Tipsy Moon

"I'll film from this angle near the entrance. Your camera is pointed at the three of us, so the viewers will see that we're not doing anything to fake any kind of supernatural phenomena. Bridie, tell our friends on the other side of the screens what other equipment we have here, and what they are used for".

"Yes, of course. In the center of the room, on the floor, in a circle we placed a chain of special lights that react to electromagnetic radiation. In fact, most of our equipment works this way. For example, that music box that stands by the window, and the rampod on this stone pedestal, which is closer to the second window. By the way, Mr. O'Co

"This is an altar. They say that some kind of rituals with sacrifices were held here", – the manager said in an absolutely calm voice.

Lucky for him… He tells everyone about it almost every day. I guess he's used to it by now. And my throat suddenly went dry from what I heard…

"Ah, well then, let's leave the rampod there for now. Maybe we'll be able to talk to one of the victims", – unlike me, Bridie was not a timid person, so without her I never visited places with such a terrible history.

A little to the right of the altar I noticed a bright green light.

"Bridie! Flux!" – I pointed my hand at a small triangle on the floor.

"Oh! Do you agree with me? Will you talk to us today?" – Bridie exclaimed excitedly.

"Guys, Flux is a motion sensor. On one side it lights up green, which we usually interpret as "Yes", and on the other side it lights up red, which we understand as "No", – I explained to the camera.

"Kat, EDI", – Bridie pointed to the window that was closer to me. On its windowsill there was a small device with several types of multi-colored lights. I turned the camera there.

"Blue. Air pressure. Guys, this device records changes in various atmospheric parameters: pressure, humidity, temperature. Oh! And red too. The temperature has dropped. Listen", – I turned the camera to Bridie. – "Maybe I should move it from the window? After all, it has no glass, and the air temperature drops at night".

"Yes, you're right. Let me move it closer to you".

"No, there might be cool air coming from the door. Let me put it closer to the lights. See, guys? A lot can be explained by the wind, or the natural sounds of the building, for example. Well, we have ancient stones here, which means we can’t explain the strange sounds by the settling of the building. By the way, Bridie, did you come down the stairs about twenty minutes ago?"

"No, I was here the whole time. Why?"

"I heard someone’s footsteps coming from the stairs when we were sitting in the living room. I thought maybe it was you…"

"No, it definitely wasn’t me".

"I see…" – I said quietly and went to move the EDI.

When I approached the window, music started playing.

"Oops! Guys, it’s me. Don’t be scared!" – I smiled and moved away from the window. – "As you can see, the music box reacted to my phone. Now, most likely, the lights will go crazy too".

I placed the device in the center of the circle of lights, which, as I expected, all began to flicker at once.

"Look, huh? You've got all the devices going crazy! Look at the EDI – it's twinkling like a Christmas tree!" – Bridie scolded me jokingly.

"Uh… I didn't do that… EDI doesn't respond to radiation. But let me step back just in case".

I returned to my original position near the entrance, where O'Co

I shook my head. Okay, I need to push these thoughts away.

"Kat, should we try the recorder?" – Bridie asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. Maybe we can catch something. When I came in here, I thought I heard something, like a whisper".

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the manager turn his head sharply in my direction.

"Did you hear it too?" – I asked him.

"No… I didn't hear anything…" – he answered with genuine surprise in his voice.

Does he always hear what others hear? And did I hear what others didn't?..

"Maybe it was just a rustling sound, not a whisper", – I tried to calm him down (or myself?). – "Or the sound of the wind, or mice… Or a bird. Downstairs you said something about ravens".

"Yes, you may be right", – he said calmly. – "And the ravens’ nest in that wall over there on the left. There are several steps down leading to a small observation room".

Bridie and I looked towards that wall. There was indeed a rustling sound coming from there, and a moment later a huge black raven flew out. It flew across the room and landed in the window opening. It sat there for a few seconds, looking at us with an inquisitive gaze, and then suddenly took off and flew straight towards me, landing on my right shoulder.

I almost dropped the camera in surprise! But I quickly came to my senses and turned my head towards the bird.

"Hey! Hi, buddy! How are you? Want to join us?" – I said, patting his feathered chest, which he didn't mind at all.

I don't know if O'Co

"What are you, a raven whisperer?" – he asked me, smiling. – "I've never seen the local ravens behave like that. They're pretty wild here. We feed them, so they're not afraid of people, of course. But to sit on someone’s shoulder like that – that's the first time!"

"He must have liked me", – I smiled back. – "I love birds. I've always gotten along with them. I've never had any ravens, though… Only parrots".

At that moment, the raven apparently decided that it had paid us enough attention and, with a loud flutter, flew back to its nest.

"Oh… He made me bleeding…" – I rubbed my shoulder where the raven had just been sitting. – "Such a beautiful bird, but those claws… It hurts, damn it!"

"It's okay, we have a first aid kit. Let's finish here and I'll give you some antiseptic", – Bridie waved her hand.

"Yeah, go ahead, it's getting close to midnight. I wouldn't want to spend All Saints' Day in this chapel!"

"Well, dear inhabitants of this castle, good night to you! Forgive us for this uninvited visit. We are not here to harm you or offend you in any way. We simply want to talk with you", – Bridie finally began the conversation.

"Bridie, we have already offended them by not introducing ourselves…" – I noted.

"Ah! Please forgive us! Yes, it was very disrespectful of us to barge into your home without even introducing ourselves. That brown-eyed brunette shaking with fear is called Katherine, or simply Kat," – Bridie took revenge on me for my comment.

"And that red-haired witch is called Bridie", – I responded in kind.

Bridie and I had known each other since high school and were very close friends. When the paranormal investigations became popular, I decided to start my own company that would organize such activities in the haunted locations. In Ireland, I was one of the first, so the business quickly took off. We have lots of such mysterious places in our country, so there is plenty of work.

"I have a small box with an orange light on it", – Bridie continued, raising her hand with a recorder. – "Please talk into this light, if you don't mind. We would be very grateful. I will put it here".

Bridie put the tape recorder on the floor near the altar and took a couple of steps back.

"Tell me, did you live in this castle?" – she paused, giving the ghost time to answer. – "Perhaps you were the owner of this castle or one of the employees?"

Pause. Then Bridie nodded her head at me, as if to say, go ahead and ask something too.

"Tell me, do you know what happened in this room?" – I asked.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door behind me. I immediately jumped away from it with a squeal.

Jesus! It was right behind me!

I pointed the camera at the door, praying that no ghost would fall out on me from there…

"Let me check, maybe one of the staff suddenly came", – our knight suggested to us. He slowly opened the massive door, behind which… there was no one…

"Guys, as you can see, there is no one behind the door", – I said to the camera in a trembling voice. – "Bridie, let's listen to the recording. I hope it managed to catch that sound. Although I’m sure it will be on the video too. I almost went deaf from that knock… Not even a knock! A strong blow even!"

Bridie took the recorder and came over to us so that the recording could be heard on the camera microphone. She rewound the recording, and we began to listen intently. After the second question, I thought I heard something.

"Stop! Rewind a couple of seconds… Right here. Some kind of whisper? It sounds like someone says "No"…

All three of us put our ears over the recorder and listened to that part several times.

"I don’t hear anything", – said Bridie.

"Neither do I", – agreed O’Co

"Okay… Let’s listen further. I must have imagined it", – I lied, because I clearly heard that "No" every time we listened. We leaned over the recorder again and continued listening. After my question, a sharp hum was heard on the recording, followed by that loud knock on the door.

"And there was no hum then", – said Bridie.

Finally! She heard what I heard. I was starting to attribute paranoia to myself…

"Well, it’s not much", – said Bridie in a calm, professional tone. – "But that knock on the door was definitely interesting!"

Oh yeah! Interesting enough to make your hair gray…

Bridie returned to the center of the room and, putting away the recorder, took out the headphones with the radio.

"Yes, guys, we know that this is just a broken radio that picks up words and phrases from different radio stations. But ghosts can manipulate it and try to communicate with us in this way", – Bridie explained and looked at me. – "Kat, you or me?"

"Please, you do it first, and then I'll try".

Somehow, I didn't really want to listen to ghosts right now… Especially near the altar, where Bridie was standing, putting on her headphones and turning her back to us.

"Okay, guys. Bridie can't hear us, so we can ask questions. Hello again, inhabitants of this castle. My name is Katherine. What is your name?"

"Blood!" – Bridie's loud voice rang out, making me jump.

Goosebumps ran all over my body…

"Whose blood?" – I started asking leading questions. – "Yours? Did something happen to you here?"

"Call!.. Gates!.."

"Were you called here? Were you the one knocking on the door just now?"

After this question, there was silence for a few minutes. Bridie took off her headphones and turned to us.

"Nothing", – she said disappointedly. – "At first, a couple of words were really clear. A loud female voice. And then everything turned off… Here, maybe you should try?"

Bridie came to me. I reluctantly took the headphones with the radio from her and gave her the camera.

"Just please, don't ask the ghosts to pull my hair, like you usually do. I swear, if I feel anything, I will disappear from here the same moment, and you'll go home by yourself!" – I immediately warned her menacingly, to which she only smirked slyly.