Read Space and Time Issue 121 Online

Authors: Hildy Silverman

Space and Time Issue 121 (7 page)

BOOK: Space and Time Issue 121
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The professor smiled. “Glad it’s still in print,” he remarked, signing the book.

He and Jan had lunch in the hotel coffee shop. Afterwards he went to his room and continued writing an article about the convention for his magazine. Jan came by later, handing him a manila envelope.

“Here are the ghost pictures I took,” she said. “Some of them aren’t that great. Let me know which ones we can use for the magazine. So we’re sticking with the theme of ghosts and this convention for the next issue?”

He flipped through the photos. “Yes. Hey, these are pretty good. Don’t sell yourself short, kid. I’ll publish them.”

She grinned. “Thanks. How’s the article coming along?”

“It’s coming,” he replied. “There’s a few more people I have to interview. Better get on it before they leave the convention.” He grabbed his notepad and pen.

 

* * *

 

Taylor glanced at his watch: 11:12PM. He and Jan had been stationed inside the Funhouse for the past few hours. No paranormal activity, nothing. They decided to move to the dark confines of the Haunted Goldmine. Dan met up with them minutes later, donning his security guard uniform.

“Skyler’s getting antsy,” he said. “He thinks this is all a waste of time.”

Jan raised her eyebrows. “Even with the evidence we showed him?”

“Well, once you start working for the man you get to know his pet peeves.”

“I assume he cares more about profits than patron safety.”

“That’s his outlook, unfortunately.”

Taylor scanned the laptops. Nothing but darkness. They had set up shop in the mid-section of the mine, near the cart track. He shone his flashlight at a skeleton wearing a 49er mining outfit. Nearby another life-sized figure of a miner squatted on the ground panning for gold. He had a demonic look on his face.

About two hours passed before they heard the wailing sound again. It echoed throughout the tunnels of the mine. Like someone crying for help.

Taylor looked around them. “Seems like it’s coming from all directions.”

The wailing gradually turned into mad laughter. Jan looked at Taylor. He checked his laptop. The noise registered as high, jagged peaks on the screen. Then the laughter stopped abruptly and there was complete silence. Taylor felt that odd, ‘something doesn’t feel right’ sensation Dan mentioned earlier. The hackles on the back of his neck went up, sweat beaded across his face, and he sensed that cold draft again.

He saw the anxious, pale expression on the security guard’s face. “You okay, Dan?”

“Yeah…I know I look like I just saw a ghost, no pun intended…I’m okay.” He took deep breaths.

Jan pointed ahead. “Look!”

A white apparition of a clown appeared down the tunnel. It floated in the air, approaching them slowly. Taylor looked behind them, making sure this wasn’t some projection. He had discovered his share of hoaxes. The image was being recorded and displayed on the laptop.

As it got closer he could make out the apparition’s features: it was a male clown with dark, curly hair, stars painted around his eyes, had a big, round ball for a nose, and it had a wicked grin. His traditional clown clothing included overalls and big, floppy shoes. The grin grew more sinister.

Jan’s eyes were wide open. “Is he going...look out, he’s gonna hit us!”

With that, the clown swooshed at them fast. It went through them and floated back around for another hit. Again, it flew quickly through the trio, the evil smile locked on its face.

“Greetings,” Taylor said calmly to the clown. “We wish to communicate with you. Please identify yourself.”

“I hate to be a party pooper but I don’t think this guy is the chatting type,” Dan said.

“Let me try,” Taylor whispered. He turned his attention back to the ghost. “Hello, we wish to communicate with you. We come in peace.”

The clown swished through them once more, making their hair fly back.

“Why do you haunt this place?” Taylor inquired. “Perhaps we can assist you in moving on. Please respond.”

The clown, floating near the ceiling, came at them again, with more furious intensity this time, almost knocking down one of the laptops.

“Uhh, I think we need to move on to plan B, Professor,” Jan whispered.

The clown knocked the flashlight out of Dan’s hand. “That wasn’t cool.”

Taylor took out a handgun from his briefcase, aimed it at the clown, and fired. The round of rock salt hit the white, mist-like entity, making it scatter in a cloud of smoke.

“What the heck was that?” Dan asked.

“Plan B,” Taylor replied calmly.

 

* * *

 

“Your time’s up,” Skyler said.

“But we made contact,” Taylor reasoned. “Give us a little more time and maybe we can get rid of this ghost.”

Skyler leaned back in his office chair, putting his boots up on one end of his desk. “It ain’t botherin’ me none. It ain’t hurtin’ business.”

“You don’t care if your employees or visitors get hurt?”

“Of course I care! I care so much I gave all those little runts a raise. Ain’t that nice of me?” he asked, shooting him a sly grin.

Before he could respond, Skyler added, “And I gave them all health benefits! What do you say to that, mister witch doctor? Ain’t that real nice of me?”

“Well, that’s very generous of you,” Taylor replied, not liking the label witch doctor one bit.

“Damn straight! So don’t run around accusin’ me of not looking after my workers, Hoss. I take it real personal, you hear? Oh, I care all right. I care up to my eyeballs. Selfish, mean, I ain’t. I got people here who’ve got families to feed, kids to put through school, the whole nine yards. I ain’t no fascist dictator, you hear?”

“Whoa, whoa! I didn’t mean to knock you off your high horse. I’m just trying to help you prevent further accidents at the park. Which, by the way, brings up this murder that occurred here years ago. Can you elaborate on that?”

“Don’t know nuthin’ ’bout that.”

“You have no information at all?”

“You got wax in your ears or something, witch doctor?”

“Can you tell me more about these fatal accidents at the park?”

Skyler glanced at his watch. “Your two days are up, witch doctor. I want you and your assistant outta here pronto. Now git!”

 

* * *

 

Back at the hotel room, Taylor and Jan analyzed the video and audio recordings. Taylor used his mouse and clicked the ‘PLAY’ button on the laptop’s screen. They, along with Dan, who was sitting in a chair, listened to the wailing sound again. Taylor studied the jagged peaks and lows registering on the screen. He replayed the clip, enhancing the sound quality on the computer. They listened to one version that featured just the wailing and nothing else. No background noise, no distortion.

“That’s the purest, most raw cut of the wailing,” Taylor said, rubbing his chin. “I don’t think it’s fraudulent.”

“How can you be certain?” Dan asked, leaning forward.

“Well, for one thing there’s no background hiss that usually accompanies audio recordings of this nature. I’ve listened to continuous loops of sound bytes that generally contain some form of hissing, and that have a redubbed, echo-like quality. I mean, you can hear the echo of the wailing in the tunnel, but it sounds natural. Also, Jan and I checked the mine and Funhouse and didn’t find any projection or sound equipment that could’ve produced that ghost and those sounds.”

“Tell that to Skyler,” Jan said.

“I’m afraid that’s going to fall on deaf ears,” Taylor replied. “He wants us to leave.”

“But you’ve made so much progress,” Dan protested. “You’ve come this far, you can’t go now.”

“Well, if you can convince your boss to extend our stay we’d be happy to finish the investigation.”

Dan’s brow furrowed in thought. “I’ll work on it.”

They listened to the audio recording of the mad laughter, and Taylor enhanced the sound quality again. He came to the same conclusion about this clip. Next, they reviewed the most important evidence, the video footage of the clown. Taylor kept hitting the ‘PLAY’ button, and they watched it multiple times. He enhanced the video quality as best as he could. In one version, he blocked out everything except the clown. He also zoomed in close on the image.

“What do you think?” Taylor asked.

“It looks pixilated,” Jan commented.

“That’s how video is. But if you look carefully the ghost still retains that mist-like quality that we saw in person. And notice there aren’t any strings attached to it, controlling it or making it float. I double checked that part of the tunnel and didn’t find any strings or theatrical equipment to support that claim.”

“Remember the sensation when he flew through us?” Dan asked.

Taylor nodded. “It was a cold draft.”

 

* * *

 

Dan approached the stage, where Taylor was putting papers into his briefcase.

“Great presentation,” Dan said. “You had me scribbling notes like a madman.”

Taylor chuckled. “You sound like one of my students.”

The security guard’s face turned glum. “I pleaded my case with Skyler but he was like a stone wall, completely unyielding. I advocated like hell for you and Jan…I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for trying, Dan. I know it’s not easy communicating with him.” Not to mention pleasant, Taylor thought.

“I’ve got an idea. I’ll secretly let you guys into the park to continue your investigation.”

“No, I don’t want to get you into trouble. Besides, it’s not your park. Why do you care? It’s Skyler’s problem.”

“Let’s just say I care about innocent people getting hurt. Call it the humanitarian in me. I’m a low-level security guard but I’ve got morals. Also, I wanna get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“The murder?”

“That and all the quote, unquote fatal accidents allegedly caused by this ghost.”

Taylor nodded. “I see your point. Is it all hocus-pocus or is there some truth to it? I’m curious, too. I just don’t want to see you get into trouble.”

“I appreciate your concern, Professor.” He frowned. “Plus, I’m getting sick of Skyler’s attitude.”

“Join the club.”

 

* * *

 

In his hotel room, Taylor surfed the Internet, reading articles on Funland, Bizarro, and Skyler. He drank some orange juice and clicked on another article, this one about the history of both amusement parks. Strangely, there was no mention of a murder but there was some information about accidents. He reread a sentence: ‘Some park employees, eyewitnesses, and family members of the victims believe the fatal accidents were the result of the supernatural, specifically a ghost.’ He scrolled down the page. Another sentence caught his attention: ‘Several employees and visitors reported seeing the ghost of a clown in the park. Some say they saw the ghost in the Funhouse and the Haunted Goldmine, both of which are attractions at Funland, with the majority of sightings in the Haunted Goldmine. Park administration had no comment and did not return phone calls.’

Taylor surfed the Internet further, not finding any useful articles on Skyler. The ones he came across gave very little information on him. Essentially, he remained a man of mystery. Taylor clicked on an article from the 1980s. The headline read: Murder at Funland. He reread a section: ‘Police say the victim, Larry Crenshaw, was an employee of the park. His body had been stabbed numerous times and was discovered by a park visitor inside the Haunted Goldmine. The victim was dressed like a circus clown.’

Another article stated: ‘The murder of Larry Crenshaw was never solved.’ He leaned back in his chair, staring at the sentence.

 

* * *

 

That night, Skyler worked late in his trailer office. Taylor stood in the darkness, looking at the light inside. He tip-toed over to the open window, standing right next to it. Skyler was chomping on a cigar, his boots up on one corner of his desk, phone pressed to his ear.

“What chu worried ’bout?” he asked. “Everything’s gonna be fine. You worry too damn much, that’s what your problem is. No wonder you got an ulcer.” He listened for a moment. “Naw, ain’t nothin’ gonna go wrong, hear? No one’s gonna find out…who? The witch doctor? I got rid of him…don’t worry, Hoss, he ain’t comin’ back here.” Skyler listened again, taking a drag from his cigar and blowing out smoke. The sweet scent wafted out the window. “So we gonna head to the casino this weekend or what? Or you wanna go to the racetrack? You can’t go wrong with Royal Flush…gotcha…okay…okay. Later.”

Twenty minutes later, Skyler turned off the lights and left his office. After making sure he was gone for the night, Taylor returned to the trailer and picked the door’s lock. After several attempts, he was successful in opening the door. The sweet cigar scent was strong in the air. He left the lights off, using a thin pen light instead. He wore gloves and got behind Skyler’s desk, searching the drawers carefully. Nothing but porn magazines, empty cigarette packs, racetrack forms, casino matchbooks, and hunting magazines. In the bottom drawer he found a used condom, shaking his head in disgust.

Next, Taylor went to the file cabinet. Fortunately, it was unlocked. He scanned the folders quickly. Invoices, receipts, ledger books, canceled checks, vendor info, etc. He started on the third drawer. He heard a thud and spun around, looking out the window. Nothing. Nothing significant in the third drawer so he moved to the last one on the bottom. His hand felt along the top shaft of the drawer, as he’d done with the others, seeing if anything was taped or wedged up there. Something shaped like a paperback book was taped above the hanging file folders. Taylor carefully removed it, sitting down on a chair.

He shone the pen light on the object in his hand: a small notebook. He flipped through it, having difficulty reading the handwriting. Worst than a doctor’s! Random observations were scribbled all over the place, with no connection to one another it seemed. Midway through it the name Larry was scrawled on a coffee-stained page. The bottom of the page read: ‘Larry will cease to be a problem. He-’ Taylor turned the page but it was blank. However, at the top of it someone had ripped out the page that was originally there, for the perforation line still had flaky bits of paper clinging onto it. He flipped through the rest of the notebook. Blank.

BOOK: Space and Time Issue 121
10.43Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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