Devil of a Ghost Tour 4

Present

The interior of the Franciscan Hotel shone bright and cheery with white walls and dark, blue tiles in the shape of stars on the floor. A thick layer of dust made the objects in the room appear fuzzy. The group shuffled down the hall, single-file into a small room to the right. On the far right wall, a large trap door stood open.

“OK, people, watch your step. Please don't lean against the door. I’ve had it fall on me and it hurts--a lot,” said Marcos.

Lee whispered, “You’d think they would make this a little safer.”

“Must add to the experience,” said Lynn. Lee’s comforting presence followed close behind her. He’d always been overprotective, but ever since her neck surgery he’d gone out of his way to make sure she didn’t trip or lose her balance.

In Missouri, where Lynn grew up, basements were cool, damp places with stone walls. This basement was musty and humid. Lynn wrinkled her nose in disgust. The occasional flash of light, in the otherwise pitch-black room, came from other people’s devices - cell phones, cameras, iPhones with the Ghost Radar App, and K2 Meters.

Lynn recognized Marcos’s voice as he called on the ghost of a little girl believed to be trapped in the basement. The session dragged on with minimal blips on the K2 meter and members of the group turning toward perceived noises and shadows, including Lee. One corner received some particular attention after the K2 meter jumped into the red for a few moments.

“Is the ghost of the little girl here? We’re not here to hurt you, sweetie. Is that other spirit here holding you back? Is he not letting you come out?” Marcos said.

By this time Lynn was standing behind Lee with her arms wrapped around his waist. She went on tiptoe and kissed the lobe of his ear. He answered by squeezing her forearms. The investigators had warned them that whispering would interfere with the EVP session.

“Hey, that other spirit who thinks he’s such a bad ass, get out of here. We’ll be dealing with you in the next room soon enough,” said Marcos.

Lynn rested her forehead on Lee’s back. Nothing spooky here, she thought. Even though she enjoyed the history part of the tour, it was getting late and she was ready to go home. Lee's shirt felt damp on her forehead. She touched her cheek to his back to be sure. His stomach muscles tensed under her hands.

Just as she was about to whisper in his ear, a couple of people shuffled on the opposite side of the room. Hector's voice echoed in the small space, “These guys aren’t feeling so good. I’m going to take them back upstairs.” A sliver of light from a flashlight appeared and sure enough, a woman and the ‘tough-looking’ guy were headed upstairs. Faint footsteps echoed down the length of the hall overhead.

Marcos and another investigator continued for about five more minutes, but by this time, even the K2 meters stopped lighting up. “Folks, let’s head to the other room where we encountered an evil spirit. I think he’s interfering with the spirit of the little girl we’ve experienced in this room. In the other room, people have been scratched and others felt sick. I will be provoking this spirit. I’m not trying to offend anyone, but I’ll be using some coarse language.” Marcos lead the group to the next room. “A lot of stuff is piled up in there, so please, watch your step.”

Lee held her arm as they made their way through a room, into yet, another room. At least it smells better, Lynn thought. A red EXIT sign glowed on the other side. Through the debris she glimpsed a set of stairs. “That way is completely blocked off,” Marcos said as everyone settled into position.

“All right, you son-of-a-bitch. We're here and I think you’re a coward. You can’t do anything more than keep a little girl trapped in here. Scratch me, push me, scare me, if you can. Come on, I'm right here.” No one so much as cleared their throat waiting for a response. The K2 meters flickered. When footsteps creaked over head, Marcos said, “Hector must be coming back.”

Lynn frowned. The footsteps led away from the trap door, toward the blocked off EXIT. That's odd, she thought. The footsteps stopped. She stared in the direction of the EXIT, expecting someone to come down the stairs. Her head snapped back over her shoulder when the footsteps began again from the trap door. This time in a jog across the floor and in the direction of the blocked off EXIT. “It can’t be Hector. He never jogs,” said Marcos. Nervous laughter broke the group's self-imposed silence.

Lynn asked, “Can you call him and see where he is?”

“Good idea.” Marcos dug into his backpack for a walkie-talkie. “Hector, where are you?”

“Hey, Marcos. Everything OK?” Hector’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

“Yea, are you in the building?”

“No, I’m sitting outside with the two who left the basement. Why? What’s up?”

“Someone is walking down the hall headed out of the building. Oh, now they’re jogging. I said it couldn’t be you because you never jog, ever.”

“No, man, it’s not me. No one is in the building. I locked the door behind me.” Dull, metallic rattling came over the walkie-talkie. “Yep, still locked.”

“OK. Well, someone is only walking out of the building. We don’t hear any footsteps coming into the building.”

“You need me to come back in?”

“No. We’re fine.” Marcos’s voice rang out again as he continued provoking the spirit, “Is that you walking above us? Come on, you can do better than that. You’re supposed to be this big, bad, powerful spirit. Show us what you got.”

Lee shifted and bumped into a stack of boards on the floor. “Sorry, that was me.” To Lynn, he sounded nervous.

A flare of red caught Lynn's eye. The sharp odor of sulfur, as if a match had been struck right under her nose, made her flinch.

“Hey Marcos, the K2 meter went off,” a man's voice said on her right.

The air thickened with odor of sulfur. She turned to the dark shape on her right, “Do you smoke?”

“No, ma’am, I don’t,” he whispered back.

Lee drew her close. “You feel something?”

“No, but I smell something.” She sniffed the air, then gagged at the stench. The queasiness passed when she buried her nose in the nape of Lee's neck, breathing in his familiar scent. The air continued to wrap around her in a thick blanket.

She was about to ‘cry Uncle’ and ask Lee to take her upstairs when Marcos told the group, “All right guys and gals, let’s head back up.” The group turned and made their way down the short hallway to the steep stairs. Marcos was the last one to make his way up. As he exited the room, the trap door slammed shut. Lynn jumped and ran to catch up with Lee, who was already out the front door.