To: The Ouija Board of Directors
Re: Ghost Activity and General Induction of Trainees
Thanks for the wonderful opportunity of field training here in Savannah, Georgia. The Kehoe House, designated as our home for the next month or so, is a gorgeous Renaissance Revival home rooted in the heart of the Historic district. The things that we can see through our windows; the gorgeous set of a Southern Summer, are almost as beautiful, thrilling and interesting as those we can perceive.
It is well known that this cast iron and terracotta brick building is the beating pulse of all paranormal activity in this city.As I write this paper, rushed, short steps echo through the hallway. I have grown used to know where they lead. It seems the children who passed away within these walls a little over a hundred years ago are well aware that these are days meant to play in the sun. The love to make the window treatments move as if touched by a draft, sometimes they drag chairs close to the balcony, as if trying to catch with all that ever changing world out there...
But we are talking about the progression of our trainees and I am happy to inform that our little group is well adapted, knowledgeable of their craft and willing to further learn. As of late they have been asking a lot of questions, which is a good sign. If we are going to talk about the dead, we might as well carry a "lively" troop.
While some of our recruits have shown promise, being naturals at the paranormal game, some are quite green. They make up for their lack of knowledge with ample enthusiasm, so I'm not bothered at all to answer their questions. Some of them even made me revisit the basics, little answers that for me are a given.
For example: What is a ghost?
That made me smile because a ghost can be something different for each one of us. We have to start somewhere, I'd say, with a dictionary definition, even. Specter, phantoms, apparitions, spooks... all doing their best to manifest in physical form to the living.
That is how they start, bold letters in a book until a time comes in which we are granted an initial encounter and it changes us profoundly. From there on, we will live with the certainty of a continuation, a secret told at the moment our bodies cease to be.And then that's when the knowledge acquired in books becomes an incentive and we start trying to answer those questions they left behind for us, the main one being...
Why are they here? As much as we'd like to delve in it, sometimes something as simple as a clichéd phrase contains it all: unfinished business. I have tried to explain our rookies that motives for these restless spirits are as varied as their personalities might have been different from one and other in their lifetime. Some are vengeful spirits, unable to let go and upon finding themselves disembodied entities rage against those still living. These include those tormented by their deeds in life, bitter cowards that rather haunt the living instead of facing the consequence of their actions. One foot on this realm another just about to cross that final veil, never quite making up their minds, always finding solace in mischief, or darker schemes.
Others, -the innocent as I like to call them- have no notion of their death... The children that inhabit this house, for once, deprived of guilt or knowledge, run about these hallways trying to escape the confines of a place that seems content in having them. Walls that are careful not to leave out secrets that might hurt them. In their world, those who have come to live in this house, investigators and tourists who pay for the opportunity of experiencing a haunting are nothing to them, other than the strange remnants of a dream that repeats itself over and over, each time with a different face.
There also the ones that though more open to contact, an even friendly, tend to become a danger to those who are giving their first steps in this otherworldly business. In life they were bright, and curious, given to either pleasure or adventure. And in death, they decided not to move, not yet, for there are still wonders to discover. These are the ones who look over our shoulders and make our hair stand on ends. They love to reach out and test and press the boundaries, and though they make wonderful subjects, their allure is great and a living being obsessed, can easily slip into madness and follow...
We have lost one of our interns to such beings, though I rather saw him dismissed than dead. He was sent packing, heartbroken, forbidden to continue upon his research. There's an attachment that follows this letter entitled "Another victim of Paranormal Romance" in which we will include further details. And no, I am not making a joke at love's expense. Love, that one depth of feeling that can shorten, or in our case, transform both our perception of time and distance is a heavy motive for the dead to stay behind.
I have seen entities who have refused to cross, just to stay by their loved ones. And this is a sentiment that is not only present I humans, but in animals as well. (Yes, the usual question arose: "Are there ghost pets?" And the positive answer made the afterlife a little more appealing).
I have told our rookies not to fret over reasons. They are here, and their stories will be uncovered as research advances. You have required to be informed about their advance as a group and I won't hesitate to say they are ready. Well, more of the accustomed "They are as ready as they'll ever be" that usually follows our trade.
They know all they need to know about spectrum measurements and energy fields. They are quite handy with their EMF meters. But nothing ever compares to experiencing if for the first time. As instructed by the Board, I arrived a week earlier to run an overview of the house and mark spots of activity manifested in the city. Kehoe never disappoints, its otherworldly inhabitants have been testing my resolve.
Though the "mistress" of the house has been quite kind, other spirits trapped here for generations are not as gentle. There have been drafts of wind and night lights, noises and illusions. Some are so vivid that though compelled to start in the realm of dreams, continue even after I have opened my eyes.
Some rogues have even tried their hand at possession; fortunately the charms provided by our Director have proven of great efficacy. Still, I must admit, after all these years, it still unnerve me, to feel the icy touch of a hand that exists only in the edge of my vision...
I'll have to start writing soon. The sun is about to set and I must allow for the children to come in. I am after all, staying at the infamous chimney room where those angels met their last breath. I can hear them, tired, dragging their little feet upstairs while a second, firmer step follows... it is their mother. Soon the temperature of the room will drop until all living suffers a terrible chill.
Mrs. Kehoe loved her children and even now, she makes the best of it, absorbing all heat in the room to herself, if only to give them the semblance of a warm kiss upon their foreheads. When the children had gone to sleep, and their mother with them, the other ghosts that haunt these walls will manifest... and we'll be waiting.
Until our next communication,
-Lynn S. (Mistress of Crypt and Belfry )
Ouija Board of Directors
Wattpad Paranormal Research Society
