Ghost Punk

Chapter Eleven

When Danielle had finally fallen asleep last night, passing out on one of the bunk beds, Logan had still been seated at the computer. This morning, as she slowly peeled her eyes open, Logan was back at the computer already.

Morning light flickered in through the windows, leaving shadows cascading along the bed. In the bunk above her, Andy had passed out, his snores a part of the gentle morning musical. Ralph was asleep on the couch, his blanket having fallen onto the floor.

Slowly, she forced herself out from beneath the covers. She slid out of bed and wandered over to Logan. With a quick glance at her phone, she clocked the time at around seven in the morning. "What are you doing?" she whispered, careful not to wake Ralph as she crept by him.

Logan jumped, glancing back with wide eyes to see Danielle. "Oh, hey. I'm planning," she said, pointing to the pile of notes that had developed into a monstrosity overnight. A few notes had slid off the desk and onto the floor, and some that remained on the desk were stained with coffee rings. The coffee cup itself was empty.

Logan combed one hand through her hair, pulling at the tangled blonde knots. She had at least changed clothes from yesterday, wearing comfortable sweatpants and a plain t-shirt. That was where her selfcare began and ended.

Danielle shuffled through a few of the cabinets, pulling out her toothbrush and other morning needs. She shot a look at the computer. She expected to see some deranged ghost hunting site, but instead, it was the show's personal website.

Their website wasn't much, mainly a forum for them to communicate with their viewers, with other pages to catalogue their previous videos and set announcements. Logan was currently writing a new announcement. "What are you posting?" Danielle asked.

"An update about the ghosts." Logan went back to typing, and Danielle wondered how the clacking of the keyboard didn't wake her up sooner. "I'm going to tell everyone what happened, the exact truth, and our theory about Jack. Plus, I'm posting the faulty file for proof."

Danielle froze, her mind taking a moment to catch up to Logan's words.

"That's insane," Danielle said once she got a grip, pausing her morning routine as she set her things on the desk beside the computer. She started to skim the announcement Logan had written. "You can't post the file. If someone gets it to work, they'll see we don't actually come across paranormal activity," she shook her head, "that footage is completely unedited, remember? The video is boring at best. At its worst, it shows that our ghost hunts are fake, and we're shams."

"Well, if my theory about Jack is right, then it's impossible for anyone to access the full video." Logan scrolled her cursor so Danielle could read the rest of the message, ignoring her accusations. "We all agreed to follow my plan. This is part of that."

"I agreed to follow after Jack, not to post the file like this." Danielle turned her back as she finished the message, leaning against the desk. "This is ridiculous, and there's no way in your right mind you'd post that. It could destroy our reputation."

Danielle glanced at the bunkbeds as she heard the rustling of blankets. Andy was waking up, and he stiffly crawled down from the bunk. He paused for a moment to stretch before he made his way over to them, rubbing at his eyes as his gaze flickered between the computer screen and them. "What's going on?" he murmured.

Logan smiled as he got up, waving him over to the computer. "It's my plan to keep our audience entertained while we film our next episode." Logan scrolled back up to the top of the message for him to see. "I figure we release the video file so our audience has some sort of content to play with while we pursue our ghost."

Andy rested his arms on the back of the chair as he looked towards the computer screen. Logan shifted so he could read the message.

"It's crazy," Danielle said as Andy finished reading, "what if they get the file to play? They'll see a boring video, with no evidence of the paranormal, and it'll make us look like idiots."

"If they just see the first part of the video, it's fine." Andy's eyelids were half-closed, still yet to fully awaken. "The sound that scared us can be heard on audio. The concerning part is the later pieces you weren't there for. We did what we normally do, you know, jump at nothing, point at floating lights that aren't there... with editing it's fine."

"But we don't have edits," Danielle added, crossing her arms, "this is straight up. Surely, the downsides are worse than entertaining our audience for a few days."

"We don't want to lose people because we aren't posting," Logan said, fiddling with the mouse as it hovered near the button to post. "Even if the video doesn't put us in the best light, it's fine. Most people will probably only get the start to play, and then it'll peter out after the weird sound. It's spooky, and perfect. You just want to contradict me!" Logan raised her voice, standing by her statement.

The change in volume was enough to wake up Ralph. He faintly stirred on the couch. "Just stop arguing already," he murmured, running a hand over his face.

"Not helpful," Danielle said, ignoring his input.

"I say we don't post it," Andy admitted, frowning. "It's too risky. We can save our theories about Jack until we have proof of his involvement. Then we can post a video with him, instead of this flimsy content. Until then, we just go radio silent."

"You're both being wimps," she decided. "Ralph, you agree with me, right? We should post it."

Ralph let out a muffled groan as he pulled his blanket off the floor and tossed it over his head.

"See? No one agrees with you," Danielle let out a sigh of relief, grateful to be with the majority for once. She turned back to the computer, waiting for her to delete the post. "Majority rule, don't post it."

Logan paused, stopping her cursor over the post button. "You'll thank me later," she said, and she published the announcement.

"Logan!" Danielle grabbed the mouse out from under her hand, but it was too late. The announcement was already shared.

Logan shrugged. "If you want to take it down, go ahead. But I will repost it as soon as I have a chance." She took her hands away from the keyboard, propping them behind her head.

Danielle didn't delete the announcement.

Andy was still half asleep, barely acknowledging the post. "Fine, post it, but if it goes wrong, you have to fix whatever problems arise."

"Sounds good to me!" Logan said. She read over the announcement one last time, then slid her chair back and stood up."We have to wait for people's responses, so... how about we all get ready and go out to get some food?"

Danielle stared at the computer screen for another moment, barely blinking. After a few contemplative moments she turned away, leaving the announcement where it was. "You have to deal with any problems that come from this, you promise?"

"I swear by it," Logan gave a small salute. "Danielle, there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure my theory will prove true, and no one will have access to the complete file. Let's just push it out of our minds and get some food."

Danielle snatched her things up off the table. "If you say so," she muttered, pulling open the RV door to resume her morning routine. "But when this backfires, it's on you."