Sunday, September 18, 2011

Chapter 13

13: The five men were seated comfortably in Samuel Wine's living room.  Sam had a trick he wanted to show his guests.  "I found this out one day totally by accident.  I was on the phone with a friend and I was walking around my apartment while I was talking.  When I passed by a certain area in my living room, I heard a voice on the line other than the person I was talking to.  I asked if my friend if he heard it too.  Hell yeah he did and no, it wasn't coming from his side of the line.  It sure as hell wasn't coming from my end.
  "It was an EVP, an electronic voice phenomenon.  It was actually two distinct voices.  One voice was crying and kept saying the word no over and over again.  The other voice kept yelling at the first voice to shut up!  My friend and I were freaking out.  Never in my 45 years of living had I encountered such a thing.  The next day I decided to see if it was still there.  I called my friend again and he agreed to try to find the spot again.  I moved around the living room until, sure enough, there it was.  The crying and everything.
  Sauro looked disturbed and tried to shake off the creepy feeling.  Once he had sufficiently composed himself, he asked the question that he believed was on everyone's mind.  "Do you think those voices are connected to the hauntings in this place?"
  "No.  Those voices are what are called an imprint.  Sometimes, when there is an experience that brings about strong emotions such as fear, sadness or trauma, it can leave its mark at the spot in which it occurred.  For all we know, the people I heard on the phone are still alive.  A haunting, however, does involve the spirits of the dead who have not passed over into the light for some reason."
  Mickey shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.  "Okay.  Whatever.  But then what is going on here?  This place is haunted, but by whom or by what?"
  "I was getting to that.  I've only been able to get so much from down here.  If I went to the apartment on the fifth floor, I would be able to get more from touching the walls.  I also should try to communicate with the spirits that are stuck there.  I haven't done any of this yet because it wouldn't have been safe to do it alone.  It's only because of my spiritual awareness and knowledge that I've survived this haunting."
  Randy looked uneasy about the prospect of going back up there.  "Do we have to go there for your mojo to work?"
  Sam put his hands up.  "Don't worry.  We don't all have to go.  Perhaps if you and Ben want to stay down here, Mickey, Sauro and I can go up there.  But first, let me tell you what I've figured out so far.  I've been able to distinctly identify six different entities up there.  There is a young man, a young woman, an old lady, a little boy, a dog and a dark entity."
  Randy raised his hand.  "I've seen the old lady.  Her name is Ruth Verdi.  I also saw the dog and the dark one."
  Sam grabbed a notebook and a pen.  "Ruth Verdi, you say?"  Randy nodded.  Sam spelled the name out phonetically for future reference.  "Now, my story starts about three months ago.  I had changed from a daytime schedule at my job to an afternoon schedule.  My alarm clock used to wake me up every morning at 8 sharp.  Of course, when I switched schedules, I wanted to sleep in a little.  I figured I could wake up at noon, have lunch and still have plenty of time to get to work at 3pm.
  "Now here comes the weird part.  No matter how much I wanted to sleep in, I kept waking up just around 8 anyway. The first few days, I figured it was because I was so used to getting up at 8.  I thought perhaps that my body just needed to adjust to the new schedule.  But day after day I woke up around 8 o' clock.  I started noticing that it wasn't just 8-ish like I had thought.  It was consistently 8:14 I would wake up.  I tested it.  I'd wake up and immediately look at my clock.  8:14 every time.  I didn't understand what was going on until the spiritual disturbances began.  Then it clicked.  A significant event must have occurred at 8:14 in the morning.
  "I still have no idea what that event was, but I can't shake the nagging feeling that it's important.  It may even be the spirits trying to communicate with me.  That's about all I have so far.  Now, we must get up there for me to get more clues and piece this story together."
  Sam, Mickey and Sauro opened the door which led to the hallway, went out and closed the door behind them.  Ben and Randy stayed at Sam's apartment and tried not to worry.
  Meanwhile, at the hotel, a rescue group arrived with Lowe's uncle, Singh Ho Ping and his boyfriend, Bolly Wotso. Bolly was a half Samoan, half Ethiopian midget of medium build.  When Singh saw his nephew, Yong Lowe, his eyes lit up.  "Well, potato I have!  It's my favorite nephew!"  He reached up for a hug.
  Lowe stooped down to hug his uncle.  "Uncle Singh and Aunt Bolly!  I'm so glad you're safe!  I was so worried.  How are you, my avuncular compadre?"
  "I'm doing alright.  It's good to see you're OK.  How are your mother and father?"
  Lowe's head drooped.  With a trembling voice, he said, "They got into a car accident and they were both killed."
  Singh's eyes watered up.  "Oh, my dear, sweet, beautiful Ling!  My heart is ripping!"  Lowe embraced his uncle in a huge bear hug.  They both cried together for a while.  When Singh could breathe evenly enough to speak again, he realized he should also help his nephew mourn for his father.  "Your father, Tom, was a wonderful husband to my sister and a good father to you. I will miss him greatly."
  Lowe remained silent for a little while longer, but finally spoke.  "You're the only family I have left."  They held each other for comfort and then went to Lowe's room to rest.  It had been a long day.

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