ATTACHMENTS || Twin Paranormal

Gift and Curse (3)

"So, Eden, have you ever done any investigations before?" Ryan asked, taking a seat at one of the tables and gesturing for me to sit down. I took a seat across from him as the others claimed the other free chairs and shook my head.

"Actually no, but I've seen a couple of videos of other people doing it. I have enough spirits to talk to at home, I don't really need any more," I admitted, laughing softly.

"That seems fair," Wyatt laughed. "I'm sure if I could see and hear ghosts constantly, I'd have all the evidence and proof I needed."

"How does your gift work?" River asked curiously. Similarly to when Maya had referred to me as a medium, the word 'gift' settled in my chest uncomfortably. My abilities had never been anything more than a curse, ruining my life before it had even had a chance to start.

"Most of the time I can sense different energies in different areas of a room, like for instance there are about three spirits in this area of the building right now. All three feel happy and content and I don't feel anything negative, at least not yet." I paused, suddenly nervous that they were going to think I was crazy or call me a liar. They did neither, instead watching me with quiet curiosity, waiting for me to continue.

"Sometimes, I can hear a voice but it's never crystal clear, like when we're sitting here and speaking to each other like this. It's usually more gravelly, or sounds a bit like hissing. As for seeing them as apparitions in front of me, that's more rare and has only happened to me a couple of times." My gaze flitted to where the cowboy was still sitting, watching the four of us intently.

"That's so cool," Ryan said excitedly, surprising me. I wasn't used to people thinking what I was able to do was anything less than demonic and ungodly.

"It isn't always, but it's the hand I was dealt," I replied, shrugging. "What about you guys? What made you start doing this?"

"Even before we met each other, we'd all sort of had our own experiences," Wyatt said, looking towards his friends. "Of course, growing up with ghost hunting shows and stuff, we decided to try what we'd seen to see if anything was legit. As soon as we got evidence though, it kind of became addicting."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "Honestly we were all skeptics at first, but then the more videos we did and the more we caught things that were undeniable and that we couldn't debunk, it was kind of hard to be a skeptic after that."

"So, wouldn't you say that you've found proof already?" I asked curiously. "What drives you guys to keep going?"

"Huh," Ryan said, furrowing his brows in thought. "Definitely the adrenaline. It's crazy to get evidence that matches up with stories about the places we investigate and to get a name or death date or something like that." River and Wyatt nodded in agreement and I smiled. They were clearly passionate about what they did. I couldn't ignore the twinge in my chest as I thought about my own shame and embarrassment towards my abilities, wondering what it would feel like to be as excited about it as the three of them.

"It's almost 10, maybe we should get started," River said suddenly, checking his phone.

"Shit, okay," Ryan agreed, getting up from the table and pulling car keys out of his pocket. "Let's get the equipment from the car and start setting up."

"Do you need any help?" I asked, joining them at the front doors.

"That'd be great," Wyatt grinned, holding the door for me as we headed out to the car.

Ryan opened the trunk, beginning to hand everyone bags. I took the backpack and a small, hard-shell case that he offered me and followed River back inside as the others continued to unload the rest of the equipment.