Page 38 of See Through

Though I hope Aubrey learned not to provoke the spirits or whatever was in that hospital.

She stops at the spot where he died, resting her hand on the floor and closing her eyes, taking a few deep breaths as she touches the hardwood. She scans it with the EMF detector and a thermometer, but there’s nothing. No spikes or cold spots. No activity.

It’s pitch black in here, besides a few candles lit around the house that Aubrey set out. She wanted to see if anything would blow them out, but besides that, we’re all alone in the dark, with nothing but our night vision cameras and whatever may be in here with us.

I’d officially say there’s nothing in here, but maybe it’s because the house is attached to the funeral parlor—any minute now, I’m waiting for someone else to pop in here and scare the crap out of us.

“This is where he died.” Her eyes fill with tears, glistening in the low light as she pats the floor. “I missed you. I’m sorry it took me so long to come back.”

She looks at me, and I hand her the journal she’s had since I’ve known her. That thing is her pride and joy, and she carries it on every investigation.

But this time, she flips all the way to the beginning, stares at the first page for a second, then rips it out.

“What is she doing?” Cooper mouths to me.

I shrug. I don’t know what Aubrey planned to do once she got in here—that felt like it was between her, her brother, and the ghosts in this house.

“Our very first entry in this,” she turns to me and Cooper. “My parents got me this for Christmas one year. Adrian and I decided we would keep track of the ghosts in it. Whenever we heard something in this house, we wrote it down. This journal is the story of me and Adrian. It’s the story of how I got to where I am now, and the very first page will always be ours. It will always be our first investigation. Not just mine.”

She lets it lay on the same spot her other hand has been against for a few more seconds as she whispers something, and then she takes the ball she brought in from the garage and sets it on top of the paper on the staircase.

“Let’s keep going,” she sniffles.

After about an hour of walking around, testing the temperature, seeing if any voices come through, with nothing biting, Aubrey turns to me as we stand in her childhood bedroom.

“We should try next-door.”

“Let’s do it,” Cooper says as he follows us out.

I know this is why we’re here, but I don’t have to like it.

“So this is my brother’s old room. He used to bang on the walls like crazy and drive me nuts at night, but then he always pretended it wasn’t him. Typical brother stuff, as usual.”

Bang!

“Woah,” Cooper says as he swings the camera towards the sound. I can see his hands shaking a little bit already. “Did you guys hear that?”

“It was this wall.” I point the camera over to where the bed is. “Just how it was when you were kids, huh?”

“Wow.” Aubrey’s voice sounds thick with emotions. “Coop, can I have the recorder?”

“Which one is that again?”

I laugh as I grab it from the bag he’s holding, handing it to my beautiful girlfriend.

“That was exactly what he used to do, except normally, after that, he⁠—”

Thump. Thump.

“Would do it twice,” Aubrey finishes her thought. “I think it’s him.”

“Go on.” I look from the recorder in her hands back to her eyes. “Talk to him.”

She smiles at me, a single tear streaming down her face before she switches on the recorder and sets in on the bed, taking a seat beside it.

“Adrian, I’m sure you know it’s me.” She sniffles. “My hair looks the same. The only thing different about me is the nails I have glued on.”

“Coop,” I whisper. “You go to the doorway and get a full view of the room. I’ll get Aubs in my view.”