Chương 90: 83. Stranger

"Can I turn it on now?" The recording picked up Mercy's voice.

"Yeah, I think you already did," commented Liz. Mercy turned the camera to record her own face and raised her eyebrows, noticing it was on.

"So?" she asked.

"What do you think?" The lens focused on four people standing over a computer screen, on which footage from the previous night was displayed. Rey just shrugged, clearly not interested in the whole thing, as he went to sit down slightly away from the rest.

"It's weird, gives me the creeps," commented Liz.

"What if something was stalking us?"

"Yeah," Victor nodded.

"Cool, right? Like an actual ghost or whatever."

"The footage is excellent," Cecil said with a smile.

"It will get the clicks, and the breath and… you know what, forget the breath. The eyes that only show in night mode? This should look really good in the film. We can get to the part about the haunting." He changed his voice to an awful rendition of an announcer's voice.

"When, on our path to truth, we decided to check those claims ourselves. And what we found… will shock you." The camera froze on Cecil as it then quickly panned to Mercy standing with a slightly open mouth. She made eye contact with the lens and then recorded everyone in the room, asking,"Is that it? The strange shape, the breath, the… well… everything?! Don't you think it was dangerous?" Everyone looked at one another, not sure what to say. It was Rey who spoke up this time.

"Look, the human mind can play tricks on you. It was probably just some animal and a few coincidences, something reflective in the room that resembled eyes, or an issue with the film."

"He has spoken," Victor whispered a little too loudly.

"Yeah, but the breathing…" Mercy added weakly.

"Look, just before I came here, we had an arrest. We caught a guy carving some words into a woman's back. Caught the guy red-handed. The woman survived and confirmed it was him. But the guy's mother? She believed that he tripped and fell over the victim with a knife in his hands. We see things we want. You lot hunt ghosts, so you see ghosts." The recording stopped on Rey for some time as silence fell over the room.

"Oookaaay," Cecil broke the awkward atmosphere.

"Anyway. Get your stuff, and we will move after dinner. We need to get the day shots and then the interviews. Our own memories should be good, so prepare some high school stories."

"I don't remember much," Liz said.

"Well, then, make something up. Not that complicated." After that, the recording was cut. The next scene showed Mercy in a car with Rey.

"What are you doing?" he asked, as she started to move the camera around the inside of the vehicle, playing with the glove compartment and the AC.

"I was not supposed to be on the recording," he said in a harsher tone.

"Sure, sure. But this is just my blog."

"Fine," sighed Rey, as he followed the older car in front.

"So, do you get many strange cases like the one with the guy cutting stuff into women's backs?" Rey didn't answer for some time before finally opening his mouth, his voice lower and more grave.

"Honestly? Recently, yeah. That's why I got so pissed at Cecil and his bullshit. I thought that I could get some quality rest away from work. Forget about the job, catch up with some high school buddies. But I got roped into whatever it is you are doing here."

"Yeah… Cecil can be… annoying. But I think he means well. He came up with the idea for the channel, you know. Doing the spooky stuff and living off it was thanks to him." Rey stayed silent, only nodding slightly.

"Do you have some ghost stories? Any paranormal cases?" she asked, then did a close-up on Rey's face.

"I don't know." He got strangely serious for such an unserious question.

"There's something in the air recently. Like… It doesn't show up in police statistics or anything, but we've had some unusual calls. People hearing voices. People self-mutilating. Even cannibalism."

"Uhhh."

"Yeah, 'uhh' to say the least. I don't know. It feels like the world's going crazy." Mercy pointed the camera at herself and slowly nodded in agreement.

"But anyway." Rey seemed to shake off his sudden melancholy.

"How was it for you? Got any ghosts?"

"Nooo. We used to visit actual locations in the past, but all we got were some broken pipes that made strange sounds or squeaky floors. But, you know, add the aesthetic of an abandoned building and you have a nice ghost investigation."

"Sounds fun." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"It was. But, you always want more and more, so we finally started adding our own ghost activities and, well… it didn't end up so well." The ride continued as the two chatted about each other's lives after high school. Finally, they arrived where the road ended, and a small forest path, too small for a car, began. They all started unloading the stuff for the recording. Once everything was packed into backpacks, they made their way through the forest.

"So I have this idea for a shot—" Cecil started, but was cut off by Rey.

"Shhh," the man tried to silence the speaker.

"What do you mean 'shhh'? Look, I don't know how you work, but here we don't just silence—""Shut up," hissed the man.

"I think I hear something." At those words, they all stopped and listened. The camera didn't pick up any sound, but the people seemed to, as they furrowed their eyebrows and looked to the left.

"You hear that too?" Liz asked.

"Like some wild animals, maybe? I don't know. I think it's distant," Mercy spoke, holding the camera.

"No, I thought I heard a human voice shouting something," Rey said. As they were all looking around, Mercy approached Victor and took a microphone from the backpack. After some fidgeting, she finally plugged it in. A lot of static could be heard on the recording, but as she pointed the microphone toward the forest, some sounds became audible. It was hard to distinguish them. They could be best described as something between a roar and a pig's squeal.

The strange sounds would be cut off by the sound of breaking branches and the impact of something heavy. The strange cacophony didn't bring anything to mind. They all listened intently, but it died down after some time.

"What do you think that was?" asked Liz.

"Probably a wild animal," Cecil proposed, but clearly unsure of himself.

"That was not a wild animal," Rey said slowly, his eyes still on the line of trees. Mercy turned the camera to him and then, noticing something, did a close-up of the man's side, where the butt of a gun could be seen under his shirt.

"What the fuck… You brought a gun?" she asked out loud, to which everyone turned to him.

"Yeah. You said 'wild animal,' and I don't want to be mowed down by one. Why?"

"Well. Um… nothing? It's kinda weird." They all looked at one another and resumed listening. They spent a few minutes in silence, but the sound didn't return.

"Maybe we should go check it out?" Cecil proposed.

"We could have handheld camera footage of us following the strange sounds to investigate," he said, slowly getting excited about his own idea.

"The microphone barely picked up the sound. I don't think it would work," Mercy said.

"We're not going there. Just because I have a gun doesn't mean we won't get mowed down by a few wild boars. Not taking that risk for your dumb video," Rey firmly refused. Cecil deflated at that.

"Fine, fine. Let's just go." They walked some more through the forest until the building of the old slaughterhouse could be seen in the distance.

"Well, it doesn't look that scary in the daylight."

"Yeeep," Liz agreed with Victor, probably for the first time. They moved closer and began setting up the equipment. Once everything was done, the shooting started.

"Mercy, if you would?" Liz said once she had the camera under control.

"Sure," Mercy answered. She looked around, finally approaching Rey and turning to push the handheld camera into his hands.

"I'm not doing the cameraman's work," said Rey.

"Just hold it pointed in my direction. Pleease?" Mercy said. Rey relented as the recording shook. It finally steadied with the front of the slaughterhouse in view at an angle, as the man rested the camera in his hands with his arms crossed on his chest. Mercy straightened as she started speaking in her professional voice.

"After the sad history related to the slaughterhouse, the place stood abandoned for quite some time. The forest reclaimed the roads used to deliver supplies as the old building rusted and gathered dust. Until… new life was breathed into it by an unlikely crowd."

"Okay, got it," Liz said. Cecil nodded and pointed them inside the building for the next shot. Rey sighed and followed them into a sizable industrial hall.

"Okay, we will finish the introduction and do the story voiceover," commanded Cecil. Mercy got in place as the camera once again started recording.

"It was the local high school seniors who would soon turn the once-abandoned building into a center of this and the surrounding towns' social life. With some power, speakers, and a simple stage, the industrial building transformed into a party house," Mercy finished. After a few more shots of the interior during the daytime, they finished that part.

"Okay, now for the stories." To that, Victor raised his hand quickly.

"Oh, I got one. In the storage rooms." Cecil nodded, and they went to the smaller rooms. They found one where part of the roof had collapsed, giving the place ample lighting. Victor sat in a contemplative position.

"It was ten years ago when I finished high school. I found a hot chick at the last high school party, and we were going to the storage room for you-know-what, ehehe."

"Yeah, that didn't happen," Liz's whisper could be heard on the tape.

"And then it happened," Victor continued, unperturbed.

"First, the doors opened, slowly, with a horrible creak. The girl hid behind me, and I stepped forward. You know, I was ready for a fight. And then I could hear footsteps in the darkness." Victor was ready to continue, but then the sound of footsteps broke the monologue. They all looked at one another.

"What the fuck?" Cecil asked, looking toward the doors.

"Get that camera up," he said to Rey and started to walk in the direction of the footsteps before Rey could protest. They crept through the corridor as the sound ceased, finally arriving at closed doors leading to the back of the facility. Cecil pointed at the doors, raised his hand, and counted down from three using his left hand's fingers. One. The camera finally stabilized as Rey decided to record what was happening properly. Two. Cecil held his breath, his hand shaking, approaching the doors. Three.

Cecil pushed open the doors. They burst into the corridor where a man stood, seemingly waiting for them. However, it was not possible to tell how the man looked from the recording, as the camera was immediately dropped to the ground. On its way, it briefly recorded the hand that previously held it going for the gun at the man's hip. It hit the concrete floor but kept recording in the direction of the man. All that could be seen was the lower part of the stranger's body.

He was wearing black trousers and a green T-shirt. His build seemed to be that of an athlete, with pronounced muscles. But what immediately stood out were the hands. He wore a strange black-gold bracelet with an animal skull on his right wrist, which didn't match the clothing. But it was the left hand that looked the most bizarre. It was covered in what seemed like blood with a strange purple tint, as if the man had been severely wounded very recently.