Purgatech: Adrian's Ghost-hunting Angst

Chapter Fourteen: Sunny Afternoon

Time took a negative toll on Adrian Beck. Six months of lies, isolating himself from the outside world in hopes of catching another glimpse of the demons that haunted him, alienating his friends and family was the next step and finally, lost his job. He was living off the money Purgatech had paid, but since he seldom left and only ordered online, the money was lasting far longer than he would have expected. At that rate, he could have continued living for another year without any hassle.

Not that it was doing any good for him. He lost weight, let go of hygiene and personal care, and became somewhat dilapidated.

But it was all in the name of science. He would do this and he would survive. He would wait for the ghosts to appear without hunting them down. Adrian was scarred and broken, left to his own eternal suffering, but knew that there was something waiting on the other end. The Old Hag, Tommy, Owen, were any of them real? Did any of them exist?

He assumed not, since there was no sign of them coming forward. But he knew the moment he put on the Purgawear, that it would all change again. How couldn’t it? That’s what they were doing…

Subliminally planting the seed so that he would see what they wanted him to see. It was just another part of life, he thought. A guinea pig that was caught by the tail, without any chance of escape. Such was the life of a man that had nothing but bitter insecurity.

But there had to be more to it and in his dazed delusions, the near constant hangovers and the stench of old food that lay strewn about, his own unshowered body and whatever else lay across the grounds; there had to be so much more. Adrian wanted to believe this but for over six months, there was nothing. No sign of the friends he once had, the girlfriend he once loved and the family that once supported him. He could have been dead and they wouldn’t have even cared. Or maybe they would have, someday. They would have needed something from him and they would have got in touch.

By then, he thought, he’d have been a festering corpse with the tv playing on British cooking shows or quiz shows. Was that really what his life was culminating to? It sure seemed like it in his haze of alcohol and hunger pangs, had he known anyone who sold drugs, there would be no doubt he would have stuck into those too.

Today he was in a particularly dark mood, sitting alone in the lounge, watching the music channel. Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off was playing and he sang along gleefully, for the first time in months. He was still excited to be alive, it seemed, and something small like this could change his mind to feeling better about the project.

Then his phone rang. The listed number stated it was Those Bastards. The bastards in question were the members of Purgatech and their sick operation to getting him involved in something he should have never done. Six months ago, he was tasked to take part in a trial, one that he just wanted the money for. Or that’s what it felt like. He forgot the true reason behind why he joined Purgatech, coming to grips with the Old Hag he’d seen through his entire life, trying to make sense of everything that’s happened throughout his life and so much more. But now it seemed like none of that mattered and he was only in it for the money. Six months of sordid depression and carefree living could do that to someone. The fierce hunger he felt, lack of care to get up and make himself a bite to eat, all playing heavily on his mind now as he waited for the next moment of deep intensity and fear that his ghost accomplices would bring him.

“Hello, this is Adrian Beck speaking.” He said, putting on the act that he hadn’t an idea who was on the other end, but this too was a lie. He knew very well that Purgatech wanted him to bring back the items he took for this study, that they wanted another pound of flesh and his trial notes. Not that he was planning on giving any of it over. Not by leaving the house and taking it to them. They would have to come pry everything from his hands if they wanted it back. They would have to enter his brain and read his thoughts if they wanted the knowledge of what he saw.

Funny, how six months living in your own mind could change everything.

“Mister Beck, this is Doctor Langtree speaking. I’m calling you from the offices of Purgatech, here in Evergreen. It’s recently come to my attention that you’ve not been back to give your report of how the trials went. I understand you’re a busy man, as we all are in this day and age, and coming in is not going to be the easiest thing. There are no hard feelings, I’m just looking for a time that would best suit you so that we can get this all out of the way and we can begin gathering our notes and figuring out what to do from here.” The voice came from over the phone and Adrian had no idea how to respond to what he was asked. Did he want to give up the information? No. There was nothing that would force him to do it, either.

“I don’t think I’m going to be coming in anytime soon,” Adrian whispered over the phone.

“I understand if you’re busy and there’s no worry. Take your time to come in. I just want to know if you have an open schedule coming up. Maybe an early Saturday morning? We want to run a few tests, that’s the only reason we can’t come to you.” Doctor Langtree replied.

“You want to do tests? What does that mean? You want to hook me up to machines like some kind of monkey and watch me dance?” Adrian replied. He wasn’t sure where that even came from. It definitely was not an uncalled for statement, but it seemed out of place here; even to him.

“No, Mister Beck, we just want to make sure that the tests had no lasting effects on you. We have your security and good health at heart with this and we want to be certain you’ve stepped away from this the same way that you came in.” Langtree said. Adrian listened, getting up from his seat and walking to his study. He said nothing, made little movements as he entered, standing midway between the door and the desk.

“Mister Beck?” Langtree asked. Adrian said nothing again, looking around. He felt himself relapsing to the night that everything changed. The night that Eliza left. The night that the Old Hag had her say. Nothing was going to change unless he changed it and Adrian had no idea how to change it.

“Excuse me,” Adrian said.

“Of course.” Langtree replied, “Is everything okay, Mister Beck? Do you need assistance? We have staff that would happily assist you if you give me your location.”

“No. Thanks. What do you want from me?” Adrian asked.

“I’ve mentioned it already, Adrian. I want to run tests on you and make sure that you’re still fine. From what I’m hearing, you don’t seem fine and I would prefer that we conduct our own tests so that we can get you out of this headspace and into something better. How does that sound? Will you come in and meet me?” Doctor Langtree was sitting behind his own desk, a cigarette between his fingers, while he scrolled through Adrian’s file on the computer. He’d not made it to one meeting, one ceremony, one gathering or anything of the like. He ghosted; Langtree laughed at his own pun but took the situation very seriously. Those who acted in this kind of way often were more inclined to commit suicide or inflict self-harm. Not that he knew Adrian was already on the bottle.

“You’re not real.” Adrian said out of the blue, “You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re not the doctor that helped me when I went to start this trial. You’re just messing with me. Working with Tommy on some prank, aren’t you? It’s not going to scare me. You’re not going to scare me. Who do you think you are?” Adrian started, “If you don’t end this call right now, I’m going to find you and I will kick the s**t out of your ghostly God-damned body, do you understand me? Do you?” His temper increasing with every word, “Or would you prefer I exhume your corpse and skull f**k the eyehole? How would that feel, huh? Would you like that? Probably would, you seem like the kind who enjoys that messed up kink.”

“Patient exhibits delusions and loss of reality.” Langtree completely ignored what Adrian was saying, taking his own notes, “The delusions stem from a loss of touch with reality. It seems that the Purgatech projects are a great success.”

“What did you just say, you piece of s**t?” Adrian roared.

“Goodbye, Mister Beck. You’ll not be hearing from Purgatech or our affiliates again.” The connection died and Adrian threw his cell phone onto the table.

Delusions? Was that what doctor Langtree called them? No, no, no. He was the one that was deluded, but what did he mean by Purgatech being a success? That was something that played on Adrian’s mind for a moment, rushing off to the kitchen to pour himself a drink. When he returned, he saw a flashing green light on his cell phone and he lifted it up, unlocked by swiping a finger behind and opening it up.

Adrian Beck.

I got in contact with you a while back instructing you to meet me at the Palazzo. I found myself waiting for a while without getting in contact with you. Other’s who were contact joined the meeting and the rally. I understand your concerns on my behalf, but there is more to it than just what you see on the surface. We are all plagued by the same nightmares of what we saw and there’s no way of escaping that fate without making a stand. I do not want you to fear what I’m saying and I want you to understand that this is not going to be a way of taking on corporate America. We have lost to Purgatech and what they have done to us. They've already claimed their sick gains and we are left without another option in this world. That’s not what this is about.

What I’m extending is not the offer to fight for compensation. Those who suffer must be relieved of their stresses. We are people too, now stuck behind the veil of ghosts and monsters that haunt our living and waking minutes. I’m just a man. I was once a powerful general in the military, taking on Purgatech for the reason of monetary gain while I attempted to accomplish something completely different. Now, we’re trapped.

I don’t like being trapped, Adrian. I never have and that’s why I joined the military, to begin with. I wanted to be something great. I wanted to be powerful and strong. Most of us did, in some way or another and we could be, with the support of the Purgatech program, right?

Wrong.

We’ve been wronged beyond our own salvation. I’m not offering a way to get back at Purgatech. I’m offering a way to get back at the ghosts that haunt us.

Meet me down the road from Nova Five. I’m sure you know where that is. This time it will just be me and you. I want to get together a team, Adrian.

A team of Ghostbusters.