the moment the first two green lights were flickering.
“Those register fluctuations in the electromagnetic field,” Mick explained. “The field should be pretty stable under normal conditions, but can be affected by other energies. When you see those lights jump into the red, there’s a fluctuation.”
“What about your meter?” Cole asked.
The one Mick held was larger and looked like any number of items pulled from a shelf at Radio Shack. It was larger than a digital camera and about twice as thick. The front was mostly taken up by a gauge with a needle waggling around various numbered scales printed on the face. Mick kept the box cupped in one hand and said, “This is a Tri-Field meter. It measures both AC and DC electrical current along with EMF.”
“How does that help?”
“Spiritual energy is still energy. AC current is man-made, but DC can come from natural sources. One time, I picked up a cat running through some bushes with this thing.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, it really is. But to get truly accurate readings, this meter needs to stand still. Otherwise, you might just be picking up natural fluctuations of energy coming from the earth’s normal field.”
“Seriously?”
“There’s more to it than that, but basically yes.”
Cole followed Mick around the living room and into the dining room. In the time it took for the equipment to be handed out and the investigation to start, the sunlight had dwindled down to nothing. All that filtered in from outside was the dull glow of streetlights.
“We don’t have enough time to thoroughly check this place from top to bottom,” Mick whispered. “The owner wants us out of here before ten. Do you need any longer than that?”
“I honestly don’t even know what I’m looking for on this meter.”
“You’re after living creatures, right?” Mick asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let me know when you pick up spikes. I’ll let you know what you might have found. We may also catch something from that faceless apparition, so stay alert.”
“Is there a basement?”
Mick nodded. “Yes, but there’s not supposed to be any activity there.”
“The things we’re after are burrowers, so there may be more activity than this lady knows about. Let’s have a look.”
“Hold up.” Mick grabbed his cell phone from his shirt pocket and tapped a button. The phone chirped and established a quick two-way connection that must have cost a bit extra on the service plan. “Quentin, bring the thermal in here.”
After another chirp, Quentin replied, “Be right there.”
Mick continued shuffling through the kitchen. “We’ve had this camera on layaway for months but haven’t had the money to snag it.”
“A thermal camera must be a tax write-off for MEG,” Cole pointed out.
“Yes, but each branch pays its own expenses. Don’t get me wrong,” he quickly added. “You guys make lots of generous donations, but it’s all gotta be spread around. I went and picked it up as soon as I heard why you two were coming, but it’ll have to go back tomorrow before the check is cashed, so don’t scratch it. Just don’t even touch it. Tell me where to point it and I’ll do the rest.”
“That should pick up any living things in here?” Cole asked.
“In here or under here within a reasonable distance.” Mick appeared somewhat menacing with just the faint glow of his little flashlight reflecting up onto his features. “This baby detects heat, so it’ll also pick up changes in temperature due to hollow spaces stuck in the middle of a wall or under the floor. If there are tunnels or even secret compartments where this lady keeps her porn, we should be able to scope them out.”
Cole whistled softly. “That’s really cool.”
“Tell me about it.”
Mick left the kitchen, walked down the short hall, and headed for the room currently filled with an eerie, bobbing white light. Tensing as he tried to get ahead of Mick, Cole almost reached for the spot where his weapon was normally kept. The weapon wasn’t there, but it turned out he didn’t need it. Paige and Val were in the bedroom, checking the floor and walls with penlights that cast the weird shadows.
“You two find anything in here?” Mick asked.
Val nodded enthusiastically. “Paige picked up a hot spot with the K2.”
Walking into the little bedroom, Mick expertly sidestepped piles of dirty clothes and a few shoe boxes to get over to where Paige was standing. “Really? Let’s see.”
Paige crouched down under a window built high up on the wall that looked out to the narrow space between the house and its neighbor. Every time she waved the meter over a spot on the floor, the lights jumped from the first two greens all the way up to the last two reds.
“See if you can confirm that one, Cole,” Mick said.
Stretching out with his right hand, Cole waved his own K2 over the same patch of floor. The spike he got wasn’t quite as drastic, but he also wasn’t able to get the meter as close to the floorboards. Nodding slowly, Mick hunkered down and placed his Tri-Field meter near that spot. Almost instantly, it made a screeching noise, and kept it up even after he and Val pulled Cole and Paige away from it.
After a bit more screeching, Mick nodded and took his meter back. “Could be wires under the floor,” he said. “Could be a naturally occurring magnetic field. It could also be something giving off its own energy. Do you know if these burrowers manipulate magnetic fields at all?”
With a genuinely perplexed look on her face, Paige replied, “That might explain a few things, but I’m not sure. We should definitely take a look under here when we get to the basement.”
Placing his foot on the edge of the bed frame, Cole hoisted himself up to the rectangular window and took a look outside. He then lifted his left hand to wave. “Is the owner a rat-faced lady with her hair in a bun?”
“You could call her that,” Mick replied.
“She’s watching from the next house over.”
“She’ll probably be checking in on us throughout the night.”
Just then the front door opened and thumped shut. Mick’s phone chirped and Quentin said, “I’ve got the thermal. Where are you guys?”
“Bedroom at the end of the hall,” Mick replied.
A few seconds later Quentin stomped into the room carrying a camera in one hand and what looked like a small laptop computer in the other. He handed the camera to Val and then flipped open the laptop to show what the camera was seeing.
The new equipment smelled like an expensive trip to the electronics store. Cole watched intently as it was all switched on. Once it warmed up, Mick aimed the camera at the floor and asked, “See anything, Val?”
“I think we’ve all been spending too much time in this spot. Either that, or there’s too much going on with the wires or insulation or whatever.”
“How about we take this all down to the basement?” Cole asked. “Whatever we’re looking for would most likely be down there anyway.”
Before anyone could say anything, a muted thump echoed through the room.
Val, Mick, and Quentin all looked at each other and then swung their flashlights toward the hall.
“What was that?” Cole asked.
There was another thump, followed by a scratching that seemed to come as much from the floor as it did from the walls.
Val handed the monitor back to Quentin so she could dig a small digital audio recorder from her pocket. She flipped it on and asked, “Is there anyone in here with us?”
When Paige started to say something, she was quickly silenced by the entire MEG team. Walking over to Cole, she whispered, “You brought your spear, right?”
“It’s in the car.”
“Go get it.”
He headed out of the room as they heard more scratches from the vicinity of the closet and under the floor.
