Snippet #2680023

Briella stretched, bringing her arms above her head before letting them drop back down. She knew that it did interesting things to her shirt, but... well, that was half the fun, right? It hadn't taken that long to set up, but it was the principle of the matter. After working, stretching was needed. It was a rule from her days in track and field that Briella still followed.

"You always did have good timing, Briella." Duncan's comment made her smirk, and she tossed a playful wink in his direction. In creepy houses, finding humor was an easy way to stay sane and not freak out.

"You bet I do." She fiddled with the brightness setting on her camera, trying to find a level that would neither blind her nor make her squint. Aside from the body-cam that Richard had insisted on, Briella also had her special ghost-hunting baby. "It comes from wisdom and many years of practice."

As Duncan reiterated the off-limit areas, she leaned forward and fiddled with the command-center laptops. They were running a new program that consolidated all the sensing info, and Briella wanted to make sure that everything was working as planned. So far, it look good, but there was no such thing as too careful. What was that quote about plans and contact with the enemy? Whatever. It wasn't important.

She glanced over at Carrie, who was eating one of Leon's lollipops. (Here, Briella mentally paused and chided herself for the unfortunate phrasing.) Leon's antics seemed to calm the new girl down somewhat. Briella decided that rather she liked Carrie. Both of them were nice kids, and it'd do Leon some good to hang out with someone his age. Briella paused again. When had she gotten so old? She was only in her twenties, for Pete's sake, and here she was, taking like an old woman! Briella scowled at the screen, clicking twice before letting it reconfigure.

The sudden beep alerted her to a high concentration of electromagnetism and a sharp drop in temperature. Briella felt it shortly after—a hair-raising chill that made her shudder. Her gaze snapped to the dark, hazy form behind Duncan. Jesus! If she could see it, then it must be freaking strong. The odd noises it made began with a crackle that sounded like a broken, old television. Briella couldn't understand it, of course, but it reminded her an awful lot of what she'd heard upon entering the house.

̜̪̩̝̪̖͢ ̶̴̘͜ ̡̮̣̯͚̜̖̣͜͠ ̧̙̟̭̪̳̮͇̘̥͢ ̠̲̭̥̦ ̤͙̮̖̘̞͟͝ͅ ̴̴̭̳ ̸̠͓̕͞ ̺̬̖̜̱̬̬͝ ̱̣̺̥̥͖̠͕͢ ̧̡͎̱̞̮̯͉͉̘̥͡ ̟̤͈̬ ̝̤͔̪̘ ̛͇̥̙͓̙ ҉ ̼͍̻̖̂̂̒̉̾̅̕ ͧ̚W̸̷̢͟͝ ̷̢́͞͝l̡̀̕ ͏͘͘͢͠m̷̴͢͠è̡̕.͜͢.̴̧̛͝͝.̵͏̨͞ ͏t̷̴͟͝ó͜.͏͟͏̵̶.̷̛͘͟͟.҉͟͢ ̵̴h̨̛̕ȩ́͜͜͢l͏͏̸ļ̸̛͡.̸͢͢


Breaking out of her momentary daze, Briella grabbed her personal camera and ramped the flash up to its highest intensity. A bright jolt of light, she had found, was enough to scare off most spirits.

Most spirits.

To her surprise, the thing stayed behind Duncan, hovering for a moment, still under the glare of the light. What?
͇̱̯̮ ̣̟̪̠̣ ̯͈̹̥ ̜̬̦̙͙̬ ͎̣͈ ̫̫̯͈͕̟͉ ̖̫̫͚ ̻̹͓ ͖̫̤̦̖̫̭ ̩͍̟͚ ͉̣͇͎̰̦̭ ͖͓̳͎̝ͅͅ ̝̙̼ͅ ̗̹͚̤̥̫ ̯ ̬̗̙̪̹ ͎͇ ̞͈͎̘̦̱ͅ ̹͇̼ ̰̠ ͚ ̫̹̪͖̤̙ ̟̣̲̥̳̖͇


Its laugh whispered in her ear. After what appeared to be a backward glance, it finally faded away.

Shakily, Briella set the camera down. "What was that?" she exclaimed. "It just... stayed in the light!" For the first time, Briella regretted not bringing lights to illuminate the command post. They'd never needed it before. "Um... I don't know about you, but I'm not sure splitting up individually would be the best choice. Maybe groups of two?" she offered hesitantly. "But it's your decision, Duncan. Whatever you say."

Briella stared at the spot where the spirit had been. Hopefully, that had been an anomaly. If all the spirits in the house were as strong as that one, then... she needed a bigger light.