Maddie☆彡

Baldur's Gate 3

The Mourning Dove Summary: Former viscountess turned bard struggles to traverse the lands of Faerün. From the shadows of her past and the mysterious affliction put upon her, how will she fair with her merry band of misfits and her own quest for answers to her previous life?

Marvel

Logan Howlett

Sketches Summary: You enjoy drawing wolverines, Logan sees your sketchbook

It Will Come Back Summary: Inspired by Hozier's "It Will Come Back", all the times you've run into Logan throughout your life

Loki Laufeyson

Flame Summary: Sometimes you just need an inner advisor.

Full Moon Summary: Waking up to an empty bed should be a concerning matter, especially in the middle of the night.

I Could Find You in Any Life Summary: Through grief you struggle to find yourself again, unable to bear the ache in your chest at each memory, how do you move on? And then, you see him.

Matt Murdock

Two Sides of a Coin- I Summary: Married life isn’t always easy, especially when you throw a vigilantie into the mix

The Hunger Games

Haymitch Abernathy

The Haunted Games Summary: Haunted locations vs. Panem's biggest paranormal YouTuber who is subsequently dating the infamous Haymitch Abernathy. Welcome to The Haunting Games, don't forget to like and subscribe!

The Whaley House-

The camera settles on the wooden table, set carefully in order to get all three people within the frame. You sat in the middle with Haymitch to your right and the special guest sat on your left, both of them sharing a look of mild disinterest before eyes trail back towards the camera in front of them.

Your hands clap once as you begin your video intro, wide smile on your face which was the only one that was in the room. 

“Hello everyone! And welcome back to my channel and back to The Haunting Games series!” You greet the camera, clasped hands moved to the side of your face. 

“This episode we will be investigating ‘The Whaley House’ in San Diego California. And this time, we are joined by an amazing guest,” You turn to your left, clasped hands parting and gesturing. “Katniss Everdeen!”

She shifted in her seat, sitting up slightly straighter from her slumped position, an awkward wave given towards the camera.

“Katniss is a skeptic, but she’s agreed to come with us to hopefully capture some ghosts.” You explain, although your longer time viewers knew Katniss and her view on ghosts and paranormal. Some even visit her channel for her hunting videos and sometimes her joining for Peeta’s baking videos.

She also wasn’t very good at talking to the camera and had to learn how to do so, she mostly left everyone else up to addressing the camera and mainly spoke to the other people with her. Prim had to help her with her camera skills which has improved tremendously since her very beginning of her journey. 

“Now, this location is supposedly haunted by the Whaley’s- of course. As well as their dog and cat, and a man who was hung on this property which Thomas Whaley then bought after attending the hanging. And also by a young girl who was accidentally poisoned.” You vaguely explain with a small grin.

Katniss and Haymitch share another look when you mentioned the ghost pets, clearly not believing the tales. A ghost cat and a ghost dog? Yeah, that’s a load of shit. Probably just some marketing scheme.

You catch the look they share from the screen flipped towards you guys, a small frown pulling at your lips before glancing back at them once catching their looks.

“Hey, I’m just saying what I’ve researched.” You explain, defending your- admittedly- silly story of the house. 

You then turn back towards the camera with a small huff and begin telling the story of the house and the hauntings. Starting from the hanging of the most prominent ghost which is darker and considered as a trickster, James W Robinson aka ‘Yankee Jim’. He was hung for trying to steal a boat while drunk and failing to do so. But he was standing at over 6 feet tall so the execution went wrong and was left there for hours until he eventually died. Thomas Whaley, who had been present during the horrendous hanging, bought the property and built the home on it. It served as a general store, a courthouse, as well as a theater and the Whaley home. 

The Whaley’s had lost a child when she was less than a year old and within that same year someone set fire to their general store. Their oldest daughter Violet had died as well, taking her own life after being left by her husband within 2 weeks of their marriage. She was locked in the house, being on watch as she was severely depressed. She died within the parlor room, in her father’s arms. And Anna Whaley had learned her daughter was dying, standing at the top of the stairs. The same stairs that she was held at gunpoint during a robbery, at the 9th step of the stairs. 

And then there was the young girl who died in the house, who never really lived there but would often visit the house. Unfortunately she died from a poison found in the house, having consumed it without knowing what it was. In the theater there was a ghost of a man who used to perform there, not much is known about how he died.

It was clear that Katniss has some empathy for Violet and her story, as well as the hanging of Yankee Jim simply for being killed for such a lowly crime when now you get less for murder. As well as the small girl who died. She may not believe that they are ghosts now, but she certainly knew that it wasn’t fair for any of them. 

“The Yankee guy sounds like you.” She says, head turning towards Haymitch with a blank expression. “Drunk and doing dumb things.” She elaborates.

“Ha. Ha.” He sarcastically laughed with a glare although there was no real heat behind it. She only grinned in response.

“Yankee Jim isn’t much of a ghost name. It’s not very intimidating.” She comments, looking around the room as if taking in her surroundings.

“I guess it is a little silly. His real name was James.” You explain, shrugging slightly.

Right now you were all sitting in the courtroom which was decided to be investigated first, covering the downstairs and then head up and finally finish with the actual Haunting Game.

“So, let’s get started then!” You announce before standing up and ending the recording.

You move to grab the equipment from your bag, placing the cat balls randomly around the room, one at each doorway, the one leading into the general store and the other leading into the dining room. And lastly one on the top of the judge desk. 

The EMF was set on the defendant’s table where Haymitch and Katniss still sat, idle conversation being made about where to go eat afterwards as the house was on a populated street with plenty of restaurants and some bars down the street. 

Finally, you set the flashlights on opposite sides of the room, one on a chair in the jury’s corner and another on a separate chair across the room. You finally return to the defendant’s table and retake your seat in between them. 

Turning the camera back on, you explain the placements and each item, pointing the camera to  each of the items around the room.

“Kat, you wanna start us off?” You ask, giving her a small grin as you set the recording camera back onto the table. 

Katniss glances at you, uncertain, before letting out a breath and looking around the room again, feeling dumb for talking aloud in an empty room while being recorded and expecting something to happen by something that doesn’t exist.

But for you, she does it anyway. 

“If there's anything here can you make a sound or make something go off?” She emplores, arms crossing over her chest.

Nothing happens for several minutes, no cat balls, now sounds other than the ones outside from cars or passerbys.  

“This is stupid.” She grumbles out, clearly not enjoying sitting here, in the dark, with a bright light on her.

“Give it a second, Kat.” You tell her with a small frown.

“Welcome to my world.” Your boyfriend grumbles from your right which earns him a light slap to his chest.

“We can try another room then. We have the parlor we can go into, that’s said to be pretty high activity since there were 2 documented deaths there.”

So that’s where you go.

Haymitch and Katniss stand by the door of the parlor, the inside holding a small table and some chairs, a fireplace, and connecting to a room that held the couch where Violet is said to have died. You stand under the archway between the two rooms, the exact spot where it is said that Yankee Jim got hung.

The EMF and one of the flashlights were set up on the mantle, cat balls in each of the two doorways that lead into the hallway and into another room off to the side that has some historical items. In your hand is a spirit box, currently turned off. 

“Hi,” you start aloud, introducing yourself to the ghosts of this house. “And this is Haymitch and Katniss. We want to speak to you, to hear your stories and just listen to whatever you have to say.” You explain, looking around the room that was only lit up by the light stop the camera that was set on the table so that everything would be in frame along with all three of you.

“You can use this device in my hand to speak, or you can touch this flashlight to turn it on and off, or any of the cat balls in the doorways so they light up.”

You turn on the spirit box and immediately white noise fills the noise which causes a face of displeasure from Katniss. The sound was loud and incredibly annoying as it shuffles through the radio stations. 

“Is there anyone here with us?”

“Hello.” A voice sounds from the box.

“Hi, who are we speaking with?” 

The box shuffles for several more seconds before another voice comes through, different from the last.

“Sad.”

Your brows furrow at the word. Not because of the word itself, but because it was soft and hard to make out.

“It sounded like ‘sad’.” Haymitch says, arms placed on his hips. 

Katniss looked at him incredulously, that he would humor this little game that seemed to be made up in your head. She certainly didn’t believe that ghosts were selecting words, it was more likely that the transmission from the towers were stronger than some and would randomly shoot out words.

He shrugs in reply, happy to humor his love with this even if he didn’t quite believe everything himself. He knew ghosts were possible, sure. But not like this, and definitely nothing like what you watch on tv, those stuppid shows with investigators that scream at every piece of ‘evidence’. You say you don’t believe them, but yet you still watch them. He wouldn’t change the channel though, simply sit there with you, curled into his side with a blanket thrown over your laps and commentate on some parts of the episodes.

“Sad? Are we talking to Violet?” You inquire, remembering that she was severely depressed before she took her life.

“Seen… you.”

You looked back towards Katniss and Haymitch, eyes slightly widened at the two words. Anything more than a single word was rare and even more convincing to you.

“Did you see us in the courthouse?”

Katniss points behind you as a cat ball goes off in the doorway directly behind you that leads into the museum artifacts in the room. Your breath hitches in excitement that you are finally getting somewhere with the activity and communication.

“Yes.” The box says.

Whipping your head back around towards the sound of the voice coming from the box and then to your company both of which seemed less excited, unbothered even, about the events.

“That’s one of the room’s where Anna Whaley is seen. Am I speaking to Mrs. Whaley now?”

Another few seconds that stretch into minutes as the box searches for any words. 

“Order.”

That stumps you. What does she mean ‘order’?

“Do you keep this place in order?” Katniss asks, suppressing an eyeroll. She felt so foolish to be talking to a box. But you did invite her to do this and she would at least humor you. If Haymitch would, it couldn’t be too hard.

Her question surprised you as you didn’t expect her to ask anything, figuring that she would rather just sit and let you take the lead of it.

10 minutes pass before anything else happens. That’s the one thing people don’t tell you. The waiting. WIth editing it makes it seem like it all happens seconds apart but really it takes a while to get responses or even any type of activity.

In another room there was a loud crash to which you immediately turned the box off and pointed in the direction of where it came from. There was no logical explanation of why that sound occurred, there was no one in here other than the 3 of you. 

Katniss moved first, believing that it would probably be an intruder or a guide coming back inside and messing with you. Haymitch followed and you behind him, hand holding onto his arm as you all went and investigated where the sound had come from.

There wasn’t any evidence of anything falling, and after many attempts of calling out for a guide to reply and searching the entirety of the downstairs, no one was in there and nothing had fallen.

“Call me crazy,” you begin looking at the both of them. “But it kind of sounded like a gavel.” You suggest, gesturing towards the courthouse from the hallway.

“You’re crazy.” Kat agreed, monotone.

“It was hypothetical, Sweetheart.” Haymitch grumbled at her, arm now around your waist and pulled you into his side.

“You know, I think they’re not talking because you’re not really open to it, Kat. You should try and at least give it a chance.” You suggest, looking at her with a small smile.

She eyed you for a moment then her gaze traveled towards Haymitch who just gave a look and she immediately understood what he was trying to tell her. Do it for you. Even if she didn’t believe in it, at least act like she did. 

With a sigh she reluctantly agreed. “I’ll try.” She said.

That was good enough for you as you took the group upstairs and into the master bedroom where Violet had been locked in when on watch. 

Resetting the equipment and forgoing the spirit box as they didn’t seem to care much for it. Cat ball in the doorway, one on the bed beside the EMF which has been at a steady level 2 since coming into the room. And placing one flashlight on the mantle.

Katniss and Haymitch stand on the side of the room opposite to the door and you stand at the foot of the bed.

Haymitch begins the questioning this time, feeling as if he should at least contribute as in the last video people were telling him that ghosts might be more receptive to him considering his previous experiences with ghosts. Or more specifically a ghost. 

“There anyone here?” He asks, hands now placed in his pockets. “Turn something on.”

His requests are more like demands that lack any sort of bite, but seeing him take part makes you happy and he would be damned if he didn’t do at least that.

Almost immediately the flashlight turns on, answering his question perfectly.

“So they answer you?” Katniss asks, brow raised.

“Don’t be jealous, Sweetheart.” He teased back, giving her a slight grin in reply.

“Is this Violet? I know this was where you spent your last days.” She talks as if in retaliation to him.

She didn’t believe in this, but if ghosts were real, why would they talk to him and not her? Sure, she may have insulted Yankee Jim and then also implied the spirits were dumb, but come on. 

The light turned off, answering her question and confirming that this was Violet that they were speaking to.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you. I know what it’s like. It sucks.” She empathizes, not catching the look you and Haymitch share. Knowing and happy that she’s participating.

The flashlight turns on again.

“I think she likes you, Kat.” You tell her, trying to encourage her to keep talking.

“What? What else am I supposed to say?” She wipes her hands on her jeans, frowning at the idea. Not many people like her, and certainly not a mythical ghost.

“Whatever you want. Ask her yes or no questions.” Your boyfriend answers for you, shrugging.

With a huff she gave another look around the bedroom. What would she even say? She’s speaking to a ghost, what do you say to someone who is already dead? 

“Do you feel less alone now that you get a lot of visitors?” 

The light stays off for several minutes. 

She understood that. How you can still feel so alone even though there are others around and wanting to talk to you, seek you out. 

“Yeah. Have you found some peace?”

The light turns on once more.

Her lips purse slightly. She wouldn’t admit it, but she does feel some happiness that at least she wasn’t suffering as she was while she was alive. But she still didn’t believe it was a ghost. No, the lights probably just go on and off randomly since it was in between on and off.

“Good. I don’t know what else to ask.” She says, looking back at you, silently asking you to take the lead once more which you are happy to do.

“Good job, Sweetheart.” Haymitch whispers with a small wink to her, she only glares in reply. But, it only lasts a minute before a small smile breaks out across her lips.

The communication cuts off then, Violet not seeming to want to speak anymore since it was no longer Katniss that was speaking with her. So, instead you all travel into the theater. 

“God, were these people rich?” She breathes out as you step in there, taking a seat on one of the benches for the audience. 

“Kinda, yeah.” You answer as you place the equipment around, sticking with the cat balls and the flashlight as that was the only real communication you received.

The theater was said to be haunted by a ghost named Tanner who used to be an actor here before dying. He likes to pinch, poke, and scratch girls but isn’t very active beyond that.

You sit on the bench across from Katniss, facing her with your back to the stage where the flashlight was set up with a cat ball, and another cat ball in the doorway and one more behind her. Haymitch stood against the wall beside you both.

“Tanner, if you’re in here we would like to speak to you.” You begin, introducing your group once more.

Several minutes pass with no activity within the room but a couple knocks sound across the hall where the master bedroom is. Violet presumably still in there.

“Heard you like to attack girls. That true?” Your boyfriend asks, head tilting as his eyes scan around the dark room for anything.

Still nothing, only the sound of creaks and tapping from across the hall. Violet seems to be very active there for some reason. 

Then, almost randomly, the flashlight turns on behind you on the stage, the light casting your shadow and Katniss’ eyes turning there was your only real indication. 

“Thank you for answering.” You begin, not turning to look at the light. “Did you do that while you were alive too? Were you a ladies man?”

You sit and wait for a reply, a sound. But it turns eerily quiet before the light turns off. Tanner having agreed with your question. He was a ladies man.

“Did you like performing?” Katniss asks, eyes trained on where the flashlight was sat behind you somewhere in the dark.

It turns on again almost instantly. He was an actor, he did like it.

Your head turns then, turning towards the doorway that leads out into the hall. Your eyes catching a shadow moving past in your peripheral, but it wasn’t tall as many claim that the shadow figures they see are. This wasn’t Yankee Jim.

“I thought I just saw a shadow out in the hall.” You announce, eyes still trained on the doorway.

They both look and wait for a few beats before looking away, you do as well after not seeing anything again or hearing anything. 

“Was that you Tanner? Did I just see you?”

The light stays on.

You suddenly get an uneasy feeling in the room, as if something or someone else just entered. Your chest began to feel heavy, as if there was something lying atop it.

“Let’s go outside for a moment, take a break before we finish up.” You suggest, standing up and beginning to pick up all of the equipment. 

Katniss stands and helps you too gathering the cat balls. As you pass Haymitch though, he gently catches your arm, stopping you but his touch is light. You could pull away at any time if you wanted to. 

He doesn’t say anything but it’s clear what he’s asking. He could sense you didn’t feel normal, from how abruptly you wanted to finish this room and go outside for a moment. It was almost time for you all to leave, but it was more than that.

You give him a smile, pushing up to press a chaste and sweet kiss to his lips in reassurance that you were okay. He hesitated before letting go of your arm and you continued cleaning up.

Outside, you all debrief, camera in hand. You purse your lips before saying something.

“Kat, can you check my back for me.”

She nods, helping you lift the bottom of your shirt and seeing the several bright red scratch marks on your skin.

“You’re red. It looks like you scratched it.” She comments which causes Haymitch to peer over her shoulder.

“I didn’t touch my back.” You say with a small frown.

You were just in the theatre, surely that was Tanner and why you had begun to feel uneasy. He was there, he was the reason for the heaviness in your chest.

“Shit, Love.” Haymitch grumbled out as he delicately traced the red scratch marks.

They believed that you must have just scratched yourself and forgot, but you knew that you never touched your back.

You tug your shirt back down before huffing slightly and turning to face the both of them. You take the camera from Katniss before pointing towards the three of you. 

“Okay! For our last investigation we are introducing ‘The Haunting Games’. We’re going to send Katniss in with a camera and a spirit box, and have her go in alone in the most active part of the house.” You explain, giving Katnis a small grin.

“So, I’m thinking maybe the top of the stairs, in between the theatre and the master bed?” You suggest.

She gave a shrug, already grabbing the box and another camera.

“Why not.”

“Great, so you’ll be in there for 10 minutes, the timer starts when you get to the location and the box is turned on.” You say, making sure there was enough battery on the camera before letting her go with a timer set on her phone which she will start then.

She heads inside while you and Haymitch stay out, still with one camera and sat on a small lawn chair set and table while you both waited. Idle conversation taking place over dinner, of the next place you both will be going. And of the night in general.

“We should put something on those scratches.” He says, hand in yours as his thumb runs over your knuckles, back and forth. 

“I will when we get to the hotel. If they’re still there.” You assure him with a small smile. “I mean it’s not the first time.”

That got his attention as he looked at you, brows furrowing. 

“I got one last investigation too, I think when we were in the basement when I was doing the estes method.” You say, pulling out your phone and searching for the picture.

It was in the bathroom of the hotel, three long scratches across the back of your neck. How had he not seen them? Surely he had seen them that night. Well, maybe not. You were on your back not face down that night after getting back from The Conjuring.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He implors, frowning as he looked away from the picture once you turned the screen off and put it back in your pocket. 

“It wasn’t a big deal. I just wanted to get out of there, and we did. It was just an attempt to scare me and I didn’t want to entertain it.”

Meanwhile in the house Katniss sat in the hallway with the timer started and the stupid box on and sweeping.

“Anyone there?” She asks, scoffing slightly at how silly she felt and probably looked. 

“Here.” The box answers, a woman’s voice.

“This Violet again?”

“Dead.”

Yeah, no shit. She knows that they’re dead. It was almost as if it was mocking her, the device not the ghosts. Because ghosts aren’t real.

“Am I talking to Violet Whaley?”

“Hi. Kat.”

Her brow furrows at that. Sure, that wasn’t really her name, but that was the nickname that you had given to her after she warmed up to you.

“Hi.” She greets, assuming that yes, it was Violet.

“Did Tanner scratch my friend earlier?”

“Did it.”

Wonderful. 

“Do you have anything you want to tell people?”

“Live. Happiness.” 

Coming from a depressed woman who had killed herself due to a man leaving her? It was almost moving had it been real. She doubted she would have done the same in her shoes, not over a man anyway. 

But she didn’t want to really explore the idea of her and Peeta splitting anyways.

“That's… actually really deep for a ghost.” She mumbles, pulling her knees up to her chest.

“Do you regret it? What you did?”

Static for a few beats before her timer rings, signalling the end of the game and the end of her questioning. She didn’t get an answer, but that’s okay.

She makes her way back outside to meet up with you and Haymitch, roughly explaining what happened. That she ‘spoke’ to Violet again, that ‘Tanner did scratch you’, and that she wanted to say to live happy. She didn’t believe any of it though.

Once debriefing, you take the camera that Katniss was using as the other one was now nicely packed away.

“Well, I guess that’s it. Thank you all for watching, and thank you Katniss for coming with us!” You say, turning the camera towards her.

“Yeah. You both owe me dinner.”

“I could go for drinks.” Haymitch chimes in.

“You always could.” She remarks with a snort.

You grin before turning the camera back to you. “Well, anyways. Thank you all for watching, don’t forget to like and subscribe for future videos. Now I have to go get these two some food.” You send a kiss towards the camera before shutting it off.

“How do tacos sound?”

Taglist:

The camera sits very carefully and very steadily on top of the dashboard. Thankfully the car was in park or else there was no doubt that it would fall lens first into the dash, or even tumble off and land on the floorboard. Making sure it wouldn’t fall on it’s own and taking a quick peek towards the driver seat, feeling his eyes watching you with interest.

“Ready?” you receive a noncommittal hum in reply before his gaze drifts back out the window of the car.

So, with his confirmation you begin your intro. 

“Hi everyone, and welcome back to my channel! And more importantly to a new installment, ‘The Haunting Games’ where I bring my friends along on these investigations and introduce them to the paranormal world.” You ramble on, introducing the new series that you had been so eagerly working at.

“There will be 10 episodes with 10 different locations and 5 guests joining us on this adventure.” Your eyes travel back to Haymitch once more, just barely out of frame, all you could make out in the little screen reflecting your image back to you in the darkness of the car as the sun had set just moments ago. All you could see of him was his arm resting comfortably on the center console. “Technically 4 guests if we’re not counting Haymitch.”

The comment received a small huff of either amusement or annoyance. He still didn’t quite grasp the idea of YouTube, more-so why you would do these things for people that you didn’t even know. Your following was pretty substantial and you made enough profit off of videos to be able to fund these types of things, and then some more for everyday life. But they made you happy to do them, to connect with people especially over the paranormal. And if his girl was happy, then he would play along as your “co-host” as you had deemed him.

When you had come to him with the idea of this new series, he wasn’t too interested in joining in, enjoying staying out of the camera’s view and instead supporting you from behind the lens. But your fans loved him, even more, loved your relationship. And he wasn’t going to let you go off and do these things by yourself, so he went along, although begrudgingly. He wouldn’t admit to you how much he enjoyed spending time with you and seeing you so excited and eager to prove the paranormal.

“But anyways guys, tonight we’re here in Burrillville, Rhode Island at The Conjuring House!” Your grin was wide and excited, it had been a place on your list for so long and now here you were, kicking off your new series with a bang.

You picked up the camera from the dash with careful hands and the lens out the window to showcase the wooden home. Although it was dark outside due to very little lighting, it focused quickly thanks to the lights inside the house. A quick turn of the camera once more to have it angled towards you, as well as catching your boyfriend in the back now as he waited for your cue to go inside. You did agree to do this all together after all. 

“You might recognize the name from the super popular movie franchise, but it was all based on this house and the Perron family who had suffered and endured demonic activity.” A glance towards Haymitch and his uninterested expression staring back at you only furthered your amusement. 

It was well known on your channel that your boyfriend, who was hard launched about 2 years ago, was a skeptic. Although skeptic might not be the correct term. He believed in ghosts, but didn’t buy most ghost stories and definitely nothing of the demonic nature. Most things he could explain away like the cold spots due to standing under the air vent, the shadows that you saw were tricks of the light passing quickly or even noises being the houses since they were so old. One time even debunking a crashing sound to a stray cat that had wandered in and scared you half to death.

Your fans never let you live that instance down after you posted it.

You turned your gaze back to the camera with an even wider grin at your boyfriend’s skepticism. “The house was built in 1736 and is said to be a hotspot for ghost and demonic activity. From the soldiers found on the grounds, to the ghost of an older woman who protects the house, and even demons who are set to reside in the basement. This place is investigated by many and is a popular investigation spot for the paranormal.” You conclude, clicking the button to finish off that section of the recording.

You would have to do another sit down back at the hotel or even somewhere inside and explain the entire history of the house and the story of the Perron’s and how Ed and Lorraine Warren played into the story. But for the moment, you just wanted to get on with the investigation and Haymitch was getting sick of hearing you recount the history of the place for the nth time. It was cute at the beginning, last week when you began packing and planning, but now he could probably recite the story in his sleep.

“Ready?” He echoed your previous question and was met with an enthusiastic bob of your head.

The passenger door opened quickly and you were sliding out of the car immediately, leaving him with mere moments to catch up as you were already up on the front step of the house. Clicking the record button and filming your entrance into the house, your hand rested on the doorknob for a dramatic pause. A soft “here we go” leaves your lips before your turn the knob and slowly push the door open.

You were immediately met with chilly air. Going to this place in real life rather than just watching others go in and explore your dream location was surreal. Your breath caught in your throat as you looked around, stepping into the wooden home felt like stepping back in time. You could almost imagine what the building looked like when the Perron’s lived there. The entrance of the house is sparse in terms of furniture. It was smaller, but you had done extensive research and knew your way around pretty well.The tour earlier in the day was helpful as well.

Across from the door where you entered was the basement which gave you chills just thinking about going down there later tonight. There was also a couch in the corner to your left and a fireplace. Further down your left was the stairs to go up and also what you had deemed ‘The Safe Room’. It was mostly for the owners of the place, but there were some novelty items to buy and some cool posters from the movie series. And then the room connected to that was the more modern area where ghost investigators would sign their names on the wall. All of your things were placed in there until you would use them.

To your right lead into the iconic living room also deemed as the seance room, the chair sat in the middle of the room facing the fireplace that had 2 ouija boards on the mantle.

“Do you wanna play with those tonight?” You asked, turning the camera to face Haymitch, pausing your sweeping of the rooms. 

“Yeah, no.” Just because he was a skeptic he would rather not go in search of the things that went bump in the night. And it was mostly for your benefit as you would take your hand off the planchette in either excitement or fear and then freak out even more for doing so. He didn’t want to have to handle that.

You pouted at his rejection of the idea but continued on, going through one of the doors in the room that led into the small library. And letting the camera sweep over the floor to ceiling bookshelves that lined the walls and the chair in the corner that held the two Raggedy Ann dolls in honor of Annabelle. 

“Isn’t that the wrong… haunting?” He asked as he followed you around, leaning against one of the doorways. 

“I mean yes and no? Annabelle is part of the Conjuring franchise and was investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren but the real conjuring house? Yeah, I don’t know why she’s-” You abruptly stop speaking, head whipped upwards towards the ceiling and the camera following.

Footsteps were heard above you both, crossing from one side to the next before ending as suddenly as they started. Your eyes widened as you looked towards Haymitch, camera panning towards him. He merely shrugged.

“All of the owners and guides are gone, we watched them leave. There shouldn’t be anyone else in here.” You explained, mostly for the camera.

You pushed out of the library, going towards the stairs that lead up into the bedrooms from the dining room as that was closer than the other set of stairs by the basement. “Hello?” You called up the stairs. “Is anyone up there?” You were only met with silence.

After about a couple minutes of waiting you continued on with your mini tour of the home, going back into the dining room. You pointed towards the doorways of the kitchen and bathroom but didn’t go inside and show them as they wouldn’t be a part of your investigation.

Going upstairs, Haymitch stayed down and offered to start setting things up for you. He had seen you do this dozens of times and knew what each piece did and how to turn it on and where you wanted it set up. Other than that he had no clue the mechanics of them.

So, going up alone you enter the master bedroom, panning the camera around and then going into the adjoined middle room that held many bean bag seats, a rocking chair in the corner and two doors on either side of a queen bed, locked and for the owner’s use. Storage was your best guess.

“This is where we heard the footsteps.” You say, eyes scanning the room. Currently all the lights were on so as silly as it sounded, you felt safer. “If that was you walking around in here, could you make another sound?” You requested whatever spirit was up there previously. You waited a few moments but nothing came so you continued on to the next adjoined bedroom. 

The next room had two twin beds that faced each other on the opposite wall of the stairs. It also had a small door that led into an unfinished part that had some toys and a square pile of sand. The frame roof in this room was pure wood with nails visible and ready to give someone tetanus. 

You exited the room although not feeling uneasy in there as many people claimed. Upstairs was calm and had a more soothing energy. The basement was what you were not excited about. 

As you went back down the first staircase that was right above the door to the basement you heard the footsteps again in the twin bed room, walking across the floor. You had asked them to do it again and they had. 

Stopping on the stairs before the turn, you looked back, half expecting to see a figure there but it was empty. As you turned the footsteps stopped again. 

“Thank you.” You called out with a small grin. “If you want to talk you can come downstairs with me and talk there. I would love to hear from you.”

You waited a few more minutes for anything else, sure that there wouldn’t be you headed down.

In the time that you were exploring upstairs and waiting for responses to noises, Haymitch had broken out all the equipment and set up in the living room. You had both agreed to go into 3 rooms. Or sections really. The seance room  with the library which was the most active, upstairs in the middle bedroom and the small attic room, and finally the basement.

He had the EMF reader, spirit box, plus one of the flashlights set on the couch, none of which were on yet. On the mantle of the fireplace sat another flashlight and cat balls littered the room, one at each door. The REM pod was set up in the library and he was resting against the arm of the couch waiting for you to rejoin him. 

A smile graced your face at the sight, taking the final step into the room and towards him, hand gently resting against his thigh in a grateful manner. A small squeeze to his leg before rounding the couch and looking over the set out objects and trying to decide what to start with. 

You set the camera down onto an armchair that rested in the corner of the room, getting a wide angle of the room and the visual of all 3 catballs within the room as well as the couch with the rest of the equipment. Once making sure that the setup was good and was able to get most of the room you returned to the couch. 

Reaching for the EMF you clicked it on and handed it to Haymitch who accepted it with a small huff of amusement. He pushed himself up from the arm of the couch and began turning all the lights off, as he passed through the doorways the cat balls lit up in response to his footsteps around them. 

Once the room was bathed in darkness, the investigation truly began as the camera was turned into night vision.

“Alright.” You hum, body buzzing with excitement. Haymitch settled back down onto the old-timey couch with the EMF lazily held in one hand that rested against his leg.

“I have heard a lot about this place and what you can do, I hope you’re willing to show us and talk to us like you have with others.” You begin, eyes scanning the room for any sort of paranormal event. You introduce both yourself and Haymitch to whatever entities were in the house before inviting them to come and speak with you.

“If you want to speak with us could you turn one of these flashlights on? We have one set on the couch next to Haymitch and the other one on the fireplace.” You instruct, as politely as you could. 

Within a few breaths the flashlight on the mantle turned on, shining directly onto you and casting a shadow upon the coach. A small gasp left your lips as you turned towards the flashlight, hands balling in excited fists.

“Yes! Thank you!” You praise, eyes turning back towards Haymitch with excitement. His own frame still laid back comfortably against the couch but his head tilted as he tried to think of some reason as to why the flashlight had turned on.

“Thank you for that. We want to hear about you, about your story. If you used to live in this house, can you please turn the light off for me?” You waited a few minutes, waiting with baited breath.

“I dunno if this is the smartest way to ‘talk’ to them, love.” Haymitch comments, eyes set on you with a fond gaze. He loved to see you so excited about anything and be there with you.

A small frown pulls at your lips, about to retort until the flashlight turns off as if agreeing with Haymitch’s claim. His head tilted smugly, an ‘I told you so’ heavy on his face.

With a small grumble you moved to grab the spirit box and speaker before switching it on, almost immediately white noise began to fill the room, shuffling through the radio stations. You would edit in an explanation of what the devices were later, the EMF measuring electromagnetic fields that ghosts are said to manipulate although it has been at a steady two since you had handed it to your boyfriend. The flashlights were just normal ones you had gotten from a department store. The cat balls, again, were gotten from a department store and turn on from any movement. The spirit box shifted through radios stations until the ghosts found a word and manipulated the frequency in order to let the word come through the white noise. 

“Hi.” A voice sounded from the box, small and feminine. 

You blinked curiously having not expected a voice to come out so quickly after turning the device on. Even more so the sound of the woman’s voice.

“Hi, can you tell me who we’re talking to?” You ask, sitting down on the couch beside Haymitch, his hand instinctively finding your knee and carefully his thumb over the material of your jeans.

Minutes pass before you get another response, this time a male’s voice coming through and clearer than the woman’s. A quick and aggressive “shut up” came through. Your eyes immediately meet Haymitch’s, wide and taken aback. It has been said that there was a negative male entity within the house, was this him?

“That was rude.” I mumble slightly frowning. Your boyfriend let out a small laugh at your reaction, he wouldn’t admit that he didn’t really like that words that came from the spirit box, the aggression and command directed at his girl. 

The rest of the time it was silent as if whatever the male voice was had chased any other ghost that was around in the seance room. You both stayed there for another half hour, listening to the box shift through channels and receiving nothing but white noise. 

With a sigh you turn the spirit box off, turning and looking at Haymitch. You didn’t feel very comfortable any more, anxiety creeping up your chest and feeling heavy. Not after the aggression that you received and the silence that happened afterwards.

“Should we try upstairs?” You suggest, setting the box down and wiping your hands off on your thighs.

He didn’t reply right away, his eyes searching your face to see if you were okay. He could see your demeanor change, you weren’t bouncing in enthusiasm as you were previously. “You okay?”

You nod in return, standing up and picking up the cat balls. “Fine, just… My chest feels heavy now. I don’t think that guy liked me very much.”

As you picked up the cat ball that was in the doorway of the seance room and the room where you both had come in, you notice something had changed. You had just came from there when you came back down the stairs from the upstairs. 

“Hon, did you open the door leading into the basement?” You ask, feeling frozen in place at the sight of the red door opened all the way, almost inviting you inside. 

“No.” He answered, hauling himself up from the couch and walking towards you, his hand resting on your lower back as he stood beside you. He noticed the open door, seeing it wide open. 

He stepped towards the door, hand resting against the frame and the other against the side as he pushed the door closed. It was more for your benefit than his. He turned back to you, curious on how you were holding up.

“I don’t like that. The energy down there isn’t nice. It wasn’t good when earlier when the owner gave us a tour, but the door was open now makes it so so much worse.” You explain, turning back and going into the seance room to keep picking things up.

He followed behind you, watching as you took the flashlight from the mantle, hands full with equipment. “Do you need to take a break?” He gets met with a shake of your head. 

You both made your way upstairs and set up in the middle bedroom. You set the REM pod which makes it’s own electromagnetic field around it and beeps if anything interrupts it, setting it into the bedroom with the two twin beds and the attic room. Cat balls placed on the bed and one in each doorway as you settle down on the bed, sitting at the edge with Haymitch sat beside you.

He reclaimed the EMF reader, resuming the same position in his lazy hold against his leg as it stayed in a steady level two reading.

You looked around the dark room, camera set up on the beanbag across from you both. You sat quietly in the dark for a moment to try and hear any noises or anything, something to know that you both weren’t alone in here.

“We heard you walking around earlier up here.” You say aloud, eyes scanning the dark and hand carefully sliding into Haymitch’s which he held comfortingly in his own, your interlocked hands placed in his lap alongside the EMF.

“Could you come back up here and speak to us?” You ask, eyes cast down towards your own lap as you waited for any sort of sign.

You didn’t have to wait long as the cat ball that was on was in the doorway leading into the twin bedroom lit up. You pointed towards it which caught your boyfriend’s attention as he looked over as well, seeing the multicolored flashing lights of the plastic ball.

“I’m going to turn this on now, and you can use this to speak to us.” You flip on the spirit box once more, hearing the shuffling of stations fill the silence once again. 

It stayed silent but the cat ball kept going off, it never seemed to stop as the colors kept flashing. Perhaps it was the child spirits that were known to be upstairs, seeing the ball and thinking of it as a toy. 

“What’s your name?” Haymitch asked, eyes trained on the cat ball as it never stopped flashing. It never did that.

A few beats passed before his question was answered. “Oliver.” 

Your head whipped back to look at him eyes wide. “That’s the little boy that April Perron made friends with.” You told him, remembering the story that you had found while studying the history of the house. 

A shiver ran through your body, you didn’t feel any better up here than you did down stairs. You felt sickly and nauseous. Perhaps it was the fear settling in, the emotion you refused to acknowledge. 

“Yes.” The voice said again through the box, confirming what you had relayed to Haymitch. 

“Do you like the ball? You keep messin’ with it.” He says, hand gently squeezing yours as your palm began to sweat. 

It was longer now before a reply came through, although this one wasn’t nearly as intelligent as the previous two. An audible voice saying “down there”.

You didn’t like that either as your mind went immediately to the basement where it is said for a demon to be residing. You shake your head as you shuffle slightly closer to your boyfriend. His skepticism, as annoying as it often was, was also comforting in times like these.

He presses a kiss to your temple, hand slipping from yours and slinging his arm around your shoulder in order to pull you closer into his side. 

“‘S okay. Just random words.” He assured you, pressing another kiss to your temple.

There was relatively little activity for the entire hour that you were upstairs. The cat ball would go on and off, the REM pod giving a handful of beeps that would gain your attention, but after 15 minutes of asking more questions and receiving no answers you turned the spirit box off. The flashlights which received some action didn’t have much of an effect up here.

Another 15 minutes pass before you both decide to go back downstairs. The only place left to go to was the basement. You kept the spirit box with you, but you put the rest of your equipment away. Joining the spirit box was a pair of noise cancelling headphones and a sparkly pink eye mask that was used for sleeping. 

You both took a moment, mostly for you to gather the courage to go down there with him. It was at this point where you finally address the camera as you both sat on the couch of the deemed ‘safe room’.

“With this new series the idea was to have the guest go into the most haunted area by themselves with one piece of equipment and a camera. But, to be honest, I don’t want to be left alone up here while Haymitch goes down. So… we’ll be going down together and doing the estes method.” You explain, a pursed smile sent towards the camera.

Haymitch’s hand never left you, always leaving a soothing touch somewhere as you sat down beside him, whether it be holding your hand, holding you close, or just resting on your leg. But it helped you calm down and gain your courage to travel down into the basement.

It was dark and damp and incredibly cold. Stone walls leading the way down a long corridor that lead further down into the basement. You beelined straight into the small room which was set up for investigators, a table sat in the middle along with chairs surrounding it. A well was in the floor along the back wall and a tall cabinet by the entrance to the room. You already didn’t like the vibe.

You two set up, placing the camera down on the table and connecting the headphones to the spirit box. As you slipped the mask onto your head and let it rest against your forehead you heard a noise out in the hallway. You froze.

Haymitch seemed oblivious to the sound or had written it off as something else that could be explained. 

“I heard a knock.” You say, gesturing towards the dark hallway. He peered out to see if there was anything but nothing was out there. As he was coming back to sit down it was heard again.

“Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to stay down here any longer than we have to.” You grumble out slipping the headphones on and being met with the sound of white noise blasting into your ears. Next you slipped the mask over your eyes to deprive your senses. 

That was essentially what the estes method was, getting into a mindset where your only focus was on what you were hearing through the headphones. Any outside sounds or visuals were completely depraved. 

Each time you heard a word you would repeat it.

Together.

Out.

No.

I was.

Trapped.

Demon. 

That one rattled you, clutching onto his arm to make sure he was still there. 

Join.

Maybe someday.

Don’t like.

Her.

When it said your name you ripped the headphones off, tossing them onto the table and peeling the mask off as if it had personally offended you.

He looked at you, startled by your movements. You hadn’t been down there more than 45 minutes as none of the answers were back to back, and some of his questions didn’t get answered. 

“It said my name. I’m done. I want to leave.” You stood, immediately turning off the device and leaving the basement. He was quick behind you.

He was worried. He had seen you in previous investigations but never anything like this, not with this type of fear. That was clear as day on your face.

You said nothing as you packed everything up, shoving them into your pack and going out to the car and sitting in the passenger seat. The house was not a fan of you- which as much as you hated to admit- hurt. This had been your dream investigation and to have it be so cruel to you was not what you were expecting.

Once Haymitch had locked up as instructed by the owners, making sure there wasn’t anything left, he joined you in the car. You both sat in silence for a moment as you tried to regain your bearings. He placed the camera on the dash but didn’t say anything until you were ready. He could see how shaken up you were.

“It said my name.” You break the silence after several minutes, voice wavering. 

His hand found yours immediately after that, holding tightly as if to assure you that you were okay. That he was there and wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.

“And it wasn’t friendly. It was like… mean.”

“That was the overall conclusion, yeah.” He agreed.

He went on to explain the questions that head asked. Starting off with ‘Is anyone down here’ and receiving the ‘together’. 

‘Who are you?’ ‘Out’. 

‘Do you want out?’ ‘No’. 

‘Was that you wanting us to come down, opening the door and telling my girl to shut up?’ ‘I was’.

 ‘What is your goal here?’ ‘Trapped’. 

‘Who are you, what’s your name?’ ‘Demon’. 

‘That what you do? Scare people?’ ‘Join’. 

‘Join what, join us?’ ‘Someday’. 

‘Can you leave?’ ‘Don’t like.’ 

‘Why are you so angry?’ ‘Her’. 

‘Who’s her?’ then a growled out call of your name.

The conclusion that you both had come to after the debrief was that the demon didn’t like you down there with it, especially not you within the house itself. That it was hoping for an attachment to you, to join you. It doesn’t like to leave the house, so it stays as it gets constant visitors. And most importantly, it did not like you.

“I was really hoping to start this series off with something a lot less mean and dark.” You huff out, pushing your hair from your face.

“We can always try again in the future I guess.” You suggest, eyes lingering on your boyfriend as he gave a small shrug.

“If that’s what you want to do, love.” You give a nod, taking a deep breath and then focusing back onto the camera. 

“Well, I guess that was it for ‘The Conjuring House’.” You give a non-humours laugh. “Thank you guys for watching, don’t forget to like and subscribe and comment if you saw anything that we didn’t. We’ll see you next week at ‘The House of Seven Gables’ with the Salem Witch Trials with a very special guest.”

And with that you end the recording with a heavy sigh. Now all you wanted was to go to the hotel room that you both had booked and sleep for the next 7 days. 

He seemed to sense that as without another word he started the car and pulled out of the driveway of the conjuring house. Maybe another day you would find yourself coming back, but for now you just wanted to get rid of the icky feeling left in your chest.