Owen was in the living room setting up a small camera on the mantle when Cameron walked into the room. "So what exactly are you gonna be setting up tonight?" Cameron asked.
"Right now we're just putting up some smaller cameras throughout the house. They're all equipped with night vision and we should be able to access them through the laptop I brought. We also have a few handheld recording devices and an old-school Xbox with the Kinect.'
"What do we need that for?" Cameron asked confused.
"The tracking dots," Andra answered from where she stood near the window. Owen gave her an approving look. "She's right man," he said. "The technology in the Kinect is built to pick up bodies in the immediate area it's viewing. The thing is it picks up bodies you can see and some you can't. You know what I mean?"
"I think so. Basically, you use it to see ghosts."
"Exactly right my man. With a little luck,k you'll get a chance to see it in action later. If it picks up a form in the room it pinpoints it with the tracking dots your girl here was talking about."
Your girl. He had assumed Cameron and Andra were together. Cameron started to correct him and then thought better of it. He didn't mind if that's what he thought. Who knows? He thought to himself. When this is over it might even be true.
"Those same tracking dots will map out all the figures the sensors find. Even those that can't be seen with the naked eye."
"Where did you learn all this?" Cameron asked incredulously.
"Dude it was on one of those paranormal movies that were so popular a few years back and besides that it's been on every ghost hunting series known to man. Where have you been?"
"Yeah, dude. Where have you been?" Andra whispered punching him playfully in the arm from where she had appeared beside him.
Smiling at her he rolled his eyes skyward. "Is everyone setting up the same type of equipment?"
"Pretty much but you can go check in if you want."
He nodded and taking Andra's hand led her toward the stairs. On the landing of the second floor, they found the teenage girl from earlier.
Her hair was a dirty blonde color and styled into a short pixie cut. She was tiny an inch or two shorter than Andra. The way she flitted around the upstairs put Cameron in mind of the pixies or fairies they had watched in movies as kids. She wore black skinny jeans shredded at the knees and a purple tank top.
"Hi," Cameron said. The small girl turned around to greet them with a little wave. "I just thought I would bring Andra up to meet you and see how things were going. Andra this is Theo. Theo this is Andra."
"Hi," Andra said. Nice to meet you."
"You too. Things are going ok. I'm just getting our last cameras set up. We'll have views of the master bedroom, the bathroom, the landing, the top of the stairs, and the guest room." Theo said gesturing toward Savannah's room."
"That isn't a guest room." Andra corrected. "That was her room. The girl who died here."
"Ok. Sorry," Theo answered obviously at a loss.
"I've put out a few digital thermometers so we can keep up with the temperature while this is going on tonight."
Just then a tall dark skinned boy came up the stairs with curly hair and light brown eyes. "Hey, there you are Cal?" Cameron said with a smile. "I wanted to introduce you to Andra."
"Hi," he said waving in her direction. "I've been downstairs running the audio."
"How's everything looking?" Cameron asked. "Good. Owen is almost done with the cameras downstairs and he's setting up the Kinect now. He's also put a couple of Theo's thermometers out down there. I found some headsets we can use so we can stay in contact with each other no matter where we are in the house. Owen even has a small generator with him just in case. "He turned to Andra his smile warm and infectious. "There's not an inch of this house that your viewers won't be able to see and hear tonight."
"Thank you." She said smiling back at him.
Just then a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the entryway. The clap of thunder that followed it was so loud it seemed to shake the house. They all jumped and there was a chorus of nervous laughter. "I think we're all a little on edge," Cameron said putting an arm around Andra's waist and pulling her close. She leaned into him and closed her eyes and he found himself wondering what she was thinking. Before he had a chance to ask however there was a shout from downstairs.
"Hey everybody. We're up and running. Come see this." Owen yelled.
The four of them headed downstairs to find Owen. He was in the corner of the living room standing behind a large folding table where he had set up a makeshift base of operations. In the center of the table sat a silver laptop. He was standing over it watching the screen when they walked in.
"Hey, guys. Check it out." Owen said. The excitement in his voice was palpable. He flipped the laptop around so the group could see it. The screen was divided up into six sections with a separate video feed running in each section. They had cameras in both bedrooms, the office, the main entryway, the top of the stairs, and the living room.
"What is this Cameron said as he pointed to two other screens just to the left of the first. "This screen is running to the Kinect camera." He said putting a hand on the nearest as he spoke.
"Since the stairs are where she died we thought the best placement for that particular camera would be there. This one is so I can keep a visual on the live stream itself to make sure I can see what the viewers are seeing. As far as the cameras go I've been watching all of them and so far there's nothing. Cal will be running a separate camera that will allow Andra to do her intro and then he and Theo can operate it for anything extra we need tonight."
"So we're ready to go live then?"
"Not quite but close," Owen said
He handed Cal and Theo small headsets. "I want to just run a quick check on the equipment. I'll send you guys into different rooms I just want to check that the picture and audio are running well and that the headsets are working. I'm not gonna lie I'm a little worried this weather the lightning and the thunder could make filming difficult." Cameron watched them as they went about their business testing and double-checking everything. Owen even took a moment to show Cameron and Andra how the camera on the stairs worked.
Once everyone had convened back in the living room Owen checked his watch. " We have about ten minutes left until go time so if anyone has any last-minute details they need to take care of now would be the time."
Andra had been fidgeting but now that they were about to go on she grabbed Cameron's arm and pulled him into the far corner of the living room. "We need to talk."
"Ok," he said. "What about?"
"I need to give you a heads up. I know that originally we said we were going to change the names of the people involved but Cameron I can't do that. I don't know how that's going to affect you and if you still want to be involved but I'm just letting you know."
"You know this is going to put both of us at risk. Dredging all this up is going to make a lot of people angry."
"I know," she said. "That's why I'm telling you. I don't feel like I have a choice. Even if Conrad knows everything and tells all the right people what exactly will that change? Paul is dead. Gloria is unfit to stand trial and even if she was where's the evidence? We have an amateur investigation and the word of a dead girl. I don't think she's going to stop until we get her story out there."
"Do you think this will be enough to do it?"
She didn't answer only turned to Owen. "Hey Owen, how many people do we have waiting?"
"Fifty-thousand and climbing."
Cameron could see the truth in what she was saying.
"Ok. I get it," he said. "Living here may be a little difficult for a while after."
Andra visibly flinched at that. "Cameron it wouldn't be difficult for me. It would be impossible."
"Three-minute warning," Owen yelled.
"Andra, what are you talking about?"
"My mom's not going to want to stay here when this goes public. We'll have to leave."
Cameron froze. He couldn't believe what she was saying. He knew she was right. Denise would be furious when she found out and with the numbers growing like they were she was bound to find out. It just didn't seem fair after everything they had been through that they should still be separated like this.
"One-minute warning," Owen yelled. "Places people."
Without warning, Andra pushed herself up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Before he even had time to react she was already pulling away letting her hand slide lightly over his as she backed toward the rest of the group. He was aware they were all watching them but he didn't care.
"Maybe in another life," she said giving him a small bitter smile as she turned back toward the others but not before he saw the shine in her eyes.