Ghost Hunt: Chilling Tales of the Unknown (2 page)

“No way,” Jerry said at once.

Scott knew he didn’t have to say any more. He heard the rustle of covers as Jerry got out of bed. Jerry walked over to the window and stood next to Scott.

On the floor in front of the window, barely visible in the glow of the streetlight, were seven coins. Seven pennies. Six arranged in a circle with the seventh in the middle.

“It’s the same shape as before,” Jerry said. “Like a daisy.”

“But this time is different,” Scott said slowly, thinking hard about what he was about to say. “They weren’t there when we went to bed. We checked the whole room. Right?”

“Right,” Jerry said.

“So that means that whatever put those pennies here could have done it just a little while ago.”

“Yeah,” Jerry agreed.

“And it also means that whatever put those pennies here could be here
right now
!”

Brrring. Brrriing.

Lyssa Frye jumped. Her pen flew from her fingers and sailed
across the room. It landed with a
smack
on Grant Wilson’s desk. Papers flew off onto the floor.

Brrriing. Brriiiiinng.

Lyssa looked around the TAPS office. She had several weeks of training, but today was different. Today was her first day as an official member of The Atlantic Paranormal Society.

It’s like the first day at a new school,
she thought.
That’s the nervous feeling I have.

Like the first day at a new school. Only this was a job. Here she was, with her own desk.

People called TAPS when they were in trouble. They called when they heard or saw frightening things in their houses. Were they living with ghosts? Were they living in a
haunted house
?

Sometimes people didn’t know what to think. They were afraid they were going crazy.

Brriiinngg. Brrriinnnggg.

Lyssa cleared her throat and forced herself to pick up the phone. “The Atlantic Paranormal Society. How can I help you?” she said.

The woman on the other end of the phone started talking loud and fast. She was so loud that Lyssa pulled the phone away from her ear.

“Okay, Mrs. Briscoe,” Lyssa said. “Yes, I understand why you’re upset.”

Lyssa tucked the phone against her shoulder and dug out
another pen. Then she flipped to a clean page on her yellow notepad.

“Let me just get some basic info from you, all right? Please give me your address and phone number. And tell me the names of the other people who live in your house.”

Still listening, Lyssa began to write.

Lyssa learned this during her training: first ask the really easy questions. Easy questions help people calm down.
Then
you can ask them about the stuff that freaked them out.

It worked. The woman on the phone lowered her voice and stopped talking so fast.

“Thank you,” Lyssa said as she finished jotting down the address. “You say that’s out in the country? In southern Massachusetts? Good. That’s close to us. We’re in Rhode Island, you know.

“All right, now that I have all that,” Lyssa continued, “let’s talk about the reason for your call. Your sons think there is a ghost in your house?” She paused. “Yes. I see why they are so frightened.”

A blast of chilly air made Lyssa look up. She turned toward the open door in time to see Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson walk in.

Grant gave her a thumbs-up. Jason flashed her a smile. They walked quietly across the room to their desks. Lyssa mouthed a
quick “I’m sorry” as Grant knelt to pick up the papers on the floor.

Jason and Grant were the two guys who started TAPS. They wanted to help people who thought they were having a paranormal experience.

Lyssa remembered how Jason explained it to her. “
Paranormal
means
beyond
the normal,” he said. “Strange visions, weird sounds, objects appearing and disappearing—weird stuff that can upset and frighten people.”

“So we go investigate,” Jason told her. “Sometimes we find paranormal things going on. Sometimes we even find evidence of a ghost. But that’s not our first job. Our first job is to try to help people feel less scared and upset.”

Lyssa had gasped in surprise the first time she saw the TAPS office. “It’s an old house,” she said. “A very tiny old house.”

A funny thought had flashed into her mind then:
Maybe it’s haunted by very tiny old ghosts!

But then Lyssa looked around. The living room of the house had been turned into the main work area. It didn’t look like a spooky place at all.

The walls were painted a creamy white and decorated with maps from all over the country. Lyssa liked the big brick fireplace on one wall.

Jason’s and Grant’s desks stood on either side of the fireplace,
facing each other. Lyssa guessed this made it easier for them to talk about the cases.

Lyssa’s new desk stood on the other side of the room. She and Jennifer Shorewood, the technical manager, would work side by side.

The other two members of the TAPS team, Mike and Mark Hammond, shared a big worktable along the back wall. The Hammonds were identical twins, both tall and serious-looking, with dark eyes and straight brown hair. Mike studied evidence the team collected. Mark researched the places they investigated.

Lyssa was afraid to admit that she couldn’t tell them apart, even after several weeks. Was Mark the one with longer hair? Was Mike the one who kept sneaking looks at Jen?

“All right, Mrs. Briscoe,” Lyssa said into the phone. “I think I have everything I need for now. I’ll tell your story to the rest of the team, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”

Lyssa hung up the phone.

“Your first phone call,” Jason said. “Someone in trouble. How did that make you feel?”

“No problem,” Lyssa said.
No way
would she admit she was almost too nervous to answer the phone!

Grant leaned forward. His dark eyes stared into Lyssa’s.

“Why don’t you tell us what that was all about?”

“Wow,” Mark Hammond said the next afternoon. He stared out the front window of the SUV. For once, his hair didn’t flop down into his eyes. That’s because both he and Mike were wearing Red Sox baseball caps.

“This place really is in the middle of nowhere.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Mike piped up from the backseat.

“We
did
go that far,” Mark joked.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Mike said.

Lyssa didn’t think that was all that funny, but she laughed anyway. The way the twins talked to each other cracked her up. They finished each other’s sentences and laughed at the same things. They really were identical in every way.

“Didn’t you guys grow up in the country?” Lyssa asked, keeping her eyes on the road. She was driving one of the team’s SUVs. Another first.

Lyssa steered the SUV around a bend in the road. Up ahead, she could see the back of the equipment van that Jen was driving. Grant and Jason were in the lead in their own SUV.

“We did grow up in the country,” Mark said now. “In southern Vermont. And before you ask, the stories are all true.”

Lyssa snuck a glance in his direction. “Really? You guys actually grew up in a haunted house?”

“Yep,” Mike piped up. “You could say the two of us have been Ghost Hunters since we were kids.”

At that moment, Lyssa heard the crackle of static.

“SUV One to all team members,” a voice said. “This is Jason. Do you copy?”

Mike picked up the walkie-talkie and pushed the button on the side. “Mike here. Go ahead. Over.”

Lyssa glanced in the rearview mirror. Mike was grinning from ear to ear. He loved using the walkie-talkie.

“Just checking in,” Jason said. “Everybody clear on the Briscoe details?”

In the front seat, both Mark and Lyssa nodded. This was Ghost Hunters SOP, standard operating procedure. Jason or Grant always did one last check-in right before arriving at a site.

“I think we’re good, Jay,” Mike said into the walkie-talkie. “The reports include a lot of the usual: moving shadows, voices. Also, the parents report a general creepy feeling in the basement.”

“Basements give
me
the creeps in general,” Lyssa muttered.

“Don’t forget the pennies,” Mark said. “They show up in the boys’ room practically every night.”

“Right,” Mike said. “The pennies. That’s got me pretty curious, I have to admit.”

“I’m sure we all agree on that,” Jason’s voice said. “We’ve got a lot to focus on for this one, guys.”

“Right,” Mike said. “Can’t wait to get at it!”

“Copy that,” Jason said. “ETA is about two minutes. See you there. SUV one over and out.”

Mike switched off the walkie-talkie and stowed it in his backpack. Then he took off his baseball cap and stowed that too. A lock of hair flopped down into his eyes and he pushed it back. Lyssa caught the movement in the rearview mirror.

“Hey, wait a minute!” she cried. “You’re not Mike, you’re Mark!”

The real Mike began to laugh. He took off his cap too. The twins had pulled a switch. Lyssa had been completely fooled.

“Man,” Mark said. “I love it when we get somebody new.”

The Briscoe house was two stories tall, white with green shutters. It had a wide front porch and a driveway shaped like a half circle in front. The house was set back a short distance from the road. There were two trees in the front yard. Their branches swayed in the late-afternoon breeze.

Lyssa stared up at the house. She could feel her heart start to pound. This was it. The very first place she’d investigate as an official TAPS team member.

I can do this. I really
want
to do this,
she thought.

She turned off the engine. All three of them got out of the SUV. The twins headed over to the equipment van right away.

Lyssa paused. In one of the upstairs windows, she saw a sudden flash of light.

“What was that?” she said, trying to sound calm. “Did anybody else see that?”

“See what?”

Jen Shorewood came to Lyssa’s side.

“I thought I saw a flash of light in one of the upstairs windows,” Lyssa said. She squinted up at the house. “It’s gone now.”