Running footsteps above them had the boys going silent.
"What the fuck...." Ryan started as the sound grew closer to their room.
"Is that..." River started to ask in unison.
"Ryan! River! Wyatt!"
Ryan ran towards the door and threw it open as Quinn ran straight into him. He grunted at the sudden impact. "What?! What happened?" His arms went around her and he felt her shaking violently against him.
Wyatt put his camera down on the bed. "Are you okay? What's going on?" He looked towards the dimly lit hallway behind Ryan's form as if expecting something to appear.
Quinn's fingers dug into Ryan's shirt as she held on to him. Her breathing was fast and she saw the edges of her vision dim a little. "....dizzy..." She managed as she started to hyperventilate.
"Get her a chair."
Wyatt hurried over to the desk and pulled a chair over. "Sit." He said softly as he took her elbow and helped Ryan sit her down, moving to kneel in front of her. "Quinn......hey, look at me." He said softly as he took both of her hands in his and squeezed gently to get her attention. "Breathe with me." He took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. "Tell me five things you see right now. Go on."
"You....." Her voice shook a little as her eyes focused on him. ".....Riv and Ryan....the camera....the light from the hallway..."
"Good. Now how about four things you can touch."
"You..." She said again as his hands squeezed hers again. "The chair. The floor. Ryan." She tilted her head, her cheek touching Ryan's hand on her shoulder as she exhaled slowly. "I'm good." She nodded. "Thank you."
"What happened?" River asked as he crouched beside her chair.
"I was watching you guys....and kept hearing things in the room. The EMF wouldn't work and I heard something hiss in my ear. The lightbulb exploded and I just took off." She shook her head and let go of Wyatt's hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...."
"Stop." Ryan said as he came around the chair to look at her. "Don't apologize. As long as you're safe, I don't give a fuck about the video. We can end it here for all I care."
"Right. It's not worth any of us getting hurt." Wyatt agreed.
"And look at you." River grinned as he teased her. "You got scared but you didn't freeze this time."
Quinn narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him, causing him to loose his balance and fall over. She smiled as they laughed. "Okay....I'll let you finish." She said as she moved to stand up. Ryan's hand went out to help her and she took it.
"Actually, I'd rather you stay with us." He said as the others nodded.
Wyatt picked up his camera as River closed the door to the room.
"Someone scared our friend, Quinn, here." Ryan said as he folded his arms across his chest, his jaw set. "Who was it?"
A loud knock on the wall behind Wyatt startled them and Quinn stepped closer to River.
"Who is that knocking? What is your name? You can tell us in that device on the bed there."
"....he's dangerous..."
"Who's dangerous? Who's he?"
"Elizabeth, is this you?" Wyatt asked. "Can you tell us who scared our friend?"
Four heavy footsteps sounded behind River and Quinn, making them spin around towards it. Quinn grabbed onto River's arm as it shot out to keep her behind him.
"Why are you trying to scare me? We're just here to talk to you." Quinn spoke up, her voice sounding deceptively firm.
"....get out..." The spirit box said as a loud bang came from the wall behind Wyatt.
"Okay. I think we're done here." Ryan said as he picked up the EMF device and reached for the REMPOD. "We're leaving. Thank you for showing us you're here. You cannot follow us. You have to stay here. We're leaving now." He opened the door and waited as the others followed him out of the room. "Let's go back upstairs and finish up."
They walked back up the stairs and down the hall to the room where Quinn had ran out of. The door to the room was open and the glow of the laptop flickered inside.
Ryan reached into his pocket for his flashlight and turned it on, shinning it around the room. "There's some glass from the lightbulb on the floor. Be careful." He said before leading the way inside with River following him.
Wyatt glanced at Quinn who hesitated at the door. "You okay?"
She nodded, her arms around herself.
He held out his free hand and she took it, slowly following behind him as they entered.
The room was colder than before and in the eerie light of the computer, it seemed smaller. Ryan picked up the EMF on the desk and hit the button. "I thought you.....this is dead."
"What? Dead dead? It had brand new batteries." River frowned.
"Dead dead." Ryan confirmed. "Give her yours."
River handed his device to Quinn as he kept his light on Ryan as he changed the batteries in the dead one. "Hit the button." He told her and turned to watch as it immediately started clicking.
"Whaaatttt?" Wyatt asked as he watched the EMF furiously spiking as Quinn held it. "Move it around."
Quinn switched hands and it stopped suddenly. She moved it back to her left hand and it jumped again.
"Do you have anything on you? Phone?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"Move away from the laptop....." Ryan said as he watched her take a few steps closer to the center of the room. The EMF continued to spike. "Well something's here."
"You can't follow us. We're going to be leaving soon. And you have to stay here."
The EMF stopped clicking and once again, silence filled the room.
"We appreciate you talking to us and showing us that you're here. Guys, this room feels suffocating." Ryan said as he shook out his arms. "We....."
River jumped, his free hand going to his ear.
"What? You good?" Ryan asked as he took a step closer to his brother.
"That sound." He said as Ryan took the camera and he brought both hands to his ears. "No one else hears that?"
They shook their heads and watched as River bent over.
"What does it sound like?" Wyatt asked, his camera on River.
"Like someone screaming."
"We don't hear it." Ryan said, his hand on River's back.
"It sounds like they're right here." River straightened and shook his head. "That was fucking weird. It was like....when you're doing the Estes method. It was staticky but then the screaming started."
"Was it a female or male?"
"It was like a crowded room just started screaming. That was messed up."
"Okay.....at this point, I think we're done. Both Quinn and River have been affected and I don't want it to get worse. Guys, when it affects our safety, that's when I call it. If you did like this video...." Ryan started the outro and flashed the peace sign as he held River's camera.
Wyatt and Ryan both stopped the cameras and put them down on the bed.
"Let's get our gear and head out. Riv, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good." River answered as he rubbed his ears.
"Quinn?"
She nodded. "I'm just ready to get out of here."
An hour later, they were all packed up. Ryan stopped at the front desk to tell the clerk about the lightbulb exploding and turn in the keys. He glanced into the backseat before opening the passenger door. "Did we get everything?"
"Yeah, I did a double check." Wyatt said as Ryan buckled his seatbelt.
"Let's get back to the B and B. I'm beat." Ryan said as River started the car and pulled away from the curb.
***
Hours later, Quinn groaned and turned over in bed as her mind ran through the night's events. Kicking off the covers, she stared at the ceiling fan above her and tried to will herself to sleep. She pulled off her headphones and gave up on sleep. Grabbing a blanket, she left the room and walked into the dark kitchen to grab a water and started to walk back to her room when she heard a noise from River's room. Knocking once, she opened the door softly in case he was sleeping.
"Yeah?" He said softly, putting his phone down as she peeked in. "What's up?"
"Can't sleep." She shrugged.
"You either?" He pulled back the covers. "Come on."
She closed his door and crossed to the bed, climbing in and snuggling under the blanket. "Why are you up?" She asked as she turned to face him.
"I fell asleep as soon as laid down.....but I woke up about an hour ago and now I'm wide awake."
"How are your ears?"
"Oh...." River said as if he had forgotten, his fingers going up to his ear. "....fine. It was just for a minute or two. It was more freaky than anything. You? How are you?"
"Okay. My headache disappeared but that's probably from the adrenaline and the panic attack." She laughed softly. "Better than ibuprofen."
"Mmhmm." He said as he shifted onto his back, one arm going under his head as the other stretched out across her pillow.
"I don't know how you guys do it every week. In the past week, you've had someone scream in your ear...Wyatt has had a little girl ghost hold his hand....and Ryan had his emotions messed with. And that's not scary to any of you." She shook her head. "It amazes me how brave....or crazy...you three are."
He laughed softly, his fingers winding through her curls sleepily. "We aren't brave. We've freaked out plenty of times."
"So... crazy then."
"Potato tomato."
She poked him lightly as he smirked, his eyes closed. "You can't say that. It's practically trademarked." She yawned as his fingers twisted another curl. "You're making me tired."
"Mmhmm."
A few minutes later, they were both sound asleep.