Chapter 24
Over the next two weeks, Henry slowly came to terms with Samantha's newly discovered sexuality. On occasion, he would see them walking in the hallway, exchanging affectionate glances and infatuated smiles. A few times, he ran into them after class, and prompting them to put aside their concerns, spoke to them as friends. But it was while Henry and Samantha stood next to each other in the cafeteria food line that he made her realize his acceptance of who she was. Leaning over to her, he whispered in her ear.
“I still think she's hot.”
Samantha turned to him with a broad grin and whispered back.
“Me too.”
The air had finally cleared of the tension that had threatened their friendship and there was, once again, talk of going back to the abandoned ambulance station. Everyone was excited to return, but Melissa decided to bow out. Given what happened the last time they visited the house, she thought it best to let Henry and Samantha spend some quality time together, continuing to mend their friendship.
It wasn't until after mid-terms that they returned to the abandoned house. With exams and papers finished, Henry and Samantha chose the following Saturday afternoon to proceed with the next step of their investigation. Again, they met at 1:00 and this time, at the back of the house. Given Henry's fear of going in alone, Samantha agreed to wait near the back door. They walked through the first floor, going through the same rooms they had during their first visit. Samantha slowly opened the door leading to the stairs. At this point, they had heard and seen nothing, experiencing the soundless air as something that might easily rob one of their sanity. Proceeding to the second floor, they noticed the air was much colder than the first floor, but Samantha discounted it as the result of unfinished walls. Nearing the top of the stairs, Henry looked up into the attic and seeing the bats no longer clinging to the rafters, breathed a sigh of relief. Removing the camcorder from his day pack, he turned it on and set it to night vision as Samantha directed him to sweep the area from left to right. The camcorder detected nothing, but the cold persisted to the point where they could see their breath hanging in the air.
“Why is it so fucking cold up here?” Henry asked.
As much as Samantha had read about the paranormal, she was clueless as to why it had suddenly become so cold.
With her camera in hand, Samantha began taking pictures from every corner of the second floor. They sat near the top of the stairs, listening for any sound that might indicate the presence of something ethereal. The footsteps did not return and the frigid air began to overwhelm them.
“It's not half this cold outside,” Henry said.
“I know,” Samantha began. “Let's go back downstairs.”
Aside from the cold, they hadn't seen or heard anything, but as they began to turn toward the stairs, Henry caught a glance of something quickly moving through the frame of his camcorder viewer. During that moment, he hesitated and aimed it to the place he thought he saw the blurry shape.
“What is it?” Samantha asked.
Henry continued to sweep the room.
“I don't know,” he answered. “I thought I saw something on the viewer.”
Samantha glanced over at it and seeing nothing, turned back down toward the stairs.
“We can look later,” she said. “C'mon, I'm freezing.”
She took out her flashlight and shining it down the stairs, led the way back to the first floor.
Opening the door pulled in a wave of warm air as Samantha and Henry returned to the first floor. The temperature difference was striking, leading them to a brief conversation, trying to figure out what they had just experienced. Rewinding the camcorder's tape for only a few seconds, Henry played it back as the two stood with their eyes fixed on the viewer. They had been watching for only a few moments when a shadowy form appeared to almost 'walk' past the lens.
“Holy shit,” Samantha said. “It looks like it's actually walking.”
It was at that moment they heard the heavy sound of footsteps crossing the second floor, right over their heads. But there was something different about them. They were louder. Now, the two teens reduced their conversation to a whisper.
“It sounds like someone's stomping across the floor,” Henry said. “Like they're pissed off about something.”
Samantha and Henry continued listening as the footsteps grew less frequent, ending with a single loud stomp that made the windows vibrate slightly.
“I think we should probably go,” Samantha said.
Henry agreed, but on their way to the back door, Samantha was struck by something that left her frozen with an expression of terror on her face.
“Sam,” Henry said. “What is it?”
He noticed that in her catatonic silence, the muscles in her neck would momentarily tense and release. But after a short time, she let out a deep sigh as her ability to move returned. She shivered with a sudden chill while Henry took her by the arm and quickly led her outside.
Once in the backyard, Henry still holding Samantha by the arm, turned her towards him and urgently questioned her about what had just taken place. The only thing she could recall was a feeling of something passing through her. It felt cold and fuzzy, grabbing her from within, squeezing her soul. It wouldn't be until later that she would realize the dark anger that had been dropped into her being, polluting her existence. Henry tried unsuccessfully to conceal his fear as he put a hand around her shoulder and quickly walked her back to the street. However, as she continued on about her experience, she was interrupted by the feeling of her stomach twisting itself into knots. Arriving at the curb, Samantha grabbed her stomach, bent over, and proceeded to vomit onto the cold asphalt. Putting a hand on her back, Henry spoke to her with a soothing tone, trying to calm her enough to bring her sudden sickness to an end.
With the contents of her stomach pooling on the pavement, Samantha reached out for Henry's hand as the muscles of her abdomen unknotted themselves. Henry kept a careful eye on her as he continued walking her home. But along the way, Samantha stopped several times, bending down to keep herself from fainting. Her skin was pale and shimmering with sweat. Where there was a house with steps leading up from the sidewalk, Samantha would sit for a few minutes to regain her strength, and recover her senses. She wasn't sure why she had become so sick, so suddenly, but suspected she may have picked up the flu. Still, its rapid onset deeply frightened her, and as she got back to her feet, Samantha's legs began to tremble, causing Henry to become that much more concerned.
Continuing to see her home, Henry put an arm around Samantha's waist, holding her up as sweat began dripping off her chin. Finally, within sight of her house Henry hurried his pace, hoping her mother would be home. Most of the neighborhood knew Samantha's mother was a nurse and often consulted with her on the most minor of issues, be they real or imagined. But a mother's intuition is always right, and having been struck with the feeling that something was amiss, she looked out through a window near the front door. Frightened by what she had seen, she ran out onto the sidewalk, and taking Samantha around the shoulders, led her to the house while anxiously inquiring as to what had happened. She was asking all the right questions. There were simply no clear answers.