Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Ghost hunting was, apparently, strictly a nocturnal occupation. At least as far as the Paranormal Channel was concerned.

That meant it threw the cast and crew off any semblance of a normal schedule. It had them sleeping for much of the day and waking in the afternoon to the coffee and breakfast foods provided by the catering staff before a long night of filming and supposed ghostly encounters began.

The schedule was enough to have even Letisha turned upside down and cranky. She'd snapped at one of the crew tonight and even had some less than kind words for her super fan Megan.

Natalie quite enjoyed seeing her facade crack. Maybe the real Letisha would slip out and expose her for who she really was, for all the world to see.

But the worst part of the grueling schedule, more than the vampire hours, was that Natalie knew for a fact, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was unnecessary.

As far as she'd seen, ghosts kept pretty much the same hours in death as they did in life. Meaning they were usually active during the day and would have been absent at night if the nocturnal nature of the production schedule hadn't been interesting enough to keep them hanging around after dark.

"This is boring." Alice yawned one more time as she stared at the lights on the electromagnetic field meter in Natalie's hand.

Indeed it was. Did the machine even work? Or was it all bullshit?

Natalie decided to find out.

She spotted Bobby over by the food table, sniffing at an abandoned cup of coffee like it was a line of cocaine.

"Let's see if we can liven things up," Natalie said.

"How?" Harper asked, looking as bored and tired as Alice.

"We're gonna find some ghosts." Natalie smiled and headed directly for Bobby.

Arm extended, she thrust the meter not just at the man, but actually through him as he straightened and spun to face her with a, "Hey!"

The machine went wild as the formerly lifeless lights on the meter sprang into action. She pulled it away and the lights subsided before she thrust it forward again and watched the lights react one more time.

"Well, look at that. The damn thing works," Natalie said, mostly to herself.

"Are you done poking me yet?" Bobby asked.

"So wait. Does that mean there's a ghost right there?" Harper asked.

"That's what it means," Natalie said. She saw the expression of horror on Harper's face and added, "Supposedly. If you believe the experts."

Bobby cocked up one brow accusingly.

Yes, she knew he thought she was ridiculous for hiding her ability, just like Gabe did. Just like Liam. That was just too bad. The decision was hers to make. Although thoughts of Liam, and Gabe and home, had her heart twisting.

She needed more of a distraction than standing around staring at the little black box in her hand.

"Shall we find some more?" she asked, turning to Harper and Alice.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Harper nodded looking anything but sure.

"Can we look near the bathroom?" Alice asked. "That coffee I drank is starting to kick in."

Oh, jeez…

"Yes, Alice. We can." Natalie now knew more about Alice's toilet schedule than she ever wanted to.

They all did. And if the producer deemed it, and didn't edit out Alice's frequent bodily functions, so would the world once the show aired.

Just outside the dressing room and bathroom they shared, Natalie was lucky enough to find Evie.

Alice rushed her white Skechers Slip-Ons inside to use the bathroom. Meanwhile Natalie, fearing Evie was going to disappear if she came at her with the device, said, "For the audience at home, we're using a device to monitor spikes in the electromagnetic field which can be indicative of the presence of a spirit."

She raised a questioning brow then extended her arm with the EMF meter slowly.

Evie rolled her eyes, spread her arms dramatically and said, "Go ahead."

The machine's lights began to flash and bounce once again.

"There's a ghost here too?" Harper whispered.

"Sure looks that way… if the machine is working correctly."

"How come I don't feel anything? Shouldn't I feel something? Cold or, I don't know, a presence?"

Evie let out a huff and walked at them, then through them, sending a visible tremble through Harper.

"Oh my God. I felt something!" Harper grabbed Natalie's arm.

"Me too," Natalie agreed, glancing over her shoulder at Evie and mouthing silently, "Thank you."

"Of course, darling. Want me to round up a few of the others for your little show?"

Natalie nodded, then turned back to Harper before she got caught seemingly communicating with what to Harper looked like nothing but an empty hallway and a wall.

But when she turned back, she saw more than Harper looking a bit wobbly from getting up close and personal with Evie. More than Alice coming out of the dressing room wiping her damp hands on her sweat suit. She saw Jake the head cameraman, camera in tow, heading straight for her.

That was new. Camera number one had mostly stayed glued to Madame Letisha since she put on such a good show. But now, Jake was here. And focused on her, which, as usual, had her freezing.

God, how she hated cameras.

Harper sprung to action, thankfully. "Alice. A ghost just walked right through me. I swear."

"I miss all the good stuff," Alice grumbled.

"Maybe it's still here." Harper looked hopefully at Natalie.

Natalie shook her head. Evie had left but she couldn't say that, so she said, "Nope. See the lights? There's nothing." She held up the EMF meter as proof.

"Can we go try someplace else?" Harper asked, apparently recovered from her encounter and raring for action.

"Uh, sure. We'll give it a try."