"Damn. We're really alone now." Sam said, looking around. The sun had fully set and it was only getting colder. I'd worn a hoodie and a beanie to get here, but I knew I'd have to throw another jacket over the top before long. Just as I threw on a flannel I'd swiped from Sam's bag, a sharp pain shot across my abdomen. I crouched down to the ground, doubled over trying to keep my breath.
"Maddie?" Colby's voice came from behind me. In a second he was by my side and had a comforting hand on my back.
"What's wrong?" Nate asked, moving over to us.
"I have no idea. She just doubled over."
"Mads, talk to us." Sam said, setting the camera on the ground.
"I think I'm okay now." I wheezed as I stood up, Colby's hand still on my back. I leaned against him and he shifted so his arm was around my shoulders to support me. The pain had knocked the air out of me momentarily, but once it subsided it felt like I could finally breathe again. "That was weird."
"What happened?" Seth pressed.
"It was like a really sharp cramp. It caught me by surprise."
"Was it like a period cramp maybe?" Sam asked, handing me his water bottle.
"No, that's a constant, dull pain. This was like my stomach contracted. A little TMI, but I'm not due for another period for a month, I just got off."
"There's no reason she should have had a cramp at all." Colby pointed out. "We haven't even eaten since dinner, and that was four hours ago."
"This is the second thing that's happened to her since we've been here." Nate said, running a hand through his hair. "First, that thing in the delivery room and now this."
"Wait, what did you say?" Seth asked, realization crossing his face. Nate repeated what he'd said. "Delivery room."
"So?" Sam said, shrugging.
"The delivery room was where women gave birth. Maddie just had a contraction."
"I'm not pregnant." I clarified.
"You're a medium. I saw the Conjuring video, you had a vision. What you just had was probably because of what you saw in the delivery room."
"Oh this is gonna be a great night. Let's just start this video before anything else happens."
"You got it, boss." Sam said, clicking on the camera. The boys did their intro and introduced everyone as usual before explaining where we were and the history of the place. I zoned out during Sam's explanation, instead focusing on the dizzying wave of nausea that was fading. Colby grabbed my hand and led me back into the hospital. I sucked in a steadying breath and looked around, following the boys as they gave the run-down of the hospital.
"It's about midnight." Nate said, checking the time on his phone. "Do you think we should start the investigation?"
"Yeah, let's go. Nun's quarters first." Sam replied, leading us upstairs. When we entered the room, it was like I'd woken up from a dream, I zoned back in as Sam set a REM-pod down and we formed a circle around it. "So this is the nun's quarters. One thing about them, they hate men, and they hate people with tattoos. We're all screwed."
"Well fuck." Colby sighed, rolling up his hoodie to reveal his sleeve of tattoos.
"So I'm the only safe one." I said, looking around the circle.
"Maddie, you have a tattoo just like the rest of us." Sam corrected, pointing to my arm. I pulled my arm out of my hoodie and showed the tattoo on my shoulder. It was a dagger with angel wings and a banner that said "St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle," the beginning of the prayer I said at least once a day. I also had the lyrics to Stubborn Love by the Lumineers; "it's better to feel pain, than nothing at all" as a cuff around my forearm, but Sam couldn't have meant that.
"Yeah but it's religious so that makes it better."
"I have a religious tattoo, too." Colby scoffed.
"Shut up. Mine's prettier." The REM-Pod went off, silencing our argument.
"If you were a nun here, can you step away from that?" Seth called. The REM-Pod fell silent, lights and all.
"Are you upset that we all have tattoos?" Colby asked. The pod beeped again.
"What about ours?" I asked. "Colby has a tattoo that means that he will be holding onto the love of our God until the end of time. I have one that is the prayer to St. Michael. Are you upset that we have religious tattoos?" No reply.
"Maybe whoever it was left." Sam suggested.
"They're done with us." Nate chuckled.
"You all have tattoos, I'm done here." Seth added.
"Let's head to the chapel, see what we can find there."
The rest of the investigation went fine. Nothing abnormal. I didn't see any more entities, even though I could feel them everywhere. Even in the chapel, the flashlights answered our questions but I couldn't see anything turning them on or off.
"Alright, we are gonna do something fun and interesting." Sam said, handing me a camera.
"See, when you say that, I don't believe you at all." Colby shot.
"It'll be fun. We are going to do a solo investigation. Technically, only one of us is gonna be going solo."
"It's me, isn't it?" I sighed.
"Colby and I are gonna take the nun's quarters since we have the most tattoos. We're gonna look around, maybe talk to the spirits a little, who knows. Nate and Seth, you guys have the basement, and you get to be together, but you have to do it in the dark. Here is your night vision camera." Sam handed Seth a night vision camera and Nate groaned. "Maddie, you are gonna have the main floor and you are by yourself."
"I knew it."
"Of course you make us go to the creepiest floor in the dark." Nate whined.
"Shut the fuck up, I'm by myself on the dead people floor." I chuckled.
"Wanna trade?"
"Hell no. You can keep your exorcism waiting to happen."
"It's two forty-five right now." Sam announced. "Let's all meet back here at three o'clock for the final investigation."
"Sounds good."
Colby grabbed my hand and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze. I smiled softly at him and he let go, following Sam upstairs. Nate and Seth went downstairs and I was alone with the shadows.
hey I have a huge favor to ask of you readers. I need you to choose the names of a character in an upcoming chapter. He's a man in his mid-thirties and he's from the south, so he's got a bit of an accent. Use that information to give him a first and last name, and the name with the most votes is what the new character will be named. good luck! :)
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Surprise Me.
FanfictionMadelyn Golbach walked into her childhood home, intent on visiting her family since she was home from college. She barely crossed the threshold when her brother texted her. The next day, she was in L.A. filming a video with Sam and Colby. Her biolog...
