15 Amityville Horrible by Kelley Armstrong

Then the light flickered and, with a pop, went out.
    “Okay, that’s not a little creepy,” Cameron muttered.
    Rory opened her mouth, doubtless to say they’d rigged it. My look silenced her. I nodded, though. Yes, it was rigged, but pointing that out would only get her on the fast boat off the island.
    “It’s rumored this is where the killer brought his victims,” I said, shining my flashlight around the empty room. “Into the basement. Through one of those doors.” I pointed each out with my beam.
    Yes, it was a basement , I thought. But not this one.
    I mentally flashed back to the inn. To that room. The girl racing in. The blood. Her screams. Her pleas. The door slamming. The voice behind me.
    Run .

“Ms. Vegas?” Cameron said.
    I found a smile. “Sorry. I was just thinking about those girls. The tragedy of their passing. I hope we’ll be able to make contact tonight and assure ourselves they’re safe and happy in—”
    A scream cut me short. Cameron jumped back into the wall. I followed the noise overhead, where it had now been joined by the thump of running footsteps.
    “Already?” Rory muttered.
    I motioned for her to keep it under her breath. The cameras were still running.
    I started up the stairs. The door at the top flew open and Wade thundered down, the twins behind him.
    “He saw something,” Wade said. “That ghost dude. He saw something in the attic.”
    “It was right there,” one of the twins said. “That—” She looked at her companions. “That…whatever it was. Right there. With us.”
    I glanced up to see Gregor coming down.
    “It was nothing,” he said. “I did not mean to startle them. I thought I saw someone, but I was mistaken.”
    “You talked to it, dude,” Wade said. “You, like, had a whole conversation with thin air.”
    “No,” Gregor said carefully. “I heard a creak. I saw a flicker. I believed it was one of the crew. I said, ‘Yes?’ I turned. I was mistaken, and I apologized for that mistake.” He looked to me for help.
    I laughed softly. “Okay, I think we’re all just a little nervous. This place is definitely creepy.” I cast an apprehensive look around for the cameras. “Maybe we should stick together for now. We’ll explore the basement.”
    I shone my weak flashlight beam toward the doors. “As I was saying, it’s rumored that the killer brought the girls down to one of these rooms. We’re going to check each one tonight. Later, we’ll bring in the equipment. For now, though, we simply want to open ourselves up to the spirit world, let the girls know, if they are here, that we mean them no harm. Clear your mind and radiate peace and calm. Can we all do that?”
    They all nodded. Rory arched her brows.
    “Work with me,” I mouthed off camera.
    She sighed.
     
    …
     
    There was nothing in the basement. Not surprising, since I’d conducted a little ritual out back earlier, warning any spirit bystanders that if they bugged me during the taping, they’d be on my blacklist. And on Eve’s track-you-down-and-kick-your-ass list, which was much worse. I’d noticed a few outside already, hanging around. I assured them that, post-filming, I’d give them an hour of my time, but they’d better make sure other ghosts didn’t join the watch, or I’d never have time to hear them all. That was all the incentive they needed to play spook security for me. So, my haunted house was ghost free. Just the way I like them.
     
    I timed it so we’d come upstairs after the sun had dropped. That gave us a few good shots of “kids being spooked by their own reflections in the darkened windows.” Most of it came from the twins. Even after we explained what they were seeing, they’d shriek with every flicker. Finally, Becky stopped the taping and had the crew close the blinds.
    Becky wanted us to split up again. Eight people had been fine in the basement, where they’d followed me about like a tour group. Up here, we were all just crowded into small