Marie Bartek & The SIPS Team - Books 1-3

Chapter 5

Marie chose to walk and meet the SIPS team at the Edgar Allan Poe branch library. Gale argued and reminded her about Chelsea Swail and insisted on driving her home. Marie agreed and asked Gale not to have any margaritas before the investigation. She wanted everyone to have their senses about them.

Gale was unloading her trunk. “Hello there, Miss obstinate.”

Marie pulled the backpack off and set it on Gale"s car hood. “Hello there, Miss pain-in-my-butt.”

Myra, Jim, and Mimi pulled up in Jim"s 1970 convertible Buick Skylark and waved. Marie walked over and helped Myra as she struggled out of the back seat. “Myra, you look like a little doll sitting back there.”

Myra grimaced as she balanced herself against Marie. “Thank you, Jim and Mimi argued on which car to bring. I told them not to worry about it because it looked as though the argument could have lasted all evening.”

Marie laughed and grabbed the nylon bag that was lying in the backseat. “Is this the digital camera you were telling Gale and me about?”

Myra replied, “Yes, it"s the Sony DCR SR82 HDD Camcorder. We won"t need to deal with cords, and it has its own internal hard drive. We won"t have to keep changing tapes or discs.”

Gale whistled and pulled the camera out of the bag. “Hey, this is slick. Marie, did you get that stationary camera thingy you wanted?”

Marie rolled her eyes. “Stationary camera thingy? Yes, it"s a four channel DVR with four night-vision cameras and fifty-inch tripods. We"ll be able to keep an eye on all of the locations at command central. It records to an internal drive as well.”

Gale shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever, I don"t know all of the technical mumbo jumbo. I"m lucky if I remember the training we did on the digital recorders.”

Tim and Harry pulled up, and Marie quickly smiled at Gale. “Well, well, well, if it isn"t Tim. I"m surprised you two drove separately. Just remember, there are night-vision cameras on so you two can"t disappear into a corner anywhere.”

Gale made a hand gesture behind her back. “I"ll give you that one. But that"s the last one you get.”

Tim helped Harry pull their equipment out of the back of his SUV and made his way over to Marie and Gale. “I"m pretty stoked about tonight. I have always heard about paranormal activity going on here. My cousin Jimmy said he saw a shadow go by in the history section one night.”

Gale laughed. “Your cousin Jimmy was probably smoking something funny.”

Tim chuckled. “Yeah, well, there is that.”

Harry rolled a small suitcase over to where they were standing and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Are we ready to meet the client? I have my digital recorders, flashlights, and spirit box.”

Gale responded, “Harry, we know who the client is, it"s Jeri. You know… the librarian?”

Marie chimed in, “We"re heading in there now. Thanks to everyone for making it on such short notice. I have the paperwork we need to go over with Jeri and get her signature on the liability waiver and confidentiality agreement. Let"s work on getting our equipment inside. Once we"ve covered all of the liability and waiver issues, we can do a walk through to decide where we"re going to set up the cameras. Tim, can you and Harry go around and mark any areas we need to be aware of with regard to safety? We need to have our bearings before we go lights out.”

They all walked through the big, thick wooden doors and began unloading the equipment in front of the counter. Marie always felt closed in walking through the building. She thought it was odd to have a library inside of a battery with its low ceilings and three-foot-thick concrete walls.

Marie smiled at Jeri. “How are you this evening? Thank you so much for allowing us to do our investigation so quickly.”

Jeri came out from behind the desk. She was a stout woman measuring only five feet tall with thick black hair pulled back into a bun. Her glasses sat at the end of her pudgy nose giving her the appearance of the perfect librarian. “Of course, I"m glad you were able to do this. Where would you like to set up your equipment?”

Marie unzipped her backpack. “Maybe you could give all of us a history of the building, and possibly where any paranormal activity has taken place?”

Jeri answered, “Sure. This library and the adjoining portion of the building in its unrestored state, is actually Battery Gadsden, one of a series of batteries built between 1898 and 1906 as a part of Fort Moultrie. It was built to defend the Charles Harbor, and named after Brigadier General Christopher Gadsden. He was the Colonel of the First South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army who died in 1805.”

Gale stated, “Yeah, I heard the black mass that was seen back in the media room is believed to be General Gadsden.”

Jeri replied, “Yes, that room was originally the storage room.” She walked them through to the children"s section. “This was once the gunpowder room. We have had people say they can hear voices and see a strange light that hovers in the corner of the room.”

Jim asked, “Is it a ball of light or a mist?”

“It seems to be a ball of light that just hovers up in the top left-hand corner of the room.” She continued to walk them through the rest of the library, pointing out the areas of paranormal activity. “The section that used to be the office has had sightings of books being thrown off the shelves.”

Mimi asked, “Has anyone been purposely sought out or hurt by the books?”

Jeri answered, “No, but it does occur more in the evenings.”

Marie wrote down notes in the log book. “Thank you, Jeri. The team will set up our cameras and equipment to make sure we pinpoint where you explained the activity is taking place. Hopefully, we can capture something for you.”

Jeri smiled. “Thank you. Thank you all for coming and helping us out. We"ve never felt any fear from whatever is happening in here. We"ve all grown accustomed to having the spirits around. I guess we"d just like to have some validity to our experiences.”

The team broke out into different areas and began setting up the equipment. They decided to use Tim"s SUV as command central. Once everything had been properly secured, Tim showed everyone the camera angles. They all felt everything had been displayed on camera and decided to break into teams. Marie, Gale, and Myra were the first group to go inside.

Gale turned on the voice recorder. “EVP session, Gale, Marie, and Myra in the original office of the Edgar Allan Poe Library. Is there anyone in here who would like to speak to us?”

Marie sat in one of the chairs. “We hear you like to throw books around in this room.”

Myra sat next to Marie. “I"m getting a read on something in here. There is definitely a presence here with us.”

Marie asked, “Is there anyone who would like to speak to us or Myra? We won"t hurt you. We just want to know why you are here and if there is anything you would like to tell us.” They heard a loud bang.

Gale asked, “What was that?”

Myra answered, “It came from the other side of the library. It sounded like it came from the children"s section where the ball of light was seen.”

Gale swiftly stood up and spoke into the dark, “Let"s head over there. Marie, let"s do a sweep with the KII Meter to see if we can get a read on any electronic magnetic fields.”

Marie walked with Gale and Myra over to the room where they heard the bang. “I"m getting some different fluctuations. Wow, I"m getting a cold chill on the back of my neck. Gale, hold that thermometer over here to see if it changes temperature.”

Gale whispered, “Hey, the temperature drops about twenty degrees right by your shoulders. It spikes back up when I move it away from you. I think there is something trying to communicate with us.”

Marie jumped. “Whoa, I just heard something whisper in my ear.”

Myra asked, “What did it say?”

“I don"t know. It sounded like a low voice. Playback the voice recorder and see if it picked up anything.”

Gale rewound the recorder and played it back. They heard the low voice Marie heard in her ear but couldn"t make out the words. “Okay, now that was just downright scary. Would someone like to communicate with us? Are you trying to scare us? We don"t scare easy you know.”

Myra stopped in her tracks. “I know we aren"t alone in here. I can sense something over in that corner where people have seen the ball of light.” She moved over to the corner and pointed the digital camera where she felt a presence. “Are you trying to get our attention? If you would like to communicate through me, I"ll allow you.”

Marie jumped and ran into Gale. “Yikes, what was that? I just felt something tug on my sleeve.”

Gale held up the KII meter. “Wow, the readings are off the scale here. It seems to be attaching itself to you right now.”

Myra said, “If you need to make your presence known, why don"t you move a book for us?”

They stood for a while and the room remained silent. They began to head back over to the office when a book flew off the shelf and landed in front of Marie, causing her to jump.

“That book just flew out and almost hit me,” Marie spoke out into the dark. “Well, you"ve got my attention. We won"t leave this room. Should we sit down and have a chat?”

Myra pulled up a chair and placed the camera on the table, so it was angled toward all of them. “Marie, I have the camera on us so we can catch if something tries to communicate again.”

Gale continued to check the meter. “Yeah, there is definitely something in here because this meter is jumping all over the place.”

Marie placed her LED flashlight on the edge of a bookshelf and sat next to Gale and Myra. “If you would like to communicate with us, I"ve placed a flashlight on the edge of the bookshelf. All you need to do is touch it and turn it off. Can you do that for us?” They sat motionlessly and watched as the flashlight slowly turned off.

Marie said, “Thank you. Now, can you turn it back on for us?” She watched as the flashlight slowly turned on. “Thank you.”

Gale asked, “Are you General Gadsden? If you are, can you turn the flashlight off?” The light remained on. “Were you a soldier under General Gadsden?” The flashlight slowly turned off. “Thank you.”

Myra asked, “Did you fight to defend the Charleston Harbor?” The light turned back on. “Are there more of you here with us tonight?” The light remained on. “Are you here by yourself?” The light still remained on. “I don"t think anyone is here now.”

Marie stood up. “Let"s have another team come in. Be sure to document the personal experiences on the log at command central. Myra, let"s leave the digital camera here pointing the way you have it. I think we need to have another angle on this room.”

The rest of the team continued to investigate until two in the morning. Everyone had a personal experience, but Marie was the only one who had direct contact. When they felt as if they had gotten enough documentation, they decided to break everything down and call it a night.

Marie loaded up her backpack when she saw Gale running toward her. “That was some investigation, wasn"t it? I can"t wait to review everything. Do you think you can come over one night next week?” She noticed the alarmed look on Gale"s face. “What"s the matter?”

Gale leaned against her car. “Can I stay at your place tonight? Tim just had to leave. He got an emergency call on the scanner. Marie, they found another dead girl"s body. This time she was hanging from a tree close to the marina on the Isle of Palms.”