Page 59 of The Haunting of Lockton
A truck was parked at Lockton when we got there, the driver still inside. Must’ve been Taylor Michaels. At dinner, Julian had mentioned he’d invited him to help with the investigation. Bass rumbled from the vehicle, and Taylor bobbed his head to the song.
“I’m surprised he agreed to come,” Skyler said from the back seat. “The dude seemed pretty freaked-out when we interviewed him about the place.”
“Well, he won’t be alone this time.” Julian pulled in beside the truck and cut the engine.
Taylor, noticing us, shut off his truck and waved, beaming with a smile.
“And he’ll have you to protect him from the big, bad ghost?” Skyler teased. “Just look at that smile. He lit up like the sun when seeing you, Jules.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll leave you here.”
Skyler laughed.
The three of us got out of the SUV and met Taylor. He greeted the brothers, and then his hazel eyes moved to me. “Hey! I’m Taylor. Not sure if you remember me or not.”
“I do. You were a few grades below me in school.” I nodded to him. “I’m Paxton.”
“You do the ghost tours, right?” he asked. “That’s so freaking cool. Makes me feel better about being here. We have an expert.”
“I wouldn’t call myself an expert,” I said. “But I do know quite a bit about Lockton.”
Julian walked to the back of the SUV and opened the hatch. “The sun will set in the next hour or so. We should set up while we still have daylight.”
The four of us then placed cameras in the building, focusing on the areas we didn’t cover the first time, like the second floor and the basement level. I had walked through Lockton numerous times for the guided tours, but it never failed to make my chest tight just knowing how much people had suffered.
Back in the main lobby, the sun hung low in the sky, the light fading quickly. Shadows encroached on the grass and swallowed the trees, though some still had a golden hue as the sun shone on the vibrant leaves. It would be fully set in another ten or so minutes.
“I thought we could split up in groups of two,” Julian said. “One group can cover the basement, while the other covers the second floor. Do some EVP work.” He knelt beside one of the bags and handed a black box to Skyler. “Take an EMF detector.”
“The device with the blue dot that blinks when a spirit is close?” I asked. It was the thing we’d used last time. It also measured temperature drops in the air, which paranormal investigators also believed related to ghost activity. Made sense. When Alan stood close to me, I felt the drop in temperature around him.
“That’s the one,” Skyler answered. “Look at you. You’ll be a pro in no time.”
“I’ll stick to being a tour guide, thanks.”
His answering chuckle was too damn sexy. The corresponding nose crinkle nearly did me in. I had to fight the urge to pull him into my arms and kiss him silly. It would be easier to shove away any feelings for him if not for the fact he was just as attractive on the inside as well as out.
Skyler Knox was a heartbreak waiting to happen.
“We should do a quick livestream,” Skyler said, pulling out his phone.
Julian expelled a soft sigh but nodded. “Okay.”
Taylor and I stepped off to the side as they started the stream, both of them in view. Skyler greeted the people logging on while Julian smiled and waved. When he lowered his hand back to his side, it was shaking. I definitely related to that anxiety.
“The Knox brothers are at Lockton Asylum,” Skyler said, then did a quick show of their surroundings. “We’re gearing up for another night of investigating but wanted to pop on and hang with all of you for a few.”
“Super cool, right?” Taylor whispered to me. “I’ve been a fan for a while. Being here with them feels like a dream.”
I watched Skyler. He gave shout-outs to a few people and answered questions from the comments. His gaze flickered past the phone and to me. The eye contact released butterflies into my belly. “Yeah. It does feel like a dream.”
By the sound of it, they had a ton of people logging on to watch the livestream. Skyler kept thanking people for sending gifts. New viewers who’d come across the stream by chance subscribed to them, and he thanked them too.
“Okay, we’re signing off now,” Skyler said about ten minutes into the live. “Keep an eye on our page for new episodes. And reminder, access to the full episode is a subscriber-only perk, so be sure to hit that subscribe button.”
“Thanks for watching,” Julian said, giving an awkward wave.
Taylor smiled. “He’s so shy. It’s cute.”
