“I can’t believe you talked me into this, Lana.”

Crishtin Davenport, stared up at the spooky façade of the enormous old mansion while her friend Lana parallel parked her late-model VW Bug out front.

“I knew after I attended the first one of these things it’d be right up your alley,” Lana said, pulling the e-brake. “You’re gonna love this.”

As they exited the vehicle then walked side-by-side toward the darkened house, thunder rolled in the distance.

“Sounds like the weather is only going to add to the atmosphere,” Lana said.

“I haven’t done anything like this since high school,” Crish admitted, tucking her arm through Lana’s. “So how does this work? What do they do, simply sit and wait for some sort of paranormal activity to happen?”

“The guys kind of walk from room-to-room and invite whatever supernatural entities might be about to make contact.”

Crish reached up and touched the crucifix on the silver chain around her neck. There was no way she’d even think of going to something like this without it.

Armed with their flashlights at the ready, they entered the dark abandoned house and met up with another group of thrill-seekers and ghost hunters.

The moment Crishtin stepped over the threshold, a low vibrating hum started in the soles of her feet and began to work its way up her body. Her spine tingled with anticipation.

The group assembled listened intently to the lone man addressing them at the bottom of the stairs.

“Any doubters?” he asked.

The crowd responded with an assortment of comments.

“I want you to be open to the possibilities of what may be here in this house, okay, but I also need you to be careful. You don’t want to invite something evil in to play, so protect yourselves.

“Now what we usually do when we are running a true paranormal investigation is wander the rooms in small groups, usually in pairs. The others wait outside so that we are the only ones in the house. That way, if there are any other sounds, we know right away that it isn’t a living, breathing person that we can hear.

“But for tonight, since there are so many of us, we may need to go in fours. The probability that we’ll hear each other is quite high, but we can still have a good experience, since the current owner swears the activity in this dwelling is rampant.”

Crishtin leaned over and whispered in her friend’s ear. “I didn’t think you believed in any of this stuff, Lana?”

“I don’t. But I believe in him.” With a smile in her voice, Lana pointed the beam of her flashlight straight at the lone speaker.

He squinted then shaded his eyes. Lana lowered the torch, then sent him a little wave.

“Ahhh, it all makes sense now,” Crish said.

“I knew you’d understand.” She giggled. “That’s my Arnie.”

“Shhht!” Someone from the crowd shushed them.

Sufficiently chastised, Crishtin mashed her lips together.

Lana squeezed her hand. “These people are quite serious about the way they do this.”

“Is there no electricity in this place?” Crish whispered.

“No, I don’t think so. I suppose it was shut off when the last residents vacated. The current owner doesn’t even live here because of all the strange things that go on.”

“Did anyone else hear that?” Arnie asked, in hushed tones. Crish tried not to roll her eyes. He was really playing it up.

The room fell silent. After a few moments passed, several of the onlookers agreed they’d also detected something.

“For cryin’ out loud,” Crish groaned. Arnie seemed to be laying it on a bit thick. As a believer, she knew he didn’t have to. If spirits wished to come forward and make themselves known, they would. In their own time, in their own way. There was no need to deceive people. It only fed into the conspiracy theories and fraud that abounded in the field and made non-believers scoff at the possibilities.

“Stop,” Lana chuckled. “Arnie is the founder of the Phenomena Investigators League of America,” Lana explained, her voice low.

“P I L A,” Crish spelled out. “It’s a pile-a somethin’,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What?” Lana leaned toward her.

“Arnie—he’s cute.” Crish rushed to cover up the sarcasm. “In a weird ghost hunter kind of way.”

“He sure is,” Lana said.

Arnie slanted his flashlight and aimed it right at Lana and Crishtin.

“All right, let’s split up. Lana, you come with my group, and we’ll let the novice go with Josh. She’s a bit too talkative to accompany my lot.”

Blinded by the beam of light, Crishtin snatched at Lana’s arm, but to no avail. “Don’t leave me with these…”

“Mmm-umph.”

Crishtin turned and squinted up at the guy to her left as everyone else moved away. “Sooo…you must be Josh.”

“And you’re the mouthy virgin,” he said, deadpan.

“Well, I’m mouthy.” She grinned and offered her hand in greeting. “Good to meet you, Josh.”

He paused, then chuckled, taking her hand. “You, too. Sorry you got stuck with me. All the ladies like to go with Arnie. He’s the rock star at this, and I’m still learning.”

“So you’re a bit of a virgin too, eh?”

Josh chortled. “And here I thought this was going to be an uneventful evening.”

Right off, Crishtin liked his smile. Nice straight teeth, but a crooked grin. He had some scruffy stubble going on, giving him an edgier look. Out of the two ghost hunters, Crishtin thought Lana was crushing on the wrong one. Josh was kinda hot. The faint vibration of excitement she’d experienced when she’d entered the house seemed to double.

With his flashlight aimed forward, Josh led the way up the creaky staircase to the second level.

“You want eventful…” Crishtin began, tightening her hands into fists to keep from gripping his toned ass.