Ghosted by Accident 7

Chapter 7: First Encounter with the Unknown

The Turner house felt different as Jake and Amanda stood in the narrow hallway, staring down at the shifting shadow. It wasn't just the temperature drop or the strange occurrences—they were finally facing something they couldn't easily explain away. The air was thick with tension, as if the house itself was waiting to see what they would do next.

Amanda crouched beside the EMF reader, which was spiking erratically. "We've got something strong here. Whatever this is, it's not just residual energy. It's active."

Jake swallowed, his skepticism fading by the second. "So… what do we do now?"

Amanda glanced at him, her expression calm but serious. "We observe, document, and gather as much evidence as we can. Don't interact with it unless it interacts with us first. And, most importantly, stay calm."

Stay calm. The words echoed in Jake's mind as he tried to steady his breathing. The flickering shadows were still there, hovering at the edge of his vision. Every instinct told him to run, but he forced himself to stay put.

They stood in silence for several minutes, waiting. The shadow at the end of the hallway pulsed, growing larger, then shrinking back. It was almost hypnotic in its movement.

"Do you hear that?" Amanda whispered suddenly, breaking the silence.

Jake strained his ears. At first, he didn't hear anything, but then, faintly, the sound of whispering filled the air. It was distant and unintelligible, like a conversation happening in another room. But there was no one else in the house.

Amanda activated the audio recorder, holding it out toward the shadow. "We're not here to harm you," she said quietly, her voice steady. "Can you tell us who you are?"

The whispering grew louder, but still, the words were unclear. Jake felt a chill crawl up his spine. He glanced at Amanda, who seemed focused, unfazed by the eerie sound.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the whispering stopped. The shadow at the end of the hallway flickered one last time before vanishing completely. The temperature slowly returned to normal, and the EMF reader dropped back to baseline.

Amanda lowered the recorder. "That was… interesting."

Jake let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Interesting? That was terrifying."

Amanda chuckled softly. "You handled it well. Most people would've bolted by now."

Jake shook his head, still trying to process what had just happened. "I don't even know what I'm handling. Was that really a ghost?"

Amanda paused, then nodded. "In my experience, yes. But not all spirits are the same. Some are trapped in places like this, repeating old patterns, while others are more aware. The latter are the ones we have to be careful with."

Jake rubbed his forehead, the weight of what she was saying sinking in. "So, what happens now?"

"We review the evidence," Amanda said, packing up the equipment. "We'll go through the recordings, the footage from the cameras, and anything else we gathered. If we find something concrete, we report it to Winchester and the Turners. They'll decide what to do from there."

---

Later that evening, Jake found himself back at the *Calm Horizons* office, sitting in front of his computer with Amanda. They were reviewing the footage from the Turner house, watching as the shadow flickered in and out of existence on the thermal cameras.

"This is solid evidence," Amanda said, pausing the video to point at the spike in the EMF readings. "It's not every day we get a clear response like this."

Jake nodded, still feeling a bit out of his depth. "Do you deal with this kind of stuff all the time?"

Amanda smiled faintly. "More often than you'd think. But it's not always this clear. Sometimes, we spend weeks on a case and come up with nothing. Other times, we get lucky, like tonight."

Jake leaned back in his chair, his thoughts racing. "And what about Winchester? How does he fit into all this?"

Amanda shrugged. "Winchester's been at this for years. He's seen things most people wouldn't believe. He's got an eye for talent, which is probably why he's keeping an eye on you."

Jake frowned. "Why me? I'm still trying to figure all this out."

"Exactly," Amanda said, closing her laptop. "You're approaching this from a fresh perspective. You're not jaded like some of us. That's valuable in this line of work."

Jake didn't know how to respond to that. He felt like he was barely holding it together, but if Amanda—and Winchester—thought he had potential, maybe he was doing better than he realized.

---

The next day, Jake returned to campus, trying to focus on his psychology class. It was harder than ever to concentrate on lectures about cognitive biases and behavioral patterns when his mind was occupied with shadows and whispers. Still, he had to keep up appearances. He couldn't let anyone know what he was really involved in.

After class, he met up with Tom and Sam for lunch. They were sitting in their usual spot at the campus food court, laughing about some prank they had pulled on one of their coworkers.

"Man, you should've seen his face," Tom was saying, barely able to contain his laughter. "We had him convinced the break room was haunted."

Jake chuckled, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help but think about the real hauntings he was dealing with.

"Earth to Jake," Sam said, waving a hand in front of his face. "You in there?"

Jake snapped back to the present. "Sorry, just distracted. Got a lot on my mind."

"Work?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought that place was just dealing with people's feelings, not overloading their employees with stress."

Jake shrugged. "Yeah, something like that."

Tom grinned. "Maybe you need a break. We could set up a prank war between the two branches of *Calm Horizons*. That'd lighten things up."

Jake laughed, but internally, he knew he couldn't keep up this double life forever. The more he got involved with the paranormal side of *Calm Horizons*, the harder it would be to hide the truth from his friends—and from himself.

---

Back at the office, Winchester called Jake into his office again. He had a file in front of him, the words *New Case* printed on the top.

"I've got something for you," Winchester said, sliding the file across the desk. "It's not as intense as the Turner case, but it'll be a good next step for you."

Jake opened the file, scanning the details. It was about an old theater downtown that had been experiencing strange noises and cold spots. The owner had contacted *Calm Horizons* to investigate, worried that it might be driving customers away.

"You'll be working this one with another senior team member," Winchester continued. "She's been with us for a while and knows her way around cases like these. Consider it a learning opportunity."

Jake nodded, his nerves creeping back. "Okay. I'll handle it."

Winchester smiled slightly. "I have no doubt."