Page 68 of Ghost of a Chance
“I know.I fucked up.But after three days here I believed this was a waste of time.”
Dan hit Play.The sound was up on the monitor but there wasn’t much noise.A shuffling sound cut through the silence, and then there was that blurry blob that appeared on-screen just before the television came on.
“That is terrifying.”
“What’s terrifying?”Gia asked, joining them.
“The footage that I got,” Dan said.
Gia started a cup for herself before joining them.Today her hair was all springy curls tied back with a thick headband.She had on aNightmare Before Christmassweatshirt over orange-and-brown-plaid pjs.
Dan played it again.Even seeing it a second time sent a chill through him.There was something in the living room.Some kind of energy.Paul’s energy.
God, he felt like an idiot that he hadn’t really taken the time to talk to Paul before this.To be fair, until Kirsty had come along Jasper hadn’t been ready to do it.
At first he tried to be logical about the stuff going on, the way he knew Kirsty had when she arrived here.But logic didn’t explain mysterious figures where none should be.He’d always known that Paul was haunting him but having visual evidence made it seem real in a whole new way.
“That’s spooky.I love it.The film is kind of grainy though…do you think it’ll be clear enough to convince Bri and the audience?”Gia asked.
“With infrared that’s about what we are going to get.I don’t want to enhance it in post too much or we’ll end up with some of the audience thinking it’s faked,” Dan said.
“You’re right.I didn’t think we were going to get anything as good as that.I’m going to go wake up Kirsty.She needs to see this.”
Gia left and Dan leaned back in his chair.“Finally I have something that Bri can use.She was breathing down my neck.I mean no excuses for what I did yesterday, but you know how she can be.”
“I do.”Their boss was kind and generous but also extremely demanding when it came to her show.She wanted results and wouldn’t tolerate anything less than the best.
Jasper was a bit relieved too, despite the unease the footage gave him.All these years hadn’t been just in his head.There had always been a small part of him that wondered if he had been projecting, imagining it all.
Maybe that explained why he’d been so ticked off when Kirsty hadn’t believed him.Part of him had always been a little unwilling to put his faith in something that was so out there.Kirsty just had the nerve to share her doubts out loud.
Kirsty stumbled into the room behind Gia, their eyes met and she gave him a conspiratorial grin before coming to stand behind Dan.The scent of her freshly showered body made it difficult not to drop his arm onto her shoulders.
But he didn’t.
Keeping their relationship—whatever it was—under wraps was for the best.After all, they had a ghost to save.
* * *
Things were really starting to come together.If she didn’t have to hold another séance she’d be elated.The infrared footage that Dan captured made up for the day before and then some.
Now they all were sitting in the back of a physics classroom, auditing a class before filming thanks to Jasper’s persuasion skills.Jasper leaned back in the chair stretching his legs out in front of him and scrolling on his phone as students trickled in.
She’d loved school for as long as she could remember.Learning at least.Not so much the social aspects.There was a thrill in getting a new fact, in solving a problem.
“I’m pretty much crap at anything science,” she said.Ever since last night, Jasper’s energy was off.He’d been cordial and talkative as usual, but she could tell he was holding something back.
“I’m okay,” he said.Paul’s textbook was with them hiding in a large bag at their feet.
The professor came in and started explaining something about quantum entanglement.There was frantic note-taking from the students and Jasper leaned forward listening intently.
But she was confused.
Jasper leaned in close, a troublemaker’s gleam in his eyes.
“Want me to give you the cheater’s version?”he asked.
She nodded, so he continued, his voice a low whisper as the professor droned on.“Physics is basically studying matter and its motion through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force.It’s the study of nature in an attempt to understand how the universe behaves.
