Lights Out

Knock knock.

I tapped on the door. "Hannah? It's Lou. Came to check your office for secret passages."
"Oh, sure. Come on in."

I entered the small office on the top floor of the charity I help with. One of the staffers, Hannah, was sitting at her desk. I said,"A while ago I noticed that your office has some unexplained space when you look at it from the outside, so I thought I'd come take a look."

"Well, when you're done, Julie said she wanted to see you," she said. "A secret panel would be cool. Didn't you just look into some UFOs? Unexplained blue lights in the sky?"

"Goddamn gender reveal party," I said.

I checked around. Crawling on the floor, I tapped on the wall. On the eastern end of the office, I stopped. "This is hollow. There's a space back there, but it's plastered over."

She grinned. "That's so cool."

"I've found a few spots like that in the library, looking around," I said. "Discovered a hidden space in the attic after we got back from COVID."

"Figured you'd come in today and check?" Hannah asked.

I shrugged. "Well, you know. Paul's in school, so I got some free time."

Julie was downstairs in her office. At first, when I'd begun helping out at the shelter, I'd felt weird just walking in and out of the place. As time went by, I'd been appreciated by the staff, and begun to feel more comfortable being around the place. Now, I felt at home.

"Hi, Lou," she said, looking up as I came in. "Would you be able to spare a night to stop by and talk to some of the clients? They'd kind of like to hear from you."

"This ghosts, or history?" I asked.

"Mostly ghosts. They've been hearing some things around the shelter, and some of them are starting to believe the place is haunted."

"Well, it probably is. Place was built in 1885."

"Yeah, but you know how it is. I'd like you to come in and talk to them about ghosts, and maybe a little history on the building, and see if you can get them calmed down."

"I can do that," I said. "As a kid, I never saw myself as a calming presence, but I can handle it."
"You have the time?"
"Sure, it's a little slow lately. Probably the writers' strike. I can be here next Wednesday, if you like."
"That would be fine. Thanks."

"Anytime. Call if you need me."

I was at work when the storm broke out.

Sitting at my desk, I saw the pouring rain through the window, and watched the lightning flash across the sky. I was sitting in the oldest section of the local library, built in 1887.
My name is Lou. I'm a paranormal investigator. I look into ghosts, aliens, cryptids, and local history, and then I write about it. It's shocking how much attention you can get this way.

I sideline at the local library. Was a time, years ago, I'd have said I'm a librarian who supplements with my writing. But the older I get, the more I've begun to feel it's the other way around.

I was working on processing books when Zach ran by---One of my co-workers. He shouted,"We have a leak!"

I got up and walked toward the stacks. This is not an uncommon occurrence in an old library; it's why we were currently getting the roof fixed. I walked into the stacks---And saw disaster.

The water was coming through the ceiling in torrents. It was flooding the stacks, and soaking the books. A couple of my co-workers were pulling the computer tables out of the way and throwing plastic sheeting up over the shelves. One of my co-workers ran past, shouting,"We have  buckets up in Children's!"

I followed her up the stairs. "Does Children's have a wading pool or something?"
"She does! Good thinking! She keeps it in the storage room."

I found the pool and ran it downstairs. I put it under one of the bigger spurts. I ran to the shelf in the back room and began pulling old yearbooks off the shelves, running them back to the Pennsylvania Room, out of the rushing water. 

Halfway back, I bumped into Zach. "Where's Bill?" he asked.

Bill is the maintenance guy. "Don't know."
"The electricity is smoking."

I turned and ran for the lobby. "Bill!!?"

"Yeah?" To my relief, I heard his voice from the lobby.

"Zach says the electric is starting to smoke! We gotta shut down the fuse!"
Bill ran for the fusebox. I continued moving yearbooks into the PA Room, getting my Kraken shirt wet, then pulled my cell phone out of my pack and slipped off to the stairwell. I dialed the charity down the street.

It was Juli who picked up. I said,"How you guys doing down there?"

"Us? We're fine. Hell of a storm, but we're doing okay."

"Good. No problems with the building?"

"No, it's cool."

"Okay. Thought I'd better call and make sure. We're flooding here, but lately I feel more responsibility to the shelter than the library."

"Thanks for checking on us, but we're all safe."
"Okay. Good."

 I heard a repeating beeping. Following the sound, I realized that some of the lights on the alarm box were blinking.

"Bill! The alarm is making a noise!"
"Oh, dammit, I interrupted the whole thing!"
He ran for the alarm system. I saw a new place where the water was leaking, and threw another container underneath it.
"It's spreading!"

The boss stood on the side of the room, shaking her head.

"I'll have to call the insurance company," she said. "We're going to have to close up until we can get this taken care of."

In the middle of all the chaos, my friend Chris came in the back door with his camera. Chris was my intern well over a decade ago, and we'd become really good friends since. He wrote for one of the same newspapers I did these days.

"Here to report for the Record," he said. "Heard you guys were having a disaster."

"Jesus, are we ever. Follow me."

I led him back to the stacks, where he gaped at the collapsed ceiling and the flooded floor. "My god, you weren't kidding," he said. "How are you ever going to fix all this?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

Paul was packing his lunch for school in the kitchen. From what I could see, it consisted of two kinds of crackers, candy, and pickles, but I've long since given up questioning these things. From my pack, I heard my cell phone ringing---I'd made a point to set it to the plainest, most phone-like ringtone I could find. I dug for it in my pack.

It was Kira. Kira is my friend who works with Downtown Lock Haven, for the moment. She'd recently gotten a new job with the Economic Partnership, and was moving over there soon.

"What the hell's going on at the library?"

"We had a roof leak because of the repairs, which ironically were being done to fix roof leaks. It's bad, Kira. It's very bad. We're gonna be shut down for a few days at least."

"Oh, that's terrible."

"It's not great," I admitted. "Gonna be closed for a while. We're still holding the book sale, though, and it'll be more important than ever this year. Hey. You know I've applied for your job, right?"
"I know. I recommended you."
"Well, thanks for that. I mean, we'll see how it plays out, but I'm hoping. It may be time for me to move on from the library."

"The board hasn't made any decisions yet, but I'm pulling for you. Hey. I gotta run and eat pizza with my kids now."

"You do that. Have fun. I'll see you at the next meeting."

I've always loved autumn. When the leaves start turning colors and the weather gets cooler, it's my time to shine. I'll be telling ghost stories soon. My mother was a teacher, so I grew up around the educational system. It's probably why fall always feels like the beginning for me, adventures ahead. She'd have been mortified that I make my living chasing ghost stories, but my love for autumn has always lasted.

These days, autumn was a bit of a double-edge Pine Creek sword, though. Along with the cool weather and the fallen leaves, Paul was back in school. This left me alone and bored, and already awake. It was always a reminder of just how much time I spent with my son, and how alone I felt without him,

I'd been in the mood for breakfast, with Paul in school. It had dawned on me that I could get a decent breakfast at the coffee shop, so I biked down and got a coffee and an egg sandwich.

I sat down with Chris and his wife Kate at a table. I was wearing my South Carolina Lizard Man shirt.

"Hi, guys," I said. "Figured I'd come see if you were here."

"Of course we're here," said Chris. "Grab a seat."

"I love the little ghost sticker on your key card," Kate commented.

I glanced down at my lanyard, which held my key card for the shelter. It had a little sticker of a ghost holding a heart. "Figured I'd mark the key as noticeably mine," I said. "Been productive today. I got two columns done, sent in one for West Branch Life, and I have to get down to the shelter and do an exit interview. Figured I'd stop on the way."

"How's the job application going?" Chris asked.

"Waiting on word," I said. "They seem to be still gathering applications. I'm waiting to hear back."

"Got something for you," said Chris. "I saw a weird light on the mountain last night."

Kate grinned. "This again."

"I was driving on 150 from McElhattan," said Chris. "I saw a bright shining light on the mountain. It shined for a second or two, then went away. Up on the mountain where there's no houses."

"Hmm. About what time?"

"About six-ten-ish, I'd say. A UAP up on the mesa?"
"Could be. I mean, I want to say reflection off a rifle scope, but it's not hunting season. Did it appear to be a reflection, or an independent light?" 

"Independent light. Definitely."

"Was it moving?"

"Hard to tell, but I don't think so. It appeared still."

"I'm intrigued," I said. "I'm gonna designate this one CT-23. Castanea Township, 2023. UFO on the mountain. I'm gonna look into this, man. Things have been a little slow lately."

The weather was cool and placid when I got up the next morning. I got Paul and the little girls next door onto the school bus, and then got ready for work. I turned off of Bellefonte Avenue on my bike to on my own little path. Several years ago, the college spent about a million dollars to build a walking path for the students, who have never bothered to use it. So I basically have a path all to myself.

I rode behind where Painter Stadium used to be, and zigzagged over past the ruins of the old railroad machine shop. Then I hung a left where the walking bridge was torn down, passed behind the old synagogue, and turned left at the Kistler Carriage House. A right at the Furst House brought me to the library. You didn't understand a word of that. That's okay; it got me to work.

I walked through the stacks, looking at the damage. Water was still covering the majority of the floor, plastic was all over everything, and half the ceiling had fallen in. It was the worst I'd ever seen the place in the eleven years I'd worked there.

Jenn was in the PA Room, sorting the yearbooks for water damage. I said,"Think I'll take a couple of moments and sneak off today, check the building for ghosts. This is prime haunting conditions, with a disaster that bears a resemblance to one that one of our ghosts went through. Mary Elizabeth Crocker may be haunting the place, and she dealt with the 1936 flood."

Jenn nodded. "I never know if you're being serious when you say stuff like that," she said.

Outside, everyone was busy setting up for the book sale. I walked out and began opening boxes, unloading the books onto a table. Wearing my Loch Ness Monster shirt, I cruised around to the Local section to see what I could find.

There was a woman browsing them. She said,"Do you still sell the history book about Lock Haven? My grandmother wrote that."

"Yes, I know. You tell me that every time I see you."

I dug through the local books, and I spotted one. "A Township Called Wayne," by....Well.

I picked it up. "I always knew this was coming one day," I said. "My book, donated in a used book sale."

I took it inside and set it on my desk. Then I got out my all-in-one EMF detector and started doing a sweep of the stacks. Zach spotted me, and asked,"What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, just checking for ghosts," I said.

"The electricity's been shut off, if that's what that measures."

"I'm not getting any readings, if it makes you feel better."

"It does, actually."

Paul was out playing with his little friends when I left the house. I found them out on the sidewalk, riding their bikes. Paul said,"Did you think you were getting out of here without saying goodbye to me?"

"I'm only headed out for a bit, buddy." I gave him a hug. Then I said,"Paul? You know I applied for another job, right?"
"Yeah."
"What would you think about that? If I left the library?"

"You'd be home more, right? When I get home from school?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't be working as late."
"Yeah. I want that."

My son doesn't care where I work. He just wants me with him as much as possible.

I put my hands in my pockets, and nodded. "Okay. Gonna run down to the shelter, little man. Back in about an hour."

It was a similar scene two nights later when I came outside with my tac vest on. Serena looked me over and declared,"You got too many vests. I can never keep track."

"They all have different purposes," I explained. "This one is for ghosts, but also has extra equipment for when I'm not sure what I'll be dealing with. It's the one I'll be wearing when Paul and I go back down to the shelter next week." I turned to Paul. "Gonna need you for that one."
"Okay," said Paul. I felt a little weird, standing out on the sidewalk in my uniform and vest, as opposed to inside a dark haunted house.

"Can you get ne a vest like this?" asked little Sekiyah.

"I'm not sure they come in your size."

Chris pulled up. Paul said,"Uncle Chris! I lost two teeth in the last two days!"
"Wow! Let's see!" Chris made a show of examining Paul's smile, and asked,"You get any money for that?"

"Two dollars!"

"I used to get a quarter."

"Me, too, but you know, inflation," I said as I climbed into Chris's car. "Back in an hour, little man."

"Okay!" called Paul.

Chris drove down to the end of the street and turned left. "Thought I'd take you out the exact route I was on at the time."

"Good plan."

Chris drove out to McElhattan, turned, and then started back along 150. He slowly pulled over. "It was right about here. I saw it on that mountain, up above that black billboard."

We got out and walked along the highway for a moment. He said,"The sun was a little bit lower that night."

"Looking at these angles, there's no way it was a reflection." In spite of what Chris had said, I'd still been considering the idea of something reflecting, but that was impossible. I lifted my binoculars to take a look.

"No houses, no roads....Probably a couple of hiking paths up there, but nothing that should be lighting up." I handed Chris the binoculars.

"Is that a cut?" he asked.

"Power line," I said.

"Should we get closer?"

"We should."

We got back in the car and drove toward Castanea. "Could some sort of power line problem have caused this?" he asked. "A spark from a transformer? Isn't your dad retired from PP&L?"

"I've actually had something like this conversation with my dad. A transformer blowing, that could potentially cause a light for a moment."
"Would I be able to see it all the way down here?"

"God yes. I remember seeing something like that in Allentown around 1989 once. Lit up half the sky. And you might not even necessarily notice a blackout, either, because it's programmed to immediately reroute the power."

"Hmm."

"Got my job interview tomorrow," I said.

"Make sure you get as much money as you can."

"God. The low end of what they're offering is three times what I'm getting now. Right now, I'd take a pay cut to get this job."

"Not gonna get promoted at the library?"
"Jesus, at the library I don't even like the way I'm being treated now. If it was possible to apply for a demotion, I'd do it." I thought it over a moment. "I will say, though, that I've been feeling better about the place since the disaster. I'm caring about work for the first time in a while. That roof collapse did wonders for my attitude."

Chris turned into Castanea. "I should be able to get close to the mountain..."

"If we turn right at the PP&L substation, we should be able to see."
We turned and went down to just past the substation, where we found the road leading up to the power lines. It was gated off, and we leaned against the gates, where we could see clear up the cut.

"Looks like the logical explanation is a transformer problem, and you saw it blow from the highway.:

Chris nodded. "Kinda still want to tell people I saw a UFO, though."

"For all we know, a landing UFO caused the transformer to blow. I'm on board."

I sat in the county commissioners'' conference room, facing the four board members of Downtown Lock Haven. I was wearing my grey suit, as if I have a whole bunch of other suits. They had been asking me questions for forty-five minutes now.

"So, I have one more thing," one of them said. "What makes you want this position?"
"I want to help the city," I said. "I've always wanted to help the city. I love Lock Haven. Lock Haven has given a lot to me, and I want to give something back. This seems like the next logical step. Lock Haven....It's my home. I've lived here three decades, and I love it. And I just want to help."

"How did it go?" Serina's mom asked me, standing out on the porch. I was wearing my grey suit and my blue tie with the little bulldogs on it, which I'd owned since high school. 

"I think well enough," I said. "Got through the job interview. Now I should be hearing something within a week. Just wanted to stop by and let you know I'm home---Thanks for watching Paul."

"Oh, anytime," she said. "Mostly the kids were out playing on the sidewalk."

"Like usual."

"What is this you're wearing?" Paul asked, examining my suit jacket.

"This is a suit. You have no reason to think I own one. I'm gonna go get changed into some real clothes."

"Yeah, you look kinda funny," said Serina. "I mean, not funny, but....Not quite right...."
I smiled. "I know. Feels weird to me, too. I'm gonna go get into a ghost t-shirt, the way I belong."

"Can I open the door, Daddy?" Paul asked as we parked our bikes in front of the shelter.

I handed him my key card. "Go ahead."

We buzzed ourselves in. Julie was in the conference room with two of the clients. I set down the big bag, and said,"How's things going? Any activity?"
"The door keeps rattling all night."

"Paul, check it out." 

Paul moved to the door with his EMF detector. I opened the bag and got our vests out. I pulled mine on over my uniform, and then the fingerless gloves. Paul got his on.

"What's this?" Julie asked.

"That's a thermal imager. I use that to detect heat sources." I turned it on and passed it around the table. "We check temperature, electricity, sonics, photography. We try to be as scientific as possible."

"I'm scared you might actually find something," said one of the clients.

"No reason to worry," I said. "TV and movies make this seem as scary as possible, but in real life, it's not like that. Probably the only people haunting this place are children. I found two who may have died in the building. By the way, the building is probably older than we thought---The people who filled out the Historic Resource Survey Form just got their information from the 1885 Sanborn Map. I've found some evidence that suggests the building could go back to the 1870s. I need to get to the courthouse and do a title search. Oh, and the third floor wasn't added until after World War II."

"Now, that's fascinating," said Julie. "How did you find that out?"
"Up until 1925, the Sanborn Maps list this as a two-story place. After the war, it was bought by an insurance company and they used it as a rental. That was when they built the third floor. When I mentioned this to the director the other day, she commented that the third floor does look newer."

"Dad!" said Paul. "When are we going to investigate?"
"We're getting to it," I said. I turned on my EMF detector and set it on the table. "Paul and I are going to do a walk-through. You guys keep an eye on this until we get back."

The lights immediately flickered to red. Everyone gasped. I said,"Well, that's a good sign. We may get some activity tonight."

Paul and I walked through the first floor, checking with our thermometers. We got to the far end, at the kitchen, and turned around. I said,"Want to see the upstairs?"

"Sure."

We walked up, and through the second floor. The accounting offices---Most boring place in the building. Upstairs was the third floor, and it did look architecturally newer---I hadn't noticed it before, but knowing what I did, I could see it. We went through, thermometers out.

We walked down the back staircase, which I almost always forgot was there, and back down into the conference room. Julie was waiting with the clients, and the EMF detector was still flickering.

"It keeps doing that," said one of the clients.

"We'll sit down and do an EVP session," I said. "But this is a good sign. Looks like we have some activity tonight."

"Thanks for coming tonight, Lou," said Julie. "I appreciate you doing this."
"Thanks for having me," I said.

Julie smiled. "Well, things are always a little more interesting with you around."

A week later, I was back having coffee with Chris and Kate. Kate was buried in her laptop, doing some sort of promotion, and I was finishing my coffee.

"Nothing new on the job?" Chris asked.

I shook my head. "They're taking forever with this hiring process. Looks like I stick it out at the library for a while more."

"Hang in there, man."

I finished off my coffee and stood up. "I gotta get over to the senior center. Got a speech to give over there, with a hundred people signed up."

"Oh, what's your speech on?"

"Ghosts, of course." I pulled on my jacket. "Hey. You and me have been buddies so long, I sometimes forget that you started out as my intern. But I'd like to step back into that role for a minute."
"Uh-oh."

"No, this is good stuff. I'm proud of you, man."

Chris looked a little shocked. "For what?"

"Everything you do for this community. You've really become a great force in the area, you do a lot, and you help a lot of organizations. You're hitting all the right notes. I'm proud of you for that."

"Well, thanks, Lou," he said. "Thanks for your kind words." 

I picked up my pack. "Gotta run. See you for coffee next week."

I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked out into the nice October air.