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31
While Melissa and Adam were setting up the camcorder on a tripod and checking that it was working properly, Jane was pouring out a cup of warm tea from a flask to give to Curio. Stuart had wandered over to the farmhouse where Ted had lived. It was a shell. Windows and doors were missing. Squatters and drug users had been and gone. It seemed that the place was not even fit for them anymore. The stairs had collapsed, but it was still possible to climb up there.
Should anybody have troubled themselves to do that, they would have found nothing. The place had literally been gutted since Ted’s death. Time had rapidly fast forwarded the deterioration of the place, as though it had been abandoned for much longer than it had. The stables were barely standing, as was the chicken shed and haybarn. The students stood around the centre of the yard, their car parked near the main entrance. There was a large space in a wall where a gate had once been. The sun blazed in a cloudless sky. It still seemed to retain its heat, as the air brought with it a biting chill. Jane handed Curio the tea.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a sip. “I can feel it already. There’s a certain energy here synonymous with the human spirit. We’re not alone”. Jane nodded, and turned to the others.
“Is that ready yet?” she asked.
“No, it’s not,” said Melissa, staring at the small camcorder screen. “Why is that symbol flashing?..Oh, hold on”. She pressed one of the buttons. “That’s it. I think we’re about ready”. Adam was unwinding wire from a microphone. Stuart walked across the yard to join them. After a few minutes, Melissa was stood in front of the camera, microphone in hand, stables in the background. Adam manned the camcorder. The others stood behind, watching. She was centred on screen. Adam pressed record, and waved his hand for her to begin.
“I am here at Pendlebridge farm to investigate whether or not there is any truth behind the rumours that it is haunted by the ghost of man named Ted Lester”. She proceeded to explain the story of him, and why he is said to guard the place.
“…so we’re here to try and find out if the farm really is haunted. We’ve enlisted the help of a psychic who is to try and contact Ted, to see if he can provide us with any answers”. While Melissa had described the story of the farm’s owner, Curio had been instructed by Stuart’s gesturing to position himself slightly off camera, so Adam could pan to him when introduced.
“Curio Enchantment is a well-known professional psychic, and we’re grateful for him giving up some of his time to help us out in our project.” The camera panned to the right, and he and Melissa both shared the little screen. Curio was smiling inanely into the lens. “Curio,” continued Melissa. “Could you please explain the implications of ghosts being real, and how you receive messages from the spirit world”. She put the microphone in front of him, but he subconsciously took it, and centred himself in front of the camera. “Well Melissa. There is a strong possibility that Ted is watching us right now. He could be standing here, next to us. Incidentally, I have often wondered just how much any person is actually alone. The spirits, or essences of those that have crossed over, could very well be all around us, as their world is parallel to ours. How many humans and animals, and indeed insects, have died over centuries, since life began on earth? It’s impossible to put a number on.
We, in the real world cannot see the afterlife. We cannot see where we will go. Look into space and we cannot see our destination. Therefore ghosts, and indeed thoughts are parallel to reality. When we open up the human skull, we cannot see dreams, or what we are thinking. We see the physical, the brain, the nerves. Yet we ‘know’ we have thoughts, we ‘know’ there’s a mind’s eye that enables this.
This is reality, as thoughts do not require the brain in order to function. We need our physical forms in order to interact with the real world, and to procreate. If life is a form of energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, it must therefore convert at the point of death into something else. This is the afterlife, and the crossing over into the world of the spirits. It must therefore be logical to think that this world is parallel.
Obviously we cannot see into their world, but I believe that they can see into ours. They can, after all, interact with reality. Poltergeists being the prime example of this. Now there is no question of there being life after death. Empirical evidence points to its truth. Yet, it only needs one ghost, one ghost to be a proven fact, and then, what of the implications? If one spirit or phenomena outside the realms of science can be proved, then that will confirm the reality of the paranormal.
That will be undoubted proof to the sceptics and cynics who think that science can answer everything. If science cannot answer it, then they don’t want to know. These people have limited minds. Limited insofar as their beliefs allow them. It’s facts, or nothing. Yet, I ‘know’, as I have proven, that science is not the answer to everything. If it is possible to have an out-of-body experience, as many people are reported to have, then that proves we do not need flesh to have consciousness. Ghosts that manifest themselves to enable us to see them, do so only to let us know who they once were. Mostly they exist as floating minds.
Now here, at this farm, I believe we have a prime example of this. Ted Lester haunts, well, resides here, and I’m here to try and contact him. Not everybody has the ability to connect, but we all have potential. I can tune into the spirit world, which I am going to prove, here today. It takes a lot of dedication and practice, and not everybody can do it.” He paused for a few seconds, before continuing:
“I was pleased to receive such an accurate introduction by Melissa. Her use of the word ‘professional’, was I believe, no exaggeration, but I must profess that that is not how I see myself. Although, I believe I am very close. My clients will attest to that. Now, I shall prove my ability by going to the place where Ted passed into the spirit world”. He turned and walked towards the haybarn, and Adam saw that the wire was about to become taut.
Curio was only focusing on his task, and had forgotten he was holding the microphone.
Adam quickly took the camcorder off the tripod and lifted it to eye level. He centred Curio on the screen and followed him. He didn’t say anything else until he entered the barn. It was well lit, as the wooden roof had many holes, and the wall where the lorry had crashed through was still there. Curio became aware of the microphone and handed it to Melissa. Adam stood near the entrance to get them, and most of the barn in shot. “Right,” said Curio, standing near the centre. “It is around here where Ted will have entered the spirit world”. He could feel the temperature gradually decreasing.
“I feel that there is a drop in temperature”.
“Yes,” said Melissa, “I feel it as well”. The others agreed.
Curio closed his eyes and put his hands to the sides of his head. Melissa just looked at him. The film continued to roll. All eyes were on Curio.
“Can you hear me Ted Lester?” he said. “Show me a sign that you are here. We are here in peace”. Curio stood like that for a few more seconds. Melissa turned to the camera, her face seemingly hopeful not towards the average viewer, but the tutor. She turned to look back at him, and Adam continued to watch the screen, centred on Curio. It watched him as he screamed out in pain, then fall to his knees. Adam surged forward, his natural instinct had forced him to try and help.
“No!” said Melissa, shooting out a hand to stop him.
“Keep filming! It could be dangerous to interfere”. Adam composed himself and centred Curio again. The screen saw that he was staring at the floor. It saw him slowly look up, then get to his feet. His eyes stared at the students with hatred.
“GET OUT!” he yelled, his arm gesturing away, finger pointing. He came forward. The students scattered.
“GET OUT OF MY FARM, GET OUT OF MY FARM, NOOOW!” he screamed. He
only managed four steps before his eyes rolled upwards and he collapsed back to his knees, his hands clutching his head again. He gave another cry of pain, breathing heavily, then stared at the floor for a few moments.
The students were in the yard, all at various distances away from the car. They all looked at each other for answers. Eventually, Stuart edged his way back to him. Curio slowly stood up, rubbing the back of his neck as though it were aching. He looked at the students.
“That’s never happened before,” he said.
“You’re back?” said Stuart. “It’s you, Curio?”. Curio nodded.
“Yes, I’m sorry, but I need to go home,” he said. Stuart put his arm around him. Curio allowed himself to be helped to the car. Nobody spoke. They were all trying to understand what it was that they had just seen.
All of them believed in some aspects of the supernatural to one degree or another, so Curio’s ‘possession’ caused them to contemplate their own ideas about it. They each gave it credence and were in no doubt that Curio had some link, or connection to the unknown, to areas where science did not tread.
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” said Jane from the wound down back window of the car. Curio nodded.
“If you need me again, well, just ring” he said. The car drove away, turning a corner.
They had dropped him near Leigh recreation grounds after he had told them he needed fresh air. It was only half a mile from his flat, which he slowly headed towards. Eventually, he closed the door behind him, and slowly managed to hang his coat up. The kettle was soon boiling, and he was staring in fascination at the cup he had readied. Possessed, he thought. I was possessed.
He guessed that his mind was not strong enough for such a phenomenon just yet. It was Curio’s psyche which had broken the link because it was unable to sustain it for more than a few seconds. With more possessions, he knew he could probably hold the connection for longer. However, his whole being came under Ted’s control, and Curio wondered just what forces he was getting himself involved with.
The kettle boiled and he poured himself a cup of tea. Walking into the living room, he crossed to the window and looked out at the car-park, sipping his drink. How dangerous was it? he thought. What am I getting myself involved with? His mind, he knew, was becoming more and more receptive to spirits, which meant he was gaining more ease of access into their world. It was as though his mind was a key to a door leading there. The door to the spirit world was, however, a giant steel entranceway that only the most determined and strongest of minds in the real world could open.
Curio did not know how wide it was. His calling to Ted had allowed him to come through directly into his mind. He wondered if other souls may venture through the entrance. Was it now possible for them to stream out and interact with him at will? He thought perhaps that each person had a metaphorical doorway to the world of the spirits. When he had discovered his ‘gift’, that was the moment when the door unlocked. To the unreceptive, untrained, maybe even disbelieving mind, it remained firmly closed. They didn’t even have a key, and the key was belief. With more experience, it would gradually open wider and wider, allowing Curio easier access to spirits. Perhaps each person's door automatically unlocked upon their death, enabling them to cross the threshold to the afterlife, to their new home.
Curio left a quarter of the tea on the window ledge. He was tired, and turned and walked through into his bedroom. Possessed, he thought again. He didn’t think he would be quite as fearful as he was, but there was no practice quite like experience, so he knew that should he be possessed again, he would welcome it. Curling himself up on his bed in a foetus-like position, Curio rested.