Page 2 of Haunting Salem

I’d be happy with whatever job I received.

“I think we’re a shoo-in,” Lucy muttered to my left. “Did you hear the gasp when the photo of the floating woman appeared on screen?”

Apparently, I'd missed it. I'd been so concerned about how the meeting would go; I was missing the whole thing. "Eating it up?" I cocked my head to the side.

“More than,” Lucy gushed. “You rocked the assignment.”

Lucy was one of my biggest cheerleaders and supporters. She practiced Wicca and had a degree in the Occult, like me. She reminded me of the crazy chick inThe Craft. The one who said to the bus driver, “We are the weirdos, mister.” She was also crazy loyal, which unnerved me a bit.

Gaspar had also taken an affinity to her and not in a good way. Death kept a little black book with all our names in it. When our time was up, he came to collect. He had come to collect me twice in my life but spared me both times. Why? Because that starry-eyed bastard said my destiny needed to be fulfilled first. Lucy, on the other hand, bewildered him. She wasn't in his book. I didn't know what that meant, I don't think he did either, so it put him on high alert.

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see what they say,” I reminded them. I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

We're waiting for you, Simone... Come find us.The message rang out in my mind once more as the lights came up and the projector shut off. The group of men behind us along with Jack shook hands with one another. Not only was Jack an investigator with me, but he was also our team leader/director.

“Lunch would be great,” Jack said. “We all have the afternoon available.”

"Perfect," Henry our producer for the Cecil Hotel replied. "I'll have a meal called in for us. There's much to discuss before the Halloween episode can begin pre-production." I blanched as he patted Jack on the shoulder. "I can't wait for our loyal viewers to get a chance to see Simone and your team in action. What I saw today... I can't explain or disprove."

I beamed. I couldn’t help it. I shouldn’t have been listening in on their conversation, but Henry was talking about me—us, so it was only right I got to know the truth about it. Nolan elbowed me again while Lucy preened, and Owen blinked a few times. Yep, none of them understood the magnitude of the situation. But, they would—eventually.

On the other hand, I did, and I thought I was going to throw up.

Halloween was our first “official,” episode.

An hour later, we were in the producer’s office signing the contract for the show. Lunch tasted like cardboard, to be honest, though it could have been amazing for all I knew. Unfortunately, my stomach churned, and my palms were too sweaty to enjoy anything. I didn’t want to sound ungrateful for everything the studio was giving us, but I would have rather signed the contract and gotten out of there. So, when the table was cleared of our mess, the big boss had our contracts placed in front of us.

The terms were pretty simple, to say the least. For the next ten months, we would have to film twelve episodes at twelve different sites. Five were already picked out for us by Adventure Channel and the remaining six would be our choice, depending on how well the first six went. As of the moment we signed the contracts, the Cecil Hotel would be our first episode to be aired the week of Halloween, before our first "official," live stream/show.

I had to pinch myself several times to make sure I was awake and not dreaming.

As I continued scanning the contract, I noticed the pay wasn't much to start, but there was also a clause for merchandise, and a pay raise depending on how well the show did. Plus a bunch of bonuses along the way. With this contract, we'd be sitting pretty soon.

We also had another clause that said, for Halloween, we’d work with another crew on the live show. I didn’t know how I felt about doing something live or with others outside of my circle. So many things could go wrong, including someone getting hurt. Then there was the fact my guides would make an appearance for sure, and then what? Would whoever was with us pull another Paul and Felix? I scrubbed my head going over the smaller details within the live broadcast sub-section of the contract.

"Other shows have done it," Henry said. "We'll do the first-hour commercial-free, and then the remaining three hours will have embedded marketing. A final hour—the witching hour—will be done on a live stream. We have the demographics for the late-night crew, so we'll have no problem with the crossover. Plus, the team joining you has experience and they've done several Halloween specials over the years."

Still didn't settle right with me. However, if I wanted this shot at showing the world what goes bump in the night, I had to sign the contract. Well, I mean, I didn't, I could probably do this show on my own. Conversely, if I signed this contract, I'd have the backing of a studio, with a budget. I didn't have to worry about running out of money half-way through an episode.

“I’m assuming the Halloween episode is within the first six sites we’ll be visiting?” Jack asked, as though reading my mind.

“Yes,” Henry replied. “If you flip to the third page of your itinerary, you’ll see which sites have been chosen for you.”

I did as he said and tilted my head. Salem(several locations), Fort McAllister along with the Marshall House Hotel, Eastern State Penitentiary, Myrtle Plantation, and The Stanley Hotel, made famous by Stephen King. Several of the properties could have been the Halloween special. So, I looked back up at Henry. “Which one?”

“Salem. Tons of people love Salem, Mass. They also are enthralled by the Salem Witch Trials. I believe the Witch Museum will give you a chance to walk in the pioneers’ shoes along with visiting little locations along the way to hear the history of Salem. From there, you can pick the remaining places you’d like to investigate while in Salem.” Henry beamed.

The idea had merit, but it also seemed showy. “It’s a little on the nose, don’t you think?”

He chuckled. "Maybe." He held his finger up. "But, we've compiled the numbers along with surveys, and people are enchanted with Salem. They're curious. A bit morbid. The tourism for the town is out of this world and we want the truth, to be frank with you, Miss Hadley. We think you can get that for us.”

Wonderful.“Peachy.” I glanced at my team. “So what you’re saying is that it’s more than twelve sites, more like sixteen.”

Henry nodded. "Yes, technically. Also if Cecil Hotel episode does well, you'll be paid an extra twenty-thousand for your Halloween episode."

“That’s in the contract,” Owen said, flipping through the pages.

“No,” Henry answered. “It’s here in this special document addressing one-time payments and extra benefits.”

The packets were passed around and I read through it. It was pretty much what Henry said. We had incentives to make sure the show was successful, but they were also a double-edged sword. It would be easy to fake our way through these, than do the work, as long as we made a connection with viewers and scared the shit out of them.

"Well, you heard the man. Twenty grand if we bring in the ratings." I made a deal with the devil two years ago, and I re-upped it sitting there. "Let's get to it."

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