The Clockwork Series

July 31-August 2, 2009

Friday - Sunday

Today was NOT a great day. First, my professor fails me, making me repeat the class…again. For the third time. Second, I just saw my “girlfriend” throwing some beers with this chump down at the bar. Who does the guy think he is?

I groaned, scratching the back of my head as I headed for home. On the bright side, at least my parents had the generosity of giving me their other house, since it was nearer to my college. Yeah, so we’re rich, I still didn’t do well at everything. Just goes to show that money really can’t buy you happiness. I reached in my pocket for my keys, then froze. It was empty. I searched it again, but got the same results.

“Crap.” I said, running at full pace back to campus, my bag swinging as I ran. It was already 8 pm, and I silently prayed to God that the school wasn’t completely closed.

I arrived on time, just as the custodian was locking up.

“I need to get in for a while.” I said, panting heavily.

“Why? Forget something.” The janitor said rather impassively. Pretty annoying, too.

“Yeah. Keys. To my house.”

“Make it fast.”

Thank you, God. I won’t be sleeping on the street tonight.

Ten minutes later, I was walking the same path back to home, only this time I was wetter than I originally was.

Better make those three things that went horribly wrong today.

I opened the door, hearing it creak as I went in. It was an old house, I admit. But it was way better than living in a smelly dorm with all those people. I had this place totally to myself. Sweet. I trudged up the stairs, heading to the master’s bedroom to the left. I inserted a key and went inside, quickly changing clothes, and got ready for bed. Weekends were the best. You get one whole day of relaxation before the cramming begun. Luckily, that was the one thing I was pretty good at, except of course, in Philosophy. I slumped on my bed, feeling sleep drift over me, when I heard something.

It wasn’t just the usual rat, ‘cause if it were it seriously didn’t sound like one. It was more of whispering, like a dead guy. I gulped. Please don’t let it be that. I grabbed a broom on the way out, holding it tightly, fingers white against the wood.

“Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.” I said nervously, beckoning to the dark. Hey, it made me feel a little better, and that’s the most important thing.

The whispering continued. I still couldn’t understand what it was the guy was saying, but if this was like a horror movie, it’s not gonna be good. I trembled, walking more cautiously around the house, flicking light switches on wherever I went through. It reached a point where it completely stopped, and silence engulfed me once more. I couldn’t hear anything, even from outside. I stood on the spot, muscles tensed and ready to spring. My senses were peaked, so much that I almost died when I heard my phone ring in my room. I ran as fast as I could inside, dropping the broom on the way.

“H-H-Hello?”

“Lukas? What the hell, man. You sound like you’ve seen a ghost.”

"You have no freaking idea, George.” I said, still shaking.

“No way! Wait right there! I’m sending people over. They say they’re paranormal experts. I’m lucky I have them as neighbors here in the dorm. Wait a sec. We’ll be there in five minutes.” George said, then hung up.

Typical.

As promised, there was a knock on my door five minutes later. I opened it to be greeted by a very goth looking dude. I’m sure I’ve seen him around from one of my classes. He looked at me with a scanning eye.

“Lukas West?” He said, his voice a bit gravelly.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“My name is Bernel. This is Matilda,” He said, gesturing toward a similar looking goth girl to his right. “And this is Jack.” The guy looked absolutely nothing like the other two, with a baseball hat and glasses. He struggled to pull bags of electronic stuff out from the back of a van.

Another car pulled in the driveway. I recognized that pimped out green sports car anywhere.

“George.” I said through gritted teeth, walking with long strides to his car.

“Hey Luk—”

I pulled him up by the neck and propped him on the side of the car.

“Who are these people, George? I don’t remember inviting them.”

“What’s this about, Luke?”

“You don’t just go asking people to go to someone else’s HOUSE, George. And you don't tell them just to hang up the phone and assume they've said yes. Do you KNOW what will happen to me if they find nothing? I will be embarrassed beyond recognition. Now, I don’t want that, George. So DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

“Chill, man. Look. These guys are sworn to secrecy. Besides, they’ll be here and be gone before you know it.”

I sighed and let him go, walking towards my front door. There went my night's rest.

“So how long are you guys going to be here?” I asked Bernel.

“I dunno. Couple of hours probably. If we find something, probably the whole night.”

Great. I hate these guys already.

They proceeded to set up the stuff around the house. Video cameras, webcams, those electro-somethings they use to detect ghost stuff, and of course, the computers. What kind of paranormal investigators wouldn’t have one or two laptops handy, right?

Bernel and Matilda both grabbed equipment: thermal video cams, the spectral electrode sensor, and radios from the table and started to roam around the first floor, flashing both sensors and cameras on different objects.

“Hey. There’s a broom over here.” Bernel approached, holding the broom I was holding a while ago. “What were you planning to do? Hit a ghost with this?”

“I didn’t want to think of it as a ghost, thank you,” I said angrily.

“Take it easy. We’re just going to sweep through the house. There’s still the second floor and the attic. Matilda, you sweep the second floor. I’ll search the attic.” Bernel said, never taking his eyes off me.

Matilda just nodded, and together they climbed up the stairs.

I grumbled, and walked toward Jack.

“So, what’re we looking for again?” I asked.

“Signs of any spectral phenomena. Like the classic spirit ball, or a head in the mirror, heat on an empty bed. That kind of stuff.”

I gulped. What if they do find something? My forehead collected sweat just thinking about it.

The hours flew fast. Really fast. I was about to tell Jack that they wouldn’t find anything, never mind the humiliation. I just wanted to get some sleep.

“Jack. I got something. Record this.” Bernel said through the radio.

“I got it, Bern.”

Gibberish started erupting from the computer speakers. It was a man’s voice, but the static almost made it indiscernible. Not that it mattered. I couldn’t understand the words anyway. After a few minutes, the both of them returned, and everyone huddled over Jack on the computer.

“Any luck?” Bernel asked.

“None. But I did get a few words out of it.” Jack said.

“Like what?” George said.

“Uh…’time’…’world’…’Richard’… That’s it. The rest is all static.”

“That’s great. Well, Lukas, looks like you’re being haunted.” George said, patting my back.

“No, it is not great. I need to get rid of that ghost thing.” I said, pointing to the screen. “Can you help me?”

Matilda stepped up beside me.

“We can’t. All we can do is investigate.” She said.

“Yeah. I was kind of hoping YOU could give the soul closure.” Bernel said.

“I don’t even know this Richard guy.”

“Maybe your parents know about it.” George said.

“That,” I said, poking him, “may be the one sensible thing you’ve said all night.”

“Uh, thanks?”

In the distance, Jack was fiddling with the radio receiver that picked up the voice, lifting it and pointing it in several directions, mostly at me.

“Woah, woah, woah. Wait a sec.” Jack said, grabbing Bernel’s electro-thing. He pointed it at me, and I heard cracking coming from the device.

“Your electromagnetic signals are going through the roof.” He said.

“That can’t be right.” I said, peering into the screen.

“Are you a ghost or something, man?” George said, laughing.

“Shut up.”

“Maybe you detected yourself or something.” Bernel suggested, chuckling to himself.

“Yeah, maybe..." I said. But deep inside I knew something was terribly wrong.

The next day was almost as bad as the one before. I ended up sleeping in most of my classes, and in my university, that’s the worst thing that you could do. Midterms were next week, and I slept through the crucial lectures. This is going to take a whole week of cramming. Thanks a lot, George.

I picked up my phone after school. Might as well get rid of one of my problems.

“Hello?” My mom said when I called her. I could hear the loud crashes of the waves behind her. They must be on a cruise or something.

“Mom. Hey. I was wondering if there was anyone in you or dad’s family with the name Richard.”

“Um, no I don’t think so. Let me ask your dad.”

There was a small pause after that as she spoke with my father.

“No, son. There’s no one. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing, really. I just ran into the name and thought you might know him. Sorry to bother you both. Have a happy vacation. Bye.”

“Yeah…bye.”

I hung up. Awkward. Now how am I supposed to get rid of the whispering? I’d never be able to study with all that racket. Not to mention the creepiness of that sound. Guess I have no choice then. I’m going to have to pitch in with George in the dorms. Not a happy thought AT ALL.

“Awesome. I finally get to spend time with my supposed roommate. I’ll get the bottom bunk ready.” He said when I told him the bad news. I was actually intended to be with this guy in one room. Luckily my parents gave me the house. Unluckily, I’m back.

“Why do I get bottom bunk?”

“Because I called dibs on the top. Duh.”

“But I wasn’t even here when you called dibs.”

“Exactly, my friend. Exactly.”

I hate this. I really do.

The day finished quickly, and it was finally time for lights out. I closed my Calculus textbook and jumped into my bed, already changed.

“Night, dude.” George said.

“Yeah. Night.”

When I opened my eyes, I found myself inside a lab of some sort. By the looks of it, there was a fire recently here. A man stood in the center of the scorched room. He should've been around thirty-five, with sweaty hair and a tattered lab coat.

“Who are you?”

“…rince…”

He had the exact voice as that guy in the recording! I still couldn’t hear properly, but I was sure it was him.

“Yesterday…NACT…murdered…fire…”

“I-I can’t understand.”

“You…lay…valuable part…future…”

Okay. Right now would be a great time for me to wake up. The floor gave way, and I saw a lady covered in blood, with a blade sticking out of her.

I screamed.

I woke with a start, bumping my head on the floor of the top bunk.

George’s head appeared peeking from the top.

“Bad dream?”

“Very.”

“Uh, huh. Lay off the coffee.” He said, shaking his head as it disappeared again.

I rushed into the library the next day, my head brimming with new information about this… Richard Prince character. I went into the information section, when something in a newspaper caught my eye.

Fire Destroys Lab

8 pm yesterday, a fire erupted in a private lab in Woodsville, killing about 10 scientists inside. Alleged reports also includes that a top scientist in a private research corporation, named Richard Prince, and his girlfriend, Anne Janice Wood, died in the fire. Reports also include that Miss Wood did not die of burning, but of a stab wound straight through her lower abdomen. Autopsies begin today, and the government is expecting fruitful results.

My stomach crunched. The dream from two nights ago was all true. It was like I had a vision of what was happening. Something was definitely going on here. The dream, the burnt lab...this Richard Prince...and me. They're all connected somehow. Richard had told me that "I would play a valuable part in the future.” Now my job was to find out what the hell that job was, before something exploded on me.

Or I’d die trying.