“What made you record this?” Rae asked.
I took a deep breath. “I…woke up in the stable one night.”
She frowned. “You’re a sleepwalker?”
“Didn’t use to be, but…stress will do that to a person.” I picked at a hangnail and shrugged. “I just figured I’d film it to see what time of night it was. See how long it took me to get out of the room.”
Rae’s jaw ticked as she digested the information. She exchanged looks with December and Nico before saying, “We’ll take on the job.”
“Really?” My hands fell to my sides.
“Even if it hadn’t won the toss,” Nico said with a heavy exhale. “Sleepwalking’s not a good sign.”
He twisted his mouth to the side, studying the still image on the camera. His disapproval turned intrigue made my stomach churn. They were taking this far more seriously than I thought possible.
“Could I keep this for a bit?” Nico lifted the camera slightly. “I want to transfer the footage to my computer so I can inspect it.”
I nodded. “Yeah, go for it.”
“Alright, so, quick, one-second admin moment.” December held up her index fingers. “We require a cash deposit to make it official. Are you familiar with our rates?”
“I am.” My heart was in my throat. This was actually happening. “I’ll get it to you as soon as I find an ATM.”
“There’s one outside the lobby.” December pointed and then tugged out a pocket journal to write something down. “And we have a travel fee. Once you give me the address, I’ll get you a quote. And later on, tonight, the contract for you to look over. Sounds good?”
“Sounds great…do you…Do you all think we can resolve this within a couple of days?”
“We won’t know for sure until we finish our preliminary assessment.” Rae pulled out a bag of almonds and started snacking. “But from your home video—if there aren’t any surprises—we could nip this in the bud over the weekend. What do you think, Jonah?”
His eyes widened at the mic pass. “Uh…I can see that…I mean, sure. The average time for a spirit removal takes no longer than a couple of hours…”
“It’ll be a piece of cake,” she finished for him.
The ATM’sbuttons were sticky, and the screen was ruined with scratches and cracks. I punched in my PIN twice to get it to register. Thankfully, my money spat out without protest.
“Need any help?” A voice called from a few feet away. It was the woman from the front desk. She had a bag of trash in her hand and wore the same wide grin as before. A fly buzzed around her ear, but she didn’t move to swat it away.
My eye twitched. “No…I’m fine. Thanks.” I stuffed the large bills into my jacket pocket and hurried back to my truck. A few other people loitered outside the lobby, casting subtle glances my way.
Before their death, my parents hopped from small town to small town. They preferred their quiet corners and empty streets. So, though I’d been around an array of people, I had no guide to participating in casual social interactions.
After their death, I’d inherited my parents’ asocialhabits and preference for isolation. I opted to attend a small community college for two years and finish the rest of my degree online. The isolation used to scare me, but that fear hardened as time went on. Now, the fear was no longer malleable but a firm surface for me to find shelter behind.
As I counted the money, I kept my eye on my rearview for any impending trouble.
The five-hundred-dollar deposit was all there. I grabbed my backpack and room keys, hopping out of the truck. After checking my lock three times, I started up the staircase where Rae and her team had disappeared. Not knowing which of the two rooms she’d been in, I just knocked on the first one.
The sound of voices and music filtered through the scuffed metal door. After waiting for what felt like a respectable amount of time, I knocked again.
Nico opened the door, a towel wrapped around his neck, sweats hung low on his waist, and hair dripped wet from a shower. There were two crescent-shaped scars on his chest.
“Hi…” I tried to smile, but the thin line of his mouth made nicety feel frivolous. “Um…I have the deposit.”
He scanned me, as if I’d had the time and desire to grab some sort of weapon in the small window in which we’d separated. I glanced over his shoulder to find Jonah in the room, rummaging through bags of equipment. I raised a brow at a chunky laptop that looked like it had sonar testing capabilities. One of the opened bags housed rows and rows of tiny knives, stakes, and colorful vials.
“That’s a sonar machine, right?” I asked, still peering over his shoulder.
“Correct,” he said carefully, as if an affirmative would give toomuch away.
