Plauged by Death (part 1) an MPC case

It had been almost two months since Kyra-Lee, her sister, Keisha-Marie, and Kyra’s husband, Gavin Stone had arrived back home from Marisma, Colombia. The three had used their first two weeks to recover and cleanse themselves from any negative attachments that may have followed them home. By the third week however, the team was getting anxious to start working again when Kyra noticed an e-mail come through on her laptop.  

 
“Oh wow...the Premier himself has requested that we come and investigate at the Realm Sire Building in Corinthians Park.” Kyra read, flipping through multiple pages as she read another.
 
“Wait, did you say at the Realm Sire Building?” Keisha asked, her eyes swelling as her voice cracked with fear.
 
“Ye...yeah why, what’s wrong?” Kyra replied, stunned by her sister’s sudden terror. “I-I-I did a case there just after you guys left for your honeymoon.” Keisha continued; her eyes filled with terror-induced tears by the time she was done recounting her horrific story.
 
 “What is this building anyways?” Kyra asked looking through photographs of some of the alleged evidence that had been caught by visitors.
 
“It’s an historical museum now, but it was originally built to be the first house of government in Saskatchewan.” Keisha answered, drawing a deep breath before doing so.
 
“If it’s already affected you this much though, do you think it’s really safe for you to be going back?” Gavin asked his sister-in-law.  
 
“Is it safe? No, probably not, but if we backed down every time a location wasn’t safe, we would have never gone to Colombia in the first place. Besides, something happened there while you two were on your honeymoon that just doesn’t sit right with me.” Keisha explained.
 
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked, becoming increasingly worried that Keisha might have an unhealthy supernatural addiction to the building.
 
“There was a group of middle school kids that were on a tour there, but just as they were getting ready to leave a security guard assaulted one of the kids because he thought that he was the Devil himself.” Keisha answered, her voice shaky.  
 
“Oh God, was the kid alright?” Gavin asked gasping in total shock.
 
“Ugh no, he passed away sometime thereafter, I can’t really remember too much, I think I blocked most of it out.” The eldest of the three paranormal investigators replied solemnly
 
The next several hours were spent with the three researching the former government building and comparing stories.
 
“Whoa, no wonder the Premier is asking for our help, this building is just...God it’s infested with death, like look at this...10, 11, 14 documented deaths, I mean murder, suicide, fire...” Kyra exclaimed, her voice raising in shock.  
 
“The fire was proven to be arson a couple months later.” Keisha butted in.
 
“Well even with that, this place is like a magnet for dark, angry, vicious spirits this-this place...we thought Marisma was bad, ‘The House of the Devil’ has nothing on this place.” Kyra continued, sounding increasingly nervous.
 
           “You need to take a break there sis, let’s get changed, then we’ll go for a run or something we’ve had enough for today.” Keisha instructed closing her sister’s laptop sensing
 
Kyra was beginning to feel overwhelmed.
 
“That means you to Gavin, no more work for any of us.” Keisha instructed again, motioning for Gavin to turn off his laptop.
 
“Never would have thought I’d hear you say that.” Gavin teased as he walked over to the twenty-six year old Empath and Psychic.
 
“You don’t get affected like Kyra and I do, our abilities make us like walking doorways, so we have to know when to say enough’s enough sometimes.” Keisha explained with a smile, before whispering in her brother-in-law’s ear.
“Keep an eye on her tonight, she’s pretty worn down” as Gavin was handing her his findings.
 
           The three jogged down toward Gavin’s mother’s house, then turned toward the city’s centre.
 
“Hey honey, how ya feeling?” Gavin asked wrapping his arms around his wife’s stomach from behind when they stopped to catch their breaths.
 
“I’ll be alright, there was just a lot of spirits trying to channel through all at once, and then with all the death and bloodshed, it was just a lot to have to take in all at once.” She replied as she relaxed into the safety of Gavin’s arms.

           Three days later the trio of investigators were sitting in the governor’s office waiting to meet with the Premiere of Saskatchewan.
 
“Hello, sorry to keep you waiting, I hope it wasn’t too long.” A gravelly voice came from behind the three family members. “I’m Premiere Raven Côté, very nice to meet you, you must be the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, am I right?” A tall man with sharp features and deep brown eyes greeted politely.
 
“Yes, we are Sir. I am Empath Keisha-Marie Hollow; this is my younger sister Clairvoyant/Medium Kyra-Lee and her husband Gavin Stone, who is our audio/visual/and equipment tech.” Keisha replied, in a voice that made her companions have to fight back giggles.
 
“My team and I have reviewed the case you sent us, and we defiantly think there’s something very malevolent at the Realm Sire Building and are defiantly willing to investigate.” Keisha continued after the three had shaken the Premier’s hand
 
“Ah yes, the Realm Sire Building....I’m not sure if you are aware of what happened there last year....” Premier Raven Côté continued.
 
“Only what was publicized in the news, but not any more than that.” Keisha replied honestly.
 
“Keisha, I understand you have investigated the Realm Sire once before is that correct?” The Premier asked.
 
“Yes, once, before we started MPC.” Keisha answered still sounding flirtatious as she began to fidget nervously.
 
“Tell me; was your investigation before or after the attack on the minor, if you don’t mind my asking?” Premier Côté asked softly.
 
“It was the day before that incident.” Keisha replied professionally, despite her discomfort.      
 
What did you think of the place at that time?” The Premier asked curiously.
 
“Honestly, and I’m not sure whether I should be saying this or not, but I made a promise to myself that I would never go back there be it as an investigator or as a guest.” Kyra admitted after taking a deep breath.
 
           Nearly an hour and a half later Kyra finally broke the silence as she lay, staring at the ceiling of her and Gavin’s loft that Keisha and Gavin’s mother Irena had given them as a wedding present.
 
“Do you think she’s ready for another case like this?” Kyra asked after a long, deep breath.
 
“Who... Keisha? I don’t know if she’s actually ready, but I know she’ll find a way to get through it, she always does. Why?” Gavin replied, stretching.  
 
“Not really sure, I just get the feeling that she’s forcing herself into this more then she should be.” Kyra explained nervously sitting up and putting on her jacket.
 
“Come on let’s go for a walk through the park, I wanna get a read on this place.” She explained giving her husband’s legs a gentle shake.
           
           Twenty minutes later Kyra and Gavin were walking hand in hand toward the location of their next case.
 
“Can you feel that babe?” Gavin asked shrugging as he felt the atmosphere begin to change as the two drew closer to the vintage masonry façade. 
 
“Yeah, there’s defiantly a strange feeling in the air now.... it’s almost like...like its drawing you in.” Kyra agreed taking a few really deep breaths.
 
“It draws you into it, but its sinister at the same time...just imagine what it’s like inside.” Gavin added carefully watching his wife who had let his hand drop and was walking a few feet in front of him.
 
“You should see if you can get inside and walk around so we can make a map of it for tomorrow night.” Kyra suggested.
 
“Are you gonna stay out here if I can?” Gavin asked as he began making his way up the semi-wrap around stone stairway.
 
“Yeah, I’m having too hard a time closing my doorways down out here as it is, sorry honey.” Kyra answered giving Gavin a kiss before taking a seat on a near-by bench.   
 
“Excuse me, Mrs. I’m with the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew, we’re going to be investigating here tomorrow night and I was wondering if I could go inside and look around for ten minutes or so?” Gavin asked a middle aged lady who looked like she might work in the cursed former house of the Province’s Government.
 
“That depends why do you want to go inside?” The lady asked after taking a drag of her cigarette.
 
“I just want to take a look around and get a general idea of the layout, I don’t have any equipment with me and I’ll be the only one from my team that’s inside.” Gavin assured the lady but doubtful she’d let him inside.
 
 “How was it?” Kyra asked when the two reunited fifteen minutes later.
 
“I don’t think I made any new friends, but I got a pretty good case of the place.” Gavin admitted jokingly.
 
“There was one strange photo I got though, here take a look.” Gavin continued as he handed Kyra the photo of a picture frame with Victorian style script inside.
 

“As the thunder rolls

On a burdened heart that carries a deadly load,

As the wind blows on a night so wickedly cold someone is left alone.

No one knows that he’s writing letters to no one

In the basement.

The lightning strikes

Knocking out the power

But the demons of regret could not be exercised!

Sitting in the darkness of his bedroom

Isolated and unaware

Of the thoughts that consume

His mind and cloud his judgement,

Oh how he wishes it would all

Just fade away and end!

He’s got nowhere to run,

No way to escape the

Backlash of his wretched actions,

The only thing he

Has to look forward to

Is the hellacious and demonic eye

Of the dragon he failed to slay!

All he hears is

The rolling of the thunder

And the voices of a

Murdered innocent soul.

Whispering,

Whimpering for him to do the

Right thing,

To look the

Unslayed dragon in the eye and

Own up,

To look the maimed,

But not silenced dragon in

The eyes.

Windows to the soul

And bring about

Closure to those who,

In this life he has

Unleashed

Pandora’s Box upon!

Yet still

Time after time,

Chance after chance

He remains in the basement writing

Letters to no one.

Hesitating,

Procrastinating,

Postponing the

Inevitable.

Forcing the most affected

To endure seemingly

Everlasting hellish pain,

Suffering

Tormenting mourning,

Enraging the dragon further and

Further until the

Dragon maimed but not slayed

Can wait no more...!

Lord,

Shall you have mercy on a

Soul so undeserving?

Have mercy on he, who

Acted so reckless and cowardly

Without rule,

Rhyme or

Reason

As to take a life so unsuspecting.

To force upon

Everlasting eternal mourning?

He who took a life so

Damn undeserving

To be stolen is

He who could not cease the dragon from resurrecting?”

 
“Ok, weird but what about it?” Kyra asked after reading it aloud a second time.
 
“When I was leaving, I passed by the hallway where I found that picture, or whatever it is and it wasn’t there...but then when I came back a minute or so later, it was right in front of me.” Gavin explained, still sounding confused.
“Do you think there’s something to it?” Kyra asked continuing to watch Gavin’s recording.
 
“I’m not sure, but I defiantly want to show it to Keisha.” Gavin said as the two began walking back to their office and loft.  
 
           “Where’d you two run off to?” Keisha asked as the two approached the front of the office.
 
“Went down to the park, I lucked out and got inside and explored so we have a basic idea of what it looks like.” Gavin replied happily.
 
“Oh really...how basic?” Keisha asked somewhat surprised.
 
“I stayed in the public places...well for the most part anyways.” Gavin admitted cheekily as the three stepped inside the office.
 
“There is one thing I want to show you though...” He continued flipping to the photo of the wired poem.
 
“It makes sense from what I can remember...The night when Premier Sire killed a lady from the Opposition named Katia Jaroslava there was supposedly one helluva storm outside, the Realm Sire Building even lost power just before...” Keisha’s voice trailed off as she thought she heard someone moving around upstairs.
 
“The Premier went bat shit crazy?” Gavin finished, his attention also focused skyward.
 
“You guys heard that right?” Kyra asked timidly, suddenly feeling as though they were the unwelcome ones.
 
“Here” Keisha said softly as she tossed Kyra and Gavin each a digital voice recorder. “Keep it rolling, but make sure it’s not visible, just in case, c’mon.” She instructed as she slowly began to make her way up the spiral staircase.
 
Kyra stood frozen in place as she watched her sister’s breath suddenly begin to create billowing clouds in front of her. Keisha, who had opened her mouth as if to speak, felt her feet beginning to leave the safety of the metal stairs and levitate momentarily. Kyra and Gavin could only watch in utter disbelief at the sight of Keisha’s rigid body being unexplainably suspended in midair before being violently thrown over the railing, her body crashing to the office floor below with a sickening thud.   
 
“Keisha...are you alright?” Kyra asked, her voice panicked and ringing with fear as she knelt beside her stricken sister.
 
“What do you see?” Kyra asked, noticing her sister’s gaze still transfixed on the spot where she had first stopped at the top of the staircase.
“We need to talk to Premier Côté, we’re doing our investigation tonight!” she ordered, finally breaking her icy stare.
 
“Wha-what do you mean...why-why tonight?” Gavin stuttered, finally feeling like he had his wits about it again.
 
“I saw the same apparition I saw the last time I was there, the one that made me swear never to go back there.” Keisha replied grimacing with pain.
 
“Ha-how? You’d think all the spirits would be tied to the location?” Gavin asked, searching for any signs that Keisha had suffered a concussion.
 
“Gavin, check your shoes, maybe you got a rock or something stuck in the sole and didn’t realize it.” Keisha suggested, her voice still strong with urgency. 
 
“Dammit, yeah I got a sliver when I dropped my camera going downstairs, guess that explains how the doorway was opened, sorry Keisha.” Gavin apologized feeling angry at himself for making such a silly mistake. 
 
           A few hours later the sun had swollen, taking up almost the entire horizon as it fought valiantly to stay above it, turning the sky awe-inspiring shades of red, yellow, and orange.
 
“You ever notice how stunning the sky always looks before we’re about to do an investigation?” Kyra asked as she stood entranced by the majestic beauty.
 
“Hey, I say we do the intro for this one a little early, whattya say?” Keisha suggested positioning her small handheld camera toward the three teammates at a forty-five-degree angle.
 
“This is the Mortchwood Paranormal Crew on location at Corinthians Park, in our hometown of Mortchwood Saskatchewan. As you can see, the sunset here is absolutely amazing...” Keisha began another one of her effortless introductions to the team’s next investigation.
 
“It’s almost heavenly” Kyra added, reading the cue perfectly.
 
“Good one Sis, but if this is Heaven...then that means that this building behind us must be Hell. Welcome to the Realm Sire Building! We’re here investigating on request of the Premier himself. Premier Raven Côté has contacted us personally to come and investigate the uncountable claims of malevolent demonic spirits. That has not only left painful marks on those who are brave enough to enter, but have also killed as many as fourteen innocent lives. I’ve been here as an investigator before, Gavin, Kyra, this is your first time so as the sunlight turns to darkness, I say welcome...to the...Realm...Sire...Building!” Keisha concluded, as she set the camera back on its tripod before joining the others in a tight huddle to say a quick prayer for protection.
 
    Once inside the three started making their way to where Gavin had found the poem on the second level.
 
“I think it was right he...” Gavin was about to say when he felt one of the girls collapse into him, nearly knocking the breath out of him in the pitch dark. “What the hell?” Gavin groaned, awkwardly trying to support the body with one hand.
 
“Sorry Gavin, but thanks for the save.” Keisha said apologetically finding her balance again.
 
“Yeah, no problem, what happened?” He asked still slightly concerned that Keisha might have a concussion.
 
“I don’t even know it was like I just got hit by a car or something, I just got thrown back.” Keisha tried to explain while she tried to figure it out herself.
 
“I got it on video, I was way up at the end and I looked back to see where you two were right before Keisha got shoved.” Kyra exclaimed excitedly as she began to rewind her video.
 
“WHOA, there’s nothing even close to you! Watch Keisha’s shirt, you can actually see where the hands were pressing.” Gavin pointed out as the trio watched the raw footage for the third time.
 
           The team continued exploring the two hundred-thousand square-foot interior for the next hour without anything else happening.
 
“Is it just me or does it feel completely normal, almost welcoming in here?” Kyra asked, slowly scanning the entire area with her high definition thermal camera.
 
“Yeah it does, other than me getting shoved back when we first started it’s been super, super still.” Keisha agreed comfortably leaning against a marble column.
 
“What do you think, should we start using provocation?” Kyra asked double checking the tape on her digital voice recorder.
 
“No, not yet...I want to go up to the bell tower. I remember hearing about a legend about the first Premier, the one who went psycho; apparently he would hold animal sacrifices up in the bell tower as a part of a Pagan ritual.” Keisha suggested instead, staring firmly toward the top of the vast structure.
 
“I didn’t get a chance to investigate up there the last time I was here.” She added as she pushed herself off the wall and began to purposely walking toward the stairs opposite to where she had just been shoved.       
 
                “I don’t like this...something’s up with her.” Kyra whispered as her and Gavin made their way toward the final set of stairs that led to the bell tower.
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked slowing down a bit so he and his wife could talk.
 
“The way she’s handling things, not really letting us go where we want to, almost, but not quiet snapping at us whenever we suggest something. I hate to say it, but I don’t think it’s really her with us right now.” Kyra whispered weakly, sounding a little heartbroken.
 
“Yeah, at first I thought it was because she’s been here before and got so traumatized, but she’s defiantly not herself tonight.” Gavin agreed.
 
“Umm, guys...get up here now!” Keisha’s voice called out in a way that made both Kyra and Gavin take off in a dead sprint up the remaining steps and short corridor.
 
“What’s the mat...?” Gavin began but lost his breath when the three heard a loud slam come from the other side of the imposing century old building.
 
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” Kyra shrieked, nearly throwing Gavin off balance as she spun around to face the sound behind her.
 
“Who’s there?” Keisha demanded as she desperately tried to focus her full spectrum camera, which sees from ultra-violate all the way to infrared imaging.
 
“It sounded like it came from in here” Gavin said as he sprinted toward the sound.
 
“Gavin, wait!” Keisha called after him, her voice friendly yet assertive.
 
“Why what’s wrong?” He asked not understanding why his sister-in-law would want him to hesitate investigating an unexplainable sound.
 
“This is all starting to feel a lot like it did the last time I was in here. I love how passionate you are and how much you want to investigate, but all of us have to be careful...this place...it-it’s on a different level.” Keisha warned, her mind momentarily flashing back to her solo investigation a year and a half before as the trio made their way into the room.
 
           “Holy crap, it’s so thick in here, can you feel that?” Gavin stated, struggling to breathe in the heavy energy-rich atmosphere.
 
“Yeah, there’s defiantly something here with us.” Kyra agreed.
 
“Wow! The EMF detector is going nuts...I-I’ve never seen it act like this before.” Gavin explained holding the small piece of equipment which reads electromagnetic fields out in front of his body.
 
Just as Gavin noticed the highly sensitive device in his hand was spiking dramatically, Kyra’s eyes were searching frantically for her sister who had seemingly just disappeared.
 
“Hey Gav-Gavin...where-where’s Keisha?” The younger of the two sisters stuttered, her voice shaky with nervous fear.
 
“What do you mean...she’s righ...?” Gavin’s voice trailed off as the two heard a blood-curdling scream come from the first floor.
 
“KEISHA” Gavin and Kyra called back as they both bolted down the two stair cases, taking multiple steps at a time.
 
 “Keisha, what’s wrong?” Kyra asked her sister, when she and Gavin were finally able to find her standing in the room where the first murder happened in 1913.
 
“Keisha what’s wrong?” Kyra asked again, this time keeping a wary eye on the far left corner of the spacious room. “Where...what the hell, how’d I get down here?” Keisha gasped in shock as Kyra touched her sister’s shoulder.
 
“What do you mean? You don’t remember leaving the room upstairs?” Kyra asked her sister, suddenly feeling uneasy being so close to her.
 
“No, I don’t...all I remember is you said something about how thick it felt up there and Gavin agreeing with you and then that’s it.” Keisha explained sounding confused unable to piece together what had happened.
 
“Why were you screaming, I’ve never heard you scream like that?” Kyra asked, becoming aware of Keisha’s trace-like state.
 
“What do you mean; I never screamed I swear it wasn’t me.” Keisha answered sounding even more confused as her face began to shift into something inhuman.
 
            “Honey, get back now!” Gavin yelled as he saw the apparition of an entity with a sinister looking face manifest out of Keisha.
 
“AHHHH” Kyra yelped as she fell awkwardly over a small table. Her attempt to avoid the malicious attack not quite quick enough as she felt a powerful fist strike her on the side of the face.
“Honey...!” Gavin gasped in shock as he clumsily tried making his way toward his stricken wife.
 
“Gavin no, stay back it’s not her!” Keisha warned as another powerful fist dug into Kyra’s solar plexus, sending her crashing back to the floor temporarily paralysed. Gavin froze in his tracks as he saw the entity levitated Kyra’s motionless body into the air and sent her flying across the room.
 
“A light in the hallway,
The splash in a creek,
A footstep on the stair,
No time to think...
 
The shifting of a gear,
A cry no one can hear,
The shedding of a tear,
A realization of a worst fear.
 
No time to draw you near,
Why are you not here?
The surge of adrenalin,
An urge to push forward,
The barefoot sprint without a care,
A loss of breath in tension filled air.

The tumbling in Satan’s lair – a test made unfair.

 
The falling of a priceless mare
The opening of a forbidden door,
A passage to explore,
A sharing of a folklore horror,
A ship cast not at shore.
 
The rumbling roar sent from the core,
A message from a whore
She did implore
The awaking from a slumber spent on the floor.
 

A movement made asphyxiated – too sore the plaguing memories of its gore.

 
A light in the hallway,
The splash in a creek,
A footstep on the stair,
No time to think,
No time to pull you near,

Why are you not here for the falling of a priceless mare?”

 
Kyra hissed as her back arched in a way that didn’t seem humanly possible.
 
“What was that all about?” Keisha asked finally snapping out of her oppression.
 
“Not really sure, but I think I might know where we can find out.” Gavin replied setting up a camera so it was recording Kyra’s still unconscious body as he began heading toward the building’s library.
 
“Is it just me or is this place really fricking huge?” Keisha asked when she caught up with Gavin just shy of half way down the long corridor.
 
“Yeah it is, it’s absolutely beautiful in here though, I mean besides all the dark energy and bloodshed.” Gavin agreed softly. “Here it is” he said as he pushed open the heavy wooden door.
“What are we looking for exactly?” Keisha asked as she began scanning through the hundreds of books on the first level of the long library.
 
“Anything about the murder in 1913, I think Kyra said something that about why the lady was killed.” Gavin answered from above Keisha.
 
“Here, I think I might have found something” Keisha said a few minutes later from the other side of the room.
 
“Let’s see, I might have something too” Gavin said excitedly, quickly walking to meet his sister-in-law.
 
“Damn, good job Keisha here, listen to this.” Gavin exclaimed, trying to keep his voice quiet as he read an article from an old newspaper.
 
“New allegations are being released about the life of Katia Bela Jasoslava; the politician who was brutally killed last month during a House of Common’s sitting. It is being revealed that she may have spent some time as a prostitute during her teen years. Sources close to the case are saying that although her past does not excuse the malicious attack, it could explain why former Premier suddenly decided to attack her.” Gavin read out loud from a news station transcript.
 
“I don’t get it why would that be so important?” Keisha asked confused.
 
“Kyra or whoever was inside her said the lady who was killed was a whore and that she had a message, but that she couldn’t tell it because she was choked to death. She also promised that she would come back to haunt the place of her death.” Gavin explained.
 
“So, we need to try and figure out what her message was...didn’t she also say there was some kind of forbidden door that was opened to?” Keisha nodded beginning to piece together the puzzle.
 
           Just then the two heard a thunderous crash that shook the entire building.
 
“What the hell was that?!” Gavin exclaimed his voice high-pitched in shock and fear. The deafening bang was followed with excruciatingly bright flashes of lightning that brought both Gavin and Keisha to their knees, palms clinched tightly to their eyes, blinded by the sudden intense light.
 
“I can’t fricking see anything!” Gavin grimaced.
 
“What the hell is going on...Ga...? Gavin...there’s some...who...who’s that at the door?” Keisha stuttered between painful flashes of lightning.
 
“Bay-baby wha-what are you doing?” Gavin asked, also struggling against the violent storm.
 
“Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast in hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen!” Keisha cried out, her blessed Saint Michael relics clutched tightly in her right hand as she repeatedly made the sign of the cross. The prayer seemed to somehow both weaken and enrage whatever it was that was inside the twenty-three year old Olympian.
 
“Keep going....” Kyra instructed, the words causing her even more agonizing pain.
 
“Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” Gavin and Keisha said together, forcing themselves to their feet as they did so.
 
The two repeated each prayer once more before Kyra was finally released from the malevolent spirit’s control, her body collapsing weakly to the ground.
 
“Honey, are you alright?” Gavin asked falling to his knees, his arms wrapped tightly around his wife’s shoulders.
 
“Yeah, I think so, thanks you guys.” Kyra said softly, her voice shaky with exhaustion.
 
“We all need to regroup, let’s go get some fresh air and get our bearings back.” Gavin said as all three slowly staggered out of the impressively large library.  
 
           A few minutes later all three members of MPC were sitting at the bottom of the cement staircase that led into the sprawling building.
 
“We need to get up there somehow...” Kyra eventually, breaking the team’s silence as she looked toward the ominous looking dome over her shoulder.
 
“Why do you say that sis?” Keisha asked probing cautiously, not entirely sure it was her sister she was talking to.
 
“That’s where he killed himself was it...the Premier?” Kyra replied, taking a drink of water.
 
“Yeah it was...” Keisha agreed, her voice sounding hesitant.
 
“What’s wrong?” Kyra asked her sister immediately after.
 
“Nothing, I just don’t want to go up there, but I do think you two should go and investigate it.” Keisha’s reply made both Gavin’s and Kyra’s mouths drop.
 
“Wha...what do you mean just the two of us, since when have you ever shied away from somewhere? What’s going on with you Keisha, this whole case you’ve been acting really weird?” Kyra asked, her dumbfounded tone making it clear she was talking sister-to-sister.
 
“Look, nothing’s the matter; I just don’t think all three of us going up there are a good idea alright? It’s a small area and there’s not a lot of activity reported up there so just leave it at that!” Keisha snapped back, sounding frustrated as she angrily began walking back up the steps and into the blood-soaked building.
 
Gavin and Kyra followed a few moments later expecting to see Keisha at the team’s Nerve Centre command post, but were stunned when they realized she was nowhere to be found.
 
“Maybe try calling her on her radio?” Kyra suggested looking around.
 
“Nah, no point she left it on the desk see?” Gavin said training his flashlight on the front of the security desk.
 
“That’s not good” Kyra sighed nervously, checking the tapes on her voice recorders and camera gear.
 
           The two climbed their way up to the dome in silence, still shocked by Keisha’s sudden outburst of anger.
 
“Do you have any idea what’s gotten into her?” Gavin eventually asked just before they reached the entrance to the bell room.
 
“No idea other then maybe something happened the first time she was here, but other than that no.” Kyra answered teary eyed.
 
“No, it wouldn’t be that, I reviewed her entire investigation, she never came up here...actually now that I’m here, there’s lots of places she didn’t go.” Gavin admitted as be began scanning the room with his thermal imaging camera.
 
“Whoa...Honey, tell me if you see anything on thermal just to the left of the center window.” Kyra instructed excitedly when she saw a shadowy apparition appear on her viewfinder screen.
 
“Yeah, there’s something there, it’s showing up as a dark purple.” Gavin replied, feeling the hairs on his arms and neck starting to stand on end.
 
“Hello, are you the lady who was killed in this building in 1913? My name is Kyra, are you Katia?” Kyra asked softly, trying to sound as friendly and welcoming as possible.
“We’re not here to hurt you Katia, we just want to talk with you because we think you had something to say before you were killed and we think it’s important the world hears your message. Can you talk into one of the things on the floor with a blinking light on it so we can tell everyone what you had to say?” Gavin explained warmly placing two voice recorders and a specialized device called a SB7 Spirit Box which scans through multiple radio stations at a rapid pace in order to make it easier for spirits to talk through, on the floor between the apparition and the two investigators.
 
“If you’re afraid of our equipment, you can tell me what you needed to say and I will be able to hear you.” Kyra offered, risking becoming possessed again by opening herself up to the spirits once more.
 
           A few minutes later Gavin and Kyra were making their way back toward the main team’s Nerve Centre and were shocked to find Keisha waiting for them at the desk with sweat dripping down her face.
 
“What the heck happened to you?” Gavin asked slightly angry about the way Keisha had broken protocol when she took off without any form of communication.
 
“Sorry about that guys I-I just...I don’t know...I guess I just flashed back to my first time here, and all of a sudden all I could see was a veil of red and I knew I had to get away from you two so I just started walking.” Keisha apologized weakly.
 
“Katia told me that just before she was killed, she was about to speak up against a new bill that the government at the time was trying to get made into law. I guess this bill would have made it a lot harder for people with problems or people on the street to get help and get real jobs, meaning people like herself. She feels like because of her past and some of the choices she made when she was younger, she was in the best position to stop the bill from moving forward, but she also said that it was because of her past and the impact it would have on this bill that, that’s the reason she was killed.” Kyra explained, feeling tears start to form in the corners of her eyes.
 
“Was the bill ever passed?” Keisha asked, her voice soft as what she had just heard sunk in.
“No it wasn’t, but the media made a big deal out of Katia’s past and how she used to make a living...sometimes time can’t heal the wounds that words can leave even after death.” Kyra stated, her voice shaky and becoming emotional. 
 
           A couple minutes later the three members of MPC were making their way down to the basement where they had heard stories of multiple people getting scratched.
 
“Holy shhh...it’s freezing down here, where’s a digital thermometer?” Gavin asked as he clutched his bare arms across his chest and started vigorously rubbing them in a failed effort to warm at least a part of his body up.
 
“At the top of the stairs looking back into the main part of the building I’m getting a ready of seventy-four degrees Celsius and down where you are Gavin, I’m getting a reading of...” Kyra’s voice trailed off astonished at the massive fluctuation.
 
“What...what is it saying?” Gavin asked again.
 
“It-It’s saying its only forty-one degrees that’s a drop of thirty-three degrees in what, ten or twelve feet?” Kyra gasped quickly doing the math in her head.
 
“We are here investigating the Realm Sire Building in Corinthian’s Park, in our hometown of Mortchwood, Saskatchewan. We’ve been having a ton of activity already, including myself coming under some kind of oppression from a dark entity, Kyra has been fully possessed and knocked unconscious by an unseen force. Both Gavin and Kyra have seen the apparition of a lady who worked as a politician and was killed here in 1913 named Katia Jasoslava. The time is now just a little bit before the Witching Hour, so we made our way down to the basement and Kyra just recorded a temperature drop of over thirty degrees so we are going to try and communicate with whatever’s down here with us.” Keisha said into her small night vision camera while Gavin and Kyra finished setting up their voice recorders and the SB7 Spirit Box.
 
           “You know what I just realized...” Gavin said somewhat randomly.
 
“Remember the poem I took a picture of when I walked through here earlier?” He asked as his mind began connecting the pieces like a puzzle.
 
“Yeah, what about it” the two girls asked in unison.
 
“Listen to this. ‘As the thunder rolls on a burdened heart that carries a deadly load, as the wind blows on a night so wickedly cold someone is left alone. No one knows that he’s writing letters to no one in the basement. The lightning strikes knocking out the power but the demons of regret could not be exercised!’
Now look around, we’re in the basement, there’s a thunderstorm raging outside, it’s cold as hell down here, tell me that’s just a coincidence.” Gavin explained as he felt his body flooding with adrenalin.
 
“Oh my God, yeah there’s no way, it’s just too perfect you’re right.” There goes the power everything is adding up, great catch honey.” Kyra agreed, also taken aback at the obvious symmetry as the barely visible streetlights flickered once and then went black.
 
“Is there anyone here who would like to speak with us?” Keisha asked her voice clear but welcoming.
 
“If this is where you lost your life, we mean you no harm and we come with the highest level of respect for you.” Kyra added her tone also warm and friendly.
 
“There’s a ton of energy for you to pull from...you can use the energy from the thunderstorm outside, you can use the energy from our cameras and equipment, and you can use our energy. Can you use all this energy and make a noise or give us a sign so we know you’re here and you want to talk?” Keisha explained.
 
           “Did you guys just hear a splashing sound, like someone running through a puddle?” Keisha asked keeping her camera pointing straight ahead, but her eyes looking over her shoulder.
 
“Can you muh...” Gavin’s voice trailed off as he, Kyra, and Keisha all heard what sounded like someone walking up the stairs they had just come down a few minutes before.
 
“Wait a second...Keisha, remember what Kyra said when she was possessed in the Common’s Room?” Gavin asked, again making the connection between what was happening and the poem.
 
“‘A light in the hallway, a splash in the creek, a footstep on the stair, no time to think’...” Keisha replied, her eyes widening with disbelief.
“We need to find the letters the first Premier wrote.” Gavin said.
 
“Wait...just hang on!” Keisha exclaimed taking a deep breath.
 
 “This is exactly what these spirits want, us running around, disorganized, caught up in the chaos.” The eldest of the group explained.
 
“We keep going with our investigation, we only have a couple more hours before dawn so let’s go check out some of the places we haven’t been to yet and try and capture some more evidence.” Keisha instructed regaining control over the situation and slowing everything down.
 
“We were brought here for a...” Keisha’s voice trailed off as she heard a loud whooshing sound come from somewhere in the distance.
 
           “What was that?” Kyra asked swinging her full spectrum camera toward the sound.
 
“It sounded like a door opening or something to me.” Gavin explained also panning his night vision camera toward the sound.
 
“Where did it come from though?” Kyra asked just as a small, faint light began flickering from the other side of the basement. It was so dim that Gavin thought it looked like it was fighting to turn on.
 
“Katia, is that you, are you trying to show us where the letters of the man who killed you are hidden?” Gavin asked holding out his Ovilus X device so the three could hear any response in real time.
 
When the trio arrived at the illuminated area they were facing a door that led to an area outside that they hadn’t seen before.
“Is it locked?” Kyra asked as Gavin reached out and tried turning the doorknob. To his surprise it swung open as if someone had pulled it open from the other side sending the two lovers falling awkwardly into some plants. “Where are we?” Kyra asked as she stepped out into the open-air courtyard.
 
“This is it...This is where they buried him.” Keisha explained almost too weakly for anyone to hear.
 
“Buried who?” Kyra asked finally free from the landscaping.
 
“This is where they supposedly buried Premier Realm Sire after he committed suicide.” Keisha continued sweeping her night vision camera around then entire courtyard.
 
           “Premier Sire, if you’re here can you give us a sign of your presence?” Gavin called out as the three sat in a circle in the middle of the diamond shaped grass.
 
“Why did you kill that young lady all those years ago?” Keisha asked a short time later.
 
“Is this where they buried your body after you committed suicide?” Gavin asked deciding to take a slightly more aggressive angle.
 
Keisha was about to ask another question when she noticed her sister becoming more and more fidgety.
 
“Kyra, are you alright?” Keisha asked quietly as something began to channel through her younger sister.
 
“There is nothing for you here!
The price for what you have sought is nothing more than
Death’s mere touch.
The battle you have valiantly fought
Is no longer within the realm of
Mortal understanding!
Leave now before the
Blinding of the sun
And be spared the
Torture of the exile they have brought!
I am he,
The one you foolishly seek
The one who shut up the deceitful slut!”
Kyra hissed violently, her body stiffening and moving in bizarre ways before realising her from its grips.
 
“Gavin, forget it, we need to get back to the main entrance, it’s gonna be light out soon!” Keisha urged the twenty-one year old.
“What about Kyra, she’s could still be being channeled through, we need to make sure she’s back first.” Gavin argued knowing the dangers of allowing something this sinister to follow them home.
 
“Gavin, we’ll have to figure it out later. We have to get going and break down the Nerve Centre.” Keisha urged, sounding more desperate than the situation called for.
 
“Keisha, what is going on with you?” Gavin questioned strongly, not liking the way Keisha was rushing things.
 
“Gavin, I can’t explain it, but we have to get out of here now, please just trust me on this okay?” Keisha pleaded, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
 
“Yeah ok, fine, let’s head back and get ready to get out of here.” Gavin agreed reluctantly realizing there was no way he was going to be able to convince Keisha otherwise.
 
           It had been nearly an hour since the team had left the tainted Realm Sire Building when they were greeted by Premier Raven Côté.
 
“Hello Premier how can we help you?” Gavin asked slightly surprised to see the current day Premier standing in the doorway of MPC.
 
“Hello, I hear you three had quite the night last night.” The Premier greeted the three investigators with a handshake.
 
“You could defiantly say that yes, unfortunately though, we won’t be able to really know exactly how much evidence we got until we have had a chance to review it as a team.” Gavin continued.
 
“That is certainly fair enough, when you are finished though, I would like to request a full run down of everything you captured if you wouldn’t mind.” The Premier requested with a slight chuckle.
 
“There is one thing that you might be able to help us with in the meantime, however.” Keisha began.
 
“Of course, anything, what is it?” The Premier asked intrigued.
 
“While we were investigating, we discovered that there might be some letters that were written by Premier Realm Sire before he took his own life. We think that if they could be found then that might help with some of the paranormal phenomena that have been happening.” Keisha explained.
 
“Well it’s not going to be easy to convince people to start a major construction project like that, but I’ll see what I can do” The Premier replied, somewhat uncertain.  
 
“Is there anything else we can help you with Premier Côté?” Kyra asked kindly, knowing that the team needed to cleanse themselves as soon as possible.
 
“No, that should be everything, I just wanted to come by and see that you made it through your investigation alright” The Premier replied as he shook the team’s hands and made his way down the street.
 
Kyra was about to start gathering the Holy water and blessed crucifixes to begin the cleansing ritual. When she entered the team’s office however, she felt every ounce of energy leave her body and herself lose consciousness, her body landing with an alarming thud and contorting at a grotesque angle.
 
“OH MY GOD, KYRA” Gavin gasped in horror as he scrambled to his wife’s side.
 
“Keisha, she’s not breathing call 911 now!” Gavin instructed surprised by how easily he was able to work against his adrenaline.
 
“I-I... Ga-Ga...I...” Keisha choked as she was completely engulfed by a barrage of negative feeling and emotions.
 
“Here” Gavin said giving his sister-in-law a quick, yet warming sympathetic smile as he took her cell phone and made the call.
 
           A little while later the entrance to MPC’s office was buzzing with EMT’s and a police cruiser that happened to be in the area and came over to help with first aid.
 
“Let me see your arm there hun.” One of the EMT’s instructed Keisha gesturing for her to come over to the side of the ambulance.
 
“NO, not until I know my sister’s going to be okay!” Keisha shot back defiantly as she began hastily making her way to Kyra’s and Gavin’s upstairs loft to gather some stuff, furthering her defiance.  
 
           Twenty minutes later Gavin and Keisha were sitting helplessly in one of Mortchwood General Hospital’s common rooms nervously waiting to hear something
 
“Fuck! No, Kyra....” Keisha broke down before the middle aged officer even made it to the swinging doors that separated the operating rooms from the public.
 
“What do you know? Is she going to be alright?” Gavin asked, still unsure he wanted to know the answer.
 
“It’s not looking good, when she fell, she broke a couple ribs, one of them they think have punctured a lung. They were able to get her breathing, but it’s very laboured and shallow. They said she’ll be going straight into surgery as soon as her x-rays come back.” The officer recounted honestly giving Gavin a one arm hug.
 
“There’s nothing you can do right now, how about letting someone look at your arm now hun?” The officer asked Keisha softly giving her a hug and then waving over one of the EMT’s, to which Keisha solemnly held up her arm with a teary apologetic smile and awkward giggle.
 
           Kyra spent the following weeks in the hospital and was waiting anxiously for the doctor to do his morning check-up so she could return home.
 
“Did I ever tell you what I saw that first time we met with the Premier Côté?” Kyra asked Keisha.
 
“No, I don’t think you ever did actually, than again I don’t think either of us asked.”  
 
“Sis...there’s something I have to tell you...” Kyra began shakily.
“Kyra, what did you see?” Keisha pushed gently.
 
“I saw me getting attacked at the office, except I didn’t know it was me, I could only see shadows.” Kyra admitted.
 
“You thought it was supposed to be me so you made sure you went in first.” Keisha finished, her voice growing softer as she realized the extent of her sister’s sacrifice.
 
Kyra had barely managed to calm herself down when the doctor knocked and entered the cramped room.
 
“Good morning Kyra, I do have some good news for you.” The doctor began as he flipped through his clipboard. “I’ve looked over your test results and it looks like you are free to go.” The doctor explained before turning to leave.  
 
           “Are you ready to get out of here honey?” Gavin asked his wife as he stepped through the small doorway and into his wife’s room. 
 
“Ga-Gavin…there-there’s something I…I need to tell both of you be…before we go…” Kyra began, making sure both Gavin were paying attention.
           
“Yeah sure, what is it honey?” Gavin replied as he sat down beside his wife’s feet.
 
“I-I…they said that when I got attacked at the office that I-I was…they told me I was six weeks pregnant.” Kyra stuttered as she began breaking down into tears.
 
“Gavin, I swear I had no idea…if-if I had known I would have never gone on the investigation, I swear!” Kyra added between sobs.
 
“I-I don’t know...holy shit are you serious? Kyra...I-I mean for real...?” Gavin stuttered feeling like the air had been knocked out of him.
“Gavin I’m so sorry honestly.” Kyra said trying to sound as sincere as she could through the tears.
 
“I-I don’t know what to do or say right now...but I know that I love you and I will always love you honey, holy shit…ha…babe come here, oh God,” Gavin replied breathlessly, also breaking down as he pulled his wife into a gentle yet tight hug  
 
A few days later Kyra, Gavin, Keisha as well as Gavin’s little sister Gabriella, and mother Irena were all sitting in the office, which had been converted into a makeshift bedroom for Kyra.
           
“Is it alright if I ask what happened when you got back, Kyra?” Gabriella asked timidly.
 
“Yeah, it’s alright, but I don’t really remember a whole lot.” Kyra answered with a smile.
 
“From what I remember we were talking to the Premier and then I was teasing Keisha because she has a huge crush on him. Then Keisha got scratched pretty badly by something dark, so I went back inside to get some stuff so we could bless ourselves. Then all I can remember is feeling like every single ounce of life was just knocked out of me...after that...the next thing I can recall was waking up in the hospital after surgery.” Kyra answered honestly.
 
“Are you better now?” Gabriella asked sounding scared.
 
“I will be, it’s going to take a little bit for me to get back to normal, but I’ll get there I promise.” Kyra answered, playfully messing up the thirteen year old’s hair.
 
           Gavin had noticed that Keisha was being unusually quiet the entire time his mother and sister were visiting, but decided to wait for them to leave before saying anything.
 
“You were quiet, what’s wrong?” He asked his sister-in-law.
 
“She hasn’t told Irena she was pregnant when she was attacked, or how much pain she’s really in.” Keisha replied sounding slightly annoyed.
 
 “Well it’s not exactly the easiest thing to bring up, you must know that.” Gavin replied.
 
“Yeah, I do, but it’s not fair...” Keisha continued.
 
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked not understanding why Keisha thought it was such a big deal.
 
“The fact that whatever attacked Kyra caused her to miscarry...if there’s anyone that deserves a child it’s you and Kyra.” The eldest investigator replied.
 
“Thanks Keisha, you really think so?” Gavin answered, smiling awkwardly.
           “Yeah one hundred percent...you know what.... screw this, I’m done seeing people suffer because of these damn spirits.” Keisha stated defiantly grabbing her jacket and work bag.
 
“Keisha, stop you’re not thinking straight, where are you going? You know you can’t face this thing alone. Keisha...Keisha come on, let’s talk this through.... Keisha...Keisha no... DAMMIT” Gavin pleaded after his sister-in-law, whose car was quickly pulling away, leaving Gavin looking on in disbelieve and fear.
 

TO BE CONTINUED....