So. Sunshine's here with her mother to talk about things. Mostly, filming in this here house.
"So we're gonna film ourselves in the house talking about filming in the house," Kat says slowly, deliberately, staring at Sunshine.
"Mhm. Yes."
"So...doesn't that just sort of negate the entire conversation?"
"Mmm—I'm not sure what negate means," Sunshine says, "but yes."
Kat laughs. "Don't you—" She groans. "Haven't you liked the peace and quiet of having nothing? Like this is just sort of our sanctuary and not filming it here, haven't you liked it?"
Sunshine sighs. "Yes."
Kat looks at the camera. "You can just flip that around, no one really wants to look at me anyway."
"Yes, but," Sunshine turns the camera around, "there's something happening in the house, and whatever is happening—"
"You don't know that!"
Sunshine glares at her mother. "You're gonna doubt me now? After all we've been through? Really?"
"Okay, fine." A pause. "I just..."
"It's gonna happen whether or not we film it!"
"Exactly! So why film it?"
"Why not film it?"
Kat shakes her head. "That makes no sense."
"What you said makes no sense!" Sunshine retorts.
"You're using my argument against me."
She laughs. "You're using my argument against me."
"Why do you think that they even care? Why do you—"
"Because they're invested!" Sunshine says passionately, almost outraged from her mother's suggestion. "And I feel safer when the camera is on."
"That makes no sense."
"Why does that make no sense? Why? You can't even—you can't argue my feelings. That's ridiculous!"
"I think I taught you that."
Sunshine smirks and makes a face. "You did, but, I used it against you. Haha! Anyways, I just...I feel safer when it's on, and it gives me something to do." She sighs. "I don't know."
"Well," Kat says, "you do have over four hundred videos, so it definitely has been something to deal with."
Sunshine gives a thumbs up to the camera.
"What if it's only—are you gonna care if we have ground rules? Like, you can't film outside and all that? Is that—you can't film certain parts of the house? I mean. I kind of like a little bit of privacy, y'know?"
"...Yes?"
They'll come back to this.
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So, Sunshine can't sleep and now she feels like something's gonna happen. She doesn't know what, but there's that clenching in her stomach, warning her that a presence is nearby. Which rarely ends well.
Wonderful.
She picks up her camera and clicks it on, heading out of her room and passing by the bathroom. "Glad Mom said I could film here because something's definitely happening."
Sunshine ambles down the stairs and whirls around the side, gasping when she comes face-to-face with her mother, whose side is illuminated by the nearby lamp. She huffs and draws the camera close to her chest. "What are you doing?" The times she'd found her mother standing around in the dark had never ended well, either.
"You scared me," Kat whispers. "Why are you filming?"
"Because, I feel weird," Sunshine says. "Why are you up?"
"I'm...I feel weird."
"That's my excuse."
"I don't know! I couldn't sleep," Kat supplies. "You okay?"
"Mhm."
Then, there's something in the air. At first it's a low buzz, but it eventually swirls into something more defined, something more human. A voice permeates from somewhere inside the house, soft and light, catching both Sunshine and Kat off guard.
"Do you hear that?" Sunshine asks, feeling sick.
"What is that?" Kat demands.
"I don't know." Sunshine looks around the living room, scanning every corner, but it's almost like her body won't move. She's frozen with fear. "Where is it coming from?"
Kat shakes her head, then pauses when they stand on the side of the living room. Looking up, both women notice a vent rattling slightly, echoing with a disembodied voice that chills Sunshine to her core.
"I think it's up there," Kat whispers. "Is that a voice?"
Sunshine thinks so. She raises her camera to the vent, straining her ears. The voice is rough but definitely female.
"What is it saying?" her mother questions.
"I don't know."
It almost sounds like 'you won't get away.'
It better fucking not be.
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After the activity abruptly cuts off, both Sunshine and Kat head to bed. The next day, however, both of them are sure that something has returned to the house, and they both know it isn't Anna.
Who, then?
Now they're both on the couch, the camera set up in front of them, and, well.
"Mom has a...thought...she would like to share with us all."
Kat laughs and splays her arms out. "Share with the class."
"Everybody."
"Well, say if we're gonna film," Kat says, "and I don't want to talk to you about paranormal stuff, shouldn't we film it?"
"Yes."
"You agree?"
Sunshine points to the camera. "There it is."
"It's—" Kat smirks and shakes her head.
"The red light's on," she says sarcastically.
"Alright. Well, I was just...in the middle of the night last night, I was thinking all of a sudden and—well, insomnia sucks, let's just say that—all of a sudden I just remembered something I heard, like, a long time ago and I don't remember where or what or even if—I don't know, but it was talking about if how sometimes it's not a location that is haunted, but a person."
Sunshine stares at her mother.
Kat stares back.
Silence.
"Have you never...?" Kat trails off.
"That's horrible," Sunshine says.
"Yes...Do you get where I'm going with this."
She shakes her head. "Mm-mm." Then a pause as it all starts to come to her.
"Like, maybe it's not—"
"The house..."
"The house that we're living in," Kat nods, "maybe it's you. It's a thought. I mean, it kind of does fit in with the whole 'I'm a Luiseach!' and 'No I'm not!' Right?"
Sunshine briefly goes over what the hell a Luiseach is to any new subscribers and looks back at Kat. "Anyways."
"Well, now that you're done with that, if you're feeling like there is stuff happening in this new house then there's really no reason, like, nothing has happened..."
"I don't know," she sighs. "I just don't like the thought of me being haunted."
"Well, I know, neither do I, I have to admit, I don't love that, but...I don't know, it's a thought, and it's just something that I suddenly remembered last night and, well. It's something. Ponder that in your pretty little head." Kat pats Sunshine's hair.
"I kinda wish Victoria—she always comes in, pops in like a daisy—would tell me what to do."
"Yeah, right about now is when she'd, uh, knock on the door, but she doesn't know where you live babygirl. And we don't even know if she's alive or..." Kat shakes her head. "I think you're on your own with this one. Don't worry, I'm here! You've got me!" Her mother smiles. "You've got Nolan, you've got your Scooby Gang."
"Great," she says.
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Sunshine and Kat are watching TV when the noise returns.
She quickly fumbles for her camera and turns it towards the vent, where the chilling voice rakes through.
"Seriously, what is it saying?" Kat whispers.
"I don't know," Sunshine replies. "It's exactly the same as last time."
"You can't even tell if that's English."
Something slams in the kitchen and Sunshine gasps, reeling backwards into her mother. Kat's eyes are wide as full moons. "Was that in the kitchen?"
Sunshine doesn't respond. She can't respond. She aimlessly moves towards the kitchen, which is swamped in a blanket of shadows that make Sunshine want to turn tail and run. Still, she can't do that anymore. She may not be a Luiseach, but she sure as hell isn't a coward.
And then—
"Everything's...open," Sunshine says, looking around the kitchen, spotting the open cupboards and drawers.
"So that answers the question if there's something here."
Sunshine hesitates. "A...Anna...?"
"What are you doing?!"
"What?"
"Why are you calling out to Anna?" Kat looks at her daughter.
"Because I have no one else to talk to!"
"It's a different house!"
"So? She could still be here!"
Kat sighs. "Okay, well, the OCD in me does not like this."
Sunshine doesn't, either.
NOLAN NEXT CHAPTER HAHAHAHA