Most people never notice the things lurking just beyond the edge of reality.

Welcome to the world of F.I.R.E. Watch.

Kevin Frances POV

Decatur Hall, Louisiana USA

Chapter 1

“Kev. Kev? Hey! A-D-D BOY!”

Kevin’s gaze was fixed on something invisible to his friend. The young man spun toward Jeremy, a blank look on his face. His skin prickled, the edges of the hall darkened.  

“Jesus—” Jeremy grabbed Kevin’s elbow.  “It happened again, didn’t it?”

Kevin nodded.

“What did you see this time?”

“I’m not sure. I think it was some kind of dinosaur.” 

“That’s better than last month. At least you didn’t faint this time, so that’s a win!”

Kevin hated the half-truths. But Jeremy didn’t need to carry the weight of his visions.

A vibration surged in his left hand. His EMF meter indicated a small disturbance.  “Let’s get back to it.” The static in his head and the ringing in his ears subsided. The meter buzzed once more. 

Jeremy caught something on his thermal.  “Cold spot, left side.” 

Kevin deliberately turned, never taking his eyes off the meter, and aimed it down the south corridor. “I’ve got a spike. Let’s go.”

“Did you hear that?” Jeremy stopped and steered his thermal at the basement door. “There’s a cold signature on the knob.”

Gooseflesh rose on Jeremy’s arm. His spine stiffened as if a jolt of electricity had shot through it. The world hushed.

Kevin’s brown eyes narrowed. “Shit. Yeah, I heard it. What do you think it was?”

“Not sure.” Tucking his long black curls, Jeremy fixed his eyes on Kevin. A playful smile spread across his freckled face. “You wanna go find out?”

Kevin hated basements. Demonic entities? Fine. Shadow figures? Manageable. Seeing a dinosaur appear out of nowhere. Apparently doable. Concrete stairs leading underground with only one way out. Absolutely not. 

Jeremy, knowing the answer, aimed his thermal at Kevin. His hearty laugh could be heard reverberating through the manor. “You’re lit up like a bonfire! The Merrifield shadow figure didn’t rattle you this much.”

Sweat beaded on Kevin’s forehead. He twisted his father’s ring around his long, slender forefinger. Once. Twice. Then again. His breath hitched. He took a long step back. “Sorry man, I can’t.” 

Still laughing, Jeremy twisted the knob and opened the door. CRACK! The door exploded off its hinges and thundered down the stairs. Jeremy stumbled backwards into Kevin, sending them both sprawling across the cracked marble floor.

 “Sorry Kev. You okay?”

Kevin’s face went pallid. Pressure crushed his chest as if a thousand stones were placed upon it. His friend’s mouth moved, but he heard nothing. His ears—only hissing in his ears. The cool fall air flowing through the manor dropped 20 degrees. Wisps of fog slipped from their lips. A bright light illuminated the hallway. First crimson. Then an eerie forget-me-not blue. The colors twisted in the black hole.  A colorless torso poured from the crimson. Arms oozed from the blue. Legs stretched like rubber bands toward the marble, and a faceless head formed as if it were blowing up like a balloon. 

Kevin’s EMF meter buzzed violently in his icy hand. The spectral meter in his flannel shirt pocket squealed to life. His stupor was stripped when the recall of being a professional paranormal investigator flooded his senses. He smacked Jeremy on his denim covered shoulder and motioned for him to get off his leg.

Jeremy was taken aback by the sight of the specter. His body was stiff and his mouth was hanging open like an idiot. The thermal crashed to the floor. Kevin flicked his ear.

“Get a grip and get the digital!”

“Ow! Jerk!” Jeremy fished through his bag for the recorder. “Got it!”

Kevin stood firm on his long legs. “What are you?  Are you trapped here? Are you angry with the McMasters for disturbing your space? Do you want them to leave you in peace?”

The entity floated toward Kevin, hovering just in front of him. Warmth crept through him, and a steady calm eased his fear—the same quiet comfort he used to feel when his mother soothed him after a nightmare. Kevin stared into its light. Its faceless head came closer, as if studying him. What was this thing? Suddenly, like a meteor, it compressed into a bright streak of light rushing past the men before disappearing into the night. The chill receded—the manor seemed to breathe again. Frog song filled the spring air, and the paranormal gadgets fell silent. “Did we get a response, Jeremy?”

Jeremy stopped the digital recorder and played it back. A low, but clear voice hissed from the box. “I meeean nooooo harm.”

“That’s a first!” Kevin scratched his head. He shot a look of bewilderment at Jeremy as he picked up his EMF meter.

There was no mistaking the smile plastered on Jeremy’s face. The notoriety and all the “benefits” that came with it were swirling around in his brain. “This EVP will be the feather in The Veil Project’s cap Kevin! I believe another award is in our future!” 

“Hold your toes there, bucko. Wait ‘til we get back to the lab before you start writing your acceptance speech. Let’s place an IR camera here. Maybe our friend will make another appearance.”

“Do you think we should leave the digital running?” Jeremy wiggled the little black box.

“No, I want to do a session in the main bedroom. The owners said the majority of disturbances happen in there.” Kevin set up the camera, pointing toward the hole leading to the basement.

Through narrow corridors, shadows danced on the cracked plaster walls. The men made their way through the first floor without incident. Scratching came from the study. It turned out to be a mouse gnawing on a broken chair. The kitchen appeared as if the original owners just walked away and never returned. Its wood burning stove, a burnt hearth where the cooks would hang their cast iron pots, and its large wooden island, were frozen in time.

“Jeremy, look.” Kevin waved his hand toward a staircase behind the kitchen pantry leading to the second floor. “The owners told me this is the only safe way to the second floor. Shall we?”

Kevin and Jeremy walked cautiously up the unstable stairs. At the top, the infamous bedroom waited at the end of the hall. A cold spot caught Jeremy’s attention. “Kev, I think our friend is back!” Fixed on the thermal signature, Jeremy didn’t notice the wide hole in the rotted floor.

“JEREMY LOOK OUT!”

He lunged for Jeremy, fingers closing on empty air as Jeremy froze at the edge.

For one sickening instant, Kevin thought Jeremy would disappear into the darkness.

No. Not Jeremy.

His stomach dropped. His breath was stolen from his lungs and his heart pounded like an Odaiko drum. He had spent the last year watching people vanish from his life. He wasn't about to lose Jeremy too.

“Damn, thanks man! Falling into a void was not on my list of things to do tonight.” A broad smirk spread across Jeremy's face.

Kevin could hear the panic in his voice—the smirk hid it. The mask he wore when fear got too close.

He stared at something past Kevin—he indicated the signature on the thermal. “It’s still there.”

Kevin reached into his personal bag of equipment and brought out the Mel Meter. After some quick adjusting, it read 10,000 milligals. “Jeremy, take a look.” Hearts pulsed with excitement. Both gave a knowing look and strode toward the main bedroom.

“Wait, it’s gone! Where the fuck did it go?” Kevin’s Mel Meter dropped to zero. He directed it left, right, up, down—nothing. “Are you showing anything?”

“No man, just normal thermal signatures. What is going on?”

“I’m going in anyway.”

Kevin opened the door to the main and was in awe at what he saw. “Are you seeing this?”

“The McMasters’s must have restored this room.”

“They said they haven’t touched the house yet. Only started cleaning it out.” Kevin walked into the room, searching for any sign of activity. Everything inside appeared to be at least a century old. His research was vast in this area.

He slid his fingers along the mauve and green silk bed covering. Its softness felt as if the silkworms had made it especially for this bed. His focus shifted to the ornate carvings on the headboard and posts. After careful scrutiny, he determined it must have been at least a century old. The expert craftsmanship of the mahogany, and the intricate patterns, affirmed Kevin’s speculation.

“How is this possible?” Jeremy’s voice pulled Kevin’s attention toward the door.

On either side, sconces made from a crystal he had never seen before, adorned the plaster walls. Beeswax candles cast a golden glow that clashed with moonlight that spilled from leaded glass windows. Fractured shadows danced across the oak floors toward a sideboard containing a silver tea set. Curiosity pulled Kevin toward it. The teapot—ice cold. He picked it up to look at the maker’s mark beneath. Howard & Sons, 1802 Boston Massachusetts.

“This room isn’t supposed to be here.” His throat felt tight and his pulse quickened.

“Uh, Kevin. Our friend returned.”

Kevin glanced toward the door and caught Jeremy's wide-eyed stare. A long, firm finger indicated that there was something behind him. The slowness in which he rotated was like a glacier moving through a sea of ice. There he saw it. In the back corner of the room. The glowing entity. Hovering with its arm outstretched toward the door. The comfort it evoked earlier—gone. A heaviness settled over him. Primal instinct took over.

“Jeremy, get out of here!”

“Let me get some shots first.”

“NOW!”

“But it’s right there!”

Kevin spun on his heel, stalked over to his stubborn ass of a friend, grabbed him by his shirt collar, and pulled him from the room.

Out in the hallway the men watched as the bedroom walls disappeared. The room itself swirled as if being sucked into a whirlpool and the manor moaned in discontent. The floors shook and the ceiling sounded as if it were about to come crashing down. Through all this, Kevin sat beguiled, eyes fixed on the phenomenon. And just as suddenly as it began, it was over.

The mold-stained walls returned, and an oak door covered the hole where the whirlpool manifested. An eerie silence filled the air. Kevin and Jeremy looked at each other—at the door—at each other. A hand firmly placed on the floor, Kevin rose with a caution that screamed, “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Be careful Kev.” That same fear-covering smirk pulled at Jeremy’s mouth once more.

Tentatively, Kevin opened the door. It was musty, with a broken brass bed sitting in the middle. Dust and cobwebs covered the plaster walls. Walking to the center of the room, Kevin saw no sconces on the wall, no sideboard, no tea set, only a dilapidated oak dresser and a velvet sitting chair—tattered and moldy.

“Jeremy! Get in here!”

“First, you tell me to get out, now you want me in there? Make up your mind dude!” Jovial laughter filled Kevin’s ears.

When Jeremy walked into the room, Kevin’s paranormal curiosity rose to the surface. “Did you get any visual evidence of the other room?”

He noticed his friend gawking. Jeremy’s brain had left him again—Kevin snapped his fingers.

“Hey! Snap out of it. We’re supposed to be professionals. Did you get any evidence?”

 “Ummm…. yeah. Yeah, I think so. Kev? What is this?”

“I don’t know.”

Jeremy fumbled with his camera and scanned through the digital images. “Here,” Jeremy handed Kevin the camera, “I must have snapped this right after you grabbed me.”

Kevin’s head cocked to the side. “What the fuck?”

The old, furnished room appeared as if it was arcing. Sparks shot out from the furniture, the walls, and even the teapot into the middle of the room. In the center of it all, the entity. Its legs were missing and its head contorted as if it were being stretched by a taffy puller—drawn impossibly long and flat. A short huff escaped Kevin’s lips. His mouth upturned into a half smile. “What is this place?” His voice filled with incredulity.

“Nothing about this room, or that thing,” Jeremy slammed his finger on the image of the entity, “makes any sense. At all! Let’s grab our stuff and get out of here. Once our brains are firing right, we can go over the evidence and try to find some answers.”

Taking in the room one last time, Kevin said nothing. His boots thumped across the wood floor as he walked out the door, down the hall, past the hole in the floor, and down the rickety stairs into the kitchen.  The men gathered up their equipment placed throughout the manor without incident. Once they made it outside to the old, rusting Suburban both took a moment to admire the ethereal aesthetic the harvest moon lent to the moss covered, stucco and brick antebellum home. 

A nagging feeling irritated Kevin’s gut. “Jeremy, play the EVP again.”

Jeremy removed the recorder from his pocket and pressed “play”. The entity’s words were clear.

“Did you hear an inflection in the voice? It sounds scared!” Kevin laughed quietly as he considered the prestige this would bring to his already renowned organization.

Jeremy's brow furrowed as he considered it. Kevin swore he could see smoke coming from the top of his head. “I think you need to eat. Pancakes at Spalers?” Nope. He couldn’t get there.

Kevin suppressed a grin. “Sure, big guy. Let’s ride.”

***

Kevin stood in a lush, ancient forest. Lava creeping slowly towards him. Flames licked at trees with gigantic yellow and green fanned leaves before setting the twisted white trunks aflame. Oddly shaped, blue, red-veined plants vaporized as the molten rock crept over them. A lone Pterosaur—no not a Pterosaur—something older—something not of this world, sailed through an ash-filled sky.

Where am I? What is this place?

The dinosaur spotted him. Kevin tried to run. The forest floor liquefied beneath his feet. A familiar voice filled the air. Jeremy...

The recollection of his vision. The disappearing room. He was haunted for days.