The Choice (a Painful Past)

132

I needed to be away from this situation. There was entirely too much going on, and it had my anxiety rearing its ugly head, fiercely.

"Just saying." She replied, raising her hands in surrender.

"I can't stand you." I replied, wryly.

She just smiled.

"Love you too, bitch."

I rolled my eyes, then walked past Colby to the front of the group. Sam was already there, talking to them about where we would start and explaining what each device was.

"Oh hey, sorry. I just thought I would help out a bit. Ben was getting a little restless, and it looked like you were having an important conversation." He said, as I walked up to him.

I smiled gratefully.

"It's fine. Thank you." I replied. "Are you guys ready to get started?" I called out.

They cheered again, a little impatiently this time. I guess I had kept them waiting long enough. We still had a lot to do before this party was over.

Sam and Colby's surprise appearance had definitely gotten us behind schedule, but the smile on Ben's face that didn't seem to want to leave, was worth it all.

I cleared my throat and started to tell the ghost stories that I knew about the place.

"Have any of you ever heard any of the stories about this place?" I asked, keeping my voice in a hushed, eerie tone, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

I wasn't usually good at speaking in front of a crowd and this time was no different. I felt sick to my stomach, with all eyes on me, and the pressure of it was drying my mouth out like the Sahara Desert.

I took a swallow from my water bottle, while some of the parents nodded, along with  Ben and a few other kids.

"Well, I'll go over some of the stories while we walk around. Maybe we can get a few of the actual spirits to tell their stories for us!"

Denise and Colby walked over to join the group at that time, and Colby's eyes met mine. I forgot my next line. I had a rehearsed dialogue for this damn thing, and suddenly, I couldn't remember any of it.

"Um, so," I stuttered, trying to collect my thoughts.

God, did he have to stare at me like that? Just look away, please! He didn't though.

It seemed like his stare got a little more intense and the already warm air became stifling.

"Yeah, as I was s-saying," I said, as I tore my gaze from his. "There are a few different tales about this jail. Follow me back here, and we'll start our first story. Make sure to keep your EMF readers out, so that we can tell if there's any paranormal stuff happening."

Paranormal stuff? I couldn't come up with something better than paranormal stuff?

Why could I not remember words? I walked alone, a little ways ahead of the group, but I knew that Ben, Xan, and Sam were right behind me. I had to admit, it was still a little creepy.

Then, an old memory popped into my mind, surprising me. I had come to explore this old jail a lot, when I was a teenager. My friends and I would break inside, by kicking the old wooden door that used to be in the back of it.

If you kicked it in just the right spot, it loosened the lock and you could just open it right up. They had replaced it since then though, making it virtually impossible to break into.

The last time that I had come here, it had been with Sherri, Kat, Mitch, Johnny, and Derek. It had been during one of my breakups from Will. It was the last time that I had hung out with Katherine too.

We had the life scared out of us that night, because someone else had been here already. Sam and Colby. We turned a corner, down a long, dark hallway, at the same time as them.

I smiled to myself, as I remembered the screams that echoed off the old jail walls that night.

"Yo, I just got a read on my meter!" I heard Ben exclaim, shaking me from my memories.

I stopped and turned towards him.

"Wait, really?" I asked, in surprise.

I didn't really think the place was haunted, because nothing had ever happened to me here.

He was staring down at his meter, but he looked up to meet my gaze. He nodded, with excitement and a little fear.

"Yeah, see! It keeps doing it!" He said, showing me the meter.

I watched as the colored lights lit up to yellow, then orange, then back to nothing.

"Whoa." I whispered, keeping my eyes on the little device.

Just as he said, it would do nothing for a minute, then shoot back up.

"Oh, wow! That one was high!" Sam exclaimed, when the meter jumped to red for a split second.

"There are power lines around here though..." I murmured to Sam, not really wanting to dim Ben's excitement.

"True, but none of the other meters are going off. Just this one. The one I'm using isn't even going off." He replied, as he held up his meter for me to see.

I looked down at my own, just to see nothing coming from it.

"I'll be damned." I whispered.

"Mom, don't swear." Ben chided me.

It was just reflex though, because he wasn't even looking at me. His eyes were still trained on his meter, with Sam right next to him.

"Okay, do you guys wanna see if we can get any more interaction?" He asked, as he looked over to me. "Colby and I can set up some of our equipment for a minute, if you'd like."

I nodded and stepped aside for Colby to come help him out. When he walked past me, I noticed the camera in his hands.

"Wait, so you're really doing a video for your channel here?" I asked.

He looked back and grinned.

"If we find enough evidence, why not? It's a cool spot with a lot of history and amazing ghost stories." He replied, with a shrug.

"Okay..." I breathed out.

I was nervous.

"Does that mean that I'm going to be on camera?"

"Well, I was going to ask you, afterwards, if it was okay to use footage with you and the kids in it. I know that I have to ask all the parents, but I was waiting until the end." He replied, while he was setting up the REM pod.

"Um..." I muttered.

I didn't want to be on camera. There was the entire world to judge how I looked, especially next to him and Sam, who looked picture perfect. Honestly, it really wasn't fair how fucking good they looked.

They were fit, had perfect skin, and the bluest eyes ever. Those eyes shouldn't be legal.

"I don't know." I finally said. "I don't think I'm made for the camera."

He shot those illegal damn eyes at me for a moment, stealing my breath in the process. "You definitely are. You're beautiful, Cal, and it comes through on the camera. You just need to relax." He said.

I nodded, but I still didn't want to be on camera. I would just tell him after all of this was over, and there weren't all of these people around.

That made me wonder how long they were going to be here, in our little town. I hoped they were sticking around, at least for a little while. Just so we had time to catch up.

I really did miss him. I didn't even realize how much, until I saw his face in person.

He still looked like my best friend.