Strong presence

The mansion had been abandoned for decades now, but the inside was relatively light. It essentially meant they didn't need night vision to see things.

Liz tried to take the reigns and lead them through the place but Lauren had none of that. She was the star of the show, so she wanted to go where she pleased. She just loved the faces of scammers when she reached a fake haunting spot from behind and could immediately see the contraptions. It was priceless.

At times, she spoke to the camera about where they were going or what they were doing. When she paused, Morton went on with his assessment of the style and structure of the place. The typical boring mumbo-jumbo nobody really cared about. But they were a team, so she had to let him talk.

At one point in the hallway, Lauren heard a short laughter from behind. Childlike. Creepy. The kind that could make one's skin crawl. When she turned around she saw nothing, but that fact that the others had turned as well meant they also heard it.

"Hah! Nice one." she smirked confidently. "Speakers under the floorboards?"

"It's not us." said Liz, holding onto Mark's arm tightly.

"Sure..." smirked Lauren. "Dead kids must be having a blast then..."

"Maybe they are reliving their happy memories." said Morton, always the optimist.

"If ghosts were reliving their happy memories, we would be hearing moans and groans all the time." giggled Lauren as she winked into the camera.

As they approached the large diner, Liz interupted Lauren's commentary. "The presence is very strong in there."

"She said, teeth chattering with fear." added Lauren with a grin.

"No, I mean really."

"She insisted."

"Stop that!"

"So, what do you suggest? We come back tomorrow?" asked Lauren sarcastically.

"No, but I'm not going in there." said Liz anxiously.

Lauren looked the woman up. She was either afraid, or playing it very convincigly. Or they have set a trap in there. It wasn't unheard of. Like 'ectoplasma' falling from the ceiling when tripwires were triggered and the likes. And she wasn't planning on making a fool out of herself.

"Fine. Bobby, you said you've been working out?" asked Lauren.

"Y-Yes." smiled Bobby, happy that Lauren remembered it. It must really have been noticeable (it wasn't).

"There. We have a strong guy then." said Lauren, smiling at Liz. "Go in there and show that 'presence' who's stronger." she cooed at Bobby.

Bobby groaned in displeasure. It was not what he had expected. He reluctantly walked into the diner, prepared for the worse. He nervously looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Ordinary, as in abandoned asylum ordinary. He turned around and looked at the camera with his arms held out questioningly. "Nothing." he mouthed at them.

"It seems our Bobby is stronger than your 'presence'." remarked Lauren.

Then as they were slowly moving in towards Bobby, a chair behind him moved. Everyone stopped at the sound and could see a chair sliding along the boards towards Bobby. As it hit the back of his legs, he fell backwards and sat right on it, his face that of pure horror. Then the chair slowly slid backwards, with Bobby on it.

"We should help..." started Frank.

"Shut up and keep the camera rolling!" stopped him Lauren. "This is what we are here for. To record something. To give our viewers some action." As fun as it was finding tricks before they were triggered, they needed some action in the show. And let's face it, there were never any real ghosts around for that. She may have deliberately sent Bobby or Morton into some traps she had discovered, but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

Bobby was deathly afraid, and while the chair didn't immobilise him in any way, he dared not jump off of it. Not until it slid all the way back to the table and turned. Then, he jumped off and ran back to the others."Fuck this shit!"

"Language." warned him Lauren as she went in to investigate the chair. "Did you feel anything supernatural?"

"Apart from that chair moving on its own? No!"

"Wires. Probably." said Lauren.

"Have you noticed that the chair moved him to the table?" asked Morton. "It wasn't just moving. It acted... like it had a purpose."

"You mean what exactly?" asked Lauren.

"It is a diner. Maybe the ghost... the presence wanted to feed Bobby."

"With what?"

"Well, not literally. I've read that strong actions may imprint on places." explained Morton. "Like TVs or lights turning on and off, doors opening and closing. A chair moving someone to a table. The presence could enchance or use these imprints. Maybe that's what we are looking at."

"These 'ghosts' must be real gentlemen, then." smirked Lauren. She was pretty fed up with Morton's hopeful explanations. He was a decent guy, but she just wanted to slap 'Mulder' up to show him reality. Except, now she had looked all around the chair and there were no wires or rails under it. At least nothing visible. That didn't mean there was none, though. Lauren touched the seat with a finger. "It's wet." she announced.

"Ectoplasma?" asked Morton with crossed fingers.

"No, I just sweat all over that chair." said Bobby blushing.

"Yuck." grimaced Lauren as she wiped her sticky fingers on the tablecloth.

Then suddenly, a huge tremor shook the place. The walls were trembling, the chandeliers were moving and the floor was shaking under them. Then after a few seconds, nothing.

"Everybody alright?" asked Morton, concerned.

"What was that?" asked Bobby.

"No earthquakes in this region." explained Morton.

"Of course not, silly. It was just the room shaking." scoffed Lauren. "Like those lame rooms in amusement parks."

"That definitely wasn't just a 'lame' tremor." reasoned Frank.

"Sissy." she remarked.

"I've never encountered such a strong presence before. Not even in this room. It was much stronger than any I have ever heard of." said Liz, angrily. "You live in denial, Lauren."

"No. You live in a fantasy world." she snapped back. "I am devoted to science not... freaking magic."

"If this presence can get this strong, we are all in danger."

"Danger is my middle name. We are going on." A door in the distance slowly opened with a loud creak. It was like a sign. "And we are going there." she pointed at the opened door. The team followed her without a word.

"What is in that direction?" asked Morton from Liz in the back.

"It used to be a trophy room. But Charlotte had redesigned it."

"Into what?"

"Into a punishment room."

"What is that?"

"That was where she taught naughty kids, or brats as she called them, a lesson about obedience. Or several. And she needed a big room for the various... disciplinary accessories she liked to exercise."

"Sounds to me like a **** chamber."

Liz just nodded, her face pale as a ghost, her claws gripping Mark's arm like there was no tomorrow.