And out the door, I went. No hesitation, no looking back. My entire body felt like ice, but I didn’t care. I wanted out. Not even Usain Bolt could catch me. 

I collapsed in the van, and all I could see were swirly faces shouting nonsense around me. I felt ready to throw up. My body was somehow colder. How that was possible, I don’t even know. 

Eventually, I snapped back into focus, and I heard “Tom, what did you see?” about 100 times before I felt the nerve to answer. “I didn’t see her, but I heard her on that fucking spirit box”. Someone spoke, but I could not make the voice out over the agony my body felt. “Well, what did it say? It can’t be that bad, can it?” I wanted to punch whoever said that. “Can’t be that bad? Are you oblivious to what is going on here? She whispered behind you, and every hair on my body stood up while the rest of my body turned to ice.”

After I said that, no one and I mean no one, said a single word to each other. Everyone knew just how terrifying it must have been but did not want to admit that.

Agonizing moments passed until Max found the courage to speak. “Well, that’s Spirit Box, freezing temperatures, and EMF. And if I recall correctly, that is The Twins? Hold on, that’s not right; they told us there is only one of them. We got freezing temperatures right?”

We all knew what that meant. We did not get freezing temperatures. If it isn’t The Twins, it has to be another ghost type. That means we need to go back inside to find out more. Heading inside, we take video cameras with us to set up in hopes we can find ghost orbs. As we enter the room, each of us notices the harrowing site. The book has writing in it. “GET OUT NOW OR DIE“.

Like clockwork, the pushing and shoving begins again. No one cares about those cameras as we all toss them aside like a spoilt child unhappy with their gift. We high tail it out of there back to the van. At least we know our final piece of evidence. After a brief check of our information sheet, I notice that the ghost type is a Spirit. The most stock standard. Guess that is an easy one with which to start.

“Smudge sticks are the name of the game, and burning them in the ghost room will weaken and reveal the ghost for capture”. Nice and easy. We head back in. I have a bit of a pep in my step this time around. Without too much happening, Mellisa is finally captured, which brings us to the end of our first hunt.

That was quite anti-climatic. All that build-up, and it all falls flat. I expected a lot more. A cold shiver infiltrates my spine when I realize it. That was probably just a tutorial for us. They gave us the easy job to lull us into a sense of safety. At least that’s what I think. If that is the case, we have a lot worse lying in wait.

For the most part, the group stuck together, but there were moments when I thought one of us would sabotage someone. I need to be on the lookout. Back in our cell, a cold and sleepless night awaited me. Thoughts of every kind gnawed at each brain cell like a dog wanting to play with its owner. Only this time, these thoughts were complete and utter pain. Having gone through a hunt should have made me more optimistic, but I am filled with torturous dread thinking about what is in our future.