Ghosts in the Crowley Night

They waited until late in the night.  They waited until everyone had gone.  Everyone, that is, except for Lester Bateman, the late shift janitor.  Lester was a new member of Cokie's loose knit band of paranormal investigators.  They were the finest group of paranomalists in Dixon County.  Of course, as far as anybody knew, they were the only paranormal investigators in Dixon County.

Cokie Goodkind, Franny's older brother, had been obsessed with unusual phenomena for several years.  Ever since he was 14, when he heard Granny Goodkind creaking in her rocking chair, in the corner of his bedroom.  This was after Granny had been dead and gone for six months.  He looked up and peeked out from behind his covers, and he saw an apparition in the chair, a faint white outline.  Then he heard Granny say, "Get some sleep now, child.  School comes awful early."  After that, he was hooked.

Over the following years he had gathered together his team extraordinaire. They had pursued leads and possibilities, at least once a month for the last couple of years, many hinting at the supernatural, but none quite delivering the definitive proof he craved.  The ghost that appeared in the window of the second story of the Court House seemed the most promising of all, and now that they had enticed Lester Bateman into joining the group, they had the means to get in and set up a proper investigation.

Cokie was a bit on the tall side, solidly built but not fat.  His brown hair was cut short, almost in a crew cut. He almost always wore a hat, a black fedora that made him quite unique among his peers, some of whom, like the thuggish Bandy Harley, made great fun of him for. his uniqueness.  But now he was two years out of high school, and  taking EMT training at the local technical school in Waycross.  His only job was helping part time at Swain's IGA, but that was okay.  Between EMT training and his paranormal research, his days and nights were full.

Waiting outside the back door of the courthouse with him were three of his most faithful investigators.  Billy Heart was there, his first partner, who had been there at the very beginning.  An eccentric, hippie-styled man, Billy was in his late forties, with an athletic body and a gray beard.  He was an adept musician and entertainer, and lived off a family inheritance, although he had held a variety of colorful jobs over the years.  Cokie and Billy had met at a UFO seminar in Valdosta over four years ago.

There was also their youngest and newest member, David Roper, a freshman in high school, who had recently moved from another town.  He was small and wore thick glasses, a little chubby and quiet, but very interested in their expeditions.  He had seen a flyer posted on a street pole, HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY?  SOMETHING YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN?  WHO YOU GONNA CALL?  CALL THE GHOST SQUAD TODAY! and had to give it a call.  David had an incredible imagination and said he was using the expeditions to help inspire a game he was making he called To Crown a King.

And the last there was the most attractive, at least to Cokie.  Tabby Steel, fresh out of high school that May, older sister of Racine Steel.  She said she had some sort of recent experience at her family farm.  She wouldn't go into details, but it led her to be with them the last few months.  On the tall side for a girl, but not quite Amazon height, though.  She had long dark hair, falling all the way to the crack of her behind.  She had an intelligent face that reflected her driving curiosity.  Her hands were worn and calloused from all the farm work she helped her family with.  She was trying to earn some money and hoped to start a degree in Science at South Georgia next fall.

Lester Bateman opened the back door.  "Hurry!" he whispered.  "Come on in quickly! I don't want anyone to see me do this!"  Lester was a big man, in his early thirties.  He had been won over by Billy Heart in a conversation they had last week at Dandee's Junkyard Saloon.  Even though he had never seen the ghost they were talking about, he was excited about the prospect of being involved in an authentic investigation.

The ghost was expected to be that of Laura Gurney, a young woman who had been murdered late one night in 1926 in what was now Judge Strickland's courtroom.  The blood had been splattered across several rows and Laura's body found draped over the witness stand.  The murderer was never found.  Laura's husband, attorney Freddy Gurney, was suspected, but nothing was ever proved.

The most terrifying sighting was in 1955, when she appeared to Grover Compton, on a night that Grover swore he had not been drinking.  He was sitting on a bench in the Round, when he saw at the window a floating apparition, clearly female, and streaked with red, as if Laura was still bleeding.

The most recent was just two weeks ago, by Billy Heart and Cokie as they scouted for their next investigation.  They sat in the parking area of the Round, and saw a brief flash in the window.  By the time Cokie got his camera out, it was gone.  It was then that they hatched their plot to recruit Lester.

But now they were inside, except for Billy, who stayed outside with his cell, ready to text Cokie if he saw anything in the window.  The rest of them set up equipment at the ends of the hall, including an EVP recorder, a ghost box, a full spectrum light, and a FullSpectrum GoPro Cam.  They had accumulated some serious equipment over the years.  For his Ghost Squad, this was a serious job.

They hid in the dark at opposite ends of the hall, Tabby and Cokie at one end, and Lester at the other end with David. They waited like that for an hour, being as quiet as possible.  At one time, Lester had to get up to go the bathroom.  Other than that, there was very little movement.  Tabby leaned into Cokie, as if she were about to drift off.  Cokie had fleeting thoughts that there might be something else in the world besides ghost hunting.

Then his ghost box, which he had set on mute, started making little waves.  Something may be coming.  They all heard a creaking sound, as if a door was being opened.  It could have been Judge Strickland's courtroom door, but they didn't have the right angle to verify.  Cokie quickly made sure that the FullSpectrum camera was on.

They saw it drift out of the courtroom, a shape, clearly a woman, dressed in flowing gown, a cloud of white, streaked horribly with red.  It approached the window.  Cokie's cell vibrated with Billy's message that IT IS HERE!  Tabby grabbed his hand.  David was shivering - Cokie was having regrets he brought someone so young.  A portion of Lester's pants turned a deeper blue.

The apparition looked longingly out the window.  And then it shrieked.  A blood curdling scream that raised the hair on the back of everyone's necks. Will texted OMG! DID YOU HEAR THAT?

Then it vanished in a flash.  All the readings were back to normal, as if nothing had happened.  Lester beat feet as fast as he could.  "My God!  Let's get out of here...Now!" he pleaded as he ran by.  Cokie, Tabby and David gathered up equipment as quickly as they could and raced to join Lester at the exit.

Lester needed to go home to change and recoup, but the rest of the group was headed to Billy's place.  There was a lot to discuss and examine.

What a night!

The courtroom door was indeed opened.  And at the Judge's desk were crouched a snickering Barry Caldwell (the Mayor's son) and Bandy Harley.  They were tormentors of Cokie, going back to elementary school, and even now that they were out of school, they just couldn't give up the...ghost.  They carefully packaged up their projector and sound equipment.

As they did so, the courtroom door creaked to a close, slowly and loudly.

All by itself.