Haunter

Book 1 The Shadow of the Haunter In the darkness of the nightWaiting for the light to comeWhen the demons in your mindRemind you of the damage done. Always talking, so much to sayLike a haunting ghost from the graveAnd Heaven seems so far away. —Daughtry, Changes Are Coming * * Sometimes, things have a funny way to happen before you can even realize what on earth is going on. Hi, I’m exhibit A. I was twenty-five back in the summer of 2023. I was living in Boston and I’d been waiting tables twelve hours a day for six months already, while trying in vain to find a job that would allow me to make ends meet. I couldn’t afford a rent all by myself, so I shared a tiny apartment in Jamaica Plains with two friends. And by the end of June, ruthless math said that such as I was, my dwindling savings wouldn’t last the summer. That was when the diner manager put on his sad face and told me they had to let me go. Great! Now what? I was wandering around, trying to clear my head and c

One morning, I went out for a walk earlier than usual, not feeling like being around while Susan and Mike were at the Manor. Don’t ask me why, the moment I got to the Quabbin, I didn’t feel like sitting to listen to some music and just stare into nothingness, like I used to. I felt I needed to learn more about communicating with ghosts and all that, so I decided to watch some of what Trisha had called the pros.I’d noticed that YouTube ghost hunters talked a lot about one Brandon Price, leader of a team called Haunters, like he was the grandfather of paranormal investigation, even over the Warrens and Hans Holzer. A quick search taught me that even though Haunters hadn’t been among the pioneers of that particular TV niche, they already had nine seasons and counting. And they were considered the best of the best.Before subscribing to the streaming platform that hosted all their seasons, I searched for anything about them on YouTube. Didn’t find any episode for free, but I did find a t

The thuds went on through the night, about every hour, for as long as the sky remained dark. They sounded like distant muffled bangs from my room upstairs, but they woke me up anyway. Every time I jolted awake, the ball on the chest of drawers near the door would flash, to let me know I wasn’t alone and Lizzie was right there, keeping me safe. That was the only reason why I didn’t sleep in my car.Only by sunrise, when the thuds subsided, I was able to get a few hours of good sleep, so the Collins were already in the house by the time I got up. I came across Mike on the first-floor hallway.“Morning, Mike. I need the basement key,” I said, still rubbing my eyes and feeling exhausted.My voice drew Susan out of the kitchen. “Good morning, Miss Garner. Breakfast is…” She trailed off, noticing her husband visibly upset.“The basement key?” he repeated, taken aback. “I can go get you anything you ne

I found the Collins in the kitchen, talking in whispers while Mike tried to sip a tea before his shaky hands spilled it all on his shirt. Speedwell, no doubt. God knew I needed a gallon.“Go home, guys,” I said to them, feeling so overwhelmed I sounded soft. “Take the rest of the day off.”Susan turned to me like I was a serial killer covered in her mother’s blood.“You talk to them!” she cried. “You talk with the ghosts!”Her accusatory tone took me aback. “Well, yeah. Hard to overlook them, being so many all over the place.”“You’re evil like them!”A chair was roughly knocked down behind me. I didn’t even glance at it.“They’re not evil, Susan. Please go home.”Mike grabbed his wife’s hand and pretty much dragged her out the backdoor, that slammed shut behind them.“Thanks,” I murmured, grabbin

I couldn’t turn the key to lock the basement door fast enough. Still dizzy, I snatched a soda from the fridge and gulped up half of it right where I stood, feeling I desperately needed a sugar boost.“Are you okay?” asked the tablet by the flashing cat ball.“Yeah, yeah, I just need a minute,” I panted. “And a tea.”“Speedwell,” said the phone.“That’s a great idea.”Five minutes later, I sat at the table, the phone offline on one side, the tablet with both apps open on the other. We lingered there until their dinner time, talking about what had just happened downstairs. Typing still demanded them a lot of time and energy, so Joseph and Lizzie shared the TTS, while Edward used the speaking up and Ann used my phone.What Edward had observed over those few minutes in the basement left me speechless.First of all, now he’d gotten a closer look