Case File, 0122. 3AM.

She didn't like it. And her intuition's never been wrong before.

Stopped at a red light, her eyes wandered to the car outside the driver's side window. A black Lexus. The driver, in his neatly pressed coat, had his cell pressed to his ear. Ahead, an outlet with an unknown coffee shop, butcher's shop and a liquor store. To her right, a family owned restaurant aptly named Frank's Bar and Grill. How quaint.

"Tell me again why you agreed to take this case?"

The light turned green.

The man in the passenger seat typed on his phone. Without looking up, he replied, "Yabai." He lifted the phone to show her the words on the screen. Family danger. Ken was a film student at Salem State University. Like most students from Japan, they knew the English language inside and out, but to speak it was another issue altogether. He was an asset to her, however. Without him, she wouldn't have half the equipment the van carried.

"Whatever. Did you read the history of the house?"

"Hai." He continued to tap on his phone. 1810 construction. No history.

"Wonderful." She squinted. "I hate this town already."

The house was off the main road on a slight hill. It, like the rest of the homes on the street, was prominent. The doors and steps were decorated with the season. The lawns was immaculately kept.  It took the residents several moments to answer the door. She glanced at her clipboard.

"Mrs. Addison?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Reese Hadley from the Salem Paranormal Research Center. You've contacted my assistant Ken Haruyama about a disturbance in your house?"

"Uh, yeah." The woman looked at her.

Reese felt the mother's hesitation, or perhaps regret in calling the SPRC. She was a junior in high school, but she was aware she looked about fourteen. She tried to counterbalance it by dressing in professional attire. "May we come in? We have some questions before we start."

"Yeah, sure."

The house, as expected, appeared ample from the outside. Inside, the rooms were miniature as were such homes built around the time. It would prove difficult to get some angles in for sure.

The other subjects were Becca and Rach, sixteen and seventeen, respectively. Reese waited for Ken to boot his laptop before she began. Mrs. Addison gave them some orange soda which she sipped once out of courtesy. She hated any form of sugary drinks. Especially one which resembled nothing of the fruit it touted to be.

Ken started his digital recorder and rested his fingers over the keys of his laptop.

"Case file oh one two two," she said. "Three A.M. Mrs. Bella Addison. One fifty-five Lawton Ave. Franklin, Massachusetts. Ken, put the girls' ages too."

"Hai-i," he sang as his finger moved adeptly.

She raised her eyes to Mrs. Addison. "Okay so, tell me everything from the beginning again for our records, please."

"Well, it started six months ago," the forty-something woman began. "It was nothing at first, you know? Just random noises -- like the house was settling."

"Which is wierd," Becca said. "'Cause like we lived here for like ten years and it's never happened before."

"Then three months ago, things started to disappear."

"Like my necklace," Rach added. "I wore it like only twice or something. So I know I didn't take it out. Becca said she didn't touch it either."

"I just thought maybe she just misplaced it," Mrs. Addison continued. "And we never thought anything about it. Then two months ago everything started getting wierd. We started seeing shadows and wierd lights flashing."

"Yeah," Rach interjected. "I woke up in the middle of the night once and there was a guy standing over me, except I couldn't see his face. Like he was just a shadow. I couldn't move or scream or anything. Like he was holding me down and choking me or something. After that, I never went back to my room again. I get too freaked out even just looking in there."

"Oh, my God," Becca exclaimed. "That happened to me too!"

Mrs. Addison rubbed her palms over Becca's back. "That's when we started looking for ghost hunters like you, but they were all booked. Something about Halloween, I guess."

"Where do you see these shadow people?" Reese asked.

"Mostly in the living room and around Rach's room," Mrs. Addison replied.

"And you said," Reese flipped through her clipboard. "The noises, voices and shadow people happen all happen around 3AM?"

"Yeah."

Reese looked at Rach. "This may not seem like a pertinent question, but can you tell me what's happening in school? Are you having any quarrels with your friends or anything?"

"No, I'm not having any quarrels with my friends. And school is fine. I'll be graduating in June. Oh, my God. Do you think the ghosts are mad that I'll be going away to college next year?"

Reese blinked, but managed to subdue an outburst of sarcastic remarks. "It's too early to say." She folded her hands and gazed across the table. "Do you have a idea of what school you're going to?"

"Yeah, I'm going to the University of Florida."

"Is this your first time going away by yourself?"

"Nah, I went to Cancun for spring break last year."

"You had fun then."

"Uh, yeah? Hello. It's Cancun."

Becca snickered.

"Girls." Mrs. Addison turned to her. "Do you think you can help us? I mean, you're like what? Sixteen?"

She had heard the questions and doubts numerous times before. It was only a matter of time. "What did you hope to accomplish with SPRC?"

"I just want the hauntings to stop."

"I'll do my best. Last question. Mrs. Addison, where's your husband?"

"That asshole left years ago."

"Thank you." Reese shifted in her seat. "I do have one request before we start. If Becca and Rach don't mind, I'd like to make a video record of your sleep cycles."

"You mean shoot us while we're sleeping?" Rach asked.

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"Pervy. Whatever."

Becca shrugged.

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