Dead Of Night

When I got to the top of the stairs, there was a blanket trailing out of the bathroom door. Out of sheer curiosity, I followed it. It led into the bathroom, where my son was curled up underneath it in the tub.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked.

"There's a tornado warning tonight," he said.

"Yeah, our basement is flooding and I can hear the thunder outside."

"The bathroom is the safest place in a tornado."

I sat down. "Well, that's true, but we're not at a lot of risk. Tornadoes don't usually hit the Hill Section very much."

"Think I'll stay here just in case. I got a pillow and my phone; I'm good for a while."

"Did I ever tell you I once camped out in a tornado? I was seventeen, at camp in Massachusetts."
"Cool. Do we have any snacks? You know, just in case."

My name is Lou. I live in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. I'm....Well, I always have trouble describing myself. I'm a freelance writer, I have a day job in a print shop, and I'm a paranormal investigator.

For almost nineteen years, I've been with the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers. For about the past seven, I've been the team leader. Due to some turnover on the team last year, we've had to replace sixty percent of our members. So I've wound up being the senior member to the next generation of ghost hunters.

And it had been good for me. Day by day, I was changing a bit. Becoming calmer, more patient. I'd gone from being the daring, hotheaded member to the steady, grow one. And it had only taken me nineteen years.

It's a little like raising kids. With about forty percent more dead people.

I've been working for the local print shop in the Hecht Building for almost two years. When I got to work, because of the storm, my office was flooded. This was to be expected, as it's in the basement. When I'd first started, I'd explored every inch of that basement, which was mostly abandoned. I'd found an alcove and brought in a chair, a computer, some of my books and documents, and built myself a desk out of random basement stuff.

The office part wasn't too bad, but much of the rest of the basement was covered in water. I dried off as much as I could and I was making a sign when my friends arrived.

"Hey, Lou!"

It was Lex, Jay, and Chloe. Three of the other members of LHPS. Lex and Jay are a married couple, and Chloe is a teenaged kid I'd recruited after she'd attended every tour I'd ever given. I grabbed them all and gave them a hug.

"Hi, guys. How you doing?"

"The kid wrangled herself into a trip," sad Lex. I started working on my sign, laying the sticker part on the coroplast backing.

"We're going to Gettysburg," said Chloe happily.

"Leaving real soon," said Jay. "But we wanted to stop by and see you before we went."

"I'm glad you did." I stuck down the sticker part, and slid the squeegee across it, flattening the sticker to the backing. They watched me do it.

"That is really satisfying," said Chloe.

"That looks good," Jay commented.

"You should a seen the first few I did. There's definitely a learning curve." I took a metal spike and started popping the bubbles. Jay circled the table and helped discover bubbles for me. Chloe walked over and began playing in some of the puddles on the floor.

"Actually, now that I think of it, would you mind checking our place and bringing any packages in?" Lex asked.

"Oh sure. I can do that on my way home. Drop in and keep your cats company."

"I appreciate it."
"Let's get together and do something when you guys get back," I said. "It's been a while."

With sixty percent of the team out of town, I decided to spend Labor Day Weekend working on articles. I usually write at least ten of them for the PA Wilds and NCPA. I sat down and started doing some research, and found a bunch of ghost sightings to write about.

It had been quite a while since I'd written about Vincent James Sesto, and I couldn't find any of my old articles. Time to write about him again.

I got out my file, and started working on it. Did I have a photo of the grave? I remembered taking one in the past, but I couldn't locate it.

Time for a little field trip.

"I have to get a photo of a haunted grave," I said to Paul and his friend Amelia, in the back of the jeep. "You guys want to come along?"

"I think we're going to go down to the Regatta, Dad," said Paul. "But let me know what you find."

"Sure," I said. "It's Vincent Sesto, the guy who was murdered in 1905. He went out for a walk, and was shot. At his funeral, weird stuff kept happening around one pallbearer---Things fell over as he passed. When they got out to the cemetery, a strap wrapped around that same pallbearer's leg, and almost pulled him into the grave. The pallbearer was Frank Dominick, who was living with Sesto. The cops arrested him, but couldn't make it stick, and he was released."

"Cool," said Paul. "You can tell me about it after."

After we dropped three kids off, I went up to Saint Agnes Cemetery. I'd come up with Jay and Lex back in December, looking for this same grave, but we hadn't been able to find it. It was a flat one, and I'd assumed it was covered in ice and snow. This time, I found it easily.

Vincent James Sesto. January 13th, 1905. I knelt down and took a couple of photos for my article.

"There was this asshole woman who thought she was a psychic on one investigation," said Lex.

"And there was this Russian group there, and they were really rude," added Jay.

"You guys get out of my supervision for one weekend," I said,"And you're starting shit with the Russians."

The team was back, and we were in the Clinton Trust Building. Lex, Jay, and Chloe had returned with stories of Gettysburg, and I'd arrived an hour later to hang out. We'd been joined by Lex's friend Jada, a dark-haired Yung woman with a vague goth look.

"We investigated a couple of places," said Chloe,"And didn't listen to the psychics, and got some good evidence."

"Proud of you," I said. "You guys gonna be available for the genealogical society meeting Tuesday night? I'm talking about the Tiadaghton Declaration of Independence."

"I'll be there," said Lex. "You guys are like my only friends."

"Yeah, you're basically my entire social life, too."

"So are you running the business meeting afterward?"

"Yeah. I think they've forgotten I'm not actually the president."

"I kinda thought you were," said Chloe.

"So what did you do without us?" Jay asked.

"I got an e-mail about an article I wrote about ten years ago---The Merci Train. There was a train of gifts from France all over the country, and Lock Haven got four of them. The only one that still exists is the ceramic buffalo in the library. A woman from England wants more information on it. I worked on some articles, and learned some more about the Sesto murder. I found the gravestone."

"Remind me," said Lex.

"That was the one we went looking for when you guys first joined the team," I said. "Up in Saint Agnes."

"Oh right, I remember."

"I've learned a few new things," I said. "I know exactly where the murder happened, plus a couple of details, I found the grave ---I knew about where it was, but it's been a while. And I know exactly where the hearing took place now, too---It was the alderman's office, at 140 East Water Street, right around the corner from here."

"We have to investigate this," said Jay.

"I'd love to be a part of that," said Jada.

"Sounds good to me," I said. "When are you free?"

As I headed out, Chloe walked me to the door.

"I'm not going to make it for investigations for a little while," she said. "I'm in a play down in Florida."

"No kidding? Hey, did I ever tell you I was in a play at exactly your age? It's more or less my origin story."

She grinned. "You may have mentioned that."

"Hey, Chloe, promise me something."

"What's that?"

"You and I have a lot in common. When I was almost exactly your age, I went through a suicide attempt. I know you have a lot going on, and I want you to promise you'll come to me if you ever feel like that. Or, if you'd rather, talk to Lex, Jay, or Ashlin. We all care about you. But promise me you'll go to someone if you need to."

She smiled. "I promise I'll turn to you guys. But I feel pretty happy right now, so it's definitely not a concern."

"Okay. Good. I want you happy. But if the time ever comes," I said,"Remember you are loved."

"Time to roll, buddy. I'll see you tonight. Love you."

"Love you, too," said Paul absently, and was out the door for school.

I drank a bit of coffee to give him a little lead time, and then walked out onto the sidewalk. He was halfway down the block, my tall son, with his bulky backpack and his gray hoodie. Seventh grade. I watched him walked down the street to the bus stop. I did this a lot of mornings; he didn't know and he'd hate it if he ever found out.

"Love you, buddy," I whispered on the chilly sidewalk.

I'll never understand the parents who can't wait to send their kids off to school. I hate seeing Paul leave every single day; my life isn't really complete without him. But at least I have my substitute kids, the ones who wear the same symbol as me, the ones I hunt ghosts with.

My phone rang at about ten after nine. I picked it up. 

"Hello, is this Lou? This is Ludivine." A pleasant female voice with a British accent. "I had e-mailed you. I was wondering about your article about Jake the Buffalo and the Merci Train."

"Oh, yes. That goes back about ten years."

"How did you discover this?"

"I used to work for the public library. The buffalo was on display on a mantle in my office. One day, on a slow day, I turned it over, and there was an article taped to the bottom of it. It was from 1949, when the Merci Train came through Lock Haven, and they unpacked the items."

"That's really interesting. Did anyone know about this before you found it?"

"No, I asked the director at the time. She'd been there about thirty years, and had no idea that it came from France."

"And were there other artifacts in Lock Haven?"

"There were. I've tried to track them down, but I haven't been able to find any record of them. I think some may have been lost in the 1972 flood."

"I'm working on a book about this," she said. "This is really interesting. I appreciate your contributing to it."

"Ten years ago, I looked underneath a buffalo," I said. "I didn't know at the time I was creating an international incident."

After we hung up, I got on my laptop and did a little digging. I found the original article from the newspaper on April 1 1949, downloaded the page, and sent it to her. Still the best history researcher in the county, ten years later.

It was dark when we got to Saint Agnes Cemetery. The last time we'd gone up was in December, when Lex and Jay had first joined the team. We'd searched the cemetery, but we'd been unable to find the specific gravestone. It had very likely been covered in snow. 

"We were in the right neighborhood," I said as Lex, Jay, and Jada followed me across the cemetery. "It was very near this tree. Up....Ah. Here it is."

I stood, looking down at the grave. Vincent Sesto, January 13, 1905.

Jay immediately set down her REM pod on it. I handed Jada an EMF detector. "You want to use this?"

"Yes. Thanks."

There was a flash over the hill. Jada said,"Was that lightning?"

"Probably heat lightning," said Lex, who is generally much more observant and thoughtful than she lets on.

I got my all-in-one from the pocket on my bandolier. Jada asked,"What's that now?"

"This is basically the same thing, but a different model. I like these because they also have a temperature setting, so I can carry one piece of equipment instead of two. This is useful for traveling and times I don't want to load down."

"And it has numbers instead of colors."

"Yep. And I'm already getting a reading---one point three, one point eight----No power lines, no lights. There's no reason for me to be getting these readings. Lex, you got your recorder?"

"Holding it right now."

"Let's start."

We sat down on the grass, surrounding the gravestone. Lex turned it on, and I said,"September nineteen, seven fifty-two PM. Saint Agnes Cemetery, the grave of Vincent James Sesto. Lou."

"Lex."

"Jay."

"Jada."

"Is anyone here?" I asked.

"The light came on," said Jada. "It went to yellow."

"I saw that," I said. 

"Can you make the red light go on?" asked Jay. "Can you go to the red light?"

The REM pod went off, giving a long signal. I got out my camera and snapped photos of it; Lex got some on her phone.

"This is good," I said. "A lot of activity."

"I feel a temperature drop over here," said Lex. 

I got out my laser thermometer and aimed it in her direction. "Going from sixty-eight to sixty-one. That's a significant drop."

"I can feel it. It feels like there should be a breeze, but the tree above me isn't moving at all."

My EMF detector spiked again. I stood up and said,"I'm gonna science this up a little. Let me check and see how far these readings go."

I walked out to the west, turned, and went south. I was about thirty feet away from the others by the time the reading stopped. Jay called,"Lou! More temperature!"

I walked back. "The EMF field extends at least thirty feet from the grave. I can't see any explanation for it; the closest light is way over there where we parked, and there are no power lines running past here."

The REM pod went off again. Lex said,"Can you move toward one of the other lights? The green ones?"

Jada's K2 meter flashed to yellow, then Lex's. She looked at me, 

"Did you...."

"Yeah. I saw it."

The REM pod went off again, a good long signal. Jay looked delighted.

"I'm glad we did this tonight," I said. "We're having a good night. You guys up for coffee?"

I had my coffee on the table back at the Clinton Trust Building. I was sitting on the couch with Lex, and she was running names through a website, hunting for Sesto's wife and killer. I've had far worse Saturday nights.

"Her name was Jennie Perri," said Lex. "Look! She remarried, and she's also buried in Saint Agnes!"

"When I get home, I'll check the map and find out how close she is," I said.

"Here's their daughter," said Lex. "Look at this---Sesto died in January. She got married again in July of the same year."

"She didn't wait too long, did she?"

"I have about an hour of audio to listen to from tonight," said Lex. "Hell, I still have a couple of hours to go through from our apartment last month. It's been busy."

"If you want, we can borrow the recorders and all take shifts," I offered.

She shook her head. "No, I can do it. I just need to find the time."

"It was a good night tonight," I said. "For essentially a practice run, we got a lot of activity."

"I'm happy," agreed Jay.

"We had a busy summer," I commented. "Maybe we're looking at a busy fall, too. All the activity may take a while to die down, and you guys joined up just before the busiest year we've ever had."

Jay smiled. "I'm alright with that."

"Thanks for letting me come along," said Jada. "It's the first time I ever did something like this."

"You guys have come a long way," I said. "I'm proud of how much you've learned."

"We learned from you," said Jay.

I grinned.

"I get by," I said,"With a little help from my friends."

"Hey!" said Lex. "I found the killer!"