road for a bit. Be careful of the pot hole near the start of the road. We haven’t gotten out too fix it yet,” Reams started, sounding sheepish. Kyle and Markus both smiled as Maria snickered behind one hand. “Um, my name is Leonard Reams. I’m sure you know how to spell that from your display right?”

“Yeah, I got your last name just fine,” Kyle promised, the soft sounds of blunted tip hitting a gel like screen barely bothering the recorder.

“My wives name is Betty Reams and we bought the house about 6 months ago,” Leonard continues, the sound of a tapping pen sounding over the line. “Actually, now that I think of it, it was bought for a steal considering it sits on quite a few pieces of acre.”

“How much did you buy the house for?” Markus asked, sitting down on the couch next to his nephew, eyes curious.

“Well, houses that compared, they were near a million. This house was less then that, only about two hundred thousand,” the possible customer said. Markus whistled lowly at that, shaking his head with a smirk.

“You did get it for a steal didn’t you?” he asked, looking at Kyle who was looking surprised as he continued to write down the information as it came. Pulling out a cord, Kyle connected the ‘pad and book together, letting a search run while he took the phone back.

“Okay, so I’ll be talking with the group later, when they get back here. Depending on when we make our decision, we’ll either call you later tonight or tomorrow,” he promised, pushing a bit of hair out of his face.

“That sounds fine to me,” Reams sighed, sounding happy and relieved. Saying their good byes, Kyle looked at the history of the house they were about to investigate and raised an eye brow at the information that had been pulled up.

“Wow, this is…bloodier then your house, Uncle Markus,” Kyle said, surprise coloring his voice.

“You live in my house, remember?” Markus drawled, standing up and moving into the kitchen. Coming back, he handed bottles of soda to the other two before sitting down onto the couch once more. “So, what is the history that the archives tell you?” he asked, crossing his legs and eyeing the net book.

The archives, a rather interesting collection of histories about every house, monument and piece of land that is still used for living in some way all in one spot that was accessible by anyone who had the pass words, which you got from the people running it. Markus had the passwords, meaning that the rest of the team had them.

Shaking his head, Kyle pulled the book towards him and opened the main file that had a time line.

“Well, the guy got the history correct,” he started, before jumping at the sound of the back door slamming shut.

“Hello people!” came through from the kitchen, making Kyle huff with a frown.

“Is Richard and Orian with you, Kyender?” he called back, watching a rather handsome man come out of the kitchen and drop onto a bean bagged chair.

“Yeah. They dropped by and picked up some drinks so they’re putting those away. We need to figure out car port options, Markus. I hate listening to Orian grumble about the fact that he’s never here in time to get a garage space and the fact that you take up space with that one car of your fathers,” Kyender replied, babbling lightly in his tried and true way, making Markus moan.

“Orian! Stop complaining about the car! It’s worth more then you are!” Markus called, getting snorted at as another person walked in. Dark gray hair fell around a strong face while dark blue eyes sparkled in mirth and full lips quirked upwards in a smile.

“I complain because I know that it annoys Kyender, Markus,” Orian replied, sitting down on the matching love seats near Maria.

“Keep complaining, start to walk to work when your car dies on you,” Kyender threatened.

“Guys, we have a new case. What’s taking Richard?” Kyle asked, stopping the argument in its tracks.

“Sorry, had to find my ice cream that I hid from the stealer here,” a blond male said, coming in, moving his rather large frame into the room and taking over the last chair in the room, a carton of ice cream in hand as he pointed to Maria.

“If you remembered to buy me chocolate ice cream when I asked you, I wouldn’t need to steal yours,” Maria huffed, before squealing as Kyender tossed a pillow at her with a snort.

“Buy your own damn chocolate woman. You know the rules of the house,” the green haired man snorted, settling back into his spot. Maria just sneered at him, eyes flashing a few times before turning back to Kyle.

“Okay, so tell us about this place,” Richard huffed, laying out on his seat and digging into his treat with a spoon.

“Okay, so, the house is owned by the Reams, Leonard and Betty to be precise. They’ve been married for about a year, just bought their home about 6 months or so ago, paying about 200 thousand for it and the land. The first deed for the land was drafted in 1792 to a Mr. and Mrs. Hiraldi. After that, it stayed in the family for around another 300 years.

“In 2092 the house changed hands and was completely refurbished and remade. This house was built in 2010, things just being changed and fixed as the various owners went along. Frame was changed piece by piece, same with plumbing, flooring, and everything else. It’s officially a green house,” Kyle told the group, watching them take in the information easily.

“So, why are they being bugged? Was there any evidence to past hauntings’?” Orian asked, looking rather interested in the possible case.

“Yeah, lots of them. But for about 10 years there it was empty as the last owners fixed what a major flood had damaged,” the youngest of them all answered, flipping the screen around. “Back in 2878 there was this huge ass flood that happened in that part of the county. Grandpas house was lucky that it wasn’t hit during that since it cost thousands of dollars of destruction for many house owners.”

“So for 10 years it was unlivable and therefore…” Richard prompted.

“Therefore no one was able to keep track of the hauntings. But by all appearances, it’s gone from the occasional thing happening on special dates to happening every damn day,” Kyle snorted, running a hand through his hair, eyeing the others before him.

“I say we do it,” Maria said after a few minutes. The others were quick to agree. It sounded like an easy, genuine haunting. Granted, they’d have to do some digging, and Maria would have to go out there for pictures and the information, but it would be nicer then the giant 600 room mansion that had been everything from a boarding school to a insane asylum that had been their last case.

“Alright. So, Uncle Markus, call them and set up a time for when Maria can go down there to pick up the stuff? Maria, make sure your car is gassed and ready to go in the next couple of days. I know you have a day off. Everyone else, grab some ‘pads and your net books and get to making sure that the information is correct. I’ll gather stuff up and make sure the vans are ready to go,” Kyle said, standing up and gathering the evidence from their last hunt.

It was finished, the results would be gone through later that week and presented, but for now, it could take up room in a plastic storage container.

They had work to do.

*~*~*~*~*

He had to laugh, laugh and laugh a bit more. They were coming, they were, oh yes they were. He wanted to smirk and celebrate but couldn’t, not yet at least. They were only coming to see if things were worth it, at least this first time. He’d get to see the bitches little daughter and get to see his little bastard of a child.

And he’d get to show them why what they did was so wrong, so very wrong. He was still here, still floating around, so to speak. He would show them why he was here, he would finally get to show them why he wanted to kill.

Still wanted to kill, not that he was allowed to at the moment. The Blood said he couldn’t, not until they were in the house again. The people who owned the land though were fun to play with. Fun to toss things at, fun to push into walls and down the stairs. He hadn’t gotten to push them down the stairs yet though. They were so paranoid.

But they were right to be paranoid after all. He would hurt and laugh the moment they let their guard down.

He was waiting though, waiting to see the fools who had thought they had destroyed him with the body he had for so long.

There was a new plan about to happen. One that his master had started so many centuries ago.

Laughing again, he tossed a small figurine at the woman who screamed and ducked, running for her husband with tears in her eyes. Oh so fun.

Oh so very much fun.