Nathan slapped him on the back. “You are the man!”
Fifteen minutes later, we stared in awe at the video screen.
“What in the hell?” asked Nathan.
We watched in disbelief, as two of the other cameras were violently ripped from the house, but there was no sign of whoever was doing it.
“Ghosts?” I gasped incredulously. “I mean, there’s nobody there!”
Duncan and Nathan looked at each other, both obviously stunned as well.
“This is freaking crazy. It doesn’t make sense,” said Nathan.
We rewound the video and watched it again with the same results. It seemed as if an invisible force had destroyed each of the cameras.
“Okay, common sense doesn’t explain this at all,” said Duncan. “Maybe it is some kind of poltergeist?”
“If it is, I’m definitely not staying here any longer,” I said. The thought of the cabin being inhabited by ghosts freaked the crap out of me. I saw the movies Poltergeist and Amityville Horror. I knew when it was time to leave. Not after the ghosts tried killing you, but before.
“We have to show the sheriff,” said Nathan. “Maybe he can make sense of it.”
“Sense? A fucking ghost is messing with our minds, Nathan,” I snapped. “You keep trying to make scientific excuses because you don’t want to believe it. Look at the film! You heard the loud bangs! The cameras didn’t just fall from the house by themselves! We’ve got to get the hell out of this town!”
He raised his hands. “Okay, calm down. You’re right. Something is happening that is beyond any explanation that I can come up with. We’ll show mom tomorrow and still talk to the sheriff. If it is some kind of ghost, we’ll get the cabin… exorcised or something.”
“Maybe you should talk to the owners of the cabin?” interrupted Duncan. “They might already be aware of these ghosts.”
“What about your house, Duncan?” I asked. “How do you explain the face in the window or shadows flying into the trees?”
He smiled wryly. “Maybe the ghost is roaming the town? I don’t know. None of this shit makes sense to me, either.”
We watched the video one last time and then Duncan turned it off. “I’m going home to check on the cameras I’ve installed there, to see if they’re still in place. I’ll call you if I find anything else odd.”
“Duncan,” I said. “I’m sorry about the damaged equipment. I wish we could somehow replace it for you.”
He waved his hand. “Hell, it’s not your fault. If anything, we may have actual proof that ghosts inhabit Shore Lake,” he said with a sinister smile. “We could all become rich and famous.”
Chapter Twelve
I woke up around nine-thirty the next morning and noticed that mom was still sleeping.
“She must be coming down with something,” I said to Nathan, who was outside sweeping up pieces of the broken video equipment.
He shrugged. “Could be the fresh air.”
“Maybe. So, did you hear anything from Duncan yet?”
“Yeah, he said his cameras were fine and there didn’t appear to be anything unusual going on in the videos.”
“That’s good, I guess. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I felt like something was watching me again.”
He laughed. “Probably me. I checked up on you a couple of times and you were snoring away.”
“I do not snore.”
“How in the hell do you know?”
I raised my chin. “I just do.”
He snorted. “Whatever. Anyway, as soon as mom gets up, we’ll show her the video and see what she thinks.”
Just then, an old red pickup drove up the path and parked next to Nathan’s Mustang.
“It’s our neighbor. I think mom said her name’s Abigail,” said Nathan.
“Hello!” said the older woman, getting out of the truck. “I just wanted to stop by and welcome you. Sorry it took me so long.”
“No problem,” said Nathan. “We should have come over and introduced ourselves.”
“No worries,” she replied, carrying a large pie pan. “I hope you like strawberry rhubarb pie; I made it fresh, early this morning!”
“We love it, thank you,” said Nathan as she handed it to him. “Wow, it looks awesome.”
“My name is Abigail, by the way. I live at the next cabin over.”
“I’m Nathan and that’s Nikki,” said Nathan.
“Hi,” I said.
“Wonderful to meet you both.”
Abigail looked like she was in her seventies or eighties, had reddish-brown hair and watery green eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” said Nathan. “I’ll put the pie in the kitchen. Did you want a piece, Abigail?”